by Jade Jones
Musiq Soulchild’s “So beautiful” played softly on the bedroom’s stereo system. Cameron hadn’t even started unpacking her clothes, but she made sure the stereo was the first thing she hooked up. The melodies soothed her and kept her mind at ease.
When you're not here…You don't know how much I miss you…
The whole time on my mind…Is how much I'm gonna get to make…
You feel so good...Like you know I could…
Tell me if you feel the same way…
Cameron exited the gallery and went to her contact log. She missed her baby, and she was a little disheartened by the fact that he had yet to call and check on her. She was fighting sleep just to stay awake until he got home.
After locating Jude’s name, Cameron went ahead and reached out to him.
***
Jude sat in Aso’s passenger seat, and his homeboy Vado sat in the back while they cruised through the busy streets of Atlanta.
When he felt his cellphone vibrate in his jeans pocket, Jude pulled it out and scanned the caller ID. A picture of Cameron wearing a pair of dainty sunglasses flashed across the screen. Her beautiful smile warmed Jude’s heart the minute he saw it. Even though the shit he was preparing to do was wrong he felt like it was for the right reasons.
Jude contemplated answering, but he couldn’t afford Cameron fucking up his train of thought. He had to be on his toes tonight in order to make a good first impression with King.
Which color should I press, Jude asked himself. The lime or the red?
Reluctantly, Jude ignored Cameron’s call before replacing his cellphone.
***
Cameron disconnected the call after it sent her to Jude’s voicemail. Defeated, she placed her iPhone on the night table, turned the lights off, and climbed in bed with her son. Before sleep engulfed her she wondered if the move to Atlanta was indeed a good one.
***
Hustle Gang’s “Kemosabe” bumped through the Maserati’s audio system as the three men pulled into Onyx’s strip club. The rows of flashy cars made the gentlemen club’s parking lot look like a showroom.
“I thought we were finna get to business,” Jude spoke up. “Why the hell we at a strip club?”
Vado chuckled in the backseat. “Just watch and learn, young nigga.”
After parking the car, Aso killed the ignition. An Arabic-looking younger guy ran up to the driver’s window. Jude didn’t miss Aso slipping the valet employee three crisp hundred dollars underneath a twenty.
“You and Vado gon’ ‘head,” Aso said. “I’ma give ya’ll a holla when it’s done.”
Jude was confused about everything but he decided to go with the flow. He definitely didn’t have the money to be tipping hoes so he hoped this was all a part of the plan.
When Jude and Vado made it to the line, they were immediately granted access. Apparently, King had a lot of pull around the city. All of his employees were shown love when it came to nightlife.
Jude followed Vado to the bar where they each took a seat on the barstool.
Vado leaned close to Jude so that he could hear him over the loud rap music. “We gon’ have one drink and we each gon’ get a lap dance then we rollin’ out, aight?”
There was a puzzled expression on Jude’s face, but he nodded his head in agreement anyway. “Cool. But what’s Aso doin’ out there?”
“You seen him pass ole boy them Franks?” he asked Jude.
“Yeah.”
“Well, he pretty much paid the dude to slip the Valet ticket off a car’s dashboard to make it look like it’s parked illegally,” Vado explained. “There’s a sneaker tow truck parked around the corner.”
Jude still looked confused. “But I don’t get it,” he said. “Why can’t Aso just use a Slim Jim or some shit?”
Vado laughed heartily. Apparently, he found amusement in Jude’s rhetorical question. “You know how complicated some of these anti-theft systems can be? Nigga, we ain’t swipin’ no bullshit. We only take high-class cars.”
“Can I get you gentlemen anything to drink?” A cute light-skinned bartender asked them.
“Let me get a shot of Patron,” Vado ordered.
The bartender turned towards Jude but he appeared to be out of it. He was still absorbing everything occurring around him. It was all happening so fast.
“Sweetie, can I get you anything?” the bartender repeated.
Jude quickly snapped back to reality. “Yeah, lemme get Crown and Coke.” He never needed a drink so badly.
