Cheaper to Keep Her part 2 (The Saga Continues) Read online

  Cheaper to Keep Her part 2

  (The Saga Continues)

  This is a work of fiction. Al of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are

  either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Cheaper to Keep Her part 2. Copyright 2011 by K.S. Publications. Al rights reserved. Printed in the

  United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any

  means without written consent except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or

  reviews.

  Publisher’s address:

  K.S. Publications

  P.O. Box 68878

  Virginia Beach, VA 23471

  Website: www.kikiswinson.net

  Email: [email protected]

  ISBN-13: 978-0984529056

  ISBN-10: 0-984529055

  First Edition: May 2011

  1098765

  Editors: JWooden & Karen Johnson

  Interior & Cover Design: Davida Baldwin (OddBal dsgn.com)

  Cover Photo: Davida Baldwin

  Check out these other titles:

  Wifey

  I’m Stil Wifey

  Life After Wifey

  Stil Wifey Material

  Wifey 4-Life

  Mad Shambles

  The Candy Shop

  Stil Candy Shopping

  A Sticky Situation

  Sleeping with the Enemy (with Wahida Clark)

  Playing Dirty

  Notorious

  Heist (with Denesha Diamond)

  Cheaper to Keep Her part 1

  Wife Extraordinaire part 1 (Brand New Wifey series

  Cheaper to Keep Her part 2 Unique

  Get Out of Jail Free Card- Chapter One

  I was so happy to be out of jail. But I was happier to know that Neeko’s brother, Bishop, wanted

  Duke’s head on a platter more than I did. I could see the rage in Katrina’s eyes. She also wanted a

  piece of Duke. He was a man in desire and that desire was cal ed death.

  But I real y wasn’t trying to fuck with Katrina like that. After al the shit I went through with Diamond,

  I’d never trust another woman. Chicks were more grimy than niggas, so I knew I would deal with

  Bishop more so than her.

  Katrina instructed the driver to drop everyone off at her place. I had no idea if she meant for me

  to get dropped off with her and Bishop, because she had not mentioned it to me. Hel , it didn’t matter

  whatever plans she had up her sleeves for me, I was ready for anything, especial y since I was no

  longer behind bars.

  During the course of the drive I found myself staring out the side window. I looked at the cars that

  passed by us. I even glanced up at the birds in the sky and it felt real y good to be able to see these

  things. Not only was I free in the physical, I was free in the mind. I’d always taken things for granted in

  the past, but now I’ve decided to take life more seriously and I vowed to never let another person

  take me out of my circle. My loyalty for others never meant shit to them, so now I’m going to do me.

  I’m going to take care of Lynise. And whoever has a problem with it, wil just have to deal with it. I had

  one mission and that’s to get what’s due to me. And if I’ve got to die in the process, then so be it.

  When the driver pul ed up to Katrina’s spot, he hopped out of the driver seat and rushed to open

  the door for her. One by one, we al filed out. First Katrina, exited the limo, fol owed by Bishop and

  then me. When I stood up on both feet, I looked at Bishop from head to toe. This guy was definitely

  easy on the eyes. He was every bit of six feet tal . Plus, I could tel he had a nice fit body underneath

  his blue Vintage bottom down shirt and his blue denim Rock & Republic jeans. The way he walked

  and carried himself reminded me of Denzel Washington.

  I’ve always found older men more attractive than younger cats. In my experience, older men had

  a settled down mentality about them. While younger guys acted as if they had to jump from pil ow to

  post. Bishop personified the quiet confidence of his generation and he was looking real y good to me

  right now. I knew I was dead wrong for sizing him up like I was doing, especial y since I had just gotten

  out of jail. And why was I in jail . . . because of the dirty work of my ex-lover, who also happened to be

  an older gentleman.

  Damn, I have issues. That thought wasn’t too far from the truth. I mean, you would think I had had

  enough of men who were ten to fifteen years my senior. But hel , I had just gotten out of jail and

  truthful y, I didn’t know if I would spend my remaining years on earth in a six-by-six cel with bars. So I

  was in serious need of being held by somebody’s man. Unfortunately for me, Katrina broke my train

  of thought by giving Bishop and me instructions on what to do next.

  I stood next to Bishop and gave Katrina my undivided attention. As she began to speak, I couldn’t

  help but take inventory of the lady. She was the average height of most women, around five-five, five-

  six, but she had the demeanor and intrinsic strength of a man. She wasn’t masculine, that wasn’t the

  strength she displayed. She was a woman who knew how to get from point A to point B in the blink of

  an eye. I could sense she had a hardheadedness about her. She was very attractive. It was easy to

  see why Neeko was so in love with her. She looked as if she was around my age. But she was a tiny

  little thing. There was no question in my mind that she weighed maybe a hundred and ten pounds

  soak and wet. She kind of reminded me of a thinner Meagan Good, except Meagan’s long hair was

  real and Katrina was famous for sporting long and curly lace front wigs.

