When It All Falls Down: A Chicago Hood Drama (A Hustler's Lady Book 1)

by Tamicka Higgins

  “Yeah, Tamar is coming to pick me up, and we gon’ go somewhere,” Ayana explained.

  “Where y’all goin’?” Neeci asked, walking back into the kitchen to get herself something to drink.

  “I don’t know yet,” Ayana answered. “He wouldn’t tell me. He said it’s gonna be a surprise since I been so frustrated lately with finding a job.”

  “Well,” Neeci said, sounding a tad bit resentful. “Ain’t that somethin’? Ain’t that special? The nigga gon’ come and take his lady out on the town. Hope you have fun. Tell him to come up and say hello.”

  “I’ll see,” Ayana said, knowing that she wouldn’t have Tramar come up to say hello to her mother unless it was absolutely necessary.

  Just then, Ayana could feel her phone vibrating in her pocket. It was a text message from Tramar: crossing state line.

  Ayana remembered that she’d forgotten to grab her purse. Quickly, she rushed back into her bedroom, looked around on the floor for her purse, and grabbed it. A few minutes later, she was slipping into her jacket and heading out the door.

  “You think you gon’ be comin’ back tonight?” Neeci asked Ayana.

  Ayana stopped, poking her head back in the apartment. “I don’t know,” she answered. “Probably. Why?”

  Neeci, now walking out of the kitchen and to a couch in the living room, shrugged her shoulders. “No reason,” she answered. “I was just askin’. You not gon let Mister Tramar come up and say hello?”

  “Uh…” Ayana said, trying to think up an answer quickly. “He said that we gotta get goin’. I don’t know why, but he sound like he in a rush a little bit. I’ll see you later, Mama.”

  Before her mother could even respond, Ayana had closed the door and locked it. She headed down the three flights of stairs and outside, into the courtyard of her apartment building. Immediately, she could smell the pollution from the nearby factories. Airplanes flew low to the ground, preparing to land at Midway Airport, which was only a couple of miles away. Ayana stood out on the sidewalk at the edge of the parking lot. Every so often, she would look up from her phone, where she’d been checkingFacebook to see what updates she’d missed from the tons of friends that she’d kept in contact with since graduating from high school. The Chicago skyline, busy in every way imaginable, rose toward the sky to the north. Within minutes, she saw Tramar’s red Dodge Charger pulling into the parking lot. She smiled and waved, getting his attention. He pulled up.

  “Why you doin’ all that waving?” Tramar asked, sarcastically. “You know that a nigga know where you live. You ain’t got to go doin’ all that waving and shit. You know anywhere you are, I see you.”

  Ayana quickly climbed into the front passenger seat and buckled her seat belt. “Boy, you be doin’ the most,” she said. “Pull off before my mama decide she wanna bring her ass outside. You know how she be actin’. She asked if you was gon’ come up and say hello.”

  “Shit,” Tramar said, looking out toward the parking lot. “If you want me to, I can pull into a spot right quick and go and say hello.”

  Ayana looked at Tramar with eyes that let him know that there was no way she’d want him to do such a thing. “Nigga, please,” she said. “Just pull off. Please. I don’t feel like bein’ bothered with her.”

  At nearly six feet tall, Tramar’s long legs extended toward the pedals of his car. With a nice D.C. fade, people often told him that he looked as if he could be the singer Trey Songz’ younger brother. His skin was smooth and brown, only a little darker than Ayana’s. His eyes were big and bright and clear, which Ayana had always loved about him. Tramar looked over at Ayana, clearly not moving.

  “What you waiting on?” Ayana asked, noticing that the car hadn’t pulled off yet. “Why we still sitting here?” She glanced back at her apartment building.

  “You know,” Tramar said, smiling. He shook his head as if he were a little boy. “You know exactly what a nigga be waitin’ on all the time. And I’m gettin’ tired of havin’ to tell you.”

  Ayana huffed and she leaned over the console and kissed Tramar. “There,” she said, “now can we go?”

  “Yup,” Tramar said, nodding his head. He then pulled off and zigzagged his way out of the neighborhood.

  “Where we goin’?” Ayana asked.

