This Could Be Us But You Playin' 2 (5 page)

No longer in the happy mood, tears started to spill once again from her eyes when Shanice realized that Dominique had found a way to rain on her parade like she always did. Whether it was on purpose or not, it didn’t matter. It was like she was always there. Shanice felt like Dominique was nothing but a fucking thorn in her side and she was tired of it. With her face covered with tears, Shanice thought about all of the times that Dominique had fucked up her plans. It seemed like she always went after everything that Shanice wanted for herself. It had been that way since they were kids. Shanice would set her eye on someone, and before she knew it, Dominique would somehow make that person like her. That is exactly how it happened with Kaleb years ago. Dominique knew that Shanice thought he was cute first, but apparently that didn’t matter because soon after, she and Kaleb were a couple. Shanice giggled through her tears when she through about how she’d ruined everything for the fake ass so-called loving couple years prior.

It was the night of the neighborhood party. Everyone was supposed to be in attendance and Shanice was looking forward to having a little bit of fun. Paris and her parents had come to visit, and Shanice was going to introduce her to all of her friends. That evening after receiving the phone call from Dominique about the fight that occurred at her house earlier that day, Shanice knew that her best friend wouldn’t be able to attend. With Paris being there, it didn’t bother Shanice one way or another because she already had someone to go with. Once they got there, she showed Paris around and they both started to enjoy themselves. Not long after they got there, Kaleb walked in accompanied by his best friend, Desmond. Shanice watched as Kaleb greeted everyone at the party, while scanning the crowd with his eyes. When they landed on Shanice, she smiled and waved, but Kaleb didn’t pay her any mind, and instead, continued to look around the party.

For close to two hours, Shanice watched him from afar, wishing that it was her that he constantly looked around the room for. He looked so cute sitting there, looking like he had just climbed out of the barber chair before he arrived. Soon, Shanice got tired of just watching and went over and joined him on the couch. She started to strike up a conversation, but immediately, Kaleb interrupted her and began to ask about Dominique. After she lied and told him that she hadn’t heard from her that day, they started to talk about school and other things, but before long, Kaleb’s focus went right back to having a conversation about Dominique. Annoyed and feeling ignored, Shanice excused herself and went off to find her cousin. Once she found Paris, she gave her a rundown of the plan that she had come up wit. Just as she expected, Paris was down. Not wanting to be seen together by either Kaleb or Desmond, the cousins separated and went their own ways.

Ten minutes later, Shanice rejoined Kaleb on the couch, but this time, she had a drink in her hand; a drink that was sure to put him on his ass. The day before, Shanice and her father stopped at the pharmacy to pick up her mother’s prescription. When they got there, the line to the drive-up window was around the building, so Shanice went inside. Once she was finished cashing out, she left the pharmacy and put the bag into her purse to give to her mother once she got home. Somehow, it slipped her mind, and she ended up with her mother’s Ambien at the party. After crushing one up with a soda can, she opened the beverage and emptied the powdery medication into the can. Shanice walked over and handed the drink to Kaleb before she turned around with a smile because she knew it was only a matter of time before he started to feel woozy, just like her mother did many nights.

A half hour later, Kaleb stood up, and Shanice started to panic. She thought that he was about to find Desmond, and they would leave and mess up her plans. When she saw him make his way over to the stairs, she looked over at her cousin and nodded. That was Paris’s cue, and immediately, she went to work. Shanice waited close to ten minutes before she slowly walked up the stairs. The music was playing, so she couldn’t hear anything, and for that reason, she had to check two bedrooms before she came across Paris on her knees in the bathroom. Quickly, Shanice snapped a few photos with her cellphone and hauled ass back down the stairs before anyone noticed her. Not long after, Paris came down and the two of them left the party. Shanice didn’t want to be there when Kaleb finally woke up because if he figured out who Paris was, she knew he would tell Dominique.

Once Shanice made it back to her house, she used Paris’s cellphone to forward the pictures of Kaleb getting head to everyone she knew. With only the back of Paris’s head showing, no one knew who he had hooked up with, so everyone guessed that it was someone who was not from the neighborhood. Paris and her parents ended up leaving the following day, and that was when Shanice made up the story about it being a ‘new girl’ who supposedly transferred to their school. She had no idea that once she told Dominique what had happened with Kaleb that she would leave their neighborhood and move in with her grandmother. Although that part wasn’t planned, it still worked out in Shanice’s favor. With Dominique out of the way, she quickly took her place and became the most popular girl in school.

