Cheaper to Keep Her Part 3 (5 page)

I wasn’t on America’s Most Wanted, but I had some bad history that no one needed to know about. And I wasn’t stupid enough to share that kind of information. Even if Sean was the bad boy type, no way I was sharing information I had tucked in the back of my head and would carry to the grave. No one in their right mind would admit any wrongdoing or the fact that they were on the run from the police. So I continued to smile and act like I was Ms. Goodie-Two-Shoes.

Halfway through breakfast Sean became flirtatious and I loved every minute of it. After he told me he was twenty-nine years old with no kids and he had just graduated from Penn State, I was really impressed.

Something inside of me told me Sean was slinging some type of narcotic. I always had an eye for a street hustler and Sean had the look to a tee. And most often when a guy worked on the street, he had a certain mannerism. Meaning, he would cut his money with his back facing the person in front of him, he would talk in code while he was on the phone and he would always look over his shoulder.

Since Sean and I had been eating, he had looked around checking out our surroundings at least ten times, if not more. That kind of behavior had drug dealer written all over it, but how was I to judge. I felt as if those were the only men I attracted, so I figured why fight it or try to change it.

Immediately after he told me that his parents where well off and that they sent him money to pay his bills, I kind of took it with a grain of salt and said whatever. At that point it really didn’t matter. I figured the less I knew about him, the better off I’d be. Besides, at the end of the day, how he got his money was his business, not mine.

“It doesn’t bother me like it used to. They live in a really nice neighborhood and she’s taking good care of him, so that’s what really counts.”

Sean’s smiled even harder. “I’m being honest,” he tried to convince me. He continued to tell me about his past relationship with his son’s mother and then we switched gears and talked a little about my past relationship with Duke. To protect the guilty, which would be me, I refused to give him specific details pertaining to real names or the actual cities my ex-men resided in. I did, however, let the cat out the bag that Bishop had another woman and that I was the chick on the side.

He reached across the table and grabbed both of my hands. “Look at me,” he instructed me. I turned my head back around to face him. “Are you happy?” he continued.

I sat there and thought for a moment before I answered Sean’s question. It didn’t take me long to weigh the pros and the cons and discover that I really was not happy. But with everything looming over my head, I had to take what I got. Bishop may have been playing me, but he was keeping a roof over my head, lining my pockets with weekly allowances and making monthly payments on my whip.

Where else could I get a nigga to pick up the tab for my living expenses? Nowhere. So, I might as well suck it up and deal with his bullshit before he replaced me like Duke did.

To close Sean’s mouth, I lied and told him that I was fine and I had plans to leave Bishop high and dry once I got my act together. He acted as if he believed me, but then again one could never tell. Men sure know how to put on a facade when they need to. But let me be the first to say that women have mastered it. And that’s some real shit!

Once we were done eating, he offered to take me to the 11:30 a.m. movie, but I declined. I lied and told him I had a hair appointment. As much as I wanted to go, my heart wouldn’t allow me. I had to remind myself that I was living here in New Jersey on Bishop’s tab. He had provided me everything I needed so I had already played myself by accepting Sean’s first date. And to accept an extended date would be blatant disrespect to Bishop. I knew it didn’t seem like it, but I had some morals. So, after I thanked him for breakfast, I gave him a warm hug. And he returned the gesture with his cell phone number and then we went our separate ways.

When the cat’s away the mouse will play!

Cheaper to Keep Her part 3 Unique

Is Blood Really Thicker Than Water? – Chapter Five

From the time I got back into my car and until I drove about five miles, I could not get my mind off Sean. He was the perfect height, the right weight, the right complexion and his choice of clothing was on point.

What more could a woman like me ask for when going out on a date?

In addition to his outer appearance, he drove a nice SUV and I could tell he had enough money to spread around. And what would seal the deal with he and I was if he had the balls to sweep me off my feet and snatch me right from under Bishop’s nose. That would be some wicked shit! And if I found out his money was way longer than Bishop’s that would be even better. Oh my God! That would be the ultimate bonus on my part. Time would only tell though.

Instead of going back to the apartment, I decided to go by the hair salon where Bishop’s sister Bria worked. This was my way of finding something to do since there was a slim chance that I’d be able to spend time with Bishop. He left the apartment a couple of hours ago angry, so there was no telling when he’d return. Bria was the only associate I had outside of Bishop so I utilized every waking moment she gave me.

Upon my arrival to the shop she worked at, I didn’t see Bria’s car parked outside. So I called her cell phone to see where she was but to no avail. I disconnected the call on the fifth ring. I sat there in my car for a few minutes and then I tried to call her a second time. Still, no answer. I debated whether I should go inside the salon to see if anyone knew where Bria was. But as fate had it, I didn’t have to. Sarah, Bria’s boss and the owner of the salon came outside and headed towards her car.

