Angel and Tasha were laughing as they came out of the movie theater. They had caught the 10:00 show of What’s the Worst
That Could Happen? When Tasha heard someone call her name, they turned around and saw two brothers coming their way.
“Dayum!” Angel said. “I can’t even front. They are fine!”
“I know,” said Tasha.
“Who are they?”
“The one with the curly hair is Jaden. He has Connecticut and Delaware on lock. He knows Trae. I saw him a few times. I don’t know the other one’s name, but I seen him around. This is a test.”
“What up ma?” Jaden said to Tasha, kissing her on the cheek. “Damn, you are fine.”
“Ain’t nothing, Jaden. How are you?”
“I’m fine now that I finally ran into you,” he said in a suggestive tone. “This is my partner Saleem. Saleem this is Tasha.”
“This is Angel. Angel, Jaden and Saleem,” said Tasha, trying to move on.
Jaden’s attention went back to Tasha. “We’ll walk y’all to the parking lot. Did y’all enjoy the movie?”
“It was cool. I didn’t see you inside.”
“We just came out of Red Lobster. Where are y’all going? Let’s all go out.”
“I’m going home,” she said.
“So you’ve been a’ight?”
“I’m good.”
“How is Trae?”
“I’m not sure.”
Jaden pulled out a diamond money clip, counted a thousand dollars, and tried to put it in her hand. She pushed it back at him. “If you know Trae then you know I’m straight.”
“I’m not giving it to you to help him out. I want you to have it because it’s coming from me. I’m sure you’re straight financially. If not, I can fix that. But what about other areas?” He grinned seductively. “Money can’t hold you and caress you at night.”
“No, you didn’t go there.”
“Yeah, I went there. Just keepin’ it real. Let me take you out tonight,” he suggested, putting his hand on the car door handle, trying to stop her from opening it.
“I gotta go home.”
“Why? You got somebody there waiting for you?”
“I hope so,” she laughed.
“You got a man already?”
“I have a husband,” Tasha said, holding up her ring finger. He gently took her hand, put her ring finger into his mouth, and winked at her.
“Mmm mmm ... Why would a nigga want to up and leave somethin’ as sweet as you behind? That shit is beyond me.” “Shit happens Jaden. You know the game.”
“That’s why I want you to let me take you out tonight. The game goes on.”
“It’s too soon for that.”
“I won’t tell if you won’t,” he promised.
She acted as if she didn’t hear that last statement. She unlocked the car door and he opened it up for her. “Roll the window down,” he told her. Angel got in, leaving Saleem standing at the door while Tasha started the car and rolled the window down.
“Let’s go out tonight,” he said, massaging the nape of her neck.
“Can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Why do you think? This ain’t that kind of party.”
“How long you plan on waitin’?”
“As long as I need to.”
“I’m willing to take over where Trae left off.”
“He hasn’t left off, and I doubt if you can do that.”
“Try me.” He pulled out two business cards, handed them to her and said, “Put your number on the back of one of them. I’m gonna call you.”
“I got your number.”
“I want you to use it,” he said, rubbing the nape of her neck again. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “I won’t tell if you won’t tell.” He nibbled on her earlobe and ran his tongue underneath it.
“I told you it ain’t that type of party.” She put the car in gear, and he let her go. She smiled at him and pulled off.
“You are dead wrong,” Angel said.
“That was a test. I know it was.” She slowed down at the light. “He smelled so good. That attention from a man feels so good. God, I miss Trae.”
Just then a silver Hummer pulled up next to them. The window rolled down. Jaden winked his eye at her and mouthed, “I won’t tell if you won’t tell.” She ran her hands through her hair and pulled off.
They pulled up in front of Tasha’s house at about 12:45. When they got out of the car they looked around to see where all of the weed smoke was coming from. Then they saw Omar getting out of a Ford Expedition.
“I get to kill two birds with one stone ... must be my lucky night. What are y’all doin’ out so late?” he asked, giving them both a hug. “It’s damn near one in the morning.”
“I’m grown,” Tasha said.
“So am I,” Angel added.
