URBAN: In Love with A Boss Nigga (8 page)

“No one got shot, Tamina. Someone is here to see you.”

“You makin’ a big deal because someone’s here to see me? Ma, it better be Obama with the way you actin’.” I followed her into the small living room and what I saw stunned me. I wasn’t sure how exactly to react. I wasn’t even sure if I was seeing things correctly. My heart was pounding in my chest. After a few moments I was finally able to choke out his name.

“M-Markus?”

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HOOD LOVE 2

A Thug’s Redemption

Shantel Johnson

© 2015 Sensual Ink Publishing

“Girl, we need to know what happened last night! Who was the guy? Was he fine? Tell us!” Amani said as soon as I got to the restaurant we were having lunch at. I was going crazy. My mind was about to explode with everything that was going on. I couldn’t sleep, I could barely think straight. Not since Markus had come back into my life.

“You don’t look so good,” Kayla commented. “What’s wrong?”

I sat down in the extra seat at the table and sighed. “You don’t even know the half of it.”

***

When I walked into Momma’s apartment and saw him I didn’t know what to do or say. My body was frozen and all I could really do was stare. Here he was, like five years later, sitting in front of me with the biggest smile on his face. He didn’t even look like the Markus I knew as a kid. He was much taller, and bigger with muscles popping out everywhere. He didn’t have no jacked up afro anymore either. His hair was a nice fade close to his head. But i recognized his eyes. Those eyes remained the same, kind, full of warmth and protectiveness. He might have not looked like the little boy I knew five years ago but I knew he was deep down inside.

“What are you doing here?” I managed to say at last.

“What you mean what am I doin’ here? I came looking for you. Your Mom’s address is the only one I could remember so I came here first. She told me you moved out tho’.” Markus stood up and walked towards me giving me a tight hug. He smelled so good and a part of me just wanted him to hold me forever but another part of me wanted answers. I didn’t want him to come back into my life so easily. He had already left once when I thought he would never leave. I wasn’t sure if my heart was ready to take it.

I pulled away from him and stared in disbelief. “Look, I’m happy you’re out an all but don’t just expect me to be your best friend again after all these years. You lied to me, made me look like a fool, and then you left without so much as an explanation!”

“Ey, I’m sorry that I did you wrong but there was a lot more going on than just me and you. Things you ain’t even know about.”

“And why didn’t I know about them, Markus?! I thought we were friends. I thought we were….” I looked at Momma, afraid to say those words in front of her. She probably knew what was up but I didn’t want to say anything. she was already giving Markus the evil eye.

“Look, I’ll explain everything I promise. Let’s go get something to eat and I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

I waved him off, still unsure if I was really ready for this. I told him to leave Momma’s house and that I’d maybe see him later. I had to talk to Kayla and Amani first. Maybe they could help me.

***

“Wait a minute. You tellin’ me Markus’ Trifflin’ ass is back?” Amani said so loud I was sure the entire restaurant could hear her.

“Wait, who’s Markus??? I don’t get what’s happening.” Kayla said.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Look, Markus is…was my best friend growing up. I thought he wasn’t like the other dudes around the block, you know. I thought he had a good head on his shoulders but i was wrong. When we were in high school he got arrested and he’s been gone for five years.”

“So what exactly is the problem here? Did you guys used to be together or…?”

“Girl, you really don’t know nothin’!” Amani scoffed and tossed her long braids over her shoulder. “Lemme give you the low down, ok Barbie? Markus and Tamina were together, inseparable! But after he left…”

“After he left I wasn’t really the same. I moped around for a long time and it wasn’t until I got to college that I kind of broke free from it all. I don’t really know how I feel now. It’s like a rush of emotions, ya know? What am I supposed to do?” I asked, seeking any advice that I could get.

Kayla looked at us both. “OK, ok…so how do you feel about him? Do you think it’s worth it to be with him? Well how do you even know that he still wants to be with you? Maybe He just wants to give you some closure and let you move on with your life.”

