Project Dreamz

by Natavia

  I wasn’t as mad about the situation as it seemed. I had a feeling I was going to be sucked into this life for a long time. Bentley got into my head somehow and I was actually listening to him. Maybe the money ended up persuading me it was okay to do what I was doing. I wasn’t a weak man, I was a smart one because I chose to take a path that would keep my family alive. We can’t win all battles.

  I left my truck at the warehouse because Bentley wanted me to ride with him. I guess after telling me I was his grandson I was relieved because he was actually cracking jokes and chuckling about some things. Forty-minutes later, we were pulling up to a big ass house with a gate.

  “Whose crib is this?”

  “Mine, it was my father’s. One day it’ll be yours,” he replied.

  Bentley was the type of person that didn’t take questions well. It was best that you let him tell you what you wanted to know on his own. I wanted to know if he had other kids and why Kimberly lied about him being dead knowing we were going to find out the truth. She saw him at David’s funeral and said nothing about it. David, Bentley and Kimberly were hiding the past from me, Trell and Deerie.

  He punched the code in the gate’s keypad before it opened. The road to the house was half a mile up the hill. There was a statue of a man in front of the house.

  “That’s my great-grandfather. He was lynched for killing a slave owner. This family doesn’t birth weak men. Come,” he said.

  A woman came out of the house and hugged Bentley. She was probably around forty years old or a little older. I saw the woman somewhere before but couldn’t remember where.

  “This is my grandson, Tryst. Tryst, this is my other wife, Willow,” he said.

  This old ass nigga might need Viagra and got two younger wives. Ain’t no way he’s legally married to both.

  “Nice to meet you. I heard a lot about you, come on in. Me and Deidre cooked a lot of food,” she said. Willow grabbed my arm and escorted me to the house. I thought I was in a history museum once I reached the foyer. The white marble floor made my eyes hurt because of the brightness. Willow led me to the kitchen which had top-of-the-line appliances. Deidre was standing at the stove making crab cakes. She didn’t look as happy as Willow. Matter of fact, Deidra had a black eye.

  “Are the crab cakes done yet? Our husband is home,” Willow said.

  “They will be done soon.”

  “I’ll set the table,” Willow said, leaving me in the kitchen with Deidra.

  Bentley came into the kitchen and Deidra tensed up. He kissed the side of her face.

  “I love you and don’t you forget that. Go upstairs and rest, I’ll finish this up,” Bentley told Deidra. She dropped the spatula on the counter.

  “I love you, too,” she said dryly. Deidra rushed out the kitchen, passing me like we were strangers which we really were.

  Bentley rolled up his sleeves, so he could finish the crab cakes. “Sometimes you have to let your woman rest, especially after putting up with all of your shit,” he said.

  “How did you pull that off? Two women under one roof?”

  “Easy, I couldn’t let either one of them go. Willow isn’t used to the riches of this life, so she’ll do anything to keep me happy. Deidra has been with me for many years, so I’m stuck with her. All you need in your life are two good women. I told your father the same thing,” he said.

  “One is enough for me. I get everything I need from my shorty.”

  “You’re saying that now. Wait until you meet the one that’ll do anything for you and worship the life you provide for her. She won’t go anywhere,” he replied.

  “That’s because they’re gold diggers. My shorty was ridin’ with me before all of this. The way I see it, I want someone I can be broke and rich with.”

  Bentley nodded his head in approval. “I’m telling you, youngin’, a man is never satisfied with just one woman. You’ll see once you start getting hairs on your dick,” he replied.

  “I know you have a staff somewhere in here,” I said to change the subject.

  “They are off today. I use the weekends to spend time with my women, but there are people around just in case I have any problems,” he said.

  The nigga almost looked like an innocent man, standing at the stove with an apron on. Willow called me to the kitchen table because she fixed a drink for me. A younger woman who looked to be my age came into the dining room wearing a short black dress and stilettos. Bentley was living in a playboy mansion I might as well say. The woman was very curvy, just how I liked them. She was tall, too, with toned legs. Bentley came out of the kitchen carrying the tray of crab cakes.

