Cheaper to Keep Her part 2 (The Saga Continues)

by Kiki Swinson presents Unique

  “That’s the thing, I don’t think about her at all. She is a lost case. And she’s a walking time bomb that’s going to detonate any day now.”

  “Why do you think he’s with her?”

  “Duke has always had a thing for younger women. So if he can find him one who’d kiss his ass, massage his ego and stay inside one of his many properties all day so he can fuck them at his leisure, then he feels like he’s gotten himself a winner.”

  “I didn’t do any of that,” I spoke up. I had to let Katrina know that I wasn’t the type of chick to lay around and let a nigga dictate to me. That’s what my mouth and emotions said but the truth be told, that was me to a certain extent. I wanted to think that I graduated from being the complete fool to a somewhat wise woman. Hence, that’s why I was in the position I was in now. I grew up, I grew wise . . . and those factors alone made me a threat to the control freak named Duke Carrington.

  “Well, if you didn’t do it, then trust me, he had a dozen of them that did.”

  With all the comments Katrina made surrounding all the women Duke fucked with after their brief encounter made me wonder how she really felt when I started dating him. Okay, granted she popped up with his baby, so maybe she felt she still had some type of entitlement. But on the downside, she wasn’t able to ever tell the world that he was her fucking baby daddy. I was anxious to know what went through her mind when she found out I moved into his spot at the Cosmopolitan building. So I asked her. That was me. If I wanted to know something, hell, the best thing to do was ask the damn question.

  Before she answered me, she hesitated for a moment while she patted her eyes dry with the palm of her hands. Then she positioned her body so she could sit up straight in the chair. She acted like she had to get herself together. So I waited patiently. Finally, she said, “I’m gonna be honest and say that I was somewhat jealous at first, because you are very pretty. And when he made you quit working at the club, I really caught feelings because I felt like he was going to finally settle down. But right after you moved into the condo over in Pembroke, he started seeing the chick he later married. And that made me believe that he would never be faithful or treat any woman the way they deserve to be treated. So, I was happy about that.”

  “Did Duke ever promise you that you and him would be together?” I asked out of curiosity.

  “No, he never mentioned anything about me and him being together as a couple, because I went into the relationship with him knowing what type of guy he was. Plus, I was still in love with Neeko. And he knew it.”

  “So why did it bother you when you found out about him getting with other chicks?”

  “Well, it didn’t bother me like you think. See, the only time I would get upset is when shit wasn’t going right with me and Neeko, and when I picked up the phone to call Duke, he would act like he didn’t want to be bothered. Other than that, I was happy with the man I had. The only thing I wished I could change is the fact that I stopped fucking Duke without a condom. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I had my baby girl, but I just wished I would’ve done it with Neeko, and then I wouldn’t be going through all this shit right now.”

  “Where are your girls now?”

  “I shipped them out of town until I could come and get them.”

  “When is Neeko’s funeral?”

  “In three days.”

  “Are you going to bring them back for the funeral?”

  “No. I can’t let them see him in that casket like that.”

  “So, what are you going to do about Bishop’s situation? Are you going to call his family?”

  “I didn’t want to tell you this, but I’ve already called and told them what happened?” she replied and then she got up from the kitchen chair. I thought she was going to pace the floor again, but she walked out of the kitchen altogether.

  Cheaper to Keep Her part 2 Unique

  Going into Bitch Mode-Chapter Eleven

  I was alone in the kitchen and extremely and jittery.

  I still didn’t trust Katrina and why in the hell would she leave me alone. By the time I caught up with her, she was coming towards me in the hallway with her Blackberry in her hand. “Listen to this,” she said and handed me the phone.

  I put her phone against my ear and listened to the recording. “What the hell is going on down there? This is the second time you called my house and left me a message about one of my sons getting killed,” I heard a woman roar. It was obvious she was extremely upset. “You better call me back as soon as you get this message. I need more answers.” The woman continued to roar and then the recording stopped.

