by Chunichi
“Yes, baby, and I know that you love RJ too.”
“So if I come down there, it’s just gonna be about me, you, and little man, right?”
“Of course. That’s why I called you. Let’s start over. Baby, I’m sitting on a pile of money right now, and we can start over and do it right.”
Rick finally agreed to come down to Atlanta.
I was more excited than I had been in months. Whoever said money can’t buy you happiness definitely didn’t know what the hell they were taking about. I chuckled. All I knew was that I had my hands on some money, and I was happier than a pig in shit.
Chapter 25
“Forced into the Game”
Jewel
I felt like my world had turned upside down after speaking to Touch. He called me from jail. He had been charged with assault and battery on Ciara and her girl Monica. He didn’t have a bond at the time, but his spirits were up. He’d already spoken to his attorney, and they were going up for a bond hearing the next day. He was sure he would get a bond. But shit wasn’t looking so bright, as far as the charges. The judges in Virginia Beach had no mercy for convicted felons and definitely none for violent crimes.
It’s funny how so much could happen in such a small amount of time. In three months alone, I’d met this new cat and was thinking about putting him on my team, only to start liking him. Before that shit could go any further, I get arrested and then attacked in my own home. Next, Touch comes to the rescue, tells me that he loves me, and we fuck. He goes and beats down his baby momma, and gets stabbed. Now he’s in lock up.
To make matters worse, my gut feeling was telling me that bitch had bucked on me with the money. At first she was giving me excuse after excuse, and finally it got to the point where she completely stopped answering her phone. Now, I’m out here in the streets alone with no Touch and without one hundred thousand dollars of Calico’s money.
In a panic, I picked up my cell to give her one last try.
The automated recording said, “At the subscriber’s request, the number that you are trying to reach has been disconnected . . .”
There was no need for me to listen any further. The message just confirmed my fear. The new-found gangstress in me wanted to take the first flight to Atlanta and search high and low for her ass and fuck her up on the spot, but my rational side forced me to sit down and think.
How the fuck am I gonna get out of this one? Come on, Jewel, this shit can’t hold you down. I sat on a bar stool at my breakfast bar and sipped on a glass of White Zinfandel as I tried to put together the perfect plan. Unable to come up with anything, I gave up.
With a sudden loss of hope, I walked to my bedroom to try to get a little sleep. As I lay on my bed, I flipped through the channels on the television. I stopped on BET as I caught a glimpse of the letters TMF. What are these niggas doing now? I smiled as I thought back to the time I’d spent with them in New York. BET was covering a party TMF had thrown in Miami. The shit was crazy. They had white tigers in cages, searchlights in front of the club, and they arrived at the club by helicopter. Damn, these niggas do it big! I thought to myself as I sat and continued to watch.
All of a sudden it hit me. Wait . . . TMF . . . that’s the answer to my prayers. I rushed to my desk and pulled out the copy of the contract I’d signed when I was in New York. There was a fifty thousand-dollar advance I would receive. It’s not all of Calico’s money, but it would be enough to help me get shit moving. This is it, Jewel. Calico never believed that I was that bitch that can make things happen. If everything goes my way, I will show him why I’m not one to sleep on.
After making a few phone calls and preparing myself to pull a few tricks if necessary, I was sure I could get that all in one lump sum, instead of the usual five disbursements. Then, after I had the cash in hand, I was sure I could convince Red, one of the head niggas of the TMF crew that showed a little added interest in me, to work with me on a good-ass price for some product. So there it was, shit was set. I had a plan. Now all I had to do was put that shit in motion.
I spent the next hour on the phone negotiating and trying to get everyone to agree to my terms. It wasn’t easy, but in the end it was well worth it. I was able to convince the publishing company to agree to releasing the entire advance and wiring it directly to my checking account. I was even able talk Red into giving me a killer price, ten thousand dollars for each of those white girls. And on top of that, he was gonna throw double whatever I purchased. So I would have thirty keys.