  “That’s Caramel. She comes to stay with us sometimes. She’ll show you a good time,” Bentley bragged.

  “With no problem,” Caramel cosigned.

  Willow hid it behind her smile, but I could tell by the way her eyes watered that she wasn’t as happy as she seemed. He was playing all them, but they were cool with it. Minutes later, we were sitting down at the table eating dinner. Bentley had his women trained because they cleaned off the table as soon as dinner was gone.

  “Next week we have a big shipment coming in for you. I’m talking about fifty keys. That is worth over a million dollars. After my cut, you’ll have six-hundred thousand and fifty dollars to your name if you keep it pure,” he said.

  “Fifty? That’s a big jump from twenty-five.”

  “The world is yours, Tryst, so you don’t have a choice. I’ll have a car to take you back to D.C., but remember this, I’m a nice guy as long as you’re loyal and have my money right. I invited you to my home and you met my other wife. That should be meaningful to you,” he said.

  “No doubt.”

  Jonna sent me a text while Bentley was running off with his mouth, talking about how rich I’ll be from taking over his businesses when the time comes.

  I almost forgot I told Jonna I was coming. Fuck! Now I have to tell Dream I’m gonna be home late.

  Bentley’s driver was in front the crib by the time we were finished discussing business. Bentley’s wife, Willow, came down the hall holding a box after Bentley walked me to the door.

  “My gift to you. I gave your father one when I moved him up, too,” he said as Willow gave me the box. Inside, was a presidential Rolex with a diamond face and band. It had to cost around fifty g’s.

  “We’ll get together next week to discuss what we’re going to do with that club of yours,” he said. We slapped hands when his driver pulled up to the crib. I told the driver where I was going when I got into the back seat of his Yukon. When he pulled off, a different feeling came over me. I wasn’t even mad that I was pushing weight anymore. It was my life since I was born into it.

  ************

  By the time I got to Jonna’s condo it was eight o’clock. She opened the door for me with an attitude after I rang the bell. Over her shoulder I could see Jasma playing with her toys in the living room.

  “You’re late!” Jonna said.

  “I can leave,” I replied.

  “No, it’s okay,” she said.

  Jonna stepped to the side so I could come into her condo. It wasn’t that clean at all, clothes were sprawled out over the couch and toys were everywhere, even on the kitchen table.

  “We had a busy day,” Jonna said in embarrassment. I helped her clean off the couch; underneath the pile of clothes were juice stains.

  “Where is Nightmare?” Jonna asked when I sat down.

  “Why do you keep sayin’ slick shit about my shorty? I might just let her knock you on your ass one good time. I came here to see Jasma, I’m not entertaining anything else!”

  Jonna rolled her eyes and smacked her teeth. She picked up Jasma and sat her on my lap. Jasma reached out to her mother but Jonna pulled away from her.

  “It’s okay, Jasma. He’s not gonna hurt you,” Jonna said.

  “This is complicated as fuck,” I stressed.

  Someone rang Jonna’s doorbell and she excused herself. Jasma was kicking a
nd screaming so I just let her go. I had too much shit to worry about. Here I was trying to bond with a little girl I wasn’t sure was mine despite her having my nose.

  “I told you not to stop by,” Jonna whispered to someone after she opened the door.

  “Move out of my way!” a familiar voice said. I stood from the couch when I saw Peyton coming towards me.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “You got this racist muthafucka around your daughter?”

  “What is it to you, loser?” Peyton asked.

  “Peyton is my boyfriend,” Jonna said.

  I swear I hope Jasma isn’t my seed, but if she’s mine, I’m gonna take her away.

  “Stay away from Jonna, deadbeat! You’re scum, just like your father!” Peyton yelled.

  “Take Jasma in the room,” I told Jonna.

  “Wait, Tryst! Just be reasonable! Peyton, please just leave it alone!” Jonna said.

