The Literature Lounge welcomes you to its first ever blog series! Today's inaugural feature is
series. I came up with the concept in 2016 but due to other projects, I didn't start working on it until 2018.
I intended for this to be my fifth book, but to quickly sum everything up, between those projects and other matters, I have been working on this story sporadically since then. I was getting to the point where I was wondering if I'll finish this story. I like where I'm going with the story, so I've decided to salvage it by turning it into a blog series instead. Within the ensuing days, I will be adding chapters from the series.
Today's post will feature Chapter One, where will I introduce the main character Luciana "Lucy" Luna, and I might post Chapter Two later today-- we'll see. So, sit back and enjoy this Bronx tale of two Latinas.
Lucy is also known in some circles as “Lu-Lu,” but there’s a name and title that will be bestowed upon her, gaining the love, respect, and admiration of most, and of course, drawing the ire and jealousy of more than most. Some will be outright, some will stay hidden until the right moment— or so they think.
Luciana “Lucy” Luna was born in the Bronx borough of New York City. She’s the daughter of Salvador and Maria Luna, immigrants from Puerto Rico who moved to New York in 1977. Salvador worked in the steel mill, and Maria was mostly a housewife who would occasionally babysit for rich folks or help clean up office buildings. They weren’t dirt poor, but they weren’t a wealthy family, either.
Although she loves her parents dearly, this became bothersome to Lucy as she started coming of age. Visiting relatives or seeing other students who had it better than they did, had an impact on Lucy and her older brother, Michael— AKA Mickey, for short— as it typically would with any kid. This triggered early signs of her enterprising skills. By high school, she took notice of the guys who were viewed as undesirable, whether they were nerds, lames, or those deemed as ugly by most girls, and decided to turn it into a profit.
Being an attractive, curvy young lady who also had attractive friends, she would use this to her advantage, guaranteeing the lower seed guys an “opportunity” to date some girls who would otherwise be considered out of their league for a small fee, promising the girls that she would give them a portion of the earnings when the “business” took off, but to trust the process for the time being.
It was a success; the more girls found out about her secret enterprise— of course it had to be kept away from adults— the more interested they were in joining her racket. Within six months, it expanded from school to even some young adult females getting in on the hustle. Making money was never easier for Lucy, and as she promised, she started breaking bread with the girls when the business boomed.
Maria became suspicious when she started to frequently notice money in her purse that wasn’t originally there. She questioned Michael first. “Mickey, did you do this?” She asked holding a roll of green in her hand.
“Do what, mama?”
“Put this money in my purse. I told you not to—
“It wasn’t me, mama. Honest.” He replied, holding up his hands.
“Estas seguro?”
“Estoy seguro.”
“Okay. I know it wasn’t Sal, and if you didn’t do it, that only leaves one person.” Maria said, thinking out loud.
She knocked on the door to Lucy’s room. Lucy, who was counting money at the time, is startled, announced that she’s coming to open the door shortly, and quickly looked for a spot to hide her money, choosing to stuff it under the mattress of her bed. Maria got tired of waiting and opened the door.
“I know you heard me knocking, Lucy.”
“Lo siento, mama,” Lucy replied. “I was busy with homework. I was trying to get the door as fast as I could.”
“Move faster next time.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Did you put this money in my purse?”
“Mama, don’t get upset.”
“Lucy, don’t put money in my purse,” Maria demanded. “I keep telling you and Michael the same thing over and over again.”
“We just want to help out, mama.”
“I understand, Lu-Lu, but I’m okay. We’re okay. We’re not lacking.”
“But we can be doing better, mama.”
A sudden thought hit Maria. “You’ve been sneaking money into my purse, there’s extra food in the fridge, I’m seeing you with a different outfit every week. Michael’s working; you’re just going to school. Where are you getting this money from? Are you selling your body, Lucy?”
“Que? Hell no.”
“Watch your mouth, young lady.”
“Sorry.”
Lucy released a sigh. “I’ve started my own business with some of my classmates,” She said. “No, I’m not selling drugs either, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Then what are you doing? What does this ‘business’ consists of?”
Lucy took deep breath. “Some of the guys at school are paying me to set them up on dates with some of the girls.”
“Excuse me?”
“Mama, please don’t get upset. I just wanna help.”
“We’re doing just fine, Lucy,” Maria assured her. “Yes, things could be better, but it could also be worse. You wanna help out? End your ‘business’ today.”
“Yes mom.” Lucy sulked. She calls to Maria before she leaves. “Are you going to give me the money back?”
“No. Consider this a gross payment.”
Lucy smirks. “Wow. Really?”
