Just like my brother was my protector, I was his. He never let me put my hands on Tiana off the strength of her being the mother of his child, but everyone else was fair game.
“Well, damn. I guess I’ll just keep fantasizing about him in my dreams and leave it at that.” Kiara snickered.
My phone buzzed, reminding me that I had forgotten to silence my notifications. When I read the message Essex sent me, my heart fluttered, and my coochie thumped. Even the simplest gestures from him made me melt.
Zaddy E: I already paid for you and my little mama to get your nails and shit done. I left a tip too, so save your money.
Me: Thank you, baby. I appreciate you.
Zaddy E: No thanks needed. Only princess treatment for my girls. Let me know if you need anything. I love you.
Me: I love you more.
Zaddy E: That’s impossible, shorty.
I knew my cheeks were red because I could feel the heat.
“Girl, put that damn phone down. I swear you act like you can’t breathe without that nigga,” Valor spat.
She hadn’t said much since we got here, but I figured it was because she had gotten into it with a couple bitches online. Summyah and I kept telling her to ignore the shady posts and comments, but she loved being messy. Her and Logic’s ex, or whatever she was, had been beefing online for a while, and it was embarrassing.
They were going back and forth, posting pictures of themselves with him. He never openly claimed or acknowledged any of them, but it didn’t stop them from fighting. A few other girls had inboxed her threatening to beat her ass, and that only seemed to fuel her more. I tried to advise her on how to move, but she never listened, so I was trying my best to stay out of things going forward.
“You’re being dramatic. All I did was respond to a text my man sent me. You’re acting like I pulled out my phone and FaceTimed him at the table. It’s not that deep.” I scoffed. Her sour ass mood was not about to ruin my day.
She sneered. “I’m not being dramatic. I just find it funny that he’s all up your ass like he wasn’t dry humping the next bitch at the club. You’re a better one than me.”
I wanted to cuss her ass out, but I decided to take a different approach.
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing you aren’t in my shoes. At the end of the day, that’s my man, and I’ll handle him the way I see fit. When I spoke to East, he explained what happened, and he apologized for the way things looked. I’ve been around East long enough to know when he’s being sincere and when he’s on some fuck shit, and I believe him.”
I’d admit when she first sent me the pictures and video, I wanted to go upside his head, but then when I took a closer look, I noticed East pushing her hand away and creating distance between the two. He used to fuck with Bianca heavily before we made things official, so I couldn’t be upset with him talking to her because they didn’t have any beef. As long as he respected our relationship, I would do my best to trust him.
“Yeah, you’re right. I would never take the word of a nigga who is a known hoe. He probably let that bitch suck his dick as soon as he left the club.”
The bitterness in Valor’s tone caught me off guard. You would have thought he cheated on her or something.
“Aye, that’s her business and her relationship. Personally, I probably would have gone up there and beat both of their asses, but if Lyric says she trusts her man, then that’s what it is,” Kiara reasoned.
“I agree with Ki. East loves the fuck out of Lyric, and he takes care of her and Symphonee. Unlike Logic, I’ve never seen him caught up in any real mess, and I don’t think he would do anything to hurt her,” Summyah added.
“Y’all are crazy. A nigga is gonna be a nigga at the end of the day. I’m not saying that he’s fucking every bitch he sees, but there’s a reason that bitch won’t let go. He’s probably telling her what she wants to hear, the same way he’s doing to Lyric. I’m sorry, but I’m not buying the perfect boyfriend role he’s putting on right now. East is a street nigga, and ain’t none of those niggas worth shit. I know because I had my fair share of them,” Valor stated.
While I understood where she was coming from, I disagreed. East wasn’t like any of the street niggas I’d ever encountered. He wasn’t flashy or boisterous. He was extremely closed off and private with his life, and he never seemed easily impressed bymuch. That wasn’t to say he was perfect, only that he carried himself differently.
“You might be right, but until he actually does some fraud shit, we can’t judge him off of what the next mothafucka does. As friends, we can have our opinions, but it’s not our place to judge. Hell, I’ve been through my fair share of fuck niggas, so I can’t point the finger at anybody. Let Lyric live her life the way she wants. Our only job is to be here if and when she needs us,” Kiara reasoned.
“Exactly,” Summyah co-signed.
“Of course, you think that way. Your baby daddy was running through bitches like he was in a competition. I’m surprised your coochie didn’t turn green from the way he was passing out dick.”
Valor threw shade toward Kiara, causing the whole table to glance her way. We talked shit to one another, but she had taken it to another level.
“Well, damn, bitch. Tell me how you really feel. I think it’s crazy that you can sit here with your ass on your shoulders as if you haven’t been through shit. Did you forget I was the bitch who drove you to the clinic when Jaceon burned your ass? Or how about the many bitches I helped you fight when DJ kept cheating on you? I don’t know where you got this high and mighty attitude, but you need to come back to reality,” Kiara shot back.
Summyah and I looked back and forth between the two of them in shock. I never expected our conversation to go left the way it had.
“You know what? I’ma leave it alone before I take it too far. Lyric, I apologize if I offended you. It wasn’t my intention to come off as judgmental. I just don’t want to see you get hurt. The worst thing you can do is put all of your eggs in one basket, because if I know nothing else about niggas, it’s that they will disappoint you every time.”