Nina's Got a Secret (22 page)

“Yes, I do.”

“Good. That's how I want you to beg me for this dick. I want you to scream I want your dick!”

“I want your dick, Tyrone.”

“Bitch, is ya def? I said shout that shit.”

Nina paused for a moment. She actually had to stop herself from chuckling as she thought,
This nigga thinks he's the shit. He just doesn't know he's being led to the slaughter
.

“I want some of that big black dick, Tyrone! I need your dick inside of me!”

Tyrone's penis jumped rock hard. What had started out as gentle massages of the crotch area had actually escalated to all-out masturbation. As Nina screamed out loud, Tyrone blew his load.

“Tyrone. Are you still there?” Nina asked.
I'll be damned, I think this fool is jerking off.

“Yeah, I'm still here,” he replied, his speech slurred.

Nina covered her mouth in astonishment. Tyrone was really weird. He was so weird that it seemed far more unnerving than humorous.

“Uhhh, uhhh,” she grumbled.

“Nina, you there?”

“Uhhh, uhhh, shit, Tyrone.”

“Are you masturbating?”

“Ummm hmm,” Nina confirmed, as she covered her mouth and tried not to burst into laughter.

“Fuckin' right! That's what I'm talkin' ‘bout. When you gonna give me some more of that pussy?”

“I want you to come this Friday. Larry's leaving town for the weekend.”

“For sho! To show you I'm not really a bad nigga, I'll even take care of my own ticket.”

Yeah, with my money,
Nina thought to herself. Tyrone's arrogance was going to be the death of him. He was so busy basking in his sexual glory that he didn't pay attention to the obvious change in Nina's attitude. If he had paused just for a moment and questioned her motives, he would have noticed that she was acting suspicious. But Tyrone couldn't see past the moment. If you live by the sword, you die by the sword. Tyrone's penis was his only weapon. It was the proverbial sword he used to slay women. Now his own sword was about to be turned on him.

“Make sure you come around nine o'clock. I need to make sure I've made arrangements for Precious. When you come, I'm going to give you the rest of the money you wanted. Hopefully, we can call it even from that point.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Tyrone replied.

Nina noticed his reluctance to commit to backing off. His response only made her angrier and more determined to dispose of him. She was offering him her body and more money and he still wasn't satisfied.

“There's another thing I need to discuss with you.”

“What?”

“It's about Val.”

“What about her? We on bad terms right now anyway, so ain't much you can say about her that'll piss me off.”

“She's been seeing Sharrard, the football player.”

“I already knew that. She denied it when I confronted her but I know.”

“Well, did she tell you she was coming to Monterey this weekend?”

“Nah, she ain't say nothin' ‘bout that.”

“She's coming this Friday to see him. I think he's supposed to come and pick her up Saturday morning and take her on a shopping spree in San Francisco.”

Tyrone's silence was exactly the response Nina was looking for. That meant that he was seething. His ego had been bruised. When a man's ego is bigger than his thoughts, he will always react to bad news rather than respond. Tyrone reacted exactly the way Nina needed him to.

“So she's planning to go and see that fool?”

“Yeah, but she made me promise not to say anything. If she knew I was telling you her plans, she'd tell Larry what she knows about the crash. I figured you might want to know because she seems to be acting crazy lately.”

“What do you mean?”

“She's been threatening to tell Larry more often. I guess I don't have to tell you that if she tells Larry, he's going to divorce me and freeze all of my money. If he freezes my accounts, you won't get another dime.”

“Nah, fuck that! That bitch is playin' with my money,” Tyrone said.

“She'll be here Friday night. You could throw a wrench in her plans if you come around nine o'clock that night.”

“All right. We'll talk again tomorrow,” Tyrone said and then hung up.

No sooner than he hung up the phone, Val opened the front door. She walked inside, rolled her eyes at him, and then threw her keys on the counter.

“Tyrone, I've been thinkin'. We need a little time apart so that we can reevaluate this relationship.”

Tyrone didn't respond. He fiddled with the remote control and pretended he didn't hear her.

“Tyrone, I know you hear me! I'm getting away for a few days. I'm going to go to California this weekend to clear my thoughts.”

Tyrone stopped pretending he didn't hear her. He placed the remote on the sofa next to him and then asked her, “When are you leaving?”

“I'm leaving this Friday. I'm leaving in the evening time. I'm gonna dance that morning so that I can make a little money, and take it on the trip with me. That's unless you have some money to give me.”

Tyrone ignored her jab.

“That's what I thought. You ain't never got money. You're the most broke nigga I know . . . unless you're hustlin' somebody.”

“When are you returning?” Tyrone asked.

“I don't know,” Val replied and then walked into the bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

M
EANWHILE
, N
INA RECLINED ON THE LOVESEAT
and smiled as she continued to formulate her plan to eliminate her two nemeses. The house grew dark as the sun started to set. Nina got up and walked toward the kitchen. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw a silhouette sitting at the base of the steps.

“Oh my goodness!” Nina yelled. “You scared me! I didn't know you were still here. How long have you been sitting there?”

