I walk away from her. Sum about her makes me feel less in control. I don't like that feeling.

I feel a hand on my shoulder turn me around. "I said I wasn't done talking to you." She says, looking me in my eyes, like she did at the bank.

"Look I'm not trying to be rude by declining your gift. Its just that I don't know you and I can't accept this much money from you, or anyone." She says.

I just stare at her.

Fuck she's beautiful. Her eyes are oaktree brown and her skin is dark chocolate at its finest. Her dreads are down to her hips, I want to touch them.

Any other bitch would take that money and run, or at least suck my dick as a thank you.. But she is definitely different.

"Hello? Earth to Lesane, or Tupac, whoever you are." She waves her hand in my face again, making me look up at her eyes again.

"Its yours."

She furrows her eyebrows at me. But then her face lights up as if she has an idea. "Fine. Thank you." Adrienne says, before walking past me and down the stairs. I want to follow her, to see what she was doing tonight, maybe take her somewhere nice that she's never been before.

But she deserves better than a nigga like me.

Adrienne

•Two days later•

After seeing that he definitely wasn't going to take the money back, I had an idea to do something useful with it.

I called into the Lucky's grocery store on fifth avenue and told them that I'd pay for the first ten people's groceries. Mostly older women shop there, so I know it'd be put to good use.

But I can't help but wonder why he sent me that money.

Did he want me to do something for him? It just doesn't make sense that someone who doesn't even know me would give me that much money for no reason at all.

Since I quit my job, there hasn't been much to do. Of course I've been trying to find a new one but there isn't much available.

I'm slightly worried, the first of the month is approaching quickly and I'm gonna need to pay my bills.

I know what your thinking: why didn't you keep the money?

Well because there's always someone more in need, and I know I'll figure something out.

I put on some clothes and decide that I'll just go door to door at some businesses and ask if they're hiring. After all, the paper doesn't always catch job openings.

"This is absolutely useless." I sigh, leaning against my car.

I've went to six different places and none of them are hiring. I close my eyes, feeling the sun beaming down on me.

Its already one o'clock. I've been out since eight thirty this morning.

"You following me huh? A voice says, making me open my eyes.

Tupac is coming out of one of the buildings I was in. He lights a cigarette as he walks towards me. "No. I'm not." I say, he smirks.

"Heard you asking if they was hiring. You need a job asum?" He asks. I look him up and down, he has on a black button down that's slightly open at the top and black jeans and shoes. A gold chain hangs from his neck that almost blinds me.

"Its a lil too hot to have on all black, don't you think?" I say, ignoring his question.

"Its too windy to have ya whole ass out, don't you think?"

I roll my eyes.

I don't say anything, hoping he'll walk away, but instead he leans against my car beside me.

"So you need a job?" He repeats.

"Yep." I say, not wanting to elaborate much.

"I need a table girl at Black Cotton." He says, I feel him looking at me so I look down at my shoes. "I don't think a waitress job will cover my bills." I say, he chuckles for some reason.

"You need a job or not?"

There's a moment of silence between us. Tupac drops his cigarette and steps on it. He just lit it, what the hell.

"How soon can I start?" I look at him, he takes off the gold rimmed glasses he's wearing and cleans them on his shirt. I then notice how many rings he's wearing.

"Eight." He says, while putting the glasses back on.

"Eight tomorrow or?

"Tonight." He says, pushing himself off my car and beginning to walk away. I open my mouth to ask another question but he's already went back into the building he came out of.

A jewelry store. Figures.

•••

Ricky's funeral was today. I couldn't make myself go. It was probably a closed casket anyway.

"What's wrong with you?" Jamie asks, making me look up at her. I must've spaced out.

"Nothing."

"Well you look like somebody killed your puppy, pep the fuck up and tell me if you had any luck with job searching today." She says, as Braden comes out of the kitchen.

I decided to come to their place to kill some time.

"Welllll I'm a waitress at Black Cotton now." I say.

"Really? I've never been there before." Braden says, plopping down on the couch beside J.

"I've only been there once, but I did peep that the table girls there serve food butt naked." Jamie says, making my eyes widen. "From Banker to stripper, I like it!" She adds.

"I am not a stripper." I say, folding my arms.

"When do you start? Braden asks.

"Tonight at eight." I say, making Jamie squeal.

