“What? No! I made those products, and I’m not gonna give you money I made off them.”
I’d gotten a nice amount of cash from selling here, especially when I added that to my online sales. I was making $4,000 a month, but for some reason I still felt like that wasn’t enough. But once my distributor kicked in with this next batch, I was hoping my sales would double. The only reason I felt like I wasn’t making more is because I couldn’t keep up with the demand.
“Then have a nice night. Your last check will be deposited by morning.”
“Emani, I didn’t—”
“Be lucky I don’t sue your little pregnant ass for using Angel Skin clientele to boost your business.”
“Those ladies were already my clients, and once I am gone, they will leave too. You stupid bitch.” I added the last part because I’d always called her that under my breath. But now that I was fired, I said fuck it.
Angrily, I snatched my cute bag from her that Tony had gotten me specifically for this purpose because it had a cooling system in it, and then went to my locker. I packed up my shit, and then headed out to my car.
I didn’t want to go home and be alone, so I chose to drop by the studio. Plus, I wanted to make sure Nala and Tony weren’t in there alone. I didn’t think he’d cheat on me, but because she’d had the dick before, I knew she was itching to get it again. Not to mention, I could see the look in her eyes when she watched us, and him.
I parked and then went inside to see Tony alone to my surprise, but on the computer.
“Fuck you doing off, Buttascotch?” He turned to me, leaning back in the plush chair.
“Why, wasn’t expecting me?” I set my purse down, then descended into the other plush chair.
“I had some hoes on the way.” He leaned to kiss my belly, and I nudged him off.
“I have a knife in my purse, so that is fine.” I smirked as he shook his head at me.
Pulling my chair closer, he palmed my stomach before kissing me repeatedly.
“You smell good as fuck.”
“Wait, I got fired.” I pouted. “Emani found out I’d been selling my stuff.”
“So, fuck that bitch and that job.”
“I need my job.”
“Why? You make a nice amount of money selling ya shit, Camarih.”
“Because it’s my safety net, Houston. In case things fall through, I liked having a job.”
“That’s yo’ problem. You don’t fuck with yo’ own shit hard enough.” He turned away from me.
“Yes I do!”
“Nah, because you wouldn’t be talking that stupid shit right now. You think I should go out and get a fucking job in case this whole thing falls through?”
“No. But it’s not the same. You’ve accomplished a lot.”
“So have you. Yo’ ass went from making a few hundred dollars off this shit a month to a cool couple racks. That’s some huge ass progress, baby. Every step is an accomplishment.”
“Yeah, but it could still take a turn.”
“That’s the risk you take when being ya own fucking boss. How many muthafuckas you know started out balling, and are broke as fuck now? Shit can always take a turn or fall through on yo’ ass.
Starting a business and being a CEO is the wrong job for two types of muthafuckas: ones who love quick money, and ones who are scared to fail a few times.”
“Humph.” I looked off. I hated when what he said made sense.
“If all you want is a guaranteed check, go apply to another spot, Camarih. But if you wanna make yo’ own bread, like I know you do, then keep at this shit.” He pinched my chin, making me smile like always.
“You know you’re not that smart nor are you that cute.”
“And I still fucked, so…” He shrugged as I got up to sit in his lap.
“Is that all that matters? That you fucked?”
“Yeah.”
I rolled my eyes as he laughed, hugging me in his lap and attacking my neck with kisses.
“I guess I can work for myself and see how it goes.” I half smiled down at him.
“There you go. Plus, yo’ baby daddy got a little money on him, so you straight.”
“I know. Daddy bought me a fire ass car.” I pressed my nose to his. “I was thinking of getting a banner saying, ‘yes bitches, Wacko got me a car’.” I created an imaginary banner with my hands.
“Look at you flossing. I be bragging on you too.” We kissed slowly.
He was right. The other night while out, Rubie took a candid of us, with his arm around me. After she sent it to me, I sent it to him, and he posted it with the caption ‘Prettiest bitch in LA having my baby’.
