Working Girls (5 page)
Authors: Treasure Hernandez
Chapter Six
H
alleigh looked around nervously as she and Mimi walked up the long circular driveway to Jamaica Joe's luxury house. It was a sand-colored, five-level stucco house with a brick front. There were no flowers or anything like that planted, but the landscape was immaculate. All of the bushes were evenly trimmed, surrounded by black mulch. The house had to be around 4,500 square feet, not including the attached three-car garage.
alleigh looked around nervously as she and Mimi walked up the long circular driveway to Jamaica Joe's luxury house. It was a sand-colored, five-level stucco house with a brick front. There were no flowers or anything like that planted, but the landscape was immaculate. All of the bushes were evenly trimmed, surrounded by black mulch. The house had to be around 4,500 square feet, not including the attached three-car garage.
“Damn,” Mimi said, admiring the mini-castle. “Shit, I should have charged they asses two grand each.” She looked around. “After all, what's another five hundred each to this nigga?”
“You mean a thousand each,” Halleigh corrected her.
Mimi thought for a moment, realizing that she almost blew her cover by revealing the fact that Joe was really paying $1,500 per girl instead of the $1,000 she had told Halleigh he was paying. “Oh yeah, that's right, girl. You know I'm not good at math.”
“Not when it comes to other people's money you're not,” Halleigh said sarcastically. “But I will agree that from the looks of this house,” Halleigh stated as she too admired the dwelling, “they could have afforded it, that's for sure.”
The two women made their way to the back door, which Mimi had been instructed by Joe to use. When they got there, the only thing that stood between them and the man on the other side was a glass storm door.
“Y'all the dancers?” the man asked, opening the door for them.
“Naw, we here to deliver pizza,” Mimi said sarcastically as she made her way past the man. Halleigh followed close behind.
Instantly the women's nostrils were filled with the smell of weed as they peeped out their surroundings. Mimi appeared to be confident that the gig would go down without a hitch and that Manolo would never find out about it. After all, no one who associated with the North Side crews associated with the South Side crews, so she knew that there was no mutual player to go back and run his mouth. Halleigh, on the other hand, wasn't as convinced as Mimi that Manolo would never find out. She couldn't stop the butterflies from fluttering in her stomach.
“Mimi, are you sure about this?”
“Yeah. Just chill, Hal.” Mimi spotted Joe standing at the bottom of the basement steps. “There's Joe right there.”
Joe ascended the steps and hugged Mimi as if they were old friends.
Halleigh took a deep breath to calm her nerves. One hour and then we're out, she reminded herself. Now that she stood there, she couldn't believe that she had let Mimi talk her into this madness.
“Joe, this is my girl, Sunshine,” Mimi said, using the name Manolo had branded Halleigh with. “But you can call her Sunny.” Mimi turned to Halleigh. “Sunny, this is Joe.”
Joe nodded a “what up” at Halleigh and then stepped out of the landing and up onto the main level of his luxurious home. Mimi grabbed Halleigh's hand, and they followed Joe toward the back of the house, where the bedrooms were located.
Joe looked Halleigh up and down, admiring her curves for the first time. “Yeah, you gon' heat things up quite a bit with your rays, Sunshine.” Joe smiled at Halleigh, caressing her chin with his index finger. “My boy gon' love you, ma.” He licked his lips and turned to Mimi. “You, princess, come with me.” Looking over at Halleigh, he said, “And you can wait in here for my boy. Just chill out and relax. My man should be here any minute. Get yourself a drink or something in the meantime. But take care of my young boy for me, all right?”
Halleigh nodded her head in agreement and then watched as Mimi and Joe left the room.
Tariq and Malek pulled up to Jamaica Joe's house and noticed the group of people headed inside. Everyone who was invited to the party was a close friend or associate of Joe's. They were people he trusted, so Malek wasn't worried about any drama popping off inside. He knew that he couldn't take his gun inside of Joe's houseâhouse ruleâso he took it out of his waistline and stored it under Tariq's passenger's seat.