“I doubt it.” Amani interrupted. “Markus and Tamina were attached at the hip. There’s no way he gon’ be like ‘Oh sorry I went to jail. Here’s why. Peace.’ It’s just not really something’ you do. But I do think Kayla’s right. Maybe you should go talk to him and figure out why he went to jail and what not and get some closure. After that, maybe you can start figuring out what you really want from him.”

They were right. I just had to take a few deep breaths and just let things fall into place. God would guide me in what I needed to do and my heart would follow afterwards. “You right, you right. I just need to chill. All this shit happened all at once and it just drove me crazy. I needed time with my girls to get my head back on my shoulders!”

“No, yo’ ass needs a drink. Waiter!!” Amani made a big deal of calling out the waiter and waving him over. “Hi, yes, can i get a really really big margarita puh-leez!”

I laughed and just let Amani order for me, assuming the margarita was for me anyway. That girl could put away a couple drinks by herself. As I was enjoying hanging with my girls I felt my phone vibrate in my purse. When I saw who texted me I knew this day was just going to get worse. It was Dante, looking to see how I was doing or whatever. I had texted him just to tell him I had gotten home safe after our night together but I really hadn’t had much contact with him since. It had only been a few days since we were last together but he was another problem I didn’t feel like dealing with right at this moment. I had too much to think about. I ignored the text for now, not even opening it and looked at the menu in front of me. Food was more comforting than any man right about now.

***

“So when are you actually going to let me talk to you about what went on? You’ve been avoiding me for like a week now. Do you not even wanna spend time with me?” Markus asked. He had called me just to ask me this. I knew I couldn’t escape it any longer so I decided to just agree to it.

“Fine, you can come over and we’ll talk But that’s it. I’m really not in the mood for all this. I’ve got a bunch of school work I gotta do and I can’t be caught up in all this drama.”

“Ain’t gonna be no drama, T. I figured it’s the least I owed you since I left. Calm down. When you want me over?”

“Come now If you can. I don’t want you staying too late.” I said.

I heard Markus suck his teeth. “Why yo’ ass gotta be so damn rude. I’ll be over in a bit then, damn.” He hung up after that not leaving me much more to say.

I flopped down on my bed and buried my face in the pillow. I didn’t mean to come out like that to him but I was tired. I couldn’t help it. It felt like everything was just wearing on my bones and making me just want to sleep it all off. After a few minutes of laying in bed I got my ass up and decided to make myself look presentable. Even if I was mad at him it had been five years since I last saw Markus and I wanted to make sure I looked damn good. I went to the bathroom and fixed my hair a bit and changed out of my house clothes, putting on some nice fitting jeans and a shirt. About half past three I heard a knock on my door, I opened it and found Markus all cleaned up like he was about the go somewhere.

“Nigga where the hell you just came from, church?! Why you wearing a button up and shit?!” I exclaimed. I couldn’t really believe what I had seen.

“Shut up. I just came from court that’s why.” Markus barged into my apartment and made his way to the living room where he sat down on the couch.

“Oh yeah? What did they say?” I asked, sitting next to him.

“Not really supposed to say but basically we were just wrapping up my case. What happened five years ago was a mistake.” he said.

“What you mean a mistake?”

“I mean it was a mistake. I got sentenced because I looked like some dude that had committed a crime. The police got the wrong guy and they didn’t care to fix their mistake. Ever since I got locked up I’ve been defending my case and trying to get out. It hasn’t been easy at all man. It was like I had been talking to a damn brick wall this whole time. No one wanted to believe me and they just thought I was another fucked up kid from the streets. I mean, once they found out who my dad was they pretty much said that my fate was sealed.”

“So…you were innocent this whole time?” I was in disbelief.

Markus nodded. “Hell yeah. I ain’t do anything wrong. You were like my rock, T. All that time I spent with you pretty much kept me out of trouble. I left all that gangsta shit to my pops and let his ass deal with it. If my Moms hadn’t been a crackhead and lived a better life I would be staying with her. But i got stuck with Pops. At least that turned out ok ‘cause I got to be with you.” He put his hand over mine and gave it a tight squeeze.

