Falling for a Hustler: A Benton Harbor Love Story (10 page)

“Ooh...I like her, Bryce!”

I smiled again, only this time harder. I had never met anyone’s parents before, and I was glad that she liked me. Brick grabbed my hand, and the three of us went into the dining room. My mouth watered at the spread she had on the table. There was cheesy eggs, grits, bacon, sausage, ham, hash browns, and anything else you could think of! With the amount of food she had on the table, you would think she was feeding an army instead of three people.

“Can I help you with anything?” I asked before I sat down.

“No baby, just have a seat next to Bryce. We’re waiting on his slow ass sister to arrive.” Just as the words left her mouth, the doorbell rang. When Pam walked away, I punched Brick in his arm.

“What was that for?”

“Why didn’t you tell me I was meeting your mama? I would have dressed up or something.”

“Girl, chill out! You look good like that. My mama cool as fuck.”

“Cuss again, nigga,” she said as she came back. I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing. “Mariah, get yo ass out that bacon and say grace first!” she yelled.

I looked up and saw Tyriq and the girl I’m assuming was Mariah. Relief washed over me as I noticed that she was the girl I had seen in the picture back at Brick’s condo. More introductions were made, and then Mariah blessed the food. The nervousness I felt was long gone as I sat among Brick’s family laughing and talking. This was the type of shit I missed most about having a family.

Brick

“You enjoy yourself, babygirl?”

“Yes I did! Your mother is a trip.”

“Yeah that woman is something else. She really took a liking to you,” I watched as she blushed. It was about 2 in the afternoon, and we were finally able to break away from my mother. After we ate, she kept pulling out photo albums and trying to steal Lyric away from me. I won’t lie, it felt good as fuck to see the two of them vibinglike that. My mother was usually a good judge in character when it came to the women I brought home. She hated Journee with a passion! When she first met her, she wouldn’t even allow her past the threshold. I remember the shit like it was yesterday.

Me and Journee had been talking for about six months, and she thought that it was time she met my mother. I reluctantly agreed and told her to put her shit on. She was so excited, and I was just ready to get it over with. When I knocked on the door, my mother hugged and kissed me, and allowed me to step in. Journey tried to do the same, but my mother quickly stuck her foot in the door.

“Who the hell is this, Bryce?”

“Ma that’s Journee. I told you I was bringing her by.” She looked her up and down, and shook her head.

“Well you brought her, now you can take her back from wherever the fuck you got her.”

“Ma! Quit acting like that.” I knew when my mother was serious, so I gave Journee the key to my car and told her to give me a second. It was freezing cold outside, but I knew my mama had no problem leaving her ass out there. Journee did as told and once she was in the car, I closed the door to the house. “Mama, why you being like that?”

“Something is off about that girl, Bryce. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t like her. She’s bad news.”

“You didn’t even get the chance to know her.”

“I don’t need to know her, child! I know her type. She’s trouble and I don’t want her around here.”

“Ma–” She cut me off with a stern look.

“Don’t ‘Ma’ me! I said what I said, and there is nothing you can do to change my mind about her. You may not see it now, but you will. The eyes are the windows to the soul, and I can see straight through her ass.”

“Well what about dinner?” I said, peeking around her at the dinner table. “You made all of this food and now it’s going to go to waste.”

“Between you and Tyriq’s ass, I highly doubt that!” she laughed. “Plus, I had a feeling I wouldn’t like her so I made her a to-go plate.” I followed her to the kitchen and shook my head when I saw that she was serious. My mother was a force to be reckoned with. I’ll give her her props though; when she’s right, she’s right.

“I guess that means I’ll be sticking around for a while, huh?” Lyric asked.

“
That’s the plan, lil mama.” I reached over and grabbed her hand as we sped down the highway. She opened her mouth, and I quieted her. “Don’t even think about asking where we’re going. I have some business to take care of, and I just need you to ride.”

“Well Mr. Smart Ass, I was just gonna ask if we can listen to something other than Meek Mill. I’m tired of that nigga yellin’ in my damn ear!”

I laughed and tossed the remote to the CD player in her lap. “You can chill on Meek man, his ass goes hard!”

“Apparently not hard enough if he let my boo Drake kill his ass like that.”

“That was luck. I bet Drake soft ass won’t square up with that nigga though.” She looked at me and laughed so hard that she snorted, which sent me into another fit of laughter.

I loved that she didn’t see me as Brick. I could vibe with shorty on so many different levels it was crazy! Shit between us wasn’t official yet, but I already couldn't see myself without her, so I knew it was only a matter of time before I made her mine.

“What’s something I don’t know about you?” I asked her randomly. We had a two-hour ride ahead of us, and I thought I’d make the best of it.

