Against the Grain

by Freeze

  “Oh that’s that new guy, Craig Mack. I like this song, baby,” she said. He turned it up for her as they drove off to the airport.

  • • •

  Once they landed at LAX, Shu-Shu rented a car using one of her credit cards. They got a suite at the Hotel Nikko in Beverly Hills. As soon as they settled into their suite, Shu-Shu stripped down to her cream-colored thong with matching bra. She hung up her dress and the two of them untaped the money from Shu-Shu’s body. A hundred and ten grand in one-hundred-dollar bills, ten-thousand-dollar stacks. When they were finished, she laid on the couch with the remote control.

  “I just want to relax a little while after that long flight,” she said to Kay.

  “You’re not hungry?” he asked her.

  “Not really. I’ll order some room service after I take a nap and freshen up. Are you hungry?” She moved her leg suggestively and they smiled at each other.

  “I’ll get that when I get back.”

  “Where you going?”

  “Downstairs to walk around a little; get some fresh air. I’ve never been to California before.”

  “Just wake me up when you get back.”

  “Oh I will, trust me,” he said with a smile before he walked out.

  • • •

  Mike’s cell phone rang five times before he reached over and picked it up from the nightstand.

  “Hello. Who dis? Scoop, what’s up, nigga? I was just thinking about you. You got my fucking money? All of it? You’s a good man, Scoop. See, we didn’t even have to go through all the bullshit. It’s the principle, Scoop. You understand that, don’t you? You niggaz be bringin’ the weakest game to the strongest niggaz. If I let you play me, niggaz all over the city is going to think they can play me ’cause yo punk ass got away with it. We don’t want that, do we? That’s right. Yeah, they alright. She’s right here, hold on.” Mike handed Scoop’s girlfriend, Sabrina, the phone. She and Mike were both butt naked. Mike laid flat on his back with a pillow under his head, in the middle of the bed, while Sabrina was on her knees between his legs, sucking his dick.

  “Hello. Hi, baby. Yeah, we’re okay. No he hasn’t touched me. When you coming to get us?” As Scoop talked to her and she listened, she would steal quick licks of Mike’s dick. She had the phone in one hand and the dick in the other.

  “Yeah, I miss you. You need to hurry up and pay this man his money. Okay, I’ll see you in a little while then. I love you, too.” She handed the phone to Mike and went back to what she was doing.

  “Yo, Scoop, I’m sending Gee over to pick that up. No funny stuff, aiight? As soon as he calls me and tells me he has every dime of my money, I’ll put your girl and the baby in a cab and send them home. But if all my money ain’t there, Scoop, you’re a dead man.” Mike pressed the end button on his cell phone.

  “Yeah, we got his ass now. But I want more on him. We’ll just wait and let him step deeper into his own shit,” Agent White said to his partner, Agent Powell, as they both listened in on the phone call. Then Agent White turned to face Scoop.

  “Here’s the money. You better hurry home for the pickup. Call me when your family is safe.”

  • • •

  It was their second day in California and Kay had planned a day just for his girl.

  “Where we going?” Shu-Shu asked.

  “Just hurry up, please. It’s a surprise.”

  When she came out the bedroom, she wore a Tahari espresso/ blue shadow appliqué silk organza top with an espresso stretch georgette silk spandex skirt, and black Anne Klein raffia slides.

  “Okay, I’m ready,” she said. She picked up her bag and they left. The valet brought the car around and opened the passenger door for Shu-Shu. He gave Kay the keys and winked. He’d told Kay the day before about Rodeo Drive. It was a shopper’s paradise if you could afford it. Once they got there, Shu-Shu’s face lit up like a child at Christmas.

  “Today is your day. Whatever you want, it’s yours,” Kay told her as he parked in front of the Gucci store. She leaned over and kissed him on the lips.

