Chapter Nine

Hassan

I was with Rock at the freight yard when Journei was on the phone with him. He heard everything she said about her baby daddy and so did I. That shit made me hot. He was being such a fuck nigga, and he had a whole fucking wife. His bitch ass only needed to be concerned with his daughter and not what JaRue had going on, especially if that something was me. When I told him let's pull up over there, he didn't hesitate. We wrapped the business up that we were tending to there and headed across town to her apartment in The Heights. That was another thing. Why did you have your daughter living in the fucking hood? Granted, it wasn't shit wrong with the hood, but I'll be damned if my kid would live there while I lived somewhere else. While Rock and her friend Journei were outside smoking, JaRue and I sat on her sofa in an awkward silence. After about five or so minutes, the silence was killing me, so I decided to speak up.

"So, how was your day, shorty?" That was the first thing that came to my mind and the easiest route to take to get her to open up to me.

"It was okay. While Infiniti was in daycare, Journei and I had a girls' day. It was going great until Cheryl's ashy foot ass came and ruined it." The way she downed the last of the wine that was in her glass, I could tell that she didn't care for whoever this Cheryl woman was.

"Who's Cheryl?" I asked.

"Keith's wife." She scoffed.

"Keith ya baby daddy?" I quizzed.

She gave me this look like I should've known the answer to that question.

"Don't act like you don't know who that nigga is."

It was my turn to give her a crazy ass look.

"One thing I don't do is play games, shorty. I'on know not one nigga named Keith other than Keith Sweat. So unless you got a kid by that drunk ass nigga, then I don't know who the fuck you're talking about."

She looked at me with an expression that I couldn't quite read, but for a slight second, I saw she was confused by my declaration.

"So you mean to tell me you have a whole girlfriend, and you don't know her family?"

"The other thing you should know about me is that I don't lie. I don't have a girlfriend. I don't care what Kari said. I'm single. If I had a woman, I would make it my business to know her people, and I wouldn't be over here trying to get to know your pretty ass." She blushed at my statement.

"She may not be your girlfriend, but you've fucked her." She poured herself another glass of wine, leaving the bottle empty. She took a generous sip before placing her eyes back on me.

"Like I said, I'm single and I'm not a virgin, so I'm fucking." I shrugged.

"Typical." She rolled her eyes before taking another sip from her glass.

"What's typical about it?" I asked.

"It's typical that you niggas use women for sex and whatever else, leading them on and as soon as they don't comply to your demands, you start the fuck shit," she spat as she downed the last of her wine.

I took a minute for me to get myself together because I really liked this girl, but I didn't appreciate her putting the shit that her baby daddy put her through off on me. I don't know that nigga and I ain't him, so she had me all the way fucked up. I didn't care how fine she was.

"Aye, listen." I sat up, elbows resting on my knees, as I looked her dead in the eyes. "I ain't ya baby daddy, so don't project that shit on me. Do I fuck Kari? Yeah, I do, but that doesn't mean we're together. That damn girl doesn't even know where I lay my head at night. Granted, I brought her to a few functions because I needed someone on my arm, but that's where it ended. She couldn't even tell you my favorite color or what I'm allergic to. The damn girl doesn't even know if my glasses are prescription or not. I like you, baby, but I'm not about to let you make me pay for some shit that a nigga I don't even know did to you." I hope she heard me, so I won't have to repeat the shit again.

She looked at me for a moment before she sighed like she just lost the battle.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled.

Moving closer to her, I lifted her chin so that she could look me in the eye. "You don't have shit to be sorry about. I get it. That nigga did a number on you, and it'll take a real nigga to correct his mistakes," I stated confidently.

She smirked.

"So, let me guess. That real nigga is you?"

"Who the fuck else would it be? All I ask is for one chance to prove to you I'm at least worth a morsel of your time. Nothing more…nothing less." I watched her intently as she mulled over the words that I just spoke to her. Who knows? This may work out for the both of us.

"Okay," she simpered. "One date. One shot."

"Baby, that's all I need." I assured.

