“I’m gonna tell her I’m going fishing with my brother. Besides, we have been on bad terms for a while now; she most likely won’t give a damn.”
“I sure hope that works. Worrying about this shit is making my ulcer act up.”
He pulled into his driveway, thankful his wife’s car wasn’t there, parked, and got out of the car. “Like I keep tellin’ you, quit trippin’ and just lay low. I’ll holla at you later.” He went into the house, logged onto his computer and purchased a round-trip ticket to Oakland using his alias, Thomas Reed. He then printed out pictures of both Piper and Trenda. He picked up the briefcase next to his desk and put the pictures inside. He then walked over to the huge safe in the corner of the den and removed a few items borrowed from the Baltimore PD’s Crime Investigation Unit office. He packed the equipment into his briefcase. Once done, he sat back and stared at the walls of his den. The large framed picture of his grandfather seemed to stare at him. He shut down his computer and turned his back to the picture. “I sure hope you can forgive me for what I’m about to do, Gramps.”
Twenty-Three
Saturday morning, her first day working solo after three days of training with Lollie, Trenda met with Alberta Flores in the Barnes & Noble parking garage. “Like I told you on the phone, young lady, this car has always been garaged. My late husband also kept all the maintenance records.”
Trenda let her hand glide over the roof of the ten-year-old, brown Honda sedan. She then kicked the left rear tire. “It’s okay…but the tires look a little worn.”
The seventy-ish Mexican woman bent over slightly, adjusted her glasses and inspected the tire. “I agree they are a little worn, but they were replaced only two years ago.” Whe stood up straight and smiled. “This is a very nice car for the price. Fifteen hundred is very good price.”
Trenda knew the car was worth the money, but her years of hustling made her have to haggle. “I dunno…I’m supposed to meet another guy later on who has a nice BMW for about the same price.” She watched the old woman’s confident smile weaken a little. “And he says it has new tires.”
The old woman turned away from Trenda and ran her hand over the fading paint on the hood. “Okay, young lady. I can tell you like the car but like to wheel and deal.” She looked back at Trenda. “I’ll take off two hundred dollars.”
Trenda grinned and removed the wallet out of her purse. She pulled out ten one-hundred-dollar bills. She held them out to the woman. “I’ll give you a thousand.”
The old woman looked at the money in Trenda’s hand for a few moments. She shrugged her shoulders and exhaled. “Okay, you have a deal.”
After dropping the old woman off at home, Trenda drove back to the hotel, smiling all the way. Now that she had a car and job, all she needed was a permanent place to live. Although she could probably seduce Walter into booking the hotel for her for a while longer, she had never been one to want to depend on anyone for shit.
She checked the time and saw she had about three hours before her shift started at one. She sat on the bed and counted her remaining cash. Damn, after the train ticket, three hundred dollars in new clothes and a grand on this car, I’m down to my last thousand bucks. She put a hundred in her wallet and the rest back in her Travelin’ Bag. I’m gonna have to save like hell to get a place of my own. I doubt a thousand dollars is gonna go far out here when it comes to finding an apartment.
She went to the desk, sat down and opened the phone book. “Let’s see where the nearest DMV is so I can get this car put in my name.” She browsed the listings and found a few close by, but only one open on Saturdays. She smiled at the listing in El Cerrito. She got her purse and removed her cell phone. “Time to see how my friend is doing.” She scrolled through her many numbers and found one labeled “Box,” and dialed.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Mr. Box. How are you?”
“Uhhh…I’m great…who is this?”
She walked over to the window and let the warm spring sunshine warm her face. “Oh, I keep you company on the train and now you don’t know nobody?”
His smile reached through the phone. “Hey, Mya! How are you? Wow! Where have you been?”
“I’ve been here and there. What are you up to, sir?”
“Right now I’m trying on a pair of shoes. Boy, it’s good to hear from you! Are you still in the area?”
“I sure am. Why aren’t you out workin’?”
“I’m on my last couple of days of vacation. Did you find a job yet? Are you free right now?”
She picked up the desperation in his line of questioning. “Yes and maybe.”
