Forever a Hustler's Wife

by Nikki Turner

  Des handed him a glass of Patron, which he readily accepted. Lloyd took a sip and lifted his glass, nodding. “This is some good shit.”

  Des nodded in return. Each man in the room had a drink in his hand. “I’d like to propose a toast,” Des said, after getting everyone’s attention. “To my man, Lynx. We’re glad you’re back home, and we’re looking forward to spending more time in the G-room.”

  “Why do you call it that?” Lynx asked.

  “’Cause I’m a gangsta, baby. You ain’t know? And this is the gangsta’s room,” Des said, before lifting his drink in the air. “Cheers, man.”

  Yarni went upstairs to get the new photos of the baby to share with the family. As she was searching for them, a noise behind her startled her, and she swung around.

  “You scared me,” she said to her sister, her heart almost skipping a beat.

  “Sorry, sis, but I didn’t want to give this to you in front of everyone. I’ve been so busy today, I didn’t have a chance to do it earlier.” Bambi handed her a piece of paper. “Here’s the info.”

  “Thanks, sis.” Yarni took the paper from her. “What do I owe you?”

  “Chile, please. I gave my DMV girl fifty dollars and kept moving after assuring her I’d have some more work for her.”

  “Damn, I really missed out having a sister when I was growing up, huh?” Yarni said wistfully as she hugged her sister. She hadn’t found out that Bambi even existed until a few years ago. The sisters had been trying to make up for lost time ever since.

  “Shit. Me, too.”

  Yarni turned around again to look for the pictures. Once she located them, she looked at Bambi and smiled. “You okay?” she asked, looking at her sister, who was watching her strangely.

  “I’m fine. Are you okay?”

  Yarni smoothed down her hair and gave her sister a weak smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask?” she said nervously, hoping it wasn’t evident that she had taken a pill seconds before Bambi walked in.

  Bambi shrugged. “No reason. I know you’ve got a lot going on lately. I just want to make sure you know I’m here for you.”

  Yarni looked relieved. She gave her sister another hug. “I know that, but thanks for saying it. Come on. Let’s go feed these folks. Even with all the appetizers, you know they’re probably hungry by now.”

  The food was set up like a scene from the movie Soul Food. Bambi’s mother, Tricia, was a gourmet chef who owned seven restaurants. She had come in that morning to prepare all the food as a favor to Bambi and Yarni, and was planning to fly back out that evening.

  Yarni had tried to convince Bambi to serve filet mignon and several other high-class dishes, but Bambi wouldn’t hear of it. She insisted soul food was Lynx’s favorite, and she had everything imaginable on the table—fried chicken, ham, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, black-eyed peas, corn bread, and more. Yarni knew there would be plenty of leftovers. Even if everyone had seconds or thirds, there was enough food to feed her entire gated community.

  Lynx’s brother Cleezy had arrived, showing off his wife, Mercy, in her new fuchsia dress, so now the party was complete. Yarni had never met Mercy before, but she had seen the movies based on the screenplays that Mercy had written so she felt like she knew her. Yarni gave her a big hug and introduced her to Lava, who had suddenly gotten shy, but Mercy put her right at ease and said that Lava ought to be in her next movie with that beautiful hair and skin of hers.

  It was a perfect party, Yarni thought, a nice break from the stress of working on Sam’s case and worrying about Des’s case. The pill was starting to kick in, and nothing was going to ruin her night.

  Before they started eating, Lynx stood to make a toast.

  “Everyone got glasses? Here’s to family and friends and good times and to not a single ma’fucker in here ever going back to the ma’fuckin’ penitentiary,” Lynx said, and clinked glasses with Des.

  Des said, “I’ll drink to dat,” and took a huge gulp, causing everyone to laugh.

  The lights went out for a moment, then came right back on. Des went to make sure that the alarm and the other electronic household devices hadn’t been disarmed. He had taken only a few steps when someone banged on the door three times. It took him a second to recognize the noise since the music was still blaring. He went to the door and looked out the peephole as someone banged again. He hurried back to the dining room.

