Sugar Baby

Chapter 1

Chapter

One

SUGAR BABY JAMES

M y mother never had a sweet tooth until she got pregnant with me.

The whole time she was pregnant with me, she ate something sweet every day.

She called me her sugar baby. Originally, everyone thought it was just a cute little nickname .

. . until I was born and she wrote Sugar Baby James on my birth certificate.

I used to get teased so badly in school that I swore I’d change my name when I turned eighteen.

Then, Mama died, and I couldn’t bear the thought of changing the name she gave me.

She died so young. I was determined to live a full enough life for the both of us.

The love for sweets she had while I baked in her belly was passed on to me.

I didn’t just love to eat sweet treats; I loved to bake them too.

If I could make a living off baking, I would.

Unfortunately, where I came from, people didn’t care enough about cakes and cupcakes for me to make enough to pay my bills off baking.

Instead, I had a catering company and used that as my main source of income, but my sweet treats were what I was truly passionate about.

I knew my business would flourish more if I moved to a different part of town, but I liked being in the heart of the hood I’d grown up in and had no plans of leaving.

My father had never been a present presence in my life.

Mama met him when she was in Spain on vacation.

What was supposed to be a weekend of fun with no strings attached turned into her getting pregnant with me.

She didn’t have his number, but she knew where he worked.

He was one of three Black American men at that time with a restaurant in the tourist neighborhood she stayed at, so everyone recommended she try his food since she was a Black American too.

When she went back to Spain to let him know he was going to be a father, she was in for the surprise of her life.

He told her he had no plans of returning to America—ever.

Jacob made it clear he would take care of us if Mama moved to Spain, but she didn’t want to.

Regardless, she never hid who my father was.

We talked on the phone and wrote a few letters, but I’d never met him in person until my mother’s funeral.

I was ten years old when she died, and everyone expected me to go to Spain with my father, but that wasn’t the case.

He didn’t have the stability or tribe to be a single father.

His days and evenings were spent running his restaurant.

When he didn’t even offer to take me in, my aunt and uncle did and raised me like I was their own.

My aunt Terry said there was no way in hell she would have let her sister’s child go to another country when I was all she had left of her anyway.

Aunt Terry was sweet and regal like that—making my ten year old mind believe me staying in the hood of Rose Valley Hills with her and Uncle Tony was for their benefit instead of mine.

Back then, I would say I was going to go live with my daddy the moment I turned eighteen.

But when I did turn eighteen, I had no choice but to reflect on the fact that, in the eight years Mama had been gone, Jacob had disappeared from my world.

He sent me a birthday and Christmas gift the first year, but after that, he went ghost. I wasn’t the wisest eighteen year old, but I was wise enough to know not to chase behind a parent who wasn’t even doing the bare minimum for me anymore.

So, I stayed in Rose Valley Hills, went to get my culinary arts degree, and worked at bakeries and restaurants.

Now at twenty-eight, I ran a six figure catering company and had a close relationship with Aunt Terry, Uncle Tony, and their son Tyreek.

Tyreek was an eighteen year old wild child who was more like my little brother than my cousin.

And there was also Rittany, my best friend.

Both Tyreek and Rittany were here helping me serve at an event.

Well, Tyreek was supposed to be helping me serve.

Instead, he kept taking extended trips outside.

The third time his station had a line and he was absent, I lost my patience.

I got the line down and combined his and Rittany’s stations and helped her with the tacos and custom sliders until all guests were served.

Thankfully, it was a small family affair, so I was glad we didn’t get overwhelmed.

As soon as I had a break, I went to look for Tyreek outside.

When I saw two men huddled around him, one gripping his shirt, I increased my steps in his direction. Pulling my customized sunflower .380 from the small of my back, I racked my slide, instantly gaining their attention .

“Let him go,” I ordered, aiming in their direction.

Four eyes slowly trailed my frame from my toes to the top of my curls.

One mouth released a chuckle while the other smiled.

They both released Tyreek, who sucked his teeth and made his way in front of me—as if I needed him to be my protector.

As if I hadn’t just saved him from getting his ass beat by two grown, big ass men.

“What’s the problem?” I asked, allowing my finger to remain on the trigger of my Ruger LCP.

“Nothing, cuzzo,” Tyreek lied quickly. “I got it.”

“No, you don’t got it.” One of the men mocked him. My eyes focused on him and his locs and light skin. “That’s why your little ass was about to get beat.”

The darker one with a faded cut chuckled as he crossed his arms over his chest. “You his cousin?” he confirmed, and I nodded, eyeing Tyreek skeptically. “He accepted something with the promise of payment and has not made it yet.”

“We’re here to collect,” the loc’d one added.

“Drugs?” I almost whispered, lowering my gun. “You were given drugs by these people?”

“And didn’t pay for them,” the dark skinned one clarified, holding his finger up like he was politely walking out of an ongoing church service.

With a huff, I put my .380 back where it snugly fit then smacked the back of Tyreek’s head.

“Ow, Baby!”

“What the hell are you thinking?” I yelled, smacking him again. “You ain’t no got damn drug dealer!”

“Got that right,” the loc’d one said with a laugh. “I guess lil homie ain’t sold his shit and that’s why he ain’t paid up. Either way, he got a debt. And if he don’t pay it?—”

“I’ll take care of it,” I offered quickly as disgust filled me. My eyes shifted from Tyreek to the two men. “How much does he owe?”

“Fifteen stacks,” the dark skinned one said with a shrug. “Light work, but the boss man don’t play about his money.”

This man had said fifteen thousand dollars was light work, meanwhile, that was what I made during my busiest months.

