Cheaper to Keep Her (part 1) (25 page)

I started beating myself up mentally for not going with my first gut that told me Diamond was getting high and not to fuck with her. She would probably have killed her own mama for drugs, so betraying me was nothing to her, I guess. As long as Duke was hitting her off with drugs she was down for whatever.

“
I told you I wasn’t lying. I ain’t got no reason to lie,” Neeko said.

“
When was this,” I croaked out, trying hard to fight back my tears.

“
This was a couple of days ago when they were celebrating the fact that Duke took my club from me and is going to hand it over to that bitch Diamond to run it and be part owner in it,” Neeko informed me. I didn’t trust anybody. Not even Neeko, although he seemed to be there with good intentions . . . and I’m sure, revenge on his mind.

“
Why did you come to tell me all of this Neeko? What do you want from me?”

“
I came to tell you because unlike ninety-percent of the Tidewater area, I believe that you’re innocent,” I could hear the anger in his voice. Plus, I like that finally someone believed me. “I also want revenge on the both of them,” he continued. “I wanna help you get the fuck out of here and in the end, I know you have a lot of personal information on Duke. I want to destroy this muthafucka, but in the process I want to clean him out. I want him to feel like I feel right now. I don’t even know where my next meal is gonna come from. Those fucking IRS assholes froze everything I got.”

“
But how can I help you? They took everything I had when they raided my apartment,” I said somberly.

“
Yeah, I know. Diamond told some of my old dancers that are staying loyal to me that she had been planting shit in your room for weeks now. I heard her telling one of the strippers that you were so depressed over Duke that you hadn’t even noticed.”

I had my fists balled up so tight, it felt like my skin would bust. I didn’t want to think about how stupid I had been. My misplaced love for a man who could care less about me probably from the day we met had made me lose my way. He had dogged me with the help of my best friend. I had been played. I deserved better but I had even dogged myself by being head over heels for a lowlife with money and status. I had been something I despised in life—a fool.

“
I just need you to give me all of the information about everything Duke has or is into,” Neeko continued. “Whatever you know could help me. I am going to follow that muthafucka’s every move. I’m going to do some research on every business venture and money-making plan he got going on. I’m going to get the real evidence . . . the evidence that will set you free and put the real criminals behind bars. Once I have them by the fucking throats, I will bring the information to your lawyer to get you freed and the tables will finally turn on Duke. He thinks he is untouchable. But my daddy used to say, ‘Dirty is what dirty does.’ And Lynise, it’s time Duke gets a taste of his own dirty.”

I saw something I liked in Neeko’s eyes. It was a certain seriousness I had never seen in his eyes before. All of this could only bode well for me. As hard as it was for me to trust anyone, I had to trust Neeko. He may actually be my ticket out of this place.

“
Well, I can give you all of the information I have. I had a lot of copies stored in a safety deposit box at the bank. I only have a few of his bank account information in there though and I think I fucked all of those accounts up,” I said sadly.

It was a good thing I had made copies of that stuff. I told Neeko what he would need to do in order to get some of the evidence from the box. Then I proceeded to tell Neeko everything I knew about Duke’s business dealings from the beginning. If Neeko was going to do me dirty like Duke and Diamond had done, I wouldn’t have known it. He seemed to sincerely want to help me. He was my only hope for getting out of jail.

I just hoped he didn’t betray me too.

But at this point, what did I have to lose.

Dirty is as dirty does and I wanted that muthafucka, Duke, and that bitch, Diamond, to get just as muddy as me.

Cheaper Keep Her Unique

Chapter 33—Someway, Somehow

I had waited for days and hadn’t heard anything from Neeko.

I had to admit, patience wasn’t a virtue for me at the moment. The days were long, the time dragged slowly. I knew lonely and lonely knew me. We weren’t the best of friends, but we had to tolerate each other. Actually, I had to tolerate the loneliness. But it made me feel good thinking loneliness had to tolerate me as well.

Depression was my real enemy and that was an understatement. I played out so many scenarios in my mind. In the first and frequently recurring scenario I believed Neeko was working for Duke and Diamond all along and he took the stuff I had in the safety deposit box and handed it all over to Duke. I cursed my lawyer for not agreeing to go get it in the first place. It was the scenario I couldn’t get out of my head. Trust was an issue but being incarcerated is a real thing and definitely makes the mind haywire. But I still believed in a hope and a prayer . . . I didn’t have a choice. I needed to believe in something.

On this day, I was being let out of my cell for my one-hour recreation. This time I asked the C.O. if I could get the newspaper or get library books. The C.O. was kind enough to give me the newspaper if I agreed to just stay in my bunk. She obviously didn’t feel like standing outside watching me do nothing for an hour. I agreed. I sat down on my hard ass bunk and opened the first page of the newspaper.

“
No! No! No! Oh God!” I screamed when I saw the top news headline. There was a large picture of Neeko splashed on the first page and the caption:

Former Magic City Club Owner Found Murdered Execution Style

All the hope I had of getting out of jail was dashed away. I doubled over with stomach pains. I couldn’t even read the story because I already knew what had probably happened to Neeko. I also knew what had probably happened to all of my information that I had kept for safe keepings.

In the days following Neeko’s news, I didn’t eat and I barely slept. I had settled on the fact I would just take the plea deal and do time for something I didn’t do. When my lawyer finally came to visit me, I was prepared to tell him just that. He was looking surprisingly excited and I wasn’t in the fucking mood for him.

“
Lynise! I have something to tell you,” my lawyer said as I sat down. He had never referred to me by my first name.

I stretched my sore, red-rimmed eyes to look at him. I was going to listen to him again before I told him I would take the plea deal.

