Sweeter Than Honey

by Mary B. Morrison

  Straddling B, I raised my hand in the air.

  Swoosh!

  I descended upon B like a bitch who didn’t have her pimp’s money. Wham! I slapped B so hard I swore sparks flew from my hand the same way they’d shot out of that blender when I pureed that dildo.

  “Wake your motherfuckin’ ass up!”

  “Aaahhhhh!” B yelled like a bitch, reaching for my hand that was wavering high in the air. He looked left at his wrist, then right at the other. Kicking his legs, B stared up at me.

  Wham!

  My backhand landed harder across the other side of his face. Calmly I whispered, “I’m only going to ask you one time and one time only, so listen carefully. What happened to Sunny?”

  “Lace, please, baby, it wasn’t my fault. What the fuck you doin’? Get me outta this shit. I tried to tell you but—”

  Balling my fist, I punched B in his mouth. “That one was for slamming me into the side of the bathtub last night. Nigga, don’t make me ask you again.” Reaching into my nightstand, I pulled out my .45, gripped it with both hands, and pointed the tip between B’s brows.

  “Valentino killed her! I swear! Sunny was dead when I got there!” B’s entire body rattled. His eyes were wide and teary.

  Kissing his dick with the gun next to his balls, I politely asked, “Got where, baby?”

  B’s head swung, alternating slamming his jaw into the mattress. “Uh, uh. No, baby, please don’t fuck with my jewels. I swear you gotta believe me.”

  Pinching one of the most sensitive spots on a man’s body, I dug my nails into B’s inner thigh and yelled, “Answer the fuckin’ question!”

  “Got to Valentino’s house! Fuck! Lace, c’mon now. You wouldn’t like it if I scratched your pussy. Baby, please stop.”

  He was right.

  Reaching for the goblet, I took a sip, then, Splash! threw the water in B’s face along with the glass.

  “Aahhh, then what happened,” I asked, inserting the tip of the barrel in B’s asshole. “Crying is not going to help you now. So, what did Valentino ask you to do?”

  My aggression was for Honey, Sunny, and all the women who’d suffered any form of abuse by a low-life scumbag john, pimp, ex-anything, husband, or fiancé.

  “I transported Sunny’s body to her house, then left the body bag in the closet, but when I went back to get my money it was gone and Sunny too.”

  So these motherfuckers were really trying to play Lace St. Thomas for stupid. “Just because I have a pussy, motherfucka’, don’t mean I won’t kill your ass.” The only way B could’ve taken the money was if Valentino…

  “Shut up all that damn crying like a bitch!” I yelled. “I can’t hear myself think.”

  As I pushed the gun farther up B’s ass, he yelled, “Ow, that shit hurts! Lace, please stop it!”

  “Okay,” I said, propping a pillow underneath the gun. Then I left the barrel up B’s ass.

  I showered, dressed in front of B, then went into my closet. “Aw, hell no!” Storming over to B, I asked, “Where did you leave my mink coats?”

  B exhaled heavily. “Lace, please, this is really fucked up. I don’t deserve this. Please, baby, untie me and I’ll get your coats and get the hell up outta your house.”

  I swear I wanted to laugh. B looked like a frog waiting for a circumcision. Girl, let that thought go. That would be taking things too far.

  Rummaging through my nightstand, pretending I was searching for something else to torture B with, I found that everything was there. My bullets, my audiotapes from Valentino’s, and a few XXX-rated videos I was paid to do but wished I hadn’t while working at the Ranch.

  “Okay, I already told you I was taking them to the cleaner’s for you. Now can you please take the gun out of my ass?”

  “Was taking or took?”

  B said, “They’re in the trunk of the black…aw, fuck.”

  I ran to my car, unlocked the trunk, then sighed in relief, thankful Sunny’s body was not there, but neither was my car mat. Whatever, I’d deal with B’s ass later. Closing the garage door, I drove to Valentino’s, strategizing my move.

  CHAPTER 31

  Lace

  “Okay, Lace, you’ve got to compose yourself, and accept the fact that Sunny is dead.” Hearing myself speak those words, I felt like my heart had stopped beating. “But how? Why? What went wrong? How could I have failed Sunny in less than seventy-two hours?”

