Street Love

My Nigga, My Nerve

O. Maraj

Never had my romantic life become a variable in my social circle. My girl was my world and nobody could change that, but with everything that was just revealed about Manny to me from Beyoncé, I didn't know what to tell Lauren. But, as any other best friend would, I told my best friend everything that was revealed to me. This was her life; safety and comfort at stake.

"Bitch they saying Emanuel like boys on the low, you know he was going with that boy and killed him before he could expose it," I heard a new head at the front conversing with one of my loyal customers about Manny. My frequent customer's eyes shot over towards me and I kept face as my hands never stopped braiding.

Luckily for my best friend, Manny wasn't her main nigga and she never hit public eye with him so the embarrassment on herself was saved.

"Girl, which Emanuel? Manny?" I heard the new lady ask as they browsed through my catalog at the front of the store.

"Yes, bitch! The one from downtown that be with Beyoncé," like a deer in headlights, my eyes near came from their sockets. I felt my stomach boil with immediate possession and jealousy.

It was only one Beyoncé in the city.

"What about, Beyoncé?"

The two ladies shot my way, then looked at one another with confused faces. Between the heat in the streets and Beyoncé and I overloaded with work, I was feeling easily triggered.

"O-oh nothing, girl! I was just mentioning her as a reference that's all!"

"Let's just keep the talk about the outside world to less than a minimum, we don't know who knows who and I would hate to compromise my shop because someone feels a way."

Every woman that was in the shop agreed, like something out of a movie, Beyoncé walked in, her presence overshadowing the bell's sound as everyone turned their heads. Parting the last braid, I stepped away from my client and went to the sinks.

I scoffed at her as she walked a straight line to me, a white Ralph Lauren t-shirt and some black sweatpants. Her eyes met mine as she kissed me and wrapped me in her arms around my body.

"You ain't see me calling your phone, Nik?" She said directly in my ear, sending chills down my spine. My phone was in my office, I never kept it on me and she knew that. Fury was her best friend lately with all of the shit she had going on and I did my best to be there for her regardless because I was all she had besides her mother and grandmother now.

"You know I keep it in the office when I'm on the clock, baby. Are you okay?" I asked as the shop began to pick up noise again, yet their eyes never left me and my woman.

"Yeah, I'm going to sit your lunch in your office and head to the back," she stared me down and I brushed her off to continue the head I was currently working on.

"I did something to you?" She asked and that prompted me to look at the two women who were already looking at us.

"Man, what the fuck?" I heard her mumbled before she cleared her throat and approached the ladies who were shrinking under her gaze.

I turned the stereo back up and got back to work while she interacted with the women from earlier. It was a matter of all 60 seconds in a minute and they were exiting my shop.

Beyoncé walked back towards me, kissing my lips and brushing her hands across my waist before going towards my office until shop closed.

Ever since that shit happened with her and Manny, things were getting hectic downtown. With B and Manny losing Terrance, turf war was increasing and downtown niggas weren't backing down. Still, B said she wasn't risking an uptown nigga coming on this side for anything.