Page 1 of Through Treacherous Weather
Chapter One
Half asleep and half awake,Fatima’s face crumpled as she felt herself being nudged. The frantic calling of her name forced her lids apart, and her best friend, Heiress came into view. “Bro, wake up. I think those niggas robbed us.” There was an immense sense of urgency in Heiress’ tone.
Fatima was still groggy and suffering from a bit of brain fog, but the word robbed made her sit up quickly while her eyes darted around the room. The sound of her racing heart thumped in her ears. “What do you mean robbed us?” She questioned in a sleep filled voice that made her frown because she sounded too much like a man for her liking. Fatima’s eyes landed on her oversized pink Chanel purse.
“Exactly what I said.” Heiress grabbed Fatima’s wrist. “Where’s your watch?”
Slightly more alert, Fatima jumped out of bed and went over to the dresser where she placed her watch and earrings before she went to sleep. They were gone. Her lips parted, and she began to frantically search the floor, nightstand, even the ensuite bathroom. Maybe she was so drunk and high shethoughtshe placed the expensive items on the dresser. Fatima searched every inch of the bedroom, and her $45,000 watch wasn’tlocated. Neither were her $25,000 diamond stud earrings. Her eyes closed briefly, shoulders slumping in defeat. “This is some bullshit. What the fuck else did they take?” she growled as she snatched her purse open and rambled through it.
Fatima always kept cash on hand for emergencies. The folded up one hundred dollar bills were still tucked inside her wallet.
“Your stuff was insured right?” Heiress asked in a tone filled with hope. “I know as much as your stuff costs you get it insured.”
Heiress’ reminder made Fatima slightly less agitated. For the insurance claim, she’d have to contact the police and generally, she would never involve the police in her business but fuck that. Fatima was the daughter of the infamous Wise, and she was always taught going to the police for anything was a no no. However, she didn’t care about being labeled a snitch, nor did she want Wise, her uncle, Chicago, brother, or cousins to kill the niggas that robbed her. She shouldn’t care what happened to them, but she did. No one’s life was worth a watch and a pair of earrings. Not even a super expensive one.
And even though she was grown; a fresh college graduate to be exact, she didn’t want to hear the lecture that Wise would give if she told him what happened. How she’d let her guard down and got caught slipping.
“Yeah, all my jewelry is insured. Those niggas are lame as fuck,” Fatima frowned like she tasted something bitter.
“They damn sure are. Niggas got me for my AP,” Heiress chuckled slightly. “I love that watch, but I guess I can’t be too mad. I stole that shit my damn self. I guess karma doesn’t miss.”
Fatima’s frown deepened as she stared at her friend. “Stole it from who?” She had no clue that Heiress was a thief, and they’d been friends since Fatima moved to Miami four years ago.
Her friend’s shoulder hiked into a passive shrug. “A nigga I was fucking. His trifling ass had me in his house while his girlwas out of town, so I just lifted her watch while he was in the shower.” Heiress had the nerve to smile at the memory while Fatima was still frowning. That wasn’t any better than the guys that robbed them. Maybe Heiress could accept it as karma, but Fatima didn’t steal, and she was pissed at her misfortune.
“I guess,” she finally replied slowly. “I’m up now. Might as well pack and get ready to go to the airport,” she mumbled. Finding out she’d been robbed was a shitty way to start the day.
In the bathroom as she brushed her teeth, Fatima was repulsed with herself for slipping as badly as she did. Two weeks before, most of her things had already arrived in Diamond Cove, North Carolina. She was finally moving back home. Fatima loved Miami and planned to visit frequently, but she was missing her family. The four years in Miami were literally a movie. The fun she had her freshman year in college was unreal. Fatima, Heiress, and their homegirl, Josie got into some shit. They mingled with athletes, got backstage passes at concerts, and partied like rockstars.
Wise not only paid the rent for her beachfront condo he put money into her account weekly. Aside from her studies, Fatima didn’t have a care in the world and when her friends were broke, she bought them food, paid their way into clubs, put gas in their cars, and laced their pockets with no hesitation. No one that she went to school with had a clue who Wise was. All they knew was that Fatima wasn’t average. At all. Even dressed all the way down in attire as simple and inexpensive as gym shorts and a tank top from Target, Fatima’s energy wasrich.She exuded confidence and femininity that was unmatched.
Fatima and Heiress met Shawn and Caleb at a club a few weeks back. Caleb tried to talk to Fatima, and she couldn’t deny that he was fine. Since Fatima knew she’d be leaving Miami soon and even though she’d be back to visit, starting anything serious wasn’t an option. She could have fun though. Caleb encouragedFatima to abandon her own section and come to his. There weren’t any women in his section. Just fly, turnt up, young niggas holding stacks of cash and donning expensive jewelry.
