Pitbulls In a Skirt 3

by Mikal Malone

  I quickly got out of the car to help her up. And when I did, my Jimmy Choo heel landed in the middle of a pile of dog shit.

  “Yvette, you gotta get rid of them dogs!” I yelled wiping the heel of my shoe on the curb scraping them a little. “Or clean up behind them at least.”

  “Fuck that shit! Them dogs are my kids I ain’t never getting rid of them.”

  We finally made it to the car and I could tell she was both angry and eager to get out of the cold. It was 30 degrees outside and the wind was brisk. My driver parked and opened the door for us and the moment she got inside she said, "No I don't want to talk about it so don’t ask me!"

  "Okay," I said looking the other way. “But you could say thank you for helping your ass up.”

  “Thank you.” She said dryly. “But wait, what’s wrong with you?” She said in a concerned voice. I didn’t answer. “Bitch, you heard me talking to you! What’s up?”

  “Nothing. Just drop it.”

  “Mercedes, let’s not play this game tonight. You know you gonna tell me so you might as well do it now.”

  “Am I ugly?”

  “What?”

  “You heard me.” I paused. “I want to know if you think I’m attractive.”

  “Why you asking me, because I fuck another woman or something?”

  “Yvette! I’m serious.”

  “Mercedes, please! You can’t be serious. I mean look at you.” She said gripping a few strands of my hair. “You in your thirties and you look like you about twenty something. You got the yellow skin men love and your natural black hair hangs down your back. Let’s not even talk about your body. That shit is on point!”

  “Ughhhh…dike! Why you looking at me like that?”

  “Bitch, please!” Yvette laughed hitting me. “You wish I looked at you like that. I don’t even want the bitch I got at home, I damn sure ain’t recruiting no more split tails.”

  “All jokes aside, thank you,” I said touching her hand. “I needed to hear that.”

  “Don’t thank me. I ain’t telling you nothing that ain’t true.” I faced my window again and wondered where Derrick was. “Now what’s wrong?”

  “Everything.” I said.

  Yvette rolled her eyes and said, "Well when you get ready to tell me, know that I’m here,” she said turning one of the heat vents in her direction.” “Girl, it's cold as shit out there! Fuck!" She flung her Louis Vuitton bag on the floor next to my Gucci and shivered in her seat.

  "You telling me! I had to buy me another fur coat because the other one wasn’t warm enough."

  “Bitch, you stay buying shit. I peeped the new diamond rings, too.” She said smoothing on some Chapstick. “I don’t see how you do it! I hate fucking shopping.”

  “Girl, I ain’t tripping off this dope money…might as well spend it because I damn sure can’t take it with me.”

  We laughed.

  “So what’s up? Who did what this time? ‘Cause if you picked me up before Carissa and Kenyetta who are closer, you must want to rap about something. What is it, Mercedes? Stop fucking around because something is up with you.”

  "You are too much.”

  "I’m serious! You brought the big boy out today and whenever you pick us up in your Mercedes stretch, it means somebody is fucking up. So which of us bitches got you wrong?"

  Damn, she was on to me. I looked away and said, "I wish ya'll didn't know me so well."

  "We're sisters, I know everything about you. Now what's up, bitch, you scaring me?"

  I picked up the iPhone in my lap, selected the Email app, opened the message from Toi who found the video and pressed play. She took it out of my hands with her manicured Minx nails. It didn’t take long for her normal expression on her face to change fifteen seconds into the video.

  Her eyes rose up from the video and her jaw dropped. "No...that can't be. Please stop playing. Is it...really?"

  "Yes." I said sadly. “It’s her.”

  "But, why would she allow him to do this to her? She a boss, Mercedes! Does she have any idea how bad this looks for us? How bad this looks for her daughters?” I took the phone from her hand when I heard it ding with a text message. “Derrick just texted you.”

  “Thanks.”

  “And who is the nigga who taped that bullshit anyway?"

  I ignored her momentarily to focus on the text I received. My heart raced before I even knew what he said. When I finally opened his text the message read, ‘Take your time coming home. I’m gonna be late.’

  What was going on with him? Why was he doing this to our family?