Kaleb, on the other hand, took Dominique leaving pretty hard. He reached out to Shanice quite a few times to get her number, but she always told him that Dominique didn’t want him to have it. He even went as far as to write her a letter and ask Shanice to pass it on. While she told that him she would, the letter never made to the mailbox because after she read it, she tossed it in the trash. She didn’t feel the least bit of remorse for Kaleb because in Shanice’s mind, he brought it all on his self. Had he approached her and they became a couple, he wouldn’t have been going through the things that he was going through at that moment.

The vibrating of her phone brought Shanice out of her thoughts. She sat up and reached for it, realizing that it was a text message. When she saw who it was from, she kissed her teeth in annoyance.

Baby Daddy: I just wanted to let you know how truly sorry I am about the fact that we couldn’t go on our trip as planned. You think that you were the only one who was excited, but I was too. I was looking forward to being able to spend time with you uninterrupted. I also want to apologize for hanging up on you earlier.

Shanice rolled her eyes and shook her head because Deondre was a piece of work. If he thought that weak ass apology was going to work on her this time, he had another thing coming. Removing her phone from the charger, she quickly typed out a response, and hit send. 

Shanice: Whateva Dre! You are EXACTLY where you want to be, so save that shit for somebody else. Like I said before, I don’t know how much longer I can deal with this.

Knowing that Deondre wasn’t going to respond like he usually did when she was mad, Shanice laid her phone back down and got up to use the restroom. Once she was finished handling her personal care, she washed and dried her hands and stood in the mirror. Shanice looked at herself thoroughly. She smiled when she noticed that the swelling in her nose had gone down, and her face was completely free on any signs of the fight. A few days ago, Shanice ditched the wig she had been forced to wear and opted to get micro braids instead. Since NiChia had pulled out a lot of her hair during the fight, the stylist braided all around her crown and suggested that Shanice wear her hair in a high ponytail. This way she wouldn’t have to put any more stress on the middle of her hair. With Shanice’s braids pulled up, you couldn’t even tell that there were quite a few bald spots present because her braids were so small.

After applying and washing off her facial mask, Shanice removed her clothes and turned on the shower. Although it was only a little after eight, she was tired from all of the crying she’d done and was ready to call it a night. Since she had to wake up early to go pick up Paris before they hit the road, Shanice didn’t mind turning in early. She knew her body needed to rest anyway.  While the water ran down her body, Shanice placed her hand on her stomach.

She still hadn’t really grasped the fact that she was going to have another baby. She didn’t know if it was because London kept her so busy, or the fact that she wasn’t sure how things were going to work out between her and Deondre. Having a second child by him was something that Shanice hadn’t planned. Of course, they weren’t using protection, but it had been that way for the last three years and nothing had happened. Now, the mother of two of his kids made it official in Shanice’s book and the fact that things were exactly the same as they were when she was pregnant with their daughter bothered her. She wanted nothing more than to be Deondre’s woman and eventually his wife, but for some reason, he didn’t see that she was the better woman.

Once Shanice finished washing up, she turned off the water and climbed out of the shower. After a quick pat down with her towel, she shuffled naked back into her bedroom, where she cut off all the lights and climbed under the covers. Almost immediately, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Not even five minutes later, she heard the sound of her phone going off again. At first, she ignored it because she figured that it was probably nothing, and it could with until the morning. That is until she remembered that she had texted Deondre before her shower.  Rolling over on her side, Shanice reached out and grabbed her now lit phone off of the nightstand. Once she unlocked it and saw that she had a message from Deondre, her heart skipped a beat. She just knew he was texting her some smart shit like he usually did when he had fucked up, and because of this, Shanice debated on whether or not to even open it. She didn’t want to take the chance of him pissing her off and making it hard for her to go to sleep. Curiosity ended up getting the best of her, and instead of ignoring the message, she tapped his name to read the text anyway.

Baby Daddy: I know sometimes I can be a pain in the ass, but I don’t do it intentionally. I need you to understand that my love for you is genuine, even though sometimes you don’t believe it to be true. Honestly, I feel bad when I hear you crying, because I know that it’s because of something I did. You think I be bullshitting when I say that you cross my mind at least a few times a day. Your smile, your laugh, and just hearing your voice is something that I look forward to. Please believe me when I say that I’m going to try to be a better man. Things aren’t perfect right now, and I can’t guarantee that they will ever be. What I can assure you is that I will always be here for you and our children no matter what. Just keep riding with me baby. I promise it’ll be worth it.

