Chapter 21

The next morning, my mind is haunted with memories of Connor in the club. I'm covered in sweat by the time I wake up from the nightmares. As I lay in the bed, Connor's swollen, red face is all I can think about. Wondering what would have taken place if Tory and the gang weren't there makes it harder to breathe. Needless to say, I'm on full alert. So, when my bedroom door creaks open, all rationality exits the room. My head snaps towards the door; my eyes are wide with anticipation.

Paryis' little leg sticks through the door first. I sigh a long sigh, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I'm not sure who I expected to see in my house at 8 in the morning. After last night, I can't help but feel like anything is possible. Seeing Connor do nine lines of coke has scarred me for life.

"What you doing up?" I ask her.

Her eyes never moved from the floor so she didn't see me glaring at her when she came in. She must have thought I was asleep because she stops dead in her tracks. Her brown teddy bear hangs from her fingers.

"Can I sleep with you?" She asks.

"You know how I feel about you in my room. But I guess you could stay here just this time," I say.

I pat the side of the bed next to me so she can join. The truth is, I want Paryis to feel comfortable to come to me anytime. She doesn't have too many of us left with Mama as sad as she is and Ace gone in the wind. Her and Simon never had a close relationship to begin with so, that leaves me.

As much as I want her to know the door between is practically nonexistent, I'm having a hard time telling her that. I've been running Paryis out of my room all of her life. With all the changes in our lives, I feel the need to keep some things the same. Even the little shit matters when the whole world turns upside down.

She walks over slowly. She climbs onto the bed, snuggling beside me. The dark rings I noticed were under her eyes at the funeral, are still there. The look takes away all of the innocence she deserves to have. I can't help but wonder what her teachers must think.

"You okay?" I ask.

She nods her head robotically. Her eyes tell a different story, though. They're softer than they should be, an effect of all the death she's seen in the short 8 years she's lived. She's seen the same amount of bodies I have. It seems unfair that I've had years in between each horrific memory to unpack my emotions. Yet, her first memory was of her mother's overdose. She saw her dad get buried not long after and now Jonah too.

Take it from experience, no kid should have to cope with all that.

I pull her under my arm. I let her lay beside me, knowing her thrashes will kick in as soon as her eyes close. Until then, the least I could do is hold her.

While she's asleep, I take the opportunity to get dressed. I have a meeting with a financial planner at 9:30. Even though last night turned into a complete mess, I made what I needed to keep us afloat for awhile. But I know that security won't last forever. So in order to ensure we won't ever fall behind like we did, I have to meet with Caesar later on to discuss next steps for my business.

A promise is a promise, so I'll let him take the lead on scouting my new employees. There's only a few ideas I want to run by him.

In no time, my teeth are brushed, face is washed and hair is done. I slip on a pair of grey sweats and a tank top with my black Nike Forces. Today reeks of taking care of business, so there's no need to dress up for the occasion.

On my way out of my room, I double back to check on Paryis. In the short time I was getting dressed, the pillows were strewn over the floor and the blankets pushed away from her. Her teddy bear sits abandoned on the floor. Ipick her stuffed animal up to lay beside her. I'm tucking the bear into her arms when the black markings on the chest of the bear catch my attention.

"To my favorite girl. Happy VDay -Ace" is embroidered on the bear's white chest. I didn't realize this was the bear she kept by her side. My heart falls into my stomach. No matter how wide I leave my door open, I'll never be the big brother she needs to feel safe.

I put the bear next to her anyway. I hit the lights on my way out. If I couldn't be what Paryis wanted, then I'm determined to be what she needs.

Her tiny brain can't process the stress of paying bills. And she shouldn't have to. I'm gonna make sure she never has to upset her little mind with more adult matters than she already has to deal with.

...

