A Hustler's Queen

by Saundra

  “Aye, I’m out.” I was ready to go. I had come and done what I told DaVon I would do. At least I hoped I had done a good job. Either way I was not doing it again. Or least I prayed I never had to. All those killer faces looking at me made me feel like I was next in line to be shot.

  Chapter 21

  “Maria, I love your breakfast steak tacos.” I popped the last bit into my mouth. I chewed slow to savor the taste. There were more left, but I did not like to eat until I felt full, so I chilled.

  “I like making them in the morning, it’s quick and filling. I used to make those for the kids all the time for breakfast when they were in school.” Maria set a tray of fruit on the kitchen table.

  “Not fruit too. I can’t eat any more.” I rubbed my stomach. When Maria cooked, she thought of everything.

  “You don’t eat enough, Precious. I must make sure you eat sometimes or you’ll fade. Not enough meat on your bones.” She grinned at me. DaVon strolled in the kitchen on that note.

  “Whatever she don’t eat, I will.” He chuckled, then bent down and kissed me.

  “Babe, I eat enough,” I declared.

  “Come on over here and fill up your plate, DaDa.” Maria fished a plate from the cabinet. DaDa was her nickname for DaVon.

  After DaVon’s plate was packed with tacos and fruit, Maria left the kitchen on a mission to clean. The house was always spotless, but she kept it top-notch. There wasn’t a piece of dust that could be found on the premises. But she also took charge of the contractors for the pool upkeep, yard work, and landscaping. Maria was the glue that kept the house together.

  “What you got going on today, babe?” DaVon nearly stuffed a full taco into his mouth. I watched him chew it up. Even his chewing turned me on. I so loved my man and his healthy appetite. Even though he ate well, he stayed ripped, courtesy of the full gym he had in the house.

  “Well, I gotta go by the house and check up on the construction. Then I have a hair appointment, which gone clear out the rest of my day.” I ate a strawberry.

  “How is that going? I have been meaning to stop by the house too, to peep out the construction. You’ll let me know if something ain’t right?”

  “It’s going okay. And you know I will let you know if there is a problem,” I assured him.

  “Aye, well make sure you make time for me tonight. I want to take you out to dinner. I already made reservations.”

  “I’m lookin’ forward to it.” I smiled. I loved spending time with him, but we both were so busy we had to schedule each other in. “Oh, babe, Keisha presented this idea to me about opening a hair salon.” I decided to share with him now before it slipped my mind.

  “She do hair?” He threw a pineapple chunk into his mouth. Confusion was on his face.

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “I asked her the same thing when she said it to me. But nah, she don’t. She wants to open up a salon and hire beauticians, but the major part of her idea is me.”

  “How so?” DaVon seem puzzled.

  “She asked me to basically be part owner. You know, us go into business together.” DaVon gazed at me as he bit into another taco and chewed. He pondered over what I said. I decided to break her vision down. “The way she put it to me is, business at the hair store is going really well. She selling so much hair she feel like if we had a hair salon we could get that clientele. Which is like guaranteed. You know, a chick buys hair, then we could have some of the baddest hairstylists on deck, and they can go right over and get they head done.”

  “It really does sound like a legit business point. But how do you feel about going into business with her?”

  “I don’t really know. But I told her that I had a lot going on with school and the dry cleaners. I didn’t want to jump into anything else with an already full plate.”

  “That’s true. You also have to be thinking about the fact that you two are friends. Sometimes that ain’t the best combination. You both run successful businesses.”

  “Yeah, she pointed that out about us being successful, she said that was another reason she considered it, and plus I’m in school for business.”

  “So then the issue could be opinions about the way things are run from the both of you. And even though the idea sounds ideal, what if things don’t work out? Now I ain’t saying this to be negative. I just think these are things to consider before making a decision.”

  “This is why I wanted to talk to you about it, babe. I knew you would give your honest opinion and that’s what I need. Not the money that could be had. I know that’s a big part of it, but that can’t be the reason. But like I said, I haven’t agreed to anything because truthfully, I don’t think I have time. And whatever business adventure I take on, I want to be hands-on with it. And once I’m done with school, I will eventually want to open up another business. Not exactly sure what kind just yet, but that is my goal.”

