Shan and Mr. Wright both turned around. Mr. Wright broke into a wide grin. “Jackson, don’t try and show off just because you see me standing next to a pretty young lady. Ms. McKee, this is one of your workers. He sort of fits in wherever the education department needs him. He’s a GED tutor, computer tutor, floor waxer, librarian, errand runner, you name it. Jackson, meet Ms. McKee. Ms. McKee, this is Derick Jackson.” Jackson was a big, husky, brown-skinned, teddy-bear-looking brother.
The color drained from Shan’s face. “Hello, Mr. Jackson.”
“Nice to meet you, Ms. McKee. I’m at your service. Whenever and whatever you need, if I’m not around have them send for me or just page me, and I’ll come running.”
“I’ll do that,” she responded like a robot.
“Just don’t change my days off,” he joked. He turned to Mr. Wright. “Look, man, I want to introduce you to somebody who may be able to take my place if Unicor decides to give me that position I put in for. I’ll vouch for this guy here. Forever Thompson, this is Mr. Wright. We call him Professor Smurf behind his back. Mr. Wright, this is Forever Thompson. He just got here from FCI Memphis.”
“Good to meet you, Mr. Thompson. When you get a chance, look for my open-house hours and come and see me. We’ll talk then.”
As Mr. Wright continued to talk with Forever and Derick Jackson, Shan’s head was spinning. Out of the corner of her eye she felt Forever’s gaze piercing right through her. How did this happen? Why the fuck is this nigga following me?
“Um, Ms. McKee,” Mr. Wright interrupted her thoughts. “Mr. Thompson here said he’s from FCI Memphis; you were there, weren’t you?”
“Yes, I was. I worked there for less than a year. However, his name rings a bell, like all the other troublemakers.” Shan wasted no time in putting him on blast. “I hope that won’t be the case here, Mr. Thompson.”
She looked at Forever and he had this beaming smirk on his face. She wanted to reach over and smack it off.
“I’m going to grab a bite to eat. I’ll catch you in your office, Mr. Wright.” Shan had to get out of there . . . ASAP. If she didn’t, she imagined herself turning into the Incredible Hulk and whipping Forever’s ass.
Back in her office with trembling hands she found some Tylenol and quickly popped two of them. What she really wanted was a drink. She picked up the phone and dialed Peanut.
“Who is this?” he barked into the phone.
“It’s me. You got a few minutes?” she groaned.
“Always for baby sis. What’s up?”
Shan sighed. “You are not going to believe this.”
“Try me.”
“Guess who I saw today?”
“Who?”
“The nigga who I ran away from.”
A few seconds of silence went by before Peanut said, “You mean the nigga you got pregnant by?”
“Yes,” she snapped. “I swear I wanted to fuck his ass up.”
“Damn. Too late for that, baby sis. So now what?”
“I don’t have the slightest idea. But I’m not quitting or running away.”
“He said something to you?”
“Not with his mouth, no.”
“You want me to arrange something?”
“No,” she snapped. “And watch what you say over these phones. I’ll call you tonight.” She immediately hung up.
Later that night Shan sat up in bed waiting on Briggen to come in. He had said he would be there by nine and it was now after eleven. Shan turned off the light and got under the covers and fell into a deep slumber.
Light, tingly kisses on her shoulder and down her arm woke Shan up. She opened her eyes and sleepily mumbled, “I tried to wait up for you.”
“I got tied up, got here fast as I could. How was your first real day of work?”
“When was the last time you spoke to your brother?”
“It’s been a minute. Why?”
“So you mean to tell me it’s no coincidence that you wanted me to move to Detroit and now all of a sudden he gets transferred here?”
“What are you talking about he got transferred?”
She sat up and turned the light on so that she could read his face. “He’s here, Briggen. He’s at the prison. I saw him today.”
“What did he say to you? You sure it was him?”
“Of course I’m sure it was him. He was talking to my boss,” she snapped.
“Hold up. Who you using that tone with? I didn’t get him moved here. I don’t know why you would even think that. You sure you didn’t get him moved here?”
