by Carlos King
“Friday is a little too soon, don’t you think?” Tatiana asked, concerned.
“Friday is perfect. We’ve wasted enough time on these tricks. It’s time we start looking out for us. I need you to be in with me all the way, TT. You’re supposed to have my back on this.”
“I’m with you, girl,” Tatiana assured. “I just hope everything works out the way it’s supposed to. ’Cause we’re gonna be in a load of shit if it doesn’t.”
“It will, TT. It will.”
CHAPTER 18
CHANGE OF PLANS
The days until their relocation go by at a snail’s pace or at least that’s how it felt to Alexis. But regardless of how slow the days seemed, the time for their big move has finally arrived. She and Tatiana have already made several trips back and forth to their motel room, stockpiling it with their respective items. They both continued working the streets like everything was normal and Tatiana continued making daily payments to Rich. Alexis stayed loyal to her word and paid Rich everything she owed him first thing Friday morning.
Alexis is now organizing things in their two-bed room, separating her things from Tatiana’s. She’s spent the entire day giving the small room a more hospitable vibe. She’s purchased a DVD player for the television, new covers and comforters for the beds, and she’s even bought a mini-refrigerator and microwave for convenience. She looks over at the newly purchased alarm clock she bought. It reads 6:20 pm.
Tatiana phoned her earlier and told Alexis she’d be late getting in. She walks over to one of the beds and lies down, taking a much needed rest. All the shopping and cleaning has wiped her own. She grabs the remote control and flips through the channels. After perusing through a number of programs, she eventually settles on something she doesn’t mind watching. A few minutes later she succumbs to her exhaustion and falls into a sound sleep.
Back across town, Greg is sitting at his desk, filling out paperwork to a case he’s been working on. He’s suddenly interrupted from his work when Det. Logan drops a file on his desk.
“What’s this?” Greg asked as his partner.
“The findings on the prints we pulled from you girlfriend’s house. You know, the chick with all the shit on her walls?” Det. Logan joked.
“She’s not my girlfriend, dick. We just know each other from school.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…It’ll only be a matter of time before you hump her like all the other broads you meet. Hell, she should be the easiest piece of ass you’ve gotten yet. All the other bitches you had to wine and dine. Only thing you gotta do for this whore is take her into a dark alley or cheap hotel and leave your twenty bucks on the nightstand when you’re done,” said Det. Logan, crudely. Det. Logan chuckles at his own warped sense of humor.
Bothered by his partner’s rude statement, Greg gives Det. Logan an unnerving stare that silences the rough-edged detective. Det. Logan takes Greg’s hardened stare as a cue to leave.
Greg ultimately blows off his partner’s insensitive remarks and redirects his attention to the file Logan set on his desk. Reading through the file, Greg learns that three sets of fingerprints were recovered from Alexis’ apartment and all three prints have been matched.
Two of the prints belong to men; the third to a woman. The two men each have a long list of priors that range from misdemeanors to more serious felony charges. Greg flips through the men’s mug shots, searing their faces into his memory. When he reaches the third suspect he’s completely caught off guard by what he discovers. The image is so alarming it causes his eyes to widen in shock. He immediately reaches into his desk and pulls out his firearm. He hops up, grabs his suit jacket off the back of his chair and hurries out of the precinct.
Back with Alexis, who’s fast asleep, is having an amazing dream, where she’s standing onstage in front of a capacity-filled arena and everyone in the audience is chanting her name. She’s wearing a beautiful white dress that is so bright it looks as if it’s glowing. Roses are being thrown at her feet and the spot lights are following her every move. She steps up to the microphone and the audience’s roar grows louder in anticipation of hearing her sing. She silently stands at the microphone, soaking in the moment. This only serves to drive the crowd even wilder. After feeding off of the audience’s energy for a few more seconds, Alexis grabs the microphone and prepares to perform. Just as she’s about to start singing, she comes to an abrupt halt, a sudden look of terror is evident on her face. At that precise moment, Alexis is startled out of her sleep by the sound of someone knocking at her motel door.
