Crazy In Love Read online

  Crazy In Love

  Yoshe

  www.urbanbooks.net

  All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to my friend, Shomari Hill, and to my aunt, Barbara Thomas. May your souls find eternal peace.

  Acknowledgments

  First, and foremost, I would like to thank my father, God, for giving me life. I am humbled . . . . I would like to give thanks to:

  My son, Pauly, keep making Mommy proud, my sister, Monica, for being my rock, my mother, Mary A. Thomas, for your support, my niece, Taya Dickinson and my nephew, Anthony Turner, Jr., my big baby brother, CO J. Dickinson, my Daddy, Jimmie Dickinson and stepmother, Ada, my stepsister, Dawana and my niece, Yanni, my Auntie Delois and Uncle Robert, my cousins, Curtis, Keith, Candice, Mark Anthony, cu-zo, who inspired me to do this and I thank you sooooo much, Uncle Clarence, my cousins, Keisha, CJ, Brandon, Kenya, A. Turner, my “Bruh-in law”, Big Pauly, Mr. and Mrs. George Miller, Uncle Mike, Aunt Nay, cousins Nate and Mike, Captain J. Shipman, my BFFs, Brigitte and Raquel, my goddaughter, Bria, T. Majors, my sister for life, my BMF, Poo-kah, my homie, S. Wilmer, for makin’ moves @ Ol’ Boy for me, sister-in-law, Marilyn, and my niece, Johanna, T. Speights, who gave me the strength to hold my head during that rough time in my life, H. Ford, keep that white shirt clean, Ma, Shawn Hill, my first love, my partners, Lashina and Tannile, my Charlotte, NC amigos, Tasha Boyd, DeMarcus “Wink” Miller, Erick S. Gray aka Mr. Prolifick, K’Wan, Charlotte Young, Sistar Tea and the Arc Book Club, Brandon McCalla, Divine of Books in the Hood, A. Whyte, Aretha Temple, Nakea Murray, thanks to the Urban Books staff for all of their support, Carl Weber, Natalie Weber, Brenda Owen, Deshawn Taylor, Al-Saadiq Banks, J. Benjamin, Adrian “Ox” Mendez, Sexy, Donald Peebles, Shaifire, T. Harvey of Urban Written, Brook Lynn. My D.O.C. family: N. McFadden-Garlington, B. Salmon, C. Council, T, Washington, L. Black, R. Cunningham, T. Hope, M. Pollard, R. Howard, T. Traylor, K. Washington, O. Bunmi, B. Feaster, L. Hicks, Y. Green, L. Yearwood, B. Pope, W. Credle, V. Capers, L. Garrett, L. Douglas (MsDee), S. Buckhalter, L. Monroe, J. Clark, I. Irizarry, and a host of others that I had the pleasure of knowing . . . Thanks for your support.

  The Pink Lip Gloss Vintage Boutique, Platinum Skills Hair Salon, The Bus Stop BarberShop, my Starrett City peeps, East New York, Georgia Avenue, my old school crew since the late ’80s, early ’90s . . . Arif, Blunt, Corrin, Nigel, Tammy, Du, Chuck, DeeDee, Rocky, Powerful, Hoz, and the list goes on.

  For those I did not mention on paper, it doesn’t mean that you aren’t in my heart . . . .

  LOVE IS LOVE . . . YOSHE

  Prologue

  It was a cold, wintry Friday morning and it was also a visit day for the inmates at the Rikers Island correctional facility. Although the area was bustling with activity, the visit area was a place that was filled with joy and pain. The joy came from the visitors happy to see their incarcerated loved ones. The pain came at the end of the visit when it was time to leave.

  The visit area was nothing more than a large, open area furnished with plastic chairs and small tables, used to separate the visitor and the inmates from having close contact with each other. Inmates shuffled into the visit area with grey jumpsuits and jail-issued slippers. Depending on who was visiting them, they seemed excited to see the person and what packages they had to bring. It was the survival of the fittest, and some inmates were like scavengers to a degree. No matter how well they were taken care of while behind those walls, they would still do whatever they had to do to get what they wanted, even if it meant breaking the rules.

