Chapter 15
WELCOME HOME, BESTIE: LATER THAT EVENING...
Pretti stepped out of the back of a black Maybach with Lunden, dressed to impress.
She felt good, knowing she was all dressed up to see the real love of her life.
Although she and Lunden had been together for the last three years, she was ready to get her friendship back on track with Dexz.
She missed him so much. With her busy life, she didn't have time to write him as much as she wanted, but she was ready to make up for all of that.
Lunden put together a huge, classy party to welcome him home. Pretti was so glad that she had enough money to get him to the East Coast. They wanted him to spend his parole period in California, and Pretti wasn’t letting it happen, so she gave Milo a nice salary to make it happen, and he did.
“You ready to see ya’ boy?” he asked with a sly smile.
Lunden already knew how excited she was to see Dexz, and it annoyed him.
She had spent all day getting everything ready for his arrival, and she had been talking about him all week, but he knew Pretti was his girl, and Dexz was nobody to her but a friend.
Over the years, Lunden had Pretti dedicate her life to him, so he was confident the little crush she had for him when she was young was gone.
“Yes, I’m so glad we were able to get him here,” she beamed.
“Yeah, me too.”
When they walked into the banquet hall, Pretti immediately spotted Dexten talking to Storm and some of his family members. She let go of Lunden's hand and ran straight to her bestie, catching him off guard and almost knocking him out of the chair he was sitting in.
“Oh, my God! I missed you so much!” She cried out with tears streaming down her face. Her makeup was smearing, but she didn't care. He had seen her at her worst. He stood up and embraced her.
“What up, ma? I missed you too. Look at your sexy ass,” Dexz said as he made her spin in her silver mini dress and matching Chanel stilettos. She was twenty-two, and her slim body, he remembered, was now thick in all the right places.
“You see me though? When you left, I was a skinny lil’ thing. I been eating good and working out,” she joked as Lunden walked behind her and kissed her on the neck, sending a confused look to Dexz’s face.
“Thanks to me tho’, I got that ass right.” He looked at Dexz with a smirk.
“Oh, word?” Dexz raised his eyebrow.
It was clear his best friends had been fucking while he was locked up, and he didn’t like it. He knew Pretti would have a boyfriend by the time he came home and would be fucking, but he didn’t think it was Lunden. He kept his cool because he was having a good night as a free man.
“Yeah, my nigga,” Lunden responded with the same hostility as Dexz. Pretti saw that look in Lunden’s eyes when he got mad, so she got between them and lightened the mood.
“Well, let's get the liquor flowing. You got both your best friends in the same room, and they held you down the whole time. Let’s celebrate that and forget everything else.” Pretti picked up a bottle of cognac and handed it to Dexz.
“Yeah, let's do that,” Storm intervened. She was standing next to Lunden and a few others.
As the night went on, everyone was showing up to welcome him home, but the biggest surprise was when Burner walked into the building. Pretti had flown him out, and they were both happy to be back connected.
“My New York homie! You still out here fly as a muthafucka, but with hair now! This nigga got a fro!” Burner joked as he checked out Dexz’s tailored Louis Vuitton suit Pretti had made for him. The party was an all-black affair, and everyone had to dress grown and sexy.
“I ain’t let nobody touch my shit while I was in that muthafucka. I grew in my beard and hair because I was waiting to get home to my best friend. You know she the only one that can get my line right.”
“Well, make sure you come to the shop in the morning. I'm definitely hooking you up, boy.” She ran her fingers through his soft, low-trimmed afro that he combed out himself.
“Excuse me, gang. Can I get y’all attention, please?” Everyone heard Lunden say over the microphone at the DJ booth. We looked at him, and he was beaming with a smile on his face.
“Tonight has been a good ass night, but now the clock is striking one in the morning. I love y’all, but I can’t pay for another hour.
” He laughed, and everyone else did as well.
“So, listen, before we go, I’d like to say welcome home to my nigga, Dexz!
