The Streets Keep Calling (12 page)

The sound of my phone during dinner really burned me up.

“This better be good,” I said as soon as I picked up.

“Oh, it is,” Mannie vowed. “I just got word on Breeze. That nigga has a connect with the Mexicans. He's definitely been taking our business. He been flooding the seven cities with better coke at cheaper prices. That's why we can't compete. From what I hear, he's got plans to take over.” Mannie ran down the information like a confidential informant working for the police.

“Nobody's gonna take what I have and I'll make sure of that. I knew this day was soon coming. I've thought long and hard about it. I already have a plan in mind. I know what I have to do. I'm gonna make some phone calls and get back to you. Get ready for war, Mannie. Be ready to go on the word,” I directed him.

“You got it, boss. I'ma spread the word we shot shit to do,” he said before hanging up.

“Damn it!” I yelled as I threw my glass of wine against the wall.

“Biggs! Have you lost your mind? You're scaring the children,” Maria yelled, then directed her attention toward the kids. “You guys may be excused. Go on and get ready for your baths.” She sent them away from the dinner table. I completely ignored her as I dialed up Li'l D.

“What up boss?” he answered on the second ring.

“It's time for war.”

“I'm ready. When and where?” Li'l D asked like the true soldier he was.

“It's Breeze. We gotta let this nigga know we mean business. Find out where his spot is and run up in there. Round up the soldiers and hit him late in the night tomorrow,” I instructed Li'l D.

“Done,” D said before hanging up. I felt a little more at ease after getting off the phone with him. I knew if I could count on anyone to get the job done, it was Li'l D. He was what you call a true soldier; he didn't ask questions and just did as instructed.

“What is that all about?” Maria was in my face before I could even put my phone down on the table. This woman was really starting to get on my last nerve.

“Get out of my face, Maria. This doesn't concern you,” I warned her.

“No!” she yelled, then proceeded to put her finger in my face. “You will tell me what is going on!”

Without warning, I jumped out of the chair and pushed Maria against the wall. While pinned against the wall, I grabbed her by the neck and whispered in her ear, “This does not concern you,” then I walked away.

“May I take your order, please?” the waitress asked Tanisha. I could tell she hadn't been in good spirits all day.

“I'll have your sliced tomato and onion salad and a glass of merlot. That's all for me,” Tanisha replied.

“All right, and for you, sir.”

“Let me get the steak and lobster tail. For my steak, I would like it to be cooked well done. Also, I want a cold glass of Heineken.”

“No problem,” the waitress responded after jotting down our order and taking the menus from us.

“Baby, what's going on? What's on your mind?” I asked, truly concerned.

“I'm fine,” Tanisha commented.

“No, you're not. Something is going on. Is it me?”

“It's nothing like that. Breeze, I have to tell you something.”

“What is it? You can talk to me about anything, Tanisha,” I assured her.

“Well, it's just that every man dreams of a beautiful wife and kids. I'm confident that I could be the perfect wife for you, but it's the children who are a problem.”

“What? Are you saying you don't want to have my children?” I asked.

“No. I'm not saying that at all. I would love to have your children Breeze. It's that I can't.” She said with a worried look.

“Why not? Is it because of the drug game? Tanisha, I promise you this is all just temporary,” I explained.

“Breeze, listen to me,” Tanisha said sternly, then paused. She took a sip of her water, took a deep breath, and then continued. “I can't have babies. I don't ovulate as a normal woman would.” She broke down sobbing.

I quickly grabbed the cloth napkin that sat on the table. “Take this,” I offered.

“Thanks,” she whispered.

“I'm so sorry, Tanisha,” I added, caressing her hand.

“When the doctor told me on my last visit, I was speechless. The doctor said my eggs are not strong enough to conceive, let alone carry a baby to full term. I've always wanted a big family. Now I feel like I'm less than a woman.”

“I hear you. Listen, if it will help, the next time I get the kids, you can join us.”

“Okay,” she agreed.

“Cheer up, babe. Maybe, if you're willing, we can look into going to a specialist or something. I hear all the time about woman having children by surrogate moms. Don't worry. We'll work something out.” I tried my best to console her.

The rest of our dinner was kind of quiet and awkward. All sorts of things were going through my mind, but I tried not to show any worry across my face. After we ate, I grabbed a couple of DVDs from the Redbox at the store, and we headed home.

While we were in the middle of one of the movies Tanisha said, “Thank you for being there for me.” Since we had come home, I'd been doing my best to be a little extra affectionate with her hoping to get her to feel a little better about her situation. She was sitting between my legs, and we were hugged up under a blanket. I was doing my best to get through it, but that food from Ruth's Chris was starting to put me to sleep.

