Cheaper to Keep Her (part 1)

by Kiki Swinson

  “Ohhhh, Diamond!” I cried out. “I’m so sorry I got you into this.”

  Before I could say another word, my cel phone rang. It was Diamond’s cel . I showed the screen

  to Brian and told him to be quiet by putting my finger up against my lips.

  “Hel o?” I gulped, swal owing back tears and snot.

  “I guess you and your company know we’re serious now, huh?” the computer-generated voice

  stated.

  “Please! Take me. She has nothing to do with this,” I pleaded.

  “It’s too late to think about that now. You have twenty minutes to get to the women’s homeless

  shelter. I’m sure you know which one, since you seem to know a lot. You need to be alone. There wil

  be two pregnant girls in the front. They have something for you. Pick it up and wait for further

  instructions.” The line went dead.

  I looked at Brian, my eyes fil ed with tears. I didn’t even think about the fact they knew he was

  there.

  I was ful y focused on fol owing their instructions to get Diamond out of this.

  Cheaper to Keep Her Unique

  Chapter 29—If I Should Die

  I practical y argued with Brian convincing him he couldn’t go to the woman’s homeless shelter. He

  didn’t want to listen to reason. He was ready to go wherever with guns blazing.

  “Do you want her to die without even letting me try to get her released?” I screamed at him.

  Final y, after about ten minutes of arguing I was able to get through to his stubborn ass. I was

  confident if they saw him with me they would do something even crazier to Diamond. Brian told me I

  could use his car to go to the shelter. He told he was going to have one of his boys pick him up and

  he would meet me back at the apartment later. Al the time I spent hating him, I was now happy to

  have his ass around. Brian was like a man apart when he found out about what was going on with

  Diamond.

  Maybe he did actual y love her.

  I took his keys and we left the apartment together. He walked me to his car and told me to cal him

  as soon I could.

  “Brian, if I should d-d-d-die,” I paused. Just the thought sent chil s through my body. “What they

  want is in my room. It’s hidden real good. You’l find it eventual y if you look.”

  He nodded and I got into his car. I began backing out of the parking spot and left Brian standing on

  the curb waiting for his friend to pick him up. I looked down at the stick shift to put the car into drive

  when suddenly I heard a BOOM BOOM! Two loud cannon sounding shots explored in the parking lot. I

  jumped fiercely.

  I grew up in the hook. I knew the sound of guns. This was the real deal. These shots sounded

  close. My eyes went as wide as marbles when I saw Brian’s body shrink to the ground. He was laid

  out in front of his car on the concrete.

  “Oh my God!” I screamed. I started shaking al over again. Barely able to catch my breath, I

  wheeled the car around and the tires started screeching. I was trying to get the fuck out of there. I

  sped out of the parking lot like a mad woman and as I eased onto the highway my phone started

  ringing again. I was scared as hel to answer it. But I was also scared of what might happen if I didn’t

  answer it. I reached down and picked it up, keeping my other hand on the steering wheel.

  “You just had an innocent person kil ed,” the same computerized voice said. “Matter of fact, you

  were the one to kil him. Now I guess you wil listen to the instructions you are given.”

  I just sobbed into the phone. I couldn’t speak. I was damaged. I was a bitch. I was a complete fuck

  up. If I could rewind back to the day I met Duke, I would just walk away and don’t fal for the hokey

  doke . It was the same hokey doke that had gotten my best friend’s beaten and possibly kil ed and

  her boyfriend shot.

  I had gotten myself and Diamond into this shit. It was up to me to get us out of this shit.

  I drove like a bat out of hel to the shelter as I was instructed to do. When I got there, I saw the two

  pregnant girls the voice said would be there standing outside. Then the phone rang again. I answered

  right away.

  “Put them both in the car and drive them around the block two times and then bring them back,”

  the irritating computer-generated voice commanded me. “No matter what you have to do to get them

  in the car, you better do it. Diamond’s life depends on it.”

  Even though the voice was disguised, it stil came across as pure evil. What the fuck kind of crazy

  demands is this bastard giving me now! I thought to myself. I put the car in park and got out. I walked

  up to the girls and told them they needed to come with me. One girl handed me an envelope and

  looked as if she was scared to death because when she extended her hand with the envelope it was

  very unsteady from shaking so badly.

  Both girls were very big and obviously far gone in their pregnancies. “Ya’l have to come with me in

  the car,” I said to them. One girl started to cry as if on cue. I looked at this bitch as if she was crazy.

  “I’m not going! No . . . please! I can’t go through that again! Please just leave me alone!” she cried

  out.

  I was shocked by her reaction, but I had a mission to complete and if I had to fuck this little girl up,

  I was prepared to do it.

  “Look, I’m not trying to hurt you, but if you don’t get in this fucking car, something is going to

  happen to my friend. I’m not about to let that shit happen so I’m asking you to just get your ass in the

  car!” I told the girl forceful y.

  She wouldn’t budge. I grabbed that bitch by arm and started pul ing her.

