Page 7

Pulling up to the front of the apartment building I owned, I dialed Kabrina. We hadn’t talked much, and sadly enough, a nigga missed her.

I hadn’t thought about the fact that she didn’t like me popping up on her ass until I was already here. That was what made me pick my phone up and call. I needed to respect her space, but also, I didn’t want her thinking that I was one of them niggas who felt entitled to her time and anything else all because I did her a favor.

“Hello?” she answered.

“What you doing, wife?” I saw myself smiling in my side mirror and shook my fucking head after dropping it.

“Unique, do not call me that.” She giggled. “But I am about to go to my appointment and finally get this shit over with.” She paused, then continued. “Thank you again. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t given me the money for this.”

“You good.” I nodded. “And you one hundred percent sure it’s that nigga’s?”

“If we fucked, I would’ve still been feeling it, right?” Her tone was filled with jest, so I went along with it.

“You definitely would.” I nodded, knowing she was speaking facts. I hadn’t fucked a woman yet that was left wondering if it actually happened. Not even when I was getting my dick wet in high school. “You want a ride? Or…”

“No. It’s something I will do at home. I take a pill, and then it’ll be like a heavy period, is how they explained it to me. I will be homebound until it’s all over, but then I will be good… as new.”

I listened to the way her last sentence trailed off.

“You always good as new, Mrs. Compton.”

“I hate that you can always make me smile. I can’t imagine how your women stay mad at you. That would drive me up a damn wall.” She chuckled.

“No reason to be mad at a nigga like me. I’m always a good time, and I don’t do fucked-up shit—at least not intentionally.”

“That’s true.” She let out a subtle titter that didn’t last long. “Well, I will talk to you another time, Unique. Hopefully you’ll have an update from Mack by then.”

“I should.” I stayed on the line, and moments later, I realized she’d already hung up.

I sat in my whip, not knowing what the fuck to do with the rest of my day since I’d planned to spend the shit with Kabrina. I should’ve been paying attention to who I had at home, but right now, it was like telling a child to ignore the ice cream sundae on the table and eat the chicken and vegetables instead. No matter how much I tried to ignore Kabrina’s fucking existence and pay more attention to Aurora and Daisy, nothing ever worked.

It was either spend time with my women where I would spend the entire fucking time fighting not to think about Kabrina, or just go see Kabrina.

I was a busy individual, and when my ladies would complain about how little time I had, especially while filming Dough Boyz , I would explain that was the life with a nigga like me. But now I was seeing that you truly made time for the shit that you wanted to. I found ways and time to call Kabrina or roll through on her ass, which was why it was always so random.

I watched her Nissan pull out of the parking garage and drive off. I pondered for a bit, then said fuck it, choosing to kick it right here until she came back.

After about fifteen minutes, I began looking up the pill she was about to take along with what one should do to help a woman going through some shit like that.

After locating an article that gave me a list, I took a screenshot, then pulled from the curb to grab a few things. I was able to hit a few stores and make it back to my designated parking spot only a few minutes before Kabrina’s ass, which I felt like was fate.

God, I don’t know what You doing, my nigga, but I’m rolling with it , I told myself before exiting my whip at the same time Kabrina did. Before I fully made it to her car, she spotted me, freezing.

“Unique.”

“I know.” I threw my hands up, bags dangling from my fingers. “But I read that you won’t be able to move much. You gon’ need to eat and for somebody to keep you entertained to keep ya mind off the pain. Who better than me? You said it yaself a nigga was a good time.”

She stared at me with an unreadable expression before finally smiling, her greenish eyes brightening up.

“Okay, fine, but if I need you to leave, then you won’t argue with me, right?”

“I won’t,” I lied.

“Okay. What’s in the bags?” she asked as soon as we fell into a stride alongside one another. I tried to ignore the alluring ass scent of her perfume.

“I’ll show yo’ nosy ass once we get up there.” I peeped the brown paper bag she was holding like it was the cure to cancer.

“Oh my gosh.” She giggled lowly as we rode the elevator up and then entered her studio.

“Aight.” I set the bags on the counter as she sat at it, unable to contain her pretty ass smile. “We got chips—two kinds—these diaper muthafuckas; you looked like a medium, so that’s what I got you. We got candy, water, soda, juice, and then for food and shit, I figured I would order you whatever it is you wanted.” I put my hand in the bag and smirked, watching her.

“What? You are so weird!” She laughed, glancing off some.

“You ready for this last one? It’s the main event.”

“Yes, Unique, I am ready.” She grinned, folding her arms.

“Heating pad and not just any heating pad. This muthafucka here got a timer on it and eight settings.” I set the box to the side before looking up from it to see her watching me, a smile laced throughout her soft ass lips.

