The Black Effect 2, page 3
Sherman gawked at him. “Domino, you can’t be serious.”
“Do you hear the tone in my voice? I'm very serious.”
Sherman’s hands were planted on his hips as he looked at us both in bewilderment.
“I can’t believe I'm being conned to pay up to someone who’s black mailing me. I come to you guys for help and you do nothing to assist me in this problem. What was the sense of even coming to you, at all?”
“Consider this.” Domino stood. “We can keep who we have in office, and you can go back to being the nobody you’ve been. This is the wrong place to try and put your dick on the table, Sherman. We both can make your life hell and have you wishing you would have just paid the two-hundred grand. Now, what is your decision before I become upset?”
Sherman exhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay… I’ll have it. Where should I send it?”
“You need to have it delivered to me, and then I’ll send it to your extortionist,” I told him.
“And you're going to make sure that he won’t release any information to the press, right?” Sherman quizzed.
I nodded. “You have my word.”
Sherman pressed his lips together before he exited the office. His attitude meant nothing to me and despite me not liking Amai’s parents, I still felt like he had violated the code.
“Now that he’s gone, who is this person?” Domino asked.
I sat up. “It’s Amai’s father.”
“Amai? Your wife?”
That didn’t even sound right coming from his mouth. My wife was going to be my ex-wife and that shit had me feeling sick. Amai had violated just like her mother, and I refused to deal with someone, who was willing to throw away our marriage for a man, who was basically using her ass.
“Yeah,” I replied begrudgingly.
“He slept with her mother?”
I tipped my head. “Several times. He even told her he was leaving his wife for her. That dude, Sherman, is a lousy-ass nigga. Amai’s pops is hurt, so I feel like he should get a payment for Sherman playing him like he did. Plus, I don’t like his ass, so he should pay off the strength of that.”
Domino smirked. “You're still not over him touching Amai’s hair, huh?”
Fuck her…
I made sure to keep that thought in my mind though. I didn’t want anyone on the outside knowing what was going on with us as of yet. I stood, feeling like my presence here was no longer needed.
“I’ll holla at you later, Domino.”
“Hey, don’t forget the monthly meeting has been moved to Thursday.”
“I got it.”
I walked out the office and then exited the house. Cass was waiting in the Bentley as I got inside. My usual confident nature was missing, at the moment. My energy was low, and my body was tired. The only thing I wanted to do was go home and lock myself in my room, so I could deal with the dilemma of me and Amai no longer being together.
“Where to?” Cass asked.
I thought for a moment, not sure why the argument I’d had with Amai emerged inside my mind. I wanted her to feel the pain I was experiencing. I wished she could feel the way my heart was breaking because of her. She had really cheated, and not to mention, she had attacked my mother.
“Aye go to my parents’ house. I need to talk to my mama.”
Cass nodded and started the engine. Even though I was upset with Amai, I believed her when she said Lena had spat on her. Out of all the years I’d been with Amai, she had never displayed being violent. I couldn’t see her attacking my mama without being provoked, and Lena was known to pick at Amai for no reason.
When we arrived at my parents’ estate, I got out and entered the house. I heard voices in the kitchen, so I walked in to find Lena, Helen, and Niyara seated at the breakfast bar.
“My sweet Nadir,” Lena sang. “I have some news for you, son.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that you spat on Amai?” I badgered, avoiding the pleasantries.
Her cheerful expression seemed to vanish within seconds.
“Excuse me?” she sassed, planting her hand over her chest.
“I think you heard me, Mama. Why didn’t you say that you spat on Amai and that’s why she attacked you? I think that’s an important detail to leave out of the story, don’t you think?”
Her nose was pointed in the air as she glared at me. “So, that bitch lies to you, and you eat it up like it’s nothing?”
“Did you spit on her?” I questioned, ignoring her.
“Of course, I didn’t. Did she tell you that?”
“Are you telling the truth, Lena?” Helen queried. “Because I have to be honest, I just didn’t see Amai attacking you like you said. She has endured a lot of your verbal beatings and almost every time, she has some restraint.”
Lena cocked her head at Helen. “Are you out of your damn mind? You think I would make this shit up on her, of all people? You must take me for some lying skeezer if you think that shit. Spitting is some lower-class bullshit, and you would never see me partake in that kind of behavior.”
“So, you sure you didn’t spit on her at all?” Niyara asked.
“No, so don’t ask me that shit again, and Nadir…” She pointed her finger at me. “What kind of son are you that you would take the word of some cheating-ass hoe over your Mama? If I tell you some shit, know that my word is law. I'm the one that brought you into this world, not that whore you call a wife.”
I smacked my lips, not in the mood for her dramatic behavior. “So, because I asked you a question, I'm wrong?”
“Yes, you're wrong and because you wanna be on her side, why don’t you go bail that redheaded heffa out of jail?”
Helen gasped. “You got her arrested?”
Lena smiled evilly. “Yep and Jaide helped me do it. She followed Raye this morning to a restaurant and guess who was there? Amai’s ass. So, she gave me a call, and I had the police go and get her ass. You can’t tell me Jaide isn't loyal to this family. Oh, and tell Raye, she's on my shit list for sneaking to see Amai behind my back.”
