Free Falling for a Hustler: A Benton Harbor Love Story by Jerniqua K. Page B

like that.” He pushed my feet from his lap and got up from the couch we were on.
    “I know what we talked about Dom, but that don’t mean I can’t get scared. I don’t think I’m ready for a child.”
    “Nah, I know what it is. You too busy running behind Lyric and that nasty bitch Yandy! You think these niggas don’t know about how they out here getting down? Yandy nervous to show her face around here cause so many niggas on her head, and you idolizing this hoe. I don’t get you.”
    “Dominic–” he cut me off.
    “Dominic my ass. You kill my baby and I’m dead to you.”
    I stared at him in disbelief as he walked away. It had been almost a month since I had hit the lick on Cedric, and my funds were dwindling once again. I wanted to get back out there and catch someone else slipping, but after finding out I was pregnant a week ago, I decided against it. Dom was being a complete ass about the situation, and I couldn’t understand why. Since we had gotten together, the plan was always to stack money so that we could move. We were just 20; a child was the last thing we needed to be focused on.
     
    “Destiny!” I stuck my head out of my bedroom window, trying to figure out who the hell was outside calling my name like they were crazy.
    “Dominic, why the fuck are you yelling my name like that?” He held up a fat ass bag of green, and a smile appeared on my face. “I’ll be down in a minute.”
    Sliding on my house shoes, I damn near ran down the stairs to open the door for him.
    “Your aunt here?” he asked, stepping inside.
    “Nah, her and Lyric are at the club as usual.”
    When we made it to my room, he sat at my desk, and I sat on the bed and watched as he began to roll up.
    “I thought you had a date with Danielle tonight?”
    “I did,” he said bluntly. The way his sexy lips sealed the blunt closed almost made me shiver. “I wasn’t fuckin with shorty though.”
    “Why not?”
    He lit the blunt and stared at me for a moment. “I tried kicking it with her on a serious level, she just wasn’t there though. All she cared about was being able to say she was with Dom, the star of the basketball team. I’m looking for more than that.”
    “I find that so hard to believe.”
    “Why you say that?
    He passed me the blunt, and I hit it before speaking. “Because nigga! We been best friends since I moved here seven years ago. I done seen you break so many hearts it’s pathetic! Shit, I done even had to fight a few bitches over you because they thought we was fucking. So miss me with that ‘serious’ shit you spittin’.”
    “Yeah, I did my share of heartbreaking, but that doesn’t mean I can’t change it up and do something different. I only did them girls like that because they let me.”
    It almost looked like he was telling the truth; too bad I knew differently. “Whatever Dom. Tell it to someone that will believe you.”
    “Why you worried about it anyway? Let me find out you checking for a nigga.”
    I rolled my eyes and got up from the bed to put a movie in. He was tripping.
    “Ain’t nobody worried, I was just wondering why you were here instead of with her.”
    We finished smoking the blunt in silence. When it was gone, Dom came and sat next to me. His hand brushed against my leg, and I nearly lost my mind. The weed had me feeling good, and it made everything feel ten times better.
    “Des.”
    “What’s up Dom?” I laid my head on his lap and continued watching the movie. It was the same thing every time he would come over. He began playing with my ponytail.
    “You want to know the real reason I didn’t go out with Danielle?”
    I wondered why he decided to bring the subject back up, so I said, “If you want to tell me.”
    “Someone else has my mind gone. She’s smart, funny, even got a lil mouthpiece on her, and she’s about more than shopping and niggas. Lil mama got goals and shit,” he chuckled.
    I shifted uncomfortably, but I remained where I was; if I didn’t,