15. Malik #2
She opened her truck door. “Malik?”
“What up doe?”
“Mind your fucking business.” She climbed in and slammed the door.
Troy walked up beside me as her truck peeled out of the lot. Neither one of us said shit. Then Dre came over. “Damn.”
Troy shook his head. “Shante might wanna start running now.”
I watched Alisha disappear down the street.
“Nah.” I rubbed my beard. “Running ain’t gonna help her.”
Because I had seen Alisha mad. I had seen her ready to fight for Shante.
But the woman who had just driven out of my parking lot.
That wasn’t the same Alisha who pulled in.
That woman had just found out her husband and best friend had been making a fool out of her together.
And I had a feeling everybody’s lies were about to come due at the same fucking time.
After Alisha pulled off, it took a minute for the energy around me to settle back down, or maybe it was just me.
The car wash hadn’t stopped moving. Cars were still lined up waiting to get detailed and music was beating from somebody’s Charger near the vacuums. My employees were moving around like they hadn’t just watched a woman fly into my parking lot and cuss my ass out in front of everybody.
Detroit didn’t stop for nobody’s drama. Troy and Dre were still standing nearby, both of them looking like they had something smart to say. I wasn’t in the mood so I headed toward the office and grabbed a cold bottle of water from the refrigerator.
I’d been trying to keep Shante’s bullshit private for months. Even after finding out the truth, I hadn’t gone around telling people what she’d done. I could’ve embarrassed her or told everybody those weren’t my babies and exactly whose they were but I didn’t.
Not because she deserved that loyalty but because that wasn’t how I moved.
But today she pushed that shit too far. Having Alisha pull up to one of my businesses accusing me of cheating in front of my employees, my homeboys, customers, and a woman I had been flirting with was enough.
I didn’t like being embarrassed, especially over a fucking lie.
Shante had created this mess, then kept creating new lies to cover the old ones.
I was done taking hits for her. Troy followed me into the office, still amused by everything that had happened.
I gave him one look that let him know I wasn’t in the mood for his shit.
He sat down anyway, that was Troy he didn’t give a damn about nobody being in their feelings or not in the mood.
He was going to say what he wanted and dared a muthafucka to check him.
I had known him too long to expect him to read a room and leave.
He eventually asked if I thought Alisha was headed back to Shante’s.
I didn’t have to think about it of course she was.
The way Alisha’s face changed when I told her the truth told me everything I needed to know.
She wasn’t just angry, she was hurt and there was a difference.
Anger was what she brought into my parking lot.
Hurt was what she left with and for some reason, that bothered me.
I sat behind my desk and twisted the cap off my water.
My phone started ringing and it was Shante.
I watched her name flash across the screen until it stopped.
Then it rang again and I flipped it facedown.
I didn’t want to hear another explanation.
I’d heard enough of them. Deuce was her brother and was trying to help him.
She didn’t know how to tell me, she didn’t know how to tell Alisha.
She was scared, she regretted it. None of that shit changed what happened.
None of it gave me back the months I spent preparing to become a father.
And it damn sure didn’t erase the look I’d just seen on Alisha’s face.
My phone vibrated against the desk several times with text messages and I left them unread.
Whatever Shante had to say could wait, maybe forever. Dre came into the office for a minute, grabbed something he needed, and made a comment about how he wouldn’t want to be Shante when Alisha caught up with her. On some real shit neither would I.
But that wasn’t my fight, I did what needed to be done.
I told Alisha the truth. That should’ve been the end of it for me.
Troy stayed behind after Dre left. He didn’t say much for once, but before he walked out, he made one comment that stuck with me and that was that Alisha was solid.
I didn’t respond because I didn’t need to because I already noticed.
Get y’all mind out the gotta That was still Deuce’s wife, whether their marriage was fucked up or not.
And until recently, she’d been Shante’s best friend.
But solid was solid, Alisha had pulled into my parking lot ready to go to war because she believed somebody had hurt Shante. She didn’t come looking for gossip or asking questions. She came ready to defend her best friend.