Page 1 of Sugar Baby
Chapter
One
SUGAR BABY JAMES
My mother never had a sweet tooth until she got pregnant with me. The whole time she was pregnant with me, she ate something sweet every day. She called me her sugar baby. Originally, everyone thought it was just a cute little nickname . . . until I was born and she wrote Sugar Baby James on my birth certificate. I used to get teased so badly in school that I swore I’d change my name when I turned eighteen. Then, Mama died, and I couldn’t bear the thought of changing the name she gave me. She died so young. I was determined to live a full enough life for the both of us.
The love for sweets she had while I baked in her belly was passed on to me. I didn’t just love to eat sweet treats; I loved to bake them too. If I could make a living off baking, I would. Unfortunately, where I came from, people didn’t care enough about cakes and cupcakes for me to make enough to pay my bills off baking. Instead, I had a cateringcompany and used that as my main source of income, but my sweet treats were what I was truly passionate about.
I knew my business would flourish more if I moved to a different part of town, but I liked being in the heart of the hood I’d grown up in and had no plans of leaving. My father had never been a present presence in my life. Mama met him when she was in Spain on vacation. What was supposed to be a weekend of fun with no strings attached turned into her getting pregnant with me. She didn’t have his number, but she knew where he worked. He was one of three Black American men at that time with a restaurant in the tourist neighborhood she stayed at, so everyone recommended she try his food since she was a Black American too.
When she went back to Spain to let him know he was going to be a father, she was in for the surprise of her life. He told her he had no plans of returning to America—ever. Jacob made it clear he would take care of us if Mama moved to Spain, but she didn’t want to. Regardless, she never hid who my father was. We talked on the phone and wrote a few letters, but I’d never met him in person until my mother’s funeral.
I was ten years old when she died, and everyone expected me to go to Spain with my father, but that wasn’t the case. He didn’t have the stability or tribe to be a single father. His days and evenings were spent running his restaurant. When he didn’t even offer to take me in, my aunt and uncle did and raised me like I was their own. My aunt Terry said there was no way in hell she would have let her sister’s child go to another country when I was all she had left of her anyway. Aunt Terry was sweet and regal like that—making my ten year old mind believe me staying inthe hood of Rose Valley Hills with her and Uncle Tony was for their benefit instead of mine.
Back then, I would say I was going to go live with my daddy the moment I turned eighteen. But when I did turn eighteen, I had no choice but to reflect on the fact that, in the eight years Mama had been gone, Jacob had disappeared from my world. He sent me a birthday and Christmas gift the first year, but after that, he went ghost. I wasn’t the wisest eighteen year old, but I was wise enough to know not to chase behind a parent who wasn’t even doing the bare minimum for me anymore.
So, I stayed in Rose Valley Hills, went to get my culinary arts degree, and worked at bakeries and restaurants. Now at twenty-eight, I ran a six figure catering company and had a close relationship with Aunt Terry, Uncle Tony, and their son Tyreek. Tyreek was an eighteen year old wild child who was more like my little brother than my cousin. And there was also Rittany, my best friend.
Both Tyreek and Rittany were here helping me serve at an event. Well, Tyreek wassupposedto be helping me serve. Instead, he kept taking extended trips outside. The third time his station had a line and he was absent, I lost my patience. I got the line down and combined his and Rittany’s stations and helped her with the tacos and custom sliders until all guests were served. Thankfully, it was a small family affair, so I was glad we didn’t get overwhelmed. As soon as I had a break, I went to look for Tyreek outside.
When I saw two men huddled around him, one gripping his shirt, I increased my steps in his direction. Pulling my customized sunflower .380 from the small of my back, I racked my slide, instantly gaining their attention.
“Let him go,” I ordered, aiming in their direction.
Four eyes slowly trailed my frame from my toes to the top of my curls. One mouth released a chuckle while the other smiled. They both released Tyreek, who sucked his teeth and made his way in front of me—as if I needed him to be my protector. As if I hadn’t just saved him from getting his ass beat by two grown, big ass men.
“What’s the problem?” I asked, allowing my finger to remain on the trigger of my Ruger LCP.
“Nothing, cuzzo,” Tyreek lied quickly. “I got it.”
“No, you don’t got it.” One of the men mocked him. My eyes focused on him and his locs and light skin. “That’s why your little ass was about to get beat.”
The darker one with a faded cut chuckled as he crossed his arms over his chest. “You his cousin?” he confirmed, and I nodded, eyeing Tyreek skeptically. “He accepted something with the promise of payment and has not made it yet.”
“We’re here to collect,” the loc’d one added.
“Drugs?” I almost whispered, lowering my gun. “You were given drugs by these people?”
“And didn’t pay for them,” the dark skinned one clarified, holding his finger up like he was politely walking out of an ongoing church service.
With a huff, I put my .380 back where it snugly fit then smacked the back of Tyreek’s head.
“Ow, Baby!”
“What the hell are you thinking?” I yelled, smacking him again. “You ain’t no got damn drug dealer!”
“Got that right,” the loc’d one said with a laugh. “I guess lil homie ain’t sold his shit and that’s why he ain’t paid up. Either way, he got a debt. And if he don’t pay it?—”
“I’ll take care of it,” I offered quickly as disgustfilled me. My eyes shifted from Tyreek to the two men. “How much does he owe?”
“Fifteen stacks,” the dark skinned one said with a shrug. “Light work, but the boss man don’t play about his money.”
This man had said fifteen thousand dollars was light work, meanwhile, that was what I made during my busiest months. My shoulders dropped as a tired sigh escaped me. Tyreek’s face saddened before he dropped his head and eyes. There was no way I was going to let them hurt him, or worse, and I couldn’t let his parents find out. They didn’t have that kind of money laying around to pay a damn drug supplier because of their crazy ass son.
“I’on mean to rush you, but we need that.”
Looking at the lighter one with locs, I tried to quickly think of a way to get them to leave without causing my cousin any harm.
