Last Bitch Standing (7 page)

"I don't give a damn what that motherfucker says, Genesis
has some information on Maya!"

"Precious, ever since we left that restaurant the
other night, you've been saying this same shit. And my
questions to you are the same; how would Genesis know
Maya? And if he did, why would he try to hide it?"

"If I knew the answers to those questions, we
wouldn't be having this conversation right now!" I barked,
sick of Nico not siding with me on this.

"Why is it so hard for you to believe that I'm right,
and this nigga, Genesis is full of shit?"

"Because I don't get that impression of dude. He
seems legit, like he's cool people."

"Cool people my ass! Don't let all that swagger fool you, he's hiding some shit."

"So, you think he got swagger?" Nico glanced over
at me and asked as he turned the corner headed towards
Devon's crib. He got word from CoCo that Devon was
due back in town any day now, so we decided to do some
drive-bys until his ass popped up.

"I'm not even going there with you," I said, slitting
my eyes.

"Going where? You made the comment."

"It ain't even worth expanding on. All I know is the
nigga is lying, and I want to know why."

"Well, baby girl, if he is lying, which I personally
don't believe, we have no way of finding out the truth.
We have to keep our money on Devon knowing where
Maya is."

"That's another thing."

"What?"

"Don't you think it's strange that Devon is in Philly
working for this nigga, Delondo?"

"Maybe he and Maya thought they should keep
some distance between them until shit cooled down. I
mean, they killed Mike, and I know by now they know
you didn't die in that fire. They're probably nervous. I
know if it was me, that's what I would do."

"True."

As we sat across the street from Devon's apartment,
I thought about all the players in this game. And I didn't
give a fuck what Nico said, in my book, Genesis was now
officially one of them. But what drove me crazy about him was that I couldn't figure out how he fit in. I wondered
if he had been cool with Mike, but I never heard him
mentioned, and Genesis wasn't a name you would forget.
The not knowing was making my brain itch.

"I hope you ain't still thinking about that Genesis
shit," Nico commented, knowing me all too well.

"No, I'm not."

"Stop lying. Precious. This is Nico you're talking to."

"I know who the fuck you are."

"Then admit I'm right... come on now"

"I'm not admitting shit, and stop harassing me and
answer your phone," I said, punching his arm.

"I ain't done wit' you," he huffed before taking the
call.

While Nico was on the phone, I continued playfully
punching his arm and making faces, until I realized the
shift in his tone. It suddenly turned serious. "What's
wrong?" I immediately asked when he got off.

"That was Ricky."

"Is he okay?"

"He's fine. It's Ms. Duncan... she died a few days
ago.

"What! What happened?"

"She had cancer."

"I didn't even know she was sick."

"Neither did her brother. He said supposedly she
got diagnosed about a month ago, and by the time she
found out, it had already spread."

"I can't believe Ms. Duncan is dead."

"Ricky tried to call you, but of course the number
he had ain't good no more. That's why he called me, so I
could let you know. They're going to put her to rest this
Friday."

"I wanna go to her funeral. That woman did so much
for me. I have to pay my respects and tell her goodbye."

"Say no more. We'll go. By the time we get back,
Devon will fo' sure be in Philly, and we'll handle him
then."

As I stood at the same cemetery where my mother
was buried, watching Ms. Duncan's coffin being lowered
into the ground, I couldn't help but think of how unfair
life could be. Ms. Duncan was one of the kindest people
I had ever met, yet she was dead, and a lowdown trick
like Maya was running around, free as a bird, wrecking
peoples' lives. There was no rationale in that.

"Precious, I'm so glad you came," Ricky said, giving
me a hug.

"Of course I came. You know how much your sister
meant to me."

"And you meant a great deal to her too. She loved
you, and she was so proud of you."

"I don't know why. I haven't lived my life in the most
Godly way."

"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. And that's nobody. My sister knew and understood that, and
lived her life accordingly. I'll tell you again. She was so
proud of you, Precious."

"Thank you, Ricky."

"You have nothing to thank me for. But I would like
for you to do something for me."

"What is it?"

"Before you leave New York, stop by her house. She
left something for you."

"Okay, I will."

"Good."

"Did you see where Nico went?"

"Yes, he's right over there," Ricky said, pointing
towards a tree behind me a few feet away.

"Thanks, but I'll definitely see you before we leave,"
I said, giving Ricky a hug goodbye.

Being at the cemetery where both my mother and
Ms. Duncan were buried flooded me with sadness. I
wanted to leave and escape the pain, because all I kept
thinking about was Aaliyah and her losing me like I had
lost the two most important women in my life.

"Nico, I'm ready to go." I could see he was in the
middle of a conversation with someone, but I didn't care.

"Can you give me a few minutes?"

"No, I want to leave now"

"Babe, I know this is hard for you. Just give me a
couple minutes." Nico lifted up my chin gently, and it was
hard to deny his request. In his eyes, I could see he felt
my pain.

"You must've been very close to her," I heard the
man say who had been talking to Nico. His back was
facing me when I walked up, so I hadn't paid him any
attention... until now.

"Excuse me?" The attitude and annoyance was
obvious in my voice because I didn't try to hide it. For
the life of me, I couldn't understand why this nobody
was inviting himself into my personal space. Just because
he had been speaking with Nico didn't give him the right
to talk to me.