Marcus, our financial advisor, seems surprised when he comes in the waiting room and finds me sitting there. He's white, average height and has dark hair turning white at the roots. He wears Tom Ford glasses, an expensive blue suit and a plastic smile. I'm sure his smile would be warmer if his payments didn't abruptly stop when Ace left. I don't expect that smile to return just 'cause I'm here. The few thousands I have in my purse can't afford his business by a long shot. But he's who my daddy trusted, who Ace trusted so now I'm hoping he'll trust me.

"Ms. Ortiz?" He asks.

I rise from the leather armchair. He unclasps his hands and reaches one out to me. I shake it, noticing how he squints at my outfit.

"You seem pretty young to be Mrs. Rochelle Ortiz, so I'm assuming you're her daughter. Candyce, is it?"

"Yes. My mother couldn't make it today. Neither could my brother, Ace. He's out of town right now so I'm in charge of our affairs at the moment."

"I understand. Can you follow me to my office?" He asks.

He leads me down a wide hallway to the first open door on our right. He ushers me in and closes the door behind us. I take a seat in the chair across from his desk, while he sits in the leather chair on the other side.

I waste no time getting to business.

"So, I'm sure you realize our family business has stalled for the time being. It's the reason why Ace isn't here right now and why your payments have stopped," I say.

Marcus leans back in his chair and folds one leg over his knee.

"I can understand how a business like your family's could run into some brick walls. Fortunately, walls can be knocked down, Ms. Ortiz. Of course that depends on who's responsible for putting the wall there in the first place."

I think carefully before I respond. He clearly knows what line of work our family is in. That's good. I figured as much but I didn't want to assume anything. Him knowing makes everything a lot easier. Hopefully he understands how quickly money can be made in our business. He must have some idea cause he's the one who dealt with Daddy's assets after he died. We never heard of Marcus until then, but he kept his loyalty to my dad by divvying up the money exactly how he asked. As far as I know, he never stole a penny from us. He left his business cards with Mama, who threw it away out of anger. Ace found it in the trash and kept it in his room. I never had reason to snoop in his room to find it until now. I'm only hoping I say the right things to get us his help again.

"Some might say it's an open and shut case. But no arrests have been made," I say.

Marcus squints at me behind his glasses. He waves his head for me to continue.

"I'll let my brother deal with knocking the wall down. For now, I can chip away at it brick by brick. I won't cover as much ground as Ace would have but I'll create a hole just big enough to hand you something on the other side. I can't promise to pay you everything up front, but you'll get what we owe you soon enough," I say.

Marcus places his hands under his chin. He purses his lip, considering my offer. When he comes up with the right words, he leans foward with his elbows on his desk.

"So you came here to ask for more time?" He asks.

"Yes."

"How much time?"

"A month."

He scoffs, "You expect me to trust that you'll pay me back for four months of back payments plus interest?"

"Yes."

"Doing what Santana and Ace did?"

I nod my head.

"Do you even know what you're getting yourself into, young lady?" Marcus asks.

I fiddle with my hands in my lap. It's true that I don't know what I'm doing. But that doesn't mean I won't get it done.

"The only way around a wall is to go through it, Marcus. You just gotta trust that I'll meet you on the other side, with everything I owe you and then some for your patience."

Marcus and I hold each other's stare for what feels like forever. After awhile, he scoots his chair back and stands up.

"Looks like you got the same balls Ace had when he came in here just a scrawny teen promising to take over his father's business. You just bought yourself a little more time, Ms. Ortiz. But let's be clear. You aren't Ace. The one time the payment is late, I'll take what I'm owed from the mortgage on the house and be done."

I don't take well to threats. Especially not those that concern putting my sister and brother out on the street but beggars can't be choosers. I shake his outstretched hand.

"There's one more thing, I need," I say.

Marcus looks like he's already had enough of me so I rush the words out.

"I need you to pay the rest of our bills."

Marcus laughs and drops my hand.

I reach into my purse and pull out the money Max and I made--with the exception of her cut. I sit the money on the table. Marcus looks down at it and then back to me. His eyebrows are pushed to the top of his scalp.

