by S. L. Walker
“It’s okay if you can’t,” he said. I guess I took too long to answer him.
“Yeah, I’d love to! What do I wear?” I leaned on my elbows facing him.
“I’m sure you’d look great in anything,” he flattered me.
“I’m sure you’ll be all handsome in your little Christmas suit,” I pinched his cheeks. He pulled my hands away blushing.
“No, just wear a nice dress, nothing fancy,” he smiled.
My pager buzzed again, popping up my mothers number.
“That is if my mom doesn’t put me on punishment after tonight,” I laughed, kissing him on the cheek and ignoring her page again.
“Ah, see guess I better get all of mines in then,” he kissed me back and then without warning, went underneath the sheet again and this time I didn’t stop him.
EVA
I practically knocked Professor Heart’s front door down, I was banging so hard. I had raced over to his house the moment I could that night. It was freezing cold but I was so angry, the cold was actually cooling me off.
He swung the door open like I was the police.
“What the hell, Eva?! You’re going to cause a scene!” He pulled me by my arm inside and slammed his door behind me.
“Where is it?!” I shouted at him.
“Chill, Eva!” He yelled at me, backing up.
“Where is my shit, Steve?!” I wasn’t playing with him. As fine as he looked in his black sweatpants and black tank top, my heart wasn’t speaking today. “Why did you follow me?!” I questioned him, wanting answers.
“Why do you have a gun?! What was you doing at that house?! Were you about to rob them people?!” He questioned me back. I grew infuriated and refused to answer shit. I still had Raven’s nine and pulled it out of my jacket and pointed it at him, leaving the safety on. He backed up.
“Holy! Whoa, Eva! You going to Shoot me?! Like that?!” He backed up more.
“If I have to!” I lied. “Give me my gun, Steve, and I will walk away and forget all of this shit. You have no idea what you’re fucking with,” I told him, sounding like a complete bad ass. Unfortunately, I was serious and the more he knew the more I could get in trouble, not only by my mom, but the police and my girls too. And now, fuck fire, he was playing with an active volcano.
“Okay, okay, okay,” he kept his hands up and walked to his room. I followed him with the gun pointing towards his back. He went over to his underwear drawer and pulled out my Ruger and handed it to me. I checked for the safety and put it in my pants pockets, not taking the Nine off him.
“Thank you,” I let out a deep breath and walked backwards with my gun never leaving his face.
“You’re not going to shoot me, Eve,” he kept his hands up. His voice was calmer now and he started walking with me.
“Stay the fuck there!” I walked towards him, forcing him to back into his drawer.
“Okay, okay,” he stayed.
“Listen, you say anything about anything, Professor Heart. I cannot guarantee your safety. Do you hear me?” I warned him. “You and me are over,” I told him. Hearing those words come out of my mouth brought tears to my eyes. “You did this!” I yelled at him no longer able to fight the tears.
“Eva, just talk to me. I just want to know if you’re okay. I won’t tell anyone anything if you just talk to me,” he lowered his hands.
“You’re not gonna tell anyone anything, period!” My tears drying now. “If you mention this, I will mention us!” I threatened. His facial expression changed and the look on his face could make the hardest criminal’s heart go soft.
“You don’t mean that. You don’t want to hurt me,” he whispered.
I clicked my safety off. “Now what?! Still think I won’t?” I lied again. I grew tired of him testing me. I wanted to leave. I came for what I wanted.
“Eva, I care about you. Put the gun down and talk to me,” he came forward.
I pulled the latch back stopping him in his tracks.
“Stay. There.” I wasn’t going to warn him again. If I had to shoot his ass in the foot, I would. I slowly backed out of his room, our eyes never leaving each other. I clicked the safety back on when I reached his front door and darted out slamming it behind me. My heart beat a thousand miles a minute as I got to my bike in time to see him running out of his door behind me. I hopped on my bike and scurried down the street away from him. I looked back expecting him to be running on foot after me, but he stopped at stairway of his apartment. He didn’t yell my name or anything. He just watched me go. A part of me wanted him to run after me but a part of me also knew this was the beginning of our end.