I’ma keep screaming that shit until he gets tired of me saying it. ”
Dexz nodded. Something about Lunden’s energy was off, but he chalked it up to him just being mad that he was with Pretti.
Lunden continued over the mic.
“But I’d like to bring my beautiful lady to the floor for a second. Pretti, can you come here?” He smiled as everyone gazed at her.
She walked over to him with a nervous grin. She didn’t know what was going on, but she definitely wanted to know why he was putting her on the spot. She looked at him as she continued to smile.
“Babe, what are you doing?”
“We’ve been together for three years now, and I love your ass more than I love myself. If you ever left me, I’d go fuckin’ crazy. You’ve been my wifey from the beginning, but I want to make that official now. Pretti Lanae Phoenix, will you marry me?”
Lunden got down on one knee in front of everybody and pulled out a gold ring with a huge diamond, leaving Pretti in shock.
She had no clue he was planning to propose, and she didn’t know what to say.
She and Lunden had been getting along, but as time passed and she knew Dexz was coming home, she got nervous about even being with Lunden.
She had never told Dexz, and clearly, Lunden didn’t either.
She thought about how much she had grown up and knew that once Dexz laid eyes on her, he would want her, and as the night went by, she wanted him.
She pushed all her thoughts to the side when she looked at Dexz while Lunden was on one knee. He was sipping a glass of D'usse while watching the scene. He noticed Pretti gazing at him, so he nodded in approval. She was scared to say yes, but she did.
“Yes, Lunden, I will marry you.” She smiled as he took her into his arms.
“She fuckin’ said yes!” Lunden shouted through the mic and dropped it. He slipped the ring on her finger and kissed her with passion. Everyone was clapping and congratulating them.
After the commotion died down about the engagement, Pretti searched the room for Dexz, but he was gone.
A hurt feeling settled in the pit of her stomach when she realized he had left.
Although he gave her that head nod to say yes, she knew he was pissed.
His mood had been off all night. Pretti knew when something was bothering him, even after all these years, but she figured they would talk about it later.
$$$$$
Later That Night...
Dexz sat in Lunden's basement of his trap house with at least twenty goons around him.
One dim lamp glowed, and the air was thick with Za smoke.
Everyone was happy to have him home; now it was time to get down to business.
Although he was on parole, he was ready to get back on his feet where he left off.
Had he never beaten up Trigga, he would still be in business.
He wasn't letting the system get in the way of his cash flow from drugs.
“First off, not only are you free, but you on your stomping grounds again. Now it's time to get back to this money,” Lunden stated proudly. He was standing behind his desk with a glass of cognac in his hand and his suit jacket off.
Dexz nodded. “I appreciate you, bro. I also appreciate you holding me down while I was locked up. You and my nigga Burner held the streets down.”
“Your man's Burner is a solid nigga. Love is love. He definitely needs to continue to be a part of the operation,” Lunden preached.
“Yeah, my nigga the one who helped me out when I moved to Cali. He’s definitely solid and staying on the team,” Dexz assured him as he looked at Burner.
“That’s solid, bro. I’m even thinking about moving down here for good. Run these NY streets with y’all,” Burner replied, directing it to Lunden.
“Word? Okay. As long as you stay in the position to keep bringing in that Cali money and that Za, that sounds like a plan,” Lunden expressed as he rubbed his hands together.
“The Cali money and bud will still stay the same. I got my bitches on payroll to always keep us supplied with the weed.”
“Now that that’s settled. Like I said, it’s my nigga’s day!” Lunden walked over to Dexz and massaged his shoulders as he laughed. “You home, boy. It’s time to get you some pussy, money, and a new whip. Let’s step outside; I got something for you.”
Everybody stepped outside, dying to see what Lunden had for Dexz.
When he stepped outside, Storm was standing next to a brand new AMG GT43 Mercedes coupe.
It was midnight blue with dark tint and stock rims, but they were sporty chrome.
Dexz smiled brightly at the car. It was clean and the perfect car to come home to.
“Yooo, bro! Good looking out.”
