The Plug's Daughter (3 page)

              Instead of even giving Elena another thought, I decided to handle my business. I dialed Mendosa’s number and waited for him to answer as it rung. After four rings he picked up and spoke in a deep voice that was laced with a slight Jamaican accent. His mother had been born in Jamaica and his father was Spanish, but he never knew him. His parents had met in Jamaica when his father was there on vacation. His mother Rose was a prostitute who would lure the male tourists for sex. His father was originally from Mendoza, Argentina and that was how Mendosa had got his name. It was spelled with an s because that was how the z was pronounced. After his father left Jamaica his mother never saw him again. She named her son Mendosa because that was all she remembered about the stranger who’d impregnated her. When he was five his mother migrated to America. She was killed by her pimp ten years later and Mendosa turned to the streets. That pimp was found dead with a single bullet wound to the head less than a month later. Everybody knew that Mendosa had did it.

              “Keys, wah g’wan my nigga?” He’d been in the States for most of his life, so he knew how to disguise his accent.

              When we talked he didn’t have to. I’d known and looked up to him since I was a kid. He knew that I was loyal, so he looked out for me more than he did the average person. It took a lot for Mendosa to feel anything for anybody and the bond that he had with my father had helped that a lot. My pops, although out of the game, had been loyal to him and so my loyalty lied with Mendosa too.

              “Ain’t shit man. I need to come check you out.”

              He let out a grunt in agreement. “Ok. Be at my crib in ‘bout an hour.”

              “A’ight,” I agreed before hanging up.

              He already knew what it was. Mendosa didn’t have to put his hands on his product at all, but he did it for me He knew that I wasn’t going to just fuck with anybody. I’d started with him and I only dealt with him. I was the only nigga who did drug business with him at his house. That was simply because my pops used to run a few blocks for him back in the day. Mendosa didn’t limit his hustle to weed. He was mostly known on the streets for his cocaine connection. I didn’t fuck with that shit. Hell nah. He also had a couple legal businesses under his belt, so sometimes he’d entertain at his home.

              After getting dressed in a pair of black basketball shorts and a white wife beater, I headed to my ride. In an instant it felt like somebody was behind me. When I looked back there Elena was standing there.

              “What the fuck yo’. For real? I thought I told you that I was done wit’ you. Don’t be poppin’ up over here.” I shook my head and proceeded to my whip.

              Her hand was on my shoulder. “I didn’t mean to hurt you Keenyn.”

              I laughed mockingly as I turned around to face her. “You think you hurt me? For real? Y’en hurt shit ma. All you hurt was yourself, ‘cause I was good to yo’ ass. I do what I do, but I treated you better than any nigga you’ve ever fucked wit’. I know that because I couldn’t even tell you had a nigga. Just gone on wit’ yo’ life Lena. I’m good yo’.” When I opened my car door she pushed it closed.

              “Can I talk now?” Her eyes were pleading for me to listen to her, but I didn’t have time for that shit.

              “Umm…” I glanced at my iced out rose gold Gucci watch. “Nah yo’.  I got some business to handle.”

              Her eyes filled with tears, but she looked away to get herself together. “Wow. I really need to talk to you bae. I wish you’d just give me a chance to explain myself.”

              “It’s nothing for you to explain. You got a nigga and you got tired of him. Instead of dumpin’ his ass like you should have you kept that nigga ‘round just in case shit didn’t work out wit’ us. I get it. Niggas do it all the time. Even I did it before, but I ain’t do it this time. I thought our shit was for real. I see that it wasn’t, so just move on. It is what the fuck it is. I can’t fuck wit’ you like that nomore. I gotta go yo’.” I stepped in my car and sat down behind the wheel as she stood there on the sidewalk.

              She wiped her eyes with a solemn look on her face.

              “So, that’s it. You ain’t gonna hear me out? Is it that simple? You just gon’ leave?” She asked with a look of defeat etched on her face.

