Karma's a Bitch (7 page)

“What the fuck is going on?” he said aloud to himself incredulously. He merged with the cars going around him and headed for his grandmother’s house.

While driving he searched for where he had thrown his cellphone. He looked on the floor, under the seat, and between the seats but it was nowhere to be found. They had taken that too.
Why wouldn’t they
, he thought. A look of disgust was written all over his face.

When he got home, he didn’t even have the heart to look at the rest of the house. He just went straight downstairs to his room, which was situated in the basement. Just for his own knowledge, just to be sure, he looked in the secret place in his closet for the silver box. Nothing. Without a word, he went over to his bed and laid down, staring up at the worn out ceiling of his room for a moment. When he looked back down he saw the empty table where his television had been.

Never moving any other part of his body, except his right arm, Tony reached over and picked up the receiver of his room phone. He dialed his cellphone number, not really thinking anyone would answer. But someone did.

“Yo,” the voice said.

“Yo? Who the fuck is this with my phone??” Tony sat up in the bed and demanded.

“What? Man,” the voice laughed. “This is my phone nigga.”

Click.

Chapter 4

“Anthonyyyyy,” Jenny drawled out from the bathroom to her new man.

Tony rolled his eyes back into his head, and then continued watching his television program as he clutched one of Jenny’s down feather pillows.

For the past two weeks, while his grandmother was in the hospital, Tony had been living with Jenny, the young nurse who he had met at the hospital. He had called her the next day to check on his grandmother, went in for a visit, and before the sun had set he was at her house, banging her back out. He had quickly learned that this girl was easy – very easy – in more ways than one.

In the days that followed Jenny allowed Tony to lay up in her house, and even took him shopping for some new clothes and shoes. When Tony told her about how he and his grandmother had been robbed, she immediately felt the obligation to help him out in any way she could. Tony took full advantage of this, getting over $1,000 worth of new stuff on Jenny’s credit card after not even having known the girl for a week. In the weeks that followed, Jenny had bought Tony everything from expensive accessories for his car to a brand new cellphone.

Despite being only 22 years old, Jenny seemed to be pretty well off. She didn’t just have an apartment – she had a home. Her house was roomy and decorated with a touch of class. Semi-expensive paintings hung on almost every wall. There were fresh new pine hardwood floors downstairs, and plush red carpets covered the floors in her two bedrooms. Her white leather couch and loveseat were so soft that Tony sunk right into the seat cushions. The only problem was that things weren’t exactly as they
seemed
with Jenny – most of her belongings were on credit. She was neck-deep in debt.

“Anthonyyy. Do you hear me calling you baby? I need your help.”

“Help with what!?” Tony yelled back, annoyed.

“Can you help me get this toilet unclogged? I don’t know what happened…” Jenny said, her voice trailing off as she gave the toilet another try with her plunger.

“What? Hell no. I don’t do toilets,” Tony said matter of factly.

Several minutes later, Jenny came back into the bedroom and looked at Tony. She thought about saying something in reply to his comment, but changed her mind. She didn’t want to upset him. Besides, he looked so comfortable sprawled out on the bed.

“Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to call a plumber tomorrow. Just don’t use that toilet tonight okay, use the one in the basement.”

“Whatever.”

“What do you think about us going to grab a bite to eat? Since there’s no food in the fridge,” Jenny asked.
Since you ate it all
, she complained in her mind.

“Yea, where we going?” Tony perked up.

“Uh, I don’t know…KFC? McDonald’s?” Jenny said as thought about what she felt like eating.

“Naw, I don’t want no nasty ass fast food right now,” Tony grumbled.

“What about Chinese then? There’s a nice place around the corner?”

“I was thinking more of Red Lobster, down in Springfield. My boy Terrance lives out there. Maybe I could stop through.”

“Oh, Red Lobster. Uhhh, yea I guess,” Jenny said apprehensively. She noticed that as time went on, Tony was becoming more and more demanding. Now he wanted Red Lobster? Just two days ago they had gone down City Line Avenue to Fridays, and the day before that Jenny had brought home food from a nice restaurant near her job.

“Aiight, let’s go,” Tony said hopping out of the bed. The only time Tony moved so quickly was when he was getting some food or some sex.

* * *

Tony cracked open the last snow crab leg on his plate. He sucked the meat out of the middle of one piece, and then finished off the other. He then reached over to his other plate, grabbed three fried shrimp in a row and popped them in his mouth one after the other. Jenny just watched as he signaled for the waitress to come over, again.

“Yo, let me get another one of these frozen margarita things,” he said pointing to the large empty glass in front of him.

“Sure sir, that will be right up. Are you done with those plates? Let me grab that,” the waitress said as she reached over to grab two empty plates off of the table. One with remnants of the shrimp pasta Tony had devoured, and another that had Tony’s empty crab leg shells on it.

“And you can bring the check please,” Jenny said quickly before Tony had an opportunity to order anything else. She was already dreading the figure that this bill had come to.

The waitress came back with Tony’s drink and put the check down next to it. Of course he just picked up his drink and ignored the small black book. Jenny reached forward as if by habit, and picked it up.

