Thug Lovin' (10 page)

“Well, you look happy,” Tasha commented. And happy he was. They had just wrapped up seventeen hours of back-and-forth negotiating;
Benny had gone over every single detail with a fine-tooth comb. He was ecstatic because he prided himself on negotiating the
best deal for his clients. Trae was on cloud nine. A huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Just when he had given
up and thought that he was going to be stuck with the cable company, it was sold. He had bought it for pennies from a client
who had an astronomical drug habit and owed Trae too much money. But now Trae was statisfied that that was all in the past
and he had damn near quadrupled his investment and now had an abundance of clean money to work with.

“Benny looked happy too.”

“He should be. He is getting paid.”

“Who is the Asian chick?”

“The attorney who put the deal together.”

“I thought Charlie was the attorney on this.”

“That is Charli. That’s her name.”

“Oh.” Tasha was surprised. “I thought Charli was a man.”

“Well, you thought wrong.”

“So, what was her problem?”

“What do you mean what was her problem?”

“What was she saying to you?”

“That was business, Tasha, that’s all.”

Umm. Hmm. Business all right
, Tasha thought and decided to let it go… for now, especially since he seemed to be getting agitated.

T
he doorbell rang while Tasha and Kyra were chilling in Tasha’s family room. Tasha answered the door to let Detective Rick
Bryant in. He had lately become a fixture in the Macklin household.

“Come in, Detective Bryant. Trae is down in the basement.”

“Mrs. Macklin, why do you insist on calling me Detective Bryant?” he asked in an irritable tone.

“Because you keep calling me Mrs. Macklin.”

“But that’s different,” the detective told her.

“How so?” Tasha challenged.

“It’s out of respect for Mr. Macklin.”

“Mr. Macklin? Don’t even try it. You call him Trae.”

When he didn’t respond Tasha turned around to see what had captured his attention. It was Kyra.

Kyra and Detective Bryant stood there staring at one another. Tasha stood watching the both of them with a smirk on her face.
She cleared her throat and said, “Detective Bryant, this is my girl Kyra, Marvin’s wife. Kyra, this is Detective Bryant.”

“You can call me Rick,” Detective Bryant said. He extended his hand and grabbed Kyra’s. He then leaned over and kissed it.

“Nice to meet you, Rick.”

Tasha sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes. “Detective Bryant, Trae is in the basement.” He stood there staring at Kyra as
she walked past him.

“Rick, Trae is in the basement,” Tasha reminded him. “And you better not lock my husband up for smoking weed.”

“I’ma be down there smoking it with him.” He smiled at Tasha and winked at Kyra as he headed down to the basement.

Tasha turned and went into the kitchen. As soon as she was sure that Rick was gone, she went up to Kyra and pushed her.

“What?” Kyra shrieked.

“I saw that, Kyra.”

“Saw what?”

“You know what I’m talking about,” Tasha snapped.

Kyra grabbed a chair and sat down. Her hand was over her heart. “Shit! I honestly couldn’t help myself. That nigga got my
heart about to jump out of my chest. What… I mean who was that?”

“Kyra, I suggest that you snap the fuck out of whatever realm you are traveling in and act like that little confrontation
did not happen.”

“Those locks. I never liked locks on a dude, but he is wearing the shit out of those. And that body! That chest and arms.
The way those deep brown eyes were looking at me,” she continued in awe.

“Bitch, I suggest you shut the fuck up before you get yo ass in big trouble,” Tasha snapped. “We are supposed to be talking
about Angel and planning Aisha’s birthday party, remember?”

“Okay, okay,” Kyra said unconvincingly, trying to pull herself together. “I’m only messin’ with yo bitch ass,” she lied.
Damn.
She was really having difficulty shaking off her encounter with Rick. Finally, she pulled herself together and her voice
went down to a whisper. “Girl, can you believe that she killed that nigga Snake? I mean, damn. Who would have thought it?
She’s a murderer!” Kyra said with a twisted-up face. “She never said anything to you?” Kyra asked in disbelief, not wanting
to believe that a little over a year ago her cousin Angel had killed her ex-pimp boyfriend Snake.

“Kyra, you sound like you’ve been watching too much
Law & Order.
You sound just like a juror ready to convict. ‘She’s a murderer,’ ” Tasha mocked. “Shit, if it was me, I would have killed
that crazy-ass muthafucka. Nobody liked his ass, nohow.”

