Crooked G's (28 page)

“Woo wee! Where the fuck she get this from? This is some of that stanky stank. It looks like some of that Blue Ivy OG Kush everyone been talking about,” he said admiring the bluish-colored marijuana.

Bay cracked open a blunt and then began to fill it up with the strong-smelling sticky buds. He lay back in the bed and turned on the television, so he could settle into his surroundings. He heard the shower starting to run in the bathroom and couldn't help but to think about Timbo.

“To all the bitch niggas who ain't here.” He tilted his cup and poured some of his drink on the carpet. “Rest in piss pussy,” he said, busting out in devilish laughter. Bay had an evil soul and didn't care who he made miserable with his demented ways. In his world, he was the only one that mattered.

Bay felt Latrice had been in the bathroom almost forever and wanted her to come out. He had drunk almost the whole bottle
already and was ready to get his smash on. Before he could get up to see what was taking her so long, Latrice was coming out of the bathroom. She was wearing the same orange dress she wore during the van robbery, along with her black leather stilettos. Bay saw how good she looked in her tight-fitting dress and got aroused immediately. Now he really wanted her badly.

“Guess what I'm trying to do?” Latrice asked as she slowly walked over to him with her hands behind her back.

“I ain't the smartest nigga in the world, but I guess you're to trying fuck like I am.”

“Yeah. But I'm trying do some kinky shit,” she said, dangling a pair of handcuffs in front of him with her leather glove-covered hands.

“Damn, bitch. I just got out da mothafucka and you trying to have a nigga locked up already?” Bay joked.

“Don't worry, baby. These cuffs are for both of us. I'm trying to do the bid with you.”

Bay loved the fact that Latrice was his down-ass chick no matter what. Bay was the type of man who thought that being submissive to women was a sign of weakness, and he never showed vulnerability. Latrice was the only one he could trust and Bay felt he was the strongest man she had ever known. Bay thought that it would be fun to see where her game was going since he trusted her so much and really wanted some ass.

Clink! Clink!
Latrice slapped a cuff on his wrist and then the other one onto the bedpost. “Before we do this, let me show you the big surprise I got for you.” Latrice blew him a kiss and then climbed off the bed.

“Nah, whatever it is can wait. Now bring your ass back over here, so we can get this shit started.”

“It's only going to take a minute. Hold on,” she said as she opened up a dresser drawer under the television. Bay didn't want any more surprises and only wanted her to show him what it was, so she could stop the bullshit.

Latrice pulled out a white gift box with a red ribbon wrapped around it. She walked it over to him and held it out so he could take it. “Open it.”

Bay pulled off the ribbon and then lifted the top off to see what was inside. “What the fuck is this? Is this supposed to be some type of joke?” Bay asked confused as he took out a Bible and threw it on the bed.

“That's only part of your gift, Bay. The rest of it is still in the box.”

Bay moved away some of the wrapping paper and saw a large thick envelope with a gold label on it that read:
Everything You Need to Start a Record Label.
Bay was so worried about fucking Latrice that he almost forgot he was even starting a company. He was so pleased to see the package that he cracked a big smile.

“Thank you, baby. This is what the fuck I've been waiting for. We're about to get this thing cranking.” He ripped open the envelope, so he could review everything that was inside. The first item Bay pulled out was a document from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He couldn't wait to see his label's name and logo for the first time. His eyes enlarged as he progressively searched for it.

Bay found the company name and logo and couldn't believe what he saw. His eyes filled with rage as he quickly turned to Latrice.

“Do you like it?” Latrice asked sarcastically.

“Bitch! What the fuck is Bangspot Records?” he yelled.

She simply smiled. “It's the name of my new label.”

Bay was furious. “What the fuck happened to my Lonely Thug
Entertainment? Answer me, bitch!” Bay tried to get over to Latrice, so he could choke the shit out of her, but remembered he was handcuffed.

“Bay. Calm down, so I can tell you what's going on.”

“Bitch, you got ten seconds to tell me; all this is some bullshit!” Bay said, throwing the envelope across the room.

