Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless

by Noire

  “Megan, I thought I told you to get the fuck from ’round here. If you want your car, here,” Eric said, dropping my car keys next to me. He was so fucking cruel it wasn’t even funny. I had tears in my eyes. The mere sight of him brought them on.

  “Eric, I just want to be with you. I’m sorry I got so mad and attacked you. I can’t deal with knowing you want to be with someone other than me. I love you, Eric,” I cried, my words barely understandable through the sobs.

  “I’m a grown-ass man and I gotta do what I gotta do to survive. I’m here feeding you and feeding your fuckin’ habit,” Eric snapped. He wasn’t going to be nice for shit.

  I had to just accept it if I wanted to get back into his good graces. He opened the apartment door with his keys. I stood there, my body stiff and rigid. I was afraid to just try to walk inside. I couldn’t take any more blatant rejection from Eric.

  “I have a plan to get some money ... a lot of money,” I blurted out. The words sounded desperate and shaky when they left my mouth. I just hoped that he’d stand around long enough to hear what I had to say.

  “Come inside, Megan. You know damn well I wasn’t going to leave you standing outside,” Eric said, stepping inside first. Chivalry was never his strong point.

  We went inside together. I stood near the door, uncomfortable. I didn’t want to assume anything. I was going to wait for him to invite me all the way inside.

  “Look at you. You sure don’t look like the rich glamour girl you was when I first met you,” Eric said as he walked over to me.

  I swiped roughly at the tears threatening to fall again. I wanted to be strong, stand my ground. I didn’t want him to think I was some little weak rich girl, when that is exactly what I was.

  Eric grabbed my hand and pulled me into him. At first I kept my body stiff and erect, afraid to return his embrace. He hugged me tightly. “Relax. I’m not going to hurt you anymore,” he whispered into my ear. With that my body went slack with a sense of relief. I melted into his embrace and began to cry again. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, Megan. You just got me so fed. A niggah is hard pressed right now and that chick Ashley was giving up cash ... the same cash that I use to take care of us. That’s all it was,” Eric said, stroking my tangled bird’s nest of hair.

  I knew Eric would never really hurt me. I knew there was a perfectly good explanation about why he acted out like that. I was so glad I didn’t go running back home. I just wanted to be with him. “I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to attack you,” I sniffled.

  Eric lifted my chin with his hand and he kissed me. I closed my eyes and relished the moment. It felt so good. I opened my mouth slightly and accepted his tongue. We kissed so passionately that I instantly became wet. I could feel Eric’s dick pressing hard into me through his clothes. Eric started breathing hard and removing my clothes. I was kind of embarrassed by how dirty I was from being outside. Eric didn’t seem to care at that moment. He slid my sweatpants over my hips.

  “Oh God, I never want to be away from you again,” I huffed, my breath hot on his ear.

  Eric pushed me down onto the coffee table. He dropped down and pulled his dick from his boxers. I closed my eyes in anticipation of what was to come. I was in heaven with my man again. Eric mounted me and drove his dick into my pussy so hard I yelped.

  “Oww! Oh, Eric ... yes, fuck me, please. I need you. I want you,” I panted as I grinded my hips into him. I wanted him to stay inside me forever.

  Eric slammed into my pelvis with brute force. He was fucking the shit out of me and I was loving every minute of it. I felt like I had him back. Eric was mine again. I was so in love. Eric pulled me up off the coffee table and threw me down on the couch. He mounted me again and fucked me some more. This time he took my soaking wet pussy from the back. His skin slapping against my ass made a loud noise that drove me wild.

  “Uhh! Yeah, Daddy, fuck me,” I grunted.

  Eric did just that. He fucked the shit out of me until I was screaming with an orgasm. Eric followed me with a big load of cum in my ass crack. I fell down onto the couch with my eyes closed. I was never so happy in my life. We lay on the couch together for a few minutes in silence. But the silence was short lived. Eric was the one who broke the silence. He broke up our moment.

  “So, what’s your plan to get some money? Let me hear about it,” Eric said as he stroked my hair.

