The Dopeman's Wife: Part I of the Dopeman Trilogy (9 page)

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Authors: JaQuavis Coleman

Tags: #Fiction, #African American, #General, #Urban

BOOK: The Dopeman's Wife: Part I of the Dopeman Trilogy
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SQUARE ONE
Chapter Ten
Nautica sat in the diner sipping coffee, trying to figure out her next move. “I’m not going to cry anymore,” she said to herself. “It doesn’t get me anywhere, feeling sorry for myself. I gotta stay strong for Khia. I’m back at square one, but I’m still going to New York!” She couldn’t help but feel stupid because of her costly mistake, leaving a total stranger alone with her bag full of cash.
I have to figure out something
. She looked through her purse for her cell phone. “Damn, that bitch took my phone too?” Nautica shook her head in disbelief. All she had was sixty dollars, which she had in her pocket. She saw the pistol in her bag. She almost forgot she had it. Nautica took one last look inside her purse, hoping that her cell phone would magically appear, when she ran across a man’s business card.
Nautica whispered, “Benny Donovan?” She stared at the card, trying to jog her memory. Then it hit her. He’d made her an offer months before, when she went to Baltimore with Zion. With nothing to lose, she decided to give him a call. She gathered some change from her purse and walked over to the diner’s payphone. She dialed the number and leaned against the wall waiting for a response. On the fourth ring someone picked up.
“Yo’,” someone answered.
The background was loud with people chattering, and Nautica could barely hear him. She put her finger in her ear. “Hello, I’m looking for Benny Donovan.”
“This him. Who dis?” he said, yelling over the loud noise.
“Hi, this is Nautica. You met me in Baltimore, and you told me to give you a call when I was in town, ya know, for the casting of
The Wire
?”
“Oh, yeah. You the chick that was wearing Chanel with Louis, right?” he said half-jokingly.
Nautica let out a chuckle. “Yeah, that’s me. I was wondering were you still . . .” Nautica couldn’t get her answer out before he cut her off.
“Okay, look, there is a casting call in B-more on Friday. Be there!”
Nautica grabbed a napkin and a stick of lipstick to write down the information. “I’m there. Where is it?” She scrambled to write down the information.
“It’s at Mondawmin Mall at two
P.M.
sharp, a’ight! Peace!” he said and hung up.
Nautica took a deep breath, feeling a little better. She had exactly five days to get to Baltimore. She wanted so bad to call back home to her aunt, but what could she say to her?
Nautica walked back to her table and placed a dollar on the table to pay for her coffee and went to her car. It was just about midnight, and she was too tired to drive, so she decided she would head east the next morning. She nodded off right in the diner’s parking lot, not wanting to spend her last bit of money on a hotel room. She needed it to carry her over until she got to Baltimore. Then she would go from there.
She had never done any acting in her life, but it was worth a shot. She only wished that Khia was there to go with her. She knew that if she wasn’t an actress, she damn sure was about to become one. As soon as she laid her head on her headrest, it seemed like she was sound asleep.
The sun’s rays hit Nautica’s face as she squinted her eyes and looked around her car. She glanced at her clock and saw that it was 9:00
A.M.
She had slept all night like a baby. She yawned and stretched her arms as much as she could inside her tiny car. She grabbed the map from her glove box and began to search for the best route to Baltimore.
After studying it for a few minutes, she started up the car and headed toward the freeway. The air from the busted window was irritating her as she shook her head and tried to ignore it, but she couldn’t.
Just as she approached the highway, she felt her car begin to sputter. “Damn!” She’d been so taken up with everything going on, she forgot to put gas in the car. “I got to have the worst luck on earth, I swear!” Nautica yelled as her car completely shut off. She began to pound on the steering wheel. She got out her car and began to kick her tires, releasing some of her tension.
She grabbed her purse out of her car and headed back down the road where the gas station was. It was about five miles back, and the way the sun was beaming, she knew she had a torturous journey ahead of her. She walked on the side of the road, trying to balance herself in her six-inch heels, reflecting on her life. Everything had changed for her in the last couple of days. Within minutes, she was sweaty and tired. The blistering sun had her feeling like she was in a microwave. Nautica pulled off her top shirt, because it had gotten so soaked, and wiped her forehead with her it. Underneath, she wore a small tank top. She saw the distant BP gas station sign down the road. As Nautica walked down the rocky road, she heard a car approach her and then a male’s voice.
“’Ey, baby. You need to come work for me, baby. I’m here to treat you, not beat you. So gon’ ’head an’ get in the car with Silk,” the man said, talking about himself in third person. He thought she was a working girl because of her small tank top and six-inch heels.
Oh my goodness, this nigga thinks I’m a mu’fuckin’ hooker
. Nautica didn’t even extend him the courtesy of looking at him and began to speed up her walk. She just lowered her head and tried her best to ignore his lame lines.
