Full Figured 11

by Treasure Hernandez

  Janiyah felt at peace with Mother Shirley’s instructions. It was as if God confirmed through her what she already knew—that everything was going to work out in her favor and that she would be all right.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  The cool day did nothing to soothe Janiyah’s spirit. She was deeply concerned because while she didn’t want to admit it, she did have some “what-ifs” that were close to the onset of fear. What if Montez tried to change the amount of money Gun owed him? What if Mother Shirley and her son’s plan to give Montez money that could be traced backfired? What if after she paid Montez, he came back at them for more? What if something happened to her or Gun?

  Janiya didn’t want operate in fear, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t recognize the feeling. Yet the “what-ifs” were not strong enough to stop her from doing what she knew needed to be done. It was the only way to end the madness and return to a normal life.

  She had already drained her personal account, and she now stood in front of the Fifth Third Building in downtown Raleigh, awaiting Gun’s arrival. The only way for her to withdraw all the money from their joint account was for Gun to be there. It took a lot of back and forth with Montez in order for him to let Gun show up. Montez had finally agreed, but he warned that someone would be watching, and if there was any funny business, he would hunt them down.

  Her phone buzzing distracted her from her thoughts. Without looking at the caller ID, Janiyah pressed the button to accept the call.

  “The money is in the safe in the finance office.” Janiyah was relieved to hear confirmation on the other end. “Once you and Gun arrive, the money will be placed on the bottom shelf.”

  Janiyah nodded her head as if he could see her. A black Lincoln Continental grabbed her attention. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome, and know that we got your back, Janiyah.”

  The declaration brought a smile to her face.

  The back door of the Lincoln Continental opened, and Gun stepped out. Janiyah wanted to scream because she had not seen her husband in days. She was excited and relieved to see that he was okay.

  As Gun made his way to her, she tried to see who was driving the vehicle. She wanted to know if it was the same man who had first broken into their home.

  Gun’s strong arms wrapping around her and bringing her in for a hug distracted her. Janiyah noticed that Gun’s usual sensual smell was not there. He had more of a stale, musty smell. It wasn’t off-putting, but Janiyah missed the body spray that added that extra umph to his being.

  “Baby, I missed you,” Gun declared.

  Tears fell from Janiyah’s eyes. Being in her husband’s arms again felt so good. With him around her, Janiyah felt whole. With Gun by her side, she felt she could face the obstacle that prevented this from being a happy reunion.

  “I missed you too,” Janiyah answered.

  “We need to get inside,” Gun commanded. “Montez is only giving us ten minutes to get this money, and then I have to do something else before I can meet you at the church.”

  “Okay,” Janiyah answered.

  She wanted to know what Montez would have him do. With Montez timing them, though, there wasn’t any time to get into it. They had already lost three minutes due to their reunion.

  Janiyah opened her purse and pulled out the checkbook. They walked into the bank and up to the counter. Janiyah had filled out the withdrawal slip. Gun signed his name first on the signature line, and Janiyah wrote her name next to his.

  Janiyah was happy to see that no other customer was in line and they would be the next ones awaiting the tellers. The professionally dressed men and women were talking amongst themselves about Raleigh news and what they had planned on doing for the week. A young man invited the two of them to come to the counter.

  Janiyah handed the man the slip.

  “I need to see your IDs, please,” he said.

  Janiyah was relieved to see that Gun had pulled out his driver’s license from his back pocket. Janiyah pulled out her wallet and slid her license from the card slot. They handed the man their licenses. The teller glanced at both IDs and then walked to the back offices. He appeared to be showing the IDs to the lead teller. Janiyah held her breath. She wondered what were they discussing.

  They didn’t have time for the bank to be dilly-dallying. If they didn’t get out of there in ten minutes, there could be trouble. Janiyah started to pick at her fingernails and tap her foot. Her life could be ruined in mere minutes if this damn teller didn’t hurry up.

