Page 2 of A Player's Prayer
“Is that nigga eating food from our kitchen?” Al squinted as I popped a Lays chip into my mouth. “Nigga, how did you know where my shit was?”
“Ask your bitch.” I smirked, winking at Talena. “What’s up, E?” I turned, giving my attention to her friend. “You wanna tell me why you’re sending your homegirl pictures of me leaving your spot the other night after you sucked my dick? What was the purpose?”
Embarrassed, she looked from me to her friend before dropping her head momentarily. Lifting it to meet my eyes, she slowly grinned. “I wanted to tell her about my night, that’s all. I was telling her about the day I’d had, and howmy manmade it better.”
“Your man?” Talena scoffed, folding her arms, causing her breasts to peek from her robe. “Wild is far from being yours, sis. He will never be your man, so you might as well give it up! I had him first, and you know it!”
“Bitch, what?” Al yelled, causing the girls to jump. “You been fucking this nigga?”
“Welp, that’s my cue to get out of here.” I grabbed my bottle of water from the end table. “Al, I need you to get a handle on that. There’s no reason why your woman should be calling me that many damn times if she’s got a man here.” Walking past him, I handed him the empty chip bag. “Throw this away for me, champ.” He said nothing as he snatched the bag. “Y’all have a good night.”
Smiling at the ladies, I headed toward the door. I could hear Al still going off on Talena, and I didn’t feel bad about it. Maybe now she would know her place when it came to me and stop the constant harassment when she wasn’t getting chosen.
“Wait!” Erica stopped me as I stepped out into the hallway. “Where are you going? Come to my place and chill for a minute.”
Looking her over, the baby tee and leggings she was sporting clung to her body just right. She’d pulled me into her apartment one night after I fucked Talena, and I’d been taking her down since. Lena found out about the shit the very next day when she popped up at her spot and I was leaving. I minded my business and kept it moving, letting them work that out amongst themselves.
“Come on.” I nodded and gestured down the hall toward her unit. “I ain’t got time to fuck, but you can suck this dick.”
Smiling like a kid at Christmas, she grabbed my hand and all but dragged me down the hall. I glanced over my shoulder as Talena glared in our direction from the ajar door. Giving her a finger wave as her man called for her to come back inside, I laughed. She would hopefully learn from this interaction about playing with me. If I happen to lose my favorite eater behind it, hoe well. It ain’t a woman alive that can make me trip over some pussy. It ain’t a woman alive that can make me crash out over anything except my respect. For every hoe I drop, I’m picking up two more, and I plan to live this way until my casket closes.
“Mama!” I yelled as I entered my parents’ home, slamming the door behind me. “Where you at, girl?”
Walking through the foyer, I grinned as the smell of lasagna filled the air. No matter what we had going on, Sundays were designated for us to spend time together as a family. Even though Sundays had been set aside for us to bond, there was never a time I didn’t feel love or at home when I came over to my parents’ house.
The closer I got to the kitchen, the louder the tunes of old school Marvin Gaye grew. In the middle of the floor, I looked on as my father wrapped my mother in his arms and sang to her. For a moment, I leaned against the threshold and watched them. When he groped her ass, I knew it was time for me to intervene.
“Man, if you don’t get your hands off my mama.” I frowned as I entered the room. “What have me and my brothers told you about that, Pop?”
“Didn’t I tell you lil’ niggas I was working on giving y’all a sister?” my daddy fussed, still holding onto my mother. “I was about to get down to it before you interrupted.”
Feeling myself become sick, I rushed over toward the sink and grabbed a glass of water. Every time Antonio got to talking that baby shit, it would make me hot all over.
“Tony, leave my son alone before you make his dramatic ass pass out.” Mama swatted his arm before kissing his cheek. “We will have plenty of time for that when our clan leaves.”
Slapping her ass once more, he mugged me before leaving us alone in the kitchen. I wasn’t slow; I knew my parents still did the nasty, but that doesn’t mean I wanted to hear about that shit.
“So, how have you been doing, baby boy?” Mama called over her shoulder as she pulled the garlic bread out of the oven. I don’t know where the rest of the crew is, but I’m about to eat all of this shit the way it was smelling. “You must have a new flavor of the week?”
“Mama, you know I’m not stunting these hussies.” I smiled before pulling her into a hug and kissing her cheek. “I’ve been going between both stores and chillin’. You know how I do.”
While I dabble in the illegal scene with my brothers, fashion has always been my thing, specifically shoes. Since I was a little kid, I never really cared about the clothes I wore as long as my shoes were fresh. Urban Sole and Wild Kicks were my babies. I had done the work behind building both stores from the ground up. While one store’s main objective was to be affordable for the hood, the other store carried more high-end products, including exclusive releases and deadstock shoes. With the ties that I have to the streets, it’s only right that I serve them in more ways than one, and everyone knew my stores were the places to keep your shoe game up to par.
“Don’t let that nigga lie to you, Mama. You know any time your son is not here, he’s out acting a fool.” I glanced over my shoulder as Uno walked into the kitchen, followed by Skip, their wives, and all of their kids. “He’s out here breaking up homes one trick at a time.”
Skip walked over toward us first, pushing me out of the way so he could love on Mama. I’ve seen such a noticeable change in him this past year since he’s been with Noemi. The nigga talks and laughs a little more than before, and he doesn’t trip as much about the little things now. I was thankful to her for the love she’s shown his uptight ass. Between her and Gianna, my brother had become somewhat normal compared to who he was before. Marriage and fatherhood had leveled him out, leaving me to be the only odd brother in our family, and I was happy to carry the title alone.
“Hey, Uncle Wild!” Gi Baby ran around the corner and jumped into my arms. “I’ve missed you so much!”
“My favorite girl!” I spun her around, making her giggle uncontrollably. “I’ve missed you too! You’ve forgotten all about your uncle now that you have your mama, aunt, and Big Bri.” I fake-pouted, causing her to pop my lip. “Damn, Gi! What was that for?”
“Daddy said you’re too big to do all that whining.” She giggled as I began to tickle her all over. “Stop before you make me wet myself!”
“Nigga, unhand my baby.” Skip walked over and placed me in a headlock, causing me to let Gianna down. “Don’t make me choke you out in here.”
For the next fifteen minutes, he and I played around in Mama’s kitchen, causing her to cuss us out something serious. In return, her wannabe Incredible Hulk of a husband came in and made us all go outside until it was time to eat.
“So what’s been going on with you, bro?” Uno asked as we sat on the back patio. We watched as his two-year-old son, AJ, tried his best to wobble his fat ass behind Gianna as she skipped through the yard. His baby girl, Addie, and Skip’s son, Kenyon, were inside the house, knocked out. “Been living up to your name?”
