B00CD6BCB0 EBOK Read online

  “It’s not about being a member of the team. It’s about having reasonable expectations when it comes to certain things.”

  “Well I’m certain you can get the job done,” Emory stated.

  “So am I,” Dale added, after being quiet during everything else.

  “Fine, but don’t catch an attitude if I come up short. ‘Cause like I said, I ain’t no miracle worker.”

  “Point taken,” Dale said, cracking a sly smile.

  I made eye contact with both Dale and Emory then Tori. In my mind they were asking me to do the unobtainable which meant I was being set up for failure. But the thing was I didn’t believe in failure. So seeing what I was up against only made me want to fight harder to win. And if winning meant turning Tori into a Bad Bitch then that’s what I would do.

  Precious

  For the last few days the only topic of conversation was trying to figure out who came in, shot up our men and ran off with our coke. As I sat down at the round table with Genesis and Nico we all agreed it had to be a bold motherfucker.

  “Something definitely not adding up. And how the fuck that nigga Jamir get so lucky. Everybody dead but him…really?”

  “Nico, I was with you on that but after interrogating him, I don’t believe he’s involved.”

  “Yeah I have to agree with Genesis on that. Dude seemed genuinely fucked up behind all those dead bodies. Plus McKenzie’s wife verified his story.” “Then who?” Nico asked with his voice rising. I could tell his frustration was getting the best of him. Nico was used to getting answers to his questions and handling whatever the situation might be swiftly. Anything left lingering was unacceptable to him but now he was feeling powerless.

  “If we had the answer to that question we wouldn’t be sitting here at the round table scrutinizing every clue no matter how insignificant.”

  “Out of all the times for this shit to happen it would be now. I don’t need this fuckin’ headache in my life right now!” Nico barked, pounding his fist down on the table.

  “None of us do but it comes with the territory. All we can do is regroup and come back harder.”

  “Genesis, that sounds good, but this is our second major setback in a matter of months. Streets are going to be talking soon and looking for a more reliable source for their drug of choice.”

  “You think I don’t know this,” Genesis turned to me and said. “I’ve been in this game for many years and I know how it works and so does whoever it is that’s trying to take us out of the race.”

  “They might as well dead that ‘cause we ain’t going nowhere. Best believe we will find out who lit that fire and it ain’t going back out until we say so,” Nico promised, rubbing his hands together like he was about to lay somebody out.

  “So what’s our next move?” Nico and I both stared at Genesis waiting for his answer.

  “We head to Miami and meet with the potential new connect I told you about.”

  “While you and Precious head to Miami, I’ll stay here and watch things in case anymore bullshit goes down.”

  “That’ll work. Plus I already have Lorenzo on top of some other business that needs to be dealt with.”

  “Lorenzo’s back?”

  “Yeah, he got back a couple weeks ago,” Genesis said, casually. I could feel a sharp stare coming from Nico’s direction but ignored it. I was still processing what Genesis just told me. I couldn’t believe Lorenzo was back and he hadn’t even reached out to me. When he left six months ago we weren’t on the best of terms but certainly not the worse. I began wondering if Lorenzo had any intentions of letting me know he was back or if he had completely let go.

  “I hope you not over there thinking ‘bout Lorenzo.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You heard what I said. I can’t believe you still checkin’ for that man. He’s the reason your marriage is over. Don’t you think it’s time for you to let that go?” I wanted to curse Nico the fuck out but I saw Genesis off to the side taking a phone call so I decided to keep my voice down.

  “Nico, who I’m thinking about is none of your business. And if you want to place the blame on why my marriage is over, I’m sure Supreme would add you to that short list of reasons. It’s funny how you had no problem interfering with my marriage to Supreme, but since you’re no longer a part of the triangle you want to place blame on Lorenzo.”

  “You and I shared a long and meaningful history. If your marriage ended because you chose to come back to me, that would be understandable. But to ruin what you had with Supreme because of Lorenzo is simply stupid.”

