by Shay Hunter
“I heard about that.” I walked into my bedroom and laid across my bed. I never talked on the phone in my bedroom unless I was comfortable so he was already winning. “I heard she was thirty or something. Is that true?”
He laughed. “Yeah, she is. But you know, I like older women. We would’ve still been together but she didn’t want to live life.”
“What do you mean?”
“I like to go out of town, out to the movies and stuff like that. All she wanted to do was sleep and it wasn’t my thing.” He paused. “What else you want to know?”
I smiled. “A lot of shit…but come over so we can talk in person.”
“Give me the address and I’ll be there before you can roll over on the bed. If you hungry I can grab some food too.”
My eyes widened. How did he know? “I didn’t say I was on my bed.”
He laughed. “I heard it squeak. I also heard you walking. Don’t be frightened. I notice a lot of shit other niggas don’t. It’s the nature of the business I’m in. The more time you spend around me the more you’ll be use to it.”
“Wow, your ears are serious.”
“Like I said it’s a requirement. Killer’s my nigga and a lot of crazy shit’s been popping off. I have to be cautious to make sure he’s safe. Nothing for you to worry about. It doesn’t get better than me. Trust me, I’m a good person.”
****
I can’t believe I fucked him raw. The sex wasn’t bad. As a matter of fact it was full of passion and I was surprised how we meshed together so well sexually. But I never expected things to be taken to this level.
“I thought you were better than that.” He sat up on the edge of my bed and put on his boxers.
Hold up. Where did that come from?
I grabbed the sheet and covered my breasts. “Better than what?”
“Don’t you know niggas ain’t gonna do nothing but play you? Since you out here tossing pussy around so easily?” He laughed. “Damn, I didn’t even get a chance to take you out and already you letting me dig that cave out for free.” He chuckled harder. “Bitches these days…I tell you.”
My heart throbbed and I wanted him gone. “Don’t worry about me, Bryson.” I cleared my throat. “Whatever I do in life it’s because I want to so I’m good.”
He laughed. “I don’t want to hear that shit because you know it’s not true. That’s why you alone on the holidays because you easy pussy. You gotta upgrade your frame of thinking, ma. You gotta think next level shit.”
Every word he spoke made me feel worse. It’s like he has a split personality or something. “Look, can you just leave my house? I stood up and looked down at him while he laced up his tennis shoes. “Because I don’t need a lecture on what I do with my pussy. It’s mine and I’m grown.”
He laughed like he did on the phone but this time it sounded creepy. “Listen, I’m just telling you this because you’re my bitch now. And since you—”
I held my hand out. “Hold up…who said I was your bitch?” I frowned. “I may have given you a shot of pussy but that’s the limit. Even if I wanted to be your bitch why would I? You just disrespected me!”
He stood up and stepped so close to me I could smell my pussy on his breath. “I said it…and if you fuck with me you gonna see why they call me the jackal.” He kissed me on the lips and it hurt. “Don’t worry, I’ll let Killer know about us soon. You don’t have to tell him a thing.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
SPRINKLES
Today was the day my plan was going into motion to make Killer pay for how he treated me over these last few months. I had everything worked out. I would confront him about Cupid and Ohio, as well as the other bitches he’d boned since becoming a boss at Skeezers. But instead of being home and opening my gifts he brought me to a new house.
That was a smooth move so my plans would be delayed.
As he explained to me that he wanted me in a more residential area in my mind things moved into slow motion. I never liked living in DC because I felt it had too much access to the people we wanted to escape from. We both hurt a lot of niggas and I liked to be inaccessible. But every time I brought it up he would shut me down. So what changed?
Maybe the guilt of cheating on me was to blame.
“Killer, please don’t play games with me.” I looked around the vaulted ceilings and the foyer was so large my voice echoed. “Is this a joke or something?”
He walked up to me and grabbed my hands. “Baby, this is our new home. I wouldn’t joke about that.” He grinned. “And you pick whatever furniture you want because I need this place to feel right to you.”
“What about the house in DC? And our things?” I paced. “I have so much to do because I know you’re not going to help me, Killer. You have too much going on right now.”
“It will all be taken care of, Catalina.” he promised. “Now don’t worry about that. The only thing I want you to do is focus on how you want things arranged. I know you can do that because you have good taste.”
I walked away from him and looked at the house again. “Can we afford this?” I threw my hands up. “Because I know this has to be at least a half a million dollars.”
He laughed. “What you think? If we couldn’t we wouldn’t own it.”
I looked around again. Something didn’t feel right unless he was lying to me about our finances. “I want to know the truth, Killer. Because we didn’t have that much money saved up after you dumped most of it into Skeezers. I thought we were hard up for cash.” I paused. “Unless you were tucking money and not telling me.”
I was stashing paper too but that was beside the point.
He frowned. “So you really believed that shit when you said Mayzon had more money than me. You really think I’m a broke ass nigga and that a country bitch’s pockets are fatter than mine?”
My jaw dropped and I felt like I didn’t know him. Did his arrogance cause him to buy this home because he didn’t like me calling him out about a rich chick? His insecurity was making me look at him differently. “Jameson, why did you really buy this house?”
