Street Fame (4 page)

M
ark cupped one of Jennifer’s huge breasts then put the other in his mouth. He moved his tongue down her stomach, into her navel, between her inner thigh ... She bit down hard on his neck. His manhood was now throbbing, but before he could slide it inside her, he came.

Then he woke from his dream and looked down at his boxers. He couldn’t believe he was dreaming about a stripper. He sprang from his bed. It was three in the morning and he had semen in his boxers. In the next five minutes, he cleaned himself up and got back in the bed. He couldn’t sleep. Instead he thought about Jennifer, not in a sexual way, but he wondered what led her to be with a drug dealer, what made her take off her clothes for a living.

Why is she on ecstasy
? It was obvious the girl had problems, and he could tell she wasn’t a bad person but that she’d made some bad decisions in life. Mark wanted to help her but didn’t know why. Maybe because he was somewhat attracted to her. He told himself that he had to keep it on a professional level. After all, she was a crook, one of the bad guys.

Twin met Jennifer with a hug and they kissed passionately. He picked her up and carried her to the sofa where he unbuttoned her blouse.
“Stop.”
Twin looked confused. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. Just that I wanted to talk to you first.”
Twin buttoned her blouse back up. “You look worried. What’s wrong?”
“You remember the girls that were in Miami with us? The one who you had me call the cops on?”
“Yeah.”
“They told the DEA about you and me.”
“How do you know that?”
Jennifer looked away briefly before resuming eye contact with Twin. “I had a little visit on my job. They know about the phone call that I made.”
“What did they ask you?”
“They asked me about you and JoJo and Tommy.”
“How the hell did they know about us?”
Again Jennifer looked away. “I don’t know.”
Twin grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. “Let me find out you’ve been ratting to the cops. I will kill you, white bitch. Do you understand me?”
“Daddy, I would never do anything to hurt you. They said they’ve been investigating Tommy for two years now.”
Twin was no longer in the mood for sex.

The crew decided to meet at
Outback Steakhouse
. Tommy was a little hesitant to meet with Twin at first. After all, he’d gotten robbed and Twin had acted as if he didn’t give a fuck about the whole incident. But when Twin had called, he said that it was important that they meet.

When they got to the restaurant, they were seated in a booth in the back. They all ordered
Heinekens
. Nobody wanted to eat.
“
Okay, what is so important?” Tommy asked.
“Jennifer said the feds came to the club, and they were asking questions about us.”
Tommy sipped his beer. “How the fuck can the feds be asking questions about us to your girl. They don’t know we know your girl?”
“You know the two girls got busted, remember, coming from Miami.”
“Yeah, but those girls don’t know us,” JoJo said.
He’d made a good point. One Twin hadn’t thought about when he had spoken to Jennifer. He looked at Tommy. “She said the feds told her they been investigating you for a while. They probably got photos of all of us. I don’t know.”
“You sure your girl ain’t telling?” Tommy asked.
“Fuck you, Fatboy.”
“Fuck you, nigga!” Tommy said.
“Fat-ass nigga. I’ll hurt you.”
“And your mom will be making funeral arrangements,” Tommy smiled.
“That’s why your bitch ass got robbed,” Twin said as he pointed his finger at Tommy’s face.
“Y’all keep this shit quiet and cut the bickering. We all we got. Remember, we’ve known each other since the sandbox, so we gotta stick together,” JoJo said.
Twin huffed but offered Tommy his hand.
After a few seconds of contemplation, Tommy shook his hand.
“Okay. We need to change our phones and phone numbers,” Twin said.
“There’s a cat in the barbershop that comes around with hot phones; he can get them for us at a hundred dollars each,” JoJo said.
“Cool,” Tommy said.
“Are we all on the same page?” JoJo asked.
“I’m okay. I still don’t trust his bitch, though,” Tommy said.
Twin didn’t say anything. He just stared at Tommy.

Mark and Jennifer met at
Dean & Deluca
for coffee. She was looking incredible with a black tube dress and heels that revealed her freshly polished toes. Her blonde hair was flowing freely in the light morning breeze. She was unusually tan today—maybe from a tanning booth.