"There's no need to get upset," Nico said, placing his
hands on my shoulders as if to massage my frustrations
away and diffuse the hostility.

"It's understandable you would be upset. She was a
wonderful woman," the man continued, trying to force
me into some dialogue. I turned to face the man for the
first time, that's when he extended his hand and said,
"I apologize. I should introduce myself. I'm Quentin
Jacobs."

I shook his hand, and I instantly remembered meeting
him at the house where Mike had held me hostage, and I
couldn't help but wonder if he remembered me too.

"Growing up, we all looked up to Quentin, and we
still do," Nico grinned. "That was rude of me. I should've
introduced you. Quentin, this is Precious Mills."

I quickly freed my hand from the man's grasp, but
he wasn't deterred. "Precious, how did you know Ms.
Duncan?"

"She used to take care of me when I was a little girl."

"Really, I knew all the little girls Ms. Duncan used to
take care of, and I don't remember a Precious Mills."

"What about Precious Cummings? That was her
name before she got married," Nico informed Quentin,
clearly in awe of him.

"No, that name doesn't sound familiar either."

"Then I guess you didn't know all the kids Ms.
Duncan took care of after all. Now if you'll excuse me...
Nico, I'll be waiting for you in the car."

For some reason, I had a strong urge to rush off
and get away from that man from the very first time I
met him. And even now he had this way of getting under
my skin. I didn't know if it was due to the arrogance he
exuded, or because it disgusted me how Mike, who had
been at the top of his game at one time before he died,
and Nico, who many considered to be a legend in the
streets, was dick riding this nigga so hard. Whatever it
was, I didn't want any parts of it.

"Did you have to be so cold to him?" Nico questioned
when he got in the car.

"Cold to who?" I asked, pretending not to have a
clue as to what he was talking about.

"Stop with the games, Precious. Why did you have
to be so disrespectful to Quentin? That cat is a straight up
Godfather in this game. The respect he garners extends
from the East to West Coast, trust me on that."

"I don't give a damn. Remember I told you that he
came to visit Mike when I was being held hostage?"

Nico was quiet for a minute, as if thinking back
to the conversation. "I do remember you mentioning
something about that."

"Yeah, he didn't even acknowledge that shit."

"That was months ago, and it was only briefly. He
probably doesn't remember that shit."

"You mean the same way Genesis doesn't know
who Maya is."

"There you go on that Genesis shit again. I'm
convinced this Maya situation has made you paranoid.
Everybody you meet is either lying or trying to manipulate
you now. Pretty soon, you gon' be saying I'm the enemy."

"Just forget it. I'm the crazy paranoid bitch... fine."
I shrugged my shoulders, not even wanting to discuss the
shit any further.

"Who the fuck is this?" Nico mumbled before
answering his cell. "Hello ... damn... thanks for letting me
know"

"What happened?"

"Another headache. We need to get back to
Philly... now!"

When I checked into my Chairman Suite at the
Rittenhouse Hotel, I walked into the marble bathroom,
and wondered whether I should take a long bubble bath
in the oversized Jacuzzi, or drench myself in the separate
shower with massage head. I chose a hot bath, mainly
because I wanted to rest my feet. I had been hammering
the downtown Philly boutiques all day in my quest to
find the perfect outfit to lure Arnez with. I knew the
shit wouldn't be easy. The nigga was clearly a seasoned
hustler and probably was apprehensive about what chicks
he fucked with, so I had to be careful with my attire and
approach.

After soaking in the tub for what seemed like
at least an hour, I slipped on the plush bathrobe and slippers that the hotel provided, then stood in front of
the huge window with a city view. It was amazing how hot
Philly looked at night with all the lights shining brightly. I
continued to take in the scene and thought how relieved
I was to have additional time to plan my shit out.

Originally, Arnez was supposed to have lunch
at the Lacroix, but then at the last minute the waiter
called Steve to let him know that Arnez's bodyguard
had cancelled, and wanted to make sure that his regular
table would be available for dinner instead. With that
happening, it allowed me preparation time I desperately
needed, because I always heard that the first impression
was the lasting one.

That's why I felt I could make no real headway
with Supreme, because he didn't see me as a bona fide
woman. He remembered me as Precious' little play sister
and Clip's girlfriend. No matter how good I sucked and
rode his dick, I wasn't grown and sexy; just a little girl
trying to play dress-up. But I refused to give up on my
quest to have Supreme as my man, and maybe forging a
relationship with Arnez could smooth the progress of
that.

I pulled out the Fiesta Red one-shoulder dress I
had purchased earlier today. After hours of coming up
short, I was ready to give up my search until I hit gold.
It was dangling smack in the middle of the high-end
Italian boutique's store window. I instantly thought about
Precious and the time she said, "If you want to fuck a nigga without giving him no pussy, strut around in his
face with a bad ass red dress and he'll do anything to get
a taste." I need that shit to work for me tonight.

As I slipped on the dress and the four-inch heels
that further accentuated every curve in my body, I thought
about how proud Precious would be of me. It was the
exact sort of attire she would approve of. giving you the
goods without exploiting the goods. As I turned around
in the mirror admiring the excellent choice I made, I
heard my cell ringing. "What's up, Steve?"