Fistful of Benjamins Read Free Page A

edge of the bed so I could listen.
    â€œWhat you mean, that nigga got caught? How the fuck did he do that? With all the shit? Do you know what that’s going to cost Lance? Cost me, for that matter?” Eduardo yelled at whomever he was talking to on the phone. I was all ears after I heard that. I was glad it didn’t sound like a chick he was talking to, but I was also being nosy, since I didn’t know a lot about Eduardo and his dealings. I immediately forgot about calling my mother and my son.
    â€œSo how we gon’ get the fucking packages now? We can’t be without a re-up for more than a few hours or our shit will dry up like an old lady’s pussy. Lance will be breathing down my fucking neck if he don’t get his returns! If he don’t get paid, nigga . . . we don’t get paid. It’s that simple. We have to come up with another way or this shit ain’t gonna end good for nobody. I ain’t trying to starve—are you?” Eduardo yelled some more. My eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. I got up from the bed and moved closer to the bathroom door, now more interested than ever. Eduardo had been really evasive about what he did for a living and where he lived. I had already figured out that him being near those abandoned buildings the day we met hadn’t been a coincidence. Everyone in the Tidewater area knew those buildings were trap houses, including me. In the few weeks I had been spending time with Eduardo, I had already come to the conclusion he was a hustling dude. After my baby daddy I said I wouldn’t fuck with any more hustlers, I guess I lied to myself. There was something so attractive about that little bit of danger these dudes possessed that turned me on. I finally heard Eduardo getting ready to hang up so I raced back over to the bed, jumped under the covers and struck a sexy pose. I was hoping he would lay that good dick on me one more time.

    â€œEverything okay?” I asked when Eduardo finally came out of the bathroom. He looked pissed. His jaw was rocking feverishly and his nostrils were flaring open and closed. His face was even a different color, I guess from the blood rushing to it while he was yelling.
    â€œWe gotta go. Get dressed,” Eduardo snapped, being real short.
    I felt my heart sink inside of my chest. I didn’t want to leave just yet. I wanted to make things better, make him feel better. I had heard his entire conversation and for some reason, I don’t know what came over me, but I blurted out, “I think I can help you out.”
    Eduardo was in the process of putting his pants on when I said it. He paused and looked at me strangely.
    My face was serious. I was dead serious. “I know a way that I can help you,” I said again. I didn’t care if I was being too pushy, I needed this man to want me around. Period.
    â€œWhatcha’ talking about, shorty? You don’t even know what’s up,” Eduardo said dismissively.
    â€œIt’s not that hard to figure out,” I said, a little more sternly than I had spoken to him before. He rolled his eyes and continued getting dressed.
    â€œI can get your packages delivered without the risk of using a human mule. As you can see, using those street dudes never works, because they brag, they talk, and the narcos always find out,” I said, laying it all out there. Eduardo looked at me with raised eyebrows.
    I smirked. “I’m not stupid, Eduardo. I know what you were talking about in there. All I want to do is help out. I really like you and it wouldn’t hurt me to have some extra cash for getting it done. It’s easy . . . I’m a mail carrier, remember? I would be the one getting everything delivered,” I said, continuing to put all of my shit out there on the table. I had done it once or twice for my baby daddy with a couple of weed packages he had come in from Brooklyn. So, it wasn’t really a fresh new idea that I had