A Trillion to One

by Chenell Parker

“What’s up Love?” Trillion smiled when he walked over and kissed her. He spoke to Chanell and gave her a hug too.

  Logan’s face showed his shock because he wasn’t expecting that. Of all the niggas that Amore could have had, she chose a white boy instead. That was a blow to his ego and he was sure that a lot of other men felt the same way. Dude looked mad familiar but he couldn’t remember where he’d seen him before.

  “Hey boo. I didn’t think you were gonna make it.” Amore smiled as she hugged him and kissed him again.

  “I didn’t think so either but Jordon got everything covered at the warehouse. Blue told me that he was out here too,” Trillion said, referring to his stepbrother.

  “It’s so damn crowded out here. I probably passed him up,” Amore replied.

  She had met Trillion’s stepbrothers and everyone else in his family except his mother. Jackie was always inviting them over for dinner and she enjoyed spending time with them. It was Amore’s first time being in a real family setting and she loved it. Trillion was everything that she could have asked for in a man and more. He went above and beyond to show her that he cared and it did not go unnoticed. When he learned that Amore didn’t have a driver’s license, he went out the same day and purchased the book for her to study. He quizzed her every day and, two weeks later, Amore was a licensed driver. Viper taught her to drive when she was seventeen, but he never bothered to bring her to get a license. He didn’t have one either so maybe that was why. It was the little things that had her falling hard and fast for Trillion and she welcomed the feelings.

  “I’ll fuck with you later Amore. I got some moves to make,” Logan said as he walked off in the opposite direction.

  “Who is that?” Trillion asked with a frown.

  “He’s nobody so fix your face. Logan used to be my neighbor a while ago. I told you about him, remember?” Amore asked.

  “Oh alright, yeah, I remember,” Trillion replied.

  “Come on, let me introduce you to Dallas,” Amore said as she grabbed his hand and walked away.

  Tristyn was still in her arms and she didn’t seem like she wanted to get down. Amore cringed when they walked deeper into the park and saw that Dallas was standing near AJ and Gene. Everybody was speaking to Trillion but he didn’t know half of them. He was always polite and waved or spoke back though.

  “Can I get on the water slide, Amore?” Tristyn asked excitedly. She already had on her bathing suit and Amore didn’t mind.

  “I can take her if it’s cool with you,” Chanell said while looking at Trillion.

  “Yeah, it’s cool. Be good Tristyn and stay with Chanell,” Trillion ordered as they walked away.

  Amore walked him over to where her cousin was and waved Dallas over to them.

  “Aww shit, I finally get to meet Justin Timberlake. He’s cute as fuck cousin,” Dallas said, making Trillion laugh.

  “I guess you already know that this is my cousin, Dallas,” Amore said while shaking her head.

  “It’s nice to finally meet you cousin,” Trillion said as he and Dallas shared a hug.

  Amore rolled her eyes, as Dallas quizzed Trillion about everything that she could possible think of. He didn’t seem to mind and he answered every question that she had. Amore saw Gianna and Elise still walking around looking a hot mess and she was hoping that they didn’t make their way over to her. Trillion knew everything about her but she didn’t want him to witness it firsthand. AJ and Trillion had met a few times before, so they shook hands and talked.

  “What’s good wifey? I been looking all over for you to finish our earlier conversation,” Gene said as he walked over and stood in front of Amore. He knew that he was being disrespectful but he really didn’t give a fuck.

  “We can’t finish something that never started,” Amore replied as she wrapped her arm around Trillion’s waist.

  “You needed something fam?” Trillion asked as he stared at Gene with a frown. He was usually calm, but Gene had him fucked up with the disrespect. The color of his skin fooled a lot of people but he didn’t mind making an example out of him.

  “Nigga, what?” Gene said as he walked up on him. Trillion didn’t think twice before he swung and hit Gene with a vicious right hook that dazed him and made him stumble.

  “Whoa, y’all gotta chill out bruh!” AJ yelled as he jumped in between the two men.

