Grand Opening
Page 1
Grand Opening:
A Family Business Novel
Carl Weber
with
Eric Pete
www.urbanbooks.net
All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Grand Opening: A Family Business Novel
Other Family Business Novels
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Prologue - 1975
Lavernius “LC” - 1
Larry - 2
Chippy - 3
LC - 4
Lou - 5
Larry - 6
Chippy - 7
Juan - 8
Chippy - 9
LC - 10
Chippy - 11
LC - 12
Lou - 13
LC - 14
Chippy - 15
Larry - 16
Lou - 17
Chippy - 18
LC - 19
Chippy - 20
Larry - 21
Chippy - 22
Big Shirley - 23
LC - 24
Chippy - 25
John - 26
Lou - 27
Chippy - 28
LC - 29
John - 30
Big Shirley - 31
Larry - 32
Chippy - 33
LC - 34
Chippy - 35
Larry - 36
Chippy - 37
LC - 38
Chippy - 39
LC - 40
Lou - 41
LC - 42
Big Shirley - 43
John - 44
Lou - 45
Big Shirley - 46
Chippy - 47
LC - 48
Juan - 49
Larry - 50
Lou - 51
Chippy - 52
Lou - 53
Big Shirley - 54
Lou - 55
Chippy - 56
LC - 57
Chippy - 58
Big Shirley - 59
Chippy - 60
Larry - 61
LC - 62
LC - 63
Chippy - 64
Discussion Questions
Coming February 2016
Copyright Page
Grand Opening:
A Family Business Novel
Carl Weber
with
Eric Pete
Other Family Business Novels
The Family Business with Eric Pete
The Family Business 2 with Treasure Hernandez
The Family Business 3 with Treasure Hernandez
To Paris with Love with Eric Pete
The Man in 3B
Other Novels by Carl Weber
Lookin’ for Luv
Baby Momma Drama
Player Haters
The Preacher’s Son
So You Call Yourself a Man
The First Lady
Something on the Side
Up to No Good
Big Girls Do Cry
Torn Between Two Lovers
The Choir Director
She Ain’t the One with Mary B. Morrison
Dedication
This book is dedicated to Johnny and Minnie Walker, my great-grandparents from Waycross, Georgia. If it wasn’t for you, I would have never known about Oak Street, and this story probably never would have been written.
Dear Readers,
I sincerely hope that you enjoy this addition to the Family Business saga. I’m extremely proud of this new work, and can’t wait for you to read it. During my travels, people have been asking me about my decision to write in this genre. The question has come up over and over again at book signings, speaking engagements, and book club appearances, to the point where I knew I had to write this letter. Over the years my books have covered church characters, big girls, con men, and gangsters. This time, I wanted to do something with more of a period piece, a prequel to the Family Business that had my voice and the drama that I always bring.
Once I made the decision to try something new, I got in my car, where I do my best thinking, and drove around L.A., where I was working on my latest film project. Before I reached the ocean, I came up with the story and shared it with Eric. I think you’re really going to love the new characters, like Larry, Levi, Big Shirley, and of course my favorite, NeeNee.
So, I’m really hoping you’ll take a chance and read my newest book, Grand Opening. I promise you that it will become one of your favorite Carl Weber books, and yes, I’m already thinking about a part two.
Best,
Carl Weber
Acknowledgments
To Edna Mae, thank you for a mother’s love. Even though you’re no longer here physically, I see your smile every day. Though you’re missed by so many here, Heaven is no longer missing an angel.
Family and friends, I thank you for your belief in me and support during the roughest time in my life. I don’t think my motto ever applied more than then.
To Carl Weber, my co-author, thanks for allowing me to share in creating the Duncans and The Family Business world. It has truly been an experience.
Portia Cannon, blessings to you for your patience and diligence.
To all the readers out there, I am forever grateful that you’ve found the time and room in your life and hearts for my works over the years.
We ain’t done yet.
Can’t stop. Won’t stop. Believe that.
Eric
Prologue
1975
The breeze kept flapping the pages of the book I was reading, so I held onto it for dear life as I sat in the passenger seat. I was looking out for police as Sam sped the Cadillac convertible down the rural roads of Georgia, going God knows where. Down here in the South, police didn’t take too kindly to seeing uppity niggas in fancy cars they couldn’t afford. Things were going well for us, so the last thing we needed was to get acquainted with anybody’s jail cell. I knew better than to tell Sam to slow down, though, because I was responsible for making us late for his big meeting in the first place. I’m sorry, but when the lovin’ was that good, I wanted it morning, noon, and night.
“Sam, baby, this is so nice. I think I want to see the whole country in this car.” I snuggled up next to him and stared up at his face. Sam had to be the prettiest man I’d ever met. Sometimes I didn’t understand what he saw in me, but whatever it was, I didn’t want it to stop. Maybe, just maybe, God finally decided that I had suffered enough—that after all the beatings, rapes, and verbal abuse I had endured, it was my turn to be happy.
“We make it to this meeting and things go right, to hell with the country. I’m going to take you to see the world,” he assured me, leaning over for a kiss. I found myself wishing I was a genie, like in the story of Aladdin, and I could grant Sam’s every wish. How could one man make any woman so happy?
