White Lines II: Sunny: A Novel (22 page)

After Dorian died, DJ’s uncles had started grooming him for the drug game. As his father’s heir apparent, they wanted him to inherit Dorian’s status. Born knew that if Dorian was alive, he would not have approved. Dorian wanted DJ to get an education and chase legitimate dreams. He would not have wanted him to be molded into the heartless, fearless hustler that he was becoming at the age of fifteen. DJ had rarely gone to school and was constantly on the road with his uncles, learning the game and soaking up all the wrong shit. Born had stepped in, since he felt a sense of responsibility toward the young man. He found out that DJ wanted to be a rapper, and Born started booking studio time for him. He helped DJ learn the industry, helped him meet other artists and cut demos. Born used his connection with Zion, who was well connected in the music business on the strength of his affiliation with Shootin’ Crooks, to further DJ’s career. Before long, Born had drilled it into DJ’s head that someday he could be the best rapper alive. He smiled now, watching the young man’s dreams come true.

Dominique watched him looking on proudly and she admired Born’s love for DJ. “You look like that boy’s daddy, smiling all wide like that,” she observed. “I work with a lot of artists and I’ve never seen any business manager take an interest in an artist the way that you do. It’s really good to see that he has someone in his corner who sincerely cares.”

Born nodded. He was so much more than just DJ’s business manager. “Me and his father were real close,” he explained. “When he passed away, DJ was a kid. I took him under my wing and I got love for him like he’s my own son.”

“It shows,” Dominique said. Having been raised by a fantastic father of her own, she admired Born’s obvious love for his protégé. “He’s blessed to have you.” Her gaze lingered on Born for several moments. She was intrigued by him. There was something distinctly attractive about him.

He caught her staring and she averted her gaze. He thought she was a very lovely woman. They had been working closely together ever since DJ signed to Def Jam months ago, and in the time they spent working on his career, Born couldn’t help noticing how sexy Dominique was. He loved Jada, but couldn’t help wondering if his life would be simpler with somebody like Dominique. “You don’t have any kids of your own?”

Dominique nodded. “No, I do. I have a teenaged daughter.”

Born frowned. “Teenaged? You don’t look much older than your teens yourself.”

Dominique smiled, having heard that often. She did have a naturally youthful look, but there was a bigger reason that it seemed unbelievable for her to have a child in high school. “I was a teen parent,” she admitted. “I had my daughter when I was in my last year of high school.” She winked. “But I still made it. Proof that where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Born admired her even more after hearing that. “Wow,” he said. “That’s impressive. Not too many people could reach your level of success without that kind of setback. So the fact that you climbed to the top with your daughter on your back…” He paused, nodded, and gave her a thumbs-up.

She thanked him.

“So, you’re single?” He told himself that he was just making conversation. But deep down, he knew that he was kind of feeling Dominique’s energy.

She sighed at that question. “Yes. Single in the sense that I’m not married. But I am seeing this guy. His name is Archie.” She looked at Born and noticed he looked a little disappointed. “But it’s not serious,” she added. “Not yet, anyway.”

Born nodded.

“How about you?” she asked. “Is there some lucky lady waiting for you at home?”

Born felt himself blushing. It was nice to know that Dominique considered any lady waiting at home for him to be “lucky.” “Yeah,” he admitted. “I just got engaged.”

Dominique smiled. “Congratulations, Born!”

He shrugged, not so sure anymore that marrying Jada was the right thing to do. Sheldon’s teacher had called her up to the school to tell her about the incident in computer class. The teacher and principal had outlined her son’s volatile behavior at school. Jada had told Born how ashamed and embarrassed she’d felt as they spoke of his rebellious behavior and implied that her crack use was to blame for his troubles. She had left the school in tears. Since then, Sheldon’s behavior, both at home and at school, was getting progressively worse and Jada was falling apart under the pressure of it all. “I love her, but she has some problems with her son that’s kind of putting a damper on things.”

Dominique nodded, understanding. “Kids can be really stressful,” she acknowledged. Her own daughter had given her more than her fair share of drama. “But if you love each other, you’ll work it out.”

