Domonique
Domonique stood on the balcony of his high rise luxury apartment that overlooked the city of Atlanta smoking a blunt. Smoking weed was a habit he picked up back in high school and now as a young adult, it was a habit that was hard for him to shake off. Smoking eased his mind, cleared his thoughts, and in a way it mellowed him out which he needed at times being that he got easily irritated and had a horrible temper. Dom slowly exhaled the weed, blowing out a cloud of smoke. He heard soft footsteps approaching behind him as he sat his blunt in the ashtray that sat on the small table outside on his balcony and admired the view of the city.
"Good morning baby." He heard Morgans soft voice and then felt her arms wrap around his waist
"Good morning sweetheart." He greeted her before turning around and facing her
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him before kissing her forehead, nose, then lips. Morgan smiled as Dom showered her with kisses. Although they have known each other for five years, Morgan still got butterflies in her stomach whenever she was in Domonique's presence.
"How'd you sleep?" Morgan asked him
Dom looked into her eyes before responding, "Great cause I got to slide up in you and taste you before I went to sleep". He joked referring to the sex they had last night
Morgan laughed before pushing Dom in his chest, "Nigga be serious for once."
Dom smiled, "Baby I am being serious, I would've fallen asleep in it if you had let me."
Morgan smiled as she shook her head at Domonique's foolishness. No one besides her, his mother and sister, and his homeboys saw the playful side of Domonique. Outsiders knew him as Ace the cold hearted kingpin, but the people he loved and cared about knew Dom, the full of love, give you the shirt off his back, stand up guy.
"Is that right?" Morgan flirted looking into his light brown eyes
He bit his bottom lip returning her gaze, "Mhmm, that's right and you know it."
He moved his right hand down from her waist and grabbed her ass before kissing her again, this time sticking his tongue in her mouth. Morgan matched his energy and the two fought for dominance as their tongues moved in sync with one another. Before he knew it, Dom's dick was hard and he was ready to bend Morgan over the balcony to feel her warm walls and wet juices on his manhood.
"Baby I got to get to work." Morgan broke away from the kiss feeling Domonique's erection against her thigh
"Take off for the day, I'll reimburse you." Dom said as he kissed on her neck
Morgan closed her eyes and let out a low moan as he gently bit and sucked on the soft spot of her neck.
"Mhmm, I can't baby. This is the last week of school, I gotta show up for my kids." She explained
Morgan was an elementary school art teacher and she loved her job. She loved the work of art overall, she was a true artist at heart and being able to share her passion and joy with kids made her heart happy.
Domonique sighed and stopped kissing her, "A'ight baby, imma let you go then."
As much as Dom wanted to bend Morgan over, he knew how much she loved her job and he didn't want to hold her up. He looked her over and saw that she wore her locs down today, had on a green overall jumpsuit with a white shirt underneath and a pair of all white Nike Air Forces 1's accompanied her feet. Gold hoop earrings dangled from her ears and gold bracelets sat on her wrist. Morgan was so beautiful in her natural state and that was one of the many things Domonique loved about her.
"I love you, we can go round for round tonight." Morgan kissed him on the lips and smirked
Dom grinned, "I love you too girl, and imma hold you to that."
He followed Morgan back into his spacious two bedroom apartment and walked her to the front door
"Be safe, and text me when you get to work." He instructed per usual
"I always do Dom." She responded with a smile before walking out of the door that Dom held open
"That woman don't know what she does to me." He spoke to himself as he closed and locked his front door
Domonique knew that one day he would make Morgan his wife, he just didn't know when that day would come. He knew he would have to make her his girlfriend first, but he wasn't sure when he would be ready to officially hop back into a relationship again. He didn't want to make the same mistakes he did when they were younger, he was deeper into the streets now than what he was when they first started dating. On top of all of that, Dom was commitment shy, he wasn't dealing with any other woman besides Morgan but oftentimes he felt like he could only commit himself to the streets. The streets put money in his pocket and food on not only his table but his mama's table as well, that's all he knew. Fully committing himself to Morgan scared the fuck out of him, and although they told each other almost everything, he wouldn't dare tell Morgan that.
Two weeks had passed since his 24th birthday and Dom was ready to get back to his regularly scheduled program, hustling. Dom walked to his bedroom and picked up his phone off the nightstand to see that it was almost 8:30 in the morning. Domonique had been up since 7am, he was an early riser and always had been. He knew that he could get a lot accomplished within the day if he woke up before 8 and he always did, today was no different. He truly lived by the "early bird gets the worm" motto. He had some moves to make today and if he left his apartment within the next hour, he knew he would be done handling his business at least by noon.