“Girl, I would have never!” Kyra said.

“I would have never!” Tasha mocked her. “Fuck you been hangin’ around? Must be all of those soap operas you’ve been watching
or them white chicks up at the school.”

“Tasha, stop playing. I’m serious,” Kyra said.

“For real I didn’t even know how to approach her. I was actually scared to talk to her after it all went down,” Tasha confessed.
“I didn’t know if she had gone crazy or what.”

“Sheeit, so was I. I had to talk to her moms first to get some advice.”

“And Carmen?” Tasha sighed. “Angel will be going to therapy over that situation for years to come. I can’t even imagine.”
Carmen was Angel’s little sister who had started messing around with Angel’s ex Snake, before ending up dead because of him.

“And Kaylin? Kaylin is a good nigga fo’ real. He’s not a stranger to this, but this time this shit is up close and personal.
I gotta give him his props. She picked a good one when she picked him. I see why she was so determined to marry his ass. Any
other nigga would have cracked under all of this pressure,” Kyra said.

“You right. Kaylin ain’t new to this. It probably made his dick hard knowing his wife bodied a nigga,” Tasha added. “But shit,
we all got good niggas. Look at what you and Marvin been through. Jaz and Faheem. Me and Trae, we all counting blessings.”

Just then, Kyra’s daughter Aisha entered the room. “Auntie Tasha, the twins are asleep now. I straightened up their room.
Can I spend the night?” Tasha didn’t mind her spending the night because she loved to help out and play with the boys. She
took the big-sister role very seriously.

“Aisha, you are such a big help around here. But I thought you had to get ready for Candice’s birthday party? You’re still
going to wear that pretty dress, right?”

She shook her head. “My daddy brought me some Prada shoes,” she beamed with pride.

“Did he? And what do you know about Prada?” Tasha teased.

“Everything,” Aisha responded. “I know they got some pink ones coming out soon. The lady at Nordom’s told me,” Aisha said,
trying to say Nordstrom.

“Nordstrom’s! Kyra, she knows the name of the stores?” Tasha said, shaking her head.

“Don’t ‘Kyra’ me. Shit, that’s Marvin’s ass. He buys her everything.”

“And you expect me to believe that?” Tasha asked.

“Your lunch is on the kitchen table, Aisha. Please don’t make a mess,” Kyra told her.

“I won’t, Mommy.” She took off running for the kitchen.

“Prada shoes? Marvin is creating a monster,” Tasha said. “Men never learn.”

“I said the same thing. But his philosophy is, she’s the next man’s monster, not his.”

“Oh my God,” Tasha said in disbelief. “That is so sad.”

“Bitch, you can’t talk, you just brought the twins matching David Yurman bracelets,” Kyra checked Tasha.

“What about you? You brought Aisha her own set of Louis Vuitton luggage, with the shoes and skirt. She was the talk of the
last sleepover she went to,” Tasha shot back.

“I’m just glad we are blessed to be in the position to afford these things. So what if we all take part in creating monsters
in the process?” Kyra said, laughing.

E
veryone in the Macklin household was in the kitchen. Trae was skimming through the paper while eating breakfast; Tasha was
holding the refrigerator door open, guzzling down a Powerade. Her body was glistening with sweat and her clothes were soaking
wet. She had just finished running three miles on the treadmill.

“Tasha, where are your stretch marks? For goodness sake you have three babies. I had one and was marked for life,” Marva recalled.

“Aunt Marva, everybody is different. My mom never had stretch marks either. Nor did my granny. But I’m back in shape because
I kill myself every day in that exercise room. I have a husband that I gotta stay fine for.” She winked at her.

“Chile, please. Your husband loves you, no matter what.” Marva said it as if Trae weren’t sitting at the table.

“Mmm, hmmm. That’s what they say and that’s what they want you to think. But for real, they want you to stay fine as the first
day they met you. But it’s okay for them to grow old, fat, bald and out of shape.”

Marva started laughing.

Tasha went over and kissed Trae on the cheek. “Ain’t that right, baby?” He ignored her. “Aunt Marva, you see your nephew is
pleading the Fifth because he knows it’s true.”

“What are you getting ready to do?” he asked without looking up from his paper.

“Take a shower and then take the boys out back. It looks beautiful outside.”

Aunt Marva watched on as he whispered something in Tasha’s ear. She burst into giggles like a little schoolgirl before she
bounced off and disappeared out of the kitchen.