  Gene was his boy but he was dead ass wrong. Amore made it clear several times that she wasn’t fucking with him and he needed to let that shit go. He had a girl and he was doing too much. Trillion was as hood as they were and he proved that by the blow that he’d delivered that had Gene’s mouth bloodied. AJ was shocked when he swung but Gene deserved it.

  “What’s up lil brother? You good? We got a problem with somebody?” Blue asked as he walked over there and lifted his shirt to reveal his gun. Trillion didn’t need help but Blue and Rod had appointed themselves as his personal bodyguards.

  “I’m straight,” Trillion answered as he scowled at Gene.

  “Nigga, put that shit up. You know better than that. They got kids out here,” Abe argued when he walked over to see what all the commotion was about.

  “I’m just trying to make sure that my people is straight,” Blue replied as he mugged Gene.

  “Whatever happened is over now. Squash that shit and move the fuck on,” Abe said while directing his comment to Gene. Before Skip became the main man, Abe was who Gene used to get his work from. He knew not to test Abe, so he got up and walked away. His pride was wounded but he and Trillion would see each other again.

  “You okay baby?” Amore asked Trillion as she inspected his reddened knuckles.

  “I’m good Love,” Trillion assured her with a smile. He was happy that he didn’t see any cameras out, so his little scuffle probably wouldn’t make it to social media.

  “Aye Trillion, this is my oldest brother, Abe,” AJ said as he introduced the two men.

  “What’s up bruh? I feel like I got a celebrity at my shit,” Abe said as he dapped Trillion.

  “Nah, no celebrity status here,” Trillion chuckled.

  “Man, I been trying to get some of your champagne for months now but the shit is always sold out,” Abe noted.

  “Yeah, but I keep some on deck. Tell AJ to hit my girl up; I got you,” Trillion replied.

  He’d just gotten a huge shipment in that morning and they already had back orders. Every time he thought he ordered too much, it was still never enough. He’d ordered a bunch of new items for women that he wanted Amore to model for him. Once they saw her in it, he was sure that it would move just as fast as everything else.

  “Good looking fam. Help yourself to some food and drinks. We got plenty to go around,” Abe said.

  “Preciate it,” Trillion replied with a head nod.

  He and Amore stood there and talked to Dallas for a while before they decided to walk around some more. Everybody was stopping Trillion to take pictures with him and he had Amore by his side for each one. As they walked further, they had a crowd of people playing bounce music and hyping somebody up. Amore was praying that it wasn’t her mother and auntie again. She’d had enough action to last her for a while.

  “The fuck!” Trillion yelled when they got closer and he saw what was going on.

  Tristyn and Chanell were in the middle of the circle popping and twerking. Tristyn didn’t know what she was doing, but Chanell was coaching her as the crowd egged them on. When Tristyn put her hands on the ground to pop her lil ass, Trillion made his way through the crowd and grabbed her. She was begging him to put her down, but he wasn’t hearing it.

  “Really Chanell? We leave you with her for five minutes and you got her acting like a baby thot,” Amore fussed as they walked away.

  “What? She had fun. Didn’t you have fun bestie?” Chanell asked while looking at Tristyn.

  “Yeah,” Tristyn replied with an innocent smile.

  “You ready to go boo?” Amore asked as she looked at Trillion.

  “A
fter what I just saw, hell yeah,” he replied.

  “I’m ready too,” Dallas replied.

  “Wait sis, let’s pass out the rest of these business cards first. Call me later cousin. Bye my new bestie,” Chanell said as she and Dallas hugged Amore and Tristyn.

  “Daddy, I had fun,” Tristyn said excitedly as her father carried her to the car.

  “Yeah, I bet you did,” Trillion replied, as Amore giggled.

  “I’m sorry about that boo. I should have known better than to leave her with Chanell,” Amore said.

  “It’s cool,” Trillion said while shaking his head.

  “I didn’t get to go on the slide,” Tristyn whined.

  “You can get in the pool when we get home,” Trillion replied as they drove away.

  “Are you okay? I mean, with everything that just happened,” Amore said, referring to the altercation that he had with Gene.

