Page 2 of On Everything

“Because I want to know how dumb of a nigga you have to be to open up a bank account and wine and dine some hoe with a card that has your wife’s name on it?”

“I don’t know what you talking about, Ciara,” he mumbled under his breath, fastening his pants.

“This credit card statement says that you have been doing all kinds of romantic shit for the past few months on my tab. The spa, Kairo? Three separate charges from flower shops? Really? Then you just throw it in my face by letting the shit get mailed here?”

Kairo glanced at me with his nose wrinkled and a disdainful look on his face as if I were the one tripping.

He was so good at making me question my sanity when getting on his ass.

Kairo was never wrong or the villain in any story he told.

That’s unless he wanted to look hard in front of his friends, then his ass would proudly be Freddy Kruger.

“Use your brain, Ciara. Why would I open up a credit card in my wife’s name and get the statements sent to our apartment?”

“I don’t know! That’s what I am still trying to figure out.”

“Well, figure that shit out on your own. You insulting me thinking I’m that fuckin careless. That fuckin stupid. This shit getting old, Ci. What was the point of me changing if you still going to throw shit up in my face?”

“So, you don’t think this shit is wild. A statement showing up for a credit card to our mailbox with all types of fancy shit charged on it. $2,000 worth of shit?”

“Yeah, but it’s even wilder that you accusing me of running up a card on your credit when there are a million hackers in New York City alone that could’ve done that shit.

You always bugging looking for some shit to go wrong.

I told you before that you can’t stand to be happy.

You prove that shit everyday, Ci.” He grabbed the freshly washed shirt I had lying on the bed for him.

I plopped down on the bed and sank into the worn-out mattress with the oh so familiar tired ass cushions.

Hearing the bed creak always made me roll my eyes because it was a reminder that we needed to sleep better.

Shit, our entire apartment had a worn mismatched appearance with items from my job and the resale shop like our mustard yellow sofa.

The only thing inside this apartment that is new was the 55" tv in the living room that I won from a raffle at work.

Truthfully, it looked out of place in our scavenged apartment because in here, we need one of those big booty televisions for the aesthetic we have.

I leaned over my knees, exhaling the hump out of my back because not only was I mentally drained, but the shifts I’ve been working this week were killing me.

This weekend, I just wanted to lay back, watch a movie, and make love to my husband as much as I can before Monday comes.

Getting into it with him about a bitch was the last thing that I wanted to do.

I never want to believe the bullshit I hear about Kairo, but it was hard not to with the history we had.

“Look, I’m sorry if I was wrong, Kairo, but what was I supposed to think with this statement coming to our box?”

“Not think the worst about your man. I love your ass, and I told you I’m not on that kind of shit no more.

You can’t see that I’m doing better? Working, staying at home with you when I could be running the streets with my boys.

Shit, I’m headed to my second home right now for the fifth time this week with no complaints. ”

He dashed across the room, getting his black leather belt from the headboard.

“Baby, I know you work hard. Maybe it’s the pressure from my job that’s getting to me too. I mean, this week was inventory, and it wore me out. I just wanted to come home and be with you, then I see this in the mailbox.”

I unfolded the crumbled-up papers still resting in my hand.

“If you think inventory is tough, just imagine what I go through. I work with a bunch of goofy ass niggas who think because I’m younger than them that I don’t know shit.

I’m going to end up slapping the fuck out of all of them niggas at that plant, I’m telling you.

You need to be thanking God you work where you do because being born a man puts me in jobs close to slavery. ”

Kairo didn’t feel that me working at the Assistance Center wore me out, but he couldn't be more wrong. He was at work slanging pallets, and I was slanging can goods and perishables like large bags of pinto beans.

Though tidies, this job at the assistance center was the highest paying job I’ve had to date.

Shoot, in my high school years, I worked at McDonalds after school, only bringing in enough money to keep my hair and nails done or getting an outfit every now and again.

I remember when me and Pernelle risked our lives on 3 rd Ave to cop my red bubble jacket with the tan and brown fur around the hood with my first check.

I thought I was hot shit that day. Me and my best friend always thought we would be fancy designers because we loved window shopping and shit.

I had dreams of opening up a plant and boutique shop because I love plants as much as I used to love designing clothes.

I don’t do much designing anymore because it just seems pointless.

Now I just take care of my four plants I call En Vogue, and I dream only at night when I’m asleep.

“Did you fix those sandwiches for my lunch?”

“Yeah, I did when I first got home.”

“What about the chips? You put some Hot Funyuns in there for me?”

“As always.”

“My girl.”

He fixed the collar on his shirt, now fully dressed.

I stood up from the bed to walk closer to him because he always looked handsome as hell in his work uniform.

That grey thermal shirt and those blue cargo pants screamed give him some head, or some cooch or shit, both.

His uniform is so sexy because it symbolized Kairo coming into manhood.

A hood at one point I thought he would never go.

Back in the day, working wasn’t second nature to Kairo. He would always rather get money on the streets, which ultimately ended him up in jail every time. Now I see him backing out of that lifestyle more and more, despite his many threats to go back to his old ways.

I rubbed across his zipper, taking his bottom lip into my mouth.

“Nah, don’t think you getting him started when I have to catch the train in a minute. I’ll be back on my lunch break about 2:00 am to smash yo’ ass.”

“I don’t think you will have time to come here on break, babe.”

“Psshh.” He smacked his lips.

“I’ll always have time for that sweet pussy.”

