by N'Tyse
“Okay. I’ll do that.” Fantasy hung up.
“What they say?” Chyna asked, securing the briefcase. “That I need to call back in an hour. The computers aren’t
updated.”
Chyna took a deep breath then finally walked over to Fantasy.
She reached for her hand. The time had come to find out if
Fantasy was truly worth everything she had put into her. Before
her uncle D’Troy got knocked, he sat her down the same way she
was about to do Fantasy.
“Let me holla at you right quick,” Chyna said.
Fantasy took a seat beside her pimp. “What’s up bae?” she
asked, smiling.
Chyna stared deeply into her eyes. “If anything were to
happen to me, I need to know that I can trust you.”
Fantasy studied Chyna’s face. She couldn’t bear the thought
of losing her. Chyna was all she had.
“I have to know right now that you’re all the way down for
me,” Chyna continued.
With a weakened stare, Fantasy caressed the side of Chyna’s
face and assured her of what she should have already known. She
had proven herself over and over again. “Chyna, I’m not going
anywhere. Whatever you need from me, I got you.”
That was all Chyna needed to hear. “Good. Because I need
you now more than ever. So if you down, get ready to ride.”
12
“ Mama, are we there yet?” Jo Jo asked again for the umpteenth time. All of Shun’s boys had mini afros that were
more like walking health hazards, but right now, Jo Jo was the
only one whining and getting on her nerves. It was at least one
hundred degrees outside and the Buick had no air conditioning,
therefore Jo Jo felt like the oil sheen was frying his scalp
underneath all that thick hair.
“Here.” Shun handed him a wet wipe from out of her Louis
Vuitton knock off. “Cool down with this.” She made a quick left
and whipped into the parking lot of Town East Mall. The mall
was already packed and it was barely noon. Everyone apparently
out Christmas shopping. The cars behind Shun began circling
around and heading toward the overflow section, which seemed
like it was two miles away from the mall’s main entrance. Rene leaned forward, hoping to spot someone pulling out. She
watched a young couple holding hands heading toward their car.
“Right there. I think they’re leaving,” she pointed out to Shun. As Shun was about to reverse into the free space, another car
quickly pulled into it from the opposite direction. “Motherfuckas!
I know y’all saw me with my lights on!”
“Shun! Quit all that cussing.” Rene looked back in the seat at the four boys who were all just as irritated. She should have never let Shun talk her out of taking her own car instead. At least they would’ve had cool air. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. This was absolutely ridiculous.
“Ah ha! Found us one.”
Rene turned to face forward. A blue sign with the bold white outline of a wheelchair was posted in clear view for even someone who was color blind to see. “Shun, you’re in handicap parking,” Rene said.
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I came prepared.” Shun hung a miniature version of the sign in front of them, on her rearview mirror. “Now this is what you call VIP,” she laughed. Rene shook her head in embarrassment but was too hot to even argue with Shun. She wanted nothing more but to get out of that hot ass car. They nearly raced for the front door to the mall and as soon as the kids stepped foot inside, they spotted the Pet Depot to their left. They ran over, huddling around the rabbit bin.
“Look, mama. Oooh, look auntie,” they pointed out in excitement. Rene and Shun exchanged looks, following after them. “So, are you and the boys spending Christmas out of town this year? I heard you tell Jo Jo’s daddy that y’all were going to New York,” Rene said, admitting to overhearing Shun’s phone call earlier that morning. “Since when do you have family up there?” she grinned.
“Yeah, I did tell him that, didn’t I?” Shun giggled. Rene didn’t even have to guess to know that her friend had lied.
“Girl, he been bugging me about wanting to take Jo Jo with him for Christmas this year, but you think I’m about to let my baby go anywhere with his dawg ass? Here it is eight years later, and all of a sudden he wants to play daddy.” She pursed her lips. “I’m not putting my baby through that. He doesn’t even know his ass and out the blue he wanna call and spend time,” Shun ranted. “While he worried about Christmas, he needs to worry about sending me my damn child support checks on time for a change.”
Rene was sorry she invited the conversation. She was more interested in the black and white Shitzus and their little circus act they were putting on. She tapped on the glass trying to get their attention. “Aww. You see that?” she asked Shun, smiling. “They smiled at me.”
“Ooo-kaayy. Time to go.” Shun called out for Jo Jo, who rounded up the other three that weren’t trailing too far behind. “Mama! We found Puff Daddy and Lil Kim,” Jo Jo said, pointing in the direction of the guinea pigs.
“Baby, those are not the Puff Daddies and Lil Kims we have. They just happen to look like them.”
“Who’s Puff Daddy and Lil Kim?” Rene asked curiously, still tapping on the tank.
“Girl, the rats,” Shun whispered. “Let’s go.” She grabbed the younger ones by their hands and marched them out the door. “Rats? You got rats in your house?” As the question left her mouth, Rene knew she’d be looking around for her own place real soon.
