Raunchy (39 page)

The shoes fit as perfectly as a glove. It seemed like everything was falling into place.

“And here’s my number,” Olive said handing her a piece of paper. “If you ever need a getaway, and Shaggy acting up, or even if he’s cool and you wanna get out, you can call me.”

There was something in Olive’s voice that was seductive but Jayden couldn’t place her finger on it. Olive gave her a hug and Jayden tried her best to prevent from crying. She was shown more kindness in one day than she had her entire life.

“
You don’t know what this means to me.”

“I can see it in your eyes.” Then she dabbed her tears away with a clean napkin. “Now stop it…You’re gonna mess up my makeup job.”

“Okay,” she giggled. “I’m sorry. So what time you coming?”

“I’m waitin’ on my girls so I won’t get there until a couple of hours later. I’ll see you soon though.”

Jayden was hoping that she and Shaggy wouldn’t leave before Olive got there but even if they did miss her, she had plans to call her later. When she walked out into the living room, and Shaggy saw her his jaw dropped.

“Stop looking like that,” Jayden said feeling embarrassed.

“I knew you had a body on you, but this is crazy.”

“Thank you…I think.”

“You think right,” he said looking at her again. “Damn, Olive, you should go into business for makeovers.”

“Look what I had to work with.” Olive said smacking Jayden’s fat ass. “This girl had all this body under her dress.”

“Good lookin’ out,” he said. “Maybe now she can loosen up and have a good time with me.”

Jayden said, “I’ll try.”

“Remember what I said…The stars through the storm.”

Jayden hugged Olive and rushed to the door to open it for Shaggy.

“Alright, homie. I’ma get up with you later.” Shaggy said to Olive, wondering why Jayden rushed to open the door for him. It seemed like she was trying harder to be a boy, since she had the dress on. Unconsciously wearing the beautiful outfit heightened what her mother told her about not appearing feminine.

“Okay. I’ll see you in a little while.” Olive said to them.

When they walked to the car, Jayden unknowingly opened his car door and then ran around to the passenger side to open her door.

“Hold up…Why you keep openin’ doors for me?”

“Huh?”

“I said why do you keep doin’ that?”

Jayden was programmed so long to be a boy, that she didn’t know how to be anything else. It was easier for her to walk like a girl, because she never fully grasped the concept of walking like a boy like Madjesty. So she over compensated by getting doors and things of that nature.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not about bein’ sorry,” he said in a soft voice. “I just want you to let me take care of you when you’re with me. Got it?”

“Yes,” she smiled.

“My boys don’t even open no doors for me. And they niggas.”

When they arrived at the party it was jammed pack. There were so many people inside their large house in Adelphi, Maryland that Jayden felt uncomfortable. But, what was unanimous was the nod Shaggy got of acceptance as he walked through the doors with Jayden on his arm. Beautiful couldn’t even be used to describe her. She was breathtaking.

“Let me introduce you to my pops,” he said loving the attention Jayden was getting.

“Your mother and father are still together?”

“Yeah…But he still steps out on her.” He advised. “She cool with it now though. I think she know she’s about to die so she wants to worry about what matters most. Me, our family and friends.”

“What is she dying from?”

“Syphilis. She got it back in the day and didn’t know it.”

“You can die from Syphilis?”

“Yeah…When you get the late stages, you don’t have any symptoms and then all of a sudden you have brain issues and you can barely move around. You can also go blind.” He paused. “The doctors tried all they could do but nothin’ worked to help her. Shit progressed and now she might not make it.”

Jayden thought about Syphilis, and remembered what she was taught in school. If her mother was making her have sex for money, how did she know she wouldn’t get something like that, too?

“Pops, I want you to meet somebody,” Shaggy said tapping Paco on the shoulders. Paco was engaged in a conversation with a few other people before he turned around and saw his son. “This is Jayden. Jayden this is my pops.”