Alexis wipes the sleep from her eyes and gets up to answer the door. “Who is it?”
“It’s me…TT,” a distressed voice answered.
Sensing the odd tone in Tatiana’s voice, Alexis looks at the clock and notices that it’s well after midnight. She walks to the door and glances through the peephole. She can see Tatiana on the other side. Alexis unlatches the chain lock and unfastens the dead bolt. As she unlocks the door she jokes, “What took you so long, bitch? You know what time it is?”
Tatiana replies, “I had some shit I had to do first.”
Once the final bolt is unlocked, Alexis opens the door revealing a very timid and nervous Tatiana.
“You always got some shit to do…” she pauses when she sees the nervous demeanor of her friend. “What’s the matter?”
Before Tatiana responds, Rich steps into view and aggressively pushes his way into Alexis’s room.
“What the fuck you doing, Rich?!” Alexis yelled. “I gave you everything I owed you!”
Rich doesn’t respond. He turns toward Tatiana, who’s still standing sheepishly in the doorway. He orders her to come inside and close the door. She readily obliges.
“What the hell do you want, Rich?” asked Alexis.
“I heard you the first time, bitch!” he answered, startling Alexis. “I’m here because you trying to fuck with my money. First, you try to walk away from me. Then, you try to take one of my bitches from me. I’ve killed niggas for shit like that. Are you out of your fucking mind, bitch?” he finished, pushing Alexis’ head back.
“I told you I was only gone be under you for a little while,” Alexis argued. “We made a deal.”
“I don’t make deals with hoes! And don’t get it wrong, bitch…all you is and all you ever gone be is a hoe!”
Alexis wants to stand her ground and defend herself against Rich, but fear has taken control of her physical and mental functions.
“And to top shit off, you tried to take one of my bottom bitches with you. Filling her head with all that bullshit about y’all tryna make it big! Who the fuck wanna hear what a dirty street hoe like you got to say?”
Alexis is trying her best to hold back her tears despite the fact Rich’s hurtful words are tearing through her heart’s dream like daggers.
Rich goes on with his verbal assault. “Did you honestly think I wouldn’t find out about the shit?! Did you honestly believe this bitch could keep some shit like that from me?!”
Alexis looks over at Tatiana and observes the tears streaming down her face. Alexis tries to console her friend. “It’s not your fault, TT. I’m not mad at you. That’s exactly what he wants. He wants to fuck up our friendship. I’m not gonna give him the satisfaction.”
“Oh, really?” said Rich with a smirk on his face. “Let me tell you some shit about your best friend that you might not know.”
“Rich, no,” Tatiana called out.
“Do you think it was a coincidence that you came to work for me? That shit was planned like a motherfucker. I’ve been trying to get yo’ ass on my team for a while now. You a fine-ass motherfucker…I’ll give you that. And I know your ass could be worth some serious money out there. So when I found out about the shit that happened to you, I plotted on ways to scare your ass over to me for protection.”
Rich walks behind Tatiana, continuing to address Alexis. “I knew a worthless hoe like you would eventually go back out on the streets. But I knew the only way you’d
go is if you had somebody to keep you safe. So on the day you checked out the hospital I had a few of my people go trash your shit so you’d think it was that nigga that fucked you up who did it.”
“You sick mothafucka!” Alexis exclaimed, her inner rage growing.
“I’m the sick one, huh? Why don’t you ask yourself something, Lexis? How would I know all that personal shit about you? I never met you in personal until that day TT introduced us. So how would I possibly known where your crib was? Think about that.”
With tears slowly rolling down her face, Alexis trains her eyes on Tatiana. “You, TT?” Alexis asked.
Tatiana can’t say a word to Alexis due to the mounting shame she feels for betraying her best friend of ten years. The only thing she can do is focus her eyes on a nearby wall as she wipes tears from her cheeks.