I spun on my heels and left the kitchen. I was mad, no scratch that, I was incensed that Jaide was doing sneaky shit like this. I wanted her to stay out of the drama between Amai and Lena; not add to the shit. Raye had me fucked up, if she thought I was going to be cool with her going to see Amai behind my back. If I was done with Amai, that meant her ass needed to be too. She had to pick a side, and I hoped for her sake that she chose the best one.
I leaned against my ride as sprinkles of rain dropped around me. I placed my hood on my head and glanced at my watch. My eyes then traveled back to the door once it opened. It was then Amai emerged, wearing an exhausted expression and carrying a plastic bag. Her footsteps slowed down when she approached my car.
“Thanks,” she mumbled, avoiding eye contact.
“No problem. You good?”
She nodded but didn’t reply verbally.
“Well, uh, you can get in the car, and we can go.”
Amai walked over to the passenger side while I got in on the driver’s side of the car. I was surprised when I received a call from the St. Parklynn jail operator. I was confused and even more shocked when Amai’s name was presented. She didn’t say much about her arrest. The only thing she asked me to do was bail her out. I did without a second thought because I knew jail was no place for a woman like her.
I started my car, and we drove off in an awkward silence. Things hadn’t been cool between us since the episode from last night. All day, I wrecked my mind on how to approach the situation with Amai. I knew she had reservations about me, thanks to her husband. I didn’t have any ill will when it came to Amai, and I sincerely wanted to convey that to her.
“I called my dad, at first, but he didn’t answer. You were the only person left to call, so thank you for coming through. How much was the bail?” she asked.
I shook my head because it wasn’t that much.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“No, I need to pay you back, so tell me how much it was.”
I sighed because I could tell by the tone of her voice that she wouldn’t let this go.
“I only had to put down $500.”
There was no response until three minutes later, my phone buzzed. When I saw a cash app notification on my screen, I knew it was from her.
“So, what happened?” I questioned.
“Lena happened,” she scoffed.
“Damn, did she send the police to the hotel?”
“No, I was set up.”
“By who?”
She turned to me, and I briefly looked at her before returning my eyes to the road.
“Nadir’s other wife.”
“Jaide?”
“No, Raye. I went to meet her thinking I could trust her, and she set me up. I cannot wait to rid myself of those fucking people.”
I sighed. “You should’ve kept your distance.”
“You think?” she spat sarcastically. “I know now, though. I'm definitely done fucking with them all. I was so embarrassed when the cop arrested me inside the restaurant. I’ll probably never go to O’Ryan’s again.”
I didn’t know how to respond to her troubles. I couldn’t tell her that things would be okay because they probably wouldn’t. The only thing I planned to do with Amai was just be there for her. I took her back to the hotel and parked in the lot. If our relationship had been in a much better place, I would have escorted her up to her room. Since I knew she wasn’t feeling me like that, I opted to let her go up to her suite alone.
Amai reached for the door, but she stopped and turned to me.
“You need to tell me about your relationship with Jaide.”
I licked my lips, wishing she hadn’t made that request. Any topic involving Jaide was one I never discussed, but I did indeed owe Amai an explanation, so I resentfully obliged. I cut off the engine and slouched in my seat.
“Me and Jaide started fucking around in high school. We fell in love and then we went to St. Parklynn University together. I was a broke college student, and she wasn’t too far behind, but she did get help from her parents. After we graduated from our business program, we made a plan to get married, but only after we started our businesses.
“I was on the grind, but I noticed Jaide had slacked a bit. She was a spoiled daddy’s girl, so she liked to be taken care of. I had no problem with that, but I still wanted her to stick to our plan and become entrepreneurs like we intended. So, I was working and working trying to get shit done, and Jaide was becoming more uninterested.”
“What do you mean?” Amai asked.
“Well, when I say uninterested, she was going out more and wasn’t hustling for the business she said, she wanted. I didn’t pressure her about it because I didn’t want it to seem like I was riding her, but I did ask her what was going on.”
“And what did she say?”
I shook my head at the memory. “She said she was trying to figure out some shit, but she didn’t go into detail. I even asked her mom and pops about her sudden change-up, but they were unclear with what was going on with her ass, too. So, like I said, she was going out more, and I was seeing less and less of her. One day, she came home and told me she had met someone else and that she was going to move in with him.”
“Wait, just like that? No warning or nothing?”
I swayed my head from left to right.
“No warning, at all. I asked her why, ya know. Like, how she could do this to me, but she didn’t give me an answer. Jaide’s ass treated me like I was this sucka-ass nigga. I was fucked up behind that. I couldn’t believe she had thrown our relationship away for somebody she had just met. And because I am a man with an ego, I didn’t want to go out like that. I found out who the person was, and that was when I learned of Nadir. I ran up on him while he was out with some chick and confronted his ass. That nigga laughed in my face and told me Jaide was his. I can’t front and say I wasn’t sick after that. I tried calling Jaide, but she had changed her number and everything. She had burned me so bad, I ended up moving to Dallas for a while just to get my mind right. That was a fucked-up time for me, but eventually, I got over her ass.”
