A Thug's Wife (Full Length Novel) (17 page)

He was driving her crazy, and she was feeling as if he no longer cared about her. She had been nothing but a good woman to Devon, and she didn
’t understand what she was doing wrong. Yessenia followed everything she learned from her grandmother to the ‘T’ so the problem couldn’t have been her, it had to be Devon. He had allowed a woman to come between them and made him forget about everything the two of them shared. She was sure of it.

“What
’s up baby?” Devon asked as he held out his hands.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Yessenia said dryly. She ignored Devon
’s gesture for a hug and leaned up against her car. She stared at the side of his face and slowly shook her head. Devon was different.
This woman must be really something serious. His whole demeanor is different. He doesn’t even look the same.
She eyed his attire from the Mavericks hat to his Trukfit shirt and cleaner sharp blue jeans. He was converting into someone else, and she didn’t like it.

“I figured you
’d be going to lunch, so I wanted to catch you and take you out somewhere.”

“Nah, that
’s okay. I planned to go by the hospital to check on Zaria. I’m done for the day. Don’t you gotta be at work or something like that?”

“You know I do
n’t have to be to work until later. Why you acting like this, Yessenia?” Devon asked as if he didn’t already know.

“Because you
’re a fucking liar, Devon. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, and I’m trying not to let it ruin our marriage, but I know you’re doing something foul. So who is she?”

“There ain
’t no other woman, Yessenia. Man I promise you I’m not cheating on you. Damn, you haven’t let me touch you in two weeks all because you think I’m fucking around when I’m not. I’m just working.”

“Let me see
your check stubs, Devon. Show me all these so-called hours you are working.”

“Yessenia, I
’m tryna work this out. We got too much distance between us, and if we don’t fix it now it’s only gonna get worse.”

“The only thing that needs to be fixed is you and
your lies! Look at you!” she motioned to his attire. “you don’t even look the damn same! You look like you’re part of some rapper’s entourage or something. What is going on? She’s changing you that much. Just tell me the truth, Devon!”

Devon grabbed Yessen
ia and pulled her into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her and forced her to hug him. He didn’t want to lose his wife because of his lies, but he knew that he couldn’t tell Yessenia the truth, at least not just yet.

Once he purchased the house that Y
essenia wanted, he would finally be able to tell her what was really going on. He just needed a little more time. Then, she would know that he wasn’t in the streets for nothing and that he wasn’t risking his life for some minor change. The house would prove that he was actually seeing some real money and Yessenia would be able to live with his decisions because they would be both benefiting from it.

Devon kissed Yessenia on her ear and hugged her as tight as he could. He could hear her sniffling and knew t
hat she was crying. He felt so bad because it was his fault that she was hurting.

“I love you baby. I promise you that I
’m not seeing anyone else. I would never do you like that,” Devon promised. “If it helps, I can quit my job and try to get on at Dominoes. I saw a sign saying they were hiring for delivery drivers. It will be less demanding, and I can be at home like I used to.”

“No Devon. I don
’t want you to do that. I just need to stop tripping with you. I’m sorry. It’s just after what Quasym did to Zaria; I just look at everything you do as suspicious, and it’s driving me crazy as hell. I know it’s causing us to drift apart. I’m a do better though; I promise,” Yessenia told him. “Let’s go get something to eat.”

Devon breathed a huge sigh of relief glad
that Yessenia didn’t pressure him about his check stubs. She almost sounded like his P.O.. That was one bullet he was able to dodge.

As he walked around to the passenger side of Yessenia's car, he started to think about how he was going to get this house
and not raise any red flags. Being that he didn't know anyone who made that kind of money had him suddenly feeling like buying a house with cash may not be the smartest thing to do. Either way, he knew that however he went about it; he needed to do so quickly. He was tired of lying, and he wanted for Yessenia to be happy and to trust him again.

***

“Let me have the Baby Back Ribs with a double side of fries,” Devon told the waiter as he took his order. He handed his menu over and took a sip of his Corona.

“Let me have the Bloomin’ Burger with an extra slice of cheese.”

The waiter took down Yessenia’s order and left the two of them alone. Devon placed his arm around Yessenia and stared down at her phone as she played a game of Candy Crush.

“That’s a damn
shame. You need to stop playing that shit,” Devon chuckled.

“This is my guilty pleasure. They shouldn’t make this shit so damn addicting,” Yessenia smiled. She looked up at her husband and kissed his
lips. It felt good to be wrapped in his arms and getting ready to share a meal with him. They hadn’t done anything as such in a while, and this was definitely what their relationship was calling for.

“So, I think we should be ready to get that house in the next couple of weeks.”

Yessenia placed her phone down and looked up at Devon again, “Are you serious?”

“Yea, I’m
dead serious. The only problem is, I don’t think I’ll be able to put the house in our name though.”

“What you mean, why not? What’s up with that? Quasym had to have his sister come through and put that townhouse I found for him, and Zaria in her name being
he got a background and ain’t got a real job. We shouldn’t have no problem though since you and I both have a job, and we’re actually purchasing a house,” Yessenia commented and then took a sip of her soda.

