One Hustle

by Cortney Gee

  Marc's disinterest in hooking up with Ebony had put a black eye on my plans to ravage Jessica and robbed me of the opportunity to converse with her of my plans to leave all behind to be hers. Instead, we all piled into a cab and headed to Jessica's swank condo.

  I was surprised to find out that the bust occurred there. I was further caught off guard because Kwan had been caught there, too. I had never known him to visit her spot. Being in love with Jessica was fucking me up inside, but instead of allowing irrational jealousy to win, I thought logically.

  I figured Kwan must have felt the heat at his crib and brought it to my soul mate’s home.

  "Cameron, right now all of my accounts have been frozen. Let me sell off a few items and as soon as I'm liquid, I'll slide that bail money back your way," the tech-boy graphic genius told me.

  "Don't stress yourself, man. Do what you have to do. Just make sure to secure a top notch lawyer who can get beat the charges. I can wait until after the trial to reclaim the cash," I replied calmly.

  I didn't know why I was so relaxed with so much money at stake. Maybe it was to keep Jessica's stress level down. Maybe I was keeping the conversation short for fear that the Feds had the place wired and I didn't want to say shit that would find me up on charges.

  More than likely the truth was that I was dumb and in love.

  The look on Marc's face told me he felt it was the latter as well.

  With as much business that I was comfortable with handling verbally, Kwan wished us safe passage back to LA and bid us farewell.

  With Marc in tow and Karen wearing down my battery by blowing up my phone, this had more or less been a fruitless trip to Northern California. Though we were on bad terms, I didn’t want to completely piss her off because she was still my babies’ mama, plus she knew most of my dirt.

  I selfishly just wanted to bed my girl, lay up in the afterglow of orgasm, discussing our future together as we cuddled naked, but instead I called Southwest Airline and changed our reservations from the last flight to the next one available.

  "I really wish that you weren't leaving, Reesie. There are so many things I wanted to talk with you about," Jessica told me, disappointed in my decision to depart in such haste.

  "I wish I could stay, too, but I left LA without mentioning to anyone I was leaving town," I replied, explaining to Jessica Karen was oblivious to where I was without saying her name.

  Jessica drove us to the airport in her big-bodied Benz, holding my hand the entire drive. She amused us with grim stories from her two-day stay at the Marin County resort.

  "You have no idea how rough some of those girls were, baby. I'm glad you bailed me out. There was a bidding war brewing over whose bitch I was going to be."

  Marc and I both broke out into laughter.

  "The question is which one would you have chosen?" Marc asked.

  "The one with the most zoom zooms and wow wows, of course," Jessica replied, winking at me.

  That was when I knew my girl was my girl. When she started acting and talking like me.

  Marc was dumbfounded.

  "What are zoom zooms and wow wows?" he questioned.

  "That's jail jargon for sweets and goodies from the commissary," I educated my green padawan.

  "Yeah, I be damned if I was going to ruin my curves eating off the county menu. Yuck would be a compliment when describing the shit they served," Jessica stated as we pulled up to Oakland International Airport.

  Marc told Jessica how elated he was to see her free and encouraged her to stay that way before getting out of the back seat.

  "Reesie, I really need to talk with you, baby. Make sure to call me as soon as you get back to LA."

  I looked into her glowing face and promised to do as she requested. I pulled her toward me, then planted an assuring kiss on her moist lips. "I love you. You know that, right?"

  "Of course I do. How could you not? I'm adorable," she replied with watering eyes.

  I wished I could have stayed longer, but even as I was thinking that, my life in LA was beckoning me.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Rushing to get to Oakland, I had made the mistake of forgetting my car charger at home. Karen's insistence on communicating with me while I was gone had doomed any conversation I was to have with my red-haired honey. Whatever Jessica wanted to discuss was going to have to wait until the aftermath of the blowout I was certain awaited me at home. This fight was one I looked forward to because I was sure, it would be our last. When I finally would get to contact Jessica, I would inform her I could be all hers if she would have me.

