by Joy, E. n.
"She don't need to see them," Dina said nastily. "She don't do nothing for my kids. She don't even call to see if they're dead or alive!"
"Dina, we're leaving the country, baby. Put all of that aside and take those children to see their grandmother," he reasoned.
Scratch was the only one of her men that was allowed to call her by her government name. She was The Queen to most, QD to some, and Queen D to the rest. Scratch was different though. At thirty seven, he was eight years older than Dina. He was also very well educated. Scratch watched Dina grow from a young girl into a beautiful woman; a wild woman that refused to be tamed. But he was determined to tame her. He taught Dina a lot about camouflaging the running of her drug ring. She looked up to Scratch and was extremely grateful to him when he suggested she flee the country instead of trying to hop the kids from state to state, running. Dina also knew Scratch was whipped from her physical skills and that she controlled his every move.
She didn't abuse her relationship with him. As a matter of fact, Dina did the exact opposite. She recognized his assets and his potential and strengthened their bond by making him feel as if he was the only one in her life. And with all of her men, that was no easy task. Dina also felt that out of all of her men, Scratch would be the best provider for her kids should some- thing ever happen to her. Scratch loved Dina's kids as if they were his own. He also saw that they desperately needed a change in their lifestyle.
"Scratch, I got some serious business to handle right now. I don't have time to be arguing with you," Dina told him.
"You know I don't argue, so you'd be arguing by yourself. Where are the kids? I'll take them, you don't have to. Are their clothes packed? I thought you were going to have everything at my crib by tonight anyway?"
"It's crazy right now, boo. I can't even get into it right now. I just wanted to make sure you had us straight so I could stick and move and we could be up and out. We'll have to buy all new clothes for the kids. I'll explain later. I'll get the kids to you, but it probably won't be until tomorrow night. You still want us to have Christmas over at your house?"
"Yeah, that's why I wanted to get them. They haven't gotten to do their shopping yet. I need to shoot them to the mall. We gon' have us a real nice Christmas before we leave," Scratch said.
"Man, bump Christmas. I'm Santa Claus. My kids know the deal," Dina said as she held her phone to her ear with her shoulder, driving with one hand and searching blindly through her satchel with the other. Her hands landed on a pack of Black and Mild cigars. She retrieved the box, removing the cigar that she had already had a chance to freak. She placed it between her full lips and then pulled out the lighter attached to the console of the Audi. Denise lit the thin cigar, inhaling a thick puff of smoke before releasing it into the air.
"Don't take away their innocence, Dina. I keep telling you, just because you're in the streets, that doesn't mean those kids have to be," he preached.
Dina had a call beep in, but didn't bother to take it. "You know, you're real lucky you my dude. You know
I don't be tryin' to hear all that, and I'm real serious. I know you love my kids and I know you got our backs, but you know who I am and what I represent. So, don't try to change me, 'cause it ain't happenin'."
"Come on now, baby. You know I'm not trying to change you. Your King loves his Queen just the way she is, with your feisty little self. But like you said, you know I love those kids too, now give me some sugar and make sure you have them, and you, at my house tomorrow night. Santa will be waiting. And Dina," Scratch said before ending the call.
"Yeah?"
"I know you, baby. Stay focused, stay on your game and be careful out there."
She blushed, blew a kiss into the phone and said her signature, "Gone."
Scratch wasn't her main man for nothing. He stroked her ego endlessly. He had her front, her back and her sides. She knew it and she loved it.
***
The clusters of pure white snow sparkled in the night as the quiet of Prince Anne Park engulfed the air. There had to be over a hundred stars in the sky. Dina had lost count at seventy-six. It had been over an hour and her connect still had not arrived. Dina was about to find out what was taking him so long.
She began to dial the number while moving to the sound of T.I.'s "Beat Down Low" when she heard the shatter of her front passenger window. She looked to her right and saw the double barrel of a pump shot gun staring her in the face. Slamming on the accelerator, the car screeched forward, knocking down the unknown perpetrator along with the deadly firearm as she reached for her baby .380 that was now sitting in her lap.
