Girls From Da Hood 10

by Treasure Hernandez

  Before Sanaa could get another word out, her office phone started to ring. She picked it up and slammed it right back down without answering it. Sleepy understood what she was saying, but didn’t feel her last comment, so he just turned around and left the room. Nobody in the room understood his personal feelings or why he had the connection he had with Ariana. She wasn’t just carrying any old baby, it was his baby, and the more he thought about it the more he wanted to kill Joi himself.

  “I’ma go talk to him,” Royce said, leaving out of the office behind him.

  The office phone rang again. This time Sanaa pushed the speakerphone button and answered. “All In,” she said, speaking into the phone.

  “Yo, I been sitting here thinking about you all day,” a voice spoke out.

  It sounded like some perverted shit, so Sanaa was about to hang up the phone until the man continued.

  “You know, you got a real nice setup moving this counterfeit money,” Kemo said, looking at one of the fading bills. “You gotta be raking in a nice penny,” he continued.

  “Who is this?” Sanaa asked, looking at the phone in confusion.

  “You gonna find out in a minute, because you’re gonna give me my muthafuckin’ money,” Kemo threatened sternly.

  Joi and Sanaa just looked at each other and shrugged. They didn’t know who was on the other end of the line. “Well, how much do I owe you, sir? Maybe I can get you squared away today,” Sanaa said.

  “You owe me three hundred grand and I want mine in an hour,” Kemo answered.

  When he said the number, Sanaa knew exactly who he was. She remembered Kemo from the hotel. He was the only person who hit that night, for that kind of money anyway. One thing was for sure, Sanaa wasn’t about to give up three hundred grand in real money, no matter who it was.

  “Well, do you got somewhere for us to meet, or could you just come here?” Sanaa suggested.

  “Yeah, stay by the phone. I’ll call you back,” Kemo said then hung up.

  Sanaa took in a deep breath and sat back in her chair. This wasn’t the type of exposure she was looking for. She knew what needed to be done the moment Kemo hung up the phone. Then the thoughts about what Royce said picked at her brain. “You can’t go around killing everybody who finds out ya little secret,” she remembered him saying. Sanaa felt that she didn’t have a choice, and Kemo wasn’t the type who was going to keep the counterfeit secret all to himself. This was the type of move in the game that could keep his name in the streets with respect and envy from haters. He liked to flex, and his flexing could destroy everything. Although his moves were smart, and efficient, his mouth and ego were a detriment to his success at times.

  The office phone rang again, breaking the silence in the room. Sanaa put him back on speaker. “Yeah, go ahead,” she answered.

  “I’ll be there in an hour,” Kemo said then hung the phone up again.

  Sanaa looked up at the clock then back at Joi. She had one hour to come up with a plan to get rid of him without drawing any attention to the club. Joi was already ten steps ahead of Sanaa. This was what Joi did, and she was great at it.

  “I’ll take care of it,” she said, getting up.

  Sanaa didn’t have any doubt whatsoever in her friend’s ability, so she didn’t even ask any questions nor make any suggestions. It was all on Joi.

  Detective Thomas sat at his desk going over all the evidence that was recovered from the double homicide at the Loews Hotel. His plate was full for the next couple of months, because not only was he the lead investigator in the hotel shooting, he was also the lead on the alleyway murder that took place near Sanaa’s club.

  “Come take a look at this,” Thomas told his partner as he locked in on the computer screen. “You’re not gonna believe this.”

  Thomas pointed to the screen once Detective Boyd walked over. From all the statements they took from the guests at the hotel, several of them stuck out. Each one of them claimed that the owner of Club All In was who had hosted the party.

  “It seems like every time this chick throws a party, somebody ends up dead,” Detective Boyd said, looking at the screen. “Who is the owner of the club?” he asked.

  “The building is owned by the same woman I got this from,” Thomas said, passing him the card Sanaa gave him when he interviewed her about the alleyway murder.

  “Sanaa Douglas,” Boyd said looking at the card. Sanaa Douglas was the fake name she used in Philly. She wasn’t ready to divulge her real name, given her lifestyle. “I think we should have a little talk with Ms. Douglas,” Detective Boyd suggested, passing the card back to Thomas.

