Still The Baddest Bitch Read online

  “He’s been doing an excellent job at keeping himself underground for the last few years. We have to come up with a plan to bring him out of hiding. Besides Tori, he must have some help, because he’s making moves even after her death.”

  “He sure has. Most recently at my parent’s wedding reception.”

  “You didn’t tell me something went down at your parent’s wedding,” Dale said, full of concern.

  “Everybody is fine. I was going to tell you today, over lunch.”

  “So, what happened?” Emory questioned.

  “After the reception, when everybody was waiting for their cars to leave, a minivan drove up and just started shooting, but nobody got shot. It was almost as if the shooter was fuckin’ wit’ us.”

  “You mean like sending a message that he could get to you.”

  “Exactly. After what you just told me, I’ll put my money on Arnez being behind the shit.”

  “Still stirring the pot. Shit done cooled down lately, probably tryna get havoc to breakout again.”

  “Or maybe, Arnez has already plotted on making it happen. Is anything coming up that would be a perfect opportunity for him to strike again?” Dale inquired.

  “Not for my family.” As I was saying that, I felt my phone vibrate. It was a text from Amir, saying he needed to see me.

  “Something’s up, we have to figure it out before it blows up in our faces.”

  “Listen, I have to go. I’ll see you later on tonight, baby.”

  “You have to leave already…where are you going?”

  “I told my mother I would meet with this realtor chick while she was gone. She just texted me. I totally forgot and I’m running late,” I said, giving Dale a brief kiss.

  “Cool, I’ll see you later on, but call me if you need me.”

  “You do the same and Emory, thanks for the information about Arnez. I truly appreciate it,” I said, as I waved bye.

  “No problem,” Emory smiled, as if pleased with himself.

  * * *

  On my way to meet Amir, I focused on my one and only goal, to kill Maya. She was the weakest link. Maya was the one filtering all the information to Arnez. That’s how he was able to know where my parent’s wedding was being held, even though it had been kept hush-hush. If I got rid of Maya once and for all, I knew that would at least slow Arnez down, until we could take him out permanently.

  Right when I was pulling up in front of Amir’s building, I saw that Nico was calling me. “Hey daddy. I can’t believe you found time to call me on your honeymoon,” I laughed.

  “Your mother and I are actually on the jet right now, headed home.”

  “What? You all were supposed to be gone for ten days. What happened?” There was a long silence before Nico finally spoke.

  “There were some complications, so we had to cut our trip short. I’ll explain once we get back.”

  “Is my mom okay?”

  “Yes. I just wanted to let you know we’re on our way back. I’ll call you once we land.” I could tell my dad was rushing me off the phone, because I didn’t even have a chance to say bye before he hung up. I couldn’t help but wonder what happened that made them cut their honeymoon so short. Nico said my mother was fine, but his voice was telling me a different story, which had me concerned.

  I decided I needed to press the speed button on this Maya situation. I wanted her dead before my mother returned. I didn’t need any holdups. To be sure nothing stopped me from accomplishing my goal, Maya would die today.

  “I’m glad you were able to get here so quickly,” Amir said, when he opened his apartment door.

  “I assumed it was important. Did you find out some additional information about Arnez?”

  “Yep. It’s worse than I thought.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Arnez Douglass is responsible for my mother’s death and my grandmother. Two women that I never met in my life, but that I love very much.”

  “Are you serious? What type of sicko is he and how did you find out?”

  “When I mentioned his name to my dad, regarding Maya, he filled me in on his entire history with Arnez. Do you know Renny was the one that had supposedly killed him?”

  “You’re talking about your Aunt Nichellle’s husband, Renny?”

  “Yes. Arnez is his cousin. There is so much bad blood. I can’t believe Maya has aligned herself with him.”

  “Can you imagine all the damage those two psychopaths can do? Hell, they’ve already started. We need to get rid of them ASAP, starting with Maya.”