“Hell yeah, it was her,” Rich interjected. “And believe me when I tell you, she was very hands on with a lot of that shit. She was a little reluctant at first, but when I gave my boy permission to slap her ass back in line, she actually helped fuck your crib up.” Rich turns to Tatiana, “Hey, bitch, refresh my memory…Was you the one that pissed in her sink or were you the one that smeared the shit on her walls?”
“You motherfucker!” Tatiana angrily uttered. “You said you wasn’t gone tell her.”
“I figured she wanted to know the truth. The bitch was starting to get a little too uppity. Her ass needed a cold shot of reality.” He turns to Alexis. “What’s wrong, Lexi? Ain’t got shit to say no more?”
Alexis remains silent.
“Alright, Rich, you got what you wanted. Let’s go,” said Tatiana.
“Not yet. I only got half of what I wanted…So far.”
“You said you just wanted to scare her. She’s scared already,” Tatiana said, trying to persuade Rich to leave.
“That ain’t good enough no more. When a bitch signs on to work for me, she’s gonna work for me until I say otherwise. You should know that already, T,” Rich added, moving closer to Alexis, his expression devious. “Go wait in the car, T,” he ordered.
“What? Why?” she asked.
“I got some shit up here I have to take care of,” Rich responded in cold, calculating manner.
Concerned about Rich’s plans, Tatiana asks, “What are you gonna do?”
“I SAID GO WAIT IN THE FUCKING CAR, BITCH!” he shouted. “Now make me repeat myself again! You still on my shit list for trying to pull this sneaky shit off in the first place!”
Alexis has no emotion or reaction to anything being said by neither Tatiana nor Rich. In her mind, she’s living the heartache of her childhood all over again. It’s an emotion that seems to have once again broken her high and hopeful spirit.
Tatiana promptly exits the room and slams the door shut after her. Rich takes off his top layer shirt and begins to unbuckle his belt. “I’ve been wanting to do this shit for a long ass time,” he heartlessly confessed. “Now we can do this shit nice and romantic or we can do this shit hard and rough. The choice is up to you.”
As Rich kisses Alexis’ neck, her face remains emotionless. Possibly a look that exemplifies the emptiness she feels inside. She’s beginning to truly believe that she’s destined to a life filled with pain, torture and betrayal.
CHAPTER 19
A CONCERNED FRIEND
It is nearing four o’clock in the morning and Greg finds himself making his way through the empty halls of a local hospital. Overrun with concern, he’s heading straight for room 317. He received an inside tip from a fellow detective that a young black woman was found inside of her motel room in what appeared to be a failed suicide attempt.
Greg hurriedly got out of bed, hopped into his car and raced over to the hospital to verify his assumption. Normally dressed in Armani suits and Italian shoes, tonight, Greg dons more casual attire that consists of blue jeans, gym shoes, a white tee-shirt, and a black leather jacket.
When he approaches room 317 he takes a single deep breath before gently pushing the door open and entering. The first thing he sees upon entering the room is an unconscious Alexis, a doctor and nurse standing beside her bed. Although he’s disappointed to see Alexis back in this vulnerable position, he’s glad to see she’s still alive.
The doctor and nurse observe Greg standing in the doorway.
“I’m sorry, sir, but you can’t be here now,” said the doctor.
Greg pulls a chain necklace from underneath his tee-shirt, revealing his badge. “I’m Detective Greg Davis. How’s she doing, Doc?”
Observing Greg’s badge, the doctor answers, “Well, she consumed a high dosage of Ibuprofen. She’s damn lucky we were able to get to her in time.”
Staring at Alexis, Greg asks, “How many did she take?”
“The paramedics recovered an empty bottle of Ibuprofens that contained thirty 800mg pills. Those are extremely powerful. For her size, just taking two or three could be dangerous.”
“Can I talk to her when she wakes up?”
“I don’t see why not. But she really needs to rest up for a while. If you want I can have one of the nurses give you a call when she comes to.”
Greg gazes at Alexis’s unconscious face for a few seconds before answering the doctor. “No, that won’t be necessary. I’m staying with her.”
