A Thug's Wife (Full Length Novel) (7 page)

Chapter 8: A Beautiful Day

Since the wedding, things were starting to look up for everyone. Although Zaria’s marriage started off rocky, she was enjoying every minute of it and was growing fonder of Quasym every day. She didn’t even think it was possible to
love that man more than she already did, but it seemed that each day she loved him more than she did the previous day.

The night Quasym came running in the house with a gunshot wound had been the last time the two had ever spoken about it. It was as if i
t had never happened. Quasym had been picked up by some men of Italian descent and came back two days later looking as healthy as ever.

Ever since then, Quasym had been gone most of the time and really only spent a good two to three hours with Zaria, but
he made sure to make the best of the time they had together. Zaria didn’t know exactly what he was doing, but she knew that it involved drugs. Hustlin’ was all Quasym had ever done since the two met in high school.

She didn’t like it, but she wouldn’t kno
ck it either. He’d been paying all of the bills for the last two months only leaving her to pay her monthly car note. He told her in a few months that she would be able to quit her jobs, but she didn’t want to; at least not both of them. She worked hard to become a certified dental assistant and loved what she did and couldn’t see herself quitting anytime soon. On the other hand, her night job as a cashier for Wal-Mart, she would gladly let go as soon as Quasym said she could.

“Did you hear me Zaria? Damn
girl what are you thinking about?” Yessenia asked as she sewed another track into Zaria’s head.

Zaria laughed,
“I’m sorry girl, I was just sitting here thinking about how proud I was of Sym. He’s really doing good for himself-and for me.”

“I see. Your ass came in here with this good weave this time. This Brazilian ain’t cheap. So I know that the nigga must be doing good. What is he doing, by the way? He still hustlin’?”

“He won’t say, but I believe so. You know his ass love the streets.”

“
Yea I know. It’s all good though. He will get out as soon as he is ready. I know if Devon can do it, then so can he. My baby is a supervisor for UPS girl, can you believe it? Just when he wanted to give up, God came through and blessed him with that good paying job.”

“I know your ass is happy, and I know he is even happier. I know how much he hated working at McDonalds and shit.”

“Girl yes. He has been in a good mood too, been breaking your girl off with the dick damn near every morning he gets off work, so you know my ass be coming up in here singing and shit,” Yessenia laughed and so did Zaria.

Yessenia was so proud of Devon. The weeks after being fired from his last job at McDonalds had been hell. They stayed into it because Devon was always grumpy and a
ggravated that he was once again jobless. He had gotten so depressed, and she feared that he would do something stupid if nothing came through for him soon. But just as it seemed like things would only get worse, Devon had gotten a job as a supervisor at UPS and was making twenty-one dollars an hour.

He worked twelve hours every day on the night shift, and came home a few hours before Yessenia had to be at the shop. They had so much sex that Yessenia just knew that she would be pregnant soon. Not only that
, Yessenia passed her test and was now a certified cosmetologist. Things were really going good for them.

“I just bet you do heifer. Girl you are crazy. So, what’s up on the baby
making situation?” Zaria asked as she examined her fingernails.

“
Well, I’ve seen the fertility specialist twice and he told me the same thing that Dr. Attaway told me. Said ain’t nothing is wrong with me and to keep doing what I’ve been doing, and it will happen.”

“Yea it will. Don’t give up yet ‘cause I’m ready to be an auntie.”

“Well, well, well. Look who decided to come pay us a visit? What’s up trick? Ain’t seen you since the damn wedding, it seems,” Yessenia said to Cherie as she strolled into the shop.

Cherie rolled her eyes and took a seat in the waiting area. She crossed h
er arms over her chest and crossed her legs, as well. The look on her face said that she was pissed.

“What’s wrong Cherie?” Zaria asked noticing her sister’s off demeanor.

“Yea, what is wrong with you? It’s not like you to be so down. Your little ass stay turnt up.”

