Thirsty 2

by Mike Sanders

  The girl’s face brightened up a little as she bent forward and whispered in his ear, “Always baby, always.”

  Red tipped her fifty more dollars on top of everything he had already given her throughout the night. The stripper smiled and took the money from between his fingers before sashaying off to retrieve her outfit from the other corner of the small room. Red sat his empty glass on the small table beside the sofa and stood, ready to leave. He took one last look at Always as she stepped back into her G-string. He kind of liked the girl and admired her thirst for dough. He had seen her a few times in the club hustling the hustlers and he respected her game. He knew everybody had to eat one way or another and he definitely couldn’t knock the way she was getting hers. He thought hard for a minute before calling out to her, “Aye shorty, you wanna get some real money?”

  Always’ curiosity was piqued. She knew he wasn’t talking about fucking because she had just tried him with that. Her mental cash register began cha-chinging. Those two magic words “real money” had her undivided attention. Red gave her his number and told her to get at him in a couple of days. “It’ll definitely be worth your while,” he’d told her. With that statement, he thought briefly about the money he and Chris had paid the twins a few days earlier before putting them on the highway to head back to their hometown of Columbia, South Carolina. He concluded that those few grand had been very well spent.

  As Always watched the fine hustler exit the VIP area she kissed the tiny piece of paper in which his digits were written. She was already mentally spending the money she knew she would get from the nigga.

  A few minutes after leaving VIP, Red sat at the bar next to Chris, his part-time lover and full-time crime partner. Chris was dressed in a short, form-fitting skirt that rose high up on her thick thighs as she sat on her barstool very ladylike, sipping on an apple martini. Her ample bosom was spilling out of her skimpy blouse and the niggas were eyeing her almost as much as they were the strippers. Chris’s thick, pouty glossed lips were wrapped seductively around the slim straw as she looked up at Red with heavy eyelids. Her bedroom eyes were tinted with a shade of pink from the weed. Her long dreads were pulled back into a tight ponytail.

  To Red, Chris was one of the realest bitches he’d ever met. Blessed with the beauty of a model and the brains and heart of a hustler, Christina Dawson was the epitome of the phrase “dangerous bitch.” In fact, she was by far the most dangerous female Red had ever dealt with, and he had dealt with quite a few. Chris was the type of bitch who could murk a nigga one minute and then turn around and put her lip-gloss on the next without so much as a twitch.

  Red saw Always coming out the VIP area and flashed a knowing smile at her, and she returned the gesture.

  Chris saw the exchange. “I know you didn’t fuck that bitch back there.” She had her nose turned up in disgust.

  “Hell nah, that was strictly bizness,” Red retorted.

  “When yo’ dick fall off and yo’ jaws start sinking in, we gonna see what kinda bizness your trickin’ ass handled.”

  “Girl, ain’t nobody fuck that bitch.” Red laughed at Chris’s rhetoric. Staring at Chris made him think back to the first time he had ever laid eyes on her . . .

  Ironically, Club Pleasers was where they had first met, so to speak. Twelve months earlier, Red had noticed the caramel beauty getting lap dance after lap dance from the baddest bitches in the club. Chris was tossing twenties like they were ones and Red took notice. That night the jack-boy in him had caused him to see past her beauty and made him look deep into her pockets. Red had just moved to Atlanta from Charlotte and was almost on his last leg. His dough was running out fast and stick-ups were few and far between. The only thing Red had left of value was his dead cousin J. T.’s Hummer and some jewelry which he absolutely refused to part with. He was thirsty as hell, like a vampire seeking blood. And Chris looked like the perfect mark.

  The way Chris had been rubbing the girls’ asses and squeezing titties had led him to believe she was just some dyke who frequented the club often or either she was a dancer as well and was just paying homage. Either way, Red had decided that he had to have some of that dough she was spending. If she was contributing it that freely, Red figured it was plenty more where this had come from.