"Yes bitch we can come with you. He's never been and its your first night at work so its perfect!" She says. I chuckle.

"Sure, why not. But please don't distract me. I already don't know what to expect."

7:51 PM

I'm a little early, which is a good thing because I have no idea where to go or what to do.

"Good to see you again." The man at the bar says, I should probably learn his name. "Well we'll be seeing each other a lot because I work here now." I say.

"Welcome to the family." He says, sliding a drink to a customer.

I look around the club and I spot Tupac. He's on a couch in the corner surrounded by people, mostly half naked women.

I roll my eyes.

Tupac notices me and nudges the girls off of him before making his way through the crowd.

It takes a while for him to get to me because the amount of people stopping him to talk to him or because some girl wants to hug him.

"Ima take you upstairs to get a uniform." He raises his voice over the music, gesturing for me to follow him. We get to the same hallway from before but this time we go into a room that says Mr.Shakur on the door.

"This is your office right?" I ask.

"My name on the door ain't it?" He says, while opening what looks like a closet door.

I don't reply. Duh Adrienne.

He looks me up and down before handing me a small duffle bag with Black Cotton written in bold letters on it.

"That's all the uniforms that table girls wear. You got a different one fa everyday of the week."

I open the bag and there's tags on all the uniforms. After finding the one that says Saturday I hold it up and my mouth drops open.

"Where's the rest of it?" I ask, he doesn't respond.

"And I wear a medium not a small." I hold the bag out for him to take it back.

"This a club. Not church. Go put it on and lemme see." He says, before going behind his desk and rolling a blunt.

Let him see? I don't know why my cheeks burned when he said that. I mean of course he was gonna see because I work here and he's my boss, but something about him looking at my body just made me nervous.

I go into the bathroom connected to his office and shut the door.

Friday and Saturday uniforms are the skimpiest. I guess that's because those are the two busiest nights of the week. I look in the mirror at myself after putting the Saturday uniform on. My mama would have a fit if she knew I was "wearing my whole tail out" as she would say.

Its cute.

Its a jean skirt that's right below my ass, a black bra with staff written on my left titty, and a black apron that ties around the waist.

I zip up the duffle bag and come out of the bathroom, into his office.

Damn..

She comes into my office, I bite my lip to keep my jaw from hitting the floor.

She pushes her hair off of her shoulders and adjusts the bra some more, not paying me any attention at all. My eyes roam her body, she has a lot of small tattoos.

Her skin looks smooth, chocolate that melts in your mouth.

"Hello? She giggles, waving her hand in my face. That's been happening too often. I needa get my shit together. "Wassup? I clear my throat and sit up in the chair, taking a hit from my blunt.

"I said shoes." Adrienne laughs, I know she caught me staring.

"Oh shit, yea. What size you wear? I ask.

"Six and a half." She says.

"At the top in that closet behind you." I point, she turns around, her hair swinging behind her. I watch as she reaches the top shelf, the skirt raises up slightly.

Fuck.

I look down at my desk to keep from staring again.

"These are cute." She says, taking the heels out of the box. "You got a lil taste don't you?" She teases.

"I know what I like." I say, still looking down at the desk. She sits down in the chair in front of me as she puts the shoes on.

"If you want, you can get your name put on the apron." I say, she shrugs. "Doesn't matter to me."

There's a pause and I feel her eyes on me. I clear my throat, getting up from my desk. "We can head down and I'll introduce you to the other girls, we can do paperwork later." I say, she nods, following me out of my office and back downstairs.

I hired her so I'd be able to keep up with her.. To watch her behavior, how she acts in a place like this with niggas like me throwing money at her. I wanna know if she'll break like these other hoes.

The eyes of all my boys fall on her as we come back into the main room.

I wanna point my glock at em and tell em that she's mine, and that they better not even take a second glance at her.

But I don't.

I let them stare and cat call at her. Her face flushes and she looks back at me, I guess she's hoping that I say something to them.

"Its apart of the job." I say, "You'll get used to it."

She doesn't say anything but I can feel her tension and nervousness.

I keep her in front of me as we walk to the kitchen so I can watch for wandering hands. I don't want them to touch her, I don't know why I feel this way about this girl I don't even know.

It don't matter anyway.

She deserve better than a nigga like me.