A Trillion to One

by Chenell Parker

  “My daughter is here,” Trillion replied.

  “You obviously don’t care about your daughter too much. You never answer the phone when I call,” Leah snapped, making him mad. For her to say that in the presence of their daughter was unacceptable and she knew that.

  “Go get me a bottle of water baby,” Trillion said, trying to get his daughter out of the room.

  “Okay,” Tristyn said as she jumped up and ran to the kitchen.

  “Don’t say no stupid shit like that in front of my daughter. The fuck you keep calling me for anyway? It ain’t like you put my baby on the phone when you do,” Trillion snapped, surprising Leah with his attitude.

  “Who the fuck are you talking to like that?” Leah yelled angrily. Trillion had never cursed at her before and her feelings were hurt. Maybe he was really fed up but so was she.

  “I’m taking my daughter until tomorrow,” Trillion said, not bothering to reply to her outburst.

  “No the fuck you’re not. I don’t want my daughter around none of your hoes. If you want to spend time with her, you can do it right here,” Leah replied.

  “I wish the fuck I would let you dictate what I do with my baby. And I don’t have no hoes. Whether you like it or not, Amore is my girlfriend,” Trillion snapped angrily.

  “Here daddy. It’s cold,” Tristyn said as she handed him a bottle of water.

  “Thank you baby. Go get your bathing suit and a towel,” Trillion ordered.

  “Are we going by your house to swim?” Tristyn asked excitedly.

  “Maybe later but we’re going somewhere else right now,” Trillion replied.

  He got done sooner than he thought and he wanted to bring Tristyn with him to the splash party in the park. Amore was already there and he wanted to surprise her. Amore usually stayed the night at his house but she stayed by Chanell the night before. Her cousin had come home from prison and they wanted to spend some time together. Trillion didn’t want to bother her, so he didn’t even call her too much.

  “She’s not going anywhere without me,” Leah said as she folded her arms across her chest defiantly.

  “Go get your bathing suit baby. I’ll be in there to help you in a minute,” Trillion said as he looked over at his daughter.

  “Okay,” Tristyn said as she ran down the hall to her bedroom.

  “I’m not playing with you, Trillion. I bet your millions of followers will be bailing your ass out of jail,” Leah threatened.

  “Do what you do Leah. You’ll be hurting yourself more than you’re hurting me. Once I take your ass to court for custody, you’ll be the one begging to see her,” Trillion replied, making her heart drop. Trillion had never threatened to take legal action before and she prayed that he never did.

  “Court! Really Trillion? No judge with a little common sense will even entertain you. Your name is not even on her birth certificate,” Leah noted.

  “That’s only because I was in the military when she was born. No worries though; that’s an easy fix when you got money,” Trillion smirked.

  “That bitch got you gone like that?” Leah fumed.

  “Nah but I’m tired of playing these games with you every time I move on. I’m not asking permission to spend time with my own child. Maybe we need to go to court to establish some visitation rules,” Trillion said.

  “It’s not even that serious. Take her. I don’t give a fuck. And I don’t feel like combing hair, so figure it out,” Leah snapped angrily.

  Trillion wanted to be petty and tell her that Amore would do it but he wasn’t in the mood for an argument. Instead, he went to his daughter’s room and got her together. He did his best and brushed her untamed curly hair into a ponytail and she was satisfied. Once they were done, Trillion grabbed the duffle bag that he’d packed for her and prepared to leave.

  “Hey Trillion,” Abby said as she wheeled herself over to him.

  “What’s good Abby? You straight?” he asked as he leaned over and hugged her.

  “No, I’m not and neither is she,” Abby said while nodding her head towards Tristyn. She grabbed his hand and held it tightly as she looked at him with a panicked expression on her face.

  “Why are you out of your room?” Leah asked as she walked into the living room and frowned at her mother.

