“I need to meet with your daddy right away,” Tommy said to

Alicia.
“Tommy, what’s wrong?”
“I would rather tell you in person.”
“Is there something you can’t say over the phone?”
Tommy hated when people asked that. He thought it was a nobrainer.

“Let’s just meet somewhere.”
“Like where?”
“Have you eaten yet?”
“No,” she said.
“Let’s meet at the Cheesecake Factory.”

The wait at the Cheesecake Factory was about an hour. Tommy didn’t really care for the food there. He thought it was highly overrated. He thought it was just one of those places where the superficial went to be seen, just to say they were at the Cheesecake Factory. Since becoming a big drug dealer and making a lot of money, his life had become mostly artificial.

The hostess finally came and seated them in a booth in the front of the restaurant.
“So what’s up, Tommy?” Alicia asked.
“The worst thing that could possibly happen.”
She narrowed her eyes.
Tommy drank from his glass of water, still not saying anything.
She looked around. Nobody was paying any attention to their table. “Okay, Tommy, what the hell happened?”
“Well, Manny got busted.”
“Who is that?”
“That’s my connect; you know, the guy that I get my product from.” “Yeah, I know what a connect is. I’m not green, you know.” “I know. I keep forgetting.”
She smiled but didn’t say anything. Instead she reached for his hand and held it briefly.
“Alicia, I need a new life.”
“So what are you saying, Tommy?”
“I’m saying you were right. I can’t go on like this. I need to see your dad and get some advice on how to clean up my act.”
“So you think Manny might snitch on you?”
“That’s not what I’m saying at all. In fact, I don’t think Manny will tell on me.”
She sipped her water then smiled. “Tommy, I want to help you, whatever you need me to do to make sure every thing is okay with you. I don’t want to see another black man sent away to prison.”
He smiled and she grabbed his hand again.
“Tommy, I don’t want to see you in trouble.”
“Alicia, when can we go meet your pops?”
“We can leave Friday, if you want.”

Alicia and Tommy stepped off the plane in San Francisco. They walked hurriedly to baggage claims, where Alicia’s father was waiting.
She ran and embraced him. “Daddy, I’ve missed you so much.”
Tommy looked on in both admiration and envy. He had never had a relationship with his father, and his mother was long gone. Damn, he missed her.
Alicia’s father shook Tommy’s hand.
“Glad to meet you, Sir,” Tommy said, trying to be respectful.
“I want you to kill that Sir shit right now. My name is Don, so call me Don. We’re going to be on a first-name basis.”
Damn, this man is cool, Tommy thought.
Outside, a blue and gray Maybach Benz with a driver awaited them. The driver put the luggage away.
Tommy and Alicia got in the backseat.
Don got in the front. His cell phone rang and he answered on the second ring.
“Why don’t you act all stuck-up and shit?” Tommy asked Alicia.
She looked confused. “What kind of question is that? Why would you want me to act stuck-up?”
“I don’t want you to act stuck-up. It’s just that your daddy is obviously rolling, and you ain’t wanting for anything. Most people with money act a certain way.”
“I don’t have money; this is his money. I’m just going to school trying to get mine, if you know what I mean.”
Don turned to face Tommy.
“I love this car,” Tommy said.
Don chuckled. “You don’t own one?”
“Yeah, I wish,” Tommy said.
“You ain’t living until you own a Maybach.”
“I went to the dealership once inquiring about one, but the salesman said they cost $384,000.
“That’s about right,” Don said.
“Now that’s what I call rolling.”
“That’s what I call paying your dues.”
Alicia reached over Tommy and adjusted his seat. She put it in recline mode.
Tommy lay back like he was in a bed. Damn. This is the life.
What was there not to like? And the fact that they weren’t stuckup snobs made it better.
“I got to make one stop then we can go get something to eat,” Don said.
When they drove over the Bay Bridge into San Francisco, Don turned to Tommy and pointed at what appeared to be a prison. “Do you know what that place is?”
Tommy looked confused. “Looks like a prison of some sort.”
“Yeah. That’s Alcatraz.”
“That’s the reason I gave up your occupation.”
“That place is closed now, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, that place is, but there are more prisons that are open.”
Tommy chuckled a little, not really knowing what to make of Don’s comment.
“Let’s go over to Pier 39,” Don said.
Alicia turned to Tommy. “You can visit Alcatraz if you want to.”
“No, thank you. I’ve visited enough prisons in my life.” Tommy smiled.
“So you’ve been on the inside, huh?” Don asked.
“Not quite, but my dad is on the inside, and I go visit him quite often.”
There was an awkward silence. Nobody wanted to say anything. Tommy figured the silence was because nobody wanted to offend him.
Finally, Don broke the silence and said, “Let’s go get something to eat.”
“Cool,” Tommy said.
Five minutes later, they sat at Dante’s Seafood Grill. A tall Asian woman walked up to the table.
Don rose to his feet and pulled a chair out for her.
“Tommy … Alicia … this is Jill, my new girlfriend.”
Alicia shook Jill’s hand then whispered in Tommy’s ear. “Dad is a big womanizer, which is part of the reason he and Mom ain’t together anymore.”
“I thought they were together,” Tommy said.
“No, they divorced last year.”
Jill looked to be about twenty four. She was slim and attractive with big breasts.
Alicia and Jill made small talk about everything from makeup to handbags, while Tommy and Don talked about investing and making money.
“What kind of investing would you like to do?”
“Actually, I don’t know. That’s what I want you to school me on.”
“I buy properties in neighborhoods where I anticipate the value will rise and then I sell them for profit. I started with residential, but made a transition into the commercial stuff.”
“You seem to be doing well at it.”
“I am. I have no complaints.” He smiled then Jill gave him a kiss on his cheek.
“I want to live like you.”
“Tommy, you haven’t even seen the half yet. All you saw is the Benz. I got a Bentley. I have a home in the same neighborhood as Barry Bonds.”
“Real estate helped you get all of that?”
Jill flashed a veneered smile. “Look at the bracelet Bunchy bought me,” she said, showing a diamond-encrusted bracelet.
“Bunchy?” Alicia said then giggled.
Don smiled. “Yeah, we have pet names for each other.” “He calls me Chinky because of my eyes.”
Tommy was still looking at the bracelet. It was flooded with diamonds. “That bracelet must have cost a grip?”
“Forty-five thousand dollars.”
Damn, Tommy thought. He wanted to be able to drop forty-five thousand dollars on some jewelry and drive a Maybach Benz without worrying about the feds. “So what do I need to start making money?”
We’ll, there’s a high-rise building downtown; it’s an office building I want to purchase. I’m looking for investors. Would you be interested?”
“Hell yeah. When do we start?”
“Okay, the building is going to cost us ten million dollars. I estimate in another year it will be worth twice that, or we can simply rent the office suites out and make half a million dollars a year. We’ll probably be paying $250,000 in mortgages for the building, which means we’ll clear $250,000 in profit.”
Tommy’s eyes lit up. “I’m ready.”
“Slow down, man. You haven’t even seen the plans yet.”
The waitress appeared. She was a tall slim blonde woman.
“Give me the finest bottle of wine you got,” Don ordered.
“Daddy, I want a martini. It’s too early for wine. Maybe later me and Tommy might have a night cap,” Alicia said. Then she put her legs over Tommy’s. The return of the erection. Tommy smiled.
“Sir, would you like to run a tab?” the blonde asked.
Don pulled out a black American Express card.
“Now, see? That’s why I don’t need to see a business plan.” Tommy pointed at the card. “I have no reason to doubt you, and I want to be a part of this.”
Everybody at the tabled laughed.
“So, Don, how much is it going to cost to invest in the building?”
“Tommy, I’m going to need at least 1.5 million in cash.”
Tommy took a deep breath. He tried to maintain his composure. At last count he had about four hundred thousand dollars. He’d hoped that he could do something with that. He thought about the fact that Manny was now in custody. He didn’t know if he could even come up with that much money. He would be stuck in the drug game forever, the game that he so desperately wanted out of.
The waitress returned with wine and a martini.
Tommy finally said “Don, I don’t have that kind of money.”
“Daddy, that ain’t fair. Can’t you let him invest on a smaller scale?” Alicia suggested.
“Actually, I can. But he won’t make as much money,” Don said then smiled at Tommy. “See, guys like me and Tommy, we like the big bucks; a little won’t do. Right, Tommy?”
Tommy put his hands around Alicia. “Your Dad is right. I want it all or nothing.”
“So, how much can you invest?”
Tommy said, “I can have a million dollars in two months.” He couldn’t believe he’d actually said he could have that much money. He’d never made that much money before. He never believed he could make that kind of money, but he wanted the lifestyle Don was enjoying. But more than anything, he wanted to be able to say that he was legit.
Don shook Tommy’s hand, and the deal was finalized.