Sam and I had met a week ago outside the Savannah, Georgia bus station, where I was crying and hungry after someone had stolen my pocketbook, along with my bus ticket. I’d run away from a sexually abusive stepfather and an alcoholic and physically abusive mother, so I had absolutely no one in my life who I could count on. I was not sure why Sam took me in that rainy night, feeding me and sharing his hotel room with me, but I was sure he’d saved my life. I was smitten by his good looks and his fancy clothes right away, and I was impressed by what a gentleman he was. Given the way I’d been used and abused in the past, it was an unexpected surprise that he didn’t even try anything in the hotel room that night.
He took me to the beauty parlor the next day so I could get my hair blown out natural. Then he treated me to lunch and took me over to JC Penney, where he bought me three halter tops, some matching hot pants, and my first pair of pl
atform shoes. I put on some sunshades, and when I walked out of that store, I looked so good my own momma wouldn’t have recognized me.
I wasn’t sure where Sam came from, but that night I took matters into my own hands to make sure he wouldn’t go anywhere, and we’d been together ever since.
My eyes lit up when I saw a sign that read: WELCOME TO JACKSONVILLE.
“Wow!” I swooned, placing my hand over my heart. “We are actually in Florida.”
For the next twenty minutes, we drove through the city of Jacksonville. On both sides of the street, people black and white stopped to stare at the Negros in the fancy Caddy. I felt like a queen.
“We’re here!” Sam’s voice boomed excitedly as he pulled up in front of what I can only describe as a resort.
“This is soooo pretty,” I sang.
I was mesmerized. It had to be the fanciest place I had ever seen in my life. This was the kind of luxury hotel I read about in books. In the lobby, I stared up at the crystal chandelier as Sam led me to the elevator, where a black man in a uniform pushed the button for us. The elevator operator kept sneaking glances at me, so I held onto Sam, keeping my head high because, after all, that man was just the help. We stepped off the elevator and walked down the plush-carpeted hallway, arm in arm, to room 1120. Sam knocked on the door.
He turned to me and said, “I love you, and I’d do anything for you.”
I’d never had anyone tell me they loved me before, and to be honest, it was a bit overwhelming, but I knew I felt the same. “I love you too, Sam, and—”
Before I could finish my sentence, the door opened and a tall, olive-skinned man with straight, combed-back hair answered the door. He was wearing all white from head to toe. I couldn’t be sure if he was mixed because of his olive skin, but he reminded me of that guy Al Pacino, who played in the movie The Godfather. Next to Sam, he had to be the handsomest man I’d ever met in person.
He and Sam clasped hands like old friends, although Sam kept it very professional. “My man Alejandro!”
“Sam Bradford,” the man replied in a heavy Latin accent. He stepped aside to allow us to enter the hotel room, which looked more like an elaborate apartment. I could feel his eyes lingering on me as I passed. I glanced at Sam, and I was sure he noticed the way Alejandro was watching me too. I just hoped it wasn’t going to affect whatever business the two had, because this meeting was important to Sam.
“Can I offer you a drink?”
“Yeah. Why don’t you hook us up with a couple of rum and Cokes?”
Alejandro walked over to the lavish bar while Sam took in his place.
“Man, I’ve got to give it to you, Alejandro. This is one bad motherfucking hotel room,” Sam said as Alejandro handed him two glasses. “Business must be good.”
Alejandro glanced at me then looked back at Sam. “And who is this woman?”
I suddenly felt so out of place. He might have been checking me out when I came through the door, but this man sure didn’t look like he trusted me all of a sudden.
Sam came to my defense. “Oh, her. That’s my girl, Charlotte. She’s cool. She’s just here to party.”
I detected a hint of nervousness in Sam’s voice, something I hadn’t heard before. Whoever Alejandro was, he put some type of fear in Sam, and that made me uneasy.
“Baby, why don’t you take a seat over there?” Sam said. “Let us men talk.”
I did what I was told, sitting down on a sofa that was more comfortable than most beds. I didn’t much like the way Alejandro gawked at me, but I did like his style.
“Look, man, I don’t mean to put business before pleasure, but I got quite a few customers back home looking for what you’ve got,” Sam said. Once again, Alejandro glanced at me, taking a long sip of his drink. “I just need to know if you’ve got that package I ordered.”
“Yes, I’ve got it. You have my money?” Despite his accent, Alejandro’s words were as clear and cold as ice.
Sam removed a wad of cash from his pocket and handed it over. “It’s all there, and plenty more where that came from.”
Alejandro opened it and flipped through the cash, quickly counting it. He nodded when he finished.
“All right. You got your cash. Now where’s my shit?”
Alejandro handed him a set of car keys. “It’s in the trunk of the red T-Bird parked outside.” He turned his attention to me. “So, is she for me?”
Sam’s answer was nothing like what I had expected him to say. “She sure is. Young and fresh, just the way you like ’em.”
“Yes, she’ll do,” Alejandro said in a firm voice.
I turned to Sam, feeling tears well up in my eyes. “What is this? What is he talking about?”
