Page 196 of The Ninth

I nodded, “Fuck it. Fuck calling our niggas and asking. Let’s drive by.”

Chapter 38: Pop Out

Devyn’s POV

With my left hand, I held my stomach. Nauseous, anxious, sad, angry. My right hand held onto the door tightly as Cassie whipped through the streets in her AMG, blasting music. All of us were changed out of our dresses and into shorts and t-shirts. It seemed I was the only one truly nervous to walk in on something.

“WHAT HE SAYYYYYY!” Cassie yelled.

“SMOKIN OG LIKE IT’S HEALTHY FOR MY KIDNAYYYYYS!” Tati and Kenzie yelled the G Herbo lyrics together.

I let out a slow breath as she hit yet another curb. She looked at me and then down at my stomach before mouthing sorry.

I can’t believe I’m pregnant. It has to be me. Cassie has gone through lengths to make sure she and K3 were careful. I took the word of my mother and look where the fuck it got me! Duke has been fucking me silly with no protection or birth control. I can only blame myself for not being an adult and handling my own.

The thing is...I of course want children with Duke. I wanna carry a boy that looks just like him...or a girl with his smile and my everything else. Duke means so much to me. His brother just came home. I’m finally shedding off the insecurities and negative thinking I came to Chicago with. It’s so important to me to take our time and grow together before being catapulted into a point of our lives we haven’t reached. He’s right. I should meet his parents. We should be going on vacations and then later living with him. I want to do right by each other.

That’s why I felt so worked up as we pulled onto the street of the tattoo shop. I dealt with a lying ass mothafucka before, and I won’t accept that in Duke. Especially not as my child’s father. Especially not after all we promised each other. Other bitches will always be a deal breaker for me.

My heart sped up as Cassie turned the music down, riding past the line of cars. Through the shop’s frosted glass you could see several lights on and several shadows. I tried to play it off, but I knew I hit a point of no return.

“What are you doing?” I asked Cassie as she hit a U-turn.

“I’m parking, bitch. Drive by complete, now we going in. You think I’ma let this nigga propose to me and then play in my face?”

The three of them started taking their jewelry off.

“This nigga saying he ready to meet Doodas but in hoes faces?!” Tati shook her head.

Kenzie shrugged, “I’ll beat whoever up.”

I expected them to calm me down but if anything, they hyped me up to hop out. Instead of walking to the front of the shop, Cassie told me to cut through the “gangway” so we could come up in the back alley. I knew if he was here, the back door was unlocked. I briefly felt crazy thinking I had to do this to Duke. But fuck it. We already doing it.

As we quietly approached the back in the shadows, a large figure was just sitting on the back stairs. The smell of weed floated to us as we slowed down, trying to see who it was. Cassandra, who’ve always said she could pick her nigga out of a line-up blind folded, boldly walked ahead of us. He heard her and pulled out his gun but quickly tucked it back once he seen her small frame. He looked behind him starting to stand but Cassie spoke up,

“UH-UH, UH-UH! SIT YO BIG ASS DOWN! THE FUCK YOU DOING?!”

He sat immediately like a boy being scolded by his mother. A second later, he hopped back up, “I’M A GROWN ASS MAN, CASSANDRA! WHY YOU CREEPING THROUGH SHADOWS?!”

“BECAUSE YOU AND YO BROTHER BOGUS AS HELL, SHORTY! YOU GOT BITCHES IN THERE?!”

“I’M OUT HERE BECAUSE OF THE BITCHES IN THERE, CRYBABY! THAT MAN WORKING AND Y’ALL BIG HEADED ASSES IS GOING TO LET HIM!”

She yanked him down onto the stairs by his shirt, balling it up in her first in the process. He held both hands up while smirking, looking into her eyes.

“Now you abusing me, Crybaby?”

“Shut up, goofy!”

She smashed their lips together while waving us past K3. By the time he realized we were past him, the back door was already shutting behind us.

Music was blasting and not the normal music we play in here. The entire place was cloudy from weed smoke. I watched incredulous as bitches bounced from room to room, shirts half off from tattoo’s they just got. In their defense, there were men here with them. But the hoes outnumbered the bros. From the hallway you could see both Trent and Dean sitting in the waiting area smoking with two other guys. Kenzie and Tati passed me, going straight for them.

I walked to Kilo’s door first. He was tattooing underneath a bitch titty. Other hoes were in the room, drinking and dancing. She was taped up appropriately though and Kilo seemed focus. I slowly made it to Duke’s room, holding my breath. By this point, I could hear Kenzie and Tati cussing Dean and Trent out. When I got to his doorway, I froze.

There were only two people in the room besides Duke. One was a man, laying on his stomach while Duke was finishing up a quick tat for him. Perfectly normal. But I could tell from the smoke blowing that there was another person sitting on the other side of him. They were sitting so fucking close, I couldn’t make out anything about them. Duke repeatedly sighed, leaning over and adjusting himself. He was hella annoyed.

My breathing slowed as this bitch leaned back in the seat, pulling her shirt up to her chin. “Can I get a cross between my titties? What you think?”