Slim
I sat down in front of Drew, not really giving a damn what he had to say. The diner we were at wasn't packed and was somewhat secluded. It was decorated in mostly racing decor. I zoned out then Drew cleared his throat, snapping me back to reality.
"How is Platinum and the baby?" he asked. I could tell right off the bat that he was beating around the bush, wasting my time.
"Both of them are just fine, don't be worried about them. What did you call me down here for?"
He threw his hands up, "We still boys right? I can't catch up on old times with my nigga and see how he's doing?"
"Hell no, you can't. I'm not your nigga and we aren't boys, either."
"I'm the motherfucker that held you down in prison when your baby's mother didn't! Matter of fact, I was the one trying to make her keep her legs closed!"
"For one thing, don't even fucking speak on Platinum! Hold me down, nigga? The reason I don't fuck with you right now is because I heard you were on that snitch shit while I was upstate! On top of that, the nigga Platinum was fucking around with was your brother!"
"My brother? Who, Scoota?" he asked.
"What other brother? Hell yeah Scoota." I sat back, already tired of dealing with the bullshit that was pouring from his mouth.
"I'll talk to him but back to Platinum, though. I'm telling you the baby isn't yours. That baby could've been mine before yours and I haven't even slept with her."
"She's ninety-nine point nine percent mine so do yourself a favor, aight? Don't speak on my lady and don't speak on my child. I'll be right back in that hell hole with your bipolar ass brother."
He raised his hand, "Hold on, what? You know where Scoota is?"
"He's in prison, dumb ass! He's been there for a lil' minute, actually!" I laughed a little and he was getting pissed by the second.
"Well I guess you'll call it even when your precious baby girl isn't breathing any longer," he said with a smirk.
"What the fuck did you just say?" I snatched him up by his collar. My phone started vibrating in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw Platinum's picture on the screen. "Hello?"
"Slim," she whispered into the phone, "somebody's at the front door damn near beating it down and they have a gun. I got a crazy ass letter from Scoota and I think he sent them to kill Imani, please hurry."
"I'm on my way," I said before hanging up. I walked to Drew's side of the table and gave him a hard blow to the face. "This ain't over, bitch." I walked to my car and did eighty all the way home.
Platinum
I ran to my closet and opened one of my hidden safes. I stuffed stacks of money into my duffel bag before running to my bedroom window. I slide it up and threw the duffel bag out. I locked the bedroom door and ran into the bathroom. After I turned the shower on, I crawled out of the window and slide it down behind me.
I stopped walking, "Shit, I can't go through the front yard, they're going to see me for sure. Think Platinum."
I looked up and got an idea. I heard the neighbor's pit bull barking before I even made my move but I'd much rather get bitten than shot, again. I got my head start and took off before jumping the gated fence. The dog started barking loudly and I saw my neighbor's window blinds move. I ran to the side of the house.
"Buster? What's the matter buddy? Whatcha barking at?" Mr. Henley caressed the dog's huge head.
Before taking off through the front yard, I made sure Buster had him occupied. I made a run for it and Buster began barking again. Running through my neighborhood like an escaped fugitive, I caught the attention of other neighbors-exactly what I didn't want.
When I made it to a nearby gas station, I walked in and went straight to the back. I got a bottle of water and went into the bathroom to catch my breath. I got my phone out to call Slim. After calling three times, I got worried. As soon as I exited the bathroom, I heard sirens. Running to the door, I saw police cars heading towards the direction of my house.
I put my headphones in, threw my hair into a ponytail, and began jogging towards my house. When I got there, Scoota's closest friends, Beau and Duke, were being led out of my house in handcuffs. I hurriedly approached the police.
"Excuse me officer, what's going on? This is my house, what happened?" I tried my best to play the innocent role perfectly.
"Well ma'am, these two fellas were trying to break into your house. Do they look familiar to you?"
"Break into my home? I thought this neighborhood was safe! I can't even go jogging without having to worry about what I'll be hit with when I come home?"
"Ma'am please, calm down. I apologize but I do have it under control. We'll be interrogating them later but in the meantime, would you like to press charges?"
"Yes sir, I certainly would! I cannot believe this!" I said looking away. Seeing Slim's truck pull up beside the curb, I ran over to him, still playing my part. "Babe, take a wild guess at what I came home to?"
He caught on, "What? What happened here?"
"Those two hoodlums over there were trying to break into our house! What if Imani would've been here? Me and her?"
"Let's just be glad that wasn't the situation. Calm down, okay?" He pulled some hair out of my face.
I nodded, "I'm calm now. Just please, take them away officer."
"Sure thing, ma'am. I need you to fill out this sheet here to press charges against them." He gave me the sheet and a pen. I filled it out and signed it before giving both the pen and paper back to him.
Beau and Duke were both put into the back of squad cars. I watched and all the officers loaded up and filed out. My neighbor, Derek, walked over to where Slim and I stood.
"Are you okay? You were pretty heated a few minutes ago," he said.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking. Do you know who called the police?"
