Chapter 6
The late afternoon sun blasted everything in sight so that, to eyes used to the constant gray of the concrete jungle, Miami was a sort of city of gold. At least the parts of it that they drove through.
Bailey couldn't stop jabbering, tugging Jasmine's arm as she pointed out this or that interesting thing, but Jasmine did not have much to say. Neither did Ted. A strange tension hung between the two of them, which puzzled Jasmine.
She had thought they'd enjoy each other's company even more in Reggie's absence, since he had left for Miami the day before. But it was almost as if their friendship had undergone a subtle and mysterious change, which neither she nor Ted wished to examine too closely.
Jasmine was almost grateful when the long, scenic drive ended, enabling her to get out of the claustrophobic confinement of the car. They stood in the gravel driveway admiring the stupendous mansion before them, so daunting in its magnificence that even Bailey fell quiet.
Once they were inside, they were intimidated for another reason. A party was in full swing and the vast majority of the attendees were beautiful young women, from every race, it seemed - and only Jasmine and Bailey were not in bikinis.
Other than a few curious glances, the newcomers attracted little attention. They were able to navigate through the scantily-clad crowd to the other side of the house, where they came to the edge of a packed infinity pool. Here were the first men they saw since they entered.
The racial diversity of the women did not cross over to the guys. They were mostly black and Latino, interspersed with some biracial bros. The two genders did share the swimsuit dress code, and here the women were just as unencumbered as the men - Jasmine had never seen so many nipples in her life!
"Heyyy, you made it D!" Xavier greeted, appearing at her side. Apart from them, he was the only one fully dressed. "And you brought your friends too, welcome."
"Thank you," Jasmine said, while the others mumbled their thanks as well. "Uh, we aren't ready to get wet right now, but I remember Reggie saying something about a pool table once..."
"Oh, you play?" Xavier asked, and at her nod turned to leave and beckoned to them to follow. "Alright, let's see what you got, then."
They went inside, turned left, then down some steps into a large room; this one was completely empty. He flipped on the lights and they saw a gorgeous pool table in the center of the room. The balls appeared to be made of glass as they were transparent save for the colorful bands that bore their numbers. Jasmine had never played on anything as fine as this.
Beating Xavier twice in a row restored some of her confidence, allowing her to ask, "Is it always like this here? The partying, partial nudity, performative girl-on-girl action..."
"Nah, not really. We wouldn't set foot in here under normal circumstances, but," Xavier shrugged, "this is a special occasion."
"Yeah? Is it Reggie's birthday, or-"
"It's not for him, it's for me and the other guys out there. He promised us this if we all graduated in the top ten in our classes. As you can see," Xavier spread his palms and smirked, "we did it!"
"Wait, what?" Jasmine gave him a confused smile.
"Hell, Reggie had planned it for last weekend." He grinned at her and winked. "But his little boo thang got cold feet and, well, the rest of us just had to grin and bear it."
"What does Reggie care if you graduate college or not?" Ted asked from the leather couch across the room.
"Man, who do you think got us into college in the first place?" Xavier scoffed, as though the answer were obvious. "He wouldn't even look at us unless we agreed to go. He said we'd need it when we got older and needed to settle down. Man, when it comes to books? Reggie don't play. But he's looking out for us so, hey, nobody's complaining."
"Looking out for you?" Ted echoed incredulously. "The man is exploiting you-"
"By giving me a steady job and a fallback for later in my life? Yeah, you're right," Xavier mocked. "Think I'll call my mama up and tell her I'm moving back in."
"Your 'job' is anything but steady," Ted argued. "Every single time you're out on the block, you are putting your life in danger-"
"From who exactly?" Xavier laughed. "The gangs? Youngins keep getting shot in their bullshit wars all the time - don't matter how sweet and innocent they are. Might as well be a man and get that money at least, e'rybody's in danger over there. And the cops? Fuck them fucking pigs! My uncle was a pastor, man. A goddamn church pastor, and he's got Parkinson's now from the beatdowns those motherfuckers gave him - and he was like you, too."
He pointed his cue stick at Ted. "On that uplifting-the-race-from-within shit. Black people are they own worst enemy with their crime and bad family values, huh? Well, look where being 'one of the good ones' got him!"
"You don't see it because you've been exposed to violence all your life," Ted explained, rising to his feet. He walked towards Xavier as he spoke. "But Reggie doesn't care about you. He's making money turning our community into junkies and drug dealers. You could just as easily be one of the fiends you deal to, it's all the same to him."
"Yeah? Then how come we're here instead, got money in our pockets, a college education and are surrounded by beautiful women? Huh? How come you're not lying face down with a bullet in your head right now?"
Jasmine, who was trying her best with Bailey to blend into the furniture, could not suppress a shiver at the graphic image. The danger Krow posed to Ted suddenly felt a lot realer.
"That's just an old IOU my father called in," Ted protested. "My father's in prison by the way, for killing a man, so it says a lot that that's the kind of company Reggie keeps-"
"Man, you are something else!" Xavier blustered, staring at Ted in disbelief. "You should be thanking God 'that's the company Reggie keeps', it saved your life! Shit, you got no honor, do you? No wonder your girl got with Reggie instead!"
