The Glamorous Life (34 page)

“Oh, what’s yo name?” she called out as he was leaving.

“Just call me C.” He smiled. He knew for a fact that the name Cook’em-up rang in Richmond. Although she may not have seen his face before, he knew she had most likely heard his name—and it wouldn’t take long for her to put two and two together.

Cook’em-up was there at 5:30 and sat at the deli talking with Michelle until it was time for her to get off. Once they got outside, she asked if he could stop at Church’s Chicken.

He handed her the keys to his Range Rover. “Here you go. Drive wherever you need to go.”

She felt like a Big Willie pushing his Range with him leaning back in the passenger seat. When they arrived at her small one-bedroom apartment, Cook’em-up asked, “Where yo man at? Am I safe? I don’t want no niggas running up in here.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

He didn’t try to pressure her right then and there for info. She wanted to go change and get out of her work clothes. He was glad, because the smell of peppers, pickles, and onions was all over her. She returned wearing a sexy red sheer camisole and
the thong to match. She kept positioning herself so he could touch her. Before he could make his move, while they were watching TV, the next thing he knew she was on her knees between his legs putting down her massive head game. Between all that slob from her gold teeth and that tongue ring, it was apparent why Ronnie couldn’t stay from Michelle for long. Once she finished, he said, “Damn, baby, you needs to be mine.”

“Make me yours, then.”

“How am I going to do that when I see you and that nigga right there on that picture is all loved up?”

“Fuck him,” she said, crawling onto his lap.

“Why you say that?” he asked.

“He’s down Durham, North Carolina, on the run for some murder shit. I ain’t got time for that. The only thing he good for is his dick. He used to take care of me, but he can’t even do that no more, because his habit is catching up with him.”

She poured her heart out to him, giving him all the info he needed, and she had no idea that she was signing Ronnie’s death certificate. He rolled her over and dog-dicked her real good. Michelle had orgasm after orgasm until she passed out. Once she was asleep, he looked at her perfect black sexy body. Her stomach muscles were developed perfectly. It was only that face that threw him off. He wondered if plastic surgery could help her. He slipped his clothes on and stole one of Ronnie’s pictures. He crept out of the bedroom, leaving five one-hundred-dollar bills on the dresser and a note that read, “Thanks for everything! I do mean everything! Buy yoself something nice. I’ll call you soon.”

After the way she had worked her tongue, lips, and mouth, he didn’t want to burn the bridge down yet. “Loyalty and business over bitches anyway,” he said to himself as he locked the door behind him.

CHAPTER 37

Down A$$ Chick

T
he next morning Bambi stood outside on her mother’s porch waiting for Cook’em-up. Tricia advised her to leave while the baby wasn’t looking; otherwise Nya would be crying since Bambi had spoiled her. As Bambi sprinted to the rental car that Cook’em-up was driving, Tricia came to the door.

“When you get back, I need to talk to you about something important,” she said.

“Okay, Mommy. See you soon.” Bambi wondered why her mother was being so secretive, but she didn’t have time to think about it now. Soon she and Cook’em-up were heading down the highway.

A
lthough Lynx was hiding out in Canada, work had to be carried out down south. In Durham Bambi hit nightclubs two nights in a row looking for Ronnie. The third night she hit
the jackpot at Neal’s Lounge, a straight hole-in-the-wall where Cook’em-up pointed out Ronnie to her from afar. Bambi wore a halter top that revealed her back and cleavage and a micro-mini jean skirt that accentuated her long legs. She was the center of attention, but she only wanted to be the apple of one guy’s eye this particular night.

As soon as she zeroed in on Ronnie, some off-the-wall guy asked her to dance. She didn’t want to dance in this sweaty matchbox, but this was her chance to show off and grab Ronnie’s attention. Once she did, she acted as if she didn’t know he was looking at her. After she left the dance floor, she accidentally bumped into Ronnie and spilled her drink on him. She was glad that Lynx never brought around Ronnie, otherwise she never would have been able to pull this off.

“Oh, I am sorry. I apologize,” Bambi said with a smile. “Let me buy you a drink tonight?”

“No, let me,” he insisted, looking her over thoroughly. The dude was mesmerized.

“Okay, you can buy tonight, and I’ll buy tomorrow night?” she said, letting her eyes drift over his body sexily. They found a couple of empty seats at the bar, and Bambi ordered a glass of Alizé.

“Where you from? I hear you got a little accent.” He leaned in toward her.

“I’m from DC, but I go to Central. The dorms are so over-booked that they put us up in hotels, ” she lied, knowing that North Carolina Central’s campus was only blocks away.

“Oh, for real.” He changed the subject. “I see all the dudes in here trying to get at you.”

“I’m not feeling them. It’s something about you. You look different from them.”

“Probably because I’m a city nigga. I’m from Richmond, VA, baby!” he said with such pride.

“Oh, my cousin lives up there somewhere. She keep telling me to visit her, but I hear it’s a crazy place.”

“DC is crazy.”

“I heard Richmond is getting off the chain, with that high-ass murder rate.”

