The Viper and his Majesty by Tiana Laveen

CHAPTER NINE

Good Fences Make Good neighbors

Her mind has been played with; her body used as a toy.

Her arms reached for heaven; God gave her a little boy.

Her daddy left her home, her mother sought comfort in men,

She was told she was pretty, and that would be her greatest sin…

Majesty adjusted her purse along her shoulder as she pushed her grocery store cart, otherwise known as a buggy, down the aisle, humming to the sounds of ‘Love is Blue,’ by Johnny Gibbs drifting from the speakers. A strange White woman with honey blond hair curled tight at the ends glared at her from behind black and pink rimmed cat-eyeglasses, filling her with anxiety. This went on while Majesty studied the oatmeal brands selection. She hadn’t had oatmeal since high school but felt like trying something different. She picked up the Quaker Oats, peaches and cream flavor, and read the nutritional information on the back of the box. The woman in the glasses was now shamelessly gawking.

“What do you want?” Majesty barked before tossing the box and Troy’s favorite cereal, Fruit Loops, into her cart. The woman’s pale pink lips twitched. The sparkle in her light blue eyes dulled and she lifted her pointy chin, sporting an unnerving grin.

“I’m so sorry for staring. You just look familiar is all. Do you live over on 10^th Street?”

Majesty looked deep into the woman’s eyes. She had a dead face, the kind that knew nothing of love and life, desire, passion, blessings, and gratitude. They were about ten feet apart from one another, but the space felt small, the world shrinking around them, the air stifling. Her throat developed a sudden tickle, as if she were about to come down with a cold.

“Who are you?” Majesty crossed her arms, cocked her head, and waited.

“I live not too far from you… I think. You have a little boy, right?”

“Your name? Again, who are you?” Why is this weird ass woman all in my business? She’s ducking my questions like this is a game of dodgeball. I don’t know her. She seems to know a lot about me, though.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how can you afford to live there? In that house?” The woman’s smile morphed into a pretentious smirk. “I know it’s one of the more moderately appraised ones on the street, but it’s still pricey. You’re a single mother, right? Where do you work?”

Majesty’s body flushed with heat. One thing about her, contrary to her mother’s concerns regarding discernment, she could feel people’s bad energy a mile away. She knew when someone was a devil in the flesh, or an angel in disguise. This intuition had gotten her far in life, and this bitch right here was Lilith. Lucifer’s wife had come to pay her a visit… in the cereal aisle of all places. The woman tilted her head to the side. Majesty envisioned it rolling about on a silver platter. She noted the lady’s attire, putting her in mind of a 1950s housewife in her mid-30s, give or take a year or two.

“Did you hear me? Where do you work, sweetheart?”

“Where do I work?” The woman nodded. “Oh, I work down yonder on that there plantation that your ugly White daddy run, pickin’ cotton all day for you and yo’ family, ma’am.” Majesty stated in a phony Black Southern drawl as she pointed ahead at nothing in particular. “And I like to be out in that heat from sunup to sundown, singin’ songs ’bout Dixie, all day long!” The woman bristled, her expression twisting as she muttered something unintelligible under her breath. But the look of mortification on her face was satisfying enough. “I don’t even know you, and don’t wanna know you. You have the damn nerve to stand there and question me, riddle off a survey, like you’re entitled to an answer about me and mine, my personal life. Who the hell do you think you are?”

“There’s no reason to become belligerent and angry. I’m just trying to be neighborly.”

“No, you’re trying to be nosey and disguise your racism as concern. If you don’t get yo’ dumb, racist, Stepford wife lookin’ ass the hell outta my face, you won’t be worried about how I make my money anymore because you’ll be too busy paying your emergency room bill with your own coins after I’m finished with you!”

People around them paused to observe the scene. Majesty stood taller, her blood boiling to the point she was certainly about to detonate. She’d had it up to here with her snooty neighbors, the moms on the PTA and their snide, judgmental remarks, the White people at her job asking if her hair was real and then trying to touch and play in it. Everything had come to a head. BOOM! Explosion now in session…

The woman looked suddenly flustered and afraid. Her cheeks turned beet red as she undoubtedly slipped into victim mode. Clutching her necklace, she pushed her cart quickly a great distance away, as if she needed to get to safety, her white heels clicking. She looked like some terrified little white rat in a swing skirt. The woman glanced back a time or two before she turned the corner, as if afraid Majesty would jump on her back like some enraged, sharp-toothed animal and bite her clutched-pearl neck.

Her heart thumped and danced as though in the middle of a performance for a sold-out arena. Heat consumed her. Racism came in all shades of ignorance, such as those who did not understand how a Black person could live in such a neighborhood without tearing up their credit or doing something illegal. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. Like some police officers who abused their power by stashing drugs and weapons on an unsuspecting someone they’d pulled over and profiled, framing them in an elaborate setup and trumped-up scheme. This had happened to her own cousin, Xavier. The man was serving a twenty-year sentence for something he hadn’t done.