  I asked myself question upon question until I was sick to my stomach. Parking my car at Valentino’s mansion, I bit my bottom lip to keep from crying. Obviously I wasn’t doing a decent job of controlling my feelings for Sunny. Emotions and prostitution didn’t mix, so I rechanneled my energy.

  I was certain my hidden recorder was loaded with invaluable information; this wasn’t the best time for me to sneak the disc out of the First Lady book. First I’d have to find a way to get Valentino out of his study for a few minutes. “I’ve got it.” When I got back, after the girls left Valentino’s and headed to IP, I’d short-circuit the lighting and temperature controls on Valentino’s precious shark tank. That’d send him frantically running to the basement.

  Desperately I wanted to go inside and talk to Valentino before picking up the girls, but too many strange things had already happened. Plus, I was so angry with Benito’s confession that I’d shoot Valentino in his face if he told me he’d killed Sunny.

  Benito’s voice echoed in my ear. “Lace, why you gotta be so hard all the time?”

  All B’s monologues about black this and white that, he should’ve understood black women were tired of being asexual. Having to go to work every night while B laid his lazy ass up in my bed betraying me after all I’d done for him. Fuck, that ungrateful son of a bitch. No, I didn’t want to hear his sorry-ass excuse for being broke. Besides the obvious that he’d pissed off his money trying to impress others by buying friendships that ended when his last dollar was spent, the only way I could tell B was a man was that I was generous enough to have left his dick and balls attached to his body.

  I smiled, thinking, B must’ve prayed every minute of every hour that his nuts remained intact. I knew he was scared shitless that he’d make the wrong move, triggering a bullet up his ass. I wondered how much time I’d have to serve if B died of a heart attack believing the gun was loaded.

  Right now I had my own shit to deal with. Overcoming my life’s obstacles since being kicked out of the house at sixteen was like jumping one huge hurdle after another with no time for rest. The two security guards were sitting in the limousine parked next to me. At this point I couldn’t trust anybody, especially these guys.

  Approaching the driver’s-side window, I said, “Follow me to IP so I can leave my car there.”

  If any foolishness went down at IP tonight, I was out for good with a one-way ticket to Atlanta. Cruising along Martin Luther King Boulevard, I watched the guards in my rearview mirror. Were they talking about me? Worried if I’d shoot them like I’d done their boss? Or were they relieved that Reynolds was dead so they could fight over the head security position? Guys who were in gangs or worked for the Mafia always had one foot in prison and the other in the grave expecting to kill or be killed.

  All over the world, men could shoot deer or ducks for recreation, so why shouldn’t women be allowed to shoot men who were dogs and call it a sport? Just the way I’d killed Reynolds, without hesitation I’d have no problem getting rid of Valentino.

  Parking my car at IP, I rode up front with the guys. I had to make sure they weren’t plotting revenge against me, so I sat between them with my gun in my garter holster.

  “Either of you tell Valentino what happened to Reynolds?” I asked, looking at one, then the other.

  The driver answered, “He didn’t want to know, so our boss told us not to say nothing. We didn’t see nothing, and we don’t know a damn thing.”

  The security guard to my right chimed in, “Not even where his body is buried.”

  Lying motherfuckers.

/>   “I see,” I said, noting that their lines were clearly rehearsed, which meant they’d had a lengthy discussion about Reynolds’s death with their boss and Valentino. “Who did your boss say is Reynolds’s replacement?” I casually inquired, using my peripheral vision to monitor their reactions.

  Honestly I didn’t believe there was a boss or anyone else supporting these fools. Reynolds was probably a one-man operation who’d hired these guys off the street, then pretended to have an entire operation behind him so he could push his drugs in a safe environment.

  Silence. The one to the right waited for the driver to answer and the driver looked straight ahead like I hadn’t spoken a word. Whoa. Not at all what I’d expected. I tried to wait them out, but neither of them uttered a syllable.

  “Okay, let me ask that another way. Which one of you is in charge?”

  The driver spoke. “We decided we’re fifty-fifty partners.”

  Just as I’d thought. I continued listening to his watered-down plan.