Mark found himself staring at her breasts.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.
“I don’t know…” He hesitated.
She crossed her legs then took a sip of her coffee.
“So, what’s new with the crew?”
“Nothing really.”
“They got new phones, right?”
“Yes.” She stirred her coffee then placed the little straw in her

mouth. She’d left traces of lipstick around it. “How’d you guess?” “The number you gave me has been disconnected. Happens
quite a bit with drug dealers. They get phones for a month, change numbers, phone companies, and everything. I imagine it must be a
horrible life, always looking over your shoulder.”
Jennifer pulled out a pair of Channel sunglasses from her purse.
The sunglasses covered much of her face. “I guess you’re right.” “You don’t know, huh?”
“I mean, the life is like you’re living on the edge, but it has its
rewards.”
His eyebrows rose. “Rewards? What kind of rewards?” She held up her ring. “Five carats.”
“Impressive.” He sipped his bottled water.
“You think so?”
“Yes, I would have to save for two years to buy a ring like that.” “Two years!”
“Yes.”
“It would probably take me two as well.” She smiled.
“But Twin and the crew could buy it on sight, huh?” Mark said. “Let’s not talk about Twin.” She placed her index finger over his
mouth. “So, why do you do what you do? I know it’s not for the
money.”
“I want to make a difference—for the kids and the elderly.” “Twin, JoJo, and Tommy aren’t bad guys, you know?” “Most drug dealers aren’t.”
“So why do you want to lock people up and take them away from
their family? Now
that
must be a horrible life.”
“Not really. I take pride in my job.”
Jennifer looked at her watch. “Shit! I really have to be going now.” “So soon?”
“What was the purpose of this meeting, anyway? Why did you
want to see me?”
“Just wanted to see that pretty face.” He smiled.
“Really?”
“Yes. That … and to find out Twin’s new number.”
“Yes. That … and to find out Twin’s new number.”
555-0234,” she finally said.
“Thank you, Jennifer. I will call you later.” Mark scribbled the
number on a napkin.
*****

Nia had reserved a room at the Holiday Inn downtown. As soon as JoJo walked in the room at noon, she unzipped his pants and grabbed his penis. He didn’t resist. After he was aroused he picked her up and carried her to the bed. There he pulled her G-cut undies down with his teeth and trailed her belly with his tongue before tasting her wet vagina. She grabbed his head. “This pussy is yours.”

Moments later, he was pushing his penis in as far as it would go. “Yeah, muthafucka! I want you to fuck the shit out of me.” He turned her over on her stomach and plunged hard. He slapped

her ass.
She bit down on the pillow and yelled, “Harder!”
They went at it for twenty minutes. She’d ridden him. He’d sexed

her from the spoon position to the missionary position. She had tears streaming down her face now.
JoJo stood and put on his boxers.
Nia looked at his body and smiled. He had a basketball player’s frame—tall, lean, abs as solid as steel. She loved the way he made her feel. He stimulated her physically as well as mentally.
He turned and smiled at her.
She just lay there, unwilling to move, the sheet half covering her naked body.
He walked over and yanked it away.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Why are you just lying there? What are you thinking about?”
“I was just thinking that maybe me and you should run away; you know, blow this spot. I mean I hate this life of being a hustler’s wife. I feel like one of those chicks in a Vickie Stringer or Danielle Santiago novel. There has to be more to life than this.”
He looked toward the window. “I know. This shit has gotten old to me, too.”
She licked her lips. “I want you, JoJo. I want you all to myself.”
He contemplated something before saying, “You know that can’t be possible. I mean, you have a man—my best friend at that.”
“Come on. Get off that best friend bull shit. If he was really your best friend you wouldn’t be fuckin me.”
“I don’t like this shit.” He put his shirt on and buttoned it. “I can’t go on like this, and I feel bad every time we have sex. And now you done went and caught feelings and shit … I thought this was just supposed to be a fuck thing and nothing more.”
Nia rose from the bed and picked up her undergarments from the floor, shoving them in her overnight bag. “I know I’m not supposed to catch feelings, but I enjoy being with you, and the dick
is
good.” She smiled.
“I know I got skills. Right?”
“I’ve had better.” She blushed and revealed her dimples.
“Yeah, right. That’s why your ass is talking about running away with me.”
She stepped into the bathroom, still completely naked.
JoJo’s eyes zeroed in on her ass.
“JoJo, come and take a shower with me,” she teased.
“I don’t want to.”
“Why not?”
“‘Cause I’m going to wanna hit that ass again.”
“As if that would be a bad thing.”
JoJo kicked his boots off and stepped into the bathroom.
Nia was on her knees, her mouth open, waiting on him.