Kairo smacked me on my ass. I don’t think Kairo ever really had plans of coming home on his lunch break at night, because he never did when he said he would.

I think him telling me that is just his way of making sure I didn’t have a nigga up in our spot.

He was always hinting about me potentially cheating while he works at night.

He’s even made slick comments about our neighbor Ant like he knows that I think that man is fine.

I followed Kairo into the kitchen, where he grabbed his lunch kit from the counter and then headed to the front door.

“I’ll see you later, Shorty.”

We kissed on the lips.

“Oh, can you take out some of them chops we have leftover from dinner a few nights ago so that you can make me a good breakfast in the morning?”

“Yeah, I got you, baby.”

Kairo grabbed my ass through my soft cotton work pants that were both comfortable and hugged my ass tightly.

“Damn, you in these pants makes me want to suck on that pussy right now. You better be glad that I have to go to work.”

“I’m not glad about it, but I do understand.”

His smile tugged higher on the right side, which was that smile that always worked on me. Why was I so weak for this man? Kairo could probably run me over in a car and have me cheesing hard on a gurney by sweet talking me after.

“Don’t worry. After I eat breakfast in the morning, I’ll have some of you for lunch. You know that my favorite restaurant is in between your thighs, right?”

He kissed me softly, and if my skin wasn’t honey brown, you would see how hard I was blushing right now. To think I flew in this apartment ten minutes ago mad as hell, now I just want to fuck both of our worries away and forget that feeling ever came inside my body. After all, I’m good at that.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

Before Kairo could twist the front doorknob, loud over the top knocks started from the outside causing both of us to stop all words and movement for a second.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

The beating continued.

“Who the fuck is that?” Kairo looked over to me and I shrugged my shoulders.

He and I were both still at first thinking it would stop, but it didn’t. It only got louder and harder the longer we stood in silence. The entire door was shaking from the banging, and it was just like the knocks I remember coming to my door as a kid when my Uncle Lorenzo got busted for drugs.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

“It might be the cops, Kairo.”

“Nah, I don’t think so. Maybe it’s Mr. Lopez’s ass tripping because of the rent,” Kairo replied in the same lowered tone as me.

“Babe, Mr. Lopez doesn’t usually fuck with people on the weekends or at night. It’s 6:00 pm on a Friday. That’s not him. Especially knocking like that. He is too scary.”

“You right. Let’s just see who the fuck this is. Back up.” Kairo guided me back with his forearm before twisting the doorknob.

When he opened the door, standing there was a man at about 6’5 who I’d never saw before, which wasn’t uncommon in New York since there are eight million people here. Shit, I still haven’t even met everyone who lives in my building.

“Who the fuck are you?” Kairo’s neck was slightly bent backwards, having to look up at this huge ass dude. He was big like a linebacker, or some type of WWE wrestler like The Big Show.

“You Kairo?”

“Yeah. I am, but why the fuck are you beating on my fuckin door like that?” Kairo got tough with him because no matter the size, Kairo would never back down to any man.

His ego and his wish to look like a real nigga at all times often put him in fights he should’ve just walked away from.

Kairo has been like that since I’ve known him.

“I’m Diablo, Nigga! Jessica’s husband. You the one that has been staying at my crib while I was locked up nigga? The same Kairo that answered her phone, talking shit while laid up with my bitch a couple weeks ago?”

“I don’t know what you talking about, homie.” I noticed Kairo did that nervous laugh he does when he was really caught up on some shit.

“Stop lying, nigga! Jessica confessed to me that she been fuckin around with you the past six months I was locked up! She told me everything, down to what projects you stay in. So what’s up now? You still tough, little nigga?”

“Man, fuck you, bruh. I don’t know what you talking about. Get away from my door with this bull shit.”

“No! I told you that you were a dead muthafucka when I got out. You thought this shit was sweet!” He punched his right hand into his left palm and rushed in on Kairo.

He quickly got the better of him, but Kairo was trying to throw blows from under his body.

“Get the fuck off of me, yo!”

Kairo struggled from underneath him.

“Stop it! What the fuck!” I was yelling and attempting to break them up while trying to avoid being hit with a punch coming from either one of them.

Kairo managed to get from under his body, but Diablo quickly stood up and slammed Kairo back down on our end table, breaking it into two pieces.

When Kairo got up he was pushed back into the t.v.

by his neck, breaking it on impact. I had saw enough.

“Hell no, I’m going to call the police!”

With my heart racing, I ran back into our bedroom to grab my phone with the sound of the loud chaos now in the background. As I fumbled through my bed sheets to find where I had it, I suddenly heard three loud pops that stopped all commotion in the background.

POP POP POP!

My heart sank into my chest once I realized I’d just heard gunfire. I knew what that sound was. Living in Castle Hill, I heard it plenty of times before, just never inside my own apartment.

“Ciara!”

I heard Kairo call me and my slow steps of dread turned into a full-out sprint.

“Call the police, baby! I had to drop this nigga. I had to drop him. Fuck!”

Kairo was irate now, huffing and puffing over Diablo’s body, which was laid out, spilling blood onto the floor. I’m sure this man didn’t come over here and lose his life for a lie, so now I know it is true. Kairo is screwing his wife.

I should’ve listened to my gut when I was downstairs earlier and came up here to kill his ass so he could be the one laid out on the ground for continuing to play with me.

I'm over this shit. It's time for me to move on and show him how it feels to have his chest burning.