Pride (9 page)

Me and DarQuese gave each other a look. Enough was definitely enough. She stepped up to Pit, and I got in front of Gino and put my hand on his hard shoulder.

“C’mon, baby,” I said in a whisper. “Look at all these people out here watching us. This guy isn’t worth it. We’re supposed to be keeping it low, remember?”

A cop car rolled by, and Slick Sallie stuck his gun hand behind his back and waved pleasantly at the white police officers with his other hand.

Pit shook DarQuese off then stormed across the street bitching and fussing the whole time. “Your ass is minez, niggah!” he screamed at Gino. “You and ya fuckin’ white boy is both gonna get served!”

Sallie just laughed. “That little guy has a whole lot of mouth,” he said.

Gino nodded, and then he walked over to where he had slung Cynthia’s dresses in the street. Keeping his eye on Pit, Gino picked up the dresses and brushed them off before handing them to me.

And then out of nowhere, Gino turned back to the baller with the cornrows. Dude was still sprawled all over the parked car trying to pull himself together.

“Yo, my niggah,” Gino spit smoothly although fire still raged in his eyes. “Check this out. C’mere, Juicy.” He grabbed my hand and posted me up right in front of the Philly baller. “You sure my baby ain’t sweet, ak?”

I grilled dude hard, fronting like crazy. I knew he wasn’t the type to run away from a fight. He was a risk-taker, and danger was in his blood. I’d known that the night he violated G’s territory up in the G-Spot, but that didn’t stop me from letting him munch me out.

I was shocked when he frowned with his blood-crusted lips and shook his head.

“Nah, Chief,” he said to Gino. “I don’t know if ya girl is sweet or not, ak. Cause I ain’t never tasted her.”

I went limp with relief. I wanted to thank him for biting his tongue. Instead, I took Gino’s arm. The killer look he was still giving the baller told me it was time for us to dip.

Sallie and Gino stayed outside while me, Quese, Teenie, and all their nosy customers went back in the beauty shop. I was too embarrassed to meet anyone’s eyes as I took off my plastic smock and got my purse from the cabinet under Quese’s station.

“Oh, so you’re leaving now?” she asked dryly. I could tell she was real salty over the drama that had just gone down between our men.

“Yeah. I have to go with Renata to take a last-minute look at the menu for my wedding dinner tomorrow night.”

Her lips got all twisted. “I don’t even wanna know how much you’re paying that trick to cook, Juicy! I told you I coulda got my aunts to fry some chicken, and make some collard greens and macaroni and cheese for you real cheap.”

“Oh, I’m not paying her,” I said. “The Organization is hosting the wedding for us remember? Renata’s catering all the food for me.”

DarQuese frowned for a quick second, but then the unscarred half of her face smiled.

“I wanna be mad at your ass, Juicy, but I just can’t. You know I don’t like that white girl, but you’re my friend and regardless, I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks, Quese,” I said. “That means a lot to me.” And it really did, because the situation between Pit and Gino was bad enough. I didn’t want there to be any static between me and her too.

She eyed my hair. “You sure you gotta go? Sit back at the sink and let me rinse you real quick.”

I shook my head. “Thanks, but I’m good. I need to get outside and make sure Gino is calm. I can rinse my hair in the shower when I get home.”

DarQuese opened her top drawer and took out an envelope. “This is from Cynt.”

“Cool,” I said without opening it because I knew Cynthia’s money was always good. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow night?” I asked. “You’re gonna close up early so you can make it to the dinner on time, right?”

She smirked. “You mean you want me to cut my paper short just because a white chick is gonna feed us some dried-out chicken that we probably ain’t gonna be able to chew anyway?”

All I could do was shake my head.

“You are truly crazy,” I said as I headed for the door. “But I have a feeling that once you get a chance to chill with Renata you’re really going to like her.”

“Shiiiit,” I heard DarQuese drawl. “No I won’t.”

I glanced over my shoulder, and her arms were crossed over her little titties. I was almost out the door as she said it again.

“No the hell I won’t.”

CHAPTER 9

Renata and her husband Frankie lived in a gated community about ten minutes away from our condo. Unlike me and Gino, they didn’t even try to hide their money, and if G hadn’t already exposed me to the finer things in life my mouth would’ve been hanging open each time I walked through their doors. But as it was, the gorgeous travertine floors and shiny granite countertops didn’t impress me. Neither did the chic furniture or expensive paintings that hung from every wall.

What did impress me though was Renata. I had never been tight with a white girl before and at first I didn’t know how to take her. I judged Renata to be about thirty-five, but she looked damn good for her age. She jogged and lifted weights and all that, and she was forever sipping on bottled water and protein shakes.

Renata didn’t have a job, but Frankie was the boss man of The Organization so she stayed laced from head to toe. She was always inviting me to go with her to get a facial or get our nails done, or to just lounge in the sauna and get massaged at the clubhouse while our corporate men worked out big deals on the golf course.

I knew Renata could probably tell I had been born poor and raised in the hood, but she didn’t even blink when I told her I was from the heart of Harlem. She was like yeah, Harlem is real cool and then she told me Frankie and his brothers, and even the Asian attorney named Jason who worked with them, had all been down with some kind of high-powered family business back in Brooklyn. She said Frankie had recently sold off some assets and decided to relocate to someplace warm and expand his business on both coasts.

