Can't Stop the Love of A Boss 3 Read online

  Connie wasn’t saying anything that he hadn’t’t already thought about, but he knew deep down that Murder and Law Baby wouldn’t do no foul shit behind his back like that. Pain went to the door to open it for Connie and to give her some of the shit that was sitting on his chest.

  “Yo, real shit, I was straight up with you about all of my shit. I didn’t do that just for you to throw that shit in my face when you get in your damn feelings. I did it because I wanted to at least try to give whatever we could’ve built a fighting chance. To answer your fucked up ass question, I’m still friends with them because I’m on my grown man shit. Murder and I grew up together, and contrary to what you think, he has my back just like I have his.

  “I should never have to explain why I’m friends with any fucking body. On top of that, your ass should never ask me no shit like that. You all fucked up behind what Lawrynn said to me and then to you when you got in our conversation. You think she gives a fuck that your little ass feelings got hurt? Newsflash, she was holding the nigga she loves and is planning to marry in her lap. He was unconscious, bleeding, and fucking shot. Yeah, choosing her fucking words should’ve been on the top of her fucking list. How the fuck do that shit sound to you?

  “Talking about, we got you fucked up. Nah, Buttercup, you got my black ass fucked up. Being on my arm doesn’t give you the right to talk to anybody that I fuck with. I don’t even need to tell you all of that because if you don’t change your fucking attitude right now, this will be the last time you even see me. How the hell are you a doctor and you’re walking around here with a fucked up bedside manner? You got us going on a date confused with you being my woman or some shit.

  “Let me break it down for you since you feel like I’m a dumb ass nigga. That is what you called me, right? Well, pay attention because I might be too dumb to explain this shit to you again in the future. If I don’t ask you to be my girl, that means you’re just a bitch I used to know. We’re not dating, together, boyfriend and girlfriend, or even fuck buddies. All you should’ve done tonight was smile, nod, and answer questions. Do I need to repeat that for the bitches in the back?” Pain asked just before he slammed the door in her face.

  Pain was pissed at everything tonight, and Murder getting shot was at the top of his list. Connie wasn’t his concern right now. Briefly, he thought about calling her and apologizing for how harsh he was with her, but she had overstepped her purpose tonight in a big way. He was in this shit because of him and his wandering dick, no one else’s.

  He knew why Lawrynn came to him first about shooting Murder. He had thought about doing it more than once since everything had gone down. The only thing that changed his mind was the fact that he had already caused her enough pain. Maybe the best thing he could do was try to find out what went down on his own. That would give everybody a chance to calm down… Well, at least he hoped it would.

  3

  “I need your help,” Laura told the person who opened the door she knocked on.

  “I pretty much knew that when I opened the door and you were standing here. What the hell did you do this time?” he asked.

  “I need to get rid of a gun,” she said, looking around.

  He still hadn’t invited her into his house. When she said the word, gun, he got a bad feeling.

  “Keep going,” he said, still with her on the porch.

  “I shot Murder by mistake.”

  “Which Murder? I know damn well you not talking about Jimmy’s nephew?” He looked at her like she was every bit of crazy.

  “Look, I wasn’t going for him. I was trying to shoot Mike-Mike,” she explained.

  “He’s out? How the fuck did that shit happen?”

  “I gave him the shit I had on La-La and how she put him in prison,” she admitted.

  He shook his head. “Your shit is gonna catch up with you. That’s why we would never last. After all the shit I been through, you still out here moving reckless. You’re gonna lose ya life behind this last move. Do my boys know what you’ve been up to?”

  “Nah, they’re pissed that I’ve been there for Nikki instead of Lawrynn,” she said.

  “I already know about that. Don’t worry, I didn’t tell them your fucked up secret either,” he told her.

  “How did you know? Wait a minute, what secret?” she asked before she talked too much again.

  He looked at her like she was stupid once again, unable to believe that long ago, this woman was his everything. She was the mother of his sons, but the past was the past, and if she really did what she said she did, she would be dead sooner than later.