“Yes you found a job and maybe you are free?”
“Bingo.”
“Cool! Did you find work as a hairdresser?”
Trenda turned from the window, walked over to the closet and picked out her work uniform—blue blazer, white blouse, blue slacks. She opted for the slacks instead of the skirt option. “Not yet. I’m a reservation clerk at the Water’s Edge Hotel. It’s just somethin’ to keep me goin’ until I find a better job.”
“That sounds great! Hey, how about we get together this morning? I would love to see those emerald eyes again.”
She put her uniform on a hanger, put her wallet into her purse and picked up her new car keys. “That can happen. I was thinking of going to the DMV out there in your town to take care of some business. Is that close to you?”
“Sure is! I live about five minutes away. Right now, I’m at the Hilltop Mall. I can meet you there in fifteen minutes. Or we can meet at the Starbucks in El Cerrito Plaza if you want.”
She carried her uniform with her as she closed and locked her door. “Okay, I can do that, but you’re gonna have to give me some directions.”
Twenty minutes later, Trenda pulled into the El Cerrito Plaza strip mall. Cool, there it is! She smiled at the sign directing her to the El Cerrito Department of Motor Vehicles a quarter-mile away. She parked, got out and looked at her new ride. “Runs pretty damn good.” She put on her shades, adjusted her tight, peach Baby Phat blouse and headed toward Starbucks. Dozens of senior citizens and a handful of high school-aged kids traversed the small but modern mall. She grinned as a pair of high school boys stared at her as she walked by. She could feel their young eyes on the jiggle of her white denim-covered ass. Horny lil’ bastards.
She crossed the parking lot and angled towards the Starbucks. Several people sat outside the coffee house sipping expensive coffee and enjoying the warmth of the spring sunshine. As soon as she got ten feet from the door, a familiar face opened it for her. “Hey, Mya! Good to see you again.”
She eased past the grinning big man and entered. “It’s good to see you, too, Mr. Box.” She looked at the Macy’s bags in his hand. “Is that how you spend your vacation, shoppin’?”
He looked at the bags and laughed. “I wish. I needed a new pair of shoes for work.” He motioned for her to have a seat and pulled the chair out for her. “So, what do you think of California so far?”
She sat back and placed her purse on the table. “It’s cool, but way more expensive than I thought.”
He placed his two bags on the floor next to his seat. “Yes, it is that, but you get used to it.” He stood up. “Can I get you something?”
She turned her head and read the huge menu board on the wall, behind the young baristas. Poor baby, he even dresses like he’s goin’ to work while he’s on vacation. “I’ll have a small iced coffee.”
He adjusted the collar of his tie-less, white dress shirt, reached into the back pocket of his dark green Dockers and removed his wallet. “Is that all? Can I get you a sandwich or something?”
“No thanks, sweetie. I just ate a little while ago.”
He let his gaze leave her tits. “Okay, I’ll be right back.”
She watched the thick man walk over to the counter and place his order. His broad shoulders made her want to wrap her legs around his neck. Her closet “Chubby Chaserness” made her study his hefty fr
ame. He returned with two iced coffees. She stroked his hand gently as he handed her, her cup. “Thanks, baby.”
He blushed from her touch and looked into her face. “I see your cut is almost healed. It doesn’t look like it’s gonna leave much of a scar.”
She touched the healing wound. The cut on her shoulder still wasn’t healing as quickly as she hoped. “Yes, thank God.”
After listening to a ton of subtle hints dropped by Box wanting to see her again, Trenda removed her phone and checked the time. Box frowned. “Do you have to leave?”
She set the phone on the table and finished off her coffee. “Yeah, I gotta get to the DMV and then to work. Hey, can you give me directions back to Jack London Square?”
He pointed at her phone. “Do you have GPS service on your cell phone?”
She gave him a clueless look. “GPS? What’s that?”
“It stands for Global Positioning System. It allows you to punch in the address where you want to go and the phone gives you step-by-step directions.”
“You mean like Yahoo maps?”
