Chapter Eight
Petie parked the truck and went inside the house with the boys. Renee was cooking dinner when they came in, and she asked them where they had been and how was school. Petie came up behind her and kissed the back of her neck.
”Petie, please, I’m cooking,” Renee said.
”Why every time I touch you it’s always ‘Petie this and Petie that’?” he asked. He now had his suspicions.
”Because you always catching me when I’m not in the mood. And when I am in the mood, you’re not around,” Renee answered, pissed at herself for explaining anything to him. Shit, he never explained anything to her. Petie gave her a ‘whatever’ look before going into the bedroom and lying down.
He was gonna creep by Share’s crib and catch her out there. He wanted to be sure before he broke her jaw, even though his gut told him that he was absolutely right.
Darnell and Dante told Petie and Renee about their day as they all ate dinner. They talked about how they had chased the girls around the school playground. Dante told them about Yolanda, the little girl who kissed him. ”Yuck,” he said. Darnell began to laugh. Yolanda liked Dante. She sat next to him in class, and she would always try to help him with his math.
”I would have told her, ‘Let me see something, and then I’ll let you kiss me.’ Right, Dad?” he said smiling at Petie. Ah, man, Petie thought. He blowin’ up my spot. Renee cut her eyes at him. He would have to talk to the boys a little later about keeping their conversations a secret, mainly because of her. He was molding his little men to be playas—not the ones to get played.
Venus showered, got dressed in a Donna Karan suit and headed to work. She was a supervisor at Chase Manhattan on 168th Street and Broadway. She handled the accounts and money transfers. Share kept an account there, so Venus always checked on it and did any money transfers when necessary. She and Share were having dinner tonight, and later she’d go over to Share’s and cook some baby back ribs, macaroni and cheese and collard greens.
Andre walked up to Venus and handed her a cup of coffee with vanilla creamer. She thanked him and watched him walk away. Andre was a cutie, but he was her age, which meant he was too old. And besides, she only had it for BJ.
Venus knew Andre liked her. A couple of times they went to lunch together and had a drink after work, but that was all. She wouldn’t cheat on BJ; she wasn’t loose like that anymore, so she ignored him and didn’t play into his seductive glances.
Share was at the 125th Street restaurant, discussing the new menus that would start next month. She talked to the new employees and let them know what she expected from them and what she wouldn’t tolerate. She had a good crew at the 125th Street restaurant, and she owed it all to Abdul for choosing them carefully. As a matter of fact, there was always a good crew there, and Share trusted his judgment. Abdul was very efficient and professional when it came to business.
Will, on the other hand, hired ex-cons. He considered it giving back; someone gave him a chance, and now he was giving others coming home a chance. Share liked that Will hadn’t forgotten where he came from. He was faithful and consistent, which was why she finally gave him a set of keys. She was tired of Petie and his back-breaker calls. Besides, Petie never made love to her; he only boned her. She was done with him; enough was enough. Share made a mental note to holla at him and let him know to lose her number. Even though Will was eleven years younger than her, she had decided to settle down with him. Venus and BJ were doing fine, so why couldn’t she and Will do the same? Yeah, I’m gonna cut that nigga off tonight, she thought as she got in her car.
Renee washed the dishes and put them away. Petie was playing Play Station with the boys, and she knew as soon as it got dark he would be hitting the streets. That was his M.O. it didn’t matter to her because he paid the bills and kept their sons in the latest gear. And she knew he wouldn’t be around long because parole was looking for him. He hadn’t reported in four weeks, so his P.O dropped a warrant on him. They had come to the house a couple of times, but Petie wasn’t there—lucky him. Renee remembered the last time they violated him. They hit him with ninety days and she spent all her free time with her lover. But Petie made sure that money was left for the rent, phone and cable bill. The one thing she gave him credit for was being responsible. He never let her or her kids be without the things they needed and wanted.
She went into the boys’ bedroom, picked out their outfits for the next day and ironed them. Then she ran a bath for Dante first, since he was the slow one.
After bathing, the boys watched the Nickelodeon channel with Renee. Petie had changed his clothes and was preparing to go out. Bye, Rene thought. She would be asleep by the time he came back.
Her lover would be calling in the morning for their usual session. She met him every morning except on Saturdays and Sundays, mainly because the kids were home then. But Monday through Friday, it was on and poppin’.
