Jasmine helped me off stage, and we sat down in chairs. We heard the sound of sirens resonating in the background. A few minutes later, Atlanta PD came in through the back door. I’d never have been happier to see them.
Epilogue
Meet me at the alter in your white dress
Atlanta, GA
MALACHI
I felt pain like I’d never felt before. My mouth was dry, my body sore, and I didn’t know where I was. I looked around and realized I was in a hospital bed, and then I felt handcuffs around my wrists. I was handcuffed to the bed railing. I spotted two police guards standing at my door, and a nurse checking my vitals.
I tried to speak. “Wa . . . water.”
The nurse jumped, noticing that I was awake. “Yes,” she said and poured some water into a cup and then put it to my lips. I sipped as much as I could. “We didn’t expect you to wake up so early after surgery.”
“Surgery,” I repeated. “Where am I?”
“You’re at Grady Memorial Hospital. You just had surgery to remove the bullet from your abdomen five hours ago.”
I remembered. I was about to kill that bitch Nikki when that other bitch Jasmine shot me. Then I saw a bag next to me. “What’s dat?”
“That’s a colostomy bag, Mr. Turner. The bullet destroyed your colon,” she explained. “You should get some rest.”
“Rest? I’m shitting into a bag for the rest of my life and I should get some rest!”
She stepped away from the bed, and the guards stepped closer. I was in no condition to fight, so I lay back.
“I wanna call my lawyer.”
* * *
Two hours later, my lawyer, Jerry Powell, came to my hospital room. He was a white man who I used to beat any charges brought up against me. He was the best at what he did. For the amount I paid him per hour, he had better be.
He ordered the guards out of the room for a private talk.
“So what am I looking at?” I asked him.
“It’s not good, Malachi. They have a lot of physical evidence against you, not to mention Ms. Bell and Ms. Dawson willing to testify you attacked them in her club.”
I scrunched my eyebrows. “Her club? What the bloodclot are you talking about? That’s my club!”
Jerry jumped back. “But . . . you signed the deed, Malachi. You signed the quitclaim deed, giving The Pink Palace to Ms. Jacqueline Dawson.”
“That bitch! She must have forged my signature! I never gave her my club.” I tried to sit up as I yelled at Jerry. “I want you to sue that bitch and get my damn club back, ya hear?”
“Malachi, calm down. If she did do that, that’s the least of your concerns right now,” Jerry explained.
“What do you mean?”
“The DA’s office has a star witness willing to turn state’s evidence against you. They’re looking to prosecute you on RICO law. It provides them the ability to prosecute you under extended criminal penalties and civil cause of action for acts performed as leader of an ongoing criminal organization,” Jerry explained.
“Who is their witness?”
Jerry swallowed hard. “Mr. Reginald Turner. Your brother.”
JASMINE
I guess Reggie finally got tired of being Malachi’s bitch and turned state’s evidence against that nigga. I guess the witness protection program was better than twenty-five to thirty years in prison.
I completely worked with the police and gave them my story of buying the club from Malachi and him attacking Nikki and myself, and they ate it up. Besides, with the charges he was facing, he didn’t have time to worry about my club.
The best part of this whole situation was that with the money I got from Malachi, I was able to completely pay off Kandi’s college tuition at Clark. Now she could just go to school and not worry about anything other than getting her degree.
The money I was now making from The Pink Palace was more than enough to make up the difference. After being closed for three weeks, I reopened the club under new management. Not only was the reopening a big hit, but also I was now getting the respect from everybody as a businesswoman. I even made Hester the den mother of the club, and it was her job to look after the girls and make sure they weren’t taken advantage of by anyone.
My days of dancing on the stage were over. The only one I was dancing for was Chauncey. Yes, we were still dating, and dare I say it? I loved him.
I started talking to my father again after the encouragement of Chauncey, Kandi, and my mother. We were now taking baby steps in reconnecting as father and daughter. After my parents found out I was the club owner and not a dancer anymore, they felt a lot better.
I’d learned a lot being friends with Nikki over the last few months. I felt like she was a sister I could confide in whenever I needed somebody to talk to. We were very like-minded in a lot of ways.
Today I closed The Pink Palace to the public, and I was having a private party for my new friends, Nikki and Dre. Well, not just a party. It was their wedding reception!
NIKKI
I couldn’t believe how nervous I was. It felt like this day was never going to come, but after we cleared things up with the whole Polo and Malachi mess, the first thing Dre wanted to do was marry me.
After Dre killed Polo’s snake ass, he called Jayson, and he was the first officer on the scene. Because Polo broke into our home and fired his gun at Dre, the police said his killing was self-defense, and no charges were brought up against him.
Malachi was convicted under RICO law for running a criminal organization and murder. He was sentenced to twenty-five to life in federal prison. His brother Reggie was the prosecution’s star witness, and this nigga told everything. He was probably now living in Montana on a farm in the witness protection program.
Today was my day, my wedding day, and everybody was at our church in College Park in attendance. Janelle was my maid of honor and Penny, Jasmine, and Kandi were my bridesmaids. Jayson was Dre’s best man, and even little Tyler was one of his daddy’s groomsmen.
The time was finally here, and I took the long walk down the aisle in my white lace Vera Wang dress. Dre looked like a king in his Sean John tuxedo, waiting for me.
“I, Nicole Bell, take you, Andre Wade, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, from this day forward, until death do us part,” I said with a tear tugging my eye.
The preacher looked at Dre. “You may now place the ring on her finger.”
Dre slid the ring on my finger. “I, Andre Wade, take you, Nicole Bell, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, from this day forward, until death do us part.”
“Well, I guess it’s only one thing for me to say: Andre and Nicole, by the powers vested in me by God and the State of Georgia, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your beautiful bride!”
Dre lifted my veil and gave me the sweetest kiss I’d ever felt. I couldn’t believe that I was now Mrs. Nicole Wade. This was the happiest day of my life.
Urban Books, LLC
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The Pink Palace 2: Triple Crown Collection
Copyright © 2010 Triple Crown Publications, LLC
This title is published by Urban Books, LLC under a licensing agreement with Triple Crown Publications, LLC.
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First Trade Paperback Printing (October 2010)
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