Forever a Hustler's Wife Read online

  CHAPTER 11

  The Queen Protects the King

  Des went to scoop Nasir so that they could go see Felix. When Des arrived at Nasir and Lava’s deluxe condo, Lava let him in and informed him that Nasir was almost ready. She offered him something to drink, but he declined. Lava shrugged and headed to another room, and Des decided to follow her. Des thought she and Nasir must have had an argument because she seemed a little distant.

  He looked around the condo and was pretty impressed with what the young couple had pulled together. The living room was decked out in a Scarface theme—soft, red leather furniture and Scarface mini-blinds featuring the classic Tony Montana picture. Built in the wall diagonally across from the Scarface reflection was a huge wall-size aquarium, which housed two piranhas—Nasir told him once that they had named them Bobby and Whitney. Off the living room was an enormous game room, which had a professional-size pool table in the middle of the floor, a large dart board with a police officer’s face as the target on one wall, and a flat-screen plasma television on another.

  “Who did the decorating?” Des asked, continuing to look around the room.

  “We both did.” Lava plopped down on the couch and grabbed the remote. “We pretty much do everything together,” she added.

  Des rolled a few of the balls on the pool table with his hands, growing uncomfortable with the silence. “Real nice art,” he said, nodding toward the collection of fictional and real-life people showcased on the walls. Every photograph had been carefully selected and professionally matted and framed. There were posters of films, television shows, and their stars: The Sopranos, Goodfellas, The Godfather, as well Tony Montana, Biggie, Tupac, and Suge Knight. Des was surprised they had some political figures mixed in, including Fidel Castro, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. They had somehow managed to get hold of federal mug shots, with the inmate numbers underneath, for Baby-face Nelson, Cool C., Wayne Perry, and Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff. In the middle of all the photos was a huge portrait of Lava and Nasir dressed up like Bonnie and Clyde, holding street sweepers.

  Des caught sight of a chessboard in the corner of the room. “Does Nasir play chess?” he asked, not recalling his nephew having an interest in the game.

  “All the time,” Lava said, never taking her eyes off the six o’clock news to look at Des. “We both do.”

  Finally Des could take the awkward silence no longer. “Lover’s quarrel?” he asked. He could see that something was clearly bothering Lava by the way she had her arms folded across her chest.

  “No, Uncle Des,” she said, sounding annoyed as she sucked her teeth.

  Nasir walked in the room and headed over to Des to give him a hug and a pound. “She’s just mad because she can’t roll with the big boys. She gets an attitude anytime my immediate plans don’t include her.”

  “Uncle Des, it ain’t that,” Lava interjected, and hopped up off the sofa.

  “I don’t care if he goes out with you, Uncle Des. We love and trust you. It’s just those other niggas…I don’t trust them. None of them, especially Felix. That nigga ain’t nothing but trouble.”

  Des smiled as he listened to Lava. “I agree that you shouldn’t trust those other niggas. In the game, you always have to stay on your guard around everyone, male or female,” Des commented. Although he was starting to like Lava more and more, and believed that she was Nasir’s ride-or-die chick, he still didn’t like Nasir having her so deeply involved in his business.

  “Uncle Des, he forgets sometimes that I’m a woman, and the fact that I have women’s intuition. Sometimes I sense things…and I just know things,” Lava shared. She stopped and thought about what Des had just said. “Wait a minute. Are you trying to say Nasir shouldn’t trust me?”

  “Should he?”

  Nasir shook his head. “Unc, we’ve already had this conversation,” he said.

  “Oh what, y’all talking about me behind my back?” Lava asked, rolling her eyes at Nasir.

  “Baby, it ain’t even like that…” Nasir said.

  Lava ignored him and turned to confront Des. “You trying to say I don’t have my man’s back?” she asked.

  Des looked directly into Lava’s eyes before he answered. “Do you?”

  “You damn right I do. Just like Yarni has yours. Don’t you ever question my loyalty to Nasir. Ever. I love this man with all my heart, and I will die for him. Like I said, it’s just these niggas I don’t trust.”

