Chapter 1: Love at First Sight

AMIRAH

SIX YEARS AGO…
   “Oooh, look at his fine ass coming this way,” Jade said, sipping on her dirty martini as we stood near the bar. I searched the crowd for a few moments before I saw what she did, and whoever this man was approaching us was indeed fine as hell. The true definition of tall, dark, and handsome, with a white-toothed grin that I'm sure had Jade soaking already at the sight. I love my big sister, but it wasn't a lie to say that she got around and made it her business to explore as many men as possible. I admired her ability to be sexually free or liberated, or whatever the hell she be claiming, but I wasn't that type of woman.
   One man would be enough for me. If the right one would look my way in the first place and not hers for once. The silent rejections hurt my pride, I'll admit. All my life our parents told us just how beautiful we were, and it was up until freshman year of college that I no longer believed it. From middle school to high school, I solely focused on my schoolwork and dance; nothing else. The boys couldn't even get two sentences out of me because I wasn't having it. Getting into Louisiana State University was a dream I had since I was a little girl who dreamed of the day I'd finally become a Tiger in Death Valley with all the raging fans and on the dance team.
   Now that I've accomplished those goals, a chain of new ones had formed. Graduate for the second time, secure my career job, and marry the man I'd meet here and start a family, buy a home, raise our family, and grow old and die. In that order.
   "He is fine, sis, but he's here for you," I replied, looking away to the sea of people to our left, dancing, drinking, and doing them. I let Jade convince me to take a break from my books to come out tonight and live a little, but what she really wanted was for me to be her wing girl so she could rebuild a roster of niggas since her first list bored her to the point of mass blocking them at the drop of a dime. What for? Prolly some silly shit with her fickle ass. Picking up and dropping dudes was her forte, and one heartbreak from high school was the reason for her being this way now.
   To her million of niggas, I had zero. I only had guy friends and hardly even a first kiss to claim. The peck from fifth grade didn't count, and being completely inexperienced compared to Jade's well-versed experience was as hard on me as being single was. I feel behind already, and my dreams of meeting my husband, the man of my dreams, were slipping away with every semester that passed. As a Junior now, I'm getting worried I’ll never find the one if I'm being real with myself.
   “Hey,” the man said, with his hand out to me. Me? Hesitantly, I reached for it as Jade folded her arms, shifting her weight to one side, looking the man up and down like he did her dirty for giving me his full and undivided attention. This was a first, and I couldn't help the smile that was slowly forming on my lips.
   “Hi?” I said shyly, shaking his hand, taking in all his features a little more under all of the colorful neon lights bouncing off every surface and even his skin that was just as rich as soil as mine. Not sure if I'm being dramatic or smitten by the fact he chose to speak to me, or if it's just the fact that the DJ turned the music down in this very moment. Either way, I was tuned in on whatever this man had to say to me.
   “I’m Treyvon, but you can call me Black. What’s your name, beautiful?” Oh, his voice. I wasn't expecting to hear one so deep, melodic, and captivating, and the whiff of cologne that came my way. I was talking shit before, but now I think my panties are gonna start soaking the longer I remain in his presence.
   “I’m Amirah. This is my sister Jade.” I turned slightly over to her, only to see her shaking her head and downing the rest of her drink.
   “Sup,” he tilted his head up like she was his homie. That's also new. No guy I've ever witnessed interacting with Jade wasn't foaming at the mouth, desperate for her attention and a chance to get between her legs. I guess she felt a way about it because she rolled her eyes before scoffing.
   "Hi. Are you ready to dip, Mirah?”
   “Whoa, already? I just got here,” Black said, pulling me in close, grabbing my hands to wrap around his waist, and caging me in his arms before looking down on me once more. “I would hate for you to go, but I understand. Just let me dance with you before you do, Amirah."
   Am I easy, or was I loving the fact a guy finally gave me some attention over my sister, and she was seething about it? No matter the dress. No matter the makeup. No matter the hairstyle. I was being looked over, and the one time someone approached me, Jade couldn't even be happy for me. She’s never been a hater before, but after we leave this bitch, she will definitely get a piece of my mind for her behavior.
   Mama and Daddy always said to check each other and have each other's backs. To uplift each other. To encourage each other to push to be the best version of ourselves with words of affirmation and back it up with our actions. No one could badmouth me about whatever reason without Jade throwing hands with them. No one could ever call her a hoe, although it's true, without having to see me and pay for it. Jade has always been my number one cheerleader, as I was hers.
   When I got my acceptance letter to LSU years ago that was attached to a full academic ride, she threw a party in my favor, being the best one she ever threw, and her speech in my honor had me in tears. So, for the life of me, I'm not understanding the shift in her behavior over this man?
   "Just one dance?" I asked.
   "Just one beautiful," he licked his lips before flashing his smile.
   "Just hurry up," Jade barked, causing me to look her way with a frown, smacking my lips.
   "I'll deal with you later." Oh, she's definitely getting a piece of my mind tonight for this shit.
   "Whatever," she snapped, downing another shot.
   "Let's go," I said, grabbing his hand to lead us to the dance floor. Jade wasn't about to ruin my night nor the first chance to have a good time and restore my faith in hopes of finding the one. After leading us to the center of the dance floor, Black's hands were on my hips to press his erection to the softness of my ass. I turned one-eighty to get a look, only to see him biting down on his bottom lip, admiring me in this all-black dress.
   "Like what you see?"
   "I'm loving everything about you, Amirah," he said, reaching for my neck to bring the back of my head to his chest. "The moment you walked through the door I couldn't keep my eyes off of you."
   "Are you sure about that?"
   "I approached you, didn't I?"
   "Yeah, but why is that? Why not my sister?"
   "Your sister, huh?" He said lower, lifting my chin with his index finger for my eyes to meet with his. "Even before I watched her get damn near every nigga number in here, my interest was in you from the start. I had to introduce myself before someone else tried to take what's mine."
   When he pressed his lips to mine, I stiffened. No words could come out, and I couldn't even process how he just claimed me when my body involuntarily turned to face him as he held my face and snaked his tongue into my mouth. I let him have his way because I sure as hell didn't know what I was doing at my big age of twenty and was too damn old to not know how to kiss. I'm not sure as to how much time had passed with his mouth still on mine. All I knew was that I wanted to leave this club to put out this fire that was brewing between my legs.
   “Fuck, Amirah,” Black murmured, pulling back. "You're definitely mine now."

