“Stephanie?” He sounded skittish, though I don’t know why. This was my sister’s place, after all. “Jasmine’s not here. She’s at work.”
“I know. I didn’t come to see her. I came to see you.”
“Come to see me? About what?” He kept tightening the belt of his robe nervously. Maybe he was afraid his johnson would pop out and I’d see it again. Okay, so maybe I was having trouble keeping my eyes away from his groin. But you can’t blame a sistah for wanting a little peep show once in a while, can you?
“I got some things to talk to you about.” My eyes finally made their way back up to his face. “But first I gotta use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”
You should have seen him. I thought Derrick was gonna break his damn neck trying to leap across the love seat to stop me.
“There’s somebody in there. You gotta use the one upstairs.”
“No, that’s okay. I can wait. It’d be just my luck Jasmine would come home as I was walking down the stairs. I got enough problems. I don’t need my sister thinking I’m trying to get with her man.” Besides, I wanted to know who the hell he was hiding in the downstairs bathroom.
“No, really. You can use the one upstairs. Jazz won’t be home for hours.” He tried to guide me toward the stairs, but I shrugged him off.
“Why you so eager to get me upstairs? You got a girl in there or something?” I took a step toward the bathroom, and he stepped in front of me, which confirmed my suspicions. “You do got a girl in there, don’t you? Does my sister know about this?”
He didn’t have time to even make up a lie before the bathroom door opened and a brown-skinned woman about my height and complexion walked out. She looked familiar, but I just couldn’t place her, and she wasn’t about to give me time to figure it out.
“Who the hell are you?” She eyed me from head to toe and sucked her teeth like she owned the place. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was tryin’ to intimidate me. I was about to put her in her place when Derrick cut in.
“Look, Wendy, this is Jasmine’s sister, Stephanie, so will you be quiet?” She actually got the look off her face pretty fast. I guess Derrick was in charge when it came to this wench. He turned to me with a lame attempt at an explanation. “This is not what it looks like, Stephanie.”
“Oh, no? Then what is it? ’Cause it looks like you got some bitch over here in my sister’s place about to get your groove on.” I sucked my teeth, showing a little sister-girl attitude of my own. Derrick was visibly nervous, and he hesitated before he spoke. He knew enough to choose his words wisely.
“Nan, it ain’t nothing like that. You see, Wendy’s my son’s mom. And, well, we were discussing his schooling. Right, Wendy?”
“Yeah, whatever.” She twisted her lips and shrugged. “Look, Derrick, I’m outta here. I need a hundred dollars to buy Tyler some tennis shoes.”
He reached for his wallet on the coffee table and handed her some money. He looked like he was in a big hurry to get her out, ’cause he didn’t even bother to count what he handed her. I guess she’d be getting her nails done with the change.
“Get him a pair of those baby blue Jordans. Like the ones I got last week,” Derrick suggested. Wendy nodded and headed for the door. She didn’t have anything else to say, but she made sure to smirk at me on her way past. I just shook my head and walked into the bathroom. When I came out, Derrick was sitting in the recliner smoking a cigarette.
“Yo, Stephanie.” He put the cigarette down and leaned forward. “I hope we can keep this between us. I mean, your sister and Wendy just don’t get along. Know what I mean?”
No shit. And after seeing Wendy and her stank attitude, I could see why my sister might have a problem. I was about to jump in Derrick’s shit until I remembered why I was there. I needed his help.
“Look, I came over here to ask you for a favor, not to blow you up. Just don’t be hurtin’ my sister.”
“Man, why would I hurt your sister? I love her. Shit, she did a three-year bit with me, so you know I got love for her. It’s just that she don’t get along with Wendy, that’s all. So I gotta keep them apart and see Wendy on the low, if you know what I mean.”
“Whatever, Derrick.”
“For real, Steph,” he insisted. “Ain’t no funny shit going on. My baby takes good care of me.”
“That ain’t none of my business as long as my sister don’t get hurt. Shit, I got my own problems.”
“I heard that.” I know he was relieved to be changing the subject. “So what brings you over here? You said you needed a favor. I didn’t think anyone in your family would ever ask me for a favor.”
“Look, I’m not Big Momma,” I told him. “I don’t care what you do for a living. That’s your business. Only thing I care about is that you take care of my sister.” I glanced at the new entertainment system that had appeared in Jasmine’s living room not long after Derrick got home.
“You know, Steph, I knew there was a reason why I liked you.” He gestured for me to have a seat. I sat on the love seat next to him. “So what’s this favor you need?”
“Well, I don’t know if Jasmine told you or not, but me and my fiancé broke up recently.”
“Yeah, she mentioned it. I’m sorry to hear that.” He actually sounded sincere.
“Thanks, but I’m gonna get him back eventually.”
“That’s good. So what’s the problem?”
“Do you remember Malek, my daughter’s father? He used to rap with KRN.”
“Yeah, I remember that nigga. He’s the one who stole that bag of weed from my boy, Butter. Man, Butter beat the shit out that nigga.” Derrick laughed at the memory. “And that soft-ass nigga is your baby’s father?”
“Yeah, and he’s also my problem.” I was actually glad to hear that Derrick didn’t like Malek. It would make it easier to get his help. “Malek keeps harassing me. And now he’s trying to blackmail me into sleeping with him.”
“Damn, that’s fucked up.” Derrick leaned back in the recliner and smirked. “But from what I hear, you were sleeping with him anyway. Weren’t you?”
Hadn’t he said Jasmine had just “mentioned” that Travis and I broke up? Sounds like she did more than mention it. Shoot, she might as well have taken an ad out in the local paper, as much of my business as she was giving up. I didn’t give a damn if it was only to her boyfriend. But I’d have to deal with my sister and issues of loyalty later. Right now I needed help from Derrick.
“Uh-huh,” I sighed. “I was sleeping with him, but I stopped. I love Travis, Derrick, and he left me because of Malek. I can’t get him back if Malek won’t back off. That’s why I need your help.”
“What you want me to do about it?”
“I want you to go talk to Malek. Tell him to leave me alone. Send him a message.”
“Whoa! Hold on a minute.” He stood. “This ain’t no damn gangster movie or nothin’. And I ain’t the Godfather. I’m on parole. How I look sending that nigga a message? You tryin’ to get me sent back upstate?”
“Look, I’m just asking for a favor, Derrick. Same way you asked me to do you a favor and keep my mouth shut about your baby momma’s little visit. I mean, what would Jasmine think if I told her you were hanging out with Wendy with your johnson hanging out your robe?”
“Aw, shit. Why you gotta go there? Now you trying to blackmail me.” He sat back down, looking a little defeated.
“Hey, I’m not trying to blackmail you. But I am desperate, Derrick. He’s scared of you and your crew. Especially Butter. If you pay him a little visit and tell him to leave me alone, I can fix things between me and Travis.”