  Her hoe ass was really sleeping with him when the rumor was going around. I’d rather cut my dick off before fuckin’ her again.

  “This is who you want now? Some thug?” Peyton asked.

  I jabbed Peyton in the middle of his face and he fell on top of the coffee table. He called me a “nigger,” while holding his bloody nose. Jonna screamed while covering Jasma’s face when I kicked Peyton in the face.

  “We ain’t in school anymore, bitch! Say that shit to me again!”

  “You’re going to get locked up!” Jonna said.

  Peyton was rolling on the floor holding his face. A bag of cocaine fell out of his pocket.

  “Are you still gettin’ high, Jonna? Is this why your place looks like a crack house? Why is he coming in here with drugs in his pocket? What example are you setting for your daughter?”

  “I only do it on summer break! You have no right telling me what I should or shouldn’t do! You’re supposed to be here for Jasma, not beat up my boyfriend!” Jonna said.

  “Yo, just stop calling me and sending me pictures of your dry-ass pussy! I mean don’t call me for shit this time. You got me over here with this trailer park-ass shit! I’ve seen apartments in the hood cleaner than this!” I said. I walked out the door and Jonna stormed after me with Jasma in her arms.

  “Take her, Tryst. Just take her!” she begged.

  We were in the parking lot and Jonna was making a scene. “My parents didn’t really adopt her. They were helping me out with her until I dropped out of school. I didn’t know how to tell you, but I have an addiction, so please just take her. My parents washed their hands of me, Tryst. I’m broke so Peyton has been helping me with the bills. That is the only reason I’m with him. I’m not the same person anymore,” Jonna cried.

  I looked into Jasma’s eyes and I wondered if she knew what was going on. Her mother was getting high possibly off my product. It was my guilty conscience, even if Jasma was someone else’s daughter, she needed my help. I opened my arms for her and Jonna gave her to me.

  “You’ve always had a good heart. Maybe we can be like we used to be after I get myself together. I used to dream of having a family with you and I still want it one day, but Peyton helps me with my fix,” she said. Jonna didn’t look like she was using but not everyone lets themselves go.

  “I’ll make sure Peyton doesn’t call the police on you. I will keep you posted if he does,” she said. She kissed Jasma on the forehead, and just like that she was running across the parking lot to go back to Peyton.

  Dream is gonna kill my ass but fuck it. She should understand.

  Since Jonna didn’t give me a car seat, I put Jasma in the passenger seat of my truck. It was a hurtful situation to see Jonna fall off that way but she was getting high in high school, so it wasn’t anything new.

  Jasma cried herself to sleep on the way to my crib.

  Dream

  Meanwhile…

  There was a long line in front of me in Walmart because there were only three registers open. I came here because the house was running low on cleaning supplies and we needed a new vacuum cleaner. To kill time, I was checking my Facebook page. I had a lot of messages from an unknown person. One message read, bitch, you’re going to die! It had to be Adrian. He was the only client who couldn’t let me go. All the others knew what it was—just business—but Adrian thought he owned me.

  “Dream!” someone called out.

  A woman by the name of Sierra called out to me. She worked at the escort company a few years back but now she was a stripper. That escort money wasn’t paying that much until you offered a little more to the clients. I even thought about stripping, but it would’ve been too out there.

  “Hey! I haven’t seen you in a long time. How’s it been?” I asked when she approached me.

  “I’ve been good, just makin’ my money. We have to catch up, cause a lot has happened since we were at that rinky-dink escort place. I saw Kabella yesterday and I didn’t know you two was beefin’. Girlll, she ran your name through the mud, saying how you was prostituting throughout the whole city of Annapolis. I told her she’s a bold-face lie. Dream ain’t sellin’ pussy especially after hearing you’re dating Chrome’s fine-ass son. You know Kabella is a hater,” Sierra said.

  She told Rizzo and now she’s tellin’ everybody!

  “I was dating men that had money, but all that other shit can fly,” I replied. Being a gold-digger isn’t prostitution. I wasn’t just lying on my back, catering to these niggas, giving them the illusion of being the wife of their dreams. To sum it all up, my time wasn’t free.

