A Woman's Worth (5 page)

Chapter Ten

Tiffany

I was sitting in this office
, waiting for fucking Tyrisha. She had me pissed off. She was too caught up in her own drama to even show me a good time in Miami. If she wasn’t home sleeping, she was cuddled up with Moses.

I was the one stuck lying to Tone about where she was
. I didn’t come to Miami to be in her drama and I damn sure wasn’t going to keep covering for her ass. She was a grown bitch and she made her bed. Now, she was going to have to lay her pregnant ass in it.

I needed her to set me up with some clients
, so I could start making money. I already made an appointment with a realtor to look at some houses earlier that day and I couldn’t wait for Tyrisha to drag her ass in here. I had found the perfect nanny, MaryAnn. She offered and I graciously accepted. Madison loved her and so did I. She gave the best advice and was like a second mother.

An hour later
, guess who dragged their ass in the office, queen of fucking Sheba. Annoyed that I had to reschedule my realtor appointment, I rolled my eyes at her ass.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me, bitch,” she said as she shuffled over to give me a kiss.

“You took fucking forever
. I have shit to do, also,” I said with the ultimate annoyance in my voice.

“Well
, excuse me, Miss Miami. I’m sorry that I’m eight months pregnant and I have decided to slow down for the sake of my baby,” she said sarcastically.

“Well
, then, let me take over while you’re out on maternity leave. I can put the extra time in and keep this business running successfully.”

I could tell she was thinking and that was a good thing
‘cause if Tyrisha thought it was a bad idea, she wouldn’t think about it or even give it a second thought.

“Alright, you could have my clients
’ list and handle them while I am out, but also start to get your clientele together because when I come back, I'm taking my clients back.” She said as she walked into her office.

I was right on her heels
, excited that I would be running things. “So, am I gonna have my own office?”

“You can have mine. I gotta go
, Tiff. I got something to handle. Talk to you later, smooches.”

J
ust like that she was gone.

***

After meeting with Tyrisha about the business, I decided to call and have Tone set me up with a realtor for the day since my other realtor couldn’t schedule me in until another week.

“Infinity
Reality, how may I help you?” a male voice answered.

“Hi, I would like to speak to Antonio, please,” I said, throwing on my professional voice.

“Tiffany?”
The male asked,

“Yes
. Who is asking?” I questioned, getting a little paranoid.

A
s I was driving, I looked into my rearview window.

“It’s Quinton
. Tone is out for the day, can I leave a message?” he asked, sounding so damn professional and sexy.

“Yes
, I need to find a condo or townhouse for my daughter and me. I’m looking for a realtor.”

“I know he would squeeze you in, but I know he’s pretty swamped with all his other clients, so I would be glad to show you some properties tomorrow.”

I smiled because he was going out of his way to help me. Nobody had done that for me in a while.

“Sounds good
. Do you want to get together for dinner and talk about commission, areas, and my budget?” I asked, hoping I didn’t come off like I was trying to hit on him.

“
You took the words right out of my mouth. Let’s meet at Prime 112 around nine o’ clock,” he said, sounding ecstatic.

“Sounds like a plan,” I said and hung up.

I
pulled into Tyrisha’s driveway.

Chapter
Eleven

Mezzie

“Where the hell are you?” I screamed into the phone.

I was mad as hell
. Tone had told me he was going to come home two days ago and I hadn’t heard anything from him. I spent my whole damn day running around after AJ. I wanted to at least relax with him while he rubbed my belly. But, no! That nigga was M.I.A.

I went by his house and he wasn’t home
. I even went by the office, but all Quint told me was that he had an emergency out of town trip. I needed to tell him what I had found out and show him the pictures that my private investigator took of his “wifey”. She was leaving another man’s house in the afternoon with different clothes on she came in the night before. He needed to wake up and realize that this bitch was cheating. Nine times out of ten that baby she was carrying, wasn’t his. He was being real dumb.

  
              AJ was with my sister and I was home alone, driving myself crazy about where Tone was. I decided I was going to treat myself to a mani, pedi, and some retail therapy. I dressed in some skinny maternity jeans and flip flops with a loosely fit True Religion V-neck. I put my gold chain I got as a push present for having AJ and grabbed my bag, keys, and was out the door. As I was heading out the door, I noticed Tone’s wifey talking at the rental office’s front desk.

“
What the fuck is she doing here?” I said to myself while I ducked behind one of the columns in lobby. She was walking into the renting office. My mind eased a little. Maybe she was renting a place because she knew once Tone found out, she would surely need another place to stay. Me and AJ would be moving in that house ASAP. I tossed my bag over my shoulder and headed off about my day. I was feeling happy. I proceeded to treating myself to the spa.

Chapter Twelve

Tyrisha

I was at
the Edge Water Apartment Condos to cancel that lease Tone had put in my name for his bitch. He was out of town with some other young bitch he had been fucking on the low, only it wasn’t so low ‘cause I knew all about that shit. I heard through the grapevine that he took her to Puerto Rico for the weekend.

Even though I cheated
, he had been doing it even when I was faithful to him. Now, it was time to ruin his little safety net he built at Edge Water Condos.

