G.A.B.O.S. (Original Version)

Chapter V

Six Trey, Heathen, and Juvenile each reached down and picked up the small bags they'd brought with them. They pulled out their laptops and began the process of wiring money from their offshore accounts to Tremaine's. Since each of them had hundreds of thousands of dollars stashed away in various accounts, the procedure took several minutes to complete.

Heathen was the first to close his laptop, signaling that he had completed the transaction. Once everyone was done, Lynise sat down. "What's going on in the streets?" she inquired. "Everything running smoothly? No one's interfering with your operations, right?"

"I'm good," everyone answered at once.

"Alright, then. We're done here. Follow Blue inside and he'll distribute your work to you. I'll see you all later."

Everyone, excluding Lynise, stood up and walked into the house after bidding their farewells. She waited until everyone had what they needed, and then she instructed Blue to call Tremaine's team and tell them where their product was located. After he did that, he left the house, and Lynise called Tremaine as she grabbed her car keys and locked the doors to his house. She got into her Range Rover and began driving home as she waited for him to pick up his phone.

"Lynise, what's good?" Tremaine answered right before she was about to hang up. "Did you handle that for me?"

"You know I did," Lynise responded.

"Good. How did the guys act towards you?"

"Everyone but Six Trey was cool, but you know that it's just in his nature to be an asshole."

"Alright. That's good. You on your way home now?"

"Yeah, I'm right down the street."

"Cool. Tell Julian I said to holla at me when he has the time."

Lynise could hear the sarcasm in Tremaine's voice. She smiled as if he could see her through the phone. "Is my boo jealous?" she asked playfully.

"Me? Jealous? Come on, Lynise. Whether you're my woman or not, you'll always be my woman. If I told you to leave that nigga right now, you'd do it without hesitation, ma. He should be jealous of me!"

"You're too confident. I don't need the headache that is you. Maybe I'm just using you for dick."

"Use away, baby. I damn sure ain't complaining."

"Yeah, whatever. I have to go. Have the boys call me later. Bye." She hung up as she pulled into her driveway and got out of the car. She went into her house, which was more than a step down from what she was living in when she was with Tremaine. Just as her parents had done in her younger days, he had spoiled her rotten with mansions, cars, and an endless supply of money. Although he still supplied her with the latter, the first two were something she missed dearly. Since Julian was legal, he couldn't give her the same things as Tremaine. He made a decent six-figure salary, so she was comfortable in her spacious, three-bedroom brownstone, but she wasn't impressed by it.

"Baby, is that you?" Julian called from their bedroom. He came out a few seconds later and pulled her into a tight hug. "I missed you, Lynise. When did you get back?"

Lynise returned the embrace, and then kissed him on the lips for several long moments. When she finally pulled away from him, she replied, "I missed you, too. I just got back to Georgia last night. I slept at my mom's house and spent the morning with her." The lies rolled off of her tongue so easily that it scared her. When she and Julian got engaged, she always felt immense amounts of guilt when she lied to him about her and Tremaine's relationship. As far as he knew, she was just visiting her kids. He had no idea that she was participating in criminal activities for him, let alone letting him indulge in what only Julian should have been allowed to enjoy. He was under the impression that their relationship was strictly for the benefit of the kids, and was oblivious to the fact that Lynise and Tremaine would always be bound together by old feelings that wouldn't go away no matter how much they denied them.