  “You see, we didn’t like the way Reynolds was cheating us out of our money anyway. Talkin’ ’bout how all the revenue from the drugs was his. Only problem is, we didn’t know Reynolds’s supplier and we don’t have one of our own.”

  Bullshit. If Reynolds had undercut either one of these unscrupulous four-legged animals, they would’ve bypassed me and gone directly to Valentino. And in order for Valentino to avoid dealing directly with Reynolds’s boss, whoever that was, Valentino would’ve paid these guys to shut up and get out of his face. Ah yes, this situation was getting more complicated by the minute, but I loved when men challenged my intelligence.

  “Valentino has connections. He already knows who’s replacing Reynolds and I’m sure his new person, like Reynolds, has a supplier.”

  Fuck! That was it! Valentino wanted to be his own supplier. That’s why he wasn’t tripping over Reynolds’s death. I’d done Valentino a favor. That slick motherfucker. Now I saw exactly how well his plan was going.

  “Well, I’m going to make you guys a proposition you won’t want to refuse. For a hundred thousand dollars each, you’re on my team. Your priority is to protect me at all times. If some shit goes down, shoot first and don’t ask any questions. I’ll do all the talking.”

  The driver asked, “So, let me get this right. We’re your personal bodyguards from here on?”

  “Exactly,” I said. “From now on you two report directly to me.”

  “Does Valentino know about this?” the driver asked.

  “You’re not listening. Valentino has hired his own men to replace you guys. That way he gets to keep all the money from drug sales. Y’all are demoted to chauffeurs,” I lied, trying to confuse them. “What I’m offering you is huge. Take it or leave it, because at my price I can hire anyone else. If you’re interested, I’ll give you the details later. I gotta go inside and get the girls,” I said, scooting out of the limo and strutting into the casino.

  This pimpin’ game had become like the United Nations and I needed every escort and security person to form an alliance with me against Valentino. Where was I going to get two hundred thousand dollars in cash to give away tonight without using Valentino’s money? I had no idea.

  Following the sparkling big red apple dangling from the ceiling, I entered the bar area, joining my escorts. Gathering them in a huddle, I said, “Ladies, I sincerely apologize for everything bad that happened to any of you yesterday and promise nothing like that will happen to you again.”

  “So, is this the ‘You brought it on yourself’ speech that you’re giving us before you beat us, then shove your finger up our asses later?” girl six questioned.

  The hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention. This trick had gotten bold. With the other ten girls awaiting my response, I remained calm, then said, “No, it’s not and no, I’m not going to beat you. However, I do have to check all of you. But there will be some good changes coming really soon.”

  “I don’t believe you. Maybe we should all find ourselves a new madam like Sunny did,” girl six said, nodding toward the bar.

  How in the fuck did I miss that? Covering my mouth, I felt like my heart stopped beating again. I felt the tears flooding my bottom lid, so I blinked repeatedly ’cause none of my girls had seen me weak. I knew Sunny was alive. I knew it. I knew it. I just knew it and I didn’t care about her having a new…what the hell? Squinting, I stared at the woman seated next to Sunny. That was the trick in blue from the bar the other night who knew my name. All of the madness was like being trapped in a never-ending nightmare.

  Onyx’s pointing finger pressed against her lips as her chilling stare focused on Starlet’s eyes.

  Did Valentino get to my bitches before me? I didn’t have time to entertain games with girl six or Onyx, who obviously wanted to provoke a response from me, so I gave all of them something to do in order to get these bitches out of my face before I leaned across the table and slapped the hell out of all of them with one long stroke.

  “Onyx, escort the girls to the limo out back. Now.”

  I was happy, pissed, relieved, jealous, and angry all within five minutes of seeing Sunny. Approaching the bar, I smoothed my skirt, checking for my gun just in case. “Excuse me, ladies,” I said, interrupting their conversation.

  “Lace, hi. Good to see you. You look nice,” Sunny said, twisting her torso in my direction.

  “Good to see me? You’re acting like you don’t know me. Like nothing has happened. Where were you last night and what’s going on here?”

  Frowning at me, Sunny said, “Oh, where are my manners? Lace, Sapphire. Sapphire, Lace.”