  When the electronic voice prompted me to either press four to hear the message again or press the pound button to continue to the next message, I took the phone from my ear and handed it back to its owner. “I take it that's Bishop’s and Neeko’s mother?”

  Katrina nodded while pressing the end button and turned to walk back in the direction in which I was following her. She led me down the hall to the den area of her house. I took a seat on her leather sofa. She sat down next to me and placed her blackberry on the coffee table in front of us. “Are you going to call her back?” I asked her.

  “Not right now,” she replied.

  “So what are we going to do now?”

  Before Katrina had a chance to answer me, her cell phone started ringing. She picked it back up from the coffee table, looked at the caller ID screen and her face froze instantly. “Oh my God! It’s Duke,” she whispered.

  Hearing Duke’s name sent an eerie feeling and chills throughout my body. I started to tell her not to answer his call but I couldn’t get my mouth to move. It wouldn’t have made a difference because it was apparent she had already made her mind up. “Hello,” she said.

  I couldn’t hear what he was saying but when Katrina replied to him by asking him if he was outside now, I nearly jumped out of my fucking skin. I panicked and abruptly got up from the sofa. Katrina stood to her feet as she pressed the end button and then she looked at me.

  “He’s outside for real?” I asked as paranoia spewed from my mouth. I wanted Katrina to tell me that I was hallucinating. Instead, she grabbed me instead and told me that I needed to hide. “But where?” I asked.

  “Go upstairs and hide in my oldest daughter’s bedroom,” she instructed me as she lead me to the staircase that was not too far from where we were.

  Panic stricken, I ran up the staircase and when I reached the top of the stairs I didn’t know which way to go. “Which room is it?” I asked her.

  “The second door on the right,” Katrina whispered as loud as she could. Then she vanished. I knew she didn’t want to keep Duke waiting because it would definitely arouse suspicion and neither one of us wanted that.

  When I entered into Katrina's daughter's bedroom I froze for brief second trying to figure out where would be a good place for me to hide. I looked at her daughter’s bed and thought about hiding underneath it. However, when I got down on my knees to measure the space, I realized that my body would be too big to fit. So I jumped back up on my feet and dashed into the closet. There was very limited space with all the clothes and shoes this little girl had, but I made do and found a spot on the floor on the right side of the closet. I hid behind two very large Hello Kitty suitcases. And when I found a comfortable spot I sat with my back against the wall and wrapped my arms around my legs as I pressed my breast firmly against my knees. I knew I couldn’t do anything else, so I sat there and said a silent prayer while I waited.

  “Who you got in here?” I heard Duke ask Katrina. His tone was very authoritative and it sent shock waves through my eardrums. I became more scared than ever. I figured that it was a matter of time before he’d be pulling me out of this closet and killing me with his bare hands.

  “Nobody,” I heard Katrina reply. I could tell in her voice that she may have been more scared than I was.

  “Bitch! You better not be lying to me!” Duke roared.

  “I’m not,”
she assured him.

  “Well, whose truck is that outside?” he pressed the issue.

  “Remember when I told you this morning that Bishop was driving a suburban?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, that’s it.”

  “I thought he drove it to the club,” he continued to press. From the way things looked in my eyes, it sounded like his statement was more of a question and he was waiting for Katrina to slip up and lie. Luckily for her she was quick on her feet.

  “He did drive it to the club,” I heard her respond. “But right after the fire broke out I drove it out of the parking lot and parked it across the street where the barbershop and beauty salon is.”

  “So how did it get here?” he persisted.

  “I had it towed.”

  “Well, where is the towing receipt?” he came back at her. At first Katrina was on a roll. Every question Duke threw her way, she came back with a plausible answer. But for some reason he must’ve felt that she was lying in some shape or fashion, because he kept probing her with one question after another.