So then came my next dilemma—getting rid of that shit. I knew Touch had my back, but shit wasn’t looking too good for him. I hadn’t heard from that nigga since he was arrested at the hospital and called me the next day from jail. So while I waited to hear from him, I decided to give my boy Diablo a call. From what I’d heard, he was doing it big in the A, and holding shit down in Virginia before the spot got hot. So he was known for doing his thing. After all, he was my ex-boyfriend, and I only fucked with dudes that get bread.
“Hello?” Diablo answered right away.
“Diablo?”
“What’s up, baby girl?” he said, full of excitement.
“I need you to deal with some things for me.”
“I thought your girl was coming down so you could grab some shit from me,” Diablo said, oblivious to all the shit that had gone down between me and Sasha.
I updated him on the circus of events that had gone down between me and Sasha, and explained to him the new plan I had. He was ecstatic that he could get the white girl from me for eighteen grand a key. Diablo agreed to purchase fifteen keys right away, and the rest as soon as he moved those. I was sure Touch could handle the rest, but I agreed to Diablo’s terms, until I knew what was up with Touch.
Now it was time for me to pull out the next thorn in my side, Calico. But as I was dialing his number, I thought about possibly killing two pesky birds with one large stone.
Calico picked up on the first ring, spewing disgust. That nigga didn’t even greet me with a hello. “I hope you calling to say you got my muthafuckin’ money, Jewel.”
“Actually, I am . . . kinda.”
“Kinda?”
I explained to Calico what went down with his money. “Look, I’m just gonna be straight-up and honest with you. Calico, I never tried to game you. I’m not the type to steal from anyone.”
By then end of our conversation, I’d managed to turn shit around completely. I was the victim, and Sasha was the thieving bitch. Calico totally agreed with me. I was able to persuade him to forgive me and allow me the opportunity to pay him half in thirty days, and the other half thirty days after that, with interest added, of course.
Sure, in a matter of hours, I would have the money, and the right thing to do would have been to call Calico up and give him his money right away, but I needed some insurance. Shit, the world ain’t fair. I ain’t fuck him on that money; Sasha fucked me, and in turn, he got fucked. But I didn’t know how Calico actually saw it or if he even cared. I knew that the easiest way to keep myself out of a toe tag was to keep him on a deadline date. Before I got off the phone, I commented again that I didn’t fuck him over, Sasha did. I made that shit crystal clear to his ass, and he said that he would take care of it and then hung up.
I was instantly afraid for Sasha, but the emotion left just as quickly as it came. She tried to game me with my own rules. Now she had to pay.
Chapter 26
“Money over Bitches”
Calico
Jewel kept her word and finally hit my man Poppo off with all of my dough in thirty days, right before Thanksgiving. Originally she said that she would pay me half in thirty days and that she would give me the other half thirty days after that. So with her suddenly coming up with my money so quickly, I had instructed Poppo to make sure that he kept his eyes on both Jewel and Touch.
News came back to me that Touch, who had completely fallen off the radar for like a month and a half, had suddenly re-appeared back on the scene. I knew something was
up. I didn’t know exactly what, but I knew that what Poppo was telling me was true.
“Calico, on the real, Christmas ain’t until next week, but I’m telling you Christmas done came early for this nigga Touch. The muthafucka got one of his homies driving him and Jewel around in a brand-new Maybach, and I heard they just purchased this big-ass crib out in the Heritage Park section in Virginia Beach. Jewel and Touch be pulling up to spots like they muthafuckin’ Jay-Z and Beyoncé and shit. Yo, one of Touch’s man is getting out and opening up the door for them like a gotdamn chauffeur.”
I didn’t say anything in response. All I did was chuckle into the phone.
“Last night Jewel was rocking a brand-new chinchilla coat. It’s crazy. They got money from somewhere.”
“Yeah, and that sounds like new money,” I said.