  Manners? Sunny introduced us like we were two of her girlfriends who simply hadn’t met yet.

  Whispering in Sunny’s ear, I asked, “Are you on drugs? Is this woman holding you against your will?”

  Pushing me away, Sunny smiled. “Don’t be jealous because I have a new boss.”

  Firmly grasping Sunny’s biceps, I eased her off the bar stool, insisting, “Let me speak to you in private.”

  This Sapphire woman opened her mouth when she should’ve kept it shut. “Lace, Sunny is with me now. And you have five seconds to get your hands off of her. Your job is done and so are you.”

  What the hell? That bitch didn’t know who she was fucking with. I wanted to slap her ass just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. As I stared at Sunny, ignoring Sapphire, my eyes softened. Gently I touched Sunny’s hand.

  Drawing away, Sunny said, “I don’t want to quit. If you let me come back to work, I promise I won’t leave you again.”

  Whoa, what was with the sudden change of heart? I did want Sunny back, but that was too damn easy.

  “What! You can’t leave me like this!” Sapphire said, standing over Sunny.

  Okay, I had two guys outside if I needed them. I could play along with Sapphire’s game for a minute. “Hey, look.” I wedged my body between the two of them. “You heard her. She doesn’t want you, she wants me so back off,” I said, pressing my thigh next to hers, making sure Sapphire felt my gun. To my surprise, she jammed her nipples in my eyes. Her pistol was wedged between her humongous titties with the handle touching my chin.

  Sunny somberly asked, “So, can I work with you tonight, Lace?”

  Too much was happening too fast. I didn’t know who to trust or believe. My Sunny would’ve called me Madam. Maybe she didn’t want to confuse me with this bitch.

  Reluctantly I said, “Yes,” to get Sunny away from this Sapphire woman, but I was checking Sunny’s ass for wires when we got to Valentino’s mansion.

  Gulping a shot of alcohol, Sapphire handed me a business card. Staring into my eyes, she said, “If you value Sunny’s life, call me at exactly ten-oh-four tonight. Not a minute before or after.” Then she told Sunny, “You’ll be back. And when you come back, know that you have an ass whipping waiting.”

  Sometimes saying less was better and it was best if I kept quiet at this point. We’d drawn enough attention from the barten
ders and from the patrons who should’ve been watching the two men and two women who were singing onstage.

  If Sapphire had pulled her gun, I would’ve drawn mine and every security person in the casino would’ve surrounded us at the bar. All I saw playing in my head was that Gang of Roses western starring Lil’ Kim, Monica Calhoun, LisaRaye, Stacey Dash, and Macy Gray. Every bitch had a gun. That’s how real life should be.

  Exiting the casino, I rubbed Sunny’s veins from her wrists to her shoulders. There was a lot different about Sunny’s personality. Although I didn’t see any tracks, she’d definitely taken something.

  “Are you sure you’re not on drugs?”

  “No, I don’t do drugs,” Sunny said, stumbling into the limo.

  That was odd too. My Sunny considered XTC her drug of choice. Now she was claiming she doesn’t do drugs when her mood had swung from confident to peaceful in less than fifteen minutes. “Hmm,” I said, trying to figure this shit out en route to Valentino’s while Sunny danced in her seat the entire time singing, “Let’s go, kitty kat,” over and over. I wanted to scream, “Shut the fuck up!”

  Arriving at the mansion, I instructed security, “I’ll escort the girls inside. Keep Sunny in the limo and don’t let her out of your sight.”

  CHAPTER 32

  Valentino

  Lounging in my cinema chair watching these bitches enter my dressing room with Lace, I stroked my dick wondering which one of them would try a G next. Obviously Lace was up to some foul shit, letting those tricks put on makeup and then get dressed without swiping their mouths or scooping their pussies.

  Checking in with my boy, I dialed Lace’s home number to speak with Benito, but the nigga didn’t pick up so I called his cell. No motherfuckin’ answer. Benito wasn’t slick. His ass was either giving me a full report on Lace tonight or I was going to that fancy estate and personally whupping the black off his ass. Knowing that punk, he was probably tiptoeing across the border trying to pass as a Mexican right this minute.