“How, when you’re always so busy with that social media shit?” Leah asked.
“I’m never too busy for her,” Trillion replied.
“No, just her mother,” Leah replied with a roll of her eyes. She didn’t want Trillion to take their daughter for a while because she would never get to see him then. She knew for a fact that he only came around for Tristyn and she looked forward to that. A few times she got lucky and got some dick but it had been over two months since that happened.
“Is she done?” he asked when she placed the last bow in their daughter’s head.
“Yeah. What time is she coming back?” Leah asked.
“It won’t be today. Maybe tomorrow or the day after. My pops wants her to stay the night with him and I’ll probably keep her with me for a night too,” he replied.
“I didn’t pack her any clothes,” Leah noted.
“It’s cool. I got her covered,” Trillion said as he picked his daughter up and walked out of the house. Leah watched them the entire time as he strapped her in the car and drove away.
“Can I have McDonald’s daddy?” Tristyn asked.
“Your Nana is bringing you out to eat,” Trillion reminded her.
“My Nana hates McDonald’s,” Tristyn replied.
“Does she?” Trillion asked, even though he already knew that. His mother hated everything that she felt was beneath her.
“Yep. Nana said that she hopes that I can meet my sister one day. She said that we’re the same age and we’re gonna be best friends,” Tristyn said, making Trillion’s heart ache with sadness.
“I hope so too baby,” he replied as he drove to his mother’s house.
Tristyn dominated the entire conversation, but he had no complaints. He loved to hear the stories she told and how animated she got. She was a character with lots of personality. When he pulled up to his mother’s home, he pressed the code to be let into her affluent subdivision. The area held a lot of memories but not all of them were good. Trillion tried not to think about it as he drove to his destination. He’d already told his mother that he was on his way and she was standing outside of her huge home as soon as he pulled up.
“Hey Nana!” Tristyn yelled excitedly as soon as her father got her out of the car.
“Hello my love. Look at how pretty you look,” Claire said as she picked her up and hugged her tight.
“Can I get some bread and feed the ducks Nana?” Tristyn asked. Claire had a huge pond in the back of her house and Tristyn loved to feed the ducks who lived back there.
“You sure can sweetheart but wait for me,” Claire said with a smile.
“Give me a hug baby. I’ll be back to get you later when you and Nana come back,” Trillion said as he hugged her and kissed her cheek. Once his daughter ran into the house, Trillion prepared to leave.
“How have you been son?” Claire asked as she looked over at him.
“I’m straight.” Trillion shrugged.
“You’re straight?” she asked with a frown. “What does that even mean?”
“I’m good Ma,” Trillion replied, trying not to get disgusted. He didn’t talk proper or use correct English all the time. That drove his mother crazy, as if he cared.
“I don’t want to just spend time with my granddaughter Ty. I want to see my only son sometimes too,” Claire said.
“I’ll see,” Trillion replied, just like always.
“I don’t know what else you want me to say or do Trillion. I’ve apologized a million times and I’ll do it a million more if it’ll make you happy,” Claire replied.
“You’ve never cared about making me happy before. It’s too late to worry about it now. Call me when you’re ready for me to pick my baby up,” Trillion replied.
“I’m trying Trillion. The least you could do is meet me halfway,” she said as he got into his car and slammed the door.
Leave it to Claire Lattimore to fuck up a potentially decent day. Trillion would never keep his daughter away from her but he was good on their nonexistent relationship. When his father left her, Claire made it clear that she wanted no parts of Garret Yates, including his son.
The Lattimore family were known worldwide for the chains of hotels and restaurants that they owned throughout the world. Claire was born into money but she didn’t marry the same. Her family was very disappointed when she married a tow truck driver, instead of the man that they chose for her. They wanted no parts of Garret and they were disappointed with Claire for choosing to be with him. Their home life was anything but perfect and arguing is all that Trillion remembered his parents doing. His mother tried to change his father into what she wanted him to be but it never worked. Once he’d had enough, Garret left Claire and moved in with another woman. He didn’t ask for any of her money or anything else. All he wanted from her was a divorce.
It didn’t help at all that the woman he left her for was black. Claire didn’t hate all black people but black women were the worst in her opinion. Trillion remembered her telling him all kinds of things about his father when he was younger but he never believed any of it. His father was the one who spent the most time with him because Claire loved money more than her own son. She even named him after the thing that she held close to her heart. His father wanted his only son to be a junior, but she would have never let that happen. She always said that with a name like Garret, he wouldn’t get very far in life. Claire denied it but she still loved her ex-husband. She had never remarried after him and Trillion never remembered her even having a boyfriend that she spoke of.
Trillion was ten years old when his parents separated and he remembered it as if it had been the day before. His father had been gone for a week but he returned one day to get the rest of his belongings. Trillion was so happy to see him because Claire refused to let him see or talk to their son, even though he tried. When he got the rest of his things, Trillion was prepared to say goodbye to his father once again. His mother had something else in mind though. She told Garret that he was leaving something behind. When he asked her what he’d forgotten, she shoved Trillion out the door and locked it behind him.