“This was sweet of you, Unique.” She nodded, glancing down for a little longer than usual. “But what are you doing all this for?”

“’Cause you my wife.”

“I am, but not really.” Her eyes followed my every move as I started balling the bags up.

“Then what the fuck am I paying Mack for if you not?”

“You know what I mean.”

“I don’t. Long as you my wife as declared by the courts, I’m liable to make sure you good. Now go handle ya business while I get all this shit situated for you.”

Kabrina looked me over for a beat, then nodded before hopping down from the bar stool. While she was gone, I rinsed out and dried a few bowls from her cabinet and put some of the snacks inside of the shit.

By the time I had her coffee table set out, she was coming from the bathroom with that same subtle, lingering smile on her face.

“Would you believe I am already hungry?” She came and sat down next to me but kept a respectable space between us.

“I am too, but a nigga like me always hungry.” I ate a chip, and she snatched the bowl from me playfully to put one into her mouth.

“I want Mexican food.” She scrunched her nose.

“I can fuck with that.”

“Well, what do you want?”

“Whatever you want, love. Men ain’t as picky as females. My pops didn’t raise no picky niggas.”

Chuckling, she asked, “What’s wrong with a man having things he likes and doesn’t like.”

“Nothing, but only bitch niggas sit up and argue with a woman about shit like food. Same type of niggas that will wanna wear a fucking veil at the wedding and walk down the aisle too.”

Kabrina laughed, and I loved hearing that shit. I’d always been a nigga who could make a person laugh, but for some reason, hers meant more.

“Well, we won’t have that problem because we’re already married.” She winked.

“Aye, don’t do that unless you gon’ give me some.” I sank down into the couch, keeping my eyes on her.

“Give you some what?” She jerked her neck back, and I couldn’t smother the laughter.

“Some pussy. You owe me anyway ’cause I’m yo’ husband.” I ate some of the candy from one of the other bowls she hadn’t snatched. “Matter fact, I ain’t ordering shit. Get up and cook me something, Kabrina Compton . Women need to be back in the kitchen and on their backs like in them old days. Y’all got too many rights now and don’t know how to act, voting, wearing pants and shit,” I joked, flinching when she smacked my head just as I handed off my phone for her order.

She was laughing, though, and that was all that mattered.

“You wish, nigga.” She cackled, taking my phone to look through the DoorDash app for a place of her choice. She tapped around some, then handed it back for me to add my own food. “I heard when you get married, the sex stops, so that’s perfect.” She was cheesing all hard like she was funny as fuck with that one.

I gave her a feigned chuckle.

“I heard that, and it’s exactly why I ain’t getting married for real. Trying to stop Asif’s ass while I can since all my other brothers have gone through with that shit.” I sent the order through.

“Good luck with that. I saw hearts in that man’s eyes. And I talked to his fiancée for a quick second. She’s smart and beautiful. Don’t convince your brother to lose out.”

“Asif don’t listen to nobody anyway, especially with anything regarding Stazi. Plus, I would never. I was fucking around.”

“I know.” She smirked. “I don’t think that sex thing is true.”

“Man, I don’t know. All my brothers, with the exception of Cemone, had kids before they got married. And now that they’re married, they ain’t had not a one. You know why?”

“Oh my gosh.” She sucked her teeth with a smile, rolling her eyes a bit.

“You already know the fucking answer. They not getting no pussy, and that’s why they ain’t had no kids since they got married.” I put two fingers to my eyes and then pointed them outward. “I be watching and peeping game. Them niggas can’t fool me.”

“Well I can’t say why. But maybe they wanna enjoy marriage a bit before they have more.”

“My brothers ain’t enjoying shit if pussy ain’t involved.”

“And how do you know?” She grinned.

“Because I know them niggas.” I leaned over some and said, “We can prove ’em wrong though.” When I rubbed her thigh, she shoved me back some.

“Ooh.” Kabrina touched her stomach for a moment.

“Here, let me plug the pad up,” I said, ascending from the couch and plugging it into the nearby wall.

“Thank you, Unique…” She took the pad, pausing in her sentence like she was about to add more to the shit but changed her mind.

Once she got to a place where she was comfortable, the doorbell rang, letting us know the food was here.

While she stayed on the couch with the heating pad pressed to her abdomen, I plated the food before bringing both of our meals to the coffee table.

“You aight enough to eat?” I asked, sitting down as she simultaneously sat upright.

“I’m always alright enough to eat.” She tried to smile, but a wince took over her face as she scooted to the edge of the couch to eat her food.

For the next half an hour, she ate as much as she could while I completely smashed my shit.