── ༝༚・✦・༝༚ ──

SIX YEARS LATER…
They both got me fucked up.
It was around eight in the morning when I found out that my boyfriend had been cheating on me for all six years we've been together. Six fuckin' years. You'd think that was the worst part of the news I found sitting on my desktop with all the proof just waiting for me to stumble across the pictures of his erection in his pants waiting for that bitch I'm sure he's going to see right about now. Talm about I'll see you soon baby, and shit. The pictures, the voice notes, the whole text thread that dated all the way back to the day after I met the man of the hour. Treyvon Willis, aka Black.
That black ass nigga played me and she did too. I wasted six years of my life holding on to the hope that it was just a matter of time before he popped the question on me. I never asked for much. A house, marriage, and children. Simple. It wasn’t like we couldn’t afford it as money wasn’t the issue. The trips outta the city was cool, but I wanted to be a true housewife and nurture our future kids. It's all I ever wanted. Black knew that. Jade knew that. It's all I’d ever talked about.

Was it a crime to desire the cookie cutter American dream? When I think back to the collection of my ‘fond’ memories, I can't put that shit on me. I did everything right.
After I gave Jade a piece of my mind after the club that night years ago, we got into it badly and from that point on, our relationship was never the same. We talked less and less and moved to opposite sides of the city doing our own thing.