“I don’t think that’s—”
Greg cuts the doctor off. “I’m staying with her,” he insisted with an intimidating, yet, calm demeanor.
Picking up on the detective’s tone, the doctor waves the normal protocol and allows him to stay. The doctor gestures to the nurse to follow him out of the room and allow the two to be left alone. On her way out, the nurse looks back at Greg and gives a flirtatious smile before pulling the door closed. Unfortunately for her, the nurse’s smile is one that never registered on Greg’s radar. His attention is primarily focused on Alexis. He grabs a chair from across the room and sets it next to her bed. He sits down and patiently waits for her to awake.
Hours go by and Greg inadvertently falls asleep. A little after sunrise, Alexis finally comes to and is surprised to see Greg sitting by her side. In a weary voice she calls out to him, “Rise and shine sleepy head.”
Greg slowly wakes from his light nap. “Hey you,” he said in a tired, groggy voice. “How you feeling?”
“Ironically, I have a very bad headache. I’m a little thirsty, too.” Alexis responded.
“I’ll get you some water.” Greg offered, getting up and walking over to a breakfast tray one of the nurses brought into the room. He pours a cup of water.
While Greg is pouring, Alexis asks, “How long have you been here?”
He hands her the cup of water. “Since earlier this morning. I think I got here around four.”
“How did you know I was here?”
“A friend. Since I hadn’t heard from you in a couple days I told a couple friends to keep an eye out for anyone who fits your description.”
Once Alexis finishes her water she sits the empty cup on the night stand next to her bed. She then lays back to rest. Greg sits back in his chair and stares at Alexis in silence.
Sensing his eyes on her, Alexis tentatively looks at Greg and asks, “What’re you staring at?”
“Why’d you do it?”
“Like you care.”
“I care a lot. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here now. Now, why did you do it? Shit can’t be that bad.”
“Maybe not for you and your perfect existence,” Alexis started, “but for those of us who have to make a living doing things we hate for assholes we don’t even like, tends to be a bit much at times.”
“Life is hard for everybody at some point in time. The best thing to do is push through the adversities and hope there’s a brighter day ahead. That’s one of the best things about life. You never know what type of hand it’ll deal you from a day-to-day basis.”
“All I know is that so far I’ve been getting the shit end of the deal and I’m getting tired of it,” Alexis griped.
/> “We got matches from the fingerprints we pulled from your house. We know who wrecked your place.”
“Me too,” said Alexis. “I found out a couple days ago that TT had a hand in it.”
“You don’t have to worry about her anymore. We picked her up the other night while she was out soliciting. We picked her up for that and for what she did to your house. She’ll be getting put away for a nice amount of time. You can count on that.”
Unfazed by the breaking news, Alexis muffles, “It’s not TT I’m worried about.”
“Oh, I was getting to that,” Greg said in a cheerful tone. “We found the guy that attacked you. Well, actually somebody else found him first and then they called us.”
Alexis looks at Greg with a puzzled expression.
Greg continues. “It seems that he pissed off the wrong person or persons, because he was found under a bridge in the trunk of his car…Shot in the head three times at point-blank range.”
Days ago this news would’ve cheered Alexis up without question. But today, it only succeeded in making her mood even worse. “That’s just fucking great,” she said to herself, staring up at the ceiling.
“What’s wrong? I thought you’d be happy to hear that,” Greg pondered.
“I did something very stupid,” she confessed.
“What?”
She specifies to Greg how she got involved with Rich in order to have protection on the streets. She also explains how she decided to quit the life of prostitution and how she thought she convinced Tatiana to do the same. Furthermore, she details the entire actions of the night Rich and Tatiana showed up at her motel room and why she ultimately decided to overdose herself on prescription pills.
When Alexis is done telling Greg about the ordeal she underwent, he’s left speechless.
“I don’t mean to seem ungrateful. I’m glad you guys found him. I’m didn’t mean to be bitchy. And thanks for sitting here with me, too. I appreciate it,” Alexis added.
“Did you mean it?” Greg asked.
