Wifey (20 page)

When Frances heard her daughter’s name being called, all three of them turned and looked in my direction as I walked into the convenience store. Fredrica spoke back to me, but I could hear the gritting of her teeth while she was doing it.

“Where my daddy at?” she asked me in a grown and sassy way.

“He’s outta town, baby,” I replied, as I approached them.

Frances looked me up and down and said, “His ass is always outta town! He ain’t never got no time for his daughter! But, that’s alright! Because, when his ass go to jail, he gon’ be begging me to bring her down there to see him. But it ain’t gon’ happen. So, you make sure you tell him.”

I put on a fake smile and said, “Okay. Will do.”

I got in line to pay for my gas.

On my way back out to my car, I saw Frances and her girlfriend whispering to each other and giggling as they walked by me. They hopped in this old-looking car and left as soon as I started up mine.

It wasn’t too long after I got back on the road when my cell phone started ringing. “Hello,” I said, after looking down at my Caller ID and finding out it was Ricky.

“What’s going on wit’ you and my aunt Sharon?” he asked as if he was really pissed off.

“Ain’t nothing going on!” I snapped back.

“Well, why is ten Gs missing out that pack?”

“You should’ve asked your aunt Sharon while you had her on the phone.”

“I did. But I want you to tell me why you ain’t pick that pack up last night when I asked you to?”

“Because I forgot!”

“But, that’s not good enough, Kira!”

“Okay, then. What you want me to say?”

“It ain’t about that! It’s about you having my back when I ask you to.”

“Oh, so you don’t think I got your back?”

“Now, what kind of question is that?”

“A question you need to answer!”

“Look, I ain’t got time for your bullshit, Kira! Just pick up the other two bags and I’ll see you when I get back.”

“Well, did you tell your favorite aunt not to take anymore of your dough?”

“Look, I ain’t trying to hear that shit you talking. Just do like I asked you. And for tonight and tomorrow, Sharon gon’ give you the bag in your hand instead of ya’ll doing it the other way.

“Yeah, whatever!” I replied sarcastically and hung up on him.

***

Two weeks went by and I didn’t hear nothing from Mr. Shapiro or the Feds, which made me feel a little uneasy. I hated being in the dark about things involving me. It put a real big knot in my stomach and I couldn’t control it.

Ricky had come back from North Carolina and left home again to go to D.C., to see his other child he had behind my back. He didn’t even ask me to go, which was another slap in the face. Just so he could get his baby mama to give him some ass. Shit, I knew what time it was. Niggas always wanted to go back and screw their baby mamas every now and then. They figured it was a mandatory thing! That’s why baby mamas caused all the drama.

Thugging It Out

Me and Ricky’s trip to Amsterdam was coming up pretty fast. We only had four days left until we left; which was the day before Valentine’s Day. But I was having second thoughts about going because of everything that was going on.

Ricky, on the other hand, was real excited about it. He couldn’t talk about nothing else but that trip. “Baby, I can’t wait ‘til we hop on the plane to get outta here!” he commented.
“Boy! Boy! Boy!
We gon’ have a ball!”

I was sitting at the kitchen table, sorting out the bills and writing checks for them while Ricky was running off at the mouth. Before I could say anything to him his cell phone starting ringing.

“Yo, son what’s up?” he didn’t hesitate to say.

“Look man, everything gon’ be a’ight. She’ll be done wit’ it before it gets dark. So, I’mma call you,” Ricky told the caller and hung up.

“These niggaz act like the world gon’ end if they can’t get their re-up on time!” Ricky said out loud as he put his cell phone on the kitchen table.

“Who was that?”

“It was Mike. But I heard Remo in the background, talking about they done missed a whole lot of dough that came through there.”

Instead of commenting on what Ricky was saying, I continued on writing the checks for the bills. But, Ricky continued talking. He got a big kick out of playing the role of the head nigga in charge. It made him feel like all his flunkies couldn’t do nothing without him. And to have the type of dough he had, gave him the power he loved.

“Did you move my box of Black & Milds from off the counter?” he asked me.

“Yeah. I put ’em on top of the sugar canister.”

“Well, what you do wit’ my lighter?”

“I didn’t see no lighter.”

“But, they were together.”

