“Where your car at? Why you driving that?” I could hear Loco asking Dolo from the foyer of the house.
“It’s at the shop. What you got going on? I’m surprised your little ass up. Soft ass nigga, don’t you got a bedtime?” I could hear Dolo talking shit to my son, as the two of them walked into the kitchen.
“It’s not even 8 yet. How old you think I am? Ion even got a bedtime,” Loco lied, knowing damn well I didn’t play that shit, and that I wanted him, and his siblings in the bed at a decent time.
I wasn’t going to air my son out though. I would allow him to run with the narrative that he didn’t have a bedtime.
“Uzi, what’s good? Why every time I come around, his little ass always up under you? Come here. You gone grow up to be soft as fuck!” Dolo came in, fucking with Mauricio, going for him, pulling his arm, lifting him up in the air.
My son started screaming for Dolo to put him down. Mauricio didn’t fuck with Dolo at all because Dolo was always rough with him, and talking trash to him.
“Dominique, you haven’t been here but one minute. Put my son down before I hurt you,” I said, draining the water out of the sink because I was finished washing the dishes.
“Man, stop all that crying, boy! When I came over here the last time, didn’t I tell you that I didn’t want to see that punk ass crying from you?” Dolo asked my baby, as he held him in the air.
Mauricio had tears running down his face, as he nodded his head up and down, looking like he was heartbroken that Dolo was fuckin with him like this. I walked over, took my baby from his arms, and I pushed Dolo out of the way before I had to fuck around, and hurt his ass.
I wiped the tears from his eyes, and I carried him in my arms, as he laid his head down on my shoulder. The patio door slid back, and Loco walked in with the girls. They saw that Dolo was here, so the girls rushed over to him, giving him a hug, both sporting big smiles on their pretty faces.
Loco kept the patio door open, so that our dogs Brutal, and Sprinkle could run inside the house as well. They took off, each going out front, where I kept two of their beds, and I knew that they were both going to lay down because even my dogs had a bedtime, and they knew that it was nearing.
“What’s up? What’s good with you?” Loco asked, walking over to Dolo.
Looking around, there were some extremely handsome men standing in this kitchen. I felt like Loco’s side had some very strong genes because standing here, looking over at Loco, lil Loco, and Dolo, the three of them shared so many of the same physical traits. Even Mauricio, who was in my arms, looked so much like the men that were in the room.
“Shit. I can’t call it,” Dolo responded, walking around the kitchen counter, so that he could take a seat at the island.
My daughters excused themselves out of the kitchen, letting it be known that they were going to get ready for bed. Zuri and Oakley were little ladies. Zuri, who was fourteen, and Oakley, who was twelve, they took their nighttime routine seriously. They had skin products that were just as costly as mine. With their bedtimes coming up, they went upstairs because they knew that their night routine was going to take a while.
Lil Loco went back to the table, so that he could finish with his dinner. My husband came over to me, so that he could take our son out of my arms, and I thought that he was going to get on me about carrying him around because he was known for doing that, but he didn’t. He took him from me, loved on him, planted kisses on his cheeks, and he sat down on the stool next to Dolo, keeping our son in his lap.
Seeing Loco in daddy mode was so beautiful. He was the father that he promised me he would always be. I remember when I found out that I was pregnant with the twins, and how scared I was. Loco assured me years ago that I would never haveto go through parenthood on my own, and all these years later, I can truly say that he was true to his word. He was a hands-on father, super involved, and very loving towards our children.
These days, I wasn’t sure if there was something in the water that his ass was drinking, but he’s been having baby fever like crazy. He was on me bad about having another baby, and I already knew that if I wasn’t so careful with taking my birth control, that I would have popped up pregnant a long time ago.
“Why that’s the whip you pushing? What happened to your car? I saw it on the camera on my phone when you pulled up,” Loco said to Dolo, as I was spraying down the kitchen counter, preparing to wipe it, so that I could go upstairs.
“Shit, I almost fucked around and died the other night. I got a call from one of my corner boys, telling me that dem 9 boyz was posted up on our block, making serves. You know I got issues with them niggas already. Loco, before I could fully get on the block, niggas went to spraying my shit. My car in the shop. Too many bullets hit it,” hearing Dolo say that to my husband, it caught my attention, making me pause what I was doing, and I walked over to the counter, with the rag still in my hands, folding my arms, wanting to hear the rest of this story.
“You went in on that shit on your own? Why you ain’t take somebody with you?” there was seriousness in Loco’s voice. You could even hear that he was relieved that Dolo was still here, sitting in front of him, alive and telling this story.
“Ay man, I had somebody with me. It was a girl too. I got her running with me. She used to move weight for Gold, but she had to do a little time, and when she came back home, Gold basically told her that he didn’t have a spot at the table for her anymore. I guess he looking at her as a liability or some shit. I gave her an opportunity to get put on with me with, and my crew. The other night, I was just showing her the ropes and shit. When I got that call about dem 9 boyz being on my block, I took her with me, butI’m not thinking that we about to walk into a war zone,” Dolo went on, and then he paused for a little bit.
“She sensed that that shit was a set up from the moment I told her where we were going. She told me we were walking into a trap. Loco, a minute later, we pull up, and them niggas got to spraying. She got down on the floor in the car and went to spraying her shit with me. We took out close to twenty niggas. Just me and her,” Dolo went on, and hearing his story, hearing him say that it was a girl that just got home from jail, that she moved weight for Gold at one point, it made me think of Riot.
“What’s her name?” I jumped in, asking a question before Loco could say anything.
“Nah because you not going to agree with the shit she doing,” he responded, and I sucked my teeth.
“Riot?” I asked him, and when this nigga smirked, I knew that I’d hit the nail right on the head.
“Who the fuck is Riot?” Loco asked, confused.
I would often come home and explain to my husband the eventful days that I had with the program that I was running, but I tried to keep it confidential, so I wouldn’t tell him the girls names. I knew that if I told him their names, he wouldn’t do anything with that information, but still, just out of respect for their privacy, I never told him. I only told him about Tamera and said her name because I knew she wasn’t going to come back after her husband all but dragged her out that morning.
“She’s a part of my program. That’s who you’re talking about?” I asked Dolo again, focusing my attention on him.
“Who? I don’t know a Riot,” his ass responded, looking at me in a way that was nowhere near being convincing.
