by Kiki Swinson
Excited by the touch of the juices from my pussy, he pulled his hand from out of my panties, swirled me around, pushed me on my back and the rest was history.Yeah, the nigga tore me up. He had me in the scissors position and on all fours. I was shocked as hell when he was fucking me from the back real hard, then pulled his dick out and started eating my pussy. That was truly some hot shit. Syncere or my old boyfriend, Brian, ain’t never fucked me like that before. It was a shame but these days you never get the total package. After we both came, we collapsed onto the bed beside one another and dozed off.
The next morning Quincy woke me up with a hot plate of blueberry pancakes and a glass of orange juice. “Good morning,” he said as he handed me the plate.
I wiped my eyes to get better focus. After I realized he was standing before me with a plate of breakfast, I was at a lost for words. I mean, I honestly thought this nigga was going to try and act like nothing happened last night but I guess I was wrong. I took the plate and asked him if he cooked this himself.
“Yeah, I cooked them. Did you think I couldn’t cook?”
“I honestly never even thought about it.” I replied, placing the plate on my lap. I took a sip of the orange juice.
“So, whatcha gon’ do today?” he asked, sitting on the bed next to me.
“I’m not sure. I wanna go by my apartment to I can get a few things and take ‘em over my grandmother’s house but I am scared to death to go there by myself.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“For real?”
“Yeah, I’m for real. What time you wanna go? Because I got a lot of shit I got to do today.”
“I’m ready whenever you are.”
“Okay, well I’mma make a quick run downtown and when I come back we can go, a’ight?”
“All right.”
Pulling a key from his keychain, he handed it to me and said, “Oh yeah, and if you decide that he wanna go somewhere, here’s an extra key to my house.”
I took the key.
We didn’t discuss what happened last night, which was fine with me. I probably would’ve felt awkward if he brought it up. We did, however, get the chance to talk about my situation with Syncere. His only advice was for me to leave that nigga alone before some tragic shit happened. I assured him that I would.
24
The Bounty
Rhonda Speaks
I got up and took a long, hot shower before I left to go to the shop. It had been four days since I last talked to Nikki, so you know I was wondering what kind of schemes she had under her sleeve. While I was getting dressed, Tony turned around in the bed to see what I was doing. His ugly ass needed to be on somebody’s construction job site.
“What time is it?” he asked.
“Quarter ‘til nine. Why, you gotta be somewhere?”
“Nah,” he replied and then he let out a long yawn.
“What time did you get in last night?”
“It was a little after one.”
“What kept you out ‘til one in the morning?”
“I was trying to make some moves. I got this nigga whose gon’ look out for me and front me some good shit as soon as he gets it in his hands.”
“Please spare me the details,” I replied sarcastically.
“Ay yo, guess what?” Tony said, changing the subject.
“What?” I asked, nonchalantly.
“I talked to my boy Travis last night over his girl’s crib and he told me that he got word to Syncere the very next day.”
“So, did Syncere have anything to say about it?”
“I asked Travis that same question, but all he said was that Syncere was like, ‘Good looking out, dog’ and gave him a handshake.”
“Whatcha’ think is gon’ happen now?”
“I guess we gon’ just have to wait and see,” Tony told me and then turned his unemployed ass back over to get some more z’s.
“I sure wish you would go and get a real fucking job!”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said and threw the covers over his head.
I threw a shoe at his lazy ass. I mean, come on, he needed to wake the fuck up and smell the coffee. It was time to go out into the world and get some real money. When was he gon’ realize that? Probably never. My mother always said that if a man wasn’t doing what he was supposed to do for his family in the beginning of the relationship, then he was never gon’ do it. She right about that.
25
Suicide Mission
Nikki Speaks
Quincy helped me get a few things out of my apartment and followed me over to my grandmother’s house to make sure I got there safely. Right before I went in the house he gave me a chrome .380 handgun for my protection. He also showed me how to take off the safety and fire it. I wasn’t too happy to have this piece of iron in my possession for obvious reasons — being on probation would be number one on my list — but I had to consider my safety first. I decided to chill at my grandmother’s house for a while or at least until I figured out what I wanted do with my life.
My grandmother was folding clothes in the laundry area next to the kitchen when I walked in the house. I dropped all my things in the foyer and went to see if she needed some help. Of course, she insisted that she was fine. I took a seat in a chair and started asking questions.
“How you doing grandma?” “I’m fine, baby. How are you?” “I’m okay.” “What’s going on with that beauty salon? “I’m just waiting for Rhonda to leave.” “Did she say when she was going?” “No ma’am. I went up there early this morning before everybody got there and placed a note on her station letting her know that I was going to give her a few more days before getting the authorities involved.”
“Do you think the other beauticians will follow her?”
“There’s no telling because all of them are sometimy.”
“How is your boyfriend doing?”
“Who are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about that Syncere fellow.”
“Grandma, I thought I told you that we’re not together anymore.”
“Did you? Well I don’t remember,” she replied in deep thought. “But don’tcha think you should give him another chance? ‘Cause he seemed like he was a nice fellow,” she commented.
