by N'Tyse
over complaining about the burn. “We’re going to see about getting an apartment up north somewhere. Addison, Plano ... I don’t know yet. In the meantime we’ll be staying with Sand’s best friend Finesse until we can find us a place. She has this big old house her grandmother left her, so she’s dying for some company.”
Shun just shook her head. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.” She was leaning over to the side, clutching her stomach. “Girl, this shit worse than labor!”
“Umm, um, um.” Rene shook her head. “See? Listen at you. I told you your butt couldn’t hang. You asked me to show you some stuff and you can’t even handle it,” Rene beamed. “I hope this Carl guy is worth all this,” she teased, throwing her hand over her hip.
Shun found the words to get her through this madness. “Oh, he is.” Suddenly she had the strength to carry her through. This time she stood to her feet and began jogging in place. Her red, white and blue polka dot bandanna made her feel like she was racing in the Olympics. “I’ve got to look good for the anniversary ceremony,” she said, just putting it all out there. “I want his parents to notice me. Hell, I want the whole family to notice me.”
Rene worked up a laugh. “All right then, girlfriend. Press on. And while you doin’ that, I need to use this phone book,” she said, reaching into a pile of collected White Pages stacked in a corner. Rene counted at least eight of them.
“Who you looking for?” Shun asked.
Rene sat on the floor and crossed her legs Indian style. “Hendell Ross,” she said, flipping through the residential listing. “Who in the hell is a Hendell? And what kind of name is that for a black man?”
“Well, this Hendell isn’t black.” Rene took her finger and went up and down the list of Ross’s.
Shun was now pumping her fist in the air and making up moves to add to her workout routine as she lunged forward and pulled back. First the right foot, and then went the left. “Well, I figured that,” she told Rene. “Whatcha lookin’ for him for?” “I think it’s time for a little family reunion.” She scrolled further down the page. “Found it! I need a phone, give me a phone, hurry, hurry.”
“Here, here,” Shun said, rushing over. She shoved the cordless in Rene’s hands and watched her dial the numbers with both of her thumbs.
“Hello, may I speak to Mr. Hendell Ross, please?” Rene said as soon as the male voice on the other end of the line answered. “Whose calling?”
Rene grew nervous. “Hello sir. My name is Rene Brown.” She hesitated for a second. “I’m a very good friend of your daughter.” The other end of the line fell silent. Too silent. “Mr. Ross,” Rene said, checking to be sure that they hadn’t gotten disconnected. “Is she dead?”
Rene was caught off guard. She twisted her face. “No sir, she’s not.”
Shun walked over to her friend and took a seat beside her, listening in as best she could.
“Well then, I guess you’re interrupting my show.” Click. Rene just held the phone in her hands. It took Shun pulling it from her grasp for her to realize what had just happened. “He doesn’t want anything to do with his own child,” Rene said incredulously.
Shun witnessed the hurt in Rene’s eyes. She didn’t have an answer for her friend. Not right now and probably not ever.
Sand was nervous as hell, and everything around her looked, smelled, and felt like a setup. The strong stench of urine lit her nose on fire as she waited in a dead-end alley for Chyna to show up to collect the rest of her money. In the back of Sand’s mind something was telling her to call it off. But she had come too far and this was the closest she’d ever gotten to getting revenge on Chyna for trying to set her up. It was the only way she saw up out of this mess she was in. And now, with her palms sweating and her heart racing, for some strange reason she felt like a hypocrite. “I can’t do this,” she mumbled into the earpiece. “I can’t do it. Call it off. Y’all hearing me? Call this shit off. Man, I can’t do this like this.” She wanted her name cleared of whatever it was they might have had on her, but there was no way in hell she was going to nark.
“Cassandra, it’s too late for that,” the federal agent said. She hollered out to who she thought was her friend, but had all along been the undercover determined to take Chyna down. “Look, James, you said if I didn’t wanna do this shit, that I could pull out. I’m pulling out, goddamn it! Call it.”
“You can’t, Sand. She’s already here.”
