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It was mid-July, and six long, warm months had passed. Savage was a few days away from coming home, and since he was locked up during him and Aleesha’s one year anniversary, they were going to celebrate it as soon as he got home. Aleesha’s 17th birthday was also a little over a month away, which was going to be celebrated at Raging Waters, but she wanted nothing more than for her man to be home.
Marcus, on the other hand, wasn’t as fortunate. He was sentenced to two years and some months, which would be a breeze for him, and was transferred to the California Youth Authority, or YA for short. The fact that he wouldn’t be released until a few months before his 19th birthday didn’t bother him; it was the people he needed most who alienated themselves from him. Marcus thought his girlfriend Dior would hold him down like Aleesha was doing for Savage. He too tried to have her take over his operation until he was released. Dior came to visit him, and he told her where his stash and drugs were. Once she retrieved them, she was gone like the wind, with his Ford Expedition in tow. She wrote him a letter explaining that her parents up and moved her family, and that she would still be there and do as promised, but he never heard from her after that. Word was, she was in Atlanta dating some up and coming rapper. Marcus didn’t take the news too well, and became reckless. He started associating with gang members, participated in violent activities and was eventually put on a gang.
Aleesha couldn’t wait for Savage to be released. She had managed to hustle and save up a little over $25,000, which wasn’t bad being as how she still worked and was still in school. They didn’t have any plans for the money yet, except to purchase Savage a new car. When he first went to jail and his Impala got impounded, he knew he would never see it again, so a car was the first thing to get on the list when he got out.
It was early in the morning when Savage was released. Debra and Aleesha were both waiting with open arms as soon as he stepped through the doors. They exchanged hugs and kisses, and piled into Debra’s 2006 Toyota Corolla. They took Savage home where a buffet of Chinese food including egg rolls, pork fried rice and teriyaki chicken had been cooked for him. After eating and enjoying a welcome home blunt, Savage was ready to jump right back into the hustle. He got in contact with his connects and customers, to let them know he was out and back in charge. He knew he quickly needed to be mobile, so he went and purchased him a 2004 Dodge Durango from one of his connects. While they were on their way back to Savage’s, Aleesha received a call from her sister.
“Hey, Lai. What’s going on?” she asked as soon as she answered.
“You need to come home, now,” Laila said vacantly.
Aleesha could hear a lot of talking and noise in the background. “Why? What happened?” she asked with worry in her voice.
“Daddy’s home.”
Aleesha was thrilled and anxious at the same time, because she hadn’t seen her dad in six years. Savage pulled up to her house and parked alongside the curb. “You don’t have to come in if you don’t want to,” Aleesha told him. She was nervous about him meeting her father.
“It’s either now or never, babe. I’m eventually gonna have to meet him. Might as well get it over with today,” Savage replied.
“Yeah, but my daddy’s mean,” she said, looking at him with the most serious face Savage had ever seen.
“All dads are mean, babe. I’m used to that shit. That’s what comes with datin’ a nigga’s daughter,” Savage replied nonchalantly. Although deep down inside, he was a nervous wreck.
“Okay,” Aleesha said, washing the nervousness away as she and Savage exited the vehicle and walked up to the door.
It was already unlocked as Aleesha turned the doorknob, so she didn’t have to use her keys to get in. As soon as she walked through the door, she saw her dad sitting in the living room with Laila, her mom, and her brother DJ.
“Hi, daddy!” Aleesha exclaimed as she ran toward her father. He stood up and embraced her with open arms, picking her up and swinging her around as they hugged.
“Baby girl, I missed you,” Darion said once they finished hugging. He was 6’6” and very well-built, towering over everyone in the room. “You got grown on me,” he added, looking at his daughter.
“Yeah, almost,” she said with a huge grin. “Hey DJ!” she happily exclaimed as she gave her older brother a quick hug.
“Wassup, sis,” he said as he stood up while hugging her. DJ took after his mother on looks, with his big light brown eyes and full lips, but he had his father’s nose. He also had the same complexion and beefy body type as Darion, and stood only a few inches shorter than him.
Darion looked at Savage and back to his daughter. Aleesha noticed the gesture, and immediately got right back nervous.
“Oh, daddy, this is my boyfriend,” she said, walking toward Savage. She grabbed his arm and pulled him closer into the living room.
“So you’re the one that’s been havin’ all of my daughter’s attention?” Darion asked, staring Savage up and down.
“Yeah. It’s nice to meet you, sir,” Savage replied, extending his hand out for a handshake.
