Crooked G's

by S. K. Collins

  Latrice finally had Bay right where she wanted him. The thought of killing Bay had crossed her mind many times after he’d either choked or physically beaten her. She had to find a way to get Bay out of her life for good without him coming after her. Latrice’s prayers were finally answered when Bay had to report to jail for a separate battery charge, where he’d left her over a million dollars to hold until he got out, which he intended to use to start up Lonely Thug Entertainment. Latrice’s mother always told her that if a man gave you something, then it’s yours. Bay had entrusted in her all his money, along with the key to his musical dreams, as she turned what he’d started into her own vision. Bangspot Records was the future and she was going to make it happen all by herself.

  Latrice put every legal document, copyright, and trademark in her name and exclusively owned the record label she’d created. She had legally eliminated Bay from what was once a team venture, and left no evidence that he was ever a part of what she built. She had signed her own name instead of his, which allowed her to be the sole proprietor of Bangspot Records.

  Latrice’s plan was almost doomed when she found out that Shakita had taken from the stash she secretly had hidden. Latrice thought about aborting her plan to kill Bay thinking it wouldn’t work since she was missing a lot of the money he’d given her. She had planned to take all his money and run, but was convinced by Shakita to rob the van. She already had enough money that both she and Shakita could live the rest of their lives off of, but she wanted to first teach Shakita a lesson.

  Shakita wasn’t only playing around with Bay’s money. She was really digging into Latrice’s future investment. Latrice made Shakita believe that the money she took was all Bay had. She let her know exactly where she kept it, only to see if she would fall for the trap. Latrice felt really bad when Shakita was killed. She could have stopped her test of friendship game at any time, but she didn’t. Without her good friend by her side anymore, she had no choice but to kill Bay, since she had lost the most important person in her life. She had nothing else to lose. She thought if they got caught in the process, she could at least use that as her advantage to gain herself street credibility while serving her time in prison. Street credibility was what any music mogul or rapper needed most to survive in the world of gangster rap.

  “You ain’t got the heart to shoot me, bitch!” Bay screamed, trying to break himself from the headboard as he smashed holes into the wall.

  “It’s not my heart that’s telling me to kill you, Bay; it’s my mind. Now pick up your Bible so I can send you home,” Latrice commanded as she raised her gun up higher as it trembled in her hands.

  “Is there anything I can do to change your mind about this shit?” Bay asked as his fight to free himself from the headboard wasn’t successful. He needed to take another route in trying to save his life.

  Latrice shook her head as a tear fell from her eye. Bay was disappointed with Latrice’s decision, knowing now she was really going to do it. “Well, fuck it then!” he said before spitting on the Bible. “Heaven ain’t my home anyway. Hell is, bitch! So take me there!”

  Without any further thought, Latrice pulled the trigger and struck him in the head on the first shot. She unconsciously shot him four more times to make sure he was dead, fearing he could come back to get her. He hung off the bed with only the support of the handcuff holding him up. Latrice stared at Bay’s lifeless body and couldn’t believe the bloody mess she had made.

  Latrice dropped the gun on the bed and looked at her shaking hands. After Bay busted up her nose the day he left for jail, she decided to go to the gun range and learn how to shoot. She wanted to know what it was actually like to fire a gun before she could attempt to kill Bay. Even though she was comfortable with shooting a firearm, her nervousness still got the best of her. Now it felt like she had never shot a gun, and she could still feel her hands vibrating as if she were still holding it.

  Latrice began to cry uncontrollably as she covered up her face. She wasn’t in tears because she’d killed someone. She bawled out of relief that her abuser was no longer going to give her nightmares. She grabbed her overnight bag out of the bathroom and put her gun in it. Before she left the room, she took one more look at Bay the way she wanted to remember him most—dead and gone.

  “Thanks for giving me my life back. Thanks for the money, too. You can keep the Bible. And take one of these with you,” she said as she removed a flower out of a vase and tossed it at his feet. Following her last words, she walked out of the room and never looked back.