CHAPTER 30
“Thanks for meeting me,” Reggie sneered with his gold tooth sitting across from Lila in her giant living room. Her space was as luxurious as it smelled. Her entire living room space had red walls, red drapes, velvet red couches, red paintings and sculptures. You would think she dressed to look like her room in her all black sleek body dress with bright red lipstick, red silk gloves and red pumps.
“I’m doing this for Treach,” she reminded him, delivering a sneer back.
“I see,” he loosened the collar of his plain white tee. Lila looked him up and down as if he was street trash. She hated his ugly white and blue Girbaud jeans, his cliché Jordan sneakers and ran down braids hidden under his matching blue and white A’s hat. A couple of her kittens walked past in silk night gowns curious as to why she was even meeting with such a man. Everyone who came through Lila’s doors were suited from head to toe.
“I have a proposition. See, I’m tryna get my little business up and poppin.’ Get up out that motel and I guess I can say I kind of need a mentor, or maybe even a partner,” he leaned over. She sat against her couch.
“And you want me to be your partner?” She chuckled. “You can’t be serious. We aren’t even in the same class, boo,” she glared. She heard about Reggie’s two dollar hoes on the corners running out of a motel. The cops were all up and through that area all the time.
“I heard you lost a lot of good girls over there and clients. What makes you think I want to work with you? You don’t even know how to keep a business,” she snarled.
“That’s why I need you sweetheart,” he smiled. She cleared her throat. Suddenly, one of her kittens walked in. She was cute and quiet and her face told her age couldn’t have been over 16. She had long golden hair down to her butt and her eyes were a pretty rainbow.
“Would you like anything?” She looked at Lila. Lila looked at Reggie for a request.
“You got Henn?” He asked the young Caucasian girl. Lila rolled her eyes at another obvious trait.
“Get him some Scotch and bring me a glass of champagne, Violet,” she ordered for him.
“Okay, then,” he put his hands up. He knew Lila was bougie, but he didn’t know she was this hard to take and he almost wanted to forget the whole thing.
“Sure thing,” the young girl walked away, swaying in her white silk robe and bare feet.
“If you’re going to drink with me, you’re going to drink with some style. Listen, Reggie, I don’t run my business like the hood,” she said, using her fingers as quotations. “The reason I never get caught is because I go through top dog people. Even some policeman order my girls. Hell, I even had a judge come through here. My customers understand discreetness. My girls are all hand picked by me. They have health insurance, medical checkups, their own living spaces, shopping money, stylist, and oh yes, I pay them very fucking well,” Lila stood up, pacing the couch. “Violet is 14. She was homeless. No family, no friends. I picked her up, gave her a home, a bath, a shampoo and underneath all that dirtiness was a pure succulent little bunny rabbit. I told her in exchange for her body she could have whatever she wanted. Violet brings in almost $10,000 a week. If she feels like it.”
“Holy shit,” Reggie said, surprised. No wonder Lila was able to afford this mini mansion. He was definitely doing something wrong.
“And she’s not even my
best girl,” she bragged. Violet walked in with a tray, holding a large glass of expensive champagne and a short glass of expensive Scotch. Lila took hers and Reggie did the same, leaving Violet to walk out.
“What about the girl Treach gave you?” Reggie wanted to get down to the bottom. He wanted her for himself, so he was hoping to do a deal with Lila, but if he had to partner with Lila, he would.
“Treach didn’t give me anything. I paid a pretty penny for her. I saw something in her, kind of like I saw in Violet. Treach had her in there with those filthy men, abusing her little teenage body. She’d be scarred for life. At least here, she can live at peace. And I don’t slap my girls if they don’t feel like sucking dick today,” she said with force.
She took a sip of her champagne and threw her head back, enjoying the strong taste, giving her starter buzz. Reggie took a sip of his Scotch.
“Damn! This some good shit. Smooth,” he smiled and took another sip.
