“Hey Loc,” she sang sexily. “Nah it’s cool, you can still come over tonight.” After a long pause she cheesed a big grin. “Yeah, well I just hope you can keep up.” She hung up the phone and jogged up the stairs, never noticing Khalil’s truck parked on the other side of the street.
Khalil sat in his truck with tears running down his face. He was livid just imagining G touching Heaven, kissing Heaven, fucking Heaven. He was also feeling defeated because he knew that he was no match, no competition, and no opponent, to G. He punched the dashboard, hard and screamed as more tears came down his face. He was planning on going over to Shay’s house and waiting for G to leave before he busted in and took Heaven. His plans had drastically changed when he saw G lean over and kiss Heaven and then watched them pull off together. He knew now that there was something between them, and he also knew that going against G was like signing his own death certificate. He couldn’t imagine even breathing without her, and he didn’t know if he could deal with her being with G. But he soon came to the realization that he would have no choice. Khalil had lost his Heaven.
…Belle of The Ball…
“You can be my prince, my knight! You can be my superman save me here I ammm, baby!” Heaven was singing Ciara’s ‘Promise’ at the top of her lungs while preparing dinner for her and G. He had definitely been her superman and every time she heard that song, she felt like it was meant for the two of them. She couldn’t believe all that had happened to her in the past month – Khalil getting locked up, her father taking her and then disappearing, G and the vacation, everything!
G was up in the shower and had given Heaven all access to the house, including security codes and a key to the safe that held the guns. All of this just so he could go in the shower, he sure is cautious, Heaven thought to herself. She threw the minced garlic into the butter and let it sizzle. She was going to prepare the best shrimp scampi linguini that he had ever tasted. Not to mention, G had a classic collection of wines that Heaven was sure would set the taste of the meal off just right. She took the leftover garlic and butter and spread it onto the Italian Bread and prepared it for baking, continuing her song.
“There’s nothing I won’t do, to spend my life with youuuuu.”
Heaven felt eyes on her and turned slowly to find G standing, smiling at her. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and his chocolate body looked so yummy.
“Go ahead, keep singing.”
She smiled shyly, and turned around to adjust the temperature on the oven. G came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.
“It smells good as hell in here,” he whispered deeply in her ear. Something about a woman being focused in the kitchen turned G on. He kissed on her earlobe and ran his hands over her.
“Mmmm,” Heaven moaned. “You know, if it’s a such thing as doing it too much, I think we exceeded that limit,” she joked.
He rubbed on her breasts gently as she could feel him growing through his towel.
“So you want me to stop?”
“No, please don’t,” she replied quickly.
He picked her up and placed her on the counter kissing her deeply.
“I can’t help it Heaven. It’s like I can’t get enough of you.”
Heaven felt dizzy and her head was spinning, G had her in a trance.
The doorbell rang interrupting the two and Heaven hopped off the counter.
“Who is that?” Heaven questioned, apprehensive. She had never seen or heard anyone come to G’s home since she’d been there.
“I don’t know. Why don’t you go check?” G humored, looking at her grinning. “I gotta go throw some clothes on.”
Before Heaven could protest, G was running up the stairs to dress. Heaven stood in the kitchen for a moment before making her way to the front door. Before she could get there it rang again. Hold on. Wait a minute, she thought to herself, hoping this would be no other woman coming to cause drama. She peeked through the peephole and saw a woman alright. But an older, mature, very conservative woman. She opened the door and stood looking a little bemused.
“Hello,” Heaven greeted, waiting for the woman to identify herself.
“Heaven?” She assumed, smiling brightly. Her teeth were blinding white and perfect. Her hair was pulled back into a neat bun and she wore an expensive Chanel suit. She smelled of Chanel No.5. Everything about this woman screamed Chanel. She was money, definitely.
“Yes?” Heaven responded.
“Hi. I’m Ms. Lucas…. Gavin’s mother. Wow, you are really beautiful. Gavin said you were, but, wow.” She made her way inside, past Heaven.
“Thank you,” Heaven stammered, moving out of her way. “Gavin?” She questioned, barely audible kicking herself for never even asking G’s real name.
“Gavin!” The woman screamed excitedly, moving toward G who now stood in the hallway.
“Come here ma,” He smiled. The two embraced and Heaven stood and watched with a plastered smile. He told his mom about me?
“Ma, this is Heaven. Heaven this is my mother, Madeline Lucas.” G said her name with pride. Madeline Lucas. As if she were a queen and everyone including Heaven knew of her royalty.
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Lucas,” Heaven smiled.
“No, no. Call me Madeline. Please!” She laughed.
“Well, nice to meet you Madeline.” Heaven turned to G. “And nice to meet you, Gavin.”
He chuckled at her and they all headed for the living room with Heaven stopping at the kitchen to check on her shrimp.
“It smells great in here. Heaven, is that your cooking that I smell?” Madeline asked, inquisitively.
“Yes it is. Would you like to stay for dinner? I made more than enough.”
Madeline looked at G first to make sure she wasn’t imposing and he smiled and nodded, so she agreed excitedly.
