Welfare Wifeys (22 page)

“Just breathe, Malika,” she told herself. She took stock of her surroundings and realized that she had walked all the way to 109th Street. She was now not only aggravated and confused, but almost a half mile away from the apartment she was in no rush to get back to. For as much as she loved Solomon she couldn’t deal with him at that moment. She spent all of her time taking care of him and that night she wanted to be taken care of. After digging a quarter out of her pocket she found a pay phone and called Teddy.

Solomon gave Malika about a fifteen-minute head start before slipping into his jacket and heading for the door. He stopped in front of the mirror to give himself the once-over before slipping out the door. He knew his mother would try and kill him if she found out that he’d gone out after dark which is why he had no intentions of getting caught.

By the time Solomon made it from the elevator to the lobby door his whole demeanor had changed. His happy schoolboy jaunt slowed to a bop and a scowl melted over his face. The drop in the temperature had sent most people indoors, but the few who made their lives in the courtyard remained. Nodding to a few heads he knew Solomon ambled from the building over to the bench where Lloyd and Jay were applying their trade.

“Oh, shit, my nigga ‘Love LockDown,’ ” Lloyd ribbed Solomon as soon as he walked up. He was sitting on the backrest of the bench passing something to an older guy that Solomon had seen around.

“What’s good, son?” Solomon gave Lloyd dap and then Jay.

“Sol, ya moms is gonna flip if she catch you out here.” Jay looked around nervously as if Malika would spring from the bushes at any moment.

“Nah, she gone for a while.” Solomon took a seat on the bench next to Jay. “What’s good wit y’all fools?”

“Out here chasing a dollar. Fuck is good wit you?” Lloyd asked in an accusatory tone as he twirled a cigar back and forth between his fingers.

“You know how I keep it,” Solomon said in a hip tone that made Lloyd scoff.

“Yeah, which is why I’m trying to figure out what you’re doing out here after the streetlights have come on?”

“Come on, B, stop trying to play me like I’m one of the lil niggaz from behind the center or something,” Solomon said. It always irritated him when the older heads made fun of his mother’s tight yoke on him, but Lloyd especially.

“Don’t wet that, Sol, Lloyd is just playing,” Jay said in an attempt to ease the discomfort he knew his friend was feeling.

Lloyd just scoffed and proceeded to split the cigar down the middle. “So where’d ya moms go to have you feeling frog enough to be out here hanging with the scumbags?”

“I don’t know.” Solomon shrugged. “She broke out on some fake mad shit a lil while ago. She’s probably up the block at Jada’s or something.”

“Yo, that is one bad bitch!” Jay said excitedly.

“Yeah and she’s out of your league, lil stud,” Lloyd said, shooting him down.

“The way I hear it she’s outta anybody’s league unless it’s Cutty’s,” Solomon added his two cents.

“See,” Lloyd began as he lit the blunt he’d expertly rolled, “that’s the problem with y’all cats, you always got ya mouth in grown folks’ business and don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Man, everybody knows Jada is Cutty’s BM and the nigga is straight crazy over her,” Jay said.

“That ain’t the word on the street.” Lloyd exhaled a fog of smoke into Jay’s face. “Cutty got a bitch uptown that he’s claiming as his
wife so Jada is up for the highest bidder. My nigga Scar been sizing that up for a minute.” Lloyd handed the blunt to Jay. The boy tried to hit the weed like a champ and damn near choked to death.

Solomon looked at Lloyd quizzically. “Jada is a serious ass broad and only fucks wit boss cats, if anything I’d think she’d be trying to set it out to Prince if anybody.”

“Prince ain’t the boss of shit!” Lloyd said sharply. “All that nigga does is go between us and the man holding the yay. Solomon, you see for yourself every time you come out here it’s us on the money. This hood and all the money that passes through it belongs to us. You better ask ya man, shorty.”

“He ain’t lying,” Jay said and pulled a knot of money out of his pocket to prove it. “We be getting stupid paper outta these buildings, Sol.” He waved the money proudly. The wad was money from the drug package, not Jay’s, but Solomon was naïve enough to be enticed.

Jay tried to pass the blunt to Solomon but he declined. “I’m good.”

Lloyd laughed. “Relax, it’s only some
green
. What, you think we gonna give you dust or something on the sneak?” He tried to loosen him up but Solomon was still hesitant. “Jay, I told you this nigga was a square.”

