“Come on over here, baby. Take care of me and I’ll take care of you.”
How old is your disgusting ass? And you can’t see I’m underage? I’m the youngest one in this bitch. Man! I thought. I tried to translate this with my eyes.
Death had to be better than this.
I thought back to my black history class and the teacher talking about how slaves’ lives were so fucked up, losing their kids, being lashed, raped, or watching their wife or daughter be raped, sold or seeing so much death around them that they looked forward to death and viewed death as an escape from that shit they had to endure every day with no recourse. Shit they looked at death like a little kid looked at going to Disneyland. That’s how I was starting to feel. Once I got home the first chance I got I was going to end my life. I was tired.
“Come on.”
I closed my eyes briefly, and opened them.
“Come on, pretty girl. Put those pretty lips on me.”
I took steps forward with the cop’s smell still on me. I climbed on the bed. The guy pulled me on top of him. Before he could make another move someone started banging on the hotel door. “Open this mothafucking door!”
I gasped instantly recognizing Black’s voice. Desiree jumped off the bed, went to the door, and unlocked and opened it. Black strode inside.
He paused in front of the bed. “Cashmere,” he said calmly. “Get off the bed.”
I did as he ordered.
“What the fuck is this?” the guy demanded.
Black pulled out a gun and said, “Just a minute and you can get back to what the fuck you was doing.” Black turned and looked at Meka. “Meka. Get over here.” Once she did, he took one look at her and slapped her so hard she flew into the wall.
She screamed as she hit the floor with a thud. The guy jumped from the bed in fear as Desiree scurried to a corner
Black cocked back the gun. “Nigga, I said don’t move. Or I’ll pump three into you. Come here, Meka.”
She got off the floor quickly, crying, and walked back over to Black. He started whipping her ass. I mean busting her in the mouth, cracking her in the face, yanking her around by her hair. Then he tossed her to the floor and started kicking her, the whole while saying, “Bitch, I told you not to take Cashmere.” He then lifted her by her neck so her feet dangled in the air. “I bet’ not in my fucking life find you anywhere near her or I will kill you got it?”
“Yes, daddy!”
He slung her into the wall. He then turned to me and grabbed me by my arm yanking me outside. He slammed the door shut and hemmed me up against the wall. With his eyes wide he blasted, “Listen and listen to me well. You are not to go nowhere near Meka and you ain’t to service no clients she services. You don’t fuck the clients she fucks I don’t care what he offering. She has the virus got it?”
I gasped when he said that. He opened the hotel door back, stepped in the doorway. I thought he was going to get Desiree as well but he said instead, “I’m sorry about the inconvenience. You can continue on—”
“Naw. I’m cool. She all beat up. I just wanna go, man.”
Black aimed his pistol at him. “You asked for my girls; you better use them and pay up. Or I will kill you from this door to that bed. Now what’s it going to be?”
The guy lay back down in fear.
“Bitches, get on that bed. And if you don’t pay up we are gonna have problems.”
They did.
Black then closed the door and grabbed me. “Black, what about my sister?” I demanded. I couldn’t let her sleep with the same man Meka was going to sleep with. She could get AIDS too. But Black pulled me away toward the lobby.
“Wait! What about my sister?” I struggled against him as he continued to pull me. “What about my sister? Let me tell my sister!” I screamed. But he wouldn’t let me. He dragged me away.
“Cashmere?” Caesar called my name and snapped me back into my thoughts.
“Yes, I know who the bitch is. But what I don’t know is how and why she was with my child,” I fired.
“I plan on going over there now and questioning her about Dominique’s whereabouts. I need to go now.”
“Well if you going I’m going with you. Mom, stay here and call me if you hear anything.”
He turned around and said, “Take your car in case I have to take her to the station for further questioning. And, Cashmere, I’m warning you now: no matter what she says to you don’t do anything crazy. With your daughter being gone you can’t do anything for her if you get locked up. You can’t worry about revenge right now. The most important thing is to get information, all the information we can to get your daughter back. And since she was with her she more than likely knows where she is. So you have to stay calm. Got it?”
