The Dirty Divorce (14 page)

After dealing with Rich all these years, I knew exactly what type of phone call that was.

“Well, I gotta drop my moms off then I’ll be around the way. Okay, cool,” Juan said before hanging up.

I wanted to say to him so bad, please leave the streets alone, get your life together and go to college. You’re too smart for this shit. You don’t have to be like Rich, but I had to keep the night positive and stress free.

We ate and before leaving I apologized to Steve for being so rude. He accepted my apology and I gave him an extra tip on top of the generous one Juan had already given him for my rudeness. It was great that Juan had the valet keep his car out front because it was freezing outside. It was amazing to see how my son was so well respected in the city. On the flip side it also scared me to see history repeat itself. He was the spitting image of me, but was his father all day long. The way he walked, talked, his mannerisms, he was becoming Rich more every day. This is probably one of the reasons why Juan hated Rich, no matter how much he tried not to be him, he was becoming his father and it scared me.

Juan and I left Ruth’s Chris and headed home. We didn’t say much during the ride. Juan finally gave me a break from the rap and go-go music and put in his Ne-Yo CD. As Ne-Yo’s smooth voice began to sing, I couldn’t help but to think about Rich. Damn, why am I missing Rich like this, I had to ask myself. I just wanted to be done with him, but it was so hard. He’s all I’d known besides the little meaningless relationships I had in junior high school. I’d made him my life and now I felt like I had nothing.

“Ma, you good, what’s wrong?” Juan asked.

“I just have a lot on my mind,” I answered.

As I continued to look out the window so my son couldn’t see that I was crying, tears ran down my face like they were in a race. I was embarrassed to let him see me cry. There was no way I could admit to my son how much I missed his father. He was so proud of me for standing up to him, so I just had to hold it in until I found a way to let it all out.

When we pulled up to the house and Juan let me know he had to handle some business, but would stay if I needed him. I quickly shook my head. I already felt guilty for occupying his whole day, so I let him go on with the rest of his evening.

As I walked in the house I took a deep sigh then walked into the kitchen to put away the left over food that I didn’t finish. Denie was sitting in the family room watching The Game re-runs, but as soon as I walked in she turned off the television and started to get up to leave. I didn’t want my great evening to be ruined with her attitude, so I tried to approach her with a calm tone.

“Denie, what is the problem sweetie?”

“I’m not your sweetie, and you’re the problem,” she replied.

All my niceness went out the door instantly. “Who the hell do you think you’re talking to? I will not start 2010 off with any level of disrespect from you. Two grown women can’t live in this house and only one is paying the bills!”

“My father pays your bills,” she mumbled as she walked off and stomped up the steps.

Before she could make it to the third step, I snatched her ass back down the stairs, pulled her close and looked her right in the eye.

“As long as you live under my fucking roof you will respect me. If you want to be grown, I’ll show your ass grown, so try me Denie.” As I looked into my daughter’s eyes there was absolutely no emotion.

“You’re such a bitch,” she said and snatched away.

“That’s it. Get out of my house!” I demanded.

“This is my father’s house! The house is not even in your name. It’s in my grandmother’s!”

Denie knew entirely too much fucking information some times. I got close...real close. Up in her face. “As long as I’m here this is my home!” I could tell by Denie’s expression that she knew I meant every word. “Now, I’m about to go upstairs to my room, but when I come back down here, your ass better be gone!”

“Where am I gonna go?”

“I don’t know and don’t care. You figure it out since you wanna talk shit.”

“I hate you!” she said stomping away.

Denie’s words stung. My heart hurt, my body hurt, I just wanted to take a bath and get away from reality. As I entered my bathroom I heard my front door slam, but that shit didn’t matter to me. I was sick of Denie, and needed a peaceful night. My stomach felt a little upset. I knew I shouldn’t have drunk that lemon drop while still on sleeping medication, but I needed a drink and it was worth it.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Rich

