Page 24 of Maybe I’m the Problem

“Lj, I don’t know if I feel safe letting you do that. You still in therapy and shit.”

“That muthafucka tried to kill me. I’mma pull that trigger.”

“I’ght. I’m not going to argue with you bruh. I’ll be right there though to pick up your light weight.”

“I talk to sis yesterday. Her stomach ain’t showing but she look fat in the face.”

“Fuck her.”

“Oh, you fucking a new bitch and now it’s fuck Summer?” He laughed. “You ain’t fooling me. I know as soon as she starting getting big and you go to the doctor she gon’ be your girl again. Y’all are made for each other and everybody knows that.”

I listened to him as my phone went off in my pocket. I pulled out to see if it was something going on in the house.

“Your new bitch?”

“Hell nah. It’s Summer ass. I should ignore her ass like she been doing me for the past two damn months.”

“Yea, Pinkie got you acting crazy. You need to leave her ass alone, too, if you know you going to get back with Summer. We both know Summer will fight a bitch quick.”

“I’m not on Pinkie ass like that. We fuck, and that’s it. We don’t talk on the phone or none of that shit. She understands her position and that’s rare.”

“As your family, by the time this shit over with, you’re going to hurt one of them. I hear what you saying about Pinkie and all but I’m sure when Summer starts confronting her it will get ugly.”

“When that times comes, I’ll handle it. I’m not with Summer and I ain’t with Pinkie. Damn, let a nigga get his dick sucked with no strings attached.”

“Don’t say I didn’t tell your ass.”

I read the text from Summer asking me to come to her place, but I didn’t respond. Being around her right now would only throw me off. I still loved her but I needed a moment and she did too. All I wanted to do was make sure she carried my child the whole pregnancy and she was healthy and if us not being together was going to make that happen, I was down.

“There he go!” Lj caught my attention.

“He staggering so his ass either drunk or high as hell. Let’s follow to see if we can catch him slipping.”

He didn’t even pay attention as he rode right past us. Starting the car, I followed behind him as he drove to where I assumed was home. We had to get him before he got home. Lj and I couldn’t take the chance of a witness seeing us so I waited until we got a stretch where there was no traffic and I sped up to cut him off. He tapped the driver side door slightly.

Lj was out the car before I could get in park and shut the lights off. We needed a clean shot so we could get the fuck out of there. Without me pulling my gun out, Lj walked up to the driver side and emptied his clip. Out of the both of us, Lj was the savage so I was surprised but the nigga only had one hand.

“Let’s go nigga,” he walked back to the passenger side and got in.

18. SUMMER

I lit a few candles and tried to get over the fact that I was bitter as hell. Let me explain. Law wasn’t answering any of my text messages or calls. Rumor around town fucking Pinkie on the regular. Not that I was shocked. He slept with her in the club that night but I thought we were better than that. Pinkie was beautiful, but the bitch was old; what the fuck she wanted with Law? Lately, I’d been stalking them but I could never find them out together so I let it die down.

Since I was back home, I hadn’t told anyone I was pregnant besides the ones close to me. Today, I was about to post my sonogram pictures and videos of the heart beats of the baby. It was my way of letting my clients know my reason for hiding and not opening for business. It wasn’t their business what I had going, but it would relieve some questions.

A few clients hit me up and asked for appointments, and I accepted because I could use some money. My spot was small, but when you’re a business owner, you make adjustments. I could still go to my mama’s basement but I just wanted to do things on my own. After writing down the few appointments I made, I got out of bed and took a shower. Lately, the baby that was growing inside of me had me drained, so all I did was sleep and go grab something to eat.

Nobody told me it was going to be this hard. In the mornings, I was throwing up and at night, I was so exhausted that I would skip eating just to get some sleep. Even a simple shower would drain my energy. With my towel still wrapped around me, I went to the kitchen to fix a bowl of Fruity Pebbles since that’s what I could keep down when my doorbell rang.

Law was the last person I thought would show the hell up at my doorstep. Shit between us wasn’t the best. He ignored me, and I ignored him so it was hard to communicate. That’s what happens when two strong-willed people fucked with each other.

“What you doing here?” I asked, leaning my head on the door.

“I brought you some junk food, and I wanted to talk.” He showed me the bags in his hand. I stepped aside to let him in. “Why the hell you move in this small ass place knowing you got a baby on the way?”

“It’s enough space for us. Don’t come in here with the shits. I’m tired, and I’m hungry.”

“I didn’t come to argue. All I came to say was it’s time for us to move on from the childish ass playing on the phone and shit. We got a kid on the way that needs us to act like adults. Can we at least do that?”