  Janiyah watched the head teller hand the IDs back to the young man. Soon, they were watching him withdraw money from a drawer. After the money was taken from the drawer, it was placed in a money counter that spun the bills forward real fast.

  The teller placed the stack of bills in an envelope and handed it to Janiyah. She could finally breathe. Janiyah thanked the man and stuffed the envelope deep in her purse. They rushed outside and said their good-byes.

  Janiyah felt a strong force pull her to the side. She relaxed when she realized she was back in Gun’s arms again. “This isn’t good-bye. I’ll see you later.”

  “I love you,” Janiyah declared.

  “I love you too.” Gun kissed her on the lips. “We’ll see each other soon,” he whispered.

  “Yeah, we will,” Janiyah said.

  “I’ll ask you how you got the other money once this is over.”

  She couldn’t believe that their money was about to be gone and they were going to just hand it over to Satan with no accountability. Before she could process what had happened, the back door opened again and Gun jetted toward it. Janiyah took her phone out of her pocket and looked at the time. She had an hour to get back to the church to follow through with Mother Shirley’s plans.

  With that, she rushed to the car, knowing that the typically thirty-minute drive from the bank to their church would be met with rush hour traffic.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  As Janiyah was pulling up at the church, she could see an administrator opening the side door. She quickly parked her car, grabbed her purse, and sprinted to the entrance. She ran in her pumps as if she were wearing sneakers; part nervousness, part adrenaline.

  “Janiyah, you are going to be fine.” Mother Shirley tried to calm her nerves.

  But it was no use. In less than thirty minutes, Montez would be in her presence. He’d collect seventy-five thousand dollars and do whatever possible to leave their lives in shambles.

  “I’m ready,” Janiyah promised as she crossed the threshold of her church. Once inside, she felt the spirit of the Lord. No matter what happened, Janiyah trusted that the Lord was on her side, and that she and Gun were going to be all right.

  Janiyah walked to the auditorium and marched straight to the stage. Mr. Ross was waiting off to the side. Once Janiyah got to the stage, Mr. Ross stood up and pulled back the curtain. Janiyah was relieved to see the bag Mother Shirley had shown her the day before on the bottom shelf of the podium where she said it would be.

  “I brought the money counter out here.” Mr. Ross offered the small portable device in the chair where she sat. “I figured it would be best to do everything out in the open. We can verify the seventy-five thousand if you want.”

  “I trust you,” she told him, putting herself at ease.

  No sooner than the words left her lips, Montez let himself into the auditorium. With his suit from Burberry London, he looked like he should be leading the flock. The tie matched the suit and contrasted the light gray shirt he wore under it. His Hermès rose gold watch highlighted the rose gold setting of the diamonds in his ear.

  Montez flashed his Colgate smile. “Good morning, Mrs. Wade.”

  Montez took a seat in the front pew. Janiyah smiled. The devil looked good today. “Good morning.” Janiyah reached on the shelf in the pulpit and grabbed the bag with the money and the money counter.

  “No need for that.” Montez waved her off.

  “Huh?” Janiyah was confused. She wa
nted to give the man his money and get him up out of her church.

  “Let’s socialize a little first,” Montez suggested.

  Janiyah gripped the money bag and the counter and made her way down from the stage to the front pew. “I would like to go ahead and get this counted so that Gun and I can attend the meeting that we have this evening.”

  “Relax.” Montez tried to assure Janiyah. “Gun will enter the auditorium safe and secure. I promise.”

  “Well, let’s get to it.”

  Janiyah sat down and put the money counter in front of her. She turned the counter on and made sure the amount read zero. Janiyah then opened the bag, undid the bundle of bills, and placed them on the counter. “Ten thousand,” Janiyah confirmed as she handed the stack to Montez. She watched as he put the stack in his jacket pocket.

  Janiyah unwrapped six more stacks and put them on the pew. When she was done, she confirmed, “Seventy thousand.” Janiyah looked around and could see Mother Shirley standing at the door to the auditorium.

