by T. Styles
“Because I asked you to.” I respond. “This is about you doing something I need you to do for once in your life. Now I have the ability to make all your days from here on out go smooth.” I raise the bottle. “I finally get what you need to be happy and I’m not going to fight you anymore. Now do you want a drink or not?”
“I thought you wanted me to stay clean.”
“You’ve been drinking everyday since Kreshon came over, ma. I know it and you know it too.”
She quickly takes a seat and I slide the sheet of paper and pen over to her. “I want you to sign Harmony Phillips, twenty times on this.”
Her eyebrows pull together. “What…why?”
“Because I’m paying all of your bills and I need your help. That’s why. ” I nod toward the pen and paper. “Sign your name twenty times.”
She’s ten signatures in and I pour her a healthy glass of vodka and push it in her direction. She picks it up and is about to kiss the rim when I place my hand on her wrist. “You have ten more times to go.” She places it down and signs until she’s reached the number. I have her do it again and again until she’s signed over one hundred times and has had over five cups of vodka. Straight up. No ice. No juice.
When she’s done, I take her upstairs and dress her in the professional outfit I bought for her. I grab her fucked up purse and my new black bucket Louis Vuitton and we head out the door. We jump in the back of the truck and Metha drives us to our destination.
“What’s going on, Jayden?” My mother’s head falls and rolls. “I thought you wanted me to stay clean. Why would you get me like this?”
“Ma, we talked about that already at the house. Remember? Like I said, I know you been drinking when you’re supposed to be going to the meetings.” I shake my head. “I found the bottles under your bed.”
She rolls her eyes. “What’s going on with you and Kreshon?”
I lean back and look at her. “Not one damn thing.” Although I need his help on a little project, after he got locked up in New York for indecent exposure, I was playing him at arms length. He kept trying to take me out but I would always make excuses. That nigga was straight weird and after Shaggy was found I plan to focus on Sebastian.
“You need to know about us.”
“What do I need to know?” I exhale.
“That at one time, he loved me.” She looks a drunken mess.
Who cares? “Ma, you need to relax and stop tripping on the past. Besides, you were with daddy remember? So Kreshon was anything but in love with you.”
She laughs. “Yeah, okay…where are we going now? And why do you have my purse?”
I don’t answer. I’m not in the mood anyway. When Metha finally stops, we’re in front of a bank. I walk her inside doing my best to hold her up on my body. When we reach the counter, a white girl with green eyes greets me. “Welcome to Bank Of Maryland, how may I help you?”
I put on my most professional airs. “My mother would like to open an account. Can you help us please?”
My mother looks at me and says, “Jayden, I told you I don’t need no fucking bank account.” The moment she opens her mouth, the smell of alcohol rolls off of her breath and smacks me in the face. I’m sure the green-eyed lady has the same experience. “Now take me out of here.” She turns to leave but I yank her back towards me.
“Is she able to handle business today?” The green-eyed lady asks observing her. “Because she seems inebriated.”
“Drunk?” I laugh. “Trust me she’s anything but drunk. And she’s able to handle business,” I pause, “but let me talk to her in private for a moment.” I take her out of earshot and say, “ma, I need you to open this fucking bank account. I know you not use to having one, but if you don’t get it today I can’t help you out anymore. Shit is that serious.”
She sways and I’m tempted to knock her over. “You don’t even have any money to put in the account. What the fuck I’m going to open it with…air?”
“I have fifty six thousand dollars in my purse right here,” I slap my bag and her eyes light up. “There’s no need in your looking like that, because this money is for me not for you.”
She rolls her eyes. “What do you need that amount of money for?”
I look away from her. “I can’t tell you.”
“If you can’t tell me then I guess we’ll just leave.”
I sigh. I don’t have time for this shit. I decide to tell her because she’ll probably forget in the morning anyway. “I have to have surgery on my ears because you were either drunk, high or diseased when you had me. The procedure costs fifty thousand dollars and when I went to see the doctor today to give him the down payment, he said he won’t accept this amount of money from me because I’m a minor. It has to come from you by way of a cashiers check. I’m not old enough to open an account on my own, ma. So I need you to do this. Not only that, I’m raising the money for the house and we’ll probably need to pay the courts with a check, too. We need an account for more than one reason.”
“So that’s why you keep looking at my lips, because you can’t hear? I was starting to worry if you were going to try and fuck me or something. It’s weird to be looking in peoples mouths when they talk to you.”
“Ma!”
“I’m serious!” She looks like she wants to laugh and I’m beyond angry. Who laughs at their daughter when they are to blame? “But, Jayden if you raise that kind of money and open a bank account, it’ll be a problem. Trust me. The IRS will come running. Not only that, I won’t be able to collect welfare anymore. The government knows all.”
“Ma, I’ll take care of you if you do this for me. Fuck welfare. I can give you what they pay you for up to a year when we leave out of here.”
“How are you going to do that?” She yells and the green-eyed lady looks our way. I smile at her to throw her off our trail. “You don’t need to worry about that,” I whisper, “but if I could raise fifty grand, you better believe me when I say I have us.”
