“But I don’t need you to take care of me. I have to take care of myself.”
“Fine. By all means do so. But not as some apprentice at my hotel.”
“Okay,” she said as she stood up and began walking toward the bathroom. “I’ll just have to find somewhere else.”
Reno slipped on his pants and caught her by the arm as she was about to pass by. “Wait,” he said. “What you mean you’ll find somewhere else?”
“I will find somewhere else to work, that’s what I mean. You’re firing me, that’s what you’re saying when you say I can’t work here anymore. So I said okay. I’ll look around, put in some applications. Maybe even get my old job back.”
“Your old job? At that strip joint? What I look like to you, Tree? I look like a fool to you? I look like a man who’s gonna have his wife, his wife, working in some strip joint?”
“I wasn’t a stripper.”
“I don’t care if you was the gotdamn owner, you working there ain’t happening!”
Trina stared at Reno. She knew she was in for a battle, but nothing like this. “I want to work, Reno,” she said. “I can’t just sit around twirling my thumbs, I’m not built like that and I don’t wanna do that. I have to work.”
Reno studied his wife. She’d been taking care of herself so long that she wouldn’t begin to know how to bend to somebody else’s will. He understood that. He didn’t like it, but he understood it. And the idea of her working outside of the PaLargio, away from his people, away from his watchful eyes, was out of the question right now. “Okay, you win,” he said with a reluctance she knew not to push.
“Thanks, Reno,” she said with a smile, hugging him. Then she looked at him. “So what club do I get?” she asked.
“What?” he replied, puzzled.
“You’re making me a manager now, right?”
“A manager? A manager my foot. What you think the PaLargio is? Some Ma and Pop grocery store? You learn how to work the cash register and now you’re the manager? You just got here, you ain’t ready to be no manager.”
“But you said no wife of yours was going to work as an apprentice.”
“Yeah, but that was before you strong-armed me.”
“Me? Strong-armed you?”
“A strong-arm robbery in broad daylight just as sure as I’m standing here.”
Trina smiled. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack, sister.”
“And what was I supposed to have taken in this robbery, Reno, tell me that. What was I supposed to have taken?”
Reno stopped smiling. Exhaled. “My heart,” he said with all sincerity, and Trina’s melted.
And she fell, once again, into his arms.
SEVEN
Lee Jones smiled when he saw Trina walk through the doors of the Taffeta Lounge, the PaLargio’s grandest club and the one he managed. He was seated at the bar going over receipts.
“Hey there, Lee, what’s up?” Trina said jovially as she sat down on the stool beside him. She was dressed very casually, he noticed, in a bright blue paisley chiffon dress with short, flutter sleeves and a wide scooped neckline. Her shoes, blue and white slipper shoes, were also casual. But she looked radiant, he thought.
“So he let you out of the penthouse,” Lee said purposely derisively and Trina hit him playfully on his arm. He smiled. “So what’s up with you?”
“Just wanted to let you know that I’m back,” Trina said. “I’ll be back on the job tonight.”
“Really?” He looked at her. “And Reno knows this?”
“Of course Reno knows.”
“And he approves?”
“Yes, he approves, dang, Lee, you act like you’re surprised.”
“I am.”
Trina looked at him. He was a tall, good looking brother with a small afro, bright eyes, and a sensuality that kept him a favorite among the females. He also was a favorite of Reno’s, a man who knew Reno better than most of the other staff. “You heard about all the craziness that’s been going on?”
He nodded. “I’ve heard.”
“Reno won’t admit it, but there’s a mob war going on, isn’t it, Lee?”
“I don’t know about any mob war, but it’s tough out there. Reno’s enemies made a crucial mistake.”
Trina looked at him. “What mistake?”
“They went after you.”
Trina nodded. “Reno says he can’t let them get away with that.”
“Damn straight.”
“But it’ll never end if he hits back.”
“Oh, it’ll end. They started it when they killed his father and brother. But he’ll end it, don’t you worry about that. But he has to hit back, Trina, no question. He has to. They went after his wife. What do you expect him to do?”
“Yeah, that’s what he’s always saying.” Then she tried to smile, to forget all of the craziness that now defined her life. “What time does Jazz get in?” she asked.
“Jazz?”
“Yeah. My friend. Your apprentice, remember? I tried her cell, but it’s apparently been disconnected.”
“Didn’t she tell you?”