Tommy and Alicia checked into a hotel room in Pacifica, California. Alicia declined her Daddy’s offer to stay in his home because he’d said that Tommy would have to stay in the guest room. She wanted Tommy to sleep with her, so they would have to get a room for themselves. The Best Western Hotel in Pacifica overlooked the Pacific Ocean. Alicia had gone there on her prom night. This is where she’d lost her virginity. Alicia showered first, then Tommy showered fifteen minutes later.

When Tommy came out of the bathroom, he discovered Alicia lying across his bed wearing only a white thong. He sat on the edge of the bed with his back toward her.

And she pulled him back and bit down on his neck. “I like you, Tommy.”
He could smell the alcohol on her breath. He also noticed the condom packet in her left hand.
Alicia nibbled on his ear.
He gripped her ass then he started kissing her stomach. His statued penis demanded freedom from his silk boxers.
“Tommy, do you want to fuck me?”
“Hell yeah.”
She then turned over in bed and got on all fours. The white thong contrasted beautifully with her skin. “Tommy, come and get this. It’s all yours.”
He slid two fingers by her thong and into her vagina.
“Yes, Tommy. That shit feels so good. Oh my God, that feels good.”
He continued to stroke her vagina. His penis was damn near aching with each throb.
“You want this pussy?” she whispered.
“You know I want you.”
She slid away from him, got up and walked toward the balcony door. “Tommy, have you ever fucked on a balcony?”
“Yes.” He said, mesmerized by her long lean legs and her perfect ass.
“Overlooking the ocean?”
“No.”
She signaled for him to come to the balcony.
Tommy walked to the balcony. Alicia stepped to him and pulled his boxers down.
The wind was blowing and the waves from the ocean pounded vehemently against the sea shore.
Alicia grabbed Tommy’s penis and stroked it slowly. Then she dropped to her knees and massaged the head with her mouth.
After a few minutes of oral caressing, she stopped to fit a condom on his erection. Then she leaned over the banister. “Tommy, I need you inside me.”
He entered her from behind and heard her moan. Damn, this feels good.
“Pull my hair, Tommy, and smack my ass.”
Tommy obliged. He humped her hard and he could feel himself growing inside her. They changed positions. He pumped harder, pulled her hair, and smacked her ass.
“Talk dirty to me.”
“You like this dick?”
“Yes, baby! Yes!”
When they’d banged out twenty minutes of balcony sex, they moved back into the hotel room. Tommy would get it up twice more over the next four hours.