The Score (2 page)

LAUREN

Three Months Earlier

 

“I
'll take two of those classics. The red and the royal blue patent leather.” I leaned into the counter and pointed at two bags on the shelf behind it. “I think these are the only two I don't have in my collection,” I chimed proudly. I could be a snob when I wanted to be. The saleslady's eyes widened at me as she tried to keep a smile on her face. I could tell she was probably secretly judging me. She more than likely instantly thought I couldn't afford these expensive-ass bags. It was amusing to me to watch her struggling to keep it professional because she also knew just as well as I did that my purchase of these two five-thousand-dollar Chanel bags would be a payload of commission for her.

As the snobby saleslady walked away to retrieve my items, I kept shopping with my eyes. Now, I felt like I had a little point to prove. I smirked to myself and for spite I decided to make her piss her pants with jealousy. See, I had worked retail back in my day so I knew that no matter how stuck up these bitch salesladies acted, they were broke as hell and really silently prayed for the commission fairy to bless them. I bet when I walked in she had immediately looked at my race and pegged me as a window shopper and eye hustler. I was about to show this bitch how Lauren Kelly rolled.

“Wow, these are beautiful too. Hmmm, I think I should take every color of these as well,” I said, pointing down into the counter at the Chanel cuff bracelets. The saleswoman almost dropped the pocketbooks as she clamored over and grabbed the merchandise I was asking for with the quickness. I could hear the cash register in her head singing
CHING-CHING.
Jewelry sales always brought more commission than things that sold faster like pocketbooks. I chuckled to myself.

“Is that all?” she asked me.

“I think I've done enough damage for one day.” I smiled. Then I slapped the newly cloned MasterCard I had down on the counter. The saleslady squinted at my card, picked it up, and looked it over like it was a piece of shit. I could see disappointment in her face that my card wasn't American Express. I quickly began feeling indignant.
How dare this bitch!

“Do you do that to all customers or just the black ones?” I asked through my teeth.

Her eyes popped wide like I had just dashed a cup of cold water in her face.

“I'm sure if I was a member of any other race you would have picked up my card with a smile and ran to the register.
Now,
do I need to take my business and my commission to another store?” I gritted. It was the worst kind of threat for someone working in sales.

The saleswoman's cheeks flushed deep red and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She parted a halfhearted, embarrassed smile and broke eye contact with me.

“No, ma'am, and I apologize if you feel that way,” she replied meekly.

“That's what I thought, now ring me up or this store will be all over the eleven o'clock news when I'm done speaking to the media about the blatant discrimination I experienced here,” I snapped. She raced to the small suite in the store where they ring purchases over a certain amount. I could tell I had scared the holy shit out of her, which is what I wanted to do. My forcefulness was going to be a great distraction in case anything went wrong with the card. Those credit cards were always hit or miss, although, up to that point (knock on wood) they had always been complete out-of-the-park home runs whenever I used them.

As I stood there waiting for her to return with my nicely bagged and wrapped items my cell phone buzzed inside of my Hermès Birkin bag. I looked at the screen and sucked my teeth. It was my boyfriend, Matt. I wasn't feeling his ass right at that moment and hadn't been for the past few weeks. As far as I was concerned, he was a sneaky, conniving bastard who had it coming to him in the worst way. The only reason I even still fucked with him was because I had a plan that I needed to see come to fruition.

I had just found out that Matt and our other partner in crime, Yancy, had been fucking behind my back. It was a complete blow to my brain and heart because of all of the people in the world, I had trusted Matt. Yancy, not so much. I had basically saved that bitch from a life of stealing and fucking men for money. Both of them seemed to forget that I was the big breadwinner and Matt was living off of me. I gave Yancy a role in what we were doing and brought her around my man. Big fucking mistake. Yes, I knew Yancy was a pretty young girl who knew the art of seduction, but I thought loyalty would be as important to her as it was to me. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

Yancy was one of those video-vixen types who wore a lot of weave, a lot of makeup, and had the fake tits and ass implants. She stood five feet even without heels, had a small waist, wide hips, and a beautiful smooth caramel complexion that I had always yearned for as a kid. I can't say that if I was a man like Matt I would not have been attracted to Yancy too, but I wouldn't be that grimy, either. As long as I live, I will never forget the day I first found out about them. Now, standing right in the Chanel store, I couldn't stop the memory of what happened from crashing in on me. . . .

