The Reign of Rain Robinson

by Roy Glenn

In addition to expanding his own gambling and prostitution operations, and with Wanda backing him, RJ was branching out into legitimate businesses. The Late Night was currently under construction and would be opening soon. And when it did reopen, it would be a completely legitimate business.

  “That makes you a businessman, not a gangster,” Wanda told him.

  Now he was making a big push in the entertainment industry as a producer and a concert promoter. RJ was in the studio one day when Scarlet was producing a track for Lola Luv, when Monte Cole and P Harlem arrived. After they finished recording Lola’s track, Scarlet was playing around with a beat and started singing, then Monte got in, then P, and then Lola.

  After listening to them freestyle for a while, RJ told the engineer to record it. When they played it back, RJ suggested that the four of them should make an album and The New Regulators were born. A week later, they cut an album and since it was his idea, RJ got producer credit.

  Wanda suggested that he talk to Gladys about being the promoter of a Regulator tour of smaller markets to perfect their show before they started a major-city U.S. tour. Naturally, Gladys agreed because she never said no to anything Wanda wanted.

  The tour opened to a sold-out crowd in Jacksonville, where Scarlet got a chance to meet her sister-in-law, Shy’s cousin Natasha and her husband, Victor and his cousin Sydney. After that, the tour did ten sold-out shows in smaller-market cities. The following morning, RJ and Wanda were meeting with Gladys and Meka about a major tour kicking off at Madison Square Garden. But that night, RJ was hosting Cristal at The Four Kings.

  It was only a couple of years ago that it would have been unthinkable for Cristal to be playing a small spot like that. She was a headliner that used to pack large arenas, the operative word in that sentence being was.

  Her last release debuted at number one and then dropped like a rock from there. Neither of the singles charted and they didn’t get much airplay at all. Cristal’s penchant for partying, drugs and alcohol was responsible for her lack of any work ethic to speak of. Now it had taken its toll on her voice. Once Gladys was finally able to talk her into rehab, and Cristal committed to take it seriously, it was decided to make her rehabilitation a media event.

  First, Cristal went on a nationally syndicated radio morning show and made a tearful admission that she had a drug and alcohol problem. Something else that Gladys convinced her that she needed to do to restart her career. The last thing that Cristal wanted to do was tell the world her business, but singing meant everything to her, so she reluctantly agreed.

  Later that morning, the calls requesting interviews with her began. On each show, Cristal talked openly about some of her experiences with drugs and alcohol, how it affected her work, and that she planned to seek help. Media groups dispatched crews to get footage of Cristal waving as she entered the facility. Social Media pages and accounts were created and maintained with updates on her progress, and Cristal even blogged about the experience.

  Being clean and sober did wonders for her voice. The fear of losing it all returned her work ethic, and hearing all of her labelmates telling her to her face that she was a bitch that they refused to work with improved her attitude. And with a new attitude, Cristal began to write songs again while she was in rehab.

  She did a duet with Scarlet, who wrote the music and produced the upcoming release and her labelmates, P Harlem, Monte Cole and Lola Luv, gladly contributed to her new release. There was even talk of inviting her on the tour with them, but that was mostly RJ trying to talk it up. That night at The Four Kings would be the start of her comeback.

  Venus arrived at The Four Kings with Sterling, two of his men and their women, to see the show. Since she was in good with management, Venus was able to get a table in the front. Her connections were also the reason that Venus was so sure that not only would Cristal be performing, but The Regulators would take the stage as well.

  RJ sat in his office waiting for Venus to get away and come to him. He had seen her on the monitor when she arrived, and he had seen to it that Venus and her guests were seated and would be taken care of during the show. While he waited, RJ thought about the sex they had during the weekend they’d spent together.

  In his mind’s eye, RJ watched Venus spread her legs while he fingered her clit and felt it getting harder. Venus moaned. He ran his tongue along her lips, proceeded to lick and suck her clit. When her back arched, Venus grabbed RJ’s head and began grinding her hips as the movement of his tongue increased. She felt her body trembling at its core.