I’d never seen so many comments on one of his photos, but I refused to read them so I wouldn’t get my blood pressure up. Hoes these days were bold, especially when they knew you weren’t in a place to fight.
“I love you, Houston.”
“I fuck with you too.”
“Nope, come on.”
I started laughing as he whipped his head in different directions, playfully looking around to make sure no one was here or in the hallway to hear him before he said, “I love you too, Buttascotch.”
Rubie
Same time, different couple…
“Why are we in a hotel?” I asked Eitan as he pulled me into the luxurious suite.
“Because I wanted to do some romantic shit for you.” He pecked my neck while hugging my frame.
“This is so nice, thank you.” I smiled widely as he led me into the rest of the suite by hand.
The last time I’d stayed in a hotel this nice was when I would go on business trips with my father. But once our relationship had become estranged, all the niceties had gone out of the window. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed nice things until Eitan and I.
“Champagne?” He held the bottle up. It’d been sitting in a bucket of ice with two others, next to a bowl of strawberries.
“Yes, and I love strawberries!” I rushed over to where he was as he laughed.
“Yeah, you told me a lot of times.”
“So, I’m annoying?”
“Nah, you just say the same thing a lot.” He smirked as he filled the flutes.
“Whatever. Yet you still want to hang around me all the time.” I bit down into one of the juicy berries. It was so sweet and perfectly plump. “Where are these from? A local farm?” I wiped the juice that had trickled down my chin.
“Them is rich folk strawberries.”
“I like.”
“I know.” He handed me off the flute as we sat down on the bed together. “What?” He frowned as I stared at him.
He was so cute. I loved being around him, a lot. And when Armonn first returned, I was conflicted, but I’d realized that Eitan was who I wanted to be with. He had all the good things I found in Armonn and felt like were worth sacrificing other qualities for, plus he had his own money. I was happy Armonn had come through on all his promises, but unfortunately it was too little too late.
“Nothing, I just like you.” I sipped my champagne.
“I like you too.” He touched my leg, rubbing it gently.
“Ah! I needed this! Work has been so stressful. I feel like ever since Tony and Stallion ruined Mark’s showcase, he’s had it out for me. Now all I do is get his lunch, his smoothies, and run errands that have nothing to do with my job.” I polished off my liquor and held it out for Eitan to refill me as he chuckled. “You think if he died, I could inherit his company?”
“Pretty sure shit doesn’t work like that.”
“Too bad.”
“You said you wanna do PR, so why don’t you do PR for Make A Killing?”
“You mean work for Tony? I will pass, and I highly doubt he will hire me to do anything for him. I’ve never done PR, only went to school for it, in which I didn’t even graduate.”
“The homie is crazy but he’s smart. You just can’t walk in there expecting a handout. Put some shit together to present to him; like a busin
ess plan. He’ll curse you out otherwise.”
We cackled in unison.
“Not sure if I’m ready to be referred to as that hoe in PR or the bitch from PR.” I tried using a deep man voice to imitate Tony as Eitan cracked up.
“You sound like an old ass white man, but nah, just think about it. Right now, you ain’t doing public relations. You’re an errand girl and for okay money.”
“You just wanna work with me and be around me all the time.” I laid back, making sure to keep my flute upright.
Just as those words came from my mouth, I suddenly really wanted that job. I could keep an eye on Eitan and the groupies. I’d been noticing a lot of alarming comments from hoes on social media, and it made me uncomfortable, especially when he was away from me. I loved the success he was getting but hated that his fame was increasing. I wondered if Camarih felt the same because Tony was on front street almost more than Eitan. Hell, you’d think he was the one putting out songs.
“Something like that.” Eitan finished his champagne, took mine from my hand, and then proceeded to kiss me.
The next morning…
After a nice round of sex last night, Eitan and I showered then had dinner in the hotel. We didn’t get back to go to sleep until 1 a.m., but per usual I was up before him and before 10 a.m.
