Dirty Tricks

by Kiki Swinson

  Now I was looking crazy. I think Yazz knew she had lost me. It must have been written all over my face. She chuckled. “I guess you are wondering what the moral is to my story. Well, it’s simple. Be careful of people and smiling faces.”

  Yazz really seemed to be wise. I wasn’t sure of her age, but I concluded she was at least a year younger than me. But she owned her own business and seemed so mature. I wondered what she had really been through. Either way, she inspired me.

  CHAPTER 16

  After a few weeks of constant plotting and planning, the official day that the heist would be going down had finally arrived. Unable to get any sleep during the night, I was feeling completely exhausted in the morning. To make matters worse, Game had been out all night handling business, so I had suffered alone. However, he arrived an hour before I was to walk out of the door. He brought me lunch—my favorite tacos. Unfortunately for me, my stomach was not in the mood for eating. But instead of saying that to Game, I lied and told him I had eaten a big turkey sandwich for breakfast. There was no way I could tell him how nervous I was. I didn’t want him to worry that I would mess it all up.

  Before going inside for work I said a prayer, but the funny thing was by the time I made it inside, I couldn’t remember what I had prayed for. The first line of business for me was to use the bathroom. My nervousness was lying heavy on my bladder. I had to get it together. Thankfully, my work was demanding, and before I knew it the day had passed me by. I looked at the clock, and the fluttering instantly took over my stomach again. I was nervous as shit. For a brief second, I thought I might hurl my insides up. I started to go to the bathroom, but I didn’t want to do anything out of the ordinary. The goal was not to do anything that someone could remember as odd or out of my character. If anyone looked at me, on the outside I was cool as a fan. Inwardly, I was sweating bullets.

  Finally, the big bosses started packing up to leave for the day, which left me in charge of the evening shift. I was the closer. Then it was time for the tellers and me to start shutting down for the evening. Everyone was busy counting their deposits when Sheila decided she needed to bother me at the wrong damn time.

  “Porsha.” Sheila hung over my shoulder.

  “What’s up?” I continued my count. I didn’t want to look at her because my facial expression would probably read get the fuck out of my face. Whatever she wanted, now was not the time.

  “I hope you didn’t forget about my upcoming birthday party?” She had to be kidding me. What? Were we twelve? Ugh, I was annoyed. But I stayed cool.

  “I haven’t forgotten.” But to be honest I had no intention of attending. Sheila was a’ight, but I really didn’t want to be that tight with anyone I worked with. “I’ll let you know, though. I need to check and be sure it’s not the same weekend as my friend’s bridal shower.” I lied. It was the best I could come up with to wiggle my way out of it.

  “I hope you can make it. It’s gon’ be ignorant off the hook. Turn up, turn up.” Sheila was hype. From what I knew about how she got down outside of work. Sheila was the type of chick that drank forties right out of the bottle. So when she said turn up, she meant it.

  “A’ight. Bet.” I popped my gum. I prayed she left me alone. Seconds later she had disappeared.

  Minutes later tellers started to leave the building—all except Sheila, who had wasted two minutes of her time talking about her party to another teller. Finally, I was walking Sheila to the door. She was the last to leave. I bid her a good night before locking the door. I stood still for a brief second. What I was about to take part in flashed before my eyes.

  I could hear Game’s voice as he spilled his plan that would keep me from being a suspect in the heist. He had hired one of his goons to come after we were done. He would set the bank on fire to make it look like a heist. I would hang around the bank for about a month, then leave under the pretense of attending school full-time. No one would be surprised. I had made it clear when I was hired that I would not be staying long because school was my goal. I had just started to shed some of my nervousness when I heard a boom on the door that almost made me shit myself. I turned around all unnerved to find Sheila back at the door. She was on my last damn nerve.

  I sighed as I attempted to unlock the door. She was really becoming a thorn in my ass. The lock wouldn’t turn. Finally it opened. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, but I left my car keys, and you know I can’t go anywhere without them.” Her breathing was labored. It was clear she had run all the way back. I couldn’t have cared less. I wanted to scream for her to hurry up, but instead I kept my cool. “Here they are.” She grabbed her keys and started doing a happy dance.