"Yeah, I did." He looked around before continuing, "I saw you crawl out of your window and jump the fence so I ran to the front of the house and just in time, I saw them kick in your front door."
"Thank you. I didn't think anybody saw me. I thought it would've been the old lady across the street because she's so nosy."
"Mrs. Henley? She's always watching and waiting for something to happen."
"Wait, Henley? The man that lives behind me is Mr. Henley."
"It's a whole clique of them around here. They're a pain in the ass, too."
"Well thanks for all your help, man. Platinum come on," Slim said. I laughed it off and slowly followed behind him.
"Thanks again. See you later," I said to Derek.
"No problem, I hope so." He flashed a smile and walked back into his own yard.
"Jealous much?" I asked as soon as I walked back into the house. "Derek isn't anybody to be jealous of, he's married."
"I'm not jealous but y'all were just standing outside having a full blown conversation like our front door didn't just get kicked in," he snapped.
"Well since you're so fucking concerned with the door, clean up this mess and get somebody to come fix it. You should've been concerned about Imani because they weren't coming to kill me, they were coming for her! I'll be back later," I said. I got my keys and walked out of the threshold where our door once stood.
-- Two weeks later --
I walked into the house, tired and out of patience from teaching the girls their new choreography. Their drama is some whole other shit that I never had to put up with. They argue over the stupidest stuff. If I didn't love dancing and money, I would've thrown the towel in.
When I sat my purse down on the couch, I noticed that I smelled food. I followed the smell into the kitchen and saw a pan with a lasagna in it and four cheese Texas toast on the side. I was about to make a plate when I got a feeling in my gut. I stood in the same spot before finally deciding to go look around the house.
I started in Imani's room then went into my own. I looked in all the closets and bathrooms before deciding to go to Slim's room. I heard a thud and I jumped, not expecting to hear anything. Grabbing the doorknob, some type of rush came over me and I pushed the door open.
"Ain't this some shit? Is this why you missed practice today?" Was all I could possibly say. I put my hands on my hips and proceeded into the room.
Chloe jumped up, "Ice? What are you doing here?" she asked, wiping her mouth with the back of her right hand.
"Bitch this is my house and don't act like you don't know because you've seen Slim before and you know that he's my baby's father! I got the mind to lay your ass out," I said in anger. "After all the shit I've done for you? You go behind my back like this Chloe?"
"I'm sorry, Ice. Know that I'm sincere because I don't apologize to anyone. This shit is crazy." she started pacing back and forth. "Am I kicked out of the group? Are you going to tell Raz? He's going to fire me from the club!"
"Does it look like I give a damn what happens to you, Chloe? I come home to find you giving my baby's father brain and you expect me to have sympathy?" I threw a bottle of lotion at her, "The lotion is for your ashy ass knees and the door is for you to walk out!"
"Can I explain? Please? Give me five minutes," she pleaded.
"Bitch you have four minutes, go!" I snapped at her.
"I was under the impression that one of you killed my cousin and got me into the helpless situation that I'm in. I knew that she used to date Slim so I really started brainstorming, trying to put two and two together. I wanted to seduce Slim just to get y'all in here and kill the both of you," she admitted.
"Kill us? With what?" I asked. "Who's your cousin?"
"This," she pulled a small gun from her jacket pocket, "My cousin is Asia."
I burst into laughter, "Girl this is a starter gun for a track meet! You wouldn't do any damage sweetheart. Do yourself a favor and get out. If I see you again, that's your ass. You better dodge me for the rest of your life!"
Tears started to run, "Fuck you! You're a heartless ass bitch! I hate you," she ran out of the room and out of the front door, slamming it behind her.
"Slim are you fucking serious?" I walked over and pushed him. "You really got the nerve to fuck with another bitch? Huh?" I yelled at him.
He grabbed my arms and pressed me against the wall, "Quit fucking hitting me, aight? We are not together."
"You know what?" I started out of breath, "You're exactly right. We aren't together."
He backed away and stared into my eyes. At that very moment, I lost all respect for Slim. I got myself together and walked over to the door, ready to exit the room.
"Do me a favor? Get on your shit so you can buy your own house because you don't need to stay here any longer. If you would like to stay, pay for me a condo because I want a fresh start anyway. We are completely done, Alonzo."
"Alonzo?" he stopped pacing back and forth.
"Yes, Alonzo. Slim wouldn't disrespect me like this, knowing I still had feelings. Then of all places, in my house? You never really know a person, huh?"
"Don't say all that. I'm sorry, it's my fault, Platinum. I honestly wanted to hurt you like you hurt me."
"Well congratulations because that's exactly what you did," I admitted.
"Now that I see what the result is, I want to take it all back."
"Like I said, we're done and I'm going to need for you to get on your shit."
"What exactly do you mean by get on my shit? You want me back upstate?"
"If your hustle gets you back upstate then oh well. Imani will be taken care of. If you end up back in prison, I have niggas lined up that would be more than happy to take care of the both of us."
With that, I left the room. At that moment, I left everything. I left everything I ever wanted, Slim, the first man that actually loved me, my baby's father, my everything. But that's just how it goes sometimes.