by Kiki Swinson
I jumped up hoping it was Duke cal ing to apologize to me for his horrible attitude and behavior.
But it wasn’t him. It was Diamond again. This time she was checking in on me.
“What’s up, Diamond? I’m fine,” I mumbled, my voice stil groggy with sleep.
She immediately went for the jugular, asking me that important question, whether or not I had told
Duke about the baby? I told her the truth that I didn’t tel him yet. Diamond went on and on about not
tel ing him about the baby and to just get rid of it. For some reason she didn’t see it like I did. Maybe
hindsight is twenty/twenty, but at the time, I thought the baby was al I had left to save my relationship
with Duke.
I quickly got off the phone with Diamond. I wasn’t in the mood to hear what she was talking about
that early in the damn morning.
I toyed with the idea of cal ing Duke and just tel ing him the news over the phone, but I real y
wanted to see him. I wanted to watch his reaction when he found out. I wanted to be the recipient of
his hugs and kisses. I wanted to feel his excitement. Those visions of Duke’s fantasy reaction quickly
faded from my mind when I remembered that he hardly ever answered my cal s and he had just
cursed me out and treated me like shit. I sighed loudly and stared at my cel phone. From how things
looked, I final y settled in my mind that I would be tel ing Duke the news via telephone.
It took me three starts and stops to final y place a single cal to Duke.
When he answered his phone, my heart immediately started pumping wildly. When his voice
filtered through the phone I could tel he was annoyed with my cal .
“Duke, I don’t want to fight. I want to talk to you . . . in person,” I said in a low voice.
“Lynise, I can’t come there right now. I’m taking care of business,” Duke said dryly. He sounded
like he hated my guts now. He wasn’t even referring to me as Beautiful anymore. I was just plain ole
Lynise to him now.
“Please, Duke. I’m begging to see you. I have to tel you something important,” I implored. I had sat
up in the bed. My head was spinning and I felt like throwing up. The morning sickness was coming on
with a vengeance.
“Naw, I’m not up for no emotional bul shit today,” Duke snapped. “You gon’ have to tel me over
the phone or don’t tel me at al .”
I closed my eyes and shook my head. I swear it was like this man went from an angel to the devil
himself al in a matter of days. I just couldn’t believe how he was speaking to me and treating me al
of a sudden.
I swal owed hard and reluctantly proceeded to give him the news over the phone. “Duke, I’m
pregnant,” I said, almost whispering.
I heard him breathe hard like he was annoyed. He didn’t say anything.
“Did you hear what I said? I’m pregnant with our baby!” I repeated in an urgent tone, my voice
much louder now.
“Look, what you want me to say? I ain’t got no kids for a reason, a’ight. So what you gon’ do?”
His question felt like a slap in the face and his reaction felt like a kick in the gut. I was fighting hard
to keep my composure. I didn’t want to start yel ing and screaming, but I sure felt like it.
“What do you mean what am I going to do?” I snapped back with attitude. “I thought you’d be
happy. It’s our baby. Duke, this baby was conceived out of love. I’m not some teenage girl that you
need to ask what I’m gonna do.” I was fucking offended and devastated. This was fol owed by the
tears fal ing. I took a deep breath.
“I’m not gonna be happy about no baby. I’m a businessman and I’m busy,” Duke said coldly. “I
ain’t got time to raise no kid. Look, if it’s money you want, I got that. I real y don’t care what you do
with that baby.”
“That baby?” I screamed at him. “Duke, it is your fucking baby too! You are a real cold bastard!
God don’t like ugly—” Then I heard the phone go dead. Duke had hung up on me. I composed myself
and decided I wouldn’t shed any more tears over this shit. I was just going to handle my business and
some of Duke’s business too. He didn’t know who he was fucking with.
I spent a week crying and not eating before I final y realized I was stronger than that. It seemed like
after I told Duke about the baby he spent even less time coming to the condo. I hadn’t seen him in
over a week.
I pul ed myself out of bed on a Saturday morning, showered and woke up with a new attitude. I
decided I was going to be Duke Carrington’s woman if it was the last thing that I did. I was determined.
After I had a ful breakfast for the first time in a week, I quickly made myself an abortion appointment.
If Duke didn’t want a baby, I wasn’t going to force one on him. I had a new found fervor to give Duke
everything he wanted. I wanted things to be exactly how it was when we first met.
My appointment was next Tuesday. Enough time for me to get my matted, nappy ass hair done. I
needed both a manicure and pedicure. I wanted to look real good when Duke came to the condo.
Since he hadn’t been here in a while, I was expecting him any day.
I cal ed Diamond and she met up with me. We did a day of Beautiful and shopping and I was
feeling slightly happy again. That is, until my cel phone rang with a strange number. I picked it up al
excited thinking Duke had gotten a new phone number and was cal ing me to apologize or tel me he
thought about it and was real y happy about the baby.
“Hel o!” I sang into my phone.
“Is this Lynise?” the woman’s voice filtered through the phone. My face immediately turned icy.
