A Thug's Wife (Full Length Novel)

by Shan

  "Dat’s what’s up. Mon I ain’t seen her lil’ ass since she was like two years old. Did they finally let yuh see her?"

  "No, but I will be able to see her sometime next week. Gotta wait on the judge to sign off on the paperwork," Samantha said with a smile.

  She looked down at her menu barely able to contain the joy that she was feeling. She grew up in a single parent home that was run by her alcoholic mother, Carolyn. Samantha didn’t know how she was able to come out so well considering she was constantly abused and neglected by her mama.

  She met Hova when she was sixteen, and he was twenty years old. He lived right above them in the projects in the Rupert Circle Housing Projects back before they tore them down. The two of them hit it off immediately and started dating, but not as much as Samantha wanted being she was underage.

  Hova left the hood quickly after he started hustling, but made sure he came back for Samantha when she was eighteen. She had a hard life up until he rescued her from her shitty ass life. Her story was your typical dope-boy saves ghetto princess story, but it wasn’t no fairy tale.

  Her and Hova had been married for ten years and didn’t have any kids together. Not that they didn’t want any, but over the years Samantha had been busy finishing pharmacy school. She’d just graduated a little over a year ago and since then she’d been working like crazy and fighting the system to get custody of her little sister Davina. She’d been trying since Davina was born six years ago, but with her having little to no income and of course Hova being a dope boy, it just wasn’t happening.

  Not only that, the court kept seeing in favor of her alcoholic mother, saying they didn’t see a reason to take a child from its mother without proper cause. It wasn’t until Davina was four years old that she, unfortunately, burned her arm on the kitchen stove that the system finally figured that maybe Carolyn was neglectful and wasn’t fit to be a parent.

  So for the past two years, Davina has been in a foster home living with strangers and only allowed supervised visits with Carolyn. The court denied Samantha any visitation a long time ago and she or Hova hadn’t seen Davina since she was two, but the wait was finally over.

  Finishing school had been the most important thing she had ever done in her life. Not just for her, but for her little sister, as well. There was no way she was going to let Davina grow up the way that she had. She was glad that she was no longer in her mother’s care, but she didn’t want her in the system either. She knew that Davina was more than likely worse off there and was happy that she finally won the fight to have her. She couldn’t wait to bring her home and give her the love and attention she deserved.

  "Damn, I can’t wait tuh see little mama. I know she done got big as hell," Hova chuckled as he watched the joy that glittered in his wife’s honey brown eyes. Her peanut butter skin was glowing, and her cheeks were rosy from the excitement.

  He loved seeing her smiling the way that she was. Hova would do anything to make that a permanent feeling in her life. Samantha was his everything and then some. She had been the true definition of ride of die in his life. She had rode it out with him through all his magical times and even more during the times that he had been down and out.

  She was a pure ghetto girl by heart, but she was smart as hell. Samantha could easily carry their family if she ever had to, but Hova would never allow it. She’d just started working as a pharmacist and was making a little over eighty-thousand dollars a year, but Hova told her to keep every little bit that she’d made. He wanted her to put it away and save it for a rainy day, if there ever was one.

  "But, when are we gonna have us a little one? Nigga ain’t getting younger and shit I really do want a little Hova Jr.."

  Samantha sucked her teeth and looked back at her menu. It wasn’t like Hova didn’t already have kids. He actually had four little ones out there by three different women; all had been conceived in the ten years that Samanta and Hova had been together.

  He had three girls and one son, all ranging in age seven to three. Many times Samantha thought about leaving Hova, but he was all that she knew. Being that she’d gotten married at a very young age, she had never been with another man. She was scared to walk down that path, start over with someone new for them to up and do her the same way.

  She always figured that it was best to stick it out with her one true love, hoping that one day it would get better. One day Hova would finally be with her and her only and stop having all these babies with these other women.