As I sat in the building
’s rental office, I was getting pissed off because every time he addressed me, he called me Miss Gonzales. So, that must’ve been that bitch’s name.

“
Look, sir, I’m not Miss Gonzales. I rented this apartment for my fiancé and it’s obvious he wasn’t being that holy. If you keep calling me another’s woman name, I’m going to start cussin’ yo ass out. I'm not mad, but I would love to terminate the lease because I will not be paying this month’s rent. Now where do I sign?”

H
e knew this was some drama for your mama type of shit at that moment. He and the rest of staff was about to be a part of it if somebody didn’t help me.

“Sign and initial here
, we’ll give Miss Gonzales notice that she should vacate the premises in about ten business days,” he said, shuffling the papers into the file cabinet.

“No
, make it a week. Now, you have a good day, sir,” I said walking out the office, not giving him a chance to respond.

***

I was lying in Moses’s bed watching Wendy Williams re-runs when he came strolling into the room. I had a key to his house, so seeing me there in his bed wasn’t a surprise. I hadn’t been back to my house in a week. I knew he was enjoying my company because he came home to me every day and slept next me every night. That was all I wanted. I wanted someone who was going to be there.

Moses wasn’t like any other man
. He didn’t run the streets at night and when he said he was handling business, it wasn’t another woman. It was actual business. He took care of home and was always attentive and caring. He could switch to family man and stone cold killer in a second. I loved it.

“What’s good
, babe?”  He asked, throwing his coat over the chair in the corner.

“Nothing
, just had some business to take care of,” I said, crawling across the bed to give him a kiss.

“I hope
that it was good business you had to take care of.”

I pulled back from the embrace and looked at him strange
ly.

“What you mean by that
, Moe?”

“You know what I mean
, so please spare me the dramatics. Our son will be here in a month and I will not be bringing him in this world under that nigga’s roof,” he said it calmly, but I was smart enough to know it was the calm before the storm.

“Babe
, I’ve been making steps. I signed papers to terminate the lease on that bitch’s condo and I'm gonna start moving my shit out tomorrow,” I said, kissing his cheek.

I was eight months pregnant and swollen everywhere
. I looked good, but I was far from feeling like it. I was stressed because I had to move my stuff out the house and find a condo. Plus, I had to tell Tone that I knew about his little family and second side bitch.

H
ow was I going to split the stuff between us? We weren’t married, but I had money tied into that house and other investments we had going on. I knew Moses wasn’t going to go for me moving into another condo, but his house was just what it was-
his house
. If he wanted to kick my ass out the next day he could and I wouldn’t have any legal grounds to stay there.

I
waddled to my side of the bed, laid back, and was slowly drifting to sleep, thinking about the next move being my best move. Not only for me, but for my baby.

Chapter Thirteen

Moses

“Yo
, when you coming down here? Victor wants to meet with both of us in a week,” I said talking to my younger brother, Reshawn. He was supposed to be down a week before and yet he was still in New York sniffing around for some pussy.

Our supplier had been worrying about things on my brother’s end
. He heard thru the grapevine that Reshawn was shopping around for other connects with cheaper prices. One thing about the drug business was shit like that was disrespectful, especially since he had been dealing with my brother even while he was locked up for a year.

Fresh out
of jail, he only had the one house he owned and two cars. He was broke, so Miguel gave him some bricks on consignment. If it wasn’t for me, he would’ve been six feet deep already.

As
soon as he came home, he went partying, using up all his supply. I did what any big brother would do. I had to dig him out his hole he had dug by loaning him over seventy grand, which to this day I hadn’t even seen.

Between my mother always complaining about him g
oing to get himself killed and me going to spend time with her, to Tyrisha having my baby, I was stretched pretty thin. But, my number one priority was Tyrisha and our son. She was due in less than a month.

W
e had a few things prepared. We had a car seat set up in her car and the newly furnished nursery at my house. She didn’t even know I was selling my house and moving to the same gated community she lived in with Tone. I wanted to make sure she made the right choice because if she didn’t, she was going to see me every day, visiting my son, whether she was with Tone or not.

***

After I left Tyrisha to sleep, I went to my office to work on some paperwork. I had to call some moving companies, so I could be moved and settled in less than a week. I wasn’t taking all my stuff. I included some stuff with the house. That’s why it sold so fast.

An hour later
, I arranged everything and was sitting in my theater room, puffing a cigar and nursing my Bacardi rum when my phone started to ring.

“Speak to me,” I stated.

“Yo, bro, I'm gonna be coming a little sooner than later,” Reshawn said.

“Why? Is something wrong?”

I knew something was that’s why I asked.

“Nah, I need to get away from the drama. Can I stay with you for a week or two?”

“Nah, but you can use my condo for your stay. Call me when you know what day you’re coming and book your flight. I’ll arrange to pick you up,” I said.

“Aight
, good looking... One,” he said and hung up.

I took a big gulp from t
he Hennessey I was nursing before puffing my cigar. I puffed it so long that I started to choke. I was going to need something stronger. I went upstairs to my master bedroom, cuddled with my baby girl, and closed my eyes. She was truly stronger.