Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

by Ashley Snell

  “Is that all that’s bothering you?” Jones asked his daughter, noticing her contemplation.

  Six nodded her head and replied, “Yeah, Daddy, that’s it. I’m good; I just got a lot on my mind.” Six had decided on the way there not to tell her father about their run-in with the Russians. She didn’t want him worrying, and she also didn’t want her father confronting the Russians. She knew that he didn’t care how big or dangerous Claude’s operation was—her father would kill them or die in the process for laying hands on his little girl. In his day, he was a notorious murder for hire and would put in work if he had to. No, it’s better if I keep that to myself, she thought as she rose from her seat and hugged her father.

  “I love you, Daddy. Thanks for everything.”

  “I love you too, baby girl,” he said in between tokes. “Tell Free to come see me. He’s been out for a couple days now, and he ain’t come to holla at your old man. I need to talk to him about something.”

  “I will,” Six replied as she walked toward the door.

  “Six!” Jones called out.

  “Yeah, Daddy?” she said as she turned around to face him.

  “Word on the street is Free owes the Russians a lot of money. You need to be careful,” he warned her.

  “You know how niggas talk in the streets, Daddy. Everybody spreading rumors. Free is good,” Six replied quickly. She didn’t realize that he already knew about Free’s beef with the Russians. For him to know about it meant that it was traveling down the hood grapevine and she knew that couldn’t be a good thing.

  “Yeah, I hear you holding your man down, not wanting to put his business out. I already know the deal so there ain’t no need to lie to me. Those Russian mu’fuckas ain’t nothing to play with.”

  “I hear you, Daddy.”

  “I’m serious, Six. Be careful. The best way to get to a man is through his woman. Always remember that. Do you still have the pistol I bought you for your eighteenth birthday?”

  Six lifted her pants leg and revealed the tiny .22 pistol that was strapped to her ankle in a holster.

  “That’s my girl. Make sure Free comes to see me and soon.”

  He kissed Six on her forehead and she walked out the door. Just as she stepped off of his porch she saw a pearl-white Rolls-Royce pull up in front of her father’s house. Who is driving a Royce through the hood? She asked herself as she made her way to her car. A dark-skinned dude with a five o’clock shadow stepped out of the vehicle. He was clean in a white linen button-down and matching baggy linen shorts. Six silently wondered what the guy was doing there to see her father. She could feel his eyes watching her from behind the designer shades he wore and she turned her head to avoid his gaze as she passed him. He nodded a hello at her as he stepped to the side to watch her walk by, but she disregarded him without acknowledgement. She was too busy thinking about her father’s warning regarding the Russians.

  Her father’s words kept playing in her head and Six was grateful for his wisdom. He was always there when she needed him and he always made her feel better when she had a problem. The simple fact that he had warned her about the Russians told her that they were dangerous and made her think about their intrusion that morning. If we can pay off the Russians, everything will be okay.

  Six began plotting ways for them to come up. She knew that they needed a hustle, she just didn’t know what it would be. It was clear that Free couldn’t enter the dope game. There was too big of a risk associated with it. Free would need to move some serious weight in order to achieve that goal. The dope game is out. I can’t see my baby get locked up again, so we definitely not fucking with that. We’re in this together. I know Free is gon’ try to carry this by himself, but I’m not taking no for an answer. We have to get this money.

  Chapter Three

  Six sent the rent and bills off as soon as she made it home, but the stress of needing money still worried her. What happens if we don’t come up with the Russians’ money? she pondered as she paced back and forth in the tiny living room. She didn’t even want to think about what the Russians would do to her if Free didn’t pay up. Her father’s words from earlier that day kept replaying in her mind. “The best way to get to a man is through his woman.” The phrase echoed over and over, and it was beginning to make a small headache form behind her temples.

  Ever since he had said that to her, Six had been plotting different ways she could use the warning to her advantage. She worked at the Kitty Kat, the most popular strip joint in town. It was where all the ballers and get-money cats in Detroit went to relax. She had seen so much game run on men in that club that she was sure that the answer to their problems could be found within those walls. So much money came in and out of the club and the dancers were always scheming in order to get paid. Six knew that she could never stoop so low for money, but she knew somebody who would…her best friend, Sparkle.

  Sparkle had hustled plenty of men out of their money. In fact, it was how she survived. The only problem was, Six didn’t have time for Sparkle to romance a nigga for a year in order for them to share their money with her. Free had six months to come up with a quarter million. Six knew that they would have to take it by any means necessary. There wouldn’t be enough time for the lovey-dovey approach; Sparkle would have to lure them into a situation where Free could hit their pockets for big cash. The money would get split three equal ways and after a couple licks they should have enough money to pay Claude and leave town. She paced the same back-and-forth pattern for an hour trying to piece together her plan before Free walked in the door, interrupting her train of thought.

