by Falicia Love
“No, I wouldn’t. I’m all about business, and to answer your other question, yes, I am very much single,” she said, smiling. “Now, I must tell you, once we sign these papers, I go hard for a win, so if you have any feelings left for Farrah Walker, you may want to think about this move you’re making.”
“I’m ready. My son is my main concern,” Larry said, giving his approval to continue.
“I’ll be right back. Let me go speak with my partner,” Debra said.
As she got up and walked away, Larry’s eyes followed her and landed on her ass. He had to give her props; she was fine. When she returned, she was accompanied by another woman.
“This is my partner, Brittany Howell. She will be helping me with building your case.”
“Damn, you’re fine as well. I love to see sexy black women thrive in business. It’s not often that I get a chance to blend my energy with sistas like you who are smart and successful. I mean, after this bit of business, I would love to see if we can do some sort of business together. I’m sure my guys would be very interested,” he said.
“Well, we are good at the moment, Mr. Bigelow. Let me take a look at your file so we can get this case started,” Brittany said as she picked up his paperwork. As she flipped through it, several names popped up at her. She placed the file back on the desk and asked, “Okay, have you two discussed payment?”
“Yes, we have, Ms. Howell,” Debra answered.
“Okay, well, I look forward to working with you. Debra, when you are finished here, I’d like a word with you. Take care, Mr. Bigelow.” Brittany walked out of Debra’s office and into her own. She sat back and smiled at the irony of the whole situation. She couldn’t wait to talk to Dana.
* * *
Dana had been at work a little over four hours, and at about twelve o’clock, the head attorney, Mr. Gregson, came to her office.
“Dana, we need to have a word with you.”
“Yes, sir. May I ask what it’s concerning?” she asked.
“Well, as you know, we pride ourselves on being professional at all times, and there have been a few things that have been brought to our attention. We received a few calls yesterday that weren’t too favorable toward you, and then we had those two detectives show up to question you. Now, we don’t know what’s going on, but we cannot tolerate such things, so we have decided to let you go. You can work until the end of this pay period if you want to,” he informed her.
Dana wondered who had been calling, but quickly realized there were only a few people who could’ve called.
“It’s on!” she cried after he left her office. She sat stone-faced for a few minutes, but then she started laughing uncontrollably.
“Them bitches done got me fucked up. I just lost my job behind some hoes that’s sour ’cause they life jacked up.”
Dana decided to call Brittany. “Brit, I just got fired! Can you believe that shit?”
“What? Why did they let you go?” Brittany asked.
“They said they had gotten phone calls, and then those detectives came. It was too much for the partners,” Dana explained.
“Wow, are you serious? Dana, listen, I can find a spot for you here if you want me to. I need help with a few cases, one I think you will be very interested in.”
“Are you serious? When could I start?” Dana asked.
“Shit, girl, you can start tomorrow if you want,” Brittany replied.
“Well, they told me I could stay until the end of my pay period,” Dana whispered as she noticed a few of the big wigs walking past her office.
“Listen, get out now. Meet me after work and we will go over the hiring process,” Brittany replied.
As the two ladies discussed where they were going to meet, Dana had started packing up her personal belongings. She decided that she needed to take Brittany’s advice and make it her last day. As quitting time approached, Dana walked out of her office with her belongings in a box, and a smile spread across her face. She informed her formal employers that she wouldn’t be returning.
When she reached her car, she let out a sigh of relief. She was so glad that she had Brittany to help her. She was a real friend.
As she headed down Morgan Street, she noticed that she was being followed. She knew the car but couldn’t remember how. As the car got closer, she saw Thad on the passenger side and Toby driving. Thad smirked at her and pointed his finger at her as if it were a gun, and acted as if he had pulled the trigger. No cars were around, and Dana became instantly frightened. Toby swerved his car in her lane, causing her to run off the road. As she moved back into her lane, she sped up, but they were quickly on her tail. Toby rammed her from the back, causing her to lose control of her car once again, and she had to brake fast. Once she did, a car rolled past her slowly. Dana jumped out of her car and ran into the path of the approaching car, flagging them down.
