Deceit, Lies, & Alibi's Trilogy Books 1-3

by Shontaiye

  Eve worried about the possibility of doing time. She wasn’t built for it. Bianca would surely do time unless she found a lawyer that could beat the case since she had so many priors. She was facing five years. Eve felt like her world was caving in and wanted to escape. She thought about how desperately she needed to settle down. She needed to be with Noah now more than ever.

  THIRTEEN

  Shaleea

  Shaleea and Noah walked into the luxurious office of Dr. Davis in Somerset New Jersey. Dr. Davis was one of the best fertility specialists on the East Coast. Shaleea had chosen him months earlier for that reason. He was expensive but Shaleea wanted the best their money could buy.

  After waiting about fifteen minutes, Dr. Davis came out to greet the two and motioned them back to his office. He took a seat behind his large mahogany desk and instructed them to have a seat on the plush leather, guest sofa.

  “Thank you two for coming in today. I know you’re both busy so I’m going to get right down to business. I went over the laparoscopy results from your emergency surgery from Einstein Hospital. Even before the ectopic pregnancy it appears you may have had some blockage. That’s actually probably what caused the pregnancy to get stuck in your tubes. Are you two following me?” Dr. Davis stopped to ensure they understood what he was talking about so they could make the best decision.

  Shaleea glanced at Noah. They both were listening intently and nodded to Dr. Davis to confirm that they did understand.

  “So you have three options. Of course you can opt to do nothing, but you probably will have a very difficult time getting pregnant. Your second option is to have another laparoscopy. This time it would be to remove whatever blockage you have. This won’t guarantee you will have success at conceiving, but it will give you a much better chance. We really won’t know until after the procedure is performed. The final option is for the two of you to choose In-vitro fertilization. That’s basically just taking your egg and his sperm and fertilizing it inside of a laboratory instead of naturally in the body. This is going to give you the best chance of conceiving, but like I said before there are no guarantees. I do want to add that I am good at what I do, so I wouldn’t have accepted you as clients if I didn’t feel like I could help the two of you.”

  Shaleea took a deep breath to absorb all the information in. She looked at Noah again who smiled and calmly replied, “I’m with you no matter what you decide.”

  “I’ll go with the surgery. I want to have my baby naturally. I’m ready when you’re ready.”

  “Great!” Dr. Davis smiled. “I’ll have my assistant schedule you for a date now or have her call you to find out what’s best for you.”

  “Excellent. We can do the latter since I am going to have to tie up some loose ends and go over my schedule,” Shaleea stated.

  “Will do. I’ll have Natalie contact you in a few days.”

  Noah and Shaleea thanked the doctor and headed home. They were both happy with the choice she had made. Noah supported her either way she choose. He just wanted a baby. It had been settled. In-vitro would be their last resort.

  <><><>

  Noah

  Noah and Mann walked into the crowded bar on 8th and Venango to meet Hakim. Summer was over and it was now October, but that didn’t stop the hoes from coming out half naked seeking attention.

  Hakim loved to frequent the bars in North Philly. He was a hood nigga at heart, no matter how much money he got. He truly enjoyed the shine and attention that having money got him in the hood. He could practically pull any chick in North Philly and he could see the hate and envy in niggas eyes when he came through.

  Noah and Mann scanned the busy bar for several minutes before they spotted Hakim near the back. They could tell he had been drinking by his glossy eyes and relaxed demeanor. Noah expected him to be “on” since it was Friday night.

  “Sup Hak! What you drinking on that got you on ya zombie shit?” Noah asked, while grinning. He reached his hand out to give his friend a pound.

  “Henny of course. You know how a nigga do. Sup Mann.”

  “Sup Bull,” Mann replied halfheartedly. The truth was Mann didn’t care a whole lot for Hakim. He felt he was arrogant and reckless. He dealt with him on the strength of Noah but would have never befriended him had that not been the case. Mann was an opportunist and right now it just made sense to suppress his true feelings. Mann had a major plan on his agenda. It was only at its beginning stages but once it went through, he would be straight financially.