“You're welcome. That's what I'm here for,” I said before yawning.

“Listen, it's getting late and I have to be to work at seven o'clock in the morning for a manager's meeting. Before I go, I want you to know I really appreciate you being so supportive about this whole thing. It makes me feel so much better that you are okay with me not being able to have children. I was so scared of how you were going to react to the news,” Tanisha explained as she turned her face to look at me.

“Why would you be scared? I got you, baby. I ain't going nowhere,” I said as I leaned in to kiss her forehead. I pulled away, and she turned herself all the way around. She gave me soft, sweet kisses as her hands gently ran down my stomach and landed on the zipper of my jeans.

I allowed Tanisha to take the lead. Sex with her was different from the usual rough sex I had with Trixy. It was always deep and passionate. Whenever we had sex, I never got the urge to just want to bang her out and get my nut. With her, I would usually take my time and explore her body. I don't know what it was about her that wouldn't get me to just want to fuck her like that. The weird part was that I didn't even miss the rough sex, and I was cool with it.

After unzipping my jeans, she pulled them, along with my boxers, off. She took her time gripping my dick with both her hands. Then she looked up at me with a devilish smirk as she began to trace swirls with her tongue around the head of my penis. After that, she bent her head over and started sucking and kissing it all around. My shit started getting real wet and all her extra spit was dripping all over my balls. I don't know how or where she learned to be so on point with her head game. You'd never expect to get such good head from a classy-type woman. Either way, I was loving the shit out of it. When my balls were dripping wet, she grabbed one with each hand and began massaging them while she sucked on the tip of my dick. After a couple of minutes she got up and started stripping in front of me. Damn, this girl was sexy. My dick stood rock hard as she pulled off her clothes and straddled me. She sat down on top of me and slid my dick inside her. Her pussy was so tight, and it felt extra good that she let me go in raw dog. I guess she didn't mind not using a condom since she couldn't get pregnant anyway. Tanisha squeezed my nipples as she rode me giving long, deep strokes, forcing my dick deeper and deeper inside her. I could have busted off just from the moans and groans she made. And, I gotta admit, it'd been a long time since I had straight skin-to-skin contact, so my shit was feeling extra sensitive right about now. We made sweet love for thirty minutes before we came together.

After Tanisha left, I was already starting to miss her when my phone rang.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Um, hey, Breeze, it's Maria. I'm sorry to be calling so late. Would it be all right if the kids and I come over for a bit?” Maria asked in a low, cracked voice. I wasn't sure, but it almost sounded like she was crying.

“Yeah, that's cool. Is everything straight wit'chu? Are my kids okay?” I asked. Maria had never asked to come over, and she had never called so late. I knew something was up.

“Yes.”

“Do you know where the Hamptons Apartments are?” I asked.

“It's near the water, right?”

“Yeah, it's apartment number five. I'll see you when you get here.”

I paced the floor and kept looking at the clock while I waited for Maria to reach me. It seemed like every five minutes I would look out the window, hoping to see them walking up. I couldn't relax. I felt deep inside that something was wrong. All I could think about was that that Mr. Biggs nigga had done something to my kids. My mind was made up; if that nigga had touched my kids I would be going back to prison. I knew that would be well worth the trip. I would spend the rest of my life in jail or go to the electric chair to protect my children.

When I looked out the window for the fourth time I saw Maria and the children. I quickly ran to the door and swung it open. After the kids came through the front door, I scooped them both up at the same time for hugs. Maria didn't say much, but I could see worry all over her face. I didn't want to talk about things in front of the kids, so I turned on the TV and grabbed some snacks. With popcorn and grape soda in our hands, we watched about thirty minutes of
The Proud Family
. It didn't take long before they were knocked out. After I laid them down on my bed and made sure they were comfortable, I came back to the living room to chat with Maria.

“What's going on? Maria, you didn't come over tonight for nothing.”

“Biggs slammed me up against the wall,” she explained, showing me the bruises on her back. She kept her face down, and I could tell she was embarrassed about it.

“Is this the first time? Did he do it in front of my kids?” I asked, more concerned about my kids' safety than Maria's bruises.

“No, he didn't do it in front of them. Yes, it was his first time. He's frustrated about the business. Money is barely coming in. From what I hear, he thinks you're trying to take over his empire. Breeze, watch your back. Biggs, Li'l D, Mannie, and their little goons may be paying you a visit,” she added before getting up and almost slipping on some soda the kids had spilt earlier. I reached out and caught her in my arms just in time.

“You okay?” I asked, smirking. Call me messed up, but it took everything in me not to laugh at the way she almost busted her ass.

“Yeah, I'm okay, thanks,” she said as she looked up at me.

