Girls from da Hood 11 (16 page)

“Well, it is tonight and it may be home for plenty of more nights too. Then again, I'm sure you won't say anything to him about him sucking my goodies all night, making me cum four times and fucking me like sex is going out of style. All you'll do is throw your arms around him and embrace him. Just know that when you kiss him, you'll also be tasting my pussy from his mouth. I know you don't mind, I just thought I'd let you know.”

I hung up on Monica's ole weak self to take another call from Bree. She called twice, obviously waiting for Tremaine to come fill her hot pocket tonight.

“Go take a cold shower, bitch. He ain't coming tonight. His dick is too tired, and while you were over there waiting for it, I was over here occupying it.”

“Is that so,” Bree said. She laughed, knowing damn well that her feelings were hurt. Unlike Monica, Bree always spoke up and tried her best to let me have it. “Poor baby must've been desperate tonight because I wasn't home. Either way, put that bastard on the phone so I can talk to him about being with sluts with flat butts. What a waste of his time.”

Bree also knew how to get underneath my skin more than Monica did. And the only reason she was calling my butt flat was because I didn't get butt injections to make my ass bigger.

“Bitch, please. Trust me when I say he seemed more than satisfied about having the real deal over here, instead of that fake ass, fake hair, fake breasts, all of that shit you got going on to make yourself look decent. Yo' ass got so many dents in it that an auto body shop can't even fix it. Tremaine already told me that you're so used up that he barely wants to go there with you. And the only reason that he does is because you be paying him.”

Bree laughed again. “Ho, you wish that's how it was. If anything, Tremaine be paying me and he loves every inch of my body. I doubt that he said anything like that to you about me and you're just saying that to piss me off. The truth is, you're the one who he talks badly about. You don't have a high school diploma, your apartment is junky as fuck, your breath smells horribly bad, your mama is a psychotic bitch, and your son is a fat ass. Tremaine doesn't spend much time with either of you because he's embarrassed. I don't blame him one bit. I wouldn't want to be around a slow bitch who barely can read either.”

Ouch. I was so mad that I couldn't even respond to Bree. First of all, Tremaine had to tell her that my apartment was junky because he always complained about it when he came over here. Secondly, how did Bree know I didn't have a high school diploma? Unfortunately, my mama was going through some things at the time, and as we moved from one place to the next, I had a hard time staying in school. I missed so many days that I wound up dropping out.

As for me not being able to read, I told Tremaine that as a kid, I was always behind. Things got much better for me over the years, and now everything was good. But for him to mention that to Bree, and for her to call my son a fat ass, there was no doubt that somebody was about to get hurt.

“Bree, all I'm going to say is I betta not see you anytime soon. If I do, that fake, droopy, dented-up ass you got over there is mine!”

“It's Tremaine's too. He bought it, so tell him to hit me up when he can. Bye, bitch. I look forward to seeing you.”

Bree hung up, leaving me feeling some kind of way about the things she had said. Whenever Tremaine got up, he was going to catch hell.

I was in the kitchen cooking breakfast with the music turned up loudly. Tremaine was still asleep, but I expected him to wake up shortly, especially with the smell of bacon and maple sausages oozing through the air. I cooked some pancakes, grits, and cheese eggs for him too. Even threw in a bowl of frosted cornflakes and poured him a tall glass of orange juice.

By the time Tremaine got up, everything was set on the kitchen table. A smile was plastered on my face, as he stood next to the table and stretched.

“Dang, girl, you done hooked me up. I knew my dick was good to you, but I didn't know it was that good.”

“Spectacular,” I said. “So great that I'm on cloud nine right now. Didn't want you to walk out of here upset about nothing, and I thought this was a good way for you to start the day off right.”

Tremaine looked at the food and licked across his lips. “Thanks. I appreciate that and the food looks really good. Need to go drain the vein, wash my face, and brush my teeth. You still got my toothbrush in there?”

“Yep. Look in the right drawer. You'll see it.”

Tremaine walked away. I sat at the table and picked up a piece of toast. Before I bit into it, I spread jelly on top and sipped from my orange juice. My orange juice was just fine. Unfortunately, Tremaine's orange juice had a half cup of my piss in it. His eggs were scrambled with floor wax, and his grits were loaded with salt. I wasn't trying to kill his ass, but I did want to make a statement.

Tremaine came into the kitchen with a towel wrapped around his waist. His chest was covered with tattoos and his six pack was stacked just right. It was good to see him look so sexy in the morning, but the sight of him did nothing for me. I couldn't help but to think about what Bree had said, and I realized the reason why she knew so much of my business was because his ass was telling her shit.

