Maximum Badonkadonk Ch. 04

"Oh, looks like she went in on you, huh?" My face was an open book.

"Where's the shirt?"

"She tell you not to talk to me; are my dick privileges revoked?" This was a little more snark than I was used to from Yoli. I sat down in the stairwell adjacent to her door. Yoli joined me lighting a cigarette which I didn't mind in the least.

"No, but I wish she hadn't caught you wearing that shirt."

"I don't feel like saying I'm sorry this time. I'm not apologizing for not wanting to walk the streets naked. Left my frigging coat in the uber, wanted some smokes and a few beers to take the edge off. Honestly, I thought she was gonna make me get naked right on the spot."

"Nah, she decided to give me the business instead."

"I figured; must've really been bad from the look of things. Guess she's on that grey rock shit, now."

"Grey rock?"

"Oh yeah, she's brutal with that. I remember when I first started working there; she was kind of dating this pretty boy with a five figure job who thought way too highly of himself. She went through his phone and found out he was on Tinder; mind fucked the shit out of him until he begged her to dump him, and you know what she told him?"

"What?"

"Nothing; just stared at him and didn't do shit. The poor guy was sending flowers to the salon for two months before he got the courage to fade away. Better watch yourself, she'll make you crazy if you let her."

"Shit."

"Every now and then in the old days, we'd all get a kick out of her drama. There were always guys coming in and out of there crying like babies, showering her with gifts to get nothing in return. What're you gonna do when she starts turning the screws in your head?" I sat there listening, chewing on my thumbnail.

"Nothing, thanks."

"For what?"

"The bandage for my ego." I glanced over finding that Yoli was a few sheets to the wind. It looked like she'd made a day out of drinking and smoking, But I still kissed her on the cheek anyway. This brought a smile to her face.

"Eh, we should stop doing it for a little while until she forgets about me. Renee's never gonna forgive me for everything I've done, and neither is Rashida." Before I could inquire, Yoli got up retrieving the perfectly laundered and folded shirt belonging to my cousin.

"Thanks Yoli."

"You can thank me whenever we hook up again; I wanna walk funny the next day, okay?"

"Shut up." We kissed a little more starting to make out before she pulled away smiling. I stayed there until she softly closed the door in my face.

My mood darkened as I crossed the street to the salon. I could see there was a full house of customers alternately being serviced and hanging out. I resolved to go the pulling the band aid route handling the door only to find it locked. I tried it a few times focusing solely on the handle before looking up finding the women inside staring pensively at me.

Rashida was presently applying extensions to some middle aged woman watching a movie on a wall mounted monitor paying me no mind whatsoever. Renee however was standing behind her customer as I noticed her motioning for me to go around the back. We exchanged glances through the glass window in the door for a few seconds before I angrily trudged around the side of the building.

"I'M HERE!!" I was shaking by the time I reached the top of the stairs convinced Jaquan was waiting with a loaded fist to knock me out again. I didn't want any subterfuge at this point considering throwing hands with him as a proxy for Renee's egregious shitty behavior.

"Hey cuz, come on in and have a seat; I'll be finished in a minute." Jaquan was standing at the kitchen counter cutting up some fruit on a chop board.

Jaquan didn't pay me any mind, focused on his work while noise from some children's show blasted through the house. Even though I hadn't seen her upon entering the back door, Little Daisy Kelly was obviously present. Jaquan was wearing this white collared Polo t-shirt, a beige pair of slacks and white adidas matching esteemed baby mama number two. I looked at the laundered folded shirt in my hands regarding him.

"Hey man, I had Yoli over last night and she wore one of your shirts when she left." Jaquan dropped the knife whipping his head in my direction. Before I could react he was on me in a second clamping a hand over my mouth. I raised a fist nervously ready to fight back.

"Hey, my little girl is right there in her room; hold up." He was half whispering gingerly letting go of me. He backed cautiously over to the cracked door of Daisy's room peering inside. I felt like an idiot as he pulled the door up palming the back of his head with a smile.

"Uh, sorry."

"It's cool, she's taking a nap right now. That's why the television is up so loud; it's the only way I can get her down for a nap. Hey man, Renee already told me about that a little while ago."

