Hood Tales, Volume 1 Read online

  “Old friend,” King Dex said, shaking his head at where Edward lay face down and unmoving a few feet away. Blood was seeping onto the tan carpet from where the bullet had exited the back of his head. “All I asked was for you to pay what you owe; instead, you chose to pay with your life.”

  King Dex tucked his weapon away and turned his back on the murder scene and left the room. He fixed the jacket on his tan Tom Ford suit and ran his hand over the deep waves in his low-cut hair. For a man in his forties, he knew he looked damned good, and he had chocolate skin that made women half his age sing his name. In the past, his sweet looks were what made his enemies count him out, but eventually, they learned just how ruthless he could be. He’d earned the name “King” a long time ago, and it was a title that he planned to keep for long time coming.

  Next to the front door of the house, there was a suitcase waiting patiently for him. It contained the money he made Edward remove from a safe upstairs before he killed him—$50,000 to be exact. To a man of his stature that was a small amount of money; however, it was more of a respect thing for King Dex. If he let an ant steal a crumb of food from his camp, somebody would go unfed. He couldn’t have that, so he had to make an example out of Edward to anyone else who thought it would be funny to steal from him and make a profit.

  He left the house and headed toward the black SUV waiting for him. The driver holding open the back door was wearing an all-black suit and sunglasses, although the sun had gone down hours before.

  “Thank you, Lawson.” King Dex nodded his head at the older gentleman and got inside of the car beside Dorian. “Who did you say has the other half of the one hundred thousand dollars Edward made off the original fifty?”

  “His name is Rick Dumphy. They were partners, I guess.”

  “Find him.”

  “Already on it.”

  Once Lawson was back in the car, they drove away from the scene and, five minutes later, a white van arrived.

  * * *

  In hindsight, maybe moving out in such a hurry might not have been a good idea, but it was too late to turn back now. The night had come and gone, and when Ava woke up, she felt the cool, soft bed of the hotel underneath her body. She stirred slightly, not wanting to get up.

  The first thing she did was check her phone, and she saw that she had fifteen missed calls from her mother. She was sure that Alaya wanted to apologize; and, while she knew that alcohol probably had a lot to do with her mother’s behavior, she wasn’t trying to hear that. Ava loved her mother with her entire heart, but she knew things between them would never be the same until she left Dumphy. He was just another no-good man who had landed on a gold mine, and there was no way that Ava could go back to that house. Her name was on the lease, and she needed to contact the landlord to see about getting her name removed. But, first, she needed to get up for wor—

  “Shit!” Ava said, jumping up.

  She finally took notice of the time on the phone and panicked. How could she have slept until one o’clock in the afternoon? She was supposed to be at work in thirty minutes, and all she could think about was the look on Amanda’s face, telling her that the last time was her last time to be late.

  She scrambled to find something to throw on from one of the bags on the side of the bed, and she silently thanked herself for having sense enough to take a shower the night before. She threw on a light pink blouse and a pair of socks, and she pulled up her jeans, hopping around the room to find her brown combat boots. She spotted them the moment she buttoned her jeans. She stuck her feet in them after she grabbed her purse and coat from the hotel room desk.

  Ava ran out of the room, throwing many apologies over her shoulder after bumping into a few people staying on her floor. She didn’t stop running until she was inside of her car and on her way to her job. She had about twenty minutes to get to work and, if traffic permitted, she could get there in fifteen.

  It was just her luck that the cars on the streets cooperated with her need to rush, and she made it to her job at three minutes to her clock-in time. Ava was out of breath when she reached the employees’ room, but she had no time to catch her breath because of the busy lunch hour.

  “Girl, I thought I saw a ghost when you walked in!” Damien exclaimed and playfully swatted her on the arm as she picked up a tray of plates from the kitchen window.

  “I’m going to be a ghost if you make me drop this food!” Ava grinned at him. “You know Amanda will have my ass if I mess up one more time in this joint!”

