I got out of bed and saw that Jordan had already gone to work. He’d said something about doing overtime to try and bring in some extra money. Fine time for him to try to help, now that he had gambled away all the rents.
I had plans of my own this morning. I was gonna go down to the bank and see if I could work something out, like maybe a payment plan. It wasn’t like we didn’t have any money. We had a grand, and I figured a little was better than none. I quickly showered and put on one of my business suits. I grabbed all of my paperwork and made sure I had the look of a professional black woman who had it all together, rather than the broke, desperate woman that I was.
“Good morning, I’d like to speak to Mr. Hawkins, if at all possible.” I smiled at the young clerk.
“I’ll see if he’s available. And you are?” she asked.
“Katrice Taylor,” I answered, and she walked to one of the back offices. She was gone a few moments. Then she returned with a short, balding man with a gray moustache.
“Mrs. Taylor, how are you this morning? Come on back to my office.”
I followed him to a small office and had a seat. I looked around nervously and watched as he clicked his computer.
“Well, let’s see. I am quite sure you know the status of your account at this point. Are you here to make a payment?”
“Yes, I am. But, Mr. Taylor, I don’t have the full amount,” I said slowly.
“Well, how much of the payment do you have? Maybe we can work something out.” He smiled nicely. I was glad to hear him say that. I had already calculated that the money for Paul’s and our rent totaled two grand. Plus Jordan had deposited four hundred and my own paycheck was eleven hundred.
“I have thirty-three hundred right now.”
“Three thousand is a far cry from ten, Mrs. Taylor. Have you spoken with your brother about this?” He frowned at me.
“My brother is out of town on business, Mr. Hawkins,” I lied. “I am trying to contact him, but he’s a very busy man.”
“That’s understandable. I’ll tell you what. You make the payment of three thousand three hundred today, and I will give you a sixty-day extension on the balance. How’s that?”
“That would be great! Thank you so much.” I stood and shook his hand.
“You’re very welcome. Your father was a good friend of mine.” He nodded.
I walked back into the lobby of the bank and advised the teller I needed to make a payment out of my checking account to the mortgage.
“Yes, ma’am, just fill out this transfer slip and I’ll be happy to do it,” she said. I filled out the small white paper and signed it, passing it back to her. Her fingers flew across the keyboard and she frowned at the screen. “Mrs. Taylor, I can’t make this transfer.”
“What do you mean? Why?”
“There aren’t enough funds available.” My heart began to race as she slid the form back to me.
“There’s over three thousand dollars in that account. My direct deposit just went in two days ago and I haven’t written any checks,” I told her.
She pointed at the paper. “The balance on this account is only two hundred forty-seven dollars, ma’am. There have been several ATM withdrawals on this account in the past few days.”
“How? I have both ATM cards right here.” I was fuming by now.
She looked at her computer and pressed a few more buttons. “Last week we issued a third card on the account to your husband. I’m sorry.” She truly looked sad.
“No, he’s the one that should be sorry.” I was livid. “Close the account. Transfer whatever funds are left to the mortgage and please add this.” I handed her the rent money I’d collected. She handed me a receipt. “Tell Mr. Hawkins I will call him later.”
I stormed out of the bank and fought back the urge to scream; I was too mad to cry. I headed right for Jordan’s job. Only he wasn’t there. He’d been fired over a week ago. So I knew where he’d be. He’d be at home.
I scared the shit out of Jordan as I burst through the apartment door.
“Shit! What the hell are you doing home?” He jumped off the couch.
“No! What the hell are you doing home?” I jumped in his face and pointed my finger with attitude. “And why are all these motherfuckers in my house?” I looked in my living room and saw Rodney and about five or six other guys crowded around my living room floor. I couldn’t believe Jordan.
“Aw, baby. They cancelled overtime today and I left.” He sighed. “Me and the fellas was just having a little bit of fun. Right, guys?”
