Page 4 of Pulse of True Soulmates

SOME YEARS LATER . . .

“Man, I’m trying to tell you, Ty. The dating pool has piranhas in it,” I fussed. “Y’all married niggas are blessed that y’all found y’all forever.”

I had just finished getting my locs retwisted, and now I was sitting in my barber Tiberius’s seat to get a lineup. It was Saturday, so the shop was packed like it usually was. Everyone laughed at my expense. My best friend, Julian, laughed the hardest.

I met Julian when my family moved from Orlando, Florida, to Charlotte, North Carolina, when I was fourteen years old.

Two flat tires was the best way to describe our relationship.

We also attended the same college, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, NCA therefore, from the first conversation we are in an evaluation period as they should be too.

I’m not going to waste my time. Now, if a female comes at me on some fuck me shit, then I let them know that’s all it will be.

It’s not like I’m out here just slinging monster dick. ”

A few weeks ago, this chick that commissioned me for a custom tattoo straight up told me that she wanted to see what that dick do .

I told her up front that if we fucked, it would never be more than just a fuck.

I wouldn’t catch feelings eventually, so she shouldn’t expect that or try too hard to get me to catch feelings.

She claimed that she wasn’t on some relationship shit.

Her exact words were, I’m for the streets right now, and I’m fine with that.

After I finished her tattoo, she paid me the six hundred dollars that I charged her and sucked my dick.

We met up a few times after that to fuck, then I cut her off when she asked me to take her on a date.

That crossed a ho boundary for me. Just fucking meant just that, just fucking.

I expressed that I didn’t feel comfortable with our sexual relationship any longer.

She told me that she was tired of my dick anyway.

I wasn’t offended in the least because the way her ass screamed and hollered during sex said differently.

The next day, she started with the text messages.

Since we didn’t communicate outside of when to meet up and weren’t having sex any longer, I didn’t respond and promptly blocked her.

Fast forward to the next week and this girl was laid out on the floor of my tattoo shop, kicking and yelling like a three-year-old child.

I couldn’t tell you what she said because I left her there on the floor by herself.

I didn’t entertain my four-year-old godson, Aiden, when he threw a tantrum.

There was no way that I would entertain it from a grown ass woman, so I called them boys and told them to trespass her ass.

My father taught me that you didn’t argue with crazy women; you let the police do that.

“Man, Declan, you know good and well these females out here will lie just to get the dick, get addicted, then want it for themselves. I found my wife fresh out of prison, so I didn’t have to be subjected to that bullshit,” Tiberius pointed out.

He served five years for killing his mother’s boyfriend.

I was tired of the subject. “Derrick, when you and your wife coming to get your new piece? I’ve been waiting on y’all.”

When I was twenty-five, I decided to use my BA in visual art design to open a very unique tattoo business.

It wasn’t just a tattoo shop; it was a lounge.

Ink Vibing was the place to get a fire ass tattoo, amazing food, drinks, and vibes.

The tattoo portion of the business was upstairs in the loft area.

The lounge portion was downstairs. There were nights that we had live bands, spoken word, silent book clubs, speed dating, and anything else that kept our spot live.

We made most of our money on the nights that were catered to the Hispanic community.

I brought in a band, a special cook, and it was a whole vibe.

I spoke fluent Spanish since I had a number of Spanish speaking customers.

The third year of business, I met my goal of making a profit of over three hundred thousand dollars for the year.

Four years ago, I opened the second lounge, Ink Vibing Again , with Julian as the co-owner.

He was also a tattoo artist. We also co-owned a graphic design firm.

“Man, you know your ass be booked and busy. I’m trying to get in where I fit in.” He did have a point about how busy I was. Both lounges were open six days a week. I spent four days in the main lounge and two in the secondary location.

Tiberius was finished with my lineup, so I turned the seat in his direction. “Cuz, stop playing with me. Let me know when y’all want to come, and I’ll clear my books for y’all.”

“Shit, you ain’t said nothing but a word. Mama Bug got my babies this weekend, so we’ll be there tomorrow. I’m going to call Iesha to see what time she wants to go and text you tonight,” he let me know.

After I told him that was cool, I stood from the seat to pay Ty. “Alright, let me get out of here. Y’all know it’s my mama’s reup day.”

“Aye, tell Auntie I’m gonna come over tomorrow to get a cake.

I’m gonna Cash App her the money because I already know Iesha’s greedy as is going to try to eat all my cake,” Derrick said.

He and his wife had the funniest relationship.

Their love language was talking shit to each other.

At their wedding, a part of their vows was to always get on each other’s nerves.

I did my rounds of goodbyes, then left. I had a few appointments later, so I needed to make this quick. Unfortunately, there was no ‘quick’ with Princetta Phillips.

“Derrick sent me money for a black forest cake. Is Iesha pregnant again?” my mother asked. She moved to the next cabinet to look at her inventory in her store that was added to the kitchen.

My mother was the neighborhood’s snack and cake lady.

When we lived in Orlando, it was the same thing.

The kids in the neighborhood loved her and so did the parents.

On report card days, she made these goodie bags that had chips, candy, a sandwich, a drink, a slice of cake, and money depending on what their grades looked like.

She’d had parents come to her to thank her because their kids made cautious efforts to not get in trouble and get good grades.

“Mama, why you ask me that?” I wasn’t sure why she thought Iesha was pregnant. My mama was nosy as hell too.

