Daddy's House (6 page)

Tracey grabbed Winky's weed smelling ass to the front door. "I'll be back," she said to me. "Winky take yo simple ass home," she ended.

The front door slammed hard when they left. Tracey never even turned back to look me in my face.
Some hospitality
, I thought, bringing all these simple ass niggas in her house.
And Luke, he can forget about me
.

I felt like I was being pimped, but knew I wasn’t gonna work the streets or live in a run down spot like Tracey’s. I was determined to make a way for myself, even if I had to resort to getting in touch with Agent Barnes. Without a dime to my name, I showered, fixed my hair, and made room to lie on the wobbly cloth couch, waiting for Tracey to come back.

By the time she came in, I had one eye open, praying it wasn’t another ambush. My eyes opened wide when a fairly thin guy stumbled past me. His face couldn’t be made in the darkness, but the smell of Hennessey reeking from his pores filled the air. Between knocking down pictures and bumping into the furniture, Tracey guided his way, cursing him out in the process. I expected her to come back out and introduce us after he made it to the room.

Instead, twenty minutes later, she peeped out from her door in a freaky laced outfit, and turned off the hall light. The moment her door closed, I shut my look-out eye, and drifted into a light sleep.

Chapter Five

The next morning, a crunching sound woke me up early. A shabbily dressed guy, who resembled Terrance Howard from the movie
Hustle and Flow
stared me in the face. He sat in an oversized bean bag, peeling an apple with a sharp looking knife. My eyes damn near busted through my head.

“
This Luke,” Tracey said, walking up behind him. “Luke, this my cuz, Candice. Didn’t I tell you she was a dime piece, real fineeeeeeeee,” she bragged.

I looked at Tracey like I wanted to kill her, not just because she had a wannabe hustler in front of me, but also because I hated the way she dragged her words sometimes, and always ended with a smack.

Luke never took his eyes off of me. He just kept mumbling, “Umph…umph…umph…oh, yeah, we gotta winner.”

I stretched, and wiped the crust from my eyes. I’d obviously slept all night, and good too. My nervousness slowly went away, but his demeanor still made me feel a little uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure why, ‘cause he wasn’t the type of guy I would normally be fearful of. As a matter of fact, his Louisiana twang didn’t make me think he was harmful at all.

“
She might work,” he told Tracey.

“
Might? Hell, my cuz is pretty as shit,” she responded.

“
I heard you were a snitch,” Luke blurted out, while taking another bite of his apple.

I sat up straight, and gave Tracey the evil eye. My arms were folded across one another and clenched tightly.

“
Nah..uhhhhh,” Tracey said, in my defense. She pushed his shoulder. “I told you she got locked up for nothin’, right along with my aunt, uncles, two cousins, and her man. It wasn’t her fault. They had the drug ring goin’. She just lived wit’em and got caught up.”

“
Yeah, well, where I’m from, that’s called snitchin’, if they all still in and you out.” He cut another slice of his apple, gobbled it down, and stared right back into my face. “The people I’m tryin’ to hook her up wit’, they lookin’ for loyal broads. Broads who ain’t bringin’ no trouble, and no police either.” Luke looked at me as if to ask, if I was bringing trouble.

“
Look, I’m not on trial! And I didn’t ask you to come here!” I shouted. I looked at Tracey for some help. She looked back at Luke, giving him the eye to stop.

“
Bet…your loss. Tracey told me you needed a good job one better than hers. She said you had the look.” He got up, threw his tye-dyed hoodie on over his wife-beater, and walked toward the kitchen. He looked back for another quick look at me. “You do got the look though,” he added. “You could make a lot of cash, and live good too. You get to live at the spot while on payroll. I’m talkin’ ‘bout a mini-mansion in a suburban neighborhood and shit.”

I turned and looked at Luke with a lil’ interest. I liked the sound of that, ‘cause I definitely didn’t want to stay at Tracey’s spot too long. It was loud, and in the heart of everything. “What I gotta do?” I asked, with an attitude. “Long as it ain’t no prostitute shit.”

