Camille

      "Camille!" I jumped as I heard my husband's booming voice call me.

      Manuello and I had been together for six years and married for two of those years but that didn't stop me from being nervous when he got...excited. He had never laid a finger on me but that didn't stop the feeling of dread that came over me when he raised his voice. Only people who don't know Manuello tested him and those people very rarely lived to regret it.

      Yes, Manuello was attractive, hell he was a walking wet dream, but he was definitely not someone you wanted to play with. When I first met Manuello I thought that he was sheer perfection. At the time I was working as a waitress at one of the five star restaurants South Beach had to offer and he was just another patron. He was dressed to impress in a pair of cream tailored pants, a simple white dress shirt, and a pair of Ferragamo loafers. His facial hair was trimmed just right and his deep hunter green eyes went well against his golden honey brown complexion. My first reaction was to see if he was married and his left ring finger was devoid of that tell-tale sign of a band so I flirted a little.

      I amused him. There was no other way to put it. He didn't immediately cave to my advances like most men, although he did fuck me, and I only saw him when he wanted to be seen. Normally I'd have left him alone because I wasn't anyone's piece to run through but there was something about him. His swagger was undeniable and even though there was a lot about him that I didn't care for, there was much more that I just couldn't do without. Eventually we started dating and then that's when I started hearing the rumors.

      It was well known that Manuello was a wealthy man but there was more than a little bit of speculation on whether he accumulated his fortune through legal means. Well there's an old saying that behind every great fortune is a great crime and Mannie definitely represented that. Not long after we married I realized that Mannie was much more than your average business man. Sure he had a great financial portfolio that included stocks in companies like Apple, Sony, and Microsoft and yes he was a chairperson for one of the largest non-profit organizations in the United States but he also elbow deep in the drug trade.

      This was Miami and it wasn't unheard of for drug dealers to live in huge mansions and to have a few officers in their pocket. What was unheard of was for a man who gained the bulk of his salary pushing cocaine and heroine to live in an estate on Star Island and have dinner parties with the Governor of Florida and Miami's chief of police. Mannie was untouchable and his cold heart added with his brilliant mind allowed him to join the Donald Trumps and Bill Gates' of the world without any worry of legal ramifications.

      Manuello Suarez was the man every woman wanted, whether she was a Miami native or a New York socialite but I had him, at least for the moment, and didn't plan on leaving him any time soon. There was never a doubt in my mind that Manuello cheated, it was just a part of our relationship that I learned to deal with. Mannie didn't love me; he cared for me but he cared even more that he had a loyal woman at home waiting for him. A woman who looked good, was educated, and knew her place. I was all of those things for him. Manuello didn't love anyone but himself and his daughter Emmanuelle.

      Emmanuelle was the product of a union between him and his first wife Sienna and the girl was the spitting image of her parents. She had her mother's petite five foot stature and brown hair but had her father's everything else. Emmanuelle was a naturally quiet child and just took everything in. She was one of those children who could make you uncomfortable by just staring at you. She just stared at you so intensely that you couldn't help but be uncomfortable. Fortunately I hadn't been around her often. I actually haven't seen the girl since Manuello enrolled her in a private boarding school when she turned fourteen a few years ago but the girl had the brightest blue/gray eyes I had ever seen though where she got them was anyone's guess. Sure Manuello had funky eyes for his Cuban heritage and while I didn't know very many Aborigines, okay I didn't know any; I had always assumed they had brown eyes so she was just an oddity.

      Truthfully Emmanuelle was the only person Mannie loved and as such she was his biggest weakness. He'd kept a close eye on Emmanuelle and when things started getting a little too heated for his liking, he'd had her things packed up and shipped her off to a private boarding school in upstate New York. Manuello had used the excuse of keeping her protected and getting a better education as an excuse for sending her away but I knew better. Yes, the reason had been in part to keep her safe and away from his lifestyle but it had also been to keep her away from boys. If you ask me that was just asking the girl to rebel and seek out men but I don't dare mention that to Manuello. I happen to enjoy my life, thank you.

      "Yes Mannie?" I asked him as I walked into his office.

      "I have to go handle some business but my baby's coming home tomorrow. Be here to greet her," he ordered.

      "Of course Mannie," I replied with a nod.

      He glanced at me before waving me off. It took everything I had not to roll my eyes. Sometimes that man got on my damn nerves.

Michael

      I glanced at my watch before exiting Manuello's silver Rolls Royce Phantom. It was about ten o'clock on a Monday morning and instead of sleeping in like I usually did after a weekend of partying I was at the private landing strip waiting for Emmanuelle. I'd been assigned to pick up Blue this morning and Manuello would have her seen in nothing but the best. It had been years since I'd last seen Manuello's little girl and honestly I was looking forward to the reunion. She had been my charge while she lived in Miami and I had grown to care for her as a little sister of sorts. Yes, she was loved and treated as a little princess but she was also kept very close and didn't really have the normal childhood. Her father didn't trust too many people so she never got to have sleepovers and she damn sure wasn't allowed to attend any. Blue was just really sheltered. Even so she was a daddy's girl and in her eyes Manuello could do no wrong and the same went for her in his eyes.

