by Shan
You can't trust them fuck ass police, E. Nine times out of ten, one of them niggas is playing for the other side. Tamar probably got some of them muthafuckas on payroll. Hell if he were smart then he would have them on payroll."
I was so fuckin' angry with Erica that I just stood up to leave. I didn't even say goodbye. I didn't hang the phone up. I dropped it and got up and left. How could she be so fuckin' stupid?
I had come here to let her know that I would make sure her books stayed fed and that I would be sure to send her letter, cards, and frequent pictures of our daughter when she arrived.
Now I didn’t know how to fuck to feel about her. Not only had she put her life and our daughter's life in danger, but she had put mine and Justice's life in danger, as well.
***
"What's up bruh? Did you bring me something to eat? I'm starvin' up in here," Justice said as he rubbed his stomach.
He was lying across the couch with his feet propped up on the arm of it. I didn't say anything to him and only took a seat on the loveseat and blew out a frustrated sigh.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Just came from seeing E," I told him, and he was quiet as he always was whenever her name came up.
I guess he knew that saying something about her or me continuing to fuck with her wasn't going to help the situation. Unlike Passion, Justice kept his ill thoughts to himself.
What was understood didn't need to be explained. I knew he felt some type of way about her just like he knew that Erica harbored them same feelings towards him. Why discuss it when they would feel the same way in the end?
"She told the police about your involvement in DeAngelo's murder, but claimed they wasn't listening to her until Tamar's name came up. Apparently he's on the FBI's list of targets. So any time his name comes up everybody all of a sudden seems interested."
"Damn, so your ol' lady snitching on Tamar now too? The fuck she know about him?" Justice asked with his brows furrowed.
He knew like I knew that I had fucked up. A few times I'd lay up pillow talking with E about everything that Tamar did and everything that he had me doing. She'd been in the room when I conducted business with a few people, and she knew where a couple of trap houses was located. I didn't feel as though; she knew enough info to bring him down, but no one would care; snitching was snitching.
Tamar damn sure wouldn't care if it were enough or not. The only thing that mattered was the fact that she'd opened her mouth which is why she was already receiving death threats. I had to figure something out. I knew going to Tamar was pointless, and my best bet was to figure out a way to keep the heat off of Erica, as well as me and Justice.
"So, what you gonna do about that situation, bruh? And have you heard from that nigga Tae yet? I've been trying to hit him up and check up on his health, but I ain't been getting an answer."
"Nah, I ain't talked to him, and Black ain't really giving out no info, so I don't know what's going on."
"Damn, do you think that nigga dead fam?"
"I hope so," I mumbled and shook my head. Tamar being dead would solve my problems now that I think about it. After this shit, I already knew he wasn't going to fuck with me anymore on the business tip. Erica had fucked that up and I knew it wasn't shit I could do to come back from that.
"What you say, bruh?"
Just as I went to tell Justice to ignore my statement, my phone rang with a number that I didn't recognize. I pressed down on the talk button and brought the phone up to my ear.
"Yea," I answered.
My eyes perked open as the caller told me who she was. It was Tamar's wife, Rozalyn, and she wanted to speak with me about some business.
Hmm, maybe he was putting all the personal things to the side and wanted to continue getting this money.
Chapter 6
Latoya
I gotta be the one he love
I gotta be the one you touch
Baby, I gotta be the one you love
I gotta be the one you feel
And I gotta be the one to fill your life with sunshine
~Jagged Edge~
I stood in the waiting area of Levi & Portman with my arms tucked over my chest. I'd been waiting for a little over twenty minutes, and nervousness was beginning to set in.
Mr. Portman's assistant called me late last night to say that Mr. Portman wanted to see me in his office at 8 a.m. I hadn't expected to hear from him so suddenly since I retained his services only days earlier.
All the other lawyers that I retained had taken their sweet precious time on looking into Taron's case that it took me chasing their asses down and cussing them out before I got some type of response from them.
Mr. Portman was making me happy already. Maybe it had been the constant flirting that we'd done through text message and over the phone or maybe it was the fact that he was working his way toward taking me out to dinner. Either way it didn't matter. Whatever got his ass moving outside of my funds, was making me one happy lady.
I began to pace back and forth across the office space when I noticed that it was just under thirty minutes that I had been waiting. The queasiness in my stomach was causing me to feel a little dizzy, and that alone was starting to upset me. I had gotten here a few minutes before my appointment, so I didn’t know what the hell was taking him so long to see me. I was so eager to see what news he had for me.
Just as I made my way up to the receptionist desk, I spotted Mr. Portman walking down the hall while he adjusted his tie. His stare was to the ground, so he did not see me at first, but once he noticed me standing impatiently, he shot me a nervous smile.
"I am so sorry about the hold up, Ms. Latoya. I was on the phone with one of my contacts down at the Bureau. And I got some kind of stomach bug that's got me a little down this morning. But anyway, how are you beautiful?"
"I'm great. Just wondering what's going on. I've been on pins wondering what that call was about last night."
