All the smoke, p.3
All The Smoke, page 3
I scoffed and cast her a look of disgust. Mothafucka had all kinds of toys and shit on her bed, dressed in damn near nothing but a lace bodysuit. It used to turn me on when she did shit like that because her body was cold and I was in love with her, but it did nothing for me now. I wouldn’t touch her with a ten foot pole.
“Get yo’ ass up and come holla at me,” I said, then turned to head out of her room back to the front. I could hear music coming from Brianni’s room as I walked past. Probably trying to drown her nasty ass mother out.
I posted up on the couch and went through my notifications. I had a few people hitting me up to shop, and also a little chick trying to link, so I needed to hurry the fuck up and get to my crib. She wasn’t coming to my spot, but I was gon’ pull up at hers after getting all my affairs in order.
I didn’t let anyone know where I stayed for real. Me, Bino, and Scoot rented a crib in Crescent Pointe that we trapped out of and split the rent three ways. It was the best spot to do business on the low. Niggas would never guess we had a door swinging in the suburbs.
“What the fuck is it, Smoke, damn?” Bri asked with way too much attitude when she entered the room.
Angling my head to the side, I asked, “Who the fuck is you cursing at like that?”
Rolling her eyes, she shook her head and asked her question in a more respectful manner. “What do you want, Solomon?”
She knew I hated my government name, so she was trying to get under my skin, but I wasn’t going to feed into the shit. We had bigger fish to fry.
“Why you need me to get Solo today?”
“I have somewhere to go tonight.”
“Like where?” I quizzed. “Because I know like fuck you ain’t put my son out so you can invite the fuckin’ hood over here tonight.”
“What? No…” She got ready to lie but I stopped her.
“I already know you thought you was having a party over here to celebrate shaking your ass in a music video.”
Shock covered her face then her brows furrowed. “Who told you that?”
“Don’t matter.”
“Yes it does,” she snapped. “I’m sick of people reporting my moves to you like you’re my man.”
“And believe me when I say I’m just as tired of hearing the shit because out of the two of us I don’t give a fuck the most, baby girl.”
“Yet here you are questioning me.”
“Yeah because I got a big problem with the hood being in a house that not only do I pay bills in, but my son and your daughter live in.”
“Your son is with you.”
“Still two more fucking problems.”
“Nini is in her room.” I didn’t respond because I wanted her to explain what the fuck that was supposed to mean. “Smoke.”
“You cool with having random niggas in the spot ya daughter is in?” I frowned. “Because as much as I love Nini, she’s your kid, Bri, so I can’t say shit. But depending on your answer, my son might not be back over this bitch.”
“Yeah right.” She chuckled like I was playing but when she noticed I wasn’t smiling hers faded. “You are not going to keep my son from me.”
“Then yo’ ass ain’t gon’ have no fucking party here tonight or ever.” I shrugged and stood. “You a mom, Bri. Stop acting like a fucking city girl and act like you got two fucking kids. Get a real damn job and shit instead of embarrassing all of us literally showing your ass online. Be a respectable woman your daughter can look up to.”
Her pretty face twisted into a frown. “And you’re a respectable man? You sell fucking weed.”
“And?” I laughed. “I know I ain’t living like a saint, but I ain’t out here lowering my value either, disrespecting myself and my kids by selling myself for a few bucks either. I might be hustling and shit, but you better believe Solo never gon’ have to. He gon’ know the value of a dollar and how to get some fuckin’ money at the very least. I don’t sell shit around him either, so he don’t know what I do. Both of your kids see you walking around in next to nothing and truly if it weren’t for parental controls that I oversee, they would have both probably seen your naked ass on the internet.”
“Fuck you,” she hissed.
“I’m good on that, love.” I smiled. “That pussy too friendly and you don’t got ya priorities in order enough for me.”
“Nigga—”
“Speaking of priorities,” I cut her off. “Why the fuck my son complaining about a toothache and shit?”
