URBAN: Chosen By A Kingpin (23 page)

Knocking on door 202, she rolled her eyes. She should have brought hand sanitizer. She listened for footsteps and suddenly the door opened. Lionel stood on the other side. He took a deep breath and then let her in. He gestured for her to sit down but she shook her head.

“Now, can you tell me what happened?”

Lionel hesitated. Seeing her now made him all the more nervous. He’d been hiding out in this ratty motel for a while. He sat on the edge of the bed while she stood over him with his arms crossed. She tapped her foot impatiently.

“What happened?” She asked. “Tell me what happened that night.”

It was the night that Lionel stormed out the luxury hotel, leaving behind Giselle after their night of passion. He didn’t want to leave but he was blinded by the feeling of revenge that was taking over him. The image of his best friend in a hospital bed was consuming him. It fueled him in a fury so much that it drove him to purchase a gun and go to the club looking for the people responsible.

“Excuse me.” Lionel walked in the club. He knocked on the counter and a man came out.

“How can I help you?” The man asked.

“I’m looking for someone that works here.”

“Sure. Are you looking for a DJ? Are you looking for a bartender? Who are you looking for specifically?”

“Those bottle service girls. I’m looking for one with big natural hair.” Lionel remembered Antwon’s description.

“Yes, I know who you’re talking about.” The man smiled but then he squinted. “What do you need her for?”

“I just want to talk to her.”

“A lot of men come here looking to talk to the bottle service girls or bartenders.” He sighed and started to move away.

“I just need to talk to her.”

“Listen man, if she didn’t give you her phone number, that means that she didn’t want to. Don’t take it hard. It’s almost part of their job to flirt with you.”

“Can I just get her name?”

“I’m sorry, no.”

“Well what time is she coming in?”

“I can’t tell you that either.”

Lionel huffed. He left the club and waited across the street outside. He thought if he just waited a little bit, that he would see her come in. He sat in the laundromat and looked out of the window. He saw some people go in and out of the club, but he didn’t spot the woman yet. He was just about to walk away when he saw a green four door car pull up to the club. The passenger door opened and she stepped out. He leaned and squinted. If only he could see who drove her, he’d probably be one step closer to the person that tried to kill his friend, but the car pulled away before he could get a good look.

He got out the laundromat and walked to the club. He watched her walk in and tried to walk in behind her, but when he saw four men rush into the club he stepped back into the laundromat. He then heard gunshots and screams. He rushed out and went towards the club. He saw one of the four men point a gun at the man he was talking to before and pulled the trigger. One of the other men started walking out with big garbage bags and ran around the corner. When he got around the corner, he threw the bags into the same green car earlier.

“Oh shit.” Lionel mumbled to himself. He noticed what was going on. The club was being robbed. He stepped back, hid behind a car, and kept watching. Two of the men came out and once again he saw the female from before.

“What the fuck!” She screamed. “Take me back to the strip club. I need to be there in fifteen minutes.” She shouted and they all got in the car and drove off. Minutes later sirens were heard and police were everywhere. He watched the cops tape off the scene, speak to witnesses, and let the EMTs do their work. When he saw the body bags come out, that’s when he left.

Lionel was roaming the streets of Brooklyn. He didn’t think about where he wanted to go. He was just still shocked about what he saw. He didn’t know what to do or what was happening. He looked up and noticed he was at the hospital where Antwon was. He went inside and signed the visitor form. The hospital staff moved Antwon. He wasn’t in a private room anymore, but he didn’t have another patient sharing the room with him, so he was still alone.

“Hey, what’s up?” Antwon's face lit up when he saw his friend. “I’m guessing you’re here to tell me how it went with Giselle.” He gave his friend a knowing look. “I know we boys, but there’s some stories that I just can’t hear.” He laughed. “Nah, nigga, I’m lying. I couldn’t even keep a straight face. So what’s up? She freaky? She suck the dick like a pro?”

“Come on son.” Lionel laughed. “I didn’t come here to talk about that.”

“Damn. I won’t lie, but I’m kind of disappointed.”

“Shut up man, I’m serious.” Lionel was stone-faced.

