One good reason, p.3
One Good Reason, page 3
Fully engrossed in my thoughts, I stood under the streaming water and let it roll down my aching body. Six months ago, my life had been flipped upside down, and for the first few weeks I allowed myself to mourn my failed relationship. Adele, my businesses, and my slew of friends had been my solitude. Even with having all those things to occupy my idle time, I still had this feeling of regret.
My regret wasn’t enough for me to completely disrupt Dahlia’s peace; therefore, I buried my ill feelings and went about my day. At night was when I felt the loneliest, leaving me to seek comfort in a few women. The fear of history repeating itself kept me from keeping them around for longer than three to four weeks. Once the time came, I swiftly ended things and moved on without a care in the world.
Anytime I entertained company, I did so at my downtown condo that was central to my office. I couldn’t run the risk of inviting someone to my house. The stunt that Dahlia pulled had cost me a grip to fix. I refused to go through that shit again. My condo was hardly furnished so I didn’t mind it getting fucked up along the way. Laughing at the thought, I shook my head and decided to wash up so I could get a move on.
The waft of cool air blowing through the shower had me turning my head toward the door.
“Want some company?” my latest conquest, Mia, asked, leaning against the shower door in the nude.
“No need. I’m getting ready to get out.”
Shutting off the water, I snatched my towel off the rack and secured it around my waist. Bypassing her, I stepped out of the shower and into my slippers.
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“It’s still dark out. I didn’t want to interrupt your”
“Any time spent with you is an interruption I welcome. Besides, the fire blazing between my thighs is begging to be put out,” Mia flirted.
“I appreciate the offer, love. However, I’ve got moves to make,” I informed as I leaned to place a kiss on the side of her neck.
Moving through the room with her trailing behind me, I grabbed boxers and a t-shirt out of the drawer. Mia sat at the foot of the bed and watched while I dropped the towel and stepped into the boxers.
“When will you be back?”
“Later. I have a few meetings then I need to stop by the youth center to see how it’s going.”
“Will I see you later?” She waited with bated breath for me to answer.
“If time permits, you will. If not, I’ll make sure I’ll give you a call.”
Satisfied with my answer, she nodded her head and slid on the clothes she had packed in her overnight bag. After a few rounds of sex last night, she and I showered and hopped into bed. While she handled her hygiene in the bathroom, I moved casually around the room and got dressed. Once we were both done, I ushered her downstairs to her car and slid in the back of the blacked-out SUV that was awaiting me.
“Where to Dutch?” my driver, Baker, asked.
“Warehouse in the Heights.”
Baker tipped his head, started the truck, and pulled out of the parking garage.
The drive out of the city would take approximately three hours. Being that I only had a few hours of sleep, I closed my eyes so I could rest before jumping headfirst into business.
“Damn Dutch,” my little brother, Supreme, groaned and scratched at his stomach. “We couldn’t handle this shit during regular hours. A nigga just got in from the club.”
Staring in the face of the younger, lighter version of my pops, I shook my head and groused, “Fuck no.” Motioning for him to sit down on the tattered sofa in the center of the room, I sat on the corner of the table and got down to business. “What’s this I hear ‘bout some young niggas selling shit on our corners.”
“Mane.” Preme shook his head in disbelief. “I been heard ‘bout it but I can never catch the niggas out handling business. I got the team looking high and low for ‘em though.”
During a conversation I was having with Supreme’s right-hand, Dreaux, I found out some new niggas had landed in town and called themselves setting up shop in our territory. That shit was a no-go and I had killed for less. That information pissed me off and had me interrupting my already busy schedule to pull up on Preme.
For starters, the information should’ve come from him and not the second-in-charge. I understood Preme was his own man and liked to handle shit in his own way but if he couldn’t get it handled in a timely manner, I would have to step in. That wasn’t something I was prepared or wanting to do being that I worked extremely hard to keep both entities of my life and business separate from the other.
“That shit ain’t good enough for me Preme. You know the rules. We eliminate all possible threats. If we let one muthafucka slide, the rest of ‘em gon’ feel like it’s okay to do it too. And that’s fucking with my money.”
“Ain’t just yo’ money Dutch. We in this shit together, or did you forget?” Preme said, agitation laced his voice.
“I ain’t forget shit,” I retorted dismissively. “I’m beginning to feel like you not taking this shit serious Preme.”
“Yeah aight. Not taking it seriously, huh,” he countered. “It’s my face on the front line of this shit. I’m all muthafuckas see while yo’ ass call the shots from the backgrounds.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the shit you do. Hell, if it wasn’t for you stepping up to spearhead this shit, none of it would be possible. I got an image to uphold and can’t get my hands as dirty as you can.”
“Yet you hit me up in the middle of night demanding my presence over some bullshit that you heard. Not once have you said ‘Preme, I’mma let you handle yo’ business.’ Nigga act like if this shit blows up, I won’t be the one catching the flack,” he hissed, venom dripping from every word.
Surrendering, I stuffed my hands in the pocket of my slacks. “Aight… I might be a lil’ testy.”
