~~~Chapter 21~~~ #2
“You know.” She’d rolled over in bed to face me.
“Paisley would call and vent about y’all problems all the time.
One of the biggest issues she had with you was the lack of time you had for her.
I told her to meet you wherever you were at…
but that was because I wasn’t in her situation.
So, it was easy for me to tell her to practice patience that I didn’t even have.
And now, you should know that I aint her.
Which means that when I don’t like something, you’ll feel it. Trust me.”
“I probably need to head in a little early tonight,” I thought aloud. “Cause she a lil’ mad at me.”
PJ was now scrolling through his phone. “Head home for what?”
I yawned again. “To kick it with my family, nigga.”
He smirked. “You must be talking about the baby, cause ole girl is outside.”
I frowned. “The fuck is you talking about?”
“Ya gal, nigga. Jaylah is in the club, with some good fucking knees.”
“What?” I hooded my eyes.
“I’m following this broad named Talia. She must run with Jaylah nem, cause they’re all in a section together, cutting up.”
“Let me see.”
He nodded, before scrolling and tapping, and then handing his phone to me.
The back of my neck grew hot, as I watched Jaylah drop it low and twerk for ole girl’s camera.
She was really throwing that ass, while everybody hyped her up.
Then she had the audacity to stand upright, before seductively gazing into the camera, while biting her fucking finger.
“Mannn,” I drawled, while tapping to report that bitch’s story. And then I commented on the story from PJ’s page:
Say take this bullshit down! ASAP! Before I air that muthafucka out! ~Malice
“Here.” I handed PJ’s phone back, before grabbing my own to call Jaylah’s ass. “She got me fucked up.”
Jaylah
Glancing around, I took in the scenery. We were in the club, and had been there since five that evening, and were having a blast. My cousins and a couple of friends had called me about going to a day party, and with a little chip on my shoulder, I immediately agreed to pull up.
With Malice around, my social life had tremendously shifted, and clubbing hadn’t been a priority of mine.
However, after seeing how ole boy was beginning to get comfortable, and coming in at all hours of the night, I felt like I needed to rethink some shit.
When I was with Zae, him staying out late was never really an issue.
Not that he didn’t do it, it was just that I didn’t care.
Hell, I loved running the streets, and would often be out late myself.
Naturally, me having Khari had slowed some things down, but with the support system I had in place, there was nothing preventing me from going out regularly.
I had just been chilling, feeling out my relationship with Malice, but perhaps I was taking things too seriously, with a certified street nigga.
Yeah, Malice swore up and down that he was ready to be with me.
But I never claimed that I wanted to be with someone who lived that unorthodox type of lifestyle.
When a man was doing business in the streets, it seemed like there was no way to create healthy boundaries.
He could come in whenever or be unreachable, all in the name of hustling, and I was quickly realizing that it wasn’t going to work for me.
Especially not when my heart was at stake.
I think that Zae was getting away with so much in our relationship, because I ultimately just didn’t give a damn.
With Malice, I paid attention to everything.
Everything affected me…and sometimes it felt like I was wearing my heart on my sleeve.
I was so sensitive, and whenever my feelings were hurt, then I reacted.
That’s why I was in the club, popping this pussy. I know that it was childish of me, but oh well. If that nigga wasn’t pressed to make it in at a decent hour, then I needed to make sure that I wasn’t at home, waiting on his ass.
“Come on, Jaylah, take another shot,” Tootie encouraged, as she held up a bottle Don Julio.
“Now, girl, you know that I didn’t Uber here today, so I gotta slow it down,” I told her, before I felt my phone buzzing in my Goyard handbag. “Hold up.”
Reaching down, I opened the flap of my bag to grab my phone. Peering down, I realized that Malice was calling.
“Pssh.” I rolled my eyes, before pressing reject.
Before I could place the phone back in my bag, he was calling again. I was about to ignore it again, until it dawned on me. I had a whole child with that man, and literally anything could be happening. So, I at least needed to find out what he wanted.
I glanced at Tootie. “Hey, I’m finna go to the restroom, right quick. I’ll be right back.”
Without waiting for a response, I squeezed past the crowd, making my way through the club. Of course, by the time I reached the restrooms, the phone had stopped ringing, only to start again. Thankfully, there was an empty stall available, and I scurried in, sitting on the toilet, before answering.
“Hello?”
“The fuck is you doing?” He wasted no time with formalities.
“What are you talking about?” I enquired, while rolling my eyes to the ceiling.