              She was beautiful, but she wasn’t worth it. I drove off without answering her questions. I just wished she was able to let go and move on with her life. In the past I’d never been serious about a chick. Maybe what happened with her was my get back for hurting women. For years I’d dealt with a few chicks at a time and didn’t really give a fuck about that shit. Commitment just wasn’t my thing. I was getting older and despite my lifestyle, I longed to settle down one day. Finding the right woman to do that shit with was the hard part.

*  *  *

              When I got to the sixteen foot, wrought iron gate with the letters MM, I pressed the button to announce my arrival. Mendosa’s housekeeper Ana answered.

              “Yes.”

              “Hi Ana. It’s Keys. I’m here to see Mendosa.”

              Her friendly voice replaced the flat one as she recognized my name. “Oh yes, yes. He not here yet, but I open gate for you.”

              “Thanks,” I said politely as I waited for it to open so I could drive through.

              I sent Mendosa a text and he told me to just go ahead and wait for him inside. There was a shiny, candy apple red Range Rover parked in front of the huge estate that I hadn’t seen before. I thought I’d seen all of Mendosa’s vehicles. Maybe he had got a new toy.

              After I rang the doorbell my phone notified me that I had a missed call. It was Elena, but I’d blocked her number. Why didn’t she just give the fuck up? When I was done, I was done. Damn. The door swung open and I was face to face with the most gorgeous woman I’d ever laid eyes on in the flesh. She looked like a super star. It was definitely not Mendosa’s middle aged, Mexican housekeeper Ana.

              I was at a loss for words, but I managed to find my voice. “Umm, hey, I’m Keys and I’m here to see Mendosa. He told me to wait for him…”

              “Keenyn, is that you?” She asked with wide eyes that were full of recognition.

              All of a sudden I knew who she was. Wow! Who would have ever thought she’d grow up to look like that? Damn! She’d always been pretty, but as a grown woman that shit was on a different level.

              “Jasenia?” I couldn’t believe it. It had been years since I’d seen her. About ten to be exact.

              I stepped inside and grabbed her up into my arms before spinning her around. She was Mendosa’s daughter and had also been my best friend when we were kids. Her mother left Mendosa when she was eleven and I was twelve. They ended up moving to Miami and after that I only saw her once. We had managed to stay in touch by email and phone for a few years, but that eventually fizzled away. When I got a Facebook page I searched for her with no luck. I often asked her father about her. He would say that she was studying abroad somewhere like London or Paris during our high school years. Last I heard she was in college down in Florida. I could remember Mendosa recently mentioning that she was about to graduate.

              When I planted her feet on the marble floor in the fancy foyer there was still a gorgeous smile on her face. The braces that she’d worn as a child had paid off, because her teeth were perfectly white and straight. Her long hair flowed down to her mid back and was full of bouncy, loose curls. Her flawless make up wasn’t caked on, but perfect like it had been done by an artist at Mac. The outfit she wore showed off her curvy, 5’5 frame in high heels and I was enjoying the view. Hmm, I wasn’t looking at her like I did when we were kids.

              “Wow, look at you.” There was a sly look in her eyes that matched her grin. “You’ve grown into a good looking man…Keys.”

              “Mmm, shit, look at you…” I shook my head not knowing what adjectives to use to describe her fineness.

              Her skin was a smooth, soft mocha tone and her mysterious, slanted eyes were coffee brown. Oh my God, no wonder Mendosa kept her away from me. She was beautiful and I would’ve definitely tried her by now. Shit.

              She led me into the sitting room and my eyes were glued to her round butt as Ana entered with a tray of drinks.

              “Hello Mr. Keys. Would you like some lemonade?” There was a pleasant smile on her face.

              I smiled back. “Hello Ana, and yes, thank you.”

              The tart, but sweet, ice cold beverage cooled me down instantly. Ana was right on time. Looking at Jasenia had made me hot as hell. Dayum shawty was bad.

