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

  hard-on from a lousy ass lap dance. Of course, I saw a few new faces strol ing into the spot so they

  can make it rain. But the rest of the niggas I saw were the regular old scumbags that frequent the

  club.

  I also saw a couple of fresh new faces that Magic City would soon swal ow whole. These new

  chicks had absolutely no idea what they were about to walk into. I’ve seen dozens of strippers

  coming in on their high horse thinking they’re gonna make grand money and meet a nigga who's

  gonna take them out of there, wife them up and put ’em up in a big ass house. But after about six

  months and none of the shit they thought would happen hasn’t come to pass, then they start looking

  stupid and find themselves resorting to sucking dick and fucking their so-cal ed knight in shining armor

  to get his attention and end up losing out.

  I remember trying to school a couple of chicks when they started working for Neeko. They always

  started out being naïve and gul ible. And after working their way around the club, they thought they

  were topnotch bitches! By then it was too late for those bitches because their heads were too stuck

  up in the clouds. And when it was al said and down, they were going to end up in the fucking gutter

  with their precious little dreams smashed. Poor things!

  While I stay down in the back seat and scoped everything out, I noticed a fight about to break out.

  From what I could see, it appeared that two women were about to fight each other over this nigga. It

  seemed the girlfriend rol ed up and caught her man talking to another chick. I couldn't hear exactly

  what they were saying. However, you could tel the main girl wasn't too happy to see her man sitting in

  the parking lot of a strip club talking to a stripper. The main girl friend had a little bit more weight on her

  then the stripper chick, so I would put my money down on the girlfriend if those two started brawling

  with one another.

  Luckily for the stripper, the guy got out of his car and saved her from the ass whooping that was

  brewing up. While the guy tried to defuse the situation, I noticed a late model BMX X6 truck pul ing into

  the parking lot. The way Bishop parked his truck between two other cars it wasn't possible for

  incoming vehicles to see it . . . or me. I can’t explain the feeling that came over me when I recognized

  that that X6 was the exact model and color Duke gave me to drive and then snatch it away from me

  the night he put me out of his place. It hurt just seeing my whip.

  But that hurt wasn’t nothing compared to the spear in the heart moment I had ten seconds later

  when his bitch, his so-cal ed bride stepped out of my former whip. And to me, al of the shit occurred

  in slow motion. I was on the verge of snapping out was when the driver side door opened and Duke’s

  bride stepped out of it. Within twenty seconds time, I had already played the shit over and over in my

  mind a dozen time. I damn neared lost my composure. My heart was tel ing me to run up on her ass

  and take my truck back. I mean, how dare that motherfucker take it from me and then give it to her.

  Hel , I took a lot of shit off him, so I deserved to behind the wheel of it. Not her.

  While I battled with the thought of fucking her up and taking back what was rightful y mine, I

  couldn’t help but notice how she strutted her stuck-up looking ass across the parking lot, with her

  Fendi bag draping her left shoulder. I couldn’t see exactly what the bitch was wearing, but I saw the

  red soles underneath her heels. Christian Louboutin was written al over her feet. Not only that, I was

  shocked to see that she was more beautiful in person than she was in that newspaper photo.

  Jealousy and envy slowly crept into my heart as I sat up in the back seat and watched every step

  she took before she disappeared into the club.

  Duke had real y done it for me this time. He played with my heart, fucked me like I was some

  whore and then he threw me away to the wolves, so he could fuck the bitch I thought was my best

  friend. Then he slapped icing on the cake by marrying the most conceited bitch he could find. What a

  slap in the face. Normal y niggas leave you for some gutter rat. But Duke changed the game on me

  and upgraded himself to the baddest bitch he could find in the Tidewater area.

  A few seconds later, I looked down at the clock on the dashboard of Bishop’s truck to get some

  idea of how long he’d been inside of the club. When I noticed that five minutes had went by, I knew it

  wouldn’t be long before he’d be on his way back to the truck. But while he was in there, I wondered if

  he’d recognize Duke’s wife if he got a chance to see her while she was inside. I wanted so badly to

  jump out of this truck so I could go inside to confront her. I felt as if she needed to see me so I could

  tel her al the fucked up shit her husband did to me. I wanted her to know the day I moved into the

  condo at the Cosmo building and the day I left. But I real y wanted to tel her that I was the first chick

  pushing that BMW X6 she was driving, so in my mind she got the fucking leftovers. Something inside

  of me told me if he ever mentioned my name to her, it was probably to make himself look good. It

  wouldn’t surprise me if she hadn’t heard about me at al . But it was cool. I was gonna bounce back

  while his grimy ass was behind bars. And I was gonna have the last fucking laugh.

  I looked back at the clock on the dashboard of Bishop’s truck and realized that five more minutes

  had gone by. As I slowly lifted my head back up to turn my attention back towards the front door of

  Magic City, I was startled when I heard a loud explosion fol owed by a giant flash of light, then a

  firebal engulfed the entire club. Before I could process my thoughts, the fucking front door blew off the

  hinges, and the windows shattered into a mil ion pieces, leaving shards of glass on the ground around

  the building. The left side of the club col apsed immediately after that.