  “Yo, it’s the police,” Des said loud enough for everyone to hear him. “Flush anything that ain’t right and take the kids upstairs.”

  Tricia grabbed Desi while Lava grabbed Nya, Bambi, and Lynx’s daughter, and they hurried to the nursery.

  When the house was kosher, Des sent Yarni to open up the door. She heard the police officers trying to get through the steel door, and when she opened it, she took them by surprise. “What happened to using the doorbell? Is it broke?” she asked with an attitude.

  “We have a search warrant for these premises,” said a tall female officer, who was standing beside Detective Columbo.

  “For what, and where is your search warrant?”

  The officer behind Detective Columbo handed him the papers, and he presented them to Yarni as he pushed his way in through the door and the other cops stormed past him.

  “Everybody on the ground; everybody on the motherfucking ground,” Detective Columbo yelled, as more officers swarmed in with their guns drawn.

  “Let’s round these gangsters up, boys,” the detective said.

  “Just follow orders and nobody gets hurt,” another officer said, as he watched over the fellas as they lay on the floor.

  “Isn’t life good?” Detective Columbo said, walking into the dining room, where everyone was congregated. “You got the infamous Lynx and the Mrs.” He smiled at Bambi. “So nice to see you again. And little brother, Conrad, what are you going by these days? C-Note or Cleezy?”

  He made eye contact with Mercy. “How was your flight in? By the way, I saw that last movie. I liked the first one better.” She rolled her eyes at him.

  “And the up-and-coming young Nasir Taylor. No, we haven’t had the chance to meet. However, I know your whole family, and I know we’ll be getting acquainted soon.”

  “Suck a dick, cocksucka,” Nasir responded.

  “Don’t let that pig get you to entertain that swine he talking. That shit-eatin’ muthafucka ain’t shit and ain’t gon’ ever be shit,” Des told his nephew.

  Detective Columbo chuckled and said to Nasir, “You, too, will know me before it’s all over.” Then he turned his attention to Bambi and Yarni’s father, Lloyd “Slot Machine” Pitman. Acting like a groupie who had just met his favorite rock star, he clutched his heart. “Sir, you inspire me so much. Why, you are the very reason I became a police officer.”

  Yarni read over the warrant and headed over to Detective Columbo. “Can I talk to you for a second?” She didn’t wait for an answer as she walked into the hall. Detective Columbo followed a few seconds behind.

  “You’re here to look for evidence for a murder case, not to arrest anybody,” Yarni reminded the overweight cop.

  “If anybody gets out of line, they will be taken to jail or shot.”

  “Listen,” she said, leaning toward him, “I know like you know, you don’t want that. The department and the mayor don’t want that. The mayor is up for reelection, and the police chief doesn’t want a lawsuit, so we’re all going to act like we’ve got good sense. I know you have a job to do, just like I have one.” Yarni tried to maintain her cool.

  “Well,” Detective Columbo sneered, “hand over the evidence, then.”

  “There is none because my husband is an innocent man.”

  “Oh, I don’t believe that,” Detective Columbo said, pulling out his handcuffs and smiling.

  “Look, no one here is going to do anything stupid, so there’s really no need for any handcuffs.”

  “Bull-mother-fucking-shit. I got known assassins and gangsters here. I’ve got to make sure my offi
cers are safe at all times.” He gave her a fake smile. “Now let me do my goddamn job before I give you an obstruction of justice charge.”

  “You do your job, but you better inform your boys not to go into my office, the third door on the right upstairs. It’s off-limits because of attorney-client privilege.”

  He laughed.

  “I’m an attorney. Do not go into my office. I have privileged information in there, so don’t mess with anything in that room. I mean it. Nothing—not my computer or my files. Not a damn thing.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “If you violate any privileged information, I’ll have a judge on the phone so fast to quash your search warrant, your head will spin.” She turned to walk away and swung back around, getting angrier by the second. “Don’t fuck with me.”

