We've all heard the saying: One man's trash is another man's treasure. Unfortunately, that's not always the case. A man will use and abuse their treasure and then have beef with the recycling man. This was the case with Mega and his love interest, Mila. A slim-thick, 5'5 with brown eyes, caramelized curly-haired goddess. She seemed to love the ground Mega walked on, but she was fresh out of a relationship so it was hard for him to take her seriously. On top of that, the ex-boyfriend was still trying to make Mila's life a living hell.
Mega never tripped though. He knew how it was to be fresh out of a bid. Especially one lasting for more than five years. It was hard to get over sometimes, so whenever Mila brought the old up into a new conversation he laughed it off and let her vent. One of the many reasons she was so comfortable sharing her life with him. She hated the fact that he wouldn't make it official with her, but she understood his position. A man would never settle down with a woman if he wasn't ready. Or, if she had a crazy ex who wouldn't leave her the hell alone.
"Do you even care about what I'm going through, Mega?" Mila sighed into the phone.
"Yes, I do."
"Don't sound like it. You're being so nonchalant about shit."
"I mean, I know how shit go. Y'all fresh out of this relationship, you might wanna take him back one day." He shrugged.
"No. Negative. That will never happen and I keep telling you that. I want you. Nobody else. Especially a nigga I ain't been happy with for a long time," she frowned.
"I hear you, bae."
"Please do. Hear me. Feel me. Love me. Fuck me. All that."
"You so goofy." Mega laughed at that. "So, what's up? Where you at? Am I seeing you tonight?"
"You can see me whenever you wanna see me baby, you just don't."
Mila was always saying something slick, trying to get under Mega's skin. He rarely bit the bait, which was something else she loved and thought was sexy about him.
"Well, I wanna see you tonight. If that's cool with you and your better half."
"My better half? Stop playing with me, Mega. For real."
She hated when he joked with her about her ex. Mega thought it was funny she hated the man so much, but she was always talking about the guy. Yet and still, he never tripped. After breaking off a seven year relationship that grew into an engagement at one point in time, Mega felt like relationship-life was too short to be getting mad about stupid shit. When he felt like Mila was completely over her ex was when he would give 100%. Until that happened, he would only give her devil dick and treat her like a lady was supposed to be treated.
"Alright my bad, my bad," he laughed. "But, nah, I'm going to the white ball tonight and I want you to be my date. You down?"
A bashful smile slid across Mila's face.
"You so damn sexy, you know that?" She bit down on her bottom lip.
"Uhhh ok." He chuckled a little. "You coming or nah? Tryna show you off a lil bit, you know?"
Pretending they were standing in front of each other, he started spitting game.
"Yes baby, I'm going with you."
"Cool. I got a lil sumn-sumn for you. Meet me at the crib at like nine."
"Alright baby, I love you."
"I love you too."
He did love her. He loved every girl he ever dealt with, intimately, and they all still love him. Mega was a ladies man. The kind of guy a girl could be herself around with no judgment. The kind of guy that would have your back even if you crossed him. But, don't get it twisted, Mega had a dangerous side. One that rarely surfaced, but it was definitely there, and once it came out it was hell trying to get that motherfucker out of the picture.
However, when it came to women, Mega had a soft spot. Didn't matter the age, race, or sexual orientation, he genuinely had a lot of compassion for women. Mila called him a mama's boy, but that wasn't the case. He just appreciated the value of mother nature.
Mega ran an all-female-artist tattoo shop in downtown West Palm. He also pushed mega weight on the low, but the guy was so sophisticated and laid back, you would've never known just by looking at him. When he first started the shop he did it for the love of tattooing, but once business started booming like crazy, the shop turned into a full-on money laundromat. Only Mega and Layton, his right hand, knew all about it. That way, if the feds ever came knocking, his women could honestly say they knew nothing about it.
"Yo, you got clients on the way?"
"Nah," Mega checked the time, "I'm free. What up?"
"Scheduling conflict. I got somebody in the chair running over-time and a dude in the waiting area. Think you can knock him out real quick?"
"Depends on what he's getting. Tryna take my lady to the white ball tonight."
"Lady? Oh you and Mila finally made it official?"
"Nahhh, but you know," Mega popped the collar on his crisp white T, "I'm a ladies man."
"Ahh, whatever fool!" Layton laughed. "That girl got yo ass wrapped round her finger. Ain't nothing wrong with that."
Mega and Layton clicked because they were addicted to the same thing. Women, money, and leveling up. She also gave him the insight on women he didn't have, so whenever Mila was the topic of conversation, Layton made sure she spoke some sense to him.
"Let me check ya people out and see what we working with."
"Cool. Thanks."
Approaching Layton's waiting area, Mega felt like he had seen her client somewhere before. He couldn't pinpoint exactly where, but he was sure they had crossed each other's paths at one point in time.
"What up man, I'm Mega. Layton ran overtime with a client and asked me to take care of you. That's cool with you?"
"Yeah, yeah that's cool. I was actually gon' ask for you anyway."
"Oh word? That's what's up. Well, come back, let's see what you tryna get hooked up."
Mega couldn't shake the feeling of knowing dude. He recognized the voice, but couldn't put a name to it. He figured it was probably somebody he met in the gym or some shit, but he kind of felt like that wasn't it either.
"What'd you say your name was?" he asked, leading the guy to his booth.
"Polo."
There he was. Mila's ex. Mega knew exactly who he was after that. What he didn't know was what gave Polo the audacity to walk into his shop looking for anything.
"Straight. What you tryna get today?" Mega asked, keeping it cool like he didn't know who Polo was.
"A cover up."
"What you got like a name or something?" Mega laughed.
