“Because my room ain’t got no TV, and your ex-roommate’s room stinks.” He grinned as if shit was funny. “Don’t worry. We about to bounce.”
“You know what, I want both of these bitches out of my house in the next fifteen minutes. If they not gone, I’m gonna start swinging.”
“Wait, who the fuck is you talking to?” Raven said, covering her body with Farah’s robe. “You don’t have to be all wild and shit just because this your house.”
“Shawty, you don’t know my sister,” Shadow said, snatching the robe from her. “On second thought, get your shit and get the fuck out, both of y’all bitches. I already bust anyway.”
When she remembered she had asked him to get something for her, she said, “Did you at least get the medicine I asked you for?”
He looked at her strangely. She guessed he didn’t want her to say it in front of them. “Yeah, it’s in my room. On my dresser. I don’t know what you want with it, but be careful.”
Farah stormed out of her room, grabbed the meds, and called the one person she thought she wouldn’t talk to in a while.
Coconut’s new apartment had Farah jealous the moment she stepped inside. The latest technology, from flat-screen TVs to expensive surround systems, was everywhere. The couch was made of expensive cream leather, and the carpet was nice and plush. There was even a picture of Coconut and Jake on the wall like they were a married couple, and she wanted to throw up at how happy they looked. It seemed like everything around her reminded her that Slade dumped her and she felt worthless.
Originally Coconut and Farah were supposed to share an apartment together in Platinum Lofts, but Jake, Coconut’s boyfriend, decided that he wanted her to himself. And since Jake was a dope boy with heavy money and Farah was always broke, there was no competition. As far as Farah knew, Jake didn’t fuck with her, so she was surprised she was allowed into their house. Something was off.
A few drinks later, Farah was relaxed and surprised because Jake seemed to be really cool. His tall, lanky body resembled a ball player’s physique, and his dope boy swag made him even more appealing. It was easy to see why Coconut chose him.
They were sitting in the living room watching TV when Coconut said, “So you been holding up okay? With Chloe being gone and all? Because I know even though y’all fought so much, she loved you and you loved her.”
Farah sighed. “I’m holding up as best I can.” She focused back on the movie and grabbed her drink. “I just got a lot I’m trying to sort out. A lot of shit is catching up with me.”
“What you mean?”
“It’s a long story, but I do appreciate you having me over.” Farah’s mind floated to Eleanor. “Hey, you remember that white lady Eleanor? I think you call her The Clapper?”
“Yeah, I get my weed from her. Why?”
Farah tried to remain calm. Coconut told her that she copped weed from her before, but it totally slipped her mind. “Uh . . . do you still see her?”
“Yeah, I saw her earlier today.” She reached in the ashtray and pulled out the blunt they just smoked. “You just helped me smoke her shit. She got the best.”
“Where she gets it?”
“I think she get it from Willie, Randy’s father.” She shrugged. “But who knows.”
Farah was breathing so heavily she was hyperventilating. “Uh . . . when is . . . I mean, when you gonna see her again?”
Coconut looked at her worriedly. “I’m not sure. She told me she’ll get in contact with me because she has to get out of town. Sounded pretty scared for some reason.” She touched her hand. “Are you okay? Because you look flushed.”
“I’m fine,” she lied, trying to calm down. “But thanks anyway.” Farah didn’t want to press the issue, but she had to revisit the Eleanor topic soon. Asking too much might send Coconut’s antennae through the roof. “I still can’t believe Shadow had them bitches from down the hall in my bed, girl. I almost murdered all three of them! What the fuck type shit was that?”
Coconut laughed. “Girl, he did just come home from jail, you know.” She laughed. “I’m surprised his fine ass hadn’t kicked the freak party off a long time ago.” She shook her head. Secretly she was crushing on Shadow, but had no intention of letting him know.
As the girls were in mid-conversation, Jake walked back into the living room, holding a beer. “Farah, you ever talked to my man Park again?”
Park was Farah’s ex-boyfriend, who she met in high school. In fact, she and Coconut met Jake and Park at the same time, but Farah couldn’t get with him after a while because he was too weird in the bedroom. For instance, he got off when she stuck her finger up his ass and coughed on his dick. In the end, she always felt weird around him, so she decided to leave him alone.