Nice fellow my ass, I wanted to say but was interrupted by the doorbell.
“Nikki answer that. It might be the mailman and I’m waiting for an express package,” she stated. I rushed to the front door and without even asking who it was, I opened the door and got the surprise of my life.
“Going somewhere, bitch?” Syncere asked as he stood before me.
I tried to remain calm but it wasn’t working. “Syncere, when did you get out?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said and then pushed me backward into the house.
“Whatchu doing? Why are you pushing me?”
“Just shut the fuck up!” He whipped out his gun and pointed it directly at me. I realized that this psycho-ass nigga was holding a .45-caliber semiautomatic weapon. I was about to ask him why he was pointing a gun in my face but before I could say a word, my grandmother walked up in the foyer behind me.
“Nikki, what is going on here?”
“Grandma, please, go sit down,” I demanded.
“Chile, tell me why he’s got a gun pointed at you?”
“You better listen to her Granny, before you get hurt,” Syncere interjected.
“Young man, are you threatening me?” my grandmother asked Syncere, giving him a stern look.
“Grandma, please, go in the living room!”
“Nah! Both of y’all are going in the living room. Now, move!” Syncere demanded.
The tone of Syncere’s voice triggered something inside of me and I knew that if I was going to keep us alive, I would have to work fast. I followed his instructions and pulled my grandmother into the living room.
My grandmother and I immediately took a seat on the living room sofa next to each other. However, Syncere dis
approved of the seating arrangements and ordered me to stand up.
“Get the fuck up, you rat!” he shouted with the gun still pointed directly at me.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, though I knew exactly what he was referring to.
“Oh bitch, you know what I’m talking about. Yeah, I heard about your snitching ass when I was on lock. Niggas is down in Norfolk blasting your name all over that joint talking about how you snitched on your cousin’s husband so you could get your stank ass out of doing a bid. Here I am, fucking with you, and your ass is the Feds!”
“Don’t believe that! They lying on me!” I replied, trying to convince him that I was telling the truth but he wasn’t buying a word I was saying. In the blink of an eye, he smacked me directly across my face. The force of his blow knocked me down on my knees. As I grabbed the side of my face, I saw my grandmother attempt to leap toward him but I jumped up and intervened.
“Grandma, don’t worry, it’s gonna be all right. He’s gonna leave soon. He won’t hurt you,” I whispered a promise I didn’t even believe. The look of fear in her eyes broke my heart.
“Syncere, why are you doing this? Put the gun down ‘cause you’re scaring my grandmother.”
I breathed a sigh of relief when Syncere lowered his gun and tucked it back in his waist. Before I could react he hauled off and punched me in my jaw so hard it felt like my bones shattered. I screamed out in agony as my legs wobbled then buckled.
“I’mma beat you to death with my bare hands,” he growled.
Seeing how psychotic this nigga had become, I knew that it was a matter of time before he unleashed his wrath on me. A voice in my head kept saying I was gonna die.
Not tonight, I thought. And if I died it’ll be fighting!
“Help-p-p-p!” My grandmother began to yell. “Somebody help us—”
Syncere turned his back on me to silence my grandmother. I seized the opportunity, while his back was turned, to reach inside my purse and grab the pistol Quincy had given me. With shaky hands both firmly clasping the gun, I aimed at his back, closed my eyes and fired once.
Boom!
It sounded like a canon exploded. My eyes flew open just in time to watch Syncere hit the floor. I fired three more times out of fear. I needed for him to be dead.
“Nikki…oh, Nikki,” my grandmother wept in anguish.
I rushed to her side and told her not to move while I called the police. I think she was in shock.
“Don’t leave me,” she said, grabbing my arm tightly.
“Grandma, he can’t hurt you. Everything’s all right,” I assured her. “Let me get the police over here to help us.
Once I calmed her down, I got on the telephone and called the police. Within minutes, flashing red and white lights, emergency sirens and homicide detectives littered the block. The crime scene was taped off and I was cornered inside my grandmother’s kitchen for three hours under intense questioning. It never occurred to me that the homicide detectives would question my self-defense theory. They almost tripped me up when they asked where I had gotten the gun to kill Syncere. Luckily, I was thinking on my feet and said that he’d brought it with him and dropped it during our struggle.
“Ms. Simpson, would you mind coming down to the station? We have more questions to ask,” one of the detectives stated.
“Tonight?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Look, I’m exhausted, I have to get my grandmother out of here and we both need to get some sleep. I’m sure whatever you need to ask me can wait.”
“When forensics come back you may need a lawyer,” the detective threatened.
“How ‘bout I lawyer up now! This interview is over.”
I hope they didn’t start any bullshit and try to harass my ass over Syncere. On my way out I overheard one of the detectives running down my arrest jacket. He was talking about me as if I was some drug-trafficking, gun wielding, gangsta bitch!
I knew it was really my cue to get the fuck outta dodge.
