Not My Mother's Footsteps (2 page)

Terrell lay on his back in his 3 bedroom 2 and half bedroom townhouse with his hands behind his head, as he stares up at the ceiling just thinking. Terrell was 27 years old and doing pretty damn good for himself, he didn’t have any children (so no crazy baby mama’s) he was able to turn illegal drug money almost 100% legit. Rolling over, Terrell grabbed the unfinished blunt out of the ashtray that was on his night stand, lite in and inhaled the smoke. Smoking and thinking was what Terrell did every morning before getting out of bed.

Terrell was deep in thought when his phone began to ring, normally he wouldn’t answer it because he hated being interrupted but it was Renz and he hadn’t talk to him in a while. “Yo?” He answered.

“What’s up baby boy?” Renz voice based through the phone as if it wasn’t 8:00 in the morning. Even though Renz is only two days older than Terrell he has always called him baby boy.

“Aint shit, fuck you been?” Terrell asked as he inhaled the smoke.

“Damn nigga you keeping tabs huh?” Renz said playfully but continued “Nah, but I was with this freak joint and you know how that go” he said while laughing.

“Yea I know ‘fuck em and leave em’” Terrell said mocking Renz voice. Terrell wasn’t like Renz in that area because he was one who wanted a real relationship not some one night stand shit, but since he hadn’t found someone with a relationship one night stands is what he had been getting.

“True shit! But get ya ass up we got business to talk”

“Ight give me a hour and I will meet you at the usual” Terrell said as he sat up in the bed.

“Ight” Renz said before hanging up.

Placing his phone on the nightstand, Terrell stood from the bed and slipped his feet into his Ralph Lauren slippers, and headed to the bathroom that was attached to his room. After a 10min shower, Terrell stepped out and stood in front the mirror, and rubbed his hand across it to get the steam off. Terrell was the true definition of ‘tall, dark, and handsome’ he was about 6’3, dark smooth skin not a blemish in site, and a set of pretty white teeth anyone has ever seen. Terrell quickly brushed his head full of waves and applied his wave cream, and then brushed his teeth.

Once Terrell was done in the bathroom, he dressed in a pair of air Jordan 13 Retro, sweatpants, and a white tee-shirt; he was keeping it simple today.  Terrell grabbed his keys, wallet and tucked his chrome handled 9mm inside sweats; even though he was no longer selling drugs he knew money was the root of all evil and he had a lot of money.

Checking himself over once again in his floor to ceiling mirror, he nodded in approval and headed out the door.

~

Terrell pulled his silver Audi tt coupe with chrome rims into second street parking lot; Second Street was a local family owned restaurant that Terrell and Renz always met at, because it was convenient and the food was good.

Terrell quickly exited his car, and after hitting the alarm on his key ring he headed inside. “Hey Terrell” the hostess said sexily.

“What’s up?” Terrell said as he nodded his head, and continued walking to his normal seat, he ignored her gesture because one, he hated a chick that threw themselves at him, and two because he knew she had already let Renz smash in the bathroom last week.

Terrell got to the booth where he and Renz normally sat, and Renz was not there “this shit is starting to be a regular with him” Terrell said out loud as he slid into booth.

“Hey Terrell” The waitress said as she placed a water in front of him, and a jack and coke where Renz would sit. Terrell rarely drank, and he when he did he made sure it was not when he was handling business, Renz on the other hand drank whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Moments later in walked Renz, with his phone glued to ear, while flirting with every woman he passed; he was just that type of guy.

“What’s good baby boy?” Renz said as he slid into the booth while dapping Terrell up.

“Can’t call it” Terrell said returning the gesture.

“They took ya order yet?” Renz asked as he took a sip of his drink, and hung up on the person he was on the phone with, without so much as a fuck you.

“Nigga you know damn well they aint take no order, since we always order the same shit” Terrell said. Renz didn’t say a word, instead he looked over the menu as if he wasn’t about to get what he always got.

“Hey fellas, what can I get for you both?” the young waitress asked, she was the daughter of the owner and was there working on her summer break from school.

