The Grind Don't Stop

by L. E. Newell

  The precious fool he turned out to be was much like the regular tricks she had kept on a string when she was high-stepping her donkey butt on the ho strip. And like those stupid tricks, he actually was crazy enough to think that she was in love with him.

  She could still see the look of confidence on his scheming face the day she had come home with the money she claimed to have inherited from a dead uncle in South Carolina. He could’ve cared less where the money had come from as long as he saw himself in a bed of roses. Getting him to make that deal to buy the store from the old Jew couple was one of the easiest scams she’d ever pulled off. That fool even thought that it had been his idea. Men could be so naïve themselves sometimes, for he had forgotten all about the day a month earlier when she had slipped the owner a knot of bills to say that he was looking for a buyer. So if he was tripping off the speed ball she’d induced him to do that morning, any hustler worthy of the street wars he claimed to have conquered would’ve recognized that it was more than a mere happening.

  He had been an even bigger fool when she convinced him that it would probably be better to put the ownership in her phony name since he was in and out of jail all the time. That damn fool had been so caught up in his own ego trip that he was actually smiling in the mirror at her, thinking she was playing a prank on him when with the sweetest smile, she glided the super-sharp barber’s razor across his throat. Why not? He had served his purpose and usefulness, especially after he let her know that he had no known relatives. He wouldn’t be missed by anyone, sealing his doom for sure.

  She was still reliving those sadistic thoughts when she noticed that Main had turned to Lee Street. Her mind instantly turned to the reason she’ d decided to come that way in the first place. She needed to talk to Bertha at the strip club that Don partially owned.

  Now that was a real stroke of genius the way she had maneuvered Don from the petty hustler to first peddling dime rocks in the projects to co-ownership of the strip lounge and later, the 617 gambling spot on Auburn. She often wondered what those niggas Mack and Junior would really think if they knew that she was one of the shooters that night years ago. Or that she’d provided the police with the info that flushed the other gunmen, knowing that those gung-ho clowns would fight to the death. They did when Mack and Junior’s buddies gunned them down before the police got there.

  Except for that bitch-ass nigga Wyatt Earp who somehow managed to duck their permanent resting place overlooking the King Memorial. It still felt good to know that he had yet to figure out that she was the one that wired the drug squad to his having all the dope he had scored from her, as well as the whereabouts of several guns he had used in some unsolved murders. Was he ever the fool, like all the others who had served her purposes and had fallen on bad times and the graveyards.

  Enough reminiscing; she needed to holler at her girl and she was never that fond of trusting the telephone. It was always better and safer to read someone face to face. Besides, she hadn’t been with her girl in a few months now and really needed some of that female attention.

  Ten minutes later, she entered the sparsely occupied club and since Bertha had her back to her washing some glasses, she headed straight for the office in the rear. She went to the mini bar in the far corner to fix herself a vodka and orange juice. After a few sips, she took a seat on the couch to go over mentally what she was going to say to Bertha. One of the things she admired most about her was that she was nobody’s fool, so she had to pick her words carefully. After all, she had the same ex-street walker’s mentality as she had.

  Rose wrapped up her short think session and walked over to pull the picture of Hank Aaron’s #715 homer to the side to get to the wall safe. Removing a blue metal box, she took it to the desk, took out several stacks of money and wrote Don a short note. She replaced the box in the safe and returned to the desk and called Bertha.

  “Whatcha doing, girl?” she asked in a very sweet tone.

  Bertha checked the caller ID and realizing that she was using the office phone, acted a little surprised anyway. “Is that you, Rose? Girl, you are full of surprises, aren’t ya? I didn’t even see you come in.”

  So how in the hell you know I’m her bitch? she thought with a momentary streak of anger before she decided to let it slide and said cheerfully, “Yeah, I know, can you come back here for a moment?”

  Bertha held the phone away frowning for a second. “Okay, give me a few minutes.” She hung before Rose could respond. Of course she had seen her come in through the mirror, but had figured she’d want some time to herself like she usually did when she made one of her unexpected visits.

  When she stepped into the room, Rose gave her a brief smile before she walked over to the window to peek out of the blinds. She stood there long enough for Bertha to start to feel a little uncomfortable in the middle of the room before she turned around and went back to the desk.

  Rose flexed her shoulders, folded her arms across her chest and relaxed against the back of the chair admiring the heavyset redbone. Bertha’s cute cherubic face, humongous breasts, pert little nose and full, lavender-coated lips were well worth admiring. Rose often wondered if most people found it as hard as she did when it came to resisting her sexuality. Because of her size others had to be as amused when it came to matching Bertha’s little girl voice with her body, which to her was an aphrodisiac all by itself.

  The ever-conscious Bertha waited until she had unfolded her arms to rest them on the desk before she sat down in the chair facing her.

  Rose waited while Bertha wiggled around in the chair to get comfortable before she reached into her purse to get a Virginia Slim cigarette. Staring at her intensely, she lit up and took a few drags before she finally spoke. “I need you to pump some info out of these dancers for me.”

  Bertha didn’t like the beginning of the conversation because she didn’t trust any of the girls as far as she could throw them. But her curiosity had been pumped so she sat there and waited patiently for her to fill in the blanks.

  Rose felt she could trust her to some extent, not with everything. Hell, she couldn’t think of anyone who had gotten on that level with her, but with the matter at hand, she was definitely the only one that she could. Suddenly she had the urge to get her buzz on. She took a key out of her bra to open the bottom drawer. Just before she twisted the lock, she looked at Bertha undereyed for a second before lowering her gaze to make sure that the clear tape she always placed there hadn’t been disturbed. Reassured that it hadn’t, she removed a shaving kit of brown suede and Ziploc baggies filled with reefer and cocaine. After receiving a brief nod from Bertha, she used a cigar leaf to wrap up a blunt with a mixture of the two drugs. She took two long tokes and passed it across the desk to Bertha, who took a few long ones herself and passed it back. They repeated that ritual until it got close to being a duck and then Rose, staring gently into her eyes, reached over to caress her hands.

  With her eyes full of lust as the drug and sexual emporium hit her at the same time, Bertha slowly stood up and walked around the desk to stand directly in front of Rose.

  Rose’s drug-induced eyes looked up at her as the same lustful feelings started tingling through her body. She leaned her head forward to rest on her stomach. The heated aroma of her musky womanhood, drew her further down to Bertha’s crotch like a magnet.

  The feel of Rose’s warm mouth triggered her into action and she started rubbing the back of her head as she pressed forward to meet that warmth. Bertha moaned softly to the sensation of her wet tongue soothing her skin through her clothing. Ever so slowly she began grinding her hips into Rose’s face. Her moaning increased when she felt her soft hands start to edge her dress up her thighs. When the hem rose to the edge of her lacy panties, Bertha’s stomach began to tremble.

  Urged by her reaction, Rose started licking and kissing her crotch through the silky cloth. Bertha’s thighs started trembling as well when she felt her juices oozing out of her tingling pussy. Suddenly, the phone started ringing,
jarring her senses and both of them jumped. They stared into each other’s eyes, neither wanting to give up the emotions they were feeling. Sighing heavily with disgust, Rose leaned back in the chair and nodded for her to pick it up. Bertha rolled her eyes back in her head, snatched the phone off the desk and said nastily into the receiver, “Yeah.” Rose slapped her on the thigh, frowned and wagged her finger as she mouthed, “No-no-no.”

  Bertha pressed the receiver to her bosom, then took a deep breath with her eyes squeezed tightly shut until she was able to cool down. “Excuse me, who is this? No, neither one of them is here. No, not exactly, but most likely one of them should be here around seven or so. Okay, I’ll let them know that you called. Bye.”

  She gently replaced the phone back in its cradle. Sensing that the mood had drastically changed, she straightened her skirt of imaginary wrinkles and went to sit on the couch.

  After eyeing the frustrated look on her for a moment, Rose relit the blunt and said between drags, “Is that the time those two creepy muthafuckas usually come in?”

  Bertha smiled at her outstretched hand and walked over to get the blunt. She squeezed it between her thumb and index finger, being careful not to let the hot ashes touch her manicured nails, and finished it off. “Most of the time, yeah.” She harrumphed as she rolled it into a small ball and placed it in her mouth.

  Rose sighed at the sight of her sexy tongue running across her lips and then took on a more serious tone. “What was the deal why that little bitch Mercedes left? I know that Don was showing her a lot of favoritism over the other girls but hell, she didn’t seem like the type of bitch to let snooty bitches bother her, know what I’m saying?”

  Bertha looked off as she stretched her arms to the point where her huge breasts jutted out enticingly. She started rubbing her neck before settling her gaze back at her. “Now you know that I used to let that little thing roll with me when I used to run packages for Don when he ran short of hoes to do it every now and then?”

  Rose nodded and stared at her more intensely until she was forced to blink away the uncomfortable feeling.

  “So I got to know her better than the others, anyway. I don’t know how you going to take this, but she gave me every indication that she didn’t like Don from the get-go.”

  As she expected that drew a frown and nasty grunt from Rose. Her eyes twitched at the corners wondering if Rose would snap or not. When she didn’t she continued, “And to be straight up with you, she was just looking for somebody to cling on to to get away from him, if you ask me. And you did ask me, so there it is.”

  Rose’s eyes swayed from side to side searching the floor for awhile before she finally nodded. “So the little sneaky-ass ho used my nephew. Is that what you’re telling me? Because it certainly sounds like that in a fucking nutshell.”

  The sour look stayed glued to Rose’s face after she stood up and walked over to the window. She stood there with her shoulders hunching up and down for several moments as she forced the anger out of her body. Finally she gave one heavy sigh and spoke over her shoulder. “And that don’t seem sorta suspicious the way she did that shit, all of a sudden like that?”

  When she didn’t get an immediate reply, Rose turned around to face her with her nose flaring. Bertha stirred in the chair un-comfortably for a few seconds before she simply said, “No.”

  The corners of Rose’s eyes twitched. “Well, it do to me.” Without another word, she walked to the desk to relock the drugs in the drawer and strolled out of the room, slamming the door angrily behind her.

  Bertha sat there shaking her head, stunned as the door shook from the rattling that echoed in the suddenly chilly room. “Damn, why her ass so upset about one little bitch? Hell, dozens of girls come and go out of this bitch all the muthafucking time,” she muttered to herself as she left out and headed back to attend to her duties at the bar.

  Beverly was feeling womanly special after her rendezvous with Sparkle. And why not? She hadn’t had any sex for months and on those few occasions, she came nowhere near the pleasure she got with him. After all these years he still had her number. Hell, a girl had to get some every now and then to keep feeling like she was a desirable woman.

  The clicking of the police ticker tape, nor the humming of the printer, nor the ever-present din of noise in the squad room outside her office, was able to penetrate her revelry. But the aggravating banging on the door certainly was able to do so.

  She squinted in anger at the rattling blinds before she frowned at the intruder of her solace. She blinked herself out of her mini trance to answer the door. “Yeah, who the fuck is it?”

  Her grit faded instantly as her secretary entered the room. She smiled at Sarah, her middle-aged police lieutenant with graying temples. Her ever-present granny reading glasses were perched on her perky little nose, which she had to readjust when they slid down the bridge when she used her wide hips to bump the door open. She certainly fit the bill of the overworked aide-de-camp as she tried to balance an armload of folders against her bosom with one arm, while with the other one tried to keep a cup full of steaming hot coffee from slouching over the rim.

  Damn, it seems like every time she comes in here, she’s managing that miracle balancing act of hers, Beverly thought as Sarah mumbled something undetectably through the silver ink pen clenched between her ruby red lips.

  Beverly shook her head with a smile as she tried to put everything down in one motion. She didn’t quite make it as the black liquid practically jumped over the rim. Instinctively, Beverly stretched out her hand to try to prevent the spill from spreading all over her highly polished desktop. “Ow, ouch, damn, that stuff is hot, girl. Whatcha do, boil it or something?” she yelped as the hot liquid sprinkled her wrist and forearm. She quickly scooped up a handful of napkins out of the dispenser and began wiping up the mess.