“Look, babygirl, I’m what you need. I am going to the moon and if you wanna go with me, the only thing you have to do is get in. Yo’ square-ass pimp got you out here on the track. You need to be in a luxury suite making yo’ paper, baby.”
Nautica was fed up with him and his corny lines that seemed to come straight out of
The Mack
, and was about to tell him about himself. She stopped and put her hands on her hips as she looked at him, but when she saw the black Cadillac and the man’s face, she thought,
Ain’t that a bitch! It’s Sweetie’s pimp
.
I can’t believe this shit.
Her smile quickly turned into a frown.
The man stopped his car and grinned, displaying his gap-toothed smile. His teeth had a yellow coloration in them across the top, and Nautica almost gagged at the sight of them.
He leaned toward the passenger side and ran his hand over his stubble. “So what do you say, sweetness? Wanna go to the moon, or you want to keep walking on this hot-ass track with no direction?”
“Sounds like a plan.” Nautica tried to do her best hooker impersonation as she strutted to his car and hopped in, knowing he would lead her to Sweetie and her money. She tried her best not to laugh at his corny ass. She stared at his gaps and the way he kept smiling.
He sho’ ain’t trying to hide that ugly-ass grill of his.
She ran her fingers through her hair and got comfortable.
“My name is Silk, baby. What’s yours?” He stared at Nautica’s thighs. He was in pimp paradise. He couldn’t believe that he’d snagged a beauty like Nautica so easily.
Looking at his yellow teeth, she answered, “They call me Butter,” saying the first thing that came to her mind. She almost laughed at her own joke.
Silk licked his lips and continue to rub his facial hair, trying to be debonair. “How you get a name like that, baby? You look like a caramel or something like that. Well, anyway, you’ve made the right choice today, baby.”
As soon as he pulled off, he placed his hands on Nautica’s inner thigh. Nautica jumped at his touch, but quickly caught herself and smiled. She parted her legs slightly, trying to be cooperative enough not to turn him away. She looked at his clothes. He had on beige slacks with a bright yellow shirt. The outfit wasn’t so bad, but it was the way he wore it and accessorized that turned Nautica off. He had his top three buttons undone, displaying his nappy chest hair, and to top it off, he had the nerve to wear a small gold cross that seemed to get lost in the bush that rested on his upper body. Nautica looked down at his feet, and just as she expected, he had on gators, yellow ones.
Nautica moved his hand discreetly, not wanting to show her disgust, and began to rub the dash. “Ooh, I like this leather interior,” she said in a fake Southern accent. “Down in Texas, we don’t see cars like this very often.”
“You from big Texas, huh?”
“Yea, I came up here with my girlfriend to make a better life for myself,” Nautica lied, saying whatever popped into her head. Actually she was having fun toying with Silk.
“Is that right? Well, look, baby, I got plenty more where this came from. You ain’t seen nothing yet. I’ma take real good care of you, understand?” Silk smiled. He’d hit a gold-mine by having a woman from out of town. That meant she had no family members in town to interfere with his brainwashing.
“Okay, daddy.” She smiled.
SWEETEST REVENGE
Chapter Eleven
Nautica and Silk pulled up to a medium-sized brick house. Nautica’s palms sweated. She hoped that Sweetie was in there. Just the thought of seeing her had Nautica anxious. She was prepared to give her the worst ass-whupping imaginable before taking her money back.
I hope this bitch is in here
. She reached inside her purse and felt the small caliber pistol. She had no idea how to use it, but she knew it couldn’t be too hard.
Silk had been running his game on her the whole way to his home, but Nautica didn’t pay attention to him the entire drive. All she could think about was getting to Sweetie. She nodded and smiled occasionally, but everything he said to her fell on deaf ears. She wanted to ask about Sweetie when she first got in the car, but she didn’t know if he knew about the caper, so she held her cards.
“Come on into the palace.” Silk stepped out of the car and hurried around to open the door for Nautica. He was still awed by her beauty. She was by far the most beautiful girl he ever had on his roster.
This bitch gon’ make me rich
. He closed the door and then smacked Nautica on the ass.
As he led her up to his front door, his cell phone began to ring. He placed the phone in between his shoulder and ear, so that he could have free hands to open the door. “Speak,” he said.
Nautica tried to listen close, wondering if it was Sweetie on the other end.
Silk opened the door and let Nautica in. He flicked on the light and displayed his living room. The red carpet resembled a showroom floor at the MGM Grand Casino, and the lava lamps and red furniture only added insult to injury.
Silk smiled proudly as he listened closely to the person on the other end of the phone. He smacked Nautica once again on her behind. He held up one finger to signal that he would be off the phone shortly.
Nautica slowly walked in and sat on the couch.
Silk faded into the back of the house. He shouted into the phone, “Bitch, you ain’t checked in in twenty-four hours! Sweetie, you betta bring that ass home!” He held the phone close to his mouth as if it was a walkie-talkie.
