Match Made In Heaven: Jug & Tressa's Love Story

By Shameka Jones

Jug and Tressa were set up on a date by their best friends, Saint and Heaven. A year later, they are still going strong, or so they think. Tension arises in their relationship when Tressa notices a change in Jug’s behavior. Jug is coming home late and smelling like women. She believes that he is up to something, but doesn’t know what. Tressa does not want to believe that her fiancé is cheating, but his behavior and a blast from his past only adds fuel the fire.
Jug loves Tressa’s kids, but he wants a few of his own. He tries his best to be a parent to Qwan, Kimora, and Anika, but Tressa is not impressed with his parenting skills. Raising teenagers is hard and they continually butt heads on the matter. This causes Jug to press Tressa for a baby. Tressa’s demanding job as a public relations specialist leaves little time to work on expanding their family until Jug takes matters into his own hands. Jug and Tressa’s relationship is left hanging in the balance once his deceit comes to light. Will they be able to survive, or will their happily ever after crumble before their eyes?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Royalty Publishing House
• Release date: Sep 18, 2016
• ISBN: 9781648404368

Book preview

1

LaTressa

Jug is up to something. I just can’t put my finger on it, I said to my friend Heaven, as we walked through the Dallas Galleria.

Maybe he’s trying to plan a surprise for you and your nosy ass is doing too much, Heaven said as she pushed her daughter Heiress and her newborn son Adonis.

I don’t think that’s it, I said, stopping in front of the H&M window.

Jug and I had been together for a little over a year. We had been hooked up by Heaven and her husband Saint, who also happened to be his best friend. Jug was what I liked to call a little rough around the edges. He was a wild boy from the West Dallas projects. He and Saint used to push weight until Saint went away for seven years and left Jug to continue hustling. He was born Julian St. James, but known in the streets as Jug. Julian did not carry the same type of fear that Jug did. I still did not understand why, but that was a story for a different time. Jug was a family man now.

Well, what do you think he’s up to? Heaven said as she bent over to put the pacifier back into Adonis’ mouth.

I don’t know. I think he’s seeing someone else. He’s been really secretive and coming in later every night.

We can follow his ass if you want to. I can find out what site he is working on from Saint. We can Olivia Pope this shit, Heaven said, getting hype.

Girl, Saint ain’t gonna tell you that. I’ll just do some digging. What’s done in the dark will come to the light.

You’re right, but I’m trying to light this shit up now. I wish Saint would try to switch up his moves.

Saint loves your dirty ass panties, I laughed. I doubt he would ever pull some shit like this.

He better not. What time do you have to get the kids from school? Heaven asked, changing the subject.

I checked my Movado watch and realized that I only had a couple of hours before the kids would be out of school. My oldest Niqwan was 15 and a sophomore at Allen High School. I purposely moved him into the district so that he could play football. Allen was one of the top ranked teams in the state. Even though he was only 15, Qwan played on the varsity team and was already being looked at by college scouts. Over the summer, he had been heralded as one of the top running backs in the state. My daughters, Kimora and Anika, were in middle school. They were both cheerleaders, so my schedule was always full.

I have to pick up the girls in a couple of hours. They have tumbling, and Qwan has football practice, I replied.

I don’t see how you do it, Heaven said in awe. With Legend and King starting little league this year, the practices alone are killing me.

Wait until they get older. It gets worse.

Heaven and I shopped for a few more minutes before saying our goodbyes. I always enjoyed spending time with my friend. I smiled as I walked to my car, overloaded with shopping bags. After Jug proposed to me in the Dominican Republic, we moved into our first home together. It was a four-bedroom house in North Dallas, and I have been going crazy shopping for it. We bought new furniture for the entire house, and I was in the process of adding a few finishing touches.

I was balancing my shopping bags in my arms when my phone started to ring. I knew that it was Jug by the ringtone. I had set my phone to play Controlla by Drake when he called. I could not reach my phone, so I made a mental note to call him back when I got into the car.

You called? I asked as soon as Jug picked up the phone. I placed my purse in the passenger seat and started the car.

I was calling to see what my lady was doing? Jug’s deep baritone voice reverberated through my phone.

I just got done spending your money, about to go pick up the kids.

I told you about overspending. We ain’t living like Saint and Heaven.

But we ain’t broke either, I snapped at Jug.

I was still getting used to living with a nigga again. I was not used to discussing my budget or talking about spending with someone. I made my money and spent it how I wanted to. Jug really did act like we were broke. If it were up to him, we would be eating bologna and drinking water every day. We made good money. Granted, we were not millionaires, but we were more than comfortable. I was starting to believe that being an instant family man was getting to Jug.

We will be broke if you keep spending like that.

No we won’t, Jug! Don’t even worry about it. It was my money from my savings. The mortgage will be paid on time.

I hung up the phone. I did not have time to be dealing with Jug and his bullshit. I loved him with everything in me. He accepted my kids, and he was the perfect combination of street and professional that I loved. I knew that Jug took the job with Saint so that he would not have to be talking to me from across a steel table, but I could also see that it was taking a toll on him. My man was used to being a boss.