“Well, I hope you like shrimp,” Heaven added.
“Love it. Thank you,” Madeline answered with a smile. Immediately, Heaven loved her.
The three of them small talked until it was time for dinner, and then Heaven went in to prepare the plates. G came into the kitchen right after her.
“Go sit down babygirl, I’ll make the plates.”
“You sure?” She asked him.
“Yeah, and for the record. You never have to ask me if I’m sure of anything. Because everything I say, I mean. Okay?”
Heaven noticed the moments that G said things like this, were the moments that reminded her that he was a boss. She could see why people listened to what he said. He spoke with a commanding calmness.
“Okay G.”
G made the ladies’ plates first and brought them out and then he made his. He brought out a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, and sat across from Heaven and his mother, who were seated next to each other.
After everyone dug into their food, Madeline began enlightening Heaven with childhood stories of her youngest son, G.
“He was never the type to do what everyone else was doing. No, let me tell you, Heaven. My Gavin was always a natural born leader. He was always taking the bad, and making it good. Making something out of nothing, that was always Gavin. Now his brother, he’s a different story.”
G’s smile faded slowly at the mention of his brother Spliff a.k.a Shelly Lucas.
“C’mon ma, don’t start. Heaven don’t wanna hear that.”
Madeline took another sip of her wine before continuing.
“But Gavin, it’s the truth. Just look at all the wrong he’s done. And look at how you took his bad, and turned it into something good. Took all that dirty money and turned it into black business, employing more black people. All Shelly did was destroy. You build baby. I’m proud of you.”
Heaven could sense G’s discomfort and saw fit to try to change the subject, quickly.
“So Madeline, where do you live now?”
“Oh Heaven, I’m fortunate enough to have the pleasure of living in a beautiful penthouse in Manhattan and then in the winters, I have a home in Atlanta to go
to. I hate winters.” She added.
“Me too,” Heaven agreed.
“Oh. Well then it’s settled. This winter, maybe for Christmas, you and Gavin will come down. I will cook to pay you back for this delicious meal. Yes?”
Heaven looked to G who just looked back at her, and then he answered.
“Sounds like a plan.”
After dinner, G went to his study to go over some paperwork for an inspection of the restaurant and Heaven and Madeline went upstairs to one of the guest rooms for a little one on one girl talk. Heaven was sitting on the bed and Madeline was behind her, brushing Heaven’s long hair. Heaven felt comfortable with Madeline. She had never had an older woman around to talk to, get advice from. It was nice.
“So, Gavin says you’re going off to college. Where are you going?” Madeline asked, with gentle strokes of her expensive sable haired brush.
“Oh, um. Probably Harvard.”
Madeline was impressed.
“Probably? What’s better than Harvard? I mean, did you get into Yale too?” She laughed. Heaven laughed with her.
“No, no. I didn’t get into Yale. I mean, Harvard is definitely my first choice. It’s just that so much has happened and I haven’t really been able to visit and do everything that I’m supposed to do. But that’s where I want to go.”
There was a slight pause and then Madeline spoke matter of factly.
“Well, then it’s settled. Tomorrow, you and I will go to visit Harvard and if you like everything, then we set your paperwork up for you to start in September. Yes?”
Heaven was dumbfounded for a minute and then she was thankful, then excited. She had meant to ask G to take her but she knew he was so busy.
“Thank you, Madeline. I really appreciate that.”
Madeline smiled and debated going into what could be an uncomfortable conversation with Heaven. Although G didn’t tell her everything, he did tell his mother the majority about Heaven. The things that he felt made her so exceptional.
“So, Heaven. I know you and Gavin seem to really like each other. Trust, I can see when there is a strong chemistry between a woman and a man. And I know you are staying here with him, and I know you are both young adults. Well, with you going to school and all, and being so young…you are protecting yourselves right? I mean, I would love to be a grandmother, but you don’t have to rush!” She joked. Heaven blushed before answering.
“Um. Yes, definitely.”
Madeline could sense that she was thrown off by the question.
“Look Heaven, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable around me. And if I ever say or do anything out of line, please let me know. But I’m going to tell you the truth. My son had never, ever, ever, spoke of a woman to me. Until you. And I’m happy, because he’s happy. And I want us to be friends. I want you to be able to ask me anything and feel free to talk to me as if you were talking to your own mother.”
Heaven was filled with joy until Madeline brought her mother into the conversation. It was like a sharp sudden stab.
“Thanks Madeline. And I do feel comfortable already talking to you. Definitely more comfortable than talking to my mother. See, me and my mother are not close at all...she actually doesn’t want anything to do with me, to tell you the truth.”
Madeline could feel Heaven’s pain; it was so dense it was almost palpable. She put the brush down and turned Heaven’s face towards her using her hands and looked into Heaven’s gorgeous eyes.
“Well then, you know what? I really feel sorry for her, because it’s her loss. You are a beautiful, smart, and lovely young woman Heaven.”
Heaven smiled and the two embraced, and G turned back around and headed back downstairs, careful not to interrupt their moment.
