Page 2 of Sugar Baby
“Who do you work for?”
“You don’t need to know all’at.”
“Then how will I know who I need to pay?”
“You can’t pay it now?” the dark skinned one questioned.
“No. I’m here catering an event. I don’t have that kind of money on me.”
“Aight, bet. Seeing as your little cousin has been ducking and dodging the boss man for a little minute now, he’s out of patience. You have until tomorrow evening, this time. I’ll text him the place for y’all to meet tomorrow. Don’t be late.”
I didn’t realize I was holding my breath as they walked away until I released it as they got inside a darkly tinted truck. I was so upset and disappointed in my cousin I couldn’t even say anything else to him.
It honestly hurt my feelings that he chose to try and selldrugs instead of going legit. Tyreek was too smart and should have been focused on graduating high school and preparing for college. He might not have been living the most lavish life, but his parents did everything they could to make sure he had everything he needed and most of what he wanted. And where they lacked, I made up for it.
With my success, I became the one everyone came to when they needed anything. My aunt and uncle rarely came to me for help, but I offered it when I knew they needed it because of how well they treated me when they took me in.
The rest of the event went by in a blur. I talked to Tyreek as little as possible. By the time we’d packed up everything and I thanked Rittany for coming to help, I paid her though she insisted I didn’t have to, then got inside of my SUV. I only drove it when I had events, otherwise, I drove my Genesis G70.
Tyreek was quiet as I pulled out of the parking lot, but when I swerved into traffic he said, “You don’t have to pay them, big cuz. This is on me. I’ll find a way out of it.”
I looked over at him briefly, and the sadness in his eyes softened me toward him. “How much did you get from them?”
“Ten pounds. I thought it would be easy to flip but it was harder than I thought. A lot of the hood is already being served by other people on his team, so I couldn’t swipe their clientele. And I can’t really go to no other hoods on my bike with all that on me, so I’ve been stuck. If I could’ve had a way around, I could’ve sold more than I have and paid him back.”
“Why are you selling weed anyway, Tyreek?”
He sucked his teeth and looked out of the window. “I need the money.”
“And you couldn’t come to me or Uncle Tony for it?”
“No,” he said sharply. “I needed more than a few dollars.”
“For what?”
“I’m tryna get up outta The Hills. I don’t want to go to college, but I need some money saved so I can move.”
This was the first I heard about him not wanting to stay here, and I was genuinely surprised.
“Where are you trying to move? Why don’t you want to stay here?”
“Atlanta. And I don’t know, cuz. I guess I just want to try something new.”
“I can respect that, but why don’t you want to go to college? You don’t have to go to school here. You can go to school literally anywhere.”
He shook his head. “That shit ain’t for me. I know I’m smart, but I’m not interested in that. It’s boring.”
I smiled, because I was the same way. I knew I didn’t want to go to a traditional college. Since I didn’t have to have a degree to open my own bakery, I hadn’t even planned on going to culinary school, but Aunt Terry suggested I keep my options open so I’d have something to fall back on, so I did. I was glad I did since catering was what paid my bills.
“How about trade school? Or even just a certificate? I just want you to have something legit and solid that you can rely on to make your money. Drug dealing ain’t it, little cuz. Clearly.” Tyreek cracked a smile. “You couldn’t even sell chocolate and popcorn for school fundraisers. How in the holy hell did you think you’d be able to sell weed?”
He laughed, but his pride had him covering his mouth as if I hadn’t heard it. “Not too much on the kid, Baby. I’mtelling you I could’ve made something shake if I had a car. I just didn’t have no reach.”
“Good. I’m glad you didn’t. You don’t need to think you’re good at that shit anyway.”
“I’m tryna see what the big deal is though. You smoke. We live in the hood. You got money, but you still live in the hood.”
“I choose to live in the hood. And you’re right, I do smoke, but that doesn’t mean I would sell it, just like I don’t want you to sell it. It’s too dangerous. You’re risking your freedom and your life. Plus, we have dispensaries here. The only dealers that are making money are the ones in the hood, and you don’t have the capacity to compete with them. You’d be better off using that big brain of yours to come up with different strains for a dispensary.”