  “No! Please!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.

  “Why the fuck are you acting crazy?” I screamed, dragging her forward.

  She was resisting as if she thought I was taking her to a slaughterhouse. Maybe she did think that,

  judging by what Duke and Dr. Gavin had going on. The other girl started crying too but she was going

  towards the car on her own, although reluctantly.

  “Why are ya’l crying? I don’t know what they told you about me but I’m not down with them! Now,

  just make this shit easy and get the fuck in the car!” I gritted on these bitches.

  I was sweating now. I began pul ing that bitch with al my might. Final y, she started dragging her

  feet towards the car. She got in. Once I was back behind the steering wheel, I drove around the block

  twice like I had been instructed to do. Then I got another cal tel ing me to drop both of the girls back

  off at the shelter, but this time at the back door. When I pul ed back up, two big strapping men came

  and grabbed the girls out of the car. The girls were screaming again, even worse than before. I felt

  horrible inside. One of the men came over to the window and handed me another envelope that

  looked similar to the one that was slid under the door.

  My heart skipped a beat. The last time I opened an envelope I saw pictures of Diamond. What

  the fuck is it now? I thought to myself. I ripped it open and pul ed out more pictures. I stared at the

  images and banged my fists on the steering wheel. I was final y able to figure out what they were

  trying to do now. The tables had been turned.

  This time the finger was pointing directly at me.

  The phone rang again. I wanted to take that shit and throw it out of the window. Instead, I thought

  about Diamond and I hesitantly
picked up the phone.

  “How do you like seeing yourself kidnapping young, homeless pregnant girls?” the computerized

  voice asked. I just closed my eyes. These muthafuckas were playing hardbal now.

  “Two can play your game. So I guess we have to arrange for you to turn over the pictures and

  documents back to us. When you do that, you can have the images of yourself, you can get your

  best friend back, and you can be cleared of murdering her boyfriend.”

  “When can we do this meeting? I just want out of this,” I cried into the phone.

  The computerized voice laughed. The computer device made the laugh sound shril ed in my soul

  and it unnerved me. “I find that funny. Now you don’t want to play the blackmail game anymore?”

  I bit down into my jaw and put my head down on the steering wheel. I just wanted my life back, the

  life of a low paid bartender trying to get ahead. The simple life I had before I ever met Duke

  Carrington. A life I would never complain about again.

  “No, I just want to move on . . . everybody just move on and forget this ever happened,” I croaked

  out.

  “That wil never happen. It’s time for new beginnings. Go back to the apartment and wait to hear

  from us again,” the voice instructed.

  “Let me speak to Diamond,” I demanded, I wanted to know she was stil alive before I did

  anymore of their bul shit biddings. But the phone line went dead. I slammed my fists on the steering

  wheel again.

  This was the first time in a while I had to admit I was in way over my head.

  Cheaper to Keep Her Unique

  Chapter 30—Regrets

  I was both physical y and emotional y drained as I drove back to my apartment complex as I had

  been instructed.

  When I pul ed into the complex, I could barely maneuver the car to a parking spot because of the

  police and emergency vehicles haphazardly parked al over the area. There was a crowd standing

  behind a cordoned off area. The crime scene was because of Brian’s shooting. I hadn’t forgotten

  about Brian but I was somewhat surprised by the scene. I was so scared to get out of the damn car

  for fear that whoever shot Brian would shoot my ass too.

  “Fuck!” I cursed as I looked around. Here I was pul ing the fuck up in a dead man’s ride. When I

  went to get out of the car I noticed a couple of guys I remembered seeing Brian with standing behind

  the crime scene tape. As soon as they spotted his car, I could see them squinting to see who was

  pul ing up and getting out of Brian’s car. They eyed me evil y but didn’t say anything or bring any

  attention to me.

  I wanted to tel the police what happened so desperately but I couldn’t chance it. I was almost one

  hundred percent sure that Duke would have somebody out there ready to snipe my ass if I even

  tried. The cops weren’t letting anybody go up the staircase closest to my apartment door. I had to go

  al the way on the other side of the complex, walk up the far side staircase and walk across the little

  tiers outside of the apartments in order to get back to my place.

  I went inside, bolted my door and went straight to my bedroom. I flopped on my bed and just

  bal ed out crying some more. Duke had made me shed some fucking tears over these past few

  months for sure. I was thinking of al kinds of ways I was going to get revenge on his ass. I just had to

  get Diamond free first. I lay on my bed waiting for the next cal to come.

  Every now and then I would get up to see if the police had cleared the crime scene yet. One of

  the times I was looking out the window, I suddenly heard knocking on the apartment door. I swal owed

  a lump of fear that had lodged in my throat from the banging. I wasn’t trying to answer the damn door.

  By now, not only was Duke going to be after me, Brian’s friends were now wondering for sure what

  role I played in his murder. It wasn’t a secret in Virginia Beach that I despised Brian. But I don’t know

  how they could think I would just murk the nigga for no reason. I’m sure his people didn’t want to go to

  the police on me, because the ’hood had its own set of laws and number one on the list was no

  snitching. They’d rather take care of my ass themselves. They would have to join the growing list of

  people after me.

