by K Elliott
“Why do you sound surprised? You know I miss you.” “I know I miss you sometimes, and I’ve often wondered whether
you ever miss me, or did you ever think about me.”
“Well, now you know I miss you.”
“I don’t really want to be seen by nobody. I told you … I feel so
dirty, so undeserving of any attention.”
“You need to stop talking like that. You are not dirty. The
muthafucka that raped you has the fuckin problem, not you.” “I know. But that doesn’t make me feel less contaminated.” “Contaminated? Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
“You missed me, huh?”
“You know this.”
“What did you miss about me?”
“I missed being able to talk to you.”
“Why did it take you so long to call?”
“I don’t know. I was thinking that you and Tommy was spending a
lot of time together.”
“No, not really. He went to the hospital with me, but other than
that, I’ve been here with Mama. I didn’t want to stay at home. I don’t
feel safe no more.”
“Yeah, I feel ya.”
“You want to come over?” She asked.
“Yeah. I think it will ease my mind a bit if I saw you.” “You got me blushing.”
***** Tommy was at the lake when Alicia called. He’d only been navigating his boat, enjoying the weather. The sun was out, and there was a gentle breeze blowing.
“What you doing?”
“At the lake.”
“Fishing?”
“Not yet. I’m just enjoying the weather.”
“You coming to see me today?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing.”
“I can come out to the lake, but I don’t want to get on the boat. I’m
scared we’ll fall in, and I can’t swim.”
“You can’t swim and you’re from California?”
“What is that supposed to mean? Everybody in California don’t
know how to swim.”
“I thought Cali was all fun and beaches.”
“Wrong.”
“Obviously I am.” He laughed.
“Why don’t you come over here and serve me, Big Papa?” “You want me to come over now?”
“Unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Being on your boat is more important than I am.”
“No, not at all. In fact, I’ll be on my way in about thirty minutes.”
Chapter 16
Alicia opened the door, wearing tight jeans, a tank top, but no shoes. Tommy smiled at her and she invited him into the living room. “Oh, yeah ... before I forget … Daddy called me this morning, and he was wondering what’s going on with you?”
“I had a setback, but I’ll have the money real soon.”
She frowned. “You had a setback? What happened?” “I lost a hundred thousand dollars in Miami,” he said. He wanted
to tell her about the robbery, but that would mean he would have to tell her about the rape. Where Alicia was concerned, he was supposed to be a single man.
“You lost a hundred thousand dollars?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow. I don’t know what I would do if I lost that kind of money.” “I tell you what, it ain’t easy. I’ve did all my crying, now it’s time to
go back to work.”
“Get back to work? You are so much like my daddy.”
“That’s a good thing, ain’t it?”
“It is in a way, but I’m not all about material stuff. I just want to be
happy; besides, I’m going to school so I can provide for myself.” “So you don’t care if I had money or not?”
“As long as you’re able to take care of yourself, I could care less.” He smiled. “So you like Big Daddy?”
“Yes.”
“You love me?”
She laughed then toyed with her hair. “You’re pushing it.” “I’ve got you a gift.”
“What is it? I love surprises.”
“It’s in the car. It will have to wait until I leave.”
“Now you got me curious. I’m going to be wondering about the gift
the whole time.” She stood and walked past him seductively then closed the living room blinds. He looked at her ass and remembered the sex they’d had in San Francisco. He wanted her again at that moment.
She turned and laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“I saw you staring at my ass. Men’s intentions are so obvious.”
“What do you think my intentions are?”
“You probably want some ass, since I put it on you in California.”
“Am I that easy to read?”
“Come on; lust is written all over your face.”
“So what are we going to do about that?”
“Nothing.”
“So you’re going to let me suffer like that?”
“I don’t have a choice. It’s that time of the month.”
“Period, huh?”
She walked over, sat on his lap, and kissed him on the jaw.
“I think I’m falling for you,” he said.
“That’s a good thing, ain’t it?”
“Yeah.” He put his hand on her ass.
She slapped his hand. “Stop it.”
“What did you do that for?”
“I don’t want to get nothing started that I know we can’t finish.”
He kissed the back of her neck.
“Stop it, Tommy.”
“Okay, I’m going to be a good boy now.”
She looked him in the eyes. “Tommy, why haven’t you ever invited me to your house?”
“I don’t know. It just never came up, that’s all. It’s not like I’m hiding anything.”
“Nobody said you were hiding anything, but since you said that … are you hiding something … like a family or something?”
“No. Hell no.”
“So when you gonna take me to you house?”
“Anytime you want to go.”
“Why not today?”
“I have to … get ready to go out of town tomorrow. I have a flight to catch.”
“But if I’d given you some ass, you would have had sex with me in a heartbeat.”
“Would have been ready to fuck you on the spot.” He smiled. “Tommy, don’t say that. Say have sex or make love. I’m a lady.”
Tommy didn’t say anything. Instead, he looked like a kid being chastised by his mother.
“Tommy, I want to go to your house.”
