The California Saga (17 page)

 

 

When I got back to Atlanta with the hundred thousand dollars, I knew one thing and one thing only. Sasha was going to do whatever the fuck Sasha felt like doing. If I didn't feel like doing shit for the day, then I wasn't doing shit. If I felt like buying new clothes every day, then that's what the hell I was going to do.

As I sat in my bedroom and counted the most money that I'd ever had at one time, I knew that I wasn't going back to Bottoms Up. Fuck that dancer life! I was tired of that shit, tired of the hustle. Tired of lame-ass, crusty-ass niggas feeling up on me and me dancing for them just so I could get money to pay one pissy-ass bill here and there. I was quitting ASAP, and I had one hundred thousand reasons to do so.

Jewel had been calling me from the moment that I had hit the Georgia State line. The bitch didn't give me a minute to breathe before she started hounding me about the money. She even had the nerve to tell me that Calico was pressing her hard and that she was having second thoughts about the plan. She was changing her mind and wanted the money back.

As far as I was concerned, that sounded like a personal problem. Hers, not mine. But I didn't tell her that. Instead, I just kept her at bay and told her that it was too late and that I had gone through with the original plan that she'd agreed to. I told her that she needed to relax until the money was flipped.

The truth of the matter was, Jewel wasn't ever getting shit from me, and I could have cared less if I'd ever spoken to her ass again. She was always the one on top, always the one shining, and finally it was my turn.

Two days after coming back to Atlanta, I had reached out to Touch. The nigga never called me back. I was always the one calling him and blowing up his phone, so I decided to keep calling until I got through to him, just so I could see where his head was at.

“Hello?”

“Don't hang up on me Touch. It's Sasha. We good?”

“You didn't even call me back and you claimed to be in the hospital. What the fuck is wrong wit'chu anyway? Matter of fact, fuck you! What about me?”

Touch didn't say anything. Just like the punk-ass he was, he started bitching up. As far as I was concerned, if it was just about pussy and he had gamed me, then it was all good. All I needed for him to do was to be a man about it and admit the shit. Hell, it wasn't the first time a nigga had gamed me for pussy.

“Sasha, listen, like I told you I'm in the hospital right now and I can't talk, I'll call you back.”

“Whateva,” I said and then I hung up the phone.

I sat in silence for a while. I was pissed off. The longer I sat, the angrier I got. I was so angry, I began crying tears of fury. All I wanted was to have shit going well in my life and to be in a committed relationship with someone that wanted to be with me for me, and not for any other false motives.

For the first time in weeks, I thought about Rick. Jewel and all my other fair-weather friends always had something negative to say about the father of my youngest child. But one thing that none of them ever understood was that Rick was the only person who ever accepted me for me and not for any other motives, and that was why I was so loyal and always felt indebted to him.

I'd met Rick years ago after I'd finished dancing one night. I was stopping at a local 7-Eleven to grab a soda when he and his boys were there buying up the place. We locked eyes across the aisle, while the other niggas were grabbing shit like it was The Last Supper.

I broke from my trance long enough to walk to the register. Before I could get the money for my soda, Rick told the dude to just add it to the rest of the shit he was buying. I thanked him and headed to my car. I didn't know he was behind me, until I saw a hand reach for the car handle. I jumped back, and it was him.

“I just thought I'd open the door . . . and get your number,” he said slyly.

I had to admit, it was a good move, but not that good to give him my number right away. So we talked outside of the 7-Eleven for a couple of minutes longer until his boys started harassing him to leave. I didn't give him my number, but he gave me his and made me promise to call. And we started talking on the phone every day after that.

It took me a whole year of knowing him before I told him I was a dancer. When I finally told him, he never condemned or judged me. Thinking back on it, I don't know why I would think he would be like these other cats out here. He was the only guy that I'd ever been with who didn't try to fuck me the same day, or within the first two weeks of knowing me. Nah, Rick was different. He waited six months before we fucked, and he was cool with that.

