by Tiece
She pulled her knees up to her chin and plucked a piece of lint off of her light green UGG Classic boots. Sighing once again, she wrapped her arms around the outer parts of her legs while resting her chin on her knees. She looked out in her yard. The eighteen foot, almost leafless, rain tree caught her attention as it blew lightly in the wind. She could feel the cool breeze slowly ease across her face and the faint whispering sound of it settled in her eardrums. Her eyes wailed with water and she could feel a lump form inside her throat, but she refused to let just one tear fall.
Her heart was broken, but she wasn’t going to let it break her. She knew that somehow she would bounce back, but this time it was going to be all about her. She knew that she was a great mother and that wasn’t ever going to change, but she needed to find herself. She’d gotten lost in thinking that she and Monty would share a happy life together. It was now time for her to form new thoughts that would only include him being a father to her son and maybe someday a good friend to her.
She closed her eyes and slowly opened them back. The wind managed to blow a tear from her eye as she quickly wiped it, not wanting to fall in that trap of emotions. It wasn’t good for her and now she knew that she had to be stronger than ever if she was going to survive letting go of Monty and moving on.
Chapter 6
Monty pulled back up to the building that he was negotiating the deal on. Susan had called to inform him that the buyer was running late due to the weather as he traveled there. So Monty had left and went back to the office to catch up on some other things.
He looked down at his watch. It was fifteen after four. Monty knew that he was supposed to be at Rico’s house by five thirty. The family was surprising Mona and Caylin with a small welcome home gathering. He wasn’t going to miss that for no amount of money, but he would reschedule if necessary.
He got out of his Tahoe and walked up to the building. He pressed in the code on the key lock and opened up the door, walking inside. He turned on the lights and looked around.
“If the buyer doesn’t want to settle today then he’s playing with me and playing with my money ain’t gon’ cut it.” He stated as he continued to look around. “No worries, he’ll cave in once I’m done with him.”
He walked over by the bar taking a seat on the bar stool. He was thinking that maybe he would get a chance to see Candy at Mona’s house. The thought of that made him feel good but uneasy at the same time. It would be hard seeing the person he loved so much and not being able to mingle with her as they did before. He knew that he couldn’t just walk in and kiss her or touch her fat ass just because it looked good to him. It was the small things that would surely hurt him the most once they saw each other.
He really missed her even though he’d just made mad crazy love to her through the wee hours of the morning. He knew that wasn’t going to be enough to keep her, but he wasn’t going to give up. He truly did love her and wanted them back together and if ever he had a chance, he’d prove it. He looked at the end of the bar where the dim lighting showed him a bottle of Don Perignon Champagne. He hadn’t noticed it before but it had to be there all along and he and Susan overlooked it. There were four glasses sitting there beside it. He popped the top off of the Champagne and took a drink. He tried suppressing his thoughts about Candy by looking around the place.
“If this nigga don’t buy this place, I will.” He said, turning up his glass of Don Perignon. He looked inside the empty glass. “This shit ain’t bad.”
The door opened up and Monty knew that it had to be the buyer.
‘Bout damn time, he thought.
The tall guy walked into the dim lighting over the bar.
“Are you supposed to be the person I’m meeting with to settle this deal?” The guy asked.
Monty stood up and walked over. “Yes it is. He reached out for a handshake. “I’m Monty Banks.”
“Monty Banks,” the guy said, moving in a little closer with a strange look in his eyes. “Cuz it’s me, Bren.” Monty’s thoughts had to quickly catch up to him.
“AH MAN,” Monty responded. “Cuz, I wasn’t expecting the buyer to be you!” He excitedly said then immediately reaching in for a hug. He was very happy that Brendon had made it to town. They hugged tight then backed up to get a good look at each other.
“Let me hit the main light above us,” Monty said walking over and flipping the light switch on. “Damn man it’s good to see you! Look at you. All grown and shit.”
“Yeah man, we shoulda kept in touch over the years, but I understood that life pulled us in different directions.” Brendon explained.
“Yeah, but you’re here now.” Monty said. “And you’re the buyer.” It was a moving moment for him to know that Bren was on top of his game.
“Yep, I’m the buyer. I know I was supposed to come and work with you, but I had other plans in store for my stay in Augusta, GA.”
Monty smiled. “I feel you, Cuz. And this is a great location to pop some shit off in.”
Brendon looked around the spacious building. “You’re right about that. I did a little research on the area first Cuz, and I love this spot.” He said.
“Then it should be easy to settle the deal and the building is yours.” Monty added.
Brendon shook his head in agreement. “You know I had to play hard ball with the realtors over this building, but I had plans of getting it regardless of if they came down to what I was throwing at them or not.”
