Rain's Theory

by K. C. Mills

  I slightly remembered her mentioning an album release party for one of her father’s artists.

  “That’s one night.”

  “Look, I’ve gotta run. Call me later and we’ll hook up,” I said, leaning back to get some money out of my pocket. Lani stood as I took two bills out and placed them in the leather binder that the waiter left on the table. I just spent two hundred dollars for a steak and a salad that Lani picked over. This is the shit that I hated about her. Money didn’t mean shit to Lani because she had plenty of it, always had or rather her father did, so shit like this was her life. Things were different for me though. I like nice things and I had money to spend, but I also understood the value of a dollar. I knew what it meant to sleep in the streets hungry, not knowing where you next meal was coming from, so shit like this was over the top for me. I would never get used to it but if I was with Lani, this would be my life because this was all she knew, and trust me when I say she had no interest in learning anything else.

  I figured that she would be tired of me by now, but she kept holding on in a way that had me confused. I was rough around the edges, didn’t cater to her and for the most part, she was on my time and my schedule, but for some reason she wouldn’t walk away. I knew for a fact that Lani had more than enough well groomed, what society would call “presentable men” that would cater to her every need, but instead she clung to me when I barely paid attention to her.

  I knew it wasn’t just about the sex either. Don't get me wrong, my dick game had her damn near in tears and begging for mercy every time we were together, but it was more than that. I couldn't quite figure it out, but either way, I knew that if I did make the decision to walk away, she was not going to let go without a fight. So for now, I decided to just leave things like they were. We didn’t really have any classifications, but we sort of had an unspoken agreement that we were together. She knew I wasn’t exclusive and that I fucked around, because she had caught me on more than one occasion, but I guess you could say we agreed to disagree about our situationship. I just had a feeling that all that was about to change since Rain was back.

  Lani and I waited out front for our vehicles, and when the valet came pulling up in her Maserati first, he opened the door and Lani stepped in, and I stood inside the door. “I’m coming over tonight,” she said.

  “Call me first. I’ve got some shit to handle and I don’t know what time I’ll be there.”

  “I can wait,” she said with a frown, likely because she had done that plenty of times before and it had never been an issue. I didn’t really bring women to my house, so Lani being there unannounced wasn’t really an issue. But, I was being cautious because Rain knew where I lived.

  “I know, but just in case I’m not going to make it home.”

  “And where would you be?” she asked, assuming I meant that I would be out with another female.

  “I might crash at Niles’ if it’s late and I don’t feel like heading home.”

  “You can put your bitches on hold for one night, Theory,” she said with an attitude.

  I just chuckled. “Don’t do that shit, Lani. I didn’t say shit about bitches. I said I’ve got shit to do but even if I was going to be with someone else, you already know what’s up.” She knew better than to clock my moves.

  “Fine, I’ll call,” she said, snatching her door handle, damn near closing the door on me before she pulled off into traffic.

  I made a mental not to check her about that shit next time I saw her. Once I was in my truck, I hit Niles up to see what the move was for the night. If we were good on business, then I was gonna see what Rain was up to.

  *****

  “Thee, can you come by the shop?” Josh asked the second I hit the highway. I let out a long sigh. I actually had plans to head to Rain’s office and to try to see if we could hook up later. She left my house the other night on good terms, but things still seemed a little strained with us and I needed to see where her head was at.

  “What’s up, everything good?” I asked hoping that it was something that could wait.

  “I just think you need to head over here.” I could tell from the tone in Josh’s voice that he was nervous about something and didn’t want to tell me over the phone.

  “Yeah, just give me a minute and I’ll head that way,” I said.

  “Okay. ‘Preciate it.”

  After I ended the call with Josh, I hit up Niles to see if he knew what was going on at the shop. We owned two detail shops for custom vehicles, and we’re well known around the city. If you wanted your shit customized in Atlanta, then you were coming to see me, Niles and Frank. We handled paint jobs, interiors, and sound systems. If it dealt with making your shit hot, we handled it.