  Whoever was at the door was banging like crazy now. Honestly, I was so scared I slid down to the

  floor and got underneath my bed. I didn’t know what else to do. I felt as if I was caught up in a horror

  movie. Eventual y, the person stopped banging. I waited a while, then I rol ed out from under the bed

  and dialed Diamond’s phone number. I figured I could speed up the process of arranging a meeting to

  turn over the damming evidence I had, so I could get Diamond back.

  Her phone went straight to voicemail. “Shit!” I cursed. I think the waiting was worse than everything

  else. I got off the floor and tipped to the window again. There were stil police cars outside. Now they

  had added unmarked cars to the gang of cars already out there. I waited and waited and waited for

  the next cal . But none came. I kept trying to cal the phone back but it repeatedly kept going directly

  to voicemail. I had been so deprived of sleep I final y just conked out on my bed.

  I don’t know how long I was asleep before I jumped up to loud banging. “Again!” I said groggily as I

  was jolted out of my sleep. It sounded like a boulder was coming through my apartment. The next

  sound I heard shocked me so bad, a little bit of piss trickled out of my bladder.

  “Police! Don’t fucking move!” they screamed. There were at least ten guns pointed at me. I raised

  my hands up in surrender and in utter and complete shock. I felt like my legs were made of jel y and

  they threatened to buckled under me.

  “Lynise Washington, we have a warrant for your arrest in connection with the murder of Tania

  Blackmon,” one of the cops screamed at me.

  Who? Murder? Me? I screamed inside my head. My eyes were blinking a mile a minute. I had no

  fucking idea what he was talking about. The cop grabbed me up roughly and cal ed a female cop

  over to search me.

  “Start searching the house!” another cop yel ed. There was a bunch of them and they started

  pil aging my apartment. For what, at that time, I had no fucking clue. They were throwing shit around

  and just tearing up the place. I was led into the living room and made to sit on one of the kitchen

  chairs that they had dragged over.

  “I don’t know what this is al about. I think I’m being framed for something I didn’t do,” I final y said

  with a shaky voice.

  “Yeah, that’s what they al say when they get to this point. You’re busted,” a nasty female cop spat

  at me. This bitch was ugly as sin. I knew she hated the fact that I looked better than her.

  “I didn’t fucking do anything. I know who did it! I tried to report what I knew and clear myself once

  before. I came to the police station with the information I had, but no one would take the time out to

  listen!” I screamed.

  “Uh huh, I’m sure,” the cop replied sarcastical y.

  I couldn’t believe this shit. They were going through my apartment with a fine tooth comb. They

  were tossing shit around and I even heard shit being broken.

  “Bingo!” I heard one of the male cops yel from my bedroom. My heart started racing so fast I was

  beginning to feel lightheaded.

  “We go
t what we cal direct physical evidence right fucking here!” the cop announced. “Just like

  the crime stoppers tipster said we would find it and where . . . we sure did. That fucking tip was right

  on the money.”

  He was holding the pictures I had stolen from Duke’s condo, along with the paperwork about the

  baby sales. I almost passed out right where I sat. “Wait . . . no . . . you don’t understand!” I screamed

  defensively.

  “Shut the fuck up, you murderous bitch! You and that fucking doctor are done!” the male cop spat.

  “I can’t believe she was bold enough . . . or stupid enough rather to keep pictures of a girl she had

  brutal y murdered. What a dumb ass!” the female cop commented.

  I just lost it at that point. I stood up with my hands cuffed behind my back. I was stumbling and off

  balance. When I was steady on my two feet, I started jumping up and down screaming as if I was a

  straight up mental patient. It didn’t take long before a few of the cops inside the apartment bum

  rushed me and threw me down on the floor.

  “Take this murderer down to the stationhouse so she can be booked and processed. She

  disgusts me! We’re gonna finish searching here. Then I wil get somebody to do her car,” I heard the

  cop say.

  My car? I screamed inside of my head. I didn’t even have a car. As I was being led out of my

  apartment to a waiting paddy wagon, I saw that the cops were impounding Brian’s car. They thought it

  was my car and then I remember that the pictures of those girls at the shelter being pul ed towards

  the car were in the car. I was real y going to look like a kidnapping, baby snatching murderer now. I

  had to admit to myself this seemed to be a very wel thought out revenge plan on Duke’s part.

  Inside the paddy wagon I cried and cried. I could only imagine what must’ve happened to

  Diamond by now and me going to jail I wouldn’t be able to help her. I was in a fucking world of shit and

  I didn’t have a soul to cal on. I was having so many regrets as I reflected on the last couple of weeks

  of my life. I should have just fol owed my first mind and turned Duke in. Me being greedy and trying to

  get some money to start a new life was the reason I was in this predicament.

  Duke was smarter than I thought. Of course he was. He was a businessman and entrepreneur as