  “Amanda, S’manda. Here, girl, let me help you,” Damien said, grabbing a round tray and placing some of the plates on it.

  “Thank you, baby,” Ava said, feeling the relief once some of the weight was gone. “You’re amazing!”

  The two of them tackled the table of a big party that looked to be celebrating something. There were three couples, one of them obviously older than the other two, and six children. After they handed the food out, Damien made a quick getaway as Amanda made her way over to the table.

  “What happened to our original server?” one of the older black men said. He reminded Ava of a pastor in a Nineties’ black comedy movie. He had a head full of hair that had grays mixed in it and a beard that matched perfectly. His lips were large and took up his most of his face, and he was a bit on the heavyset side. Still, his voice was pleasant, and he didn’t ask his question in a confrontational way.

  “Yes,” the woman sitting next to him said. Ava assumed she was his wife by the way she had her fork in his pork chops. “Where did she go? Her name was Katrina, I think.”

  “Honestly, I’m not sure.” Ava offered up a kind smile. “But my name is Ava, and I’m going to be more than happy to take care of you folks tonight. Does your food look good, or is there anything I can take back for you?”

  “Nope!” the man boomed. “Everything looks amazing so far. I love coming here, so since today is my fiftieth birthday, I couldn’t think of no other place I’d rather be in all of Omaha, Nebraska!”

  “Oh, my goodness!” Ava put her hand to her chest and winked at his wife. “You can’t be fifty, young man! You don’t look a day older than twenty-five!”

  The entire family broke out in laughter, but the man looked to be pleased by Ava’s comment. She learned a long time ago that the way to people’s hearts and pockets was through kindness.

  “Oooh, Grandma! I think she’s flirting with Papa!” one of the older kids said and raised her eyebrow up at her grandmother.

  “This child ain’t crazy,” the woman said and returned Ava’s wink. “I think all of Nebraska knows about all the women I beat down over this man in my day!”

  “And I don’t want no part of that!” Ava joined in their laughter and playfully threw her hands in the air.

  “Well, you listen, honey.” The woman reached and grabbed Ava’s hand. “Thank you for the food, and we’ll call you if we need anything. I’m Tara Douglas, and this is my husband, Dan.”

  “Pleased to meet you, and I’ll be over to check on you in a bit.” Ava took her leave and went to check on her other tables; but, instead, she was met by Amanda.

  “Were you on time today, Ava?” she asked, blocking Ava from going any farther.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Ava replied, wishing they were farther from the Douglases’ table.

  “Good, but I’ll be sure to check your punch to validate your word.”

  “Okay,” Ava said and tried to walk around her; but Amanda stopped her again.

  “Your mother has been calling the restaurant nonstop looking for you. I thought you knew that the restaurant phone was not to be used for personal use.”

  “And that’s why I have a cell phone,” was Ava’s response. She was starting to feel that Amanda was just looking for reasons to be upset with her. “She probably got the number from your Web site.”

  “Well, tell her to stop calling! You can talk to her when you’re off at eleven tonight!”

  “Eleven?” Ava raised her brows at Amanda. “I
get off at nine tonight. My schedule has been the same since I started working here.”

  “Well, tonight I need you until eleven.” Amanda cocked her head and faked a concerned expression. “Is that a problem for you? Because if it is, I’m sure there are other places hiring that will let you off at nine.”

  Before she could say another word, Amanda walked off, leaving Ava to choke on her words. Ava was certain that the Douglases had heard the exchange, but she didn’t look back to see. Instead, she went to check on the other table like she was trying to do in the first place. Although she didn’t have anything to do after work, she didn’t like the way that Amanda had just come at her. It wasn’t right and, when she signed on, Ava had agreed to a specific schedule. Maybe this was Amanda’s way of punishing her for her tardiness. Either way, Ava was fuming.

  “Damn, girl, what’s got your panties so far up your ass right now?” Damien asked when she plopped down next to him in the employees’ room.