“What is it?” He was now humorless. “Give me the bad news.”

‘I wouldn’t say that it is bad news, but it isn’t good news either. I know you’re going to be mad, but I went looking for that bottle service girl.”

“Bottle service girl?” Antwon’s face screwed up. “What bottle service girl?” Then his eyes opened wide. “I thought I told you to let it go.”

“I couldn’t.”

“All you had to do was wait for me to come out, let me feel better, and then we can both go after them.”

“ I wasn’t thinking.”

“Clearly!” Antwon shouted.

Antwon sighed and sat up on the hospital bed. He shook his head. He was disappointed a little bit. He was the hothead one between the two of them. He Kind of relied on Lionel to always keep his cool. He wasn’t used to seeing Lionel like this.

“I get it.” He sighed looking over at Lionel. “I guess I would have done the same if it was you in this bed. So what happened? Did you find her?”

“I went back to the club and the owner wouldn’t give me any information.”

“So I guess you didn’t find her.”

“But I stayed and waited.” Lionel continued. He was speaking as if he was in a trance. He was physically in the hospital room, but it was as if he was back in front of the club. “And I saw a car pull up and she got out of the car.”

“So you saw her?”

“And then later a whole bunch of niggas ran into the club shooting.” Lionel nodded his head. “I saw one of them pull the trigger and then the girl came out with the dudes.”

“What?”

“And she screamed about going back to the strip club. Next thing I knew, they were all gone.”

Antwon fell silent. The information was racing around in his head. He kept going over what Lionel just told him. Lionel was quiet too, but he was still absorbing everything that was going on. He looked at Antwon and could see that he had a confused look on his face.

“What is it?” He asked Antwon.

“I don’t want to sound crazy, but I think that I heard this before.” He was rubbing his head. “Leo, I know I heard this before. Oh shit, this was on the news.” He nodded. “Yes I saw this on the news earlier. It said that the owner was killed and one of the robbers. Damn, do you know what I’m thinking?”

“What?”

“I think that bitch be setting niggas up. I think that night she saw that I had money, so she set niggas up to rob me. But I don’t get on why she chose me.”

“Well you are a flashy type dude. She probably saw you popping bottles and took it from there.”

“Yeah, I guess, but I don’t get it. A lot of niggas go to the club and pop bottles. A lot of niggas throw stacks and cash, why me?”

“I don’t know. Have you ever seen her before?”

“I see bad bitches almost every day, I don’t keep a list of all of them.” Antwon shrugged.

“I don’t know, it just seems fishy. I don’t get why she chose me.

“Maybe it was just the money.”

“From me being in the club? You know how niggas like to front that they have money when they really don’t. How she didn’t know that I wasn’t in there tossing up my rent money or child support money there?”

“You don’t have kids.”Lionel pointed out.

“I’m just saying, why me? Plenty of niggas throwin up money, buying bottles, going crazy and she picked me. Something ain’t right.”

Lionel shook his head. The more that Antwon talked about it, the more it made sense. Now that he thought about it, why was Antwon shot? He thought at first that it might have been random, but after seeing the club getting robbed, maybe it wasn’t so random after all.

“Too bad we don’t know who they are.” Antwon said out of nowhere.

“Why?”

“Because then we can follow them and find out why.”

“Aren’t you the one to let me go?”

“I know, but I kind of can’t help it now. After hearing all of this, I can’t get it out of my head. What if they set me up before I even got to the club? If only I knew where to find these niggas.”

“She said something about a strip club.”

“Strip club?” Antwon’s eyes then lit up. “Allure?”

“She didn’t say the name.”

“No, but I’ve been to Allure all the time. I damn near live there. That’s got to be the connection.” Antwon nodded. “Ok.”

“Ok, what?”

“I have an idea.” Antwon smiled. “But you need to get Giselle on it.”

Giselle uncrossed her arms. She shook her head but it didn’t matter how many times she did, because nothing was making sense. Lionel spoke slowly so it should have made sense but it still didn’t.

“What do you need from me?” She asked.

“You’re going to help us find the girl.”