She started to relax, and I was glad that she did. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable in her own home. I asked her about her bitch ass baby daddy and to say that I was appalled was an understatement.

"Wait, so you mean to tell me this nigga lied about his age to fuck you?" I asked for clarity? She shrugged. "Then on top of all of that, the nigga is married and a fucking surgeon, yet you and baby girl live in the hood, and he doesn't support either of y'all financially?" I didn't know this nigga, but I already had a fucking box picked out for his ass because ain't no way in hell he thought this shit was okay.

"That pretty much sums it up. I get a lot of help from my parents and Journei and her mom. I recently got a bonus from my job and that gave me a nice cushion to be able to breathe a little easier." She looked off, then started laughing out of nowhere. "Do you know he popped up here on the day that I got my bonus and I had just had groceries delivered? He was so mad because he thought another man brought them. Like, dude, are you for real right now?" She shook her head to keep from spazzing out, and I wouldn't even blame her if she did.

"Damn, shorty. I hate you're going through that shit, but fuck that nigga."

"That's not all. Your little boo told him and his wife that I was messing with her man, and he accused me of dealing with a drug dealer and he would definitely make me pay for it if he found out if it were true." I knew she only told me that bit of information so she could see if I would tell her what I did for a living, but if she stuck around, I wouldn't hesitate to fill her in. Besides, she worked for The RCF, and if we were associates, we had to be in the same line of business some kind of way.

"Listen, I'll never tell you how to handle your business when it comes to your baby daddy, but I will tell you that you don't have to worry about that shit with me. I've been classified as a lot of shit, but a fuck nigga has never been one of those things. Just give me a chance to prove that to you." I knew I sounded like a begging ass nigga, but shit, it was something about this girl that I couldn't shake. It's been on me since the first day that I laid eyes on her and if I'm being honest, I don't want to shake it.

"I think I can do that."

"Bet. Now, when I text or call you, it won't seem weird and shit." I laughed.

Now that we had all the irrelevant bullshit out of the way, she filled me in on things between her and Keith. She let me know that his fuck ass took her virginity and that he scarred her from dealing with any other man. That shit pissed me off, but I was relieved that she'd only been with one man. If I had things my way, she wouldn't be with anyone else as long as we both graced this Earth. She also told me some things about Kari that I didn't know, nor did I really care. I knew she came from a family that was well off. She played the part of a spoiled bougie princess very well. By the time she was comfortable with me, Rock and her friend Journei were coming back inside.

"You good in here, friend?" Journei asked as she took a seat on the opposite chair since I was occupying the space by Rue.

"I'm good. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I'm just checking on you, boo. Y'all cute, though," she observed, causing me to smirk while Rue tried to hide the fact that she was blushing.

"Aye, Haze. You ready?" My brother came from where I figured was the bathroom, since I noticed he walked in the back when they first came in.

"Yeah, we can bounce." I stood up, but after I was on my feet, I bent down so that I was hovering over Rue's small frame. My action made her lean back and rear her head up to look me in the face. "You're going to answer when I call?" I asked, extremely close to her face. I could see her breathing hitch in anticipation of me kissing her. As bad as I wanted to, I refrained.

"We'll see." She played tough. Chuckling at her response, I pressed my lips against her forehead before I stood to my full height. When I looked over at my brother and Journei, he was saying something to her and her expression was void. I'll ask him about that shit later. The girls got up to walk us outside, but I turned around and stopped Rue at the door.

"Nah. Don't come out here. It's late. Just make sure you lock up good. As a matter of fact, go ahead and lock the door so I can hear you lock them. I'll tap on the door when I know you've done it." She looked like she wanted to protest, but I wasn't bulging until I knew she was locked in. After hearing the locks turn, I tapped on the door and headed to my car.

"You headed home?" I asked him as I unlocked my doors.

"Yeah, I'm about to let Teresa go home. She said Lu was resting, so I'll be in unless some shit pops up," he explained.

Nodding my response, I got in my car and drove in the direction of my house. I had a few meetings tomorrow, and I needed my rest in order not to snap on these muthafuckas.