“No, Bay. Lonely Thug was some bullshit and that's why I couldn't let it come into existence.”

“You? What the fuck you mean, you? That's my shit!”

“I guess you don't see what's happening here, do you, Bay? Look around the room…Today's your funeral.”

Bay didn't know what the fuck she was talking about, until he looked again at all the flower displays around the room. He then scanned over all the writing on the walls again, and the phrase “Welcome Home, Bay” held a whole new meaning. Latrice then pressed the play button on the stereo that was beside the television, and Donnie McClurkin's “Order My Steps” came blaring out of the speakers. Latrice went back into the drawer and pulled out a black .38 revolver and pointed it at Bay.

“You're going to pull a gun on me? Are you fucking crazy, bitch?” Bay yelled from the top of his lungs.

“Bay. All that barking ain't necessary, baby. It's been your time for a while now, but I never had the heart to do it. I'm glad you got out of jail when you did. If you would have done something stupid in there, I don't know when I would have been able to kill you. You did so much fucking damage to me that you don't even know. Now, for all my pain, I'm taking what's mine.” Latrice stared dead into his eyes as he still tried to free himself from the headboard.

Latrice finally had Bay right where she wanted him. The thought
of killing Bay had crossed her mind many times after he'd either choked or physically beaten her. She had to find a way to get Bay out of her life for good without him coming after her. Latrice's prayers were finally answered when Bay had to report to jail for a separate battery charge, where he'd left her over a million dollars to hold until he got out, which he intended to use to start up Lonely Thug Entertainment. Latrice's mother always told her that if a man gave you something, then it's yours. Bay had entrusted in her all his money, along with the key to his musical dreams, as she turned what he'd started into her own vision. Bangspot Records was the future and she was going to make it happen all by herself.

Latrice put every legal document, copyright, and trademark in her name and exclusively owned the record label she'd created. She had legally eliminated Bay from what was once a team venture, and left no evidence that he was ever a part of what she built. She had signed her own name instead of his, which allowed her to be the sole proprietor of Bangspot Records.

Latrice's plan was almost doomed when she found out that Shakita had taken from the stash she secretly had hidden. Latrice thought about aborting her plan to kill Bay thinking it wouldn't work since she was missing a lot of the money he'd given her. She had planned to take all his money and run, but was convinced by Shakita to rob the van. She already had enough money that both she and Shakita could live the rest of their lives off of, but she wanted to first teach Shakita a lesson.

Shakita wasn't only playing around with Bay's money. She was really digging into Latrice's future investment. Latrice made Shakita believe that the money she took was all Bay had. She let her know exactly where she kept it, only to see if she would fall for the trap. Latrice felt really bad when Shakita was killed. She could have
stopped her test of friendship game at any time, but she didn't. Without her good friend by her side anymore, she had no choice but to kill Bay, since she had lost the most important person in her life. She had nothing else to lose. She thought if they got caught in the process, she could at least use that as her advantage to gain herself street credibility while serving her time in prison. Street credibility was what any music mogul or rapper needed most to survive in the world of gangster rap.

“You ain't got the heart to shoot me, bitch!” Bay screamed, trying to break himself from the headboard as he smashed holes into the wall.

“It's not my heart that's telling me to kill you, Bay; it's my mind. Now pick up your Bible so I can send you home,” Latrice commanded as she raised her gun up higher as it trembled in her hands.

“Is there anything I can do to change your mind about this shit?” Bay asked as his fight to free himself from the headboard wasn't successful. He needed to take another route in trying to save his life.

Latrice shook her head as a tear fell from her eye. Bay was disappointed with Latrice's decision, knowing now she was really going to do it. “Well, fuck it then!” he said before spitting on the Bible. “Heaven ain't my home anyway. Hell is, bitch! So take me there!”

Without any further thought, Latrice pulled the trigger and struck him in the head on the first shot. She unconsciously shot him four more times to make sure he was dead, fearing he could come back to get her. He hung off the bed with only the support of the handcuff holding him up. Latrice stared at Bay's lifeless body and couldn't believe the bloody mess she had made.

