All I Want Is You (5 page)

“Let’s go somewhere and have some drinks or something; it seems like we’ve all had a rough day.” Daria said.

“I can cheers to that shit.” Renee said, which caused me to laugh. I loved the hell out of these girls. I was happy to have that off my chest, and I was even more excited about going to get drinks. This was just the perfect distraction. Let tonight’s festivities begin.
 

Chapter 7
 

Renzo

I had gotten a little accomplished at work today, but like my mother said, Gisele had been in the office since early morning, and she already had the guys in route to their destinations; surprisingly, for a Friday, the office was quiet. The office was located on I-10 and T C Jester, but since we had so many trucks, we stored them off of 610 and Ella at the yard. Business was doing great, but I wasn’t happy with my personal life. I didn’t really want to talk to Gisele about it, because she was so blunt to where it was annoying sometimes.

“What’s up baby brother? You looking stressed out over there?” Gisele said. I sighed, because little did she know, I was. I received a notification every time my card was swiped, and so far, Jessa had racked up over ten stacks in as little as two hours. I wasn’t the one to bitch about money, but it was a little frustrating when I was the only one bringing it in and she was doing all this spending. I could just about guarantee you she hadn’t picked up a thing for Raven. Jessa’s ass was really that damn selfish.

“I’m cool.”

“You lying nigga.  You know I can always tell when something is bothering you, so spit it out.” Gisele said. She stopped doing her paperwork to give me her undivided attention. I really didn’t want to talk to her about it, but she had just put me on the spot, so I decided to tell her.

“Jessa is driving me crazy.”

“Oh boy, here we go. What that bitch do now?”

“Don’t do that shit, Gisele, damn. I already don’t want to tell your ass; don’t be going off making the shit worse.” I said, rethinking my choice to be honest with her. I knew that my sister couldn’t stand my wife. I didn’t really understand why, but she couldn’t. I figured it was just a woman thing, so I stayed out of the way; needless to say, I knew her dislike for Jessa, but I really just wanted an unbiased opinion.

“Gisele, Jessa is nothing like she was when we first met. You know she used to go just as hard as me, but now, all she wants to do is sleep, spend my motherfucking money, and gossip with that old miserable bitty, Tasha.”

“Umph, you already know how I feel about that shit; birds of a feather flock together. You were blinded by love baby brother, and that’s cool, but I told you not to marry that trick. You were her come up, but your stupid ass acted like you couldn’t see that shit.” Gisele said.

“I don’t understand how the fuck could I be her come up if she had her own shit when we met. You know her mother and father have money.” I said, trying to make sense of it all.

“Do they Renzo? Come on now? Be smart. As soon as you said I do, she stopped doing everything she was doing before. She doesn’t even take care of Raven. Where is she right now?” she said. I looked down at the floor because she was right. When Jessa and I first got together, we complimented each other. Her fly matched my fly, her drive matched mines, and her bank account wasn’t too far off, so I felt like we could continue to build; that way, our children’s children wouldn’t have to want for anything. But a little over a year ago, when we said I do, things changed drastically. Jessa hadn’t lifted a finger around the house; she hadn’t done shit for Raven, and she hadn’t bothered to pay a bill or nothing since I changed her last name. There was a lot of people who felt like Jessa wasn’t the one for me, but my love for her ran deep, or at least I thought it did.

Like I said before, back in the day, Jessa took a charge for me. When I first got my CDL, I wasn’t doing the right things, and Jessa and Gucci were the only people aware of that shit. Sometimes, I would move large amounts of drugs from Houston to Louisiana. I got pulled over, and they searched the truck and found a few of the drugs. Jessa knew my father would be pissed for jeopardizing his name like that when I didn’t have to; I was just being greedy. The officer asked who the drugs belonged to, and before I could answer, Jessa said they were hers. We went back and forth before the cop handcuffed us both. Once he had us outside checking for more drugs, Jessa told me to go ahead and let her take the charge; that way, I could finish the run, but I just had to promise her that I wouldn’t do the shit no more. I was with it. They locked up her for a few days; I got her a damn good lawyer, and she got off with probation, and one thousand hours of community service. I appreciated her for doing that shit, but we never really talked about it after it happened. No one else knew about that incident besides her and Gucci, and I wanted to keep it that way. Jessa saved my ass, but that shit was years ago. I was twenty-seven now, and I wasn’t doing the same shit I was doing when I was nineteen and twenty.

