God, I should just walk out now and avoid all this shit. But I can’t. Instead I let my guard down.
“I think it would hurt more if I weren’t with you.”
Tommy pulls me close and kisses my lips, and I get butterflies in my stomach. This is crazy. I ain’t supposed to be having feelings like this for no trick. The problem is, I haven’t been treating him like a trick since the night we met. I haven’t had a boyfriend since I was a teenager, since before James fucked me up. Since that night, I thought of all men like predators just waiting to take advantage of me, but Tommy treats me so good that I can’t help but want him.
After I leave Tommy’s place, I go home and see Nikki and Penny sitting on the couch.
“Well, well, well, look who decided to come back home,” Nikki remarks.
“Hey, what’s up, y’all?” I say to them as I walk by.
“Damn, girl, is the dick that good? You haven’t been at The Palace in weeks. I hope you got Tommy’s wallet open.”
“Nikki, don’t worry about it. I know what I’m doing.”
Nikki gets a strange look on her face, and I walk to my room. She gets up and follows me.
“Oh, no, girl, you startin’ to really feel this nigga, ain’t ya?”
“Nikki, please,” I say, irritated.
“You are!” Nikki says with shock as she comes and sits on my bed. “What did I tell you about catching feelings for these niggas? Don’t put yourself through it, Mo,” she tells me.
“Tommy’s different. He’s not like the other guys I used to mess with.”
“Mo, Tommy is a hustler just like Damien. He’s probably got another bitch he’s sleeping with. Just get the money and move on, girl.”
“Nikki, it’s not like that. Trust me.”
“Oh God, I thought I taught you better than to go catching feelings for a trick. I guess you just gotta find out the hard way. Anyways, I got us a party next month up in Bankhead that Trey-D is throwing. Says there’s gonna be a lot of money there for us to make. You, me, and Penny can clean up.”
“I don’t know,” I tell her.
“You don’t know? Shit, girl, you better wake up and face reality. This ain’t Pretty Woman! Tommy don’t give a fuck about you, and he ain’t paying your bills either.”
“All right, Nikki! Shit! I’ll think about it, okay?”
“Whatever. Don’t do me any favors. Just more money for me and Penny.” Nikki gets up and walks out.
“Girl thinking a nigga gonna take care of her! She need to get her mind right!” Nikki says to Penny. Maybe she’s right. I can’t be that lucky.
JAYSON
I drive to the spot out in Decatur to meet with Lt. McNiven. It’s been three weeks since I last checked in, and I can tell he feels uncomfortable with me being undercover for this long. When most undercover cops are in this long, they start to take on the traits of the character they’re playing. I can’t say that I haven’t gotten used to this life. The sad thing is, it’s actually better in some ways than my real life. I haven’t been called Jayson Harper in so long that I’ve almost forgotten the name, but as far as losing myself to Tommy Holloway, it’s not gonna happen.
“Harper, how you doing?” McNiven asks me.
“I’m good.”
“What’s going on with Damien?” he asks.
“I’m gonna meet the King,” I say.
“When?”
“Sometime next month. We’re supposed to be flying up north so Damien can introduce me.”
“Okay, I’m gonna make sure to have a contact already in place for you. How much does Damien trust you?” he asks.
“He trusts me. If he didn’t, I wouldn’t get anywhere near King. No one has ever been this deep. I can get him.”
“How come you’re so sure?”
“I don’t know the details yet, but King is working on some big deal. His operations are gonna go beyond New York and Atlanta. He’s already making moves in Virginia and North Carolina. If we wanna arrest him for more than tax evasion, now is the time.”
“Okay, you know these people. I trust your judgment. How are you feeling other than this?” McNiven asks.
“I’m fine, Lieutenant.”
“So I hear. Who’s the girl?” he asks with concern.
“You know about her?” I say, surprised.
“She’s been practically living in your place for three weeks now. What do you think?”
“Mo’Nique’s a good girl.”
“That you met through Damien. She could be there to watch you.”
“I haven’t blown my cover. She’s not an issue.”
