Always Unique Read online

Took was still in awe of how everything had turned out for Unique. He reflected on the letters he had written her many years ago from jail and about the rumors he would hear about her messing with two-bit hustlers, who didn’t measure up to half of who he was, to get what she needed to get by after she had run through his money. He recollected how he would tell her, “If you’re going to leave me, make sure you take a step up with somebody above my level, but never a step down.” And all these years he thought his words had been falling on deaf ears. This proved that she must have been listening … as much as he didn’t want to admit, Kennard was definitely a step up.

  Kennard was only a few feet away from him and Took decided to move in closer to ear hustle a little more.

  Kennard walked over to a guy, the size of a tank, standing over one of the three crap tables, tossing ivory bones.

  The Tank shouted, “Nina Ross!” in search of a nine on the dice, as he scooted the bones down the length of the red felt–lined gaming table. The bones, either not hearing him or not taking requests, stopped on seven.

  When the houseman barked out, “Loser!” the Tank cringed.

  “Next shooter,” said the houseman.

  Before the Tank could place another bet, Kennard tapped him on the shoulder. The Tank spun around with the grace of a dancer. The ease with which he moved seemed odd for a man of his size.

  Kennard—no small dude himself—stood at least four inches shorter and was considerably lighter in mass and muscle.

  “Let me rap with you for a second,” he said with a swag that made it clear who the real “Big Man” in the room was.… And it wasn’t the Tank.

  That’s when Took noticed for the first time that the Tank was actually former heavyweight boxing champion of the world, Billy “Grimm-Reaper” Jones. Boxers had literally fought for their lives when they got into the square with him.

  Apparently not in the mood for talking, Grimm-Reaper asked, “Can it wait? I’m behind right now,” which was the story of his life.

  It was widely known that Billy Jones gambled compulsively—just one of the many bad habits he possessed.

  Shaking his head, Kennard said, “No Grimm, it can’t wait.” Then he paused and asked, “Unless you want to throw away a chance of a lifetime, for the second time in your life?”

  Kennard had invested a lot of bread in resurrecting the ex-champion’s career, and didn’t intend to allow his investment to fall by the wayside.

  “So, you got everything ironed out with the purse. Man, Kennard, my money is still fucked up, in the worst way. I’m going to need an advance on that purse.”

  “You already pawned off half of your purse, man. However I’m going to see if I can get you a few dollars to hold you over. In the meantime, you need to fall back from the tables, booze and women,” Kennard firmly said. “But most importantly you need to get your ass back to camp first thing Monday morning.”

  “Yes, I will. On the first thing smoking after I swing by your office to get that check and get it to the bank. Matter of fact, I hate to ask you on your birthday—but you got a couple of stacks on you I can hold until I get that loot from you on Monday?”

  Took read Kennard’s expression and it said, “Nigga, you got to be outta yo mind, you begging for presents on my birthday.” But he kept his composure. After all, it was business. He said, “See me before you leave.”

  As Kennard finished his lightweight conversation with the heavyweight, he walked off and made his way over to another fella. Took had no idea who he was either, but he soon eased his way over to find out. In the midst of playing his position he couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off of Unique who was now having a conversation with another beautiful woman, who looked to be a friend. As soon as the other lady walked off, Unique took a glass off of the waitress tray, sipped a little of the bubbly and started to look over the room, making sure everything was in order.

  Took caught himself staring at Unique and when she made eye contact with him, he could see how her entire facial expression and body language changed. She looked like she was about to either faint or shit a brick. He knew she couldn’t believe her eyes, and he smiled at the priceless look on her face. He lifted his glass to her and she sashayed off quickly toward her husband.

  Took was entertained and was ready for whatever was about to go down. He was prepared for security to throw him out or for Unique to approach him and make a scene. To keep his composure, he redirected his attention to the two up-and-coming boxers across the room who were verbally sparring, using words as if they were sticks of dynamite, as to which one had dibs on a certain young lady’s assets. Thick in all the right places, the brick house they were arguing over seemed more than willing to share her talents with the highest bidder. In a field this loaded with bad bitches, her talents, whatever they were, must be legendary because it seemed like it was about to go down.

