Wifey 4 Life by Kiki Swinson Page B

them, not knowing whether I would leave with them
    or head back to my hotel.
    Tony asked, “So are you hanging out with us or going elsewhere?”
    I thought for a second. “I guess I can hang out with y’all for a few, since I didn’t
    have any other plans.”
    Meagan jumped for joy, while Li’l Tony just stood there with
    no expression at all. I figured he couldn’t care less either way. Tony, on the other
    hand, smiled.
    After we all climbed into the car, Tony started the ignition
    and then he drove off to connect to the main road. The ride back down South Military
    Highway toward Highway 264 was very peaceful.
    Tony had Jay-Z’s latest CD playing. Everyone was quiet during
    the ride, except Li’l Tony, who sang every word on every Jay-Z track.
    I laughed. He reminded me of how I used to be as a child. I was
    a music fanatic. I knew every word of any song that came on the radio. I got that
    from my mother, who had a huge album collection that included geniuses like Gladys
    Knight, Diana Ross, The Temptations, and Earth, Wind & Fire. While my mother
    played her music, I used to sit back in the den and learn the words to those songs
    like I was going to get quizzed on them, though I couldn’t carry a note from one
    room to the next.
    I put my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes, thinking
    about my mother.
    “Are you all right?” Tony asked me.
    Without opening my eyes, I assured him I was fine. “Is the music
    too loud?”
    “No, it’s OK.”
    “Are you sure? Because I can turn it down if it’s too loud.”
    I opened my eyes and looked directly at him. “Trust me, I am
    fine,” I told him and then I laid my head back and closed my eyes again.
    About ten minutes into the drive, Tony’s cell phone rang. He
    allowed it to ring about five times before he answered. It annoyed the hell out
    of me that he’d let it ring so long. I opened my eyes to see what the problem was.
    “Hello,” he finally said.
    I couldn’t hear the caller, but from the look on Tony’s face,
    I could tell that the caller was just as annoyed as I was.
    “Nah, nigga, it can’t be like that. I got my shorties with me.”
    Tony paused.
    “Yo, we gon’ have to set up something for later, because I can’t
    get into that right now,” he said and then he paused once more.
    “A’ight, later.” Tony ended his call.
    Now I know I am not an expert of any kind, but from the sound
    of that conversation I could only assume that Tony was talking about drugs. Ever
    since I’d known him, he had always tried to get a decent cocaine hookup. He’d always
    wanted to play with the big dogs, handle large sums of cash, and drive the expensive
    whips, but no one in the game wanted to fuck with him.
    Your average wannabe nigga, Tony couldn’t flip a bird if his
    life depended on it. He hustled backward. Rhonda used to say he would be gone all
    day long, and wouldn’t have shit to show for it. She couldn’t figure out how he
    used to have so much dope but never made a decent profit out of it. Now I saw him
    going around that same mountain. He hadn’t learned shit. And from the looks of it,
    he probably never would.
    We finally arrived at Rhonda’s mother’s house in Coleman Place,
    a very quiet area of Norfolk. From what I’d heard, Ms. Mavis had lived in this house
    since Rhonda was a little girl.
    She met us on her front porch and greeted us with a big smile.
    “Y ’all better get on in this house and stop walking like you got molasses in your
    butts.”
    I smiled and put a little more speed in my step.
    Ms. Mavis was a beautiful lady. She had dark skin with beautiful
    hazel brown eyes. Her hair was long, but she kept it back in a ponytail. She was
    average height and very curvy. She reminded me of Phylicia Rashad from
The Cosby
    Show
.
    As I reached her side, she embraced me with every muscle in her
    body. She definitely made me feel loved. “What a pleasant surprise!” she said. Then
    she smacked Tony on the arm. “Why