Page 22

DALLAS

A fter three days of being home, with no sign of Big Boy, Dallas was now convinced the nigga had moved on. She was sure he must have been staying at his new bitch house because where else could he have been?

Dallas wanted so badly to pop up to Mama's house because she was in desperate need to talk to Norah.

She thought of going next door to Ms. Draya's home, which was her next door neighbor, but she didn't know Norah's number by heart.

Norah was one of those people that would change her number the moment a nigga pissed her off.

Deciding to just go take a shower, Dallas climbed out of the bed and headed into the restroom.

She turned the shower on and let the water get hot before hopping in.

She stripped from her clothing then dragged herself back over to the shower.

She was mentally drained. Emotionally drained. And now physically drained.

With one leg inside the shower, the sound of Big Boy's voice behind her made her quickly turn around.

"Gotta wash that nigga off of you?" He wore a scowl on his face as if he was disgusted with her being here.

“Hello to you too.”

“That’s what you expect for me to welcome you with? Open arms after you've been gone almost two weeks?”

“I got caught up.”

“Caught up? Caught up in what that had you so gone not answering yo’ phone?”

“I was in jail in Mexico,” Dallas lied, and Big Boy gave her a look as if he didn’t buy what she was selling. He placed his hand on the doorknob, waiting for her to explain.

“I won some money at the casino. When I got there, they instructed me to go to Mexico to collect my earnings. Norah must have left a blunt in my purse because they found one at the border. They held me for seven days then released me.”

“You expect me to believe that bullshit?”

“It’s the truth.”

“So where the fuck yo’ phone?”

“I guess they stole it. When I got my purse back, no money and no phone.” Dallas continued with her lies.

She hated lying to him because once you tell one lie, you have to keep telling them.

“A’ight, well, let me smell yo’ pussy before you take a shower.”

“What the fuck. So you accusing me of cheating and I just told you I was in jail.”

“You mothafucking right. Let me smell yo’ pussy.” Big Boy stood his ground, waiting on her to do as told.

Dallas walked past him into the bedroom and he didn’t give a fuck about her smacking her lips.

She laid down on the bed, spread her legs, and told him to smell it.

Dallas was now glad he wasn’t home the day she had come from the Dynasty because he would have definitely smelled Kasim’s sex all over her.

Big Boy stormed over to the bed then bent down to take a long sniff of her pussy. When he didn’t smell a thing, he looked up at her, but he wasn’t convinced. Drowning in his own guilt, he needed a reason to accuse her.

“Nah, I don’t believe you. Let me feel my pussy.” Big Boy began unbuckling his belt.

Dallas looked at him confused. He was dead ass serious, so she became nervous. Kasim had put a scowling on her pussy that still had her sore. Big Boy wasn’t as big as Kasim, but even the slightest touch may hurt her.

“I don’t feel like it. Anyway, we need to talk. I found . . .”

“The fuck you mean you don’t feel like it? You’re about to let me examine my pussy or I’mma know you lying.” Big Boy pushed himself on top of her.

“Baby, please. Not right now.”

“Oh, you ’bout to give it to me right now, lying ho.

” He forced himself on top of her then forcefully spread her legs apart.

He didn’t take his time pushing himself inside of her, so she flinched in pain.

He began stroking her roughly, pulling in and out as if he was trying to find something.

“Nah, something off about this pussy.” He continued to pump inside of her while frowning.

“I haven’t done shit. I told you I was in jail. Can you please stop.”

“Bitch! You lying ass bitch. Yo’ pussy feel like you fucked a whole palm tree. My whole body ’bout to fall in yo’ shit.”

Wham !

Big Boy’s hand collided with the side of her face. She couldn’t believe that he actually hit her, so she grabbed her face while he still pumped inside of her.

“Bitch, yo’ nasty ass been giving my pussy away!” Big Boy punched her again only this time in the ribs.

Dallas began sobbing loudly. This was a side of him she had never seen before. He had never put his hands on her or even called her out of her name.

Another hard blow to the ribs made Dallas's body crash into the ground. He wasted no time jumping off the bed to continue insulting her. He punched her, kicked her, and called her every name in the book but the child of God. Dallas was in complete shock, and she could feel her face swelling. Before she knew it, her body couldn’t endure the trauma.

She had begun to feel weak and faintish.

She could still hear Big Boy’s insults, but the sound of his voice began to trail off.

***

Dallas’s eyes shot open from a horrible dream.

She stared up at the ceiling and realized she was lying on the floor.

