Chapter 16
The sound of a car door slamming caused Joi to jump involuntarily as she looked around the gas station parking lot.
She knew better than to be out so late alone in a city teeming with potential dangers, but there was no way she would have made it home had she not stopped for gas.
After a quick sweep, she didn’t notice anything off, so she completed the task of filling her tank then prepared to leave.
Joi was currently on a “catch this fuck boy up to no good” type of mission, and every minute counted.
“Ay…”
Joi closed her gas cap and narrowed her eyes, trying to get a better look at the body rushing toward her.
Whoever it was had hopped out of their car, leaving the door wide open and moved her way with staggering, aggressive strides, which had Joi’s heart rate increasing at an alarming rate. Until she heard the voice again...
“Joi, we need to talk. I’ve been looking for you.”
Reg?
The slur in his vocals and the staggered path he took gave insight on the fact that he was drunk, high, or both. Both.
“We don’t need to talk. I’ve said everything I need to say. You need to leave me the hell alone.” Joi rolled her eyes, annoyed that of all nights and all the people in the world she could have crossed paths with, she ran into Reg.
“Yes, the fuck we do.” He moved with determination into her personal space while she backed away, not trying to get mixed up with anything involving her ex. “You just cut me off like I’m not shit. You’re fucking him, aren’t you?”
“What?”
“You…” Reg paused when he almost fell from taking a wide step in her direction.
“…you’re fucking East. How you just leave me like that and hop on his dick like I didn’t mean shit to you?
” Reg was drunk, but that didn’t stop him from speaking his mind.
He missed Joi, and even if he hadn’t been the best, he didn’t want to lose her, especially not to a man like East.
“What I’m doing or who I’m doing it with is none of your business. Please, just leave me alone.” Joi turned to leave, but before she could round the rear of her car, Reg caught her arm, gripping it hard and yanking her into his chest.
The contact caused her body to go rigid.
“Fuck that shit. It is my business…”
“Reg, how are you out here with another bitch while I’m with you?”
The female’s voice had Joi’s head whipping in the direction it came from in a matter of seconds.
Reg kept his eyes on Joi but addressed Tasha with the understanding that if he didn’t, she would be heading their way soon. It was a distraction he didn’t currently need.
“Get your ass back in the damn car.”
“Nah, you come make me get in the car. Fuck that hoe. Her time expired,” Tasha yelled, fuming that Reg was chasing his ex.
When he noticed Joi’s car and pulled into the gas station, jumping out with little regard for her feelings, Tasha felt disrespected. Now here he was, begging Joi for time.
“I said, get your—”
Joi balled up her fist and punched Reg with every ounce of strength she could command. The hit was precise, with just enough force behind it that the contact caught Reg off guard long enough for Joi to snatch away and hurry around her car, putting space between the two of them.
“You aren’t shit. Don’t you ever in your life even speak to me again, asshole.” Joi was pulsing with anger while Reg shook off the hit, which had affected him more than it should have because of the alcohol in his system. His pride was hit a little harder than the blow to his face.
“I’m about to crack your shit. Fuck is wrong with you?”
“Muthafucker, please. You’re gonna put your hands on me because I now have proof that you were never about me? Go deal with that bitch. I’m done. And no, I’m not fucking East, but he’s damn sure fucking me. Real good. Now run with that and let it sink in.”
Joi hopped in her car and pulled out of the parking lot, for the first time, truly knowing he wasn’t worth the time she invested in their relationship. That further fueled her need to make sure East wasn’t on the same shit.
While Joi pushed Reg to the back of her mind, he was left reeling with deadly thoughts. He wasn’t sure if it was the liquor and weed he had consumed or if he was just that pissed with Joi, but he would be damned if she played him like that. The thought of Joi being with East had his blood on fire.
By the time he reached his car again, Tasha was inside, arms folded tightly across her chest and eyes narrowed with a hard stare. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in the mood nor did he care. This bitch is about to see the real me.
“What the fuck was that shit? I thought the purpose of you breaking up with her was so we could be together and stop sneaking around.”
Your dumb ass. She left me, not the other way around. You’re just stupid enough to believe anything I tell you.
Reg shot missiles her way before he pulled out of the gas station without responding to Tasha’s comment.
