This Could Be Us But You Playin' 2 (16 page)

“Ooooh, who was that?”

“This guy, Marcus, that I’ve been talking to for the last few weeks.”

Dominique gave her a sly grin. “Is he cute?” she asked, hoping that Shanice would show her a picture. She was done with the secret baby daddies and wanted to know who her friend was dealing with.

“Hell yeah!” Shanice yelled, laughing. “My baby is fine.” She started to tap on her phone. When she found what she was looking for, she turned to screen in best friend’s direction.

“Girl, he is fine,” Dominique admitted. “Now, you know you gotta tell me more. I feel so out of the loop. How did y’all meet?” Dominique asked, leading Shanice over to a table in the food court. Together, they took a seat directly beside one another.

“You ain’t gone believe me when I tell you.” Shanice giggled. “I hit him with my car.”

Dominique’s eyes got as wide as saucers. “Shut the fuck up!” When she realized how loud she was, she leaned in and lowered her voice. “Stop playing.”

“I swear.” Shanice put her hand up as if she swearing on a stack of bibles. “I was leaving the nail shop and wasn’t paying attention. When I felt something hit my bumper, I knew I was going to jail.”

“I bet yo’ ass was shook.” Dominique laughed, still shocked that her friend had actually hit her new boo. “So, what happened next?”

“We ended up talking a bit more, and then he asked for my number,” Shanice said, before she went on to tell the rest of the story.

Chapter 13

Sitting in the passenger seat of Dominique’s rental, Shanice felt nauseous. They had just come from
Enterprise,
where they exchanged her first car with another one. For some reason, that first one she had wouldn’t pick up speed on the freeway, so the rep told her to bring it in. Since they didn’t want to inconvenience her any further than she already had been, they tossed her the keys to a black Dodge Charger and they went on about their way. The ladies were now headed to Dominique’s house. While at the mall, they had decided that they didn’t want their day to end. With London being with her mother and DJ with Franny, they planned to have a sleepover like they used to do before they had children. Shanice was excited up until she realized that Dominique wanted her to ride to her house with her to get some clothes. She gave her best friend every excuse in the world on why she couldn’t go, but since she wasn’t in her car, she didn’t have much choice.  

“Why you so quiet over there?” Dominique asked.

“No reason. I just feel sick to my stomach all of a sudden,” Shanice responded, picking up her bottle of water and taking a sip. This wasn’t a lie because it was exactly how she felt. She really didn’t want to take the chance of running into Deondre. After their last encounter at her house, she wanted to keep her distance. Although she knew that he wouldn’t do anything around Dominique, just being in his presence creeped her out.

“Do you need me to stop and get you something?”

“No, I should be good.”

“Cool. We’re almost there. I promise I’m going to run in, grab some clothes, and come right back out.”

“Okay,” Shanice responded, hoping that things would go that smoothly.

Fifteen minutes later, they turned on Dominique’s street. As they neared her house, Shanice saw a home at the end with the driveway blocked off. It looked like it was getting repaved. Since this was the first time she had been to Dominique’s new house, shew wasn’t sure if that one was it or not. When Dominique pulled directly across from it, Shanice got her answer.

“Oh my God, girl, this is beautiful!” Shanice exclaimed looking out of the window.

“Thank you.” Dominique smiled. Do you want to come in? I can give you a tour,”

Shanice thought about it for a second. While she was dying to see what the inside looked like, she didn’t want to risk running into Deondre; even though she didn’t see his car parked out there. Putting on a front, Shanice instead pretended as if she didn’t feel well, promising to take a tour at a later date. Dominique felt bad for her friend, and before she climbed out of the car, she promised that she would be as quick as possible. As she watched her best friend jog up the walkway to her house, Shanice leaned over and turned the key in the ignition to cut the radio. As she sang along to the music, she was glad that Dominique didn’t push the issue about her going inside.

