So Gone (9 page)

“Un uh, Girl, you
can’t smoke that mess up in here. We may get stopped by the police.
Furthermore, I don't want the smell of it in my clothes.”

“Hush. I got this.”
She waved me off, reached in her leather black Gucci handbag, pulled out a
lighter, and fired it up. “Crack your window. That will help so that the smell
won’t absorb in our clothes.”

I reached over and
pushed the button, and the window slowly glided downward. She took a few puffs
and fumbled around in her handbag. I looked away, taking in the scenery as I
drove down I-85. 

Atlanta was my
favorite city and living here had been an absolute dream. The city was
obviously doing something right because it was growing at a rapid pace. I could
be so happy here if I had the right person to share it with, I thought.

Leesha sprayed
something up in the air. I sniffed in its gritty scent. “That smells good,” I
told her as I zoomed past a SUV.

"You like
it?"

 “Yes, what is
that? The new Black Friday perfume by Nicki Minaj?”

She looked at me
sideways and twisted her upper lip. “Hell nawl, this is that new Apple Mango
Tango by Febreze. I stole it out of your bathroom. I ain’t gon’ be squirting my
expensive shit out to cover up the weed scent. No, ma’am. I save my good shit
for my body.”

I thought to
myself,
Well, damn, that’s where I recognized that scent from.

I pushed into the
parking lot of The Atlanta Civic Center. It was packed from one end to the
other with ticket holders. Females were getting out of their vehicles with the
fresh dos and banging outfits. A few couples walked towards the building
holding hands. Parking lot attendants directed traffic.

A black BMW rolled
along in front of us at a snail's pace. The driver of the Beemer was instructed
by one of the attendants to park next to a red truck. I rolled my window down,
and we were directed to park in a vacant space not far from the BMW in front of
me.

We stepped out of
the car and walked up to the entrance, where Leesha spotted Fabian in front of
us walking with some skinny brown-skinned woman who looked to be in her mid
thirties. She was wearing a dark blue halter dress. Fabian turned his head and
our eyes briefly met. He jerked his head back around so fast it's a miracle
that it didn't go flying off his neck.

I shook my head,
wondering why he was acting like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie
jar. He could have mentioned when we talked earlier that he was attending the
concert with a friend I would have understood. It wasn't like he was my man.

Leesha whispered,
“Chile, that’s the best he can do? And no that bitch didn’t leave the house
looking like a stank ass hoe. That trick skinnier than an ant’s dick.”

I shook my head and
tried my best not to laugh at the nutcase. Skinny Minnie was obviously doing
something right because at least she had a man.

We made it to the
auditorium and showed our tickets at the door. The inside of the place was
huge. Fluorescent lights hung down from the ceiling, casting a festive glow
over the concertgoers. Nearly all of the four thousand seats were already
occupied, although forty-five minutes remained before show time. We found our
front row seats and settled in.

Forty-five minutes
later the curtains opened and Keith Sweat swaggered out on the stage with the
microphone in his hand singing his throw back song, ‘Nobody.’

I could hardly
breathe while watching him sing. He glanced down at Leesha and smiled.

“Yo’ smile is so
pretty you can make the sun shine at night,” Leesha yelled out to him,
embarrassing the hell out of me.

After the third
song, I was breathless from his voice. The ladies were mesmerized and a bunch
of them were standing at the stage reaching out for him to touch their hands
looking like some straight groupies, and my cousin was one of them.

I covered my face
with my hand when she eased her black thong down, whirled it around like a
hula-hoop, and tossed it on stage. Her undies landed on the tip of Keith’s
shoe. I was so embarrassed I could have died, but I laughed it off and enjoyed
the show. It was exactly what I needed to forget about my problems with Blunt.

Hoes like Leesha
were always running their dick suckers about what they would do if they were
Mo’. I just laughed at that shit ‘cause they weren’t her, and they could never
be.

