Wifey, Part 1

by Erica Hilton

  I looked at her, slowly nodding my head.

  “Don’t shit on me if I do this for you, Nico. Just promise me that.”

  “I put that on everything,” I assured her. “I got you.”

  CHAPTER 15

  Mia

  By the time the sun rose and Nico still wasn’t home, I knew he was going to stand me up and not make it to the spa date I had planned for us. Regardless of the comfortable lifestyle that being with Nico afforded me, I was getting so tired of the blatant disrespect, I had been seriously considering leaving him.

  Many people thought I was just with Nico for his money. Was his money a good thing? Absolutely it was. But I was with him because I sincerely loved him. Now I was getting to the point where I was going to have to make a decision. Either leave and do me, or stay and tolerate his cheating ways and his lack of respect for me.

  At seven in the morning I was still laying in bed, feeling a bit depressed. I flipped on the television. I was thinking about calling my girlfriend Sharmel and telling her that something had come up with Nico, and asking her if she would take his place and go with me to the salon. I was sure Sharmel was probably comfortable and cuddled up next to her man and probably didn’t feel like going, but if I called her, I knew she would have agreed to go with me, since she understood how I often felt like a lonely widow.

  Before I could make up my mind on what to do, I heard the doorbell ringing. Immediately I got nervous and started to think back to the break-in that had occurred. My cell phone started to ring, and I felt at ease when I recognized it was the armed security guard that Nico had hired. He was calling to tell me that it was safe to answer the door.

  I smiled and quickly hopped out of the bed. I threw on my slippers and ran downstairs to open the door. Although I only had on a nightie, I didn’t bother to throw on a robe because I was certain it was Nico at the door, making good on his promise and surprising me with roses or something. When I got to the door, I didn’t even look through the glass partition to see who it was, and I just opened it with a smile and eager anticipation.

  My smile quickly evaporated when I saw two white guys in suits standing at my front door.

  “Can I help you?” I asked as I quickly positioned myself behind the door to hide my body. Only my face was exposed as I peered around the door.

  One of the white men slid his suit jacket to the side and exposed his gold badge that was clipped to his belt buckle. He introduced himself and his partner and told me that they were detectives with the New York City Police Department and that they were looking to speak with Nicholas Carter.

  “What is this about?” I asked.

  “Miss, is Mr. Carter available?” the lead detective asked.

  “No, he’s not.”

  “Is he home?”

  “I just said no,” I replied with an attitude.

  “Do you know when you can expect him home?”

  “You asking a lot of questions, and I’m just trying to find out what this is in reference to.” I chuckled, out of nervousness and disgust.

  “His fingerprints were found on spent shell casings at a crime scene in Queens, and we just want to ask him some questions with regard to that,” the detective explained to me in a matter-of-fact manner.

  “What?” I said, a frown of confusion on my face.

  “Miss, do you mind telling me your name?” the detective asked.

  “Mia,” I replied short and crisp.

  “Can you give me your last name and your relation to Mr. Carter?”

  “You know what? I’d rather not because I don’t know what the hell is going on.”

  The detective nodded his head. He reached inside his pocket and handed me his card. “Can you give that to Mr. Carter and tell him to give me a call?”

  I looked at the detective’s card and nodded my head, answering his question.

  “Thank you. Sorry to disturb you so early. You have a good day,” the detective said to me, and him and his beefy muscular partner turned and walked off to their unmarked car and left.

  After I locked the front door, I went up to the kitchen, grabbed the home cordless phone, and dialed Nico.

  Nico didn’t pick up. I kept calling him repeatedly for ten minutes straight, and he still didn’t pick up.

  “This is what I can’t take!” I said out loud to myself.

  I opened up the refrigerator, got a bagel, and put it in the toaster. While I waited for it to finish toasting, I picked up the home phone, and again I started to blow up Nico’s phone. And still I got no answer. I refused to leave a message that he wasn’t going to even listen to.

  After my bagel finished toasting, I put some butter on it and a little bit of jelly, and I put it on a small plate and took it upstairs to my bedroom, where I started to eat it. I grabbed my cell phone and called Nico, and he still wouldn’t pick up. I took another bite of my bagel. I was about to slam my cell phone down, but I maintained my composure and sent him a text message.

  I’m not calling you about our spa appointment if that’s why you are ignoring my calls. Just trying to tell you a detective was just here at the house. CALL ME!

  After I sent that message I finished eating my bagel and then I went back downstairs to my kitchen and put the dish in the sink and poured myself some orange juice. Just as I took a sip of the orange juice, I heard my doorbell ringing again.

  When I went to open the door, I saw the security guard standing there.

  “Nico wants to speak to you,” he said and handed me a cell phone.

  “What?” I shook my head as I took hold of the phone. “Hello?” I said.

  “Mia, what’s up?” Nico asked, sounding a bit nervous.

  “What do you mean, what’s up? Why do you never pick up your phone? I’m so tired of that, Nico!”

  Nico was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, “A cop was at the crib?”