“I can’t take you today, maybe when I get back from Miami.”
She looked at him suspiciously. “Tommy, you’re not living a double life, are you? I mean, you don’t have a family that I don’t know about, do you?”
“No. What makes you say that?”
“Just curious.”
Tommy stood and walked toward the door. “Come on outside. I got something for you.”
“What is it?”
He smiled. “Just follow me.”
When they arrived at Tommy’s pickup truck, he grabbed a fishing pole from the back of the truck … a pink one, just like he’d promised. He’d actually painted it for her.
She burst out laughing. “Boy, you are too sweet.”
“You like it?”
“Yes, thank you. But now I have to get me a cute little outfit to wear with you when we go fishing.”
“Oh my God, woman.”
She leaned toward him and gave him a kiss. “I still can’t wait to visit your house.”
***** Hector Gomez wore slacks, a Lacoste shirt and expensive loafers. He met Tommy in the lobby of the hotel. They walked into the lounge area and took a seat at a table in the corner.
Hector ordered two bottled waters. “I’m sorry about what happened with Juan. I hate that you guys lost your money like that.”
“So what can we do to make up
our money? I know you’re sorry, but that’s not going to bring the money back.”
“I know, but I can’t give you your money back because I didn’t have anything to do with it.”
Tommy looked frustrated. He didn’t respond. Instead, he thought about Manny and how they’d always done good business. His mind recalled Alicia’s father and the real estate proposition.
“Listen, Tommy, the only thing that I can really offer you is product.”
“How much am I worth?”
“I don’t know, maybe ten kilos.”
“Manny will tell you that I am worth a lot more.”
“I know you are, but things have gotten pretty rough since Manny got locked up.”
“You said you would make it up to us. Now how are you going to dot that?”
Hector sipped his water. “Have you ever sold pills?”
“What kind of pills? You mean like X?”
“Yeah.” Hector smiled.
“I ain’t never sold X. I’ve always been a coke man.”
“Listen, there is plenty of money in X. I mean, you can make millions in months.”
“Explain how.”
Hector looked around to make sure no one was listening. The lounge area was pretty empty, except for a an elderly white couple sitting at the bar, telling the bar tender boring stories about when they’d lived in Toronto.
“Okay. I can wholesale you the pills for four dollars each if you buy at least twenty-thousand dollars worth, and you can wholesale them to your friends for eight dollars. They go for twenty in the streets. The money will come so fast it will make your head hurt; trust me.”
“Twenty thousand dollars worth of pills … how in the hell will I get rid of those?”
“Man, believe me, it will not be a problem. Everybody takes pills. Everybody wants to feel ecstasy.”
“So when can we get the product?” Tommy asked, anxious to start his new venture.
“Whenever you come back with the money.”
“I got money now for the coke, but I didn’t bring money for the pills,” Tommy said. He had brought another hundred thousand dollars; and Twin had brought fifty thousand. “So front me the pills.”
“If I give you the X on consignment, I will need five per pill.”
“Cool.”
“Okay. I’ll go get the product, and we’ll meet in the lobby of the hotel in an hour.”
*****
“Nigga, that’s a smart move. Everybody is doing X.” “That’s what I’ve heard,” Tommy said.
“How much are we going to get?” JoJo asked.
“About twenty thousand worth at five dollars a pill for me. I’ll give
them to you and Twin for seven.”
“Cool. I’m with this. I can just get my girl to holler at the girls at the
club and get them to get the word out,” Twin said.
“I think we should wholesale the shit at maybe ten dollars a pill,
then come back for more,” JoJo said.
“That’s what I’m going to do,” Tommy said.
“You know somebody that would buy it wholesale?” Twin asked. “I’ll call my boy, Big Red, on the south side. That’s all he fucks
with,” JoJo said.
“Just wait til we get back and go holler at him,” Tommy said.
***** Hector brought a clear Ziploc bag full of X to Tommy’s hotel room. He dumped the pills onto the table. There were green ones, yellow ones, and pink ones. They had designs on them such as butterflies and Nike Swooshes. Some even had the Mercedes Benz symbol.
“Which ones are in the highest demand?” Tommy asked. “They all are, but the Nikes are popular here in Miami.” “Nikes, huh?” Tommy thought about the whole concept of the
pills. It was sheer genius. Someone had thought of putting these designs on the pills, branding the drugs, so the customers would recognize the product. Now his goal would have to be to make one of the designs his brand. The Nikes looked cool, but the ones with the Mercedes symbol would probably be better for a town like Charlotte. He wanted to sell his customers a dream. He wanted to sell them pleasure and sheer ecstasy.
“Okay, I’ll take them.”
Hector grabbed a handful of pills then put them back in the bag. “You’ll see, Tommy. I’m going to make you a multimillionaire.” “So how come Manny never gave me a chance to sell X?” “See, Tommy, we’re kind of like a Syndicate. Manny does the
coke; I’m into the pills and my father sells the heroin, but it all goes to the same family. And the reason why we are so strong is because we are family and nobody is greedy.”
