by Lucinda John
After I helped my mother settle in, she went across the street to visit the Michael’s while I went out to handle business. Today Stacks wanted me to meet with the rest of the crew and some of the guys that would be working under me. I got dressed in a pair of black joggers, a red and gold Alexander McQueen t-shirt with a pair of red, gold, and black Giuseppe Zanotti Ski Buckle high top sneakers. I made sure I was looking and smelling like money, before I hopped in my all black Jag, and headed to the location of the meeting.
When I arrived to the warehouse I was patted down and the security guard tried to take my tool, but I gave him that ‘get the fuck out of here look’. I allowed him to strip me the first time I came to meet with Ralph and Stacks, but now that I was the head nigga in charge, I wasn’t going for that shit. Pushing pass the security guard, I walked over to the conference tables where the fellas were passing back and forth a blunt. Ralph, Stacks, Chad, and Cole were all sitting at the table next to their wives.
“You’re alone?” Stacks asked.
“Yes,” I replied, taking a seat at the table.
“No woman in your life?” I asked.
“Only my mom,” I replied.
“In this game you are going to need that one lady to come home to after a long day to take the stress of the streets away. Remember that,” Stacks said.
“I hear you,” I replied, not really giving the relationship situation a second thought.
“You already know Ralph, Cole, and Chad from the streets as your bosses, now I want you to get to know them as your partners and mentors. Even though we will no longer be in the game, we are still here to offer advice whenever you need it,” Stacks said.
“Now eat, my wife made us a feast,” Stacks said, guiding me to the buffet style table.
We ate, smoked blunts, and made small talk with each other. Once the festivities were over, the fellas took me by the traps as they filled me in on everything and everyone. I was introduced to Journi, who would be my right hand man. The moment Journi and I started kicking it, I could tell this would be a good partnership. He was laid back and about his money just like me. I didn’t get any bad vibes from him and when he pulled out that Madden, it was a done deal.
After a long day out, I stopped by a flower shop and bought some flowers for my mother and Mrs. Michael. When I walked into the Michael’s residence, Mr. Michael was nowhere to be found, and he ladies were upstairs setting up a nursery.
“What are you old heads in here doing?” I asked, kissing them both on the cheeks and handing them their flowers.
“Hey baby! We’re just in here setting up for Karrueche, she’s suppose be getting released from the hospital tomorrow.
“Karrueche? You mean that pretty pregnant girl?” I asked.
“Yes, her, she went into labor and had the baby.”
“That’s what’s up, but why are you setting up a nursery for her here?” I asked.
“Because her dumbass baby father forget to mention to her that he was married. The wife of the fool put all the poor baby’s things out the house,” Mrs. Michael said, rolling her eyes. “Herbert and I agreed to let her stay here with us until she gets situated. She’s a really sweet girl, but life is laying an ass whooping on her.”
“Damn, that’s fucked up,” I replied. I hated niggas that wouldn’t do right by their kids. Niggas like my father was the reason I vowed to strap my dick up every time. My biggest fear was turning into the coward my father was, therefore I was in no rush to let my seeds off, just yet.
“Where is Mr. Michael?” I asked.
“He went to buy a new drill to put up the crib,” she replied.
“Okay, well I’m in for today, mama don’t stay out too late,” I said, kissing her on the cheeks.
“Ezra, I am a grown woman,” my mother replied, calling me by my government name.
“I hear you mama; don’t come walking in the house late,” I replied, before walking across the street to our house.
When I got inside, I laid across my king sized bed, fully clothed. The flight, along with the running around I been doing today, had a nigga exhausted. Before I could doze off into a much needed sleep, my phone started to ring. I looked over and saw Destiney’s name flashing across my screen. Sucking my teeth, I silenced her call then rolled over and fell asleep.
Chapter Three
Karrueche
Being released from the hospital without my baby was the hardest thing I had to do. Kareem, was born premature and his lungs weren’t fully developed yet. He was laying in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, hooked up to a bunch of machines, while he fought for his life. I knew in my heart, my baby was a fighter and that he was going to be just fine. The days Kareem was in the hospital, I was going to use that time wisely to get my shit together. It took me hitting complete rock bottom for me to realize what really mattered in my life.
“How are you feeling?” Mr. Michael asked, as he helped me in the car.
Due to my high blood pressure, I was forced to stay in the hospital for two weeks, until they were able to get it under control. The stress over Kareem’s condition and Geek being married, was enough to have me seeing double. I couldn’t believe that I was with a man that had a whole wife tucked in his back pocket.
“I’m feeling better,” I said, with a forced smile.
“You don’t look like you just had a baby,” he said, causing me to blush.
“I know you see this gut,” I replied, tugging on my belly.
“Cut it out, there is nothing wrong with you.”
Although the rest of the drive home was done in silence, I still had a lot on my mind. My heart was hurt and badly bruised by the pain I had to endure behind Geek’s actions. For him to be married, the whole time we were engaged and planning our wedding, cut me deep. The worst feeling in the world is having your fiancé’s wife put you out of your home while you’re in labor. The embarrassment I had to suffer, while having contractions tore through me like a flesh-eating bacteria, was unexplainable. I was so zoned out that I wasn’t aware that I was crying until I felt Mr. Michael’s hand rubbing my arm in an attempt to comfort me.
