“I don’t know about that, Shakita. Ain’t that a little risky? Why don’t we try to have a party at your house?”
Shakita looked at her sideways. “A party? Bitch, who the fuck are we going to invite? You don’t have any friends, and I damn sure don’t have any friends, so it’s going to be two lonely bitches gettin’ drunk and blowin’ out cupcakes n’ shit. I’d rather go to Chuck E. Cheese’s than to deal with that depressing shit.”
“Girl, it ain’t even like that. We have friends and you know it,” Latrice said, laughing. “Whatever. Name one friend I got.”
“You can invite Eric. I know he’ll come through for you. Y’all are real cool.”
“True. But our relationship doesn’t work like that. I only go to him in my time of need.”
“Why only then? Y’all seem so right for each other.”
“As much as I wanted to, Eric could never be my man.”
“Why you say that?”
“For one, the mothafucka’s fine as hell and every bitch in the world wants his ass. I ain’t got time to be pulling bitches off my man every five minutes. And for real for real, he’s too good for me anyway.”
“Why you putting yourself down like that?”
“I’m not. I’m just being real. Eric got everything going for him and I’m still trying to get my shit together. I’m always fucking something up and I would only be a burden in his life. I already know I’m one now, so I can only imagine what it would be like if I was his girl. I can’t mess up that man’s life like that. I respect him too much.”
“But what if he gets in a serious relationship and end up getting married? Wouldn’t you wish it could’ve been you instead of some other chick?”
Shakita sighed. “That’s an old dream of mine. So much has happened since we met that there’s no way we would work out. I wouldn’t even be mad if he found Mrs. Right. I know they’ll make him happier than I could.”
“I think if it’s meant for y’all to be together, it will happen. You should give it a try and see what’s up.”
“Nah. The only thing we can do is fuck and be friends. That’s it. Other than that, it’s a wrap for us. Ya dig?”
Latrice didn’t say anything. She thought whatever could have happened between the two of them was a lost cause, and that meant Eric was fair game for anyone who was interested. Latrice’s eyes were definitely interested.
CHAPTER 27
ONE WEEK UNTIL BAY GETS Out
As the days moved on, all the talk about the BERK van robbery had slowly come to a halt, but all the heightened surveillance and security around the stations were still unchanged. The BERK police were waiting for the robbers to strike again, so they stayed alert on all the BERK lines, ready to take down anyone who looked suspicious. Shakita thought it was funny how everyone at the station was either acting scared and uptight or taking their jobs way too serious. Passengers were getting harassed for even running through the station trying to catch their train. Some even got arrested for not having proper ID. Everyone at BERK was turning the stations upside down trying to make an example of anyone who crossed the line. If only they knew it was Shakita they needed to worry about the whole time.
Shakita saw Reggie for the first time in a week and wanted to give him the money she’d been holding in her locker for three days. Once she did, she didn’t need to speak to his ass ever again in life. “What up, Reggie Reg!” she yelled out like they were friends.
“What’s up?” Reggie said, giving her a little fake nod.
“You got a minute?”
“Yeah, why?” he asked suspiciously.
“Come with me real fast.” Reggie didn’t know what she was up to, but he still followed her with precaution.
Shakita quickly looked around before she opened her locker. When she saw that everything was cool, she pulled out a thick envelope and handed it to Reggie.
“How much is this?” he asked as he skimmed his hand over the money.
“It’s ten g’s.”
Reggie turned up his nose. “Ten g’s? Y’all took like a half a mil and all you’re gonna give a nigga is ten g’s?”
“Hell yeah. What the fuck you think, I’m going to hook ya ass up for not doing shit? This is hush money, nigga.”
“You think this lil’ bit of money supposed to keep my ass quiet?”
“It’s either that will or one in the scalp, nigga. Now you tell me which one will make you shut the fuck up.”
Reggie gave Shakita a long stare, rolled his eyes, and then stuffed the envelope in his jacket. Shakita smiled seeing that he’d made the right choice.