  “I don’t wanna cum … yet.”

  Venus rolled off of RJ, got on top of him and lowered herself onto him. They stared into each other's eyes as Venus rode him slowly and he felt her muscles tightening and releasing around him.

  “I’m gonna cum!” Venus screamed, “Fuck me, RJ!”

  RJ complied with her request until they both collapsed from exhaustion.

  RJ remembered Venus curling up in the fetal position, smiling and then touching his face. It was almost like he could still feel the sensation of running his hand over her soft and smooth skin, admiring each curve, and breathing in each nuance of her body.

  There was a knock at the door, and it brought RJ out of the trance that sex with Venus had him in. He looked at the monitor; it was Kelsey, a member of security that worked the front door. RJ buzzed him in.

  “Sorry to bother you, RJ, but there’s a young lady at the door asking for you,” Kelsey said.

  “Is she on the guest list?”

  “No. But she was pretty adamant that despite her name not being on the list, that you would let her in.”

  RJ laughed and looked at the monitors. “Which one?”

  Kelsey glanced at the monitors. “I don’t see her, but she is a bad mutha fucka.”

  “What’s her name?”

  “Said her name is Fantasy.”

  “Let her in.”

  “You got it,” Kelsey said and turned to leave.

  RJ thought about it. “She’s your responsibility tonight, Kelsey. That means you stay with her.”

  Kelsey smiled, because he couldn’t think of a better way to spend the night. “You got it,” he said and turned to leave.

  “That don’t mean you need to be all up on her. You’re security, you see that she is safe and that she is taken care of.”

  “You got it.”

  “Talk to Monique and tell her to find her a good spot to watch the show,” RJ ordered.

  “You got it,” Kelsey said and turned to leave with a big smile on his face, because now he could watch Fantasy with a good view of the show.

  Kelsey left the office, but quickly knocked on the door and stuck his head back in. “You have a guest,” Kelsey said and then he held the door for Venus as she walked in.

  “Hi,” Venus said as Kelsey closed the door and gladly went to see about Fantasy.

  “Hi. You look nice,” RJ said of Venus in the black Michael Kors velvet bodycon dress that clung to her like it was her own skin. He stood up and came around the desk.

  “Thank you,” she said, and RJ kissed her a long, lingering kiss that made her toes curl inside her pumps. “Now help me out of it, please. I have to get back.”

  RJ kissed her lightly on the lips. “I don’t think so,” he said and turned to go sit back down.

  “Why not?” Venus asked, with her beautiful face twisted.

  “You don’t have a lot of time and now that I’m looking at you, I really wanna take my time and fuck you slow and long. You let me know when you got time for that.”

  Venus smiled, and RJ looked at his watch.

  “And besides, Scarlet should be sneaking her way through the crowd and sitting down at the piano right about now.”

  Venus got excited. “Scarlet is here?”

  “Scarlet, P, Lola, Monte—”

  “Just like you said they’d be.” Venus looked at RJ and shook her head. “Damn, I wanna fuck you … but I gotta get back and …” Venus started backing toward
the door. “And the show is getting ready to start,” She stopped at the door. “But, I wanna fuck you so bad,” Venus said and rushed out of the office into the packed club. She was disappointed that she didn’t get to feel RJ inside of her even for a little while, but he was right, and the risk was too high anyway.

  Since Venus had a little influence with management, security escorted her through the crowd as far as they could without it attracting Sterling’s attention. She made it the rest of the way to her table on her own. And she had great seats too. Venus and Sterling had the table next to Meka, Gladys and Wanda.

  The DJ was playing The Regulators latest release and the dance floor was packed. As the song was fading, Scarlet began playing and the crowd kept dancing to what they thought was an extended mix. That ended when Scarlet hit a high note and the stage lights came on. The crowd went wild, and nobody left the floor as she performed a medley of her songs.

  “Thank you,” Scarlet said when the song was over and tried to quiet the crowd. “As some of you can tell, I am not from this country,” she said, and the crowd laughed. “But I have found a home here and a family.” She laughed and winked at Wanda. “A family like none other and I want to introduce you to a member of that family.”