He smiled and shook his head. “It’s better than that.” He pointed at her phone. “May I?”
She handed the phone to him. “Go ahead.”
He flipped her phone open, pressed a few buttons on the keypad and nodded. “Cool. You do have it available on your phone. All you have to do is contact your carrier and subscribe.”
She took the phone and read the screen. “You mean to tell me I can type in an address—anywhere—and the phone will tell me how to get there?”
He smiled. “Yes indeed, I’ll show you.” He removed his phone, logged on his GPS service and punched in the address for the Oakland Coliseum. He handed her his phone. “Take a look.”
She laughed as a robotic female voice told her to “turn left” as she read the small map on the display. “This is so damn cool! I gots to get this!”
“You should. It will really help you get around since you don’t know the area that well.” He grinned and took her hand. “It will also make it a lot easier for you to come see me.”
She gave him a flirtatious smile. “Yes, it sure would.” Moments later, after calling her phone carrier, her service was activated. She input the address to the Water’s Edge Hotel and was thrilled to hear that female robotic voice again. She stood, walked over and gave Box a kiss on the lips. “Thank you, teddy bear. I have to leave but I will give you a call later.”
He almost floated out of his seat after tasting her lips. “You are very welcome, beautiful. I can’t wait to see you again.”
She hoisted her purse up on her shoulder. “Keep that faith, baby.” Twenty minutes after leaving the DMV with her temporary registration, pending a smog check, and with the help of her new GPS service, Trenda pulled into the employee parking lot of the Water’s Edge Hotel. She smiled at her phone in amazement at how accurate the GPS was. “This is gonna come in real handy.” Her phone rang as she prepared to get out of the car. “Hey, Mr. Secrease! I was just thinkin’ about you.” She got out, opened the back door, got her uniform off the backseat and bullshitted with Walter as she walked into the hotel.
Twenty-Four
Saturday afternoon, while Piper devoured the lunch served to her in her first-class accommodations, thirty thousand feet in the air above Ohio, Trenda changed into her work uniform. I wish I had Saturdays off like Lollie, but shit, I ain’t complainin’; at least I got a damn job. She buttoned the top button of her blouse and pulled on her blue blazer. She checked herself in the full-length mirror mounted behind the dressing room door. “You look square as I-don’t-know-what.”
Not even her conservative uniform could mask her sexy frame. She’d already caught twice as many men eyeballing her, than the number of men that lusted for Lollie. Although she was grateful for the job, the lure of the fast money to be made in the streets beckoned her. During a lull between incoming and outgoing guests, Trenda used the calculator on the computer and added up how much she would make per pay period. She shook her head at the estimated amount. “Shit…it’s gonna take forever to save up enough money to get my own place.”
She watched Jason pull into the special security guard parking stall in front of the hotel. She chuckled to herself thinking about how intimidated Jason was by her. She noticed he had also started dressing better since she had arrived. A car blasting a hip-hop song grabbed her attention. A customized Buick sedan pulled into the passenger drop-off area and parked. She watched as the driver, a lanky, young black man, got out, leaving his skanky, but cute, female passenger inside.
Everything about his mannerisms screamed street soldier. His urban wardrobe, outrageously overpriced athletic shoes, gaudy rings, sideways baseball cap and his golden teeth told Trenda all she needed to know. She reflected on how she used to deal with men and women just like him on a regular basis. Most times, they were the ones paying her to move their illegal products for them. Paying her very well. She sighed at the amount of money she had fucked off in the past. Having no kids or man to answer to, she had wasted thousands of dollars on frivolous shit, not once considering investing her cash as many of her “associates in high places” had suggested.
The same D.C. lawyer she often fucked for profit, many times, offered to set up an investment account for her after he jokingly calculated how much he had spent on her. She watched the street soldier try to con Jason into letting him park in the passenger-unloading zone. She looked at the amount in the calculator on the computer screen again. All at once, regret she had ever left her lifestyle back in Baltimore hit her like a lead pipe to the face. All the calls to her cell phone from folks needing her services made her grind her teeth in disgust at all the money she was missing.