“Really.” Maria stops before opening the door. “Ya know, I’m not surprised by this.” Maria looks over the roll of money, then at Lucy. “I’ve always said you were a con-artist from the womb.”
Lucy shakes her head as Maria leaves.
Of course, Lucy continued with her operation, but managed to keep it a secret from her mom, with some assist from Mickey. Her “customers,” that is the guys who couldn’t get dates to save their lives, and the girls who became her “clients,” the ones who sacrificed their reputations as far as being seen with and dating low hanging fruit for a bigger pay-off, continued to grow. She even managed to get a few of the younger teachers in on it.
***
Lucy’s enterprise continues well after high school; only she has now expanded her business from mere pay-for-dating, to building online dating websites to catch bigger fish, so to speak. She started with Calor Latina (Spanish for “Latina Heat”), now her most popular website, but has created subsidiary sites— Latin in Love, which aims more towards her people, and Mi Amour— since then. She has collaborated with Mickey to purchase some vacant property along a strip mall. Together, they open a specialty store selling ice cream and candy, using the store as a front for Lucy’s business.
The store is also used for recruiting potential lady talent for Lucy, if the women meet the criteria. So, if a young lady comes in looking for a job, she’s taken through the job evaluation process. If she’s not only attractive, but smart, they will offer her a “better job.” They have their regular employees— male and female, who are unaware of the real operation— to work and keep the store running, but the selected eye candy is recruited by Lucy.
She still associates with some of her clients from high school; as matter of fact, two of the girls, Jessica and Aurora (AKA Rory) has worked their way to becoming administrators of the sister sites while she oversees Calor Latina. Jessica runs Latin in Love, while Rory runs Mi Amour. Not only do they monitor and maintain the respective websites, but they have also become her top agents for bringing in male clientele.
Although the general idea is for guys to pay to date the woman of his dreams, it has expanded a bit into some escort situations over the years, which involves sexual relations between the man and woman. If such a situation should occur, the guy had to pay extra, being that sex is initially outside of the arrangement.
These interactions gave Lucy access to the street life at an early age. To her credit, she didn’t hang around in the streets, she would stay long enough to take care of business and keep moving, but she gained street cred over the years, nonetheless. As much as success will bring many “friends,” granted, making it difficult to tell who your friends truly are, it will also bring contempt and envy, someone or some people looking to pull you down or knock off the top to take your spot.
Tonight, one of her girls, Andriana returns to the office brutally beaten and robbed by a client. Crying and barely able to walk, she hands Lucy a crumbled white handkerchief that the attacker stuffed in her ripped blouse. Lucy opens the handkerchief, seeing a message written in lipstick that the attacker apparently took from Andriana.
“Tell that bitch Lucy she’s next.” Lucy reads aloud. She balls the handkerchief tightly in her fist, breathing heavily in anger. “Oh really?” She mutters to herself. She checks on Andriana to see if she’s okay. After getting assurance from Andriana that she will be fine, Lucy returns to her desk to look up the picture and profile of the guy that Andriana was assigned to.
***
Maria said that he told her he comes here every Wednesday night. Lucy thinks, sitting at the counter of Stan’s Sports Bar. She’s scoping out the place to see if she can spot Gary, the perpetrator who attacked Andriana, when she hears a pleasant, friendly voice before her, causing to turn her attention to the voice.
“Will we be having our usual, Ms. Lucy?” says the smiling bartender.
Lucy smiles. “Of course, Xavier.”
“One mojito, coming up.”
As Xavier’s fixing her drink, Lucy turns her attention back to the ongoing scene behind her, looking for Maria’s attacker, when a rather large dude takes a seat next to her. He’s of Mexican descent, standing at 6-4; his dark, wavy hair slicked and combed back, wearing a black, fitted security shirt that reads Wolf Security, and black denim jeans.
“Hello mamacita,” he greets. “Can I buy you a drink?”
Lucy smiles. “No thanks. I already ordered one.”
As Xavier returns with the mojito, the guy slides him a $20 bill. “I got the lady covered.” He says, smiling at Lucy.
“Gracias.” She responds, taking a sip of the mojito. She smirks in suspicion. “What are you after?”
“What? I can’t buy an esteemed lady such as yourself a drink?”
“Esteemed lady? So you know me?”
“Of course I know you, mamacita. Your girls work this neighborhood pretty good.”
“You make it sound illegal.”
“No, no. Not at all. How a person makes their money is their business.”
“So, let’s not bullshit. What are you after?”
“You waste no time, do you? Cut right to the chase.”
“Si, senor.”
“Word on the street is that one of your girls was manhandled last night.”
