Summer of '16 - Part 2: Summer's Over

by Charae Lewis

  “Yes, I do,” she replied breathlessly.

  Dinero place her legs in the crook of his arms and picked up his pace. Asia’s pussy was so wet that it sounded as though he was stirring macaroni and cheese. After moments of powerful strokes, Dinero grunted, pulled out, and released himself on her stomach. He rolled over and looked at her.

  “I had to pull out since you're not on birth control.”

  “I meant to tell you before, but that dick wouldn’t let me think straight,” she joked.

  He pulled her close then kissed her. “I'm about to go check on Mila.”

  Asia got up and went to go clean herself off. While showering, she prayed that Dinero didn’t make her regret her decision to give him another chance. She wanted to believe that he would do right by her this time. She had never seen him so sincere. Asia just hoped that he would live up to his word, and treat her the way she deserved to be treated.

  ****

  Cadence opened her front door and was greeted by a big burly man. She figured he was her mother’s boyfriend. He had a cute face, but he was a little too hefty for her liking. Her mother usually didn’t go for big men, but when it came to money, Carlotta was willing to bend the rules.

  “Hey, you must be Cadence. I'm James,” he greeted and extended his hand.

  She shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Well, let me grab your bags. You can ride in the car with your mother and aunt. They’re parked right there.”

  Cadence looked and saw that they were parked a couple houses down. She handed James her bags, and then locked up her apartment. She then walked to the car and got in the back seat.

  “Whose car is this?” Cadence asked.

  “This is a rental that James got for us. Since his car is packed with shit for the family reunion, he decided to rent me one,” Carlotta replied.

  “I'm so happy that we get to enjoy our lil’ girl’s trip before you leave. I'm sad about you leaving, boo.” Cherry pouted.

  “I'm not. I'm ready to leave Milwaukee. I've had enough of this place.”

  “Oh, girl shut up. Your scary ass is just worried about Dinero coming after you. You know her ass dropped the charges against, him right?” her mother asked Cherry.

  “I knew that was gonna happen,” Cherry retorted.

  “Listen, please don’t start because I’ll go right back in the house,” Cadence warned.

  “A’ight. Chill, girl. Damn. I can’t even have fun with your uptight ass. Cherry, get my bottle ready for me.”

  “I know you're not about to drink and drive?” Cadence screeched.

  “Hell yeah. I drive best when I have a lil’ liquor in my system.” Carlotta laughed.

  “Girl, relax. It’s just a lil’ Patron. Nothing major,” Cherry assured her.

  Cadence rolled her eyes, contemplating if she should even go. Before she could protest, her mother pulled off, trailing James. She didn’t know how she was going to take a nine hour drive with her mother and aunt. Cadence knew that they were about to work her nerves.

  Before they hopped on the highway, Carlotta followed James to the gas station. Since Cadence was a little hungry, she got out and made her way inside the convenience store. Before she purchased her items she decided to use the restroom. Once that was done, she walked back out, and saw Jimmy filling up the car that she was riding in.

  “Got all that you need?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I did.”

  “Well, this won’t be a bad drive. The nine hours will fly by.”

  “Cool.”

  She got in the car and was greeted by cigarette smoke. Cadence fanned the smoke away, and then opened her chips.

  “What did you get, Cadence?”

  “Some chips and a soda.”

  “Why didn’t you ask if we wanted something?” Carlotta questioned.

  “Because y’all didn’t say anything.”

  “Your selfish ass,” Cherry chimed in.

  “Look, y’all can leave me alone. I’ll ride with James if y’all are going to act like this,” Cadence threatened.

  “Girl, please. You're not riding with my man. Daughter or not. I don’t trust anybody.”

  “I know that’s right,” Cherry added.

  Cadence ignored them and started surfing the internet on her tablet. Carlotta drove off and headed for the highway. Thirty minutes into their drive, they saw flashing lights behind them.

  “Aw, shit! What the fuck do they want?” Carlotta huffed as she pulled over.

