by Kia
“Nah. C’mon, let’s go. Tayla blowing my phone up.”
After we put our clothes on, we both stepped out of the car. I knew he had beat the pussy up but I didn’t notice how bad until I had to stand up and almost fell.
“Shawty, tighten up ’fo we get inside. You gonna blow our cover,” he said, holding me up. He was laughing his ass off, but I wasn’t.
“Shut up, asshole.”
“Keep talking shit, and that’s where I’ma put it next time.”
“Next time?”
“Oh, I can’t get that no more?”
“You just damn near killed me. Hell no.” We were now standing right in front of the slide doors and Tayla was walking toward us.
“You’ll call again. I promise,” he smirked before Tayla came outside with an attitude.
“I was just on my way to get you. Thought you fell asleep out there,” she hissed.
Tayla was tall, just like Slick, and bright skinned. She was a cute tomboy looking girl. Meaning she was cute as hell in the face with a nice body, but she ran track for college, so she wore sweatpants most of the time.
“Nah, I was out here beating up Malina.” He playfully tapped me on the shoulder.
“Whatever. Hurry up and check on Pernel so we can go.” She rolled her eyes and pulled him inside. I followed them but I went the other direction to the restroom.
When I finally got into the stall, I pulled my panties down to pee. When I wiped, I saw small specks of blood. All I could do was shake my head. I had let this nigga literally beat my pussy up… outside the damn ER.
Chapter Thirteen
Divine
“No, bitch, you listen!” Neiman yelled with her finger in Chakira, Pernel’s baby mama's, face.
“How are you mad at me and I didn’t know about you? I’m about to be his wife!” Chakira yelled with the baby still in her arms. I stood in the middle so it wouldn’t get physical.
“Bitch, he always with me so when do you ever see him?” Neiman asked.
“First of all, he works overnight, so I spend most of my days with him. Except for when he works overtime,” Chakira said, sounding confident.
Neiman and I both laughed on that one. “Oh, baby. Pernel ain’t had a job a day in his life.”
“What?” Chakira asked. All of us were already short, but my heels made her seem so little to me.
“When he says he’s at work, baby, he’s with me. And I’m sorry to ruin your happy little fantasy, but I wasn’t the one who had him in the closet. It was another bitch with another baby.” Neiman hissed as she grabbed her purse. “Let’s go, cuzz.”
“What about—”
“Fuck Pernel. He has more than enough support. Let’s go.”
We walked away and left Chakira there looking like a goddamned idiot.
“Damn, this shit so crazy, dawg,” I said as we waited for the elevator.
“I’m so done.”
When the elevator arrived, Slick and Tayla were in it. “I was just looking for y’all,” Slick said as he stepped to the side.
Tayla kept her eyes on me. If it wasn’t for the drama that was already transpiring around me, I would have popped her dead in the eye for even looking at me. Didn’t nobody want Slick.
“I don’t need that money anymore. Fuck that nigga. I’m outta here.”
“Word? You good?” Slick asked.
“I’m good. From here on out, I don’t know shit and I’m not a part of his healing process. His wife in there now.”
“Wife?” Tayla asked.
“Some bitch in there saying they about to be married. I’m out, though,” Neiman said she grabbed my hand and led us on the elevator. Before Slick walked away, he stared me down until the door closed.
I could hear Tayla yelling, “So you just gonna stare at this bitch while I’m right here!”
“I never liked her,” Neiman said as we stepped off the elevator.
“Shit, I can’t tell. Friendly ass was sure talking to her.”
“She asked a question,” Neiman said.
“You ain’t have to respond. I don’t like the way that hoe looks at me.” I rolled my eyes.
“Whatever. I just want to go home.”
“Bet. We got air conditioning today.” I had much pride with saying that.
“That’s what I meant to ask. Where y’all hoes get some money from? I thought y’all were behind on hours?” she asked as we walked outside the slide doors and to the SUV.