  She looked directly at Bishop and said, “I have to cal the funeral director back so we can finalize

  al the arrangements. So while I’m doing that why don’t you take Lynise back to your hotel and wait

  for me to cal you.”

  “How long you think that’s gonna take you? Because remember I got some things to do myself

  and I also need to go out to the mal to pick out a suit.”

  “It won’t take me long,” Katrina said and then she looked down at her wristwatch. “It’s almost

  noon, so give me until around five o’clock this evening to get back with you.”

  Bishop gave her a nod of approval. “Al right. Five o’clock it is,” he replied as he turned his

  attention towards me. “Come on, let’s go,” he instructed me.

  I began to fol ow him towards an al -white late model Suburban, with New Jersey license plates.

  The windows were slightly tinted but he kept the rims factory. I jumped inside and sat down in the

  passenger seat. The smel of new leather fil ed the entire truck. I took in the new car smel and

  exhaled. And then I laid my head back against the headrest. I closed my eyes for a brief minute to

  soak in the moment.

  Bishop cranked up the ignition and pul ed away from Katrina’s house. As he drove away my

  curiosity prompted me to open my eyes. I looked out the passenger side window at Katrina while she

  proceeded towards her house. Even though I frequent the Virginia Beach area, I had never been to

 
this part of town. Initial y, I hadn’t noticed since I had sat in the back of the limo, but Katrina lived in a

  gated community. She and her neighbors’ homes had to be in the neighborhood of at least a half

  mil ion dol ars or more. I knew Neeko had made a substantial amount of money at the club, but I had

  no idea he made the type of money to be able to afford this home. I mean, the club only had a

  packed house on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. And even then, I stil couldn’t see him forking

  over six figures to maintain such an expensive residence.

  If you asked me, he’d probably had some il egal shit going on like Duke. Since he was now six

  feet under, I would probably never know the real truth. Immediately after Katrina entered the house, I

  turned my attention towards Bishop. “Mind stopping by a fast food spot so I can get something to put

  on my stomach?” I asked.

  “Sure. Where you wanna get something to eat from?” he replied.

  I hunched my shoulders. “At this point I could care less,” I told him.

  I couldn’t lie, my stomach felt as if it was in my back. Plus, I continued to hear my stomach growl

  so that was confirmation that I was on E. So if Bishop offered me a bowl of uncooked hotdogs I would

  have eaten it up in a matter of seconds. Fortunately for me, that didn’t happen. After driving for only

  three miles, Bishop stopped by the Cheesecake Factory restaurant in the Pembroke area of Virginia

  Beach.

  Immediately, an eerie feeling came over me. It started in my stomach. Duke and I used to frequent

  this very same restaurant when I lived in Duke’s condo, which was located at the end of this block. Al

  of the restaurant employees knew me. How could they not? Hel , I used order takeout at lease four

  times a week and on top of that, I used to tip wel .

  That was my first concern. The second and more important concern was my appearance. I

  looked a hot damn mess with my hair braided back in fucking jailhouse cornrows. To bring it home,

  my face was bare and I knew I looked like shit without my make-up. Plus, the temperature was at

  least one hundred degrees outside and I had on the exact same velour sweat suit I was arrested in.

  What am I gonna to do about this situation?

  For one, I knew I couldn’t play myself and go inside the restaurant because I was bound to be

  recognized. Two, I looked like an ex-con and to make matters worse, I even looked like some

  jailhouse chick’s bitch. So to keep the whispering down to a minimum, I elected to stay inside Bishop’s

  truck. I thought he would try to persuade me to do otherwise but he didn’t. As a matter of fact, after I

  told him about my ties to this area, he decided to take me back to his hotel room and we would order

  pizza instead. I was okay by his decision to do that.

  When he pul ed up to the Hilton, which was only one block from the Cheesecake Factory and the

  exact same distance from the Cosmopolitan Building, I developed an eerie feeling in my stomach

  because I used to frequent this area when I lived in Duke’s condominium. Bishop looked at me and

  said, “Don’t worry. We’re not gonna be here long.”

  Even after he told me we weren’t going to be here long, I hesitated before I open the passenger

  side door. This area of Virginia Beach made me feel real y uneasy. Duke was wel known. People in

  this area knew him because he was a popular socialite. So the thought of running into him or

  someone who knew him or our history was kind of getting to me.

  I was concerned and in my mind I wondered if I was overreacting. This man, Bishop, seemed as if

  he wouldn’t let anything happen to me. But my concern focused on knowing how sinister Duke was.

  Additional y, I knew how coldhearted the men who worked for him was. Then it hit me, or I should say

  something inside of me connected the dots and convinced that I’d be al right. After al , I was with this

  man cal ed Bishop.

  After a couple of minutes of much thought, I let my guard down and stepped outside of the truck.