He started laughing. Then the window rolled down on the Expedition. “What up, strangers?”
Angel waved. “What’s up, Bo?” Tasha asked.
“How you doin’?” he said.
“I’m hangin’.”
“It’s all good.”
“In whose hood?” Tasha joked.
“We’ve been sitting out here since 10:30. I forgot where Angel lived. I got a delivery for the both of y’all. Where’s your car Angel?” Omar asked.
She pointed at the Lex across the street.
“You can’t leave this in the car. You need to take this home. We’ll follow you.” He started walking to his Expedition. They followed him wondering what the hell was going on. He opened the back and gave one briefcase to Tasha and another to Angel while he carried another two.
When they got in the house he told Angel, “You got four in the car as well.” He opened up one of them. It was filled with neatly stacked cash. He closed it back, locked it, and threw Tasha the keys. Then he pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her. It was a copy of a newspaper article from a Mexico City newspaper. They both sat there reading it together. Tasha was the first one to break down; Angel was right behind her.
The article stated that the Mexican authorities had received a tip that one of the biggest deals was going down on their turf. They had their informants in place and had planned on making the sting and some history, by seizing 12.5 million dollars of liquid cocaine and the cash to purchase it.
However, the suspects were tipped off as well. Or so it appeared because the deal didn’t go down. One of the informants who was participating in the sting was still missing as well as the coke and the money to purchase it. When the authorities rolled up on the two U.S. citizens/suspects, Trae Macklin and Kaylin Santos, their search on them and their property turned up noth-ing but firearms. The Mexican officials held them for over sixty days before extraditing them to the U.S. while the investigation continued.
“So, my sistas, they want y’all to come see them tomorrow. They’re in federal custody in New York.”
Tasha felt like she was hyperventilating. Angel had run into the bathroom and slammed the door.
“Tasha! You alright?” Omar asked. It looked like she was turning blue. He got up, pulled her arms, and made her stand up. “Tasha!” he yelled.
She shook her head up and down and then sat back down. “You spoke to him?”
“No, I was just given the message.”
“How long has he been there? Why hasn’t he called or written?” Now she was crying. “Why the fuck did he take me through all of this?” she screamed.
“He’ll fill you in,” he said, getting up to check on Angel.
“Yo Angel!” he yelled, banging on the bathroom door. “You a’ight?” She opened the door and asked him the same questions Tasha had just asked him. “He’ll fill you in,” he told her. “You ready to take those bags to your house?”
She blew her nose. “Can you wait for me downstairs?” He headed for the door. “Take care Tasha.”
Angel came out of the bathroom. “Is this really happenin’? I bet them motherfuckers knew what was up all along.”
“I think so. I guess so. I don’t know,” Tasha said, taking some tissue from Angel and blowing her nose. “I know I’m tired of crying, and this is fucking unbelievable.”
Angel flopped down on the sofa next to Tasha. “I can’t believe I’m in love with a nigga doing time ... Miss Corporate Lawyer. And now I’m going to jail to visit him.” She started laughing. “I don’t believe this shit! It doesn’t make sense!” Now tears were flowing.
“Fuck that! I’m just glad my husband is alive,” Tasha said, bursting into tears again. “I’ll do the fuckin’ time with him.” Then she started laughing through the tears.
“What’s so funny?” Angel asked.
“It’s a good thing we ain’t fuck nobody these past few months.” Angel laughed too. “You almost did tonight!”
“How could I? You was there cock-blockin’. I saw you watchin’ me. I’m glad I didn’t. You know I can’t go out like that.”
“Sho’ you right.”
By 5:30 a.m. Tasha was out of the tub. She was moisturizing her skin as she sat on the bed. She strategically dabbed on
the Escada perfume that Trae bought her and put her hair in a bun. She went through the closet trying to figure out what to wear and finally decided on a black Versace skirt and blouse that Trae picked out for her and a pair of black, snakeskin sandals. She put on her diamond earrings, her iced-up tennis bracelet with “Tasha” written on it, and the ankle bracelet that had “Trae” written in diamonds. By 6:45 she was in front of Angel’s beeping the horn.