“Probably because he’s a child, Smoke.” She rolled her eyes. “Kids eat junk food and candy.”
“Ah,” I stated sarcastically and nodded. “Another thing you don’t monitor. I really want to fuck you up for slacking on my son’s shit, but I ain’t even in the mood to kick your ass today. I’m gon’ get him right, but know if I gotta schedule another emergency appointment for him then yo’ ass gon’ need the fucking dentist to get you right next, aight?”
I could see the fire dancing in her eyes but Brianna knew I didn’t play about my son and his health and hygiene. If she wanted to be a slack, nasty bitch then that was on her, but I was applying pressure behind my kid, no doubt.
“And change the location of the party because I would hate to come over here and act like Bishop and First Lady’s son,” I said and smirked before making my exit. Nothing else needed to be said and money needed to be made.
“I didn’t get to eat breakfast at Gigi and Bishop’s, Daddy,” Solo said as we made our way to his appointment.
Looking in my rearview at his face buried in his tablet, likely playing one of those stupid ass games, I smiled. My baby loved to eat and he ain’t eat no lil shit either. He ate like I ate, steaks, lobster, shrimp, pastas, all that shit. I couldn’t even recall the last time he ate from a damn kids’ menu.
“You ’bout to get ya teeth checked out, Solo.” I chuckled. “You don’t want food in your teeth or ya breath to stink do you? It could be some ladies in there.”
“Old ladies.” He laughed.
“They not all old.”
“Old enough. Can we go to Morningside when we leave?”
I nodded. “I got you. I’ll take you to Gravity Zone and shit if you don’t cry when you get ya mouth worked on too.”
“Yeah right, I don’t cry.”
“I know, but you probably will have to get your shit pulled today, so…”
We had pulled up to the dentist’s office, so I parked and had Solo climb over the front seat to get out with me. He knew how to buckle himself in and get himself out of the seatbelt, and it was a hassle letting my seat up so I let him put his feet on my shit and dirty it up to make it easier on us both.
“Why you copy me today, Daddy?” he asked as we made our way inside.
“Copy you?” I grinned. I knew he was talking about the fact that we were both dressed down in ball shorts and a white tee, but hell I had a fucking time last night so I grabbed something quick and just told Bishop to dress him comfortably since he had clothes and shit at their crib.
“Yeah. You always try to dress like me.”
“Yeah, aight.” I mushed his head playfully. “You always trying to be like ya pops and shit.”
“I had these first.” He smiled, referring to the cement Jordan 4s he wore. Solo thought he had everything before me when in reality I bought the majority of our shit at the same time, he just wore his before me.
We checked in at the front desk then I chilled in the waiting area while he went to fuck with the play area. Solo was a nice and friendly kid, the complete opposite of me when I was coming up. I wasn’t the one that like to kick it with anyone, even when I was a lil nigga, but my son did and I loved that about him. I wanted him to be better than me.
I checked in with my homeboys while we waited. I had a few people trying to grab some work from me so I had Bino pull up to grab my money. Scoot was too busy laid up.
The sound of my name being called had me tearing my eyes away from my phone screen and traveling to the doorway that led to the back of the office. The prettiest milk chocolate colored woman dressed in blue scrubs that hugged her slim-thick frame to perfection was standing there. Her hair was pulled into a bun on top of her head with the exception of a few curls that hung loosely on the sides and back of her neck.
“Solomon Tate?” she called out again, breaking me from the trance she had me in and my son came darting over to me.
“She’s calling us, Daddy.” He grabbed my hand and began to pull as if he could really move me from my seat.
“Chill, Solo.” I chuckled as I stood and motioned for him to go ahead of me.
“Me and my daddy’s name is Solomon Tate,” Solo said once he took ol’ girl’s hand for her to lead us to the back. “But they call me Solo and him Smoke sometimes. Not my Gigi though, or Bishop. They said that daddy’s name isn’t of the Lord.”
