Thug Lovin' (7 page)

“What do you mean what brought this on? You talking like this is something new. Did you forget I graduated with that as my
major? Did you forget how you told me, ‘We got enough money, we can hire someone for the kids. Kids don’t stop anything. You
can still do your thang. Just have my babies,’ ” she mocked. “Do you remember that, Trae? Do you remember that you made me
that promise when I got pregnant the first time?”

“Yeah, I remember. But damn, why you gotta spaz out? All I’m saying is that the baby is only one year old, Tasha. You don’t
think it’s too soon?”

“No, I don’t. By the time I put my business plan together, find a suitable office, staff, equipment and furniture, the boys—”

“Baby, hold up. Hold that thought,” he interrupted.

She leaned back and watched as Trae took another toke off his blunt. This was her baby. The love of her life. Shit, he was
her life. Both of her parents were in federal prison serving lengthy sentences. You name it, they done it. Her sister and
brother were on the East Coast doing their own thing. And she was more in love with Trae now than she had ever been. And she
believed in everything he told her. So far, every promise he had made to her he had kept.

He put the blunt out and came up to the edge of the chair. “Come here, baby.” He grabbed her by her hair, leaned down, and
began to kiss her. “You know I love you more than anything, right?” She nodded. “You know I only want to keep you happy, right?”
She nodded again. “I can’t lie, and call me selfish if you want to, but I want you to stay home. I don’t think I’m going to
like you being gone all the time running a business. That’s my job, to provide for this family. I want you here with me and
our babies. At least until I see what’s going to happen with the club.”

“Trae, you know as well as I do, it’s never going to be the right time. Let me at least get started on it. Hell, I don’t even
have my business plan done. This is a dream of mine, Trae. Don’t make me put it on hold. I got the itch now and I want to
do it now. I need you to support me
now
.”

“Baby, give me six months. All right? Let me see what’s up with this club and I got you. All right?” He could tell that she
wasn’t happy about waiting. “C’mon, Tasha. Trust me. I just need you to hold up for a few months. Okay, work on your business
plan.”

“That’s all I was saying. I just don’t want you to forget about what I want to do.”

“I’m not going to forget. I gotta go and meet Stephon and Marvin.” He leaned forward, gave her a kiss and went to get ready.

“Yo, dawg, I’m telling you. This is the move. Look at the market research. A nightclub in this spot?” He tapped the blueprints
for emphasis. “We gonna laugh all the way to the bank. Marvin, Cali is your old stomping ground. You was raised out here,
so tell him,” Stephon prodded.

“You already told us about five times,” Marvin said. “And I’m sure I speak for the both of us. We have to run the numbers
and go over everything one more time.”

Trae nodded in agreement as he was focused on the market research report.

“But I’ll tell you now,” Marvin continued. “If everything looks like money, then I’m in like Flynn.”

“Aiight then. But make up your mind. I got some other investors lined up and the construction crew is ready,” Stephon said.

“Bullshit,” Marvin teased. “You know we the only niggas you came to.”

“Shit, we the only niggas who got a couple mil to put up,” Trae added.

“Fuck the both of y’all.” Stephon couldn’t help but laugh. Trae, Marvin and Stephon were seated at a table inside the famous
Beverly Hills restaurant Mr. Chow.

“Man, I always wanted to come to this joint.” Trae was looking around and acting like a tourist. There were a few celebrities,
like Lil Mama, Charlize Theron, Xzibit, Tobey Maguire and Mike Epps, getting their grub on, but he wasn’t sweatin’ them. Shit,
as far as he was concerned he was the supastar.

Stephon on the other hand was ecstatic. He didn’t have enough capital to pull it off by himself, but he did have the blueprints
to a nightclub. He just needed to find the right people, and he had been searching high and low for the past two and a half
years. Since his cousin Tasha had moved to Cali it looked as if he was getting ready to fulfill his dream of opening one up.
“Look, here is a copy of the business plan. Y’all got copies of the blueprints and market research report. I did all the legwork
for y’all. So again, make a decision soon. Now, for our next order of business.” Stephon was anxious to get down to the business
at hand. He waved the waitress off. “The cable channel, Trae, all you gotta do is be ready to flip it. This is designed especially
for you. Don’t you agree? You looked over their offer and you’re in, right?”