She gathered her belongings and rose to leave. Dominique found herself attracted to Born, and knew that the longer she sat there with him, the more she would find to like about him. Wanting to maintain a professional relationship with him, she thought it best to leave. “Sounds like our young superstar has got this in the bag,” she observed, nodding toward DJ still going hard in the booth, then extended her hand to Born. He shook it, smiling. “Give me a call tomorrow and let me hear the end result. I’m gonna head home to my own little terror.”

“Okay,” Born said, reluctant to let her hand go. “It was nice talking to you.”

Dominique smiled, thinking his dimples were adorable. “You, too. You, too.”

13

WHITE CHRISTMAS

Sunny stepped into her bathroom, reached up to the top of the medicine cabinet and searched around with her hand until she touched the soft silk satchel that held her stash. She emptied out the contents and laid the white powder before her on a small tray, bringing it to her nose with a flair that came from years of experience. She snorted the line of cocaine and felt that familiar tingle throughout her body. She wiped the residue from her nose and then returned her stash to its hiding place.

Sunny splashed water on her face and it felt like a geyser in her enhanced state of mind. She wiped her face and opened the cabinet, retrieved her toothbrush, and shut it once more. There her reflection was again, only this time her eyes seemed more alive, practically dancing in her head. She smirked at her well-kept secret and brushed her teeth, ready to start the day.

It was Christmas Eve, and she was excited. She had turned her deluxe apartment into a winter wonderland with the help of Mercedes and Jenny G, and she was full of holiday spirit. She had bought dozens of gifts for Mercedes and seemed immune to the recession that was crippling the country’s economy. There was no recession in Sunny’s life. In fact, there was a surplus of fun and excitement in her life these days. Malcolm was making her feel better than ever.

As she thought of him, her phone rang and she saw his name on the caller ID. She smiled as she answered.

“Good morning, handsome,” she said, her voice singsongy.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he answered, and she swore she could hear him smiling through the phone. “What are your plans for the day?”

She thought about it. Mercedes was out of school for the holiday break and she had planned to give Jenny G the day off so that they could bond. “I’m not sure,” she answered. “Why? What did you have in mind?”

“Well, my daughter Chance is in town to spend the holiday with me. Her mother had her for Thanksgiving so I convinced her to let me have her for Christmas. I was hoping that you and Mercedes would join us for a day of ice skating in Rockefeller Center.”

Sunny hadn’t been expecting that. “Oh … wow,” she managed. She was very protective of Mercedes. Even when Sunny had dated a Knicks player for two years, she had never brought him around Mercedes, eager to keep her daughter from growing too attached to a man who might not be “the one.” She was glad she had done that, since the relationship had eventually fizzled. But she had to admit to herself that she was feeling things for Malcolm in just a few months that she had never felt for the man she’d spent two years with. “I don’t know…”

Malcolm sensed her reluctance, and tried to persuade her. “I understand your reservations,” he admitted. “We can just hang out and I won’t do any lovey-dovey stuff while the kids are looking.” He heard Sunny giggle at that. “For now, you can introduce me to Mercedes as your friend and we can have some wholesome fun with the kids. What do you say?”

Sunny gave it some thought. Malcolm had proven himself to be far different from the other men she’d dated. She figured it couldn’t hurt to let Mercedes meet her mommy’s “friend.” “Okay,” she agreed, reluctantly. “What time should we be ready?”

*   *   *

An hour later, her doorman announced that she had visitors. “Ms. Cruz, Malcolm and Chance Dean are here to see you.”

Sunny told him to send them up and she looked at Mercedes, who was adorable in a pair of bubblegum pink ski pants, a matching vest, and a winter-white turtleneck. She held her favorite mittens in her hands and jumped up and down excitedly.

Sunny and Mercedes had never been ice skating before and clearly the youngster was thrilled about this new adventure. She heard her doorbell ring and had to run to beat Mercedes to it. She laughed as her daughter rubbed her hands together in anticipation of making a new friend. She loved to see Mercedes so happy.

She opened the door and saw handsome Malcolm standing beside an adorable brown-skinned beauty with her hair in cornrows. Chance looked just as excited as Mercedes and the two of them hugged instantly.

Sunny and Malcolm burst out laughing at their daughters as they embraced like old friends.

“Wow,” Malcolm said. “I guess no introductions are necessary.”