  The men inhaled the smell of weed smoke that permeated the air while they snacked on fried shrimp and shots of Henny. They killed several hours just laughing and joking. However, they never noticed the two men dressed in all black sitting at a corner table. They were watching the trio, well watching one person in particular,…waiting for the right time to make their move.

  <><><>

  Noah drove down Roosevelt Blvd on his way to see Eve at her hotel. She had been calling him non-stop and he finally agreed to meet her. He didn’t really care what she had to say. He was feeling nice off the Henny he had drank earlier and he just wanted some head.

  Six weeks had passed since he and Shaleea had met with the doctor, and she had finally underwent surgery a week ago. She was still recovering from the small incisions from the laparoscopy so they weren’t able to be intimate. He needed to release some tension and he was going to do just that, right down Eve’s throat.

  He pulled up to The Roosevelt Inn and parked in the rear of the building where it was dark. After calling her and letting her know he was there, he reached into his glove compartment and pulled out a blunt that was already rolled to perfection. Now he would bless his lungs with the premium grade marijuana.

  His windows were darkly tinted so he wasn’t worried about being seen by any nosey ass people. What the fuck is taking this bitch so long? Noah thought to himself after waiting for Eve for five minutes. He didn’t have all night to be tied up with her ass. The most time he was going to kill with her was an hour, then he would be headed the hell home. As soon as he pulled out his phone to call her back, he saw her walking from the front towards his truck. He clicked the lock to let her in. She climbed into the large truck and immediately adjusted her seat to get more comfortable.

  “Hey babe,” Eve purred, greeting Noah.

  “Sup. You look nice,” Noah lied. If nice was looking like a street whore, then it would’ve been the truth. She always tried to dress sexy, but it always ended up looking trashy. Despite her attire, he was still slightly intrigued by her.

  “Thanks.” She smiled, and asked, “How come you couldn’t come up? You busy or sumn?

  “Kinda. I gotta make some runs but wanted to see you. Plus I’ve been a little stressed and wanted to see if you could help me with that.”

  Eve’s heart dropped. She knew what Noah wanted. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being used. He hadn’t been answering her calls and all of a sudden he responds talking about letting the past rest and moving forward.

  Of course he agreed to see her with the stipulations that she chill out and play her position. She didn’t like it one bit, but no matter what he said to her and how he treated her she loved Noah and wanted to make him happy; even if that meant playing his uncompensated and unappreciated “side bitch.” She would play it to perfection.

  She’d remain sweet for now, and then she’d pull out her bitch card. I’m gonna put the “bitch” in “side bitch,” she thought. In the end she had a goal; to get Noah and take everything his bitch had with him. She didn’t care how dirty she had to get.

  “Of course babe,” she responded.

  “Can you get him up first?” Noah asked. He had no intention of fucking her in his truck but he didn’t want to just be flat out rude asking for head only. He didn’t wait for her to respond. He unbuckled his pants and pulled out all nine inches of his caramel colored dick. He reclined his seat back and reached over to her and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards him. He lifted up
her shirt exposing her breast and played with her nipple while she began to go to work on him.

  Five minutes later he came in Eve’s mouth and she slurped and swallowed every bit. He noticed she had a little attitude as he buckled his pants back up and adjusted his clothing. He figured she was mad because he wasn’t going to fuck her. Of course she didn’t speak out on it but he didn’t care one way or another.

  “Damn you drained a nigga. I’m gon come by tomorrow and tear ya lil ass up.” Noah was lying, but it seemed like the right thing to say at the moment.

  “Okay babe. I’m going to call you later. I got some business to handle anyway.” She had been working a lot more since getting Bianca out. Money was tight and the bills didn’t stop.

  Noah couldn’t imagine what type of business she had to handle unless she meant dancing at some hole in the wall ass strip club. He never really got into her work but she always seemed to be claiming she was busy.