By the time Shanice finished reading the text message that Deondre had sent, she crying once again, but this time it wasn’t because she was sad.
These damn hormones got me emotional as hell,
she reasoned.
I’ve cried enough today to last me all damn month.
Shanice read the message two more times before she sat her phone down and wiped away her tears. It was things like that that made her love Deondre so much. He could be ignorant at times and curse her out when things didn’t go his way, but there were also times when he was a sweetheart. Those times and his occasional sweet words were what Shanice longed for. She enjoyed hearing about how much Deondre thought about her during the day, and how much he loved her. It made her feel like she wasn’t in it alone, like she sometimes felt.

Now feeling much better about where she and Deondre stood, Shanice laid back against her pillow with a new attitude. She was still going to Myrtle Beach with her cousin, but when she came back, she was going to begin her task of putting an end to Dominique and Deondre because she was officially tired of sharing.

Chapter 3

The television was playing, but Kaleb wasn’t paying any attention to it. Instead, his mind was elsewhere. It had been a week and a half since he’d been with Dominique at the mall, and he had yet to hear from her. He had dialed her number at least a hundred times within the first few days, but never received an answer or a call back. At first, he thought that her dude had done something to her, but after checking her Instagram page, he knew that Dominique was just avoiding him. Why, Kaleb wasn’t sure. He didn’t know if her dude believed that he was actually NiChia’s boyfriend or if he saw right through the lie that she fed him. At that time, neither he nor Dominique knew just how much he’d seen. All they saw was him standing at the entrance with an angry scowl on his face.

At first, Kaleb didn’t even see that. He was too focused on watching Dominique walk in front of him with the tight pair of jeans she was wearing. The switch of her hips and that ass had all of his attention at that moment, so when she stopped, he ran right into the back of her. Looking up, he was about to ask her if she had seen something else she wanted, but when he saw the frightened look on her face, he knew something was wrong. After following her eyes, Kaleb saw what the problem was. It pissed him off to see her so afraid. Although Dominique didn’t want to get caught, it didn’t matter to Kaleb. He actually hoped that her dude saw them kiss because if that were the case, they wouldn’t have had to creep around anymore. Kaleb was tired of keeping their love a secret and was ready for it to just be the two of them.

It irritated him to hear Dominique’s dude interrogating her. Standing there listening to her answer each of his questions was even worse. Kaleb wished that he would have gotten out of pocket because, even though he didn’t want to have to act up in the mall, he would have given his big black ass what he was looking for. Just thinking about how he tried to question him got Kaleb hot all over again. What made him even more upset was the fact that it seemed as if Dominique was giving him the cold shoulder once again. Kaleb wasn’t sure what she was trying to prove, but he was sick and tired of her playing games. One second they were cool, and the next, she was disappearing. Something had to give.

Taking a seat on the barstool in his basement, he looked at the television, which was playing
Scarface
. It didn’t matter how many times he’d seen that movie, whenever it was playing on TV, he made sure to watch it, even though he already had the DVD. 

“Alright, I’m ready to tap that ass again!” Desmond yelled, as he jogged down the stairs. “Had to talk to my baby about a few things, but now I’m back.”

“How is Peanut’s crazy ass?” Kaleb asked, thinking about just how perfect Dominique’s sister was for his best friend. “I ain’t seen her in like a week.”

“She’s good. I been keeping her feisty ass out the way because every time I turn around, she popping off on somebody.” Desmond threw his head back and laughed. “I be trying to tell her to slow that shit down, especially since she still got a case pending against old girl, but you can’t tell Peanut’s ass nothing. That damn girl is a fucking nut!”

Kaleb cracked up. “I guess you ran into yo’ match this time, huh?”

“Hell yeah, and then some,” Desmond agreed. “Her little ass ain’t nothing but about this big.” He held his hand out by his waist. “But always trying to swing on somebody.”

“Call me crazy, but I recall you acting the same exact way.”

Desmond picked up the pool stick that was lying across the table and looked at Kaleb.  “Bullshit! I may have a bad temper at times, but I’m nothing like Peanut. You gotta get me riled up for me to put a nigga on they ass, whereas Peanut gone swing first and ask questions later. It doesn’t even matter what the situation is, she’s always ready to get that wreck in.”