  Bishop escorted me inside of the hotel lobby and then he led me onto the elevator. The elevator took

  us to the fifth floor. Bishop’s room was only a couple doors down from the elevator. He stuck his key

  card inside the lock and let us both inside. I took a seat on the sofa next to the bed and watched as

  Bishop picked up the remote control. He handed it to me after he pressed the power button.

  “Here. Turn it to whatever you want to watch while I order the pizza.”

  “Okay,” I responded and took the remote. I pressed down on the channel button and sifted through

  the channels until I came across a re-run of the Jamie Fox show, which was my favorite show. I tuned

  into the show to take my mind off everything that was going on in my life. Unfortunately, that was short

  lived when I heard a knock at the hotel room’s door. I nearly jumped out of my seat. Bishop looked at

  me like I had lost my damn mind.

  “It’s okay. I’m sure it’s just the pizza delivery guy,” he assured me.

  I exhaled. Breathe. I have to breathe. I was stil somewhat leery until he opened the door and I

  heard the conversation that transpired between him and the pizza delivery guy. Once Bishop paid

  him, the guy thanked Bishop and left. The moment the door closed, it felt as if a huge load was lifted

  from my shoulders. I swear, being in this area of Virginia Beach spooked the hel out of me. If I had

  things my way, I wouldn’t be here at al . I would be knocking on the front door of my ex-boy friend,

  Devin. And he’d love it too. He’d relish in the moment of me having to crawl back to him and beg him

  to let me come back to live with him.

  Beside Diamond’s grimy ass, I had nobody else I could go to for help. So he would had eaten this

  shit up! Now I can’t say what’s gonna happen with me, Bishop and Katrina. But whatever they had in

  mind, I needed to be included in on it, because at this point, I didn’t have a penny to my name or a

  place I could cal my own. And before we departed ways, I was gonna have to come up with a solid

  plan to get back on my grind. And whether Bishop and Katrina knew it or not, they were going to be

  the ones to help me.

  I was the third member of their Musketeer act.

  Cheaper to Keep Her part 2 Unique

  Playing Mind Games- Chapter Two

  I devoured a couple slices of pizza while I watched rerun after rerun of Jamie’s old show.

  Bishop took off his shoes and sat back on the bed with his back pressed against the headboard.

  He started off making smal talk during commercial breaks between the shows but then the

  seriousness of the conversation picked up. And for the first time in my life I was at a lost for words.

  “Are you ready to help me bury that cock sucking nigga for what he did to my brother?” he asked.

  Even the anger in his voice came out smooth and unpretentious. Before I answered Bishop, I

  looked into his eyes and saw the pain he had buried in his heart. I had no clue how close Neeko and

  Bishop were, but I knew that they were blood related and that was enough to avenge his brother’s

  death. I tried to avoid answering his question, but it didn’t work. Bishop continued to press the issue.

  “I swear, I can’t wait until I get my motherfucking hands on that piece of fucking shit! I’m going to

  take his fucking head off and feed it to a couple of stray dogs!” he continued to bark. I knew his bite

  was far worse than his bark. I literal y
saw steam coming from his nostrils like he was a raging bul .

  This guy was beyond livid and so was I but I remained quiet. I figured the hurt that I had suffered at the

  hands of Duke would be vindicated sooner than later. And I’d be very grateful when it was al said and

  done.

  Just being around Bishop was intense and overwhelming on a level I couldn’t describe. He was

  danger, trouble and destruction rol ed up in a lean package. I hadn’t seen the man in action but

  something told me his reputation was wel -deserved.

  After Bishop had calmed down from his ranting, he came out of left field and asked me what kind

  of deal had I worked up with the police? He total y caught me off guard with the question. I didn’t know

  whether to be honest with him and tel him I agreed to work with the police or lie and act like I was

  some ride or die chick and I walked out of jail because my lawyer worked a miracle for me. Bishop

  came across as a no nonsense type of cat that took the law into his own hands. But then again, I

  could’ve read him wrong. So to test the waters, I took a death breath and told him what I thought he’d

  want to hear.

  “I don’t fuck with the police like that. They’re the ones who locked me up,” I began to explain. “I had

  some court appointed attorney who actual y did his homework and realized that the state didn’t have

  shit on me. Al that bogus ass evidence they thought they had wasn’t worth shit. So the judge let me

  go free.”

  “How long were you in jail?”

  “A couple of weeks.”

  “That wasn’t very long,” he commented and then he sat straight up in the bed. He looked as if he

  was about to stand but when he lifted his butt up from the bed and tugged on the hem of his shirt, I let

  out a sigh of relief. I mean, I was in this state of mind that I couldn’t trust anybody. Especial y after al

  the shit I’ve been through. Because of motherfuckers I thought I could trust . . . and one nasty bitch I

  thought I could trust. But from this day forward, I was going to start looking out for Lynise since

  everybody seemed as if they were out for themselves.

  I cleared my throat and then I said, “It may not have been long to you but it seemed like forever

  for me.”