Life After a Balla (22 page)

“Is something wrong, nigga? You upset that she turned you out, huh? Did you fall in love? Well, it was all part of the plan to use your dumb ass so we could find out information. But if you ever put your hands on her again I swear I’ll kill your ass.” Dre punched Kareem in the face to let him know he meant business. “Felicia, go pack a bag we about to drive to Miami.”

“Drive? Are you serious? Do you know how long that’s going to take? Can’t we fly?”

“We can’t fly, this nigga might try to snitch or run. Plus, I can’t carry my guns on the plane. We gotta drive and hopefully this shit will go smooth, if not we might be driving back with a dead body in the trunk.”

****

Dre backed his brothers BMW into the garage and hit the remote waiting for the door to go down. He then got out of the car and entered the house through the garage. He walked into the room where Kareem was tied up to a chair.

“I’m about to untie your legs. If you try to run I swear to God I’ll go shoot your mother right in the fuckin’ head! Do you understand?”

Kareem looked at Dre wishing he could kill him. “Yeah.”

“If you cooperate I’ll let your family live again,” Dre told him.

Kareem wondered what he meant by he would let them live again. Dre must have read his mind because he began to answer his question.

“You see young blood, your father sent me here to Georgia to find y’all and take your mother out. At that time I wasn’t up to killing nobody, but that was then. I got much more money on the line now. So I need to know where my brother’s body is so I can collect on it,” Dre explained.

Dre was so wrapped up with talking about money, he didn’t hear Felicia when she walked into the room wearing a pair of Prada sunglasses, jeans, a cute top, six inch Giuseppe heals and rolling her designer luggage. Dre shook his head. It looked like she was going on vacation with her girls instead of on a mission looking for her husband’s body. Felicia was the true definition of a Diva even with all the bruises she’d sustained from Kareem fists, she still looked like a runway model.

Kareem stood up when Dre released his legs even though his hands were still bound.

“Remember what I told you. Don’t do anything stupid,” Dre said, pushing Kareem through the house and towards the garage door. When Dre saw Felicia getting comfortable in the front passenger’s seat of the car he stopped her. “What you doing Felicia? You have to drive so I can keep my eye on him.”

Felicia looked at Dre like he was crazy. “Oh no no no. I know you don’t expect me to drive. This shit was your idea, remember?”

“Well, would you rather sit and hold the gun on your lover boy?”

Felicia shook her head no once again. She wasn’t touching that gun in fact this whole trip wasn’t supposed to be part of the plan. She huffed and puffed before finally walking around to the driver’s seat. Even though she felt Kareem staring at her when she passed him, she got into the car without looking at his face. Dre pushed Kareem into the passenger’s seat and pulled down the visor so he could watch him through the mirror. He then climbed in the back. Felicia started the ignition and hit the garage remote.

“Make a move or try somethin’, and I’ll blow your ass away,” Dre said as they pulled out.

****

Four hours into the drive, Dre could see Kareem eyeballing him through the mirror on the visor as he kept fidgeting around in the front seat.

“What the fuck do you keep movin’ around for up there? We just pulled over so you could piss about a hour ago! That nigga up to somethin’. Yo’ Felicia, pull the car over, I’m sick of this muthafucka!” Dre demanded.

Felicia wondered what he was up too and looked at him in the rear view mirror. “Why, what you getting ready to do, Dre?” she asked concerned.

“Just pull over!”

As soon as Felicia pulled the car onto the side of the highway, Dre told her to pop the trunk. She reached down and hit the switch, wondering what he was getting ready to do. Dre looked around to make sure no other cars were coming. When the coast was clear he got out then walked to the front of the car, snatching the passenger door open. He bent down and ripped a piece of duct tape off the roll in the front seat and put in on Kareem’s mouth, pulling him out of the car.

“Let’s go, nigga,” Dre said, pushing him toward the back of the car. “Get your ass in the trunk.” He wanted Kareem to hurry up before another car came by.

