by Kiki Swinson
“I knew it. You can never fool me.” I praised the fact that I was right.
“Well, you and I both know that I need it.” She turned to face me. “Porsha, it’s different with him than it was with Ronald’s punk ass.” The mention of Ronald’s name brought back the frown that she used to wear.
“I’m glad to see you happy. He bossin’ up too. That Porsche is all that.” I didn’t even respond to Ronald’s name.
“I know. I love it too . . . but, Porsha, he’s good for me too. We talk, I’m talkin’ about real conversations. He really supports me. He’s always positive. And you’ll be happy to know that I signed up for a six-month cosmetology course.”
“Aggh,” I yelped from pure happiness. “It’s a about damn time.” I was ecstatic. I made my way over to Briana and wrapped my arms around her.
“Yep, your boy Rico already cut the check. So it’s a bet.”
“That’s what’s up. See, I told you I’m not gon’ give up on you.” I smiled as I looked out at the pool. I felt released inside. Things were looking good from all ends. I had never imagined my life being so happy. “Bri, we are blessed. Things seem to be fallin’ into place for us, even with Ma. She’s been in really good spirts when I visit. And she absolutely loves Rein. She stay taking her to Chuck E. Cheese, just plain spoiling her.”
“Yo, that’s good. Whatever gets her out of that damn house. I swear I thought she might never leave that house again.”
“What you said.” I cosigned.
“Aye, but check this out. I really think this is a coincidence, but the other day I was going to Izzy’s Steakhouse to meet up with Rico for dinner. As I pulled into the lot, I happened to see Game pulling out. Not even a minute later Sasha comes zooming out past me. She was going so fast I’m sure she didn’t even see me. And just for a second I wondered what they were both doing there.”
“Wait, you think they were together.” I looked at her and laughed. “Nah, it’s like you said, that was just a coincidence. Besides, you know Sasha be everywhere eating. I’m sure she was there with some guy. You know she always got a date. And Game loves a juicy steak.” I smiled. I thought of how he was always having the chef prepare steaks or ordering out for one. In fact, once I thought about it, I remembered he had brought one home recently. “Bri, when was this?”
“A couple of days ago.”
“Game brought home both of us steaks from Izzy’s a couple nights ago. I forgot all about that. Sasha must have just happened to be there at the same time.”
“Those were my thoughts exactly. You know the only reason I mentioned it was because it made me think back to last week at the club. Remember, when I introduced you all to Rico? Well, later that night after the club he was sayin’ how he basically knew Game from the streets and that he was really sorry for mixing up you and Sasha. But he said Sasha looked really familiar to him and that for some reason he thought they were together. And he knew from our conversations that my best friend Porsha”—she pointed to me—“was Game’s girl.”
Now I understood why he had been so rushed at judgment when Briana introduced us. “Okay, and with Game standing between Sasha and me, I could see how he could mix that up. And we all know Sasha be everywhere. So ain’t no tellin’ where he might have seen her.”
“That’s what I said. Rico agreed too. Yep, all that shit was just a coincidence. ’Cause you know if it wasn’t, I would be about to beat Sasha’s ass for real.” The scowl on her face told me she was not playing. I knew what Briana was capable of. Like I said, she didn’t take no mess.
“Bri, stop with the violence.” I laughed.
“Damn right. I came over here to relax and get tipsy. Pass me that damn bubbly. Can I get a refill?” She started to sing. I couldn’t help but laugh. I refilled my glass, then passed the bottle to her while she continued to repeat the hook of the song. We sat back, got twisted, and took a nap out by the pool.
CHAPTER 13
Life was good. I had hopped a plane with Game to Florida two days ago to accompany him on his business trip. Of course I didn’t attend the business, but fun was definitely on my agenda. My job had reluctantly given me the days that I would need while we were away, and I planned to enjoy every minute of them.
