A Hustler's Promise 2 Promises Kept

by Jackie Chanel

  Toya and Renee ran the shop for her and they were as close real friends Jaicyn had in Atlanta. The three of them spent a lot of time together in the store and neither girl knew that Jaicyn was one of the biggest dealers in the game. She had too much to lose if she told them. Like her friends, Joy and Taylor, Renee and Toya couldn’t keep a secret to save their lives.

  When Kayla and her sisters arrived at the house, Jaicyn gave the same instructions she gave them every week; “don’t change the recipe and don’t overcook my shit” then left.

  She had a party to get ready for, even if it was just her and her family.

  Chapter 2

  It was dark when Jaicyn pulled into the cul de sac. She hadn’t meant to stay away from home for so long but Toya had sent her an emergency text message that something was wrong at the boutique. It turned out to be a ploy. Nothing was wrong at the shop. The girls just wanted to have lunch with their boss and make sure she was glammed up for her party.

  Toya had been working on her first collection called “Ethnic Lady” and the first thing she designed was Jaicyn’s gold satin party dress. The shimmer of the satin made her highlights stand out even more and the green flecks in her hazel eyes more prominent. Paired with a sick pair of Dolce heels and the diamond necklace Rayshawn had given her for Valentine’s Day, Jaicyn looked like she was on her way to a photo shoot instead of a party at her house.

  Jaicyn parked her car and walked into the house from the attached garage. She was too busy texting Rock to notice that her house was completely dark. Her heels stopped clicking on the marble tile as soon as she reached the foyer. Something was wrong.

  The house was too quiet for a party. And too dark. Not a single light was on. Not even an upstairs bathroom light. Rayshawn and the girls never remembered to turn off all the lights.

  “Rayshawn?” Jaicyn called from the foyer.

  When he didn’t answer, she squinted her eyes to adjust to the complete darkness. When her eyes adjusted, Jaicyn could make out shadows moving around in the living room. She immediately reached for the Glock in her purse. Before she could shoot anyone, the lights in the living room came on, filling the foyer with a bright glow and a shout of “Surprise” from twenty of her closest friends and family. Jaicyn nearly peed on herself in her new dress.

  “Oh my God!” she gushed over and over as she recognized the friends from Washington Heights that she hadn’t seen in years. Everyone she missed was standing in her living room.

  Autumn, Johnny, Joy, Taylor…even Blaque and Corey had made the trip to Atlanta.

  “How did you do this?” Jaicyn asked Rayshawn. He smiled smugly and pointed to her sisters. Rickie and Bobbie grinned proudly.

  “It’s the least we could do,” Rickie answered. “Grandma Juanita helped.”

  “My grandmother’s here?” Jaicyn spun on her heels and surveyed the crowd. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Standing right next to her father was Juanita, smiling and glowing, fresh off a plane from Puerto Rico.

  Jaicyn hadn’t seen her grandmother since she moved to Atlanta. She was so busy with her “businesses” and taking care of her sisters that she couldn’t just go to Puerto Rico and visit, no matter how bad she wanted to.

  “Don’t cry baby-girl,” Juanita said as she hugged her only grandchild. “You’ll mess up all that pretty makeup.”

  “I’m so happy to see you,” Jaicyn cried anyway. “And you brought Daddy with you. I thought he was still mad at me.”

  “I don’t hold grudges that long,” Jason grinned at his only child. “I’ve learned that you’re going to do whatever the hell you want to, no matter what I say.”

  From Miami, Jason Castillo had watched his daughter make one bad choice after another. He hated what she did to make money but was powerless to stop her. He tried though. Until she gave up the game and put her intelligence to work doing something positive, he’d never stop.

  “I hate to break up the family reunion,” Rayshawn said, “but the party is downstairs.”

  Jaicyn followed her boyfriend down to their completely furnished basement and paused at bottom of the steps. Their basement had been transformed into a nightclub! Complete with a DJ, a bar, and a disco ball. Jaicyn laughed.

  “What is this?”

  “You’re always bragging about how much fun you have at the club,” Bobbie said. “And we can’t get into a club so we decided to bring the club here.”