              When Ana left the room Jasenia picked up where our conversation had left off. We were sitting together on the sofa and I’d almost forgot that Mendosa would be there soon. I didn’t want him to think anything. He’d always been over protective of his daughter.

              “Uh, don’t you think you should be sitting somewhere else when your pops gets here?” My eyes drifted down to her exposed thigh and I shook my head. “Mmm.” I couldn’t help it. It just slipped out.

              That damn thigh of hers was brown, smooth, firm and thick. I had the urge to reach out and grab it, but I contained myself as I bit down on my bottom lip. The desire that I felt for her was undeniable. I wondered if she felt it too.

              “Don’t worry about him. It’s not like I don’t know you.” She waved off my statement like it was ridiculous.

              “Sen, really?” I referred to her by her childhood nickname. “You know how Mendosa is over you. I heard about how he went down to Florida to visit you and shot some nigga because he was staring at your ass. Besides, you don’t know me as a grown man.”

              She laughed and hit my leg playfully. Her hand lingered there a little longer than I expected. I took another sip of lemonade to distract myself.

              “True, but he didn’t shoot him. He shot
at
him. He meant to miss,” she corrected me.

              “What’s the difference?” I asked with a shrug of my shoulders. “I ain’t tryna get shot or shot at by your crazy old man.”

              “The difference is that nigga is still breathing and speaking of knowing you as a grown man, I can get to know you.” She grabbed my phone. “You’re a man, so I know you got some kind of security code on this thing.”

              I drew the pattern to unlock the phone and passed it back to her. She quickly programmed her number in my contacts under Sen. She passed me the phone back. The look on her face was suddenly serious as she stood up.

              As she walked around the room she let out a sigh. “My dad doesn’t have any pictures of me in here.”

              I nodded. “I always noticed that.”

              “That’s because I handle a lot of business in this room. This is where the men I do business with sit. I don’t want them salivating over my gorgeous daughter. There are pictures of you all over the living room.” Mendosa’s rich, commanding voice filled the space.

              I wondered how long he’d been there as I looked back at him standing in the doorway.

              She walked over to him. “Daddy, I came to surprise you. I have some great news!” Her voice was full of excitement as she hugged him tightly.

              “Uh, honey, can we discuss it a little later. I have some business to handle with Keys. I see that you two have gotten reacquainted.” There was a look of disapproval on his face. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming over?”

              I could tell that he was anxious for her to leave the room so that I could stop ogling her fine ass.

              She pouted visibly. “Then it wouldn’t have been a surprise. I’ll leave you two alone to handle your business.” Her eyes drifted to me. “It was nice seeing you again Keys.”

              “Yeah, you too Sen,” I said to her back as she left the room and closed the double doors behind her.

              I made sure that my eyes didn’t linger on her for too long. Knowing that Mendosa kept a piece on him made me keep my eyes on him.

              Suddenly Mendosa smiled. “Don’t worry. I ain’t gon’ shoot you.”

              I laughed nervously. “I ain’t no punk, but my gun’s in the car.”

              He chuckled good-naturedly. “You drinkin’ lemonade man? You want something stronger?” He got up to pour some of his expensive Brandy in a tumbler.

              “Nah, I’m good.” I was about to be riding dirty and I didn’t want to be drunk too.

              “So, what you tryna get today?” He sipped his drink and sat down in the love seat across from me.

              “I need twenty five bricks. Tryna get off them as quickly as possible, but I got back orders, so I need extra.”

              He nodded. “Good. You know I only keep enough shit here for you.”

              When he left the room I drained my glass of lemonade wishing that Ana would come into the room with more. Unfortunately she didn’t, but Mendosa returned with a black duffle bag that I was sure was filled with compressed bricks of that loud ass green. There was no need for me to even open it to check. I’d always done business with him and his shit was always A one. I passed him the wads of cash that were wrapped in rubber bands and he didn’t even bother to count it. He knew that it was all there.