“
We have an emergency hearing tomorrow to ask the judge to dismiss the case against you!” my lawyer sang out.

“
What?” I asked, very confused. Definitely more confused than excited. Doing time did that to you.

“
Somebody dropped a package off at my office with a bunch of mitigating evidence that puts holes in the prosecution’s case. Most of it points the finger at some very important city officials,” he said.

“
Neeko! Oh my God! He risked his life!” I shouted out through tears of joy.

My lawyer looked at me strangely. He didn’t ask me for any explanations but he told me not to tell anyone in the jail about the new developments in my case.

Hell, who could I tell . . . I was in solitary confinement and didn’t have a friend in the world?

It was two days before we could get an emergency hearing. I didn’t sleep a total of three hours in those two days. When I appeared in a very secretive closed court session, my lawyer asked for an immediate dismissal of the case. The judge said she needed a few hours to review the new evidence and make a decision. I sat in the courthouse holding cell on the edge of my seat.

“
Ms. Washington, it’s time to go back to court,” a courtroom deputy called out to me. I stood up on wobbly legs and let him cuff me and lead me into the courtroom. When I looked over at my lawyer I couldn’t tell anything from his facial expression. He had on a serious poker face. I gulped down a lump of fear.

I stood behind the defense table and the judge looked over at me. I was wringing my hands in front of me, a sign of pure nerves.

“
Ms. Washington, after reviewing the newly received evidence and new development in this case,” the judge began. “And after a review of the evidence compiled against you, and the fact that that evidence may have been acquired on a warrant obtained without full probable cause, it is this court’s position that the state’s case against you for the murder of Tania Blackmon, Brian Curtis and the list of crimes associated with the illegal adoption and sale of several unidentified babies, is dismissed without prejudice.”

I fell backwards into the hard wooden chair. I was very weak and couldn’t believe it. I grabbed a hold of my lawyer and just started balling. The judge banged her gavel.

“
I am not finished counselor and Ms. Washington,” the judge admonished. My lawyer urged me to stand back up. “With this case being dismissed without prejudice, this arrest will be expunged from your client’s records. However, in light of the seriousness of this case, your client is expected to make herself available to assist the prosecution in their case to find the real killer or killers, and baby snatcher. Should your client refuse to cooperate, she could be held in contempt of this court, as it is my direct order for her to keep herself available. Is this understood?”

“
Yes, your honor! Yes, I will do whatever it takes,” I cried out.

“
Good. Now go get on with your life and let’s work together to get whoever committed all of these crimes,” she said, cracking a little smile.

I was in total agreement. I knew just where to look and just how to do that too.

Duke Carrington had not seen the last of me.

Cheaper to Keep Her Unique

Epilogue

The judge told me to make myself available to the cops and assist in finding the killer and baby snatcher.

Hell, I knew the killer and baby snatcher. Probably half the Virginia Beach Police Department also knew Duke Carrington was the criminal mastermind behind the killings and baby snatching ring. So my thought as I was being released was, Why should I help people who already know the criminal responsible for the crimes.

So why in the hell should I stay in Virginia Beach? It was a valid thought. Yes, I wanted my revenge against both Duke and Diamond, but who in the hell was I and how could I pull this off by myself. Plus, I had to be realistic. My thirst for vengeance was why I had spent time in the joint for shit I didn’t do. My original plan of turning that muthafucka in was the plan I should have stuck with. And walking out of this place I couldn’t believe I still had this shit on my mind. I was certifiably crazy. I knew it. I had to be beyond stupid to want to go after Duke or even consider going after him and Diamond.

And Diamond, that bitch! I could see and feel myself kicking that bitch’s ass. I know she would be surprised to see me. She would be even more surprise when I just walked up to her ass and cold punch that bitch in her face. I would repeatedly attack her face with my fists. She would think I was Muhammad Ali on her ass. And once I knocked that slut down, I would kick her entire body from head to toe.

As much I knew I should just drop this shit, in my mind, I couldn’t. I needed some kind of vengeance . . . even if it was just kicking Diamond’s ass and suffering the wrath of Duke.

That bitch owed me.

The more I thought about the hell I went through being an inmate for the short time I was in jail, the more I realized I was lucky as hell to walk out of this hellhole. And this was jail. Prison would have ruined me. I got my ass kicked, my face fucked up, my cheek wired up because jailhouse hoes thought I killed young girls and stole babies. My reputation wasn’t shit now. And why? Because the one person I believed in, the one person I loved as family, the only family I thought I had said fuck me. Probably jealous over some petty shit like I once had Duke doing for me or choosing me over her worthless, slimy ass.

As I walked down the long sidewalk of the Virginia Beach Jail for Women, I was surprised to see a black stretch Hummer. The windows of it had been tinted and the rims of it looked really expensive. I wondered who the truck was there to pick up. I looked behind me and didn’t see anyone. Whoever it is, she is a lucky bitch, I thought.

My mind was on catching a bus and possibly calling someone to loan me enough money for a motel room for a few nights.

When I got to the end of the sidewalk, the back door opened and a female got out. I knew her, knew her well. Her name was Kat, short for Katrina. She was Neeko’s main girl. They had two daughters together. The rumor was she was Neeko’s first dancer at the Magic City. He immediately had a thing for her. She stopped dancing and became Neeko’s manager. She managed the money, took care of the business end of their enterprise. And the most important part I remembered about her was she was a scary bitch.

“
Get in,” she commanded me. I was afraid, actually very leery to get in the car with Neeko’s widow. Even though they weren’t legally married, I was sure she thought of Neeko’s death as losing a husband.