Cheaper to Keep Her (part 1) Read online

  “This shit ain’t over Diamond. I’m tel ing you I can’t just let go like this . . . not this easily,” I told her. “I

  have to bring this nigga to his knees. The shit I did wasn’t enough. I’m gon’ have to find a way to

  completely ruin him.”

  “Just be careful. I wouldn’t be able to handle coming to your funeral now,” Diamond laughed.

  But I knew her she was dead serious. What she didn’t realize was a fool is born every day and

  the day I was born, I wasn’t that fool. However, I couldn’t say the same for Mr. Duke Carrington.

  You win some, you lose some . Fuck that bitch, I planned on winning.

  Cheaper to Keep Her Unique

  Chapter 21—This Can’t Be Life

  I lay around the apartment for a week feeling so depressed that I hardly wanted to get out of bed to

  eat and wash my ass.

  Diamond was doing her usual in and out act. Sometimes I believed that bitch was real y on some

  kind of drugs. Hel , who could stay up four straight days and then crash like that? She was acting like

  a real crack head. The reason I knew was because my own mother was one and that was her M.O.,

  modus operandi, doing that same bul shit.

  Plus, we knew countless dancers in the game who couldn’t help themselves. Those who got

  hooked on something needed drugs or alcohol to take the edge off. Marijuana was a good drug to get

  hooked on but for most that didn’t do a damn thing. If anything, it gave them the munchies and they

  gained weight. Alcohol cut the edge but that induced sleep.

  Nope, the hard shit, crack, was the drug that sharpened the senses in the worst way. First, it kept

  you on your feet for hours and days on end. Then it helped you to crash and crash hard. Final y, it

  made you paranoid as a whore in an unguarded prison with men who haven’t seen a woman in

  twenty years.

  However, Diamond and I had made a pact to never do drugs. It was especial y important since

  we were working in a strip club, the number one venue for getting hooked on something to cut the

  edge.

  As much as I loved Diamond, I didn’t have time to worry about her. I hoped like hel she had her

  shit together.

  I final y pul ed myself together. Enough that I decided I would go and try to get my old job back. I

  borrowed Diamond’s car while she was asleep of course, and drove over to the Magic City. I took a

  deep breath when I parked the car. I had to get ready to throw myself at Neeko’s mercy and beg for

  my old bartending job back. Hel , I’m sure throwing myself on the mercy of the court would have been

  easier than throwing myself at the mercy of Neeko. Unfortunately, bartending was the only thing I

  knew how to do to make some money. When I walked in the club, I got more than my fair share of

  stares and snickers. Stil , I held my head high and ignored them.

  I went to Neeko’s office and knocked on the door. He yel ed come in before he knew who it was

  at the door. When Neeko looked up from his desk and saw that it was me, his facial expression went

  cold. He squinted his eyes and twisted his mouth. Not a good sign.

  “What’s up, Neeko? How you been?” I said, plastering a fake smile on my face. It was phony but I

  knew I had to try to get on his good side. I had essential y left the club high and dry without a good

  bartender. Duke had me so convinced I wouldn’t ever need to work that I didn’t even give Neeko the

  courtesy to cal and quit.

  “What the fuck you want?the fuck Neeko grumbled, puffing on his stink ass cigar. I fanned my hand

  in front of my face to swipe away the stink smoke.

  “Um . . . I was wondering if I could just go back to work. I know what happened was kind of fucked

  up and al but you know I’m good at what I do . . . I real y, real y need this Neeko,” I said, begging

  without shame.

  “Naw, I don’t need nobody else. I got a new bartender and she’s fine as shit and she don’t gimme

  no lip,” Neeko said dismissively.

  “C’mon Neeko, I’m wil ing to share shifts. I’m wil ing to stay al the way until the last customer

  leaves. Anything, I just need a job,” I begged some more. I was on the brink of tears and I was fighting

  hard not to cry.

