Who Can I Trust: A Naptown Hood Drama (Trust Issues Book 1) Read online

  Who Can I Trust: A Naptown Hood Drama

  Trust Issues Book 1

  Tamicka Higgins

  © 2015

  Disclaimer

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and events are all fictitious for the reader’s pleasure. Any similarities to real people, places, events, living or dead are all coincidental.

  This book contains sexually explicit content that is intended for ADULTS ONLY (+18).

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  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Sneak Peek: Who Can I Trust 2

  Author’s Note

  Books by Tamicka Higgins

  Chapter 1

  Kayla woke up yet again with another headache. This was starting to become a regular thing for her and, as much as she hated to admit it, having a headache when she woke up in the morning was becoming a new normal that she would come to expect. If she did not have a headache when she woke up, she wondered what the deal was – what God could be trying to tell her. As usual, the 19 year old lay in bed for a little while after turning her cell phone alarm off. She looked over at her window and shook her head.

  “Fuck” she said, the word practically slipping out of her mouth. From her second floor bedroom, she could see the roofs of the two houses down the street from where she lived. And there was at least a good six to seven inches of snow piled up on top of each of them – at least a few inches more than there had been last night.

  Quickly, Kayla grabbed her remote and turned on the television. After a quick glance at the time, 7:05, she knew that she had at least a good thirty minutes before she had to go make sure Latrell and Linell, her younger twin brother and sister, got up and ready for school. Without even thinking about it, Kayla rolled her eyes as she scrolled through the channels until she found a cast of newscasters and stopped. There was no doubt in her mind that her mother probably did not come home last night. In fact, since she had basically stopped coming home to be a mother who actually did what she was supposed to do, Kayla’s headaches had begun. It was oh so depressing to think about, yet it was her reality.

  Kayla watched the news, waiting to see if there were school cancellations. Part of her wished that Latrell and Linell would not have to go to school today. However, another part of her wished that they did. As good as lying back down in the bed and going back to sleep sounded to her, she would rather that they go to school than for her to have to deal with them all day. There was just no telling when her mother would come walking through the door from whatever nigga’s place she was at. This was all getting to be just too much.

  The names of schools and churches, as well as some office buildings in towns that were further out in rural areas, rolled across the bottom of the screen as the newscasters talked about something or another. Kayla watched, waiting for the schools that started with the letter 'I' to roll by – in search of Indianapolis Public Schools. In minutes, the verdict was in. Indianapolis Public School: NO DELAYS rolled across the bottom of the screen. Kayla hyperventilated and pushed her head back into her pillow then turned, looking at the snowy roofs of the two houses next door. She just hoped that the salt trucks were out last night and the main streets were at least decently cleared. Indianapolis was pretty good about that so she knew that she could relax about it all and just be sure that she drove her mother’s car carefully.

  Just then, Kayla felt her phone vibrated. At first, she assumed it was her phone alarm starting to go off again. When she picked up her phone and looked, she saw that it was a text message from her boo, Marcus. A smile popped onto her face as she opened it.

  Marcus: Wassup Bae?

  Kayla responded: Just woke up…U?

  While Kayla waited for a response from Marcus, she picked the remote up and turned the television off. Once again, her bedroom was completely silent as the sun was oh so slowly rising in the east. Her life was just not getting any better staying with her mother. Kayla thought about how her boyfriend, Marcus, had been talking to her about moving away from Indianapolis. As good as doing something like that sounded in discussion, she knew that if she did her bother and sister’s life would probably not be the same. Ever since her mother and father had split up some years ago, her mother had just not been the same. Suddenly, Kayla felt more like a mother to her brother and sister that their actual mother was. At first, it was nice. In all reality, she did not mind helping to take care of them and taking them places and stuff. However, after a while, her own life began to suffer. She and Marcus, who had known each other since she was freshman in high school and he was a sophomore, weren’t able to spend as much time together as they were used to. There were times that Kayla would have to cancel what the two of them were doing because her mother was not around to do whatever her little brother and sister needed. In so many ways, it went from being fun to aggravating and just so damn unpredictable.

  Kayla’s phone vibrated. Quickly, she picked it up and opened the text message from Marcus: Shit. Layin’ in bed with a hard-on.

  A giggle slipped out of Kayla’s mouth. There had been a handful of nights where Kayla spent the night over at Marcus’ place. Last night was supposed to be one of those nights. However, that all changed when her mother text messaged her saying that she didn’t know when she would be home and asking if Kayla could make sure that Latrell and Linell get something to eat before they go to bed.

  Marcus: No response, huh?

  Kayla: Was just thinkin.

  Marcus: Bout?

  Kayla: Nothin.’

  Within a few seconds, a picture message popped up from Marcus. When Kayla opened the message, she found that it was a picture of Marcus’ hard dick tenting in his gray boxer briefs as he lay in bed. Kayla laughed a little and shook her head. A couple more seconds passed and a message popped up from Marcus: Is this what you was thinkin’ bout.