“What chu mean? Why the fuck is you in the club, bending over with them lil’ ass shorts on?”
“For real? Is that really why you’re calling me back-to-back?”
He angrily chuckled. “Mannn, you really playing with me, right now.”
“Nah, I’m just outside, baby daddy. Now, is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Yeah. You can take your fucking ass to the house—”
“Aint happening,” I interjected, with pursed lips, before disconnecting the call.
As I was standing, he called back, but I didn’t bother answering. Instead, I sauntered out of that stall, then completely out of the restroom. By the time I’d reached the section, Malice had called three additional times.
“Tootie, give me that shot now.” I tapped my cousin’s shoulder.
“Okay.” She nodded with a smile. “You done went to that bathroom, and came back ready,” she boasted, before pouring the tequila into my mouth.
I took a couple of more shots, and had totally tuned the buzzing of my phone out. I was soon rocking to the beat of the music again, until the music abruptly stopped.
“Hold up, y’all,” the deejay spoke into the mic. “My nigga Malice is in the building, and he wants to say something, right quick.”
Of course, my eyes ballooned, as I locked eyes with Tootie, before my eyes traveled to the deejay’s booth. That’s where Malice was standing.
“Aye, aye,” Malice smoothly spoke into the mic, while rocking a Crome Hearts t-shirt, with two glistening chains around his neck.
“I’ma let you good people get back to turning up.
But first, I need to send out this message.
My Big Baby is back there in one of those sections, and she better make her way to the muthafuckin’ exit, before I shut this whole muthafucka down! ”
The crowd loudly chattered, as everybody glanced around, presumably trying to figure out who he was talking about.
“Well, that escalated,” the deejay chuckled into the mic. “So, whoever Big Baby is, please bring your ass to the front, because we don’t want no problems. I swear.”
Thankfully, right after that statement, the deejay resumed the music, and the club was much too packed with too many bodies moving around for any focus to be directly on me.
“Bitch.” Tootie bucked her eyes. “Did that nigga just—”
“He did.” I nodded.
“Okay, so how you wanna handle this? I can go with you out there, in case he’s on some dumb shit.”
“Pshh,” I hissed, until I thought about it. “But nah…you know what? Yeah, you can walk out there with me, just in case.”
She nodded, before tapping the shoulder of Talia. “Hey, I’m finna walk Jaylah outside, right quick. I’ll be back.”
Talia laughed. “Jaylah, let me find out that you’re that nigga’s Big Baby .”
I playfully rolled my eyes. “Girl, bye.”
Tootie smirked, as she grabbed my hand. “Come on.”
Together, we maneuvered through the club.
As I was switching past several thirsty men, I gradually became hyper aware of my provocative attire.
My shorts were dangerously short, while my halter was completely backless.
With every stride, my ass was bouncing, while my tall heels added height and extra volume to my legs.
The ensemble was undoubtedly risqué, and would’ve been risky, even if I was completely single.
By the time we were stepping out of the club, a surge of nervous energy flowed through my body. Paranoid a bit, I glanced around, until my eyes landed on him. Malice was now leaning up against his Range Rover, fully blocking the sidewalk.
“Ooh, girl, that nigga is looking like somebody pissed in his cereal,” Tootie drunkenly giggled, as we approached Malice.
Although she was probably right, those tequila shots had me laughing right along with her. “Fuck him, and if he gets to acting up, you better snatch them fucking dreads, and slang that muthafucka.”
Hearing that, Tootie exploded with laughter, as she leaned against me. We were now standing directly in front of Malice, but with a safe distance between us.
“Oh, this shit funny, huh?” Malice calmly questioned, with his arms folded across his chest.
“Yup.” My head dramatically dipped, as I nodded. “It’s very funny.”
He licked his lips. “Yeah, alright. Come get in the truck, Jaylah.” He opened the passenger door.
I squinted. “For what?”
“Cause we finna go.”
I frowned. “Nah, nigga, I aint going nowhere with you.”
“Oh, you going, for shit sho,” he insisted.
“No, I’m not. Besides, I drove here.”
“And? You aint getting behind the wheel of nothing, with the way your goofy, half naked ass, was just stumbling out of that club. Plus, your truck is gone, anyway.”
“Huh?” I frantically glimpsed around, knowing that I’d valet parked at the front of the club. “Where the fuck—”
Malice nonchalantly smirked. “It’s at the house, parked in the driveway.”