The Corner II (6 page)

“I’ve been good to you.”

“Shit girl, no doubt, you definitely family in my eyes. Whenever that ex of yours would fatten up your commissary, you hooked me up.”

Nessie was talking about Terrance, the professional baseball player for the New York Yankees who Lisa was in love with, but was too slow in choosing between him and her drug-dealing boyfriend—Slim. When Slim caught wind of her cheating with Terrance, he set her up to do jail time.

“That’s what I’m talking about. Your peeps weren’t really sending you shit until a few weeks ago,” Lisa told her as the lights went out and she stretched out on the wafer thin mattress.

Nessie didn’t say anything. She just lay on her bunk and thought for a second. She then leaned over the bunk and looked down at Lisa saying, “You gonna be my road dog forever, no matter what. I love you girl. You kept me fed and kicked down with all the underground shit we could get in here from cosmetics to liquor.”

“We did get our buzz on last week. Thanks for hooking that shit up!”

They slapped hands.

Nessie told her, “Shit I just had the connect. It was your loot. That nigga Terrance may say he got another woman, talkin’ bout you wasn’t truthful with him but he still got love for you. Shit, he ain’t still got love, he
still
in love. Fuck who he kickin’ it wit. Them your draws. All you got to do is show up at his doorstep and he’ll be eating your pussy like its honey dipped.”

“Girl I told you don’t talk like that. I don’t have long to go so I’m not trying to get all hot and bothered,” she said as she squeezed her legs together. “Besides he’s into his woman and I’m happy for him.”

“Whatever, she probably some skinny assed white chick. You know how they get when they get a little money. They should at least get one with some meat on her bones.”

“Now you’re trippin’. Let me get some sleep ’cause Shay is visiting tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I got one too. My peeps LaTanza is comin’.”

“That’s good, night-night.”

“Night, fam.”

Lisa closed her eyes. She licked and sucked two fingers until they were well coated then slid them into her shorts. She didn’t have on any panties because she had been thinking of Terrance all day and needed an orgasm. She slid her fingers over the hairs on her mound then found warm moisture and inserted a finger and massaged that button with the other and before she knew it, “Ahhh,” quietly escaped her lips. Nessie smiled when she heard the sound of pleasure and decided to travel the road of ecstasy so she could get off also.

A Visit Amongst Friends

N
essie looked Lisa up and down. She told her, “Damn, make sure you send me some pics with your ass in some Baby Phat or better yet some Apple Bottom jeans cause your ass looking good in them khakis. Shit no waist and them tits you’ll have some nigga feeling you up real soon.”

They both laughed as Lisa continued to fix her hair that was shoulder length with brown highlights. Lisa ran three miles five days a week and did countless numbers of pushups and sit-ups for the past eighteen months so her body was tight and she couldn’t wait to get into some
real
clothes and out of the prison khakis. She tied her hair into a ponytail and applied some of the
good
makeup she and Nessie had smuggled in, to her pretty face.

“Mayfield, you have a visit,” the guard yelled down the walk.

“Alright girl, see you in a bit,” Lisa said.

“A’ight, tell Shay I said hi just in case I don’t see you guys when I get out there.”

Lisa had introduced Shay to Nessie one time when they had a visit and talked about Nessie all the time in letters and on the phone. Nessie was from the streets and was connected so she didn’t have any problems being locked up the only thing was she hated being away from her peeps.

Shay had let Nessie put her boyfriend on her visiting list Lisa’s request. That way Nessie could get a visit sometimes when Lisa got one. It was good looking out for a cell mate that at the time wasn’t getting any visits.

Lisa exited the cell and walked down the range with a tall brunette guard who was okay. She didn’t do any favors or go that extra mile for the inmates, but she wasn’t an asshole and didn’t treat the inmates badly like a lot of the guards. Lisa thought for a second then asked the C.O. could she go back to her cell. They took the short walk back and Lisa gave Nessie her two picture tickets. She and Shay had taken plenty and she knew that Nessie didn’t have any.

*    *    *

Lisa signed in and smiled when she saw her girl sitting at the table. Shay stood as Lisa walked toward her. They hugged as if Shay hadn’t been there two weeks ago. But they had been friends for life and Shay hated to see her girl incarcerated and was happy to know that this would be her last time traveling south on the interstate to the prison.

“Girl, you look better every time I see you,” Shay told her friend as she stepped back to get a better view.

Lisa noticed the stares of a few of the inmates. One that was a known lesbian smiled slyly. Lisa quickly turned back to Shay telling her, “Uh, remember where I’m at while you looking me all up and down.”

Shay whispered, “Oh yeah girl. I forgot this is dyke city.”

The two sat at the table.

Shay broke the silence by telling Lisa, “Well, Goldstein has everything set up for you. He said to tell you that when you get out, you take about a week to get settled in and then come and see him.”

Lisa made a prayer with her hands saying, “I’m so glad that he is giving me a chance. When he came with the news that they had agreed to let me out, I couldn’t believe that he also offered me a job at his new firm.”

“Well, you deserve it and he sees the potential in you. Are you still going to start the classes at Chicago State?”

“As soon as I can. You know I was just telling Nessie about how I was going to take this opportunity and run with it. You know she’s thinking about getting back into the game.”

Shay frowned as she shook her head.

Lisa continued, “I told her to come see me and I’d see what I could do to help her out, but her people have started visiting her now that’s she’s getting out. Offering her a place of her own, a car and money.”

“Didn’t you say she was related to that guy, Fuentes?”

“Yeah, you know that’s the guy who was supplying most of the Latins, including Felix.”

“So that means he’s Slim’s rival. Speaking of Slim, what are you going to do if you run into him?” Shay questioned trying to see where her girl’s head was.