  Jaicyn couldn’t contain the smile that stretched across her face. At twelve and thirteen, Bobbie and Rickie would never see the inside of the Velvet Room or Club Crucial. The idea to transform the basement into a nightclub they could get into was pure genius!

  “This is amazing,” Jaicyn said to her sisters. She had tears in her eyes.

  “Don’t cry, Jay-Jay,” Bobbie said and wrapped her arms around Jaicyn’s waist. “You’ll mess up your dress.”

  “Yeah,” Rickie co-signed. “Grandma Juanita cooked all the food too and we haven’t eaten yet. No one wants to wait for you to change.”

  Laughing, Jaicyn followed her little sisters to the area they had roped off with real velvet ropes.

  “This is the VIP section,” Bobbie explained. “You like it?”

  Jaicyn nodded and eyed the six foot table piled high with her favorite foods. Her stomach growled in anticipation of what was to come. She was in awe, especially when she saw the table piled high with birthday gifts.

  “Here you go, baby,” Rayshawn said. He handed her a glass of champagne and kissed her on the cheek. “Happy Birthday.”

  “How did you manage to get the entire Oak Park crew down here?” she whispered.

  “I just made the call,” he said. “They’re your friends, Jay-Jay. All they needed was an invitation to come.”

  “Can I get a picture with the birthday girl?” Autumn interrupted. Jaicyn wrapped her arms around her best friend and hugged her tightly.

  “I cannot believe you’re here!” she squealed. “You never take off work!”

  Autumn was one of three high school guidance counselors in Cincinnati. She worked way past the final bell and went to school at night. She’d be finished with her Master’s program in a few more months and Jaicyn couldn’t wait. Autumn was moving to Atlanta as soon as she got her degree…hopefully.

  “I’ve missed your last two birthdays,” Autumn said. “I wasn’t missing a third. You come to Cincinnati for my birthday every year. It’s the least I could do.”

  “Don’t lie,” Jaicyn laughed. “You know you just wanted to see Dayshawn.”

  “I can see him anytime. What I can’t do is see my best friend any time I want to.”

  Jaicyn squeezed her friend again. “I’m so happy you’re here. Let’s eat. By the time I’m done, this dress is not going to fit!”

  Autumn eyed the form fitting dress and shook her head. “It barely fits now. One empanada and you’re done for.”

  ****

  A few hours later Jaicyn’s birthday party was still going strong. She loved being the center of attention. She felt incredibly special that so many of the people she missed so much had taken the time out of their lives to come to Atlanta and spend her birthday with her.

  Jaicyn wasn’t completely drunk yet but was well on her way. She had to keep up with her man. She was sitting on the leather couch in the “VIP” while Rayshawn rubbed her leg and kept whispering that he wanted everyone to go so they could finish the party in their bedroom when Jason and Juanita came over to say goodnight.

  “Happy Birthday, baby-girl,” Jason said and kissed his daughter on her forehead.

  “You’re leaving?”

  “Si,” Juanita answered. “It’s late. We’re going to go back to the hotel. Do you want us to take Rickie and Bobbie with us?”

  Jaicyn glanced at her sisters who were sitting on another couch about to fall asleep.

  “Might as well,” Jaicyn answered. “They don’t have school tomorrow. And I’d really like to have the night alone,” she smirked, “if you know what I m
ean.”

  “Everyone knows what you mean, Jaicyn,” her father answered. “You don’t have to elaborate.”

  Jaicyn walked over to her sisters and nudged both of them.

  “Hey, wake up. Go pack an overnight bag so you can go to the hotel with Daddy.”

  “Right now?” Rickie whined. “But we haven’t done the cake yet.”

  “Let’s do it now,” Juanita said. “I’ll get the cake.”

  The girls quickly jumped up from the couch and ran to the DJ booth. The music shut off and the party became quiet as Juanita rolled the biggest chocolate cake Jaicyn had ever seen into the room. It was glowing from the twenty-four flaming gold candles.

  “Hang on everybody,” Rickie announced, with the DJ’s microphone in her hand. At thirteen Rickie was very mature but she looked nervous standing in front of so many people. Bobbie stood next to her and Jaicyn listened intently, wondering what they were going to say.