As the car stopped, Toby and Thad sped off. Dana’s heart was beating hard and fast. A man and woman stopped to assist her. She didn’t tell them what had happened, but she did ask if they could follow her to her destination. She offered to pay them if they could. They agreed, but refused the money.
Once Dana made it to Sharkey’s Bar & Grill, she waved the couple off and ran inside. She didn’t know what to do, but she knew she wasn’t going to let any of them win.
She was going to wait for Brittany to arrive and get some real advice from a real friend. She was glad that this was her last day at the firm. Thad and Toby had to have been waiting on her to leave in order for them to have been around to attack her. She sat down at a table where she could see everything around the parking lot.
An hour later, when she saw Brittany’s car pull up, she relaxed. When Brittany walked through the door, she spotted Dana immediately, and as she walked toward the table, the smile she had on her face changed.
“What’s wrong, li’l sis?”
Dana told her about how Toby and Thad had followed her and damn near made her crash. She told her that if that nice couple hadn’t stopped, she didn’t know what Thad and Toby would’ve done.
“You know what, Dana? That’s it! I’m sick of hearing about those motherfuckers. You need to move on and just stop dealing with them bitches and niggas. It’s getting too serious, and you don’t deserve this bullshit. I mean it too. Stay away from them,” Brittany growled.
“But how do I do that when they are bothering me?” Dana asked.
“I’m going to tell you how,” Brittany said.
As the two women talked and ate dinner, Dana gained insight into Brittany’s day, and was glad that she had chosen to join her team. She was going to use the information she had just received to her advantage somehow. Dana felt some comfort in the fact that it appeared that she had found a real friend in Brittany, yet she also felt angered at how her so-called best friends and their sidekicks had been treating her.
* * *
Toby and Thad walked into the trap house where Jeryca was at, rambling through his office. She was determined to find out what Thad had been up to. Since he didn’t want to tell her the truth about shit, she was going to find out on her own. She smiled as she flipped through his notebook. She tore out a single page full of numbers on it and placed it in her pocket. She continued snooping, and about five minutes later, Jeryca stood and found herself face-to-face with Thad.
“What are you doing in here?” he asked as he advanced on her.
“Nothing, Thad. I was just looking for a book,” she lied.
“Bitch, I don’t believe you and either you—never mind that. I’ma show yo’ ass that you don’t steal from me.” As he talked, he grabbed Jeryca by the throat and tossed her back against the wall. As she slid to the floor, he kicked her in the stomach repeatedly, causing her to grunt with each blow. He grabbed her by the legs and pulled her to the middle of the floor, kneeled down, and grasped her cheeks roughly.
“You were going to try to steal from me?”Jeryca shook her head no, but Thad didn’t pay her any mind. He pulled h
er up by her hair and head-butted her. She screamed and begged him to believe her.
“Bitch, you ain’t shit! You’re a nasty whore, and I’d never make you my lady. I got a real lady, and I can’t believe I wasted my time with your ho ass!” he yelled as he slapped her in the face, splitting her bottom lip.
Jeryca fell down. Thad kicked her in the back and walked out of the room, and told Brenda to tend to her.
Thad and Toby left as Chris pulled up. They didn’t get the opportunity to explain what had just happened, so when Chris walked in, he was thrown by the sight he saw. Brenda was crying as she wiped the blood from Jeryca’s mouth. Chris ran forward and asked what had happened. Brenda explained the situation, and Chris helped Jeryca up as she begged him to take her away. Chris felt sorry for her and did as she asked. He helped her into the car, and she was very much bruised and bleeding.
As they pulled off, Jeryca sat up a little bit and reached over to him, and as he looked over at her, the look in her eyes told him she wasn’t ready to go home. He pulled over and parked at an empty condemned apartment building close to her house. They sat silently in the car, and Jeryca began to rub Chris’s thighs. He rested his head back against the headrest. He hadn’t fucked anyone in weeks. He knew that Thad wouldn’t give a damn if he fucked Jeryca, and he was going to do just that. Chris pulled his pants down to his knees and Jeryca began to massage his dick.
