by L. E. Newell
He pinned her with a squinted gaze. “I’m so sure that I can see the future.” He licked his lips. “Girl, you gonna be mine for life.”
“For life,” she mumbled as her eyes misted over like girls do when they’re in the presence of their man.
“For life, baby, for muthafucking life,” he repeated as he kissed her lightly on her eyelids.
She smiled sweetly. “Hmmph, I think I’d like that.”
“You will, baby, you can bet your sweet ass you will…”
Rainbow mushed him upside the head and spat, “Damn, ain’t this a bitch. Aight, mack daddy, put a lid on that shit.”
Junior joined in, “Yeah, cut out all that mushy shit.”
Mack added, “Ya’ll horny muthafuckas need to go get a damn room somewhere, whaddafuck.”
Sparkle popped out of his mystifying gaze and got up off of the couch, watching her eyes as they followed the rise in his crotch. Oh yeah, I got me a real stallion now. Let’s do this, nigga, let’s do this. He reached down to help her up, as he looked at his boys and said, “Yo fellas, ya’ll have got to excuse me.” He paused to jack up his pants. “I got some ho banging to do. We out.”
She stood up and leaned into him, fitting like a glove under his arm as she looked at them and smiled. “What can a bitch say; I’m caught, ya’ll.” Then she patted him on the ass. “Let’s go, stud, yo ass got some serious digging to do, believe that. And I’m ready to catch all that shit.” She shoved the bag of coke into his jacket pocket. She leaned away from him and added, “Damn, baby boy, you gonna do something about this K-mart gear, ain’tcha. Whew.” She pulled on the jacket as they headed for the door.
Rainbow yelled after them as the door was closing, “Call me, nigga, uh and niggette, when ya’ll come up for air.”
Sparkle looked over Violet’s head and winked at his boy. “Don’t know for sho when that’ll be, dog.”
Rainbow waved him off as Junior hollered, “Whenever, whatever, man!”
Mack got his jab in as well. “Yeah right, nigga like ya’ll two old-ass dogs got a lot of fuck game left in those worn-down-ass bodies. Anyways, holla atcha, dog and uh, doggette.”
While he was closing the door he overheard Junior whisper, “Man, ain’t that a bitch. I’ve been trying to hook that super-boosting ass bitch for two, three decades and this nigga pulls her ass with the blink of a muthafucking eye, damn.”
“Aw, stop playa hating, nigga,” one of the others teased.
“I was just saying, damn.”
He closed the door on the remainder of the conversation and looked down at Violet. With his arm draped over her shoulder, he smiled. “Should’ve tried a little harder, huh, baby?”
She reached across her body to clasp his fingers and smiled too. “Sure should’ve, then again he never would have made it here, not enough player juice for me.”
“Daaammmnnn, and he thinks he’s the player of the year type of nigga, I guess not. But fuck that; he too late now for sure because the love of your lifetime has got you now.”
She looked up at him with glittering eyes. “Lifetime?”
He kissed her on the forehead. “Yep, ’cause you gonna love me harder than you’ve ever loved a nigga before.”
She batted her long lashes at him teasingly. “You sure about that; I’ve had some helluva playas in my day, fool.”
He pressed her tighter to him. “None like me, sweetie, none like me.”
She reached up to mush his nose. “Whatever you say, stud.” She smiled before they damn near walked over Mercedes. They both staggered back slightly to look down at the miniature vixen. Yep even Violet, all five-feet-three of her stood high over the little Asian doll, who barely touched the five-foot mark, if that.
Like a little puppet doll on a string she pushed her little hips out to bump each of them in turn before she stood back on her legs with her hands on her hips. She smiled up at them innocently. “Can I go too?” she said in a little girl’s voice with broken English.
The idea of ménage à trois certainly caught Sparkle’s interest right off the bat and he didn’t hesitate to show it as he smiled back and forth between them.
Even though Violet was a little surprised by the situation, she gathered herself rather quickly, leaned away slightly, eyed the little vixen under eyed and licked her lips in anticipation. There was something exciting about the little bitch’s boldness. She admired that but she still wasn’t about to share her first experience with Sparkle with any woman.
