by Saundra
“I know but—”
She cut me off. “No buts . . . I’m fine. Once I get over the initial shock, I’m good. What them niggas better worry about is me tellin’ dookie an’ ’em about they punk ass. I remember they faces. I better not never see them again.” Katrina’s fear was now anger, and I felt her on that. But I knew all about dookie and ’em—her gun-toting cousins—and they didn’t play. They would body anybody who crossed them and not think twice.
“Babe.” I turned around to DaVon’s voice. “What happened?” Concern covered his face.
“Some punk-ass niggas tried to rob me,” Katrina jumped in.
“You get a look at them?” was his next question.
“Yeah, they dumb ass didn’t even try to hide their identity.”
“I’ma try to find them, and you can identify them before they take their last breath.” He seethed. “You a’ight, though?”
“I’m cool. They tried to make me open the safe, but I couldn’t so they pushed me in a corner and fired a gun over my head, then ran off.”
“Them niggas pussy.” DaVon gazed around.
“DaVon, I know they coming to do the cameras in a couple of days, but I want to get a security guard up in here. And ain’t talkin’ bout no rent-a-cop. I’m talkin’ bout the ones that carry guns.”
“No doubt. I gotcha. I’ll make some calls right away,” he declared.
“Katrina, you can go home for the day. I’ll finish up the shift and lock up. And don’t worry, you still gone get paid for the entire shift,” I assured her.
“Good lookin’, Precious.” Katrina strolled off to gather her things. “And thanks, DaVon.”
“No doubt.” DaVon looked me in the eyes. “Babe, maybe you should just close up for the day. Ain’t no use in stayin’ open.”
“No, fuck that. I ain’t lettin’ nobody run me outta my business. I get so sick of these thug-ass hoods bullying everybody’s business. Well, they ain’t gone bully me.” I had to blink twice to fight back the tears, I was so angry.
“A’ight, I got your back. Whatever you want to do. But I’m gone hang out with you for a minute for the rest of the shift. I ain’t leavin’ you here alone.”
“Don’t you have business to tend to? I don’t want to hold you up.”
“You my business.” He pulled me close and I felt safe as I breathed in his scent. I wished he would never leave my side.
As much as I tried to urge him to go handle his business, DaVon ended up staying until I left; he refused to leave me alone. So I closed an hour early, but only because I knew he had things he needed to do, and he would put them off for me. But I knew he still was taking care of the incident from earlier, and that was a priority. So after walking me to my car, he kissed me and promised to meet me at the house later.
At home I ran me a hot bubble bath, climbed in, and soaked. The water was so hot and soothing, I woke up forty-five minutes later still soaking in bubbles and feeling relaxed. I tried to ignore it, but honestly I was a little shook. Never had I killed anyone, and prayed no one pushed me to do that again. But I had to block the whole thing out of my mind. How, I was not sure, but I was going to try hard.
After drying off and lathering my entire body in one of my favorite Bath and Body Works lotions, I slid into a pair of my girl boxers and a wifebeater, and headed downstairs to find something to eat. Maria was gone for the evening. I decided to steam up some broccoli and shrimp in my Rachael Ray nonstick skillet. Fishing out a wineglass, I poured a much-needed glass of champagne. I just needed the day to be over.
Chapter 22
After all the drama with the dry cleaners being robbed, and DaVon almost being robbed and killed, which drove me to kill a man, I was at my wits’ end. But I pushed past that and kept it moving. Nothing was going to stop my show. Finishing school, having a successful dry cleaners, and loving my man and having his back were all goal points for me, and I was on top of it. To prove it, tonight was going to be epic. It was DaVon’s birthday and I had a surprise party planned for him.
I had rented out one of the hottest clubs in LA and didn’t cut any corners. The entire thing had cost me more than eighty thousand dollars, but I was not tripping. He was worth every cent. Keeping it a surprise had been kind of difficult, but I had pulled it off with the help of everyone. Now I just had to be sure it went off as I planned. As usual, DaVon was busy handling business and making sure the streets were tight. He told me that he really wasn’t into celebrating his birthday and that normally he was busy with the hustle. So, to pull him away from his hustle, I had told him that we had reservations for dinner because I knew he wouldn’t question that. But I still wanted him to go home and change his clothes. I called him up and told him that our reservation had moved up a couple of hours because my custom-made dress was late coming in, but I was on the way to pick it up. I told him that he should just go home, get dressed, and since the restaurant was close to Keisha’s house I would just get dressed there once I picked up my dress. Then the stage was set for our next plan, which was Quincy trying to convince DaVon to go have a drink at the bar of the club where the party was being thrown. It was risky, but we gambled on it all playing out.