“Have you seen my phone?” Tremaine said. “I thought I left it on the nightstand in the bedroom.”

I pointed to the table next to the couch. “I saw it over there. Is that it?”

Tremaine walked over to the table and picked up his phone. It looked like he was trying to turn it on, but he wouldn't have much luck. I put that sucker in the sink this morning and let it stay in the water for a while.

“Damn,” he said. “I need more juice. My battery must have died.”

All I did was shrug, as if I hadn't a clue. I was sure he wanted to know if Monica had called, or if Bree was still hoping for him to show up last night too. I thought that he was going to ask if he could use my phone, but then again he knew better.

Tremaine sat at the table with me, as if everything was all good. My blood was boiling inside, but the outer me appeared happy go lucky.

“Smells good, ma,” Tremaine said. “I was back there lying down and when I got a whiff of this shit, I had to get up.”

“You already know I can cook, so don't act all surprised. And if my cleaning skills were much better, I'd be perfect, wouldn't I?”

That bastard had the nerve to nod his head. “I won't say perfect, but it would help. You definitely need to clean up around here. Keith's room is a mess. Yours is too, by the way.”

“It's not that bad and you know it. Why you always got something negative to say about me? I rarely ever hear you say anything positive. You say I'm guilty of the same thing, so speak up and let me hear you.”

Tremaine picked up a piece of bacon and put it into his mouth. He chewed and looked at me from across the table. “I always say good shit about you. I just told you that it smelled good in here, didn't I?”

I didn't bother to reply. After all, I wanted him to hurry up and eat his food. Right after he bit into the bacon, he washed it down with orange juice. Almost immediately, he cocked his head back and frowned.

“This shit taste spoiled. You got some milk instead?”

Tremaine wiped across his mouth. I figured he would opt for milk, so I had a glass of that with my piss in it ready for him too.

“I don't know what's wrong with the orange juice. Mine taste fine. I'll get you some milk in a minute. Meanwhile, finish up eating and stop complaining.”

“I'm not complaining. Here, you drink this shit and tell me what you think.”

“I already have my own. Like I said, there's nothing wrong with it.”

Tremaine ignored me. He started to cut into his pancakes. I hoped he got a taste of some of my toenails that were mixed in with the pancake batter.

“Did you call your mother yet?” he said, chewing.

“I tried calling her, but she didn't answer her phone. I'll call her again when we get done with breakfast.”

Tremaine was getting ready to respond, but he picked something out of his mouth. He looked at it with a twisted face then flicked it away. After that, he laid his fork on his plate.

“Something ain't right,” he said. “There's an odd odor coming from my plate, not to mention the spoiled taste from my orange juice. Did you do something to my food?”

I laid my fork on the table and wiped my mouth. “Now, why would a nasty, slow bitch who didn't graduate from high school do anything to your food? I'm so fucking stupid that I wouldn't dare be smart enough to think about getting payback to a fool who has purposely hurt me time and time again. One who doesn't think I'm good enough to love, and who thinks his son is too fat to be with him. So, no. I didn't do a damn thing to your food, but I did, however, add a little more flavor to your orange juice.”

Tremaine jumped up from the table. “I don't have time for your bullshit this morning, Keysha. I knew something was wrong, especially since yo' ass up in the kitchen cooking for me like you Paula damn Deen or somebody.”

“Nigga, if I was Paula Deen, I'd be calling yo' black ass out for talking that dumb shit to Bree. She told me how you really feel about me, and since you're so ashamed of me and Keith, why don't you get the fuck out of here and never come back. We really don't need you, Tremaine. So stop being fake and acting like yo' ass care when you don't.”

Tremaine walked up to me and stood over me. I didn't appreciate how close he was, so I stood up to be face to face with him. “If you believe any bullshit that Bree said to you, that's on you. I'm sick and tired of trying to convince you how much I do care, and like I said before, all you're doing is pushing me away. I would appreciate it if you would call your mama to tell her to meet me so I can get my son. That way, I can get the fuck out of here and get out of your damn way.”

“You gon' do that regardless. And I'm not calling my mama to tell her anything. Keith is staying with her for the rest of the week, not with you.”

I could see Tremaine tighten his fist. But before he tried anything stupid, I reached for the knife on the table that I used to cut my pancakes.

“Think before you act, fool. If you want to make it home to Monica in one piece, or over to that bitch's Bree's house, who you say you love so much, then you'd better back away from me.”

Tremaine knew that he could wrestle the knife from my hand, and that's what he did. We tussled and when all was said and done, he had the knife in his hand. My head was being pressed against the table while I was bending over. He stood behind me, holding the knife close to my face.

