Last Bitch Standing (6 page)

As I lounged by the pool in my taupe suede string bikini,
which was clearly made to prance around in and not for
swimming purposes, I wondered how long it would take
to catch Supreme's attention. I had lathered my body in
baby oil so my skin was glistening. At first, I was even
going to put on some open-toe stilettos, but felt that would
make this entire setup too obvious. But trying to seduce
him in this scorching heat was starting to get the best of
me. But I had no other way to pull this shit off. I couldn't
walk around the house butt-ass-naked. That would surely
send the "desperate" bells ringing. Lounging by the pool
on a hot summer afternoon was very conceivable, even if
I didn't know how to swim.

As the time kept ticking away, Supreme was nowhere to be seen. Luckily I had brought out plenty bottles of
water to make this situation not so unbearable. But the
more the heat beat down on me, the rawer my nerves
became. Where the fuck is this nigga at? I know he took Aaliyah
out for breakfast, but that was hours ago. He play too Much. Don't
he know 1 ,got a seduction going on today?

As I became more and more frustrated, I got jarred
out my thoughts by the sound of my cell phone ringing.

"Hello," I answered without even checking to see
who was calling. I knew that only a handful of people had
my new number after getting rid of the old one, which of
course was done mainly to dodge Devon's ass.

"I have good news and great news. Which one would
you like first?"

"Good news."

"The good news is that I found out some interesting
information about Arnez Douglass. Not to get into your
personal business, but if he's someone you're interested
in dating, stay the hell away from him."

"Why?"

"He's a drug lord and a dangerous one at that;
although I've never heard of a harmless drug lord."

My P.I. was borderline corny. So I gave him a
pass. He didn't understand that words like `drug lord'
and `dangerous' equaled intriguing to a bitch like me.
"Continue."

"His operations used to be based in Atlanta, but
for the past year he's been operating out of Philadelphia,
which leads me to the great news."

"I'm waiting."

"That is where Devon is now living. .in Philadelphia."

"Really?"

"Yes and," he stressed. "I have an address on him."

"Steve, I'm very pleased with you today," I admitted
in almost a singing tone.

"I knew you would be. It might take me some time,
but I'm very thorough and I always come through."

"Yes, you do."

"So what's my next move?"

"You stay there and keep an eye on Devon until I'm
able to come."

"So, you're coming to Philadelphia?"

"Exactly. I'm on the first flight out tomorrow. I'll
let you know where to meet me so I can get the address
from you and pay you your money."

"Sounds like a worthwhile trip to me."

"I figured you'd say that. I'll be in touch." Right
when I was about to rejoice on the good news from
Steve, Supreme finally decided to bring his ass home.

"I see you're doing some sunbathing."

"Yep, you know they say the sun energizes you."

"Oh, I thought it just made you sweat." I sensed
some sarcasm in his voice, but chose to ignore it.

"So, where's Aaliyah? I missed her today," I lied, but
it sounded good.

"Sleep. After we went to eat, I took her to the park
and she's exhausted."

"I'm sure she loved spending time with her daddy.

She always does."

"Yeah, being with her makes everything feel right."

For a brief moment, I almost felt guilty for being
so jealous of Supreme's relationship with his daughter.
It was obvious the nigga truly adored her, but instead
of feeling happy for him, it made me disgusted. I mean
damn, why couldn't I have grown up with a daddy that
gave a fuck about me? Shit, growing up, my daddy wasn't
even around. I had to count on Mike to fill them shoes,
and he did a poor motherfucking job at it. He was too
busy hustling in the streets to give a damn about me. All
he would toss my way is some cash. Life is so fuckin' unfair,
I thought.

"I'm sure children do that for you. Hopefully, one
day I'll have some of my own and I can experience it for
myself."

"It'll happen for you."

Yeah, mothe fucker, if you would just get with the program
and give me some dick! You re the hold up with the process, not me!

"I think so too, but not right now. I have so much
more I need to accomplish." I threw that at the nigga to
put him at ease. If I told him I was looking to become
"sperminated" immediately, he probably wouldn't even
breathe in my direction again.

"That's a good idea. You're young, and you should
experience a lot more before settling down with a child."

"My sentiments exactly." I smiled and turned over
on my stomach so my plump ass was smacking dude in
his face.

"So, what's up with you tonight?"

I could see Supreme trying his damnedest to look in
every direction but the flesh of my oil downed glistening
butt. "Packing."

"You're going on a trip." He raised one of his
eyebrows. I wasn't sure if it was out of surprise, or from
disappointment.

"I wouldn't call it a trip. My mom called me. She
didn't sound too good. I think maybe she's lonely, so I
told her I would come visit."

"How long are you gonna be gone?"

"A few days, unless you want me to stay longer?"

"No, I was just curious. I think it's good you're
going to spend some time with your mother. I know your
relationship with her has never been good. It's never too
late to change that."

"True. I guess this trip will let me see if that's possible."

"So, when are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"That soon?"

"If I didn't know better, I would think you were
going to miss me." I was a tad flirty with my delivery to
give Supreme and easy opening to reciprocate if he so
desired.