“It’s on point up in here, Precious.” Keisha scoped out the club. “That nigga gone love this.” She admired the place. I hoped DaVon would be just as impressed.
“I hope so.” I breathed a nervous sigh as I looked around, hoping everything was together. We were all at the club, along with all the guests who had been invited to surprise and celebrate DaVon’s birthday. The food and every ounce of liquor in the club had been stocked in anticipation of the party. I made one thing very clear to the owner: I wanted everyone to leave happy and raving about DaVon’s birthday bash. Now all we needed was DaVon to make his grand entrance.
“Aye, this bish about to be off the hook,” Buffy chanted, as she bent over and shook her butt. That was her signature stance; she could never wait to shake her ass. “When he gettin’ here? I’m ready to turn up,” she sang with excitement.
“Bitch, first off, calm down, this ain’t yo’ party,” Keisha jumped in. I giggled, then looked at my lit-up cell phone, signaling a text.
“That’s Quincy. He said they pullin’ up in two minutes. Get everybody in position.” I got in beat mode. I wanted to be sure it went off as planned. I positioned myself at the door of the VIP lounge, waiting for him to enter.
“The time everyone has been waiting for, my man DaVon just stepped in the building. What’s good, DaVon!” The DJ announced him as he walked through the crowd, balloons and party confetti falling from the ceiling. DaVon shook hands and slapped fives with almost everyone he passed. Watching him work the crowd was like watching Mitch on Paid in Full. He was loved, a true ghetto superstar. I couldn’t help but smile. I was in awe of my own man.
Finally, he made it up to VIP, where I was waiting patiently to greet him, and he hugged me so tight my feet lifted off the ground. “You got me,” he whispered in my ear. My surprise had worked.
“I hope you like it,” I whispered back. “Enjoy every moment.” I kissed him on the lips.
“I already have. This is dope!” he shouted over the music.
“My nigga.” Clip approached and embraced him in a man handshake and back slap.
“And there is more, babe,” I boasted and stood back.
The music stopped and the DJ announced, “Don’t worry about the music, I’ll be back atcha in a minute. But right now, welcome to the stage Young Jeezy, here to get shit poppin’ for ya boy DaVon’s birthday bash.”
Jeezy hit the stage, mic in hand. “Shout out, DaVon, turn up, my nigga!” Jeezy vocalized on the mic, then went in with his first song, “Me OK,” which was one of my favorites from him.
Everyone started to jam to the song and DaVon pulled me close to him. “That’s what’s up, babe. I can’t believe you put all this together for me. And I had no idea.” His eyes were glowing from excitement. I smiled. It felt good knowing I had succeed
ed in making him happy and giving him a birthday celebration that he wouldn’t forget. He had done so much for me, there was no way I could ever repay him. So when I found one of the hottest promoters in the city could hook me up with some live celebrity entertainment for DaVon’s birthday bash, I jumped right on. Money was not a problem.
“I want you to know that I love you and appreciate everything you do for me.” I looked up at him.
“No doubt. I got you. Always.” He leaned down and kissed me again. “And damn, you look good. Let me look at you.” He held my right hand up and turned me around in a circular motion. I couldn’t help but blush as I watched my man eat up how good I looked. His reaction was half the reason I chose the outfit. I was wearing an all-black Brandon Maxwell V-neck jumpsuit that fit my curves just right. “Damn, Precious, bad and classy. Can’t not one woman ever met fuck wit’ you, babe. You a true diamond in the rough, and I mean that. Ummm,” he said. His eyes were mesmerized by me and there wasn’t another feeling like it.
Quincy stepped up. “Aww, break that up.”
