by K Elliott
She ran and embraced him. “Daddy, I’ve missed you so much.”
Tommy looked on in both admiration and envy. He had never had a relationship with his father, and his mother was long gone. Damn, he missed her.
Alicia’s father shook Tommy’s hand.
“Glad to meet you, Sir,” Tommy said, trying to be respectful.
“I want you to kill that Sir shit right now. My name is Don, so call me Don. We’re going to be on a first-name basis.”
Damn, this man is cool, Tommy thought.
Outside, a blue and gray Maybach Benz with a driver awaited them. The driver put the luggage away.
Tommy and Alicia got in the backseat.
Don got in the front. His cell phone rang and he answered on the second ring.
“Why don’t you act all stuck-up and shit?” Tommy asked Alicia.
She looked confused. “What kind of question is that? Why would you want me to act stuck-up?”
“I don’t want you to act stuck-up. It’s just that your daddy is obviously rolling, and you ain’t wanting for anything. Most people with money act a certain way.”
“I don’t have money; this is his money. I’m just going to school trying to get mine, if you know what I mean.”
Don turned to face Tommy.
“I love this car,” Tommy said.
Don chuckled. “You don’t own one?”
“Yeah, I wish,” Tommy said.
“You ain’t living until you own a Maybach.”
“I went to the dealership once inquiring about one, but the salesman said they cost $384,000.
“That’s about right,” Don said.
“Now that’s what I call rolling.”
“That’s what I call paying your dues.”
Alicia reached over Tommy and adjusted his seat. She put it in recline mode.
Tommy lay back like he was in a bed. Damn. This is the life.
What was there not to like? And the fact that they weren’t stuckup snobs made it better.
“I got to make one stop then we can go get something to eat,” Don said.
When they drove over the Bay Bridge into San Francisco, Don turned to Tommy and pointed at what appeared to be a prison. “Do you know what that place is?”
Tommy looked confused. “Looks like a prison of some sort.”
“Yeah. That’s Alcatraz.”
“That’s the reason I gave up your occupation.”
“That place is closed now, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, that place is, but there are more prisons that are open.”
Tommy chuckled a little, not really knowing what to make of Don’s comment.
“Let’s go over to Pier 39,” Don said.
Alicia turned to Tommy. “You can visit Alcatraz if you want to.”
“No, thank you. I’ve visited enough prisons in my life.” Tommy smiled.
“So you’ve been on the inside, huh?” Don asked.
“Not quite, but my dad is on the inside, and I go visit him quite often.”
There was an awkward silence. Nobody wanted to say anything. Tommy figured the silence was because nobody wanted to offend him.
Finally, Don broke the silence and said, “Let’s go get something to eat.”
“Cool,” Tommy said.
Five minutes later, they sat at Dante’s Seafood Grill. A tall Asian woman walked up to the table.
Don rose to his feet and pulled a chair out for her.
“Tommy … Alicia … this is Jill, my new girlfriend.”
Alicia shook Jill’s hand then whispered in Tommy’s ear. “Dad is a big womanizer, which is part of the reason he and Mom ain’t together anymore.”
“I thought they were together,” Tommy said.
“No, they divorced last year.”
Jill looked to be about twenty four. She was slim and attractive with big breasts.
Alicia and Jill made small talk about everything from makeup to handbags, while Tommy and Don talked about investing and making money.
“What kind of investing would you like to do?”
“Actually, I don’t know. That’s what I want you to school me on.”
“I buy properties in neighborhoods where I anticipate the value will rise and then I sell them for profit. I started with residential, but made a transition into the commercial stuff.”
“You seem to be doing well at it.”
“I am. I have no complaints.” He smiled then Jill gave him a kiss on his cheek.
“I want to live like you.”
“Tommy, you haven’t even seen the half yet. All you saw is the Benz. I got a Bentley. I have a home in the same neighborhood as Barry Bonds.”