“Damn, Chris, you got a monster dick. I see why Steph was in love. Shit.”
“Man, just shut up and put it in your mouth,” Chris moaned.
Jeryca licked the pre cum off his dick head and then slipped his whole dick into her mouth. Chris guided her head up and down. Although her mouth was hurting, she enjoyed what she was doing. She moved faster and faster, and he pulled back before he came. He took a condom out of his glove compartment and put it on.
“Come on and sit on this dick.”
Jeryca climbed over and rode him until he and she came. She was breathing hard, and he was too. After they put their clothes on, Chris pulled off only to come to a quick halt, realizing that his tires were flat. Upon inspecting them, he saw that his tires had been slit. He didn’t know when it could’ve happened or who would’ve done it, but if he found out, someone was going to pay.
* * *
Stephanie couldn’t believe what she had just seen. She had walked close enough to Chris’s car to positively identify Jeryca as the bitch who was there. They were so engrossed in each other that they didn’t even see her approach the car. Chris was a sorry-ass nigga, and Jeryca was a trifling-ass bitch who wasn’t worth the spit she coughed up. Fuck both of them. She couldn’t believe the two of them. If she had a gun at that moment, she would’ve killed both of them on the spot.
Stephanie was livid and needed to vent, but she knew Farrah was going through her own problems, plus she would probably find a way to side with Jeryca. Hell, there was only one person she could think of to call, and she probably didn’t want to talk to her. Stephanie decided to call her anyway and see if she could come over.
Chapter Nine
Dana awoke with a new outlook on life. She had several missed calls from Jeryca and Stephanie, but she wasn’t the least bit interested in what they wanted. Just as she got up to take a shower, her phone buzzed. She looked at it and it was Jeryca calling again. Dana sighed and walked into the bathroom. She was going to go look at a house on her lunch break. She had to relocate immediately.
After she took her shower, got dressed, and fixed a cup of orange juice, she heard a faint knock at her door. When she opened it, a bruised and beaten Jeryca stood there.
“I know you are mad, but I need you, Dana. Please don’t make me leave,” Jeryca cried. Dana shook her head no, but after a few seconds, she let Jeryca in.
“He jumped on me, Dana,” Jeryca blurted out and began to cry. Dana wanted to reach out to her, but Jeryca had burned her, and she wasn’t going to get burned again.
“Who jumped on you, and why did they do it?” Dana asked.
“Thad jumped on me! I thought he was going to kill me,” she yelled.
Dana dropped her head. “Why did he do it, Jeryca?”
“He said I was trying to steal from him. After he did what he did to me, Chris came in and took me to my mother’s,” Jeryca explained.
“Why would he think that you were trying to steal from him?”
“Well, after I saw the pictures of him with that woman, and then I saw Stephanie of all people calling him—”she started before Dana jumped in.
“Wait, how you know Steph was calling Thad?”
“Because her picture popped up. How would Thad get a picture of her, and how do they got each other’s phone number? It doesn’t add up to me,” Jeryca said with tears in her eyes.
“Damn. Well, maybe it wasn’t what you thought it was, but I got to go to work. If you want to chill here ’til I get off, you can, but I’m not trying to have your momma call the cops on me again,” Dana replied.
“She knows where I am, and it’s not going to be a problem at all. I just need to get my head together,” she responded.
“All right, well, I will see you later on,” Dana said as she grabbed her purse and keys.
“Thanks, girl,” Jeryca said as she got up and hugged Dana.
Dana left and decided to see what Stephanie wanted. She dialed her number.
“Hey, Dana. Listen, I need to talk with you. First, I’m sorry for how things played out the other day between all of us. I know it’s no excuse, but I was in a bad place. Dealing with Chris and trying to help with Jeryca was too much for me,” Stephanie started off top.
“You’re right, there is no excuse! Then I know y’all called my job and got me fired. That was some real bullshit, but it’s cool, ’cause that didn’t break me,” Dana yelled.