  “Remember that later on,” she said as she jumped out of the car and rushed inside the store. He joined her and they spent the whole day shopping. They hit every store on Rodeo Drive, buying each other clothes and accessories. One of Shu-Shu’s girlfriends in New York raved about Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles so she just had to try it. After shopping all day then driving around until they found Roscoe’s, the day wasn’t quite over. Kay made a quick phone call. When they got back to the hotel, Kay told her to leave the bags in the trunk, he would get them later. When they got to the door of their suite, Kay smiled at her before inserting the card into the lock.

  “What are you up to?” she asked as she followed him into the room.

  “Close your eyes,” he told her. Then he led her into the bathroom. “Don’t be peeping either.”

  “I’m not.” She smiled.

  “Whatever I do to you, promise me that you won’t open your eyes until I tell you to.”

  “Okay, I promise.”

  He started undressing her, peeling each piece of clothing off seductively, kissing her neck, shoulders, back, ears, eyelids, and down to her navel, then back up to her lips. She tried to pull him close to her, but he backed away. “Let me do this,” he said. He took off his shirt and lifted her in his arms. He sat her in the hot bath that was awaiting her. Kay had paid the bellboy to come in and set things up.

  “Mmmm, this feels good,” she said.

  “Just lay back and relax.” He reached over and picked up a glass pitcher of milk and started pouring it down her neck.

  “Oooh, baby, that’s cold. What is that?”

  “Open your eyes.”

  When she opened her eyes, she smiled from ear to ear. The bathroom was laced with lit candles. She watched Kay pour the remainder of the milk in the water. Then he picked up some warm honey and began pouring it over her breasts. The honey ran down into the water and Shu-Shu rubbed it into her skin. Kay took a loofah and started washing her back in circular motions. Then he dipped the loofah into the bathwater and held it up so that the water would drain into her hair. He stood up and popped a bottle of Dom P. He poured her a glass and handed it to her.

  “I’ll be right back,” he said.

  Shu-Shu relaxed and sipped her champagne. Kay returned about ten minutes later with a bottle of jasmine bath oil in one hand and a lit blunt in the other. He poured half the bottle in the tub, then stripped and got in behind Shu-Shu. She leaned back on his chest.

  “I could get used to this,” she said.

  “Is that right? Well we take care of business in the morning, then we’re out of here. So make reservations for us to catch an evening flight out tomorrow.”

  “Okay, baby.”

  They stayed in the tub for a few more minutes before Kay wrapped a towel around his waist. Shu-Shu put on the hotel bathrobe. When she walked out of the bathroom Kay had candles lit all over the suite for her. There were no lights on in the whole suite. She looked down at her feet and there were rose petals all over the floor leading to the bedroom. She followed them as Kay walked behind her. There were scented candles all over the bedroom, too. The comforter on the bed was pulled back and there were rose petals all over the bed. Kay stepped up behind her and reached around to her front to untie her robe. He spun her around and kissed her. She lay on the bed. Kay was between her legs bumpin’ and grindin’. She reached down and took off his towel. Then he took off her robe and reached for the condoms on the nightstand. She stopped him by putting her hand on top of his hand. He looked in her eyes.

  “Whatever I want, remember?” she said.

  He kissed her and slid his dick up in her.

  “Ssssss.”

  • • •

  That next morning Kay stood at the foot of the king-size bed recounting the $110,000. When Kay went for his walk the other day, he found an office supply store and bought a small safe for all the money. He stored the safe in the suite’s walk-in c
loset. When they left the room, he would cover the safe with their luggage. Shu-Shu stepped up to the bed and started putting the money in a black leather shoulder bag. Once the money was safely in the bag, they looked at each other. She liked how cute Kay looked in the outfit she picked out for him. He wore a light blue tie-dyed linen Ralph Lauren shirt. The top three buttons were undone, exposing a little of his chest. He also had on a pair of white linen Ralph Lauren pants. He had one pants leg rolled up just above the ankle, showing off his crisp white Reebok Classics with no socks.

  Shu-Shu had picked out a pair of Salvatore Ferragamo black leather slides for him, but he refused to wear them. He said they looked like girl shoes. Since she’d already gotten him to agree to the outfit, she figured she would compromise, so he wore the sneakers. As she looked at him, the Reeboks didn’t look all that bad. Especially the way he rocked them. They gave the whole outfit the street appeal. It didn’t look too soft and she liked that thug shit. She wore a white wrap shirt and pale blue stretch spandex pants, with a Kate Spade multi-stripe bucket bag, and the matching cotton slides. She took a deep breath.