Ted charged towards Xavier then abruptly stopped when Jasmine stepped forward in front of Xavier, her hand outstretched to keep Ted at bay.
"Okay, that's enough. Let's all just calm down."
"Karma's a bitch, huh, little man?" Xavier snarled over her head at Ted.
"I said enough!" Jasmine flared, glaring back at him. When she turned to Ted, he had already stepped back, his jaw set.
"Whatever," he fumed, before turning on his heel and striding out. Jasmine exchanged harried glances with Bailey before she ran out after him. "Ted? Ted! Wait up!"
She caught up to him just outside the den and grabbed his arm. "Ted please-"
"I am done, Jasmine!" he announced, coming to a halt. "Finished! I don't give a fuck! I'm going back to New York!"
"Back to being trapped in that little apartment?" Jasmine asked with a heavy despair. "Back to having a bull's eye on your back? Ted, Krow is out for blood, do you understand? New York isn't
safe
for you until he's gone!"
"I can't stay here, Jasmine. I can't, I'm sorry."
"Okay," she nodded. "Okay, we'll just go somewhere else then. Wherever you want. I'll tell Reggie to arrange it as soon as he-"
"Nooo, Jazz," he grated. "You already too deep in this mess! You should be getting your life back to normal, not asking gangsters for favors on my behalf! Christ, I've already ruined your life-"
"Ted Williams, don't you dare say that," Jasmine warned. "The
only
way you could ruin my life right now is if you do something dumb, like run back to certain death because you let some jackwad get under your skin. I am literally begging here. Don't. Do it."
He heard her out then he nodded, his face carefully blank. "Right. Cool. I'll just go get me a drink now."
Jasmine watched him go with a blend of frustration and helplessness. She wanted to assure him all would be well, but how could she, when they were in the same boat?
As she stood there, Xavier suddenly walked by at a quick pace, followed by Bailey.
"Reggie's here," she said to Jasmine. "Let's go say hi."
Jasmine came along but not out of any real desire to see Reggie. In the days before the trip, they hadn't had much to say to each other. With Bailey gone, his house had been a quiet, peaceful oasis for her, whether its owner was home or not.
She had been escorted to whichever arena or stadium her job called her to by Tiny, and Reggie tended to leave the house at dawn and return after she'd gone to sleep. He made no demands on her time whatsoever; in fact, they barely saw each other.
It had seemed he had no use for her gratitude or else he simply didn't expect it, for he gave her no opportunity to express it. She had not returned to his bedroom since their last night together, and as she had no intention of making a late-night visit there for any reason, they had both remained aloof.
Once the three of them were outside the front of the house, a faint whiff of cigar smoke wafted to Jasmine's nose. She turned her head towards the familiar scent and the sight she beheld knocked the breath out of her.
Despite the sun's glare reflected on their sports cars, she could see some new arrivals, middle-aged men laughing and talking among each other. One man in particular caught her eye; she'd recognize that big watch adorning that deep bronze wrist anywhere. Not so much the cream Panama hat that sat on his head.
The early evening breeze fluttered his open-necked cream shirt. A pair of light-colored slacks completed his unfamiliar look. Without a stitch of black anywhere on his person, he looked just like any rich man on holiday ready to have a good time.
He was listening to one of the men speak as he raised a cigar to his lips. Its tip glowed red before he lowered it and blew out a stream of rippling blue smoke. He then said something and his companions burst out laughing.
Smiling himself, Reggie turned at that moment and locked eyes with her. He appeared cool and disengaged from his friends as he watched her, making no move to acknowledge her.
Two warring impulses held her immobile as on one hand, she itched to go get her camera and capture this compelling, familiar stranger on film; she also wanted to just walk up to him, rest her hand on his chest and kiss his cheek in greeting. She didn't know which was a worse idea!
Bailey turned at that moment, her red hair brushing Jasmine's cheek. She must have caught sight of Reggie but rather than call out to him, she turned back to Jasmine in uncharacteristic silence, her curiosity palpable.
Jasmine couldn't look away, she was still fixated on Reggie. A certain recklessness in the way he tossed aside the cigar and began approaching her instantly put her on her guard. She stood rooted to the spot, breathing not at all until he got to her. When he stood towering over her, she tilted her head back, offering her lips.
Before she could question her sanity, Reggie had already bent and taken her mouth with all the entitlement of a husband. Jasmine gasped in surprise, and his tongue immediately entered her mouth to dance with hers.
She wanted to object, but there was something different to this kiss. To Reggie. She couldn't quite put her finger on it and as the kiss went on, it just got harder to think...
It was Reggie who broke off the kiss abruptly. His hands came up to support Jasmine's unsteady body as it swayed.
"Hey, Bailey, how ya doing? Damn, you lookin' fine in that dress, whooh! Enjoying the party? Sure? Great, you mind if I borrow your girlfriend for a bit? Thanks Bay, yo X! Get this lovely lady a drink, come on now," Reggie rebuked as he walked into the house.