“Jayson, listen. I know you’re going through a rough divorce, but don’t get caught up with this girl. You don’t know anything about her. Don’t let her get in your head.”
“She’s not,” I lie.
“Good, because I will pull you out if I see any signs that you’re not focused,” he warns me.
“You don’t have to worry about that.” I turn, walk back to my car, and get in. As I pull out, I can’t help but think that maybe he’s right. Maybe she’s better than I thought. Maybe I’m being worked over by a smarter hustler.
That night, I go with Mo’Nique, Quan, Horse, Corey, Nikki, and Damien to see a concert at the Georgia Dome. The show features T.I., Ludacris, Keyshia Cole, and Young Jeezy. It’s a hood fest. Every wannabe hustler, thug, baller, pimp, ho, groupie, and rapper is in the house.
“That’s my nigga, T.I.,” Damien says.
“Thought you didn’t like these down south niggas?” I say to him.
“Naw, I don’t like these down south niggas that are hustling on my corners. T.I. and Jeezy be spitting that hustling shit,” he explains.
“Well, Luda is nicer than people give him credit for,” Quan says.
“That crazy shit he be saying? Man, I wanna hear that DipSet shit!” Corey yells.
“There’s more to hip-hop than hustlin’ and thuggin’,” Quan argues.
“Nigga, go ’head wit’ that backpack shit. Ain’t nobody listening to that bullshit!” Corey barks back.
“Shut the fuck up and stop yelling in my ear! I can’t hear the damn music!” Damien yells at him.
Mo’Nique and Nikki are standing near the stage. I can’t help but think that she’s playing me. Can I really trust her?
NIKKI
This show is the shit and so is T.I.! I gave him a lap dance once at Magic City and was this close to getting him when they had to bounce. Damn shame. I could’ve made a lot of cash and fucked his fine ass.
I look behind me and see Horse’s ugly ass staring at my shit like a cheeseburger or something. I wish this nigga would go beat his dick somewhere and leave me alone!
I was a little rough on Mo the other day. I just didn’t expect her to fall for Tommy like that. When I was younger, I fell for a trick too. This nigga promised me all kinds of shit—he’d take care of me, he’d buy me this or do that. The nigga played me. Never again will I let myself get played out like that. I don’t want Mo to go through the same thing I went through, especially after what that bitch-ass stepfather did to her, but I gotta make it up to her.
“Mo, I’m sorry about the other night, girl. You know I was just trippin’, right?”
“Yeah, I know,” she says.
“Listen, Mo, if you really feeling Tommy like that, I ain’t gonna throw salt in your game.”
“Thank you, Nikki. I do know what I’m doing.”
“I know, girl. I taught you well.” She smiles and we continue to dance to T.I.
Between me and Mo’Nique, ain’t no other bitches in here that can fuck with us. I’m wearing my white, skin-tight Prada dress and matching Gucci pumps. Mo has on a black Prada dress and some Dolce & Gabbana stilettos. We’re both breaking it down while Damien and Tommy stand behind us. There are plenty of men watching us, but nobody dares to step. Damien is known and respected by niggas. The only nigga that don’t give a fuck about Damien is Dre, who happens to be standing to the righ
t of us about eight rows up. Quan sees Dre watching me dance and lets Damien know.
“Yo, Dame. To your right, dog,” Quan tells Damien.
“Tommy, Horse, look at that fucking nigga over there,” Damien says, pissed. I don’t want shit to get ugly here. I know both Damien and Dre are strapped and that both of them won’t hesitate to blast the other here.
“Damien, don’t do nothing to him, not here,” I plead.
“Nikki, stay over here.” Damien ignores me.
Thankfully, Tommy chimes in as the voice of reason.
“Dame, we pull out on them niggas here we gonna cause a riot and 5-0 is gonna lock us up. You see the security in here?” Tommy says.
“I don’t give a fuck about no 5-0! This nigga gotta get snuffed!” Damien yells.
“Nikki, come on, let’s go,” Mo’Nique says to me as she pulls my arm.
“I know you don’t, but King needs us here, not locked up,” Tommy reminds him.