“Solo, relax.” I laughed.
“Solo?” She looked at me then my son. “Is that what you would prefer that I call you?”
He nodded. “Daddy says that Solo is way more fly than that bullsh—”
“Aight, man.” I laughed again and nudged him. “You talk too much.”
Chuckling, she nodded and said, “Okay Solo, my name is Kaori but you can call me KK.”
He beamed. “Okay, Ms. KK.”
He knew to put that “Ms.” in front of her shit. I let him bullshit around a lot and so did I, but he had manners and respect and shit.
“Mr. Tate, you can sit over there.” She pointed to the bench in front of her examination chair. “And Solo, you can hop up here.” She patted her chair. “Do you need my help?”
“I got it,” he said as he climbed on the chair and I took a seat in front of them.
I watched her intensely as she worked on my son and made small talk with him. I had met all of the chicks that worked in this office and at his doctor’s shit because I needed to know who was around and working on my son, but I hadn’t ever seen her.
“You new here?” I asked.
Her movements paused as she glanced my way. “Yes. I’ve been here for a little over a week.”
I nodded. “You did this shit before?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“You ask all of the dental assistants these questions?”
“Naw, just the fine ones.” I smirked and she blushed.
Clearing her throat, she tore her eyes away from me and got back to working on my son, but she did tell me this was her first time working in an office setting. She was still in school and shit, so she was only there part-time. I thought it was dope to be real. She was a really pretty woman and had a nice ass body. Most bitches I knew like that were trying to be social media influencers or porn stars or some shit, like my baby mama.
The dentist joined us a little after to take a look at Solo’s mouth and let me know they were going to extract the tooth since it was broken. How his little ass had split his tooth was a mystery to me but if pulling it was gon’ keep my boy happy and healthy then I was with it.
They moved us back to an actual examination room to do the procedure and I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Kaori. I hadn’t ever been so fucking mesmerized by a woman’s looks and voice. Shit legit had me in a trance. I loved Bri back in the day and definitely thought she was the best thing smoking when I was a lil nigga, but Kaori was different. She had this beautiful aura to her that instantly attracted me and has me wanting to get to know who the fuck she was. Shit was scary honestly because I hadn’t ever experienced that before.
As my eyes ran amuck, trying to etch every fucking thing about her into my head, they landed on a spot on her neck. Shit was very vague, damn near nonexistent, but I still saw it.
A bruise?
I found myself frowning, damn near about to tweak the fuck out wondering where it came from and if a nigga was putting hands on her. I didn’t play that shit. Although I talked shit and threatened Bri’s stupid ass all the time, I never put hands on her and never would. I would just pay some hoes to do my dirty work for me if it ever came down to that, which I doubted.
I didn’t even realize how long I had been in a trance, locked in on shorty, until the dentist’s voice tore me away, letting me know they were done and I could grab my little man and jet.
“Daddy, I’m still hungry,” he said and yawned. “And do I have to go to school?”
“Naw, lil man, you gon’ kick it with your old man today,” I answered as I helped him into the car. By the time I got in his ass was fading, so instead of going to Morningside like he’d asked, I just got on the Munchies app and ordered him some oatmeal that he’d eat when he got up and me a traditional breakfast platter which consisted of bacon, grits, eggs, sausage, and toast. I wasn’t even hungry, but I knew I was gon’ be ready to punish some shit when I got done smoking.
After putting my order in, we pulled into traffic and headed to the crib. I was gon’ take the day off to chill with Solo and let him stay the night with me again so I could keep an eye on his tooth and shit for the day. His mama would be busy running off at the mouth on the fucking phone or shaking her ass somewhere so she wouldn’t be paying him any attention. I was still vexed about her allowing him to eat all that bullshit to the point he was breaking his teeth anyways. I knew he was a kid and liked to eat a bunch of bullshit, but I monitored his intake.
