Thugs And The Women Who Love Them (4 page)

L
ittle did she know that Snake was already on it. He picked up his cellular phone and dialed his boy, who ran the Black Studies Department at Rutgers.

“Rutgers University. How may I direct your call?”

“Buck Davis, please.”

Snake leaned back in the driver's seat. While he waited, on hold, he cruised the hood to see what his whores were doing. He spotted Jade, his Asian ho. He swerved around the corner and beeped the horn. Jade spotted her daddy's car and ran toward it.

“Hey, Daddy!” she said in her Asian accent. “Here's $320.00.”

She handed Snake the balled up cash and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. When Jade puckered her lips, he hit her in the mouth with his cell phone. He bashed her once, and then again. The blood gushed from her mouth. She let out a groan. Tears welled up in her eyes. She knew not to say a word, because Snake was treacherous. Her trembling fingers reached into her purse and pulled out a handkerchief.

Snake screamed, “Bitch! What the fuck am I supposed to do with $320.00?” He threw the money back at her.

No, this nigga didn't,
she thought to herself. When she bent down to pick it up, he opened the door and banged her in the head, knocking her to the ground. He glanced at the cell phone and saw that he had disconnected himself from Rutgers. This made him even madder.

“Get your little ass back out there!” he yelled as he sped off. “Damn bitches!”

As he stopped for a red light, the phone rang. Snake hit the answer button.

“What up, dawg!” It was Buck.

“How'd you know I called you?”

“I got fucking ESP, man. What you want?”

Buck and Snake had grown up together. They had been friends for almost twenty years, and though they had chosen separate paths, they always looked out for each other.

“I need a favor,” Snake said. “I need you to get me a number.”

“Don't you be recruiting our good, old-fashioned college girls for your stable,” Buck joked.

“Man, I ain't recruiting nobody. This is some other business.”

“Yeah, right. Then why you ain't got the number?” They both started laughing.

“Look, man, her name is Angel Smith.”

“We got a lot of Smiths. Do you know how common that name is?”

“C'mon, man. You only got one Angel Smith who is a law student and drives a Honda Civic. I need a phone number and address.”

“All right, calm down. I'll see what I can do.” Buck hung up the phone.

Snake pulled over when he got to the Quality Inn. This was one of the joints where his whores were always working. The establishment gave Snake and his crew no problems. He parked the car and went into the lobby.

“Good evening, Mr. Hightower,” the clerk greeted him.

Snake ignored him and headed for the double doors that led to the bar. Before he opened the glass doors, he stood and watched his hardest-working ho, Big Nell, talking to a john. While she talked and laughed with the john she was going through all of his pockets. The drunk fool didn't even notice. Snake watched as she lifted a big wad of cash from the pocket inside his jacket. Impressed by Nell's work, Snake opened the door and went to the back table, near the bathrooms.

Big Nell looked to be about thirty-two years old, but was only twenty-six. She was dark as a Hershey bar, looked Cuban, and the white johns loved every inch of her. She was their chocolate fantasy.

When Big Nell spotted Snake in the back she told the john she'd get back with him later. The john was feeling all over Big Nell's tits and ass.

“I'll catch you later, baby,” she said as she squeezed his little prick.

“I can't wait, my chocolate sunflower,” said the little white man. “I'll give you an extra fifty dollars if you do me right now.”

Big Nell looked over at Snake sitting in the corner. She couldn't tell what mood he was in. She grabbed the man by the hand and pulled him toward the back corner, opposite Snake. The white john could hardly contain himself. He hurriedly pulled down his pants and briefs in one quick movement. His little pecker was already hard, and he was breathing even harder. Nell got down on her knees, put a rubber on him and sucked it for less than a minute before it went limp. When she stood up, she had his wallet in her hand. She gave it to him and he handed her $150.00.

“I'll catch you next time, my big white stallion,” she said to the satisfied customer. She left him standing there with his butt showing.

“Hey, Daddy.” She grinned as she slid next to Snake in the booth. “I've been trying to call you all afternoon.”

As she was talking, she was pulling money rolls out of her panties, her bra, and her purse.

Snake counted the rolls of money. It came out to $1,100.00.

“I know you got more than this.”

“That's it for now, Daddy. I'll have more later on.”

Snake punched her in the face.

“Get the fuck up!” He grabbed her by the hair.

“I'ma get more, Daddy,” she pleaded. “I swear.”

Snake dragged her into the bathroom. He thought she must've kept the roll of money that he saw her lift from that john. But she didn't. Big Nell had given him every dollar she had on her. Snake started banging her head against the toilet. Big Nell was trying to loosen his grip off her hair. That was hurting more than the head banging. She started digging her nails into his hands. “Bitch, you must be crazy!” He let her hair go and started to kick her. His foot was landing blows against her stomach, her tits, her head and face. When she stopped screaming, he stopped kicking her. As Big Nell lay on the floor crying, he washed his hands, fixed his clothes and left the bathroom.

As he walked past the patrons, one drunk dude yelled, “Handle your business, gorilla pimp!” Snake left the lobby as quietly and smoothly as he came in. He jumped into his Benz and pulled off.