Of course, I wasn’t about to tell her why me and Gino had left the Empire State. I didn’t want her all up in my business, and she didn’t ask me about anything either. Renata wasn’t the prying type, and I appreciated her not trying to get up under my left titty. After having to sneak and do everything my whole life, first under Grandmother’s roof and then under G’s, I wasn’t in the mood to keep telling a bunch of lies. I was about to turn twenty years old soon, and after all the drama I had been through I didn’t owe anybody any bullshit stories.

I’d gone home to shower and change clothes, and now Renata and I were heading to the caterers to give them final approval for my menu items. Afterward, she was taking me to an exclusive health spa for a mud wrap and a water massage.

I got to her house a few minutes early, and she was dressed in pink sweats and talking on her cell phone when she answered the door. The house had a breezy, open design, and it was always crisp and clean and smelled like the maid had just left. She smiled and waved me toward the living room. “Make yourself comfortable, Juicy. The remote is on the table. I’ll be right back.”

I kicked off my shoes and sank down into a yellow leather sofa that felt like a cream puff on my ass. I turned on the television and channel surfed until I landed on the Braxton Family Values show. I really loved it! Toni and her sisters were a trip, and they made me wish I had some sisters to love and argue with. I was deep into the show when Renata’s house phone rang. A number popped up on the big screen. It said “Blocked” but it had an 804 area code with the rest of the numbers showing in a line of seven x’s. I wasn’t gonna answer it until Renata yelled, “Hey Juicy, can you get that? It’s probably Nunna, my grandmother in Brooklyn!”

I hopped up and snatched the phone off the base. “Hello,” I said, pressing the receiver to my ear. “You’ve reached the Sanvenero residence. Can I help you?”

There was a long, long pause on the other end, and I was just about to say hello again when a man’s deep voice growled, “Yo, who dis?”

Before I could answer the line went dead. Dude had hung up. Renata flounced back into the living room carrying a small gym bag. She had changed into a black tube top and a pair of tight white jeans. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail with a thick white scrunchie around it.

“Who was it?” she asked.

I shrugged, the dead phone still in my hand. “I don’t know, but I don’t think it was your grandma.”

“Oh, hell,” Renata said, chuckling. “You would’ve known if it was my Nunna. You would’ve known for sure.”

“The area code was 804, but the rest of the number came up blocked on the caller ID,” I told her. “It was a man, though. He sounded Black. He asked me who I was, and then he hung up.”

Renata’s bag hit the floor. She narrowed her eyes and gave me a real funny look. “Did you tell him anything?”

I shook my head. “No, I didn’t get a chance to say anything because he hung up on me.”

The phone rang again and Renata snatched it from my hand. She clicked the talk button real fast, but not fast enough where I didn’t peep the caller ID as it flashed on the television screen. It was a blocked number again, just like the last time, and it had the same 804 area code too.

“Hold on,” she said into phone. “It’s my Nunna,” she told me, pressing the phone to her chest as she dug into her purse. “From Brooklyn.” She passed me the keys to her whip. “I’ll meet you in the car. Cut the air on,” she added, turning away, “because the seats are probably hot.”

I caught the hint and headed toward the door. But as I was on my way out, I heard her say something crazy about FedEx arriving soon to pick up a crate of blood oranges.

I knew damn well there was no 804 area code in Brooklyn, and the way Renata was acting was real suspicious. I couldn’t believe she was messing around on her husband, but on the real, if she was getting drilled by some dark meat from the Big 804, that was between her and Frankie. I didn’t even wanna know about it. Hell, this wasn’t Harlem, and I was no longer that fast young girl who always had to be in the know. Determined to mind my own bizz and give Renata the same respect she had always given me, I tipped out of her crib and closed the door behind me.

CHAPTER 10

Huddled in a back room of the G-Spot, they approached their plan like three blind mice. Late into the night Pluto, Ace, and Monique fussed like a bunch of bitches over how they could best use Salida to their advantage. A hundred different scenarios had been argued back and forth, and shortly before dawn they’d finally settled on a strategy. Although they had different approaches they wanted to take, all three schemers had agreed that Salida getting kicked out of that mental hospital was like getting a gift straight from G’s grave.

They figured with G’s ex-wife back on the scene it was only natural that she would be anxious to see her only son right away. And it was also only natural that Gino would raise his head to answer his mother’s loving call. And wherever Gino was hiding Juicy – and G’s money – were sure to be somewhere close by.

Ace and Pluto saw eye-to-eye when it came to picking up Salida and bringing her back to New York so they could position her to their advantage. But after that is where they split.

Ace wanted to use Salida as bait to lure Gino out of hiding just as bad as Monique and Pluto did. But he also wanted to set her up in a chill little crib and treat her in a manner that was befitting of Granite McKay’s wife.

“Yeah, our paper might be a lil short,” Ace insisted, “but whatever ends we got coming through the door is because G stacked shit up that way. Salida is his rightful heir, yo, and we gotta set her up lovely ’cause that’s what G woulda expected us to do. Anything short of that is gonna be like shitting on our manz.”