This Could Be Us But You Playin' 2 (7 page)

“I know that’s right,” Shanice agreed. 

At that time, the waitress walked up. She wore a bright smile on her face and introduced herself as Maria before she placed a platter of tortilla chips and salsa in front of Dominique. Once she was finished, she removed a pen and pad from her apron and asked them what they wanted to drink. Shanice ordered a glass of sweet tea, and Dominique opted for a margarita and a glass of water for herself. Since both women already knew what they wanted to eat, they went ahead and put their orders in as well. When the waitress had everything jotted down, she let them know that she would be putting their orders in and would return shortly. Right before she walked away, she told them to let her know if they needed anything else.

“Girl, I wish I could order a damn margarita,” Shanice said with a smirk, as she rubbed her small bump in a circular motion.

“Oh shit, I forgot you were pregnant. Congratulations!” Dominique cheered. Even though she still wondered why she hadn’t told her about it before the fight, she was truly happy for her best friend.

“Thank you.”

“When are you due?”

Shanice took another sip of her water. “At the end of February.”

“That’s what’s up.” Dominique nodded. “How does Lamar feel about having another baby?” she inquired, hoping that he was the father of this child. It was no secret that before Shanice got with him, she was hot in the pants. The fact that she had never told Dominique that she was pregnant made her wonder if it was supposed to be a secret.

The waitress walking up interrupted their conversation. With all three drinks on her tray, she lifted them both and placed them in front of each woman. When she turned to walk away, the best friends continued their discussion.

“He’s happy. You know, he wants a boy this time.” Shanice smirked again.

Dominique really wanted to ask her what she was smirking for because there wasn’t anything funny about dealing with a guy who you have to keep in the dark, but she bit her tongue. “I bet,” she said, trying to keep from rolling her eyes. “When do you find out the sex?”

“Sometime next month.”

“Cool, well keep me posted.”

“Girl, you already know I will.” Shanice grinned.

Yeah right, just like you kept me posted about you being pregnant again,
Dominique thought to herself. “You guys already have London, so a boy would give you the best of both worlds. Speaking of my stinka butt, how is she doing? I miss her so much.”

“She’s at the house with my mother. You know Mya loves her some London.”

“That she does. When am I going to be able to see her, bitch?”  Shanice smiled because she had already been looking for a reason to come and visit, and now she had one.

“I’ll bring her down there to see you and DJ this weekend.”

“Okay, that sounds good,” Dominique told her, picking up her drink and taking a sip from her straw. “I’m sorry, but this is so good.” She laughed.

“Whateva hoe.” Shanice rolled her eyes before she picked up her tea. “I hope they forgot to put alcohol in it.”

“Ha ha bitch, there’s
plenty
alcohol in here. Do you want to try some?” Dominique asked, holding her glass out towards Shanice.

“You get on my damn nerves.” She laughed. “Anyway, are you sure you are going to be at home this weekend?”

“Yeah, where else would I be?”

“Franny’s, like always.”

Dominique shook her head. “Oh, nah. I’ll be at home this weekend. I don’t be over there too much anymore.”

“Well, you know I’m nosy bitch, so spill the beans.” Shanice leaned forward. “Why were at Franny’s house so much? Now, I’m not dumb, so I know it was something.”

“Girl, you crazy.” Dominique giggled.

She thought about telling her friend about her and Kaleb hooking up a few times, but decided not to. It had been more than a week since she’d seen him and really didn’t want to talk about it. Not only that, but Dominique hadn’t told Shanice about them running into each other in the first place, so to tell her that they had been fucking around would make Shanice believe that she didn’t trust her with that kind of information. Although it wasn’t a big deal to Dominique if she knew or not, she figured if Shanice could hide her baby daddy and the fact that she was pregnant in the first place, she could have secrets as well.

“I ain’t crazy, I’m curious. What’s at Franny’s house that keeps you running there so much?” Shanice probed. “Or better yet, should I say who?”

“Nobody.” Dominique shrugged. “I just wanted to spend some time with my family. With Dre going back and forth to Louisiana, I get lonely in that house alone.”