Dina fired two shots at the dark figure, scrambling to regain his balance outside of the front passenger window. She hit him twice in the head. Gamble Dick came out of nowhere and began to pull at Dina's passenger side door. She quickly switched positions, aimed her pistol at his face and let loose. Gamble Dick was caught dead in the face with two slugs. Her baby, Scratch, had just told her to be on her game. He would have been proud. Dina wanted to be out. This was a setup. But it wasn't over by any means. She now had a bigger score to settle. It had to be Bamma who set her up. He was the connect for the diamonds, the one she had placed the call to, and the only one who knew about the meeting.
Dina got out of her vehicle and walked over to a whimpering Gamble Dick. He was holding his bloody face in his blood covered hands.
"Did Bamma tell you where to find me?" she asked, not realizing that he had no way of answering her. His mouth had been blown clear off of his face. "Oh, so you don't want to tell me, huh?"
Gamble Dick whimpered some more. He removed his hands from his face and Dina saw the affects of her bullets. Gamble Dick's face was tore off.
"Man, I did you in," Dina laughed. "Kick one time if Bamma sent you," she instructed, bound and deter- mined to find out who was behind the madness. Gamble Dick didn't move.
"Well, at least I know you ain't no snitch," Dina said as she pumped three more bullets into his head.
Gamble Dick's body shook briefly with his mangled face permanently frozen in time as he lay in the snow. Dina got back into the Audi and left Prince Anne Park. She called her next target.
"I was gon' give you one off the top. Now I'm not even seein' you! That was a very unintelligent move you just made, Bamma."
"I got held up, Queen. Gamble Dick was gunnin' for you and I knew you'd handle up on yours, so I sent him straight to you. I tried to call you to tell you, but you didn't answer. Check your phone, you'll see. You callin' me, so he must be history. You should be thanking me."
"That ain't the point. I coulda been late fa' sho'. That was foul, Bamma. I'm gon' remember that."
"You threatening me, Queen?"
"Take it any way you like. Any way you look at it, you set me up." Queen thought for a moment. She had to remind herself that this wasn't personal. It was just business. "But you know what? I ain't even gon' trip, 'cause you got what The Queen needs. So now that Gamble Dick is out of the way, how about we get down to grown folks business? Can't nobody handle this score but you."
"This I know. Meet me at the cemetery on Nine Mile." "Na, I don't like cemeteries. I send too many people there," Dina told him, "and I name the place this time."
"Go on, name it."
"We'll meet at a public place. That way if something funny goes down, we got witnesses."
"Whatever you say, Queen."
"Yeah, I know it's whatever I say. I'm still not sitting real well with your actions right now, Bamma. I ain't comin' to the table shorthanded. You need to recognize who you dealin' wit'," Dina told him.
"Man, you's a beast!" he told her.
"What? You ain't know? Meet me down at Manhattan's in thirty."
"The club?"
"The restaurant inside of the club!" Dina hung up and headed to Manhattan's.
All three floors of the business were jammed packed. Manhattan's was the restaurant portion of the enterprise. The Cotton Club was the nightclub that inhabit- ed
the building. The décor was top of the line with leather, suede and chrome pimping out the entire place, making it a unique and very elegant place to party and dine.
Waiters and waitresses dutifully attended to their customers. Dina sat in the cut patiently waiting for Bamma to arrive, when she saw him coming her way. He nearly walked pass her, until she put her hand out in protest of him walking any further. His reflexes made him reach for his metal.
"Don't even think about it," Dina told him.
Bamma relaxed after seeing that it was Queen. "Oh, wha's happnin', Queen? You don't look like yourself," Bamma told her as he took a seat at her table.
"That's irrelevant. You got something for me?" Dina asked, cutting the small talk.
"You got something for me?" Bamma asked in return.
"We can do this at the same time." She held up the velvet sack and swung it from side to side.
