Dear Summer

by Elliott, K.

  “I have to be the other woman.”

  “Summer, you knew I had a woman.”

  “Tommy, don’t ever tell a woman you love her unless you’re ready to be with her.”

  “I don’t understand,” Tommy said.

  “I know. There is a lot you don’t know about women. Goodbye.”

  Chapter 4

  Summer’s friend Tonya had a dark-brown complexion, long flowing hair, and was a size four. She tagged herself on various relationship sites as the Black Barbie. She was very much a gold digger who had dated all types of men, from drug dealers to high-powered bank execs. Money was the only thing that mattered to Tonya. She and Summer sat in the waiting area of the nail salon.

  “What do you think, chica…red or burgundy?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “My nails, crazy. What are you thinking about?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Come on, chica, I know you.”

  Summer thought hard about sharing her newfound feelings

  about Tommy with Tonya. She had known her for a while and Tonya had never given her a reason to think she’d ridicule her. “Come on, baby. You can tell me. I mean, nobody knows you here anyway.”

  “It’s about Tommy.”

  “What about him?”

  “I think I like him now.”

  “Thank God. You need a man.” Tonya smiled.

  “Yeah, but it ain’t that easy. I mean, Tommy has some issues.”

  “What’s the problem? He looks okay and I’ve seen his Range Rover and the Benz.” Tonya picked up a Marie Claire magazine. “So, I know he has money. By the way, what does he do?”

  “I don’t know what he does.”

  Tonya’s eyebrows rose. “What do you mean you don’t know? He just bought you that new Benz and you don’t know what he does?”

  “I’ve never asked him.” Summer felt stupid for not knowing. She’d been seeing him for six months and never asked; not because she didn’t want to know, but because she didn’t want to seem nosy. She figured he was some kind of hustler or else he would have told her. She’d been with guys like him back in Houston. They were the types that you had fun with. They were cool because they would always have money and they took her and her friends out to eat. Nobody knew what they did for sure, but she knew that type rarely had a job. It didn’t matter to her as long as they were fun—and Tommy was fun.

  “He’s never told you?”

  “No, why?”

  “He’s hustling. Just be careful.”

  “Thanks, Mama,” Summer said sarcastically.

  “Just trying to protect you.”

  “Yeah. Just like you protected yourself when you were dating JJ—right adamant against hustlers until he bought you that diamond bracelet for your birthday.”

  “That’s beside the point. I’m not with him.”

  “Not because he’s a hustler, but because he decided to get married.”

  Tonya playfully stuck out her tongue. “It doesn’t matter why I’m not with him.”

  Summer’s face became serious. “Tonya, I want to be with this man.”

  “Why don’t you get with him? It’s obvious he likes you.”

  “Yeah, but he has a woman.”

  “Are they married?”

  “No.”

  Tonya sucked her teeth and rolled her neck. “Hell, he ain’t got no woman then.”

  “He lives with her.”

  “What?”

  Summer felt dumb again. She avoided Tonya’s eyes, stared into space and thought about her dilemma.

  “How does he feel about you?”

  Summer picked up an issue of Vogue. Beyonce was on the cover wearing a fitted yellow dress. Skimming through a few pages, she finally said, “He loves me too.”

  “The other bitch has to go then.”

  “It’s her house.”

  “He needs to move into your house.”

  “What? We’re not married.”

  “Come on, Summer. This is not the seventies. People move in with each other all the time. Get with the program.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I think Tommy’s in the game,” Tonya said adamantly.

  “No. I don’t think so.”

  “I think so. I mean, all the signs are there.”

  “But his pops is rich from the settlement with the State of North Carolina for false imprisonment. Remember the man that was with him that day we saw him at the gas station in the Yukon?”

  “Yeah, I remember. His father had given me a business card. Said he had some rental properties.”

  Summer laughed remembering the day Tommy’s father stared at Tonya’s ass and came up with a lame excuse to give her his business card.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Just thinking about the day Tommy’s father had given you his card. He know his old ass has to be at least twentyfive years older than you are.”

