What Was I Supposed to Do?

by Ni'cola

  “Hi, baby,” I said, getting in the car and kissing him full on the lips. “I thought you forgot about me.”

  I heard my mamma yelling my name again, telling me to come back. As always, Mamma, you show up too little too late for me, I thought.

  “Sweetness, I could never do that,” he assured me. “I was a little tied up.”

  I looked out my window in the direction of my apartment.

  “Are you sure you are ready to leave this place?” he asked me firmly. “Are you ready to come home to your real family?”

  His eyes were so sincere and serious, but his tone turned me on.

  “Yes, baby,” I answered him. “I am ready to go home.”

  He flashed a smile at me and held my hand, as we pulled away from the curb.

  Denise

  This little girl is lazy as hell, I thought to myself in disgust.

  When I walked into the condo, her stuff was strewn all over the living room. I shook my head, picking up items and throwing them into a pile by the bedroom door. Harper had been here for a little over two weeks, and she seemed to be settling in just fine. My only issue with her was that her hygiene habits were horrible.

  I had been getting to know Harper by pretending that I was Stone, and I felt sorry for the girl. She was dealt a terrible hand, and just like any other liar, I had really started to believe that if we got her out of that house, we would be saving her.

  I gained her trust by only chatting with her, not via video. I never asked her for any sexual favors or advances. I offered her money for the baby and her expenses. It didn’t take long to break her down. Finally, I got her to give me her address, so that Stone could drop off a laptop and hotspot to her. I knew that once she saw Stone in person and realized he was the face behind our awesome conversation that it wouldn’t take long for her to come home to us, and I was right!

  Literally, a week later, she was calling his phone and the rest was history. Now that she was here, Harper was really starting to get on my damn nerves!

  Every time I came by, I had to remind her to take a shower and to wash her hair. She was a little older than the girls, so I thought she would be easier to manage, but her ass was getting on my damn nerves.

  Sitting down on the couch, I texted Stone: Here. After a few moments, Stone appeared. He came out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him.

  Sometimes, days like today, this shit got on my damn nerves! Stone would bring the new girls to my house and I would stay with the rest of them in the big house. I hated having to watch how he broke them in. He would have sex with them and pretend he was their man.

  “Hey, you,” Stone said, wrapping a towel around his naked hips.

  I understood how these girls fell for him. He was fine as hell. His chest was chiseled and he had the prettiest smile. Grown women threw themselves at him all the time, so what kind of effect do you think he had on these young ones?

  His fingertips traced my left cheek, as he leaned in and kissed me tenderly on the lips. I took in a deep breath. His kiss was perfect. It felt as if my chest was caving in, and my heart was going to erupt like a volcano.

  In a sultry manner, he licked my lips with his tongue. I exhaled, releasing my tender breath into his awaiting mouth. Our tongues played a tug of war. Before I could turn my body so that it could be one with him, I felt a pair of small hands running across my quickly hardening nipples. The scent of Harper’s mound lingered in his mouth, bringing me back to reality.

  “Hold on, baby. We need to chill out,” he said. He stared at me intensely, rubbing his fingertips over my breasts through my shirt. Oh, how I longed to feel him again!

  “You are so beautiful,” Stone whispered. He stood up, rubbing his erected tool underneath the towel. “I know you are frustrated, but I am getting everything together, baby. She is almost ready. I promise.”

  I didn’t know how he had such a hold on me, but he did. He was like the pied piper, using his dick to make women conform to his every will, me included.

  I really didn’t know what to expect when I got that text message from Stone, telling me to meet him at the spot, but I was ready to go. I needed a break from the big house and all those girls!

  Some days, I was ready to leave all this madness behind and go find a regular man to have a normal life. Some days, it was hard for me to remember what exactly the word “normal” meant.