  “Mind your business. Whatever the fuck happened in my marriage, is my cross to bear. Unless I ask for it, do me a favor and keep your opinions to yourself. Maybe if you started dating and moved on with your life, you wouldn’t be so concerned about mine.”

  “So you know I am dating. I’m just much more private about my relationships. Maybe that’s something you need to try and do.” Before I was able to respond, we heard Genesis say my name.

  “Precious, I just confirmed that everything is a go with our meeting in Miami tomorrow. So we’ll leave out tonight.”

  “Then I need to head out now and get some things taken care of before we leave.”

  “That’s cool, so I’ll call you in a couple hours and let you know the exact time we’re leaving out.”

  “By the way, Precious, I spoke to Aaliyah yesterday. When is the last time you spoke to our daughter?” I kept it moving trying my best not to let Nico know how painful his low blow was. He was well aware that my relationship with Aaliyah was somewhat strained and for him to go there was hitting way below the belt.

  During my entire ride home my mind kept jumping back and forth to Supreme then Aaliyah then Lorenzo then Nico. I thought about what he said, that he was dating and wondered if it was true. It wasn’t as if I was around Nico enough to know who was coming and going in his bed, but for some reason I always felt I would get some sort of vibe when he had gotten over his feelings towards me and moved on. Or maybe he was dating but none of the relationships had turned serious yet. Trying to figure it all out, was giving me a headache so bad that by the time I pulled up into my driveway the only thing I was interested in was an Excedrin Migraine. I slammed the car door, anxious to reach my destination. I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I got caught out there. I didn’t even realize somebody was walking up on me until it was almost too late. Without letting on I felt danger two steps behind me, I quickly reached in my purse and pulled out my 9mm.

  “Motherfucker, you ‘bout to die. Get the fuck down!” I belted out, with my finger on the trigger ready to blast.

  “Hold on! I don’t want no problems!”

  “What the fuck is you doing here?” I shouted, not lowering my weapon.

  “I just came to talk. I come in peace. Now please put that gun away.”

  “Take off your jacket and empty your pockets.”

  “I’m not armed. I swear.”

  “Do what I ask or I’ll escort you back to your car with this gun aimed right at your head. The choice is yours.”

  “If I knew things would go down like this, I would’ve asked Genesis to set up a meeting between us.”

  “Well you didn’t, T-Roc, so now we have to do this the hard way,” I said, as I watched T-Roc take off his jacket and remove his wallet and other items out of his pockets. “Oh and don’t make the mistake of walking up on me unannounced again because next time I’m going to shoot first and ask questions last.”

  “Precious Cummings, your reputation precedes you so it’s my fault for not handling this differently. I will definitely not make that mistake again.”

  “Again, it’s your life to play with so the choice is yours,” I smiled. “Now that I know you’re good, please come in. What is it that you need to talk to me about?” I asked, putting my keys and purse down but still feeling the need to keep my gun near by.

  “I know that Chantel has put your family through a lot and I’ve
never had the opportunity to apologize to you and your daughter.”

  “It wasn’t just Chantel it was also Justina.”

  “Justina made some bad choices but she was only trying to protect her mother, although that doesn’t excuse what she did.”

  “Your daughter wasn’t trying to protect her mother she wanted Aaliyah out the way because she was jealous about her relationship with Amir. So if you came over here to try and portray Justina as some victim then you need to just turn around and leave.”

  “No, that’s not what I came over here for.”

  “Then you need to get to the point fast because I have a flight to catch.”

  “Out of respect for everything you and your family has been through, I wanted to personally tell you that my wife will be pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. She has a long history of mental issues and she needs professional help from a doctor not jail time.” I found myself laughing at what T-Roc said and I couldn’t stop. I finally got a hold of myself because this really was no laughing matter.

  “Your wife is a nut alright, it’s called a psychopath. But the last time I checked there was plenty of room in prison for those. And if I had my way, your daughter would be occupying a jail cell right next to her mother.”