“I did some scam shit with one of my coworkers. We had to go to Houston to another store and do it,” I lied.
“Ummm,” she said as she opened the door to the back seat and got in. I looked over at Malina knocked out ass.
“Bitch, how you go to sleep that fast?” I asked, waking her up.
“I’m tired. We been on the road,” she responded.
I lightly tapped her to let her know that Neiman was in the back seat and not to say too much.
“Why she here?” Malina asked.
“Bitch, you can ask me. ’Cause Pernel ass a dog and I am no longer concerned with his wellbeing.”
“Shoulda been that way,” Malina said as she dozed back off.
***
After dropping Neiman off, we went to take the rental back and caught an Uber home since we left my whip parked at our crib. As soon as we pulled up, I saw Bishop standing at the door waiting to kiss our ass for almost getting us killed. On the cool, I really wasn’t trying to hear it. Though we enjoyed our trip, I didn’t enjoy the part where I almost got my fucking head blown away because of this nigga and his lies.
“What you want?” Malina asked him with an attitude as we walked up the stairs. Well, as she limped. She acted like she loved heels, but couldn’t walk in them for nothing.
“I brought you two flowers,” he said, whipping two bouquets of roses from behind his back. We pushed past him and went inside.
“What the fuck was that all about, Bishop?” I snapped the minute he shut the door behind him.
“Sis, I knew Johan wouldn’t let Chola kill y’all. Him or his father. His mother was killed by their enemy, and she was the only one in their family who didn’t deal with drugs. She was innocent, so his father don’t play that shit, and he raised Johan that way. Chola feels like she shouldn’t spare a life ’cause them mothafuckas didn’t spare her mother’s life.”
“Whatever. I should knock you off for that shit.” I balled my fist and punched him in the shoulder.
“I’ll take that.”
“It’s not funny, Bishop. Chola was two seconds away from killing us,” Malina said before she disappeared into her room and shut the door behind her.
“So what they say?” Bishop asked.
“You have three weeks sharp to deliver the rest of the money or they’re coming for you and your family. Oh… and we have to drive it. They said you can’t send anyone else to them if the feds really onto you like that. Oh yeah… and it’s not $350,000 that you owe anymore. They added a late fee. So now it's $500,000.”
“Good. That’s more than enough breathing room.”
“One problem, though.”
“What’s that?”
“Me and Malina ain’t doing that shit no more.”
“C’mon, sis. Why not?”
“I like my life, nigga. The fuck?”
“I know you do. Me too. That’s why I need you.”
“I can’t help you.”
“Sis!”
“Sorry.”
“So what? He said I can’t bring no more outsiders in.”
“What that got to do with me?”
“So, just fuck my life, huh?”
“That’s what you said when you sent Malina and me on a dummy mission.”
“Sis, it’s not even like that. I knew deep down in my heart that nigga wasn’t ’bout to let Chola kill y’all. Why would I even send y’all if I didn’t have the money and I knew he was going to end up finding me and killing me anyway?”
“That’s g
ame. And I ain’t fucking with it no more. You lied once and you will lie again,” I said as I walked into the kitchen to prepare a sandwich.
“Sis, what I gotta do to close this deal with you?”
“What you mean?”
“What’s the delivering fee? Johan’s father, Jinx, most likely added the late fee so I still have spending room too. He didn’t tax that much. So I have more to offer you this time.”
“Well, my job fired us, so we need at least six months’ worth of rent.”
“Word? Damn. I apologize, shawty.”
“It’s all good. Just toss another $35,000 and we will be good.”
He laughed. “Sis, I’m about to tell you some real shit. Any other nigga will take advantage of you right now, but I got love for ya’ so I won’t.”
“What?” I looked in the fridge for a soda.
“Give me a calculator,” he said, sitting at our small dinner table. When I found one, I took my meal and the calculator and sat across from him at our table.
“How much gas money did it take for y’all to get there?”