  “Nigga, she don’t want you,” Thunderbolt said. “Get that through your skull.”

  “And she damn sure don’t want your herpes-carrying ass,” Tee-Quick said.

  Thunderbolt, who was wearing a cream-colored double-breasted suit and a dub hat, smiled before he spoke. “Well, if I got herpes, then so do you. ’Cause everything she done did to you, she done did to me and my homeboy a hundred times over. So, we all better go get tested.” He took a pull on his cigar.

  As Unique made her way across the room, Took moved so she lost sight of him, but he was still close enough to be within earshot of Kennard, so he could hear whatever it was that Unique was going to say to him. Wonder what she’s gonna conjure up to tell this nigga? Took thought, humoring himself.

  As she approached Kennard, Took took another sip of his drink. This shit right here is about to get good.

  “John, have I introduced you to my beautiful wife, Unique?” Kennard asked the fella he was talking to, while taking her hand.

  “Damn.” There was a pause as the man checked her out. “I mean, no, you haven’t.” John’s eyes were glued to Unique. Took watched as the guy undressed Unique with his eyeballs, then listened as he tried to stroke Kennard’s ego. “You were too busy trying to blow up your already morbidly obese bank account. But I now see why.”

  “Put your tongue back in your face before I snatch that motherfucker out.” Kennard said it jokingly, but was dead serious. Then he turned back to Unique. “Baby, this googly-eyed clown’s name is John Bookerman. If I can get him to stop counting my chips and staring at my wife, I think we could get some business done.”

  Unique smiled at Kennard, but Took knew that was her way of trying to hide that something was indeed wrong, and it made Took feel good that Kennard couldn’t see beyond Unique’s poker face. Maybe they weren’t as madly in love as they portrayed to the world, Took thought to himself.

  “Nice to meet you, John. I’m sure you guys will work it all out,” she said curtly. “But, do you mind if I steal my husband for a second?”

  “Take a couple of minutes if you need to,” said John. “That husband of yours could talk an angel out of his only pair of wings. I can use a few minutes to regroup from his tough negotiations.” John took a swallow of his drink and walked away. Took rolled his eyes at John who peeped Took ear hustling. “Get off that nigga dick,” he said under his breath, but the man kept it moving and tried to catch up with a Miss America chick. It was annoying the hell out of Took that he couldn’t recall her name. But he wasn’t going to get distracted with John and the beauty queen—he wanted to hear the convo at hand.

  “What’s going, baby?” Kennard turned and looked into her eyes and Took knew from the way he held her in his arms that DuVall could finally sense that something was really bothering Unique, especially for her to chase the paper away. “Are you okay?”

  Before Unique could answer, someone screamed out, “Fight!”

  Together, Unique and Kennard turned and watched as everyone started gathering near the smoked glass of the VIP suite, to look at the floor below. Unique and Kennard, reflexively, didn’t join t
he crowd. Kennard wasn’t overly concerned since he’d hired enough security, bouncers, and off-duty police officers to protect Obama if the brother had wanted to attend. Still, he put his arms around his wife as if he were going to protect her above everything else.

  “It’s Thunderbolt and Tee-Quick,” somebody said.

  “I got a thou on Tee-Quick,” said another guest.

  “Make it five and you got a bet.”

  “Done.”

  “I bet they’re rumbling over that gold-digging bitch, Pinky,” John said, as he walked up to Kennard.

  “They couldn’t save that shit for the ring?” Kennard shot back as he went for a look.

  “Yeah, that bitch been going between the two of them for years now. Dealing with whoever holding the biggest purse. I thought the niggas had accepted that she comes with the belt—whoever wins is who she is with,” John joked.

  “Unbelievable,” Kennard said. Tee-Quick was one of his fighters. While he was trying to make the deal with John for those two fools to go at it in the ring on Pay-Per-View for $40 million, they were brawling it out in the middle of the club, becoming the entertainment for his birthday party. “These some stupid-ass niggas. I can understand the Patrón may have them a little riled up, but over this stinking broad, Pinky?” That pissed Kennard off.