  Janiyah unwrapped the last stack. “This should be five thousand,” she told him as she placed the money on the counter. Within seconds, the money counter confirmed the amount. “Seventy-five thousand dollars.” Janiyah smiled as she passed him the last bundle. “My husband, please.”

  Montez pulled out a smart phone and pressed a phone number. The phone buzzed for a second before a voice greeted Montez on the phone. “The money is good. Bring Gun to the auditorium.”

  Janiyah faced the doors of the sanctuary, and when she heard Gun’s voice, she stood up as well. Seeing him earlier had assured her that everything was going to be all right. She ran to him and they embraced. This entire episode made her realize that she was more in love with Gun than ever before. She never wanted to be apart from him again, and would do everything in her power to make sure that never happened.

  “It was nice doing business with you.” Montez flashed a smile and nodded to Gun and Janiyah as he stood up and made his way out of the church. His black studded loafers appeared to have smoke at the bottom as each step hit the aisle and flashed the red bottoms of his soles. The devil didn’t wear Prada; he wore Christian Louboutin.

  “So, Montez wins?” Janiyah questioned.

  He exited the sanctuary and she took her seat at the pew.

  “Not quite,” Mother Shirley answered. She closed the doors to the sanctuary and made her way down the aisle. “We wait on Montez to do something stupid. He may not spend the money you handed him today, tomorrow, or even in the next year, but he will eventually spend the money, and he’ll get caught from there.”

  “What if he puts the money in his bank account?” Gun asked.

  Mother Shirley smiled. “Remember, we marked the bills. My son knows where he banks at, and there are agents at various branches waiting, just in case he does. It’s highly unlikely, because Montez likes to flash and be flashy. He’s been getting marked bills from his bank for some time. At the most, he’ll put up twenty thousand, and that will only be to pay his lawyer. The rest he gives to his crew to spend, and he’ll carry and spend some of the knots on his street gear.”

  “This sounds too simple,” Janiyah complained. “Aren’t you worried ab—”

  “Janiyah, dear, what did I tell you about money?” Mother Shirley put her hand under Janiyah’s chin and lifted her head.

  “Money is a tool.”

  “Right.” Mother Shirley continued to smile. “Trust me, sometimes karma has a way of handling people in ways we can’t imagine. You helped me and others plant seeds, and sometimes, the job in being in God’s good grace is watching the harvest manifest. If I couldn’t afford to help you without expecting it back in return, I wouldn’t have. Trust me, Montez will get his, and this robbery of sorts, he won’t get away with. You can never spend money good if you didn’t earn it. And with the way Montez is living, he will always be the type of man who will have to watch his back.”

  Janiyah closed her eyes. Deep down, she knew that Mother Shirley had spoken the truth. Gun was sitting next to her, and he’d be going home to her, not his baby mama. The church family still had their backs through the drama.

  “Whoever digs a pit will fall into it.” Janiyah heard a boisterous voice in her ear. She looked around and only saw Gun, Mother Shirley, and one of her sons in the room with her. The voice was none of theirs. Janiyah smiled. The Lord works in mysterious ways. Janiyah breathed a sigh of relief. Soon, she felt her stomach turn upside down and felt like her feet were in the air. She could taste the turkey sausage flatbread sandwich she’d gotten at a fast food restaurant earlier in the day come up from her throat and make its way to her lips. Janiyah jumped up and rushed to the trash can that was next to Mr. Ross’s chair on the stage. Breakfast flowed freely from her lips. And that’s when it hit her. She’d have no choice but to let time and God take care of Montez’s life, because she would be occupied taking care of the life growing inside of her.

  * * *

  Janiyah was holding Gun’s hand as she lay on the examination table. The nurse entered the room. “Good afternoon,” she said

  “Hello,” Gun answered.

  The nurse walked around the examination table and began preparing the ultrasound machine. “How are we feeling?” she asked Janiyah.

  “Besides the fact that I have nasty heartburn every morning, I feel blessed.”

  “I hear you.” The nurse smiled.

  The nurse lifted Janiyah’s shirt over her belly. “This might be cold.” She pressed the ultrasound wand onto Janiyah’s stomach.