I don't know what I was thinking when I listened to Jewel and all of my dumb-ass friends. They didn't know what the hell they were talking about. Rick loved me, and I know that he did. Sure, he had hit some hard times and was going through a rough patch financially, but that was all good. I knew that he loved me and his son, and he'd supported me for years when he was getting money. Now it was my turn to return the favor.

So as my tears of anger subsided, they were quickly replaced by tears of joy that was mixed with regret.

I immediately dialed Rick's number. “Baby, I love you so much,” I said to him when he picked up the phone.

“Sasha?”

“Yeah, baby, it's me,” I said through my tears. I apologized to Rick for all the put-downs. “I'm just so stupid, always listening to my friends and shit. Now I realize they don't have my best interest at heart, but you do.”

“You been drinking, Sasha?”

“Nooo, baby, I wasn't drinking. I'm serious. I was just sitting here thinking about how much I love you. I miss you and I want you to be with your son. I want the three of us to be together.”

Rick started to say something, but I cut him off.

“Listen, baby, I did it. I did it, baby.”

“You did what?”

“I did what I said I was gonna do. I came down here and I changed things around.”

“Sasha, you're not making sense. What the hell are you talking about?”

“I got enough money to get us a nice two-bedroom apartment, and I can pay the rent for one year up front, furnish the place, and get us a car. I can even give you the money to start your business. All I need you to do is just tell me that you'll come down to Atlanta and be with me and RJ.”

I was desperately hoping that Rick would say yes. I mean, after all, I had done him dirty by walking out on him and turning my back on him.

“Whoa, I wasn't expecting a call from you like that,” he said.

All this information I was giving to him at one time seemed to have him exhausted.

“Baby, just say yes.”

Rick was silent for a moment, and then he spoke up. “You know I love you, right?”

“Yes, baby, and I know that you love RJ too.”

“So if I come down there, it's just gonna be about me, you, and little man, right?”

“Of course. That's why I called you. Let's start over. Baby, I'm sitting on a pile of money right now, and we can start over and do it right.”

Rick finally agreed to come down to Atlanta.

I was more excited than I had been in months.

Whoever said money can't buy you happiness definitely didn't know what the hell they were talking about.
I chuckled. All I knew was that I had my hands on some money, and I was happier than a pig in shit.

 

 

I felt like my world had turned upside down after speaking to Touch. He called me from jail. He had been charged with assault and battery on Ciara and her girl Monica. He didn't have a bond at the time, but his spirits were up. He'd already spoken to his attorney, and they were going up for a bond hearing the next day. He was sure he would get a bond. But shit wasn't looking so bright, as far as the charges. The judges in Virginia Beach had no mercy for convicted felons and definitely none for violent crimes.

It's funny how so much could happen in such a small amount of time. In three months alone, I'd met this new cat and was thinking about putting him on my team, only to start liking him. Before that shit could go any further, I get arrested and then attacked in my own home. Next, Touch comes to the rescue, tells me that he loves me, and we fuck. He goes and beats down his baby momma, and gets stabbed. Now he's in lock up.

To make matters worse, my gut feeling was telling me that bitch had bucked on me with the money. At first she was giving me excuse after excuse, and finally it got to the point where she completely stopped answering her phone. Now, I'm out here in the streets alone with no Touch and without one hundred thousand dollars of Calico's money.

In a panic, I picked up my cell to give her one last try.

The automated recording said, “At the subscriber's request, the number that you are trying to reach has been disconnected . . .”

There was no need for me to listen any further. The message just confirmed my fear. The new found gangstress in me wanted to take the first flight to Atlanta and search high and low for her ass and fuck her up on the spot, but my rational side forced me to sit down and think.

How the fuck am I gonna get out of this one? Come on, Jewel, this shit can't hold you down.
I sat on a bar stool at my breakfast bar and sipped on a glass of White Zinfandel as I tried to put together the perfect plan. Unable to come up with anything, I gave up.

