A Miami Love Tale: Thugs Need Luv Too Read online

  A Miami Love Tale :Thugs Need Luv Too

  A Novel By

  Diamond Johnson

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  © 2015

  Published by Leo Sullivan Presents

  www.leolsullivan.com

  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Unauthorized reproduction, in any manner, is prohibited.

  Acknowledgements

  First off I would like to thank God for even giving me the ability to have the talent of writing. I believe in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me.” There were times when I didn’t want to continue writing this book because I didn’t think it would be good enough. I started working on I choose you in January, 2014 and ended up stopping due to school. Honestly, I pushed myself so hard to finish this book and to finally have it out. I won’t say that it was an easy journey because Lord knows that it wasn’t.

  To my amazing parents, thank you for believing in me as well and for not doubting me when I came to you guys with the idea of writing my very own book. I love you guys so much.

  To my sisters that supported me with the idea of finally putting my writing skills to good use.

  And lastly, to my readers, I hope you all enjoy this book as much I enjoyed writing it. I’m doing this for you guys. Keep a look out for Diamond Johnson, this is only the beginning, I have so much up my sleeve for you guys.

  “Keep in mind that I’m an artist

  And I’m sensitive about my shit

  -Erykah Badu

  A Miami Love Tale: Thugs Need Luv Too

  There’s no such thing as a perfect love, but what these Miami couples have going on, there the closest thing to perfection. With every relationship, there will always be outsiders trying to break up what you and your partner are trying to build.

  Meet Breesha. Breesha is a young sexy, independent female that lives by the code “niggas ain’t shit”, that’s before she meets the infamous Dontae Harris. Dontae comes into Breesha’s life and quickly knocks down all walls and proved to her that he could be the man she needs him to be. With a crazy baby mama in the way, will she run Breesha away or will Breesha have to go down and fight for her man?

  Imani, better known as Mani, is a sweet, innocent 21 year old who attends University of Miami. Imani’s life revolves around going to school and keeping her head in the books, that is until she meets the young and sexy Rashard Lewis. Can Imani handle a man like Rashard and will he turn her out in the process?

  Last but not least, meet Brenae, married to the famous Sincere O’Neal. Sincere and Brenae have been married for 3 years but they’ve been together since teenagers. Brenae can’t help but feel as if Sincere puts his job before her. Will his long working hours drive Brenae to the arms of another man or will she be able to stick it out for him?

  Take a ride with the hottest couples in Miami. This book will make you laugh, cry, and even make you want to slap some sense into some of the characters. Filled with drama, sex, and a little bit of rachetness.

  Chapter 1: Imani

  “Mani, its Friday night. Everybody is going to be at King of Diamonds tonight, why would you want to sit in the house by yourself?” my loud mouth, oldest cousin Breesha asked me, while she was standing in the bathroom doing her make-up.

  “Breesha, for the millionth time, I have finals that I have to study for!” I exclaimed, never taking my eyes off my psychology textbook. It wasn’t that I was a boring person; I just had priorities in my life that I needed to fulfill before I decided to turn up at the club.

  Before I go any further, let me introduce myself. My name is Imani Taylor Jones, but everybody calls me Mani for short. I’m 21 years old and I’m currently attending the University of Miami, seeking a degree in elementary Education. I’m 5’2, weighing 125 pounds soaking wet. I have honey-brown hair, which stops at the center of my back, and hazel eyes, and let’s not forget my beautiful, deep dimples that are planted in both of my cheeks. My skin is high yellow with not a blemish in sight. I’ll admit, I’m a beautiful girl, but there’s so much more to me than my beauty. I’m smart as hell and I know what I want in life. The one thing that I plan to do with my life is to go out there and receive an education, so that I can make both of my parents proud, especially my mother.

  Growing up, life was pretty much perfect for me, because I had everything that a young girl could ask for. I was raised in a household with both parents living under the same roof, and I was the only child, which is explains why I’m so damn spoiled. My parents always made sure that I didn’t want for anything, but of course, I had to take care of my responsibility. Since I was in elementary school, I’ve always been a straight-A student. When I was younger, my mother was an elementary school teacher and when she would come home from work, I would help her grade her student’s assignments. It was then, at the age of ten, that I realized that when I grew up, I wanted to become a teacher just like my mom. Over the years, my mother has gotten her share of promotions. She’d been a school guidance counselor, school assistant principal, and the biggest accomplishment was when she became the new school principal at my old elementary school that I used to attend. Now my daddy, boy do I just love that man. He was an entertainment lawyer, and a damn good one at that. I never took interest in the whole law field, but that was my daddy’s passion. He loved his job and it made him happy.

  My life revolves around me going to school 5 days a week. I could get a job if I wanted to, but my daddy doesn’t want me working, so he makes sure he leaves a good portion of money in my account every week. I feel like I’m too old to still be getting money from my daddy, but the way my class schedule is set up, I’m in any position to be working. School came first, and God knows that I didn’t need any distractions. On the weekends, I just stay home and study. I’m your typical 21-year-old that likes to hang out, party and turn up. My cousins always refer to me as a square, but I don’t think that of myself at all; I just think of it as me being well-grounded. I swear, I sometimes wonder how is it that me and Breesha, are related because I swear we act nothing alike.

