Jaicyn looked back and forth between the twins angrily.
“Both of y’all are trippin’. I say we pack our shit and get the hell out of here. I know for a fact that’s what King and Sandy are going to do as soon as your ass gets arrested, Rayshawn. If we stay here we’re going to lose every fucking thing! And you’ll be in prison.”
Rayshawn ignored Jaicyn’s outburst. She was paranoid and looking for a reason to move to Puerto Rico.
“How much time do we have?” Rayshawn asked his brother.
“From what I could get out of Agent Fuller, they just started the investigation. They’re hoping some of these Atlanta dealers will talk. But if you’ve been doing what you say you’ve been doing, they don’t really know anything. It’s going to take six months to a year for them to put together a solid case,” Dayshawn answered.
Rayshawn was satisfied with that answer. In his world, six months was a long time. He could stack a lot of money and make serious moves in six months. He could set Jaicyn and the girls up in Puerto Rico before he got arrested with six months to prepare. The first thing he had to do was talk to his real lawyers and figure out the best plan of action.
“This sitting around waiting for bad shit to happen doesn’t work for me,” Jaicyn blurted out. “I don’t care about the relationship you have with King. I don’t care that you act like he’s your father. When the shit hits the fan, Rayshawn, he’s going to be just the man that you sell drugs for and he’s going to expect you to take the fall for him.”
“No he’s not,” Rayshawn started to say but he was interrupted.
“That shit better not happen!” Jaicyn continued to yell, “Is your family not as important as King’s? Is your life not worth as much as his?”
Jaicyn had a point, but Rayshawn couldn’t believe that, at the first sign of trouble, she was turning her back on the man who made her. He was pissed that she was acting so ungrateful.
“You’ve been in this game long enough to know that I ain’t snitching on anybody, especially King!” Rayshawn hollered at her. “You don’t have to understand why I do what I do. Just accept it. You need to just chill the hell out and let me handle this.”
Jaicyn stood up. The barstool crashed to the floor.
Panic mixed with outrage darkened her face. Tears flooded her eyes as she wrung her hands together.
“You’re crazy,” she half whispered. “We,” she pointed to herself and Rayshawn,” we built this shit down here with no help from King. You and I did this, yet we still give him thirty percent of our money because of what you think he did for us.”
Jaicyn took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves and say the right thing. She had to make Rayshawn see that he was not using the good sense God gave him. She touched his leg and pleaded with her eyes.
“We’re supposed to be in this together. I’ve been down for you just as long as King has. I’m the one that shares your bed, your home,” she paused, “your life. And you want to turn your back on that for him? Are you serious?”
“Jay-Jay,” Rayshawn adverted his eyes from her angry glare. “You know the game.”
“Fuck the game!” she yelled, completely losing her cool. “Fuck King and all the rest of those niggas in Washington Heights! If you get arrested and take the fall for any of them, Rayshawn…”
“Jay-Jay, calm down!” Dayshawn put his hand on her shoulder. She was trembling from head to toe when she stepped away from his touch.
“No, I won’t calm down!” She glared at Rayshawn who still wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“If you do that, Rayshawn, if you choose to abandon us, I’m done. As much as I love you, I will take my sisters so far away from here you’ll never find me. You and King can sit in prison together because obviously this,” Jaicyn slid her engagement ring off of her finger and held it up, “doesn’t mean shit!”
Jaicyn threw the five carat diamond ring at her fiancé and walked out of the kitchen. Rayshawn heard her stomp up the stairs to their bedroom and slam the door. This time he wasn’t worried about Jaicyn’s temper tantrum. He picked up the ring that had hit him in the chest and bounced to the floor.
“She’ll be alright,” he said to reassure his brother and most importantly himself. “She ain’t goin' nowhere.”
Then he laughed. “And she ain’t getting this ring back either.”
Dayshawn looked doubtful. He’d never seen Jaicyn so upset over anything, but he was more concerned about his brother. He could see the fear in his eyes. He knew that Rayshawn was scared about the possibility of going to prison and everything that Jaicyn had yelled at him could be true.
