Dame’s temple throbbed as he stood toe to toe with Ball, but he didn’t respond.
“Exactly! It’s all the same,” Ball spit before leaving Dame’s hotel and heading back to his own.
When he entered the lobby he saw Lola headed his way. Her flawless figure was covered in an Yves Saint Laurent swimsuit that complimented the curves of her body.
“Hey, where you coming from?” she asked.
“I had to clear my head,” he lied, unable to look her in the eye.
She put her hand on his face and turned his face to hers as she peered at him.
“Seven likes you. Seven doesn’t like anybody. You’re in the big leagues now, baby.” she said.
He grabbed her hand and kissed her wrist. “I’ma holla at you when we get back,” he said, rushing off to calm his nerves. Lola’s presence had him nervous and he didn’t know if it was because of his own anxiety or because of the sexual tension between them. All he knew was that he needed to get his mind right for what he was about to do.
“Damn whoever this nigga is, he’s getting it,” Ball said as the limo pulled up a massive estate. He couldn’t help but be impressed by the grandness of the Mediterranean inspired mansion. He had thought that Seven was at the top of the game until he stepped foot on the marble walkway outside of the 15,000 square foot home. It was then that he realized, this was a level of the game that he had never encountered. At this level it was no longer a hustle. It was a business and Ball realized he was in over his head. The home was guarded better than a military base as he noticed the armed henchmen positioned strategically in every hidden nook of the mansion’s shadow.
“You look nervous. You a’ight?” Seven asked, assuming that Ball was intimidated.
“I’m good fam,” he replied, shaking the stars from his eyes as he followed Seven to the front door.
“Yo why didn’t you invite Lola to come?” Ball asked curiously.
“Lola is a pretty face, and sometimes a pretty face can distract from hidden intentions. I don’t trust her all the way yet. I respect her and I embrace her off the strength of what her father used to do, but she still has some work to put in before I allow her access to something this big,” Seven stated.
Ball felt honored that although Seven had known Lola longer, he had chosen him to come. Seven trusted Ball, which would only make the sting of betrayal that much greater when the truth came out. They were stopped by a guard as they entered the home and Ball began to sweat bullets as he realized how much he was risking by walking into the place wired.
Seven held up his arms for the burly man to search him for weapons, but a voice from the second floor foyer put him at ease.
“You can lower your arms Seven. There is a metal detector built into my front door. I know you and your guest aren’t strapped,” a woman’s voice said.
Ball and Seven looked up in awe as the most beautiful woman they had ever seen walked down the steps. Her long, white editor-cut Chanel pants were tailored perfectly, covering just enough of her Zanotti peep toes to still reveal her fresh pedicure. Her brown skin was tanned and glowing as she approached them. She radiated class and a bit of arrogance as she introduced herself.
“I’m Anari. It is nice to meet you Seven. I have heard some very impressive things about you,” she said. “You come highly recommended by someone that I trust with my life.”
“I have to say that this is unexpected,” Seven replied, completely smitten with his new connect. She radiated power and a confidence that he had never encountered. “I was under the impression that I was meeting with a Tony.”
She simply gave him a smile and held out her hand. “Let’s take this into the dining room gentlemen,” she said.
Her walk was filled with authority, but it was also soft and feminine. She was a boss in her own right and everything about her reminded them that they were beneath her and lucky to even be in her presence. She sat in a chair at the head of her long dining room table and motioned for them to have a seat. Ball couldn’t help but notice the five men that stood silently around them, one in each corner of the room and one seated directly at the table. His hands began to sweat as he thought about the wire he was wearing.
He was so nervous that he felt his body heat rising as a light sweat broke out on his forehead. Ball could hear each beat of his heart and the rhythm was so loud that it drowned out all conversation. All he heard were the subtle threats that Anari was throwing out. Her status was intimidating. He had thought the connect would be some old man from Mexico; a backyard connect with access to a few bricks. But Seven actually had a plug!
Anari sat back watching both men closely as her slanted eyes took in their every movement. Every gesture, every blink of the eye, and every tap of a foot against her expensive tiled floor; she noticed it all. Her freedom depended upon her ability to weed the snakes out of the grass and to her displeasure she sensed something fishy in the air.
