Read Black Friday: Exposed Online
Authors: Ashley;JaQuavis
Black Friday: Exposed (10 page)
“What are you doing here?” she asked sweetly.
“I just came by to check on Nahla,” he said.
She stood up and placed her hands on her hips as if she was angry. “I can’t believe you!”
“What?” he asked.
Yo, she be flippin’ out on a nigga like she’s my chick,
he thought as he touched his bruised eye gently and smiled slightly while shaking his head.
Yo, she be flippin’ out on a nigga like she’s my chick,
he thought as he touched his bruised eye gently and smiled slightly while shaking his head.
“You’ve known me for an entire day,” she said as she got up and grabbed the card and pushed it into his chest, “and you don’t know how to spell my daughter’s name!”
She laughed when she saw the dumbfounded look on his face.
“Oh, you’re trying to be funny,” he said with a sexy smirk. “Keep ya’ day job ma.”
She laughed and returned to Nahla’s side. “No seriously, thank you for the flowers and everything. She needs as much love as she can get.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I feel somewhat responsible, running you out of your home and all. How’s she doing?” he asked.
“She still has a fever, but I think she’ll be fine. The doctor said it will take a couple weeks for her to recover so I’m just putting it in God’s hands,” she replied.
“God? You trust
Him
that much?” Kasheef asked.
Him
that much?” Kasheef asked.
“You know what? I don’t know. Before all this happened, I didn’t think twice about God. I’ve never even been to church. It just feels like He’s the only hope that I have left,” she replied.
“That’s cool. I don’t have faith in nobody but me. Trusting other people will get you fucked up,” Kasheef said.
Nahla began to squirm and whimper so Alija gently picked her up, making sure not to unplug any of the wiring. “You want to hold her?” she asked.
“Nah, I don’t want to hurt her.”
“Boy sit down,” Alija said playfully as she stood up so that Kasheef could take her place in the chair. She placed Nahla in his arms and when her daughter stopped whining her mouth dropped in an
O
of surprise. “Wow, she likes you.”
O
of surprise. “Wow, she likes you.”
“She’s so damn small,” Kasheef stated as he counted ten tiny toes and fingers.
Alija laughed at his ruggedness. Kasheef reminded her of someone she used to know. Her father had died when she was a small child and the one thing she remembered about him was the way that he looked at her. He didn’t look at her, he looked through her. He could tell if she was happy or sad, just by staring into her eyes. Her father could make the worst day better and he always made her smile. He was able to right any wrong, and fix anything that may have been broken; including her heart if it was ever shattered. Kasheef had the same gentleness about him. It was hidden underneath years of a rough visage, but she knew that it was there; beneath the skin. Inside his heart Kasheef was just like her father. They were built alike and she smiled at the distant memory.
“She’s beautiful Alija,” he whispered gently as he stared at the little girl.
“Thank you,” she replied.
Staring at the little girl was causing his insides to feel strange. Nahla’s skin was soft as silk, her presence as cleansing as a confession, and her eyes as penetrating as a bullet. Holding the small child in his arms was the most innocent and trusting interaction that Kasheef had ever had. Baby Nahla was tugging at his heart. He had never seen anyone so precious and he knew that after his name was vindicated the first thing he was going to do was settle down and find the woman who could bring him the same joy that he felt right now. “Contact Norelle,” he said as he stared at the child in his arms. “Get the money for your daughter. She deserves the best.” With those words he handed Nahla back to her mother then stood up and made his exit.
Chapter Eleven
“Dawn, can you get Kasheef Williams on the line for me?” Carmen asked then released her intercom button.
A couple minutes passed and then her phone line lit up. She picked up the call and said, “Kasheef! Why haven’t you called me? What happened that night?” she asked eagerly, wanting to make sure Kasheef was not at risk for another murder charge.
“We’re cool,” Kasheef answered. “I’ve already paid her half of the money. She’s game. I’m walking away from this ... no bruises, no scratches.”
“Okay, make sure you keep this quiet and stay away from Ms. Bell. She’s still the enemy,” she reminded him before hanging up.
Her hair upswept in a bun, she sat behind her desk with her legs crossed professionally at the ankle and tucked behind her. She inhaled deeply and let it out slowly to relax her mind. She was more at ease now that Kasheef had made the deal happen with the witness. She was still curious about Alija’s background however. Jumping into an arrangement like this was like having sex. She needed to know who she was getting in bed with and it bothered her that she knew absolutely nothing about Alija. She hit her intercom.
“Yes, Carmen?” Dawn answered.
“Can you come in here please?” she asked.
A couple of minutes later Dawn entered the room.
“What have you found out about my Alija Bell?” Carmen asked as she removed her glasses and put them on top of her desk.
“Not a whole lot really,” Dawn replied.