Rayshawn stepped back outside to the bar and poured himself a shot of Hennessy, straight with no ice. Dayshawn followed him out back.
“You want one?” Rayshawn offered his brother.
“Nah, but I’ll take a beer.”
Rayshawn poured another shot and grabbed two beers from the small fridge behind the bar. He sat down on a chaise and stared at the stars reflecting off the water in the uncovered pool.
“Want to talk about what just happened?” Dayshawn asked.
“Not really,” Rayshawn answered. “Just let me think for a minute.”
Dayshawn sipped his beer and sat next to his brother.
After a couple of beers the twins decided that they needed something stronger and popped open another bottle of Hennessy. An hour passed and they didn’t talk about anything. All Rayshawn could think about was his next move and what to do about Jaicyn.
A lot had changed since they were sixteen. They were about to get married. The problems they had when they were teenagers didn’t even compare to what they were facing now. But Rayshawn was more confident than anyone else that everything would be okay.
“You know,” Rayshawn finally spoke up. “I’ve been preparing for something like this. You don’t get in the game at fifteen and not prepare for jail. The girls will be alright.”
“You can’t prepare for a Federal investigation, bro. I told you. This shit is serious.”
“I know,” Rayshawn said. “But I’ve kept my shit nice and neat. Always going behind Jaicyn’s messy ass and cleaning shit up. The money is well hidden. They might have a little somethin’ from Washington Heights but this Atlanta shit was done right.” He turned to his brother.
“I promise you, bro. If it comes down to it, I ain’t snitchin’ and I’ll be out in a year. Max.”
Chapter 10
Rayshawn stood over the bed staring down at his napping fiancée. Jaicyn had just started speaking to him two days ago. The girl could hold a grudge better than anyone he knew. How anyone could live in the same house and sleep in the same bed with someone and not speak to them was weird. But Jaicyn did it. For three long silent months she didn’t utter even a single “Hello” to her man.
At least she hadn’t left. And she started wearing her ring again.
While Jaicyn fumed, Rayshawn started planning for the day he got locked up. Most of their money was safe. Jaicyn had moved what she could without drawing too much suspicion into numbered Swiss and Caribbean accounts. Despite her anger, she put enough in Dayshawn’s account to pay for legal expenses.
He was worried about Jaicyn, even though she wasn’t worried about herself. She was right when she said they were in this together. Rayshawn had allowed her work side by side with him. If the police wanted him; they would easily take her too. He couldn’t let that happen. His job was to protect her. He wouldn’t let her go to jail. She wouldn’t last five minutes in jail. He’d spend the rest of his life locked up if that’s what it took to keep her free.
He told her that. It wasn’t about King anymore. She was the only one who mattered. That’s when she started speaking to him again.
“Jaicyn, Autumn’s here,” he spoke loud enough to wake her. “You know we’re the host of this little shindig.”
“Which is why I needed a nap,” Jaicyn yawned. “How do you expect me to be the life of the party after keeping me up all night?”<
br />
Rayshawn laughed. “You kept asking for it. I just do what I’m told.”
Jaicyn burst out laughing and threw a small pillow at him. “Yeah right. Go get my friend, you perv. I gotta get dressed.”
“How long it is going to take for you to throw on a bathing suit?”
“As long as it takes,” Jaicyn replied sarcastically. “Now go!”
A few minutes later, Autumn walked into the bedroom dragging her suitcase behind her.
“Ew!” Jaicyn wrinkled her nose at her friend’s disheveled appearance, especially her jean shorts and flip-flops.
“Did you come straight from the airport? Dayshawn didn’t even take you home to shower?”
“We’ll talk about him later,” Autumn promised. “I’ll hop in the shower real quick. Look in my bag and check out the bathing suits I brought.”
“There better be at least one bikini in there!” Jaicyn yelled after her best friend. “I’m tired of seeing you in one pieces.”
She unzipped the suitcase and pulled out a Macy’s bag and grinned. Even though her best friend had plenty of fashion sense and money to spare, Autumn still shopped on a budget. At least she had splurged and bought more than one bikini. Thankfully Autumn had moved on from her all black phase. The bag was full of bright colored bikini tops and bottoms.
