Bitch (11 page)

"I just know," I said, sounding confident.

"Then you a dead bitch," Nico said and hung up the phone.

I pulled my car in front of Ritchie's house in plain view for Nico to see. I then walked across the street and hid beside a house under construction.

Within fifteen minutes, Nico flew down the street and jumped out his truck with gun in hand. He paused for a quick second at the side of my car and kicked it before running up Ritchie's front stairs. He banged on the door with gun drawn, and when Ritchie opened it probably thinking it was me, all I heard was Nico screaming, "Where the fuck is Precious at?" before the door slammed shut.

I was waiting to hear the first gunshot before I placed my next phone call, when I noticed a familiar looking car coming down the street. When I realized it was Butch, I had to act fast. There was no way I could let him interfere with what was going on in Ritchie's crib. I snuck around the back of the house under construction and ducked behind another car before sneaking across the street. I waited until Butch got under the darkness of Ritchie's walkway before I stopped him.

"Excuse me, Butch, but where do you think you going?"

He turned around slowly and from the streetlight he tried to get a look at my face. "Who are you?"

"I'm sure you don't remember me, but I'll neva forget your face." I had my hands behind my back, holding the gun I took from Nico.

Butch's intuition start kicking in and he knew by the expression on my face I wasn't happy to see him. He instinctively put his hand in the back of his pants, feeling for his own gun.

"Looking for something? Outta all the times to forget your girl, you picked the wrong occasion. This is for Azar, bitch," I said as I raised my gun and let off three shots to the chest.

As the bullets exploded leaving golfball sized holes in his body, Butch finally fell backwards, landing on the bottom step. I walked up to him and put one more bullet in his face for good measure.

Right then I heard the shots I had been waiting for ringing out of Ritchie's house. I left Butch leakin' on the side of the curb, ran to my car and dialed 911 from a burner I purchased as I drove off. "Yes, I heard several gunshots coming from 218 Adelphi Street. I think somebody might have been murdered."

My heart was beating so fast. It wasn't because I had just killed somebody; it was just the excitement of seeing my plan come together. I prayed that the gunshots I heard coming from Ritchie's house were that of Nico murdering him. If they weren't, everything would be ruined. I wanted Ritchie dead and Nico alive to suffer being locked up.

Palienhlfi Waiting

efore I was two blocks away from Ritchie's house, I saw police cars speeding down the street. I knew within minutes the street would be blocked off, and at least one murder investigation would be underway, hopefully two. Although I liked having the gun I took from Nico for protection, I had to get rid of it now since Butch's body was on it and probably a few more.

I drove across the bridge to the city and tossed the gun in the Hudson River. I then drove back to Brooklyn and went to the hotel where Inga was staying. By this time it was midnight, but I knew Inga stayed up late. When I knocked on her room door, she was up watching a movie and munching on snacks.

"Girl, I was surprised when you called saying you were on your way over. Nico gon' start trippin' if you don't go home soon."

"I know, so I'm not gonna stay that long. I just wanted to bring you something."

"What?"

"Take this," I said, handing her an envelope I had in my Louis Vuitton backpack. Her mouth dropped when she opened the envelope and saw all the money. "That's fifty thousand dollars to maintain yourself for a minute. Here are the keys to my apartment on Riverside Drive. I already paid the rent up for a year so you don't have to put no money towards that. Honestly, Inga, I don't want you to have Ritchie's baby for a lot of reasons, but if you decide to, this will give you a start."

"Damn, Precious, you some type of friend," Inga said, giving me a hug.

"Well, I better be going. You know how Nico can get."

I walked out of that hotel room not knowing when I would see Inga again. I didn't give Inga that money because I felt guilty about fucking with Ritchie. I just wanted her seed to be OK. I knew Inga would have that baby because she didn't understand the survival of the streets. Just because you come from the projects and see how hard it is to have something, it doesn't mean you comprehend the struggle. Inga never understood, but I hoped with the money I gave her and the crib, she would try to give her baby a better life than the one we had growing up.