  “Are you ready?”

  “Let’s do this,” he said. Kay put the black bag over his shoulder as they left the room. He turned to make sure they hadn’t left anything. When the valet brought the car around, Shu-Shu drove because she had a driver’s license. If the police stopped Kay and found that he didn’t have his license that would give them probable cause to search the car, and they definitely didn’t need that with all the money they had in the car.

  “Where we going?” she asked as they pulled into traffic.

  “L.A. We’ve got to get on the 101 and it should take us straight to Chinatown.” They got lost a few times, but after an hour of driving around, they finally found what they were looking for.

  “Pull over right there,” Kay said as he pointed to a small Thai restaurant. They went in and waited to be seated. Although the place was small, it was nice. It was just as Yang said it was. The waitress seated them at a little table not far from the bar. It was still early, so the lunch hour crowd hadn’t arrived yet. They had eaten earlier at the hotel, so neither Shu-Shu nor Kay were hungry. Shu-Shu ordered two virgin strawberry daiquiris. When the waitress returned with their drinks, Kay slid the picture of Yang and him across the table. She smiled and picked it up. Once she noticed who the other man was, her smile was gone. She dropped the picture and covered her mouth. Tears filled her eyes. She turned and left. Moments later she returned with an elderly woman. She picked up the picture and the older woman’s response was the same. She held the photo close to her heart as she cried. Shu-Shu reached across the table and touched Kay’s hand, catching him off guard. He saw tears in her eyes. This moment was touching. Kay had told her about the significance of the picture on the way there. It was the first time in twenty years that Yang’s family had laid eyes on him. He felt that he shamed his family by going to prison and cut off almost all ties with them. No pictures, no visits, only an occasional letter and phone call.

  “You come!” The old woman said to Kay. “You come!”

  Kay took Shu-Shu’s hand and led her as he followed the women. While they walked through the kitchen the old woman stopped to show everyone the picture. They all smiled and patted Kay on the back as he passed them. They spoke to him in Thai but he didn’t understand, so he smiled, nodded his head and kept going. Once they passed through the kitchen, they entered an office that contained all the latest in modern furniture and electronic gadgets, while the rest of the restaurant looked traditional. This was the only room that looked like something from the future.

  “Make you-self comfortable. My son be here soon,” the old woman said to Kay. She looked down at the picture in her hand once more and handed it to Kay. Kay closed both her hands around the picture.

  “It’s a gift to you. I want you to have it.” Kay finally understood that she was Yang’s wife. She bowed.

  “Thank you,” she said as she left. Ten minutes later the office door flew open and a happy-looking young man dressed in baggy jeans, a T-shirt with a V-neck sleeveless sweater over it, a baseball cap turned to the back, and a backpack walked in with another guy dressed similar to him. You could tell they had flava. The first guy looked no older than sixteen years old, but Kay would learn that he was actually twenty-four. Kay recognized him right away from the many pictures he saw of him growing up. Kay stood up and the two men greeted each other with a pound and a hug.

  “Mr. Frost,” the young man said.

  “Call me Kay.”

  “Sorry. Respect is a habit in my family. I’m Joey. I’ve heard so much about you. My father speaks highly of you. You saved his life and I could never repay you for that. So whatever I have, you have. I’m instructed to treat you like family,” Joey said as he walked around the desk and sat down.

  “Your father owes me nothing. How is he doing anyway?” Kay asked.

  “He’s doing fine. He calls a little more now that you’re gone. We spoke a week ago and he told me to be expecting you,” Joey said as he looked at Shu-Shu. Joey snapped his fingers at the guy that came in with him. He was standing by the door. He walked over and put his backpack on the desk in front of Joey. Joey opened it and took out a kilo of heroin. He slid it across the desk to Kay.