“I haven’t spoken to her since I’ve been back. I’ve been meaning to come down to see her, but I was afraid if I came down I wouldn’t want to go back up. Nuts, right? But where is she? What’s going on?”
“I had to fire her.”
Trina was stunned. “Fire her? But why, Lee?”
“She slept with a patron.”
Trina frowned. “What do you mean?”
“She slept with one of my customers who happened to be staying here at the PaLargio. He was here on a business trip. She slept with the guy upstairs, in one of our hotel rooms.”
Trina could hardly believe Jazz could be that dumb. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. One of the housekeeping staff saw them go into the room.”
“While she was on duty?”
“Yup. And even if she was on break it would still have been against the rules, Trina. I mean, a maid saw her going into some room with some dude. How tacky is that? She recognized Jazz as one of our employees, so she reported it. I had no choice, Trina. Reno doesn’t play that.”
Trina nodded. She understood why she was fired. What she couldn’t understand, however, was why Jazz would jeopardize so much, why she would throw away the best chance she was ever likely to get for a quickie with some stranger passing through. It was so unlike Jazz and unfortunately, Trina thought as she excused herself and left the Taffeta, exactly like Jazz.
***
She knew Reno wouldn’t approve, and she knew she’d be late for her first night back at work herself, but she got into her Honda Civic and drove across town to Jazz’s place. When there was no response, she drove even further north to Jazz’s old man Nathan’s place. Nobody was there either. So she drove over to Boyzie’s.
It was still early for Boyzie’s, as only a handful of customers were in the place, with most of them drinking at the bar. Trina remembered well her days as a waitress there, and spoke to the few staff on duty, taking in stride their jokes about how she made it out of the gutter, as she made her way to Jazz.
Jazz was seated at a back booth laughing with Willie, one of the waiters, when Trina walked up. Jazz looked at Trina’s chiffon dress first, and then at her big, Gucci handbag, at that diamond ring on her finger, and rolled her eyes. “What are you doing here?” she asked her old friend.
Trina was surprised by her venom, what had she done to her? But she decided to ignore it, decided to chuck it up to the fact that nobody was in a good mood after getting fired. “Hey, Will, what’s up?” Trina said.
“You apparently,” Willie said, standing. “Everybody ain’t able to be working at no PaLargio, no they ain’t.”
“Depends on who you sleep with, Will,” Jazz said as she sipped from her glass of beer. “I slept with a regular old businessman and got dumped. Trina sleeps with the owner, and gets free nights in the penthouse.”
“
Don’t mind her, Tree,” Willie said as he began to leave, “she’s just a bitter old maid.”
“Who you calling old?” Jazz yelled as he left. Only she did look older, Trina thought as she slid onto the booth bench across from her.
“I don’t recall giving you permission to sit down,” Jazz said.
Trina stared at her friend, her hazel eyes narrowing as she studied her. “What’s the matter with you?” she asked her.
“What you think, Tree? They fired me and you didn’t do a damn thing about it.”
“Me?”
“Yeah you!”
“I was in the hospital, Jazz,” Trina said, amazed. “I was nearly killed! I’m sorry if you and your apprenticeship wasn’t something that I was thinking about at the time.”
Jazz closed her eyes, leaned back. Exhaled. “I’m sorry, girl, I hear ya’. I’m just bitter like Willie said.” Then she looked at Trina for the first time. “How you doing anyway?”
Trina leaned back too. “I’m doing,” she said with a weak smile.
“They said you wasn’t badly hurt. I tried to call your cell, but I figured it burned up in the fire.”
“I lost it anyway. And I wasn’t badly hurt. My mother, on the other hand--”
“But she’s okay now, right?”
“She’ll live, but she’s still in the hospital. They plan to move her to a burn center. I would go down there, but Reno and my father doesn’t think it’s a good idea.”
“But what happened? Folks at the PaLargio said it was just a house fire, that a stove exploded or something.”
“That’s what Reno’s people are telling everybody, but it was more than that.”
Jazz looked at Trina. “Intentional you mean?”
Trina nodded. “Yep. That’s why they’re keeping me away from there. They believe some enemies of Reno’s caused the explosion.”
“Dang, Tree,” Jazz said, a look of concern piercing her face. “And you can handle that?”
“Not really, no,” Trina said, a worried look overtaking her. “But I have to.”
