by S. L. Walker
“Well, hello ladieees,” he grinned as he saw their beautiful young faces for the first time. “T was not lying, you guys are not a disappointment. C’mon take those jackets and hoodies off it’s 78 degrees in here,” he flamboyantly joked around with them. “I’ll take it from here Frederick, thank you,” he told the butler who gave a small assuring bow to him and to the girls and walked back up the stairs.
“Welcome to my home!” he raised his arms wide showing off his enormous mansion. “I’m Jack,” he introduced himself.
“You live all by yourself?” Victoria asked, curiously.
“Sure do!” He laughed. “Follow me ladies,” he walked past them, guiding them once again past another room, this time an all white and tan bedroom that had a fireplace and crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
“You have a nice place,” Zara awed. She had seen some big mansions before in her day. Especially in the line of work her dad was in, but this place was magnificent.
“Thanks,” he looked back at her happily. “This is one of the guest bathrooms if any of you need to use it,” he said, stopping at a bathroom as big as a one car garage.
“No way!” Victoria peeked inside at the white marble floors and counters.
“We will do business in here,” he motioned for them to follow him into another massive room with red decorative carpet, a full sized round tan leather couch, 50 inch TV, walk through doors with white and red drapes and a separate dining room. The girls continued to admire as they took a seat on separate sitting areas.
“It’s just you?” Raven asked him as he pulled up a matching leather chair to the girls.
“Yep. Why? Should I be worried?” He gave them a serious face, then burst out laughing. “I’m kidding! Look at you guys. You’re adorable! And your name is?” He turned to Raven. Raven didn’t like that he was so comfortable with them. He knew Treach used them for this very purpose. So that his clients wouldn’t feel a threat, and would easily do business without worrying about any problems. But, she felt with the wrong customer, this could backfire and make them an easy target to rob from Treach. Part of her wanted to show him what she was really about, but the smart part of her kept her cool. On the other hand, the other girls thought Jack was a breath of fresh air from all the other tight ass goons they encountered.
“I’m Raven, this is Angel, Tori, Eve, and Zara. Zara’s our driver,” she told him, knowing there was only supposed to be four of them.
“Ah, the driver, welp. Can I get you ladies anything before we start this? Orange juice? Milk?” He joked. The girls looked at each other feeling insulted.
“Nah, we’re cool. Angie,” she motioned for Angel to give her the bag with the bricks. Raven pulled the bricks out one by one and sat them on his matching wooden coffee table.
“One, two, three, four!” He counted clapping his hands together. Raven pulled out her army knife and gave it to him for him to sample.
Pleased, he took it from her, smiling, and cut it open, tasting the frosty powder on his tongue.
“Yes,” he said, biting his lip. He dipped in it again and sprinkled a little bit on the table. The girls watched him snort up the white powder and enjoy himself as if he was alone.
“Mr. Williams, seems we have a visitor,” the butler peeked in the doorway, interrupting his high.
“A visitor? Well who the fuck is it?!” Jack said, irritated.
“Not sure, sir, he’s on our cameras near the South wing,” the butler told him. The girls all looked at each other. Raven’s second sense kicked in and she stood up.
“No, no, no. You’re fine,” Jack sensed her uneasiness. He walked up to a cabinet and pushed it open, revealing several small TV screens.
Damn, the girls all thought.
Raven walked up next to him, slowly, not sure if he was okay with her invading his privacy.
“Ah,” Jack pointed at the black car sitting on the side of the road next to his property. “Must be lost.”
Raven squinted at the car. Eva got up to be nosy as well and her heart instantly dropped when she saw it was Professor Heart’s car. Raven looked at her, knowing. Her eyes scolded Eva.
What the fuck is he doing here? For the sake of not shaking their deal, she immediately detoured Jack away from him.
“We almost got lost coming here. Probably lost. Treach is expecting us, so let’s get this over with,” Raven rushed him.
“Of course my lady,” Jack said, starting to feel his high. “Frederick, please take care of that for me, you know I don’t like fuckers around my house. Lost or not,” he shooed the butler away, who bowed in obedience and headed out the room. Eva turned back towards the screen watching Professor Heart’s every move. She couldn’t tell what he was doing. He was just sitting in the car.
