Trife Life To Lavish (A King Production Presents...) (12 page)

"Enough said, lead the way."

"Radric, this my man, Carmelo."

"I've heard great things about you in the
streets, but it's good to finally meet you," Radric
stated as he stood up to shake Carmelo's hand.
"This here is my partner, Renny." Renny rose up
and shook Carmelo's hand too. "We're looking
forward to breaking bread wit' you, so what you
need to know?"

"Nothing," Carmelo answered in a composed
tone.

Radric and Renny glanced at each other, then
at Marley, who also seemed to be taken aback by
Carmelo's one word response. "If you're good with
Marley, then you're good with me. Let Marley know
how much weight you want, and he'll give you the
price."

The three men all exhaled in relief. "Thank
you, we appreciate that. We hope to do a lot of business wit' you," Radric said, shaking Carmelo's
hand one more time.

"Not a problem. Now, if you fellas excuse me, I
don't want to keep my woman waiting any longer."

"Shit, I wouldn't either if my woman looked like
that," Marley said, once Carmelo was out of earshot.

"You ain't lying! Nichelle definitely ain't
looking like jailbait no more," Radric admitted.

"Her two friends are cute too," Marley said,
noticing them for the first time.

"Yeah, but them two tricks is trash. You flash
enough money, they'll be more than willing to
spread `em."

"Thanks for the inside scoop, Radric."

"You look out for me, I look out for you.
That's what niggas making money together do."

"No doubt."

Renny sat back in his seat quietly, as Radric
and Marley made small talk. He was interested in
watching the interaction between Carmelo and
Nichelle. He hadn't seen her in so long, and she was
even more striking than he remembered. He didn't
know if it was because she was dressed up or what.
All he knew was that he wanted her for himself.

"Oh, baby, I love being inside my pussy!" Carmelo moaned as they made love in the living
room in front of the fireplace. This was the third
time they had sex since coming home from the
party. Each time seemed to become more intense
as their bodies and souls intertwined.

"Carmelo, I'm gonna love you 'til the day I die."

"You better," he whispered in Nichelle's ear,
right before cumming inside her.

Right after a cab dropped Tierra off in front of
the projects, she noticed a dark car driving slowly
behind her. She started to pick up her pace, and the
car began speeding up. She was about to take off her
heels and make a run for it, but it was too late.

The driver pulled up on the curb, blocking
her path, and flashed the high beam lights, flooding
her vision. The driver then turned off the lights,
and Tierra was able to get a clear look at the
familiar face. "I have a proposition for you. Are
you interested?"

"Yeah, I'm interested."

"Then get in the car."

Tierra walked around to the passenger side
and did just that. In her mind, any proposition had
to be better than the ones she currently had. . .which
were none.

When you're running the streets and living your
life, it's easy to get so caught up, to the point, that
not only do you miss the simple clues pointing to
your fate, but also the ones slapping you right in
the face.

"Girl, what time we going out tonight?" Tierra
asked Simone as she sat on her bedroom floor
giving herself a pedicure.

"Sorry, I have to pass. I have a date tonight."

"Wit' who?"

"You don't know him. It's a new cat I met."

"Met where?"

"At that birthday party we went to a few
weeks ago."

"Who?"

"Just a guy," Simone answered, trying to keep
it vague.

"So you not gon' give me no names, no details?"

"This nigga might be the one, so I'ma keep shit
to myself for now. You know, I ain't tryna jinx the
shit. If it go to the next level, then I'll fill you in."

"Let me find out you getting brand new.
Humph! If you knew what I know, you'd fill me
in. I would hate for you to get sprung out and then
realize you got stuck wit' one of my leftovers."

"Bitch, please! Trust, this is one nigga that
ain't ran up in your pussy, that's why I'm keeping
him to myself."

"You sounding real confident over there."

"I am. But like I said, if shit start getting
serious, maybe we can go on a double date. He got
a lot of niggas that work up under him. I'm sure
one of them wouldn't mind kickin' it wit' you."

Tierra frowned at the phone, "Trick, you play
too much. You know I don't fuck down."

"Damn, we are in a recession! I thought you was
willing to take whatever you can get at this point."

"Don't worry about me, I'm good. You ain't
the only one that came across some potential
options. But I'll keep my shit close to the vest too.
Girl, anyway, let me hit you back. That's Nichelle
on the other line."

"Cool. Tell her I said what's up."

Tierra didn't even bother to respond and
clicked over to the other line. "Hey girl, what's
going on wit' you tonight?"

"Nothing. I'ma stay home and chill."

"I thought you, me and Simone could go out
to dinner or something, but she got a date. So why
don't we go catch a bite to eat? We haven't hung
out in a minute."

"True, but I'm a little tired. Plus, I'm doing
some writing."

"Writing? What sort of writing?"

"Like a short story. I'm actually enjoying it."

"Let me find out you `bout to get all higher
learning on me."

"Girl, be quiet."

"Well, can't you put your pen and pad down
for a few hours and make time for your best friend?
I mean, we are still best friends, aren't we?

"Of course! I am hungry, and Carmelo did
say he would be home late."

"Then let's do it."

"Okay, I'll meet you in front of your crib in
about an hour."

"Cool, I'll see you then."

"Man, shit been looking real sweet for the
last few weeks," Radric said, between pulls from
his blunt, while taking the ramp onto 1-95 South
toward the Turnpike.

"You right. Hooking up wit' that dude,
Carmelo, was a very smart look. I ain't got no
complaints about his product. Niggas everywhere
loving that shit."

"And then we gon' get that heroin from your
cousin, Arnez. Before you know it, we'll have the
streets on lock. We'll be the one-stop shop that
everybody wanna get they drugs from."

"That's the game plan. Shit, at this point, I'm
fuckin' happy that Arnez finally decided to come
out of hiding."

"What, the nigga on the run?"

"Fuck if I know. I didn't want to ask him too
many questions on the phone. All I know is dude
been missing in action since CoCo got locked up.
Maybe that nigga was on the indictment too, and
he just ain't wanna tell me."

"Yo, you think it's a good idea for us to be
going to Philly and meeting up wit' him?" Radric
asked, starting to feel somewhat paranoid.

"Nah, we straight. Trust, if that nigga thought
for one moment some shit was going down, he
would be the first to break the fuck out. That
motherfucker values his freedom. He ain't tryna be
locked up, not even for a day."

"Cool, `cause I definitely wanna talk business
wit' the nigga. I'm pumped that you let me roll wit'
you down there."

"No doubt. You put me down wit' your connect, so it's only right I return the favor."

"That's what's up. Here, take a hit." Radric
extended the blunt to Renny.

"No, I'm good," Renny said, declining his
offer. And Renny was good. He never dabbled in
any sort of drugs, only occasionally having a drink.
He had constant paranoia about getting caught
slipping in the streets from some sort of drug or
liquor induced high.

"Suit yourself. That means more for me,"
Radric bopped his head to the music, as he sped
down the highway.