Deception's Playground (6 page)

I scrutinized Sonya
with my eyes. “What is she doing over here? Again?”

“Oh,” Sonya said as if
she just realized something. “She’s going to be staying with me for a little
while. Her and her cousin wasn’t gettin’ along.”

“Is that right?”

“Is that okay wit’
you?” Nicole smirked.

“That’s on Sonya, man,”
I said.

I left it alone and
started watching TV with them. I’m glad my phone was on vibrate because Tamika
was blowing it up. While Sonya was tipsy, laughing at a Katt Williams stand-up,
I crept to the kitchen to call Tamika back. I told her I’d call her tomorrow.
She sounded upset, but it was what it was. I went back to the living room.

“What you cook?” I
asked Sonya.

“You betta get a slice
of pizza out the oven,” she said.

When I went back to the
kitchen I heard Sonya run upstairs. As I expected, Nicole came in the kitchen.
She bit her bottom lip and batted her eyes.

This bitch,
I thought.

“You been thinking
‘bout me?” Her voice was husky.

“Gone somewhere,” I
said.

“You wasn’t saying that
when I was sucking yo dick right in this kitchen the other night.”

Sonya was coming back
downstairs. Nicole was already back in the living room, and Sonya handed her
some Kush and some backwoods to roll up.

I went upstairs to get
in the shower, and while I let stream of water soak my skin I thought about
that night I came downstairs and saw Nicole playing with that pussy. My desires
got the best of me. I let that bitch suck me dry.
“It’s between us, baby,”
she had said while sucking me up.

Stepping out the
shower, I walked in the bedroom—where Sonya was naked in the bed waiting on me.

“Come here, daddy,” she
said, motioning me in her direction with her index finger. I dropped my towel,
went over to her and shoved my dick in her.

“Yes! … Fuck me! Fuck
me!” She wrapped her legs around my waist as I went deeper.

After fucking her
missionary style for a little bit, I turned her over doggy-style. I eased back
in, gripping both of her ass cheeks.

“Damn, baby,” she
cried. “
Oooouuu
, this is yo pussy, daddy.”

She came on my dick.

“You like that, bitch?”

“
Mmm-hmmm
.”

I continued my attack
on her wetness, smacking her ass, talking dirty to her. Then—
BOOM!

Nicole busted in the
room. “Spade! Ace got shot, he’s in the hospital!”

My mind started racing.
I pulled out of Sonya, my rod instantly going soft. Anger filled my whole
being.
Not Ace.
I got dressed and grabbed my heat. We jumped in Nicole’s
new booty Mustang and smashed to the hospital.

On the way there,
Nicole told me Duece called her and told her some niggas caught Ace leaving one
of his females’ house. Ace got hit in his chest, shoulder and leg. Nicole and
Sonya were crying the whole ride. I was just gripping my steel, looking out the
car window, hoping Ace would pull through.

***

When we walked in Truman Medical,
Duece—along with a small crowd of family and friends—were in the emergency
entrance lobby. They were crying like my lil’ nigga was dead. I spotted Ace’s
auntie that he lived with and went over to her. Sonya and Nicole joined the
small crowd.

“Is he alright?” I
hugged his auntie.

“They say he’s stable.”
She squeezed me. “Take care of this, Spade.”

She didn’t have to tell
me that; I was going to handle it. She told me all of the shots were exit
wounds except the one in his thigh. It would have to be surgically removed. I wanted
to see him but she said I’d have to wait until morning.

I went over to Duece.
“Step outside wit’ me.” We went out and walked up the sidewalk. I could tell he
was pissed off, just like I was. “What the fuck happened?”

“Man, I got a call from
this bitch.” He wiped his eyes. “Said lil’ cuzz got hit up.”

“What bitch? Where the
fuck was he at!”

“His lil’ bitch
Ashley’s, bro. The one in the lobby wit’ the tattoo on her face. She stay in
Hidden Valley.”

“Did she see who it
was?”

“Man, I don’t know.” He
looked away and frowned. “I don’t trust no bitch! Fuck that bitch, she probably
set him up.”

I stood there and
thought for a second. I couldn’t get emotional or I might have done something
sloppy. I decided to leave the hospital since I couldn’t see Ace anyway. I had
some shit to figure out. One thing was for sure; whoever shot Ace laid on him.
I told Duece I was leaving, went in and said goodbye to Ace’s auntie, and me,
Sonya, and Nicole left.

I couldn’t sleep since Ace got shot. It was
the following morning and I was on my way to see him. When I walked in his room
he was laying down watching TV.

He cracked a smile.
“Big bro, what’s good?”

“I’m chillin’. You
good?” I knew damn well he wasn’t. I took a seat.

“Suckas caught me
slippin’. I’m straight, though.” He sat up a little bit in the hospital bed.
“They was gon’ do surgery on my thigh. They say the bullet ain’t gon’ move
though, so I’m good.”

“Did you see them
niggas?”

“It was dark, bro. I
was on my way to the whip. They dropped their windows on some weak shit. Ain’t
have the heart to bounce out.”

He told me Ashley was a
stand-up girl. He said he couldn’t see her setting him up, but he would look
into it. He said he’d talked to Duece earlier that night too. We talked a
little longer, then I told him I’d be back later.

I walked out of the
hospital pissed. Even though Ace was a strong little nigga, I didn’t like the
fact that someone that close to me was touched in that fashion. I called Duece
to see if he heard anything. He said he hadn’t. I checked with Maria to see if
she was on point for the move the next day. She was at work. I had a lot on my
mind so I stopped by the nearest liquor store, had to get my issue.

Intoxicated, I drove
through the city in my Yukon Denali, just me and my thoughts. Casey’s number
kept popping up but I didn’t answer. She kept calling so I finally picked up.

