Deception's Playground (3 page)

“I’m gone,” I said. “In
a minute.”

I left the room, jumped
on the elevator and headed down. When I got in traffic, I called Duece.

“What that is?” he
greeted me.

“Where you at, fool?”

“Leavin’ Jub’s. Had to
stop and holla at Ace for a second.”

“Meet me at my house in
forty-five minutes.”

“Okay, cuzz.”

I made a quick stop at
a gas station on Broadway. I filled up, then headed toward the highway and shot
to my spot. I lived in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

In the cuts.

I pulled up and hit the
garage door opener. As I backed my truck in and the garage door was closing, I
saw Duece’s new Camaro pulling up.

In the house, I turned
the alarm system off. There were security monitors in my living room, kitchen,
bedroom, and my office. My home had three bedrooms, two baths. Bachelor pad, no
doubt. I opened the door for Duece and headed to the kitchen.

“Yo, Spade, guess who I
fucked last night.”

“Who, nigga?”

“You remember that
thick ass white bitch, Jamie?”

“You talkin’ ‘bout
redhead Jamie?” I asked.

“Nigga, that bitch go!”
Duece said excitedly.

“She ain’t shit, my
nigga. She knocked me down in the whip on her lunch break one time. Silly wit’
the face game,” I told him.

“Straight up, huh?”
Duece looked away. I thought I saw a little envy in his eyes. Not my nigga
Duece.

I changed the subject.
“So what’s up wit’ Ace?”

“Yeah, I had to pull up
on lil’ cuzz and give him another wetter. He had to yank on some suckas last
night, threw the pep.”

“I just talked to that
nigga last night,” I said, mostly to myself.

“He coo’, cuzz, said he
gon’ let you know.”

I started to call Ace
but decided against it. I’d wait till he told me. I told Duece that I would be
getting with Kutz on Monday, that I was going to get ten bricks for myself, so
he needed to decide how many he wanted. I would holla at Ace on his end also.

It was a Friday and I
had a feeling it was going to be a long weekend. I discussed a few legitimate
avenues for income with Duece. The shit O.G. Casa talked about was sinking in.
I was thinking bigger and wanted my brother in on it. But Duece wasn’t feeling
it.

After we talked, he
left. Then I got a text from Maria shortly after. It read:
I love you papi.
That meant the transaction went smooth.

***

Over the phone, I tried to encourage
Sonya to get into college for accounting. She didn’t agree with me, said she
was cool at the beauty salon she worked at.  I admit she was good at doing
hair and made decent money, but she wasn’t smart with the money she made.

She had a little in her
savings account but managed it poorly. I told her if we were going to build
something substantial, she should go to college. That convo didn’t go anywhere.

Changing the subject,
we decided we would step out later that night. She was going to bring Nicole
and a few other home girls. Me and the squad were going to meet them down
there. We were hitting the Westport area.

I called Ace after I
talked to Sonya and he was cool. In code I told him what was up on the re-up
Monday. He said he’d meet us down at the Westport. He was bringing out his new
toy, a ’72 Cutlass—all white, pearl candy with a gold base. I was going to ride
with Duece, so I called him and told him to pick me up around ten. Then I hit
Maria to make sure she put that thirty-six grand in her safe.

Phone calls done, I
stuffed my cell in my pocket.

The Westport was packed. I was riding with
Duece in his all black Chevy Suburban with black and chrome 26-inch Davons,
peanut butter interior. Ace was trailing in his Cutlass, and Sonya, Nicole, and
their friends were behind him. A few of my homies were in the line also. The
bitches were out and the city was on fire.

Duece had his four
eighteen subwoofers sounding like a marching band. He had Re da Hog pumping
through his speakers, preaching the truth.

“Turn that down real
quick, cuzz,” I said. He twisted his face at me and turned it down. I’d seen it
was the same number that I didn’t recognize.

I picked up. “Yeah?”

“Hi, Spade. You don’t
know how to answer yo phone?” It was Casey. I knew her raunchy voice.

But I asked anyway.
“Who dis?”

“This Casey.”

“Who gave you this
number, man?”

“Don’t trip. You know I
been missin—”

I hung up on her and
turned the music back up.

We hit a few corners
and eventually parked. We stepped in a club called Karma; it was brimming with
women, a few hustlers, a few suckas too. Ace had to bust a couple moves but he
said he’d be back. Duece was at the bar macking on some girl. She looked like
she was loving what she was hearing. He noticed me looking and raised his glass
to acknowledge his newfound victim.

That’s my nigga.

Sonya and Nicole were
on the dance floor getting it. I sipped on some Remy, observing the scene.
Nicole kept eyeing me down.
This bitch a fool, I thought
. Then her and
Sonya made their way to me.

“You enjoyin’ yo’self
baby?” Sonya asked.

“You know I’m straight,
baby.” I smacked her ass.

“You always think you
too coo’ to dance,” Nicole chimed in.

Sonya wrapped her arm
around mine. “Girl, you know he think he too fly for this shit.”

They both laughed.

“Why don’t yall take
yall hot asses on the dance floor wit’ all that energy,” I joked. They both
rolled their eyes and left my presence. Nicole looked back at me, biting her
bottom lip, before disappearing in the crowd.

We left the club tipsy,
headed to our cars. We always parked together when we went out.

“A’ight, take yall
drunk asses home,” I said to the girls.

“It’s too early to go
home,” Nicole said.

“Yeah, baby, we ‘bout
to go to Denny’s,” Sonya said.

I shrugged. “A’ight. In
a minute.”

“You ain’t comin’?”
Sonya asked, holding on to me.