  I hadn’t been sleeping much. I was tossing and turning, upset about having to keep this crazy secret about this crazy life I was living. I was ready to leave all the foolery in the past, and enjoy whatever it was that the future may hold. Then, Stone would kiss or touch me the way he did, and I was trapped, sliding back down the rabbit hole.

  I knew I was a grown-ass woman, but something about me always attracted the bad boys.

  “So, what is going on, baby? Why was it so important for me to come by and not call?” I asked him.

  Stone didn’t like a paper trail, and he especially hated technology. He had spent enough time in jail and had read enough books to know that texts and calls were the easiest ways to be traced. Whenever he had a big idea or plan, he always wanted to speak face-to-face.

  According to him, it was the safest way.

  He grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. Stone sat down at the kitchen table, taping the mat beside him so I would join him.

  Obediently, I got up and sat across from him.

  Taking a sip of water, Stone looked at me across the table, emotionless.

  “Everything has been confirmed with Black,” he said, “and once he has secured payment from all of the men, we are going to test Harper out.

  I figured if we brought them back here and let them run a train on her, not only will we be making money, but breaking her in at the same time.

  She has already been working, so she won’t be hard to get in order. After that, we can start selling her on the street to the highest bidder. I think we can get more for her by prepaid customers than having her walk the track. Do you agree?”

  I guess by the look on my face, he knew I was in complete awe on how he came up with a strategic plan for each girl. He never ceased to amaze me.

  “Yes, baby, I think that plan is amazing,” I said. “Just let me know what you need from me between now and then.”

  Harper

  Miami? Mexico?

  I laid on the couch with my head propped up on pillow, daydreaming about our nearing vacation. Once we came off this crazy ass lockdown, we were out of here! Stone had been very vague about the destination. The furthest place I had ever been was Cali when my Papa took me to Disneyland.

  How old was I? Seven? Nine?

  That shit was crazy! I ain’t done nothing! After Papa had his stroke and ended up in that home, the only person I had was my crazy ass mama, and she never had any money! But that was about to change. Stone promised me the world and I was more than willing to take him up on his offer. The thought of traveling the world with that beautiful man made my heart flutter every time it came to mind. I was so lucky. Who would have ever thought he would have picked me to be his girl? Me! The half-breed mutt-girl, who ain’t know who her own damn Daddy was could land a man like that?!

  I was taking in my beautiful setting, listening to the Neo Soul station on Spotify and trying to learn some of the old songs that were playing. Neo Soul was Stone’s favorite genre of music. I didn’t want to appear as young as I was while we were on vacation, or once he started taking me around his family.

  Lost in my thoughts, I did not hear the keys unlocking the front door. I was grinning from ear-to-ear when Stone entered the apartment, but my grin quickly faded when I realized that he had four guys behind him.

  “Hey there, pretty girl,” he said with a soft smile on his lips.

  “Someone is happy to have me back home I see,” he said, leaning in to brush a quick kiss against my lips.

  I hurried up to pull the throw blanket up over my body. I tried tucking my body down behind the oversized
pillows on the couch. I wasn’t wearing anything but a pair of boy shorts and a sports bra. I didn’t know he was going to bring company home with him. Stone hadn’t brought anyone besides his sister, Denice, to the house, so I was totally caught off guard.

  He must’ve sensed my nervousness. Stone gestured for the guys to take a seat in the dining room as he sat down next to me, rubbing my hand.

  Even though I trusted this man with my life, the energy in the room was making me uncomfortable. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and my body had a sudden chill.

  “Pretty girl, these are a few of my friends. I told them about you, and they offered me top dollar to meet you,” he said in a gentle baritone.

  Top dollar? Did this dude just say what I think he said?

  I shook my head, looking at Stone, then turned my attention to the men seated at the dining room table, cheesing like they just won the lottery. They looked the kind of guys Mama used to be on the corner with when I would go looking for her when I was little.

  “Black, we can’t see her, man. Gotta make sure she worth the five stacks,” the pudgy one said.

