March 18th 2023
Dallas, Texas
10:15 am
"Damn Mi, come on. You ain't got no TV in this bitch, I'm bored as hell." Rashad fussed as he laid his back on Amina's bed, his feet were on the floor and his eyes were facing the ceiling. "I'm coming!" Amina fussed back. A few moments later, Amina came out of her bathroom fully dressed.
"How do I look?" She questioned as she slightly posed in the mirror, eyeing herself in different positions. Left side, right side, and from the back, before turning back to the front. "Joli comme une fleur." Rashad replied in French before giving her lips a peck. She was dressed in a white Alo yoga tennis dress and cashmere sweater was wrapped around her shoulders. They were on their way to a country club, so Amina's outfit definitely fit the setting.
"And what does that mean?" Amina questioned as she slipped on a pair of slouch Nike socks before grabbing her metallic silver Nike Air zoom Vomero 5's and pushing them onto her feet. "Pretty like a flower." Rashad answered.
Having a country club membership was always something Rashad wanted, on top of the enjoyment, the connections that could be made were endless, for both him and Amina. His foot was already in the door since you could only get a membership if you were referred by one of the prestigious members. Rashad was referred by the man who owned the strip that Blue's was located in, after a conversation with each other, it was clear that he took a liking to Rashad.
"You know how to play golf?" Amina questioned as Rashad opened the passenger door her, and watched her hop in. "Hell yeah—I'm the reason you barely hear shit about Tiger Woods, his ass got scared when I came on the scene." Rashad replied before closing the door. When he made it to the driver's side, Amina was still laughing.
"I'm serious." Rashad lightly chuckled as he fastened his seatbelt, "Boy." Amina waved him off while flirtatiously rolling her eyes.
"Play something." Rashad instructed, handing her his phone. It was locked, but she knew the password—Sahara's birthday. The acrylic nail on her thumb sounded against the screen as she scrolled through various of Rashad's playlist. Soon, sex with me by Chief Keef started play. Rashad furrowed his eyebrows together before letting out a brief chuckle.
"What Miss prissy know bout Keef." Rashad joked, causing Amina to laugh. "This that old shit too." He added.
"I feel like everybody love Keef—he can't do no wrong, and he pioneered a whole generation of rap." Amina replied, she started to lightly chuckle as she looked over at Rashad. "Look at us...listening to Keef on the way to a country club." She voiced, Rashad smiled as he nodded his head.
"I'm pre cramping so bad." Amina announced, Rashad slightly looked over to see Amina softly holding her stomach. Once he stopped at the light, he got a better look at her and noticed that her face didn't look as full as it did a few days ago. He figured maybe her being fresh out of a nap was the cause of that. "What that mean? Your cycle bout to come?" Rashad quizzed, Amina shook her head yes. Which lead him to believe that maybe he was trippin.
"Yes?" Amina chuckled, "Why you keep looking at me like that?" She questioned, Rashad simply shook his head. Briefly, a silence came over them, making nothing but the music heard.
"I'll never forget how the media acted when Tiger woods cheated on his wife—I thought he was a murderer or something up until a few years ago." Amina randomly voiced, "Hell yeah, and the news spread was fast back then, but it wasn't as accessible as it is now. I heard a million fake stories before I heard the real one." Rashad replied.
"You heard the real one?" Rashad questioned, Amina shook her head no as she looked at him with a inquisitive look on her face.
"They claim he cheated on his wife and she used his golf club to fuck his windows up, but real story is she was mad I beat her husband ass in a golf tournament." Rashad joked, Amina kissed her teeth before laughing. "Shut the fuck up."
"Word to my dead—they came up with that story cause I ain't want all that attention on me." Rashad added to the joke. "We gon' see how good you are once we get to the course." Amina replied as she reached over and gently caressed the back of his neck.
"How you learn how to play?" Amina egged on the joke, Rashad shrugged. "Raw talent baby, no practice or nothing." He replied. Amina chuckled as she shook her head.