Gathering her composure, she finished her shopping.

During the drive home, her mind was on a million and one things, not the road. Troy was with his paternal grandmother. It was in actuality Kevin’s foster parent, Ms. Deidra, who’d been a great mother to him when he was growing up. She’d also run a successful daycare center many years ago, and had always been there for her and Troy, regularly checking in to see how she and her child were doing. Mrs. Deidra hadn’t been able to save Kevin from his demons, but she’d tried. The older woman considered Troy her grandson and was one of the sweetest ladies to walk the planet. In fact, one of the few people that Majesty felt safe leaving her kid with. He’d be with her for a couple of days while she caught up on some work and went out on her date with Viper.

A date… A damn date with that man.

She’d been second guessing her decision the entire week. She’d usually see him coming and going every now and again. He’d take off on his motorcycle, or in his truck, or that incredible car of his. She despised how she felt when one day she saw an incredibly beautiful woman with long black hair all the way to her ass standing in front of his house, talking to him. Flirting with him.

At last, she made it home. She started to put the groceries away quickly, wanting to get on with things so she could get cleaned up and dressed after a long day at work. As soon as she got into a groove, her phone rang. She no longer fooled with separate ringers for different people who called. Either she answered, or she didn’t. Stretching to loosen up her tired limbs, she looked down at the phone lying on the island and smiled.

“Hey, Destiny.” She put her friend on speakerphone.

“Hey, girl! It’s been a minute. I’m used to talking to you practically every day.”

“I know. It’s been crazy. I barely have time to sleep some days it seems. It’ll calm down. I’m almost finished with school. That’ll make a big difference.”

“I suppose I’m spoiled. Used to having you close.” She chuckled, though she knew her friend didn’t find her absence funny. It was hard on them both, honestly. “You didn’t call me back last week, girl. I should put you in time out.”

“I know, I am so sorry, Destiny. It’s been so hectic, like I said. I have a plan, and then I’ll have more wiggle room and we can get back to the way things were. Actually better. Thanks for coming down last month and helping me with the house. You have no idea how much I cherished that.”

“Would you stop thanking me? That’s what friends are for! Hey, it’s too quiet over there. Where’s my husband?” she joked, referring to Troy.

“With his grandma.” Majesty smiled as she washed down a Vitamin D capsule with some room-temperature water.

“Your mother is watching him? I thought she was too cute for that? Still tellin’ people she’s forty-five.”

Majesty shook her head and snorted. “She is too cute for it. Nothin’ has changed. You know my mama is a trip. She gives Troy presents, calls him and talks to him, and she came for a visit, too, but she is not tryna do that whole grandma thing like baking cookies, reading stories, and all of that stuff. Not even with Michael’s daughter. No, I’m talking about Kevin’s foster mother, though. You remember Ms. Deidra?”

“Oh, yes! I remember her. So he’s spendin’ the weekend with her then?”

“Yes. I dropped him off this morning before work.” She opened one of the cabinet doors and placed a couple cans of boiled peanuts inside. Her guilty pleasure.

“So, when are we going out? Your friends miss you. I just think you’re aiight.” They both burst out laughing. “Seriously, real talk. You’ve got the weekend to yourself, and I can get a babysitter for Kia – my sister will watch her. Let’s go! Time for you to get back to Miami, baby, and live it up! It’s all lame, sterile, boring, and White where you’re at. Did I mention White?” Destiny chuckled.

A flicker of the incident at the grocery store flashed inside her mind. Majesty quickly shook it away.

“Yeah, well, you and Joy act like I moved a hundred miles away. It takes me less than forty-five minutes to get to y’all. Forty if I’m speeding.”

“I know, I know… but it’s not the same without you here all the time, Majesty.” She could hear the sadness in her best friend’s voice.

“I miss you too, Destiny. I miss all of y’all. I had to do what was best for Troy though. Plus, change is good. I have to be honest; I really like it here.”

“You do?”

“Stop sounding all surprised! Yes, I do.” She placed the new box of oatmeal in a different cupboard.

“Well, if you’re happy, I can’t ask for much else. I’m proud of you; I think you need to know that. I don’t want to seem selfish or anything, and I know you’re less than an hour away. Girl, I just want to grow up and be like you.”

Majesty retrieved a carton of brown eggs from a bag and placed them inside of the refrigerator. After a bit more small talk, Destiny brought up turning the weekend into a getaway once more. The topic that refused to die.

“So, you comin’ down? Yay or nay?”

Majesty placed some dishes in the dishwasher after taking note of the time from her watch.

“I can’t.”

“Working again? School? Well, you’re always working, but I mean… damn. Come on out tonight, Maj! I’ll have you back by Sunday morning. Well, late mornin’.”