  Kayla: Nigga, shut up. It’s too early for all that. Plus, you know I ain’t supposed to see shit like that. I’mma lady.

  Marcus: Ha! It don’t be too early for that when you spend the night over here. And ain’t nothin’ wrong with a lady thinking about some dick.

  Kayla: ROFL Marcus stop.

  Marcus: When you comin’ through? Ur mama come home or not?

  Kayla started to respond to Marcus’ text message when she realized that she really didn’t know. Looking at the time, she slid out of her bed really quickly and walked over to her bedroom door. When she opened it, semi-cold air rushed in and collided with her 5’3 body. Dressed in a white t-shirt and some cute pink pajama pants, Kayla quickly walked down the hallway. She paused at her mother’s bedroom door, trying to see if she could hear her snoring. When she didn’t hear anything, she softly opened the door and stepped inside. Nothing was changed and her mother was not there. A deep sigh slipped out of Kayla’s mouth, now realizing that it was a definite thing that she would be going out into the snow to get her brother and sister to school. She turned around and went right back t
o her bedroom.

  Not even getting back into her bedroom, Kayla grabbed her phone and responded to Marcus: I just checked. That bitch ain’t here again.

  Marcus: Damn.

  Kayla responded, shaking her head: Yeah. I’mma have to take them to school today.

  Marcus: Bet. Come through when you drop them off. Let me get in that pussy.

  Kayla smiled: Nigga, whatever.

  Marcus: I’ll be up and waiting for you. Don’t take too long.

  Kayla shook her head as she dropped her phone back onto the bed and stretched. She then walked over to her window and looked down outside. A car passed by on the street, not really seeming to going all that slow. Kayla took a closer look at the street and knew that she could make it the couple of blocks down to 25th Street and be alright. Closing her blinds, Kayla got into her strong mood and knew that she would just have to keep things moving. Since she didn’t get to spend last night with Marcus, she saw no reason she wouldn’t stop by and spend a little time with him after she dropped her brother and sister off at school. Hell, at this point, Marcus was turning out to be Kayla’s only piece of stability in a world that seemed to be on her shoulders 24/7.

  Kayla walked to Latrell and Linell’s bedroom and turned the light on.

  “Wake up, wake up,” she announced. “Time to get ready for school. Get up, y’all. C’mon y’all.”

  Slowly but surely, Kayla watched as her 9 year old brother and sister climbed out of their beds. Both of them were sleepy eyed, to be expected.

  “Y’all figure out who gon’ shower first while I’m cookin,” Kayla told them. “And neither one of y’all betta not get back in either of them beds and go back to sleep while I’m down stairs. It snowed again so we ain’t got time for no bullshit.”

  On that note, Kayla walked out of the room and headed downstairs. Her mother, Rolanda, had never been the kind of woman to wake up in the morning and cook breakfast for her children. Since that was something that Kayla kind of always wanted when she was a little girl, she had decided a long time ago that once she had children, she would be that mother that got up them up in the morning and cooked them a little something to eat on their way into school. Little did she know when she first made that promise to herself that she would be doing it a lot sooner than she thought.

  The first floor of the double they lived in was its usual tidiness. No matter how her mother lived, she always made it a priority to keep her placing looking nice. She didn’t believe that children were a valid excuse for having a house that was anything less than what you wanted. In the living room, which was the room where the front door is, there was a large entertainment system with large television commanding your attention as soon as anybody walked in the room. Setting at the base of the staircase was a nice cabinet that had come from Kayla’s grandmother. On top of it, was a fish tank with pictures sitting to both of its sides.

  Kayla slid through the dining room, around a cherry oak dining room set and into the kitchen. When Kayla flipped the kitchen light on, the light practically bounced off of the stainless steel appliances. Quickly, Kayla began getting pans out and started to make French toast, eggs, and a couple strips of bacon for her brother and sister. She looked in the refrigerator and found herself in luck: there was enough orange juice left to where they wouldn’t have to drink water. Right then, she made a mental note to herself to ask her mother when she could take the food stamp card and go get some groceries. Keeping the house stocked up with food had basically become Kayla’s responsibility at this point, and there were times it got so tiresome asking her mother for the food stamp card. It got even harder when she wasn’t around.

  Kayla made her sister and brother their plates and set them in front of two chairs at the small kitchen table, wedged in the corner of the kitchen. Just as she was going upstairs to make sure that things were going smoothly with her brother and sister, the two of them were coming downstairs.

  “Good deal,” Kayla said, happy to see that they hadn’t gotten back in the bed and fallen back to sleep. “Y’all breakfast is sitting in there on the table. Make sure y’all get y’all backpacks and stuff before we leave.”