“What’s up Kerry, imma have my usual” Terrell said not wasting anytime on letting her know what he wanted

“Ah shit, umm let me just get what I normally get too” Renz said closing the menu. Kerry didn’t say anything instead she just smirked because the last two times she had been there to take there order Renz did the exact same thing.

“Fuck you waste her time for, when you knew damn well you won’t gonna get nothing different” Terrell asked as he leaned back in the booth.

“Let’s get down to business, I got this freak to meet” He said ignoring Terrell’s question, and Terrell didn’t respond instead he nodded his head towards him, as if to say ‘go ahead’. “So the last time two times I picked up from the store, it’s been short, the first time it was 10k, and the second time it was 15k. Now I can’t get why the fuck we falling so short because it damn sure aint from sales, so the only thing I can think of is, is someone sticking their hand where it don’t belong.” Renz said.

Terrell didn’t say a word instead he set up in the booth as his jaw began to twitch which was a sure indication he was pissed. ‘Who the fuck would be brave enough to steal from me, and why when we all getting fucking money, I make sure everybody well taking care and there fucking families.’ Terrell thought as his jaw continued to twitch.

“So how you want to handle this shit?” Renz asked when there food was placed down in front of them. Terrell didn’t know if Renz had continued talking because he had zoned out when he heard someone was stealing from him. “Rell you hear me?” Renz asked while he shoved a fork full of collard greens in his mouth.

“Uh yea I hear you” Terrell said while digging his pocket, he had seriously took a blow from the news that had just been dropped, he just couldn’t figure out why someone would want to take from him. “I’m out yo, imma get up with ya later” Terrell continued as he threw a $100.00 bill on top of his untouched food; even though he and Renz never had to pay for their food, they still always left money. He walked out the restaurant without saying another word, he had to find the thief and quick because who knows how much they had taken from him, and if not caught they would hit again, and again.

Renz didn’t move, he knew not to, because he knew once his best friend got like this, it was best to just let him be so he continued to eat, and he would just wait for Terrell to call him.

Phoenix had been at Geno’s house since he had picked her up three days ago, and if she was honest with herself she was ready to go home. Within those last few days, Geno had shown her at least 3 different sides to him and she didn’t like neither one of them. Not only that, Geno had different women in and out of his house, and it wasn’t that Phoenix cared because they were not together but she actually hated how he treated them, and they did nothing.

“Phoenix you ready sweets?” Geno asked in his normal personality that Phoenix was used to.

“Yes I am” Phoenix said happy this was coming to an end. ‘And once you drop me off, you don’t have to ever worry about me anymore’ Phoenix thought to herself as her and Geno headed out the door. After about a thirty minute ride, they pulled in front of Phoenix’s apartment complex, and she was going to climb out without saying goodbye, but instead of Geno just dropping her off he found a parking spot and cut the car off. “Can I use your bathroom?” Geno asked sliding his seatbelt off before he even got an answer.

Phoenix wanted to scream ‘hell no, just carry your ass home’ but she thought ‘the faster his ass piss, the faster he is out of my life.’ “Sure” she said climbing out of his truck. Climbing two flights of stairs Phoenix reached her door, and a sense of calmness came over her, she was happy to finally be home. “Whew it fucking stinks in here” Phoenix said the moment she stepped inside, she assumed her one bedroom apartment smelled so bad because it had been closed up.

“Damn shorty the hell is that smell?” Geno asked as he brushed passed her and walked into the bathroom. Phoenix didn’t even want to answer she just wanted him to piss and get the fuck out. Phoenix walked into her kitchen because she was going to take the trash to try and get the smell out of her apartment, but when she flicked the light switch it was still pitch black. “Ya fucking water off?” Phoenix heard Geno yell from behind the bathroom door.

“No, no, no, please no, this can’t be happening” Phoenix whispered as tears welled up in the bottom of her eyelids.

“Aye you hear me? Geno asked as he emerged from the bathroom. “Why won’t ya damn toilet flush and why are you standing there in the dark?” he asked as he walked towards her.