“
Nah...it’s like an escort service. You gotta be the dates of high profile people; you know senators, politicians, musicians and shit.” Luke moved closer to me, and rubbed his thumb from the top of my face down to the side of my cheek. “Your smooth cocoa skin and long hair will have ‘em goin’ crazy. Not to mention that bad ass body you got. It’s my manz spot. He’ll look out for you. Just make you some money and roll,” he suggested.

Luke had a point. It couldn’t have been too much worse than when I worked for my mother. I thought back to how Big V ran her business. It was a tight ship; but it was all about family. Between me, my uncles Ray and Cedric, and my man Rich, we sold most of the coke in the Brooklyn and Queens area. Big V never touched any product. She met the connec’, and then her brother, Kenny, was responsible for cooking up all the coke and distributing it in the streets. That’s where I came in.

I remember wearing many hats. Some days, I’d have to meet drug dealers, sell them the shit, and collect the money. Other times, I’d have to take a drive with the money to pay off what we’d been fronted. So many times, I thought about driving off with thousands of Big V’s money, never to show my face again.

One time, I even drove two kilo’s of raw coke to Big V’s favorite client. It was the night I was supposed to go out with Rich on Valentine’s Day. She screamed like crazy, telling me to get my fuckin’ ass in that car and drive that shit to meet her boy, some Jamaican dude. I remember feeling like a whipped puppy, ‘cause there was no talking back to Big V. Especially when she said that’s what the hell she bought me my convertible CLK for...
to
drive her shit around
.

Back then there were no tears, just unhappiness. On the outside, I was getting money, and had the best looking guy in town. But nobody understood that I was locked up already, mentally that is.

“
You a’ ight?” Luke interrupted. “No time for day dreamin’ and shit. Get up, get ready, and slap on some good smells.”

“
I didn’t say I was going!”

“
What? You gon’ stay here with Tracey? C’mon, man, you know better.”

I frowned, knowing he was right. I just didn’t want to be led by a hoodlum, who couldn’t even keep his pants up on his waist. “Okay…I’ll go,” I finally agreed. “But not for long. Just until I make enough money to move away and be on my own.”

“
Bet. I just gotta spring for an outfit before you start. You make a nigga look bad, goin’ over there lookin’ broke down.”

I stretched my neck, wanting to ask him if he’d looked in the mirror lately. It looked like he had slapped a bunch of gel in his two-inch strands dressed like a starved thug.

“
Let’s move it then,” Luke ordered, with an instant grin.

He moved his hands back and forth, motioning me to move faster. I took my time getting dressed, and questioned Tracey like crazy about her strange flavor of the month.

Before long, we were on 125th Street, and had hit up one of Luke’s thieving friends for a new outfit just for me. He had all kinds of stuff, ranging from Baby Phat to Apple Bottoms, to no name sweatsuits and athletic gear. I wanted more, but Luke said he was doing me a favor just to get me in the door. He said first impressions were long lasting. I laughed inside, wondering what catalog Tracey had gotten this clown from.

We made several stops in the city before heading out to meet Luke’s connection with the job opening. The ride to Long Island gave me time to really think. In between Luke’s ranting and raving about his friend Duece, I mapped out my plan. I’d decided that I would only stay at

Duece’s house for a few months, just enough time to make some money and move to L.A., or maybe even Vegas, just somewhere far away. Until then, maybe this new spot would be incognito.

From what Luke said, it didn’t seem like nobody from the streets would be coming anywhere near his place. Luke said Duece was from the streets, and had a notorious rep from back in the day, but was now all about business. He only rubbed shoulders with the elite, and kept the low lives far away from his establishment.

Luke slammed on breaks, taking me away from my thoughts. He backed the white Impala up quickly, making sure his tires screeched in the process. Through the black rod iron gates, what looked to me like a mini-mansion, sat nestled back behind the gigantic flower beds.

“
What’s that address?” Luke asked, leaning in front of Tracey. “I can’t see shit.”

