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“He called over to Momma’s the other night and spoke to Sparks…” Sparks is her younger brother. He’s one of them rugged, pretty-boy types that all the chicks swoon over. Come to think of it, Mario actually looks more like Sparks than he does his own father. Sparks’ sexy-ass definitely could have spit him out as his own. “…You know he asked him to be in the wedding.”
“No, I didn’t know that. But I’m not surprised. I figured he would.”
“Oh, and trust,” she says, putting the mirror down and giving me an accusing eye, “I just know you got me in the wedding since I’m the one who hooked ya ass up with him. Miss I Ain’t Beat To Meet No One.”
I laugh. “Girl, that goes without saying. If it weren’t for you, there’s no telling who I might have ended up with. My man’s definitely a keeper.” I finish up the final touches on her hair, then remove the cape.
She gets out of the chair, staring at herself in the mirror. “Girl, as always you hooked a sista up right. I’ll see you in two weeks,” she tells me as she’s walking toward the counter to pay Felecia.
“Hmmph. And make sure you have your ass here on time,” I warn.
She laughs, waving me on. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Love you, too.”
EIGHTEEN
“Yo, you comin’ through today?” Jasper asks, sounding like he’s been up and about for hours. I slept like shit last night. Tossed and turned practically the whole fucking night. Even though it’s been two days since that phone call incident, the nigga’s voice has stayed locked in my head, haunting me. I’ma ’bout to be your worse fucking nightmare. I really don’t want to invest too much energy into worrying about whether or not I should take his threats serious. But, then again, I don’t want to take the shit he said to me lightly either. I’m not gonna think about it, or let this shit worry me, I think as I yawn and stretch, glancing over at the clock. 6:52 A.M. In the goddamn morning! OhmyfuckingGod, this nigga is crazy! It feels like I just shut my eyes. “I got a four hour pass to look for a job today.”
Jasper has been at the halfway house in Newark for the last three weeks and this is his first opportunity to the leave the building. He tells me that normally it takes longer to get out, but he has this counselor chick who’s been looking out for him.
I purse my lips. “Mmm-hmm. And what does this bitch look like?” I ask, hoping like hell this ho is keeping her professional boundaries in check and this nigga isn’t trying to cross them. I heard how some of them counselors and whatnot working in the correctional system—particularly in the halfway houses—like to fuck with the inmates, so I already know what it is. I’m only hoping Jasper’s ass isn’t dumb enough to get caught up in it.
He sucks his teeth. “Yo, go ‘head wit’ that dumb shit. She’s mad cool. That’s it. Besides, she ain’t got shit on my baby. Trust me. There’s no one up in this joint I’m checkin’ for. It’s all you and that good pussy I’m ’bout to tear up.”
“Mmmph,” I grunt, stretching. “If you say so.”
“Pasha, don’t start ya shit, yo. You hear me, girl?
I yawn again, ignoring him. “What time can you leave?”
“I can bounce at nine. I gotta go fill out a few bullshit-ass applications to keep shit legit, then you already know what it is. I’m tryna grind up in them hips. We can slide off to the crib or get a room, feel me, baby. But I gotta be back up in this bitch by one.”
“What time you want me to come get you?”
He huffs. “Yo, what the fuck is you doin’? Didn’t you hear any- thing I just said? I told you I can bounce outta this muhfucka at nine. So you tell me. What time do you think I want you to come?”
“Nigga, don’t start talking shit,” I snap, sitting up in bed. “It’s too goddamn early in the morning for you to be coming out your face all crazy. First of all, you shoulda called me last night and told me this shit. Hell, I spoke to you earlier in the day and you didn’t mention shit about getting picked up. All I asked you is a simple-ass question.”
“Aye, yo, knock all that shit off. Is you comin’ up here or not?”
Luckily I don’t have any appointments scheduled until later this afternoon. “Yeah, I’ll be there. Where you want me to pick you up at?” He tells me that he’s supposed to take public transportation, so he has to leave out of the building and act like he’s going to the bus stop. He tells me to meet him at the gas station-slash-convenience store across the street. “Alright,” I say, finally deciding
to get out of bed. “See you at nine.”
“Aiight, bet. Let me go hop in the shower. See you when you get here.” We say our goodbyes, then disconnect.
At exactly nine I pull up into the convenience store-slash-gas station. I don’t see Jasper anywhere, so I back into a parking space, then shut the engine off. As soon as he hops in the car, he leans over and kisses me on the lips. “Damn, baby, you look good,” he says, buckling his seatbelt.
I smile. “You ain’t looking too bad, either.” He’s dressed in a pair of PRPS jeans—where he got them from is beyond me ’cause they definitely weren’t anything he asked me to bring him while he was at the assessment center—a blue and white striped Polo Jersey, and a crisp pair of white Air Force 1s. He has his Yankees fitted cocked to the side.
“Damn, you got my dick hard as hell; smelling all good ’n shit.” He grabs at his crotch. “I can’t wait to get up in that pussy.”
I shake my head, starting the engine, then pulling out of the lot. I make a left, heading toward downtown. We stop at several places where Jasper goes in, then comes right back out with an application. After the fourth spot he does the same thing. Goes inside, then a few minutes later comes out with another application in his hand. I decide to ask him why he isn’t filling them out there. Are you ready for his answer? This nigga tells me, “I ain’t beat. I wanna hurry up and get to a room so we can fuck. I’ll drop ’em back off the next time I get my pass.”
I take my eyes off the road, and stare at him like he’s fucking stupid. “Nigga, are you crazy? Why the hell would you do that? All it takes is ten minutes, if that, to fill out an application.”
“Yeah, and?”
“Don’t you need to get a job?” I ask, feeling myself getting annoyed. Shit, I have to wonder exactly where his head is. And I’m not talking about the one between them muscular thighs of his, either.