  He stood up, rubbing his hand across his crotch. I guessed he was waiting for me to get up.

  My chills turned into a full-blown round of the shakes and my head started to hurt really badly.

  OMG! Did he sell me to these guys? How much is five stacks? Five hundred or five thousand, and who the fuck is Black?

  Not giving me an opportunity to speak, Stone grabbed my hand, looking me dead in the eyes.

  “Don’t embarrass me now, Harper,” he said, exposing the gun at his waist with his other hand. “I need you to stand up, go to the guest room, and get into the shower. Leave on the towel and wait on the bed like a good girl.

  When you are ready, call my name and I will send them in one-by-one. I need you to make them feel good, like you make me feel good. Okay? I have been bragging about you, baby. They just want to make sure that you are everything that I said you are. Now, be a good girl and do what I say. You hear me?”

  Still holding my hand with a tight grasp, he pulled me slowly but firmly. The tears that had welled up in my eyes finally released and rolled down my face.

  This man had claimed to love me and promised to never hurt me, but he really sat there, telling me that he sold me! He knew how I felt about pimps and prostitutes! He knew everything about me! Why the hell is he doing this to me?

  Mama always said that if a man seemed too perfect, it was because there was a dirty secret he was hiding and needed his perfection to overpower it. After a while, his representative will go away and the real him would come out. I always blew her off when she spouted her hood parables, but right now, all of her words were ringing out in between my ears.

  “Stop that shit, Harper. Now, go wash up. Make sure you use that smell-good body wash in there and wash your hair. Got to make sure you are fresh and clean for our guests, okay?”

  He still spoke in his normal, soothing tone. Stone pushed me in the direction of the guest room, snatching the blanket from around me, exposing my barely clad body.

  I knew that if I went into that room, I might never make it out because they were going to have to kill me before they raped me.

  Did they know I was only sixteen?

  I guess if it didn’t matter to Stone, then it damn sure must not have mattered to them.

  “Yea, my G. Her ass is fat like you said,” the tall, light-skinned one said. “I got shotgun!” he exclaimed to the other guys at the table.

  I wanted to scream and cry, but this was not the time for that. If I could pull this shit off, I could to do that later, but not now. Right now, I had to save my life.

  I turned my attention back to Stone, trying to tune their voices out my head. Flashing him a soft smile, I turned all my feminine wiles on, hoping my pheromones would work in my favor at this moment. All my life, my mamma taught me the game that I had to use from time to time, but this was a moment when I had to pay attention and keep my cool if this shit was going to work.

  “I got you, baby,” I said before I leaned in to hug him and who would have thought? He opened his arms to embrace me, giving me a small window of opportunity to save my life. I hurried in and tugged the gun out of his waistband.

  What the fuck!” he yelled, but I was too quick. I had possession of the gun, and the bad part about being raised in the projects and having a hoe for a mamma, I knew exactly how to use it.

  Knowing from the weight and the bulge at the bottom, I knew it was loaded. I held the gun firmly, cocked it, and aimed it directly at Stone.

  “Nigga, I thought you said she was with this!” the pudgy one yelled out to Stone.

  “I am on papers and don’t have time for no bullshit,” he said, while inching towards the door.

  The tall, light-skinned one stood up and said, “I am not going anywhere until I get some pussy or my bread back, period.”

  In that instance I knew, I was going to have to shoot and maybe kill someone tonight.

  “Bitch! I told you not to embarrass me!” Stone hollered out, lunging towards me.

  Stepping back, I took the shot, closing my eyes as the blast from the gun rang out in the air.

  Quickly, I opened my eyes and saw Stone falling to the ground, wailing out in pain. He was clutching the area where the bullet landed in his right leg.

  “This bitch is crazy! And we on the strip. Them boys will be here real quick!” yelled the pudgy one, rushing to the door. The other two quiet ones were running out as well.

  I focused my attention now on the tall one, who was still standing there. I gazed up at him, pointing the gun, and said, “I think it’s best if you left too.”