  Hours had gone by, and when it was finally time for her lunch break, she took her bad attitude with her. The only good thing so far about the night was that the Douglases gave her a hundred-dollar tip wrapped around a business card. She sighed and told Damien all about Amanda and that she was making her stay a few extra hours.

  “That bitch!” Damien exclaimed since they were in the employees’ room alone and able to talk freely. “What the fuck gives her the right to just randomly change your schedule?”

  “Exactly.” Ava shook her head. “I’m already dealing with enough, especially after last night.”

  “Hold on.” Damien put his hands up and looked into Ava’s face curiously. “What happened last night?”

  “I went home to my mom having another wild party.” Ava rolled her eyes. “We got into it pretty bad.”

  “Was it behind her boyfriend, Dopey?”

  “Yes.” Ava couldn’t even muster up a smile at him purposely mispronouncing Dumphy’s name. “I found out that the reason we were so behind on the light bill is because she’d been giving him all the money I give her.”

  “What!” His mouth fell open in disbelief. “Shut up. Girl, you are lyin’! Don’t she know how hard you have to work for your money? Hell, look at what you had to deal with today with Amanda’s punk ass.”

  “I know. That’s why I packed my shit and left.”

  “You left?”

  “Yup.”

  “Shut up! I thought your name was on the lease.”

  “It is, but I have to get my shit off now. Especially since she has a grown-ass man living there.”

  “I heard the fuck out of that. Where you been staying at? A hotel?” When Ava nodded her head, Damien shot her a look. “Girl, why the hell you in a hotel when you could have come to my house? You know my doors are open to you any time!”

  “Boy, stop.” Ava smiled. “If you weren’t such a freak nasty thing I might have considered that. Ain’t nobody trying to hear you bang your boo thang out every night.”

  Damien made the “Stevie J” face and blinked his eyelashes. “You right, you right!” Damien said and then laughed. “Daddy can’t get enough of this, okay?”

  By all means, Ava didn’t care about the fact that Damien was gay. She’d even met his little friend a couple of times. Still, the last image she wanted in her mind was of her friend’s sex life, no matter who he was bedding. She quickly decided to change the subject before Damien could tell her how much whipped cream he used the night before.

  “Anywayysss, I’m just going to look for a little apartment. Just something I can afford for right now. I can’t go back to that house because even if she gets rid of him—”

  “She’ll get a new man just like him.”

  “Exactly. So, let me go on ahead and boss my life up and get on my own two feet.”

  “And you will.” Damien reached forward and touched her hand. “I’m here for you, sis, always.”

  Ava was not one who was prone to being affectionate, but she was touched by Damien’s words. They continued to chat for a few more minutes before they checked the clock and saw that it was time to go back out on the floor. On their way out of the employees’ room, two of the other servers, Drew and Brianna, came inside to take their break. Ava wanted to roll her eyes because that meant she and Damien would be on the floor by themselves. She was positive that both had already gone over their breaks, and she was surprised that Amanda wasn’t on their necks. Ava understood that she wasn’t anybody’s parent, so questioning was, well, out of the question. Instead, she followed Damien and got back to the busy floor.

  Ava should have prepared herself because she was met with pure chaos. The dining floor was crowded and noisy. Every table she passed had a request for her: more water, more napkins, or extra silverware. She felt like she was moving nonstop for the next few hours, and it was a good thing, because it kept her mind off reality.

  After the lunch and evening rushes, the chaos died down and Ava could relax a little bit, until a group of people her age entered the restaurant. Those kinds of customers were usually her favorite. Although they didn’t tip well, they often livened the place up a bit. Plus, she knew that sometimes a person just wanted to go out to eat and pay for their own food, not their server’s bills. However, the group that had just walked in looked as if they could afford a tip and then some.