My boo was a
pretty, high yellow broad that didn’t have to stay in the mirror for hours like
most broke down welfare hoes to be a bad bitch. Mo' woke up out of her sleep
looking better than the average bitch looked after spending all day at the hair
salon. I didn't wanna lose my dime piece over a few pennies.

Some of the things
she hurled at me the other day hit me like a forearm to the back of the head. 
Her anger had come out of left field. I mean, I was fucking up, but damn. Love
should be love. Unconditionally.

The ying yang that
Leesha had popped meant nothin'; that hoe always had something slick to say.
She could whisper in Mo's ear 24/7, and it still wouldn't keep her from coming
back to me. I had something that no meddling ass cousin could replace. My dick
game was stupendous, and my mack game was just as potent.

In the bedroom, I
could make a woman forgive all my sins, but I didn’t rely on that to keep Mo’
hooked like a fish on a line. I made love to her body, but I
fucked
her
mind. She wasn’t going anywhere. Leesha was wasting her time tryin' to get her
to walk away.

Bitches like Leesha
fronted like they didn’t put up with no shit from a nigga, but that’s some
bullshit unless they only fucked with lames. ‘Cause every street nigga takes
his lady through some pain. Real talk, I did what I did because at the end of
the day, Mo’ wasn’t going nowhere. She couldn’t leave me alone ‘cause I was the
type that couldn’t be replaced. So anybody in her ear with an opinion could
just swallow it ‘cause it wasn’t gonna change shit.

A few days after
Mo' put me out, I rapped my knuckles against her front door and waited for her
to answer. As soon as she saw me, she would realize how much she missed a
nigga. I would carry her up to the bedroom and put the dick to her so good she
would go out shopping for me the next day.

Mo’ answered the
door in a cranberry red BCBG tube dress that showed off her thighs and six inch
silver stilettos that put her almost eye level with me. Her 'fit was
accessorized with the Christian Louboutin purse that I had bought her a month
ago. She was dressed to step out.

I blocked the
doorway with my body. "Where the fuck do you think you’re goin’ all
dressed up and looking sexy?”

Mo’ tried to push
pass me, but I was too strong for her to move. “I don’t owe you an
explanation,” she said.

“Don’t play yaself.
Answer me or you’re not goin’ nowhere,” I threatened and lightly pushed her
backwards with the palm of my hand.

She looked directly
in my eyes with a serious expression, scratched the back of her neck with her
French tipped nails, and tried to shit on me. “Well, since you’re all in my
business, I’m meeting a friend for a few drinks.”

“Male or a female?”

"I don't have
to answer that. Move, Blunt." She attempted to push pass me again. This
time I shoved her back in the house.

"Answer me or
you're not going anywhere," I repeated. Over her shoulder, her messy ass
cousin was tuned in.

“Blunt, are you on
drugs or something? You know better than to put your hands on me," fumed
Mo'.

"Answer my
question," I demanded. The scowl on my face was etched in stone.

"I don't have
to answer you."

"Ok, that
means you're going out with a nigga. Shawdy, you got me fucked up.” I stepped
up in her space.

Like a phantom,
Leesha ran up and stepped in front of Mo'. "You better think again!"
she defended her.

I looked from her
to Mo’. “You better tell yo’ cousin to stay out of my business before I punch
her in her shit.” I was tired of Leesha's mouth, fa real.

“Move out of my
way, Blunt, and leave my cousin alone. At least someone cares about me because
you certainly don’t.” She pushed her body against mine trying to force me out
of the way, but she failed.

“Nah. I ain’t
moving. You fuckin’ this nigga you're going to meet?”

“Boy, you are no
longer my man so you can stop with the questions.” She blew me off. That
ignited my rage.

I snatched the
purse off her shoulder and tossed it to the floor. “You ain’t gon’ be going off
to see the next nigga, wearing the shit that I bought yo’ ass,” I snapped.

"Really,
Blunt? Is that how you're carrying it?" She stormed upstairs before I
could respond.

