Take Money Mistress (17 page)

“Always have, nigga.” She giggled.

Lewis’ attention went toward Alexandria when she got closer and he kissed Tamera so that she wouldn’t see his face just in case she was the stripper they had been looking for. When she walked past them, Lewis pulled his lips away from Tamera’s.

“Naw, that ain’t that bitch.”

Alexandria didn’t recognize him and she no longer felt anybody following her throughout the store. She wondered if she was tripping.

When Steve saw her leave the barbershop in Annapolis with her son, he thought she was sexy and knew he knew her from somewhere. She looked different because she was casually dressed in an Apple Bottom t-shirt and jeans. She wore Nikes and her hair was back in a bun. What confirmed where he knew her from was the engagement ring that she wore around her neck because he remembered thinking that she had to do a whole lot more than pussy popping to get a diamond like that.

Steve called Terrell, and said, “Son, where the fuck you at?”

“Son, I’m at my mom’s house in New York. What’s going on?”

“Nigga, I found shorty. What you want me to do.”

“Find out where she live and handle her ass. I wish I was in Maryland right now, um,” he said as he shook his head.

“Don’t worry. I got you.”

Steve followed behind Alexandria all the way up 97 as she weaved through traffic. He made sure to be at least three cars behind her and kept up with her whichever lane she drove. By the time they got to exit twelve, Alexandria got off to get gas before heading home. She noticed a car two pumps over and the man looked like he was pretending to pump gas. When she looked in his direction, she knew she recognized the face and realized she saw that same car a lot recently and figured he must have been following her. She was scared, especially because her son was with her. Nobody heard anything from Juicy, so she had a feeling if she didn’t play it smart she would be next to go missing.

Why the fuck did you take that nigga’s money, stupid bitch
! Alexandria thought as she took the pump out of the gas tank and jumped back into her car.
If this nigga want a chase, I’ll give his ass one
.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Alexandria drove to Glen Burnie Mall and parked her Mercedes so that she and her son could get out. She didn’t want to tell him what was going on so that he wouldn’t be alarmed.

Once Alexandria was in the store, Steve parked his car two rows over from hers just in case she recognized it from the gas station or the highway. Alexandria walked into a store that had an outside and mall entrance. She walked straight out of the store with worry in her eyes and didn’t say a word.

“Mommy, what are you doing?”

“Shopping, baby. You want some new shoes?”

“Yes, please, and a new toy.”

“I got you.” She smiled at her son with fear in her heart. When a young couple approached her as they were heading out of the mall, she stopped them. “Excuse me, do you drive?” she asked the girl.

“Yes, but my boyfriend drove us out here.”

“What do you drive?” she asked the boyfriend.

“I got a 2006 Toyota Camry. I love that shit. Why?”

“I got a Mercedes. If you give me the keys to the Camry, I will work it out with you to switch vehicles. I’m sure you’ll love my Mercedes,” Alexandria stated confidently, knowing everybody loved a fancy ride.

“Are you fucking with me?”

“No. I’m so for real. I’m begging.”

“No need to beg. Nigga, give her the damn keys. I can’t wait to drive it,” his girlfriend said with a smile.

He handed Alexandria the key and they made a switch right there. She gave them her phone number so that they could handle everything later.

“Thank you so much. I will be in contact soon.”

“The pleasure is all mine. I’ll holler at you later. Oh yeah, the Camry is black. It’s parked in the second row out this door.” He pointed.

“You’ll see the Mercedes. It’s out that door too.”

“Thanks, girl,” his girlfriend added.

“Why did you give our car away?” Timmy Jr. asked.

“Because we’ll get a new one.”

His eyes lit up. “I can’t wait, mommy.”

“Me either.”

She almost cried at the thought of giving up her Mercedes, but she knew if Terrell and his niggas knew what she drove, it would only be a matter of time before they found out where she lived and where she worked. She couldn’t chance that.

She thought about how Curtis surprised her with the Mercedes and how she vowed to drive it until the wheels fell off. She would rather have her life over a Mercedes any day, so she parted with it.

Once the young couple walked out of the door, Steve had his gun cocked and aimed. When he saw the young man unlock the door from the key ring, he rushed back into his ride.

“Shit!” he yelled while banging on the steering wheel. “That bitch better step her shit up if she wants to pull a fast one on me! I don’t fuck around.” He was steaming hot.

Alexandria waited inside of the mall for what seemed like hours until she decided to change her and her son’s outfit. She dressed as a man and wore a basketball cap. Her son wore one as well to match his new outfit.

When they walked to the Camry, Steve was still looking at the front door for Alexandria. She drove right past him. Alexandria ran so fast to the apartment with her son that he thought it was fun. She searched all around to be sure it was empty and kept looking out of the window to be sure nobody followed her.

Alexandria thought about what Liz said about snitching on a hustler, but she felt that she had no choice so that her and her son could get their lives back without her hiding and watching her back. She knew that retaliation was possible if they ever got out of jail, but she needed to do what she needed to do.

She walked over to the dining room table and grabbed her cell phone out of her purse. She searched in her wallet for the police officer’s business card that he gave her if she had any info regarding Juicy’s disappearance. She dialed the number and almost hung up. She was nervous, but when she heard him answer the phone, she knew there was no turning back.

“Officer Walter speaking.”

“Hello, Officer Walter. This is Alexandria Payne. I met you at the strip club a couple of weeks ago. You asked me to call you if I thought of anything that could help your case.”

“Yes, Ms. Payne.” He reached over his keyboard at his computer to grab a Post-It and a pen. “How may I help you?”

“I have some information that may be interesting. When will it be possible to talk to you face to face?”

“I can come to your residence if you would like. Just give me your address.”

