Married to a Balla (25 page)

Mercedes had a slight grin on her face as she eased away and headed into her bedroom without ever being noticed. In her mind, the fight wasn’t about Skye; it was about their love for her. As both brothers rolled over on their backs, they continued arguing about Mercedes as she disappeared.

“No matter how much you try to protect her Dre she needs help. I know she had something to do with Skye getting raped.”

Dre laid still on the floor for a minute. “Did you say Skye?”

“Yes, I did. That’s my girl’s name.”

“I thought her name was Janelle.”

“No, and it’s a long story. She was using a fake name because she was hiding from her husband...”

Dre interrupted Justice “Her husband, Sandino Washington, right?”

Justice turned and looked at his brother. “That’s right, I almost forgot you asked me about her that day at the shelter. Why were you asking about my girl, Dre? And don’t fucking lie.”

Dre finally sat up. “I was hired by Sandino to come and look for Skye and his kids. I’m supposed to take them back to Miami. I can’t believe all ‘dis time I’ve been runnin’ around lookin’ for her and she was right in front of my face.”

“I thought you said you changed?” Justice said in disbelief. “I guess that was just bullshit.”

Dre got pissed all over again. “There you go talkin’ about some shit you know nothin’ about. I have changed. But I couldn’t start over broke. Look, I couldn’t resist the money he gave me just to come find them. Besides I didn’t know she was your girl!”

Justice finally stood up. “Did he want you to kill her?”

Dre shook his head. “No, not at all.” He didn’t feel the need to tell Justice that Sandino had indeed mentioned that option.

“How much did you get?” Justice questioned. He had to know how much Skye’s bounty was worth.

“Twenty thousand. I got half before I left Miami, and I was supposed to get half when I found her.”

Justice was speechless. Just as he was about to respond, Mercedes walked back into the living room with a gun in one hand and Dre’s belongings in the other.

“Both of y’all muthafuckas get the hell out!” she yelled, pointing the gun toward them.

Dre was beyond shocked. Not only were they having sex again when Justice arrived, but he even believed her when she told Justice they were getting back together. Now she was pointing a loaded .9mm in his face.

“I know you not tryin’ to play me after I just kept my brother from whoopin’ your ass,” Dre said.

“I guess you just took one for the team.” When Mercedes tried to give Dre his stuff, he threw up his hands, so she handed everything to Justice. “Trust and believe neither of you have seen the last of me, some shit is about to go down and it’s nothing either of you can do about it.” She turned to Justice. “I can’t believe you came over here and accused me of rape all over that bitch? You’ll soon see that she ain’t shit!”

Dre didn’t even have time to put anything on as she forced both of them to the front door. Mercedes waved the gun. “Both of y’all muthafuckas need to get out…now!”

“You a crazy bitch. I can’t believe I fell for your shit once again!” Dre yelled.
“Whatever Dre, I gotta do what I gotta do just like always. If you think I’m gonna allow you to get that money you’re wrong!”

*****

Skye laid across her bed with so many thoughts floating around in her head. She’d flipped through the channels on the television at least four times, but really couldn’t concentrate on anything. She tried desperately to block Justice out of her mind, but wasn’t having any luck.

Skye wiped a single tear away from her left eye thinking about how disappointed she was. Skye knew she shouldn’t have taken her frustration out on him, but that still didn’t hide the fact that if he and Mercedes had never slept together, none of this would’ve ever happened.

“I’m gonna beat that bitch down when I see her,” Skye said out loud. She looked up when she heard a knock at her bedroom door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Ma,” Jordan replied.

“Come in.”

Jordan walked in and handed Skye the mail even though the last thing she wanted to see right now was some bills.

“Ma, are you okay? Do you need anything?” Jordan asked concerned then kissed her on the cheek.

“You’re so sweet. I’m okay baby, is Payton sleeping?”

“No, she’s in there playing with Kareem.”

“Kareem…really?” Skye was completely surprised. He hardly ever helped out with the baby.

“Yeah, he just got off the phone talking to that dirty girl from across the hall.”

“As long as his ass is in the house and staying out of trouble I don’t care who he talks to.”

