URBAN: In Love with A Boss Nigga (11 page)

“She can help you get your life on track too. She tryin’ to help you in her own way. Trust me. If there’s anyone that knows about pain in the ass women tellin’ you what to do it’s me.” I said thinking about Momma.

Markus pressed the button to the elevator and we waited for it to come down. “I know, I know. I told her I gotta get my GED first and she was ok with that. She said she wouldn’t let me end up like Pops but I don’t think Pops is a bad dude either. He did what he had to do when Mom got so bad she couldn’t take care of any of us.”

I was shocked to even hear Markus say the word “mom”. he never really talked about her especially since she was never around. His Momma had a bad habit that she could never break and it made her never take care of the kids. Markus was lucky that the drugs didn’t mess him up while she was pregnant. She tried to quit then but she started up again soon after he was born. His dad was pretty much a single father and I guess the only way he knew how to support his family was to continue doing the thing he knew how to do best. Though some would say that he was the one that got Markus’ Momma hooked in the first place. “They both had their own shit to deal with, Markus. We just gotta try and create a better life for us and not follow in they footsteps. That’s what Momma always tells me. You know, that whole Do as I say, not as I do thing.”

“That’s the damn truth.” He stepped into the elevator and I followed right after him. I hated the way these elevators smelled. It was like every elevator in the projects smelled like piss. It was the worse. “You better live on a floor that’s quick to get too. I hate standing in this shit.”

“It’s just the fourth floor. We almost there.” The elevator rolled up to one more floor before opening. I stepped out quickly and let Markus lead the way to the apartment. It was still dark when we went in. None of the kids or his aunt was around. They were probably still at the block party. Markus turned on some of the lights and we went towards a small bedroom.

“I gotta share it with my cousins. It ain’t that bad except they always screaming and yelling all the damn time. But anyway…” He pulled out a book off his bed and showed it to me. “I got it from the library. They got a bunch of them that I can take out and study from.”

I smiled as I looked down at the GED practice book. He was really serious about getting his shit together. It made me proud. “Markus, this is awesome. I’m proud of you, really.” I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a tight hug. When I pulled away though he didn’t let me go.

“You won’t be mad if I kiss you right?” he whispered.

I closed my eyes and sighed. “No, I won’t be mad.” I couldn’t deny that even though my feelings were all over the place and kept bouncing back and forth between hating and loving him I realized that I hated to love him. Everything and everyone was telling me that he wasn’t good enough for me but they didn’t see the Markus that I saw. He was much more than a thug, or a delinquent, or someone who would intentionally do me wrong. He was Markus, my best friend, a person who had let me down but had seen the error of his ways. He cared about me more than anyone I knew. I knew deep down that I would always love him and nothing would ever change that.

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LOVE IN THE PROJECTS

Shantel Johnson

© 2015 Sensual Ink Publishing

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord giveth and taketh away…” The preacher’s voice drowned out. Giselle Rogers’ tears were nonstop. She still couldn’t believe it. It felt like she was in this nightmare that she couldn’t wake herself up from. How is it that now she was standing in front of the coffins of her parents? Just a week ago she was begging her father for some new shoes, while her mother was complaining about how her father was spoiling her, and just like that, they both were gone. How did she get here? How?

Giselle Rogers is 16 years old from North Carolina. She was a cheerleader, scholar student, and just a bit spoiled by her father. Her father Enzo Rogers was a hard working business man. He opened up his first shop as a mechanic when he was 20 years old. He’d always been tinkering with cars his whole life, so when he won some money in a scratch off, he opened the business. Word got around town on how skilled he was, and he had more customers then he could handle. Then with the money he made, he opened another shop, and soon another. Next thing he knew, he had a chain of repair shops and he started to teach people his skills. Seven years into the business, he met Karen.

Karen was a bank teller. He walked in there looking to make deposits for all of his businesses. He thought it would just be another regular day; just doing an errand. Everything was running smoothly, until he looked up and saw her. Her long hair was brushed to the side and he couldn’t stop looking at her almond eyes and full lips.

