Ashley's Story: THE LAST CHAPTER (2 page)

After being surprised with a furnished apartment near Miami
Beach courtesy of Choice and Supreme and still having all the money Petey had
left her, Ashley knew the day couldn’t get any better. They had shopped all day
got their hair and nails done. They had even eaten dinner with their parents.
Now it was time to get their party on.

She and Choice both entered King of Diamonds as if they
owned the place. Both ladies looked breathtaking and beautiful. Big soft curls
were all throughout the left side of Ashley’s head while a goddess braid rested
on the right side. She wore a black bodycon dress that stopped a little under
her knees and red peep toe Louboutins. With a gold clutch and a big chunky
necklace around her neck, Ashley now felt like a new person.

“Girl, the DJ’s turned up tonight,” Ashley spoke closely to
Choice’s ear so she could hear her over the loud music.

“Yeah, he’s kicking it tonight. He must know we’re in the
building,” Choice replied with a smile. “I’m going to the bathroom and call
Supreme.”

“Go ahead. I’ll be at the bar getting us something to drink.

“Our VIP room is upstairs,” Choice said to Ashley before
disappearing into the crowd.

Ashley walked through the packed club until she was at the
bar. She was so grateful there was one chair unattended because her feet were
killing her.

“Ayo, let me get two apple martinis!” Ashley yelled to the
bartender while hitting the top of the counter with an open palm. When he
looked her way, she smiled.

“Can I get two apple martinis and a bottle of Perrier Jouet
Champagne?”

“You sure can,” the bartender replied while returning her
smile. A couple of seconds later the bartender sat both of the martinis down in
front of her along with the bottle of Perrier Jouet.

“Thank you,” Ashley smiled. .

She put the bottle under her arm then picked up both of the
drinks. Ashley scooted off of the chair while bobbing her head to the Nicki
Minaj song.

***

He put the toothpick up to his mouth and chewed on the end
of it while eyeing Ashley. Her back was toward him so it was hard for him to
see her face, but from the side view, he could tell she was a dime.

“Yo Willie, look at ma over there. She bad, ain’t she?”

Willie took one look at the girl and nodded his head. “Her
style is fly but I can’t really see her face. Plus, the ass ain’t fat enough.”

 With his eyes still glued on Ashley, he chuckled.

“Fuck outta here, Willie. She bad,” he stated as he took a
shot of Remy. “I’ll be right back.”

He handed Willie his empty shot glass and walked in Ashley’s
direction. The club was dimly lit but he could still tell she was beautiful. He
was sure he wanted to take her to his house and bag her.

“Where the fuck you going?” Willie yelled.

“Damn, nigga! Mind your own business. I’m going to get
another bottle,” Rio yelled back over his shoulder.

“A bottle? With all of these damn bottles of liquor we got?

With his hands stuffed in his pants pockets, Rio maneuvered
his way over to the bar. He had no idea what he was going to say to the girl
who’d caught his eye out of a room full of women. He was anxious to see her up
close. Rio chuckled then shook his head. He never had a problem starting up a
conversation with a female and he would be damned if he started now.

He licked his thick lips as he stood directly behind Ashley.
His eyebrows arched in a menacing scowl as he pretended to look at the menu
while stealing glances at her. A slight smile touched his lips. If he were
lucky, he would be in something wet and tight later tonight.

The guy who was sitting beside Ashley got up and left.
Praying that she didn’t walk away, Rio took that chance to sit beside her. The
small inscription on her neck read Petey.

It can’t be that Petey
, Rio thought to himself as he
eyed her from the corner of his eye. He was right; she was beautiful. Her side
view did no justice for her face.

“Rio, is that you?” Rio turned around to the familiar voice
and smiled from ear to ear.

“I knew that was you,” Choice acknowledged when he stood up
to hug her.

Ashley turned around just in time to see the two embrace
each other.

“What are you doing here? Why aren’t you in New York?”
Choice added. . She took her drink from Ashley then punched him in the arm
playfully.