“You copycat!” Tasha was teasing her when she saw that she had on Versace from head to toe. “You look stunning,” she said. “Why didn’t you wear a skirt?”
“What difference does it make?” Angel asked. “And why do you have on all that ice?”
“Fuck them. My husand is already locked up. What they gonna do? Take it off me? My nigga likes for me to wear my shit.”
“Do you bitch. Do you.”
“What?”
“Never mind, Tasha. You smell good and you look real pretty. He’s going to be so glad to see you,” Angel told her.
“I’m going to be even happier to see him even though I’m pissed off. I can’t wait to hear his explanation.”
“I know that’s right.”
By 9:20 a.m. they were driving up and down Park Row looking for a parking space. When they got to the building it was already crowded. Angel had never paid a visit to anyone locked up, so she got her cues from Tasha, doing whatever she told her to do.
They filled out the two-page visiting form with the tiny pencil provided them. Tasha couldn’t believe that she was going through this again. The big difference was this time her rela-tionship to the inmate was that of spouse, her name now being Macklin and not McNeil.
Tasha asked the offficer for a locker key to put their things in. Both she and Angel had clear plastic purses that they could take on the visit with them. They put their keys, Kleenex, lip gloss, ID, lotion, hairbrush and money into the clear plastic purse. Everything else they put in the locker.
After about thirty minutes they called for visitors for inmate Santos. Angel stood in line until she got to the guard, who dumped the contents of the clear bag out in a tray, telling her that the lotion and lip gloss were forbidden. Angel put those items back inside her locker. The guard then took her ID and made sure she was on the visiting list before sending her through the metal detector. It went off, triggered by her Cartier watch and diamond earrings. Eventually when she made it through, they were all herded toward the elevator. She looked back at Tasha, smiled, and waved at her, feeling scared to death.
As they rode the elevator, she checked out all the women, chil¬dren, mothers, and grandmothers. She noticed there were very few men. Most of the women had on miniskirts and dresses. She could smell all types of loud perfumes. Angel was also struck by the amount of conversation in Spanish.
When the elevator opened, her heart began to flutter. There were two visiting rooms with large windows, one on the left, the other to her right. All she saw was a tribe of men in tan jump-suits, some in brown. The guard yelled “Santos” and pointed to the side she would have her visit. As she stood waiting for them to open the door, she scanned the room to see if she saw Kay. She saw a nigga who looked like him wink at her. I know that’s my baby. As they cracked the gate, the visitors rushed in.
That same nigga said, “Don’t act like you don’t know nobody!” He grabbed her and lifted her up into the air.
“I barely recognized you.” She was staring at him as if he were a stranger. His hair was cut short and he had lost a lot of weight. He kissed her on the chin and then on the lips before letting her feet hit the floor. She melted in his arms, feeling like everything was moving in slow motion. Then she snapped. She started crying and punching him on his chest.
“Damn you Kay!” she screamed. “How could you do this to me? I didn’t know whether you were dead or alive!” He got a hold of her arms, held her tight, and wouldn’t let go. “You could have called or written, Kaylin!” She was crying and was trying her best to break loose. “That was so fuckin’ cruel!” Everybody was staring at them. Kay just held her tight, not saying anything. “Let me go Kaylin!”
“Not until you calm down.”
She buried her face into his chest and kept on crying and shaking for a good five minutes. “You have no idea what you put me through. Why did you let me catch feelings for you Kay?”
Is that a trick question? He asked himself and was glad when she continued to ramble on before he could respond.
“I was supposed to fall in love with a lawyer, engineer, doctor or somebody like that,” she sobbed. “Not a fuckin’ dope dealer that’s in jail.”
“Love don’t work like that ma. It don’t recognize titles and status.” He kissed her on the forehead and slowly turned her arms loose. She just stood there sniffing, her face buried in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, rocking from side to side.
“What am I supposed to do now Kaylin?” She sounded totally exhausted. “I mean you really took me for a ride.”
“Go wash your face and blow your nose. You got snot all over my jumpsuit.”
She let out a little laugh mixed with snifffles. “Oh God, I don’t believe this is happening. I want you to come home Kaylin.”