  Unbelievably, two of the strip club’s patrons escaped from the front door. Neither man was

  recognizable because they were covered in debris. I jumped from the truck to see if one of them was

  Bishop. When I got within a couple feet of them, I knew that Bishop was stil inside. My heart

  col apsed in the pit of my stomach and my mind had drawn a blank. I fought with the idea of running

  inside the club to see if I could find Bishop. But when I heard men and women screaming for help on

  the inside, I decided that it wouldn’t be a good idea. I knew nothing about the proper way to rescue

  anyone from a burning building so I raced towards the other people in the parking lot hoping they’d

  already cal ed the fire department and paramedics. When they informed me that they had, one guy

  that was standing out in the parking lot talking to a stripper said, “Oh shit! She’s on fire!”

  I immediately turned around and noticed that it was a stripper. She had on a long sleeve shirt and

  it was completely on fire. She screamed for help. The guy beside me took his shirt off and raced

  towards her. Seconds later, he threw his shirt over her back and wrestled her down to the ground.

  From that point, I witnessed her crying while the smoke from the flames escaped her body. I was in

  awe. I couldn’t believe that I actual y witnessed everything going on. But what real y ate at me was

  that Bishop was stil inside the club. And not even I could help him get out. I stood there speechless

  and I didn’t
know whether to wait around for the firefighters to get there or hop in his truck and leave.

  A mil ion things ran threw my mind. And the possibilities of Duke, his wife, Katrina and Bishop being

  burned alive gave me a bittersweet taste. I figured if he was in there with his new bride then they

  deserved to be in there. Although Katrina was a bitch at times, I didn’t think she deserved this at al .

  Bishop was on an entirely different level. I actual y spent time with the brotha so knowing that he

  got caught up in that blaze put a damper on me. He was cool people. And he seemed like the type of

  cat who’d only fuck a person up if they messed with him. So to see this shit happen to him wasn’t

  right at al .

  Now that I think about it, it wouldn’t surprise me if he got set up. I mean, out of thin air he gets a

  cal saying he needed to get to the club. Come on now, something’s not right with that. Then to see

  Duke’s wife go inside the club right after Bishop seemed even sketchier.

  While I tried to piece this whole scenario together, the firefighters final y arrived and asked

  everyone to move out of the parking lot and go to the other side of the street. I got back inside of

  Bishop’s truck and move it to the opposite side of the street and decided to wait until I could find out

  who was al inside that club and if Bishop was dead.

  My heart raced the entire time I sat there waiting to hear something. The thought of Bishop getting

  kil ed in that explosion became unbearable. And the one thing that kept nagging at me was the fact

  that Katrina had him come there. If she had never cal ed him then he’d be at the hotel with me. It was

  too late to turn back the clock now.

  Cheaper to Keep Her part 2 Unique

  Throwing Shit in the Game-Chapter Seven

  It took the firefighters two fucking hours to put out the flames.

  The entire building was completely unrecognizable. It was damn near burned to the ground. I sat

  behind the wheel of the truck in disbelief and wondered when they were going to bring out the bodies.

  People started coming out of the woodworks to see what was going on. A few family members

  stood by awaiting answers from the firefighters and hoping by some miracle that their loved ones

  were alive and wel .

  I recognized one woman who used to come into the club to borrow money from her daughter, who

  was a stripper. Her name was Ms. Dina and she was crying hysterical y. Al she kept saying was

  please don’t let my daughter be in there. Her daughter’s name was Kia, but her stripper name was

  Ecstasy. Ecstasy was one of the youngest dancers in the club and the prettiest one too. Her only

  downfal was that she let the niggas in the club feed her pennies. I used to tel her al the time that she

  was the prettiest chick with the baddest body out of al the other strippers in Magic City. If only she

  knew how to play her cards right, she’d be one paid bitch. I just hope she wasn’t in the club so she

  could have another shot at life.

  There were other people crying throughout the crowds. But I didn’t recognize any of them.

  Meanwhile, as I took in everything around me, my heart nearly jumped through my fucking chest when

  I saw a silver 911 Porsche slowly cruising by the club. I couldn’t see through the dark, tinted windows

  but there was no question in my mind that it was Duke behind the wheel of the car. I slid down in the

  front seat of Bishop’s truck just in case the car stopped. I wasn’t about to let him see me in no

  shape, form or fashion. So I quickly took precautionary measures.

  I completely took my focus off the fact Magic City had just burned down with Bishop inside of it

  and watched Duke’s Porsche as it combed the entire area. At one point I thought the car was going to

  stop, but it kept moving up the block.

