Still thicker than water (19 page)

“
Don’t be, this will all be over before you know it.”

Johnny Carson was a New York born, well-known, high profile, shark of an attorney. He was in his mid-thirties, quite handsome, and extremely confident in his work and reputation.

He was also very good friends with Sasha’s father, William Seals, and owed him more than enough favors.

As the procedures began, Tatum looked over at Nikki, who couldn’t even make eye contact with her. She sat there in her cheap polyester suit, with her cheap attorney, and folded her hands across the table appearing more like a member of a choir, than an ex-coke whore. This was only the first hearing, and it was in a small court room. No jury, no witnesses, no big case, just a couple of lawyers, a judge, and two women who both wanted the best for two little girls.

As Tatum watched her lawyer present the case, making Nikki appear worse than the devil herself, she briefly considered giving up the whole thing. She loved her nieces greatly and she would always be there for them, and a part of her knew that Nikki would probably be a good mother to them, but the stubbornness in her knew nothing but how to fight.

Never mind her life and how she was barely living it.

“
Nichole Samuel abandoned her children for
six years
your honor! Six long, cold, hard, years that these children spent wondering where their mother was…and six years that she spent,
high.
”
Tatum thought briefly of all of those years, and then she thought of her brother. She missed him and she wondered if he would approve of this whole battle that she was going through.

The whole hearing took no longer than thirty minutes as the judge was presented with several key pieces of information, the main ones being that Nikki had abandoned her children during her stint on drugs, Tatum’s brother, the girls’ father, had provided for them up until his death, although the courts had attempted to track Nikki down, they did not exert all possible measures that were required to legally finalize an adoption, and last but certainly not least, Nikki had never signed any papers.

Still Tatum’s lawyer was convinced that all was in their favor. The hearing was over and the next and final one was set for the following week, in which they would hear testimony from both Nikki and Tatum and the judge would make a decision.

As they made their way out of the courtroom, Johnny looked at Tatum with different eyes than he had during the hearing.

“
Would you…maybe like to go and grab lunch?”

Johnny was attractive, smooth brown skin and pretty white teeth, neatly trimmed hair and goatee, expensive Brionni suit and, well, he was a lawyer.

But Tatum’s interest lay elsewhere.

“
No, I really should get going…but thanks for the offer.”

She watched as he shrugged with a smile and then made his way down the court steps and into his waiting car. As it pulled off, she wondered if she should had gone with him, maybe had given herself an opportunity to test the waters. Her cell phone began to vibrate in her purse and she took it out, not recognizing the 876 area code.

She figured maybe it may have been a bill collector, but then she thought maybe…

“
Hello,” she answered, warily.

“
How did it go?” A deep and smooth voice asked on the other end of the phone, causing Tatum to melt right there on the steps, never mind the cold 35 degree weather.

“
It went okay.” It was so cold, that just holding the phone was a challenge to Tatum, but the person on the other end was well worth it.

Tatum began to make her way to her car, so glad that Ree had called her. It had been a week since she’d last seen him and she wondered how she had gotten through those two years. She was in agony.

“
You know you’re timing is impeccable,” she added. “I just walked out of the courthouse.”

Ree laughed effortlessly and Tatum could hear the smoke exhale out of his lungs as he spoke.

“
Yea well, I try to be as precise as possible…especially with you.”

Tatum grinned.

“
Or maybe it’s just luck.” She imagined him, his arms, his tongue, his eyes, his hands, his lips and she couldn’t help herself from saying, “I miss you.”

Ree was a little surprised by the admission, but it felt good to hear those words from her sweet mouth. The same words spoken by any other would have meant nothing at all to him.

“
I miss you, too…that’s why I had to call. I had to at least hear your voice, you know?”

Tatum smiled hard and they continued the conversation for about twenty minutes or so. He asked her if she had given any thought to coming back, for good. And she said that she had, but didn’t go too much further than that. She told him that she just wanted to see what happened with the whole situation with the girls, but really she just needed to think about it altogether. As he was about to end the call, and they said their goodbyes, Tatum knew there was one more thing that she needed to tell him.

“
Ree, I have to tell you something.”

There was a silence as he waited for what she would say.

“
I’m all ears,” he encouraged.

Tatum took a deep breath and closed her eyes before she proceeded.

“
Ree…I love you. I’m in love with you. But I’m scared…I’m so scared. I don’t want you to hurt me.”

Ree’s heart felt heavy hearing her speak this way. He knew at that moment that he had to end it with Trinity. He couldn’t lose Tatum, again.

“
I won’t…,” he assured her with sincerity. Just then, Trinity entered his office and shot him a flaccid smile. He looked up at her unreceptively.

“
I won’t,” he repeated to Tatum, and then he disconnected the call.

“
Trini, come here…we have to talk.”

Chapter 13 - Envy

The rain beat down hard against the window of the old burger joint, as Chauncey sat serenely, sipping on his soda and occasional picking at his French fries and burger. He was only halfway entertaining his food, which was pretty tasty, but it wasn’t the reason he had come to the west end side of Atlanta, known as the rough Bankhead hood.

