Forbidden Fruit (10 page)

"I can't front baby. Yes I do," I licked my lips in anticipation.

"Damn, this shit 'bout to drive me crazy. Give me 'bout a hour and I'm goin' call you. I love you," he said and kissed me again before he left.

I was feeling good although I knew that the marriage proposal was a bunch of shit. That wasn't the first time he'd proposed to me. The ring would become part of my massive jewelry collection. I didn't doubt that he loved me, but he was scared of commitment. He had the dog in him and I didn't know how to chase it out.

Later that night I got up with the girls for a night out. Diablo called me, but I told him that I wanted to go out with the girls and I'd get up with him later. It was me, Maya, Shamira, Princess, Teji, and Daren. We were looking fly, and I do mean squashing any so called competition like roaches. It was hot as hell so I was wearing a sheer black Prada net dress with a short, slinky pair of black shorts and a cute lacy halter to match. The sharp ass Prada sandals I was sporting were black with three-inch stiletto heels. I had the hair, nails and toes freshly done.

Teji and Daren had been part of our crew since I was sixteen. They had both left home and stripped at the same club with Shamira. Of course Shamira was twenty at the time. Teji and Daren were only seventeen then, but they had fake IDs. They got away with it long enough to stack some real paper.

Teji was very beautiful with her dark, mocha skin. She stood about 5'8, and was as graceful as any model. Her thick lips and high cheekbones were both proof of her mixed ancestry. He mother was born in Nigeria and her father was full blood Cherokee Indian. Her parents had split up when she was thirteen and she moved with her mom to Atlanta, two years later. Her long thick, jet black hair coined her nickname Pocahontas. She had sharp, piercing dark brown almond shaped eyes that put men in check and made women feel intimidated. The body on her didn't hurt her image either. She was truly a 'brick house'. Her 155 lb frame was firm and tight as well as voluptuous in all the right places. As beautiful as she was she was also feisty. She'd cut a bitch in a flash, and drink any man to shame.

Now Daren was the total opposite physically. She was half Irish and black with a thick, red, curly fro. Her high yellow skin, cute freckles, and button nose made her look innocent. She had sexy, pouty lips and gray sensual eyes that told that she was all woman. She'd never met her father, who had killed himself before she was born. Her mother became a prostitute in order to support them. Eventually Daren was put in foster care. After having enough of her foster parent's son raping her almost every night, she ran away to Atlanta to live with an older childhood friend. She was barely sixteen. Three months later she had been arrested six times for assault and petty theft. She had a bad ass temper, but was a good and loyal friend. She stood about 4'11 and weighed about 125 lbs. She had one of those J-Lo figures; no waist and all ass. She contributed that to her mother.

"Let's ride the train. What's up? Ya'll already know traffic goin' be a mufucka," Teji said polishing off another Skyy Blue. "This shit is fuckin' Kool-Aid," she complained.

"We ain't alcoholics like you," Daren laughed. She had a thick Boston accent. We loved how she talked and the men got off on it too. We were chilling at her apartment.

"Look now. Where the hell we goin'? It's already past ten. We need to make a decision," Maya said. She sounded all excited about going out. I guess it was because she hadn't been out in a while.

"Your lil' young ass don't need to be goin' nowhere," Teji joked.

"Little where?" Maya asked posing. "Tell me where I'm little at bitch? I bet my pussy bigger than yours."

"Just 'cause you pushed a baby out your pus' don't mean nothin' lil' mama," Teji slurred. She'd had one too many Skyy Blues. She was originally from Florida and was wild as hell. "Shit, I got a kid too.” Her daughter Yazmin lived with Teji's grandmother down in Jacksonville, Florida.

Maya rolled her eyes and drunk out of a bottle of Courvoisier. I'd never seen her drink like that before. I didn't know what the hell was up wit' her ass.

"It's cool, but we need to move," she said standing up. The short ass skirt she had on barely covered her white sheer thong.

"A'ight Maya damn," I said initiating our exit as I stood up. My girls followed me to the door. "Oh yeah, Princess, have you heard anything else about La La's stupid ass?"

"The block hot ain't it yo'!" Ace said as Diablo pulled up to one of their trap houses in Bankhead. There were two police cars parked on the side of the road. There wasn’t much work going on.

"Damn!" Diablo said angrily. "They ain't good for business."

"I thought we had the police on our dicks. What they want? More dough?" Mel asked from the backseat.

