Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless by Noire, Kiki Swinson Page A

anxious. I couldn’t let Eric slip away from me. I needed to show him that what he had with me was still perfect even if we didn’t have a lot of money. At that point, I would’ve done anything to please him. Anything to get more money to make him happy.... Money was what made him happy and what would keep him with me.

5
     
    My Desperation
     
    T hings with Eric just got worse with each passing day. He was verbally abusive and borderline physically abusive. He had already left bruises on my arms from grabbing me when he was frustrated with me a few times. He was not the same guy I had fallen for, that was for sure. Every day he took a new opportunity to tell me how worthless I was to him since I didn’t have any money. The one thing he didn’t fail to do was keep me high. I actually waited each day for Eric to bring me my fix like a dog waits for his master to feed him. Eric knew how to exercise control over me, but I could tell he was growing tired of me not having money or gifts to offer him. He would flip-flop between treating me like shit and treating me nice, usually for sex.
    But as with everything, all good things eventually come to an end.
    I was roused from my doped up sleep one morning by noise and voices coming from the living room. The apartment was so damn small there was no hiding the sounds. I lifted up my head to listen. At first, I thought Eric was on the phone with someone because I definitely recognized his deep baritone, but after listening for a few minutes, I could tell he was not alone. I sat up on the mattress and listened carefully.
    “What the fuck is this niggah doing?” I whispered under my breath as I flicked off the covers and searched around for something to put on. I threw on some of my old Juicy sweat pants and one of Eric’s T-shirts. As I rushed to get dressed, I clearly deciphered the sounds coming from the living room. It was that motherfucker Eric speaking to a female in the living room. He had actually had the elephant balls to bring a bitch to the apartment where I now lived with him. I was instantly sick of Eric’s blatant disrespect.
    I stormed out of the bedroom and rushed into the living room to find Eric and the bitch cuddled up on the couch. I rushed over to them and Eric didn’t even flinch. He was sipping on a Bud and his eyes were lazy like he was high off his usual weed/cocaine mix. The girl looked like she was high too. She wore a lazy grin as well. She smiled at me like she knew me.
    “W’sup, fiend? You up early. I didn’t think I would see you until this afternoon,” Eric said snidely, smiling at me too. I immediately felt like shit. He had referred to me as “fiend.” I guess that is exactly what he thought of me now too.
    “Ashley, this is Megan... . Megan ... Ashley.” Eric introduced us like it was nothing. He acted like I was his sister or just his home girl. I stood in jaw-dropping shock at Eric’s brash audacity.
    “Hi, Megan ... I’ve heard a lot about you,” Ashley said, then she busted out laughing and so did Eric. What the fuck is so funny! I screamed inside my head. I couldn’t even speak. I looked at the girl and instantly felt like a piece of trash. She reminded me of how I used to look—beautiful, with everything seemingly flawless. Everything she wore was evidently expensive. She glistened with diamond jewelry and I saw her Gucci bag thrown on the coffee table. Ashley was very pretty in the face. She had what Eric liked to refer to as an “exotic look.” Ashley had a caramel complexion, a very short, neat tapered hair cut, and from what I could see of her cleavage, she had a flawless body. Her nails were freshly manicured, eyebrows arched perfectly, and I could tell she had veneers on her teeth and thought maybe she had had a nose job. Eric had gone and found him somebody else to trick on his ass. It was clear to me that Ashley had money, which I knew she damn sure wasn’t getting from Eric’s leeching ass.
    “Why she standing