"I don't need to draw any extra attention to my family right now. If I go making payments in cash, everyone will be suspicious. I'm sure you can understand that right?" I ask.

I hate how whiny I sound asking this favor. I really need him to agree though. I'm not sure if we still have eyes on us or not but I can never be too careful. The more distance I put between myself and stacks of money like the ones on the table, the easier it will be conduct my business under wraps.

Marcus sighs, "There's always that one person who notices the girl chipping away at the brick, isn't there? I'll handle it for you."

I smile for the first time all morning.

"Thank you again, Marcus. You'll be seeing me very soon," I say.

I walk out of his office feeling the weight of the world detach from my shoulders. With the bills now paid, I can focus on building enough business to keep our cash flowing.

I wouldn't have been able to pay any bills if Max didn't take care of business first. I shoot her a text asking her to meet me at the Loft. I've decided that I want to keep her in the business. Since she helped me start this shit, she should also have a hand in deciding which girls has the most potential.

While I'm at it, I send a message to Caesar telling him to meet me there too. If he's gonna bring the girls around today, I want to give him a head's up that Max will be there. It's my second message to him today but he still doesn't answer.

My phone starts to vibrate, making the text thread with Caesar disappear. Ironically, Reese's name pops up on the screen. It occurs to me just then, that I haven't talked to him since our last night together two weeks ago.

"Hey," I answer.

"What's good, ma? Long time no see," He says.

"Yeah, I know."

I push open the doors of Marcus' building. Stepping into the sunlight, it's nearly blinding. I have to raise my hand to cover my eyes. The weather here makes no sense. It's the beginning of October and there hasn't been a breeze yet. There is no reason, I should be comfortable outside without a jacket on right now.

"Where you at? I hear cars and shit in ya background," Reese says.

"I'm taking care of some family stuff. Where are you?"

"I'm on the West Bank right now, headed home," He says.

"'Headed home'? So that mean you done for the day?" I ask.

"Nah. I'm going home to change my clothes. I been in the same fit for two days. It's been mad busy. That spot over on Algiers is going stir crazy. I don't think we have any competition over there. If we do, niggas shit ain't topping ours cause the feens is lining up! I'm going back there after I shower. You up for chilling in the trap with me?" He says.

Nothing sounds less appealing than sitting in a cookhouse watching Reese count money. Money is literally the one thing driving a gap between us now.

"No, I'm straight on that. I gotta meeting with Caesar today," I say.

Reese gets quiet.

"He ain't tell me he had no meeting with you."

"You talked to him? Cause I just hit him and he ain't text me back yet."

"Where y'all posed to be meeting at? Maybe I'll slide through."

"I'm not sure yet. That's why I need him to hit me back," I lie.

The last thing I need is Reese showing up unannounced to our meeting. He'll only seek to damage the business relationship Caese and I have built. I'm not willing to sacrifice that side of our friendship for some irrational fears Reese has. Don't get me wrong, I can see how Caesar abuses the already thin trust Reese has for me. I hate seeing the satisfaction on Caesar's face when he makes Reese jealous by just existing. At some point Reese has to realize the power he's giving to Caese. He's also stripping power away from me. 'Cause if Caese knows Reese still feels a way about us, then he must know Reese ain't feeling that way for no reason.

"Well if I see him, I'll put the word out. I gotta go," Reese says.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Damn. It's like that?

I pull the phone away from my ear. Trying to console Reese's suspicions over Caesar is proving to be a waste of time. I could understand his frustration when I didn't tell him about seeing Caesar beforehand. But when I do tell him, he hangs up in my face?

I want to cater to Reese's insecurities but now isn't the time. He was getting to the money and now so am I. Right now, Caesar's helping me do that. Reese always put the money first, no matter how alone it made me feel. I won't allow myself to feel bad for doing the same thing.