I didn’t respond.
“Got it?”
“Yes,” I bit off. “I got it.”
Twenty minutes later, we pulled up to some apartments. After we got out of our vehicles, Caesar walked toward me, pulled out his gun, and said, “Cashmere, remember what I said.”
I nodded.
We walked into the building to Meka’s apartment. Nothing but rage was inside of me and the closer we got the more I ached to get my hands around her neck and snap it.
Once we made it to the apartment Caesar knocked.
We heard a female say, “Oh that’s probably the pizza, baby,” she said. Without asking, she flung her door opened.
Her eyes widened when she saw me and Caesar. She made a move to close the door but Caesar put his foot in. I stepped forward and shoved the door open with all my might. Both of us stepped in and Caesar closed it behind us.
“What the fuck y’all thinking y’all doing busting in my apartment?” she demanded.
Before I could say anything I looked at who was sitting on the couch and gasped. “Hank!”
“Who is he?”
“My mother’s motherfucking husband!” I shots hateful looks his way.
He stood with his hands in the air. “Cashmere, it’s not what you think. I didn’t—”
“But, nigga, you sure was about to!” Meka fired. “Had him and this bitch not come in here you’d be all up in these walls. Ain’t that what you said you wanted to do when you got my number off of Craigslist? You knew what the fuck this was, nigga.”
I breathed a sigh of relief that Hank hadn’t been fucking her and hadn’t got the chance to fuck her today because she was infected.
“We have some question to ask you, miss. So, sir, it’s best you leave so we can do so.”
He stood and started for the door.
“Uh-uh!” Meka ran after him and blocked him from exiting out the door. “Put the money in my hand! Or else!”
He pulled two one hundred dollar bills out and placed them in her hand. She then stepped aside shaking her head.
Once it was just us three she turned back around to face us.
“So you hand delivered my baby to Black?”
“Go on with that shit, Cashmere. You hand delivered your baby to Black by making her feel unloved and unwanted by your nigga. Yes, I know all about it. And so does Black and he is pissed. You ain’t gonna never see that little girl again. Trust!”
That’s when I rushed her. And Caesar wasn’t fast enough to stop me from slamming her on the floor by her neck.
She struggled against my weight on top of her. “Get the fuck off of me, bitch!”
I spat in her face and started choking her. “Bitch, I’m gonna murder you right here,” I said through clenched teeth. That’s when Caesar lifted me off of her.
She took her time standing back to her feet. “Bitch, you’d never get the chance to kill me. And pigs ain’t the only ones with guns.”
I snatched away from Caesar. “Your gunplay can never scare me, bitch. I’m right here and I’m not pulling out shit. We can go right now.”
She stood with her arms crossed under her chest. Fear glistened in her eyes despite the talk she talked.
“Right. You tal
k that shit but don’t want to pop off at all. All I want to know is my daughter texted me from your phone today. So that means you were with her today. Where the fuck is my daughter, bitch?” I demanded.
“I ain’t got to tell you shit, Cash. And I won’t.” She looked at Caesar. “And as for you, copper, unless you got a warrant get the fuck out my house.”
“You’re on my list to be questioned regarding the death of Patrice Wilson. I don’t need a warrant for that. Because witnesses say you were with her the night she died.”
Her eyes got wide. But she recovered quickly. “But you ain’t coming for that are you? You came to my crib with this bitch who wanna know about her bitch daughter! And like I said, dirty motherfucker, got no warrant get the fuck out.”
“Oh I can get one. And if I do be prepared for me to tear this place apart. You know. Since you’ve got a gun and all. And unless its registered I’d have to take you in and book you.” He gestured toward the counter that had several pill bottles on it. “Along with those pill bottles that I’m sure have molly in them. Which is what Patrice died from. But at the moment, I don’t care about none of that. Now it’s best if you just cooperate with the questions we have for you, ma’am. This is a serious matter. A child is involved.”
