by Nako
He kneeled down there with her, capturing the attention of his friends and a few people standing near them.
Discretely, he handed her the knot that he had with him. It was something that he luckily found in his sock drawer this morning.
“You’ll do well in life if you smile more. It takes you further,” he gave her a gem of knowledge and hoped that she took it into consideration.
Before she could protest or even say thank you, he stood up and nodded to his peoples. They were out quicker than they entered.
“Who is that boss ass nigga?”
Even with the exception of the jewels and designer threads, she knew money when she saw it and sadly, she had judged him when he grabbed her arm. That man smelled like money and he was walking like a lick.
Her eyes lit up with greed. That wasn’t her though…her best friend who was now down the road serving time would’ve followed him right out the club and forced him to surrender everything he had that was worth some money. She would’ve probably stolen his car too.
That girl was a hot mess.
Before Mahogany could smile about the good times, she quickly remembered how she betrayed her and tossed the memory out of her head. She pulled it together and got back to work.
She planned to count the knot later, hoping that it was more than a few hundred dollars.
She needed blue racks on top of racks to climb out of this hell hole she fell in trying to hold a sorry, lying, trifling nigga down.
The night went by rather quickly and when she finally exited the club, her hair smelled like smoke and all kinds of liquor. She couldn’t wait to get home and take a bath.
Some nigga that was leaving at the same time as her, asked her if she wanted a ride home once he saw that she wasn’t rushing to her car like the other dancers were.
“No.” She didn’t even look his way as she pulled up the Uber app to call her a ride.
Any nigga that didn’t leave Shakers until it closed, which was five in the morning, was no man that she would dare leave with. It screamed thirst and desperation and she wanted no parts.
She made a lot of money tonight and he wasn’t about to catch her slipping.
Mahogany went back into the club until the notification popped up that her car was outside.
She slid into the back seat and took a deep breath. Dancing wasn’t easy and anyone that thought stripper’s job was a breeze had never worked in the club before. Her toes were screaming, and her feet was in excruciating pain. Her butt cheeks were throbbing as well from twerking all night. Her lower back needed to be popped and stretched. There was no way in the world she could get up in a few hours and go to the diner, it wasn’t possible.
They made it to her home, she sighed as she got out of the car and went up the sidewalk.
“I can’t keep forgetting my pistol,” she told herself, after realizing that the elevator was broken again. She would have to take the stairs.
When she made it inside, her brother was in the kitchen making something to eat.
“Who eats noodles this early in the morning?” she teased him as she dropped everything in her hands on the floor.
She was tired as fuck but had to count her earnings first.
“Shit, ain’t nothing else in here to eat. You need to go to the store,” he complained.
Mahogany tore into his spoiled, ungrateful ass.
“Nigga, you’re about to be eighteen. Get a damn job.” Whenever she found some free time, she needed to do a pop-up at his school because she really didn’t think he was going or had been all year for that matter.
Him and his entitlement was on her last nerve. He had to do better.
“Where Nene? Ain’t nobody hiring. I keep telling you that.”
She shook her head as she threw the money on the table and sat down to count it.
Nineteen hundred dollars.
Then she remembered the knot the dude gave her, and she searched the Crown Royal sack, purse and MCM book bag that she kept her outfits, lotion and water in.
“What the hell?” she knew that she wasn’t tripping and before she panicked she kept searching for the money.
Mahogany was on the verge of losing her mind.
“No, no, no!”
“Ma, what you looking for?”
Her son, Kareem, came in the kitchen with his turtle drawers on and nothing more, he was the cutest kid in the world. And at five years old, he was the spitting image of his father.
She didn’t want him to see all those loose, crumpled dollar bills on the table.
“Baby, go brush your teeth,” she dismissed him quickly.
Mahogany started tripping out as she retraced her steps looking for the knot. She needed that fucking knot.
Tears began to fall down her face minutes later as she came to the realization that she got snubbed. One of them bitches in the dressing room took the money.
But how? She had her bag on her the whole night. She only sat it down to…
“FUCK MAN! FUCK!” She punched a hole in the wall causing her brother to jump.
Mahogany slid down to her feet and wailed.
She hadn’t broken down not once since her lifestyle drastically shifted from sugar to shit, but something had to give. She was broke and miserable. It wasn’t fair. That man gave that money to her…why would they take it?
This had to be her karma. She was far from perfect, but damn.
C H A P T E R 4
Them late nights starting to show on ya – Drake
She was right back here and ready to fuckin’ go already. This wasn’t her. She was so embarrassed and all she could think about was that fine ass man telling her to keep her head up and smile. Mahogany tried her hardest to do that, but how could she when she was broke and alone? She didn’t have not one person she could call or depend on. Everyone was around when she was up and living good, but where were they now? She had two growing boys who didn’t understand that Nene didn’t have it like she used to. They expected Christmas and their birthday to still be what they were accustomed to. Her brother thought that every sneaker that came out had to be on his feet the same day it was released. She had heard the word no her whole life and she didn’t want that for them. Trying to be Mother Theresa was causing her to lose her sanity. Mahogany never prayed. Ever. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in God, but shoot, her whole life had been hard and heavy. Clearly, she wasn’t on his list of favorites that Drake had rapped about in a song. But something in her told her to drop her head for only a few seconds and ask God to give her a sign. She needed to hear Him say that He was going to work this out for her.