Jack opened a drawer near the TV monitors and pulled out stacks of hundred dollar bills, individually wrapped in silver bands.
“One, two, three, four, five,” he counted handing them to Raven. Raven handed it to Angel, who stuffed it in the bag.
“Pleasure doing business,” Raven stood up, motioning for the girls that they were leaving. “Eva,” Raven interrupted Eva’s stare at the screen. Before she walked away, she saw a security car pull up behind him. She sighed in relief, not sure what Jack was capable of.
“I’ll walk you out, ladies. Don’t want you to get lost,” he escorted them back through the hallways and up the stairs. “You tell Treach he will be hearing from me. Bye ladieeees!” He waved, closing his huge front doors behind us.
The rain had stopped again as Angel put the bag back in the trunk. Soon as they flooded back in the car, Raven turned around to Eva.
“Why the fuck is Professor Heart here?” She blurted out, her eyes burning a hole through Eva. Eva knew she wouldn’t hear the end of it from Raven, but she at least thought she’d wait until they were alone.
“Seriously?” she asked Raven, looking at her as if she had just disrespected the code.
“Fuck that! No more fucking secrets. He followed us all the way here! What the fuck is going on?! I thought you weren’t fucking with him anymore, Eve?!” Raven shouted. Angel and Tori looked at Eva hearing this news for the first time.
“Wait a minute, you and Professor Heart? A thing?” Victoria asked, with a smirk. “No way!” She laughed.
“Oh my God,” Angel put her head in her hands.
“Answer me!” Raven was so mad you could see the smoke flaring from her nose.
“I don’t know! Okay! I stayed the night with him, I think he found my gun and now I think he is just worried or something!” Eva guessed.
“You said your gun was at home!” Raven reminded her.
“Well, it’s not, okay!” Eva shouted back.
“Guys, guys, can we get out from in front of this man’s house?” Angel looked up from her hands.
“Yeah, let’s go,” Zara started the car and pulled off slowly. “Looks like Jack made em leave. He’s not there anymore,” Zara pointed out as they made a turn out of the gate. Eva looked back for his car infuriated, fearful, and embarrassed.
How could she be so careless? She should’ve known the way he was eyeing her back at the school, he was onto her.
VICTORIA
I had Zara drop me off at the shopping outlets, but not before they teased me about my shopping habits. I didn’t care. I was willing to take it. All I wanted to do was see Lance. I wasn’t even trying to shop. It had been almost a week and I grew tired of only talking on the phone. I wanted to kiss his lips and I wanted his lips to kiss mine.
“Mam! Stop right there and put your hands up where I can see them!” A voice over a speaker sounded behind me. I looked back at a Sheriff car slowly pulling up next to me. “Yeah you!” He said.
I froze in solid fear but my entire body told me to run. I put my hands up, dropping my backpack on the damp ground and looking around. I had forgotten to put my gun away so I was in solid fear. Did Professor Heart tell on us? Was there a cop following us the whole ti
me and we weren’t paying attention? Tears weld up in my eyes. The Sheriff stopped and got out of the driver seat. His passenger seat opened as well. I was expecting another cop to come out, but instead it was Lance laughing from ear to ear.
What the hell is going on?
“Lance?” I questioned him. Was he in on it? Was he spying on me? My mind raced, with my hands still up.
“Okay little lady I’m sorry for messing with ya like that,” the Sheriff put his hands up chuckling. His beer belly in his tight tan sheriff outfit jiggled at every chuckle. I slowly put my hands down, confused.
“I’m sorry, Tori, dang, I didn’t know you’d get that scared,” Lance trotted over to me and hugged my stiff body. I was still confused. “This is my dad, Nick. He’s one of the Sheriffs of this county,” he said. His dad eased over to me with his hand out.
“Nice to meet you pretty lady,” he shook my also stiff hand. I managed to finally give a faint laugh. His dad is a sheriff?
“Victoria,” I could barely say.
“Dang, girl, it’s okay,” Lance shook my shoulders. My body relaxed.
