“Wow, I can’t remember the last time someone asked me that. I may need a drink before we even get there.” He chuckled.
“I’d rather not.” She smiled then continued, “Drinking alcohol while doing business is never a good idea. No offense of course. I’m sure you’ve been doing this for years and know the do’s and don’ts. You’ll have to excuse me if I keep reverting to the same question, but this just seems a little premature for me. Not that I couldn’t do it, but I’m so new. Why not offer this to Carolyn? She’s been with you much longer than I have.” His grin made Shawna’s leg twitch a little faster.
Shore knew from the moment he agreed to let her intern it was only a matter of time before she would prove herself a valuable asset to the label. He didn’t want any vibes taken the wrong way. “Okay, I’m going to ask you two questions and if you answer yes to both of them you have to accept the promotion and stop implying that this is all some elaborate plan to get your pot of gold.” He had to laugh.
Shawna nodded yes with a smile.
“First question, do you like money?” Shore smiled, already knowing her answer.
“I think that’s a trick question because of course I would say yes to that. Of course I want more. Of course I want advancement and recognition. Okay, you may fire me after I say this, but I have to know every angle of this ‘promotion.’ I don’t want to be your test subject. The ‘newly constructed position to see if it’s gonna work’ type promotion. Don’t build me up to set me on a path of icebergs and polar bears. I hope I’m not too bold, but I don’t wanna be anybody’s ‘risk.’ If that’s the case then I would like to stay where I’m at for now until I get more experienced.”
“You know it kills me when people conjure up the most negative breakdown on something so positive. This could change your life. Look, I’m going to say this as plain as day because I know why you are so skeptical. You are worthy of this position. You have what it takes. This is not ‘risk,’ as you say. And lastly, I do not want your pot of gold. So can we go have lunch without you asking me that crap again? I am excited to bounce some ideas off you and tell you what should be your next move if you want success.” Shore was happy the car was pulling up to bistro; he needed a real drink. This young chick was going to be work, but he knew the outcome would be profitable in the end.
Shawna buried her red face in her hands. Tears almost came to her eyes, feeling embarrassed by her ignorance of a golden opportunity. Shawna allowed all the rumors she heard guide her reactions to Shore’s offer. After all he basically confirmed how Emma got her cushy job of receptionist. She wasn’t going to let anything or anyone fuck up her shit now. Quickly wiping her eye, Shawna lifted her head and smiled. This is good!
After a long lunch and hashing out a three-year contract with great benefits and no casualties to either side, Shawna had a permanent smile on her face. Once she got back from lunch she drew up the contract and presented it to Shore to sign. He sat behind his desk, looked it over as he talked on the phone, and they both signed two copies. Then he placed one in his safe and handed the other copy to her. She began to walk out his office until he held his hand up to stop her.
“Sorry about that, but I had to take that one. It was about headlining a tour in Europe. Oh, how I hate those tours. Aren’t you forgetting something?” Shore open his checkbook sitting on top of his desk. He started to write.
Shawna looked confused when he handed her the check.
“Don’t tell me you got short-term memory loss. Don’t you remember what we talked about?” Shore tilted his head.
“This is a check for fifty thousand dollars. We only discussed rent and car service.”
“Yeah, you got a year’s rent; car service will be provided by the company, which doesn’t come out your personal money. Consider the rest housewarming gifts.” At that moment his cell phone buzzed.
Shawna got the hint and headed out the door. She ran to her desk and stared at the check, counting the number of zeros over and over again. It felt like she hit the lotto or she was going to wake up soon; either scenario would change her perception of her future. The buzzing of her desk phone made her realize the check was real. She picked up the phone. “Hello . . .”
“You have a package at the front desk for you,” Emma recited.
“Thanks, I’ll be right there.” She hung the phone up before Emma could say anything smart. She took the check and stuffed it into her purse and headed toward the reception area. When she approached she could see a huge bouquet of flowers and the company’s signature gift of Cristal when contracts were signed. Confused by who would send the flowers, she scrambled to find the card. She pulled out the small envelope buried between the roses and pulled out the handwritten card.
I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you. Just talk to me. Keisha
Emma looked at her. “From yo’ boo?”
“Mine yo’ fuckin’ business,” Shawna muttered through her teeth.
At that moment Shore walked into the reception to head out for a meeting. He smiled as he noticed the company’s signature gift sitting there.
“Shore, the company messed up and sent this bottle here to Shawna instead of the client this morning. I will get it fixed and hand deliver it tomorrow.” She smiled, thinking she was showing how insufficient Shawna was.
“Umm, actually that bottle is for her, Emma. I placed the order myself. When big deals are made it’s good to show appreciation. Oh yeah, can you call Carolyn and tell her she needs to meet me at the XXL magazine shoot in the morning? Thanks, have a good night. Shawna, you should head home and live a little; after all, this is the first of all the good things to come.” Shore walked out the door and headed to the open elevator.
“What the fuck is he talking about, Shawna? No one in this office gets Cristal when deals get made, trust I know. What happened, you worked him over lunch? Ever since you came back from lunch you’ve been smiling.” Emma seemed concerned as to what was going on.