  Wasting no time I gave Sheila a fake smile and said, “Getting late, Sheila, gotta lock up.”

  “I know, girl,” she responded. Without saying another word I headed straight for the door, opened it, and waited seemingly patiently for Sheila to exit. As soon as she did, I locked it and walked away.

  I had no more time to waste. Game was waiting. I made my way to the back, making an exit from the camera, then to the back door. And with no camera watching, I carefully unlocked the back door, and Game stepped inside.

  “You damn near a minute and a half late!” Game’s tone of voice was annoyed. It kinda caught me off guard. I wasn’t used to him being angry. But I brushed it off because I understood why. “Every minute counts,” he reminded me.

  “I kn-know,” I stuttered. “It was Sheila, she wouldn’t shut up. Then she left her keys,” I explained. “What could I do?” I hunched my shoulders.

  “Time is wastin’, let’s get to it.” He pushed one of the three Louis Vuitton suitcases that he had wheeled in over to me. I gave Game one quick glance before turning on my heels with him following close behind. Soon we were standing in front of the stash. So much money was at our disposal.

  Game stood before the money, and I saw what I was sure was a gleam in his eye. He didn’t utter one word to me. He didn’t even look at me. Laying both suitcases flat, he wasted no time filling them with stacks upon stacks of hundred dollar bills. I could feel my palms sweating profusely. I looked down at my hand that was gripping the suitcase. Suddenly I realized Game would need that suitcase as well. Slowly bending down on one knee, I laid the suitcase flat and waited. I knew I should have been helping out, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. And Game never asked me to. It was possible that he had even forgotten that I was in the room.

  Soon all three suitcases were full. I watched as Game slowly stood up and admired the money. Without notice, he turned to me and swept me up in his arms. I wrapped my arms around him, easing my nerves as they bounced around in every inch of my body.

  “I love you,” Game whispered in my right ear. I blushed. Bending down to put us face-to-face, he parted my lips with his. The warmth of his tongue as he slid it inside and outside my mouth made me want to scream out from pleasure. I matched his tongue stroke for stroke. For a minute I thought we were going to rip each other’s clothes off.

  Suddenly we both froze as we heard what sounded like the clearing of someone’s throat. During our passionate kiss my eyes had been closed; I slowly and reluctantly opened mine. The pupils in my eyes filled as if they would bulge out of my head. Over Game’s shoulder I saw Sasha. Then I felt relief that it was only Sasha. But that quickly changed. Why would she be here?

  Game was still holding me tight, his back to Sasha. He slowly turned around and made eye contact with Sasha. He seemed to hesitate when he turned back to face me. Without a word he looked me in the eye, then dropped his head. Now I was even more confused. I started to voice my confusion, but Sasha beat me to it.

  “Game, you are taking too damn long,” She got straight to the point. “Why?” Her tone was demanding.

  I couldn’t have been more confused. I looked to Sasha, then back to Game. Again I opened my mouth to speak but quickly closed it as I watched Game. While glaring at Sasha, he started shaking his head with a look of disappointment sp
read over his face.

  I had to clarify something. “Sasha, what are you here for? What’s going on?”

  A smirk gradually formed on Sasha’s face. She sucked her teeth. “I’m here to get my man, that’s what’s going on,” was her strange and shocking answer.

  For some reason I came to the conclusion that she was only kidding. I chuckled at her humor, then looked back at Game, who had serious written all over his face. His eyes were burning a hole through Sasha. The grim look on his face wiped Sasha’s smirk away. He didn’t make any eye contact with me. With his teeth tightly clenched, he asked, “Sasha, why did you come? This isn’t what we discussed.”

  My stomach twisted in tight knots as I looked at him, then slowly back to Sasha.

  The smirk slightly appeared back on Sasha’s face. “I changed the plan.” Her voice was full of confidence, as if she was the one in control. “I had to bring a little insurance, Game. You didn’t think about that.” She took a few steps back toward the wall that led down the hall, reached her left hand out, and pulled in yet another surprise.

