Beautiful Liar (4 page)

They ranged from LL Cool J to Jay-Z and
Cam’ron. She considered herself as a realist, because she viewed
things exactly for what they were. The first man she had loved took
her through hell; so when it came to men, her heart was colder than
the Hudson River in February.

She sat in front of the mirror styling her
hair while talking to her friend on the speaker phone.

“You did what?” Rasheeda asked.

“I went to Tracey’s and waited for his ass to
come out.”

“I can’t believe you, Vicky! He got you ate
up.”

“Cut it out. You know me better than that. I
just wanted to show her that he was no good.”

“How did she take it?”

“Now that’s a whole nother story. I feel so
sorry for her.”

“She took it that bad?”

“Put it like this, she doesn’t want to talk
to me.”

“She was so in love with him, so I don’t know
why I’m so surprised.”

“But he’s a dog, and we told her that.”

“She has to slow up down here. These Niggas
down south aren’t ready to move that fast.”

“New York, Georgia, it’s all the same. The
only difference is the accents. I told her that, but she’s young
and dumb. She just got to experience it for herself.” Vicky’s line
beeped. “Hold on, Ra, someone’s beeping in.”

“I’m going to call you when I get out the
shower.”

“Okay,” she said, clicking over. “Hello?”

“You ain’t shit, bitch! With your trifling
ass!” Tracey yelled.

Vicky took a deep breath before she spoke.
She knew that somebody had to keep their cool or the situation
would get worse. “Tracey, baby. I know you’re upset right now-“

“How could you mess up my relationship?!
You’re my goddamn aunt, you knew how I felt about him.”

“I didn’t mess up nothing. That boy has been
playing you since he met you, and you know it.”

“That’s a damn lie! You probably played on
his weakness and took advantage of him.”

“How do you sound? That boy pursued me; I’ve
been told you about him, but you didn’t want to listen-”

“So! You still didn’t have to fuck him,” she
said, trying to put the fault on her aunt.

“I only dealt with him to show you that he
wasn’t shit.”

“Whoo-pee! You fucked him all because of me.
What an aunt I have in you.”

“You know what? You need to go somewhere and
get your mind right, because you’re bugging the fuck over nothing.
That boy doesn’t care about nobody but himself. You see how he
laughed when I exposed him.”

“Like you’re any better. You don’t care about
nobody but yourself, too. You done fucked everybody in New York,
now you’re down here covering Atlanta.”

“Tracey. I’m not going to feed into this.
Call me back when you respect me like I’m your auntie.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” she said, ending
the call.

Cairo entered the building smiling but sobered
up when he saw his father waiting on him. He wore the same look
that he had when he caught him receiving oral sex from the
maid.

“What’s up, Pops?”

Terry thought better of proceeding when he
saw their conversation wasn’t going to be private. “Come to my
office.”

Cairo followed him to his office and shut the
door behind him.

“What’s up?”

“Son, what the hell is going on with
you?”

“What?” he asked, innocently.

“What, my ass! I’m tired of all these females
coming to my place of business carrying on like raving lunatics.
This shit has to stop!”

“It’s not my fault, Pops.”

“I don’t know how it’s not. They give
themselves to you wholly, and you think that there aren’t going to
be any repercussions when they find out you’re full of it?”

“Come on, Pops. It sounds like you’re on
their side.”

“Son, it’s not right what you’re doing. I’m
only telling you this for your own sake.”

“And thank you. Them broads ain’t after
nothing but money, so I just turn it around and use them.”

Terry, who was the older version of his son,
sighed. “Let me tell you a story right quick. It’s about a man who
met a woman while he was on his journey to success. He worked long
hours every day. And when he came home, his woman would have his
bath and a hot dinner waiting for him. He barely had time for her,
but she loved him just the same. By the time that man became
successful, she was pregnant. But his head was so far up his ass,
he abandoned her for his new friends. For the next five years,
those same friends put him so far in debt that he ended up living
out of his work van. The same some woman found out about this and
took him in. She then helped him rebuild his company and get out of
debt. It was then that he realized she was the one for him and
married her. But sadly, she died two short years later. It
devastated that man. Son, that woman was your mother, and I would
give up my whole fortune just to have her here with me. What I’m
say is, don’t overlook the right one because your head is too far
up your ass.”

