La Familia

by Paradise Gomez

  I’d never been in any of these stores; they were too rich for my blood. And Sammy and I never hung in the city like that, unless it was Times Square or at a club doing a show. And we did our shopping on Jerome Avenue, or Third Avenue and 149th Street, where we got bargain discounts by shoplifting or having the hookup. Shopping on Fifth Avenue was only a dream for us.

  With it getting late in the day, the sun was still shining and the area was still bustling with shoppers and people milling about. I was confused for a moment. Rico parked his ride in the costly parking garage.

  “Why are we here?” I asked.

  “I’m taking you shopping,” replied Rico.

  “Shopping?” I replied in bewilderment.

  “Yeah, if ya gonna roll wit’ me for the evening, then my woman gonna have to look good,” he said.

  Two things he said had me smiling greatly: that he acknowledged me as his woman, and that he was taking me shopping on Fifth Avenue to look good. What woman could argue with that? I was ready to leap out his car and glide down Fifth Avenue and hit up every boutique and luxury store I came across. I needed new clothes and shoes, too.

  I got out of Rico’s car feeling like it was Christmas Day. I already had what I wanted to get in my mind. I walked with Rico side by side and the first store we went into was Envy Fashion. It was a store with some really nice trends. The setup was extreme: high-end fashion displayed everywhere on mannequins; there was no clearance or bargain section; the clothes were neatly displayed: and leggy female employees were ready to assist you at the snap of a finger. Like a fat kid in a bakery, I wanted to grab everything in my sight and devour it all. The clothes were pricey, but Rico didn’t care. He pulled out a huge wad of hundreds and fifties and said to me, “You know money ain’t a thing for me. Get what you want, I got you.”

  Those were the magical words that I wanted to hear. Jackpot! I was ready to pick out the best things money could buy and have bitches in Edenwald start hating on me fo’ sure. Rico put $1,500 in my hands to shop and I was ready to take off like a horse at the starting gate. He stepped out of the store to make a phone call. I raised my eyebrow in suspicion at him about making a phone call when he said to me earlier that his phone was dead. I didn’t want to argue about it. There were plenty of goodies in the store to pick up and forget about his lie.

  I went picking through everything, from jeans, skirts, dresses, sexy tops, and chic T-shirts. Everything that I tried on was so sexy on me, making me eye candy for the men. I had a blond, anorexic-looking woman helping me. She was cool and knew all about fashion, but the bitch needed to eat a sandwich. I spent an hour in the store, racking up stylish clothing. When I went to the cashier to pay for it all, the bill came up to $989 at Envy Fashion.

  I exited the store and Rico was still standing outside, talking on his cell phone. He was a busy man. I walked toward him with two shopping bags in my hands and a warm smile. He curtailed his conversation on the phone, looked at me, and asked, “You got everything you want?”

  “Yup. Thank you, baby,” I replied, giving him a kiss on the lips.

  We went walking farther down the busy and noisy Fifth Avenue. The next thing I wanted to get was some shoes. I walked into this trendy shoe store called High Life Shoes, and their selections of shoes were amazing. Like the last store I left, they were also pricey and their décor breathtaking. I was in shoe heaven.

  I picked out two pair of nice and expensive shoes: a pair of studded cop pumps and these pink stilettos that would make me look phenomenal when I stepped out my building. Both pair of shoes was going to go perfectly with the outfit I just bought.

  We left there and continued to walk around Manhattan. I picked up a few trinkets and accessories until the sun started to set. I felt like a diva with Rico. With five shopping bags in my hands, and hanging out with my newfound man, he took me out of my harsh reality and made me feel so special. Even though it was temporary, it felt good to escape.

  Two hours later, we were walking back to the parking garage chatting and holding hands like we were the “it” couple. And here was me, a young hood bitch from the projects, shopping on Fifth Avenue. Us being boyfriend and girlfriend, was this it? Earlier, he acknowledged me as his woman. Was I really? Before we walked into the parking garage, I needed to know. I wanted confirmation from him. It wasn’t cool to assume anything.