  My eyes popped open. Just that fast I had forgotten that I had told him that I had a plan to get money. My mind started racing. I inhaled deeply and exhaled. Damn. Just when I thought he was being nice to me just because he loved me as much as I loved him. I should’ve known that Eric only wanted to know how I could get him some money. No wonder he was being so nice, so fast.

  “Well, I’m listening. You made it seem like you had something in mind earlier.... So what was it?” Eric urged, sounding a bit impatient.

  I had to think quick on my feet and something that had been just a fleeting thought in my mind suddenly came rushing back.

  “I was thinking that I can call my father ...” I started, kind of stumbling over my words a bit.

  “C’mon, Megan! Be for real!” Eric boomed immediately. He pulled his arm from under my head and began to sit up like he was going to leave. I grabbed on to him, but he tugged away. “Your father ain’t giving you no fuckin’ money. If he ain’t come looking for your ass this long, can’t you tell he don’t give a fuck about you?” Eric added, cutting me off before I could even finish. His words hurt, as usual. I couldn’t hold on to him.

  “Wait. Just listen to me,” I pleaded.

  Eric had bolted upright and stood up from the couch like he was suddenly repulsed by me, or like he’d been suddenly bitten by a wild animal. “If you talkin’ bullshit I ain’t got no time for it,” he replied in an annoyed tone of voice.

  “We can get my father and hold him for ransom money. We can demand a million dollars from his accountant for his release. I know his accountant will pay it ... so will my mother. A million dollars is nothing for them,” I blurted out, rambling like a child. The idea sounded ridiculous to me after I said it. I just knew Eric would start cursing and screaming at me, calling me stupid and childish. He didn’t. He was actually tuned in and attentive for once. I looked at him wide eyed, hoping he’d like the idea I’d come up with.

  “Shit, that might not be a bad idea. We can use you to get him to meet you somewhere and I can have some of my little peeps snatch his ass up. Yo ... that shit might not be a bad idea at all. I ain’t never even gotta get my hands dirty if I let them lil’ niggahs do all the work. You better be sure that the mothafuckin’ accountant gonna pay up though,” Eric said.

  I could tell his mind was racing. I smiled. I was so happy to finally please him. “Yes. Yes, Eric, I am sure they will pay. We don’t have to hurt him at all. Just snatch him. Keep him blindfolded until we get the money. Once we get the money we can let him go without him ever having to get hurt. He will never know that it was us either,” I replied, trying to sound excited. I wanted to make it clear to Eric that my father was not to be hurt. I was shocking myself with some of the things I was saying.

  “You really think they just gon’ hand over a million stacks just like that?” Eric asked skeptically. He was rubbing his chin, something he did when he was deep in thought.

  “I know so. My mother will be so spooked she will call the accountant right away. We could probably get the money within a few hours,” I assured him.

  “Yo, rich girl, I didn’t think you had that devious shit in you. I’m impressed,” Eric said, smiling.

  I was so happy to see him smiling. I started grinning from ear to ear. “I told you I would do anything for you, Eric. I love you so much. You were here for me even when my parents were not. I would do anything to keep you happy,” I said, letting my voice take on a serious tone.

  “That’s good to know. So when we gonna do this?” Eric asked, tossing a pack of crystal at me.

  The packet landed right in my hand. My hea
rt jerked with excitement.

  “My father comes back in less than forty-eight hours. When he gets back, I’ll drive to his office and I will find out his new routine. If he thinks I wanna go begging back to them he will talk to me,” I said, making up the plan as I went along. In the meantime, I was anxious to get into the bathroom and get high.

  “Sounds good to me. I like a bitch that can come up with a master plan when her back is against the wall. Shit, it’s a good thing I threw your ass out and made you think about things. You know where the fuck your bread is really buttered at, don’t you?” Eric replied.

  “I sure do, baby. I never doubted you for one minute. I know everything you do is for the both of us,” I said. I would’ve agreed with whatever he had said just to go get high. Even though I thought what he had said was kind of fucked up and nasty, I would’ve never protested at that point. I guess Eric’s constant cruel words couldn’t be any more fucked up than the plan I had come up with against my own father. I didn’t know if it was my addiction or my serious infatuation with Eric, but I was turning into someone I didn’t even recognize myself. Gone was the little rich girl from Virginia Beach.