  “I know you inside out. I taught you some of the slick shit that you’re obviously still doing. I know Nikki is your daughter. I just never said anything because it wasn’t my damn business. As long as she wasn’t mine, I couldn’t care less about what the hell you were lying about and why,” he told her.

  “Cornelius, are you going to help me or not? I’m sure there’s a price on my damn head by now. I know he saw me before I started shooting. Can we talk inside? I’m not trying to be outside all exposed and shit,” she said.

  “My girl is in here. Don’t start no shit,” he told her as he let her in the house. He knew she was gonna say something slick, but this one time, he was gonna give her a chance. “Do you want something to drink or something?” he asked, trying to be polite at least.

  “No, are you going to help me?”

  “On some real shit, you sound a little desperate, but I’m not gonna take advantage of you or no shit like that. The most I can do for you is have you stay here with me for a minute. Everybody knows I don’t fuck with you like that, so they’re not gonna look here. As for that gun, I’m not touching it. When you figure out what you can do with it, then you can go on about your way. Don’t try to get slick and drop that shit here either. You may be my boys’ mama, but I’ll drop dime on your ass quick as fuck,” he told her.

  “Corn, can you come here for a minute? I need to talk to you,” Queen, Cornelius’ girlfriend called out to him.

  “She’s about to whip your ass,” Laura said and smiled.

  “Shut the fuck up and sit down,” Cornelius told Laura. He took a deep breath before opening the door to the wrath of his girlfriend. “What’s up?” he asked.

  “Shit, that’s what I’m trying to figure out. You let that bitch just waltz her ass though the door, and now you jumping through hoops for her flawed ass,” Queen said.

  “I just can’t leave her out there by herself. She got herself mixed up in some shit,” he tried to explain.

  “What kind of man would put his family in jeopardy for a scheming ass bitch like the one in my living room? You know damn well Murder and those niggas that he run with don’t give one fuck about killing our asses when they come get her,” Queen said.

  “I just want to help her squash whatever this shit is with her and Murder. She’s my kids’ mother. I can’t leave her to get killed. If I can help her avoid dying, then that’s what I’m gonna do. Just let her chill here until me and the boys figure out a way to keep her alive. Once his crazy ass agrees not to kill her, then I’ll walk away. She’ll be on her own after that, I promise,” Cornelius pleaded.

  “I still don’t like this because I know in my bones it’s gonna end badly,” Queen said.

  Cornelius shook his head then walked over and gave her a kiss on the center of her forehead. He knew that having Laura there was still dangerous, but he couldn’t just walk away from her in her time of need. They would always be each other’s first love, but he wouldn’t go out and kill anybody behind her.

  “You have a few days to try to get this shit straight. If you don’t, then I’ll make a call and hand her ass over just that damn quick. Don’t play with me,” Queen said.

  Cornelius stood there looking at his woman. She was his ride or die in all situations. After a moment, he went back into the living room where Laura was sitting,

  “She didn’t just kick your ass back there?” Laura asked. />
  “Fuck you,” was all he could say.

  “You don’t even want to know why I did it, do you? I just knew she was gonna punch the shit out of you for even taking the time and effort to help me,” she said.

  Laura thought if she could just explain her position in all this, he would help her more. For right now, he was giving her shelter, so that helped, but she knew that it wasn’t gonna last long at all.

  “Fuck no. If you want to explain some shit, I’ll call the boys for you but, I don’t want to hear shit you’ve got to say,” he told her.

  “Call them then, maybe they’ll help their mama out,” she said and rolled her eyes.

  Laura was frustrated by the fact that he was not wanting to listen to her for shit right now. Way back when, she could just bat her eyelashes at Cornelius, and he would break his neck to do whatever she asked. That was a lifetime ago, though. She had kids with this man, but he couldn’t stand the ground she walked on. Laura hoped that the boys came through for her. They were her last choice and chance to get out of this with at least her life.

