A Hustler's Wife Read online

  The next night, he gave her a note that promised that when they returned home he'd give her $20,000 towards her start-up fees for her business. The final night he gave her a voucher to go to New York for the next week. Along with the voucher were gift certificates for Tiffany's, Sak's Fifth Avenue, Lord and Taylors and Bendells. He'd also arranged for Cara to go with her. He provided them both spa packages at the Ritz Meridian, tickets for a Broadway play and a helicopter ride over all five Boroughs.

  When Yarni and Bengee returned from their trip, Yarni began to think of what she could possibly convert that building into.

  She considered making it into a restaurant for her mother, but her mother's catering business was going quite well with just doing the elite parties for city officials and prominent businesses in town. She weighed the options of opening a beauty salon verses a nail salon. Then she decided she didn't want the headache of dealing with all of the females, but at the same time she knew that there was money to be made in a salon. She then came up with the perfect ideal thing. "A tanning salon"!!!!

  She mapped the whole thing out from start to finish. Yarni's first concern was that, it had to be a tranquil environment. She had the walls painted with palm trees to give it a beach look and feel. She purchased neon color lamp palm trees. Each room was individually painted as well. She started out with four tanning beds. She had a Jacuzzi installed in the back. She sold beach towels, tanning lotions and supplies. She named it Sunshine's.

  She brought a massage table, hired a massage therapist, and turned one of the back rooms into a massage parlor. She also sold top of the line massage oils and bathing suits for all size women. She recruited a Swedish woman to work there who spe-cialized in facials and body waxing. This drew all origins of women to her salon.

  Bengee was set up with a new Columbian heroine connection. He was generous with any monies she needed to enhance the salon. Bengee was impressed with what Yarni had done with the building and money that he'd given her. Gloria was proud of Yarni, but very disappointed that Yarni had not attempted to check into anything pertaining to school. The truth of the matter was, that Yarni was so disillusioned about not finishing college that she blocked any thoughts about college totally out of her mind. Yarni took photos of every room in the salon and sent them to Des. Des was exhilarated about Yarni's accomplishment; at the same time, his constant pressure for Yarni to finish school never let up.

  My Dearest Yarni,

  Just wanted to drop you a few lines to let you know that I love you to life. The reason why I haven't called is because we are on lock down, Richmond and Tidewater got to fighting, so the whole joint is on lock down.

  Thanks for the photos. I am very impressed with your salon. It looks to be a very classy place. However, I am still wondering what the hell is going on with your school situation. I can't understand why you won't finish. I know you are sick of me bitching about this. But, if you were going to drop out of college, you should have done it in the first semester, not in your last year. Come on, baby, you've come too far to give up now.

  We'll talk more on this later. This topic of discussion is not closed fully, just for now. They just turned the lights off, so I'll write again tomorrow.

  Unconditional Love,

  Des

  PRICE TO PAY

  With Bengee's new Columbian supplier, he was able to step it up to the next level, a level that the Richmond's hustlers hadn't seen in a few years since the late 80's. He was large. He was Virginia's and North Carolina's major supplier. Riding high on his success, Bengee got very arrogant. One of his childhood friends owed him some money and when he went to pick it up, it was $5,000.00 short. Bengee, put the guy in his car, took him up on Midlothian Turnpike, right at Cloverleaf Mall's intersection, and stripped him down of everything, but his tiger striped briefs. Bengee created a sign and made him put it around his neck: "I am a man who does not pay my debts off." Bengee made him walk up and down the mall's intersection. The whole experience was humiliating to this guy because people were riding pass, honking the horn, waving, pointing and laughing.

  Flamboyant became Bengee's first name. He now stepped out from the background and wanted to be seen. Whenever he brought a new vehicle, he rode all around town with cases of toilet paper in his car. When he pulled up on the scene, and people would be in awe over the automobile, he'd just reach behind him in the backseat and throw a roll of toilet paper out of the window, so they could wipe their mouth from drooling or shitting on themselves. He'd go to the clubs and put locks on the bars, so if you didn't know him or somebody in his crew, you were not going to be served a drink. He talked down on the small time nickel and dime hustlers. Big money had turned Bengee into a monster.

  Yarni realized that Bengee was turning into a person that she didn't even know. He became preoccupied with a whole lot of other things. He still came home every night and they still ate dinner together, if he wasn't out of town. But, it was clear to Yarni that Bengee was going to slow up or blow up, and he was 1,000 miles and running. He wasn't slowing up because he was in too deep, and loving every minute of it. For the first time, Bengee didn't have anything mapped out, a goal, an aspiration, and not even a getaway plan. He was living each day as if there was no tomorrow.

  Des had made Yarni fully aware a long time ago, that there was only three ways out of this drug kingpin game. The most common two ways - death or prison, or the third way, which had only about a 2% survival rate, just walking away and becoming legit. Yarni knew the third way was out of the question for Bengee at this point. Yarni knew that she had to get out, or get caught up in his madness when the curtain fell on Bengee. But, she had to prepare before she could close this chapter of her life.