There were no chicks with my number except Diamond and she was sitting across from me looking in
my mouth.
“Who is this?” I snapped in a harsh whisper.
“I know you’re fucking Duke and staying in the condo I used to live in. Wel , I’m just letting you know,
I’m living in the big house, and me and Duke are getting married in two months. I want you out of that
condo because once I become Duke’s wife I plan on sel ing it,” the woman rambled like she was
rushing to get the words out.
“Fuck you bitch! I’m with Duke and until he puts me out of the condo I ain’t goin’ no fucking where!”
I belted out.
Diamond’s eyes grew wide and she tried to grab the phone, so she could curse the bitch out too.
But the woman had already hung up.
“Oh no Lynise. This nigga has gone far enough,” Diamond barked. “He got bitches cal ing you
now? It’s time for you to either bounce or put the fucking screws to his muthafucking ass!”
“I just can’t believe how he went from a dream to a nightmare. Why didn’t he just leave me alone
in the club and let me go on with my life if he knew he was going to be so fucked up,” I lamented.
“I just heard rumors that he was getting married but you know how Virginia Beach is . . . so I didn’t
even pay that no fucking mind,” Diamond confessed. “Geneva, the new hairdresser, is supposed to
be doing al of the bridesmaids’ hair . . . or so the rumor goes.”
“Diamond, why the fuck you always wait until some shit jump off before you tel me these things!” I
yel ed at her.
“Because a real friend isn’t going to report shit until I see it with my own eyes!” she replied. “Didn’t
I cal you when I saw him up in the club?”
&
nbsp; I nodded. She was right. “What am I going to do?” I asked, confused.
“Girl, I don’t know what the hel you gonna do. What can you do to a man who has so many
businesses, homes and so much money? It ain’t much you can do . . . unless you plan on sending
your baby daddy to jail for il egal adoption.”
She reminded me of just one of the weapons I could use against Duke. When she said that it was
like a light bulb had gone off in my head. I knew just what Duke needed . . . to be taught a lesson.
I stood up frantical y. I must’ve startled Diamond because her eyes got wide. I threw some money
down on the table for her to pay the bil .
“Diamond, I gotta go! I wil talk to you in a few days,” I said in a huff. With that, I raced to my car.
I had business to handle.
Cheaper to Keep Her Unique
Chapter 18—Moment of Clarity
I sat behind Duke’s desk inside the den of the condo as if I was real y taking care of business.
I felt important and stately sitting behind the thick oak desk in the leather executive chair.
“Hi, is Mr. Barrett available?” I said to the woman on the other end of the phone.
“Ok, this is Mr. Carrington’s secretary and I’m cal ing to cancel their meeting for tomorrow
regarding the new real estate venture,” I lied to Mr. Barrett’s secretary. “Mr. Carrington asked me to
give Mr. Barrett a special message, ‘Fuck off crook!’”
I could tel the secretary on the other end of the line was taken aback. Duke would never be able
to do business with real estate mogul Arnold Barrett again.
“Next up,” I said evil y as I shuffled through Duke’s business contacts and his calendar. “Ewe, this
is a good one,” I cackled as I dialed another number. “Good morning. I am the spouse of Mr. Duke
Carrington. I am cal ing to cancel al of our insurance policies with your company.”
“Yes, homeowners, business and al cars,” I lied to the customer service representative, in
response to his question. “With a few exceptions. Uh, yes. Keep the insurance on the condominium at
the Cosmopolitan building and the BMW X6.”
“Oh, there is more than one BMW X6 listed,” the customer service representative caught me by
surprise. “Ok, wel keep it on the candy apple red one,” I said real y annoyed. Then the bitch told me
both were candy apple red. I was starting to feel like a fool. Duke had bought one of his other bitches
the same fucking car.
“Ok, I wil give you the VIN for the one to keep,” I grumbled. I started fumbling with my pocketbook
for the registration to my car. I read off the long vehicle identification number to the lady.
“Yes, that wil be al . No, you cannot ask why we have cancel ed our policies with your company!”
I snapped and hung up the phone.
I put my head in my hands for a minute. Duke just didn’t know who he had fucked with. “Next,
cancel ing his liquor license, al of his light and gas at his other homes, al of his upcoming meetings . .
. and if he fucks with me, my next stop wil be the police station with these fucking pictures.”
I opened up the folder I had just found that contained photos of young pregnant girls, along with
medical records and pictures of newborn babies. The folder also had dates of when the babies were
sold, how much this bastard had sold the babies for and the rich muthafuckas who had bought them.
When Duke had locked this folder up at the condo, I guess he was trying to hide it from his precious
fiancée who claimed she lived at his mansion. Wel , he underestimated me, the hood rat he picked
up from the dirt, as he told me. I was about to bring this nigga to his knees. I planned on keeping the
folder as my big gun to use at a later date. In the meantime, I continued my secret assault on al of
his business ventures and personal life.
I picked up my cel phone and dialed another number. “Hi, yes, this is Mr. Carrington’s secretary,
I’d like to tel you that your lease at his building is being terminated,” I lied yet to another person.