“Get the fuck out my house, all of you!” I told them.
“Aw, Trice, why you gonna do that? I was on a roll. Just chill and let us finish up, yo.” Rodney gave me this pleading, almost desperate look.
“No!” I yelled, pointing to the door. “Now I’m about to call the police. Anyone here when I hang up the phone will be considered breaking and entering. Not to mention gambling.” Everybody in the room scrambled to get out, including Rodney.
I went into the room and looked over at the chair where Jordan usually threw his uniform. It was empty. I looked on the back of the closet door and there it was, hanging where I put it after I cleaned up the day before. For some reason I hadn’t noticed it earlier. I snatched it down, took it into the living room, and threw it at him.
“What the fuck is your problem?” he asked, clearly embarrassed.
I didn’t answer him. I walked into the kitchen and reached under the sink, grabbing a trash bag. I rolled my eyes at him as I passed him and remained silent. I opened the dresser drawers and began to fill the bag with his clothes. He had to go. I heard him come into the room and felt his hand on my arm, trying to stop me.
“Trice! Trice! What the hell are you doing? Put my shit back!”
“Don’t touch me, you lying, no-good bastard. What the fuck did you do with my motherfuckin’ money?” I remained focused on what I was doing. I had worked so hard and given so much. For what? So this nigga could throw it all away. I was better than that.
“Trice, wait, baby. I was tryin’ to win it back. I was tryin’ to get the money for the building. I ain’t steal it. I was borrowing it.”
“You stupid-ass boy! If you took it from my ass without permission, that’s stealing! And why the fuck was I gonna loan your ass money to gamble? You lost all our other money. I want your ass outta my building and outta my life! How the fuck you gon’ gamble in our house, Jordan? You’ve gone too far now. I am sick and tired of this shit.”
“Trice, baby, please! Don’t do this. I love you, Katrice. Don’t do this!”
“Get out, Jordan! Get out, now!” I was screaming at the top of my lungs and I no longer tried to hold back the tears. I picked up the full bag and rushed to the front door. I opened it and threw it out. The bag burst before it hit the ground and all of his clothes spilled on the sidewalk.
“What the hell are you doing, Katrice? That’s my shit!” He ran out to pick his stuff up. I went back inside and slammed the door, locking it behind me. I fell on the sofa and cried until my eyes were swollen shut. I heard someone knocking on the door.
“Go away, Jordan!”
“It’s not Jordan. It’s me, Paul. I heard the commotion. You a’ight?” Paul asked as I cracked the door.
“Yeah.” I sniffled.
“Mind if I come in?”
“No, but I’m not gonna be much company.”
“You never are anyway.” He smiled and I shook my head, opening the door. He followed me into the living room and we sat on the sofa.
“I look crazy, huh?”
“Nah, you looked crazy a few minutes ago when you damn near hit me with that big-ass bag of clothes, though.”
“You saw that?”
“I was standing right in front of you.” He smirked.
“I’m sorry, Paul. I didn’t see you.” I couldn’t help but smile. Paul was a good guy and my best tenant.
“Anything I can do to help?”
“Can you pay you
r rent for the next year in advance now that you won the lottery?”
“What’s really going on with the building, Katrice?”
I sat and told him the entire story from the reading of the will to what I had just found out in the bank. “And to think I wanted to have a baby by that gambling, bad-luck nigga. I guess my baby would’ve had to survive off forties and whatever he won at the craps table.”
“That wouldn’t be much.”
“Seriously, do you think you can float me a loan to save the place?”
“Look, Katrice, there’s something I have to tell you,” he said. He sounded like he might be getting ready to say no, and I panicked. I just started talking, hoping I could say whatever he needed to hear to agree to the loan.
“Paul,” I interrupted, “if it’s a matter of paying you back, don’t worry. Once I get back on my feet, I’ll make weekly payments to you until we’re straight.”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Well, what is it, then?” I was so desperate.