  “Precious, hold on..”

  “No, you hold on. Don’t pretend with me for one moment that you believe anything else but that your wife knew exactly what she was doing and why. If you wanna pay some high priced lawyer to try and get Chantel off on an insanity plea, by all means knock yourself out. But just make sure that heffa stays off the streets because if she crosses paths with me, she’ll be wishing that she had stayed locked up behind bars. You follow me?”

  “I follow you. You’ve made yourself quite clear. But like I said, out of respect I wanted to inform you how my wife planned to plead. I’ve done that and now I will go but I wish you and your family nothing but the best.”

  “So you know, T-Roc, you’re reputation also precedes you, but unlike you, I won’t make the mistake of underestimating how you handle things. So you take care but don’t come back to my house again unless you’re invited but that’s never gonna happen so get out.”

  I observed from the front door as T-Roc walked to his car and then drove away. He left me with an uneasy feeling. I heard numerous stories about bullshit T-Roc was involved in but nothing would ever stick. I could tell he was one of those slick ass niggas that was always used to slithering his way out of something. But none of that was happening this way because I planned to shut it down before it could even get started. So for that very reason I decided to put T-Roc on my watch list.

  Aaliyah

  As I sat across from Tori, I began tapping my fingers on the pink ivory table wondering how in the hell I got myself in this position. I knew I was supposed to be a team player, but I was starting to not like the team I was playing on. I glanced over at Tori once again and tried to do a quick assessment. The faster I got this project over with the quicker I could get back to my own fuckin’ life. So if putting aside my disdain for the chick and playing nice would make that happen then so be it.

  “Tori, I know things started off shaky between us but I think it’s time for us to put that aside and move forward.” Tori kept her head down not giving me any sort of clue how she felt about what I said. So I continued, determined to make a breakthrough. “This is a very important operation. Dale and Emory are counting on us and I don’t think either of us want to let them down.”

  Bingo, I thought to myself when for the first time Tori actually looked up and made eye contact with me, although she still had on her huge, dark sunglasses. It was evident that pleasing the brothers was her soft spot. That was good to know because understanding a person’s motivation always made it easier in figuring out how to work them mentally. I learned that from my grandfather.

  “Well if you ready I’m ready.”

  “Great because we have a lot of work to do. The first thing I need you to do is remove your sunglasses. I need to have that eye contact.”

  “Why is that important?”

  “Mainly because when it’s time for you to seduce your target it won’t be done with you wearing those sunglasses.” Instead of Tori taking them off, she hesitated. I started to wonder if she had two black eyes underneath them. But then the way her hand was fidgeting with the rim I wondered if it was something else. “Are you shy?”

  “Nah…I mean not really…well maybe a little.”

  “I know having something shield your eyes might be a form of a comfort zone for you but we have to start working on breaking you out of that. And since the brothers have us on a tight timeline of getting this done, I think now would be a good time to start.”

  “I feel you,” she said in her sweet voice. The one thing that did bring me some consolation was that she had a very pretty soft tone that men would find inviting. Now only if I could get her outer appearance to match it we would have a fighting chance.

  “Awesome so can you take off the sunglasses and your baseball cap while you’re at it.” It took Tori a few minutes but she finally complied. “Why have you been covering up such a pretty face?”

  “Stop wit’ the sarcasm. I thought we was putting the negativity aside and moving forward.”

  “I’m not being sarcastic I’m being real,” I said, truthfully. Tori had engaging, wide almond shaped eyes with thick eyebrows that did need to be shaped up but nothing that a good waxing couldn’t fix. Getting a view of her face in its entirety made her full lips appear seductive instead of out of place. But I did notice her teeth were slightly stacked and discolored but again it was nothing that a great dentist couldn’t magically transform into a million dollar smile.

  “So you saying you think I’m pretty?”

