Page 1 of He Thugged Me First

GAYZE

H ow many women are you telling you love them?

I swear all this man did was lie. I don’t know what I expected at this point.

Maybe I expected him to tell the truth about something, but he couldn’t.

Chase and I had been together for almost five years, and out of those five years, I was only happy during two of them.

The rest were me staying out of familiarity and being too damn comfortable to leave.

I looked up from my mirror at Chase. For some reason, he was still talking and explaining God knows what to me, like I wanted to hear him talk.

God, I didn’t know what the hell I saw in this man.

I guess I just needed a shoulder or somebody who seemed like they were in my corner.

Now, my stupid ass was trapped with this fraud in my corner.

By both Chase and I being doctors, it was inevitable that we bumped heads.

It tickled me that I made the decision to take the Chief of Surgery job here in Chicago.

I didn’t think about Chase. I was fully prepared to leave his ass in Philly, but he found an opening for a cardio surgeon at a different hospital.

I would lie and say I was happy about it, but nope. I was pissed.

“Did you hear me, Gayze?”

I nodded and went back to focusing on my hair. I was on a tight schedule, and my sister Nadeen would have my ass if I wasn’t ready when she pulled up.

“You’re still going out?” Chase asked, mugging me from the doorway.

I smiled and put the lipstick brush down. “Are you?” We locked eyes, and he looked away quickly.

“I thought I just told you this was a work thing. I’m new to the hospital and?—”

“You wanna make a good impression. Yeah, I know. Enjoy yourself, love.” I smiled sarcastically. This was the second time he’d transferred hospitals since we moved here.

“What if when I came back, I wanted to spend some time with my fiancée? We both shouldn’t go out.”

I turned around and looked at him. “You’re right. We both shouldn’t. Then maybe you should stay home and probably hang out with your coworkers another time.”

“Gayze.”

It took everything in me not to laugh when his bright ass face turned stark red.

I hated when he tried to play those mind games like I was some dumb bitch off the streets.

He knew I was the wrong one, and that’s why he tucked his tail between his legs and walked away.

I had never been the type to argue or get bent out of shape, I was way too laid back for that.

Chase and I would never work out. I liked to think we would when we were back in Philadelphia, but when we moved here, things started falling apart before my very eyes.

Neither of us would say it though. Our lives were moving in different directions, and it was obvious.

He wanted children and a stay-at-home wife.

I wanted to follow my career and see where it took me.

Kids were later on down the line for me, and honestly, I never saw myself as the stay-at-home mother type. Hell, I barely liked kids.

I stood from my seat, and I looked at myself in my full-length mirror and smiled.

I had forgotten how good I looked in something other than scrubs.

I was literally at my hospital twenty-four seven, and when I wasn’t there, I was at board meetings and boring ass budget meetings.

The funny thing about it was that I loved my job and all that it came with.

That’s one of the things Chase hated most about me.

I was career driven and didn’t need him for shit.

When I walked into my living room, Chase was standing in the middle of the room, focused on his phone. The ringing of my phone caught my attention, prompting me to look down at it. It was my best friend Autumn calling. She must’ve been downstairs with my sister.

“Yes?” I asked.

“Come downstairs, and don’t take forever. You know how this impatient ass girl is.”

“I already know.” I grabbed my purse and my keys off the counter before walking toward the door.

“No goodbye?”

I smirked. “Sorry, babe. I’ll see you later. Enjoy your time with your co-workers,” I tossed out before I continued out of the door.

“That was phony as hell, Gayze.” Autumn reminded me that she was still on the phone.

“Shut up.” I hung the phone up on her and got on the elevator.

When I got downstairs, my sister’s crème BMW truck was parked in front of my building blasting music as I expected.

She was always the flashy type, whereas I was the lay low and grind type.

I opened the door and climbed in. I was ready for a night on the town, and I deserved it.

The thing is, I couldn’t guarantee that I wouldn’t think about my hospital the entire time. That was why I rarely took time off.

“About time,” my sister teased, glancing at me through the rearview mirror.

“You weren’t even down here long.”

“I told her impatient self that,” Autumn said, shaking her head.

“Anyways, when are you gonna give the old boy his walking papers?” Nadeen asked.

“Now, why would I do that?” I asked, even though I had about a million reasons to do such.

“Because at this point, he’s just taking up space in your living room. Matter of fact, your bed.” Nadeen corrected herself.

“I love him, Deen. We’re just going through a rough patch, and this transition is taking a while.” I was lying through my teeth, but I was never the type to let it all the way be known when I wasn’t feeling something. I’d try to play it classy.

“Nah. You’re tired of him. You don’t have to admit it to us, but you have to be honest with yourself,” Autumn responded.

“It’s like me and the kid’s father. I love getting dick from him, but honestly, I don’t care for being in a relationship with him.

We’re only compatible physically, and that’s cool with me.

Problem is we have three kids that deserve to have a two-parent household.

That’s why I stay, but you don’t have any ties to that nigga, and you need to get out before you allow yourself to be tied to him.

Niggas sense when you don’t need them, so they make themselves useful.

” Nadeen looked in the rearview mirror at me as she spoke.

The way she talked about it was odd for me, but I understood where she was coming from. She was ultimately right, and I could never tell that she didn’t feel Kevin like that. They looked like the perfect couple, but I guess looks could be deceiving, and I wasn’t around enough to even notice.

When we finally reached Canez, I didn’t even recognize the place.

It had been updated since the last time I snuck here with my sister and Autumn.

The space was nice and different from any that I had ever seen.

When Nadeen said we were going to a hangout spot, I immediately thought all the wrong things.

You see, my sister loved the hood and everything it entailed, so I wasn’t expecting anything less.

The thing is, this place was nice, and it had a different vibe about it.

It definitely had the loud banging ass music and hood niggas, but the atmosphere was one that I couldn’t explain.

In the middle of the room, there was a large, round bar with people adorning it and waiting for their drinks.

Then in different spaces in the room, there were different old school cars.

Each of them were different colors with different shapes and bodies.

What was funny was the fact that I was able to tell what each car was because they reminded me of somebody I knew when I was younger.

He loved cars and swore that one day he’d own most of the ones in his room.

I had spotted an emerald green 1957 Corvette, an Orange 1970 Dodge Challenger, and best of all, a midnight sky 1969 Chevy Camaro.

Just looking at these cars made me think about somebody I had known back then.

He was an old school fanatic, along with many other things.

Blinking a few times, I escaped my thoughts as they tried to thrust me into the past. I wasn’t up for the trip down memory lane. “This is nice.” I glanced over at Nadeen with a smile.

She had this knowing smirk on her face as she looked me over. “Doesn’t it take y’all back to when we were young? Sneaking out of the house to see the car spots and the niggas that drove them?”

Autumn laughed. “No, ma’am. I think you should rephrase that. We were looking for the niggas with the old schools while Ms. Thing right here was only looking at one nigga.” She nudged me.

“Mazzier Carson. Funny thing is he damn near owns the entire scene now.”

Like he told me he would. I didn’t mean to, but I smiled at that revelation. Though we hadn’t talked in ages and left off on bad terms, I was still glad to hear he was doing good.

“Look at this bitch, smiling like she hasn’t been damn near dodging him.” Autumn laughed.