A Hustler's Queen

by Saundra

  I glared at them both with disbelief. Who were these two people? I could for the first time see them for who they were. My heart was truly broken. DaVon had trusted Quincy. I focused in on him. “How could you kill your own friend?”

  Keisha burst out laughing.

  “Precious, is that what you think, that Quincy did it?” She continued to laugh. She smacked him on the shoulder in a playful manner. “Bruh, she thinks you did it.” I watched her in disbelief. I had so much anger inside I could taste blood in my mouth. “You a stupid bitch, but I always knew that. Yes, I’m the one that killed DaVon. It was me. For my man I will do anything,” she barked at me.

  I tried to jump up, but Quincy pointed the gun at my chest.

  “I’ll fuck you up. Nasty ho!” I yelled.

  “Bitch, you won’t do shit. You think you entitled to this shit? No, bitch, I deserve what you got. I been about this life on these dog-eat-dog LA streets way before you came along. Yeah, while you were dry cleanin’, making sure motherfuckers had extra starch, I was out here slangin’ rocks makin’ sure I ate . . . that’s right, bitch, I been hustlin’ since I was a teenager. Nobody ain’t never gave me shit. And you think you can come in and just take over. You ain’t no fuckin’ hustler.” She looked at Quincy. “Babe, I swear these bitches don’t understand that tricks are for kids.” She burst out laughing, then turned her attention back to me. “You see, this ain’t Burger King, you can’t have it your fuckin’ way. I paid the price to be on top, but since I have a king, it’s his turn. And I’ll be damned if some soft bitch like you fuck that up. Now—” Suddenly she reached over and snatched Quincy’s gun from him. Unleashing the safety, she pointed the gun at my head. I closed my eyes. “Now give up the connect,” she demanded.

  Quincy turned his back to check his phone and took a chance. With all my might I charged at Keisha and I was willing to die. I heard the gun hit the floor and out of the corner of my eye saw a knife fall from her shirt. Quincy tripped over us as I grabbed Keisha by the head and pushed her to the wall. I landed blow after the blow to her face. Keisha pulled at my hair. I stuck my fingers in her eyes.

  “Agh!” Keisha screamed. She lifted her right knee and tried to kick me in the gut, and fell. I climbed on top of her and punched her twice in the mouth. Blood wet my fist. “Quincy, get this bitch off of me!” Keisha yelled as I got the best of her. Standing up I kicked Keisha as Quincy tried to pull me away from her. Keisha made her way back to her feet and we went at it again. Quincy struggled to keep us apart.

  Finally he separated us. We heard the click of a gun and Quincy paused. We looked to see Clip standing behind him, a gun to his head. “Drop that gun, nigga,” Clip said through clenched teeth. I scrambled to the floor and grabbed Keisha’s Glock.

  Promise appeared and snatched the knife off the floor. “Are you okay, Precious?” I could see she had been crying.

  “I will be,” I replied.

  “Mane, I tried to get here earlier. I figured this shit out this mornin’, but I had to be sure I was right about these snake-ass lowlifes.” Clip shook his head. “I also found out this nigga is the one who set up the robbery to take Derrick and Ray’s money.”

  “Damn!” I screeched. “Ray was right. He tried to tell us that you knew.” I squinted my eyes at Quincy. “You a fucking snake, my dude. That was them young niggas life that you took. When you knew it was shit.”

  “Nah, them niggas got took ’cause they was weak. The grind don’t give a fuck! Them niggas forgot that.” Quincy give a vile speech of nothing.

  “Tell ’em, baby. Money is all that matters,” Keisha added with a smirk.

  “Bitch, I swear you disgust me. I knew not to trust this slut. I just knew it,” I seethed.

  Promise yelled, “Bitch don’t have no conscience. Nasty, trick, ho.” Promise rolled her eyes at Keisha.

  “Bitch, shut yo’ damn mouth with yo’ stank ass. Broke, bum bitch,” Keisha spat.

  Suddenly Promise pulled a gun from her waist, rushed across the room and smacked Keisha in the face with the butt of it. Keisha wobbled backwards, hitting the wall.

  “Bitch, I’ll kill you,” Quincy threatened Promise.

