The Plug's Daughter (16 page)

Keys came back into the room a few minutes later with an ink pen and a notepad.

“Here you go. Just write down what you need and gimme the key to your spot.”

I looked up at him. “You sure you wanna go to my place? What if that nigga Trell’s lurking around or what if Will’s people sent someone to finish the job already?”

My nerves were all fucked up, but Keys played it cool. “I ain’t worried about none of that shawty. I would go buy you a whole new wardrobe, but time is of the essence. I know that you’re used to nice things and you ain’t even tryna lounge up in here in bullshit. I gotta handle some business at Clark and then I gotta make a run to my pops to pick up some shit. If it makes you feel any better I’ll talk to you the whole time I’m there.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

After I finished my list he gave me a sweet kiss and left. Suddenly my nerves were kicking in again and my head was killing me. I’d taken a couple Ibuprofens and tried to eat a sandwich that Keys had made, but I had no appetite. My life seemed to be falling apart and the worst part was the fact that my future wasn’t looking as bright as it used to. There would be no degree for me anytime soon. Once I got involved in my mother’s illegal business ventures I fell off when it came to school. Just last month I was sent a letter informing me that I’d been withdrawn from the University and I had lost my scholarship. Why I’d waited until my senior year to do that, I’d never know. I still hadn’t told my father about it. He’d be so disappointed. I didn’t even know if I wanted to tell Keys. If I did what would he see in me? I was just ruined all the way around.

The sound of the doorbell interrupted my pity party and sent me into an instant panic. Something told me to just stay put, but then something else told me to at least look out of the peep hole. At least I could tell Keys what his visitor looked like. From what I knew he wasn’t expecting anybody. As I made it toward the door my heart was beating erratically against my rib cage.

There some chick was standing there. Hmm, what if they’d sent some unsuspecting looking woman to off me. It was mighty funny that she’d shown up right after Keys left. Then I had a feeling that she was there for Keys. Shit, I was bored, so why not fuck with her? Suddenly a voice told me not to open the door. What if I was right the first time?

“Keys! Keys! Are you in there?” She called out with desperation in her voice. “Open the door! I really need to talk to you!”

A smile crept up on my face as I looked down at myself. I was wearing one of his tee shirts, so of course it was obvious that we had an intimate relationship. So, my first thought wasn’t correct. She
was
there for Keys. Oh yeah, it was time to have some fun with old girl. I needed to take my grief out on somebody.

Without hesitation, I swung the door open and let her get an eye full. I had a bruise on my head, but I’d swept my hair over it. She didn’t need to be trying to figure out what had happened. Knot on my head or not, I would still whoop that hoe’s ass if I had to.

“You lookin’ for Keys?” I asked.

There was a stunned look on her face, but she suddenly snapped out of it. “Uh, yeah, is he here?”

“Nah. Who’re you?” As I looked her up and down she was assessing me too.

She was cute, but not as fine as me. Yeah, I was conceited in the midst of some fucked up shit, but that was just me.

“Who the fuck are you?” Her face was all screwed up as she asked.

“That’s really irrelevant being that I’m standing here and you’re standing there.” I pointed.

She sucked her teeth and shook her head. “Well, who are you to Keys?”

“Who the fuck are you to Keys?” I sized her up for the fight.

Damn, I had so much pent up anger inside of me that I needed a punching bag. That bitch would do just fine. I was ready to pound her pretty face for coming to see my man. After she’d seen me come to the door she should’ve just turned her thirsty ass around.

She rolled her eyes. “Look. I don’t have time for these childish ass games. Are you fucking him or not?
              “Well, since you asked bitch, hell yeah I’m fucking him. What is it to you?”

Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. “For…for how long?” She swiped them away as she asked.

I shook my head at that weak ass bitch. “What the fuck you crying for? Damn. How long we’ve been fucking doesn’t matter. Just know that he’s mine now.”

That bitch lunged for me and I literally drug her inside of the apartment by her hair, closed the door with my foot so there’d be no witnesses and whooped her ass.

“Bitch!” She screamed. “Get the fuck off me.”

“Fuck you hoe! I’m gon’ kill you!” All I saw was red and I wanted to hurt her bad.

Like always when I went into a rage, I envisioned myself beating my mother into a pulp instead. I was sitting on top of that chick going ham as my fists kept connecting with her face. When I started slamming her head into the floor I realized that I was going too far. My eyes were on her face and the sight of blood took me back to what happened to Will. Also, the fact that she wasn’t fighting back made me contain myself. Shit, I didn’t want another body on my hands unless it was Trell’s.

She was groaning, which let me know that she was still alive. I stood up and pulled her up from the floor. At first she seemed to be a little woozy, but she was staring straight at me with wide eyes.

“You psychotic ass bitch,” she spat with blood pouring from her mouth.

“Well, you asked for it bitch! You swung at me first. Be careful who you try to fight. Now get the fuck outta her before I murk yo’ ass!”

The fear in her eyes said it all as she turned to leave. I didn’t know if she was going to report me to the police and at that point I didn’t give a shit. If I got locked up I’d be safe from Trell and Will’s goons for a little while. Shit, then I wouldn’t have to explain the fucked up shit I’d done to my father. I’d rather tell him that I beat some hoe’s ass. Then again, that wouldn’t work, because my pops would be at the jail to bail me out asap.

That bitch bolted for the door, opened it and slammed it on her way out. I’d never in my life fought somebody and they ran for their damn life afterwards. I didn’t even get the hoe’s name. Keys would probably be mad at me. I was sure that she would call and tell him about what had happened.

All of a sudden a dizzy spell took over me and I slowly made my way over to the sofa. I guess after my head injury that little fight had made me over exert myself. Instead of over thinking shit, I decided to try to relax and turned on the television. Keys was going to call soon and I had some questions for his ass. The first two were, who the hell was that bitch and why was she crying and ready to fight over him? That nigga had some explaining to do.

