Chapter 16
A month ago…
“Hey, baby? What chu doing?” Harlem questioned over the phone.
“Mmm…going over a script,” I responded, as I absently strolled through my house.
“Yeah? You miss me?” He wanted to know, as he was back in L.A.
“Of course.” I smirked, while biting my lip.
“Well, we’ll see. My flight lands about eight tonight.”
“Okay, okay.”
“Yeah, it’s been a long time too. I count at least sixty days since I tasted that pussy.
” He vulgarly pointed out. He’d just wrapped up his last year of college.
Won a championship. And was suiting up for the league.
So, he’d been flying around the world and back again.
And that was exactly the type of busy I liked. “Are you ready for me?”
“Yea—” I got out, before saliva filled my mouth, sending me barreling to the bathroom.
In just the nick of time, I reached the toilet and barfed my guts out.
“Damn, Summer, you alright?” I heard Harlem question, as my phone was on the floor.
Not immediately responding, I grabbed my phone, placing it on mute. I then climbed to my feet, and rinsed my mouth out in the sink.
“Baby, what’s wrong?” He pressed, as I stood upright and stared at my reflection.
Standing there in my bra and panties, with noticeable swollen and sore breasts, I felt disgusted. “What the fuck did you do, Summer?” My eyes filled with tears.
“Summer,” Harlem repeated with worry etched in his voice.
I shook my head, as tears freely fell. “I gotta stop this.” I sniffed, before unmuting the phone. “I’m here, Harlem.”
“What happened?”
“I was throwing up, and didn’t want you hearing all that, so I muted the phone.”
“Oh, you didn’t have to do all that. Had me worried for a minute.”
“My bad,” I sighed. “But I really think that we should take a break, Harlem,” I blurted.
“A break? The fuck did that come from?”
“I…I just got a lot going on…and I don’t wanna be a distraction—"
“You threw up?” A voice echoed and bounced off the walls.
Immediately, I whipped my head around, and found Ricky standing in the doorway.
“Who was that?” Harlem questioned.
My eyes remained trained on Ricky. “That was Tarin’s brother. He’s here helping today,” I lied. “But let me call you right back.”
“Okay—” Harlem didn’t even finish, as I ended the call.
“How did you fucking get in here?” I fumed.
“With my key.” Ricky shrugged.
I sighed. “I thought it was understood that those privileges were revoked?”
He creased his brows. “Says who?”
“Me,” I gritted.
Clearly taking me for a joke, he waved me off. “We both know that you just be talking. A nigga would have to be a damn fool to take you seriously.”
I shook my head. “Ummumm. I’m not about to do this—”
My cell rang, cutting me off.
Picking up the phone, I saw that Harlem was calling back. Then my eyes traveled to Ricky.
“Can you step out, right quick? I need to take this.”
“Nah. If you gotta take it, then answer it,” he offered.
“Are you gonna be quiet?”
He frowned. “The fuck I look like? Just tell the nigga that I’m here.”
I shook my head, while silencing my phone. “What are you doing here, Ricky?”
“Why haven’t you been answering my calls?” He countered.
I tilted my head. “You know why.”
“I don’t.”
I twisted my lips, and sighed. “I told you that we should keep it to just speaking, if we’re both at our parents. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
“What, because you throwing another one of your tantrums? I’m on punishment?”
“No,” I denied. “I’m just done fucking with you.” I shoved past him, exiting the bathroom.
He was right behind me, following me into the living room. “You done, huh?”
“Yep.” I sat down on the couch.
He sat right beside me, like we weren’t having a damn argument.
“You so done that you was just fucking me in the Bahamas two weeks ago. What about for my pops’ birthday, last month?
You remember that?” He palmed my breast, and gently squeezed.
“In that Airbnb in Atlanta. Or what about my bed, Summer? Just last fucking week,” he growled, dropping that fake calm demeanor, causing me to push his hand off me.
“And now, you really playing in my fucking face.” He roughly gripped my chin.
“Thinking that you about to move that nigga in here. This is where I’m drawing the fucking line.
You told me that you wanted me to flourish first. Handle my business.
And when I say that I’ve done all that, so it’s time to stop playing. You fucking run off and block me?”
“Yeah, I did,” I admitted.
“For what?!” He snapped, as he opened his arms.
“Because this has gotten too toxic!” I blurted, as his face was just inches away from mine. “You really think that wanting to be together is enough for us. But it’s not. There’ll be trust issues. Old unhealed wounds. Muthafuckas who aint trying to let go.”