Malek got out of the car and followed Tariq up the driveway, limping slightly, making him seem a bit more gangster than he actually was. Malek had been anything but gangster up until a year ago when circumstances changed his situation.
Before getting into the drug game, the only game Malek had ever concerned himself with was the game of basketball. And although new to the game, the bullet he had taken for Jamaica Joe was getting him much respect from the entire North Side of Flint.
Tariq and Malek walked up to the back door, where they were greeted by a member of their crew. They walked inside and greeted Jamaica Joe, who had just returned from the back bedroom. Mimi was on his arm.
Joe released Mimi and then slapped hands with Malek and embraced him tightly. “I got a surprise for you, baby,” he stated. He slapped hands with Tariq and said, “Get on the door. You know who gets in and out.”
Tariq sniffed loudly as he scratched his nose and nodded his head. He was tired of being treated like a flunky. It was like Malek had become Joe's favorite soldier. Tariq kept his feelings inside and stood by the back door as he was instructed, while he watched Malek join the party inside.
Joe threw his arm around Malek and led him through the house, toward the back bedroom. “How that leg feeling?”
“It's all right,” Malek responded, tapping his leg. “It keeps me standing. And I guess that's all that matters, that I'm still standing. Some ain't so lucky.” Malek put his head down.
It was obvious to Joe that he was referencing his mother and stepfather. “I heard that,” Joe said. “And, yo, you know we gon' handle that shit with your moms and pops and shit. I'm sorry your family got pulled into all this.”
Malek simply nodded, not wanting to think anymore about the great loss he'd suffered. He had already lost a part of his heart when Halleigh disappeared. The other part had been stripped from him the day his mother and stepfather were taken from this earth. And as far as Malek was concerned, his stepfather, in his heart, was his real father. After all, he was the man who had raised him ever since he married Malek's mother when Malek was only eight years old. Malek's biological father had gotten himself killed in a drug deal gone bad; not that his sorry ass had ever played a part in Malek's life before his death anyway.
“I got something to cheer you up, though,” Joe stated with a mischievous smile. “It's right in this room.” He pointed to one of the bedroom doors then patted Malek on the shoulder. “Don't hurt yourself, li'l man,” he added as he walked away, knowing that the young girl was about to put it on Malek.
Malek opened the door and saw a girl sitting on the bed. She was bent over, her face buried in her hands. He could see her body trembling, and she seemed to be in deep thought.
Feeling a presence in the room, the girl looked up and straight into Malek's eyes. Malek couldn't believe the sight before him. He stood there in complete disbelief.
This isn't real.
Then finally he spoke. “Halleigh?” Malek called out in astonishment.
This isn't real.
Then finally he spoke. “Halleigh?” Malek called out in astonishment.
The sound of his voice let her know that her eyes hadn't deceived her. Tears flooded her line of sight as she ran to him. He hugged her tightly, picking her up off her feet.
Halleigh pulled back and touched his face, allowing her rich persimmon-complected fingers to run the course of his dark sienna-brown skin. She ran her hands down the ripples of waves in his hair. She just wanted to make sure that he was real. Once she was completely convinced, she pressed herself back up against him.
For all this time, Halleigh had felt so much anger toward Malek. She wanted to be mad at him forever. But as he stood in front of her in the flesh, that deep-seated love she had for him outweighed every other emotion.
As Malek held her, she felt relief swarm over her body. Just being in his arms again made everything okay. He was the answer to all of her prayers. For a minute, Halleigh forgot all about the past year. She forgot all about the life she was living, and that she was at that house on an assignment. She felt like the smart high school girl that she had once been; untainted by the streets.
“Baby,” was all Malek said as he kissed her on top of her head, which was buried in his chest. Halleigh began to sob hysterically as he held onto her and tears came to his own eyes. Malek squeezed her even tighter against him, as if she might disappear any second.
“I thought you left me,” she cried hysterically. “You left me.”
