"Alexa, turn on bedroom lights," I said aloud.
My smart lightbulbs lit my room red, reminding me I had someone over for what I called the Bella Experience. Every Tuesday night, Hector comes to my place after putting his kids to bed, lying to his fiance, and saying he has to go into the office to do some last-minute payroll paperwork. A few times his fiance called and I would act like I was his assistant and answer his phone. She had to have known I was his lover but she didn't know for sure and therefore never questioned him or me.
I learned at fifteen what power a woman can have over a man. Shatia held me down and forced me to tell her I had sex that night and ended up getting me a plan b. I never told her about the money Gio had given me. The moment I went to Gio at school to tell him about the pill, he was sweating and stressing so much about it. He told me he'd give me anything I wanted as long as I didn't keep the baby. I saw that as an opportunity to really see how far I could go with it. So I lied to him and told him I was keeping it and gave him a long drawn-out speech about him not being able to control my body. Every Monday before school he'd end up giving me two hundred dollars and begging me to abort the baby and it escalated to him paying me to keep my mouth shut about the baby. He had multiple sports scholarships and didn't want to mess up his future with a kid. It proved how much of a fuck nigga and dumb ass he was because he was the one who didn't strap up before he decided to raw dog my ass. And with the reason that I was a virgin. I milked his stupid ass for all his little lunch money for about five months before I ended up telling him another lie about me losing the baby. To my surprise, he cried. He gave me five hundred for our 'dead baby's funeral' and then never spoke to each other again. I think I heard he started selling dope in Edgewood Commons but I didn't keep up or care about the rumor.
Shatia did everything she could to try and keep me out of trouble but it was only so much she could do knowing she was leaving right after graduation. I realized I had started ducking and dodging her just like she was doing our mother. I got tired of hearing the 'you're better than this' lectures and how I should respect my body more and asking me if I wanted to end up like our mother. I didn't know and I still don't care to know what it is Olivia did to get by but I was sure it was the lifestyle I was living. Once Shatia realized what she was saying was going in one ear and out the other she stopped trying to save me. She packed her bags and she and Sah'Deam left to move to Atlanta together. I hadn't seen nor talked to her since she left. Sometimes I get the urge to check on her and see how she was doing. Shatia never was a bad sister and I the bond we had I often miss. But as a woman in her thirties, I don't want to hear all that extra shit. Just let me live my life. But I know she would never let me do that out of fear of me turning into Olivia. Shit, I don't have a number of niggas ranging in the double digits coming in and out of my house and I don't have any kids running around that I could possibly make an impression on so if you ask me I'm doing ten times better than Olivia ever had and ever will.
The master bathroom door swung open and the steam from it filled the bedroom. Hector stood in the doorway with one of my plush towels hanging loosely from his waist and water dripping down his muscular body. I bit my bottom lip softly as my eyes trailed down slowly, taking him in. I usually don't let niggas spend the night after the experience. I have a 'leave the money on the dresser and don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way the fuck out' policy. However, it had been a few weeks since I'd seen Hector. His wife started bitching about him being gone all the time and how he's giving the wrong impression to his big head ass kids. I didn't know what excuse he gave her this time around and I didn't care to ask. My rent was about to be due and Hector always made sure I had a roof over my head. As long as I did the thing with my tongue that makes his toes curl as he said.
I got up on all fours and crawled over toward the edge of the bed where he was standing. I looked up at him through my lashes that I had just gotten put on and traced the top of my lip with the tip of my tongue. My eyes went from his gorgeous hazel eyes to his juicy lips that would place soft kisses all over my body. I trailed his body slowly before my gaze met his dick that was starting to stick through the towel.
"Quieres saborearme, Ysobel?" Hector asked me in a sultry voice. I nodded my head and sat back on the heels of my feet.
Hector dropped his towel and walked over to stand in front of me. My mouth watered in anticipation. It was something about taking a man in my mouth that made me feel empowered. Watching his eyes roll back and hearing him curse under his breath. I was in control. And a bitch like me loved to swallow too.
I swirled my tongue around his gorging head and slowly began to take him in my mouth. Before I could start showing off, his phone started going off on the nightstand. He kept his phone on do not disturb when he was here but his wife was in his favorites, so I knew it was her. I rolled my eyes and got off of the bed and went into my walk-in closet to figure out what I was going to put on for the day.
"London, you know I can't be on the phone while I'm in the office," I heard Hector lie.