  • • •

  The next day, Latrice stood on the busy Woodrow Wilson Bridge, which stretched over the Potomac River, and peacefully watched dozens of workers at National Harbor help construct the new MGM Casino. She thought that it was amazing how people could look at a blueprint and build something so precise from a simple design or model. Latrice thought about her own project that was in the works, and like the casino, she was also going to need some assistance. She had a whole slate of hungry artists who wanted to help build up her empire and make a name of their own in the process.

  Latrice reached into her purse and pulled out her gun. She kissed the top of the cold barrel and hurled it into the river. She then took off her gloves and threw them over as well. Latrice had no more use for her gun or gloves, and was now putting more thought into starting her life over as she continued to watch the casino being built. She now had a new life without pain, without fear, and most importantly, an existence without Bay Jackson. What else could she ask for?

  OUTRO

  Judge Tomlin saw Shakita’s death on the news, and was perturbed by what had taken place, and he even felt somewhat responsible for what had happened. He should have given her a harsher sentence, but at the time, he thought that the young woman needed a break. He thought if he gave her a chance to turn her life around, then that would help her more than driving her deeper into the system, where she may not have been able to find her way out. From now on, Judge Tomlin would make sure that he would have the young women who came before him in the future, seek treatment for counseling to try and prevent their lives from spiraling out of control. JudgeTomlin was really thankful that his two daughters were still in school pursuing their academic futures. He didn’t have to worry about them making any critical decisions at this point in their lives. He also had his lovely wife to contribute for that.

  After Shakita’s funeral, Cotton started to think about what she was doing with her life and where she was going. She was losing her morale for prostitution and wanted to explore something different, but didn’t know what. One night, Cotton got in the car with a john she’d never met and felt strange as she rode off with him. When they finally parked in an alley, the man got upset that Cotton wouldn’t give him free sex and started to punch her and rip her clothes off. Cotton was raped, followed by being strangled to death and then robbed of all her money. Cotton’s body was later found in a Dumpster on the Southwest side of the city, with her blood-stained panties stuffed in her mouth and her wrists bound together by her bra. Cotton had sensed the possible danger she was in before she’d gotten in the car that night, but didn’t go with her gut feeling and decided to go with the money instead.

  Officer Stevens had been refused bail and was now facing one count of conspiracy to murder, a count of third-degree murder, and a count of acting as an accessory to murder, in the murder of Timothy Sellers. Officer Hoke found out from the autopsy that the laceration on Timothy’s neck was impossible to be self-inflicted, proving that Timothy didn’t commit suicide and that Bay had more to do with it than he’d alleged. Officer Hoke went from inmate to inmate that was in the shower room that day, and held an extensive interrogation process until he got the information he needed. In a matter of hours, Glow got spooked into telling the authorities everything about the plot to kill Timothy “Timbo” Sellers, and everyone who was involved. Officer Hoke later discovered that Bay was found murdered and the next person in line to take on all the charges w
as Officer Stevens. Former Officer Larry Stevens, Adam “Pam” Clark, and Walter “Glow” Montgomery, were all convicted and sentenced separately from fifteen years to life in prison for their involvement in the murder.

  Fantasy got down to her lowest point in her life and eventually found herself living in a homeless shelter. She’d tried to get herself together enough to try and buy back her club, but the money that was needed to purchase it was unattainable. She later discovered that her club was sold, causing her to go into a depression phase, which took her to using harsher drugs. Her brother was jailed for trying to shoplift at Macy’s, so she had to fend for herself to now support her multiple drug habits.

  For the last five months, Fantasy had been working for a “confidential company” that recruited homeless people to pass as their exasperated workers to picket in front of various law firms and government offices. Fantasy and her crew had been picketing at the corner of Nineteenth and M Streets for over a week and believed they were making a change. Yet, they had no idea the company they picketed for weren’t even in the same building they were causing so much commotion in front of.

  Two years later, Bangspot Records had made mainstream success and turned the entire music industry on its ear. Latrice’s idea for distribution allowed the music world to see record sales skyrocket for the first time in three years and still kept ringtones as a profitable tool for the artists. Clarity’s debut album titled A Clear View held the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for two consecutive months in a row, going 6X platinum worldwide. Her top singles “Diamond District,” “I Can See Thru These N——s,” and “Never a Dull Moment feat. Dull,” all sold more than two million downloads each.