  “I called them, they said they were on their way,” Cornelius informed Laura.

  “This is a nice house you got here,” she said.

  Laura wasn’t lying; the house was nice and spacious. When she was pregnant with both of the boys, they were living in a small ass two bedroom with three totes full of clothes. They were young, dumb, and in love back then. Everything was good until she went out with her friends from work one night and met Lawrence. While Cornelius was everything she loved, Lawrence was everything she lusted for. Meeting Lawrence with all his money, swag, and street legend persona was all it took for him to snatch her away from a man who loved her one deep dick stroke at a time.

  “You can kill all the small talk. Just sit here until the boys get here. No need for conversation; we don’t need that shit between us,” he told her.

  “If I never told you before, I’m sorry about how things turned out with us,” she told him.

  He looked at her and smiled.

  “It takes you being on the run for you to finally apologize for fucking around on me, when all I did was work my ass off for you and our boys. The boys were little back then, but they’re not anymore. Instead of trying to get right with me, you need to be doing that shit with whatever god you choose. I can promise you if you don’t die, you’re damn sure gonna come close. Besides, I don’t forgive or forget. I only got you here because if I threw you to the wolves, it would hurt the boys. No matter how old they get, they love your scandalous ass.”

  “Well, damn, tell me how you really feel,” she said.

  “Never that,” he said with a chuckle. “Just chill until the boys get here. Then, I’ll leave y’all in here to talk. I don’t trust your ass not to drop an earring or take ya panties off to leave them under the sofa or some shit. They say misery loves company, so I know your ass is lonely as fuck right now,” Cornelius said and laughed.

  Laura knew he was serious, though. The crazy part was she couldn’t even find one thing to say to convince him otherwise. She had been doing foul shit for so long that she forgot what the hell the right way to do things was.

  There was a knock at the door, and Cornelius went to let the boys in. “I’ll leave y’all to it. If y’all leave and she’s still here, come get me before you leave her unsupervised in my damn house,” he told his sons.

  They were too busy staring at their mother with the look of death to respond to their father’s slick ass comment.

  “I need y’all help,” she told them without even giving them a chance to ask what was going on.

  “No shit, Ma. Continue,” LJ told her.

  “Nikki is y’all sister, that’s why I’ve been under her like I have,” she said quickly. Laura expected them to have some sort of reaction, but instead, they just looked at her. When she concluded that they had nothing to say, she kept talking. “I was trying to shoot Mike-Mike, and Lawrynn’s ass was in the way. Murder must’ve thought I was trying to shoot her, and he jumped in front of the bullet. I shot him instead. I don’t know how he is right now,” she said as tears fell down her face.

  “If she’s our sister, when the fuck was you pregnant? I don’t remember you being knocked up but with Lawrynn,” Lemelle said.

  “Do y’all remember when I sent y’all to stay with your daddy for a couple of years?” she asked them both.

  Laura could tell by the look on LJ’s face that he was just as confused. At the same time, Cornelius walked past the living room to the kitchen. He stood in front of the fridge getting something to drink.

  “You said you were going back to school for something. So, Pops, you knew about this shit the whole time too? Not one of y’all thought to tell us that we had a damn sister?” LJ jumped in.

  “It wasn’t my shit to tell,” Cornelius said.

  “I’m the only one y’all need to be upset with. All of this is on me,” Laura said.

  “What do yo want us to do? For real, Mama, you’re too damn old to be so damn messy. You’re fucked up on so many levels that I have a hard time even listening to your ass. Nikki, our cousin, is our sister,” Lamelle said, shaking his head. “So, what’s next? Is Daddy your brother or uncle? I mean, damn Mama, is there anything in our lives that you told the truth about?” LJ asked.

  If it wasn’t for his father telling them to come talk to her, he wouldn’t have. He was over this whole damn family at this point. Hearing that Nikki was their sister and not their cousin didn’t move him one way or the other. He was on some fuck all the family shit anyway. His mother’s tears hadn’t changed his outlook so far, and he doubted it would.

