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

by Charae Lewis

  “So what now?” she cried.

  “Now you and the other two passengers will be charged.”

  Her heart dropped at the thought of her sister and daughter going down for her carelessness. “We had nothing to do with this. We were just at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “Do you know how many criminals tell me that same story? Just face it. You got caught, and now you're trying to blame it on this make believe person.”

  “I'm telling you the fucking truth!”

  “Well, it doesn’t sound like it. Be prepared to see your daughter and sister behind bars with you unless you would like to confess.”

  Carlotta thought for a moment about what she should do. She didn’t want to see her baby girl behind bars. It would literally kill her. But those drugs were not hers, so she refused to confess. They would just have to obtain a good lawyer to beat their charges.

  “I'm sticking to my story. Those drugs aren’t mine, so do what you have to do.”

  “Suit yourself,” he said and then walked out of the room.

  Carlotta didn’t know how she was going to do it, but she was determined to get out of jail. She refused to do years behind a crime that she didn’t commit. She didn’t have much money, and that fact scared her. She knew that securing a lawyer would cost a lot of money. Carlotta also knew that she wouldn’t beat her case with a public defender. So she wiped her tears and mentally prepared to take on what she knew would be a difficult battle.

  ****

  Dinero sat on the passenger’s side of Kiyan’s car feeling lifted. Dom had informed him that Cadence and her mother had been arrested on drug trafficking charges. Dinero was elated when he heard the news. He was skeptical about the plan that his father had for them at first, but he couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome. Killing those two would have been too easy. He loved that their asses were about to suffer behind bars.

  Dinero had consumed numerous blunts along with multiple shots of Patron. Kiyan had called him earlier to ride somewhere with him, but they ended up going back to his house for a smoke session. He looked at the time and noticed that it was after ten o’clock at night. He had been away from Asia and Mila for most of the evening and he was missing them something awful.

  When he saw that Kiyan was pulling up to his house, Dinero smacked his lips. “I didn’t want to get dropped off here.”

  “Man, your ass told me to take you to the crib.”

  “Nah. I meant Asia’s house. Damn, I’ma just have to drive over there myself.”

  “Man, your ass don’t gotta be over there every night. She ain't going nowhere,” Kiyan teased.

  “You’re crazy as fuck. I'm not missing no nights with my baby, nigga.” He would go crazy if he didn’t see Mila or Asia. He had grown accustomed to them being a part of his everyday life.

  Dinero gave him a handshake and got out of the car. He decided to go inside of his home to grab some clothes. After packing a bag, Dinero walked out to his garage. He put his clothes in the trunk then proceeded to the driver’s side.

  “Run that shit, nigga.”

  Dinero stopped in his tracks when he felt a cold steel object being pressed to his neck. In most cases, the person who was getting robbed would panic, but Dinero found humor in the act. He smirked as the perpetrator nudged him with what he believed was a gun.

  “What do you want?” Dinero asked calmly.

  “I want everything you have. Give me your money, and I’ll take that nice ass watch on your wrist.”

  “A’ight.” Dinero lifted his arms and then took his watch off. He then swiftly swung his arm and knocked the gun out of the jacker’s hand. The guy turned around and attempted to go after the pistol but slipped and fell. Dinero pulled his gun out from the back of his waist band and aimed it at the back of the mugger’s head.

  “Talk that shit now, fuck boy!” Dinero growled, pissed that someone had actually tried to rob him.

  “Dinero, chill. It’s me,” the guy begged.

  Dinero snatched off his ski mask and was instantly pissed. “Maliq? What the fuck do you think you're doing?”

  Maliq was what Dinero considered one of his little homies. He grew up in the hood and lived a tough life. There were many times when Dinero had helped him out because his mother was struggling financially.

  “It wasn’t my idea, man. It was Keith’s. That dude said he would take out my family if I didn’t do this shit,” he admitted.

  “I should blow your fucking head off for even considering this bullshit. If he was threatening you, then you should’ve come to me.”

