“And yo rich, young dumb ass over in the projects begging to get robbed and shot up too! Why the fuck you even over there driving around in an expensive ass car?” I shook my head.
Dreu was wild as hell, and it made me worry for him in ways that he didn’t understand. I’d lose my mind if something ever happened to him because of his naïve and careless ways.
“Niggas love me over there, on the real.” He waved me off.
“They don’t love you; they see your ass as an easy lick.” I corrected him.
“Anyways man,” he waved me off.
“She moved to Vegas, so I start driving six hours to spend time with her. I once drove in the middle of the night just to surprise her on her birthday. Didn’t even tell her I was coming. I just showed up with a cake and a bottle of champagne.” He chuckled softly, the memory lighting his eyes for a second.
“I did whatever it took to make Jatavia smile. She would always say nobody ever did anything nice for her. She told me how special and beautiful I made her feel all the time. She trusted me, talked life into me. I gave her a ring.”
“A ring?! You wanted to marry this woman?” I asked in pure shock right now.
“Yeap, I wanted to lock her down all the way. Everything just felt right between us.” He sniffled the words out.
I damn near hit a car trying to look over at him to see if he was actually crying. My grip tightened on the wheel and a part of me wondered why Dreu didn’t open up to me about Jatavia.
“Jatavia was different, man,” he continued, a faint smile lingering. “She really made me feel like I was somebody worth loving. I mean, I know I’m not shit but I do mean well.” He sniffled again then chuckled dryly.
“No matter what was going on, she always found a way to lift me up. She never judged me, never made me feel small for the mistakes I made. She was thoughtful, kind, and always had my back.” He paused again.
I could hear the hurt and regret all in his voice.
“You don’t meet people like her every day. She was genuine, no faking, no games. It felt like I could trust her with anything. We even talked about having kids and shit. I was still on bullshit with other women but thought she would never find out. Honestly, I was so used to having multiple hoes that it started to feel like I was slacking. I know that shit don’t make sense, but I wasn’t really fuckin’ with hoes while talking to Jatavia. It’s when they would send pussy pictures and beg to suck my dick…I’d end up falling through.” He shook his head.
“She end up catching you?” I asked.
We had arrived at our destination. Baldwin Hills had nice neighborhoods for the most part. Aubry’s street was quiet, void of any motion outside like most nice neighborhoods were when the sun went down.
Dreu hesitated, his jaw tightened as he stared out the window.
“Yeah, she did. She saw messages popping up on my phone. My dumb ass even responded to the chick and told her to give me until the next day to come and chill with her. Jatavia was standing right behind my dumb ass. She didn’t yell or cuss me out, though. She just looked at me, real quiet, and said shedeserved better. Man, that hurt more than any argument could.” He cleared his throat, voice thick with emotion.
“She told me to get out, and to never call her again. Gave me the ring back and all. Like a bitch, I threw a fit then tried to offer her a lot of money, I begged then insulted her by saying foul shit. The entire time, Jatavia remained calm as hell. I saw the pain in her eyes, but she didn’t react or even try to say no fucked up shit to me like most women did. I knew right then that I was about to lose the best thing that ever happened to me.”
I parked three houses down and let the silence fill the car for a moment, the weight of Dreu’s confession settled between us. I glanced at him, unsure of what to say. Part of me wanted to reassure him, but I couldn’t relate because I never experienced what he had expressed. Another part of me also knew that sometimes you just had to let a man sit with his own regret. I could see how much he cared, even now, and it made me think about the ways I could possibly sabotage things with Truly if I didn’t go about things the right way.
“This right here is some way out shit you doing right now. I’m here with you doing it because I get it bro. If I had a second chance with Jatavia, I’d drop every one of my hoes to be with my pancake baby again.” His voice cracked.
I bit the inside of my lip to hold back my laugh. Even when Dreu was serious, he would still manage to say some way-out shit.
“When we leave this nigga’s house. I want to hear Aaron Hall ‘I Miss You’. I swear I miss the fuck out of Jataviaaaaaaaa!” He wailed the words out then sobbed lowly.
I can’t believe this…I thought as I reached out to him.
I placed my hand underneath his dreads and grabbed the nape of his neck. Slowly I rocked him from side to side with my hand. He covered his face and cried into the palms of his hands.
Dreu’s shoulders shook as he sniffled, he continued what seemed to be the start of drawn-out dramatic theatrics.
“Man, I ain’t never cried over no woman before, you hear me? I’m out here bleeding eternally or internally! Whatever the fuck it’s called! I’m broken like a faucet over some damn pancakes and big ass melons.” He tried to laugh, but another choked sob escaped, making him sound even more pitiful.
The tears rolled down his cheeks, glistening in the faint glow of the dashboard lights. I tried to keep my face straight, focusing on our surroundings, but his mix of sorrow and comedy kept tugging at the corners of my mouth.
“She used to rub my feet, bro. Ugly-ass feet and all. Ain’t nobody ever did that for me. I got gorilla toes, and she still loved me,” he managed, voice cracking, before letting out another wail.
“Now I gotta pay for pedicures like a lil bitch.” He hiccupped and sucked his teeth, then looked at me, eyes glassy. “Bleu, tell me the truth, you ever cry over a woman? Don’t lie. If you say no, I’m gon’ know you lying, and if you laugh, I’m gon’ tell momma that I’ll become the next CEO of Maison Langston’s.”