  My other cousin Nae, short for Brenae, was on her way over to go out with Breesha as well. The two of them were as thick as thieves. Nae was married though, to her husband Sincere, and they had a beautiful baby girl by the name of Janiya. Sincere and Nae had been married now for three years, but they have been together for as long as I can remember. On the other hand, Breesha was single and she lived her life, doing whatever the fuck she wanted to do. Breesha invested all of her time in her Boutique “Let’s Get Laid.” My cousin owned her own little spot down here and Miami, where she sold good quality hair. That was Breesha’s hustle that was how she was able to pay her bills. Now, on the weekends, my cousin was a whole different person. Her ass, along with Nae, liked to go out, get drunk, and just all around have a good time. Now, the reason why Breesha doesn’t have a man is because her ass is so fuckin mean and she lives by the motto, “niggas ain’t shit but hoes and tricks.” No matter how many niggas tried to talk to her, she just wasn’t having it. I guess she’s waiting to find herself the perfect man.

  I glanced over at Breesha, standing in the mirror and fixing her hair, and I had to admit that my cousin was beautiful. Right now, she was rocking her hair in a feathered jet-black bob, which was cut layered in the back.
She looked really different with her hair like that, because I was so used to seeing her with her long, pretty hair, stopping just above her ass. She wanted to try something new, so the other day, she went to the salon and had them give her a sew-in, that way she didn’t have to cut her real hair. I was really feeling this bob on my cousin, though. You could see the many tattoos of the butterflies that she had on her back, trailing up until they got to the nape of her neck. Breesha was standing 5’5, about 135 pounds, and her body was to die for. From her tiny waist to her nice plump derriere, my cousin was the shit. Her skin tone was high yellow, like mine and Nae’s.

  “Mani, you know damn well if you didn’t have finals next week that you still wouldn’t have gone out with us!” Breesha chastised, coming from out of the bathroom and snapping me out of my thoughts.

  “Why you want me to go anyway? So that I can drive y’all drunk asses home?” I asked Breesha, knowing that was the only reason why she wanted me to go with them.

  Breesha laughed, “Whatever Mani, I’m not about to sit here and beg you.”

  Five minutes later, there was a knock at the door and I knew it was Nae. Since Breesha was in the room getting dressed, I went downstairs to open the door for her. Nae was wearing a pretty ass Herve, all white bandage dress. On her feet was a pair of all white Christian Louboutin pumps, with colorful spikes around them. Her hair was parted down the middle, bone straight and stopping at the center of her back. Nae was beautiful as well, standing 5’4 with a banging ass body. Even after having a baby four years ago, you couldn’t even tell she gave birth because Nae kept her ass in the damn gym, making sure she stayed fit for her husband. Nae is what you called a stay-at-home wife. Her husband didn’t want her working for shit, so she didn’t have anything else to do but to spend her husband’s money and make sure everything was taken care of on the home front. Don’t get me wrong now, Nae’s ass wanted to work so bad, but her husband wasn’t having that shit at all, with his over protective ass.

  “You not going out with us, Mani? Breesha said you was coming,” Nae said, walking inside the house after giving me a hug.

  “Breesha lied, no I’m not going,” I said, closing the door behind her. We headed upstairs, and Breesha was slipping on her all-white pants romper.

  “Breesha, why you lied and said Mani was coming with us?” Nae said laughing, taking a seat on the bed.

  “I really thought she was going to come, that’s why. Why you got here so early, I told you to come at 9,” Breesha said, looking at the clock on her nightstand and seeing that it was only 8.

  “I had to hurry up and get dressed and drop the baby off at my Mom’s house. You know damn well my husband would have flipped if he knew that I was going to the club tonight,” Nae said.

  Laughing, Breesha asked, “So when you come home tonight, where you going to tell him you went, because you know he going to ask. He gon’ be able to tell you went to the club too, with this dress you got on.”

  “I got change of clothes in my car. I told him I was coming over here to chill with y’all,” Nae said, like what she said was okay. She knew Sincere would kill her ass if she went out to the club. It wasn’t that Sincere had a leash on Nae or anything, it’s just that a lot of niggas in Miami didn’t like his cocky ass, so he never liked for Nae to go out alone and someone try to hurt her because of their beef with him. Nae didn’t care about all of that though, because she still lied to his ass about her whereabouts, and she still did whatever the fuck it is that she wanted to do.

  After Breesha was finally done getting dressed and everything, they headed downstairs and I followed behind, to lock up the house.

  Turning around, Nae asked me, “Cousin, you sure you don’t want to come?”

  “Yes, I’m sure,” I said, giving off a small smile.

  “Okay then, goodnight,” Nae said, giving me a hug.

  “Goodnight,” I said and walked over to hug Breesha too.