“How much do you owe, Katrice?”
“Ten thousand.”
“Oh, okay.” All of a sudden his mood seemed to brighten. “I can definitely do that for you. And don’t worry about paying it back.”
“No, I can’t do that. I want to pay you back, Paul.”
“Look, Katrice, you just give me a few months free rent and we’ll call it even, okay?”
“Thank you so much!” I jumped up and hugged him. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”
“You deserve it, Katrice. You’re a good woman,” he told me. “I gotta go take care of some business right now, but when I get back we can sit down and talk about the details, okay?”
“Thanks, Paul.” I smiled as I walked him to the door.
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Get all the paperwork on the building together so I can go over it with you.”
“Okay,” I said, and closed the door. Funny, I thought, Jordan’s been out of my life for five minutes and my luck has already changed for the better.
12
Paul
I walked out of Katrice’s place, ready to head downtown to handle my business, when Rodney stepped out of his apartment.
“Yo, Paul. Let me talk to you for a minute.”
I walked over and stood about four feet away from him. “Whatcha want, Rodney?”
“Look, now that you rich and shit, I was wondering if you could hit me off with a loan. You know, to cover some shit.”
I looked at him and I had to laugh. The nerve of this guy. Here he was, this supposed baller that I didn’t even get along with and he was coming to me looking for a loan. What’d he think I was, stupid? He wasn’t buying no drugs with my money.
“What the fuck’s so funny?” he snapped.
“You are, Rodney. Do you really think I’m gonna loan you money so you can buy drugs and kill our people? You must be out of your fucking mind.” I turned to walk away.
“Who said it was for drugs?”
“Then what’s it for?” I folded my arms and waited for a response.
He hesitated, then told me this cockamamie story about some guy named Big Red who was gonna kill him if he didn’t give him fifteen grand by tomorrow. The damn story was so stupid, it made me wanna give him the money even less than before.
“So if this story is true, why don’t you just go to the police?”
This time he laughed. “You don’t go to the police on a guy like Big Red Logan. “
“Why not?”
“’Cause then he’ll kill your entire family.” Rodney looked like he was actually starting to get upset. Either he was for real or he was a great actor. “Look, man, you gonna loan me some money or what?”
“Let me ask you a question, Rodney. Why do you owe this Big Red guy so much money? Is it drug related?”
He didn’t answer my question. “Look man, you gonna loan me the money or what?”
I shook my head. “Nah, sorry, man. I can’t do it.”
“You can’t do it? You got fifty million and you can’t loan me fifteen thousand?”
“Nope. I can’t do it. It goes against everything I believe in.”
Rodney started to breathe heavy and his features got tight with anger. I figured I was about to be in a fight, but that wasn’t a problem because I was sure I could kick his little ass.
“Everything you believe in? Everything you believe in? Mother-fucker, do you believe in living?” he shouted as he reached in his coat and pulled out a nine-millimeter handgun. He pointed it right at my chest. “If you don’t wanna loan me the fifteen thousand, then I’ll take the whole fifty million. Where’s the motherfucking ticket? And get them fucking hands up!”
I put my hands up like he asked.
“I asked you nicely because I didn’t want any trouble. But you don’t seem to understand.” His voice was actually trembling as he waved the gun at me and spoke through clenched teeth. “Now I’m desperate and I’m sick of being nice. This ain’t no game, Paul. These motherfuckers ain’t playing. They mean to kill me.”
“Put the gun down before you hurt someone, Rodney.” I tried to keep my voice calm. I didn’t believe he really wanted to shoot me. Like he said, he was just desperate, and desperate people do whatever it takes to obtain the objective.
“I’m gonna hurt you if you don’t give me that motherfucking ticket.” He was starting to sweat and his hands were shaking. That wasn’t a good sign. He might pull the trigger by accident.
I tried to buy some time. “Look, Rodney, I don’t got the ticket on me. It’s upstairs. I’ll give you my keys. Why don’t you go up there and get it?”