“At least you got some manners. Good to meet you too,” Darion replied back, shaking Savage’s hand. There was an awkward silence in the room as everyone looked around at each other. “Look, I know you just got out today too, so I don’t expect my daughter to want to stay home today. I’m not gon’ even bother to threaten you, ‘cause my daughter should have warned you. Just have her home before curfew,” Darion stated.
“Yes, sir.”
***
Savage was driving home with Aleesha when he decided to purchase a new wardrobe. He detoured to the Inland Center Mall, and while Aleesha was busy in Victoria’s Secret, Savage got a sweet tooth and wanted some See’s Candies. He told her where he was going and made his way toward the famous candy store. Right before he got through the door, he heard an all too familiar voice.
“Savage!” she yelled out as she hurriedly walked toward him.
Shit! he thought as he turned around. It was Neisha, some female he messed around with before he got locked up. They kept in contact through letters while he served his time, and had even talked on the phone occasionally.
“Baby you out!” she exclaimed as she hugged him.
“Yeah, I just got out,” he said as they were still hugging. Without him even thinking about it, they exchanged a kiss, and he didn’t notice Aleesha walking around the corner.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were home?” she asked as they pulled apart. But before anyone could get another word out, Aleesha was behind Neisha yanking her hair as she pulled her to the ground.
“Bitch!” Aleesha screamed out as she climbed on top of Neisha and started pounding her face with her fist.
Neisha tried to fight back but the blows came too quickly. The unexpected altercation happened so rapidly, that by the time Savage was able to pull Aleesha off, Neisha had a broken nose and a black eye.
“Get the fuck off of me!” Aleesha yelled as she tried to break free from Savage’s hold. She head-butted him in the lip with the back of her head, making him lose his grip on her, and she turned around and slapped him. “Fuck you, Savage. I fucking hate you!” she yelled as she looked at him with sharp, piercing eyes. She started crying as she walked away, right as security was showing up.
“Hey, you, stop right there!” the security guard yelled out after Aleesha, and she took off running.
She made it outside but wasn’t sure if security was still after her, so she jumped onto the number 2 Omnitrans bus right before it was about to pull off. She hurriedly pulled out her wallet and paid the fair. The whole ride home, Savage blew her Blackberry up so she turned it off. Once she made it home she undressed, crawled in bed, and cried herself to sleep.
***
Later that night, after he was sure she cooled off, Savage drove to Aleesha’s house. He walked up and rang the doorbell, and her father answered the door.
“Is Aleesha here?” Savage asked nervously with his hands in his pockets.
“Hold on,” Darion said before shutting the door.
Fifteen minutes later Aleesha came walking out of the door. Savage was sitting on the hood of his Durango, and he met her on the sidewalk in front of her house.
“Babe, I’m sorry,” he said as soon as she was in front of him.
“Shut the fuck up. I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. Get from in front of my house, before I have my daddy come out here and finish what I started earlier,” she said matter-of-factly, referring to what she did to his lip.
“Leelee, just come talk to me. It ain’t even gotta be all that.”
“It didn’t have to be all that earlier either.”
“I know—”
“I don’t want to hear shit you have to say,” she said, cutting him off. “How could you do that to me?” Tears were forming in her eyes.
“Baby, I’m sorry. It wasn’t even like that,” Savage said, trying to plead his case.
“Wasn’t like what?!” she asked angrily. “Wasn’t like you kissing another bitch right in front of me? You think I’m that fucking stupid?”
“Nah. Just come with me so we can talk this out,” he said, reaching for her.
“Fuck you,” she said, slapping his hand away. “And after all the shit I did for you,” she replied as tears started falling down her face.
“I’m sorry,” Savage replied, trying to reach out for her again.
“Don’t try to fucking touch me,” Aleesha said, moving away from him. “Just leave me alone.”
She turned around and walked back into her house and went straight to her room.
“Fuck!” Savage yelled. He walked to his car and punched the driver side window, shattering the glass. He got in the car, not even caring about the glass that was scattered everywhere and drove away, thinking about how to get his girl back.
***
Weeks went by, and Aleesha hadn’t answered any of Savage’s phone calls or texts. When he came by the house, she was either never home or too busy. He tried catching her after school or at work, but to no avail. He almost gave up, until he spotted her Kia Rio at the nail shop one day. He sped into the parking lot, parked his car, and walked into the nail salon.
“Hey beautiful,” he said as he approached Aleesha and Milasia in massage chairs. They were soaking their feet, getting ready for a pedicure.