  “Well, whatever you decide to do, I got your back one hundred percent. No matter what.”

  “I know you do.” I stood and gave him a kiss. I had to get going so I could check on the construction and get to my hair appointment on time. “I’ll call you from the car though, babe, I got to get in these streets.”

  “A’ight, sexy.” He slapped me on my butt as I turned to walk away. His phone rang.

  “What up, my nigga? Pull up in a minute . . . Naw, fuck it. I got it. I don’t need shit. You handle that. Bet.”

  The look on DaVon’s face told me something was up, so I chilled a second.

  “What’s the matter, babe?” I pried.

  “You still here?” He looked up at me. “I thought you was out the door.”

  “Is everything cool?” I stuck to the question at hand.

  “Yeah, I’m straight. I gotta make this run to drop off these bricks and pick up this money. Quincy was supposed to roll with me, but a block just got hit. So he handling that shit.”

  “So who gone roll wit’ you? Ain’t Clip and Mob in Dallas?” I was confused.

  “Yeah, but it’s cool. It’s just that nigga Drake. I been dealin’ wit’ him forever, that’s why I only normally take one nigga wit’ me.

  The look on his face was confident, but I didn’t like the sound of that. “Tell you what, I’ll ride with you,” I volunteered.

  “Babe, you got your own shit to do. It’s cool. Trust me. Go handle your business.”

  “Well you been wanting to get down to see what’s going on with the construction at the house. I can ride with you to make the drop, then we go by the house. The other Escalade is parked over there; I can jump in it afterwards for my hair appointment.”

  “Babe, you don’t have to do this. Tell you what. I’ll drop off the bricks then meet you up at the house. How does that sound?”

  “DaVon, I want to ride with you,” I insisted.

  “A’ight, Miss Bonnie. Grab your piece of steel,” he joked, “’cause I ride hard.” He chuckled. I would have laughed, but instead I turned on my heels and went to retrieve my gun. I figured why not.

  The ride over to Drake’s spot was long, and I enjoyed it. I loved any time I spent in DaVon’s company. We enjoyed each other. We pulled up to his house; the neighborhood was an old suburb in Compton. I was nervous and wondering how DaVon could deliver anything to anyone in this neighborhood and feel safe. But I knew there was a lot of old so-called kingpins that still lived in the hood.

  “Listen, I want you to sit back and hang tight. I’ll be right back. This won’t take long.” Smiling, he leaned over and kissed me on the lips. I smiled back and bit my lip seductively.

  “I’ll be here, lover,” I teased. “I get so weak in the knees I can hardly speak, I lose all control and something takes over me.’” I sang along with the SWV song “Weak.” I loved old-school songs, or back-in-the-day songs, as I used to call them when I was growing up.

  DaVon had been inside Drake’s crib for at least ten minutes and it seemed like forever. “‘Blood start racing through my veins,’” I continued to sing. Then I
caught a glimpse of a short, brown-skinned guy, who in my opinion seem suspicious, slip around the side of the house. But he moved so fast I wondered if I had seen him. I looked around and saw no one else. Another minute passed. My gut trembled.

  Reaching inside my purse, I retrieved my Ruger. Slowly I opened the car door and stepped out into the heat. The neighborhood kids were screaming and laughing. The block almost looked normal; if I closed my eyes, I could have imagined I was anywhere but Compton—until I heard the helicopter. I looked up and my reality was confirmed. Helicopters ran all day and night—it was loud and annoying, but in LA I was used to it.

  I stepped onto Drake’s porch and heard no movement inside. Gently, I placed my hand on the doorknob and was surprised when the door opened. Who knew people in Compton were bold enough to leave their doors unlocked? Inside, I shut the door. All I heard was silence, which I found odd. Slowly and quietly I stepped halfway down the long hallway. To the left was the living room, and opposite was the den, which opened up into the kitchen. My heart started to race as I realized DaVon was nowhere in sight.

