Careful of the Company You Keep Read online

  “Can you please talk to her? I’ve been to her job. I’ve called all of her numbers, but she refused to speak to me.” He was pleading with those sexy brown eyes of his for me to help bring them back together.

  “Damn, for a minute there I thought you had dropped by to see if we could finish where we left off the other evening,” I teased.

  “Renee . . .” he warned.

  I tossed my hands up. “I’m just playing. Damn, can’t you take a joke?”

  Calvin reached inside his pocket, pulled out a small black box, and opened it. “Does this look like I’m joking?”

  My mouth flew open. That sucker was huge. The carats had carats. “Oh. My. God! You bought that for Danielle’s crazy ass?” I slid off the couch and moved in for a closer look.

  “Yes. I was waiting for the right time to propose to her.”

  I took the ring from the box and slipped it on my finger. It was a little too small for my finger, but nothing a jeweler couldn’t fix. “Damn, I didn’t know y’all were that serious.”

  “I love her, Renee.”

  My eyes narrowed. “Then answer this question. Why was you eating my damn pussy? ’Cause inquiring minds want to know.”

  He had to think about that one a minute before answering. “I really don’t know.”

  “Probably because that bitch is too pretty to resist,” I mumbled.

  Calvin shook his head, then started laughing. “Renee, you are too much.”

  “I’m just keeping it real.” I put the ring in the box and he slipped it back into his coat pocket. “I’ll try to talk to her but I can’t make any promises.”

  He nodded and looked at least hopeful that I was willing to help. “I appreciate that. Just don’t mention the ring. I want that to be a surprise. That’s if she’ll still have me.”

  I doubted that, the way this Chance guy had her nose all wide open. However, she did say that she hadn’t realized how much she really cared about Calvin until she saw him with me. So maybe there was hope after all, but then Danielle ain’t the brightest Skittle at the end of the rainbow.

  “Thanks, I’ll call you in a couple of days.”

  “All right.” I walked him to the door then watched him leave. Hopefully after I tell Danielle what I saw on Intelius, she’ll leave that fool alone.

  I was about to close the door when I noticed a black SUV pull away from in front of my house. It wasn’t until I was heading back to my office that I remembered it was the same vehicle that had pulled up beside me at Danielle’s. I hurried back to the door to see if the SUV had returned. It hadn’t. I returned to my office but spent the rest of the evening wondering who had been sitting behind the wheel.

  30

  Renee

  It was lunchtime and I was on my way home from work when I realized I still hadn’t heard from Danielle’s crazy ass. She should be eating, so I hit her on her cell phone.

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  “You. I was wondering if you was still alive.”

  Danielle got all serious and shit. “What do you mean?”

  “Did you get my text message last night?”

  “What text?”

  “I told you to leave that crazy fool alone. I looked Chance up on Intelius and he has assault charges and some chick put an ex parte on him.”

  “What!”

  I chuckled. “Yep. That mothafucka is ca-ra-zy!”

  “Maybe it was all a misunderstanding.”

  “Understanding my ass. Girl, he’s even been sued for back child support payments.”

  “Child support? Now I know you’re lying ’cause Chance don’t have no kids.”

  “Well, I guess you better tell the mother of his child that, because he’s been sued and she granted back child support in the amount of six thousand dollars. That wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t true.”

  She was quiet. Too quiet.

  “You still there?”

  “Uh-uh. Girl, I’m fin to call him now.”

  I knew that was her way of getting off the phone. I hung up and rode home, waiting for her to call me back. Hopefully she kicked his ass to the curb or threatened to get her brother to beat his ass. Kee ain’t no joke. When Portia was running around crying wolf and claiming that Ron was the father of her baby, oh, you better believe Kee whupped that ass! I thought the shit was funny because Ron might be fine as hell, but messing with a teenager is nothing to be playing with. But once we found out Portia’s ass was lying, I couldn’t blame Danielle for putting my godchild out.

