Chapter 12
Rico Briggs
Caught In The Game
Ihave a football game tomorrow afternoon.
We’d just got out of practice, and my body felt beat down.
It was a little after five in the evening, and before I went back to my apartment to get my mind right, I was headed to my baby mama’s spot, so that I could see my daughter.
Promise had already ensured me that she had a few of her home girls at her house right now because they were having a little girl time.
I texted her back, letting her know that I didn’t care about any of that stuff.
As long as my daughter was over there, I was given the opportunity to hold her, bath her, give her a bottle, put her to bed, and then be on my way. That was all that mattered to me.
Since my daughter was born, I had this thing where I looked at her as my good luck charm when it came to my game days.
I had to see her the day before my games.
Right now, she is only two months old, meaning she was too young to be at my games, so for now, I’ll just take her being my good luck the day before.
I drove with the radio off, having a lot on my mind. I was stressing. Stressing about shit that I couldn’t talk to anyone about, and that’s the part that was driving me crazy. I’d gotten myself wrapped up into some shit, and if exposed to the public, it could ruin me. It could ruin my future.
As I was thinking about the shit that I’d gotten myself into, my mind drifted off to last weekend at my grandma’s house, and the way my big cousin Tank had gotten on me.
I could lie to a lot of people, but Tank and my pops were two people that I couldn’t look in the eyes and lie to.
I mean, physically, I could do it, but I couldn’t get away with it because they would know that I was lying.
It’s crazy how Tank only had one little run in with those two niggas, and he could already sense the bullshit that was up.
I would never confess to Tank, or to anyone else the shit that I was wrapped up in with those niggas because I knew that they would be highly disappointed in me.
It’s no getting out of the shit that I was wrapped up in with them, and that’s why as I was driving right now, with the radio off, there was so much running through my mind, and so much that I was stressed out about.
I eventually pulled up to Promise’s apartment complex.
Promise lived luxury. She wasn’t some bum ass bitch that didn’t have anything going for herself.
My baby mama was a hustler when it came to doing hair, and truth be told, her hustle is one of the things that attracted me to her in the first place.
She was one of the hottest hair stylist in Miami.
Owned a nice ass shop too. Even with her having her own hustle, and money, she stayed in my pockets, and that’s one of the things that we would clash about.
Before fuckin with me, Promise has always dealt with niggas with money.
They would drop crazy amounts of money on her, and she expected me to do the same thing in return.
I didn’t mind spoiling my daughter. I spoiled Romy in every way possible, but some of the shit that Promise wanted me to get for a two-month-old baby was ridiculous.
Promise followed a lot of famous women on social media, and she’ll see they’ll post a new Dior stroller, and she’ll send the link to me, thinking that I was supposed to send her funds for a $10k stroller.
She’ll shop online at luxury stores like Gucci, Burberry and shit like that for our daughter, purchase the items, and send the receipt to me, thinking that I was supposed to reimburse her.
She treated me like I was a walking lick, and that’s the shit that aggravated me the most about her.
If we weren’t arguing about money, it was about shit like her always wanting to be outside, and in the midst of that, she would leave my daughter with whoever the fuck was available to watch her, and I didn’t like that.
Her mouth was something else that we clashed about.
She was a typical Miami bitch with a mouth on her that I would want to punch her in 99% of the time that I was around her.
Security let me through the gate, and I drove around, finding her building, and I parked in the visitors parking lot.
I stepped out of the car, and the only thing that I had on was a white v- neck, some gray joggers, socks, with slides on my feet.
I showered and changed in the locker after practice.
I had fresh braids in my hair, that was covered by a black, do- rag on my head.
I’d come bearing new clothes and shoes for my daughter, just as I would each time that I would come to see her, so I held the shopping bags in my hands, as I made my way over to the stairs, and I jogged up them, not stopping until I got on the 3rd floor, which is where Promise lived.
I made it to her door, where I could hear music, and loud laughter from the inside.
I beat on the door, and it took about a minute, but the door eventually opened, and it was Promise standing on the other side.
She was carrying our daughter Romy in her arms, who was wide awake, and her nosy ass was looking all around, trying to see who was at the door.
I laughed when I saw her doing that, as I reached my hands in, so that I could get her from her mama.
“It’s like she knew that you were on the way or something. She was trying to dose off, but wouldn’t fully do it,” Promise said to me the second that I got Romy from her. I sat the bags down on the floor, sitting them right by the door.
My daughter was cooing as I held her, and I kissed her all over her little face.
I took my eyes off Romy, and I looked over at Promise, and seeing her, I swear it made all the sense in the world why I had been fuckin her crazy ass in the first place.
It wasn’t even so much the body that had me going crazy; it was the face.
Don’t get me wrong, the body was nicer than a motha fucka, but the face on her was one out of this world.
Big, brown eyes that reminded me of the Bratz dolls that my little sister used to play with when she was younger.
She also had these big lips, that were soft like pillows.
A cute, beauty mark was on her top lip, and call me weird, but that was one of the things that really stood out to me when we first met.
Looking at Promise, you wouldn’t think that she was older than me.
She was twenty- eight, but she looked to have been my age.
Promise was well known in Miami from doing hair, and because of all the niggas that she would fuck around with.
She had a history of fuckin around with any nigga that had a dollar.
I wouldn’t say that she was using men for money because she had her own.
That just happened to be her preference.
I thought that I was doing something when I started fuckin around with her because she was cool in the beginning, but once she got pregnant, and Romy got here, this bitch has been giving me a run for my money, making me regret the day that I ever stuck my dick in her.
“Ima get her ready for bed, and stuff,” I let Promise know, and she nodded her head, letting me know that that was fine.
So that I wouldn’t be walking through her crib with my slides on, I left them by the door, keeping on my socks.
Walking through the apartment, I was going to have to pass by her living room area, and once I got over there, I saw that she had a few of her home girls, and some of her cousins.
They were all on the living room couch chilling.
I saw a couple of hookahs on the table, shot glasses, uno cards, and from the backwoods that were on the table, I knew that they were going to be smoking soon.
I turned my head to look at Promise, but I didn’t say anything. I would address it if she followed me to the back.
“Hey Rico! How you, and the rest of the team looking tomorrow? I got ya’ll on my ticket, and it need to hit.
My birthday coming up next weekend, and I’m trying to win some money on ya’ll tomorrow,” that was Keke, and she was Promise’s cousin.
They were the same age. I fucked with Keke for the most part.
A lot of times, she played the middleman between me, and Promise.
She talked a lot of shit, but she was cool.
“We looking good for tomorrow. Don’t ever bet against us.
How ya’ll doing ladies?” I asked, just being respectful, speaking to the rest of the women that were here.
They all spoke back, and that’s when I headed towards the back, where Romy’s room was.
Promise followed behind me, and she closed the door behind us.
“Don’t even start tripping about the backwoods that you saw on the table. They know to smoke that shit outside on the balcony. I don’t even smoke in my own house, so you know that they not going to do it,” she said it, so that I wouldn’t have to.
I went over to the rocking chair that was in Romy’s room, and I sat her down in my lap, wanting to keep her up, and play with her a little bit before I got her ready for bed.
“I’m not tripping about the girl’s night that you having.
The part I don’t understand is that you know you going to be drinking and smoking, so why wouldn’t you ask me if I could take Romy to my mama house?
My mama not doing shit, and she be looking for any little reason to watch after her grandchild.
That’s the only part I don’t understand with you.
My people be willing to watch Romy, but you don’t let them,” I said to her.
She stood by the door with her arms crossed, rolling her eyes at me, as she listened to what I was saying to her.