The two slapped fives and hugged.
“I had to welcome you home the right way, and that cash is in the trunk. Two million that was promised. You back, my nigga.”
They walked over to the trunk, and Storm opened it up. Dexz opened both of the duffle bags and smiled brightly at all the money and dope that was back there.
“This is just a start-up kit. You know we’re about to get to the bag heavy now,” Lunden said as they eyed the money and drugs.
“Yeah, I know, but I’ma get out of here. I’m assuming Storm is for me too.” Dexz smirked at her, and she winked.
“Yup, that's why she’s here. I’ll see you in a few days.”
Dexz got in the passenger seat, and Storm decided to drive since there were drugs and big money in the trunk.
As she drove the highway to her apartment, the car was silent.
They knew they couldn’t fuck each other for the sake of Pretti.
At the party, Storm had told him how close she was to his best friend, and Pretti had already told Storm her real feelings about Dexz two years prior. So, Storm spoke first.
“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. My cousin paid me to fuck you, keep you company, and keep you away from his new fiancée,” she spoke softly as she kept her eyes on the road.
“That’s why I came with you, so we could talk, not get my rocks off. What the fuck has been going on around here, yo?” He brushed his hands over his face.
“I don’t know, but he’s been so abusive towards her mentally since the day they hooked up. I don’t know what she sees in that nigga.”
“He got her mind blown because she is easy to manipulate. Before I got locked up, I was all she knew. I was her protector, and she did whatever I told her, but I never had her on bullshit. This was why I didn’t want no sucker-ass niggas getting in her head.
I know he’s been treating her like shit. I didn’t send her down here for this.”
Storm sighed. “I’ve been watching and keeping him straight, but he has his moments, especially when she’s at work.
He doesn’t know how you feel about them being together yet since they never told you.
I think he’s scared you’re going to take her or something because he's been acting funny. The engagement and the slick comment. The boy is nervous.”
“Well, I’m taking her when the time is right. She’s mine. I molded her for me; that’s my best friend. I only let that engagement shit rock, so that nigga won’t be embarrassed,” Dexz uttered lowly.
“Remember, you just got out of jail, bro. We’re happy you’re home and don’t want you to go back in. Keep that rage in for a while. They’ve been together for three years, and now they’re engaged. See how this shit plays out.”
“I hear you, big sis, but Pretti knows I don’t play about her.
The main reason why I went to jail was that I pistol-whipped her boss for putting his hands on her.
The nigga was feeling up on her; I thought he was going to rape her.
I only got so much time because of the dope I had on me when they picked me up.
So, if that nigga even looks at her wrong, I’m fuckin’ that nigga up,” Dexz spoke boldly, and Storm knew he was serious.
“I already know the real. But for now, I’ll keep you occupied so you don't hurt Lunden's cocky ass. I got some more drank, and I got some Za from Burner. He's cool too, by the way. You can crash at my crib for as long as you want. I have a spare room. We can fake like we together, so Lunden can stay calm. I feel like fuckin’ with these bitches mind anyway because I know they gon’ be on you.”
“Thanks, but I’m going to have to go to Pretti’s in a couple days because that’s where my parole officer thinks I’m staying until my apartment is ready. I guess they had to redo the carpet before I moved in.” He shrugged.
“Well, at least you came home comfortable. Welcome home again, and I hope things work out for you and my girl.” She smiled.
She really thought Dexz was a solid dude, and everything he did for Pretti was a good look.
She was happy he could come home to lavish things.
He deserved it. Now, she wanted Dexz and Pretti to hook up because he was who her friend deserved.
Storm parked Dexz’s car in her garage, and they got out with the money and dope.
Inside, Dexz made himself at home. He showered and changed into some sweats and a T-shirt that he had gotten when he went shopping.
It felt good lying across Storm’s sectional instead of a hard prison bed.
He didn’t even sit up long with Storm. She cooked some chicken wings and fries; they ate and had a drink, and then Dexz was out within the next hour.