  “Your idle threats don’t scare me,” he said with a chuckle.

  “Laugh now, cry later. From what I hear, you spend a lot of time crying over spilled milk,” Yarni said, referring to his past failed attempt to incarcerate her. Then she turned and walked back into the dining room with the others.

  Everyone tried to get back to the celebration while the police searched the house, but no one was in the mood. They sat at the table, picking at their food, making small talk, until finally Detective Columbo and his boys came back downstairs, empty-handed. Another waste of the city’s money.

  CHAPTER 16

  Fighting Back

  Yarni and Marvin were in her office, getting their game plan together for the Samuel Johnson case. When they finally took a break, Yarni was surprised at how late it was. It was well past eight o’clock. She called Des but was unable to get in touch with him. She called to check on the baby, and Joyce told her Desi was already asleep.

  She plopped back into her office chair, exhausted. As though reading her mind, Marvin went to his briefcase and pulled out two glasses and a bottle of vintage Bordeaux. She definitely could use a drink, but she quickly decided against it. The case was turning out to be more challenging than she’d originally thought. Samuel didn’t have an alibi, and to top it off there was a witness who stated that he’d seen Samuel pull the trigger.

  “Since we didn’t get to celebrate how well the preliminary hearing went, I thought I’d bring this,” Marvin said, flashing a smile.

  “Oh, that’s nice,” she said tiredly.

  “Yes, a 1949 Chateau Gruaud-Larose. This has been in my family for years, but you’re the only person with whom I’ve ever wanted to share it.”

  “You didn’t have to do that for me,” Yarni said, blushing in spite of herself.

  “It’s for a great cause, so I hope you won’t let me drink alone.”

  Yarni had taken a Percocet earlier that day. Desi had been crying, and because Yarni had felt a slight migraine coming on and she knew it was going to be a long day at the office, she’d needed something to help her relax. She knew good and well that she should decline because the wine wouldn’t mix well with the pill; however, she also knew Marvin was still a little disappointed that she hadn’t gone to dinner with him. Against her better judgment, she appeased her colleague and accepted a glass.

  “To our first battle together and many great things for us to come,” he toasted. They clinked glasses, and, as Yarni took a sip of her drink, he stared at her for a few moments and smiled.

  “Cheers,” she said, to break the uncomfortable silence, then took another sip of the drink. She stood and walked back over to the mahogany coffee table where they’d been working, sat on the leather sofa, and started to focus again on the papers scattered all over the table.

  He walked over and sat beside her and stared at her again. She wasn’t sure if the pills were making her paranoid, but it felt as though he was undressing her with his eyes.

  “Let’s get a game plan going. I want to make sure that the trial goes our way. If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s cross-examination. What do you know about this witness?” she said, fighting the urge to shudder and trying to get things back on track.

  His eyes scanned her body like a bar code as he took a sip from his glass. “What else are you good at?” he asked, looking her dead in the eyes.

  “I think we’re getting off the subject matter, Mr. Sledge,” she said, trying to keep their conversation professional.

  “I agree.”

  “Listen, if we are going to win this case, we’ve got to get this strategy down to a T.” Yarni picked up some papers and pretended to read through them.

  He removed them from her hands and moved closer, stealing a peep down her shirt. “Oh, you like to go down, huh?” He looked at her with a smirk on his face.

  Yarni couldn’t believe the stupid shit he was saying. She tried to ignore the comment but found herself getting annoyed. “Look, you know Miles is the prosecutor, and from what I gather, he turns cases like this into witch hunts.”

  “Look, I got this here. Don’t worry.” He moved in even closer to her, and ran his finger across her knee. “I can eat Miles and that dumb assistant of his for lunch. You’re playing in my playground, so don’t worry your pretty head about that.” He moved his finger up her thigh, getting close to where it didn’t belong.

  Yarni pushed his hand away, abruptly rose from the sofa and moved to look out the window, trying to ignore his vulgar behavior. “That’s all fine and well, but we still have to be prepared.”

