A Hustler's Wife Read online

  Yarni received a letter from Des.

  Dearest Yarni,

  I am going to keep this short and sweet. The streets are talking about what that bitch ass shit Bengee did by not paying that little funky ass $250,000 ransom. The whole six and a half years I've been down, not one time have I put locks on you or hated on any man concerning you. But straight up, a pipe can't take but so much steam and it busts. The bottom line is this, remember back a few years ago when you gave me the ultimatum, either hustling or you? Now it's either this joker or me? I can't sit and watch this nigga play craps with your life. I'm going to always love you regardless because I've got unconditional love and that's the love that don't wear off, but I can't allow you to be in my life if you continue to deal with this Bengee cat. So you make the decision and let me know.

  Unconditional Love,

  Des

  She begin to cry as she thought about the price she may have to pay if Des didn't want to be with her anymore. Then she thought about the cost of all the things she'd been faced with.

  What's the price for someone giving you gonorrhea? What's the price to fix a broken heart? What's the price doing a day in jail?

  How much does it cost for you to give your life? What's the price of breaking your mother's heart? How many chances do you really have at love? I can't lose Des in spite of my stupid choic-es. What am I going to do?

  While she was sitting there thinking, Jay Z's new song was playing on an underground tape she bought a while back when she in New York. There were only a few words of the song, she could make out, but those words were her inspiration, her stim-ulation, her encouragement and what gave her the will to move forward..." order to survive, you gotta live with regrets." Yarni pulled herself together. She grabbed her cordless phone. She called Jewel and read the letter to her. "Listen, Jewel, I need you to do me a favor. Just play along, O.K.?" Yarni said, and Jewel agreed.

  Yarni had Jewel to call the prison where Des was, to speak to the chaplain. She spoke in her professional proper voice.

  "Hello, my name is Jewel Rogers and I am a nurse here at Charter Westbrook, and one of our patients is asking to speak to her husband. We feel that this may help her. It's an emergency."

  "What's the nature of the emergency of the patient?" The chaplain asked.

  "Sir, that's confidential. I can't disclose that."

  "Yes, Ma'm I understand." The chaplain said in a concerned tone. "Who's the inmate?"

  "Ahhh" Jewel hesitated as if she was flipping through pages.

  "Desmond Taylor"

  "Your patient is what relation to him?"

  "His wife."

  "Is there a number I can reach you at?" The chaplain asked.

  Jewel gave him Yarni's number, and when the Chaplin called back, he had Des right there. Yarni answered the phone, "Nurses station" and played the whole charade out to the fullest. When Des got on the phone, she dropped the act and told him that it was an emergency and to call when he reached his pod. When he called, she explained that Bengee was a done deal and she would never speak to him again. She kept her word, and vowed to herself to never let Bengee anywhere near her.

  EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY

  Gloria was so furious with Bengee that she wanted to kill him herself. She even talked to her brother, Stanka about eliminating Bengee, but Yarni overheard them contemplating and interrupted the conversation. As she walked into Gloria's kitchen looking in the refrigerator she said to them, "Mommy and Uncle Stanka, save your energy and your money. Killing him is a waste.

  Eventually, he's going to commit suicide indirectly sooner or later. His lifestyle and actions are going to be the cause of his death. He's too bigheaded, selfish, and the streets are watching.

  He'll self-destruct one way or another. He'll crumble to the ground." Gloria and Stanka looked at Yarni, astonished, as she looked in the cabinet to grab a glass to pour her some juice. She put her hand on her hip, and about to take a sip of her juice.

  "And mommy, I am surprised at you. You've always taught me vengeance isn't ours, and you reap what you sow." She drank from her glass. She slammed the glass on the counter hard as she said casually, "After all, I had considered shooting him myself, but I realized that was just too easy of a way for him to die," Yarni said shaking her head with a giggle.

