Justify My Thug (10 page)

“What's happening Miss Tasha?” Kendra hit her speakerphone button.

“Kendra, do you have me on speaker?”

“Yeah she do.” I snatched up the phone, took it off speaker
and went where I could talk in private. “Tasha, why do I have to jump through hoops and shit just to talk to you? What's up? You told me you would be here by now.” She was busted and I dared her to hang up on me.

“I need to sort this out first. I need a few more days.”

“What's to sort out?”

“What do you mean what's to sort out?” She snapped. “I'm married, I'm pregnant and I don't know if the baby is my husband's or if it belongs to the nigga I was creepin' with. I have yet to figure the shit out, Kyron.”

“Tasha, you know that the baby is mine.”

“You don't know that, Kyron. And let's say that it is yours. What about me and Trae?”

No she did not just ask me that. I didn't want to hear that bullshit. “Tasha, don't get rid of my baby.” I warned her. “Come back so we can sit down and talk about this face to face. You and that baby belong to me.”

“Kyron, I told you before that you were just a revenge fuck. Our little game is over.”

“Come and see me Tasha. I need to see you.”

“Kyron, I won't just get up and come up there and see you on a whim. I need to have a sit down with Trae before I come back to New York. So, I'm going back home.”

She then hung up on me.

I can't believe this nigga. The way he said, “Come see me, Tasha. I need to see you.” The power in his voice had my knees weak. I was damn near hypnotized. I had to hang up before I started packing
my bags. But I couldn't lose focus. Not now. I had to try one more time with my husband. I could tell that Kyron was losing patience with me but I still hadn't figured out his motives. Deep down I had a feeling that I was carrying his seed, but I hadn't had the opportunity to sit down and go over the consequences of my actions, weigh my options and have the dreaded
discussion
with Trae.

I got off the phone with Kyron and I sat there for almost two hours trying to get my mind right. The conclusion I came to was to start piecing my life back together and the first step in doing that was to move back home. I packed up all of our belongings and loaded up my car. I didn't realize me and the kids had so much stuff and saw that I would have to make another trip. I took the first load to the house and unpacked. It felt so strange being there and I swear I wanted to grab all my shit and go back to Trina's. I was thankful that I had the house to myself because I needed uninterrupted time to think and be sure that this is where I wanted to be.

I knew that Trae wasn't spending any time in our home either but it looked like he had been there earlier and had the same thought as myself, to move back in. We were always so in tune. His stuff was already in the living room. He had gone to the drycleaners and had sorted and stacked our mail on the dining room table. I put his stuff away, as well as the kids' and saved my stuff for last. I cleaned up and decided that I would stop at the bank and do a little grocery shopping.

On my way out I decided to go through the stacks of mail. Trae had left some receipts and other documents in a folder. I went through everything with a magnifying glass, especially when I came across the documents of three brand new trust fund
accounts for our sons at a half-million apiece. The muthafuckas were just set up yesterday and my name wasn't anywhere to be found. Then there was a large manila envelope addressed to Trae in today's stack of mail. It stood out like a sore thumb. I knew who it was from before I even opened it. She didn't want me to miss it. Inside the manila envelope was a white tyvek envelope that had the picture of an ultrasound belonging to his bitch Charli Li.
Sonofabitch.
I closed the folder. I had to really think about this shit but not on an emotional level, which was hard as hell. I felt like my emotions were in the Matrix. They were twisting, turning, going upside down, inside out and I had broken into a cold sweat. I must have sat there for almost an hour before I regained my control. I took the envelope and put it away.

I then turned my focus to the three trust funds. It took me a while to formulate my strategy but I just about had it all figured out.

Then there was the matter of the receipt of the big ass, seven figure bank deposit. This Chinese bitch was undoubtedly somewhere close. Here I was ready to try and piece back our family and this nigga was still fucking with her.

I called Trae and got his voicemail. “Trae, come home
now
. We need to talk.
Now
Trae.”