Damien looks at Tommy, nods his head, and falls back. I breathe a sigh of relief. We go back to enjoying the concert. Damien whispers something in Horse’s ear and he nods. I got a feeling Damien isn’t going to let it go so easily.
After the show, we walk out to the parking garage, but Horse isn’t with us. I have a really bad feeling in my gut that something is gonna go down. Damien’s walking quickly to the truck, and I’m right behind him. Tommy and Mo’Nique get in his car, while Quan and Corey get into their car. As we pull out of the garage, we hear six shots bang out. Damien pulls up to the corner quick, and Horse runs to the truck.
“Hurry the fuck up and get in!” Damien yells at Horse.
“What the fuck did you do?” I shout at Damien, but he doesn’t answer me.
“Did you blast that nigga?” Damien barks at Horse as he peels off.
“Naw, this other little ma’fucker got in the way and caught it!”
“Fuck! You can’t shoot worth shit, nigga!”
“You fuckin’ shoot him then!” Horse yells back.
“Oh my God,” I say in shock.
Tommy and Quan follow us onto I-75 South as we speed down the highway.
It turns out Horse shot and killed Dre’s cousin, Rodney. Shit was already bad between them, but now I know shit is gonna be fucked up. Dre is gonna go to war with Damien, fo’sho! Damn, these dumb tricks are messing up my hustle with this bullshit!
DAMIEN
Damn! This nigga Horse can’t shoot straight to save his life! Dre is gonna try and get back at me. I can’t believe this shit. I give that big, ugly, Oreo cookie-eating muthafucka one muthafuckin’ job to do and he fucks it up. How hard is it to murder a nigga? I shoulda handled that shit myself.
We all get back to my spot in College Park.
“What the fuck happened back there, man?” Tommy yells at me.
“Horse can’t fucking aim,” I say.
“I told you it was crowded!” Horse barks.
“I thought I told you to wait! Shit!” Tommy yells.
“I run this shit, Tommy. I don’t need your permission to do shit!” I remind him.
“You shoulda let me do it. I woulda split that nigga’s wig with one shot!” Corey boasts.
“Shut the fuck up!” Horse yells.
“Don’t be mad, nigga, ’cause you can’t shoot,” Corey says to Horse.
Horse pulls out his nine. “I’ll show you how good I can aim, nigga,” Horse says.
Corey pulls out his .45. “Come on, nigga! Do something!” Corey shouts back.
“Both of y’all bitches shut up,” I yell at them. “Now just calm down. Y’all head out to the spot and make sure them bitches don’t try something out there,” I tell them. They all just stand there looking at each other. “Now!” I yell.
They walk to the car and get in. Tommy stands there and looks at me.
“What, nigga?”
“Dame, this didn’t have to go down like this,” Tommy says.
“But it did, all right? Sometimes you can’t play it safe, Tommy. You gotta show these niggas it ain’t no game.”
“All right, man.”
“Tommy, listen, these niggas ain’t shit. Besides, we got more important things to attend to. King called me and said for us to fly up tomorrow, so go home, pack ya shit, tap Mo’Nique’s pretty ass, and meet me here tomorrow at eleven, all right?” I reassure him.
“All right,” Tommy says, still unconvinced.
“Trust me, Tommy, this ain’t nothing.”
Tommy nods his head and walks over to Mo’Nique in the car and they drive off. Tommy is a smart nigga. We need niggas like him down with us.
I walk inside and see Nikki calming her nerves with some Armadale Vodka.
“You all right, ma?”
“Yeah, I just needed to drink a little something,” Nikki says then takes a swig.
“Cool. Why don’t you pour me one too.”
Nikki pours out a drink for me. I knock it back in two shots.
“I’m gonna miss ya, ma, while I’m gone.”
“Me too, baby,” Nikki says.
“Why don’t you give me a little something to remember ya by?”
Nikki smiles, turns around, faces the bar, and pulls her thong down. I pull her dress up around her waist. I love that fat ass of hers. I slide my two fingers between her legs and rub her twat.
“That feels good, daddy,” Nikki says.
“You been keeping your pussy tight for me?”
“Only you, daddy. Ahhh . . .”