  Gloria and Stanka looked at each other as she took another sip of her juice. "The real punishment was cutting all ties with him completely. I'll get the last laugh when the reality hits him in the face." She laughed as she continued. "Whether it's the Feds picking him up and handing him back to back life sentences, once he gets behind prison walls, he'd realize how much he needs me because you see, them other chics, they ain't going to be thinking about him. All they gonna do is run to the next dude with a dollar. So, he'll need me and want me to show him some love, write him a letter, send him a card, some pictures, accept a call.

  Then I'll leave him for dead, just as he left me for dead. The only difference is I'll be able to fill my life with activities and events to forget about him. He'll have a substantial amount of time to think about me and how he, excuse my language mommy, fucked that up. I know that none of the women he ever had or will have could measure up to me. I feel that that's the best revenge. And if it doesn't play out like that, just wait and see just how Bengee will fall victim to the streets, and the drug game will see to it that he dies a slow painful death one way or another.

  So, just hold your horses and watch what I tell you. His is coming. Just watch and see. Every dog has its day!" Gloria didn't know what to say. She was caught up in "the right now." She never analyzed it as Yarni had. She wasn't sure if Yarni was only saying this to soothe her, heart or if she really meant what she was saying. Gloria got up from the table and walked to her prayer room. She began to pray and ask God to make some sense of this situation.

  But months passed, and Bengee still stayed on top. Yarni would some time hear that he just purchased something new and would wonder to herself, when is his going to come around?

  How come all the good guys always get caught up? The rotten cats always seem to come out on top. They never get theirs. It always seems like the innocent people die, never that nasty dude. It's always the dude that treated everybody good, the dude that bought all the kids in the neighborhood ice-cream, never the dude who is making crazy money and don't have respect for his own mother, won't give her a dime and will cuss her out, call her everything, but a child of God. Never the cruel nasty dude who doesn't mean anybody any good, the dudes like Bengee. I wonder why it is like that?

  People all around town started hating Bengee. He sold his dope so cheap and it was the best dope down south in a while.

  He kept it flowing, but there were still a lot of jealous and envious folks. Plus, he'd stepped on too many toes on his way to the top.

  Bengee had given some dope to his right hand man, Tank.

  Shortly after, Tank wasn't anywhere to be found, leaving Bengee in debt of $325,000. Bengee could've gone into his stash and got the money, but he refused to touch any of his money. He felt like that was hustling backwards. He ended up going to Baltimore, and buying some dope so he could sell it quickly to pay off the Columbians. The dope he brought from B-more was straight garbage and wasn't cheap like the drugs he was getting from the Columbians. He knew that he was supposed to see the Columbians two weeks ago. He'd been ducking their calls, not only was he out of the $325,000 that Tank had got him for, but the $250,000 that he'd went to Baltimore and brought the garbage with. When he finally told the Columbians he had their money, they told him they were sending some one to pick up the money personally. He knew right then that they were cutting him off. It wasn't the money, and what he was getting from them was considered nothing to them. It was just the principle of how he didn't communicate with them, and that was larceny and he couldn't be a part of their organization anymore. There was only one way out...DEATH!!!

  Bengee knew he had to go on the low now until he figured out what to do. He wasn't giv
ing them anything until he acquired another connection some way, some how. He went into hiding at a house he had purchased in Caroline county that no one knew about. How could somebody with so much knowledge of the game go into hiding forty-five minutes away from Richmond? The Columbians had people everywhere. They knew somebody who worked at the electric company, and they pulled up his recently opened account. They went to his house out in Caroline County. From the woods they watched him for three days. They waited for him to come out of the house to get some wood, for his fireplace. They beat him unmercifully with a baseball bat, shot him in the knees, and dragged him in the house where they tortured him with a blowtorch.

  He pleaded, "oh, please, don't kill me." He whined and begged like a little girl.