  “Ma,” I screamed. Her hands were tied up behind her back, her mouth duct-taped. I swiftly took a few steps toward her.

  Sasha pulled a gun from under her shirt and pointed it directly in my face. “Stay put, Porsha. I’m pretty good with this thing,” she bragged.

  “Are you going to shoot me?” I yelled. I was so pissed I was sure smoke was flaming out of both of my ears.

  Sasha let out a hearty laugh. “Shoot you . . . Girl, no.” She laughed again. When she was done laughing, she hunched up her shoulders. “If I did that, then who would be left to go to prison for your highly schemed bank heist and all those sheisty house sales?”

  The room suddenly grew larger. My mouth dropped wide open and I turned to Game. “Game, how could you do this to me? How could you set me up?”

  “Hey don’t blame me for none of this shit.” He boldly demanded, “If you need to place some blame, why don’t you talk to your friend right there?” He pointed at Sasha. “She the mastermind who set everything up. All I had to do was play along.” He said it as if it was no more than something he did for sport.

  Sasha laughed out loud. Looking at her, I recognized that she was exactly who Briana had warned me about. “I should have never dealt with you again . . . Briana warned me about your scheming ass. Fucking bitch!” I screamed.

  Sasha started to speak but shut up. All our eyes went to Keisha, who had suddenly appeared in the room. I looked to Game and once again saw the same gleam in his eyes that I had witnessed earlier when he first laid eyes on the money. He seemed to be genuinely happy as I witnessed his lips curve into a stupid smile.

  Sasha’s eyes rolled like flying saucers in her head. Her neck bobbed from Keisha, to me, then to Game. “What is she doing here?” she asked him, then twisted her neck and body back in Keisha’s direction.

  Keisha’s eyes focused on Sasha as a slow scowl became king player on her face. Her lips moved slowly and her words seeped venom. “I never liked you . . . you talk too damn much.” She spat the words out.

  Sasha seemed stunned but jumped straight into action. “Bitch, well, I can assure you, the feeling is mutual. The only reason I was ever nice to you was because of Game and the fact you were Rein’s auntie.” Wait, these bitches knew each other all along? And what was this about Keisha being Rein’s auntie? My head was spinning.

  Keisha didn’t seem fazed one bit by Sasha’s comment, but the hearty laugh from Game turned all of our attention to him. The laugh was full of sarcasm. I couldn’t find any words for any of them, so I waited. Game’s eyes again fell on Sasha as his laugh slowly came to a halt.

  “Sasha, really, when are you going to stop telling that lie?”

  Sasha gave the most perplexed look she could muster. “What lie?” She challenged him.

  Game twisted his lips up as if to say she knew what he was speaking of. “Bitch, Rein don’t belong to me.” His voice boomed. “You and I both know she just ain’t mine. Shit . . . I knew that a year ago,” he revealed. The look in his eyes was distant. I couldn’t tell if he was hurt or just upset. I was again dumbfounded. What the fuck was going on? I had to be dreaming. She been knowing this nigga and they got a whole baby together? Damn, I had been played. But my voice still would not show up. I watched as if I was in an unbelievable dream.

  “Nigga, you must be smoking that killa because that’s the biggest damn lie you ever told. Rein is yours,” she protested. “Don’t be no deadbeat-ass dad, listenin’ to this miserable bitch.” Her eyes were glued to Keisha.

  Game waved his hand in dismissal. “Bitch, just stop lying. You should be tired of doing that anyway. Hell, I swabbed her mouth for a DNA test.”

  Sasha’s chest sank in like all the air had been sucked out of it. She was in disbelief. Her face turned dark red as if the blood was rushing from her head. “You a crazy motherfucker. And so fucking disrespectful. But I don’t give a fuck what you say. Nobody want to hear this shit anyway. Ugh.” She sighed.

  “Shut the fuck up, Sasha. You’re not about to lie your way out of this.” Keisha barked. Sasha’s focus had been on Game, which gave Keisha the upper hand. Keisha was in Sasha’s space in no time flat. We all paused when we heard the pistol’s slide being pulled back. Within seconds the gun was pointed at Sasha’s head. “Baby” was the most disturbing word I had ever heard, spilling from Keisha’s full lips, her eyes fixed directly on Game. He gave her this look that made me want to vomit. Sexual and full of love. I almost choked on my own saliva. “Are you ready for me to finish the plan to blow Sasha’s brain out?” A vicious smirk took complete control over Keisha’s face.