I needed to get out of Brooklyn fast, so I took it over to Jersey. I'd only been there a couple of times, but I did remember it was nothing like New York. I checked in at the Hyatt Regency in Jersey City. When I got in my room, it had a banging view of the Hudson River, and I thought about Butch's murder weapon being somewhere in that big body of water.

I then got undressed, and since it was too late to watch the news, I took a hot shower and fell into a deep sleep. I didn't wake up until late in the afternoon, and the first thing I checked was my cell phone. I had no missed calls or messages. I opened my door to get the paper, but it was just the local Star Ledger. They definitely wouldn't have Brooklyn news in there. Nothing was on television but soaps, "Judge Mathis " and talk shows. Waiting to see what happened was driving me crazy. I ordered room service thinking that eating some food would minimize my anxiety. Two more hours passed, and I decided I needed some fresh air. I also needed to find a storage place and meet up with a guy I knew to get another gun. With all the drama I had going on, it was imperative for me to keep protection on me.

Finding a place to put all my stuff until I figured out my next move was first on my list. I located a Storage USA and went in to fill out the application. Once I got the spot, I purchased a lock and put the majority of my belongings in there, including my money. Last thing I wanted was to be caught with a million dollars, plus that shit felt like a ton of bricks.

Then I headed over to Harlem to meet up with this dude named Smokey. I used to fuck with one of his homeboys, but after he got locked up we still remained cool. Any weapon you needed, he could hook you up. I purchased another 9mm since I felt comfortable handling it, said my piece and broke out.

By the time I got back to my room, still no calls. I turned on the television to catch the six o'clock news not feeling optimistic I would find out anything, but then my patients paid off-

"This is Steve Douglass reporting live from Fort Greene. The house behind me," he turned, pointing his finger at what looked to be Ritchie's house, "Is the crime scene of a double homicide that occurred late last night in this upscale section of Brooklyn."

I held my breath, waiting to see who was the second person killed.

"The two male victims have yet to be identified, but the cops do have a suspect in custody. His name is Nico Carter, a purported notorious drug kingpin."

Not caring to hear anything else I switched off the television and flopped down on the bed. "Hallelujah," I echoed as I spread my entire body across the bed. I finally felt some sort of justice. Even so, I wouldn't be completely satisfied until Nico was doing life behind bars. In one night I was able to get rid of the three people I hated most in this world. But the punishment Nico would soon endure was the sweetest. If the system prevailed, he would spend the rest of his life locked up, knowing his fiancee was fucking his best friend behind his back, and believing that I was actually pregnant by Ritchie. That was enough to make any man want to get a hold of a bed sheet and hang himself inside his jail cell. Nico had too much pride to ever commit suicide, so he would have no choice but to spend his days and nights in confinement visualizing Ritchie twisting my back out and wondering if I screamed his name and called him daddy the way I did with him. Good for that motherfucker.

I was surprised that still nobody called me about Nico. I knew the streets had to be buzzing. The only person I really expected to call me was Inga. Boogie would never discuss that shit with me over the phone, so I decided to go see him first thing in the morning. He always got to work an hour before business officially opened. That night I went to bed early because tomorrow was going to be a long day.

When I arrived at Boogie's shop early in the morning, the door was locked. I knew he was the there because his red Deville was parked out front. I knocked for five minutes before he came to the door.

"What you doing here?" he questioned with a surprised look on his face. "I'd think you be at home waiting on a collect call from Nico."

"I haven't been staying there. I don't know exactly what went down, so I've been keeping on the low. That's why I came to see you, Boogie," I said, squeezing past him since he was blocking the door entrance.

"Sorry `bout that," Boogie said, realizing I damn near had to knock him over to get inside. "From what I hear, it's not looking good for Nico. Supposedly the cops caught him at the scene of the crime with the murder weapon."

"On the news I saw that the murders took place at Ritchie's house, but they didn't say who the victims were."

"You haven't spoken to Nico?"

"No, I told you I haven't been home. The night it happened, Nico and I got in an argument, so I stayed at a hotel. I just heard about the murders yesterday."