“Yeah, okay.” Kaleb turned around in the barstool. “You can say what you want, but y’all are a perfect match. You be on the same shit.”

Desmond smiled at the thought. NiChia was his baby, even though she may have been a little crazy. Her take no shit attitude was what he liked about her the most. NiChia didn’t bite her tongue; if it was something she wanted to say, she said it, no matter how you felt afterwards. Not only was she gusty, but she was also the most loving person that he had ever met. Underneath that tough girl act was a sweet little girl that Desmond was growing to love. Spending time with NiChia had become one of his favorite pastimes, and as soon as he left Kaleb’s, that was exactly where he was going because he missed her already.

“Guess what she gone ask me earlier?” Desmond leaned down and aimed the stick. Once his shot was lined up, he took it and watched as the ball rolled into the pocket.

“What?” Kaleb asked, picking his beer up off the bar and taking a sip.

“If I would take her to get her cheeks pierced this weekend.”

Almost spitting out his drink, Kaleb sat up and yelled. “Hell nah! Don’t she know she’s too pretty for all that unnecessary shit?” He was never into facial piercings and things like that, and whenever he saw a female with earrings and tattoo’s and shit like that on their faces, it immediately turned him off. Kaleb liked more of a natural beauty, not a freak show.

“Man, you ain’t gotta tell me. You already know that I shut that shit down with the quickness. I told her ass no so fast, she didn’t even get all of her question out her mouth. Then I told her if she went and got one behind my back, I was gone beat her ass.”

“Even though I know you bullshitting, you tell her that I said we gone jump her ass if she does. Straight beat down.” Kaleb threw his hands up and threw a few jabs. “And I ain’t throwing nothing but body shots!”

“Nigga, you dumb as fuck!” Desmond said as he smacked his hand down on the pool table and cracked up.

The best friends continued to laugh and joke as they played a few games of pool. While Desmond spoke about NiChia, Kaleb wanted so badly to ask if she’d said anything about her sister, but he didn’t want to be the first to bring it up. Kaleb knew that if anyone knew what Dominique had been up to, it was NiChia. As Desmond shot ball after ball into the pockets, all Kaleb could do was think about was Dominique’s claim to still love him. That was something that Kaleb couldn’t understand. If she loved him so much, how could she ignore him as if he doesn’t exist? Walking away from the pool table, Kaleb went back to the barstool and took a seat.

After unlocking his phone, he went straight to Instagram. He wanted to see what Dominique had been up to that was so important that she was ignoring him. When he searched her name and went to her page, he saw that the only thing she’d posted was a photo of her son. He was a cute little boy who looked just like his mother. Seeing DJ made Kaleb wish that he was his. That way things between he and Dominique would have been a lot less complicated. With nothing else to see on her page, he went to the home screen to see what was going on with his followers.

Kaleb looked down at his phone as he used his thumb to scroll down the many pictures that had been posted. There were quite a few selfies, photos of little kids dressed as grown-ups, and more memes than he could keep up with. Kaleb paused for a second when he came across one picture that stood out. It was a plate of food. A quick glance at the poster’s name forced him to chuckle out loud. With a name like
‘TightN’JuicyKat’
, he hoped that her box was good and wet like she claimed because from the photo that he was looking at, she damn sure couldn’t cook if her life depended on it. The fact that she posted it made him wonder what the hell she was thinking in the first place. 

The plate that was sloppily made looked disgusting and just the thought of eating something so vile made him sick to his stomach. There were three pieces of fried chicken legs that were doused with hot sauce, but even then, Kaleb could still see that they were way too dark for his liking. To the left of the chicken was a clump of extremely soupy macaroni and to the right sat a pile of collard greens that were stiff looking. They also looked like the chick had just pulled them off the stem a few minutes prior because they didn’t look to be cooked at all. The very last thing he saw on the dish made Kaleb do a double take. It was a charred slice of cornbread that she had the nerve to put a large piece of butter on top of, as if that would actually help.

“I hope this shit is a fucking joke,” he said to himself in utter disgust.

*****

Kaleb’s mind was still stuck on what Desmond asked him about Dominique the night before.
‘Do you think she would do the same with her nigga if you told her that you wanted to be exclusive?’
echoed through his head over and over again. Although he said that he knew she would, Kaleb couldn’t help but think that he lied. He actually had no clue what Dominique would do if he actually sat down and asked her something like that. Crazy thing is, in order for him to ask her anything, she would have to accept his calls, which she wasn’t doing. At the moment, all he had left were the memories of the last time they were together weeks ago.