Solomon sat on the bench feeling like every set of eyes in the entire projects were focused on him. In the back of his mind he could hear his mother giving him a speech about gateway drugs, but it was drowned out by the mocking stare he was getting from Lloyd and his desire to belong. “Fuck it,” Solomon said and took the weed.

Malika wasn’t sure how it had happened but she ended up at Teddy’s apartment in the Bronx. She had called him just to shoot the breeze and try to burn off some steam before she went back home, but the more she talked the more she opened up about what was going on with her. The next thing she knew she was crying and
Teddy was pulling up to the corner in his Durango. They rode around for a while and talked while they sipped vodka and smoked green. She hadn’t even realized that they’d left Manhattan until Teddy was parking the truck on 184th and Valentine. It was a tastefully decorated studio with a big screen television and a futon. He’d claimed he only needed five minutes to grab his wallet and change his jacket, but that five minutes turned into a half hour because TV1 was showing
Sparkle
and it was both their favorites.

Malika was at peace, lying across the futon watching Lonette McKee working the sexy red dress across the stage. She didn’t get this kind of solitude with Solomon’s antics and staring at the drab yellow walls of her apartment and it felt good. Without even realizing she had done so she snuggled closer to Teddy.

“I miss this,” Teddy said, sealing the ends of the joint he was rolling.

“What,
Sparkle?
” Malika looked up at him.

“No, this.” He motioned to them. “Remember when we used to do this all the time, lay around and watch movies?”

“Yeah, it would be nice until your phone would ring and you’d go in the bathroom to take the call.” Malika sat up. “Teddy, I didn’t really come over here to go down memory lane. I have enough negative stuff running around in my head already without adding our failed little romance to it.”

“Malika, how can you call something that was never given a chance to work failed? When things were good between us they were really good. Don’t you miss it?”

“Yeah I do,” she admitted, “but I’m not willing to pay the price tag you’re trying to hang on it. Yo, men continue to baffle me with the way they move. Y’all can have something that’s priceless and you still want more. Why can’t you ever be satisfied with just one chick?”

“Because we’re greedy,” he said honestly. “Now before you go all Shirley Chisum on me, let me explain. Men, we’re like animals, meaning we move off instinct instead of thoughts. No matter how
much a dude loves his girl, he’s always gonna lust after other chicks, it’s just how we’re wired. But this doesn’t mean we always gonna act on it. Our base desire to conquer women is why it’s so hard to be faithful, but it’s not impossible to be with one woman.”

“So then why did you make it seem so impossible?” she asked.

“Because back then I didn’t have that kind of discipline.” He gave her a sincere look. The pain Malika saw behind his eyes caused her to turn away but he made her look at him. “I’m a different man now.” He kissed her lips softly and ran his hand down her back.

“Teddy, don’t.” She pulled away, but it was halfhearted. It had been so long since she had been touched by a man that it felt almost electric. She wanted to give herself to him, but she was afraid.

“Malika, you don’t have to carry your burdens anymore.” He kissed her again and this time she kissed him back. “Let me help you carry them.”

Time wrapped in on itself blurring the lines between seconds, minutes, and hours. It felt like Teddy had one thousand hands as he seemed to touch her everywhere at once, lighting small fires under her skin and deep in her gut. She floated down onto the futon and let him command her body. Teddy slipped between her legs, kissing her neck and stomach while he worked her pussy moist with two fingers. His penis felt heavy in his hand when he pulled it out and tried to glide it inside Malika. He had almost penetrated her when she stopped him.

“I know you got a condom?” She looked up at him with intoxicated eyes.

“Come on, baby, you know me.” He pleaded, feeling like he was going to cum prematurely.

“Teddy, I’m already feeling like this is a mistake, so if I were you I’d wrap this pickle before I change my mind.” She reached down and stroked his thick penis, dripping pre-cum onto her thigh.

Teddy grumbled something and rolled off her and walked to the bathroom with his rock-hard dick slapping his thighs. A few
seconds later he came back holding up a Magnum package for her approval.

“That’s more like it,” Malika said with a smile.