“How am I going to do that?”

“You’re going to join the strip club.”

The loud rap music was distracting but it was exactly what Giselle needed. She needed to be brave right now. She saw a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She didn’t even look like herself. She had on makeup, a few tracks of weave in her hair, and sexy clothing. When Lionel suggested that she joined the strip club, she naively thought that she was going to be a bartender, but next thing she knew he was telling her that she had to become a stripper.

“A stripper? Why can’t I be a bartender? Or why can’t I be a janitor? Why is it that I have to be a stripper?” She asked as they walked to the hair salon.

“Because Antwon damn near lives in that strip club, he sees how the strippers treat the bartenders. It’ll be easier for you to become her friend if she thinks that you are a fellow stripper or whatever.”

“And then what?”

“We’ll take one thing at a time, but for now you have to look the part.”

“Is that why you bought all those sexy outfits? Is that why you want me to get my hair and makeup done?”

“Baby, you know that you’re beautiful, but strip clubs aren’t looking for that, they are looking for sexy.”

“So, I’m not sexy?”

“You know that you are, but stripper sexy is a different thing.” Giselle rolled her eyes when she heard him say that. “I need you Giselle.”

“Then after this, what happens?”

“I told you, we’ll get to that.”

“No, I mean after everything, will you do what I suggested before? Can we just live a normal life outside of New York City?”

“Let’s just concentrate on this.” He held her face. “I want to be with you.”

“I know you do, but can we leave this all behind?”

He didn’t answer but instead opened the door of the salon. He pulled up some pictures from his mobile smart phone for the workers to do. He had a specific look in mind. Giselle closed her eyes for most of the process. When she took peeks here and there, she could see the long wavy hair in her head, the arching of her eyebrows, and the lipstick being placed on her lips. Even later that day when Lionel told her to wear the tight jumpsuit, she didn’t look at herself, but now seeing her reflection in the doors, she was shocked. She looked nothing like herself. Usually something like this scared her, but she thought if she looked different she might as well act differently as well.

She walked through the front door and the bartender in the tight outfit threw her off. She started to back away, but when she turned around she bumped right into Lionel. He just gave her a comforting smile. He led her inside and went straight to the bar. She sat two seats away from Lionel. The bartender was pretty busy. Her short shorts were a bit distracting and when she moved her butt shook. She tried not to stare but she couldn’t help it.

“Hey darling.” The bartender smiled at her. She was 5’5, caramel skin, with a short hair bob haircut. She had three piercings on each ear and a tongue ring.

“Hi.” Giselle looked away.

“What can I get for you?” She asked wiping down the counter.

“I don’t know.” Giselle had never had an alcoholic drink before. She wasn’t even 18, but the way she looked right now, she understood why she wasn’t even carded. She glimpsed over at Lionel. He had a smirk on his face. He knew what she was doing.

“Well do you have any favorites?”

“Just give me something sweet.”

“I got just the thing.” The bartender winked.

Giselle turned around and looked at the strippers. They were practically naked. The ladies were hopping on and off the pole, gripping as they climbed, and dancing all at the same time. Men were throwing money at them, and some were putting some in their cleavage or in their thongs. How was she suppose to do this? She kept tapping her fingers against the counter. She had to keep reminding herself to be brave.

“Okay, here it is.” The bartender put down a pink elixir in front of Giselle. “You asked for something sweet and this is my own personal favorite.” She smiled and her eyes twinkled.

“What is it?”

“You have to taste it. I refuse to give up the name.” The bartender’s bubbly personality put Giselle at ease.

“Ok.” She sipped the drink and her eyes opened wide. It was so sweet and delicious. She’d never tasted anything as good before. She closed her eyes and it brought her back to her home in North Carolina. It reminded her of the last party her parents threw.

Her mother and father rarely left the house, but they used to throw these extravagant parties. They would invite old friends, new friends, coworkers, neighbors, just everyone that they could think of. It would be a black tie affair and Giselle would watch people come in dressed like they were going to the Oscars. She would always have to stay upstairs and watch them, but at the last party her father allowed her to come downstairs.