Page 9 of Through Treacherous Weather
The boys that lived in the house could all bathe themselves, do their personal hygiene, etc. all the house staff really had to do was to be there to pass medication and to watch the boys. When they were all on their best behavior it was an easy job, and the twins paid their employees well. As long as the boys were safe and following the house rules, Justice and Loyal weren’t even strict. However, an employee talking on the phone while one of the residents was outside using drugs was a hard no.
China sat up straight and ended the call abruptly. “Hey, I just had to check on my daughter,” she smiled bashfully.
“You can do more than check on her. You can go where’s she’s at. Clock out and go home for me. Don’t come back either.”
China’s jaw slacked as she shot up off the couch. “I swear, I was just talking to my daughter. All the boys have eaten and done their homework. The house is clean, and the laundry is done,” she stammered in a panicked tone.
China couldn’t lose the $20 an hour she was making. She worked part-time as a bartender. The group home job was so easy, she could often take naps at work. The group home checks along with the money she made as a bartender, had allowed China to move into a nice home in a nice neighborhood. Prior to working for the twins, the highest hourly pay she’d ever received was $15.00 an hour.
“And Calvin’s ass is outside smoking weed. If someone from the state had rolled up that would’ve been all our asses. I’m not gon’ repeat myself. Your job is done.”
Justice stormed up the stairs in search of the other employee. When he found her in one of the bedrooms talking to two of the boys, he was relieved that he wouldn’t have to send her home too. Loyal and Justice lived in a group home for a short time. He knew that running one wouldn’t be easy. All kinds of kids with various behavior problems and all kinds of trauma resided in group homes. Justice didn’t look at it as easy money. He wanted to help these kids, but he wasn’t going to play with them either. And he damn sure wasn’t going to play with the staff.
“China no longer works here,” he announced making Leslie’s brows dip, but she knew better than to question him. Looking at the watch that adorned his wrist made Justice frown. “I have an hour to either get someone in here to help cover the rest of her shift or find someone else to pick my son up from football practice.”
Justice had a plethora of people that could grab Denim, so he wasn’t worried. Lauren could put Truth in the car and go get him, or he could ask Chicago, Wise, Kadafi, his grandmother, Natalie, Truce, and the list went on. Hell, he could even ask Simone. She took her medication daily and hadn’t had any issues with her schizophrenia. Everyone had to admit that she was a totally different person, and she was trying. Her relationship with Truce had improved a great deal, and Justice was starting to actually look at her as a maternal figure.
He and Lauren had been raising Denim for the past few years so in his eyes, Denim was his son whether the adoption process had been started or not. The young man was a beast on the football field, and he was thriving. Justice and Lauren made him aware that bad grades meant no football. Denim had a 4.0 GPA, and he was a well-mannered and very respectful kid. Chills ran down Justice’s spine every time he thought about how Denim’s life could have turned out if he’d never found him and took him home. That good deed was the reason for his group home.Justice actually wanted to help kids and show them that the system wasn’t all corrupt.
Denim was happy. He never even spoke about his biological mother. Justice walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch. As he scrolled through his cell phone, Calvin walked into the house and stalked up the stairs. The first employee’s name that Justice came to was Antonio. He was a cool cat that loved picking up extra shifts. He was in his late twenties, drove a Charger, and stayed fly. Justice respected the man because he never hesitated to pull a double or work as many hours as he could get. Being that his overtime pay was $30 an hour, he loved getting it on every paycheck. It didn’t take any convincing on Justice’s part to get him to agree to come in two hours before his shift started.
Justice sat on the couch and attempted to cool off while he waited on Antonio to arrive. When he had more time, he was going to schedule a staff meeting. Justice was going to make his expectations very clear and explain that he had no problem cleaning house and hiring new staff if anyone found it hard to do what was in their job description. There were six boys living in the house. With two staff on duty, there was no reason that every child shouldn’t be accounted for at all times. Calvin wasn’t even supposed to be out of the house without staff. If he’d been told not to go outside and he went anyway, he was supposed to be put on punishment and if he was still being a problem, there was a chain of command for staff to follow. Justice should always be called first. Then Loyal, Truce, Kadafi, Wise, and Chicago.