  Six could see the tension in Free’s face. She walked over to him and kissed him softly on the lips. He rested his forehead on hers and wrapped his arms around her waist, placing his hands on her round behind. She rubbed the back of his head and watched as he closed his eyes and sighed heavily. She could tell that the financial burdens that they were in were dampening his spirit. She wanted to tell Free about her plan, but she didn’t know what he would think. She was sure that her plan would work. Everybody who frequented the club had major chips to play with. They made it a point to show it off. Why not take advantage of their stupidity and rob them blind? Six didn’t want Free to think that she had ever entertained the thought of hustling niggas while he was away so she hesitated in telling him about her idea. He knew the type of stuff that went on inside the Kitty Kat, which is one reason why he hated the fact that she worked there.

  “Why are you so quiet?” he asked her as he looked into her eyes. He could read her like a book and could tell that something was on her mind. “What are you thinking about?”

  “Everything. I’m thinking about all of this,” she began softly. “We are in some serious shit, Free. We need to come up with a quarter mill in six months. What type of hustle you know turning that type of profit?” she asked him.

  “Moving weight…but I think I’m stuck with that. I’m not trying to go back to prison. They’ll put me in a box before they stick me in there again,” Free whispered.

  “I know,” Six said as she grabbed his hands and intertwined her fingers with his.

  “I think I know a way for us to get this money,” Six announced. Free didn’t respond; he just listened and waited for her to continue.

  “You know all them niggas be flashing big money down at the club, right? Well, I say we set them up to be robbed. Sparkle always got some chump from the club spending money on her and telling her his business. Why not use her to help us get the dough? She can approach them, spend a couple days with them…she knows exactly what to do to find out anything we need to know. She can find out where they stash spots at or when and where they pickup is. Next thing you know, she leads them to a hotel or secluded spot and we take the money. It’ll be quick and easy; nobody will get hurt,” Six said as her eyes pleaded with Free, hoping he would go along with her plan.

  “So you wanna pimp your friend?” Free asked with uncertainty and contempt.

  “
Free, please don’t give me that. You already know how she gets down. Sparkle pimps herself anyway, so it doesn’t make a difference. We might as well get paid from it. Besides, we’ll split the money up three ways, but me and you are together, so in actuality, we’ll be getting the bigger percentage. It’ll be a sixty-five–thirty-five split, and she’s the one who’s doing most of the work. We can’t lose, baby. She’ll never notice that we are taking home most of the money.”

  Free’s mind was spinning. The plan sounded good in theory, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to get involved in something so risky. He didn’t trust Sparkle enough to get in bed with her on a setup. “I don’t know, Six.” He had seen that shit catch up to a couple dudes in the hood.

  “Baby, this is the only way. I went to see my daddy today and he told me that the best way to get to a man is through his woman. We make Sparkle get to them for us. After a couple times we should have the money we need to pay our debt.”

  Free thought about what Six had just proposed. In a way the plan was brilliant. He couldn’t believe that she had come up with the entire plan in a day’s time. He knew that what she was saying was true. He had seen Sparkle work her magic on plenty of hustlers, but he also knew that when she was through with them they were almost ready to kill her. He didn’t want to pull Six into a game that was so uncertain. Anything could easily go wrong during a stickup and he didn’t want her involved in it. She was his life and this was his debt; she had done enough by even coming up with the hustle. He didn’t see why she had to be involved in it.

  “Six, I don’t want you wrapped up in this. Me and Sparkle can handle it.”

  “What?”

  “If anything ever happened to you I would go crazy, Six. I don’t need that on my mind if we are going to do this.”

  “No, Free! You are not cutting me out of this plan. You always think about how you would feel if something happened to me. What about how I’m going to feel if something happens to you? You left me once and that is not going to happen again. Whatever happens it’s going to happen to both of us. We are in this together. If you go to jail, I go to jail. If you die, I die.”

  Free shook his head, but eventually relented because Six was not going to take no for an answer. Once her mind was set there was no changing it. If it was going to be done then it was going to be done together. He couldn’t believe what he had gotten her into. Here she was plotting money schemes when all she should have to be worried about was living good and making their lives happy. Guilt filled his heart as he looked at his queen. When I’m back on top, she will never want for anything. I’m gon’ spoil her, he thought.

  He knew that he had a thoroughbred on his team. Six stuck by his side through the worst of times when the average female would have blown in the wind. No matter what he was going through she was always there. When he first started hustling she chose to be with him when other cats were talking about how much they could do for her. When he made it to the top she rightfully took her place as his woman. She was the ghetto princess of the hood and the baddest bitch in Detroit. She knew her role and was the woman behind the man. When he fell off she was there to pick him up. She stuck by him during his three-year stay in prison and would have done the entire fifteen to life if she had to. Now he was out and in a deadly confrontation with his connect and she stood by him still, proving her loyalty beyond a doubt. He was in love with her and at that moment he remembered why.

  “So are we in or out?” she asked him with her neatly arched eyebrows raised.

  “We’re in,” he answered. “Have you talked to Sparkle about any of this?” he asked.

  “No, not yet.”

  Free had a look of confusion on his face before he inquired, “Well, how do you know she will be down for it?”

  “Oh, you don’t know Sparkle. If it’s about money, she’ll be with it.”

