times are hard. I don’t mind helping you out as long as you help me out once in a while. And, baby, I need some help right now.” She started to lift up her skirt, and I turned my head with a grimace when I saw that she wasn’t wearing any panties. I was definitely going to have to break out the air freshener once I got her ass out of here.
“I’m sorry, Viola, but I can’t help you.” I walked toward the door.
“Why not?” That was definitely not what she was hoping to hear. She truly looked insulted.
“Well, to be honest, I’m dating someone seriously right now, and I’d hate to start cheating on her this early in the relationship. You can understand that, can’t you?” I opened the door and hoped she’d get the hint, but she stood her ground, staring out the window as she interrogated me.
“I know you ain’t talking about that big ass woman with the messed-up teeth.”
“No, not her. She’s just a friend. I’m talking about the tall, light-skinned girl with the blond locks.”
“Her?” Viola placed a hand on her hips and gave me a skeptical glance. “I thought she was your sister.”
“Why would you think that?”
“’Cause you told me that last month, right before we got our groove on.”
“Well…” Damn. I hated getting caught in a lie. “She’s not my sister. She’s my girl.”
“You sure about this? ’Cause Viola don’t like to be lied to.”
“Ain’t nobody lying to you. And yeah, I’m sure. You got your money, Viola.”
She slipped her feet into her shoes and I breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like she was gonna give up before she had to resort to begging. I waited by the door to see her out, but something out the window caught her attention and she started to laugh.
“Um, Trent? Isn’t that your car that man’s about to tow away?”
“Please, Viola. Ain’t no one out there towing my car.” I stuck my head out the door and almost had a heart attack. “Oh, shit! Hey! What the hell are you doing? Get away from my car!”
I could hear Viola’s hysterical laughter as I took off for my car. The skinny ass brother hooking my car up didn’t know it, but I was about to give him the ass whipping of his life. That is until a short, balding, overweight white man stepped out of the truck carrying a shotgun.
“Calm down there, fella.” He didn’t have to tell me twice as he raised his gun at my chest. I froze, raising my hands above my head.
“What are you doin’ to my car?”
“What you think we doin’? We’re repossessing it.” The skinny brother laughed. “Unless you got the thirty-three hundred you owe Financial Credit.”
I glanced evilly at the brother who had finished hooking up my car and was now standing next to his partner. “You like fucking over black folks, don’t you?”
“No, I like fucking over anyone who don’t pay their bills. I’m an equal opportunity hater, man.” He laughed until his partner shot him a look.
“Look. We’re just doing our job,” the white man told me as he handed me a piece of yellow paper.
“Well, your fucking job sucks!” I looked down at the paper. “Look here. I don’t even owe Financial Credit thirty-three hundred. I only owe them twenty-eight hundred.”
“Not after you add in the towing fee, the repossession fee, collection fee and storage,” the brother interjected happily. I ignored him and turned to the white man.
“Look, man, I know you gotta get something outta the deal. So what if I give you three grand? You think you can make this go away?”
The man with the gun looked at his partner, then turned to me.
“You give us three grand cash right now and we’ll make sure this thing goes away.”
“Hold on one minute, okay? I just have to get the money.” The white man nodded and I ran over to Viola, who was just about to walk into the rental office. “Viola, sweetheart, I need to get that money back. So why don’t you come back over to my house and we can discuss those terms