Rich or Famous...Rich Because You Can Buy Fame (2 page)

“Yeah, because I don’t work for you,” Lori spit running her fingers through her cropped red hair.

“You work for Sway so you work for me.”

“I don’t work for Sway.”

“Oh, so you do all that fucking and sucking for fun it’s not a job?”

“I’m just doing what you do, Dior.”

“Oh babygirl, that’s where you got it wrong. I do work for Sway but unlike you I’m compensated for my services. That’s why I’m wearing a chinchilla and you’re going to be picking it up.”

“I ain’t picking up shit!”

“Yes you are because if you don’t I’ll tell Sway how disrespectful you are and to toss your whorish ass out of here. And trust me, he will do it because right now I’m holding his balls you’re just licking them when I’m unavailable.”

“You’re a complete bitch!”

“So true, but that’s beside the point.”

“You might be on top now but you will fall. I just hope I’m around to witness it.”

“You either shut the fuck up and get my fur or your days of parading around industry parties on
Sway’s tip are over.”

“Baby, I’m back and I brought you a present,” Sway said, before handing me a small vile of coke. I looked up at him and didn’t say anything. “Is everything okay?” he asked moving a loose curl from over my eye.

“I’m just waiting for Lori to do something I asked.”

“What’s the hold up?” Sway questioned Lori shrugging his shoulders.

“No hold up. I’m taking care of it right now.”

I simply smiled and took the vile of coke from Sway. I opened it and put it down on the black marble table. I reached for a card from a deck of playing cards and made two neat little lines. I took the rolled up hundred Sway had in his hand and then held one nostril closed with my finger. I made sure to keep my mouth closed to keep from blowing on the other line. I put the hundred into my open nostril and sucked in while chasing the line. When I was done I inhaled sharply for a few times. I immediately repeated it all over again for the second line using my other nostril.

As I sat back, relaxed and let the drug take hold, two things crossed my mind. First, I thought about how in around twenty minutes backdrip would start flowing from my nasal cavity down my throat. It was a mixture of snot and coke and the taste was revolting. That’s why if possible I would
make sure to have a strongly flavored drink handy so the taste wouldn’t be so disgusting.

After thinking about that for a few minutes my mind switched to how the life I was living was so different from what most considered being the norm. I always heard people talking about reaching the American Dream: Married, 2.5 kids, dog, nice house with a white picket fence and a great family vacation once a year. I still didn’t understand what the hell 2.5 kids meant and honestly I could care less. It was like when I would go to sleep at night, the only dream I ever had was to be famous. I imagined being draped in designer clothes, just like the ones I was wearing tonight, walking red carpets, being in the spotlight and every girl in the world wishing they could walk in my shoes. Yes, that was my American dream and even in my coke induced high I knew I would do anything to make that dream a reality.

Lorenzo

How Life Changes

“I can’t believe he’s dead! No he can’t be, he can’t be dead…he can’t be dead!” I listened to Darnell’s baby mother scream that out for about fifteen minutes. I was trying to be patient because I understood that she was mourning the loss of a man she loved who was also the father of her child. But I knew the nigga didn’t deserve not one of her tears which made the task of me seeming to care about his death a difficult one.

“Lala, calm down, it’ll be okay.” I held her closely trying to console her as much as possible.

“Mommy, mommy, why are you crying? Who is dead?” I looked up and saw Tania running down the stairs. She was such a beautiful little girl and luckily it all came from her mother and she didn’t
resemble her father at all. I might not have been able to stand the child if she had. “Uncle Lorenzo, why is my mommy crying?”

“Your mother is going through a hard time right now but she’ll pull through,” I said, trying to reassure her the best I could.

“Tania, go back upstairs with grandma,” Lala managed to say through uncontrollable sobs.

“But I want to stay with you.” Tania was now holding on to her mother’s leg and I had flashbacks to when I was a little boy and I begged my mother not to leave my father and me. She had one piece of luggage as she stood at the front door. I held her leg so tightly and tears wouldn’t stop pouring from my eyes. But as hard as I cried and as much as I begged my mother still walked out the door. After that I promised myself I would never cry over another woman again.

“Tania, listen to your mother and go back upstairs.” I bent down so I was eye level with her. “I’ll take care of your mother and when we’re done she’ll come upstairs to get you.”

“Did something happen to my daddy because he said he would always take care of us?”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll always take care of you. Now go upstairs. I’ll be up there in a minute.” Tania let go of her mother’s leg and slowly walked toward the stairs, looking back every couple of steps. I gave her a reassuring smile knowing that
as content as I was with her father being dead, she was innocent and didn’t deserve to feel the pain she would no doubt endure.

“Lala, you have to pull it together, if not for your own sanity then for your daughter.”

“I just don’t understand how this could’ve happened. I saw him last night, Lorenzo and he was fine. How can you hold somebody in your arms one day and the very next day they dead. That shit don’t make no sense.”

“Lala, you know how this game work. Every time you walk out the door you risking your life.”

“You have to find whoever robbed and killed him and make them pay for taking his life, Lorenzo. Darnell held it down for you for years and was always loyal. He deserves for you to seek retribution against the muthafucker that took him from his family.”

“I will but let me handle that. I don’t want you worrying about what goes on in the streets. All I want you to do is take care of Tania and help her through this. I want you to take this,” I said handing Lala a bag of money. “There will be more of this to come.”

“Lorenzo, this is too much.”

“No it isn’t. Tania is my Goddaughter and she’ll never want for anything. That, I promise you.”

“Thank you. You were always good to us and I know how much Darnell loved you.”