Domonique wasted no time taking a shower and brushing his teeth. He dressed himself in a black polo shirt, true religion jeans, and some white and black Nike dunks. He went to his jewelry stand in his closet and picked out a gold chain with silver diamonds encrusted in each link and placed it around his neck. He then placed his gold iced out Rolex on his wrist and stood in the mirror that took up a corner in his closet and brushed his well kept waves.
"I'm overdue for a haircut." He spoke to himself making a mental note to stop by the barbershop today.
He looked at his appearance once more in the mirror, Dom stood 6 feet tall with a milk chocolate skin tone. His light brown eyes lit up when he spoke about things he was passionate about, and the beard he possessed complemented his full lips and naturally shaped eyebrows. The tattoos on both of his arms told stories that no one would be able to decipher unless Dom told them himself. He wasn't conceited but he knew that he was a fine man and took pride in it. His thoughts were interrupted at the sound of his phone repeatedly going off, he left his closet and went into his bedroom to retrieve his phone off his bed. He unlocked it to find several text messages from the group chat with his homeboys.
Noah: Lunch at Hatties around 12?
Markell: Fasho, lunch on whoever shows up last!
Jordan: Nigga you always trying to finesse yourself a meal, that's a bet tho.
Markell: Aye, just make sure yo ass don't get there last and you won't get finessed!
Noah: Y'all nigga are ridiculous but thats a bet. Dom ass must be laid up with Morg cause he ain't responded yet.
Jordan: That sound bout right. You know that nigga in love and pussy whipped.
Markell: Lmao, leave that man alone and let him be great.
Domonique laughed and shook his head at his friends before responding
Dom: Aye fuck y'all, thank you for coming to my defense Markell. For the record, I ain't pussy whipped, I whips the pussy.
Noah: Lmao man, shut yo ass up! You meeting us for lunch?
Jordan: Nigga you done watched Friday too many times!
Markell: Let em know big dawg!
Dom: Y'all know I'm clownin', but yeah I'll be there. See y'all later.
Domonique locked his phone and slipped it into his pocket before grabbing his car keys off his nightstand and leaving his bedroom. He set the alarm on his apartment before making his way out of the front door. Money and moves needed to be made.
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"Everything looks good down here on our end. Product coming in and selling just as quickly as it comes." Deon stated enthusiastically
Dom nodded his head in satisfaction. He was currently downtown at one of his trap locations, Sandy Grove Projects. A while back he purchased a building in the low income area and set up shop. Niggas on his team thought he was making a horrible decision due to the fact that the projects was a high crime scene and a very neglected neighborhood. But Domonique saw the bigger picture, a picture everyone else didn't see. There was always a method to his madness and just as he figured, this location made him the most money.
"How them lil niggas on the corner doing?" He questioned as he looked over inventory taking a look at what products needed to be restocked soon
"Man, they bringing in hella money. Most of em work the corner when they get out of school and be gone by 10 or so. But its this one lil nigga who work the corner from the time he gets out of school up until midnight. He stays later on the weekends." Teon, Deons twin brother answered
Dom took his attention away from inspecting inventory and faced the fraternal twin brothers.
"Really? What's his name?" He asked intrigued
"Ja'Hon" Deon answered "He bout 14, he stay in one of these buildings matter of fact. Nigga don't say much though, he just sells the product, we give him his cut, and he goes on his way. He always comes back though."
"I'll be back down here tonight, bring him to me." Domonique requested
He was intrigued by Ja'Hon's work ethic and wanted to put a face to the name, and in all honesty the way Deon and Teon were talking, the little nigga reminded Dom of himself when he first started selling.
"We got you Ace." Teon responded
Dom nodded his head as he looked back at the inventory, he needed to call his plug out in Haiti and get some more cocaine in. The powder is what was selling the most quickly in this area and Dom took note of that. Domonique prepared to leave the room where all of the drugs were located and Deon and Teon followed him out. He went further down the hallway to where his office was located and swiftly unlocked the door.
"Is y'all niggas my shadows? What the fuck is y'all following me for?" Dom asked the twins as he turned around noticing that they were right behind him
Deon put his hands up in surrender and backed up, "My bad Ace, we just wanted to talk to you about something."
Dom directed his attention between both of the twins, Teon was more on the quiet side while Deon was the talker. The both of them always held a blank expression on their face, it was as if they had no emotions.