“Which one?” Autumn asked when she came back into the bedroom wrapped in a towel.
Jaicyn pulled a pink two-piece from the shopping bag and held it up for Autumn.
“This is the one,” Jaicyn said. “I like the top. I bet it makes you look like you’re not a member of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee.”
Autumn burst out laughing. “Girl, they revoked my membership in college!”
“I don’t see why,” Jaicyn teased her friend. “Ain’t nobody checkin’ for those double A’s that you have.”
“Whatever,” Autumn said, still laughing. “Not everyone can have those big old triple D jugs you are carrying around. How’s your back?”
“My back is fine and I don’t have triple Ds,” Jaicyn giggled. “And don’t be a hater,” Jaicyn advised. “It’s not becoming for a child psychologist.”
Jaicyn looked out of the balcony door, down at the pool. The party was just getting started; however there weren’t a lot of girls there. Most of the guys were Dayshawn’s frat brothers since the party was to celebrate him passing the bar. A few of them had brought their girlfriends but most left their girls at home, hoping that Jaicyn would invite some of her single friends.
“There’s a ton of guys down there,” Jaicyn commented. “But you only got eyes for Dayshawn, huh?”
“I’ve told you a hundred times, Dayshawn and I are not exclusive. I can talk to whoever I want. But it would be very disrespectful to be flirting with any of these guys. They’re his friends and frat brothers,” Autumn replied.
Jaicyn smiled and slipped on her bathrobe. “I’m going to shower. Don’t go down there without me.”
When Jaicyn came back into the room ten minutes later, Autumn had changed into her suit and was staring at the size eight white bikini Jaicyn had laid on the bed.
“Since when did you start wearing an eight? Are you gaining weight?”
Jaicyn frowned at her friend. Only Autumn could get away with a question like that. Jaicyn was bone thin in junior high school. Even when she started getting boobs and hips, she was a four or six through high school. She was not happy with being an eight.
“Shut up. I’m joining a gym next week. I’ll lose this weight in a month.”
Autumn picked up the bathing suit and laughed when she read the label. “Baby Phat? Suits you.”
“I’m gonna kick your ass,” Jaicyn laughed and snatched the suit. “Here I am, throwing a nice barbeque for your man and you make fun of my weight. Some friend you are.”
“Hey, if I can’t tell you that you have a little too much junk in your trunk, who can?”
“Whatever. My junk is fine. Look at you!”
Autumn’s body was bangin’ in her pink bathing suit. Jaicyn was a little jealous.
“I guess your man will love that,” Jaicyn commented. “He always did like them thick.”
“Whatever, Jaicyn,” Autumn smiled. “He needs to pay attention to me. He hasn’t been.”
“In that bathing suit, he’s not going to be looking at anyone else. He better get together. You’re a catch. He better recognize.”
“Thank you,” Autumn laughed. “What you think I’ve been telling him?”
“He’ll come around, you’ll see,” Jaicyn said. “You look hot.”
“Especially if you let me rock those black Jimmy Choo sandals I saw in your closet.”
Shoes, especially expensive designer shoes, were Jaicyn’s weakness. The shoes Autumn was referring to had cost over five hundred dollars and had never been worn. Rayshawn always complained that her shoes and bags were taking over the closet but Jaicyn couldn’t help it. Her suggestion for the closet problem was that Rayshawn build another one.
“Girl, you can have those shoes. Consider them my graduation present.”
Autumn screeched and ran into Jaicyn’s walk-in closet.
“There’s a purse in there that matches those shoes. Take that too,” Jaicyn yelled after her. She tied a short sheer white wrap around her waist and opened the bedroom door.
“Hurry up!”
Rayshawn was manning the grill full of chicken and ribs when Jaicyn and Autumn reached the pool. He looked good, standing there in his black basketball shorts and no shirt. The heat from the sun combined with the heat from the grill made his dark skin glisten like a melting bar of chocolate.
Jaicyn walked up behind him and put her arms around his waist.
“Hey Sexy,” she whispered in his ear.
“You’re the sexy one,” Rayshawn said, turning around and checked out his woman. “Damn, you look good in that. You’re going to make all these chicks here jealous,” Rayshawn added.