  Women, men, and children sat outside of the control room in a stuffy waiting area that consisted of plastic chairs neatly lined up next each other. After being registered, visitors were to put their belongings in a small locker that cost fifty cents that was returned upon the retrieval of their items. At the visit magnometer, the visitor was searched. A correction officer would put them through a procedural search without physically putting their hands on them. A strip search was only permissible if there was reason to believe someone had contraband on their person. The visitors would walk through the magnometer that was designed to beep if there was any metal on the person.

  The visitor would have to take off their shoes, of course, and once the magnometer was cleared, they would run their hands through the waistband of their pants, open their mouth, and pull the pockets of their pants inside out. The only items that were allowed on a visit with an inmate were a locker key, a commissary slip, and the registration card that was time stamped by the visit officers at the desk on the visit floor.

  Sometimes, pictures were allowed as well, but only with the permission of a supervisor. With babies, the CO would have to look inside of a baby’s diaper. Many people have gotten desperate enough to put weapons, drugs, or other contraband inside of their babies’ pampers, too. They were also allowed to bring in one bottle for the child; with most women allowing their children to cry at the top of their lungs for another if the visit surpassed the contents of the bottle. It was a sad sight to behold.

  The correction officers who worked in the visit area were another story. They were there to provide a service and that was the care, the custody, and the control of the inmates who were waiting for their trial dates or to be sentenced. They didn’t care one way or another about inmates, afraid to “humanize” themselves by showing any type of compassion to the criminals and their families. Rightfully so, they had to desensitize themselves; for fear that they would become the unfortunate prey of the inmate population. If they didn’t, it could cost them their jobs, their freedom, and sometimes their lives.

  On the other side of things, the correction officers had their own personal dramas. In the course of the correction officers doing their jobs, such as dealing with irate visitors and inmates, they had to deal with each other. Personality clashes, troubled relationships, and psychological issues were the icing on the cake of a highly stressed work environment. No correction officer was a stranger to harassment of any kind, and no man or woman was safe from it. Working in close confines with someone who is a nuisance sometimes puts a damper on one’s job performance and personal life. Unfortunately, many officers did not realize that mixing business with pleasure was a no-no until it was too late.

  Chapter 1

  Correction Officer Sean Daniels scanned the visit area with the eye of a hawk. His job was to make sure th
at no smuggled goods of any kind were passed to an inmate from a visitor. He knew that he was unable to catch every time this was done, but as long as they knew better than to pass it in front of his face, then it was fine with him. Working in visits, he saw attractive female visitors everyday. He even, on occassion, goofed off with them in order to break the monotony of the tedious work he was paid handsomely to do. He also got offers from the women, who were attracted to his rugged good looks and, of course, his uniform.

  He was single and available, with limitations, of course. He had to be careful, though, because he knew that he could have easily been swayed, which sometimes got him into trouble. He had caught himself checking out a few of the women who came to visit their inmate boyfriends. It was unauthorized for female visitors to wear revealing clothing but the women would dress in the skimpiest clothing they could get away with. Sean was a man first before he was a correction officer, and he loved the opposite sex. On the other hand, he didn’t take his profession with a grain of salt, because, after all, his paycheck did pay the bills.

  As Sean walked around the visit floor, talking to various people and making sure that everything was going okay, he looked up at the female CO who was banging on the glass that encased the visit control room. Sean smiled and walked over to the window. The CO smiled back.

  “Hey, Cruz,” he beamed. “You just got to work, didn’t you?”

  She sighed. “Yeah, Devin was usin’ my car,” replied Cruz, referring to her boyfriend of seven years. “I will be so glad when he gets his truck out of the shop.”

  Sean frowned. “What happened to it? I mean, damn, his truck has been in the shop for weeks now. He needs to go get it if using your car is makin’ you late for work.”

