I had two pots on the stove, one had Pep's red peas soup and the other had a three bean stew for Rayuga and I. Pep's soup had pigtails and chicken breast, dumplings, sweet potato and yam. My three bean stew had dumplings, sweet potato, pumpkin and yam. It was close to 6 and I was allowing them a few more minutes before I turned the fire off. We sat at the table and I was teaching Yuga how to roll with tobacco wraps, I lit my own and watched as she attempted to recreate what I just did. She ended up getting frustrated so I rolled it for her, a few minutes passed when I got up to turn the stove off.
"You're trying to tell me that with all the money that you're making, you haven't bought one suit?" I screwed up my face at Rayuga.
"I'm saying this with my chest, I haven't." Her already fine eyes now looked like small slits with the effect of the weed.
"You have to wear a suit tonight and you're just telling me this?" I hissed my teeth.
"Why am I wearing a suit to a boat ride?"
"It's a black tie event," I slapped her forehead.
"Abusive much." She grumbled.
I shared myself some of the stew and waved at Rayuga to follow me upstairs. The master bedroom was the furthest away, I basically ran because the bowl was hot and my nerves were screaming. I dropped the bowl onto the nightstand and sat down with a sigh of relief. She stepped in a few seconds later and came to stand in front of me.
"What now?" She took a long drag of her spliff.
"If any ash burns my rug I'm beating ya ass." I mean mugged her.
She rolled her eyes and outed the spliff in an ashtray that I had on top of the drawers. I pointed to the mirror and looked at her, we stared at each other for a good minute before I got up and slid the mirror to the left and flicked the light on. Her mouth opened in an "ooooooh" expression and I rolled my eyes.
"The left side is my side. My suits are towards the back." I rested a cushion on my lap before taking up the bowl.
"Holy shit! It's fucking huge in here, this a whole other room though." She gasped.
It was a good space, we both had way too much clothes. "Yeah, yeah just go look for the suit that can fit you goddammit." I rushed her.
"I'm like three whole ass feet taller than your short ass." She pointed out.
"Good point." I had completely missed that, majority of my suits were tailor made to fit.
"Wait.. I should have one in here that I bought online and it couldn't fit either of us." I spoke to myself as I returned the bowl back to the nightstand and made my way to the walk-in closet.
It was a dark blue suit with gold cufflinks that I thought could fit me but I was too short for the pants and kept forgetting to get it altered. I took the bag down from the rack and walked out of the closet to her.
"I'm literally going to charge you for this suit, I'll just take it from your paycheck." I didn't wait for an answer. "Go try it on."
She took the suit from me and went back into the closet sliding the door shut. I once again tried to drink my soup hoping that it had cooled down. I turned the tv on and shifted my body to face it while blowing on the soup I had on the spoon, I should open a restaurant with these gifted hands.
The mirror slid open and I heard, "a perfect fit."
I looked over at her and it was indeed a perfect fit. The pants sat on her hips without a belt and the leg was slim fit. The jacket wasn't tight, it fit just right.
"Now that's how it's supposed to look." I chuckled.
"Do you have shoes? A button down?" I asked.
"Shoes, yes. Button down? No." She frowned.
"What color is your dress shoes?"
"Black."
"Alright, I got you."
"Do I have to pay for that too?"
"Nah, you're paying for the suit because you're keeping it."
I planned on waiting on Pep to come home before I chose my outfit. Rayuga left the room to put the suit in the guest room that she was staying in and went for food. I continued watching tv as I waited on her to come back.
A couple minutes later I heard two different sets of footsteps coming down the hallway, one had on shoes and the other barefooted. Pep was home. They both turned the corner, bowls in hand with laughter on their lips.
"Baby, you're home." I smiled widely at Pep.
"I am." She came to kiss my forehead.
"You like the soup?"
"You plan fi tie me?" She asked seriously.
I bust out laughing and said, "that's stew peas!"
"Same thing!" She rebutted.
I rolled my eyes and rested my empty bowl back on the nightstand. They sat on the bed watching tv and drank their soups while making small comments here and there. I made my way into the closet and found a white button-down with a black slim tie for Yuga. Pep usually wanted us to complement each other whenever we went out but I didn't feel like wearing a black suit tonight, if she wanted to then that's on her.