“I knew you were a smart nigga. I thought you had lost ya mind along with your ugly-ass glasses for asking me some stupid shit like dat.” Reggie was speechless.
Shakita walked away when her business with Reggie had concluded. She could’ve offered him more money but didn’t. Reggie was going to have to take what he got and live with it, or she was going to have somebody pay him a special visit. As unpredictable as Shakita had been lately, she would probably kill Reggie herself if she thought for once that he would turn her in. She considered herself an outlaw after committing the robbery, and would stop at nothing to make sure she stayed above the law. Shakita would rather die first before she went to prison.
• • •
Latrice walked into the small city building, which served as a premier recording hub for some of the best artists and producers on the East Coast. “Hello. Could you tell me what studio the group N.A.R.C. is in?” Latrice asked the male guard at the help desk.
“They’re in Studio G. You go down this hall and it’s the fourth door on the left.”
She gladly thanked him and then started down the hallway. As Latrice walked past all the studios, she heard all the different sounds that were being created and started to get excited about what was about to go down when Bay got out. Bangspot Records was the future of the industry and she couldn’t wait to help spearhead the company to its success. Latrice couldn’t wait to hear what Killa D and Piff were cooking up.
Latrice walked into Studio G and saw Killa D and Piff bobbing their heads to a monstrous bass track. “What up, fellas?” Latrice said, entering and feeling the beat.
“What up, Missy? I guess you found us okay?” Killa D asked.
“Yeah. What y’all listening to?”
“It’s a beat Piff made. It crank, don’t it?”
“Yeah, that shit’s hot. So you trying to produce now, huh, Piff?”
“Yeah. Ever since I found out we were signing with your team, I became motivated.”
“Good. Keep that motivation up, baby. We are going to definitely need it to keep these haters off us. Ya dig?”
“No doubt. We on some takeover shit right now. We’re going to stay focused,” Piff assured her.
“I feel that. I’m also feeling the group name you picked out. What does N.A.R.C. stand for anyway?”
“It stands for Niggas Against RICO Convictions,” Piff said proudly.
“Oh that shit is serious! Bay’s going to love it!”
“So when are we gonna actually be signed?” Killa D wondered.
“Bay gets out next week. So once he gets settled, we’ll all sit down and go over business. I know y’all hungry, but can y’all hang in there until then?”
“Yeah. I guess it’ll be another week of hustling for us then,” Killa D said, hinting around that they were going to still be selling drugs until they got an advance, while Piff nodded his head in agreement.
Latrice looked at them like they were both full of shit. “Y’all are going to sell drugs regardless. A little advance money ain’t going to change that. Do what you do, fellas. Just make sure you don’t fuck up before next week. Ya dig?”
Killa D and Piff understood what she was talking about and didn’t plan on getting locked up for drug trafficking. They were convinced their operation was run thoroughly. They had been selling drugs all their lives without ever getting convicted, and Latrice learn
ed firsthand from Bay’s experience, that if they kept up what they were doing, it wouldn’t always be easy to stay out of the system.
• • •
Shakita was back in the casino now that she had some money to gamble with, but soon found out that nothing about her luck had changed.
“What the fuck is wrong with this fucking machine!” Shakita yelled, as she banged on the slot machine for not giving her any type of return after playing it for over two hours. Shakita thought by going to Dover Downs casino, her outcome would be different than it was at Charles Town or in Atlantic City, but it wasn’t. She was performing terribly and didn’t understand how it had gotten so bad for her. She was chain smoking and drinking as she got more and more upset by the minute for not being able to win anything. Shakita had only $45,000 left from the $100,000 she once had. She grumbled knowing she was bound to blow that eventually as well. She was upset with herself and had to find a way to feel better about losing all her money again. She only had one guaranteed way to make up for the money she’d lost, and her eyes turned green as she thought about new money that could run through her voracious fingers. Her decision had been finalized. She needed to rob another van.
• • •
Latrice heard the buzzer and walked over to her door and opened it.
