Torn (30 page)

"Doing you like what? See ..." Quan massaged his temples. "I knew I shouldn't have come over here! Yeah, Sherry, I got feelings for you! Are you happy now? Does that make you feel better?!"

"Naw, that don't make me feel better. You having feelings for me is not enough, Quan! You will never love me the way I love you!"

"What the hell is wrong wit you? You gettin' on my fuckin' nerves! How many times do we have to have this conversation? You are not my girl!"

"I never said I was! But don't you think I get sick of going to sleep by myself? Don't you think I get lonely at night? See Quan, what you fail to realize is that when you leave here, you go back to Mo and your little happy make-believe home but see, me," Sherry pointed her index finger into her chest, "I always go back to us! I would love to date other niggas but all I can think about is how you make me laugh! How I can't look into your eyes without feeling trapped! I love you! Why can't you see that?"

"Yo, you cool?" Quan sighed, praying to God she would say yes. "'Cause I gotta go."

"Hmm." Sherry shook her head as she came to the painful conclusion that Quan and Mo were back together. "What is it about her that you love so much?"

"What is it about who, Sherry?" "Mo. Why do you love her so much?"

"I just do. It's hard to explain."

"This is some fuckin' bullshit! I'm so tired of going through this shit wit you!"

"Tired of going through what? I never lied to you! I kept it real wit you from the jump! You knew I had a girl! I never told you that we was gon' be together!"

"Yes you did! While I was pregnant with Lil' Quan!"

"And I apologized, but after that you knew what it was." Unsure of what to say or do next, Sherry stood in a sea of silence as thoughts of how and why swam in her mind. The tears that had so desperately wanted to escape for the past three years flooded her eyes and dripped down her face. Maybe Quan was right. Maybe she had played herself. But Sherry could vividly remember the night she opened the door to find Quan standing there helplessly on her porch.

He had looked as if his heart had been broken in a million pieces, and seeing him this way caused Sherry to hurt, too.

She could hear him whisper the words she had so been dying to hear.
You and my son are all I will ever need,
he had assured her. Those words would never escape her memory.

They would forever hang in time.

"Look, ma," Quan said, walking over and wiping the tears from her eyes, "you don't want to be wit a nigga like me. I ain't no good. All I'ma do is probably fuck around and end up hurtin' you, and I got too much love for you to do that."

"You just don't realize how much I love you, do you?" Sherry asked, feeling weak. "Like, I would do anything for you. I would never cheat on you. Ever."

"And that's what I love most about you. You down for a nigga. Don't get me wrong, I like you a lot, but we both know this can't be more than what it is. I mean I want you to stay in my life, and if you love me the way you say you do, then I want us to continue being friends--"

"Friends? Oh, so that's how you treat yo' friends? You just let friends go around suckin' yo' dick?" Sherry barked, heated.

"Yo, cut all that noise!"

Pissed, Sherry listened and closed her mouth.

"Now like I was saying, hopefully you will be patient wit me. But if you can't then you gotta do what's best for you, ma.

I ain't tryin' to get in the way of your happiness. Shit ... in the end we'll see what happens. If it's meant to be, it'll be."

"I guess, Quan--"

"You guess?" he whispered, getting up into her face, his lips barely touching hers. "You know I got love for you, ma.

Just be patient, a'ight. You got my shorty, man. You'll always have a piece of my heart."

Looking into his eyes, Sherry knew that Quan was full of shit, and at that moment she was tired of stepping in it. She was tired of playing a lukewarm game of one minute he wants me and the next minute he doesn't. She wanted a man, not a piece of a man, and for the last three years that was all Quan had been and probably ever would be. Mo sat comfortably in the passenger seat of Quan's brand new 2007 Range Rover and wondered if being wifey was all it was cracked up to be. Being a wifey didn't replace the constant disappointment, mistrust and lies. And plus, she was tired of looking past forgotten numbers left in pockets, the scent of a women's perfume in his clothes and the looks she'd get from other women that screamed
I know something you don't know
. Glancing over at Quan as he navigated his whip with precision, Mo rolled her eyes and sighed.

She wanted to feel or at least pretend as if everything was alright, but allowing herself to fully love Quan again was like walking on eggshells. She knew at any moment if given the chance her heart would break, and that was something Mo couldn't allow to happen yet again. She wished that she could believe him when he said that everything would be different, but Mo could vividly remember him saying that numerous times before. Each day with him her suspicions multiplied.

Her heart just couldn't get over how he hurt her. To her soul, Quan was the enemy.

"Yo Mo, this my shit right here," Quan explained, turning the volume on the radio up. Young Jeezy's "
J.E.Z.Z.Y.
" was playing.

"
Quan like to drank ... Quan like to smoke ... Quan like
to mix Arm and Hammer wit his coke,"
he sang loudly into her ear.

"Boy, move!" she giggled, gently pushing him in the arm.

Just as they were about to pull up to a red light, her cell phone began to ring.

"Turn that down, my phone ringing. Hello?"

"Speak to Mo?"

"I can't hear you. Say that again."

"I said can I speak to Mo!" a familiar female voice shouted.

"Uh ah, baby, let's not do that. Who the hell is this?" she snapped, unsure of who the caller was.

"Sherry. Yo' fiance's baby mama."

"Who?" Mo's voice escalated as she sat up straight.

"Mo, you know who this is. I didn't stutter."

"Hold on, lil' mama, what the fuck you callin' me for?"

"What's with all the hostility? I was just callin' to let you know you gon' be babysittin' this weekend."

"Babysittin'! Bitch, have you lost yo' mind? That muthafuckin' baby ain't mine! You know what ... get this rat off my phone!" Mo passed Quan her cell phone, visibly heated. "You better check her, Quan! You better check her before I fuckin' kill her!"