Paco stared her down like she was the last chicken on the plate and he hadn’t eaten a thing in weeks.

“
Wow, son! You scored big with this one right here,” he said looking at her seductively. “You’re very beautiful, young lady.”

“
Thanks, pops.” Shaggy smiled. It was evident that he was still trying hard to get his father’s attention.

“
No thank you,” Paco continued, licking his lips.

“
Dad, ease up.” Shaggy said, slightly embarrassed.

“
You know I’m just fuckin’ with you,” Paco joked. “But why do you look so familiar to me?” Paco continued. “What’s your mother’s name?”

Jayden did not want to risk somebody knowing her whorish mother so she said, “Cybil.”

“Cybil, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Well Cybil and your father did a beautiful job makin’ you. They should be commended.”

“You are corny as shit, pops.”

He laughed. “She knows I’m just playin’ with her. Don’t you, honey?”

“Aight, it’s time to roll before my pops tries to steal you.” Shaggy interrupted. Paco gave his son some dap and Shaggy stepped off.

“
Let me introduce you to my moms.” He continued. “And I’m sorry about that shit with my pops. I told you he can be over the top, but we use to it now.”
Right before he reached Trip, Jace walked in front of them. “Oh, this is my uncle,” Shaggy said to Jayden. “Unc, this is my new friend, Jayden.”

Jace’s mouth hung open. He couldn’t move, and he couldn’t speak.

“You okay, unc?”

“Uh…Yes.”

“Did you hear what I said? This is my friend Jayden.”

“Shaggy, where did you meet her from?” He said seriously without even addressing Jayden.

“What’s wrong?”

“Son, where did you meet this girl?”

Jayden felt like she wanted to run and hide somewhere. Jace seemed hostile and it scared her. “At the McDonalds out Fort Washington…Why? Is everything cool?”

“Who’s your mother?” Jace asked not getting the information he wanted.

It was the second time someone asked her that question tonight and she was starting to believe that they did know her mother. Did she look that much like her? Even if she did she had told a lie, and would now have to stick to it.

“Cybil. My mother’s name is Cybil.”

Jace’s tensed body seemed to deflate. She didn’t know if he was happy or upset with her response, although he did look at ease. “Oh…You look like somebody I use to know. A woman name Harmony.” And then he paused. “But…But you also look like…”

“You,” Shaggy said seeing the resemblance. “That’s crazy as shit! It’s in your eyes, Jayden. I knew you looked like somebody I knew when I met you at the McDonalds.”

“I’m sure it’s a case of mistaken identity.” Jayden assured him. “Where’s your mother, Shaggy? I want to meet her.” She wanted to get as far away from the man as possible.

“Aight, unc,” Shaggy said sensing Jayden’s nervousness. “Let me introduce her to moms. I’ma get up with you later.”

“Alright, Shaggy. We’ll talk about that other business then, too.”

Shaggy worked for Jace which is why he stayed with money in his pocket.

Jace didn’t trust the girl’s response when he questioned her about her mother, and he needed Paco to find out where she lived and who she really was.

“Ma, I want you to meet somebody,” Shaggy said walking up to her. “This is my friend Jayden.”

Trip’s eyes were wet from having to apply constant medicine drops to prevent them from drying out. She looked real frail and was sitting in her wheelchair when they approached. Trip could barely see anybody out in front of her, but when she heard Shaggy’s voice she reached for his hand.

“Do you know I’ve never met one of my son’s friends before,” she smiled. “This is a first.”

“Ma, she just a friend. It’s not even like that.”

“I know, Evan,” she said calling him by his birth name. “But it’s still a pleasure to meet one of your girl friends. Is she pretty?” she asked because she could barely see her.

“She sure is,” Paco said from nowhere. “She’s a sight for sore eyes.”

“Dad,” Shaggy said mad at his comment.

“Oh…Uh…I didn’t mean it like that, son.”