“I’m in, man. I told you that. Plus Tasha didn’t even give me no beef over flippin’ the cable channel. It’s the club that
she bitchin’ about.”

“Man, handle that, because the club is going to be crazy. Now, the attorney who is handling the financing of the club and
who wants to take the cable channel off your hands has an office about twenty minutes from here. Her name is Charli Li. She
wants to meet you. It’s actually one of her father’s businesses.”

“So is there a problem?” Marvin decided to jump into the conversation.

“There are other bidders. I went into this thinking it was going to be a slam dunk since I’ve dealt with her a few times.
But the last word I got was her pops was ready to play, so that’s why we gotta go to her office. They seem to be leaning toward
our offer. The focus has been all on you.”

“On me?” Trae wanted to know.

“Man, I tried to tell y’all. You are playin’ with the big dawgs now. Where the name of the game is the almighty dollar and
you have to be in it to win it,” Stephon said. “These people get what they want.” Stephon lowered his voice. “They checked
you out and know your background. I think they like what they found.”

“Fuck his background. What do you mean, get what they want? That shit sounds suspect to me,” Marvin said.

“Marv, chill. That’s why I got my own lawyer, nigga,” Trae told him. “The shit sounded suspect to me at first too,” Trae admitted.

“Look y’all, I got this,” Stephon the dealmaker explained. “But after I checked with a few contacts, if you need to clean
up large amounts of loot this here is the move, these are the people to see. They got reps to protect and Charli is always
bringing me something. Between the club and the hotel, I’m straight. I’d figure Trae could use the club and the cable channels.
I’m trying to find something for Kaylin, but as of yet, nothing has piqued my interest.”

“Well, he’ll be up here next week to talk. From what he told me, he’s expecting you to present him with something. He also
is looking for something for his brother Kyron,” Trae said.

“I’m working on a few things,” Stephon assured him. “Trust me. I’ll have something for him.”

Marvin waved the waitress over. “I don’t know about y’all niggas, but I’m ready to order.”

As they enjoyed their meal their discussion was all about the club and its renovations, which were scheduled to start the
next day. It had once been a rubber warehouse. They had named it Club New York. They were looking forward to bringing their
New York flavor to the people of Cali.

Marvin let out a long whistle as they pulled up to the offices of Li, Hammerstein and Burke. The complex held eight office
buildings six stories high, two each to the north, south, east and west according to the type of service. The outside was
ultramodern, complete with landscaped layouts, glass and marble exteriors, beautiful atrium gardens, fountains, waterfalls
and marble and granite statues. The men marveled at the building’s layout and were shocked that all the buildings belonged
to one law firm, the Li, Hammerstein and Burke legal team. Trae had never seen anything like this before.

“Damn. They doin’ it big. The whole complex is nothing but lawyers? And all of them are on Li’s payroll?” asked Trae.

“Sheeit. ‘Big’ ain’t the word. It’s enough lawyers up in this bitch to get a nigga a not-guilty verdict on trial with the
feds,” Marvin added.

“Yeah, I told y’all these people were major. What? Y’all thought I was bullshittin’, didn’t y’all? Every one of these buildings
house lawyers that specialize in something for Li, Hammerstein and Burke. This whole layout is them. This is money on another
level. You thought you was gettin’ it in the streets, fuckin’ with these cats they gonna have you Donald Trump rich,” Stephon
swore.

They walked in silence as they stepped into the softly lit foyer. The walls of the plush leather waiting area displayed very
expensive artwork. They stepped onto the round glass elevator. “Awww, we gotta put one of these here in the club,” Trae marveled
at the elevator as the glass doors smoothly slid shut and it took them up to the top floor.

They stepped off the elevator just as Charli Li was walking by.

“Ms. Li,” Stephon greeted her with a gentle handshake.

“Stephon, how many times have I told you to call me Charli?” Her four-foot four-inch frame was swallowed up inside Stephon’s
embrace.

“Charli, this is Trae Macklin and Marvin Blackshear.”

“Pleased to meet you both.” She lightly squeezed both of their hands. “Let me drop off these files right here. It will only
take two minutes. Stephon, you know where the conference room is. Feel free to help yourselves to the refreshments.”

