TYCE II

by Jaudon, Shareef;Mayes, Sherdava;Anderson, Taigo

The third nigga stayed silent and watched Sway descend the tower. His beady little eyes squinted as he looked at my gigantic profile fifty feet in the air. The three stooges looked at each other as Sway joined the party.

  “What the fuck you niggas doin’ out this late, don’t you have curfew?” Sway chuckled rocking back and forth.

  I shared the laugh because that shit was funny, I could appreciate a man that kept a sense of humor in tense situations. The truth was these niggas wasn’t senior citizens by any means but they weren’t teenagers either.

  “Muthafucka you aint Chris Tucker and you aint Mike Epps…as a matter fact, I think you’re Tyce Adkins.” The one who’d been gazing at my picture pointed at me.

  My jaw clenched as I looked squarely at all three of them, “Yeah I’m Tyce…wasup?”

  “You the million dollar man.” The tall one said taking off his beanie.

  “What?” I asked confused.

  “This nigga retarded cuz. Nigga Diego put the word out that whoever finds you and brings you in gets a cool million in cash!” He rubbed his hands together like he was putting on lotion and smiled.

  The only one that hadn’t said a word was the one staring the hardest at me. He had a dark face and a braided beard; he appeared to be the leader of the pack. He took out a silver gun from his back and pointed it in my direction.

  “A million cash sounds good to me.” He cocked his head to the side. “Where them jokes at now bitches?” I smiled at the three of them, “See that’s the problem with niggas these days. It’s three of ya’ll and only two of us…what the fuck you need a gun for? Oh, I get it, ya’ll learned to shoot but never learned to punch.”

  “Fuck you nigga!” The bearded one shouted. He placed the gun back in his waist and took off his white T-shirt despite the cool night. Jail house tats covered his muscular chest and arms as he balled up his fist.

  Sway looked up at the sign, “Ay man we aint got time for this.”

  “This won’t take long at all.” I said grinning.

  “Alright man, we can dust these niggas off but we gotta make it quick.” Sway dropped his backpack on the ground.

  “Naw man, I’ma handle these niggas myself…after all my name is Tyce Adkins.” I winked at him.

  The two other men followed their leader and started to prepare for a fight. They began to move forward towards me. I motioned for Sway to move back a little to give me some room. Sway shook his head back and forth.

  “Man let me help you with these fools.”

  “Nope…a man’s gotta test his chest every now and then…see what he’s made of.”

  Sway stepped back even more as the men surrounded me and began to raise their hands and bounce around.

  “That’s fucked up nigga, ya boy aint bout to help you!”

  “I don’t need him.”

  The shirtless one rushed me first; I leaned to the right leaving my left leg out for him to trip over. His momentum sent him tumbling over my shin and falling to the ground behind me. I ducked a left hook coming from his partner and countered with a crushing body blow. A piece of gum flew out of his mouth as the wind was forced from of his lungs. Before I could finish him off I was clubbed across my back with a stick. I whirled around grabbing the stick with my left hand and

  punched the dude square in his nose with a straight right. Blood squirted everywhere as he screamed in agony. The man with no shirt on recovered from his fall and took a swing at me but missed. I countered with a fierce elbow that connected with his temple causing him to stagger. I grabbed the back of his head and slammed his face into my knee. As he fell to the ground, the third man regained his lost breath and came charging at me full speed. He dug his shoulder into my stomach and tried to pick me up, I sprawled wrapping my arms around his thick waist and hoisted his lower half up in the air. I grunted as I held the full weight of his body in my arms. I spotted Sway smiling hard as I fell backward and slammed his ass on the asphalt. I quickly got to my feet and surveyed the damage.

  The dude with the broken nose had blood running all down the front of his shirt; it looked like a vampire attacked him. He had tears in his eyes, a natural reaction when your nose gets broken. The other two were taking a nap.

  “I’m proud of you boy! I like that suplex you did at the end…I taught you well Danielson!” Sway bowed like a ninja.

  “Ha ha ha…yeah that chunky muthafucka was heavy.” I rubbed my back. “Ay why didn’t you tell me he had a stick?”

  Sway picked up his backpack, “You said you

  didn’t need my help so I kept my mouth shut.”

  “You coulda whistled or somethin’” I raised my hands up.

  “Man let’s get the fuck outta here, we got like two minutes.”

  I looked at the bloody bandit, “Don’t even think about grabbing your partners gun and shooting me in the back...tonight you jus’ got ya ass whooped…don’t get killed too. Ay, do me a favor and tell Diego I said Hola.”

  “Fuck you nugga!” His voice had a nasally sound to it.

  “You might wanna call an ambulance for yourself and your friends. I would get right on that if I was you…you know how long they take to show up in the hood.”

  Sway and I left the scene of the assault in a hurry. We ran to our rides and jumped in peeling out of the neighboring lot and onto the street. The skyline lit up as the billboard exploded into a huge fiery ball. The sound from the blast was deafening causing car alarms to flare up.

  So much for my 15 minutes of fame.