  “Look, he had me by the balls. He got somebody sitting outside my mama’s crib right now. If I don’t show up with money or something that belongs to you, he’s gon’ kill my family, bro.”

  Dinero put his gun away and then began to pace back and forth slowly. He knew that he and Keith had recently gotten into it, but he never expected Keith to do no sucka shit and have him robbed. Dinero was willing to walk away from their friendship, but now Keith had crossed the line. It was mandatory that Dinero get rid of him before he beat him to the punch.

  “A’ight. listen, I’ma give you my money and watch. Just act like you robbed me,” he instructed his young homie.

  Maliq slowly stood to his feet. “Are you sure, bro?”

  “Yeah. I need him to think that he’s winning right now.” Dinero reached into his pocket and gave him all of the cash he had on him. He also handed his watch over to him.

  “What's your plan?” Maliq questioned.

  “Don’t fuckin’ worry about it. Just do what I said, and this shit will get handled. I’m disappointed in your lil’ ass because you were my homie and shit. You know I would've handled Keith if he was coming at you on some hoe shit.”

  Maliq put his head down in shame. “I know, but you don’t understand how he was coming at me. It was like I didn’t have a choice.”

  “Yeah, I hear you. Get the fuck outta here before I shoot you in your foot. This shit will be handled soon. Just go along with the plan.”

  “A’ight, bro. My bad for all of this shit.”

  They shared a brotherly hug before Maliq ran off into the night. Dinero had to take a minute to collect his thoughts. Keith had been his best friend since high school. It disgusted him that their friendship had been reduced to him trying to get him robbed. He knew that Keith may have been salty about the ass whooping he’d given him, but he never expected him to be on no grimy shit.

  Dinero shot Big and Keece a text message asking them to meet him at their construction office. He couldn’t wait until the next day. He had to inform them about Keith’s shady antics right away. They needed to come up with a plan to get rid of Keith for good. Dinero then shot Asia a text telling her he would be there within the next hour. He hopped into his car and made his way to the construction office.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Cadence sat in her cell feeling like death. She’d been locked up for almost a week now, and she was still agitated. She had no way of contacting her mother or aunt. She’d received her bail amount and almost passed out. It had been set at a price that she knew couldn’t afford. She knew she would have no means to pay for her bail, so Cadence did nothing but cry every day. She attempted to reach out to different family members, but they were of no help.

  If she could just have a conversation with her mother, Cadence felt like she would be at ease. She prayed that Carlotta had a plan to get them out of there since it was technically James’ fault they’d been arrested. She could’ve slapped Carlotta for falling for the okey-dokey. How could she not know that she was being setup? James was probably only using Carlotta to transport his dope, and it angered Cadence that her mother had gotten her caught up into her mess.

  She stood from the hard mat and walked over to the dingy mirror. She looked at her reflection and sighed. Cadence looked terrible from all of the crying she had been doing. Her eyes held all of the worry and stress from the recent week, and her skin had broken o
ut badly. She just wanted to go back to her normal life and wake up from this horrible nightmare.

  All of a sudden, her cell door opened and a corrections officer stepped inside.

  “Donelson, you have a visitor.”

  Cadence became excited with hopes that it was her mother. She figured that Carlotta had been released first and now she was going to get her out next. The CO walked her to the visitation room where she was greeted by two females. Although they looked familiar to her, Cadence had no clue who the hell they were. They stared back at her through the glass with smirks on their faces. When one of the ladies signaled for Cadence to pick up the phone, she did reluctantly.

  “How are you doing, Cadence?” the woman asked.

  Cadence gave her a weird look. “Um, okay, do I know you?”

  “We’ve met before, but you may not remember. I'm sure we look familiar, right?”

  “Yeah, you guys do.”

  “Well, I have a message for you.”

  “Is it from my mom? Is she getting me out of here?” Cadence questioned desperately.

  “No. Actually, it’s from the man that you were desperately in love with. He told me to tell you that payback is a bald-headed bitch.”