  Des saw the sincerity shining in her eyes, and he knew she had spoken with her heart.

  “She’s more suspicious of me being with some niggas handling business than me being at a strip club with a room full of naked bitches,” Nasir said, shrugging his shoulders in amazement.

  Des gazed at Lava, waiting to hear her side. She wasn’t embarrassed at all. “That’s right. I ain’t worried about no sweaty bitches on him. All they can give him is some stank pussy, and he ain’t tripping on that. It’s the niggas that I’m worried about. They so shysty.”

  “Right.” Des tried not to smirk. Lava was slowly winning him over by the second.

  “She thinks that anytime I don’t include her in the business I must feel that she can’t cut it. Let her have her way, and it ain’t nothing streetwise that she can’t do.”

  “Clyde had Bonnie, didn’t he?” she said, as she made her way to the kitchen. “And she never let him down, did she?”

  “No, baby, she didn’t,” Nasir said, looking at his Rolex. “It’s time to make moves.” He grabbed the Louis Vuitton overnight bag filled with money, and he and Des headed for the door.

  But before they could exit the house good, Lava called out, “Boo, wait a minute. Hold up.” Nasir stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her.

  “Sorry, baby. I forgot to give you a kiss, huh?” He moved to kiss her.

  “Nope. It ain’t even that. You forget this?” She handed him his gun.

  Nasir took the gun from her, looking a bit embarrassed. “Thanks,” he said sheepishly.

  “Now you can give me a kiss.” She puckered up and shared a wet one with her man.

  “Good looking,” Des commended Lava before giving Nasir a hard look.

  “Ain’t nothing. I’m just playing my position. That’s what the queen is supposed to do. Protect her king.”

  “You know the queen is the most powerful piece in chess, right?” Des said, as he shut the door behind him. Lava just smiled.

  CHAPTER 12

  The Brain on Drugs

  Nasir and Des met Felix at his upscale condo located in

  Virginia Beach. Although it was an expensive spot on the Atlantic Ocean in a gated community, the furnishings were very simple, which surprised Des.

  A half-naked girl wearing spandex short-shorts with the cheeks of her butt hanging out and a halter top with her nipples barely covered answered the door. She showed Des and Nasir into a room with a sofa, two chairs, and big-screen television and handed them the remote before leaving. Another girl wearing a micro-miniskirt had been sitting on the sofa, but she got up and left when they came in. Nasir and Des were there for about ten minutes when a third girl, a cigarette hanging from her mouth, walked in to retrieve a plastic bag that was sitting on the floor beside the sofa.

  Pretty soon Felix, wearing a plush robe that looked like he had copped it from Hugh Hefner’s closet, entered the room.

  “Nas,” he said slowly, his Spanish accent making it sound like the name had five syllables, knowing full well that Nasir hated to be referred to that way.

  Nasir and Des both stood to greet Felix.

  “How you doing?” he said to Des, avoiding eye contact as he wiped his runny nose with a handkerchief.

  “I’m peace.” Des nodded, studying the man in front of him.

  “How’s business?” Felix redirected his attention to Nasir.

  “Business is good on my end,” Nasir answered. “And yours?”

  “Business is good for me, as long as it’s good for you, my man.” Felix
smiled as his eyes scanned the faces of both men.

  The small talk went on for a few more minutes, and Des continued his study of Felix’s body language. Felix continued to avoid looking Des directly in the eyes. As Des watched the transaction between his and Rico’s nephews, he began to think about something that had never crossed his mind before: Although Rico had tried to express his gratitude to Des by giving him a million dollars in cash the night he and Yarni were married, there was really nothing Rico could ever give him to repay the ten years of Des’s life that had been stolen while he was in prison.

  Make no mistake about it, a million dollars was a nice piece of change to get one’s hands on, but at the end of the day, ten years of life were worth much more than that. That would equal a hundred thousand a year. Des would have made that in a slow month while he was on the street. The more he thought about it, the angrier Des got that he had accepted such a loss for such an unappreciative motherfucker like Felix, who had never offered Des even a simple thanks.