      Just then a strong breeze erupted and I shrugged my Christian Audigier hoodie over my white Calvin Klein tee. It was mid-December and while it wasn't as cold as say Detroit it was still chilly, what with the temperature being somewhere in the mid sixties. Before I had a chance to contemplate Miami's weather the door to the private jet parked several feet in front of me opened and the workers at the private landing strip began making a quick chore of getting all of Emmanuelle’s luggage. As the last structured monogrammed Louis Vuitton luggage was put on a trolley a female, whom I assumed was Blue, un-boarded the private G4 jet.

      It was easy to tell that she'd come from a cooler climate seeing as she was dressed in a pair of denim jeans that clung to her body, simple black high heeled ankle boots, and a large gray/black hooded sweater that stopped mid thigh. The heat must have gotten to her before she quickly discarded the jacket, allowing me to take in the extremely low rise of the jeans as well as the thin black tank top that molded to her chest and rose a bit to show her diamond belly ring. Her father was going to flip when he saw her. She ended the call she was on and glanced in my direction and I watched as a smile formed on her face as she descended onto the ground.

      "Mikey!" she exclaimed before jogging over to me and engulfing my larger form in a hug.

      "Hey sweetheart," I replied as I hugged her back.

      I inhaled her sweet perfume as the breeze flung her silky soft dark brown hair around. The various workers at the private landing strip loaded her structured Louis Vuitton luggage in the trunk of the car while two of us reunited. When they were done I checked to make sure we had everything before opening the door for Blue and waited until she was in the car before sliding in behind her. I watched as she made herself comfortable against the butter soft white leather before turning her attention to me.

      "So how have you been mister man?" she asked me

      "Great. Just living life to the fullest. What about you? I must say that you have grown since the last time I saw you," I replied as I motioned to her body that had filled out and gained some curves since she was fourteen.

      "Let's just say that I've had my share of milk," she replied with a wink and a smile.

      The rest of the ride was done in a comfortable silence. I knew there were some questions that she wanted answered but they weren't answers I was privy to or had been given permission to answer. Blue didn't mind though because she was a determined person; she'd always been precocious and knew that with patience she would get the information she desired.

Camille

      "Cami!" I heard a feminine voice call me and it didn't take a genius to know who it was.

      I left the theater and headed to the foyer to see Emmanuelle standing there looking like a woman. I'd always known that she would grow up to be a beautiful young lady but to see it first hand was amazing, especially since just a few moments ago, or what felt like it, she had still been a little girl. The two of us didn't have the conventional relationship since Mannie hadn't allowed the two of us to really get to know each other until after we were married and I moved in but she didn't hold ill will towards me. We had a sort of friend--aunt/niece relationship and it worked well.

      "Hey sweetie," I replied as I hugged her and had her move back and twirl for me so that I could get the full affect. "You know your father's going to have a heart attack right?"

      "He'll be okay," she replied in a noncommittal tone. "So where is my papi?"

      "Mannie had some business to attend to but he'll be back as soon as possible," I answered knowing that my answer wouldn't satisfy her but that she wouldn't ask me to explain any further than that.

      "So," she started after asking Elaine (a maid who had passed by while we had our reunion) to take her bags to her room, "what school will I be attending?"

      "I believe your father mentioned something about you be home schooled."

      "Abso-fucking-lutely not!" she screamed.

      "Emmanuelle..."

      "No, Cami!" she replied forcefully as she pulled out her cell phone and pressed speed dial #1 and started pacing.

      I stood back and watched. There was nothing I could say and honestly I'd rather her yell at Mannie than me. She and I had a very understanding relationship and I didn't dare discipline her. Firstly, I had no doubt that Mannie would ring my neck if I placed a finger on her and two, there was no point in grounding her because all she had to do was pout and Mannie would give her whatever she asked for. All I was, really, was a supervising adult with a title with no real power or authority.

      "What is this shit about me having to be home-schooled?" she exclaimed and I closed my eyes tightly as I prepared myself to hear Mannie's baritone scream over the phone line.

Emmanuelle

      "Watch your mouth when you're talking to me mija," my father's voice said over the line. "I will not be disrespected."

      "And I will not be home-schooled, papi. You sent me to strict catholic schools all my life and I didn't say a word. As soon as I was about to enter high school you shipped me off to an all girl's boarding school and I didn't argue but this? This I will not take. I want to go to prom, go to the basketball and football games I missed when I was at my other schools. Can't I have a little bit of normalcy?" I asked.