“What do you think, I’m stupid? You expect me to believe you’d just leave a fifty-million-dollar lottery ticket upstairs where someone could steal it?”
“It’s the truth.”
“You fucking liar!” He hit me with the gun and I stumbled backwards a few steps. “Now stop playing games and tell me where the ticket is.”
I touched my head and I was bleeding. I suddenly became very afraid.
“Oh shit! What the fuck you doing, Rodney? Robbing ’im?” We both glanced at the front door and Jordan was standing there with a big-ass smile on his face.
“Jordan! Quick! Go get the cops!” I yelled.
“Man, fuck you. I’m not going nowhere. This is an opportunity of a lifetime. Yo, Rodney, you want me to search him?”
Both Rodney and I looked at Jordan like he’d lost his mind, but Rodney still held the gun on me.
“Search him for what?”
“For the ticket.”
“Huh?”
“Hey, man, you can’t get away with this without some help. I can help you. Fucking Paul is big and it’s gonna be hard hiding his body without making people suspicious. Now, I got a car and I know this place upstate where we can bury him and nobody will find the body. What do you say, partner? We gonna get paid?” Jordan gave Rodney a devious smile. I couldn’t believe this shit. I knew Jordan was an asshole, but I never would have guessed he was capable of something like this. This whole thing was getting more serious by the second.
“Partner? What, you want half?” Rodney frowned.
“Nah, man, that wouldn’t be fair. You the one with the gun. I just want ten million. That leaves you with forty mil. What do you say to that?”
“Jordan, you motherfucker!” I cursed. “I’m gonna whip your ass when this is over.”
“Shut the fuck up, Paul. Don’t nobody talk to my partner like that.” Rodney sneered. “Search his pockets, Jordan.”
“So we got a deal?” Jordan grinned.
“Yeah, we got a deal.” Jordan started going through my pockets, but a female voice stopped him cold.
“Hold up! If you gonna give him ten million, I know you gonna give me ten million.” We all turned to the stairs where the voice was coming from.
“Kerri? Not you, too!” I shouted. “You’re not gonna sell me out, too?”
�
�You damn right, I’m selling you out. You may have some good dick, Paul. But I told you, you was gonna regret that shit this morning.” She turned to Rodney. “I want ten million just like Jordan. You cut me in, and the only other person who even knows Paul had the ticket is Katrice.”
“Man, don’t worry about Katrice. Once I show her that check for ten million dollars she’s gonna say, ‘Paul who?’” Jordan assured everyone. It wasn’t very reassuring to me, though.
They all laughed, but I didn’t see a damn thing funny. These people were really gonna kill me over a lottery ticket!
“A’ight, Kerri, you in for ten mil,” Rodney decided. “Go check the front door. Make sure nobody comes in.” She ran to the front door while Jordan finished going through my pockets.
“It ain’t here,” Jordan told Rodney.
“Whatcha mean it’s not there?”
“It’s not in his pockets,” Jordan replied.
“Where the fuck is the ticket, Paul? I’m running out of patience with you.”
“I told you. It’s upstairs in my apartment.” I prayed he would believe me this time.
“Where in your apartment?”
I hesitated in answering and he lifted the gun to my head. “It’s on my dresser,” I stammered. “You can’t miss it.”
“You got his keys?” Rodney asked Jordan without taking his eyes off me.
“Yeah,” Jordan answered.
“Then go get that ticket. And Jordan, if you ain’t back in five minutes, I’m gonna shoot Katrice.”
“Man, I’ll be back.”
Jordan took off up the stairs, and in a flash it seemed like he was back.
“You find it?”
Jordan smiled. “Yep. Right where he said it would be.”
“You know, Paul, you a fuckin’ fool to leave that shit sitting all unprotected in your apartment. Someone could try to rob you or something.” Rodney laughed at me.
A Dollar and A Dream Page 6