be going.”
“Can I call you?” He leaned against the glass door of the nail shop. “Sure, that’s why I gave you the number. But at this point, I can

only see us being friends.”
“Why?”
“I think you’re a drug dealer.”
“How do you figure?”
She looked over at his Escalade but didn’t say anything. “The truck, huh?”
“I’ve dated hustlers before.”
“What happened?”
“They usually go to jail or get killed by rival drug dealers.” “I’ll call you, Alicia. Maybe you can help me rewrite that ending.” “Call me, Tommy. It was nice meeting you.”

Tommy and Nia sat on the sofa, counting money, putting it in thousand-dollar stacks—hundred-dollar bills on top then the twenties, tens and fives ... After they finished counting the money they stuffed it into Samsonite briefcases. The money totaled about two hundred thousand dollars. Nia got up and peered out the window. A peaceful street in suburbia, with SUV’s and European cars in every driveway. Nothing eventful ever happened on this street.

She shrugged. “I don’t know, Tommy; I guess all this money in here is making me nervous. Somebody has to know about you.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Tommy, you just got robbed a week ago. You know the old saying in the street: If the niggas know, the police know.”
Tommy walked over and hugged Nia.
“Tommy, I don’t know if I can go on like this anymore. I was telling my friend the other day that I feel like I’m in one of those street lit books.”
“What books?”
“You know …
A Hustler’s Wife
,
Little Ghetto Girl
…”
“Listen, baby, this ain’t no book. This is real life.”
Her eyes had expanded. “I know, but I can’t help the fact that I’m scared.”
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. You, of all people, don’t have anything to worry about. I would never involve you in my life. I remember what happened to Jamal and how he had his girl on the run with him and shit. I ain’t that kind of nigga.”
Their eyes met and held.
“Listen, I have a goal. As soon as I make my goal, I’m out of this shit; I’m finished with this lifestyle forever. I promise, babe.”
Nia walked over and grabbed the briefcase. “Tommy, two hundred thousand dollars is in here; why ain’t this enough? You have no kids and you are not married. Why ain’t that enough?”
Tommy considered it. He did have a lot of money, and he could probably do a lot with it. He’d thought about a legitimate profession, like running car lots, and investing in real estate, but he hadn’t pursued it.
“Tommy, I know we aren’t the ideal couple. I mean, our sex is horrible … but, Tommy, you have such a big heart and you are such a good person … I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Nothing is going to happen to me. See, a lot of people go outside their crews and that’s when shit gets ugly for them. Me, Twin, and JoJo have been knowing each other since the sandbox. I know those are my niggas.”
Nia sat down while Tommy went in the room and got another bag full of money. They continued to count.
When they finished, there was a total of four hundred thousand dollars in the house.

When Tommy and Twin got off the plane at the Miami International Airport, two men in plain clothes met them.
“Tommy and Brandon?” the taller of the two men called out. Tommy stared without saying a word.
Twin looked at the two men then said, “Who the fuck are you?” The shorter of the two agents flashed his badge. “I’m agent Rawls

and this is my partner. We’re with DEA, Miami division.”
“Yeah? And what do you want with us?” Tommy asked nervously. “We just want to talk.”
“About what?”
“Follow us. We’ll go somewhere private. Do you boys drink coffee?” “Are we under arrest?”
“No. Just want to ask some questions.”
“We don’t know shit about drugs. All I know is they’re bad for

The tall agent laughed. “It’s funny you would say that, Brandon, because according to our information, you’ve done time for drugs already. Remember that possession case when the police raided your girlfriend’s apartment and found those five ounces of coke?”