Peaches stuffed whatever she could into a small blue and green tote bag as she raced from one end of the room to the other. Everything she owned, she was taking with her. That meant the clothes on her back, the shoes on her feet, and the personal music collection she’d accumulated over the years.
She was halfway down the stairs, halfway out of the house and on her way to a better life when her phone rang. She knew by the ring tone who it was and instantly she felt relieved. He was going to get her out of there. “James?” she answered.
“She didn’t show up. Get out of—”
Before she could comprehend what he had just said, a strong kick to her back sent her flying down the flight of stairs, face forward.
Sand was so nervous she could barely stand still. She reached for her piece and then remembered that it wasn’t there. As the long-haired figure moved toward her, she began to feel that feeling again. It was a setup.
“Where the fuck is Chyna?” Fantasy’s crooked and conniving smile didn’t go unnoticed. “Didn’t think you’d see me again, did you?” She looked Sand straight in the eye. “Where’s the money?”
Sand stepped closer to Fantasy. “I’m not giving you shit until you tell me where the fuck Chyna’s at!” she said louder than before, hoping the Feds were getting everything.
“Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong?” Fantasy smirked. She stepped even closer. Her nipples rubbed against Sand’s chest. “Tell me to my face that you don’t want this pussy. That you never thought about it.”
Sand didn’t flinch. “Say it! Tell me the thought never crossed your mind about what it would be like to fuck Chyna’s main bitch.”
Sand took a few steps back. She gripped the briefcase tighter. “Yeah, I thought about it,” she whispered, playing into Fantasy’s little mind game. “I thought about how I could eliminate the bitch, just to get closer to you,” she lied, looking Fantasy dead in the eye.
“Really?” Fantasy asked. She slid her gun from her purse. “What about now? Do you still wanna fuck me, Sand? Do you still want Chyna’s bitch?”
“Get that gun out of my face,” she warned Fantasy.
Fantasy ignored her. She was running this shit now. She came there to get Chyna’s grip and put an end to their problem child. “Give me the motherfucking money!”
Sand thought about making a break for it, but knew that if she tried, she wouldn’t get very far. Not with the bullets of a Beretta hunting her down.
“It ain’t so funny now, huh? Is this a good look for you, Sand?” she asked. “Is this a fucking good look for you!” Fantasy yelled to her face.
Sand took a deep breath. If this was how she had to go, she was ready to accept that destiny. “Shoot me,” she whispered. “Get the shit over with!” Suddenly, rapid footsteps were coming from all different directions.
“Police! Drop your weapon!”
Fantasy didn’t bother turning around. “Chyna sent me here to handle your ass. Fuck the money.” She cocked the gun, her finger rubbing against the heart of the trigger. She showed no remorse for what she knew she was prepared to do here tonight. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d killed for Chyna.
Sand closed her eyes and dropped the case of money to the ground.
“Don’t do it!”
It was too late. One shot rang from Fantasy’s gun and another blast came from behind them. Sand, barely on her feet, caught Fantasy as she fell into her arms. She held on as long as she could, until her own legs gave out.
“We need
an ambulance! We’ve got two down. I repeat, two down.” The first officer ran to Sand’s aide. He checked her pulse. “Stay with me.”
Sand struggled to breathe. Her body felt cold as ice as she laid in a puddle of her own blood.
“Get her on the gurney now!”
“Stay with us!” a paramedic yelled. “What’s her name?”
“Twenty-two year old black female ... Cassandra Janene Ross.”
“What happened?”
“One bullet to the chest ...”
“Code blue!”
“She’s going into cardiac arrest!”
Peaches spit out the blood that filled her mouth. She crawled until another kick lifted her off her stomach and onto her side. She rolled onto her back.
“Where the fuck you think you going?” Chyna asked her. A string of blood dripped from Peaches’ nose. “Nowhere,” she choked.
Chyna walked closer to Peaches, bent down to where she lay on her back. “It doesn’t look like that to me.” She picked up the phone that lay beside her, checking the last incoming call. She pressed talk. A familiar voice answered on the first ring.