  “I agree, but my father wants to deal with it, personally. He promised my mother’s father everyone that was responsible for her death had been eliminated. He was wrong and he’s determined to make it right. This is way above our heads.”

  “Says who? Your father…my father? It was because of my hunch and you following through on it that led us to this pertinent information. Now that we got the goods, we’re supposed to fall back and let the grown folks handle it? Fuck that, we grown too.”

  “Aaliyah, trust me. Knowing that this Arnez nigga had something to do with my mother’s death, I want to kill him my damn self, but my father’s right. That man is dangerous and he needs to be handled properly. I don’t want to fuck it up and neither should you.”

  “I have no intentions of fuckin’ anything up.”

  “Good, because I wasn’t supposed to tell you any of this, but I thought you should know. Plus, keeping this information to myself was fuckin’ my head up.”

  “Thanks for sharing. I know finding that out about your mother and grandmother had to be difficult for you.”

  “Although my father keeps them hidden away, because he doesn’t like the reminder, I’ve seen so many pictures of my mother.”

  “I remembered a long time ago, you showed me a few. She was so beautiful. You have her eyes and lips.”

  “I never met her, but I miss her so much. My father has been the best dad, but I can’t help but wonder how my life would’ve been if I had grown up with my mother around, too.”

  “That’s only natural,” I said, sitting down next to Amir, “but I’m starting to learn that you can’t dwell on things you have no control over. If you do, it’ll drive you crazy. Try to put your energy on the things you can change.”

  “Am I hearing words of wisdom from you?” Amir grinned.

  “Maybe.”

  “You wear maturity well.”

  “A week from now, remember you said that when you’re ready to curse me out, but don’t worry if you forget, I’ll remind…” before I finished my sentence, Amir leaned in and his tongue was down my throat.

  “Amir, what are doing and what about Latreese?” I gasped, pushing him away, “and let’s not forget, I’m also taken.”

  “I’m sorry, Aaliyah…no I’m not.”

  “Excuse me.”

  “I’ve wanted to do that for months, now.”

  “Our time has passed. We’ve both moved on, well, at least I have.”

  “So, you’re happy with Dale.”

  “You almost seem like you’re in pain saying his name, but yes, very happy. He gets me…you never did.”

  “That’s not true. I do get you, better than you think. That’s why…”

  “I hate to cut you off, but I really have to go,” I said looking down at my watch, realizing I had to beat it if I wanted to make sure I pulled off my last minute plan for Maya. “Maybe we can continue this conversation another time.”

  “Where are you rushing off to?”

  “I have some things to take care of, before my mom gets back.”

  “Your mom. She’s on her honeymoon with your dad. They won’t be back for awhile.”

  “Not anymore. My dad called when I was on my way over here. They’re on the plane, headed back as we speak.”
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  “Why did they cut their trip short?”

  “I have no clue, but the point is they did. I need to get some things done before they return.”

  “Things like what?”

  “Just things and why are you questioning me?”

  “Because like I just said, I get you.”

  “And…”

  “And, I get the feeling you’re up to some bullshit.”

  “You’re wrong, but I don’t have time to debate with you. I have to go,” I said, grabbing my purse. “Although romance ain’t in the cards for us, I still got love for you. So, if you ever want to talk about your mother or anything else that’s bothering you, I’m here,” I said, before kissing Amir on the cheek.

  “You’re such a con artist,” I heard Amir say, before I slammed the door behind me.

  I couldn’t get out of Amir’s apartment and into my car fast enough. I was heading straight to Maya’s place. I unlocked a secret compartment in my vehicle for the two things I needed: my gun and the key to Maya’s crib. A long time ago, without his knowledge of course, I took the key from my grandfather and made a copy. I returned it before he even realized it was missing. I knew one day, I would need this key and that day had finally come.