  “You know my reputation. I’m the best at this. That’s why you got me on this team.” He walked over to her and leaned in to whisper, “You want to win,” then he blew in her ear.

  Yarni pulled away, took a step back, put her hand up, and firmly said, “Don’t do that.” She wanted to say more but being so relaxed under the influence of the pills and the wine, she just dropped it. They were interrupted by a knock at the door. It was a courier bringing a file for which Marvin had been waiting. He tipped the guy and quickly sent him on his way, then focused his attention back on Yarni.

  “I apologize. I know I was a bit out of line, maybe just a little beside myself. I promise it won’t happen again.”

  “A little?” Her first instinct was to kick his butt out right then and there, but instead she cleared her throat. “Look, are you ready to get down to business?”

  “Yes, let’s,” he said as he held up the file. “This is going to be our ace in the hole. Here’s the info that I was waiting for. We’re going to win because of this alone.” He gave off a cocky chuckle.

  “Great! What is it?”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll present it at trial. You know I like to win.” He sat beside Yarni and placed it in front of her. Before she could reach for it he said, “For the record, everything I set out to conquer, I do. You know Marvin always gets what he wants.” He placed his hand on her leg again.

  “Marvin, listen,” she said, the expression on her face matching the coldness in her voice. “I’m a married woman, and I love my husband.”

  “Yes, but the bigger question is, Does your husband love you? We’ve been here what”—he shrugged—“a good three hours. You’re working late, and he hasn’t called to check on his wife, even though you’ve called to check on him. Where is he? At home with your newborn baby? Oh no, he isn’t, because you just spoke with your mother-in-law to see how the baby’s doing.”

  “That’s none of your business,” Yarni tried to say sternly, but she choked on the words. Lately Des hadn’t been around, and hearing Marvin question Des’s love for her forced her to face the truth.

  “You know I can have any woman I want—shoot, women throw themselves at me all day long. But guess what?” he said. “I choose you.”

  “As I said, I’m happily married.” She looked into his eyes so that there would be no misunderstanding about what she was saying. “I am here to work and discuss business, not talk about my personal life.”

  “I’ve never understood women like you,” he said, shaking his head and chuckling.

  Yarni stood. “I think the wine and the long
hours are really getting to you.”

  Marvin got up and cornered her between the sofa and the coffee table. “I’ve never understood women like you,” he repeated, his voice taking on a steely edge. “You don’t want a good black man, you want an ex-con hooligan masquerading as a businessman.”

  “This work session is over. I’m leaving,” she said, attempting to walk around him.

  Marvin wasn’t having it, though. “No, you’re not.” He pushed her down on the sofa, almost tipping the coffee table over. “You don’t leave until I say so,” he yelled.

  He delivered a backhand to Yarni’s face that knocked off her earring and left a handprint on her cheek. She was stunned. She had never been hit by a man before, so she definitely wasn’t prepared for the next punch that landed on her left eye. Yarni held her eye and bent over in shock. Marvin took advantage of her position to try to push her onto her back and get on top of her, but she managed to kick him hard. The kick accomplished one thing: It pissed him off, and he revved back and released another violent blow to her already bruised face. Before she knew, he was on top of her.

  “No, no, stop, Marvin!” she screamed, trying her best to fight him off.

  “Stop really means go,” he whispered, ignoring her blows and kissing her on her neck.

  At what point did shit go haywire and take such a drastic turn? She couldn’t believe that this supposedly well-respected lawyer was attacking her in her own office. She had defended murderers, extortionists, and drug dealers who had treated her with more respect. Briefly, Yarni considered lying there and surrendering. Marvin was so much stronger than she was. But then the hustler’s wife in her came out. She had picked up a thing or two from Des over the years, and one of them was not to take shit from anyone. She and Marvin were not two consenting adults, and he was not going to make her do anything she didn’t want to do. This was no time to play the blame game. The plan was simple: She was going to defend herself or die trying.