I was starting to be sick of this shit with her and him. When he's over my place, he's mine and it seems they both have forgotten that. One thing I don't do is work for free. Hector and I have an agreement and he wasn't keeping up his end of the bargain. I reached behind myself and unhooked my bra and dropped it to the floor as well as wiggling off the matching thong I had on. I walked over to where Hector was standing and dropped to my knees in front of him. I didn't take it slow like Hector had instructed me to do when we first started doing this. Hector was what I called a premature nutter. If I wanted to get off I always had to take my time with him. He always told me it was because my pussy and mouth were so wet and warm but I knew he was full of shit. I wasn't judging him; it wasn't my place to. I just felt bad for his wife because there was no way in hell I would've been married to Mr. Adolescent Cum.
Breathing through my nose, I pushed my mouth all the way down on Hector's dick that too my surprise was still hard. I put him as far into my throat as he could go. When he was at his limit I reached up and traced a line in the area between his ass and his nuts with my nail.
"Oh shit! Nothing London, I just ... Ysobel."
I could hear his wife cussing at him about saying my name but Hector was too far gone. His phone dropped out of his hand and onto the floor. I sucked his swiftly, milking the nut out of him. He placed both his hands on either side of my head and started fucking my face. I knew then he was almost at his climax. I looked up at him and opened my mouth wider, knowing the sight of my eyes with his dick stroking the inside of my cheeks would make him weak. Just as I felt his dick begin to throb, I moved off of him and stood to my feet. Hector lost balance and stumbled to the floor but not before I saw his cum already start to ooze out of him. He slid on his phone and fell to the floor. The screen lit up and I saw his wife was still on the line.
"Ysobel ... why the fuck did you do that?"
I pointed to his phone and walked into my bathroom trying to hide my smirk. I turned on the shower and let the steam fill the room before I slid open the glass door and stepped onto the tiled floor. I washed sufficiently but quickly. I had somewhere to be and I was falling behind schedule for it. I wasn't expecting Hector's ass to still be here when I had gotten up.
I turned off the shower and stepped onto my plush rug. I started to grab my towel and decided against it. Maybe I could give Hector a glance at my chocolate skin and he'd beg me to eat my pussy before we go our separate ways. I walked into my bedroom but Hector wasn't there. I felt a sudden rush of sadness but very quickly brushed it off. I'm sure the Mrs. started threatening him with taking his kids again. I walked over to where he had cum on my floor to check and see if he had the decency to clean up his mess. He did not. I snatched my phone off of my charging dock and sent a text to my house cleaner about the spot. I never liked to surprise her with extra cleaning but she knew what it was I did so she never minded. I placed my phone down on my nightstand and noticed cash sitting perfectly next to my lamp. I picked it up and started counting the hundred dollar bills, a smile beginning to spread across my face. Hector's typical rate ran from three to four hundred dollars but he ended up giving me seven instead. Probably to make up for his wife constantly interrupting us. I took four hundred out of the seven and went to the safe that I kept in my walk-in closet. I put in the combination and it clicked open. I placed the money with the rest and then started to admire all of the cash that had accumulated.
I used to spend all the money I earned when I first started charging niggas. Word got around that Gio paid me to deal with the unwanted pregnancy and then his friends started to ask me what else I would do for a certain price. I started small with nude pictures of myself and worked my way up to blow jobs. Blow jobs turned into penetration and the next thing I knew I had a client list with an itinerary. Some might say it was fate that I ended up doing this type of work. Hell, it was all my mother did from what I could tell so maybe they were right. Unlike her, I saw the bigger picture. Once I started dealing with niggas with real money I began to think of a business plan. I needed to figure out how long I was going to do this. What exactly was my plan? Every time I was paid I would take some of the earnings and make sure I put it away. When I got tired of doing this shit, I had enough money to move somewhere overseas under a new name and start over comfortably. College and a nine-to-five could never be for me. I need money and I need it quickly. And by any means. Anything to get the fuck out of Edgewood. I mean, why should Shatia be the only one that manages to get out? She just chose books and I chose looks.
It was summertime in The Wood so I threw on some grey biker shorts and a crop top tee with no bra. I slid my feet into Balenciaga slides and turned off all the lights in my penthouse apartment. I grabbed my keys and purse off of the kitchen counter and threw the money into it. I made sure everything was good before I walked out of the door, locking it behind me. I rode the elevator all the way down to the garage and dragged my feet to my 2022 all-black Range Rover; a gift from Darnell, my twice-a-week freak. It was the first of the month and I needed to get to Olivia's to give her money for the bills for the month and make sure she was taking her meds.
It was hard to see my mother get sick, especially since I was the only one here. Shatia would claim she was doing all she could but once she left she never came back. She didn't call to check on our mother. The bitch didn't even send five dollars to go towards expenses. I had to pick up three more clients to even stay ahead of everything. But I didn't complain. I just did what the fuck I had to do because no one else was going to do it.