  “I told the guy not to give me one. I mean would it have made sense for me to get a receipt? Look at what just happened tonight. We don't need a paper trail at this point in the game,” she finally explained.

  Duke didn’t answer right off. There was complete silence for at least a minute and a half before he responded. “You better not be lying to me! Because if I found out that you have, then you’re going to be lying in a grave next to my wife.” Then I heard footsteps as they passed the staircase.

  Fuck, if he is this scary, I didn’t want to fuck with the brothers who had him scared as shit.

  Now I had to admit that I didn’t see Katrina coming out of this one. I knew she was about to get herself crossed up and the fucked up part about it was I wasn't going to be able to help her. I swear, if it were me, I would’ve thrown her ass underneath the bus and told him exactly where she was. Because when it was all said and done, everybody was going to look out for their own ass.

  Meanwhile, they were moving about through the house. That’s when I realized I heard three sets of footprints. But to be perfectly sure, I remained quiet so I could continue to hear everything that was going on downstairs.

  I couldn’t say for sure but it sounded like Katrina and Duke were in the den, because their conversation wasn’t as clear as it was before. I damn near had to hold my breath in order to hear them really good.

  Duke basically ran the entire conversation. He was giving Katrina more instructions than anything. I hoped and prayed he wouldn’t be here very long because my legs weren’t going to cooperate with me if I stayed in this position for more than twenty to thirty minutes. There was limited space for me to readjust my legs so this was only a temporary fix. Thank God I had on a watch to keep track of time. If I didn’t have one on I would be up shit’s creek without a paddle or a hope of a prayer to save my ass.

  I had only been sitting for five minutes and it seemed like I had been here for an eternity. So many thoughts were running through my mind and I couldn’t figure out how to line every one of them up.

  Duke’s grimy ass was at the center of it all. I hadn’t laid eyes on him since I’ve gotten out of jail, but I could see his face as clear as the day. He had such a negative impact on people’s lives that the remnants from his wrath never left a person’s mind. I mean, this guy was so evil and sadistic it really was scary. I had fucked a lot of men in my lifetime but I never seen a man like him ever. He was so fucking charismatic on the surface. But deep down in his soul and heart, he had this sick obsession of seeing people down on their knees begging him to spare their lives. People’s weakness fueled his adrenaline which was a sad way to live. If I was fortunate to walk out of this situation tonight, then I was going to show that motherfucker who the fuck I really am!

  Even though I thought his evil ass was the Devil’s son reincarnated.

  Cheaper to Keep Her part 2 Unique

  Who’s Behind Door #1- Chapter Twelve

  Twenty-five minutes had passed and Duke showed no sign he had plans to leave anytime soon.

  My legs had become numb and my fucking bladder had filled up to its capacity. I knew it wouldn’t be much longer before I exploded and pissed all over myself. Once again I called on the Good Lord and asked Him if he would please speak to Duke’s heart by giving him a revelation so he could carry his ass home or back to his Devil’s lair. But it was evident he wouldn’t be able to hear Him because Duke served the Darkness Below. And since there was nothing else for me to do, I continued to sit there and hoped I’d be able to hold out just a little bit longer.

  “Is there anymore Coronas in the refrigerator?” Duke asked.

  “Yeah, they’re three left,” she replied.

  “Well, go in there and get me and Chris one,” he instructed her.

  Immediately after I heard Duke instruct Katrina to go into the kitchen and bring him and Chris both a bottle of Corona, I felt a knot in my stomach. Not only was it revealed that I was right about there being another person in the house, but it also potentially meant that something may jump off. And the thought of that really made my stomach sick all over again.

  Chris was Duke’s right-hand man, so he operated under Duke’s command. He was the massa’s puppet. There was a lot of buzz while I was in jail that Chris was the one who actually pulled the trigger and killed Neeko. I wondered if it bothered Katrina to have the man who shot and killed her husband lounging on her fucking living room furniture. There’s absolutely no way that motherfucker would be in my house after he shot and killed my man. And to make matters worse, Duke had her in the kitchen getting that animal a fucking beer. If it were me, I would have poured his beer into a glass and spit in it. And if I wanted to get gangster on their asses, I’d have poison both of those bastards and let them die a slow death.