  “What you make to eat?” Latrell asked. Out of the two of them, Latrell liked it more when his older sister woke them up and took them to school. Whatever she would make them to eat would always be better than the food they could get at school during breakfast. Plus, there were times, especially when their mama was taking them to school, that they would not get there in time to go to breakfast. On top of that, she never made breakfast. With Kayla, they got to eat breakfast at home and if they were still hungry, they would always get to school in time to go to breakfast in the cafeteria if they wanted. If they weren’t hungry, they could hang out with their friends out in the hallway until it was time to go to class.

  “Just go on in there and see,” Kayla answered as she headed upstairs to get her own self ready. “It ain’t nothin’ spectacular or nothin.”

  When Kayla got to her bedroom, she grabbed a towel, some clean clothes – nothing too cute or anything – and headed to the bathroom. She turned on the shower and began to undress. As she did, however, she could not help that with age, she was only getting better looking. There were times that she would look at herself in the mirror and be in disbelief at the young woman she was turning out to be. It was almost like karma for all the people who used to talk shit about her in middle school and in her early years of high school, when she was just thin without much shape to speak of at all.

  Now, all that had changed. Now? Now, she had a body that so many women would kill for and she could not lie to herself and say that she did not cherish it. At 5ft3, she weighed 130 pounds and was thick in just all the right places. Her waist curved out to some nice hips, and those led down to thick thighs that jiggled ever so slightly when she walked. Her chest had even filled out, going from just an A when she was maybe a freshman to a full-blown C-cup by the time she graduated in the spring of last year. Kayla had even changed up her entire approach to how she took care of her hair. Back when she was younger, she would always have some sort of weave going. In many ways, this was only because she was so heavily influenced by her mother. Hell, she had lived with that woman her entire life and could probably count on one hand the number of times she had seen her real hair. Kayla had decided some years back that she wanted to be different. When she was sixteen or seventeen years old, she stopped using weave altogether and grew her own hair out. Now, she had thick black hair that was real and lay on her shoulders. No dye, very little chemicals. As Kayla was pulling it up into her shower cap, she ran her hands through it and smiled. Having such good, long hair made her feel so beautiful. On top of it making her feel better, Marcus loved to run his hands through it. And Kayla always believed the old saying that a man running his hands through a woman’s hair was way to make it grow more. Plus, it was oh so soothing.

  Kayla took a quick, but thorough shower and hopped out. After drying off and sliding into her clothes, she hurried to her bedroom. There, she noticed her phone was blinking. It was a text message from Marcus – a picture message. “What this nigga send me again?” Kayla asked herself, out loud as she shook her head and opened the text message. Again, it was dick picture from Marcus with a smiling emoji underneath. Kayla shook her head and chuckled as she responded: Nigga, it is too early for all this.

  Just as Kayla was grabbing her purse and coat, her phone vibrated again. Marcus: No it ain’t. Hurry up and get that pussy over here before I get angry.

  Kayla, thinking back to one of Marcus’ responses from earlier, responded: Ha! And I’m supposed to care that you angry or somethin?

  Within seconds, Marcus responded: You will.

  Kayla rolled her eyes and shook her head as she made sure she had everything she needed, turned her bedroom light off, and headed back downstairs. Latrell and Linell were in the kitchen, finishing up their breakfast as they argued about which Chris Brown song was better.

  “H
urry up y’all,” Kayla told them. “Y’all know that it snowed outside and we might need some extra time to get up there. Stop foolin’ round.”

  Latrell snickered and looked across the table at his twin sister. “You know what that means,” he said, sarcastically.

  Linell nodded, smiling. “Hmm, hmm,” she said.

  Just then, Kayla’s neck snapped back and her eyes fell onto her brown-skin brother and sister. She smiled, finding it so cute how the two of them had their own little bond going. On the other hand, there were moments like these were it kind of sucked for her being the outsider.

  “And what is that supposed to mean?” Kayla asked.

  “Nothing,” Latrell said, going back to chewing a piece of bacon. “Nothing at all.”

  “So why you say you know what that means when I told y’all that you betta hurry up so we can get going?” Kayla asked.

  The 9 year olds looked up at their older sister and smiled. Kayla opened her eyes wider, looking them both in the eyes and letting them know that she wanted an answer. “Well?” she asked.

  “Is Marcus coming over when you drop us off at school?” Latrell asked.

  While the plan was not for Marcus to come over after she dropped them off, Kayla could not help but to blush a little bit. Here were these two 9 year olds that were smart enough to figure out exactly what was up. Out of instinct, Kayla just started to shake her head. “Hell naw,” she said. “What makes you say that?”

  “Because,” Linell said. “Y’all was supposed to be hanging out last night but I remember when you were on the phone saying that you wouldn’t be able to go over there because Mama said she wasn’t coming home.”

  “Damn,” Kayla said, wanting to practically burst into laughter. “Why you all in my business like that?”

  Latrell looked up at his sister and waved his finger side to side. “You shouldn’t have your business out there like that.”