I turned around, and Proctor was right there, mugging me so hard you would’ve sworn I stole something from him.
“Proctor, what are you talking about? I’m just acknowledging the man who purchased some flowers and a bottle for me.” I raised my voice over the music.
“Well, he will have plenty of flowers on his grave to offer you in heaven when I take this bottle upside his head and crack his fuckin skull. As a matter of fact, let me go send this nigga to glory right now.” He started walking away before I grabbed his arm.
“Proctor, that’s too far, it’s not that serious.”
“Oh, it’s always that serious about my baby mama. Don’t let those diamonds on that soft ass nigga fool you. Any nigga who is that flashy doesn’t really got it like that. I’ll strangle his ass with that big cheap ass chain he's rocking. Don’t fuckin play with me, Ari. Just because I just got out of jail, doesn’t mean I won’t go back.”
Proctor warned, looking at the guy from over here.
I shook my head and turned away from him, almost amused by his jealousy. This man acts like we are in some kind of agreement just because he wants to believe he’s my baby daddy.
“Proctor, didn’t you fuck someone earlier today?” I turned back to him.
“And that was business.”
“Well, this is business too. At the end of the day, I have bills that are due.”
I made a confession I didn’t want to make because I was slightly tipsy and the weight of my bills was weighing down on me mentally. No matter how much I drank or how much fun I was having, every now and again, I thought about my troubles back home.
“Bills? That’s what this is about? Come with me Ari.” He pulled my arm, taking me out of the section, and we walked straight past Tania, who didn’t see us passing by because some big swoll ass man had her attention from another section. I see that dress had finally gotten her the attention from a baller that she wanted. This man looked like he had money too.
“Hold on, Proctor, I can’t leave my friend out here; she’s going to be looking for me.”
“It looks like she’s distracted right now, so let’s hurry up.” He dragged me back through a pair of double doors. Proctor opened a door at the end of the hallway with a passcode, and when we stepped inside, he flicked on the lights and walked over to a safe in the corner.
“Proctor, what are we in here for?” He turned his back to me, putting in the code to the safe before he stepped to the side and exposed the large stacks of money.
“Walk over here, Ari.”
I took a few steps towards him.
“You see this? It’s about two million dollars in this safe alone. This is one of the many safes that I have around the city. I don’t believe in banks, and I like to keep my money spread out other than just in one spot. I have about ten safes around Vegas and some back in Houston.”
“And what does that mean for me?”
“It means that you won’t have to worry about bills if you're dealing with me. Especially if you have my daughter. Then, niggas with them big goofy ass chains won’t impress you because you will be able to say you know what real money is. Don’t let my gig fool you. I got it like that and some.” Proctor gripped his bulge through his pants.
He reached inside the safe and grabbed a stack of money, giving it to me like it was just a napkin or some shit.
“What is this, Proctor? I didn’t ask you for anything.”
“It’s twenty thousand dollars.”
I stuttered a bit before I could get a word out.
“Twen, twen, twenty thousand dollars, Proctor?”
“Yeah, now you don’t have to go out there and play pick me with those bums in the club for some quick change. Your man got it like that and some. So, stop playing with me and playing yourself.”
I was so fuckin stuck, I couldn’t even settle into the relief I felt. Half of me wanted to believe in this fairy tale, and the other half was telling me that this was all just a façade, and that something bad was hiding beneath.
“Where am I supposed to put this money? I did not bring a purse with me. I could get robbed leaving here with this.”
“You won’t get robbed if you leave here with me, but I got an idea. Do you have panties on?”
I giggled at that question.
