Laugh Now

by Rahiem Brooks

  Tasha huffed. “You know what, let me take you home. I’ll deal with my baby alone. Maybe I’ll die or have a miscarriage from the stress that you’re putting me through.”

  Dre grabbed her tight as she began to shed tears. He tried to hold her, but she pulled away with violence.

  “What do you want me to do, have an abortion? You’re always talking about being there for me, and calling me your queen, but you’re not showing me any love right now, and I really need you. I can’t go through this alone, but I will. If you don’t want me or my baby, you can leave and never say shit to me again.”

  CHAPTER 24

  “Room service,” whispered a sweet voice as she knocked on the hotel room door.

  “Sorry, I’m running late. I’ll be ready in half an hour,” Kareem said loudly. He rolled over and looked at the alarm clock. It was 3:15. Marquis got up and skidded to the bathroom, while Kareem called room service and had breakfast sent up. Kareem then dashed down to the gift shop to purchase underclothes and fresh clothing for Marquis. He billed the items to the room, and kept his cash in his pocket. After they dressed and had breakfast, they gathered their belongings and left out the room.

  At the front desk, Kareem told the clerk, “I’m checking out of room 615.”

  “You’re sorta late. Late night, Mr. Kritz?”

  “Of course,” Kareem replied smiling. “Spent all of my cash, too. I’d like to cash a check.”

  ***

  Rather than hop in a taxi and head back to Philadelphia, Kareem and Marquis strolled across the street from the hotel to Bergdorf Goodman. They went directly to the third floor men’s street wear department and found themselves engulfed in high fashion. That level also housed the executive offices, where Kareem opened an instant credit charge account in the name of his alter ego: David Kritz. He was approved for a $3,000 line of credit.

  Kareem had the intention to max out the $3,000 limit. He grabbed a mocha-colored, short-sleeve, cowhide vest, and a crocodile frock coat, both by designed Gucci. The coat cost $3,200, and the vest was $700. With the tax, he looked at a $4,200 purchase.

  Before he located a salesman, he asked Marquis, “Are you getting anything?”

  “No, I bought everything that I wanted from here a week ago.”

  “Do you have your book on you?”

  “Never leave home without it. And I’m shocked that you don’t have yours.”

  “Well, I was taken out of the bed at two, so I had to rush to the train station, remember? And I used all of the checks that I did have getting cash from the hotel.”

  Despite all of the debating, Kareem left the couture department store with the signature gray garment bag in hand, thanks to Marquis writing a bad check, for the balance minus the $3,000.

  ***

  Dre and Tasha enjoyed brunch at the Brew Moon when he received a phone call interrupting them. He looked at the caller ID and immediately jumped up from the table to take the call from Brent.

  Brent needed Dre to handle another run for him. Dre expressed that he was having brunch with Tasha and if he abruptly left that she would suspect that he was cheating on her, especially after the night before. He did not want her jealousy to creep center stage and she began to snoop into his business and find that he was cheating on her with a possible trip to jail.

  He went back to the table and informed Tasha that they would have to get their food to go. Surprisingly, she did not complain. He thought that was strange, but what was stranger was that Brent wanted him to make a special delivery to a city councilman allegedly on the payroll. A delivery that he accepted, and charged $2,000 to make.

  ***

  “The rest of the day is on me, since you’re not ready for the big Apple!”

  “No, the big Apple is not ready for me, actually. The apple should be lucky that I am not taking a big bite today. But I have to wrap up this excursion before that 7:10 train leaves Penn Station.”

  They left Bergdorf’s and made their way down Fifth Avenue, passing many boutiques until they reached the Prada store. Prada was Kareem’s favorite designer. There he bought a linen suit, two book bags, and a laptop carrier. The laptop’s cover was silver and had the signature red stripe down the side.

  It would be quite the classroom accessory for Toi, that summer at Columbia University.

  They strolled two doors down to Fendi, and Kareem bought an icon printed sweater, jeans, and a day planner. They crossed Fifth Avenue and went to Gucci, Marquise’s favorite designer. With his career in mind, Kareem bought four ties, two suits, and a briefcase.