Instead of making a big deal out of it, Garret took his son home with him and never looked back. Two days later, Claire had packed of all of Trillion’s clothes and had them dropped off to the low income house where they now resided. His father was his own boss but he only had one tow truck at the time. His girlfriend, Jacqueline, who was now his wife, worked as a seamstress and she already had three sons of her own. Still, she welcomed Trillion into her home and treated him like her fourth child. They struggled for a while but he never went hungry.
It pained him to see how his mother was living the good life while his father struggled to buy him clothes and shoes. She had money but she never even offered to help. His father had to go down to the courthouse to put her child support and that was the only money that she ever gave him.
Trillion’s anger became a problem after that and his father had him seeing a therapist about it. He was always getting into fights because he didn’t know how to control it. He stayed in and out of juvenile detention centers and his father didn’t know what to do with him and his other two stepsons. Jackie’s oldest son was in the military and he was the only one that they didn’t have to worry about.
When he turned eighteen, Trillion decided to give the military life a try too. His stepbrother swore that it was the best decision that he’d ever made and Trillion wanted in. After four years, he decided that he was done with that part of his life. His stepbrother was making a career out of it, but Trillion couldn’t do it. He got a degree in communications while enlisted and started working as a DJ at a local radio station when he got out. After a while, people started asking him to host their parties and he became popular. His name became his brand and he capitalized off of it. He had champagne, water, t-shirts and a long list of other Trillion Dollar merchandise that was always sold out. Now, Trillion had people begging to pay him to promote their parties and businesses on his
page. Social media was a very important part of his life and people looked on his page to stay in the know. He made millions every year off of something that he did just for fun. Since he smoked for breakfast, lunch and dinner, he invested in medical marijuana as well and the profits were better than he imagined. He was good financially and that was a blessing in itself.
In return, he purchased his father and stepmother a home and his father now had a total of twenty tow trucks with twenty-five employees. Since he barely knew the people on his mother’s side of the family, Jackie’s family became his own.
Now, after so many years, his mother wanted to try to ease her way back into his life but he wasn’t having it. She should have been lucky that he was even letting his daughter come around. She got on Trillion’s nerves about the way he talked, dressed, and the women that he dated. He had never dated a white woman because he was never really around any. He went to an all-black school and all of his friends were black. He wasn’t intentionally shunning his people. He just didn’t know them. He didn’t have a relationship with his mother’s side of the family at all and that’s what bothered her the most. Having her husband leave her for a woman of a different race was embarrassing enough. When his phone rang, Trillion snapped out of his thoughts of the past to answer it.
“What’s good cuz?” Trillion asked while answering for his cousin and PR person, Jordon.
“Aye, I just set you up to appear at the grand opening of a new indie movie. They want you to do the red carpet interviews and the pay is nice as fuck,” Jordon said excitedly.
“When?” Trillion asked. He had done a few indie movie premieres before and he didn’t like them very much. He loved the exposure, so he rarely turned anything down.
“It’s in two weeks. You got two tickets to the movie afterwards, so I can go with you,” Jordon answered. No one really cared about the movie but he would stay if Trillion wanted him to.
“No, you don’t have to go with me,” Trillion replied.
“I hope you ain’t trying to bring your two ignorant ass brothers with you,” Jordon said, referring to Rodney and Justice.
Rod and Blue, as they were called, were a handful for anyone to deal with. Besides selling dope, they couldn’t get a job anywhere else. They sometimes acted as Trillion’s unofficial bodyguards but they weren’t needed. Most times, they only did that to tag along to a certain event that he was invited to. He didn’t mind though. Thanks to them, he could go a few rounds with Mayweather and still walk away without a scratch. Most of the trouble that he got into as a child was because of them. They argued more often than not but their bond was unbreakable. They were his brothers and the color of their skin did nothing to change that.
“Nah, I’m bringing a date,” Trillion replied, shocking him.
“Who? Nigga, I know damn well it better not be Leah’s ole crazy ass,” Jordon fussed.
“Chill with the N word bruh. No need for all that,” Trillion argued. He’d heard that derogatory word enough from his mother and he hated it.
“My bad fam but you know how everybody feels about her,” Jordon replied.
“Calm down bruh. It’s not Leah. I met somebody else. This might be my future wife,” Trillion said, knowing that Jordon was about to go off.
“Aww shit. Here we go with this mess again. You fall in love too damn fast for me, bruh. I hope it ain’t another nutcase like the last one,” Jordon argued.
Jordon and his girlfriend weren’t too fond of Leah but it hadn’t always been that way. They used to get along great and they all used to hang out at one time. As Trillion’s status started to change, so did Leah. She felt entitled since she had his daughter and she put herself on a pedestal. She used Tristyn as leverage because she knew how much Trillion loved her.
“Mind your business and let me do me. You worry about me more than I worry about myself. And don’t ask no questions about her because I’m not giving up no answers. Just shoot me all the info for the event and I’m on it,” Trillion replied before he hung up. He lit a blunt before he pulled off and drove away. He had saved Amore’s number in his phone, so he scrolled until he found it and decided to give her a call.