He laughed. “Because I want you to be happy.” He rubbed my face with his rough hand. “Now let’s go. I’m ready to eat . We can set this shit up later.”
****
I had Trey Songz’s CD on blast in my old bathroom while I was getting dressed. I’m sure it was loud enough to wake Killer but I wanted to annoy him. He showcased his weakness by buying a house we couldn’t afford when we already lived in one and I hated him for it.
My plan was to stack up my paper and turn up my game in Skeezers. I had been practicing new routines off of new songs so that I could pull the most money from my customers.
Saturday I went to the beauty salon and had my natural long hair trimmed so that it fell on my shoulders. I was finally ditching wigs and capitalizing on my Latin heritage. The game was about to change all the way up on my part.
After I walked out of the bathroom I looked exactly how I wanted and knew tonight would be perfect. The air whipped through my scalp as I moved to my bedroom and I felt beautiful. Strong and free.
After I put on my clothes I spun around in the mirror and Killer was standing there. “What you doing? I don’t like this aura around you. It’s sneaky.”
He would know.
I laughed. “I’m doing me right now. Can’t you tell?”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean, Catalina?” he frowned. “I’m not feeling how you’ve been speaking to me lately. You got me wanting to hurt you and I don’t want that for us. We always been real with each other.”
“It means just what I said.” I grabbed my purse and was about to walk out when he snatched me by the wrist. “Get off!” I pulled away from him. “I’m so sick of you threatening me. At the end of the day you may have hit Marvin but you never would touch me. My face is to pretty and you couldn’t stand it being fucked up if I’m on your arm.” I paused. “Your as vain as I am so stop the empty threats.”
&
nbsp; “Catalina, don’t fuck with me. You hear what I’m saying? Don’t…fuck…with…me.”
I laughed. “What are you talking about now, Jameson?”
“There you go calling me my real name again.”
“Well it’s your name.” I shrugged. Jameson made him sound soft and he hated it. “You acting like I called you something you weren’t born with.” I rolled my eyes. “All I know is that I’m sick of fighting with you. If you want an argument from me you not gonna get it so stop fishing.”
As he stood in front of me I looked into the mirror one last time. I loved what I saw. A new woman. Why didn’t I think of stashing my paper and leaving him before? My make-up was flawless and there was no way I wouldn’t clean up them dollars tonight.
I looked up at Killer. “Listen, I don’t know what you’re talking about and I don’t even care. The only thing on my mind right now is—”
Suddenly the windows in our bedroom came crashing in. When I looked toward the it I saw two holes and glass everywhere. Killer knocked me down with his arm and his body fell on top of mine.
I could barely breathe.
I was expecting more firepower after eavesdropping on Levine’s conversation. I guess you couldn’t have a crackhead do the job because Marvin wasn’t even close.
When I heard a car door close and a car peel out I figured he was gone. I never experienced anything like that in my life. I was almost killed. I wasn’t supposed to be in the house.
I was supposed to be gone because the conversation I overheard mentioned it would go down in an hour.
He’s too early!
“You alright?” Killer moaned, rolling over.
“Yeah…” I didn’t feel any pain now that he moved. “I think I’m fine.”
But when I placed my fingers on my stomach I noticed my shirt was wet. When I touched it again I saw blood. Killer had been shot.
Marvin did it!
He'd actually did it!
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CUPID
I haven’t been feeling well plus I didn’t know if Bryson told Killer about our relationship. I haven’t heard from Killer so the suspense was killing me.
I was in the locker room, on my cell, when I saw Orange Pop walk in. She looked like she made a come up because she no longer had the innocent look she did when she cut her own pussy trying to clip a tampon string, gushing blood everywhere.
I’ve seen this happen a lot to the girls in the club. They came in looking naive and young but after awhile the club turned them into a woman. What kind of woman you would be was based on the things you would do for money. And Orange Pop had been doing the most. From fucking niggas out back to sucking niggas off in the VIP room, she did it all and gained herself a huge fan base.
“Oh, hey, Cupid.” She switched by me and walked to the locker. “I didn’t know you were here today.” Her voice was deeper and had more base.
I laughed. “Why wouldn’t I be? I work here too.”
She giggled. “I’m not saying it like that, Cupid. The last thing I want to be is messy. I said it because you must didn’t hear that your man got shot.”
I stood up and rushed toward her. “What you talking about?”
“So you didn’t hear?” She shook her head non-chalantly. “Well…somebody shot at Killer. I think he dead too.” She placed her bag in her locker, sat on the bench and removed her jeans like she didn’t just rock my world. “I would say you should call Sprinkles to verify but I know ya’ll not friends. It wouldn’t be…”
I tuned her out a long time ago as I got up and called Killer’s number ten times. Each call went straight to voicemail. I was hoping that what she was saying was a lie. Suddenly I didn’t feel like dancing, eating or even living. I knew I was in love with Killer but it never dawned on me how much I cared about him until that moment.