  “Naw, Lynise. I can’t fuck with you right now,” Neeko said with finality.

  I stood there in shock for a minute. I guess I always thought I could just keep getting my way in life.

  I never thought I’d be on the desperate side of shit.

  “You can be one of my strippers if you want. I always wanted to see that apple ass without

  clothes,” Neeko said, blowing more cigar smoke in my direction.

  I started coughing and gagging. “Fuck you Neeko! I ain’t never taking off my clothes for a bastard

  like you!” I spat. As I turned to leave, Neeko cal ed after me.

  “Lynise! You might as wel strip ‘cause ain’t much else you can do in these parts. Somebody done

  seen to that.”

  I flipped him the bird and stomped out of his office. I had no idea what the fuck he was talking

  about.

  I peeled out of the parking lot in Diamond’s car. “Fuck Neeko! There’s more than one club in the

  Tidewater area! I’m gonna be alright! I’m a damned good bartender.” I drove to the next strip club.

  When I got inside, the owner also dismissed me. He said some shit like he couldn’t work with me

  even if he wanted to. I didn’t know what the fuck he meant by that bul shit. I told him to kiss my ass

  and I headed to the next club. Same shit. The owner would hear nothing of hiring me. This shit was

  starting to real y make me suspicious. When I got to the last club on my list I just knew I would get a

  job. It was owned by a guy named Drew and he and I had gone out way back in the day. I was real y

  embarrassed when I walked into his club and saw his fine ass sitting inside with his iced out chain and

  pinky ring. I immediately felt smal . I fought the feeling because I needed a job badly.

  “What’s up, Drew?” I said, flashing a smile. In my desperation, I tried using my strategy. While I was

  stil in the car, I opened the top buttons on my shirt al the way down to my cleavage. I real y was in

  desperation mode. It is what was is. If I had to show some breasts to get a job, then that’s what I had

  to do.

  “Ayyy, Lynise. Long time, no see, girl,” Drew said. His enthusiastic reaction was a good sign. I was

  excited already.

  “Wel , you know I must be here for a reason, so let me just get right to it. Drew, I need a job like

  nobody’s business right now,” I said trying to make myself as seductive as possible. I knew Drew and

  he was always a little on the perverted side. I probably would’ve even rubbed up on him for a job at

  this point. Anything except suck his dick.

  “Yeah, baby girl. I heard around town you was kind of down on your luck and shit,” Drew said.

  When he said that a sharp pain immediately shot through my stomach. That meant al of my

  business was already getting around the Tidewater area. I was probably the fucking laughing stock.

  “You know shit happens,” I replied, trying to play the shit off. “But I’m also sure you’ve heard I’m

  the best female bartender around and I bring in the crowds. That’s how good and strong my drinks

  are.”

  “I heard that but I can’t help you baby girl,” Drew said. He looked kind of hesitant though.

  “Ugh!” I grunted, throwing my hands up. “Why is everybody dismissing me
? So what, I had a fal ing

  out with my boyfriend, what does that has to do with me mixing fucking drinks!” I barked in frustration.

  “Baby girl, I thought you knew the deal. Listen, I’ma tel you this for ya own good,” Drew said,

  leaning in closer and whispering. I looked at him strangely, confused. “That nigga Duke Carrington

  holds a lot of weight in these here streets. He went around everywhere to al the bars across the city

  tel ing niggas not to fuck with you. Said you was a thief and couldn’t be trusted. That nigga even

  threatened that if any of us put you on to a job, he was gon’ have our liquor licenses revoked.

  “You know he got peoples on the fucking board down there at the ABC. That’s how the nigga

  found out you tried to get his liquor license fucked up. Word is, if so many people didn’t know about

  you fucking up his business shit, he was gon’ body you.”