"So you're not gonna beat me up?" Jaquan chuckled going back to what he was doing at the chopping board. There was a food processor next to the board.

"Come on, we're past all that noise; have a seat and I'll make you a smoothie." I sat pensively at the edge of the table closest to the back door watching as he opened Renee's fridge removing a vat of plain yogurt.

"Renee was mad at me; I thought she wanted you to dot my eye."

"Aw that's not fair; she doesn't care about who you sleep with; maybe, you guys should talk and hug it out." He was surprisingly easygoing blending the fruit and yogurt as I found my camera bag on the table.

"Where's my cousin?" Jaquan laughed pouring the fruity concoction into a large plastic tumbler.

"Chill, I like to cook alright? Got a left over calzone from last night's dinner; you wanna hit it, or would you like me to make you something else?" He placed the large cup in front of me waiting for an answer.

"Where the hell is my cousin?"

"No calzone?"

"No, uhm yeah I'll take it." Jaquan laughed in a way I'd never heard.

He fished the Italian treat from the fridge microwaving it as I realized the difference in his normal demeanor and now. Most of the time, he was pensive nervous looking over his shoulder for Renee while doing his dirt. I started tearing into the impromptu meal as he took a seat watching. He was really into the whole house husband thing bringing all sorts of unasked questions to the fore.

"Hey, so when you and Yoli gonna jump the broom; seems like you, uh like her?" He was even measuring his words.

"It's just physical, know what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, I hear you; I remember those days. Honestly, I don't miss them too much; got my little girl to look after and there's always tomorrow." I was puzzled.

"Are you back with Renee?"

"No, not at all; I'm just trying something a little different." I stopped stuffing my face giving him the once over.

"No serious, what's going on Jaquan?"

"Just hanging out with the girls; doing what little I'm actually good at, you know? Daisy's happy and we've already told her that I'm just visiting. Just reminded me, I've gotta pick up the living room; kid likes to dump all her toys everywhere."

"What about Renee; she want you back, or not?"

"I don't know and I'm not asking; we've slept together two times since I've been over but I ain't pushing nothing. She knows how I feel and its really her decision in the long run. I'm just thankful for our bundle of joy. You know I really don't have a good relationship with my other kids. I'm just glad for the chance to be a father."

"Jaquan?"

"What?"

"Maybe she's uhm, messing with your head." I expected him to blow up, but Jaquan rolled his shoulders before weakly smirking.

"It's cool; we're grown people here cuz. Renee can do whatever she wants and neither one of us has any business telling her otherwise. Hell, she could sleep with a guy, fuck a guy right now while we're talking, and I can't say shit about it. I wouldn't dare after everything I put her through over the years."

"But how would you feel about that; how would you feel if she did screw someone else?"

"None of your business and you better not let her hear you talking shit. She might not return your laptop and then you'd have to keep shooting all those big butts on your crappy equipment."

"SHE TOLD YOU ABOUT THAT?!" Jaquan clapped a hand over my mouth for the second time quieting me.

"Don't wake up my girl; and yeah I know what you guys have been doing. We don't have any secrets. Heck, if I wasn't stepping out with Akemi, none of this stuff would've even happened. Guess you got lucky with my old lady and her friends; watch out for Mintzy though. She's been uh, trying to visit since she found out I was crashing here."

"Hundred miles and running, way ahead of you, Jaquan. Man, she rolled up on me in the bathroom one time. If it wasn't for her shitty kid, I would've bust her down to the white meat. Hey, you know about Mintzy, about Rashida, too?"

"Man I told you we ain't got no secrets; watched a few of your flicks after we put Daisy to bed the other night. Renee put her hands in my sweats saying she wanted to see if I liked watching my cousin getting wet. I thought she was doing one of those shit tests, but we ended up getting it in all night. Heck, we was doing it for half the day after Daisy got packed off to school."

"Too much information."

"Sorry, but you know what you're doing. That stuff looks professional, so you need to get along with Renee cause she got all your girls. What would you do with no supply, she basically gave you an upgrade and thanks, for not making one of those with my esteemed baby mamma number two. Then I really would have to dot that eye for you cuz."

"Damn Jaquan, I can't get over how much you've changed."