  At 6:15, Kareem realized that he would never make it to Penn Station to catch his train. So, the fraudulent two hopped into a taxi and had a change of plans. Marquis called Continental Airlines.

  When the airline took him off hold, Marquis became Norris Vanderbilt. He purchased an electronic ticket for his nephew, David Kritz, whom was stranded in New York City, with the true Mr. Vanderbilt’s Mastercard. Confirmation in hand, Marquise paid the taxi driver a $50 tip, and Kareem made his trip to JFK Airport in record time.

  ***

  Kareem boarded flight 621, seated in first class and relaxed. He was sat next to the fashion editor of GQ. Kareem had read all of the editor’s articles over the past two years.

  Politely, Kareem said, “How are you, Mr. Ritter?”

  “Fine. You have to be an avid reader of the rag. And so young.”

  “Actually, at sixteen, I’m more than an avid reader. I have been influenced by the magazine. When I entered high school two years ago, I wanted to be a litigator, but after reading GQ, I am going to Columbia this summer to study fashion design.”

  “Oh, that’s great,” Mr. Ritter said surprised. “I was sure that we influenced men’s style, but not altered career choices.”

  That probe continued throughout the flight and ended with Mr. Ritter passing along his business card. He said, “You seem like the perfect candidate for an internship. Assuming you’re interested, call me when you begin CU.”

  ***

  The eleven o’clock news began, and Brent called Bob McNeil and confirmed that the package delivery to Councilman Adams had been done. Brent sounded as if he kissed ass, in an effort to impress the man that had supplied him with the cash to pursue his drug dealing aspirations.

  “You sent the black kid, right?” Bob asked and knew the answer. “Don’t need your hands dirty.” He had watched Dre deliver the package. “We had to get rid of that little problem.”

  “What problem is Adams going to get us out? He’s constantly sending cops to my spots.”

  Brent had annoyed Bob to the maximum degree. Bob was amazed that young men feared and followed the idiot. “Look here, son, Adams was the problem. Turn on the news to see how I handle problems.”

  The newscaster reported a breaking story. The caster said: “Right now details are sketchy, but we do know that Councilman Franklin Adams had been poisoned. Medical examiners believe that Adams appears to have indulged in abusing cocaine and received a very bad batch. The drugs have been recovered and are being tested...”

  “Bob, tell me that I did not have a councilman killed?”

  “Oh! I’m Bob now. Listen you little puppet. You’ll do as I tell you. Otherwise you can kiss this life goodbye. The Illegal Gratuity Act makes it a criminal offense for anyone to give anything of value to a public official. In this case it was illicit drugs. Need I say more?” Bob let that sink in and then, he said, “Now you just keep that nigger in check, and the money will continue to pour in.”

  ***

  Dre watched the news broadcast and was devastated that he was responsible for conspiring to kill a councilman. He laid back on his bed and brood where he went from that point. He was a drug dealer, a murderer, and a high school student, all by seventeen. I’ve done a great fucking job, so far, he thought sarcastically. I’ll be in jail for life, just like my stupid fucking father. But I am not going out like a clown-joker, like dear old dad, though.

  He rolled
over and called Chino, and vowed to rid himself of Brent.

  PART TWO

  JUNE 2003 (Six Months Later)

  CHAPTER 25

  It was June and the Bezel brothers had graduated from Upper Merion and they both lived on their own. The paper hanger was in New York City as planned, but the drug dealer had moved to Bensalem, another Philadelphia suburb. Dre needed to be away from where he sold drugs to be with Tasha and raise their baby in peace.

  Dre gave Chino his hand to shake, and asked him what was good.

  “I’m good. Just trying to come up. My connect acting all crazy, ‘cause some of his young bulls got knocked by the feds. He fucks up my money by not breaking me off.”

  Dre knew that was an opportunity to begin getting rid of all the drugs that he had in the tuck from copping for BG. He and Chino took a stroll around that largely Puerto Rican Bad Lands, and negotiated a deal that would get them both paid. Dre was straight up with Chino, but he didn’t reveal that he was the supplier and not Ice, as he had told Chino. It was business, and Dre did not want his friendship with Chino to get into the way of his profit. A profit that he had patiently waited to make.