“Not tonight. I got
moves,” I lied. She unwrapped her arms from around me.

“Okay, baby,” she said,
sounding disappointed. “Come on, Nicole.”

I noticed the same
Impala I seen down the street from Sonya’s in the parking spot right next to
Duece’s truck. I looked for Duece and spotted him talking to some women in a red
Dodge Charger.

“Come here, bro!” he
yelled. I walked over to him to see what was good. Two fine ladies were smiling
at me. I was still worried about the Impala.

“Hi, Spade,” said the
driver.

“What’s good, lil’
mama,” I said. I was a little disappointed Duece told her my name.

“Tamika, Spade. Spade,
Tamika.” Duece pulled me to the side and told me the passenger was trying to
shake with him. And the driver wanted to get at me. Jump-offs off the flip.
Tamika looked tasty tonight too.

I checked my phone and saw
it was about three in the morning. I called Ace to let him know not to slide
back through. Then I grabbed my life insurance policy from Duece’s truck and
switched places with Tamika’s friend.

I was doing it for
Duece, because I wasn’t going to fuck Tamika that night. I had her drop me off
at the room. We exchanged numbers and I went up to my suite. When I got in I
decided to check on Sonya.

“Hello?” Nicole
answered.

“What the fuck you
answerin’ the phone for?”

“She went to the
bathroom, Spade.”

“Yall still at
Denny’s?” I asked.

“Yeah, we just now
ordering our food.”

“A’ight, tell her I
called and call me when she make it home.”

“We going to my house
so we don’t have to do all that driving,” she said.

“Just tell her I
called.”

“Okay, Daddy,” she said.

“Yo lil’ hot ass need
to quit playing,” I told her.

“Sonya’s my bitch, but
you know I been diggin’ you, Spade.” Her voice was seductive.

“Ain’t that sweet,” I
said sarcastically.

“I’m serious, baby. I
just want to fuck … mmm … you just don’t know.”

I hung up on her.

She had me curious, I
can’t lie. I felt my dick waking up. But I had to get some sleep. There was a
lot of shit to do tomorrow.

After I took a shower,
I jumped in the bed. Maria laid next to me, sound asleep.

***

I pulled up to Sonya’s house. It was
late and the neighborhood was quiet. All the lights in Sonya’s house were out.
I got out of my truck and approached her door, using my key. I went in and shut
the door behind me.

The living room was
dark as fuck so I went for the light switch on the wall. As soon as the light
came on, I saw four men masked down sitting in the living room, armed. One of
them stood up and pointed his steel at me.

“Sit down, nigga,” he
said. I just stood there. I thought about reaching for my cannon but I left it
in the truck. “Sit the fuck down!”

“What the fuck yall
niggas want?” I asked, heading towards the couch.

I heard someone coming
down the stairs. It was Sonya.

“What’s the code to the
safe, Spade?” she asked. I looked at her in disbelief.

“Bitch, is you crazy?”
I flared.

A different nigga
smacked me upside my head with his pistol. Blood leaked down my face.

“What’s the code,
nigga?” my first friend asked.

“Man, I don’t know what
the fuck yall talking about,” I said, holding the side of my head as it throbbed.
I couldn’t believe Sonya was in on it. She was supposed to be my bitch.

“Oh, you don’t know?”
the fourth gentleman spoke up. He got off the couch and approached me. He put
his pistol to my kneecap and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

I screamed as I collapsed
to the floor. “Aw, fuuuck!”

Sonya smiled.

The first nigga grabbed
my throat. He put his gun to my forehead. I saw murder in his eyes.

“The code or yo life,
nigga,” he spit in my face. I didn’t respond.

So he pulled the
trigger.

Then my phone rang, waking
me up from my sleep.

 Still tired, I
said into the phone, “Momma, I called the nigga.”

“Samuel Lendall
Wright,” she started, “what did I tell you about using the N-word?”

Sometimes I felt like
she forgot I was thirty, not thirteen.

“Come on now, Momma,” I
pleaded. “You know me and pops don’t see eye to eye.”

“Today is his birthday,
and he’s still yo daddy. Now call him and tell him happy birthday.”

“A’ight, Moms. I gotta
go. I’ll call him.”

“Okay, boy, I love you.
And be careful out there.”

“Love you too.”

Maria was still fast
asleep. That dream I had felt too real. I wanted to tell Maria about it but
decided against it. I had ordered room service for us and she was sleeping so
peacefully. She even looked good in her sleep.

Her and Sonya were the
two women I spent the most time with. I loved them both for different reasons.
Maria was hungrier, eager to learn. She listened and was willing to do whatever
for a nigga. Sonya was sexy and smart, but she got too content and was stubborn
at times. She had a loving heart, though.

Room service knocked at
the door. I wheeled the cart in and saw that the knock woke Maria up. She sat
up and I served her breakfast. Then my phone rang. It was O.G. Casa.

“Spade, what’s good, baby
boy?” he asked.

“Same ol’ two step. You
still in the A?”

“I’m on my way to the
airport. Headed back that way.”

“That’s what’s up. Hit
me when you land. We’ll meet up,” I said.

“Will do, nephew.”

Maria rubbed my arm.
“Thanks for the breakfast, papi.”

“Anything for you,
mami,” I joked.

She smiled. “You so
silly.”

“I gotta bust a couple
of moves in a minute. I might be busy all day.”

“You need me to do
anything?”

I talked to her about
getting into some legitimate businesses. That was the plan when I got out the
joint anyway. It was time to start acting on it. I’d told myself I’d fuck
around with the underworld until I was secure enough to start my own business.
I was more than secure.