Chante looked away from me. I could see the pain in her eyes. “You’re right. It does suck.”
I leaned against my car next to Chante. “So, what’s going to happen next?”
“Nothing.”
“What do you mean nothing?”
“I mean that’s it. Gineconna told you that you were free to go, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, there you go. If there was going to be any charges, you’d be under arrest now. I never told Gineconna anything.”
“I understand that, Chante. What I don’t understand is why, Chante? Wasn’t that your job?”
“You’re right, it was, but something happened to change all that. I wasn’t completely honest with myself, Jada, ’cause if I were, I woulda had to admit to myself who I really was, because I loved being Chante. The truth was that I found your lifestyle exciting. I mean look at yourself, Jada, you always wear the finest clothes, you get chauffeured around, and you’re making mad money. But it was more than that, Jada. I came to like you. We became friends.” That one made me smile on the inside because that’s how I saw her, as a friend.
“That’s deep, Chante. The cop and the Madame-friends.”
“Ain’t it?” Chante laughed.
“What are you gonna do now, Chante?” I asked her.
“I don’t know.”
“Wanna go get a drink?”
“I could definitely use one.”
“Come on then,” I said and got in the car. Chante got in the passenger seat and broke out her sunglasses. As I drove off, I thought about the fact that it wasn’t all about the money at all. In the end, the money didn’t matter at all. It was about friendship.