The look on their faces was priceless.
Kaylen was staring at me as if she was about to pee in her pants and Zo was gawking at me as if he owed me something. Fuck it, that nigga did owe me something. Yeah, I was on some stupid shit the last time he saw me, but there was no reason for him to try to kill my ass over a bitch.
Then I get back here and this nigga is sitting in here chilling in her house. So pretty much, while my ass was going through rehab to get my body in order and to get over my addiction, he was in here feeling so sorry about killing me that he’d decided to start fucking around with Kaylen. Yeah, that nigga owed me a lot. But I would get to that later.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were…” Zo started.
“What? Dead? You thought I was dead because you shot me, right? Because of her,” I said jabbing my finger in Kaylen’s direction. She jumped back like I was going to hit her or something. It almost made me laugh.
“What you jumping for?” I asked her. She didn’t say a word; she just continued to stare at me. “I’m not going to do anything to you. You got your bodyguard here to protect you anyways, right? He can shoot me again and then you can fuck him as his consolation prize for killing his best friend….again.” I wasn’t expecting it, but for a second, a shadow of guilt passed over her face. But it was quickly replaced by anger.
“Salem, you getting out of line, bro. Now we can talk if you wanna talk, but…” Zo started as he walked closer to the entrance of the door.
“No, fuck that shit! You can talk to him on your own time. Get the fuck off of my property, Salem! Now!” Kaylen yelled. “You have five seconds before I get my gun and come out shooting!”
“Hey, you don’t have to tell me more than once.” I raised my hands into the air. “I didn’t even come here to start no drama. I really just wanted to chat with you…and apologize. I’m better now, if you can’t tell. That’s all it was, really...then I saw my boy’s car in your yard, so…”
“Leave! Now!” Kaylen said again.
I shrugged before turning around to head back to my Escalade. I jumped in and started pulling out of the yard. Before I left, I made sure to roll down the window and chuck the deuces at Zo and Kaylen while they watched me.
It really was all good. My intent was to stop by and talk to Kaylen. I wanted to apologize to her for all the shit that I had done. My mind was gone the last time she saw me. I was on some stupid shit…I had never fucked around with meth in the past and I never would ever again. That shit had my mind blown. My next stop was to meet up with my boy. Zo had been my nigga since we were little. I hadn’t faulted him once for shooting me that night. Hell, if it had been me getting jumped on by a cracked out ass nigga, I would have shot him, too. I wanted to speak to him, show him I was well, and tell him that everything was all good between us…water under the bridge.
But now that I saw what they had been up to since I’d “been murdered,” I wasn’t about to forgive shit.
“Man, fuck that hoe ass bitch and the bitch ass nigga. Fuckers been out here living the life, not feeling guilty for shit! I thought that nigga was my best friend, but he thought he’d killed me over this bitch and still decided to start fucking with this bitch!”
I couldn’t help but think about how I had been in rehab the whole time, with the only thing making me press through it being the thought that I could show back up, apologize to Kaylen, repair our relationship, and eventually marry her. I knew it would take some time to do it, but it was what I had dreamed about every night and thought about every day. I wanted her to be mine.
But I returned home for what? This shit. My very first stop after being let out of rehab was to pick up my car and drive to her house. I got there and she wasn’t home, I thought she had probably moved, so I broke in so I could be sure. She hadn’t moved; everything was just as it was when I had left. Except all my shit was gone. That pissed me off, so I pulled out the cufflinks that she had bought me, the ones I had been carrying around in my pocket, and I sat them on top of the dresser in one of the guestrooms. I locked her Rottweiler, Tiny, up in the room to make sure she would see them and think of me.
I waited a few days and figured I would try again. I had it all thought out in my mind. My apology had been rehearsed every day that I had been in rehab going through detox and every second that I endured of physical therapy. I pushed myself through some of the hardest times thinking that it would all be fine once I got back to her. And I got here to find out that she’s been fucking around with my best friend the entire time.
Payback is about to be a bitch.
“Murk, man, what’s up, Nigga?”
“Ain’t shit. Man, I’m surprised as hell to be hearing from you, though.”
“Yeah, man,” I said rubbing my hand over my locs. They were dry and brittle. I needed to get up with someone to clean them up for me ASAP. “I been gone for a minute, but I’m back. I see your nigga, Zo, done move on up on to Kay, though.” I listened as Murk sighed on the other line.
“Yeah, man. That nigga trippin’. But fuck all that shit. You good now and got a second chance to get your shit in order. Don’t mess all that up over no bitch.” I sat quietly as I listened to Murk’s words.
Murk was a mutual friend of Zo and mine. We went way back because he and I got close around the same time that Zo decided to go off to college. While Zo was in school learning how to cook up a good meal for rich white folks, Murk and I were running the streets getting money. I never faulted Zo for deciding to avoid the block and take the school route, but I always felt that he looked down on me because I chose differently. Fuck that nigga.
“Yeah, you right, fam. I’m over that shit.”
“What you getting into today? I would like the opportunity to show you a good time since you back, ya dig? I got some bad bitches round here that I’m sure would love to see ya,” Murk laughed and I joined in with him.
“That might be exactly what I need,” I replied. I had a few things that I needed to work out when it came to the Zo and Kaylen situation, but I figured I could leave that shit on the backburner for the time being.
To me, there was nothing worse than betrayal. Zo and I had built a friendship based on the fact that no matter what shit went down, we were solid that we had each other’s backs no matter what. The last thing I expected to see when I got home was him fucking around with Kaylen. But it was cool, I had something for both of their grimy asses.