We had a house rented on the beach, and it was beautiful. Both mornings I had sat on the deck to watch the sun rise. I had only heard about such foolishness on television, but turned out I loved it. In East Oakland I never got the chance to enjoy God’s natural beauty right here on earth. Oakland was concrete streets, fast cars, hustling, and gunshots. I needed some sun, sand, blue water, and pampering, and Game didn’t disappoint. In the two days we had been in town, he made sure I got everything I wanted. That everything added up to be twenty thousand dollars.
Since I would be leaving the following morning I had made a special trip to FedEex and shipped my things home. I didn’t want to risk the airline losing my precious new clothes, shoes, and bags.
In honor of our last night in town Game had planned us a nice quiet dinner outside on the deck, prepared by one of the top chefs in Florida, Genzaili. And boy, was he expensive, but Game said nothing was ever too good for me. So I smiled, went shopping, and planned to look scrumptious for our dinner. And when I made my appearance on the deck for dinner in my red lace sheath dress by Tadashi Shjoi, which fit my body just right, accompanied by Jimmy Choo satin ankle-wrap heels, I was not surprised by Game’s dropped-jaw reaction.
He immediately stood, stepped in close, then wrapped his arm around my small waist. Softly snuggling his face into my neck, then brushing his lips across my ear, he whispered, “You look good enough to eat. And I promise to taste every inch of you later.” I blushed. Softly he planted a kiss on my neck. Taking my hand, he led me around to my side of the table and pulled out my chair.
“Thank you.” I sat down carefully. Game always made me feel like a lady. His swagg was always on ten. At the present moment I couldn’t have cared less about dinner. What I really wanted to do was take him back to our room, rip his clothes off, and ride him like the true stallion I knew him to be. But like he said, later. “Bae, I swear it’s so beautiful out here at night. It gives me that feeling that I could stay here forever.” I breathed in the sand and blue water. The breeze coming off the ocean was just right.
“You like it that much out here, huh?”
“Yes. I never imagined it would be so beautiful. I know we have our own beaches out in California. But . . .” I shrugged my shoulders.
“Well, if you like it that much, how about I invest in some property out here? Maybe a beach house or something. That way you could come out here whenever you felt like it. You and your girls could do like a Florida takeover or something.”
Just another reason why I loved him so much. There seemed to be nothing he would not do to put a smile on my face. Everything about him was solid. “Bae I would love that.” A beam spread across my face.
“Done.” He smiled. Our personal waiter approached the table. He filled both our glasses with Champagne, but it didn’t go unnoticed by me that Game had his favorite bottle on the table. Hennessy. He would be taking shots.
Next the chef introduced our first course. First up was shrimp cocktail, followed by a spinach salad, which Game knew I loved. Then we were served the main course: filet mignon, asparagus, and chopped squash, another one of my favorites. Vanilla ice cream and peach cobbler was the dessert. I nearly melted. The meal was plain, but everything that I loved, so I knew Game had requested it.
“Did you enjoy everything?”
“Every bite. Clearly you’re learning your way to my heart.” I giggled.
Game chortled, then saluted. “My honor. Real talk, though, I want you to know that I will give you the world. Like I say all the time, all I ever want is for you to be happy.”
The look on his face was so full of love it made me want to cry. “I am happy. Every moment that I’m with you, I’m happy.” I gave him a smile that only my heart could carry.
Game stood and walked over to my side. I knew what was coming next, and I could hardly contain myself. He had gotten up to put his soft lips on mine. I waited. Reaching my side, he stood, towering over me. I wanted to kiss him so bad I almost jumped out of my seat into his arms. But I waited. Then my heart skipped a beat. Instead of leaning down to kiss me, he planted himself on his right knee. I became a bit nervous as I looked into his eyes.
“Porsha, will you marry me?” I couldn’t believe my ears. My head swooned. “Babe, are you okay?”
I was fine but at a loss for words. I wondered if he was serious, but the big diamond ring that blinded me from the box had me convinced that he was. Tears burned my eyes.
Game’s left hand traveled to my face, and he softly rested it on my cheek. “Porsha, I love you. Possibly from the very first moment we met.”