  “Mercedes! Are you listening to me?!”

  “Huh?” I said snapping out of my gaze.

  “Bitch, snap out of it!” She yelled, snapping her fingers. “Who is that in the video?”

  "I don't know. You see he's hiding his face.” I said wondering who had Derrick’s attention. I threw my iphone in my lap frustrated with everything. “But whoever he is, he posted this shit to the web, Yvette. He smuttin' her out and this shit is tearing me up."

  The video was raunchy and it was co-starring one of the pitbulls. Carissa was being fucked from behind by some dude with a tattoo of the letters NC on his back. Then it went to her giving him head and that's when it got too hard to watch. Several times she gagged and threw up on his dick and each time he'd slap her in the face demanding that she’d open her mouth wider. She'd do as she was told until finally he busted his nut all over her face. It was vicious, disgusting and smutty.

  "Maybe it's not her, Mercedes. You know how niggas are, anybody could’ve edited that shit.”

  “It was her, Yvette. Stop making excuses.”

  She smoothed the back of her cute spiky haircut with her hands and stared out in front of her. Overtime, Yvette was starting to look prettier because of all of the time she’d spent in the gym.

  “But how do we know? You know they still mad because our operation is tighter than ever, even with the niggas dead and gone.”

  “Our operation tighter than ever? Really?” I said in a condescending tone.

  “What you mean?”

  “Yvette, we don’t pick up the money on time the way we use to, we barely meet Dreyfus for the package, it’s like we don’t care anymore.”

  “Speak for yourself.”

  “Maybe I am.”

  Yvette turned to me and said, “We got this. Ya’ll just got too much shit going on that you’re not willing to put on the back burner no more. I put my relationship and everything on the line for the love of EC. I just wished ya’ll met me half way.”

  “I don’t know about all of that anymore.” I said not wanting to tell her how I really didn’t want to focus on anything but my family right now. “And as far as Carissa, I’m fucked up that she would get caught out here like this.”

  “Maybe it’s the Black Water Klan.” Yvette said.

  “Bitch, that’s an urban legend! Ain’t no fucking Black Water Klan out there.”

  “Oh yeah? Because Kenyetta said they were deep, and even tried to bring her into their fold when she use to fuck with him.”

  “Well I don’t believe it.”

  “Shit I do,” Yvette said. “And folks are saying they not in Virginia no more. Maybe they trying to make us look bad in front of Dreyfus by getting a girl who looks like Carissa to play her."

  “And the purpose?”

  “If we are reckless, why would he want us connected to him? If you get caught on tape fucking, you could get caught on tape smuggling drugs which leads directly back to him.”

  "Look at the video again at the minute and a half mark. The tattoo of Lavelle's name is on her leg. It’s her."

  I handed her the phone but she didn’t accept it saying, "I can't watch that shit again, ‘Cedes. I believe you."

  Yvette looked as hurt as I did when Toi first sent me the video. Ever since Toi helped me kill Cameron, we'd been cool and I liked her even though I figured her for a square. It didn’t take me long to see that she was feis
ty and could be loyal to me even though we’d fucked the same nigga. I guess Cameron fucked up when he picked two bitches who would turn on him in a heartbeat if done wrong. May he rest in peace.

  "How you get that shit, anyway? Let’s talk about that…what were you on some type of porn site or something?"

  "Fuck no! Toi sent that shit to me."

  "Where she find it at?" Yvette asked with raised eyebrows.

  "She fucks with some nigga who likes porn. I think he spotted Lavelle’s name on her tattoo and they sent it to me."

  When we pulled up in southwest, at the waterfront, the place where Carissa kept her Yacht, I saw five dudes who judging by the parked cars, looked like they had cash. Three I recognized from Emerald City and the other two I had only seen once.

  When the girls saw us, Carissa gave them all hugs and Kenyetta tongued the dude, I knew as Cheese, down. Carissa slobbered down the other dude I knew as Slack. To make matters worse, our three workers who should have been in EC threw up deuces our way, I guess saying hello.

