Page 30 of It’s The Dawg In Him For Me

I shook my head.

“Man, I need you to cut that shit out so I can show you how I move,” I responded.

“You already showing me how you move, thanks for lunch,” she said with a lil’ laugh.

“That’s just the beginnin’.”

“The beginning?” she repeated. “The beginning of what?”

“Of you bein’ mine.”

She laughed. I could imagine the smile on her face.

“Listen, I am gettin' ready to walk into my school. I might hit you later.”

“Might?” I repeated. “Come on now, I'm tryna start ova with you.”

She didn’t say shit else, just laughed and hung up the phone.

As I got out of my car and stepped back on the stoop, Dre asked, “You get things right with your wife?”

If he wasn’t my right hand, I might have shot him.

“Nigga, shut up. Mariah gonna learn the hard way. When I speak, when I ask for somethin’ to be done, it get done.”

“Man, you been fighting this battle with her for years. I told you not to marry her.”

He wasn’t lying; that nigga damn near begged me not to marry her.

“What is your move now?” he asked.

I chuckled. “What the fuck I been doin'. Mariah not gonna stop shit for me.”

“What about Nylah?”

I paused for a second. I did need to figure out what I was gonna do for real because I wanted her.

“I’ma take my time with her, lock her down while I get Mariah out the way.”

Dre lit his blunt. “You better be glad ol’ girl in the Bronx. That’s the only way you gonna get away with this shit.”

“Facts,” I responded. “But it’s cool, ‘cause by my birthday, Mariah will be at her mama's house while I have Nylah's ass out on a yacht somewhere.”

“Bday is the deadline?” Dre asked.

I nodded. “My bday is Mariah’s mothafuckin’ deadline.”

Chapter 9

Nylah

It had been a few days, but the way that nigga Rosama was hitting my line, I was living rent-free in his head just the way I wanted.

He was texting even if I wasn’t responding, calling even if I wasn’t answering, and sending large amounts for food and shit just to get my attention.

Rosama wasn’t a nigga that I could play to get what I wanted, but he knew what to do to get what he wanted, and I was gonna take full advantage of it.

Denise had closed the shop for the day, and when we were done, we went out to SoHo to meet up with Ari and Raven at One40 Rooftop.