I’m not certain, but she looks jealous. “If I do this, I don’t want you riding me about the alcohol meetings anymore. And I’m not trying to be a prisoner in my own house. I come down when I want and how I want.”
“Ma, you have to go to the meetings until Katherine Sheers gets off of our case. Just do it long enough for her to go away.”
“I been drinking all my life, Jayden. I’m not going to be able to do it.”
“Well maybe stay sober on the days before the meeting…I don’t know. I will tell you this, if you don’t go to those meetings, they’ll take me out of the house and you’ll lose your checks anyway. This process is for me and you.” She seems angry. “Ma, please, I’ll look out for you. I promise.”
“How?”
“For starters I’ll give you all the alcohol…”
“And money,” She adds.
I roll my eyes. “And cash you want.”
With my promise to feed her alcohol habit and grease her palms, I hand her back her purse and we find ourselves in front of an older black male manager. She caused a slight scene when she almost slipped on the shiny floors on the way over to the chair, but luckily we were able to move past the moment. Once she’s sitting down, the manager is focused on my mother’s red eyes. I know I should’ve brought her some shades. I gave her too much to drink. I didn’t have any other choice because when I asked her to open the account before, she said she wouldn’t. This was the only way I knew how.
“Before we begin,” the bank manager says, “I need to be sure you’re familiar with Capacity To Contract.”
I shake my head no. He looks at my mother again. “Capacity to Contract basically means that people who enter into agreements must be in the right state of mind. So if someone is intoxicated they can’t. And looking at your…”
“Mother.” I tell him.
“Well looking at your mother it seems that she is. Under her condition, she can’t know what she’s doing and that could cause problems later. So I’m sorry but I’ll
have to ask you both to leave.”
“Sir, my mother is fully aware of what’s going on.” I put my arm around her and pinch her hard. I need her focused. “Right, ma?”
She doesn’t respond and he lowers his eyes. “I’m not sure that she does.”
This was the worst-case scenario for me. I didn’t want to be handicap for the rest of my life. I didn’t want to lose my home. God please help me with this. I don’t know what else to do.
For the first time ever God answers me when my mother says, “Listen, mothafucka, I have over fifty thousand dollars to place in your bank right now.” She scared me to death with her outburst but it’s worth it. “Which means I’m ready to do business today.” She stabs her finger on his desk. “Now if you aren’t interested in my money, I’d love to hear what your boss has to say about that before we leave.”
He adjusts his tie and says, “There’s no need to do all of that. If you’re sure you’re capable, I don’t see any reason why we can’t continue.” He pauses and looks at the green-eyed lady. I know she put him up to it. He looks back at us, “Wait, what is that dripping sound?”
“Not sure but can you make sure I have access to her account.” My mother looks like she doesn’t agree but remains silent. “I’d also like a bank card. Here is my school ID, I reach into my purse. My name is Jayden Phillips.”
The manager keys in some more information and is once again distracted. “What is that noise? It’s very irritating.” I’m not sure what he’s talking about until I feel something splash on my ankles. When I look down I see that my mother is pissing in her seat and it’s smacking against the hardwood floors making extra noise.
My heart kicks up speed and I look at the manager and grin. He doesn’t see what’s going on because he would’ve certainly thrown us out now. Thinking on my feet, I place my new Louis Vuitton purse on the floor and kick it under her seat. It catches her urine before it splashes to the floor. In the process, it wets up my money and everything else inside. My mother did that nasty shit on purpose. I know she did.
“I don’t hear anything.” I tell him.
He listens harder. “I don’t hear it anymore either.” He shrugs. “Maybe it’s just me.”
When he finishes setting up the account, we ask for a cashiers check for twenty-five thousand dollars. I don’t want to give the doctor the entire fifty thousand even though I have it, just in case I need it for an emergency. When it’s time to give him the cash, I reach into my purse and place the urine soaked bills on the table. I’m so disgusted that I want to scream and it takes everything in me to keep a straight face.
“Wow, why is some of your money wet?” He frowns as he takes it in his hands.
I shrug. “I guess that’s what happens when we make it rain on ‘em.” I give him my biggest grin.
GUCCI
IT’LL MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD
Passion lay in Madjesty’s bed crying her eyes out. All of the kissing Jayden’s ass and fake being her friend was all for nothing. Passion was the one to answer the phone when it rang, she was the one who always ran to the door first. And when she finally saw Mad, she accused her of something her heart knew she didn’t do which caused her to lose her forever.
When the door opens, in crawls Gucci with a smile on her face. “I heard about what happened with Mad the other day. I mean, I know you don’t fuck with me like that, but I hate that that happened to you. I’m so sorry, Passion. I know how you felt about Mad’s cute ass.”
Passion doesn’t look at her. Instead she remains balled up like a baby. “I don’t want to talk, Gucci. Leave me alone.”
Gucci sits on the bed and rubs her thigh. “I hate what’s become of our friendship. We use to be so close, Passion. Shit, I’m the one who gave you the nickname Passion and everything. Before me you were Denise. And the way you’re treating me hurts my feelings.”
Passion rolls over and looks at her. There she goes making a moment about her again. “What does you giving me my nickname have to do with anything?”
