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“And if she ain’t here, shorty, we going to leave. I told you that this morning already. Chill out,” I told her then kissed her on her forehead.
Just like me, I could tell that this was the last thing Shae wanted to be doing, but we were doing this shit for Maya. We’d finally made it to the front door, and Maya’s little fist went up. She started pounding on the door. I pulled her back a little bit after she finished banging on the door. I knew if somebody had fucked around and banged on my door the way she just did this early in the fuckin’ morning, I would have swung my front door open and cursed everybody out, which is why I’d pulled her back.
It took a few moments for us to hear movement, and then suddenly, the front door swung open. It was Maya’s grandmother coming to the door. I turned my head quicker than a motha fucka when I saw that the robe she was wearing had untied at the waist, so all her old womanly goodies were on full display.
“Nigga, please! Don’t insult me!” she said to me, right before she rolled her eyes.
I couldn’t do shit but laugh. This was an old ass woman, and whatever I said in response to her would be disrespectful as fuck, so I just laughed her comment off. Plus, from the way Jashae was squeezing my arm, that was code for me to leave it alone, so I did. When I didn’t say anything, she pulled Maya in for a hug since it had been months since she’d last seen her. Shit, the last time she saw her was when we came down there looking for Krystal’s trifling ass.
“You must be looking for your mama? She got here yesterday afternoon. Go on inside. She’s sleeping right there on that couch, with her sorry ass,” she said to Maya as if she was grown ass woman and needed to be hearing that type of shit.
Maya went inside while her grandmother pushed the door back some so that Shae and I could come inside. But before we could make that move, she said something first.
“Look, I don’t know what type of shit Krystal done got her ass in while she was in Atlanta, but she came back yesterday, bags packed and everything. Krystal ain’t lived in my house for years. She always told me that she would rather sleep in a fuckin’ alley or under a bridge before she moved back in here with me. I was honestly shocked to see her ass come back because I just knew that once she took her ass down there to Atlanta, she wouldn’t be back. I say that to say, if she’s going to be back home, then Maya shouldn’t have to be the two of y’all’s burden. Let that woman take care of her own motha fuckin’ child. From the looks of things, the two of you have a child that y’all need to be taking care of,” she said with her finger pointed at Jashae’s stomach.
“I get what you saying, but at the same time, Maya ain’t a burden. Besides, your daughter already signed them papers saying that she doesn’t want Maya anymore. If we give her back, fuck she going to sleep at? On the couch next to her mama? Aside from that, you got grown ass men staying in this house with you and—”
“Grown ass men that are Maya’s uncles and cousins—”
“And what the fuck is that supposed to mean, lady? How many little girls get raped by family members? Nah, Maya good where she at. She wanted to come over and see her mama because she saw on Instagram that she was in town. Let us let her do that, and then we’ll be out of your fuckin’ way,” I said then walked past her and into her shit like this was my fuckin’ house.
I could tell that she couldn’t stand a nigga, which was fine because the feeling was mutual. I held Shae’s hand as we walked into the small, cluttered ass apartment. We were in fuckin’ March, yet they still had up a Christmas tree in the living room. All I could do was shake my head because some people were just trifling. As far as the apartment being small and shit, that wasn’t even my judgment because I lived just like this as a child. The only difference was, my parents and I did everything in our power to keep up with the shit. We were already struggling back then. Who wanted to be struggling and then living in filth on top of that?
I’m not even going to get started on all the dirty ass dishes that were piled up in the sink, all ten garbage bags that were leaned against the wall, dying to be taken outside. I wished she would even offer us something to drink when I just saw that damn roach crawling up the wall. Swear I felt like I needed to jump my ass back in the shower, and I’d only been standing in this bitch for one minute.
“Get up, Mommy. Get up,” Maya was saying, down on her knees, shaking Krystal.
Her ass was slumped over on the couch, knocked out, and snoring like a fuckin’ bear. Only drugs and alcohol would make a person sleep like that, and because shorty was in the club last night, who knows what type of shit she’d indulged in. Like Maya’s grandmother said, all of Krystal’s bags were on the side of her like she planned to stay for good. There were like four suitcases, about two duffle bags, and some plastic bags were lying there as well.
“Krystal, get your motha fuckin’ ass up! Your child is here to see you!” her mama yelled, coming into the
living area where we were and banging two pots together.
That made Krystal jump up from her sleep, and she looked around the room at all the faces staring back at her. We all heard her suck her teeth. Maya stood up from the floor and wrapped her tiny arms around her mother, holding onto her for dear life. Krystal hugged her back, but not long enough.
“Why y’all brought her over here? Especially so early in the damn morning. Can a bitch get herself together?” Krystal asked in a hoarse voice.
I heard Shae laugh from the side of me, and I knew that laugh all too well. She was getting ready to start some shit.
“Krystal, your shit ain’t been together in how fuckin’ long? Fuck you mean? You don’t think Maya knows what’s going on? You don’t think she knows the reason why she’s living with us? Don’t try to act like she views you as some fuckin’ angel. Any positive image that she had of your ass went out of the damn window when you left her in a damn garage. Talking about why we brought her here! Girl, if it were up to me, you would never see Maya again. It was Maya who cried and begged us to come and see you. You should be thanking me,” Shae said, trying to get closer to Krystal, but I pulled her back, putting her pregnant ass behind me.
Just when Krystal was about to say something, there was loud banging on the front door.
“I knew it was a bad idea to bring my ass down here,” I mumbled under my breath, feeling for my gun and making sure that I had it tucked because I didn’t have a clue as to who was on the other side of the door.
Krystal’s mother went to the door, and before she could even have the door fully opened, a woman who I’ve never seen before came barging into the home, damn near knocking Krystal’s grandmother over to get inside.
“Hoe, you fucked my man? You fucked my man?” the woman kept asking as she damn near flew to Krystal.
She didn’t even wait for Krystal to respond before she knocked her right in her mouth. I swear it felt like I was at home, walking in on Shae watching that ratchet ass Love & Hip Hop bullshit that she liked to watch. The only difference was, these bitches weren’t throwing drinks and shit. These bitches were throwing hands, and security wasn’t around to stop them.
Maya was screaming and crying to the top of her lungs, and I had swooped her up in my arms in an attempt to get her out of the house. On our way out of the door, all we heard was…
Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!
Four gunshots went off behind us. With Maya in my arms, I turned around, and the sight before me was gruesome. Blood from Krystal’s body was splattered on the walls, making it look like a different coating of paint.
“Mommmyyyyyy… Mommyyyyy!” Maya kicked and yelled, trying to get out of my arms, but I wouldn’t let her down.