Justice’s phone rang, and he scowled at the unfamiliar number on the screen. “Hello?”
“Hey, Loyal, it’s Shameenah.”
Shameenah was Carmen’s cousin, and she never called him. Justice couldn’t help but to feel like his day was going to go from bad to worse.
“What’s good?” He ran one hand over his French braids as he anticipated an answer that he probably wouldn’t like.
“I just got a call from Carmen. She stabbed Duke, and just got arrested. CPS is going to take Sky if somebody doesn’t go pick her up, and I don’t have a ride.”
“Who the fuck is Duke?” Justice spat.
“Carmen’s boyfriend.”
“I swear to God,” Justice growled. As much as his kids came first, Justice knew he couldn’t leave Leslie alone with six kids in the house and risk something happening. He’d come too far to be shut down by the state. “I’ll be there. Tell whoever I’m coming.”
Justice ended the call without waiting for a reply. He called Loyal praying that his brother wasn’t in the middle of a tattoo. He didn’t care if it was for five minutes, he didn’t want his child in CPS custody.
Chapter Five
Fatima stoodoff to the side sipping her drink and watching Heiress work the pole. Her friend had been in town for two weeks, and she was killing it in one of Diamond Cove’s most popular strip clubs. The night before, she made $2,100. She initially thought it was $2,600, but $500 of the money had been counterfeit. Heiress was pissed that someone had the audacity to come in the club and make it rain with fake money. She hoped whoever it was slipped on a banana peel and broke their necks. At the moment, she wasn’t sure when she was going back to Miami, but Fatima wasn’t in a rush for her to leave.
Heiress worked until four in the morning. By the time she got in, Fatima was asleep. During the week, Fatima woke up around eight to hit the gym before work. She worked eight hours a day between both jobs. Heiress would sleep until around three in the afternoon. When Fatima got home, they would chat, go get food, shop, etc. until it was time for Heiress to go to work. Fatima made her own schedule and could work when she wanted to, so she agreed to come out to the club, have some drinks, and smoke some hookah while Heiress did her thing. Heiress told Fatima when she stacked at least $25,000 she’d buy a plane ticket homeand start looking for a job. The fact that she was already at $10,000 after two weeks was impressive as hell to Fatima.
With admiration, Fatima watched her friend slide down the pole upside down. The club wasn’t packed, but there were a few guys standing in front of the stage throwing money. When the song ended, Heiress scooped her money up off the stage and stuffed it in a small, black, plastic bag. Fatima ordered another drink while Heiress sauntered to the back to put her money away. Fatima didn’t grow up around the triplets, but being the daughter of Wise and the niece of Chicago was all she needed. No matter where she went, nine times out of ten, if street niggas were present, they knew she was hood royalty and off limits for the fuck shit.
Fatima was almost done with her drink when she noticed Heiress walking in her direction with a sly grin on her face. She was walking in front of a fine ass brown skinned man. Heiress’ hands were behind her back as she held onto the man’s hand leading him and his friend in her direction. The man whose hand Heiress was holding was a little on the short side, but he had rich brown skin, shoulder length locs, and a wide nose. He was fine as hell, and Fatima didn’t miss the diamonds that adorned the man’s body and was dancing underneath the club lights. From what she could tell, the jewelry appeared real, but she wasn’t even impressed by that. The last men she met that were iced out had ended up being straight up thieves.
“Fatima, boo,” Heiress smiled with a wide grin. “This is, Orlando. Him and his cousin, Broskie, just moved here from Brooklyn. This is my bestie, Fatima.”
“Hi,” Fatima smiled politely ignoring the fact that Broskie was ogling her too hard for her liking. Orlando was fine but Broskie looked a damn mess. She’d seen smaller stomachs on women about to give birth, and his legs were entirely too small for his wide upper body. He was giving Shrek, and she didn’tlike it. Fatima refused to even take one for the team. Orlando had better like Heiress if that was what she wanted, but nothing could persuade Fatima to grin up in Broskie’s face. She didn’t give a damn how much ice he had on.
“You from Miami too?” Broskie asked as his eyes roamed the length of her frame. The way his lips were parted, and the sparkle in his eyes as he appraised her almost made Fatima want to throw up.
“No. I went to college in Miami, but I was born and raised in Diamond Cove.”