***
The following morning, Ericka sat inside her car parked a few houses down from Ms. Patterson’s. She was up bright, early, and ready to get into some shit. She hadn’t seen or spoken to Jude’s mother since his brief stay in the hospital, and she wouldn’t be surprised if the feisty older woman hated her guts.
Ericka had his mother’s number programmed in her mental contact list. Staring at the quaint, little cottage home she dialed Ms. Patterson’s number and waited patiently for an answer.
“Hello?” Ms. Patterson said in a muffled tone. It was 8:30 a.m., and she was still in bed.
“Hey! Good morning, Mama Patterson!” Ericka greeted in a syrupy sweet voice.
Ms. Patterson grimaced on the other end of the line. Waking up to Ericka’s voice was the last thing that made a morning good. She would never forget what the young girl did to her son—and with one now deceased—she was twice as protective of her only child.
“What do you want, Ericka?” Ms. Patterson replied smugly. It was way too early for Ericka’s nonsense.
Ericka twirled a tendril of curly hair around her slender finger. “You don’t sound happy to hear from me, Mama.”
Ms. Patterson sat up in bed. “You must think I forgot about the shit you did to my son.”
“That’s water under the bridge now, Ms. Patterson,” Ericka told her. “That’s why I’m calling you. I wanted to apologize and make it up to him. I was wondering if you could tell me where he lives. I’d like to surprise him.” She was talking to his mother like she hadn’t tried to kill him a couple years ago.
There was a brief pause on Ms. Patterson’s end, and for a moment Ericka assumed she’d hung up on her. “Hello? Ms. Patterson?”
“Now you listen and listen good, lil’ girl. If you touch my son you won’t have to worry about the police or going back to jail.” The seriousness of Ms. Patterson’s tone caused the hairs on the back of Ericka’s neck to stand up. “You’ll have to deal with me personally and best believe it won’t be nothing nice.”
Ericka was shocked at hearing Ms. Patterson speak in such a manner. She always seemed so civil and pleasant. Who would’ve known she had a little thug in her. “Is that a threat?” Ericka asked in disbelief.
“No,” Ms. Patterson answered. “It’s a promise.” CLICK!
Ericka pulled her Galaxy S4 away from her ear and stared at it incredulously. For years she wanted nothing more than to be Ms. Patterson’s daughter in law…however, after their conversation, Ericka was on the verge of kicking the woman’s door in.
“No this bitch didn’t,” she said to herself. “I should go in there and smack the fuck out her old ass.”
Ericka pulled the sun visor down and looked at her reflection in the compact mirror. There was so much anger and hatred in her stormy gray eyes, and it didn’t make any sense because she came from a relatively decent home. After smoothing out her wild, curly hair she closed the sun visor.
Ericka’s left hand rested on the door handle. She was tempted to get out and give Ms. Patterson a piece of her mind, but she knew that was the wrong way to go about it.
Changing her mind, Ericka switched the gears to drive and pulled off. Oh, that bitch is gonna get hers. Believe that, she promised herself.
Ericka’s reign of terror had only just begun.
7
“Mornin’ bay,” Jude kissed Cameron’s hair. She sat in a kitchen barstool scrolling down her iPad mini. “What you up to?” he asked, opening the f
ridge.
Cameron didn’t respond as she continued to read through ads.
Jude pulled out a bottle of V8 Splash berry blend and turned to face his woman. “Damn, you ain’t talkin’ to me now?” he asked.
Cameron finally placed the iPad down and looked up. “I wanted to spend my first night here sleeping beside you,” she said. “I didn’t even think you would be out all night like that. I even waited up for you.”
Jude didn’t get in until damn near 5 a.m., and instead of climbing in bed with Cam, he crushed on the sofa. Jude padded over towards her. “My fault babe. I had some business to handle.”
“Business like what?” Cameron asked with much attitude.
“Business,” Jude repeated. He felt she didn’t need to know the details.
“Jude, please tell me whatever you’re doing is legal.”
Jude tilted Cameron’s chin up. “What I tell you yesterday? I told you to trust me. Can you do that?”