“I’m glad his funky ass ain’t he—”

Before Shanice was even able to finish her sentence, she noticed Deondre’s car as it slowly drove past her. Sitting up, Shanice attempted to see if it was just him inside, but the tint on the windows were too dark.
Thank God he doesn’t know that Nikki exchanged cars.
Instead of parking on the opposite side of the street, he pulled in front of the house almost on the grass.
Ignorant
bitch, she thought to herself. Shanice watched as the car sat there for a few moments before the passenger door opened. She was surprised to see that it was Deondre who stepped out.
Well, who the hell is driving?
No sooner than the thought left her mind, the driver side door popped open, and when Shanice saw who was behind the wheel, she turned up her face in confusion.
Why does he have her driving his car?
She watched as Deondre walked around his car to the driver’s side. What she saw next caused her mouth to drop open. 

Standing in front of the home that he shared with Dominique, Deondre locked lips with her younger sister, Tiffany, as if it was what he was supposed to do. Shanice watched them, stuck, as he wrapped his arms around Tiffany and gripped her ass. It was like she couldn’t move.
Out of all the people
, Shanice thought,
his trifling ass had to go after her little sister.
When Shanice really thought about it, it wasn’t that hard to believe. He had carried on an affair with her for years. They were even expecting their second child as a result. Finally, able to get over the shock, Shanice looked toward the front door to see if Dominique was on her way out. When she didn’t see her, she grabbed the handle and hopped out. Rushing over to the house, Shanice continued to look back and forth between the house, and the couple who were so caught up in kissing, they didn’t even notice her. She knew that she had to stop them before Dominique came back outside. Even though Shanice didn’t feel like the two deserved her help, her only focus was making sure that her best friend didn’t get hurt any further than she had been.

“Dre!” she called out. When he didn’t hear her, she tried it again. “Dre!”

“Man, what the fuck you doing here?” he asked never, removing his hands from gripping Tiffany’s ass.

“I’m here with N—”

“Yeah, what the fuck are you doing here?!” Tiffany shouted, cutting her off. She turned around and faced Shanice. “Bitch, I asked you a question.”

“Listen, you guys need to—” Shanice started, but she was interrupted yet again.

Tiffany took a few steps in her direction. “We don’t need to do shit.” She pointed her finger towards the middle of Deondre’s legs. “This dick that you’ve been sucking now belongs to me. Dre will no longer be fucking with you, so go head on somewhere before I beat yo’ ass. I don’t give a fuck if you are pregnant, hoe. I am too, so it’s an even fight. You can still get it,” she threatened.

Shanice cocked her head to the side and looked at Tiffany closer.
I know this little bitch ain’t trying to say that she’s pregnant.
Her mind was scrambled and she didn’t know what the hell she had walked into. A part of her was hurt to see Deondre standing there with the smirk on his face. It had only been a few months since they stopped dealing, and he had already moved on, and the person he moved on with was like family to her. Shanice was glad that she ended things with him, because he was truly a piece of shit, and she could finally see that now. She realized that she wasn’t special at all. Seeing Tiffany standing there ready to fight her over her sister’s man, only let Shanice know that Deondre would fuck anything that let him. He was dog, who didn’t give two shits who he humped.

It had only been a few minutes, and Shanice was already tired of trying to warn their dumb asses. If they ended up caught, then so be it. She didn’t even care anymore.
Maybe it’s time that Dominique see’s just how much of a fucked up individual he is,
Shanice reasoned. She was just about to say something in response to Tiffany’s smart-ass mouth, when she saw the look on Deondre’s face. Gone was the cocky smirk. It was replaced with a dumb ass expression. Shanice immediately followed his line of vision. Dominique stood on the porch with her mouth gaped open. There was a mixture of hurt, embarrassment, and anger written all over her face. The scene was so sad that Shanice could not do anything but look away. She wasn’t sure just how much she’d heard, but she scolded herself because if she had just stayed her ass in the car, she would have not been a part of the mess that was about to happen. Shanice silently prayed like hell that Dominique only caught the fact that Tiffany was pregnant, and not the part of them each fucking her fiancé. This was not the way that she wanted her to find out about her and Deondre. She didn’t know when, but she planned to tell her about it on her own terms, when she was ready, but apparently she didn’t have that choice anymore.

