Von looked around at her friends and smiled inside her heart. She felt that she was so blessed with the best group of women she could possibly have. They were a family in their own right. They all loved each other and would do anything to help her get through this horrible time in her life. Von wasn’t too big on going out. With her being pregnant and all, most nights, her girls brought the entertainment to her.
“Girl, we set their ass. I told you we should have bid 10. You know I’m the Spades queen,” Marla said as she slapped hands with Von. Paige and their other friend Tina were done. They lost $500 already and didn’t want to lose any more.
“Whatever. Y’all bitches got lucky,” Paige said as she sipped on some Hennessy. Paige had never been into drinking, but she was sippin’ and feeling nice. Everybody could see how happy she was now that she had Mad-Dog in her world.
“So what’s been going on with you and Maddie?” Von asked Paige. She got up from the card table to grab some water and swallow a few pills.
“We’ve been chilling.”
“Chillin’ as in fucking? Have you given it up yet?” Marla asked.
“That ain’t none of your business,” Paige said. And then she coughed.
“That cough always gives it away. Yeah, bitch, you gave it up. Was it good?”
“You know what . . . y’all crazy,” Paige responded.
“Just tell us. Stop acting brand new,” Marla said.
“Okay, okay. Yeah. It went down.”
“Whaaat? You lying!” Marla said.
“I hope you used protection.”
“We did,” Paige answered. Lying.
“You better.”
Paige made a mental note to make Mad-Dog strap up next time.
“But the good news is, we are official. I’m his girl, and he’s my man. We decided to take it to the next level.”
“That’s great, Paige. I’m happy for you,” Marla said.
“I’m happy too, but don’t you think you need a little bit more time before you jump into another relationship? I mean, I know how much you love Tony.”
“Girl, fuck Tony. I’m still high from the way Mad-Dog made love to me. He took his time. It was so sensual and passionate.”
“Tony would blow a fuse if he knew you were being sexed by someone else. Girl, this is gonna be bad.”
“What’s bad is the way I’m falling for Maddie. He is so sexy. Girl, if you could have been a fly on that wall to see how he handled this . . .”
“Paige, enough about your sex life. Let me tell y’all this shit,” Marla said as Paige fanned herself. “I went to see your brother, Von. His ass is so damn fine, it should be illegal.”
“Girl, I do not wanna hear about my brother being fine,” Von said, shaking her head.
“Well, anyway, when I got there, Rodney’s ass was there.”
“Rodney? What the hell was he doing there? Was this before or after I told him he was sick?”
“Before. I just forget to tell y’all. Well, honey, I wasn’t supposed to be there. I just showed up. But Rodney’s funky ass happened to be summoned by Nasty.”
“So what happened?” Paige questioned.
“Well, he dismissed me, talkin’ ‘bout they had to have a meeting. He sent me in the li’l kids’ room to watch Sesame Street.” Paige and Von busted out laughing. “But that didn’t mean shit. You know I’m a professional lip reader. Basically, from what I could see, Nasty gave him his walking papers. And checked him for mistreating you.”
“He did? I thought he wanted me to get back with him.”
“Come on now, girl. You know Nasty don’t play that shit when it comes to you.”
Von smiled, knowing that her brother was still his old self, coming to her defense.
“That’s good. Maybe he’ll listen to Nasty and stay away from me until the baby comes. I don’t want him nowhere near me.”
“I feel you,” Paige said. Suddenly, Marla’s cell phone rang. She got up to take the call. She came back in 10 minutes and sat down with a confused look on her face.
“Okay, well, that was one of my gossiping-ass friends from work. I had her check on a few things before I shared it with y’all. You are not going to believe this,” Marla said.
“Believe what?” Von asked.
“Yeah, tell,” Paige said.
“Have y’all heard about Tony?” Marla said.
“What about him? Did something happen?” Paige asked, concerned. When she noticed how everyone saw how worried she got, she quickly checked herself and screwed up her face.
“Nah, nothing happened to him, but his name is starting to ring bells.”
“Ring bells? Girl, ringing bells about what? You know Tony is always at work. Actually, he had two jobs, last I knew. So what is his name ringing bells about?”
“Girl, Tony is deep in the game!”
“What are you talking about, Marla?”
“I’m telling you, Tony is out there slinging dope with the best of ‘em.”
Paige couldn’t believe her ears. That didn’t make any sense.
“I wasn’t going to say anything until I confirmed the information, but I now know that Tony is driving a new Range Rover, and that bat Sharise is pushing a 650 BMW. Word is, he got it for her.”
The anger that surged through Paige turned her skin a bright red. She got up from her seat and began to pace. “Are you sure about this, Marla?”
“One hundred percent, baby.”
“I can’t believe this muthafucka. He out there buying cars and trucks, but all he gave me and Tonaya was $2,000 a few weeks ago. He got a lot of nerve. I can’t believe he’s doing all this for that bitch. This ain’t right.” Tears began to build up in her eyes. This pain was different than the pain she felt when she found out Tony was cheating. She thought maybe he just got caught up, doing what men do from time to time. But it looked like he was really serious about this bitch, and that burnt her up.
“It’s okay, Paige. You got Mad-Dog now,” Marla said.
“That’s not the point. And to think, he just texted me about bringing Tonaya to him. I was going to do it. But fuck that. He don’t need to be around my daughter. As a matter of fact, I’ma file child support on his ass. I’ll be handling that first thing Monday.”
“I don’t blame you,” Marla added. “And I wouldn’t let my daughter be around that shit either. Sometimes you gotta hit these niggas where it hurts.”
“And what he know about the game? He’s a damn joke. Tony don’t know nothing about getting no damn street money.”
“Well, that’s not what the streets are saying.”
Paige was steaming. “It’s all good. He won’t be around my baby while he’s out there experimenting.”
“What is wrong with y’all? You’re trippin’. You can’t keep that man from his child. That’s not right. You know how much Tonaya loves her father.”
“I’m not even trying to hear none of that right now. His ass is on ice, plain and simple. Fuck Tony’s sorry ass. I can raise Tonaya all by myself. And shit, Mad-Dog might be an even better father anyway.”
Von just shook her head. She knew that Paige was hurt and was talking from a place of pain. But it was dead wrong to keep a father away from his child and to have another man playing his role.
All Paige could think about is all the years she and Tony spent together. She wanted to literally kill him herself for doing this. But rather than act out her thoughts, she excused herself from the ladies and went in the bathroom to call her man.
“Maddie, can you come pick me up? I’m missing you like crazy!” Fuck it, the only cure for an old man is a new one.