“You know what? Fuck you, Briggen.” She got up out of bed, and he grabbed her arm, pulling her back down.
“I didn’t mean it like that, but you see how stupid that sounds? That’s all I wanted you to recognize. Quit that job. Fuck him and that prison. You don’t need to be around him or that environment.” As far as Briggen was concerned, Forever had come right on time. He didn’t want Shan working at the prison . . . period.
“Is that why you got him sent here, so that I could quit? So that I’ll be more inclined to run your beauty salon?”
“You trippin’ now. I’m just saying you don’t need to work. Yeah, I would like for you to run the beauty salon. You said you would give me an answer and I’m patiently waiting for it.”
“Briggen, let me go.” She snatched away from him. “I need some time to figure out just what the hell I’m doing here. Because right now, I don’t even know.”
Janay finally picked up the pizza and was on her way to KFC when her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and recognized Skye’s—or rather New York’s—number.
“What’s up?” She couldn’t help but smile.
“You going out with me or not?”
“Yeah, I’m game,” she said.
“Is ten o’clock cool?” Now it was his turn to smile.
“That’s perfect.”
“So where are we going to meet?”
“Hold on a minute.”
Skye listened as she placed a food order. When she came back on the line he said, “We are going out to eat. I would suggest that you save your appetite.”
“Oh, I am. This is for my son and my sister. She’s babysitting and she doesn’t like to cook. So in order to get her to babysit I had to stop at Pizza Hut and KFC. Then I’ma head over to her house, drop my son and the food off and I’ll get back home to get ready. You want to meet at DunDee’s?”
Skye was still stuck on the part of the conversation where she said she was on her way over to her sister’s.
“New York, are you still there?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m here. I’ll call you at nine to let you know the meeting spot.”
“Just be sure you got that info for me.”
“I got you, Ma.”
“Bye.”
“I’m out.” He ended the call. “Fuck!” Skye was feeling drowsy but he got up and got his bloody jacket out of the trash and put it on.
When Janay, Marquis and Crystal arrived at the house, Skye or Mr. New York was gone.
Shan was on edge and was hoping that Briggen was going back to Memphis for the weekend. But he was still here and Peanut was on his way over. Finally they were going to meet up and Shan felt like a teenager bringing her boyfriend home for a very strict and old-fashioned father to meet.
Briggen got tired of Shan’s inability to sit still, her walking back and forth, constantly straightening up shit that didn’t need straightening up. “Why are you so nervous, girl? You act like your brother is gonna whip yo’ ass or something,” he teased.
“He can be an asshole. And I told you he didn’t want me to move out here. Plus, what if he doesn’t like you?”
“What’s not to like about me?” Briggen cheesed. “You like me. Isn’t that the only thing that matters?”
Before she could answer, Peanut was pulling up into the driveway. She jumped up and ran to the door and was very surprised to see Peanut accompanied by Karin, the real estate agent.<
br />
Shan stepped out onto the porch, “Hey, big brother. Karin.” Peanut smiled at her as he got out of the car.
“Hey, girl.” Karin beamed as she looked around at the forty-eight-hundred-square-foot property that she had sold. “It’s looking good, girl. The landscapers did an excellent job. I see y’all bossed up with the gingerbread roof and y’all had Pella Windows come through.”
Peanut came up the steps and gave his sister a bear hug. “How are you?”
She hugged him back. “Tired. Confused. It’s like I’m just going through the motions. But I’ll be all right.”
“Is this nigga inside who you’ve been trying to keep hidden from me? If not, you know I’ma camp out until he shows up.”
“Yeah, he’s in there.”
“You stay in trouble. Now do you see why I didn’t want you to move away?”
“I was in trouble and I was living right up under your nose, so what difference does it make? Trouble seems to come looking for me.”
They both turned around when Karin cleared her throat to get their attention that she was still standing there.