The mall scenery was a refreshing one. Rene and Shun shopped until they couldn’t shop anymore and that’s because they had nearly exhausted all their funds. Shun had gotten so carried away that she lost track of time over an hour ago and Rene just didn’t care because this was the best she’d felt in months. When Shun counted the bags in her hands and finally realized that she spent over three grand in less than two hours, she knew it was time to get the hell up out of there. But she had to admit that she and the kids were definitely going to be styling and profiling for the holidays.
Thirty minutes later, she found herself in Dillards at the fragrance counter. She walked from counter to counter collecting samples of all the latest perfumes. The long, black, twisted weave ponytail slid on and off her shoulder every time she lifted her wrist to her nose. Rene had chosen the drawstring accessory as a temporary solution until they could strip the curl from Shun’s hair completely. The entire ensemble Shun rocked today was all fashionably selected by Rene. Shun couldn’t help noticing how her once full-figured shapeless body, now looked slimming and curvaceous in a pair of black wide-legged trousers and a black, silver and gray retro tunic. Her makeup was flattering with just enough foundation and blush, and her usual overdone cherry jubilee lipstick had been replaced with MAC’s Spite, and a touch of chestnut which outlined her full lips. Her long curled lashes were no longer invisible, and the neglected piercings in her ears were paired with silver dangling butterflies. The only complaint Shun had was that her girdle fit too damned tight. She tried to cope with why her jiggle shouldn’t wiggle but could never come to terms with it. She dreaded the thing, but she had to admit, her rump was sitting tight.
“Excuse me, Miss. You dropped these.” The man walking toward them had to have been signed, sealed, and delivered, straight to Shun. She stopped in her footsteps. So many things ran through her mind, but she had to remember she was a Christian woman, and as a Christian woman, she knew she shouldn’t be thinking the way she was thinking, but this brother was fine. Her mouth watered and she tried her best to act civilized. Instead of being her usual down-to-earth self, Shun pretended she was a nice, classy sister with so much going on that she needed a personal assistant
to help lift her up onto her high horse. But then she remembered what for her, was a reality check. She had four crumb snatchers. What fine and available man in his right mind would want a woman with that many kids? She depressingly slid off her horse and fell on her ass on the way down. Shun exhaled when she realized the man was only waving her car keys.
“Can’t get far without these, now can we?” the man said, placing the keys into Shun’s left hand.
Shun stared at the gentleman before her as though she had never seen a man in such form. She cleared her throat. “Thank you. I’m not sure how these got away from me,” she said, dropping them in the deep pockets of her new tote.
“So uh, do these handsome young men belong to you too?” the tall salt and pepper haired specimen asked Shun.
Shun was too caught up in how good looking he was to have heard what he said, let alone comprehend it. She just nodded her head slowly. “Lawd, please don’t let him be married.” She searched his left hand until she came across a flashing red light. It was every single woman’s envy—a wedding band. She snapped out of her dream world and flushed those last-minute hopes down the toilet.
“Yes, these are my handsome young boys,” Shun stated proudly. She took a look at her children who were on their best behavior because they’d been forewarned that if they embarrassed her at the mall, they could kiss their dreams of a PlayStation 3 goodbye.
“Well, that one there,” the man pointed to the tallest of the four, “has NBA written all over him.”
“You think so? That’s the same thing his coach says. I hope he does make his mama proud.” Shun gave Jo Jo another look. Every time she looked at her son, she saw his father. But even if she could go back in time, she’d do it all over again. She didn’t regret any of her children, only the stupid bastards that fathered them. “Now that you mention it, I think I do see a little M J in there trying to come out,” she laughed as Jo Jo nodded his head in agreement.
“Yes indeed. He’s going to make you guys very proud. Well, I guess I better head back over here to ...”
Shun finished the sentence for him. “Your wife.”
The man drew his neck back. Then it dawned on him. He removed the gold wedding band from his finger just as his sister was walking up.
“Carl, where you run off to? I need dad’s ring so the clerk can engrave it. Ain’t gon’ do no good while it’s on your finger,” she fussed at her brother.
Carl handed her the ring. “Sorry about that. I just saw this beautiful woman walking past the counter,” he gestured to Shun, never removing his eyes from hers, “and I just couldn’t help myself. I guess I was staring a little too hard because before I knew it, she had dropped her keys.” Carl looked Shun straight in the face, his earnest smile so believing.
His sister took the ring out of his hand. She smiled and extended a warm handshake to Shun. “Hi. I’m his baby sister, Darlene.”
“Ooohh, don’t give my age away,” Carl joked.
“And my brother is single, smart, handsome, and, did I mention single?” Darlene laughed. “I need somebody to get him out of my hair,” she teased, elbowing Carl in the arm.
Shun liked Darlene right off. She returned the smile. She watched her boys out of the corner of her eyes and they were still behaving well. She almost couldn’t believe it.
“Go on woman. Get outta here,” Carl told his sister as he playfully shoved her away.
Shun waved goodbye to Darlene and fixated her eyes back on Carl. He had one hundred and one percent of her attention.
“Well, I know right now probably isn’t the best time to be asking you if you’re involved with anyone, but I’ve learned a long time ago that you never know if you don’t ask,” Carl said.