  “What you out here lying for? Shit, am I really your damn, son? I don’t know what the hell is up with some of the women in this damn family. Y’all doing the most for no reason,” Lamelle said. It never failed; there was always some type of drama. “You hiding siblings and shit. Now you’re telling me that hoe ass Nikki is our sister who tried to blind our other sister. I’m gonna call Tyler Perry and tell him about this shit because it sounds like one of his movies.”

  “I thought I was doing the right thing,” Laura said.

  “How could you think that? Not once did you step in and say kill all that extra shit. Y’all are sisters. When we were calling you out on your funny moves, you never clarified the reason. The only thing you did call us for was for us to go bail that hoe out. I guess I know why now,” LJ said, jumping in the conversation.

  “You flawed like a motherfucker. Why you have Pops call us? What do you want from us now?” Lamelle asked.

  “I need y’all to get rid of the gun I have,” she said.

  They looked at each other and shook their heads.

  “You got a price on your head, but you trying to get rid of a gun?” Lamelle asked. He looked at his brother then laughed to keep from choking the hell out of their mother. “Man, I’m going to get a vasectomy. I’ll be damned if I keep this fucked up ass family tree goin’,” he said.

  “You stay here, and we’ll figure out what we’re gonna do with ya. Just stay in the crib. I hope there ain’t no more secrets, though. I’m gonna let you know now that the only reason I’m even getting in this shit is because as far as we know, you’re our mother. Until another secret drops, saying that you stole us out of a nursery, I’m gonna do all I can to help you not get killed. Don’t get all excited and shit because if it comes down to him killing me or you, your ass is on your own,” LJ said.

  They all walked out of the house, not knowing that Cornelius’ girlfriend was in the hallway listening to the whole conversation. She waited for the door to close before she picked up the phone. This was going to be a quick call before he came out of the bathroom. If things worked out like she wanted, they might get that destination wedding after all. But, the question was if there was enough information. She put the phone back down, deciding that she should wait for more information before cashing her golden ticket.

  4

  “Da
ddy, you can stay here at my place. I’ll be with Allen anyway. Why did you do all that with Lawrynn in the first place?” Nell asked her father as he lay on her couch.

  “Lawrynn was always the child that everyone liked in your fucked-up family. They liked you too but not like they did with her. I needed something to help your damn mama admit what she did in public. Her telling me one on one isn’t gonna help me,” Mike-Mike said.

  “Neither of us have anything to do with what y’all got going on. You could’ve just come to me. That would have been less dramatic but still effective. Why didn’t you call me and tell me you were getting out?” she asked.

  “I didn’t want your mama to find out. If she knew, then she would’ve hauled ass out of town somewhere,” he told her.

  “Why, though?”

  “Because, her bitter ass put me there in the first place. Your mama set my ass up. If it wasn’t for Laura telling the truth for once along with the proof she had, I would still be in prison,” he said.

  Nell looked at him sideways.

  “You’re saying Auntie Laura snitched on Mama for snitching on you?” she asked for clarification.

  “Yeah,” he answered.

  “Why would Mama lock you up? It wasn’t like y’all were split up when you got busted. She was there with you and sending you money and all that,” Nell said.

  “Your lying ass Mama didn’t send me shit. She only visited until a little after my sentence came down. I don’t know why she did the shit either but, I’m damn sure gonna find out,” he said.

  Nell heard what he said but, she was trying to put the pieces together in her head. It seemed like shit just kept falling out of nowhere, and none of it made any sense. Why was all this happening right now? The bigger question was why did it seem like her mom and auntie were in the center of all of it. She realized that she still hadn’t talked to Allen since he checked on Murder. Deciding to call him later, she left her dad on the couch and went to lie down on her bed. She was sure that more bullshit was going to come out before everything was revealed, but rest was the only thing on her mind right now.