I pulled up to Edgewood Commons and killed the engine. I hated coming out here and I hated even more that I had to move my mother back to this shit hole. I always felt like one of these little niggas was going to plot and steal my car one of these days. I couldn't afford my penthouse and a house for her. Plus, she kept telling me that if she was going to die then it needed to be on the grounds she lost her soul. Or whatever bull shit she was spitting out of her mouth that day. After one of her Johns gave her HIV and the doctor told us it was progressing she'd be on some spiritual bull shit. I ignored it most of the time because I genuinely didn't think the old bitch knew what she was talking about.
"Let's get this shit over with," I mumbled, grabbing my shades out of my purse and putting them on.
I walked quickly to my mother's building, stiffly waving at the people who noticed me and decided to speak. Everyone else just stared. Either it was older women giving me sympathetic looks, bitches evil eyeing me because I probably fucked their nigga, or niggas who heard about me but know I wouldn't give them the time of day. I tricked out of Edgewood Commons once and elected to never do it again. One of my mother's old tricks tried to get at me and I wanted to rip the skin off of my body. Old ass nigga was paid though so I at least let him feel on me while he jacked his old wrinkled dick. I couldn't get the smell of mothballs out of my car for two months.
I rode the raggedy elevator up to my mother's floor and sighed as I reached her door. I pulled out my key and let myself inside. I closed the door behind me and snatched my shades off. I could hear the sound of my mother moaning in her room in the back and I was disgusted. I stepped over the hamburger wrappers, cigarette butts, and empty beer bottles until I got to her bedroom door. I barged in, scaring the nigga my mother was topping off. He backed away from my mother and tried to pull up his pants.
"You know she got HIV right?" I asked, immediately over the situation.
"I ... I mean yeah I know. But I can't get it unless I put my dick in her right?"
I looked at the nigga was a straight face. Once I realized he was serious I stepped to the side and motioned for him to get out. He scurried to his feet and stumbled out of the room. I waited until I heard the door slam before I looked at my mother, completely disappointed.
"What the fuck are you doing, Ma?" I asked.
"The fuck do it look like, Ysobel? I ain't know if your ass was comin' so I had to take matters into my own hands."
"Take matters into your own hands? You have fuckin' aids, you ditzy bitch! You just ruined that nigga life!"
My mother smacked her teeth and got up off her knees. She walked past me and went into the bathroom. I followed her inside and she sat down on the toilet. Her piss smelled like hot garbage and I gagged a little.
"Ysobel, I don't need you over here in my motha' fuckin' business, okay? I'm a grown-ass woman."
"No, Ma. You're a hoe. A hoe who let the wrong nigga slip in and now I have no choice but to be in your business. Have you been taking your meds?"
She waved me off and grabbed some tissue to wipe herself. I opened the medicine cabinet and grabbed the medicine her doctor prescribed to keep her disease under wraps. The bottle was almost empty.
"Happy now?" She said audaciously. "I take that stupid pill even though it dries my pussy out. I need this thing tight. Call that doctor and tell him to give me something else."
"There is nothing else to give. This isn't some shit you can just switch medicine for. They barely have this one. Stop fuckin' complain' and be grateful your ass don't got sores on your pussy."
I rolled my eyes and went into the living room and began to clean up the mess that was all over the floor.
"You bring me my money?" I heard her ask behind me.
"Your money?" I asked, looking over my shoulder.
"Don't act brand new, Ysobel. I been damn near a pimp to you since you joined the life. Now, where is my cut?"
I snapped my neck at her and put my hands on my hips.
"Pimp my ass? Are you delusional? You didn't pimp shit and you ain't put me on to shit. I did this myself, for myself. The only reason I give you some cash is because I promised Tia I wouldn't have you livin' in a box."
That was a lie. Shatia didn't give a fuck what happened to our mother. I just wouldn't have been able to live with myself if anything else had happened to her. She already had a compromised immune system, she didn't need to be homeless too.
"Fuck Shatia! Saddity ass heffa left me and don't even call or come see me. She just like her lil dick ass daddy. Get the fuck out of the way, Ysobel. I don't need you in here cleanin' shit."
My mother pushed me out of her way and flopped down on the couch. She grabbed the remote and turned the tv on to one of the talk shoes she liked to watch. I went into my purse and pulled the money out and placed it on the counter. I unlocked my phone and went to DoorDash to order her some of her favorite pasta to be delivered. I looked at the back of my mother's head and saw her hair that was thinning out and shedding. I saw how chaotic she chose to live. I realized this was always her. Shatia just did everything she could to shield me from it. And as much as she encouraged me to turn my back on Olivia, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I could feel the tears filling my eyes but refused to let them fall. I put my shades back on and walked out of my mother's apartment, satisfied with the knowledge that she would be fine until the next month I needed to come back.