“Yeah, I hear you.” Shanice smacked her lips. She didn’t believe one word of her friend’s lies. There was something going on, and she was going to find out, whether Dominique told her or not, and she said just that. “You ain’t gotta tell me. I’ll find out on my own.”

Carrying a tray with fish tacos, rice, and bean soup, the waitress returned again. After placing their plates in front of each of them, she asked if they needed anything else. When both ladies told her that they didn’t, she walked away and headed to the back of the restaurant. The friends picked back up their conversation and caught up what they’d missed with each other in the last few weeks while they ate their lunch. Shanice told Dominique all about her recent doctor’s appointments, as well as how London had been doing. When it was Dominique’s turn, she filled her best friend on what had been happening in her life. She told her about running into Deondre at the mall, even though she believed he was supposed to be out of town, not knowing that her friend already knew those details. Of course, Dominique left out the part about her being with Kaleb at the time. Since Deondre had never shared that information with Shanice either, she figured her friend was at the mall alone. After Dominique was finished explaining that part of the day, she went on to let Shanice see all the gifts Deondre had purchased for her.

“Is that a rose on your necklace?” Shanice asked.

“Yeah, he got me the matching earrings, bracelet, and ring.” Dominique told her, pointing to each of her jewelry pieces.

“You gotta be fucking kidding me!”

“What’s wrong with you?” Dominique asked surprised by her best friend’s outburst. The fact that she wore an evil scowl on her face didn’t go unnoticed.

“Nothing girl,” Shanice replied. Her skin immediately felt hot, and it was hard for her breathe. “I just don’t feel good all of a sudden,” she lied, while fanning her face. “This baby be having me all over the place.”

“Are you sure?” Dominique asked with a look of concern on her face.

“Yeah, I’m good… just a bit dizzy.”

“Well, we can get ready to go if you want.”

“That’s probably best.”

Calling the waitress over, Dominique asked her to bring over two to-go containers so that they could pack up the rest of their partially eaten food. When she returned with the Styrofoam cartons, they transferred their meals into them, paid the bill, and said their goodbyes. Outside, both women went their separate ways, each climbing into their own vehicles. After watching Shanice drive off, Dominique exited the parking lot and jumped on the freeway headed to Franny’s. She was going to pick up DJ, so they could go home. They had both been at her grandmother’s for the last two days, and she was ready to sleep in her own bed that night. As she drove, her mind drifted to Kaleb because usually they’d be somewhere together. Dominique wondered what he was doing, and if he was with his girlfriend. Even though she didn’t know what Tiera looked like, a vision of him with another woman clouded her thoughts. Dominique instantly shook her head, hoping to rid the image of her mind. While she had no right to be upset, she was.

Kaleb had been calling her nonstop for the first week. It had gotten so bad that she had to turn her ringer off when she was around Deondre, just so he wouldn’t get suspicious about her phone ringing so much. Those calls had stopped lately, and Dominique wondered what had changed to make him leave her alone.
It’s probably for the best,
she thought to herself.
It’s much less complicated this way. Besides, we are both involved with someone else anyway.
While Dominique tried to make her mind believe what she was thinking, her heart and body wasn’t falling for it. The truth of the matter was, she felt like a piece of her was missing. The love that she had for him was something that she couldn’t even explain if she tried. Not only that, but her skin craved his touch. Kaleb had a way of pleasing her entire body with just the slightest bit of contact. Dominique’s kitty throbbed just thinking about the last time they were together. 

Kaleb had her bent over the edge of the bed hitting her from behind. Her hands gripped the sheets as she buried her head into the mattress, trying to stifle the cries that came from her mouth. It hurt so good. Just thinking about it had Dominique ready to call him up, even though she knew it was wrong. She wanted to hear his voice because she missed him so much, as well as see if they could meet up before she headed home. As soon as she picked up her phone and scrolled down to his name, her phone rang in her hand. When the name flashed across the screen, Dominique sighed.
If this ain’t a sign, I don’t know what is.