"Talk to me about what? Y'all fucked up my money or my product?" Dom asked ready to put bullets into the both of them if need be
Deon laughed nervously and shook his head. Although he and his brother have been working for Ace since they were 15, he still felt intimidated by him in some ways.
"Nah Ace, it ain't nothing like that man. You know we cross our t's and dot our I's over here." Deon answered
"Well what the fuck is it?" Dom asked growing irritated
It was now a little after 11 am and he still had to go on the Southside to get a haircut and then meet his homeboys for lunch. He didn't plan on spending this much time downtown. Domonique hated when things didn't go the way he planned them, he hated inconveniences.
"We wanna move up the ladder." Teon finally spoke up
Dom looked at the twins and could tell that they were serious. The twins were twenty years old, just a few years younger than Domonique, he put them on game when they were 15. They started off as corner boys, then made their way up to runners, then about a year ago when Dom purchased the building in the projects he chose them to run the facility. Of course he oversaw everything, and nothing could be done until they got his approval first but for the most part they called the shots on this end. They took count of inventory, money, weighed and bagged product, and managed the corner boys. They did a damn good job and Domonique had no issues from them, yet.
"Move up the ladder?" Dom turned their statement into a question "I just put y'all in charge of this building bout a year ago" he reminded them
Domonique respected them for coming to him asking to be promoted but he felt like it was too soon. He trusted them enough to run the trap building but he wasn't sure if could trust them with the bigger shit, not yet at least.
"Yeah and we really appreciate you for taking a chance on us Ace, but we feel like we ready for more." Deon explained
"Well I don't." Dom stated bluntly "Now I'll give it to y'all niggas, y'all are good at what y'all do, I haven't had any problems with product nor money on y'all end, shit the both of you even keep the corner boys in check. But it's only been a year, it's too soon."
"Says who?" Teon questioned
This wasn't how he was expecting this conversation to go. Although he kept quiet most times, he couldn't hold his tongue in this case.
"Nigga is you fucking questioning me?" Dom focused all his attention on Teon "Says me bitch. This is my shit and I will run it how the fuck I see fit, if you got a fucking problem with it, you can take yo dumb ass to the nearest Mcdonalds and hop on they clock. Don't ever question me about my shit!" Domonique yelled
"He ain't mean it like that Ace." Deon spoke up for his brother
"I don't give a fuck how he meant it." Dom kept his eyes on Teon who just stood there wearing a blank expression on his face "I'd advise you to watch your mouth before I knock your fucking teeth out and you wont be saying shit."
The twins fell silent as they realized that they had pissed their boss off, it wasn't intentional but they should've known to choose their words wisely when talking to Ace. He was a hot head and they did not want to get on his bad side especially considering the fact that he controlled their income, they couldn't afford a pay cut.
"Just forget we ever brought it up Ace." Deon stated trying to clean up his brothers mess
Dom shifted his attention to Deon, "Yeah I'll do that, but I won't forget the disrespect." He looked back at Teon
Teon sighed, "My apologies Ace, that didn't come out the right way. I'd never disrespect you."
Domonique smacked his teeth, "Your brother will be burying you the next time you do feel the need to question me. I suggest y'all both be satisfied with the position that y'all are in, I could put y'all back on the corner."
"You aine even gotta do all that Ace, we cool, we'll keep running this building and bringing in the money." Deon quickly said
Dom nodded his head, "Yeah, just like I thought"
He retreated to his office and grabbed the black duffle bag that sat on his desk and slung it over his shoulder. He quickly closed the door back and locked it before pushing past the twins and walking to the front door of the apartment they were in.
"I'll be back later tonight, make sure that lil nigga Ja'Hon is here." Was all Dom said as he left the apartment and made his way out of the building all together.
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It took him no more than 25 minutes to make it over to the Southside. Domonique was still irritated by the conversation the twins and him held earlier and it showed from the mean mug he wore on his face. He killed the engine of his car as he pulled up to Creative Cutz, the most popular barbershop on the southside. The barbershop that Domonique owned.
Although he made more than enough pushing weight throughout the city, Dom knew he needed to have something legit to keep the police out of his business. He purchased the barbershop two years ago, fixed it up, and made it his own. Best investment he made so far throughout his 24 years of life. As Dom made his way to the entrance of the barbershop, he was approached by two little boys. They both stood right outside the front door of the establishment with small boxes in their hands and smiles on their faces. They couldn't be no more than 10 years old, Domonique thought to himself.