“Long enough to hear everything you said,” the silhouette replied.

N
ina walked around spooked for the next couple of days. Her knees seemed weak and she could not stop vomiting. She was busted. Her plan had been discovered before she could even get it going.

That voice from the dark haunted her. She spent the next few days with a headache as she agonized over her exposure.

The lifestyle she was ready to kill over was on the verge of being taken away. Her dreams of securing a better life for Precious suddenly hinged on her ability to honor the new demands placed on her by the voice that lurked in the shadows.

She had to now wonder if Larry would leave her, or if he would feel sorry for her once he knew everything that had happened. First Val, then Tyrone, and now
this
person knew part of the story.

Nina had no idea how deep a hole she'd dug the day she decided to save her flesh and blood before she attempted to save a child that wasn't hers.

The sun rose in the east and drenched the California coastline with beautiful light on the day Val arrived in town. Nina was forced to abort her original plan and follow the strict instructions of her new puppet master.

Before she could take time to catch her breath, the beautiful sun started to set and nightfall came in and cast dark shadows that stretched for miles.

“Anybody home?” Val asked as she walked through the massive front door.

She threw the duffle bag she was carrying on the floor and propped her suitcase up against the wall, and then strolled slowly into the main part of the house. Her question was met with darkness and silence. The house seemed abandoned. Val felt around the walls until she found the light switch. She went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water to quench the thirst that had been building during her travels.

“They have enough food in this damn refrigerator to feed an African village,” she mumbled. “All this shit for three people, and one of them is rarely here. Just plain wasteful.”

Val removed a Tupperware container full of what looked like some type of Spanish rice. Her mouth started to water as she hurried to sink her teeth into one of the meals Maria had prepared.

Val was a huge fan of Maria's cooking. She appreciated the time and effort Maria put into the preparation of her meals. With a bowl of rice and one ice-cold bottle of water in tow, Val made her way toward the staircase. She daydreamed about watching the huge television in the media room while on the airplane. She seemed relaxed as she prepared to sit back and relax like she was at the movies.

Just as she stepped on the bottom step, Val heard the front doorknob rattle. The rattle sound echoed loudly, leaving her startled. The anxiety dissipated once she saw Nina walking through the door.

“Where is Precious?” Val asked as she watched Nina walk in. “Why'd you leave the door open?”

Nina didn't reply, but she did intentionally leave the door open for someone to come in behind her.

“What in the hell is goin' on?” Val asked as the second person walked through the door.

“Damn, boo, you look like you just saw a ghost,” Tyrone sneered as he walked in.

“Nina, I'm gonna ask you again. What's goin' on?”

“Let me ask you a question, Val,” said Tyrone. “When were you gonna tell me you were about to bounce on me and relocate out here?”

“You bitch,” Val said as she looked at Nina.

Nina couldn't reply because she was too busy trying to duck as the bowl of rice Val held flew across the room and nearly hit Nina in the head.

“You scandalous cow; you must think I'm playin' with you. That's okay, I'm gonna show you better than I can tell you. Where's my damn phone?”

“It might be here inside of your purse,” Nina replied, as she held up Val's Coach purse.

“Give me my damn purse,” Val shouted as she marched toward Nina.

Tyrone intercepted his angry girlfriend. His anger became unleashed as he grabbed Val by her ponytail and pulled her back toward the living room. “So you were going to leave me for that fool? Did you think I'd just let you leave like that?”

“Tyrone, let me go,” Val screamed.

“Yeah, let her go, Tyrone,” said a voice from behind.

It was as if God had spoken. Tyrone immediately stopped tugging on Val's hair. Once Val felt his grip loosen, she stopped fighting and trying to get away from Tyrone's clutches. Nina walked toward the living room, but just as she entered, all three sets of eyes became focused on the newest member to this gathering.

From the shadows of the hallway appeared a man—it was Larry. He wore a cold stare. He looked mad enough to kill. Larry had perfected his ability to earn millions of dollars for his clients and himself by putting forth his plans with steely resolve and a calm
demeanor. With books like
The Art of War
by Sun Tzu serving as his strategic reference manual, he often meditated on the skills needed to control his temper long enough to execute his diabolical plan to punish Nina for her deceit.

One quote in particular from
The Art of War
became the foundation for Larry's modus operandi in both his business and personal lives,
“To subdue the enemy's army without fighting is the acme of skill.”

L
ARRY HAD LEARNED THE ART OF DECEPTION
by working in Corporate America with some of the most ruthless men he'd ever encountered. He had learned that a passive aggressive approach could sometimes be more effective than barking loud and telegraphing your blow. The phrase,
still waters run deep
, is more accurate than people realize; Larry was living proof.

In this case, Larry's first passive-aggressive move came when he'd deliberately turned the other cheek once he figured out that Tyrone was extorting money from Nina.

Larry was a meticulous bookkeeper. He checked his bank account balances more than a pimp checks his hookers. As a result, he immediately noticed Nina's large withdrawal from the account he'd set up for her . . . an account that he still had access to.