Page 9 of Fraudulent Beauty

“I’m not ready for the night to end, but I don’t want to scare you off and invite you to my crib. You want to hit a hookah lounge or something?”

“Sure. We can do that.”

“Bet.”

Biting back a smile, I followed Khalif. Reaching behind him, he grabbed my hand and held it as he led the way to the exit. The alcohol I’d consumed had me feeling all warm and tingly inside. I wanted to have sex with him for sure, but I just didn’t know if I wanted to do it so soon. Shit, I was grown and not too worried about coming across as a good girl, but I still wanted to make sure he deserved it.

The DJ at the hookah lounge was on point, and I danced in my seat while smoking hookah and sipping my drink.

“Where is our next date going to be?” Khalif asked while watching me. He chose not to drink anything, and it was then that I realized I’d never dated a responsible man. The hood niggas I knew would drive while sipping lean. They gave no fucks about being upstanding citizens. And they for sure didn’t care about the safety of others.

Khalif actually cared about his job and his life, and his choices reflected that. That was a new one for me. “Hmmmm,” I bit the corner of my bottom lip. “I don’t know. Is dinner too cliché?”

“Hell nah. I love to eat,” he drawled lazily, and I smiled.

“Bet. I want to go somewhere you have to make reservations for. I don’t do buffets,” I scrunched my nose playfully, and he doubled over in laughter.

“Buffet? You’re funny. I might be able to scrape some coupons together and make something happen.”

I found myself smiling almost the entire time that I was in Khalif’s presence. When we left the hookah lounge, he walked me to my car and talked to me the entire time I drove home. A drive I had to clench my thighs together the entire time in order to try and extinguish the fire between my legs. My mind was already made up. One more successful date with Khalif, and he was getting some of my kitty.

The next day, I was pumping gas when I heard a male voice call my name. I had only worked for four hours, and I was about to go home and edit a video. It was hard not to get frustrated while waiting for a full-time position to open up at the bank, but I was going to hang in there. I knew once a position was available, they’d rather promote me than train someone new.

Looking over my shoulder, I locked eyes with a guy named, Mack as he emerged from his Tahoe. As he ambled toward me, my heart began to pound in my chest. I already knew what he wanted. He was more than likely about to offer me some shit that I was trying to stay away from.

“Hey,” I offered him a small smile.

“Man, I’ve been trying like a muhfucka to get your number. I lost my phone out in Cali, and none of my shit synced over. I need you girl.”

Shaking my head, I willed myself to say no, no matter what he offered. “I told you I was falling back from that, Mack. Niggas is getting fed time behind that shit.”

“Shorty listen, I have an ID and a social security card for a female. The bank account is already set up. I just need you to deposit a check for $75,000. It’s going to clear. When it clears, you get $37,500. That’s a sweet ass deal.”

“That’s also federal time if I get caught,” I replied.

“Come on man,” Mack groaned. “Those other chicks I’ve been putting on, don’t move like you do. They get cards and max them out on bullshit that they want to keep and not sell. I wouldn’t even trust any of them to give me my half of the money from the check, and I’d hate to have to kill a bitch over $75,000. The check isn’t going to bounce back. I swear it’s not. Only thing they’re going to do is put a hold on it.”

Inhaling deeply through my nose, I shook my head. Mack’s short five-foot eight ass knew I was considering it, and a sly grin eased across his face. Fuck, I wasn’t in the position to turn down $37,000 even if I was living with my mother. If I had access to that much, it wouldn’t matter how long it took the bank to offer me a full-time position because I’d have plenty of cushion.

More than anything, I wanted to be in the position to tell Mack to kiss my ass. But I had less than $3,000 in a savings account because I had paid off my car. Now, a car note was one less thing I had to worry about when I did move out. Swallowing down a lump, I peered into his pleading eyes. Mack was for sure in a better place than I was financially. He had a nice car, fly clothes, he traveled a lot, and always had a pocket full of cash.

“If I do it, an even split isn’t going to work for me. I’m the one taking the biggest risk. I have to actually go inside the bank and attempt to withdraw the money. I want $45,000 or no deal.”

I fully expected Mack to walk away and find somebody else to do it, but his head bobbed, and a greedy grin stretched across his face. “You got it. Even though the shit is fool proof. I actually had a guy to hack into the system and authorize a real payment. I’d just suggest attempting to disguise yourself in a way that doesn’t seem obvious just in case they ever run the cameras back. Like put on a pair of eyeglasses, rock a hair color that makes you look a little different, shit, maybe even put on some foundation that makes you look darker or lighter than what you are.”

Not only would getting caught ensure that I didn’t receive a promotion at the bank, it would ensure that I never worked at a bank or any other financial institution again. Fuck, how was I supposed to walk away from $45,000 though?

“This is the last time, Mack. I put that on everything. Don’t ask me shit else about anything because I’m out. I can’t be out here scamming long-term. I’m not trying to see the inside of a cell behind being greedy.”

Bobbing his head, Mack raised his palms in mock surrender. “After this, I’ll delete your number from my phone. Pinky promise,” he grinned before passing me his phone, so I could lock my number in.

I didn’t even have the check in my hand, and my gut was already churning. Inside my car, I checked my phone and had a text message from Khalif. Was that some kind of sign? How the hell was I dating a police officer and committing crimes? It was just going to be one more time. That was it. Just one more. My nerves were jittery to the point that I didn’t even text Khalif back until I was at home. After I responded to him, I got out of the car and went inside the house. My mother was sitting on the couch drinking a beer with a piece of paper in her hand.

“Hey ma.”

“Hey,” she didn’t lift her eyes from the paper.

“Everything good?”