“Look, Ricky, don’t worry me about no damn lighter! Get a pack of matches outta the kitchen drawer.”

“Damn! Don’t bite my head off!”

“Well, leave me alone! You see me over here trying to write these checks and balance my checkbook.”

“A’ight, then. I’mma leave you alone,” Ricky assured me and walked out of the kitchen in the direction of the den. He turned around when he heard his two-way radio beeping back in the kitchen with me.

“Aaaayy, yooo!” the familiar voice yelled through the radio.

Ricky grabbed the radio from the table, pressed down on the talk button and said, “What’s up, B?!”

Ricky don’t call nobody else ‘B’ but Brian, so that had to be who he was talking to.

“Have you talked to Mike yet?” I heard Brian say when Ricky released the button for Brian to respond.

“Yeah. Why?” Ricky replied.

“‘Cause shit is getting busy ’round here, son! And niggaz ain’t got nuttin’ to work wit’,” Brian explained, like he was stressed.

“Yo, B, I understand that. But, I can’t do nuttin’ about that now. I done already told Mike my peoples was working on it!”

“Well, when you think shit gon’ be popping?”

“Look, everybody gon’ be straight before it gets dark. A’ight?”

“Yeah! That’s what’s up!” Brian replied with excitement.

“So, we straight on that?” Ricky asked him.

“Yeah. We straight. Just hit me up when you got the word!”

“A’ight!” Ricky turned off his two-way after their conversation was over.

I turned myself around in the chair and said, “Why is it that your cell phone bills get higher every month?”

“How much is it?” He walked toward me.

“It’s two hundred and eighty-nine dollars.”

“Well, pay it.” .

“I will. But, you still didn’t answer my question.”

“What you want me to say?”

“I want you to answer my question.”

“Well, I guess it’s because I’m using my phone more and more by the day,” he replied sarcastically.

“Stop being a smart ass!”

“You the one wanted an answer. So, I gave you one.” Ricky walked back out the kitchen.

“Oh, whatever!” I shouted back at him before I went back to what I was doing.

***

I was still sitting at the kitchen table, writing out checks, when the house phone started ringing. I tried to answer it, but Ricky beat me to it and then he yelled, “Kira, get the phone.”

“Who is it?” I asked.

“It’s Nicole.”

“A’ight. I got it!” I yelled back to him and waited for him to hang up his line. And when he did, I said, “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” Nikki replied.

“Have you heard from Mr. Shapiro?”

“Nope.”

“Me either.”

“What you thinks going on?”

“I don’t know. But, now is not the time to be talking about that.”

“What, you think Ricky gon’ hear us?”

“Not you. But me.”

Nikki sighed real loud and said, “You seen Brian lately?”

“Nah. But him and Ricky was just talking to each other on their two-way radios about ten minutes ago.”

“Did they say something about me?”

“Nope.”

“That’s messed up!” Nikki replied. “I hope his ass gets picked up first.”

“Look, you need to chill out wit’ that.”

“I know, I know. But, I’m just so frustrated!”

“I know you are. But, everything’s gon’ be alright.”

“Yeah. I know.” Nikki sighed a little.

“Did your mom and dad come visit you yesterday?”

“Yeah, they came.”

“How is your money?”

“I’m good for another two to three weeks.”

“Are you holding shit down?”

“Yeah. I’m cool!” Nikki told me and then she asked, “What you doing?”

“Sitting at the kitchen table going through my bills.”

“Yo, I appreciate you holding shit down at my crib!”

“Don’t sweat that! ‘Cause, that’s what family supposed to do.” After my little spiel, Nikki gave me the rundown about her life there on lockdown, which, of course, took up the rest of her phone time. But before the system disconnected us, she was able to tell me when she would be able to call me again. So, it was settled.

For What It’s Worth

Right after Nikki hung up, I got up from the table to hang the phone up when I heard footsteps walking toward me. It wasn’t anybody but Ricky.

And the funny thing about it was that I already knew why he was coming back into the kitchen. It was killing him to know what me and Nikki was talking about, with his paranoid self.

“What’s going on wit’your cousin?” Ricky asked the instant he stepped foot in the kitchen.

“What you mean, what’s going wit’her?”

“I mean, is she a’ight?”