  They both grabbed their things and were headed out of the office until Thomas’s desk phone started to ring. He answered it, but quickly had to pull the receiver away from his ear because of all the yelling coming from the other end. Detective Boyd looked on while Thomas took down some information before hanging up the phone.

  “We gotta make a quick stop before we see Ms. Douglas,” Detective Thomas said with an excited look on his face. “I think things just got a little more interesting.” He smiled, leading the way out of the office.

  Ariana stood by the window and watched as Sleepy pulled into the Days Inn motel parking lot. It was always a sense of relief when he came around, even during the not-so-good times. Ariana had already watched the news and found out that Joi was still alive. She was hoping that one of the two bodies was Joi, but the news anchor announced the victims’ identities and neither was her target.

  She opened the door and stood to the side, putting her head down from the shame she felt for missing her target and killing two innocent people. Sleepy, on the other hand, didn’t care two shits about those women and was only concerned about Ariana’s well-being. He showed that with his actions.

  “Are you all right?” he asked Ariana, lifting her chin up with his index finger.

  She nodded her head yes, closed the door, and walked over to the bed. Sleepy couldn’t help but to notice the variety of handguns sitting on the bed with extra ammo to go with it. She even had a vest and a silencer. Right after the shooting at the hotel, Ariana made it to the meeting with the gun dealer that she’d rescheduled. They had everything she needed and then some.

  “That’s a lot of guns.” He laughed and walked over to the bed.

  “Yeah, I had to get rid of yours, and now that Joi knows I’m still alive, I expect for it to be a war.” Ariana wasn’t stupid. She knew exactly the kind of chick she was dealing with, and knew that it was going to take a lot to accomplish what she needed to get done.

  “Oh, I got you this,” she said, grabbing a P.40-cal from the bed, cocking it back and passing it to him.

  Sleepy grabbed the gun and smiled. He wasn’t smiling at the gift, but rather at Ariana, who looked so beautiful to him. The connection between them was electrifying. She looked up at him and couldn’t resist being submissive. He grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her in, pressing his lips against hers ever so gently. Ariana melted like warm butter in his arms. His kisses were mesmerizing, and they put Ariana in a trance. This had been the first time they’d kissed in almost a year, aside from the time he kissed her graze wound back at the hotel. She needed this bad and wanted nothing more than to feel Sleepy inside of her. The aggressive pursuit of Sleepy’s tongue made it clear where this was going. Before Sleepy knew it, he had been pushed back onto the bed and Ariana was climbing on top of him while pulling off her tank top.

  Good thing Olivia had decided to get a separate room.

  Detective Thomas and Detective Boyd sat in the executive office of the Loews Hotel in awe at what they were hearing from the regional manager of the Loews chain. He was explaining that a large deposit to Bank of America was rejected after the money was discovered to be high-grade counterfeit. They had confiscated the bills, turned them in to the FBI, and fined the Loews chain.

  The detectives couldn’t believe it, but what was more shocking was that the hotel manager, Mr. Bosworth, still had some of
the counterfeit money. In fact, he had most of the $10,000 Sanaa had given him for letting her throw the party. When Detective Thomas heard that, he demanded to see the money.

  When Bosworth pulled the money out and set it on the desk in front of the detectives, Thomas took some of the bills and examined them. So did Detective Boyd.

  “So you said the owner of Club All In is who paid you with this?” Detective Thomas asked.

  “Yes, that is correct,” he answered.

  Detective Thomas looked over at his partner and passed him the money. Sanaa’s name was coming up way too often for her to be clean. Then it hit him. He remembered that the guy who was found murdered in the alleyway had money in his pocket, which was why they had ruled out robbery as the motive. Thomas got on the phone with the evidence room and had them pull the money and check it for counterfeit. It didn’t take long for them to call him back and confirm.

  Detective Thomas got out of the chair. It was definitely time for them to have a talk with Sanaa. They had to be careful though. A drunken hotel manager who was trying to keep his job could never be credible enough alone to place the counterfeit money in Sanaa’s hand. They needed something more concrete.