“What’s up, man?” I
answered. I wasn’t in the mood for her bullshit.

“I think I know who
shot Ace.”

She had my attention
then. But how did she know? It
just
happened.

“And how in the fuck
you know?” I asked.

“Not over the phone.
Meet me somewhere.”

She was pushing it. I
really didn’t want to meet the bitch, but I wanted to know what she knew. I
told her to meet me at
Chubby’s
on Broadway.

We were pulling in the
parking lot at the same time. She was in the same yellow Impala I had seen down
the street from Sonya’s.

I parked my truck and
got out. She parked right next to me and got out also. She looked good. She had
on a form-fitting Rocawear outfit with the right amount of accessories—faux
wood earrings, a tiny diamond chain and a ring on her thumb. We headed in and
grabbed a table.

“So how you been?” she
asked as we sat down.

“I’m straight. What
about you?”

“Missing you,” she said
seriously. “Spade, I just want to tell you that I’m sorry for not being there
for you when you was locked up. I was young and I was used to you being there.”
She dropped her head, then looked back up into my eyes. “I wasn’t strong
without you.”

“It’s all good,” I
stated simply. I felt her, though. “What’s wit’ this textin’ Sonya shit?”

She grabbed my hand.
“Love will make you do some crazy things, Spade.”

“Well, that shit need
to stop. I still got love for you but we know what it is.” I pulled my hand
back. She looked disappointed but her feelings were the least of my concerns. I
needed to know what she knew about Ace. I told her to get to it.

She told me her cousin
stayed two doors down form Ashley. When her cousin heard the shots, she hurried
to her window to look out. She saw a new Camaro similar to Duece’s leaving,
being followed by a Ford Taurus. She said the Taurus had three niggas in it,
but the Camaro had tints.

The way she said
Duece’s name, and the expression on her face when she mentioned him, told me
she was implying that it was him. I couldn’t believe it.
Duece wouldn’t do
no shit like that.

Me and Casey ordered
our food and ate. She told me again how sorry she was for not being there for
me. And she promised to stop texting Sonya’s phone. I asked her about the
rumors I heard about her being loose and she denied it. I believed her too. I
knew her like a pimp knows pussy, knew when she was lying.

And she
didn’t
get pregnant while I was gone.

And I sort of missed
her.

We finished our meal and
she offered to pay. I let her. When we made it to our vehicles, she came over
to me.

“I’m sorry again,
Spade,” she said sincerely. She leaned in and softly kissed my lips. Then she
slowly wiped her lipstick off my lips with her thumb, biting her bottom lip at
the same time. “Call me, baby. And give Ace my condolences.”

She sashayed to her
car.

 I left Chubby’s a little confused.
That bitch Casey had me thinking about Duece. He wasn’t acting like himself
either. I thought about Casey too. Maybe I was a little selfish and
inconsiderate. Maybe riding a bit out with me was too much for her to handle. I
couldn’t help but think about how good she looked also.

I shook those thoughts
and headed to Verizon on Main Street. I had been meaning to upgrade one of my
phones. I pulled up to the cellular store and put my biscuit on my hip and
headed in. I walked towards the display in the middle of the floor, looking at
the new model phones. I was quickly interrupted.

“Excuse me,” a woman
said.

When I turned to see
who it was I was instantly attracted. She looked like she was about
thirty-eight, maybe forty. Chocolate complexion, nice body, and she sported her
hair short. She had full lips and a nice smile.

“Excuse
me
,” I
flirted.

“You silly. I was
wondering if you knew if the Droid phones get good service.” She smiled.

“I’m not sure, baby.
But if you wanted to spark a conversation with me you could’ve came wit’
somethin’ better.” I smiled back at her.

“I just thought maybe
you would know, sweetie.” She put her hand on her hip, slightly tilting her
head to the right.

“Sounds good,” I said,
grabbing her hand. “I love a woman who goes for what she wants. And if this is
your way of doing that, it’s fine wit’ me.”

“Are you always this
cocky?”

“Most of the time,” I
joked. She laughed but kept her hand in mines.

“Hmm … I guess. What’s
your name?” She squeezed my hand a little. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“I’m Spade.”

“I know yo mama didn’t
name you Spade. But I’ll find out soon. My name is Lisa.”

“So I’m assuming we’ll
see each other
soon
, Lisa.”

“We’ll see.” She took
her hand away.

We exchanged numbers
and talked for another few minutes. She was forty-five, had a son in college,
and she’d been divorced for eight years. She was single, lived alone and owned
a beauty salon. We both purchased the phones we wanted and went our separate
ways with a promise to see each other soon.

I called Maria and told
her to meet me at my house. I planned on chilling for the rest of the day.

***

“I start my business courses
next month, baby,” Maria said.

“That’s what’s up. Make
sure you’re mentally ready,” I told her.

We were in the living
room chilling. We went from talking about her college courses to fucking the
day away. It was night time now, and we were laying in bed watching
Paid in
Full.
I thought,
That clown nigga Rico fucks me up.
I was just
thinking about the game in general and how niggas turn snake in a split second.
I had to reassess some shit.

“What you thinkin’
about, papi?” Maria asked. She was laying next to me, rubbing my bare chest,
looking at me with worry in her eyes. She knew when something was wrong.

“I’m chillin’, baby. It
ain’t nothin’.”

“Okay, papi.” She
kissed my lips.

Eventually she fell
asleep, while I sat up thinking about my situation. I had to find out who was
behind that shit with Ace, and eliminate them.

***

“Let me get two wings, one breast, some
bombers, and two rolls,” I said to the speaker at the Church’s Chicken
Drive-Thru. I figured I’d stop through the ‘hood to see what I could see. I
felt refreshed when I woke up, so I was out and about.