Daddy's Little Girl

c h a p t e r 6

I listened to the sound of the pool water crashing along the walls, as I smoked the blunt. Having not seen that nigga since I was 13, how the hell he just gone come up out the blue? Calling me ‘son’ at that. If my mama wasn’t in the room at the time, right once I heard him let the word ‘son’ out his mouth, I woulda killed him with no hesitation.

“Paris, if you tryna sneak up on a nigga, you gotta know that it can’t be me.”

“Damn, Maurice! How you know I was coming if yeen even turn around?” Paris asked as I heard her halt. I turned around and looked at her like she was crazy. Knowing I’m a fucking kingpin, I know when a bitch drops a pen in China.

Paris was wearing a yellow tank, grey sweats, and yellow flip flops, with her hair pinned all the way up. She looked like she just threw on anything to come by, but shit I wasn’t trippin’. She still caught a nigga’s attention. “Maurice, I hope you ain’t high.” I shook my head and laughed. It took 2 more blunts for me to blow before I was stoned. “Naw, why you thank that?”

She came and sat on the other side of the beach chair along with me. “Cause you can smell weed on your damn front door before you come in! And then your eyes red as hell, you ain’t fooling nobody.”

I shook my head and lowly said, “Damn.”

“Aww, Mar, what’s wrong?” She asked me, hearing the sudden sadness in my voice.

“I’m stressed the hell out, Paris.” I said, looking at her in her eyes. She got comfortable, laying next to me on the beach chair. “C’mon, let it out. Tell Mama Paris.”

I sighed and threw my head back, starting to explain, “So, I had woke up this morning… everything was fine. I did my usual shit, but I got to the trap late. When I got there, Triple was like ‘When you gettin’ Nino out?’ and I was like fuck you talmbout? Then, someone else came up to me talmbout, ‘You bailed Nino out yet?’ Then I started getting irritated like fuck, I was finna kill every damn person in that bitch, coming up to me with that bullshit. Then Spike told me Nino had got locked up for possession of marijuana. I was still mad as hell that errbody else knew he was locked up but I didn’t. They told me Nino used his collect call on the trap we was at, but since I got there late, I ain’t get it. You know Nino my blood, so I had told Spike to take a couple of niggas to go find the nigga who locked Nino up, cause I was gone kill his ass. After they left, I went to my mama house to tell her ‘bout Nino getting locked up. When I got there, I seen’t my mama car, and some other car, I thought it was one of her lil’ bitches. I opened the door, come to see that the car wasn’t nan one of her friends, but my dad.” Paris gasped. “Yup, I was mad as hell. You know how much love I got for my mama, but seeing her with that nigga brought some damn real niggas tears to my eyes. I cussed him out, and then I cussed my mama out. I texted yo’ ass to get there, then I came out here to smoke a blunt.” When I finished talking, my head was on Paris’s chest and my arm wrapped around her lower stomach.

“Damn, that’s fucked up. But, you shouldn’t have did that shit, Mar. Maybe he really did change.” She said, stroking my hair.

I looked up at her like she was just as crazy as my mama, “What the fuck, bitch? You choosing sides with that nigga, too?”

“Shut the fuck up, Mar,” She said, pulling on a nigga hair, “Don’t even ever say that shit. Why the hell would I choose sides with a nigga who put his fucking hands on ya’ll? I ain’t with that shit, and you know it. I been having a bone to pick with that nigga since the day he left, but you know what? I let it go. He left right about the same time my daddy left, and I forgave my daddy, and yours. I ain’t saying what he did to ya’ll was any kinda way right, but you gotta learn to live and let go, like I did. I know it’s gon’ take a long ass time like I did, but it’s gon’ be worth it, I swear. You hear me, Mar?”

“Nah, I don’t.” I said, looking up at her and smiling.

“What, nigga? You must be deaf nah?” She asked, causing me to elbow her in the stomach. She pulled on my hair again, and I twisted her wrist til’ she begged, ‘stop, stop, stop’

“Anyway,” She started, “What about the nigga who got Nino locked up?”

I lowly cussed to myself. How the hell I’m pose to tell Paris I was planning on killing Pookie, “Oh, yeah. I’m taking care of it.”

“Maurice, you betta not kill that nigga, I swear. You already got enough bodies.”

“Paris, why you ain’t tell me Pookie was working?”

“I ain’t thank you would care – and, don’t be tryna change the subject!”

“Where he work, or what he work as?”

“He a detective. What this shit got to do with Nino being locked up?” She asked, irritation filling her voice. I ain’t say nothing. I wanted her to let the words process in her simple minded ass. “Don’t be getting quiet now, Mar! What the fuck my brother being a detective got anything to do with Nino being – oh...”

“Stupid bitch.” I said which caused her to mush my head. “Shut the hell up, but how Pookie got him locked up? My mama said she was gon’ make sure that he don’t get none of my daddy’s or your workers locked up.”