“So where is Raven Renzo?” she said, distracting me from my thoughts.

“She’s with momma, man. Look, things wasn’t always like this.” I said, trying to stick up for Jess.

“Okay, and that’s cool, but over a year baby brother. How long do you expect to sacrifice your happiness for the happiness of others? Just think about it?” She said, leaving me there with my thoughts. I stayed in the office until well after six, and I was on my way to get Raven, when I decided to take a detour. I wanted to stop by this little bar and grill, because their happy hour was cool, but on the way there, Ms. Renee ran into my car. I was pissed until she got out of her car.

That woman was beautiful, but her face was stained with tears. I didn’t know the reason for her tears, but I wasn’t trying to stress her out anymore than she was already stressed, so I told her not to worry about swapping insurance information. I was actually trying to figure out a way to see her again, because she was truly like a breath of fresh air. Before I allowed her to drive off, I gave her my card and told her to call me tomorrow so we could get her car fixed. She smiled, and her smile alone melted my heart. I hadn’t felt that way in a long time, because the only time Jess smiled was when she was spending my money. No matter how thoughtful I was or how much I did, Jess was unappreciative as hell, and honestly, I was tired of it. After giving her my card, I decided to go get Raven and call it a night.

Making it to my mom’s, Marc was outside smoking a blunt. Marc was the baby at twenty-five, and if you ask me, he was way too spoiled. We were all two years apart, but I promise you Marc acted as if he was twenty with his immature ass. My mother stayed in a damn 750,000 dollar home and there were some million dollar homes in this subdivision; that fool was sitting in the car with the music blasting smoking a blunt. He knew how the neighbors were over here. They would call the damn home owner’s association so quick, and be fining my mother and father ridiculous amounts for this shit.

“Marc, why don’t you just go do that shit somewhere else?” I fussed as soon as I walked up to him.

“Hello to you too, big brother. I’m cool thanks for asking.” He said, sarcastically, blowing smoke my way. I could’ve punched his ass right there on the spot, but I decided to let his ass slide.

“Marc, you really need to do better man.”

“Oh, you want me to be like you, huh, Renzo? You want me with the career, the wife, and the kids, huh? The nice cars, big ass house, the whole nine, right? Well, guess what, nigga? I’m not you. Never have been, never will be. I don’t want your life nigga. I’m perfectly fine with the way shit comes in for me.” he yelled. I got in his face so that he knew I wasn’t playing with his ass.

“Nigga, you cool with your momma and daddy still paying your way? Ain’t nobody asking you to be like me lil’ nigga. You can never be me, but you need to do something. What the fuck you gonna do if something happens to momma and daddy. Your ass don’t have a pot to piss in or a fucking window to throw it out of. Like I said, you need to do better.”

“Oh yea, I’m gonna do better alright.” He said, with this sneaky ass smirk on his face. I started to say something else, but my mom grabbed my attention before I could.

“Renzo, is that you out there?” She yelled from the front door. I wasn’t trying to bring too much attention her way seeing as how Marc was already doing a great job at that, so I went inside to talk to my mother.

“How was baby girl today?” I asked, as I gave my mother a hug and a kiss. That little lady there was truly my everything.

“She just about wore my ass out.” She laughed. “That girl wanted to play dress up, she wanted to go outside and ride in her jeep, she wanted grammy to make her some cookies, she wanted to watch a movie, your daughter is a mess.” She said. I laughed, because she was right; Raven was definitely a handful.