Shun relieved him of the pressure and volunteered her current status. “I’m single. But hopefully not for long.”
Carl nodded in agreement. Everything about her felt right.
Rene felt a vibration shoot from the inside of her purse. Her heart nearly stopped when she pulled it out to answer it. “This is Rene.”
“We need to meet again.”
Nervously, Rene asked, “Can I talk to Sand?”
“Last time I checked, she didn’t want to talk to you, Rene.”
Chyna said firmly, hoping to fuel the fire between Rene and Sand. Rene felt like she had just been stabbed in the heart. “Please, tell
her I really need to talk to her.” She felt the tears tingle in her eyes.
She needed to hear Sand’s voice again. She needed to tell her that she
was sorry, that she loved her. And after she got all that out, she was
going to ask her about Jasmine.
So many questions flooded Rene and all she hoped for were
answers. She wanted to hear Sand’s side of the story because at
the moment, she wasn’t sure what to believe, or who to believe anymore. She wanted Sand to know that she was still there and that she would do anything to make things right between them.
That included working for Chyna.
“I’ll see if I can convince her to call you,” Chyna told Rene.
“But before I do that, you and I have some loose ends to tie up
first.”
Rene exhaled. “What do you want me to do?”
Chyna longed to hear those words. “I have a couple of escort
jobs that I need worked, and one of my employees is, under the
weather,” she said, referring to Illusion. “I’m prepared to throw
in an additional five grand on top of what I’ve already given you,”
Chyna said casually as if she was offering Rene a million dollar
deal. “That should compensate for the last-minute trouble.” Rene’s stomach started to turn.
“That reminds me, Albery is on the books for Christmas Eve.” “Christmas Eve?” Rene hesitated.
“Is that a problem?” Chyna asked.
At first Rene was quiet. “No,” she said finally.
“That’s a good girl. I’ll call you in the next hour on where to
meet me,” Chyna said. “Oh and Rene, you should really consider the
more prized options in life.” She let those last few words marinate.
“Just call me when you’re ready to make some real money.” Rene wasn’t interested in anything else Chyna had to say. She
was just ready for everything to be over with. “I’ll think about
it,” she lied, ending their call. She tried wiping the pain out of
her eyes before heading over to the Pet Depot to meet back up
with Shun and the boys. She still hadn’t told Shun everything,
and if she and Shun were friends at all, she knew it wouldn’t be
long before she figured everything out for herself.
“Are you guys ready?” Rene asked, overloaded with department store bags that she could barely carry without switching from one
arm to the other.
“Whooo … I know I am.” Shun’s open-toe pumps were now
the reason she was ready to jet. They were only three inches high
and she thought she’d pass out from walking around the mall for
so long in them. Nevertheless, she still roamed and sashayed from
one store to the other feeling incredible. It was the first time in
quite a while that she actually felt confident about herself. “Girl,
I think I lost about fifteen pounds walking around this mall,”
Shun told Rene. “I tell you, these shoes are murdering a sister.
Where you find these damn things at?” she asked, limping in the
direction of the exit.
Rene didn’t respond. She couldn’t. There were already too
many other things crowding her mind.
“So where we headed to now? Wanna catch a movie or
something?” Shun unlocked the car doors and the boys all
climbed in the backseat.
Rene
placed all the shopping bags in the trunk then got
in the car. “Can’t do a movie. I have to meet up with someone
tonight,” she told Shun dryly.
Shun didn’t remember Rene mentioning having other plans,
but she let it go. “Oh, okay. Well,” her face instantly lit up with
glee remembering her latest encounter at the mall. “Let me tell
you about Carl,” she smiled widely.
“Mama gotta new boyfriend,” one of the boys snickered from
the backseat.
Shun looked in her mirror to see which of the four made the
remark. She knew it had to be one of the youngest. She gave
them a ‘don’t make me pull this car over and beat your ass’ look
that they understood all too well. They quickly straightened their act and turned down the volume on their ears like they
were trained to do when adults were speaking.
Shun drove the Buick down Town East Boulevard, heading for
the freeway. She pulled onto the 635 ramp, losing herself in the
traffic of holiday shoppers and angry drivers with road rage who
tested her sanity. For a second, Carl crossed her mind. She found
herself weighing the possibilities and she couldn’t stop smiling. Rene was still in her own world. That little bit of excitement
and bubbly momentum she had earlier today had crawled back
in its shell. She was back to a reality that she had become quite
familiar with—being alone.
Shun caught Rene gazing out of the window, clearly in deep
thought. She decided to keep her exciting news to herself for the
time being because the most important thing right now was finding
out what was wrong with her friend. Everything else could wait. “
A
13
re you okay,” Deja asked Sand, who was staring up at the rotating ceiling fan as if it was some cool new invention she had never seen before. She looked so good to Deja laying there in just a wife beater and boxer shorts, but Deja would not be distracted. She wasn’t going for the silent treatment this time. Sand had gotten away with that once before, but not today, not if she could help it.