  Clarity soon lost her number one spot to her label mate, Teyron. His debut album entitled Teyronimo sold one million albums in his first week and his downloaded songs had sold eight millions times already. His songs “Teyronimo” and “No Break Up” were both up for Grammy nominations.

  The N.A.R.C. album had been pushed back due to Killa D carrying out a jail sentence, for being charged with a gun, a small amount of marijuana, and cocaine that had been found on his tour bus on The Bang’em While It’s Hot Tour. With Killa D being jailed, N.A.R.C.’s fan base had increased and when they finally dropped their highly anticipated album Legal Narceteering, they were expected to move 1.5 million albums in the first week of its release.

  Latrice and Eric had a story all of their own. After Shakita’s passing, they both decided to take their friendship to the next level, and ended up having a wild night of sexual bliss after Clarity’s album release party. They continued to “touch bottoms” with each other, until they both decided that business and pleasure wouldn’t mix, unless they became a “super couple.” They then decided to purchase the Fantasy Lounge together at a private auction, and named it 20/20 Vision, which had been doing extremely well since its opening.

  Soon to come, with every Black Emporium that opened up around the country, a 20/20 Vision Club would be built right next door, along with a Mark & Jay’s Italian Café right across the street.

  Latrice decided to make Clarity a business partner of hers, since the name of the club was Clarity’s idea, which had been inspired by her album. Latrice’s decision to make Clarity a stockholder in the club really came about when Clarity threatened to write a tell-all book about her come up in the rap game, and their spicy relationship they’d had together.

  The crookedness continues…

  THE END

  Crooked Envy coming soon…

  DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Who was your favorite character(s) and why?

  2. Who were the character(s) that you hated and why?

  3. What was your favorite part of the story?

  4. What do you think Shakita could have done to get the money she needed instead of robbing BERK ?

  5. Now that Eric and Latrice are a couple, what do you think will happen with Teyron?

  6. Do you know anyone who has dealt with an addiction like Shakita?

  7. Shakita’s addiction was gambling. What addictions did the rest of the main characters have?

  8. If Crooked G’s became a movie, who do you think could play Shakita and Latrice?

  9. Why do you think Eric didn’t want Shakita to work the purple and black floors? What do you think happens on those floors?

  10. Do you think Latrice could’ve found another way to get Bay out of her life for good?

  11. Do you have any friends that have dealt with physical and mental abuse like Latrice?

  12. How do you feel about Latrice and Eric becoming a couple? Do you think Shakita and Eric would have made a better couple?

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  S.K. Collins was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA and is now living in Washington, D.C. This former aspiring rapper-turned-author brings out the heartfelt emotion in his writing from an edgy street-life perspective that leaves the reader begging for more. S.K. describes himself as a fortunate new author to have received guidance, words of encouragement, and advice about the publishing industry from some of the veterans like Keith Lee Johnson, author of the series Little Black Girl Lost, and Teri Woods, author of the trilogies True to the Game and Dutch. S.K. already has numerous books in the works that he can’t wait to feed the hungry audience out there waiting to feed on something new and fresh. Connect with the author on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

  Tell S.K. what you thought about his book.

  CONTACT INFO

  thewritersk@gmail.com

  Facebook: SK Collins

  Twitter & Instagram: @thewritersk

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  ALSO BY S.K. COLLINS

  Wide Open

  Strebor Books

  P.O. Box 6505

  Largo, MD 20792

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  © 2014 by S.K. Collins

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means whatsoever. For information address Strebor Books, P.O. Box 6505, Largo, MD 20792.

  ISBN 978-1-59309-554-3

  ISBN 978-1-4767-5224-2 (ebook)

  LCCN 2014935329

  First Strebor Books trade paperback edition October 2014

  Cover design: www.mariondesigns.com

  Cover photograph: © Keith Saunders/Keith Saunders Photos

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