“They turned it off along with the lights” Phoenix said barely audible as the tears that had welled up began to fall.

“Damn” was Geno’s reply because he could see Phoenix was really going through.

“What the hell am I going to do?” Phoenix asked to none in particular as she wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

A smiled crept up on Geno’s face and then he began to speak “how about this shorty, I can get ya lights and water back on, put some food in ya crib and pay ya rent for the next year.”

“Umm and what do I owe you?” Phoenix asked as she slowly turned around with a raised eyebrow.

Geno quickly stopped smiling so Phoenix wouldn’t see “I will hook you up with a few jobs, like I did for Butter and the rest of the girls you met” he said in a concerning tone.

“I am not with messing with drugs and shit” Phoenix said truthfully.

“This aint got nothing to do with drugs shorty for real. Don’t you worry you will be paid and well taken care of” Geno said and Phoenix could see the twinkle in his eyes, as if he was very passionate about what he was saying

Phoenix really wanted to be done with Geno but she was now stuck in between a rock and a hard place. “You would seriously help me out like that?” she asked sounding like a desperate little girl.

“It’s no biggie, like I said you just have to do a few jobs and I got you” Geno said as if meant nothing to just pay peoples bills.

Phoenix was still very skeptical but what was she to do, she really didn’t have a choice “okay I’m down” Phoenix said as she walked towards him “thank you so much” she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. A wide smile quickly crept on Geno’s face when Phoenix agreed to work for him, he thought ‘another one bites the dust.’

Terrell was laid out on his Fabio leather cinema sectional smoking a blunt, he had barely slept in last couple of days, he just couldn’t shake the fact that someone had been stealing from him. His phone began to ring, and without looking at the number he slide the green button and answered “Hey mama” he said inhaling the smoke.

“Scooter don’t you hey me, where the hell have you been?” His mom’s high pitched voice screamed through the phone. Terrell’s family was the only ones who called him Scooter. Terrell didn’t speak right away he just pulled the phone from his ear because she was so loud, it wasn’t like his mother was giving him a chance to talk anyway. “I have been calling your phone, the last two days and you have not answered nor returned not one call. I started to come bring my ass over there” she said in one breath.

Terrell knew his mother was worried because one she was cursing and she never did that because she was holy sanctified and two because she said she said she started to come over, and that was kind of difficult because she lived 5 hours away in North Carolina. “Mama I’m sorry, I just been real busy” Terrell said as he blew out the smoke.

“Busy? Terrell Lewis, you mean to tell me you were too busy to at least let your mother, the one who carried you for nine months, and went through 36 hours of natural labor know you were okay?” She asked in a stern voice.

Terrell knew his mother was serious because she called him by his government name something she rarely did. “I’m sorry mama, I should have called you and said something” he said honestly.

“Is everything okay with you?” she asked in a softer tone.

“Yea, yea everything’s cool” he said never being one to involve his mother in anything that was going on with him.

“Scooter, since when did you start lying to your mother? Now I know when something is wrong with you, so what is it?” She said sounding like the concerned mother she was.

“Mama don’t worry about it, matter fact how about I drive to see you this weekend” Terrell saying knowing that would get her off his back.

Terrell’s mother knew something was really wrong, because he had offered to come visit her in North Carolina, when normally he only visited on holidays and even then he never stayed. “I don’t know what’s going on Scooter, but I know its something serious if you been ignoring me, and now you say you coming to visit me, I don’t like it one bit but at least I will get to see you. Now when are you going to come?” She asked excitedly.

“I’ll be there Friday afternoon mama” Terrell said almost wishing he didn’t say he would visit, but he knew he couldn’t take it back now because if he tried that would be an argument.

“Alright son, I will see you then. I love you Scooter” she said.

“I love you too mama” he said before disconnecting the call. “Fuck I say I was going to North Carolina when I got shit to handle here?” Terrell questioned out loud to himself. Terrell really needed to find out who was stealing from him, and get that shit under control, but he couldn’t tell his mama that. He had plans to spend the weekend with his mother, and once he got back home he would get down to the bottom of this money situation.