With a sudden loss of hope, I walked to my bedroom to try to get a little sleep. As I lay on my bed, I flipped through the channels on the television. I stopped on BET as I caught a glimpse of the letters TMF.
What are these niggas doing now
? I smiled as I thought back to the time I'd spent with them in New York. BET was covering a party TMF had thrown in Miami. The shit was crazy. They had white tigers in cages, searchlights in front of the club, and they arrived at the club by helicopter.
Damn, these niggas do it big!
I thought to myself as I sat and continued to watch.

All of a sudden it hit me.
Wait . . . TMF . . . that's the answer to my prayers.
I rushed to my desk and pulled out the copy of the contract I'd signed when I was in New York. There was a fifty thousand-dollar advance I would receive. It's not all of Calico's money, but it would be enough to help me get shit moving.
This is it, Jewel. Calico never believed that I was that bitch that can make things happen. If everything goes my way, I will show him why I'm not one to sleep on.

After making a few phone calls and preparing myself to pull a few tricks if necessary, I was sure I could get that all in one lump sum, instead of the usual five disbursements. Then, after I had the cash in hand, I was sure I could convince Red, one of the head niggas of the TMF crew that showed a little added interest in me, to work with me on a good-ass price for some product. So there it was, shit was set. I had a plan. Now all I had to do was put that shit in motion.

I spent the next hour on the phone negotiating and trying to get everyone to agree to my terms. It wasn't easy, but in the end it was well worth it. I was able to convince the publishing company to agree to releasing the entire advance and wiring it directly to my checking account. I was even able talk Red into giving me a killer price, ten thousand dollars for each of those white girls. And on top of that, he was gonna throw double whatever I purchased. So I would have thirty keys.

So then came my next dilemma—getting rid of that shit. I knew Touch had my back, but shit wasn't looking too good for him. I hadn't heard from that nigga since he was arrested at the hospital and called me the next day from jail. So while I waited to hear from him, I decided to give my boy Diablo a call. From what I'd heard, he was doing it big in the A, and holding shit down in Virginia before the spot got hot. So he was known for doing his thing. After all, he was my ex-boyfriend, and I only fucked with dudes that got bread.

“Hello?” Diablo answered right away.

“Diablo?”

“What's up, baby girl?” he said, full of excitement.

“I need you to deal with some things for me.”

“I thought your girl was coming down so you could grab some shit from me,” Diablo said, oblivious to all the shit that had gone down between me and Sasha.

I updated him on the circus of events that had gone down between me and Sasha, and explained to him the new plan I had. He was ecstatic that he could get the white girl from me for eighteen grand a key. Diablo agreed to purchase fifteen keys right away, and the rest as soon as he moved those. I was sure Touch could handle the rest, but I agreed to Diablo's terms, until I knew what was up with Touch.

Now it was time for me to pull out the next thorn in my side, Calico. But as I was dialing his number, I thought about possibly killing two pesky birds with one large stone.

Calico picked up on the first ring, spewing disgust. That nigga didn't even greet me with a hello. “I hope you calling to say you got my muthafuckin' money, Jewel.”

“Actually, I am . . . kinda.”

“Kinda?”

I explained to Calico what went down with his money. “Look, I'm just gonna be straight-up and honest with you. Calico, I never tried to game you. I'm not the type to steal from anyone.”

By then end of our conversation, I'd managed to turn shit around completely. I was the victim, and Sasha was the thieving bitch. Calico totally agreed with me. I was able to persuade him to forgive me and allow me the opportunity to pay him half in thirty days, and the other half thirty days after that, with interest added, of course.

Sure, in a matter of hours, I would have the money, and the right thing to do would have been to call Calico up and give him his money right away, but I needed some insurance. Shit, the world ain't fair. I ain't fuck him on that money; Sasha fucked me, and in turn, he got fucked. But I didn't know how Calico actually saw it or if he even cared. I knew that the easiest way to keep myself out of a toe tag was to keep him on a deadline date. Before I got off the phone, I commented again that I didn't fuck him over, Sasha did. I made that shit crystal clear to his ass, and he said that he would take care of it and then hung up.

I was instantly afraid for Sasha, but the emotion left just as quickly as it came. She tried to game me with my own rules. Now she had to pay.