  “Girl, you legit, so we have nothing to worry about,” Cherry said confidently.

  Cadence watched as the officer walked up to the window. Carlotta rolled down the window and waited for him to speak.

  “License and registration please.”

  “Okay. I have to go into the glove compartment. Don’t shoot me.”

  Carlotta searched for the registration. When she found it, she noticed that the car was registered to an unknown female. When she handed him the documents he’d requested, he took one look at them and said, “I’ll be right back.”

  Carlotta watched him walk away in the rearview mirror. She hoped that everything was okay. It was weird to see that the registration had a woman’s name on it. James had assured her that the car was a rental.

  Twenty minutes later, the cop walked back over to her window. “Ma’am this car is stolen.”

  “Stolen?!” Carlotta shouted.

  “Yes, it’s stolen. Ma’am, I need you to step out of the car.”

  “For what? I didn’t know this car was stolen.” Cherry ranted.

  “Please step out of the car now,” the officer demanded.

  The trio reluctantly stepped out of the car and stood off to the side. Cadence didn’t understand why the officer was being so difficult. She looked to see if James had pulled over as well, but she saw no signs of him.

  “Ma’am, do you give me permission to search the car?” the cop asked Carlotta.

  She shrugged. “It ain’t shit in there, so go right ahead. And I didn’t know this car was stolen either.”

  The cop then began to ransack the car. He looked through each compartment and came up empty. He then walked to the trunk and opened it. He pulled out all of their suitcases, and went through each one. Cadence looked on completely irritated by his actions. She didn’t know what he was searching for, and it angered her.

  After going through the suitcases, he then lifted up the base of the trunk. He smiled and then looked over at Carlotta.

  “So you said that there is nothing in here?” he asked.

  “No.” She rolled her neck. “You won’t find shit.”

  “Well, what do we have here?”

  Cadence almost passed out when he held up a white package that looked like cocaine. Cherry and Cadence immediately looked at Carlotta for answers.

  “Ma, what the hell is that?” Cadence whispered harshly.

  Carlotta ignored her daughter. “That’s not mine. I swear it’s not,” she pleaded to the cop.

  “Yeah, I'm sure,” he shot back and then said something into his walkie-talkie.

  “Carlotta, I know you weren’t doing a fuckin’ run with Cadence and me in the car. How did you not know that this car was stolen? What the fuck were you thinking?”

  “I wasn’t thinking shit. How was I supposed to know that it was stolen? I also had no idea that bullshit was in the car,” she explained.

  “Oh my God, Ma, where is James? Did he set you up?” Cadence panicked.

  “It seems that fucking way to me,” Cherry gritted. “Where the fuck is he? Why didn’t his fat ass pull over when we did?”

  “I don’t know!” Carlotta yelled.

  Cadence wanted to burst into tears when two additional police cars pulled up. They walked over to the trunk and shook hands with each other. It was disgusting to see them marvel at finding drugs in someone’s car. Cadence watched them pull multiple packages of coke out of the trunk. When they were finished, it was nearly forty-five package
s on the ground.

  “When they interrogate you, don’t say shit,” Carlotta whispered to Cadence.

  “I don’t have anything to say anyway. It’s not mine.”

  “Just do what the fuck I said.”

  Two officers walked over and placed the three ladies in handcuffs. Cadence couldn’t help the tears that rolled down her cheeks. She never thought she would be in a situation that would land her in jail. She regretted even agreeing to go out of town with her mother. She just hoped Carlotta had some kind of plan in place because Cadence wouldn’t be able to survive prison.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Um, I know your ass has been getting dicked down every night, but my damn niece needs to be fed,” Aimee spat, standing in Asia’s doorway holding Mila.

  Asia lazily turned over and looked at her. She was tired, and it was all Dinero’s fault. Ever since their recent sex session, the couple had been making up for lost time. He had been tearing her up, and she basked in every minute of it. She looked over and saw that his side of the bed was empty.

  “Where’s Dinero?”