“Are you done?” he asked, politely.

“Yes, I am.”

Cairo stood. “I thank you for everything. I’m
positive that I won’t let the right one slip past me. If I don’t
know nothing else, I know who’s sincere, and who’s trying to use
me. Sort of like how you know which stocks to invest in.”

“Okay, son. All I can do is take your word
for it. Just keep in mind what I told you.”

“I will. Love you, Pops.”

“Love you, too.”

Cairo exited the office, and Terry stared at
the picture on the desk of his deceased wife. At times, he wished
that he was with her, but he knew that his job on Earth wasn’t
complete yet. He had to keep living so he could help Cairo get
through the hardship he knew was sure to come. After that, maybe he
could then focus on being happy again.

Rich sat in the parking
lot of Mrs.
Winners’, waiting and trying to forget. Every time he saw a fat
woman, he thought about Wanda and what he had been repeatedly
forced to do so he could get close to C-Jay.

He had promised himself after the first time
of having sex with her that it was something he would never do
again. But when C-Jay had been unreceptive to his calls, Rich had
been forced to go back to Wanda for plan B.

It was obvious to Rich that Wanda was
enjoying every minute of her newfound power. She had even gone the
extra mile by spreading the word throughout the city that they were
an item now. It sickened him.

It took the whole large cup of his soft drink
to kill the vile taste in his mouth, but he knew that he had to
keep his composure if he wanted to come out on top of his
situation. And he did just that when he saw the late-model car pull
in the parking lot.

“Hey C-Jay. What’s going on?”

C-Jay approached the Mercedes and gave the
driver some dap. “What’s up, Rich? I see you’re riding clean.”

“I’m just trying to keep up with you,” he
said, motioning his head to C-Jay’s M6.

“How come you ain’t called me?”

“I…I just been chilling lately. I really
haven’t been doing shit.”

“Come on, now. Be real with me. Why you don’t
want to fuck with me?”

C-Jay seemed to give that some deep thought
before he leaned in close to him. “To keep it one-hundred with you,
I heard you had something to do with Carlos getting locked up.”

“Man, who told you some bullshit like that?
Misty? ‘Cause you know that’s his lil’ sister, and naturally she’s
going to feel some sort of way because I didn’t go down with
him.”

“Nah,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t
know her like that to be hearing anything from her.”

“Then who told you?”

He waved him off. “Man, that’s neither here
or there. I’m not saying I believe the shit. I’m just ducking the
potential bullshit. I’m sure you can understand being the
businessman that you are.”

“What bullshit are you talking about?”

“The way I see it is you have issues
and-”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

C-Jay held his palms up. “Just hear me out,
shawty. All that I’m saying is, either you have issues with
yourself, or with the people that’s slandering your name. Either
way, I don’t need nobody’s baggage. So you do your thing, and I’m
going to do mine. I’mma holler at you later.”

Rich watched him walk away and banged his
hand on the steering wheel. He then pulled off and drove to a
nearby grocery store. A man leaning on a gray Lumina waited for
Rich to park before getting in.

“You’re losing your touch, Rich. Even a sick
dope fiend with some fake dope wouldn’t have sold you shit.”

“I’m not losing shit! I told you from the
start he wasn’t going to bite, he’s too paranoid. You should’ve let
me get those Decatur boys like I said.”

“I don’t want those goddamn nickel and
dimers; I want C-Jay!” Agent Kardash screamed. “And you are going
to help me get him, or I’m going to make sure you’re charged with
that kilo that you got caught with last winter.”

Rich sucked his teeth. “You can’t do that. I
already received immunity for setting up Ronald Charles.”

The agent thought about that for a second.
“Well, I’ll just let everybody know how you keep beating your
cases.”

“You’re trying to get me killed! After all
that I’ve done for you?”

He shrugged. “You’re only as relevant as your
last intelligence.”