  I could not control my hands from trembling and my teeth from chattering as I pulled up at my father’s office. I purposely drove around the back and parked my car at his service entrance. Before I got out to walk back to the front doors, I looked at myself in my car’s visor mirror. “Still not the greatest, but I guess I got no choice,” I whispered as I examined myself. I looked like I had aged a couple of years since I’d been away from home. My hair was desperately in need of a good salon visit and my nails were horrible. I had put on some makeup to mask the remnants of the bruises that were on my face. I tried to make my face look as vibrant as I could with what I had. I had also washed my own hair and left it wet. It hung in long curly locks, which also helped to hide some of my facial flaws. I thought that I looked better than I had in the past couple of weeks when all I had been doing was getting high and fighting with Eric.

  “Ok. You look fine, now go do this,” I spoke out loud to myself. I inhaled and tried to get my nerves under wraps. The track phone Eric gave me rang and caused me to almost jump out of my skin. I sucked my teeth as I grabbed for it. He had already called me at least ten times on the way over to my father’s office. What the fuck does he want?

  “Hello,” I whispered into the phone, my voice shaky and unstable. Although I was in the car alone, I still felt the need to be secretive and whisper. I peeped back in the rearview mirror and I knew Eric was in a vehicle close by watching me. I don’t think he trusted me to go through with the plan.

  “Why you just sitting there? Hurry the fuck up and go inside. Remember, get him to come outside ... to the back of the building. That’s where it’s going down at. You hear me?” Eric instructed for the thousandth time. He was driving me fucking nuts.

  “Okay. I got it,” I said, annoyed. I didn’t need him making me feel more on edge. This whole deed was bad enough in my book.

  I finally got myself together and exited my Range on wobbly legs. I stopped for a minute to shake off the creeps I was feeling. Afterward, I took a deep breath and walked around the building and into my father’s office space. When I entered, the first thing in my line of vision was a huge, poster-sized picture of me when I was about four years old. My father had never taken it down in all of these years. It instantly made me nostalgic. With the sound of the door opening, the front desk assistant looked up from whatever she was doing on the computer. A wide smile spread across her face.

  “Megan! What a nice surprise,” Ms. Everett, my father’s longtime assistant sang. The ample-breasted woman stood up and opened her arms to give me a hug. I let a nervous smile spread across my face and stepped into her embrace. She smelled like cinnamon and biscuits. Her hug made me feel warm inside, I guess like a mother’s hug would, but since my mother never hugged me I had to just imagine.

  “Mmmm, your daddy talks about you all the time. You know he really misses you. He just wants you to be good. He wants the best for you, Megan,” she told me as she held me tightly.

  I could feel tears burning at the back of my eyes. I pulled away from her. I didn’t want to cry, nor was I there for her advice. I cleared my throat. “I know he does, Ms. E. That is why I am here. I just want to do the right thing for a change,” I lied. “Is he here?”

  “Yes, baby. He is in his office. I won’t let him know you’re here. I think this will be a great surprise for him,” Ms. Everett said, smiling.

  I smiled back and headed to the back where my father’s office was located. I could see as I walked the long hallway that his door was closed. That usually meant he was very busy working on a new deal to make more money or that he was stressed out about something with his business. I was hoping for all of our sakes he was behind closed doors brokering a new deal for more money.

  I stood in front of his door for a few minutes before I got up the courage to turn the doorknob. C’mon, Megan, don’t get shook now. You got a job to do, I pep talked myself. Finally I twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open.

  My father was sitting at his desk leaning over a stack of papers. “Yvette, I am not taking any calls and I don’t want any lunch,” my father said dryly, without looking up. He thought I was Ms. Everett.

  I swallowed hard. My bottom lip was trembling. I was paralyzed with fear for a few minutes.

  “Close the door behind you,” he barked out, still not looking up.