  I made a left and headed to the Columbia Daily Tribune .

  “May I help you?” asked an attractive woman sitting behind the reception desk.

  “Yes, is Landon Lawson in today?”

  “Yes, he’s in the workroom.” She pointed to the door at my far left.

  I strolled down the hallway carrying my purse and a brown paper bag and pushed through the door. There were probably a dozen other workers in there as well, eating their lunch. As soon as Landon spotted me he froze and the sandwich dropped from his hand. “Renee.”

  “Well, hello, Landon, sweetheart. How are you this morning?”

  “Fine,” he mumbled.

  I dropped my bag on the table. “Sweetie, you were in such a rush you forgot these this morning and I thought I better bring them to you,” I replied in a sweet potato pie voice. I then reached into my bag and removed a box of Depends and sat it on the table.

  Landon jumped back like it was a dead rat. “What do I need those for?”

  A couple of his coworkers started laughing.

  “Don’t be ashamed. You know you have a bladder problem.” I glanced over at the women in front of the copy machine. “Just last month, he peed in my bed. Ain’t that right, boo? Don’t be ashamed.” I patted him lightly on the back.

  “She lying,” he insisted and looked around the room for someone who believed he was innocent.

  “Man, you do run to the bathroom quite a bit,” one guy in the corner teased.

  “I know that’s right.” Another cackled and then the others joined in.

  Landon turned red and glared over in my direction.

  “I’ll see you later.” I smiled, turned on the heels of my expensive shoes, and left the building. I had barely made it out to the parking lot when my phone rang. Would you believe it was Landon? Now what made him decide to call me? I chuckled and retrieved the call. “Yes, pissy? What can I do for you?”

  “That’s fucked up! How you gonna come to my job and embarrass me like that?”

  “It wasn’t like I didn’t warn you,” I replied calmly.

  “But you didn’t have to do that. I told you I would buy you some new mattresses.”

  “When? When it’s convenient for you? I don’t think so. I’ll see your ass in court.” I hung up on him before he had a chance to say anything else and headed straight to the courthouse. Landon pissed on the wrong woman.

  31

  Danielle

  Leave it to Renee to make me look like a fool. I bet the second she walked in the house, she raced to the computer and logged onto the Boone County Courthouse Web site so she could get the dirt on my man. When what she needs to worry about is that little shrimp cocktail of a man she’s screwing. Damn! She’s my girl and all, but sometimes I can’t stand her. If I thought she had looked up Chance’s info because she was looking out for me that would be one thing, but I know she was just trying to be nosey. Shit! There is probably another Chance Garrett in Boone County. And who’s to say I even spelled his name right. I was just guessing.

  Nevertheless, I couldn’t face him and made sure I stayed busy all day. For lunch I ate what one of the patients left on her tray. After giving report, I took the stairs to the parking garage, hopped in my car, and peeled off before Chance could catch me.

  I went into the house and hopped in the shower, trying not to think about what Renee discovered, but I couldn’t get it off my mind so I went online myself to confirm the information. To my disappointment
, there was only one Chance Garrett in the database, and it was the psycho Renee had told me about. I couldn’t stop thinking this is the same man I planned a future with. The same man I gave up Calvin for.

  Around seven, my house phone rang. It was a private call and my heart started pounding because I thought it might be Ron.

  “Whassup, baby girl, why haven’t you called me?”

  Damn, it was Chance. The last thing I wanted to do was discuss what I had discovered over the phone. What I needed to say needed to be said in person. “We need to talk. I asked you last night if there was anything you needed to tell me, and you said no, but I’ve heard otherwise.”

  He hesitated and I could feel his frown. “I don’t like the sound of that. I’ll be over in a second.”

  That second turned into almost two hours before I heard his beats coming down the street. He knocked twice before I opened it and let him in.