She closed the calculator and watched Jason grin and shake his head, refusing the cash the street soldier flashed. Trenda had no doubt he was the kind of guy she could hook up with and get her hustle on. She knew that if she showed him a little interest, let him lust for her and maybe sucked him and fucked him real good a couple of times, she could easily learn his connections and set up her own enterprise. After a couple more unsuccessful attempts at keeping his prime parking spot, he hopped back in his extravagant car, turned the music up extra loud, and sped off in search of a new place to park.
After parking his car, the lanky thug got out and called his “Boss,” King Gee. “Yo, King! You ain’t gonna believe who I just ran into over here at the muthafuckin’ hotel?”
“What you talkin’ about, fool?”
“You know that breezy the security guard showed you they taped cuttin’ the top of your ride?”
“You mean that green-eyed ho?”
Lanky grinned broadly and began pacing as he read the excitement in King Gee’s voice. “Yeah! Yeah! That bitch! She is workin’ here at the Waters’ Edge Hotel. I even saw her leave after her shift and followed her to her car. I got her license plate, too!”
“Good lookin’ out…I’m gonna break you off a lil’ reward money when I see you. Don’t let on you know who she is…I have a special surprise in mind for that biotch…”
Trenda watched Jason adjust the badge on his security guard jacket before entering the lobby. He looked just like a cop. That thought made her feel a little better about leaving Baltimore. Darius was in Baltimore. Just the thought of one more night of letting him sexually abuse her was enough to make her current situation look pretty damn good. She didn’t even want to think about the fact that the Island Boys gang was also looking for her. Jason lowered his gaze as he approached the counter. It was amazing how he reacted to Trenda versus Lollie. He looked at Lollie as if she was a princess, but he acted as if Trenda was the Queen. She barely heard him say, “Hi, Mya.”
She made herself busy moving items around behind the counter. “Wassup, Jason?”
He adjusted his cap. “Not much. You know, just patrolling the place.”
She sat down in her seat. “What did that dude want you were talkin’ to?”
“He wanted
to park in the passenger zone while he booked a room. He claimed he’d only be a minute, but you know how that goes; let one person do it and everybody will want to do it.”
Trenda looked over his shoulder and watched the thug enter the lobby while talking on his cell phone. “It looks like your friend made it back.”
Jason stepped aside as the young thug approached the desk. “I guess he found a place to park his ‘pimped-out’ ride.”
Five feet from the counter, the thug did a double-take and hung up his phone after getting a good look at the sexy green-eyed hotel receptionist. His date took notice of Trenda and did her best not to show how intimidated she was by Trenda’s undeniable sexiness. Trenda closed the calculator on her screen, removing the depressing image of the peasant wages she was earning. She smiled and greeted the pair. While checking them in for what she deducted was to be a freak session, her thoughts returned to her living conditions. She caught the thug’s girlfriend staring and smiled, as she turned away, embarrassed. Trenda activated a pair of electronic room keys and handed them to the man. “Enjoy your stay.”
The thug’s date tugged his arm after tiring of the way he fawned over Trenda. “C’mon, Peanut, let’s go.”
He took the cards and grinned. “I have a few folks that might be lookin’ for me later. I hope it’s a’ight if we party a lil’ bit.”
“It’s okay as long as you and your ‘folks’ don’t destroy the place.” She looked over at Jason. “I’d hate to have to send my hit man up there to quiet y’all down.”
Jason hitched up his belt and produced a shy grin. “You folks just enjoy yourselves.”
The hours crawled by. Her irritated mood did little to help pass the time. As soon as her lunch break arrived, she turned the reception desk duties over to her Asian co-worker, Elena, grabbed her purse and hurried outside. The springtime, late afternoon sunshine helped heal her sick mood. She walked over to the railing next to the estuary and took a deep breath of the salty sea air. She thought about stealing Peanut from his hoodrat girlfriend. “Fuck no. don’t you even go there, Trenda,” she told herself. “You are supposed to be tryin’ to change your life, remember? Not using another fool to get your money hustle on.”
Sins of a Siren Page 14
