“Mr. King, just one moment,” Antoine spoke before I heard some women talking in the background.
“You donotsummon me!” Jameela fussed as soon as she came on the line.
“So, you really thought you were just gone put that pussy on me like that and disappear into the night?” I asked.
The laughing that erupted from the other end of the line made me smile.
“Wow, I had you on speaker,” she chastised.
“Put me back on speaker. I need the world to know how fucked up you got me. Somebody needs to know how used I feel.”
“We had a nice time, but I have to go get my daughter and figure out what I’m going to do about my car. What’s the address to where my car is?”
“Jameela, if you try to leave this hotel before I make it down to you, we are going to have problems.”
“I already have plenty of those, kind stranger.”
“Stop calling me a stranger and let me get to know you.”
“Look, thank you for an amazing night, but I’m not interested in anything more than a fling. As you can see, I don’t have room for anything else in my life right now. Maybe we will runinto each other again,” she said, ending the call before I could respond.
I plopped down on the bed, tossing my phone to the side as I buried my face in my hands.I had always considered myself more of a pursuer than a chaser. I never chased. I didn’t have to chase. I pursued the things I wanted relentlessly, sometimes sacrificing sleep and sanity to achieve my lofty goals. Once I had the money, power came naturally.
Still, I liked to work for the things I wanted. Working for things seemed to make you appreciate them more. I wanted Jameela. I could even understand her stance in wanting to take care of her car on her own. My woman didn’t take care of things on her own. Hell, even the mother of my child didn’t take care of things on her own.
Just like I wanted Cindy to be stress free while she was raising my child, I needed my lady well rested and stress-free so she could take care of me. I didn’t need her worrying about bills and car repairs. I was tired of telling her that though. I had to show her through action. I made it to their room just as Jameela was pushing past Antoine and telling him what she would do to him if he didn’t get out of her way.
“Wow, so you just running away, habibti. I thought we made an agreement.”
“Everything you said sounded good, Nicholas, but I have to be realistic. Thank you again, but this is where we go our separate ways.”
Looking over her shoulder into the room, I ignored her words and acknowledged her friends. “You ladies feel free to take advantage of any of the hotel’s amenities and whatever Antoine had to promise you to keep you here for so long. I’m going to take the feisty one off your hands,” I said, reaching past Antoine and taking Jameela’s hand.
“Take your hands off me,” she snapped when I pulled her into the hallway.
“You were just yelling to the top of your lungs about how you wanted out of this room, habibti. Make up your mind.”
“I have to go home and get my daughter, so whatever you have in mind is out of the question.”
“No, that’s exactly what’s on my mind.”
My phone rang, briefly removing my attention from the woman who was turning this cat and mouse game into an Olympic sport. I didn’t mind jumping through hoops to show Jameela she was worth it. I was actually excited about showing her how far I would and could go to put a smile on her face.
Money had never just been a source of comfort for me. More than anything, it was a means of control. I liked being able to control the things around me. There were times when I felt out of control. That was the reason that I worked so hard to be able to control my own fate.
Money meant real options instead of having the illusion of options. It meant no one got to tell you when you could eat. Uncle D had drilled that into my head long before the business went legit.
“Never let a man starve you into obedience, young bull,” he’d said a million times. “Make your own way so you will never have to beg. La taj’al ahadan yuji‘uka hatta tukhdi.” Never let anyone make you hungry enough to submit.
Those words were heavy on my mind as I stood in the service bay of my partner’s dealership, listening to him explain to Jameela how she needed a tune up as well as fuel injectors and a fuel pump.
Suddenly, she squared her shoulders and walked away. She was on her phone before I could stop her. I hesitated, noticing the tightness in her jaw as she white knuckled the phone. Iwanted to rush over and snatch it out of her hand, but I didn’t step in immediately.
I needed to let her do this. I needed to let her try one more time to ask something of a man who had already decided not to help her without getting something in return. I needed to let him fail her again so I could pick her up and show her that she never had to beg another man for anything else in life. Although I didn’t intend to stop her, I moved closer without really thinking about it.
“It’s not even about me, Tremaine. You know I can’t even work right now. It’s not like I have a choice.”
She stopped talking for a second before her shoulders sagged. “I know you’re busy, Tremaine. This isn’t . . . fine,” she said.