  There were three girls and two boys. The girls all had designer Coach bags with matching boots. Two of the girls looked like sisters with their smooth cocoa skin and wide eyes. One of them rocked box braids while the other had her hair braided into a big bun on the top of her head. They both had makeup covering their faces, looking like they had just left a photo shoot, and their outfits screamed chic. One was taller than the other, and if they, in fact, were sisters, Ava assumed that she was the older of the two. The other girl, however, was the one who stood out. She was a pretty, yellow-skinned girl with naturally long, straight hair highlighted auburn. Her smile was enough to light up a room, and her cheekbones would make Halle Berry jealous. Her outfit was on point, too, from her bomber jacket all the way to her light jeans.

  “Hey!” Ava greeted them as soon as they were seated. “My name is Ava Dunning, and I’m going to be the one helping you guys today. Can I start you off with some drinks and appetizers?”

  “Can I just get, uhhh . . .” the darker of the two boys started while looking at the drink menu. “Let me just get a Pepsi, with lemon.”

  “What?” the tall girl asked and made a face at the boy’s unusual request.

  “Ay, look,” the boy said and raised an eyebrow her way. “Don’t judge it unless you try it!”

  “You’d be surprised at how often I get that request,” Ava said jokingly and jotted his drink order down in her notepad.

  “See? Look, Nique, you got our waitress lookin’ at me all funny and shit!”

  “You did that to yourself, Blane.” Nique shrugged and then turned back to Ava. “Me and my little sister will have a Sprite.”

  “I can order for myself, you know!” the girl who looked just like Nique said.

  “What do you want to order then, Londa?” Nique asked, rolling her eyes; and Londa smirked.

  “A Sprite.”

  “You get on my damn nerves!”

  Ava smiled at their bickering and jotted the two Sprites down. The other guy sitting at the table was eyeing her up and down. She tried to ignore the look in his eyes when she focused her attention on him, but there was something about his slight smile that made her uneasy. He wasn’t a bad-looking young man at all. He actually was very attractive, but he was definitely the type who knew it. Whereas Blane rocked shoulder-length dreads, this guy’s hair was cut into a neat brush cut. He had no waves, but his line-up was so crisp, and it aligned perfectly with his beard. He wasn’t brown-skinned, nor was he light-skinned. He was the color of a bronze peanut with eyes the color of mahogany. He licked his full lips, answering Ava’s question before she even asked it.

  “I’ll take a lemonade, baby.
” He paused and then licked his lips again. “Unless you’re on the menu. If so, I’ll have that.”

  Ava didn’t miss a beat. She was so used to men hitting on her because of the size of her breasts and round behind that rejecting men seemed like second nature to her. She wasn’t rude about it at all, though. Instead, she shook her head and jotted his order down with a smile.

  “No, I am not on the menu, but I’ll bring your lemonade right out. I’ll even make it strawberry with no upcharge, but only if you never use that pickup line again.”

  “Damn! That was the nicest curve I’ve ever heard in my life!” Blane said, wide-eyed and clutching the top of his head. He held the look of someone who had just witnessed history in person. “Yo, son! You can’t even come back after that one, Vince!”

  The entire table burst into laughter, and even Vince cracked a smile. She didn’t know it yet, but Ava had sparked an interest in him. Whether that was a good or bad thing, only time would tell.

  “Excuse my friends, Ava,” the girl with the auburn hair finally spoke up. “They took some shots before we came out.”

  “Oh, really? Are you guys celebrating something?”

  “Yeah: getting paid!” Londa said, running her hands through her box braids with one hand and high-fiving her sister with the other.

  “Hell yeah!” Nique agreed with a grin.

  “Y’all are so damn ghetto!”

  “And you’re not, Vy? Girl, bye. You the same bitch who keeps a flask of Henny in her purse. Designer bag or not, you ain’t fooling nobody!”

  Vy looked like she wanted to smack Nique but, instead, she looked over her shoulder real quick before pulling the flask from her purse. She took a shot and put it back like nothing had happened, and she looked up into Ava’s grinning face.

  “The hood will never leave me,” Vy said, “but I don’t go to nice places acting a damn fool like them. I’ll just take a lemonade as well, regular for me. And can we start with Buffalo wings for an appetizer? You do have hot wings, right? My bad; I didn’t even look at the menu.”