I push my fingers inside and finger fuck her. For a girl that pops her pussy all night, she sure keeps it tight. Reminds me of my baby mama up north, although she don’t got an ass this fat.
“You want some dick, baby?”
“Yeah, daddy, give me that good dick,” Nikki begs.
I unzip my pants, pull my dick out, and push it in from behind. Nikki bends over farther and gives me that ass. I love the way her brown ass looks when I’m pumping that pussy daddy-long-dick style.
Nikki’s ass is so soft and round that it jiggles like jelly when I hit it from the back. I know a lot of other niggas done already ran up in this ass, but I bet they ain’t never fuck her as good as this. Besides, I’ve been the only nigga fucking this pussy for the past five months, so I know it’s good and tight.
After about 15 minutes, I pull up out of her and skeet on her ass. Damn . . . I love watching that shit run down the crack of her ass.
“Go clean up, baby.”
“You gonna give me some more of that dick later, daddy?”
“Damn right. I just wanted to get that first nut outta the way. I’m gonna blow ya back out, ma.”
“Ooohh, I’ll be waiting for you,” Nikki says as she walks into the bathroom. I love these Atlanta freaks.
MO’NIQUE
As we drive back to Tommy’s house, I can tell he’s upset. When we get in the house, he goes in his room and starts to pack his suitcase.
“You’re leaving tomorrow,” I say to him.
“Yeah, I should be back in a week or so.”
“Are you all right?”
“That was just some dumb, unnecessary shit tonight,” Tommy says, pissed.
I don’t know what to say to him. He turns and looks at me. “Listen, you can stay here while I’m gone and drive the car.”
“You don’t have to do that, Tommy.” I can’t believe I just said that.
“It’s okay. I trust you.”
“Okay, just promise me you’re gonna be careful.”
“I will, baby.”
I don’t want him to go, but I know he’s got no choice. I just have a feeling that he’s gonna be in danger up there. I’ve never worried so much for a man like I do for Tommy.
We make love that night. The whole time, I cling on to him as if it’s the last time I’ll feel his body against mine. In the morning, I drop him off at Damien’s and go back to his place. I can’t help but feel depressed. I think to myself that I want to do something different with my life. Dancing at
The Pink Palace isn’t a future. It’s time for a new hustle.
I guess some things are easier said than done. The next night, I’m back at The Pink Palace. It’s business as usual. The only thing different is me. For some reason I can’t figure out, I’m just not feeling it. Spending the past couple of weeks with Tommy has made me feel as if I could do anything with my life, but I have to face reality. I have bills to pay.
I see Nikki back in the dressing room putting on her makeup. “What’s up, Nikki?”
“Hey, Mo,” she says as she looks at me in the mirror. “So how you been since Tommy left?”
“All right, I guess,” I say sadly.
“That’s how it is when you open yourself to a man. They always leave. Especially men like Tommy. Messing with hustlers ain’t always the fairytale we want it to be.”
“So, is that the reason you don’t open yourself up to Dre?” I ask her. Nikki stops and looks at me, and I know I hit a nerve.
“Dre is a trick and that’s all he’ll ever be to me,” she says seriously.
“Okay, if you say so. Have you heard from him since his cousin Rodney got killed?”
“No. I knew Damien was gonna do something stupid. These dumb niggas don’t know how to act,” Nikki says as she gets up from her chair.
“Nikki, Damien is crazy. Maybe you should cut that nigga loose. You know as soon as he comes back, Dre is gonna come after him,” I say.
“Mo, I got Damien under control. And Dre knows if he comes after Damien he’ll kill him. He ain’t stupid.”
“Come on, Nikki, you know how Dre is. I just don’t wanna see you get caught in the crossfire like Rodney did.”
“You worry too much, Mo. Besides, Dre wouldn’t let anything happen to me. Look, Damien might not even come back. Tommy might not either. That’s why I don’t let my feelings get involved with these tricks. Listen, I gotta get out there and make these tricks pay up. I’ll talk to you later, all right?” Nikki says as she walks to the stage entrance.
The Pink Palace Page 6