Page 9 of Bricked Up
“Nah man, I’on care ‘bout none of that shit. Don’t give a fuck about still being in love wit’ her ass either. I’m looking at just over five grand for the damages. Her fine ass is gon’ pay for that shit. I’m not coming outta pocket ‘cuz she can’t control her temper.”
“Nigga, you never could control yours. So come up off the bullshit, my boi. I hear you talking, but I ain’t stupid. You fuckin’ wit’ her when you got enough bread to get that shit fixed and not even blink at that shit.” Truce laughed again as they rounded the corner that led to the side street that took them to their homes. “You gon’ fuck Zia until she comes to her senses, and then y’all gon’ get back together. And hopefully, you don’t let her ass slip through your fingers before you ask her to marry you this time.”
“That ain’t the point, nigga,” Saadiq chuckled. “She don’t know I got the money. Plus, making her think she’s indebted to me makes all this shit between us more interesting. I get off on fucking wit’ her, especially after the way she karate kicked my heart outta my gotdamn chest. You damn right I’mma fuck wit’ her and keep fucking wit’ her when we get back together. Shit, can’t help it, though. I love to drive her ass crazy and shit.” Saadiq admitted with a grin as they slowed to a stop on the corner where their blocks split. “She got me gone like a muthafucka. I just want her back. Her lil mean ass is my soulmate. Shit, I still got the ring I was gonna propose to her ass wit’ the night she walked out on me.”
“I ain’t surprised, I knew you was in love wit’ her when you brought her to my birthday cookout. I’m rooting for you, too nigga. Don’t fuck shit up this time. And get to the bottom of whatever the fuck happened between y’all so you can marry her ass already. You know I like to see that black love ass shit surrounding me. It gives me hope that my girl is out there somewhere.” Truce explained as he responded to a text message on his phone.
Saadiq nodded. He planned to do just that, and he was happy to have the homie rooting for him. Since high school, they’d been thick as thieves. Truce was a dark-skinned version of actor Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, except he had long, wavy hair that he wore braided. He’d never not come through for Saadiq andvice versa. Neither had ever questioned the other’s loyalty or respect. Saadiq felt blessed to have such a solid friendship that turned into a brotherhood, especially with how grimy and dirty some of these niggas were to the people they loved.
“Yeah bro, I’m on it. She ain’t going nowhere now. I’on even know if she got a nigga or talking to a nigga or what, and I ain’t even ask. I’m just taking her ass back because I’m where her heart wants her to be,” He smiled at all the shit he had planned to woo her ass right back to where he felt she belonged, in his arms. “Far as what happened between us, I always wondered about the supposed hoe and her momma who stepped to Zia with this cheating bullshit in the first place. That shit has always bothered me. And not just because I know I never fucked a bitch from my bank or any female at all because I never cheated on Zia, but why would this girl concoct this whole story? You know? Like, what the fuck did she get out of it? And then Zia told me that somebody showed her proof of me fucking on the trick when I know it wasn’t me. She said we both know whoever told her this shit, but Zia won’t tell me who.”
“Get to the bottom of that shit asap, then, because that shit is suspect,” Truce urged his friend. “But that shit ain’t gon’ be easy when you ain’t got no starting point or no name to get info on.”
“Yeah, but I’m hoping I hit a lick just as soon as I have some time to hit up The Horny Frog. Jabari was in love with these two strippers who stripped at night and worked at Green Hills bank during the day. I’m hoping that one or both of them still work there.”
“A’ight bro, let me know when you do. I’ll roll wit’ you. You know, scoop the scene and see if them females really know what the fuck they doing up in there.” Truce smirked as he massaged the tension in his neck.
“Whatever nigga, just say you wanna see all ‘em titties and that ass that’s gon’ be bouncing around all up in that muthafucka.”
“Damn right,” Laughing, Truce nodded. “I sure do. So don’t take yo’ ass down to that muthafucka without me, nigga. Truce tossed over his shoulder between chuckles as he started up his block while Saadiq headed down toward the end of the next block. “I’ll get up wit’ you nigga. Go handle yo shit, bro.”