  "Just please, pleeeeaaassse," he said struggling, looking for a way out of the tub, but there wasn't any. With the gun in his mouth, they finally shot him right there in the bathtub of his own house. If that wasn't enough, they went outside and put him in his newly purchased trash barrel, buck naked, with two concrete cinder blocks at the bottom, and tossed him into the Lake Anna River.

  It just so happened that two little girls were missing in that area and they were last seen playing near the river. Search teams were dispatched to the Lake Anna River, and divers found the barrel with the number, 5509, Bengee's address on it. They could tell the barrel was recently dropped in the river. The color wasn't completely gone. It was extremely heavy. They called in the bulldozer to bring it up. They were expecting to find the little girls in it, but to no disappointment, it was Bengee. The little girls were found unharmed. They had wondered off in the woods.

  Yarni was at Gloria's house playing spades with her mother, Sam and Cara when there was a knock at the door. Gloria looked out of the window. It was the police. She automatically put up her guards and was in fear for her daughter. Taking precaution, she went into the kitchen and told Yarni to hide because she didn't understand why the police would be at her house.

  Gloria answered the door, cracking it only enough so she could peep through.

  "Yes, what is it?" Gloria said with a stank attitude.

  "Is Yarnise Pitman here?" The officer took his hat off and asked.

  "No, but I am her mother. Is there something that I can do for you?" Gloria asked in a hostile tone.

  The officer was very hesitant, "Well, we're here to inform Yarnise Pitman that Benjamen Whales is dead and we need her to come downtown to identify the body. She's listed as his next of kin," he stated.

  Gloria simply said with no emotion at all, "I will let her know when I see her," and she slammed the door right in his face.

  After she was sure the police was gone, Gloria went into the room that Yarni was hiding in and broke the news to Yarni. Yarni's response was, "I knew that this day would be coming." Gloria, Cara and Sam accompanied Yarni to identify body. It wasn't as easy as Yarni had expected it to be. She never cried, but the remorse was all over her face. Even with all the rotten things that Bengee had done to her, she still loved him. When she saw that he'd been killed in such a brutal way, she began to have a little compassion in her heart. She felt a little guilty because she remembered the Bible said you can speak life or death into somebody's life, and she had wished death on Bengee.

  She called his mother, who'd never been a mother to him.

  The mother's simple response was, "You've always been his family as far as I am concerned, so now the ball is in your court.

  Whatever arrangements you decide upon, is how he is going to be put away. If it's up to me, the state will just handle it." Yarni thought to herself, that the best way to get back at him would be to just leave him there for the state to bury, and not even be acknowledged with funeral services. That would be the best revenge ever, but Yarni's heart wasn't like that. She immediately thought about all the generous things and pleasant words he'd ever said to her and put the negative out of her mind and heart for just a minute. She simply told herself that it was nothing personal with her; its just Bengee got caught up and couldn't survive "the game." Most can't, most won't, and most don't.

  On that note, she called Scott's Funeral home on Brookland Park Boulevard, and started making the funeral arrangements.

  The next day, she purchased him a suit from Franco's. Cara suggested that she just go to Cavalier on Broad Street and get him a suit, but Yarni refused to because Bengee went to Francos's when he was living, and this was his final appearance. At the last minute, Yarni decided to do a closed casket funeral. She drew the conclusion that Bengee wouldn't want to be remembered with all the make up the funeral home was forced to put on him to cover all the bruises. Yarni wasn't sure what type of turnout Bengee would have for his funeral. He'd turned into such a nasty nigga. She flooded the funeral home with flowers, as he'd done for her the two and half years that they were together.

  The turnout of the funeral was enormous. No one would ever be able to tell that he wasn't a well-liked guy. All the towns and surrounding counties drug dealers showed up. Although it was a funeral, it was a fashion show, a car show and a circus.

  People rented stretch limousines to roll up in. Most people were there to be nosy. All the girls that he messed with were there falling over the casket, including Darchelle, who was being absolutely as dramatic as possible. Of course, the stripper broads showed up wearing as little as possible. Joyce was there to demonstrate her support and to be there for Yarni on behalf of Des. The Columbians sent flowers and a representative to show their respects. The news crews appeared there to do a story on the life and death of the city's kingpin. The Feds were there as well, taking photos of everybody that showed up.