  I parked my car around the corner and called Maya’s house, to make sure she wasn’t home yet. Last week, my grandfather had invited me to some event him and Maya were attending, but I politely turned him down, for obvious reasons. I didn’t know the exact time it was over, but from what I remembered my grandfather telling me, the event was still going on. I hoped I was early, so I could be lying in wait for Maya’s ass.

  Luckily, Maya lived in a brownstone, so there wasn’t a doorman who could identify me entering her building. When I stepped inside, I heard what sounded like a television on coming from the back. I proceeded with caution, with my weapon drawn, ready to bust off, if I had to. As I got closer to the bedroom where the sounds were coming from, I stood with my back up against the wall, before quickly turning towards the door entrance. With my finger on the trigger and gun aimed straight ahead, I was ready to start shooting, but nobody was there. I was tempted to cut the television off, so I could hear better, but opted against it. Instead, I decided to head back towards the foyer and as I got closer, I heard the front door opening.

  “Death awaits you, Maya,” I whispered, ducking into the hallway restroom. The sounds of high heels clicking on the hardwood floor let me know when Maya was getting closer. The moment I heard her passing by, I stepped out, putting the tip of the gun to the back of her head.

  “What the hell!” Maya screamed out, before her body jolted.

  “It’s time for you to die and I have the pleasure of pulling the trigger,” I smiled, as my finger began itching, ready to have Maya’s brain splatter decorate the taupe colored walls.

  “If it isn’t the lovely Aaliyah. If you pull that trigger, you better be prepared to die, too,” I heard an unknown male voice say to me, as the cold, metal steel sunk into the back of my head.

  “Fuck,” I mumbled under my breath.

  “What’s it gonna be…are you gonna live or are you ready to die?”

  The Countdown Begins…One More Book In The Series, Until

  Bitch The Final Chapter!!

  Prologue

  “Push! Push!” the doctor directed Kim, as he held the top of the baby’s head, hoping this would be the final push that would bring a new life into the world.

  The hospital’s delivery room was packed with both Kim and Drake’s family, and although the large crowd irritated Drake, he still managed to video record the birth of his son. After four hours of labor, Kim gave birth to a 6.5-pound baby boy, who they already named Derrick Jamal Henson Jr. Drake couldn’t help but to shed a few tears of joy, at the new addition to his family, but the harsh reality of his son’s safety quickly replaced his joy with anger.

  Drake was nobody’s angel and beyond his light brown eyes and charming smile, he was one of the most feared men in the City of Philadelphia, due to his street cred. He put a lot of work in on the blocks of South Philly, where he grew up. He mainly pushed drugs and gambled, but from time to time he’d place well-known dealers into the trunk of his car and hold them for ransom, according to how much that person was worth.

  “I need everybody to leave the room for awhile.” Drake told the people in the hospital room, wanting to share a private moment alone with Kim and his son.

  The families took a few minutes saying their goodbyes, before leaving. Kim and Drake sat alone in the room, rejoicing over the birth of baby Derrick. The only interruption was doctors coming in and out of the room, to check up on the baby, mainly because they were a little concerned about his breathing. The doctor informed Drake that he would run a few more tests, to make sure the baby would be fine.

  “So, what are you going to do?” Kim questioned Drake, while he was cradling the baby.

  “Do about what?” he shot back, without lifting his head up. Drake knew what Kim was alluding to, but he had no interest in discussing it. Once Kim became pregnant, Drake agreed to leave the street life alone, if not completely then significantly cutting back, after their baby was born. They both feared if he didn’t stop living that street life, he would land in the box. Drake felt he and jail were like night and day: they could never be together.

  “You know what I’m talking about, Drake. Don’t play stupid with me,” Kim said, poking him in his head with her forefinger.

  He smiled. “I gave you my word I was out of the game when you had our baby. Unless my eyes are deceiving me, I think what I’m holding in my arms is our son. Just give me a couple days to clean up the streets and then we can sit down and come up with a plan on how to invest the money we got.”