“Word gets around fast, doesn’t it?”
“Si, senorita. My guess is that you’re here tonight to find the one who did it, and your girl gave you a lead on where he frequents.”
“Let me guess. You know where to find this guy, and you want a cut?”
“Not exactly,” he responds. “Of course, I want a piece of the action, but I was thinking more than anything that maybe you can use some man power in your organization.”
She chuckles. “And you’re the man for the job?”
He chuckles. “Well, yes. Myself, and my crew.”
“Crew?”
“Yes. I have my own security crew. I have guys working all over the Bronx, and I would like to offer my services for a percentage.”
“How much?”
“30 percent.”
“Get the fuck outta here. Are you kidding me?”
“25.”
She rolls her eyes. “Try again.”
“20.”
“Tell you what. I’ll meet you halfway of your first proposal, 15 percent. Let me see what you and your guys are made of, and if I like what I see, we’ll talk about a higher percentage.” She reads his shirt. “Plus, I’ll keep our little agreement between us. I’m sure you have a reputation to protect.”
He thinks about it for a moment. “Fair enough.” He finishes his margarita, throws some money on the counter for Xavier, stands up and extends his hand to Lucy, who sits with her arms folded.
“Not yet,” Lucy says. “Before we start, I need you to do something for me. Consider it a show and prove.”
“Anything for a pretty young lady like you.”
She hands the man a picture of Gary. “Find this bastard and bring him to me, and we’re officially partners.”
“Nothing to it. You got it. So, we have a deal?” He extends his hand again.
“Deal.”
They shake hands in agreement.
“Wait!” Lucy calls for him before he leaves. “You never told me your name.”
“My apologies. The name’s Lobo.”
“Lobo? Is that your real name?”
He laughs. “Yes, it is. But you can call me “Wolf.” All of my friends do.”
“Okay. I’ll see you soon, Lobo.”
***
The following Wednesday night at Stan’s, Lobo looks at the picture of the man in photo that Lucy gave him, then at Gary, who he’s watching from a distance, to make sure it’s him. When he confirms that he has the right man, he considers butting in when he spots him having a conversation with a young woman but changes his mind and waits until the interaction is over. The young woman gives Gary a small piece of paper, smiles, waves at him, and walks over to the bar, passing Lobo in the process.
Distracted, Gary’s reading what is the woman’s phone number, flashes a devious grin, nodding his head, thinking of whatever plan that he has in store for tonight, when he suddenly feels two taps on his shoulder. Startled, Gary turns around quickly. “Hey man!”
“My fault, homes,” Lobo says, throwing his hands up. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Nah, son. You’re good. You have some business with me?”
“No, not yet. There is something I’d like to discuss with you.”
“Really? What cha got?”
He guides Gary over to a table, where they can discuss the deal over some food and drinks. “Look, I saw that chick you were with,” Lobo reveals, leaning over towards Gary. “Now, don’t get me wrong, she was fine, but I have someone better.”
Gary smiles. “Fuck you mean? Like who?”
“Lucy Luna. I’m sure you’ve heard of her.”
Gary’s eyes widen. “Lucy? You mean that Puerto Rican chick that have all those bitches working for her?”
Lobo smiles and slightly nods. “That’s the one.”
“Hell yeah, man. You know where she is?”
“I sure do. I can take you there, if you’d like.”
“Wait. Hold up. This is too good to be true. You’re bullshitting, man.”
“You think so? You wanna put your money where your mouth is?” Lobo pulls out a $100 bill. “A hundred dollars says that I know where Lucy is…if you’re man enough to take the bet and walk with me.”
“Alright. Bet. Let’s go.”
***
Lobo and Gary arrive at a back alley. Lobo knocks on the door; a curvaceous Dominican woman, wearing a tight, red spandex dress, answers.
Damn! Gary thought.
“Why hello? I’m Grace.” She pleasantly greets.
“Hello, Grace,” He replies. He gestures in Gary’s direction. “This is my friend, Gary.”
“Nice to meet you, Gary.” Grace extends her hand.
“The pleasure is all mine.” Gary takes her hand into his.
“Is something I can do for you guys?”
Lobo walks closer to Grace. “Esta Lucy aqui?”
“Quien es Lucy?” Grace responds. It dawns on her. “Oh, you mean Lucy Garcia? She left about an hour ago.”
“No, Lucy Luna.”
As Lobo is having a discussion with Grace, Gary peeks inside and sees a room full of women.
“Well, that’s the only Lucy I know of. Sorry. But since you guys are here, why don’t you come on in and enjoy yourselves?”
Before they go in, Lobo gives him a $100 bill, which Gary gladly accepts.