“Amen,” she sniffed back a tear.
She was gutter, she didn’t cry. Emotions weren’t her thing. She pushed her boobs up in the bustier that she wore and strutted out of the dressing room with her hands in the air, twerking with a playful look on her face. The dude from a few nights ago swore she was beautiful, and he also claimed that he rarely gave out compliments, so she couldn’t lie and say that he didn’t boost her head up a tad. Lowkey, she hoped that he came into the club tonight. She predicted that the knot had to be about four thousand dollars that he gave her, and it could’ve helped her a lot. She needed some more of that to get her to her goal, and then she could kiss Shakers goodbye. It was taking everything in her not to check these hoes because she knew one of them or hell all of em’, took that money out of her bag. Mahogany was going to try this nice girl thing tonight and see how much money it brought her.
η
Burke looked atrocious. There wasn’t a nicer word to use. Porter stared at him for a while before he opened his mouth to even greet him with a hello, a handshake, or a hug. He didn’t know what to say. When their eyes met, both men seemed quite startled. Taken aback. Emotional.
“I am… Bro, this is my fuck up,” he apologized from the heart.
“Don’t you dare, Bavay.” He was the only person to call him by his last name.
“Did I even ask you before I gave
you the company? Man, I was so ready to get out of here. I couldn’t breathe. I was on the verge of losing my mind. Burke, I made you do this.” He was hurting. This was a selfish move on his part. That’s the only way he could look at it. He didn’t even see if he wanted to run the company, he just left.
“STOP!” Burke lifted a hand to make him shut up. He wouldn’t let him do this.
“You know how we used to always joke about you not being an open book…” he took a deep breath.
P sat back in the seat that the receptionist of the very fancy rehab had led him to, where his friend was hopefully being cleansed, physically, and mentally.
“Talk to me. I’m here. I ain’t got shit to do. We’ve got all day, baby. Come on, let’s talk about it. I want you home, man. We got money to make, Burke. This ain’t you.” He banged his fist on the table.
His friend was in the beginning stages of getting cleaned up, so the urges were still present. He needed a hit and a double shot.
“They say that the first step of this shit is admitting that you’re an addict.” He tried to laugh but nothing was honestly funny right now.
“Bavay, I’ve been a functioning user for years. Way before you hired me. Before we met…” he admitted.
Porter didn’t believe his friend at all.
“Huh? You? How?” he had so many questions.
“Years man, years…” He shook his head.
“I only did a bump to stay up. It started with weed, of course, then a few pills when I was fucking off. From there I started lacing my blunts and that didn’t get me high fast enough, so I did a lil’ crack… It went downhill from there, man.”
It felt like a load lifted from his shoulders as he exposed his dark secrets and shared the truth. He was tired of hiding. Burke was done lying and acting like he had his shit together.
“Jillian kept threatening to call you and I told her that I was going to get it together. Then she found me…in the got damn bathroom. I had overdone it that day.”
Porter was devastated. He smoked weed and drank, but that was it. He didn’t dabble with anything that came with demons.
“Where are the kids? What about Tee?”
Burke shrugged his shoulders. “She left right after the funeral saying she wasn’t going to sit around and watch me kill myself.” He was done with her ass anyway, but not his kids. He loved his children.
“She gave up on you?” That was some fucked up shit.
“Hey, no pre-nup. Her words, not mine.”
Him dying would’ve been a blessing for her.
“I’m going to call her. The kids need to talk to you…” They couldn’t see him like this, but to hear his voice may make him speed up the process of getting clean and coming home.
Burke shook his head. “They’re good without me.” He had made his mind up and couldn’t be convinced.
“Bruh, I’m not going to let you turn your back on your family. This is what we’re doing all this shit for; their legacy,” he reminded him of their values.
Family first.
Always.
Burke changed the subject, “How you been though?” He missed him.
Porter knew what he was doing, and for now, he’d let it go.
“I’m alright. Didn’t plan on coming back so soon.”
“Two years though?” They were all wondering when he would return. Some days, the question crossed their mind if their friend died alone from a broken heart.
“I took it one day at a time, man. Some days I didn’t even get out of bed.” He closed his eyes. Porter had experienced some dark moments. The nightmares had come to a slow halt, but he knew that he’ll never truly be able to sleep in peace.
“Therapy may be good for you.”
He shook his head. “I’ll pass. Getting this damn company back on its feet is all the therapy I need right now. It’s a welcomed distraction, trust me.”
Porter hadn’t really done much of nothing upon his return, other than work due to it being so much on his to-do list.