Kareem stood there looking at Dre like he wasn’t getting inside. A few minutes later, he took off running trying to get back into the front seat. Felicia could see the frightened look on Kareem’s face when he tried to get back inside. Suddenly, Dre grabbed the back of his shirt and slung him against the car, hitting him in the stomach with several vicious blows. Kareem fell to the ground in pain.

“Now, get your ass in that trunk before it gets worse.”

“Why are you doing that?” Felicia yelled.

Ignoring her, Dre picked Kareem off the ground and rushed him to the back of the car again. This time Kareem got in. After Dre slammed the truck closed, he ran to the driver’s side.

“Move over Felicia, I’ll drive. We’ll never get to Miami as slow as you’re drivin’.”

“Why did you hit him like that? Hasn’t he been doing everything you asked him to? And why did you put him in the trunk? He can’t ride back there. The carbon monoxide from the exhaust could kill him.”

Dre gave her a snide look. “You act like you in love wit’ the nigga or somethin’. He’ll be alright for a few miles. Your biggest concern should be hopin’ that we find out where Justice’s body is so we can get that life insurance money. Fuck that nigga back there. He’s a punk just like his father!”

Felicia didn’t respond. She was pissed off that Dre seemed to be more concerned about getting the money than finding out what really happened to his brother.

“Now we have to figure out where we’re going to stay once we get to Miami so Kareem won’t be detected. It’s not like we can get a hotel room,” Dre carried on.

“We can stay in Hollywood, Florida. I own a second home there. It used to be one of my favorite vacation spots with Justice.”

Dre was surprised. “I never knew that.”

“It’s probably a lot of things about me you don’t know,” Felicia replied with a bitter chuckle.

CHAPTER 23

Asia and a stream of other female inmates lined up to use the phones. She waited patiently listening to a girl standing in front of her having phone sex. She prayed that the number she’d been reciting over and over in her head for the past few minutes was the right one for Divine. She’d spent one night in jail and desperately needed to reach him before her arraignment in a few hours.

As soon as the judge grants me bail, I need him to be here with some cash so I can take off these hideous orange scrubs and walk outta this fucking place
, she thought to herself.

When it was finally her turn, Asia stepped up to reach for the phone, but a tall, manly looking woman with a short buzz cut, and big lips blocked her path.

“It’s my turn to use it,” she snarled.

Knowing this was her only time to call Divine, Asia wasn’t about to back down, especially since this was her first time being able to call someone due to overcrowding the night before. “You better back your big burly ass the fuck up. Don’t let the pretty face fool you, bitch!” Asia responded back.

The woman stood there for a second looking Asia up and down. She then smiled. “Oohhh, talking shit turns me on. I likes the fact that you didn’t back down like all these other weak ass women,” she said, blowing Asia a kiss and backing away.

Asia eyeballed her as she grabbed the phone receiver off the wall making sure the woman wasn’t up to anything. The woman smiled again, this time it was so wide you could see several gold teeth in the front of her mouth.

“And you’s a smart cautious bitch, too. I likes that. Until we meet again sexy,” the woman said, pimping away like a dude.

Asia shook her head thinking, I gotta get the fuck out of here A.S.A.P.

She quickly dialed Divine’s number. When she heard the female recorder say,
please enjoy the ringtone while waiting for your party to answer
followed by his new single Get Money blasting in the phone, Asia knew she had the right number. It was her first glimpse of hope.

“Hello,” Divine answered on the third ring.

“You have a collect call from the Dade County Jail. To accept this call, press five,” the automated operator spoke.

Asia waited patiently, hoping Divine would accept the call. As soon as she heard him say hello once again, she let out a small sigh of relief.

“Hey, Divine, thank God you picked up your phone. Listen, I’m in trouble and really need your help. As you can see, I’m locked up and I was wondering if you could please come bail me out? I don’t know what my bail is gonna be yet since I’m about to go to this arraignment, but it shouldn’t be that much. I can pay you back once I get out. I’m about to come into a lot of money,” she pleaded.

Divine was quiet for a minute. “Asia, I’m not bailing your sorry ass out of jail. The only reason why I even answered was because I thought the call was from my cousin. I heard all about what you did to my boy, Zoe. Me and that nigga go way back. We like brothers, actually. I can’t believe you robbed him then had the nerve to invite the nigga to your hotel room after you turned me down.”