      "You don't understand," my father replied, trying to reason with me.

      "Then make me understand," I demanded.

      "There are people out there who would target you to get to me," he started.

      "Like who papi?" I asked him. "All my life I've been sheltered and for what? For some non-existent danger. What happens when I finish school and leave home? You're not going to be able to watch out for me then. How am I supposed to live and grow when I'm always isolated in one form or another?"

      "Can we talk about this later?" he asked me. "I'm busy and I don't have time to explain everything to you."

      "We can talk alright but unless you trash that whole home-school thing we're not going to get much progress," I muttered before ending the call.

      Cami stared at me in shock and I shook my head at the woman. We got along well enough but I just couldn't understand her. Here she is married to a man whom I know she loves but she's terrified of. I know that people are afraid of my dad and I guess they have good reason because he's a no nonsense type of guy and will set you straight in a New York minute but she was his wife. If she wasn't able to express her feelings to him then maybe she shouldn't be with him.

      "Your father told me to tell you that he's having a little get together on the sixteenth," Cami said.

      "So I guess I'll have the house to myself Wednesday?" I asked her already knowing the drill.

      "Not exactly," she replied with a smile. "You're coming as well."

      "Say what?" I asked.

      "You're coming with us," she reiterated.

      "But that only give me today and tomorrow to get an outfit together," I replied knowing that I wouldn't have much time to get an outfit together.

      Yes, money wasn't an option and so I could go into just about any store or boutique and get something to wear but I didn't want something another girl had on. This would be my first time on the scene and I had to make a statement. I knew enough to know that the who's who of Miami would be in attendance and I had to make an impression. Not only because I was Manuello Suarez's daughter but because I wanted to make my mark as Emmanuelle.

Jarell
Dec.15th

      I sat in my office going over my financial documents, making sure I was getting a return on my investments, when my office door opened and my business partner (and long time friend) Druex walked in. We gave each other dap before he plopped down on the leather chair across from my desk.

      "What's good J?" he asked me before tossing me a manila folder.

      I slipped the folder in my desk without opening it and responded to his question, "Just the same old shit. Have you spoken to O?"

      "Yeah and he said he's definitely heading to Suarez's party tomorrow but De can't make it. Something to do with his baby's mother," Dru replied.

      "See," I started with a shake of my head, "that's why I don't deal with hoes. Speaking of hoes..."

      "That's why your ass don't have a girl now. You're always calling women bitches and hoes," Dru interrupted me.

      "No, I just speak the truth," I corrected, "but like I was saying. Did you give that hoe Chante my number?"

      "Chante ain't a hoe Rell. That's Sylvia's best friend," he said.

      "The fact that she's your girls friend doesn't take any of the hoe out of her," I told Dru.

      Druex rolled his eyes before saying, "Nah, I didn't give her your number. Sylvia's busy-body ass may have taken it out of my phone though."

      "You need to put that chick in check," I replied before glancing out of the window.

      Honestly, I didn't have anything against women but the women I run across on the regular are those who don't respect themselves and do anything just to gain a meal ticket and I have no use for them. Bitches like Chante get on my nerves though. She was your average simple minded female who took the motto 'using what you got to get what you want' to the heart. Yes men liked sex but it took more than that to get us to stay around, at least it does for me. Besides I wanted a woman not every nigga I know can say they've been through.

      I like Sylvia well enough but there was something to be said about people being similar to the company they keep. Druex didn't want to hear it though so I kept my thoughts to myself. That's his girl not mine and obviously he knows more about her than I do.

      "Don't you worry about me and mine," he replied as I turned to look out the window.

      Druex had been talking about something but my attention had been pulled from him to a girl walking down the street holding several garment bags talking to a guy that looked vaguely familiar. What caught my attention, besides the fact that her body shape was crazy was the way she held herself. Being in my line of business you learn how to glance at people and pick up key elements about them and by the way she held herself let out the air of self confidence that wasn't found in most females around her age range. Sadly enough, women in their early twenties played a good game but they weren't very self satisfied and needed other people, more specifically men, to make them feel like they're worth something. My quick observation of this girl told me that with her that wasn't the case at all.

      "Yo, are you listening to me?" Dru's irritated voice asked me.

      "No, repeat that," I replied as I turned my attention back to him.

      "Forget it," he replied before standing and glancing at his watch. "I'll catch you later."

      "Aight," I replied before printing a copy of my financial stats and shutting down the computer.

      I placed the warm papers in my briefcase along with the manila folder Druex just gave me before leaving my office and heading home. I had a few things to take care of before tomorrow's party. Manuello will be introducing me to the various movers and shakers of Miami and the southern states of the US. Everyone who was anyone of significance would be in attendance and I had to make sure I was on point. You only get a chance to make a first impression once.