this.” I took a quick glance around his shop.
“Shit, you know a nigga got to make it one way or the other. But, nigga, fuck all that. How it feel to be free?”
“Shit, it feel good as fuck. Still trying to adjust to being a free man.”
He sat down, and I took a seat across from him.
“Shit, nigga. It’ll take a minute, but you good. First, you need to get you some pussy, then get back to the money.”
“Shit, you late. I wasted no time in tearing up Shontelle’s fine ass.”
“Oh, man, I thought you and shorty was done. Nigga, you need to find you some new hoes.” He busted out laughing.
“Well, you know that’s a must, but for now, she’s the only one that rocked wit’ a nigga, so I made sure that she was the one that got this work first. But even when I get some new bitches on the squad, shorty still goin’ be my main bitch.”
“I hear you, homie. I hear you. Well, fuck all that. It’s the weekend. You tryin’a get up in the club? Let’s celebrate, nigga.”
“Hell yeah, dawg. Shit, I just copped some new gear, so you know I’m ready to jump out there.”
“Shit, let’s make it happen then, nigga,” he said. I handed his ass my phone so that he could lock his number in that shit. I ain’t wanna hear him talkin’ shit about me, because I wasn’t able to work that new technology shit that they had out.
A customer walked in right when he handed me my shit back, so we exchanged dap, and I bounced. It was good seeing my nigga. He was one of the few solid niggas still left out in these streets. The rest of these niggas were either straight pussies or bitches. Shit had definitely changed since I left the streets. Most of the solid niggas were either dead or locked up.
I glanced at the time. It was 6:00 p.m., so I made my way to Shontelle’s shop. I swear I just got home and wasn’t in no mood to hear her mouth already. After talking to Mama and then to Jay, I couldn’t help but wonder. I knew Shontelle said she was faithful to me the entire time, but each time her name got mentioned, it wasn’t in a good way. Was she telling the truth? Or was she another bitch out here, fucking and sucking on the next nigga?
Chapter Two
Shontelle
Niggas could be the biggest hoes out here in these streets, but always screaming they wanted a real bitch. When I was younger, I was that real bitch. I was rolling with this nigga Jakeel, helping him make runs up top every two weeks. I helped him count his money and held his gun whenever the police were around. See, I thought I was playing my position as his wifey. That was . . . until bitches started showing up left and right, claiming they were fucking around. One bitch went as far as claiming she was pregnant by him. Of course, he denied the bitch and the baby. I almost had a mental breakdown ’cause he was my first love, the first nigga I fucked. But being the only nigga to get this pussy didn’t stop him from slanging dick all over Decatur.
I should’ve left him, but I was only 18 and was young, dumb, and full of come. So I took his word for it and stayed with him. I was the apple of his eye and the envy of the bitches who wished they were fucking him. I felt proud, especially when he referred to me as “bae.” I knew I had to be special for him to bring around all his homies and his family. He also spent stacks on me. When we would hit Lenox Mall, he bought me a diamond ring and bracelets. My account was looking good, and he bought me a brand-new car. At 18, I was in heaven, living my best damn life.
Things took a drastic turn when he got torn off. One of the fiends that he was serving got torn off and decided to rat on Jakeel. My world was turned upside down ’cause all I knew was the life he gave to me. In my mind, I thought he was going to beat the case and come home to me. Wrong! On the day of his sentencing, the judge gave him seven years after he pleaded guilty to drug and gun charges. I remember them leading him away, and I fell to my knees. What was I supposed to do without my man? I couldn’t live without him.
Reality soon settled in. Jakeel was gone, and I was in this crazy world all by myself. After days of lying around crying, I got up one day and decided I had to do something. I had to figure out a way ’cause he wasn’t coming home any time soon. Jakeel had left some work in a safe. I didn’t know shit about selling no powder. But I knew my big cousin Jay was in the streets. I hit him up, and he came over. He decided to get it from me, and he gave me the money. I knew he probably beat me in the head, but he was family, and it ain’t like I could just go out there and start selling drugs.
With the money he gave me, I decided to go to beauty school. So I enrolled in Beaver Beauty Academy here Decatur. Within eighteen months, I graduated. I worked in a shop on Candler for about three years, built my clientele up, and saved a few coins. I decided to step out on faith and got my own shop. I hired two other girls and a chick that did makeup. Together, we now had one of the most elite salons on the East Side.
It was hard living without my man. But as time went by and more gossip start circulating, I realized that he wasn’t the solid nigga that he said he was. I was out here bragging about how I was holding my man down, and what I didn’t know was that I was the laughingstock ’cause everyone in the streets knew how dirty this nigga was doing me.
* * *
“Girl, I know you happy your boo is home,” Liza, one of my closest friends and stylists at the salon, whispered to me.
“Girl, I ain’t gon’ lie. I am happy he’s home, but at the same time, I’m kind of nervous. Seven years have passed, and I’m afraid he’s no longer the nigga that I fell in love with. Shit, I’m no longer the young, naïve girl that he left out here. I’m a grown-ass woman, and I’m not up for no games with this nigga.”
“Girl, I feel you, but he would be a fool if he comes back out here with the same old bullshit. You held his ass down all them damn years, so he better act right. If he don’t, then he will have to deal with me too.”
I know her ass was dead-ass serious. Liz and I had been rocking with each other since our freshman year in high school. She was the only bitch that I really trusted 100 percent. Best believe, if she’s rocking, then I’m rolling.
Before we could finish our conversation, I heard the door to the shop open. I looked up and saw that it was Keel’s ass who’d just walked in. It’s crazy how, after all these years, seeing him still gives me butterflies in my stomach.
“Hmm, there goes your boo,” Liz teased as she walked off to tend to her client that was under the dryer.
Jakeel made his way over to my booth. “Hey, love, what’s good? You’re about ready to go?” he kissed me on the lips.
“Yeah, let me clean up my station real quick, and I’ll be ready.”
“A’ight. I be out in the car, waiting.”
As he walked out, I spotted one of the clients who was sitting there waiting, eyeballing him all the way out the door. I couldn’t help but wonder if she recognized him from somewhere. I grabbed the broom and started sweeping up the hair from the floor. Then I straightened up my booth and grabbed my purse.
“Hey, Liz, can you lock up and set the alarm for me when you leave?”
“I got you, hon. Go enjoy.” She winked at me.
I laughed to myself as I walked out. I looked at the girl that was staring down my man in the face as I strutted by. I didn’t recognize her, but I wondered what her story was.
Shit, I quickly put on my coat as soon as the wind hit my face. I swear I hated the fucking cold. I walked hurriedly to the car and got in. I couldn’t help but notice he was on the phone, but soon as I sat down, he hung up.
“Who was that on the phone?”
“Oh, just my homeboy. Trying to catch up on old times.”
“Oh, okay,” I said but wanted to say so much more.
All