  I gazed at Rico and asked, “Am I ya woman fo’ real?”

  Yeah, it’d only been a few days of me being with him. But we grew up together in Edenwald and I liked him a lot. Rico did his thing, and I did my thing. He was well known and respected. He reminded me of my father with his cool and intriguing demeanor. We always ran into each other at parties, events, or when there was trouble around. The bitches loved him, but he sometimes could become so reclusive. Everyone knew what he was about, but not everyone was in his business. It was one of his traits that I was attracted to. He wasn’t a loudmouth and a showoff.

  Rico stopped walking when I asked him that question. He gazed back at me. Then he said, “Real talk, Mouse, I had a thing for you since back in the days.”

  It was news to me. I was shocked to hear him say that about me. It made me think, what makes me so special and why has he never tried to holla at me? Every other nigga in the project did.

  “You did? Why you never pushed up on me?” I asked.

  “Ya pops an OG, and I got respect fo’ him. You feel me? The nigga’s a legend. Latin Kings did they thang,” he said. “But I always thought you were different from them other girls. You stood out and shit.”

  I smiled once again. Rico always had me smiling or blushing. His words were like a soothing harmony to my ears. The evening was going perfectly. Rico was doing everything right so far. I longed to be in a monogamous relationship, did he?

  “So where do we go from here?” I asked.

  He didn’t say anything to me at first. Rico looked at me; he then pulled me closer and pressed his lips against mines. We started to tongue kiss heatedly. His breath mixing with mine was pleasurable. I felt like I was in seventh heaven for a moment. The kiss between us was lasting. He then pulled his lips away from mines and said, “That’s how I feel about you.”

  I was smiling to the highest degree on the outside and inwardly. What was next? The night only just began. I climbed into the passenger seat of his 650i coupe and was ready to be whisked away into a deeper paradise with him. But first I wanted to peel away the old clothes I had on and worked in all day, and wear one of the stylish outfits I recently bought.

  Rico was thinking the same thing. He said to me, “I wanna see you in somethin’ new tonight.”

  “But where I’m gonna change clothes at?” I wasn’t going back to my father’s house.

  “You can change at my place,” he suggested.

  Did he say his place? I had to think about it. Was this a scheme to get himself some pussy? I mean, I was ready to give him some, but I didn’t want to be forced into having sex with him because he bought me some nice and expensive things. It wasn’t going to become that type of party.

  Rico noticed my dubious expression and added, “It ain’t even gotta be like that, Mouse. I got respect fo’ you, so don’t go thinkin’ some negative shit about me.”

  It made me feel a little better.

  “You still stay in Edenwald, right?” I asked.

  “Sometimes, but I mostly handle my business out there. I learned a long time ago never shit where you eat.”

  “So where do you eat at?”

  He grinned. “I eat someplace really nice.”

  “It’s nice, huh?”

  “Yeah, really nice,” he added. “I know ya gonna like it there.”

  It was reassuring to hear. “So you really think that, huh?”

  “I have and want nothing but the best, including you, in my life,” he proclaimed.

  I chuckled. “Now that was cute.”

  “It was, right,” he quipped back.

  I grinned and said to him teasingly
, “I’m ready to try on some new outfits for you. I want you to be the first to see me in them. Maybe I can put on a special show for you.”

  I was suddenly becoming flirtatious. We locked eyes and Rico smiled.

  “I can’t wait,” he replied.

  Rico started the car and we drove off back to his place somewhere. I assumed it was in the Bronx, but I think it was Mount Vernon. However, I trusted him. He was a friend first. We continued talking. I explained to him the situation with me and my father. I came clean with Rico about my father’s drinking and the abuse toward me. I rarely told anyone about my troubling home. Sammy knew, of course. But I kept that part of my life concealed. I didn’t want anyone judging me or my father. But if Rico was going to become my man, then he had to know what he was getting into. He had to know everything about me.