“What’s up, Dre?” she answered, as she turned down her grandmother’s street.

Chapter 5

Shanice was so angry; she didn’t know what to do with herself. She couldn’t believe Deondre and the shit he pulled. He had done some fucked up things to her in the past, but today took the cake. Her hands squeezed the steering wheel tightly as she merged onto the intersection. She was gripping it so tight that her knuckles were white. Shanice hit the gas and accelerated as tears streamed down her face. It seemed like lately that’s all she had been doing, and she was tired of crying over Deondre’s dumb ass. With her exit in view, she sped up a little more. Once she was off the highway, she drove down the street for a little longer, until she pulled in front of a house not far from where her parents lived. Shanice glanced towards the residence, to make sure that there was no one sitting outside, before she parked and killed her engine. Quickly, she removed her seatbelt and reached into her purse to grab her phone. Her hands were shaking so bad that she dropped it. With it back in her grasp, she unlocked it and went to the number she was calling.

“Hello?”

“You are a piece of shit, you know that?” Shanice screamed into the phone.

“Huh?” Deondre asked, confused. “What the hell you tripping on now?”

“Oh I’m tripping about the fact that you gave that bitch all my fucking jewelry! You know damn well I hand picked out all of it, and you turn around and give it to her? That’s fucked up, Dre, even for you!”

“Calm down.”

“No, fuck that!” she continued to yell. “I’m not calming down a goddamn thing! How the hell do you think it’s okay to give somebody else my shit?”

“Look man, she kept asking me why I was at the mall, so I made up an excuse about shopping for her. What the hell else did you expect me to do?” Deondre asked, not seeing what the big deal was. 

“You were supposed to act like a fucking man and not some scared ass little boy who’s afraid of his—” Before she got a chance to finish her sentence, Deondre cut her off.

“Hold on.”

Shanice pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at it. “I know this bitch ain’t just put me on hold,” she said out loud. After a few seconds passed, Deondre’s voice came back on the line.

“Hello?”

“Did you just put me on hold?” she asked, “Don’t even answer that because I know your ignorant ass did. Who the fuck was that, Nikki?”

“Yeah, I was telling her I’d call her back.”

“So, let me get this straight,” Shanice paused. She was trying her best to calm down, but Deondre was making it extremely hard. “Not only did you give the hoe my jewelry that I asked you promised to buy me, but when I call you hurt about it, you click over in the middle of my rant to tell her that you’ll call her back?” She shook her head. “You should have left that bitch on hold, just like you always leave me hanging when it comes to her.”

“Watch your fucking mouth!” Deondre yelled. “I let that first bitch slide, but you know I ain’t about to sit on the phone and let you disrespect her.”

Shanice’s mouth dropped open. She was furious, not only because he had given away her stuff, but because he continued to put Dominique on a pedestal, all while disrespecting her every chance he got. “You know what, fuck her and fuck you too, bitch!”

“Who the fuc—”

“I’m talking to yo’ ass!” Shanice was the one who cut him off this time. “I’m sick of you and your damn demands!” As she yelled, sweat ran down the side of her face. Without missing a beat, she turned the key in the ignition, started her car, and turned the air conditioning on full blast. “You wanna sit on this damn phone and preach to me about not disrespecting yo’ bitch, but you do the shit all the time. What do you think you’re doing when you’re fucking me, huh Dre? Yeah, that’s disrespectful as hell, but you don’t care because it’s under your terms. It’s
always
under your terms and I’m sick of this shit!” 

“Man, come on,” Deondre sighed. Things were getting out of his control and he didn’t like that. “I don’t know why you getting all bent out of shape about the shit. I’ll buy you another set!”

“I don’t want another damn set, Dre. I wanted the one I asked yo’ ass to buy me the first fucking time!” she snapped. “Not only that, but I don’t want the same shit she’s got. I picked it out for myself because I had never seen anyone with it. Now you want me to rock the same shit your lame ass baby momma wears? What the fuck do you think we are, sister wives or some shit?”