“Turn the other way.”  Wanting to get off the subject of Slim seeing as how she had no intentions of dating a drug dealer again or even accepting so much as a drink from one. Seeing as how that chapter in her life was over and the story ended badly she asked, “So what’s up with Terrance.”

Shay knew her girl still had feelings for their childhood friend but knew that he’d moved on. Terrance had it all. Playing for the New York Yankees making millions and was one of the nicest men you’d ever meet. He had given Lisa his heart and proposed to her. But she took too long to cut off Slim and ended up in prison, but by the grace of God, she’s getting out early. Shay told Lisa that he was still with the woman he started seeing about six months ago and that they were moving to Chicago, because a few days ago he’d been traded to the Cubs. That stung a bit, but Terrance had been good to Lisa and still was. To this day he had been looking out for her. He always made sure her commissary was fat and sent autographed photos to any of the women who were locked up with Lisa who bugged her about it. He also paid for her an apartment in South Holland, a suburb south of Chicago. It’s close to her lawyer’s new office and not too far from Chicago State, which is on the south side. He’s not in love with her anymore seeing as how she broke his heart, but he still has love for her because before they became lovers, they were childhood friends living off 69
^th
on Stewart Street. He, Lisa, Shay and Peaches were all best friends and to him Lisa’s involvement with Slim caused their friendship to hit a huge stumbling block in which they all will take awhile to recover from. Especially since Peaches ended up doing time in Los Angeles because of Slim.

Lisa and Shay had gotten some food from the vending machine, a couple of Diet Pepsis, chips and White Castle cheeseburgers. As they were eating and talking, Lisa noticed Nessie walking into the visiting room. Nessie signed in and walked over to a diva looking sista who Lisa had seen walking into the visiting room ten minutes ago. Other visitors had walked in, but the woman Nessie was now hugging commanded attention—one of those women who had a presence about her. She was wearing Dereon Jeans with heels, a Dior silk shirt and diamond earrings that had to have cost a grip. If the power had gone out the room, it would have been lit by her diamonds and platinum. Nessie hugged the brown-skinned woman whose hair was tied into a ponytail like Lisa’s, but hers was wavy and laid between her shoulder blades, unlike Lisa’s whose stopped at the nape of her neck. As the two hugged, she patted Nessie on the back and Lisa noticed the nail job that was top-notch. Lisa made a mental note that that was going to be one of the first things she did. The woman gave Nessie a greeting kiss on the cheek. Nessie was about to sit, but noticed Lisa. She said something to the woman, and they both walked over to Lisa and Shay who stayed seated as Lisa stood to greet her friend and her visitor.

“Hey, Shay,” Nessie said.

“Hey girl, nice to see you again and even though Lisa’s leaving you, make sure you keep in touch.”

“I will.” Nessie turned her attention back to Lisa. “Lisa, this is my cousin’s wife, LaTanza. LaTanza, this is my girl I been telling you about.”

LaTanza extended her hand. “Nice to meet you.”  She was slim and about five-seven with flawless brown skin. Lisa noticed how perfect she looked and it would have been hard to tell that this was a twenty-five year old. She looked so grown and proper, but when you have the kind of paper this woman has, it isn’t too hard to keep yourself looking fine.

Lisa said, “Nice to finally meet you. Nessie has told me so much about you.”

“Not too much I hope,” LaTanza said jokingly as she managed a smile. “Well, it was nice meeting you, too,” she added, as she was ready to go and sit instead of talking to a couple of strangers as if they had just met at Starbuck’s while in line getting a Café Latte. She and Nessie left to enjoy their visit.

“She’s the wife of a kingpin’s son?” Shay asked, stunned seeing as how LaTanza seemed so professional.

Little did she know that LaTanza could put on many fronts and faces. She could be nice, sweet or ruthless. She could pass for a professional or play the role of hood rat. Sometimes she wondered if she hadn’t fallen into so much money would she have had the nerve to try her hand at acting. Either way, whether it was in Hollywood or on the streets of Chi-Town, she had a gift and she used it well.

The visit with Shay went well. Shay told Lisa that she was staying at a hotel right outside of town and that she wouldn’t be late in the morning knowing that her friend had spent fifteen months of her life caged and being told when to walk and when to talk. To stand in line and wait for food—to take a number to see the nurse when you were sick to only receive a few generic pills that rarely worked. Not one more second did she want her best friend to have to spend in Marion federal prison. So she would be there ready to go.

*     *     *

LaTanza Fuentes stepped into her Escalade. She turned the key and the coal black SUV came to life. She waited a moment then cranked up the air. She pressed play to the twelve-disc changer and Jill Scott’s collaboration began to play. She pressed the preset buttons in a certain order then the secret compartment in the center console opened. She took the expensive foreign made compact Walter PPK .380 automatic out and put it in her Dooney and Bourke bag. Once set, she was ready to make the trip back to the city. She had made a trip for her husband, Carlos, to see where Nessie’s head was. To see if she really was ready to get back into the game or was she just trying to get a quick handout which LaTanza and her husband never gave. Carlos’ motto was instilled in him from his dad, Freddie Fuentes, ‘work for all you receive’. His meaning of the motto was that ‘if a man is given something he won’t appreciate it. If a man works for something he will value it more.’  She also wanted to pick Nessie’s brain about her cell mate that she always talked so highly of. In the past Lisa was Slim’s main woman—the one he loved and adored and was a fool about. So even though she had broken his heart and he set her up for a fall to do prison time, the Fuentes’ knew she was getting out and they were going to keep tabs on her. Just in case she decided that she wanted to live the life she had before and she might lead them to Slim who was said to be out of the country, but no one knew for sure. Everyone in the game knew it was hard to go from living like a king to being an everyday average Joe that had to clock in a nine to five everyday and live damn near paycheck to paycheck. And they were counting on Lisa to be the same way.