Out of her peripheral vision, she saw and then felt the excitement stirring up in Sparkle as well. She couldn’t really blame him; what man could resist getting his freak on with two women? So she contemplated briefly on whether to play the selfish bitch or be the playette she knew she was. From years of experience dealing with street niggas, she knew it would be better to be the playette. What other choice did she really have? Dude would expect her to play the game and that was what she would do.
There was a bright side to the situation as well. It had been a while since she’d had a protégé to whom she could teach her boosting and other skills of the game. Smiling inwardly, she stood in front of Sparkle to show the little thing that she was the boss bitch and smiled demurely at her as the playette in her took over. She arched one eyebrow. “Sweetie, as bad as I want to grab your little ass and bite you on the neck, suck all the blood out of your ass and shit”—she paused to fake a growl before she licked her lips and winked—“and other things, we, me and him, have got something that we need to take care of right now.”
Sparkle took over from there as her reached out to lift her chin up. “Baby doll, I know that you feel me like I feel you but mama here is sorta like a shot caller when it comes to our little family, so, wait right here for a second.”
He unloosed his arm from around Violet’s shoulder and went back into the office. He walked straight up to Rainbow and said, “Mack daddy, I got a little problem out here and I need your help on how to deal with it.”
Rainbow got off one more jack of the hypo stuck in his arm, exhaled deeply, then wiped the sweat that started to pour down his face. “What’s up, dog? Spill that shit.”
Sparkle rotated his shoulders before he looked away and sighed heavily, “My nigga, that littler hot honey who just fucked me on the pole, she uh…”
Rainbow shifted in his seat and wiped his hand over his mouth. “Yeah, what about her?”
Sparkle licked his lips, stared at Mack and Junior and then turned his attention back to Rainbow. “Dog, little honey done just chose me, right outside the door, right in front of Violet.”
Rainbow pinched his nose and rubbed his chin. “The little oriental doll?”
Sparkle nodded. “Yep.”
Before Rainbow could answer Junior stood up. “You talking about little Mercedes in the pink cowgirl outfit?”
Mack looked up from registering a hit on his forearm. “What?” He shook his head and added, “Man, you asking for trouble with that one there.”
Rainbow’s head snapped around like that bitch Linda Blair in The Exorcist and eyed both of them, then blinked several times. “Why, ya’ll niggas got a problem with my boy pulling that bitch or something?”
Junior started massaging his neck and spat, “Naw nigga, ya’ll play that shit the way you want to, I’m just saying that little package has got Black Don’s nose like wide muthafucking open. You can drive two, three tractor-trailers up that bitch when it come to that little ho.”
Rainbow sprung from the seat like a jack-in-the-box, jacked his pants up and spat, “What the fuck that got to do with my nigga here? Shit, when a ho chooses a nigga, the loser nigga can’t do a damn thing but give up respect for that.”
Mack unwrapped the rubber tie from around his arm and picked up a bucket that was beside the desk and hurled into it. Then he took a rag out of his drawer to wipe his mouth. “True that, soldier, but that silly nigga ain’t about honoring no rules, dog. All I’m saying is that I don’t really think that little
bitch is worth the shit you got to go through dealing with that clown.”
Junior pulled off the shooter to throw his two cents’ worth in. “Hell, stud, that little ho just learned how to work the pole. She ain’t all that if you ask me.”
Sparkle frowned at him. “Come on, man, you got to be bullshitting me on that one, the way she put it down on me out there.”
Mack, who couldn’t believe these niggas were tripping on that little bitch, jumped in. “Say what, my nigga, that was probably her second time doing that shit on it and that’s for real, yo.”
Rainbow snatched the shooter out of Junior’s hand and started stuffing it with coke before scratching the back of his ear and sniffled. “Shit, ya’ll, what that there tells me is that baby girl is really into my boy here. Yep, that’s what it’s telling me.” He smiled an evil smile and lit up the rock. He really hated when so-called players hated on other players when they had pulled off stunts they weren’t capable or willing to do themselves.