It was late when Madeline headed out and after G came back inside from walking her to her car, Heaven noticed him grabbing his keys in an attempt to head out as well.
“You leaving?” Heaven asked, hoping that he wasn’t.
“Yeah, I gotta run out for a minute. But you got the security codes so just keep everything locked up until I get back. Don’t open the door for nobody,” he instructed her, and then pecked her on the lips goodbye. He pushed some buttons on the pad by the door and after the beep, he left. After the door closed, Heaven double-checked that the alarm was set and moved slowly through the large house looking over everything. To tell the truth, she was a little nervous about being there alone, at night. The house was huge and everything was dead quiet. But as she strolled she came to a realization, this was now her home. Wow.
Heaven went into the living room to turn on the television, wanting to break the silence. She flipped through the channels looking for something of interest and wondering what time G would return.
As Heaven switched channels, G switched lanes on Route 22 heading for Plainfield. He had some unfinished business, and G was one who did not hold onto unfinished business for long.
He pulled up to the location about 15 minutes later and jumped out of his truck. Without hesitation, he buzzed the dingy alarm on the rundown building. The sweet Spring air breezed by his face as he waited for acknowledgment.
“Who is it?”
“G,” was his simple response. About ten seconds later, he was let up.
Once he reached the front door, he let himself in and found Khalil sitting on his couch smoking a cigarette. He looked like shit, and so did the apartment. G could tell he had been breaking shit and he could also tell he had been crying. G sat down at the dining room table and turned his chair to face Khalil. After a moment of silence, G proceeded.
“Look, I’m just gonna cut to the fucking chase, man. I’m about to start switching shit up, and I’m gonna need Slicks. I aint really into the partner shit, and I mean on the strength that you dealt with my brother, me and you were able to pick that up and continue business. We tried that out for a while, but that trial period is over.”
Khalil shook his head in disbelief and fought back tears. He couldn’t even look at G, knowing that he had probably just got done fucking Heaven, and he couldn’t do anything about it.
“So you taking the bar?” Khalil finally questioned. G studied Khalil thoroughly, debating momentarily on ending his miserable life for him, wondering if he would cause G any trouble in the future. At a split decision, he decided against it.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m willing to offer you full compensation for it because I am a businessman. And out of my personal gratitude, I’m offering an additional twenty percent, you know, because of the particular circumstances.”
At that time, G handed Khalil a piece of paper, and Khalil tried hard not to smile. The number was far beyond anything he would ever get for the place if he had sold it himself, and it was probably far beyond any amount of money Khalil would ever see at one time in his entire life. But what kept him from smiling was knowing that G had played him. G had basically come in here and let him know that he was so worthless, that he could take his girl, take his business, and toss him a few dollars like a whore and send him on his way. He let Khalil know that nigga, I can buy your life, that’s how irrelevant you are and it’s still nothing to me. That’s the only thing that stopped him from showing his excitement.
But he would take the money. Hell, he had no choice. If G wanted to, he could take the bar and leave Khalil on his ass broke. He was far beyond lucky, but he was hurt nonetheless. He took another pull of his cigarette and spoke through filled lungs.
“So G? This um twenty percent, you know for these particular circumstances as you say. Let’s just call it what it is. It’s for Heaven, right? You…you buying Heaven from me? I mean it’s cool you know. I bought her from Sam, you buy her from me, you know, it’s all business.” Khalil laughed, thinking he was amusing. He looked down at his cigarette and took another pull and if he hadn’t of done that, he would’ve seen G’s jaw flinch in anger. In a matter of seconds Khalil was yoked up by his tight t-shirt and thrown against the wall.
“Hey-hey G! I’m sorry man. I�
��m sorry!” G stood looking him dead in his eyes as Khalil cowered, scared. “I’m sorry.”
G chuckled and shook his head, realizing just how much of a bitch Khalil was.
“Nigga, I’ll have your money tomorrow. After that, you make sure you stay the fuck out of my sight. You don’t know how fucking lucky you are to still be breathing, nigga. You a bitch for the shit you did to Heaven.” G turned to leave, but then came back to Khalil remembering something. “And for the record mothafucka, I didn’t have to buy ya chick. I took her. Cause ya old ass wasn’t fucking her right.”
And with that G walked out, but not before shooting Khalil a smile that made him want to die. Khalil’s blood boiled hot and once the door was closed he broke down crying, punching holes in the walls, and breaking everything in the house that wasn’t broken already.
“I can pick whichever room I want?” Heaven asked excitedly, looking around at the beautiful outside greenery.
Madeline had taken Heaven to Harvard University just as she had promised and they had gotten all of her Admissions paperwork situated and were now looking at the dorms.
“Yup, you can choose from whichever type of dorm you would like, four quad or even a single room, whichever you’re most comfortable with Ms. Jacy,” The Harvard tour guide added.
It was clear to Madeline from when they first arrived, Harvard wanted Heaven.
“Do you like it?” Madeline asked with a wide grin, knowing she just had to love it. The school was gorgeous and Heaven could reach a full potential here.
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