Chapter 1 Aviana Scott
AVIANA SCOTT
MIA AND I sat across from each other in a soul food spot in Hyde Park on the South Side of Chicago. Our table was cluttered with mason jar lemonades, half-eaten cornbread, and empty plates. Old school R&B played low through the speakers.
“How was your food today, ladies?” The waitress, Nakia, grinned as her slanted eyes bounced back and forth between Mia and me, waiting for our approval.
“It was delicious,” I replied. Then, with a heavy breath, I sat back in the booth and began to rub my belly, which felt like it was being stretched to capacity by all of the food I had just inhaled.
In response, the waitress giggled.
Mia nodded dramatically. “Everything was really good.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” the waitress said and set the black billfold on the table between Mia and me. “Well, here’s your check. Take your time, though. No rush.”
She walked away with a reassuring, pleasant smile as I glanced at the time on my phone. Seeing that it was half past two o’clock, I groaned. “Well, we do have to rush. We’re already thirty minutes late.”
Mia waved her hand so nonchalantly that I chuckled.
She was unfazed because she and I had laid-back positions at Dream Realty.
She was the office manager for the large real estate company based in Hyde Park.
With control of the office, she had a lot of flexibility with her hours.
As one of the rental agents at the company, she was my boss, as well as my best friend since elementary school, so I’d inherited the same flexibility.
The owners of the company, a pair of Polish twins in their late fifties, usually came into the office in the mornings for briefings with Mia, rental agents, and other staff, so we weren’t in a rush, but there were a few Karens in the office that we had to look out for.
Watching Mia glance over the bill, I asked, “How much is it?”
She sucked her teeth and waved me off without taking her eyes off it. “I got it.”
“Okay, Big Money,” I teased.
“Don’t hate,” she playfully boasted.
Laughing, I replied, “Nobody is hating.”
With her lips pursed, she answered, “It sounds like you are.”
“You know I’m not.”
She finally let her artificial guard down and admitted with a smile, “I know.”
Tilting my head to the side, I leaned forward and lowered my voice. “But how long are you going to keep doing this?”
She cockily shrugged. “As long as it’s putting money in my pocket.”
Sitting back, I shook my head, not bothering to hide the apprehension in my eyes. “I told you that the more money you make, the greedier you’ll get. Don’t you think it’s time to chill before you get caught?”
Mia’s perfectly tinted brow arched dramatically. “You know something about me potentially getting caught?”
Offended, my head reared back. “Don’t play with me, Mia. You know I would never say anything—”
“Especially when you’re reaping the benefits,” she interjected again, raising her brow even higher.
“Pause,” I pressed. “Don’t try to include me in your scandalous ways, heffa. You’ve bought me a few lunches and some drinks, but I don’t have anything to do with what you’re doing.”
“Don’t forget the bottles we’ve popped,” she quipped.
I sucked my jaws in, running my fingers through my hair. “Touché…Touché, bitch.”
“Mm-humph,” she snorted as she dug into her purse.
With a playful smirk tugging at the corner of my lips, I lifted my hands in surrender. “You won that. I was just trying to look out for you.”
As she placed a few twenties in the billfold, her haughty disposition vanished. She pouted as her eyes found mine again. “I thought you weren’t judging me.”
“I’m not,” I insisted. “I never would. I get it. I just don’t want you to get caught. I love you, and I’ve always got your back, but I can’t help you if you’re in prison doing five to ten.” As I laughed, she did as well.
Yet, as I gathered my purse and phone, worry still lingered in the back of my mind.
I had been raised in the Wild Hundreds, a nickname for the Roseland area on the far south side.
When I was growing up, the Wild Hundreds had an extraordinary amount of gang activity that caused it to be a high-crime area, so I wasn’t unfamiliar with criminal activities.
But I was more used to being surrounded by the likes of gangs, drug dealers, addicts, and thieves—crimes more akin to people from impoverished neighborhoods like mine.
But Mia was dealing with some white-collar crimes that would likely get her black ass real time if she was ever caught.
Though she and I had full-time jobs, for thirty-year-old women, we weren’t gainfully employed.
Unfortunately, after high school, we found ourselves in unhealthy relationships rather than in a healthy relationship with college.
