In My Feelings Over His Hood Love Read online

  “Monte, if you don’t like my rules, you can get out of my motherfucking house. But what you won’t do is disrespect me,” my mother yelled. I shook my head. I took out my ear buds, since they obviously weren’t doing the trick. I hopped out the bed and threw on a some capri joggers and a white v-neck. My hair was in box braids in a bun on top of my head, so I just walked downstairs to put some shoes on.

  “Do you understand me, Monte?” My mother spat.

  “Excuse me, Mom, can I go over to Yani’s?” I asked.

  “Don’t you see me talking, Tejha? Bye, I don’t care, be back by eight,” she spat. It was going on six so, I would be back before then. But you would think my mom wouldn’t want her daughter walking through this neighborhood by herself, right? No, I was practically fucking invisible, my mother didn’t care what I did. As long as I wasn’t out here being a hoe and smoking crack, she didn’t pay me no attention. Hell, one semester, I even let my grades drop on purpose to see if she noticed, but she didn’t. It was okay though, I couldn’t wait to fucking move out of this house. If I ever had kids, I promised to treat them better than I was brought up. My dad only came around when he wanted to fool around with my mother, and her dumb ass would let him, knowing he was going to go right back to his wife. I kept strolling, minding my own business, walking the two blocks to Yani’s mother’s house.

  Kaiyani was my best friend since diapers. She was more like the sister I never had, honestly. We were in the same grade and everything. We met in fifth grade and been thick as thieves since. We kind of had the same upbringing, sort of, she was the only child. Momma Gibbs was something different though, she was an alcoholic that kept her legs wide open for any man that would buy her a beer. She was, no doubt about it, a good mother when she was sober, but when she got them beers in her, it was a party, damn near every night at her house.

  For instance, the four cars in the driveway right now. I could smell the cigarettes and liquor as the music blared with me walking in the front door. I walked in, and as usual, Momma Gibbs was laughing loudly with a beer in one hand and the other holding her cigarette. But she quickly noticed me.

  “Oh, there’s my black beauty. Hey, daughter,” she hugged me tightly.

  “Hey, Momma Gibbs, where Yani?” I asked.

  “Now you know she in her room, doing something to that nappy head of hers. Gon’ up there, I see you slimming up, go head, Tejha boo,” she gassed me up. Every time she saw me, she was gassing me up, telling me how beautiful I was, I blushed every time. I knocked four times, paused, and then did two more knocks. She quickly unlocked the door.

  “Hey, sis,” Yani had some long curly hair in her head she was sewing in.

  “Hey, pooh, I like it. But the curls are too tight,” I told her, plopping on her bed.

  “I know, which is why I’m gone comb them out,” she told me. I nodded.

  You ask any person aside from our mothers, Yani was quiet, sweet as pie, beautiful, intelligent, little delicate flower. All of it was true, but she had a mean streak as well. She was a shade lighter than me, beautiful smile, spirit and had some light-colored brown eyes. We were both thicker than most, but I had more boobs than her. Yani was quiet, cause she was honestly crazy as fuck, and I loved her for that. I saw it first hand when she tried to bash this girl’s head that kept picking on her, head through the concrete, I loved my Kaiyani. Wouldn’t trade for the world, we had goals, and weren’t going to stop until we reached them.

  “So, I was in my fourth hour today, and over heard Tae Tae, the captain of the varsity basketball team, say that he wanted you,” she started.

  “Wait, what?” I asked, frowning my face up.

  “Exactly, so you know me, just listening. All the guys started agreeing, talking about you had a big booty and some big titties, and Tae Tae was like yeah, I’m trying to smash. So now you hip,” she told me, combing out her curls. I giggled and nodded. That was another benefit of mine, Kaiyani had quite a few classes with some of the athletes, hoes, and all of that. They had no problem spilling the tea in front of her, cause she was so quiet, and they thought she was a nobody basically. We knew everybody’s secrets, it was actually comical.

  “Well, I guess I know now. I’m starving. Wanna walk to Burger King?” I asked her.

  “It’s some bbq downstairs, fresh off the grill,” she started. I hopped up so quick.