“Some hood nigga shit. Been in Miami for a little while now.
Supreme told me you were going to be here tonight and to look out for you so I
decided to stop by with the homies to pop a few bottles. You know your man got
eyes everywhere. He ain’t here to watch your back so I have to.”

Choice chuckled. “Supreme never cease to amaze me he didn’t
even tell me you were here. That was sweet of my hubby but you didn’t have to
come here tonight. Nothing’s going to happen to me. I’m good.”

“What kind of man would I be if I didn’t check up on my
godson’s mother? Besides, Choice, we’re family. I was handling some business
down here anyway had to come see about a few things.”

“Um hmm, I bet you were,” Choice replied when a naked girl
walked passed eyeing Rio.

With a smirk on his face, Rio eyed the girl back until she
was out of view. “I don’t do strippers, sis. Everything good though?” he asked
while focusing his attention on everyone but Choice. “I don’t gotta fuck nobody
up, do I? Any of these niggas try talking to you?”

“No silly,” Choice smiled. “I want to introduce you to my
best friend. Ashley, this is Rio. He’s Supreme’s best friend and Legend’s
Godfather.”

Rio put his right hand over his heart as if he was honored
“Wow! I finally get to meet the infamous Ashley."

The beauty I was gawking at is Choice’s best friend.
Ain’t that a bitch
, he thought to himself.

“I’ve heard so much about you from Choice and Supreme. Shit,
I hear bitches whispering about you in the streets like you’re the bogeyman.”

“Ha!” Ashley chuckled with a smile. Not the bogeyman though.
I’m not that bad of a person.”

“I’m dead ass; I wouldn’t lie,” Rio confessed truthfully.

“I guess that’s a good thing. Maybe I’ll stay out of
trouble,” Ashley said as she took a sip of her martini.

“What up, fam?” Mark spoke excitedly while walking over to
Choice to give her and Ashley a hug.

“Where the fuck have you been? Nana has been worried sick
about you!” Choice yelled at him with a surprised look etched on her face.
“It’s like you just up and disappeared. You’ve missed so many things! What
happened? Where did you go?”

Mark shook his head. “I had to leave Miami. There was so
much shit goin’ on back then that I had no other choice but to take my ass back
to New York.”

“I’m glad to see you’re okay but I know there’s more to the
story that you’re just not telling me.

“You know it’s more to the story but you’re not going to
find out, nosey girl. So when did you get home?” Mark asked Ashley.

“I got home today. It feels so good to be out. I’m never
going back.”

“I feel you. The time did the body some good though,” he
smiled, eyeing her small frame.

“Anyway,” Choice huffed taking Ashley’s hand to lead her
way. “Come on, Ash. Our VIP is upstairs.”

“Hold up; we got VIP over there,” Rio stated. “Why don’t
y’all come join us? We got plenty of bottles.”

Choice waved Rio and Mark off “Nope. We got our own VIP.
Bye-bye fellas; it was nice seeing you two.”

“Hold up! How about we go get something to eat after we
leave here? We could go to Denny’s or IHOP,” Rio suggested.

“That sounds good. We’ll think about it. If we decide to go,
we’ll come find y’all,” Choice said, the rest of her words fading into the loud
music.

“Girl, who the hell was he?” Ashley asked when she and
Choice reached their VIP section.

“Who? Rio?”

Ashley nodded her head.

“He and Supreme grew up together in New York. Rio’s older
than 'Preme. I guess he was sort of like a big brother. Let Supreme tell it,
Rio was his mentor and the only nigga he could trust. He’s still the only nigga
he can trust. I’ve gotten to know him since you’ve been gone and I’ll vouch for
him. He’s an upstanding dude.”

“Dude must be cool as hell if you’re vouching for him,” Ashley
stated. .

She sat down on the black love seat. Choice sat across from
her. Both ladies were in tune with the music as their hips swayed from side to
side to the Drake and Future song. They snapped their fingers while sipping on
their drinks.

