Money-Makin' Mamas

by Smooth Silk

  Karrine got in the car. The first thing she did was open her mouth again. “Would you please tell me where we’re goin’? That’s the least you can do, since you got me out here lookin’ like a damn fool.”

  “And the least you can do is shut the fuck up until we get to our destination. If you got questions for me then, at that time, I’ll be happy to answer them for you.”

  We rode in silence. Lord knows I wasn’t trying to be mean to my girls; no, that wasn’t me. They were just out of control. I had no one else to blame for the spoiled, ungrateful bitches I’d created. They all needed to grow the hell up, and maybe it was time for me to set them free. I wondered if they’d be able to make it without me. One of these days they would have to do it. All the lies and secrets were starting to get underneath my skin, but starting with Karrine, today she’d have to come clean and answer for her fuckups.

  Karrine’s eyes grew wide when she saw me park in Honey’s driveway. She didn’t even want to get out of the car. When she did, she moved like a turtle as she walked to the front door. I rang the doorbell. It didn’t take long for Trice to open it. A smile was on her face and she reached out to give me a hug.

  “Hello, Taffy,” she said. “It’s so good to see you, and as usual you’re always lookin’ spectacular.”

  I pulled away from Trice and smiled. “You know I wish I could say the same for you, but I can’t. Girl, you need to leave that alcohol alone because I can smell that shit seeping through your pores.”

  Trice laughed and so did I. It’s how we got down with each other. I’d known her for years. I was the one who had gone to Honey and asked if he would help clean her up. She was more of a loyal friend to me than she was to anyone.

  Karrine trailed behind us with an attitude, and when the double wooden doors to Honey’s office came open, he was sitting behind the desk with the phone pushed up to his ear. He held up one finger, gesturing that he would be done in a minute.

  “Get that swoll look off your face and sit down,” I said to Karrine. “I’m getting tired of looking at that ugly face. I just knew that when you saw Honey you’d have something to smile about.”

  All Karrine did was fold her arms. She continued to sit back on the sofa with an attitude. She pretended not to be fazed by this, but I figured her mind was going a mile a minute. After all, I wasn’t supposed to know about her shenanigans. I bet she was wondering how in the world did I ever find out.

  Honey’s fine black ass sat behind the desk looking just like Ray. He actually looked better than Ray. I loved it when his locs were pulled away from his face and into a ponytail. I understood how Karrine could find herself caught up with him, but what I didn’t understand was why she thought it was okay to betray me? Her own goddamn mother who had done everything, everything that I could for my girls.

  Honey ended the call and stood up. He walked around the desk and stepped forward to hug me. “What’s up, Mama,” he said. “I apologize for takin’ so long, but I needed to handle that.”

  “No problem, sweetheart. But you do know we have a problem with something else.”

  He nodded and walked over to Karrine. He leaned down to kiss her cheek, but she held up her hand. “Please back the fuck away from me before you get smacked. I don’t know what the fuck you and Taffy are up to, but please tell me why I’m here.”

  I cocked my head back and chuckled. “So, I’m Taffy now, huh? ‘Mama’ when yo’ ass needs something, but ‘Taffy’ when I ain’t shit. You know damn well why you’re here, Karrine. Maybe you should tell me why you think you are.”

  Honey leaned against his desk and folded his arms. I went over to a bar in the far corner and poured a glass of Hennessy.

  “Mama, I could have gotten that for you,” Honey said. “But—”

  I quickly cut him off. “But my ass, Honey. You could have gotten it, but you know how y’all ungrateful asses are.”

  I swirled the glass around and looked at the brown liquid before tossing it to the back of my throat. It burned, but I poured another glass then took a seat in the chair behind Honey’s desk. No one said a word until I lit a cigarette and whistled smoke into the air.

  “Karrine, I’m waiting to hear your side of this story, unless you can’t talk because you still got Honey’s dick shoved down your throat. Or you may be thinking about all that good dick he gave you, but it don’t look like you will be getting any of it today.”