  I made the right turn into our cul de sac, thinking I would find Karen's Land Cruiser in the driveway, but to my surprise it was gone. Normally, it would be blocking me from parking my Jaguar in the garage, but only the Range Rover sat there alongside the house. I took her not being there as a sign that she took my greedy sons for a bite to eat. Karen's absence was welcomed.

  I remotely opened the garage door and drove inside.

  Before entering my house, I extinguished my half-smoked Punch Maduro cigar. When I opened the door, I was greeted by the sight of total chaos.

  Pacino was loose.

  Torn paper was thrown all about and piles of shit decorated the kitchen and living room. Right when I was primed to scold my Rottweiler for escaping from his cage and being a bad boy, I realized that he hadn't gotten out of his cage -- he had been left out.

  I grabbed him by the nape of the neck and led him to the fenced-in backyard so I could begin the task of cleaning up his mess.

  After finishing with the clean-up, I lit some Nam Chopra incense and cracked a few windows. Pacino was pacing back and forth at my sliding glass door. I couldn't be assured that there wasn't any more shit inside even after picking up what seemed like a ton, but I slid open the door.

  "I'm either going to potty train you or teach you to use a litter box."

  My words fell on deaf ears. Pacino merely wagged his stub and panted.

  I racked my mind trying to remember where the charger to my StarTac might be. When I was cleaning up, I hadn't noticed any chewed wires so I couldn't blame my furry doo doo machine. Then it dawned on me that the last place I remembered it being was in my office or the bedroom Karen and I shared.

  I climbed the stairs with Pacino on my heels determined to keep up. The search of my office yielded nothing. It had to be in the bedroom.

  When I opened the door to the bedroom I found it in the same condition as the downstairs minus the boo boo.

  "Pacino, is this your handy work?"

  He responded to me with a low growl. Then he walked over to Karen's open closet.

  "You better get away from there. If you fuck up that woman's shoes she'll skin both of us alive," I told him, walking over to close it.

  When I stood in front of the closet, I found it devoid of every stitch of clothing and footwear she owned. Instinctively, I ran out of our room to the twin's, only to find it as barren as ours.

  There was sweat popping off my brow. I was standing in the middle of the room my sons once slept in when it hit me.

  The safe!

  I darted back to my bedroom, almost trampling Pacino trying to see if Karen had made off with my dough. I dove into my closet and worked the combination to the safe. Instead of finding the five hundred thousand dollars of the Kwan coinage I had switched out when I left for Oakland, all I found was a handwritten note.

  Cameron,

  With friends like Anna you don't need enemies. Of course I've known all the time that you weren't faithful to anything except your own desires but foolishly, I told myself you would insulate your family from your fuckery. I've always said that what happens in the dark is sure to come to light. Not only did Anna tell me about your dealings with her, but also about your red headed bitch in Oakland.

  So I'm leaving.

  This isn't a separation. There won't be any get backs or sequels. That's why I took the money. I figure the liberation of this money you've come
to worship will assure you hate me enough to leave me the fuck alone. I haven't stolen this half a million dollars from you. I've earned every penny, if not more. If it makes you feel better, think of it as all the child support, I won't be suing to get from you. I'll use it to take good care of our children.

  The boys begged me to bring along their puppy but I thought it would be cruel of me to have you come home to an emptied safe and home. Take care of yourself. I don't know why I wrote that, of course you will take care of yourself. That's what you do best. Love, Karen

  After reading the letter I realized that Karen's departure had actually only cost me fifty thousand dollars. I couldn't find fault in her on how she left I was just glad that she hadn't deemed all my monies fair game. If that would have happened, I would have been trying to find Lance, this time, for my own 'project'.

  I contemplated riding over to Anna's house and kicking that treacherous cunt's ass back to Tijuana. That was what I wanted to do, but of course, I knew better.