  “I don’t know. He left early this morning. He said he would be back.”

  Asia got out of bed and removed Mila from Aimee’s arms. She smiled at her and kissed her cheek. She had never known a love like the one she held in her heart for Mila. Asia was so in love. Even though she was a total surprise, Asia couldn’t imagine life without her baby girl. She pulled out her breast and popped it in the baby’s mouth. She then walked to the bathroom and started brushing her teeth. She wondered where Dinero had vanished to. After Asia was done handling her hygiene, she walked to the kitchen where Aimee was feeding DJ some cut up bananas.

  “Hey, nephew. Are you eating breakfast?” Asia cooed and kissed his chubby cheek.

  “His greedy ass is on his second banana. My baby doesn’t play about his food.”

  “I see,” Asia said and then sat. “You’ve been here all week. What happened between you and Big?”

  Aimee took a deep breath and then rolled her eyes. “We got into it again. I'm just going to stay away for a while. I don’t want us to become toxic, so I'm going to stay away until I can get over his lies. If I don’t get over them, then oh well… I love Big a lot, but I need to take some time for myself.”

  “I understand. Well, you know you can stay here as long as you need to.”

  “I appreciate that, but even if you had a problem with it, I was staying anyway. Shit, this is still Mama’s house.” Aimee laughed.

  Asia chuckled. After Mila seemed to be full, she put her on her shoulder and burped her.

  “So you and Dinero back together now? I heard your ass hollering all night. I kinda got a lil’ jealous, shit,” Aimee kidded.

  “Oh please. We’re just friends right now.” Asia smiled sneakily.

  “Friends my ass. You know that I think Dinero is chemically unbalanced, but he loves you. I also think he learned his lesson. You should give him another chance.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  Suddenly, the front door opened and Dinero walked in. He walked over and kissed Mila before taking a seat next to Asia.

  “Was my door open?” Asia questioned.

  “Nah, I took your key off of your key ring.”

  Aimee laughed hysterically, causing Asia to roll her eyes.

  “Um, your ass better ring the doorbell just like everybody else,” Asia hissed.

  “I know that’s right,” Aimee instigated.

  Dinero cut his eyes over at Aimee. “Shut your ass up and go home. You need to be over there trying to work shit out with Big.”

  “Fuck Big. You need to worry about your own shit.”

  “Yeah…aight…” He nodded. “That’s why he got his home girl keeping him company right now.”

  “What home girl?” the twins asked in unison.

  “Our home girl from back in the day. She came to town and she’s at your house right now.” He smirked.

  “I know your ass is lying. Big ain't got no bitch at my house,” Aimee declared confidently.

  “Yeah, he does. I just left there.”

  Aimee shot up from her seat and grabbed her purse and car keys.

  Asia handed the baby to Dinero and went after her sister. “Wait. Do you want me to go with you?”

  Aimee threw on her shoes. “Nah. Just keep an eye on DJ for me. I’ll be back.”

  Asia watched her rush out of the house. She closed the door and walked back to the kitchen. She glared at Dinero who was raining kisses all over the baby’s face.

  “Why did you do that? She’s about to go whoop Big and that girl’s ass now.”

  “Girl, shut up. Big ain't got nobody at their crib. I just wanted to fuck with Aimee.” He laughed.

  “You are such an asshole,” she spat and took her seat. “She’s going to kick your ass when she gets back.”

  “She don’t want this fade. I’ll slap the shit outta Aimee.”

  “Where were you this morning? I don’t like to wake up and you’re gone. You need to tell me when you're leaving.”

  “Your ass was snoring so loud that I didn’t want to wake you up. I went to counseling.”

  Asia was stunned to hear that Dinero had actually gone to counseling. “Counseling? What made you do that?”

  “I ain't do shit. That bullshit was a court order.”

  “Aw, shit. Who did you beat up?”

  “I was falsely accused by Cadence’s whack ass. She went downtown and said that I whooped her ass. But I didn’t.”