"You must went on a lot of top golf dates." Amina jokingly narrowed her eyes, and forcefully made her left eye twitch. "Before you, I ain't go on no dates for real." Rashad truthfully replied. It wasn't his thing to be honest, once he made it up in his mind that relationships weren't for him, he ruled out all the relationship shit as well.
"Really?" Amina questioned, "These hoes be jumping out they skin and you ain't even take them out? That's sick as hell." She added.
"You know why they jumping out their skin." Rashad replied, keeping his eyes on the road. He knew Amina well enough to know that whatever face she was making right now was comical as hell. "I don't know a fuck thing." Amina pursed her lips together in attempt to mask her smile.
"Word? I needa show you the video or something?" Rashad chuckled, making Amina do the same. She playfully hit his arm before rolling her eyes. "You roll ya eyes just like that in the video, only difference is you shaking and shit." Rashad coolly chuckled.
"Oh don't start feeling yourself, Mr damn Mi." Amina quipped, "Hell yeah that's me, that shit mad good." Rashad replied before reaching over and placing a kiss on Amina's lips. Upon arrival, Rashad's car was taken by the valet service. The duo walked side by side into the main lobby, where they then started the process of attaining their membership cards. Once they took of their photos and received their cards, they decided to put something on their stomachs before hitting the course.
The change of scenery was one that Rashad could accept, carrying the well respected status that he had outside of the streets was major to him. It showcased how much of a natural born trail blazer he is. In a matter of time, things were going as planned. Both him and Amina were enjoying themselves while also constructing new connections. "Imma be right back mama." Rashad spoke as he stood up from the table he shared with Amina, causing her to furrow her eyebrows together.
"Where you going?" She questioned, "To the bar—I need some lime for my coke." Rashad answered, Amina gave him a head nod before using her fork to cut into her piece of branzino fish. Rashad leaned over and kissed her forehead before walking away from the table, he waded over to the bar and lightly rested against the wooden surface as he awaited a free bartender.
"Rashad?" A voice called out, causing Rashad to look beside him. He flashed a cordial smile once he laid his eyes on Pulitzer, he extended his hand, welcoming him for a sturdy handshake. "I'm glad to see you made it—you having fun?" He questioned before lifting his small glass of alcohol to his lips.
"I appreciate you for inviting me Pultz, it's cool so far—I haven't hit the grass yet though." Rashad replied, calling him by the shortened version of his last name. Pultz was a very successful man, he acquired his wealth generationally and managed to keep the strength of the business going. "Really? Let's go." He spoke before taking one last sip of his drink and digging in his pocket to retrieve a twenty dollar bill.
"You sure you want these problems?" Rashad teased, causing both men to laugh. They indulged in small prattle on their way outside, where they then hopped on a golf cart to take them the rest of the way. Soon, they arrived on the golf course and began a game while continuing their conversation.
"I was around your age when I opened my first business." Pulitzer voiced as he closely eyed his golf club, then pulling out a tiny white cloth to wipe it down. "Yeah...I'm in the process of starting up a second one." Rashad spoke, making a mental note to invest in better golf equipment.
"Really? What market?" Pulitzer questioned, "A hair salon—back in my hometown, Harlem." Rashad answered as he swung his club, watching the small white ball go exactly where it needed to go. He nodded his head in approval for himself.
"Smart. You know women generate the dollar more then men, anything marketed toward them will always deliver guaranteed revenue." Pulitzer replied, causing Rashad to nod his head. He was already privy to this information though, Rashad always wanted to overly excel in everything he did, which meant he did a lot of research.
"Club and a hair salon—you'll be well off for life." Pultz added before swinging his club and cupping his hand above his eyes to shield the sun from his view. "That's the plan." Rashad replied. Pultz snapped his finger as he continuously pointed at Rashad, as if he had a thought forming on his mind.
