A Project Chick (27 page)

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The Breaking Point

Two weeks later, she began to look through the mail and there was a letter from the rental office and one from her brother. She knew her brother would have something positive and motivating to say, so she thought about saving that for last. She changed her mind and decided to read her brother's letter first.

Peace Sugar Gal,

First off, let me say I love you more than life

itself. Can you try calling MCI to get the block off your

phone? I know they probably placed it there because

you haven't paid the bill, but see what you can do. I

need to talk to you. I know things are tight for you. I

really wish I wasn't on this racist-ass plantation,

because I would damn sure send you some money to

help you out. But don't worry, I have only a couple

more years and I will be home shortly. All your

worries will be washed away. I promise.

I got a letter from that hoe Dutchess. I told you

a long time ago that hoe was not your friend and you

never listen when I tell you about people. Don't you

know that hoe had the nerve to write me and tell me

that she wants me to talk to you about her fucking

that no good snake Lucky! She tried to act like she

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was so concerned about you getting into trouble

because you fucked up her house. But I know she

scared as hell. She is shaking in her boots, and

rightfully so! I laughed so hard when I read the part

of the letter that you spray-painted her house. You are

gangster!

I ripped that letter up and sent it right back to

her. I am not speaking on her behalf. Sugar, all I'm

saying is, don't get into no trouble behind those two

cruddy suckers. They're not worth it, the boys need

you out there, not behind bars. Don't worry, they'll get

theirs in the end. I promise!

Write me back ASAP! I love you and give my love

to the boys!

Love, Taj

Tressa was furious, but all she could do was shake her head. This winch Dutchess is crazy!
Now, why would
she tell my brother? Like he can control me. I'm a grown ass
woman and that only makes me want to whip her ass even
more. I had made up my mind that I was going to leave it
alone. But some people won't let sleeping dogs lie. I can't
wait until I see her.

She was certain the rental office was simply writing to address something negative. She was right. The lady who had just moved in under her, told the rental office that the twins are making too much noise over her.

Whatever! I have more important things to worry
about! They always writing about B/S, they never ever
address the real issues. People are getting murdered right on
our playgrounds where our children play, and not to mention,
the selling of the narcotics right at our doorsteps. All these
things clearly go on everyday, and they got the nerve to send
me a letter about this crap!

Come to think of it, this broad downstairs looks in my
face everyday, and still decides to go to the rental office and
complain. Instead, she could have simply came upstairs and
asked me to keep it down. She don't have a problem sending
one of her begging ass kids to my house to borrow some
eggs, sugar or Kool Aid. I mean, what do she expect? She
lives in apartment, not a house and I have kids. But then
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again, she doesn't even have any furniture in her apartment,
so I'm sure it's really hollow in there and she can hear
everything. Shoot, it's not my fault she can't afford furniture!

Taking all these things into consideration, she felt conquered, and overturned like everything in her life was going down hill. Every single person in her life that she even cared about had deceived her or let her down. Her mother and brother both went to jail, and left her out here to fend for herself. Her mother later committed suicide.

The men she chose, Lucky, Jacko and Mr. Bill, and allowed in her life, were all poor choices. At first, all kinds of things ran through her head, like maybe somebody put a curse or a root on her. Then she thought about, maybe, she was being punished for going against her brother's wishes and dating Lucky. The final thought was, maybe God was punishing her for having her children out of wedlock and for all the other sins she'd committed. Tressa was about to crack the fuck up!

The girlfriends that she selected, whom she played fair with, crossed her every chance they could and she did not know why. Her only thoughts were when was Lucky going to take Missy and Wiggles away from her too?

(One Year Passed) Now 1996:

After the three past experiences with the men she choose, Tressa became bitter towards men. She withdrew from dealing with any man, and she didn't allow any new people into her life. She was also certain she'd never be in a close relationship with a woman again, that was not even an option.

Although there was nothing that could replace a warm body in her bed at night, Tressa learned to improvise when it came to her sexual needs. Like numerous women, even those afraid to admit it, she settled for vibrators. The

"Rabbit", the "Butterfly", the "Penguin", and she couldn't forget about old faithful, the "Penis Pleaser!" filled her lonely nights. She reasoned with herself that self-pleasure was the way to go, to try and ease the pain of being alone.

Tressa accepted the fact that she was going to be alone, just she and the boys.