  “Hi, Daddy,” I said in an almost inaudible whisper. My father looked up. He pulled his reading glasses off and his face softened. He looked like he wanted to cry. I could tell he was at a loss for words.

  “I missed you, Daddy,” I said softly, my voice cracking.

  My father stood up slowly. Still he didn’t speak. He rushed over to me with an urgency that made me uneasy. My eyes grew wide. I didn’t know what to expect. My father walked into me with all of his might and grabbed me in the tightest embrace I had ever felt from him in my entire life. He immediately started to sob. I had never in my life heard my father cry. It broke my heart into a million pieces. Doubt about what I was doing started creeping in.

  “Oh, Megan, baby girl, I’ve been so worried about you. I thought you would at least call, or come back home by now,” he cried into the top of my head.

  I began to cry as well. I held on to my father like I never wanted to let him go. In my head I was telling myself to stay strong. Stay on course with the plan. Remember how he had hurt me.

  “Let me look at you,” he said, pulling me away from him. He held me by my shoulders and looked at me closely. “You look like you need to eat. You look tired too. Where have you been? Why haven’t you called me?” My father shot off questions and statements like rapid fire. The worry was evident in the creases of his face. That kind of touched me too. I thought the entire time I was gone he and my mother hadn’t even given me a second thought.

  “You cut off my cell phone. I had no way to call you,” I told him.

  “No! I would never toss you out and cut off your cell phone. I just wanted to teach you a lesson, Megan. I never meant for you to be away this long,” he said, swiping at a tear in his eye.

  It must’ve been my bitch of a mother who had turned off my cell phone then. She probably never wanted me to come back. I guess since I was grown up she could no longer use me as leverage to keep my father around her.

  “Sit down. Talk to me. Are you ready to get some help? You know, go to that rehab place and start your life right,” my father rambled.

  I guess he didn’t know what else to say to me. Especially since it was glaringly obvious that I was on drugs now. But still, something about his questions sent a searing hot flash through my chest. He was still on that rehab bullshit. I had just returned and he was talking some shit. You would think he would ask me if I needed some fucking money or a hot meal or maybe a place to sleep. My feelings of guilt were quickly replaced with anger. I felt a new wind b
eneath my wings to go through with my plan.

  “Yes, Daddy. That is why I’m here. I am ready to do what it takes to get back in your good graces. I want to be your baby girl again,” I said deceptively, using a babylike voice that I knew would tug at his heart strings. I deserved an academy award for this performance for sure.

  “Oh, baby. I am so glad. We can call Dr. Klusky right now and get you into a place. I will take care of all of your needs ... anything you want. No expense is too much for me to see you get well again,” my father said. He was getting ready to reach for the phone.

  “Wait!” I belted out nervously. I couldn’t afford for him to speak with Dr. Klusky right now. It would just fuck everything up. “Daddy, before I go to rehab or do any of that, I want to go out with you. To lunch ... Just me and you, alone to talk about things. I want to drive you to this place that I like near the beach. You know, a father and daughter sit-down. We finally need to just sit down and talk things through this time. It has been a while. I don’t want to come back and then leave right away without first spending some time alone with you,” I lied. I was laying it on thick.

  My father’s eyes were sad and I knew he was buying it. He swiped away another tear. Enough already with the crocodile tears, I said to myself. I was starting to feel angry again. It was like the feelings came in waves.

  “Anything you want, Megan. I will do anything that you want,” he replied, grabbing my hand and squeezing it. I cracked a phony smile and gently pulled my hand away from him. I was uncomfortable now.

  “Can we go now? If you can’t, I understand. I know you’re always busy. I can just come back another time when you have time,” I said manipulatively. I knew he wasn’t going to chance me walking out the door again and not returning.

  “No! I always have time for you,” my father protested. He picked up his central telephone line. “Yvette, hold all of my calls for the rest of the day. If Priscilla calls, just tell her I stepped out to a business meeting. You don’t need to mention that Megan was here just yet. I want to tell her face to face,” my father instructed. He wouldn’t take his eyes off me. He looked like he somehow didn’t trust that I was really there or that I would really stay and not bolt out the door.