  Cleaning up the streets meant selling all the drugs he had and collecting the paper owed to him from his workers and guys he fronted weight to. All together there was about 100-k due, not to mention the fact he had to appoint someone to take over his bread winning crack houses and street corners that made him millions of dollars.

  Drake’s thoughts came to a halt when his phone started to ring. Sending the call straight to voicemail didn’t help any, because it rang again. Right when he reached to turn the phone off, he noticed it was Peaches calling. If it were anybody else, he probably would’ve declined, but Peaches wasn’t just anybody.

  “Yo,” he answered, shifting the baby to his other arm, while trying to avoid Kim’s eyes cutting over at him.

  “He knows! He knows everything!” Peaches yelled, with terror in her voice.

  Peaches wasn’t getting good reception out in the woods, where Villain had left her for dead, so the words Drake was hearing were broken up. All he understood was, “Villain knows!” That was enough to get his heart racing. His heart wasn’t racing out of fear, but rather excitement.

  In many ways, Villain and Drake were cut from the same cloth. They even both shared tattoos of several teardrops under their eyes. It seemed like gunplay was the only thing that turned Drake on—besides fucking—and when he could feel it in the air, murder was the only thing on his mind.

  Drake hung up the phone and tried to call Peaches back, to see if he could get better reception, but her phone went straight to voicemail. Damn! He thought to himself as he tried to call her back repeatedly and block out Kim’s voice as she steadily asked him if everything was alright.

  “Drake, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I gotta go. I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” he said, handing Kim their son.

  “How sweet! There’s nothing like family!” said a voice coming from the direction of the door.

  Not yet lifting his head up from his son to see who had entered the room, at first Drake thought it was a doctor, but once the sound of the familiar voice kicked in, Drake’s heart began beating at an even more rapid pace. He turned to see Villain standing in the doorway, ch
ewing on a straw and clutching what appeared to be a gun at his waist. Drake’s first instinct was to reach for his own weapon, but remembering that he left it in the car made his insides burn. Surely, if he had his gun on him, there would have been a showdown right there in the hospital.

  “Can I come in?” Villain asked, in an arrogant tone, as he made his way over to the visitors’ chairs. “Let me start off by saying congratulations on having a bastard child.”

  Villain’s remarks made Drake’s jaw flutter continuously from fury. Sensing shit was about to go left, Kim attempted to get out of the bed with her baby to leave the room, but before her feet could hit the floor, Villain pulled out a .50 Caliber Desert Eagle and placed it on his lap. The gun was so enormous that Drake could damn near read off the serial number on the slide. Kim looked at the nurse’s button and was tempted to press it.

  “Push the button and I’ll kill all three of y’all. Scream, and I’ma kill all three of y’all. Bitch,” Villian paused, making sure the words sunk in. “if you even blink the wrong way, I’ma kill all three of y’all.”

  “What the fuck you want?” Drake asked, still trying to be firm in his speech.

  “You know, at first, I thought about getting my money back and then killin’ you, for setting my brother up wit’ those bitches you got working for you. But on my way here I just said, ‘Fuck the money!’ I just wanna kill the nigga.”

  Deep down inside, Drake wanted to ask for his life to be spared, but his pride wouldn’t allow it. Not even the fact that his newborn son was in the room could make Drake beg to stay alive, which made Villain more eager to lullaby his ass into a permanent sleep.

  Villain wanted to see the fear in his eyes before he pulled the trigger, but Drake was a G, and was bound to play that role ‘til he kissed death.

  Prologue

  “I should’ve known,” Semaj said, walking into the empty ballroom where the Tent meeting was about to take place.

  She looked out of the door that led to the lobby and saw people rushing for the front entrance. The sounds of women screaming and men yelling for someone to call 911 let Semaj know that the bodies in the elevator were found. All the chaos prompted the other members to get up and leave, not wanting to be around when the police showed up.