Scandalous Heroes Box Set

by Latrivia Nelson

  She smiled and leaned in to kiss him. “Where’s my ring?”

  “You only get the ring if you say yes.”

  “Yes.”

  He reached under her pillow and withdrew a red velvet box and Vanessa looked at it in surprise, thinking of the Princess and the Pea and wondering why she had not felt it beneath her pillow.

  He opened the box and withdrew a perfect diamond ring. It was not too big, nor too small. The simplicity of it held her captivated and then he placed it on her finger and she pulled her gaze from it. Vanessa threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

  “Yes! Yes! Yes, I will marry you!”

  Scotty achieved his wish to create a perfectly romantic birthday for the woman that he loved. They spent two days in the chalet, learning each other in a new way; as lovers. When their sweet vacation ended Vanessa knew that she would now have to face her grandmother before she could go forward with her life. They drove back to Cincinnati and Vanessa felt both nostalgic and brand new. She was eighteen and her life spread out before her in limitless possibilities. With the wind in her hair and Earth Wind and Fire playing from the stereo Vanessa looked at Scotty and remembered sitting on the back of his bike, clutching him around his waist in awe that she was so close to him. She smiled thinking everything is everything not because what you see is what you got, but because life was just one big circle that repeated itself continuously.

  TO BE CONTINUED…

  EPILOGUE

  Garry James stood by the worn Formica table watching the production of crack cocaine. Although he was proud of his achievement, it was difficult for G to look at the drug drying on various trays. The urge to smoke himself into oblivion was always present. He wanted it again even moments after smoking a rock. His eyes became glazed as he watched and without realizing it he began to fantasize about the yellow nugget consumed in a flame, and then the sizzle and pop as it caught. His throat tightened as he pictured the blooms of smoke rolling across his tongue and into his lungs where he would hold it until they burned. By then the head rush would have hit and moments later perfect clarity and then sweet numbness.

  G pulled himself out of his reverie when the apartment door opened and Donald Miller and several guys entered the room. He needed to focus on the three new crew members that Donald had recruited. G had never particularly cared for Donald who was a loud and unpredictable young man--just as he had been a brash and mean spirited boy. But Donald had something that G needed; clientele. And if he was going to get the crack business off the ground, then the more people he exposed to the rock, the more that would return.

  G had a fleeting thought about his ex-partner who had always wanted to keep the crew small and tight. He was still pissed at Scotty for bailing just when he needed him the most. Everything had changed once Scotty’s half of the cash was no longer in the equation. He’d had to start making his purchases on consignment through Dawson—something he and Scotty had said they’d never do. Now the old prick was in his business with demands that were hard to meet. Bitterly he thought about how he had been left to make it work on only a portion of what they were used to having in order to make the purchase. He’d had no choice but to partner up with Dawson and add more workers. But he had an idea about expansion and he was positive that it would allow him to regain control of the business again.

  G slapped hands with the new arrivals, anxious to be done with this so that he could fire up a rock.

  “So G, these are my boy’s that I was telling you about. They know the streets, the fiends, the cops, and they can make us some big money, baby!” Donald laughed, showing off a gold tooth.

  “That’s what I’m talking about!” G’s face lit up in a greedy grin. Scotty had refused to let Donald Miller into their crew all because of some vague shit like not trusting him. But G figured that he was just pissed about that little scrap they’d gotten into years ago. It wasn’t enough of a reason to him not to allow the dude in—especially when he could broaden their customer base.

  Feeling good about his decisions to remedy the problem—and needing to mellow out a little, G offered the men a sample of the product. Just like him, they had never before seen a crack rock and were curious. He set each man up with a glass pipe and they retreated to the bedroom to smoke in private.

  Donald said, he’d take a hit off someone’s pipe and G had laughed at him and said, “Youngblood, if you can stop after just one toke, then more power to you.”

