"And she's the bad bitch that he wants to be," PJ interrupted. "Teddy's jealous, and it's sad that a man is jealous of his woman, but he is. When you were hurt, he was happy. He changed whenyou started coaching and getting all this extra attention because you are a young, Black head coach, and your team is the shit. Teddy now has to sit back and watch the world applaud his girl, and instead of being her biggest fan and her main support system, he does dumb shit like stay in bed when you need him or is seen with other females while you're away, or make you feel like shit when you come home with good news. He's just not it, sis.”
“I've asked you over and over what makes you stay with him, and the only thing you can say is that you guys have history and have been together since high school. It's cute and all but you can meet a new guy, and in the first five seconds of talking to him, he can make you feel like you matter more than anything, and the only thing he is doing is listening. Something that the guy with all this history never does for you. You deserve better, but I love you, so I'm rocking with whatever and whoever you are with, so I'll keep my comments to myself about Teddy," PJ finished.
"Tuh, you just gave sis every reason under the sun to leave that man, and now you want to keep your comments to yourself," Naomi interjected.
"Right," I agreed with Naomi.
We all laughed because that was just PJ getting started, and most of the reason she said less was that, again, once she got started, she let it all out.
"Well, as long as she knows I'm not the one trying to break them up. I'm just the one who is trying to get her third eye to open and see that the man she's with gives me snake vibes." Shrugging her shoulders, PJ sat back in her seat just as we turned on my street.
I couldn't do shit but shake my head at how my car was pulling out of the driveway as we parked in the front. Teddy didn't even bother to stop once he saw me getting out of the car.
"Damn shame," Naomi mumbled. "We'll see you at eleven-thirty, and you better not call his ass either 'cause he's full of shit right now. Teddy expected you to be gone when he left so you wouldn't know that his jobless ass is leaving the house at six-thirty in the morning in yo' shit."
"But couldn't bring his ass to the hospital," PJ chimed in.
Exhaling, I closed the car door and headed inside. I was tired and didn't even have the energy to deal with Teddy. After the last fight we had, I stopped worrying about what he had going on. The only thing I wanted was for him to act like he cared, especially since he was still in my home. Out of the four years we had been together, I was always good to him. All I wanted was the same respect. That was too much for Teddy, though.
BROOKLYN
"You are really full of shit, Brooklyn. I've been nothing but loyal to you, and you up here grinning in a bitch face at my damn job. Do you know how goofy that makes me look?"
"The only goofy is this fucking argument. I told yo' ass what it was from the start. You pushing this shit, hoping and praying I change my mind. I'm not, though. If you can't accept that we ain't doing shit but fuckin', then move around, Emily. Find you a nigga that wants what you want. I ain't him."
Giggles came from behind us as two nurses stood and listened to us.
"This is exactly what I'm talking about right there. You got these bitches laughing at me," she fumed.
"Emily, you started this shit. You could've taken your food and kept moving because you already know that I don't give a fuck about what they think about me, shit, or what they think about you."
"Baby, please, let's just go outside to talk," she begged.
"I can't. I gotta get back to the studio. I only stopped this because you said you were hungry and forgot your lunch at home."
"She's lying. Her ass just ate what she had in her lunch bag right before you showed up," the ghetto-looking ass nurse joined in like someone was talking to her.
"Did I yank yo' chain?" I looked over my shoulder and asked her.
"No, I'on even know what that means."
"It means when I pull yo' chain, then you bark, bitch. Until then, take yo' stank ass on."
Emily giggled but wasn't shit funny.
"You can go too. Don't ever call me no more for shit. I told you I was in the studio and needed to wrap up because I was pushing for a deadline. Instead of respecting that, you lied to me, knowing I ain't 'bout to let nobody go hungry, but you had food, Emily. This wasted my time," I fumed.
"Nah, that bitch you was up here talkin' to wasted yo' time. You weren't acting pressed for time then, so why now?" she sassed.
Not replying, I walked off and headed toward the elevator. If this conversation wasn't giving my time back to me or putting money in my pocket, I was done with it.
CHAPTER 11
NAOMI
Some Weeks Later…
So far, the season was going well. We'd only suffered two losses thus far—one to New York Stars, PJ's old team. That loss was a doozy because the Stars fans dogged us the whole game.