“Thanks, Quincy, I could not have pulled this off without you.” I was glad for his help. Keeping DaVon out of the loop was no easy job.
“Aye, it’s all good.” He sipped from a bottle he had cradled tight.
I stood on my tiptoes and kissed DaVon on the cheek. “Enjoy your friends. I’ma check on the girls.” I stepped away.
“Damn, bitch, you ain’t no joke,” Keisha sang when I approached. “You ain’t tell a bitch you had Jeezy comin’ through.”
I smiled. I knew she would say exactly that, but I had my reasons to keep things quiet. The less people that knew, the better. I had begged Quincy not to let it slip during his pillow talk with Keisha. Looked like he had kept his promise. “I know, I know. I had to keep it a secret. I didn’t want DaVon to find out.”
“A’ight, bitch, I see you.” Keisha continued to rock her head to Jeezy.
“Fuck all that. Can you hook a bitch up?” Buffy stepped in. She always had an agenda. “Shit, Jeezy down there lookin’ fine as a motherfucker. A whole damn snack.” She studied him from the distance. “And you know he got bank. Shit, I can barely keep my legs closed watchin’ him.”
“Bitch, the cable man come around and you can’t keep yo’ legs closed. Sit yo’ horny, ho ass down,” Keisha spilled. We all started laughing.
“Whatever.” Buffy responded with a sneer. “Jeezy, baby, I comin’.” Buffy screamed and zoomed out of VIP. Without question, we knew she was going down to the stage to try and get her hooks into him. Jeezy did six songs before leaving the stage. Afterwards, he and some of his crew came up to VIP to meet DaVon. He turned out to be really cool; he hung out with us for almost two hours before leaving. My guess was he left to get away from Buffy, who kept jumping on his lap. He ignored her, clearly uninterested. But I got the feeling he wanted Keisha and in a bad way, because he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. And Quincy was starting to notice. He pulled Keisha away from Jeezy’s eyesight and stayed glued to her until Jeezy was long gone.
Oddly enough, not long after Jeezy left, “SupaFreak” blasted out of the speakers. That was my jam, so I wasted no time jumping to my feet. And so did the other girls. “Aye, I’m a superfreak,” Buffy sang along and twerked.
We all danced and laughed and DaVon came up behind me and grinded on me. Keisha pulled me away from him, and we danced together, just having fun. DaVon, Quincy, Clip, and a few guys from the click were standing close to us, still drinking from their bottles. Buffy kept dancing and backed her ass up to DaVon like she was trying to grind on him. I watched DaVon hold his hands up and gently back up from her. But she tried again.
“Aye, chill, Buffy. Not cool,” DaVon said loud enough for all of us to hear him over the music.
Typical Buffy, she laughed. I kept dancing, trying to ignore her because I knew from being around her how much she loved attention, no matter what the cost. The song ended, so Keisha, Buffy, and Nicole, Buffy’s best friend, and I went to sit down. And boy, was I glad to sit. I was out of breath from all the twerking and unnecessary booty shaking we had been doing. But it was all in fun and I was enjoying it.
“Have any of you noticed, or is it just me? But is that damn Clip growing up and getting finer every time I see him?” Nicole asked. She had the look of complete lust all over her face. I turned and glanced at Clip.
“Hmm, I thought I seen you tryin’ to back it up on him,” Keisha commented with her lips twisted.
“Yeah, I seen ya ass too. Be careful, you might get that young dude hooked. You know these young niggas can’t control themselves. He’ll be knocking on your door all crazy-ass hours of the day and night.” Buffy gave her two cents. “Guess I ain’t the only one who tryin’ to snag one of the crew. And that’s good to know.” She crossed her legs and took a sip of her drink.
“I swear, you are too thirsty,” Keisha said, shaking her head at Buffy. “And you need to keep yo’ wobbly ass off DaVon.” That statement caught me off guard. Suddenly I could see a vivid slow-motion reenactment of her ass all up on DaVon. My head spun around to see Buffy’s reaction to what Keisha had said.
To my aggravation, Buffy giggled and said, “Listen, I’m just tryin’ to see what’s up with the dick. You can’t blame a bitch for that.”