Alexandria knew she didn’t want people wondering why she had a cop at her apartment. So, she told him, “I’ll come to your office when you are free.”

“I’ll be free in an hour. Are you familiar with the Baltimore County Precinct in Catonsville?”

“No, but I have GPS on my phone. I’m sure I can locate it.”

“Great! I look forward to seeing you.”

Before heading to the precinct, Alexandria dropped her son off at her parents’ house. Once at the precinct, she put the baseball cap over her head and wore it low over her eyes. When she got inside, she took it off. After meeting up with the officer, she had given all of the info she had. She told him about Terrell’s house and Steve’s car, but she didn’t have a tag number or address. It was still enough info to get a case started.

By that evening, Alexandria had met up with the young couple at a parking garage off of Baltimore Street. They both signed over the title to each other’s vehicles, but she so badly wanted to back out of the deal. But, while Terrell and his friends were looking for her, she knew better than to back out.

It didn’t take long before the officer found the info on Steve’s car and confiscated it. Once analyzed, they found Juicy’s hair in the trunk that they had compared to the hair samples from her hair brush. Lewis and Steve were taken into custody and wouldn’t get released until they had a trial.

Terrell had a warrant out for his arrest and since he was in New York, he had no idea. He tried to get in touch with Lewis and Steve, but it never happened. A couple of days before Alexandria turned twenty, Terrell was back in Maryland since he left Steve in charge of his daily drug operations until he returned home. He wanted to know how shit was going and he was worried when he didn’t hear back from him.

It took a little longer for the police to find Terrell’s address because he didn’t have a Maryland driver’s license and his house was in his mother’s name. Before he could pull into his driveway, the police rolled up on him and demanded that he step out of his vehicle.

“What the fuck!” was all he said.

When he stepped out of the car, the police officer helped him down to his knees and put handcuffs on him. He was read his rights and was locked up. Since none of the men claimed to know where Juicy was dead or alive, her body wasn’t discovered. After investigating, the police found Terrell’s shoe print in the soil near the rosebushes and his fingerprints inside of Juicy’s home. They weren’t sure which man did what, but the police hoped that keeping them all in jail would make at least one of them snitch.

$$$$$$

It was Alexandria’s birthday and her friends surprised her with a cake and drinks. She was so surprised and glad that her friends had forgiven her.

“Bitch, you knew we wouldn’t forget your birthday. I’m still in my feelings about that shit you said about me and how you took that money, but you’re my bitch and I love you,” Liz said as she handed her a gift bag.

“Same here and I miss you so much,” Sofia added while giving Alexandria a small gift box.

It was weird for Alexandria to not be celebrating with Curtis. She was sad that morning until her son walked in her room with a small bowl of cereal and an orange. He told her it was her birthday breakfast. She adored it and smiled hard as she thanked him with kisses. As promised, Alexandria and Timmy Jr. went to the car dealership and picked out a brand new black Range Rover, which she planned to get the windows tinted and twenty inch rims. They both loved the SUV.

“I’m so happy y’all came through for me. I didn’t feel up to celebrating without Curtis or with the shit with Juicy on my mind.” She frowned.

“What’s going on with the shit with Juicy?” Liz asked.

“I found out one of Terrell niggas had been following me and if I didn’t tell the police about their involvement, I would be missing too.”

“You did the right thing for everyone involved and I’m sure her family needs closure,” Sofia told Alexandria.

Liz had a bad feeling in her stomach about the situation. She sat across from Alexandria on the love seat, and said, “You for real need to be careful because they could still be released if the charges don’t stick when their court cases come around. I don’t want to put fear in your heart, but nowadays, niggas don’t fuck around.”

“Fear lives in my heart ever since this shit went down. I have been thinking about moving out of Maryland until I knew what the deal was with their sentencing, but I got a job where I make great money and everybody I love is here.” Alexandria fought back tears. “I fucked up. I won’t take shit from nobody else. I just hope this shit go away.”

Liz and Sofia knew that shit wouldn’t go away. Even if they got jail time, they would still want to have Alexandria dealt with.

After feeling tipsy, Alexandria’s mood had changed. She walked over to the table where her gifts were and picked them up.

“Open my shit first,” Liz demanded.

“Alright.” Alexandria opened her gift and found a bottle of perfume and a Louis Vuitton purse. “Thank you so much!”

“You’re welcome.”

Next, she opened Sofia’s gift and there was a white gold ring with diamonds surrounding an emerald, which was Alexandria’s birthday stone. “OMG!” She yelled. “I love it!” Alexandria walked over to Sofia and gave her a hug, and then gave Liz a hug too.

With her friends around, Alexandria felt a sense of being normal again. She almost felt like the spoiled, daddy’s little girl that she used to be. She wore a smile around her friends, but her mind raced rapidly with thoughts of Terrell, his crew, and what they could have possibly done to Juicy.

Chapter Twenty-Three

June was almost over, and Timmy and Megan were newlyweds. They had a new house and Timmy Jr. stayed with them often. Megan couldn’t wait to get pregnant to start a family of their own. Timmy Jr. wanted a sibling to play with, so he figured that since his dad and Megan were married, a sibling would come soon.

By the time July rolled around, Timmy Jr. turned three years old and Juicy’s body was found floating in the Patapsco river. It was miles away from where she was dumped and her body had been in the water for so long that the police couldn’t link Terrell and his crew to it. Being that a bullet wound was in her forehead, they tried to find the gun used to kill her. Without any luck, they went with matching the bullet to other crimes and it was discovered that a body that was found in a vacant home in the Eastside of Baltimore was linked to the bullet. The first body was of a man who was shot at close range as well. After weeks of trying to find a link between the two, it came back on Steve. He was trigger happy and whenever Terrell needed somebody handled, he was the man.