  That night as the club wound down, Red followed Chris out to the parking lot and noticed she was driving a late model Range Rover with expensive looking rims. She had sat in the lot for a few minutes engaged in conversation on her cell before being joined by two of the dancers that had been all over her inside the club. “Three birds with one stone,” Red thought as greed consumed his mind. He watched as the two dancers climbed into the Range with Chris, one in the front and the other in the back. As soon as Chris exited the lot, Red followed in the Hummer making sure to keep at least two cars between them at all times. He waited patiently for the Range to make a stop so he could make the girls run that paper! He already knew the driver was loaded with dough and he could just imagine how many tips the two dancers had received throughout the night. He wanted Chris’s jewels also. He figured he could get a nice grip for all that ice.

  Opportunity finally presented itself when Chris pulled up to a Ramada Inn hotel off Old National Road. Red fell back as he watched the Range and waited for it to park. Instead of stopping at the front desk, Chris pulled around back of the hotel and parked in front of room 118. Red parked the Hummer on the side of the hotel and got out with his pistol clutched tightly in his palm. Since it was so late the hotel was quiet and all of the rooms were dark. Red hid beside the ice machine and peeped around the corner and saw the girls enter room 118 giggling and stumbling. Two of them were hugging. “Damn, this is gonna be easier than I thought,” Red thought to himself while smiling.

  His plan now was to kick the door off its hinges and make the terrified girls come up off everything they had. He knew he would have to be in and out as quickly as possible because the noise of their door being damaged would wake a few guests. He also thought about the structure of the door and wondered if it would even bulge. As he contemplated this thought, he looked up from his hiding place and saw the answer to his problem being solved. One of the strippers had come out of the room with an ice pail and was headed in his direction. Red pressed his back against the side of the ice machine and waited for the girl to get closer. He could hear the click-clacking of her heels as she neared. When she was directly in front of the ice machine Red emerged from the darkness, startling her. She dropped the pail and let out a shrill shriek which Red quickly muffled as he placed his hand over her mouth and pressed the gun into her rib cage. “Bitch, you make another sound and I’ll put a hole in yo’ ass so big light’ll be able to shine through it. Understand me?” Red whispered in a venomous tone. The girl nodded in agreement and began to walk back toward the room with Red guiding her by the elbow.

  As they neared the room Red noticed the door had been propped open by the inside latch, apparently so the girl could re-enter without having to use the key. The only light visible inside the room was coming from the television. Red heard the shower running in the bathroom as he stood by the door listening for a second before making his move. He heard no movement so he figured the other two girls were showering together. “Caught these hoes slippin’,” he thought to himself as he pushed the girl through the door and fell in step right behind her.

  Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he saw movement and before he knew what was happening, the barrel of a large caliber pistol was being pressed to his left temple and the lights came on, flooding the room with brightness. He wanted to fire, but the sudden incandescence of light had him momentarily blinded like a deer caught in headlights. When he was finally able to focus, Red couldn’t believe his eyes!

  Chris was standing there brandishing what seemed to be a Dessert Eagle .45, making it kiss his temple while the girl who had stayed in the room with Chris was easing from the restroom fully clothed with two chrome .380’s aimed at him. She tossed one of the chrom
e pistols to the girl Red had just pushed through the door. There were now three barrels aimed at him. “What it is, shawty? Lemme get that there,” Chris’s syrupy voice commanded, in reference to Red’s gun. Red thought for a minute, contemplating whether or not to fire on one of these bitches. Then he thought better against it because he knew he would not make it out of the room without catching a few hot ones himself. He slowly lowered his gun to his side and hung his head with shame at the realization of what he’d stepped into.

  Chris reached out and took Red’s Glock and stuffed it into the back pocket of her tight jeans. Then she commenced to pat him down for any further weapons. Satisfied he didn’t have another gun on him, Chris started removing his jewelry. She snatched his ring off his finger, pulled off his bracelet and watch, then pulled his chain over his head. As Red felt his barrel-link white gold chain with his diamond encrusted medallion being removed from his neck he felt like a true mark! “Run dem pockets,” Chris told Red, letting him know to empty his pockets. Red pulled out the two hundred dollars he had in his pocket and handed it over. “What else you got for us?” Chris asked. Red was at a loss for words. He couldn’t believe the tables had been turned on him—by three bitches for that matter.