“What? I didn’t invite him to my room. He followed me to my room. He raped me Divine!” Asia screamed into the phone.

Divine laughed, “Yeah right. Y’all money hungry bitches are all the same. When you can’t get any money from a nigga, first thing you do is holla rape. Get the fuck outta here, you bum bitch!” he said, laughing as he hung up the phone in her face.

Asia held the receiver in her hand. She was shocked at the way Divine had talked to her. Even worse, she knew Divine was the only person she had to call to help her out. There was no one else. She also wished she had enough money to hire Toni Vaughn, or another top notch attorney to represent her. Possibly facing child abandonment and endangerment charges, Asia knew she was gonna need a good attorney to help her get out and regain custody of her son.

“Are you finished? Other people need to use the phone,” a female inmate yelled out.

Instead of getting into any type of altercation, Asia hung up the phone and stepped away with her head hung low as she proceeded back to her three-walled concrete cell.

I got to get out of here so I can go get my son. I was so close to getting my money and being set for life
. Her chain of thought was suddenly broken when she bumped into the Amazon woman again.
I’m definitely not in the mood to keep dealing with this dike bitch
.

“Pretty girl, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. My name is Moe and I runs this place. Anything I wants I gets in here,” she said, rubbing Asia on her face.

Quickly moving her head back, Asia displayed a look of disapproval. She almost threw up in her mouth from the strong, rancid scent coming from the woman’s body, and Asia wanted to tell her so badly that she didn’t need to keep adding an extra “s” to most of her words.

“Let me know if you needs anything in here. I’m known to make shit happen,” the woman stated just before tapping Asia on the ass.

At that moment Asia became furious. In her mind it was the ultimate sign of disrespect for someone who wasn’t gay. It was about to go down as Asia clenched her fist and prepared herself mentally and physically for a fight. But just as she attempted to confront the woman, a C.O. walked up.

“Inmate 941207Asia Jones, let’s go, it’s time for your arraignment.”

Saved by the bell
, Asia thought as she watched the C.O. cuff her hands, then followed him down the hall to the elevator. While waiting, she admired how cute he was and noticed that he wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.

“Why isn’t a handsome man like yourself married?” she asked.

He looked back at Asia. “Who said I wasn’t married?”

“I don’t see a wedding band on your finger,” Asia flirted. Even though she was locked up some things would never change.

“I am married. I just don’t wear my ring to work,” he responded as the elevator doors opened and they walked inside.

“Well, she’s a lucky woman. I wish I had run into you on the outside. You would’ve been asking her for a divorce,” Asia joked.

“Is that right?”

“That’s right. I got what’s called platinum pussy baby.”

This time the C.O. didn’t respond. The expression on his face made it obvious that he believed the conversation was getting out of hand. Once they finally reached the lower level and the elevator doors opened, he escorted Asia out of a back door and into a van where several other inmates were also waiting to go to court. She sat in the van looking at the other women wondering what crime they’d committed. Asia didn’t consider herself a criminal and couldn’t believe she had to be in such close quarters with possible murderers.

During the short ride to the court building, her mind was fixated on a plan to get out. But with no money, it was beginning to look like a difficult task. Even the money she’d stolen from the white guy might not have been enough. Not to mention, the police hadn’t allowed Asia to retrieve her purse from the hotel room the night she was arrested, so she was sure it had been stolen by now.

When the van pulled up at the courthouse a few minutes later, Asia along with the other female inmates were escorted inside on a back elevator and up to a waiting room until it was time for them to see the judge. Several agonizing minutes later, Asia was the first to be called. Her stomach did all sorts of somersaults as a court officer escorted her into the courtroom and sat her down at a table.

Asia lowered her head in disbelief.

The entire time she’d been in Miami, Asia was determined to get inside a courtroom, but not this way. She was supposed to be on the plaintiff side with a huge smile on her face once the judge told her the amount she’d be getting from Sandino. Now, Asia was the defendant, facing possible jail time for something that she knew she was guilty of.