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“Wow. It’s amazing,” she complimented.
“Thanks. I hired an interior decorator to help blend my masculine taste and your femininity.”
“They did a great job, babe,” she said.
He grinned.
“Why so many rooms? I mean, it’s just us.”
Mateo walked up and hugged Chanel from behind. “For now one is an office that I can use for business and you could use once you enroll in college. The other is a guestroom, and eventually we can convert it to a nursery. This apartment is an investment, so the more rooms, the more marketable it will be should we put it up for sale.”
“That’s my money man.” Chanel beamed. “Always thinking smart.”
“Definitely. And speaking of money, I’ve been down for too long and I need to get back out here and start making this money. I need to pay Pyro back and take care of you.”
“I’m good, baby. As long as I have you next to me, I don’t need anything else,” she said.
“Nah. You held me down while I was fucked up and in physical therapy. You kept me motivated. I want nothing but the best for you.”
“And I want the best for you. That’s why I want you to ta
ke it easy, Mateo. Don’t go out there and kill yourself trying to play catch-up.”
“I’m not. But I need to start making things happen again.”
“I know.”
“It’s time to start making things right, and I need to start that with you, baby.”
“What you mean?”
“I mean this.” He got down on one knee in front of her. “I want you to marry me.”
She grinned. “What?”
“I want you to marry me, Chanel. And I know I don’t have a replacement ring to present to you right now, but best believe I’m gonna get you one twice the size of the first one.”
She stood there looking down at him, her eyes matching the smile on her face.
“But here,” he said. He tied a piece of red string around her ring finger. “Let’s this do for now—until I can brighten that finger up with a big-ass stone.”
She continued to grin. “Baby, you don’t have to do all that.”
“I want to. You’re my woman and I love you.”
Those words and the way he said them with meaning and confidence made Chanel melt inside. But it also made her feel extremely guilty. Life was so strange with its unpredictability. Mateo was first in line for Chanel’s virtue, but he would end up being lucky number three.
Chapter Forty
Charlie kept her promise to herself. She wanted to see the damage she had created firsthand. It was a warm spring day with a bright sun shining down on the city when she entered the courthouse. She took a seat front and center inside the courtroom while Elandy Slogenberg, AKA Landy, stood stoically in front of the judge to plead guilty to drug distribution. Standing next to her was her attorney, Michael Bernstein, a middle-aged white male with bushy hair and a shabby suit. He looked like he had seen better days and was working on little sleep.
Charlie sneered. If that’s the fool representing Landy, then she is doomed. She loved it.
Even though it was Landy’s first offense and she was an honor student, the prosecutor wanted to make an example out of her. Prior to his death, Ahbou had worked with the ADA and convinced Landy’s inexperienced attorney that she was a real menace to society operating a major drug ring throughout the projects.
Landy’s own attorney didn’t believe in her. He wanted her to take a plea deal. He didn’t want to spend too much time on her case, which he felt was open-and-shut for the prosecutor. In fact, he was appalled by the young white girl who came into his office with her urban gear and slang talk. Right away, he figured her to be a “wigga,” a slave to the black culture and black men. Such a damn waste, he had said to himself.
“Can you get me off? Cuz I didn’t do it. I don’t sell or do drugs,” she had said to him.