“$93??” she mumbled to herself. She looked back up at Tony, who was reaching in for a couple more shrimps from his plate. This was his fourth order of fried shrimp, and they weren’t even running any endless shrimp specials at Red Lobster at that time. Tony’s facial expression showed that he didn’t have a care in the world. She wanted so badly to ask him if he had any cash on him to help with the bill, but felt bad about asking him since he had just lost all of his money and possessions. Jenny simply reached into her purse, pulled out her Platinum Mastercard and placed it on the check.

As they were leaving the restaurant, Tony was insisting that Jenny let him drive her brand new white Jetta, since he knew exactly how to get to his friend Terrance’s house. Jenny resisted at first, because she knew he was more than tipsy after having six alcoholic drinks at dinner, but relented when Tony leaned down and kissed her on the cheek to thank her for the meal. When they finally did make it to Terrance’s house, Jenny was expecting that Tony was going to bring her in to meet his good friend.

“You wait in here aiight? I’ll be right back out,” Tony said to her as he hopped out of the driver’s seat, not even waiting for a response. Jenny looked crushed. He looked back at her in the car before ringing the doorbell. When he didn’t hear any movement in the house, he pulled out the Verizon phone Jenny had bought for him just several days before. Before he had a chance to look for Terrance’s number, he heard his friend’s deep voice call out from inside.

“Who is it?” Terrance demanded.

“It’s me nigga, open up!” Tony slurred.

“Tone? What the hell you doin’ here?” Terrance asked as he unlocked and opened the door. He gave his boy a pound and they went inside.

“Man, I’m just stoppin’ by to say what’s up. I was down at the Red Lobster’s,” Tony said proudly as he flopped down on the couch and threw his hands up behind his head in a relaxing position.

“Red Lobster? Where your broke ass get money to eat out?” Terrance laughed. “What are you fuckin’ with one of the waitresses?”

“Uhhhhhh, no,” Tony replied sarcastically as he threw his new fitted hat to the side. “I’m fucking with this bitch that got it made! She got a good job, a house almost as big as yours, and mad money dude. She sprung as shit on me too. She’ll do anything for a nigga. She lets me stay at her house ever since Grandma went into the hospital.”

“Huh? I know you ain’t serious man.”

“What you mean? Course I’m serious – this the best set up I had in my life. And this jawn don’t even ask me no questions, no arguing, none of that. She just gives me what I want, and I can lay all up in the house chillin’ all day if I want.”

“You’re proud to be mooching off a woman, huh?” Terrance said, shaking his head. He got up off the couch and walked into the kitchen to grab a couple of sodas for him and his ill-bred friend.

“It ain’t mooching. Look, women do it to niggas all the time. They got they sugar daddies, well I just got me a sugar mommie. And she happy to buy me shit and take care of me at the crib,” Tony said hopping up to grab the remote control off the coffee table. “That’s how a woman is supposed to do for a nigga if you ask me. We lay the pipe, and they lay the green.”

Tony laughed deviously at his last comment, as Terrance struggled to keep his composure with his shallow, ignorant friend. He put Tony’s soda down in front of him and went back to sit down.

“How’s your grandmother doing?”

“She aiight, I just went to see her a couple days ago. She should be out soon.”

“That’s good to hear, let me know when that happens so I can come with you to get her out.”

“Aiight, thanks man,” Tony said, nodding his head.

“By the way Tone, uhh… did you ever take care of that little situation? Uhh, you know?”

“Yea yea I went to the clinic and got that fixed. No problem. It was just a little gonorrhea.”

Terrance jerked his head in his friend’s direction. “Just a little gonorrhea?? How can you take it so light like that? What about Nish, do she got it now too?”

“Listen dude, I don’t even want this subject to be brought up between us no more. Got me? That’s a dead issue aiight?” Tony said, beginning to get offended by Terrance’s questions.

Terrance sucked his teeth and leaned back in his loveseat. “Whatever man.”

“So anyways, my little sugar mommie name is Jenny. She ain’t that good looking, not all the way up on my regular standards. But her money right though, yah mean…” Tony started again, but Terrance cut him off.

“You ain’t supposed to be living off no woman Tony, as a man you gotta make a way for yourself.” Terrance was annoyed that Tony was so proud of taking money from a woman. But it was the Tony he had always known – dependent on other people, and totally senseless.

“Ran, man you sound like a broke record,” Tony said, spitting as he talked. “Just cause you choose to bust your ass for a dollar everyday don’t mean it’s right for everybody.”

Terrance opened his mouth and then shut it back closed. He was so tired of hearing Tony talk, especially since he almost never made any sense. “You just ain’t never gonna get it Tone. I ain’t gonna waste my breath on you.”

“Fuck you nigga, you don’t know everything.”

I know one thing
, Terrance thought.
I need to get this fool out my house before I kick his ass.

“Yo listen Tone, I gotta be up in the morning for
work
so if you don’t mind…” Terrance said, getting up from his seat yet again. Tony sucked his teeth, rolled his eyes and followed suit.

“Yea, I get the message. Anyways, I got the dumb chick waiting in the car for me,” Tony snickered. In his near drunken state, he was just letting whatever came to mind roll off of his tongue.