"You know what?" He questioned, causing Rashad to raise his eyebrows. "One of my brother in laws is in the business of salon equipment, I could connect you two with each other." He explained.
"Word?" Rashad quizzed as they hopped in the golf cart to ride to the next section of the course. "Word." Pultz replied, causing Rashad lightly chuckle.
"The salon in Harlem though, is the company mobile?" Rashad questioned, Pultz nodded his head yes. "I'll talk to him tonight." He replied, resulting in Rashad to slightly nod his head. This country club thing was going better than he planned, it was weighing heavy on his decision to close all of his deals in the streets and fully transition to business. Being in the space made him realize that having this this kind of power held way more weight.
As time furthered, more of Pultz's acquaintances showed up to the course. To a certain extent, it surprised Rashad that he didn't stick out like a sore thumb. He knew he had substance to himself, but to see it in real time had him feeling proud of himself. Turned out that the streets wasn't all that he knew.
"I love New York—there isn't another city with the same vibe." Andrew spoke. Out of the whole group, he was the closest in age to Rashad with him being 31 and Rashad being 29. Rashad could tell that was the reason he was trying his best to form a familiarity with him. Just when Rashad was about to reply, a woman's voice halted him.
"Andrew, watch him while while I eat lunch." Who Rashad assumed to be Andrew's wife demanded. It slightly surprised that his wife was a black woman, super gorgeous at that. She closely resembled Tika Sumpter. Andrew slightly kissed his teeth. "I'm kinda playing golf right now." He replied, holding up the golf club in a "duh" manner.
She didn't say much, since her face did all of the talking. Andrew fussed under his breath as he reached for the baby. His wife then hopped back on the golf cart and got chauffeured away. "Happy wife, happy life." Rashad spoke, resulting in a few laughs. He looked over and noticed the baby reaching for him, instantly putting a warm smile on his face.
"Wassup lil dude." Rashad greeted as he eyed the child, he appeared to be around 11 months old. He definitely had that shit on, especially to be a baby. The young child continued to reach for Rashad, he stuck his golf club under his arm and held his hands out. "You sure?" Andrew questioned, Rashad shook his head yes.
"You the flyest thing at daycare, huh?" Rashad complimented as he sat the baby on his hip. "You got any kids?" Pultz asked.
"Nah...not yet." Rashad replied, he raised his hand initiating for the baby to give him a high five. Rashad felt like babies were the best character readers, so this pure moment was doing something for his soul.
"Not on no weird shit, but you mind if I show him to my lady right quick?" Rashad quizzed, Andrew lightly chuckled. "It's fine man." Andrew replied bedore taking a sip from his Red Bull. On the way back to the lobby's eating area, Rashad remembered he told Amina he was going to get lime and ended up vanishing for an hour.
"Shit." Rashad spoke, realizing he should've took a cart instead of walking. "Shit." The baby repeated, causing Rashad to laugh.
"Relax lil man." He spoke, making the baby laugh as well. Rashad realized that Amina was no longer at the table they he left her at, which caused him to sigh. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket with his free hand and called her.
"Yeah." Amina answered the phone, "Where you at mama?" Rashad asked as he walked out of the lobby. "The bowling alley." Amina answered, Rashad nodded his head. That was his first guess since she mentioned it when they first arrived.
"Don't move, I'm finna come up there to you." Rashad instructed, "Alright." Amina replied before they ended the call. Moments later, Rashad made it to Amina. From a afar, he noticed her furrow her eyebrows together in confusion before chuckling.
"Say hey Mimi." Rashad spoke in a baby voice, making Amina's chuckle intensify. "Who's baby is this?" She asked.
"One of the guys—he kept reaching for me, so I grabbed em." Rashad answered as he fixed the collar on the baby's Lacoste shirt. "He a chill kid." He added.
"Hi baby." Amina cooed as she softly tickled his stomach, causing him to chuckle. "What's his name?" Amina questioned, Rashad looked at the baby before shrugging his shoulders.