  Before we exited his car, Rico gazed at me profoundly and said sincerely, “You know I got all the respect in the world for ya pops. Like I said earlier, he’s an OG. But real talk, if he ever put his hands on you again, I’ll fuck him up for you. Ya my woman now and I ain’t tryin’ to have anyone disrespect you at all.”

  Hearing them words come from him made me feel like I was in the arms of Christ Himself. It’s what every woman wanted: that loving man to love and protect them from any harm, and spoil us. I was ready to suck his dick in the front seat of his coupe.

  Rico didn’t stay too far from the Bronx. He stayed in a two-story, suburban home on a quiet block in Mount Vernon. It was quite a distance from Edenwald, but close enough to handle his daily business. He parked in the driveway and we climbed out. I grabbed my shopping bags out of the trunk and walked toward his place, eager to see how he was living. It must have felt nice not living in the grimy projects anymore, and even though he was still in Westchester and wasn’t too far from me, it felt like paradise in my eyes. The streets were clean, all the lawns manicured, and the block quiet on a warm spring night. There weren’t any niggas gambling in front of the buildings, no loud music playing, no people arguing, and no garbage scattered everywhere. It was a whole new world out of the BX.

  Once we were inside, Rico turned on the lights to his place and showed me his comfortable, three-bedroom kingdom. It was definitely a bachelor’s pad. The place was sparsely furnished with leather furniture, a giant sixty-inch plasma flat screen in the middle of the living room, and parquet flooring for the décor. Manifested on his living room walls were portraits of notorious gangsters he idolized, some real life and some fictional, men like Tony Montana, aka Scarface, John Gotti, Frank Lucas, and Bumpy Johnson, Lucky Luciano, the cast of The Sopranos and the characters from Goodfellas, and Al Capone.

  “I see you have a thing for gangsters,” I said.

  “I’m a gangster myself. You gotta respect the heritage,” he replied.

  “I guess,” I replied mildly.

  Despite the notorious mugs and hard scowling that stared at you from the walls, it was a nice place, and I wouldn’t mind resting my head there from time to time.

  “You want somethin’ to drink?” he asked me.

  “What you got?”

  “Liquor, beer, juice, all the good stuff. Ya choice,” he replied.

  I didn’t mind having a taste of the good stuff. I told him to get me a beer. We could save drinking liquor for later on tonight. Rico went into the kitchen while I took a seat on his couch and went through my shopping bags. I pulled out the outfits that I bought. Damn, I had good taste. I couldn’t wait to try them on. Rico came into the room holding two Coronas and handed me one.

  “Which one do you want me to try on first?” I asked him.

  He pointed to the one on my right.

  I smiled. “Good pick. Where can I change at?”

  “In the bedroom. It’s the second door to your right.” He pointed.

  I walked off with the bags in my hands. I was so eager to try everything on and put on a sexy show for Rico. I didn’t close the bedroom door, but left it ajar when I started getting undressed. The first piece I put on was this desert tan draped billow dress and my pink stilettos. I walked out the bedroom for Rico to see me in it and the reaction on his face already spoke volumes. It was obvious that he loved what he saw.

  “Damn,” he uttered. “You look really good.”

  “I assume you like it,” I said.

  “I love it.”

  I did a little twirl for him in my heels and put on a small show like I was on the catwalk. I looked and felt great. It was time to try on the other outfits. I strutted back to the bedroom knowing Rico’s eyes were glued to my backside. The next outfit I put on was a two-piece low-cut halter and matching body short set. It was for the summer time. I put on my other heels and walked out the bedroom to show off my body in this scanty but classy attire. This time Rico had music playing: R. Kelly’s “Naked.” I grinned. He grinned.

  Suddenly, I feel the need to pull you close to me,

  But I don’t know if it’s what you want, baby.

  “You tryin’ to start somethin’ up?” I asked teasingly.

  “No, just feel like listening to some music, and I love this song,” he replied with a smug stare.

  “Um huh. Okay.”

  “Damn, but you look really good in that outfit, Mouse, shit!” His eyes were fixated on every part of my body. The way my defined legs stretched out in the heels made me look like a supermodel. Once again, I put on a show for him. I teased him by shaking my backside and dancing seductively for him while he lounged on the couch. He grinned heavily and took a swig from his beer.