God I loved this man. He didn’t need to say any more. “Yes.” The tears that had been threatening to fall, fell. Game glided the new diamond onto my finger. I couldn’t help but stare at it. Game planted a million kisses all over my face before finding my lips. After a long, passionate kiss he stood and pulled a chair up close to me.
“Are you still in shock?” he asked. I couldn’t take my eyes off the diamond, or rock, as some might call it.
“Pretty much.” I gave a shy smile, then my eyes wandered back to my ring. “But on life you did good, bae.”
“I aim to please.” He laughed. “No really, I was worried you might not like it.”
“Bae, there is no way any woman wouldn’t be in awe of this rock.” I showcased it to him as if it was his first time seeing it.
Suddenly his face turned serious. “There is also something I need to talk to you about.”
“What is it, bae? What’s up?” I wasn’t concerned. With this ring on my finger, it couldn’t be anything too serious.
“I have to go away for a while . . . and I would like it if you could go with me.”
“Wait, what do you mean you have to go away? What for, why?” Now I was confused. He had asked me to marry him not even ten minutes prior, now he had to leave? “Go where?”
Whatever it was, it was serious, and I knew that once he dropped his head. I sat on the edge of my seat. My stomach churned.
“It’s beyond my control, a’ight?” He sighed. “The feds have been building a case against me for some time now. Ever since my last lockdown, they just won’t seem to let it go. So my lawyer needs me to vamp so that he can straighten things out. He want my presence to be ghost.” I soaked up everything he had just said to me. “Feds” and “leave town” were rolling through my mind in a ball of confusion. “I know this is a lot, but it’s what I have to do. But I didn’t want to leave town without us being married. And that’s regardless if you decide to go with me or not. I also want us to be set up for life, financially, in case something were to go wrong and we have to be gone longer than expected.”
“Is everything okay with your finances?” I asked.
“No my finances are good.” He paused. “As you know, I have a great deal of money and I have worked hard for it. But I also came from nothing, so I always think with the mind-set that there can never be enough money. That is why I want us to make a big-time score before we leave.”
Now the words “score” and “us” had my undivided attention. Again I was confused. It must have been written all over my face. He looked down again, so whatever was brewing was serious. He reached for my hand. “I need you to set it up so that I can make a clean hit at your bank.”
There was no doubt in my mind I was being punked. I turned around and looked at my surroundings to see if there were people watching with cameras. I didn’t see anything. The beach was clear. I faced Game again and laughed. But he did not laugh back.
“Porsha, I know this may come as a surprise, but I’m not kidding. This is real. I need you to do this for us.”
At that moment I become stunned. Did he realize what he was asking me to do? “Game, you have enough money already. We will be fine.”
“I explained that to you already.”
“Well then, there has to be some other way to get the money besides my work.” I loved him and wanted to help, but we had to think rationally.
“Babe, I have thought this through long and hard. There is no other way.”
I didn’t agree with that. “There is.” I was adamant. “We could double our house sales,” I suggested. “That has made good money for us already. We have two houses that we can have gone in two months. Less.”
“Babe, that ain’t gon’ work. Two months ain’t fast enough.” He shot that idea right out of the air. “And quite frankly, not enough dough.” He shrugged. “Not to mention I don’t have a lot of time to blow. Like I said, the Feds, they on my ass. I gotta make a move and it has to be a fast smart one.”
“But . . .” I tried to speak, but he stopped me.
“Listen, I know I’m asking a lot from you. But I need you to trust me. This is what we need. It’s quick, clean, and damn near perfect. The score from the bank is the only way,” he stressed.
This time I dropped my head. He had his mind made up. So here I was, backed into a corner. The man I loved just put a huge rock on my finger—I’m sure it cost him no less than forty thousand dollars—asked me to marry him, and was also asking me to run away with him, but only after we robbed the bank where I worked. What the fuck?