Stephanie started crying. “You are right, Dana, but I really need a friend to talk to. I saw Jeryca and Chris yesterday, and they were having sex in the car!”
“What?” Dana said as she slammed on the brakes, causing a few cars behind her to do the same. As she pulled over to the side, a few cars sped past her, blowing their horns, and a few dirty gestures were thrown her way.
“Tell me you are lying. Stephanie, I got to get to work, but meet me at my house around six thirty this evening.”
“Okay, I will. Thanks, Dana, and again, I’m sorry for being an ass to you.”
“I hear you, but I got to go, okay,” Dana said and hung up.
When she got to work, Brittany was waiting on her.
“Dana, come on into my office and let’s sign some papers,” Brittany said. After they signed all the documents, Dana was officially an employee of Holmes, Howell, and Fuller law firm.
“Come and take a look at this custody case against Ms. Farrah Walker,” Brittany said with an evil smirk on her face.
“I’m ready,” Dana replied. As they walked into the second office, Dana was introduced to Debra Fuller.
“Hey, this is our new legal secretary, Dana Crisp. She will be assisting us with our caseloads. She is very good at what she does,” Brittany explained.
“Nice to have you join us. We needed another diva on our team,” Debra replied.
“I’m happy to be a part of it. So what do you need for me to do for you?” Dana asked.
“Oh, shit, our new diva is ready, huh? Shit, let’s get down to it.” Debra laughed.
As they handed Dana Larry Bigelow’s file, Brittany gave her a funny look. “Here you go, Dana.”
Dana knew why she looked at her like she had, but she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with it.
Dana worked nonstop until lunch. Around 12:20 p.m., her cell phone rang, and to her surprise, it was Farrah.
“What the fuck is really going on? Why are they all calling me? I know it’s a setup, but I’ma be ready for they ass this time. They want to play. Well, game on!” she whispered to herself. She didn’t call Farrah back until it was close to the time for her to return to work.
/> “Yeah, you called me?” she asked as Farrah answered. Dana could tell that Farrah had been crying. Her voice was raspy and dry.
“Dana, I need you. I know we’ve been through a lot, but Larry has been talking to an attorney. Please, Travis is my life, and if I lose him, I have nothing. Please help me!”
Dana was shocked. How did Farrah know so quick that Larry had started the custody process? She knew Debra hadn’t said anything, because the case wasn’t even drawn up. Dana decided not to say a word to Farrah about the case.
“How do you know he has done that?”
“Travis told me yesterday that they were at an attorney’s office, and Larry told me that he was going to do it. Travis is supposed to come home tomorrow. I need to talk to you,” Farrah pleaded.
“Okay, Farrah, listen, call me later and I will see what I can do to help.”
“Okay, thanks a lot.”
Dana walked into the office and went straight to Brittany’s office. She told her about her day’s events and asked her what she thought.
“Girl, you know what I told you; I think that they are all snakes and you should keep your distance, but then again,” Brittany said as she leaned forward, “keep them bitches close and find out what their motives are. Just stay aware of their sneaky asses.”
“Exactly what I was thinking,” Dana said with a smile.
* * *
“Aye, y’all niggas come on and let’s get this car moved to the paint room,” Austin yelled.
Austin was the owner of Precision Auto Painting & Detailing. He had a huge shop on Atlantic Avenue. He was the only white boy in the hood that could use the word nigga around the brothers in the neighborhood. They looked at Austin as if he were black. He was tall, muscular, and sexy. He had blue eyes, long black hair, and his skin was tanned year round. He and Toby had been best friends since grade school.
Toby was getting Tiffany’s car painted and detailed from the inside out. It was a birthday gift from him to her. He bought her a ’79 Monte Carlo and was getting it painted amaranth, which was a rose-red color. He had seven-inch television monitors installed in the headrest facing the backseat. He was having 24-inch tires with Bristol Star Silver Rims and a Pioneer Pro radio system installed too. He was going all out for her.