CHAPTER 7
THE COME UP
Knowing they needed to hustle up some cash fast, Babyface came up with the idea of him and Victoria boosting designer clothing and unloading them at the pool hall and on the streets.
As they entered the pool hall, it seemed like everything stopped and everyone’s attention was drawn to Victoria. The old heads tapped one another and pointed in their direction, nodding at Babyface as if to say, “You a smooth ass young’n to be pullin’ a broad that fine.” Even the pimps sat back admiring her beauty and Babyface's class.
As Babyface looked around, he spotted Tom coming out of the back room called the Casino, where the big gamblers hung out.
“Hey, Tom!” Babyface yelled.
“Ah, my muthafuckin man Babyface! Wazzup, nigga?”
“Look, slim, I got some Coogi sweaters I’m tryna sell.”
“Where they at?” Tom asked.
Babyface nodded at Victoria, who held the bag of sweaters. Without saying a word, she walked over, planted a kiss on his cheek, and handed him the bags. Then she walked back to the spot where she was patiently waiting and took her position.
Tom looked in the bag, and then asked, “So what you want for these sweaters?”
“I’m tryna get at least $250 for each one,” Babyface replied.
“Look, I’ll go ahead and give you two G’s for the eight sweaters, but for real, slim, I hate to see you out here boostin’? Why don’t you wanna hustle and get you some real bank?”
Babyface thought for a minute. Even though he never really sold drugs before, he always thought about getting into the game.
“Slim, I never really hustled before. Shit, I grew up in the system and never had time enough in the streets to hustle.”
“Well, look here, since you ain’t tryna hustle, why don’t you do something else that’ll get you a nice bankroll?”
“Like what?” Babyface asked.
“Look here, if you can get me a presidential Rolex, I’ll pay ten G’s for it. Shit, that’s a nice start-up bank for you.”
Babyface contemplated on Tom's offer. He was right. There was no way he could take care of him and Victoria by only stealing clothes. Eventually, that shit would play out. Also, with ten G's, he figured they could get an apartment somewhere and a reliable car to get around in until they could decide what they were going to do next.
“Okay, Tom, you got that. I’ma work on that A.S.A.P. I’ll holla at you later.” Babyface then turned and guided Victoria out of the pool hall, as all eyes followed them as they left.
* * * * *
“Wake up, Victoria,” Babyface said, while gently shaking her from out of her sleep.
“What, boo?” she said groggily.
“Baby girl, I got a plan. We’re gonna go over to the mall and buy some business clothes, then head down to Georgetown to the Rolex dealer. But first, I’ma buy one of the fake Rolex replicas they be selling on the corner by Roy Rogers. After that, I’ma go in the dealer first and act like I wanna purchase a watch. Then you come in like your looking for something nice for your fiancé’s birthday.”
“Uh huh, go head, boo,” Victoria said, now propped up on her elbows and paying full attention.
“Okay, when I ask to try on the watch, pay attention to my every move. As soon as you see the salesperson hand me the watch, get their attention fast, and that’s when I’ma make the switch. If we do this right, we got 10 G's, baby.”
“Damn, Babyface, I ain’t never seen 10 G's in my life.”
“Well, if you get your ass up and get ready you'll be seeing it today,” Babyface said.
“Okay, boo, give me five minutes.”
* * * * *
After exiting the taxi, Victoria and Babyface instantly went separate ways. Victoria walked on the opposite side of the street, keeping Babyface in sight as he walked to the vending stand and purchased a platinum replica Rolex. Afterwards, he shoved the watch in his jacket pocket, and then scanned the area to make sure no one had seen him. Before entering the Rolex dealership, he looked across the street to make sure Victoria was in place. So far so good.
As he entered the store, with briefcase in hand, he smiled at the woman behind the counter and proceeded to look around.
“Hello and welcome to our store. Is there anything in particular you are looking for,” asked the woman in spectacles.
“Ah, yeah and no. Let me just browse for a moment before I’m in need of your time.” Babyface looked and talked like a young black stock broker.