  The woman with pink hair and a body like a superhero looked back and forth, saying, “Fellas, stop it,” as she tried to calm them both down, but the look in her eyes said that she was loving every minute of the two prizefighters fighting over her.

  Amid all the commotion, Took slipped away … like a ghost.

  OUT OF GAS

  “Morning.” The sure grin Seymour sported made him look even cuter than he already was. “My apologies for running out of gas on you last night,” he said with a smile as he kissed her on her forehead.

  Tyeedah’s vajayjay was still sore from all the screwing they’d done, but she still wanted him more than a kid wanted candy. She assured him, “You have absolutely nothing at all to be sorry about. I was running on pure fumes last night.” A coy smile took over her face as she hopped on top of him and looked into his eyes. “Fumes and good dick,” she said to him with a big smile of pleasure.

  Her mainframe hadn’t been serviced this well since … well, much longer than she wanted to remember or admit.

  Seymour, hands already under the comforter, gripped her butt, then pinched her on the cheek.

  “A brother is only as good as his motivation,” he said to her, and then gave her a long tongue kiss.

  “You know kissing is intimate, right?” Tyeedah asked, pulling back to lock eyes with him.

  “Well, let’s get intimate then,” he said, giving her an even longer kiss, surprising even himself. He normally never kissed any woman on the mouth. It was a rule he had adopted a long time ago. But for some reason he didn’t care about breaking his own law, because in a strange way this felt right.

  “I don’t become intimate with just any guy,” she said with a raised eyebrow when they came up for air.

  “Well, let me assure you”—he leaned in as close as he could—“I’m not just any ole dude; I’m unlike any man you will ever meet in your life.” He looked in her eyes unblinkingly and said with authority, “I promise you that.”

  There was something about this guy. The way he looked at her and took control of her body—there was no denying the dude was not only cute and charming, but he also had the swagger of a performer and was a true dick technician. All the things that she knew she needed and wanted in her life. “I thought cats from V-A were supposed to be country, backwoods-types of guys,” Tyeedah joked, then batted her eyes and asked, “Where’re you really from?”

  Seymour laughed. “The country and backwoods?” He smacked his hand against his thigh. “I’m from the capital city of Virginia,” he said. “Not West Virginia.”

  The image of the moonshine-toting redneck trying to seduce a sister brought out his own laughter. It was funny how people always seemed to get Virginia and West Virginia mixed up. She laughed with Seymour, realizing that she was so comfortable with him. The way they were vibing each other and the things they had done between those sheets, it was hard to believe they had met only two days ago.

  Inside of the Icon Club, during Kennard’s birthday party, Tyeedah had been on her way back upstairs to the VIP room to look for Unique. No more than fifteen minutes had elapsed since she’d told Unique that she was going to run downstairs to say hello to someone.

  That’s when she saw him standing near the Muhammad Ali ice sculpture, alone. While she was carrying on a conversation with a friend of hers, she couldn’t stop staring at him. Ruggedly handsome, he was indeed her type. When she was on her way back to the VIP section, something overtook her. Not sure if it was the rosé wine or just his pull, Tyeedah boldly approached him and said, “Hi, how are you doing? My name is Tyeedah.”

  He didn’t say anything to her at first. She thought perhaps he didn’t hear her because of the music, so she repeated herself, a little louder. He still didn’t budge or acknowledge her. She thought to herself, Maybe he’s mute, deaf, or just a plain asshole. Whatever it was, she wasn’t going to let his nonresponse crush her ego or blow her high. Forgive him, Father, this dude don’t know what’s good for him.

  Just when she was about to walk away, he spoke. “I’m sorry, baby.” He smiled at her. “Did you say something to me, gorgeous?” He looked her up and down in a sexy way and said, “Besides, you need to be mine.”

  “Really?” She wasn’t expecting those words and she decided to hear him out.