A
s Snake got comfortable in the leather seat of his Benz, he felt like he needed a drink. He decided to relax himself by reminiscing about his early days with Angel. Thoughts of Angel always put him at ease.

After he got her number and address from his boy Buck, he started closing in. In his opinion, all women were bitches and whores, made to pimp. Angel, though, appeared to be a little different. He had to check himself for thinking like that, because he knew he couldn't get soft. You can't play the game and win, being soft. Still, he knew he had to have this woman.

Once he had her address, Snake had sent Angel a dozen red roses and a box of Godiva chocolates. On the card he had written, “You knew I would find you. Will pick you up at 8:00.” Angel had told him about what happened when she got the roses and chocolates, and the story still made him smile. She'd kept asking the delivery guy, “Are you sure you have the right Angel Smith?” After he convinced her, “Yes, ma'am. I'm sure,” she couldn't stop blushing. She breathed deeply to inhale the scent of the fresh roses.
This nigga thinks he is real smooth,
she thought. As she stood there daydreaming and smelling the roses, she forgot her three homegirls were in the room.

Smack! Smack!
Roz clapped her hands.

“Earth to Angel! Earth to Angel!” Her friends laughed.

Angel turned around and smiled at her homies. Kyra jumped up and snatched the card out of Angel's hand and Jaz grabbed the chocolates. Angel's nose was still buried in the roses.

“You knew I would find you,” said Kyra in her best imitation of a man's voice.

“What's the dilio, ho?” asked Jaz.

Angel kept grinning as she looked around the living room at the girls. They had already opened her box of chocolates and ate half the box.

“Y'all are so greedy!”

“Sorry. I'm PMS-ing.” Kyra groaned.

“Forget that. What's his name, where does he work, and what kind of whip he got?” asked Roz in one breath.

“Why didn't you tell us about this one?” Jaz asked.

“You tryin' to keep him all for yourself?” asked Roz.

They all laughed. Angel told them about how she met Snake at the Steak Pub a few days ago. She told them how he picked up her books, paid for her meal, the Armani suit, the snakeskin shoes, and the Armani cologne. She saved the Rolex, Benz, and how he blocked her in the parking lot for last.

“Daaang!” said Kyra.

“What does he do?” asked Jaz.

“I'm not sure,” Angel answered.

“What do he want with your skinny ass?” Roz asked.

“Shut up and don't be hatin' on a sister!” Angel joked.

“Well, we're just gonna have to wait here until he comes,” Jaz and Roz said at the same time.

“I don't think so,” said Angel. “I am escorting y'all to the door right now.”

Angel started waving both arms toward the door. They all got the hint and stood up reluctantly, grumbling. Angel tried not to laugh at them. As they walked toward the front door, the girls said 'bye to Ms. Smith and hugged Angel.

“Have a good time. And be careful,” Kyra said.

“I will. Love y'all.” Angel blew them a kiss and closed the front door.

She headed toward her bedroom to get ready for a shower. It was almost 6:45. She turned on the hot water to steam up the bathroom. She wiped the steam off the bathroom mirror and started plucking her eyebrows, pondering what to wear. Her thoughts were running wild about how this evening would go. As she stepped into the hot, steamy shower she imagined him asking for some. If he did, she would try her best to decline, even though she was horny as hell. She had kept her legs closed for almost seven and a half months. Before she turned off the hot steam, she put moisturizer all over her body. She turned off the water, grabbed her towel and headed into her bedroom.

When she opened the door, her sister Carmen and her best friend Lakiyah were sitting on her bed. They both looked young and innocent.

“Where are you going?” they asked in a chorus.

“Why you want to know?”

“Because we want to go,” said Carmen.

“Well, you can't. And now, please leave.”

Angel kissed both of the girls on the cheek and pushed them out of the bedroom. She loved her little sister, and was very proud of both of them. Both of the girls were straight-A students.

Once Angel shut the door, the girls knocked on it.

“What, now?”

Lakiyah peeked in and asked, “Can you take us to the mall tomorrow?”

“We'll see. Now, please shut the door.”

Angel picked up the remote to her CD player and hit the play button. Aaliyah's
One in a Million
started playing. She hummed along as she thumbed through her wardrobe.
Damn! He could've at least mentioned where he was taking me,
she thought.

“Ooooh!” she squealed. “This is it!”

She had spotted the ideal outfit: her long-sleeve, turtleneck jumpsuit by Ralph Lauren. It had an open front slit, from neck to waist, that would tease any eye with a peek of her voluptuous body. She pulled out her black, T-strap slingbacks by Isaac Mizrahi and her beaded, black Gucci bag. Both were brand-new, still in their boxes. Thank God for her check hustle. She laid the expensive items across her bed as she reminded herself she needed to stop her scamming before she got busted. After she dusted on a little makeup she slid into her jumpsuit.

“Damn, I look good!” she said as she twirled around. She put on her Stephen Dweck earrings, slipped on her shoes, and since she felt cocky, she dabbed on Isabella Rossellini's Manifesto fragrance. Her hair was already in a French roll. All she had to do was bump the bangs. She stood up, looked herself over once more, and blew a kiss to her reflection in the mirror. She turned off the CD player when she heard the buzz of the doorbell and the sound of the girls running to the door. Angel grabbed her Gucci bag and headed for the living room.