  “What up Thee?” Niles asked as soon as he answered. It was loud as hell in the background and I could hear kids laughing and screaming.

  “Where the fuck you at yo?” I asked, after adjusting the volume on my Bluetooth.

  “Fucking Monkey Joes with Smiley and Shawna,” he snapped, sounding like he was ready to murder somebody.

  I just laughed thinking about his twin girls. They were four going on forty, and Shanae or who we called Smiley because her little ass was always smiling no matter what was going on, was the worst of the two. She always thought she was running shit and was bossier than a little bit. She was the leader of the dynamic duo, and Shawna just kind of fell in line with whatever Smiley said or did.

  “Damn, I know your impatient ass is about to nut up. You don’t have a banger on you do you?” I said and laughed.

  “Hell no nigga, you know I don’t have that shit on me when I’m with my shorties!” Frank yelled, mostly because it was so loud where he was.

  “I’m just checking. I don’t need to see your ass on the news for popping a little kid.”

  “Man, fuck you. What’s up though?”

  “Josh just hit me up. Something’s going on at the shop but he wouldn’t tell me shit over the phone. You heard anything?”

  “Nah, you know they don’t tell me shit. You’re the first call they make,” Niles said.

  “Your ass knows why,” I said through a laugh. “You don’t be trying to hear shit. You just go in that bitch firing people.”

  Now Niles was laughing. “Shit, I don’t have time for bullshit. You fuck up, you pack up. Get your shit and go.”

  “You’re dumb as fuck. I swear if it was up to you we wouldn’t have anybody left, but I’m heading that way now. I’ll let you know what’s up when I get there.”

  “Don’t be in that bitch giving second chances, Thee. You be soft as hell when it comes to them niggas. They hit you with that sob story about bills to pay and grubby baby mamas, and you let that shit slide.”

  “Nigga, I got this. You just deal with all those germ-infested kids you surrounded with and get a fucking sanitation scrub before you bring your ass around me. You know that place is full of damn viruses and diseases.”

  Niles burst out laughing. “You wild as hell, but you right though. I’m standing in the corner not touching shit, because these kids nasty as fuck.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I’m out yo. Just hit me up later,” Niles said before he ended the call.

  It took me about thirty minutes to get to my shop out in Duluth. It was the biggest one we owned and the busiest. When I pulled up, I noticed a brand new Range and a Land Rover Defender sitting right in front, so I assumed they had just been delivered.

  Josh must have spotted me when I pulled up, because he met me in the parking lot before I could get to the inside, and he looked frustrated as hell.

  “What’s up Josh, what’s going on?” I asked, as I surveyed the vehicles that were on the lot and then glanced towards the building.

  “We’re working on that Range, and the owner is here flipping out about the details. She said we got everything all wrong but I swear on everything Thee, we did exactly what she asked for. You know we’re on point with that shit, and she even signed off on the
contract and the final images that Tron did before we got started. She said she wanted to speak to the owner and wasn’t leaving until she did.” Josh’s hand went across his low-cut fade before he folded his arms and looked me in the eyes.

  I could tell he was frustrated and nervous about my reaction. Niles flew off the handle about every little detail, whereas I was calmer and more level headed, but if you gave me a reason to handle you then you needed to be afraid. I didn’t play about a lot of things and business was one of them. This company was a representation of me and I took my reputation serious.

  “Where is she?” I asked scanning the building. This location housed a glass showcase where you could see the inside from almost every angle of the building. It was my favorite because the shit looked classy as hell and I loved it.

  “Inside,” Josh nodded towards the building.

  “Go get all the proofs she signed off on and bring me the contract. I’ll be in my office. Give me a few minutes to look over everything and then bring her to me,” I said as I turned to head towards the service entrance of the building. I could slip into my office from there without being seen, which would give me time to prepare and check everything out.