  “Damn, you look good.” He greeted me with a crooked smile and a searing kiss. It felt so good being in his arms that I almost forgot what I was angry about. Not to mention he looked good in a fitted Rams cap and matching jersey. He moved over to the couch and took a seat across from me. “Baby girl, tell your man what’s bothering you.”

  He looked so concerned, I almost felt guilty even bringing it up. “I looked your name up on Intelius.”

  He looked confused. “And what did you find?”

  “A hit-and-run and an ex parte.”

  He swiped a hand across his face and gave a defeated sigh. “Yeah, you’re right.”

  I couldn’t believe his ass was admitting to it.

  “But can yo man explain?”

  I nodded, then leaned back in the chair with my lips pursed so he would know that it better be good.

  “My ex-girlfriend Yolanda and I had gotten into it one night. She was yelling and acting a damn fool so I told her ‘yo, I’m fin to bounce.’ I went out to my car and hopped in, and that fool came running out the house in her pajamas acting a damn fool. She started banging on my glass ’cause I wouldn’t roll down the window. I told her to move so I could leave and she wouldn’t, then she had the nerve to grab hold of my car as I tried to pull away. She fell flat on her ass in the driveway. But then the neighbors came out and found her lying there, and I bounced because there was a warrant out on me for failure to appear and if I stuck around, I sho nuff was going to jail. Next thing I know they got a warrant out on me for hit-and-run.”

  He sat there staring, waiting for me to say something. Did he honestly expect me to believe that lame-ass story.

  “I know it sounds like I’m lyin’ but I swear I’m telling you the truth. We going to court next month and I want you there just so you’ll know yo man is telling the truth.”

  I rocked my leg and didn’t say anything for a long time. Maybe he was telling the truth. After all, I wasn’t there. Wasn’t he supposed to be innocent until proven guilty? “What about you owing back child support?”

  He dropped his head, and when he looked up at me again tears clouded my man’s eyes. I felt so guilty because whatever he was about to say appeared to be quite painful.

  “Baby, I told you I didn’t have any shorties because I don’t. Wait a minute, let me finish. I had met this girl name Charlise and we just started kicking it when she told me she was pregnant and the baby’s daddy didn’t want to have anything to do with her. I really liked her and hung in there with her. I took care of her, and when she went in labor I told her I would give her baby a name and I signed the birth certificate. Later she dumped my ass for another nigga, then had the nerve to put child support on me even though she knows good and damn well that a baby ain’t mine! I’ve been trying to get a blood test for three years, yet she comes up with one excuse after another. Telling folks I’m wrong for wanting her son to get stuck with a needle just so I can prove something that is already in writing. As far as the state is concerned, since I signed that birth certificate, Trenton is legally my responsibility until I prove otherwise.”

  Damn, he was good.

  “I really loved that kid like he was my own, but what she’s trying to do—that bitch is grimy.”

  He wiped his eyes and I could tell he was fighting tears. That last thing I wanted to see was a grown man cry. “Baby girl, anything you want to know about me, all you have to do is ask. You don’t need to ask nobody and you definitely don’t need to be going on the computer looking. Hell, I ain’t got shit to hide.”

  “Uh-huh,” I mumbled, not sure how to respond.

  He rose. “Look, I came over here not to argue but to give you this.” He reached inside his pocket, pulled out a vanilla envelope, and handed it to me.

  I took it and glanced at him suspiciously. “What is it? A warrant for your arrest?”

  He gave me a sexy smirk. “I see you got jokes. Just open it.”

  I looked inside and removed a gift certificate that was for a one-hour body massage at HANDS ON MASSAGE.

  “I heard you saying you could use a massage, and since I don’t have skills in the department I thought I’d treat my baby to the best.”

  I didn’t know what to say because no one, I mean no one had ever done anything that nice for me. “Thank you.”

  He dropped down on his knees in front of me and took my hand. “I love you, baby girl.” He leaned in to kiss me at the same time I felt him slip something on my finger. I looked down and noticed the sparkling cocktail ring on my finger. There were so many stones my hand was heavy.