“I didn’t tell him anything. I told him that I haven’t seen or talked to you since y’all got arrested,” Ms. Ruby said as she looked at Amore.
“Fuck Vaughn. He must be crazy if he thinks I want anything else to do with his ass. I hate that I lost three years of my life but it was worth it to be rid of him,” Amore replied.
She was visiting Ms. Ruby at the assisted living facility before she left to go run some errands. Amore was happy that she’d finally gotten the keys to her apartment and her furniture was delivered that morning. AJ and Chanell both had to work, so he let Amore use the car to get a few things that she needed. She was almost broke but she had everything that she needed. Amore didn’t know how she did it, but Chanell stole all of her bathroom décor. She also took her enough toothpaste, soap and hygiene items to last for months. Amore got her own curtains, pillows and comforter set and that was good enough for now.
“He got that slut that used to call herself your friend doing everything for him. He said he’s trying to come home soon, but I hope they keep his ass right where he’s at. I always told you that it was something about that girl that I didn’t like. That nasty bitch,” Ms. Ruby fussed, making Amore laugh.
“Stop cursing. That ain’t no way for a Christian to act,” Amore snickered.
“Hush up girl. God knows my heart,” Ms. Ruby said, waving her off.
“I need to get going Ms. Ruby. I have a lot of unpacking and cleaning to do,” Amore said as she stood to her feet.
“Okay baby. I want to come over for a visit whenever you get settled in,” Ms. Ruby said.
“You know you’ll be one of the first to visit,” Amore assured her with a hug.
She left with hopes of going to her new place and getting things in order. She had about three hours before she had to pick Chanell up and turn over their car. When her phone rang, Amore rolled her eyes and declined his call. Trillion was cool but they were on two different pages. He was on some dating shit, but Amore wasn’t feeling it. He had been begging to go to some movie premiere shit but she wasn’t feeling it. Amore decided to grab her a bite to eat and go finish doing a few things around her apartment while she still had time. She stopped at a corner store near the projects where she used to live to get a chicken plate. Amore regretted that decision as soon as she walked in.
“Amore! The fuck! Man, I just gave my girl some money to get you and Viper a money order. When did you get out of the halfway house?” Skip asked as he pulled her into a tight hug.
“It’s been about a month now,” Amore replied as she discreetly pulled away.
Skip didn’t hang around the hood very often and she was surprised to see him in the area now. He flooded the streets with dope but he stayed away most of the time. Viper was his right hand man before he got locked up and he was the one who usually handled most of Skip’s business.
“Where you staying at now?” Skip asked her.
“I’m staying with my cousin for a little while until I get on my feet,” Amore said, telling him only what she wanted him to know. She appreciated Skip for looking out when she was locked up but she didn’t want no parts of him. He was Viper’s friend but he was never hers.
“Let me know if you need anything Amore. Anything at all,” Skip said as he walked up and placed a wad of money in her hand.
“I’m good Skip. I have a job and I’m straight,” Amore said as she tried to hand the money back to him.
“It’s the least I can do. They don’t have too many real ones left out here and I appreciate you more than you know,” Skip said as he looked at her sincerely.
“Thank you,” Amore smiled as she slipped the money in her pocket. The knot was thick, but she didn’t want to be rude by counting it in front of him. Skip was known to be generous and Amore appreciated it. She needed all the help she could get to f
ix up her apartment but she would never ask anyone.
“The number is the same. Hit me up if you need something. Let’s go Lo!” he yelled to someone who was obviously at the back of the store before he left.
Amore was shocked once again when she saw Logan hurrying to the front where she was standing. Just like his ex, he was draped in designer labels and she knew that he had to be getting money. There was no other reason that he would be hanging with Skip. He looked equally as shocked to see her but he also looked excited. Logan’s eyes roamed over her body lustfully, making Amore feel slightly uncomfortable. He used to give her the same look when he was with Ciara and she was often salty about it.
“Man, look at my fucking baby. When did you get out?” Logan smiled as he walked over and hugged her.
“It’s only been a month,” Amore replied as she hugged him back.
Logan had written her letters and sent her money a few times too. Amore apologized to him for how she acted before she got locked up, but he understood. The wool had been pulled over both their eyes and they both had been done wrong. Logan was genuinely hurt, but Amore didn’t give a damn. Whatever love she had for Viper vanished after he showed her who he really was. Sadly, Logan was in love with Ciara at the time and he took their betrayal hard.
“You look good as fuck. We need to link up and hit the mall soon. I know you probably need some new clothes and shit. You know I got you,” Logan said as his hand lingered at the small of her back a little too long. Ciara used to always accuse him of having a crush on Amore and she was right. Maybe that was the reason that she decided to get with Viper.
“I’m good Logan but thanks. I’m working now and everything is falling into place,” Amore replied, right as the loud honking of a horn could be heard out front.
“I gotta go but give me your number Amore. We need to kick it one day and catch up. You straight? You need anything?” Logan offered.
“I’m good but thanks,” Amore replied before calling her number out to him.
A Trillion to One Page 10
