“Setting you up,” she replied.
“What bitch?!” he shouted, caught off guard. A set up was the last thing that he had expected when he had entered the soundproof, private lap dance room. He started to lunge towards her but was halted instantly when he saw her pointing his own gun at him. Her hand shook slightly, revealing her nervousness, but Nico knew that all it took was the slightest tug on his hair trigger to send lead flying his way.
“Sit your ass back down,” she instructed as she walked over to the door and unlocked it. Moments later A’shai walked into the room. He kissed Liberty on the lips and tapped her behind slightly.
“Finish getting dressed, ma,” he said. “Did he touch you?” he asked, slightly vexed that Nico had even gotten a chance to see Liberty’s body.
“Damn, fam,” A’shai said sarcastically as he looked at naked ass Nico in disgust. “You got your little dick all out, making it rain… you doing it real big, huh?” He took a glance at Nico’s manhood as it went soft. “Or should I say little.”
Nico kicked himself for not recognizing Liberty. The last time he had seen her he hadn’t been paying attention to her face and because of that she was able to lure him without arousing suspicion. Liberty finished dressing, and A’shai nodded towards the door. “Wait for me in the car, ma,” he said.
Liberty put Nico’s gun inside of her handbag before walking out onto the crowded club floor. A’shai stared menacingly at Nico. His pistol wasn’t even drawn, and he could already see the intimidation in Nico’s eyes.
“What is all this about, fam? You coming up in here like this… going through all of this to catch me by surprise. What’s going on?” Nico asked playing dumb.
“Where’s the money?” A’shai asked.
Nico’s eyes shot behind A’shai as he hoped that his crew would come in and save him.
“If you’re looking for the clowns you came in here with you can stop. A few of my lady friends are taking care of them,” A’shai said as he rubbed his hands together. “Where’s my father’s money? You’re the only other person who knew the combo.”
Nico knew that there was no use denying it, but his mind spun as he tried to think of a way out of the situation. “That’s what this is all about?” Nico asked. “Unc’s paper? I wasn’t going to steal it, fam. You got it all wrong. I was trying to make sure the FEDS didn’t take it. After Unc got arrested, I went into the safe. I thought I was looking out. I moved the money so that the FEDS didn’t get to it first,” Nico explained, lying through his teeth.
“Why all the shady shit then, fam? Why didn’t you just say that?” A’shai stated as he kicked Nico’s clothes over to him. “Put your shit back on, duke. You straight slipping out here. If I had been another nigga, you would be slumped.”
“I know cuz… I’m tripping. That shit with Baron got me kinda fucked up. You get the head, the body will fall, nah mean?” Nico asked. “I thought we were all next. I’m up in here trying to get my mind off things.” Nico quickly put his clothes back on, and A’shai palmed his own pistol inside the hoodie. His finger was already on the trigger just in case Nico tried to jump stupid.
A’shai shook his head and wrapped one arm around Nico’s shoulder as he patted him sympathetically. He was putting on a naive show befriending Nico, when he really wanted to splatter his brains all over the floor. Not wanting to create a scene inside of the establishment, A’shai played nice and lured Nico outside, making him think that all was forgiven. “You got to move smarter, fam. You had me worried… thinking you had pulled grimy. I go to check the safe, and it’s empty… you know how that can look,” A’shai schooled as he led him towards the exit and into the parking lot.
The only light that illuminated the parking lot was the overhead street lamp. Although the lot was full of vehicles, no one loitered outside.
“I need you to take me to that paper. Pops need it for the lawyers,” A’shai stated as he walked behind Nico.
There was no way that Nico was coming up off that money and thoughts of killing A’shai filled his mind.
“Of course. I’ve got it in the trunk,” Nico said. A’shai shook his head in disgust at Nico’s carelessness. He was surprised that his bone-headed antics hadn’t led the police to them a long time ago. A’shai knew niggas that would tie up a bitch and her kid for that type of paper and here Nico was riding around with it in an unsecure trunk.
Sweat formed on Nico’s brow as he hit the alarm and popped the release on his trunk. He reached into the trunk where the bag lay and reached right beside it to grab the chrome.9mm that rested beside it.
“You still keep that nine in your trunk?” A’shai asked letting Nico know that he was two steps ahead of him.
“I…uh…yeah why what’s good?” Nico asked.
“I’mma need that too,” A’shai stated simply. Nico knew that if he tried to come up shooting A’shai would blow his brains off. He had the drop on him and at that moment all Nico could do was concede. He came up out the trunk and handed A’shai the bag of money, then dropped the gun inside.
Nico held out his hand, and A’shai embraced him, pulling him into his chest to show love. “Sleep tight, you bitch ass nigga,” A’shai whispered as he squeezed his trigger.
POP! POP! POP!
Nico’s body crumpled instantly to the concrete and Liberty immediately pulled up beside A’shai. He hopped into the car and she pulled off smoothly, disappearing from sight before anyone even came out the door to witness their departure.
NINETEEN
LIBERTY AND A’SHAI DISCREETLY RUSHED INTO THEIR hotel room, and A’shai tossed the duffel bag full of money on the bed. “Look in there,” he stated.
Liberty unzipped the bag, and her mouth fell open as she looked at all of the street money that it contained. “How much is this?” she asked.
“I don’t know… start counting,” he said with a smile.
Liberty dumped the money out on the bed and then tossed two handfuls into the air. It floated down around her and she laughed giddily in disbelief. “I didn’t know you were getting it like this,” she said.
“There’s a lot about me you don’t know,” A’shai replied as he joined her on the bed. “But I’mma teach you. I’mma share everything with you… always. Before you get too excited, that’s not ours.”
Liberty stopped flipping through the bills and looked up at A’shai in confusion.
“I’ve got to give some paper to my father’s lawyer. I’ll put the rest of the money in the streets. I need to re-up and flip this so that we can be straight. Baron will never know. In the end he’ll be paid back, and we’ll have enough money to be straight for awhile.”
A’shai dropped the money off to Baron’s lawyer and picked up on the details of his father’s case. Things weren’t looking well for Baron, but Clarkston assured him that money could buy any judge in the state if the price was right.
A’shai left Clarkston with a quarter million dollars, more than enough to handle Baron’s case, and he kept the rest so that he could hit the streets with it.
“Please let Baron know that the rest of his money will be waiting for him in an off-shore account. I would like to visit him… let him know to be expecting me sometime in the near future,” A’shai stated before leaving the office.
A’shai hit the streets as a one man army going hard to ensure that he could provide for Liberty. They had to keep low to avoid Samad so Liberty was confined to a different hotel room night after night. She was trapped there because it was unsafe to leave, but being trapped with A’shai was like heaven to her. Although he kept long hours in the street, the few hours they were together they used to become reacquainted. They fell in love all over again, and although they were in hiding, for the first time Liberty felt content. Cramped inside old hotel rooms, she