As he studied the watch selections, Babyface fixed his eyes on his mark. When he saw the platinum presidential with diamond bezel, he almost chocked. He wanted to bust the glass, snatch it and run, but he knew Georgetown was one of the busiest districts in Washington D.C., so it would be impossible to pull it off. Instead, he stuck with the plan.
“Excuse me, ma’am, can you tell me a little about this watch here?”
The woman walked over to the glass with her key, unlocked the case, and had him point out which watch he was referring to.
“Well, sir, this is the new Rolex Presidential. There were only two hundred made this year. It’s a platinum watch with a Swiss-made platinum rotator. Basically, it is totally made of platinum, except for the diamond bezel, which is a total of five carats of VVS quality cut Rolex diamond.”
“Well, what is the price?” Babyface asked.
Just as the woman was about to answer, Victoria entered the store, as if in a rush. “Ma’am, where's your ring selections?”
The woman pointed to the ring selection, then turned her attention back to Babyface. “As I was saying, there were only two hundred of these made, so if you purchase one, it would be making an investment. The price for this particular watch is fifty thousand.”
“I once owned a 18k gold Rolex, but recently had it auctioned off at the Jewelry Exchange Convention," Babyface lied.
The woman’s eyes lit up at the thought of the commission she would make from the sale. “Well, in that case, would you like to try it on?”
“Sure,” Babyface coolly replied as the woman proceeded to remove the watch from the case.
As soon as Babyface placed the watch on his wrist, Victoria came out of nowhere and distracted the woman.
“Oh, oh, Miss, come here. How much is this? I want it. I want it,” Victoria exclaimed in a loud, whiney voice. And within a tenth of a second, Babyface made the switch that would earn him the most cash he'd ever had in his life.
After calming Victoria down, and assuring her she would attend to her once she finished with the customer she was currently assisting, the woman turned her attention back to Babyface, who removed the fake Rolex from off his wrist and handed it to her.
“Thanks, ma’am, but I think I’ll pass on that. It’s a nice watch, but a little too rich for my blood.”
Disappointed that the sale fell through, the woman placed the watch back in the case without even looking at it. Eager to make a sell to him, she quickly tried to offer other watches, but Babyface declined.
The whole time, Victoria continued to call out for the sales lady to help her. “Miss, can you please come over here and tell me how much this ring cost? I’m in a rush and I want it.”
By now, the woman had become irritated with Victoria. “I said I’ll be there in a minute.”
Babyface felt that now was as good a time as any to make his getaway. “Ma’am, I think I’ll come back some other time. Do you have a card?”
Sadly, the woman handed him her card and then shuffled over to attend to Victoria, who placed her hands on her hips and instantly went into ghetto mode.
“I asked you to help me, not him,” Victoria griped.
“Well, miss, couldn’t you see that I was in the middle of a deal? Your irrational behavior cost me a sell. Now what would you like to see?” the sales lady shot back.
“How about I don’t like your attitude. Since you already lost one sale, why don’t you make it two? I’m outta here. I’ll buy my jewelry at Tiffany’s.”
Needless to say, the woman was so angry she almost cursed Victoria out as she left the store. However, she wasn’t as angry as she would be once she realized she now had a faux Rolex on her hands.
* * * * *
The next morning, Babyface woke up early, showered, dressed, and left to go meet Tom. As Babyface entered the Feed Bag, he looked around, taking in his surrounding. At a nearby table, Tom motioned for Babyface to join him and another gentleman. When he got to the table, Tom immediately got up to embrace Babyface, and not because he was happy to see him, but to check to make sure Babyface was not strapped.
Babyface looked over at Tom's company once he was cleared.
“Oh, Face, this is my man, Petey. Petey, this is Babyface, the one I was telling you about.”
Petey got up and extended his hand. “What’s up, Face? Glad to meet you. Have a seat.”
Babyface sat down opposite of the two, facing towards the door entrance so he could see everyone who entered the establishment.