“So let’s settle this shit right now. Everyone wins. Even though they’re gonna take a loss of what they initially wanted; they’ll be fine because technically they’ll still come out on top. Profits are what everybody in the game wants. The bigger the better, but even a small profit is still a profit.”
“I’m with ya,” Brendon said. “So are you making a profit off of this deal?”
“You know I’ma get mine Cuz. Don’t worry about that.” Monty grinned.
“Damn! It’s that good Cuz? Maybe I shoulda came to work with you.” He joked making Monty laugh.
“How’s auntie?” Monty asked.
“She’s good. Matter of fact, everybody is doing great. Mama wants to make a trip down here to visit Aunt Cat, but she’s slower than the Slowsky’s.” They laughed.
“Mom would love that, but I always tell her that if Auntie doesn’t make it here then she should visit her.” Monty said.
“Man, you know everybody is busy these days, even when they ain’t.” Brendon said with a grin.
“And you’re right about that.” Monty commented. “Come to think of it, Mona had a baby girl the day after my birthday and she was released earlier today from the hospital. My mom has set up a small gathering over to Rico’s house for them.”
“Rico’s house?” A confused Brendon asked.
“Yeah, they’re engaged and just had a baby.” Monty explained.
“What?” Brendon asked. “Rico and Mona… Your homey Rico?” Monty nodded his head. “Ain’t that something?”
“Yeah, same thing I used to think. Anyway, you know Mama would kill you if she finds out that you’re home and didn’t come over.” Monty said.
“I would love to stop by. I haven’t seen Rico, let alone Aunt Cat and Mona in forever man.” He said smiling.
Monty just looked at him, soaking it all in. “Man, you ain’t changed.” He said.
“You haven’t either,” Brendon said with a smile spread clear across his face.
Monty looked down at his watch. It was five after five. He knew he had to leave right now if he was going to make it to the gathering on time.
“Hey, you know I got to go, but I’m writing down the address to Rico’s house. Please come by.”
“I will,” Brendon said taking the written down address from Monty.
“Hey before I leave; where are you staying?”
“I just went ahead and reserved a suite at the Ramada Inn for a week.” Brendon replied. “Then I’ll house hunt.”
“Nah that shit ain’t gonna
work,” Monty said. “Come stay at Mama’s house. There is plenty of room for you there. Hell, long story short, but I’m there too. It’s just temporary though.”
“As would my stay be.” Brendon commented.
“I’m sure Mama won’t say no to that and then we can catch up on shit.” Monty said looking down at his watch. “We’ll talk a little more at Rico’s about it.”
“That sounds good to me. Just give me a little time. I need to take this all in.” He said looking around the building. “I’m gonna turn this into a laid back sports bar called Raven’s Hot Spot that will open up at twelve noon and don’t close until the a.m. hours.” He said.
“Raven’s Hot Spot, huh? I like it. I’m sure it’s gonna be a success,” Monty said. “It has a ring to it and I’m glad that you came here to start your empire. It’s good to have you home and anything that I can do for you; just let me know.”
“I know you got my back, Cuz.” Brendon said.
“We’ll sign all the paperwork in the morning at my office, but here is the key to the place. I trust you.” He said with a grin. “Live it up. There is a glass and a bottle of Don Perignon waiting for you to celebrate your first purchase.” Brendon grinned to himself. “Help yourself. I tossed one back right before you got here. That shit ain’t bad.” He grinned.
“I’ll see you in a few,” Brendon said, getting ready to head up the stairs to the second floor of the building.
“Take your time, but don’t be too late.” Monty said. He knew that Brendon was off in lala land admiring the place.
“I won’t. I’m just visualizing a few things and how I want it to be.”
“Ain’t nothing wrong with that. Same way I felt when I first stepped inside Banks Realty. I know a great designer who will hook this up for you. We’ll talk about it later.”
“Oh yeah, we will.” Brendon commented. Monty exited the building with a smile on his face. He’d reunited with his cousin who was like a brother to him, had made a nice deal, and profited a substantial amount of money. Overall, Susan and her mother would be happy that the deal had gone through. He knew that they still had gotten over, but in the real estate market it wasn’t by much which is what he wanted all along. Business could be fair if a person stepped back to look at the bigger picture and that’s what he was doing.
He walked out to his Tahoe, admiring the smoke gray double cab 2008 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 that Brendon was riding in. The twenty-eight inch chromed rims glistened under the street light. His ride was sweet and Monty smiled because it felt good to see that his cousin was doing well for himself. He got inside his vehicle. He started the engine and headed over to Rico’s house.
**********
Brendon walked around the building. He was already impressed with the layout. The Rosso Levanto marble floors gave it an elegant, but edgy look. The flooring looked of cracked glass, but it was smooth and all too safe to walk on, heels and all. The Verde Fantastico granite counter top on the bar was beautiful and sleek. Behind the bar were glass shelves where all of the alcohol would go. The mirrored wall was something that captured his attention because it provided the customer with different angles of seeing what was going on around them as well as the bartenders if their backs were turned to the crowd.
