Smooth Operator Read Free Page A

went to the
housing development in New Orleans East. Built by a famous actor
after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the houses had brought
a least this part of the city back to life. Jessi’s friend Diamond
lived in one of the neat garden homes with her youngest kid, a two
year old baby girl named Indyah. Diamond tried several times to get
out of the street life, but minimum wage jobs hadn’t been her
style. She and Jessi were careful to keep business at a different
location. Charmaine parked in the narrow driveway and got out. The
cheerful pale yellow paint of the house gleamed in the sunshine.
Charmaine had to step over a tiny tricycle left on the sidewalk.
She rang the doorbell and Diamond answered.
    Dressed in leopard print leggings and a big
sweatshirt, Diamond grinned at her. “Hey you, c’mon in.” She kissed
Charmaine on the cheek and motioned her inside.
    “How’re you doin’ and how is Indyah?”
Charmaine said and glanced around. She dropped her purse on the
coffee table. The house looked neat enough.
    “I’m fine. The baby is doing great. She’s
with her grandmamma today.” Diamond led the way into her small
living room. “Jessi, well, she’s gettin’ better. That jail scared
her. They got a lot of crazy people in there, girl. Damn, I’m glad
we pulled together the money for her bail. It wasn’t all her fault
this time, Charmaine.
    Jessi came down the stairs wearing a silky
floral robe and fuzzy bunny slippers. She kissed Charmaine on the
cheek and padded into the kitchen. “Don’t bother tryin’ ta convince
her, girl. Big sister is going to say it was my crazy ass fault no
matter what you say. You want some coffee?”
    Charmaine followed Jessi to the kitchen and
sat on one of two stools at the small breakfast bar. “Yes, and I
want to know if you’re okay.”
    “I’m fine,” Jessi said, and waved a hand
without looking at Charmaine.
    Despite her words, Jessi’s hand shook as she
picked up two ceramic mugs. Charmaine saw the tremors. When Jessi
turned to pick up the glass coffee pot, her swollen right cheek was
visible. Charmaine swallowed hard and fought the urge to rush over
to her. Jessi didn’t respond well to being babied. Too many years
of having to tough out what life threw at her had made her immune
to it.
    “How’d that happen to your face?” Charmaine
asked.
    “Some fool started ranting and raving, swung
on me before I could react. I got her back good though, you can
believe that.” Jessi dumped three teaspoons of sugar in her own mug
and a generous helping of real cream. She pushed the mug of hot
black coffee across the counter to Charmaine.
    “That place is more like a psycho ward than
a jail,” Diamond added. She sat on a second stool. She accepted a
mug from Jessi and sipped.
    “So tell me about this incident that got you
arrested, Jessi.” Charmaine squinted at her.
    “I was working the massage house down off
Carrollton. Strictly legit, Charmaine and don’t roll your eyes at
me,” Jessi added. “Anyway, this foreign fool starts trying to
negotiate. I tells him ‘Bitch, this ain’t the discount store and we
don’t run sales’. Then he gets up in my face and tries to lay his
hands on me. I don’t know who called the police.”
    “And that’s another thing, Miss Susie has
private security. These little disagreements gets handled on the
spot, no cops.” Diamond shook her head.
    “Maybe his buddy that came with him got
scared. Betcha one thing, that dude knows how we do business in New
Orleans now.” Jessi grunted and sipped coffee. She looked at
Charmaine. “Let’s save time. I know all your lectures by heart, so
save your breath.”
    “No more lectures,” Charmaine said. She
frowned and thought about Jessi’s account. Something about the
details nagged at her for a few seconds before Jessi’s voice broke
into her thoughts.
    “Look, I’m doing okay. I’m going to pay you
back for the bail cause I know you ain’t got disposable income to
be