Chapter Four
“What the fuck are you doing, you bitch-ass nigga?” Hazel asked as she kicked and screamed while Seven forcefully carried her up the stairs that led to his apartment. He picked her small frame up with ease and her bites, kicks, and insults didn’t faze him as he thought about the task at hand. Once he pulled into his apartment complex and Hazel noticed that it wasn’t Millie’s place, she began to ask questions about why they were stopping there. He told Hazel that she was going to stay with him for a while and she instantly refused, so he took the matters into his own hands by forcing her.
Hazel wasn’t thinking about anything but getting back to Millie’s spot so she could get whatever was left of Rico’s dope into her veins. Her body was itching for the good smack to tantalize it and Seven was hating on her high. “ Get yo’ damn hands off of me!” she yelled as a elderly black lady with curlers in her hair stepped out of her door to see what was going on.
“Everything’s fine, Mrs. Dixon. Just go back in!” Seven ordered, still in his low, calm voice as he carried Hazel up while she threw constant blows at him. Still having Hazel clenched in his right arm, Seven reached the door, quickly put the key in the hole, and unlocked it. He pulled Hazel in and tossed her on the couch.
“Just calm down, Hazel,” Seven demanded as he wiped the back of his neck to see if he was bleeding.
“What the fuck are you doing? Kidnapping me?” Hazel said as she quickly stood from the couch with her hands on her hips. She breathed heavily as she tried to brush past Seven, only to have him grab her, stopping her in her tracks.
“Just calm down, damn,” Seven said as he lightly pushed her back on the couch. “Look, we can do this shit all day if you want. But I’m not letting you leave. Not yet,” Seven said as he held his arms out as if he was inviting her to try again.
“Fine!” Hazel yelled as she crossed her arms and flopped on the couch.
“You still bite your lip when you get mad,” Seven stated as he grinned while noticing Hazel bite on her bottom lip.
Hazel didn’t even notice that she was doing it until Seven pointed it out, and she immediately stopped. “Shut up!” she said as she picked up a pillow and threw it at him. She tried her best not to smile, but Seven knew that she had calmed down. She felt her high dying down and started to feel normal again.
“You hungry?” Seven asked as he walked into his kitchen that sat in the corner of his spacious threee-bedroom apartment.
Hazel didn’t answer. She continued to fold her arms and thought about how Millie was getting high without her. There was no other place that Hazel would’ve rather been than on cloud nine, but Seven was determined on preventing that from happening.
What the fuck is this nigga problem? He doesn’t own me. Why do this nigga care so much . . . damn! Hazel thought as she sulked on the couch. She watched as Seven locked the door from the inside with a key. Damn, I can’t get out without that damn key, she thought as she grew even angrier. The heroin was calling for her and she wanted to get it to it desperately.
Hours passed and Hazel had eased up a bit. She and Seven were sitting back talking about old times and how they used to hate each other as kids. Back then, Apple would go and pick up Seven and bring him to the house with him and Hazel at times. Hazel always had a little crush on Seven, but Seven was wise beyond his years. At the age of nine or ten he thought like an eighteen-year-old, so Hazel wasn’t even on his radar. The only thing that was on his mind was becoming just like Apple.
Seven looked at Hazel, who sat on his couch Indian style while putting popcorn in her mouth. Music was playing in the background and they were both having a good time reminiscing while playing dominoes.
“You know, me and yo’ pops used to play this all the time,” Seven said as he cradled all his dominoes in his two palms and checked out what he had.
“Seriously? Me too. We used to play on Saturday nights and just chill and vibe out to music,” Hazel said as a wave of déjà vu overcame her. She had just realized that she and Seven were doing the same thing she and Apple used to do. Hazel smiled and felt warm inside at the thought. That’s when she realized that she hadn’t had a good time like that in a long while. Hazel scooped up her dominoes like a pro, checking out her hand.
“What you got?’ Seven asked, waiting for her to make her move.
“Don’t worry about what I got, nigga,” Bam! Hazel smacked the table, placing the domino on the board. “Gimme twenty,” she said proudly and she gave him a big smile. Seven smiled, loving how hood Hazel was. He stared at her while she was writing her score down and he noticed how naturally beautiful she was. She was rough around the edges but if she got herself together she could be a very attractive girl. He quickly wiped away the notion when he thought about whose daughter she was. She was a far cry from his current girlfriend, GiGi, who was an upcoming big time model.
“You cool peoples,” Seven said as he looked at the small apple-shaped birthmark on her face, which was a constant reminder of whose offspring she was.
“Yeah, you cool too,” Hazel answered.
“I haven’t chilled like this in a while. Nigga be so busy and all,” Seven said as he placed a domino on the board.
“Ol’ girl don’t entertain you?” Hazel asked as she snapped her finger and looked into the air. “What’s her name . . . CeCe?”
“GiGi. You know her name, ma. Stop fronting,” Seven said as he slightly grinned and shook his head.
“Oh yeah, GiGi. That’s her name. That high-yellow bitch be riding through the hood thinking she all that,” Hazel said as she went her turn with the dominoes.
“Hater,” Seven said, knowing it would get under her skin. They both laughed it off and chilled and talked about old times until Seven ended the night by giving Hazel his room while he slept on the couch. It was the first time Hazel had slept in a bed in a long time because she always fell asleep in dope houses or on Millie’s small apartment’s floor in the projects. That comfortable sleep would be short-lived because her boyfriend crept in and woke her up in the middle of the night.