Lynise sat at the head of the large table on the back patio of Tremaine's Atlanta estate, filing her nails and occasionally glancing at the watch on her wrist as she waited for the big hand to land on the five. On either side of the table, three men sat impatiently, waiting for Lynise to begin the meeting. They gave her their most intense death glares, to which she responded by smiling and pretending not to notice them. Directly to her left, Tremaine's right hand man Blue sat, mugging everyone that looked at Lynise the wrong way.
Each person present held down a major city in Georgia. Lynise and Blue were representing Atlanta, Six Trey's sweater broadcasted the fact that he was from Augusta, Heathen was acting for Savannah, and his twin brother, Juvenile, was from Albany. These were the savvy businessmen. The ones who peeped that Tremaine was full and wanted a piece of the pie. They saw that the product Tremaine was selling had fiends popping up out of the woodwork and, while they weren't willing to join his team, they were willing to invest in his seemingly abnormally-addictive supply.
With the exception of a few people that Tremaine wasn't powerful enough to touch, everyone that was eating in Georgia was sitting at that table. Tremaine's young boys had specific orders to shut down any operation in the state that was moving anything other than what he was selling. His rule was that you ate with him or you starved; it was as simple as that. Anyone that didn't fall in line got dealt with by Tremaine personally. Whether the situation was resolved through violence or not was solely up to the attitude of the other party involved, but there were rarely ever cases of complete amnesty on Tremaine's part.
Lynise looked up from her nails when she felt Blue tap her shoulder. She checked the time, and then stood up, scanning the faces at the table and waiting until she had their full attention. "Let's keep this short and sweet. I'm sure that everyone here knows that Tremaine is in Miami, and will most likely be there for a while. Until his return, Blue and I will be in charge of collecting money and distributing work. Any questions?"
"Hell yeah, we got questions!" Six Trey announced, rising from his seat and reminding everyone of where his nickname came from. "Why did he put you two in charge? That's bullshit, man!"
Blue stood up and gave Six Trey a menacing glare. "I think you need to sit back down and watch how you talk to Lynise, Six. All that ain't called for, my man."
Six Trey sucked his teeth and reclaimed his chair. He smirked and put his attention back on Lynise. "Excuse me, baby, but why the fuck would Tremaine put you in charge? Is that better?"
Lynise ignored his sarcasm and answered his first question. "Tremaine trusts me enough to know that I'm gonna keep his shit in order. And if I need a little bit of muscle to handle hotheaded muthafuckas such as yourself-" she used her head to motion toward Blue- "that's what my friend here is for. Any other questions?" She paused, waiting for someone to speak up. No one did, so she continued. "Alright. We're not copping work from Tremaine's godparents anymore, which means that our supply is of a different quality."
Juvenile raised his hand as if he were in school, and then he licked his lips and ran his hand over his waves before he began speaking. "We're moving the some of the best coke in Georgia. What the hell did we get a new connect for? All we're gonna do is lose money."
"I didn't say that we got supply of a worse quality. I said different, Juvie. What you were pushing before is nothing compared to what we have now. This work is about to have addicts following you around all day, begging to suck your dick just to see a dime bag. I have two hundred and fifty keys at the moment. Tremaine's team is taking sixty, and the rest of you get sixty-three each. We're letting these go for twenty-four a piece. Let's begin."
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.
"Next time, I'm going with you. I don't like being away from you for so long."
Lynise chuckled and moved his arms down to her waist. "It was only a few days, baby."
"A few days too long. Why don't the twins just move back up here with us?"
"A couple reasons. One, they have a sister that I want them to know. Two, you and I aren't even settled yet. We need a bigger house and a little more money. As soon as we have those things, the twins will move in with us and spend their summers with Tremaine."
"In the meantime, their absence will allow us to work on having our own kids. We're going to have, like, seven."
"I don't know about all of that. I promised you one."
"You owe me babies, Lynise. You had Tremaine's. They weren't even planned. You and I can do this right."