  “Oh my God!”

  “I take it you like it.”

  I was speechless. “I-I do. I-I don’t know what to say.”

  “Saying you like it would be a start.”

  “I love it! I really love it.”

  “Good, because I love you. I know you probably think it’s too soon. This ring is simply my promise to be yo man and to take care of my girl the way she deserves to be treated. That’s if you still want me in your life.”

  I sprang into his arms. “I love you, too.”

  He kissed me and held me tight. “That’s my girl.”

  As far as I was concerned, Renee needed to learn to mind her own business.

  32

  Renee

  By Friday, I decided I had strung Kenny along long enough. It had been a week since I had given a blow job. Besides, I was horny as hell. As soon as nine o’clock came I called him at the shop. “Hey you.”

  “Hey, what you doing?” He sounded happy to hear from me.

  “Thinking about you,” I cooed.

  “Oh yeah, what are you thinking?”

  I lowered my voice just in case one of the professors came down the hall. “I’m thinking about riding some dick this afternoon. You think you’re up for the job?”

  “Hell, yeah. I’m up for it. What time?”

  “Meet me at home at noon.” That would give me three hours before the kids came home.

  “I’ll be there.”

  He arrived right on schedule. As soon as we were in the room, in one swift motion he flipped me over onto my back.

  “What are you doing?” I laughed.

  “I’m taking control this time.” He reached for a condom, slid it on. Kenny was acting like he hadn’t had pussy in years. He pushed inside and was so big that I started breathing heavily while my body stretched to accommodate him. “Damn, your pussy is tight.”

  “Does it hurt?”

  “Nah, that shit feels good.”

  “And so do you.” Oh, but did I feel full.

  He got me this time but the next, I’m going to be in control.

  After Kenny left, I made my weekly Wal-Mart run. I hadn’t been there twenty minutes and my cart was already full. I was in the meat department when Danielle called. I hadn’t heard from her since I told her what I had found on Intelius.

  “Guess what?”

  I was afraid to ask but I did. “What?”

  “Chance bought me a ring.”

  Her voice was dripping with excitement so I tried t
o hold back the sarcasm. “Really? What kind of ring?”

  “A promise to love me ring.”

  “Love!” I shouted. “Since when did the two of you decide you’re in love?”

  “Last night.”

  I could feel her smiling all the way through the phone. This I’ve got to see. “You at home?”

  “Yep. I just got back from the jewelry store. I went to see if I could get my ring sized without them keeping it and they told me no. So I bought one of those bands that you can slide on your finger to hold your ring in place. Nae-Nae, wait till you see it.”

  “I’ll be over as soon as I finish shopping.”

  I hung up and quickly decided on a family pack of center cut chops. Price really wasn’t a factor since I was spending money that Kenny had given me. That’s one thing I can say about my boo, he keeps my pockets lined.

  I moved down the aisle for some cornstarch because I learned from my grandmother how to make real gravy. Forget all that fake stuff. As I was turning down the next aisle, I noticed that big Amazon woman from Portia’s high school staring at me. When she noticed me looking her way, she quickly dropped her head and looked the other way. I glanced over at the cornstarch and when I turned again, I caught her staring once more. I made a show of looking down at my clothes. Hell, I knew I was looking good in blue jeans and suede knee-length boots. My form-fitting sweater emphasized my small waist. After making sure that everything was intact, I stared her butt down until she turned and went the other way. I was tempted to still go over to her and ask her fat ass what the hell she was looking at but I needed to get out of the store and over to Danielle’s as soon as possible.

  As soon as I stepped inside Danielle’s house, she held out her hand and I examined the huge cluster of diamonds on her finger. The stones were shiny like polished glass. “And you think it’s real?” I asked, looking up at her.

  She looked offended. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

  My brow rose. “Why would it be?”

  She snatched her hand back and placed it on her hip. “Because Chance gave it to me. Do you really think he would go to all that trouble to buy me a cheap ring?”