"Excuse me sir, would you like to buy a chocolate bar?" One of the boys asked him
"What y'all selling 'em for?" Dom looked at the boys giving them his undivided attention
"Our football team." The other boy spoke up, he was few inches shorter than his friend "We trying to raise money for new uniforms"
Dom nodded his head. He was never really into sports, that was more of Markell's speed but he wouldn't deny the two little black boys a chance for new uniforms.
"What's y'all name?" He asked
"Gregory" The shorter boy answered
"Mine is Ziyon" The other boy followed up
"Y'all like football huh?" Dom hit them with another question
Both of their eyes lit up with excitement and passion as they smiled and nodded their heads.
"We love it sir, been playing since we was like 5." Ziyon answered
Domonique smiled at the boys, "That's wassup, I don't like chocolate but I'll donate to the cause."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out two fresh, one hundred dollar bills. He handed one to Gregory and one to Ziyon. The little boys smiled big at the sight of the blue hundreds, they had never seen that much money in their life, let alone touched it.
"Thank you sir!" They both said in union as they looked at the money then looked at Dom
"You're welcome. What school y'all go to?" Dom asked his final question
"Hershey Elementary, we going to the 5th grade in August." Ziyon answered
"A'ight" Dom nodded his head "Y'all be careful out here, I hope y'all have an amazing season too, go crazy on the field" he encouraged the boys
"Thank you Mr..." Gregory's voice trailed off as he realized he didn't catch the man in front of him name
"Dom" Domonique finished his sentence "Mr. Dom"
The boys smiled at him "Thank you Mr. Dom"
They quickly dapped him up before putting their money in their pockets, closing up their chocolate boxes, and walking down the street side by side. Dom watched them walk until they turned the corner and he couldn't see them anymore. The irritation that he felt earlier from the conversation he had with the twins had melted away from talking with the young boys.
"Hershey Elementary" he said to himself making the mental decision to go by the school soon and talk to their coach. He wanted to make a donation to the football team overall to make sure they met their goal for the new uniforms.
The bell on top of the glass door rang as Domonique walked into Creative Cutz causing the few men in the shop to look in his direction.
"Wassup Ace!" Reggie a regular at the shop spoke as he sat in the chair getting a lineup from one of the employees Brandon
Dom nodded his head, "I can't call it man, how you doing?"
"Everything straight my way, me and wifey anniversary today, so I had to come get right." Reggie said with a smile
"Oh yeah? Happy Anniversary, don't make no more babies tonight." Domonique joked
Being that Reggie and his wife were in their late 40's, Reggie found Dom's joke to be the funniest one ever.
"Hell nah, no more kids this way. That don't mean we can't have our fun though." He said with a laugh and wink
Domonique shook his head and laughed as he looked around the shop, there were three other men getting their haircut by other barbers in the shop and two men sitting in the lobby waiting to be serviced.
"Aye where Slim at?" Dom asked Brandon
"He in the back." Brandon responded
As if on cue, Slim walked onto the floor joining the men. He smiled at the sight of Domonique and dapped him up. Slim embodied his name being that he was tall and skinny.
"Wassup youngin, ain't seen you in here in a minute." He looked at Dom and smiled showcasing his pearly white smile along with his front gold tooth
"Yeah I know, just been busy. You think you can squeeze me in?" Dom asked him
Although he owned the barbershop, he still wanted to be respectful of Slim's schedule.
"You know I got you, come sit." He said walking over to his station
Domonique followed his lead and sat down in the chair.
"Your hair always did grow fast as hell." Slim commented as he put a red cape over Dom's body to prevent hair from getting on him
Slim, whose real name is Santez, was the manager of Creative Cutz; he and Domonique go way back. Slim was in his mid 40s and he was no stranger to the clippers. He cut Domonique's hair all throughout his childhood and teenage years, and any other little boy around the city. For as long as Dom could remember, Slim was a mobile barber, going to peoples houses to cut their hair. When Domonique purchased the shop he knew he had to put Slim in charge of operating it, it made sense.
"I try my best to keep up with the shit. Work your magic Slim."
That he did. In a little over 30 minutes, Domonique left out of Creative Cutz with a fresh haircut that showcased his waves and a crisp line up that had him feeling like a brand new man.
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We 5 chapters in! Technically 6 if you count the prologue. How are y'all liking it so far, who's your favorite character? I love them all, but so far my fav is Dom. I have so much in store for this book, stay tuned!
With love,
DPtheWRITER