  Abby looked like she was ready to cry as she let Trillion’s hand go. The look that Leah was giving her mother sent chills down his spine and he wasn’t even the target of her apparent anger. He wished he could stay and talk to Abby a little longer, but Leah would never let that happen. He didn’t know what her cryptic statement meant but he was taking heed. His daughter wasn’t coming back to that house for a while, if she ever came back at all. He had lots of things at his house for her and he would buy whatever he didn’t have. Trillion didn’t even bother saying goodbye before he picked his daughter up and left the two of them in the living room.

  “What did you say to him?” Leah asked her mother as she leaned down to make eye contact with her.

  “I… I didn’t say anything,” Abby swore as she stuttered nervously.

  “Don’t lie to me bitch!” Leah yelled as she roughly pulled her mother’s hair.

  “I swear, I only spoke and then you walked into the room,” Abby replied as tears rolled down her cheeks.

  “Didn’t I tell you to disappear whenever Trillion is around?” Leah gritted.

  “Yes, I’m sorry,” Abby cried.

  “Just remember that he pays the bills. You fuck this up and you won’t have to worry about going back to that nasty ass nursing home. You’ll be going somewhere much worse than that,” Leah warned as she pushed Abby’s head and walked away.

  “It doesn’t get any worse than this,” Abby mumbled as she made her way back to her bedroom.

  Granted, she could admit that she wasn’t the best mother to her only child. Abby was in love with an abusive man and she allowed him to cause a division in her home. She and Leah used to be close when she was younger but everything changed once she moved her boyfriend in. He was jealous of the relationship that Abby had with her daughter. He started complaining to her about little things that Leah did and Abby foolishly took the bait. She and Leah’s relationship became strained and her daughter no longer respected her. Leah saw her mother work twelve hour shifts at the hospital, only to come home and cook for a man who didn’t even have a job. When she voiced her opinion, Abby’s man didn’t like that very much. He hated that Abby didn’t put Leah in her place and he always took it out on her with his fist.

  One time when Leah came home and found him beating on her mother, she grabbed an empty wine bottle and cracked it over his head. He was furious after that and made Abby put her one and only daughter out of the house. Abby regretted it the minute it happened, but it was too late. Leah hated her and they rarely spoke after that. Trillion and his family took her in before he purchased the home that they now lived in.

  A year later, Abby finally decided that she’d had enough of being used as a punching bag. She knew that her man wouldn’t leave without a fight, so she called the police to escort him out. Abby moved to another house and got a restraining order on him too. Sadly, none of that helped. He still found her and started begging her to take him back. When that didn’t work, he caught her when she was leaving for work one morning and riddled her body with bullets, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. He tried to kill himself too but the shot to the head wasn’t enough to end his life. Now, he was serving a fifty-year prison sentence and Abby was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

  She wasn’t surprised that Leah never came to see her all those months when she was in the hospital. Abby couldn’t work and she had nowhere else to go. She ended up being placed in a nursing home that was just the equivalent of hell. The staff was rude and the place was nasty. She hadn’t seen Leah for a while, so she was surprised when her daughter showed up to the home with a very pregnant belly. Leah offered to take her mother home, and Abby was shocked but grateful. She shou
ld have known that there was a motive behind it and things were even worse than they were before. Leah had never forgiven her for the past and her actions proved it. Now, Abby was stuck in the house with a daughter who hated her and a guilty conscience. All she needed was a minute of Trillion’s time to put him on point but Leah made sure that that never happened. She made Abby stay in her room like she was a child and forbade her to speak to him. Abby’s resources were limited but she was going to find a way.

  “D amn bitch. Abe got the whole city out today,” Amore said as she walked around the park with her cousins.

  Abe was a former dope boy and he was popular in a lot of areas. He was older and everybody in the hood respected him. He had kids by just about every woman in the projects and they were all in attendance. Abe and Skip used to have the hood on lock until he decided to give it up. Skip wanted to die in the game, so he had no plans on retiring. Abe was wise with his money but Skip liked to floss.