“Um...I know that I told you my parents were killed, but I left out the fact that they were killed right in front of me and my sister. It used to be so hard for me to sleep at night because whenever I closed my eyes, I could still see their bodies and smell the blood, even though I was nowhere near them. My sister and I didn’t even get to attend the funeral. We were too scared someone from CPS would show up and take us.” She smiled and wiped away the tear that had fallen from her eye.

“Were you close to them?”

“Very. My parents were my world. I knew they weren’t ‘good people’ to some, but to me they were everything. I miss them so much.”

“I can’t say that I know exactly how you feel, but I know what it’s like to have a parent taken away from you. When I was six, I watched the FEDS kick in my mother’s door and haul my father out. She was screaming and my sister was crying. I didn’t know what to do, so I just stood there in shock and watched. I think the shit messed me up when I got older though, because I just started becoming obsessed with being the man of my house and providing.”

“Do you ever think about getting out the game?” she asked. I looked at her for a moment, and then glued my eyes back to the road.

“Before I got locked up, I was going to sell whatever bricks of dope and weed I had left and get out. Shit just didn’t work out that way though. Muthafuckas expected me to be locked away for a few years and hit my stashes, so I had no choice but to jump back into this shit head first.” She nodded her head. “Do you want kids someday, Lyric?” I had to ask before things got too serious between us, I always wanted maybe two or three.

“I do,” she smiled. “My sister is getting ready to be a mommy, and I know once that baby gets here I’m going to have baby fever. He or she is gonna be rotten! What about you? You want any?”

“I want a few actually.”

“I’m shocked you don’t have any. It’s rare to find a man in Benton Harbor with no kids. Shit, they be starting at about 14 and 15 around here.”

“Not me, baby girl. Safe sex is a must! I can’t be around here just poppin’ babies in random bitches. The baby mamas that I’ve seen around here are fucking crazy! I’d rather have my kids by one person.” I gazed over at her, and she blushed.

About an hour and a half later, we were in Chicago – in the parking lot of Richard’s firm to be exact. It had been exactly two weeks, and I needed my fucking money. Just as I was getting ready to pull into a spot, I saw Richard speed walking to his car with a big box in his hand. I pulled behind his car and threw my shit in park before jumping out. Lyric was saying something, but I had completely tuned her out at that point.

“Going somewhere, Rich?” I growled.

He jumped so hard you would have thought his punk ass had seen a fucking ghost or some shit.

“Mr. Donovan! What can I help you with?” he asked, trying to remain professional.

“Fuck the bullshit, Rich! Where the hell is my money?” His face turned beat red, and he began to stutter. I already knew what that shit meant. I grabbed his ass by his collar like my grandma used to do me, and walked toward the back of my car, I tapped the trunk twice, and Lyric pressed the button on me key ring to open it.

“Bryce, please. I can get the money! Just don’t do this!”

“Muthafucka you had two weeks to get my shit together.” He opened his mouth, but I slammed his ass into the trunk and shut it. When I got in the car, Lyric was looking at me like I had lost my mind.

“The next time we kidnap someone, could you give me a heads up? I’d like to at least be prepared.”

“You’re a trip, you know that?”

“I’ve heard it a time or two. So what are we gonna do with Mr. Man back there?”

“A muthafucka gotta die behind ninety g’s, baby girl.” There was no way I was going to lie to her. Her father was Lance “Casino” Taylor, and he was known for bodying niggas around here. She knew how the game was played.

Before we left the Chi, we stopped at Harold’s and got some of their bomb ass chicken. We even hit a few stores up and did a little shopping. By the time we made it to Benton Harbor, it was going on midnight. Lyric was passed out in the front seat, so I took her back to my condo and put her in the bed. She stirred a little and before I knew it, she was knocked out again. After making sure she was good, I jumped back in my ride and called Tyriq. I knew he was gon’ catch hell from Mariah about him leaving so late, but this shit couldn’t wait.

Lyric

For some odd reason, I woke up feeling like something was wrong. I didn’t have any type of idea what it could have been, but the feeling in the pit of my stomach told me that whatever was about to go down wouldn’t be pretty. It took me a moment for my eyes to adjust and when they did, I saw that I was back at Brick’s condo. I looked down at the bed and didn’t see him near me, so I got up and went into the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. Once I finished, I went into the kitchen to make breakfast, but he had already beaten me to it.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” he said as he flipped the omelet in the pan, like he was a chef that had been doing the shit for years.

“Good morning, Chef.” I kissed his cheek and grabbed a glass from the cabinet and the apple juice from the fridge. “I didn’t know you cooked.”

“I learned from the best. Moms had my ass in the kitchen early. I used to think that shit was gay until mama put me up on game and told me y’all liked a nigga that could cook.”

I looked at the perfect omelet and crispy strips of bacon. “Remind me to thank Ms. Pam. She definitely taught you well!”