“Why is that little Chinese lady coming here? Ain’t no beauty supplies around here,” Aunt Marva questioned Trae.

Trae looked up from his paper. “What?”

“Don’t play stupid with me. I know a snake when I see one. You playing a dangerous game. Business and pleasure never mix,
Trae. Whatever it is, she shouldn’t be coming to your house. You’re playing with fire,” she warned.

“Auntie, she has my number, so I don’t know why she stopped by. Nobody called me and said anything. I’ll ask Benny.”

“Whatever, boy. You know damn well why she is popping up. You and Shaheem always did let the little head get y’all into trouble.
You better fix it and I mean fix it now. Shoot, in my day if one of them little whores would have come to my home I would
have had my trusty blade waiting for their ass.” Aunt Marva made a slicing motion in the air. “Anyway, that one is a snake
and a bold one at that. I’ve seen her kind before. She won’t stop until she gets what she wants.”

“It ain’t even like that, Auntie,” Trae said, getting up from the table, kissing her on the cheek.

Kaylin and Trae were down in the game room. Kaylin had jumped on a flight first thing that morning with a message for Trae
from the dons. Trae was racking up the balls and Kaylin was chalking up his pool stick.

“So spill it, nigga. What’s up? You looked stressed the fuck out,” Trae said to his boy Kaylin. “How’s your record label doing?”

Kaylin was now sitting on the sofa. “Nigga, you know I ain’t here to talk about my damn record label. I’m here delivering
a message. Don Carlos wanted to know why you didn’t come to him? Why did you go to Charlie Li? He don’t want you fucking with
him. He said you could have come to him.”

“What the fuck? Yo, we done, Kay. We out. What the fuck I got to go to him for? I can fuck with whoever I want to. This is
my money. I worked and gambled with my life and freedom for this money,” Trae spat. “Ain’t this some shit. I made them muthafuckas
millions upon millions. I’m all the way out here in fuckin’ California and they know what the fuck I’m doing?” he continued
to rant. “What kind of shit is that?”

“Nigga, it is what it is. I don’t know if it’s bad blood between Don Carlos and this Charli cat or not, but he said whatever
you need he got you. Leave dude alone.” Kaylin was used to Trae’s stubbornness. He had actually used it to his advantage when
they were out there hustling. But this was different. Trae was crossing the line.

“Kay, I already got money with dude and getting ready to get more. It’s legal, man. C’mon now. Slavery is over.” Trae was
not going out without a fight.

“Well, dead that relationship, aiight? And don’t say I ain’t warn you.”

“Man, fuck that. Yo, let’s talk about you. Why you look like you just lost your best friend? Yo, what the fuck happened with
my nigga Papi Chulo and his moms? This shit looks like it never is going to end. They keep blasting it on the news as if the
President was killed,” Trae said.

“I got so much blood on my hands, I can’t believe the shit myself. I couldn’t leave those loose ends. I kept hearing him saying
his moms was looking into this and looking into that. I had to be safe. Kaylin made an attempt at justifying his actions for
bodying Papi Chulo and his mother. But now I’m regretting the decision I made to make that move.”

“But damn, Papi too? That nigga was a cash cow. He went what, triple platinum?”

“Yo, what if I would have left him alone and he decided to take over where his moms left off? Then I’d be right back to square
one. Shit, I can find another cash cow.”

“Dawg, I know you. This shit is eating at you and I’m curious to know what’s Angel saying?” Trae smirked. “I know she’s not
sitting this one out.”

“Aww, man. She’s getting on my fuckin’ nerves. I don’t know if the fact that we are finally married is driving her ass crazy
or that she is a good-ass lawyer. Too smart for her own damn good. She keeps saying little shit trying to make me say I did
it. She treated Papi like he was her son and shit.”

“Why she wanna know if you did it or not?”

“I don’t know, man. That lawyer shit went to her head. And the fact that she married a street nigga, it fucks with her sometimes.
Especially when shit like this comes up. She’ll be aiight,” Kaylin said. “But yo, tell me about this five-o cat. What’s his
name? Sounds like we both into some shit.”

“Nah, it ain’t like that. Rick. Rick Bryant. Dude lives right down the street and I didn’t even know it. But what I gathered,
he is into all kinds of shit. If things get ugly with this Papi Chulo shit let me know.”