  “Did Momma make her potato salad too?” I asked. She started cracking up.

  “Yes, girl, bring me a plate too,” she stressed. I nodded and walked down there. I was in heaven, the rib tips, hamburgers, sides. I made my plate and grabbed two orange Fanta’s before heading back upstairs. We sat there and ate, chilling and talking. Her hair turned out pretty as hell, as usual. She needed help with her calculus homework, so I ended up explaining it to her before I left. By the time I went to walk home, it was dark as hell, and going on nine.

  “You might as well stay the night, I don’t want you walking home this late,” Yani frowned.

  “Girl, it’s still some sunlight. I’ll be fine, I’ll call you as soon as I get home,” I told her. She shook her head and walked me to the corner. I was a block away, when I decided to stop at the store and grab me some green apple now and laters. When I walked in, I instantly regretted it, it was a group of dudes standing outside the store. Walking inside, grabbing four packs of candy, I paid for it with my dollar and walked out. I kept my head down, but before I could make it, some guy leaned against a Charger, grabbed my hand, stopping me in my tracks.

  “What’s yo name, shorty?” He asked. Looking into his light brown eyes, my stomach fluttered. He was beautiful, he was caramel complexion, and slightly taller than me. I could see the muscles protruding through his shirt. I was nervous as hell, I’ve never had this type of attention, the way he was staring at me.

  “Mon, Montejha,” I stammered.

  “I’m Oden. What you doing walking around this late, girl?” He asked.

  “I’m actually heading home right now,” I shyly told him.

  “How about I give you a ride?” He offered.

  “No, thank you. But I really gotta get home,” I told him, trying to break away.

  “Well, I’ll walk with you then,” he stated.

  “No, seriously, I’m good. I don’t know you, and I don’t need you following me home,” I frowned. He chuckled.

  “It’s cool. I just want to protect you, beautiful. It’s late, it’s creeper’s out here. Just want to make sure you get home safe and sound, that’s all,” he smiled. After internally battling, I decided to let him walk me home. We ended up walking slowly to my mother’s, and I knew it was well past nine at this point. We stood in front of my mom’s, and he wrote down his phone number before heading back towards the liquor store. I made my way in the house and it was quiet. I walked to the phone and quickly called my bestie to ensure her I made it safely.

  “Girl, I was highkey on my way, but I didn’t wanna call the house and Momma start bugging out,” she exhaled loudly. I chuckled.

  “Okay, I’m going to shower and get in the bed. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I told her.

  “Okay, night, sis,” we hung up, and I headed to my bedroom. As usual, my mother didn’t say nothing about me coming in late, or so I thought, as she busted in my room.

  “Hey, Ma,” I smiled.

  “Did Monte come in yet?” She asked. I shook my head.

  “Ain’t you supposed to be getting ready for school in the morning?” She asked.

  “I was just about to,” I started.

  “Just do it, Tejha, God. Why do I have to even tell y’all the shit that I do?” She snapped.

  “You haven’t told me nothing, you tell Monte the same thing, over and over,” I argued.

  “Excuse me?” She snapped.

  “Nothing,” I responded.

  “It better been nothing, don’t make me fuck you up, Tejha,” she snapped. Ignoring her and walking to the bathroom to take a shower, I couldn’t help but to think about Oden.
He was so fine, but I could tell he was older. I had one week left before I was officially done with my junior year of high school, and I couldn’t wait for this year to pass. I was tired as hell of high school and my mother. I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I graduated, but I wanted to get the heck out of here.

  The next week rolled by, and I had passed my last trimester of high school. I was so excited about the summer. I was about to start my new job at the convenience store around the corner, hopefully, save some coins for a whip, because my mother acted like she couldn’t get me a car, but had no problem getting Monte two cars. My job was going to be awesome, because Yani would be working with me, of course, and we worked mostly the same days. Yani’s mom had got her a Ford focus, and Yani already got her license, so she would come scoop me for work. Today I was off, and had to babysit my niece, because my mother had to work, Monte was out of town, and her momma was only God knew where.