I glanced at the counter and saw that some of the pills had spilled from the bottle. They were clear capsules with white powder in them.
Meka looked a little shook when he said take her to the station. Then she brushed it off. “Officer, I ain’t got nothing to lose. Jail and death don’t scare me. I’m so tired of this life any fucking way. But I’ll talk only because I want to. I’d love to.”
I tossed a hand to her rambling. “Shut the fuck up with all of that! Where is my child?”
“I don’t know where the fuck she is. I ain’t seen her in three days. I sent that text because Black told me to.” She looked at me and snickered. “He wanted you to know the real. Bottom line is this: little girl came to me for the truth so I gave the shit to her. And yep, I been grooming her all this time. Introduced her to the game. I don’t like you, Cashmere. Never have. And I don’t like your bitch daughter. I have no loyalty to a bitch like you, who always thought she reigned supreme and I been putting it down longer and been loyal to Black from day one. I don’t know where the fuck Black lives; all I do know is that I gave her the money for a Greyhound ticket and I dropped her off three days ago at the station and that’s it. He wouldn’t tell me where. I wasn’t invited to tag along. Y’all motherfuckers happy?”
Thing was when I was with Black I never saw too much of Meka. She was always working on Fig. She was rarely seen or heard until the day we went to the hotel and Black beat her ass. I didn’t get why she hated me so much or my child.
“No, I’m not happy, bitch. Where in the fuck did you send my child?”
“I told you! Stop acting like you give a shit. You care about my little sister as much as I care about her.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. Hoes referred to other hoes who shared the same pimp as wifey. So I was confused by her terminology. She caught my confused look.
“I’ll repeat it if you want me to. Dominique is my little sister. Oh yeah, you never knew. Black was my daddy. Yep. And my mama gave me to him when I was twelve and I been working for him since. So that makes her my sister, bitch! Sad thing is he gonna do her like he did me. Use her up and throw the bitch away. And I’m glad at that shit.”
I gasped hella distressed at what she was saying. She was Black’s daughter? And if he treated her that way how would he treat my child?
I asked in a shaking voice, “Where is she please?”
“Look I told you what I know. Now you figure the rest out. It ain’t gonna matter if you find her anyway.” She chuckled.
“What are you saying?” I asked evenly as my heart started to speed up.
“Your precious daughter ain’t so precious. She been cracked! She been fucking in a way that rivals you when you were that age. She is a hoe. And a good one and she love that shit. In addition, sweet Cashmere, she had sex with a few of my clients. And we did a threesome with one and like me the guy was infected. Do I need to spell the shit out? Fine I will. I have AIDS!”
“You filthy, scum bitch!”
That’s when I lost it, rushed forward, and started throwing blows at the bitch. She fought back, which made it difficult for Caesar to break it up. I pounded and pounded on her.
“Cashmere!” Caesar grabbed me, causing us both to lose our balance and fall backward on the wooden floor. Caesar’s head hit the wood floor with a bang, weakening him. That’s when the bitch scurried away and ran into another room.
“Cashmere!” But I ignored him, adrenaline pumping through me. I ran toward the hallway searching for the bitch. Her bathroom was empty. Next I ran toward another room; when I opened it I searched for her and the bitch was nowhere in sight.
That’s when Caesar came up and grabbed me from behind. “Cashmere, stop. I—”
“Die, you fucking bitch!” Meka rose with a gun in her hand and pointed it at me. Before I could react Caesar shoved me out of the way while reaching for his gun. But it wasn’t quick enough and the first stray bullets from her gun hit Caesar making him fall to the floor. I ducked down and snatched his gun from his pocket and started firing shots at Meka until I struck her chest several times. She flew into her wall and slowly with her eyes wide, slid to the floor.
My heart started pounding.
“Cashmere! Give me the gun and get out of here now!” he commanded.