"Yeah." Polo removed his jacket and revealed the name Mega dreaded seeing stamped on another man's arm. "Thought I was gon' be with this bitch forever, but you know how hoes do."
It took all of Mega's strength not to knock the nigga's head in. He knew Polo was only trying to get a reaction out of him, but he would never give a jealous nigga the satisfaction.
"Hell yeah I do," he nodded. "You know what you wanna cover it up with? Something simple, or you tryna get majestic with it?"
"Shit I ain't even decided yet. I was hoping you could take that off my hands for me."
Another pun Mega let slide. It was evident, Polo only came into the shop to see what he was up against and pick a fight. But, as a businessman, Mega didn't play those types of games. So, whatever made Polo think he would play those types of games as a man outside of business, gassed his head too much.
"I ain't gon' front." Mega stood up from his chair and pulled his jeans up on his hips. "I'm a lil pressed for time right now. If you knew what you wanted I could go ahead and knock it out for you. But," he shrugged. "I can get you in a late session with Layton, or one of the other girls when they're done, but I gotta head out of here in a few."
"That's cool." Polo stood up from his seat and grabbed his jacket. "I'll think about what I wanna do and go from there."
"Cool."
The blood in Mega's veins boiled as he watched Polo walk out of the shop. He would never sneak a nigga, but he strongly believed Polo was one nigga that needed to be snuck.
"Why you grilling me?" Layton asked when she looked up and saw him standing in her doorway.
"Did you know who your client was before he got here?"
"Nah." She shot him a confused look. "Nigga just called and said he wanted to set up an appointment. What's up?"
"Nigga was Mila's ex."
"Nahhhhh!?" Layton wide-eyed. "Nigga bold as fuck for that. I take it he didn't really want a tat?"
"Hell nah he ain't want no damn tat! That boy came in here to see who I was."
"He ain't never seen you before?"
"He seen me on Facebook and shit. Other than that nah. And guess what he wanna cover up?"
"Mila name?"
"Ding-motherfuckin-ding!"
"Damn dawg." Layton laughed and shook her dreads. "He must really be hurt to come up in here doing all that."
"Real rap. If he caught me anywhere else," Mega said, pounding his fist into his hand.
"I'm already knowing. But ay! Mila ain't have nothing to do with this. Cause I already know how you are. Gon' be mad at the girl and she ain't even did shit."
"Mannn, whatever man." Mega waved Layton off. "I'm fina get up outta here so I can get ready for this party. You good? You coming through?"
"Yeah, Ima slide up there a lil later."
"Bet."
That tattoo was eating at Mega's pride. It didn't matter how long he made Mila wait to become official, he cared about the girl. Enough to make him pull up at her job to see what type of bullshit she had running with Polo. He didn't care if she wanted to be with the nigga. What he cared about having his feelings played with. It didn't matter how many times she told him she was done with Polo. Like he said, "a woman always had a trick up her sleeve."
Mila saw his Jeep pulling into the parking lot before he said a word to her. She knew there were only two reasons he would be pulling up on her. One: He had something for her. Or two: he was pissed. They hadn't been arguing about anything lately, and she hadn't done anything to make him mad, so she figured she was in the clear. Little did she know her man was feeling disrespected and furious.
"I saw you pull in." She texted him with a heart-eyed emoji. "I'm taking a 15 now."
It was hard for him to stay mad at her when she did shit like that. In his mind he knew it wasn't her fault, but Mega was a man who expressed how he felt, so she had to hear him out.
"Hey baby." She cheesed, skipping up to his Jeep. "You miss me or something?"
"Earlier." He replied unenthused. "Hop in so we can chat real quick."
"Rawr!" She playfully growled. "What you got an attitude for?"
"Get in so I can tell you."
There it was. The confirmation that Mega was pissed off. About what? She didn't know, but she really didn't feel like dealing with another one of his mood swings or temper tantrums. Not after they had been doing so good.
"What." She sassed, rolling her eyes and folding her arms across her chest as she slid back into the passenger seat.
Mega was pissed, but he couldn't hide the fact that Mila was sexy as hell in her scrubs.
"What's up with ya boy?" he asked, looking her up and down.
"Who?" Mila replied unenthused.
"Polo. The boy came to my job not too long ago on some dummy tattoo mission. I don't need this shit yo, so whatever y'all got going on you need to kill that shit or leave me singular."
"Mega, I really don't have the energy to go through this with you again. I can't control him. I left the nigga alone for good. What more you want me to do! Kill him?"
"I feel like it's gon come down to that."
"No, you're just crazy."
"I'm crazy? A nigga rolling up on me, but I'm crazy." He laughed. "Alright, kid. You still wanna kick it with me tonight or what?"
Mega had a way of getting his point across without getting himself worked up and Mila hated it. He never gave her the chance to curse him out. He was the only one who got to do the checking and getting together.
"I don't know. You really just put me in a mood."
"A mood?"
"A mood."
She hated when Mega got on his trips about Polo. She thought she made it crystal clear that wasn't where she wanted to be and after listening to her cry about the trauma Polo put her through, Mega should have had no doubt in his mind when it came to her and where she stood.
"Are you ever planning on making us official? Cause if not, I need you to leave me alone. I'm not tryna be out here with my head in the clouds and then out of nowhere, have my heart broken. Again."
"What? Where this come from?" Mega shook his head.
"It came from you coming here interrupting my break with this bullshit. I don't want Polo. I did at one point and he did the same shit you're doing now, and you know what I did? I left his ass alone. So, you let me know what you wanna do and I'll let you know if I'm going out tonight or not. Until then, I'm going back to work."
Before getting out of the jeep, Mila leaned in and kissed his lips. Just to let him know there was no love lost, but he needed to figure shit out. And fast.