Hurt Me

Chapter two

Chapter 2

Tyrek stayed behind with Envy while Keron went home to get dressed for the night’s event. Tyrek was at his usual place on the couch and Envy was standing against the wall smoking a cigarette.

“You think he’s having second thoughts?” Tyrek came out and asked after a long minute of silence.

“He has no choice so he doesn’t have the luxury of having second thoughts,” Envy calmly said as she took another puff of her Newport.

“I mean you heard him talking,” Tyrek said. “You know, questioning and shit…I mean and stuff. You think he’s falling for her?”

Envy laughed a hoarse laugh. Her throat rough from the years of smoking and surgery.

“I don’t give a shit if he does,” Envy said blowing smoke out her mouth. “That’s his business. He has a job to do and as long as he does it. I don’t care as long as he know he has to take care of Mama first.”

Tyrek nodded. He knew Envy ran things in this part of town so if Keron wanted to be on the winning team, Keron had to abide or else.

“Are you second guessing me?” Envy’s left eyebrow went up.

“No, madam, never,” Tyrek quickly lowered his head as to not stare head on into Envy’s glare.

“Good,” Envy smiled. “Then you have to work to do. Make sure everything goes according to plan.”

Tyrek nodded and got up off the couch. Envy walked towards him and blew smoke in his face.

“You remember who owns you,” Envy informed. “The both of you. I catch you growing a brain, I’ll have it surgically removed. You got that?”

Tyrek nodded again.

Envy gave Tyrek a once over. Tyrek had the body but not the brains. Tyrek only exercised the muscle in his arms not the one in his head so Envy knew she was safe when it came to him. Envy still had to make sure that Tyrek didn’t start growing a conscience so every now and then she had to remind him not to by putting a foot on his throat.

“On your knees, bitch,” Envy said.

Tyrek looked around like he was embarrassed at first then obliged. He dropped down to his knees. His face looked of pure fright. Envy raised her leg and put her heel of her shoe on his shoulders.

“Do I need to make sure you haven’t grown an attempt of a brain?” Envy questioned.

“No, Madam, no,” Tyrek’s head was starting to sweat.

“Remember brains will get you killed around here,” Envy stated. “Not only that, brains will get other people around you hurt worse.”

“Yes, Madam,” Tyrek agreed.

Envy smacked Tyrek across the face hard.

“Good,” Envy said. “You make sure you remember that and you damn will better make sure he remembers that too. Because if he grows a brain, I’m going to assume you have one by association and you don’t want that, do you?”

Tyrek shook his head.

“Good,” Envy smiled. “Now get off my floor and get to work.”

Hurt and Lyric saw Laurel as soon as they came off the escalator on the second floor of the mall. Laurel was posted up in front of a fragrance shop talking to some guy with two shopping bags in her hands. She was running her mouth a mile a minute and the guy was just staring at her, nodding, mostly staring at her chest. Laurel was used to her breasts getting attention that’s why she wore outfits to accessorize and enhance them.

Hurt and Lyric both shook their heads at the display. They already knew what she was telling the guy or already told them. Laurel stopped two seconds from her conversation and glanced in their direction and smiled. She started talking again and finally started waving her hands towards the girls. The guy on instinct turned to see what she was waving at.  When the guy’s head was turned, Laurel made the gesture with her neck to come over. The two girls knew what was up. She was now trying to get rid of the guy. He probably already brought what was in the bags and now he needed his dismiss papers. The duo obliged and walked over to where Laurel and the guy was.

Laurel introduced the guy as “Christopher but everybody calls him Cee Rock.” Cee Rock nodded and but Laurel didn’t finish the introduction with telling the guy the two girls’ name. Laurel just told Cee Rock that she had to leave now because her friends were here and that she would keep in touch. Cee Rock tried to protest, obviously since he spent money on her, but Laurel said that she promised she would thank him for the gifts later. She added a wink and a licking of the lips to seal the promise. Cee Rock took the bait, like all men Laurel met at the mall do, and walked staring all the three girls like he could envision doing all three of them at the same time.

When Cee Rock was down the escalator, Laurel turned her attention to her girls.

“Glad that nigga left,” Laurel breathed a sigh of relief. “I mean the nigga game was so lame, I had to start talking to keep myself interested. But he did buy some perfumes and a couple of skirts.” She held up the two bags to emphasize. “But then he was like he wants me to model the skirts for him and blah, blah, blah. I’m like I hate guys who think you supposed to model in a gee string for them just because they brought you something.”

“That’s the point,” Hurt said. “If they brought something, they want something in return.”

“I know but if you want some of this,” Laurel twirled herself around. “You going to need to do more than buy me some cheap perfume and a couple of outfits. I’m Laurel King. You don’t feed Queen Laurie appetizers and accept her to give you the royal business.”

Hurt just shook her head and Lyric half laughed.

“Well, Miss Queen Laurie,” Lyric said. “Where we headed now?”

“Where else?” Laurel replied. “To look for more shit and to get more cuties to pay for it.”

It didn’t take long before another group of guys came up to them and tried to talk to them. One of the dudes were Spanish, Lyric though Puerto Rican because of his swagger, and his name was Enrique but everybody called him ‘Richie’ and his boys were Deshawn, nickname  D-Blok, and Leroy, nickname Big L. Hurt hated street alias. They all sounded corny to her. But then dudes always had something to say about her name too but she didn’t care. That was her actual name not made up to look cool.

Richie seemed to be the leader of the male trio so he was doing most of the talking while D-Blok stood in the background with a Roca-Wear sweatshirt looking his lips like he was LL Cool J. Big L was trying his hardest to look cool with his hat tilted to the back in some sort of Brooklyn stance. Hurt and Laurel wasn’t impressed with the sidekicks but the main dude Richie seemed to be smoothed with the gift of gab. Lyric was liking his flow and Hurt could tell. Hurt wasn’t a player hater because the main dude chose Lyric so she and Laurel just kept the other guys entertained looking at their eye candy. When Richie exchanged numbers with Lyric, the other dudes finally decided to step and ask for the digits as well from Hurt and Laurel but the two girls both said in unison, “We get a man!” The sidekicks looked disappointed but Richie was happy with his deal because he actually got a phone number. Richie snapped his fingers and the two goons followed behind him like lost puppy dogs.

“He must be the ring leader of that circus,” Laurel laughed.

“I bet,” Hurt added. “You saw that other crusty one standing there licking his lips. Negro, get some Vaseline for those ashy lips looking like Ashy Larry from the Dave Chappelle Show.”

Lyric and Laurel busted out laughing at that remark. Truth had earn her side name, Truth Hurts, because she always told it like it was, no matter what.

Unfortunately, her mouth was her biggest problem because she didn’t care she told off and sometimes you provoke the wrong person. Hurt had done such a thing to the wrong individual once only she didn’t know what she had started. That person wanted nothing but for Hurt to be feel disgraced, humiliated and most of all, hurt.