I rushed back over to him. “Are you hurt?”
“It’s in my shoulder. I’ll live. Trust me. Give me the gun and leave! I’ll deal with this.”
I hesitated for a second at all the blood I saw but if I got locked up I couldn’t save my child so I ran out of the apartment as Caesar told me to.
I jumped in my car and sped until I made it to my house. I didn’t know what the fuck to do. Things were so fucked up! And I was fearful as hell that I wouldn’t see my child again. This was just too fucking much! Meka being Black’s daughter. My daughter possibly having AIDS and being missing. And I had killed Meka and I hoped to God Caesar really wasn’t hurt too bad.
Still crying, I pulled into my driveway and put my car in park.
“What the fuck?” I screamed out loud hitting my steering wheel. I punched it several times and cried my eyes out. I felt even more hopeless now that Caesar was hurt; he probably couldn’t do anything for me. I prayed that the investigator could help me.
Suddenly someone was knocking on my driver’s side window. I looked at my mother.
I rolled down the window. “What?”
“Girl, I been blowing up your phone. Get out of the car and come in the house. I have someone here who can help us.”
I did as she said and she grabbed me by one of my arms and pulled me with her at a hurried pace and as she pulled me she said, “I got some good news. I got someone to unlock Dominique’s accounts! But we need your help!”
She pulled me into the living room and over to my computer desk. That’s when I noticed the guests in the room. One of them was a nerdy-looking older black man. The other was Hank.
My eyes burned into him. I wanted to tell my mom about what I saw but I knew now wasn’t the time. And his eyes pleaded with me not to.
“This is Teddy. He’s a technician who lives on my street,” my mother said quickly.
“Now in order to do this I need someone who is friends with her to log on to their account,” the guy said.
“I’m her friend.” I quickly logged into my account.
“Now go to your friends list, find her, and click on her page.”
I did so quickly but she was not in my friends list. “What the hell?”
“She blocked you. Okay. Give me one second.” He pulled a tiny device out of his bag and hooked it into the computer. “This is called Firesheep; it’s a plug-in that is essentially a packet sniffer that monitors and analyzes traffic between
a Wi-Fi router and end users connecting to the network. Pretty much with this you can hack into anyone’s account as long as there is a wireless router.” He attached some tiny cord to it and plugged it into his laptop. He did some typing and a few seconds later he had her page open.
I took a deep breath, relieved. A few seconds later, he looked at me and said, “Is this her?”
I looked at Dominique’s page in disgust. She had changed her name to Sexy Dom-Dom Mitchell. In her “About Me” she put: I’m a chill girl and finally I’m happy ’cause I got the bullshit out my life. Anyway fellas you want some of this you know what to do. HMU at [email protected]. You have to at least have one hundred roses if you want a date. And if any pretty wifeys want to join the stable of a real nigga and you willing to put those pretty toes to the concrete for a nigga who is going to hold you down, hit me up! Serious bitches only!
I scrolled down her page.
“Is there a way for me to see what city she is in?” I asked him.
“If she does a post or post a pic her location will show up only if she agreed to let Facebook access her location.” He paused. “And it looks like she didn’t.”
Shit. I sighed.
There were dozens of pictures of Dominique half naked and posing with a man. And there was no need to guess. It was Black Mitchell hugged up with my child. Pictures of him kissing her and her kissing him. On one of the pics it read underneath: Where I want to be.
I looked away as I felt the tears come on again. It was clear that he was prostituting my child. And she was not the same child I raised.
“That motherfucker,” my mother said.
Just then my phone rang. It was Caesar. Thank God. “Hello? Caesar, Dominique is with Black!”
“I know; that’s why I calling. Meet me at Centinela Hospital now.”
Chapter 34
Cashmere
When I walked into the hospital room Caesar was in, although I was anxious for what he was going to tell me I couldn’t help but see that he was banged up. His shoulder was in a sling and there were bandages on his leg.
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