Although she licked the tip of his dick a few times, she never fucked him, and to be honest, she never regretted it either. Not to mention she always thought he wanted Coconut instead of her.
“You know I wasn’t really feeling Park like that, Jake.” She laughed. “That nigga was way too weird for me. Why you ask anyway?”
“Because he asks about you all the time.” He sat close to Coconut and rubbed her knee. “He said the other day that he didn’t like the way you carried him. Said you started fucking with his cousin or some shit like that.”
“Who is his cousin?” Farah asked.
“Randy.” When he saw the expression on her face he said, “Wait . . . you didn’t know that shit?”
Farah turned blue. “No. I mean, me and Randy were together, but he’s not the kind of nigga who likes to talk about other dudes, so it never came up.” Farah scratched her head. “I really didn’t know that shit.”
“Yeah, that’s his cousin.” He paused. “Don’t worry about it though. Park is married to some broad he met from Jersey, so he couldn’t have been that mad. Plus we were kids back then.” He rubbed Coconut’s knee harder. “On another note, I been telling Coconut y’all don’t need to be beefing, so I’m glad y’all put the drama behind you.”
Jake was cool, but he was starting to give Farah the ills. Why did he care if she spoke to Coconut or not? “So when is the wedding day?” Farah asked, nodding at the picture. “I see y’all playing house and can’t keep your hands off each other.”
“Girl, when I’m able to satisfy him all the way around the board.” She paused and looked into his eyes. “Well, at least that’s what he keeps telling me.”
He nudged her leg. “Stop playing. You know how I feel about you.”
“I hear you,” Coconut responded. “I still want the ring though.” She looked into his eyes and he looked away. “Why you ask when we’re getting married?”
“Because it’s time to make it official. Y’all been together forever and virtually married now. Plus I see your love.”
“We beyond love at this point. It’s way deeper than that,” Coconut told her. “We got an understanding that works for both of us.” She kissed Jake on the lips and Farah grew hot between the legs. They appeared seconds away from creating a porno.
“No doubt,” Jake said. “I been telling my shorty I never fucked with a female like her before. I just want to make sure she’s willing to do any and everything she can to satisfy me.”
“Haven’t I given you everything you’ve asked, Jake?” She looked over at him. “When I wanted to move in with Farah, you begged me to get a place with you. Didn’t I leave? And when you wanted
that thing,
didn’t I arrange it? I’ve given you everything . . . but . . . this.”
Farah didn’t like not knowing the secret they were obviously not trying to tell her. “What’s going on? Everything cool between y’all?”
“She can tell you better than I can.” Jake stood up and kissed Coconut on the forehead. “So I’ma let her do that and go grab another beer.”
Jake quickly dismissed himself and pimped into the kitchen. Farah looked at him as he peered into the refrigerator. “Girl, what is up with him?” she whispered. “And what is he asking you to do that you’re obviously uncomfortable with?”
“It’s a long story, Farah, and I really need your help right now, but I’m not sure how you’re going to take it. The last thing I need you to be is mad at me, since we’re cool again.”
Farah rubbed her leg. “What’s up? Stop fucking around. Spit it out!”
“That’s kinda what I wanted to talk to you about when I showed up at your place that day.”
Farah knew there was a real reason and hoped it didn’t have anything to do with Slade like she originally thought. “It ain’t about Slade, is it? I mean, you not gonna tell me you like him or some shit like that, are you? I saw how you were looking at him that day, and I wasn’t feeling it.”
Coconut frowned. “I don’t know what you talking about, Farah.” She laughed. “Don’t get me wrong, Slade is fine and all, but he ain’t my type.”
Farah exhaled. “Oh . . . Well, what’s up?”
“I’m really feeling Jake, girl. To the point where if the nigga dumped me, I might lose my mind and my lifestyle. You see all this shit I got.” She flashed her rings and pointed at her Birkin bag on the loveseat. “This nigga is official, and I’ve known him all my life.”
“Coconut, you telling me things I already know. Remember, I’ve been knowing you forever. But how do I play into all of this?”
