Free Choose Wisely by Michele V. Mitchell

sliding door and huge mirror. Of course she stopped to check herself out. She was sexy and she knew it. I dropped the bags and squeezed her waist. She turned her neck and leaned her back against my chest.
                  “Thank you Papi. I really needed this,” she smiled.
                  “Girl you don’t have to thank me. This is what I do,” I softly kissed her neck and turned my attention to huge king size bed.
    It looked so comfortable. I was ready to jump right in. It had been a long drive and I could use a power nap. Lexi decided she would take a shower before we went out to dinner. We had passed a few restaurants before we came upstairs. I was amazed at all the Harrah’s had to offer. Restaurants, shops, they even had a night club right inside. I knew whoever owned that club was making serious money. I reached for my duffel bag that was sitting on the floor. I pulled out my bottle of E&J. I heard it was illegal to carry liquor from one state to the next. But who was gonna tell.
                  I poured me cup and laid back onto the bed. I searched for the remote and turned on the television. I flicked through the channels. I couldn’t find anything worth watching. So I settled with Family Feud. Steve Harvey was my dude. I placed the remote on the nightstand and noticed the bible sitting next to it. I sighed, picking it up.
    I knew being here was something my mother wouldn’t approve of. I knew this was not the life she wanted for me. But I was grown and I wasn’t hurting nobody, if she could see me now. I knew she would say I was turning into my father. He was a gambler and one of Harrisburg’s top drug dealers back in the day. She didn’t know what he did for a living at first. But by the time she found out, she was already in love and pregnant with me. She thought she could change him. But the truth is you can’t change anyone who doesn’t want to change. They stayed together until I was three. He did a ten year bid right after my third birthday. I was almost fourteen when I saw him again.
                  My father was a stranger to me. I only knew him through the stories my uncle would tell. They were tight. If it wasn’t for him my parents probably would have never gotten together. My mother barely mentioned him once he was incarcerated. Right after he went to jail she found religion. He tried to win her back once he returned. But she wasn’t having it. She said it had to be us or the streets. He chose the streets. A few years later he and my uncle opened their first bar together. By the time he died they had owned four night clubs. He gave his shares to my mother and me.
                  My mother let my uncle run the clubs. He wasn’t good at math so she kept the books. She had a small office inside The Next Level’s basement. She didn’t use her office often. I don’t think she liked being inside the club. She only went there in the mornings. You would never catch her there regular business hours. She would however open the bar every Thanksgiving and serve to whoever needed a meal. She was sweet like that. I sure did miss her.
                  My thoughts were interrupted when Lexi came out the bathroom with just a towel. My man immediately came to attention as usual. She sure knew what to do to please me. I just wondered if sex was the only thing we had in common. I patted the bed motioning for her to come to me. Her eyes were red. She looked like she had been crying.
                  “You, okay baby girl?”
    She strutted over to me and kissed me passionately.
                  “I’m fine; I’m just ready to hit the slots,”
    I watched as she grabbed her suitcase and searched for something to wear. I knew something was wrong. But I figured it was best not to press her about it. When she was ready to talk she would come to me.  I decided to head to bathroom and take a cold shower. I knew I