“Alejandro, my man, do you mind letting me speak to my lady here for a second in private? It’ll just take a minute.”
“No, not at all. I’ll be in the bedroom. When she’s ready, I’ll start with a blow job. I like her lips.” The bastard had the nerve to smirk as he got up and walked toward the bedroom. Like me sucking his dick was a forgone conclusion. Visions of my stepfather passed through my mind, and suddenly I felt anger rising in me. How the hell could I have run away from one bad situation only to find myself here in the presence of another son of a bitch who wanted to use me as his sex toy?
“What the fuck is he talking about, Sam?” I raged as soon as Alejandro left us alone.
“It’s not what he’s talking about. It’s what you’re talking about. I thought you said you loved me and that you’d do anything for me.”
“I do love you,” I replied, feeling confused.
He shook his head violently. “No, you don’t! If you loved me, you wouldn’t be trying to ruin this deal for me. You have to trust me. Trust that I would never do anything to hurt you.”
“I do, but . . .”
“But what? I thought you said you wanted to go to Orlando, to Disney World. Well, what that man has in that car outside is going to get us to Orlando tomorrow morning. By this time tomorrow you could be having lunch with Mickey, but it ain’t going to happen if he don’t get what he wants.”
A single tear escaped and rolled down my cheek. I felt trapped. If I didn’t do this, I could ruin Sam’s business deal, but if I did it, I could ruin our budding relationship. “You’re not going to want me if I do that,” I cried.
He wiped away my tears. “I’m going to want you more. Our bodies are just vessels. It’s what’s in our hearts that count. What man wouldn’t want a woman who would do anything to make him happy? I’m in this for the long haul, baby. It’s time you made up your mind if you’re willing to do the same. So, are you going to Disney World tomorrow, or back to that bus station in Savannah?”
I stared at him for a moment as I considered the situation. I’d just had the most fantastic week of my life, and it all boiled down to this: I’d done a lot of shitty things on the street after I ran away from home, with a lot of shittier people than the man sitting in the other room now. If I was willing to do those things just to get bus fare, would it be so bad to do it to make Sam happy? I picked up my drink and guzzled it. “Go get your package, baby, ’cause we’re going to Disney World.”
A huge smile spread across Sam’s face. “I never had a doubt.”
Lavernius “LC”
1
Five weeks later
Kool and the Gang’s “Jungle Boogie” was on the radio and just getting to my favorite part. You know, where the horns first kick in. Too bad one of the speakers in the old tow truck was crackling with static, or else I would have been in seventh heaven. I lifted my ass off the ripped up pleather seats like they were a hundred degrees, only it wasn’t the seats that had me moving around like a Mexican jumping bean, it was—
“What was that?” my fiancée, Donna, asked, raising her head from my lap. She nervously peered over the cracked dashboard like a gazelle looking out for lions.
“Nothing,” my moaning quickly changed to a whining in less than three seconds
flat.
“I thought I heard something. Is someone coming?” Her head swiveled back and forth on her neck like a bobblehead doll.
“Nah, you’re good. Can’t nobody see us way over here,” I replied, anxiously trying my best to coax her head back into my lap without being disrespectful. “Now please, please, go on and finish what you were doing. It was just starting to feel good. And we ain’t got that much time, baby,” I pleaded. I knew I sounded like a desperate little punk, but that’s what I was at that moment. Shit, what she was doing felt so good that I would have said or done anything to get her to continue.
“Don’t you do your business in my mouth, LC Duncan,” she warned.
“I won’t. I promise.” I flashed her a smile. “I got a tissue for that.” I showed her the tissue then sighed thankfully when she finally lowered her head.
I was supposed to drop Donna off at home after we finished studying at the library. Then I was going to come down here to the Trailways and pick up my older brother, Lou, who’d been out of town for almost a month. However, once Donna found out I was going to meet Lou, her nosy behind promised that if I let her tag along, she would give me a blow job, something respectable girls like her rarely did. Sure, I knew Lou was gonna be sore when he saw her, but the thought of her warm lips wrapped around my Johnson for the first time wasn’t something I could pass up, so I just resigned myself to the fact that I would have to deal with my brother’s attitude.
Donna was nothing like the girls from our side of the tracks. For one, she was classy and came from money. Her father was a big time doctor who came from three generations of college-educated Negros. Truth was I didn’t know what Donna saw in me, even if I was enrolled in South Georgia State College. My people were just common Georgia farmers. Well, my brothers had also developed a rep as hustlers.
As Donna’s lips did their thing, I closed my eyes, gently cradling her head in my hands. It wouldn’t be long now, and I was trying to savor the moment, locking the memory in my mind so that I could retrieve it on one of those lonely nights when she was nowhere to be found and I needed relief. I’ll tell you something, though: If I didn’t trust her so much, I would have sworn this wasn’t her first time giving a blow job, ’cause she was working her lips and tongue like a pro. All I could do was lift my hips, lean back, and moan, “Oh, got damn!” The more I moaned, the harder she worked. I was trying to get her attention with the tissue when I got close, but she was so into what she was doing she didn’t even pause for a second.