“Johnnie Walker’s finest,” she told him smiling. “Kaitlin’s name around here is Coral. I don’t use real names. Kind of like how they do at the strip clubs,” she smirked, sitting back down in her seat. “So, what do you want with Coral?”
“I want her to be apart of my team. I was trying to get Treach to give me one of his little newbies but he not tryna hear it,” he told her.
“Ha! And take her to that mess of a hotel? No! And Treach ain’t giving them girls up. They are too good of business for him. His customers like them,” she told him flat out.
“Well, then help me get my shit going. Name your price!” He offered, getting impatient with being told no all the time.
“She ain’t for sale. Now, if you want a taste, I can arrange that for you, but she not for sale. And that’s final,” she told him and like a dog hearing his master’s call, two of her guards eased around the corner and stood by the front way. The stern look on their faces and Glocks in each of their hands dared Reggie to do anything stupid. Reggie understood their talk and calmed his nerves a bit.
“Fine, how much for miss Coral?” He asked. He knew this was his only way of getting to her. He had wanted a piece of her for a long time he just wished he could pimp her out.
“$3,000 for anything you want,” she said.
“Three thousand dollas?! Woman-” He stopped and looked at her goons. He went into his bag, pulled out a stack of cash and then a small red velvet bag. He poured small white diamonds out onto her glass coffee table in front of them making Lila’s eyes light up.
“Three thousand for Coral and you partner with me and show me how to run the game. I won’t be your competitor or nuttin’ like that and I’ll even help get Coral some of her very own repeats. And this is yours,” he offered Lila.
Lila picked up one of the diamonds the size of dimes and examined it. She hopped up like a little girl and went over to a table drawer and took out a loupe to check the authenticity of the diamonds. She sat back on the couch and picked up a bell and rang Violet to come back in. Reggie was far too impressed by Lila’s professionalism.
Violet came in swiftly.
“Get one of the girls and check these for me,” she handed the diamonds to Violet.
“Sure thing,” she said and walked out the room with them.
“So you’re really serious?” She looked at Reggie with hesitation. She had never taken on a partner before. And wasn’t about to now, but she could use the extra money he could bring in.
“Hell yeah I’m serious. I’m tryna be like Miss Lila,” he chuckled.
“You got a long way for that, sugar,” she smacked her teeth. She picked up the wad of cash and excused herself, leaving the goons to watch over Reggie. He finished his drink and felt good about his transaction. Treach had fronted the diamonds and told him that Lila was a sucker for payment with diamonds. He had schooled him to let her go ahead and say no first, because he knew she would. The diamonds and a different offer on the table would get him at least halfway through the door. Reggie sat back smiling, proud, and then Kaitlin came around the corner. She looked like a princess in her all red dress, which was sheer at the bottom revealing her sheer lace panties. Her perky breast poked out under the v-neck haltered lining of the dress. Her long slender legs complimented her 6 inch red open toe heels and her hair was tied in a pony tail leaving one strand of hair covering her left eyebrow.
“Damn,” he said out loud.
“Reggie, this is Coral, Coral this is Reggie,” Lila glided over to him with Kaitlin. Reggie stood up and kissed Kaitlin’s hand. Kaitlin was mortified. Lila had warned her and given her a pep talk in her room, but she wasn’t expecting this rough neck of a dude.
Did he even shower? How could she? And for a measly $3000? Lila usually never did less than $5,000 for a “you call it package.” A “you call it package” was exactly what it sounds like. Whatever the men named, they got.
“You look incredible,” he complimented. Kaitlin stood there silent, not even wanting to smile.
“Say something, Coral,” Lila demanded. She knew she was lowering her standards by doing this for Reggie but his diamonds had checked out and he had pretty much given her almost $100,000 worth of them.
“Thanks,” Kaitlin half smiled.
“Now, my driver will be taking you to my choice of a hotel and you have exactly 3 hours with her to do what you want,” Lila ordered.