"Well I was able to get a bail hearing for Taron set for tomorrow morning at 10. I am not sure if they will set bail or if they will deny it, but they finally have him logged into their system for Felony Money Laundering charges and fraud."
"Okay, so this is good right?" I asked not knowing what to think.
Taron had been sitting on federal hold without so much as a reason to why he was there. The fucked up thing about the government was that they could hold your ass for as long as they wanted just on a damn suspicion if they wanted.
"Well it means that at least we know he's not just sitting there without an end in sight. He could possibly come home if granted bail and if you or someone is able to post it," Mr. Portman told me.
I placed my hand over my stomach and blew out a sigh. I sort of felt excited about what was to come tomorrow. I had a good feeling about this and hoped that his bail would be granted. I didn't care what the cost of it was. I was going to pay it.
Taron needed to be home with his family, and I was going to do what I had to do to make sure that happened. In the end, he would see that I was the woman for him. I had to be the one he loved after this. There should be no more thoughts about Journey, and she should no longer want to throw it in my face.
"I feel good about this. Thank you so much, Mr. Portman. I might just go on that dinner date with you after all."
Mr. Portman laughed, "Don't get me excited now. I'll come through and pick you up tonight."
"How about you do that. I think you have my address on the paperwork I filled out the last time I was here. I'll be ready at 8," I smiled.
I felt that he needed to be rewarded for this. Nobody had been able to get Taron a bail hearing and here we were only days after I hired him with the possibility that Taron would be coming home tomorrow. Dinner was nothing but a way to show my appreciation.
"Okay, I'll see you tonight beautiful."
***
Last night's dinner with Mr. Portman was perfect. If I hadn't had my mind on making things work with Taron then, he would be a grea
t candidate for me. He was somewhat older than me, but it was very hard to tell that by his personality.
The man had me laughing and smiling the whole night even after I left him and went home to Keymani. I had even thought about him while I took a hot shower to rid myself of the sexual thoughts that were on my mind.
Mr. Portman was a well-educated, sexy man, and he had his own damn money—that turned me on the max. He knew that I had a daughter and a child on the way, and I explained to him the relationship between Taron and me.
The plus side of things was that he was willing to wait on the side if things didn't work it. I didn't know for how long, but that I could fuck with.
Only time would tell if I ever needed to call him as back up. This morning in court, the judge granted Taron bail of two million dollars. I had to post ten percent of that and sign papers that stated that I would be responsible for the remaining amount if he fled or if they had to provoke his bail for any other reason.
I didn't care. I paid the money to them and signed the papers with pride. Couldn't wait to see his face, wrap my arms around him, and let him know how much I missed him.
I had already planned to make one of his favorite meals in the instance that he came home. One thing I knew that Taron loved was a good home cooked meal. That boy loved to eat and when I couldn't get to his heart any other kind of way, my cooking always could.
As I waited outside in my car, I thought about everything that I was going to say to Taron. Most of it was things that I'd already told him while he had been away, but I did want to reiterate the fact that I was more than apologetic for taunting Journey in the way that I did.
Obviously she had been sick and depressed before I came around, but I had only added to her problems. I should've been more of a woman and recognized that I was sleeping with her man and then I should've thought about how I would feel if I was unable to have kids.
Keymani was my everything, and I couldn't imagine life without her. Journey had to be hurting deeply, and it was so fuckin' childish of me to play on that girl's inabilities like that. I wasn't that kind of woman, and no matter what anyone thought about me— I was better than that. I was deeply regretful.
I had gotten so deep into my thoughts that I hadn't realized that tears were rolling down my face and that Taron had exited the building. I saw him coming towards the car and rushed to dry my face with the back of my hand.
Checking my face in the rearview mirror, I ensured that there was no longer any evidence of my tears. I cranked the car up, unlocked the doors, and smiled when Taron opened the door and sat down inside.
"Hey!." I said with so much excitement in my voice that I think it scared him.
"What's up girl? Damn, you had just told me about this cat you hired the other day when I called to talk to Keymani. Dude ain't playing around, huh?" Taron said as he looked over at me.
"Nah, he got right to work and I can appreciate that shit very much. So far he is worth every damn penny."
"Toya I'm a pay you back on all of that. I sure do appreciate you for looking out for me."
"I didn't do this for you to pay me back. I did it because you needed to be home. You didn't belong in there, and if I had to spend every dollar I had, then I would've."
Taron quickly looked away from me and out of the window. I pulled out of the parking spot and exited out of the lot, headed to my home. I didn't even ask Taron if that was where he wanted to go, but he had lost his house from not making the payments on it and I had purposely ignored the fact that he was behind.
Call me desperate and crazy, but I wanted to make sure that when he did come home to me and Keymani—that he literally came home to me and Keymani.
"I still can't believe that my brother fuckin' abandoned a nigga like that without first hearing me out. I would've never done him like that."
"Well you know how Tamar is. He so fuckin' stubborn. I tried calling him a few times when you'd first went in to see if I could at least talk to his lawyers and let them know that I was going to pay from my pocket, but he never responded.