  “I’m good Love. For the first time in a while, I can honestly say that everything is all good. I’m happy,” Trillion replied.

  “Me too. For the first time, ever,” Amore said honestly.

  She was happy that she didn’t let her relationship with Viper discourage her from giving Trillion a chance. She did for a while but she was thankful that she had a change of heart. She now knew how it felt to be in love and feel loved in return. She had never uttered those words to him but she was hoping that her actions showed it. He had never said it to her either but he really didn’t have to. He proved it to her better than words could ever say.

  “S top stressing Love. Fuck what people think. It don’t matter if you’re doing good or bad, muthafuckers will talk regardless,” Trillion said as he and Amore talked on the phone.

  “I know but that’s exactly why I never really fucked with social media. Muthafuckers always trying to pick somebody else’s life apart just to make their shit seem better. I know who I am and where I come from. They can’t say shit about me that everybody don’t already know,” Amore argued.

  “Exactly, so fuck them. They can’t throw dirt on seed. That only makes it grow. They put my baby out there too. Got her shaking her ass on Instagram enough for child protection to come for me,” Trillion joked, trying to lighten the mood.

  An entire month had passed since Abe’s splash party and most of the events of the day had been long forgotten. That was until videos of Amore’s mother and aunt dancing surfaced and got shared and reposted all over social media. Someone had even posted a picture of Chanell and Tristyn dancing, and Trillion was heated. Social media was a big part of his life, so he knew that it came with the territory. People were saying that he wifed a convict who had a crack head for a mother. Amore’s books were done and ready to be published but she was too scared to go through with it. Trillion had been promoting like crazy and people were begging for a release date. He helped Amore set up an online account to upload the books to Amazon but she kept stalling. The editor was working on her next series and she hadn’t even published the first.

  “You’re a great father. That video has nothing to do with the kind of parent you are,” Amore replied.

  “And the same goes for you, Love. You need to stop playing and get those books out there. People are begging to give you their money,” Trillion noted.

  “I know and I will. When is Tristyn coming back over?” Amore asked him.

  “I might get her again tomorrow. I’ve been so busy with all these parties and shit. I miss my baby,” Trillion replied.

  “I miss her too,” Amore replied.

  He hadn’t seen Tristyn in almost a week but he talked to her every day. Amore suggested getting her a kid phone and that was a great idea. He programmed everybody’s number in the phone and she only had to press one button whenever she wanted to call them. He still wanted to know what Abby meant about his daughter not being alright but he didn’t see anything amiss. He talked to Tristyn and she didn’t say anything out of the ordinary. According to his daughter, Leah never hit her, yelled at her or even punished her. Tristyn did say that her mother was mean to Abby, but he already knew that. He didn’t have any proof to take her away and Leah wasn’t going to let it happen without a fight. She’d already accused him of having their daughter in an unsafe environment once she saw the video of her dancing.

  Trillion was free for a few days and he was thankful for that. He had been promoting parties and businesses like crazy but he wasn’t complaining. His bank account was nice and he wanted it to stay that way. His workers had filled his back orders and they were on schedule with all the shipments. His daughter’s birthday was coming up and she was begging him to give her a unicorn party with a water slide. Trillion had connections everywhere, so he was putting everything together to take place at his father’s house.

  “Go enjoy yourself and shop Love. And tell Chanell don’t be in them stores stealing and shit. You got enough money to get all y’all right. I’ll see you later,” Trillion said.

  “Okay, see you later,” Amore replied before hanging up.

  “Fuck all our lives. I swear, with mothers like Gianna and Elise, we don’t need no more bad luck,” Chanell said as they parked in the covered garage at Lakeside Mall.

  “Stop acting like we haven’t always had it hard. Shit be fucked up but we always make it work. The bounce back is what really counts,” Dallas said, trying to offer her cousin and sister a little encouragement.

  “Bitch, how do you bounce back from nothing? My shit has been open for a month and I’ve only made five hundred dollars. That’s not even enough to cover the rent,” Chanell complained.