  After the burial, Yarni rented the Marriott Grand Ball Room and had a big party for him. She had Gloria cater the party, and it was far better than any of the parties he'd ever had for himself.

  Throughout the whole proceedings Yarni never shed one tear.

  After Joyce witnessed exactly how nicely Yarni had put Bengee away, she developed a great deal of respect for Yarni.

  She admired her for the lady that she'd grown up to be. Yarni and Joyce became loyal friends from that moment on. Joyce had her heart set on Yarni becoming her daughter-in-law. If Yarni could show such compassion for Bengee after he left her for dead, Joyce was secure that her son was in good hands with Yarni.

  The day after the funeral, Yarni went to check her P.O. Box.

  It was mostly junk mail, catalogs and three very important letters. One was from the governor expunging her criminal record.

  One was her check from the insurance company for Bengee's life insurance policy. She had a $100,000 policy on him, but since the cause of death was murder, it was considered accidental and it paid double. The final was from a law firm offering her a job as a paralegal/ negotiator for personal injury cases.

  She sped home and displayed the letter on the refrigerator so that Gloria could see it. Once settled at home, she called the law firm to accept the position. She also stopped off to pay the funeral home the money she owed them, as well as pay her mother the money she had loaned her to bury Bengee and the money from the kidnapping, which Bengee had never paid. He only kept leaving messages telling Yarni he was on the way to bring the money, but never did. Her mother never stressed her to repay the money, but Yarni felt obligated. She visited Bengee's mother and gave her $2,000. She really didn't deserve that, but that's what kind of heart Yarni had. She gave Cara some money to help towards the down payment of a new car because Cara drove a hoopty. She bought Zurri's kids new beds and gave her some money as well. She invested a great deal of the money, and the remainder of the money she saved, to put down on a condo for herself. There was no way that she could get either of Bengee's houses due to the fact he'd brought them under an alias. The util-ities were only in his name. She didn't want the furniture. It was too much of a reminder of Bengee and that whole chapter of her life. She gave his mother some of it, and sold the rest.

  A week later, she found out that the police raided a h
ouse over Southside near Belle Meade for illegal cable. They found the guy Tank in the house. Tank was high as gas. He was locked up for about six months. He bragged, while in jail, on how he'd stolen so much from Bengee and how he had kidnapped Yarni.

  A few guys stabbed him up, but he still survived. Des heard and ordered Slim, who was on the streets by this time, to kill Tank.

  When Slim saw exactly how Tank was living, he felt that he wouldn't put Tank out of his misery. Tank was experiencing a part of death on Earth. Tank's self esteem had been stripped from him. He had been a big time drug dealer, and was now a junkie, who goes around begging to wash people's cars. Tank eventually overdosed anyway.

  Taking everything into consideration, Gloria and Joyce gave Yarni a "Waiting To Exhale Party".

  Before Yarni started her new job, she used some of the money to take a vacation. She wanted to go somewhere very different from the tropical places she'd been going to. She wanted to experience a different type of vacation. She decided to go to the Galapagos Islands. The islands put her in a totally contrast mindset. These islands are located 600 miles from the mainland.

  They are volcanic islands and range from dense rain forests to stark, and barren terrain.

  The islands were fascinating. Yarni did a seven-day cruise visiting two islands a day. Her main purpose was to see the rare flora and fauna: tortoises weighing nearly 600lbs, marine igua-nas, frigate birds, boobies, penguins and sea lions. She watched the sea lions swim near the divers. She adored the huge sunflowers. She wished she could've spent more time on the islands, but the time visitors can spend on the islands was regulated by the government. Yarni was truly not a nature person, but she absolutely was able to appreciate this vacation. She was ready to start a new chapter in her life.