“Yeah. She’s fine.”

“So have the po-pos been on her about who stuff she had?”

Now where did that question come from? I mean, did he know? But, if he didn’t, now wouldn’t be a good time to look him straight in the face. That would have been a dead giveaway. Me and him done been together long enough for him to know when I was lying or telling the truth. I had to force myself to answer him, but with my back facing him.

“Not to my knowledge,” I finally said.

“What you mean, ‘not to your knowledge?’You either know or you don’t.”

“Well, let’s just say that she ain’t been talking to nobody but her lawyer,” I snapped back. I took a sip from my can of soda that was right beside my checkbook.

“I hope so.” Ricky let out a long sigh of relief and walked over to the refrigerator. “You ain’t gotta go to work today, do you?” he asked as he grabbed himself a bottle of Corona.

“Nope. Not on a Monday.” I hurried up and answered because I was glad we was off the subject about the police.

“Well, what you gon’ be doing?”

“I don’t know. Why?”

“Because, I was thinking about going down to the Benz dealership.”

“For what?”

“So I can see what they got.”

“Look, I am not about to put another one of your cars in my name, so you and your bitches can ride around thinking ya’ll on top of the world.”

“What bitches? And anyway, how you know it’s for me?”

“I know it ain’t for me!”

“How you know that?”

“Look Ricky, stop wit’ the drama please. I mean, can’t you see I’m trying to take care of business here?”

“You ain’t finish wit’ that yet?”

“No, because you keep bothering me.”

“A’ight. I’mma leave you alone. So, let me know when you’re done.” He walked right back out of the kitchen.

The second Ricky left, I got right back into what I was doing. After about another thirty minutes, I was finally done. So, I got up from the table and went on upstairs to my bedroom. Ricky must’ve had his ears glued to the walls because he was right on my heels.

“So, you gon’ go wit’ me or not?” he asked as soon as he seen me at the top of the stairwell.

“I ain’t thought about it.”

“Come on, let’s go. And then after we leave there we can run by Alice Mae’s and get some food.”

Ricky thought he was so slick. He knew I loved me some soul food, and especially at Alice Mae’s. They be having some good fried chicken and macaroni and cheese. And the candy yams and collard greens be on point, too. That’s why I couldn’t resist Ricky when he threw that into plan. We both got dressed, hopped in his Benz and headed out.

Of course, Ricky had me chauffeur him around. He always did that when we were together. He never liked to drive, which was why we hardly ever went out together.

While we were on the road Ricky’s cell phone started ringing. Ricky looked down at the Caller ID and whoever it was, Ricky didn’t wanna talk to them. Or shall I say, he didn’t wanna talk to them while I was with him because when it stopped ringing, it got quiet for a second or two and then started ringing again. But instead of looking back at the Caller ID, Ricky turned up the volume on the radio so I wouldn’t hear it ring over and over.

He knew he didn’t wanna hear me go off on his ass, but it was too late. My wheels were already spinning and he knew it, too, when he saw my facial expression.

“You think you so damn slick!” I snapped at him as I grabbed the volume button and turned it off.

“Yo, why you tripping?” He gave me the dumbest look ever.

“Why you ain’t answering your cell?”

“Because I didn’t wanna talk.”

“Who was it?” I shouted.

“It was Shampoo.”

“You a damn lie!” I tried to snatch his cell phone out of his hand. “Let me see it!” I demanded.

But Ricky wasn’t trying to let it go. “Why you tripping?” he asked me.

I refused to answer him. I said, “Just give me the phone, Ricky.”

“Why?”

“You must got something to hide,” I commented, sarcastically.

“I ain’t got shit to hide!” He got defensive.

“Gimme the phone, Ricky.” My tone got lower but a little more serious.

“For what?” He continued as he kept his guard up.

I slapped him right up against his head as hard as I could.

“Keep it up, Ricky! Just keep right on playing wit’ me!”

“I ain’t playing. So, you better keep your hand to yourself.”

“I ain’t playing either!” I started yelling again and then I tried to swing at him again, but he blocked my blow with his arm. “I’m just so tired of your slick ass!”

“Would you stop hitting me! And keep your eyes on the road, before we get in an accident.”

“Fuck you! I got this!”