  “Not a cop. Two cops were just here looking for you. And that’s what you care about, right? Fuck me and fuck our spa date that we had. It’s all about you.”

  “Mia, I’m sorry, a’ight?”

  “No, it ain’t a’ight! Sorry don’t keep me safe and warm at night. And sorry don’t make up for all your broken promises and lack of attention.”

  Nico shouted into the phone, “Mia, you know I’m out here scrambling. I’m handling business. I ain’t out here bullshitting!”

  I kept quiet because there was nothing else really for me to say.

  “Now what did the cop say?”

  I sighed and sucked my teeth. “He said that they had your prints on spent shell casings that were found at a crime scene in Queens and that they wanted to speak to you about it. I didn’t answer none of their questions and when they saw that they were annoying me, they gave me their card to give to you and then they left.”

  “What the fuck?”

  “I’m sorry,” I said to the security guard, who was standing there the entire time, since it was his cell phone that me and Nico were talking on. I was sure that Nico didn’t want to use his phone or call me on the house phone out of fear that those phones were tapped.

  “You said they left you a card? What does it say?” Nico asked.

  I walked over and retrieved the card from on top of the fireplace mantle where I had placed it.

  “It says, ‘Detective Peter Schwartz, NYPD Homicide Division 103rd Precinct,’ and it has his contact numbers on it.”

  “Homicide?” Nico asked out loud. “What the fuck is that about?”

  “Just call him and see,” I said.

  Nico didn’t respond.

  “So where are you anyway?”

  “In the city.”

  “Where at in the city? So you wasn’t even planning on coming home or even calling me? Unreal!”

  “Mia,
if there was ever a time when I don’t need to hear your mouth, it’s now! You see all the shit I got going on and that I’m dealing with and you beefin’ over a fuckin’ spa appointment? Calm the fuck down!”

  I shook my head and sucked my teeth.

  “Well, it ain’t no sense in running up the minutes on this man’s phone. I guess I’ll see you when I see you.”

  “Go the fuck on with that bullshit, Mia! Hand the nigga his phone back then.” Nico hung up without saying bye or anything.

  “Thank you. Here you go,” I said to the security guard as I handed him his phone. I started to tear up and cry.

  “Is everything OK?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said, nodding my head and wiping tears from my eyes. “I’ll be OK. Everything is OK. Thank you,” I said before closing and locking my front door.

  I went back upstairs to my bedroom, got in my bed, turned off the TV, and pulled the covers over my head. There was five thousand dollars in cash sitting on my dresser. I knew I could spend that money on myself however I pleased. But as I cried myself to sleep, I really didn’t care about that money. All I cared about was being happy, and I knew that money couldn’t buy me happiness.

  CHAPTER 16

  Jasmine

  When I opened my eyes from sleeping, I saw Nico standing on the other side of the room, staring out the window.

  “Hey, good morning, babe,” I said, yawning and stretching.

  Nico turned around.

  “I thought you would be long gone.”

  “Nah. I wouldn’t just bounce on you like that. I had stepped out real quick to make a call from one of the pay phones downstairs.”

  “Pay phone?” I pulled the bed sheets up to my neck and turned on my side, which was still sore from the beatdown Shabazz gave me, to make myself comfortable.

  “Yeah, Mia was blowing up my phone. She texted me about some detectives who came to the crib looking for me this morning. I ain’t know what was up, so I called the security guard at my crib, and he gave the call to Mia. I just didn’t want to be talking on my phone until I knew what was up.”

  “Oh, definitely.” I sat up. “Did she say what was up?”

  “It sound like some bullshit, but it ain’t nothing.”

  I knew Nico was purposely not telling me any of the details, so I didn’t press him on it. I got out of the bed and walked my naked body to the bathroom, so I could brush my teeth. While I brushed my teeth, Nico went back to looking out the window, apparently deep in thought about something. I was deep in thought as well. Did we really have a conversation last night about killing Shabazz? And most importantly, did I really agree to do it? One thing was for certain, which was Nico wasn’t lying about the heat closing in.

  After brushing my teeth, I walked out of the bathroom and crept up behind Nico. I put my arms around him and hugged him from behind. “You want a massage, baby?” I asked him.

  “Nah, I’m good.”

  I grabbed him by the hand and walked him over to a chair, where I sat him down and began to massage his shoulders. “You gotta take time for yourself and just relax. I love giving massages,” I said as I continued to rub his shoulders. As I massaged him, it was like I could feel the tension leaving his body. “It feels OK?”

  “Yeah, it’s on point.”

  “I can give you a full body massage if you want,” I said.

  “Not now. Maybe later. Yo, I’m still thinking about Mia stressing me more about why I didn’t come home than she was about the detectives and what they wanted. She was blowing up my muthafuckin’ phone. I was surprised that shit ain’t wake you up.”

  “When I sleep, I’m usually out cold,” I said, continuing to massage his shoulders. “I don’t be hearin’ nothing.” Standing behind him, I slipped both of my hands inside his shirt and began to massage his chest. “This is what you would come home to every day if I was with you.” I leaned over and I kissed him on his neck.