“May I please help the next customer in line?” She asked. He walked right over to her with a smile on his face. “Good afternoon sir, how may I help you?”

“You can…” Suddenly the words left his brain. Enzo was a tall, burly man. People often joked and called him the black lumberjack. Despite being this huge guy, he shrunk in front of Karen.

“Yes sir?” She politely urged him. She didn’t want a line to build up and have her manager on her ass.

“May you please deposit these into the accounts?” He didn’t even look at her. He just signed the slips. When she finished, he grabbed the receipts and practically ran out. It wasn’t until two weeks later, that he made some deposits, and gathered the courage to ask her out.

Their relationship started out slow. She had a 120 day rule. There was to be no sex at all. She had her heart broken before and she wanted to take her time. At first he agreed to it because he just was glad to be dating her, but then he was glad that he did. The rule gave them time to get to know each other. A year later, they were married and it wasn’t long before Giselle came into the picture. After the birth of his daugher, Enzo wanted to be home more, so he sold his businesses and just focused on teaching the skills to future mechanics. They lived in a big beautiful house, and everything was great...for the time being.

Karen had always wanted to go to New York City. There was something about the tall buildings and the bright lights that just made her feel like a little girl. So for their anniversary, Enzo booked a huge trip for the entire family to New York City.

“Why can’t I stay here?” Giselle complained as she packed her bags. “I love it here. I heard New York City is nothing but rats and dirt. Why would anyone want to go there?”

“Because we can go see the Empire State building. We can go see the Statue of Liberty and there are great museums.”

“So?”

“And then we can go shopping.” Enzo added the bait that was sure to lure her in.

“Yay!” She cheered in the same demeanor as she used to as a toddler.

“Ugh!” Karen rolled her eyes. “It is your fault that this child is spoiled rotten.”

“You’re suppose to spoil your kids.”

“No, you’re suppose to teach them skills on how to survive. That girl doesn’t even know how to do laundry.”

“And she will never need to as long as I’m around.”

Giselle wished she could go back to that moment. She just wanted to go back to that moment. If she could just close her eyes hard enough, click her heels hard enough, and just wish hard enough, maybe it will change. She just didn’t get how one car accident changed it all. All it took was one drunk driver, one wrong turn, and her world changed.

The funeral started to wrap up and the closer it got to the end, the more her reality dawned on her. She was now an orphan. Like her parents, she didn’t have any brothers or sisters or any cousins. There was a talk about grandparents somewhere in New Jersey but she was never given specifics. What was to happen to her now?”

“Miss?” The preacher sat next to her. They were the only people there. The coffins were already lowered into the ground. “Would you like to throw the dirt?” He suggested as he closed the bible. Giselle shot him an incredulous look. She couldn’t believe his words but this whole thing was still a bit surreal. She got up and threw the dirt on top of their coffins. She looked off in the distance and saw the black SUV. She walked up to it and knocked on the window.

“So what now?” She asked as soon as the window rolled down. “What happens to me?”

“We tried to find some family back in North Carolina but we are still unable to locate anybody.” The person said to her.

“I told you that my mother and father were only children. I have no uncles, aunts, or cousins. My father said that his mother might still be alive in Georgia.”

“You’ve told me that.”

“Well have you guys found her? You said that you’re going to help me.”

“Miss Rogers, we’re trying our best but it looks like you are the last relative there is.”

“No.” She was crying once again. The bad news never ended. “What happens to me?”

“You become a ward of the state.”

“But there’s nothing for me back in North Carolina. Can’t I stay here until you guys find my grandmother?”

“Miss Rogers, I already informed you that there might not be any grandmother. As far as you staying here…”

“My parents are buried here. I want to stay here.” She turned back. They were now burying the bodies. “I want to stay close to my parents.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” The window started to roll up but she knocked on it again.

“I just wanted to say thank you. I know that you’re my father’s lawyer and not mine, but thank you.”