  Cruz rolled her eyes. “I dunno, Daniels.” She quickly changed the subject. “Well, I just wanted to let you know that I was here, just in case you were lookin’ for me,” she said with a flirtatious smile.

  Sean looked Cruz up and down. It was no secret that they were attracted to each other. “Oh, yeah? Well, you better stop flirtin’ with me, girl. You ain’t ready for Sean Daniels!”

  Sean secretly fantasized about getting Yadira Cruz into his bedroom. He chuckled to himself as he imagined her long, wavy hair lying across her mocha-colored 34Ds, while he had his face submerged in her garden of love. Sean stood by the window for another moment and watched Cruz’s silhouette shuffle around the visit control room, even though it was dark inside. It was dark in the control room, thereby preventing the visitors and inmates from looking inside to see if someone was in there watching them. For the times that Sean may have his back turned and there were culprits who thought they were being slick, the control room staff would serve as a back up.

  Yadira Cruz was the only daughter and the youngest of three children born to a Dominican father and an African-American mother. Sean thought that Yadira, or Yadi, as everyone called her, was drop-dead gorgeous. With her five feet five inch hourglass frame and her flawless cocoa complexion, she made heads turn, women and men. Her killer body and face had men wishing that her boyfriend, Devin, would drop off the face of the earth so that they could have a chance with her. Men never tried to pressure her, though; for fear that she would only push away. Therefore, they just settled for being a confidante or acquaintance, whatever it took to be near her.

  There were many women jealous of Yadi, and upon meeting her, it wasn’t hard to understand why. Yadi seemed modest about her looks, as if she was no threat to any woman, and with her overt kindness, she seemed like a great person to have around. Unfortunately, her warm and inviting outer personality was only a diversion from her underlying problems. Yadi was a woman whose insecurities had her on the verge of obsessive behavior and it was almost uncontrollable, targeting the men with whom she was romantically involved. She painted a rosy picture, but once men got to know her, the rose petals quickly withered away.

  Yadi walked into the small room and placed her lunch into the refrigerator in the back. She hugged her partner and her best friend, Vanita Garrett. Vanita was a patient and understanding woman, who reluctantly stood by as she watched Yadi go through her difficulties with Devin. Understandably, Vanita wanted her friend to be happy but she concluded that Yadi had to want what was best for her.

  “Look at how Sean looks at you, Yadi,” Vanita announced, with a smirk on her face. “Looks like he wanna take a dip in the puddin’, girlfriend!”

  Yadi laughed. “Oh, please,” she replied. “That man isn’t thinkin’ about me. Sean looks like he likes those spontaneous, wild women. He knows that I am the complete opposite, and of course, he knows I have a man.”

  Vanita rolled her eyes up in her head. She had grown weary of hearing about Yadi’s no-good man. Devin was a correction officer with the Emergency Service Unit. They had one daughter, Jada, who was four years old. After witnessing the drama unfold between the two, Vanita told Yadi many times that she needed to move on from Devin. Of course, her suggestions were ignored. It was then Vanita figured out that Yadi was weak when it came to a man.

  “Yadi, Sean likes you and he is fine as hell, too,” Vanita insisted. They both watched Sean patrol the visit floor. “I mean, look at his sexy, caramel ass. I’m not one for the men with braids but he keeps them neat. They look good on him. And that body is built like steel and his back . . . mmm, what a back!” Vanita said, secretly fantasizing about having Sean in her own bed.

  Yadi laughed. “Yes, he is some eye candy, I can’t deny. But, Nita, I can’t, with anyone that works for the Correction Department. My man is on the job, too . . . remember?”

  Vanita waved her hand and returned to her duties. “Yadi, I’m not even gonna entertain that bullshit right there. You can do whatever you want. Personally, I am sick of you stressin’ Devin’s tired-ass I don’t think that he’s worth the damn pussy he came out of. Then again, I don’t have to deal with his sorry-ass. That is your problem, child,” Vanita said, all while operating the gates on both sides of the control station.