New Year’s wit’ Jade, Carlos, Marisol, and Nelson was a lot of fun and for one day I was able to escape my hell of a life. Nelson went back home to his girl and Los, Marisol, Jade, and I stayed in New York for a couple of days and went to a couple of exclusive parties. It was all for business purposes. Marisol had no intentions on me hookin’ up wit’ Jade and we kept it on the low for the first couple of days. After a while Marisol figured it out, but there was nothin’ she could do. Jade was fine, and I needed female companionship. She was convenient, but the best convenience I had in a long time. Jade was sexy as shit, but wasn’t the type of girl I usually fooled around wit’. She was in the streets heavy like Marisol, and that was just somethin’ I wasn’t down wit’. I didn’t really like mixin’ business wit’ pleasure. I’d seen too many dudes get caught up wit’ the Feds behind females like her. However, she was too good in bed to let that go that easily, so I made an exception.

After two weeks in New York we flew to L.A. where I’d been chillin’ wit’ Jade for the past month. However, now it was time to put in some work. Business meetings were lined up for me and Carlos in Cali and I was ready to start the month of February off right wit’ my new business ventures. The weather was addictive. It was great to leave thirty-five degree weather back in New York to the warm seventy degree weather in L.A. Carlos and I were off to a new start and it felt good to have been away from Lisa all this time.

Although we’d been kickin’ it all day, Carlos and I left the girls and went straight to meet wit’ Uncle Renzo. It was still always in the back of my mind that things could go wrong bein’ in Los’ territory on the West Coast. I was a little uncomfortable since I’d always been the big brother and was the lead on every business venture we had. We were raised as brothers since my father really helped raise him. My Uncle Renzo stayed in and out of jail so Carlos’ mom felt my father could keep Carlos on the right track.

Every time Uncle Renzo was released, he demanded my father return Carlos back to him. I knew that Uncle Renzo resented my dad for takin’ his place in Carlos’ life. I wondered if when he looked at me, if he saw my father. It really hurt me because when my father passed away, he didn’t even come to the funeral. I knew that there was more to the story wit’ them but opted to stay out of it.

Uncle Renzo didn’t live far from LAX at all and we got to his hillside mansion in less than thirty minutes. When we pulled up to the big iron gate, Carlos gave a nod to his guards and they let us in. After pullin’ the car around the circular driveway, we quickly hopped out. I was motivated to make some real money. It was time for me to start livin’ life to the fullest. I wanted to be like my Uncle Renzo one day.

Maria, his housekeeper, led us through the marble foyer to the back of the house. There were all types of paintings and statues throughout his home. It looked like a museum. It gave the feelin’ that if you touched anything, you would fear breakin’ somethin’. We followed Maria to the boardroom. We only met there when it was somethin’ major about to go down. When we walked in, Uncle Renzo instantly motioned his hand for us to sit down. He wasn’t into affection, so hugs or even pounds weren’t necessary.

“So, Rich, how’s Lisa and the family doing?” Uncle Renzo inquired.

It seemed as if he’d aged the last time I saw him. His prior salt and pepper hair, now just seemed to be salt, and the skin under his neck was startin’ to sag. However, regardless of his new looks, Uncle Renzo was not to be fucked wit’. Known to have an outrageous violent streak, he was definitely from the old school, wit’ major street cred all over the West Coast.

“She’s okay, and the family is cool,” I replied. I didn’t feel comfortable with tellin’ him the truth yet.

“How is Lisa handling you being on the West Coast so much? You know home has got to be right for you to think you’re going to be successful out here.”

I couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Actually Uncle Renzo, Lisa’s threatenin’ me wit’ a divorce, but I’m sure she’s just talkin’. I’m gonna give her some space for a while. She’ll be a’ight by the time I get back.”

Uncle Renzo played wit’ the mole on his left hand. “Listen to me, Rich. Lisa is one of the good ones, and good women are hard to come by. She knows too much for you to keep fucking up with her. Besides, you don’t want her to become scorned. Trust me, a woman scorned will ruin your fucking life. They’re the worst kind, especially if they turn on you. I’m not trying to run your life, but just be careful. Lisa knows too much. Go home, make up with your wife, and leave all those other whores alone. All pussy ain’t good pussy and it ain’t worth your life.”

I shook my head. “Thanks Unc, I appreciate your advice.”