  All three stared at the monitor next to the table. A black and white image appeared. The nurse began pointing out the hands, feet, and head of the baby inside Janiyah’s belly. Tears formed in Janiyah’s eyes.

  “Do you want to know the sex of the baby?” the nurse asked.

  Janiyah and Gun looked at each other. No words were needed. They smiled at each other.

  In unison, they said, “Yes.”

  “Well, it looks like you are having a healthy baby girl.”

  Tears of joy flowed from both Gun’s and Janiyah’s eyes. Gun leaned down and kissed Janiyah. “A baby girl. She’ll be as perfect as her mother,” he said.

  * * *

  Gun and Janiyah walked to their car, holding hands and staring at the printout of the ultrasound image. “A baby girl,” Gun kept saying over and over.

  As they got in their car, Gun’s phone rang. Janiyah could only hear Gun’s side of the conversation. He was doing more listening than anything. A quick yes here and there, but that was it. She had no idea what the call could be about. She tried to read Gun’s facial expression, but he was stone-faced.

  As soon as he hung up, Janiyah asked, “Who was that?”

  “Mother Shirley.”

  “What?” Janiyah was nervous.

  Gun stared expressionless for a few moments then burst into a huge smile. “They traced all of the money that Montez took from us. They have him and his drug supplier in custody.”

  “Oh, Gun, our nightmare is over. We are so blessed.”

  They leaned in and embraced each other. Janiyah felt safe and protected in Gun’s arms.

  They pulled out of the parking lot. Janiyah watched the world go by out the passenger’s side window. She was thinking about all the trials and tribulations she had endured throughout her life and especially the last four years. She thought about how Montez had almost ruined her life. She had been through some dark storms, but she had survived it all, and she could see a rainbow on the horizon. God is good, she thought.

  How Does It Feel?

  Katt

  Braylin

  I really hope dude is about something, Braylin Smith thought as she got ready for her blind date with a guy she had met online. Her screen name was Honey_ Dipped80. She thought it was a cute way to describe her complexion and the year that she was born. One day, out of boredom, she was browsing the web and happened on a site for BBWs and the men who love them. It was called www.BBWLOVERZ.
com. It was there that she met DMAN76. They hit it off instantly, which totally surprised her. They exchanged e-mail addresses and communicated by e-mail for almost two weeks before she finally agreed to give him her phone number.

  It didn’t take long for him to call her, and they spent every free moment they had on the phone with each other for a week before he got the nerve to ask her out. She was a little reluctant at first, but, with actual hope in her heart, she agreed to meet him at The Lobster Palace at eight the next day. She took one final look in the mirror to smooth her hair and check her makeup, and once she was satisfied with how she looked in her Baby Phat denim cat-suit and matching stiletto boots, she grabbed her jacket and purse and headed out the door.

  She arrived at The Lobster Palace precisely at eight p.m. The hostess asked if she was Braylin Smith. She was slightly taken aback, but she confirmed that she was indeed. The young girl then handed her a yellow rose and a note.

  The note read: My dearest Braylin, look down and follow the rose petals, and you shall find me. ~Donovan

  Hmm, she thought, he’s a romantic. That was definitely a plus in her book.

  So, with a seductive smile, she followed the rose petals until they stopped at a table and she looked up. One of the most handsome men she had ever seen stood, leaned forward, and they embraced.

  Mmm . . . he smells so good, she thought. She had to let him go before she became more than just intrigued.

  “These are for you, Braylin.” Donovan handed her a bouquet of a dozen pink roses. Her favorite.

  Throughout their dinner date, they had pleasant conversation, but she wasn’t really thinking about his conversation skills. She liked him and knew that she wanted to take him home and have him wet the little man in the boat. For those of you who don’t know, that means she wanted her clit licked thoroughly. And that night, she planned to have him do just that.

  “Umm, Donovan, I want you to come home with me tonight,” Bray blurted out before she meant to. But, oh well, the truth was out now.