“Not a problem.” They all watched her sashay away.

“She got some black in her?” Trae was actually surprised.

“She’s Jamaican and Chinese,” Stephon clarified for him.

“That sounds like a dangerous combination and damn the bitch reeks of money. But yo, she is too fine to be named Charles,”
Marvin commented.

“It’s Charli, not Charles,” Stephon corrected him.

“Y’all on a first-name basis?” Trae noticed.

Stephon blushed. “Naw, man. She on a first-name basis. I like to keep it professional. I think she be wanting some black dick
though. Shit, my life is more important to me. Do you know who her pops is?” Stephon’s voice went down to a whisper. “Charles
Li. The Chinese mobster in the flesh.”

“Man, go ’head with that Hollywood bullshit, son,” Trae cracked and they all shared a laugh. On a serious note, Trae may have
been laughing but he already had the office of Li, Hammerstein and Burke checked out. He wasn’t going to be shelling out millions
of dollars without no real facts on these people and what he had found out was big. Hammerstein and Burke were both squares.
But the infamous Mr. Charles Li, his nickname should have been Mr. Heroin. He too had gotten out of the game but was still
a boss. Even though Mr. Li and they were cut from the same cloth, after Trae discussed his findings with Kaylin they had come
to the conclusion that this was the next step up from the drug game. And it made them wonder if they would ever become one
hundred percent legit.

“She got enough money to buy all the black dick she wants too. Why would she want yours?” Marvin asked, still on the “black
dick” comment.

“You know how those spoiled rich bitches are. They know they got it like that and they’ll want it just because.”

“Fuck it. If I was you, I’d trick with the bitch,” Trae said.

“Naw, man. It ain’t worth it. You don’t want to fuck with her like that. Trust me. I’m telling you who her father is. Plus,
I know bitches. She the type that gets a taste of the black dick and it’s over. You won’t be able to get rid of her. Listen
to me, my brothers. If you want to keep your dick attached to your body and not stuffed in your mouth then don’t fuck with
her.”

They stepped into the conference room and it mirrored the rest of the building.

“Check this out.” Stephon pushed a button and a wet bar came out of the wall.

“Stephon loves to play with that,” Charli said as she stepped into the room. “Please have a seat, gentlemen. Unfortunately,
I have a car on the way to get me for another meeting, so I need to get right down to business with the owner of that cable
company. That would be with you, Mr. Macklin?” She took him in from head to toe.

“Yes, that would be me.”

“Great. And then I need to talk to everyone about the financing of the club. From what I understand everyone is ready to proceed?”
All of the men said yes.

“I am so excited for Stephon, that his dream is getting ready to be fulfilled. You guys don’t know how much he has been talking
about this. Stephon and Mr. Blackshear, help yourselves to whatever is over there at the wet bar and the refrigerator. That
guy there even knows where the secret button is for the big screen.”

She was of course talking about Stephon. “Come. Follow me, Mr. Macklin. My office is right across the hall.” They headed out
of the conference room. As they got seated in her office, Trae was surprised. From the reputation of Charli’s father, he still
couldn’t get over the fact that she was mixed. Men of his caliber usually didn’t do the race mixing, unless it was on the
down low. His eyes wandered over to the left of the wall to where the pictures were hanging. Her father was a Chinese man
who resembled the Chinese actor Sammo Hung but was much taller. Her mother, Trae discovered, was Jamaican. Trae studied her
picture and said to himself,
Damn. She is fine. She puts the J in Jamaican
. From the side he could see that her ass was bangin’.
I wonder how Mr. Li got his little dick up in all that ass?
Trae laughed to himself as he studied the picture.
Charli resembles them both. Dark eyes like her father’s. Round nose like her mother’s. Smile like her father’s, but mouth
like her mother’s. Head shaped like her father’s, hair her mother’s, long, curly and jet black. Thick hips and phat ass definitely
her mother’s. Attitude probably from her as well.

“Yes, those are my parents.” Charli’s voice was dripping with sarcasm.

“You don’t sound too pleased,” Trae commented.

“I’m a mutt as my grandmother would say. Can I get you anything before we get started?” She quickly changed the subject.