  Scarlet stood up and came to the mic. “Before I bring him on stage, I have to tell you that when I first met him, I was scared to death of him.” She took the mic and began to walk. “I mean, I heard the stories on the news and here I am, this little West Indian girl, and he is larger than life. But I have spent a lot of time with him and I can tell you that Paul Roberts is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and an absolute pleasure to work with. Ladies and gentlemen, P Harlem,” Scarlet said, and the house went bananas as P swaggered out on stage, hugged Scarlet and took the mic.

  “Thank you, thank you,” P said. “Ladies and gentlemen, the world’s greatest entertainer, Scarlet. Before the night is through, she’s gonna play every instrument on this stage. Give it up for her.” And once the crowd quieted down a bit, P continued. “I know all of you came to see Cristal and shit, but we … we being Monte and Lola, were gonna come out here and do a song and then Cristal was gonna come out. But here’s what we gonna do. Monte, Lola, come on out and bring Cristal with you.”

  By that time, RJ had come out of the office and was at the bar with Marvin, Judah and Pills. They were drinking champagne to celebrate their successful night.

  “I want to thank The Four Kings for having us tonight. Judah, Pills, Money, RJ, we gonna turn this bitch out tonight for y’all. I promise you that,” P said, and the crowd cheered as all four kings raised their glasses to him.

  Then Monte and Lola Luv came out on stage to a standing ovation that only got louder when Cristal made her first public appearance.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, Cristal.”

  The crowd roared as she took her bow and then Cristal hugged her four labelmates, before returning to center stage to take another bow. Then P Harlem took the mic again and quieted the crowd.

  “Now, I have an announcement to make and then we gonna start the show.” The crowd cheered. “What I have to say is gonna come as a surprise to somebody and is gonna make somebody else very happy.”

  Scarlet dropped a beat.

  “I want to introduce you all to, and welcome to the mic, the newest member of The Regulators … Cristal!”

  All at once, the crowd erupted, Cristal started to cry because she truly was surprised, and RJ screamed, “YES!” because this was exactly what he wanted. The addition of Cristal to The Regulators tour meant that the possibility of booking outdoor venues just went up along with his profit margin.

  “You happy, RJ?”

  “Hell yeah!” RJ shouted.

  P Harlem was as good as his word and The Regulators brought down the house. And after the show, the celebration at the bar continued. The kings were joined in their celebration by Wanda, Gladys and Meka, who shared a glass of champagne with them before leaving for the night.

  “Be on time in the morning.”

  “Yes, Aunt Wanda.”

  “Congratulations, RJ, I am so proud of you.” She hugged and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Thank you, Aunt Wanda,” RJ said and then he escorted the ladies to the door. When he got back to the bar, Venus was there waiting for him.

  “I just wanted to thank you. The show was great.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it,” RJ said, and the two secret lovers eased into a very public conversation. They were having fun, laughing and talking until Pills tapped RJ on the shoulder.

  “Here comes Sterling.”

  “Let him come,” RJ said to Pills and then he leaned close to Venus. “Here comes your man,” he said, and Venus stepped away from RJ quickly.

  “I was lookin’ for you. I’m ready to go,” Sterling said and grabbed Venus by the arm. He looked at RJ. “What you doing over here anyway,” he said to Venus, but he still hadn’t looked away from RJ.

  Since he was in no way intimidated by Sterling, RJ didn’t look away either. Venus had to think quickly before this all blew up and somebody ended up dead.

  “I was just saying thank you to RJ for the great seats,” she stood closer to Sterling and kissed him on the cheek, hoping that would pacify him.

  “I didn’t know that you two knew each other,” Sterling said and the stare down continued.

  “He was the one who was here when I came and got the tickets,” she lied quickly and hoped he believed her.

  “Oh … okay.” Sterling nodded. “Let’s go,” he said, put his arm around Venus and then he turned to walk away, but Sterling turned back quickly. He pointed at RJ.

  “Stay the fuck away from my woman,” he said, and RJ said nothing. Venus pulled Sterling’s arm until he walked away.