Tasha left me a message that she needed to see me
now
. I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was ready for war but, I couldn't put my finger on why. She said she was at home. Why was she even at the house? I thought that it was ironic that she was trying to have an attitude after she goes and fucks another nigga. Then it hits me like a ton of bricks. She was back at the house and was going through my shit.
Damn
… I left all of the mail and the entire bank folder on the dining room table.
Fuck!

The sunlight peering through a slit in the drapes woke me up. I buried my face deep into my pillow and tried to go back to sleep. I was drained. I had waited up until after three for Trae. He never answered my calls nor did he bother to call me.

On another note I was relieved that I was not suffering
through morning sickness, but at the same time it had me skeptical. Carrying each and every one of Trae's seeds had me sick as a dog for months. Could this really be Kyron's baby that I was carrying in my stomach?

I looked at the clock, it was only 7:22. I couldn't go back to sleep, so around eight o'clock I finally got my ass up and out of the bed. I was dressed and ready to handle something when I dialed my cousin Stephon's cell.

He picked up immediately. “What's up, cousin? Where the hell have y'all been?”

“I need you to do something for me.” I didn't have time for the small talk. The nigga had me and Trina's number so if he really wanted to get in touch, nothing was stopping him.

“Is everything alright? I haven't heard from anybody.”

“I need to see that bitch, Charli. Get her to the office today. Just let me know what time.”

“Oh, nonononono. I love you and everything but you are not going to get me mixed up in this bullshit.”

“Nigga, you already are mixed up in it. For one—”

“Tasha come on now.”

“For one you introduced her to us. Two, you owe me and three, I know you don't want me to tell Trae that you knew about Marvin dealing out of the club. You know he will make sure you will never run another club in this life or your next one.”

That shut his ass up. He thought I didn't know about him knowing. This nigga has gotten so Hollywood that he thinks he can't live without running a club.

“I'll see what I can do,” he mumbled.

“Today, Stephon! I need you to make that shit happen today!” I was sure that I had got my point across so I hung up.

My wife had been blowing my phone up all night. After I found out from my man Lo where Marvin was resting at, I turned the shit off.

It wasn't even five in the morning and here I was landing in fuckin' West Bubblefuck, Kentucky. Since I was on a mission I rented an inconspicuous ride to get around in. As I walked up the driveway I hoped that this was the right house. A little girl's bike was laying on the lawn as well as some pink roller blades. Looks like something Aisha would have. I stepped on a squeezie toy, announcing to the whole block that I was here. Dogs started barking and the curtain of what I hoped was Marvin's window moved.

I made my way up the steps and rang the doorbell. After several minutes, a little Mexican shorty came and opened the door. Well, I don't know if she was Mexican, but she was mixed with something.

“Can I help you?” she asked in a thick Spanish accent.

“Is Marvin in?”

She smiled, “No, he isn't. Mr. Marvin is out of town.”

“What about my niece, Aisha?”

“Aisha is your niece?” Her left eyebrow rose up. “What's your name?”

“Trae. He didn't tell you that I was coming?”

“Uncle Trae!” she squealed with excitement surprising the shit out of me and opened the door. “Oh my heavens. Come in! Miss Aisha talk about you all the time. Come in! I feel like I know you. Your wife is Auntie Tasha. There's also Auntie Angel and Jaz. The twins and Callie.” Oh, I can't wait to go to California. Mr. Marvis promise me he take me soon.”

“Caliph.” I corrected her as I stepped inside.

“Mr. Marvin didn't tell me you were coming. He won't be
back for a couple of days. Can I fix you something to eat? You came all the way from California and he didn't tell me? He must have forgotten.”