  “Oh, and what happened to the surveillance footage I asked you for?” Detective Thomas asked.

  The regional manager just looked over at Mr. Bosworth. “I turned off the video feed of the whole east wing and the swimming pool area, elevators included,” Bosworth said, putting his head down. Thomas just looked at him and shook his head in disgust before leaving the office.

  Kemo and Danielle parked right in front of the club, along with two more of his boys in a separate car right behind them. Danielle stayed in the vehicle, while Kemo and one of the two men in the second car headed for the front door. Sanaa stood at the entrance, unlocking it and allowing the two men in. Before she locked the door back up, she quickly scanned the outside to see who else was with them. Sanaa was well aware that there was no way he would agree to meet on her turf unless he had adequate backup.

  The bar area was empty, but Yellow and Joi were definitely in the building. Kemo was on point though, and so was his boy, who was strapped. All Kemo wanted to do was come and pick up his money with no further incident. Violence wasn’t his first choice, but if he had to, he would surely end with it.

  Sanaa walked around to the back of the bar and grabbed a bottle of vodka from off the top shelf. “So how do I know you’re not gonna tell anybody else about the money?” Sanaa asked as she reached under the counter and grabbed three shot glasses.

  “I’m cool with the drink,” he told Sanaa before she could pour the shot. “And if you want some insurance that I’ma keep ya little secret between us, you need to be trying to add an extra hundred grand to what you already owe me,” Kemo demanded.

  Sanaa took his demands and his refusal of the drink as an insult, but kept her cool. She poured the vodka in all three shot glasses anyway, filling them to the rim.

  Kemo and his boy just stood there waiting for a reply to his demands, but it never came. Instead, a red dot appearing on his partner’s head caught Kemo’s attention. He followed the trail of the beam all the way to the second-floor deck where his eyes landed on Yellow, who was holding a 30-30 rifle like he was a professional hunter. Kemo’s boy also followed a beam that was on Kemo’s chest across the dance floor. He went to reach for his gun, but the sound of a hammer being cocked back made him think twice about it. They both looked back over at Sanaa, who was holding a large .44 Magnum with both hands, aiming it right at them.

  “You must not know who I am,” Kemo said arrogantly. “You think we here by ourselves to pick up three hundred grand?”

  “Naw, I know you’re not here alone,” Sanaa said walking from around the bar as she kept them at gunpoint. “You did exactly what I thought you would do,” she continued, walking over to Kemo and patting him down.

  She took the gun he had on his waist, then turned around and stripped the weapon off of his partner. Joi came from behind the jukebox, keeping the men at gunpoint, while Yellow made his way down the stairs, also keeping the beam on the men. Kemo was hot under the collar about this, but not to the point where he was about to try something stupid.

  “They got two cars out front,” Sanaa informed them, pulling the zip ties from her back pocket.

  “You know you’re gonna have to kill me,” Kemo threatened.

  Yellow walked up from behind him and hit Kemo on the back of his head with the butt of the rifle. Kemo dropped to his knee as he bit down on his bottom lip in pain. Kemo’s boy didn’t give Yellow the chance to hit him. He opted to take a knee on his own. He still got kicked to the ground, along with Kemo, before Joi tied their hands behind their backs.

  “I plan on doing just that,” Sanaa said, pulling out her cell phone.

  Seeing that this wasn’t turning out in his favor, Kemo made a last chance attempt to get Danielle’s attention. He started to yell at the top of his lungs, but only got about two seconds of yelling before Yellow kicked him dead in the mouth. One of his front teeth shot straight down his throat.

  “911,” the operator said into the other end of Sanaa’s phone.

  “Yes, hi. I’m calling because there are two strange-looking cars outside of my establishment,” Sanaa told the operator. “It was just a murder in the alleyway behind me a few days ago and I’m just a little concerned,” she finished, and then gave the operator the description of the two cars Kemo came in.