“Real estate helped you get all of that?”
Jill flashed a veneered smile. “Look at the bracelet Bunchy bought me,” she said, showing a diamond-encrusted bracelet.
“Bunchy?” Alicia said then giggled.
Don smiled. “Yeah, we have pet names for each other.” “He calls me Chinky because of my eyes.”
Tommy was still looking at the bracelet. It was flooded with diamonds. “That bracelet must have cost a grip?”
“Forty-five thousand dollars.”
Damn, Tommy thought. He wanted to be able to drop forty-five thousand dollars on some jewelry and drive a Maybach Benz without worrying about the feds. “So what do I need to start making money?”
We’ll, there’s a high-rise building downtown; it’s an office building I want to purchase. I’m looking for investors. Would you be interested?”
“Hell yeah. When do we start?”
“Okay, the building is going to cost us ten million dollars. I estimate in another year it will be worth twice that, or we can simply rent the office suites out and make half a million dollars a year. We’ll probably be paying $250,000 in mortgages for the building, which means we’ll clear $250,000 in profit.”
Tommy’s eyes lit up. “I’m ready.”
“Slow down, man. You haven’t even seen the plans yet.”
The waitress appeared. She was a tall slim blonde woman.
“Give me the finest bottle of wine you got,” Don ordered.
“Daddy, I want a martini. It’s too early for wine. Maybe later me and Tommy might have a night cap,” Alicia said. Then she put her legs over Tommy’s. The return of the erection. Tommy smiled.
“Sir, would you like to run a tab?” the blonde asked.
Don pulled out a black American Express card.
“Now, see? That’s why I don’t need to see a business plan.” Tommy pointed at the card. “I have no reason to doubt you, and I want to be a part of this.”
Everybody at the tabled laughed.
“So, Don, how much is it going to cost to invest in the building?”
“Tommy, I’m going to need at least 1.5 million in cash.”
Tommy took a deep breath. He tried to maintain his composure. At last count he had about four hundred thousand dollars. He’d hoped that he could do something with that. He thought about the fact that Manny was now in custody. He didn’t know if he could even come up with that much money. He would be stuck in the drug game forever, the game that he so desperately wanted out of.
The waitress returned with wine and a martini.
Tommy finally said “Don, I don’t have that kind of money.”
“Daddy, that ain’t fair. Can’t you let him invest on a smaller scale?” Alicia suggested.
“Actually, I can. But he won’t make as much money,” Don said then smiled at Tommy. “See, guys like me and Tommy, we like the big bucks; a little won’t do. Right, Tommy?”
Tommy put his hands around Alicia. “Your Dad is right. I want it all or nothing.”
“So, how much can you invest?”
Tommy said, “I can have a million dollars in two months.” He couldn’t believe he’d actually said he could have that much money. He’d never made that much money before. He never believed he could make that kind of money, but he wanted the lifestyle Don was e
njoying. But more than anything, he wanted to be able to say that he was legit.
Don shook Tommy’s hand, and the deal was finalized.
***** Tommy and Alicia checked into a hotel room in Pacifica, California. Alicia declined her Daddy’s offer to stay in his home because he’d said that Tommy would have to stay in the guest room. She wanted Tommy to sleep with her, so they would have to get a room for themselves. The Best Western Hotel in Pacifica overlooked the Pacific Ocean. Alicia had gone there on her prom night. This is where she’d lost her virginity. Alicia showered first, then Tommy showered fifteen minutes later.
When Tommy came out of the bathroom, he discovered Alicia lying across his bed wearing only a white thong. He sat on the edge of the bed with his back toward her.
And she pulled him back and bit down on his neck. “I like you, Tommy.”
He could smell the alcohol on her breath. He also noticed the condom packet in her left hand.
Alicia nibbled on his ear.
He gripped her ass then he started kissing her stomach. His statued penis demanded freedom from his silk boxers.