“Yeah, I got you nigga.” Smirking, Saadiq headed home with the mysterious chick who fucked up his relationship, weighing heavily on his mind.
Saadiq had never had any real issues with women besides not giving them the dick when they wanted it. But none of those instances would have caused the kinda static to warrant a chick to make up a whole lie about him cheating and bringing her momma into the shit. He couldn’t even begin to wrap his head around who had it out for him that bad. Sliding his thoughts to the back burner, Saadiq took the porch two at a time up to his front door.
He stripped and jumped in the shower as soon as he stepped inside. Along the way, he glanced at the time on his bookcase to check the time. Relieved that he had time to grab some carry-out on his way to do a flooring job before heading to the ice cream bar to get started on that flooring as well. Saadiq had just turned on the water and set the temperature when his phone rang.
Grinning, when he read Zia’s name on the screen, he hit the talk button, put it on speaker, and slid his iPhone into the shower’s phone holder.
“Wassup, gorgeous, you woke up thinking about me?” Saadiq asked Zia as he stepped under the water.
Last night immediately flashed through Zia’s mind. Ever the man of his word, Saadiq helped her lock up Sugah & Dough and made sure she got into her vehicle and home safely. As muchas she’d wanted to invite him in to screw her brains loose and catch up on what’s been going on in his life, Zia knew she really needed to soak and rest her coochie or she’d be too sore to move. She never had to worry about that kind of rest until him, but she figured it was an even trade for being the only nigga to make her squirt and for explaining and teaching aftercare to her after sex. So, Zia accepted his good-night kiss and enjoyed a long, hot bath, a fat glass of white wine, and her Kindle. Though not even ten minutes after she crawled under the covers, her pussy started begging for Saadiq and his dick. She tried to ignore the horniness, but after twenty minutes, she grabbed her favorite vibrator and humped herself into two orgasms before she finally drifted off to sleep.
“Uh, no,” Zia chuckled, hoping he couldn’t read her like he used to. It's just after eight in the morning. “I’ve been up for three hours already handling business. So ain’t nobody thinking about your cocky ass, Saadiq.”
“Starting ya day off lying is mentally unhealthy,” Saadiq shot back as he grabbed his washcloth. “Do better, baby. Do better. Anyway, though, what’s good? You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good. Are you at home? Do you have time to talk? I need to talk to you about something. Or if not, if you have some free time while you’re renovating?—”
“Nah, you good, you can come through now,” Saadiq interrupted her nervous rant. “But you sure you straight, Zia?”
“I’m fine, Saadiq. Honestly,” She smiled at his concern for her. It brought back so many memories of how protective of her he’d always been. “It’s business-related. Both times I intended to talk to you about it, you pissed me off, and I don’t wanna talk about it anymore. But it’s important, so I just wanted to run it by you as soon as possible while I’m out ripping and running. I won’t be returning to the shop until late this evening, and didn’t want to miss you.”
“A’ight, come on. I live in my childhood home. You remember how to get here?”
“Yeah, I remember,” She said as she jumped on the freeway. “I’ll be there in about twenty minutes or so.”
“Yup.”
Ending the call, Saadiq turned on the Negro In Distress: Blackgirltiredbooktalk on Apple Podcasts and tuned into Author Iesha Bree’s interview while he showered. Just like Zia had gotten him addicted to reading, she was also responsible for him falling in love with this literary podcast. Twenty minutes later, he had just exited the shower and was drying his body when the doorbell rang.
After quickly drying the remainder of his body, Saadiq wrapped the burgundy towel around his waist, grabbed a jar of cocoa butter, and slipped his feet into his Jordan slides before proceeding to open the door.
“Oh—uh, hey,” Zia stumbled over her words when her gaze met his and then traveled down past his chest until she reached the towel that hung low on his hips.
“So, did you need me to wait here while you go put on something other than a towel?”
Trying not to lick her lips and drooling all over herself at the sight of him had her grasping for strength she didn’t know she had. It didn’t matter how many times she laid eyes on Saadiq, her body couldn’t resist reacting to him.