“I can’t go because I have a date.” She sank her teeth into her lower lip and squelched a chuckle.

“A date? With who? ‘Ms. Cicely Celibate’ going out with someone belonging to the male species? Say it ain’t so! You belong to the streets now, huh?”

“Girl, stop!”

“You told me when I was there at your house to stop trying to hook you up and stop asking when you were going to settle down again. You told me you weren’t interested in that sort of thing. I believed you. The big question is, do you even know what a man looks like anymore?”

“Well, damn. You don’t have to make it sound like I’m some recluse! I never said I didn’t want a guy ever again. I just didn’t want ninety-nine-point-nine percent of them.” They both burst out laughing.

“All I know is that I’ve tried to get you out to meet men and you always snubbed them, got your drink from them and dashed off, or went out with them like twice, then stopped returning their calls. You’re the queen of ghosting these negroes.”

“Now that’s not true. I dated Pierre for like… a month. And remember Jason? They just weren’t a good fit for me.” She shrugged. “If I don’t feel the vibe, I just don’t feel it, Destiny. I’m not forcing anything. Not my size nine foot in a seven shoe, and not a relationship just for the sake of having one.” She slipped out of her sneakers, then stuffed her socks in them.

“Oh, girl, let me tell you. Joy’s sister, Hope, you know, the one we don’t like…” Majesty rolled her eyes, knowing Destiny was about to tell her some shit she didn’t want to hear. Hope was the biggest hater, always bitching about people she couldn’t hold a candle to. “She said you only want to date ballers, but you’re broke. Girl! Joy shouldn’t’ve told me that, ’cause sister or no damn sister, I called Hope’s ass on her phone and set her straight!”

Majesty rocked her hips to some music playing from across the street as she arranged a few lemons and limes in a bowl just so. She was certain it was Viper being the neighborhood DJ, once again. He was probably getting ready for their night out, too, or maybe he’d wait until the last second to do so, like most men. “What’d you say back to her?”

“Back to Hope’s humpback whale, SpongeBob Square Pants built ass? I said that you ain’t broke, number one. You just moved to Boca Raton, in a good ass neighborhood, and secondly, I told her there was nothin’ wrong with wanting a baller, a shot caller, even if you were. Why is it that can’t nobody want anything better than their own circumstances? I mean, damn! Do we all have to be destitute and miserable? I hate heffas like her.”

“Me too.” She sucked her teeth and studied her cuticles. “She knew not to say that shit to my face. She would’ve been looking for her own after it came out of her mouth. How gutless do you have to be to talk big and bad about someone when they’ve moved away.”

“Joy can’t even stand her, Majesty, and that’s her own sister. I’m not fucking with that envy energy. It’s toxic. I’ve been reading about vibes, and gratitude.” Majesty recalled the recent conversation she and Destiny had had about such things. It had got her thinking about it, too. “Any woman who shows me that she can’t abide another woman gettin’ ahead, I cut ’em off. No explanation. That’s some devious shit.”

“It is. I can’t stand it one bit, and I’ve cut people off for far less. I don’t have the patience for that kind of stupidity. I’m just trying to get my life in order and give my son happy memories, keep him safe, love him, and fill his head with education. This is one thing my mother taught me that I can totally vouch for. She said women will be your sisters and your worst enemy, Destiny, all at the same time. They’ll do you dirty, worse than a lyin’, cheating ass man. If we ain’t got nothing, we never want the one next to us to have anything, either. Always being negative, putting each other down, being happy when someone’s dreams get crushed. And we love to see people acting nasty to one another. We wanna join in on the action and get our laugh on.” Her stomach knotted with thoughts of her own past when far too often she’d ended up being the butt of hateful jokes. “I’m too grown for that now.” She turned on the faucet and ran some water in the sink to wash a few glasses. “If I don’t like you, I don’t like you, but it sure as hell won’t be due to me wanting something you got.”

“Girl, sometimes it’s not even that they want what you have. They just don’t want yo’ ass to have it!”

“Preach!”

“Women puttin’ other women down is gross. Pure stank coochie energy. Ewww, bitch! Uplift or set adrift. No one wants you here! You and your jealousy are dismissed!” Majesty burst out laughing. When annoyed, Destiny certainly had a way with words. And she loved her best friend something fierce. “So, anyway, since you’re blowing your girls off for a dick, tell me about this man, chile!”

Majesty dried her hands off, poured herself a glass of wine and settled down at her kitchen nook. She took a sip and looked off into the distance.

“Girl, he is fine as fuck. I mean… stop-dead-in-your-tracks gorgeous. He’s rough though. Not just around the edges, but everywhere. He’s not a pretty boy at all. But he’s… striking all the same, if that makes sense? Looks like he’ll walk on broken glass barefoot and not even blink.”