  This shit made my ears start to ring. I wanted to just scream. Duke was the fucking reason I

  couldn’t get a job. How dare this bastard. He was trying to play me at my own game. I tried to undo

  his life so now he was fucking up mine. If I had any kind of fucking sense, I should have been upset

  that Duke would have me kil ed if everyone didn’t know how I tried to fuck him up.

  “Ya’l don’t know the half of it. But thanks for the heads up. I understand al ya’l little scary ass so-

  cal ed men let Duke run ya’l . . . it’s al good,” I snapped at Drew.

  “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. I can’t fuck with you,” Drew said flatly. “It took me a arm and leg

  to get my liquor license. I ain’t about to risk that to hire no troublemaking bartender.”

  “Yeah, a’ight. You mark my fucking words. You, the rest of these sucka ass club owners and Duke

  Carrington ain’t heard the last of Lynise! That nigga should’ve learned it was cheaper to keep my

  ass!” I screamed at Drew.

  “You can go now with al that rah rah bul shit, Lynise. At least I told you the truth,” Drew said,

  sounding frustrated with me. I couldn’t blame him. I was taking out my anger for Duke on him.

  I turned around and hurried my ass out of Drew’s club. I couldn’t wait to get outside. As soon as I

  stepped foot out of Drew’s club, I picked up my cel , blocked my phone number and cal ed Duke’s

  ass. Surprisingly, he picked up. I couldn’t control myself I was so angry.

  “Duke! You sorry muthafucking excuse for a man!” I screamed into the phone. “Why the fuck are

  you going around to the clubs blackbal ing me?” I screamed into the receiver. I wouldn’t even give him

  a minute to speak. I kept on with my tirade. “You ain’t got shit else to do? You worrying about me?

  You so fucking weak that you threatened every club owner in the area not to hire me? Wow, it took a

  real man to do that! So how am I going to make money to take care of myself when you was the

  muthafucking reason I quit my job in the first place?”

  I screamed so much and so loud my throat hurt. I was emotional and hurt and pissed off I ever

  got involved with this asshole.

  The asshole final y opened his mouth and started talking. He was screaming as wel , which meant

  maybe I got to him. “Listen, you two bit classless whore! I don’t give a fuck how you support yourself.

  Bitch, you thought you was gonna use the money you stole from me, but you had another thing

  coming! Chris found that shit when he was throwing your shit out of the condo! You dumb bitch!”

  I was trying to scream back at him but his deep voice was overpowering mine. “I’m tel ing you,

  Lynise, if you ever cal me, come near any of my businesses or homes again, your crack head

  mama and your crack head, dick sucking, pussy sel ing, best friend is gon’ find ya muthafucking head

  in one place and they gon’ have to go on a fucking scavenger hunt to find the rest of your body parts.

  I done told you more than once, I ain’t nothing to be fucked with,” Duke said menacingly.

  Then the phone went dead.

  That bastard had hung up on me.

  I started banging my fists on the car’s steering wheel. I banged until my hands throbbed. I was so

  angry that if I had a gun I would’ve found Duke and shot him right in his head.

  He had gotten this one, but I was going to find a way to get his ass back.

  Cheaper To Keep Her Unique

  Chapter 22—Trouble

  I was depressed and I knew it.

  Al I wanted to do was eat and sleep and in between I would have bouts where I just cried my

  eyes out for hours. I thought about Duke a lot. Sometimes I would drift into the good times we had. I

  would find myself smiling as I often went into the deep recesses of my mind to replay how Duke

  spared no expense when it came to spending time with me and making me happy. I sometimes stil

  didn’t believe shit had gone so wrong so fast. The shit Duke had done to me was just straight foul. I

  would never forget it either. He had made me turn on him, it was my defense mechanism.

  My life had definitely gone from charmed to hel , from sugar to shit. I laid around the apartment for

  days and weeks, most of the time listening to Diamond and Brian either fucking or fighting. I went from

  my bedroom to the living room and back again. Diamond was starting to act a little funny because

  she was footing al of the bil s. Although she said she understood my situation after what Duke had

  done to me, she stil acted funny. Sometimes she would come in al drunk and shit and she wouldn’t

  even speak to me. Sometimes I even heard her whispering on the phone about me not helping her.