  "Yea I know what yuh thinking but yuh know how I am Sam. One of these days I will settle down and be a faithful man and when I settle down it’s gonna be with yuh. You’ve always had my heart and can’t nobody else take dat away from yuh. Yuh knew how I was when we met, so I don’t see why yuh get so upset about dis shit. I didn’t give Lamar my name, and it wasn’t even an option," Hova said to Samantha seeing she was upset about him bringing up the subject of having kids.

  It was true though. Hova told Samantha before they’d gotten married that he loved women and that he couldn’t see himself settling for one woman anytime soon. Samantha didn’t care at the time. She was young, and she was in love. All she wanted was Hova and to carry the man’s last name, to be his wife, something that them other bitches would never have. Yes, it was painful knowing that she wasn’t enough for him, but she knew what she was getting into, but it wasn’t the other women that bothered her the most.

  The fact that Hova was out sleeping with these women unprotected and making babies with them is what really got under her skin. That she couldn’t get over. He could fuck whom he wanted to fuck ‘cause she knew he would always come home to her, but they were getting from Hova what should have been reserved for her and her only. She wanted to have Hova’s kids, but every time she thought about having sex with him without a rubber she thought about all his kids and it made her sick to her stomach.

  "I would like to have kids with my wife though. It’s not like I didn’t ask yuh years before Imani and Precious came." The waitress came and sat their drinks down on the table and then they quickly gave their food orders and handed him the menus. Samantha waited until the waiter walked away before responding to Hova’s insult.

  "Oh, fuck you, Hova. Don’t blame me for wanting to do something with my life. Penalize me for going to school and doing something to guarantee you and I will always be good. Don’t you ever throw that shit in my face again," Samantha hissed. She flipped her twenty-six inch Brazilian weave to the back and snatched her drink from the table.

  Hova held his hands up letting Samantha know that he wasn’t going to argue with her. His mouth curved into a smile, and he placed his lips to his bottle of Corona, taking a sip of it before sitting the bottle down on the table.

  Just as Hova went to apologize to Samantha his phone lit up and vibrated against the wooden table. There were several messages that rolled in back to back. He grabbed the phone and went to cut it off when one of the messages in his preview screen caught his attention. His forehead wrinkled, and his pulse rate began to race hoping that it wasn’t saying what he thought it was. He slid the bar across the bottom of the phone and entered in his four digit passcode.

  He pressed down on the text message icon and went to the message that came from Jazz: They out to get u. Found out dis fuck nigga been playing me. These niggas plotting on u. Heard him telling somebody over the phone dat they was gon hit u hard.

  He didn’t understand the message at all. He went to pull up his keyboard so that he could send Jazz a reply to explain just what in the fuck she was talking about: What the fuck u talm bout? Who played u? Send.

  Seconds later, Jazz’s reply rolled through: Fuck nigga named Mo. He work for Sym. I been fucking him fo da past few weeks. He been tryna get info out me. I gave him nothing but I heard him on da phone telling somebody they was gon hit u hard tonite. He thought I was sleep but I heard his bitch ass.

  Hova replied: So you fuckin wit da enemy. Fuck u mean u ain’t tell him shit. Bitch I’m a murk u
r ass when I see u hoe. Believe dat shit. Send.

  Hova stared as his screen intently waiting on Jazz’s reply, but one never came through. He grunted and shook his head as he left the message box to see what his other messages were talking about. Sweat began to form at his brows and his heart felt as if it dropped to the pit of his stomach as he read the message that came from one of his boys: NIGGA GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE. THEY COMING AT U RIGHT NOW. JUST FOUND OUT BRUH.

  Hova jumped up from the table, knocking the Corona over and reaching out for Samantha’s hand, but it was too late. A punch came at the side of his head knocking him back into his seat. Samantha jumped up, but hurriedly sat back down when a pistol was pointed into her face.

  Marco chuckled, "You leaving so soon?"

  Hova looked around and then up at Marco, who had his face tucked back in a hoodie, but he could still tell it was him. He shook his head ‘cause he had never done anything wrong to Marco. They were from the same hood; they weren’t friends, but as far as he knew they didn’t have any beef with each other.