  She winced and rolled her eyes. “Fuck Honey. I couldn’t care less about his ratchet dick. I’m more concerned about why you never told me that Ray wasn’t my damn father. That me, Chyna, and Simone were only half sisters. All this other stuff don’t even matter. You were the one who kept this secret for years, not realizing that I needed to know who my damn daddy was.”

  “If you wanted to know, bitch, all you had to do was ask. Don’t sit there and try to pretend that this was all about not knowing who your daddy was because it’s not. It’s about you wanting to be in control, Karrine. I assure you that that’s something you will never have. It’s all about you trying to be bigger than me. There is only one bitch who will run this show and that’s me. Now, if you think you are big and bad enough to bring me down, go for it. I brought you here today to give you options, options that can keep you in my circle or that can lead you right out that door and into a world of the unknown. You decide, because at this point, what you decide don’t matter to me one bit.”

  Karrine sat silent for a minute. She looked at Honey, who was staring at her. “Why you keep lookin’ at me, traitor?” she hissed.

  “I’m lookin’ at your bunny shoes and laughin’ my ass off because I’ve never seen you dressed like this. And I didn’t mean to put you in no situation like this, ma, but you was gettin’ ahead of yourself. You needed to pull back on that noise you was talkin’ about Mama. I’ve never been upset with her about a damn thing, only because I knew, firsthand, what kind of animal Ray was. I saw him put his hands on her for no reason. I also knew what he’d done to Chyna. Ray and I were close, no doubt, but I wasn’t down with a lot of shit he did. As for me and you, Mama felt like she couldn’t trust you. She was right. She felt like she couldn’t trust Simone. She was right about her too. Y’all wonder why she always on Chyna’s team, but Chyna the only one who be down with her no matter what. Y’all gotta learn how to fall in line too, ’cause this lady right here would lay her life down and die for all of us, ma. We need to start showin’ her a little mo’ respect. You feel me?”

  I wasn’t sure about laying my life down for no damn body, but I loved Honey, truly I did. He wasn’t my biological son, but he was the closest thing I had to one. He was there to witness all that Ray had done to me. When he beat me and threw me out in the cold, I remembered Honey looking out of the window with tears flowing from his eyes. When Ray kicked me down the stairs and I lost my first child, Honey stood on the stairs and reached out his small hand to help me. Time and time again, he was there. My girls had no idea what Honey meant to me. If any of them ever got serious with a nigga, I’d want him to be just like Honey or better. The only problem was he and I were too close and his ass would never be faithful to Karrine. I doubted that any man could be faithful, but that was just me. Regardless, I feared that his involvement with Karrine would do more harm than good. With that in mind, this shit had to cease.

  Shame covered Karrine’s face. It had been a long time since I’d seen tears well in her eyes. I didn’t raise no weak women, so I got up from my chair and stood in front of her. I lifted her chin and could tell that she was fighting back her tears.

  “Keep those tears locked away. There ain’t no need for them. Let this shit be a lesson and whatever you do, don’t let it happen again. I’ma chalk this shit up this time. Next time, Karrine, you have my word that I won’t do it. This shit is between you and me. Chyna and Simone don’t need to know nothing about today. They don’t need to know what’s been going on between you and Honey. You can keep on fucking him if you wish, but I’m here to tell you that
you need to make sure that nigga is strapped up tight, because he eats, breathes, and sleeps pussy all day long. He is capable of breaking your heart, and if he does, I’ll have to kill him. You don’t want me to do that, so give his ass a nice, juicy, wet kiss tonight and make your exit while you can.”

  Karrine looked over at Honey. He had the widest smile on his face. He knew he was a ho, so therefore, he couldn’t be offended by anything I’d said.

  “I’m so sorry. I should have known better,” Karrine said to me.

  She stood and reached out to embrace me. I held her tightly in my arms. The shit felt good. I loved all three of my daughters, and even though I had my favorite, it wasn’t by much. Karrine not having the same father as Simone and Chyna didn’t cause me to love her any less. It was she who had this thing with me. I was glad that we were putting all of this bullshit behind us.