My shoulders dropped as a tired sigh escaped me.

Tyreek’s face saddened before he dropped his head and eyes.

There was no way I was going to let them hurt him, or worse, and I couldn’t let his parents find out.

They didn’t have that kind of money laying around to pay a damn drug supplier because of their crazy ass son.

“I’on mean to rush you, but we need that.”

Looking at the lighter one with locs, I tried to quickly think of a way to get them to leave without causing my cousin any harm.

“Who do you work for?”

“You don’t need to know all’at.”

“Then how will I know who I need to pay?”

“You can’t pay it now?” the dark skinned one questioned.

“No. I’m here catering an event. I don’t have that kind of money on me.”

“Aight, bet. Seeing as your little cousin has been ducking and dodging the boss man for a little minute now, he’s out of patience. You have until tomorrow evening, this time. I’ll text him the place for y’all to meet tomorrow. Don’t be late.”

I didn’t realize I was holding my breath as they walked away until I released it as they got inside a darkly tinted truck. I was so upset and disappointed in my cousin I couldn’t even say anything else to him.

It honestly hurt my feelings that he chose to try and sell drugs instead of going legit.

Tyreek was too smart and should have been focused on graduating high school and preparing for college.

He might not have been living the most lavish life, but his parents did everything they could to make sure he had everything he needed and most of what he wanted.

And where they lacked, I made up for it.

With my success, I became the one everyone came to when they needed anything. My aunt and uncle rarely came to me for help, but I offered it when I knew they needed it because of how well they treated me when they took me in.

The rest of the event went by in a blur.

I talked to Tyreek as little as possible.

By the time we’d packed up everything and I thanked Rittany for coming to help, I paid her though she insisted I didn’t have to, then got inside of my SUV.

I only drove it when I had events, otherwise, I drove my Genesis G70.

Tyreek was quiet as I pulled out of the parking lot, but when I swerved into traffic he said, “You don’t have to pay them, big cuz. This is on me. I’ll find a way out of it.”

I looked over at him briefly, and the sadness in his eyes softened me toward him. “How much did you get from them?”

“Ten pounds. I thought it would be easy to flip but it was harder than I thought. A lot of the hood is already being served by other people on his team, so I couldn’t swipe their clientele.

And I can’t really go to no other hoods on my bike with all that on me, so I’ve been stuck.

If I could’ve had a way around, I could’ve sold more than I have and paid him back. ”

“Why are you selling weed anyway, Tyreek?”

He sucked his teeth and looked out of the window. “I need the money. ”

“And you couldn’t come to me or Uncle Tony for it?”

“No,” he said sharply. “I needed more than a few dollars.”

“For what?”

“I’m tryna get up outta The Hills. I don’t want to go to college, but I need some money saved so I can move.”

This was the first I heard about him not wanting to stay here, and I was genuinely surprised.

“Where are you trying to move? Why don’t you want to stay here?”

“Atlanta. And I don’t know, cuz. I guess I just want to try something new.”

“I can respect that, but why don’t you want to go to college? You don’t have to go to school here. You can go to school literally anywhere.”

He shook his head. “That shit ain’t for me. I know I’m smart, but I’m not interested in that. It’s boring.”

I smiled, because I was the same way. I knew I didn’t want to go to a traditional college.

Since I didn’t have to have a degree to open my own bakery, I hadn’t even planned on going to culinary school, but Aunt Terry suggested I keep my options open so I’d have something to fall back on, so I did.

I was glad I did since catering was what paid my bills.

“How about trade school? Or even just a certificate? I just want you to have something legit and solid that you can rely on to make your money. Drug dealing ain’t it, little cuz.

Clearly.” Tyreek cracked a smile. “You couldn’t even sell chocolate and popcorn for school fundraisers.

How in the holy hell did you think you’d be able to sell weed? ”

He laughed, but his pride had him covering his mouth as if I hadn’t heard it. “Not too much on the kid, Baby. I’m telling you I could’ve made something shake if I had a car. I just didn’t have no reach.”

“Good. I’m glad you didn’t. You don’t need to think you’re good at that shit anyway.”

“I’m tryna see what the big deal is though. You smoke. We live in the hood. You got money, but you still live in the hood.”

“I choose to live in the hood. And you’re right, I do smoke, but that doesn’t mean I would sell it, just like I don’t want you to sell it.

It’s too dangerous. You’re risking your freedom and your life.

Plus, we have dispensaries here. The only dealers that are making money are the ones in the hood, and you don’t have the capacity to compete with them.

You’d be better off using that big brain of yours to come up with different strains for a dispensary. ”

When he didn’t respond, I realized he was considering what I said, so I continued.

“The dispensary I buy from is owned by Beethoven Smith . He has someone that comes up with their strains, but they are hiring because both of them are moving back to Memphis. If you’re interested in a legit way to make money and be creative, I can put in the good word for you and try to get you an interview.

Seeing as I’m one of their best customers, he’ll listen to me. ”

“Can I think about it and let you know?”

“Sure, but until then, don’t be in the streets trying to sell that shit. And since I’m paying for it, I want it all.”

Tyreek groaned and turned in his seat to face me. “But, cuz . . .”

“Nope. I want it all. You ain’t getting out of this that easily.”

As he grumbled under his breath, I smiled.

He’d better be glad this was all I was doing instead of telling his parents.

A part of me wanted to tell them but I didn’t want to make his situation worse.

If he agreed to work a legit job, I’d keep this between us.

They were already going to give him hell when they heard he didn’t want to go to college or stay in Rose Valley Hills.

Did they really need to know about this too?