“The moment you feel like losing that same hand you raise to me, be my guest,” she said defiantly. “Now, are we gonna sit in front of this fucking building all day or are you taking me to Madison Avenue?”

“That might have to wait till later on.”

“Teddy, I know you ain’t about to pull this bullshit on me. I waited for you all damn morning and now you’re telling me we ain’t going?”

“Yo, it ain’t my fault,” he said, running his hands across the top of his fade. “Penny was supposed to go pick Sha up, but now she’s talking about something came up so I gotta do it.” Sha was Teddy’s eightyear-old son. Reese had met him on more than one occasion, but couldn’t honestly say she spent any great length of time around him.

“Oh, is that all? Why don’t you just snatch him up and bring him along. It’d be nice for me and Sha to finally get to spend some time together.”

“Nah, you know how Penny be tripping. If she found out I had our son around another bitch she’d kill me and you.”

“So that’s all I am, another bitch?” she asked defensively.

“You know what I mean, Reese. You’re my bitch.” He reached out to touch her face, but she moved back. “Tell you what,” he said, peeling off a fifty and a twenty from his bankroll and handing it to her, “use this money to jump in a cab from here and get your mind right. Get yaself a bottle and some smoke, and when I finish with Sha, I’ll hit you back and we can see about catching the store.”

Hearing that he would be coming back to scoop her, Reese’s face softened a bit. “Teddy, you better not be playing with me.” She took the money and got out of the car. “If you have me waiting around and you don’t show up, it’s gonna be on and popping.”

“Ma, I got you,” he said, smiling like the cat that ate the canary. Reese went to say something else, but ended up getting a mouthful of exhaust as he peeled off down Seventh.

“Pooh, get your ass out here and get the sneakers out of the middle of my living room! If I fall and break my neck, I’m gonna break your ass!”

Rhonda was dressed in a pair of denim shorts that were trimmed along the back, showing off her ass cheeks. The tank top she wore drew attention to her double-D breasts, but did nothing to hide her slightly protruding belly. She was a short woman with a large ass and oversize breasts, but as small as she was, she had the mouth of a giant.