“I’ma go upstairs and say bye to Tania. I have
to go out of town but when I get back I’ll come check

on you.”

“Lorenzo, thank you again.”

“Stop thanking me. This is what family do, take care of each other.” I watched as the tears continued to flow down Lala’s face and was disgusted. I felt no regret for killing Darnell but I hated that even in death he had to make me feel something. I wanted to never have to see Lala or Tania’s face again so I wouldn’t be reminded of Darnell’s punk ass but I believed in taking care of my people. And whether I liked it or not the day I accepted being Tania’s God father we became family.

I kissed Lala on her forehead and went upstairs to say goodbye to Tania. When I reached the hallway I could see Tania sitting on her canopy bed with her grandmother holding her. She was brushing the doll’s hair that I gave her last year for her 5
^th
birthday. I remember not even wanting to get the doll. But a chick I was dealing with at the time, told me that kids want more than money thrown at them on their birthday, they like to get a gift. That shit sounded crazy to me because growing up all I wanted was money, it didn’t matter the occasion. But when I saw the way Tania’s eyes lit up when she ripped up the wrapping paper and saw the doll, I knew shorty was right.

Instead of going into Tania’s bedroom I turned around. I went back downstairs and left. Watching
her in that moment, I made up my mind that I would never be a God father again and if possible never have children of my own. In the treacherous business I was in, being responsible for an innocent child’s emotions was a burden I had no desire to carry.

“How did Lala take it?” Alexus asked me when I got in the car. I was quiet for a second before starting up the Range. I kept my head down because I wasn’t in the mood to talk and instantly regretted bringing Alexus with me, even if I left her in the car.

“How the fuck do you think she took it? You ask the dumbest fuckin’ questions sometimes.”

“Don’t bark at me, you the one who fuckin’ killed him!” Without a second thought I reached over and wrapped my hands around Alexus’s throat.

“Like I said, sometimes you say the dumbest shit. That’s twice in less than a minute, you know what happens the third time.” I locked eyes with Alexus, holding a steady glare. The fear her face encompassed let me know that she understood I was not playing. “I didn’t kill nobody and I better not ever hear that you said that to a soul, living or dead.”

Alexus was trying to let me know she wouldn’t but my hands were gripping her neck so fucking tight her shit was frozen. Dealing with Lala and seeing Tania had me so on edge I was ready to snap Alexus’s neck but knew that was the wrong move.

I slowly eased up the pressure from her throat and she immediately started gasping for air like death had been one breath away. While Alexus tried to pull it together, I drove off pissed that in a few hours I had to be on a plane.

“Lorenzo, you could’ve killed me,” Alexus finally managed to say.

“That was the point I wanted to make.”

“As far back as we go you could really do that?”

“Yo, you caught me at a bad time. I got a lot of shit on my mind. And I wasn’t in the mood for your reckless talk.”

“I get it.”

“Good, now where am I dropping you off at ‘cause I gotta catch this flight.”

“Where you going?”

“Miami.”

“You can have me do all your dirty work and choke me up but you never take me to the fun shit.”

“There ain’t nothing fun about this trip, it’s business. Honestly, I wish I could send you or somebody else in my place but I have to show my face at this party.”

“Yeah, whatever,” she said in a low voice. I turned to look in Alexus’s direction and she was rubbing her throat as if she was still in disbelief that less than a few minutes ago I had my hands wrapped around it.

Alexus and I shared what most would describe
as an intimate relationship but yet we weren’t fucking. She had been the closest thing I ever had to a wife without consummating the marriage. But what I had with her was more valuable than pussy—we had trust. I trusted Alexus to carry out shit for me that I wouldn’t let anybody else do but I always kept her on the low. Only a handful of people in my circle knew about our relationship, that’s why I was able to use her to bring down Darnell. She was my ride or die chick without ever tasting the dick. But like all wives, sometimes she would step out of line and I had to put her back in her place. But then like a good husband I would also have to slow my roll and make her feel appreciated.

“Next time I have to go to Miami, I’ll make sure you go to.”

“You mean that?”

“You know damn well I don’t say shit unless I mean it.”

“That ain’t nothing but the truth.”

“When I go back again for some business, I’ll bring you and we can stay a few extra days. You can do a little shopping. Hit the beach and a few parties. You’ve been working hard, you deserve it.”

“Thank you. I didn’t think you noticed but it’s good to know you do.”

“Of course I notice. But you still need to watch that mouth,” I said, before turning the music up. I wasn’t in the mood for any further conversation and
Alexus knew when I turned the music up that meant no more talking.

* * *

When I arrived at Dream Nightclub, I immediately wanted to go back to my poolside bungalow at the W. Both were located in the heart of South Beach except in my bungalow I could get some fucking privacy and peace, something that would be impossible to obtain on a Saturday night at a popular club. It was typical for the place to be packed but tonight it was painfully congested. Not only were all the local groupies out in full force, many flew in from different states because tonight they were celebrating Phenomenon’s birthday. So of course every thirsty broad from the east to west coast wanted to make sure their presence was felt. They knew the industry heavyweights and other celebrities would be coming through to show the new rap wiz on the block some love. But unlike the other people coming to pop bottles and all that other bullshit, my only intent was handling business. I had invested heavily in Phenomenon’s career so my stake in his success was huge. I was what you’d call a silent partner. The millions I was making in my lucrative drug dealings was the key to funding Phenomenon’s leap to stardom. Although his people
would continuously ask me to play a bigger part in his business dealings, my role was low key, just the way I liked it. But for certain special occasions, like a massive blowout birthday party, I would show my respect to Phenomenon and his team that were doing the hands on work that I wanted no part of.