When A Thug Loves A Woman (11 page)

Now, I know I said before that my baby daddy ain't shit but Casino was really living up to that standard. He was so pissed that I put him on child support that he had the nerve to turn around and file for custody of my daughter. What type of bullshit was that? I’m far from a dumb bitch. I knew damn well that Casino didn't come up with that by himself. He let that bitch of his get into his head.

The both of them had another thing coming if they thought that I was going to sit back and let them raise my child together as one happy family without me. It'd be a cold day in hell before I allowed that shit to go down.

“Humph, China. What a surprise seeing you here,” Adrina said as she opened the door for me.

Since Casino wanted to act like a bitch and play dirty, I was going to his mom. I knew she would never go for her son trying to take Casiyah from me and would always have my back. Especially once she found out that Casino was in fact the father of Aamil's son.

“Hey, Ms. Adrina. How are you?”

“I'm living. How are you? Where is my granddaughter, China? You know I don't appreciate you keeping her away from me just because of the issues you're having with Casino. I don’t have anything to do with that,” she told me.

“You're right and that's actually why I came over here. I was wondering if you could talk to Casino.”

“About?” she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Casino is trying to take Casiyah from me. He filed for custody of her.”

“I see. So was this before or after your motion to put him on child support?” she asked.

I snapped my head back like I was offended because I truly was. “What I did was completely different from him trying to take my daughter away from me. Besides, it's not like he doesn't have the money or the means to take care of her.”

“Exactly. China, think about what you just said. Casino has the money and the means to take care of her. You don't have a job or any previous work history, you only have a high school diploma, you always throw Casiyah off on somebody instead of spending time with her because you're too busy chasing Casino around or worried about what he got going on. You're always acting a fool out in these streets. How many times have you acted a fool and showed your ass on Bambi when you had no reason to? All for what? Over Casino? Get your shit together, China. You have a daughter. How would you feel if she was out there doing the same shit that you're doing now?” Adrina ranted.

I had to bite the inside of my cheek to help keep calm. I could be tripping but it felt like her ass was trying to say that I wasn't a good mother. That was complete and utter bullshit because I knew for a fact that I was a damn good mother. Adrina wanted to talk about my parenting skills but neither one of her kids turned out to be saints either.

“Instead of trying to preach to me, you need to be telling your son to stop letting that bitch of his get to his head. I know this shit was all her idea but since she want custody of kids so bad, she better go after Aamil and leave mine the fuck alone. Both of those bitches are going to regret the day they ever fucked with me. How about you tell them that since you preaching today?!” I said before jumping up.

I was done playing with Casino and Bambi. If they wanted to play, then I was going to teach them how it was done. When I got to my car, I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I had been waiting to put to use.

“Yea?”

“Yo, I got a job for you and I need it done ASAP!” I said as I pulled off.

Let the games begin
.

Four months later

I opened my eyes and had to figure out where the fuck I was. I tried to talk and sit up but I couldn't and my chest felt like it had logs laying on it. That's when I heard the sweetest sound I could ever hear.

“Mom, look, he's moving!”

Caner
. I smiled when he came over to the bed and looked down at me, I don’t know if I was tripping or what but it looked like a lot had changed about my son since the last time I saw him.

“Can, push the button for his nurse while I call your grandma and uncle,” Adore said.

“Okay,” he said before pushing the button.

Once again, I tried to talk but my throat felt like sandpaper. Adore stood away from me on the other side of the room with her back facing me as she talked to my mom. I just stared at her as she talked. When she turned to the side momentarily to see the nurse walk in the room, I was trying to see if I could see her belly poking but I couldn't due to the coat she was wearing.

“Hello, Mr. Jordan, welcome back,” the nurse greeted me as she came over to my bed with a cup of water. “Here's a little something to ease your throat while we wait on the doctor to come in,” she said as she checked my blood pressure.

“Dad, guess what?” Caner said.

“What's up, little man?” I asked, able to talk a little better after drinking that water.

“I made the basketball team and since you're woke now, you get to come see me play,” he said excitedly.

“Of course, Imma be front and center at every game so you can see me cheering you on,” I smiled.

That just reminded me of all the shit that my son would have missed out on if them pussy ass niggas would have succeeded in taking me out. He wouldn't have his dad there at his games cheering him on, to see him grow up, to teach him how to be a man, to see him start a family of his own, none of that. I’d already missed out on enough of his life, I refused to miss anymore.

“Ah, Mr. Jordan, it's nice to have you back,” a man I assumed was my doctor said.

“Feels good to be back but how long was I gone?” I questioned, truly intrigued.