  Free nodded in agreement. Sparkle was a professional gold digger. She had so many niggas buying her things and paying her bills that they were hard to count. She didn’t even really need her job at the strip club. She only kept it so that she could be in tune with who was getting money. She was good at what she did, and if all went as planned, Free knew that they would all be rolling in money very soon.

  Sparkle turned around, shook her ass at the crowd, and they went crazy. She was five feet three and had the body of a goddess. Her wide hips and big breasts wore the thong and stilettos well as she gave the performance of her life. She rolled her hips and popped her assets as she watched the dollar bills flood the stage. The patrons of the club loved when Sparkle hit the stage. She was by far the freakiest stripper in the club, and niggas knew that there were no limitations to what she could or would do. As long as the compensation was sufficient, she was down for whatever, and she was known for giving the best head in town. Free watched Sparkle as she seductively trotted around on the stage and noticed that the audience was devouring her every move. All eyes were fixated on Sparkle and the gold pasties that she wore on each nipple. Sparkle was a pro, and she scanned the crowd with efficiency, trying to see what chump she would make their first mark.

  Six’s stomach felt like it was doing somersaults. She was nervous as hell and didn’t know what was going to happen. She hoped that her plan was 100 percent and that she hadn’t overlooked something important. She glanced toward the back of the club where Free was sitting. He was so far in the back that he was hidden by the shadows of the abandoned section of the club. All of the other patrons were crowded around the stage but Six knew that Free was watching his surroundings, trying to be as cautious as possible.

  Sparkle spotted one of the regulars out of the crowd. Drake came to the club every Saturday night and always had a fat knot in his pocket. He stayed fresh and drove a white Escalade on spinners. When he was in the club he always made it rain and she smiled enticingly at him, knowing that he was the one she was about to get at. He winked at her and when her set was finished he motioned for her to join him at a table in the corner.

  “What’s good with you li’l bit?” he asked her, calling her by one of her many club names.

  “What’s good with you?” she replied as she licked her lips and made herself comfortable, straddling his lap. His hands instantly found her backside.

  “I’m trying to find out where the party at after this,” he told her as he moved her G-string out of the way and slipped one of his fingers into her womanhood. She rotated on it, causing his fingers to become drenched in her wetness. His boys were sitting around the table enjoying the mini freak show that the two were putting on but Sparkle didn’t care. Her attention was focused on getting in Drake’s pockets. Reaching her hands in the pockets of his Sean John jeans, she felt the thick wad of bills rolled in a rubber band, but bypassed it and began to stroke his hard dick. He thought that she was trying to please him, but what she was really doing was probing his pockets to make sure he had money on him. She felt another wad in his other pocket and dollar signs formed in her eyes. Slyly, she looked over at Free and nodded her head to signal him that she was ready and her eyes followed him as he got up and walked out the club.

  “You already found the party, sweetie,” she told Drake as she probbed in his jeans and felt how hard he really was.

  “You gon’ let cha boy get in that?” he asked as he continued to finger her as she sat on his lap.

  “You can do whatever you want if the money is right. I get off in an hour and I’ve got a room. If your money is proper we can head that way,” she told him, emphasizing the if, letting him know that if he wasn’t paid he wasn’t getting laid.

  He nodded and called a waitress over to the table. “Bring me a bottle of Cris,” he announced as he pulled one of the money wads out of his pocket. He handed the waitress two hundred-dollar bills and as he turned to Sparkle he held the money in her face and said, “The money is always right.”

  Free sped to the closest motel, which was about ten miles from the club. He pulled into the Holiday Inn and parked his car. He was
glad that Six had to work that night because he didn’t want her leaving the club trying to come with him their first time. He rushed into the hotel, paid cash for the room, and then got two keys. I hope this shit goes smooth, I ain’t trying to catch a body if some shit pop off, Free thought as he drove back to the strip club. He went in and headed to the bar where Six was pouring drinks. They made eye contact and Free slipped the other hotel key behind the bar. She nodded and continued what she was doing without even speaking to him. He then left the club to prepare himself for what was about to go down.

  Thirty minutes later, Sparkle sashayed out of the dressing room fully clothed with a huge smile plastered on her face. She greeted Drake with a kiss and led him over to the bar.

  “One more shot before we hit the road,” Sparkle said. Six wiped down the bar as she watched Sparkle whisper into Drake’s ear.

  “The bar is about to close, so can I get you guys anything?” Six asked, pretending that she didn’t know Sparkle.

  “Two shots of Patrón,” Sparkle responded.

  Six prepared the drinks and discreetly slipped a white substance into Drake’s before handing it to him. She sighed in relief when she saw him consume the liquor. She knew that the hit would go smoothly because once the date Rohypnol kicked in, Drake would be an easy target.

  Sparkle overpaid for the drink, and Six slid the hotel key in with her change, then watched the couple walk out the club. Sparkle got into his truck, and he immediately reached up her skirt. “Where the room at?” he asked. Sparkle smiled at his frankness. He was drunk and horny, exactly how she needed him to be. She unbuckled his belt and unzipped the fly to his jeans. His manhood stood at attention, and she lowered her head to wrap her lips around him. He went crazy as she worked her tongue and when he hit a bump, his dick slid all the way to the back of her throat, making him scream out loud.