  “Is this the same stuff that you had the last time?” Nasir asked.

  “Same shipment, same shit,” Felix responded.

  Felix had raw dope that could take twelve ounces of cut to every ounce of pure dope. He charged twelve hundred an ounce, which was a natural steal. Nasir could turn ten ounces into fifty o’s that could still hold a cut on the street, and sell them for eighteen hundred, the best price in the state and on most of the East Coast. The profit was enormous, and the turnover rate was rapid, eliminating any competition, especially from Monte, who Nasir used to cop from.

  Nasir was there to buy seven thousand grams. He had just over three hundred thousand dollars in his overnight bag, more than enough to make the purchase. The swap went smoothly, and he and Des were out of there in less than thirty minutes.

  Once they were back in the car, Nasir asked, “So, Unc, what you think about this motherfucker?” He turned around in the passenger seat so he was facing Des as he drove.

  “The chump got a dope habit, and an expensive one at that. That dope dick keeps money and drugs keep da hos around,” Des said, never taking his eyes off the road. “Like flies on shit.”

  As they rode back to Richmond, Des shared some of his war stories and lessons with Nasir, and, as always, Nasir absorbed every word.

  “Always let an arrogant man think he’s smarter than you, and he will provide you the opportunity to sit back and watch him play himself.”

  CHAPTER 13

  Filet Mignon

  Yarni went into the nursery to check on Desi and was relieved to find her baby girl sleeping peacefully. Leaning into the crib, she rubbed Desi’s belly and kissed her on the forehead, then walked back into her bedroom and climbed into bed. She had just taken a long, hot soak in the Jacuzzi and had slipped into her black La Perla nightgown. The satin gown brushed up against her skin like a soft, much-needed hug. Although it was almost eleven o’clock at night and she had court the next morning, Yarni couldn’t go to sleep. Between going over her case file and checking on Desi, she was running out of things to do with herself, so she propped herself up on her heavenly down feather pillows, leaned back, picked up the remote that lay on the bed, and flipped the channels on the television.

  She was watching the end of Chappelle’s Show when her cell phone rang.

  She looked down at the number displayed on the caller ID and smiled. “Hey, baby,” she whispered into the phone.

  “Hey, boo. I got caught up, but I’m on my way home,” Des informed his wife. She could hear traffic in the background and figured that he must be driving, making his way home to his family. She smiled and felt her heart quicken at the thought of seeing him.

  “Okay, baby,” she said, “can’t wait ’til you get here.”

  “The battery on my phone is dying, and the charger is in the other car, so I can’t talk, but I’ll be home in a minute.”

  “I hear you. That’s cool,” she assured him. “I love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  After they hung up, Yarni tried to watch television, but she found herself watching the clock. One o’clock turned into two o’clock, and two o’clock soon became three o’clock; still there was no Des. Yarni knew that she couldn’t stay up all night playing the role of watchman. She had to get some rest for court, so she considered taking a Tylenol PM to knock herself out, but she knew that would make her feel groggy the next morning, and she had to be on her A game in court. She once again checked on Desi, and after changing the baby’s diaper and giving her a bottle, she took a Percocet which would put her out like a light. She just prayed that if Desi woke up, her father would have made it home to tend to his daughter. She’d be feeling a bit sluggish and groggy the next morning, but it would be worth it to escape her misery for the moment.

  The next day the preliminary hearing for the Samuel Johnson case went much better than Yarni expected. Although she was a little sluggish from the Percocet, she didn’t let that keep her from doing the best possible job on Samuel’s case.

  After court, Marvin Sledge was so excited that he made plans to take Yarni out to celebrate. She agreed until Des called at the last minute wanting her to go out with him and Desi. The decision wasn’t hard to make. It was Des—her man, her husband, her child’s father, the love of her life—over the womanizer Marvin Sledge any day.

  Yarni and Des settled into their seats at the plush five-star restaurant, and Yarni felt the stress of the day melt away.