“Might be,” he huffed. “Yo’ ass been uptight since Dahlia dipped on you. We ain’t never handled business like this, and brother or not… we not ‘bout to start. I’on come down to yo’ shit tryna tell you how to run yours. I’mma need the same respect.”
“You got it,” I conceded.
“It’s ‘bout time for you to put ya’ pride to the side and get ya’ girl back. We ain’t gon’ have too many more conversations like this. I don’t work for you, Dutch. I work with you, and if you keep blurring the lines, we gon’ have an issue.”
“Ain’t happening.” I waved him off.
“Shit. Maybe you need to make things official with Adele old ass. Lord knows she been chilling in the cut waiting on you to be single.”
That garnered a laugh out of us both. “You playing but you know me and Adele can’t be nothing but friends.”
Using his hand to stroke his chin, Preme mused. “You know what I don’t understand? What the hell you saw in a woman two years older than mama?”
That was one question I’d been asked several times before and usually I would conjure up some bullshit ass answer but since this was my brother, I decided to keep it real.
“When I learned my way around a woman’s body, Adele let me fuck her in every hole. You don’t find to many women out there willing to let shit like that go down.”
“I ain’t know Adele ass was freaky like that.”
“Shit.” I laughed. “You have no idea.”
“But nigga she the same age as Mama. Like ugh.” Preme fake gagged.
I could sit up here and tell him till I was blue in the face how shit with Adele was more than sex and the only thing his ass would see was her age. Adele and my mama were best friends at one point. When she and I started our illicit affair, she pulled away from my mama and used the divorce from her husband as the excuse. My parents, Adele, and her husband ran in the same social circle so naturally when they split, my pops took her husband’s side. My mama tried to remain neutral, but the entire situation left a bad taste in Adele’s mouth, coupled with the fact that I was bending her ass over every chance I got.
“Exactly. Grown.” I chuckled.
“Y’all back kicking it now that you and Dah done split.
My head shook vehemently. “Nawl. Ships sailed. I’m too busy trying to enjoy my newfound singleness.”
“You miss her though,” Preme surmised and folded his hands behind his head.
“Immensely, but it’s for the best.” Gazing down at my watch I knew it was time for this visit to come to an end. “I gotta jet. I got just enough time to make it back to the city for my first meeting.”
“Yeah, I need to get going myself. I ain’t seen the inside of my crib in thirty-six hours.”
“Stay out them streets. You too old for that shit.”
Clicking his tongue against his teeth, Preme waved me off. “And have you popping up on my ass accusing me of slacking.”
“More like checking on my shit.”
“If you wanna call it that,” he rasped smugly. “Next time you come up here, you should stop by the crib and visit Mama.”
“You already know I’m not ‘bout to do that shit.” Rising from the spot I was seated on, I slid my sports coat on.
“Forgiveness goes a long way. You can’t hate her forever.”
Supreme never ceased to bring up our mother. He out of all people knew how annoyed I got at the mention of her name.
“I don’t hate her Sincere. I pay the mortgage on her house, all of her bills, on top of depositing a hefty stipend in her account monthly. Shit, I wouldn’t dare do that for someone I hate.”
Tossing a frustrated look my way, Preme maintained his stance. “Out of obligation though Lawton.”
Anytime he referred to me by my government name, I knew he was annoyed. Shit, the fact that he even brought her up had me aggravated. Valerie Harvey was a sore subject for me and had been since the day I learned of Supreme’s existence. Preme was proof of our father’s infidelity and to satisfy Val, our pops didn’t have a relationship with him.
Financially, Preme was taken care of and had been their well-kept secret until the day the local hospital called informing them of his biological mothers sudden passing. For a woman that didn’t want her husband involved in his outside child’s life, she quickly got herself together and went to the hospital to pick him up. Sincere was ten when my parents brought him home.
By that time, I was already out of the house and in college. After a frantic phone call from my mother, I took the first flight out of D.C. to meet my brother. He and I hit it off immediately while my relationship with my parents took a nosedive.
As far back as I could remember, my relationship with my dad had always been stronger. My mom was too busy flossing around town to really be a mother. However, the minute Preme moved in, she found time to mother him. That caused the biggest strain in our relationship.
For years I had heard Val never wanted me. When my pops, Elias, learned of her pregnancy, he begged her not to terminate it. On paper, my parents had the perfect marriage. Inside the walls of their house, it was anything but. Elias couldn’t be faithful if you paid him which was the reason Val didn’t want me per say. My entire life I had heard how much I reminded her of Elias, I mean after all, I shared his chocolate skin complexion, the same hooded eyes, and our statures were similar.
Val despised me because, again, I was the child she didn’t want. Having me kept her in a marriage that she so desperately desired to get out of. My pops hated the way she treated me which is why our bond was so strong.
As a huge “fuck you” to him, she forbade him from having anything to do with Sincere. One look at him ten years later, she somehow fell in love and was the mother to him that she had never been to me. On the outside looking in, you would think I was jealous of the relationship Sincere shared with my mother, but that was the furthest from the tree. Whereas he needed a mom, I no longer desired that connection with her.
