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“Oh hell, I’m gonna have to take a drink or three then. That nigga scares me. He always walking around looking evil as fuck, then on top of that, he don’t talk. All the years I’ve been seeing him around, I never heard him say one fucking word. Not hi or what’s up, none of that. That shit ain’t right. He’s one of those crazy ones. Watch what I say,” Nell said. “Oh, since we’re announcing who’s coming. your cousin Nikki’s coming, so keep an eye on Pain’s ass,” Nell said seriously.
Nikki was the cousin who had to try her hand with everybody’s man. She never dealt with a nigga who was single, claiming there wasn’t a challenge in it. There was no limit on who she would try either. A few years ago, she tried her hand with one of her father’s married friends. When the man’s wife found out, Nikki thought her father was going to have her back in the situation. She found out that she was sadly mistaken when her father told her ‘if you’re gonna try your hand with another woman’s husband, you might want to take some boxing classes.’
When her mother found out, she fought her own child because at one time she had been the wife on the cheating side of a married man.
“Why is she even coming? Her ass hasn’t been around the family since when?” Lawrynn asked, shaking her head.
The cousins made their way around the backyard speaking to family and friends. This was the cookout to be at every summer. The yard was a block long and was always packed with people. Lawrynn and Nell always stood off to the side joking on everybody and everything that was going down.
“Hoochie ass cousin alert,” Nell said barely above a whisper.
“Hey cousins,” Nikki said walking over to the pair.
“Hey,” they both dryly responded as they took in what Nikki had on.
Neither of them could understand who would come to a cookout in a backyard with six-inch heels on and a dress that needed to be worn to an Instagram photo shoot instead of a cookout.
“How y’all doing?” she asked.
Neither of them replied. Nikki rolled her eyes then tugged on her dress as if that would make it longer.
“Where’s Pain?” a deep male voice said from behind them.
“Hey Murder, what are you doing later on?” Nikki asked.
He continued to wait for Lawrynn to answer, ignoring Nikki in expert fashion.
“He’s in the kitchen playing dominoes with the fellas,” Lawrynn answered.
He gave a head nod and walked toward the back door of the house.
“Told you his ass is just weird,” Nell said before they both fell out laughing. They watched as Nikki walked toward the house, no doubt following Murder. “You better go in there and watch that hoe,” Nell said.
“If he gets with her hoe ass knowing she’s a hoe and my cousin, he was never really mine,” Lawrynn replied.
She was long over the days of running behind any man to make sure he ‘acts right.’
“You gonna mess around, and we gonna have to fight both of them. I’m telling you that good shit, but you ain’t gotta listen to me,” Nell said.
Lawrynn thought about what she said. She realized that her cousin could be right on the money. Acknowledging the correctness of the statement still didn’t motivate her to go in there and watch a damn thing. Nell and Lawrynn stayed in the backyard playing with the little kids, line dancing with the old folks, and just having a good time. It was getting dark when she saw Pain walking across the yard in her direction.
“Babygirl, I gotta go help moms move some shit. Here go the keys. Murder’s gonna drop me off. Your mom fixed my plate already since you were out here acting like a big ass kid all damn day,” Pain said.
She knew he was looking for an argument, but she wasn’t giving his ass one. Nell was standing behind Pain looking at him like she knew he was lying through his teeth and his fronts that he had in his mouth.
“Okay,” was her only response.
She looked around but didn’t see Murder, so she figured he had already gone to his car. Pain shook his head and walked away.
“If he was going to his mama’s house, why he wanna argue before he left? Niggas ain’t shit,” Nell said.
“He claims he wonders why I don’t wanna move in with his ass. This right here is why. Although I haven’t been confronted by any females or no shit like that, I still feel like he’s out here on some bullshit. That’s why I go home at night, and so does he,” she told her cousin.
This was Lawrynn’s first time saying out loud what she’d been thinking for the past few months. She couldn’t keep denying her gut feeling even if their relationship did start off as some kind of hood fairytale.
“I hear ya, boo. Always follow your instincts. Them shits don’t be wrong, believe me,” Nell said.
The rest of the night, the ladies stayed having fun with the family and friends until the mosquitoes started biting. Lawrynn made her way through the yard and into the house telling everyone good night. She thought about calling Pain but quickly pushed the thought out of her head. Upon getting home, she headed straight for the shower after putting her phone on the charger. It wasn’t until she was on her way to get a bottle of water that she saw the note on the fridge.