  I watched his car until it crossed over the railroad tracks and jumped on the Portsmouth

  Boulevard’s ramp to get on the expressway. When his car disappeared around the loop that’s when I

  exhaled. Seeing him ride by the club to check things out had just reconfirmed that he had eyes al

  over the place. If something happened in this city, Duke Carrington was definitely going to be informed

  about it. Now I knew that son-of-a-bitch was in complete control, which also meant he knew his wife

  was caught up in the explosion with everyone else.

  So why the fuck didn’t he stop?

  His wife’s car was right there in plain sight. There was no fucking doubt in my mind that he saw it. I

  mean, that move was real y suspect if you asked me. This muthafucka real y was that sinister and

  coldblooded. Whatever his reason was for not stopping would never be good enough to keep my

  mouth closed. The more fucked up shit Duke did, the more he made it painful y obvious that he cared

  about no one else but himself. I couldn’t wait until the day I could see that man suffer.

  And when it final y came, I was gonna spit on him after I put a bul et in the back of his fucking

  head.

  It seemed as if time had been dragging along because an hour had gone by and not one body

  had been recovered yet. I had every intention to approach one of the firefighters but I knew it would

  be impossible to do. The police had the opposite side of the street blocked off with barricades and

  yel ow tape. They had to make sure no one would be able to cross over into their crime scene.

  I had to be honest and say that I had become very restless. The fact that more time had gone by

  and stil not one body had been recovered made me realize that Bishop wasn’t coming out alive. So

  what in the hel was I going to do about it?

  I didn’t have a cel phone in my possession, so I couldn’t make one single phone cal . I guess it

  didn’t make any difference since I had no one to cal . I did have keys to Bishop’s truck, but he had the

  key card to the hotel room in his back pocket, so I had no idea how I was going to get back into the

  room. I swear I was always finding myself in a ton of shit. One day I was in jail and the next day, I was

  witnessing a strip club going up in smoke and kil ing almost everyone inside.

  After three long hours had passed, several police officers asked everyone to clear the area. A

  few people started resisting. They knew they had lost their loved ones in the club fire. But everybody

  else left without giving the police any drama. I honestly didn’t want to leave. I had Bishop’s truck and it

  felt as if I was leaving him behind. Even though there was a great chance he hadn’t survived the

  explosion, I stil wanted to wait around to see them bring his body out of the debris and rubble. But

  since the police officers were adamant about clearing the area, I decided to come up with Plan B.

  Tel me what’s going to happen next?

  My mind was racing and I was trying to stay cool. I presumed Bishop to be dead, while Katrina

  was missing in action and I was left in the dark with a lot of unanswered questions. As I drove away

  from the crowd, my mind went into overdrive. It wasn’t a coincidence that both Bishop and Duke’s

  wife walked into Magic City and five minutes later the whole fucking place blew up. And what’s even

  more puzzling to me was the fact that Duke rode by to check out the damages without stopping. The

  last time I heard, he was supposed to be the new owner of Magic City. Seeing him do a drive by

  wasn’t the type of behavior someone would do when it concerned his or her investment. They say

  wha
t you do in the dark wil come to the light. Whatever Duke had underneath his sleeve, he was

  going to reveal it in due time.

  Cheaper to Keep Her part 2 Unique

  I Need Some Answers-Chapter Eight

  I hopped on the highway and headed back towards Virginia Beach where I felt safe.

  This shit was surreal to me. If I had any fucking sense, I should have realized how crazy this whole

  thing was. I didn’t need to be in the mix. Duke Carrington had cops and city officials behind him, and

  he was as slimy as they were. It was very hard to detect who was straight and who was crooked.

  Aren’t those people paid to protect and serve?

  During the course of the drive I rehearsed what I would say when I got back to the hotel. By the

  time I pul ed up to the valet I was very confident the hotel clerk would give me a spare key card to get

  back into the room. When I walked inside the lobby I walked straight towards the desk clerk.

  Thankful y, the same night clerk was stil on the clock because I didn’t need any problems. Al I wanted

  to do was get the spare key, carry my ass to the room and come up with a viable plan.

  I cleared my throat while I looked directly at her nametag and then I said, “Hi, Amy, do you

  remember me accompanying the guy from room 504?”

  She smiled. “Yes, as a matter of fact I do,” she replied.

  I smiled back. “Good. I am so glad because I just dropped him off and forgot to get the room key

  from him. So I was wondering if you could either open the door for me or give me a spare, because I

  am exhausted and need to take a load off.”

  “I'm real y not supposed to do that. But since I seen you two together a couple times then I’m

  gonna go ahead and make an exception.”

  “Thank you so much,” I expressed. I was so damn happy she decided to give me an extra key. If

  she would’ve turned me down, then I would've been up Shit's Creek.

  Immediately after she handed me the key I dashed towards the elevator. After I got on, I pressed

  the button for the fifth floor and waited for the elevator door to close. Moments after it closed, I felt a

  sense of relief throughout my entire body. The tension that had somewhat stiffened my neck had