She slowly turned her head and put her tight eyes on me. “The only time that girl asks me for a black forest cake is when her ass is pregnant. This is the third black forest cake that she’s asked me for this month.”

My brows knitted together, and my head tilted. Now she had me thinking. “I don’t know. I’m gonna ask her tomorrow. Both of them are coming to the shop to get tatted.”

“I need to come in there and get me a tat,” she mumbled. There she goes with the bullshit. She’d been screaming for a few years that she wanted a tattoo.

Footsteps were heard behind me. “Cetta, don’t make me get in your ass now. I already told you that you’re not getting a tattoo, woman.” My mama fussed back with my pops as he smacked her on the ass. “I got something I can?—”

“Whoa, we’re not doing that today! What’s up, Pops? Mama, you ready?”

My parents acted like horny ass teenagers with their old asses. It only took one time to see their bare asses for me to never show up unannounced. They were affectionate regardless of where they were. As much as it got on my nerves, I wanted that with the woman who would be my forever.

After a few more kisses, my mother told me that she was ready. My pops came over and cupped the back of my neck. “You good, boy?” After I told him that I was good, he removed his hand then started toward the living room. “Alright now. Don’t let nobody fuck with you. I’ll kill behind mine.”

“So will I, Pops.” My pops had been saying that since I was a little boy. When I was a little boy, if you told me that my pops wasn’t a superhero, I would literally fight you. If you told me that now, I still would probably fight you.

My father was a retired air traffic controller, and my mother was a retired city court clerk. Both of my parents lived very comfortably off their pensions and savings. I paid off their house a few years ago as a gift when I made a nice chunk of change from a trade I did with one of my stocks.

It didn’t take long to get to the big box store from my parents’ home.

My mother had a whole list, but we were in an aisle that had nothing on her damn list. My mother’s list was just a suggestion for the most part.

When her ass put something in the cart that wasn’t on her list, all she would do was add it.

We’d get to the register, she’d pull out her list, then have the audacity to say I got everything!

“Mama, there is nothing on this aisle that is on your list. Why are we on an aisle with towels and bathroom stuff?” The only things that were on this list were items for her store. Candy bars and towels were not on the same aisle.

My mother did her famous slow turn to face me.

She’d been doing that creepy serial killer turn since I was a kid too.

It used to terrify me then. Not so much now, but when she did it, I knew she was about to curse me out.

“Boy, since when have you been in charge on how I spend my damn money?” She snatched her list from my hand, took a pen out of her purse, wrote something on the list, then handed it back to me.

“See, towels on the list. Now leave me the hell alone.” I guess we’re shopping for towels now.

For the next twenty minutes, we walked around the warehouse to put things that were already on the list and some that were added into the shopping cart. We finally got to the aisle with the drinks. My mother’s and my feet stopped in their place. “What the fuck is she doing?”

A woman was lying on the floor with a dog on her chest. I grabbed my arm after my mother hit it with the back of her hand. Her heavy ass hand. “She must have seizures or something. That dog has one of those service vests on. Son, go over there and make sure she’s alright.”

I stared at my mother for a beat before I slowly approached the girl.

From what I could see of her, she was a smaller framed girl.

Her eyes were closed when I stepped closer.

I didn’t want to step too close because I wasn’t sure how her dog was trained.

Her dog noticed me and shifted his body.

“Ma’am, are you alright? Do you need me to call emergency services? ”

Without opening her eyes, she responded, “No, I’ll be fine.” She rubbed the back of her service dog. “Midnite’s got me.” That was the perfect name for the dog that looked like a black labrador retriever.

Her skin was the perfect shade of milk chocolate. Damn, she’s beautiful. “Ok, I just wanted to make sure you were alright.” After she thanked me, I walked back over to my mother. “She said she’s fine.”

I was ready to carry on with our shopping, but when Princetta was not satisfied, nothing would move until she was.

She shook her head vigorously. “Nope. I’m not leaving that baby on the floor like that.

” When I reiterated that the woman said she was fine with her service dog, Midnite, my mama told me to shut the hell up.

My mama’s five feet, four inches short ass loved to bully people.

That Napoleon complex was a real thing. Here I was, six feet, three inches tall, but when she told me to shut up, I did.

I called behind her as she marched toward the girl and her dog.

With a sigh, I followed my mother back to where the woman lay on the floor.

“Hey, baby. I know you told my son that you were alright, but I don’t feel comfortable leaving you here by yourself. Did you have a seizure?”

The woman finally opened her eyes. Her head turned to the side to give us her attention.

Her brown eyes were beautiful. A small smile surfaced on her beautiful face.

“No, ma’am. I’m not having a seizure. I have a condition called POTS.

Sometimes I get overworked, and my heart rate goes up too much, so I have to sit or lay down. ”

She glanced down at her dog, then rubbed his head with a bigger smile. “My baby here is trained to warn me so I can sit or lay down so I don’t hurt myself. Thank you for asking.”

What the fuck is POTS? My mother’s beautiful cheeks rose, but the concern that still sat in her eyes told me that my mother wasn’t satisfied with her answer.

“Ok, well, I still don’t want to leave you here by yourself.

My son is going to stay with you until you feel well enough to get up.

” She turned on her heel. “Declan, stay here and help her when she’s ready to get up.

Give me the cart, and I’ll go get the stuff I need. I’ll be back.”

My mother pushed me to the side, stepped behind the shopping cart, and was on her way. The woman’s saucer eyes made their way to me. Well, this is awkward .