Money-Makin' Mamas by Smooth Silk Read Free Book Online Page A

notice it was missing. And you say you want me to go into his stash every week, right?”
    â€œYes. Every week, until I give you the word to stop. I’m going to put some of this aside for you, too, and the day will come when neither of us won’t have anything to worry about.”
    Honey smiled and got back to business. “You may not have any worries, but I surely do,” he said.
    â€œAre you talking about Ray? Don’t worry about him, okay? If he ever questions the money, I will tell him that I took it.”
    â€œI’m not worried about the money because there’s too much of it in there. He won’t notice that it’s missing. I be getting me a little of it from time to time too.” Honey giggled and so did I.
    Smart kid. Very smart kid .
    â€œAnyway, I was talking about my grandmother. She’s real sick, you know? She got cancer and it’s just a matter of time before she dies. I’m okay staying with Ray, but if something happens to her, I’m gon’ be real miserable. I love my granny. She’s always been like a mama to me.”
    I scooted in and wrapped my arms around Honey. “We will pray like hell that nothing happens to her, but if it does, please know that you always got me, okay? From this day forward, you can always count on me. In the meantime, I have some other ideas that I want to share. When all is said and done, we gon’ be on top of the world. We both gon’ be the boss, and Ray can take all of this shit over here and go to hell. Are you with me on this or not? If not, I understand.”
    Honey slapped his hand against mine and said that he was down for whatever. That day, and the days and weeks following, he proved to me just how loyal he really was.

Chapter Four
    That nigga, Ray, had no idea what kind of woman he had created: a real bitch who was starting to live up to the title he’d given me. Eventually, I would become a pain in his ass and a force to be reckoned with. See, it took a nigga like Ray to turn a good girl into bad. I hadn’t been feeling like myself, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. It had gotten to the point where Ray would walk off and leave me the fuck alone. I would say something smart to his ass, and he would let that shit ride. He continued with his threats, but for now, they went in one ear and out the other. I was starting to get my mojo. Honey had been dropping a lot of dough in my hands, and we’d planned something big that would finally set me free.
    For now, though, I was back in the streets, shaking my ass and making that fool, Ray, all the money he could get his grimy hands on. I had to laugh to myself, because he seriously thought that I wasn’t getting paid. He got a kick out of dropping those dollar bills into my lap at the end of the night, and he had the nerve to joke about it, saying that I was now up to twenty-five dollars.
    I laughed that shit off too. All while putting the money that Honey kept giving me into the bank. I’d put his name on the account, too, just in case something happened to me and he needed access to it. We were a real team. He trusted everything that I said and did. Ray was too busy into what he’d been doing that he didn’t even notice how close Honey and I had gotten.
    I stood at the door in Ray’s apartment, ready to go to my next gig. Honey was sitting back chilling at the table and smoking a joint. Ray rushed into the living room, scratching his head.
    â€œI’m missin’ some goddamn money,” he said, looking around.
    Almost immediately, Honey’s eyes and mine connected. Ray then turned to Honey and cracked his knuckles.
    â€œYou got my money?” Ray asked. “I know you got it, so fess up!”
    Honey moved his head from side to side. His eyes grew wide and he looked at me again. “I . . . I ain’t got your money,” he stuttered. “I swear I don’t.”
    Ray moved closer to