13. Chapter 12
June leaned against the bar counting money from one of the sections.
Downstairs, the staff moved through the crowd with bottles in their hands while men threw cash like they didn't have families at home to take care of. Marcus had her helping with VIP tonight, and June couldn’t even lie, she liked being up here way better.
Just drinks, money, and a clear view of the club.
June picked up her drink taking a sip when she heard Marcus’s voice nearby. “Yo, Allure, calm the fuck down for a second.”
June looked over in his direction. Marcus stood near the hallway leading toward his office with his phone pressed against his ear while rubbing his jaw in irritation.
Allure was on the other end going the fuck OFF!!!
Even from across the room, June could hear muffled screaming through the phone.
“You really not understanding how serious this shit is Marcus!!!” Allure yelled loud enough for Marcus to pull the phone away from his ear. “That bitch fucked my face up! I can’t even look at myself right now!”
A few girls behind the bar exchanged looks. June diverted her eyes to her drink to try and hide the fact that she was laughing.
“Allure,” Marcus said calmly, “I understand whatchu saying, but yelling ain’t fixing a mothafucking thing.”
“Oh so now I’m yelling too much?!” Allure snapped. “Marcus, my teeth are the fuck GONE! My fucking FACE is swollen! I should sue this fuckin' club!”
June sucked her teeth.
Majesty walked over beside her holding a tray of drinks. “Please tell me that ain’t Allure still crying.”
June giggled. “Girl… yes.”
Majesty shook her head already irritated. “That girl been calling this man all damn day.”
Meanwhile Marcus still stood there cool as a cucumber while Allure continued losing her mind through the phone.
“You just gon let her get away with this?!” Allure screamed. “That bitch dragged me across the damn stage in front of everybody!”
June almost choked trying not to laugh at the memory.
Majesty looked over at her. “See? Why you smiling?”
“Cause she should’ve minded her business.”
Majesty laughed. “I ain’t saying you wrong…”
Marcus pinched the bridge of his nose looking tired.
“I already told you I’m paying for the fuckin' dentist Allure,” he said firmly. “What else you want me to do?”
“I want my fucking spot back!” Allure yelled. “That bitch thinking she big shit now!”
June’s expression changed slightly at that. She wasn't angry, she was more amused than anything.
Cause Allure was definitely spiraling and she was off her fuckin' rocker.
Majesty leaned closer lowering her voice. “I ain’t even gon hold you… after that ass whooping? She probably more embarrassed than hurt.”
June took another sip from her drink. “Good.”
Majesty let out a loud laugh. “You crazy as shit girl.”
“Nah,” June said with a shrug. “She started it, so I finished it.”
Marcus finally ended the call after another thirty seconds of yelling. The second he pulled the phone away from his ear, he looked like he needed a damn drink himself. June grinned watching him walk toward the bar.
“She still crying?” June asked innocently.
Marcus gave her a knowing look. “Whatchu think, girl?"
Marcus shook his head while loosening the watch on his wrist. “That bitch done called me seventeen times today.”
Majesty burst out laughing. “Seventeen is crazy.”
“She lucky I even answered the fucking phone this time,” Marcus muttered.
June bit back a smile while Marcus poured himself some dark liquor.
“You gon fix her teeth though?” Majesty asked.
Marcus took a sip first before answering. “Yeah.”
June looked over at him. “Even after she threatened to sue you?”
Marcus shrugged. “That girl just emotional right now. She ain’t suing shit.”
“Still,” June said, “I wouldn’t pay for nothing after she kept screaming at me like she ain't got no fuckin' sense.”
Marcus looked over at her and smirked. “Well I wouldn't be paying for nothing either if you ain't knock her fuckin' teeth out her mouth.”
June tried not to laugh. Majesty damn near folded over at the bar cackling.
“Aight,” June said defending herself. “But I told that bitch one too many times to stop fuckin' with me. She fucked around and found out.”
Marcus shook his head to himself while fighting a smile. Honestly, he wasn’t even really mad anymore about the whole ordeal. If anything, watching June stand ten toes behind her actions low-key made his dick hard.
“You really don’t regret that shit do you?” Marcus asked.
June looked him dead in his face while finishing off the rest of her drink.
“Not even a little bit.”
Steelo stood in Amir’s doorway watching his son sleep with a toy car clutched in his little hand.
The soft sound of the ceiling fan moved through the room while the Spider-Man blanket rose and fell against Amir’s tiny chest. Steelo smiled to himself and brushed his fingers through his son’s curls before quietly pulling the bedroom door halfway closed behind him.
The apartment wasn’t big, but it stayed clean.
Lemon cleaner and baby lotion filled the air while an old gospel song played on a low volume from the back bedroom where his mother rested.
Cancer had been wearing her down for almost two years now, but somehow she still found the strength to smile at him like he wore the sun on his face every time he walked through that door.