“C’mon in, Karin.” She grabbed her brother’s hand and led them both into the house. “Welcome to our humble abode.” She took them to the family room, where Briggen was seated, engrossed in a college basketball game.
When they stepped into the room he stood up, went over to Peanut and offered him a pound. “Peanut, I feel like I already know you, maine. I’m Briggen.”
“Briggen, I wish I could say the same. My sister has been keeping you a big secret, even down to your name.”
“Oh, has she?” Briggen peeked over at Shan.
“Calvin, you already know Karin. Boys, I gotta give Karin a tour, show her what the decorator did.”
“How come your brother doesn’t know about me, Shan?” Briggen wanted to see her squirm. But she acted as if she didn’t hear him, practically dragging Karin behind her.
“See how she do?” he hollered after her.
“We’ll be back,” Shan yelled, anxious to show off the house to Karin and to get away from being put on the spot.
Right away Karin noticed that once you got inside Briggen and Shan’s domain you would have thought you were inside Metro Home, the exclusive magazine for decorated homes. The vaulted ceiling commanded your attention with the open skylight that could have served for the home’s drop top, considering how large it was. The slate flooring that ran throughout the lower level led you into what Shan referred to as Briggen’s Chef’s Palace. The kitchen was like no other with glass cabinets and a built-in wine cooler that held twenty bottles of champagne and fifty bottles of wine and stayed fully stocked. The Sub-Zero refrigerator, flat grill stove with pancake griddle and granite countertops all had track lighting. All Karin could say was, “When do we eat?” causing Shan to burst into laughter.
Since Briggen was so private, Karin wasn’t allowed a full tour of the home. She thought that was ridiculous, especially since she was the one who had sold it to him. But Shan snuck her to the master bedroom, which spoke volumes about femininity and masculinity. How the two had been combined was beyond Karin. The bedroom was like a mini-apartment, the size of the room well over a thousand square feet. Karin’s mouth fell open when she saw that gold leaf marble covered every inch of the room. The only thing that did not have the marble floors was the walk-in his-and-hers closets that could have been a small boutique. They were covered with Berber carpeting, and the shelves were the same gold leaf marble that was on the bedroom floor. In the center of the room held the largest bed she had ever seen. It was a California extended king, where twelve people could sleep in comfort. She had to ask Shan: where in the hell do you buy sheets for that thing and how much do they cost? Another thing that she thought was absolutely fabulous was what she mistook for an armoire built into the wall was a minibar with a kitchen sink in it. But what blew her mind and had her green with envy was that once the bedroom was completely dim, the huge painting of a black man with a woman on his back lit up the room. Gorgeous . . . she had never seen anything like it. Whoever Shan hired to decorate . . . did the damn thang.
Briggen turned to Peanut. “Have a seat, man. What you drinking?”
“You got any Coronas?”
“I believe that we do.” He handed Peanut an ashtray with several blunts in it. “I’ll be right back.”
Briggen came back carrying four Coronas in a bucket of ice. “You got it smellin’ good up in here.”
“This that purp?”
“You know it.”
“How much a pound go fo’ down here?”
“Sheeit, ’bout forty-two hunned.”
Peanut nodded as he continued to blaze it up. He kept his eyes on Briggen, trying to size him up, and ready to cut from the bullshit formalities.
“Let’s talk, maine; that’s the real reason I’m here. Let’s start with how you was able to get my sister to come to Detroit?”
Briggen took a swig of his Corona and opened another bottle for Peanut. Uh-oh, here it goes, time for the interrogation. “You probably didn’t know that we used to kick it before she got that job at the prison.”
“Yeah, maine, I just didn’t know who you were. I try to keep up with my sister. We all we got.”
“I saw her parked in front of my store and she was crying. I hadn’t seen her in a while. I didn’t even know that her girl had split her own wig. Anyways, I talked her into coming to my crib and just chill until she got her mind together. I even left her there by herself for a few days. I was always diggin’ her, so I was amped that she came to the crib. She told me that you really didn’t want her to go so far away, so I too started suggesting that she don’t go all the way to Cali. I was already looking at this area since I got a few cousins out here. So—”
“A few cousins, huh? You can be straight up with me. This is my sister we talkin’ about. I hustle. You hustle. You plannin’ on settin’ up shop out here? I heard muthafuckas out here be gettin’ that bread and not on no small scale.”