“Look, Face, I wanna get right down to business. I brought Petey here because he is interested in what you got,” Tom informed him.
“But I thought I was just dealing with you,” Babyface said, feeling a little uncomfortable about the situation.
“You are dealing wit me, but unfortunately, I lost a lot of money gamblin’ last night and I know you tryna get that thing off so you can get yourself together. So, I called my man here.”
“It’s cool. So what’s up? You tryna cop this piece or what?” Babyface asked, looking at Petey.
Petey admired his approach, seeing that Babyface was straight about business. “Yes, I’m interested in what you got.”
“Well, let me set my price. This joint is a collector’s item straight from the dealer,” Babyface said, pulling up the sleeve of his Coogi sweater to expose the finest jewel they had ever seen. “The whole watch is platinum, inside and out. The tag on it says fifty thousand, but I’ll give it to you for twenty g’s.”
“Look, Face, I want that watch, but I can’t give you twenty thou' for it. That’s a little steep for a watch stolen from the official dealer. After all, I wouldn’t be able to sell it to nobody after I’m done flossing it. You know them joints are traceable, especially if it’s really a collector's item. But what I can do is make you a nice offer, though,” Petey said.
As bad as Babyface wanted to get up and leave, he couldn’t. He needed the money. Tom looked at Babyface with an expression as if to say, “At least hear the man's offer.”
“Look, Face, right now my bank is tight, but I do have some work. Let’s say I give you a half a brick and 5 g's for it,” Petey offered.
“Half a brick? Man, I don’t hustle. How I’ma move that shit?”
Tom interrupted. “Face, you could push that shit up here in the pool hall wit me. The spot stay jumping 24/7. You could get it off in like two days, maybe one if you really ‘bout your money. And besides, nigga, I need the company. Ain’t nuthin’ like hustlin’ the same spot with an old friend.”
Babyface contemplated Tom's suggestion. He knew Tom had his best interest at heart, ‘cause if he didn’t, he would have never suggested he hustle in the same spot with him. Also, a half brick "wholesale" was going for 10 g's alone. If he broke it down to all ounces and sold them for a thousand a piece, he'd come out with eighteen, plus the five thousand. That would total twenty- three altogether. Either way, Babyface would come out on top.
“Okay, Petey, I’ma take you up on the offer.”
“Thank you, Face, and in the future, I hope we can continue to do business. One thing, though. I can’t get to my shit right now ‘cause I got a flight that is leaving shortly. So, in the meantime, hold on to the watch and take this five thousand as a down payment.”
Damn, the nigga don’t even know me and he’s giving me five g’s as a down payment, Babyface thought. “When will you be back in town?”
In about a week, and when I get back, I’ll have a half brick of some of the best coke in D.C. waiting for you.”
“Cool. Well, I must be going, fellas. It was a pleasure doing business with you,” Babyface said as he rose from the table and made his way to the exit. “This shit turned out better than I thought,” he mumbled under his breath as he walked out the door.
* * * * *
Once Babyface got back to the motel, Victoria ran to the door to greet him. She had been impatient and nervous the whole time Babyface was gone, but knew she had to follow his instructions of staying put in the room until he returned. As soon as he walked in the door, he grabbed Victoria up and gave her a deep kiss. Out of curiosity, and as validation that everything went well with the transaction, she looked down at his wrist, and to her surprise the watch was still there.
Victoria bombarded him with questions. “Daddy, why do you still got on that watch? What happened? He didn’t want it or something? What went wrong?”
“What makes you think something went wrong?”
“‘Cause you still got on that watch,” she replied.
“Vic, Vic, Vic…never doubt my work. Ain’t nothing in this world I can’t do.” He pulled out the 5 g's and slammed it on the nightstand. “Now pack our bags. We’re going looking for an apartment today.”
Victoria jumped up at the sight of seeing the money, and she held Babyface so tight that he had to tell her to let go. To her, Babyface was beyond a hero; he was invincible.