“How I’m supposed to set dude up when he’s
suspicious of me?”

“You figure something out before your
deadline.”

“And when is that?”

“Sunday,” he answered, getting out of the
car.

The police cruiser had been behind Tywan for the
past ten minutes, but he kept his composure and focused on his
driving. He knew from experience that if he didn’t give probable
cause, they couldn’t legally pull him over. He relaxed in that
comfort and diverted his attention to the vehicle two cars in front
of him.

Although it had been seven years since he had
tailed someone, it felt as natural as breathing. The adrenaline he
received from his work was equivalent to the high of some
high-grade marijuana. He loved his profession, and wondered what
his life would be like when he had enough money for the dry
cleaners. He knew even then he would rob someone every now and
then. A stick-up lad was what he was, and no amount of money could
ever change that.

It didn’t bother him at all that he was on
parole and was about to take a high-risk chance. Survival at any
rate was the motto he lived by, and if that meant he had to risk
his life, or commit the same acts that let up to his last arrest,
then he would do it without a second thought.

Tywan had come to the conclusion a while back
that being broke was the epitome of laziness and weakness. Two
traits that didn’t define one portion of his being. When he glanced
back into the rearview mirror, he noticed the police cruiser was
gone. And by him, that was fine. He definitely didn’t need them
around for what he was about to do.

The vehicle that he was following turned off,
and Tywan did the same. He could smell the money.

Misty tossed and turned in the bed, unable to
fall to sleep. Gunshots erupted outside, on average, every five
minutes but this wasn’t what was keeping her up. Shoot-outs and
star targeting was as natural as the neighbor’s dog barking.

Three hours had passed since Tywan had missed
his parole curfew, and he wasn’t anywhere to be found. She didn’t
know whether to be mad or to be worried.

She snatched the phone up on the first rang
when it rung. “Hello!”

“I was hoping you was going to be up.”

“What is it, Wendy?”

“Oww, I know that tone. What’s wrong?”

Misty signed. “Nothing.”

“Cut the shit. I’ve been knowing you since we
were virgins; what’s wrong?”

“It’s Ty.”

“What happened to him?!”

“I don’t know…I mean, nothing. He just didn’t
come home for his curfew.”

“What his P.O. say?”

“She didn’t come by. I’m surprised, too. Her
evil ass never misses a chance to try to catch Ty out of
pocket.”

“Did you call him?”

“I tried. His phone is off.”

“Cut off, or turned off.”

“Turned off.”

“Doe he ever do that?”

Misty suddenly remembered he only did when he
was on a job. She didn’t tell Wendy this. Though they were best
friends, she and Tywan had vowed to each other they would never put
anyone else above one another. They both took their vows very
seriously.

She looked at the tattoo between her thumb
and index finger of the letters UL inside a heart; it was a further
reminder of their vows.

“You know what? I just remembered that he’s
working overtime tonight.”

Wendy laughed. “You’re going to drive
yourself crazy over that boy. Anyway, let me tell you about this
new guy I met. I think he’s married. Well, he is; sort of.”

“Here we go again.”

“No, girl. It’s different this time, his wife
is in a coma.”

“A coma!”

“Yeah, girl. She has been in it for almost a
year.”

“Here that lady is fighting for her life, and
you’re creeping around with her husband. You should be ashamed of
yourself.”

“You know me, I’m just borrowing him until I
get tired of him. I didn’t make the rules; I only play the
game.”

“Tell me about your new fling.”

“Girl! Now I know you felt when Ty beat it
up. This nigga was an animal in bed. He had all that anger and
pressure built up inside of him that he bruised my throat when he
skeeted in my mouth!”

“You nasty!”

“I told that nigga, ‘Don’t ever let that
build up for a year.’” They laughed.

Wendy went on about her lover until Misty
heard someone enter the house. “Wendy. I’mma let you go. Ty just
came in.”

“Okay. Call me tomorrow.”

“Alright, bye.”

She ended the call and stared at the doorway.
When no one appeared, she went in the living room and found Tywan
sitting in front of the coffee table. On it were large stacks of
cash and several pieces of jewelry.