The Roof is on Fire (4 page)

“Motherfucker!” she shouted while holding her chin. Before she said anything else, my face twisted beyond recognition. I landed a straight punch directly to her right eye. Her head jerked back, and as I saw her eyes roll to white, that was when she fell back. She hit the floor—hard. But in no way was I done with her yet.

“You want some of me!” I yelled while punting her midsection like a football. “What you got to say now, bitch! If you want to act like a nigga, I'mma treat you like one!”

As Jada shielded her head with her arms, I tried to stomp the life out of her.

“Stoooop!” she howled. “Somebody help me, please! This nigga crazy!”

“Well, now you know, don't you?”

Since I couldn't get at her face like I wanted to, I pounded the back of her head with my fist. I wanted to knock her unconscious, but it wasn't long before Roc rushed into the kitchen to save her from an ass-kicking that wasn't going to end anytime soon.

With hella force, he slammed his body into mine like a head-on collision. He then lifted me at my waist, carrying me backward to the refrigerator, then crashing me into it. My back cracked, leaving me with a burning sensation flowing up and down my spine.

“Have you lost yo muthafuckin' mind?” he shouted as he held me against the refrigerator. “Fool, what's wrong with you?”

“Nigga, that bitch put her hands on me! Let me the fuck go or else it's gon' be you and me.”

“It's already you and me. Chill the fuck out and calm yo ass down!”

Wanting Roc out of my space, I pushed him back with force; force that caused him to stumble backward and then go after me again. This time, he grabbed my shirt and ripped it. He drew blood when he cracked his head against mine, head-butting me. I instantly got dizzy, especially when his head bumped into my mouth, splitting my lip. I guess I now knew why they called him Roc—his blows felt like stones. I could barely stay on my feet, but when I looked over his shoulder and saw Jada charging at me with a knife in her hand, I broke away from his grip and took off. The shiny blade had my name written all over it.

Jada shouted as she chased me around with the knife held up high. “You gon' die today! I swear to God that you will see Him soon.”

I was fucked up, no doubt, but so was Jada. Blood stained the front of her sweat suit, her lip was swollen and busted, and her bruised eye was damn near shut. Still, she was only a few feet away from me when Jaylin called for her to put the knife down.

“Give it here,” he calmly said, standing between us with a white towel wrapped around his waist. Obviously, he didn't hear what was going on because he was in the shower. “He ain't worth it, baby. Let it go and allow this fool to get out of here.”

Tears were streaming down Jada's face as she continued to hold the knife in her trembling hand. Her demon-like eyes were locked with mine. It was no secret that the bitch really wanted to kill me.

“Move, Jaylin,” she said while sobbing and barely able to catch her breath. “I…I want him dead!”

“No you don't. Calm down and think about what you're doing. Think, Jada, before you do something that you'll regret.”

She calmed down—a little. That was when Jaylin held her in his
arms. “I swear I want to kill him,” she cried with her face buried in his chest. “I can't let him leave here without killin' him.”

Good luck with that. And little did she know the feeling was mutual. I damn sure wasn't about to go down like this, but with Roc and Jaylin turning their backs on me, it was apparent that my time here was up. That was made clearer to me when Jeff and one bodyguard entered the house to escort me out.

“Gather your things, Prince, and go. What you did was totally uncalled for,” Jeff said.

I got defensive. “What did I do? I guess you didn't see what she did. She put her fuckin' hands on me first. None of this would've gone down like this, if she hadn't touched me. If I gotta go, her ass needs to go, too!”

Jada broke away from Jaylin's embrace and rushed off to the bedroom. She slammed the door behind her. Jeff went after her, but he said the door was locked and he couldn't get in.

“Jada, unlock the door,” he pleaded. “Do you need a doctor? If so, we want to get you one.”

A doctor? What about me? All these suckers were catering to the Drama Queen and she was the one who kicked the whole thing off. Jaylin and Roc stood near the bedroom door shooting crazy looks in my direction. They also asked Jada to open the door. Chase stood with her arms folded and lips poked out. We could all hear shit being tossed around inside of the bedroom and a whole lot of grunting and foul-mouth talking was going on. I suspected Jada was throwing a tantrum. It wasn't until the bodyguard kicked the door open when we saw what she had done. She had cut up some of my clothes, and shredded pieces were strewn around the room. She sat on my bed, slicing my Air Jordans in half, as if she was carving a turkey.

“Grrrrr,” she growled with gritted teeth and flung my shoe at me when I was in her sight.

“Let me ask this again,” I said. “I'm the one who has to go, right? Not her.”

Jada raised her voice and threatened me. “Whether I stay here or not, you'd better go now or leave here as a corpse. I'm not playin' when I say your life is on the line for doin' this shit to me.”

I waved her off. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. I don't give a fuck about leavin' here, but yo ass needs to start packin', too.”

“I don't think it's fair to Prince if Jada is not asked to leave,” Chase said. “This kind of behavior should not be tolerated. I don't feel safe with how she's utilizing that knife.”

Jada frowned and gave Chase one of the dirtiest looks I'd seen from her thus far. I was glad that Chase had come to my defense. She was right. Jada needed to go.

Jeff turned to Roc and Jaylin. “What are you guys' takes on this? Should Jada go or stay? Are the two of you uncomfortable with her staying here? Is it fair that Prince is the only one we're asking to leave?”

Jaylin looked at Roc, and then he looked at me. “I've been in situations where I came close to gettin' down like that too, but you got some serious issues, bro. On a for real tip, you need to get up out of here and deal with those demons pullin' at you. As for Jada, she stays.”

“I second that,” Jaylin said. “No statement will come from me, other than Prince needs to go.”