Latrice dropped the gun on the bed and looked at her shaking
hands. After Bay busted up her nose the day he left for jail, she decided to go to the gun range and learn how to shoot. She wanted to know what it was actually like to fire a gun before she could attempt to kill Bay. Even though she was comfortable with shooting a firearm, her nervousness still got the best of her. Now it felt like she had never shot a gun, and she could still feel her hands vibrating as if she were still holding it.

Latrice began to cry uncontrollably as she covered up her face. She wasn't in tears because she'd killed someone. She bawled out of relief that her abuser was no longer going to give her nightmares. She grabbed her overnight bag out of the bathroom and put her gun in it. Before she left the room, she took one more look at Bay the way she wanted to remember him most—dead and gone.

“Thanks for giving me my life back. Thanks for the money, too. You can keep the Bible. And take one of these with you,” she said as she removed a flower out of a vase and tossed it at his feet. Following her last words, she walked out of the room and never looked back.

•  •  •

The next day, Latrice stood on the busy Woodrow Wilson Bridge, which stretched over the Potomac River, and peacefully watched dozens of workers at National Harbor help construct the new MGM Casino. She thought that it was amazing how people could look at a blueprint and build something so precise from a simple design or model. Latrice thought about her own project that was in the works, and like the casino, she was also going to need some assistance. She had a whole slate of hungry artists who wanted to help build up her empire and make a name of their own in the process.

Latrice reached into her purse and pulled out her gun. She kissed the top of the cold barrel and hurled it into the river. She then took off her gloves and threw them over as well. Latrice had no more use for her gun or gloves, and was now putting more thought into starting her life over as she continued to watch the casino being built. She now had a new life without pain, without fear, and most importantly, an existence without Bay Jackson. What else could she ask for?

J
udge Tomlin saw Shakita's death on the news, and was perturbed by what had taken place, and he even felt somewhat responsible for what had happened. He should have given her a harsher sentence, but at the time, he thought that the young woman needed a break. He thought if he gave her a chance to turn her life around, then that would help her more than driving her deeper into the system, where she may not have been able to find her way out. From now on, Judge Tomlin would make sure that he would have the young women who came before him in the future, seek treatment for counseling to try and prevent their lives from spiraling out of control. JudgeTomlin was really thankful that his two daughters were still in school pursuing their academic futures. He didn't have to worry about them making any critical decisions at this point in their lives. He also had his lovely wife to contribute for that.

After Shakita's funeral, Cotton started to think about what she was doing with her life and where she was going. She was losing her morale for prostitution and wanted to explore something different, but didn't know what. One night, Cotton got in the car with a john she'd never met and felt strange as she rode off with him. When they finally parked in an alley, the man got upset that Cotton wouldn't give him free sex and started to punch her and rip her
clothes off. Cotton was raped, followed by being strangled to death and then robbed of all her money. Cotton's body was later found in a Dumpster on the Southwest side of the city, with her blood-stained panties stuffed in her mouth and her wrists bound together by her bra. Cotton had sensed the possible danger she was in before she'd gotten in the car that night, but didn't go with her gut feeling and decided to go with the money instead.

Officer Stevens had been refused bail and was now facing one count of conspiracy to murder, a count of third-degree murder, and a count of acting as an accessory to murder, in the murder of Timothy Sellers. Officer Hoke found out from the autopsy that the laceration on Timothy's neck was impossible to be self-inflicted, proving that Timothy didn't commit suicide and that Bay had more to do with it than he'd alleged. Officer Hoke went from inmate to inmate that was in the shower room that day, and held an extensive interrogation process until he got the information he needed. In a matter of hours, Glow got spooked into telling the authorities everything about the plot to kill Timothy “Timbo” Sellers, and everyone who was involved. Officer Hoke later discovered that Bay was found murdered and the next person in line to take on all the charges was Officer Stevens. Former Officer Larry Stevens, Adam “Pam” Clark, and Walter “Glow” Montgomery, were all convicted and sentenced separately from fifteen years to life in prison for their involvement in the murder.