Chapter Two
Petie jumped in his truck and grabbed DMX’s It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot CD. He popped it into his CD player and pulled off, with How’s It Goin’ Down pumping out of his speakers. He always played that before and after seeing Share.
Petie knew Share was whipped. He put it on all the chicks like that. Nobody was special—not even wifey. He only stayed with her because of the kids. She was home base. Nobody could touch that, and he refused to let it go. She took care of his sons and cooked meals every night. Nah, he wasn’t going anywhere. What wifey didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her. But if it wasn’t for his sons he would’ve been bounced. She wasn’t fun in the bedroom anymore. She was boring—unlike Share. Share was creative and always willing, and she took it in the bumper. Yeah, that’s what he liked. Share was his, and if he ever found out somebody else was hitting that, he’d beat her down. However, there’d be none of that; he knew she enjoyed that bedroom punishment. But if he ever caught her cheating, there’d be no enjoyment whatsoever—believe that.
Petie checked his phone and was surprised to see that wifey didn’t call. That was strange. He pulled up to his building, shut the system off and hopped out of the truck. The regular cats were out front, waiting for the heads to come through. That’s how it was in the hood—always on the paper chase. Family gotta eat, bills gotta be paid and muthafuckas don’t want to hire convicted felons.... Get that money; it’s yours for the taking.
Petie put the key in the door, hoping that wifey would be asleep. But something told him she’d be up waiting for him with a million questions. He walked into his sons’ bedroom and looked in on them. They were fast asleep...his little men. He loved them to death. That’s what kept him coming home every night.
Petie took off his coat and went to the bedroom to see if his wife, Renee, was awake. She was. She gave him a ‘Where you been?’ look. He pulled off his G-Units and lined them up with the other twenty-six pairs of kicks he had. Petie had different footwear for every day of the month. You name it, he had it, and he made sure his little men had it too.
Petie kissed Renee on the cheek, and she began with the million questions. ”Where you been? Why didn’t you call? Why you look like that? Why you always gotta go out at night? What took you so long? Who was you with? Was you with a bitch? Why you lyin’?” Damn, she’s nosy. He wanted to be rid of her ass, but he wouldn’t do that to his sons. Renee was a good mother. He couldn’t take that away from her. She had homemaker skills. She took care of the house and devoted all of her time to their sons. He couldn’t break up his happy home.
Petie remembered growing up and watching his mother struggle and work two jobs to make ends meet. She had a hard life, and he always wondered as a boy why his father just upped and left the way he did. He thought his pops didn’t love him. Petie remembered how unwanted and neglected he felt as a child without his father...all the other kids doing things with their dads and his was nowhere around. He had abandoned him and left him to grow up without him. He hated him for that, and he vowed that he would never cause his little men that kind of pain—never; so if it meant that he was stuck with Renee for life, then so be it. He was determined to have his sons grow up with both of their parents. He lived for them since they were born. They were all that mattered...his little men. But here he was being interrogated again, as usual. It was a no-win situation.
Petie snatched off his clothes down to his boxers and got in the bed. He took the remote control and turned on some porno. He had to watch the porno channel just to get in the mood to be with Renee. It just wasn’t the same anymore; she no longer excited him, so he would watch the chicks on the screen and imagine that he was hitting them instead.... Damn, one chick looked like Desiree...yeah, Des. Petie was thinking about going to check her tomorrow. She was a head nurse fa sho. After taking the boys to school, he’d spin past her crib so she could polish his gun. But in the meantime, he was in bed with wifey who didn’t even make him brick anymore.... She wouldn’t even wear thongs; she wore briefs. He couldn’t understand why she had become so boring. There was no chemistry between them anymore. Petie reached over and put his hand on her thigh. ”Petie, I’m not in the mood,” she said. She kissed him on the cheek and rolled over. ”Goodnight,” she added.
”Goodnight, ma. I love you,” Petie replied.
”Yeah, I love you, too.”
Petie lay there for a few moments and cut off the TV. No problem; he could go to bed brick tonight. He wasn’t in the mood for her anyway. No sweat off his back. He would go see Des in the morning and then go and check Alexis. He had it all planned. Yeah, I need my sleep anyway, he thought looking over at Renee.