I found my forest green colored suit that I got because of Django Jane. I didn't want to wear a tie so I decided on a black button-down. I went over to her side of the closet and took down her black Armani suit with a white button-down and her black slim tie. I took out my phone and sent a text to Melody telling her to bring dark blue options to see which one matched closest to Yuga's suit, she should be getting ready over here. The four of us formed an inseparable bond since Yuga got shot and Pep came from lockup.
"What time is the boat ride?" I stepped from the closet.
"They said that the boat leaves at 9 so we should be there before." Pep answered.
I glanced at the digital clock and it was 6:35, if Melody got here before 7 we should be able to leave out and reach by 8:30. Melody did take long to do her makeup and hair so I could only hope that we had enough time to drive out to the dock and not be late. I knew that this was a meeting and the majority of the drug lords or their seconds would be present tonight, from different areas of St Amrys. We were located to the east side and Pep ran this area but there was still someone that she had to answer to, he was the biggest drug lord and basically ran all of St Amrys. The last I heard, he was looking to retire and wanted someone capable to take over his reign. Whenever our drugs came in at the port, his guys would check it off, the only thing they weren't apart of was the girls coming in at the airport.
"Okay, we will be leaving at 8." I had a serious expression on my face, this wasn't up for debate.
Pep nodded and stretched her bowl towards me. I took it and waited for Yuga to hand over hers. I left the room with all three bowls stacked into each other and made my way to the kitchen. I dished out the soup into color-coordinated dishes, red covers were for Pep and the blue tops were for me. I left them out on the counter to cool, I'd cover them and put them in the fridge before we leave out. I cleaned up the kitchen and made my way down to the throne room for some alone time. I rolled myself a joint and started up my game choosing Assassins Creed to occupy my time. Melody would text me to come let her in so I'd go up at that time.
Two joints in and a tall glass of ginger wine later, I was feeling a small buzz. I hadn't made much progress in Assassins Creed because I kept on dying but I wasn't frustrated at all, I just decided to leave the missions for another day and roam the map collecting things and doing small quests. Melody texted me that she was on her way and that was after 7, we would be leaving here at 8 and that's final. I finally got the text that she was here, I outed my spliff and placed it behind my ear. I powered off the game and tv and made my way upstairs.
I opened the door and Melody pushed her bags into my hands. "I'm sorry, I'll go start my makeup now, I already took a shower before I left home."
"It's alright mamas, we're leaving at 8." I bolted the door and ran behind her up the steps.
We found her room that she claimed for herself and I left her bags on the bed. I sat beside them and lit up the spliff that I took from behind my ear, I took the case from off of my phone to use as a makeshift ashtray. She started on her makeup while I sat and finished off my spliff.
"Tash?" I heard my name being called from the main hallway.
"I'm in Melody's room," I called back.
Rayuga entered the room and looked between Melody and I. "Pep called you and I'm going to have a shower." She blew a kiss at Melody and left the room.
"Where are the dresses?" I asked her and she pointed to the biggest bag.
I took out the three choices and made my way to Yuga's room to match them with the suit. The third option, which was a long flowing ball gown type dress with an open back matched perfectly. I stuffed the others back in the bag and left that one on the bed. I jogged down to my room to have a shower.
"I've been calling you for a while now." Pep huffed.
"My bad I was sorting out something." I ignored her stare and went to my drawer.
"Don't make it happen again." Her voice was stern and it sent chills down my spine but I decided to continue ignoring her.
She forcefully grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the open drawer, she pushed me into the chest of drawers and I heard everything rattle from the impact, "yuh fucking deaf?" She hissed.
"No," I sighed. "I'm sorry." I looked everywhere else but at her face.
"What's wrong with you?" She loosened her grip on my arm.
"Nothing." I used my other hand to push her off of me.
I made quick steps into the bathroom not wanting to prolong the conversation any further, there wasn't anything wrong with me and I had no idea why I was behaving distant or why I was in my feelings, I just was. I took a quick shower and got out doing my skincare routine and cleaned my braces. I quickly put my hair into a low sleek curly ponytail and changed my ear tunnels for diamond plugs.
I entered the room and she got up and went to the bathroom behind me. I went to my still open drawer for my boxers, sports bra, tank top, and diamond socks. I closed all the drawers and started getting ready. I went to the closet for my suit, I was pulling on my pants when Pep came into the closet with all of her undergarments on.
"Where's the suit?" She didn't look at me.