  A loud-mouthed dude by the name of Dante laughed bravely and was the first to fire up. Donald continued to joke about them turning into a new kind of dope fiend from messing around with some ‘unknown dangerous shit’ and announced that he would just lay back and watch them enjoy themselves. Soon the men were raving about the quick and powerful high. After G’s mind began to mellow again, he questioned whether it was wise to encourage the young fools to sample the product. After all, he didn’t know them other than through Donald…and truthfully he didn’t completely trust the man.

  He lit up another rock even as the smoke lingered above his pipe and quickly forgot his previous concerns as the addictive numb engulfed him once again. The new crew members were considerably more enthusiastic after indulging in the free high. They discussed how much product would be needed and how quickly it could be unloaded. Mentally G was doing the math, concerned mostly with the cash that he was sure to make. Scotty had been the one to look at all of the other angles. He called it logistics or some shit that G didn’t quite get but it had amounted to the pros and cons and Scotty’s thoughts were that expanding out into other areas meant that they would have to get a lock on something that was already claimed by someone else. “That’s a sure fire way to get yourself killed,” Scotty had warned.

  Well fuck him and fuck that bitch he was with! He wasn’t planning to lock down any other area—he would just be a minor alternative source for the crack rock only.

  G sat back, his eyes slowly closing and then quickly opening as he tried to listen to the younger men who were talking about bitches and money and being gangsters. He wanted to laugh at them. They had no idea what it took to be a real gangster.

  “Yeah, I’m not getting why the bitches have to start talking,” Dante, the loudest dude in the room laughed. “This bitch I mess with keeps going on about how she goes to the school of performing arts and how she’s got all these aspirations and I’m thinking, bitch please use your mouth for something more than talking!”

  The other men in the group laughed and G glanced at the door ready to tell them to keep it moving. And then because he knew he had the attention of the group, Dante continued on about the girl he was screwing.

  “This sketchy bitch think I don’t know she’s straight up lying. First she says her name is Vanessa and then she says it’s something else,” he blew out an amused breath. “Bitches be trippin’.”

  “Vanessa?” G squinted. “You say from the school of performing arts?”

  Dante laughed. “Nah, that’s what she says…but she can sing, so maybe.” He shook his head not completely sure. She did manage to come up with an awful lot of surprises. Then he scowled, “One day she riding the bus to meet me, and then the next she’s getting dropped off in a BMW claiming it belonged to some dude she knew and she was going to let her cousin drive herself back home in it.” Secretly it had pissed him off that Vanessa had known some dude that drove a Beamer and he had made sure that he’d laid it on her good to mark his claim.

  G stood up, his eyes blazing. “Vanessa? Where does she stay?”

  Dante gave the big man a surprised look, wondering if he’d stepped on someone’s toes. “Man, I don’t rightfully know. She sketchy I told you-”

  “She part white or Mexican or some shit?!”

  Dante became very nervous now. His mouth became dry. “I…she’s light skinned-”

  “She got long hair?!” G’s voice was now a shout. The other men in the room went on guard as they watched the curious exchange.

  “Yeah, man…”
but what bitch didn’t these days?

  “Negro, tell me what the BMW looked like!”

  Now Dante had crossed from worry to fear. This muther fucker was insane. His eyes appeared to be black orbs that pinpointed him in a murderous glare. What the--?!

  Dante raised his hands as if to say that he meant no harm. “It’s a black BMW convertible-”

  Donald Miller’s eyes lit up in understanding. “That’s your boy Scotty’s car.” Oh hell no! Scotty’s bitch was fucking Dante! Donald’s face turned up into a sneer. He’d never liked that stuck up bitch anyways. She walked around thinking she was better than everybody else. And the white boy, Scotty, was someone that he wouldn’t mind seeing take a fall. He knew it was Scotty that had kept him out of the crew—and out of the money that he could have made.

  Dante blinked in fear. “Look man, I didn’t know anything about that!”

  G wasn’t paying the least bit of attention to the sniveling boy. He wanted to find something to punch because Scotty’s dumb ass had backed out on the money, their plans…even on their friendship—all because of some treacherous female.