“Jillian will be able to fill you in better than Casey. FYI.”
Burke was high the majority of the time and Casey also ran one of the most successful law firms in the country.
“I still haven’t called her.”
His friend sat back in his seat and crossed his legs. Porter couldn’t believe how much weight he had lost. His skin was blotchy, and he needed a haircut.
“She’s probably pissed that you haven’t. She took it real hard on your left. Miscarried twice before the twins.” Burke had all the tea. That was surprising to hear.
“Miscarried?”
He nodded his head. “Come on man, you know you was like her big brother. I remember one time she came in my office and went the fuck off on me. I was late for a meeting or something, I can’t remember, but boy, I had never heard her talk like that to me or anyone else. She was like this man worked too hard for you to be fucking up. Get it together!” He laughed at the memory.
Jillian was taught the right way. His lil’ boss lady.
“She kept my life in order.”
He was going to go see her today. He would be sure to take some flowers and a gift for the twins. Jillian was a good woman. She had been under his wing since her junior year of college. From an intern to the VP of Beauty By Bavay. She should share her story soon. He would tell her that too.
“What’s next for you?”
Porter shrugged his shoulders. “Shit. Uh, work nigga. I’m not interested in doing nothing right now but getting the company rolling again. New clients, new strategies, and more money.”
“I’m talking about personally?”
Porter was always a workaholic. His friends are what kept him leveled at times. They were the ones that pushed him to stop and breathe. To live. To celebrate. To enjoy the fruits of his labor.
“Burke, save it okay. Not interested and won’t ever be.”
He wasn’t thinking about no pussy. He wouldn’t tell him that he got his dick sucked, literally the night before…that wasn’t his business. It didn’t mean anything to him, and honestly, he shouldn’t even have let the girl go down on him. Nevertheless, she always came through in the clutch. She was good with that mouth. Shorty thought he was gon’ bless her with the wood but was sadly mistaken.
“How you been?” she tried her hardest to make small talk.
“You ready?” he asked her in a dry tone. He pulled his dick out and stretched his legs ready for her to suck him off, so he could keep it moving. The only thing about being back in the city was all the pussy on demand. He called it POD.
Porter had an unlimited supply. Women loved him. Chicks craved him. He could get it whenever and wherever. It was some bitches out here that would sell their soul to have a taste of him.
“Yeah…I guess.” She got the hint quickly and did what she knew she needed to do.
After he released, he felt disgusted with himself, as always whenever he did some shit he knew he had no business doing.
Porter felt guilty as his body shivered from the aftermath of getting some good ole nasty sloppy toppy. He nutted all in her mouth and she hungrily licked him all up and then cleaned him off. She was always trying to gain a position in his life that she’d never qualify for.
“You still single?” he only asked because she was such a pretty girl. She should definitely be married by now or at least with a nigga that loved her.
She nodded her head as a stupid ass goofy smile graced her caramel face.
“So why you come see me then?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s you… P. You know how I feel about you.”
Wrong damn answer.
“Where your man thinks you at?” Bitches couldn’t be trusted. Ridiculous.
“Probably a model call.” She didn’t know, nor did she care. Once she brushed her teeth and washed up, she’d be good as new. He would never expect her to have done something as sinful as suck another nigga up. Especially not Porter Bavay.
She was an aspiring model, he would most likely laugh at her in disbelief if she even told him that she knew him.
“I have no problem being alone,” he clarified to his best friend.
“You’re a handsome man. You do know that it’s okay for you to date and move on?” he reminded him. Burke wanted Porter to open his heart again. He was too young to be shutting off his heart. He was determined to get him to understand that.
“Well, thanks. I didn’t know I needed your approval,” Porter scoffed, voice full of sarcasm. His friends were always trying to tell him what he should be doing or how he should be living…they’d been doing it since they met him. Perhaps, it was because he was the youngest of the bunch.
“Hey man!” he said defensively.
“Didn’t say you did, but sometimes we need to hear things out loud. I’m just letting you know that your life isn’t over,” he was sharing some of the things he had learned so far in therapy. Rehab wasn’t all bad.
Porter wasn’t hearing that shit.
“Yeah-yeah, I’ll be back to check on you at the end of the week.”
Burke hated how much he digressed form the important topics. He made it a goal to get clean and complete this program, so he can come home and help his friend out.
“It’s okay. I’ll be home soon, nigga, and I’m lining the dates up!” he joked.
They stood and hugged.
“Kim’s gon’ haunt your ass in your sleep.”
The look on Burke’s face told him that he didn’t find that funny.
“What?”
Burke shook his head. “Nothing. Kim ain’t gon’ bother me, nigga,” he tried to play it off, but Porter wasn’t stupid.
“Everything good? Anything I need to know?” His whole mood had shifted.
“Nah dawg.” Burke held his hand out for a shake.
Porter shook it slowly. “Alright.”
He sat in the car for a while wondering what his friend was keeping from him. He would ask Casey later. He was being chauffeured around today since the rehab was far from the city.