  Asia rolled her eyes at the mention of Cadence. She hated her and needed her to go away if she was going to rekindle her relationship with Dinero.

  “So tell me why she did that?”

  “’Cause she’s a bitter bitch. And before you ask, I haven’t fucked with that bitch since you caught me at the hotel with her.”

  Asia cringed when he brought up the time she’d caught him walking out of the hotel with his mistress. She and Dinero fought so violently that night that it ended with Aimee tasing his ass.

  “I still get mad thinking about the picture that she sent to my phone.”

  Dinero cut his eyes at her. “What picture?”

  “She sent a picture from your phone with a sheet wrapped around her. I called the phone and that’s when she told me that y’all were at the hotel,” she explained.

  “That bitch!” he hissed. “I'm sick of that vindictive bitch. I ain't even been fucking with that hoe and she keeps on fucking up my life.”

  “So why would she file a false report on you then?”

  “She got mad because I told her to get the fuck outta Milwaukee. I think it was setup by her dumb ass mama. But they’re already handled.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just know that I’ll never have to worry about that punk ass bitch again,” he assured.

  “I hope not.”

  Dinero leaned over and kissed her lips. “I swear she’s out of the picture. We gon’ be good. You know why?”

  “Why?” she asked, becoming lost into his gaze.

  “Because I’ma make sure that we’re good.”

  Asia smiled, happy to see that he was dedicated to making their relationship work.

  “Now make me something to eat. I'm hungry as fuck.”

  ****

  Carlotta sat in the interrogation room with her anxiety level at an all-time high. Her heart rate had to be at least two hundred as her legs shook profusely. Sweat leaked from her pores as if she had been standing in the burning sun for hours. She couldn’t believe that her day had ended with her being arrested for something she had nothing to do with. Suddenly, a detective walked in, causing the nervousness to run violently through her body.

  “Okay, Ms. Donelson, I need to know where those drugs came from. Who’s the supplier?” he asked.

  Carlotta blew out a frustrated breath because she honestly didn’t have any answers for them. “I don’t know. I told you that the car
was given to me by my boyfriend. All I was doing was going to his family reunion.”

  “What is your boyfriend’s name?”

  “James.”

  “Does he have a last name?”

  She thought briefly, trying to remember if he had ever told her his last name, but she couldn’t recall. “I don’t know his last name.”

  “Okay. What about an address? Do you have that?”

  “I don’t.”

  Carlotta and James had only hooked up in hotels. She never went to his home. She could’ve kicked herself for not gaining more information on James. She was so blinded by his pockets that she didn’t think to get to know him.

  “How is this your boyfriend and you don’t know anything about him? It sounds like you're just making up answers as you go.”

  “I'm not!” Carlotta screamed. “I'm telling you the truth. We actually just started dating, so I didn’t get a chance to get certain information from him.”

  The detective jotted something down on his notepad and then looked at her. “So, again, whose drugs are those?”

  “I don’t know. They're not mine.”

  “I have to be honest with you. Your story does not sound believable. Especially since the car that you were driving in was stolen.”

  “I didn’t know that. I'm trying to explain to you that James told me that he rented the car. I didn’t think to check and see if it was legit. Oh my God!” She gasped.

  “Yeah, you're gonna need Him to get out of this messy situation,” the detective taunted her.

  Carlotta couldn’t do anything but burst into tears. If James was in her presence at that moment, she probably would've snatched the officer’s gun and shot him. It was at that very second that she’d realized that she had been setup. She couldn’t understand why James would do her that way. She thought that their relationship had been going well. Carlotta had no idea that he had used her to transport drugs.

  “Well, did you call the number that I gave you? That’s James’ phone number.”

  “I did, and unfortunately, that number was not in service.”

  Carlotta couldn’t do anything but put her head down. Her karma had finally come around and bit her where it hurt. She had fucked over so many people in her lifetime. Carlotta had lived a reckless life, and it was now time to pay up. She didn’t see how she would escape this nightmare.