  “Yes, I will have the filet mignon, medium well,” Yarni told the waitress when she came to take their orders. “Please make sure that it isn’t wrapped in the bacon.”

  “Of course, ma’am,” the waitress said before turning to Des. “And what would you like, sir?”

  Des looked at the menu thoughtfully before snapping it closed. “I’ll have the crab cake dinner with a fully loaded baked potato. On second thought, forget the crab cakes. I’ll take a filet mignon as well, and I don’t want bacon on mine either.”

  “You still want the potato?” the waitress asked.

  Des nodded, and the woman collected the menus and prepared to leave.

  “Can I get you something to drink in the meanwhile?”

  Des looked at Yarni, and she shook her head. “Just water,” he said.

  While they waited for their food, they sat and talked, mainly about the baby. Des could see clearly that Yarni was a bit aggravated. He couldn’t put his finger on why.

  “You okay?” he asked, grabbing her hand.

  She nodded. “Just a little tired,” she said, suddenly feeling the stress of the day returning.

  “How’d everything go in court?”

  “It went well, better than I expected, actually.” She gave him a tired smile.

  “You want to leave?” he asked, looking concerned. “You look really tired.”

  She shook her head as she gave him a dry laugh. “I am tired. I have a newborn at home, and I’m fighting one of the biggest cases of my career. I have a lot going on.” She smiled at him wickedly. “If that’s not enough, my husband was missing in action last night after he told me he was on his way home, so I’m not getting enough sex.”

  He laughed as he squeezed her hand before kissing it. “I’m sorry, baby. Something came up that I had to deal with.”

  “I figured as much,” she said.

  They both grew quiet, both staring at Desi, who had fallen asleep in her high chair.

  “I can’t believe how beautiful she is,” Des said, gazing at his daughter. He turned to his wife. “You know, I don’t think I’ve told you, but you’re doing a great job with her. I know this has to be hard on you…. I know it’s a big adjustment, but baby, know I’m here for you, and my mom is, too. You have people who want to help you with Desi. Promise me you’ll lean on us if you need to.”

  Before Yarni could answer, their food arrived. She squeezed Des’s hand in appreciation. Then looked down at her plate, preparing to dig in.

  Her steak was wrapped in bacon.
Yarni turned her attention to the waitress and stared at the woman in disbelief, frowning as she said in a firm tone, “Didn’t I…precisely tell you…that…I,” she stressed each and every word to the rhythm of her animated neck, “did not want my steak wrapped in bacon?”

  “I will get it fixed for you, ma’am.” The waitress reached for Yarni’s plate.

  “How long is that going to take?”

  “Probably about twenty minutes, since you had it medium well.”

  Des jumped in, seeing the fire in his wife’s eyes, “Can’t you pull someone else’s steak that’s almost done?”

  “Yes, that shouldn’t be a problem,” the waitress replied, knowing good and well that she was under the gun.

  “This don’t make no motherfucking sense,” Yarni snapped on Des.

  “You’re absolutely right, baby,” he said, trying to lighten the mood. “I don’t want you stressing, baby. We’re supposed to be here celebrating. Do you want my steak?”

  She ignored his question. “I can’t celebrate when they’re trying to force pork down my throat.”

  “You’re right about that,” Des said, cutting into his steak. He tried to feed her a piece, but she shook her head.

  “I’ll wait for mine,” she said. “You go ahead.”

  He shrugged and started to eat.

  “Excuse me,” another patron said, stopping at their table, “she’s so adorable.” The woman went to touch Desi, but thought twice about it after Yarni glared at her.

  “Thanks.” Des smiled at the couple, but Yarni didn’t open her mouth.

  The server appeared with a hot plate in her hand, with Yarni’s food on it. “Wow, that was quick.” Yarni gave a slight smile, but she had peeped the game.

  “I pulled one like you suggested,” she said to Des.

  “Well, look,”—Yarni looked hard at the woman’s name tag—“Tonya, I’m going to ask you something: Isn’t this the same steak, and you just pulled the bacon off it?”

  “No, ma’am,” the server said. “We—I would never do anything like that.”