“I’m just saying that we go way back to straightening combs and hair grease. And I miss that.”
Passion wipes her eyes. Her heart is on her sleeve and she’s vulnerable to any kind of attention now. She wasn’t getting it from Jayden because she was all about her money. She wasn’t getting it from Olive because she was all about Jayden. And her friends in the house seemed to abandon her a little since all she wanted to talk about was her ex-boyfriend who was actually Jayden’s sister. The whole thing was weird and freaked everybody out.
“I miss her so much, Gucci.” Tears travel down to her chin before falling onto her breasts. “I feel like I can’t breathe or move. What can I do to get her back? I can’t even find her.”
Gucci’s eyebrows rise. “I got an idea but you might not be willing to do it.”
She sits up. “What is it?”
“How about you help me get the girls together and we take over the business. If you ask me, the reason ya’ll can’t be together is Jayden’s fault anyway. I mean, ain’t she the one who lied and said she raped her?” She nods her head in agreement. “The shit is so ridiculous anyway? How a girl gonna rape another girl? You need to get it together and help me make this bitch pay!”
Passion frowns. “All you want to do is hurt Jayden. I’m not down for that shit, Gucci. I want my nigga back. Not no pussy business.”
She’s so mad she wants to steal Passion in the face. “Why are you taking up for this bitch even now?”
“Because what’s going on with me and Mad don’t have nothing to do with her. That’s why.”
Gucci didn’t want to do it but she activates another plan. She stands up, reaches in her pocket and pulls out a cellophane wrapper. It has a brown powder inside. She places it on the desk next to the bed. “I think you need to get your mind right, so I bought that for you.”
Passion picks it up and her body trembles so hard it falls to the bed. She can smell its sweet scent from where she is. “Is that…”
“Heroin.”
She licks her lips and her pussy tingles. “I can’t do that, I’m clean.” Still she can’t take her eyes off of it. Why can’t she take her eyes off of it?
“Passion you’re a mess right now. What’s the use of being clean if you not happy? The least you can do is feel a little better until you can sort things out.” Passion doesn’t budge. “If you don’t want it I’ll take it out of here.” She reaches for the pack but Passion grabs Gucci’s hand so hard, her fingernails dig into the skin on the top of her causing it to bleed. Gucci is in pain but loves every bit of it.
“Leave it.” She says. “I want it.”
“Let me see you do it.” Gucci begs. She doesn’t want anybody talking her out of it later.
Passion thinks about all the hard work she’s been doing in high school. She thinks about her dreams for college and the dreams she and Jayden share for the future. Then she thinks about not having Madjesty or never seeing her again. Suddenly her dreams don’t matter anymore without Mad. She needed her to make her life complete. So she unwraps Gucci’s gift carefully. Then she places it against her nose and inhales. Instantly a rush of warmth takes over her and she feels orgasmic.
Gucci takes Madjesty’s shirt off of Passion, freeing her breasts. She massages the left and then the right titty. Passion would have never allowed this shit if she had been in her right mind. Prior to fucking with Madjesty, she was totally disgusted at the idea of being with a woman. And she wasn’t for being with another chick now but the drug had her twisted.
Before long Gucci weaseled her hand between her legs as she flipped her clit. Passion was wet and back to her old shit. She made a decision that she would never separate from her favorite drug again. And she had Gucci’s sneaky ass to thank.
JAYDEN
GET SHIT TOGETHER
I adjust my hearing aids and cover my ears. I know what I’m about to say won’t be popular with a few of the girls but I want to hear everything they have to say
once I make my announcement. I’ll be happy when I’m able to get my surgery in a few weeks so I won’t have to bother with these things at all.
When I open Gucci’s bedroom door, I see her, Olive, Na-Na, Queen and Foxie practicing a routine for a client who wants to experience an orgy at the gym. They’re naked and their bodies are twisted together like a pretzel. “Gucci, I don’t believe you want to eat Na-Na’s box.” Olive coaches before they know I’m there. “You have to make me believe you. I don’t believe you and chances are, our client won’t either.”
“Maybe you don’t believe me because I don’t want to eat her out.” She wipes her mouth with a sock and throws it down. The room she shares with Queen and Na-Na is a mess. “Plus she keeps making garlic eggs for breakfast and I told her it comes out in her pussy juice but she don’t listen to me.”
“I don’t want to eat you out either! And for your information I don’t smell nothing.” Na-Na protests, placing her fingers in her box and touching her nose. “I don’t smell nothing.”
“You can never smell yourself before somebody else do.” I say. “And what I tell you about the garlic shit, Na-Na?” I step fully inside. From where I stand, I can smell garlic rising off of her body too. “No fucking with garlic before dealing with a client. That shit spits out your pores and we already had a complaint about that.”
Na-Na picks her dress up and stands in the middle of the floor. Embarrassed. “But I hear garlic is good for you.”
“I don’t give a fuck what you hear, no garlic before a date.” I look at everyone. “Now that that’s out the way I need to talk to you about something. I’m going to need you, you and you to move into a room with Johnna.” I say to Gucci, Na-Na and Queen. I focus on Foxie next. “And I’m going to need you to move in with them too.”