  “Give me your number,” she said.

  “Give me yours,” I replied.

  Sierra rambled off her number and I promised to call her over the weekend. If only she knew I wasn’t really going to call her. I couldn’t stand messy broads. She and Kabella were thick as thieves at one point and might still be. She knew exactly what she was doing by gossiping.

  I waited for almost twenty minutes before it was time for me to ring my items up. My face cracked and dropped to the floor when my card was declined. It had to be a mistake because I had a little over one-hundred thousand dollars in my bank account. I gave the cashier another card, one I used for play money and that was declined also. Sierra was peeking out of the line with her phone against her ear. I used cash instead before rushing out of the store. Pissed off was an understatement. I knew exactly where my money went. Adrian stole my money, all of it! I promised Naya I was going to look out for her and leeching on to Tryst’s money was a no-go because I really cared about him. Adrian was going to get dealt with later, but Kabella was on my shit list. My own cousin betrayed me. Instead of driving straight home, I decided to pay her a visit. Luckily, I had old clothes in the trunk.

  *************

  You can’t escape me, bitch! You’re dead! I’m going to expose you!

  Adrian sent me an email for the fiftieth time. I was in the car in front of Kabella’s house as nasty emails came in back-to-back on my cellphone. The last email read, You know what you have to do to get your money back. I told you, I have friends in high places, especially ones who work at the bank. Don’t think about going to the police because if you do, I’ll make sure that loser boyfriend of yours watches the videos of me putting my hot nut on your face.

  I wiped the tears away and sucked it up when Tryst called my phone.

  “Why aren’t you in the crib?” he asked. A baby was screaming in the background.

  “I know that bitch, Jonna ain’t in our home, Tryst!”

  “Yo be quiet for a sec and listen to me. Jonna gave me Jasma because she has an addiction. It’s more to the story but I need you. I can’t do this by myself. I would’ve felt bad if somethin’ happened to her because her mother has a racist-ass boyfriend,” he said.

  “I don’t know how to raise a baby. We’re not capable of that yet.”

  “Yo, Dream, on the real, you can’t even fix your mouth and tell me that shit. You my shorty and you’re supposed to be here for me when shit is fucked up. I didn’
t have the baby on you, so you shouldn’t be in your feelings!” he said.

  “It was never about the baby and you know that. I’ll see you in a few, I’m at Kabella’s crib.”

  “Aight, bruh,” he said then hung up.

  “Why is the world against me?” I asked myself out loud.

  A car was pulling up in front Kabella’s house when I was ready to pull off from getting tired of waiting. The car parked right in front of Kabella’s house as I watched from the other side of the street. Once I got a closer look, I already knew who it was. Trell got out and walked up the steps to the crib. I was even more surprised when he used a key. Naya would’ve been pulling her hair out if she had seen this. I got out of my car, slamming the door. I was dressed down in shorts, tennis shoes, a T-shirt with a silk scarf tied around my head. Whether it was Trell or Kabella, someone had to catch these hands. We all wasn’t perfect but fucking your girl’s cousin was a low blow.

  I ran up the stairs to the front door to ring the doorbell. Kabella answered the door and I could hear Trell in the background cussing her out for getting the door. I didn’t see her car outside, so I didn’t know the bitch was home.

  “What are you doing at my house this time of night?” she asked with her arms crossed.

  “Fuck all of that, K! Why is Trell using a house key?” I asked.

  “That’s none of your business, bitch! I don’t fuck with you anymore since you’re always getting fly at the mouth! And you know I never fucked with Naya’s simple-head ass!” Kabella said.

  “So, you’re telling everyone about me being a prostitute? Bitch, you sold way more pussy than me!”

  “And it’s not a secret! You think you’re better than me because you have a man you come home to every night? Bitch, I made you, showed you the game and now you want to get brand new cause you have a man now? You left me out here to dry, Dream! We were a team and now you act like you’re too good for it!” she said.