Devon sighed as he tried to come up with someth
ing that sounded plausible, “Well the job gave me a promotion a few weeks ago, and I haven’t said nothing about it because I didn’t want you to stress and feel like I wasn’t gonna ever be at home, but they gave me the management position and it came with a raise and bonus.

I got enough money to put down a huge ass down payment, but the thing is my P.O. think that I’m only making a certain amount of money and-I don’t know. I just don’t wanna throw up no red flags and then she thinking I’m out here doing som
ething I’m not. You know?”

“Hmm, well I think that I should be able to just put it in my name. I don’t know baby; we’ll figure it out. Have you spoken with a real estate agent or do you need me to do it? What’s up baby, I’m ready to get this show on the ro
ad.”

“Be patient, be patient,” Devon laughed. “It’s gonna happen. I’ve been through there a few times and spoke with the real estate agent. I got all the details and the people I need to contact, but I gotta figure out how I’m a do this first.”

“Well just give me their information, and I will have the house put in my name and if I have to get someone to co-sign with me then I can do that too. It’s nothing baby; that’s not even something we should be worrying about,” Yessenia told him.

“Good, I’ll send you
the chick number through text,” Devon told her just as their food arrived.

Before eating, they said their grace and ate their food only saying a few words between each other here and there. Once they were done, Devon paid
for their meal and left a nice tip. They left out of Outback hand and hand feeling like they did in their newlywed days.

“Well, thank you for lunch, babe. I had a great time,” Yessenia said clenching on to Devon’s hand.

“No problem. Make sure you call up at the agent and check into that for us. I’m for real about this shit, and I’m ready.”

“I’ll call her as soon as I get settled. So, does that mean that we can focus on bringing a child into this world?”

Devon sighed, “Not yet. Why are you in such a rush? We’re still young baby and got plenty of time to have kids.”

“Devon, I don’t wanna wait until I’m damn near thirty before I start having kids, and I don’t only want one child. I would like to have at least two. What do you not want kids anymore?”

“Of course I want to have kids Yessenia, I just prefer to wait for a little while. I promise you; we gonna have some lil’ shorties running around here soon. Don’t get all down about it. Let’s get this house and get settled first and then, we’ll get into that.”

Yessenia sighed as they walked back
to her car. One they got inside; her mind was again filled with insecurities. The baby thing was still on her mind heavily, but lately she hadn’t said much about it to Devon. She was hoping that now that he was talking about them getting a house that they could finally sit down and concentrate on them having a baby, but he still wasn’t with it. She needed him to work with her on this.

The fact that she had issues conceiving meant that they had to work twice as hard. It wasn’t just the sex that was require
d, they had to have sex when her body temperature was a certain level, and they had to have sex constantly.

Being that Devon was always gone, it was hard to do any of the extra steps that they needed in order to create the beautiful child that she wanted.
Yessenia just didn’t get it. He was always telling her later, and it seemed like now would never be the right time. She was twenty-three years old and felt like this was the best time. She was young and healthy, and she knew the older she got, the harder it would be. Devon needed to come with it.

“Stop at the gas station right quick so I can grab a few cigars,” Devon said to Yessenia as they drove toward her shop to take Devon back to his car.

“How did you get up here? When will your truck be out the shop?” Yessenia asked.

“He said a couple of weeks. I think I’m a go and get me a rental.”

Devon hopped out of Yessenia’s Honda and walked inside of the Chevron gas station. He paid for two cigarillos and quickly left bumping into Latifah on his way out.

“What’s up D-Money?” Latifah said as rubbed him on his arm.

“What your ass doing up here?” he asked her while placing some loose change into his pocket.

“I did a few runs for Rakwon and now I need to grab me a couple ‘gars and a six pack. Hopefully they’
ll let my get the beers without checking for ID. Usually they do.”

“A’ight, that’s what’s up. I’ll holla at you in a few.”

Devon looked up and could see Yessenia burning a hole into him. He shook his head as he walked back to her car and got in. He already knew the questions were coming so he sighed and prepared himself to tell more lies.

“Who is that?” Yessenia asked on cue.

“I don’t know. She was asking me if I wanted to buy some shit she was selling, and I told her I was good.”

“Hmm.”

Yessenia looked through the clear glass of the Chevron and glanced at the young girl once more. She rolled her eyes and quickly drove out of
the lot.

Chapter 17: Going Home

Zaria scooted to the edge of the bed and pushed out a heavy breath. She was in a lot of pain, but she was happy to be alive. The doctors informed her that she had to be resuscitated twice, once when she was first brou
ght in, and another time during surgery. Not only that, she'd found out that she was nine weeks along in a pregnancy that she had no idea about.
      Miraculously, she and her baby were both doing fine. She didn't know how to feel about her unexpected pregnancy seeing how things were so out of place now. No matter how she was feeling though, she felt that the baby had to be meant to be. It just had to be; there was no other explanation on why it still survived after all that her body had gone through.
      "They released you?" Quasym asked as he stepped into Zaria's hospital room. He was decked in a chocolate brown Gucci suit with some dark brown Mocassins lacing his feet. Earlier that morning, Quasym had to meet with lawyers to hear whether or not a grand jury would file charges against him for the deaths of the two guys that he killed in front of his home.
    With Quasym's connection to Andres, and Andres' connections to plenty of law officials, charges were completely thrown out. The grand jury saw in favor of Quasym, and he was free from any persecution.
    "Yea, they just left out and said I was free to go home. Gave me a shit load of medicine, but I don't want that shit," Zaria said weakly.
      Quasym rushed to Zaria and knelt down placing her shoes onto her feet, “You need to take it if you in pain baby. No need to walk around here hurting like that.”

