Carmen Read online

  Everyone bobbed their heads because that’s what it made you do.

  Fellas could do a lil’ two-step in the club when this track hit the speakers.

  Ladies would run to the dancefloor.

  Mahogany said she wanted to do a dance challenge to go along with the song, which was a bomb marketing strategy.

  “I can’t wait to see what you’ll do next. Your EP was good. Me and P played it out,” she admitted.

  Neezy was shocked to hear that. He looked to the big homie for more confirmation and he nodded his head, “'Preciate that.”

  Shit, he was feeling like his niece right now. Their stamp of approval made him feel good.

  They played the truck a few more times before calling it a night.

  Juice and Neezy chatted while walking to their cars.

  “We gon’ get you with Carmen and shoot the first day out video. After that catches a wave, we’ll drop the song with Mahogany,” he shared the game plan with his artist.

  “Okay, I like the sound of that.”

  Juice dapped him up and told him to get home safe.

  It didn’t take him long to make it to his crib. He did ninety the whole way home. His new car made his dick hard the way the engine revved and purred when he was switching lanes. It was a relief to be working legally, doing something that he was truly passionate about versus risking your life slanging birds. Neezy was thankful for the shift. He knew his brother was looking down from heaven; smiling.

  Neezy crashed as soon as he smoked a blunt and got out the shower.

  The next morning, he woke up to a few missed calls and notifications from Juice, who was informing him of an eleven o’clock appointment with the stylist. His team wasn’t playing when they said the ball would began to roll. He hadn’t been sleep more than five hours and told himself, “Five more minutes,” before he would get up to dress and head out. Three hundred seconds turned into another two hours and he yipped out loudly, “Shit!” after glancing at the clock.

  He was past late, and Ms. Carmen Kincaid was not impressed by his appearance when she saw him.

  “Wow. They said styling. He needs to be revamped from the dead, first,” she griped.

  Yes, he was beyond late for the meeting with his new stylist, but her comment wasn’t necessary. She had a whole ass attitude.

  He apologized several times, which was something that he wasn’t too familiar with doing. Neezy understood the importance of first impressions and truly felt bad about being late.

  He even told her that he didn’t leave the studio until the sun came up.

  Carmen let him know, “I don’t listen to excuses,” and walked off in her pearl-colored Miu-Miu’s.

  He was close to leaving if she didn’t drop the scowl on her pretty face and heavy energy.

  He finally asked her, “Do I know you?”

  She looked so damn familiar and he couldn’t quite recall where he knew her from. Shorty didn’t have an unforgettable face, so it caused his mind to be baffled.

  Carmen stepped back and turned around, facing him.

  “No, you don’t. We’ll get started in five minutes, get yourself together.”

  She was lying right through her teeth.

  It was her husband in the flesh. The man that she jokingly stated that if God went on and blessed her with a good man, he would look just like Neezy.

  She didn’t know he was an aspiring rapper at the time. Carmen refused to date people from the industry, so as fine as the man was she would have to pass.

  He didn’t believe her answer and sooner than later, it would come to him. His memory was sharp, due to lack of sleep and energy from the session the night before, his mind was a lil’ fuzzy.

  The five-minute grace-period that she’d granted him were used to snag more sleep.

  She returned with a rack of clothes.

  Neezy stretched his arms and legs, yawning loudly.

  Carmen stopped what she was doing and stared at him until he got the hint.

  “I can’t yawn now?”

  Shorty was tripping.

  “How about you get up and help me?”

  Lazy nigga, she thought to herself.

  His thoughts were provocative, Damn, her ass fat as fuck.

  At this point, he was considering himself celibate. Neezy was done having sex just for the hell of it. The woman he gave his body to had to be special. Because his emotions were easily provoked, and his hormones were raging at the mere sight of her. The added fact that she was being evil as hell only intrigued him further.

  “Got you.”

  He hopped up and did as she asked.

  “Juice said you was in high-demand.”

  Carmen assumed he had more to say so as she laid several looks out, she stopped what she was doing again and asked, “And?”

  He yanked on his ear, “Where is your team? Why am I helping you out at my own consultation?” It was a simple question but a rightful one.

  “You know what. Fuck this!” she dropped a Balenciaga dad cap.

  What was she even thinking?

  Carmen’s attitude wasn’t the best. She was well-aware but for him to ask about a team since she was considered a “famous” stylist offended her. She didn’t want to work with ungrateful ass niggas. Especially rappers. They were the worst kind of clients to have. No matter what industry it was, rappers were annoying.

  “Fuck what? Fuck me?” he pointed to his chest, as if she couldn’t be referring to this opportunity.

  “Who am I looking at?” Carmen bucked.

  Neezy chuckled and backpedaled with his hands lifted to show that he’d surrendered.

  “I don’t know if you were having a bad day and I tipped you off even more or you’re not in the mood to handle your business. But to say fuck me, is rude and I would never talk to you like that.”

  His voice was calm. His voice was soothing.

  “It’s not like you owe me anything but still, business is business.”

  Did her pussy just do the walk it out dance?