  I went out to the garage and relit my cigar, then walked back inside. With Karen gone, I no longer had to be worried about her tyrannical rule. I climbed the stairs to find Pacino curled up in front of the boy’s old room, snoring like a grown man who just worked a twelve-hour shift. I could tell he missed the twins, hell so did I but there wasn’t shit I could do about and sleep definitely wasn’t the remedy. I’d fucked around and lost my family, and that thought tore at my heart. But I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I would always be a father to my sons.

  With Karen gone, my decision about Jessica and I was on the fast track.

  What the fuck am I saying, my decision?

  Karen had made my mind up for me when she bolted for Bumfuck, Georgia.

  I walked into my office, put on the Motown classic, “Here my Dear” cd on and poured myself a huge tumbler of my favorite brown liquor.

  "Well, I guess it's just you, me, and Marvin," I said, raising my glass, toasting the moment and looking at my slumbering dog.

  Pacino halfway stirred as Marvin Gaye’s soulful voice filled my empty home.

  I was on my third glass when my phone rang. I checked the Caller ID before answering. I was pleased to see the 510 exchange. Had it been anyone else but Jessica, I would have allowed it to go to voicemail.

  "Cameron, hey baby. Can you talk now or did I catch you while you were busy?"

  I turned down Marvin's musical masterpiece knowing that if she called me by my given name a serious conversation was on the table.

  "No not at all. I'm just chilling, what's good, Carrot?" I replied, neglecting to tell her about Karen's flight back south.

  "I'm glad you're free because I need to tell you something very important. You know you've been blessed. You have a lot to be thankful for," she started.

  "Yeah, things have been good. Even while doing dirt, God has been good to me. I have friends, a house, a condo, a boat, a truck, three cars..."

  "Almost two wives, two kids and one on the way," Jessica chimed in.

  I had to pause for a moment to let her statement process.

  Almost two wives? Well, today's events had changed that truth.

  Two kids? Yeah, the twins made two.

  One on the way? Oh shit, we were going to have a baby!

  "Cameron, did you hear me?"

  "Yes, I heard you," I replied, unable to display my excitement because of my other reality and the Jack kicking in.

  "Well, I didn't expect you to be ecstatic, but I damn sure would have never imagined you to be so devoid of emotion either. I should have just kept it to myself and had it handled," she replied, disappointed by my lack of enthusiasm.

  I took a long slug of my drink and gave Jessica a recap of my day.

  After I finished, she was just as upset with Anna as I was and offered to come to town and whup on her ass for me.

  "Like you don't have enough trouble already. Don't worry about that Latin cunt. Karma will eat that whore for breakfast. What I need you to be concerned with is getting out of this situation you're in and taking care of our child by taking of yourself."

  I was tired of looking over my shoulder when it concerned my criminal enterprise and with Jessica no longer my mistress, I was looking forward to us combining our ill-gotten gains and leaving the life behind.

  Karen was right. I loved her, but not enough. Not enough to be faithful and damn sure not enough to keep from falling for the luscious lady I was on the phone with right now.

  I knew there was going to be some serious fallout when people found out where my heart was, especially from my mother.

  "Baby, why didn't you tell me all this when I was in Oakland?"

  "I wanted to, I swear, but I thought my half a million burden was already enough to trouble you with."

  To be honest, half of what she said was nothing. The amount spent to help Kwan was a wise business move. What I had done for Jessica was straight from the heart.

  "Carrot, as long as we're together, there's nothing you can't ask of me. That's including my complete devotion," I promised. I shocked myself when I uttered my statement. What I felt for Jessica had to be beyond lust. If she were with me at this moment, I would have taken her to Vegas and exchanged vows in front of Elvis. Shit had got real.

  I knew that I was truly in love with Jessica. Not since college, when I was engaged to Chandra, had I been willing to forsake all others. The one thing that had stood in my way of already making her mine was speeding down I10 headed east. My boys were going to have a stepmother and a new baby brother or sister. Jessica was relieved to hear me profess my desire to be one with her.

