10,000 Hours With A Rich Menace (Caselli Family Book 1)

“Stevie, I thought you cut things off with him? Ever since your last date with him,” Priscilla looked over my shoulder, as she plopped in the chair across from me with a plate filled with food. “What did happen on that date?”

We were in a lounge at the airport waiting to board our flight. I was still shocked that I was going on a trip, and we were flying first class. I had never been in an airport lounge in my life.

This was how the other half lived because who filled up on all this food before a flight?

Rich people, that’s who.

I looked at the string of text messages that Cornell had been sending me. He was worried that I was going to air him out on social media. He didn’t care that he tried to take advantage of me. Nell was worried that me speaking out would get him kicked off tour with Zay.

If Zay knew he had a creep in his camp, he would for sure make sure he was good as gone. Nothing but positive things surrounded Zay and his career, aside from the beef with his ex-fiancée.

Priscilla was stuffing her face with crab bites as she waited for me to answer. “He’s been reaching out to me. Trying to apologize because he had taken something that night…he’s trying to save face because his best friend is cousins with Zay.”

Priscilla screwed her face up. “Even more reason to cut him off. He’s not even direct friends with Zay, and he’s being weird with you like he’s important.” She looked truly disgusted.

“Yeah.”

Priscilla polished off the rest of her crab bites and then wiped her mouth. “Girl, we’re about to be on a resort toasting to the good life and you are over here being depressed. Leave Cornell and his weirdness alone. What you need to do is be messing with these get money niggas.”

“I don’t want to mess with any kind of man right now. The experience has been a zero out of ten starts.”

Priscilla checked her phone. “You just haven’t met the right one. I guess I can say the same thing, too.”

“Um, isn’t your boyfriend the whole reason we’re going on this trip?” I questioned as I took a sip of my cucumber water.

Priscilla dramatically pulled her head back while letting out this rich bitch laugh. “Stevie, you need to realize every man ain’t meant to be your boyfriend. I play the game like these men play it, and he probably has other hoes… he’s gonna fly in, so I may be with him, too.”

I didn’t care if she told me she was going to swim with the pigs. As long as I had a drink, my current read of the month, and sun, I didn’t care what Priscilla did with her time.

As we were called to board, it was an entire new experience being able to get on the plane before everyone and being offered drinks soon as we sat down. Priscilla kept her sunglasses on as she flipped through the menu and acted like she belonged.

It was hard for me to act like I belonged because I didn’t belong here. First class was a dream to me, something I had never experienced. This was all new to me, so I was taking everything in while recording and sending it to Skyler.

Her dry responses told me that she was still pissed that I went on the trip. She spent the entire night while I packed last minute things telling me that something didn’t feel right, and I should stay.

She even offered to take me to the Bahamas, and we could bring Estella. The girl tried everything to get me to stay and when she realized I was going, she gave me money to make sure I was safe.

Skyler meant well, but she had to realize that I was older than her and didn’t need my little cousin telling me how I should live my life. Skyler had always been mature for her age, always worrying, and always doing what was right.

I think the one thing she did that was out of the ordinary for her was getting pregnant. When she first moved to New York for college, we weren’t as close because she was living her life with her friends and getting the taste of freedom.

Every time I saw her; she was on the go and living her life with the wrong people. Something changed, and she got back to the Skyler that I knew. The girl that was serious about what she wanted out of life.

When her mother passed, she became more guarded and stricter with her life. I understood, she had Estella to care for now and she couldn’t rely on her father to help her.

“Bottoms up,” Priscilla handed me a shot and I took it back as the plane got ready to take off.

“To a vacation that we’ll never forget!” I smiled, as we clinked glasses, and got ready to enjoy ourselves on this trip.

I needed this.

The Willshire Hotel in the Bahamas was beautiful. The six-star resort was everything I didn’t know I needed in my life. The minute we landed, they sent a tinted air-conditioned SUV to the airport that whisked us to the hotel. We were able to check in at a private counter where they handed us champagne and snacks while they got everything squared away.

The night before, Priscilla had transferred money into my account, so we used my card to place a hold on our accommodations while we were here. I didn’t care because the forty thousand she had sent to me was more than enough to cover us for this week.

We had been here for two days, and I had only had breakfast with Priscilla. I know I said I was good with having a book and sun, but I wanted some girl talk, too. She only spent the night in our suite the first night, and this morning she came strolling in the suite looking like someone nailed her to the cross.

Her hair was all over her head and makeup smeared. She wore the same clothes from the night before, as she smiled when she saw me at the table in the kitchen.

Yes. The suite had a whole kitchen.

“Good morning, someone looks like they had a good night,” I grumbled, taking a sip of the green tea that I made.

She fanned herself and went to the coffee machine, pushing a pod in and leaning on the counter. “That nigga broke my fucking back last night… girl, you need to come out tonight with us.”

I had no desire to be around Priscilla’s boyfriend, or the men he was with. She claimed he came with a few friends, and I didn’t want to be the friend that had to make useless conversation because my girl was with their boy.

“I thought we would hang out today. Maybe go to the beach or sit by the pool and try all their drinks.” I got excited at the thought of just us girls hanging out.

Priscilla’s face told me that she would rather eat dolphin shit than to do what I suggested. It was weird because she invited me, and as much as I knew we didn’t need to hang every moment of the day, I thought we would at least hang a bit.

Other than my cousin and Priscilla, I didn’t have any friends. I remember my mother always pushing me to make friends, thinking that everybody wanted to be friends with the girl who rambled and struggled with ADHD. They all thought I was weird, and I hated being the weird girl.

I craved a friendship outside of my cousin where I could just be Stevie. As much as I was close with Skyler, I often felt like she was forced to be my friend. As if she felt bad that her older cousin was a loner who would rather spend her nights painting or watching anime.

“We can go shopping today… there’s a few stores I want to hit before my date tonight.”

“Oh.”

“Stevie, I will cover anything that you want. Remember, this trip is on me… you should come out tonight with us. His friend is fine… finer than him.” She winked, as if that would seal the deal for me. I wanted nothing to do with a fine friend, or any man for that matter.

“I actually have plans tonight,” I lied.

While Priscilla was out being slutted out, I was going to fill that huge tub with bubbles, listen to my favorite playlist, and relax while watching an Adam Sandler movie – my comfort movies.

When my mother passed away, I stayed held up in our apartment watching Grown Ups for weeks. I didn’t even switch between part one or two, I continued to watch part one.

I could recite the entire movie without a second thought. Actually, I liked to think of it as a hidden talent, and I knew it was going to get me out of trouble one day.

She grew excited as she quickly ushered over toward the table and scooted in the chair. “Was it that cute bartender that kept flirting with you?”

“Yes,” I lied knowing that she wouldn’t let up until she was satisfied that I was with someone.

As much as I admired my friend, I could also point out that she was very motivated by men. Men were her entire life, and that wasn’t my reality. I didn’t need a man to live. The one man that should have been there for me never was. He was too busy doing and being everything else to anyone beside his daughter and wife that needed him.

Wanted him home.

I had only experienced love when it was broken, never when it was whole. Never when it felt like an old school song. The heartbreak is what I witnessed; the disappointment of the person you vowed to do life with. All of that scared me, and aside from the Tony situation, it caused me to shut men out.

My mother thought she would have the man she married forever. He promised to love her, right before God. He gave her his word, and the minute that the signature on the certificate dried, he was doing him, breaking those very promises he had given her.

I never wanted a love like that to find me.