“
Hell if I know. If you can’t see it, why you think I can,” she smacked. “And get your Jheri curl out my face,” she joked.

“
Right there,” he pointed. “The address is on the columns. That’s it,” he added, in a more serious tone.

Luke whipped the car around and pulled up to the gate. I thought we were gonna have to push a button on the intercom and give names along with I.D. Strangely, the gate opened as we pulled onto the cobblestone driveway. The house sat like a mansion up on top of the hill.

The only way up to the front door was the long expensive looking stairwell, which led to the stylish landing.

“
See, didn’t I tell you your boy was gonna hook shit up,” Luke boasted, shaking his head up and down. His smile grew wider the closer we got to the front of the house. He leaned over and kissed Tracey. “You wanna cut, don’t you?”

Tracey rolled her eyes and didn’t even respond. I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not, but focused my attention to the opening French doors above the stoned staircase. When the car stopped, we hopped out and followed closely behind Luke. He walked like he’d done this before, and made it clear that he admired Deuce’s style.

I walked slowly up the stairs, only to see a huge man emerge and shake Luke’s hand out on the landing.

“
Long time no see,” the man said to Luke. “And this pretty lady is?” he asked, referring to Tracey. His cologne was loud, but smelled real good and expensive. He placed an arm on Tracey’s shoulder, like he felt sorry for her. It was almost as if he knew she wasn’t the one coming to work for him.

Luke jumped over near Tracey quickly and began pulling me closer. “This my girl, Tracey, and this here is her cousin, Candice.” He grinned like he’d won a prize and was sharing it with his boy.

I was starting to think Luke was going to benefit somehow for referring me, ‘cause he was way too happy about seeing me at the house with his friend.

“
How are you, Candice?” Duece asked suspiciously.

“
Fine,” I answered, in a low voice. I avoided meeting his eyes, but could feel his stare. I pulled up the sleeves on the tight chocolate colored velour sweatsuit, and prayed he’d turn his eyes elsewhere. Suddenly, I realized they were all looking at me, even Tracey.

“
Did I do something wrong, Duece?” I asked.

He let out a sarcastic laugh. “Duece? My name is Daddy,” he responded, in a cockier tone.

“
Oh, Luke said your name was Duece.”

He didn’t respond with words, he just threw Luke a frown.

“
Nahhhhhh, don’t get me late with this big muthafucka. I call’em Duece, cause I don’t feel right calling a big greasy nigga, Daddy,” Luke explained.

We all laughed, which broke the ice. I crossed my arms and tried to loosen up a bit, while Daddy continued to look at me through the corner of his eyes. His golden skin tone glistened in the sun, which made me squint just a little. He was a large man, pushing 320 pounds. Far from solid, I noticed he wore his clothes well. He appeared to be in his late forties, and immediately reminded me of an older Suge Knight-thick beard and all.

“
Man, I told her you’on take no shit,” Luke bragged. Daddy just nodded, keeping his eyes on me. “So, we in?” Luke questioned, like a fidgety junkie.

“
We?” Daddy asked sarcastically. He turned around and opened the front door to the house slightly. When he called out to someone, I instantly got nervous.
What if Big
V is inside and this is all a trick
?

“
She’ll do,” Daddy spoke with confidence. “Why don’t you two leave us be. Let Miss Candice here get settled in,” he ordered, without even raising his voice. “I’ve gotta run, but the woman who handles things around here is on her way down to meet her now.” Daddy extended his hand toward me with another scrutinizing look. “We’ll meet again soon.” He appeared to be still a little unsure about me, but the slight opening of the door distracted him.

A woman dressed in navy blue business attire appeared at the front door with a clipboard in hand. Her expression was far from warm when Daddy introduced us.

“
Dottie, Candice will be working here starting today. Get her settled. I’ll catcha later.”

“
Hmm..umm,” she uttered, with a smirk.

Daddy turned to leave off the landing, headed down the steps. Luke quickly followed behind. Tracey, on the other hand, was on my heels ready to enter the house with me.