Tasha stood up, slowly, and started gathering her bags. The air in the ER felt thinner now as she made her way toward the exit. Every set of eyes she passed felt like a judgment. A silent reminder that for the first time in her career, she’d been the weak link. She finally found her car and fumbled with the keys. Once inside, she just sat there for a beat, head resting on the steering wheel. She picked up her cell to call Juelz, but he didn’t answer. She threw her cell back in her purse and pulled out the lot, the hospital fading behind her. All she wanted was a hot shower and her bed.
Across town, Juelz’s phone kept buzzing on the nightstand, but he didn’t answer. He was in the one place he had no business being.
“Damn, Juelz…you got me so wet for this dick. Umm…shit.”
Shyann’s nails dug into his chest, his eyes rolled into his head as she fucked him, as if she owed him back rent. The room was dark except for the soft flicker of a muted TV and the glow from the city lights leaking through the blinds. Her moans bounced off the walls, but Juelz wasn’t saying a word. His jaw stayed tight. Guilt sat heavy on his chest. He knew this was wrong. Every thrust reminded him of that. But he did it anyway, for Tasha’s sake. Juelz knew how much Tasha loved her nursing license, so when someone threatened to have it taken away, he would do whatever it took to protect her.
“Yes, Juelz. Umm…yessss,” she moaned, looking down at him, biting her bottom lip like she was proud of this moment.
He couldn’t look at her. Couldn’t stand the way she was watching him like this was intimacy.
He felt sick.
He was betraying his peace. His Tasha.
He was there knee deep in some pussy by someone Tasha called her best friend. Juelz grabbed the pillow beside them and threw it over his face, trying to block her out.
“Shut the fuck up, already. You doin’ the most. My dick just as soft as it was when I was born. All that back and forth shit you doin’ bout to give a nigga carpet burn.”
She laughed, moving the pillow of his face. “Whatever. This the best pussy you ever had.”
That did it.
Juelz pushed her off, getting up fast as if her skin were on fire. “Nah,” he said flatly. “My girl pussy is the best I ever had. Yours?” He shook his head, disgust clear on his face. “Don’t even make my dick hard. Don’t ever get that shit twisted.”
She rolled onto her side, unbothered, lips still curled in a satisfied smile. “Mm-mm,” she said. “Same time next week, nigga.”
He didn’t answer.
He was already gone in his head. Juelz yanked the dry condom off his soft penis and pulled his jeans back up. He refused to look at her. He couldn’t believe she was doing this to his girl. Her supposed to bebest friend.
Shyann had always watched him from the side. Not obvious. Not thirsty. Just enough to clock everything.
The way he touched Tasha like she was fragile and powerful at the same time. The way he showed up for her and the way he chose her.
That shit ate at Shyann. Because no matter how many niggas she had around her, nobody ever loved her like that. Nobody ever looked at her like home. So when she got close to Tasha, it wasn’t random. It was strategy.
One night, while Tasha was sick and barely holding herself together, Shyann's cousin Kenya, who works at the hospital, saw something she wasn’t supposed to.
A slip-up.
A bad decision.
A moment of desperation.
Tasha, hurting and out of options, took meds she wasn’t cleared for.
Kenya caught the whole thing on video and, without hesitation, sent it straight to Shyann's messy ass. So, when Shyann caught Juelz on his way in the house while she was waiting for Tasha to come out, she made her move.
“Hey, Juelz. Com’ mere for a sec,” she called, leaning out the window.
“Whaddup with chu?” said Juelz.
“Take a look at this video.” Shyann let it play.
His whole face changed.
“So what the fuck you showin’ me that shit for, Shyann?”