And just like that, with that one simple touch, I was hooked all over again. I was glad that I had been right all this time. Markus
was
different then most kids on my block and Momma had been wrong. She’ll never admit it but once I would tell her she’d know she’d been wrong about Markus. He was a good kid, good enough to be my best friend, even with her strict rules.

“It hurt me so much to see you get put in that police car, Markus. You don’t even know. I had to deal with Momma telling me over and over that she was right and that you weren’t good enough to be my friend. I had to deal with the kids at school teasin’ me and talking shit about you, talking shit behind my back. I hated you for the longest time for what happened. It was like you weren’t here physically but you were around me all the time.”

“T, I really can’t say I’m sorry for the pain I caused you. I’m sorry won’t do nothin’ for you. I wish that I could take it all back, not just for you, but for me too. People are gonna look at me differently now that they see I have a “record.” They gonna see me as a stereotype and a good for nothing’ even though that ain’t what I am. I figured if you helped me so much back then that maybe you’d be able to help me get my life back on track now.” Markus said.

I sighed knowing that even though I wanted to deny him and not fall into his trap again that I was going to do it anyway. His warm eyes just brought me in and I couldn’t escape. “Ok, Markus. I’ll help you. But I ain’t here to play no games. I’ve got my own life now and it don’t revolve around you.”

“Thank you, T. I promise you wont regret it. You always got my back.” Before I knew it, I felt his soft full lips against mine. It was quick but I felt every bit of it. It didn’t seem to phase him at all. He had already got up off the couch and was heading towards the door. “I gotta go do something but Imma be back soon! I’ll text you ok?!”

I stared at the door as it closed and touched my lips. Just like that Markus had found his way back into my heart whether I wanted him to be or not.

***

The next day was my day off from school. I didn’t have any classes and I had a few hours to kill before I had to go to work. It was payday today, my check kicked into my bank early in the morning and I was ready to treat myself. I headed over to Amani’s place to get her so we could get our hair done. She normally didn’t like other people touching her hair but she always let Momma do it for her. We went over to the salon and looked through all the magazines Momma had sitting around to try and figure out a new style. Amani was still probably going to keep her braids but I wanted something different. I wasn’t sure if I should go longer or shorter.

“What you think? Like Should I go all Halle or more Beyonce? Like I normally just put it in a ponytail or something ‘cause I don’t got time in the mornin’ when I’m trying to catch the train and shit. But I do love my long hair.”

Amani looked over from her magazine. “I don’t know. I mean I think you would look good with anything. I was thinking bout’ taking my braids out and just relaxing my natural hair. Why don’t you leave your hair natural? That would look cute.”

“Uh, no it won’t.” I said. “My hair don’t got cute little curls. It’s just like this big afro and I don’t really like it. it ain’t my style.”

“Then just get it short for now and if you don’t like it just put in a new weave next week, duh. It ain’t that hard.”

“You right, you right. But you ain’t have to be rude about it!”

“Gurl, please. Get yo’ ass back there. Yo’ momma callin’ you. I’ll wait here.”

I tossed my magazine at her playfully and headed towards Momma’s chair. She looked like she was so done with her day already but once she saw me she perked up a little.

“How you doin’, baby girl? You don’t come in here that often.” she said.

“I know but I got paid today and I wanted to do something different. I was askin’ Amani if I should go shorter or longer but I couldn’t really decide. She said I should just go short and if I didn’t like it to just put in some new weave in two weeks.” I sat down in her chair and let her put the cape around me. She went to work right away separating my hair and finding the braid she sewed my last weave into.

“You know, I think you would look good in any style. Them girls be coming around here wantin’ short hair and I think it look cute. We can do it if you want.”

I thought for a moment and just decided to let Momma do whatever the hell she wanted with my hair. She always knew what was good for it anyway. It was quiet for a minute as she got to work but that didn’t last long.

“So what did that boy want?”

“Ma,” I rolled my eyes. “You know his name. Why you still treatin’ him like he a nobody? Markus was a good kid and he tryin’ to get his life back on track now. He even asked me to help him.”

“Tamina, I’m just tryin’ to look out for you. I don’t trust him. Even though he’s sayin’ he a good person do you really know?”