  Beads of sweat were forming on my forehead. My lips started to quiver as I attempted to speak. But just as before, nothing came out. And Game had yet to answer Keisha’s question before she continued. “Oh yeah,” she chuckled and waved her gun. “I’m not Game’s sister . . . I’m his wife.”

  I felt as if someone had punched me directly in the stomach. There seemed to be no air in my lungs. I opened my mouth wide and sucked in a gulp of air. Sasha bent over a bit and vomit spewed out of her mouth. “What?” she managed to say, with her hand right hand on her abdomen.

  “Now that was some repugnant shit, Sasha. You could have done that shit outside.” Game spat at Sasha, then laughed. “But yeah, that’s the one small detail I forgot to tell y’all.”

  The grin on his face was evil.

  “Motherfucker, that ain’t all you forgot to tell us,” Sasha screamed. “I can’t fuckin’ believe you been tryin’ to play me.” Her entire face was on fire red. “You introduced me to this bitch three years ago as your sister. What the fuck was that all about?”

  I shook my head. “So you been lying to me all this time. Playing me you like you been playing this slut.” I snap my neck in Sasha’s direction. The words finally came to form off my lips. “All that talk about marriage, the ring, and everything. All lies?” Tears ran down my face. “All you ever wanted was to use me?” I threw my hands up in the air with disgust. “And for this donkey bitch.” I pointed at Keisha.

  “Bitch, shut the fuck up. Ain’t my fault you stupid,” Keisha replied.

  “No, bitch, you shut the fuck up.” Briana entered the room with a gun already cocked and put it straight to Keisha’s head.

  Keisha was legit scared, and her eyes start to dart around in her head. “Listen, y’all want to put the blame on Game and me, but this shit is all about Sasha’s bitch ass. She’s the one who wanted to set Porsha up. Over some dumb-ass grudge since high school about a dude. She said she hated that bitch, and the deal she brought to the table just happened to be profitable. Hell, we already had her bitch ass in our pocket. Game was pimping her since day one. She just got it in her head that she could be his wifey.”

  One look at Briana and I could see her face was full of tears. She made eye contact with Sasha, then Game. Game threw up both his hands like Briana was the cops. Briana’s entrance h
ad stunned him. “Aye, Bri. Hold up . . . Put the gun down,” he pleaded. “All of this is just one big misunderstanding. Shit, like she just said. Shoot that bitch Sasha.”

  Sasha rolled her eyes at him.

  “Nigga, shut your bitch ass up,” Briana popped off. “Ain’t no misunderstanding. I know all about you sick-ass motherfuckers tryin’ to set my friend up. All of you is to blame. But I’ma put an end to this shit tonight. Believe that shit like you believe in Jesus.”

  “Listen.” Game tried again.

  “Nigga, I told you don’t speak to me,” she screamed. “It ain’t shit you can tell me. I know everything. Rico told me all about your plan a few hours ago, before your wack-ass girlfriend right here killed him.” She pushed Keisha’s head with the tip of her gun. “Yep, bitch, I know that you killed him, and for that you’ll be sorry.” Keisha dropped her head. “I swear, all of you are a bunch of sick, heartless bastards with no morals. And you, Sasha, bitch, you trifling. I knew from the moment you stepped back into our lives you was on some bullshit. I just knew it. You ain’t never been shit but a selfish bitch. Yeah, and Rico told me that Rein belongs to Kenneth.”

  I stumbled backward with disbelief. I wasn’t sure how many more surprises I could take. But in that moment I realized the resemblance. It had been there all along, I just hadn’t paid enough attention. Reluctantly I looked at Ma, her face drenched in tears as she cried, nodding in agreement. She had known all along. Reaching over to her, Briana used her left hand to pull the duct tape off Ma’s mouth. Guns were pointing in all directions at different people. I dared not move.