  “That’s right,” he said in the cockiest way. “Pardon me, beautiful, my mind was somewhere else. I’m Seymour. And you are?”

  “I’m Tyeedah.” She offered a smile. The chemistry was good right from the start. “You’re from down South, huh.” It was more of a statement than a question.

  He had a bright smile and his tooth, left side, in the front, sported a gold crown. “What gave me away?”

  “My best friend is from down South; you both have that same accent.”

  They’d been talking for about five minutes, when someone yelled, “Thunderbolt is about to whip Tee-Quick’s ass!”

  As some of the crowd of wealthy partygoers moved toward the action, the two of them looked at each other, smiled, and headed the other way, dipping out the auxiliary exit.

  “Where to?” Seymour asked once their feet hit the busy New York street.

  Tyeedah, already flagging down a cab, said, “I’m hungry. I was too busy socializing all night and we left before I could eat anything.”

  “Where you wanna go?” he asked.

  Without hesitation, she said, “I know where they sell the best pizza in New York.”

  “Aren’t we a little overdressed for pizza?” Seymour asked as he climbed into the backseat of a yellow cab next to Tyeedah, willing to go somewhere a little more high-end.

  “You are in the Big Apple now, baby,” she said in her thickest New York accent. “You can never be too sharp to grab a few slices in the city.”

  After a couple pizzas and beers, they talked for hours. They watched the sun rise over the city from the window of his hotel room. The next day, after a morning filled with hot sex, they went out to get her a change of clothes, followed by lunch in Central Park, a tour of the Statue of Liberty, and a horse-and-carriage ride while watching the sunset. The climax of the day literally happened back at his hotel room again for the rest of the evening and all of the night.

  Tyeedah was awakened by Took opening the curtains.

  “Good morning, gorgeous,” he said when he realized she was up.

  “Good morning, baby” she said, immediately reaching for her purse. “How did you sleep?”

  The bright sunlight was bringing Tyeedah back to reality. As beautiful as the past two days had been, she knew it had to end. Nothing final, but a girl needed some time to get her shit together. Besides she was never the type to be clingy. She du
g through her purse and found her phone. She hadn’t even turned it on since she’d left the club Saturday and today was Monday.

  He walked over to her. “Slept good, dreamed of you.”

  “Wow, I’m the woman of your dreams,” she said with a big smile, then powered on her phone. The iPhone came to life, with the voice mail and text alerts sounding.

  “Somebody is looking for you. And missing you,” Took said.

  She scrolled through the phone, looking at her messages. “Yeah, my best friend, Unique is worried about me. This is totally out of my character—to just leave and not tell anybody—and be out of pocket for days.”

  “Well, then it’s right for her to be worried then.”

  “Actually, it’s crazy because her husband hit me up too.” She smiled. “I know I’m in big trouble now.”

  “That nigga Kennard texted you?” Took asked.

  “Yeah, but only because I’m sure Unique is worried.”

  “How long you two been friends?” he asked, fishing.

  “We been friends for a long time. We met in prison and been besties since then. In fact, she moved here with me, and then met Kennard when she was out with me. So, I’m like her sister from another mister, and he’s my brother-in-law,” she said, proud to be a part of their family.

  The man Tyeedah knew as Seymour nodded. “That’s nice.” He was glad that Tyeedah was a direct link to Unique. It was why he had targeted her. But after last night and looking at her smiling face now, Took felt a twinge of unease and found himself wishing that Tyeedah wasn’t connected to Unique at all.

  “I helped him pick out her engagement ring, helped him pick out the right place for her restaurant when he was trying to surprise her with his wedding gift.”

  Took shook off his discomfort. He couldn’t be getting all soft now. He had a mission and he was going to see it through.

  “So, where did he end up getting it?” he asked. “I heard it just opened up, but I haven’t had a chance to make it by there yet.”

  Tyeedah loved how attentive Took was when she spoke, especially about the people she cared about the most. She glanced at her phone, noticed the time and realized that she had been running her mouth for a minute now.