   From my point of view, Black and I were perfect. He left and came back home at the same time every day. The sex, the conversations, our routine was down to a perfect science. We were in sync and hardly had any issues.
   I'm not sure I'll ever forgive my sister for fucking my man not even a full twenty four hours after he gave me his number at the club that night. I did everything right, only to be played like booboo the fool. I did nothing wrong but be the perfect girlfriend to an unloyal ass nigga who enjoyed having his cake and eating it too. I should set this bitch ablaze.
   You know what?
   The moment I found out all the proof I needed of their treacherous bullshit, I stood from my work desk and proceeded to pack as much of my shit as I could into the largest suitcase I owned. Shoes, dresses, jeans, shirts, rompers, pajamas, you name it. I rolled that bad boy all the way to my brand new Honda Civic, which was sitting pretty in the two-car garage that was freshly washed and detailed from the day before. I popped the trunk, slung it in, and slammed it shut.
   The tears running down my face from all that bouncing around my closet to pack my things finally stained my rich, melanated cheeks. All of this pain was temporary. I know that much. It has to be. The more I thought about the betrayal from two people I loved the most, the more pissed off I got. My fist tightened as I stood in the garage contemplating for minutes about whether or not if I should do this shit. I picked this house. I curated all of the wall art. I picked the appliances. I picked the finishes. I picked the paint for the walls. I picked the furniture from the front to the fucking back of this house. I made this bitch into a home with everything in me. I quit my career job to take a chance on the dream that Black sold me. I did that. I made that sacrifice for the man I blindly loved.
   After Black taught me the ins and outs of drop-shipping, I became a pro and he started mentoring other people on how to do the same while I ran the business from home making us thirty-grand a month. I loved that about him so much, thinking he actually cared about the community. So the way I see it, I paid for this fucking lifestyle. All those weak ass consultations that nigga was doing was probably all bullshit now that I think about it. Black claimed that he was giving back to the community by putting them on and I can ten times outta ten bet that nigga has been leaving every day to go consult and fuck on my big sister. Shame on me for believing in the good in him.
   Stomping through the garage, I headed back inside the house to retrieve my entire collection of perfume from upstairs. All those name-brand bottles that I paid for were emptied all over the bedroom and bathroom.    I didn't stop there when I ran out. I grabbed every liquid possible in this muthafucka, ready to bless this house with the mightiest of fire to symbolize my pain. With one match, I dropped the lit stick to hit the ground and let it spread, throwing all consequences to the confines of that house, shutting the door to the home that neither of us could have now. If I couldn't have my fairy tale ending in that bitch, Jade was for damn sure wasn't about to reap the benefits of my hard work. That nigga either. So, fuck love, fuck him, fuck Jade, and everything in that bitch being lit up with flames.
   I shut the door, got in my car, and reversed outta there, burning the tires as I sped away. I pulled my phone out to turn off my location and transfer all of my money into my private account that Black didn't have access to or could reverse while driving to my first stop at the gas station at the end of the street. I fueled up and took the maximum amount out at the BURKEBANK ATM.

   My hands trembled on the gas nozzle just thinking about all this shit trying to wrap my mind around it. Jade just couldn't accept that one man chose me over her. Just couldn't let it go. One man destroyed our sisterhood forever and I don't know if I'll ever come to peace with that shit.
   After fueling up my car, I drove all the way across town to pull up on her ass and saw Black’s candy red Camaro sitting in the parking lot of her townhouse. This trip was gonna be quick and I was gonna be on my way after I did what needed to be done. Leaving the keys in the ignition, I left my car running and stormed over to her door banging on that bitch with tears brimming in my eyes. I’ve been crying non stop from the moment I left that house and made it all the way here. Thirty minutes of just wasteful tears on two people who don’t deserve shit but piss after I get the final taste of my revenge.
   “Amirah?” Jade looked stunned to see me.

