Thugs And The Women Who Love Them

by Wahida Clark

“Well, you can’t. And now, please leave.”

  Angel kissed both of the girls on the cheek and pushed them out of the bedroom. She loved her little sister, and was very proud of both of them. Both of the girls were straight-A students.

  Once Angel shut the door, the girls knocked on it.

  “What, now?”

  Lakiyah peeked in and asked, “Can you take us to the mall tomorrow?”

  “We’ll see. Now, please shut the door.”

  Angel picked up the remote to her CD player and hit the play button. Aaliyah’s One in a Million started playing. She hummed along as she thumbed through her wardrobe. Damn! He could’ve at least mentioned where he was taking me, she thought.

  “Ooooh!” she squealed. “This is it!”

  She had spotted the ideal outfit: her long-sleeve, turtleneck jumpsuit by Ralph Lauren. It had an open front slit, from neck to waist, that would tease any eye with a peek of her voluptuous body. She pulled out her black, T-strap slingbacks by Isaac Mizrahi and her beaded, black Gucci bag. Both were brand-new, still in their boxes. Thank God for her check hustle. She laid the expensive items across her bed as she reminded herself she needed to stop her scamming before she got busted. After she dusted on a little makeup she slid into her jumpsuit.

  “Damn, I look good!” she said as she twirled around. She put on her Stephen Dweck earrings, slipped on her shoes, and since she felt cocky, she dabbed on Isabella Rossellini’s Manifesto fragrance. Her hair was already in a French roll. All she had to do was bump the bangs. She stood up, looked herself over once more, and blew a kiss to her reflection in the mirror. She turned off the CD player when she heard the buzz of the doorbell and the sound of the girls running to the door. Angel grabbed her Gucci bag and headed for the living room.

  Julia, of course, was sitting at her desk doing paperwork. She always brought her work home with her. She noticed her daughter from the corner of her eye, dressed from head to toe. She smelled her perfume before she even came into the living room.

  “Why the hell are you wearing so much perfume?”

  “I only have on a dab,” Angel answered as she bent down and kissed her mom on the cheek.

  “Where are we going tonight, and with whom?” Julia asked her daughter.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Not sure?” Julia turned around and looked at Angel.

  “And why is your jumpsuit not zipped up?”

  “Ma, this is how it’s made.”

  “How are you going out with a man you don’t even know?”

  “Mooom,” she whined. “He’s at the door now. And I do know him.”

  Carmen and Lakiyah were standing at the door, bombarding Snake with questions.

  “Excuse me, ladies.” Angel pushed her way between them.

  “Come in, Keenan.”

  She got a whiff of his Armani cologne and he looked mighty GQ-smooth to her. He was wearing a black, V-necked silk sweater and cashmere trousers. Of course, he topped it off with black snakeskin shoes.

  “This is my mother, Julia Smith. Mom, this is Keenan Hightower.”

  “How do you do, ma’am?” He handed Julia a small bouquet of flowers. When she looked up, Julia’s heart almost dropped to her feet.

  “Aren’t you Cleve’s son? And you have three uncles, Dino, Stephen, and Monk?” she shot at him.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he answered with a little hesitancy.

  “Well, I grew up with all of them.” Julia raised her eyebrows. Her words obviously had a hidden meaning, but Angel had no idea what her mother meant. “How did you meet my daughter?”

  “I met her during the lunch hour at the Steak Pub. She dropped all of her books and I helped her pick them up.”

  “Where do you work?”

  “I have a management business. Mostly local talent but it pays the bills.”

  “Where are you taking my daughter?”

  “I have tickets to see Carl Thomas, and I’ll be sure to have her home at a respectable hour.”

  Angel was getting antsy. She grabbed Snake’s hand and pulled him toward the door.

  “It was a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Smith,” he managed to say before Angel closed the door behind them. Julia didn’t bother to answer.

  “She’s acting like this is my first date,” Angel said as they walked to the elevator. “I haven’t seen her this nervous over a date since I was in high school. And you think she was bad, you just missed my girlfriends. I don’t know what’s up with everyone.”

