Finessers 3

by Lucinda John

  Once Chad and I officially got back together, there was no way I was going to play stepmom to his baby. CJ had to go and I knew just the right thing to get rid of him. I packed his baby bag with items he would need. Chad called me and told me to get him ready and that he would be by in an hour to bring him over to his grandmother’s house.

  I grabbed a bottle and filled it with formula, I also added two drops of rat poisoning into the bottle and shook it up. I took the bottle and placed it in his mouth. I cradled him in my arms as I fed him his last meal. If everything went as planned, he would die in the care of his grandmother; a former drug abuser making her a suspect once they performed the autopsy report.

  Like always, I would be here to help Chad mourn the death of his child. With Cinnamon in jail and the baby dead, he could finally focus on rekindling what we had. There was only on problem; Cinnamon was carrying his second child. The baby finished drinking his bottle, so I burped him and placed him in his crib.

  Grabbing my laptop, I used Google to search Cinnamon’s location and tried to find females that were locked up with her. I was going to pay one of them twenty thousand dollars to beat that bastard out of her. I had to be careful in who I chose, I didn’t want this to come back and bite me in the ass.

  Ding Dong. Ding Dong.

  The doorbell rang. I got up and walked towards the door wondering who could be possibly at the door. It couldn’t have been Chad because this was his house. It’s probably Carter; I thought as I went and opened the door without checking who it was first.

  “What the fuck you doing here?” Honey asked mean mugging me “Where is Chad?”

  “He’s not here, but you’re more than welcomed to come back later,” I smirked.

  “Come back later?” she scoffed. “Oh, bitch you think you cute? You trying to be funny?”

  “Can you keep your voice down please? CJ is trying to sleep.”

  “So, you mean to tell me Chad left my nephew with your triflin’ ass? OH HELL NAH!” she began to rant and rave.

  “Chad is not here, I’ll have him call you when he comes home,” I said trying to close the door.

  BOOM!!

  Honey burst through the door as if she was the Incredible Hulk. She then wrapped her hand around my hair and began dragging me. Using her balled up fist, she began punching me in the face. I could feel my lip split, nose crack, as blood began to leak from my wounds.

  “HELP!!!” I screamed out in pain. “SOMEBODY HELP ME…” I wasn’t able to finish my sentence as a blow to my mouth caused me to swallow my words.

  I felt like I was a slave getting beaten by my white master for not picking the cotton fast enough. Each blow that connected to my body caused me to see stars. I began to panic thinking I was about to lose my life by this crazy bitch until a pair of hands separated us.

  My eyes were swollen, but I could make out Rob’s body holding Honey back as Chad held on to mine. I could hear her curse violently, threatening to kill me. I was happy somebody finally came to save me. I was glad that beating was over. I began to relax my body knowing it was finally over until somehow Honey managed to break free. She grabbed a glass vase and smashed it on my head causing everything to go black.

  I woke up to a terrible headache. The beeping sound from the IV was not making it any better. I had to keep opening and closing my eyes until they were able to adjust to the light. A sharp pain shot through my shoulders as I reached for the call button.

  “OUCH!!” I yelled out in agony loud enough for the whole hospital to hear me.

  “Chasity, are you ok?” a chubby, freckled faced nurse barged in the room and asked.

  “My head is killing me and this beeping sound is making it worse.”

  “Ok, let me handle that beeping sound for you now,” she said hitting a few buttons on the IV machine causing the noise to stop. “I’ll be back with a muscle relaxer and some pain meds that should help make you feel comfortable.” She smiled. “Do you need anything else?”

  “No.”

  “Ok good. I’ll page the doctor and let him know that you’re up.”

  The nurse walked out the door then moments later, two cops walked in. My heart dropped as I instantly became paranoid. I kept thinking that they knew what I did to CJ and came to arrest me.

  “Chasity, I’m detective Stokes and that’s my partner detective Adams, we’re here to get more information on your attack.

  “My attack?” I asked relieved that I wasn’t going to jail.