“We have to figure out something,” she told him, climbing off of him and kissing him once on the lips.

They were at another one of Kaleb’s properties. They had just finished getting hot and heavy, and Kaleb was exhausted. He gripped Dominique’s waist and pulled her body closer towards him. She responded by draping her arm across him stomach and laying her head on top of his chest. Kaleb inhaled and smelled the fruity fragrance of her hair.

Kaleb brought her head up to look her in the eyes. “Figure out what?”

“Us. What are we going to do about us? Are you we going to just keep creeping around?”

“You already know what I want,” he told her seriously. “I want you to be mine. I don’t say anything or push the issue, but I hate it when you leave me and go back home to him. That shit hurts, but I accept it because I know that’s ya man, and the father of your child.”

“I know, I feel the same way when I think about you being with her.” Dominique hesitated for a moment before she asked, “Do you love her?”

Kaleb though about her question for a minute before he replied, “Yes, I love her, but not the way that I love you.”

“What does that mean?”

Although she tried to stop them, Dominique’s eyes pooled with tears. When one fell, Kaleb brushed it away with his finger. He used his hand to tilt her chin upwards while he looked down at her intently. He wanted to make sure that she completely understood what he was about to say.

“I love Tiera. I care about her and I would never want to see her hurt, but I’m not in love with her. You are who my heart belongs to, always has and probably always will.
I remember the first time I saw you again,” Kaleb told her, thinking back to the day that she walked into the house with her dude. “It was as if time stood still. I was shocked, sad, happy, and confused all at once. I didn’t know whether to speak or act like I didn’t know you.” He laughed. “I think I played it cool though, what do you think?”

Dominique smiled. “You did a good job at first. Then you got thirsty.”

“I’ll take that.” Kaleb laughed again. “I was happy as hell to see you. You don’t know how much I missed you and now that I got you back, I don’t plan on letting you go again.” He leaned down and slipped his tongue into her mouth…

“Kaleb!” Tiera yelled, waving her hand back and forth in front of his face.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he looked over at her and when he saw how she was staring at him, he wiped the goofy grin off his face. “Yeah?”

“What is going on with you?”

“Nothing. What you talking about? I was watching the TV,” he lied. He knew he couldn’t tell her that he was thinking about the last sexual encounter he had with another woman.

Tiera tilted her head to the side and peered at him. “Really? Well, what just happened?” When she saw the dumb look on his face, she knew that she had him. “Exactly.”

“Come on now, Te Te,” Kaleb moaned. “I was just thinking about something,” he told her honestly.

“Care to share?” She propped her legs up on the couch and turned to completely face him. “Maybe I can help.”

“Nah, it’s nothing.”

Tiera snorted, “Whatever!”

Standing, she picked up the plate and glass that she had been using and marched towards the kitchen. She was irritated that he was, once again, ignoring her. Today, she had planned to tell Kaleb some exciting news, but immediately changed her mind when she saw that he was caught up in his own thoughts, yet again. Things were already strained between the two of them, and Kaleb was to blame. Tiera had reached her limit. She was fed up with being treated as if she didn’t exist, and these last few weeks, it was even worse. Placing her hand on her stomach, all she could do was shake her head. She had just recently found out that she was pregnant and more than likely conceived while they were on their vacation. At first, she as ecstatic and couldn’t wait to share the news, but when she got to Kaleb’s house the other day and saw that he was still acting a little distant, she changed her mind, planning to tell him that day. Now, Tiera was faced with a task on what to do next. There she was pregnant by the man she loved, and things were so messed up between the two of them, that she was contemplating on not telling him about it at all.

What is the point? It’s not like it’s going to freakin’ matter anyway. Kaleb is too caught up with his own shit that he probably won’t even care,
Tiera thought to herself before she sighed in annoyance. While she didn’t want to raise her child alone, she knew that she could. Tiera made more than enough money to support herself, and what she slacked in, she was sure her father would help. As she stood in the kitchen, she fought with herself on if she should say something or just let it be.
Fuck that, I’m not going to be silent anymore. He’s going to have to tell me something because if he doesn’t, I’m walking out of that door and not looking back.
With her mind now made, Tiera turned the faucet on and started to wash out the dishes she’d used. When she was finished, she sat them in the dish rack, turned off the water, and stormed back into the living room.