  “This is from my father. I’m not a drug dealer. I’m a student at UCLA but my family is well connected so you can put whatever label on me that you like. I can get you whatever you want and I guarantee you can step all over it twenty different ways,” Joey said. Kay, liking those numbers, looked at Shu-Shu, picked up the black shoulder bag, and slid it across the desk to Joey.

  “What’s this?” Joey asked.

  “It’s a hundred and ten grand.”

  “Don’t insult me, Kay. This is a gift.”

  “Aiight, well accept a hundred grand of this as an offering. A token of my gratitude. Then take the other ten grand and get me a nice little one bedroom apartment. Furnish it for me, since I’ll be spending a lot of time out here.”

  Joey smiled. “Anywhere specific?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I like Beverly Hills.”

  “Done,” Joey said. He slid the bag back to Kay. “I’ll put another forty grand with this if you leave the girl with me.” The room was quiet for a moment. Shu-Shu’s mouth dropped. She couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. She looked at Kay, who shook his head and laughed a little.

  “Don’t ever disrespect me like that again, Joey,” he said as he slid both the kilo and the money back to him. Joey laughed out loud.

  “I like you, Kay. It was just a test. I see that money don’t make you.” Joey slid the kilo back to Kay. Kay smiled as he put the kilo in Shu-Shu’s bag.

  “Look around you, Kay. I am my father’s son, but I am not my father. If you ever cross me, no matter what my father says, I will kill you,” Joey said as he got up and walked around the desk. Kay stood up and the two men hugged.

  “There’s a flip side to that coin. ’Cause if you ever cross me, no matter how I feel for your father, I will kill you,” Kay told him.

  The two men smiled in understanding. Joey gave Kay a card. “Call me in a week and I’ll FedEx you the key to your apartment.”

  “Aiight, yo, I’m out,” Kay said. He gave Joey a pound and left. On their way back through the kitchen, Yang’s wife stopped Kay.

  “This from me to you,” she said. Kay looked down. It was another kilo of heroin. The little woman stood on her tiptoes and kissed Kay on the cheek, then she turned and walked away. Kay noticed the picture was still in her hand. He put that kilo in Shu-Shu’s bag also and they headed back to the hotel.

  • • •

  They landed safely at the BWI Airport late that night. Dre had come and gotten his car and left an old Toyota Cressida in the same spot. That was part of their plan. They didn’t want to bring any attention to Kay as he returned to the city. Kay reached under the rear bumper and got the key. He handed it to Shu-Shu. She didn’t know wha
t was going on, and she didn’t ask any questions either. They got in the car and headed home.

  The sound of a car horn brings the woman out of her daze. She stands up and smooths out her clothes as she takes one last look at herself in the wall mirror. “Perfect,” she says out loud. She picks up her bag and fox cape. She takes one more look around to make sure she hasn’t forgotten anything. She sets the alarm, shuts and locks the door behind her. Once she gets in the car, she turns to look at her kids in the backseat. Her stepson is almost twenty-four years old and just as handsome as his father, she thinks. Her stepdaughter is almost twenty-four years old, too, and her best friend. They do everything together. Then there is her biological son, who is five years old and the youngest. She can’t understand how he can be Mommy’s little baby one minute, then turn bad as shit the next minute.

  “Did everybody use the bathroom?” she asks as her husband backs the car out of the garage. They look at her like she’s crazy. “You better behave yourself tonight. Don’t make me spank your ass, hear me?” she says to the little boy. He shakes his head. She turns around and puts on her seat belt. She reaches over and puts her left hand behind her husband’s head. She likes playing in his hair when he drives. It is soft and curly and he always keeps it cut neat. She turns on the radio with her right hand. There’s an old song on by D’Angelo, “How Does It Feel.”

  “Oooh, baby, you remember this song?” She stares out the window and begins to reminisce again. . . .

  15

  2000

  Ms. Pricilla and Ms. Wendy both pulled into the parking lot of Lexington Market at the same time. “I see you got that new Lincoln you wanted, girl,” Ms. Wendy said to Ms. Pricilla.