 

 

 

I froze and my feet became rooted to the floor. A tornado of emotions swirled inside of me and I felt unsteady on my feet. Suddenly, I could no longer hear the music blasting and all I could hear was the sound of lovemaking coming from MY bedroom. My heart rate sped up so fast it made my head swirl. I was suddenly unsteady on my feet. My first instinct was to bust in the room and go ballistic on Matt and Yancy's ass. I wanted to fuck her up so badly that no one would recognize her face and cut his dick off so he'd never be able to use it again. My entire body was trembling and then I realized I was standing there half naked still in my underwear like the damn naïve fool that I was. The fucking joke was on me. Here I was thinking my man was surprising me with something sweet. Instead, I surprised myself. Tears involuntarily rolled down my face before what was happening really registered in my brain. I snatched my hand back from the doorknob like it was on fire. Suddenly my body came alive with the heat of shame and embarrassment.
You fucking fool! They've been playing you all along!
I silently chastised myself.

I quickly scooped up my clothes and ran down the hallway to the front of the condo. With my chest heaving up and down and my entire body trembling like a leaf in a wild storm I slipped back into my clothes. Whirling around like a madwoman I located my purse, grabbed it and my cell phone, and rushed back out the front door. I didn't know where I was going but I knew I had to get out of there before I caught a case.
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
I chanted in my head. How could I be that stupid not to know that Yancy and Matt had been fucking? No wonder my relationship with him was on the rocks.

* * *

My phone vibrated in my hand again and snapped me back into the moment. I let out a long breath and rolled my eyes.

Yeah. Straight to voice mail, you
. Not even ten seconds after I hit the ignore button, Matt was calling again. I furrowed my brows and squinted at the phone.
What has this nigga so hard-pressed?
Still, I hit ignore again. I told myself if he called back a third time it must be important and I would answer it. Well, before the thought could fully leave my mind, Matt was calling again. I sucked in my breath and shook my head.

“Yeah, Matt,” I grumbled into the phone.

“Yo, bae, where you at?” Matt questioned, trying to sound all sweet and shit. I rolled my eyes and twisted my lips. He was acting so fucking fake that it sickened me to my stomach.

“I'm at the Chanel store exercising some retail therapy,” I said sassily. “But the question is, where you at? I hope you and Yancy are taking care of what you were supposed to do today,” I said with a nasty undertone to my words. I wanted Matt to know that I wasn't feeling that bitch. I had sent the two of them on a mission to cash two five-thousand-dollar bogus checks that I had gotten my hands on. Since finding out about Matt and Yancy's little affair, I had been using them for all of the dirty work so I could keep piling and stacking my dough for the big finale I had planned for their trifling, sneaky asses. So far, I was about two hundred thousand shy of the million I needed to make my exit. Matt and Yancy were too fucking dumb and so happy to be together behind my back that they never suspected what I was doing—making them take all the risk and do all of the dirty work. Revenge was a sweet bitch for sure.

“No speaking on this jack. Hit me from your throwaway as soon as you leave the store. What I need to tell you is real important so do it right way,” Matt said, sounding like he meant business.

“Yeah, a'ight,” I replied. I knew I sounded uninterested.

“No bullshit. This is about the next lick,” he said seriously.

In that case, I was all ears. “A'ight, bet,” I agreed before hanging up the phone.

My little evil Asian saleslady finally returned with my bags all nicely packed and tied up pretty. Usually shopping made me feel powerful and good about myself, but today I felt indifferent.

“Thank you for your business, Mrs. Hargrove,” the saleslady said, calling me by the name on the fake credit card I had given her. “I'm really sorry about earlier. It's just that we've had a string of credit card fraud hits lately and with all of our new training I—” the saleslady started. I raised my hand and halted her words.