“I’ll be there in a minute. You just make sure you’re waiting on me.” He squeezed her tighter. “Go fix yourself up.” He bent over, picked up her clear purse off the floor, and gave it to her.
“Gordo!” someone called. Kay turned around, and the guy said something to him in Spanish. Kay talked to him in Spanish for a minute before turning his attention back to Angel.
“Doesn’t gordo mean fat?” she asked. “Why did he call you fat?”
“He’s talking ’bout my pockets fat pockets.” He walked her to the ladies’ room, then left to wipe down the front of his jumpsuit. When she finally came out he was sitting down.
“Hey, beautiful.”
“Yeah, right,” she said, flopping down in the chair next to him. He lifted the big orange plastic chair up with her in it and sat it in front of him, pulling it close enough that her knees almost touched the front of his chair as he placed his legs on the outside of hers. He rubbed up and down her calves, looking in her eyes as she ran her fingers through his soft hair. “I miss you so much,” she whispered.
“Kiss me like you miss me,” he said in that sexy tone that made butterflies circle in her stomach. She willingly obeyed as they passionately kissed nonstop for a good five minutes. Kay was squeezing her nipples and running his hands up and down her back, butt, and thighs. As she returned his passionate touches she felt the knot on his head.
“Don’t press, baby.”
“What happened?”
“Feds in Mexico beat our ass, mami.”
“Why?”
But I came away with a knot, Trae with a fractured rib. How much did you miss me?” he asked, changing the subject.
“That’s a violation of your constitutional rights, Kaylin.” She started crying again.
“Baby, I’m fine. No more tears. Now tell me how much you missed me.”
“Too much,” she sniffed. “How come you didn’t call or write? I worried so much.”
“The moment we did that, then that would’ve been an excuse for them to kick down your door. Why drag you into this shit unnecessarily? I got this. Trust me. You know too much as it is.”
“How’s Trae?”
“He a’ight. They got him on a different floor,” he said, running his nose all around her neck. “Mmm, you smell so good. You look so good. You don’t know how much I miss you callin’ my name when you start cummin’.”
“Please don’t remind me.”
“How’s my girl Tasha?”
“She’s hanging tough even though she lost the baby.”
“Damn!” He leaned back in his seat and started thinking back. “Trae kept sayin’ ‘she lost it, man.’ I thought he was losin’ his mind. He said he felt it. He kept saying, ‘she lost my baby.’ Damn! He’s goin’ to be fucked up.”
After about forty minutes they finally yelled “Macklin.” Tasha got up and gave the offficer her ID and plastic purse, which was dumped out into the tray. The officer must have been tired be-cause she let her take in everything. Tasha took off all jewelry and shoes before going through the metal detector. They were all herded onto the elevator and up they went.
When she walked off the elevator she also was bombarded by an army of men in tan and brown jumpsuits. They were all lined up, looking through the glass windows for their loved ones. So
many faces, so many colors all caged up like animals. The guard called her and pointed to the side she was to go to. The steel gate slid open, and they all went in.
Tasha looked around for Trae, wondering where he was when, all of a sudden, she felt those all too familiar strong arms sliding around her waist, then those warm lips on her neck. She relaxed inside his big strong arms as the tears rolled down her cheeks. He turned her around and hugged her tight. They didn’t need to say a word. He held her so tight she could hardly breathe.
She managed to lift her head up at him and saw the tears rolling down his cheeks. They didn’t even realize that they had been standing there for almost fifteen minutes.
The guard yelled, “Macklin! Use the chairs.”
One of the inmates yelled at the guard, “Man, leave him alone! He ain’t botherin’ nobody.”
Another one yelled, “He sure ain’t, punk ass!”
Trae wasn’t paying nothing or nobody any attention but his wife. “Baby, I swear to you ... I am so s”
“It’s not your fault. I think it’s my punishment for killing Nikayah’s baby.”
“Baby, it’s my fault.”
“Let’s not talk about it today, okay?” Feeling like she would fall back into her deep depression.