“Did you just say what the fuck I think you just said?” Dominique asked, giving her sister the death stare. Shanice swallowed the lump in her throat because she knew without a doubt, shit was definitely about to get real!

Chapter 14

“Bitch, I asked you a question.” Dominique heard as she made her way down the stairs.
Who the hell is Tiffany arguing with
? she asked herself, moving a little quicker. While she wasn’t sure what was going on, Dominique planned to put a stop to it.

“Listen, you guys need to—”

“We don’t need to do shit.” She caught, just as she made it to the bottom. Rushing over to the door, she flung it open just in time to hear, “This dick that you’ve been sucking now belongs to me. Dre will no longer be fucking with you, so go head on somewhere before I beat yo’ ass. I don’t give a fuck if you are pregnant, hoe. I am too, so it’s an even fight. You can still get it.” When Dominique heard that part she froze in her tracks. She knew there was no way in hell that she had just heard what she thoughts she heard her sister say.

This has to be some sort of joke.

When she and Deondre locked eyes, there was no doubt in her mind. The stupid look he wore on his face let her know that he had been caught.
How could you?
Dominique questioned with her eyes, as if he could actually hear her thoughts and give her an answer. Tiffany was too busy staring Shanice down to notice that she had come outside, and it didn’t take Shanice long to see what had Deondre so shock. His dark skin had lost all color as he leaned on the door of his car. Shanice turned around and when she saw Dominique standing there, she dropped her head. Dominique looked her way as tears rapidly filled her lids and poured from her eyes. Both her sister and her best friend had betrayed her in the worse way.

“Did you just say what the fuck I think you just said?” Dominique asked, even though she already knew the answer. Tiffany turned around and matched her evil stare.

“It depends on how much you heard,” she replied, wearing a smirk.

Deondre moved off the car. “Nikki, let me explai—”

“No, you don’t have to explain shit to her,” Tiffany butted in. She went over to where he was and grabbed his arm. “Shit, she knows now. Ain’t no need to fake it.”

“How could you?” Dominique cried unable to move. She was too stuck, and still couldn’t believe what was happening.

“It’s not what you think.” Deondre snatched his arm away from Tiffany and rushed over to were Dominique was standing. When he got close enough, he attempted to touch her, but she took a step back.

“Don’t you fucking touch me!” Dominique screamed before she hauled off and punched him dead in the face. “Don’t you ever put your fucking hands on me ever again!”

“Dre!” Tiffany yelled, trying to get his attention. “Dre!”

“What?!” he roared. “Stop calling my fucking name!”

Tiffany looked at him like he was crazy. “Excuse me?” Placing her hands on her hips, she shook her head. “Are you really about to try to play me right now?”

“Gone, Tiff. I ain’t time for your shit today,” Deondre said, as if he hadn’t just gotten caught with her. Dominique just stared at the two dummies while they went back and forth with one another.

“You wasn’t saying that when you were fucking me earlier,” Tiffany snapped. “You wasn’t saying that when you were telling me how much you love this good pussy, where you Dre?”

“Look, Nikki, I don’t know what she’s talking about,” Deondre pleaded completely ignoring Tiffany, who was still spilling the beans. “You gotta believe me.” Without saying a word, Dominique turned and headed back into the house. As she walked away, she could still hear Tiffany talking shit.

“Now you wanna run to her like a little puppy? What happened to all that shit you were talking, Dre?” Dominique could hear her voice get closer as she made her way to the kitchen. That only meant that Tiffany was following close behind them. Dominique wasn’t sure if Shanice was behind her as well, but if she knew like she did, she had better stay her fucking distance. “You told me you were through with her after she left you high and dry after your uncle died? You said that it would be me and you.” Dominique had heard enough; she reached into the kitchen drawer and grabbed the biggest knife she could find.

