“Where in the hell you going, and where my daughters at?”

“I’m going out, and the girls are in the bed. What are you doing here? You not supposed to get the girls till in the morning.”

“I can come here when I want. Shit, I pay the bills. Say good night to these whores you call friends. You not going nowhere. I’m tired of you leaving my daughters here while you’re out gallivanting all night.”

“You must have got me confused with that bitch you’re ’bout to marry. Allow me to remind you that you don’t run me or shit around here.”

“Ria, don’t show out, aight? Just do what I said.”

Since Chaz had slapped all the fire out of Ria a few years back for cutting Kennedy’s face, she had learned not to play with him when he was serious. Ria rolled her eyes and sighed, “I’ll get with y’all later ’cause this nigga is trippin’.”

“Huh?” the girls squawked in unison. Then one of them said, “What about my daughter, Ria? You promised to pay her for babysitting, and now I’m going to have to take her all the way back to Queens before we go to the city.”

“I’ll still pay her, and she can spend the night here. Just pick her up first thing in the morning, ’cause I got shit to do.”

As soon as her friends were gone and the door was closed, Ria went into mode. “That slut-ass fiancée of yours know you here?”

“Yo, Ria, watch your mouth for real, aight’?”

“Or what?”

He got in her face. “You know I’m not with none of that shit you be on, especially not tonight. I just wanna see my girls,” Chaz said, then entered his daughters’ bedroom. The two girls were sleeping in twin beds directly across from each other. He stared at them for a moment from the doorway, then walked over and kissed both of them on their cheeks. He always referred to them as his little brown beauties. The both of them were growing into beautiful young ladies. Their cute big bushy afro puffs had been replaced with long straight doobies. Seeing his daughters made him feel a little better, but it did nothing to repair the hurt that he’d experienced earlier.

Chaz made his way into the living room, where Ria was watching television, and sat on a plush oversized brown suede recliner. Ria looked him up and down, her lips twisted to the side. “Why not tonight?”

“What are you bumping ya gums about now?” Chaz asked, irritated just by the sound of her high-pitched voice.

“You said you wasn’t for none of my bullshit, especially not tonight. It must be trouble on the home front with lil’ miss wifey.”

“Why don’t ya dizzy ass just shut the fuck up sometime.”

Ria had no intention of closing her mouth, since he’d ruined her night. “I know that big bubble-butt bitch don’t know you over here. I need to call her and tell her to come pick ya drunk ass up.”