WILD THANGZ by Winston Chapman (An Essence Magazine National Best Seller)

Chapter 11

On Sunday, when I arrived back in Atlanta on the last flight at 9:00 PM, Brea wasn't on- time to pick me up. I waited for over an hour, as I called her cell phone number and our home telephone number over and over again.

Pissed, doesn't even begin to describe what I felt. And, I couldn't believe that she'd forget to pick me up after I had let her borrow my car for the whole weekend. She was probably out somewhere kickin' it with one of the thug-men she tended to like.

I didn't want to call my dad for a ride and hear his comments, nor did I feel like catching the Marta-train with my luggage, especially so late at night. To take a taxi would cost over $50, so I called Simeon instead.

It took Simeon about an hour to get to the airport from his condo. I asked him if he'd seen Brea at all this weekend, he'd not. He called Jamal to ask had he been with her and he said no, too.

Normally, I'd be worried if that were the case with Trina, but with Brea, I was almost certain that she was just being inconsiderate.

As we pulled up to my apartment building at 11:40 PM, I didn't see my car anywhere in the parking lot.

Simeon helped me carry my bags into my apartment and offered to stay, but I declined. I'd already asked enough of him by getting him out of bed and spending 2-hours picking me up, dropping me off and driving back to his condo. Plus, I was mad as hell and didn't want him seeing me in the state I'd be in when Brea finally showed up.

I grabbed a pillow and a blanket from my bedroom, not even bothering to put my luggage away and lay on the sofa so that I'd wake-up whenever Brea came through the door.

It was almost 2 o'clock in the morning when I heard keys rattling outside the front door of the apartment.

I sat up and wiped the sleep from my eyes so that I'd look like I'd been awake all night and waited for Brea to open the door.

Her face looked shocked to see that I was awake and waiting for her. She uncharacteristically looked like crap. Her clothes were wrinkly and her hair was messed-up.

"Where in the hell have you been?!" I started right in on her.

"Jaz, I'm in no mood for it right now!" she said shaking her head and walking towards her room like she wasn't going to give me the courtesy of an argument she'd well-deserved.

"Hold up, bitch! How you gon' fuckin' walk away from me after driving my car all fuckin' weekend and leaving me stranded at the fuckin' airport?!" I yelled at her.

"Who you fuckin' callin' a bitch?!" Brea said turning around and pointing her finger like she was preparing to fight me.

I didn't give a damn. If it had to be on, then it was just gonna be on. So, I stood-up and walked around the sofa with my arms extended outward telling her to come on, if that's what she wanted to do. I wasn't scared of her.

"You the only one acting like a bitch! What's up?!" I said with intensity in my eyes.

Brea was surprised by my demeanor and reduced her volatile hand-gestures after I showed her that I was ready for a fight.

"Jaz, I got arrested on Saturday night!" she blurted out. I paused for a moment.

"Arrested?! For what?" I asked. "Bootlegging CDs at the club"

It explained why she wasn't at the airport on time. But it didn't reduce my anger at her. "Where's my car?" I asked.

"At the Impound," she hated to admit.

"Why is MY car at the Impound?!" I moved a step closer to her.

"I parked it in the lot by the club on Saturday, but after I got arrested, it was still in the lot. I didn't get released until I got someone to pay the bail today. We just went by the parking lot and the car had been towed because the parking fee wasn't paid for today," she tried to explain.