CHAPTER 14
It had been a couple of days since I returned home from Florida, and truth be told, I felt as if I was walking between clouds of two different worlds. Elated because the man that I loved had asked me to be his wife, but also inside a ball of confusion that the man I loved had asked me to jeopardize it all for a quick come up. So for the two days I had been home, the only thing I had done was lie around the house, mostly in bed, trying to figure things out. I didn’t want to see anyone. I had told Ma, Briana, and Sasha that the trip had exhausted me and that I had to work. I hated to lie to them, but it was partly true.
Hours before our flight was to leave Florida, Game had received word that a few things still needed to be handled, so he stayed behind. As much as I would have loved to have him home, I thanked God for the time alone to think. Over several bottles of wine I searched for answers to my questions. Had Game really considered the risk of what he was asking me to do? How could he say he loved me but ask me to do such a thing? I was confused yet angry at the same time, and I still had no reasonable answer to these questions. The worst part was I could not discuss it with anyone. Briana and I told each other everything—we had no secrets between us—but Game had warned me about the seriousness of anyone even knowing we had that conversation. And even though I knew I could trust Briana with anything, the last thing I wanted to do was disrespect Game or put Briana at risk, so I kept quiet.
The alarm going off on my cell phone interrupted my thoughts. I turned it off. I had set the alarm so that I would not forget about the shopping I had reluctantly committed myself to with Briana and Sasha. They’d allowed me to rest for two days, but they refused to take any more of my excuses. I told them that Game had spent 20k on me in Florida and I was good. But truth be told, my motto was a girl could never shop enough. Pushing back my Donna Karan sheets, I threw my legs over the side of the bed, sat up, and stretched. The shower was my destination. The hot water did my body good. My mood was comfortable, so I threw on a pair of blue jean boyfriend shorts, a white wifebeater with pink lettering that read Oakland Chic, and my pink and white Jordan Retro 12s. After sizing myself up in the mirror, I concluded I was ready.
“We missed you,” Briana and Sasha sang and hugged me at the same time.
“Really? Did you two practice that?” I teased them.
“See, Sasha, I told you she would be suspicious.”
“I knew it was fake.” I gave a fake pout.
“Just kidding. We missed your big head butt.” Briana laughed.
“How was the beach?” Sasha’s eyes lit up.
/> “Beautiful. I loved it.” I really didn’t feel like talking about the trip. It brought back the decision I had to make. But I knew they would have questions. I was happy when the saleslady brought us out a glass of wine. The wine would calm my nerves so that I could get through the questions without breaking down.
“Now, this is what I’ve been waiting for.” Sasha referred to the wine. She took a sip right away.
“Yeah, me too. We should have told her to go ahead and bring out round two.” Briana added. I felt the same way but kept it to myself and sipped instead.
“Ladies, let’s toast to heels and bags, because I plan to buy both before we leave up outta here.” Sasha raised her glass. “This retail therapy is two weeks overdue,” she added, then sipped her wine as if her life depended on it.
For the next hour we shopped, chatted, and drank wine. Although I hadn’t done much talking, I was glad I had come out. Being with the girls kinda cleared my mind, and I needed that. I wanted to tell them about the engagement so bad, but Game had warned against that too. According to him, we didn’t need to bring any extra attention to ourselves. He said we would announce it at the perfect time. So when I returned to Florida I had taken my diamond off and put it in the safe at home. I looked at my ring finger as I sipped my wine, and a tear almost fell.
“So I’ve been thinking about something long and hard,” Sasha said, then paused.
“Well, is you gon’ tell us? Or we gon’ have to play charades?” Briana joked.
“I swear you have no patience, Bri.” Sasha grinned.
“Shit, you already know. Plus these drinks got me anxious.” We all laughed. “So please, spit that shit out before I grow old here and now.”
“Well, I think I’m going to leave Oakland,” Sasha announced with a hint of uncertainty in her tone.
“Really.” I was shocked.
“Leave Oakland . . . bitch, and go where?” Briana probed.
“That I ain’t sure about yet. But somewhere. It’s time I try something different. I been here my whole life. Shit just not working out for me no more. I want a change.”