“It’s okay,” Trip said. “You know how your father is. But I do know one thing, if he says she’s beautiful, than she must be beautiful. So, Evan, what do you have planned for tonight?”

“Shaggy, ma. I go by Shaggy not Evan.”

“Boy, you know I call you by your birth name,” she corrected him. “I leave all that nickname shit to you kids.”

Shaggy laughed.

“Aight, ma. We can’t stay long. I just wanted you to meet my friend before I left,” he said kissing her on her cheek. “I’ma come by tomorrow. Call me if you need anything before then.”

“Okay, I love you son,” she told him. “And it was nice meeting you Jayden. I hope to talk to you again.”

“Me too,” Jayden replied, still feeling uncomfortable about meeting Jace.

Shaggy and Jayden were making their way out of the party when Olive, Toni, Courtenay and Cheryl walked inside the house.

“Ya’ll leaving already?” Olive said. “I was trying to rush over before ya’ll left.”

“Bitch, if you woulda had your clothes out we would have been here on time.” Toni said. “Instead of dressing one of Shaggy’s bitches.”

It was seconds before Toni and Jayden recognized each other. Toni, Courtenay and Cheryl were the girls who were in the McDonald’s the other night.

“Hold up, bitch! Ain’t you the one with all the mouth in McDonald’s?” Toni asked. “Talk that shit now.”
She stepped up to her but Shaggy got between them.

“Bitch, I will crack your jaw if you start some shit at my mom’s house.” Shaggy said. “Olive, get ‘em out of here before I hurt ‘em.”

“What is wrong with you, Toni? Why you always wildin’ out?” Olive said.

“I’m gone anyway,” Toni said. She rolled her eyes at Jayden and it was apparent that when they saw each other again, it wouldn’t be nice. Then she and the girls walked out.

“I’m sorry, Jayden,” Olive said. “And I’ll call you later, Shaggy.”

The girls left and Shaggy said, “Let’s go.”

Right before he walked out the door, Jace pulled him to the side and asked to speak to him in private. They stepped a few feet away from her so that she couldn’t overhear their conversation. Jayden tried to appear uninterested, but she had to know what they were saying. She saw their mouths moving and judging by the way Shaggy would look in her direction between pauses, she figured they were talking about her.

When they were done, Jace gave Jayden one last look before walking away. She couldn’t read his facial expressions but she had a feeling he didn’t like her.

“
Let’s go,” Shaggy said.

When they got back in the truck, she could tell something was on his mind. He wasn’t treating her the same anymore. “Is everything okay?” Jayden asked.

“Yeah.” He said short.

“Did I do something wrong?”

He paused, looked over at her and then back at the road, “I want you to be honest with me. ‘Cause if we gonna kick it, I need to know you on the up and up about shit. One thing I can’t stand is a fuckin’ liar.”

She swallowed hard. “Okay.”

“If you tell me you’re being truthful, I won’t ever ask you about it again, but if I find out you lying to me, you ain’t got shit to say to me no more. Ever.”

“Okay.”

“Is your mother’s name Harmony?”

Jayden felt perspiration form on her forehead. Although this was their first date, she liked him already and didn’t want to lose his friendship. Not to mention by giving her some money, she was able to save her sister from the hellhole she was living in. So she thought clearly, weighed her options and decided to answer his question.

“No, my mother’s name is Cybil. I think your uncle has me confused with somebody else.”

“It’s cool,” he said. “I told him that but he wanted to make sure.”

“What…What did Harmony do so bad?”

“He said he was looking for her and that they have some unfinished business. I think she stole some money from him. But whenever I hear her name I never hear anything good about her.”

“You know her, too?”

“You know, when he said the name it sounded familiar to me. Like I heard it before, but naw, I don’t know her personally.”

“Oh…Well I hope he finds her.”

“My uncle sounds like he has every intention on finding her.” He said looking at her expression. “So I know it won’t be long.”