  Dallas had gotten out the day before and Amore stayed the night at Chanell’s house to spend time with them. It felt like old times with them staying up late, talking and pigging out on junk food. Amore only wished that Meadow wasn’t acting so brand new, so they could spend time with her too.

  “He sure does but I’m not complaining. These niggas out here showing mad love with the money,” Dallas replied as she thumbed through the bills that were in her purse.

  “You need to go put that money up. The fuck you walking around here holding it for,” Chanell fussed.

  “These hoes ain’t stupid, but I’m about to let AJ hold it for me,” Dallas said as she looked around for her brother-in-law. When she spotted him, she started walking in his direction.

  “You can go ahead. I’ll wait for you right here,” Amore said as she stopped walking.

  “Girl, you better come on. Fuck Gene with his ole thirsty ass,” Chanell said as she grabbed her cousin’s arm.

  The niggas were on Amore like crazy but not more than Gene was. He kept begging her to chill with him, even though she kept telling him that she had a man. Since Chanell’s business was opening up Monday, she was passing out business cards. A few other people were networking and passing out their business cards too.

  “What’s up wifey?” Gene said as soon as he saw Amore. He walked over to her but Chanell blocked him from getting too close. Her cousin was happy and she wasn’t about to let Gene get in the way of that.

  “Get the fuck on nigga,” Amore snapped, making him lick his lips and laugh.

  “You know I love that feisty shit. What’s up with it? I’m trying to get another taste. That pussy taste like candy,” Gene said as he stuck his tongue out and wiggled it.

  “Ugh. I know your nasty ass see me standing here.” Chanell frowned as she looked at him in disgust.

  “Stop acting like that Chanell. We’re grown as fuck out here. Let me holla at you, Amore,” Gene said as he tried to grab her arm.

  “What part of I have a man don’t you understand?” Amore questioned angrily.

  “Fuck outta here with that dumb shit. That white boy ain’t hitting it right and you know it,” Gene laughed.

  Amore looked good as hell to him in her lime colored boys shorts with the matching top. The color looked good against her chocolate skin and Gene just couldn’t stop staring. He couldn’t believe that Amore was wasting all that body on a white boy. He couldn’t possibly know what to do with it.

  “Y’all ready to walk again?” Amore asked while ignoring what he said.

  “Yeah, let me see if I can find me a hoe to get a room with tonight,” Dallas said as she walked away with them.

  “I thought you was all in love with that lawyer bitch,” Chanell reminded her.

  “I am but what she don’t know won’t hurt her. Besides, she’s in a lil predicament herself,” Dallas replied.

  Dallas was a trustee when she was locked up and she was allowed to go anywhere in the prison within reason. While passing the visitation room, she caught the eye of an attorney who was there to visit another inmate. Dallas was shocked when the inmate came back with her attorney’s number and said for Dallas to call her. They talked on the phone for hours and she started coming to see Dallas soon after. She sent her money every week and made sure that she was straight while she was in there. She was older than Dallas by ten years but that wasn’t the issue. She was married to a man and miserable.

  “That’s more than a little predicament. That bitch is married and confused. I can just see me and Amore having to beat her ass for breaking your heart,” Chanell said.

  “Or killing her husband once he finds out that his wife got a girlfriend,” Amore said as they all laughed.

  “When is your book coming out Amore? I’m so proud of you cousin,” Dallas said as they maneuvered through the thick crowd.

  “Thanks cousin but I really don’t know. I still haven’t finished going over the edits for the first part. With work and all the shit Trillion be having me doing, I really don’t have time,” Amore replied.

  “That bitch went and got her a fucking Caucasian man,” Dallas said, making them laugh again.

  “I don’t give a fuck about his race. He treats me like a queen,” Amore replied and blushed.

  “He treats you like exactly what you are. Fuck what everybody else have to say,” Chanell fumed.

  A few people were dogging Amore and Trillion’s relationship on social media. Some of the comments they made were cruel and they had Amore in her feelings a few times. As beautiful as she was, they were calling her ugly, black and any other names that they could think of. They even dug up Amore’s mugshot photo and posted it everywhere. Trillion knew all that he needed to know about her, so he really didn’t care what anybody said. Jealously was real and he tried to get Amore to understand that.