Jaylin walked off and went back into the bathroom. Roc went further into the bedroom and took the knife from Jada. Chase rolled her eyes, saying that it was a damn shame that I was asked to leave. I thought so too, but nobody saw things my way.

Jeff took Jada outside to cool off while I packed my things to leave. Once I was finished, I plopped down in front of the computer and took care of the last piece of fan mail I'd gotten. I scratched my head as I read a message from James from New Jersey.

What's up, Prince? My question for you is simple. Why blame other people for your fuck-ups and not take responsibility for your life? The answers to your troubles revolved around violence, but why not use your head to get out of the unfortunate situations you found yourself in? My advice would be for you to seek prayer. Brotha, you truly need it.

All I could do was shake my head. Everybody had the answers to correcting my problems. I bet any amount of money that James' life was more fucked-up than mine, yet he was trying to offer me advice. I almost broke my fingers trying to get my point across to this fool.

My house nigga with no trigger from New Jersey, what in the fuck are you talking about? The fact is, my Mama made some bad-ass choices that affected her life and mine too. Period. She is to blame for a lot that has gone on in my life, but as a lifelong Street Soldier, I took responsibility for things that affected me and handled my situations as best as I could. Feel free to talk yo shit all you want to. Feel free to shake yo head and point yo finger while you're at it, but I'll say this and leave it there. A man like you couldn't make it one day in my world. You don't understand it, and niggas like me are built to last. The question is, are you? Hell no, so therefore, I'mma need you to pray for yourself. Peace, bruh, holler back, but save all the bullshit I'm not trying to hear for another time.

After I finished with my response, I stood and cocked my hat on backwards. Jeff and his bodyguard escorted me out the front door.

“This is messed up,” I complained to Jeff as he went to his car. “At least, can a nigga get a ride back to the hood?”

“A taxi is on the way. I'll stay with you until it gets here. But if you don't mind, I must say this to you before you go. You must learn how to control your anger. I'm not saying that Jada didn't start that fight, I watched everything unfold. You, however, should not have gone after her like you did. She's a woman, Prince. For God's sake, she's a beautiful woman who didn't deserve what you did to her. You should've just walked away.”

His words pissed me off so bad that I started to go after him. Maybe I did have some anger issues that needed to be worked out, but they wouldn't be dealt with today.

“First of all, Jada ain't no woman. Just because she has a pussy, that does not make her one. She's a fuckin' bully that needed to be put in her place. You couldn't possibly expect for me to stand there and let her choke the shit out of me and not do anything. You, along with everybody else, made the call for me to leave here, so I'm done. I have no regrets. If that bitch ever put her hands on me again, she will get a repeat of what went down today.”

Thankfully, Jeff didn't get a chance to respond because the taxi pulled up to get me. I got in the backseat, stung by what had happened, yet grateful that I would never have to see any of these motherfuckers again. Or, at least, not until the reunion show that I was now looking forward to.

It had been a long day. Too long, but I wasn't ready to call it a night. I had too much on my mind. After what had happened between Jada and Prince, it made me think about the times I was provoked to choke the shit out of Nokea for dating Collins and for her giving the pussy to another man. I also thought about when I fucked up Scorpio for lying to me about being a stripper and for having sex with my cousin, Stephon. There was no doubt that a man could be pushed, but Prince had gone too far. Jada was messed up. No matter what she had done to him, she didn't deserve to be treated like that.

I didn't want to take sides, but I had to. Prince was too much trouble, but there was something inside of me that felt for the brother. My hope was that he got his shit together.

Instead of getting in bed, I sat outside on a lounging chair, listening to jazz on my headphones and drinking Remy, no ice. I was on my third glass when I saw Chase and Jada come outside with their sleepwear on. They were full of giggles and seemed chummy, considering the attitudes they had with each other earlier. I removed the headphones so I could hear what Chase had said.

“Come again,” I said.

“I promise you I will come for you anytime, Jaylin. But what I
said was, I see you have the right idea, pertaining to the drink in your hand.”

She smiled and sat next to me with a drink in her hand. Jada sat on the edge of my chair, drinking a wine cooler.

“We couldn't get any sleep with Roc snoring so loud,” Chase said. “He's in there sweating, moaning, and talking in his sleep. When we tried to wake him, he went off on us.”

“Sooo, we came out here to see what you were up to. We ain't interrupin' nothin', are we?”

I shrugged. “Just my thoughts, but maybe that's a good thing.” I looked at Jada's eye that was nearly shut. By morning, I was sure her face would be even more swollen and her eye would be completely shut. “Did you put some more ice on that?”

“Yeah, I did, but my face kept feelin' numb. I'll be okay, Daddy, so stop worrin' about me.”

“You may be okay on the outside, but scars like that can affect you for a lifetime. You know that, don't you?”

Jada looked down while biting her nail. “I know. But Prince ain't the first man that I had to get down and dirty like that with. I used to mess with this dude, Kiley, and we used to go toe-to-toe like that. He ain't never do me like Prince did, but we had plenty of fights that left me banged up.”

Chase spoke up as well. “Sounds like a relationship I was involved in, too. But I had no problem defending myself. I came so close to cutting his dick off, and when I burned down his house, he knew I wasn't playing.”

“Damn.” I looked at Chase with my eyes wide. “Remind me not to fuck with you, especially if you're cutting off dicks and burning down houses.”

Chase laughed. “I wouldn't do that to you, but y'all men need
to stop playing. A lot of women put their hearts into relationships, and men need to be held accountable for breaking our hearts.”

While listening to their situations, I gave them the best advice I could. “Look, this relationship shit is simple. Stop jumping into relationships with your hearts all into it. Y'all give too damn much sometimes and you got to hold yourself accountable for how much you choose to give.”