  “Yeah ok. Cool.” Noah unlocked the door so she could exit. Once she was out, he immediately started his truck up and pulled out the parking lot. His destination was home. Eve watched the truck drive away and shook her head. He hadn’t even waited for her to get back in the building.

  Noah arrived home in thirty-five minutes. It had taken him longer than normal since it was Friday night and many people were heading out for the night. He parked his truck, locked his doors and headed into the house. After throwing his keys on the kitchen counter he walked into the living room to find Heaven still up lying on the floor giggling to SpongeBob.

  “Hey dooka butt,” Noah said, greeting Heaven with a nickname he called her sometimes.

  “Hey Noah!” Heaven replied, smiling brightly.

  “You wanna watch SpongeBob with me?” she asked.

  “No thanks. I’m kind of tired. Besides you have it up loud enough for the neighbors to hear it with you. And where’s your mom?”

  “It’s not up loud, and my mommy’s in the room sleeping. My auntie Shanita came by with some food. So my mommy ate and fell asleep. Her tummy doesn’t hurt as bad anymore but she said she still wanted to get some more sleep.”

  “Ok dooka. I’ma go check on her. Turn that TV down some tho so you won’t wake her.”

  “Ok.”

  Noah left Heaven in the living room and went to check on Shaleea. When he reached the room he was surprised to see her up on her laptop.

  “Hey Leea. How you feelin?”

  “Hey Pooh. I’m doing a lot better. Up workin. Handling payroll for the end of the week. Did you stop by the laundromats today?”

  “Yeah of course. Just like you asked me.”

  “Good. I want to make sure we’re not running low on cleaning supplies or sales items for the customers. I contacted Mitchell’s, the cash collecting company, and they already picked up all the money from all four locations and deposited it into the account. I just have to write them out their monthly check—”

  “Yooo! I got this,” Noah replied, cutting Shaleea off. “Damn, what you don’t trust ya man to handle shit,” he joked.

  “Yeah of course I trust you, but I’m just used to running things. Just following up is all. This is our business so I want to make sure everything is handled professionally and nothing is left undone… Honestly since I’ve been out, I’ve been thinking that I don’t really need to go in every day. A lot of this I can do right from a remote location off my computer. That will give me a lot more time to start working on some other projects. And in the event that I get too busy or it becomes overwhelming I can always promote Susan. She’s been with us since day one and can do just about everything I can do.”

  Noah smiled. That was his girl. She was always thinking business. Running the laundromats was becoming too easy for her and she needed a new project to challenge herself. For the most part the laundromat’s just needed to be functioning, stocked with supplies and cleaned. She could handle the payroll, manage the money, order materials, and pay expenses right from home.

  The only thing she needed to be there for was when they delivered merchandise such as cleaning supplies, and miscellaneous items such as detergent and fabric softener that they resold to customers for convenience. Truthfully she really didn’t need to be there for that either, she just liked dealing with vendors directly.

  “No doubt. You know I got you and if you need more cash just say the word.”

  Shaleea smiled knowing she could always depend on Noah for his support.

  “Listen I’m bout to go shower, and then I’m gon order some Chinese food and we can watch a movie or sumn.”

  “Aww Pooh wants to cuddle.” Shaleea made fun of Noah and his ways of being affectionate.

  Noah laughed and went on to take his shower. He did a lot of dumb shit in his life but he really was happy with Shaleea. She was his better half and he didn’t want to be without her. She made him laugh, cry, and feel. Unfortunately like any other man, that wasn’t always enough to make them do right, and make the correct decisions.

  FOURTEEN

  Mann

  Mann double parked his newly purchased all black, Dodge Charger in front of a Chinese store on Allegheny Ave. It was his first car, and although it wasn’t a Mercedes or Lexus it was new to him, and it was all his because he paid cash for it. Mann was moving up quite nicely in the drug game and had his sights set on larger fortunes. Unfortunately Mann knew that with big money, came big risks.

  After exiting the store with a bag of chicken wings, rice and gravy, Mann hopped in his car and called his Jamaican connect Dodda. Dodda was a heavy cocaine and weed pusher in New York and probably had saw millions of dollars from the drug game. However he was careless, and careless niggas eventually became dead niggas.