  “Okay and that’s why your man paid it up for three months. All businesses don’t hit the ground running. Most times you lose more than you make in the first year. How do you think I feel? I’m working for your ass, so I know I’m not getting paid,” Dallas said as Amore laughed.

  “How can I pay you with nothing? The fuck kind of math are you doing?” Chanell argued.

  “You bitches make me sick. Amore is sitting on a fucking gold mine that she’s scared to publish and you’re crying because your business hasn’t made you rich in the first month of opening. What the fuck happened to the gutta bitches that y’all used to be? Y’all are soft as fuck now. I’m not about to keep having this pity party with you hoes. Bae gave me her credit card and I’m about to do some damage,” Dallas said as she got out of the car.

  “I’m not buying shit. I’m stressed and my five-finger discount will help me relax,” Chanell said as she and Amore got out of the car. She popped the trunk and got her foil lined bags out, ready to do some damage.

  “My man said don’t be in here stealing and shit,” Amore giggled.

  “He sounds like AJ,” Chanell laughed as they all headed into the mall.

  Amore had more than enough money for what she wanted but she barely used any of it. Every time she picked up something that she wanted, Chanell threw it in the bag and walked out of the store with it. They made three trips to the car and Amore had only spent a little over four hundred dollars. The only things she paid for was the perfume set that she wanted and two pairs of shoes. Once they were done, they sat in the food court, trying to decide on what they wanted to eat.

  “These bitches are nice. I’m about to message her and see what size they are,” Dallas said as she looked at something on her phone.

  “What’s that?” Amore asked.

  “I got this card from a girl at Abe’s splash party. She has an online boutique and she got some nice shit,” Dallas said as she turned her phone towards her cousin.

  “I had some Fendi slides just like that. I had that purse and those shades too,” Amore said. As she continued to look, she snatched Dallas’ phone and started looking at all of the merchandise that the seller had available. It was no coincidence that Amore once had every item that the person was selling.

  “What’s wrong cousin?” Dallas asked.

  “Whose page is this?” Amore asked.

  “I don’t know the bitch. This is the
card that she gave me,” Dallas said as she handed it to her.

  “That dirty bitch,” Amore said when she saw Ciara’s picture at the top of the card listed as the owner.

  That bitch was grimy on a whole new level. Amore no longer had to wonder who went into their apartment and stole all their shit. The proof was staring right at her as she continued to scroll on Ciara’s business page. She had men’s and ladies high end clothing and accessories for sale and none of it belonged to her. It all made sense to Amore now. Ciara couldn’t fit any of her clothes but that was definitely her shoes and purses that she had been rocking lately. Amore was furious and she wasn’t letting that shit go.

  “What’s up cousin?” Dallas asked her.

  “What’s not up is this crazy ass bitch who keeps looking over here,” Chanell said with a frown. She threw her hands up at someone like she was calling them out.

  “Girl, that’s Trillion’s retarded ass baby mama. I already told y’all about our history,” Amore replied as she stared right back at Leah.

  “Let’s go somewhere else and eat. That hoe is creeping me out,” Dallas said as she stood up and walked away. Amore and Chanell were right behind her and Leah seemed to be tailing them. When they were almost to the exit, Chanell stopped and turned around to face her.

  “The fuck are you following us for?” she snapped as she looked at Leah.

  “Don’t flatter yourself sweetie. My car is parked over here. As much as you’ve been stealing, you should be more worried about security following you,” Leah smirked.

  “This bitch really is following us. I should mace her crazy ass!” Dallas yelled as they walked out towards the parking lot.

  “Let it go cousin. She can’t fight so it’s a waste,” Amore laughed.

  “A convicted criminal and child of a crack whore shouldn’t have room to talk about nobody else,” Leah smiled.

  “Yet, the man who you’re in love with can’t seem to get enough. He ain’t never had pussy so good in his life. His words, not mine,” Amore replied smugly, wiping the smile from Leah’s face.

  “You know her shit ain’t no good. The bitch looks like she’s anorexic. He’ll fuck around and break her in half,” Dallas said as they all walked away and laughed.