"I'll tell you what. After we have our first one, we'll wait a few years and see if our finances allow any more. The twins are already taking up a lot of money. We have to think about things like college and trust funds, and I don't want any of my kids to be disadvantaged just because we had more than we could provide for."
"That's fair." Julian grabbed Lynise's hand and led her into the kitchen. He pulled out a chair for her at the table, and then went over to the refrigerator. "So, how was Miami? How are Jay-Sean and Raequan?"
"Jay and Rae are fine. They're getting so big, and Jay looks so much like me, it's crazy. I miss them already. As for Miami, it was beautiful. I enjoyed myself, even though I didn't really have time to get around much. I only went out for a few hours with Heaven."
"Who?"
"You know Heaven. My stepdaughter. Tremaine's daughter."
"I'm pretty sure that only marriage could make her your stepdaughter."
Lynise rolled her eyes at his comment. "I hate when you do this. You're really insecure, Julian. Do you really see Tremaine as that much of a threat to our relationship?"
"I don't see anything as a threat to our relationship. I do, however, feel some type of way about my woman spending so much time with another man. Would you like it if I was always around my ex while you were at home?"
"Okay, I see what's going on. Julian, baby, I don't spend time with Tremaine when I'm in Miami. I go down there to see my sons. Do I have to talk to Tremaine while I'm there? Of course I do. Why? Because he's the father of my kids. Tremaine and I are connected by something much bigger than what you and I share. They're called babies. I'm not giving up the healthy bond that I share with my kids' father just because you feel like you're competing with him. Understand this: you need to think long and hard about whether or not you actually want to exchange vows with me on July eighteenth because if you really plan on marrying me, you better plan on dealing with the fact that Tremaine will be around for the rest of our lives no matter how you feel about it. I don't understand why you'd even want to marry me if you don't trust me."
Lynise stood up and walked out of the kitchen. She heard Julian's footsteps behind her as she entered their bedroom. Ignoring him as he called her name, she slammed the bedroom door in his face and locked it. She watched as the doorknob twisted left and right for a few seconds.
"Lynise, baby, open the door," Julian pleaded. "I trust you. I wasn't thinking before. I'm sorry. You know that I want to marry you. Why are you playing?"
"Why am I playing? You're the one that's playing. I don't say shit when you're with those raggedy-ass bitches that you call clients all day. Most therapists have offices. You're the only muthafucka I know that travels from house to house. I can't help but think that your mostly-female clientele influenced your decision to work like that."
Julian was quiet for a minute. He was shocked by the way she'd spoken to him. In the eighteen-plus months that they'd been together, he had never seen Lynise's hood side. He was used to her being classy and lady-like at all times. "Lynise, you're being ridiculous. That's work. I don't do anything with my clients but talk. I love you more than I love my job, and I'll give it up to prove that to you. All you have to do is say that you want me to sell my business. But you know that I'd never cheat on you. I don't have a reason to. Open the door. Please?"
Julian's words caused an unfamiliar pain to settle into Lynise's chest. She suddenly felt terrible for lying to him. She opened the door and jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and resting her head in the crook of his neck. "I'm sorry, baby."
He stroked her hair with one hand and rubbed her back with the other one. "You didn't do anything, Lynise. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have questioned you," he responded, unaware of the fact that she was apologizing for being unfaithful, not for the minor argument they'd just had. "I love you, and I do trust you, Lynise Nicole Franklin-Peters."
Lynise raised her head and looked at Julian. "I don't deserve you."
"Don't say that. We're perfect for each other." He walked over to the bed and sat down so that Lynise was straddling him. "I wouldn't want anyone else if I couldn't have you. Don't ever feel like-" He stopped talking when he heard a knock on the front door.
Lynise stood up. "Wait here. I'll be right back." She walked out of the room.