“That SUV sucked up a lot of gas, so we had to fill the tank about ten times in all. About one hundred dollars each time. Gas is expensive the further you get that way.”
“Okay, so about six hundred. Okay, so… not saying that you will get caught, but if you do, that’s a fed case bond and it will run you about five hundred thousand. But ten percent is the only percentage that will be paid, so that fifty thousand.”
“What are you getting at?” I asked with a confused look.
“Just chill. I got a point, I promise. Okay, and a good lawyer will cost you about two hundred thousand.”
“Okay?”
“You need to start charging accordingly. What we just added up was $250,600. Keep charging niggas thirty G’s and you will be stuck like chuck if shit pop off.”
“So you want me to charge you that much?” I asked, raising my brow.
“I’ma give you the game if you want it.” He paused and waited for a response.
“I want it,” I responded.
“For delivering money or anything in this business, people usually charge somewhere around five hundred G’s. It’s insurance. But if you wanna be successful at this, get a lil’ cheaper and you’ll win. It’s just like the drug game.”
“What? But that would be cheating ourselves,” Malina said as she came and sat at the table with us. Clearly she had been eavesdropping.
“It’ll add up, but hear me out, though. That’s why real hustlas save for rainy days.”
“So what should we charge?” I asked.
“Since y’all just starting out and it’s two of y’all, I say seventy-five G’s. That’s about thirty-seven G’s a piece. But save sixty percent of that each time you do it. That’s the art of hustle. Save more than you spend, and that shit gon’ stack to the ceiling before you know it.”
“Why since we starting out, we have to go lower than that five hundred G’s though?” Malina asked.
“Ma, niggas ain’t gonna spend that much on two bitches they don’t know. Who’s to say y’all won’t run off with the cash and the fee money?”
“Right. But if I wanted to become a road runner, how do I get customers? How do I know that they won’t have us deliver the money to a cop or someone who will rob us and kill us?” I asked.
“It happens. That’s why it’s best to have some soldiers. Who the hardest out of y’all two?” he asked.
“Divine. That’s a cold bitch,” Malina said while pointing at me.
“Well, it’s simple. Never go nowhere without the muscle,” Bishop said while pulling out rolls of money that was strapped to him like a bulletproof vest. “That’s seventy-five G’s. From here on out, don’t ever go no lower than that again.”
Malina and I looked at the money. She smiled. I frowned. All I could think about was how Chola almost blew our heads off.
“What’s wrong?” Malina asked
“We need to go shopping,” I responded.
“Hell yeah, for some new stiletto’s,” she said happily as she thumbed through the money.
“That too.”
“What did you have in mind?” Bishop asked.
“We need to shop for some protection. Then the stilettos. As a matter of fact, that’s what we need to shop for tomorrow. Guns and stilettos.”
Chapter Fourteen
Nyssa
“Bitch, yes, that nigga asked that hoe to marry him. Fuck him.” It was early as hell in the morning and my sister was calling me to inform me about that shit that happened yesterday morning. Hell, I had my own shit going on. As a matter of fact, I was on my way to see my man in county jail.
“I’m just not gonna say nothing.”
“Why?”
“Every time I speak my mind about Pernel, you jump down my throat. So…”
“I just don’t know what to do,” she sighed.
“Let them other hoes deal with that shit, and you get ready for work. Let me get ready to see my man.”
Just like I knew she would, she hung up in my face. I wasn’t mad either. Hell, I was running late anyway. I went to wake my son up and got him dressed. It was still dark out, so it made me feel tired. I had to be there before 8:00 am. That line was always long, and I didn’t have time to wait. The detectives and lawyer wasn’t telling me shit, so I had to see him. I needed to know what was going on and how in the hell were the bills about to get paid. A girl like me ain’t worked a job in years. My man took care of all that.
A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. I looked at my phone to see if I had any text or missed calls, and I didn’t. So who in the hell was at my door at this time of the morning?