“You must not like cops,” his dad teased me.
“No, sorry, haha. You got me, though,” I finally was able to ease into a joke. Lance picked up my backpack from the ground, dusting off the little bit of wetness on the bottom.
“He picked me up from work cus of the rain. I told him I was meeting you here. He’s gonna give us a ride to Busters, if that’s okay,” he handed me my bag.
“Yeah, of course,” I told him, taking it.
“Come on then,” his dad said. He opened the back of the car for me and I eased in behind the metal bars. Lance hopped back in the front. Being in the back of the Sheriff car reminded me of getting caught at the mall. I was sure they would haul me off to jail and not just give my mom a hefty fine. My body tensed up again being in the back. I imagined us getting caught doing what we were doing and them dragging us away, one by one to jail for it. I felt for my gun in the back of my pants.
“Seat belts!” his dad said as he pulled off. I hurried up and put my seatbelt on, reaching for my gun to put in my bag. My eyes watched the back of his dad’s head like a hawk. His dad was wearing a cowboy hat covering his bald head and small rolls on his neck. I eased the gun from my pants, covering it with my coat, now looking at the back of Lance’s perfectly tapered head and neck. I unzipped my bag slowly and brought my gun down towards the floor and dropped it in.
“So, what’s your parents like, Victoria?!” Nick asked, causing me to quickly zip my bag and let out a sigh of relief. The last thing I wanted was for Lance to hug me or something and that be on me.
“My dad is an international painter and my mom owns her own boutique,” I quickly told him.
“Oh, really, where? Here? I might know her,” he gleamed.
Great.
“Mmm, I don’t think so, it’s really small and it’s on the West side,” I lied.
“Ahh, keeping it authentic, huh? There’s actually some nice shops on that side. Might have to check it out for the wife,” he chatted. I couldn’t help but grow irritated at his conversation, but only because I wasn’t a good liar.
A liar’s worst enemy is someone with a good memory. -Dodinsky
I had read that quote somewhere, and somehow right here in this instant, I knew his dad was going to give me the ultimate test. I knew I would have to come clean to Lance about where I really came from, but I could never tell him what I was doing.
RAVEN
I made the drop to Treach with only Zara. He wasn’t happy I used my own driver that he didn’t know, so I went ahead and introduced her as Coco. DJ sat silently on the couch in the office watching Treach’s every move.
“Can I speak to you for a second?” Treach pulled me to the side, leaving Zara to stand alone in the front of his empty warehouse. “Is there a reason you brought her to my new spot?” He tried not to sound pissed, but I could see it in the way he clinched his jaws. I had lost patience for Treach a long time ago and I wasn’t trying to hear his stupid rant about this weak ass warehouse.
“So, I’m supposed to carry your shit in the rain?” I asked him, impatiently. He looked at me like my dad did when I talked back.
“All I’m sayin’ is, I don’t know that bitch. Got me? If it was that serious, I could have had DJ take you,” he walked up to my face breathing his foul black and mild breath on me.
“DJ isn’t a driver and Coco’s solid,” I looked him back in his eyes. I noticed they were blood shot and wondered if he had been sniffing some of his own shit. He wiped his nose as if it was running and walked away from me, going into his desk drawer. He picked up a black fanny pack and threw it at me.
“Stack a piece. None for little Coco, though,” he smirked. I shook my head and walked out, motioning for Zara. “Aye! Next week! Same time, rain or shine. Same cat! My own driver!” He yelled at me.
“Fine, Treach!” I yelled back at him, walking out of the warehouse past what few goons he had there.
“He’s mad at you?” Zara asked.
“No, but I don’t think you should’ve come. And his ass was high. I never seen em like that before,” I told her.
“Aye!” DJ’s voice followed us. I stopped and Zara kept walking towards her car, hoping DJ wouldn’t follow us there.
“Sup?” I asked him curiously.
“Listen, y’all been doing good. Workin’ real hard and everything for Treach. I know he ain’t the coolest nigga to work for, but he do appreciate y’all,” he protested. It threw me a little. I really didn’t give a shit what Treach thought. We were his runners and everyone liked us. Plus, we knew his little secret, so fucking with us would be dumb on his part now.
