URBAN: Chosen By A Kingpin (28 page)

“How did you guys meet?”

“We were neighbors first. After he helped me out with something we became friends. Then somewhere down the line, we just started …”

“It sounds like your relationship with him has been going at top speed.”

“It really has.” Giselle agreed. “I just don’t know where we stand.”

Janine gave her a comforting smile. Giselle knew that it wasn’t coming from a place of love, but rather the smile was coming from a place of pity.

“What is it? What’s with the smile?”

“I’m really the wrong one to ask. My relationship started at Nascar speeds. We weren’t even friends at first. We met and we just started fucking from there. Now, we’re something that we don’t know how to label.”

“Situationship?” Giselle recalled some slang she heard.

“Not even. When I first met Martin, he swept me off of my feet. He took me out to dinners and movies, you know regular shit. Then in a blink he just started to hit me. It’s been two years since the first hit me.”

“You ever thought about leaving him?”

“I love him.” She gave that same fake smile she always gave when she was trying to cover up some pain. “Besides, I’m in too deep.”

The food came over. They both started picking at their food. They ate small bites silently.

“Okay, let’s not do this. I took you out to make you feel better. I didn’t want you feeling awkward. This might be the last time we see each other.”

“Right.” Janine saying that just reminded Giselle of her situation. “I almost forgot that I’m fired.” She shook her head slightly. Then she remembered something. “Do you think that Monique knows dangerous people?”

“What?” Janine wasn’t really listening.

“Monique. Do you think that Monique knows dangerous people? She did threaten me.”

“I would normally say pay people no mind, but you never really know. People are crazy these days. As far as Monique goes, I’ve seen her with some questionable people.”

“Should I watch my back?”

“You should always watch your back, but try not to lose any sleep over Monique. She’ll probably cool down. But enough about that. I think I got some good news for you.”

“What is it?”

Janine smiled and went in her purse. She pulled out her cellphone. She passed her finger over the screen a couple of times. When she stopped, she smiled even wider, slid her phone over the table, and passed it to Giselle.

“I started my own Youtube page. I do makeup tutorials like you said. I just wanted you to know and to say thank you.”

“Wow!” Giselle started to get giddy. “I want to watch some of your videos but it says that there’s nothing there yet.”

“I’m uploading them tonight. Just look up the Beauty by Bianca.”

“You used your stripper name?” Giselle’s eyebrow arched. “You know what? It really doesn’t matter. It just matters that you are going after your dream in some way.”

“I’m not making money off of it.”

“You can if you put the work behind it. You just concentrate on getting better.”

“I just wanted you to see it.

Just then Janine’s phone vibrated. She quickly grabbed it once she saw Martin’s number.

“Yes Daddy?” She answered. “I’m not in the club right now.” She waited for his answer. “I’m sorry, but I just needed to get something to eat.” She paused again. “No, I don’t have an attitude.” She stopped. Giselle could see the stress take over her face. She was just happy and ecstatic about doing the makeup and now she looked like she’s aged right before her eyes.

“You can come pick me up. I’m walking out right now.” She reached into her purse and slapped a $100 bill on the table. Giselle followed behind her but then stopped in her tracks.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Martin yelled at Janine. She didn’t even get the chance to open her mouth. Martin's hands were already grabbing her arm. “Get your dumb ass in the car.” He opened the door. “You have business to do. You don’t have time to be babysitting again.”

“Sorry.”

“You lucky I don’t pop on your ass right now, but we got things to do. Go back to the club. I’ll bring you there.”

Giselle watched him slam the car door in her face. Janine looked so sad. When Martin walked around the car and was out of eyesight, she quickly waved goodbye to Giselle. Giselle waved back and watched the green car drive away.

“Are you sure the car was green?” Antwon asked. Giselle had just came over to his place. As soon as she told Lionel what she saw, he thought the three of them should talk.

“Yes, I’m sure.” Giselle nodded.

“How sure?” Antwon asked again. When Giselle shot him a look that she was annoyed, he just shrugged his shoulders. “Look, if we’re going to do this, I’m going to make sure.”