“Girl, I’m surprised to see Mark here. I haven’t seen him in
five years. Supreme never talks about him. I think they fell out or something.
They were so close so it’s really weird that he left Miami and Supreme didn’t
know where he was.”

“Yeah, they were close. I know this is random but whatever
happened to Blue?”

The girl’s conversation was interrupted when Rio and Mark
walked up.

“We wanted to come up here and check out your VIP section.
Y’all only got one bottle?” Mark asked, eyeing the bare table. “If y’all gon’
be up in VIP, y’all have to do it big,” he added while waving over the waiter.
“Let me get a bottle of Moet. You ladies like Moet, right?”

Ashley smiled. “Moet is fine with me.”

“As a matter of fact, bring two bottles. We’re celebrating
tonight,” he confirmed as he looked over at Ashley.

Mark took a seat next to Ashley and Rio sat next to Choice.

“So what’s up?” Mark asked. .

“The same thing that was up a couple of minutes ago, nigga,”
Choice giggled. “We were just gossiping. You know how ladies are.”

“Yeah, gossiping ass females,” Mark answered with a smile
before looking over at Ashley. “So are you going to stay in Miami or are you
going back with Choice?”

“I’m staying here for now. Who knows? Eventually I may end
up there but for now, this is home.”

“You smoke, Ashley?” Rio interrupted as he pulled out a bag
of weed from his pants pocket.

“I’ll blaze one with you,” she replied.

“I’m not even going to ask you, Choice. I already know you
don’t.”

“Hell nah! I’m not fucking with it.”

She started thinking about the time she Blue and Bug were
smoking. Niggas had started shooting. A couple of people had even been killed.
That shit had scared her to death. She made a vow never to smoke again.

Ashley picked up her glass and took a sip as she watched Rio
empty the guts of the Philly and replace it with the darkest weed she’d ever
seen. He was so fast when he prepared it that she was sure she would miss the
whole thing if she looked away for a brief moment.

Ashley’s eyes’ wandered up to his lips. They had a purple tint
to them from smoking a lot of weed. She could also tell that he was of
Dominican decent. His smooth jet-black hair was a dead giveaway. Plus, the
amber hue of his honey colored skin did nothing to hide his heritage.

Rio was six-one with eyes the color of chestnuts. With broad
shoulders, muscular arms and washed board abs, his physical appearance reminded
her of a basketball player. The tapered fade and trimmed beard he rocked looked
good on him. Rio’s choice of clothing was simple black dickies and a black
button up with black Louboutin sneakers on his feet.

Ashley watched him blow the smoke out of his mouth slowly. She
smirked because they were both wearing black and she was also rocking
Louboutins. She was curious to find out who dressed him.

“Who dressed you?” Ashley asked Rio.

“Excuse me, ma” he replied taking another puff of the blunt
before blowing out another cloud of smoke. He and Mark looked over at each
other and chuckled.

“I dressed my damn self. I’m sure you dressed yourself.”

“I meant, who picked out your outfit? The only reason I
asked is because the shit is on point. You rarely if ever see dudes wearing
Louboutin around here.”

Choice looked at her friend and decided to come to her
friends rescue. “She’s into fashion and she has an eye for clothes.”

“I picked it out. I pick out all of my clothes. I don’t need
anybody to do it for me. I take it you like my outfit.

Ashley nodded her head. “Indeed.”

Rio could feel someone staring at him so he looked around
the club until he found who the eyes belonged to while inhaling the potent
greenery as a mug settled on his face. Rio had only been in Miami for a month
and he was already having problems with
Finesse
and Profit, two brothers from little Haiti. They were affiliated with some
niggas named Wise and Butter.

Rio didn’t know Butter or Wise personally. He knew that
Supreme had killed them though and Profit and Finesse hated anyone who fucked
with Supreme because killing Wise and Butter had destroyed their coke hustle.
Rio didn’t care. He was down for whatever. If they had a problem with Supreme,
they sure as hell had one with him and that wasn’t good.