“Shhh. I would never leave you, Hal. I thought you left me,” he told her. “Do you know that? I looked for you every day for weeks.” He rubbed her hair softly, trying to soothe her soul. He had no idea of the things she had experienced since he'd last seen her, but he could feel that there was something different about her.
He put her back down to her feet and looked her in the eyes. She was still the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, but she looked tired and worn down, the small bags underneath her eyes revealing nothing but sadness and despair.
“What happened to you? Where have you been?” he asked. “I thought I saw you one day, but . . .” Malek's words just trailed off. He was still in disbelief.
Halleigh stared at him blankly. She knew it was about to start: him asking her twenty-one questions. But Halleigh didn't know if she should lie or tell the truth. She couldn't help but wonder if she told him about the person she was now, would he still love her?
“You just up and dipped on me,” Malek stated when Halleigh never responded.
“I dipped on you?” Halleigh couldn't believe he had just fixed his lips to say that. “You're the one who left me stuck here while you ran off out of town without me.” That old anger began to rear its ugly head in Halleigh's tone. She poked Malek in the chest as she spoke her next words. “You promised me you would take me away from here. You promised you would be there for me. You lied and it's been hell. I've been out here all alone trying to survive. You have no idea what I've been through since you left me. No idea.” Tears flooded Halleigh's eyes.
Malek tried to reach out to her, but she pulled from his reach. “You hurt me, Malek.” She flopped down on the bed hopelessly as hot tears flowed uncontrollably. Her spirit felt so broken and confused that she couldn't think straight. She had imagined the moment that she would be reunited with Malek so many times, but now that he was in her presence, she didn't know what to say or do.
Malek let out an “are you kidding me?” chuckle.
“What are you talking about, Hal? I never left town.” Malek kneeled down in front of her.
“Then why didn't you come for me? I came to your house and your mother told me everything.”
A perplexed look covered Malek's face. “What do you mean,
everything
?”
everything
?”
“That you were gone. She said that you didn't want to see me. That you blamed me for losing your shot at going pro. Malek, you don't know half the things I've had to go through this past year.” Halleigh stood up and walked away in shame. She didn't even want Malek to be able to look into her eyes and see who she was now. “You have no idea.” Halleigh just shook her head and continued to cry.
Malek took a deep breath and swallowed the disappointment that was stirring up in him. The last thing he wanted to do was to feel anger toward his deceased mother, but he could only imagine the conversation that took place between her and Halleigh. He could only imagine the lies his mother had fed her just to keep the two of them apart. But he loved his mother dearly. He couldn't get upset with her, especially now that she was dead. All the good his mother had done for him in his life could never outweigh the bad. All his mother ever wanted was what was best for Malek, and she had worked hard to make sure that he got it.
When Malek was just a baby, his mother would put in long hours, working two and three jobs at a time if she had to, just so she wouldn't become a statistic. She did not want to be a young, single mother raising her child on welfare, which was the life her own mother had lived. She didn't want her child to experience the embarrassment and humiliation that she did as a child on welfare.
One day when Malek's mother was in first grade, she experienced what she thought was the most embarrassing moment in her life. She was in the grocery store line with her mother when one of her classmates got in line behind them with her mother. When it was their turn to get checked out, Malek's mother wanted to disappear when her mother pulled out all of those books of food stamps to pay for the grocery bill. By the time Malek's mother arrived at school the next morning, the entire class knew that she was on food stamps. The jokes followed her all the way through elementary. It was a childhood scar she carried with her all through her life, right up to the birth of Malek.
She swore that she would do whatever it took to stay off of welfare. So, not once in her life did she ever receive government assistance. And on top of working so hard, she still managed to be there to support Malek in everything he did. Some days she didn't even get a moment's rest. It was something that wore her body out physically, but more than anything, it was something she was proud of. And not one time did she ever fuss, holler or complain about the sacrifices she had made. She knew that Malek making it into the NBA and making enough money to take care of her for the rest of her life was her reward. That's when she would rest. But now, she was resting in peace, and Malek would respect that rest by instantly forgiving his mother for keeping him away from Halleigh.
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