“See you tonight.” I leaned down to kiss Eitan, awakening him.
“Come to the studio this afternoon, and then we can come back here for a repeat.”
His sudden interest in hotel stays was weird, considering he had a big brand-new apartment, but maybe this was his way of being romantic.
“I have to work on my portfolio and plan for Tony. I’m gonna take your advice.” I half lied.
I did plan to get to work on my presentation to hopefully get hired onto Tony’s team, but today I was going to break up with Armonn. I didn’t want to just send him a text or something, because he deserved more. I wanted to do it nicely, over lunch.
“Aight. Make it good so I can have my girl with me as much as possible.”
“Will do.” I felt myself blushing at the thought.
I gathered my things since I’d already showered and brushed my teeth, then left out.
It took me a little while to get home, and once there I changed into a fresh outfit, before calling Armonn since he wasn’t home.
“’Sup, baby?” he answered happily.
“Hey, where are you? I was hoping to have lunch with you.”
“Uh, what time? I’m at an audition.”
“When it’s over? We can eat somewhere close to where you already are if you’d like.”
“Aight, I should be done around one thirty p.m. I’m in Ladera.”
I checked my watch to see it was 12:30 p.m. and nodded.
“That is perfect. See you soon.”
“I love you.”
“Back at you.” I hurriedly hung up, taking a deep breath. “Do not back track, Rubie. You want to be with Eitan and are only with Armonn because of history and being comfortable.” I chanted to myself four times before my doorbell sounded off.
I went to look through the peephole, and saw it was the UPS man, so I opened the door.
“Hi ma’am, I need you to sign.” He handed me the big electronic device. I signed it while eyeing the huge brown box. “Thanks.”
I gave him a quick smile, backing away as he placed the box inside of my home. Closing the door, I went to the kitchen to get the box cutter, then came back to loosen the tape. I saw it had Armonn’s name on it, but I didn’t care.
Once it was open, I saw it was a bunch of boxes from Nike. Sifting through, I saw four pairs of tennis shoes, and so many jackets, pants, and t-shirts that I lost count. The receipt fell from one of the boxes of shoes, so I opened it frantically to see how much he’d spent. The total came to $750, but the gag was that it was on my credit card.
Dropping my hands, I shook my head with a laugh because I was surely making the right decision by leaving his ass. He would never change, no matter how much money he made, and no matter how many times he claimed the worst was over.
After I finished boxing everything back up, I filled out the return form, taped the box, and then dropped the package at the post office to mail all that shit back. By that time, I had only twenty minutes to get to Ladera, so I texted him.
Me: Fridays?
MyLove: Sure. I finished early so be there in about 5 minutes.
I didn’t reply, instead I floored it that way, ready to cut this shit off. When I got there, I parked in the first open space I saw, then climbed out. Armonn was standing outside looking so fine with his light skin glistening in the sun.
“Hey, baby.” He kissed me and I kept my cool.
No one was here, so the hostess seated us outside and as soon as we walked in. She even took our drink orders because it was so slow.
“So Armonn, why did we charge seven hundred fifty dollars on my card?” I got right to business as my phone beeped.
E: Take a break and come down in 30 minutes, please baby.
I simpered, but it wiped away when Armonn began talking.
Me: Can’t. Doing important portfolio building lol.
“Rubie, I needed those things for an event.”
“What damn event?”
“A modeling one, what else? You always questioning me? How many times do we have to go in this damn circle? You accuse me of using you—”
“I have never done that.”
“Okay, allude to that fact. I tell you it’s not true, then I prove myself, and you end up feeling bad. What the fuck do I have to do to show you this is real for me?”
“What happened to those checks you flashed me from the reality show?”
He pointed to a new Lexus sedan out in the parking lot.
“Had to get a car. I used some to take you to dinner, then the rest for my down payment.”