He slid the omelets and bacon onto the plates that sat on the counter, and brought them over to the table. He looked at me for a moment, and his nose flared.

“What happened to your arm, Lyric?”

I looked down at my arm and was suddenly embarrassed of the big ugly bruise that had taken residence on my skin.

“Nothing major, I just had an accident – that’s all.”

“Lyric, you can tell me anything. I’m here for you, baby girl.”

I looked down at my plate. Suddenly, I wasn’t hungry anymore. Just the thought of what Khalil did to me made me want to throw up. “Remember the night you called and asked me to go to breakfast?” he nodded his head. “I was in the hospital.”

“The hospital?” he put his fork down and stared at me. “What were you doing there, Lyric?”

“Um...the night before that, I went to work. I went to the bar to holler at my homegirl and she asked why I was working the floor instead of the stage. I swore up and down that she was wrong until she handed me the roster. I got upset and approached Khalil about it. We ended up going to his office, and I questioned him about why he was trying to stop my money. Basically, he was mad because I didn’t go home with him that night I met you at Applebee’s. He pulled the stunt before, but when you came and asked me to leave with you, I guess it made him feel some type of way. He tried to push up on me, but told him it wasn't that type of party. He then asked if we were together and before I knew it, I slapped the shit out of him. I tried to leave and he grabbed me by the hair,” by now tears were falling from my eyes. “and slammed me on the desk. I tried to fight him off of me, I swear I did.”

“Did he rape you Lyric?” When I nodded my head ‘yes’, he got up from the table and pulled me into a hug. “I don’t want you worrying about that shit no more. I’m gon’ handle it. A'ight?” he grabbed my chin and tilted my head in his direction.

“Ok Bryce.”

“You not fucking with that club no more either, and I mean that shit ma.” I watched as he fidgeted with his food before pushing it away. “Go get dressed.” I did as I was told. When I came back, Brick was on the phone with who I’m assuming was Tyriq.

“Yeah man, I’m getting ready to drop her off at home now. Meet me at Sparkle City in about twenty minutes.” He ended the call and locked eyes with me.

“Brick, don’t do nothing crazy baby.”

“Fuck that shit, Lyric! That muthafucka ain’t have no business putting his fucking hand on you! That’s that bitch nigga shit, and I ain’t got no type of tolerance when it comes to shit like that.”

“Well, I want to go with you.”

He looked at me like he was thinking it over and said, “A'ight. Let’s go.”

When we made it to the club, Tyriq was pulling up right behind us. Together, the three of us walked in. It was only noon, so I knew that no one but Khalil was there. We walked in a little further and just like I expected, Khalil was at the bar doing inventory.

“I’m closed until 6,” he said without even turning around.

“Go get ya shit, Lyric.”

At the sound of my name, he turned around. I can’t even describe his face when he saw Brick, mainly because Tyriq rocked his shit as soon as he turned around. When he hit the ground, Brick stood over him and drove his boot into Khalil’s face. His nose and mouth ripped open off impact, and I shuddered at the sight. As gruesome as the shit looked, I couldn’t bring myself to pull away. His ass was getting exactly what he deserved.

After he stomped him out, Brick picked him up from the ground and stood him up. Khalil made an attempt to swing, but he missed. Tyriq took the moment to hit him with a right, and when his head teetered to the left, Brick sent it back to Tyriq. Finally seeing enough, I walked to the dressing room and emptied my locker. Taking a tube of red lipstick from my make-up bag, I wrote on the huge mirror:
Hustle hard ladies! -Envy.
When I emerged from the dressing room, I walked over to Brick, who was still pounding Khalil’s face in. His left eye was swollen shut, and his face was lumpy. He damned near looked like the dude that Loc-Dog stomped out in
Don’t Be a Menace
. Instead of feeling sorry for him, I walked right up to his ass and spit in his face. Feeling like the spit wasn’t enough, I hooked his ass up with a couple punches of my own. I guess I started getting too carried away, because Brick picked me up and carried me out of the club.

I was still a little sore, so I was thankful that Brick sat me inside the car gently instead of just dropping me in the seat. He went over to Tyriq, dapped him up, and then slid him a fat ass envelope. I turned back around in my seat when I saw him coming so that he wouldn’t think I was being nosy.

“You going back to my crib, ma?”

“Actually, I need to go home and get a few things in order.” He nodded in understanding.

“So when will I see you again, Ms. Lyric?”

“Tomorrow when you pick me up,” I said, kissing his lips.

His lips curled into a smile as he pressed his forehead against mine. “Damn, I can’t wait until you’re healed.”

“Neither can I,” I pouted as I looked down at his lap. His dick was screaming to be released from his True Religion Jeans. “On second thought,” I said, reaching over and unzipping his pants. “There’s nothing wrong with my mouth.”