When I finally got in contact with them, they ignored me too and found out it was because he had told his lawyers to pretty much blackball you from their services period. Anyhow after continuously being ignored by him, I called up Rozalyn and she told me that—and I didn't tell you this while you were locked up because I didn't want you stressing—"
"Tell me what?" Taron asked seriously as he stared at the side of my face.
I made a quick left at the light and took in a deep breath. Rozalyn had told me about Tamar being brutally stabbed and shot. She said that he was supposedly okay, but she wasn't so sure because she hadn't talked to him personally.
She told me how his dude Black was the communication between the two of them, and although Black had been telling her that Tamar was fine, she didn't believe him. She had expressed that she felt like Black had done something to him and was just trying to hide it for as long as he could.
I didn't know one way or the other, but I was worried and chose not to tell Taron until I knew exactly what was up with that. Now that he was out, wasn't no need to keep the info to myself now.
"Well, some nigga stabbed him several times and shot him. According to Rozalyn, he was moved from the hospital, and she had no idea where he was at. She said that Black had put him somewhere and refused to tell her where, but was acting as the communication lines between the two of them."
"What? How long ago was this? Is he okay?"
"I don't know. I haven’t talked to Rozalyn in about a month, and she hasn't called and said anything, so I don't know what's up with that."
"Fuck and they talking about I can't even leave the fuckin' state. I need to get down there and see what's going on."
"Don't worry about it. Soon as we get to the house, we can call down there and see what's good. Don't worry, I'm sure if anything had happened then Rozalyn would've called and said something."
"A'ight," Taron sighed and looked out of the window again.
"Taron, I know I've said it so many times before but I just want to say how sorry I am—"
"Look, I already know what you about to say and you don’t have to keep apologizing about it. I played a part in it too, and we were both wrong. Ain't nothing neither of us can do about it now, so I don't see the point in constantly revisiting the subject. I thought enough about it when I was locked up, and I'm tired of thinking about it. That's a part of the past that I wanna leave in the fuckin' past."
"Okay, I won't talk about it," was all I said.
Once we made it to the house, Taron followed me upstairs to the bedroom and just stood in the room looking around. I could see that he was a little worried about his brother and I wanted to ease his mind.
"Get comfortable. I'm a go fix dinner," I told him.
Taron nodded, and I went downstairs to start making him something to eat. I knew he was ready for a home cooked meal since he'd been eating that jailhouse trash over the past few months.
This was my last opportunity to make things right with Taron and win him over, and I couldn’t fuck it up. I had to be on point, from the bedroom to the kitchen. I had to get in his head and penetrate his heart. Taron was gonna be my husband one day. After what I had done for him; there was no way he could deny me.
Chapter 7
Rozalyn
Ride or Die Chick
I don't care if you on the run
Baby as long as I'm next to you
And loving you is a crime
Tell me why do I bring out
The best in you
~Beyonce~
Two days had passed by since I met with Rico and tried to give him the bricks back. I had done everything possible to try to get the weight off to others while I was in Miami, so I didn't have to transport the shit all the way back to Dallas.
Everybody that Kevin had put me in contact with that had any kind of money acted like me, and the dope was a trap. They were treating me like I was wearing wire
and was looking to set them up when that wasn't the case at all. All I wanted was to get this shit off and get Rico his money.
Unfortunately, I had to leave my children in Miami with Tamar's mother Cheryl and head back to Dallas with the drugs still in my trunk. Before I left, I was able to get in contact with Jamir and some guy by the name of Chino.
Jamir was the guy that Tamar had been working with here in Dallas and this guy Chino was referred to me by Starr. She'd put in a good word for him and said that if anybody was looking to spend some money then Chino was definitely that dude.
I didn't really know them, but knew that they agreed to purchase some of the bricks from me. I was so thankful for the two of them because when it was all said and done, I would have enough to pay Rico his money back and have a little money left over. I had to lie to them and tell that I was doing this for Tamar because he had been sick and unable to get around, and neither of them asked any questions. Thank God.
I informed Rico that I would have his money before Friday and that we could meet in Miami in a few days. He didn't seem as happy about that as I would've expected. He'd been sending me text messages numerous times throughout the day, since I had left his home with offers to spend a week with him in whatever place I chose.
He said that the trip would be paid for by him, and all I had to do was come and enjoy myself. As good as it might sound to the next bitch, I wasn't about to do it. I would rather work my hand at trying to move this weight than to sleep with Tamar's connect.
I had made that mistake too many times before by sleeping around on Tamar and I vowed to never do that again. I couldn't wait until I got a chance to see Tamar face to face and let him know how disrespectful Rico had been. Or maybe I shouldn't tell him. Telling him what J.B. had done is what got us here in the first place.
I shook my thoughts off as I looked around nervously waiting on Jamir to pull into the place where he asked me to meet him. I couldn't believe that I was doing this shit right now. Me, selling drugs? Never in a million years would I have ever saw myself in this position.