  “Dat’s it,” he managed to say between tight lips while tossing the keys to the Hummer to the floor.

  “Nigga, you drivin’ a damn Hummer and you ain’t got but $200 in yo’ pockets?” Chris looked at her girls, then back at Red and commanded, “Fuck that. Nigga you got some mo’ money. Strip!”

  “What?” Red asked in disbelief.

  “Nigga she ain’t stutter. Strip!” the girl from the ice machine spoke up for the first time.

  Red reluctantly began disrobing, but he left his boxers and socks on. “Nah nigga! Take all that shit off!” the girl from the restroom stated, seeming somewhat amused. Red took off the socks, then slowly pushed the boxers to his ankles and stepped out of them. The girl from the ice machine quickly began gathering Red’s clothes from the floor. She also picked up the keys to the Hummer.

  Red stood naked and embarrassed before the three women, while they seemed unfazed by his nudity. The girls started to leave the room one by one while keeping their guns trained on Red. The first girl stepped out the door with Red’s belongings, followed by the girl from the restroom and lastly Chris. Just before Chris stepped out the room she looked Red up and down with inspecting eyes then smacked him on the ass with the barrel of her pistol and stated with a sultry smile, “Welcome to the ‘A,’ folk!” Red rubbed his stinging ass cheek, but didn’t turn around as the girls left. Moments later, the door closed followed by the sound of the Range Rover cranking up and pulling off.

  Two months later Red had bumped into Chris again, this time at Magic City with the same two strippers gyrating on her. First instinct had Red ready to blow all three of those bitches’ wigs back. However, as he gave the situation more thought, he sat back and observed Chris and the dancers for a minute. After watching their interactions and wandering eyes, realization of what they were doing dawned on him. This was their game, their MO. Chris would sit around and make it rain all night with the same two girls who would scoop up the cash, and later Red found out that they would give it back to Chris at the end of the night. “Damn, these bitches had faked the whole scene, wanting a nigga to bite,” Red thought as he continued to peep their game. They flossed all that dough hoping a thirsty ass jack-boy would run up and fall into their trap. Just as Red had done. This conniving bitch!

  Red approached Chris at Magic City that night and she immediately went on the defensive when she recognized him. He sat down beside her and put his arm around her chair. She started to get up but he grabbed a handful of her dreads from the back and pulled her back down with enough force to let her know he wasn’t playing with her but not so much as to be obvious and cause a scene. “Nah, don’t get up on my account. Chill, let’s rap.” Chris eased back down in the seat and stared coldly into Red’s eyes. “So what? You lookin’ for some get-back? You feelin’ some kinda way?” Chris asked. “You can let go of my hair too.” She added as she calmly reached up, grabbed her glass and threw back the shot of Patron that was sitting in front of her.

  “Gottdamn right I’m feelin’ some kinda way. Where my shit at? I want my shit!” Red stated through gritted teeth while adding a little more force to his tug on her dreads. Chris’s head jerked back slightly and a sharp pain shot down the back of her skull.

  “I’mma tell you one mo’ time to stop pullin’ my fuckin’ hair.” She attempted to snatch away from his grasp but his grip was too strong. She settled into the seat and took a deep breath. “Bruh, how you gonna come at me like you a innocent victim or some shit? Nigga, YOU tried to jack ME. You just got caught slippin. You know how this shit go. You gotta respect the game.”

  Although Red knew what she was telling him was the truth, his ego wouldn’t allow him to accept it. “Bitch, like I said, I want my shit.”

  “Cool,” Chris replied non-chalantly.

  “Cool?” Red was skeptical because of her quick reply. “Aiight, let’s go get that.”

  “That ain’t no proble,” she sipped her Carona. “As long as yo’ broke ass can pay for it.”

  Red laughed at her response. Although he was pissed, he was also somewhat amused at Chris’ bravado. It reminded him of himself. “Bitch, you know I ain’t payin’ you for my shit back.”