  “It’s probably because all of those men she mentioned are my uncles, and they’re pimps,” Snake answered directly, without hesitation.

  “Pimps!” Angel shrieked. “So you’re trying to say that you come from a long line of pimps?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Seriously. What do you do?”

  “I’m a pimp by blood, not relation.” Snake sang Jay-Z’s song.

  Angel started laughing.

  “If they’re your uncles, then you are related. Do you plan on pimping me?” she joked.

  “We’ll see.” Snake grinned.

  “Nigga, you got me twisted.” She thought he was still joking.

  That night was off the hook. Carl Thomas was the bomb. The restaurant was the bomb. The whole atmosphere couldn’t have been more perfect. They vibed very well. Snake loved the fact that Angel had a good head on her shoulders. Angel was even more impressed with him.

  After that perfect night, the two were inseparable, even after Angel discovered that Snake really was a pimp, and a cold one at that. Snake kept that side of his life away from Angel. At least most of the time.

  One night, Angel watched in horror as he beat his white whore, who everyone called Ice. After that, Angel didn’t speak to Snake for almost two weeks. Then on another occasion she saw him beat Big Nell. He broke her jawbone and fractured her rib cage. Once again, she didn’t speak to him for several weeks. Each time, Snake would explain to her that, that was the nature of the business, then he’d romance her to death. She always gave in. She couldn’t help herself. She was crazy about Snake. He fulfilled all her needs and wants. He paid the rent and looked after the whole family. He even paid her college tuition. Not to mention that the sex was better than any she had ever had. Most importantly, he treated her like a queen and encouraged her to fulfill her dreams.

  Julia finally had to accept Snake as a part of their lives. After enough time had passed, she trusted that Snake was not going to turn her daughter out. Whether it was because her daughter was strong-willed or because Snake truly cared about her didn’t really matter to Julia. As long as her daughter stayed in law school where she belonged.

  And to that end, Julia couldn’t deny it was nice having Snake around to help put Angel through school. After so many difficult years, it was good to get some financial help. As long as she didn’t think about where the money came from, she was happy to accept Snake’s assistance.

  It wasn’t until everyone was used to Snake’s money that he and Angel started beating on each other. Julia hated that they fought so much, but she never pushed the issue with her daughter. The one time she expressed concern, Angel told her not to worry. She could handle her own business. Julia supposed that after so many years in the projects, she was probably right. Angel could handle herself. And after such a long, hard road, Julia was tired. Tired of struggling to stay above water with all the bills. Tired of worrying so much about her remaining children. If Snake could help out with the bills and Angel didn’t mind their fights, then Julia was content to sit at her desk and work around the confusion. Life had made Julia numb.

  It was in this atmosphere that Angel, the promising law student, became the steady girl of a vicious pimp.

  Chapter 8

  When Snake and Angel had been seriously dating for a little over a year, he threw her a surprise birthday party. That’s when he gave her a big rock and proposed marriage. Even though she was happy about the ring, Angel had some problems with marrying Snake. She told him she could o
nly marry him after he divorced himself from pimping. Snake promised that all he needed was a little time, then he would leave the business and they could get married. Angel was still waiting for Snake to keep that promise.

  Snake smiled as he thought about Angel. She was a good woman. Even though she wanted him to leave pimping, she only gave him shit about it once in a while. Most of the time she just let him go on about his business, which was exactly what he planned to do. He parked in front of Club Charlie’s; before he got out of the car he sat and watched two of his whores, Raven and Coffey. They both were grabbing on the same man.

  “These are some dumb bitches,” he mumbled to himself. “All these tricks out here and both of them grabbin’ on the same one. They both better have my money when I come back.”

  Snake eased out of his Benz and slid into the club. The DJ was spinning house music, and the place was packed, as always, even though it was only 7:30. That was the only thing Snake didn’t like about the club. It was too damn crowded. Still, he kept coming back because of the food. Rocco, the chef, knew how to hook up some sirloin steak.

  As Snake squeezed through the crowd on his way back to his regular table, a few females were trying to get his attention. He didn’t have the time right now. He was hungry. Plus Big Nell was sitting there looking agitated.

