Erotic City by Pynk Read Free Book Online

Lavender, who kept his focus on Pastor Michael.
    Milan sat still, crossing her arms and legs, pulling her distracted mind away from the thoughts of the sometimes cold and distant vibes she’d get in the Lord’s house.
    This is obviously something I’ll just have to get used to
, she told herself, twisting the oversize pearl ring on her baby finger.
    Pastor Michael said, “It’s not what they call you that matters, it’s what you answer to.”
    The woman next to Milan folded her arms and leaned away just as Lavender put his hand over Milan’s knee and gave a firm squeeze. She turned toward him and squeezed him back with a smile.
    More than an hour later, Milan and Lavender were in the slow-moving line of cars waiting to exit the parking lot of the church. Lavender wore his Marc Jacobs stunna shades as he looked down to fiddle with the radio.
    Station 102.5 announced out loud,
“As we reported earlier, Gwinnett County resident, popular rapper Big Mack was charged with assault early this morning after attending a sex club in midtown Atlanta called Erotic City. An unidentified victim has allegedly accused him of assault with a deadly weapon after claiming that force was used in an effort to engage the victim in the act of oral sex. The owner of Erotic City was charged with one count of negligence. Our records indicate that Erotic City opened its doors in 2006. The owner, Milan Lee Kennedy, is the daughter of legendary singer Charlie Kennedy who passed away last November. Both Big Mack, aka Mac McCoy, and the club’s owner are due in court for an arraignment soon to discuss the charges.”
    Milan did not flinch. She did not blink. She simply stared forward and swallowed. Without looking, she reached into her purse and pulled out her tinted sunglasses, securing them along her youthful face. She leaned her head back and rested her elbow along the door, bringing her hand to her chin in thought.
    Lavender pressed the button to switch from the radio to the Jill Scott track that was Milan’s favorite, “Hate on Me.”
    He took her hand and squeezed. “Everything’s gonna be all right. We’ll be fine.” He pulled out onto the street and headed to Milan’s home.
    Milan had no reply.
    Silence sat in the car with them the entire way home.

7
    “When I’m with You”
    Sunday, March 30, 2008

4:00 p.m.
    L ater that afternoon, Tamiko Kennedy and her man, Jarod Hamilton, rode back home from a matinee at the Fayetteville Pavilion theater. They rode in his freshly detailed, coal black Audi A8 with deep gray privacy windows and black leather seats. They always made a point to attend movies on a regular basis. It was just one of the things they liked to do together.
    She asked, “Still can’t believe what happened last night at the club. Was it a crazy scene or what?”
    “Not really. Most people left once the police got there.”
    “Do you think Big Mack did that?”
    “I have no idea. I was downstairs. With the only witness being Ramada, who knows?”
    “True.” Tamiko smoothed her black bangs along her forehead and brought her long hair from behind her back to over her shoulder. She was a couple of shades browner than her older sister, a little bit shorter and about twenty pounds heavier. She looked more like her black father than her Asian mother. “I thought that movie was pretty good. Did you?”
    Jarod drove with his sunroof open, allowing the cool afternoon air to circulate above his freshly shaven head. He sat with a bit of a gangster lean, with his elbow resting on the middle console. “Uh-huh. The bad guys came around in the end. But the ladies were pretty hard on the brotha who cheated on his wife. She fooled around too, now.”
    “Yeah, but not until he did.”
    “Hey, two wrongs don’t make a right.”
    “I agree.”
    He rubbed the top of his head. “Would you do that?”
    “What?”
    “Run right off and get with someone if you were fooled around on.”
    Tamiko focused on the neighborhood view that