  The deuces pissed Yvette off and she clutched her gun and said, “Did this nigga just throw up deuces at us? I will shoot them two fucking fingers off his hand! I’m ‘bout to go on these mothafuckas…”

  “Stop, Yvette!” I said grabbing her before she got out. “We got other shit to worry about and now is not the time.”

  “But they fucking hanging out with our employees. Block niggas at that. Foot soldiers! What kind of shit is that, ‘Cedes?”

  “Just let it play out, damn! You always wanna push the red button. Relax.”

  She fell back into the seat and said, "I wonder if it’s one of them niggas." Then she looked at me and said, “Do Slack got a tattoo of the letters NC on his back?”

  “How the fuck should I know?”

  “Fuck!” Yvette said with hate in her voice. "If I find out he do, I'ma murder this nigga, ‘Cedes. I’m all the way serious about that right there and it ain’t gonna be nothing ya’ll can do to stop me."

  "Hold fast, ‘Vette. You already to get into some gangsta shit when you don’t even know what’s going on yet. Let’s get to the bottom of things first.”

  Yvette gave me the look, and I knew what that meant. She didn't care if Carissa would hate her for the rest of her life, she'd kill any nigga who disrespected any of us before she gave two fucks about the consequences of our friendship. She was confrontational and when it came to Emerald City, or us, she could fly off the handle. I often wondered how she and her girlfriend Chris stayed together so long since she always chose us.

  "Let's just wait and see first," I told her even though I didn't know what difference it would make later.

  Carissa and Kenyetta slid inside of the car with bottles of liquor in their hands. Carissa had a bottle of Coconut Ciroc and Kenyetta carried Hennessy Black. They were already tipsy and I knew I was about to be blown for the rest of the night.

  “Really?” I said looking at them. “You’re drunk? Really?”

  They knew tonight was the first night back to Emerald to discuss business yet they show up like this?

  “Relax.” Kenyetta laughed. “Besides…Lil C or the girls ain’t in this car so you ain’t gotta play mama tonight. I’m a grown ass woman, dawg.”

  Carissa and Kenyetta were virtually twins the way they hung up under each other’s asses. If they weren't on the Yacht riding around the city together, they were hosting parties, which catered to big time drug dealers. All the major rap artist frequented their parties, too, from Jay Z to Rick Ross. When they were in DC, they knew who to call, but sometimes I think they were bad representations of what the Nation’s Capital was really about. And then it dawned on me, maybe NC stood for Nation’s Capital.

  “Relax?” Yvette said. “Bitch, ya’ll are out there fucking with our workers. Workers who as far as I’m concerned don’t deserve to be off post let alone hanging with two bosses.”

  “Girllllll, please!” Kenyetta screamed. “Niggas who run drug operations fuck with who they want all the time and don’t nobody say nothing.”

  “What?” I asked confused.

  “They just friends! Is that a problem?” She paused. “Miss me with that shit.”

  “Whatever. You can do whatever you fucking want to do.”

  "Exactly, now what did we do to warrant all this?!!!" Carissa said looking around the limo.

  “What are you talking about, Carissa?” Yvette asked.

  Carissa had a drunk smile on her face and she was loud and belligerent. "You pulled the limo out on our ass tonight so I know something’s up!"

  Yvette and I looked at each other in disgust. This bitch was doing the most and she didn’t even know it. She was playing herself so badly that I didn’t even notice her anymore. Don’t get me wrong, there are seven people I would put my life on the line for, but when you wrong you wrong and I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t call her out about it. The way Carissa pushed the issue made me think she knew the meeting was about her all along.

  “We had to meet up regardless this week. You know that.” I said.

  "Awww, this about business for real?” Kenyetta whined.

  “What you think?” Yvette said.

  “Man, I was hoping we'd have a good time tonight," She continued. "I ain't seen ya'll in two weeks and figured we could celebrate." She said grabbing a glass and pouring a drink.

  “Celebrate what? It’s not one of our birthdays.”

  “I figured we’d celebrate life and the fact that we still living and our niggas ain’t.” Her words were all over the place. “That we still running shit after all these years with no indictments, with no problems and no bullshit.”

  There was silence. Indictments were something we hated even thinking about, feeling we might will that shit into our existence.