  The first step she took, was she cut back on her spending habits. Every time Bengee gave her any money for herself, she would simply save half of it. She began looking for her own place. She desperately wanted a house. Because she had lived in a house with Bengee for the past two years, it would be hard for her to move into an apartment. She knew that when you buy a house, they dig into all your business and she really didn't have any credit. Cash was how she paid for everything she'd bought. She talked to Gloria about signing to get her a house and she agreed, but Yarni decided against it because she really wanted to dig herself out of this mess without her mother's help.

  Then came the process of getting her criminal record expunged. She vowed to herself that she'd write the governor one letter a week until he granted the motion to reinstate her rights. She didn't care how long it took. Almost missing the cut off date for registration, she enrolled back into school to get her undergraduate degree, which after two semesters, she acquired.

  She submitted her resume and interviewed with a lot of companies in the Richmond area. The whole interviewing process was very tricky because she was a convicted felon. She never let on of her criminal background due to the fact that she knew the white-collar world would have no understanding of it. Hell, they wouldn't dare give her a chance to prove herself. Thankfully, her tanning salon was profiting. That, however, wasn't enough for Yarni. She wanted a career.

  After going to a midnight madness sale at Hect's, Yarni arrived home. She noticed that all the streetlights were out in her neighborhood. She had a bad feeling. She pulled her truck in the driveway and she struggled carrying in all of her bags of groceries from Ukrops as well as all the bags she acquired from Hecht's. When she approached the door, as soon as she put her key in and turned the knob, a man, dressed in black, jumped out of the bushes on the side of the porch. He kicked the door in and pushed her into the house. Another guy appeared and he was also dressed in all black with a ski mask on. They pinned her down on the floor with her mouth covered. They tied her hands and feet up, put masking tape on her mouth and put a bandana over her eyes. She was scared, but she never cried. The third guy brought her bags in the house, pulled her truck into the garage while the other two began to ransack the house. Of course, Bengee didn't keep any drugs there or any real mo
ney, but they found $65,000 of Bengee's money as well as her stash that she'd been saving, $19,000. That wasn't enough. They took Yarni out through the garage door, put her in the backseat of her truck, and one guy rode in the back with her while one guy drove. The third guy rode in another car behind them. She knew the chances of her living were slim to none. She remembered on an episode she'd seen on either 20/20 or Nightline, that if a kidnapper moves you to another spot, that the odds of your being killed were very high. She wouldn't even know who killed her because they had their heads covered, and now she was blind folded.

  They took her to an old, raggedy house near where Belle Meade used to be. The house had a stale smell to it. She could tell that they had been smoking weed. Though she didn't smoke weed at all, she knew the scent. Whenever somebody who smoked came around, she could always pick up the scent.

  It was natural for Yarni to be very observant. Des instilled in her that you always had put your other senses to work when one of the others was disabled. She knew that they were near a railroad track because she heard the train. Yarni timed the trains by the way the T.V. shows came on. She drew the conclusion that she was somewhere near a track that was used frequently. They put her in a room with a T.V. with cable. She was blindfolded, but she still could listen to the T.V. As the dude threw her in the room, she noticed his scent of Issey Miyake cologne. She thought to herself, this isn't a bum nigga wearing this $100

  cologne." She also could tell that the house didn't have central air. There were individual units, as well as ceiling fans in the house.

  "Helllllooo. Excuse me. Please, please allow me to use the rest room. I promise I won't try anything crazy," Yarni said in a humbling tone.

  "Go take her to the bathroom, but take off that broad's shoes before you untie her," she overheard one of the kidnappers instruct another. Yarni could feel the cheap carpet on the floor.

  They removed the blindfold so she could use the restroom. She noticed the bathroom had a lot of mildew on the tub and around the sink.

  The dude who was in constant patrol over her, tried to persuade her to eat, but she wouldn't. He spoke out to Yarni, "It's nothing personal against you, and you will be outta here as soon as your man comes through with the dough." Ransom! Ain't this some shit? These niggas done put a price over my head! She was confident that Bengee was going to come up with whatever amount they asked for. Right then another guy came into the room and hooked the speakerphone up into a plug in the room. She heard a dial tone, which was followed by a bunch of numbers. The guy was using a Wal-Mart calling card. She heard the automated operator say, "Thank you for using Wal-Mart, prepaid calling card." After a series of numbers she observed the phone ringing.

  She heard Bengee's voice, "yo", and she felt a sense of security.

  A flashback of when he'd given her gonorrhea came about. He'd promised never to forsake her again.

  "Yo," we got your girl man. We need $250,000 for her return," One of the captors said, Bengee hung up the phone on them, thinking about what Robert Deniro told Al Pacino in Heat, Never let yourself get attached to something that you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner. He'd violated that rule.

  He felt indebted to her. He owed Yarni his life. He felt no matter what he ever gave her, it wasn't enough to repay her for sacrificing and giving up everything she ever wanted to take the gun charge for him. She never asked him for anything, but in all actuality, he felt obligated to her. Now, that he was a certified big hat, he didn't really want a relationship with Yarni anymore.