“Look—”

“Do you know how it made me feel to see her wearing something that was supposed to be mine?” Shanice asked, now crying again. “That shit fucked me up, but of course you don’t give a damn, as long as little miss Dominique is happy. It’s fuck everyone else, right?”

“Now, you know that’s not true. I said I’ll buy you another one, alright? You know what, fuck it, I’ll buy you some other kind. It’s not that serious, for real.”

“Are you even listening to anything that I’m saying?” Shanice questioned, wiping her face with her hand. “You can’t be that fucking stupid, Dre, can you?”

“Look, I ain’t gone tell you no more to watch yo’ mouth,” he warned.

Shanice laughed through her pain. There he was, just as nonchalant as he always was when it came to her. If she had been Dominique, he would have been apologizing and begging for her forgiveness. No, he wasn’t going to do that for her because he wasn’t afraid of losing Shanice. Deondre figured that Shanice wasn’t going to go anywhere, so he could treat her how he wanted to. Of course, he knew that she would cry, curse, and talk a bunch of shit, but leave him alone, never. That is why the next words out of her mouth shocked him to the core.

“Well, you ain’t gotta tell me no more after today because I’m done with this shit. You can have Dominique, Danielle, Dashiki, and everybody else for all I give a fuck. I am officially done with you, Dre, and all of the bullshit that comes along with dealing with yo’ trifling ass. Bye, you fucking dummy!” Shanice yelled before she hung up in his ear. 

Tossing her phone onto the passenger seat, she brought her hands up to her face and cried. As she shed tear after tear, she could hear Deondre’s ringtone going off beside her, but she didn’t even bother to answer. Shanice already knew what he wanted. He was either going to dog her out about being disrespectful toward him, or call and pretend that he’s sorry just so she could let it go. She was tired of letting everything go when it came to him because it was always something. He gave, gave, gave, but was never on the receiving end of the bullshit, and it was time for him to see just how it felt to have someone not give a fuck about his feelings. Shanice looked at herself in her mirror. Her eyes are red and puffy and snot was running down her nose. Digging into her glove compartment, she grabbed a few of the McDonald’s napkins that were inside and cleaned up her face.
I got a lot of nerves calling him a dummy
, she laughed, dabbing at her eyes.
I gotta be the biggest one right now, but that shit is about to change.

Shanice knew what she signed up for in the beginning, so at first it was no big deal. She didn’t give two shits if Deondre spent all his time with Dominique and DJ because she knew that he would run to her whenever he was ready. That all changed once London was born. Something in Shanice changed. Having a child can definitely complicate things. About a month after she gave birth to London, Shanice started to feel like Deondre was taking advantage of her. He never came around to see his daughter at all, but when he was in need of some pussy, she was the first person that he ran to. Still trying to keep the peace, Shanice didn’t say much at first because she was afraid that he would leave and never come back. In her mind, having a small piece of Deondre was better than having none of him. It was around that time when being with Deondre became less about taking something from Dominique and more about falling head over heels in love with him.

Shanice tried as hard as she could to not allow her feelings to get involved, but it was extremely hard. Although Deondre didn’t show her as much love as he did Dominique, he could be a sweetheart when he wanted to. He’d call and check up on her throughout the day, or drop by when he knew that she was hungry. Those were some of the things that he did to make her fall for him. Now it seemed like all he did was make her cry. Shanice wasn’t sure if it was the pregnancy that had her emotional, or the fact that she was truly tired. Whichever the reason, she was going to show Deondre that she wasn’t going to be his stepping stone anymore. Either he was going to fall in line and treat her with respect, or they could really part ways. It hurt to think about the fact that things could finally end between them, but in the back of Shanice’s mind, she knew that Deondre loved her and wouldn’t let her go. She just needed to show him exactly what he was missing.

*****

“Where the hell you been?” Shanice asked her cousin when she walked into her kitchen with an overnight bag thrown over her shoulder. She hadn’t seen her since they came back from Myrtle Beach a week prior.”