  Dre had wanted to get into the Latino loop, so that he could blowup. Chino was in the position to put Dre onto some real dollars.

  With his deal sealed, Dre pulled off in his Camry, a graduation gift from Eli. He did not want to be in the Bad Lands any longer than necessary. The last thing that he needed was the federal agents on his top. Despite the shock that he would be a father, he continued to prepare for the baby’s arrival and this deal was a part of that preparation. With other business to attend, he smiled at the idea of fatherhood and sped off.

  Dre drove down Hunting Park Avenue and his cell phone rang. It was Tasha.

  Without preamble, she said, “Dre, ever since we moved together, I see less and less of you. This is not what I planned...”

  Tasha had felt lonely and neglected. Dre continued to assure her that, she was always on his mind. He had to be in the streets hustling to keep the roof over their heads, though. His post office gig barely paid half the bills. He told her that he would be in and then disconnected the call. He did not want to turn the conversation into a nightmare.

  CHAPTER 26

  “Toi, I have to go. If you were my employer, how would you like me showing up late on my first day?”

  “Well as sexy as you are, I’d probably listen to your explanation and give you a pass. You would not do it again, though.”

  “Cute, but you’re not the boss. I am leaving this dorm, now.” Kareem kissed her passionately and within seconds he had second thoughts about being to work on time. He had plenty of money and did not need a job. He wanted to ravish her sexually. He was patient with her being a virgin, as he knew that New York would turn her into a sex pot.

  Kareem exited the dorm room and hopped into a taxi. Life was on track. First summer semester in college, in one of the top cities in the world for advancement. He had passed eight SAT II exams, and shaved 24-credits from his pursuit to earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. He also had an eighteen credit course load and a part time gig at Chemical Bank. The track had a fast train on it.

  Laura Masters, the bank manager, greeted Kareem when he arrived to his new job. “Glad you made it,” she told him smiling.

  You have no idea, how I almost did not to make it, Kareem thought. “New York traffic is amazing. I had to take a taxi and then abandon it, for the train.”

  “This is NY; such is life, but call if you think you’re going to be late. Let me give you the tour, and the get you set up with Beth McAllister for training.”

  After he was shown around, Laura introduced Kareem to Beth. The two shook hands and settled into his office. Beth was beautiful—a twenty on a scale of 1-10. He imagined getting into her tight little Chanel skirt.

  “Go ahead, Mr. Bezel, take a seat. It is yours.”

  Boy is she sweet. I can taste her perfume, he thought. Toi would have to lose her virginity soon, before he went and did something crazy like have an affair at the job.

  Rather than take a seat, Kareem pulled Beth close to him with one arm and yanked her hair with the other. “I can see in your eyes that you want me to fuck you.”

  Beth simply mustered, “Ummmm. Oh! Um,” as he lifted her skirt up and pulled her panties down.

  He spun her around, and with his best Billy Dee Williams impression, he smoothly told her, “Bend over and grab your ankles, Beth.” She complied and he slid deep into her guts from the back. He dug into her quickly and violently. He knew that they were pressed for time. Just as he was about to climax, he heard a finger snap.

  “Mr. Bezel,” Beth said. “Snap out of it. Is this your first office?”

  “Uh—yes. Just caught up in a thought. Sorry. Where were we?” He prayed that she did not observe his erection.

  ***

  After work, Kareem stopped at the Cartier shop. When greeted by the salesman, he expressed his desire for a gold- plated pen, and possibly a credenza to decorate his office.

  “Really,” the salesman responded. “Well, where do you work?”

  “Saatchi and Saatchi.” Kareem lied. Saatchi was a top New York advertising firm, usually responsible for the biggest Super Bowl commercials.

  “Oh, in that case, I have the perfect décor. One of the top execs of the firm was here an hour ago.”

  Kareem loved when the plan came together. He said, “So, you have instructions to bill everything to the Saatchi account?”