Tommy and Hector counted $150,000 for the coke; the pills were consigned, and the deal was confirmed with a handshake. Tommy promised to pay Hector back in two weeks … even if the pills weren’t sold.
*****
“Big Red wants to buy all the pills we have,” JoJo said. “How do he know what we got?” Tommy asked. “You shouldn’t have called him yet.”
“I told him that we should have about twenty thousand pills.”
“How much he wants to pay?”
“Nine dollars a pill.”
“I don’t want to sell them,” Tommy said.
“What? Nigga, are you crazy?” Twin said.
“No. I got a plan, one that’s going to make us rich.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“I want to retail this shit for fourteen dollars a pill. We want to pick the pill that gives the most pleasure then sell it for less than twenty dollars. And we’ll set up pill houses.”
“Pill houses?” Twin asked.
“You know, a place where customers can get their supply.”
“I think I see where you’re going with this,” JoJo said.
Tommy was in deep thought. He knew that if he could implement his plan successfully, he would have the million dollars soon.
“What about the coke?” Twin asked.
“We are going to do both. We’re going to have what everybody wants,” Tommy said.
“Okay, who’s going to take this shit back to North Carolina?” JoJo asked.
“Shit. I’ll drive the coke back myself,” Tommy said.
“What about the pills?” Twin asked.
“Shit. One of y’all drive that shit back,” Tommy said.
“I can get my girl to come down. She can fly back with the pills.”
JoJo stared at Twin. “Are you sure about that? I mean, none of us know how much time pills carry.”
“Yeah, you’re right, but I know I ain’t going to take the shit back along with the coke,” Tommy said.
“Fuck it. I’m calling my girl. We can put this shit in balloons and get her and one of her girlfriends to carry. I mean, who would ever suspect two white bitches?”
“Man, your girl has already been approached by the feds. What do you mean who would ever suspect her? She’s already suspected,” JoJo said.
“But what else can we do?”
“Let’s let his girl do this just one time,” Tommy said.
“Okay, just this one time. But we gotta do something else after this,” JoJo said.
Chapter 17
Twin picked Jennifer up at the Miami International Airport. Her friend was Morgan, a tall blonde from Connecticut. Jennifer had met Morgan at the club about two years ago. The two girls had connected immediately. They had a lot in common. They both were voluptuous blondes, and both had grown up poor, with alcoholic parents, and they both loved men with money.
Once they were in Twin’s hotel room, he explained the mission to them. He told them that they would be compensated greatly for their services.
“What do you consider compensated greatly?” Morgan asked. “Two thousand dollars each.”
Morgan nodded her head “Yes, this would be worth my time.” “So are you with it?” Twin asked.
“Yes, but I have one more question: How are we going to conceal
the drugs?”
“Twin pulled out a pack of black balloons. “
You stuff the pills in
here and then swallow them.”
“I don’t understand. If I swallow them, how are you going to get
them?”
Twin looked at Morgan. “You really are a fuckin blonde, aren’t
you? If you swallow them the only way it’s going to come out is if you
shit, right?”
“How disgusting,” Morgan said.
“That’s business. Now, are you with it or not?”
“Yeah, I’m with it, but how many pills do you have?”
“About twenty thousand pills.”
“Twenty thousand pills? Are you fuckin stupid? There is no way
that two of us can swallow that many pills.”
Twin was silent for a moment. “We’ll just have to … get you a
rental car and you drive them back.”
“That’s twelve hours.”
“And?”
“I’m going to need at least two hundred dollars more,” Morgan
said.
“You know what? You’re one greedy-ass bitch,” Twin said. “That’s my price. Take it or leave it.”
“I ain’t got know choice but to take it. But as soon as I can get
somebody else to do this shit, your ass is out.”
“Whatever,” Morgan said.
“Let’s go to Hertz to get the car,” Twin said.
***** A little more than a week later, Tommy and his friends were in Miami again. It was ladies night at Club Sky, and the line was comprised mostly of women taking full advantage of the opportunity. Tommy pulled up to the club and waved for Kenny, the huge bouncer, to come closer.
“Hey, Tommy. What’s up?”
“Not much. Just wanted to park my car in front of the club.” Kenny placed his hand underneath his chin as if he were in deep
thought. “You know, Tommy, I don’t know if I can let you do that or not.” Tommy pulled out a roll of money and peeled off a couple of hundred dollar bills. “I need you to watch the car while I’m in the club.”
Kenny stuffed the money in his pockets. “I gotcha, Tommy, and I’ll get you and the boys in the club free. You can cut the line.”
Tommy handed Kenny the keys. “If you need to move the car, move it, but come get me soon as you move. I don’t need nobody breaking into my car to steal my shit.”
“I gotcha, big man,” Kenny said.
Inside the club Tommy, Twin, and JoJo went straight to VIP. Tommy ordered two bottles of Cristal. When the bottles arrived, so did the girls. There were tall ones, short ones, thin ones, thick ones ... They all wanted to know the big man buying the expensive champagne.