I’d been driving around Woodhaven projects with an attitude for nearly twenty minutes. I was trying to find building 10, but the numbers weren’t running consecutively and it was confusing the hell outta me. I was so frustrated I was about to give up and head to work, which I was already late for. But of course, that’s when I spotted the building I was looking for right in front of me. I pulled over to the curb and got outta my car with my attitude still intact. This was the last place I wanted to be on a Friday morning. Derrick was gonna owe me big-time for this.
You see, at the end of our visit on Thanksgiving Day, like most of my other visits, I was on the verge of tears. The inmates were allowed five minutes of physical contact to say good-bye to their loved ones. For Derrick and me, it was usually one five-minute kiss, and we had to be torn away from each other when our time was up. But this time Derrick broke our kiss prematurely because he had something to say. Something he knew I wouldn’t like.
“Baby, I need you to do me a favor.” He lowered his head.
“Sure, boo. What is it?” I tried to kiss him again, but he’d only let me give him a peck.
“Well, I…”He paused.
“What is it, Derrick? You know I’ll do anything for you.”
“Would you?” He looked directly into my eyes. “Would you really do anything for me?”
“Yes, Derrick.” I nodded without hesitation. “You know that. You know I’d do anything for you.”
“Yeah, I guess you would. But this is different.”
“Different how? Haven’t I proven myself over the years? Haven’t I shown you that my love is unconditional? Whatever you want, I’ll do it”
“You sure?”
I took a deep breath before I answered him. I was praying he wasn’t going to ask me to bring him drugs like he’d done Wendy. ’Cause I was not about to do that.
“Yes, Derrick, I’m sure.”
“God.” He exhaled loudly. “I can’t believe I’m about to ask you this.”
“Don’t worry about it, boo. Just ask me.”
“Ah‘ight” He paused and I waited silently. Finally, he asked me, and I knew why it was so hard for him to get around to his question. “Would you… Would you bring Wendy a hundred dollars? I didn’t get nothin’ for Tyler’s birthday, and she spent all her welfare check on his birthday party, so she ain’t got no money.”
“Are you serious?” I leaned as far away from him as I could get. “You want me to give my hard-earned money to your baby’s momma? Have you lost your mind? I ain’t bringing that bitch shit!”
I glared at him. He had set me up with his little humble act. He knew he could get me to say I would do anything. To say I was insulted by this blatant lack of respect was an understatement. I was flabbergasted. What the hell made him think I’d bring that bitch anything other that my size 8½ Timberlands? And the only reason I’d bring her those was to put my foot in her ass.
“Don’t act like this, baby. She needs the money for my son. You know I wouldn’t ask you something like this if it wasn’t important.” I stayed out of reach as he tried to hug me. That wasn’t gonna work, so he tried another angle. Guilt. “I thought you said you’d do anything for me. What happened to that unconditional love you were so adamant about a few minutes ago?”
“I came to my senses when I realized you was tryin’ to play me for your baby’s momma.” No guilt here. “How you sound, asking me to bring another bitch some money? A bitch I can’t stand, at that!”
“Will you keep it down? There’s other people around here. And I’m not tryin’ to play you. The money’s not for Wendy. It’s for my son.” He was getting an attitude now, but I didn’t give a shit.
“That’s bullshit, Derrick.” I put my hand in his face. “That bitch ain’t getting her hair and nails done with my money.” I pushed him away and he stared at me. His eyes were getting smaller with anger by the second.
“You know what? Just forget it. Just take your selfish ass on the bus and don’t come back. I knew I shouldn’t have asked you to do shit for me. I’ll get somebody else to help me. Somebody that cares about me.” He got up and turned away from the table. Damn. He always could find a way to get to me. I hated the thought of leaving before we made up, and he’d just made it very clear the only way we were gonna settle this was for me to say yes.
“Okay,” I sighed finally, giving in. “I’ll do it I’ll bring her the money. But don’t ask me to do this again”
He turned around. “You mean it?”
