Page 29 of Just Listen
No lie, Claro was cooler than a fan. He was funny. Charismatic. Which was probably why he was one of the biggest male whores in Houston. Girls were obviously drawn to him and his laid back, playful demeanor. Meanwhile, I personally dug him, because he was often the voice of reason, whenever me and Zae were at odds. No matter how heated things could become, he could always manage to talk his boy down. And that meant that if you looked past the bullshit, Claro was actually a sensible guy.
“Hey,” I spoke, before my eyes traveled to Zae. He was looking…delectable in his Chrome Heart sweats. That line-up was fresh, and the diamonds around his neck gleamed against his chocolate skin. “I’ma have to change my locks, because this is getting out of hand. Why do you keep letting yourself in here?”
He opened his arms. “How else am I gonna talk to you? You won’t answer none of your phones.”
“Right.” My lashes fluttered. “Because I don’t wanna talk to you.”
“But why?” He pressed, like we hadn’t had this same conversation several times before.
“Zae.” I clutched my forehead. “You’re really about to give me a headache.”
He sucked his teeth. “You see what I’m saying, man?” He turned to ask Claro. “It’s like talking to a fucking brick wall. I bought her a new TV. Sent money for a new phone. Apologized.Sent flowers. I try to be sensible, when I really wanna turn up in this bitch. She sitting there, playing with a nigga. After that nigga called her phone—”
“And that’s exactly why you won’t get nowhere with me. Every time you call my phone, you wanna argue about that nigga, when that’s totally irrelevant,” I interjected. “The moment I told you that I was done, then I was well within my rights to do whatever. Regardless of you liking it or not.”
“Okay,” Claro spoke up, licking his lips. “Let me ask you this, Jaylah.”
I arched a brow.
“How would you feel, if he would’ve popped out with a new bitch, the minute you said that it was over? That would’ve been cool with you?”
I shrugged. “That would’ve just showed me who he was.”
“Okay, so who the fuck is you?” Zae seethed.
I remained calm. “Apparently, somebody you deal with, whenever you find the time. Somebody that you’ve been inside of but still haven’t dug deep enough to know. Shall I continue?”
Zae’s scowl deepened. “Why do you keep saying that I don’t know you? How the fuck do that even make sense?”
“Because you know me no more than a distant relative. We don’t be on the same page. I can’t talk to you about shit, for real. If it’s family drama, involving people you don’t deem to have enough social status, then you cut me off, swearing that you got tunnel vision and don’t have time to worry about other people. The whole time, I just be wanting somebody with an ear to listen. And I don’t want to first prove to you that the topic is important enough for you to discuss. You wanna be soimportant that you forget about being human. If you can’t be the person that I share all my thoughts with, no matter how trivial, then what’s the point? Your lack of communication skills trickles down to everything, where I find myself not telling you much of anything. And that tells me that you only care about the surface level of our relationship. As long as I look good on your arm, and can fuck you, then you’re content. That tells me that I can easily be replaced, because any girl can provide that. There’s nothing specific that you need from me, because that doesn’t matter to you, right now. I don’t see shit like you do. I want something deeper, and I just don’t think that your superficial ass can provide that.”
“Jaylah, I hear you,” Claro spoke up. “But I really believe that you got my boy wrong. If he felt like any girl could fill your shoes, then he wouldn’t be standing here, right now. But you right about his communication. That nigga be going through shit, and be under a lot of pressure. Then instead of venting to you, he keeps that inside. So, when you wanna talk about simple shit, he probably is dismissive, because he already got a lot on his mind. All the while, if he got everything off his chest, you could probably help him to work through the problems. Then you could bring in your lighter subject matter. And I told him that he gotta open up more.”
I rolled my eyes to the ceiling. “Why does it sound like you just made that up, trying to cover for him?”
“He was telling the truth,” Zae spoke up. “The business be having me stressed, and I always have it in my head that you wouldn’t understand.”
“And why wouldn’t I?” I frowned.
“Because you and your family got the Midas touch, Jaylah. Money just overflows for you. And Ion wanna seem like some weak ass nigga who can’t handle his own.”
Shaking my head, I sighed. “And that’s a problem too. That’s totally about your ego. This aint a competition, Zae. And instead of you using me to enhance your life, you compare what we have. I won’t apologize for having what I have, but I never told you that I wasn’t willing to help. But you gotta be hung up on how that looks or what that’ll make you feel, and there’s nothing I can do about that.”
“So, is that enough for you to give up on him?” Claro wanted to know.
Narrowing my eyes, I didn’t like how he was helping his boy have leverage in the argument. “Nigga, mind your business.”
He cracked a smile, as he pointed. “See. You know I’m right. This man is pleading for another chance, Jaylah. Why can’t you just consider it?”
I thought about it, and I had to admit…Zae wasn’t the worst. And perhaps he’d learned his lesson, and was going to do better this time around. “Look, Zae,” I exhaled, while glancing his way. “I’m not gonna say that we’re back together today. But…I am willing to work on it. Only if that’s what you’re really committed to doing.”
Zae immediately nodded. “I am.”
Malice
My cell was ringing off the hook, and I was wishing that I could go to the crib and just call it a day. However, I had business to handle, and a muthafucka to find.
“Say, run by that nigga’s block,” PJ suggested, as he rode shotgun. “I just got a text. They said that Rondo’s bitch ass is posted at the corner store.”