“The car was green.” She repeated herself. She turned to Lionel. “You know I’ve seen the car already with you. I know how it looks like. It was the exact same green car.”

“Oh shit.” Antwon said quietly. “And it was with the girl with natural hair.”

“No, she had long straight hair.” Giselle saw his face change. “But she could have put a relaxer. Or she could have flat ironed her hair.”

“What is that?” Lionel and Antwon said at the same time.

“I have an idea. Do you have a laptop?”

They set the laptop down in front of her. After it booted up, she went straight to the internet. She got on Youtube and put in Janine’s screenname.

“What are you looking for?” Lionel questioned.

“She said that she was starting a youtube page. I’m just seeing if she set it up yet. If she did, then we know for sure it’s her. If not, then it could be Monique.”

“Monique? Who the fuck is that?” Lionel held her shoulders.

“Just someone who threatened to shoot me.” She answered.

“Now that sounds like the bitch that set me up.”Antwon was convinced.

“But she didn’t get into the green car.” Lionel pointed out.

“Man, fuck the green car. I think it might be Monique.”

“Did she upload any videos yet?”

“No.” Giselle answered.

Antwon got up and started pacing. He was so close to his answer. The fact that he had been shot and that he was almost killed constantly weighed on his mind.

“That’s a sign.” He started to mumble. “It’s Monique.” He took out a cigarette and started smoking. He was still talking to himself. “It’s her. I know it’s her. That’s why the pictures haven’t popped up because it’s her.” He sounded more frantic and manic. Giselle and Lionel exchanged looks.

“Let’s not get crazy here.” Lionel said. “Monique is not the stripper she saw hop in the green car.”

“I just want to get this nigga that tried to kill me.”

“I know son, but we can’t get the wrong dude.”

“You’re right.”

“I think I found a way to get her picture.”

They came over and she explained that even though Janine didn’t upload any videos yet, she did have other information on there.

“You see right here. She has links to her other social media. You know like Facebook and Instagram. What if she has pictures on there too?”

“Let’s go.” Antwon rushed her. “I’m sorry, but you don’t know how much I need this. I’m not used to sitting back and waiting. I’m usually out there getting niggas myself. This nigga shoots me and I have to sit here and look shit up on a computer.”

“We got to be smart about this.” Giselle suggested. She clicked on her facebook page, but it was locked and private. “Okay let’s try the link to her instagram.”

Once she clicked on the link, Antwon jumped up. He got excited.

“That’s her.” He pointed to the screen. “Look at the pic of her with that big ass hair. That’s her. Roll down a bit more.” When she did, he cursed out loud. “Motherfucker. That’s her on the day that I got shot.”

“How do you know?” Lionel wondered.

“Because look, it’s the same outfit from that night and it’s in front of the club. Shit, look at the weeks, it’s around the same time. Keep going through her pictures.” As she scrolled down some more, they saw a picture with her and some guys at a party. “Fuck! There goes that nigga that tried to put one in my head.”

“That’s her boyfriend Martin.”

“Good, now we need to know where they live.”

Lionel and Giselle looked at each other again. Giselle wished that she never opened her mouth. She knew that Antwon can fly off the handle. Lionel told her story and just being in his presence sometimes, she could see that herself.

“What are you going to do?” She kept scrolling down. “You just going to go over there and kill him? If you do that, that makes you no better than him.”

“Yeah but if I do that, I’ll be more alive than him. I won't make the mistake that he did. I won’t leave him alive.” Antwon said and then his eyes opened wide. “Wait, what’s that right there.” He pointed to a picture of Martin and Janine in front of a building. “I know where that place is. I know that store behind them. This is in Bed Stuy.” Antwon threw his jacket on. “I’m out.”

Lionel went after him but Antwon was almost already out. He caught up to him, but Antwon kept walking away.

“What you bout to do son?” He asked his friend, but he already knew.

“What the fuck? I’m about to go put a bullet in that dude. The fuck you think this is?” Antwon was shouting.

“Is he there right now? Do you know where that dude is at?”