Chapter 10

Keenyn

             
“Fuck you doin’ shawty?” I asked when Sen answered the phone.

              “She swung at me first! Who the fuck is that bitch anyway?” She asked defensively.

              I was pulling into a parking spot at Clark when a text from Elena came through. Her calls were blocked of course, so we hadn’t actually talked. If her texts were blocked too, I wouldn’t have known what had gone down.

Elena: That bitch at ur crib jumped on me and shit. U need to control ur hoes.

Me: Nah ma u need to stop poppin up at my spot. I told u I’m done wit ur ass.

              She’d sent a few more texts, but I hadn’t read them because I immediately called Sen.

              “Her name’s Elena. She’s my ex. Come to find out she had a man the entire time.” I explained the situation to her. “You can’t be gettin’ in no more shit yo’. It’s enough goin’ on already.

              She sighed heavily. “I’m sorry Keys. Like I said, she swung first. I was just defending myself.”

              “You shouldn’t have opened the door. What if she was there to…?”

              She cut me off. “I thought about that too, but she called your name…so.”

              “Look, don’t open the door for nobody else okay. I’ll be there in a little while.” I was a little irritated, but something about her beating Elena’s ass turned me on.

              “Okay,” she said. “Don’t be mad at me.”

              “I ain’t mad. I just want you to stay outta trouble ma.  Straight up.”

              “K. See you when you get here.”

              “A’ight.”

              “I love you Keys.”

              “Love you back baby.”

              I hung up knowing that I would have to convince Elena not to press charges. The only thing working in Sen’s favor was the fact that Elena popped up at my spot and started the confrontation with her. I decided to go ahead and read her other text messages.

Elena: I should get that bitch locked up. I been tryin to call u because I found out that I’m pregnant. Since I got no answer I wanted to tell you in person. I hope my baby’s ok after that dumb hoe attacked me.

             
Fuck! I was stunned as hell, but it was a chance that it wasn’t mine. Besides, I didn’t believe her ass anyway. I’d always used condoms and she claimed to be on the pill.

Me: That’s all fine and dandy. I’ll hear from you after you test yo’ nigga. Let me know.

Elena: What the fuck ever. It’s urs.

Me: First of all I don’t give a fuck what u sayin. U was fuckin me and that nigga. Do what u feel. Either way I’m done wit ur ass. Now don’t call or text me again unless u ready to get a DNA test.

             
She sent a picture message after that of a positive pregnancy test. It didn’t even matter to me. That shit could’ve came from anywhere. Instead of responding I decided to let time do what it did best, prove the damn truth. If she was really pregnant and the child was mine, I would take care of it. I wasn’t going to be forced to be with a woman I didn’t want to be with though. Hell nah.

              I finally got out of my car and headed toward what I knew was going to be a long line. At first I was going to register online, but I had to visit my advisor anyway. I was actually working toward being a college educated black man. That was proof that you didn’t always have to be a product of your environment. Shit, all I knew were drug dealers and most of them hadn’t made it past the tenth grade.

The off the wall shit that was going on with Sen had me reevaluating my life. Maybe I should really consider a career if I made it out of “Operation Protect Sen” alive. A voice rang inside of my head telling me to leave the drug game alone and go legit. Then again…I loved fast, easy money.

*  *  *

After running around to get everything that Sen needed, I made the trip to her condo to get her clothes and personal items. I put in the code and waited for the gate to open. While proceeding, I took a quick look around, but didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Like I had promised her, we talked the entire time.

Instead of going to my father’s afterwards to get the work, I decided to put it off until later. Of course Dame held the favor he’d just done for me over my head, so I agreed to go ahead and fuck with those niggas he’d been telling me about. The transaction would be going down the next day. It was best for me to just get back to Sen and try to smooth over the bullshit that had gone down with Elena.

*  *  *

“Come on ma. You can’t sit here and act like you surprised that I was fuckin’ somebody before you. Damn. I told you the truth about ol’ girl. Why the fuck you trippin’?” Were we having our first argument?

Shit, we hadn’t actually said that we were a couple out of our mouths, but that shit was inevitable. There was something between us and it was deeper than great sex.

“I ain’t trippin’. I just…I just wanna know if you still got feelings for her. I mean, like you said, you found out the truth about her the day before we saw each other again. How do you feel about her?”

Was she really being insecure? Did she not know how incredible she was? Shit, I’d loved her my whole life. I finally had her and she thought I still wanted Elena. All I could do was put my head in my hand.

I sighed. “I don’t give a fuck about her if that’s what you wanna know. I won’t lie and say that I didn’t feel something for her at first. That’s over now. Don’t question that. I love you Sen. Always have.” It was hard to leave out the fact that Elena claimed to be pregnant, but it wasn’t the right time to reveal that bit of information.

“And you know that I love you too. I’m sorry Keys. I just…I don’t wanna lose you.”

I softly kissed the bump on her head. The swelling was going down, but the bruise was getting darker. “You ain’t gonna lose me ma. Calm down.”

In the back of my mind I wondered about her feelings for Trell. Of course it was clear that his change in demeanor and his threats had her frightened, but how did she feel about him at first? Was she one of those women who preferred men like Trell and Dame over men like me? I mean, I was probably fifty percent bad boy, but my heart was good. When it came to women, I didn’t believe in blatantly disrespecting, or abusing them.

Truth be told, I wasn’t perfect by far, but I didn’t get any pleasure out of hurting someone who cared about me. Now, hurting a fuck nigga who wanted to sabotage me was a different story. When it came to the plan to murk Trell, I wondered where her head was at.