Falling for a Hustler: A Benton Harbor Love Story (8 page)

Lyric

After I finished texting Brick, I got out of the bed and jumped into the shower. When I was done, I pulled my hair into a high ponytail and began looking through his medicine cabinet. Luckily for me, he had an unopened toothbrush. I pulled it from the cabinet and proceeded to brush my teeth. After rinsing my mouth out with warm water, I went into my bag and found an extra pair of panties and a bra. I slid the underwear on my body and then pulled on the t-shirt and jeans I had worn before. Leaving the room, I decided to give myself a tour of his home since we had gotten distracted the night before.

Across the hall from his room was a spare bedroom. I went inside and was instantly shocked at how beautiful it was. My feet sunk into the thick white carpet, and I couldn’t resist wiggling my toes on it. A huge queen-sized bed sat in the corner of the room, with a TV mounted on the opposite wall. The words
Live, Love, Laugh
were plastered on the wall. I noticed a picture frame on the nightstand, and almost broke my fucking neck trying to get to it. There was a picture of Brick and some girl hugging in the frame. I tried not to get jealous, but it was no use. Just the sight of him with someone else drove me wild. The shit was crazy. We’d only known each other for almost two weeks, and I was already catching feelings. This feeling was definitely new.

My stomach started growling, so I figured I would go and start on breakfast. I walked in the kitchen and went straight for the fridge. Thankfully, this nigga had food here! I pulled out sausage links, bacon, cheese, eggs, bread for toast, and a few strawberries and grapes. I let the pan heat up before I placed the sausages and bacon in it. While the meat cooked, I cracked the eggs and shredded the cheese, and added a little salt and black pepper before mixing them together. Just as I was getting ready to put the bread into the toaster, my phone started ringing. I looked at the screen and rolled my eyes when I saw that it was Yandy calling.

“I’m busy Yandy,” I said as I scrambled the eggs.

“Whatever Lyric. I’m calling because I got a lick for us. Since you decided not to go through with hitting that nigga Brick, I found something else that should have us sitting pretty for a while.”

My ears perked up at the sound of money. I had a little over ten thousand saved from previous licks and dancing, but I knew that it wouldn’t be enough for me to be comfortable when I left Benton Harbor. I still needed at least ten more bands.

“When you trying to make this happen?” I removed the bacon and sausage from the hot pan and began searching the cabinets for plates.

“Tonight. Meet me at the house at 8 so we can go over this shit.”

I heard a key in the lock, so I quickly agreed to what she was saying and ended the call. It was all in great timing because as soon as I pressed end, Brick came strolling in with a big ass smile on his face.

“Well good morning,” I purred.

He came over and kissed my lips. “Good morning.” He looked around the kitchen, and then back to me. “Shit ma, a nigga can get used to this.” He stole a piece of bacon from the plate and sat down at the table. I made our plates, and slid one in front of him.

“I hope you ain’t mind me leaving you here. I had some business to handle and I didn’t want to wake you.”

“It’s fine. Shit you live here, I knew you’d come back sooner or later,” I said laughing.

“I see you got jokes.”

“Just a little bit.”

“So you got plans today?”

“Not until 8.” I stuffed a forkful of eggs into my mouth and prayed that he didn’t notice me pigging out.

“So that means I have a few more hours to play, huh?” I looked at him and saw nothing but lust in his eyes. My clit throbbed, and I knew at that moment that Brick had my ass hooked.

***

“You sure you have to leave?” Brick asked as I stepped out the shower.

“Yes. I promised my aunt I would help her with something. Plus, if I don’t get away from you, I might lose feeling in my legs permanently.”

“What if I don’t want you to leave?”

I got on the bed and crawled over to him. I traced his lips with my tongue, and then kissed him. “You act like I’ll never come back.” He stood from the bed and threw on his boxers, a pair of hoop shorts, and a wife beater.