Steelo walked into the kitchen and took a seat at the kitchen table.
Bills sat stacked near the microwave beside prescription bottles with his mother’s name printed across them.
Rent was due again soon, Amir needed new sneakers, and he was praying that he got approved for a bigger house so that could move somewhere with a big backyard so his son could grow up in a nice neighborhood.
But tonight none of that sat heavy on him the way Mercedes did.
Every time Steelo tried thinking about something else, Mercedes popped right back up.
Her laugh. He fantasized about the smell of her perfume after she brushed past him and the way she walked into a room and somehow made everybody else disappear.
Heaven’s Door stayed full of women with fake smiles and bodies built to distract men from their problems, but Mercedes wasn't like them.
She had softness in her eyes even when she acted hard.
And Steelo loved that about her. That was his problem.
He noticed the little things nobody else cared enough to catch.
The way her mood changed after talking to Ohaji.
The way she forced herself to smile some nights even when her spirit felt broken.
The bruises she tried covering with makeup like nobody would ask questions if she blended it good enough.
That shit ate at him. Cause Ohaji had the one woman Steelo would’ve thanked God for and treated like gold, but men like that never knew what they had until they lost it.
He poured himself a drink and stared out the window.
He hated how easy things came to men like Ohaji.
He was one of them tall, flashy niggas who was loud enough to command attention in a room without saying much.
While men like Steelo always ended up being the dependable one.
The men women cried to. Women were forever venting to him about heartbreak while running right back to the same dudes that had them stuck on stupid.
The “good guy” title felt more like a punishment than a compliment these days. One thought led to another until he found himself thinking about the first night he noticed her.
Heaven’s Door was packed wall to wall that night.
Music pounded through the club while lights flashed across the crowd.
Mercedes stood on stage under the gold lights with money falling at her feet while every man in the building watched her like she was the last glass of water in the middle of a drought.
But Steelo saw more than that.
While everybody else saw ass and beauty, he saw pain hiding behind it.
She moved across the pole gracefully and worked the shit out of the stage. The whole room stayed locked in on her too. Men were throwing money at her all crazy. They were acting like wild animals from their behavior and they were looking thirsty as fuck.
That was when Ohaji walked in.
Steelo noticed him and his nostrils flared. He was mocha-skinned, tall, rocking a fresh fade. He was a muscular man with designer on his back and a Jesus piece swinging against his chest. He leaned against the bar staring at Mercedes like he already had first dibs on her.
Steelo already knew how this shit was gon play out.
When Mercedes came off stage glowing from sweat and attention, Ohaji was waiting near the hallway with the same type of grin that men practiced in mirrors before they approached a female. Steelo stayed back watching the whole thing play out while pretending not to care.
Mercedes laughed at something Ohaji said and tucked her hair behind her ear.
That little nervous habit right there almost took Steelo out.
Cause he knew she liked him already. And over the next few weeks he watched her fall deeper for him.
It was little shit that he did that made Mercedes fall head over heels for him.
Flowers showing up at work. Late-night food runs.
That turned into her having smiles that she couldn’t hide.
She was even singing behind the bar whenever love songs came through the speakers.
As usual, Steelo stood exactly where he always stood.
He was close enough to protect her, but yet too far away to ever really have her.
Then things changed. Mercedes started showing up and she wasn't her usual bubbly self.
Her spark started dimming little by little.
Some nights she would jump when people moved too fast near her.
Other nights she stared off into space like her mind was somewhere else entirely.
Steelo peeped all of it. And the bruises confirmed what his gut already knew.
Rage sat in his chest every time Ohaji’s name came up after that.
Cause a woman like Mercedes wasn’t supposed to walk around scared of the man claiming to love her.
Steelo wanted to step in so many times. He wanted to tell her she deserved real love.
Softness. Safety. He wanted to tell her somebody out here would’ve worshipped the ground she walked on instead of putting hands on her.
But he never said it. He stayed in the background like always.
He was the nigga nobody picked until it was too late.
The blunt burned too close to his fingers snapping him back to reality. He crushed it inside the ashtray before washing his hands and walking back toward Amir’s room.
His son slept peacefully without a clue how hard life really was yet. Steelo pulled the blanket higher over Amir’s shoulders and kissed his forehead.
"Be better than me, lil' man."
He brushed a hand over Amir's hair. "That's all I want." he whispered.
He turned the TV off and then silence filled the apartment.
His phone got another text message from Marcus about work, but Steelo ignored it.
He stayed standing in the doorway looking at his son.
More than anything, he still wanted to believe men like him had a chance.
And after a while, being overlooked started feeling like its own kind of heartbreak.
Steelo stood there for another minute staring down at the message Marcus sent before locking his phone and tossing it onto the counter.
And no matter how hard he tried to shake it, one thought kept pulling him right back under.
If loving Mercedes from a distance already hurt this bad, he knew watching another man destroy her was eventually gon break him.