Rio didn’t have anyone but himself to think about, no woman
and no kids. He never knew his father and his mother had passed away from
cancer when he was six years old. After her passing, her brother had come to
the United States to raise him as best he could. If they wanted to touch anyone
he loved, they would have a hard time doing so.

The only person he had was his uncle Israel who had moved
back to the Dominican Republic. His uncle had made sure he was financially
secure with his drug money and was able to survive New York on his own. Rio had
been his uncle’s first and only student. Israel showed him and taught him the
tricks of the drug game at a very young age. Rio could easily call his uncle or
fly out to let him know about the problems he was having with Profit and
Finesse but he wouldn’t do it.

He’d never had to call his uncle before and he wasn’t going
to start. He was a man who could handle his own problems. If Profit and Finesse
had unfinished business with Supreme, Rio didn’t have a problem taking care of
the loose ends. Supreme was a family man now and he was out of the game.
Supreme’s problems were Rio’s problems too, especially if it concerned beef.

Ashley turned around in her seat to see who had Rio’s
attention. A small crowd of girls were dancing close to one another.

“Who are you looking at?” She asked him curiously.

“I wasn’t looking at anyone in particular, just a couple of
those chicks,” Rio lied.

Choice looked over at Rio. His mannerisms were just like
Supreme’s and she could read him like a book. She knew when he wasn’t telling
the truth. Choice just wasn’t sure what he wasn’t telling the truth about.

Ashley put her hand up to her mouth to cover her yawn before
taking the weed from Mark.

“You’re used to having a bedtime. If you want, maybe after
we eat I can take you back to your place. You and I could break that cycle
together because you’re not going to sleep anytime soon.

With her eyes lowered, Ashley looked at him as if he grew
two heads. Did he just flirt with her? Did he forget that she had dated Petey
or the fact that he and Petey used to be friends? Well, she hadn’t forgotten.

“You’re real fresh tonight with that mouth. You coming back
to my place will not be happening,” Ashley stated. Her high immediately faded
when she thought about being intimate with Mark. Now she was ready to go.

“I’m going to chalk up what you just said to me on being too
high,” Ashley answered. . She looked away from him then over at Choice and Rio
who were engaging in their own conversation.

“I’m getting tired. Y’all ready to leave and hit up
Denny’s?” Choice spoke. .

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Rio responded as he took his phone
out to look in see who was calling him. He sent the person to voicemail.

“Buddy and Willie are downstairs. I’ll go see if they’re
trying to roll with us or not,” Rio remarked as stood up. He took out five
hundred dollars and left it on the table.

“Don’t take all day because we’re hungry and tired,” Choice
huffed. .

Rio nodded his head. “Bossy ass. We’ll be there. If we get
there too late and the two of you are gone, we’ll know that y’all went back to
Ashley’s spot. If that does happen, make sure to call or text me so I’ll know
that you two made it to her place safely.”

“Okay,” Choice replied as she and Ashley stood up and walked
away.

***

Ashley and Choice sat alone in the booth at Denny’s. They
had been there for twenty minutes and the guys still hadn’t shown up. There
were so many people at the restaurant that it looked like it was three o’clock
in the afternoon instead of three o’clock in the morning.

“Girl, these niggas are taking forever,” Ashley scoffed as
she picked up her menu to look it over. “Fuck this shit; I’m about to order.
I’m too hungry to be sitting here waiting on their asses to get here.”

Choice looked over at the door to see if she saw them. “I
don’t see them so fuck it; let’s order.” She said as she waved the waiter over
to their table. Choice and Ashley placed their orders before continuing their
conversation. .

“Girl, I miss my boo. It’s going to be so weird not sleeping
next to him tonight,” Choice sighed after the waitress left with their orders.

“I’m sure he misses you too.”

“I bet Legend is running him crazy.” Fifteen minutes passed
before the waiter was bringing out their food.