“Is it legal?” Cameron pressed.
Jude looked her dead in the eyes and lied when he said, “Yeah, bay. It’s legal.”
Cameron breathed a sigh of relief. “I hope so, Jude. And don’t be lying. I deserve honesty—”
“And you gettin’ that,” Jude reassured her. “It’s legal. I promise.”
“Well, how well does it pay?” Cameron asked. “’Cuz these high ceilings are nice and all, but how the hell does your cousin think we can afford the bills here?”
“I’ma take care of all that,” Jude said nonchalantly. He started to walk off but Cameron grabbed his arm.
“But this ain’t all on you,” she told him. “We’re in a relationship. That means we both have to play our part. I can get a job too.”
“Doing what?” Jude asked.
Cameron hesitated before answering. “I met a girl yesterday who lives a few doors down. She said she dances up at some place called Persuasion,” she spoke hastily. “She said she makes great tips—“
“You don’t know these mothafuckas out here like that to be tryin’ to make friends,” Jude said, slightly aggravated. “And you know how I feel about that strippin’ shit, Cam. I ain’t finna be havin’ no niggas droolin’ all over my fiancé.”
“There’s plenty of dancers who have boyfriends—”
“Well, I ain’t that nigga,” Jude said with finality.
Cameron, however, wouldn’t let up on the subject. “I trust you so you should trust me too,” she said. “I’ve never given you a reason to doubt me, Jude.”
He gave her the side eye. “So I’m supposed to act like the shit with Silk never happened?”
That was a low blow that Cameron wasn’t prepared for. “That doesn’t have anything to do with this and you know it. This is about me doing what I gotta do just like you’re doing. And let’s face it. I make damn good money dancing. We could use that cash—I mean it’s nice here and all—but it’s nothing like having our own,” she said. “It’ll only be temporary until we get on our feet and get our own spot. We’re a family now…we’ve gotta build together. I can’t just sit back and watch you sacrifice. I’m not that type of chick.”
“I know you ain’t,” Jude agreed. “And that’s why I love ya ass…” he paused. “I just feel like…what type of nigga would I be to have you up in these clubs strippin’? You’ve already been through enough in that type of setting—”
“Well, this isn’t Cleveland,” Cameron pointed out. “And I’m not as naïve. I’m older now…smarter…”
Jude mulled over the thought. With him working in the car ring and Cameron dancing, they’d definitely make a quick come up. And he damn sure wasn’t trying to raise Justin in a home that wasn’t his own. “This shit just temporary, aight?”
Cameron smiled. “I would never make it permanent.”
“Cool. We agreed,” Jude said. “Now what you over here doing?” he asked, looking over her shoulder at the iPad mini.
“I’m on Care.com,” Cameron told him. “It’s a sight to find trusted nannies. I figured with the both of us working Justin could use the care and attention.”
“You trust that?” Jude asked suspiciously.
“They have mom-reviewed caregivers,” Cameron assured him. “It’s legit. Trust me.”
“You find anyone that caught ya interest yet?”
Cameron pointed to a picture of a twenty-six year old white woman with dark auburn hair. Her name was Elyse M. and she had ten years of experience.
Jude’s eyes anxiously scanned the provided info. Elyse had First Aid training, she was CPR certified, and even had her own transportation. He frowned the minute he saw her hourly rate. “Ten to fifteen dollars…fuck outta here.”
“I’m sure we could negotiate.”
“Cool. Call her up then.”
***
Cameron ran into Rumor again that afternoon as she was taking empty boxes out. She was letting her dog use the tree for his personal potty and smoking a Newport. Rumor wore a wine colored maxi dress that accentuated every curve on her 5”5 body.
“Miss Cameron!” Rumor called out waving.
Cameron waved back, taking that as an invite to walk over. She was curious about Persuasion.
“It’s a beautiful day today, isn’t it?” Rumor asked. Her breath reeked of liquor but Cameron wasn’t close enough to notice. Rumor woke up drinking and went to bed high. It was the only way she could get through most days after finding out about Calix and her sister.