I pulled out the suit and handed it to her. She started getting ready and it was slightly awkward. Usually, when we both were in here, we'd joke around and help each other get dressed, I guess this was my fault. I pulled out her shoes before I got out mines and stuck my feet in lacing them up. I tucked my shirt in and left the top open before taking up my jacket and walking out to go look in the mirror. Everything fit my petite frame perfectly well and I was satisfied. I moved to get my Apple Watch and my silver chain and bracelet from the closet.
"Where's your tie?" Pep asked while signaling for me to help her with hers.
"I'm not wearing any." I fixed her tie and moved off to get her chain and bracelet set, hooking them around her neck and wrist.
"Yes, you are." Her tone wasn't up for debate and I wasn't up for an argument right now so I went to the tie rack and pulled off a bow tie securing it around my neck and fixing my shirt collar.
I left the closet and closed the mirror behind me, I turned off the bathroom light and the tv. Pep was taking up her wallet and phone with her jacket on her arm. I took up my jacket and phone and left the room going for Yuga and Melody. Rayuga was turning off the light and walking out by the time I got to her door, Melody was buckling her heels and trying to spray perfume on herself at the same time. I went downstairs first to check if all the doors were locked before I put the dishes into the fridge and made my way to the downstairs bathroom to spray cologne on myself. I stood at the door with the bottle and waited for everyone to come downstairs, they all filed out and before Pep stepped out I sprayed cologne on her and gave her a soft kiss on her lips. I left the bottle and locked up the house. I checked my watch and it was 5 minutes after 8. We all got into her BMW and started the journey to the dock.
**
The large yacht set sail at exactly 9 PM. The name of the yacht was Juno and the mini brochure we got said there was a twin yacht by the name of Mars. They were serving both vegan and seafood finger foods; how thoughtful. The wine and champagne were delicious and I decided that I'd have to start a collection back at home.
Pep was in a meeting with the bigger heads while the three of us socialized with the others on the yacht, which was mainly wives or assistants. We were leaning on the railings when I had a grand idea.
"Yuga! Come be my Jack!" I said giddily feeling the effects of the many glasses of champagne I had.
She laughed and came behind me holding onto my waist while I spread my arms wide and pretended my hair was flying in the wind.
"My turn." Melody clapped her hands.
I moved away and gave her the spot I was in. Yuga held onto her waist and she spread her arms wide with her hair blowing in the wind. Yuga spat out the hair that flew into her mouth and I doubled over with laughter, we were probably acting out of character but we didn't care. We were busy laughing when we heard a knife tapping on a champagne glass. We cleared our throats and turned our attention to the front.
My eyes met the most beautiful woman in the world. She had on a black suit with a black button-down underneath, her hair was straightened and her jawline curved perfectly beneath it. My eyes caught sight of the diamond ring on her finger and an unnecessary pang of jealousy and unease cut through me like a knife. Her words were like honey and I've never felt so smitten in my life.
"Thank you all for coming, we just got finished with the meeting so let the festivities begin." She raised her glass and they all cheered and raised their glasses.
Pep came to stand in front of me and broke my gaze, she saw where I was looking and said, "she is quite the eye candy." She gave me her million-dollar smile.
"Oh look," her voice sounded spiteful, "she and her wife are coming over."
I composed myself and my face lit up with false enthusiasm. I stretched my hand behind me and pulled Melody up behind me, both her and Yuga came forward like support beams.
"Camille," Pep greeted the light-skinned beauty.
Her smile lit up her whole face that I almost missed her wife, her wife was equally as beautiful. She was in a light blue suit with a black button-down underneath and a bow tie.
"Tye! The woman herself!" Pep dapped up the dark-skinned beauty named Tye.
"Who are these lovely folks beside you?" Camille was the first to acknowledge us, her intent gaze focused on me and I shifted uncomfortably.
"These are my girls Melody, Rain, and Kash." She pointed to us each.
"And this one?" She outstretched her open palm to me.
I took her hand in my own for a firm handshake and heard Pep say, "one of my top workers." My heart clenched and if I wasn't mistaken someone behind me took in a sharp breath.
"Then you wouldn't mind lending her for the night then? For our newfound partnership?" Camille used her thumb to caress the back of my hand.
"Come on, babe." Tye laughed, "leave the poor girl alone." Her eyes held mischief as if she wouldn't mind me sharing their marital bed for the night.
"By all means, this one would be on the house." Pep rested her hand on the small of my back and I felt a small wave of unease, anger boiled within me and my little finger twitched as I tried to keep my emotions in check.