  Tonya looked away. “J.C. was kind of cool.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Just what I said.”

  “Girl, you did not fuck Tommy’s father!”

  Tonya didn’t respond.

  ***** When Tommy’s father opened the door, he looked worried. J.C., a usually well-groomed man, stood in the doorway with unkempt hair. He looked as if he hadn’t shaved in a week. He let Tommy in and they walked to the kitchen. Tommy sat at the table and J.C. sat at a barstool near the kitchen counter. “Tommy I’m sorry I called you so early, but I had to talk to somebody and you’re the only person that I have now, son.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Tommy, I’m broke.”

  “What the hell are you talking about Pops?” Tommy laughed.

  There was no way his father could be broke. The state had awarded him $3 million for false imprisonment four years ago. He had invested in real estate at the advice of one of his friends.

  J.C. looked away for a moment then turned back and made direct eye contact with Tommy. “Yeah it’s true. I’ve blown all the money, son.”

  “No way!”

  “When I paid the taxes on the money I was down to 1.5 million, gave you $100,000, and I owed your attorney over $80,000 for representing you. I was left with a little over a million dollars.”

  “Okay, and you blew it?”

  “Tommy, a million dollars is not a whole lot of money. Hell, you know better than anybody. You’ve had a million dollars before.”

  “Pops, I lost my money in the drug game; you don’t sell drugs.”

  “I know.”

  Tommy stood from the table. “So what the fuck are we going to do now? I mean, you always telling me to keep my nose clean and don’t get into any more shit, and you’ve done gone and blew the fuckin’ money!”

  “Son, don’t talk to me like that.”

  Tommy looked at his father. He looked broken. J.C. looked as if he wanted to cry. Tommy walked toward the door without saying a word before J.C. called out to him, “Son.”

  “What the hell do you want with me?”

  “Son, I’m about to lose my house.”

  “What the fuck? You’re about to lose the house too?”

  J.C. sniffled, holding back his tears. “Yeah son, and two of my other properties.”

  Tommy stared at his father for a long time. He wanted to pound him in the face. How in the hell could he be so damn stupid? How could he have fucked up that much money that fast without any bad habits? “Pops, you know what that means then.”

  “What?”

  “I gotta do what I gotta do.”

  “Tommy please don’t do nothing crazy.”

  “Everybody tells me this shit but nobody ever comes up with money to help me do a goddamned thing, but everybody always has their fuckin’ hand out.”

  “Son, I’m sorry,” J.C. said, then hugged Tommy.

  Tommy pushed him away. There was no time for that mushy shit. He had to get busy. He had to sell cars and fast. “How much money do you need?”
/>
  “I need thirty grand, then next month I can refinance one of the houses, pull out $75,000 in equity, and hopefully sell the rest to get from under them.”

  Tommy turned the doorknob. “I will have the money for you in one week.”

  “Thank you, son.”

  Chapter 5

  S

  ummer and Tonya were about to leave the nail salon when she received a message on her Blackberry from Tommy’s phone. Summer read it then passed it to Tonya.

  Dear Summer, I thought about what you said…that I need to be with you. Just give me some time to sort things out. I mean, I just can’t up and leave her like that, you know. She was there for me when I had just gotten out of prison, so it’s not that easy to cut her off. I called your phone but you didn’t answer. I don’t know. Maybe you don’t want to talk to me or something, but if you get this message, give me a call when you get a chance.

  Tommy

  Sent via Sprint PCS Blackberry

  Tonya passed the phone back to Summer.

  “He emails you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “But he’s a thug.”

  “Because he knows I like that. I don’t really like talking on the

  phone, wasting my minutes. Shoot me a text or an email. I like emails. I like writing.” Tonya looked at her strangely. “It’s the writer in me, also the girl. Nothing beats an old fashioned love letter.”

  “Don’t tell me he writes you love letters, too.”

  “He has.”

  “You’re weird.”

  “Not really. I just want to be romanced sometimes. What’s wrong with that?”