Bamma noticed the blood on the sleeve of her coat. He could tell where she had tried to wash the blood from her hands. Some still remained in the cracks of her nails. He slid the two army green double duffle bags he had carried in over to her feet.
"You're not leaving until I count it all," she said.
"Are you serious, Queen? That's four mil' in there. I don't have time for all that. I got other business to handle."
"Well, I suggest you make time," Dina said as she got up. She eyed Bamma to do the same. He complied as Blaze appeared out of nowhere and retrieved the heavy bags for Dina. He then followed the pair as Dina led the way. He had missed out on Gamble Dick, but he wasn't missing out on this one.
They made it to the third floor office of Matt Chance, the owner of the establishment. He and Dina had been acquaintances for quite some time. Dina had worked for him for a minute at one of his other nightclubs before she moved up to bigger and better things. She then became "Queen D", a "Donette", smashing on everything around her and stayed famous for renting out VIP sections in every club in Richmond, especially The Cotton Club. She bought out the bar and made it rain on the regular. Matt loved money, therefore he loved The Queen and she had access to anything in his club that she wanted.
Dina had Blaze count the money using Matt's electronic currency counter. Blaze pumped and pumped the stacks of one hundred dollar bills into the machine. His hands moved quickly. It was obvious he was used to counting stacks. He had, in fact, reached the goal of four million dollars. Blaze turned and nodded to his Queen. She smiled. She was set for life.
"Good doing business with you, Bamma," she said as she walked over to the money and began packing it back into the bags.
"Fa' sho'. I'm gon' head out now," Bamma told them as he put the sack of diamonds in his shirt pocket. He attempted to rise up out of the chair he chose to occupy upon entering. Blaze swiftly took his place behind him, delivering a sharp blow to his temple, knocking him out. He pulled a plastic carton from his pocket and removed a small roll of barbwire, carefully wrapping the ends around his gloved hands. Blaze then brought his muscular frame behind Bamma, who was a plump individual. He swung the wire over Bamma's head, finding a secure spot around his fat neck, and squeezed tightly. Bamma came to as his hands reached up frantically trying to get a hold of the wire, but it was clear that the barbwire had won the race, cutting into his throat.
Dina opened Matt's office window. Bamma's bleeding body was lifted up and pushed out of the opening by Blaze. He plunged down with a thunderous thump into an awaiting garbage dumpster. With a breath of life still left in him, he wheezed up blood as he squirmed around in the stench filled garbage. He attempted to grip his heat to blast blindly at this female demon and her accomplice, but Bamma pumped his weak fist around a worthless piece of steel that he never got the chance to utilize. He died.
"Here, take these and get whatever you can." Dina handed Blaze the sack of ice.
"You sure?" he asked. Blaze had no knowledge of his Queen leaving the country.
"Yeah, I'm sure. You've been real good to your Queen, baby. You've always made sure that I was good and that my paper was right. Now I'm really good, so I want you to have 'em. I know you can flip 'em quietly," she smiled.
Blaze had always told Dina she moved with too much noise, that bad girls and bad boys always moved in silence. She was finally about to take his advice.
Chapter Three
THE LION'S DEN
Dina headed toward her sister's home. It was close in proximity, but she still needed to get there fast. Cannon was probably turning over in his sleep at that very moment, reaching for his fiancé.
She arrived at the home of Denise and Cannon and pulled up slowly onto the graveled driveway in attempts to keep the noise of the wheels' contact to a minimum. After parking the car, she walked around to the back door. The night light was dim but gave a good enough glow to allow Dina to pick the lock to the back door. She opened it ever so gently. Dina gladly removed her shoes; they were killing her feet. She went straight to the phone in the kitchen and pulled the cordless phone off of the wall, snatched the cord out of the telephone jack and placed the phone back onto its mounted cradle. Dina then went up to her sister and Cannon's office, in which they shared, and repeated the process. The telephone in the master bedroom was next in line to be disconnect- ed. She'd hit that one last.