  Nico nodded his head, but he didn’t say anything.

  “From a woman’s perspective, I’m telling you, Mia is just with you for your money. She want you out here on these streets hustling and getting that money, but she ain’t really a rider. She’s selfish, I’m telling you. Women know women.”

  “You a rider though, right?”

  I stopped massaging him. I walked around the chair, so that I was standing in front of him, and sat on his lap. I gave him a peck on his lips. “I’m gonna prove it to you that I am.” As I started to kiss on Nico’s neck, I could feel his dick getting stiff.

  “So what you doing later?”

  “Nothing really. I just gotta call Carlos and see what’s up with this video shoot he supposedly booked me for.”

  “That’s not what you doing.”

  I looked at him with a confused look as I continued to sit on his lap. “Whatchu mean?” My heart skipped a beat because I thought he was going to mention Shabazz and the murder plot.

  “What you’re gonna do is get dressed, and we both gonna go down to the heliport near Wall Street and we gonna charter a helicopter and have it fly us to Atlantic City so we can eat breakfast, and so I can take you to the outlets they got out there and let you go shopping.”

  “Oh my God! Are you serious?” I asked Nico, a huge smile on my face.

  He smiled back at me and nodded his head yes, and then I gave him a hug that was firm and tight, like I didn’t want to let go.

  “I never been on a helicopter in my life! I’m so excited,” I said as I stood up from Nico’s lap.

  “It’s your birthday weekend, right?”

  I smiled. “Yes.”

  “This is what I do for people who ride for me.”

  “You don’t have to do this, Nico.”

  “I know that, but I wanna do it.”

  I didn’t waste any more time. I grabbed my phone and hit Carlos up. I told him I was in Atlantic City and didn’t know what time I was coming back, and that I would hit him up later. It being early, he probably wouldn’t have seen my text until later, but I sent it anyway, just to get it out of the way.

  Nico and I both took showers and got dressed. Then he called the heliport and paid for the helicopter via his credit card, and after I checked out of the hotel, we made our way downtown to the heliport in a cab.

  ***

  I didn’t know there was such a thing as a stylish helicopter, but the helicopter we found ourselves on was absolutely beautiful with plush leather seats. It didn’t take long for us to be strapped in and to lift off. Throughout the entire time, I was cheesing and excited like a kid on Christmas morning as I looked out the window.

  “The city skyline looks so beautiful,” I said.

  Nico nodded his head to me, but he seemed distracted by his phone as he read a text message and shook his head.

  “Everything OK?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” he replied. “Excuse me, pilot, is it OK to use my cell phone?”

  “Sure, that’s not a problem, sir.”

  Nico immediately called Mia.

  “Yeah, it’s legit,” Nico said in response to something Mia had asked him. “For me,” he said after a pause. “Atlantic City,” he said after another pause.

  Nico was then quiet for a minute. I could see in his face that he was getting vexed.

  “Mia, I’m not going through this back-and-forth shit with you! Get the fuck off my phone!” He then pressed End on his cell phone.

  “What happened?”

  “The credit card fraud department called the crib asking if the charge for the helicopter was legit, and Mia answered the call.”

  “I’m sorry, baby. I feel like I’m bringing you stress.”

  “What you apologizing for? It’s just Mia and her bullshit.”

  I didn’t have a response, so I kept quiet. Thankfu
lly, before long we were in Atlantic City and preparing to land.

  “We here already?”

  “It’s so much better than that two-hour-driving bullshit, right?”

  “It doesn’t even compare! You gonna spoil me, Nico.” I smiled as I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you again.”

  Nico nodded his head. Just then his phone began vibrating, and he said it was his man BJ. He answered the call, and it was clear that he was talking in code.

  As Nico spoke on the phone, we had fully landed, and the pilot had opened the door and was escorting us out.

  “Did you enjoy the flight?” the pilot asked me.

  I smiled and replied, “Loved it!”

  “Watch your step and watch your head,” the pilot warned me.

  While speaking to BJ, Nico reached in his pocket and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill and handed it to the pilot as a thank-you and a tip. The pilot said thank you to Nico and gave him a thumbs-up sign.

  We walked to a Lincoln Town Car taxi and got in. Nico told the driver to take us to the outlets near the 40/40 club. Almost at the exact same time that the driver pulled off, I got a text message from Mia:

  Have fun in Atlantic City and make sure you put all your chips on red.

  I shook my head and was about to show the text to Nico, but I didn’t. Mia didn’t know for sure where I was at and was probably just testing my response. I was so tempted to just totally ignore her, but something in me wouldn’t let the opportunity pass to take a stab at her.

  OK I’ll make sure I do that right after we finish shopping.

  Mia immediately replied back to me:

  Chyna, I may lose battles, but I always win the war!

  Immediately my heart started pounding because I had no idea how she knew about my escorting name. If she tells Nico anything about me prostituting myself, it’s a wrap for me. I started wondering if she had already told Nico, and he was just playing with my head and fucking with me so he could use me to get at Shabazz for him.