My mouth flew wide-open. That was the last straw. I jumped across Keisha and landed my right fist so hard into Buffy’s jaw I could have sworn I heard it crack over the music. Buffy tried to grab my fist, but I managed to get my left hand on her chest and hold her down. My fist then connected with her mouth.
Keisha and Nicole tried to pull me off and they succeeded, but only for a second. “I’m gone kill you, bitch!” Buffy screamed and tried to come at me. I pushed her so hard she fell to the floor. I jumped on top of her and started pounding her face, fist after fist. I felt strong hands pull me off her and I tried to fight them off, then realized it was DaVon.
“Babe, stop. Calm down.” He attempted to hold on to me. I continued to struggle against him. “Precious!” he yelled.
Buffy stumbled but finally got to her feet and reached for an empty glass and threw it in my direction; it went over my head. DaVon ducked and the glass crashed to the floor behind us. “Bitch, you better be glad that didn’t hit me. DaVon, get off me. I’ma beat this nasty bitch’s ass.” I screamed and tussled, still trying to break free of DaVon’s hold.
“Yo, get Buffy ass up outta here,” DaVon ordered, his eyes fixed on Quincy.
Quincy pulled her up and dragged Buffy out of VIP as she continued to curse and say things I couldn’t even make out. Gradually, DaVon loosened his grip on me.
“Let me go, DaVon.” I jerked free.
“You cool?” Keisha approached me. Nicole was in the corner, trying to grab her and Buffy’s things. After gathering their things, she looked at me and ran for the VIP exit.
“I’m good. Just keep yo’ low-life ass friend away from me. Bitch rude as fuck!” I yelled. Then I tried to fix my frayed clothes and gathered my composure. I hated that I had let Buffy get to me like that. I was usually a calm person, and worked hard at acting like a lady. My dad had raised me to try and control my anger and emotions. I had only been in one fight, and that was ninth grade when a hood rat just like Buffy had tried to take my kindness for weakness. But I had put that to rest when I beat her weave out of her head in front of all her friends. Not only did she leave me alone, I earned a lot of respect as I was not to be fucked with. Not that that should have been a problem, because I didn’t mess with anybody. But sometimes you had to use your fist to close a few doors.
Chapter 23
A few weeks had passed since the incident at DaVon’s birthday party and as far as I was concerned, I was over it. I didn’t even spend any time thinking about it. I had other important things to focus on, like my man, school, and the dry cleaners. The house was coming together and everything was finished. I was just waiting on the inspector to come in and declare that and I would make the final p
ayments to all the contractors. Things were really going well for me. DaVon and I were planning to take another trip to Miami, but for two weeks this time. We were planning to have a Realtor show us a few condos on the beach. We were really considering purchasing one for a getaway crib. And I was too excited about that.
Today, I was at the dry cleaners filling in for a couple of hours because Katrina had an appointment. Things were getting back to normal. It had been a minute since the botched robbery, but we were not worried. The cameras were in and we had two ex-cops that would stop in and keep watch. Not to mention DaVon had put word out on the streets that the dry cleaners was off-limits and that anyone who even thought about holding it up was a dead man walking. Word on the street was he found out who the idiots were who did it. And all I heard about that was it was a wrap. I chose not to ask any questions. So being alone didn’t bother me or the girls at all when we had a shift.
“What’s up?” Keisha said as she made her way through the doors. I was a bit surprised to see her. I had not heard from her since the incident at the club. I figured she was a bit pissed about what I had done to her friend. But I couldn’t care less if that were the case.
“Hey,” I returned. I was filling out some order slips that needed to be tagged.
“I just came through to check on you. DaVon was over to the house earlier, and he said you were down here for a couple hours filling in for Katrina.”
“Yeah, she had an appointment.”
“You good though? Since all that crazy shit went down.”
“Aye, I’m cool like I told you that night. And I’m not sweating that shit no more. I have moved on. I had just had enough of your friend. She just go too far with that mouth. She has no chill.”
“Yo, trust me I know. But I checked her ass on that though. That bitch know better, she just go as far as she can. But I think she heard you though.” Keisha chuckled. But I didn’t see anything funny. “’Cause you got all up in that ass. Girl, I didn’t know you had that in you. Bitch, you got mad hands.”
