Page 1 of Give Me All Of You

Chapter One

JaRue ‘Rue’ Malone

“Shit…shit…shit.”

I was running late for work, and I couldn’t afford that shit. Not right now, anyway. My car wouldn’t start, and I still had to get Infiniti to daycare. It was already seven-thirty, and I had to be at work at eight-fifteen. The daycare was twenty minutes from my apartment and my job was another twenty minutes away. With traffic from the Heights all the way to the Valley…I wouldn’t get to work until almost eight-thirty.

I worked as a receptionist at Richmond Crematory & Mortuary Services. It wasn’t an ideal job, but it was a job.The money was good, and it paid the few bills that I had. Infiniti’s father, Keith, reluctantly paid her daycare fees, but that was only when he felt like it. I rarely asked him for things concerning our daughter, but when I did, he always belittled me. It could be the smallest things like a bottle of Tylenol, and he would say I was unfit and couldn’t afford to take care of her. Like nigga, the fuck are you going to do? It’s my fault though, because I loved this nigga’s dirty draws at one point. Now he was a pain on the inside of my ass.

Keith was nineteen years my senior, at forty-four. I met him while I was out one night with my best friend, Journei. Standing at six feet, he was the finest man that I had ever laid my eyes on. I had just turned twenty-two a few weeks prior tome meeting him. He told me he was twenty-six, which I believed since he didn’t look at day over thirty. We had a few drinks that night and exchanged numbers so he could formally take me out. He wined and dined me until he sweet-talked me out of my virginity. I didn’t regret it because I was already in love. I was so insecure about my looks and at times couldn’t believe that a man as fine as Keith was so into me. I wouldn’t say that I was ugly…more so a plain jane. I rarely wore makeup, and I kept my curly hair up in a bun on the top of my head most of the time. He told me regularly how beautiful I was and that he loved me just the way that I was. It wasn’t until I told him I was pregnant that I found out he was married and damn over forty years old. My damn parents are in their forties, so I was initially disgusted, but I still loved him. He formally introduced me to his wife, and she claimed to be nice and wanted to be cordial, but blamed me for being fast and trapping her husband because he was a surgeon. One of the few black surgeons in the area. I didn’t know that either. I naturally assumed that he was in the streets because he didn’t look or dress like a doctor, but his ass definitely fooled me. Soon after, he started degrading me and calling me everything but the mother of his child. To say my feelings were hurt was definitely an understatement. That shit drug me into a deep depression that I barely was able to get out of. If it wasn’t for my best friend and my baby, I probably would still be in that sunken place.

I finally pulled up to Infiniti’s daycare and hurried into the building to drop her off. I already called her caregiver, and she understood. She was older than me but not old enough to be my mother. She said she understood the struggles of being a young mother and would help me anyway that she could. She even kept Infiniti on nights that I let Journei drag me out of the house.

“Good morning, Stephanie.” I greeted, as I walked into the classroom and walked my baby to her little private playpen.

“Hey, Rue. I’m glad you made it to bring my girl. I was about to have Erin come sit in here with these kids so I could come get her myself.” She smiled.

“You didn’t have to do that, but I know you would have. I’ll be so glad when I’ll be able to afford another car. I know this one is on its last leg, but it’s nothing I can do about it right now.”

“Trust me, I understand. It’ll all work out for you sooner than later.”

“I’ll be ready and waiting, too.”

After kissing on my baby and thanking Stephanie once again, I headed out the door and made my way to work. When I pulled up, I saw my bosses Knasim and Knight pull up, and I was internally cursing myself. I already called and told them I would be running late. I just didn’t want to be pulling in at the same time that they were.

I grabbed my purse from the passenger seat and got out so I could head inside.

“Wassup, Rudy Rue?” Knight greeted.

“Hey, Knight. I’m sorry again for running late. After I got my car cranked, I had to drop off my baby and I-” Knasim cut me off.

“It’s cool, Rue. It’s Thursday and we don’t open until noon. You’re straight.”

Knasim was more laid back and once he got married, he was more sensitive to others. He said nothing to me, but the mood was a lot lighter and when I met his wife, I wanted to kiss her. Instead of answering verbally, I simply nodded as I walkedinside the door that Knasim held open for me. No sooner than I passed through; he let it go.

“Damn, nigga. I was right here.”

Knight mugged his brother after snatching the door back open.

“I can see, nigga.”

“The fuck you close the door in my face for?” he asked.

“The fuck I’m a hold it for? Your hands work,” Knasim grumbled.

“You a nasty ass nigga. Sis’ must be holding out on you again.”

“Stop worrying ’bout my wife, nigga. I done told you about that shit.” Knasim frowned at his brother before turning to me. “Rue, our cousins are expected to come through. You already know to send them back. If my wife and son come, send them straight back. I don’t care what I’m doing. I know there are three families due this afternoon. Let me know when they get here.” I listened as Knasim ran down the details of the day while I made mental notes.

“Okay. Anything else?” I asked.

“Nah. That’s all I got right now.” I nodded, and he went down the hall that led to his office. I went around to my desk, then turned my computer on before going into the employee lounge and making a cup of coffee. Today seemed like it was going to be light, but I knew coffee would still be needed in order for me to get through it.

I had just come back from lunch and was about to get ready for the 2:00 consultation with a bereaved family. Right when I was setting up the meeting area, Knight came into the room.

“Aye, Rudy Rue. We’re going to need you to stay over tonight. You good with that?” It wasn’t unusual for them to ask me to stay over. I knew all about The RCF and what they were about, so anytime they offered me to stay over, I did because I could use all the extra money I could.

“Uh, sure. Let me call my daughter’s father and see if he can pick her from daycare.”

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