Page 23 of Sugar Baby
His mean ass sighed, and I held back my laughter. “Fuck would I have to ask you to be mine for? You were mine the second you puffed your chest out at me behind Reek. I’m telling you you are. You got a problem with that?”
“Not as long as you’re mine too.”
“I am, and I’on share. You know how I’m coming, so unless you want a nigga’s blood on my hands because he fucked with you, don’t even think about cheating. Get all the outfits, bags, shoes, and jewelry she brought, and tell her she can charge my card and give herself 50 percent of the total as her tip. Now I got some business to handle, so I gotta go. Is there anything else, Suge?”
I shook my head as if he could see me as I smiled. “That’s all, Cash.”
“Aight. If I can get this shit taken care of tonight, I’ma come see you. If not, I promise to swing through tomorrow.”
“Okay, bae. Be safe.”
“Always.”
After ending the call, I tossed my phone onto the couch and told Melanie I’d be taking all the options. Her syrupy grin spread as Rittany clapped and cheered, making me blush even more.
The only peoplethat had keys to my house were my family, so when I heard someone unlock the door and slam it, I didn’t grow concerned. More than anything, I was irritated because they’d slammed my door. I quickly set the strawberry and cream cheese cupcakes I was baking on top of the stove, then headed out of the kitchen.
At the sight of Tyreek pacing, I sighed as my shoulders slouched. “Why aren’t you at school?”
His head jerked in my direction, and he looked at me with wide eyes. A few seconds passed before they lowered as he walked over to me. Surprising me, he pulled me into an embrace. I felt his heart beating rapidly and immediately grew even more concerned.
“What’s going on, Tyreek?”
“Nothing,” he muttered, avoiding my eyes.
“Don’t fucking lie to me. What did you do?” He groaned and covered his face with his palms. “Little cousin,” I called softer, realizing that might be a better approach as I wrapped my hands around his wrists and used them to lower his hands. “If you don’t tell me what’s going on, I can’t help you.”
“I’m going to tell you, but you have to promise not to yell at me. This really wasn’t my fault, and I swear I wouldn’t have gone if I knew what was going on. And you have to promise not to tell nobody—especially Cash. He said if I didn’t get into any more trouble this year he’d have something for me when I graduated, and I’m not trying to miss out on that, big cuz.”
“Okay, okay, slow down. Come on.” I took him by the hand and led him to the living room. As we sat on the couch I said, “I can’t promise I won’t yell at you, but I’ll try not to. I do promise not to tell Cash or anyone else unless it’s something I need help with.”
“That’s good enough,” he agreed before releasing a shaky breath and running his hands up and down his thighs. “Aight, so I was at school and Rell was telling me and Brandon about this job his brother had for us. He didn’t give us any details, but he promised us it would be worth it. We skipped class and left to meet him. When we got there,Rell said Rapheal and his friends would meet us soon. As we’re waiting, that’s when Rell tells us they about to rob Sko.”
“Sko?” I repeated, because I couldn’t have heard him correctly. “Sko from the Mound?” He nodded, and my leg began to shake.
“Yeah. Now you know if I would have known that, I wouldn’t have gone.”
“Why didn’t you leave, Reek?”
“Because as soon as he told us, a big ass truck pulled up. Rapheal and nem got the front and we took the back. I couldn’t even process what was happening quick enough because Rell hopped out and cut the lock on the truck. He made me get behind the wheel and told Brandon to help him take the shit. One of the men with Rapheal gave us masks, then he tossed something in the back of the truck that put everybody to sleep while we grabbed the weed. I said no but he put the gun on me, so I did the shit anyway. If Sko people find out we did this, I know they gon’ come after us, cuzzo, but I swear it wasn’t my fault this time. I promise I wouldn’t have gone if I knew what they were going to do.”
Since I’d promised him I wouldn’t yell at him, I took a few deep breaths. I couldn’t really be too mad at him because he was at the wrong place with the wrong people at the wrong time. At least he’d tried to leave.
“I have to tell Cash. He can help you get out of this.”
“No!” he yelled, using my arms to pull me back down. “He can’t know. I told him I’d stay out of trouble.”
“And I commend you for trying, but this isn’t really your fault. Yeah, you shouldn’t have left school, and you should have asked more questions before going, but if you tell me you didn’t know what they were up to, I believe you.”
Tyreek sat back in his seat. “I really didn’t know, Baby. I swear. I would’ve stayed my ass at school.”
“I wanna tell you that’s what your ass gets for leaving school to make some quick money, but I don’t want to make you feel worse than you already do. At least you tried to leave. Let this be a lesson to you.
“You’ve got to stop following behind Rell and Brandon, Tyreek. I don’t care how long they’ve been your friends. Rell, especially, is up to no good. You have far too much potential to get caught up in his schemes. I literally just got you out of a situation with Cash, and if Sko finds out, he will not be as merciful. You really need to let me tell him.”
“I will tell him myself if Sko finds out it was us. Otherwise, I don’t want him to know. We had on masks, so I don’t think he will know it was us.”
My head shook. “I don’t feel good about this, little cuz. I feel like you need to tell Cash . . . and your parents. Now I helped you hide the shit with Cash, but I can’t help you cover this up.”