“Yeah, but I’ve done my time for that. We need to get our bags and head to the beach. We’re on vacation.”
“From what? You don’t have jobs.”
“We have to be going.” Tommy said, sidestepping the two officers.
“Listen, I want you to take heed to this warning: You have to be lucky all your life, but we only have to be lucky once. Drug dealers always slip up.”
“Have a good day officers.”

Manny met Tommy in the lobby of his hotel. They greeted one another with a hug.
“Let’s go somewhere for drinks,” Manny said.
“Not right now.”
Manny looked confused. “We always go for drinks. What’s wrong?”
“The feds approached us when we got off the plane.”
Manny laughed. “And you are worried, huh?”
“Hell yeah, man. I don’t want no part of those mothafuckas.”
“You know how many times I’ve been approached by the feds? I don’t give a damn about them. If they lock me up, I’m going to get out. If they charge me, I’ll have the best attorneys money can buy. If I go to jail, my family will still be taken care of,” Manny said confidently. “I have my lawyer’s number on speed dial.”
Tommy relaxed. He’d known Manny for quite some time, and he admired his knowledge of the drug trade. He knew Manny would advise him wisely. Manny and his family had been in the business for years, and they were all very wealthy. Tommy wanted to get where Manny was—living in the mansions, driving the Ferraris and Bentleys. He knew that if he ever stocked a few million dollars, he would get out of the drug game in a hurry.
Manny put his arm around Tommy. “Come on, man. Let’s go to the bar and talk. We can’t let the feds stop our show. I don’t know about you, but I got a lot of people depending on me.”
Outside, Manny gave fifty dollars to the valet, who quickly retrieved the Ferrari.
The beach wasn’t crowded. Manny sped down Collins Avenue until he got to Lincoln, where they found the Moon Room, a private restaurant. The guy at the door smiled at Manny and led him to a room in the back. Young Latino women with their breasts exposed and tight skirts waited the tables while salsa music played in the background
“What the hell is this place?” Tommy asked, amazed.
“This is my favorite restaurant. All the girls in here are hookers, so if you see one you like you can take her upstairs and screw her.”
Tommy had seen several attractive women as soon as he’d walked in the door. However, it would be downright shameful if he couldn’t get an erection for some pussy that he would have to pay for. “I just want something to drink.”
The waitress appeared in a black skirt with red pasties over her nipples. “Hey, Manny.” She smiled. “Do you want the usual?”
“Hey, Anna, this is my friend Tommy. Get him what he wants.”
Anna walked over to Tommy’s side of the table, pressing her 36 D’s against his shoulders. “What can I get you to drink?”
“Vodka and cranberry juice.”
“Grey goose okay?”
“Fine,” Tommy told Anna.
“I’ll take a glass of wine, Anna. Give me your finest white wine,” Manny said.
Salsa music continued to play in the background, and Tommy thought about the movie Scarface. Here he was—a boy from North Carolina, in a restaurant with beautiful, topless waitresses and talking to a man with cartel connections.
“So, Tommy… are we going to do business or what?”
Tommy thought hard. He knew that the feds were onto him. He knew that he couldn’t send the product back on the plane. “I have no way of getting my product back.”
“For five thousand dollars extra, I will have my people bring it to you,” Manny said. “Like I said, nothing is going to stop this show. I have inventory and it has to be moved.”
Tommy’s eyes lit up. “You could get that done?”
“Come on, Tommy, we’re family. This is what family is for.”
Anna brought their drinks and two complimentary Cuban cigars.
Manny passed Tommy a cigar. “You smoke cigars, don’t you?”
“No.”
“You’re a big boy now. Smoke … or at least pretend you’re smoking it.”
Tommy put the cigar in his mouth. He really felt like he was a part of a cartel. But he knew, at this level it was deep involvement. He knew he just couldn’t up and quit if he wanted to. He would have to disappear.
Manny smiled then slapped Anna on her ass.