“Three hours? But-” he frowned. He thought he’d at least get the day with her.
“Coral is usually $5,000. So you got a deal. And I never give her to anyone for a full day. What do we look like, a charity? And as far as our partnership, it’s a no go for me. But I will help you build your brand, get some better girls, and move out of that crap you call a residence and get you into a house. And I will personally hand pick your guards to protect your women. Lord knows what kind of riff-raffs you have in your circle and you don’t want anyone raping your girls because they think they can. You will pay your girls no less than $500 to start. You will charge men no less than $1000. I don’t care if it’s a damn blow job. And your girls better deliver $1,000 blow jobs!” Lila paced the floor, giving directions like a teacher.
This wasn’t what Reggie wanted, but he knew Lila was dishing out more than she needed to.
“Aight, coo, coo. When do we start?” He rubbed his hands together. They were itching for money, itching to get started.
“Go have fun with Coral, I will get things situated asap,” she picked up her glass of champagne and finished it in one gulp. “And Coral, you show this brother the time of his life, okay?” She winked.
The hotel Lila picked was upscale and classy. Everyone that entered and exited were either in suit and ties or some kind of business attire. They stared at the two odd couple as they walked up to the hostess.
“Uh, Joe?” Reggie asked the hotel clerk. “Here for Lila.”
Reggie was ordered to go specifically to Joe who was on Lila’s payroll for her customers. He always set her clients up in one particular suite.
“Ah yes, Mr. and Mrs. Howard. Here is your key, have a pleasant stay,” he said cheerfully and handed over the hotel key. The other hostess paid them no mind as she went and checked in another guest.
Kaitlin had never been in this hotel before, so she was surprised when they opened the door to the Executive Suite.
“Damn, does she know how to treat her customers, for real. Damn!” Reggie clapped excited. He hurried and slammed the door and locked it. He then turned to Kaitlin looking her up and down ready to devour all of her sexiness. He knew she wasn’t feeling him and he didn’t care. “Let’s get comfortable,” he threw his shoes off and dug into the small refrigerator, stacked with little bottles of alcohol. Maybe if he got her drunk, she’d loosen up.
He grabbed some bottles of whiskey and downed two shots.
“What you want?! Tequila? Vodka? Rum?” He asked Kaitlin. She rolled her eyes, sat on the bed and took her shoes off.
“Can we get this over with?” She said, irritated. She thou
ght about drinking to numb her irritation with him, but she had cheefed a little during her talk with Lila and didn’t want to ruin her high.
“Like that? Girl I gotchu for three hours, you might as well relax. We gone get to it, you don’t have to worry about that!” He chugged another shot of Whiskey. Men like Reggie disgusted Kaitlin. Too damn horny and gross. She ignored him and plopped on the bed looking at the ceiling.
“Okay, okay, since you want to be a bitch about it,” he slammed the refrigerator door with a couple shots still in his hand. “I just paid mad money and I know I ain’t pay that to fuck a girl with an attitude. I bet you don’t act like this with your other customers,” he walked over to her and stood over her. She sat up on her elbows facing him. He took another swig of the bottle and threw it on the ground. Kaitlin was repulsed by his presence, he even smelled like old cologne. He went to unbutton his jean pants and pulled them down.
“Uh,Uh! You need a shower!” She stood up, pushing him away from her. He had a musty stench.
“What?! I took a shower today!” He looked at her like she was crazy.
This bitch got me fucked up.
He didn’t like the way she made him feel about himself. The way she looked at him and scowled at him as if he was a bum off the streets. He grew angry.
“Sit back down on the bed and suck my shit!” He pointed to where she was sitting.
“Not till you take a shower,” she folded her arms. She wasn’t used to being treated like this. Not since she worked with Treach. And of course it would be one of Treach’s friends who would remind her of what she left. Then it came back to her. She remembered Reggie’s ass a long time ago trying to holler at her. And then trying to have sex with her when Treach started hoeing her out, but she was already booked with someone. Then Lila bought her. Her stomach turned.