“Damn, you sure are nosy, aren’t you?” Paris responded, plopping down on one of the chairs. She dropped her bag to the floor and leaned over to kiss London, who was seated in her highchair, on the cheek. “Hey baby, what you eating?” she asked the toddler.

“Hot dogs and French fries,” London told her with a mouth full of food. Her hands were covered with ketchup and by the way it was smeared all over the plate, it wasn’t hard to see that she had eaten that first.

“I see your momma still can’t cook,” Paris whispered under her breath.

Shanice looked down at her cousin and rolled her eyes. “Fuck you hoe! I can cook.”

“Ramon noodles, hotdogs, and damn fries don’t count.”

“Whatever, I get by,” Shanice declared.

Paris smirked and looked around the kitchen. “That you do.”

“Anyway, where are you coming from?”

“Damn, bitch! You just gotta know everything.” Paris shook her head. “Since you all in my business, I was with Marlon. He had to make a run down to Florida, and since I damn sure wasn’t going with him, I told him to drop me off over here.”

“Where is your car?”

“At my house. He picked me up the other night, so I left my car at home.”

“Oh, okay. Why didn’t you want to go with him to Florida?” Shanice asked. She knew her cousin loved to travel, especially to the warmer states.

“Bitch please! I wasn’t trying to get involved with none of the shit he’s into.” Paris smacked her lips. “Fuck around and get pulled over, and now they taking my sexy ass to jail because he didn’t want to fess up to his shit. Oh no boo, I’ll pass.” She waved her hand. “They ain’t gone have me in prison spread eagle shoving a mop up in my coochie. No ma’am. I told him he could take that ride by himself.”

Marlon was a guy that Paris had been dealing with off and on for the last few years. He was originally from Mississippi, but did his business all around the surrounding states. Selling weight was how he made his money. Although Paris knew he had a wife and kids at home, that didn’t bother her one bit, as long as he provided everything that she wanted or needed. The fact that he paid her mortgage, her car note and made sure to keep money in her pocket was enough for her. Paris and her cousin were alike in many ways. The main difference was the fact that Paris didn’t allow herself to fall for anyone. Every guy she dealt with was for a purpose, and that purpose was making sure she was always taken care of. Having babies and falling in love was something she would leave to other people. She was young and planned to enjoy her youth stress free.

Shanice laughed, “You so damn stupid. How you go from just riding with the man, to going to jail, to getting raped with a broomstick?” She giggled, “Something is seriously wrong with you.”

“I’m just saying, you never know who your dealing with, and what somebody will do if their back is against the wall.”

“I hear you, but do you think Marlon would do you like that for real?”

Paris looked at her cousin like she was crazy. “I don’t know, and I damn sure don’t want to find out. He’s cool to fuck around with, but I ain’t putting my life in that nigga’s hands. He got kids and shit at home that he wants to go home to, so why wouldn’t he hang my ass out to dry? I’m only one of the bitches he fucks with, so I know I can be replaced if need be,” Paris stressed her point. “I may not be the smartest bitch out here, but I damn sure ain’t the dumbest either.” 

“Well, if it’s like that, I’m glad you didn’t go either.”

“What do you have to eat in here because I don’t want no damn hotdogs.” Paris stood up, walked over towards the refrigerator, and opened it. “You ain’t got shit in here!”

“Do you want to order something?” Shanice asked, knowing her cousin was right. She hadn’t been to the grocery store yet, and even if she had, there wouldn’t have been anything but TV dinners and quick fixes.  

“Hell no! Marlon had me eating enough of that shit when we were together. I want some home cooking. Give me the keys to your car,” Paris told her, turning around with her hand out. “I’m about to go get something to cook because clearly, it ain’t shit in here.”

Standing up and walking over to her key hook, Shanice grabbed her keys and handed them to her cousin. “Awww, shit nah!” She danced, popping her booty. “You about to cook? Oh yeah.” She loved her cousin’s cooking.

Paris laughed. “Calm down bitch, because I ain’t doing too much. Ron is coming to get me in the morning, and we’re supposed to be flying to Vegas for the weekend.”