She sat back in her chair and crossed her legs, her foot kicking the 9 mm handgun that she had strapped underneath the table. Seven was speaking, but she was barely listening. Her attention was on Ball who couldn’t sit still or meet her with direct eye contact.
“Is everything all right?” she asked her eyebrows creased in suspicion. “You’re sweating an awful lot.”
Ball’s heart stopped as he wiped his forehead and looked directly at Anari for the first time since being in her presence. Seven looked at Ball like he was crazy, knowing that it was out of character for him to be so on edge.
“I’m good ... I’m sorry about that. I had some bad food on the flight down. Do you mind if I use your bathroom to clean myself up a little bit?” he asked.
Seven eyed Ball as if to say,
fuck is wrong with you?
Seven knew that the slightest little thing could fuck up his dealings with Anari, and Ball was blowing it. He immediately began to second guess his decision to bring him along.
“Are you sure that’s all that’s wrong?” Anari asked kindly, but with hidden meaning behind her words.
“I’m just a little tore up. That’s all. Where’s the bathroom?” he asked again. The way that Anari was looking at him made him feel transparent. It was as if she could see through his clothing ... like she already knew the larceny he had in his heart.
She was silent for a minute straight as she stared at him. The bodyguards in the room were all fingering their waistlines as the tension grew thick. They were ready to fire at any moment and Ball knew that he was on thin ice. Finally she pointed toward the hall, showing him which direction to go. He practically jumped out of his seat as he left the room and rushed inside the bathroom. As soon as he was inside he checked for cameras and the breathed a sigh of relief against the locked door. He fumbled as he unbuttoned his shirt and snatched the wire from his chest.
That fucking bitch is going to dead me in this mu’fucka,
he thought, kicking himself for acting so hot. The feds had no fucking clue who they were dealing with. He had a feeling that Anari’s reach was way longer than the Federal Bureau, and he wanted no parts in crossing her. He threw the wire in the toilet and flushed it repeatedly to make sure that it had gone down. He stood over the vanity and lowered his head as he breathed deeply to calm himself.
Get it together,
he told himself. He exited the bathroom and as soon as he stepped foot in the hallway he was immediately grabbed up and dragged back into the dining room. Ball bucked against the bodyguard as he stared in bewilderment at Seven and Anari.
“Fuck is this?” he asked.
“You’ve been vouched for by someone that I trust Seven ... which means I trust you. Now I’m asking you . . . do you vouch for him?” she asked nodding toward Ball.
Seven stared Ball in the eyes and nodded his head surely. “I’ll vouch for him,” he said without hesitation.
“He’s acting like a fucking cop,” Anari spat as if the word cop gave her a bad taste in her mouth.
“Yo, no disrespect, but my people are one hunnid. If he says it’s the food, it’s the food. He’s okay,” Seven said.
“For your sake I hope so,” she replied in a deadly tone. She walked over to him with the precision of a runway model as she stood directly in front of him. “Open your shirt,” she ordered. The other bodyguards in the room had already begun to unroll large sheets of plastic and Ball’s life flashed before his eyes.
The goons let him go and Ball snatched his arms free as he stood toe to toe with Anari. He kept her eye contact as he slowly undid the buttons on his shirt. He knew that his life hung in the balance. He had removed the wire just in the nick of time, and as he stood there bare-chested in front of Anari, her mug of distrust never changed. Ball couldn’t read her emotions. Her poker face was too strong to break.
She patted his face softly. “A woman in my position can never be too careful,” she said unapologetically as she reclaimed her seat at the top of the table. “Let’s get back to business.”
“That bitch was about to blow both of our brains out!” Seven exclaimed as they both exhaled in relief while riding away from Anari’s estate. “Fuck was wrong with you? You almost got us killed!” Seven was so high after establishing his new connect, that he couldn’t even be mad at Ball. At the end of the day, everything had worked out in his favor and as they rode away Anari was arranging for a hundred kilos to be delivered to Seven’s Ohio warehouse.
“Nigga I told you my stomach was fucked up,” Ball said. He had come close to death that night. He was playing with fire and with a woman like Anari involved, the stakes of the game had just risen. “Why you ain’t tell me we was meeting with a bitch?”