Julian laid back on the bed and closed his eyes. Almost as soon as he did so, Lynise's phone started to ring. He picked it up and frowned when he saw Tremaine's name and picture. He slid the green button across the screen and put the phone up to his ear.
"What are you calling my woman's phone for?" he inquired.
Tremaine snickered. "Your woman? You mean, why am I calling my baby mama's phone?" he asked spitefully, knowing that Julian hated those words even more than he hated him. "Put Lynise on the phone, bitch-ass nigga."
"Whatever you have to say to her, you can say to me. I'll pass the message along."
"I'on have time for this. Tell Lynise that she left one of her suitcases at my house."
"She left it at your-"
Before he could finish his question, the line went dead in his ear. He stared at the phone for a minute, and then stood up, grabbing his jacket and car keys in the process. He tossed the phone down on the bed and exited the room. He met Lynise in the hallway.
"There was just some Jehovah's Witness at the door. Julian," she frowned. "Baby, where are you going?"
He disregarded her question. "I thought you were staying at a hotel in Miami."
"I didn't tell you that. Why waste money? I stayed in the twins' room at Tremaine's place."
"You didn't have to tell me that. I just figured that we had an unspoken agreement. I didn't know that you were sleeping in the same house as your ex for a week. You don't think that's something I needed to know about?"
"Uh, not really. I don't see why it's such a big deal, Julian. We just had a conversation about trust ten minutes ago."
"It's not a big deal," he lied. "I have a meeting with a client in about an hour. I'll see you later." He kissed her on the forehead and walked out of the house.
Lynise watched in confusion as he left, wondering what caused his sudden change in mood. She went back into the room and spotted her phone on the bed. She picked it up and found the answer to her question when she saw an incoming call from Tremaine at the top of the call log. She pressed the call button and waited patiently for Tremaine to answer.
His voice came through the phone seconds later. "Hello?"
"What the hell did you say to Julian?" Lynise skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point of the call.
"I didn't say anything to him. I just told him that you left one of your suitcases at my house."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because you left one of your suitcases at my house, Lynise. Why? Did I get you in trouble or something?"
"Please. I'm grown. I don't get in trouble. You did just make him storm out of the house, though. He's upset that I was sleeping at your house when I was there."
"I would have been too. I can only imagine how upset he'd be if he knew that I was still giving it to you better than he ever could. I don't know why you're with that scrub. You could have at least upgraded when we broke up."
"I did upgrade. I upgraded to someone that I don't have to worry about going to jail over. Maybe you should try the legal life sometime. Julian is a gentleman with legal money, and he has plans of settling down, unlike someone I know."
"The square life isn't for everybody, and neither is that settling down shit. My babies already keep me grounded enough. I don't need a woman making noise in my ear all the time."
"And that's exactly why we're not together now. Tremaine, next time you call my phone and Julian answers, don't say anything. You're gonna fuck up my engagement. Can you please behave next time?"
He sighed. "Anything for you, Lynise. I'll chill out."
"Thank you."
"Yeah, alright." Tremaine hung up without another word.
Lynise dialed Julian's number, and he answered on the third ring. "Yes, Lynise?"
"Julian, come back home. You don't even work on Fridays."
He was quiet for a long moment. "I'm in the driveway, Lynise."
Lynise smiled and went over to the window. Julian waved at her from his seat on the hood of his 2013 Audi A3. "Come inside." She ended the call when she saw Julian get up and head toward the front door. Thirty seconds later, he was in the room with her. "Are you mad at me?" she asked, pulling her shirt over her head. She unbuttoned her jeans and stepped out of them before going over to the window and closing the blinds. She unclasped her bra and let it fall to the floor, and then she untied the strings on the sides of her thong.
Now completely naked, Lynise climbed onto the bed and motioned for him to join her. "I don't want you to be mad at me."
After watching her little performance, Julian's member was rock-hard. He wasted no time in undressing himself and getting onto the bed, dead set on sexing her to the point that she'd forget who Tremaine was by the next morning.