  I was lying on the couch feeling sorry for myself watching TV, which had become my usual routine.

  I was flipping channels and there were commercials on al of the local channels. I was so frustrated

  with that bul shit. It was crazy that we paid for cable every month and there wasn’t ever shit on TV

  that I wanted to watch. I settled on Channel 4. Just in time to catch the news coming on. I decided to

  find out what was going on in the world since I had become a recluse. I was staring at the TV in a

  daze when I saw the headline flash the words Breaking News.

  I didn’t budge and it didn’t make me sit up or alarm me at al because in the Tidewater area there

  was always breaking news. I watched as a female reporter flashed on the screen and started

  speaking.

  I’m Carolyn Thomas and we have breaking news today. The police report that the body of a

  sixteen-year-old female teenager was found today in the woods near Highway 3. Investigators

  report that the girl’s body had been severely mutilated and confirmed that it is evident the girl

  was pregnant prior to her death. Police say it looks like the girl suffered a botched cesarean

  section prior to her death. Police are not releasing any information about the fetus or whether or

  not a fetus was recovered with the girl’s body. Sources also report the girl may have been

  homeless or a runaway. They are trying to identify the girl and determine if anyone had reported

  her missing. Police are asking that if anyone has any information about this girl or any information

  that could lead to her kil er or the whereabouts of her baby, please cal 1-800-

  CRIMESTOPPERS.”

  I was sitting on the edge of the sofa when I heard the story. But when I saw the police sketch of the

  missing girl, for some reason her face was familiar to me that my heart started racing like I knew the

  girl personal y. I swal owed hard and jumped up of
f the sofa. It had struck me like lightning. I just knew I

  had seen her before. I raced into my bedroom to find my pocketbook. Something told me the dead

  girl was in some way connected to that fucking shelter where Dr. Gavin and Duke were running that

  baby scam.

  “The fucking pictures I took from the condo,” I whispered as I frantical y turned my pocketbook

  upside down and let everything fal on my bed. I started sifting through the stuff on the bed as if I was

  crack fiend trying to find the smal est amount of crack to keep the high going.

  “Final y,” I whispered. I grabbed the papers and pictures I had taken out of Duke’s desk at the

  condo. With my hands shaking, I shuffled through them one by one. My heart was throbbing rapidly. I

  looked at the first picture. It wasn’t the girl that was shown on the news. For some reason, I felt kind of

  relieved. I flipped to the next picture. No luck. The second picture wasn’t the girl either. I let out a long

  sigh, but my heart was stil beating as if I had run around a track.

  Ok, I was starting to think I was just crazy and wrong. I kept flipping through the pictures though.

  When I got to the third picture, my eyes popped open wide and I dropped the entire stack of pictures

  as if I had been bitten by a snake. A cold chil shot down my spine and an eerie feeling overcame my

  entire body. My stomach knotted up. I put my hand over my mouth to keep myself from screaming.

  I knew I had seen the girl shown on the news before and I was right. I had to be sure. I bent down

  and slowly picked the picture back up. I could hardly look at it good my hands were trembling so

  badly. I stared at the picture a good long while. There was no mistaking it. I was positive the sketch of

  the girl on the news was identical to the picture I had in my hand. I turned it over and read the back.

  “Bastard,” I gritted. Dr. Gavin had listed the girl’s height, weight, eye color, hair color, nationality,

  expected due date and the sex of the baby she was carrying.

  “These muthafuckas kil ed this poor girl and stole her fucking baby,” I said to myself.

  Duke and Dr. Gavin had probably sold the girl’s baby before the baby was even ready to be born.

  I was spooked to say the least. I kept looking at the girl’s picture. She was a pretty little girl and she