After I settled down in the guest room of my parents house, I took out Kira’s diary and wrote down everything that transpired over last few days. I wrote every single detail and even jotted down my conversation with Quincy about why Syncere had Mark murdered. The diary as a way to communicate with Kira and fill in the blanks to all the questions she had before her life was taken. Too bad I couldn’t do anything about Papi and Carlos for killing her because she took fucking money from them. But, knowing how karma works, they would get what was coming to them. Fucking bastards!
26
The Unexpected
Rhonda Speaks
Today was a very busy day for the shop. We had clients sitting all around the salon waiting to be serviced and it was packed. I was tending to a client when Tabitha burst through the front door of the salon late, bringing attention to herself.
“Rhonda, girl, did you see the news this morning?”
I looked up from my client’s hair and said, “Nah, who was on it?”
“Your girl Nikki was up there.”
Shocked at Tabitha’s response, I asked, “For what?”
“For killing her ex-boyfriend.”
“What! When did this happen?”
“She told the police that when she was about to leave her grandmother’s house to go to the grocery store, her ex-boyfriend, who had just got out of jail, was standing at the front door when she opened it. She said he forced her back into the house and threatened to kill her and her grandmother if she didn’t do what he said. So, she cooperated with him until he struck her in the back of her head with the butt of his gun.”
“Oh my God, Syncere pistol-whipped her?”
“He sure did. After he did that she somehow managed to get one of his guns from him and shot him.”
“You bullshitting me!”
“No, I’m not,” Tabitha assured me and then she turned around to walk over to her station. “Turn to the news channel. They’ll probably show it again at twelve o’clock.”
“Did they say how her grandmother was doing? She must have been so scared. That lady has been through enough. First Kira now this.”
“Yeah, they said she was doing fine and Nikki had only suffered a minor injuries.”
“So, did they say if Nikki was going to be facing a murder charge?”
“Shit! You know she ain’t being as though he was the one that intruded in on them with a whole bunch of fucking guns, threatening to kill ’em. Trust me, self-defense is written all over that one.”
“You sure got a point there,” I commented and tried desperately to pick up from where I left off with my client’s hair. As soon as I was done and my client paid for my services, I picked up my cell phone and rushed to the back office for some privacy. I dialed my house number I waited patiently for Tony to answer. He answered on the third ring.
“Have you seen the news?”
“Nah, what happened?”
“Syncere got shot and killed,” I whispered loud enough for him to hear me.
“Who did it?”
“Nikki.”
“What! Nah, I don’t believe that.”
“It’s true. They showed it on the news earlier.”
“So, what did the news people say?”
“They just went into the spiel about how he ran up in Nikki’s grandmother’s house. Then after he went in there, he smacked Nikki on the floor and terrorized her and her grandmother.”
“Goddamn! That nigga Syncere wasn’t playing, huh?”
“He may not have been but he sure fucked up when he let his guard down. Because Nikki said that as soon as he turned his back she tricked him up and got his gun.”
“Boy, she’s one lucky bitch,” Tony commented.
“You sure ain’t lying about that.”
“Hey, do think Syncere told her that I reached out to him while he was on lock and blew the whistle on her?”
“I don’t know,” I said with hesitation. Then I changed my tone in effort to mak
e Tony feel a little easy and said, “But, knowing the type of nigga he was, I don’t believe he would even run his mouth like that .”
“Well, I hope not, ‘cause I ain’t trying to get caught up in no attempted murder charges on her and her grandmother.”
“Shit! Me neither!”
“Well, keep your mouth closed just in case one of dem crackers come rolling up to the shop and start asking you questions,” he instructed.
“A’ight.”
“I mean, don’t tell ‘em shit! Just act like you don’t know a damn thang. And that goes for them tramps you got working in there too.”
“Come on now, you know I don’t fuck with my stylists like that. Them hoes talk entirely too much for me.”
“Yeah, whatever,” he said. “All y’all just alike. Couldn’t hold a muthafucking cup of water if it killed cha’!”
“Boy, I ain’t trying to hear that mess you talking.”
“Good, ‘cause I’m about to hop in the shower.”
“Hey, wait, do me a favor.”
“What?”
“Take out a pack of hamburger so it thaws by the time I get off.”
“Whatcha gon’ cook?”
“Spaghetti.”
“What time you coming home?”
“It’s going to be kind of late, because I’ve got a shop packed with clients today.”
“Well, don’t worry about it. I’ll fix the spaghetti.”
“Thank you, baby.”
“A’ight,” he replied and then we ended the call.
Finally my day had come to an end and, as usual, I was the last one to leave the shop. I didn’t mind though because my pockets were filled with a stack of greenbacks and all of them happened to be my favorite presidents. After I set the alarm and shut off all the lights, I let myself out of the door. The parking lot was heavily lit, so I wasn’t worried when I leaned over to lock the door with my key. But, before I could turn around to leave, a man dressed in all black rushed up behind me. Before I could scream for help, he covered my mouth with a damp cloth filled with liquid chloroform. I tried to put up a fight but this stuff started working on me in seconds and before I knew it, my body went completely numb and I lost consciousness.