“Hi, Chance,” Mercedes said. “It’s nice to meet you.” She looked up at her mother. “Can we go now?”

Sunny was smiling so hard that her face hurt. “Let’s go,” she said. She grabbed her Guess snorkel and they all headed to the glitz of Rockefeller Center.

In Malcolm’s car, on the way to the skating rink, Sunny listened as Mercedes and Chance compared notes in the backseat.

“What kind of music do you like?” Chance asked.

“All kinds,” Mercedes answered.

“Me, too!” Chance exclaimed. “What’s your favorite TV show?”

“
That’s So Raven
,” Mercedes answered.

“Mine, too!”

Sunny and Malcolm chuckled at the two birds of a feather in the backseat. She looked at him sidelong as Nat King Cole sang about chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Silently, Sunny admitted to herself that she was falling for Malcolm.

*   *   *

For the next few hours, Malcolm and Chance taught Sunny and Mercedes how to ice skate. There was a lot of falling down, hysterical laughter, getting back up and trying again. Eventually, Mercedes got the hang of it and she and Chance circled the rink hand in hand, their smiles rivaling the bright lights that lit up the rink.

Sunny and Malcolm found a place to sit together and sat huddled closely to stay warm. She sipped some hot chocolate as she watched their daughters enjoying themselves.

“Thanks for inviting us,” she said. “I’m having a ball.”

He smiled at her. “Are you really? I was afraid you’d be bored out of your mind. You’re used to stuff a lot more glamorous than this. I thought you might find this too … domestic.”

Sunny laughed. “I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting to have this much fun.” She wasn’t even as high as she was hours ago, and her eyes were still dancing in her head from pure happiness. She was starting to wonder if her feelings for Malcolm were enough to make her leave her beloved white lines alone.

He looked around to see if the girls were looking. Satisfied that they were distracted by their fun, he leaned in and kissed Sunny, tasting the sweetness of the hot chocolate on her tongue. “I love you,” he said, staring into her eyes.

Sunny almost dropped her cup.

Malcolm saw her shocked reaction and smiled at her reassuringly.

“Wow,” was all she managed to say.

He shook his head. “Don’t feel obligated to say it back.”

“Malcolm … I—”

He held a finger up to her lips, kissed them again, lightly this time. “Shh,” he said. “I don’t expect you to say anything in return. I just want you to know how I feel.”

Sunny smiled at him, truly at a loss for words. She was so scared of what she was feeling. This type of domesticity, this kind of stability—she had longed for those things long ago, with Dorian. But now, she felt like a fish out of water. She wasn’t sure what she wanted. All she was certain of was that she was happier now than she had been in a very long time. She knew that Malcolm was one of the reasons for that.

Malcolm smiled back, and took her mittened hand in his, kissed it and winked at her. Their daughters skated over, giggling uncontrollably and Sunny and Malcolm laughed with them, their joy contagious.

As their outing came to a close and they all headed back to the car—Mercedes and Chance skipping ahead of Sunny and Malcolm—Sunny looked at him and felt a tug at her heart. She reached for his hand and held it in hers, no longer caring if the girls knew that they were more than friends. Malcolm seemed surprised by the gesture and squeezed her hand. She made up her mind that after the holidays were over, she would stop getting high. She wasn’t sure if what she was feeling was love, but it felt like Malcolm was the only drug she needed anymore.

*   *   *

It was Christmas morning, and Jada, Born, Ava, and Sheldon were crowded around the big tree in Jada’s living room, excitedly tearing into their gifts. One after another, they opened gifts and reacted with glee to the presents they’d gotten for each other. Jada opened a diamond necklace from Born, a new laptop from Ava, and a pair of fake gold earrings from Sheldon. Of all the gifts, she went on and on about the earrings the most and for a while, Sheldon forgot about his anger toward her, genuinely happy that she liked her gift. Ava opened a new coat from Jada, a pair of fuzzy socks from Sheldon and a sweater from Born. Born jumped up like a little kid when he saw the Knicks season tickets Jada had gotten for him. He kissed her and his dimples were on display as his smile remained plastered on his face for quite awhile. Ava had given him some cologne, and Sheldon had made him a picture frame in art class. It was a beautiful morning, with all differences put aside for the sake of some holiday cheer.