  Josh headed towards the front of the building while I went in the opposite direction towards the service entrance. When I made it inside, I found Sal working on a silver Bentley. He was sitting inside the passenger seat doing something to the dash, until he looked up and saw me.

  “That bitch is bugging the fuck out Thee,” Sal said before he got out of the car he was working on and walked over to me.

  “What’s her deal?” I asked checking out the vehicle he was working on.

  “The fuck if I know, that shit is nice as hell. You know we do the damn thing around here, but she’s bugging the fuck out talking about the colors are all wrong, she didn’t ask for custom stitching on the seats, and some bullshit about the fonts for the initials she has on the headrest and floor mats. It’s all some fuck shit if you ask me.”

  I laughed, because Sal was pissed that she was questioning his work. He was like a surgeon when it came to the vehicles he worked on. They were his patients and he had a one-hundred percent success rate, so for her to be dissatisfied meant that he had a patient at risk of dying on the table, and he wasn’t having that shit. I could see it all over his face.

  “Don’t sweat it. I know you be on your shit, so let me go in here and see what the fuck is going on,” I said.

  “Yeah do that, ‘cause she’s ‘bout to make me slap her bourgeois ass if she keeps coming at me with that bullshit.”

  “Yo, chill Sal. You can’t be slapping the customers no matter how they act. That’s bad business bruh,” I said and then laughed.

  “Yeah, well she better stay the fuck out of my personal space then or that shit is happening. Trust.”

  I just shook my head and entered the building. I took the back hall to my office and unlocked the door. A few minutes later, Josh walked in with a folder and handed it to me. He sat down in one of the leather chairs stationed in front of my desk, while I scanned the documents. I had images of the computerized proofs next to printouts of the actual finished job, and they were identical. I also reviewed the contract and Sal had done everything the customer asked for and signed off on, which meant that whoever this person was either wanted a discount or to just bitch for no reason. I went to the original consultation to find the name and felt a wave of irritation hit.

  “Fuck,” I mumbled which caused Josh to look up at me.

  “What’s up, you see something wrong?” he asked, scooting to the edge of his chair to look over at my desk.

  “Nah, we’re good. Send her in,” I said.

  “You sure?” Josh looked at me confused about why I was annoyed if we were on point with our shit.

  “Yeah, send her in,” was all I said. The second I saw the name I knew exactly what the problem was.

  I inhaled and leaned back in my chair to wait. I raised my arms above my head, before I grabbed my wrist letting them rest on top of my head, with my elbows pointed to the right and left of my body as I prepared and waited for the bullshit.

  A few minutes later, Savannah came strutting in my office smiling like she hit the lottery, before she shut my door and conveniently locked it.

  “You know you’re foul right?” I said.

  “How is that Theory? I just have a complaint about the work that was done on my truck,” she said, as she walked over to the sofa in the corner and sat down, crossing her long thing legs but making a point of holding them open first to give me a full view of what was in between them.

  “You don’t give a fuck about that truck. You just wanted an excuse to see me,” I said as I turned my chair to face her and focused on her face. Savannah was Lani’s so called best friend, but I guess best friend didn’t really mean the same thing when you had money, because this bitch was scandalous. She was on my dick every chance she got, and I messed up and fucked her once so now she was really on my shit.

  She laughed. “Why would you assume that? I love my truck and just want it done the right way,” she said with a smirk.

  “You want something done the right way but it doesn’t have shit to do with that truck,” I said.

  Savannah reached under her extremely short dress, grabbed a hold of her thong and worked her way out of it, before she tossed it onto my desk.

  “She misses you,” she said with a seductive grin.

  I just looked at her dumb ass. All the money in the world, and she was here basically throwing pussy at me. That shit was hilarious and sad at the same time.

  “Well, it wasn’t worth missing, so I’m good on that. If you would like to discuss your car, then we can have a conversation. Otherwise, I’ve got shit to do Savannah.