“Well, you took five bullets to the torso but I was able to remove all of them. I put you in a medically induced coma for about a month and a half so your body could heal from all the trauma and staples I used but you didn't want to wake up right away until today,” he explained.

That shit was crazy because it felt like I was in a deep ass sleep that I couldn't wake up from. I could hear everything that people were saying to me but I just couldn't respond. It was crazy and weird as hell.

“Alright, when can I go home?” I asked. I had been in this bitch long enough. My biggest concern now was going home and spending time with my son.

“Well, I want to keep you here just for a little while longer so I can run a few tests and make sure everything is alright and the way it's supposed to be. Once the results come back the way they're supposed to, you're free to go home,” he said.

I just nodded my head because that sounded good to me. Once he looked at a few things on the charts and sat my bed up for me so that I was sitting up right, he left the room. Caner was still by my bedside while his mama was still in the opposite side of the room acting standoffish.

“Rest your coat, Adore. Why you acting all stank and shit?” I asked her.

“I'm cool,” she said. “I just brought my son here to see you. Once his grandma or uncle gets here, I'm gone.” She wouldn't even look in my direction when she spoke to me.

“That's how you feel?” I questioned.

“Yea, that's exactly how I feel,” she snapped.

Nah, that's some bullshit
, I thought to myself but didn't bother to call her out on it. I was not sure if Adore knew or not but I heard every single word that came out of her mouth. Just because I had a damn tube down my throat didn't mean I was dead. I wanted to call her out on the shit she was saying but I would save that for another day.

“Can Man! What's up, baby?!” Casino said with a big ass smile on his face as he walked in the room with our mom and dad.

“What up? Y'all must of thought I was going to die to if you got Adrina and Cassius in the same room together and ain't no blood shed,” I said with a shocked expression on my face.

I hadn't seen my parents in the same proximity together since the last time she caught him cheating on her with her so-called best friend and she cut both of their asses up. My mom gave that bitch a buck fifty right across her face and then turned and went after my pops. She stabbed him right in his arm. That was the day that I learned not to fuck with my mama because she was certified crazy.

Even through all that madness, my pops still refused to sign the divorce papers that she delivered to his ass a total of three times. My mom got tired of trying and said to hell with it. That was fifteen years ago. Cassius really had to love her ass to want to stay married to a woman that sliced up his side bitch and then turned around and stabbed him. It definitely couldn't have been me.

“You trynna be funny? Because you're in the perfect place for me to fuck you up. You can lay right there while they give you them stitches your ass is gonna need,” my mama threatened me.

“Nigga, how the fuck you just wake up from a coma and already about to get your ass whooped?” Casino laughed.

“Say that, though, little brother. I don’t feel the love,” I laughed.

“Alright, Caner. I'm about to go,” Adore announced. “Call me when you're ready and I'll pick you up.”

“It's cool, sis, I'll drop him off,” Casino said.

“Neither is an option because she's going to sit her ass right there,” I said.

“And what's going to happen if I don't? You gonna put a bullet in my head?” Adore challenged me. “Thank you, Casino. Just call me when you're on your way to drop him off,” she said before leaving.

The room got eerily got quiet as I sat there with my blood boiling. Adore was always doing some shit to go against the grain. The fact that it had been months since our little blow up and I had damn near lost my life but she still couldn’t let that shit go
and
she had the nerve to bring that shit up in front of my son pissed me off.

“What’s a bullet?” Caner asked.

Casino cleared his throat. “Caner, how about you take a walk with you Nana and Pops while I holla at your dad real quick?” he suggested.

Mom and Pops didn’t put up a fuss, they just took Caner out the room and Casino sat in the seat Caner had previously been occupying.

“What’s up with them two? They reconciling after all these years or some shit?” I asked my brother in reference to our parents.

“Shit, I don’t know, honestly. They been cool they past few months, like ain’t been no real beef between them but you knew as well as I did that as much as mama hated his ass, she loved him at the same time. Maybe you getting shot was some sort of guiding light for them.” He shrugged with a little chuckle.

“That shit is crazy.” I shook my head. “But what’s been up with you? What I been missing?”

“Nigga, what ain’t you been missing is the question. So much shit been going on that I can hardly keep up with what I want to handle first. China ass on some bullshit, of course. I ain’t seen my daughter in over four months because I filed for custody of her ass. I went over to her house, she packed up everything. I mean the shit look like nobody ever lived there and she missing in action. Her trifling ass sister act like she don’t know where she at. Then my traps been getting hit left and right. I was starting to think it was an inside job until I remember some bullshit I saw months ago and—”

“Wait, slow down. What you see a few months ago?” I cut him off.