"One of the men was Butch and the other one was Ritchie."

"Ritchie," I shrieked as if in shock. "Are the streets saying why?" In my mind I was finding it difficult to act as if this was all new to me. I hoped that Boogie didn't pick up on it.

"Word has it that Ritchie was working with Butch to cross Nico on some underhanded shit. Nico got word of it and finished them both off. What's puzzling is how Nico was so sloppy with it. He got many niggas on his payroll that murder for him like this," Boogie said, snapping his two fingers together. "Why he did the shit himself I have no idea. One thing I do know, it's not looking good for Nico Carter."

"Has he had a bail hearing?"

"I doubt it, but even so, they not setting no bail for that man. The local, state and Federal government has had a hard-on for Nico for so many years. Never did they think they would get him for murdering his best friend. If they have their way, Nico Carter won't ever see the light of day."

"Thanks for the insight, Boogie, but I gotta be going. I need to stop by the house and pick up some things."

"You're taking this pretty well, Precious. You have to be worried about how you're going to maintain with Nico behind bars."

"Not really. Financially I'll be straight, especially if you help me out."

"What, you want your old job back?"

"That's funny, Boogie. You know I'm way past that."

"I thought so too, but how else can I help you?"

"I have some money stashed away, but I need to make it legitimate."

"Legitimate how?"

"You know, like a bank account. Maybe buy a house."

"A house? How much money we talking about?"

"A million dollars."

"How in the hell did you get hold of a million dollars? I don't want to know. The less I know the better. I'll help you, Precious, but it's gonna cost you."

"I know Boogie, this is business and you always want your cut."

"No doubt. I'll place a few phone calls. I should know something by tomorrow so stop back through in the evening around closing."

"Don't let anyone know you've seen me, Boogie, or about the million dollars."

"Who you trying to school? I know how to handle business."

I gave Boogie a slight smile because he was the original playa in all this.

"By the way, how did the cops catch Nico at Ritchie's house?"

"An anonymous tip. I guess somebody had it in for Nico."

"I guess so," I said, walking out the door.

I was relieved to know that Nico hadn't leaked to the streets why he really killed Ritchie. Or maybe he hadn't spoken to anybody to inform them. But Nico was so private, he rarely confided in anybody. Besides me, the closest person to him was Ritchie. He had no family. Right before I met him, his mother passed away. The only family he probably had right now was his attorney.

I decided that I would drive past our brownstone to see if the cops had blocked it off. I slowed down at the far end of the corner. There was no indication that the cops had shut it down, so I proceeded with caution moving forward.

Right then I noticed Tommy coming out the house, empty-handed. I wondered if he'd spoken to Nico and came to retrieve the million dollars, or did he take it upon himself to get his hands on the money because Nico was locked up. I debated whether or not to pop up on him, but if he did speak to Nico, there was no telling what he was told to do to me.

When Tommy got in his truck and drove off, I left my car on the corner and crossed the street to do my own investigating. As I got closer to the front stairs, I immediately noticed the basement window was busted open. I wondered why our state-of-the-art alarm system didn't go off when it happened, but I quickly remembered that when I bolted out the house that night, I forgot to turn it on. That motherfucker Tommy didn't come on Nico's orders, he came to rob him. The reason I knew this was because if Nico had spoken to Tommy directly, he would've let him know where he kept the spare key hidden so he didn't come in this neighborhood busting windows out and possibly drawing unnecessary attention to himself.

Without a second thought, I turned right back around and got in my car. Before I could finish my thoughts, my cell phone started ringing and it was Inga. "What's up, Inga?" I said calmly. I wasn't in the mood to speak to her, but I needed to hear as much street gossip as possible.

"Precious, did you hear about Ritchie?" Inga bawled. By the tears that were obviously flowing, she sounded as if she just heard about the murders.

"Yeah, you just hearing about it?"

"Hmm hun. That night when I saw you, the next morning I had to go to the hospital. I was having real bad cramps in my stomach and there was a little bit of blood. I just got out today."