  “Yes, I think you’re very pretty and when we’re done you’ll be beautiful.” Tori let out a nervous laugh and for a second I thought my eyes were playing a trick on me but they weren’t, she was blushing. I was stunned that this person who I initially thought was a street thug guy was acting like an insecure girl who wanted to feel gorgeous like every other woman.

  “I’m ready. I want it to happen. I want to be beautiful.”

  “Say no more.”

  I spent the next several weeks doing everything in my power to make what Dale, Emory and Tori wanted come true. It helped that Tori seemed to now want this transformation to be successful more than anybody. She followed all my suggestions without any hesitation. Under all of her baggy clothes Tori was hiding a cute figure but she needed to lose about fifteen pounds and tone up. I put her on a healthy eating regimen, drinking lots of water, then hooked her up with a personal trainer and homegirl didn’t miss one workout.

  After getting her body right we then fixed her teeth and decided on getting her porcelain veneers. I took Tori to one of the best cosmetic dentist in Miami. When the procedure was finally complete her teeth had such a natural and beautiful look. Her grill didn’t appear too big for her mouth and fake looking like so many people I had seen on television. My final major change was getting just the right hairstyle to compliment her face. I wanted a style that would highlight her thick eyebrows, which now had a perfect arch to them, her full lips and high cheekbones. Once we took the cornrows down, Tori’s hair was slightly past her shoulders. I decided to have the beautician give her a blunt shoulder length bob and dye her dark brown hair, jet-black. The color really made her thick black eyebrows pop and her almond shaped eyes sparkle.

  “How do you feel?” I asked Tori, as we sat at the nail salon both getting pedicures.

  “Amazing. I don’t even feel like the same woman anymore.”

  “Well you’re not,” I smiled.

  “And my skin. You making me eat healthy and drink all that water has my skin glowing. I can’t believe what you’ve done for me. I’m so grateful.”

  “Thank you! I’m glad I was able to deliver. That Dominican dude ain’t gone be ready for you.”

  “I know right! But
there’s one more thing I want to do so I can feel completely confident.”

  “What could that be? I mean we’ve covered everything. All that is left to do is go shopping now that you’ve lost your weight and got your body right.”

  “Before we go shopping I really want to get my breasts done.”

  “Excuse me…you mean a boob job?”

  “Shhh,” Tori whispered, putting her finger over her mouth. “I don’t want some humongous breasts just like a large B or small C cup. I mean right now I’m like a negative A.” We both laughed at the negative A comment.

  “I honestly think your body looks amazing now, you’re toned yet curvy but I also want you to feel completely confident with yourself. You’re about to seduce a very powerful man so your mental game has to be super on point.”

  “Exactly and that’s why I really want the breast

  implants. This is your project so what do you say?” “Let’s do it. Breast implants it is!”

  Precious

  When we pulled up in front of The Setai in South Beach, I immediately put on my sunglasses to cover my eyes from the blinding sun that hit us when we stepped out the car. Wearing a wrap-front colorblock silk maxi dress that had a daring split, made me feel like I was on my way to a NYC Fashion Week Show instead of a gathering to lockdown a new drug distributor. We were on our way up to The Penthouse, for what I hoped to be the last meeting. But at this point it could go either way.

  “Genesis, this is our third trip to Miami in the last few weeks. At what point are you going to make the decision to move forward and do business with these guys because I’m ready.”

  “I know it might seem like I’m being overly cautious but the way shit has been going for the last several months, we can’t take any chances. We still don’t know who shot up our warehouse and stole our shipment. We have to move carefully and I want to make sure that these men are on the up and up.” “I get it but they haven’t shown us otherwise. In this business we’re in, there is always a risk and yes you try to investigate to avoid as many pitfalls as possible but I have a good feeling about them. The price is right, the product is exceptional and their reputation is solidified. It appears to me all they want to do is good business. I don’t want them to start feeling disrespected because they think we don’t trust them, especially when they haven’t done anything to warrant that.”