Once the car stopped, I realized we were back at the place on Miller Avenue. Jason and the girls got out of the car, but I stayed inside the car.
Jason turned around and came over to my side of the car. “Come on, babe.” He opened the door.
I hesitated at first because I knew they were going to handle their business with the dope, and I didn’t know if I wanted to be a part of that, not realizing I was already a part of it. I sat a second longer, and thought, he really loves me if he’s willing to show me his business like this. Aw, he really do trust me. I smiled.
“Come on, Reese. I ain’t gonna hold this door open forever.” He smiled and my heart melted. I would feel warm inside every time Jason showed his dimples. I stepped out the car and took his hand. “I want you to see somethin’,” he explained.
“What, Jay?” I knew not to ask too many questions. “No more secrets,” I whispered.
As we walked toward the door, Kev pulled up in his truck. We all turned around because we could hear his music bangin’. Jason stopped and waited for him. Kev got out of the truck and was runnin’ toward us. I watched Kev as he approached. He was dressed in a gray tailor-made suit with a burnt orange shirt and he had the nerves to have on shoes that matched the shirt to a tee. I had to admit, I was impressed. He’s so neat and clean, I thought; then I sniffed in how good he smelled because the cologne lingered on. I tried to play it off and look uninterested; however, it was hard for any woman to ignore this man. Even the young ladies were batting their eyes.
I hoped nobody noticed me secretly admiring him. I couldn’t help it, Lord knows I tried, but was hard to ignore and getting harder to control.
While I stood there waiting for him to catch up to us I found myself staring at him again. Finally I had to admit that it was impossible and he was too irresistible not to look at. I didn’t know if it was ’cause he was so fine or if it was his personality that had me going crazy every time I saw him. Whatever it is, I need to get control of it quick, I reasoned.
Kev also wore a pair of Chanel glasses on his face, which made him look studious. His haircut was precise. His skin was radiant and the shadow on his face was trimmed with perfection, I noticed. I knew I had to make myself turn away before anyone noticed me staring ’cause if Jay saw me, he would kill me. He promised that! And after all the drama that had just happened no one needed anything else to transpire.
I noticed Kev’s lip was swollen a little, then looked over at Jason and his black eye and shook my head.
“What’s up, Reese?” Kev’s eyes met mine.
“Hey, Kev. How are you?” I answered, trying to act like I wasn’t paying him any attention, but I couldn’t help it.
“What’s up, Jay? You ready for this?” Kev said. They still had a little tension between them since their epic fight. Kev shook Jason’s hand. “Let me holla at you for a minute, bro.”
“Hold on, Reese,” Jason said to me, holding up one finger and walking away with Kev.
Kev pulled Jason to the side to talk to him. “First is, last night is squashed? We too good for that,” Kev tried to whisper but I could hear everything.
“Come on, man, you know I ain’t gonna never let no chick come between you and me, Kev.” They gave each other dap.
“Yeah, all right, Jay, but why you got her here? She don’t need to be here, man,” Kev questioned his boy. “That girl got kids. What if somethin’ goes down up in here? This the biggest shipment we have done. Anything could happen,” Kev explained as I looked on.
“Man, she straight, I got this. That’s my woman, remember?” Jason said, looking at Kev seriously as if to remind him of the night before. “She all right as long as I’m here,” Jason proclaimed. He used his hands to express his frustration with the questions Kev was asking him. “Bro, fo’ real, I want you to quit worrying about her! I understand y’all friends but, bro, you startin’ to trip!” Jason expressed while he walked back over to me; then he led me toward the apartment.
Kev decided to stay out of it, I guessed, because he didn’t say another word. He just knew I didn’t belong there.
I already missed talks with Kev that I knew we wouldn’t be able to have anymore. His conversations with me were deeper than I had with Jason. I had expressed my love for God to Kev many times and how I wasn’t in His will anymore.
I was looking around the outside of the apartments as I walked, stepping out of the way of trash and a dirty diaper in my path. I didn’t want my new shoes to touch the dirt. It wasn’t like I hadn’t experienced this type of hood before, because before my mother was killed, we lived in a neighborhood in Dayton just like this one.
Once inside the apartment, my eyes took a quick glance around. I saw an old, dirty couch in the front room, and a big-screen television that was hooked up to a PlayStation 3 game system. Of course there were a few young dudes surrounding it, playing the game. The music in the place was so loud; I couldn’t even hear the young dudes screaming from the excitement of the game. I could just see their lips moving.
I was tripping off the entire scene. It put me in a daze, so much so that Jason had to tap me to follow him upstairs into a bedroom. I followed, looking at the back of his hooded mink jacket as I walked.
I didn’t know what to expect once I was inside the room. I saw Kev sitting on a bed, smoking a blunt. He passed it to me while I sat down beside him. I could still smell the fragrance of his cologne. I closed my eyes for a second time and sniffed in unnoticed. I took the weed and looked over at Jason as he watched me and Kev interact.
I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d noticed the way I had been looking at Kev.
“So, Reese, you look nice today. Where y’all coming from?” Kev asked. Kev was just being himself, but it wasn’t helping Jay stay cool. He was getting upset and let me know by the evil looks he was giving me.
I answered him quickly. “We went to Mitchell’s for dinner.” I said it so dry that Kev didn’t say another word to me.
Jason looked at me and motioned for me to come and sit beside him, so I did.
The females we had picked up from the airport were taking off their clothes with some assistance from a couple of guys in Jason and Kev’s crew. They were making sure the girls didn’t put any dope aside to sell or use themselves. My mouth hung open as I watched the girls pull dope off. Some of the dope was strapped and taped to their body and other dope was placed securely in the heel of their shoes.
They first had to take off their regular street clothes, then a second set of clothing that was tight like workout clothes, which they wore underneath the first layer. They then pulled the tape off of them, unraveling the drugs from the Saran Wrap that was holding the dope in place on them.
This is a mess! I thought, never opening my mouth and saying a word to anyone else in the bedroom.
Kev and Jason weighed the dope, then told the females to get dressed. It was crazy to me; even with me being high I couldn’t understand what kind of women would be comfortable with taking their clothes off and leaving them off in front of men, let alone women. It puzzled me.
I watched the girls as they flirted and talked to the other men in the room. I knew they had to be high off something besides weed because of their actions. They had no respect for themselves.
When they finished getting dressed, Jason had me give both the girls $5,000. I thought the women were stupid for taking such a risk for only five Gs. I giggled.
“Reese, what’s so funny?” Jason asked.
“Nothing,” I proclaimed and straightened my attitude up while Jason looked on at me.
He got up and came over where I was standing. “What, babe? Why you laughin’?”
“Nothin,’ Jay, dang.”
I was getting nervous because I knew all about Jason’s explosive temper. He would snatch me up right there in front of everybody if he thought he needed to.
He grabbed me and pulled me to him. “I know what’s wrong wit’ you, you high,” he said. “I forgot Kev gave you that blunt.”
