Free TYCE II by Shareef Jaudon Page A

she just heard, “Damn, that’s fucked up.”
    “Yeah and what makes it even more fucked up is that I couldn’t get the money back or the work. That muthafucka jus’ took my shit and then acted like he didn’t know who I was when he answered the phone!” Khalil’s nostrils flared as he exhaled deeply. “I wanna kill that muthafucka so bad my head hurts every time I think about it!”
     
    Dallas looked down at her diamond tennis bracelet twinkling in the sunlight and then the same twinkle was in her eyes.
                  “I think you should meet my boyfriend.”

Moms
     
                  My worst fears were coming to fruition.
     
                  I wanted so bad for Tyce to just walk away from this whole stupid situation but I knew he wasn’t the type to run from a fight. If he was he wouldn’t have made it this far in life, he would have checked out a long time ago. I beat myself up over and over again about my decision to turn him over to the state. That had always been the number one regret in my life. I couldn’t change the past; all I could do was move forward into the future and try to be the mother he never had.
                  My love for him was immeasurable. It was as if I’d birthed him myself. It’s funny how the heart can love who it chooses to once it’s been touched in that special place…in that special way. The first night him and I spent together when he was just a newborn was the night our bond was sealed forever. That was a strong lasting bond that could not be broken by anyone or anything, and I would do whatever it took to keep my child above ground. Tyce would bury me; it would not be the other way around…not as long as I was still breathing.
     
    Lying in bed now, staring at the blank pasty ceiling…I asked myself again and again.
    “Should I tell him the truth?”

Family Meeting
     
                  Dominoes was the game of choice this evening as all three of us sat at the kitchen table sipping wine. Angelique and Dallas kept talking shit to me because they were beating me badly, little did they know, I was letting them win on purpose.
                  I held my dominoes in my hands while they stood theirs up, angling them so I couldn’t see what they had. I didn’t have the heart to tell them I already knew what they were going to play before they even laid it on the table. I just smiled at them both as they racked up the points and clinked their glasses together in celebration.
    “Fifteen on yo ass!!” Angelique slammed her hand on the table. “You sure you know how to play?” She asked sarcastically.
    “Ha ha, yeah I know the rules…but the game aint over yet chica.”
    “It will be in a minute.” She drank the last of her wine.
    “I need 25 to go and domino is on me!” Dallas chimed in.
    “Yeah yeah yeah…you already told me that about 30 seconds ago.” I nodded in her direction.
    “I’m jus’ sayin, you need to get ya mind right, cuz I may be playin’ a game but like Lil Wayne said… yeah I said game but I aint playin’ round this muthafucka!”   She did a little dance in her chair.
    Angelique and I both cracked up at Dallas’s attempt to mimic Lil Wayne ’s southern accent.
    “I didn’t know you liked Lil Wayne ?” Angelique laid down a domino and looked across the table
    at her.
    “Hell yeah I like him, I like the way he raps, I think he’s very talented…but Drake , yeah, Drake can get it!”
    “I heard that!” Angelique cosigned enthusiastically.
    “Oh lord.” I rolled my eyes.
    “Come on now, don’t act like you aint never fantasized about a famous woman before.” Angelique refilled her glass with wine.
    I laid my domino on the table and leaned back in my chair balancing on two legs.
    “What about Meagan Good or Nia Long , I know you fantasize about sleeping with them…don’t lie.” Dallas poin ted her finger at me playfully.
    I grinned slyly, “It was