"It's nice having you around. .1 mean, you really
help me out a lot with Aaliyah."

Oh, so norm! this motherfuckermad because his live in babysitter
is going out of town. Listen to this bullshit right here! Niggas!

"I'ma miss her. Aaliyah is a wonderful little girl. I'll have to keep my trip brief if only because I'll miss her
so much." Right when Supreme was parting his lips to
respond, I glided my body in an awkward way so one
of my nipples slipped out my bikini top. "Is something
wrong?" I asked innocently, pretending I hadn't even
noticed I was giving Supreme a mouthful view of by
right tit.

"No, I'm good. I have business to attend, so I'ma
leave you to your sunbathing."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later on." That's right, baby, hurry
away so you don't give into temptation and tap this ass. But run
allyou rant. Eventually I'll catch you out there sloping, and when
that happens, you'll at least have to put up with me for a minimum
of eighteen-Years. The very idea of that put the biggest smile
on my face.

When I arrived in Philadelphia, I had two missions:
kill Devon, and meet Arnez Douglass. I wanted to know
why Supreme was filtering all that cash to a drug dealer.
Were they in business together? If so, was it drug related? And why
would Supreme feel the need to do that, because he's making a shit
load of money in the music industry... or at least I assumed but
then again with some people they can never make enough paper, I
thought to myself as I tried to figure all the shit out.

I was becoming impatient waiting for Steve at some
raggedy ass diner. I was ready to find Devon, kill him, and then spend the rest of my trip finding out what the
connection was between Supreme and Arnez.

"Can I get you anything else?" the waitress asked,
smacking way too hard on her gum.

I really wanted to say, `Just you staying the fuck out
my face,' but instead I said, "Another Coke." I didn't need
to bring any unnecessary attention to myself, and cussing
out the waitress would do exactly that. A few seconds
later, Steve walked in, and I was damn happy to see him
because I was ready to go.

"Sorry I'm late, but I got lost looking for this place,"
he explained as soon as he sat down.

"That's why I picked it because it's hard to find."

"I get it."

"I figured you would, since trying to locate people is
supposed to be your specialty."

And it is," he said, sliding a piece a paper across the
table.

"I take it this is the address I need."

"Indeed."

"Did you also dig a little deeper on that other
information I asked you for?"

"I don't know why you're interested in this man. I
told you he is a ruthless criminal. If anything, you should
be trying to stay away, not get closer. I don't understand
the logic behind that."

"That's not your concern. I have my reasons. Now,
what did you find out?"

"From my understanding, when he's in town he dines every day at a restaurant called Lacroix at the Rittenhouse
Hotel. So much so, that he even has a certain table he
always sits at."

"Interesting. What else?"

"He has a condo at the Murano in Center City."

"Is he in town now?"

"As of yesterday he was, because he had lunch at the
Lacroix."

"And you know this because?"

"I paid one of the waiters that works there a nice
piece of change that you're going to reimburse me for, to
inform me when he came."

"He could've been lying."

"No, because once he called, I went to the location
to confirm."

"What sort of confirmation?"

"See for yourself." Steve handed me a 9x12 envelope.

"So, this is what Arnez Douglass looks like. Not
bad...not bad at all," I said, staring at the photos of him
leaving the restaurant. "Who is that man with him?"

"His bodyguard. The waiter said he never leaves
his side. From what I understand, a few months ago his
other bodyguard was killed."

"Do you know what happened?"

"The car blew up, actually near this restaurant. The
food must be awfully good for him to still go back," Steve
remarked sarcastically.

"This is getting more interesting by the minute.
So, I'm assuming this is the best place to run into Mr. Douglass?"

"After what I just told you, you still want to make
contact with this man?"

"I'm sorry, maybe I need to check my birth certificate,
but I don't remember you being my father. So, moving
on, answer my question."

"The waiter said he's supposed to be there tomorrow
for lunch at noon. I told him to call me the moment he
arrives."

"Perfect! So then you call and give me the heads up.
Now, what about Precious?"

"No luck," he confessed, shrugging his shoulders.
Why is it so important for you to find Devon and
Precious?"

"Do you always askyour clients this many questions?"

"Only the ones that pique my interest."

"And why do I interest you so much?"

"For one, you have to be the youngest client I've
ever had, and I don't even understand how you can afford
me."

I'm so happy I gam this nosey mothe fucker a bunch of fake
information, because he would probably investigate me too, if he
hasn't already. He can try to pull up some shit on that fake name
I gam him if he wants to, but he'll come up empty.

"So, are you going to answer my question or not?"

"You mean about why I'm looking for those two
people?" Steve nodded his head. "They were very close
friends of my brother, but somehow they lost touch.
Before he died, he asked me to find them because he left them both something that was very meaningful to him."

"I see."

"The least I can do is fulfill his dying request.
Especially since it's his money that's paying for it."

"What do you mean?"

"Our parents died years ago, and he had no other
family, so I was the sole beneficiary of his insurance
policy."

"I think it's admirable that you're carrying out your
brother's wishes, but with whatever money you have left,
I hope you're being careful and not letting it go to waste."

"I promise you, I'm putting his money to very good
use. He would be proud."