It took him a minute to locate Joi, but thanks to the red light that caught her, he was able to follow.
By the second turn that Reg made, Tasha realized what was going on and lost what little cool she had left.
“Are you really following this bitch?”
“Yeah, I am, and if you have a problem with that, then open your door and get out. I don’t give a fuck one way or another, but I’m about to put my foot in her ass for disrespecting me and yours too if you don’t shut your gotdamn mouth. Y’all hoes just doing too much.”
“Muthafucker, you—”
Before Tasha could finish her sentence, Reg had his hand under his seat and a gun in his hand which he aimed at her head.
“I what? I can pull this trigger and end your shit in the blink of an eye? Because if that’s what you were going to say, then you’re right.
I can. Now shut your ass up before you ruin this shit.
You said you want me, well this is me. Take it or leave it. What you wanna do, shorty?”
Tasha sucked in a deep breath then rolled her eyes, turning her head to the window. “Ol’ stupid ass muthafucker,” she mumbled, knowing he could do whatever he wanted and she wouldn’t leave him. The baby that she was carrying, which Reg was clueless about, was proof. It was his, she knew for sure.
Tasha had been in love with Reg for years, but he never took her seriously.
The baby was a guarantee, but he broke up with Joi before she had to use it as a way to force his hand.
When he came around saying all the right things about ending his relationship with Joi and working on something with her, Tasha was all in, but now here she was in a car with him, chasing his ex.
“This is bullshit,” she mumbled.
Reg placed the gun in his lap then raked his hand down his face.
The alcohol and weed had him tripping. He damn sure wasn’t about to cap Tasha in his ride.
True enough, he wanted Joi back, but he knew it wasn’t happening.
Tasha was a rider. She gave it up to him whenever and however he wanted it.
Never complained and acted like there was nothing better in the world than him.
She wasn’t Joi, but she was worth keeping.
“My bad. I know that shit looks crazy, but you know it’s not like that. I just can’t let her get away with that shit. Besides, she owes me. Shit, I invested ten grand in her business. That’s all this is about. I need to holla at her about that.”
Your dumb ass don’t need to know I already recouped that from her.
“You must think I’m stupid.”
“Why you say that?”
“What is she gonna do at two in the morning, Reg? Cut you a check? Whip out her debit card?” Tasha was no fool. No matter how much she wanted him, she knew what was up. Joi had moved on to the next man and his ego couldn’t take it.
“Man, nah, but I’ve been playing with her about it. Let me just get this shit over with so she knows I’m not playing ’bout my money.”
“Yeah, whatever. Let me find out you’re trying to get back with that hoe and I’ma cut you. For real.”
Reg’s eyes darted over to Tasha, half believing her. She was hood, not just hood adjacent, and she would damn sure do it if he pushed too hard, but his inebriated mind wouldn’t allow him to let the Joi thing go. An ego was a dangerous thing and his drove his actions.
Unfortunately, Joi hadn’t given Reg a second thought past the notion that he wasn’t worth her time and the fact that wasting time with him meant possibly losing the ability to catch East in a lie. She was flying through the streets, driving recklessly just to get the answers she needed.
When Joi reached the block his business was on, she parked and immediately cut off her car so the lights wouldn’t alert him if he was really in the shop.
It was dark with only a few cars near his storefront, but the rest of the block was busy due to the club across the street.
It was the reason Joi paid no mind to Reg when he parked a few spots away from her.
It wasn’t until she had her hands pressed on the glass door, peering into the dark space, that she felt his presence behind her. However, she wasn’t quick enough to react.
Reg’s large hand wrapped around the back of her neck and pulled her back, slamming Joi’s face against the glass.
The force was so strong that Joi’s mental went hazy, but she summoned enough focus to fight back, swinging wildly at her assailant.
When her eyes met with his and Joi realized who it was, she froze momentarily and her heart pounded rapidly with fear.
He followed me. The crazy look in Reg’s eyes had Joi deathly afraid.
“You really ain’t shit. Just out here like the rest of these hoes trying to play me when I was trying to look out.” Reg grabbed Joi around her neck again, squeezing with every bit of strength he had before he forced her against the glass storefront again.
Joi’s head hit so hard that she wasn’t sure if she would last much longer. The impact had her dizzy.