“Kareem broke up with me. Nigga had the nerve to say that I was a gold digger and that I ain’t got any get up and go about myself. Whatever the fuck that means.”

“Well your ass is a gold digger and you don’t Cherie. He ain’t lying,” Zaria said having no sympathy for her sister. She’d tried too many times to tell Cherie that listening to their mama was only gonna get her so far and that she needed to really think about what she wanted to do with her life.

Cherie refused any advice that came fro
m Zaria though. She felt if Zaria knew better that she would definitely do better. Besides, she didn’t feel as if she was a gold digger; she just didn’t like dating men that didn’t have money. What was so wrong with that?

Tears began to stream down Cherie’
s eyes, and it stunned Yessenia and Zaria to see it. They had never seen her cry over any man; in fact she always prided herself in keeping a long list of men in case another one got away.

Zaria jumped up from the chair she was sitting in and raced over t
o Cherie. She knelt down in front of her and stared up into Cherie’s face. She was concerned. She hadn’t seen Cherie cry since they were kids, and this frightened her.

“Cherie, girl what is wrong?” Zaria asked.

“Kareem dumped me, Z. I really did like that nigga. How could he do me like this? I got rid of everybody for him. Yes, I got with him in the beginning because his money was long, but I fell for him and now he no longer wants me,” Cherie broke down.

You could hear the pain as her emotions spilled f
rom her mouth. When Kareem had broken up with her earlier that day, she thought about how they’d been dating for about a year and a half and over the past six months things had beautifully progressed.

For the life of her, she couldn’t understand how he co
uld just call it off.  When he called her to come by, she was expecting to see him down at her feet with an engagement ring but instead he had all of her bags at her feet.

“It’s gonna be okay Cherie. I mean if you really care about him, then you should te
ll him that. Tell him how you feel and maybe y’all can work it out.”

“Yea, Cherie just try talking to him,” Yessenia agreed.

“I did try talking to him. I’ve been calling and texting him all day long, up until he changed his number on me. I just can’t deal.” Cherie didn’t even tell them about the conversation she had with her mother before coming here. She knew then they would toss away her feelings and think that she was only trying to please her mama, when, in fact, she really was upset about this break up.

Zaria and Yessenia didn’t know what to say to Cherie. Zaria had only been with one man in her life which was Quasym and the only heartbreak he
ever delivered to her was when she’d found out he’d had another child. She hadn’t quite come to terms with it being they had yet to discuss the whole cover up since Quasym had been so busy.

Either way, her heart still ached over it every day. The kind of heartbreak Cherie was experiencing; she had never dealt with before. Yessenia, on the other hand, had never b
een dumped except maybe in high school and to her that wasn’t enough to give Cherie any valid advice.

“Cherie-“

“Zariana Ross?”

Zaria looked up from her sister upon hearing a man call her name. She noticed that it was a guy dressed in a black suit and sh
e immediately stood to her feet.

“Yes, that’s me,” Zaria said crossing her arms over her chest. She looked him up and down and wondered what he wanted with her. She watched as he reached into his suit jacket and came back with a set of keys. She was confu
sed as he held the keys out for her to take. “What is this?”

“I was just asked to deliver this to you.”

Zaria took them from him and looked down at the keys in the palm of her hand. They were keys to a BMW, and she could tell that it was brand new. Not understanding why someone would have keys delivered to her, she headed towards the door of the salon, and that’s when she noticed it. It was a cocaine white BMW sitting right out front with a red ribbon on top of the hood.

“Oh, my God!” Zaria screamed as she rushed outside toward the car.

“Girl, is that yours?” Yessenia asked following behind Zaria.

Zaria pr
essed the unlock button on the key chain and watched as the lights blinked. She pulled the door open and screamed at the top of her lungs. There was a vase of red roses sitting in the front seat along with a letter taped to the steering wheel.