“Tommy, do you want to fuck me?”
“Hell yeah.”
She then turned over in bed and got on all fours. The white thong contrasted beautifully with her skin. “Tommy, come and get this. It’s all yours.”
He slid two fingers by her thong and into her vagina.
“Yes, Tommy. That shit feels so good. Oh my God, that feels good.”
He continued to stroke her vagina. His penis was damn near aching with each throb.
“You want this pussy?” she whispered.
“You know I want you.”
She slid away from him, got up and walked toward the balcony door. “Tommy, have you ever fucked on a balcony?”
“Yes.” He said, mesmerized by her long lean legs and her perfect ass.
“Overlooking the ocean?”
“No.”
She signaled for him to come to the balcony.
Tommy walked to the balcony. Alicia stepped to him and pulled his boxers down.
The wind was blowing and the waves from the ocean pounded vehemently against the sea shore.
Alicia grabbed Tommy’s penis and stroked it slowly. Then she dropped to her knees and massaged the head with her mouth.
After a few minutes of oral caressing, she stopped to fit a condom on his erection. Then she leaned over the banister. “Tommy, I need you inside me.”
He entered her from behind and heard her moan. Damn, this feels good.
“Pull my hair, Tommy, and smack my ass.”
Tommy obliged. He humped her hard and he could feel himself growing inside her. They changed positions. He pumped harder, pulled her hair, and smacked her ass.
“Talk dirty to me.”
“You like this dick?”
“Yes, baby! Yes!”
When they’d banged out twenty minutes of balcony sex, they moved back into the hotel room. Tommy would get it up twice more over the next four hours.
Chapter 11
“Where in the hell have you been?” Nia asked Tommy.
“Handling some business,” Tommy said, then walked into the kitchen and poured a glass of orange juice for himself.
Nia followed him. “Well you damn sure ain’t been with JoJo and Twin, ‘cause they been calling me for the past three days looking for you.”
“I had to take care of something.” Tommy gulped down the small glass of orange juice then refilled it.
“Oh, so we can’t talk now, motherfucker.”
Tommy took a seat at the kitchen table without looking up at Nia.
“Well, Tommy, are you going to talk to me, or are you going to keep playing these silly-ass games?”
He looked at Nia. He could tell she was genuinely upset. Perhaps she’d been worried, or perhaps she was angry because this time he left without telling her where he was going. He took a sip from the orange juice. “Nia, have you ever got a funny feeling that something bad was going to happen … and you just wanted to make preparations for it.”
She sat across the table from him. “Tommy, what are you talking about?”
“I’m just trying to make preparations, just in case I get locked up, so I’ll have something to fall back on.”
“Tommy, don’t talk like that.”
“Well, it’s the truth. I mean, it’s a possibility.”
“So what are you doing?”
“I met with a guy this weekend, and he’s a real estate investor in California.”
“Nigga, you’ve been to California and you couldn’t tell me that you were going?”
“This was a business trip, not a personal trip.”
“Still … you didn’t ask me if I wanted to go. Tommy, are you hiding something?”
Tommy didn’t say anything. His mind drifted back to the hotel room with Alicia.
“Okay, Tommy. You ain’t trying to answer me, huh?”
“I ain’t got nothing to hide. I got the call from Manny’s brother saying he was in trouble, so I had to get out of here to get my thoughts together.”
She thought about his answer. “Legitimate now, huh?”
“That’s the plan.”
Nia walked over and put her arms around him. “That’s good. Real good. I mean, I would hate for something to happen to you; you are such a nice guy. You know what I mean?”
He looked in her eyes. He couldn’t believe she was concerned about him. He and Nia had had their problems in the past, but it was nice to hear that she thought he was a good person. “Nothing is going to happen to me because I am going to make money legitimately.”
Tommy’s cell phone rang. He answered on the second ring. “Hello.”
“What’s up, nigga?” It was Twin.