Amina briefly laughed, "How you don't know the baby name?" She questioned, "What's your name?" Rashad asked, causing Amina to laugh harder.
"He barely look one Suge—he probably know it, but can't say it." Amina spoke as she reached for his small hand. "Well I'm boutta take him back, I ain't a babysitter." Rashad voiced, Amina laughed.
"Bye friend." She spoke while waving at the baby, he lifted his small hand and began to wave back by opening and closing his hand.
March 18th 2023
Dallas, Texas
3:47 pm
While Rashad was becoming acquainted with the men, Amina found herself mingling with their wives. A group of blithe well off women, thanks to the fruit of their husband's labor. They were decked in LuLulemon and Alo Yoga. She figured short almond shaped nails were a fad within the group, because they all had them.
All of their jewelry was quiet luxury, except for their wedding rings, which were very large and flashy. Amina couldn't help but to get caught in a daze as she eyed the woman in front her's ring. "How long have you been married to Rashad?" She questioned, removing Amina out of her trance. Amina grabbed her champagne, and took a sip. She briefly wondered if she was trying to be funny or not, since there obviously wasn't a wedding ring on her finger.
"I'm not married." Amina answered, with that statement, she felt a pain in her heart that reminded her that she wasn't even in a relationship. Her mood took a drastic dip as she stared onto the perfect green grass while toying with her fingers. "I'm sorry—I assumed that ring was maybe there in place of a wedding ring." She replied, causing Amina to eye her. There was no way in hell she thought a Texas shaped James Avery ring was a wedding ring.
"It's not." Amina replied before reaching for her glass and taking another sip. All while Amina kept a poker face on, she wasn't going to let these women see her sweat or be bother. But on the inside, she was a mess. After the past few weeks, she was starting to wonder if Rashad really loved her as much as he said he did. It seemed as if there were so many perfect opportunities for him to ask her to be his girlfriend, but the question never came. Which made Amina form some questions of her own.
March 20th 2023
Dallas, Texas
4:26 pm
Rashad grabbed his keys out of the pocket of his Arte cardigan, before pushing the door to the club open and walking out. "Can I please have my job back Rashad?" Gianah's voice called as she took hold of his bicep, causing Rashad to kiss his teeth, creating a sound of pure annoyance.
"Please? I need this job—even if it's washing dishes, I'll do it." Gianah spoke before wiping away the tears that fell. "It's best if you just find you some new shit, closed doors often lead to something better." Rashad replied before he walked off, in route of his car.
"Something better like what?" She questioned as she tucked some of her hair behind her ear. Rashad shrugged his shoulders, "You won't find it by standing here in front of me." Rashad spoke as he opened the door to his car and jumped in the driver's seat.
Gianah kissed her teeth, "All I did was offer you some pussy—that ain't no crime, I ain't steal from you or nothing." She snapped.
"Get yo jobless ass the fuck on." Rashad spoke before closing his car door. She was right, she did offer him some pussy. She wasn't the first nor would she be the last, he just couldn't fuck with her continuing to throw herself on him when he clearly wasn't interested. At his place of business at that.
Suddenly, Rashad was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of his phone ringing. He kissed his teeth and let out a long sigh once he read the words "ma" on his screen. This was her first time reaching out since he left her house a couple weeks ago, so instinctively he wondered what tune she was singing after the bullshit she pulled.
"Yeah." Rashad answered the phone, he stopped at the red light and realized he bought himself some time to bite into the sand which he made. He nodded his head in approval as he chewed the perfect bite, it wasn't like Amina's but it would do. "You left and didn't stop by?" Anais spoke.
"Imma be real Ma—what you pulled was mad dayroom. Like, you ain't seen me in months and you call in ole girl on some weird shit." Rashad replied, taking one more bite of his sandwich before sitting it back down. "Rashad, Isis loves you—after you left my house that girl cried for hours on end. She's hurting from you doing her like this!" Anais combated, causing Rashad to kiss his teeth.