   “Bitch!” I bulldozed my way into the house, throwing fire ball punches at her ass with no remorse. Never did I ever call Jade out of her name and never had either of us put our hands on each other but today was the day. Every punch I threw connected to her face. Over and over, I kept going regardless of her begs and pleas for me to stop. The only thing that stopped me from beating her ass longer was hearing the door of her bedroom creek.
   “Amirah, baby!” Black screamed and my head immediately whipped up to see his lying, cheating ass.
A fucking baby?
   I know I’m not intoxicated. I never do drugs. I know I’m not tripping. Right there. A beautiful baby girl wrapped in his arms looking about a year old and the perfect mix of Jade and Black. This just keeps getting better, I see.
   “You had a baby with this nigga?” I squeezed Jade’s shoulders, hoping I could rip her skin off, with my voice trembling. How could they do this to me?
   “Mirah. I am so sorry,” Jade’s face was drenched with blood and tears. “I was gonna tell you but I–” Jade sobbed and I released her. It was one thing to be fucking behind my back, but it was another thing entirely when my eyes fell upon that baby. That should have been my child.
   “I’m sorry baby. Just listen–” Black begged, bouncing my niece in his arms to calm her from crying at the state of her mother. My sister. They really did this shit to me. This is icing on the cake.
   “I’m done.” I stood to my feet. I had nothing to say to Black. He called my name repeatedly but I ignored him every time getting into my car and speeding off. The palms of my hands were already sweating and shaking and I needed to get away from them. Out of the city.
   Fuck. I am so sick of crying. I got on the interstate and for three hours I drove, doing the very thing I couldn’t stop doing until my gas light went off. Flicking on the right blinker, I made a right to drive on an exit that had the pit stop and shopping options on the highway sign. I don’t know where I am, nor did I care. The exit led me down a well paved dark grey road that had vibrant green trees on both sides that led to what looked like a military base.
   Part of me felt like I needed to turn around, but I had my military ID on me, thanks to my parents for being in the Navy my whole life until they retired some years ago. Men dressed in all black tactical gear were carrying weapons, leaning into the cars in front of me one by one before letting the cars pull through.
I let out a deep sigh taking in the fancy gold and black doors that had a black and gold Soulaan flags waving in the air at the pillars of the gate. I looked a little more and my eyes landed on the wording on the top written in gold, “Welcome to Lebeau.”
   Lebeau?

   When it was my turn. I slowed my car, pressing the breaks and one of the men crouched down. The name    “Randy” was stitched in gold too and his smile was warm. “How ya doin’ Miss? Name and Purpose?”
   “I’m Amirah, just a pit stop,” I said with a sigh.
Randy nodded, scribbling on his tablet for a moment and waved to the guards to let me through. “Enjoy ma’am. Welcome to Lebeau.”
   “Thank you.”
   Easing on the gas, I drove past Randy and the other men dressed just like him. Whatever this city was, it felt like driving through the entrance of a movie and perfectly manicured city. The vibrant green landscaping, the all black roads with gold stripes, huge cemented squares on the sidewalk, all black light poles, and every building was black, shiny, and brand new.

I drove the perimeter of this small city and noticed nothing but luxury finished everything, fresh cars, and all shades of black people walking around, coming and going where they wanted and needed to be. One half was dedicated to a park, apartments that looked to have seven floors a piece, and a parking lot. Then the other side had a hotel, mall, a school, hospital, firestation, club and more parking.

   I never seen any city or town that is so pristine and maximized on the convenience. Nothing was out of place and even the digital billboard on top of the hotel looked magnificent and grand. It had me squinting to read the marquee letters.
   Happy Birthday Bossman. We love you!
   I’m not exactly sure what to do with that, but all I know is that I’ve never heard of this place and the rent here must be through the damn roof. I drove back over to the front to stop by the gas station to fuel up like I intended to do in the first place.

I lifted my arm rest to retrieve my sunglasses to cover my face and headed inside with my head down and the cold air and smell of a mouth watering aromatics of food hit me in the face.

I looked up to see where the food was coming from and my jaw nearly dropped, seeing that this gas station had it all. From the buffet style hot bar, black shelves stocked with the typical convenience store items, bathrooms to the left, and a full cafeteria style area to sit down and dine-in. The white marble floors with gold swirls, and perfect lighting just enhanced the cleanliness and modern but classy touch to it all. Finally I gave into my senses to get a good look at the hot bar. Fresh food and black ladles to scoop, silver tongs to grab, and a huge stack of styrofoam plates to the side. It took everything in me to not just grab a plate and see what it was hitting for, but I almost caved when a man wearing a white chef’s jacket came out with a tray of fresh dinner rolls to add to the line up.

I could gain ten pounds just inhaling and looking at all of the BBQ, po-boys, pizzas, cakes, and fettuccine shrimp pasta. That’s it. I'm staying here for a few nights. No matter the cost, I needed to know more and I spun around and headed over to the cash register to pay for my gas, fuel up and check into the hotel.
The drive from the gas station to the hotel was about five minutes. Not too bad and only now I can say this is more of a town versus a city. I hopped out the car and swung my suitcase out the trunk and headed inside.