“They the ones cutting our nuts and giving muthafuckas better prices than we can give ’em,” Poppo said, confirming what I had already told him earlier.
I couldn’t exactly prove the shit because when niggas like Touch get a new connect and that connect is giving them better prices, they horde that shit and guard that information with their life. And the fucked-up shit is that a muthafucka like Touch, who I was supplying with product, will turn around and start asking my ass if I need his product because the cost was so low.
When I reached out to Touch to see what was up and why he hadn’t re-upped in a while with me, he gave me some bullshit excuse about shit being slow and him going to jail for a moment over some baby momma drama bullshit. Yet I had Poppo telling me him and Jewel was driving around, pushing brand-new half-a-million-dollar whips and shit.
“I’m gonna be out there for New Year’s Eve. I had to lay low and stay off the radar for a minute, but I’m-a be back. We gotta get up with each other and break bread when I touch down,” I said to Touch over the phone. I made sure not to make any mention of the new money I knew he was getting.
“Yeah, yeah, no doubt. We gonna get up,” he said.
“Yo, so what’s up with Jewel?”
“Jewel?”
“Yeah, what’s up with her?”
“What do you mean?”
“Is she good?”
“Oh yeah, she good. Jewel is on some whole new get-money shit, and she getting it too. She ain’t the same Jewel from a few months back.”
“Oh yeah?” I replied on the other end of the phone with a half-smile. “So she doing it like that?”
“Yeah, she gettin that ghostwriting money. But you know Jewel is always gonna stay fly.”
I took a sip of the gin and orange juice that I had been drinking. “Wow! Okay, so I guess I gotta break that bitch off some more dick.” I started laughing into the phone. “For real, nigga, I don’t how you ain’t never hit that shit. She got the tightest and wettest pussy that I ever fucked. And I done had my share of pussy, you know what I mean?”
Touch didn’t respond. I had to look at my phone to make sure we were still connected. I thought I had dropped the call or something.
“Touch, you there?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m still here. So just hit me up when you get back in town.”
“A’ight, fool.” Just before I hung up I said, “Touch, keep it real with me—You fucking Jewel?”
“Me and Jewel go way back, you know that.”
“But, I’m just saying, you sound like you caught feelings when I was talking about hitting that. And, I mean, a nigga will definitely back off and let you have my leftovers, you feel me?”
“Calico, this is the thing. Fuck this money that we getting, fuck breaking bread together and all that shit. If you gonna speak about Jewel, you make muthafuckin’ sure that you don’t speak disrespectful about her, a’ight.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at Touch and his clown ass. He was taking shit personal, like the little bitch he was.
“Oh, so that’s your boo now?” I said. “It’s all good. So, Encore, that’s the spot for New Year’s Eve?”
Touch didn’t answer me.
“Keep your head up, fool,” I said, still chumping his ass.
I could tell that Touch had a problem with me. I could sense the shit for some time, and I knew it had been brewing inside of him for a while and was about to come to a head. But it was all good, because now the nigga had cut into my money. I could give a fuck about Jewel ’cause, like a real nigga, I was always on some ol’ money-over-bitches shit. But apparently Touch wasn’t, and that was a prime example of why he wasn’t built for this street shit like I was.
As far as I was concerned it was always about my money, and it will always be about my money. And that was why on New Year’s Eve I was gonna see Touch. Yeah, I was definitely gonna see that nigga. He posed a threat to my money, and I had to do what I had to do in order to eliminate that threat.
Chapter 27
“I’m the King”
Touch
Thankfully for me my lawyer and the Commonwealth attorney had worked out a deal where I would plead guilty to the lowest degree assault charge possible and avoid doing any jail time. The judge would grant me time served for the month and a half that I had already spent in jail awaiting my trail, and I would also receive a sentence of five years probation.