“That shit knocks me out and I’m tired of sleeping all day. Tired of being laid up in this bed on my back unable to do nothing. I’m just ready t
o go home, take me a hot bath, and just get back to doing me.”

“Yea well, you still in recovery Z-baby. Don’t go doing too much ma’,” Quasym told her. He grabbed Zaria’s bag of her personal belongings and then helped her to her feet. Standing by the door w
as a nurse with a wheelchair ready to take Zaria out of the hospital and down to their car.

Soon as they were inside of the car, Quasym pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward their home. He was relieved that Zaria was now out of the hospital and
that he could finally get back to work. Thankfully he had Devon’s help or otherwise everything he had worked for would truly have gone to shit.

“So, I guess you going back to work now that I’m out the hospital,”
Zaria said seeming as if she was in sync with Quasym’s thoughts. She rested her head against the headrest in the car and stared out of the window.

“I just need to check on some things. See how everything is going. I’ve been out of the loop for the past couple of weeks.”

“Can you at least wait until I’m comfortable being at home alone first?”

“Cherie supposed to be coming over to be with you for a while. I’m a call her as soon as we get to the house, babe.”

Zaria huffed. She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned angrily. She was pissed. She didn’t want Cherie staying with her. What the hell was Cherie gonna do if them niggas came back and tried to finish her off? They would both be dead, and Zaria was sure her life wouldn’t be spared again. She knew it was the intention of the shooter to kill her and that if given another chance they would ensure that she was dead.

Quasym glanced over at Zaria seeing that she was heated, but what did she expect him to do? He had a business to run and he if he couldn’t do it then he was sure that somebody else w
ould be glad to take his crown.

There was no way he was about to give up his spot after all that he’d gone through to get it. Unfortunately, Zaria had been a victim and had suffered in ways that he had never intended, but he was prepared for that now. Thi
s time he was certain that no one would ever touch her again. That was on his life.

“If it makes you feel better. I hired some niggas to sit on the crib around the clock. Ain’t nothing else gonna happen to you. I promise you that,” Quasym reached for Zaria’s hand, but she kept her arms tucked tightly against her body. Seeing that she wasn
’t going to reciprocate the emotions that he was sending her way, he reached for the knob on the stereo and heightened the volume.

My niggas been hustlin’ tryna make him somethin’. Ain’t no telling what he’ll do for the paper. Souffle, I’m straight, I scrape my plate. Sade, I’m a smooth operator.
Rich Homie Quan’s
Some Type of Way
blasted through the speakers, and Quasym nodded his head to the beat. Zaria had to understand that this was his life now-this was their life now. The days where he struggled to get by were long and gone. He now could take care of his family the way he’d always wanted and nothing or no one was going to come between that, not even his wife.

***

“Z-baby, wake up,” Quasym said to Zaria. He lightly patted her on her shoulder before he jumped out of the car and walked to the passenger’s side. He opened her door and undid her seatbelt.

“Where are we, Sym? Come on n
ow, I’m tired. I’m not up to visiting anyone right now,” Zaria yawned the medication clearly taking a toll on her.

“We’re not visiting anyone. I know you didn’t think I was gonna take you back to that house after what happened. This where we will be stayi
ng for a little while,” Quasym looked up at the two-story townhome and then around at the visibly quiet neighborhood.

“Where the hell are we?”

“Plano,” Quasym helped Zaria out of the car and led her down the sidewalk to their new place. Yessenia had done him a favor and searched for them a place every day she left work. He wanted a house, but didn’t want just anything so for now they would rent this place. 

He slid the key in the lock and unlocked the door. Twisting the knob, Quasym pushed the door open
and looked around thoroughly impressed. He hadn’t been here since he paid the deposit and the first few months of rent and then, the place had been empty. Now it was fully furnished, and it looked like “home”. Yessenia had come through for him, and he was truly grateful for her.

“It’s nice, Sym. I like it,” Zaria said glancing around.

“Yea, Yessenia hooked it up. I didn’t know she was gonna do all this. I just told her to make sure it had a lil’ furniture up in here so you could be comfortable, but damn she did it big.” Quasym looked around a bit more and then placed his arm around Zaria’s waist. “You want to go upstairs or do you want to chill down here? I gotta have the cable company come through, but I can run by Redbox and grab you a few movies.”

“I thi
nk I will just chill down here on the couch. I don’t want to have to run up and down the stairs just to get something to eat or whatever.”

“Well Cherie will be here, but it’s whatever you wanna do. Just want you to be comfortable.”