“It’s cool, DJ,” I told him, walking back towards Zara, but he followed, so I stopped.
“Um, I got DMX tickets this weekend. I ain’t really got nobody to go wit, so.” He hesitated. I was part flattered. I knew he was lying. I saw how girls were in and out of his ride and some of the hoes would talk behind his back, wishing they could have a piece of him.
“You asking me out on a date?” I laughed. He looked embarrassed.
“If you got shit to do it’s whatever, I can ask one of these-” his ego began to ramble.
“Yea, I’ll go. I can’t be seen with you, though, so. I gotta meet you there,” I warned him. Deon would kill me if he knew I was hanging with DJ and I didn’t want him getting any ideas. This was business. In my eyes, DJ was the perfect distraction and the perfect bait if I needed him. It was clear he liked me a little. Maybe even a lot.
“Yeah, sure thang. Here,” he reached in his wallet and handed me one of the tickets. “Treach might not exactly like it either. Just meet me in front around 8.”
“Aight,” I smirked and took the ticket. “See you Saturday,” I smiled as fake as I could and hurried to Zara’s car. I could see DJ staring at the car but wasn’t sure if he made out anything. Her plates were off, so there was no way he was identifying her from that.
“Who’s that?” Zara said nosily.
“Nobody,” I opened the fanny pack and took my wrapped stacks and took $500 out for her. “Here. Thanks for doing this.”
“Naw, girl, I’m not taking your money. I got money,” she smiled.
“Take the shit,” I threw it in her lap.
“Fine. Ain’t gotta ask me twice,” she stuck the wad of cash in her plump boobs. “So, what now?”
“We keep grinding till the perfect time,” I told her as she drove off.
ANGEL
I laid under Sam’s arms in his bed not saying a word. My legs were wrapped around his and I was comfortable in my nude bra and matching boy shorts. His parents were at a dinner party and would be home late, so he invited me to stay for a while. He had let me sit there and talk the whole time about how angry I was at my mother for not taking my dad back and how forgiving I was. I wanted to vent about the girls, too, but that issue I would have to keep buried within and deal with on my
own. He didn’t say a word, he just let me vent, cry, vent some more until I fell asleep.
And here I lay in his arms, drowning out the cartoons he was giggling to on his small TV. I don’t know how I had become so safe with Sam. He was no longer the boy that came into my job and played basketball, he was a young man. Maybe even my man.
“Wassup, Angie? You okay?” He looked down at me, noticing I wasn’t matching his laughter at the TV. He kissed my forehead.
“Yeah,” I barely smiled. I knew once I left him, I would be back to worrying. Back to my dysfunctional home. Back to hauling bricks in my backpack.
“No you ain’t,” he grinned and pulled the covers down a bit and opened my legs to relax me.
“Noooo, stoop,” I pushed him off, cracking a smile.
“That’s what I am trying to see. A smile,” he left me alone and cuddled back next to me. My pager buzzed. It had done that three times already. I picked it up and it was my mom again. “It’ almost 7:30 pm, Angie. At least lie and say you are somewhere else. Don’t leave her worried,” he lectured.
“Forget her,” I put the pager back down and curled back next to him. He moved my curly hair out of my face and kissed my cheek.
“So, if they put you on punishment, then I’m never gonna get to see you,” he said.
“They won’t. My dad won’t let her. Besides, I am happy right now. Can’t I just be happy for two seconds?” I looked at him, wondering why he wanted to ruin this for me, too.
“Okay, okay,” he backed off and held me. I didn’t care who I upset. Everyone else was doing what made them happy. Raven was running around like some Queen pin in training, Victoria was shopping any chance she wanted, and Eva was dating her damn Biology teacher. I wanted to live in my moment with Sam and face my mother later. I grabbed Sam’s arms and put them around me.
“Oh! do you wanna come to this Christmas party my parents are making me go to? Kind of a family thing they do every year,” he asked me. For some reason my heart lit up at the thought of being around another real family again. Everyone happy, Christmas music, good food and eggnog.
