When A Woman Hustles, Danielle Martin [books to read in your 20s .TXT] 📗

stood in the middle of the kitchen dancing over her stainless steel stove. It was 9 o’clock in the morning. The sunshine crept in through the curtains placing a light glow throughout her apartment.  Seldom did Reese ever wake up early enough to cook breakfast. The only time she had done so if she was in a really good mood or had some really good sex. Reese hummed to the music feeling as if she were on cloud 9 and not a single soul could knock her off her high horse. She hadn’t felt this good in a while.  She bopped her head to the lyrics as she switched from one stove to the other, scrambling the eggs frying in the second pan. The air was fresh and the sun was shining. 
She had no worries. Reese could get used to this feeling. She stood over the brewing pot, her mind wandering. How she could she have been so fortunate to cross paths with Pumpkin at the time she did? That woman was an answer to her prayers. Pumpkin had no idea how much she needed the extra money. Last night was a typical night for Reese. She heard about the nightclub Guilty Passions and she knew about the open interviews Smooth Dolla Slik hosted there every Thursday night. Reese always saw the club to be her last resort, but she had become desperate. Never in a million years did she think she would be walking out of there with $1500 in her pocket. The moment she had awakened Reese immediately called the electricity department and cancelled the pending payment scheduled to process from her Jayla's bank account. It felt so good paying the light bill with her own money, she wanted to rejoice in tears while writing down her confirmation number. Reese even had time to stop by the rent office, drop some money on next month’s rent just in case Pumpkins offer was too good to be true. The defiant side of her couldn’t believe that bringing home this kind of money on a regular was even slightly possible. Even after paying whatever was past due she had a few hundred dollars left over to keep for herself. Reese smiled as she reached over to the CD player, restarting track number 6. "I Made Up My Mind I Ain't Lying No Moreeeeeeeeee
Cause A Liar And A Cheater Can't Make It Through The Doorrrrrr. I've got to clean up what I messed upppppp."
Interrupting her in the middle of her song, Reese heard the front door open. Reese smiled and turned the CD player back down, excited to share her good news. Leaning forward, she removed the pancakes and eggs onto a glass plate before wiping her hands on the front of her apron. "I'm in the kitchen Jayla!" she shouted as she placed 3 pancakes on one plate and 3 pancakes on another. Seconds later, Jess walked into the kitchen still wearing her nurse scrubs. Her hair was a mess. She looked exhausted but beautiful at the same time. "Reese." Jayla walked into the kitchen, a surprised look on her face as she realized that Reese made breakfast. She looked around then looked back at Reese. "I just got a call from my bank this morning that my check payment was cancelled. Do you know anything about that?"
Reese smirked. She picked up two plates and she sat them down at the table. Jayla followed her with her eyes, immediately knowing something was up. "When did we have groceries to make breakfast?" Jayla asked as she raised one eyebrow. Reese laughed while placing a bottle of syrup in the middle of the table. "I have great news Jayla." she smiled from ear to ear as she turned to face her roommate. 
"Your good news always has some type of catch to it." Jayla propped her hands up on her waist, eyeing her. "So what’s up?"
Reese whipped the apron over her head, placing it down on the counter before turning back to Jayla. "I paid the light bill today and I put some money down on the rent next month." 
"Really???" Jayla asked as if she were surprised. "And how did you manage to do that and buy groceries???" 
Reese smirked again. "I can show you better than I can tell you." Reaching into her bra, she pulled out a wad of bills that she had rolled up and stuck inside her shirt. Jayla’s mouth dropped wide open as Reese began counting out 20's. "Where did you get all that money Reese??"
"It was so simple!" She turned to her. "I have a job now."
Jayla’s grill spread into a wide smile. "Really?" she asked, becoming excited. "Oh my gosh that’s great! You got a job that fast?? Where???" She inched forward, wanting to hear more. Reese laughed, excited to see that Jayla was happy for her. "Yes I have a job. I’m an assistant."
Jayla nodded her head, impressed. "That’s a cool job. An assistant where?" She probed for more information. Reese thought about telling a lie. She had no idea what Pumpkin wanted from her. "I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to be doing just yet. The woman who gave me the job will train me I guess."
Jayla nodded again, her smile slowly fading as she began to ask more questions. "Okay so give me more details. Who is this woman? What does she do for a living?" she asked. 
Reese shrugged her shoulders, not knowing the answer to any of those questions. "I don’t know what she does. All i know is she needs an assistant and I’m a good fit for the job. She gave me $1500 on the spot."
Jayla cocked her head to the side, her smile completely disappeared. “What makes you a good fit Reese? You never had a real job before.”