  The other girl laughed as Cadence’s heart fell to her feet. Instantly, she knew the girls were referring to Dinero. The reality that this setup wasn’t from James, but from Dinero left her feeling sick to her stomach. She’d had no clue that he would come back this hard and get her locked up. She couldn’t help the tears that fell from her eyes. Cadence knew he would come after her, but she never expected it to be at this magnitude.

  The other woman snatched the phone from the first girl. “Bitch, don’t cry now. All you had to do was walk away and leave him alone, but nah, you wanted be a petty bitch. Now look where you're at. And from the story that I heard, they’re about to bank your silly ass. It doesn’t pay to be the bitter side chick, now does it?”

  Cadence couldn’t do anything but bawl as the woman threw up everything she had done to Dinero in her face. She should’ve just headed back to Mississippi like she had planned on doing, but instead, she decided to be vindictive and pin a false charge on him.

  “You thought he was going to choose you, but guess what? He didn’t, hoe. He’s laid up with Asia and their newborn baby as we speak. He didn’t love your punk ass. He loves Asia. You were never a factor, bitch. You were just a convenient piece of pussy.”

  The other woman grabbed the phone again. “By the way, we’re Meesha and Terri from the car wash. We only came to deliver a message. Now you keep your head up, Cadence. I heard doing hard time can be a bitch.”

  Terri grabbed the phone once more. “In the words of NeNe Leakes: You can’t win when you play dirty.”

  Cadence sobbed as the women stood to their feet. She watched them walk away, laughing hysterically. Cadence wanted to die at that very second. She couldn’t live the rest of her life behind bars. Listening to her mother all of these years had finally caught up to her. She was officially fucked with no way out of her situation.

  ****

  Dinero sat, waiting patiently for Asia to arrive. He had rented out an entire restaurant so he could take her on a date. Rochelle had agreed to watch Mila for their night out. He had already texted his mother twice to see if she was okay. He didn’t mean to be so overprotective, but he couldn’t help it. Because of Mila’s heart condition, he had to make sure that she was getting the best care.

  Suddenly, Asia walked in, causing Dinero’s dick to spring to attention. She looked stunning in her khaki dress with the sides cut out. Her hair was styled in a halo braid and her makeup had been applied flawlessly. He stood up and pulled out her chair.

  “Rude boy, are you trying to be a gentleman?” she asked as she took a seat.

  “Nah. I just want some head later,” he joked.

  She rolled her eyes. “I thought you were trying to be sweet, but I should’ve known that you don’t have a sweet bone in your body.”

  “I am sweet on you, so stop lying.”

  “Whatever,” she said before she took a sip of the wine that was already on the table. “You look good, though.”

  Dinero looked dapper in a black Polo shirt, distressed dark jeans and black Gucci sneakers. His dreads had been re-twisted, allowing them to hang loosely. His facial hair had been lined with precision, causing Asia to become wet.

  “Thanks. Are you going to let me hit it in the car? I can’t wait until we get to your house.”

  Asia laughed. “Damn, is that all you think about? I haven’t even eaten yet, and you're talking about fucking.”

  “I'm tryin’ to make up for lost time. I'm addicted.”

  “Yeah, that’s what your mouth says. Did you call your mom and see how the baby was doing?”

  “Yeah. She said that she was asleep.”

  “I almost cried when I dropped her off.” She pouted.

  “She’s good. You know my mama knows what she’s doing?” he said as if he hadn't been phone stalking Rochelle most of the night.

  “I know. It’s just that I'm attached to her. That’s my lil’ baby.”

  “Aye, I need to talk to you about something,” he announced, changing the subject. “I want you to move back in with me. I don’t wanna have to keep coming to your house. I need you and Mila in the same household as me.”

  Asia shook her head. “I’m not ready for that.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because we just started our relationship again, and I don’t wanna rush things. I like our setup now.”