As a result, we were making seventy-five thousand dollars a year during a time of inflation, scammers, and social media that made money, status, and popularity a priority.
So, when Mia revealed to me a year ago that she had figured out how to steal money from Dream Realty, I understood her thirst for more.
Through Dream Realty, she was creating fake invoices for services and supplies.
As the office manager, it was her job to approve those invoices for payment.
She’d create the invoices and approve them, then when the company paid the invoices, those payments were diverted into a business account that she created using a fake identity she’d purchased from one of her scamming cousins.
At first, she was only doing it here and there to give herself a couple extra thousand dollars when she needed it.
However, as time went on, she’d upgraded from an apartment on the south side to one of the more modern and expensive condos owned by Dream Realty in the South Loop.
Her clothes became more expensive, and so had her life.
I worried that she had fallen so far down the rabbit hole that she would never be able to crawl out unscathed.
But I didn’t and would never judge her. Nor would I ever tell a soul.
She and I had grown up in the same neighborhood and had gone to the same elementary and high school.
Therefore, I knew her struggles and would never forget the obstacles that had been against us from birth.
Plus, Mia was single, while I was married to a husband who was paying the bills where I laid my head.
“I won’t get caught, I promise.” Mia smiled as she threw the strap of her YSL purse over her shoulder. “And I’ll stop soon.”
I nodded with a half-smile as Mia and I climbed out of the booth at the Soul Food Cafe. Standing at the table, I looked up at Mia since she was quite a few inches taller than me because of the heels she was wearing that day.
I smiled as I softly bumped her with my elbow. “You know I’m never judging you, right?”
The corners of her lips touched her ears. “I know.”
“Trust me. I know the feeling of desperately needing and wanting more.”
Mia pouted while searching my weary, longing gaze. “Are you worried about getting hired for that new position?”
I’d applied for the property manager position at Dream Realty.
I would manage all of their properties across the city.
Most importantly, there was a significant salary increase.
Though my husband, Damar, took care of our bills, I wanted more for myself.
I had always wanted to be a certified registered nurse anesthetist. It had always been a passion of mine to follow in my mother’s footsteps.
But Damar didn’t want me away from him and the home as much as clinicals and studying would take me.
And he was now ready for us to have a baby.
Earlier in our marriage, Damar’s son, Jeremy, was still young, so Damar wasn’t ready for a baby.
But now that Jeremy was older, Damar had been insisting that we finally grow our family.
“Yeah. But I haven’t heard anything yet.”
“I heard that the twins will be making a decision soon.”
I half-smiled. “Oh, okay. Good.”
We traveled through the maze of tables toward the exit. The warm-brown walls were decorated with vintage posters. The aroma of savory spices swallowed us as the chatter of other diners blended with the clinking of silverware and soulful R&B music.
Stepping outside of the restaurant, the May sun bathed us in summer warmth. It felt so good to feel the city finally defrosting.
“You’re going to Enchant tonight, right?”
I lightly groaned, rolling my eyes as I walked alongside Mia through the parking lot. “I guess.”
She eyed my irritation suspiciously. “What’s the problem?”
Frowning, I asked, “Why can’t we go somewhere else? We’re always there.”
“Because our best friend owns it, and we drink and eat for free. Why would we go anywhere else?”
I groaned in response because she knew exactly why.
A taunting grin reached Mia’s ears. “Oh, because it’s entirely too stressful for you to be in the same space with your husband and the love of your life,” she mocked me with a laugh as she answered her own question.
I rolled my eyes with exaggeration. “Whatever, Mia.”
She giggled while popping the locks of her SUV. “Mm-humph. I better see you tonight.”
The breeze downtown was so warm. It was the kind of evening that made you forget winter had ever existed. Damar had insisted we take advantage of it being too nice outside to be inside, so after work, he’d met me at home, then I’d jumped in his car, and he’d brought us downtown.
We walked slowly along the Magnificent Mile with our fingers interlocked. Damar pulled me toward a boutique with a glass storefront showcasing designer handbags.
“Let’s go in here,” he told me, not giving me an option.
I followed him, and the chime of the doorbell welcomed us as we stepped inside.