  After they walked out the door, I closed it, made sure it was locked, and walked over to the alarm to activate it. I headed upstairs and got back in the bed to finish studying. It was going to be another long, boring night. If I wanted to, I could have went out with my cousins and had myself a good time, but every time I went out with them, I would always feel like the third wheel. While Breesha and Nae would be drinking and other shit, I would just sit there and wish that I was home. Clubbing wasn’t for everybody, so once I finished studying, I was just going to lay in my bed and watch some good movies on Lifetime. I swear, this was a typical Friday night for me.

  Chapter 2: Nae

  Me and Breesha was in the club, turning the fuck up. The DJ was playing that old school Missy Elliot, Hot Boy. That song made me think of my handsome husband, Sincere. That’s exactly what he was to me, my hot boy. My husband was so fine. I loved everything about him, from his honey brown complexion to those juicy lips that I absolutely loved to suck on. He kept his hair in a low cut. My husband was built, but not too big though. His 6’2 frame was perfect for my 5’4 frame. My husband and I have been married now for 3 years, but we have been in a relationship, since I was 14 and he was 17.

  Boy, did I go through well with this man when we first got together! I’m talking, him bringing me home an STD that nobody knows about but him and I, having to go through a miscarriage because of the amount of stress that I was enduring, and of course him cheating on me with random ass bitches. This big ass rock that I am sporting on my damn finger, I deserve this shit. I have been through so much with this man that I deserve the title to be called his wife. My man currently has his on record label, and that is how he makes our coins. He just started the whole label thing, though.

  Sincere used to be heavy in the drug game, which led him to be sentenced to two years in prison for. Those years when he was out on the block selling drugs, those were the worst nights of my life. Having to be laid up in the bed, wondering where he was or if he was going to make it home to me another night. That was what led me to have a miscarriage. I was constantly stressing over my husband not being there, to the point where I ended up losing our baby. Three months later is when they took my man from me, and he had to do two years in prison. The two years he did had nothing to do with the drugs, though; his ass went to jail for possession of an assault weapon. The whole time he was there, I made it my business to come see him every weekend, pregnant and all. Yep, my ass had gotten pregnant not even three months after I suffered the miscarriage. After being away from each other for two years, we went and got married the very next day, which was enough for me. I didn’t care about the big wedding as long as I was able to be called his wife. That’s really all that mattered to me at the end of the day.

  While Imani grew up in household with both parents, Breesha and I didn’t have that, which is why I felt like we better understood each other. Nothing in life was handed to us; everything that Breesha and I had was because we worked for it. Not saying that Imani didn’t work for her shit, but let’s be honest here, as soon as her little ass graduates with a Bachelor’s degree in education, her job is pretty much going to be handed to her. Hell, her mother is the principal at the school that Imani wants to teach at, so she’s definitely going to get the damn job. Nonetheless, I am proud of my little cousin. She’s doing something that I wish that I could be doing, which is going to school.

  After I had Janiya, I pretty much put my dreams of going to school to become a registered nurse on hold. My husband didn’t make the situation better, because all he wanted me to do was stay home, spend his money, and take care of our baby. Yeah, that was fun and all in the beginning but now, being surrounded by both my cousins who were doing something with their lives made me want to get back in school even more. There was more to life than just being Sincere’s wife; I wanted to be his confidant, and more importantly, I wanted to be labeled as independent.

  Growing up, I didn’t really have much guidance in my life. My mother had me at a young age, so she was a baby raising a baby. I swear, my mom used to l
et me do what the fuck I wanted to. I was only fourteen at the time, and she didn’t care if Sincere would spend the night at the house, even with him being three years older than me. Wasn’t no telling where my father was at, and I honestly never cared. I asked about my dad one time growing up, only because I came across a picture on my mother’s dresser when I was ten years old. After telling me that he wanted nothing to do with me when my mother had gotten pregnant with me, I never asked about his trifling ass again. Even though my mom wasn’t the best example for me, she made sure that I took my ass to school to get my damn education. She wanted me to be able to graduate high school, since she didn’t get the chance to because she had gotten pregnant with me and ended up dropping out. If I ever seen my mom happy, it was the day that I walked across that stage in high school and received my diploma.

  Sincere and I have a beautiful baby girl by the name of Janiya. I love my baby with everything that beats in me. She is five years old now, and swear she is running shit. That little girl keeps me sane, and she is the main reason why I want to go back to school. I don’t want her to think that life is all about staying home, cooking, cleaning, and spending money. I want my daughter to know that anything that she puts her mind to, she can do it. In order for me to be that example for her, I need to start making changes in my life, starting with registering my ass at somebody’s damn school.

  Before Sincere got locked up, I was in school full time. Having to go through the whole pregnancy by myself, I decided to not finish my last semester in school. I was only missing a few credits and then I would be graduating, but I never went back. It wasn’t like I stopped school altogether once I graduated high school. I was attending Broward College, but once Sincere was sentenced to do his two years, I pretty much just stopped going to school and never really thought about going back, until now.