A head peeked out of the door.
"Hey, girl."
"Uh. Hey, Vanessa. Can I come in?" I asked.
"Of course, of course. Come on," she said, opening the door for me.
As I walked in I analyzed her appearance, noting the cornrows, lack of makeup and casual clothing, a white t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Now she was dressed like she wanted to fight. But I'd keep calm, for now.
I looked around curiously, noticing how her apartment was decorated mainly in pinks and almost kinda reminded me of my granny's crib with how it smelled of sweet perfume.
"Do you wanna sit down?" She asked, and I folded my arms across my chest.
"I'll stand. Now what did you want me over here for?"
She sighed before sitting on the couch herself and rubbed her face, staring down at the floor for a hot second before looking back up at me.
"I was supposed to help set you up."
My eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Look, I'm not gonna beat around the bush. You're not a dumb girl, that's been clear since the moment you ditched my brother for Dalvin. So, I'm sure you know Nate knows you talked to 5-0 about that shit that went down at the convenience store," she said, leaning back against the couch.
"Well yeah, I figured so. I was the only one who saw that shit," I replied.
"Right. Which means Nate wants to get you back, and....he wanted me to help. That's why I asked you to come here."
My hand twitched at my side and I could tell she noticed the slight bulge at the front of my shirt, because she eyed it and swallowed nervously.
"What?"
"He actually wanted me to give you his address and tell you it was mine so when you got there, it would be him waiting for you," she confessed, looking guilty as a motherfucker.
"So what was that whole woman to woman shit about?" I asked, still suspicious.
"It was supposed to give you more reason to go, so you'd wanna hear what I had to say. But I changed my mind, I couldn't through with it and.....shit, I'm so sorry. I should've just told you over the phone," she said, putting her head in her hands.
"....he's here, isn't he?"
"No!" She said quickly, "He's not, I swear."
I stared at her, eyes narrowing a bit before I lifted up my shirt and pulled the gun out, my hands shaking ever so slightly.
Slowly, she got on her feet with her hands up, eyes widened with fear.
"Don't lie to me," I said as I tried to stay calm.
"Why would I lie to you when you got that in your hands?" She asked, nodding her head towards me.
"I don't know, you tell me. Would you die for your brother?" I questioned.
"Hell no," she said firmly, shaking her head, "After everything he's done to me? I don't think so."
That definitely surprised me, and I lowered the gun. We were both silent for a hot second before I spoke up.
"Can I ask you a question?" I asked, still very confused as I tucked the gun back into my pants.
"Go ahead," she said, breathing hard as she sat back down onto the couch.
"Why are you tellin' me this? I mean, this is your brother. Why you snitchin'?"
"Because it was the right thing to do," she answered quietly. "When you told the police about what happened, you told them because it was right, didn't you?"
I nodded.
"So it's the same thing here. The things Nate could do..." she trailed off.
"Could?" I raised an eyebrow.
"He could do a lot. He got people all around here, like the real roughneck type, you know? He coulda had your people touched already if he wanted to. Thing is - he had to get the police off him first, but now that they are....it's just a matter of time."
What the fuck.
"So you basically sayin' I'm just a sitting duck at this point?"
She nodded her head.
I closed my eyes before covering up my face, breathing deeply. Hell no. Hell no. How the fuck did I get myself into this shit? Seriously, how? What did I do to deserve this? I'm not a bad kid, I don't lie a whole lot, I don't steal - well, taking the gun from underneath Aunt Pam's bed didn't count, or at least I didn't think it did - I just mind my business, and that's all I've been doing. Just minding my own damn business. I didn't ask to witness no altercation, or to get caught up in some murder investigation.
"I can't go out like this," I said suddenly, shaking my head. "I'm not just gonna sit here and let this happen. You can't just talk him out of whatever he's tryin' to do?"
"I would if I could, but it's not gonna happen. He'd never listen to me," she said, looking up at me, "And girl, I appreciate how bold you were, comin' in here prepared and all but....I don't think that's gone do much for you."
"So what can I do?"
"Not much. I mean - you could stay and let him do whatever he wants with you or just, I don't know, skip town or something," she said, shrugging.
"Skipping town ain't an option, and....did you just say 'let him do whatever he wants'? What is he tryin' to do with me in the first place?" I asked, motioning my hands around frantically.
"What'chu think? You're pretty, and from what I've heard you got a little ass on you - "
"Wait, wait. Where did you hear that at?" I asked, incredulous.
"Let's just say Nate talks loud," she said, before adding, "And I tend to eavesdrop on niggas conversations, you feel me?"
I cringed, "Yeah, I feel you."
Suddenly, there was a hard knocking at the door and we both jumped, startled. The hits sounded like those knocks police made when they was about to make an arrest, and I backed away from the door. Vanessa hurried over, spreading her hands on the wood before staring into the peephole and gasping.
"Shit," she whispered harshly as she turned her head to look at me, a terrified look in her eyes. The one she had earlier wasn't shit compared to the expression on her face now.