  I stopped when suddenly I heard voices. Gripping my gun tighter, I continued to walk to the left of me, toward a room where I heard DaVon’s voice. “So you wit’ the shit homeboy. You gone sneak a nigga.” I knew then there was trouble. Leaning to the side, I peeked in the doorway and saw the short suspicious guy, with a gun to the back of DaVon’s head. Drake was bent over, looking in the bag with the kilos. I hurriedly sat back so that he couldn’t see me.

  “You damn right. I knew you an them light-ass niggas would slip up. Slim, bust this nigga.”

  Taking a deep breath, I stepped in the room and put the Ruger to the back of the short guy’s head. He flinched. “Don’t move.” I ordered.

  “Wait, who the fuck is this? You brought company, DaVon?”

  “You fuckin’ right.” DaVon seethed.

  “Listen, man, tell ya girl to step the fuck off.”

  “Nigga, he don’t tell me shit,” I barked. “Now you, shorty fat, put the gun down. And I mean slowly.” I pushed the tip of the gun into the back of his meaty head.

  “Aye, aye, just be careful wit’ that thang, lil momma.”

  “Nigga, watch yo’ mouth.” DaVon growled.

  “Yo, nigga, I know you don’t think yo’ bitch gone come in here and save the day,” Drake said, then quickly reached down, for his gun I assumed. But I didn’t think about it, I just pointed the gun at him and squeezed the trigger. I watched as the bullet flew from the tip of the barrel and landed straight into his heart.

  “Shit, girl,” Drake mouthed. Slowly he looked down at the smoke coming from his chest. We all watched as he hit the floor, then Slim quickly bent down to get his gun. But not before DaVon reached in his waist, pulled out his gun, and shot him in the neck, then ended him with a bullet to the center of his head.

  In shock, I stood and stared at the bodies. Tears ran down my face.

  “It’s okay.” DaVon wrapped me his arms.

  “I couldn’t let him shoot you.” I sobbed.

  “You did the right thing. Now we got to get out of here.” DaVon reached down and grabbed the bag of kilos. Then he reached under the table and grabbed a bag full of money. “Now all this shit mine, you old greedy ass nigga.” He pointed his gun at Drake and squeezed off a bullet between his eyes. I saw it coming but still flinched. “Let’s get out of here.” DaVon nodded his head toward the exit to the hallway.

  I couldn’t believe what had happened, but I dried my tears. I realized DaVon was with me and if I had not pulled the trigger he would be back there dead, and so would I.

  “Everything is gone be alright.” DaVon drove at a normal speed. We didn’t need to bring any attention to us. Getting out of Compton was the new goal.

  “I know.”

  “I’m lucky you went wit’ me. I been dealin’ wit’ that suck-ass nigga for years. I made that nigga who he is. But you can’t never trust shit. And I know that better than anybody. Guess I was trippin’ today. Next nigga won’t get the chance though, promise you that . . . I love you though.” We were sitting at a red light and Compton was almost behind us. He leaned down and kissed me.

  “I love you too.” I smiled.

  “Now I got to go and send some cleaners over there to get rid of that mess. I’ma drop you off at the house to look at the construction, but I can’t stay.”

  “It’s okay. You go handle business.” I understood. Soon we were pulling up to Dad’s house. The construction workers were out everywhere working. I kissed DaVon goodbye and he drove away.

  “Yes, I really like the space. It’s what I had in mind. But I was worried when you said there might be complications, so this is great,” I said to Scott, the lead guy on the construction crew. One of my requests on the new design was for them to knock out the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room. Dad had always wanted to do that, but he never had time to oversee any construction because of his hectic work schedule at the dry cleaners. So I took this opportunity to help it come to life, but Scott had said there might be some complications because of the original structure of the house. But luckily, it had turned out fine.

  “The demolition of the wall went off perfect. The designers you picked should be here in a few days to start the crown molding you requested.” I liked the sound of that; everything seemed to be moving along smoothly.

  “Good. I can’t wait until everything is finished.” I continued to walk throughout the house, observing the rest of the work. The dry cleaners’ number stalled me when it jumped up on the screen of my phone. “I need to get this.” I stepped away from Scott. “Hello,” I answered.