“You don’t have to do a damn thing. You’re a grown-ass woman. You can still get out. I haven’t told anybody, you know.”
Trina frowned. “Still get out? And what haven’t you told?”
“About your marriage to Mr. Gabrini. I haven’t told a soul. You can still get out.”
Still get out? Was she kidding? She made leaving Reno sound like it would be as simple as getting up and going. And yeah, she’d go all right, but with her heart, her very reason for living, left behind. “What makes you think I wanna get out?”
“Oh,” Jazz said with a smile, leaning her back to the wall and placing her legs up on the booth seat, “excuse me. I thought mob hits and firebombs would scare the shit out of you and you would want out. But I guess not. I guess his dick that thick and rich, hun?”
Trina wasn’t about to discuss Reno’s dick with her or anybody else. “It’s not easy, Jazz, I’m not trying to say it’s easy. But I knew going in that being married to Reno wasn’t going to be easy. What I’ve concluded, thought, is that it’s still worth it; that even if I had a wonderful man who could give me an easy ride, he still wouldn’t be a third of the man Reno is. Nobody can touch Reno. Nobody.”
Jazz smiled. And tried again. “I heard he was good in bed, but damn. He’s that good?”
“It’s not that. Not by a long shot. It’s him. Reno. He’s just special, that’s all. He’s good. I feel a connection to him that I’ve never felt to another human being ever, not even to my own parents. It’s weird.”
“I’m sayin’,” Jazz said.
Trina looked at her. “What’s up with Nathan?” she asked. “I went by his place, but he wasn’t home.”
“He’s probably at work.”
“So what’s up with you two? How are you two getting along?” And how, Trina also wanted to ask, could you sleep with another man with a good man like Nat in your corner?
A cloudy look washed over Jazz’s face. “I dumped him,” she said. “He’s too slow for me, Tree, too tired and simple. I mean I saw it. I saw all of those bougie dudes coming in and out of the PaLargio, strapping black businessmen, gorgeous as all get out, and they were hitting on me. All the time. They really wanted me. I said bump it man, I can have me a classy dude too.”
Trina stared at Jazz. “Nathan is classy.”
“Nathan is a construction worker, okay?”
Trina frowned. “What does his job title have to do with it?”
“Yeah, that’s easy for you to say, Mrs. Rich Man Wife. I was tired of struggling, okay, just like you was tired. And I just couldn’t see Nate doing any better than he was already doing. I couldn’t see him as my man anymore. But it’s over now anyway. He wouldn’t want me back even if I begged him. Which I have.” She drank more beer.
“What about the dude you slept with?” Trina asked her.
Jazz sat her glass back down on the table. “He was staying there for a week, and every single night we hooked up in his hotel room. That’s why I dumped Nate, because of Mr. Smooth. And he was smooth, Tree, let me tell you. He talked all that big talk to me, got me in bed, sexed me up better than I’d been sexed up in my life. Then, on the night before his check out, he walked right pass me, with another woman on his arms mind you, like he didn’t know I existed.” She smiled. “And my stupid ass actually thought he wanted me. He wanted to fuck me, yeah, but I thought that my expertise in bed would be the icing on the cake. When there was no cake. Just icing.”
Jazz frowned as regret overtook her. “And I dumped a good, decent, hardworking man for an illusion. For something I’ll never have.” She looked at Trina. “I was so jealous of you, Tree. It was like you didn’t have to jump through any hoops or do any of the crazy shit I was trying to do to get you a dream man. And I hated you for it. For a minute, anyway.” She said this with a smile. Trina smiled too, but only mildly. “And then I got fired.”
Trina hesitated. “I’ll talk to Reno,” she said and Jazz’s eyes shot up at her.
“You will?”
“Of course I will.”
“But Lee said to forget ever thinking about returning to the PaLargio. I asked him. I begged him. He said Mr. Gabrini didn’t play that.”
“He doesn’t. And when you return Jazz you have got to understand that he doesn’t, that no big business like the PaLargio is going to allow management, even apprentices, to sleep with the hotel guests. You just can’t do that.”
“Well if it’s such a major crime,” Jazz said defensively, “why you gonna try to get my job back?”
“Because you deserve a second chance,” Trina said. “Because you and me and people like us don’t know shit about places like the PaLargio and the kind of people they serve, so hell yeah we’ll mess up before we get it right.”
“You haven’t messed up.”
MOB BOSS 2 Page 7