  “Hey, Daddy, are you okay?” She took a long drag on her Newport.

  “Naw. I’m fuckin’ tensed with the po-po raidin’ just about every day. The cash flow ain’t been right,” Snake complained. “And what’s up with that bitch, Holly? She ain’t gave me no money in 24 hours. I’m gonna put my foot in her ass when I catch her.”

  “Holly got picked up yesterday morning.” Nell shook her head. “That mean-ass judge wants her to do ninty days. He’s tired of seeing her.”

  Snake leaned back on the cushioned headrest. “See what I mean? One of my hos is gettin’ locked up every day and them judges is givin’ at least thirty days.”

  “You hungry?”

  Big Nell didn’t even wait for an answer. She eased up and went to order Snake’s favorite meal—a big, fat, well-done sirloin steak, broccoli and cheese potato soup, and a sourdough roll.

  As he sat chillin’ and groovin’ to the music, Monet, the waitress, brought Snake a scotch on ice. She set it on the table, then leaned over and kissed Snake on the neck.

  “What’s up, baby? She brushed her breast against his arm. Monet had been trying to get with Snake for a long time, even though she knew she was playing on dangerous ground. She liked him but not enough to be a ho.

  “How you doin’?” Snake asked.

  “I’m cool.”

  Just then, Big Nell came back to the table.

  “What the fuck do you want?” Nell spat out. Monet ignored her.

  “Snake, baby, can I get you anything else?”

  “No, I’m a’ight. Thanks, baby.”

  Monet rolled her eyes at Big Nell and eased her way back through the crowd.

  The DJ was spinning “Wifey” by Next as Big Nell set Snake’s meal on the table. The aroma of the well-seasoned sirloin was making her stomach growl. She sat down and sipped her “Sex on the Beach,” while Snake took his time enjoying his meal.

  “You want anything else, Daddy?”

  Snake looked up at Big Nell. The years of being a whore were starting to wear on what was once a pretty face. Her eye and nose were still bruised from the ass whipping he’d given her the other night.

  “Yeah, I want something else. I want my money, bitch!”

  “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” Big Nell’s brow was creased with worry. “Please hear me out, Snake. My mother’s sick and I need to take off for about a week to find someone to look after her. I need to hold on to the money I got so that I can leave tonight.”

  “What the fuck did you just tell me?” Snake shouted above the noise of the club. “I run this shit. You ask me permission to leave. You don’t fuckin’ tell me what you’re gonna do.”

  Snake stood up to grab her. Nell, anticipating the move, crouched back in the corner. He stepped around the table to where she was and tried again to grab her. Nell started kicking both feet like a child.

  “Get up!” Big Nell was still crouched in the corner, trembling.

  “I’ll only be gone for a week.”

  “Get the fuck up, bitch!”

  Snake lunged toward her and tried to grab her arm. Instead, he grabbed her blouse and it ripped open. Her big tits bounced out. If the crowd wasn’t looking before, now all eyes were on them, hoping to get a glimpse of the action. Snake grabbed her by her long weave as Nell started screaming. He smacked her across the face with the palm of his hand. She still kept screaming. He hit her hard with the back of his hand. That slap hit her right ear. She thought she was still screaming, but now she couldn’t hear anything. Snake didn’t let go of her hair as he pulled her toward the door. Big Nell struggled to stay on her feet as she followed Snake. The onlookers made room for this 6-foot 3-inch man, dragging a scantily dressed woman with her tits hanging out.

  Outside the club, Snake shoved Nell to make her stand upright. He was ready to punch the life out of her, but she covered her head and crouched down to the ground. Snake started kicking her. Big Nell didn’t even move. Her body was almost numb. She laid flat on the ground, looking up into Snake’s eyes. This made him even madder. This bitch won’t even fight back. He started stomping her until the blood gushed from her head, nose, and mouth. Big Nell was no longer conscious. She had released her bowels and lay there in a mixed pool of blood, shit, and piss.