Choice took out her phone to call Supreme and to tell him
about her day. She wanted to tell him that Mark was back in Miami but she would
wait until she got home to tell him that bit of information. As soon as she
hung up, Rio, Mark, and Willie walked in and joined the girls in the booth.

“Damn! Y’all were that hungry that you couldn’t wait for
us?” Mark asked. .

“Hey, we told y’all we were hungry it’s been like twenty
minutes. Ashley responded as she took a bite of her omelet.

“Ashley when I saw you in the club I didn’t even know that
was you,” Willie laughed.

“I’m sure you didn’t, Willie. The last time I saw you was
five years ago. You were a baby,” she stated with a chuckle.

“A baby? Fuck out of here! I was grown then and I’m grown
now,” Willie sneered with an attitude. I always wanted to know there really
girl on girl action in there? With a scowl on her face, Ashley rolled her eyes
at him.

“Ashley, how do you like your place?” Rio asked.

“I love it! I can’t believe it’s mine. Choice and Supreme
did a good job picking everything out. The two of them really out did
themselves with my homecoming,” Ashley replied.

“Supreme and I had to hear about you coming home nonstop
that last year you were in there. That was the only thing Choice could talk
about. She kept saying that your homecoming had to be right and that she had to
make sure everything was set for you when you got home,” Rio explained.

“Aww, pooh,” Ashley smiled as she looked over at Choice.
“You missed me. I missed you too.”

“That’s my right hand so shit had to be in order,” Choice
replied. .

“So you’ve seen my spot?” Ashley asked Rio.

“Yeah. I like it. Shit, real talk…if they didn’t get it for
you then I would’ve got that muthafucka for myself.”

***

It was early in the morning and Choice had a five o’clock
flight back to Barbados. She missed her family and couldn’t wait to see them.
The time she spent with Ashley was much needed but she couldn’t wait to get
back to her motherly and wifely duties. She missed waking both of her men up
with kisses and breakfast in bed.

Choice woke up early so she could go to the mall to get
Supreme, Legend, and Nana something before returning home. Ashley was sleep
like a baby when she left so she left her asleep and stepped out by herself.

With two bags of clothes filled to the brim, Choice walked
the mall carelessly. It was early in the morning and the mall wasn’t packed at
all and she loved it that way. She turned around when she heard someone cackle
like a bird. It was a dark-skinned dude with tattoos on his face standing
against the wall checking her out. He was drinking a Snapple and he looked to
be 5’8” with dreads that stopped just above his shoulders.

Choice looked him up and down with an evil expression on her
face before turning back around. Something in his dark eyes let her know
trouble was lurking. She looked over her shoulder quickly as she pulled out her
phone to call Rio. Before she could dial a number, the dude yelled out to her.

“So you gon’ do me like that?” he mumbled with an attitude.
“I try to get your attention and you turn around as if you didn’t even hear
me.”

“I’m already taken.” Choice’s response was polite but direct
as she put her finger up to show him her wedding ring.

“I don’t give a fuck if you’re married,” he spoke harshly.

Choice turned up her lip as if she was sick to her stomach.
His blatant disrespect had her on ten and she was ready to cuss his ass out.
She had to remind herself that no one was there to have her back if the
disrespectful boy decided to pop off and put hands on her. Knowing this still
didn’t put fear in her heart or stop her from saying what she wanted.

“That’s too bad because it means something to me. If you
knew who my husband was, it would mean something to you also.”

“Bitch I don’t give a fuck about none of that shit you
talking about. You should be flattered that I even tried to holler at your
ass,” he grumbled angrily. He threw the half-empty bottle of Snapple onto the
ground. It shattered on impact causing people to look their way.

“You must not know my name. I’m Profit,” he sneered while
putting his right hand under his shirt.

“And what is that supposed to mean? Please let me know. I’m
starting to get the feeling that you’re threatening me. I’m a problem you don’t
wanna have so don’t fuck with me,” Choice chuckled as she turned around and
dialed Rio’s number. His phone rang twice before he answered.