After the news of his death hit North Carolina Enzo’s lawyer flew down to New York. He brought down their will. It read that Giselle would inherit all the money that her father left behind when she reached the age of 18. Unfortunately, they didn’t have clause in case the parents died before she turned 18. The lawyer was trying his best to locate family, but his client always told him that he didn’t have much of a family or any. And with the retainer finishing up, he was running out of funds to locate them. He saw the desperation in Giselle’s eyes. He knew the least he could do for her was fight to keep her in NYC. Sadly, she’d be part of the foster system until she was 18, but it was the only option so far.

“I’m going to try my best to keep you here. You have to understand that you’d be part of the foster system. New York City is nothing like North Carolina.”

“I don’t care.” She sobbed. “It’s only going to be a little while. I’ll be 18 soon.”

“I thought you were 16.”

“Today is my birthday.” Tears streamed down her face some more. “I just need to be by my family. My family is here in New York City. I can do it. It won't be that bad.”

“Defense! I need you to play with some defense.” Lionel Taylor screamed at the TV. The Chicago Bulls were playing his beloved New York Knicks. They were down by ten points and he was going crazy. He’d always been a sports fanatic. He got it from his uncle. His Uncle used to work security at Madison Square Garden. Whenever he could, he would bring Lionel to a basketball game. Sometimes he would sneak him into the back to meet some of the players. It was some of the best times of Lionel’s life, but then he turned 11 and everything changed.

Lionel was in middle school with his best friend Antwon Jordan. They were sitting in the back of their Spanish class staring at their teacher. They were full of hormones as they watched her write on the board.

“Okay class the next verb that I’m going to teach you is trabajar. Can you guys say trabajar?” She asked the young students.

“Trabajar!” They shouted back at her.

“Good. And does anyone know what it means?” She walked back and forth of the classroom.

“It means “work” Jeffrey Escobar answered.

“Oh that’s not fair.” Antwon whined. “Of course he’s going to know the answer to that question. He’s Spanish, that’s cheating.”

“It doesn’t matter.” She ran her hand over Antwon’s head. “He’s right. It means work.”

Her voice faded to the background. Lionel scoped her curly black hair, curvy figure, and fair face. He poked his friend with his elbow.

“Damn, she is BAD.” Lionel whispered.

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Antwon leaned towards him.

“You should drop your pencil.”

“What?” Antwon looked at him like he was crazy. “Why would I drop my pencil?”

“Just do it.” Lionel urged.

“I don’t get it.” He whispered but Lionel just pushed his pencil on the floor.

“Ms. Cabrera?” Lionel raised his hand. “Antwon dropped his pencil. May you please get it for him.?”

Ms. Cabrera sighed. She walked over to her two troublemakers.

“What am I going to do with you two boys?” She had her hands on her hips. “When you’re not throwing school supplies, you guys are back here talking and cracking jokes.” She crossed her arms across her chest. Lionel licked his lips slightly as he saw how big her chest was. He could just imagine his head laying against that huge chest.

“I’m sorry Ms. C. I would normally go and get the pencil, but you said the other day that we had to stay in our seats.” He smiled and looked at Antwon. Antwon just nodded his head not knowing where he was going with this.

“Fine, here.” She bent over and in her low cut shirt both boys got an eyeful of her cleavage. She placed the pencil on the desk and the boys just exchanged knowing looks.

The bell rang and the boys bolted off.

“I can’t wait to grow up and get with Ms. Cabrera.” Antwon took one last look at their Spanish teacher. ‘She’s going to be begging to get with this.”

“Please, you can’t get with Ms. Cabrera, she’s practically my wife.” He playfully pushed Antwon. “Plus you can’t even drop a pencil for her, how do you see her being with you?”

“Whatever man. So you coming over tonight or what? I know how much you hate being home alone when your mom works nights.”

“One, I’m never home alone because my Uncle crashes at my crib on those nights. Secondly, I’m not in the mood.”