  Carmen’s eyes fluttered and her throat all of a sudden went dry.

  She reeled her attitude back in, “Okay, okay.”

  “Can we start over? Juice is really looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the re-branding aspect of my career. I also have to shoot a video for my first song since I got out of jail.”

  He was talkative.

  Only when he was comfortable.

  She would learn that sooner than later.

  She nodded her head slowly, “You’re right. I wasn’t having a good day. Well, I was…”

  Frankly, she was excited about being a stylist again.

  Then, she’d received a phone call from her father-in-law saying that if she stopped by their house again they would put a restraining order out on her.

  He made it his business to remind her that she’d abandoned Kniko over and over again until Carmen hung up the phone in his face.

  Verbal abuse was far more detrimental than physical. She didn’t care what anyone had to say about her opinion. Words stuck and could hurt more than any physical act.

  “It’s cool. I promise I will never be late again. I give you my word and once you got that, it’s bond,” he tapped his heart twice to show her the significance of his statement.

  Carmen didn’t know what the tapping meant but she tapped hers as well, playfully.

  She got back to work and told Neezy to turn some music on or something to set a mood for her inspiration to be re-sparked.

  “You smoke?” he asked her.

  Music was cool but the herbs he had in a Ziploc bag really would calm her.

  “Not like every day but today I will,” she let him know with the quickness.

  She had a lot on her mind. The weed would put her at ease.

  It seemed as if every day when she tried her hardest to declare that no weapons formed against her shall prosper, they still clicked and clacked.

  SZA’s voice greeted her ears as she pulled more
and more clothes out of laundry bags. Thankfully, most fashion houses hadn’t changed in relation to who was in charge. With a few phone calls being made, she was able to snag a few cool pieces and threads. Her name still held weight and her face card remained good.

  “Juice said you wanted to remain true to yourself but polish it up a tad. If I’m allowed to be honest, you need a lot of polishing,” she shared with him as she stood in front of him. She examined him from the crown of his head to his long toes.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked, while rolling them a big fat ass blunt.

  She grabbed a pen from behind her ear and slid it between her red painted lips.

  “Cut the hair, trim the beard, teeth whitening, I can even see a bottom grill.”

  Her words trailed as her mind began to work overtime on what else she could do to create some magic.

  “Grill? Man, hell nah.” He wasn’t doing that lame shit.

  “Trust me. Even if it’s just for the video. I think you should do a white button down, half buttoned though. Gray wife beater. Bottom grill. Camo shorts and Yeezy boots.” The visual it came to her in seconds.

  Neezy tried to picture the look in his head but couldn’t.

  He licked the blunt once more and then fired up one end.

  After inhaling a generous amount of smoke in his lungs more than twice, he passed it to her.

  She took the blunt from him and did the same.

  Damn, she even smokes sexy.

  Neezy watched her pace the floor with the blunt in one hand and her red pen in the other.

  “Yeah….Ooh…yes, yes,” was spoke aloud but her thoughts were all hers.

  He could see her. He could really see her.

  The wall that she lived behind was a brick one. The mask that covered her beautiful face was painted on and taped around the perimeter of her crown.

  He saw right through all of it.

  His spirit of discernment was keen. Her energy introduced itself to him before she had the chance too.

  “Do you trust me?” she questioned.

  He shook his head, because lying wasn’t his forte.

  “I mean with your image…duh,” she corrected herself.

  He still shook his head; the answer hadn’t changed.

  Motioning for her to pass the blunt, after he’d hit it. He said, “I don’t trust you because I don’t know you. I think I do though.”

  He wanted her to open up to him for some strange reason.

  Carmen rolled her eyes, “Fine, don’t trust me. Come try this on,” she reached on the rack and grabbed a denim button down.

  “Do you prefer to be a one-woman army? Is this your house?”

  He had questions and she didn’t have the answers.

  “How about we stick to talking about your new and might I add, improved look. Not my business,” her tone was corporate and fake as shit.

  “Yeah, whatever.”

  Neezy would try again later.

  Two hours passed, and she’d shown him what it really meant to be a one-woman army.

  She was able to style him and take measurements. She even hemmed and altered a few things on the spot.

  Carmen served as the head designer, DJ, photographer and assistant.

  She took pictures of everything he tried on for her mental catalog. The photographs would help her put together a “look” for Juice’s team to consider.

  “You’re the shit,” he finally offered her praise.

  She rolled her eyes again, something that he could tell she didn’t do often because she did a horrible job at it.

  “Be on time on the next go round, k?” was her response.

  “Where do I know you from?” he wasn’t listening to nothing she was yapping about.

  Carmen exhaled loudly, “You were at Mahogany’s house for the birthday party-

  Before she could fill in some other details, he’d remembered.

  “You said I look like your husband,” he snapped his fingers.

  Neezy’s niece, Lira often asked about her and Neezy told her during her visits to the jail that he didn’t know who she was. Lira, who for some reason felt a connection to the stranger after only a few sentences between the two…would always appear saddened by his statement followed by, “She was super pretty. I hope I see her again.”

