What Da Lick Read? The Triple Cross (20 page)

Honesty was nervous when she got to the club. She didn’t know how Gigi was going to react to her. She hadn't talked to her in almost a week. Honesty had been so worried about what Gigi was gonna say when she found out that she had been robbed and shot at. She doubted herself, so the last thing she wanted to hear was someone lecturing her about how she wasn’t cut out for this business. The club had a nice crowd for it to be just after six p.m. It was made up of mostly working professionals that came to enjoy happy hour. T.I. pumped through the speakers as the girls walked around giving dances to guys in business suits and button downs and ties. Honesty stopped at the bar and ordered a shot of Patron. It burned like hell as she threw the clear liquid down her throat and set the shot back on the bar. She didn’t really drink but she felt that she was going to need some liquid courage to face Gigi. One of the guards walked by and she got his attention and asked was Gigi here. He told her that she was upstairs in her office. She looked in the direction of one of the cameras. Honesty knew that Gigi had seen her soon as she hit the door. As she sat at the bar tempted to order another shot of Patron, Concrete walked up behind her and scared her as he tapped her on the shoulder and told her that Gigi wanted her upstairs.

They got on the elevator and she didn’t say anything to Concrete but she hardly ever said anything to him anyway. He broke the silence, “How have you been doing?”

Honesty looked at him and smiled. “I’m doing a lot better now.”

“That’s good, you have been missed.” The elevator opened and Concrete followed Honesty to Gigi’s office.

Honesty took a deep breath and knocked on the door lightly.

“Come in.” Gigi said from behind her desk. She had been missing Honesty so much, but she wasn’t going to show it. After calling and texting her for three days straight, she got the idea and laid off.

Honesty walked in and Gigi’s entire office was filled with roses. The aroma filled the air. She looked around at all of the flowers as she sat down in the chair facing Gigi. She had everything that she was gonna say planned in her head until she saw all the flowers. She opened her Louis Vuitton Speedy 40 and started to remove the money that she owed her. It was rubber banded in sets of one thousand. Once she got finished she got up and walked out of the office with tears pouring down her cheeks.

“Wait a minute! That’s it? Got damn it, you are just going to waltz in here and leave the money, but you are not going to say nothing. You don’t owe me an explanation, but I would think that you cared enough about me to give me one. I don’t hear from you or see you in six days and you are just walking away like that? Well damn, I guess I have been in this shit by myself all this time.” Gigi got up from her desk and carried some of the money over to her wall safe. She wanted to get up and run after her, but her pride wouldn’t let her.

Honesty heard the pain in Gigi’s voice. She was right, she did owe her an explanation. But she had seen all of the roses everywhere; she knew Gigi had been filling her place with someone. She turned around and walked back into the office. She couldn’t just leave it like this, she loved her and she did business with her so she knew she was going to have to put her pride aside. Honesty sat back down in the same chair and watched Gigi as she closed the safe and put the picture back over it. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say. I was going through some things last week and I just needed to see it from a different prospective. It didn’t have anything to do with us. I just needed to be by myself.”

“So you don’t think you could’ve picked up the phone once out of the thousands of times that I called you and tell me that. I didn’t do anything wrong Truth. You had me feeling some kind of way. Not only did you abandon me, you abandoned business and that is what really had me worried. Your workers were going elsewhere and trying to get at me. I don’t even work at that level. I know I might not come first, but money should. There is no telling how much money you have missed this week. I’m not only your business partner, I’m your lover. That’s so fucked up that you thought that you couldn’t talk to me about something that was so dramatic that it made you shut down for an entire week.” Gigi sat back down at her desk and leaned over and looked at Honesty in her eyes.

“You are right. I should have handled things differently. My intentions were not meant for you to feel bad, but from the looks of it, you have gotten over me quickly.” Honesty looked around at the flowers again.

“Honesty Star, assuming will make an ass out of you each time. You bring your ass in here on your shoulders and you want me to kiss it. Hell no! Like I just said, I didn’t do anything wrong. I stopped calling after three or four days with no response. You see these flowers; they came from a nigga who
wanna
fuck with me just because he has fucked my sister. I don’t want him. I want you! But I’ll be damn if I run up behind you. I did that before and got my heart broken. I’m secure in myself and I’m secure in my sexuality. I do not have to hide what I do from anybody. I am whatever I say I am. I don’t have a problem with me, you do.” Gigi sat back in her chair and put her feet up on her desk.

Honesty was speechless. She didn’t know what to say. She had her apology ready when she walked through the doors of the club, but now her words had left her. She looked at Gigi as the tears streamed down her face.

“It is me, not you. I want you and I have been missing you. I do not want you to think for one minute that I do not want to be with you. I love you Gorgeous Diamond, with every fiber of my being and not talking to you has been killing me softly, not being able to touch you has been eating me alive, but baby I had to work on that by myself and I’m sorry that I wasn’t woman enough to pick up the phone to tell you what was going on.” Honesty got up from her chair and went around Gigi’s desk to stand in front of her.

Gigi’s phone started to ring. She looked down and it was Nard. She held up her hand to Honesty. “Wait a minute Bae, this Nard.”

“Gigi, what’s up ma? Yeah, everything is good with us. Toe-Toe is in Cali on business.
Yo
, have you talked to that nigga
Killa
? There was just a breaking news story on Channel Two WSB. It was a really bad car accident and it has the entire expressway fucked up. When the helicopter zoomed in on the car, it was so fucked up that you couldn’t tell what kind of car it was. But the rims, I know those rims anywhere.
Killa
is the only nigga in Atlanta with them rims. The accident happened up highway eighty-five. I know that Coach K lives up north in Alpharetta. Check out the news and tell me what you think. I didn’t
wanna
call Coach K on a humbug and it is not
Killa
.”