  “Well,” Tramar said, smiling and glancing over at Ayana. His eyes lowered and looked at her thick thighs, as part of them were showing through her ripped jeans. He loved how Ayana’s thighs pushed together. He reached over and squeezed them. “I was thinkin’ I could take you to the mall then maybe out to dinner or somethin’, if you okay with a nigga doin’ that.”

  Ayana looked at Tramar and smiled. She loved the way he would grip her thighs. “Boy, you really be doin’ the most,” she said. “You know I’m okay with that. I don’t even know why you got to ask.”

  Tramar snickered and said, “Okay, then.”

  ***

  Tramar took Ayana to the mall and allowed her to spend five hundred dollars. While this certainly was not the largest amount of money that he’d ever spent on his lady, Ayana was still very appreciative. She loved how Tramar always put her first and was willing to do anything to make her feel better. They walked around the mall, Tramar being as patient as he needed to be so that Ayana could take her time in the different stores. Once she’d finished shopping, he walked her out to the mall parking lot, holding the door for her to get into the car. Once inside, he asked her what kind of restaurant she’d like to dine at tonight, and that it didn’t matter how much it cost.

  “Well,” Ayana said, sarcastically. “Aren’t you being nice today.”

  “I’m always nice,” Tramar said. “I’m just a nice guy. Who you know that is nicer than me?”

  “Boy, boo,” Ayana said. “I don’t care, really. Wherever you wanna go. I don’t want no buffet or nothin’ like that. I ain’t hungry like that.”

  Tramar had a couple of restaurants in mind that were in the area. After driving by the first one and seeing that it was too packed for his taste, he drove to the other. This restaurant, which was a seafood restaurant, was just what the two of them wanted to satisfy their stomachs. He pulled his Charger into the parking lot, and the two of them went inside and ate.

  After dinner, Tramar drove toward downtown. “I was thinkin’ we could take a little walk, downtown at the park or something.”

  Ayana smiled. “Okay,” she said. She always loved walks in the parks. Even though Tramar would go out of his way to spend money on her, there were still simple things in life that she wanted more, such as walking in the park.

  Tramar parked downtown on Van Buren Street, and then the two of them walked a couple of blocks down toward Lake Michigan. They walked around the park, talking just about everything under the sun. As the sun fell out of the sky to make room for the moon, Tramar held Ayana close by his side. She always felt warm and safe in his arms. As they passed various couples and families enjoying the mildly chilly Chicago evening, Tramar held her even tighter.

  “So, what time was you try’na be back at the crib?” Tramar asked. “I just wanna know so I can make sure to get you back to your best friend on time.”

  Playfully, Ayana slapped Tramar’s shoulder with her left hand. “Stop callin’ her my best friend,” she told him. “You know she just wanna be young again. And don’t be askin’ me no question like that. I ain’t no child. I ain’t gotta be back at home until I feel like bein’ back at home. I can’t wait until I find a job so I can get my own place somewhere. I just hope I can find a job that pays enough so I can get somewhere here.”

  “You never finished tellin’ a nigga about what I asked you about last week,” Tramar said, shaking his head. “You females. With the way you do dudes so dirty sometimes, I swear all the games just be too much.”

  Ayana looked at Tramar and rolled her eyes. She knew exactly what he was referring to. Over the last couple of weeks, Tramar had brought up the idea of the two of them getting a place together. Even after the fe
w years they’d been dating and whatnot, Ayana was still somewhat reserved toward the idea of moving in with a man she wasn’t married to. Sure, she had plenty of friends who did that. However, she prided herself in not being like her friends, as many of them had children within a year or two of high school graduation.

  “I told you,” Ayana said. “I’m still thinkin’. I don’t know about that yet.”

  “Look,” Tramar said. “I know how you feelin’ and stuff, but you know I’mma marry you. I just gotta get my shit together a little bit. Once I pay this child support down some, I’mma be more on that frame of mind, you know?”