“Tiffany, would you shut the fuck up!” Deondre turned and yelled. When he looked back in Dominique’s direction, he watched in horror as Dominique lifted the knife she was holding up in the air.

“You stupid piece of shit!” she screamed, swinging her arm swiftly. The sound of the blade cutting the air could be heard. 

Deondre was able to block the first one, but when he took a few steps back, he ran into Tiffany and they both fell backwards onto the floor. Dominique smirked when she saw that he had nowhere to run. With a deranged and demonic look in her eye, she raised the knife again. This time when she brought it down, she did not miss. Deondre screamed like a bitch when the sharp stainless steel object punctured his right thigh.

“You fucking stabbed me!” he yelled. When Dominique turned the knife in his wound, he reached down to grab his leg as D. 

Blood gushed out, but not even that stopped Dominique, who lifted the knife and brought it down once again; this time, stabbing a little lower towards the knee.

“Ahhhh!” he yelled again.

Tiffany was crying hysterically as she squirmed trying to get up and get away, but Deondre was lying on her legs and too heavy for her to move. She knew she had to get the fuck out of the house and to safety before she got stabbed as well. Tiffany had never seen her sister so angry and knew that if she didn’t mind stabbing the father of her child, she wasn’t going to show any leniency with her sister; coincidently, the same sister that had just confessed to sleeping with her man. When Dominique took a few steps in her direction, Tiffany threw her arms out.

“Nikki!” Shanice screamed when she saw her lift the knife again. “Come on, it ain’t worth it. They ain’t worth it,” she told her. “I know it’s fucked up, but don’t do this.”

Dominique stood there with the knife still clutched in her hand. As she looked down at a bleeding Deondre, she weighted her options. While she didn’t think that Shanice should have been saying anything to her because she was just as guilty as they were. Dominique started to go over and stab her ass as well. Cut her up real nice and teach her how bad things can turn out when you lie, cheat, and betray the people who love you the most. Shanice must have noticed the way Dominique was looking at her because she took a step back, like she was preparing to haul ass. Dominique was two seconds from making her way towards her, but she realized that as much as she hated Shanice at that moment, she was right.  Why was she willing to fuck her life up behind people who clearly didn’t give two shits about her? She had DJ to worry about, and at that moment, he was the only thing stopping her from turning her kitchen into a full on crime scene.

Deondre had slept with both her sister and her best friend without a second thought. He laid up in the bed with every night and professed his love to her, when all along he was doing her dirty. He had even gone as far as asked her to marry him. That confused the hell out of Dominique because if he wanted to fuck around, why try to keep her tied down? It wasn’t like he was messing with women across town that she didn’t know. He was fucking her best friend and her younger sister. The fact that both Shanice and Tiffany were pregnant at the same time, let Dominique know that he didn’t even protect himself. At the very least, he could have wrapped up to prevent her from catching anything, but he couldn’t even do that. Why, because he didn’t give a damn.

Dominique looked down at him as he gripped his thigh and squirmed around on the floor. She thought about stabbing his ass again.
This trifling mutha’fucka has two babies on the way at the same time.
A thought entered Dominique’s mind. She shook her head from side to side, trying to knock it from her head.
No, it can’t be,
she told herself.
I’m not going to believe that. Not all this time.
She looked towards Shanice again and then back down at Dondre.

“So, you’re Lamar?” she asked. Dominique brought the hand she was holding the knife in up to her face. She wiped away the freshly fallen tears, as she smeared Deondre’s blood across her cheek. “Deondre Lamar Godby,” Dominique laughed. With the streak of blood on her face and the knife in her hand, she looked like a mad woman. “Y’all mutha’fuckas have been playing me all along. All these years you’ve been fucking around behind my back.” She raised the knife and pointed in Shanice’s direction. “You made me your daughter’s Godmother.” Dominique cried when everything finally hit her. Things were must worse than she originally realized. “I was in the fucking delivery room when you gave birth to London, and all along you knew she was Deondre’s. That’s why you never let me meet your baby daddy. I already knew the mutha’fucka, because he was my man.”