Yessenia an
d Cherie came closer to get a better look. They watched as Zaria pulled the card away from the steering wheel and tore the envelope open. Silently, Zaria read to herself and tears instantly slid down her face onto the letter she was reading.

“What does it
say? Who is it from?” Cherie asked as she examined the BMW. She walked over to the passenger side’s seat and pulled the door open. The new car smell hit her dead in the nose as an unexpected feeling of jealously crossed over her.

How the hell did Zaria g
et a brand new ass BMW?
Cherie thought as she slammed the door shut.

“Girl be careful! Damn!” Zaria yelled at her.

“Well give us the info. Where the hell did this car come from? Who bought it?”

“Yea ‘cause we all know Sym broke ass didn’t. Girl you’ve b
een playing around on Sym?” Cherie said nastily.

Zaria rolled her eyes at Cherie no longer giving a fuck that the nigga Kareem had broken her heart. She was back to herself again acting just like their mama when only minutes ago she was crying her eyes ou
t. She should’ve known that it wouldn’t have lasted long.

“Well, Quasym did buy this thank you very much. And not only did he buy me a brand new car-“ Zaria removed two plane tickets from the envelope that the letter was in. “he also got two tickets to fu
cking Jamaica! Oh, my God, we’re going on a damn honeymoon this weekend!”

“How the hell did that nigga do that? Who did he rob?”

Both Yessenia and Zaria looked at Cherie, but neither of them was shocked. Yessenia wondered how Quasym was able to afford a brand new BMW and tickets to Jamaica as well, but she wouldn’t dare say it. She knew that Zaria said that he’d been working a lot lately and had been doing better with paying the bills, but she was not expecting this. Even then, she was still happy for Zaria, unlike Cherie.

“I’m so happy for you, Zaria. You deserve this and so much more. I must say that I am shocked but damn girl, congrats!” Yessenia placed her hands out and both Zaria and her hugged. “Now, come on and let me finish your hair so I won’t be
running behind when my next client comes.”

“Okay, hold up. I gotta call and thank my boo. Yesssssss!”
Zaria cheered.

Zaria waited until Cherie and Yessenia left before she pulled out her cell phone to call Quasym. She couldn’t wait until Yessenia was don
e with her hair so she could put her ride on the streets.
Damn, I can’t believe this shit. Quasym must be really getting money. That’s right! My boo getting that paper!

Zaria turned around to walk over to her brand new ride when she noticed a man standing
right next to it, checking it out. He was dark skinned, tall, with long neatly tamed dread locks. She had never seen him before and didn’t know why he felt so comfortable to be all up on her shit. She slid her phone back into her pocket and walked over to him.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Dis is beautiful,” the man said as he rubbed his hands together. He had a thick accent and Zaria could tell that he was from the Islands. He stood back and surveyed the car while nodding his head in approval. “Had to run yuh about fifty racks, huh? Nice.”

“Thank you, but can you step back please?” Zaria slid in front of him and shut the driver side door. She didn’t want anyone to steal her ride before she even had a chance to drive it.

“Sym, bought this for yuh? Sym, is ya’ dude right?”

Zaria looked at him even more suspiciously than she had been before. She stared into his face trying to see if she could recognize who he was, but she couldn’t. He just didn’
t look familiar.

“Do I know you?”

“Where can I find Sym? I really need to talk to him,” the guy said ignoring Zaria’s question.

“
Look, I don’t know who the fuck you are, but you really need to get the fuck away from me asking me about my man,” Zaria snapped, feeling disrespected.

“Aye, tell Sym I said he got twe
nty four hours to get at Hova or shit gonna get real ugly, yuh hear me?” Hova said as he punched his fist into the window of Zaria’s car. Glass flew everywhere causing Zaria to jump back. She tried to reach for her cell phone when Hova grabbed both of her arms and pushed her against the car. “Twenty-four hours or shit is gonna get real ugly. Real ugly.”