I nodded, but I wasn’t about to take the pout off my face. He tried to kiss me but I resisted. I was willing to do this ‘cause I didn’t wanna fight with Derrick, but his request left such a bad taste in my mouth I didn’t want him to touch me. He knew he was sending me to deliver money to Medusa herself. That bitch was gonna throw me nothin’ but attitude, and he knew it. There was nothing left for us to talk about, so I said good-bye, gave him a quick peck, and got the hell out of there. The ride back to Richmond was the longest one of my life.
“Who?”
I was jilted out of my thoughts as a female voice boomed through the apartment door. That was no easy feat, considering the stereo was playing loud enough for the entire complex to hear.
“It’s Jasmine. Derrick’s girlfriend Is Wendy here?”
The sound of the stereo faded as someone called Wendy to tell her I was there. I heard footsteps approaching.
“What you want?” Wendy snarled as she swung the door open. Her nappy-headed friend, a size 20 if she was anything, was standing behind her with hands on her hips. I wanted to laugh. The two of them looked like supermodels for Projects Weekly. Both of them were wearing beat-up house-coats, and Wendy had a weave I’m sure she’d done herself. “I axed you a question. What you want?”
“Derrick asked me to stop by and drop off a birthday present for Tyler and-”
Before I could finish my sentence and tell her about the money, she snatched the gift bag I was carrying.
“Hey, what’s wrong with you?” I demanded, but she ignored me. She took the wrapped present out of the bag and shook it.
“I bet she bought something cheap,” she mumbled to her friend.
“Only if you consider a Game Boy cheap,” I replied. “That thing cost me almost seventy dollars.”
“Seventy dollars! You spent seventy dollars on a Game Boy?” Wendy laughed and her friend joined in. “I coulda got Little Gerald to steal one from Kmart for twenty. Damn, you stupid.”
“I don’t deal with stolen merchandise.”
“I don’t deal with stolen merchandise,” she repeated sarcastically. “Well, you better stop dealing with Derrick, ’cause everything he buys is off the back of a truck. Where you think he got those chains you wearing around your neck?”
“From Zales,”I lied. “I was with him when he bought them.”
“Whatever.” She waved her hand at me. “Come on, Stacey. Jerry Springer is about to come on.”
Yes, she was about to walk away without even so much as a thank-you for the gift. I wondered if her son would even get it. Probably she’d already thought of some way to sell it and keep the cash for herself. Speaking of cash, I still had some in my purse that I was supposed to be giving to her. It took every ounce of strength not to just turn and leave right then. But I had promised Derrick I’d give her the money, and I did not want another fight with him if I didn’t follow through.
“Wait a minute. Derrick wanted you to have this, also.” I reached in my bag and handed her an envelope with her name written on it. She grabbed it, ripped it open, and smiled.
“Well, Stacey. It looks like I’m going to Summer Jam with y’all after all”Again she didn’t bother to thank me, or even speak to me, for that matter.
“For real?” her friend asked with excitement.
“Yup, ’cause Derrick came through like I knew he would.” She high-fived her friend, then the two of them started dancing in the doorway like I was Ed McMahon and they’d just won Publishers Clearing House.
“Um, I hate to break this to you” I interrupted their stupid dance. “That money’s not for you. It’s for your son.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll make sure he gets it,” Wendy snickered as they both looked at each other and burst out laughing.
“Look. Tell Derrick I said thank… ” She stopped herself. “Forget it. I’ll probably see him before you do. I gotta bring him a package Thursday.”
“He didn’t tell me you were going up there this week.”
“Honey, let’s get something straight so we both understand each other. You may be Derrick’s girlfriend, but I have his son. He ain’t got to tell you shit we do. Girlfriends come and go, but baby mommas? We here for life. Now, run along to work. I might need you to bring me a hundred fifty next week”
With that, she smirked at me and swung the door closed in my face. I stood frozen on the doorstep for a few seconds, trying to decide if I wanted to kill her or Derrick first. Wendy acted exactly the way I expected she would. The girl had absolutely no class. She couldn’t handle the fact that she was no longer Derrick’s woman, so she tried to make it seem like being his baby’s momma made her more important. That was the last time I’d bring that bitch anything, no matter how much Derrick begged.