  “We just want to thank everyone for coming tonight to help us celebrate our sister’s birthday,” Rickie said to the crowd.

  “And we have a few things we’d like to say to our big sister,” Bobbie added and looked at Jaicyn.

  “Jay-Jay, Rickie and I know that we don’t say thank you enough and often take a lot of the stuff you do for us for granted. But I remember living in our apartment in Washington Heights and how you always made sure we had food and cable so we could watch cartoons. We didn’t have much but you always made sure we were okay even when our own mother didn’t care about us.”

  “Even when we had to go to that foster home,” Rickie said, “we knew that you’d figure out a way to bring us all together. We know that you work hard to give us things and Rayshawn spoils you.”

  Everyone in the room laughed as Jaicyn fingered the diamond necklace around her neck and Rayshawn nodded guiltily.

  “But we never do anything super special for you,” Rickie continued. “That’s why we wanted to give you a good party. We love you Big Sis. Happy Birthday.” Rickie hugged her sister tightly and whispered “Thank you”.

  Jaicyn held both her sisters’ hands as Autumn stepped forward and began singing a heart stopping rendition of Happy Birthday. Autumn’s voice was absolutely amazing. Jaicyn could have cried when it was over but she didn’t have time. Rayshawn took the microphone from Autumn and started speaking.

  “Before we dive into that enormous cake, there’s something that I want to say.”

  The crowd hushed. Jaicyn stared at Rayshawn trying to figure out what he was up to.

  “We’ve been together for nine years,” Rayshawn said to Jaicyn. “We’ve been through some shit that I don’t need to mention but the point is, we made it through and we did it together. I made a promise to you when we were sixteen. My boys laughed at that silly little ring I gave you but you wear it every day because it means something serious.”

  Rayshawn reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring, a sparkling five carat pear shaped solitaire set in platinum. Jaicyn’s breath caught in her throat.

  “Jay-Jay, I gave you that ring as a promise that I made to one day make you my wife. And I’m a man of my word. I want to make good on that promise today.”

  Rayshawn took Jaicyn’s left hand and slid the gold band off of her finger. He got down on one knee and looked up at his girlfriend.

  “Jaicyn, will you marry me?”

  Jaicyn was speechless and too choked up to say anything anyway. All she could do was nod her head yes. Behind Jaicyn, her father beamed as Rayshawn slipped the new ring on her finger and the guests clapped and cheered.

  Jaicyn couldn’t believe that Rayshawn had actually proposed to her and did it in front of so many people. That was totally out of the norm for him. As she stared down at the shimmering diamond she got excited. Rayshawn was finally ready to get married! She would have married him years ago but waited patiently until he was ready. There was nothing in the world that Jaicyn wanted more than to be Mrs. Rayshawn Moore and it was finally happening.

  Chapter 3

  A loud bang that sounded like a flurry of pots being dropped on marble flooring jolted Rayshawn out of his nap in the basement. He immediately reached for his phone and checked the time. It was still early. He had almost two hours before he had to pick up King from the airport.

  Atlanta was King’s first stop on his three city check-ins. Usually he checked in on Rayshawn and Jaicyn after flying out to L.A. to check on Slim and ended his trip in New York to look in on Blaque. But the only ones with anything new going on were Jaicyn and Rayshawn so he decided to see them first.

  Rayshawn rolled off the sofa and walked heavily up the stairs. Lately he’d been so tired. His shoulders were heavy and tense as he made his way up the stairs. He clenched his teeth harder than they already where. Rickie and Bobbie’s laughter was making his head hurt.

  Jaicyn knew he’d had a long night. She knew when he walked in their bedroom at three in the morning and passed out on top of the covers. Now his day was going to be even longer than last night because King was coming. Why couldn’t she keep her sisters quiet for one damn hour?

  “What the hell are y’all doin’?” Rayshawn yelled at Rickie and Bobbie.

  “We’re making cupcakes for our cheerleading squad,” Rickie answered.