“CheChe, it is his lost. You are a beautiful young woman with a great head on her shoulders. Now is the time to focus on yourself until your king is ready to sweep you off your feet,” he said.
“It just hurts so badly, ya know,” I replied, wiping my tears away.
“Time heals all wounds.”
When we made it home, Mrs. Michael was sitting outside next to a beautiful afro centric looking woman. She rushed over to the car once it came to a complete stop. Before I could unbuckle my seat belt, she had the door open, completing the task for me.
“Oh, my baby, how are you?” She smiled, kissing me all over the face.
I didn’t have a real life mother, so I imagined this is how it felt to have one.
“I’m fine, Mrs. Michael.”
“Great. Come on in this house, I got dinner on the stove and your room is ready for you,” she said, with a smile.
“Thank you.”
“Zana, this is Karrueche, the girl I was telling you about. Karrueche, this is Zana, Smoke’s mother,” Mrs. Michael said, making the introductions.
“Oh my, did you just have a baby?” Zana asked.
“Yes, two weeks ago,” I replied.
“You don’t have a postpartum body at all. Snap back at its finest,” she giggled, showing off those dimples that were similar to Smoke’s. With her rich, dark skin, thick fro, and faint African accent, I concluded that she was from Africa.
“Thank you.” I smiled.
“Go on upstairs and get situated. There is a box on your bed with items that were left in the shed at your father’s house. The people that purchased the house sent it over,” Mrs. Michael said.
When I went upstairs to the room I was going to be staying in, I stared at everything in amazement. Half of the room was decorated in a blue elephant theme, and the other half was decorated in green and silver. I took a seat
on the queen-sized bed and brought the book closer to me. Grabbing a pen off of the night table, I tore the box opened and looked through my father’s things. There were a bunch of my childhood photos, along with some of my father’s collectibles. Elaine must have packed them up and stuffed them in the shed, I thought.
I was just about to close the box, until my eyes fell on the Bible that was at the bottom. Picking up the Bible, I flipped to Psalm 23; my dad would always make me recite that chapter before going to bed. When I got to the chapter, there was a piece of paper folded and taped to the page.
My dear CheChe,
If you are reading this, it means that I gave you this Bible on your graduation day, or your discovered it due to some tragic event. Whatever the circumstance is, I want you to know that I love you and I am very proud of you. From the moment I held you, I knew I was going to do everything in my power to make sure you had everything your little heart desired. In the back of the Bible you will find a safety deposit key. Go down to First America Bank, and ask for Braxton, he will lead you to a safety deposit box that you will use the key to open. Baby girl if you forget anything else, don’t forget my love for you. I love you CheChe.
P.S. Remember to stand for something, or you will fall for anything.
Love,
Daddy
After reading my father’s letter, I was in tears. Every emotion came down on me at once, causing me to break down. Doing something I hadn’t done in a long time, I got on my knees and prayed. I was told when life got too tough to stand, you need to kneel and pray, so that’s exactly what I did. Once I was done cleansing my soul, I grabbed Kareem’s blue elephant and cuddled with it, until I drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, I woke up to the smell of bacon and a terrible headache. Dragging myself out of bed, I went to the bathroom and took a much-needed hot shower. Once I was done, I tried my best to tame my wild hair. After an hour of wand curling my hair, my mermaid colored hair was done in big curls. I looked through my clothes and decided to wear a pair of jean joggers and a colorful Jordan shirt, with the matching sneakers. I was still kind of sore from giving birth, but I was doing much better. Looking myself over in the mirror, I looked good on the outside, but felt like shit in the inside. I grabbed the Bible, threw it in my bag then went downstairs for breakfast.
“Good morning baby,” Mrs. Michael greeted me with a smile.
“Good morning, Mrs. Michael. Do you have anything for this headache of mine?” I asked, taking a seat at the breakfast table.
“I sure do,” she said, sitting a plate of food in front of me before fetching a bottle of pills.
“Here you go,” she said, handing me a pack of BC Powder.
I opened the package and threw it back, gulping it down with a glass of orange juice. The taste was bitter, but a few minutes later I could feel my headache start to calm down. I quickly said grace before picking up my fork to fill it up with some cheese eggs and grits.
“How did you sleep?” Mrs. Michael asked.
“I slept well,” I replied.
“I heard you crying your soul out to the Lord. I didn’t want to disturb you, but I do want you to know that the Lord hears your cries and he is working.”
“Thank you.” I smiled.
“What are your plans today?” She asked, taking a seat next to me.
“I plan on running a few errands before visiting Kareem.”
“It’s none of my business, but I think you should demand that the law office that handled your father’s money give you back your funds, or threaten them with a law suit. I know you opted not to go that route, but I think you deserve every red cent your father left you,” she said.