  Joi and Yellow lifted the two men to their feet and forced them down the steps, through the casino, and out the back door. Before they knew it, Kemo and his sidekick were being tossed through the slide door of a stolen minivan parked in the alley. Yellow had switched his rifle to a handgun and jumped into the back of the van with the men. Joi looked up and down the alley to make sure she wasn’t seen by anyone, before she got into the driver side and pulled off.

  Sanaa stood at the front door of the club, watching and waiting for the police to pull up, and they did, in a matter of minutes. Two police cars pulled up right behind the car that was parked behind Danielle. As they got out of the police cruisers and approached the lone driver, Danielle took that opportunity to pull off from the scene. She couldn’t afford for the police to start snooping around in her car, knowing that the three hundred grand in counterfeit money was sitting in the back seat, along with two handguns under the driver and passenger seats.

  As Sanaa looked on as the cops harassed Kemo’s boy, she was startled by two detectives popping up at the door. Detective Thomas flashed his badge through the window and identified himself for the record. Sanaa hesitated for a second, not knowing if Yellow and Joi had left yet. She stalled them, putting up a finger, as if she had to go and get the keys for the door. She ran back to her office and looked out the window to make sure the van wasn’t still in the alley.

  Danielle figured she’d just go around the block and allow the cops to leave on their own, but when she bent the corner, she watched as the officer put the handcuffs on Kemo’s boy. Another cop was holding a gun in the air by the butt, which they got out of the car. Danielle didn’t even think about slowing down as she passed by. When she passed by the club, she looked over at the front door to see if Kemo was trying to get out, but she noticed the two well-dressed men standing at the front doors of the club. Once she saw that one of them had a badge on his waist, her mind was fully made up. Kemo was on his own.

  Sanaa ran back to the front door, keys in her hand. She opened the door and allowed the two detectives inside. “Can I get you guys something to drink?” she offered, trying to show some hospitality.

  “Ms. Douglas, we need to have a talk,” Detective Thomas said with a serious face, ignoring Sanaa’s offer. “You just threw a party at the Loews Hotel the other day, is that correct?”

  Sanaa could tell by the way he was asked his question that he already knew the answer to it. That’s how it was most of the time with detectives, and Sanaa was well versed in dealing with c
ops like this, coming from the fast city of Philly.

  “Yeah, I had a party there, and it’s tragic what happened to those women,” Sanaa sympathized. “I’m still thinking about whether I should file a law suit against the hotel for not allowing me to have armed security there,” she explained, trying to put the blame on the hotel for what happened.

  “Well, why didn’t you stick around to give a statement?” Detective Boyd cut in.

  “Well, Detectives, when bullets get to flying, my life becomes number one priority. I got the hell out of the building, like everyone else.”

  “So did you see anything or know something that can help us in the investigation?” Detective Thomas asked.

  “No, just like I said, once I heard it was a shooting in the pool area, I exited just like everybody else.”

  “Ms. Douglas, you paid for this party in cash, right?” Thomas asked, digging into his back pocket.

  “Yeah, why?” Sanaa shot back with a curious look on her face. “I run a club. I always use cash.”

  “Does this look familiar?” Thomas asked, holding up one of the ink-faded bills.

  “Should it?” Sanaa asked with one eyebrow up.

  “Yeah, hotel management said that you paid for the rooms with this money. The whole balance, including a little pocket money for Mr. Bosworth,” Thomas said.

  Sanaa could see where this interview was going, having noticed the change in the detectives’ demeanor and line of questioning. This was easily turning into an interrogation, but she kept her cool. She knew that if you just let the police ask questions, eventually they would start to divulge the real reason why they were there. Sanaa wanted to see just how much they knew, and what evidence they had thus far, so she played along.

  “Did you ever catch the person who killed that man in the alleyway?” she asked, taking a seat on the barstool.

  “As a matter of fact, I found—”

  Detective Boyd tapped Thomas before he could say another word. He could see that the detective was about to give up too much information about the case to a possible suspect. Detective Thomas quickly got a hold of himself, seeing that Sanaa was starting to get under his collar. The last thing he wanted to do was blow either one of the cases.