Page 7 of All This Love
Tatum’s nose scrunched. “Ewww no. I won’t front like I didn’t deal with him a few times after she was born, but that’s been more than a year and a half. I can’t stand his lame ass. He’s the most up and down drug dealer I know. For three months he’s on top and then after that, he’s robbing Peter to pay Paul and giving excuses about why he can’t give me any money.” Tatum rolled her eyes, and I got the feeling that she was being genuine about how she felt about him.
Some women talked mad shit about their kids’ fathers and still ended up dealing with them. I didn’t get those vibes from Tatum. Good. Maybe she wouldn’t be sad if I ended up killing his ass. “Yeah, he’s a fuck nigga fa sho’. I respect your grind for sure, but you damn sure shouldn’t be doing it by yourself. And having to work six days a week is OD. You too pretty for all that.”
“You’re right, but I can’t make him do for her. She’s not his only child. He’s a deadbeat all the way around. I’m going to make sure she’s straight regardless.” Tatum glanced at the watch on her wrist. “I have twenty minutes until my next client. I’m about to run and eat. I’ll call you when I get off.”
“You do that.”
I watched Tatum walk back into the shop then I pulled off. My cousin hit me up and asked me to meet him at a designated spot. He said the reason was a surprise. I didn’t like surprises, but like most of my father’s side of the family, Travis was a G. There was no doubt in my mind that the surprise in question was worth my time. The meeting spot was a little far out, but I didn’t mind that either. I had a lot of time to think as I drove, and a sly grin inched across my face when I thought about the possibility of not only taking Tatum out in public but having her daughter with me too. I knew plenty of deadbeat fathers that didn’t do shit for their kids but started foaming at the mouth when another man stepped into the picture.
That might have been a little too much though. I didn’t play with kids. Even if the outing was innocent, I respected women that took time letting strange men come around their kids because some women truly didn’t give a fuck. All my devious thoughts came to a halt when I pulled into the driveway of an old home that clearly no one lived in. There wasn’t too much that I was afraid of, but I wasn’t sure that if I stepped foot in the structure that I was staring at, the floor or the roof wouldn’t collapse. It looked just that rickety from the outside. Travis’ carwas parked damn near on the porch, and the rental car that Rod was driving was parked directly beside it.
If they were already inside, then maybe a strong wind wouldn’t blow the house down. Watching my surroundings, I got out of the car. We were deep out in the country. The homes on the back road were spread a good distance apart. But the one closest to the house I was in front of looked to be abandoned as well.
Walking up to the door, I smelled marijuana. With a frown I twisted the rusted knob and pushed the door open. Travis and Rod stood with their backs to the door. Thick clouds of weed smoke danced in the air, and I could tell they were looking at something. Stepping around them so I could see, my lips lifted into a grin.
“Oh shit. Christmas came early,” I stated as I rubbed my hands together.
Being that I was attacked from behind, I had no idea who did what when it came to me being hit in the back of the head and robbed. I remembered dude’s battered face from walking out of the store with Ivan as I was going in. The four men that I saw outside the store were the four men that robbed me. Ivan was the boss, so he had to be the one to call the shots. The dummies followed, so I didn’t feel bad about what I was going to do. It didn’t matter what part he played in it. Travis passed me the blunt as I took in the man’s injuries. His left eye was swollen shut, and dried blood rested underneath his broad nose.
The man’s hands were tied behind his back. “What’s up, pussy?” I asked before taking a long pull from the blunt. He glared at me with his good eye and had the nerve to smirk.
“I guess I’m supposed to give you some information? Beg for my life?”
“Nope.” I expelled the smoke from my lungs. “I just want to kill yo’ ass for sneaking me from the back and robbing me that’s all.”
“Nigga, we robbed you, but we let yo’ ass live. You going out the way to prove points and shit. You could’ve just let it go.”
I looked over at Rod. “What he just say?” Rod asked. “I think I’m tripping. I didn’t hear him right. I couldn’t have.”
“Shit, I was about to ask you the same thing. This man said I should have just let it go. Said I’m trying to prove points and shit.” Laughing, I placed my eyes back on him before inhaling more fumes. “You either slow as fuck or dumb as fuck. I don’t have toprovea thing. I’m simply not the kind of man to let niggas get a pass for hitting me from behind, choking me, and running my pockets for the things I worked for. Maybe that’s how you and your punk ass crew get down, but I’m a different breed. Kind of dick y’all smoking in Golden Waters?”
“I wasn’t the one that hit you. All I did was take the money out of your pockets, and Ivan didn’t even split the shit with us. He took everything because he owes his plug $50,000, and what we got from you wasn’t even enough to cover half of it. That nigga lied though. He said he’d give us something. I didn’t even benefit from the shit, so I damn sure shouldn’t die for it.”
I stared at him blankly before I hit the blunt once more and passed it to Rod. “Tell me what you know about Ivan.”
“And you’ll let me go?”
“Yeah nigga. I’ll let you go after I beat your ass. Start talking because it stinks in here, and I’m ready to leave.”
“Man, he fucks with a chick named Tracy heavy. She lives out in Golden View Condos. I don’t know which unit, but he’s out there a lot. Last I knew he lived out in the country. I’ve never been to his house. His baby mama’s name is Tatum. She doesn’t fuck with him like that, but he gets real territorial over her andshit. I can even tell you where his mother goes to church and where his sister works.
“Damn,” Rod exclaimed as I chuckled.
They didn’t even beat him as badly as they could have, and he was singing like a canary. Maybe Ivan was wrong for not splitting the take with them, but it was easy to see there was no loyalty among the crew. If he believed I was going to let him go, he was stupid as fuck. After kidnapping him, there was no way I’d believe that he wouldn’t be out for revenge. Leaving him alive would be dumb on my part. “Where she go to church at?” I inquired.
Ivan’s flunkie spent the next few minutes telling us everything he knew about Ivan. “I appreciate you,” I gave a curt nod before pulling my gun from the small of my back. The man’s eyes widened, and his lips parted, but he didn’t manage to get any words out before I put a bullet in the center of his forehead.
four
tatum
I heldmy breath as my bowling ball swerved slightly to the left looking like it was about to roll into the gutter. It didn’t, however, and ended up slamming into the pins and knocking four of them down. There were only three left standing, so that was better than nothing. I wasn’t the best bowler there was, and I was on drink number two. Add in being tipsy, and my skills weren’t necessarily improving. Good thing I wasn’t a competitive person. Onyx was in the lead, and he never missed a chance to remind me.
With a smug grin, he grabbed his ball. “I can get this strike with one roll. Don’t even sit down and get comfortable.”
“Cocky aren’t we?” I stuck my tongue out at him making him laugh.
I had to admit that hanging out with Onyx was fun. Ordinarily, when my daughter was with family, I’d just work, rest, watch TV, and read, but going on dates was nice. Especially when it was with a decent guy that didn’t feel like I owed him a night of sexual trysts because he spent $60 on a meal. Though I’d been scared out of my mind on our first date, once it was over, I had to admit that I hadn’t had that much fun in a long time. Him bringing lunch to my job was nice, and here we werebowling. Onyx was starting to grow on me. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing because if men were anything, most of them were inconsistent and full of shit.