So naturally once my father passed, out of sheer obligation, I made sure Val didn’t want for anything but that was as far as our relationship extended.
“She made it this way.”
“Don’t mean you gotta keep it up. Somebody gotta be the bigger person.”
“Somebody does,” I acknowledged. “But that somebody won’t be me.”
Holding his palms in the air he said, “You got it Dutch. Be careful and hit me up if you need me.”
“Don’t I always,” I confirmed after a beat.
Following Preme to the door, I hit the lights on the warehouse, pulled the door closed, and secured the locks. After hugging my baby brother, I slid in the back of the SUV and headed back into town to handle the rest of my business.
When the truck rolled to a halt in front of the youth center, I peered out the window in confusion. A woman clothed in a black pencil skirt, white blouse, and black flats on her feet stood on the side of a beat-up Honda Civic, frantically pounding her fist on the passenger window. In all the years that we’ve been in this location, I had never witnessed such a commotion.
Before Baker could round the truck, I had opened the back door and hopped out. Noticing Dahlia’s former assistant standing at the door, I called out to him.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked as soon as he was standing near me. The car had finally pulled away from the curb, leaving the frantic woman with a face full of tears while Marsha tried her hardest to console her.
Tossing his hands on the top of his head he muttered, “What isn’t going on? That’s Tali the one you hired to replace Dahlia.”
“That’s not explaining why she’s standing on the curb crying, Rossi.”
“Let me make sure she’s okay and I’ll meet you inside.”
When I went to oppose, Rossi begged me with his eyes to drop it until he could handle whatever he needed to handle. There really wasn’t much I could do so instead of protesting, I grabbed my shit off the back seat and let Baker know I would call him when I was ready for him to pull the car around.
Bypassing the melee in front of the building, I headed inside and up to my office. The youth center was the final stop on my agenda today. I wasn’t planning on spending much time here seeing as though I only popped in to show my face to the staff and see if there was anything I could do for them.
After I had replaced Dahlia, I slowed up on my visits. I was secure with the staffs competency and knew without a doubt that Rossi and Marsha would see to it that the new hire got the proper training that she needed. As I’ve said before, this was Dahlia’s love child; I simply funded it and oversaw the renovations. My only obligation to the center was to make sure they had whatever resources they needed.
Swift raps on the door jarred my attention away from the proposal I was reading. “Come in.”
“Mr. Harvey,” Rossi sighed. “I apologize about that. Tali—”
Squinting my eyes, I queried. “Who?”
“Talitha. Ms. Howard, the one you hired.”
“Right right right.” I nodded in understanding.
“Like I was saying Tali is a far stretch from Dahlia,” he chuckled ambiguously. “Poor thing wears her heart on her sleeves. Don’t get me wrong, she is doing a phenomenal job here. The staff loves her and most importantly, the kids love her.”
Placing my elbows on the desk I rubbed my temples. “What was that unfolding outside?”
“One of our newest members lost his brother last night to some gang mess. He’s one of the ones Tali has taken a personal interest in, given his jaded past. Well, let’s just say he showed up today full of fury and all but told her today would be the last day either of us saw him.”
“I’m guessing he’s planning on getting even?” I asked, knowing full well that was the case. When it came to the streets, we lived by the code “an eye for an eye”. I knew firsthand how I would react if someone had killed Preme, and while I respected lil’ man for wanting to get his revenge, that was the reason Dahlia fought so hard for this center.
She wanted to not only impact the community but have an even bigger impact on the youth. Basically, get them out of the streets and that was a notion I respected to the fullest. Dahlia, unlike a lot of others, only knew the legal side of me. Lawton and Dutch where two completely different people.
Part of the reason I credited Adele for me being the man I am is because it was her connections that got me roped up in the dope game. Adele’s father was a Columbian drug lord coining her the princess of his empire. When he was killed, everything was passed down to her. Her husband was too stiff to run drugs, so she offered it to me.
Of course, with my astute background, I knew absolutely nothing about cocaine but as the Bible says “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”
After learning everything there was to know about running a drug ring, I pulled Preme onboard with me and the two of us had been in business for years. I finished my degree and made sure Sincere got one as well. I needed us to be as legit as possible on paper. Not only on paper but also where our financial portfolio was concerned.
“Unfortunately, he is,” Rossi confirmed. “Tali was begging him not to do it and things kind of went from there.”
“Clearly I selected the wrong person,” I noted rather frankly.
“I would have to disagree. I think she is the perfect person. Our resources are limited Mr. Harvey. There is so much Tali wants to do around here. The state hardly wants to get involved with anything. It’s like beating a dead horse trying to get them to fund anything around here.”
“Where is she?”
“Who, Tali?”
I nodded my head.
“In her office,” Rossi grumbled.
“Send her in here for me please.”
“But Mr. Harvey.” Rossi mewled his disapproval. “Please don’t let this one isolated event be the reason for her losing her job.”