“Looks like you’ve won the bet,” he concedes. “We can turn around, if you want to.”
“Man, hell no. All of those fine ass women in there?”
They’re not inside for two minutes before two women, a slim, toned-figured, black-haired Peruvian, the other, a brown-haired, curvy Costa Rican, immediately come to Gary, taking him arm-in-arm, guiding him to a room. The Peruvian introduces herself as Rosalyn; the Costa Rican, Carmen. The ladies sit him down on the couch and starts kissing and touching him. He starts touching Rosalyn’s leg, and attempts to touch Carmen’s breasts, but then they both step away a few feet from him and start to mesmerize him with sultry moves as they slowly unzip their dresses.
“You’re the guest of honor tonight, Gary,” says Rosalyn. “We’ve been expecting you.”
“Oh really?”
“Really.” Rosalyn and Carmen reply in unison.
Their dresses drop to the floor, revealing the ladies each wearing a belly band holster strapped with a gun.
“Oh shit!” As Gary attempts to make a run for the door, Rosalyn pulls out a Glock .19, Carmen, a Glock .22.
“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.” Carmen warns.
Keeping the gun trained on him, Carmen walks over to him and takes the $100 bill out of his pocket. “I believe Lobo gave this to you.” She says.
Lobo?! Gary thinks to himself.
“Now, as I was saying, you are the guest of honor,” Rosalyn reiterates. “Walk.” She nods her head towards the door.
The women guide him to a room that looks like a studio apartment sized tavern. There, he sees Lucy and Lobo leaning against a pool table; Lucy smirking mischievously, and Lobo grinning from ear-to-ear. Feeling betrayed, Gary’s eyes widen at the sight of the two. Then Carmen walks over and places the money she took from Gary into Lobo’s pocket.
“Looks like I’ve won the bet, after all,” Lobo gloats. “I told you I would take you to see Lucy, and, here she is.”
“You…you set me up, you son of a bitch!” Gary yells at Lobo, who smiles and shrugs his shoulders.
Slowly walking to him, Lucy pulls out the lip-stick written message and holds it in front of Gary. “I believe you said that I was next?” She says. She beckons for someone to come into the room. Still partially bruised, Andriana walks in and stands next to Lucy. “And on top of that, you beat up one of my girls.”
She walks back to the pool table, grabs a cue stick, and hands Andriana a stocking with cue balls stuffed inside. “You fucked up, chico. That goes against the rules— my rules!” She proclaims. She turns to Adriana. “I believe you have something you want to say to him?”
“I sure do.” Adriana swings the stocking wrap upward, smacking Gary in the nuts, who goes down to his knees.
Lucy cracks the cue stick across his head, sending him to ground. “No one touches my fucking girls! No one!” She exclaims. She turns to Lobo. “Lobo, take this piece of shit outside.” Now turning to the Rosalyn and Carmen. “Girls, you know what to do with him.”
The girls follow Lobo as he drags Gary’s barely conscious body outside to the back alley. Standing over Gary, Carmen fires a shot to his chest, and Rosalyn fires a shot to his head. Back inside, Lobo gives the $100 to Lucy.
“Consider it a donation on behalf of me and my boys.” He states.
***
Lucy throws a party for the girls and welcomes them to invite some of their male friends. She tells them to mention the five-dollar entry fee, and all the proceeds from the collection will be used for charitable purposes. They bring in some highly esteemed guys, from bank presidents, athletes, contractors, and entertainers (mostly B-Movie actors), etc. She’s sitting at the table in between Rosalyn and Carmen, bobbing her head to the music of Cruisin’ by Marc Antoine. She’s casually scanning the scene, when her eyes suddenly catch a relic from her past.
“Motherfucker!” She blurts out, catching only the attention of Rosie and Carmen, only because they are in earshot.
“What’s wrong?” Rosalyn and Carmen respond in unison.
“That punk ass bitch!” She gestures towards a tall, light-skinned man who is dancing with two girls.
“You know him?” Rosalyn enquires.
“That’s Maurice. We went to high school together,” Lucy responds. “Our senior year, we had a class discussion about relationships. Afterwards, I was talking with some the girls about one of the subjects, which was personal preferences.” She continues. “I simply stated that while inner qualities are a factor, I’m not trying to get with no ugly motherfucker, I don’t care what anyone says.”
“I wouldn’t either,” Carmen agrees. “What? He had a problem with that?”
“Apparently so,” Lucy responds. “Honestly, I didn’t think anything of it, because I was just giving my take on my personal preferences. Well, the next day, before class ended, he told Mr. Castillo what I said, but he put it in way to call himself telling on me.”
