Page 27 of I Need It

“Oh! That ratchet ass girl you brought up here last month?” Aunt Jen asked.

Jacob nodded, clearly pissed and embarrassed that all the family was in his shit. He should have stayed his ass at home if he didn’t want nobody involved. That girl had crossed the line. What made it worse was that she lived in Nome. She had to be dumb as hell.

Texas wouldn’t be big enough for her to avoid Jess and Aunt Tiff. Jess was always protective of Jacob. He was her only brother for years before CJ came along, and she said he was too soft when it came to women. However, when that nigga got mad, anybody’s best bet was to stay out of his way. His temper was like trying to fight a damn inferno.

I slowly shook my head as my phone rang in my pocket. When I saw it was Mya, I silenced the ringing and made a mental note to call her back when I left from here. We had a heated day yesterday. After we watched Harlem Nights, I was about to leave, and she started fucking with me again. She knew I wasn’t gon’ fuck her, but I felt like she was using me to get hers. Before I could leave, she was naked on her couch, screaming my name. Right after she got hers, I got the fuck out of there.

After I left, she called, apologizing me up a wall. I should have left before going so far with her. I was on the verge of blue balls when I finally left. I called her when I got home so she would know I made it safely, but I hadn’t talked to her since. I had to distance myself for a minute before I fucked her up. At this point, just talking to her was dangerous.

When I saw Jess and Aunt Tiff get in Aunt Tiff’s truck, I knew all hell was about to break loose. Uncle Storm jumped in his truck, and Uncle Jasper hopped in with him. They weren’t about to leave us though. We got in the truck with Jacob and followed them. Jameka’s family was big, but they weren’t Henderson big.

After we crossed the railroad tracks and I saw Aunt Tiff hit brakes, I already knew shit was about to be on. She hopped out of her truck with Jess right behind her. Jess walked right up to Jameka and punched her in the mouth. No words were spoken. Everybody rushed them, and we were right in the mix too. Niggas liked to fight dirty, but that shit wasn’t gon’ happen on our watch.

Uncle Storm pulled out his twelve gauge and cocked that bitch loud as hell. Jess never stopped swinging on ol’ girl. “Who the fuck you thought you was playing with, bitch? That’s my fucking brother!” She kicked her in the ribs before Aunt Tiff pulled her away from her. “Try that shit again, and I’ll kill yo’ bitch ass!”

“She fucking with him because she know he ain’t gon’ do nothing to her. Hopefully, she realize she ain’t getting away with shit,” Aunt Tiff said to that girl mama.

I supposed they knew each other because the woman only nodded at Aunt Tiff. She also must have known how ratchet her daughter was. The older folks respected the Hendersons for the most part. Jacob leaned against his truck, staring at Jameka. She was still on the ground, moaning. I didn’t know what that nigga was thinking getting involved with that girl.

Shit, he was probably thinking the same shit I was thinking when I fucked her cousin early last week. Courtney and Jameka were first cousins. Courtney just wasn’t as ratchet as her. She was something though. She’d shown up at the diner again yesterday. My mama said she walked right up to her again, asking if I was coming up there. My mama said she had to tell her, “Baby, Christian is a grown man. I don’t keep up with his every move. If you can’t get in touch with him, that’s probably intentional.”

I almost choked when she told me she said that to her, but I was glad she did. Courtney didn’t know how to take a fucking hint. Maybe now she would stop trying to track me down. As I stood next to Jacob, I asked, “You cool?”

He nodded as Uncle Storm stood next to him. “Nephew, I know how you are with women, but next time, call the police on her ass. Don’t let her fuck up your shit without consequence.”

“Hell yeah,” KJ added. “She picked the right one. I would have had her ass licking that fucking cement.”

“You wouldn’t have done shit. You a chip off the weak ass block,” Uncle Storm said, referring to Uncle Kenny.

He only said that shit because Uncle Kenny was approaching, along with Uncle Carter. Uncle Carter was Jacob’s stepdad. Uncle Kenny pushed Uncle Storm as Uncle Carter put his arm around Jacob and pulled him away from everybody.

“Well, I guess everything is done here,” I said as my phone rang again.

I pulled it from my pocket as KJ said, “Must be your homie lover friend.”

“Nigga, that’s gon’ be you and Cassie. Don’t fuck around and be the side nigga.”

I silenced the call again. Mya was gonna have to chill out until I could talk. I sent her a message instead. I’m busy right now, but I’ll call when I can.

She responded immediately. Okay. Sorry.

I slowly shook my head and jogged back to the diner. We weren’t that far away, and I refused to wait on Jacob and Uncle Carter to finish having their counseling session. Checking the time, I knew I needed to get to my next appointment in thirty minutes. We’d left all our food on the tables and hauled ass after Jess and Aunt Tiff. So, I quickly went inside and got a to-go box to take my food with me for later.

CHAPTER 10

MYA

When I drove through Devers, I knew I wasn’t far from Nome. It had been almost another week. Christian and I had talked, but not nearly as much as we had before he showed up in Houston last week. My Amazon check had hit my checking account yesterday afternoon, and I went down to the leasing office this morning to pay my rent, only to find out it was already paid. I immediately called my dad, and he swore it wasn’t him. We both knew that Christian was the culprit at that point.

I had his twelve hundred dollars in my purse. I wasn’t trying to be anyone’s charity case, nor did I want a nigga to be able to hold anything over my head. It was bad enough he’d towed my car to Houston. I had an extra two hundred dollars for him for that. He would probably turn it down. That was why I bought a card to put it in. If I had to leave it with his mama, I would.

I hadn’t talked to him since yesterday evening, and we only talked for a few minutes. I missed his ass something fierce, but I knew he was trying to pull away from me. I just didn’t understand why. I knew he was frustrated about me teasing him last week, but I didn’t think it was that serious. Our chemistry was through the roof. I wanted him to fuck me, but he wouldn’t give in completely.

My doctor had released my restrictions yesterday, and I was beyond excited. I just hoped he wasn’t too busy where he couldn’t spend any time with me. We didn’t really have time to talk about his schedule when we talked yesterday. I knew he had a call to go on this morning, but I wasn’t sure about the rest of his day. It was ten thirty, so I could just chill at the diner, hoping he came through for lunch.

I’d even gotten my hair and nails done early this morning. I wanted to look my best for him. Every time he’d seen me, I looked busted and disgusted. If he still thought I was beautiful after all he’d already seen, then he would be drooling if he saw me today. I even had on makeup and heels.

When I got to the diner, I pulled down the visor and freshened my lipstick, since I’d been drinking water on the drive over. I adjusted my tube top and flipped my straightened hair over my shoulder. Hopefully, I didn’t overdo it. Christian might not even recognize my ass. I got out of the car and headed to the entrance as another car drove up.

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