  Dodda lived in Harlem with his wife and son. It never made sense to Mann why he chose to stay close by his old hood when he was getting so much money. Although times had changed and there were beautiful, expensive parts of Harlem, it still was too risky. Had it been him, he’d have his wife and child safe in the tuck way out in New Jersey or maybe even Delaware. To him, no value could be placed on family.

  In addition, Mann believed he kept all of his money and drugs right in the Harlem brownstone he shared with his family. Every time Mann was ready to pick up an order he was always instructed to meet Dodda at a ran down crib in Harlem. He would take the money and then go get the drugs. While he waited, Dodda left his two Jamaican-goon cousins to act as security. He always left and came back with the product within 30 minutes, leading Mann to believe Dodda kept the drugs close by at his home. It never made sense to Mann why he would keep drugs in his house. All of his prized possessions were in one spot. Because of this he was vulnerable. All a nigga needed to do was grab Dodda and get in that house. And that’s exactly what Mann planned to do.

  Mann made arrangements to pick up his next order in two days. That would give him plenty of time to gather all the money and get to NY. Mann had been stacking and saving his profits nicely. So far his largest purchase had been his car. He had bought it for 13Gs, a price he would have balked at just a year earlier.

  Mann was very careful about spending his money. He spent most of his life poor and never wanted to see those days again. He hated when niggas told stories about how much money they were getting back in the day and didn’t have shit to show for it now. He couldn’t stand that once upon a time bullshit. He preferred to associate with “now niggas;” niggas who was getting money now. Mann was all about the come up. For that reason he was big on stacking and eventually investing.

  His next big purchase would be a town house he was eying in the county. Noah had told him Shaleea knew a shady banker she could hook him up with to get a mortgage on a house with no paystubs. He hoped to persuade his grandma to move out there with him. He didn’t want her in the city anymore, especially since he was beginning to get a lot of money and was about to do some major dirt. She would be safer and more comfortable in the county anyway, he thought. There he would hire a Nurse’s Aide to sit with
her daily since she was getting older and was having trouble getting around. He knew his hardest task would be to get her to move. She had grown attached to the North Philly neighborhood she had lived in her entire life. However, he refused to take no for an answer.

  Mann made his rounds picking up money from different people. As he did this his phone began to ring. He retrieved his Galaxy phone from the seat and saw that it was Noah calling. Probably just checking in. He answered the phone and hit the speaker button.

  “Sup Noah,” Mann yelled to ensure Noah could hear him.

  “Sup Bull. Just checking on everything. How’s that money looking?” he asked in good faith.

  “Everything looks good. It’s all there. No shorts. Actually I just got off the phone with Dod—-I mean the connect, and he said I could come scoop that up in 2 days. So, I’ma bring you ya cut and the rest I’ma use to grab the new order.”

  “Sounds good. Just swing by the crib later nigga.”

  “Aight. Later.”

  Mann hung up the phone and cursed himself for almost using Dodda’s name. Although Noah didn’t care to be involved heavily in the weed activity, he was still very observant. He had slipped up and used Dodda’s name before and he was sure Noah never forgot it. That could work against him later.

  He didn’t believe that Noah would rat him out or anything, but it all came down to how his character was perceived. Truthfully he didn’t give a fuck in the long haul, but for now he needed to stay in Noah’s pocket’s until he no longer needed to be. Although Noah robbed he never came disguised as a friend or a wolf in sheep’s clothing, which is exactly what Mann was planning to do with Dodda.

  Mann continued his rounds. When he was finished he called his little cousin Zeke to update him on their upcoming caper. Zeke was only 25, five years younger than Mann but they were close like brothers. He had just came home from doing a bid out in Pittsburgh and wanted to get some money. Although Mann was moving plenty weed out in Philly he didn’t really want to put Zeke on that. Zeke wasn’t a good hustler and his multiple stints in jail proved that.