"Check who?" he asked confused, taking the phone. "Who the fuck is this?"

"Nigga, don't play! Like I told yo' chick, since y'all over there tryin' to play house and shit, y'all need to come get Lil' Quan for the weekend 'cause a bitch like me gotta make moves," Sherry continued, like it was nothing.

"Yo, you on some straight bullshit! What the fuck you doing callin' my girl phone?"

"Quan please, like you told me ... charge it to the game," Sherry laughed, hanging up in his ear.

"So you got this bitch callin' my phone now?!" Mo seethed with anger.

"Man, chill. I don't know how that girl got yo' number."

"Oh, and I guess I must look like boo boo the fool! Let me find out you still fuckin' her, Quan!"

"Man, ain't nobody thinkin' about that girl."

"And you better not be! 'Cause I'ma tell you this right now, if I find out you still fuckin' with her, it's over! For real! Like there ain't gon' be no more second or third chances! This shit gon' be a wrap! Straight up!"

"Yo, chill! I told you I'm not fuckin' wit that girl."

"And how many times have I heard that shit before! No!

What you better do is get that rat in check and tell her to play her fuckin' position, 'cause I'll be damn if I go through this bullshit again! Y'all bitches must got me fucked up for real!" Mo yelled, snatching her phone away from Quan and throwing it in her Chanel purse.

Shocked at Mo's outburst, Quan turned and looked at her.

He knew she was on some ring the alarm shit but damn! Quan wasn't about to lose Mo over no bullshit. Something had to be done and quick.

"I wish I could've seen his fuckin' face!" Sherry gloated as she took small portions of Jahquita's hair and plated them into tiny braids.

"I know he was like
what the fuck
! But that's what his ass get!" Jahquita giggled, inhaling the smoke from a blunt.

"You were right, girl. I do feel much better. I should have done this a long time ago."

"I told you, girl! Fuck him! Quan's ass ain't shit! How he gon' come over here and play you like that? Shit, he got us fucked up!"

"To hell wit him and that bitch! They can have each other!

But I'll tell you what, he ain't gon' keep playin' me for a fool!"

"Right, Mo can have him. Wit her corny ass," Jahquita added.

"I can't believe it was that easy to get her number."

"Girl, I been told you her and my friend Neosha cool. The last time she came over to get a sack I just asked to use her phone ... and when she wasn't looking I got Mo's number out her address book."

"Yo' ass know you sneaky. Let me find out you been fuckin' Quan on the low."

"Hmm, don't be surprised."

"Quita, please don't play." Sherry screwed up her face knowing damn well Quan wouldn't look twice at Jahquita.

"No, don't you play," she countered.

"Whateva ... so you don't think we took it too far?"

"What I tell you? Quan don't give a fuck about you or your feelings. He ain't thinkin' about you. That nigga only out for hisself. All he care about is him and Mo. Shit, he barely care about Lil' Quan. So my advice to you is to get yo' shit together and start lookin' out for you and yo' kids, 'cause who knows how long this free ride is gonna last. And you better hope he don't get locked up, 'cause if does, you know you ain't gettin' no child support."

"You right."

"And you know I am."

"Whateva." Sherry grinned, gripping Jahquita's hair extra tight.

"Oww!" Jahquita yanked her head away. "Bitch! Quit pullin' my hair so hard."

"Bitch, that's the only way I'm gon' be able to grip this little bitty-ass shit. You know you ain't got that much hair."

"Girl, please. Fuck you." Jahquita laughed. "I know you ain't tryin' to play me."

"I know you ain't got the nerve to be complaining. I'm doing this shit for free."

"You ain't doing nothing for free. I told you I got you on the fifth."

"Yeah ... we'll see."

"Whateva. Hey, where is West at? Have anybody seen him?"

"Nope, not as far as I know," Sherry smirked, feeling all mushy inside.

"Umm, but back to yo' nigga. You better get ready for a beat down 'cause you know he coming over here, right?"

"You think so?" Sherry asked, somewhat afraid.

"Sherry? Do you really think Quan gon' let you get off that easily?"

"Girl, please. I ain't even worried about it. Quan bet not come over her clowin'. I'll call the police on his ass." The words weren't even good out of Sherry's mouth before she heard the sound of Quan's heavy footsteps coming through the door.

"Told ... you," Jahquita chuckled.

Determined not to flip and beat Sherry's ass for disrespecting Mo, Quan entered the house counting backwards down from ten. Sherry hadn't gotten out of line like this since she confronted Mo at Mina's shop. Even then he had been surprised by her actions. He knew someone had to amp her to do it. Sherry wasn't that crazy.
It was probably that fat-ass bitch
Quita
, he thought. Quan's theory was proven true when he entered the kitchen.

The first person he spotted was Jahquita. Instantly, he was pissed. There she sat with her legs crossed, dressed in nothing but a wife beater and booty shorts. Quan wanted to hurl. The girl had on no bra, which caused her 44DDD breasts to sag, and he could see the cellulite in her thighs. Not only did she look disgusting but she was smoking weed in his house, which was a big no-no. To top it off, she was giving him a look that said,
And what? Yep, I'm smokin' in yo' house. Nigga, you ain't gon' do shit. Jump if you want to
. Quan was really pissed.

Deciding he was gonna have to kick both their asses, he readied himself for war.

"Where my son at?" he asked Sherry as she stood over Jahquita with a bag of number 27 human micro braiding hair in hand. She had a look of pure fear on her face. But Quan didn't care. Sherry was the one who started all of this, and now he was about to finish it.

"In his room with his sister," she spoke flatly.

Without warning, Quan leapt across the room. Jahquita was pushed out of the chair and onto the floor. With his hand wrapped around Sherry's throat and her head yanked back, he slapped her face and said, "Bitch, let me tell you something!