Chapter 2
“ T he load only pays two hundred and sixty-five dollars.”
“Naw. That’s too damn far. Going all the way to Corpus should pay more than that. Tell her I said hell no.”
“A’ight, boss.”
I ended the call with my employee as I stepped out of my SUV for my dentist appointment. I checked my fitted cap and made my way inside. I was sick of the company I had my trucks contracted with. They were always trying to get a big bang for that little ass buck. Corpus Christie was way too far of a distance to only pay two hundred sixty-five dollars, carrying over a thousand-pound motor. That was over four hundred miles round trip. They had me fucked up.
I had five trucks with flatbeds and trailers… my own hot-shot company. It was based in Houston, Texas, but I’d recently moved here to Tallahassee to get a fresh start. Some days, it felt like I was still in Houston with as often as I had to deal with muthafuckas out there, not to mention the weather here. It was hot as hell… worse than home.
About six months ago, I’d left the game for good. It had been a long time coming. After Jungle Patterson shut shit down about five years ago, I knew I had to start getting shit together to make my exit as well. I was running for him for the longest, but I wasn’t quite ready to leave the shit when he did. I needed to get my cash up. It took me an extra four years, but I’d gotten out.
I didn’t trust niggas easily. When Jungle and Vegas left the shit behind, I knew I had to do so as well. Niggas were getting grimier every day and wouldn’t hesitate to take what they wanted. They had no loyalty these days. Once I purchased two 2500 Dodge Rams and installed flatbeds on them, I was done. I was running one of the trucks myself for a while, and my brother was running the other. He had been in the game as well.
The only thing our absentee father had ever taught us was street shit. Our mother tried to shield us from it, but because we longed for him to be in our lives as kids, we soaked up whatever he said when he came around. By the time I was a teenager, that nigga had completely disappeared on us.
When I got involved with Jungle, I could tell he was watching me closely. He never acknowledged if he knew who I was, but I knew Mo wasn’t on their good side, especially with a nigga named Yonkers. I didn’t remember anything about Yonkers… just his name and that he was a part of Ice’s firing squad. I didn’t know what had happened, but it changed the dynamic between Mo and Ice’s team.
Ice was Jungle’s father. Once Ice got killed, Mo went AWOL. I always wondered if he had something to do with that shit. None of that mattered now, though, because he was gunned down outside of his house a couple of years ago. He fucked with the wrong person, and they showed him that he had them fucked up. The cops still hadn’t found who did it, but I knew.
When I walked inside the dentist office, all eyes were on me. This was my first dentist appointment since I’d moved here. I had to keep my teeth right. Although I wore a grill sometimes, I needed those pearly whites to stay white. Making my way to the desk, I signed in as they stared at me. I got that shit almost everywhere I went. I was tall, lean, and I knew I had that bad boy swag that more women seemed to like these days. After signing in, the lady asked, “Are you a new patient?”
I nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay. I’ll need your driver’s license and your insurance card, then I need you to fill out this paperwork.”
She handed me a clipboard, so I set it on the desk and pulled my wallet from my pocket, fishing my ID and insurance cards out of it. I handed it to her then found a seat to fill out the paperwork. I hated filling out all this shit. As I filled it out, I saw a question at the bottom, asking how I found out about their office. A slight smile made its way to my lips.
I was searching online for a dentist, and when I saw that the rich, dark chocolate Barbie doll, Yunique Mott, was the dentist, that was all I needed to see. Just the sight of her made me thirsty as fuck. I didn’t bother looking at her reviews or anything. I’d been out here for a little over six months and hadn’t dived into anything wet and gushy yet, nor had I even approached anyone. I was trying to get acclimated to my surroundings and my new normal.
As I finished the paperwork, they were calling me to the back, so I turned it in and retrieved my license and insurance card from the receptionist. I followed the hygienist to the back, glancing at her lack of ass. It was depressing. When we got to the room, I sat in the chair and turned to her. She smiled at me and said, “We’re glad to have you here at Mott’s Dental Office. What brings you to Tallahassee?”
She was looking through my paperwork and had probably seen that my last dentist was in Houston. “Just searching for something new. I’d been in Houston all my life, rarely traveling anywhere.”