“That’s messed up.” Rosalyn says.
“I got called out in front of everyone by Mr. Castillo for it,” Lucy says. “I didn’t say anything wrong; I wasn’t bad-mouthing the teacher; I didn’t threaten anyone, but this boy scout, brown-nosing motherfucker wanted to try to score brownie points, and make me look bad. That was fucking petty. There was no need to go to that man about that shit. Pussy ass bitch.”
“So, what happened afterwards?” Rosalyn asks.
“I grinned and beared it,” Lucy says. “But, I also told him after school that I was going to get him for that. I can’t stand a tattle-tell motherfucker. Yeah, that was three years ago, but a promise is a promise.”
Lucy stands up and walks over to the table where Maurice is, who is sitting a table with his friends. She stops a woman, who is carrying a tray with glasses and a champagne bottle being chilled in ice, who is heading over towards Maurice’s table.
“Let me.” Lucy says, taking the tray from her. She walks over to the table, catching the eyes and awe of the guys sitting there as she sits the tray down in the middle of the table. “Hello, Mo. Remember me?”
Maurice turns around slightly, looking over his shoulder. “Nah, I don’t think I do. Why?”
Lucy laughs. “Wow, you don’t remember me, for real? I’m Luciana Luna. We went to Riverdale Kingsbridge together.”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Well, I’ll refresh your memory. Do you remember Mr. Castillo?”
“Oh yeah. He was a cool dude.”
“That he was. Anyway, one day, you took it upon yourself to throw me under the bus to make yourself look good in front of him.”
Feigning confusion, Maurice chuckles. “Woman, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Sure, you don’t, that’s why I’m refreshing your memory.” She sarcastically replies. “As I was saying, your boy scout ass threw me under the bus. I hope you got your merit badge.”
Everyone at the table starts laughing; some are laughing nervously. Lucy’s laughing as well but is dead serious about her statements. She leans closer to his ear.
“Do you remember what I told you after class?”
“No, what?” He asks.
“I told you that I was gonna get you. It may be days, weeks, months, or even years from now, but I was gonna get you.”
Maurice springs up. “Woman get out of my face.” He says, shoving her aside as he walks over to the pool table.
Rosalyn and Carmen, who saw Maurice shove Lucy, are making their way over to him, when Lucy stands in their way.
“Stop, stop, stop.” Lucy demands. “I appreciate you girls, but this one is on me.” She walks over to the table where Maurice was, grabs the champagne bottle and a glass, and walks over to the pool table, where Maurice is concentrating on the game with the fellas, and taps him on the shoulder. “You know what, Mo? I apologize. I shouldn’t be tripping over something that happened a few years ago. To show there’s no hard feelings, let me pour you a drink.”
She hands him the glass. As she’s pouring him a drink, his focus goes back to the pool table. She fills up the glass, then quickly turns the bottle upside down, smashing it upside his head. Maurice crashes to the floor.
“What?! I told you I was gonna get your ass!” She shouts, standing over him. “You thought I was bullshittin’?! Then you come on my shit, and disrespect me? You just gave me another reason to fuck your ass up!” She looks to Esteban and Paciano, two of Lobo’s guys. “Get him the fuck outta here!”
“Sure thing, mamacita.” Esteban says.
Esteban and Paciano escorts Maurice out of the backdoor as bystanders look on in shock. Lucy assures that everything is good, to continue with the party, which is what they do, starting with the DJ blaring the music again. Lobo, Rosalyn, and Carmen immediately rush over to Lucy, who’s watching Esteban and Paciano leave the building with Maurice. Rosalyn and Carmen high-fives Lucy.
“Mamacita doesn’t play, does she?” Lobo asks. He examines the champagne splashed on the neck, running down between her cleavage, and some of it on her dress.
“I’m not gonna lie, you look kind of sexy with that champagne all over you. You’re gonna make me act bad, mamacita.”
“Fuck you.” She says playfully.
“I’m scared of you, mamcita.” Rosalyn says jokingly, throwing her hands up in the air. “I know to think twice before crossing you.”
“He had it coming,” Lucy responds. “I always make good on my promises.”
Carmen chuckles. “Mamacita.’ I like that. I don’t know, it kind of fits you. Like a matriarch or something.”
Lucy smirks. “The Godmother, huh?”
“Exactly.” Carmen responds.
“Congratulations, Lucy, you’ve just been crowned.” Lobo says.
They all laugh. Lucy and the crew walked back to their table and enjoyed themselves for the remainder of the night. It was this night that Lucy officially became the “Mamacita,” the empress of the underworld. She gained the utmost respect of her peers and the community.