  He stood there, glaring at me, daring me to shoot him. I was tired of men trying to take advantage of me. I cracked my neck and let off another blast in his direction. This time, I missed, but that dude was not crazy. He rushed out the door, slamming it behind him.

  “BITCH, YOU GOT ME SO FUCKED UP!” Stone spat, grabbing my neck from behind and catching me off guard.

  I tried to fight him with all my might. As I tried to break free from his grasp, I dropped the gun.

  “GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME, STONE!” I screamed, kicking him in his leg.

  Stone screamed out in pain and flung me onto the kitchen island. I scanned the room and tried to find something I could use as a weapon. I spotted the knife set on the counter. I lunged to grab one, but not before Stone charged at me. He repeatedly punched me in the back of my head. “Bitch, I loved you! How could you do this shit to me?” he yelled, punching me dead in the middle of my back.

  “I am sorry,” I exclaimed, crying uncontrollably. If someone had told me that when I met Stone, he was eventually going to be the one trying to kill me, I would have told them, “Yeah right.”

  “Bitch, did you think you would be able to leave me like that, huh? After everything I have done for your punk ass? You got me and the game fucked up,” Stone exclaimed, throwing me against the kitchen counter again. “You need to learn how dangerous it is to fuck with grown men. That is why you are in the situation you are in, playing like you are fucking innocent.”

  Using the little bit of power left inside of me, I grabbed the biggest knife. Stone had tears streaming from his eyes. His face was full of rage. He lunged at me, trying to get the knife out of my hand, but he was too late. With all my might, I pushed the knife as far into his stomach as I could, turning it to the right. I could hear my papa’s voice in the back of my head, “Harper poo, in the event that you have to protect yourself, never turn the knife after penetration. If you do, your attacker will die, and we don’t want that, do we?”

  When I was little, that scared the hell out of me, and it’s the main reason why I only stabbed James. But, this fool? After everything he had done to me? I turned the knife to the left and could feel the life escape from Stone’s body. He collapsed onto the floor.

  In the distance, I could hear the sounds of police sirens com
ing closer. Part of me wanted to run, but where was I going to go? Mentally and physically, I was exhausted, so I laid down next to Stone and waited.

  Ni’Cola

  “Hello,” I grumbled into the phone. It was 3:30 in the morning, and I had just gotten to sleep. I had been up working all night and was trying to get some rest before I had to get on the road in a few hours. I was going to Savannah to spend time with my daughter for the weekend. It was a much-needed break.

  “Hi, Ms. Mitchell. I am so sorry to call you late like this, but Harper is in trouble,” said Ms. Manuel, Harper’s old social worker. I remembered her soft voice instantly through the phone.

  I sat up straight in the bed, fighting my body to wake all the way up! I hadn’t heard from Harper in months! I gave Ms. Manuel money to buy a car seat and diapers for the new baby, but that was the last I had heard from her.

  “I don’t know the complete story, but Harper was arrested a few hours ago,” Ms. Manuel said. “She is currently being held at the juvenile facility, but I am not sure how long they are going to keep her there this time.”

  It took a moment for me to comprehend everything that Ms. Manuel had just said to me.

  Did she just say that Harper was in trouble again? What about the baby? What about her family? Did she hurt her mother?

  “So, this is serious? What is she being charged with?” I asked.

  I rushed into the bathroom and rinsed warm water over my face. I listened as the case worker replayed the conversation that she had with law enforcement.

  She was speaking so fast and was all over the place; I was so confused.

  “Ms. Manuel, calm down,” I said, trying to bring sense to the situation. “She killed a pimp? He beat her up? She was on the strip when it happened? I know her mother used to work the streets. Do you think she sold her?”

  “As much as I have grown to despise her mother, I really do not think she has anything to do with it this time. Since the birth of the baby, she seemed to have been getting better,” Ms. Manuel answered.