“I’m going to pop up at that house and surprise the dude. Don’t try to calm me down.”

“I got to. You not thinking straight right now. Look, let’s come up with a plan and do this right. From what it looks like, this dude ain’t right. So we have to plan things out.”

Antwon rolled his eyes. He started to cool down. He knew his friend was right.

“Okay.” He gave in.

“So, how about you and me go get some drinks and think this all over.”

“Just us boys?” Antwon looked back at the building. Giselle was coming down the steps. “You going to leave the wife at home?”

“I think you and me can handle everything else. I’ll go drop her off and then you and me…”

“You and me gonna plan it out.” Antwon finished the sentence. He walked back to the building. He said his goodbyes to Giselle and went back to his apartment.

“Come on, let’s get a cab.”

They hailed a cab and when they were seated inside, she started to touch Lionel. She rubbed on his crotch and started to tease him.

“What are you doing?” His eyes lit up. “You’re trying to start something.”

“I might.” She licked her lips. “Can I ask you a question?” She squeezed his growing erection.

“Yes….” But he wasn’t really listening.

“Am I just a booty call to you?’

“What?” That snapped him out of his trance.

“Am I just some ass for you to get?”

Lionel was confused. He didn’t know where this was coming from. He thought that everything between them was going great. In fact, he was happy where they were going. She never complained, told him exactly how she felt, and when he asked for her help, she didn’t hesitate. So where was this coming from?

“You already know how I feel about you. I tell you all the time that I care for you.”

“But we never talk about our future.”

“What do you see us doing?”

“I see us doing something together, but we never talk about it.”

“To be honest, with all that’s going on, I never got the chance to stop and talk about it. But I promise you, once we settle everything, we’re going to not only talk about it, but start making moves.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m making enough money with Antwon so we don’t have to worry about only relying on the money you're getting. Besides, Antwon was talking about going legit. From what it looks like, everything is going to fall into place. We just have to wait.”

“I can wait.” She beamed. Everything looked like it was going to go well.

The cab pulled up in front of their building. As they got out, Lionel spotted Ms. Rita stumbling around. He shook his head and started to walk towards the building. Giselle rolled her eyes and tried to steer clear from her. Everyone could see that she was high as a kite and knew about her attitude. So everyone just let her walk around.

“That lady needs help.” Lionel commented.

“You know what they say. The first step to progress is admitting that you have a problem. She’s not that type.”

Then they saw the green car down the block. Lionel hid behind a car and pulled Giselle down. They watched Ms. Rita stumble to the car. She knocked on the window.

“Martin is crazy. He’s going to kill that junkie.” Giselle whispered and Lionel nodded his head. Ms. Rita kept banging on the window and it finally rolled down. Someone handed her a paper bag. The car pulled away. Ms. Rita’s eyes opened wide and she ran inside the apartment building. She was running so fast that she didn’t even spot Giselle and Lionel.

“What the fuck is going on?” Lionel asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Go back to the apartment.” Lionel suggested.

“I’ll see what I can find out.”

To see the same green car with Ms. Rita was driving them crazy. This whole situation was getting more and more out of hand, but they both wanted to know what was going on

Giselle knocked on the door of the apartment. Laura opened the doors and signaled that she should be quiet.

“Ms. Rita just came here on some bullshit. I told her to not get high here, but I just don’t have the strength to fight with her.” Laura told her.

“She’s getting high?”

“Yeah, she came here with a paper bag full of her fucking drugs.”

“A paper bag?”

“Uh huh. It’s weird though.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t give her no money and she doesn’t work.”

“So where is she getting the money for it.” Giselle completed her thoughts. “I got to go.” She started walking away. “You have my cell phone number, right?”

“Sure, you gave it to me some time back.”

“Good. Call me when Ms. Rita leaves.”

“Okay….”

Giselle met Lionel in the hallway. She told him all that she saw and he just nodded his head along. He still didn’t know what was going on, but he knew not to tell Antwon when he saw him. Antwon would probably kick down the apartment door and kill Ms. Rita while trying to get information out of her. He started rubbing his head. He was getting a headache trying to figure everything out.