“Oookay,” Carmen said. “Be more specific.”
“She has no record of criminal history. She’s on government assistance and has one daughter. The birth certificate at the hospital was not signed by the child’s father so that’s a dead end. I tried to dig into her past and find out about her family, but I haven’t had much luck on that either. It seems like I’m digging for a needle in a haystack. It would be much easier if I knew what I was looking for,” Dawn admitted.
“I don’t even know what I’m looking for,” Carmen said.
“Do you think she’s lying about witnessing the crime?” Dawn asked. She knew that she was not supposed to ask this, but the trial had garnered so much media attention that she could not help but to find out the facts first hand.
“Are you asking this off the record?” Carmen asked. She gave Dawn a skeptical look. She should not even have entertained the question, but the trial was driving her crazy and having someone to talk to about it was like a release.
“Of course,” Dawn replied. “It doesn’t seem like she is lying. She was there and she sounds pretty sure of what she thinks she saw. I just don’t like surprises you know?”
“Well I’ll keep digging boss. If I find something that’s even remotely suspicious I’ll run it by you and you can decide where you want to take it from there,” Dawn suggested.
“Thanks Dawn,” Carmen said. “You’re the best.”
When Norelle received the phone call from Alija informing her that she was willing to deal with her, she was ecstatic. With that one conversation, Alija erased all worries from Norelle’s heart. She sat in the parking lot of Motel 6 and waited for Alija to arrive. She hated this part of town and couldn’t wait to pay Alija so that she could high tail it back to her fabulous life in the city. Checking her rearview and side mirrors continuously, she just felt like she would be robbed at any minute. After today she would be home free. She planned on going to celebrate that night. There was no way anyone could talk her out of going to enjoy her riches and freedom.
Kasheef can rot his ass in the jail cell for all I care,
she thought. It was time for her to find a new man. It was out with the arrested baller and in with the new, upcoming hood star. She was indeed a hustler’s wife. It didn’t matter to her which hustler it happened to be as long as his money was long and his name rang bells in the streets. Norelle was relieved when she noticed Alija pull up behind her. She got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side of Norelle’s car. She tapped on the window. Norelle unlocked her car doors so that Alija could hop in.
Kasheef can rot his ass in the jail cell for all I care,
she thought. It was time for her to find a new man. It was out with the arrested baller and in with the new, upcoming hood star. She was indeed a hustler’s wife. It didn’t matter to her which hustler it happened to be as long as his money was long and his name rang bells in the streets. Norelle was relieved when she noticed Alija pull up behind her. She got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side of Norelle’s car. She tapped on the window. Norelle unlocked her car doors so that Alija could hop in.
“Thanks for showing up,” Norelle said.
“No, thank you for showing up,” Alija replied. “Do you have the money?”
“So what are you going to say on the stand?” Norelle asked as she pointed to the oversized Gucci bag in the backseat.
“I’m going to tell the truth. I was there that night. I saw everything and when I get on the stand everyone in the room will feel as if they were there too. I may even shed a few tears,” Alija laughed.
“A’ight girl. Thanks for looking out. You know we women have to stick together,” Norelle said.
“Like magnets,” Alija answered. She unzipped the designer purse and saw stacks of money. “Is it all here?”
“Yeah, it’s there,” Norelle stated.
Alija opened the door and walked back to her vehicle. Once she was inside she watched Norelle drive away. “Stupid, stupid bitch,” she mumbled as she tossed the money in her backseat and headed back to the Marriott. She was feeling real thick. She now had $175,000 in her possession—all cash. She still had more coming in once she testified. Feeling nostalgic and unable to contain herself, she palmed her cell phone from the table and called her sister.
“Mick, I need you to start working on that jury. Opening statements are tomorrow morning. Plant that seed early so that nothing goes wrong. At the end of the trial I’m going to break you off a’ight?” she said.
“You know I got it on my end. Keep in touch,” Mickey replied.
“I will, but not too much. There is so much riding on this. Let’s not get sloppy. We don’t want to get caught,” she reminded her sister. “Just stick to the plan.”
“Yo, ’Sheef, Norelle just left Motel 6,” Stick reported as he tailed her two car lengths behind.
“What she been doing?” Kasheef asked.
“Nothing really, spending up all your dough like crazy. I’ve been seeing her around that nigga Fiasco,” Stick reported.
Kasheef felt his blood boil at the mention of Fiasco’s name. He was a new cat who had come into New York from the Midwest a couple months back. He had come around shaking things up since Kasheef’s arrest because he knew that Kasheef could not make a move of retaliation because it would draw attention to his case. Norelle was getting out of pocket by messing with his adversary and he wanted to smack the taste out of her mouth for breaking the code.