“Peaches, did you get out of the house?”
Chyna glared at the bitch who she realized had just doublecrossed her. She then came to the brutal reality: James wasn’t a dirty cop; he was an undercover for the Feds. And for the last two years, she had been housing their informant.
26
R
ene checked the volume on the phone again. It was still on. As she lifted the receiver, the dial tone greeted her. Tears made waves in her eyes. “I can’t believe I fell for it.” Shun reached over to her and held her in her arms. “She was just lying to me. How could she look me in the face and lie like that?”
“Don’t. You quit that right now. Sand loves you! She would never up and leave you like that after all y’all just been through.”
“Well, explain why I haven’t heard from her since she dropped me off here.” Rene waited. Shun said nothing. “I didn’t think you could.” It had been three days since Rene last talked to Sand and she was worried sick. All she told her was that she had to handle some business and that she’d be right back for her. She never came back. She didn’t even call. Rene actually believed that they were getting back together and now she felt stupid for her wishful thinking. She crawled back in bed. “You and Carl go ahead and enjoy yourselves,” she told Shun. “I’ll be okay.”
Shun kissed Rene on her forehead. “If you need me for anything, call me. After the ceremony, Carl is going to take us to his ranch out in Forney to spend the holiday, but now, if you need anything whatsoever, you call me and I’ll come running.”
Rene smiled up at her friend. She was so beautiful in the champagne gold form fitting dress that showed off her new figure. Her hair was done in beautiful long curls that draped her shoulders, and her makeup matched perfectly. Rene was happy to see her friend, for once in her life, confident with who she was. “I’ll be fine. I promise,” Rene said.
“Okay. Now get yourself some sleep, and I’ll call you first thing in the morning so that you can hear the boys when they open all those presents you bought for them. Lawd knows you might even hear ’em screaming before I get the call in.”
Rene could only force a smile.
“Get you some rest, sweetie,” Shun said before closing the door shut.
“Rene closed her eyes again and slowly drifted back off to sleep.
“Come on, y’all!” Shun yelled at the boys like a drill sergeant the second she turned the corner. They lined up in front of her with their overnight gear in hand. “Now remember,” Shun started, “speak when you spoken to, and when you ain’t ...” she waited for them to complete the rest of the sentence.
“Hush our mouths.”
It was eight hours later when Rene decided to finally get out of bed. She had been completely out of it. She moved through the front room. It was so dark in the house and the bit of light that she did see was coming from the window. That light immediately vanished. Seconds later, a vibrating sound was coming from her purse. She walked over to it and reached inside with the intention of throwing it in the trash, but instead she answered it.
“I’m not doing it, so you can forget about it!” she raged with attitude. She flipped the phone closed and walked into the kitchen. She tossed it in the trash, hoping to never have to hear or see that crazy bitch again. Minutes later, the doorbell rang and without hesitation, she went to answer it.
Before Chyna pulled up at the house where Rene had been staying, she had been thinking about her last two projects that she had to knock out before hopping on that plane for Mexico tonight. She had to get out of Dallas. And thanks to Peaches, she now knew about how long the Feds had been watching her. Peaches had told Chyna that they were expecting her to show up for the money, instead of Fantasy. After hearing that, Chyna wasn’t sure if Fantasy was dead or alive. All she was certain of was that she was wanted and that the Feds had been waiting for the perfect time to move in on her. But she fixed them all because right after sending a bullet into Peaches’ brain, she set fire to her. Dead informants didn’t talk.
Chyna now made her own path to the front door. Once Rene opened it, she locked eyes with her. Chyna had only one thing on her mind. Revenge.
Albery waited in his country lake house for his date to arrive after getting confirmation that she was on schedule. He had just stepped out of the shower and was putting on his pants when the doorbell rang. He snatched up a chocolate-covered strawberry from the fruit tray and nibbled on it while limping all the way to the door. He looked out the peephole to see two beautiful women standing on his front porch and his dick hardened instantly.