  “Fuck them hoes,” Dallas said as they walked up on a rowdy crowd.

  They had somebody in a circle dancing and people were recording them. They were laughing and throwing singles in the air at whoever was putting on a show. Amore managed to squeeze through the crowd to get a glimpse of what was going on and she wanted to die when she did.

  “What’s going on?” Chanell asked once she came back over to them.

  “Who the fuck invited Gianna and Elise? They got them making a fool of themselves over there dancing and shit.” Amore frowned. When the crowd parted, Gianna and Elise were cheesing hard as they picked up all the money that was thrown at them.

  “They look just like them Instagram crackheads that people record and make memes out of,” Chanell said as she looked at them in disgust.

  “Look at my baby. You look so pretty, Amore,” Gianna said as she walked over to them.

  “My babies look pretty too,” Elise replied proudly as she stuffed her money in her front pocket.

  “I’ll be back. I’m not in the mood for crackheads gone wild,” Dallas said as she walked off and left them all standing there.

  “What you been doing Amore?” Gianna asked like she really gave a fuck.

  “Staying off of crack. Judging by the way you look, I’m sure you can’t say the same,” Amore replied. Gianna looked down like she was ashamed but that look was quickly replaced with a smile when she saw who was headed their way.

  “What’s up Lo?” Gianna said when Logan walked over to them.

  He stood right in front of Amore while ignoring her mother. Amore wasn’t bothered by his presence but the man who walked over with him made her skin crawl. Seven years had passed but Amore would remember him until the day she died. Kenny was the same man who Gianna tried to sell Amore to the night that she ran away. The look that he was giving her now let her know that he definitely would have taken Gianna up on her offer if given the chance.

  “What’s good wifey?” Logan asked as he wrapped his arm around Amore’s waist.

  “Hey Logan,” Amore said as she discreetly moved out of his grasp.

  “Damn boy. That’s you?” Kenny asked as he openly admired her.

  “I�
��m trying if she stops playing with me,” Logan replied with a smirk.

  “You got something on you, Lo? We got money,” Elise said as she tried to straighten out the crumpled bills that she and Gianna had picked up from the ground.

  “Don’t you see me talking. The fuck out my face with that!” Lo barked, making Elise jump in fear. Chanell only shook her head at how pathetic her mother really was. She didn’t even feel the need to defend her. That’s what she got for the life that she chose to live.

  “What about you Kenny? You got something?” Elise asked desperately.

  “Yeah, I got you. Let’s take a walk,” Kenny replied as he looked at Amore and winked. Gianna and Elise looked like obedient dogs as they followed their master for a treat.

  “When you gon’ let me take care of you, Amore? Shit is different now. Money is good and I’ll make sure that you are too,” Logan said.

  “I have a boyfriend Logan,” Amore replied.

  “A boyfriend. I hope you ain’t claiming none of these lame ass niggas out here. Shit, most of these niggas probably work for me,” Logan bragged.

  Viper used to be Skip’s right hand man but that was a job that now belonged to him. If Viper wanted to get put on when he got released, he would have to answer to Logan, just like the rest of the corner boys. Skip didn’t get his hands dirty, so he always appointed someone else to do it for him.

  “Amore!” a tiny voice yelled from behind her. Amore turned around and smiled when she saw Tristyn running towards her. Her smile got even bigger when she saw Trillion walking not too far behind. He looked handsome with his black wife beater and Nike basketball shorts on. He had on a pair of black and white Air Max, making him look relaxed and comfortable.

  “Hey baby. I missed you,” Amore said as she picked her up and kissed her cheeks. Amore had never really been around many children while growing up, but Tristyn showed her just what she had been missing. She was so sweet and perfect in every way. Amore hated when she wasn’t around and she was always begging Trillion to go get her.