Page 2 of He Thugged Me First

“I love him, Deen. We’re just going through a rough patch, and this transition is taking a while.” I was lying through my teeth, but I was never the type to let it all the way be known when I wasn’t feeling something. I’d try to play it classy.

“Nah. You’re tired of him. You don’t have to admit it to us, but you have to be honest with yourself,” Autumn responded.

“It’s like me and the kid’s father. I love getting dick from him, but honestly, I don’t care for being in a relationship with him. We’re only compatible physically, and that’s cool with me. Problem is we have three kids that deserve to have a two-parent household. That’s why I stay, but you don’t have any ties to that nigga, and you need to get out before you allow yourself to be tied to him. Niggas sense when you don’t need them, so they make themselves useful.” Nadeen looked in the rearview mirror at me as she spoke.

The way she talked about it was odd for me, but I understood where she was coming from. She was ultimately right, and I could never tell that she didn’t feel Kevin like that. They looked like the perfect couple, but I guess looks could be deceiving, and I wasn’t around enough to even notice.

When we finally reached Canez,I didn’t even recognize the place. It had been updated since the last time I snuck here with my sister and Autumn. The space was nice and different from any that I had ever seen. When Nadeen said we were going to a hangout spot, I immediately thought all the wrong things. You see, my sister loved the hood and everything it entailed, so I wasn’t expecting anything less. The thing is, this place was nice, and it had a different vibe about it. It definitely had the loud banging ass music and hood niggas, but the atmosphere was one that I couldn’t explain. In the middle of the room, there was a large, round bar with people adorning it and waiting for their drinks. Then in different spaces in the room, there were different old school cars. Each of them were different colors with different shapes and bodies. What was funny was the fact that I was able to tell what each car was because they reminded me of somebody I knew when I was younger. He loved cars and swore that one day he’d own most of the ones in his room. I had spotted an emerald green 1957 Corvette, an Orange 1970 Dodge Challenger, and best of all, a midnight sky 1969 Chevy Camaro. Just looking at these cars made me think about somebody I had known back then. He was an old school fanatic, along with many other things.

Blinking a few times, I escaped my thoughts as they tried to thrust me into the past. I wasn’t up for the trip down memory lane. “This is nice.” I glanced over at Nadeen with a smile.

She had this knowing smirk on her face as she looked me over. “Doesn’t it take y’all back to when we were young? Sneaking out of the house to see the car spots and the niggas that drove them?”

Autumn laughed. “No, ma’am. I think you should rephrase that. We were looking for the niggas with the old schools while Ms. Thing right here was only looking at one nigga.” She nudged me.

“Mazzier Carson. Funny thing is he damn near owns the entire scene now.”

Like he told me he would. I didn’t mean to, but I smiled at that revelation. Though we hadn’t talked in ages and left off on bad terms, I was still glad to hear he was doing good.

“Look at this bitch, smiling like she hasn’t been damn near dodging him.” Autumn laughed.

I had to giggle at that one, because it was partly true. Nadeen was always inviting me out, but because I was too afraid I’d run into him or anyone from back then, I always declined. Mazz was my everything when I was younger. There wasn’t a thing anyone could tell me about him, because back then, I thought I knew everything about him. I even thought I knew him through and through, but I didn’t. We were different as night and day. At sixteen, I thought I was in love, and I’m not talking about that puppy love either. I’m talking about that love that has you ready to give up everything for it. I thought he felt the same, but he didn’t. He was feeding the same words to every female around the hood. I just so happened to be the dumbass that thought I was special. Turns out I wasn’t, and the best thing my mother could’ve done back then was move us away. She decided to move at the last minute, and for me, the move couldn’t have come at a better time. I was reeling from a heartbreak and in need of a fresh start, so as soon as she said move, I was ready to pack.

“Stop flashing. You probably won’t even see him tonight.” Autumn nudged me from my thoughts.

“Even though we are in his neck of the woods,” Nadeen taunted.

I giggled nervously. “What way is the washroom?”

“In the back toward the left.” Nadeen pointed.

I nodded before leaving them there and going to locate the washroom. Just the thought of seeing him had my palms sweaty and my nerves all over the place. Once I spotted the washroom sign, I continued in the direction of it with my head down until I walked into something hard. I fell back, almost hitting the ground, but a pair of strong arms caught me. When I glanced up, I smiled politely at the figure before apologizing.

“Nah, shorty. That was me. I was tryna stop ya stride.” He winked.

I shook my head with a smirk. He was kind of cute, but not my type. He was my height. After a few seconds, it was clear that he wasn’t gonna move out of my way, so I glanced around the room waiting for him to spit his weak ass game. The man was short, so I knew his game was weak. The moment my eyes connected with a pair of familiar ones, I knew they were playing tricks on me.Why was he here? What the hell?

MAZZ

My eyes had to be playing with me because I knew I hadn’t just seen her. I’d just connected eyes with the one who got away. When I met Gayze, I wasn’t who I am today. I was a young nigga on the grind, only thinking about myself. I wanna say she was my first love. Shit, honestly my only, but how would I know that? When shit got tough in the hood, her mother moved her away. Not to mention, back then, we weren’t on the same page as far as what we had going on. I was out here foul and I knew it. Things wouldn’t have worked out with us anyways. I was trying to get more established in the dope game while damn near raising my sister, and she was trying to feed her mental. I blinked a few times and looked around my space, trying to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me or she was actually here. It was funnybecause this was where I first paid her attention. Her sister had snuck her and Autumn in to chill.

Standing to my feet, I looked around the club just as shots rang out, and before I knew it, I was hit by something. I was knocked backward, and I felt the heat in my stomach before everything in the room went dark.

Hours later, I woke up to the sun peeking through the blinds of what seemed like a hospital room. When I looked up, I had to be dreaming. This couldn’t be Gayze checking me out. I looked up at her, trying to catch her eyes, but I could tell she purposely avoided looking at me.

“Tessa, please run the necessary tests and have the results sent to my tablet.” She gave me a look over before walking out of the room. “And please inform Mr. Carson’s girlfriend that he is awake,” she tossed over her shoulder before the nurse nodded and looked toward me.

“Yo, she my doctor?” I asked in a raspy tone.

The nurse nodded. “She was at the scene when it happened, and she worked on you in the field. Dr. Fields saved your life, sir.”

I nodded my head. “Then page her ass back down here.”

“I can’t do that because she has a meeting to attend.”

I screwed up my face. “How the fuck she gonna have a meeting when she’s a doctor? Ain’t she supposed to be available to her patients?”

“You’re her only patient, sir. Dr. Fields runs the hospital. She rarely has patients. But I will page her right away,” old girl said before leaving the room.

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