“What he look like?!” Destiny didn’t even try to hide her eagerness to get the details. It tickled Majesty so.

“Well, he’s Cuban, and—”

“Black Cuban or White Cuban?”

Majesty chuckled. She knew what Destiny meant. There were definitely two different kinds.

“White Cuban.”

“Hmm, again, what he look like?”

“I was tryna tell you! You keep interjecting.” She laughed. “So, he’s about six-three or six-four, and he—”

“Ohhhh! He’s tall! Yaaasssss, baby!”

“Would you stop interrupting me?!” They were both cracking up now.

“All right, shit! You ain’t gotta get huffy,” her friend teased. “Finish.”

“So, yeah, he’s tall and he has tattoos all over his damn body, girl. Very sexy. He has black hair and a short beard. Muscular… whew!”

“Like a bodybuilder?”

“He ain’t swole up like Mike O’Hearn, if that’s what you mean, but you can tell he works out. He’s a big guy. Okay, so that’s the physical. Here’s the nitty gritty. Destiny, I’m not really certain what’s going on, I need to get more information about the depth of his involvement, but… he’s a L.K.”

“An L.K.? What’s… Oh, shit! A Latin King? Bitch! Is you crazy?!” Destiny burst out laughing before Majesty joined in.

“I must be.” Majesty wouldn’t stop struggling with her own emotions over the situation. “He’s thirty-one, so I don’t think he’s in real deep like that anymore, but he still keeps tabs, and he’s still friends with his brothers I guess they call them, the other gang members. I doubt he’s involved in anything illegal. He told me he wasn’t. Not that that means anything, men are always lying, but trust me, I was checking, and I know what to look out for. No signs of any shady shit whatsoever. What really makes me think that though is that he lives out here, literally right across the street from me, and the police don’t bother him.”

“Is he on probation or something?”

“Nope. He grew up in Little Havana, moved out here almost a year ago. He told me he needed to lie low, get a fresh start. He didn’t want to be around the stuff he was around before twenty-four-seven.”

Destiny drew quiet. That hamster wheel brain of hers was working overtime.

“Does he have kids?”

“No, he doesn’t have any. What’s interesting is that he seems to get along well with children. Troy had a few of his friends over here some time ago and he was playing with them, and they were talking to him like it was nothing. You know how mistrustful Troy is. I didn’t say anything, but that kind of blew me away.”

“Yeah, Troy is real funny about strangers. That’s good actually.”

“It is. Troy also told me later that night that he thinks Viper likes me. Of course, I played it off like I didn’t know what he was talking about.” She smiled before taking another sip of her wine. “You know I don’t let random men around my son.”

“True. True.”

“Now, check this out. The kicker was that Troy’s old ball they’d been playing with was a little deflated. The next morning, a new ball just like it appeared on our front porch. He ain’t leave no note, no nothing, but I knew it was him that left it.”

“Hmmm, that was nice. Girl, look, you know you can look these guys up now. Since he’s an LK, we already know he has a record, but you can just—”

“I actually called Erica and she gave me the 411.” Erica was a friend they’d all went to high school with who was now a police officer. The only one she trusted. She and Majesty had always been cool. Every now and again, from time to time, Majesty would let her know about things she’d heard in their old neighborhood, on the down low, to possibly assist in solving crimes, and Erica would give her information about guys she might be interested in. Erica was also the one who’d helped solve Kevin’s murder. A chill ran down Majesty’s spine when she thought about the night she’d found out someone had shot and killed her first love.

“So… uh, yeah. He’s got a rap sheet. A bad one, I’m not going to lie to you, but most of it is old, like four or five years ago was the last thing I saw. And there’s nothing involving rape, beating women up, messin’ with kids, or anything like that.”

“Well, that’s good. Girl, living out here, we’d be hell pressed to find someone without a record. Plus, the cops ride Black and Brown people so hard.”

“Tell me about it.” She finished off her wine, rinsed the glass out, and set it in the sink. “Well, sis, I gotta get dressed to go out with him. I’ll find out more tonight, and if I even see a piece of a red flag, I’m out.”

“Hold up, you never told me his name and I need information in case your ass ends up in a ditch. You know we don’t play that!” Destiny was right. Whenever they met a new man and either of them went out with him, they’d give each other all the information about the guy. It had been so long since she’d been on a date, she’d nearly forgotten.

“His name is Dominic Martinez. He goes by the nickname, ‘King Viper.’” She proceeded to run off his address, his occupation, his number, and a few other details.

“All right, got it. I’m going to check him out online, too. Is he on social media?”

“Yeah, but his pages are private and he isn’t on there much, at least that was what he said when I asked to add him onto mine. I did find a couple of photos of him on there though. I’ll send one to you. For research purposes, of course.” She chuckled.