  Hova knew what Marco did for a living, and he respected it. He figured as long as he didn’t fuck with Marco then Marco wouldn’t fuck with him. Hova was so lost. His nostrils flared as he watched the worry that was planted on his wife’s face. She hadn’t done a damn thing, and Marco was out of line for this shit.

  "Wat deh fuck is dis’ Marco?" Hova’s accent was thick. It always got deeper and harder for others to understand him when he was pissed.

  "You been fuckin’ with muthafuckas that you ain’t got no business fuckin’ with. Having niggas ol’ ladies shot down in the drive-way and shit, what kind of shit is that?"

  Hova sighed as he figured out what this was about. Marco was working for Sym. Had he known that Sym was smart enough to pick up a ruthless nigga like Marco, he would’ve been put Marco on the payroll.

  He knew all about Marco’s get-up, and it was nothing funny about the way he got down. The fact that Marco was standing in a crowded restaurant with a gun to Samantha’s face proved how looney he was. A nigga had to be crazy to get in Marco’s way. Lately Marco had been quiet, and Hova hadn’t heard much about him putting anyone down, but he knew it wouldn’t last long. He just never thought he would be the one on the other side of Marco’s trigger finger though.

  "I don’t know what yuh talkin’ bout. Look, git dat’ gun out my lady’s face mon’," Hova said trying to reason with Marco. "How much yuh want?"

  Again Marco chuckled and then pulled the trigger.

  POW!

  Hova flinched and jumped up from his seat. His entire body shook as he looked over at Samantha. She was still alive and unharmed. Marco was fucking with him. Hova was in a tough situation, and he was naked. Samantha made him promise to leave his heat in the car, and he had done just that. Bad choice.

  He thought he’d planned everything perfectly. Samantha was on vacation from work and the perfect time for them to escape to their little getaway home in Carrolton, Texas. Soon as he gave the order for Zaria to be killed, he had his wife pack them a bag, and they left.

  He hadn’t told anyone anything and told her to the do the same. Hova knew once he put the order in to have Zaria killed that muthafuckas would be hot on his ass and wanted to make sure they were out of the way when the heat came down.

  How deh fuck did he know where I was at and as a matter of fact, how deh hell dis fool know to text me and tell me to get out of here. Deh fuck told him where deh hell I was at. I ain’t told him shit. Hova glanced around noticing that everyone was quickly clearing out the restaurant. Where deh fuck is management? Have they called deh fuckin’ police? Hova wondered as he looked back at his lovely wife. Her face was flushed as if she had been holding her breath this whole time. They were fucked; Hova could feel it and the look on Samantha’s face said that she could too.

  "Nigga, you can’t pay me off. You know how this shit is gonna end. You rather me kill you or her first? How you wanna do this? Your wish is my command," Marco joked, but quickly turned his smile into a frown.

  "How deh fuck yuh even know where I was at?" Hova wanted to know, feeling like someone was playing him.

  "Tell your dumb ass wife to stay the fuck off Facebook telling all her damn business," Marco looked over at Samantha and that was a mistake. Suddenly Hova jumped up from the table at Marco causing the gun to go off, firing a bullet into the ceiling. Hova knocked Marco to the ground and looked up at Samantha.

  "Run Sam!" he yelled and went to punch Marco but was thrown back when Marco fired a bullet into his jaw. Hova fell backward onto the ground, grabbing at his face. He rolled over on his stomach and tried get away when two more shots were fired into his back.

  Marco jumped up from the floor and ran to the back of the restaurant’s kitchen. He looked around for the office that he knew was located along the way. Marco spotted the manager’s office and pushed the door open. What Marco assumed was the manager was just placing the phone on the receiver when he walked in. He looked up at Marco with fright lodged in his eyes. He held his hands up in the air as his body trembled out of fear.

  "Where’s it at Missy?" Marco asked Missy one of the waitresses that worked for the Applebee’s.

  "Under the desk. You gotta pull the drawer out, and it’s in there."

  "Missy?" the manger looked at Missy weirdly, unable to believe that she had something to do with this. She had been working for Applebee’s for the past three years and not only that, she had been fucking him for the past two years.