“I hate you sometimes,” he said. “You always gotta make shit so difficult, and all you fucking do is gripe about shit! When I leave here, Keysha, I'm done. Tell my son that you were the one who fucked up and refused to let me be with him! I'm sick of arguing with you, and this is the last goddamn time that I'm gonna do it!”

Tremaine stabbed the knife into the table, right by my face. He then smacked me with the back of his hand and backed away. When I reached for the knife, that's when he pushed me. Pushed me so hard that I fell against the wall and hit my back.

“You dirty son of a bitch!” I said, rushing up to charge at him with gritted teeth.

This time, I was met with Tremaine's fist that went right into my midsection. I doubled over and fell back again. He almost knocked the breath out of me and my stomach was aching so badly.

“If you get up again, my fist will crack your face and split it. Let this shit go, Keysha. I'm warning you.”

Tremaine walked off and came back with his jeans on and his shirt thrown over his shoulder. I was in the kitchen dialing 911.

“Could you please send—”

He snatched the cordless phone from my hand and threw it against the wall. We mean mugged each other with our chests heaving in and out. Without saying another word to me, he walked toward the door, snatched up my shopping bags that were still by the door and slammed it on his way out. No words could express how angry I was right now. I had to make his ass pay for this.

* * *

Later that day, I was at Angel's house telling her about what happened, when my mama called. She spoke in a panic and sounded as if she was out of breath.

“That nigga Tremaine is crazy,” she said tearfully. “Me and Keith were outside and Tremaine pulled up in a car with two of his friends. He threatened to hurt me, and made Keith leave with him. When I tried to take Keith away from him, Tremaine pulled a gun on me. I ran inside to call the police. I didn't know what else to do, Keysha, and I'm afraid for Keith.”

I was so mad at my mama for allowing Tremaine to take Keith with him. “Damn, Mama, why couldn't you just go back into the house? I didn't want Keith with Tremaine, and I definitely don't want him at his house.”

“I didn't have a choice. And what did you want me to do, other than catch a bullet in my back for trying to keep him? I called the police, but if you have legal papers that say Tremaine is allowed to keep him, there ain't much we can do.”

“There's plenty that I can do. I'ma go talk to a lawyer to see if I can get sole custody of my son. Tremaine don't deserve to have any rights to Keith. I'ma make sure that he doesn't!”

I told my mama that I would call her back. How she let something like this happen I didn't know. With Tremaine being upset with me, there was no telling how he was going to treat Keith. Monica wasn't in one of the best moods either, so I suspected that Keith would walk into a house of hell.

“What's going on?” Angel asked. “Why are you so upset?”

“Because Tremaine found out where my mama lives and he went to go get Keith.”

Angel shrugged. “What's wrong with that? I mean, just because the two of y'all have differences, it shouldn't affect his relationship with his son.”

I pursed my lips and had to put Angel in her place. “Who are you to talk to me about differences, especially from the way you and Jay carry on about Lela? If I'm not mistaken, he's only seen her like three or four times since she's been born. And every time he calls here to come get her, you make excuses.”

“That's because Jay is fake and he wants Lela with him on his time. As for Tremaine, you gotta give him credit, Keysha. He is a good father to Keith. He may not be a good man to you, but—”

“I don't know why y'all keep on saying that he's a good father when it's simply not true. I guess y'all think the money he gives us is supposed to make up for him not being there, but it doesn't. The truth is, Tremaine has never been to Keith's school, he's never taught him one single thing, and he's never been on vacation with him either. I asked Tremaine to help Keith lose weight, take him to run with him or put him on a football team. He hasn't done anything. So I'm to the point where I believe what Bree said. He's embarrassed of my son and that shit bothers me.”

“Don't fall for the foolishness, okay? If he was embarrassed, Keysha, he wouldn't have just gone over to your mama's house and threatened her to get his son. You'd better wake up and smell the coffee before it's too late. Plenty of us would die to have a baby daddy like Tremaine. I gotta give him props on being a father.”

“Well, I'm not going to give him shit but a hard time. And as for the relationship thing goes, you couldn't be more right. I don't know why I keep telling myself that he's the one I want to be with, when in reality we will never be able to get along. There's been too much damage done, and besides that, I hate his ass for sleeping around so much. I mean, how much pussy does one nigga need?”

Angel shrugged her shoulders. “I guess as much as he can get. With all of these bitches throwing that shit at him, all he gotta do is reach out and catch it. You have to admit, Keysha, the nigga is fine as hell.”

I rolled my eyes, silently admitting to myself that he was. Still, it didn't matter because he would always be a deadbeat in my book.