  My niece was finally asleep when I started braiding her hair into a mohawk. Hell, nobody else was going to do it, she had a head full of hair, but nobody ever did nothing to it. Yani was on her way over so I could do her eyebrows and she could do something to this bird’s nest on my head. I had taken down my box braids and my hair had grown so much, it was ridiculous. I just kept slapping it in a ball on top of my head with a headband to cover my nappy edges. My hair was so coarse, I hadn’t had a perm in years, thanks to my best friend convincing me to go natural with her before it became popular.

  “Hey, pooh, aww you on mommy duty today?” She joked. I rolled my eyes at her.

  “Girl, whatever, I’m almost done with her head. Then we can just chill on the porch,” I told her.

  “So, I was thinking. For your hair, you let me do a silk press,” she smirked.

  “Girl, bye, you tried it,” I waved her off. I picked my niece up and took her and put her in her playpen in the house, grabbing the baby monitor my mother insisted on having, I brought it on the porch with me.

  “I think it would be cute, or just wear it like that. You been getting braids and stuff your whole life. Let your hair breathe,” she frowned.

  “Okay, let’s let the unibrow go as well then,” I told her. She gave me an evil glare. I bust out laughing.

  “You’re so evil, I swear,” she spat. She sat down and I went to get my razor, shaving cream, tweezers, and a washcloth. I wiped my razor with alcohol, and went to work on Kaiyani’s brows, while she told me she wanted to sell hair and own a hair store.

  “Okay, we gotta look into hair vendors and shit like that, right? As far as a hair store, that’d be so dope,” I told her. She smiled.

  “Yeah, definitely. But I have to get my business license and all that stuff. I gotta come up with a name for my hair company,” she stared off.

  “Hmm, how about Yummy Yani’s Extensions,” I joked.

  “You so irritating, who is this pulling up?” she asked, ceasing our laughter. I shrugged. It was a black on black Magnum. It stopped right in front of my mother’s house, but on the other side of the street.

  “Must be the new neighbors finally,” she added. But it was the guy who walked me home the other day. I instantly filled Yani in, and she looked at me in shock.

  “So, we keeping secrets now? I can’t believe your little boo thing is now your next door neighbor,” she giggled.

  “He’s not my boo thing,” I argued. He walked back outside on his phone, and I think that’s when he finally noticed me. He strolled across the street and ended his call. He posted up against the fence.

  “Hey, Tejha, how you doing today, beautiful?” He asked. I got up and walked to the fence.

  “Fine, how are you, Oden?” I asked.

  “I’d be better if you had called me,” he joked.

  “Well, I’m not about to call you from my mother’s house phone,” I stressed.

  “You ain’t got no cellphone?” He asked.

  “No, I’m going to get one soon though,” I told him.

  “Nah, you need one like today. I need to talk to my girl every day,” he smiled, my heart did somersaults.

  “Your girl?” I asked him.

  “Yeah, my girl. Is that a problem?” He stared.

  “No, it’s just that. We hardly know each other, and I’m only seventeen, so,” I started.

  “Age ain’t nothing but a number, shorty,” he stressed. That should’ve been a red flag right there, but of course, I was just happy he wasn’t tripping about me being young as hell.

  “How old are you, Oden?” I asked him.

  “Twenty,” he said. I nodded. He was only three years older than me, that wasn’t bad at all.

  “Oh, okay,” I said, awkwardly.

  “You always look this good?” He asked. I shyly put my head down, he was too much.

  “I look a mess, boy, please,” I waved him off.

  “Come take a ride with me, let’s go get my baby a phone,” he opened the fence.

  “I can’t, I’m watching my niece,” I told him.

  “She look as old as you,” he said.

  “Not her, my niece is in the house. The baby monitor on the porch,” I told him. He nodded.

  “Okay, I’mma swing back around with your phone, gorgeous, so be looking out for me,” he told me. I just nodded and smiled, walking back on the porch, watching him get back in his car and drive off.

  “He gives me a bad vibe,” Yani interrupted my day dreaming.

  “Yani, you don’t even know him,” I argued.