  He was the first person she grabbed when the shit had gone down, in an attempt to save her life. The shock on his face spoke volumes; he was hurt and shocked by her betrayal for this thug that stood before him.

  POW!

  Marco quickly fired a shot into the manger’s head causing him to slump over the desk. He ran over to Missy, slammed her against the wall, shoved the gun into her chin, and raised her head up so that she could look up at him.

  "Remember what we talked about right?" Marco asked her.

  "Yea, I remember," Missy told him flinching from the barrel of the gun burning her flesh.

  "Reach into my left pocket and then grab that video tape for me so I can get the fuck up out of here," Marco said releasing her and placing the gun into the back of his pants.

  Missy did as she was told. She reached into Marco’s left pocket, grabbed a wad of cash, and then raced over to grab the video tape from the drawer that was located at the bottom of the desk. She quickly snatched the drawer open, pressed the button on the DVD player and waited for the tray to open. She pulled the DVD out and then handed it over to Marco.

  "A’ight baby girl. Don’t forget I know where your whole muthafuckin’ family live at. Don’t fuck this up!" Marco told her.

  "I got it. Don’t worry."

  Marco nodded his head and ran out of the office. He pulled the strings to his hoodie tighter and left out the back exit of the Applebee’s. His home girl Ashley was responsible for this whole setup. She and Samantha were good friends.

  She tried getting Samantha to tell her where she and Hova were, but Samantha would only say they were tucked away and enjoying life away from everyone. Ashley was desperate for Marco’s attention and wanted to him badly, but Samantha and Hova seemed to have disappeared leaving her without a clue. Just when she’d given up, Samantha made a Facebook status that Ashley caught the moment it was posted.

  Got some good news for the hubby. Taking him to his favorite spot Applebee’s tomorrow, the status read. It wasn’t the status that had gotten them fucked though; it was the comments that gave Ashley all the info she needed. One of Samantha’s friends asked about joining them, and Samantha foolishly gave up the location and time that they would be at Applebee’s in case anyone wanted to join them.

  Marco showed up at Applebee’s the day before to check it out when Missy, the waitress waited on him. He knew Missy from back in the day when they were in high school. It wasn’t hard for him to get Missy to do what he needed being he
knew where her grandmother and her mother lived and had the info on Missy’s two little nieces that lived with her sister.

  Missy did everything that was asked of her and shot Marco a message on his burner cell to let him know when Hova and Samantha came in tonight. She was more than willing to do so to save her family’s life and to get the ten stacks that Marco promised her. Everything had worked out as planned except for one little problem; Samantha had gotten away.

  Marco peeked around the front of the building looking for Hova’s car and spotted it still parked in the same spot. Samantha was still around somewhere. He wanted to double back to see if she went to check on Hova, but when he heard the sirens in the distance, he knew it was time to go. He shook his head, and his face grimaced in anger knowing he fucked up. Quasym was paying him to kill both Hova and Samantha, not one or the other.

  "Fuck!" he cussed and took off walking through the back of the lot.

  ***

  "Oh, my God, Sam! I came as soon as I heard," Ashley said as she rushed to Samantha’s side. Ashley wrapped her arms around Samantha allowing Samantha to cry on her shoulder.

  Ashley was from the same Rupert Circle projects as the rest of them. It was how she had met Marco. She’d had a crush on him for years and would do anything for his attention, the same kind of attention that he gave to his girl Danielle back before she passed away. She would betray Samantha if it meant that she could get in good with Marco. Marco had a hold over her that he wasn’t even aware of.

  "Thank you so much for coming. I don’t know if I could’ve went through this by myself," Samantha cried.

  "What are they saying, girl what happened?" Ashley asked as if she didn’t already know that Hova was dead. She was actually surprised that Samantha was still alive.

  Samantha exhaled and pulled her weave from her face. She took a seat and then shook her head. She was so lost and confused. She couldn’t believe that Marco would do this to Hova. She didn’t know of any beef the two of them had. All of it was so unexpected.