  “You ready to see the next one?” I asked.

  “I’m ready to have you,” he replied with a lecherous grin.

  I grinned. “You think I ain’t hear that.”

  “I know you did.”

  I couldn’t help but smile and feel salacious around him. The way his dark onyx eyes pierced into me made my body tingle with this disobedient thrill. I went into the bedroom to put on the third outfit: a pair of tight Seven jeans that highlighted my young and curvy hips, and a pink short-sleeved tie top with the midriff showing, along with my pink stilettos again.

  Rico was speechless yet again. I could tell that he was getting really hard. He kept shifting around in his seat, trying to adjust his crotch area. He was transfixed by my sexy attire. R. Kelly’s soothing and alluring voice filled the room:

  I’m gettin’ head up off yo’ sweat perfume

  And I’m ready, to explore, every part of you

  This time Rico stood up to get a closer look at me. He kept his eyes on me. His grin was becoming mischievous. His naughty look was ready to have him display some ill behavior. And the song wasn’t making anything better. Rico reached out to me to pull me closer. He wanted me in his arms, but I took a step back from his grasp and pushed him away lightheartedly.

  “I’m not done modeling for you yet,” I said pleasantly.

  “How many more you have to try on?” he asked.

  “Two more.”

  He sighed and dropped against the couch. His hormones were raging. I was enticing him to the point where he was hurting. I went back into the bedroom and changed into a two-in-one skirt dress. It was pink. Yeah, I love pink. But the outfit, this sexy, broomstick-style piece could be worn as a full-length skirt or a tea-length dress. I showed it off to Rico, but I could tell he only wanted to see me out of it and naked.

  I saved the best for last. I came out the bedroom clad in sexy lingerie. It was a pink open-cup baby doll featuring a hot-pink chiffon fly-away halter with functioning satin bowtie and a matching open-crotch thong. It was a fuchsia color, along with my pink stilettos yet again.

  Rico couldn’t contain himself. “Damn!” he hollered.

  My body was looking right in the chic lingerie. I straddled him on the couch and started to kiss on him passionately.

  “Thank you for everything today, baby,” I whispered in his ear soothingly.

  “Baby, ya welcome.”

  His hands started to explore my body. H
e cupped my ass and was ready to peel away my attire and have his way with me. I wanted him to. I was just as horny. For days, the tension between us had built like a sweltering, smoldering fire. It was slow burning that became raging with flames. Rico’s embrace was tight; he wrapped his arms around me completely, sliding his hands up and down my spine.

  We kissed heatedly and it cemented in my mind that there was no turning back. I was about to give him this good pussy. Rico pulled me closer to him. I felt his erection between my legs. It felt so impressive. I wanted to see it in the flesh. I went grabbing for his dick and he was peeling away the lingerie set from my body. When my dark and hard nipples became exposed, he quickly pressed his lips against them and started to suck on them like they were candy. I moaned and gyrated against his lap.

  I started stroking his dick in my hand. It was impressive. It was so hard and thick, long, but not too long. I wanted to feel his hard flesh inside of me. We moved around on the couch touching, stroking, fondling, kissing, and rubbing against one another and then we ended up on the floor somehow. I lay on my back against the floor and stretched out, opening my legs and closing my eyes. Behind my closed eyelids, I felt his fingers gently against my thighs, caressing my skin, touching my soul. He pressed the weight of his body into mine and moved between my legs.

  He was naked and ready to take this pussy. We were two passionate, lust-filled animals in heat writhing on the floor. He moaned as I reached for his hard tool again and felt the evidence of his passion for me. He was only inches away from the entrance to my soul.

  Our strong kisses fed our hunger for one another. With my legs spread for him, he awaited my moment of reckoning. My slippery and sweet juices were flowing freely. When he kissed me in certain places, it sent waves of pleasures throughout my entire body. He kissed me and fucked me with his fingers simultaneously.