  I let Karrine go and looked into her big, round eyes. “Your father was gay. Ray had done me so bad that I started fucking with somebody else. I was vulnerable when I met yo’ father, and I was desperate to be with anybody other than Ray. I ignored the signs, and when I went to his apartment one day, I saw him getting fucked in the ass by another man. I was already pregnant with you, but I went back to Ray and told him that you were his child. When you were born, he found out that you weren’t his. I paid dearly for lying to him. I begged him to never tell you the truth because I was embarrassed to have a child by a gay man. I never wanted you to know him, and when he died from AIDS, I thought that ended it. My hope is that today it does end, and that we never have to talk about this shit again.”

  Karrine released a deep sigh and sat back on the sofa. She kept expressing how sorry she was, but I’d already forgiven her. Sometimes, my kids got the hell out of line, but it was my duty to put their asses back in check. I saw this as a celebration moment, so I told Honey to pour all of us a glass of Henny so we could toast. We stood in a circle and lifted our glasses in the air.

  “Here’s to the future. With our heads on straight, may we all make millions and not kill each other before we reach billions.”

  Karrine and Honey laughed. Afterward, she gave him a kiss, but it was too long for me. I pulled her away from him. “You know I don’t play that shit. All I said was kiss him good-bye, not get his dick hard so you can come back and suck it later. Go to the car and cool yo’ hot ass off. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  Karrine thought I was playing, but I wasn’t. I told her again to wait for me in the car. After she left, I stayed to have a quick chat with Honey.

  “I need some money for our Vegas trip,” I said to him. “We’re leaving next week and you know it’s going down, don’t you?”

  “I’m sure it is,” he said, opening his drawer and pulling out a checkbook. “Be safe and bring Karrine back to me in good condition.”

  “Nigga, you’d better leave her alone. Just so you know, I’m dead serious about hurting you if you hurt her. Do you think I’m playing?”

  “No, I know you’re not. But we got this bond thing goin’ on that’s kind of tight. I’ll just say this: if she don’t pursue me, I’ll back off.”

  “And I’ll say this: find another piece of pussy to tear into because your playtime with Karrine is over. Don’t fuck this up over no pussy, Honey. I know you’re much better than that. Also, I don’t take checks from nobody. Deposit the money into my account. It needs to be there within the next thirty minutes because I got some extra shit that I need to take care of before I go.”

  Honey closed the checkbook and rubbed his chin. “Anything else, Mama?” he said sarcastically. “Please tell me if I can do anything else for you before you go.”

  Yeah, his tone was shitty, but every now and then I had to wake him the fuck up too. I was the bitch in charge of the whole empire he was running. With the snap of my finger, I could have him removed from the throne and shut this shit down. Only Honey and I knew how involved I was in the business. The only reason I didn’t let the girls know was because I wanted them to learn how to make a living for themselves and not rely on my money.

  I picked up the glass with Henny in it and tossed it in Honey’s face. He squeezed his eyes then jumped up from his chair. He wiped his hand down his face, but before he could speak up, I brought him back to reality.

  “One: check your tone because I don’t play that sarcastic bullshit.” I slapped the shit out of Honey, causing his head to jerk to the side. “Two: that was for punching Simone in her stomach. Nigga, don’t you ever do that again. We will always play by my rules, not yours. Now, give Mama a hug so I can go.” I held out my arms, but he just stood there staring at me.

  “Just so you know,” he said. “One day you gon’ push me over the edge. When that day comes, I do feel sorry for you.”

  “Yeah, that’s what all my kids say. And just so you know, when Taffy Renee Douglas goes up, she ain’t coming down. So never feel sorry for me. The only people you need to feel sorry for are your sisters and yourself for being blessed with a wonderful mama like me.”

  Honey let out a cackling laugh as he walked me to the door. That bastard never did give me my hug, but fifteen minutes later, I checked my account and the money was all there. I knew he was good for something other than sticking his dick where it didn’t belong.