  Fuck that billboard.

  And fuck a million dollars…I aint no damn lottery ticket.

  Meet The Parent

  I decided to give Angelique a break from the stove; I hired a catering company to provide the food for this special occasion. Everybody was excited that Pamela was coming for dinner; she would be our first real guest in the new set up we called home. The excitement coupled with anticipation made me a little nervous…and I never get nervous. I guess having your mom meet your girlfriend for the first time was hard enough, and here I was about to introduce her to both of mine.

  Angelique was busy getting ready in her room. She’d disappeared in there four hours ago and still hadn’t come out yet. She would never admit it, but she was anxious to finally meet Pamela but at the same time apprehensive about the whole thing. The tragic story of how Pamela came to be my mother wasn’t new to Angelique and she knew all the details of the recent reunion. She recognized that this was a big day for me as well as my mom. Angelique knew Pamela was important to me and automatically that meant she was important to her also. That’s why she spent the last four hours getting ready for dinner…she wanted to make a good impression on her future mother in law…hopefully.

  Dallas was equally involved in her own way. She wasn’t the type to get all jumpy over an introduction to anyone-that just wasn’t her style. She was the take me or leave me kinda woman and made no attempts to hide that fact what so ever. She showed her sensitivity to the situation in other ways. Earlier today she asked me what Pamela’s favorite flower was. I really couldn’t answer the question, so I had to call her and find out. When Pamela told me yellow roses were her favorite, Dallas took it upon herself to order twelve dozen long stem yellow roses from the best florist in town. She took her time placing them throughout the house; she also saved a special bouquet to present to her when she arrived.

  That’s the kinda shit I’m talking about. I didn’t even have to say anything to my ladies…they just paid attention to me and knew exactly what to do. If I could tell the women of the world one thing, it would be this…Don’t be a woman that needs a man, be a woman that a man needs.

  The doorbell rang at exactly seven p.m. I walked to the door and looked through the peephole; I always did that shit because you can never be too careful. A split second later I opened the door and ushered her inside giving her a warm hug. She kissed me on the cheek gently and rubbed my back.

  “It’s good to see you again.” Pamela smiled wide. She wore a
silk lavender dress with matching earrings, necklace, and bracelet. She was coordinating big time, even down to the three-inch heels on her feet. The whole outfit looked like something out of a Macy’s catalogue.

  We released the loving hug and she stepped back a little, “You look very nice.”

  She was referring to my black slacks, fitted camel suede sweater and my five hundred dollar black and tan dress shoes.

  “Yeah, I look a hundred percent better than the last time you saw me. Come on in, make yourself at home.”

  “Oh my God, look at all these beautiful flowers!” She gazed around the spacious living room. “You didn’t have to do all this for me; this must have cost you a fortune.” Her blue eyes twinkled.

  I smiled, “I can’t take credit for this arrangement, let me introduce you to the woman responsible for that huge Kool-Aid grin on your face. Have a seat and I’ll be right back.”

  Pamela did as she was told sitting on the soft leather sofa allowing her butt to sink softly into the cushion. Now that she was alone in the room, she took notice of how warm the home felt. It had a modern layout equipped with high vaulted ceilings. She admired the slightly winding stair case that Tyce just went up and then her eyes landed on the floor to ceiling tinted glass wall that separated the backyard from the inside of the house. The darkness outside made the indigo pool stand out as soft lights illuminated the outdoor space. Pamela was quietly admiring Tyce’s home and she couldn’t help but feel proud of him. She thought back to the day when she pulled his tiny body out of that filthy dumpster and she now marveled at how far he’d come.

  Her admiration of her sons home was interrupted when he came walking down the stairs with two stunning women trailing him. She immediately recognized them from the church robbery, they didn’t know it but both of their beautiful faces were magnified in the lenses of her high powered night vision binoculars that night. She knew more about these ladies than they realized…after all Tyce was her son.

  There were no fake smiles from none of the ladies as they took it upon themselves to hug it out. Dallas went first, introducing herself before embracing Pamela warmly and kissing her cheek lightly. Next, Angelique introduced herself grabbing Pamela’s hands and squeezing them gently before pulling her into her arms.

  “It’s so nice to meet both of you finally. I have to say Tyce has excellent taste in women; you two are absolutely breath taking. I love your cocktail dress Angelique and Dallas, your hair and

  makeup are flawless.”

  “You can turn a few heads in that lavender ensemble yourself Ms. Adkins.” Dallas complimented.

  “Thank you sweetie, I still like to look my best. I do that Zumba class three times a week; I guess it’s paying off.” Pamela touched her flat stomach.

  “Shit, I need to join you, but I hear that class is hard.” Angelique joined in the conversation.

  “Sweetie if I can keep up so can you, I’m going tomorrow if you want to come.”

  “Count me in.” Dallas pointed at Pamela. “Me too.” Angelique cosigned.