A short while
later, she returned downstairs carrying a Gucci bag. She snatched the purse
that I had bought her up off the floor and placed its contents into the Gucci
bag. Then, she slung the purse at me.

"Get out of my
house, Blunt, and take that with you!"

“Okay, fuck it.
I’ma let you have the muthafucka you going out with if that's who you want!” My
eyes bored into hers. “You know I don’t play the other nigga games. What
belongs to me, can't no other nigga touch. So while you're on this new shit,
tryin' to impress your folks, you better make up your mind. Is it him or me?”

Mo' stood there
considering my words. She could tell that shit was about to be over forever if
she called my bluff.

"I play a lot
of games, Baby Girl, but my bitch fuckin' with another nigga ain't one of ‘em,"
I reemphasized.

"Your
bitch?" Whap! She slapped fire from me. "Really?" Her fist
connected with my jaw. I threw my arms up to block the next blow.

"He's a real
disrespectful mothafucka," Leesha unleashed.

I turned my head
and grilled her real fast, then returned my focus back to Mo'. I could see
tears puddling in the corners of her eyes. "Baby, I'm sorry.” I reached
out to hug her, but she stepped back.

"Don't you touch
me!" Her chest heaved up and down.

"Fa real, Mo',
you know I didn't mean it like that. You know I've got mad love and respect for
you."

"No, Blunt,
you don't have any respect for me at all. And the sad thing about it is that my
stupid ass was standing here thinking about giving you one last chance. Now
that the truth about what you think of me just slipped out of your mouth, it's
easier for me to move on." She sounded more sincere than ever.

"I said I'm
sorry." I looked at her with regret reflected on my face. The truth was, I
never categorized her as anything but a jewel. I was just so used to referring
to Luscious and 'em as bitches, the word had slipped out of my mouth.

"I'm way too
good to be talked to like that. Now, step out of my way," she demanded.

"I can't do
that, Baby Girl. I can't let you run to the next dude. Fa real, baby, I never
meant to disrespect you like that." I inflected my voice with the
sincerity that dwelled in my heart.

"Move,
Blunt!" Mo’ snorted.

"You heard
her!" Leesha  lipped.

That was it, she
had uttered one word too many. “I’ma show yo’ ass that I ain’t the one to be
fucked with.” I pushed Mo’ to the side.

“Please hit me so I
can call a police officer over here and have yo’ black ass locked up,” she
threatened, but that didn't stop me.

I backhanded her so
hard her hair flew all over her head. She fell to the floor holding her mouth.
"Nigga, you done fucked up!" she cried as she climbed to her feet.

I turned my head to
the patter of footsteps. Leesha's twins flew down the stairs and into the
kitchen. I shoved their mama back down on the floor.

Mo' jumped on my
back. "Get off of her!" she screamed, pummeling me in the back of the
head with her fists.

I slung my baby
over my shoulder, being careful not to hurt her. She cried out like I had body
slammed her. "Stay out of this, Baby Girl," I urged.

Out of the corner
of my eye, I saw the twins running towards me with butcher knives. “Don’t put
yo’ hands on my mama, nigga!” the taller one yelled out.

"I'll stab the
shit out of you," threatened her sister, wielding the jagged edged knife
out in front of her like a sword.

I didn't wanna take
the knives from the li'l girls and rough them up, but I wasn't about to let
them stab me either. Instinctively, my hand went to my waist.

"Will everyone
just calm down, please!" I screamed above the chaos. Things had gotten way
out of hand. I looked at Blunt with fire in my eyes. "Don't you
dare," I uttered sternly and his hand fell away from his waistline. I
pushed the twins back before someone got seriously hurt.

“Gut that
mothafucka like a fish!” Leesha encouraged her kids.

Akeela attacked,
slicing the knife through the air like a ninja. Blunt's hand shot back to his
waist. As quick as mercury, his arm rose up, and he had a gun pointed at the
child. "Back the fuck up," he growled.