  Rayshawn took one glance around the kitchen and knew that they weren’t making just cupcakes. Making a straight up mess was more accurate. Sugar, flour, and cupcake batter was all over the counters and floor. And the cupcakes…well they looked like nothing but dark brown lumps and definitely not edible.

  “Where is your sister?”

  “You mean your wife?” Bobbie teased.

  Rayshawn grinned. “Shut up. Where is she?”

  “I don’t know. She said she had errands to run.”

  “You better hope those errands included picking you up some cupcakes,” Rayshawn joked. “No one is going to eat those.”

  “Get out of here!” Rickie eased across the kitchen with her flour covered hands stretched out in front of her. Rayshawn jumped back a few steps to avoid her flour handprints on his new jeans and sweater. He grabbed his ATL fitted cap off the counter before it was ruined too and slipped it on his head.

  “I’m going to make some runs. Don’t burn down my house and tell your sister to call me when she gets home.”

  “Don’t you mean tell my wife to call when she gets home,” Bobbie laughed.

  Rayshawn rolled his eyes at the two girls and left the kitchen.

  Rickie and Bobbie, along with every other female he knew was straight up giddy that he finally proposed to Jaicyn. Any time someone said wedding, they’d burst out in high pitched giggles and plead with Jaicyn to show them her ring again.

  What is it with females and weddings? Rayshawn thought to himself as he walked to his car. They all acted the same way when Sandy married King. All they cared about was the wedding. No one seemed too concerned about the marriage.

  Who cares about the wedding? Rayshawn didn’t even want a wedding. He’d be perfectly happy going to Vegas and getting hitched at the Little White Wedding Chapel in his jeans and t-shirt. The marriage was the most important thing.

  Being married and acting like a wife was the commitment he wanted from Jaicyn, not the chance for her to be the center of attention. The last thing his girlfriend needed was more attention. With the huge house she had to have, the expensive clothes, shoes, and jewelry she couldn’t get enough of, the flashy cars, and her celebrity clients at the shop, Jaicyn got more than enough attention.

  Maybe getting married and popping out a couple of kids would settle her down some. That’s what Rayshawn hoped for. Maybe, just maybe, she’d realize that it was time for her to take a step back and get out the game before her need for attention brought them the kind of attention that they didn’t need. Like from the FEDS.

  The two of them were playing a dangerous game. The only time Jaicyn ever thought about how dangerous the drug game could be was when she had to fight with other crews tr
ying to steal her product or her workers. She ignored the fact they had legit money coming in but damn sure not enough to afford the lifestyle that they lived. Caliente wasn’t that hot!

  Somebody was sure to start noticing and paying a little more attention to the twenty-four year olds living in a house that cost almost a half million dollars and driving better cars than their rich doctor and lawyer neighbors. Someone was bound to ask how they could afford to send Rickie and Bobbie to private school if Rayshawn had caved to what Jaicyn wanted and actually sent them.

  “We run this city,” Jaicyn had said when she showed him the house. “So what if we spend some of our money on a house. We deserve it.”

  She did deserve the house and much more, but Rayshawn was hesitant to show that kind of money just three years after moving to Atlanta. Their come up was too fast. They both needed to slow down. One day Jaicyn would have to start listening to him. Maybe King could talk some sense into her.

  ****

  Rayshawn inched his Audi forward two feet, waiting for the trio of elderly tourists to hurry and pack their luggage into the trunk of the taxi. His rap music blaring from his open windows made them move a little faster. Through his dark shades, Rayshawn scanned the sidewalk for King. His plane had landed over thirty minutes ago. Rayshawn was about to pull off and circle the airport one more time when he spotted King walking through the automatic doors dragging his Louis Vuitton carry-on behind him. Even fresh off a plane, King walked like he owned the world. His perfectly tailored slacks and black Dolce shirt made him hard to miss amongst the other travelers. Rayshawn rolled down the automatic window and called King’s name.

  “What’s up youngin’?” King grinned at his protégé when he got in the car. “You finally got rid of the Camry, huh? Now you’re driving a man’s car.”

  Rayshawn laughed. “Jaicyn’s idea. Still got the Camry though, for road trips, ya know.”