  Carmen pursed her lips together, “Yeah, about that, I didn’t mean it.” She let him know.

  He nodded his head, knowingly, “I bet.”

  Carmen reiterated, “Trust me boo, boo. You’re not even my type.”

  He laughed at her lies, “Girl, please. Don’t judge a book by its cover. I just got out of jail.”

  She gave him a foolish frown, “Well, yeah you’re really not my type, then.”

  He would still shoot his shot, if he wanted too.

  “Whole different man now, baby.”

  Carmen had heard that before.

  “I’m sure,” she said, sarcastically.

  They were done for today and she told him, “I’ll be in touch.”

  Neezy didn’t want to end their time together but she seemed as if she was in a rush.

  “You want to grab something to eat?” he threw it out there.

  “Nope.”

  “What about a drink? Dessert?” he was being thirsty now.

  “On a diet.”

  Carmen wasn’t fooling with his fine ass.

  He would try one more thing before he said fuck it.

  “Okay, well how about we talk…about life and shit?”

  Surprisingly, she didn’t chump him off on his last suggestion.

  His heart beat erratically but why was it doing so?

  He hadn’t been in love before nor had he ever really dug someone past wanting to smash. Is this what it felt like when you possibly had a deeper attraction or connection with a woman?

  A grown woman at that.

  She was in her own league.

  He mostly attracted skeezers, but he wasn’t on that no more.

  Hell, he couldn’t be.

  Neezy believed he was on his way to stardom; his standards had been raised as soon as he saw all those commas in his check.

  The stock had went up.

  She stopped moving around and packing up, contemplating the harm in having a conversation with a man. She didn’t have anything to do for the rest of the day, so why not switch it up a little bit?

  “Yeah…okay…that sounds like a plan to me.”

  She told herself, “What’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like I’m going to fuck him or something.”

  η

  His back curved. His foot had a high arch in it too. The penis as well. He was well-endowed. He hung low like a horse. His tongue could’ve been a slip and slide toy at the amusement park. She could go on and on about his physical features, but it had to have been his mental ones that had her showing her complete ass. Literally.

  Carmen wasn’t even ashamed at how nasty she’d been just a few hours before he told her to lay down and close her eyes.

  It had to be five in the morning, if not earlier when she felt him climbing out of bed. Carmen played sleep though. He lightly padded across the room; she knew he was completely naked. She could see his slim figure from a gold mirror leaning against the brick wall. He didn’t want to wake her, so he eased out of the room and closed the door behind him.

  Carmen rolled over and took a deep breath, she held it in as long as she could before exhaling loudly.

  Honestly, she couldn’t recall how and when they made it to the bed. She rode with him to his loft, which she was fascinated with.

  She joked that she also did interior styling on the side and he shook his head, “Nothing is wrong with my place. I’m single. It’s me.”

  “Is that your excuse for buying that couch?” she laughed.

  He pointed to his brown leather sectional, “Aye, that couch was almost three racks. I got that from Ikea.”

  Carmen made a gagging noise, “It look like it. I would’v
e done yellow, orange and gray in here.”

  His place was so freaking artistic. She started to ask did he know if there were any available units.

  “I love it here, it’s like one big sanctuary,” he shared with her.

  What did he know about church? She thought to herself.

  Carmen sat down on the couch and undid her strappy heels. Her feet were killing her.

  “Hmmm…”she rubbed her own toes.

  Neezy took the seat across from her, “I give a good foot massage,” he casually tossed it out there.

  He was very straight-forward but not too pushy, which is what messed her head up.

  “Are we even the same age?” she questioned.

  He shrugged his shoulders, “Don’t know. Don’t care. Come here though,” he patted the side of the couch that was empty.

  Carmen huffed and puffed but the throbbing in her toes, made her move a lil’ faster. He was correct when he said he knew how to work those fingers.

  He removed all the aching out of her toes and feet. She was pleased and relieved.

  “Who taught you how to do that?”

  He laughed, “Nobody, I’m just real good with my hands,” his statement didn’t possess a lusty undertone. However, she couldn’t help but to imagine what other ways his hands worked.

  Minutes later as they sat side-by-side in complete silence.

  “I can’t stay long,” she blurted out. She didn’t want to wear her welcome out. Was this a one-night stand?

  Neezy wanted her. Badly.

  He nodded his head, “Alright.”

  As he stood up, she asked, “Where are you going?”

  He corrected her, “You mean where we going?”

  Carmen was sober. High yet alcohol-free. She gave him a dumb-founded look, “I think I’m confused.”

  She hadn’t been around the block too many times. Her game was non-existent.

  “Come on, shorty.”

  It was like every other word that came out of his mouth made her pussy purr.

  Soon, she wouldn’t be able to hold her moans in. Neezy was turning her on. And her body heat, up.

  “Where are we going though?”

  Questions.

  She had so many of them.

  “To my room.”

  He wasn’t as inexperienced as she was. He knew how to treat a Queen, even if he’d never really had one.

  “What’s in there?” she said with big bright eyes of nervousness.