“Oh my God,” Aleesha mumbled as she put her head down. Savage pulled up a chair next to her and sat down. “What the fuck do you want?” she asked, looking up at him. She spoke in a low tone so the nosey people around couldn’t hear their conversation.
“I just want to talk to you,” he said as his tone of voice became serious.
“We don’t have shit to talk about. You trifling as fuck.”
“Man, you didn’t even let me explain—”
“Explain what?” Aleesha asked, cutting him off. “Explain why you were hugged up and kissing on another bitch while we”—she put emphasis on the last word and added hand movement—“were out together.”
“It wasn’t even like that,” Savage tried to clarify.
“What was it like then?” Aleesha knew Savage was bullshitting, but she wanted to hear what excuse he would come up with.
Savage looked down at the ground. “Can we go outside and talk?” he asked as he looked back up at her and grabbed her hand.
“The fuck?” she said, snatching her hand away from him. “No. You can say what you need to say right here.”
“Man, I ain’t tryna have everybody in my business.”
“You obviously didn’t care about yo business if you was kissing another bitch in public.”
“Ma, please, just come smoke a blunt and talk to me,” Savage pleaded.
“Oh my gosh,” Aleesha said, as she took a deep breath. “Fine. You gotta wait until I’m finished getting my nails done.”
“I’m already knowin’,” he said as a wide grin spread across his face.
Savage waited in the nail salon until Aleesha was finished getting her pedicure and a full set of acrylic nails. He even paid the bill, trying to soften her up before their talk. Milasia waited for Aleesha inside, giving the couple their space.
Savage escorted Aleesha outside and into his car, opening the doors all the while. He got in the car, put some music on, and rolled up a blunt. “This shit some fire, babe,” he said as he sparked it up.
“Don’t call me babe,” she said with attitude, staring at him. He took two hits and passed her the blunt, and they continued to pass it back and forth amongst each other as they talked.
“Leelee, I’m sorry.”
“Yes, you are a sorry piece of shit.”
“Damn,” Savage said as he put his head down and shook it. “I deserved that,” he said, looking back up at her, “but it wasn’t even like that. We friends, and she was just happy to see me out.”
“Wow,” Aleesha said as she rolled her eyes at him. “Really, Savage? Do I have stupid written across my fucking forehead? Huh?” She felt her temperature rising. “You must really think I’m a fool to believe that shit.”
“I swear—”
“Just stop,” she said, starting to get annoyed. “I’m not fucking stupid. Did you forget that you left your phone in your room the night you got locked up? And did you forget I had to go through it to get some numbers for your dumb ass?” she asked, looking at Savage while he sat looking dumbfounded. He knew he was caught up, and couldn’t lie about the situation any longer. “I seen the texts, the aims, and all the other bullshit, and I was willing to let it slide. I figured if you wasn’t getting some from me, you was getting it from one of these other raggedy ass bitches,” she said as he continued to sit silently. He didn’t know what to say or how to handle the situation. “But it was my fault for allowing it, ‘cause I stayed with you. But you good now ‘cause I’m done.”
“Leelee I’m sorry,” Savage said, coming to the realization that he was really losing her. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Whatever,” Aleesha said, looking away.
“I fucked up ... a lot, but please just give me another chance. I love you, and I need you,” he said, leaning over to plant a soft kiss on her neck. When she didn’t push him away, he took it as his cue to continue. He planted three more kisses on her neck, and turned her face with his index finger to face him.
Aleesha began getting moist in between her legs, causing her panties to get soaked. If it’s one way Savage knew how to get to her, it was kissing her on the neck. He wrapped his juicy lips around hers, and they started engaging in deep, passionate kissing.
Savage stopped and whispered in her ear, “Spend the night with me, so I can do that thing you like,” as he pecked her on the neck again.
“No, I can’t,” Aleesha said, trying to resist the temptation.
“Please, Aleesha. I miss you,” he begged her, all the while still kissing her neck.
“Okay,” she said, finally giving in. “I gotta take Mila home, and then I’ll come over.”
“Aight,” Savage responded happily.
Aleesha got out the car then went inside to get Milasia. After she dropped Milasia off at home, she went to grab a few things from her house. She sat for a few minutes and contemplated if she really wanted to give Savage another chance or not. She felt stupid for giving in so easily and for wanting to give the relationship another shot but she was in love, and despite the cheating, Savage was really good to her and she missed him. She lied to her parents and said she was spending the night at Milasia’s, and went and had a night full of lovemaking with Savage.