  Judah leaned closed to RJ. “That went better than I thought it would.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  “But it was bound to happen sooner or … damn! Who is that with Kelsey.”

  “That’s Fantasy.”

  “Damn sure is,” Judah said. “My fantasy.”

  “No, that’s her name,” RJ explained.

  “So, that’s Fantasy,” Marvin said as she came toward the bar dressed elegantly in a twilight navy Zac Posen floral-print strapless dress.

  “How come everybody knows about Fantasy but me?”

  “I didn’t know about her, but I really want to know all about her now,” Pills said.

  “I saw her first,” Judah said as Fantasy approached them, and she extended her hand to RJ.

  “Hello, Mr. Ray. My name is Fantasy. I wanted to introduce myself and to say thank you so much for allowing me to get in without a ticket. And thank you so much for Kelsey. He has taken such good care of me.”

  “It was my pleasure having you here this evening,” RJ said, and then turned to the other kings. “This is Judah, Pills and Marvin.”

  “The vaunted Four Kings,” Fantasy said. “It is an honor to meet such distinguished gentlemen.”

  “Believe me,” Judah said. “The pleasure is all mine.”

  “Can I offer you anything?” RJ asked.

  “No, thank you. I have another engagement that I am running a bit late for. But, I wanted to be sure to introduce myself and thank you all, once again, for a lovely evening,” Fantasy said and then she was off to J.R.’s to post up and wait for Carter to get there.

  “I think I’m in love,” Judah said as he watched Fantasy walk away.

  Chapter Six

  On the way out of The Four Kings, she had Kelsey get a cab for her. During the ride to J.R.’s, she thought about Carter Garrison and how fine he was. It wasn’t just his smooth chocolate complexion, or the curve of his sexy lips. It wasn’t even the penetrating stare that he gave each time he spoke to her. It was his whole vibe that had her so turned on.

  Not just the ‘bad boy’ swag that was par for the course in their business, it was his confidence and sexiness that made Carter irresistible to Fantasy. It was the sound of his v
oice when he spoke to her that resonated at her core, and each time she was close to him, Fantasy wanted to tell him to kick Mileena to the curb, so they can finally do what they both wanted.

  When she arrived and was escorted inside by security, Fantasy saw that Carter was already there. After a quick look around for Mileena, Fantasy made her approach.

  Carter smiled when he saw her coming. He thought that Fantasy was drop-dead gorgeous, and he could tell by the way she looked at him, and the way that she acted, that Fantasy was digging him. And since he was digging her, he had thought about going up in her each and every time he saw her. But while he wanted to fuck Fantasy, he was in love with Mileena and that, to him, was more important. Carter had lost her once before and now that he had her back, he wasn’t planning on doing anything to fuck that up.

  And let’s face it, fucking Fantasy would fuck it up royally. So, Fantasy is look yeah … but don’t touch, Carter thought as he watched her coming toward him. He drained his glass and put it on the bar.

  “Hello, Fantasy.”

  “Good evening, Mr. Garrison,” she said quickly closing the distance between them, so she could give him a polite hug and a lingering kiss on the cheek.

  “How’s it going, Fantasy?” he asked, the scent of her perfume filling his nostrils.

  Carter was a little put off by her advance, but that was mainly because it was unexpected, but Fantasy’s body close to his produced the effect that she wanted.

  “I am doing wonderful. And yourself?”

  “I’m a little tired. Been a lot going on in the last few days, haven’t gotten a lot of sleep.”

  Fantasy’s smile dripped with her sexuality. “Now, we can’t have that. You have got to take the time to take care of yourself properly, Mr. Garrison, and that includes getting the proper amount of rest,” Fantasy said, and brushed up against him.

  In another part of the club, Mileena was watching Carter and Fantasy while they talked. She didn’t want to feel jealous over the exchange that she was witnessing, but there was no way to un-see it. Mileena knew better than anyone the effect Carter had on women, especially when he had a lot of contact with them. Women tend to fall at his feet just as she did all those years ago.