  “Precious, they came in with a gun!” Katrina screamed through the phone. She was talking so fast I wondered if she said what I thought I heard. This could not be happening.

  “Wait, what? Gun?” I asked. My heart was beating rapidly and I felt as if my breaths were coming slowly.

  “Two guys came in with a gun and tried to rob us. The police are here. Can you get down here right away?” Katrina pleaded.

  “I’m on my way.” I ended the call. I could not believe this bullshit. Instantly, I thought of my dad. He lost his life in that damn dry cleaners. I found DaVon’s name in my phone. “DaVon, get over to the cleaners. Katrina says they almost got robbed.” I left a message since he didn’t answer the phone.

  There were three cop cars and a few detective cars parked out in front of the cleaners when I pulled up. A policeman tried to stop me at the door. I looked him up and down and rolled my eyes. Now was not the time for him to play robo cop with me. “This is my business. I’m the owner.” I glared at him at him so hard he stepped aside without any question. “Katrina,” I said as I approached. She was talking to a tall, thin white guy dressed in a cheap suit. Looked like one of them JCPenney specials, but he thought he was clean and if you told him different, you might have to fight him.

  “Precious!” Katrina looked over at me. “This is the owner,” she pointed out to the detective. I observed my surroundings quickly; the other detectives and cops were investigating the scene. They hadn’t found my dad’s killer and I doubted they were going to waste time to find a robber.

  “What happened?” I asked. But I knew the answer was that some idiot pulled a gun and demanded cash.

  “Two guys came in and demanded I open the safe. I told them I didn’t know the number but they didn’t believe me. So I went to it and pretended to try and open it. After five minutes of trying, one of the guys pushed me in the corner of the office and fired a gunshot over my head. Then they just ran out.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Katrina had a child. I could only imagine the fear she’d had at the moment.

  “She was telling me that the cameras are not working yet.” The detective gazed at his notepad and not at me. I thought that was rude because I knew even with all his notes, nothing would happen to bring the robber to justice.

  “Yeah, there was a problem with the hooku
p, size, equipment and stuff. But it’s scheduled for day after tomorrow actually.”

  “Well, thank God the bullet missed her.” He looked at me as if he was accusing me of something. As if I had control over everything.

  “Is there a problem?” I was offended. LA cops were full of shit and everybody knew it. They couldn’t solve simple murders but accused me of something that was out of my control. The nerve of them. I was ready to give them a piece of my mind.

  “Oh no, I was pointing it out. You know these neighborhoods are not the best and everybody needs a quick buck.” His point was not being made. That had nothing to do with his insult about my cameras.

  I just glared at him. My gaze read shut the fuck up. “Well, thank God we have you all. LA’s finest,” I said with sarcasm and rolled my eyes. “What do we do next?” That was hopefully a question they could answer for me.

  “We wait. See if anybody saw anything. We already fingerprinted the whole place. I’m sure we will come up with something. Other than that, we will continue to investigate. I suggest you get those cameras up and runnin’. And keep your eyes open.”

  “We’ll do that,” I said with attitude. I hoped he got the hint I wanted his ass and the rest of his bulldogs out of my cleaners. They were not good for shit except donuts and milk.

  “Here’s my card. Call me if you get any leads. And we will keep you posted if we hear anything.”

  I took the card and gripped it tightly in my hand and prayed it crumbled. “You okay, Katrina?” I asked as soon as they were gone.

  “Girl, I’m shook up but I’m good. I can’t wait until I’m able to take me and my child and get the fuck outta LA. This type of shit gets old.”

  “I know. I’m sorry this happened to you.” I really felt bad for her and I felt guilty that the cameras were not working, even though I couldn’t do anything about it. “I understand if you want to quit.”

  “Quit?” She popped her neck at me and put her hand on her hip. “Quit. What you mean? My job? Girl, I ain’t about to quit my damn job over no scrubs. Shit, I mean I’m shook, but I ain’t crazy. This LA. What are the odds you won’t get robbed anywhere you go?” She paused as if she wanted an answer. “Exactly.” I guess she took my silence as an answer.