  "This is a business night, and ya'll know that." Yvette said. "So I'm not understanding why ya'll would even step in here like that."

  Carissa sighed and rolled her eyes and I knew if the driver wasn't floating on the way to Emerald City she would have asked to get out.

  "What is the problem?" Carissa said. "All we trying to do is have fun. We may be business partners, but we still friends, too right?"

  “Don’t ask dumb questions.” I said.

  Carissa rolled her eyes and said, “Then let’s get on with the meeting. Why wait ‘til we get back to EC?”

  "Well let’s do it then.” I said. “First we have to talk about Tyland Towers. It’s more difficult to run than we thought, so we gonna have Dreyfus pull us off the project. We got our hands full enough as is and I don’t like the people who work for us there. They don’t respect us and are more problem than they’re worth. And since we aren’t buying the package for Tyland…just taking points per our arrangements with Dreyfus, it ain’t worth it."

  Carissa and Kenyetta looked at each other and Kenyetta said, "But we'll lose about two hundred thousand dollars a month if we do that shit. That don’t sound like a smart move to me."

  "We'll lose more than that if we try to run it with their lieutenants.” Yvette said leaning in closer to her. “I don’t trust nobody over there." Yvette continued taking the Ciroc from Carissa’s hand to pour her a glass. Carissa looked like she was stealing out of her purse so Yvette said, "What...I can't have none? Just a minute ago you were all like we trying to have fun."

  "Oh girl, I'm not tripping off that. Go 'head." Carissa and this drunk shit was making me want to punch her in the face.

  "I'm not feeling letting go.” Carissa said, interrupting my stare. “We haven't even tried hard enough yet. I mean…maybe we can put more of our men in Tyland from Emerald. I’ve been watching a few niggas, especially Kirk and his soldiers. They would be perfect."

  I sat up straight and leaned toward them. "WE have tried everything.” I said pointing at Yvette and then me. “And Kirk is too valuable to lose to Tyland. But if WE had more help as it pertains to management, before shit got too hard to handle, maybe we wouldn’t have to do this.” I sat back
into my seat. “We pulling out of Tyland and we pulling out now.”

  Silence.

  "So what you trying to say, me and Carissa haven't been helping, too?" Kenyetta said with an attitude.

  "Naw, ya'll been too busy throwing parties and shit. And that's cool if that's ya'll thing, but it ain't helping us none." Yvette said. “So we have to look out for ourselves and let Tyland go. And there ain’t no need in complaining about it because the decision has been made.”

  “Dreyfus know yet?” Carissa said, eyes rolling up in her head. She was starting to look real bad. “’Cause I know he gonna flip when he find out if he don’t know already.”

  “Yeah…well…we don’t work for Dreyfus now do we? He supplies us for Tyland and that’s about it. We purchase outright our package for Emerald.” I said. “But we are our own persons and he knows that.”

  “Come on, girl. You and I both know that Dreyfus has always been the silent partner in both the Emerald and Tyland Tower operations. And if you think I’m lying, tell me his reaction once you let him know.” Carissa added.

  “We don’t give a fuck about none of that.” Yvette said. “This is about what we can handle and what we wanna handle. And we smart enough to walk away.”

  Silence.

  "Well, whatever. We making enough money anyway throwing the parties, Kenyetta. So let’s not even trip."

  Me and Yvette looked at each other and Yvette whispered, “Do you see this shit?”

  “Yeah,” I whispered back.

  I hated how she was acting because the drunk Carissa wasn't the same. She was young and dumb and not smart enough to run an operation or anything else for that matter. And at the rate she was going, she wasn’t even smart enough to run her mouth. To think, this bitch has two kids, Persia and Treasure who were just as grown as her. What kind of mother is she anyway?

  "Is there something else? 'Cause ya'll blowing me." Carissa said.

  "Yeah, we have to show you something," I said handing her my iPhone, which was already cued up and ready to go.

  “What’s this?”

  “Just hit play.”

  She hit play and her and Kenyetta looked at it first as if they didn't know who it was and when Carissa noticed herself she leaned to the side so Kenyetta couldn't see anymore. I was surprised when Carissa let the whole video play out.