Sparkle ignored that bullshit they were saying and turned his full attention to Rainbow. “Yeah dog, I feel that shit too, but the problem is that I just pulled the Queen Bee. Shit, I ain’t even tapped that ass there yet.” He sat down on the couch and leaned back for a second before he continued, “Okay, feel me on this, Bow, I’m going to… Fuck it, I’ll be right back.” He spun away from them and left the office. It was time to face the girls.
Not wasting any time he pulled Mercedes up against him. “Check this out, little mama, you mine now. Fuck that nigga Don. You done chose me; that’s that as far as I’m concerned.” He waited for her to nod yes and added, “But right now I’ve got to take care of some business with Mrs. V here, who’s, by the way, gonna be your mama from here on out.”
The girls looked at each other, surprised at what Sparkle had just said, but neither showed any sign of objection. They seemed quite cool with it. Picking up on their vibes like a real pro, he quickly added, “So, little angel, you gonna go with my buddy Rainbow until me and Violet—aaah, your mama—handle this thing we was about to do.” He reached down and held her little face in his palms. “You with me on this, baby doll?”
A wave of sadness washed over her face as she mumbled, “But I want to go with ya’ll. I wanna be with you,” she said in her broken English twang.
“And you will, sweetie,” Violet intervened as she pulled her to her side. “Don’t worry about a thing. We gonna take good care of you, baby, okay?” she added in a motherly voice, then gave her a hug.
All Sparkle could do was smile as he saluted the player in Violet, then he put his arm around Mercedes’ shoulder and walked her back to the office. He walked her straight up to Rainbow, who was looking back and forth between Junior and Mack. “Sweetie, this here is my main man Rainbow, I want you to hang with him until me and Violet come and get you, okay?”
She looked up at Rainbow shyly and then at Mack and Junior. “Ya’ll not mad at me, are you?”
Mack looked at Junior, who had his eyes shut trying to figure out how he was going to explain this shit to that crazy-ass nigga Don. Mack finally said, “Baby girl, you know who you want to be with. Hell, all I can say is that you have to be you, so that’s what you do; be yourself and yourself wants to be with my man Sparkle here. Don’t even worry about that nigga Don. His ass will get over it. Fuck him.”
Rainbow stood up bravely and pulled her to the side. “Fuck that nigga. Ya’ll can tell him that I got her. His ass knows better than to approach me with that bullshit.”
Sparkle patted his boy on the shoulder and pined, “Shiiit, that’s that then, I’ll catch ya’ll boys later. I’m out of here.” Then he leaned over and kissed Mercedes lightly on the forehead. “I’ll see you in a short, okay, sweetie?”
She nodded sweetly and he split to rejoin Violet in the hallway. She was all smiles and melted right into his side like she belonged there all the time.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The Action Heats Up
Beverly was at odds with herself with what to do about that nigga Sparkle. She knew that deep down she couldn’t keep evading the inevitable. The same way that she had found a way to get with Rainbow, she could have just as easily gotten with him. But something was holding her back. Was she afraid that she was still madly in love with him? Hell, who was she trying to fool? Of course she was, had always been and probably always would be. So what was she so afraid of? It wasn’t like he didn’t know it. So why was he ducking her as well? She was sort of lost in those thoughts when the counter girl interrupted her reverie, “Will there be anything else I can get for you, Miss?” she chimed as she finished ringing up her purchases.
“Huh?” Beverly blinked a few times to bring herself back to the present and said with a bright smile, “Oh, excuse me, my mind was way out yonder, but no, that’ll be all but could you please wrap a couple of them croissants in a napkin for me.” Oh my God, where is my mind;, what’s wrong with me? “Could you put one of them on a paper plate for me? I think I’ll just eat one here right quick.”
Smiling gracefully, she picked up the plate and ordered a small cup of cappuccino and took a seat in the rear of the Krispy Kreme. She was about to bite into her croissant when she noticed a familiar car pull into the fenced-in parking lot of the MARTA station across the street.