  Chris glanced over at Red. “I’on believe you tryna sit up here and act like you don’t know how this shit work. You know damn well if you had been able to get MY shit that night it ain’t no way in hell you would even entertain the thought of giving my shit back. Nigga, at least I’m giving you a chance to get yours.”

  Everything she was saying was hitting the nail on the head and Red couldn’t deny it. He finally let her hair go and relaxed in his seat. He knew there was no way he’d get his jewelry back and decided to chalk it up as a loss and charge it to the game.

  The waiter came around and Chris ordered them both a shot of Patron. Red was still in disbelief that he had gotten duped by this sexy ass scoundrel. They threw back the two shots and looked at one another and burst out laughing. They were on one accord and they both knew what Red was thinking. As bad as he wanted to punch her in her mouth, he had to admit that her and her girls’s game was airtight.

  “You know I had yo’ ass that night, tho” Red stated as he sat his empty glass on the table.

  “Yeah, that’s why you ended up naked with no ride home.” Chris laughed. For a moment and Red got heated all over again as he had a flashback of them making him strip.

  Chris broke his thought pattern. “I can say this; I also found out that the gun you were carrying is not the only piece of steel you walk with.” Chris stated as she gave him a flirtation grin.

  “You ain’t never lied, but that one is damn sure more dangerous.” Red shot back. They spent a few minutes throwing slick comments back and forth as the chemistry between them began to heighten.

  After a few more rounds, they began to see how they could benefit one another. Instead of beefing, they decided they could get more money if they were on the same team. The more Chris talked about the potential money they could get off niggas in the A, the more sense it made to him.

  Needless to say, they decided to join forces and get money together. Being in the robbing game had both of them leery of the other and initially trust was damn near nonexistent. Chris proved her his loyalty to him one night a few weeks after their conversation when she’d pumped two hot ones into a mark who had gotten the ups on Red during a caper. Red became grateful and they wound up becoming tighter than a nun’s pussy! Business was booming, not to mention their criminal relationship was taken to another level and the sex between the two was off the Richter scale! Red had a real live “Ride or Collide.” bitch in his corner with some snappin’ sugar walls to match. What more could a nigga ask for?

  “Let’s go,” Chris’s voice snapped Red out of his thoughts and
brought him back to the present.

  “Yeah, let’s bounce,” Red replied. He set his drink on the bar and exited Club Pleasers with Chris at his side. Red felt totally relaxed as they stepped out into the night air. For Red, strip clubs had become his therapy when he was stressed. He had frequented every strip club in Atlanta at least once since moving there. He had also been to the hottest strip club in Chicago once just to see if it was really owned by Justice, the bitch he knew was responsible for his cousin J.T.’s death. Indeed Justice was definitely the owner. He had sat in the back of the club, incognito. He wanted to make sure that bitch suffered the same death she had made J.T. suffer, but he was just biding his time. He couldn’t get over the fact that his first attempt to get at the bitch when he had first followed her to Chicago was interrupted by the Feds. He had been followed and was arrested on armed robbery charges. Although he had to spend a year in the county, he ended up beating the charges because J.T. and Cross, his cousins and co-defendants were both dead and the victims weren’t cooperating.

  Red and Chris stepped into the Hummer and were ready to pull out of Pleasers’ parking lot when Chris told him to wait a minute. Red looked up from the steering wheel and saw an Indian-looking girl approaching the truck. He looked over at Chris who was rolling a blunt and he asked, “Who is this?”

  “Our toy for tonight. Open the door and let her in,” Chris replied as she kissed Red on the lips.

  Red’s eyes widened with excitement. That is why he fucked with Chris, she knew when to get down to business and she knew when it was time to fuck around. And with this fine beauty that sauntered in the truck like a diva who owned the place, Red knew he was in for a fun-filled night. Red’s dick got brick as he watched the Pocohontas-looking chick climb into the backseat. Chris reached across the seat and released his thickness, freeing it from the confines of his jeans. Red looked back and could see the Pocohontas chick licking her lips lustfully.