I couldn't get a word in. She was talking non-stop. I wasn't listening, just disappointed that I came all the way down here and the nigga wasn't even home. Now I had to decide if I wanted to camp out for a few days or take my ass back home and check him out next week. But then there was always the chance that the nigga would get ghost once he learned that I knew where he rested. The good thing was, this chick wouldn't stop talking. Whatever information she had, I would have no problem getting. She guided me into the kitchen and sat me at the kitchen table. She started going through the cabinets and refrigerator, preparing to cook something up. I sat back and allowed her to ramble on.

I didn't want to believe that my own blood threatened me like that. Shit, she was fucking with my livelihood and she knew it. Yeah, I knew that Marvin was running a little get high from the club but, Who doesn't? And if I would have ratted him out what would he have done to me? I didn't know Tasha knew what was going on but if she rats me out to Trae that could be a problem. By the skin of our teeth we were able to get the club re-opened. It's not back to how we had it, not yet, but at least we are open and it's running.

I was caught between a rock and a hard place. Adding Charli Li to the equation, what was a nigga supposed to do? I called her and she answered on the second ring.

“Well, well, well. What a pleasant surprise. I was just beginning to feel insulted.”

“My favorite lady friend,” I teased. “How are you and where the hell have you been?”

“If you would have been keeping in touch the way you were supposed to you would know, Stephon.”

“Don't put all the blame on me. You haven't called me, texted me, anything.”

“I told you that I had business in Seoul, remember?”

“Vaguely. Stop by the club. I have some things to run by you.”

“Is everything alright?” I could hear the genuine concern in her voice.

“I need to talk to you. How soon can you get here?”

“You don't mean today do you?”

“Yes, today.”

“Did Trae put you up to this?”

“No. Well … I need to run a few things by you.”

“Stephon, is everything alright?”

“Yeah, girl. I need to talk to you, that's all I want to run Vegas by you.” I could hear her fumbling around in the background.

“Vegas?”

“Yes, Vegas. This could be big, Charli, I'm telling you.”

She laughed, “Fine. I can get there anywhere between noon and one.”

“Bet. Thanks Charli. I'll see you then.”

Stephon and I have been friends for about five years. He walked into Hammerstein and Li one day and I was temporarily smitten.
The tall, dark and handsome, bald-headed stranger reminded me of Boris Kodjoe and as quiet as it's kept, I'm so intrigued with Boris Kodjoe. The fact that he was charming and intelligent was an added bonus, so I decided to wrap my lucious lips around his member that very same afternoon. But after spending a few days and nights with him, I learned that his swagger was contrived, it was completely made up. Stephon turned out to be a watered down thug, business man who had emulated his identity from Sean “P. Diddy” Combs. And if that wasn't bad enough, the dick turned out to be garbage, a total waste of my time. So I dropped him faster than Charlie Sheen would check out of rehab. Despite all of that, we remained business partners and friends. I admired his hungriness and in business he was always up front and honest with me. Over the years, he became like the sibling I never had.

Dropping my cell phone back into my Chanel clutch, I thought about his call. I had planned on calling him in a few days anyway. For some reason, something inside me initially told me to decline his invite to the club, but then my body screamed, “Go. Mr. Trae Macklin might be there.” What other reason would Stephon have to tell me to come to the club? And on such short notice. If it was really important, he could've come here to my office. The more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself that Trae was behind the call. The ‘Couch Canoodle' move that I put on him probably had him yearning for me. So after I freshened up, I left the office.

In the lobby I saw my long time driver and bodyguard.

“Luther, leave the limo, get the Murciélago out. I need to be across town in the next 30 minutes.”

To myself I thought,
I'm coming, Mr. Macklin. I'm coming
.

By the time I pulled into the parking lot of our club, it was 12:35. Stephon had called me and told me she would be here between noon and one. His scary ass had the nerve to tell me to act like I had just happened to drop in.
Whatever.
Anyhow, I didn't want to be too early and I definitely didn't want to be too late. I had vowed to myself never to step foot in Club New York again—since it, like my home—basically belonged to that Chinese bitch. But being a street bitch at heart, a sista gotta do what a sista gotta do.