  Ayana nodded, thinking about Tramar’s four-year-old son, Quan. Quan was the cutest little boy in the entire world to Ayana. She loved when Tramar would bring him around. However, with the good comes the bad. Tramar, like many dudes growing up in the hoods of Chicago, had a child when he was still a teenager with a chick who was so bitter it was almost sad. Ayana would joke to herself about the wrinkles on Quan’s mother’s face. In fact, when Ayana had begun dating Tramar, he couldn’t even see Quan. However, Tramar did some smart things with his money at that time, so he could hire a lawyer. He took her to family court and made the right moves so that he could see his child. But that still didn’t stop his ex-girlfriend’s nasty attitude. On the few occasions Ayana had had the unfortunate experience of having to share the same room as Precious, Quan’s mother, there was always this tension in the air. And the tension was not from Ayana;, rather, it came in huge vibes from Precious.

  “What you got to think about?” Tramar asked. “You know I love you, and I know you love me. I don’t see no reason we can’t live together. I mean, you must wanna stay living with you best friend, I mean your mama.”

  “Hmm, hmm,” Ayana said, looking at Tramar. She smiled, thinking that maybe she was being a little too critical about the situation. “I’mma think about it some more.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Tramar said, nodding his head. “You always tell a nigga that you gon’ think about it. You chicks always try’na be noncommittal and shit when it comes to relationships. Always gotta string a man along and make him think that something is going to happen.”

  “Boy, you really be tryin’, don’t you?” Ayana said. “Like I told you, I’mma think about it.”

  Tramar dropped the subject as the two of them continued walking around Grant Park. Once they came back to Van Buren, Tramar stopped her just as they were about to cross the street and head back into the jungle of high rises that make up Downtown Chicago.

  “I got an idea,” Tramar said. “Since you don’t wanna go home to your mama, and I don’t wanna go home to my daddy and shit, you wanna get a hotel room?”

  Ayana looked at Tramar and took a brief moment to think about it. “Yeah,” she said. “That would be nice. You think we can find somewhere on this short of notice?”

  “Yeah,” Tramar said. “Come on, sexy. I’mma find a hotel. This a big city and it ain’t no holiday. We can find a hotel somewhere.”

  On that note, the two of them walked back to Tramar’s car. They got inside, and Tramar drove to a cluster of hotels outside of O’Hare International Airport. After running inside of a Holiday Inn to see if they had any rooms available, and what the price would be, they walked into the hotel and got a room. Once inside of the room, Ayana knew that she needed to do something special for her man. She’d never had a guy who treated her as well as Tramar did.

  “What you doin’?” Tramar asked as Ayana was pushing him toward the king-sized bed.

  Ayana remained silent, smiling as she looked into Tramar’s eyes. She continued to push him back toward the bed, until he sat on it and leaned back, knowing exactly what was about to happen.

  “Oh, I see,” Tramar said. “You try’na suck on this dick, ain’t you?”

  Ayana simply continued smiling as she looked into Tramar’s eyes. Slowly, she dropped to her knees as she undid his pants and pulled them down to his ankles. “I see that somebody is happy to see me,” Ayana said, as Tramar’s dick was already hard and reaching up over his belly button.

  Tramar chuckled. “Yeah,” he said, “you could say that.”

  Ayana wrapped her small hands around the base of Tramar’s heavy manhood and lifted it up toward her mouth. Wasting no time, she took him in her mouth as he lay all the way back onto the bed. For the next several minutes, Tramar moaned as the sound of Ayana’s big lips slurping his manhood filled the room.

  “Damn, girl,” Tramar said. “A nigga can see you like suckin’ on this dick, huh?”

  Not wanting to take her mouth off of Tramar, she simply nodded her head as she continued to push as far as she could down toward the base. She had only managed to deep throat his dick on a couple of occasions since the two of them had begun dating. However, she was not going to stop trying.

  Not being able to take it anymore, Tramar pushed Ayana back as he stood up. For a few minutes, he gripped the top of Ayana’s head as he watched her big, full lips go up and down. “It’s time for a nigga to get in that pussy,” he said, in a very authoritative way. “A nigga been thinkin’ bout that shit all day. Let me get some of that pussy.”

  Ayana pulled her mouth off of Tramar’s dick and stood up. Quickly, Tramar had wrapped his hands around her hips and turned her around. After sliding her pants down to the floor and taking her shoes off so that he could slide her pants off of her body, he slapped her ass and smiled. “Damn,” he said.