The upstairs view was even better because there was a small private bar just like the one downstairs. The kitchen was brand new and immaculate with all the stainless steel appliances ready for use. The huge glass bay window gave him the view of Washington Road and in the distance behind him he could see a small view of the lights of downtown Augusta. It was beautiful to him. It wasn’t a lot but just enough and it felt good to be him at that moment.
He walked over behind the bar and smiled. There was another bottle of Don Perignon Champion unopened and sitting next to two glasses.
“What the hell,” Brendon said. He popped the top on the bottle of Champagne and turned it up. He didn’t need a glass. He was real and very much hood.
He stood leaning over the bar with thoughts of back home on his mind. Over a period of four years he was one of the hottest boys around town. He sold more dope than Van Camp’s produced pork-in beans. He was the shit where he lived. Everybody wanted to be either hanging with him or fucking him. He had three loyal friends; Spook, Kina and Craig who he spent most of his time with.
He thought about Trina who had become his main chick for quite some time then it all ended. He cared for her a lot, but their relationship and being together was a little more complicated than they both imagined it would be.
It had been over six months since he last saw her and a bittersweet moment it was. It was at times hard to not think about her because she helped him through some of his toughest times and no matter what he would always care about her.
She had the deepest hazel colored eyes that he’d ever seen and they would magically turn golden brown when she was annoyed or upset. She fascinated him, she was stacked, and her thick thighs, beautiful smile, and short deep waved hair were just some of her greater assets.
He sighed missing her, but knew that making the move to Augusta was for the best. He had to escape his past. There were things that happened that made him do some dreadful things to the people who caused him to hate them. It was hell getting to where he was, but he fought to make it where he needed to be. He didn’t regret it, but he knew it would come at a price if he stayed any longer to relish in it.
He hated leaving Trina behind, but she had made it clear to him that it was over and she’d moved on when she introduced him to her new boyfriend. Nothing she’d ever done hurt as bad as that. He knew that all the calls, the every now and then sex, or the late night dinner dates were over. Leaving town was the best thing for him and he was certain to be successful so that he would never have to live such a deadly lifestyle ever again.
He was sure that the CSRA housed some beautiful women but he was unsure of how lucky he’d be to find one so soon. He sighed and turned up the Don Perignon again. From the way he was feeling he was liable to drink the whole damn bottle. He remembered that he had to go to Rico’s house or his Aunt Cat would kill him.
“The party will still be going on by the time I make it there.” He said and took another swig from the bottle. In a sense he was celebrating the beginning of a new life and this meant venturing in a whole new direction. One that certainly felt damn good.
Chapter 7
Rico and Mona pulled up to their house. The yellow and white Welcome Home balloons and the pink, It’s a Girl, balloons were tied to their mailbox. The sweet gesture of it all put a smile on Mona’s face.
It was dark outside by now. Prior to them getting there, Rico pretended that they had to stop by Mama Mack’s house because she was having trouble changing the light bulbs in her chandelier. It was too high for her and she didn’t want to fall. Mona knew that this would delay her trip of going straight home because there was no way that she would sit in the car with Caylin and Mama Mack not come outside and make them come in until Rico finished.
No sooner than Rico could pull up inside the garage good, Mama Mack was pulling up in the driveway behind him.
Mona got out of the car and looked over at Rico. “Babe, I understand that your mama loves her granddaughter, but dang… We just left from over her house.” She said making Rico laugh.
“Hush baby and enjoy the moment,” he said. He opened up the back door behind the driver side and unbuckled the seatbelt that kept Caylin secure and in place. “Come on Daddy’s lil angel.”
Mona grinned because Rico’s baby talk tone was very attractive and cute to her. It showed a different side of him that she had already fallen for. He was a great father and she would never take that away from him.
“Are y’all okay?” Mama Mack asked once she was outside of her car.
“Yes Mama, we’re good, but you may as well come through this way since the garage is still up.” Rico said. Mama Mack walked into the garage and followed Rico and Mona inside the house.
; “SURPRISE!” Called out Catherine, Joe, and Dee as they clapped and stood around with smiled on their faces. Mona was surprised. She wasn’t expecting anyone to be inside their house.
Mona smiled then looked over at Catherine. “I knew you were up to something when you said that you weren’t coming to the hospital to see us off.” Mona said.
Catherine smiled. “I was hoping that it wasn’t that obvious, because you know I really wanted to be there today.” “But my son-n-law did a perfect job getting you and Caylin here safely. She hugged Mona. “Tonight will be the real test of being a mom.”