Julia, of course, was sitting at her desk doing paperwork. She always brought her work home with her. She noticed her daughter from the corner of her eye, dressed from head to toe. She smelled her perfume before she even came into the living room.

“Why the hell are you wearing so much perfume?”

“I only have on a dab,” Angel answered as she bent down and kissed her mom on the cheek.

“Where are we going tonight, and with whom?” Julia asked her daughter.

“I'm not sure.”

“Not sure?” Julia turned around and looked at Angel.

“And why is your jumpsuit not zipped up?”

“Ma, this is how it's made.”

“How are you going out with a man you don't even know?”

“Mooom,” she whined. “He's at the door now. And I do know him.”

Carmen and Lakiyah were standing at the door, bombarding Snake with questions.

“Excuse me, ladies.” Angel pushed her way between them.

“Come in, Keenan.”

She got a whiff of his Armani cologne and he looked mighty GQ-smooth to her. He was wearing a black, V-necked silk sweater and cashmere trousers. Of course, he topped it off with black snakeskin shoes.

“This is my mother, Julia Smith. Mom, this is Keenan Hightower.”

“How do you do, ma'am?” He handed Julia a small bouquet of flowers. When she looked up, Julia's heart almost dropped to her feet.

“Aren't you Cleve's son? And you have three uncles, Dino, Stephen, and Monk?” she shot at him.

“Yes, ma'am,” he answered with a little hesitancy.

“Well, I grew up with all of them.” Julia raised her eyebrows. Her words obviously had a hidden meaning, but Angel had no idea what her mother meant. “How did you meet my daughter?”

“I met her during the lunch hour at the Steak Pub. She dropped all of her books and I helped her pick them up.”

“Where do you work?”

“I have a management business. Mostly local talent but it pays the bills.”

“Where are you taking my daughter?”

“I have tickets to see Carl Thomas, and I'll be sure to have her home at a respectable hour.”

Angel was getting antsy. She grabbed Snake's hand and pulled him toward the door.

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Smith,” he managed to say before Angel closed the door behind them. Julia didn't bother to answer.

“She's acting like this is my first date,” Angel said as they walked to the elevator. “I haven't seen her this nervous over a date since I was in high school. And you think she was bad, you just missed my girlfriends. I don't know what's up with everyone.”

“It's probably because all of those men she mentioned are my uncles, and they're pimps,” Snake answered directly, without hesitation.

“Pimps!” Angel shrieked. “So you're trying to say that you come from a long line of pimps?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Seriously. What do you do?”

“I'm a pimp by blood, not relation.” Snake sang Jay-Z's song.

Angel started laughing.

“If they're your uncles, then you are related. Do you plan on pimping me?” she joked.

“We'll see.” Snake grinned.

“Nigga, you got me twisted.” She thought he was still joking.

That night was off the hook. Carl Thomas was the bomb. The restaurant was the bomb. The whole atmosphere couldn't have been more perfect. They vibed very well. Snake loved the fact that Angel had a good head on her shoulders. Angel was even more impressed with him.

After that perfect night, the two were inseparable, even after Angel discovered that Snake really was a pimp, and a cold one at that. Snake kept that side of his life away from Angel. At least most of the time.

One night, Angel watched in horror as he beat his white whore, who everyone called Ice. After that, Angel didn't speak to Snake for almost two weeks. Then on another occasion she saw him beat Big Nell. He broke her jawbone and fractured her rib cage. Once again, she didn't speak to him for several weeks. Each time, Snake would explain to her that, that was the nature of the business, then he'd romance her to death. She always gave in. She couldn't help herself. She was crazy about Snake. He fulfilled all her needs and wants. He paid the rent and looked after the whole family. He even paid her college tuition. Not to mention that the sex was better than any she had ever had. Most importantly, he treated her like a queen and encouraged her to fulfill her dreams.

Julia finally had to accept Snake as a part of their lives. After enough time had passed, she trusted that Snake was not going to turn her daughter out. Whether it was because her daughter was strong-willed or because Snake truly cared about her didn't really matter to Julia. As long as her daughter stayed in law school where she belonged.

And to that end, Julia couldn't deny it was nice having Snake around to help put Angel through school. After so many difficult years, it was good to get some financial help. As long as she didn't think about where the money came from, she was happy to accept Snake's assistance.

It wasn't until everyone was used to Snake's money that he and Angel started beating on each other. Julia hated that they fought so much, but she never pushed the issue with her daughter. The one time she expressed concern, Angel told her not to worry. She could handle her own business. Julia supposed that after so many years in the projects, she was probably right. Angel could handle herself. And after such a long, hard road, Julia was tired. Tired of struggling to stay above water with all the bills. Tired of worrying so much about her remaining children. If Snake could help out with the bills and Angel didn't mind their fights, then Julia was content to sit at her desk and work around the confusion. Life had made Julia numb.

It was in this atmosphere that Angel, the promising law student, became the steady girl of a vicious pimp.