“You right, I’m tripping.” He grabbed his keys from the nightstand and watched as I got dressed.

Five minutes later, we were out the door. When we got in the car, he started it but instead of pulling out of the parking garage, he looked at me. “I just remembered I don’t know where you live.”

I rattled off the address and sat back in the seat as we drove through traffic. It was funny how at peace I felt with Bryce. I really wanted what we had to grow into something more, so I promised myself that I would tell Yandy I was done after tonight. There was no way I could keep lying to Bryce about who I was; the shit wasn’t fair to him.

The drive to my house felt shorter than usual, but I knew it only felt that way because I wasn’t ready to leave Brick just yet. I leaned over and kissed his lips, promising him that I would call him before the night was over. I got out the car and walked to the door. I took one last look at Brick before pushing the door to my house opened. As soon as I walked in, all I heard was screaming.
Here we go!

Yandy

“What the fuck is going on?” Lyric yelled as she walked, in slamming the door behind her.

Destiny was on the top of the stairs with tears in her eyes, and I was on the couch rolling up a blunt to calm my nerves. I was so close to choking Destiny’s ass that it scared the shit out of me.

“So now y’all bitches can’t talk?” she asked as she looked between the two of us. When Destiny said nothing, I took it upon myself to fill Lyric in.

“Your sister is pregnant.”

Lyric’s head spun around so quick that the shit would have been funny as fuck had it happened under different circumstances.

“Pregnant? Destiny, is she serious?”

I watched as the little heffa hung her head and slowly nodded it. “I didn’t think shit would happen like this, Lyric! Me and Dom have always been careful.”

“Are you keeping it?”

“Of course she ain’t!” I yelled. I paid most of the bills in this bitch, and I’d be damned if I had to stretch my money even more because she couldn’t keep her fucking legs closed. Destiny looked at me like she wanted to try me.

“Who the fuck are you to say what the hell I’m gon’ do?”

“Muthafucka I’m the one who took yo ass in so you wouldn’t get shipped off to foster care, or did you forget? Bitch you betta act like you know!”

“Stop it!” Lyric yelled in my direction. “Yandy, you ain’t the only muthafucka that’s paying bills in here! If Destiny and Dominic want to keep their baby, that’s their decision.”

I wanted to talk bad to her ass, but I bit my tongue. I had something better in mind for Ms. Lyric. Destiny went up the stairs and slammed the door behind her, as Lyric came and sat across from me. I passed the blunt in her direction, and she grabbed it and hit it.

“I hope this plan you got is legit, Yandy. This is the last time I’m trying to do this shit, for real. I finally found someone I like, and I ain’t trying to have this bullshit be the reason I lose him.”

“I feel you. This one will be our best one yet,” I smiled.

***

We pulled up to the Trumpeter Bay homes about ten that night. I pulled my black Tahoe all the way toward the end of the housing community to where a huge white house sat on top of a hill. I looked over at Lyric and noticed that she appeared nervous as hell.

“You good Lyric?”

“Who lives here?”

“This nigga I met last night named Eric.”

“So, if you met him last night why didn’t you run his pockets?” she questioned. I wanted to slap the shit out of her for asking so many questions, but I decided against it.

“You and Destiny were both preoccupied. You know I don’t do this shit on my own.”

She sighed and sat back in her seat. “I don’t know about this, Yandy.”

“Girl, look at this muthafuckin house! This nigga is breaded up and yo ass is playin! When he brought me here last night, he opened the safe and I saw the combination. This shit is easy, Lyric. We’ll be in and out.”

“I know this nigga got an alarm.” I rolled my eyes; she was really starting to annoy me.

“That’s already taken care of. When he took his shower this morning, I worked my magic. Just trust me Lyric damn...nothing is going to go wrong.”

“A'ight, let’s get this shit over with.”