“So where is she?” I asked, looking around thinking she would pop up out of nowhere. She always did that. If she heard you coming, she would go hide until you found her. My little baby was really my pride and joy.

“She’s out for the night. I tried to call you and tell you to just leave her here, but I kept getting your voicemail.” She said.

“Oh yeah, my phone went dead on the way home from work. And the reason I’m running behind to pick her up is because I was in a fender bender.”

“Oh my, are you ok baby?” She asked, getting up and checking me like I was a child. I laughed as she did that.

“I’m cool, Ma, nothing major. I’m going to take it to my boy Carlos in the morning to see what he can do.”

“Well, why isn’t the person who hit you covering it?” she asked liked a concerned mother.

“Because I told her not to.” I said, looking for a distraction, because I knew the questions were coming.

“Her! What? She must have been pretty? I know you.” She said. I guess she read my facial expression, because she said she wouldn’t go in right now, but she did want to talk about something more serious. I gave my mother my undivided attention as she began to address her concerns.

“So Raven was telling me her mother is mean and she curses a lot. She was saying how she doesn’t like to be there with her alone… something about she screams and stuff. I usually just let you figure it out, but if you need me to intervene, I will. I do not mind putting her in her place. You already know I don’t mind checking someone, especially when they do the type of shit Jessa does. Excuse my language, but something about her is off.” My mom revealed to me. I was thinking the same thing, but I hadn’t said it. Jessa was going through something, but I couldn’t quite place my finger on it. I sighed before revealing this information to my mother. I hadn’t spoken about it, but it was time to tell someone.

“I don’t know what’s been up with Jessa momma. I swear, she isn’t the same woman I married. She doesn’t do shit around the house, she doesn’t want to work, she doesn’t even want to deal with Raven. Like, really? She’s her daughter… Why wouldn’t she want to deal with her own daughter? I’m just not used to this mess momma. She’s showing me a side of her that I really don’t like, and well, I have been thinking really hard about this.” I said, before letting my thoughts trail off. Like I said, I hadn’t spoken with anyone about this shit, not even my nigga, Gucci, and he knew everything about me. I loved Gucci to death; he was more like a brother than my best friend, but that nigga was doing his own thing at the moment, so I wasn’t really trying to bother him with my issues.

“What is it baby?”

“I think I want to go ahead a file for divorce. I really don’t think I want this marriage anymore. So much has changed, and like you said, Jessa isn’t the same person she used to be. I don’t like the way she speaks to Raven, and I don’t even like the way she talks to me. I mean, she is just too selfish. I think I’m done trying, Ma, but I don’t know how to break the news to her.” I said. I was so glad to finally have that shit off of my chest. My mother was very old school, so I really didn’t know how she was going to feel about me telling her I wanted out of my marriage, but I had been thinking about that shit for some time now. She still hadn’t responded so I sat there and waited.

“Let me know if you want me to put you in contact with this lawyer Cynthia Diggs. She’s the best divorce attorney in town I’ve heard. I’ve seen that little white lady in action, and well, she can be something lethal, so I believe she may be able to help you. You didn’t get a prenup, did you?”

“Nope, didn’t think I would need one.”

“Humph, well you already know she’s about to come after you for half of everything you have.” My mother said. I knew she would come after me with her money hungry ass, but at this point, I didn’t care. My sister was right; how long was I going to sacrifice my own happiness for those around me to be happy.

I had given Jessa more than enough time to get herself together, but she was so damn stuck in her ways she didn’t even understand. Me and my mother sat around and talked for another hour or two before I decided it was time for me to go home. She said that she wanted to keep Raven for the weekend which was cool with me, because it was time for me to get the ball rolling. I was going to have a talk with Jess tonight, and depending on her answer, I was taking my ass to that lawyer first thing Monday morning. I was more than sure Gisele could hold it down for me while I went in for a consultation. Her ass would probably be happy as hell knowing I was doing so anyway. Now, I needed to go home and have this talk, and I couldn’t lie, I was really dreading that shit.