Briggen took a couple more swigs from his bottle of Corona. Now it was his turn to size Peanut up. It was obvious that Peanut did a little homework. But just what and how much he wanted to share with this total stranger, he didn’t know.
“I’m not settin’ up shop,” Briggen said with a straight face.
“So what’s up with my sister runnin’ one of your businesses? You puttin’ the shit in her name. I don’t want her to get caught up on no conspiracy bullshit.”
“I’m doing all I can to protect her but you know how shit can go.”
Peanut shook his head. “Wrong answer, nigga. She carryin’ your seed, and she’s the only family I got. Let her go.”
“Come again.” Briggen needed to be sure he heard him right.
“Let her go, man. You throwin’ bricks at the penitentiary for you and for her. If I’m gonna do my dirt and keep her out of harm’s way, you think I’ma let some outsider put her out there? Naw, bruh. And what about all of them chicks you got? What happens when they find out Shan is pregnant? My sister gonna be caught up in the middle of that bullshit. They already disrespected her once before. Shit, you ain’t even got them in check.”
“Hold up, my man. I let you speak real greasy to a nigga out of respect for Shan. I see you really did your homework. You got a small layout of me but please don’t disrespect me and try to tell me how to run my shit. First off, young blood, I’ve been in this game for years. My paper is real long. Selling drugs and doin’ anything else illegal for that matter is . . . well, you know what time it is. However, I’m a businessman about my bread. I am also a man in every sense of the word. What kind of nigga would I be to jeopardize my future child’s mother’s freedom?”
“Yo, but this is my family we talkin’ about.” They both pulled on the purple-filled blunts in silence. Peanut’s original intention for this visit did not include him being so overprotective of Shan. But once he got in Briggen’s presence the vibe that he gave off scre
amed, “Get your sister away from this nigga.” “I suggest you let her go, and I’m trying to be as nice about it as I possibly can.”
“I feel your concern and I can’t blame you. You kicked it to Shan about your feelings?” Briggen smirked.
“Naw, ain’t no need to. The last nigga she fucked with, fucked her over and now you think you gonna put her in harm’s way? I mean, give the sister a break. Like I said, I suggest you do me this one, tell her it ain’t going to work out and let her go.”
“Why don’t we let her make the final decision? Because you know if and when she finds out that you are trying to run her life she’s going to fuck with me just because, and end up hating you.”
“Look, nigga, I’m her brother and it’s obvious she can’t make her own decisions.”
“Hold up. Just because my brother Forever put—”
“Hey, y’all, how’s it going?” Shan asked as she and Karin stood in front of the TV. Karin sat down next to Peanut and Shan sat next to Briggen.
“What about your brother, Forever?” Karin asked, clueless as to what was going down. “How is he? I bet you he won’t even remember me. He’ll be getting out soon, right? Let him know I got something real nice set up for him.”
Everyone else in the room got quiet. Peanut was the first to try and smooth things out and hide the fact that shit was getting ready to get ugly.
“Briggen here is getting ready to show me some flicks of his brother, Forever.” He glanced over at Shan. She wanted to shrink to the size of a bug and crawl up under a rock. All this time she had been able to keep from him the fact that Forever and Briggen were brothers.
Briggen, as if on cue, pulled out his wallet and started flipping through it. Shan sank back into the chair. She was busted.
“Excuse me, I’ma run to the ladies’ room,” Karin said, getting up.
“This is Ma Dukes and Pops.” Briggen began explaining who everybody was. “This is Markeeta’s parents. Her moms and my pops is sister and brother.” He skipped over one of the flicks. “This is Forever’s daughter, Tameerah. This one is his wife and daughter together. This is—”
Payback With Ya Life Page 17