I took Solo inside and put him in his bed just as a call from my brother came through. Pulling the door up behind me as I exited my son’s room, I swiped the screen to answer him. I clicked through the prompts and shit and waited for the call to connect.
“Baby bro.”
I smiled hearing his voice come through. He normally called me every morning and night but wasn’t able to this morning because he had to go and take a new picture. They made him update his shit every few years.
“What’s the word, bro?”
“I can’t call it, man. Just got back in from taking my shower.”
“You got your mail yet?”
“Yeah, man.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “You sure Solo didn’t trace this?”
“Hell yeah, I’m sure.” I chuckled. “My boy good as fuck. He remind me of you with that drawing shit.”
My son had drawn his uncle some pictures and we mailed them off to him a few days ago. Solo loved to draw and he got that shit from Noah. That was all he did when we were younger. I had an ass of his sketchbooks put up that I had shown to my son before and since then he had wanted to draw just like his uncle. I loved that shit.
Noah was a solid ass nigga and deserved to have someone look up to him. I always had and my son did too. If I had to choose between the two of us who I wanted Solo to be more like, it would definitely be my brother. He’d gotten caught up on some bogus ass charges, but I knew it was bullshit. My brother would never get caught up in no armed robbery shit. That was more my speed than anything. It was cool though because a nigga was hustling overtime to get him out and searching high and low for the niggas that had gotten him hemmed up. They had been ghost since testifying against him.
“I’m gon’ have to send him some of the stuff I’ve been working on.”
“I’m sure he will love that.” Solo kept all of his uncle’s drawings in a folder, claiming he was going to be able to sell them one day for a lot of money. I didn’t know how much bread he thought he was gon’ get off drawings of his favorite cartoons and shit, but I wasn’t gon’ fuck his lil dreams up. “You got that bread that I sent you?”
“Yeah, I saw it in my account. We go to the store tomorrow,” he answered.
“That’s gon’ be enough?”
“More than enough.” He laughed. “I still have money left over from last week.”
I nodded like he could see me. I sent him more money than he could spend, to overcompensate sometimes, because I hated that everybody stopped fucking with him when he went inside. I needed him to know and see that I had him no matter what.
“Word, what about that lawyer nigga? He been up there?”
“Yeah, he has and he was scared as a mug sitting across from me, Smoke. What you do to him?”
“Told that nigga that he better start being worth the mothafuckin’ money I’m paying his ass fo’ he be taking a mothafuckin’ dirt nap.”
Noah laughed. He always laughed when I got to tweaking because he didn’t believe I was really on that kind of shit. He knew I was temperamental and impatient as fuck; he’d witnessed it my whole life. But he didn’t know I would really do that lawyer mothafucka somethin’. He believed shit was smoke and mirrors.
“You can’t talk like that on these phones, Solomon.”
“Fuck them. I can do whatever I want to do and dare them to do something.”
I hated the COs down there. They tried me every week I visited my brother, but fucked around and found out last time when I knocked the big, Black, burly one the fuck out last week for grabbing my arm. He was saying something to me about pulling my pants up, but I kept it pushing because for one, my pants were on my waist, and for two, I wasn’t under nobody’s rule and didn’t take orders from a soul. Shit like that was why I bumped heads with Bishop a lot.
“Anyways, did you study what I told you to?” he asked and I sucked my teeth. Every Sunday night before we got off the phone, he gave me a scripture to study, then the next Sunday or Monday he would ask me what it meant to me. I was outside when he hit me the night before so he was doing the shit now. “Did you, Smoke?”
“Yeah, nigga, damn.”
“And?”
“And what? I don’t be feeling like bible study while I’m smoking, bro.”
I was posted in my living room and rolled a blunt while talking to him, so I sparked up and started my game system.
“Then put it out.”
“Bruh,” I sighed, set the blunt down, and went to the notes in my phone so I could get the shit over with. “Mark 11:25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in Heaven may forgive you your sins.”
“Okay, and what does that mean for you?”
“That I need to allow niggas to play in my face.”