“Come on in. I’m glad you could make it,” Latrice said as she greeted Teyron into her apartment.
“I’m glad I could make it too,” Teyron said, admiring Latrice in her ivory BeBe stretch wrapped dress. Latrice was looking extra sexy and Teyron couldn’t help but to lick his lips as he stared at her with lust in his eyes. Latrice invited all her soon-to-be artists over to her house for a little meet-and-greet, so they all could get comfortable with each other. Killa D and Piff were already there and now she was waiting for Clarity to arrive.
“Teyron, this is Killa D and Piff. They are the group N.A.R.C.” Teyron dapped them both up and sat down across from them as they were rolling up weed while drinking p.i.n.k. vodka. Teyron sat with the two rappers and could tell by talking to them that they were straight hood, and he admired that about them. He could also predict that they were going to be big stars just like him.
Before Latrice could take a seat from making more drinks for her guests, her buzzer rang again. She walked to the door expecting to see Clarity. “What up, Ma?” Latrice said as Clarity came through the door with Dull right behind her.
“Ain’t nothing, I see you lookin’ good like I expected,” Clarity said, checking Latrice out in her tight-fitting dress.
“Don’t give me a compliment you should be giving yourself.” She gave Clarity a wink and then got everyone’s attention.
“Hey, you guys. I want you to meet Clarity and Dull. This is Teyron, Piff and Killa D.”
Clarity had on a green, white, and black floral strapless Alfani dress, and held the attention from the rest of the men in the room. Killa D and Piff started to plot immediately with themselves on who would get Clarity first. Even though Teyron thought Clarity was sexy as hell, he still wanted Latrice. He respected that they’d already established a connection, and he didn’t want to lose that over trying to have sex with one of his label mates.
A few hours into the modest mixer, Killa D and Piff decided to roll out since they didn’t get any sexual vibes from Clarity. She was playing her high-profile position and the fellas didn’t have the patience to try and get inside her head. They never noticed she had been eyeing Latrice the whole night. With Clarity seeking Latrice, they really didn’t have a chance in hell anyway. As time went on, Dull decided to make an exit his damn self. He wanted to hit the club up where he could be around more eligible women and let Clarity do her thing with Latrice. Teyron was drunk as hell off the p.i.n.k. vodka he was punishing, but the infused caffeine kept him wide awake. He wanted to use all his energy on Latrice, but for some reason, he couldn’t get Clarity to leave. Clarity was drunk and feeling the same way Teyron was and couldn’t find a way to get his ass to leave either.
“Who wants to hit a hookah stick with me?” Clarity asked as she smashed out the blunt in the ashtray. They smoked and talked about music for hours with no sign of the hot topic coming to an end.
Teyron checked the time on his cell phone and sighed deeply. It had gotten too late to be waiting around for Clarity to budge, and he was going to catch Latrice at another time. He didn’t want to seem so obvious that he was trying to get at Latrice in front of Clarity, so he decided to wait until the time was right again. Teyron figured that Clarity may have wanted to stick around to have girl talk. It never dawned on him that she was there to fuck Latrice herself. Now that Teyron was on his way out, Clarity was now able to take full advantage of poor little drunken Latrice. Teyron said his goodbyes to them both, then walked down the stairwell. He lamented what could have happened if he would have stayed a little bit longer kept playing in his mind. He never looked back but wanted to knock on Latrice’s door again to give it another try. He felt that their parting tonight probably happened for a reason, and didn’t want to rush anything that was meant to be taken slow. He walked to his car as Latrice commanded his every thought.
“Everybody’s gone.” Latrice smiled, thinking back on the night that passed. She then lay back on the couch and closed her eyes. “Damn, it was so fun having everybody together. Didn’t you have fun?”
“Yeah. But not as much fun as we ’bout to have right now.” She then kicked off her Coach heels and moved in closer to Latrice.