A message notification alerts my screen, removing all thoughts of Reese's attitude. It's Max agreeing to our meeting.

I put in my request for a Lyft. The woman takes two minutes to pick me up. It takes her a little longer to drop me off since Marcus' company was located away's from the East Bank.

By the time she stops the car, I spot Max's blue Nissan in the parking lot.

I push open the doors to the Loft's entrance and head straight for the elevator. I press the button for the 3rd floor and wait while the elevator carries me up. Vonte is by the elevator doors when I get off. After speaking to him, I walk the familiar path to my own loft door. Fredo meets me a few feet away.

"Aye, that girl with the red hair came to see you. I saw you with her before so I just assumed," He says.

"You good, Fredo. You haven't seen Caesar though, have you?" I ask.

"Naw, boss. I'll be onna lookout for him though."

I thank him as I walk the last steps to my door. When I enter, Max is alone on the couch.

Thank God. I was sort of worried she would bring Phor, and her emotional ass would make this a lot harder. If Phor wasn't around, I'm sure Max and I can get straight to business without Max's loyalty to Phor getting in the way.

Max stands.

"You got me here. Wassup, Candyce?" She asks.

Instead of walking towards her, I go to the kitchen for a bottle of water. After a few sips, I call her over. She sits across from me at the kitchen counter while I stand by the sink.

"First things first, I'm grown enough to admit when I'm wrong. I was wrong to come at you crazy over you trying to take your cut. You put the work in so you should be rewarded. So, speaking of..."

I unzip my purse. At the very bottom is three stacks of cash, totaling to $1,500. I slide it across to her.

Her eyebrows go up. She flicks through the money. The familiar glint in her eyes is back. Max is a hustler so rightfully nothing can make her glow the way money can. I knew this about her and still denied her a cut of the money she worked for. It made sense then, and if given a second chance, I'll probably hold her money again. But I could have given her something to hold her over. Two friends working together is going to take a lot of work. We gotta respect each other's boundaries on a personal and business level.

"Thank you for the apology 'cause I was gon' get my cut either way," Max says.

"McCuse me bitch?"

Max fills the kitchen with laughter. I'm joining her as much as I can without choking on my water. After we both settle down, I continue with the apology.

"I think I just got stressed out when Phor ain't finish her sales. I told y'all I'm doing this for my family and that shit costs," I say.

Max nods her head, "I feel you. Living ain't cheap, girl."

"Right," I say.

The silence between us stretches out longer than I would have liked. I'm only quiet 'cause I'm trying to think of a good way to tell her that Phor is out of the group. Max can get a little touchy when it comes to Phor, so I wanna phrase it so that I'm not burning a bridge with her.

Before I can collect my thoughts, Max breaks the silence.

"You know, Candyce, I'm sorry too. I'm also grown enough to admit that I was acting a lil' shady when you came to us at Chantal's house," Max says.

"A 'lil'?" I ask.

"Okay, okay. I was acting real shady and that was fucked up. You came to us for help and I made it about me. I didn't like how you could distance yourself and then come back like nothing happened just 'cause you needed us. I went about it the wrong way though."

The "needed us" part of her apology makes me cringe but I don't correct it. Although, technically, I didn't need them. I only fought for them 'cause I trusted them. Still, now's not the time to point that out when Max is making amends.

"I mean, I understand where you coming from. My life got all fucked up so quickly that I guess it made me see shit differently. Either way, that shouldn't have stopped me from being a good friend, so I'm sorry...again," I say.

Max smiles but she ultimately waves my apology off. I wouldn't expect anything less. She was never one for the sentimental shit unless Phor was there to burst her bubble. That's the only person she let get close enough to see that side of her, which is fine by me. She had Phor and while we weren't on the best of terms right now, I had Chantal.

"Don't trip. We back making money just like we used to when you was still dancing. And if you still need money, why you don't just turn back to the club now that Ace is gone?" She asks.

"Honestly, stripping never occurred to me."