  “So, are you going to get with him?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m falling for him, and fast.”

  ***** Tommy and Ditty met the white boys at a coffee house in South Charlotte; the four of them sat in the back corner of the cafe. The white boys were two computer geeks who had learned to break into cars by using laptops to breakdown the security systems; that was all Tommy knew. He’d met Matt in federal prison. Matt had done six months for a computer related crime. On the inside, since they were both from Charlotte and liked the Tar Heels, they’d become cool. Matt, who was a redhead and the older of the two white guys, spoke first. “We got you another 645. It’s blue. You’re gonna love it.”

  “I told you I need a 745.”

  “Yeah we know, but you’re gonna love this one, I promise,” Jay, the other white boy, said. He was a lanky kid, about twentythree; he wore a Duke Blue Devils ball cap.

  “What color is it?”

  “Blue. I already told you that,” Matt said.

  Tommy became angry. “I know, motherfucker. Do you know how many variations of blue there are?”

  “Can’t really describe it,” Matt said.

  “It’s kind of like that ultra blue. Trust me. You’re gonna like it. If not, paint it another color.”

  Ditty grinned and nudged Tommy. “That ultra blue is fire.”

  “What else do you have?”

  “A Grand Cherokee,” Jay said.

  Ditty looked disgusted. “Nobody we know is gonna want no shit like that.”

  “Well that’s all for now. I’ll have two more Porsches in two days; just getting the paperwork right, you know.”

  “Cool. I think I’ll take the 645. What you want for it?”

  “Twentyfive,” Matt said. Then he turned to Jay, who pulled his ball cap farther down on his head and took a deep breath.

  “Last time you gave me a 645 for twenty.”

  “Yeah. The last time it was an ‘06, this one is an ‘07 with 13,000 miles on it.”

  “I’ll give you twenty now and five later.”

  Jay looked at Matt then back at Tommy. “I don’t know if we can do that.”

  “Why not? I mean, I’ve spent over two hundred grand with y’all in the last two months. How in the hell are you gonna let $5,000 come between us?”

  “Can’t do it, Tommy. I got somebody willing to give me thirty for it, but I wanted you to see it first because I’d promised you a 745.”

  “Ain’t this a bitch,” Tommy said. He pulled his cell phone from his waist. Q answered on the second ring. “Yo.”

  “Q, got a 645, ultra blue, do you want it?”

  “How much?”

  “Forty stacks.”

  “I don’t want it, but my brother might. But you know he really wanted the 745.”

  “Can’t get it, but this one is hot—‘07, brand new; only 13,000 miles on it.”

  “Meet me at the barbershop at 7:00 tonight with it. I’m sure he’ll take it.”

  “Okay.” Tommy terminated the call. He smiled and then looked at the white boys. “Meet me here in two hours. I’ll have the money for you.” They all shook hands. Done deal.

  ***** Q and Squirt were parked in front of the barbershop in Q’s Lexus truck when Tommy and Ditty pulled up in the new car. Q and Squirt hopped out of the truck and approached Tommy, grinning. “I’ll take it.”

  “This motherfucker is straight fire,” Q said.

  Tommy got out of the car, handed Q the keys and said, “I need fortyfive for it.” “I’ll give it to you,” Squirt said. “I ain’t gonna do shit with this one, no rims or nothing.”

  Q opened the door of the car, examined the interior and then turned to Tommy. “I need one of these too.”

  Tommy looked at Q like he was stupid. “Nigga, you already got enough cars. Don’t make yourself more of a target than you already are.”

  Q stared at Tommy, looking serious. “I thought about what you said the other day and I’m looking for a way out of the game.”

  “Just stop, nigga.”

  “And do what? Steal cars?”

  Tommy looked around, making sure nobody had heard Q. “Okay, motherfucker, let the whole world know what I do.”

  Q turned the ignition then looked at Tommy. “I’m sorry. Hey, me and Squirt are gonna go around the block. Okay?”

  “Cool. Go ahead. I’ll be waiting on you.”