Jordan smirked as he left his mom’s room.

Skye tossed the mail onto her nightstand. However, one piece of mail in particular caught her eye. It was in a purple colored envelope with her name on it, but didn’t have a return address. Trying to figure out what it was, Skye quickly opened it up. Her heart damn near dropped when she saw a picture of Justice and some woman on what looked like their wedding day with a huge red heart drawn around the picture.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, it had a note attached that read,

And
y
ou thought you knew your man…guess not. How does it feel knowing Justice belongs to someone else? Well, I feel the same way!

Mercedes

In complete shock, Skye dropped the picture on the floor and grabbed her cell phone. Justice was driving to the shelter in deep thought when his phone rang. As soon as he looked at the caller ID and saw Skye’s name, he immediately started smiling. He hoped she was calling to tell him to come back over so they could make up.

Make up sex is the best sex,
he thought.

“Hey, baby,” he said answering the phone. He listened to what sounded like Skye balling in the phone. “What’s wrong Skye?”

“I need you to be honest with me. Are you married Justice?”

Justice was shocked and wondered where she got that information from.

“Why are you asking me that?” he asked.

“Just answer the fucking question. Are you married?” she yelled.

Justice paused. He didn’t want to lie to her anymore. “Yes, it’s true.”

“How could you do this to me? You said you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me. How were you supposed to do that if you’re another woman’s husband? I trusted you!” Skye began to yell. “I should’ve never let you get close to me. Stay away from my family. I never want to see you again!” she screamed in the phone and hung up.

Chapter 27

Mercedes paced back in fourth in the terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport waiting for Sandino’s flight to land. After Justice and Dre left her apartment that morning, she’d gotten a call from Sandino telling her he was taking a 7:50 p.m. and would arrive by 10:00 p.m. He also made it absolutely clear that she better be on time because he hated to be kept waiting.

After getting a soda, Mercedes took a seat in one of the hard airport chairs and smiled. She couldn’t wait to get her hands on that money Sandino was offering for his wife. At that moment, all type of plans starting jumping around in her head. Once she got her sons out of jail, she also planned to go on a much needed shopping spree, then move into a nicer apartment.

She’d hoped that Justice would’ve come to his senses by now, but after he put his hands on her he was lucky she hadn’t slit his throat. She now had another man on her mind, and it damn sure wasn’t Dre either. It was Sandino. Mercedes hoped that she could somehow get him into bed then work her magic on him to get even more of his money.

“I could use another car,” she said.

After taking a few sips from her Pepsi, she noticed several people coming down the escalator. Some of the travelers had luggage that could hold an elephant, while others had just small carry ons. However Sandino wasn’t carrying a single thing. She didn’t have any problems spotting him as he stood out amongst all the travelers with his football physique. Eyeing his black sweat suit and LeBron James Nikes, Mercedes stared at him like a fresh piece of meat.

“Damn, he looks even better in person. I would definitely love to fuck his fine-ass. Who is that dude with him though? He didn’t mention anything about bringing anyone along,” she said to herself.

When they reached the bottom of the escalator, Mercedes who was wearing a tight pair of jeans, a cream sweater and thigh high boots, sashayed right up to the two men.

“Sandino, it’s me Mercedes.”

He looked her up and down before speaking. He didn’t think she would be such a cutie with a nice body, but he brushed it off and kept things professional.

“How was your flight? Did you check a bag? If so, we need to go pick up your bags over there,” Skye pointed.

“We don’t have any bags, we not plannin’ on stayin’ that long,” Sandino responded.

“Oh okay, I thought you were going stay with me, Poppi,” she said, batting her eyes. She still hadn’t paid Cruze any attention.

Sandino laughed out loud. “Who the fuck told you that? Let’s go I don’t have all day, where my wife at?” he asked with a stern look on his face.

“I’ll take you to her,” Mercedes said. She finally turned and looked at Cruze before she walked off.

Damn, he looks good, too
, she thought to herself.

While walking through the airport, Cruze looked around to make sure they weren’t being followed. He got a bad vibe from her as soon as Mercedes walked up. Something about her wasn’t right.