She took two quick breaths. “Well, the thing is, he had a fantasy of fucking with me and one of my friends. We talked about it in the past, but I wasn’t ready to deal with it back then. Eventually he left it alone until now.”
Farah’s skin warmed. “And . . .”
“And he chose you.”
Farah backed away and frowned. It wasn’t like she couldn’t get with the freaky shit. As a matter of fact, it made her feel good when she explored her wild side. To take it a step further, Coconut and Farah kissed each other’s boxes on a regular, so it wasn’t a thing. But they never talked about what they did behind closed doors to anyone else, and they certainly never considered bringing in a third party. They preferred to blame alcohol for their promiscuous activities.
“You told him we went there with each other before?” she whispered, looking behind her to see where he was. His back faced their direction, so she focused back on Coconut. “What if the shit gets out and he tells somebody else?”
Coconut pushed her playfully on the leg. “Yes, I told him, and Jake’s way cool about that kind of shit. As a matter of fact, he’s turned on by it. Normally we bring in an outsider, but recently he shared with me that he wanted to see what it would be like to be with you.” Coconut wore a smile, but she looked like she was breaking down inside.
“How do you feel about that? Honestly? Because you look like you ain’t feeling the shit.”
“I want him to feel like he can have everything with me. Like he don’t have to cheat because our bedroom is open to any of his fantasies. You know bitches out there would jump at a chance to be with Jake. Including some of my friends.” She eyed Farah.
“Don’t look at me, because before today, I didn’t even fuck with Jake.”
“I know it’s not you,” she reassured her. “I didn’t want to tell you, but Shannon went at him the other day when we were over Rhonda’s house.”
Farah furrowed her brows. “You were at Rhonda’s after she lost the baby?”
“Yes, and I’m not fucking with that bitch no more either, Farah. Something is way off about her. Do you know she lied about her entire pregnancy?”
“What you talking about? Her stomach was as big as a globe.”
“Jake is cool with Knight, and it came out the other day.” She paused. “Apparently Rhonda went to the doctor’s months before the baby was due, and was told that her baby was dead inside of her body. They said she needed to undergo emergency surgery to remove the fetus. She could’ve died leaving the baby in her body. Instead of letting them do the surgery, she ran out. She was so scared she was going to lose Knight when he found out, that she decided to lie. Knight found out by one of the doctors the other day.”
“When did she know the baby was dead inside of her?”
“For two months, Farah. The bitch was sick. They saying Rhonda walking around DC right now talking to herself and all kinds of shit like that. You better be careful though. She kept talking about you for some reason.”
“I already saw her.” Farah recalled her eyes. “She approached me when I went to grab something to eat. She didn’t look right then, but I had no idea.” She shook her head. “I actually felt responsible for her losing the baby. Now I want to kill this bitch!”
“I blamed you at first too. Who would’ve known she could do something so crazy? Still, be careful. You never know what somebody like her might do.”
I’m gonna get that bitch way before she get me. Especially now.
“Anyway, you gonna do it? What I asked you about Jake?” She put her hands together like she was praying. “Please, Farah, do this for me. I need this. You gotta know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t so serious.”
Her decision wasn’t rocket science. Jake was fine, she loved Coconut, and she was bored out of her mind. She had so much negative shit going on in her life that she didn’t have a problem with having a little fun. But, there was one thing. Her piggy bank was bare. She didn’t have a cent to her name, and her property manager was threatening to throw her out if she didn’t come up with the rent. So if they wanted her to be a part of their threesome, it was going to cost.
“I’ll do it. On one condition.”
Coconut jumped up and down in place. “Girl, you don’t even know what this means to me!” She grinned as if she had just asked her to be a bridesmaid instead of share her boyfriend’s bed. “He gonna finally realize that there ain’t shit I won’t do for him. I owe you big time for this shit.”
Tell me about it.
“Hold up, Coconut, we not finished talking business yet.”
“Business?”
“Yes, because if I get down like that for y’all, what’s in it for me?” She paused. “I mean, Jake gets his rocks off and you get to keep the man you always wanted. But what about me?”
Coconut backed up a little to look at her friend seriously. “Are you playing?” She frowned. “You want us to pay you?”