  Two hours later we were all outside on the patio sitting around the fire pit sipping wine. The French food we consumed had everyone relaxed and the wine was doing its job as well. Everyone was enjoying themselves, the conversation flowed easily and all three women were getting along. After Pamela finished her second glass of wine she was ready to call it a night.

  “Well ladies, it was a pleasure meeting you and thanks for a lovely and relaxing evening. Dallas, thank you again for the wonderful flowers.” She stood up, “Will I see you two at Zumba tomorrow evening?”

  “Yes maam, we’ll be there.” Angelique answered for the both of them.

  “Ok, I’ll be looking for you, I’ll call with the address tomorrow…goodnite ladies.”

  I walked with her back inside the house; we casually strolled toward the front door taking our sweet time. She grabbed her purse and flowers from the small table next to the door and reached up to hug my neck.

  “Thanks for inviting me to dinner.”

  “No problem, thanks for coming’”

  We stepped out onto the porch and I walked with her towards her car. I opened the door and once she was inside I closed it and stepped back. I looked around my quiet high priced neighborhood for a second and then back down at her.

  I licked my lips, “I might need your help after all.”

  Pamela smiled, “I already knew you would.” She smoothed a piece of blonde hair behind her ear. “So what’s your plan son?”

  Wifey

  I loved being me these days. My love life and financial life were both in excellent shape. Some women would be content to just ride the situation out, but me…I wanted more. Yeah I was a millionaire, so what. I wanted to be a multi millionaire. I wanted the same thing for my man. Don’t think just because I was with Tyce that meant I was going to slack on my own ambitions and dreams no no no, never that.

  I now owned the underground sex clubs I was just a partner in before. There were three clubs to be exact. All of the clubs catered to the swinger’s community in southern California, and believe me there are more people in that lifestyle than you would think. Shit, your child’s third grade teacher could be a swinger and you would never know it. I recognized there was major money to be made in providing a place where these professional couples could get freaky and be discreet at the same time. I pride myself on seeing profits where other people see problems. I was just progressive like that and I loved having income coming in from several places, so the majority of the four million I made off the heists was still sitting in a safe place and that’s where I was heading to now. I had the foresight to move the money when Tyce went to jail and now he was following me to the location where I hid it. He wanted to wait a few weeks just to be sure everything was cool.

  We reached our destination, which was about 30 miles from the house. I lead the way into a huge dusty parking lot that had rows upon rows of semi trucks parked side by side. My Jag rolled to a stop causing a little dust cloud to billow up, Tyce parked behind me and got out. It was hot as hell today and the sandy ground reminded me too much of the desert, shit I wish California was a nudist state because I sure would snatch these shorts off and stroll around this bitch naked! Dark shades shielded my eyes from the sun as I scanned the lot and motioned for Tyce to join me.

  “Damn it’s hot!” Tyce took off his shirt.

  See that’s why I envied men sometimes, I mean they could take off their shirt practically anywhere they wanted and not get looked at funny. Let a woman try that and she’ll get arrested for indecent exposure or worse…raped!

  “You think you buff.” I teased poking his sweaty chest.

  “I’m jus’ burnin’ up girl.” Tyce smiled at me trying to explain why he was half-naked.

  “So am I, but you don’t see me snatching off my shirt.”

  He stuffed the white T-shirt in the back pocket of his shorts and leaned his head to the side, “That’s because you’re scared.”

  “What!?”

  “You heard me…you’re scared.” He folded his thick forearms across his hairless chest.

  “Scared of what?” I was getting a little animated now.

  “I don’t know, you tell me, aint nobody out here as far as I can tell. But go head and keep sweatin’ like a monkey in a steam room.” Tyce laughed.

  “You know what…here hold my water bottle.”

  I proceeded to pull my tank top over my head and then I unclipped the front of the satin bra and tossed both to Tyce. I smoothed the front of my ponytail putting the stray hairs back in place and posed defiantly.

  “Scared huh? Shit I aint never scared.” I rocked back and forth to an imaginary beat. “Now because of that comment you have to give me a ride on your back to the second truck on the left.”

  I walked over to him with my titties bouncing slightly with each step.

  “Turn around so I can put these breasts on your back.”

  Tyce took a drink from my water bot
tle and assumed the position; I quickly hopped on wrapping my arms around his neck.

  “Have I ever told you how much I love…”

  He interrupted, “Me?”

  “No I was gonna say you’re tattoo. I love the way it stretches across your back. Why did you get your name there?”

  Tyce kept walking toward the truck; he was quiet for a few steps before he answered my question.

  “Cuz…I was always on my own…so I’m the only one that had my back.”

  That statement made perfect sense to me and at that moment, I fell a little deeper in love with Tyce Adkins.

  I kissed the side of his neck, “Now I have your back.”

  Game On

  Thank God for Angelique, she moved my money at the best possible time. Where she put it was pure genius. She hid over ten million dollars in a semi truck that she owned. When I asked her why she put it there she told me because that’s the last place anybody would look and just in case she needed to she could have one of her truck drivers drive it out of town without them knowing it was even in there. Angelique truly did have my back and I loved her for that.