Coca Kola - The Baddest Chick (17 page)

After glancing around, Kola said to Candace, “Talk to me. What happened?”

“My bitches got one, but Chico, I think he escaped,” Candace said in her thick accent.

“What you mean? Y’all missed?”

“We did our job. Tina worked his cousin wit’ the shotgun. She put that
puta
down. He don’t get back up, but the young boy didn’t finish it.”

Kola sighed. “Well, at least one is fuckin’ down.”

“If you want, we finish lookin’,” Candace suggested.

“Nah, y’all did good.”

Kola passed Candace a thick bulging envelope filled with cash, payment for the hit, and Candace reached out and took it.

“That’s the rest of it, twenty-five thousand,” Kola said. “Make sure you pay them bitches, Candace. I don’t want any problems.”

Candace nodded. “We good, Kola. I told you, my girls, we put in work. Niggas see pussy, and they smile. So that
puta
didn’t even see us coming.”

Kola liked what she heard. She respected Candace. Many niggas and bitches were fooled by the stunning hazel-eyed beauty with the sweet Panamanian accent, but underneath all the glamour and beauty was a hellcat—a woman as deadly as a venomous snake.

Candace had come to the country when she was seven years old and grew up in Edenwald Projects, one of the most notorious housing projects in the Bronx. She learned to fight because she was always bullied for being different and an immigrant. However, by the time she was sixteen, she had a reputation in the neighborhood that made even grown men stay away from her. Candace only fucked with gangsters and killers, and she learned her illicit and deadly ways through them. By the time she was seventeen years old, she was already stripping, trafficking guns for her boyfriend, and had numerous assault and drug charges on her record.

When Kola first met Candace six months ago, she had just gotten out of Rikers after doing a year-long bid for possession and assault. The two met in the strip club, and Candace liked what Kola was saying to her. It didn’t take long for Candace to link up with Kola, and at the age of twenty-two, she was a force to be reckoned with.

After her conversation with Candace, Kola walked into the primary room where everything was taking place. The huge area with the high concrete ceiling and towering concrete columns was filled with people. Kola stood above them on a slightly raised platform. She peered down at the crowd and watched to see what was going on.

That bitch will never outdo or outshine me
, Kola thought to herself, thinking about Apple.

***

Kola had the black duffel bag gripped in her hand and walked by the doorman without any problems this time. She strutted toward the elevators wearing a pair of suede pants and a stretch silk shirt underneath her hazelnut Mongolian fur-trimmed sweater coat. She had become a known face to him. He nodded at Kola when she walked by and immediately got on the phone to call upstairs. He said to his employer, “Kola’s coming up.”

Kola stepped into the elevator and placed the duffel bag on the floor by her feet. She pushed for the top floor and waited. When she stepped off the elevator, she was encountered by the same three goons like always.

She smiled and greeted them with a teasing, “Hey, boys.”

The men perked up but didn’t smile. They always knew what she was there for. They had gotten used to seeing her and even liked it when she came by. She was their eye candy.

Kola walked up to them, dropped her bag, and readied herself for the usual search. She looked over at her friend, the only one who took pride in his job and whose hands lingered on her the most. She had gotten used to his deep fondling during his search for weapons.

“Y’all ready to frisk me?”

This time, her friend’s hand rested between her legs a little longer, his fingers rubbing against her pussy. Kola released a teasing moan and stared down at Anton. He was a dumb goon, but she thought he was cute.

She was allowed into the room and was ready to meet with Tony. She dropped the duffel bag of cash in the middle of the room and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows to take in the picturesque view. Being twenty-one floors up gave her an eyeful of the New Jersey shores, the Hudson River, and the Manhattan skyline. She even saw the George Washington Bridge.

It was a clear, sunny day, and the weather was in the lower forties. Kola wanted spring to hurry up so she could wear her tight skirts and eye-catching clothing. She liked being a tease, and she loved being the center of attention even more.

As Kola stood by the windows gazing at New York City, she thought about business. She was always thinking about ways to expand herself. The parties were profitable, but she couldn’t be everywhere at once. Taking over with the connect and networking her business in the streets—going back and forth with her parties and moving so many ki’s a week—was taking its toll on her. She thought about who to trust to run her events when she was away on business.

She thought about Candace, but she was too hotheaded and only good for problems, not handling money. Kola missed Bunny Rabbit, her one true bitch who knew how to get money and was a down-ass bitch. It disturbed her that Bunny Rabbit was killed at her eighteenth birthday party in an incident that her sister had provoked.

“I see you like the view.”

Kola turned around to see Eduardo approaching her in his long cotton bathrobe, which was open, exposing his chiseled chest. He had on swimming trunks underneath and held a glass of wine in his hand.

“Eduardo, you’re back.” Kola was surprised to see him.

He smiled. “You miss me?”

“Where’s Tony?”

“Back in my country. I needed him to fix something for me.”

Kola didn’t pry. She understood Eduardo kept his affairs silent.

Eduardo saw the duffel bag sitting in the middle of the room. “It’s good to see that business is still good.”

“You keep producing that good white, the money ain’t going anywhere.”

Eduardo nodded. “You look nice.”

“Thank you.”

“Come, have a drink with me. Relax. I’ve been gone for weeks.”

Kola wasn’t sure, but Eduardo walked over to the bar and prepared two glasses. He mixed a scotch on the rocks with a twist and walked over to Kola as she remained standing by the window. He passed her the glass. She took a few simple sips, while Eduardo downed half his drink.

There was a moment of silence between them. Kola glanced out the window; it was hard to take her eyes away from the Manhattan skyline.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Eduardo said.