He had come to meet with a pretty major player in the game, a player who was interested in purchasing the goods that Chauncey could supply for him, a Georgia native hustler by the name of Capo. Capo had started out as a low level corner hustler but was working his way up slowly but surely. He had gone from his own corner, to his own blocks, to now his whole section of the town. Between him and another rival squad known as the J-crew, they had the city of Atlanta padlocked down. Capo and Chauncey’s right hand man E were cool, so E had set up the exchange.

Chauncey could see a light-skinned cat with long braids make his way inside, and judging from the description that E had given, this was the man he had come to see. Chauncey could see the look of deliberation enter the young man’s mind, and Chauncey gave a half nod to assure him, as the guy made his way to Chauncey’s booth.

“
New York?” Capo drawled in his southern talk, double checking before sitting down.

“
My man, Capo right?” Chauncey shot back, never mind that the southern niggas referred to them as New York niggas, even though they were Jersey all the way.

Capo breathed a sigh of relief and took his seat across from Chauncey.

“
That’s right…” Capo looked around at the mostly empty joint before continuing. ‘So, what’s up? We expecting snow down here, or what?” Capo was speaking in code for the keys of cocaine that he was anticipating from Chauncey.

“
Yeah,” Chauncey answered. “But with the shit I been hearing, I’m thinking more like a blizzard, you feel me?”

Capo smiled wide, appreciating what he was hearing.

“
Something like, 17, 18 inches right?” Capo asked hopefully, as Chauncey furrowed his eyebrows like ‘get the fuck outta here’.

“
Nigga, I don’t know where you getting them stats from, but it's more like 20, and you know it.”

Capo scratched behind his ear and Chauncey stared at him, his blood starting to rise and feeling like he was being tested.

“
20? Damn…I thought since it was another one on the way, it wouldn’t be that much.” Capo figured that since he would be purchasing frequently, he could get them for less than 20G’s. Chauncey was no herb though; he knew what Capo was accustomed to.

“
Nah, 20 it is. Y'all aint getting no less than 20. And it’s still better than that 30 y'all got before…but I aint got time for the bullshit, so what’s up?”

Capo could see Chauncey becoming frustrated and wanted to put the ease back in the situation. He was used to paying 30 from Father, and the quality was half of Chauncey’s.

“
Nah, nah 20 it is…20 is good, it’s better than good. I was just fucking wit’ you New York.”

“
Don’t make a habit of it,” Chauncey warned, wiping his mouth with the napkin. He peeled off a twenty and threw it onto the table as the two men prepared to make their way out of the restaurant.

“
E let me know the drill, follow me to the body shop around the corner…take it all apart.” Capo told him, making his way to his car.

Chauncey hopped into the old Lincoln town car and followed Capo out of the parking lot, as E tailed him.

Chauncey looked around at the town as they drove. This was the real hood, nothing like the Buckhead area that Sasha lived in.

Once the guys reached the auto shop, Capo had a few men there waiting.

They brought the car in, broke the car down, and removed the product from the compartments, tested it, and approved of it, thoroughly. Chauncey and E counted the money and once it was concurred that both parties were satisfied, they proceeded to make their way out.

“
Pleasure doing business with you,” Capo stated, shaking both Chauncey and E’s hand. He knew that he was about to come up in a major way with Chauncey and E.

“
Pleasure’s all mine,” Chauncey replied, feeling good. Feeling real good.

Atlanta was a reckoning, a renaissance, a rebirth. And it may have been one of the most colorful places in the country, but Chauncey was about to paint the town white.

We bout to make it snow in the south, we bout to make it snow.

“
Ikaw Na Nga! Ikaw Na Nga! Ikaw Na Nga!”

“
What the fuck is going on with Capo?” Father barked, in the middle of his hot-stone, deep-tissue massage. The Filipino woman went to place another stone onto his ridiculously fat back, while singing a song in her native tongue, but he swatted her away in frustration.

“
Get! Go! Get the fuck outta here…no more stones!”

She obediently walked away to give him and his partner, some privacy, while still singing.

“
Ikaw Na Nga…Ikaw Na Nga…”

Father breathed deep, his obesity causing his breaths to squeal when exhaled.

“
I know his business aint slowed, that mothafucka just recruited new workers. Got the J-Crew retreating every time he take a new block, so why my money slow?”

His partner shrugged.

“
He only copped half of what he usually do last time we saw him. And that was a minute ago. I'm not sure if it's much to it, but streets is saying he fucking wit’ some New York boys.”

Father fumed inside and his face read one of confusion.

“
New York boys?” He questioned audibly.

His partner had a thought.

“
You remember that Jamaican cat, that fucked with them Dominicans? That crazy mothafucka from up north, didn’t Capo mention before that he knew him?”

Father was silent as if he was deep in thought but he knew exactly who he was talking about.

“
Respect?” Father asked as his partner nodded profusely. He had heard stories of him and knew that was one situation he didn’t want to see come their way. Father shook his head.

“
Nah, Respect is out the game…besides, he would never do no shit like that. You don’t play the game like that. Everybody that come down here know, the south, we got a way of doing things. We gangsters, but we gentlemen. That’s why it’s called southern hospitality. You come down to a man’s city, you start going on his blocks… taking his clients, taking food out of his mouth and you don’t even stop by to say hello? Nah, this got to be some young mothafuckas…that think they got that I don’t give a fuck in them. Find these niggas, I wanna meet them. I wanna have a
discussion
with them.”