  “Sure do,” the salesman replied joyously. “Follow me.”

  ***

  Nine-thousand-dollars was charged to the Saatchi account to buy a credenza, desk calendar, two gold desk picture frames, a pen holder, tape holder, briefcase, and two 14-karat gold pens.

  Back at his dorm, the smooth criminal called Jean-Mary to see how she was doing.

  She asked him, “How was your first day at work?” “Lovely. I also picked out a condo.”

  “So, when am I coming to visit?”

  “Give me a month, or two to decorate and I’m going to

  invite the entire family up. I do not want any jealously.”

  “Yeah, I hear you,” she replied. Jean-Mary was very familiar with Kareem’s maternal family being jealous of their bond. What they did not understand was that they all had each other and all Jean-Mary had was Kareem, despite her having five living children, other than the arrested James Bezel.

  They chit-chatted for a while, and he told her, “I was just checking in on you. I’ll call you later.”

  “Okay. Behave, baby.”

  “Impossible,” he replied smiling, and hung up.

  AUGUST 2003 (Two Months Later)

  CHAPTER 27

  “These last two months have been quite amazing, don’t you think?” Kareem asked Toi, as he drove down Madison Avenue to the Kill Bill movie premiere.

  Toi sat in silence, though. Kareem just kept talking. He said, “I’ll bet we both get 4.0 GPA’s after we turn in our final projects and take the exams. We are about to blow up.” Toi continued her silence. “Toi!” he yelled out, and cut the music.

  “What?” she responded angrily.

  “What’s with the silent treatment?” he asked, and pulled the car over into a fire lane. He was pissed.

  “You have to excuse me, Kareem Bezel, if I am not impressed with the way that you have been neglecting me.”

  “You have to be kidding?” he asked, pulling into the traffic. He then reminded her, “I have an eighteen credit course load. I work four nights a week at the bank. I intern at GQ twice a week. I try to spend all of the rest of my time with you when I am not studying. My career has us attending a movie premiere with the A-list...”

  “Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe, I am not contributing to this relationship.”

  “What the hell are you talking about? We’re young and in love, living 100-miles away from anyone else that we know and love. I’m having the time of my life. I thought as partn
ers that you were in the boat with me. Are you jumping ship? We have not gotten anywhere.”

  “Maybe, I’m not ready for all of this.”

  “What’s with the maybe shit? You know what, let’s go home!”

  CHAPTER 28

  That weekend, Kareem and Toi took their first visit to Philadelphia. After they visited both of their parents, they headed over to Dre and Tasha’s place to see what they had been up to. Kareem could tell by the décor of the pad and Tasha’s new Audi that, Dre was heavy in the drug game.

  BG had Dre cop kilograms of cocaine and heroine for him. Dre had also been making his own sales, covering a wider range of drugs (pills and syrup). His reputation as a drug dealer had spread around the suburbs. Dre was the main supplier of the types of drugs that attracted young, white kids, and the man fronting BG money did not like that.

  Dre also dealt with some personal worries. He had begun to question his genuine love for Tasha and oftentimes thought about leaving her. She picked arguments with him for no reason, and Dre could no longer take it. He hung in there for his son’s sake, but it was only a matter of time before he would be forced to leave her.

  “Dre, can you change Amare’s diaper?” Tasha asked, as she prepared to go to the gym in an effort to attack the baby fat. She was anxious to get her figure back, after she delivered, Amare Bezel and his six pounds, eight ounces, three weeks earlier.

  “Of course, I can’t.” Dre joked, showing off in front of his little brother.

  “Come on, I’m trying to get dressed. You’re such a showoff,” Tasha said. She was tired of his shit, too.

  “You two are hilarious. That’s why I know that I am not having a baby anytime soon.” Toi blurted out.

  “Calm that shit down. I was joking,” Dre said, looking directly at Toi’s stuck up ass. “And virgins can’t get pregnant. I thought that you were the hell smart.”

  “Boy, you were about to get knocked out by your girl, so don’t talk shit to me,” Toi said jokingly, and gave Tasha a high five.