“So, is that the reason why you said you don’t want a woman in your life like that?”
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “Jaide did a number on me, and I told myself that love wasn’t in the cards for me no more.”
“Jaide ain't shit, I see,” she noted, facing forward. “She's two-faced as fuck. Something I never saw in her when we first met.”
“Nah, she's all about the money, too. She only got with Nadir because he was rich. She didn’t want to grind with me no more and because ol’ boy was willing to give her anything, she moved to the highest bidder.”
Although I had gotten over my heartbreak with Jaide, it still held a bitter taste in my mouth. Throughout the years, I avoided committing to women because of the scalding Jaide had done to me. I probably passed up some great ladies in the past, but I couldn’t devote myself to them because in the back of my mind, I always felt like they would fuck me over like Jaide had done.
“I'm sorry she did that to you, but I need to know that our friendship wasn’t some ploy to get back at Nadir.”
“I swear to you, I wouldn’t do that. When I met you, I had no idea you were connected to that man or Jaide. You never even mentioned his name in my presence. You gotta believe me.”
Despite me telling half the truth, my intentions for Amai were always innocent. I didn’t try to get over on her just to spite Nadir. I truly enjoyed having her as a friend.
“It’s hard to believe you, Canton. Nadir is a very smart man, so I'm sure it was easy for him to put two and two together. All this feels really convenient that we formed this friendship, don’t you think?”
“I mean, yeah… it’s a coincidence, but I'm not the kind of man to get back at someone or seek revenge. That’s not my style and quite frankly, I look down on niggas, who go out of their way to hurt other mothafuckas.”
I watched Amai swallow hard.
“Thanks for bailing me out. I’ll see you around.”
“Hold on,” I gently grabbed her arm. “Will I hear from you again?”
“Yeah.” She sighed. “As soon as I get my shit together.”
“You know, I could help you with all that. I can take you to get a car, and I know someone who leases townhouses. Shit, you can even come stay with me if you like.”
“No, I couldn’t do that.”
“I have two extra bedrooms, Amai. It’s not an inconvenience.”
“I appreciate that, Canton, but I need to get my own shit. Maybe I’ll take you up on your offer to look at the townhouses. Right now, I need to see about this case and pray that they don’t give me jail time.”
“Man,” I drawled. “I wouldn’t worry about that shit. You'll probably get some anger management classes and maybe a couple months of probation. Don’t sweat it.”
“But I don’t want no damn probation, especially when that bitch was the one who spat on me. Isn't that an assault? Am I not warranted to drag her bitch-ass?”
“You are because I probably would’ve done the same thing. Did you tell the police that she actually spit on you?”
“Yeah, but they acted as though they didn’t care. I swear, I hate Nadir’s whole fucking family. I'm also really hurt that Raye decided to set me up. I never saw this coming from her, but I'm glad her ass showed her true colors. Now, I can get rid of her just like the rest of them.”
“Well, let me know what I can help with, Amai. I got you with whatever you need. Don’t ever hesitate to hit my line for anything.”
She smiled. “I appreciate that, Canton. I really do. I’ll call you later after I get my mind right.”
“A’ight, Amai.”
I watched her get out the car and walk inside the hotel, wishing I could erase all her worries. I liked Amai, probably more than I should have. I didn’t intend on catching any feelings for her, but they were present. For the first time since my relationship with Jaide, I wasn’t going to stop them.
The day Canton bailed me out of jail, I went to my hotel room and cried my eyes out. The humiliation from being arrested was too overwhelming for me to digest. Not to mention, the betrayal from Raye was something I couldn’t stomach. I had gone to see her, with the intent of it being just us. Never did I expect to be set up from a person, who I considered to be my best friend. Once again, I was caught off guard by not only Nadir, or Jaide, but by Raye and her ‘you can trust me’ bullshit.
When I let my emotions run free, I felt a tad bit better and I declared that the next day, I would wake up to a new mindset. So, here I was, at the car dealership, signing several papers for my new car. It was a used Audi that was maybe two years old. It was mine though, and I paid for it with cash, which brought some joy to my fucked-up life.
“Okay, Mrs. Black. Here are your keys and enjoy your new car,” said the salesman.
I smiled and reached for the key fob. “Thank you.”
I walked out the dealership just as someone was driving my car around. I marveled at the white color that I had purposely chosen since the color black reminded me too much of Nadir. The driver got out and helped me inside. As soon as he closed the door, I drove off with no destination in mind. My thoughts were all over the place as I sped down the streets of St. Parklynn.
My mind lingered on Canton and how he had come through for me yesterday. I didn’t want to call him, but when my dad didn’t answer, I felt like I had no choice. His story with Jaide left me baffled. Before our altercation, I never saw Jaide as a flip flopper, who was all about the money. Now, I saw through that bullshit-ass role she tended to play. Out of all three of us, Jaide was the one who shopped like crazy. Every six months, Nadir was trading in her car for a new one. He had funded her business and even bought her a warehouse. Jaide seemed to love the lifestyle Nadir provided for us, and now that I had gotten Canton’s side of the story, she definitely wasn’t as loyal as she portrayed herself to be.