"Man, I just take it one day at a time; gotta keep things in perspective for my little girl. You know I even shredded my social media and got a new phone. Renee didn't care about that even when I smashed my old sim card with a hammer. She said I was free to sleep with whoever I liked and meant it. That hurt like a motherfucker because I thought I was making some grand gesture. Even slept on the couch until she came in with your skin flicks."

"What if she doesn't want you back, like that?"

"I'll deal with it; but I just want Daisy to have a father she can be proud of; know what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, I get it." Jaquan sat there silent, pondering something outside of our conversation.

"Speaking of uh, this new look; Akemi came over the other night. She was looking for you and I don't think she got the memo."

"Oh, she's crazy like that; my bad on that situation. That girl is a princess so you'd better watch out because she might pop up. Akemi didn't take to well to being let go; she said it wasn't over because we slept together. I hung up, blocked her while she was calling me all kinds of "NEE-GAAAS" when she wasn't referring to me as an Akata. She acted like she was doing me this grand gesture sleeping with me."

"She slapped me." Jaquan chuckled as I finished the rest of the calzone.

"Surprised you didn't screw her."

"Stop it; besides, I don't want another two piece from you besides Renee busting my balls about it."

"I don't care about Akemi; I was just hitting that."

"Sure you've changed, not gonna miss that chocolate bubble?"

"Even if I did, Renee wouldn't care; the only thing between us is little Daisy Kelly. Both of us are adults, she can see whoever she wants. I don't have a say in any of that noise and I don't want to either. Excuse me, I gotta pick up the living room."

The raw emotion and sorrow in his voice spoke to his true feelings. Jaquan had the courtesy to fill my tumbler with the remaining smoothie before shuffling off to the living room.

I sat there at the kitchen table peering down the corridor that led to the living room. Some of the toddler's toys were strewn about the floor leading to the main room. There was no doubt Renee hadn't told him everything about our relationship and now I was watching my cousin dutifully cleaning like some indentured house husband. There was nothing wrong with it, but something felt off.

Jaquan was behaving drastically different juxtaposed with Renee's own changed demeanor. I thought about her attitude towards me since that first night I'd discovered them going out for the evening. I thought about the intensity of our last few exchanges as I sat there staring at my camera bag. My phone started ringing at that second on a dime.

"Yeah?" It was Renee.

"Come down to the break room; I have some time for you now." She hung up abruptly sparking my ire as I glanced at the cameras bag containing the things she'd purchased for me along with my original laptop and cameras.

I felt overly anxious looking down the corridor watching Jaquan using one of those carpet brooms to give Renee's plush rug a good cleaning. I thought about the many times I'd used that rug for Rashida Sikes, eventually fucking her on it for an inaugural scene on the new sight.

This led to thoughts of all of the casual acquaintances that included herself as my gaze traveled around the apartment. Finally I found myself looking at my cousin taking piles of laundry into a room that I'd also had sex in with Mintzy. I snatched up my camera bag happy to leave him alone feeling like an intruder.

"Having second thoughts?" Renee was waiting in the breakroom off to the side of the door as I walked inside. She was standing there with her phone looking like she'd been texting.

"Not exactly." I pulled out a chair sitting at the table.

"It's been five minutes; getting it out of your system, huh?" She challenged still standing at the counter watching pensively.

"About to, Ms. Kelly." I unzipped the bag removing the new laptop she'd given me and the additional camera equipment before removing my own separating it into two piles. Renee walked over to the table taking stock of what I'd done.

"What's this?"

"Me being responsible for myself; I'm gonna do things my own way." Renee leaned against the table looking at me with a furrowed brow. I opened my laptop switching it on to begin a transfer of information back to my original.

"So you're quitting because I got under your skin; tucking your tail over hard love?"

"I'm not quitting but you've shown me that I really do need to earn your respect, if not this laptop. I'm gonna do what you asked, but I'm not good with this passive aggressive shit and by the way, you've been making me really uncomfortable. I'm not gonna try to figure that out, I know better."

"So you're admitting that I intimidate you?"

"No, you're admitting that you like feeling superior to everyone around you." Renee used her pointer finger to direct my gaze to her face. I didn't try to hide the emotion roiling around in my psyche.

"I hurt your feelings, huh?"