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I'll be A-OK.
Well, at least I don't have to worry about
a man not doing his job properly, and not being able to make
me cum or to the dick going down. I control the size, width
and shape, and how many times a night I want to cum.

Furthermore, I don't have to worry about any man cheating on
me or another girl sitting on my man's dick when I leave to go
to work, cause see, I own that. It'll still be sitting in the closet
waiting on me to return and give it some action. So, whether I
work it everyday or once a month, as long as I have some
fresh batteries, I'll be A-OK!

Tressa's new focus became to rise above the poverty stricken life that she had accepted for the past two years.

She knew things happened for a reason. She just had a feeling she had put in her dues, and now it was her season to come up. Her pity party was over. She decided that she'd have to accept a few things. One, that it was not meant for her to have companionship! Two, that Lucky would never step up to the plate and be the father that she so yearned for him to be for her children. Although there were some things that she couldn't teach her boys, she'd do the best she could. Her whole life revolved around her boys. She participated in every activity she could with them.

She worked on building a better life for her boys and threw herself into their lives. She put them in karate lessons, and all her spare time revolved around her boys.

She picked up a second job and didn't report it to the rental office. With the monies she made from the second job, she sacrificed and put it in a savings account that she didn't touch. This was going to be her way up out of Eastgate Village. Whenever her children were gone for the weekend, she didn't hang out, instead she worked. Wiggles pretended she had a part time job, but really she was selling weed.

She only sold fifty-dollar bags or better to help Tressa move out of the hood. Wiggles rolled the money in. Everybody knows that there is no better hustler than an ex-crack head or drug addict. Even after they no longer have their addiction, the hustle is still instilled in them, since their habit depended on it when they were using. So, as sober as Wiggles had been for the past three years, she still had the hustle in her that once satisfied her addiction.

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Tressa on the other hand, wasn't any drug hustler, but she too came across a hustle that she liked too, the

"Bootlegg" hustle. She begin catching the Greyhound bus up to New York. Carrying only a small bag with her toothbrush, toothpaste, cash, her ID, and a pillow, she'd hop on the bus that left Richmond late at night, so she'd arrive in New York City at 8 a.m. Her routine was the same, she'd leave her pillow on the Greyhound, to her it was worth it to leave the $5.00 pillow. She'd stop by the bathroom in Port Authority to freshen up. Then go to have a small bagel and a cup of coffee. By this time, China Town and the garment district would be open and she'd make deals all day for the Coach bags and other knock off items.

This was back in 1996 when Versace, Gucci, Coogi and Fendi was hitting Richmond's fashion scene hard, so these things were in big demand. At this time the closest place the divas and dons could go to get these items were Northern Virginia/DC areas, which were about two hours away. A few people did take that two hour drive, but most didn't. So, Tressa brought these things to Richmond and a real bankroll it brought to her.

Tressa, unlike other bootleg artists, she told the people that her things were imitation. A few other people did it in the town, but they lied and told people that their products were the "real deal". She could have easily gotten over on the same people, but bridges were not what she was trying to burn. She wasn't trying to beat anybody over the head with her prices. She was just trying to make her money back and get a profit out of the deal. For instance, she'd buy Gucci shades and would pay $5-7.00 per pair, and come back and sell them for $30-40.00 a piece, or Coach watches for $7-10.00, and come back and sell them for $30.00. Tressa was making more money in a week then she made on both her jobs combined in a month. The part time job she dropped almost instantly, but the first job she kept because she knew if she wanted to get a house it would be so much better with legitimate employment.

Tressa ran into Calvin from back at the University and he now owned a lot of property. Sometimes it isn't what you know, it's who you know. He introduced her to some government programs, and before too long, Tressa was able to move into a three-bedroom house, nothing too fancy, but 185

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it was hers. She was uncertain when this time would come, but her freedom was finally here. The day Tressa moved out of the projects, a lot of thoughts were going through her mind. She was grateful for two things, that she didn't have to live in such a degrading environment, and that the experience made her a much stronger person than she was when she went in.

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-21-

The Clown

Tressa had been around the house all day cleaning, until Missy called and asked Tressa to give her a ride because her car was in the shop. Tressa didn't hesitate to say yes.

Tressa was wearing her black Calvin Klein faded jeans that she would never, under normal circumstances, do anything else in, but clean her house or wash her car.