Once she was done, I trashed the rest of hers in a plastic bag so I could take it out once I left, then helped her to her bed.

Because it was a studio, everything was out in the fucking open, with the exception of the bathroom. She had this shit looking like home, though, and oddly, it made her even more attractive. That trait wasn’t something a nigga like me ever considered, thought about, or listed as something I needed checked off, but now I was realizing that I did.

Kabrina was altering my standards more and more every time I was around her. Because now, not only did I want a woman to be able to turn anything into a home, but I also wanted one who had goals and some hustle in ’em, even if they were a stay-at-home mother. And it was all because of her ass.

I shook my head at the thought when she wasn’t looking.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I stared down as she placed her feet in my lap.

“Damn—”

“Don’t start, Unique. My feet are not ugly.” She shut her eyes, pressing the pad to her body some more.

“Aight, I’ll let you slide this one time.” I gripped one of her feet in my hands and began to massage. A moan escaped her lips, but she kept her eyes closed.

“Thank you.”

“So you good? And I ain’t talking physically.”

She opened her eyes after a few moments, keeping them on the ceiling before she said, “I am and I’m not. I never wanted to get an abortion, ever, but I also never saw myself in this type of situation.”

“I get it.” I continued massaging her feet, admiring the bright ass pink color I was realizing she always had on them. It made me wonder if it was her favorite color. It then made me wonder what Daisy’s and Aurora’s favorite colors were because before right now, I never gave a fuck to ask.

“You know, the worst part of this all is that Alvin knows my background, and it didn’t stop him from pursuing me or roping me into his bullshit.”

“Yo’ background?” I frowned, glancing to my right to look at her.

“Yes.” She sat up on her elbows, watching my hands knead her feet while she pondered on some shit. “I was a side baby.”

“Like yo’ pops was in a relationship when you was born, or it was ya mama?”

“I never thought about the few women who have side babies.” She smirked, but then it faded as quickly as it’d shown up. “But no, my father was married when he got my mother pregnant.” She fell back onto the pillow, sighing. “My childhood was terrible because of it. His wife didn’t want me around him or his other kids, and therefore, I only saw him when he could swing getting away for a bit, and even then, the visits would consist of him rubbing my head like a dog and then going to have sex with my mother in the back room.” She swallowed a lump. Usually, when I saw people feeling sullen and shit, I’d try to ease the moment with a joke, but now wasn’t the time. And honestly, I didn’t have a joke to give.

“That’s fucked up,” I stated, thinking on how Devante Compton sounded like father of the year in comparison to that nigga.

“Yeah. Then those visits happened less and less, and my mother started becoming depressed about it. My aunt says she actually believed the shit he told her and how he was going to leave his wife because she was the love of his life. But he didn’t because they never do.” She snickered humorlessly. “And once he started treating her like a nuisance and me like I was nonexistent, she started drinking heavily to the point where I would only see her a few days out of the month because I had to stay with my aunts.”

“Can’t imagine if you didn’t have them.”

“I think about that all the time.”

“She good now?” I didn’t wanna ask, but I had to know. I was hoping her mama had gotten herself together and her pops some fucking sense. I knew better than anybody that parents would abandon their children, but I was hoping shit turned out differently for Kabrina.

“Nope. She died from alcohol poisoning, and my father didn’t even come to her funeral. Didn’t even send flowers or a card, and though I know this was her fault because she knew he was married, it didn’t make it hurt any less.

“Now,” she sighed, “I don’t even know him or where he is or his kids.” A tear rolled down the side of her eye, making me stop the massage and move to lay next to her. “So that’s why his betrayal hurts. He knew all of that. It’s also why I have a deep hatred and disdain for mistresses and side chicks, of all kinds. The ones who know they’re a mistress or side chick.”

She turned on her side to face me as I lay on her extra pillow, admiring how pretty her eyes were and how supple her vanilla complexion looked.

I was realizing, at this moment, that I didn’t have a type, because Kabrina was the prettiest woman I’d ever had the pleasure of looking at, and she wasn’t even a pinch close to what I thought I fucking preferred.

Naturally, my hand moved to touch her supple skin as my thumb brushed the lone tear staining it.

“Yo’ mama was in the wrong, but yo’ pops is the one who owed the most loyalty, love. Not only to his wife but you. Whether you came from his wife or a hooker on the street, a man is supposed to be responsible for his kids.”

“Yeah.” She nodded, sniffling.

“A man is also supposed to take his vows seriously, and some of these niggas forget it means you not supposed to get another woman pregnant.” I half smiled, and she mirrored me.

“Even you, Mr. Two Girlfriends?”