 That’s what I thought. Reese whispered inside her head. She didn’t dare agree with her out loud. Jayla was going to find something to nitpick at regardless so Reese should have seen it coming. Jayla continued to question her. "So… this mystery woman gave you $1500 upfront to be her assistant and you have no clue what you are going to be assisting her with? Do you hear how that sounds?" she asked.
Reese nodded her head. Her roommate Jayla had always been a responsible young woman and it was a part of her character to give her the third degree. But Reese was growing increasingly tired of explaining herself. Why couldn’t she just be happy for her? "I know how it sounds, and trust me I was a little hesitant at first. But I needed the money bad Jayla." Reese insisted, which was the truth. Jayla of all people should understand, because she had a front row seat and seen everything that goes on behind closed doors. Reese was broke and there were bills needing to be paid. She had to do what she had to do. 
Jayla shook her head while leaning against the doorway. She looked her up and down as if she were disappointed. "All money ain’t good money, you know that right?" she threw shots.
Reese sighed while turning her back, heading towards the refrigerator. Swinging open the door, she grabbed the orange juice out of the fridge bringing it back to the table. "Are you going to eat?" Reese asked.
Jayla shook her head. "No, I ate at work."
Reese nodded, pouring herself a glass and placing it down on the table next to her plate. She glanced up at Jayla who was staring at her with a blank look on her face. 
Reese sighed, wishing she wasn’t such a Debby downer all the time. "What??' she questioned Jayla who continued to stare at her. 
"Nothing." she shook her head. "Something sounds fishy. Can i at least know who you are working for?"
Reese turned to her, wondering why Jayla treated her as if she were a child. The last time she checked, Reese was 5 years her senior and she didn’t have to answer to anyone. Deciding against turning rebellious, she responded. "Her name is Pumpkin."
Hearing the name, Jayla stood straight up. "Pumpkin who? I hope you’re not talking about the Pumpkin I think you’re talking about."
Reese nervously began to crack her knuckles, hoping she wasn’t telling too much. "I don’t know if we're talking about the same girl." Reese hoped they weren't. 
"Is her real name Patricia? Does she hang out at that club downtown? Guilty Passions?" 
Reese bit her lip, wanting to slap herself upside the head for not giving a fake name. She had never met or heard of Pumpkin before so she assumed that Jayla hadn’t either. But from the looks of things, she was very wrong. "I don’t know Jayla." She lied, hoping she would drop the conversation.
Jayla smacked her lips. "Well I only know one Pumpkin, and the one I know of aint no fucking good, so I hope you’re not getting mixed up with her." 
Reese turned towards her, curious to find out what she knew. "What’s wrong with her? She seems like an OKAY person." 

Jayla rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you don’t know anything about her Reese. I suggest you be really careful running around with that girl’s money. Ain’t no telling how she got it."
Reese stepped forward, "What does that mean? What do you know?"
Jayla propped her hands up on her hip. "I don’t know anything. All I know is, that girl don’t have no real job! She got all that money, a big ass house and an $80,000 car but no paycheck stubs to show for it. No one knows what the hell she does for a living."

Reese continued to stare at her. She didn’t know how to respond. As grateful as she was for the opportunity to finally start bringing decent money home, she couldn’t help but question whether or not it was too good to be true. There was some sort of motive behind Pumpkin’s sworn secrecy, and quite frankly she was a little hesitant to find out. 
"All I'm saying Reese," Jayla continued. "Do what you want, but I don’t want nothing to do with any of her money! Don’t bring it into this house! Keep it away from me! I got my own portion of the bills."
Reese rolled her eyes. She was offended. Didn’t even get so much as a thank you for making breakfast for her ungrateful ass. Reese made a promise that she would make something happen. As soon as she started getting things done, Jayla wanted to be on her back about it. No matter how hard she tried to do better, Jayla looked down at her as if her best wasn’t good enough. She shrugged her shoulders, feeling defeated. I’m done trying to prove shit to her. I’m focused on myself now. No one else.

"Whatever you say Jayla." Reese ended the conversation. She was done talking about it.
While shaking her head, Jayla looked at her one last time before turning on her heel and storming out of the kitchen. Reese continued to stare at her as she trotted down the hallway and slammed the bedroom door. She shook her head, not understanding what the real issue was. This girl Pumpkin couldn’t have possibly been as bad as Jayla made her out to be. After all she was a true drama queen. But Reese couldn’t help but wonder what she was really getting herself into. This amount of money had to come with a catch, and she was honestly terrified to find out what that catch was.