"Respectfully ma, what the fuck is wrong with you? I'm your son, but it's like you go out your way to wreck me. If I say it's fuck somebody, it should just be that—you forever going against the grain when it come to yo kids! That shit lame." Rashad fussed, feeling a bit of suppressed emotions find their way to the surface.
"How am I going against the grain? I've always loved Isis for you and you know this! That girl is perfect for you." Anais argued, "If you think that girl is perfect for me then you really don't know me at all." Rashad spoke.
"Excuse you? I carried you for nine months, pushed you out naturally, wiped your ass and nose and you got the audacity to tell me I don't know you?" Anais spoke as if she was offended. "You don't—but aye, I pray you don't be like this forever Ma, real talk. Love you" Rashad responded before grabbing his phone and ending the call. He shook his head as he sighed, not really surprised about the conversation he just had with his mother, at this point he was used to it.
Rashad didn't even bother to turn the music up for the remainder of his ride, instead he used his free hand to finish other half of his sandwich as he let his thoughts consume him.
About 15 minutes later, he made it to his destination. He hopped out the car making sure to leave anything that would incriminate him in it before heading toward the building. He'd had his fair share of jail visits, so he knew how shit went. The process was smooth, before he knew it, he was sitting at the medal table waiting for Rico to appear in front of him.
Rashad slyly listened to the conversations around him. Baby mother's sad about raising children on their own, mother's cutting their sons off, and inmates speaking to their lawyers. Soon, Rashad was snapped out of his daze when he noticed Rico sitting in front of him. He hadn't been in there for long, so he still looked the same. An orange jumpsuit covered his body and a white long sleeve shirt covered his arm tattoos.
"Wassup Shad." Rico extended his hand to dap him up, "Wassup man—you good, mentally?" Rashad replied as they briefly slapped hands.
"Shit...I don't even know." Rico replied while he scratched his head, "You got a lawyer?" Rashad questioned.
"Yeah, my granny helped a nigga with that." Rico replied. Deep down, Rashad wanted to help granny with the lawyer fees, but Rico still owed him. Any way he helped, wasn't going to be financially. "How much time you looking at?" Rashad quizzed.
"They saying the longest is three years." Rico answered, Rashad nodded his head. "I'll contact some people...see if they can get it down to at least two." Rashad replied.
"Preciate it Shad—foreal, you really ain't have to do none of this being what situation we in." Rico spoke, Rashad didn't reply, he only continued to nod his head. "Word spread fast around here and they saying Samir been saying you selfish with the work and all kinda shit, just dry putting dirt on yo name." Rico announced.
Rashad waved him off, he wasn't worried about that shit. He was feeding Samir, not the other way around. One of the many things that distinguished boys from men was guts, and Samir didn't have the guts to say none of that to Rashad's face. But Rashad had all the guts to bring it Samir's.
March 22nd 2023
Dallas, Texas
4:50 am
Amina watched Rashad sleep peacefully with tears in her eyes, she hadn't gotten a minute of sleep since her mind and heart continued to battle each other. Both her hands and feet were cold from the nervousness that ran rampant through her body. She slipped out of bed and grabbed her purse before leaving the bedroom and tip toeing to the kitchen so she wouldn't wake Rashad up.
She grabbed her pink pen from her purse and a piece of copy paper that Rashad had laying around, she sat at the island and began to write.
Dear Rashad,
I love you so much Rashad and I know you say you love me as well and you show it through various actions except for one of the most important ones...I believe when you love something, you cherish it and you claim it as yours. Although I am cherished, technically, I am not yours. We share many titles but none of them connect us as one. Everything was always unspoken with us, but if you loved me deeply, I think you would make it known that I'm yours.
Rashad I really love you...so please don't read this and think otherwise.
Amina creeped back into the bedroom and sat the note were her body once laid before creeping back out, she stuck her feet into her UGG boots and sat her purse on her shoulder before leaving out, not really sure what this meant for the two of them.