  “Nigga, shut the fuck up. Disloyal weak ass,” Clip said.

  Quincy attempted to check Clip. “Nigga, kiss my ass. You ain’t never been shit but DaVon’s peon. Non-goal-havin’-ass nigga.”

  Pop, pop, pop. Without warning, Clip released three bullets between Quincy’s eyes. His body swayed in a circular motion. He attempted to look at Keisha but fell face-first, silenced for good.

  “Agh!” Keisha screamed as Quincy hit the floor and the blood drained from his lifeless body.

  “Bitch, don’t scream for him now. Wait . . . or are you screaming for yourself?” Promise chuckled. “Clip, please let me do this bitch.”

  “No.” I stepped in. “This sick bitch is the one that killed DaVon.”

  “Mane, ain’t no fuckin’ way.” Clip was stunned.

  “Yep. So the bitch belongs to me. Clip, did you bring along any of that acid that you known for havin’ all the time?” I had something special in mind for Keisha. Plain bullets wouldn’t be enough for her. No, that would be too easy. I wanted her to suffer and reminisce on her mistakes that would leave her rotting in hell.

  “No doubt.” Clip looked at Keisha and nodded with a smirk. “It’s about to be showtime, bitch.” He turned on his heel to seek out my request.

  Emotionless, Keisha stared at Quincy’s lifeless body as if it would bring him back to life.

  “No matter how much you stare at this fuckin’ loser, he ain’t coming back. So look up, bitch. New life is for you, and it’s coming in the form of steam. You know, fried chicken.” I laughed, but it came from pain and disappointment.

  A tear slid down Keisha’s cheek. “Fuck you, Precious! Wit’ yo’ weak ass!” Spit flew out of her mouth.

  I could not believe I had hung around her, trusted her, felt bad for her, when her own man treated her like dirt. All the while she was stabbing me in the back, plotting on my man’s legacy, with full intent to kill me. This was war, and I had the upper hand. “No, fuck you, bitch. You lost.”

  Pop! pop! I pumped a bullet in each one of her kneecaps.

  “Agh, agh! Please, no, Precious! I don’t mean half the shit that comes outta my mouth. Please don’t kill me. I’m pregnant.” She begged for her life and I was shocked. I came to the safe conclusion that she was confused and pathetic.

  “So now you scared, ho. Ha-ha, don’t make me laugh.” Promise chuckled. “Bitch, you gone take this like a woman today. And I’ma watch this final episode. All I need is some popcorn. Ain’t life a bitch?” Promise shook her head from side to side.

  Keisha’s eyes left Promise and focused on Clip and what was in his hand. She too had heard stories about Clip and the people he had tortured and/or murdered with acid. They were all horrific and scary-movie-award-winning. The fear in her eyes was real “Noooo! Precious. Please,” she begged as she watched Clip pass me the acid. “What about my baby? It deserves a chance to live.”

  “What about DaVon!” I screamed at her. “He deserved better, but you or your thirsty-ass man didn’t give a fuck, right? Huh?” I barked. “So, bitch, fuck yo’ cheap-ass life, that baby probably better off. This is for DaVon. That bastard baby you carrying is just a bonus.” I tossed acid on her like she was a slug on the ground. We all watched as she slowly burned.

  “Momma!” Keisha screamed. The mention of her mother surprised me. The selfish bitch never even talked about her mother. With no sympathy, I tossed more acid on her and continued until the container was empty.

  We watched as she suffered. It became difficult for her to breathe, and just as she sucked her last breath, I yelled her name. “Keisha.” She attempted to lift her head. She made it halfway. Pop! Pop! I pumped two bullets between her eyes. Tupac said it best: I ain’t a killer but don’t push me.

  Chapter 44

  Two weeks later

  The t
wo weeks following all the drama had been the longest two weeks possible. I could still hear Keisha in my mind, unraveling right in front of me. Her words on how she killed DaVon and how she deserved to take what I had. I could not believe her betrayal, nor could I understand it. My dad had raised me and taught me a lot of things, but most of all he taught me how to love and how to care. And I carried that with me every day. I would never understand people who thought like Quincy and Keisha. They were just selfish, out for themselves, city slick people.