She tried to lift from the ground, but the excruciating pain wouldn’t allow her to lift up.

She began touching her body parts, and everywhere she touched caused her to flinch.

That was when she realized she wasn’t dreaming.

A fresh set of tears began to trail down her face with thoughts of the look in Big Boy's eyes.

He looked like the devil himself had awakened, a look she never experienced.

Thinking of the devil himself, the cloud of smoke that flew past her let her know he was still in the room.

Her eyes began wandering then landed on him lying in the bed with his feet kicked up.

He didn’t bother looking in her direction to acknowledge her scars.

To add injury to insult, the nigga left her right there on the floor.

“I need to go to the hospital.” Dallas closed her eyes, wishing she could go back to sleep. “Kareem, please, I need to go to the emergency room.” She called him by his middle name, something she did when she was serious.

“Get the fuck up and go, bitch. I ain’t taking you, and you better tell them mothafuckas you got jumped. I really don’t give a fuck what you tell them. You bet not mention my fucking name.” He took another drag from his blunt dismissively.

She could barely move, so how the fuck did he expect her to drive herself? She didn’t have a phone to call the paramedics, and she knew he wouldn’t allow her to call from his phone.

After laying there for some time, Dallas used the little strength she had to lift herself from the floor.

She started with short steps and gradually increased her pace.

She cautiously took steps because of the excessive pain.

She headed into the restroom to slide back into her clothing.

Once she was successfully dressed, she slid into her shoes and grabbed her purse from the nightstand.

She didn’t bother looking at Big Boy because right now she had those visions of stabbing him up and leaving him to die.

She hated him to the point she wished he’d die a slow and painful death.

Granted, she was wrong for giving Kasim her prized possession, but he too was living foul.

She didn’t bother mentioning his whereabouts or even the test she had found.

It was pointless because the moment she made it out of the door, she had no intentions of never coming back.

Finally making it to her car, Dallas slowly climbed inside and sank into the seat.

She flipped down the mirror and began examining her face.

There was a deep gash above her eye, and her lip was extremely swollen.

There were small specks of dried up blood and even her tooth felt slightly loose.

She thought of what lie she could possibly tell the hospital.

She thought of just driving to Norah’s, but she was gonna save herself the embarrassment.

Dallas started her car, and before pulling off, she had this strange feeling as if someone was watching her. She looked toward her home and connected eyes with Big Boy who stood in the window. He was giving her a threatening look with not an ounce of empathy.

The two locked eyes momentarily, and this helped Dallas realize the love she had for him suffocated under the weight of his fists. She had to leave him for good and not because she hated him but because she loved herself enough to know she deserved better.

As she drove away from her home, the weight of her past slowly lifted off her shoulders.

She wasn’t gonna hold on to the memories of his smile, his laughter, nor his once gentle touch because those memories were now tainted with pain and fear.

She couldn’t stay and tolerate the abuse that would come with the relationship because after hitting her once, he would definitely do it again.

The road ahead for Dallas was uncertain, but she was ready to face it head on.

She knew she'd stumble, she'd cry, and she'd doubt herself, but she also knew she'd rise again, wiser and more whole. She wanted to feel whole again, and for once live for herself. Everything about their relationship revolved around what Big Boy wanted. What made Big Boy happy. It was time she found herself within herself. Maybe even find love because this wasn’t love.

Over the last year, she had felt the distance between them as if their love was fading away.

Time after time she’d make excuses for him repeatedly that Norah always caught on to.

She was always taught not to take advice from a woman without a man, but now she understood her best friend saw him for who he truly was.

It tripped Dallas up that a complete stranger gave her quivers; that same feeling she had gotten from Big Boy once upon a time.

Granted, Kasim was a bit strange, but he was delicate with her.

Not a moment that went by she didn’t think of Kasim but him forcing her to leave played in her mind.

Maybe he loved his lifestyle. Maybe he was infatuated with the women.

Dallas wasn’t quite sure, but he told her to leave loud and clear.

Busting a complete U-turn, Dallas's heart raced as she drove in the complete opposite direction from the hospital. Her mind told her to go get the care she needed, but for once she was gonna follow her heart. She headed toward the Kingly Dynasty in hopes she wouldn’t regret her decision.

She had nowhere else to go without being judged.

She was gonna see where Kasim’s head was at, or at least use him for protection. She knew after leaving Big Boy he would definitely come looking for her. It wasn’t out of love; it was out of humiliation and ego. He had a very egotistical problem, so he wasn’t gon’ just take it to the chin.