Teddy rolled the condom over his throbbing manhood and lowered himself on top of Malika again. She was tight, so tight that even with her own moisture and the lubricant from the condom he couldn’t get it in without hurting both of them. Teddy parted her legs and lowered his face to her vagina where he proceeded to work his tongue inside her, sending jolts of pleasure through her limbs. Malika dragged her nails across the back of Teddy’s scalp while he worked her to a nice lather. She stared up at the ceiling as spots danced before her eyes while Teddy continued to lap her like a thirsty kitten. Her heart screamed “no,” but her body barked “yes,” and she tried to shove Teddy’s whole face inside her. All of her fears and apprehensions faded away leaving only the longing to feel Teddy inside her and she let him know by reluctantly pulling his face free of her vagina.

Teddy’s goatee was slick with Malika’s juices as he looked down into her hungry eyes. He knew just what she wanted and intended to give it to her. Now that she was wet enough it was a little easier to enter her. Teddy slipped a little of him at a time into her tight glove, silently calling on God and every other saint he could think of. Malika’s pussy was like a beam of sunshine shining down on his face on a summer day. With every pump inside her sweetness Teddy could feel her walls tightening around his shaft, making him want to go deeper. He held out for ten minutes before the buildup became too much for him and he exploded inside the condom. Teddy continued pumping as the cum kept spurting from his dick, eventually spilling out over the rim of the condom and dripping onto the futon. When he felt the last of it and his strength faded he collapsed on top of Malika, sucking his thumb like a baby.

Ms. Pat blew into the living room like Hurricane Katrina. She was dressed in a deep purple skirt with a purple and yellow top, accented by the matching wide-brimmed purple hat. From behind her purple bifocals she glared at everyone assembled. Mookie and Fish sat at the coffee table trying not to look guilty of whatever they were up to. By their glassy eyes and stiff jaws, everyone in the house already had an idea. Miles and Jalen ran around the living room screaming and throwing socks at each other and bumping into Ms. Pat’s china cabinet, while Davita lounged on the couch, texting on her phone like she didn’t notice.

“Y’all don’t hear the door?” Ms. Pat asked.

“No, Mama,” Mookie said with a glassy look to his eyes. He and Fish had been sitting there stuck on stupid since they’d walked in almost an hour prior.

“I know it ain’t for me, so why bother?” Davita rolled her eyes and went back to texting on her phone. Her little brother and sister never broke their stride as they continued running around the coffee table, knocking one of Ms. Pat’s glass figurines to the floor and shattering it.

Ms. Pat’s glasses fogged up as she walked calmly into the kitchen
and came out with a glass of water, which she sipped gingerly. She snatched Davita’s phone, mid-text, and dropped it into the glass of water, then tossed the water and phone onto the table between Mookie and Fish. Without missing a beat she tripped the running Jalen and snatched Miles by the back of his shirt and flung him on the couch next to his sister. Now that she had all their attentions Ms. Pat spoke.

“Heavenly Father you have surely blessed me with a house full of the laziest, most useless creatures you have ever seen fit to breathe breath in.” Ms. Pat shook her head. “You lazy souls eat, sleep, shit, and pluck my nerves rent-free and I can’t even get you off your asses to answer the door?” Davita opened her mouth to say something but Ms. Pat silenced her with a pointed finger. “I wish you would open your smart-ass mouth so I can send them rotten-ass teeth on an all-expenses-paid trip down your throat.” Davita folded her arms but didn’t say anything. “See”—Ms. Pat took slow steps toward Davita—“that’s ya problem now, your mouth spends more time open than ya ears. If you’d spent as much time paying attention in school as you did talking slick you might not be getting left back.”

“Again,” Mookie added.

“And you.” Ms. Pat turned her attention to her son. “I don’t know what you and that extra thick Negro sitting next to you are planning, but it had better not go down in my house or in my hood. Y’all know I’m getting money outta this house and you always bringing the law calling. Shit, you probably didn’t answer the door ’cause you was scared it was them warrant boys,” she scoffed.

“Again,” Davita mumbled.

“Shut up before I come across your mind, Vita,” Ms. Pat warned as she headed to answer the door. She was still mumbling to herself when she opened the door to find Gucci and Tionna. “Oh, damn, let me get my winter coat,” she said, looking Gucci up and down.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gucci asked.

“If you’re coming by my house then it must be snowing in hell so I gotta dress warm,” Ms. Pat said with a smile. “Bring your narrow ass in here and give ya auntie a hug.” Ms. Pat grabbed Gucci in a warm embrace. “Girl, you looking good.” She spun Gucci around and slapped her on her ass. “And look at all that junk in your trunk. Animal must be knocking the lining out that young stuff. Ask his pretty ass if he got a brother.”