Shawna rolled her eyes and ripped the small card and envelope in her hand. “Can you help me bring this back to my desk, please?”
“Actually I got a dinner date and can’t be late. So you’ll have to lock up. Thanks. Have a great night.” Emma promptly grabbed her purse out the bottom drawer and removed herself from behind the reception desk and headed toward the door.
Shawna couldn’t do nothing but smile. She knew by this time tomorrow the news would be obvious. She only hoped that Carolyn wouldn’t be on the warpath and out to destroy her career before it really got started. Taking deep breaths as she walked back and forth bringing her stuff to her desk, she realized she wasn’t even old enough to drink yet.
Her cell phone buzzed; KEKE showed on the screen. Looking around she made sure that no one was around before she pressed the green ANSWER square on the screen. “Thanks for the flowers, but you didn’t have to do that. Listen I had a really good day and I don’t want to ruin it by arguing with you about something I can’t even remember. Okay, so I don’t want to hear ’bout that shit no more. We stopped that shit long time ago.”
“A’ight, since you said it like that. I guess my only question would be: What was so good ’bout yo’ day? You won the lotto and moving us all out the hood? . . . Please say you did, please, please, please.” Keisha giggled.
“Sort of . . .” Shawna slowly said, pulling out her check again.
“When you coming home?”
“I’m leaving now. This is big, KeKe. I wish Ronnie would get out her funk so we can all celebrate. This could change my life. I’ll see you soon.” Shawna pressed END on her cell phone screen.
After packing up, stashing her bottle, and locking the office, she contemplated telling her girls about her come up. She wasn’t even sure she should tell her parents right away. Her twentieth birthday was approaching and she figured she had to cut the umbilical cord sometime so why not now? Shawna was ready to follow her dream.
3
LaRhonda
LaRhonda spent m
ost of her days taking care of her kids. It’d been a year since the encounter on the roof between Eric and Vincent. After that incident it was as if Vincent saw the light; he stopped hitting on her, moved her and their kids out the projects, and took care of everything financially. She didn’t have the need for anything. Happiness finally entered her life.
After years of living with her family she was elated to move out and have a safe and comfortable environment for her kids. When she gave birth to her oldest, Diamond, she was only seventeen and quit going to school altogether. She didn’t want her drug-addicted mother to take care of her baby and she definitely didn’t want social services to become a household name for Diamond. Staying home and doing what she had to do for her child was her main priority.
When she found out that she was pregnant again she knew staying with her mother would have to change. She pleaded with Vincent and he stepped up. Before she gave birth to her second child, Aaron, Vincent moved them into a small two-bedroom apartment on Bedford and Atlantic Avenue. Knowing what Vincent was doing to make money wasn’t a factor; she just knew everything was being taken care of.
After living away from the hell she called home for eighteen years, it only took her eight months to crawl back to her mother. Vincent got caught up in an armed robbery of a popular pizza joint on Utica Avenue. It only took a week to know Vincent’s future: five-year bid on the Rock. He took the plea because of the surveillance footage they had as evidence. No paid lawyer would be able to get him out of paying the price for his actions.
LaRhonda cried for days, fighting her regrets and should have’s.
Vincent did the right thing by securing her financially for at least two to three months. Every robbery stick-up he survived he stashed some money with his grandmother. Their relationship was close to none, but he knew she wouldn’t stab him in the back. One of the calls he made when he got locked up was to her, letting her know that LaRhonda would come by for the money. His grandmother didn’t like what he did, but she understood it and blamed the environment his parents raised him in.
LaRhonda isolated herself from everyone and didn’t go to retrieve the money until two weeks after Vincent was sentenced. When she finally did get the money, to her surprise there was at least ten grand stuffed into a small knapsack, mostly small bills, but she was thankful she could feed her kids until she signed up for government help. She didn’t want to depend on welfare, but her reality was “oh too real” to be risking anything.
She swallowed her pride and worked out a deal with her mother; if her mother kept her company outside she would give her rent money. Knowing that her mother was too old and dried up to be out on the street supporting her habit, she figured providing the means to her inevitable death would be prolonged instead of immediate. She couldn’t help loving her mother, but she also couldn’t allow her to suffer. Although living there would cause her extreme stress, she had nowhere else to go.
Once she gave the landlord notice, she sold what she could and packed up some suitcases, then headed back to the projects. Upon arrival she placed her kids with an upstairs neighbor she unintentionally grew up with. As she entered her mother’s house she could smell the dirt and the faint smell of burning rubber. She pulled out her phone and dialed Keisha’s number for the first time since Vincent was sent off to the Rock.
“Hell—”
LaRhonda quickly interrupted her. “I need you and another body to come help me. I’m back at my mother’s and I gotta clean this place out before I bring my kids in here. I know we ain’t speak in a minute, but I need your help. Can you help?”
“You my girl, right, so you ain’t sayin’ nothing but a word. I’ll be there with reinforcements. Give me an hour.” Keisha ended the call.
With a smile on her face she called out to her drunk and high mother, “Yo, Ma?”
A short, bald-headed woman approached her with a small bottle of vodka swinging at her side. “What you want now? You got my money?”