“Fiasco, huh?” Kasheef seethed anger through every word as he grit his teeth. He wasn’t bothered by the fact that Norelle was messing with another man. He was hot because of the way that she went about it. She was disrespectful and was now associating with the enemy. “What else is she doing?”
“She just gave ol’ girl a big ass purse though.”
“Okay, stay on her. I’ma let her see my face tonight. See what she got to say for herself, nah mean?”
“She gon’ shit a ton of bricks,” Stick shouted with laughter in his voice. He would have paid to see the look on her face. “You want me to handle her since you under so much heat?”
“Nah, fam. I got something else planned for her. That’s love though baby. Good looking out,” Kasheef responded.
“Get at me when she’s on her way to the crib later on tonight. I need to know when to show up,” Kasheef said.
“One.” Stick disconnected the call with a twisted smile on his face.
Norelle couldn’t contain herself. She had dropped off the money and now her future was secure and her fate was in her own hands. With a safe full of money, she felt accomplished. It didn’t matter to her that she had swindled her way to the top. She called Carmen and asked if she wanted to meet her for drinks. They decided to meet at the 40/40 in Manhattan. Norelle stayed dressed to impress so there was no need for her to stop and change. She was slowly becoming a diva and socialite—all on Kasheef’s expense. She walked into the club with a newfound independence. Since Kasheef had gone away she did feel lonely, but she knew that money was harder to attain then men so she felt that the switch was worth it. Kasheef was easily replaceable, money was not. As she sat down at the bar she noticed Carmen walk through the door. Stepping into the popular club wearing a crème Fendi pencil skirt and ruffled blouse, Carmen was dressed just right for the occasion. Her fashionable appearance fit right into the upscale atmosphere of the club. Hood fellas and businessmen alike, who were working with major chips all turned their heads to get a peek at Carmen’s backside as she sashayed by. Norelle smiled as Carmen approached and they kissed each other once on each cheek before taking their seats. Norelle had just become reacquainted with Carmen so she decided to keep her recent actions concealed from her. She didn’t know how she would react and she definitely didn’t want Kasheef to find out. With Carmen being Kasheef’s lawyer she knew that it would be a conflict of interest. She also did not need Carmen to pass judgment on her. Norelle knew what she was doing was wrong, but to her it was worth it. She did not need random opinions of people trying to tell her how to live. She was going to do her regardless—right or wrong.
“Hey!” Norelle shouted over the loud music.
“How have you been holding up?” Carmen asked.
“I’m good. Real good actually, but can you do me a favor and not talk about ’Sheef ’s case tonight. I just need a break from it all,” Norelle insisted.
Carmen nodded, “I understand.”
Stick entered the club and spotted Norelle sitting at the bar next to Kasheef ’s lawyer. He walked to the bar, knowing that Norelle would never recognize him. Kasheef kept his women separated from his friends. They were the treasure that everybody wanted, but no other man could get too. Kasheef was smart, he never gave another man the opportunity to get in his woman’s ear and now Stick was glad that they had never met. He took a seat directly next to the two women and ordered a drink from the bartender. He pretended to blend in with the crowd as he listened to the conversation going on next to him.
“I bought a new place,” Norelle said.
“Really? Where?”
“It’s in the city, in a building near Union Square. I just need a change. It doesn’t feel right sleeping in my old place. The police turned it upside down and it just doesn’t feel like home anymore. I had furniture delivered there today. I just want to forget about the past and move forward,” Norelle said making up a small white lie. “As a matter of fact, I think I may sleep there tonight.”
Stick pulled out his cell phone and sent a text message to Kasheef.
Ya’ girl bought a place near Union Square. She’s going there tonight. I’ll tail her to find out the exact address.
Kasheef received the text message and knew exactly where Stick was referring to. He did not need Stick to tell him where it was located. Norelle had shown him the vacant condo a couple months ago and he had been considering buying it as a birthday gift for her. He shook his head in contempt and headed toward his destination. Norelle was showing an entirely different side of herself. He had known that she had her faults, but she had turned out to be a complete snake. When he arrived he looked up toward the luxury building as he parked his car across the street. He knew that Norelle would be shocked to see him and he was well aware of the temptation he had to break her neck. He urged himself to remain calm. He had to do this right. What he had in store for Norelle was much worse than death. He just had to be patient.
Norelle stumbled into the elevator. She was a bit tipsy from all of the cocktails she had consumed while at the club. It was the first night that she would spend at her new apartment and the first thing she wanted to do was peel out of her clothes and enjoy her Jacuzzi style bath tub. She opened the door and stepped into the apartment. Darkness and unfamiliarity enveloped her and she ran her hands along the walls as she searched for a light switch. When she finally found one, the high ceilings and hardwood floors were illuminated. She walked down the narrow hallway and into the living room and gasped when she saw a male figure sitting on her brand new furniture.
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