Cameron shielded the sun with her hand. The hot weather would definitely take some getting used to. “Hot as hell,” she laughed.
Rumor giggled. “Girl, you better get you a sun hat or something. This shit’s nothin’.”
Cameron tried to pretend she didn’t see Rumor’s dog licking his own crotch. “Just asking, is this a safe area?”
Rumor nodded. “Yeah, it’s alright down here. I mean crime is gonna be everywhere but I never had any issues.”
“Oh okay…cool,” Cameron said. “I don’t know why yesterday I thought I heard someone screaming or something. I might’ve just been tripping though.”
Rumor shrugged. “That’s weird. I didn’t hear anything,” she said, knowing damn well it was Calix.
Cameron waved the topic off. “Anyway I was curious about the club you were telling me about yesterday.”
“Oh, Persuasion? It’s cool. Like I said, I make good money.”
“What’s a bad night for you?”
Rumor thought about it. “If I’m on my hustle, I’m walkin’ out that bitch with at least five hundred.”
Cameron nodded her head in approval.
Rumor looked Cameron up and down. “Why?” she asked. “You thinkin’ about coming out of retirement?”
“Maybe…”
A grin tugged at Rumor’s full lips. “Well, I’m going in to work tonight. You can ride with me to check it out if you want.”
***
“What’s up with you, nigga? You over there sittin’ quieter than a mufuckin’ graveyard,” Aso said. He and Jude were riding around looking for a particular vehicle. One of King’s clients had put in a special order for a 2012 Mercedes s550.
Vado was in the backseat, talking on his cellphone in Vietnamese. They figured he was talking to his girl or something so they paid him no mind.
“Man, I told Cameron it was cool for her strip,” Jude said. “What type of fuck nigga shit is that? Who wants their girl up in a club dancin’?”
Aso chuckled. “Nigga, that’s all? Shit, let her get her paper. Hell, that’s more income for ya’ll. And real talk, cuz, you gotta down ass bitch. Boy, you think Lana would ever lift a finger to help a nigga pay some bills?” He shook his head. “Sometimes I wonder why I even deal with that hoe.”
Jude guffawed. “’Cuz you love her ass.”
***
“Oh, shit! Fuck me!” Lana moaned. Her perky breasts bounced up and down as she sat in a baseball-catcher position.
Tank pumped ferociously from underneath her. He use
d her round, fat ass to guide his strokes.
Lana had told Aso she was going to get a mani and pedi with her girls, but instead of treating her feet and hands, she was treating her pussy to nine inches of thick dick.
“Damn, bitch, you got some good ass pussy,” Tank huffed. Beads of sweat rolled off his forehead, and his 8-pack flexed with every stroke he delivered.
Lana reached down and fondled her clit as she bounced up and down on his pole. “I’m about to cum!” she cried out.
“Cum on this dick then,” Tank coached her. “Cum on this shit ‘til you can’t cum no more, baby.”
After Lana finally did, she collapsed on top of his rock hard chest. “All this damn sweat,” she complained before rolling over.
“What can I say? A nigga put in work.”
There was a brief moment of silence between them.
“I really love you, Tank,” Lana said breathlessly.
Tank sighed in irritation before climbing out the bed. “I wish you’d quit sayin’ that shit.” He headed to the bathroom.
Lana quickly climbed out of bed and followed behind. “I can’t help how I feel,” she argued. “And I really wish you felt the same—”
“I can’t do that, Lana—”
“Why not?”
“’Cuz you fuck with my lil’ brother!” Tank rounded on her. “Why the hell else?! And besides, you barely even know me for real. You just sayin’ that crazy shit ‘cuz a nigga make you cum.”
Lana stood in the doorway of the bathroom and watched as Tank washed his hands in the sink.
Tank looked a lot like Aso but was a tad bit darker and much more muscular. His hair was cut so low that the next step would have been bald, but it fit his features nicely. His goatee was trimmed neatly and evenly. A mural of tattoos adorned his entire back and upper chest.
