B00BNB54RE EBOK (10 page)

             
As he ate his second helping of smothered chicken over rice, he thought about the heist. In less than a week he would be a millionaire. In seven short days his lifelong financial curse would be lifted and his bad luck would change for the better.

             
Things would soon change for Peck, his family, and his new love. He welcomed the transformation with open arms and empty pockets. He always prided himself on being a man that stayed out of other people’s business, but he had to admit that he was slightly curious about the recent favors Tyce asked him to do. First it was the flowers, then the envelope he delivered to the office. He didn’t think much of it, but last week he witnessed Tyce buying a retail spot in the middle of a busy strip mall. It was a cash transaction and yesterday his mysterious boss handed him the deed with strict instructions to drop it off at the same address he delivered the flowers to.

             
Tyce didn’t want him to knock on the door or even hand it to somebody. All he wanted him to do was tape it to the handle and walk away. That kind of logic completely flabbergasted Peck. What kind of man leaves the deed to a half a million dollar piece of prime retail property on a Los Angeles door step anonymously? On top of that…who was it for anyway?

             
Thaddeus opened his freezer, pulled out a gallon of triple chocolate ice cream and placed it on the marble counter top. His wild night with Angelique was in his rearview mirror, so he was fully back to his senses. He peeled the top off the carton and turned it upside down dumping the contents out. His head shook in disappointment as he looked at the pile of cash spread out in front of him.

             
Once upon a time he had a freezer full of cash in three different places in his home. Now, all his ice cream was gone except for his last twenty thousand dollars. He sighed to himself. That small amount of money wouldn’t last him more than a few months at best. Thaddeus was down to his last scraps of dough and getting more desperate by the day.

             
Sure, he had some money coming in, but it was not enough to sustain his exuberant life style, or his drug addiction. Contrary to popular opinion, or belief, he was not balling by any stretch. People, especially women, assumed because he was a singer that they heard occasionally on the radio, he had cash up the ass. What they didn’t know was that couldn’t be further from the truth. That may be accurate for other artist, but after the IRS, his former publicist, the record company, Visa, Master Card and his many failed investments dipped into his funds that past year…he was broke. His last royalty check was over ten thousand dollars, but after he paid his past due car note, his past due mortgage, and bought two grand worth of coke…he was broke again. Most of his money went toward keeping up appearances and faking the funk.

             
Thad was in an ugly situation and needed a money makeover with the quickness. After recounting the money again to make sure it was correct, he suddenly recalled conversations he had with Angelique throughout their long night. He smiled to himself as he acknowledged the one side effect of coke that impacted just about everyone that does it. The drug was notorious for making people talk a lot. If you got a good amount of powder up your nose all your business would come flying out your mouth sooner or later, especially if you felt a sense of comfort and familiarity with someone.

             
Thad looked at the ice cream bucket and grinned at it before he picked up his phone to dial Angelique’s private work number. Her cell phone was off limits to him due to the nature of their affair, so she instructed him to call her at the club. When she failed to pick up the phone, he left a sexy message telling her to call him back as soon as she could.

If he played his cards right, he would be back on top in no time.

            
 
As Sway, Peck and I trailed the armored truck along its route my mind was elsewhere. I was driving correctly, making sure to keep a safe distance to not arouse any suspicion from the route crew. When they stopped to pick up money, I made sure to park far enough away to stay hidden from their sight. We trailed them until the last stop and as they pulled off to end their short day, Sway turned to me from the passenger seat.

“I told you, it’s like clockwork man. They’re like little robots.” He hit my stomach with the back of his hand.

“Yeah yeah, it’s cool.” I nodded toward him lazily.

His face twisted up. “Nigga what’s wrong with you? We lookin’ at three million in cash and you actin’ like
somebody stole your bike. What’s up?”

“Yeah, I agree, you do seem like you jus’ woke up
or somethin’,” Peck chimed in from the back seat.

I rubbed my short hair with the palm of my hand. I watched the truck disappear into traffic but instead of pulling off from the curb, I lit a cigarette and let down the window. I blew the smoke out
of the crack and relaxed in the leather seat.

“Somebody die?” Sway looked concerned.

“Naw, not yet anyway.” I stared out of the windshield.

Peck stuck his head through the seats. “What the fuck is it then? What’s wrong with you?”

              I turned the radio down and took a deep breath to prepare myself for sharing my feelings. That concept was new to me because I wasn’t the type to get all mushy like some female and sob on a nigga’s shoulder. Omar and I never had the kind of bond where we talked about our feelings and shit. In fact, he never got in my personal business and I never got involved in his. I guess every relationship had its different dynamics, because I was about to open up and spill the beans.

“Angelique is cheatin’ on me.” I twisted the sparkling stud in my ear.

“What? Come on man, for real?” Sway cocked his curly head to the side.

“Yep.” I nodded.

“You sure?” Peck looked at me puzzled.

“Yeah
, I’m sure.”

Sway’s face frowned up. “With who?”

I had to pause a bit, however, instead of answering the question, I turned up the radio.

“She’s fuckin’ around with him.” I pointed to the deck as Thaddeus’s voice filled the cabin of my truck.

              Peck and Sway looked at each other and then they looked at the side of my head at the same time. I could tell they were shocked. They thought it was some hood nigga. The last thing they expected was the nigga on the radio to be fucking my baby mama.

“Damn Tyce. That shit is fucked up.” Sway shook his head.

“Bitches ain’t shit.” I took another drag from my cigarette.