  * * *

  A little over a week later, we were ready to jet to Vegas. Bags were packed and me and my lovely girls rushed to the front door to leave. Our Louis Vuitton luggage was filled to capacity with clothes, shoes, and accessories, but it looked like Vegas would be on hold, especially when I saw two police cars pull in our driveway. My heart raced, and I dropped my luggage on the floor. The girls stood behind me with their arms folded and attitudes washed across their faces. I wondered what in the fuck had they gotten themselves into now. This shit was ridiculous. I heard Simone whisper, “Reno,” to her sisters, and my foot was on the verge of swinging into somebody’s ass.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Taffy

  We had waited for weeks to get the fuck out of Chicago and have some for real fun in Vegas. My gut told me that there would be a quick change in plans, especially when one of the officers stepped forward.

  “How can I help you?” I asked the familiar-looking officer who had come to our townhouse before.

  “Taffy,” one of the officers said, “we need to speak to your daughters about an incident that happened at a club the other night. May we come in?”

  I backed away from the door. So did Chyna, Simone, and Karrine. The one thing I had taught them about the police was to be respectful, answer questions as truthfully as you can, and never let them see you sweat.

  By looking at the girls, I could tell they were prepared. We all stood in the foyer, awaiting the officer’s questions. I didn’t know what the hell had happened, but I was surely tuned in.

  “A few witnesses said that Reno and Jarred were injured by some young ladies named Chyna and Simone. The club owner is not happy about the thousands of dollars’ worth of damages, and he’s looking for reimbursement. Would either of you ladies like to tell me what happened?”

  Chyna spoke up first. “What happened was, from a distance, I could see Reno with his hands around my sister’s neck, chokin’ her. Her eyes were rollin’ to the back of her head and it looked like she couldn’t breathe. I knew that I couldn’t handle Reno and his friend by myself, so I picked up a few bottles from the table and went upside their heads. It was all done in self-defense. If the owner turns over the tapes so you can see them, you’ll see that everything I just told you was the truth.”

  “Which one of you is Simone?”

  Simone raised her hand. “Me, I’m Simone.”

  “Why did Reno, allegedly, have his hands around your neck, choking you?”

  “Because he’s been tryin’ to get at me for quite some time and I wasn’t havin’ it. He’d been lyin’ to people, tellin’ them that he had sex with me and that’s untrue. I confronted him earlier that night, and he came over to my t
able later and we got into it. He put his hands on me first. Thank God my sister was there to stop him from killin’ me. What we did was in self-defense. Period.”

  The officer took notes and sighed when Simone continued to tell him what a jerk Reno had been to her. Chyna mentioned an incident on the dance floor and she stressed how Simone was trying her best to stay away from Reno.

  “Okay, ladies, here’s the deal,” the officer said. “I’m going back to the club to look at the tapes. If your stories don’t jibe with what I see, I’ll be back with an arrest warrant. And you all may want to think about how much money you want to give the club owner for his troubles. His place got severely damaged from people rushing to get out of there. He’s considering lawsuits. I’m sure there’s a way to resolve this matter without going to court.”

  I quickly spoke up. “If you don’t mind me saying, Officer, I have two problems that I need to discuss with you before you leave. First of all, we’re on our way to Vegas. I’m not going to reschedule my trip. Second of all, I don’t understand how a bottle upside a nigga’s head can cause a club to get damaged. The owner should have insurance if anything happens to his club, and we’re not going to offer one dime to him for renovations. You can let him know that I said so. If he has a problem with that, then we will see him in court.”

  “I’ll pass the word on to him, but as for going to Vegas right now, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Like it or not, your daughters are in the middle of an ongoing investigation. If this thing goes to court, it may look like your daughters attempted to flee.”

  My blood was starting to boil, but I tried to remain calm while the officers were there. They stayed for a while, running police checks on all of us and continuously talking more about the incident at the club. After that, they hit us with those famous fucking words I hated to hear: “We’ll be in touch. Soon.”

  As soon as the officers left, I locked the door and turned to my slick-ass daughters who couldn’t keep their asses out of trouble for nothing in the world. I put my hand on my hip and let out a deep breath from being frustrated. “Now that I may have to reschedule our trip to Vegas, which one of you bitches gon’ pay me back for it?”