“Albery,” Chyna said with a satisfied grin when the door came open. “I would like for you to meet your date, Illusion.”
Rene rolled her eyes. She hated the fuck out of this new name Chyna had been shopping her around with. She pulled the hair out of her face. Underneath the mahogany mink coat Chyna made her wear, was nothing but her naked body.
Albery stretched the smile that was already on his face. “Do come in,” he sang.
Chyna smiled in his face and the second she passed him, grimaced with disgust.
Rene brushed against Albery slightly as she walked by him. He grabbed her by the arm. “Illusion, huh? So that’s what they call you now?”
Rene didn’t offer him a word.
“I always knew underneath that innocent face was just another ho,” he smirked. “But this is ten grand I definitely don’t mind spending. So make it worth every penny.”
Rene snatched her arm back. “Oh, I will.” She followed behind Chyna, adapting to her new role.
Chyna placed the bag she had brought in with her on the kitchen counter. She reached in for a CD and walked it over to the radio, making herself right at home. She hit play, escalating the volume.
Albery couldn’t take his eyes off Rene. She looked exactly how he remembered her. He had spent so many nights masturbating to the thought of fucking her, and now he could have her for as long as he wanted, however he wanted.
Chyna made her way through the house as if she had spent time there before. And she had. Without Albery knowing, she planted the pictures, made the calls, and even wrote the bogus letters that gave his wife the evidence she needed to leave his ass. Chyna had done it all. She wanted to make Albery’s life as miserable as she could before his dying days.
Chyna walked into Albery’s room. She began stripping out of her clothes until she was down to nothing.
“So, to what do I owe this double pleasure?” Albery asked excitedly. He had no idea that he would be getting two for the price of one tonight. It was going to be a nice Christmas after all.
“This one is on me,” Rene said out of nowhere, following Chyna’s lead. She eased the coat off of her shoulders and let it drop to the floor. Her naked body had both Albery’s and Chyna’s attention as she climbed up the two steps to the platform where his bed was. She
mounted the bed one leg at a time and rested on her knees as Chyna made the first move.
Albery grabbed a bottle of limited edition Dom Perignon White Gold Jeroboam that complemented the fruit tray. He commenced to drinking the champagne straight from the bottle as he watched Chyna’s hand slide over and around both of Rene’s lusciously oiled breasts. He pulled on his dick, knowing that it could only be ignored for so long. Chyna then began massaging and licking her own nipples, right before easing her finger inside of her pussy. She made a moaning sound and then leaned in to kiss Rene.
Rene couldn’t bring herself to kiss another woman, other than Sand. Getting the hint, Chyna wrapped her lips around Rene’s chocolate nipples instead.
Albery couldn’t hold back. He made his way over to the platform and onto the bed. He kissed Rene on her honey brown ass then slid his tongue down her crack.
Rene held her composure. She followed the cues and tried hard to relax, for she knew that in only a matter of minutes, things would change. She turned her body around and forced Albery onto his back, then straddled him. She rubbed her right hand over his dick. The harder he got, the bigger it felt inside her hand.
“Suck it,” he said, smiling down at Rene.
Chyna eased off the bed, walked over to the fruit tray and slid a fresh piece of kiwi into Albery’s mouth.
Albery felt like exploding. “Umm. Give me another one.”
Chyna fed him another piece, this time taking a bite from it first.
Albery felt Rene’s teeth graze against his head, and oddly, the pain felt good. He saw how sexy she looked in the mirror above his bed as she took him into her mouth. He grabbed her head and forced himself further down her throat.
Chyna fed him a grape, a strawberry, and then a piece of melon. This was the night she had been waiting for, and she wanted to savor every minute of it. “Where’s the whipped cream?” she asked him.
“In the fridge,” Albery said, anticipating what was next to come.
Chyna left the room and headed for the kitchen. When she returned, Rene was still teasing him, playing along with the show. “Let me have some of this,” Chyna said, shaking the whip cream up and spraying it over Albery’s midsection.