Sway attempted to smooth things out. “Not all women are like that my nigga.”

“I ain’t talkin’ about women. I’m talkin’ bout niggas. Niggas can be bitches too. Ever since I found out I’ve been thinkin’ bout how I could kill that muthafucka. I can’t kill Khari’s mom over no bullshit like this, but Thad, oh, he can get two right through his bald head. Make that nigga hit a high note before I blow his jaw off.”

Peck sat back in his seat. “Does she know you know?”

“Naw, I ain’t even told her yet. I had to let myself cool down first. I had visions of drowning her lying ass in my pool, so I had to keep my distance from her. The past few days we ain’t spoke and I stay busy, so I don’t do nothin’ stupid. I know too many niggas doin’ time over stupid ass broads like her. They get mad and fuck ‘em up and here come the holice puttin’ them silver bracelets on your wrists and while you’re rotting in jail…she’s out there dick shoppin’ with your money.”

Peck started laughing from behind me. “I don’t mean to laugh at you Tyce
, but you say some funny ass shit sometimes! Dick shopping! I ain’t never heard no shit like that! That shit is true though.” He cracked a wide smile.

His laughter made me grin as he continued to chuckle in the back seat. Even though I was pissed off, I still hadn’t lost my sense of humor.

“Shit, these broads think its black Friday in the clubs. Suck one get one sale. If a nigga buy two drinks you take half your clothes off. They trick out for those fake polyester ass niggas.” I flicked ashes out of the window as Thad’s wack ass song went off the air.

Once again Peck started cracking up laughing at my commentary.

“Polyester ass niggas! Ha ha ha ha ha! You got me dyin’ back here!” Peck slapped his knee.

As the song finally died down the DJ came over the air waves to bring in the next record. He talked real
ly fast about this and that; however I began to tune in when he announced that punk ass Thad would be in concert at a local club for a special ladies’ night performance. The DJ explained that he’d just come off tour in Japan and would be doing a small venue in honor of his loyal female fan base in L.A. The big date was Thursday night…a day before the heist.

             
The inside of the truck went silent as we all heard the news. I started to smile, Sway nodded his head and Peck stopped laughing.

“Ya’ll feel like goin’ out this Thursday?” I tightened my jaws.

“Yep.” Sway clapped his big hands together.

“I wouldn’t
miss this shit for the world.” Peck once again stuck his head through the seats.

             
It had only been about two weeks since I’d been seeing Thad, however it seemed like months. He was pouring it on pretty thick by showering me with gifts and late night dinners. He showed up at my club just about every night and stayed with me until closing time. I didn’t worry about Tyce ever showing up because he never came by my place of business without telling me first. He gave me my privacy in that manner, which I was grateful for.

             
We still weren’t communicating with each other. It was almost like we were strangers living in the same house. On his way out one morning, I asked him if he was still planning to rob the truck and he said, “Of course,” and slammed the garage door in my face. I didn’t even have a chance to question him about it or express my continued dissatisfaction with the whole situation.

             
My gut was telling me that he suspected something was going on, but I ignored that feeling. I couldn’t imagine that a man like Tyce would know that I was cheating on him and not say anything to me about it. I felt that my actions were strangely justified because of the way he was treating me. He thought he could stay the same and not grow and I would be happy with being his baby mama and the woman of a hustler. I wanted more out of life. I wanted to be his wife, or a wife. I’d been used and abused by men before and I didn’t want to give the impression that I was only worth the girl friend status.

             
At the end of the day would I leave Tyce for Thad? No, but for the time being he was giving me something I craved. He was filling a void in my life that

Tyce was ignoring. I just couldn’t bring myself to end it wi
th Thad. At least not until that stupid ass heist was over and I could talk some sense into Tyce. Maybe then, once he had his money, he would finally hear me.

             
My private thoughts were interrupted when Trina walked into my office to discuss the events calendar with me.

“Hey boss lady, you got a minute?” She plopped down in the seat across from me.

I looked up. “Sure. I got a few ideas for some upcoming parties I wanted to run pass you to get your opinion on.” I grabbed my note pad.

Trina perked up. “Good! I was hopi
ng to catch you before you left, since you’ve been so busy lately.”

I let out a long sigh and leaned back in my leather chair.

“I’m sorry about that Trina and I’ve been meaning to tell you what a great job you’ve been doing managing the club. I wanted to let you know that I’ll be giving you a ten percent raise starting next month.”

“Really!?” Her blue eyes lit up. “Thank you so much
Angelique.”

“You earned it.” I nodded at her.

              Trina and I held the meeting for about an hour as we discussed club business and various other things. We ended it just in time for my date with Thad. He called me from the parking lot to let me know that he’d arrived. We had plans to hang out with some of his industry friends at a club in Hollywood. As I grabbed my things, I made sure to include my glad bag of party powder. I knew that those types of social occasions had plenty of coke heads in attendance and I didn’t want to miss out on any of the fun.

             
Roman walked up to the counter of the local liquor store with his black hoodie pulled low over his head. He never made eye contact with the Korean cashier, but he just rudely sat his two tall boys on the plastic counter top.

“Let me get a pack of Newport shorts too.”

The man in his mid-forties reached above his head to get the green and white pack of cigarettes.

“ID please,
” he said slowly.

Roman sucked his teeth. “Nigga you know me. I come in here every fuckin’ day.” He snatched the hood off his head. “Jus’ ring my shit up and quit playin’.”