  “Damn, what?” Ayana asked, wanting to know why he said that.

  “This ass,” Tramar said, smacking it again. “I swear, it’s like every time I see this shit, it gets fatter.”

  “Boy, stop,” Ayana said, blushing. “You know my ass ain’t gettin’ no bigger. I don’t even know why you say that shit. You always talkin’ about my ass is gettin’ fatter.”

  “I’m just speaking the truth,” Tramar said. “We bout to see though, cause I’m bout to beat this pussy up.”

  Tramar forcefully turned Ayana around and bent her over to where she was now doggy style on the bed. He slapped her ass again, complimenting her on just how thick she was. Quickly, he pulled his shirt up over his head and gripped her hips. Within a matter of moments, Ayana squealed softly as she could feel Tramar pushing his long, thick manhood into the depths of her insides. “Fuck!” she said, the word slipping over the edge of her lips.

  Tramar gripped Ayana’s wide hips as he slowly long stroked into the depths of her insides. Once he’d worked his way to where he knew that she was used to feeling him, he sped up and fucked Ayana as if there were no tomorrow. For twenty minutes, Tramar enjoyed the sight of Ayana’s big round ass as it jiggled with each thrust he made – as it bounced against his pelvis. Once Ayana had announced that she’d had her orgasm, Tramar sped up so that he could have his. After he’d let go inside of her, the two of them lay in one another’s arms.

  “I love you so much,” Ayana said.

  “I love you too,” Tramar said. “And I’m serious about us livin’ together. I wanna know why you not takin’ a nigga seriously. You know you wanna have some of this dick every day of the week.”

  “Boy, don’t say that,” Ayana said, knowing that what Tramar had just said was the truth and nothing more. “That ain’t why, though. I’m…I’m… I guess I’m just a little worried about what you got goin’ on. I mean, do you be havin’ niggas after you from the money you be makin’ and shit out in the streets?”

  Right away, in the dimly lit room, Tramar shook his head. “Hell naw,” he said. “Niggas around here know better than to start shit with me. I promise, you ain’t gotta worry about no shit like that with me. Put that on everything.”

  Ayana and Tramar continued chatting until the two of them had fallen asleep, tangled in one another’s grip for the rest of the night. A thin, white sheet covered their sweaty bodies as they slept deeply from the sex they’d just had.

  Ayana was woken up the next morning by Tramar shaking her body gently. Once she was alert enough,
she saw that he was getting his clothes on and grabbing his car keys. “Hey,” he said softly. “I’m bout to run over to this Bob Evans and get us some breakfast, okay?”

  “Okay,” Ayana said, smiling as she woke up.

  Tramar leaned over and kissed Ayana on the side of her head, causing her to tingle with love. Ayana, now alone in the hotel room, waited for Tramar to return. However, much to her confusion, as checkout time, which was 11 o’clock, approached, she was worried as to why he hadn’t come back. After calling him a few times, trying to get some sort of answer, she knew that she’d have to get up and get on the train before the hotel housekeeping came through to clean the room.

  Chapter 2

  When Ayana finally climbed out of the hotel bed, she grabbed her purse and jacket and headed out to the L station. As she waited on the next train to arrive, she continued calling Tramar. Something just did not feel right. It was simply not like him to leave the hotel and never come back, let alone not answer her phone calls. The worry began to consume Ayana just when her cousin Sharli called.

  “Girl, what you doin’?” Sharli asked when Ayana answered the phone.

  “Girl, worried sick out of my mind,” Ayana responded. “I don’t know where Tramar went to this morning.”

  “What you mean you don’t know where he went to, girl?” Sharli asked. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

  “Girl, we got a hotel room last night,” Ayana explained. “And this morning, he woke me up to tell me that he was going to Bob Evans to get some breakfast. I was like okay, that’s coo. He left and never came back. I been callin’ him, and he ain’t returned none of my calls.”

  “Uh, oh,” Sharli said. “You betta hope that one of those police ain’t pick him up or shoot him or somethin’. You know how those police are shootin’ niggas left and right these days.

  “Sharli,” Ayana said. “Girl, don’t say that. Anyway, what you doin’?”