  “Yes your attack, do you know who would want to do this to you?”

  “No,” I answered. I really wanted to snitch on Honey and put her ass behind bars, but I had something better planned for that ass.

  “Can you describe who did this to you?”

  “Not really, I was rushed from the back and wasn’t able to get a good look at my attacker’s face.”

  “Well if you remember anything feel free to give us a call,” Detective Adams said handing me a card.

  I sat up and wondered where Chad was, I was about to pick up the phone and call him until he walked in the room. He looked as if he hadn’t slept in days. I could tell that this situation with Cinnamon was taking a toll on him. I just wished that she would hurry up and signed the divorce papers so she could be out of his life for good. I fucked up with Chad the first time; there was no way in hell I was fucking up again.

  “How you feeling?” Chad asked removing the Miami Heat fitted cap he wore over his dreads.

  “I’m feeling better,” I replied giving him a weak smile.

  “My bad for what happened, I thought I was going to make it to the house before she did.”

  “It ain’t yo fault.”

  “Bet but check me out. You gon’ have to take a boxing class or some shit cuz you just laid there and let her dog walk you.”

  “I’m not a fighter, Chad.”

  “You got mouth like you can stand in the paint,” he replied shutting me up.

  I was real snappy with my mouthpiece, but when it came down to fighting, I was as defenseless as a newborn baby. I was better at plotting and manipulating people than I was throwing a punch. I was going to retaliate, but in my own way. I allowed Chad to believe that I was over what happened, while in my head I planned out ways to ruin her life.

  “I was just sliding through to check up on ya’, I’ll be back later.”

  “Why you can’t stay and keep me company?” I asked.

  “Chasity, you know I’m not rocking with you like that no more. I helped you out because once upon a time you were the love of my life. Any feelings I had for you died that day you allowed my baby to die.”

  “Damn, Chad, that was years ago! I was sick!! You have to learn how to forgive and forget!!!” I yelled.

  “I forgive you, I been did that. But one thing I will never do is forget.” He stood up wiping imaginary dust off of his dark blue Levi jeans.

  “I deserve a second chance,” I argued.

  “I’m still married.”

  “Well get a divorce.”

  “It’s not that fucking easy, Chasity. Unlike you I can’t walk away from someone I love.”

  His words pierced my heart causing me to feel bad. I knew Chad was hurt behind my actions, but I didn’t know I caused this much damaged to him.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be, Chasity, what’s done is done,” he said walking out the door leaving me to my thoughts.

  My mind was in overdrive as I planned out my every move. The nurse came in and injected my IV with the pain meds. I felt my body relax before going on a high. This was a feeling that I knew all too well. I’d been clean for three months now, but the high feeling of the pain meds had me relapsing. I laid my head back on the pillow and allowed my body to sail through the waves that the pain meds was taking me on.

  Chapter 3

  Chad

  I was missing Cinnamon so bad that it was hard for me to focus. Before I took Joe�
��s life, I looked him in the eyes and asked him did Cinnamon play a part in hitting my trap house. He confirmed that she did; he told me that her role was to inform him when the drops were made and what trap they were made to.

  I was hurt that I gave her ass a second chance only for her to plot against me again. I drove myself insane trying to figure out why Cinnamon would want to steal from me. I gave her everything she wanted, she had access to all my money, so for her to hit my traps for a couple bricks made no sense.

  After three long months of her being incarcerated, they finally had a bail set for her. I made sure to keep in contact with her lawyer every day, and even though I never attended every court date, I was always well aware of what took place. I wired the fifty G’s to her lawyer so that she could post bail.

  At this point, I really didn’t know what I wanted. I wanted Cinnamon to hurt like I was hurting, but my love for her wouldn’t allow me to hurt her. I talked a big talk about killing her, but to kill her would be like putting a gun to my head and pulling the trigger. I was too much in love with Cinnamon to have to permanently live without her.