“What are you talking about?” Latrice asked, unable to comprehend what was going on. Before Latrice could react, she felt Clarity’s cold lips kiss her left knee.
“Nooo. This can’t happen again.” Latrice leaned up and tried to keep Clarity away from her.
“Come on, mommi. Don’t fight me.” Clarity still tried to rub and kiss on her. “Let me get my way.”
“I already told you that what we did was a one-time thing, so please stop playing and get off me.”
Latrice tried to push Clarity away but she kept coming at her.
“I haven’t signed any deal yet, so I guess we got time to do it again.”
“You’re gonna get signed next week. I already told you that, so stop touching me.”
“Yeah, that’s what you say, but anything can happen from now to then. Ya dig? You might not want to sign me anymore.”
“Why wouldn’t I want to sign you? You’re already in with me. You got my promise.”
“Sorry, baby. I need a lil’ bit more assurance than that. This is the only way I understand that you’re going to stay true to your word,” Clarity said as she slid her fingers under Latrice’s thong and began to tug on it.
Latrice suddenly found herself caught up again in Clarity’s lure of entrapment and didn’t see an easy way out. Latrice was pinned up against the sofa. She didn’t have a way of clinching Clarity’s trust without her doubts of getting backstabbed. Latrice was running the same game on Clarity but didn’t expect her to counteract. Latrice acknowledged to herself that Clarity was a slick-ass bitch, and neither one of them would win unless she decided to become submissive. Latrice stopped being difficult and took a deep breath. She then arched her back so that Clarity could remove her thong. Clarity then pulled Latrice’s dress over her head and tossed it behind the couch. Clarity did the same with her dress and grabbed Latrice’s face and gave her a nice wet kiss. Latrice closed her eyes and hoped she would not enjoy anything that was about to happen—again.
• • •
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Latrice thought she heard something so she quickly opened up her eyes.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! There it is again, she said to herself, thinking that the loud noises were a result of her hangover that may have given her a headache. But then Latrice realized that she didn’t have a headache and the noises were coming from her front door.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Who is it?” she yelled.
“It’s Kita!”
Latrice’s eyes widened. She started to panic as Clarity lay on top of her naked.
Latrice didn’t know what she was going to do as her adrenaline rushed to the max. She was stuck like a frightened deer caught in the headlights.
Bang! Bang!
“Come on, bitch. Open up!”
“All right! Hold on!” What the fuck am I gonna do? Latrice thought nervously as she sprang into action. I got to get this bitch out of here. Kita would never fucking understand this shit. “Clarity, Clarity, wake up. Wake up, Clarity,” Latrice whispered as she pushed Clarity off of her.
“What’s wrong, babe?” Clarity asked as she awoke sounding groggy and confused.
“Listen. My best friend is at my door right now and I can’t let her see me like this. Go in my room until she’s gone,” Latrice commanded as she quickly tossed Clarity her clothes. Clarity understood the position Latrice was in and willingly made her way into the bedroom. Latrice quickly got dressed, praying that Shakita wouldn’t be too suspicious of her, and would hurry up and leave without asking a lot of questions.
Latrice opened her door. “What the hell, girl. You’re knocking on my damn door like someone’s after your ass.”
“I’m sorry to come over this early, but I gotta talk to you.” Shakita sounded on edge.
Latrice rubbed her eyes. “What time is it anyway?”
“It’s almost eight o’clock.”
“All hell nah,” Latrice said as she placed her hands on her hips. “Girl, it is too early for this. Hurry up and tell me what’s going on, so I can take my ass back to sleep.”
“My bad, girl. After I tell you what’s up, I’ll be on my way,” Shakita tensely assured. Shakita swallowed hard as pressure mounted in her chest. “We got to do it again,” Shakita said meekly.
Latrice didn’t even have to ask what she was talking about. Shakita’s trembling face gave it all away. Latrice turned her volume up on her television so that it would be harder for Clarity to eavesdrop. Latrice played it off by changing to an audio channel, acting as if she needed to hear some music to calm her nerves down.
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