“I agree, I’m going to definitely look into that. With Kareem being around, I definitely need to be thinking about his future,” I replied.
“That’s what I like to hear. Well, eat up so you can go handle your business,” she said, leaving me to myself so that I could finish up my breakfast in peace.
When I was done, I washed all of the breakfast dishes and made sure the kitchen was clean before leaving. Since I didn’t have my car, Mrs. Michael let me use hers. As I was backing out of the driveway, I drove passed Smoke’s sexy ass, standing outside on the phone with no shirt on. The way his chest flexed against the morning sun was enough to make me do a double take. I watched him through the review mirror until he was no longer in sight.
Beating the early morning traffic jam, I was able to make it to the bank twenty minutes after it opened. I walked in the bank, with my purse containing the Bible. Once I made it to the teller, I asked for Braxton. I was told he was on an important conference call and to sit in the lobby area and wait for him.
“Hello, my name is Braxton,” an older white gentleman said walking up to me.
“Hello, my name is Karrueche Davis. My father Karl Davis told me to speak with you in regards to my safety deposit box.”
“Karl Davis?” He said, trying to remember my father. “The lawyer, right?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“Right this way,” he said leading me over to his desk. “May I please have your I.D and social security number?”
I handed him my driver’s license and read him my social. I sat back as he typed everything into the computer and waited for the information to pop up. After a few more taps of his keyboard, he printed some paperwork for me to sign then lead me over to where the safety deposit was located. After giving me my privacy, I pulled out the box and opened it with the key.
“OH MY GOD!” I yelled, looking at all the documents for an account my father had opened for me.
I had fifty thousand dollars at my disposal and I was stuck riding the bus as I laughed to myself. Once I was done looking over everything, Braxton helped me activate my bank account with all my funds transferred to it. He assigned me a temporary bank card until I received my permanent one in the mail. When I walked out of that bank, I felt like a brand new woman. I was grateful for my dad, because even six feet under, he was still looking out for me.
My next stop was to the law office where I requested to speak with a lawyer. I was going to talk to them kindly about coughing up the money they allowed Elaine to steal from me, before seeking legal assistance. If they didn’t want to play the game my way, then I was going to take their ass to court and take them for everything they were worth.
“Hello, Ms. Davis. My name is Aaron, you requested to speak with me?” The dorky guy wearing these huge bifocals asked.
“Yes. This matter is in regards to my father’s money that one of your lawyers helped my stepmom get access to. There was foul play and my father’s will was changed without his permission,” I said.
“Yes, I remember that case. To my knowledge, you didn’t want to press any changes.”
“Do you have that in writing? Did I sign a waiver that stated I didn’t want an investigation performed?” I asked.
“No.”
“So there is no proof. It’s your words against mine,” I smirked.
“What is it that you want?” He asked.
“I want every red cent that one of your lawyers helped my stepmother steal. We can either do it this way or I can get a lawyer and we can go to court. It would be in your best interest not to go to court with me, because if you do, I will go to the press and let everyone know how careless your firm is,” I replied. The whole time I was talking, my father’s words “Stand for something, or you will fall for anything”, kept replaying in my head.
“How about we settle?” He asked, after a pregnant pause.
“I’m not settling for anything less than what I am entitled to. I know you have the files and able to pull up how much money was stolen from me.”
“Give me a second,” he said, with a frown on his face.
He typed in my father’s information into the computer and all of his records came up. I made sure to pull out a seat and sit next to him while he calculated the information. It was two hours later when he finally pulled up a
ll of my father’s files, and concluded that I was owed one point two million dollars.
“Ms. Davis, I am going to contact my lawyer to see if we can negotiate a price,” he stammered.
“I’m not negotiating shit! You either pay me the money that it says here, or I can contact my lawyer,” I firmly stated.
After thinking it over for a few seconds, he decided to write me a check for the full amount. I guess he figured that losing a million dollars was better than losing their clients. I gladly accepted the check with a racing heart rate and placed it in my bag. I immediately raced back to the bank and explained everything to Braxton, who deposited the check for me.
As I got in the car and headed to the hospital, I could hear my father’s voice in my head saying how proud of me he was. It felt good to have one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars at my disposal. The first thing I was going to do was give Mr. and Mrs. Michael some money for their generosity, then find a place for Kareem and me. I also made a mental note to purchase a car to get us from point A to B. Although I still walked around with a heavy heart due to the pain Geek caused me, I was starting to get my life together, and that’s all that really mattered.
*****
“How is he doing?” I asked Nurse Betty, as soon as I made it to the NICU floor.
“Little man is a fighter, he is hanging in there, ” she replied.
Just as I was going to walk in to visit with my son, I saw Geek’s mother walking towards me.
“Karrueche, honey, why didn’t you call me?” She asked.
“The same reason you didn’t tell me your son was married,” I rolled my eyes.
“That wasn’t my business to tell. I told him to tell you, but he refused,” she said.
“Let me get this straight, your married son brings home his mistress, who he planned on marrying, and you, as his mother, have no say so in that?”