“Anyway, are you all ready to come up with a game plan for L.A. and Arizona?” Uncle Renzo asked. I let Carlos take the lead on this one since I was in unfamiliar territory.

“Well Dad, Nelson is handling business in the D.C. area and Julio is handling New York and Jersey. Rich is gonna do L.A. and Arizona. I’ll be back and forth from here and Atlanta along with checking up on Nelson with things in Maryland and VA.”

“He doesn’t trust Nelson,” I blurted out.

“I don’t get it. Why will you be on the East Coast more than out here?” Uncle Renzo asked.

“It’s best. Rich needs to get his feet wet out here. It’s cool Dad. We worked it all out,” Carlos replied.

Uncle Renzo gave us both a look that said he didn’t like the idea, but decided to let us handle ourselves.

Our meetin’ was a little longer than expected, but overall it went well. I still felt I lacked control, which was goin’ to take some gettin’ used to. As me and Carlos rode off from his father’s gated mansion, I thought about the fact that I hadn’t spoken to my family in several weeks. I knew that Denie was probably upset wit’ me, and even though Lisa wanted her space, I knew she missed me, too. However, she hadn’t called so maybe she was done wit’ me after all. She better not have no niggas in my house where I pay the damn bills, I thought.

My guilt had kicked in and I felt bad that I didn’t spend time wit’ Denie before I left. It hurt me that I never kept my promises to my daughter, but time was money and I’m sure that she understood. She always understood me, when no one else did. It’s weird now that I think about it. I haven’t gotten any calls from any of them since the New Year.

When Carlos and I pulled up to my new L.A. spot, my phone rang. After lettin’ Carlos know that I would hit him up later, I got out the car and answered.

“What’s up?”

“Rich, you need to come home, Juan got locked up last night!” Lisa screamed hysterically.

“What? What happened?” I turned around to see if Carlos was still around, but he’d already left.

“He got pulled over for drinking and driving, and when they checked his car, they found some shit and a gun.”

I shook my head. “Well, I can’t leave right now, but I’ll send Carlos.”

As I walked through the foyer of my condo, Jade was layin’ on the newly delivered couch in some black lingerie. She distracted me from my conversation wit’ Lisa for a nano second ‘til Lisa began yellin’ hysterically in my ear. I directed my attention back to my call.

“What the fuck do you mean, you’re gonna send Carlos? He’s not Juan’s father, you are. You didn’t even call me back when I called you earlier!”

“Lisa I’ve been in a meetin’ all day, I didn’t even know you called.”

“Well, I called you, Carlos, and Marisol. None of y’all answered your phones this morning. You need to come home. This is not for Carlos to deal with, Juan is your son!”

Jade interrupted my argument wit’ Lisa and began kissin’ me to try and direct my attention toward her. “Baby, let me make you feel better, hang up the phone,” she whispered in my ear.

I quickly pushed her away fearin’ Lisa would hear her, but she wouldn’t stop.

“Come on Papi,’ hang up the phone,” Jade raised her voice irritated.

“Muthafucka, are you with some bitch right now? Is that why you can’t come to see what’s going on with your son? You know what Rich fuck you!” Seconds later the phone went dead.

As I stared into space wit’ my cell phone still in my hand, I sat on the edge of the couch, not knowin’ what to do. The last thing I needed right now was for Lisa to hear me wit’ another woman. There was already enough beef between us. Suddenly, I felt Jade massagin’ my shoulders from behind. She then began to kiss me on my ear, but at the moment I wasn’t feelin’ her affection. Pissed off, I turned around and grabbed Jade by her neck.

“Let me tell you somethin’ Jade, when my wife calls, you need to shut the fuck up.” I quickly let her go.

Her eyes widened. “Don’t you ever put your hands on me again. You know what, I’m outta here!” she yelled as she hopped off the couch and went to the bedroom.

“Bitch, you can leave when I give you permission.” I jumped up and grabbed Jade by her arm. At that moment, I saw the same fear in her eyes that I would see in Lisa’s, whenever I man handled her, which quickly made me release my grip.

“You’re crazy! What the fuck have I gotten myself into? I should’ve listened to Marisol. You’re bad news.” Jade backed away from me like a frightened puppy.