BAD FOR YOU

We’ve all heard the saying: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. A man will use and abuse their treasure and then have beef with the recycling man for picking out of his trash. Which was the story with Mega and his love interest, Mila. A slim, thick, 5’5 with brown-eyes goddess.

She seemed to love the ground he walked on, but she was fresh out of a toxic relationship, so it was hard for him to take her seriously. On top of that, the ex-boyfriend was still trying to make her life a living hell. Mega knew how it was to be fresh out of a bid. Especially one that lasted for more than five years. It was hard to get over sometimes, so whenever Mila brought her old thing up into a new conversation, he laughed it off and let her vent.

“Do you even care about what I’m going through, Mega?”

Mila sighed into the phone. She hated the fact that he wouldn’t make it official with her, but she understood his position. A man would never settle down with a woman if he wasn’t ready. Or if she had a crazy ex-boyfriend who wouldn’t leave her the hell alone.

“I mean, I know how sh*t go,” Mega replied. “Y’all fresh out of this relationship. You might wanna take him back one day.”

“No. Negative,” Mila frowned. “That will never happen, and I keep telling you that. I want you. Nobody else. Especially somebody I ain’t been happy with for a very long time.”

“I hear you, bae.”

“Please do. Hear me. Feel me. Love me. F*ck me. All that.”

“You so goofy." he laughed. “So, what’s up? Am I seeing you tonight or what?”

“You can see me whenever you wanna see me, baby. You just don’t.”

Mila always had something slick to say, trying to get under Mega’s skin. He rarely bit the bait or lost his cool, which was something she loved and thought was so s*xy.

“Well, I wanna see you tonight. If that’s cool with you and your better half.”

“My better half? Stop playing with me, Mega. For real. I don’t like that sh*t.”

Mila’s tone went from playful to serious. She hated when he joked about her ex, Polo. Mega thought it was funny that she hated him so much, but she always talked about him.

“Alright, my bad, my bad,” he laughed. “But, nah, I’m going to the white ball tonight, and I want you to be my date. You down?”

A bashful smile slid across Mila’s face and made her forget all about being mad at him.

“You so d*mn s*xy, you know that?” She bit down on her bottom lip. “Yes, baby, I’m going with you.”

“Cool. I got a lil sumn-sumn for you. Meet me at the crib at like nine.”

“Alright, baby. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

He did love her. He loved every girl he ever dealt with, and they all loved him. Mega was the kind of guy a girl could be herself around with no judgment. The kind of guy that would have your back even if you crossed him.

By day, he ran an all-female-artist tattoo shop in downtown West Palm. By night, he moved heavy weight on the low. But he was so sophisticated and laid back with his business, you would’ve never known just by looking at him.

When he first started the shop, he did it for the love of tattooing. But once business started booming like crazy, the shop turned into a full-on money laundromat. Only he and Layton, his best friend and right hand, knew the truth about his life. That way, if the feds ever came knocking, his employees could honestly say they knew nothing about the millions he made from the drug game.

“Yo, you got clients on the way?”

“Nah,” Mega checked the time on his Rolex. “I’m free. What's up?”

“Scheduling conflict,” Layton huffed. “I got somebody in the chair running overtime and a dude in the waiting area. Think you can knock him out real quick?”

“Depends on what he’s getting. I’m trying to take my lady to the white ball tonight.”

“Lady?” Layton looked confused. “You and Mila finally made it official?”

“Nah, but you know, I’m a ladies’ man.”

Mega and Layton clicked because they were addicted to the same things. Women, money, and leveling up. She also wasn't afraid to give him insight on his relationship, so whenever Mila was the topic of conversation, Layton made sure she spoke some sense into him.

“Whatever, fool!” she laughed. “That girl got your *ss wrapped around her finger. And ain’t nothing wrong with that. It's okay to be in love, you know?"

Before things got too sentimental, Mega changed the subject as he always did. “Let me check your people out and see what we working with. If it’s something simple, I can get him in the chair before I leave.”

As he approached Layton’s waiting area, he felt like he had seen her client before. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly where, but he was sure they had crossed paths at one point in time.

“What up, man? I’m Mega. Layton ran overtime with a client and asked me to take care of you. That’s cool with you?”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s cool. I was actually gonna ask for you anyway.”

“Oh, word? That’s what’s up. Well, come back. Let’s see what you have in mind.”

Mega couldn’t shake the feeling of knowing the client. He recognized the voice but couldn’t put a name to it. He figured it was probably somebody he met in the gym or something like that, but he kind of felt like that wasn’t it either.

“What’d you say your name was again?” He asked, leading the guy upstairs to his booth.

With intensity in the air and uncertainty all around them, Mega waited in suspense for a name to drop.

Polo.

Mila’s ex.

Mega knew exactly who he was. What he didn’t know was what gave Polo the audacity to walk into his shop like there wasn’t bad blood between them.

“What you trying to get today?” Mega asked, like he didn’t know who Polo was.

“A cover up.”

“What you got, like a name or something?”

Without a word, Polo removed his jacket and revealed the name Mega dreaded seeing stamped on another man’s arm.

“Thought I was gonna be with this b*tch forever,” Polo scoffed. “But you know how hoes are. They always got some kind of trick up their sleeve.”

It took all of Mega’s strength not to knock Polo’s head in for talking about Mila that way. He knew Polo was only trying to get a reaction out of him, but he would never give a jealous man the satisfaction.

“Hell yeah I do,” he nodded. “You know what you wanna cover it up with? Something simple, or you trying to get majestic with it?”

“Sh*t, I haven’t decided yet. I was hoping you