  “What’s taking you so long to bring us back the motherfucking beer?” Duke yelled. If he had yelled any louder he’d probably shatter every glass in the house. That’s how ferocious he sounded.

  “I’m coming now” Katrina assured him. I heard her footsteps as she scrambled down the hallway. Hell, I wondered for a quick second if she had put some shit in their beers. That shit would have been righteous if she did.

  “Where is your bathroom?” I heard Chris ask.

  “In the hallway by the kitchen,” Katrina replied.

  Seconds later, I heard heavier footsteps as they walked down the hallway and then I heard a door close. But as quickly as he closed it, he opened it right back up. “Where is your other bathroom?” he yelled down the hallway.

  I heard Katrina scramble back down the hall towards him. “What's wrong with this bathroom?” she wanted to know.

  “The light doesn't work. It must be blown,” he told her.

  I listened intensely. Something wasn’t right. I hope it was just my imagination.

  “Okay. Just stay right there and I’ll run upstairs to get you a new one,” she replied and then I heard her footsteps as she hurried towards the staircase. But before she was able to climb one step, Duke stopped her in her tracks.

  “Wait! Hold up a fucking minute!” he commanded.

  “What? What's wrong?” she asked and then complete silence filled the air until I heard another set of footsteps. And when I heard Duke’s voice again, I could tell he was standing directly in front of her.

  “What the fuck is up with you? You’ve been jumpy since I walked into this goddamn house!” he snapped.

  “Nothing’s wrong with me,” she told him. But I heard the fear in her voice and I knew he heard it too. At that point, I got scared as shit for Katrina. Was she a dead woman?

  “You’re not hiding anything from me are you?” Duke said with venom and vile in his voice.

  “Of course not,” she began to say. “Have I ever hid anything from you?”

  “There’s a first time for everything,” he replied as quickly as the words were out of her mouth.

  Chri
s must’ve lost his patience because he didn’t waste any time by telling her not to worry about getting another light bulb for the bathroom, because he was going to use the bathroom upstairs. I waited for Katrina to respond but she didn’t say a word. I wished like hell there was some way I could see what was going on. But since I was stuck in the back of Katrina’s daughter’s closet I shifted my eardrums in full force.

  “Want me to get a light bulb while I’m up here?” I heard Chris ask. By this time, he was climbing the staircase.

  “Nah, you don’t have to worry about it. If I told you where they were, you still wouldn’t be able to find them. Especially with all the mess I got piled up in the hallway linen closet.”

  “A’ight,” Chris replied. As I listened in on their conversation, I heard Chris go into the bathroom, which had to be next to the bedroom I was in, because it sounded like he was only a few feet away. And when he started pissing in the toilet I nearly freaked out, because if he had the slightest inclination I was in the next room, he’d serve me up on a platter to Duke and then he’d torture me while Duke watched. So I held my breath because it felt like I was breathing too loud. I couldn’t take the chance of being dragged out of this closet.

  Right after that bastard emptied his bladder, I heard him flush the toilet stool and before he exited the bathroom, I heard his cell phone ring. He answered after the first ring. “Hello,” I heard him say and then he fell silent. “I'm in the beach right now,” he continued, but then he fell silent again.

  “I don't know how long I’m gonna be,” he snapped. From the way his conversation was going, it seemed as if he was getting a little agitated. “Look, Tiffany, don’t be asking me a whole bunch of fucking questions. When I do what I came out here to do then I’ll be home,” he continued and then he stopped talking altogether. The next thing I heard was his footsteps as they passed the room I was hiding in. The moment I heard him walking back down the staircase, I stopped holding my breath and exhaled.