"What?" I asked, worriedly as the knocking continued.
"It's Nate."
"Vanessa, open up the goddamn door!" Nate's voice shouted from the other side, and my brain began to panic.
"What the fuck are we gonna do?" I asked, barely able to get my words out as I started looking around.
"Uh..." she trailed off as there was another hard knock, "Uh. Oh - hide in here!" She ushered me through her bedroom door and opened up her closet, pushing me inside where I nearly tripped over a pair of her shoes.
"Don't make a sound or we're both dead," she said before shutting it and taking off to go answer the door.
How the fuck am I gonna get out this house? I should've never brought my dumb ass over here, I thought to myself as I tried to ease my quick and harsh breathing.
"Hey Nate," I heard her say casually as the door squeaked open, and there was a stomping of feet before the door slammed behind him.
"You don't know how to answer the fuckin' door?"
"I....I just let you in, didn't I?"
"Nessa....I'll knock your motherfuckin' teeth out," he said, and my jaw dropped. Who talked to their little sister like that? I mean, I told my sister I'd knock her out a couple times but - it was never that serious.
She uttered something under her breath.
"What was that?" He asked.
"I said I was sorry," she repeated.
"You better be. I'm not in the mood to play with you right now. What the fuck were you doin' where you couldn't answer the door the first time I knocked?"
Trying to figure out where the fuck she was gonna hide me.
"I was taking a nap," she said, lying with ease, "You know this pregnancy is kickin' my ass."
She was pregnant?
I damn near hit my head on the top shelf in her closet. I was this close to shooting a pregnant woman.
"You don't sound like you were takin' a nap," he said suspiciously.
"It was a short nap," she said.
"Whatever. Anyways, what the fuck happened? Why ain't she show up?" He questioned, and I could almost imagine him getting all in her face with his hot ass breath.
"She didn't buy it," she said as her voice shook.
"Seriously? She must trust him a little too much...."
"It wasn't like it was very believable. I mean, I never was with him," she said before yelping loudly.
"You mean you fucked all them niggas out that group but didn't fuck the one that you needed to fuck?" He asked, and it sounded like he might've had her by the collar of her shirt.
Wait a minute. The entire group? Girl....
And why the hell was he manhandling his pregnant sister? What's wrong with him?
"He never wanted to! He doesn't like me like that!"
"You - " he suddenly paused, "What the hell is that?"
"What is what?"
"That smell. It smells like....somebody been up in here," he said, and my eyes widened.
Was this nigga a K-9?
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, but it didn't fool him.
"Nah, somebody been in here. You bring K-Ci's burnt lookin' ass over here?"
"No, no one's been here," she said, still trying to convince him otherwise.
"It wasn't K-Ci, it smells too sweet," he said, and I could hear him start to take steps. I pulled my shirt up to my nose. I didn't have on any perfume....was my deodorant too strong? Or was it our laundry detergent?
"No one's been here," she repeated, but he ignored her. His footsteps came down on the carpet, and I pressed myself against the wall of the closet as he started looking around, first in the kitchen and then into the hallway. I could hear him open the bathroom and start looking around, opening the shower curtain and all the cabinets.
"There's no one here!" She shouted after him, and she followed him as he came into the room, and he stopped suddenly, and I could feel his stare through the door. I pulled the gun out of my pants and readied myself.
God, please help me, I thought to myself as his footsteps slowly got closer.
I could hear the door knob start to turn, and I held my breath as it slowly started to open....
Suddenly, there was another loud knock at the front door and door was nearly halfway open as Nate stopped and seemingly turned his head. Both of them went back into the living room and I exhaled quietly, still pressing myself into the corner of the closet.
The front door opened as I prayed he wouldn't come back in here.
"Yo, it's an emergency," A voice said, and I recognized it as one of Nate's darkskin friends.
"Alright," he said quickly, "I'ma be back later. I better not find out someone was in here, or else I'll kill you and whoever the fuck it was."
So she really wasn't playing when she said we'd both be dead...
"Okay," she replied, "I'll see you later."
The door shut and she locked it behind them before running back into the bedroom and opening the door all the way, pulling me out and wrapping her arms around me like she'd known me her whole life.
"I am so sorry I put you through that," she said, "Are you okay?"
I tucked the gun back into my pants for the third time today.
"I'm....can I sit down somewhere? I feel like I'm about to pass out," I said, and she brought me over to her mattress that sat on the floor.
"That was the most nerve-wracking shit I've ever been through in my life," I said as we sat down and she held onto my arm, making sure I was sitting up straight.
"Me too. I was gettin' ready to use my acting skills and pass out just to cause a distraction," Vanessa said, and we both laughed.
"I got a question," I said suddenly.
"What?"
There was a long silence.
"....you fucked the whole crew?"
// trapped in the closet teas, y'all. Vote, comment, etc as usual, and if you haven't already go check out my new book because I will be updating that soon! And I got a little something else on the way 👀