  “What’s heavy on your mind kid?” Carter asked tossing me a bag of pure coke.

  “Nothing man let’s worry about getting this money.”

  “Nigga, I’m focused, you the one over here all in yo damn feelings.”

  “Yo, on the real, cut that shit out, Carter, I ain’t even trying to hear all of that,” I snapped. I was real irritated at this point.

  “Damn nigga go in the bathroom and change yo damn pad, over here acting like a little bitch and shit,” he laughed.

  WHAM!!

  I reached over the table and clocked his ass straight in the jaw. I was able to get in another two-piece before he threw his set up and we started duking it out.

  “Let them niggas fight it out,” Rob said stopping my workers from breaking up the fight.

  Carter and I both stood in the paint, toe for toe matching each other’s punches. We were both skilled fighters so the chances of one of us going down was slim to none. Exhaustion started to set in as the fight went on for a good fifteen minutes before we stopped on our own.

  After blowing off steam, we both took our seats and continued bagging up work for the drop. I wasn’t mad at Carter nor did I have any ill feelings for him. Us fighting wasn’t nothing new. We were like brothers and as brothers, we were bound to duke it out.

  “You sliding to the club tonight?” Carter asked me handing me more bags of the coke.

  “You sure wifey gon’ let yo ass out the house?”

  “Fuck you mean nigga I’m a grown ass man.”

  “A grown ass man still on a leash,” I joked causing everyone in the room to laugh.

  “Nigga fuck you!” Carter laughed and just like that the little scuffle we had was forgotten. A friend wasn’t your real friend if y’all never fought out your frustrations.

  “I’mma go get a retwist then I’ll slide.” I dapped everyone up and left.

  I headed over to my hairstylist Sabrina’s house. She worked at Honey’s shop, but shawty was having ill feelings towards me about what went down, so to avoid conflict I stayed far away from her. Examining myself in the mirror, I frowned at how rough my dreads were looking. When Cinnamon was around, she kept my shit tight at all times.

  I pulled up in front of the four-story apartment complex and texted Sabrina to buzz me in. Once the gate beeped, granting me entrance, I circled the parking lot looking for a spot to park. A few chicks broke their necks trying to steal glances at me as I walked up six flights of stairs.

  “Who is it?” Sabrina’s voice yelled out responding to my knocks.

  “Chad.”

  She opened the door wearing shorts that her ass swallowed, and a crop top that showed off her slim figure. For someone to be so small, she had a nice lil shape on her. I wasn’t too into fucking slim girls, but she had a little something to work with.

  “You see something you like?” she smirked as she held the door open.

  “Nah, I’m just wondering where the fuck your clothes at.”

  “Boy please I’m home. You lucky I’m even wearing clothes.”

  “I don’t need a wash, just twist me up in some fishbones.” I changed the subject and took a seat at her dining room table.

  Sabrina’s house was small yet cozy. I was happy her spot was clean. I wasn’t trying to bring any roaches home with me. She grabbed the twist lock gel, hair clips, and began twisting my hair.

  “What’s up with Cinnamon?” she asked after ten minutes of silence.

  “She still locked up,” I vaguely answered not really wanting to discuss my wife.

  “Damn, so they really ain’t gon’ let her go?”

  “I don’t really know.”

  She rubbed her breasts against me as she reached for some clips. If shawty thought this little touchy feely shit she was doing was going to have me all over her, she had another thing coming. Even though my wife fucked up royally, we were still married and I had to respect that.

  “You done. Go sit under the dryer,” Sabrina said removing the black cape from around my neck.

  I walked over to the corner where she had a small dryer and sat under it. My email notification started to beep, so I pulled out my phone and scrolled through them. My stomach began to fill up with butterflies when I read the email from Cinnamon’s lawyer stating that she was scheduled for release tomorrow.

  A part of me was happy that she could finally be home with our son. I didn’t like the fact that she was in jail carrying my seed either. However, the other part of me wanted to fuck her up. I was having some real bipolar feelings towards her; I didn’t know how to feel.