“Well, how do you like it so far?”
“It’s okay. Not much different from Houston, except it seems less crowded.”
She chuckled. “Well, let’s get started. You aren’t having any problems, are you?”
“No, ma’am.”
She smiled and nodded then proceeded to do X-rays. Once she was done with all her pictures, she began cleaning my teeth, softly humming as she did so. The dentist was one of my least favorite doctor visits. Although she wore gloves, I hated that they had to put their hands in my mouth. I was the type of nigga that if I saw her touch anything with those gloves on, she was gonna replace them before putting her hands back in my mouth, even if it was just the X-ray slides after they’d been set on the countertop.
She seemed to be conscious of that, thankfully. I would hate to have to hurt this lil white girl’s feelings. She looked to have been fresh out of school. Once she was done flossing, she said, “You didn’t have much plaque. That’s very impressive, Mister Moore. Most people don’t take as good care of their teeth as you seem to do.”
“Thanks,” I said as she smiled.
This chocolate gave the women all the fucking feels. There was only one woman I was interested in giving the feels to right now though.
“Hello, Mister Moore. I’m Yunique Mott, your dentist. I just want to take a look and make sure everything is good.”
When I turned to her, I was stuck. Her picture didn’t do her justice. She smiled at me, and that shit hit me right in the chest. Damn . I couldn’t help but bite my bottom lip as I stared at her. For the first time in a long time, I was speechless. I scanned her small frame and modest curves, being sure to do it in a respectful way. When my eyes met hers again, she had a slight frown. I wasn’t trying to offend her.
“I apologize, Doctor Mott. I’m just in awe of you.”
I swore she blushed, but she quickly recovered and frowned a little harder. “Thank you. Please lie back so I can get a look.”
I lay back, refusing to take my eyes off her. I could tell she was uncomfortable as hell, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t stop staring at her. She was so gorgeous. She took a step back to grab some gloves, and suddenly, my thing about their fingers in my mouth was a thing of the past. I would suck her fingers until I tasted chocolate.
As she put her gloves on, she stared right back at me. At least I knew she wasn’t shy. However, my gaze didn’t seem to be affecting her the way hers was affecting me. My dick was rising, and there was nothing I could do to stop him. Apparently, she noticed, because her eyes dipped for a millisecond.
She stood over me, and I opened my mouth. It was taking everything in me to keep from closing it around her long, slender fingers. I stared at her face while she examined my teeth and said some things to her hygienist. She pointed out a couple of things on my X-rays, then turned to me and said, “I would like to put a sealant on two of your teeth, one on each side, to protect them from cavities. They seem to be a little compromised. You do take great care of your teeth, as Missy said. We can do that right now if you’re okay with that.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I responded.
She gave me a slight smile, then extended her hand. “It was nice to meet you, Mister Moore. I look forward to keeping you on track with your dental wellness.”
I took her hand in mine and felt the heat in our touch. “I look forward to that shit too.”
She frowned and slowly slid her hand away from mine as a smirk formed on the dental hygienist’s lips. I wasn’t the type of nigga to bite my tongue, so it was amazing I had been able to in this instance. What I’d just said was mild as hell compared to all the shit running through my mind to say. Had I said everything, she would have put me out of here. I could already see that she would be a hard one.
I liked that, though, because I was sick of dealing with ratchet ass females. I could deal with ghetto, but ratchet hoes never wanted nothing for themselves. They were looking for a damn come up by being with a hood rich nigga. I wasn’t the one they needed. The streets raised me, and I didn’t put up with bullshit. I had no bounds when it came to getting a muthafucka out of my face… permanently.
That was why I needed a fresh start. Muthafuckas who knew the old version of you didn’t let you forget who you used to be. They didn’t understand change and progression. I’d changed for the better. I didn’t want to die an old man still in the streets hustling. I made the most of my time out there… saving money, gaining power and confidence, and learning how shady people operated, which I kind of knew that already from seeing how Mo operated. He was a shady and grimy ass nigga.
I’d heard the stories. There was some shit circulating on the streets, though, about who killed his ass. I didn’t give a fuck about him being killed. So, if Vegas killed him, I’d shake his fucking hand for doing Houston a favor.