  “I know, but I heard the entire conversation. I’m just saying, be careful with that one,” she added, and my niece started crying. I got up to go get her and to get away from Yani and her vibes. If only I had listened to her, it would’ve saved me a lot of heartache and pain.

  KATO “KHAOS” KARTER | Introducing the one and only

  “Y’all whooped them nigga’s asses tonight,” my boy Q laughed. We were leaving the gym after my boy Dreux’s game, headed to this party a few blocks away.

  “Yeah, nigga, we did wax them niggas. But y’all trying to head to this party,” Dreux asked. I nodded, as they climbed in my car. We pulled off and headed to Dreux’s house, so he could change. I was sitting there texting this bitch named Molly. She was on a nigga tough, trying to fuck with me, but I wasn’t trying to be tied down by no bitch. I was young, handsome, and a money-making nigga.

  After that nigga finished getting dressed, we headed to party, and strolled through that spot. It was a bunch of people in here, white, black, Mexican, all of the above. I could make some money in here honestly.

  “I’ll be back, I’m going to meet with the guy,” I overheard this white boy saying. He looked fucked up already, but was on a search for some more of something. I watched him make his way out the front door, and after I noticed nobody was looking, I slid off behind him. It was a bunch of people outside too, but they weren’t paying me no mind.

  “What you looking for?” I asked him.

  “What?” He frowned, looking at me.

  “I heard you,” I told him, not saying much, but letting him know I had what he needed.

  “What all do you got?” He asked.

  I sold damn near all the shit I had on me, and damn near everybody in this party was high as hell. I had smoked a few blunts, so I was chilling in my zone when some thick redbone came and started dancing on me against the wall. Shit, I wrapped my hands around her waist and enjoyed myself. That was until her nigga came up to us, buggin the fuck out.

  “Bruh, the fuck is you doing dancing with my girl?” He asked.

  “Nigga, move the fuck around with that bullshit,” I spat.

  “Let me tell you something, pussy ass, nigga,” he pushed me and I started whooping that nigga’s ass. He was a fat nigga too, slightly shorter than me, but was trying to bump with a nigga for a minute. I ended his ass by slamming his fat ass on the coffee table in the living room. I kept stomping that nigga in the face with my Timbs, he had me fucked up. Bitch ass nigga, gon’ try me in front of a
ll these people like I’m pussy.

  “Yooo, let’s roll, Khaos,” my boys tried to grab me, but I had blacked out. Finally, them telling me the law was on their way, put a sense of urgency to me. We hurriedly peeled off the street and I had to hear Dreux’s mouth.

  “The fuck wrong with yo ass? Nigga, that shit is gonna be your downfall, you too fucking hot headed,” Dreux yelled. Q sat in the back, shaking his head.

  “Fuck is you shaking your head for? You would’ve done the same fucking thing,” I told Q.

  “Yeah, but I know how to control my anger and shit. Yo duck ass just black out and fuck shit up,” Q said. I ignored both of them and dropped them off. I ended up picking up Molly, and letting her top me off in the whip. By the time I got to my mother’s house, I unlocked the door, and before I could close the door good, I was hit in the back of the head with a stick or something.

  “Didn’t I tell. Yo. Big. Ass. Stop. Acting. Like. You. Ain’t. Got. No. Motherfucking. Sense?” She popped me with each word.

  “Ouch, damn, Ma. I mean, dang,” I corrected myself and she kept hitting a nigga until she broke the stick in half. That didn’t stop her, she took off her house shoe.

  “Ma, what the hell?” I tried blocking her hits. She gon’ try and say I was trying to swing on her.

  “Oh, you swinging on me now? You feeling froggy, nigga? LEAP!” She yelled up at me. My momma wasn’t but 5’7”, but had the heart of a lion. I done saw my momma get down with females and straight up box with them like Ali.

  “Mom, relax, bruh. I’m not swinging on you, lady.” I ran behind the living room couch.

  “Relax? Do you know what time it is?” She asked me.

  “Like two,” I shrugged.

  “And that’s okay to you? To come in here at two in the morning,” she clenched her jaw.

  “Momma, my bad, alright?” I started.