Chapter 6
CHAPTER
SIX
Thursday came.
Thursday went.
Friday came.
Friday went.
Saturday came.
Trouble was still in my possession. She’d attempted to free herself too many times to keep count. I wasn’t ready for her to leave. Whenever I left, she left shortly after. By nightfall, I was knocking on her door again. She was coming outside and getting her fine ass back in my whip.
“Flocco–” Hyphen slurred.
“Yes, baby.”
“I think I’m drunk,” she chuckled, leaning into me.
“Cause you is,” Saga called across the parking lot.
“It’s okay, baby. You’re safe.”
I watched from a short distance as Saga got into her whip and started the engine. She pulled off swiftly, giving me the freedom to do the same.
“She’s doing so good in there. I’m so proud of her,” Trouble said once I was in the car.
“This is my last weekend coming to the club with her. I had to show my girl a good time. She’s ready to take this thing head on. I think she’s ready. It’s been a month already.”
I pulled off the lot. Hyphen leaned over, placing her head on my shoulder. She was intoxicated. The way she touched me and the way she talked to me was enough evidence. I was able to sift through her thoughts, getting to the truth. She was so guarded it was hard otherwise.
“You good, Hyph?”
“No,” she groaned.
“What’s the matter?”
“You’re too precious, Flocco. You could have any woman in Dooley. Especially that neighbor of yours. Why not go for someone ready for what you have to offer? I am rubbish right now. I have no loyalty. I have no sense of morality.”
“Yes you do. You’re just still hurting and don’t know how to handle that.”
“I’m not hurting,” she confessed. “The hurt has passed. I’m vengeful.”
“Who hurt you, Hyph?”
There was a brief pause and then a sigh.
“Zeek.”
I felt my face twitch. I was unfamiliar with the name.
“Then Zeek is the only motherfucker you should be serving revenge. I ain’t done shit to you, baby girl.”
“I know. I’m jus– I just want more for myself before I let another person in.”
“That’s fair.”
“Yeah. I just need more for myself. I’m not where I want to be. I’m not who I want to be. But, I will be.”
“And, I’ll be there. Cheering you on. Patting your back. Rubbing your feet, running errands and whatever else the fuck you need. You’re stuck with me, Trouble. You’re stuck with me.”
The faint sounds of snoring were comical. Hyph had fallen asleep mid-conversation. Baby girl was gone. And, she was comfortable enough around me to know I’d take good care of her.
“Get some rest, baby.”
4:24a
The clock on the nightstand revealed the time. I’d lost track of it. That was easy with Hyphen.
I was happy to see her sleeping instead of running or trying to escape whatever was becoming of us. But, rest wasn’t how she wanted to end her night.
“Mmmm.”
After an hour of sleep, her lips were around my tool, waking me from my slumber. Shortly after, her walls were surrounding the same dick that had been in her mouth. Her hands were on my shoulders. Her feet were planted firmly on the bed. My toes were curled, painfully so.
“Fuck, baby.”
I pulled her left titty in my mouth, attempting to distract myself from the sound of her ocean against my submarine. She slid up and down my shit with precision. Never missing a beat.
“Hyph, you gone make me spit up in your shit,” I warned.
“Feels sooooooo good.”
It did. She did. We did.
“Hyyyph.”
“Mmmm.”
She moved her hands from my shoulders to the bed, and then to her ankles.
Up.
Down.
Up.
Down.
“Fuck, baby.”
She was a menace. I gripped her waist, slowing her down. I flipped her ass over onto the bed and pushed both legs toward the headboard, never sliding out of her.
“Yesssssss.”
She was soaking.
“I’m ‘bout to nut all up in this shit.”
I flicked my thumb across her clit. She tightened around me.
“I’m cummmmmmmm— yessssss.”
I had her exactly where I wanted her. She’d always have me exactly where she wanted me.
I let off in her shit, mentally counting the number of pills we’d purchased in the last few days. If either of us wanted to keep her from being barefoot and pregnant, we’d need some form of contraceptive. Pulling out of her shit wasn’t an option. Not anymore.
I capped the OJ and placed it back in the fridge where it belonged. The plate I’d stacked sat on my palm as I headed toward the bedroom. I pushed the door open to find that Hyphen was still sound asleep.
I inhaled deeply and pushed that shit out. Trouble didn’t know it, yet, but I had every intention to do right by her. What her past nigga had done had nothing to do with the plans I was making for her, but everything to do with her readiness. She was on a mission.
Break hearts.
Empty pockets.
Work on Hyphen.
I was ready for her to work on herself more than anything. Stop the stealing, scamming, and playing niggas. I wanted to be her last lick.
She could hit my pockets every day while she continued to work on herself. I didn’t give a damn.
Patience. I promised myself. She’s worth it.