We got out of the car and made our way to the back door. I almost felt bad for lying to her about where we were, but that shit left my mind as soon as it entered. I could never feel bad about getting money. Shit, I couldn’t even allow myself to feel bad for putting Lyric in this situation; all she had to do was go along with the plan in the first place and we wouldn’t even be going through this bullshit. The bitch just had to go and fall in love.

When we got to the door, I jiggled the loose handle of the sliding glass door and like magic, we were in. Since I knew my way around the house I took the lead, and Lyric followed behind me with a gun.

“The stairs are over here, come on,” I whispered.

She nodded her head, and together we went up the stairs. We went into the last room on the right, and I headed straight for the safe.

“Hold this still so I can see.” I gave her the flashlight I was carrying, and when she focused it on safe, I quickly turned the knob. 08-17-09. The lock clicked and within seconds, stacks of money was right in front of our eyes. I looked over at Lyric, and we both smiled. Not wanting to waste any more time, we grabbed bundle after bundle until there was nothing left in the safe.

“A'ight, we gotta get the fuck up out of here,” she said.

“I think we should look around some more. I’m sure he got some more shit in this bitch!”

“Quit being fucking greedy, man! We got more than enough in that bag Yandy, let’s go!”

“Why you acting so fucking scary Lyric, damn!? It ain’t gon’ hurt to search this muthafucka!”

“I’m not trying to be here when this nigga gets back! You can do what the fuck you wanna do, I’ll be outside.”

The bitch walked off and left me standing there. That was the last straw. I took the necklace that Lyric’s parents had given her for her tenth birthday with her name on it and left it in the safe. I grabbed it before she even made it home earlier. I never wanted to see any bad come to my niece, but lately she had been acting like she was so much better than everyone, like her shit didn’t stank. She deserved everything that was coming her way.

I searched the bedroom and saw a few pieces of jewelry that I knew would bring in a few bands. After I threw them into the duffle bag, I went back out the back door and jumped in the truck with Lyric. She was already in the driver's’ seat so as soon as I jumped in, she pulled off...what a fucking night!

Lyric

When we made it back to the house, neither me or Yandy wasted any time counting the money. It took us about thirty minutes, but it was the best thirty minutes of my life! Minus the jewelry, we had come up on about eight bands! Yandy took her half and the jewelry and went to her room without saying a word to me. I didn’t even let the shit bother me though. Instead, I went to Destiny’s room to check on her. I knocked on the door, and she called out for me to come in.

“How you feeling?”

“Not too good. Dominic is mad at me and I haven’t talked to him in a few days. I don’t know what to do.”

“What you mean he mad at you? I know that nigga ain’t trying to back out of his responsibilities!” I became upset at the thought of that bastard leaving my sister to raise the child that they both made alone.

“No Lyric, it’s nothing like that, he actually wants the baby. I fucked up and told him I didn’t know if I was going to keep it or not, and he got upset.”

“I know you care about his feelings and everything, but you have to do what’s right for you, Des.”

“At this point, I don’t even know what’s right for me,” she admitted honestly. A tear fell from her eye, and at that same exact moment my heart broke for my little sister. I pulled her into me and just held her.

“A baby doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the world. You know that I’m here for you every step of the way, no matter what you decide.”

“Thank you Lyric. I swear I’d be lost without you.” I smiled and kissed her forehead.

“Here,” I said, handing her ten thousand dollars. Her eyes lit up as she took the money from my hands. “Me and Yandy did a lil job tonight and came out alright. That’s a gift to my new niece or nephew,” I said with a wink as I stood up to leave her room.

She smiled and thanked me again before I left. When I made it to my room, I pulled out my phone and called Brick. With so much shit going on in my life, he was my breath of fresh air. When I didn’t get a response, I frowned up my face and laid back on my bed.

I had a total of forty thousand dollars. That was enough for me to move the hell out of BH and keep me on my feet until I could find a job or something. Now all I had to do was get my mind off Bryce long enough to put some type of plan together; of course, that would be easier said than done.