I tried to picture my life without him and I couldn’t see things clearly. There was no me without him. I didn’t have him like Sprinkles but when things got bad I knew I could always count on him. If he was dead I don’t think I could…I don’t think I could…
“Man, what the fuck is going on around here today?” Kitten said stumbling into the dressing room. She looked dusty and I was starting to lose more respect for her. She was falling off…way off these days as the streets took her soul. “First Killer and now this.”
I walked over to her. “What’s happening now, Kitten? Somebody else get hurt?”
“Girl, you look like you’ve already heard the news.” Her eyes rolled over me. “Seeing as though you’re crying and all.”
I touched my face and it was wet. I hadn’t realized tears were streaming until that moment. I wiped them off quickly and took a deep breath. “What’s going on now?”
She sat on the bench and me and Orange Pop moved closer. “I really want to tell you girls but you know I don’t like getting into people’s business.”
This old bitch wanted to get paid.
We both reached into our purses and handed her some money. Without even knowing what was happening she made a come up of thirty-two dollars. “Now what is going on?”
She sighed like it was the worst thing she ever had to say. “The white girl, Ohio, went home with some man the other night from the club. And she was murdered. They found her body at the bottom of a pool in Virginia and she was so bloated they almost didn’t recognize her.”
I stumbled backwards.
“But…but how did they?” Orange Popped asked, eyes as wide as mine.
“They found the Skeezers key ring in her pocket. It was easy to identify her after that. Besides, bitches who work here die all the time.”
****
When the doctor finally came back into the room I felt weaker than I did when I walked in. I was lying on my side, on the table, waiting for the results. She pulled up a chair and looked up at me. “Ms. Sampson, you’re pregnant.”
I popped up and looked over at her. “Pregnant…but that’s...that’s impossible. I…I’m not supposed to be pregnant. I…I can’t be.”
She smiled slightly although it wasn’t a real one. “It’s very possible and that’s why you’ve been having morning sickness. Some women go through it a little worse than others and you appear to be one of those women.”
I stood up and paced the room. “But I haven’t had sex unprotected so I don’t—” Suddenly Bryson’s face popped into my mind. Ever since we had sex I tried to act like it didn’t happen, despite him coming over almost every weekend to fuck me again.
I don’t know why I let him into my house each time. Maybe I was use to pushy men and I appreciated that at least he was consistent. Or maybe it was because as long as I put out he said he wouldn’t tell Killer about us. But even with that we used a condom each time because I didn’t want to have his left over liquids swimming around in my body.
Except that first day.
“But I haven’t had unprotected sex but one time. I’m very careful. You have to take it again. It must be a mistake!”
She shrugged. “It happens, Ms. Sampson. And it only takes once. I know you are upset but there’s more. And I need you to calm down because this won’t be easy.”
“What is it now?” I asked although I didn’t want to know the answer. “Because you already gave me the worst news for my life right now. I don’t think I can take anymore.” My world was crashing down around me by the day.
First I told Sprinkles about Killer and me which I regretted. I didn’t understand the meaning of having her in my life until she wasn’t there anymore. I felt alone in the world and the selfishness in me wanted both of them. But I knew I would never get my way. Our friendship was ruined forever.
Then I had yet to hear about Killer’s status. After seeing the news last night I waited by the phone and even called Skeezers to see if Kitten or anyone else had seen him or Sprinkles. Nobody had. I felt like I was in a terrible dream as I waited for an answer.
Lastly I was caught up in a relationship with someone I didn
’t like. Bryson was aggressive with me and made me feel like if I didn’t do what he wanted he would ruin my relationship or possibly hurt me. I must attract violent men.
But now this…
Being pregnant was horrible. Not only did I not want to have his baby but I knew if Killer was alive he would never forgive this.
“What else is it?” I asked again after she seemed to be stalling.
She sighed. “I’m sorry. It’s the first time I’ve ever had to deliver this kind of news.” She took a deep breath. “I want to tell you that what I’m about to say is not a death sentence.” She paused. “Many people live with this disease everyday and the medicine is…”
“What…what are you talking about?” My eyes widened and my heartbeat quickened.
“Ms. Sampson, I—”
“Just say it!” I yelled.
“Ms. Sampson…you’re HIV positive.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
SPRINKLES
Levine and I were in my dressing room and she was looking at me like I was crazy. I guess she was expecting me to be off for a few days since Killer got shot but it wasn’t like the nigga was dead. He took a bullet to his gut and for the most part was fine. I guess all that weight saved his fat ass. The surprising thing was I didn’t know how to feel about his survival.
Part of me wanted to him to die because of everything he did to me but the other part was happy he was alive. I needed more time to sort my emotions out. The most awkward moment was having Levine ask me a million questions when I knew she was involved.
“You sure you okay, Sprinkles?” She touched my arm like she gave a fuck. I guess it was her attempt to be caring but it made me uncomfortable since I knew it was fake. “Because you shouldn’t be here when you have all the things you do going on.”
“I’m fine, Levine.” I sat in front of my mirror and pretended not to have a care in the world. “The only thing I want to do is get back to work and stack my paper. You know the routine.”