“And you’ll be risking people finding out about the real you,” he claimed. “The Summer who cheats. Lies. Breaks up friendships. You aint tryna be exposed. So, you rather live a lie, just to save face. And you’ll try to make that my fault. Swear that I’m the reason you so fucked up.”
“You are the reason!” My eyes bucked. “Let’s not forget how we got here, nigga. You missed one of the most important moments in my life, and chose to lay up with a bitch! You did that!” I poked his chest.
“Nah.” He shook his head. “Hell, nawl. You aint putting that shit on me, this time. I didn’t show up, because I had just asked you to be with me for the millionth time, Summer.
I hadn’t even been fucking with nobody else.
Not even Ora. She was cut off. I just didn’t say nothing, because I wanted to prove it through my actions.
The fucked-up part about it was that you didn’t even notice.
Cause you had gotten comfortable with dealing with me on your time.
So, me not showing up at that event had nothing to do with Ora.
I was choosing myself. Showing you that if you could coast through life, without really being mine, then you needed to know how it felt not to have me. ”
My lashes fluttered. “You always fucking lie. You know damn well that you was fucking somebody else.”
“No, I wasn’t.” He swore. “But looking back, you needed me to be fucking with somebody. Because you didn’t want the pressure of having to show up.
Be that girlfriend that has to consider her man.
Move work around. Prioritize. At that time, you wasn’t ready, and tried to manipulate the situation into looking like it was me. ”
“Oh, there you go—”
“No, fuck that!” He spat. “You literally the reason why we got people in the middle of this. With all your fucking theories and analysis. All to cover up the fact that you fucking scared. Me being attracted to other broads didn’t mean that I was incapable of being the man you needed, Summer.
But you had convinced yourself otherwise.
And then you double back to that nigga. Knowing that we is never finna stop fucking.
Shit, it’s been some times that I wanted to stop.
Begged God to make me stop wanting you. But none of that worked, and I had to accept what it is.
That pussy is mine. Your heart too. But I been letting you skate with this Harlem situation.
Told myself that it was just another phase of our ongoing bullshit.
As long as I didn’t see the shit. And now, you taking shit too far.
It’s time to fucking grow up. Cut that nigga off, before somebody gets hurt. ”
Becoming emotional, I sniveled. “I’m trying, but he won’t let me.”
“Bullshit! How the fuck are you trying, when you letting that nigga move in?!”
“Because I told him that he could. At least until he finds his own place.”
“What?” He grimaced. “You talking like this is a regular nigga. Like he can’t get a spot with the snap of a finger. Miss me with that.”
“Well…I’m…I'ma do it on my own time. Not yours—”
“I been throwing up, Summer,” he interjected. “Just like the last time. I know you pregnant. Look at them titties. Can barely fit in that bra now.”
Tears clouded my vision. “And you did that shit on fucking purpose!”
“So, what?! It was time to shit or get off the fucking pot.”
I wiped my nose with the back of my hand. “I’m still not doing nothing, just cause you say so. I wanna do this quietly. My way. And I won’t let you rush me, as if you don’t have your own bullshit to clean up. Especially with Ora.”
“So, so, I’m supposed to just let you lay up with that nigga, while you carrying my child?”
“You know damn well that I haven’t been fucking that boy. And I have no plans to do so. But I’m handling this delicately. Because I don’t wanna be the stain on his start in the league. He doesn’t deserve that.”
“Nah.” He shook his head. “I aint going for this shit. Matter of fact, since that nigga is flying in,” he mentioned, letting me know that he’d heard more of my conversation than if I’d thought.
“I’ll be in this muthafucka, waiting till he gets here.
Then we can have a long conversation about all this bullshit. ”
I gulped. “And you’d be out of line. Cause at the end of the day, he was your friend. You decided to fuck with me, regardless. So, why be so cruel now?”
Ricky sucked his teeth. “You talking like he’s a fucking child. Him not having one girl aint gone be the end of the world. He’ll get over it.”
I shook my head. “I’m tired of all this drama.”
“Shit, me too,” he claimed.
“Okay, then give me a few weeks to do this the right way,” I pleaded. “That’s all I’m asking.”
“You asking for too much,” he swore. “Am I supposed to just be at the house, praying that you aint letting that nigga feed my baby?”
“Feed the baby?” I repeated in confusion.
“Yeah. If you fuck him while you pregnant, then he’s feeding the baby.”
“Wait, what?” I tittered. “Where the hell did you get that?”
“It’s a nigga thang. You wouldn’t understand.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever—”
He gripped my neck. “If you fuck that nigga, then we all dying ‘round this muthafucka.”