“That was a surprise to me just like it was to you,” Seven said. “Bitch is boss though and we in there, baby! Tonight is a good night. Call Lola and tell her to get ready for the game.”
“It’s time to play?” Ball asked.
“It’s time to celebrate,” Seven replied.
Lola walked into the arena, turning heads as she walked by Seven and Ball’s side. They sat center court on the sideline as Seven mixed and mingled with the celebrities in attendance, clearly familiar with all of the industry’s heavyweights. The entire arena was packed. There wasn’t an empty seat in the house as the popular All-Star Game played out before them. Everybody was in attendance. From hustlers to celebrities, everyone had come out to party amongst the elite. Lola fit in perfectly as everyone thought she was a high paid fashion model or video vixen. Ball was amazed by it all. Seven was truly showing him the finer side of things. The players on the court were giving a great show and hustlers courtside placed big money side bets on the outcome of the game. Seven and the most valuable players on his team did it up big, partying the night away as they enjoyed the festivities.
“This is it fam ... this is the life,” Ball said as he nodded his head, impressed by Seven’s hood prestige.
“This is the beginning, Ball. After what we established tonight ... this is just the beginning,” Seven replied.
Ball couldn’t help but think that it was the beginning of Seven’s end, but he pushed his rat status to the side for the night to enjoy the present. In the sea of a thousand faces, one stood out amongst the crowd and it was one that made Ball’s rage flare.
Seven immediately took notice. “What’s good? You all right?”
“I see an old face. A nigga who thought I wouldn’t catch up to him. It’s the nigga a few rows back and to the left in the black Detroit hat,” Ball described.
Seven didn’t move his eyes, but nodded his head for Lola to look back. He didn’t want to send off any red flags by ice grilling in the middle of the game. Even if the dude caught Lola looking, he wouldn’t think twice about it because of her angelic face.
“Yeah I see him,” she confirmed.
“The nigga tried to kill me. I owe his ass a dirt nap, nah mean?” Ball stated.
Seven nodded his head and turned back toward the game. “Enjoy the game. These tickets cost a small fortune. That nigga will be somebody’s memory by the end of the night. There’s a time and place for everything.”
Chapter Fourteen
Remember me?
Ralphie watched as the lady seductively stripped for him. He sat in his plush suite on the top floor of Four Seasons hotel. His big belly hung over his waist, so he couldn’t see his erection but he knew it was there. The smooth sounds of contemporary Latin music filled the air as the woman danced seductively to the beat. Ralphie licked his lips as he thought about how he was going to pound her within the next few minutes. He had taken two Viagra pills and was well prepared to have a good time. His crew was on the third floor in the standard rooms with their lady friends, while Ralphie had the whole suite to himself. He had managed to do good for himself in the New York black market. A well-deserved vacation to Miami for the All-Star weekend was nothing short of what he imagined it would be ... fantastic.
Ralphie turned up the bottle of Hennessy as he began to grab his crotch and rub his shaft through his pants. He looked at the black beauty queen and smiled knowing that if he didn’t have money, their union wouldn’t be possible. He picked her up outside the sports arena and after a few drinks at a nearby bar, they negotiated a deal for sex.
“Okay, Papi. You ready for me to put this pussy on you?” The woman said as she stripped down to her lace panties and bra. Ralphie couldn’t take his eyes off the woman’s wide hips and slim waistline. It seemed as if she jumped straight off the pages of a vixen magazine. She grabbed Ralphie by the hand and helped pull his big body off the chair. She sexily swayed her hips, making her booty jiggle with each step she took. The way her assets moved, it seemed as if each cheek had a mind of its own and it wobbled without reason. Ralphie’s eyes were glued to her backside as they made their way over to the California king-sized bed. Ralphie sat down on the bed and the woman forcefully pushed him down and straddled him.
“Just lie down and I’ll take care of you. But, first thing’s first. I need that paper.” She said rubbing her fingers and thumb together, giving the classic gesture that meant “pay me”.
“Come on. I’ll give it to you afterwards,” Ralphie said as he grabbed her big juicy butt cheeks and squeezed them, making them spill out of his small hands.