“Not much. Just got back from Cali.”
“Oh, nigga, you just disappeared without telling nobody shit, huh?”
“I got a lot on my mind. I left so I could think.”
“So are you still going to make this money or what, man? I’m hurting out here.”
“Come over. Let’s talk in person.”
“I’ll be there in five minutes.”
***** JoJo and Twin sat at the kitchen table. “So what’s the word, Fatboy?”
Tommy’s face was serious. “I’ve been thinking about this real estate thing hard, and I want to pursue it, man, before we all get locked up.”
“Nigga, what makes you think we’re going to get locked up?” Twin said.
“I don’t know if were going to get locked up, but I know the outcome of these situations are usually ugly. I mean, look at Jamal and Dawg. Look at Prince and JB, Cornbread and Rollo ... These niggas are legends in the drug game, and they are all either in jail or dead.”
“So you’re quitting?” JoJo asked.
“No. I can’t quit just yet. I’m going to need to get a million dollars before I can quit. A million dollars will set me straight.”
Twin laughed. “Hell, if I could make a million dollars I would quit, too. Ain’t no goal in the drug game. A million turns into two million, and two million turns into three, and three turns into the pen.”
“Exactly. And that’s what I’m going to avoid.”
“So who is going to school you on the real estate game?” JoJo asked.
“This old cat named Don. This nigga is so rich, the nigga got a Maybach Benz and shit. He’s made it in the game.”
“So let me get this straight … You need to make a million dollars to give to this man to invest,” JoJo said.
“Right.”
“So what are you going to make off the money?”
“Like two hundred thousand dollars in a year, then we’ll do more investments and make more money,” Tommy said enthusiastically.
“That ain’t no fuckin money,” Twin said.
“So, you got two hundred thousand dollars?”
“No, but I look at it like this: Why spend a million to make two hundred thousand dollars?”
/> “Because it’s legit.”
“Fuck being legit,” Twin said. “I’m going to be a crook for life.”
“So, Tommy, what’s up with Manny?”
“He’s still in jail, but I’m going to call his brother and see what’s going on. If we have to, we’ll buy from his brother.”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about—doing what we do best,” Twin said, smiling.
***** Twin was in the drive-thru line at Taco Bell when a man walked up to the car and said, “Open the door, nigga.”
Twin looked up and recognized the man. He smiled and opened the door.
J-Black sat on the passenger side of the Range Rover. “Order me a chalupa and a Sprite, nigga.”
When they got to the window to pay, the bill came up to $8.93. Twin glanced at J-Black. He wanted to ask him for his portion of the money, but J-Black’s expression looked as if he had no intention of paying.
Twin pulled away from the window. He handed J-Black the chalupa then the Sprite.
“I’ve been tailing you every since you left that faggot-ass nigga’s house.”
“Tommy?”
“Yeah, that motherfucker.”
“So where’s you car?” Twin asked.
A sudden hardness appeared on J-Black’s face. “Don’t worry about where my car is. That shit don’t concern you.”
Twin steered the car into the middle of the road then stopped at the traffic light. He added some mild sauce on his taco then pulled away from the light. They rode in silence.
Twin wondered what in the hell was on J-Black’s mind.
“So what’s been up with Tommy?” J-Black asked.
“I don’t know,” Twin said.
J-Black pulled out a chrome 9mm then cocked the hammer. “Wrong answer, muthafucka. I know you know what’s up with him because you just left his house.”
Twin pulled the car to the side of the rode. “J-J-J-Black, man, please put the gun away.”
J-Black aimed the gun at Twin’s head, took a bite of his chalupa then squeezed the trigger.
***** Mark Pratt was at a table all by himself, in the Uptown Carousel, when Jennifer spotted him.
“Greetings, officer,” she teased.
“Don’t say that too loud.”
“So who are you watching tonight?”
“I’m not watching anybody. I just thought I would come by to check you out.”