Fatima and Heiress had a great time with the crew, and she loved the fact that Caleb didn’t try to sleep with her right after meeting her. She gave him her number and after a few phone conversations, he invited her to an NBA game. Fatima had been going to NBA games since she was in middle school so though she was far from impressed, she liked the fact that Caleb had money and wanted to do more than Netflix and chill. Still, she didn’t have sex with him. Fatima’s lease on her condo ended before she was ready to leave Miami, so after packing up her apartment, she got an Airbnb for four days. The night before, Caleb and Shawn invited her and Heiress to go bowling and afterwards, they got together at the Airbnb and played cards. During the card game, the group took shots, smoked weed, and listened to music.
Since it was her last night in Miami, Fatima was contemplating having sex with Caleb, but he and Shawn both fell asleep on the couch around two a.m. Fatima and Heiress took a few more shots, and Fatima went to the bedroom she was occupying, took her jewelry off and got in bed. Most of her jewelry was already back in Diamond Cove. The earrings and watch weren’t even the icing on the cake when it came to her collection, but it was the principal. Those bum ass niggas acted like they had so much money but had to rob two females. Pathetic. They had literally played the same games some females played.
Fatima had seen social media baddies spend their very last on fake designer and bundles. Every night they got dressed up and went out like it was a full-time job. They basically stalked all the places that the ballers hung out at and gave off the illusion that they had their own to attract the men with money. Fatimachuckled angrily. Caleb and Shawn had probably been flossin’ fake money and jewelry they stole from other people. One thing Fatima knew was diamonds, and their jewelry was real.
“Light skin bitch ass nigga,” Fatima snarled as she wet her toothbrush. Wise and her mother gave her the ‘be safe’ speech at least once a week when she first moved to Miami. Fatima couldn’t go to the grocery store without them thinking she was going to get snatched by sex traffickers. The longer she was in Miami, the less her parents began to worry.
Being robbed by young scammers was probably about the worst thing that happened to her in Miami. After a steaming hot shower, Fatima moisturized her melanin rich skin and put her long braids up into a high ponytail. When she left the Airbnb, she was going straight to the airport, so Fatima threw on black LuLu Lemon leggings and a matching sports bra. Her custom purple BMW had already been shipped back to Diamond Cove as well. Heiress was going to drop her off at the airport.
“As soon as you get settled, I’m coming to visit for a few weeks before I start looking for a job. Lowkey, I might go out there for like a month and dance. Then, I can come back here and get my own place before I even get a job because living with my mother won’t do,” Heiress frowned at the thought of moving back in with her mother, stepfather, and six younger siblings.
There wasn’t anything Fatima could say about Heiress choosing to dance. One of her neighbors in Miami was a young, white girl, and Fatima often saw her in her dental hygienist uniform. Her first thought was to wonder how the woman could afford to live in their building off a dental hygienist salary because Wise paid $4,500 a month for her condo. It quickly dawned on Fatima that people probably thought the same thing about her. Her neighbor was a white woman in Miami, so her affording a luxury, high rise condo, wasn’t the weirdest thingthat could happen. Her parents could have had money, or maybe she had a rich boyfriend. Maybe she was a trust fund baby.
After a few conversations, Fatima learned that the woman’s name was Amy, and she danced four nights a month. Two nights paid the mortgage, the third night paid the car note on her Maserati, and the fourth night went toward whatever vacation she was planning at the time. Amy worked at an upscale gentleman’s club, and she told Fatima that even though it wasn’t the norm, the most she ever made in one night was $13,000 when a few professional baseball players came into the club.
She also told Fatima that after she finished college, she danced for fifteen nights in a row and made more than $50,000. Ole girl was smart as hell. There were a lot of hustlers in Miami, and Fatima could respect it. She didn’t look down on anyone that worked hard, but the sentiments weren’t always shared. She’d been hearing her entire life how lucky she was and how she didn’t have to work hard for anything. Wise gave her money just for breathing. Fatima used to wonder if she should be ashamed of the way her father spoiled her then she concluded fuck no she shouldn’t. There were girls in high school fucking older boys for the same things Wise bought his daughter. In that moment, Fatima decided that she’d rather be a spoiled rich kid than someone that sold her body for purses, shoes, and trips.
With a degree in psychology, Fatima was going to work part-time at the twins’ group home. She was also going to work part-time for Wise’s staffing agency. The salary her father offered her was more than she would have made working full-time in her field. The twins offered her a generous salary as well. Wise also bought her a house the same way he bought Winter one, and her BMW was paid for. The money she made from working would go very far because she didn’t have a lot of bills. Fatima knew she was blessed, and she didn’t take her life for granted. She went to middle and high school with all kinds of rich kids.Shit, her father was the drug dealer, yet, it was a lot of her classmates whose parents got hemmed up in white collar crimes like embezzlement and mortgage fraud. One of her classmates in 9thgrade was the son of an actor that destroyed his career by sexually assaulting other actresses.
When Fatima found out how her father really got down, of course she was afraid for him. But years later, her OG was still standing, and the best part was that he’d retired from the game.
“Just let me know when you want to come visit. I have the room for you. Thank you for the ride,” Fatima took off her seat belt after Heiress pulled in front of the airport.
Heiress dramatically poked out her bottom lip. “Damn I’m gon’ miss you, bitch. Life will not be the same without your lit ass.”