“Trouble,” I whispered, nudging her awake.
She stirred. Her hair was dishelved. Her eyes were slightly swollen. Her face was puffy.
“Hm?”
“I made you breakfast. How are you feeling?”
“Like crap.”
“Figured. I have a few stops to make. You trying to roll with a nigga?”
“I have to go to the coll–” she groaned. “I have some things to do, too.”
Sadness consumed me. I wasn’t ready for her to leave.
“You coming back?”
She shook her head.
“Not today, Flocco. We’ve be– I need to go home.”
“I made plans.”
“Can they wait for a day or two? I need to catch my breath.”
“Yeah. I’ll be at your door when I’m ready.”
“Okay.”
She didn’t protest. She understood I didn’t give a fuck if she did. She’d made a mistake letting me know she’d rather be in my bed than her own most nights. Every chance I got, I was kidnapping her fine ass, dragging her back to bed. My bed. Our bed.
I moved closer, forking some eggs. Hyphen opened wide. Slowly, she chewed, trying her hardest to collect herself.
Days blurred so easily with her in my line of vision for prolonged hours. As I looked at her hair sprawled out on my pillow, I imagined the days I’d come home from the shop with her waiting for me at the door. My heart smiled at the thought.
I’ve got to get this bread together.
I was ready to turn a few new leaves. While Hyphen worked on her shit, I’d work on mine. By the time she was ready for what I had to offer, there would be much more to fall back on.
Stability.
Legal entities.
Ownership.
Employment.
The streets could kiss my ass.
“Whaaaaat? Why are you smiling?”
“Me?”
“Yes, you, crazy.”
I didn’t realize my smile had spread from my thoughts to my face.
“You look beautiful.”
“I don’t feel like it. Breath stinks. Head hurts. I’m probably a little musty, too.”
Laughing, I assured her, “You’re not musty.”
“Oh.”
I placed the turkey bacon near her lips. She took a bite.
“I might miss you a little while you’re gone,” I confessed.
“You’ll miss me a lot, Flocco. Because, you’re bored ass shit here without me.”
I nodded, still laughing. “It’s true.”
“I’ll be back. I just need to come up for air. I have put so many tasks off. I can’t put them off any longer. Besides, I’d hate for you to fall in love with me.”
I tossed my head back, finding her words to be hilarious. It was too late. There were so many things I loved about Hyphen, including her ability to center herself in her universe. It made me do the same.
Baby girl cared about nothing or no one but herself.
Saga and her son were next up on her roster.
Everything else came in last place, including me.
I got most of her time, but I was in the same bracket as the rest of the niggas.
For the first time, that shit didn’t bother me, because I knew who’d hold the keys to her heart in the end.
Trouble wasn’t male-centered. Honestly, I would bet my last dollar that she hated niggas.
Hated how easy they were. Hated how gullible they were.
Hated how they thought with their little heads and not the big ones.
Hated how manipulative they were. Hated how dependent they were.
The list could go on forever. Fortunately, I didn’t fit in the same category as most niggas.
I was in a league of my own, much like Hyph.
“It’s inevitable, Trouble.”
She slid up the bed and took the plate. This time, she put a fork full of eggs to my mouth. I accepted.
“How did it feel?”
“What?”
“Losing your parents.”
A pain soared through my chest.
“Like the end of my world.”
“How’d it begin again?”
I shook my head and pulled in a heap of air, filling my lungs.
“Prayer,” I breathed out. “And, the idea that one day the person who ended their lives will be at the other end of my gun. I won’t hesitate to shoot.”
“You know who d–”
I shook my head.
“Nah. Not exactly. But, I will know.”
“How?”
Because I don’t forget a voice. I won’t ever forget that voice.
“I’ll know.”
We both chewed the bacon she passed back and forth.
“Shower?”
She nodded, a smile curling her lips into a smile.
“Get your head out of the gutter,” I chuckled.
“You first.”
I shook my head.
“Exactly.”
“Flocco!” Nevaeh called out as I slid into my whip.
“What’s up?”
“I made some greens the other day. I saw you had company so I didn’t want to disrupt. But, I froze them for you.”
“Appreciate that.”
“Here they are,” she said, holding up a large zip lock bag full of greens.
“I’m headed out right now. Put ‘em back in the freezer. I’ll get ‘em tomorrow.”
“Okay. They’ll be waiting.”
Nevaeh headed back inside of her crib. I started my whip and backed out of my driveway with a few things on my mind:
Getting to Hyphen’s house.
Pulling her into my arms.
Tonguing her down.
Having her riding shotgun.
Cruising the city with her by my side.
Her pussy in my mouth.
My dick in hers.
Not sleeping alone tonight.
Three days after we’d parted ways, I was standing in front of Hyphen’s front door, banging.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.