"You know; why do you need me to say it?" I countered pensively.

Renee glanced over at the things she'd purchased initially as a reward for me. I didn't want to part with the stuff, but it had shortly become a noose I didn't want around my neck. I began transferring files between laptops as Renee went back to texting without a word. I worked at not looking in her direction not knowing if I should leave when I was done. Renee walked by into the salon for a few minutes before returning. I didn't follow her with my eyes.

"Hey, do you have to watch that, or is it gonna finish up on its own?" She returned seconds later.

"It's pretty much automatic."

"Will you come with me, or are you too butthurt to do even that?" I pushed back from the table methodically facing Renee Kelly, esteemed baby mama number two.

The impassive expression on her face made me bristle inside.

She was holding the rear screen door open for me but walked ahead at the last second. I found myself trailing her into the backyard and the stairs leading back up to her apartment. Renee stopped midway right below her floor sitting on the step facing me with her phone between her thighs. She averted her gaze looking at my feet for a few seconds before motioning that she wanted me to sit beside her. I reluctantly took a seat beside Renee unwilling to look her in the face when she started speaking.

"I'm just a person; a human being like anybody else. The problem is that people treat me differently because of the way I look. For the longest time I did everything I could to be one of the girls, but that shit wasn't happening. I was always that "light bright bitch" to my sisters. All the boys didn't make it any easier trying to get into my pants twenty four seven. So, I decided not to fuck with anybody not on my perceived level until I met your cousin. I'm really grateful to him for one reason."

"What's that?"

"He made me feel like one of those neighborhood girls I wanted so badly to be a part of, back in the day. After he got what he wanted, Jaquan treated me like a jump off, until I woke up one day with that nigga beside me and looked in the mirror. At that moment, I realized he was just another one of those niggas trying to get into my pants twenty four seven. I was so mad about it, mainly because he wasn't treating me the way I felt I deserved. I was just a baby mamma. I guess he got wise or something because now I'm special again. Do you know when that was?"

"When?"

"Two days ago my friend; it's so liberating having a guy cry into your pussy while confessing everything. I felt like the fucking pope or something."

"Renee, why are you telling me this shit?" She nudged closer taking my right thumb in her fist gently squeezing it.

"You didn't lie to me when I asked about Yoli; passed my lie detector test man. I'm grateful to you for that bit of honesty, but I have to be honest too. You pissed me off by fucking her as a proxy for me. I didn't want you sleeping with her after she screwed my uh, baby's daddy. You keep fucking that yellow bitch, even though I got you with Rashida." Her raw honesty made things instantly awkward between us.

"At first I didn't want her to think she hurt me; so I fucked her to get that across. Really I was doing it to make myself feel better. I shouldn't even have been mad, we aren't dating. It's weird because she was acting pissed about me being with Rashida this morning."

"You told her what we're doing?!"

"No, Rashida was blowing up my phone earlier and she picked it up noticing who was calling. She got twisted about it, even though she knew about me being with other people beforehand. I feel like a hypocrite just talking about this."

"Don't, Yoli and Rashida had heat on the down low; when I first hired her they clashed and Yoli thought I was in her camp running my girl down. I told her where to go with that shit, but Rashida started bullying her until I stepped up offering both of them the unemployment line."

"Makes sense, now." Renee fished around in her pocket producing a key chain standing up.

"Come on."

Instead of continuing onward to her apartment, Renee unlocked an adjacent door opening up the apartment directly under hers motioning me inside. A fresh paint odor stringently assailed my nostrils as I cautiously peered inside. I went in finding a sparse replica of her place sans complete furnishings. There was nothing but a table in the functional kitchen. I found some used cans of paint and a garbage can full of used takeout. Renee followed me inside pulling he door up hitting a bank of light switches illuminating the living room at the end of the corridor.

"What's this about?"

"Go take a look around." She leaned against the door motioning for me to continue.

There were some differences with doors placed differently due to apartment positioning. There was a large, tufted ottoman in the living room along with a few folding chairs. I noticed a small television on a milk crate before checking out the bedroom witch had a plain bed devoid of sheets and bedding. I turned around finding Renee leaning into the closing door. I immediately knew I didn't want to be there with her moving towards the door.