“Yup, we do be putting niggas’ dicks in the dirt,” he said, like he was a real gangsta.

“I like your outfit and your silver teeth.”

“Platinum, shawdy.”

Fool,
she thought.
I know damn well they are silver, all three of them. Stop fronting.

They sat at the bar for a while talking, laughing, and joking. After a couple more drinks, Bambi said she was tired. He followed her to her hotel room in his car to make sure she got there safely. She didn’t ask him in because she wasn’t sure if Cook’em-up was up there. Then again, they hadn’t planned for him to be that stupid.

“You know I got drinks tomorrow,” she said as she ran her hand along his arm.

“I know. I’m ’pose to be going out with my brother and them tomorrow at the Silk Hat, so make sure you come through. I’ll be there about one,” he told her.

“Okay, I’ll be there.”

He smiled his silver smile and drove off in his funky-ass car.

B
ambi was nervous about the next night, but Cook’em-up sat her down and had a heart-to-heart talk with her. “Look,
you know how much your baby need y’all back together as a family, right? You know Lynx didn’t kill Smooth, right?”

“Right.” Bambi nodded her head affirmative.

“You know for a fact he was with you.”

Again Bambi nodded.

“You done seen firsthand how that pig Columbo is, right? Well, he’ll do whatever he has to, to make Lynx take the fall for this. And you know this.”

He handed her a small vial and looked in her eyes as he continued. “I need you to slip this into his drink. It’s just a mild tranquilizer to put him to sleep. Once he’s asleep, call me and I’ll take care of the rest from there.”

“I hope it don’t come down to giving him no ass.”

“If you have to, work your magic. Whatever you do, don’t let this fool get away. We got to get him, you understand?”

She nodded as tears rolled down her face. She had gotten an old prescription of Valium from her mother. She wasn’t sure if they were any good or not, but she dropped one hoping that it would relax her. Even though she was scared, she took a deep breath and got her mind together. She knew what she had to do to ensure immunity for her man.
Girl, it ain’t no ifs and ands about it, you gotta hold it down!
she said to herself.

She let the Valium take its course, got dressed in a skimpy little “come and fuck me” Gabon outfit, and went to the club. Cook’em-up wasn’t far away, but he played the background, watching her every move. Bambi went over to the bar and walked up behind Ronnie. She covered his eyes from behind and said, “Guess who?”

He removed her hands, and she greeted him with a big hug and his silver teeth. She could smell the liquor all over him. “How long had you been here?”
Damn, I didn’t notice this dude had a slightly cock eye last night. Did I have too much to drink last night? That’s exactly why I don’t drink—I can’t be focused.

“Too long. You trying to go with me?” he asked, looking confused. She wrote it off as the liquor talking.

“Where your brother and your boys at?” Bambi asked.

“They in the back room getting pussy and gambling. I am ready to go get some too. What’s up?”

“Let’s go get a room, then,” Bambi purred seductively.

“Damn, you fast, girl,” he said. But he jumped right up and followed her out of the club. They walked past Cook’em-up as they exited.

You are some kind of dog,
Bambi thought, pushing his hands off her in the car. He was all touchy-feely, doing everything he could to unbuckle her pants. He had his head halfway down her pants as she drove to the hotel.

Bambi waited by the elevator while Ronnie paid for the room. She didn’t want anyone to be able to identify her, and luckily no one else was around as they walked down the hallway and found the room. As soon as they entered it, she pulled the Hennessy and Absolut out of her bag.

“Fix me a drink. Then after I have my drink, I am going to fuck the shit out of you. You heard?” he said. He was a lot more demanding than he had been the night before, but maybe he’d just been playing the gentleman to reel her in then, Bambi thought.

She fixed him a stiff drink while he got undressed and slid under the covers. She dropped the vial of stuff that Cook’emup had given her into the drink and then walked over and handed it to him. He gulped it all down and then lay back in the bed. His little dick was standing straight up. She reached out to stroke it; she could see he was getting excited.

“You know what time it is?” he said. “Time to take your clothes off. I ain’t pay for this room fo two days for you to beat my dick. I can do that shit myself.” He reached over and started unbuttoning her blouse. Bambi pulled back.

“Hold on, wait a minute. No, no, no.” She waved her hand in his face. “This ain’t going to be no hump, jump, and pump a bitch. I’m a woman with needs. There are places I need to be touched. Believe me, I’m going to touch you in all the right places and in ways no bitch is ever going to come close to,” Bambi said, kicking her gift of gab to him. Of course, he fell for it.

Bambi had calmed him down. He went from being a pit bull after a steak to a meek little puppy who only wanted some attention. She rubbed baby oil all over him. As she did tears formed in her eyes, but she kept taking deep breaths and thinking of her, Lynx, and the baby being together.

While she massaged his back, Ronnie suddenly jumped up and started acting crazy. He was dancing, shaking his butt to the music, telling her to “cut the music up louder.” She didn’t know what the hell Cook’em-up had cooked up in this poison, but she knew he had mixed it with some kind of animal tranquilizer.