“It is.”

“The city of dreams.”

“Well, my dreams are coming true.”

“Cheers to that, beautiful.” Eduardo raised his glass in a toast.

Kola raised her too, and their glasses clinked together. “Cheers.”

They locked eyes for a moment. Kola felt her heart racing and her panties were on fire. She took a few more sips and tried to control her hormones, while Eduardo stood in front of her with his robe still open. She noticed the bulge protruding from his swimming trunks.

Eduardo finished off his drink and was ready for another one. Noticing Kola’s glass was almost empty, he asked, “Would you care for another one?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m good.”

“I see that,” he responded as he walked back to the bar.

Kola wanted to leave, but something inside of her was urging her to stay. She sighed while standing near the floor-to-ceiling windows, feeling the heat of the sun against her.

Eduardo walked over to her and took a few more sips from the short-stemmed glass he held. He stared out the window for a moment and said to Kola, “Come, let me show you something.”

“Eduardo, I can’t stay long.”

“Sure, you can. We haven’t seen each other in a while.”

Eduardo took her by the hand and led her across the large living room, up the spiral staircase, and into a room down the long corridor. The room was filled with drugs, stacks of ki’s—almost three hundred wrapped bricks stacked neatly over each other and lining the walls.

Kola had never seen anything like it. “Oh my God!”

“You like?”

“How do you get it into the country?” she asked.

“It’s my little secret.”

“Why are you showing me this?”

“Because I can. This is true wealth.”

It was a highly secure and large room with one entrance, no windows, and the door was solid steel with a high-tech security system and cameras pointing everywhere.

Eduardo stood in the center of it all with his arms outstretched, still holding his short-stemmed glass in his hand. “This is what fuels America,” he said. “This is what many men dream of and will die for—riches and happiness.”

“How much is it all worth?”

“At least twenty million.”

“Damn!”

Eduardo smiled as he walked up to Kola, who held his stare with a smile. She tried not to look tense, but there was something about him that she really liked. Eduardo was very smart and charming, but she also knew he was a dangerous man. She wondered how many men he had killed over the years by his own hands or by giving the order. She was attracted to him but didn’t want to act on it, fearful of the consequences with Cross.

Eduardo took her hand into his and peered into her eyes. “You are a very beautiful woman, Kola.”

“Thank you.”

“Please, stay for dinner.”

“I’m a busy woman, Eduardo.”

“And I’m a busy man, as you can see, but I always make time for the things I care for.”

They looked at each other. Eduardo didn’t want to take no for an answer. He still held her hand in his. “I will change, and you stay. OK?”

Kola sighed, fearing where it was leading. “OK,” she reluctantly agreed.

“Good. I’ll have my chef prepare a meal straight from the kitchen, and you’ll love it.”

Kola nodded.

The two exited the room, and Eduardo secured the door with an alarm. She then followed him down the long carpeted corridor and into another room filled with sunlight and decorated with mahogany furniture. Oil paintings on massive canvases lined the room, and a long, rectangular Wynterhall dining room set constructed of hardwood with cherry veneers in a rich, warm, brown finish sat on the shimmering parquet flooring.

Kola was taken aback. The room was worth a million or more in her eyes.

“I go shower and change,” Eduardo said to her. “You make yourself comfortable.”

Eduardo walked out of a different door and disappeared down the corridor, leaving Kola in the stylish room alone. She felt like she was in a different world. She couldn’t believe how far she had come along—the money, the handsome Colombian kingpin trying to romance her, and living the life of a queenpin.

Kola knew Cross would be against her staying.
It’s just dinner with a business associate
, she thought, trying to convince herself. She didn’t want to be impolite.

***

Kola didn’t have to wait too long. Eduardo walked back into the room dressed in a gray silk shirt, stylish black khakis, and a pair of expensive alligator shoes. He was sharp, yet casual.

“Have a seat. Relax, Kola,” he said.

Kola walked toward the dining room table, which was decorated with a long white tablecloth underneath half a dozen taper candles in crystalline glass.

Eduardo slowly lit each candle. Then he approached her, took her hand in his once again, and then guided her toward the table. He pulled out her chair, like a gentleman.

It’s only dinner
, she kept thinking to herself.

Eduardo sat opposite of her and said, “My chef should be almost done with dinner. You’ll enjoy it.”

“So you assumed I would be staying?”

“No, I just have him cook big meals all the time.”

Kola looked around the room and thought about Cross. She had never cheated on him and wasn’t about to start now.

Eduardo lit one of his cigars, took a deep pull, and exhaled. He looked at Kola, his hazel eyes piercing into her soul. “You find me attractive, Kola?” he asked unexpectedly.

“Who wouldn’t? You’re a very handsome man, Eduardo.”

“Powerful too.”

Just then a tall, lean man dressed in a dark suit walked into the room carrying a bottle of Cristal Brut in an ice bucket. He set the chilled bottle of champagne in the center of the dining room table then stood next to Eduardo with his arms crossed in front of him, awaiting further instructions, but Eduardo waved him off.

“Champagne?”

Kola nodded.

“It’s one of the most expensive in the world, Cristal Brut, also known as ‘the Methuselah.’ They go for seventeen thousand dollars a bottle.”

“Damn!”

Eduardo stood up and reached for the bottle. He removed the foil, leaving the wired hood intact. He grabbed the neck of the bottle, placed his thumb over the cork, and slightly raised the six-liter gold-labeled bottle with it pressed against his hip. He twisted it open quickly, and the bubbles instantly began spilling out.