  They were two people that I would never forget. They had come into my life at the lowest and took me back to that lowest point before they exited. DaVon had been my refuge after my dad; before he came into my life, I thought I would never love again. He had come along and made love safe for me again. And just like my dad, some lowlife had taken that from me. And the fact that they were so-called friends was the tragedy of it all. But I fought every day to move on, because I knew that is what DaVon and my dad would have wanted. They both had left me a legacy. And even though DaVon’s legacy was illegal, it was a part of him. And I had to stay on my grind, or at least that’s how I felt immediately after everything went down.

  A week ago I woke up with a change of heart. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it’s like a feeling of freedom had come over me. I felt like I had always been tied to something. And I wanted to just travel. LA had so many memories. I loved my city but I needed a break. Penelope was in town and we got together and discussed the re-up. We had been bringing in so much money and were in such demand, we requested double the product. Penelope was impressed and made the phone call to make it happen.

  Clip had been all smiles when the shipment came in. “Yo, this life is sweet. Al Pacino would be proud. If we move weight like this another round, we gone shut LA down. We already got this shit on lock.” The look on his face was complete satisfaction, the same look DaVon used to have. They loved the game, thrived on it, lived for it. Then and there my mind was made up. I would walk away and hand the throne to Clip. DaVon would want that.

  I had invited him out to the house to talk. Afterwards I had I invited Promise over to share the news with her. So my day was sure to be emotional.

  The doorbell rang and I shuffled to the door. “This must be serious since I got invited to the mansion.” Clip chuckled.

  “Boy, don’t start that. You know you family and always welcome. Bring yo’ butt in here.” I stepped to the side. I shut the door behind him. “Let’s go down to the arcade room, shoot some pool and have a drink.”

  “Girl, you know you can’t shoot no pool.”

  “I already schooled you and DaVon. How many lessons you need before you can be honest.” I smiled.

  “Aye, if you say so. What’s that smell? You cookin’?”

  “Yeah, I got my chef in the kitchen preparing some things. I got Promise comin’ through later. We gone smash.” I was hungry just thinkin’ about it.

  “What about me? I eat too.”

  “I can have her throw something together for you if you like.”

  “Nah, I’m good. Just pull out that Hennessy.”

  “And you know I got you.” Down in the arcade room Clip headed straight to the fully stocked bar. The arcade DaVon had created was sick. He had all the games, including the original Pac-Man. He even had a mini bowling lane that used to be my favorite, but I hadn’t played since DaVon was alive.

  “You gone take a shot wit’ me?” Clip asked. He poured a shot and downed it straight.

  “Sure. Why not.” I headed for the pool table.

  “Mane, I miss comin’ down here.” Clip looked around the room, then hand me my shot. “We had so much fun. I be whoopin’ everybody on Pac-Man and of course pool.”

  “Lies. You lost on both. But since you think you winnin’, rack ’em.”

  “Oh it’s on.” Clip racked the balls. “Since you a girl, ladies first,” he joked.

  “A’ight. But you know how I get down. Right off the bat I fly eight in the corner end pocket and six left cross.” I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. “This what I do,” I bragged.

  “Stand still.” Clip walked the table and sized up the balls and corners. “See, it takes patience and readiness.”

  “I’m sure.” I grinned. He shot and missed.

  I laughed. “You might suck at pool, but you a street genius.” I put jokes aside. “I know you wondering why I brought you out here without warning. And I thank you for coming . . . I want you to know that I appreciate you. Ever since DaVon . . .” I paused. I hated saying what happened to him.

  “Aye, you good, you don’t have to say nothin’. DaVon was my big brother and you my sis. I got yo’ back always.”

  “I know. And thanks. But you help me keep this operation going. Actually, you kept it going. I mean I had the connect, but you put in the street work and I don’t take that for granted. The empire still growing. We larger than ever.”

  “No doubt. Man, DaVon would be so proud. And you, his lady, kept it going. Precious, you the classiest queenpin ever. I know you give me credit, but you been deeply involved. You a boss.”