Both men followed behind her leaving the airport and headed to the parking garage. They watched as she tried to make her ass jiggle with every step. Her thick hips bulged from beneath her denim showcasing her best asset.

When they reached her car, Sandino shook his head thinking,
her name is Mercedes and the bitch is driving an old-ass Ford Explorer
.

When they all got inside, it wasn’t long before Mercedes headed toward the highway. After riding for a few minutes Mercedes made sure her chest was positioned just right so Sandino could see her large breasts. She caught him looking a few times and knew if it wasn’t for the other guy in the back she might’ve been able to convince him to stop by her place for a quickie before going to find Skye.

At that moment, Mercedes looked in her rear view mirror. “Hey, you in the back, why do you keep looking at me like that?” she asked Cruze.

“Looking at you like what?” he questioned.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. Like you don’t like me or something.”

“Bitch, ain’t nobody looking at you, I don’t even know you,” Cruze replied with an attitude.

“Watch who you calling a bitch. I thought since we’re all going to be working together we could at least get along.” Mercedes replied.

Sandino was irritated because he could tell already that Mercedes talked too much.

“Look, don’t worry about him. Just take us to my wife,” Sandino stated.

“Do you have my money?” she snapped.

Sandino shook his head. “Yeah, I got it.”

“And I hope you brought enough. I’m not doing this shit for a small amount,” Mercedes continued.

“Look, you gettin’ on my fuckin’ nerves. Don’t be tryna tell me how to handle business!” Sandino shot back.

“Okay, it’s no need to get nasty. I just wanted to make sure we were clear on the money, that’s all. Look under that seat,” she said, battering her eyes at him again.

When Sandino reached under the seat, he pulled out her .9mm.

“I thought you might need that,” Mercedes said. “If your friend needs one, we can head in another direction.”

“Good lookin’ out. That was a smart move.” Sandino was about to put the gun back under the seat when he felt his phone vibrate. After looking at the number, he quickly decided to take the call. “What up?” Sandino listened for a few seconds before responding. “Okay, bet. That’s what’s up. I’ll hit you back,” he said, hanging up the phone. He clapped his hands like he’d just gotten some great news. “So, Mercedes, tell me a little bit more about how you know my wife. How are my kids doin’?”

“Well, it’s like I explained to you on the phone, Skye and the kids came to the women’s shelter where I used to work. Of course I didn’t know who she was at the time. Jordan was doing well before they moved out, but Kareem got locked up for selling drugs.”

Mercedes didn’t think it was a good idea to mention that Kareem got locked selling drugs for her two sons.

“Kareem got locked up for sellin’ drugs? What the fuck was he doin’ sellin’ drugs? I knew that bitch couldn’t handle raisin’ my kids on her own.” Sandino was beyond furious. “So, you don’t work at the shelter anymore?”

“No, I got fired all behind your wife’s ass. I told you, she stole my man and he fired me. I caught them in his office having sex one day. Your wife is probably fucking Dre, too,” Mercedes lied without a conscious.

She continued to drill Sandino about Skye and Justice knowing it would piss Sandino off. She needed him to be nice and fired up when they got to Skye’s.

“Mercedes, I need you to pull over for a second I gotta piss…bad.” Sandino said.

“Can’t you wait? We don’t have long to go,” Mercedes advised.

“Unless you want me to piss all over your car, I suggest you stop,” Sandino demanded.

After taking the next exit, Mercedes pulled the car over onto the small shoulder. The road was dark and deserted; without a car in sight.

“Be careful it’s a lot of ditches around here,” she warned.

When Sandino got out the car to take a piss, Mercedes looked in the back at Cruze.

“You alright back there sexy? You’re so quiet.”

“I’m straight,” was all Cruze said back to her.

Once Sandino returned to the car, instead of getting back in the passenger’s seat he walked over to the driver’s side and told Mercedes to let him drive. “You drivin’ too damn slow and I need to get where we were going.”

“It’s cool, I can continue driving,” she responded. “You don’t even know where we’re going.”

“Just get out!” Sandino barked.

Not wanting to fight, Mercedes finally opened the door.
So, he’s a gentleman, too
, she thought when Sandino held the driver’s door open for her.