Dominique started to feel sick. When she felt the vile coming up her throat, she gagged, and tried her best to keep it down.
I have to get the fuck outta here,
she told herself.
I have to leave before I kill them mutha’fuckas.
With the knife still in her hand, she stepped around Deondre and rushed towards the door. Shanice must have thought that she was on her way to stab her because she took off down the stairs and across the street.
You better run bitch.
Tossing the knife into the passenger seat of her rental, Dominique climbed in the car, started the engine, and peeled off down the street.

She hit the gas pedal and accelerated down the street. The sound of police sirens were in the air. Dominique wasn’t sure if they were on their way someplace else or headed her way. Either way, she was trying to get the fuck out of dodge. When she made it to the end of her street, she turned and headed towards the highway with her mind racing. Once she stopped at the light, she caught a glimpse of herself in the rearview mirror. Picking up the bottle of water that Shanice had been drinking, she reached into her purse, grabbed a few napkins, and wet them.  When she was finished, she wiped the now dried blood off her face. Dominique knew that if she got pulled over for speeding, or pretty much anything, the officer would no doubt question her after seeing it. Seeing as though she had just stabbed a man, twice, she wasn’t trying to get hauled off to jail behind it. While Deondre deserved that and more, Dominique knew that it was still against the law.

A few hours later, Dominque was still driving. With a half a tank of gas still in the Charger, she continued to ride around aimlessly. She had been ignoring calls left and right. If it wasn’t NiChia calling, it was her grandmother. She figured that they had both heard about what had gone down and wanted to check up on her. Unfortunately, for them, Dominique wasn’t in the mood to talk. She hadn’t completely wrapped her head around the events that transpired earlier that day, and because of that, she knew that she was in no shape to tell it to someone else, especially when she didn’t even know everything herself. All she knew was that she felt like a fool. For years, Deondre had been playing her. London was three, so that meant for at last four years, he’d been fucking with Shanice and who knows who else. The fact that their daughter was older than her son was what really had Dominique sick to her stomach.

She couldn’t understand for the life of her why, if Deondre was fucking with Shanice and they already had a baby on the way, why didn’t he just be with her. Why try to make things work, if he was already making a family with someone else? As Dominique continued to drive, she began to get angrier and angrier. She remembered when Shanice called and told her that she was pregnant. She bragged about how her child was going to be so spoiled. When Dominque inquired about who the father was, Shanice simply told her that his name was Lamar. Never had she put two and two together, and think that Shanice may have been talking about Deondre. The fact that her so-called best friend had used his middle name let Dominique know that Shanice was bold and didn’t really care if she figured it out or not.

Every time they talked about Deondre, and Shanice would tell her to leave him. She was only looking out for herself. All she wanted was her out of the picture, so that Deondre could run to her. It all made since now. Them never really wanting to be around each other. The fact that Deondre was dead set on his dislike for NiChia. It was all because she didn’t like Shanice, and Shanice didn’t like her. That was why he wouldn’t budge when it came time to bond her out of jail after their fight. He was pissed because NiChia had beat the shit out of his baby mother. 

Then, it was her little sister, Tiffany. Dominique’s blood. One of the people that she loved the most in this entire world. She allowed the feelings that she carried for years to cause her to stab her sister in the bag. Tiffany didn’t give a damn that Dominique had opened her door to her. She could have easily been sent back to Monique’s house to deal with all the bullshit that came along with that. Tiffany was an ungrateful brat, and she wasn’t any better than Deondre or Shanice. It had only been a few weeks since she’d moved in with them. The fact that Tiffany was already pregnant told Dominique that she and Deondre didn’t waste time. Since neither she or her sister rarely left the house these last few weeks, that let Dominique know that she and Deondre had been fucking right under her roof; no doubt while she slept in the next room. While Deondre and Shanice was a blow, Tiffany fucking with him hurt Dominique’s heart. She cried while she wondered who was the first to come on to whom. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t pay attention to the light changing.

Blurp Blurp