“Even me. I haven’ t gotten married because I understand how serious that shit is. I think muthafuckas these days be doing it just because. My brothers are the only niggas I believe are getting married because they actually want to and plan to stick it out for the long haul.”

“Well maybe one day you will find that person that makes you want to be like them.”

“Yeah… maybe.” We stared at one another, heads still on the pillows. Her heating pad was radiating so much heat that it was low-key burning the fuck out of me, but I wouldn’t move an inch for shit. The devil could be poking me in the back with a fiery pitchfork, and I’d keep my ass right here so I could stay beside Kabrina’s perfect ass.

Before I could stop myself, I kissed her, and she snatched back from me immediately.

My phone rang, interrupting any words that could be exchanged, and when I pulled the shit from my pocket, I saw it was Daisy. I should’ve sent her to voicemail, but I was laid up preaching about another nigga showing loyalty when I could barely do it as a damn boyfriend.

“What’s good?” I answered, sitting up.

“Hey, where are you? I thought today was an off day and we could go to the movies. I’m in the mood for buttered popcorn.” Daisy smiled through the phone.

“How about tomorrow, love?” I asked, closing my eyes when I felt Kabrina shift.

“I thought you worked tomorrow, Unique?”

“I do. I do, but it should be an early day, so soon as I get back, I’ll take you.”

“Alright. Just make sure you let Miss Thang know because tomorrow was supposed to be no one’s day, and now that it’s mine, she is gonna be pouting all night,” Daisy reminded me.

Everything I do, I only have to worry about doing it for Anastazia or how it’s gon’ affect her…

As I massaged my forehead, Asif’s words plagued my mind, but I quickly shook it off. That nigga didn’t know shit. I could handle it if I wasn’t so fucking wrapped up in Kabrina. I had no issues until her.

“I will. Night.” I hung up before Daisy could ask anything else.

“You should go,” Kabrina called out before I could even slip my phone back into my pocket.

“Nah, she not tripping?—”

“I didn’t ask if she was tripping.” She sat up like me, keeping her eyes locked on mine. “You just heard my story, didn’t you?”

Exhaling, I replied, “I did, love, but my relationship ain’t the same?—”

“It might look a little different, Unique, but it’s the exact same. Only you have obligations to two women.” She shook her head, adding, “Plus, I don’t agree with your lifestyle, so even if you were single, this wouldn’t become a thing.”

“Kabrina—”

“Please leave, Unique. Out of respect for me, what I just went through, and what you now know about my parents, I want you to leave.”

I couldn’t fight her on that shit because I did understand. And while I enjoyed Kabrina, I couldn’t say with a surety that I was ready to be in a monogamous relationship, and she deserved that shit. The last thing a nigga wanted to do was have her thinking one thing and it never become that.

So, I threw my legs off the side of her bed and stood. We didn’t say much of anything, except for when she told me where she wanted the snacks to be put up, before I shoved my feet into my corduroy slippers, emptied her trash and dipped.

It took me forever to get home since I drove around a bit to clear my damn head. I couldn’t ignore how good it felt to be doing nothing with Kabrina.

When I finally made it home, I was annoyed to see Daisy was still awake.

“Where were you all day?” she inquired from behind me as soon as I entered my bedroom. I didn’t even hear her ass walk up.

“With my brother,” I lied, pulling some fresh boxers from my drawer for a shower.

“Hmm, which one?” She sat on the edge of my bed.

“Sif,” I threw out.

I didn’t wanna mention any of my famous brothers, just in case any of them had been seen publicly out of town or some shit. It was too many of them niggas to keep up with, and the group chat we had was a bunch of nonsense and shit talking—nothing real.

“Are you sure? Because he was at Disneyland.”

“How the fuck you know that?” I looked over my shoulder, feeling how deeply embedded my frown was. Just as I was about to say Asif didn’t use social media, I realized the nigga had a girl now who definitely did .

“I follow Stazi.” She let me soak that information up for a beat. “So where were you, Unique?”

“With a friend.” I started toward the bathroom.

“What kind of friend is this that you gotta lie about being with!” she yelled.

“Man, I’m tired. Get the fuck away from ’round me with all this shit.” I tried to close the door, but she stopped me.

“I ain’t going no-fucking-where until you tell me, nigga!”

“Daisy,” I locked eyes with her as I dwarfed her ass, “I’m only gon’ tell you once more to let this muthafuckin’ door go and get the fuck out my bedroom.”

We had a staring contest for a few seconds before she did as I’d told her ass to and backed away.

“Good night!” she barked.

“And we not going to no fucking movies tomorrow!” I barked back, slamming the bathroom door before she could say a fucking word.

The fact that I had two girlfriends and a whole nother woman being the highlight of my day was some bullshit.