  Dinero became frustrated with her response. He wanted his family at home with him. He didn’t like that he had to pack a bag and go visit them. He was trying to be more patient and understanding, but it was proving to be too much of a struggle. He was well aware that he had to move at Asia’s pace now that she’d given him another chance.

  “A’ight, man.”

  “Are you mad?” she asked.

  “Nah, I'm good,” he lied.

  She stood up from her seat and then walked over to straddle him. “Don’t be mad, honey. I’m just protecting myself. I don’t want us to move too fast and things don’t work out.”

  “I told you that I'm not on that shit no more,” he huffed.

  “I know what you told me, but I can’t rely on your word right now. I need to see and feel that you won’t break my heart again.”

  He heard her loud and clear and couldn’t fault her for trying to be cautious with her heart. Trying to be patient with Asia was killing Dinero. He wanted all of her, but she wasn’t ready for that, and it was his fault.

  “I got you something,” he told her.

  Her eyes lit up. “Oooh! What is it?”

  He dug into his pocket and removed a black velvet box and offered it to her. Asia grinned at Dinero as she took it out of his hand. When she opened the box, she covered her mouth with her hand. It was an eight carat princess cut diamond ring. Asia took it out of the box and stared at it for what seemed like hours.

  “Do you like it?” he asked, pulling her from her trance.

  “Yes, I do, but what kind of ring is this?”

  “It’s a whenever-you're-ready ring.”

  “Ready for what?” she quizzed with a raised brow.

  “Whenever you're ready to marry me again. I know our first marriage was some bullshit, and I'm to blame for that. I still want you to be my wife though, but I know you're not ready for that step yet. So this ring is for whenever you feel like getting married again. I’ll wait as long as I have to.”

  “Aww, babe.” She kissed his lips. “You're going to make me cry, and you know I'm about that thug life.”

  “Your soft ass ain't about shit,” he joked.

  “Boy, please. You know I'm about that life. But for real, this was really sweet. Whenever I put it on, just know that I’ll be ready, okay?”

  “A’ight.”

  “So this is rented out right?”

  “Yeah why?”


  “So nobody is going to walk in?”

  “Nah, I told the waiter to give us a minute before he comes to take our orders. Why are you asking?”

  Asia licked her lips. “Because I want to give you something.”

  Dinero grinned as Asia positioned herself on her knees. Most of her body was hidden from the table except her head. She unbuckled his belt, zipped down his fly, and released his stiff dick. Dinero gave her an intense look as her small hand stroked his manhood.

  “Tell me how bad you want it?” she asked seductively.

  “I want that mouth bad as fuck. I had a dream about you sucking my dick last night.”

  Asia wasted no time wrapping her lips around the head of Dinero’s penis. She circled her tongue around in a teasing manner. She then swallowed his dick like a pro as she massaged his balls. Dinero tilted his head back in total ecstasy as Asia attacked his rod with her mouth. Her head game was so dangerous that it would bring the strongest man to his knees.

  “Fuck, Asia,” he groaned in pleasure.

  He looked down and saw that his dick was coated with a lot of spit just how he liked it. He looked up and saw the waiter enter the room. The man hurried away when he noticed the act that Asia was performing. Dinero was glad that he’d gotten the hint because he didn’t have enough strength to tell him to come back.

  “You like the way that I suck this dick, Daddy?”

  “Hell yeah.”

  She deep throated his shaft and then looked in his face. “So you’ll never give my dick away again?”

  Dinero squirmed in his seat, feeling like he would explode at any minute. “No. This is your dick, baby.”

  “You promise?” she questioned before she spit and sucked on him.

  “Yeah. Shit, I'm about to nut.”

  Asia picked up her pace to ensure that his orgasm was one of the most fulfilling ones he’d ever experienced. Seconds later, she could taste his salty juices on her tongue. Asia looked up at Dinero and made sure to swallow every drop. She knew that he loved for her to swallow.

  “Damn, baby that was some of the best head ever. You gon’ make me put a muzzle over your damn mouth.”