She recognized the driver immediately as Lt. Woo. But what really drew her attention was how animated she was in the conversation she was having with her passenger. It was someone that she wasn’t familiar with but that didn’t really matter. Beverly could tell that Woo was upset. And the passenger was obviously scared. Her police instincts automatically wondered why. Then again it may have been one of her snitches; every police officer had their lot of them. Yeah, that’s probably what it was and she was using scare tactics to gather some information. But for some reason it didn’t seem right. There was something odd that she couldn’t put her finger on.
On the other hand what was she doing parked near the club where her three amigos frequented? Why was she putting them in the same thought with what she was watching? Was it her intuition telling her to check things out further? Those thoughts and others crossed her mind as she sipped on her cappuccino and settled back to observe.
Unbeknownst to Beverly, there was someone watching her watching Lt. Woo. The occupant in the dark blue sedan in the parking lot of the West End mall placed his cigarette in the ashtray and adjusted his binoculars to study her more closely.
It wasn’t that RJ had been trailing her; he happened to see her entering the Krispy Kreme as he was departing the Pep Boys after buying some auto supplies. He couldn’t really explain why he had chosen to spy on the chief at that moment. And when he noticed that her attention was directed at a red Mustang in the MARTA parking lot, he got that much more inquisitive and turned the binoculars that way as well.
Seeing Woo preoccupied in what seemed like a heated conversation, obviously with one of her informants, didn’t surprise him at all. Where she was doing it did, though. It was just too close to the club to be a coincidence as far as he was concerned. He had invested too much into their secretive drug enterprise at the club to have that little bitch nosing around. He smiled evilly as his attention flipped back and forth between the lot and the donut shop, fully curious why two extremely ambitious police officers were in the area. As he watched them with ever-rising concern, he punched a set of numbers on the cell phone. When an unfamiliar female voice answered, his first instinct was to hang up. He was too anxious to find out what the holdup was with the furniture he needed to furnish the condos that had recently been built. Arrangements had already been made to get rid of the hijacked furniture rig. And paying the driver extra for having to wait was out of the question.
The timetable was getting too close for comfort, so throwing caution to the wind he said, “Could I please talk to Al? Well, do you know when he will be available? No, I don’t want to talk to anyone else, just tell him to get in touch with Mr. Tombs as soon as possible. Oh yeah and m
ake sure that you tell him that it’s quite urgent that he do so. Thank you.” Hanging up without waiting for a reply, he clicked off the scrambler. Always being cautious was his number one motto.
Lighting up a cigarette he noticed that the occupant in the car with Woo had gotten out. Moments later she was sprinting across the street to the club. The look on the girl’s face really piqued his curiosity.
Once the girl disappeared into the club, his attention reverted back to the chief, who was still calmly observing the scene as well. He wondered if she was as curious as he was why Woo didn’t pull away after the girl had left. Was her reason for being there other than regular police business? Or could it be that the little bitch was in some kind of an affair? Especially since he had never seen her in any kind of a relationship with a man, there was certainly the possibility that she was into women. He wished that he had noticed her earlier; maybe there was some freaky stuff that could have been observed. That would surely be some ammunition to be used against her in the future, if it became necessary. One never knew when or how they could use a go-getter like her. And a go-getter she surely was. That, he had no doubt about at all.
Maybe, just maybe he had better keep a closer eye on the chief as well. Being near the top of the list to replace her in case anything went awry was something to consider. There was enough at stake to think about all the possibilities and he would gladly step on whoever got in his way to the next step up the ladder.
He continued to watch anxiously as the chief got out of her seat when Woo pulled out of the parking lot. He wondered briefly if he should follow her following Woo. But she veered in the opposite direction down Lee Street. Something in the back of his mind told him to follow one of them. His dilemma was which one.
Even though she didn’t see any immediate danger, she felt it. She’d always relied on her razor-sharp instincts to survive in the harsh world of law enforcement. As she passed the East Point city limit sign, her thoughts drifted back to the events that had occurred.