I took that deal in a heartbeat. Yeah, I didn’t want to deal with no probation and all that came with it, but at least I had my everyday freedom and wasn’t locked behind no prison walls. Besides, without the barrier of prison walls, me and Jewel could focus on getting that money.
And leading up to New Year’s Eve, getting money was exactly what me and Jewel did. With Jewel’s TMF connect, all of my hustler dreams and ambition was being fulfilled. Me and Jewel were like the hood version of Kimora Lee and Russell Simmons. In a matter of a few short weeks, we were doing it up big and, that was only the tip of the iceberg.
I said to Jewel as I opened up the row of black garbage bags that contained one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in one-dollar bills. “You ain’t never seen no shit like this before in your life, have you?”
“Niggas in them strip clubs be talking about making it rain, but I’m gonna make it rain up in Club Encore on New Year’s Eve. As soon as that ball drops, I’m gonna have all this money drop from the ceiling and rain down on the crowd. Everybody’s gonna know that ain’t nobody doing it bigger than me and my girl.” I scooped Jewel up and hoisted her into the air and kissed her.
“Yeah, but, baby, I don’t know if that’s a good thing, though.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“ ’Cause we don’t need everybody knowing that we doing it up like that. This is all brand-new money, and we just started getting it like this. So I think we should keep a low profile, stack our money, and muthafuckas won’t know shit, but we’ll be rich as hell.”
“Keep a low profile?” I laughed. “That shit went out the window when you leased that Maybach and purchased a seven-hundred-fifty-thousand-dollar house.”
Jewel and I both started laughing.
“Yeah, you right about that. But, I’m just saying, from a jealousy standpoint, it’s like when people see that kind of money just being wasted, then they’ll know we getting money. And as soon as niggas get locked up and the detectives start pressing they ass for information, guess whose name is gonna come up even if we ain’t have shit to do with anything? Yep, ours.”
I knew that Jewel was right. Shit, everything I was doing was going against everything I believed in. I’d made promises after my first bid that I was gonna stay humble, well, as humble as possible, and play the game right this go-’round. I knew a certain level of flossing always came at a price, and we definitely didn’t need to give the feds a reason to start investigating us. And dropping one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash into a crowd was definitely a reason to get an investigation going. The authorities would want to know where in the hell were we getting all this money to just blow.
“Jewel, fuck it though. I’m-a keep it real with you. I’m gonna do that shit just to send a me
ssage to Calico. I want that nigga to know that, yeah, we getting money, and I that I got you on top of it, as icing on the cake.”
“Touch, please. You got me, we got each other. Just fucking ignore Calico and his weak ass.”
Jewel again was speaking logically and making sense, but I was determined to be hard-headed on this one. See, as far as I was concerned, yeah, it was always money over bitches, but I wanted to let Calico and the whole world know that not only did I have the money, but now I also had the top bitch. I wanted it all.
With my hands in the air like a king before his dynasty, I yelled to Jewel, “Like those TMF cats you so fond of say, ‘The world is ours.’ ”
Chapter 28
“Never Satisfied”
Sasha
Things had been going as well for me as I had ever envisioned. I had money in the bank, I wasn’t waking up to no bullshit nine-to-five, nor was I shaking my ass in nobody’s strip club. I had my apartment, I had my new furniture, I had my new Honda Accord, and most importantly, I had my man Rick with me.
So with things going well heading close to Christmas, I had decided to go to Bottoms Up just to chill and hang out and say what’s up to some of the girls that I hadn’t seen since I’d quit. When I walked into the club, I was greeted warmly by a bunch of the dancers. Everyone thought that I was coming back to work. It felt so good to just let them know that, nah, I was just there to have some drinks and be a spectator.
“What’s up, baby girl?” some dude said to me as he came up behind me and put his hands over my eyes.
My first reaction was to think that it was one of the patrons who had recognized me from when I used to dance in there.
“Diablo! Hey, baby!” I said after he removed his hands from my eyes and I was able to turn around and see his face.