  “This was all new to me. I stepped in to represent for DaVon. He was my man. And I loved him. There was nothin’ I wouldn’t have done for him. But now my work is done and it’s time I pass the reins . . . to you, kiddo. This empire is now yours. Lock, stock, and key, effective immediately.”

  Clip just stared at me. I wasn’t sure if he was happy or pissed. He looked down at the floor. “I know motherfuckers think I’m insane. And maybe I am, but never did I think I would have to take over this shit. Don’t even know if I’m ready. But I don’t want to let you down, Precious. I got this.”

  “Dang, you scared me for a minute. I thought you might turn it down.” I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Nah, never. I love this shit too much. The grind, the mean, the grit, all of it.”

  “Well, it’s yours. Let’s toast.” He poured us both a shot. We downed them. “Next week I’ll set up a meeting with the connect. You already got the streets on point. They think you’re in charge anyway. So the transition should be good.”

  “No doubt.”

  “Now that we got that straight, let me finish taxing you in this game. You may run the streets, but I run this pool table.” I bragged for reasons he understood. We finished the game and I made good on my threats.

  * * *

  “Precious, I swear this steak was so good. Can I borrow your chef for a week or some? I’m tired of eating out and I don’t have time for cooking . . . or more like I hate cooking,” Promise admitted with a grin.

  “Sure, you can borrow her. Just bring me a plate every day.”

  “I got you.” She laughed.

  “So listen. Shit changed for me tonight, and I got to let you know what’s up.”

  Promise’s eyebrows bent with worry. “You straight?” she asked.

  “Yes, I’m good. But I’m leaving . . . moving away. I need a new start. I have to get out of this city for a while. Too much loss, you know. And not only that, I want to travel.”

  “You can’t go. We just found each other.”

  “I know, but we’ll see each other again. And you always welcome to join me. But you have a new business, and you have to be here to see it through. And what about Clip and your relationship?”

  “There is no relationship with Clip, and we just havin’ fun.” She smiled. “But I can come out to visit you once a month. But when I get everything together I’m moving wherever you are. Hey, what about the dry cleaners, the hustle, this house?”

  “All taken care of. I’m going to leave Katrina in charge and I’ll drop in often. Wherever I am will be just a flight away. I’m going to shut both of the houses down for a while . . . and I turned the operation over to Clip. He the man now.”

  “Really. How does he feel about that?”

  “He’s ready. He been ready,” I said matter-of-factly. “So celebrate with him.”

  “I’m supposed to see him t
onight. I’ll make something happen.”

  After dessert, Promise asked the chef to fix her a plate, then she bounced. I jumped in the shower. Exhausted, I fell into bed. I was trying to get some sleep but my cell phone refused to stop ringing. Reluctantly I reached for it and with my eyes half open, I answered.

  All I heard was screaming muffled with crying. I recognized Promise’s voice right away. “Promise, what’s the matter?” Sleepy, I tried to sit up in bed. “Calm down and tell me what’s wrong.” I was nervous and my heart was racing.

  “They shot him, Precious. Somebody killed Clip. He gone.” She continued to scream the words that I couldn’t believe and did not want to hear. My jaw dropped, and even though I wished this was a dream, Promise’s piercing screams banging on my eardrums, along with the tears that stung my eyes, confirmed its reality.

  Chapter 45

  I could say I had no idea who had murdered Clip, but in this game, enemies came with a smile, bearing gifts and claiming loyalty. So it could have been anybody. One thing I knew for sure, when I found out who was responsible, there would be hell to pay. No questions asked. I knew there wasn’t a hustler in LA that didn’t envy me. Someone probably figured with Clip out of the picture, they had a chance to take over. But they had underestimated me. And the death of whoever tried to cross me would be my pleasure. But for now I had to keep DaVon’s legacy alive. See, Clip was the only person I trusted with it, and now that he was gone there was only one thing left for me to do: climb back on top of my throne and adjust my crown. And with Promise’s help, the streets of LA would not be the same as I reigned supreme and continued to hold it down as a Hustler’s Queen.

  A READING GROUP GUIDE

  A HUSTLER’S QUEEN

  Saundra

  ABOUT THIS GUIDE

  The suggested questions are included to enhance your group’s reading of Saundra’s A Hustler’s Queen!