Falling for a Hustler: A Benton Harbor Love Story by Jerniqua K.

I’m sure my facial expression would have given away my feelings. “It sounds like you really like her, Dominic. Have you told her how you feel?”
    “Man I tried so many times, but it seems like whenever I get close to saying it, I bitch up. It’s killing me though, because I think I’ve fallen in love with her.”
    I raised my head from his lap and stared him in the eyes. “Go tell her, Dom. You’ll never know if she feels the same if you don’t.
    He stood to his feet and hugged me. “I am. I’ll be back through in a few.”
    I nodded my head and walked him to the front door. I flopped on my bed when I made it back to my room. Dom had never spoken about a girl that way before, and it had me going crazy. I was perfectly fine when he was fucking around with Danielle and the others, because I knew that he would never be able to build anything with him.
    I was only 17, but even then I knew that Dom was it. I never had a serious boyfriend, because I always compared them to Dominic. Him falling in love had come at the worst possible time ever.
    I laid there in my feelings for about ten more minutes before I pulled myself from my bed. I took a quick shower and threw on some hoop shorts and a tank. DING DONG, the doorbell chimed. I picked up my phone to check the time. Who the fuck was coming by here at midnight? Grabbing the taser Lyric bought me, I went down the stairs and looked out the peephole. Dom? What the hell is he doing here? I opened the door and he smiled.
    “It took you long enough. How did it go?”
    He walked inside and we sat on the couch. “Um...I don’t know.”
    “You don’t know?” Now this nigga had me confused.
    “I don’t know because I haven’t told you yet.” I looked up at him. He had to be joking.
    “Dominic, don’t play with me like that.”
    “I’m not playing with you, Destiny. I could never make it work with them chicks because they weren’t you. I thought I was tripping at first, but I notice it more and more when I’m around you. I ain’t soft or no shit like that, but you keep me grounded, ma. You ride for me; the real me. If people knew that I ain’t have shit but my skills, they wouldn’t even fuck with me. But you...you see past all that.”
    By now, tears were falling from my eyes. I couldn’t believe he was saying this shit to me! I didn’t see that shit coming at all. I couldn’t even find the right words to say to him. Instead of speaking, I pulled him close to me and kissed his lips.
    “You love me, Dom?”
    “I do.”
    “How do you know?”
    “All I think about it you. I only wanna be around you. My day could be shitty as hell, but the moment I hear your annoying ass laugh, it gets better.”
    “What if I told you I’ve always felt that way about you?” I asked.
    “I’d believe it. Let’s give it a chance.”
    I bit my lip. What if shit didn’t work out? I looked at him again and said fuck it! It was worth a shot.
    “Ok.”
    Shit was good up until I hit that first lick with Yandy. Because of our friendship, Dom already knew about what Yandy and Lyric did for money. He never seemed to have a problem with it, so I figured if I did it he wouldn’t mind…Wrong.
    After we divided the money that night, I placed all but five hundred dollars in my drawer. Putting the money in my purse, I put on my shoes and made my way down the street to Dominic’s house. Our three-year anniversary happened to be that very same day, so I figured I would give him the money as a gift. When I made it to the house, I noticed his mom Brenda sitting on the porch smoking a cigarette.
    “Hey beauty queen!” she said smiling.
    I reached down and gave her a hug. “Ms. Brenda, you know you ain’t supposed to have that cigarette.” She wasn’t sick or anything, but she had really bad asthma and would start going into these wheezing fits.
    “I know baby. I was doing good until the mailman came earlier with all them damn bills.”
    “Is Dominic inside?”
    “Yeah, gon’ on