"Maybe some other time," Camille lifted my hand to her lips and placed a soft kiss on my knuckles. "We have to get home to the kids before they drive my father in law crazy."
Melody jumped in to save the day and said, "you have kids?"
"We do," Tye answered, "a set of rowdy twins. They take a lot from their mom." She sneakingly pointed towards Camille.
Camille spoke in Spanish, sounding as if she was cursing out Tye. Tye laughed and pulled Camille into her, their relationship seemed close-knitted and I felt that jealousy rise once more.
"Camille," I cleared my throat to get her attention.
"Please, Cam." She smiled.
"Cam, thank you for the offer so please let me know when I can take one for the team." I winked.
Cam bust out laughing, it was a loud and hearty sound. "I like this one."
"As I said, we only provide the best." Pep's hospitality felt forced and I smiled in content.
"Tell me about the yachts, how did you name them?" Yuga stepped up to ease the silence that was slowly approaching.
"Tye, you take this one." Cam stepped closer to me while Tye excitedly spoke about her twin ships.
"We named them after our twin girls, their middle names are Mars and Juno." She started.
"Like in Greek mythology?" I buzzed in.
"YES!" Cam piped in. "Can we keep her?" Cam pouted towards Tye while grabbing me in her arms.
"No," she started speaking in Spanish and Cam rolled her eyes.
They were both tall, well at least taller than me. Everyone was taller than Tash. I loved the attention and I was wallowing in it for the time being. I stood staring at both Camille and Tye, they were both blessed to have each other, and goddamnit I wanted what they had but unfortunately, I was just another one of the girls. I shouldn't be contemplating murder in my mind, I shouldn't be planning the argument out and I shouldn't be thinking about which lamp I'd stand close to so that I could use it as a missile.
The night prolonged and we all were laughing and maintaining conversation, a Spanish looking female came out and joined us. She introduced herself as Tye's right-hand woman and step-sister, code name Mamba. Yuga was smitten and drooling all over her but her wife stepped out right behind her and I recognized her right away, that was Jay. The biggest player and heartbreaker ever, so I was surprised to see that she was married and settled in, she grew up into a fine ass woman I must say.
The ship was almost at the dock, I haven't look over at Pep and I knew she was keeping her distance from me as well. She introduced Melody and Yuga to others but she left me out, so I ended up standing on my own at the railing staring down into an almost empty champagne glass.
"Hey," I turned to see Cam with two champagne glasses.
I didn't know what to do with the one I had in hand so I awkwardly looked around, she laughed and held both glasses in one hand and took the empty glass from me, she threw it overboard and yelled, "and she hits the three-pointer." I chuckled while I took the extra glass from her hand.
"You're killing the fishes." I pointed to the dark sea.
"I'm actually helping them to have a good time," she laughed before shouting "you're welcome" at the dark waters.
I laughed. Her voice wasn't too deep and it still edged with feminine prowess. We stood silent for a while before she broke the silence.
"Are you Jamaican?" The question was unexpected.
"I am.." I trailed off.
"Nothing serious, I just heard the accent. I'm Jamaican" she proudly stated.
"Wow, that's cool. Where are you from?"
"Portmore born and raised. You?"
"Red Hills, born and raised."
"A lil rich kid?" She bumped shoulders.
"Nah," I chuckled. "We just got by."
"I feel you. So why are you here? Was this what you came here for?"
"Honestly, no but when an opportunity comes knocking you answer."
"Does she treat you guys well?"
"She does." I forced my smile.
"She seems really hardcore." She laughed.
"She is." I joined in on the laughter.
"This game," she started off softly, "it's a tough one. You'll lose some close friends along the way but you have to remember one thing, no te pierdas."
I waited on her to translate the last sentence but she winked and walked off going back into the main area of the yacht. I looked over to see that we were docking. I found my small crew and kept my hands deeply tucked into my pockets and avoided eye contact with them all. My mind was running wild trying to decipher what she could have possibly said.
Jay, Mona, Tye, and Cam stood at the dock sending everyone off. I passed them but decided to keep my head low, as I stepped passed Cam she grabbed my elbow and softly tugged me back. She held out her hand for me to shake it and I took it with a soft smile, or eyes met for a second and I saw how tired she really looked under her charming smile. I nodded to Tye and walked away feeling the paper that Cam had passed along when we shook hands. She translated her words for me and my mind was at ease as I re-read the short sentence;
Don't lose yourself.