∞∞∞

I just wrapped up a meeting with a man who wanted to get the rest of their family here from Ghana. He already had his son with him and now he was sending back for his wife and two daughters. The trip will take about two months, but he's been over here almost two years and finally able to get them here so that they can be together. Shit, may be illegal, but I love bringing families together and giving them a second chance or a better one at life. Twenty minutes after Mr. Bediako, or Mr. Robinson since that's his new given name, Rock came into my office looking stressed as fuck.

"Wassup, bro? You look like you going through it."

Sighing as he took his seat, he swiped his hand over his head before letting it fall.

"Man, the doctor came to the house today to check on Lu, and he said that she has about two or three weeks left, if that long."

Damn. I felt bad for my brother. He loved Lu more than he loved himself, and I can't imagine what he was going through. Hell, we all loved Lu. We were all hurting, but I know not as much as my brother.

"I hate this shit for you, for real. You know I got y'all with anything. Just say the word. As a matter of fact, take some time off. I'll get Ced 'nem to step in and handle things with me. Don't worry about this shit. I got you." I knew this was a lot on my brother and in the upcoming weeks, he had to mentally prepare to lay Lucretia to rest. We've known for a while that this day was coming, but you can never be fully prepared for it.

"I appreciate that, bro. I'll still do what I can. I don't want to keep idle because then I'll run myself crazy. Outside of the issue we had with Lander, everything else is on the up and up, so we should be good for a while. You good, though? What are you going to do about the arrangement and shit? Have you even thought about?"

Leaning back in my office chair, I let my head rest on the back of it before I sat up and faced my brother.

"I thought about, and I get pissed off every time I think about the shit. I know how shit can be with most of these families, but Pops never pressured us to do that shit. I feel like if he didn't push the issue, who the fuck is this nigga to do so?"

"The head of the fucking families. I mean, I get it, but what can you really lose my getting married. We will lose a lot more if you don't," he expressed.

"This shit is crazy, bro. The only female that I deal with like that on a regular basis is Kari, and I'll be damned if I give her that fucking option. I'd give all this shit up and go flip a fucking burger before I do that shit." I was deadass too. If I had to do this shit for the sake of the family, I would, but it for sure wouldn't be with Kari's annoying ass.

"Why not hire somebody then? That way you won't have to deal with Kari, and you can put a prenup in place and y'all can agree on an amount. As long as it's not an outrageous number, I say do it that way." He shrugged.

"I'll see. Right now, I'm about to get my ass out of here. I might pop up on Rue's ass."

"How's that going?" he asked.

"It's going. I hit her up earlier to check on her and shit."

"Shit, I say see if she's down. You already like her."

He had said nothing I haven't thought about, but she has too much shit going on with her baby daddy and I'd have to kill that nigga for fucking with her if we ever got to that level.

"I'on know. Shorty got a lot of shit going on. I don't want to add to that. Right now, we're just two people getting to know each other. No strings attached. No expectations," I countered.

He nodded, and we went our separate ways. I hopped in my truck, and he got into his and left the freight yard at the same time. As I drove through the city, my phone rung. Like clockwork, Kari was blowing my line down. I've been ignoring her ass all damn day. You would think she would get the picture. Instead of ignoring her like I wanted to, I answered because had I not she would keep calling, then I would have to go over to her house and choke the spit out of her ass.

"Wassup?" I answered.

"Wassup?" she asked incredulously. "I've been calling you all day and all you can say is ‘wassup'?"

See, this is why I would never be serious with her ass, because she didn't know her place.

"You lucky I did that shit because the last time I checked, Eliza Ashby was the only woman I answered too, so let's try this again. Wassup?"

The line was silent, indicating that she had an attitude, and I gave not one fuck.

"Either start talking or get the fuck off my line," I snapped.

"I missed you," she purred. "Can you come over?" she asked.

"Nah," I simply replied.

"Well, I can come to you," she countered.

Instead of responding, I hung up. She knew she wasn't about to bring her ass to my house. The more I thought about it, I knew I couldn't do this shit with Kari, but how the fuck would I be able to ask JaRue without coming off as some kind of creep?