Nautica’s eyes lit up at the sound of Sweetie’s name. She stood up and walked by the hallway that led to the room where Silk had gone. She wanted to hear what he was saying.
“Look, bitch, I don’t care what lick you came up on. You betta have yo’ ass home in thirty minutes, or I’ma beat yo’ ass when I catch you! Try me!”
Nautica heard the click from him flipping down his cell phone and quickly returned to her seat. Silk appeared just as she sat down.
“Sorry about that, but you know how the game go. Bitches ain’t got no ‘act-right’ these days, feel me?” He sat on the couch next to Nautica.
Nautica inched away from him when she smelled his cheap cologne. “It’s cool. You have other workers?” She wanted to find out more about Sweetie.
“Well, I just have one bitch right now, but with you on the team, the sky is the limit, feel me?”
Nautica realized where Sweetie got the habit of saying, “Feel me,” after every statement.
Silk grabbed both of Nautica’s hands and looked into her eyes. She couldn’t stand the look in his eyes. His eyes partially stuck out of his eye sockets, making him almost resemble a Simpson.
“Look, Butter, you are in safe hands now, and any and everything you know about the ho business, you need to forget. I’ma teach you how to work a john out until he is completely bone-dry. See, my girls send their johns home back to the wife broke and full of hope, hoping that their wife can do what one of my girls had just done to them. See, most chicks look at the bulge in the middle of a man’s pants to see what they’re packing. But, see, my girls are taught to look in the bulge on the side of their pants, their money bulge, feel me? That’s how you got to think. Every man is a potential cash cow and victim. Are you catching all of this?”
Nautica nodded her head. She was just waiting for Sweetie to show up.
This dude is a clown. I know this isn’t what he called game. He needs to find another profession, straight up. Where is this bitch at?
“I see you a quiet one, huh?” Silk looked at Nautica’s body with the bedroom eyes. He threw his arm around her and slowly stroked her shoulder. He was hot and ready to try out his own product before putting it out on the street.
Nautica knew she had to hold him off until Sweetie got there.
I know this greasy-ass nigga better take his hands off of me. Sweetie need to bring her ass on, so I can pistol whip that thieving ass . He can get it too if he tries to jump in.
She put on a fake smile and ran her fingers through her hair.
Silk slid his hand down to her breasts, and she despised every minute of it. He slipped one breast out of her shirt and bent down and put it in his mouth.
“Hold up,” Nautica said, easing back.
“Come on, Butta, don’t be afraid.” Silk momentarily glanced at her.
The sound of a car pulling into Silk’s driveway reached their ears. “Hold that thought.” He got up and peeked through his blinds. “Who the hell is that?” he whispered to himself. He squinted his eyes and to see who was driving the BMW 6 series into his driveway.
Moments later he saw Sweetie step out in a mink coat and new shoes. He got enraged as he came to the conclusion that Sweetie had “chose,” which meant another pimp snatched his girl. “Oh, hell naw!” he exclaimed, a look of disbelief on his face.
“Who is that?” Nautica put her breast back into her top.
“Just gimme a minute. That’s my other girl. I gotta handle something real quick, so just sit tight,” he said, lines forming in his forehead.
Just as Silk made his way to the door to meet Sweetie, Nautica reached into her purse for the gun. “I have to use the ladies room,” she said.
Silk peeked out of his screen door. “Yeah, whatever,” he said, waving her off. “It’s in the back.” He was ready to beat the hell out of Sweetie for disrespecting him and driving another man’s car to his house.
Actually Sweetie had gone to the used Mercedes dealership and copped it with $20,000 cash earlier that day, and wanted to surprise him with it.
Nautica stood up and made her way to the back room, so Sweetie wouldn’t notice her when she came in. She slipped into the bathroom and closed the door just enough to still see Silk.
Silk yanked Sweetie up by her hair as soon as she stepped through the door. “What the fuck is your problem, bitch?! Who car is that?!”
Nautica saw Sweetie drop Zion’s Louis bag on the floor as Silk slapped her around like a rag doll. “Damn,” she whispered.
“Daddy, I got some mon—”
“Bitch, shut up!” He threw her against the wall, causing the lamp to fall and break. He then walked over to her, grabbed her by the hair, and dragged her to the back room.
Sweetie continued to yell for him to stop, but it didn’t help. She was trying to tell him about the money in between her cries, but he wasn’t trying to hear anything. The only thing on his mind was her being gone for a whole day and coming back with fancy clothes and a Mercedes Benz.
Nautica quickly closed the bathroom door as they brushed past her. She heard another door slam and then the sound of arguing. She ran into the living room and grabbed the bag off the floor. She opened it up, and the money was still there, some of it at any rate. She glanced at the table and saw the keys to the Benz laying there. She grabbed them up and hurried out of the door. She jumped into the Benz, started the car, and listened as the luxury car purred. Then she smoothly pulled off in her new Benz, smiling from ear to ear. She had just been reunited with her favorite man in the world. Benjamin Franklin.

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