  When they were out of sight, Ditty said, “I don’t like that motherfucker Q.”

  “Q’s okay. He’s just a young nigga with a little bit of money that don’t know how to act.”

  “Tommy, be careful with that nigga. I don’t trust him,” Ditty said.

  “It’s gonna be okay. I don’t think he’ll do anything to hurt me.”

  “The nigga is stupid and he probably has the feds already on his trail.”

  Tommy patted Ditty on his shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay. Trust me.”

  Q and Squirt pulled up. Q opened the door of his truck and Squirt climbed out and produced a Nordstrom’s shopping bag full of money.

  Tommy looked at it and said, “How much is that?”

  “Forty stacks.”

  “I need fortyfive.”

  Squirt glanced at Q and then looked back at the sparkling BMW. “I thought you said forty.”

  “Yeah I did, but I got somebody wanting to pay fortyfive.”

  “Come on, Tommy, man, you know. Is this how you gone treat family, man? You know that I give you all kinds of business.”

  Tommy laughed. He pointed to the car and placed his arms around Squirt’s neck. “Nigga, just imagine the bitches you’re gonna get with this machine.”

  Squirt smiled and turned to Q. “Loan me the five G’s ‘till I get home, man.”

  Q walked to his car, opened his glove compartment and reappeared with a bank envelope. He counted out fifty onehundred dollar bills and passed them to Squirt, who gave Tommy the money.

  Tommy counted the money then handed Squirt the keys. “The paperwork is in the glove compartment. You can go get it registered.”

  Squirt smiled, looked at Q, then Tommy and walked toward the car. He then looked back once more and said, “The bitches gonna love me, man.”

  Chapter 6

  Inside Summer’s bedroom, Tommy stood over her face, holding his dick. He dropped his balls in her mouth. In and out. This was called tea-baggin
g and Summer loved when Tommy did this. She would make humming sounds that drove Tommy wild. He could tell she enjoyed it, too, because sometimes she’d cum. She hummed on his balls for five minutes before she stood up from the bed and walked to the opposite bedroom wall. She pressed her hands against the wall, turned to Tommy and said, “You know I like it from the back.”

  Tommy put his hands around Summer’s waist and she lowered her ass. She always had to lower herself because she was an inch taller than him.

  “I don’t have a condom.”

  “I don’t give a damn, Tommy. Just put it in.”

  He entered her. She moaned softly. “Oh baby, my pussy is

  so wet.”

  “Hell, yeah,” Tommy said.

  Tommy moved in and out and smacked her ass hard. He

  was enjoying watching the contrast of their skin. Tommy was chocolate, he was much darker than Summer. He looked at her hair, which was stringy but beautiful. It was still hard to believe he had someone like Summer in his life.

  “Tommy, smack my ass.” He continued to hump. He removed his right hand from her waist and slapped her ass hard.

  “Yeah, baby. Yeah.”

  “You like that?”

  “You know I like that shit.”

  Tommy smacked her ass again.

  “Pull my hair, nigga. Pull my hair.”

  He grabbed a few strands of her hair and pulled. “No, nigga. Pull my hair.”

  With his right hand again, he grabbed a handful of Summer’s tresses and pulled hard.

  “Yeah, like that.”

  “Damn, baby. I like that freaky shit.”

  “This ass is all yours, Daddy.”

  Tommy’s erection stiffened and his dick grew a little inside her.

  Summer threw her ass back toward him and smiled.

  He released her hair and smacked her ass.

  “That’s my spot!”

  “Whose pussy is this?”

  “Baby don’t move, please don’t move.”

  Tommy yanked her hair and Summer began to go into convulsions, and when she came, he came seconds later.

  Summer walked to the bathroom and cleaned herself up while Tommy lay on the bed. She threw him a towel and he cleaned off his testicle area and his penis.

  “I’m a happy woman right now.”

  Tommy was happy he could now satisfy women. There was a time when he couldn’t get an erection, but now, thanks to herbal medication, not only could he get hard, he could last for hours if he needed to.