This nigga was moving from one thing to the next and I was trying to keep up. I think he forgot that I just woke up from a damn coma that I had been in for months and my brain needed time to process and register this shit.

“A while back, I saw Kendal’s ass getting out of an unmarked police car. Shit, I didn’t think nothing of it at the time but to keep a close eye on him because I believe in keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. Then he pulled that bullshit with Choc, so that’s when I decided to cut him off. Now it seems funny to me that all of a sudden you get hit, my traps get hit and my name ringing bells down at the station,” he told me.

All I could think was that I knew the nigga Kendal was a bitch from the moment I laid eyes on him but my brother was blind to the bullshit. Casino swore that every nigga that he rolled with and called a friend was loyal or showed the same loyalty as he did. No matter how much I tried to tell him shit ain’t always what it seems, sometimes he had to learn shit for himself. Now wasn’t the time for me to pull that ‘I told you so’ shit because that ain’t even me.

“Well, I can tell you now that he ain’t the one who did this to me, I know that for a fact, so you ain’t gotta worry about that one. Don’t trip off that shit because this one is personal. I’m going to handle this one here myself,” I told him.

Casino looked at me like he wanted to question me on it but I shook my head to let him know that it wasn’t necessary and that what I said was final. I was going to see the nigga who was responsible for shooting me again and when we did cross paths, I was going to show him how it’s done. He tried to take a real nigga out but he failed.

-$-

After three days, I was finally discharged from the hospital and I couldn’t have been happier. I was tired of being in this bitch and was more than ready to go home.

“You ready, nigga?” Casino asked me as he walked in the room.

“Yea but aye, I ain’t going home. Take me to Adore’s,” I told him.

“Mannn, I’m not—”

“I’m not on no bullshit. We got some shit we need to talk about and since she won’t come to me, I decided I’ll just go to her.”

Casino didn’t say anything, he just shook his head as we walked out of the hospital and walked to his car.

“Where Bambi at? Y’all still rocking?” I asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.

“Fuck yea, she ain’t going nowhere.” Casino smiled like a bitch.

“Oh, I was just asking. She ain’t came to see a nigga. Tell her I don’t feel the love and she better not be out here knocking no more bitches out like she a chocolate ass Ronda Rousey or some shit because Imma make her glove up with my ass,” I told him.

Casino thought that was the funniest shit ever. He burst out laughing and slapped his hand against the steering wheel. “Nigga, how the fuck you know what the fuck Choc been doing?” he asked still laughing.

“Nigga, I’m telling you, I could hear everything that was being said to me. Bambi ass was in there confessing like I was the Pope or some shit and she was confessing all her sins. She told me how she kicked China ass, her sister ass and all that shit,” I told him.

“Yea, she wild as fuck.” Casino shook his head.

“I don’t know, man. I like Bambi little turnt up ass. You better watch her ass, though; you might have met your match with her ass. You better leave that number cruncher bitch alone if you still fucking with her.”

“Man, cut it out. My shit is tight, Angela ain’t the type to go running her mouth about what the fuck we got going on and that’s why I keep her around. If it was China, then I would be worried because she would do some shit just to be spiteful. Besides, Choc not the type that be on that insecure shit. She don’t check my phone, question my whereabouts, she do her, I do me and we do us,” he said.

“Hold up, didn’t you tell me before she packing?” I asked him

“Yea, but—”

“I can see it now, RIP Casino!” I yelled.

“Shut your ignorant ass up and get out the car,” he laughed as he pulled up to a house. “Choc ain’t going no fucking where, believe that, so get that shit out your head.”

“Alright, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” I told him as I got out.

Casino just flicked me off as I shut the door and walked up to the door. I noticed that Adore wasn’t too far from my mama, she was just a few blocks away. I knocked and waited for her to answer the door.  She stood in the doorway with her arms folded and my eyes immediately went to her protruding belly.

“You gonna let me in? I did just get out of the hospital and it is cold as hell,” I told her.

“Caner is at school,” she said, not budging.

“That’s cool,” I said as I walked up on her.

We just stood there staring each other down for a few before I placed my hands on her hips and moved her back so I could walk in the house and shut the door. I looked around the house and nodded my head in approval. She always did have good taste. I mean, of course when she got with a nigga like me.

“So you finally decided to bring your ass home,” I said as I walked through the house. I looked back at her but she didn’t even respond, she just rolled her eyes and walked away. I just shrugged my shoulders and continued to do a walkthrough of the house. “Since you won’t show any hospitality and give me a walkthrough, I’ll do it myself,” I told her.

When I got upstairs, I walked into the first bedroom that I came to which just so happened to be Caner’s room. His room was decked out in red and black everything. He had a bed that was damn near as big as mine and I was a little jealous.