With everything happening to and around me, you would think that I was just some bad ass person. Karma had my ass in a chokehold, and I didn’t even know what I had done wrong. I never led Diamond on; I always kept it a buck with her. The beef I had with Black was strictly because of him moving wrong. Other than those things, I was a good dude. I took care of the people I loved, and I was a good ass father. When I got out, I was gonna focus on my son, living right, and putting that street shit behind me. Losing everything I cared about was a big wake up call.
Keith and Davidson were men of their words. Almost a month after our visit, Jashawn and I were free men. I stood on what I told Keith and I put money on his books and on the phones, and I answered every call that I received from him. The first thing I did as a free man was look for my son and Eva relentlessly. She had also taken him and ran off. I had to file a missing person’s report on my son because, by law, he could not be taken away from me.
Jashawn and I had slowly started rebuilding our relationship, and I had given the streets up. I was in the process of cleaning all my money and looking for investments. The only thing I was missing now was Moni and JJ. I didn’t care how crazy it sounded, I knew that Moni was my soulmate. Shit like that wasn’t something you could just get over and move on from. I knew that word hadn’t hit the streets that I was free yet, so I used that to my advantage and rode past her shop every chance I got. She was never there, and I assumed it was because she was taking time off to spend with her baby.
After going on her social media, I knew for sure that her baby wasn’t mine. To see her in mommy mode with another man’s seed was like a blow to the gut. Now I understood firsthandhow she must have felt when she found out about JJ. She was supposed to have been mine, and our kids should have been together, not by these outside muthafuckas who don’t mean shit. Deep down, I felt like Harmoni just wanted to keep her image. I felt like she wanted us to be together, but she just didn’t want to look like a fool. If I had a chance to right my wrongs, I would never do anything else to lose her trust. The only thing on my mind was coming up with a plan to get my woman back.
I was riding past the salon when I saw Black walking to his shop next door. I parked my car in the lot and debated on going inside to holla at him. One thing about me, I didn’t mind fighting for what I loved, and the more time passed, the more I knew that I needed to make my move. This second chance at freedom wasn’t by mistake. I had to get my woman back.
After twenty minutes of rubbing my hands together and contemplating, I decided to get out of my car and go on inside. As I walked past the salon, I caught a glimpse of Carmen’s hating ass, and her eyes followed me until I was out of her view.
When I walked inside the barbershop, Black was laughing while cutting his client’s hair and chopping it up with some of the customers. His smile instantly faded when he saw me come inside. I was greeted by one of the other barbers, and he asked if he could hook me up with a fade, but I told him that I would wait for Black to cut me. Dude told me that the owner didn’t accept walk-ins and that I needed to book an appointment online. When I glanced in his direction, Black told me to grab a seat, and he would get to me shortly.
I took a seat in the waiting room and grabbed a magazine to look at. Looking around, I noticed that the place was decorated nicely, and it gave the same vibe as Harmoni’s salon. My blood started to boil, and I felt something that I never really experienced, jealousy. Not knowing how I would approach thesituation, I sat and waited for Black to finish his client so we could have a one on one.
Twenty minutes later, he motioned for me to have a seat in his chair. As soon as I sat down, he greeted me like he wasn’t the nigga who had stolen my girl.
“You a free man, I see. I’m glad that bullshit Diamond pulled on you ain’t stick. I made sure my people didn’t fuck off on your turf while you was gone either. My word is bond, nigga. You looking crispy already. Want me to just give you an edge up?” Black said as he placed the cape around me.
“Yeah, that’s all I need. I hear you, but I came here so we could talk like men and get some understanding without having to take it to the streets. We both know how the next man gets down, but I just want to run it with you,” I honestly spoke.
“Go ahead. I’m listening,” Black responded.
“As a man, I know that I fucked up with Moni. I never intended to get Diamond pregnant. It was a mistake. I know a lot of niggas say that shit, but she really trapped me. If it wasn’t for that, we would still be together today. I understand y’all are together and that her baby may be yours, but I have history with her. Y’all not even a year in, so do you really think y’all are that serious? All I’m saying is that I owe it to myself to try and get another shot. My heart is not over Moni. I guess I came here to say, may the best man win. If it’s the last thing I do, I’m gonna get her back. All this is just some rebound shit. She was hurt ’cause I cheated, and that’s why she fucked with you. I know her better than she knows herself,” I told him.
Black cut the clippers off and laid them down, then he turned my chair around to face him.
“Gone stand up and follow me outside, homeboy,” Black said as he walked off.
“I don’t know what kind of weird ass shit you on, but don’t fuck around and end up like yo’ baby momma. I bet you ain’theard from her ass, huh? Whatever shit you cooked up in yo’ head, you can dead it. That’s my fiancé, nigga, and the DNA test proved that without a doubt, my son belongs to me. I know yo’ stalked out ass done saw a picture of him, and you know he’s my twin. Do yourself a favor, and don’t get caught around here again or yo’ ass gon’ be missing. Moni done been through enough due to you and yo’ sick ass folks. Leave her the fuck alone, or yo’ son gon’ be motherless and fatherless. Remember what the fuck I said. If I hear you attempted to reach out to her, that’ll be the end for you. Don’t ever bring yo’ bitch ass around here again!” Black said, exposing his gun on his waist.