“No, we wil not accept an extra thousand dol ars a month rent, we want you out by the end of the
week, thanks,” I said in response to the counteroffer. I had to laugh when I hung up the phone.
Everybody I had cal ed so far was always shocked to hear the bad news. This shit was amusing.
Duke’s money was going to start drying up real fast. I had taken even more money out of his precious
lockbox. My stash bag was damn near ful . I was unleashing the heat on Duke’s ass. I just needed to
take care of a few more things before I official y got the fuck out of dodge.
I had my abortion at the clinic on Newtown Road in Virginia Beach, without tel ing Duke shit. I planned
to continue walking around like I was pregnant so I could take that fucking bastard for every dime I
could get out of him. When I got home from the clinic I felt a little weak, but other than that I wasn’t
feeling anything. I wasn’t real y bleeding that much. As soon as I walked in the condo, I knew Duke was
there. The alarm didn’t ask for a code and it didn’t beep when I came through the door. I took a deep
breath and prepared myself for what was to come.
Duke walked out of the bedroom and looked at me suspiciously. My heart started thumping.
“Where you been?” he asked me.
“Hi, Duke. I’m fine,” I said sarcastical y. “I haven’t seen you in almost three weeks and the first thing
you ask me is where have I been!” I snapped back.
“Answer the question,” Duke retorted nastily.
“I was at the doctor. I needed to get something to take for my morning sickness . . . not that you
care,” I lied.
Duke seemed to soften a little bit when I said that. He dug into his pocket and pul ed out a wad of
cash.
“Here, this is for you and the . . . the—” Duke started but he couldn’t say it. A four letter damn word
and he couldn’t spit it out. One simple word, four damn letters.
“The baby! The fucking baby, Duke . . . your baby!” I screamed, finishing his sentence for him.
“I didn’t come here to fight,” Duke replied. “I came to see how you were doing and to drop off
some cash to you.”
“Wel , thank you for final y deciding I was worth checking on!” I barked. “Drop off some cash to me
like I’m some cheap whore. I guess I am since you getting married in two months! Did you know that
your new fiancé cal ed me up to tel me you were getting married?”
Duke’s black ass seemed to turn pale when I told him that.
“Why Duke? Why would you even bring me into this if you were with someone else?” I asked. I
was trying so hard to fight off my tears.
“Because I want my cake and I want to eat it too,” Duke said matter-of-factly. “I pay like I weigh so
I’m able to have any woman I want . . . and if I decide to have a hundred that’s what I wil do. I take
care of you and as long as I make money and give you some, you shouldn’t have a problem with
what I do.” He was dead ass serious with that bul shit too.
“You ain’t never heard the song, ‘she ain’t nothing but a gold digger . . . she ain’t messing with no
broke niggas?’ That’s al of ya’l women so as long as a nigga got money I’m gon’ keep fucking with
ya’l trifling ass gold diggers. Seems to me, ya’l got the best pussy anyway,” Duke said, laughing
evil y.
“You ain’t never heard the saying it’s ch
eaper to keep her?” I retorted. “Wel , you better take heed
to that one because in some cases . . . we ain’t al gold diggers.” I walked away from Duke and went
into the bedroom and slammed the door.
When I was sure Duke had left, I ran into the closet and checked my stash. It was stil there,
untouched. I wiped sweat from my head, relieved that Duke hadn’t found it. Now that I had gotten rid
of the baby, it was time for me to start putting my Plan B into action. I knew it wasn’t going to be long
before Duke found out about what I had done to his businesses. I sat down in the closet and starting
counting the money I had taken. I had amassed close to ten thousand dol ars. Shit, that even
surprised me. I hadn’t even been stealing from Duke that long.
When I was finished counting and hiding the money, I cal ed Diamond. Once again, she dropped a
bomb on me. She told me she had heard Duke was having his engagement party at an exclusive
country club in Virginia Beach, not too far from the damn condo I was living in. I didn’t even get mad or
upset like I usual y did. I had long since left those emotions behind me. Now, it was al about getting
even.
I cal ed some dudes from the ’hood I grew up with. I told them there would be al kinds of luxury
cars outside of the country club and I wanted every one of the cars to be destroyed, stolen or
vandalized in some way that would cost the owners a fortune to fix. Once I started rattling off car
types—Escalades, BMWs, Porsches—it didn’t take long to convince my little wannabe gangsta
friends to get to work. They knew just where to get the most money for those types of car parts.
There were chop shops al over Virginia Beach.
With that being done, I set out to do more damage to Duke’s life. My next deed was to fuck up his
bank accounts, investments and real y destroy him financial y.
If I couldn’t have the fucking money as his wife, nobody would.
Cheaper to Keep Her Unique
Chapter 19—The Break-Up
Three days had passed and I stil hadn’t heard anything from Duke.
He hadn’t been back to the condo and at this point I didn’t want to see him. The streets were
buzzing about his impending marriage. Then I received a cal from him.
“Hel o,” I answered.