   “Hello miss. Welcome to the Grand Lebeau Hotel. How may I help you today?” The receptionist said with the brightest smile. Her skin was rich like mine and the blended blonde and hot pink box braids perfectly complimented her face and piercings. She was dressed in the usual hotel rep attire, y'know a button down, gold name plate, and I couldn’t see her bottom half though because she was sitting. My guess is that she was either wearing khaki pants or black slacks.
   “Can I get a room for three nights please?” I requested.
   “Okay. Any room in particular? Near the top floor, middle, or ground floor?”
Well now that she mentions it, I wouldn’t mind getting a room with the perfect view. I cleared my throat and said “Top floor please.”
   “Oh, I apologize, miss. I can get you a room in a room under the top floor, but not the top floor precisely. The entire top floor is for the boss. He lives up there.”

   “The entire top floor?” I gawked. Do she not realize how humongous this damn building is? Whoever he is, he must be a piece of damn work with an ego as big as Texas to have the entire? The entire top floor to himself? Damn? Then again, he might have a family. But still, that sounds so ridiculous.
   “Okay that’s fine, can I get a room under the top floor please?”
   “Absolutely. Still for three nights?”
   “Yes please.” Please don’t tell me the rooms are like five bands a night miss girl.
   “Okay, with all taxes included, your stay will be one-hundred and fifty dollars and fifty cents.”
   “A hundred and who?” I leaned forward, cuffing my ear to make sure I heard her right. When she started giggling I looked around to find the niggas with the cameras because this gotta be a prank!

   “Ma’am,” she said, covering her mouth. “We get that kind of response every day. It’s not a prank, this is very real. Lebeau is a very affordable place to visit, shop, and live. Okay? Cash or card?” She was still giggling and grinning and my ass was still befuddled. What the damn catch?
   “Cash,” I said with a skeptical frown reaching in my side purse to hand over two crisp hundred dollar bills.
   “Would you like to have a brochure? Lebeau has everything you need to vacation, live, and start over. Bossman always makes sure we all be straight when we pull up. I applied, got approved, and I moved here a month ago and furnished my one bedroom apartment in one week.”
   “How much do you get paid and how much are the apartments? He deadass owns this whole thang?”
   “Yup, he does. The minimum wage here is twenty dollars an hour and my apartment is six hundred a month and that comes with water, electricity, internet, and a washer and dryer. The weekly deposits always be on time and the quarterly bonuses always be fat, I'll slide you a brochure so you can check it out and consider boo.”
   “I know you fucking lying,” I looked at her with dead eyes. Twenty an hour and all inclusive rent? Here?    Where. Is. The. Cameras?
   “Here boo,” she said with a sly grin, sliding over my room key, brochure, and change after a few minutes.
   “What my credit gotta be to move here?”
   “Credit who? We don’t even know what credit is here. I ain’t wanna believe my homegirl when she told me about Lebeau at first, but she wasn’t lying when she said Lebeau is all black, safe, and the perfect place for us to start over. Aside from them honky tonk ass white boys pulling up to try and start some shit here and there, the Gun Club men always handle they asses with the quickness and I love living here.”
   “Damn?”
   “Yup. Check us out, okay?”
   I nodded. I appreciate her for putting me on and not bringing up how much of a mess I looked. I thanked her softly and sauntered over to the elevators to finally head up to my room and take a break. What stopped me was a gold statue of a couple holding each other inside of a glass case. The plaque in front of it said in Loving memory of Samuel and Audrey Lebeau. Founders of Lebeau.

   Very beautiful.
   When I made it all the way up to my room, I wasn’t surprised at all by any of the luxury and let the door shut itself when I plopped on the bed and sighed. Then my phone buzzed and when I looked to see who it was, it was my mom calling. “Hey mama.”
   “Oh thank all the good in the world we are living in. Are you okay?” I guess Black found about the house and called my parents.
   “Yeah… Mama listen…” My dad was with her as I explained to them the last four hours of my life. I had no more tears to cry and I was gonna deal with whatever consequences for committing arson. At least for the moment until shit hits the fan I can live in luxury and enjoy myself.
   “Okay Amirah. Don’t panic. We’ll figure something out. Drop us your location baby,” Mama said.
   “Right, we on the way, baby girl.”