LaRhonda scrunched her nose at the sight of who once was a beautiful woman, Millie. “You know you stink, right? And you know once my kids come in here you gotta do all that shit somewhere else ’cause you won’t be getting no money from me. And I sure as hell don’t need DFS on my ass.”
“Oh, so you wanna play like that. Don’t forget who providing these accommodations for your no-good ass. I thought I got rid of your ass, but here you are. Let me guess: his ass either dead or locked up. You can’t even keep your man out of trouble.” She took a swig from her bottle.
“You know what, here’s . . .” She reached into her right jeans pocket and pulled out $250. “That covers two months. Now get the fuck outta here for a while.”
Her eyes widened when she saw the green in her daughter’s hand. After snatching it from her hand she started to con for more but shut her mouth once she heard a knock at the door.
“Millie, open the fuckin’ door. You fuckin’ owe me, bitch,” a loud, deep voice shouted on the other side of the door.
“Ma, who the fuck is that?” LaRhonda asked with a scared look. What the fuck am I gettin’ into? Shit!
“I don’t know, shit! I owe a lot of motherfuckers!”
Millie’s laughter annoyed her to the point of almost slapping her mother down. She contemplated opening the door.
The banging and yelling became louder.
LaRhonda walked into the kitchen, which looked like an ashtray; cigarette butts were smashed all over the counter, table, in the sink, and even on the stovetop. She pulled out a drawer next to the sink; immediately the roaches scattered. She picked up a rusty knife and walked toward the door.
“Bitch, you better open this fuckin’ door or—”
LaRhonda swung open the door. “Or what? You better get the fuck outta here before po-po get here, ’cause I already called.”
“Who the fuck is you?” The fiend-out addict looked past her and over to her mother. “Millie, tell this bitch to get out my way.” He struggled to stay fully awake to attempt his wannabe home invasion.
LaRhonda slammed the door in his face and shouted that the cops were coming, hoping that would send him on his way.
Millie stood there with her bottle in one hand and the only money she had the other. “By the time I get back, I want this house cleaned and them bratty, loud-ass kids you got in your room ’sleep.” She walked into her room, slipped into her torn sneakers, and threw a ratty old sundress one size too small over her head. She walked back out toward the door.
“Don’t hurry back,” LaRhonda insisted.
LaRhonda didn’t stop her; she had a lot of work to do before she could bring her kids in there. Looking around she didn’t know where to start; garbage littered the floor, stains of whatever were embedded in the carpet, used needles, used condoms, and liquor bottles, large and small, were scattered throughout all the rooms in the three-bedroom apartment.
First thing first, I gotta go get some working gloves, latex gloves, garbage bags, and cleaning supplies. I better go let Mary know she may have the kids for more than a few hours. This shit is crazy. I can’t believe I’m back here.
LaRhonda stood there on the verge of tears. I shouldn’t be back here. I hate you, Vincent, for this! Back to one room, ain’t this a bitch! All she could think of was the horror she left was now her home once again.
A few hours later, Keisha and two others were there helping to clear out almost everything; they ripped the carpet up, and threw out the sofa, all the dishes and cutlery, along with anything related to drugs and alcohol. She knew when Millie finally showed up there would be a fight for throwing out most of her shit. Not giving a fuck, she continued with the clean-up without a word.
When Keisha’s friends went on another garbage dump behind the building, she finally spoke. “Yo, Ronnie, what’s good?”
“What you mean?” Ronnie didn’t want to talk about how her life was shit at this point.
“C’mon, I’m your girl. You ain’t even call me when Vincent got locked up. Sha
wna said she called, had her mother call, but you ain’t never holla back. You call me out the blue talkin’ ’bout you need help. So, what’s the deal?” Keisha needed to know.
LaRhonda took a deep breath. “Keisha, me and you have always been straight with each other. So I’ma say it once and then I’ma need you to leave shit alone. Agreed?”
Keisha folded her arms across her chest. “Whateva, Ronnie . . .” She rolled her eyes, waiting for her sorry excuses.
“After Vincent got sent to the Rock”—she paused, not wanting anyone to know how desperate she really was—“I didn’t know what to do. I was just going through the motions. Listen, I know I haven’t talked to you or Shawna in months and it was like I dropped off the planet, but I was tryin’a make it work with Vin. I wanted him to know I could give up everyone and everything associated with over here including Eric.”
“So you stopped talking to us ’cause of that bitch ass. You can’t be serious! You lucky I don’t give a fuck. You still fuckin’ with Eric?” Keisha asked, a bit annoyed that her best friend pushed her to the side because of some man who beat her on the regular.
“Why does that matter?” LaRhonda cut her eyes and sucked her teeth.
“It don’t, but are you?”
“Just leave it alone. Why you so concerned anyway? You fuckin’ wit’ him?” LaRhonda snapped.
Keisha laughed. “Whateva, Ronnie . . .” She pulled off her gloves, threw them in the garbage bag, and said, “I’ma tell Jerome and his boy to help you finish, but I’ma leave now. I gotta go meet up with Shawna and tell her how our friend just returned from the beyond,” she lied.
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