  He knew that at any given time she was the only person who could hurt him, so, he'd never have the gall to leave Yarni. He selfishly thought to himself that if he did not pay the dudes, it would kill two birds with one stone. Maybe they would kill Yarni and he'd be free of that eternal debt he felt he owed her. See, Bengee could never walk the same streets and deal with Yarni being with the next man. Yarni was indeed the ideal woman. He could deal with her being dead better. At least no other man could experience the way she made him feel, like a king. He wouldn't have to report to anybody. He could be rid of Yarni and live his life openly as the whore that he longed to be. Plus he'd be able to keep the $250,000 for himself, which was chump change to him anyway.

  On that note, his phone rang again, and he recognized it as the voice of the kidnapper that called before. He simply told them "It's cheaper for you to keep her," and hung up the phone.

  Yarni couldn't believe her ears. After all the bullshit she'd put up with from him. She realized at that moment, that everyone plays a fool some times, and there are no exceptions to the rule.

  Love don't love nobody!

  Yarni couldn't even sob. She could only remember something her pastor said one Sunday in church... "When you are in danger, call on Psalm 91." She couldn't remember the whole thing. The only parts that came to her mind was: "I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in Him will I trust....Surely. He will deliver me from the snare of the fowler, and from the nuisance of pestilence....Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror of night: nor for the arrow that filleth the day;....A thousand shall fall at thy right side and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh to thee....Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.....Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refugee, even the most high habitation."

  She kept repeating it over and over again. She went into round-the-clock-prayer. She asked God to enter into the kidnappers heart and minister to them not to hurt or kill her. After coming out of prayer, she claimed her victory and put it in God's hands. Then she was not scared. She knew that she'd be delivered from this madness. She realized that it was only one man in her world that wasn't going to leave her or forsake her. That was God, not Bengee. She felt a sense of calmness within herself as well as in the house she was being held captive.

  She overheard the kidnappers say, "Man, we gonna have to kill her." The other said, "Let me hit her first, she got a fat ass."

  "Look, we ain't in this for murder or rape. We're in this for money!" The leader of the kidnappers screamed.

  The kidnappers entered back into the room. They asked her if it was anybody else she could call to get the ransom from. She hesitated about calling her mother because her mother had endured so much with Yarni already. Then she didn't want to put her mother in jeopardy either. She called Uncle Stanka. He'd surely know what to do. The kidnappers allowed her to explain the situation to him, while one listened on the other phone and the other held her at gunpoint. They lowered the ransom to $100,000. Her uncle agreed. He and her mother paid the ransom, and the kidnappers let her go free. The kidnappers kept her truck and took it to the chop shop in New York. She didn't care because she knew that the insurance company would cover it anyway.

  Once Yarni was free, she knew from that moment on, that she could never deal with Bengee again. She'd heard that while she was being held captive, Bengee was having parties still balling out of control, along with his normal strip parties.

  She called Bengee and told him, "Since you left me for dead, just pretend I am dead. I want the $100,000 my uncle and mother put up to pay the ransom, and as far as I am concerned, never ever bother me again or there will be consequences, and may you die a long, slow painful death, you grimy motherfucker!!"

  "Oh, you're threatening me?" Bengee raised his voice, but Yarni wasn't intimidated.

  "Just bring my mother and uncle's fucking money or else," she firmly said and hung up on him.

  He called back. His attitude reflected as if they had an argument and he could fix it.

  "They will get their money. All you need is a $100,000? I'll bring the money when I come pick you up to come home.

  A'ight?"

  She knew she could've gotten more money out of Bengee, but she didn't want anything else from him. She thought to herself. It's bad when I don't even want this nigga money.

  She cried just thinking about him. Although Yar
ni loved Bengee, she realized two things. She loved herself more and it's a very thin line between love and hate. How you could love someone so much and as soon as they cross over that line, the same amount of love you had for them can turn to hate in an instant. She cried for six days. She remembered reading somewhere that it takes thirty days to make or break a habit. If she could make it through twenty-four more days, she'd be O.K.

  Yarni remembered all the turmoil she'd accepted from Bengee. It was in lieu of the money. Money is an addiction in itself. She contemplated: a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. On that note, she picked up the phone called her girlfriend Jewel, who was a drug abuse counselor, and asked Jewel about kicking a habit. She gathered some books on dependency habits. Her habit may not have been chemical, but she sure had two dependencies, that she needed to be rid of, Bengee and the love of money.

  Yarni moved in with Gloria until she could find an apartment. When she checked into renting an apartment, she realized that it was more economical to buy a house, condo or townhouse rather than renting an apartment. The rent on apartments that she liked averaged out to be more than a mortgage payment would be. Delayed gratification were two words she hated to think bout. Although she wanted instant results, she realized she'd have to save and sacrifice to purchase a house. She reasoned with herself that it really didn't make sense to have a $50,000 vehicle and no driveway of her own to sit it in. She decided that she would accept the fact that if she couldn't have instant gratification with her own place right then, she'd get a job and save towards her goal.