“Good, 'cause that shit would've been real funny if you woulda fallen!” I said. I couldn't hold it back anymore and fell out laughing.

“Breeze! You never change!” she said in between laughs. “Boy, you so stupid!” she said, doing her best Gina impersonation from
Martin
.

“Oh, wow! You taking it real back with that one, Maria. I forgot all about that,” I said to her. Back when we were dating, we used to watch
Martin
every night it came on. She and I had this thing where I would be her Martin and she would be my Gina. Seeing her do that reminded me of the Maria I'd fallen in love with so many years back. When we finally calmed down from laughing, there was an awkward silence between us. I let go of her and was about to walk away, when she grabbed my arm to stop me.

“Breeze, I'm sorry for everything I've done to you,” Maria confessed, “I know it probably doesn't make that much of a difference, but I really mean it. I was wrong for a lot of things.”

“Maria, you will never know how bad you hurt me,” was all I could respond at that moment. I didn't know what to make of her apology. I never expected that to come out of her mouth. As long as I'd known her, she had always been too proud to admit to anybody if she was ever wrong about something.

Our eyes met and we started kissing. The more we kissed, the more my feelings took me back to when we were married. Now, I had her pinned up against the wall. Not wanting to hurt her back any more than it already was, I spun her around and pushed her breasts up against the wall. I kissed her neck while I rubbed my hands along her waist and thighs. I hadn't been this physically close to her in years and she felt so unbelievably good. I lifted her summer dress up and moved her panties to the side. I had been waiting five long years for this moment. I slid two fingers in her slit and started rotating my fingers.

“Breeze,” she moaned in between breaths. “Oh, Breezy. Give it to me,” she whispered and moaned.

“Remember this?” I asked as I eased my dick into her pussy. I almost lost my breath when I pushed every inch of myself all the way in one swift motion. I grabbed her by the hips and wasted no time getting in some deep, long strokes. No one could ever take my strokes like that except for Maria. Nigga felt like he was finally home while being up in there.

“Yes.” She shuddered in ecstasy. I began caressing her nipples just the way she'd always liked it. Some things about Maria I could just never forget. She began to tighten her pussy around my dick. As she pushed her head back, Maria closed her eyes, enjoying this pleasure I was giving to her. I came without a moment's notice and so did she.

As soon as I came, I felt guilty about what I had just done. She pulled her dress back down and asked where the bathroom was so she could freshen up. As I stood there getting myself together, my mind was everywhere. I was used to fucking with different women all the time, but tonight was different. I had just fucked my wife hours within having made love to wifey. But what fucked me up right now was that I felt like I'd just cheated Tanisha and not Maria. Maria was my wife and my kids' mother, but she wasn't about shit. Yeah, she'd said she was sorry, but I wasn't fazed or moved by her comments. The way I saw it, she saw me on the come up again, and realized that her man was going down, so she wanted to make sure she stayed on the winner's side. I knew deep inside she didn't give a damn about anyone but herself and money. She probably figured I would just open my arms and take her back like it was all water under the bridge, but she had another think coming. Even with that said, I let Maria and the kids stay at my place for the night.

The next morning, I got Maria and the kids up early. I had some business to take care of and I wanted them out of the house. Before sending them off, I gave Maria a cell phone so that I could reach her and the kids at all times.

As soon as they left, I started making some phone calls. Before noon hit, I had my soldiers gathered up and ready to go. We paid Mannie a little visit, announcing our arrival by blasting his door wide open. I had to let these niggas know we meant business. Borne and one of his boys took to the left while me and two of my other niggas went right. Motherfuckers didn't know what hit them. There were a couple of hoes in there sucking dick, so we got to see some titties bouncing while we handled our business. After we made sure we had left our mark, we casually walked out of the house like nothing had happened.

“Good shit,” I said to Borne as we sat at a diner having lunch. “I'm glad I got to them before they got to me,” I added.

“Yeah nigga. These motherfuckers need to recognize shit is about to change, 'cause we taking back over!” he said as he reached over to give me a pound.

“Yeah!” I chuckled. “I'm just mad that nigga Mannie had been there for the party,” I said. We finished our plates and I went back to the bachelor pad. I knew once the word spread about what had happened, Biggs was really gonna have it out for me, so I had to lay low for a while. I rounded up a few important things and set off to a hotel in Williamsburg. My next step was to get another spot no one would know about.

“Ah, man,” I sighed while lying across the bed. I looked at the phone to see I'd just missed Tanisha's call. I didn't call her back because I really wasn't in the mood for talking. Besides, I couldn't dare tell her what happened. My baby was a worry-wart, and I didn't want to add more to her daily stress.