"We goin' have to take care of that shit later. For now we gotta get the hell outta here and hit the club. We can lay low for a minute and in the meantime rub up on some ass," Diablo said.

I was drunk as hell. If Diablo had seen me shaking my ass all over them sweaty, fine ass thugs up in the club he'd flip. My tolerance level wasn't as high as I thought and I needed some air. I found Maya and pulled her with me to the bathroom. I opened a window and sucked in some air.

"C'mon girl. I saw this fine ass dude from Decatur I met a while back. I wanna try his ass out,' she said licking her lips.

"Try keepin' your legs closed. That shit done got you in enough bullshit," I said.

She turned beet red. "Whatever," she rolled her eyes and walked out of the restroom. We joined the crowd on the floor until a fight broke up. Next thing I knew fights were breaking out all around us. It was nothing new and I figured the Cue Boys and the Kings had a lot to do with the brawls.

"Is that Mel and Ace," Teji asked. Before we could see some kind of mace or pepper spray filled our throats. We coughed, choked, gagged, and sneezed uncontrollably. We finally made our way to some fresh air before I had a deadly asthma attack.

"C'mon now. We was s'posed to get a piece of that shit," Princess said. She'd been unusually quiet that night. She had been getting her mack on in the club though. She had on a cream and beige short Gucci print skirt, with the tank to match. She was Gucci from head to toe. The heifer even had on a Gucci thong that she didn't have one problem exposing.

"You ain't got no skills," Teji teased Princess.

"Hell no. Princess boo, you ain't got no throwin' hands potential. You still wind milling," Shamira teased swinging her arms in demonstration. We laughed, but it was short lived.

"Yo, what the fuck you say nigga!" Somebody yelled and then shots were fired. The gun shots were followed by the sound of glass hitting the concrete. Everybody was scattering. We huddled and covered each other. We looked for an escape, but it was hopeless. The police had made it to the scene quick as hell. The shit was an all too familiar scene. We finally ducked through the crowd and started walking down a dark narrow road. I had my tiny switchblade tucked in the waistband of my little shorts. It was very discreet. I had kind of wished I'd packed some heat. Daren had her little silver and chrome baby .22. It was all cute and dainty and could fit in the palm of her hand. We heard voices and then a trash can fell over. I heard Daren cock the gun.

"Word?" Princess asked twirling one of her long braids around her pointer finger. She smiled at Ace and winked. That bitch had dick on the brain at all times.

Ace looked at her and shook his head. "Let's get the fuck outta here," he said.

We made a bee line and walked quickly to the MARTA station’s entrance. When we'd finally made it on the train we relaxed. Diablo had driven his Expedtion to the crib and took the train to the club. It was a good thing it wasn’t one o’clock yet. We’d caught the last train. Of course if we’d stayed at the club until it closed we would’ve called a taxi.

"And what ya'll niggas in there fightin' for anyway?" I asked as he snuggled against me. I could feel the heat between us again.

"Them niggas was runnin' off at the mouth. Ya'll know that nigga El from the Kings. We had to represent 'cause we ain't no pussy ass niggas," Mel said angrily. He kept his eyes on Maya, who was ignoring him.

Maya sighed heavily. She couldn't hold it in anymore. "If you spent as much time wit' me and your child as you do in the streets I wouldn't be so fuckin' pissed off," she suddenly snapped at Mel.

Mel looked surprised and sucked his teeth. "You fuckin' nag too much Maya! Don't nobody wanna hear that shit. I give you and Lex whatever the fuck you want and you still complain." His face was all screwed up.

Maya rolled her eyes at him and rolled her neck with attitude. "Fuck you nigga! Me and your daughter need time! Fuck the money Mel! You just don't get it nigga. I know you cheatin' on me! You need to be a man and admit that shit!" Maya stood up and got in his face.

We watched them go at it. We were lucky to find an empty part of the train. They didn't need to air their dirty laundry to the whole world. The shit was hitting the fan, and we had front row seats.

"Calm down Maya," I said pulling her arm.

"Fuck that shit Yanna let her go! What you goin do Maya? It ain't like you ain't never cheated on me! Don't try and act like you all perfect!" Mel yelled.

"I don't know what to do Maya," he said. "I love my daughter so I try and take your shit, but it's gettin' real fuckin' tired."

"Ya'll need to talk about that shit at home," Daren said looking tired. "I gotta catch a nap before Pedro start callin'."