“Hey, excuse me Sarah, is Bria in the shop?” I yelled from inside my car.

She stopped in her tracks after I got her attention. Sarah was a very attractive Dominican chick. She sort of reminded me of Jennifer Lopez with the body and all. She was a few years older than I was but she didn’t look it. “No, she’s not here. And I haven’t seen her in two days.”

A couple of minutes into my drive away from the salon made me wish I’d taken Sean up on his offer to go with him to the movies. In a perfect world, things would go the way I wanted them to, but for some reason my luck superseded anything I put my heart and mind to. Karma was a bitch when it came to me. So I had learned to play the cards I was dealt.

I went back to my apartment, hoping I’d catch Sean so I could take him up on his movie date. To my surprise, he wasn’t there. I was so devastated when I pulled up and didn’t see his truck, I let out a long sigh and shook my head.

“Dammit!” I shouted as I punched the steering wheel with my fist.

I sat in the car for a few minutes, trying to figure out what to do. When I couldn’t think of anywhere to go, I turned off the ignition and went into the apartment. I tossed my handbag and keys onto the coffee table and sat down on the sofa. Minutes after I laid my head back on the headrest, I grabbed the remote from the coffee table and turned on the TV. Nothing was playing that I was interested in watching, so I casually surfed through the channels and stumbled across my favorite music video on Black Entertainment Television.

I rocked my head back and forth to Jay Z and Kanye West’s song Niggas in Paris. I didn’t know the words to the song but acted as if I did. I became so engrossed in the song that I didn’t hear the front door when it opened. I only realized Bishop had walked into the apartment after he closed the front door shut. He literally scared the hell out of me.

“Woooo, you scared me,” I commented as I looked directly at him.

I noticed he wasn’t wearing the same clothes he had on when he left the apartment this morning. I knew he had gone to the house he shared with Keisha and changed clothes. I started to make mention of it, but I changed my mind. I was too tired to go through another one of his screaming matches. I just wanted to relax and think about Sean.

“How long you been home?” he wanted to know.

“I just got back a few minutes ago,” I told him while searching his face to see where this conversation was going. I also listened intently to the tone of his voice to determine what mood he was in.

He stood about three feet away from me and started asking me a series of questions. “Have you talked to Bria today?” he began.

“Nah, I haven’t. I went by the salon to see her but Sarah said she hasn’t been to work in two days.”

“Oh, that ain’t unusual. Sometimes Bria won’t go to work for days at a time,” Bishop explained. “She’s probably running behind that nigga she just started fucking with.”

I started to comment, but I didn’t. Bishop knew his sister better than I did. So, I just allowed him to say whatever he wanted to. “How much gas is in the car?” he asked me.

“It’s half full.”

“Well, get up ’cause I’m gonna need you to run to the store for me.”

I rolled my eyes as I dragged myself off the sofa slowly, because I was not in the mood to go anywhere. Bishop saw my facial expression and had something to say. “Why the fuck you frowning?”

I sighed and totally disregarded his comment. I knew he paid the bills so why should I add fuel to the fire. It was obvious he was still pissed off at me for answering his cell last night. It made me wonder about this Chrissy chick.

Anyway, to avoid an all out war with him, I tried to diffuse the situation by asking him what he needed from the store. He gave me a list of five items that he wanted me to get. After he peeled off two twenty dollar bills from the bank roll he had in his front pocket, I grabbed my things and headed back out the front door.

En route to the supermarket, I thought about Bishop’s plot to send me on an errand run so he could be in the apartment alone. It bothered me that he didn’t give me enough credit to know what’s going on. Those asshole flunkies of his didn’t burst into my apartment for nothing. Bishop’s plan to scare the hell out of me was done to prepare me for what he had stashed at the apartment. He acted as if I never had a nigga in my life who didn’t hustle and kept his dough stashed in a few hiding spots around the house. Quiet as it was kept, I had fucked more cats in my life that hustled in the streets than worked a nine to five. Hell, Bishop needed to get with the program.

The more I thought about it, I realized it would be kind of weird to fuck with a cat that had a legitimate job. How would I be able to steal money from his stash if he didn’t have one in the first place? That would be a disaster if you asked me. Chicks like me always needed a gangster, his money, a Taser for bitches like Keisha and a get out of jail free-card when shit started to pop off. If all of those things are in order, my life would probably run smoothly. Kind of run smoothly.

While I was at the checkout counter paying for the things Bishop asked me to get, my Blackberry rang. I looked down at the caller ID and saw an unfamiliar number. It was a New Jersey area code. Although I had my doubts, I answered it. “Hello,” I said. But the caller on the other end didn’t say a word. It was dead silence. “Hello,” I said once again. This time I heard a muffled noise, so I said hello for a third time. After getting no response for a third time, I disconnected the call.