“That wasn’t the agreement, Daddy. Come on, just break bread and I will ride you like a stallion.” She ensured him as she unbuttoned her bra and released her perky breasts. Her dark brown nipples were at least three shades darker than her actual breasts, and the sight turned Ralphie on full throttle. Ralphie couldn’t wait any longer and he swiftly dug into his pocket pulling out a wad of money. He threw it in the air and it rained big faces as the lady basked in the money shower. She smiled and bent over and began to kiss Ralphie’s double neck. The woman climbed off of Ralphie and pulled down his pant, revealing his red erect penis. He was much larger down there than what she expected. She began to stroke him with one hand, while massaging his balls with the other. Ralphie threw his head back in pleasure as his eyes began to roll in the back of his head. The woman then grabbed a pillow and pulled the pillow case from it. She ripped the cotton and made a blindfold. Ralphie smiled as he was enjoying her creative kinkiness.
“Can you fuck me in the ass,” the woman asked as she smacked her own backside making her butt jiggle and sting.
“Hell yeah, baby. I will do whatever you want me to do,” Ralphie responded as he was entering a realm of complete bliss. The woman put the blindfold on Ralphie and bent down to whisper in his ear. “Lemme go get the lube, baby. I want you to hit it good and hard for me,” she said seductively. Ralphie waited in complete darkness as he laid there blindfolded.
Seconds passed and the woman had not returned. He was getting anxious. “Come on baby. Let’s get this party started.” After he didn’t get a response, he pulled off his blindfold and what he saw almost gave him a heart attack. He was caught completely off guard as two men stood in front of him with guns in their hands.
“What the fuck?” Ralphie said as he sat up and quickly pulled up his pants. He looked across the room and saw the woman who was just his seductress, shaking her head and putting back on her clothes.
“What took y’all mu’fuckas so long? I had to touch his nasty ass dick,” Lola said as she held her hand out not wanting it to touch the rest of her body. The two mean standing in front of him were Ball and Seven. Ralphie had just been caught slipping, and once he saw Ball’s face he knew that karma had come back full circle. Ralphie was speechless and he felt like he had an apple in his throat.
“Yo, I got this. It’s personal.” Ball said as he looked over at Seven.
“Cool. I told you Lola was a beast,” Seven said as he looked over at her as she made her way to the bathroom. Lola was what you call a jack of all trades. She was deadly, but also sexy which worked out for them in this situation. Seven had put the plan together right there at the basketball game and with the collaborative effort, they got Ralphie right where they wanted him. He had devised a perfect plan within minutes, and Ball witnessed first-hand why Seven was the man who ran the streets of Columbus. He was a street genius.
With Ralphie’s crew a floor away, they would make this a smooth operation. Seven gave Ball a pound and headed to the exit along with Lola, leaving the two men in the room alone.
“Long time no see,” Ball said as he pointed his gun directly at Ralphie’s chest.
“Man, what the fuck? You know the rules of the game. I just was playing for keeps. That’s the streets ... you rob and get robbed. You know that,” Ralphie said trying to find any way to mind-fuck Ball and talk his way out of the situation.
“I lost more than you know.” Ball said as a tear began to cascade down his cheek. As he held the gun to Ralphie’s head, flashes of him holding the gun and pointing it at Zoey entered his mind.
“Listen Braylon ...” Ralphie tried to explain as he held both hands out in front of him, shielding himself from the gun.
“My name is Ball!” Ball screamed correcting him before he could get his sentence out. “This one is for Zoey,” he said as he squeezed the hollow tips into Ralphie’s body. Ralphie’s body jerked from side to side as each bullet pierced his skin, sending him on his back. The silencer on the tip of Ball’s gun ensured a smooth getaway as he turned and left a bloody mess for the maid to clean up. Although death was dark, it seemed as if a big burden was lifted off of Ball’s chest. He made his way to the lobby and out of the hotel as Seven and Lola picked him up in the front. Redemption had been sought. Ball knew what he just did could potentially put him back in the slammer, but in his eyes, it was well worth it. Ball had done two things that night whether he knew it or not. He avenged the death of his beloved Zoey, and he also proved himself to Seven.