Dina went to check on her kids, discovering Dinky first. He was still awake. She warned him not to tell his sisters that she was now pretending to be their auntie and to play his position. Dinky once again had to play a role that was forced upon him. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew he didn't want his mother to be taken away from them, so he would do whatever she wanted.
Dinky then got on his knees and performed what his auntie had instilled in him and his sisters since they could speak. An act that his mother told them was stupid and useless and that she'd better not catch them doing, or she'd make them walk on their knees for the rest of the day. Dina told her kids on many occasions that she was their God, and if they wanted or needed something, they'd better get on their knees and bow down to her as her men did. Dinky was a lot like his mother whereas he pretty much did what he wanted to do and dealt with the consequences later. Therefore, Dinky prayed to God once his mother left the room.
Dina peeped in on her girls. They were both asleep, in the same bed, with the television still on. Dina entered the room, lifted Kima up and placed her in the bed next to Kayla's. Dina kissed both of their heads and stared at them for a little while.
Dina did love her children. She loved them very much, although her decisions didn't always support her emotions. Her little girls were gorgeous, and she wanted them to aspire to be Queens, just as she deemed herself to be. She knew the fast life that she was living wasn't good for them, especially her girls. But Dina was who she was, and that was a product of the streets, but more importantly, she was their mother.
Different men parading around them; sometimes clad, sometimes not, showering them with the latest toys and clothes; late night trips in various smoke filled, big body vehicles with music blasting their miniature ear drums out; weapons of all types carelessly left lying on tables and dressers throughout the house that they were simply told, they'd better not touch; this was all a regular part of Dina's children's lives. They watched and observed as their mother was continually basked with what the kids called, Mama's baby powder. Stacks of cash for her and the kids to trick off was a common thing. But Dina now had enough money to take them and flee the country. They would be straight for the rest of their natural lives with the four million she had just come up on. As soon as she hooked up with Scratch, things would be all good.
It was time to slide deeper into the life of her twin. The door to the master bedroom was shut. Dina crept up along side the wall and entered slowly and quietly. Cannon was sound asleep. She was glad of that. Dina really didn't want to face him just yet. She had no idea of what she would say or how she would act; she and Denise were like oil and water. Dina never had an attraction for Cannon and often wondered what her sister s
aw in him. He was boring to Dina. He reminded her of the guys she would see rushing to the library to study for mid terms with twenty books in tow.
Once inside the bedroom, Dina began to look around in the dark. The alarm clock read 2:10 a.m. Dang, it's still early! she thought to herself. Dina's world was normally in full swing at this hour. Dina noticed Cannon stirring around in bed. She took her blouse and pants off and tip toed over, quickly sliding in bed beside him. Cannon's sturdy arm swung across her breasts, trap- ping her. Dina, not knowing exactly what her next move should be, turned onto her stomach. Cannon's arm slid from her upper back to her behind. She breathed a deep breath. A breath that must have awakened Cannon's senses. He squeezed the softness in his hand. Dina didn't move. Cannon began to rub his warm hand across her backside.
"Mmm, you ready to make good on your promise?" he asked.
Dina pretended to be asleep. Cannon wasn't having it. He flipped her over and shoved his tongue in her mouth. He savagely grabbed her by her hair and whispered in her ear, "It's about time you came to bed. I've been waiting for you." Obviously he must have assumed she had been in the office working like she'd done many a nights.
Cannon pulled her hair free from the ponytail holder, tossing it to the floor. He showered her soft skin with tender kisses. Cannon then ripped her panties off and buried himself in what he thought was Denise's aura. Dina couldn't believe what was happening. Her sister's fiancé was feasting on her, and there was nothing she could do to stop him, and after a few minutes, she didn't want to. This bookworm had skills. His performance exalted her perception of Cannon. Dina now understood why her sister was marrying the man.
Cannon slowly guided himself through Dina's body as nature took its course, with his circular motion rocking Dina's boat as he worked the middle, changed positions and stroked it for her. Dina was the type of chick that was down for whatever. She had had many sexual experiences, but the sensation Cannon was delivering was mind altering. She had to give him his props.