  "Reesie, I'm so happy that you feel like that. It was going to break my heart to terminate the pregnancy or raise our child alone."

  I assured her that there was no need to be troubled about such things. "What we need to deal with is this case and the charges you have against you," I told her, lighting my cigar until the cherry was red hot and large clouds of smoke filled the room.

  There was silence on the other end of the line. I imagined her eyes welling up with tears as her voice trembled.

  "Reesie, I can't be locked away from you, baby. I can't even think about having our child behind bars," she blurted out, sobbing.

  "Don't worry. You aren't going to jail. Not if I can help it. I'll get you the best legal mouthpiece available," I told Jessica, hoping to ease her troubled mind.

  "The prosecution was offering me a deal for seven years."

  "Seven years and they call that a deal?"

  With the federal charges Jessica and Kwan had pending for counterfeiting, the feds wanted 15 years of their life. To get that pleaded down to half the term, the government was going to ask about accomplices. I had paid my way out of the line of fire, but I feared for the safety of my crew.

  "They're going to ask for names."

  "I don't know any names to tell them," Jessica replied, letting me know she was a true soldier.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  A whole week had expired and there had been no word from Karen or the boys. She hadn’t answered or returned any of my calls. I worried about their whereabouts and safety.

  "I'm sure when Karen is up to calling you, she will," was all her mother told me when I inquired. At first, I dug the new freedoms I was afforded in my home. Smoking cigars inside was one of them. With the cat out of the bag, I had asked Jessica to come to L.A.

  Her smooth, high-priced counsel frowned at just the mention of her leaving Oakland city limits, let alone Marion County. He had been fighting a case in which the prosecution had witnesses and damning video surveillance. He insisted that she cop to the lesser charges in a plea agreement. The prosecution wanted Jessica to roll over on Kwan and anyone else who was associated with them.

  Jessica's paranoia was getting the best of her. She was fearful that her line was tapped and she was being followed. Anyone wearing a hat and dark sunglasses must've been the feds. Our conversations had been reduced to whenever she used a burner cell
or a pay phone.

  While this was going on, I didn't feel like performing nor writing. It was funny how Jessica’s legal issues affected my happiness and rendered my creativity to a flaccid state. Here I was all alone, save for Pacino who was missing the boys just as much as me. His sleeping at their bedroom door instead of the foot of my bed attested to that.

  "Reesie, if you really love me, you need to be in Oakland and convince me to stay," Jessica stated over the phone.

  I didn't understand the urgency in Jessica's tone. I did hear her say, "Convince me to stay." I had two hundred and fifty thousand reasons why she should stay put.

  "Jessica, is there any reason to question my love? Have I not been there for you at every turn since we have been together?" I questioned her.

  Jessica was frantic and spooked. Her lawyer said there was no way to avoid justice.

  "I can't deny that you have. But you don't understand."

  "What is there to understand?"

  "I can't fathom having our baby behind bars. To have our baby snatched from my arms and not seeing him or her walk, run, and ride a bike."

  Yeah, they had her in a pressure cooker. I was torn. Part of me was ready to bolt and hop a flight to Oakland. But another part of me felt a feeling of distrust growing in the pit of my gut. Though Jessica was rambling on about how much she needed me up north, I couldn't help but to play Lance's mantra "Ain't no friends when you are hustling."

  I wondered if there were lovers in the pinch.

  Ignoring my doubts, I convinced Jessica to hold tight until I got there.

  I sat in front of my Macintosh Performa desktop and surfed the net until I pulled up Southwest Airline's website. There were four Oakland flights from Burbank to Oakland that I could make if my vet could kennel Pacino overnight. It was that, or drop him off with the San Diego Trio in North Hollywood. They adored him, but I was hoping the vet would look out for me.

  After entering the illegally obtained credit card information, I printed out my itinerary and jumped my ass in the shower. As I scrubbed off three days of sloth, I laughed to myself, concluding that Pacino had been escaping my funk by not sleeping in my room.