  “You know,” Donald said slyly. “That bitch played both of them; Scotty and my boy Dante here.” Dante was nodding his head in agreement.

  G’s brow furrowed. Wait a minute…the way Vanessa had always looked at Scotty—he couldn’t see her going for a fool like Dante…

  Donald watched the doubt cross G’s face and spoke up. “It’s a shame how Scotty got all messed up with a chick like that.” Donald shook his head in mock sympathy. “Ain’t nothing like losing everything you work for over some silly bitch.”

  G’s eyes met his. “Scotty’s trying to be something he can’t be. I can’t blame him for trying.” G’s eyes darkened in anger. “But it is a shame that he’s losing out on everything over Vanessa because she ain’t worth it.” He sat down again, to Dante’s relief.

  “Yeah man, I knew she was sketchy but I didn’t know about your boy Scotty, so we both got suckered in.” He wasn’t one hundred percent sure if that baby was his but he had been willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. But after this—no telling who she’d been giving it out to! He was angry…but also a little sad.

  Donald rubbed his knuckles. “You could probably get your partner back if she was out of the picture.” He didn’t know if that was true or not, nor did he care. He only wanted to get the big man on his side. Because he had an idea that had been brewing in him for a very long time. Donald’s eyes narrowed even while the fake expression of sympathy stayed on his face. Girls that told him no deserved what they got. Vanessa would have gotten what she deserved years ago if his boy Anthony hadn’t always talked him out of it.

  But Anthony hadn’t been around when that bitch Yolanda had told him no. Yeah…he had paid her back for rejecting him. She wouldn’t ever say yes or no to any other dude—not after what he’d done to her. He hadn’t actually tried to kill her—at least he had not planned to. It’s just that she stopped breathing while he was strangling her. But it was her fault for not shutting up when he told her to! She could have just lain there and taken it and then it would have been over, but she had to scream and cry. So yeah…he killed her and left her in the abandoned building.

  Later he told some guys that he’d seen something that had looked like a dead body in a building. Like fools they went to check it out. Before too long the word had spread, but just like that game where you whispered in someone’s ear and passed it along; it was unclear what the first version had been. He had never told anyone about Yolanda and what had happened in the building but one person had probably figured it out. It’s probably why he still liked Anthony to this day even though he was off at college and they didn’t hang anymore. Anthony had been the only person who cared enough to remind him not to hurt anyone or he might get sent off somewhere. Yep he missed having a best friend that stuck by his side everywhere he went.

  G frowned silently as he thought about how much better off Scotty would be if Vanessa wasn’t around. He might be messed up for a minute but he’d get back on board…

  Everything is Everything

  ~Book 2 Preview~

  Vanessa knew that it was time to face her grandmother. She and Scotty had returned from her romantic birthday celebration and she had been staying at his place every since. Now Vanessa truly understood Scotty’s fears; once they’d made love she could not imagine being anywhere but with him.

  She smiled to herself as she thought of the gentle way that he touched her, teaching her how to please him. She loved waking up in the morning to find that she was curled up against Scotty’s body, his arm around her.

  With a sigh, Vanessa picked up the telephone and dialed her grandmother’s house. She was eighteen and despite the argument that she was sure to face, she intended to stand her ground.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi grandma.”

  “Hi, Vanessa. Are you back from your birthday vacation?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” In fact, she’d been back for days…

  “Did you and your cousin have fun? You didn’t do anything crazy like getting drunk did you?”

  Vanessa’s lips twisted in amusement. “No ma’am. We just wanted to celebrate and we had a good time.”

  “That’s good baby.” Her grandmother’s voice became hesitant. “I suppose that you will be wanting to collect your trust money.”

  “Yes, I will soon-“

  Bertha Mae sighed. “Then I think you and I better have a talk.”

  Here we go. ”Sure grandma. I can come over later today.”