  Yadi didn’t know whether to cuss her friend out or cry, but she knew Vanita was right. It did seem as if she was invisible to Devin. They barely talked anymore. This had been going on for quite some time. Devin would make her feel like she was walking on eggshells with him, so Yadi didn’t know if she was coming or going most of the time.

  Therefore, Yadi worked overtime to try to recapture Devin’s interest and worked even harder to hold his attention. Whether it was good or bad attention, she didn’t care, as long as she got some type of reaction from him. She couldn’t deny that she was partly, if not fully, responsible for his change of behavior. She was afraid to question Devin’s actions, for fear that she would have to take responsibility for some of the things she had done to him, and even worse, he would walk out on her for good. In addition, as bad as she thought he treated her, the reality that he was no longer in love with her would push her over the edge.

  After some deep thought about the present state of her chaotic relationship, Yadi finally regained her senses. She gathered the visit registration cards that sat in a pile on top of the desk. She then walked out of the control room to call out the names of the inmates waiting for a visit.

  Yadi carefully scanned the room of visitors. The waiting area was filled with mostly downtrodden women, whose main goal in life was to ride or die with their incarcerated boyfriends. A lot of the female visitors couldn’t stand female officers, especially good-looking ones like Yadira. She ignored the women’s dirty looks and got down to her business.

  “People, please make sure that before you step onto that visit floor you have permissible items only! Now, listen up for the name of the inmate that you’re visitin’ today,” Yadi began. The room was silent while everyone anticipated hearing their inmates’ names being called.

  “Fowler, Ramirez, Epstein, Shelton, and Wallace! Please line up over here and walk through the double gates! Put your right hand under the light and proceed to the visit desk where your card will be time stamped a
nd you will be seated!”

  The visitors walked through the metal sliding doors into a sallyport area. They put their hands under a light to display their stamped hands. Once that was done, a second gate opened. As the visitors filed through the open gate to the visit area, Yadi’s voice was drowned out by the loudness of the people already on the visit floor.

  Meanwhile, on the visit floor, Sean made sure everyone was seated in their proper places. Some of the things that he observed on a day-to-day basis, people would have to see to believe.

  While walking around, Sean zeroed in on a couple in the corner of the large room. The female visitor had her hand in the grey jumper of the inmate that she was visiting. Sean could tell by the inmate’s face that she was jerking him off. They thought no one was looking. He sighed as he tried to figure out why the women who came to visit degraded themselves for the incarcerated losers.

  Sean walked over to their table. The female pulled her hand back when she saw him. The inmate sat there with a hard penis and a dumb look on his face.

  Sean pointed at the young woman. “Get up, say your good-byes and get out,” he said calmly.

  They said good-bye to each other. The inmate began to say something, as he watched his girlfriend leave. “Yo’, c’mon, Dee,” he began. “Why you kicked my chick out?”

  Sean frowned. “Man, get your ass off this floor! Say somethin’ else and you will be in no contact visits for a month!” Sean replied.

  The inmate walked off the floor and through the metal door that was opened for him. Sean shook his head and continued to patrol the floor.

  “These chicks will do anything for love,” Sean said to himself. Little did Sean know that he had sealed his own fate. He was going to find out just how far women will go for love in the weeks to come.

  Chapter 2

  Sean Daniels stood at the visit desk, conversing with a few of his coworkers. When he looked up, one visitor in particular instantly caught his attention. Sean normally kept his libido under control when he saw an attractive female visitor, but this one was different. He could tell that she wasn’t the normal, run-of-the-mill, ghetto chickenhead who frequented Rikers Island’s visit areas. The woman was dressed in what looked like an expensive business suit, which was tailored to fit every curve of her voluptuous body to a tee. Her hair was stylishly cut very short at the nape of her neck and her lips were shined up with lip gloss. Sean was mesmerized as he watched her sweep her extra-long bang out of her face to reveal the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen.