Cheaper to Keep Her (part 1)

by Kiki Swinson

  looked like she was of mixed heritage. I could only imagine how much money Duke must’ve gotten for

  what must’ve been a very pretty baby from the girl. The news reporter said it looked like the girl had

  suffered from a botched C-section. I couldn’t even imagine the pain she must have suffered while Dr.

  Gavin cut on her and took the baby. I prayed he at least knocked her out before he did the

  procedure.

  I couldn’t concentrate or anything. “Damn, I don’t know what to do.” That was slowly becoming my

  thing, talking aloud to myself. How would I be able to live with myself knowing that I may have

  information about that poor girl and not turn it in? On the second hand, I had stolen the paperwork

  from Duke, which meant I would have to turn him in and I might implicate myself since I had spent his

  il icit money. So much shit was running through my head.

  I paced around the apartment trying to wait for Diamond to get home. She would be my voice of

  reason . . . she always was. She would tel me the truth about whether going to the police with the

  information was a good idea or not. I knew if I went to the police they would have a lot of questions

  about how I got the pictures. Then they might try to implicate me for knowing about the il egal

  adoption shit and not reporting it. But then again, I hadn’t done anything wrong.

  These thoughts went back and forth in my mind like a ping pong match. I tried to weigh the pros

  and cons of turning Duke in, but I was way too nervous to reason. “He would be total y done if I did

  that.”

  Suddenly a light bulb went off in my damn head. This missing girl was going to be exactly what the

  fuck I needed to get back at Duke for how he treated me. If I could help the police tie the girl to Duke,

  he real y would be done. His little life with his new wife and al of his money would be over. His damn

  face would be splashed al over the news. He would suffer the humiliation I suffered when he

  constantly dissed me in public. Al of a sudden I felt a mixture of fear and excitement.

  I had to cal Diamond. I didn’t care what she was doing, I wanted to tel her about this. I needed

  her to ride with me on this one. If I was going to go to the boys in blue on Duke, I needed a witness just

  in case something went wrong. Shit, somebody had to live to tel the story. For al I knew Duke

  might’ve had the entire police department working with him. I mean let’s face it, he had enough money

  to buy the city, why not pay off a few cops.

  I picked up my cel and dialed Diamond’s number. It was ringing. “C’mon girl, pick up the damn

  phone . . . pick up dammit. I need you right now,” I mumbled as I paced the floor of my bedroom with

  my nerves standing on end.

  Diamond final y picked up her phone. I was happy for a few seconds. I crinkled my face because

  my ears were immediately assailed by al of the loud rap music in the background.

  “Diamond! Go some place quiet! I need to speak to you about something very important!” I

  screamed into the phone. I don’t even know why she would try to answer her phone inside the club

  with the music blaring. Diamond was laughing hysterical y like something I was saying was funny. She

  kept laughing but at least the background noise final y got quieter. I assumed she went outside or

  downstairs in the club’s dressing room.

  “Wassup!” Diamond yel ed into the phone. I had to pul the phone from my ear she had screamed

  so loud. I guess she stil couldn’t hear me as clearly as I could hear her.

  “Diamond, I need to talk to you about something real important,” I huffed. This bitch started

  laughing again. “Diamond! I’m not joking! What are you laughing at?” I yel ed at her.

  “Ok . . . ok. I’m serious now,” Diamond slurred. I was too anxious to tel her what I knew to even

  pay attention to her slurring words and constant laughing.

  “Girl, listen . . . have you heard about a sixteen-year-old girl that went missing?” It probably was a

  stupid question because Diamond never watched the news, but I figured maybe she heard

  something on the streets about it.

  She told me she hadn’t heard anything. I told her what I had just seen on the news. “Diamond, I

  swear I think that girl was one of those girls that Duke and that creepy fucking doctor had down at the

  shelter. Remember what we talked about . . . you know the baby snatching ring,” I explained to

  Diamond. She was quiet for a minute.

  “Diamond, I know Duke had something to do with this girl I just seen on the news,” I said, but I

  didn’t tel her I had the pictures and paperwork to corroborate my suspicions. I would never tel

  Diamond that information over the phone for fear she might repeat it in the wrong place and be

  overheard.

  When I was finished tel ing her everything I suspected, this bitch busts out laughing as if I had just

  told her a joke. I had to pul the phone away from my ear and look at it because I could not believe

  my ears.

  “Diamond! Are you listening to me?” I screamed again. “What the fuck is wrong with you? What is

  so funny?” I couldn’t believe she kept laughing. That’s when I realized my suspicions must’ve been

  right. Diamond was doing more than just having a few drinks, she must’ve been getting high off

  something. This reaction just wasn’t like her.

  Then to top it off Diamond told me I was being paranoid and that she always felt I was a little

  crazy. I felt betrayed. The only person I had left was even blowing me off. Diamond dismissed me and

  told me she had to get back to work. She made me feel like a sil y nut case. That was a first coming

  from Diamond because she never blew me off to go show her ass.

  When she hung up the phone, I was left al alone with my dilemma. I went back into the living room

  and flipped through the channels to see if there was something more on the mutilated girl. I stopped

  on Channel 7 news. The entertainment and gossip session was on and I was hoping maybe some

  real news would come on after this piece. But damn, what was on the screen shocked me. I was

  stunned. Two shockers in one night threatened to send me to the hospital with a heart attack.

  Right before my very eyes was the media coverage of Tidewater business mogul Duke

  Carrington’s wedding to the daughter of a pastor.

  I bit my bottom lip when I saw Duke, al dressed in a tuxedo, kissing and smiling with his new wife. I

  felt nauseous watching them. I squeezed the TV remote until my hands hurt.

  That was al I needed. “Fuck you Diamond. I’m not paranoid. And you, newly married mogul Mr.

  Carrington, you fucking low down dirty dog, your life as you know it wil soon be over,” I grumbled at

  the TV as the last few happy images of Duke and his new wife flashed across the screen.

  I was fuming mad now. That was supposed to be my wedding with the news cameras showing

  footage of me and Duke canoodling and smiling.

  I rushed and got dressed, picked up the pictures and the other paperwork I had taken from

  Duke’s safe and I headed out.

  I was on my way to the Virginia Beach police department. This time, I had enough information to

  ruin Duke for good.

  Walking out the door I lied to myself believing this was closure for the young girl who had died a

  violent and useless death, and the lost of her child.

  Deep down, I knew this was about me—al about me!

  Cheaper to Keep
Her Unique

  Chapter 23—There’s Been A Murder

  I was sick to my stomach the entire ride to the police station.

  Diamond’s little hoopty was smoking under the hood too. “Shit. No wonder she left this fucking car

  home.” That would be al I needed to break down on the damn ride to the police station. Thank God,

  the car made it.

  I pul ed into the stationhouse parking lot and started having second thoughts about going through

  with it. I didn’t know what I’d say when I got inside. I didn’t know how I would sound saying, “Hey, I got

  information on a dead girl.”

  I started rehearsing stuff to say. “Excuse me, I saw a girl on the news and I have pictures of her

  and I know she has been a part of an il egal adoption scam and it was my ex-boyfriend,” I rambled

  out loud nervously. That little practice didn’t help.

  “Shit, Lynise, that sounds dumb as hel ,” I scolded myself. I slammed my fists against the steering

  wheel in frustration. “Ok, get your shit together. Just go in there and tel them the truth.” I was final y

  ready to do it. Duke was going to be sorry. I exited the car and went into the police station. My eyes

  grew wide once I was inside.

  “Damn, I would come on the most crowded damn night,” I mumbled as I looked around. There

  were people sitting, standing, yel ing and crying. There was one lady sitting on the steps, in the damn

  way, with a crying ass baby. I heard her tel her friend she was waiting to post bail for her man.

  I saw another chick sitting in one of the hard chairs fil ing out a complaint form. She was screaming

  on her cel phone tel ing somebody she was waiting to press charges against her man. Evidently he

  had beaten her ass and slammed her head on the concrete outside of her project apartment. When

  she final y looked up from her paperwork I could see what she was talking about. She had a fucking

  purple, green and blue shiner under her right eye. I shook my head in disbelief.

  The police station was like a damn zoo.

  I walked up to the little scratched up window to ask for help. “Excuse me, officer,” I began. The fat

  female cop behind the plexiglass put her hand up to me like talk to the hand. I stopped what I was

  saying abruptly and looked at her strangely. She kept her hand up and her head down. I was getting

  heated.

  Final y, she looked up with her triple chins. “What can I do for you?” the fat officer said dryly.

  “I need to speak with someone regarding a missing person—” But once again the fat bitch cut me

  off.

  “Has the person been missing for more than twenty-four hours,” she asked in a rushed, nasty

  tone.

  “What? No. I . . . I . . . I don’t want to report somebody missing. I have information on a missing

  murdered girl I saw on the news tonight,” I told her. She looked even more disgusted now. Probably

  because they had received too many false leads tonight or the fat cow final y thought she needed to

  do some work.

  “Wait right here,” the fat officer grunted. She picked her huge body up out of the smal chair. I felt

  sorry for the damn chair. She cal ed out to her sergeant, repeated what I said and then came

  waddling back to the window.

  “You saw this on the news?” she asked. “Was it a crime stoppers story?”

  “Yes, about a girl found dead with a botched c-section and a missing baby,” I repeated. The officer

  let out a long sigh like I was bothering her.

  “Just go have a seat and let me see if I can get a detective to come see you. I ain’t promising you

  nothing,” she said, dismissing me. I rol ed my eyes and went back to the crowded waiting area to find

  a seat. There were no seats so I just stood against a wal .

  I watched the people coming and going in and out of the station. There was some ghetto shit going

  on in the stationhouse. I had to move out of the way as two girls started fighting right there in the lobby.

  How bold was that? Assaulting each other in a police station. From what I could gather, they were

  both there to bail out the same dude. That nigga had apparently cal ed both of his babymamas and

  both were there with kids around the same age. I watched as they both got their asses arrested, now

  neither one of them could bail out the man and both of them would have to later fight child protective

  services to get their kids back. I just shook my damn head. I couldn’t wait to get the fuck out of that

  place.

  It seemed as if the cops were cal ing everybody but me. I had final y got a seat but I was stil

  waiting. I looked over at the fat cop and she rol ed her eyes. It had been at least forty minutes and I

  stil hadn’t been seen. Now I could see why people didn’t come down to make police reports. These

  cops were the worst.

  The longer I sat there the more time I had to think. I started remembering things I had heard Duke

  say on the phone and I suddenly remembered him saying something he had a few cops on his

  payrol . The longer I sat there the more I had second thoughts about what I had come to the police

  station to do.

  Then a real sinister thought popped into my head. What if I told Duke that I had the pictures? That

  I knew about his scam with Dr. Gavin? And lastly, that he would have to give me some serious money

  to keep my mouth shut.

  Yeah! Blackmail that muthafucka!

  Hel , just like that my plans changed. That’s what I was going to do. Blackmail the fuck out of his

  nasty ass.

  I jumped up from the seat I was in. I looked over at the fat bitch of a cop and I flipped that bitch the

  bird.

  I hurried out of the police station with a mission on my mind. I was broke, busted and disgusted,

  but not for fucking long.

  Duke Carrington would be giving me stacks for the shit I had on his ass.

  Cheaper to Keep Her Unique

  Chapter 24—The Almighty Dol ar

  I was feeling hyped up and bold when I rushed back to the apartment.

  Blackmail and getting lots of money was on my mind. But by the time I got back home, my

  thoughts were dashed when I walked into the house to hear Diamond and Brian sounding as if they

  were having a wild damn party in Diamond’s room.

  I didn’t know what the fuck was up with her lately, but her shit was getting out of hand. It was wild

  partying, disappearing acts or big horrible fights with Brian. This was the time I needed her most. I was

  desperate for a way to make money and at the same time I wanted to ruin Duke and his entire life. I

  was frustrated I couldn’t get to Diamond when I needed her.

  With the amount of noise coming from Diamond’s room, I knew I wasn’t going to get to tel her my

  plan. I went into my room and pul ed out the pictures of the murdered girl, the other pictures, and the

  lists and paperwork I had kept. I reviewed everything and the more I read, the more confident I was

  that it was going to get me some big bucks from Mr. Carrington’s ass.

  I didn’t want to think hard about the path I was about to take. I knew if I did, I probably would have

  changed my mind. Duke and the doctor had mutilated a young girl, and she had something they

  needed—a baby. I didn’t want to think about what the fuck they would do to me if I gave them the

  opportunity. No, money was on my mind. Hopeful y, stacks and stacks of money.

  I lifted one end of my mattress and stashed the papers under it. I went into the kitchen
and took

  four Tylenol PM. I knew without it I wasn’t going to get any sleep. I could stil hear Diamond laughing al

  loud and shit. I couldn’t believe she was stil with Brian after he beat her ass. I shook my head, took

  some cotton and stuffed my ears, and went to bed. I would have to see Diamond when that bastard

  of a man of hers was gone.

  I tossed and turned al night. I kept dreaming that Duke was after me because of my plot to

  blackmail him. I could actual y see his face curled into a snarl as he was coming after me. That dream

  had me jumping. I had broken out in a cold sweat. I was obsessing about everything, which wasn’t

  good for my mental state.

  When I saw the sun streaming through my blinds, I decided I might as wel get up and start my

  day. I kept trying to get up, but my mind was in a repetitive loop. My plans were dominating my

  thoughts. When I thought I had moved my mind in another direction, thoughts of my plans would

  return. I just couldn’t move on. I needed to talk to Diamond badly. I needed to share my plan and get

  her thoughts. Hopeful y she would have words of reason.

  I continued to lie in bed for a while when I final y confirmed that Diamond was up and about. I

  heard her turn on the shower. I figured Brian’s ass was probably gone and now we had a chance to

  talk without any interruption. He usual y left real early whenever he stayed over. I had once told

  Diamond I believed that nigga was married because of the way he would creep out at three or four in

  the morning.

  After a few minutes, I decided to get up and go sit on the toilet while Diamond was in the shower

  so I could talk to her. I figured it was probably the only time I was going to have with her ass, since she

  was hanging out without me a lot lately. I padded through the apartment and opened the bathroom

  door.

  “Diam—” I cal ed out as I walk into the bathroom. Immediately, I almost choked on my words. My

  eyes grew wide and I was kind of stuck on stupid when I realized I had walked in on Diamond and

  Brian fucking. She was moaning loudly and had her hands on the shower wal , while Brian had her

  bent over slamming into her ass like a plow driver, fucking the shit out of her. I felt a pang of jealously

  come over me. I hadn’t had a man’s touch in a long while and al of a sudden I forgot why I had even