  The cool fall breeze took the smell through the air and people in the crowd started covering their noses. Monet, the waitress, started puking. Snake was in his glory. He had an audience. He picked up Nell’s foot and dragged her toward the gutter where the sewer was. Her body left a trail of her excrement. Nell’s back and arm was raw from being dragged across the cement. Pieces of her flesh lay on the ground. Snake tried to stuff her limp body in the sewer.

  The crowd looked on in horror and bewilderment. This was an ass whippin’ from hell. Most of the people in there knew about Snake’s reputation as the meanest pimp around, and no one had the balls to stop him. Coffey and Raven, who had been outside to witness the whole thing, hugged each other and cried. They were trembling uncontrollably. They knew that their daddy was capable of killing them, but they didn’t think he would actually do it. Now their sister Big Nell was gone.

  Snake admired his handiwork as he brushed Nell’s fluids off his hands and clothes. He could feel the fear in the crowd, and he loved it. He shot a glance at Coffey and Raven.

  “I’ll see you two in about an hour,” he growled at them as he jumped in his car and sped away.

  Coffey and Raven ran over to check on Big Nell. They were crying hysterically. The ambulance siren wailed in the distance. Coffey put her trembling fingers on Nell’s neck.

  “She has a pulse!” she cried.

  “Hang in there, baby,” Raven whispered.

  “Please hang in there.”

  Chapter 9

  Two and a half months later, Big Nell showed up at Snake’s apartment. He had already heard over the wire that she was coming back to him. Snake stood in the doorway and looked her up and down.

  “Well, well, well. Look what the wind blew in,” he said.

  “Am I still welcome here, or what?” asked Big Nell with a smile.

  Snake stepped aside and motioned her in. He had to admit that she looked good, considering everything that had happened. She had a well-rested look. She looked even better when she handed him two thousand dollars. He stuffed it into his pocket without a word of thanks.

  “Hey, Daddy. I’m sorry for taking you through all of that drama,” she purred. “But I’m back, and you know I’ll work extra hard to make it up to you. Let me clean up and fix your favorite meal.”

  She kissed Snake on the lips and slid her hands down to squeeze his dick.

  “I’ve really misse
d you,” she said as she gave him another kiss.

  Snake didn’t answer. He sat down, grabbed the remote and turned to ESPN. Big Nell went to the kitchen and Snake heard her banging around the pots and pans. It seemed strange having her around again, but Snake wasn’t complaining. First of all, the ole girl could cook. Snake knew he would eat well tonight. Plus, she was always a good money maker, and it would be good to have her cash back in his pockets.

  After he watched the news, Snake went to take a shower. As he was taking off his shirt Nell came into the bathroom and suggested that he take a relaxing bath instead. She turned on the hot water and let it run real slow. She gave Snake another kiss and started unzipping his pants. Her strong hands ran up and down his long dick, but it was responding slowly. She wondered why he was so tense. She got down on her knees and licked the head lightly. As the licks got more rapid, his dick began to harden and Snake started to moan.

  “That feels good, baby.”

  She slowly put his nine and a half inches into her mouth, a couple of inches going down her throat. They didn’t call her Big Nell for nothing. Snake tried to push all 9 ½ inches in as far as he could get it. It was feeling real good. Nobody ever sucked his dick like Big Nell, not even Angel. His knees and legs got weak as he flowed into her mouth.

  “I missed you, Daddy,” Nell said, still on her knees. “Go ahead and enjoy your hot bath.”

  Nell got up and turned off the hot water, then left him alone to enjoy his bath. Damn, I need to leave a bitch for dead more often, he thought to himself as he slid into the piping hot water.

  When Snake emerged from the bathroom, his meal was laid out on a beautifully set table. Everything was set for a king pimp. Snake inhaled the aroma of his well-done sirloin, covered with mushroom sauce. She hooked up his potato broccoli and cheese soup and pulled the sourdough rolls from the oven. His condo hadn’t smelled this good in a long time.

  “Sit down and enjoy your meal, baby,” she said as she buttered the steaming hot sourdough rolls.

  Big Nell sat across from him and smiled as he gobbled down the meal she had so tenderly prepared. He was acting like he hadn’t eaten in days.