After the hygienist finished with my sealants, she smiled. “Just don’t eat anything for thirty minutes to an hour, and you’re good to go, Mister Moore.”
“Thank you, Missy. Call me Harlem.”
She smiled big as I stood, towering over her. She couldn’t have been much over five feet. Being that I was six feet, four inches tall, I towered over a lot of people. As I made my way to the front, I nearly knocked Yunique Mott over. I grabbed her, circling my arm around her waist, pulling her to me. The tremble I felt go through her wasn’t imagined. Her eyes met mine. “My apologies, Doctor Mott.”
She quickly slid out of my arms and nodded, practically speed walking by me. I licked my lips as I watched her until she disappeared into a room. I had to have her. That flawless, dark skin looked moisturized with the best products out there. It looked soft and hydrated, and I wanted to indulge so badly. Damn! She had me stuck. All that natural hair piled on top of her head was begging for me to pull it while I was hitting her pussy from the back.
Regaining my composure, I continued to the front desk and scheduled my next appointment, which I was sure I would forget about. “Do y’all send out reminders?”
The receptionist chuckled. “We do… a week in advance and the day before.”
“Good. Thanks.”
“Thank you, Mister Moore. Have a great day.”
I nodded, and as I walked out, I saw a Barbie doll looking chick walking in. She looked like Yunique, maybe a shade lighter. She was fine as fuck too. If they were making them like this in Florida, then a nigga was in the right place. She smirked at me and walked inside. I gave her a head nod and licked my lips then let the door close behind her.
As I walked to my car, I heard someone say, “You ogle my woman again, I’m gon’ fuck yo’ scary ass up.”
I frowned hard and turned to see who was talking to me like they knew me. When I saw Vegas, a smile broke out on my face. “Nigga, fuck you. What’chu doing out here?”
He chuckled. “Visiting. This was where yo’ ass ran to?”
“Let me set the record straight. I ain’t run no-damn-where. I relocated to start over after I left the game. You know how muthafuckas are. They don’t ever let you out completely.”
“Tell me about it. I done had to make a few moves since I pulled out of that shit.”
I nodded. “So what’chu doing at the dentist office? Your lady know my dentist?”
“That’s her sister.”
I nodded repeatedly. “I figured as much. They look alike. You came to Florida and scooped her up, huh?”
He gave me a smirk. I didn’t know what that shit was about. He looked away for a minute, then said, “They from H-Tine, nigga. Yunique moved out here for school and just stayed.”
“No shit?”
He nodded repeatedly with that same smirk on his lips. I looked around for a minute, then turned to him and extended my hand. He frowned slightly, but then slapped it and pulled me to him in a half hug. That was different. We never had that type of friendship. Maybe we would now, since I had gotten out of all that bullshit.
“So you still got trucks running back home?” he asked.
“Yeah, I do. I’m thinking about getting some out here too… dump trucks though.”
“That’s what’s up. Give me your number. Maybe we can hook up while I’m here, and you can be around Yunique outside of her professional space.”
I gave him a half smile. That nigga could always peep game quickly. That was why he was Jungle’s right hand. Nobody wanted to fuck with their asses. Something like that would find you floating in a bayou or disintegrated at a crematory. I took his phone from him and saved my number in it.
When I gave it back to him, I asked, “How long will y’all be here?”
“Another week or so. I’ll hit you up tomorrow, though, because we’re supposed to go out.”
“Sounds like a plan. I gotta find a way to get that dark chocolate. She gon’ be good for my overall health. All the shit one hundred percent dark chocolate can do for you is worth the chase, man,” I said as I stared inside the building.
When I glanced at Vegas, he was staring into the building as well. “Tell me about it.”
He turned to me, and we shook hands again. “I’ll holla at’chu later, man, with the details,” he said.
“That’s what’s up. Thanks for looking out.”
He gave me a smirk like he knew something I didn’t, then said, “I hope you don’t have your feelings on your sleeve. She tough.”
I chuckled. “I gathered that already. Talk to you later, nigga.”
I made my way to my SUV, wishing I would have said more to Yunique, but it was probably best that I didn’t. I probably would have decreased my chances significantly by being too aggressive. I would take it day by day, and if the cards lined up, she would be mine… eventually.