I smirked without responding and left the shop. He couldn’t say didn’t warn him. All I needed was to be in the same space with Moni, and she would see that I had learned from my mistakes and deserved and second chance. I didn’t even care about the fact that she had a baby with somebody else. We could start fresh and accept everything that came with each other.
I went next door to Moni’s salo,n and as soon as I walked inside, everyone looked at me like they wanted to beat my ass. Carmen was working on a client when I asked if I could have a word with her. She told me that anything I needed to say, I could say in front of her client because she wasn’t about to stop doing her client to talk to a fuck nigga. I thought to myself that Moni didn’t even know what type of hood shit was going on inside her salon while she was gone. When we were together, she never allowed profanity in her place of business, especially in front of clients. It was crazy how at one point, Carmen was team Jakari, and now I was a nothing ass fuck nigga to her.
“What’s up, Carmen? I just wanted to know if you could give Moni a message for me,” I asked.
“No, sir, I can’t. That girl is damn near married. She has a whole family, and if you wanted her, you should’ve done right the first time. I can speak for her when I say, she does not wantyou. Move on and let it go,” Carmen loudly advised, causing the whole shop to laugh.
“You think you funny? You just a miserable, bad built bitch. That’s why don’t nobody want yo’ ass. You can’t speak for her, and when we work our shit out, you gon’ be looking for a new job. Goofy ass!” I said as I left the shop.
I couldn’t stand messy ass, no life, salon gossiping ass hoes. People really had started to forget who I was. I hated that I still had the feds watching me. Trying to be on the up and up had people thinking that shit was sweet and that they could try me. Once I made it home, I poured myself a drink and fired up a blunt at my kitchen table. Diamond had brought me to the point where I had nothing or no one. Her mom had snatched my son, she was MIA, Journei had turned on me, and my brother barely fucked with me anymore. The way Balck was talking today, I would think he had done something to her. If so, I probably wouldn’t even give a fuck. She was gon’ have to pay for my misfortune one way or another.
As I was getting blowed, my phone rang, and it was Keith. We ran it for thirty minutes. He told me how he appreciated me for keeping his books full, but honestly, that was the least I could do. Keith was the most loyal nigga I had ever met. Knowing that he wouldn’t be out to have my back in the streets was all the more reason why it was time for me to get out. To know that he was dying and there wasn’t shit I could do to help or save him made me feel useless as hell. Through it all, he kept his head up and looked on the brighter side of shit.
I leaned my head back on the couch and started to doze off when I got a knock on my front door. I didn’t invite anybody over, so I didn’t know who could be knocking on my shit. One thing I hated was uninvited guests, and I had no intention of letting whoever was at the door inside. As the knocking got louder, I heard a voice that I missed so much.
“Daddy! Open up, it’s me!” JJ said.
I got up and rushed to the door, only for Eva to be standing there with her eyes blood shot red.
“J, I need you to keep JJ for a while. I need to find my girls. I can’t reach either of them, and I know something is not right. I haven’t heard from either of them in almost two months. Taylor has never done this before. Diamond has always been unpredictable, but Taylor would let me worry like this if she was alright. I know that you were in jail, and you couldn’t physically harm either of them, but if you sent a hit on my girls, I swear I’m gonna take your head off myself!” Eva barked.
“I would never do no shit like that. You know me! All I wanted was my son back. To be honest, I don’t give a fuck what happened to your girls. I’m not going out my way to hurt them, but I damn sure don’t care ’bout finding they ass either. Y’all have done nothing but cause bullshit to continue happening in my life. I already filed a missing persons report on JJ while you were ignoring my calls. From now on, you’ll see him when I say so because I could really have you locked up. You have no rights to him,” I spat.
“I got too much on my plate to sit up and argue with your convict ass. Like I said, if you had something to do with my daughters disappearing, you will be handled. As far as my grandson is concerned, I will be back to get him in a few days, as I’ve said. Just so you know, it doesn’t look too good when a nigga facing all that time gets to walk free after doing that little bit of time. Please don’t play with me. I can have you touched with one phone call.” Eva said as she walked up and kissed JJ’s cheek.
I slammed my door, damn near closing her in it. I couldn’t stand her old ass. I finally had a little peace of mind, now that my son was home and safe. JJ told me that he left his iPad in the car, and I called Eva for her to turn around and bring it. Her phone went straight to voicemail and indicated that her messages werefull. I called again, and this time her phone rang. Once she answered, I asked her to bring the iPad back because his little ass couldn’t function without it. Two minutes later, she was back at the door with it.