It had to be a hard adjustment to go from running the streets to getting out of the game to raise a ready-made family. All of the money he made in the streets was sitting in the bank. A part of me believed that he was scared to spend it because he was not making it nearly as fast as he had been. I hated that he was so unhappy, but he would not be taking that shit out on me.

My phone started to ring again. Jug was calling me back. He hated when I hung up on him. I smirked as I checked my lipstick in the mirror and pulled out of my parking spot. I had to drop off my bags before I headed to the middle school to get my girls. Jug called me back just as I was pulling on to the interstate. I was not in the mood to argue with him, but I answered the phone anyway because there was no telling if I would see him later on.

What, Julian? I huffed as my Bluetooth picked up the call.

What the fuck is wrong with you? I told you about that hanging up shit.

And I told you about talking to me like I’m a kid.

I’m just saying, T. I bought you the house. We could have stayed in your old place.

I did not want the old place with my new man. I shared that shit with my ex-husband. This is a new start for the both of us. We are not hurting for money. All of our bills are paid. Why are you so worried about money lately?

No reason. I’m trippin’, man. Look, I’ll see you later on when you get home.

Ok…Jug?

Yeah, baby?

I love you, okay?

I love you too, Tressa.

The call disconnected and a smile spread across my face. We could not stay mad at each other long. I just wanted Jug to stop worrying. If he was not happy working for Saint, he had the funds to strike out and do what he wanted to do. I worked as the public relations director for the Dallas Mavericks, so I could definitely support our family if he wanted to kick start a business. I just wanted him to be happy.

I decided to skip the pit stop at home and go straight to the school. By the time I got there, I still had another hour to wait before they got out of school. I was cool with that because it put me at the front of the car line, and it gave me some time to answer work emails. Even though we were in the offseason, there was still work to do. We had to get out trade announcements, market our merchandise, plan offseason appearances, and put out any fires that may arise in the offseason. I loved my job because it offered me the flexibility to work from wherever I had an internet connection.

When school let out, the students spilled out onto the sidewalks. I kept my eyes peeled for Kimora and Anika. Although Qwan looked more like my ex-husband, Enzo, my daughters were both images of me. They both were pretty bronze-skinned girls that had natural, jet black hair that hung down to the middle of their backs. They were starting to fill out, and it drove me crazy. I would have to check grown ass men in the store and let them know that they were children. Kimora and Anika always had some lovesick little boy following behind them; Legend was one of them.

Ma! Anika said excitedly as she hopped into the back seat of my Audi Q7.

What did I tell you about yelling my name like that, Nik? I said as I rolled my eyes. Anika was my baby and the loudest of my three.

My bad, she smiled. I was just so happy to see you. It has been a long day.

It’s about to get longer. You must have forgotten what day it was, Kimora said as she slid into the front seat.

Oh, I know. I love tumbling. I get to fly. I feel just like Gabby Douglas or Simone Biles when I’m on that mat.

I smiled at the thought. I was glad that my baby looked up to girls who were not on television making a fool of themselves. Don’t get me wrong, I loved me some ratchet television, but I did not envision my daughters making fools of themselves on national television. Anika and Kimora went back and forth the whole way to their gym. Jug sent me a text letting me know that he would be home early for the night and not to worry about dinner. I smiled. Even though I still thought that he was up to something, I was glad that I would be able to relax once I got home. I could just taste the merlot.

2

Julian

Hot is not even the word I would use to describe the weather today. I swear the sweat beads that were pouring down my arms were beginning to boil. This legit working shit is starting to wear me down more than the dope game. The only reason I wanted to work for my boy Saint’s landscaping business was to have clean money. Hustling in these streets is what I love to do, and the hustle would always be in me. I’d been keeping my extracurricular quiet but lately, work had picked up. My only real competition was locked up recently, which gave me control over all of Dallas. I already had the west and the north sewed up. Now that he was gone, I was controlling the south and the east too. It was taking up more of my time, and Tressa was starting to take notice.

Since the age of 11, I had always been in some shit. My mother, who was only 14 years older than me, wasn’t able to control me. She stayed in and out of jail more than anyone I knew. Her rap sheet was probably as long as Robert Downy, Jr. When she would get locked up, I would spend my days dodging CPS, so I wouldn’t go to school. I could spot any government car from any distance. That got me noticed by drug dealers, then I began to work for them.

Saint and I used to steal luxury cars for drug dealers and take them to a chop shop. We were quickly taken off of that detail because our little asses would smash into shit before we made it to the shop. We were moved to lookouts, then moved our way up. We started off as pawns in the game, but quickly moved up due to our ability to stay invisible. Cops weren’t stopping and frisking our young asses, so we were under their radar. When the kingpin Errol got locked up, Saint and I took over his business.

Once Saint got busted at age 20, I was left to run the business alone. Him going to jail made me move more carefully. I watched and paid close attention to everything and everyone. I even met a few people in high places to make sure my business was secured. Even with me moving carefully, I had to make sure that my back was always watched. Saint gave up on the game, but I still had love for it. Now that I had a family to support, it meant even more to me. Tressa liked to shop, and I wanted her to be able to do that freely. I had plenty saved, but I also had quite a few people on my payroll.

As soon as we got to a stopping point on the job, I told my crew that we were done for the day. I had shit to do, and I couldn’t do that stuck work. Not only that, I promised