“A damn Lexus? You couldn’t get a used Honda? What the hell!” I shouted just as the lady set down our drinks.
“Are you guys read—”
“No!” Armonn and I barked her ass away in unison.
“It’s my money. I wanted a nice whip!”
“Ohhh, so my money is really our money, and your money is only yours? Do I have that right?”
“I’m so tired of this shit.” He shook his head.
“You know what, me too. It’s over. Have a nice life. And I sent your shit back to Nike.” I got up so fast I made my chair fall.
“You what!” he spat, following me through the restaurant and out to where my car was.
“You heard me! I sent that shit back, and I will be waiting for my damn refund! We are through!”
“Wait, wait, Rubie, hold on, baby.” Armonn grabbed my arm to make me face him, holding me close.
Before he could talk, a familiar car pulled up on the side of us in the lot. When I recognized the Grand National, my heart dropped. The passenger window came down, and both Eitan and Tony were watching us, so I snatched from Armonn.
“Important portfolio building, huh?” Eitan nodded with his lips tucked.
“No, baby, I—”
“Baby?” Armonn frowned, looking back and forth between Eitan and I.
I opened my mouth to explain to Armonn but was cut off by Tony.
“Told you that bitch was a hoe. Them lips too big for one dick.”
“I am sick of you! Ah!” I ran out, and as soon as I got in front of Tony’s car, he floored it, almost hitting me until I dived out the way. My purse had fallen, so that had gotten ran over.
“Don’t play with me, bitch, I’ll kill yo’ ass. Play with that broke ass muthafucka you cuddled up with in the parking lot,” Tony ran off.
Eitan said nothing, just stared me down with venomous eyes. Armonn was silent, just standing there, looking bewildered over me calling Eitan baby still.
“Let’s go.” Eitan nodded forward, so Tony pulled off.
“Stupid dumb asshole!” I hollered loudly as I scooped my purse. But when
Tony slammed on his brakes, threw the car in park, and hopped out, I bolted to my car and slid in.
Ignoring Armonn calling my name, I reversed quickly and sped out of the parking lot with tears in my eyes.
Today had not gone as planned.
Rahim
I looked down at my phone to see Phoebe had called me for the seventh time in the last hour. Now that Shanece and I had gotten closer than ever before, I let Phoebe know that the sex shit was over and so was her pretend apartment renovations storyline.
That was a week ago, and she called me damn near all day, every day over bullshit. I only answered once, thinking that if I heard her out, she would leave me the fuck alone, but that shit had yet to happen. And when I did pick up, all she kept asking was why and wondering what she did.
“Damn muthafucka, I can barely hear my song back ’cause of yo’ shit.” Eitan frowned.
“My bad.” I shook my head just as Tony entered, talking on the phone. He went to sit down on the couch behind us.
“Who keep calling?” Abel wanted to know.
“Phoebe, man. I told her we was done and now she bugging. I’ve never seen her like this before.” I stared off at the floor of the studio, wondering what had come over her ass.
“Aww, damn.” Eitan laughed. “A scorned female. Ain’t nothing like it.”
“The crazy part though is this is out of character for her.” I ran my hand down my face.
It was. Phoebe had always been wild with some attitude on her, but she always had that City Girl vibe. She didn’t give a fuck about me, my wife, or what I did with other females, as long she got some dick and a few dollars here and there. Now she was acting like she was in love with me or some shit.
“You don’ did too much with her. You been letting her spend the night, probably having pillow talk, telling her yo’ problems,” Abel listed.
“Yeah, but it’s because I thought she had the same mentality toward our situation as me. Anyway, let’s focus. I’m gon’ put my shit on silent.”
I did as I said I would, so for the next couple of hours, we worked on some tracks without the interruption of my phone. It was 6 p.m. in the evening when I decided to bounce, so I checked my phone to see Amara had called me a bunch of damn times. Before I was even in my car good, I dialed her back.
She Gave Her All to the Hood’s Finest 2 Page 28