“We won’t talk about it if you don’t want to,” he said, kissing the tears off her face. Somebody walked by them and handed Trae some tissue, and he gave it to her.
She blew her nose. “I’ve cried so many tears these past three months enough to last a lifetime. I was so angry with you.”
“I promise I’m gonna make it up to you.”
He swooped her up and carried her to one of the big orange chairs in the back of the room. He sat down, placed her on his lap, and tongued her down. “Damn baby, I sure do miss you,” he said, inhaling her perfume. “You smell so good and you feel so soft.” He was rubbing his hands up and down her leg. “You look so pretty.”
“I look like shit Trae! My eyes are puffy, and I know my nose is red and puffy. Where is the bathroom?”
“You look fine. I miss that smile. I miss hearing your voice. I miss you baby.”
“I miss you too. This is crazy Trae. You leaving, now you’re back and being locked up ... Baby ...”
“Shhhh ... He put his finger to her lips. Go ahead and go to the ladies’ room. He kissed her on the cheek. “We’ll talk about everything. We got time. I told you I’d be back. Didn’t I? She nodded yes and got up and headed towards the rest room. Everything feeling surreal.
She finally came walking out of the bathroom and sat down in the chair next to him. He noticed that she had brushed her hair and gotten herself together. “Can your husband get another kiss?”
“Oh my God Trae, you cut all of your hair off! Why did you do that?”
“Who was going to keep it up?”
“Look at you ... moustache and goatee. It makes you look so sexy. I can’t believe I hadn’t even noticed. See, you are causing me to lose my mind. Wait untill I tell Angel. Trae I’m going crazy. You are driving me crazy.”
They then started talking about his case. “The bottom line is Mexico and the U.S. are fightin’ over us,” Trae explained. “That’s why we don’t have bail. Even though we both were car-rying firearms when they rolled up on us, we’re both licensed to carry. And the firearms were registered to us. So it’s really political. And we clowned them. Where is the dope and the cash? Them damn Feds, if they don’t have anything on you, won’t think twice about concocting something. My lawyers will be here later on today or tomorrow We just gotta hang tight.”
“I don’t know what to say. I don’t even know what to think about how much time we’re facing. Right now I’m just thankful that I’m not a widow. Not hearing anything from you at all ... that was fucked up.”
“I apologize for that. You just needed to be as far away from this as possible. They know who you are and was probably looking for any little excuse to harass you.”
Trae noticed that the guard went out of the room. Quickly he eased his hand up her thigh. She tried to act nonchalant as he slid her thong to the side and inserted two fingers, slowly moving them around. “Baby, give me a kiss.” She kissed him. When he saw the guard coming back, he pulled out his fingers, and she watched him take a sniff and put them in his mouth. “Peaches and Cream,” he sang.
She smiled. “Same ol’ Trae. I miss you baby.”
“I miss you more. Pussy still smells and tastes good. If that guard leaves out again, you gonna let your man bust a nut real quick?”
She sank back into her seat and looked at him to see how serious he really was. “You mean we’re gonna sneak in the bathroom?” “Nah, we can’t go in the visitors’ bathroom.”
“Then where we gonna go?”
“Right here.”
“Right here? It’s rather open, don’t you think?”
“Not really. We’re back here in the corner, and it looks like everybody is pretty much minding their own business. See that couple right there, the lady with the colorful dress, he’s hittin’ it right now.” Tasha tried to sneak a peek. “All you have to do is just sit still right here in my lap. I’ll handle everything else, but you’ll have to let me know when you see him coming back in. A’ight Baby?”
“You sound like you begging, playa. A playa like you is not supposed to be begging,” she teased him.
“Shit! I ain’t no playa no more. You the true playa. You got all the assets, property, cash ... everything.” He slid his hand back in between her legs, slid the thong to the side, and started massaging her clit.
Her cheeks were getting flushed. “Oh God Trae, that feels so good.”
“Go in the bathroom and take those off,” he suggested, guiding her off his lap and not giving her a choice in the matter. As she turned around to go, he stood up, put his hand on her butt, and pulled her close so she could feel how hard his dick was. “Take that bra off as well,” he said, tonguing her down.