“Stay here,” I said to PJ as I grabbed my gun from under the mattress and went to look out the peephole. No one was there, so I lowered my gun and walked away.
The second I turned my back, someone started kicking my door like they were trying to kick it in. PJ started screaming and I did too. Finally, the kicking stopped. PJ ran to me and jumped in my arms. Suddenly, all of the lights went off in my house. All of the electricity went off. Not even the light from my clock on the wall was displaying. It was pitch black.
I put my hand over my son’s mouth and put him in the closet under a pile of clothes. “Don’t you move. You hear Mommy? No matter what,” I whispered as I crept to the washing room.
That’s when I heard a loud noise. Someone had kicked the door in. Instincts almost made me scream, but logic made me shut the fuck up.
Whoever was on the other side of that door was after me or Percy, so I wouldn’t dare stay in my son’s room and bring the intruder to him. As I hid behind the door, all I could think about was who was after us? Didn’t they know that Percy wasn’t here? What were they looking for?
“I know you’re in here, Nyssa. I heard you scream,” I heard a man say in a deep, but low voice. “I’m not going to hurt you. Just come out so we can talk.” He had to be out of his rabbit ass mind if he thought I was about to talk to him.
Fuck this, I’ma shoot his ass, I thought as I reached for my gun. That’s when I realized that I had left it in PJ’s room.
“You’re probably looking for your gun by now. I have it. Come and get it.” I could hear him smiling. Wasn’t worried about him being in PJ’s room. He would never find him. “I wonder where you are.”
“Mommy! Mommy! Help me!” PJ yelled.
Without even thinking, I ran out the washroom. The moonlight allowed me to see the shadow of the man who took my son right out the front door. Just as I was about to run outside, I felt strong hands yank me back. I started kicking and screaming as he shut the door and slapped his hands over my mouth.
“Shut up, bitch!” he yelled as he lifted my gown.
“Get away from me!” I mumbled through his thick hands. I kicked and tried to scream.
“Nah, I gotta hit this before I leave.”
He finally slithered his way into my pussy and bega
n to pound me as he threw one leg over his wide shoulder. One hand was still over my mouth. I tried to kick him in the face so he threw me onto my stomach and slammed my head into the floor. That put me in a daze for a few minutes and disabled me.
“PJ,” I whispered as the intruder picked up where he left off and rammed his dick in my pussy from behind. I was too weak to tell him how much he was hurting me. Not that he even cared. He had both hands around my neck as he violated me.
“Umph. Umph. Umph. Damn, girl. This pussy is good. Shit.” He slowed the pace, and then all of a sudden, he pulled his dick out, turned me on my back and forced his nut into my mouth, down the back of my throat.
“Please… I… want my son,” I tried to say as he walked over me like I was nothing.
“You’ll get him. After we get our money. Tell ya man that Bleek stopped by. He’ll know what that means.”
Chapter Fifteen
Malina
“Something is wrong,” Divine said as she walked into my room and flipped on the lights. I looked at my clock and saw that it was hella early in the morning.
“What?”
“I can feel it. Can’t really explain.” She sat on my bed and began to twist her fingers.
“Johan and Chola got you tripping,” I said as I threw the pillow over my head. “Go back to sleep.”
“No, I can’t. We need to figure this out,” she said, snatching the covers off of me.
“What do you think we should do, psychic or psychotic woman,” I said with great sarcasm and frustration.
“I’m about to call Bishop.”
“For what? He lies,” I hissed as I leaned back on my elbows.
“Exactly.”
“You’re just paranoid. Since we’re up, let’s get ready to go shopping. We also need to figure out our life.” I changed the subject purposely. Nothing was wrong.
“Figure out what about our life?”
“If we’re going to get this money and say fuck a job.”
“Money laundering?”
“Duh.”
“I was thinking about that. After this last drop, I don’t want to work with Bishop no more. Something about this nigga rubs me the wrong way.”