Jaicyn glanced around their backyard at the few scantily clad woman in bikinis. Even though some of them were her friends, she didn’t care if they were jealous. That was the point of her wearing her cutest bathing suit. Jaicyn was quickly becoming one of the best dressed of all the Atlanta fashionistas and her popularity in the Atlanta fashion scene was well deserved.
“It’s my house,” Jaicyn answered. “I’m supposed to look the best. But look at Autumn. Her bathing suit is amazing. She looks so good.”
“I bet she does,” Rayshawn laughed. “Dayshawn’s here.”
Jaicyn laughed too. “Everything good here?” she asked. “You need anything?”
“Can you fix me a drink?” Rayshawn asked. “Hennessy and coke, you know how I like it.”
“Coming right up.”
Jaicyn headed over to the bar. Rayshawn watched her walk away and noticed a couple of the guys doing the same. Not that he could blame them. His fiancée was the hottest chick at the party. In fact, Jaicyn was probably the hottest chick in Atlanta. All these guys could do was look and be mad that their women didn’t have the natural beauty that Jaicyn possessed.
After making sure that her man had everything he needed, Jaicyn settled into her favorite chaise with a strong pomegranate margarita, her sunglasses, and her best friend next to her and watched the crowd. She was determined to fade into the background. She didn’t feel like playing hostess. Rayshawn was doing a good enough job.
“I can’t believe that Dayshawn already passed the bar?” Autumn said, interrupting Jaicyn’s moment of complete relaxation.
“Yeah,” she answered. “And that law firm he was interning at offered him a position.”
“I know. I’m so proud of him.”
Jaicyn sipped her drink and took off her shades to get a better view of her teenage sisters playing chicken in the pool with their friends. She had to keep a watchful eye on them and their male friends. Rickie and Bobbie were teenagers now. Jaicyn knew how hot girls their age could be. She had to watch them.
&nbs
p; “I have to tell you something,” Autumn said. Jaicyn didn’t like the tone of her voice.
“What?”
“I saw your mother a few weeks ago.”
“I don’t have a mother,” Jaicyn replied and kept staring at the pool.
“She asked about you,” Autumn said. Jaicyn sat up in her chair and whipped off her sunglasses.
“What did you say? You didn’t say anything about us, did you? Please tell me you didn’t tell her where we live!”
Autumn shook her head. “I told her you and the girls were doing fine and that’s all I could tell her.”
Jaicyn sat back and let Autumn’s words sink in. She hadn’t thought about her mother in years. Rickie and Bobbie never brought her up. In a way, she was dead to them. When Angelina never came to get them from the foster home, she ceased to exist to Rickie and Bobbie. The last time Jaicyn laid eyes on her, she was strung out on crack, far worse than she’d ever been before.
“Do you think you’ll ever talk to her again?” Autumn asked.
“Not a chance in hell,” Jaicyn stated sharply. “Like I said, I don’t have a mother.”
“We’re doing fine here,” Jaicyn added. “Pretty soon, me and Rayshawn are going to be out the game and living like normal folks. I don’t need her in my life fucking things up. I can’t help that woman, Autumn. I tried. I have my family and my business. That’s all I care about now.”
Jaicyn was proud of her little business and was eager to expand. If Rayshawn could keep his ass out of jail, she was willing to leave the life they were living and make a fresh start. She just hadn’t told him yet.
She was meeting all the right types of people. They had no idea what she did and the story about being a trust fund kid suited Atlanta’s elite.
Rayshawn was still was trying to move in a different direction. The moving and storage companies were doing well but he really wanted to work on his record label. Jaicyn knew that they had more than enough money to slip quietly away and live a different life. She only had to convince her fiancé of her plan so he’d stay out of prison.
King made a lot of money and taught Jaicyn well. She also learned from her former boss, Darrius. He taught her a lot about the stock market. While most of their money was hidden in numbered accounts in the Caribbean and in Europe, where their accountants had determined it was safest, what they did keep in the United States was invested in high risk stocks and recycled through their businesses.
A Hustler's Promise 2 Promises Kept Page 9