  The look on her face was priceless. I couldn’t understand why women thought that pussy was the answer to everything. What they failed to realize was that there was always someone, somewhere willing to open their legs for the right situation or price, so trying to force it on a nigga or use it for leverage only worked for muthafuckas that didn’t have shit. Me on the other hand, I had a lot of shit, which included access to more females than I had time to deal with, so I wasn’t moved by a pair of open legs, especially when they opened that easily.

  “So you’re turning me down,” she said as she slid her fingers inside herself and started putting on a show.

  “Hell yeah I am, and get your nasty ass off my sofa before you stain that shit,” I said, mugging her hard as hell. I lifted her thong off my desk and tossed it towards her, but she let it hit the floor.

  Savannah stood up and glared at me like I had just insulted her, but fuck, she insulted her damn self by coming in here trying to fuck her best friend’s man.

  “So you’re okay with me telling Lani that you know what my pussy feels like?” she asked, attempting to get a reaction out of me.

  “Sweetheart, you can tell Lani whatever the fuck you want. I promise she’ll be more pissed with you than she will with me. She knows I’m not shit but you on the other hand, she trusts. I don’t know why but she does, so tell her. She’ll be mad for a minute, I’ll fuck her lights out and then she’ll be over it but you, shorty, I don’t think she’ll forgive so easily,” I said with a smirk on my face.

  Savannah just stared at me mad as hell, like she was processing what I just said. She knew Lani so she knew that I was speaking the truth and when she finally came to her senses, she picked up her thong, shoved it in her purse and then headed to the door.

  “I’ll tell my guys you’ll be by to pick up your truck next week. Be sure to let everyone know who did the work for you,” I said just before she was out the door.

  “Fuck you Theory,” she snapped.

  I just laughed. “Damn Savannah, didn’t we just cover this. I’m good on that,” I said, and she left my office slamming the door behind her. I closed her file and laughed. I swear females be on some shit.

  -9-

  R
ain

  “So what now?” Diamond asked, as she lifted the last of my bags from behind my car and shoved it in my trunk. Both of our vehicles were overloaded with everything that belonged to me, after having gone through the apartment I shared, or rather used to share with Jamel.

  Diamond was the first call I made after I left Jamel's office, but mostly because I really didn’t have anyone else to call. I also didn't really have anywhere else to go, and I was praying that she would come to my rescue. The thought of calling Theory crossed my mind several times, and after debating it with myself, I decided against it. I knew for sure that he would insist that I stay with him and we most definitely weren't there yet, or at least I didn’t feel like we were.

  “I don't know; I guess I start trying to find a place.” I shut my trunk and leaned against it, with Diamond standing in front of me.

  “Girl please, you can stay with me as long as you want. I'm never there anyway. I basically live at Destiny’s place and I have two bedrooms.”

  When I didn't answer right away, Diamond grabbed my arm and forcefully dragged me to the driver's side of my car. “Stop acting like you're actually thinking about it Rain. You don't have any friends, so I'm all you have. Well, unless you plan on calling Theory,” she said with a smile.

  “I guess we're officially roommates.” I playfully rolled my eyes, which of course made her laugh.

  “That's what I thought,” she tossed over her shoulder as she walked to her car.

  An hour later, I was settling into my new bedroom at Diamond’s apartment, while Mel was blowing up my phone. As far as I was concerned, he could take a long walk off a short pier. I knew that I was dead ass wrong for stringing him along all this time, but apparently I wasn’t the only one with secrets. In my mind that made us even, so I was over it. Mel was a good guy and we had some good times, but he wasn’t Theory. I knew that, so Mel and his blue light special could go for it. I didn’t care one way or the other.

  “I’m heading out,” Diamond said from the doorway of my newly acquired bedroom. She had a book bag on her back, so I assumed she was going to stay with Destiny.