  Checking my hair in the mirror, I admired the way she designed my twist. Satisfied, I pulled out two crispy one hundred dollar bills and handed them to her.

  “I’m about to cook dinner, you trying to chill?” Sabrina asked as I was gathering my things to leave

  “I’m not on that, plus you know I’m married.”

  “I couldn’t tell, your ring finger says a different story,” she replied looking down at my left hand.

  My eyes followed hers as I stared at my bare finger. Out of anger, I took off my ring and threw it across the room. I didn’t even notice I didn’t have it on until now.

  “That’s besides the point, the ring don’t mean shit.”

  “Let you tell it,” she smirked

  “Yo good looking out on my dreads, but I’m out,” I said dismissing myself.

  Stopping at the Gucci Store, I found something for me to wear for the night out with the fellas. Even though I had two walk-in closets filled with clothes, I still felt the need to buy a new outfit every time I was going out. I stayed fucking up the game with my dress code.

  Heading to the Cheesecake Factory, I stopped and filled my belly with crab wontons, steak, mash potatoes, and hot garlic rolls before heading home. The house was feeling very empty since CJ was with his grandmother and Cinnamon was locked up. I didn’t realize how much I missed my family until I was coming home to an empty house.

  Looking at Cinnamon’s things in the closet was bittersweet for me. She was scheduled to come home tomorrow and I wasn’t sure how our living arrangements would be. Undressing down to my bare skin, I jumped in the shower and allowed the jets to soothe my body. After taking care of my hygiene, I began to get ready for tonight’s festivities.

  Carter sent me a text letting me know that they were on their way to the club. As I was walking out the door, my phone began to chirp letting me know that it was holding on to dear life. My battery life was on 5%; I just grabbed it and stuffed in my pocket making a mental to charge it in the car.

  I was Gucci down and feeling myself, so I decided to push my all black Maserati. Downtown Miami was thicker than Wal-Mart on the first of the month. Good thing my face was gate or else I would be here standing in this long ass line. It paid to be a boss!

  The
club was on fuck you when I walked through. People was literally body to body in that bitch. Making my way to my designated VIP area, I made sure I had my nine secured on my hip. I didn’t feel the need to walk around with security because I was licensed to send a nigga to his maker.

  “Oooooweeee, it’s thicka then a bitch in here,” Carter slurred his words. I could tell that nigga was already fucked up to the max. His baby mama was gonna dig in his ass when he got home.

  “Yeah this shit all the way live,” I replied dapping up my hittas “Rob, Honey let yo ass out the house?”

  “Get the fuck out my face bruh, she ain’t running shit but her mouth,” he laughed.

  I sat back on the plush red velvet sectional that decorated the VIP, propped my feet up, and started rolling my blunt. I poured myself a cup of Remy and was prepared to ease my mind. I was huffing on my Kush, watching my niggas go dumb when I felt someone sit next to me.

  Looking up, I looked into the eyes of the person who decided to mess up my vibe. I ain’t gon lie shawty put the capital ‘B’ in bad. She was a mixed chick that had this exotic look to her. She kind of reminded me of Honey, because she was mixed.

  “How can I help you?” I asked.

  “I just saw you sitting here looking lonely, so I decided to keep you company.”

  “Thanks, but I’m good,” I said taking a pull of my blunt.

  She snatched the blunt from out of my hand and wrapped her fire engine red lips around it. Taking a long pull, she inhaled it then licked her lips slowly before blowing it out.

  “Why so rude?” She licked her lips before taking another pull.

  “I’m not trying to be rude, I’m just vibing right now and if you don’t mind, I’d like to do it alone,” I replied taking another sip of my drink.

  Yeah shawty was bad and she had my dick doing the gangster lean, but I wasn’t trying to have them type of problems. I had an ex who thought we was getting back together and a pregnant wife that I wasn’t sure if I still wanted to be married to. The more I thought about how confusing my situation was, the more I started throwing them drinks back.