“You won’t.” She scrambled out of the room.
“Traitorous bitch,” Vaughn panted as sweat poured down his face and mixed with the blood.
“Shut the fuck up.” I stepped toward the doorway and yelled, “Yo, you good down there?”
“Yep!” Denny yelled back.
“A’ight, strip them motherfuckers down. We ’bout to roll out in about a minute and a half!”
“I hope you know you ain’t getting away with this shit.” Vaughn moaned. “You must not know who the fuck I am.”
“I know exactly who you are. That’s why I’m here and not at your little corner spot where everyone else thinks you keep your stash.” I pointed my gun to his shriveled-up dick and laughed. “And from the looks of things, I understand a lot more now too.”
“Baby girl, you got ten seconds to get your black ass back here!” I warned. “Ten, nine, eight . . .”
My countdown got down to three by the time she ran back into the room. The empty duffle bag was now full.
“Here, here. That’s everything, including his guns,” she said.
“Put that shit on the dresser in it too.” I nodded toward the cash and jewelry Vaughn had pointed out earlier. “And those keys and phones.”
She followed the instructions and dumped the items into the bag, then gave it to me. I slipped it back onto my body.
“Good job. Now, bring your ass. And you too, tiny dick,” I commanded.
Vaughn hesitated like he wanted to try something with his naked, unarmed self, but he got moving once I fired a warning shot into the dresser behind him. I shoved him and his girl into the little bathroom in the hallway.
“Hey, bring them up here,” I yelled to Denny.
Denny escorted the two dudes from downstairs, who were naked now too, and I waved the gun in the direction of the bathroom. “In you go.”
They slow-stepped it, but they understood they had no choice but to go in there with Vaughn and his woman.
“Now, don’t y’all get freaky in there, okay?”
“Fuck you,” one of the dudes said.
I closed the door and lodged a chair underneath the doorknob. It wouldn’t hold them long, but long enough for us to get the hell outta there. We ran out of the house and into the waiting minivan. We barely had the doors shut before Li’l Al took off down the street.
“You get their phones and keys?” I asked Denny.
“Hell yeah, I did.”
“Cool,” I said, taking my mask off. “Wanna hear something crazy?”
“What’s up?”
“That nigga Vaughn’s face was already fucked up. He really did get into a fight with somebody.”
“Word? Well, he gave as good as he got, because I heard the other dude left the club in an ambulance,” Li’l Al added.
“What? And y’all thought that was me?”
“Hey, that’s what everybody was saying,” Denny replied.
“This shit is wild.” I shook my head.
A text came in from my aunt, telling me my mama was up and asking about me.
“I don’t know what the fuck is going on with that shit at the club, but I ain’t got time to worry about it right now. Take me back to my moms.”
KD
18
“Hey, KD.”
I walked into the reception area of Building 6 on my property and was greeted by the smiling face of Elizabeth Martin, a pretty brunette with perky breasts and a fine ass. She was one together woman, and I was hoping to fix her up with Tyler one day. They would have some pretty-looking grandkids for me.
“How ya doing, Lizbeth? I heard you needed to see me.” I removed my hat and took a seat in front of her desk.
“Yes, sir, I sure do,” Elizabeth replied in the sweetest of Southern accents. “Tyler had me run some tests on the young ladies you’re planning to have at your party.”
“Yeah.” I nodded, realizing that she would never have called me over personally unless it was important. Real important. If she said what I thought she was fixin’ to say, I was going to kill Peter Lee. My party was in a day, and the last thing I needed was a bunch of diseased prostitutes. I needed those girls to be as clean as the board of health and ready to work. I’d already spent a small fortune on catering and remodeling Building 3.
“Give it to me straight, Lizbeth. How bad is it?”
She chuckled. “Not bad at all. There are a few girls I’d exclude, but the reason I wanted to speak to you is because I discovered something interesting.”
I sat up in my chair. When Elizabeth had something interesting to share, it usually meant dollars signs for old KD. “Like what?”
“Four of the women are prime candidates for us to bring in house, and two may fill an immediate need.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You’re not shitting me, are you? You sure about that?”
“Yes, sir. I was surprised myself, so I double checked.” She handed me a piece of paper, which I scanned, even though I didn’t know what the hell I was looking at.
“Would ya look at that?” I could already hear the cash register ringing.
“What do you want to do?” Elizabeth asked.
“I’m gonna go talk to their pimp, that’s what I’m gonna do. Then I’m going to sit down with these young ladies and make them a job offer—one that I don’t think they’ll be able to refuse considering the lives they lead.” Smiling broadly, I placed my hat back on my head as I got up from my chair.
She came around her desk and hugged me. “You’re a good man, KD Shrugs. I wish I had met you when you were younger. We could have had a good time.”
“We sure could have.” I laughed. “But these days, I live vicariously through my son. You and Tyler would make a fine couple.”
“Maybe, but he’d have to ask me out for us to know. I think your boy is scared of me,” she said lightly.
“Well, I’m gonna