  “Okay. Bye.” And the phone went dead, surprising her. Grandma had just hung up the phone. Now that didn’t make sense, she hadn’t even told her anything that should make her mad…yet.

  Scotty was out dealing with transcript issues before registering for college. Since she didn’t have the car, she decided to splurge and take a cab, using some of the money that Scotty had left for her in the bedroom drawer.

  She was sure that her grandmother would think that she was being wasteful, Vanessa thought as she sat in the back of the cab. But it would be stupid to take a bus when she could use this opportunity to pack up some of her things to take back to the apartment.

  Vanessa walked up to the house that she had lived in with her grandmother, wondering how much this would hurt their relationship. Her grandmother meant the world to her but she would not live by anyone’s conditions but her own. If her grandmother didn’t want to accept her relationship then that was her decision, but one thing she could no longer do is control the trust fund.

  Vanessa knocked on the door at the same time that she used her key to enter the house. “Hi, grandma. It’s me.”

  “In here,” the older woman called from the kitchen.

  Vanessa was surprised that she didn’t smell the aroma of something cooking. They had made plans to meet hours ago and her grandmother would have had plenty of time to whip up something to eat. Anytime Vanessa had returned home to visit, her grandmother would have something prepared for her to eat because she thought ‘those people didn’t know how to cook. Sometimes it was greens and a meatloaf with all the fixings, or pinto beans and cornbread. And when there wasn’t much time, grandma would at least throw together salmon croquettes and rice.

  Vanessa walked into the kitchen a little disappointed, not that she necessarily wanted something to eat but because it was something that her grandmother always did.

  Bertha Mae White watched her granddaughter, her face expressionless without even a smile of greeting. Vanessa tried to think back to what she’d done wrong—what her grandmother could have discovered that she’d done in just one week.

  “Sit down Vanessa.”

  “Is everything alright?” She asked while taking her seat. Oh Jesus…grandma was going to tell her that she had cancer or something. Vanessa felt as if someone had just socked her in the stomach and she looked at her grandmother with open fear.

  “No. Everything is not alright
.”

  “Are you okay?” She asked, her voice rising high in fear.

  “Vanessa, you are not going to like what I am about to tell you. But you will not be collecting your trust until you’re twenty-one.”

  Vanessa was speechless. She couldn’t even respond because there were so many things that she wanted to say at once.

  Her grandmother’s eyes became sympathetic. “I didn’t make this decision lightly-“

  Vanessa shook her head. “What decision? You can’t stop me from collecting my money.”

  “Vanessa, I want you to take a minute to listen to everything I’m going to tell you.” Vanessa fought back a hysterical response to scream and rant against any idea that she wouldn’t be collecting what her mother had meant for her to have. But she needed to hear exactly what her grandmother had to say and so she clenched her teeth and waited silently for her to explain.

  “When you were still a baby, your mother took out a life insurance policy which named me the beneficiary.” Vanessa frowned in confusion at the direction the story was taking. “When she died I…couldn’t stop thinking about how she’d lost her life. To me that money was not something that I wanted possession of. So what I did was I put it in the bank…for you.”

  Vanessa’s mouth parted in confusion. Was her grandmother telling her that she had a trust as well as the money from her mother’s life insurance policy?

  “When you first came to me you were so lost. I wanted to give you something to focus on, something that would show you that your mother loved you very much-“

  “My trust…” Vanessa whispered.

  “There is no trust. Your mother had a savings account with fifty-two hundred dollars in it but that money is long gone.”

  Vanessa began to tremble. Her mouth just hung open. “Gone? But…”

  Bertha Mae shook her head. “That money was taken out of your mother’s bank account the same day that we found out about her death. Your mother didn’t have a will and she never talked to me about setting aside money for your college fund. It was you that told me that. When I checked her bank statements I saw that there was money in her savings account but it had been taken out; fifty-two hundred dollars. Once I produced her death certificate and showed the bank that I was the beneficiary of her life insurance I was able to get a copy of the withdrawal slip. It was signed with her name, and dated after her death.”