  “Sarah, how in the world could you bang on the door that hard and then try to put all that stuff down at one time anyway? Who dya think you are, Houdini? Damn, girl.”

  Sarah Barnes, rosy cheeks blushing under her gray eyes, peered undereyed at her boss as she pushed the glasses back up her nose with her baby finger. “I didn’t. I do all the time with these big-ass hips of mine, but anyway Lt. Woo saw me approaching the door and called herself helping. Shit, if she called herself doing that, she could have at least taken the cup out of my hand, know what I’m saying? But so much for the hired help, huh?”

  Smiling demurely, she attempted to straighten up the nonpresent wrinkles in her navy blue skirt. “Oh yeah, and by the way, she said that she’d be in here after she gets herself a cup of the house specialty here.” She mugged up at the cup as she sipped and grimaced. “Why can’t they change this stuff to Folgers or Maxwell House, or something resembling tasty.”

  “Sarah, it is Folgers.” Beverly smiled.

  Sarah wrinkled her nose and fluttered her eyelashes. “Hmph, could’ve fooled me. They need to get somebody else to make it then.”

  Beverly took a few sips from her Atlanta Falcons mug and smiled. “You could always bring yo own. Hell, maybe even get some of that cappuccino up in this joint. Then you may not have to go through that face-mugging thing you seem to enjoy doing so much.” She friskily nodded her head.

  Sarah, being in a little sassy mood of her own, took advantage of the one her boss was in and kept the good-natured conversation going. “Hmm, who been flocking in your nest there, honey? You sure in a peppy mood there, girlie.” She smiled prissily.

  Beverly blushed and stuck her tongue out with a devious smile. She knew that the frisky girl in her was trying to take over, so she started shuffling the papers on her desk. She squelched up her nose. “None of your business, Miss Nosey Ass.”

  Sarah wasn’t about to let her off that easy and gave her a matronly smirk. “Hmmph, uh-huh, I knew I was right. You been doing the nasty, ain’tcha?”

  Beverly’s head jerked involuntarily for she couldn’t believe that she was getting all up in her biz. On the other hand, i
f her inner glow was that evident, she must’ve really been feeling good. She gave her a hiccupped moan. “Aw, girl, shut your filthy mouth.”

  Their heads jerked to the door as Lt. Woo whooshed through like she was entering her own palace. Beverly’s mini good mood snapped into a nasty grit at her boldness and she stood up and placed her hands on her hips defiantly.

  Woo froze in her step and mouthed silently. “What?” She stood with her hands spread at her sides. “Wow, what’s up? What did I do now?”

  Maintaining her authoritative stance, Beverly gritted in a stern tone. “Lieutenant, how many times do I have to tell your disrespecting ass about coming in here like that? Damn, barging in like it’s your office and shit.”

  “Aw, girl, please,” Woo responded in her seldom-used Vietnamese-laced twang.

  “I beg your pardon,” Beverly growled as she leaned forward and placed her hands with the knuckles shining on the desk.

  “Lighten up, boss lady. I got some good stuff to wiggle in ya ear.” She waited wide-eyed for a response. When she didn’t get one, she pursed her lips. “That is if you don’t mind me reporting for duty, ma’am. Well, do you?”

  Beverly covered her eyes and shook her head. What a woman, whadda muthafucking woman this bitch here is, she thought before she sat back down. “Okay, little lady, whatcha got? What gives?”

  Woo’s eyes blinked wildly with excitement as she snake-rolled her head and sat down in the chair opposite the one that Sarah was standing beside. “That’s a little better. Uh, by the way, what are y’all girls in here talking about?” She squinted at Sarah, not even attempting to hide the disdain she felt for the older woman. “Surely didn’t sound like no official police biz to me.” Her twang had all but disappeared.

  Sarah rolled her eyes at Woo, snorted and started ruffling through her paperwork before she cleared her throat. “What difference does it make what we were talking about? It ain’t had a damn thing to do with you, Missy.” She stood up and folded her arms across her chest and turned her mouth down when she spoke. “Go ahead, chief, get on with your business.”