“Uh-huh,” Tyler murmured, slipping the Chanel frames onto her face. Opening the back door, Tyler exited the truck without looking back. Little did Carla know she didn’t have any plans to work on another album for the label. Her next album was going to be for her, and there wasn’t anything they could do about it.
???
Stepping inside the elevator, Tyler rested her head against the wall and sighed. For three days, she had been alone in a cell with only her thoughts. She was sober as fuck and pretty sure she was experiencing withdrawals. The first night she slept the day away, the second night her stomach started cramping, and by the third night she was pacing the floor for hours at a time. Flashbacks and nightmares consumed her, and when the guard finally let her out, she wanted to kiss him.
With her eyes closed, Tyler tried to ignore the tin can in her pocket, but it was louder than her thoughts and the horrible elevator music combined. She figured since she went three days without any substances that she should just kick the habit. While the thought was noble, the aching in the pit of her stomach said something else. Just thinking of the contents made her mouth water, and the harder she tried to fight the feeling, the more the craving intensified. Before the elevator could reach the 21stfloor, Tyler removed the tin mint can and examined its contents. Carla made sure to load the can with uppers, downers, and a few party pills. Popping two small white pills into her mouth, Tyler quickly wiped the tears that slowly rolled down her cheek.
Ding
“Welcome home, baby,” Dexter grinned, running his tongue across his dark lips.
Standing in the middle of the living room of their two-bedroom penthouse, Dexter was dressed in a wife beater, showcasing his toned arms, a pair of basketball shorts, and Nike slides. As irritated as she was, Tyler could never deny how handsome he was. Even after she tried to take his face off, Dexter escaped with minimal scarring. The cut above his lip was healingand his nose was back to its normal size. Often compared to Tracy T, Dexter was easy on the eyes. If it wasn’t his stocky 5ft10 frame, it was his almond shaded skin, pretty white veneers, and thin black goatee. His high-top fade was always shaped to perfection and adorned with soft, moisturized coils. Not only was he fine, but Dexter could dress his ass off. He was a name brand whore and stunting on the next nigga made his dick hard. Dexter was arrogant and, in his mind, there wasn’t a soul on God’s green earth fucking with him.
“What’s all this?” Tyler asked, unimpressed with his attempt to smooth things over. Removing her glasses, her eyes shifted from the chef standing in the kitchen entry to all the shopping bags on the couch, floor, and countertops. She could smell the garlic from her favorite food, but instead of her mouth watering, it made her sick. The bags from Gucci, Chanel, and Nordstrom didn’t make her smile; in fact, it pissed her off because she was sure she’d see the charges on her statement later. A shopping spree with her own money was hardly an apology.
“Fuck you mean? You been gone three days and I wanted to show you how much I missed you,” Dexter replied, picking up two fifths of Don Julio. “The queen is home.”
“The queen?” Tyler chuckled dryly. She could’ve easily blamed her nonchalant disposition on the Xanax coursing through her bloodstream, or maybe it was the amount of bullshit emitting from Dexter’s pores. Either way, she wasn’t feeling him. “If I was the fucking queen of anything, you would have bailed me out on Monday nigga. It’s Tuesday and instead of coming yourself, you sent Carla. Had me sitting in a fucking cell looking stupid all weekend.”
“I had to make sure shit was straight on the back end. Aria did ole girl dirty and I’m trying to make that shit go away.”
“I really don’t give a flying fuck what you did or had to do. Yall fuckers could’ve got me out on Monday, but it’s cool. I guess you needed time to get yo lil hoes in order,” she snorted, snatching one of the bottles from his hand. Popping the top, she brought it to her lips, letting Dex know what type of time she was on. His gifts, food, and weak ass display of affection weren’t going to work this time around.
This wasn’t the first time she had caught him in a vulnerable position, and Tyler knew it wouldn’t be the last. Even if he hadn’t done anything with the bitch, it was only a matter of time before he doubled back. She had been with him long enough to know how he rolled. Dexter thought having unlimited bitches made him the man. Most of the time he kept his indiscretions on the low, but lately he’d become a little bolder. Letting a bitch wear his chain in a club was a slap in the face, and Tyler was over it.
“Aye, give us a minute,” Dexter told the chef, who was still standing there. “Go to the lobby and I’ll have someone bring you back up when we’re ready to eat.”
“I can come back and break down everything tomorrow if you want me to.”
“I want you to do what the fuck I just asked,” he barked, making the chef jump.
“Ok, I’ll be downstairs,” he stuttered, making a beeline for the elevators.
Tyler rolled her eyes and tried to walk past Dex, but he grabbed her arm, pulling her into his chest. She waited for relief to wash over her, for butterflies to swarm her core at his touch, but nothing. Tyler didn’t feel loved when he held her, nor did she feel safe. If anything, she was annoyed that he was standing between her and a hot shower.
“Baby, don’t do me like this. I wasn’t trying to fuck that girl,” he promised. “The label is looking for new talent and I was trying to help.”
“Hm, sure,” Tyler pursed her lips, not believing a word that came out of his lying ass mouth. Even if they were looking for new talent, they wouldn’t have sent Dexter. He wasn’t a scout and couldn’t conduct business without involving his dick or ego.
“The fuck I look like messing around with these hoes when I got the queen? You’re all I need.” Dex kissed her neck. “Stop acting like that. Daddy missed you. Go get in the shower so I can welcome you home the right way. I’mma take care of you, baby.”
There was a time when those words would’ve made Tyler melt, but now she was kinda grossed out at the thought of him referring to himself as her ‘daddy.’ At eighteen, she thought it was cute, but the twenty-five-year-old woman with daddy issues thought it was creepy.
“Letting you take care of me is what got me in this position in the first place. I’m going to take a shower. Give me a minute alone please.” Tyler pulled away from him and headed down the hall.
“Ty, I didn’t fuck that girl.”
“Whatever Dex,” she grumbled, not bothering to look back.
Stepping into their bedroom, Tyler closed the door and sighed. Four years ago, when they moved into the spacious, sky-rise apartment, she was in love with everything it had to offer, but lately, Tyler felt trapped. The rooms filled with top-of-the-line appliances, the finest furniture, and valuable art seemed smaller. The floor-to-ceiling windows somehow didn’t offer enough light, and the pleasant lemon aroma she once loved made her nauseous. Everything about her life made her sick, andas each day passed, Tyler felt like she was sinking deeper and deeper into a dark hole.
Kicking off her shoes, Tyler stripped out of her clothing and dropped them into the waste basket near her closet. She didn’t need any reminders of the time she spent locked in a cell. Naked as the day she was born, with only the bottle of liquor in her hand, Tyler strutted into the bathroom that connected to their bedroom. Cutting on the dual-headed shower, Tyler sat on the counter while the water warmed up. Lifting the bottle to her lips, she took a large gulp without flinching. The lighting that slipped under the bathroom door provided enough light for Tyler to stare at her reflection in the mirror. In her now tipsy haze, Tyler wondered if she looked like her mother when she’d had too much to drink or her father when he was battling his inner demons. Either way, her parents both left her with fucked up life issues, and she always seemed to find her answers at the bottom of a bottle.
“Baby.” Dexter tapped on the door, clearly ignoring her wishes.
Silence.
“Ty baby.”
