to sit here and tell me you didn’t see her, not once?”
He jumped up off the sofa, dick swinging, and went behind the easy chair. He came back with two briefcases and slammed them onto the coffee table. He popped one open and then the other. They both were full to the brim with evenly stacked bills.
“This is what I’ve been doing, Tasha, gettin’ money! Are you meaning to tell me you got a problem with that?”
“How you gonna get money with the enemy, Trae?”
“Enemy? I’m getting money with the muthafucka that made my murder charges go away, and you got a problem with that too? The man fuckin’ called the governor of California, while I was sitting right there and told him to expunge my record Tasha.”
“That’s all well and good. So he has political clout. Big fuckin’ deal! But I still have a problem with how you’re gettin’ it and who you are gettin’ it with, yes.”
“It’s only a problem if you make it a problem.” He gritted his teeth while slamming the briefcases shut. And then he snatched up his clothes and headed for the stairs.
“I only have a problem with that bitch. I should have taken care of her when I had the chance.”
“Taken care of her? What the fuck? So, you killin’ hos now? Get the fuck out her with all this dramatized bullshit.”
“You’re going to wish I was bullshittin’.”
“Tasha!” He turned around and came back to where I was and stood in front of me. “I am not going to tell you a—”
“Trae, this shit don’t feel right. Fuck that money! I’d rather be broke than not have you.”
“Tasha!” The walls felt as if they shook. “I don’t want to hear shit else about Charli. What I’m doing out there is for us. This conversation is over. And I mean that shit.”
“Fine, you won’t hear shit else about Charli.” But you just signed the bitch’s death certificate. Soon you gonna be at her funeral.
JAZ
Almost ten days had gone by since I came back from seeing Snell. I was getting impatient and anxious at the same time. I had to put the money together to pay him while at the same time covering my tracks in case Faheem went to sniffing around. But Steele was still alive. Snell said that when he called me and said he was home, that would mean that the deed was done. I was walking around like a nervous fool. To make matters worse, I couldn’t focus on my plan to handle Oni until Steele was done. I couldn’t wait to get that bitch.
“Jaz! Where you at?” Faheem interrupted my chain of thought. I was busted. He was sitting in a chair, and I was straddling his lap. He was dicking me down, and I was zoning out.
“I’m right here, big daddy,” I cooed.
“The hell you are. Your pussy is drying up.” He stopped. “Here we ain’t fucked in months, and you drying up. Now, tell me, where the fuck are you?”
“Baby, don’t make me do that.”
“What the fuck you mean, don’t make you do that? Get off of me, Jaz.”
“Baby—”
“Get off me,” he barked.
I slowly got up, careful not to bump his leg. Then, as fate would have it, my cell rang. I knew who it was as I rushed to answer it. I took the call, which lasted about thirty seconds. “We good babygirl,” the voice on the other end said.
“Are we?” I wanted to jump up and down. I wanted to hear every little detail. “So what was the look—” He hung up on me which was the smart thing to do. But I still couldn’t help myself. I was geeked. The first half of my plan was done.
“Jaz, you got five seconds to start talking.”
I stood there naked, thinking long and hard. I had so much to say, but nothing would come out. All I could say was, “Steele,” as I tried to contain my smile.
“Steele. Steele? What the fuck he got to do with your pussy drying up, Jaz?”
Faheem instantly transformed from a loving husband to a roaring lion. And I knew right then and there that if I didn’t start talking fast, my naked ass was going to be grass.
“Steele. He’s dead. The deed is done, Faheem. That was the call. You can thank me later.”
Faheem just sat there staring at me coldly. I swear, I now know firsthand what it meant when they said, “If looks could kill.” I snatched up my robe