Nard stared at the television, waiting for them to show it again. His stomach was in knots. He had a sick feeling that it was
Killa
. If it is, Toe-Toe is gonna be fucked up about it, because that’s his
lil
nigga.

“Don’t tell me that Nard. Let me turn on my T.V. I will call you back so stay by the phone.” Gigi turned around and put the phone on her desk. She opened her desk drawer and pointed the remote at a mirror on the wall. It turned the mirror into a television.

Honesty could see the color literally drain from Gigi’s face. Whatever Nard had told her on the phone had fucked her up. She hoped that none of her spots had gotten robbed, if so now she was gonna have to tell her about her getting robbed too. Honesty sat back down in her chair and looked at the television. She tried to read the look on Gigi’s face. A breaking news story came across the television. A multicar accident had occurred and they were in the process of extricating victims from one of the cars because it was leaking gas and expected to blow up. The entire highway was blocked off and traffic was backed up on the two connecting highways of four hundred and two eighty-five.

“They need to zoom in on the cars. I need to see the cars!” Gigi shouted as she changed the channel to see if it was on any of the other channels. Her heart was pounding and she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She prayed silently that Nard was wrong. Gigi looked up and saw Honesty staring at her and she didn’t want to say anything until she had seen the car herself. She was like Nard, she knew those rims when she saw them. She had wanted to buy them from
Killa
herself.

“What’s going on? You know who was in that accident? Allah be with them because from the chopper view, that car is smashed beyond recognition and it is about to go up in flames. I hope they get whoever is in the car out.” Honesty watched Gigi as she started to bite her nails.

“Nard told me it might be somebody we know, so I need to see the car close up. Then I will know for sure. I don’t want to jump the gun.” Gigi said as the news finally came on when she turned to Fox Five. The first story was about a car crash that had tied up traffic on four hundred, eighty-five, and two eighty-five. Sky Fox Five zoomed in on the car and she started to holler as tears ran down her face. The car was mangled but she saw the wheels and knew that it was
Killa’s
car.

The sound that erupted from Gigi scared her. Honesty looked at her and then back at the television. They were extricating the victims now. The helicopter hovered over and it zoomed in on the car as rescue workers used the Jaws of Life on it. The wheel looked as if it was about to fall off and that is when it hit her. That was her brother’s car. It had to be because no one else had those rims especially not painted in that color.
Killa
always bragged on the fact that they were exclusive. Honesty started shaking all over uncontrollably. Her breathing got shallow and she passed out and slipped out of her chair.

Gigi panicked and jumped up from her desk and hurried to the other side where Honesty was. Honesty knew that was her brother. She had recognized the rims. Gigi picked up the phone and called down stairs to tell Concrete to come help her. Concrete ran in the door and crouched down on the floor with Gigi as she held Honesty in her arms and tried to revive her.

“I don’t think she hit her head. I got to call Coach. Give me my cell phone off the desk.” Gigi dialed Khalil’s number while she stroked Honesty’s hair.

“Hey baby girl what’s going on? Have you heard anything new about our little problem?” Khalil was at his office sitting at his computer trying to figure out the information about
Jazmeir
that Reality had emailed him.

“Uncle, it’s bad, really bad.” Gigi paused as Honesty started to move in her arms. “
Killa
has been in an accident and Honesty, has passed out. Her breathing is shallow. I know she didn’t hit her head. I don’t know what to do, I’m gonna take her to the hospital.”

“Wait a minute! Killian and his girlfriend are at my house. They are probably fucking in his old bedroom right now. How did Honesty pass out?” Khalil knew the first comment to be false but he was worried about his oldest daughter.

“Uncle, we seen it on the news. It was the GXP. When Honesty seen it she got overwhelmed and fainted. It happened on eighty-five south coming from the direction of your house.” Gigi could hear Khalil literally stop breathing as the phone on the other end hung up.

“Con, pick her up. They are probably taking
Killa
to Atlanta Medical because they got a helipad. Let’s take Honesty there.” Gigi sent Coach a text message to tell him that she was taking Honesty to Atlanta Medical to be checked out.

Concrete picked Honesty up and carried her to the elevator with Gigi walking behind them with both of their purses. They got out on the level below which held a private garage and storage area. Gigi opened the back door to the Range Rover and Concrete put Honesty on the back seat. Gigi went around to the other side, opened the door and got in. She laid Honesty across her lap and continued to stroke her hair. Her breathing had gotten better but she still hadn’t opened her eyes yet. Gigi was worried about Honesty; she knew that she was in shock.

They pulled up to the emergency entrance to the hospital and Concrete jumped out and rushed to the back where he picked Honesty up and carried her inside. He cradled her in his arms like a newborn. The Range was left there empty with the motor running.

The emergency room was chaotic to say the least. Doctors, Nurses and other staff were rushing back and forth. Some of the accident victims were probably brought here. Gigi walked to the desk and told the nurse sitting behind it that Honesty had went into convulsions, fell from a chair and had been knocked out for over forty five minutes after seeing her brother’s car on the news in the rush hour pile up that happened up high eighty-five. She was being a little dramatic, because she wanted Honesty to be checked out immediately. The nurse told her that three victims were bought to this hospital, because their injuries were life threatening. They brought a gurney from the back and Concrete laid Honesty on it and rushed out to park the truck before it got towed.

The nurse seemed nice enough; Gigi wondered would she tell her if one of the victims was
Killa
. She walked back up to the desk. “Ma’am, thanks for getting her seen about so quickly. I was wondering could you possibly tell me if one of the victims was a young black man around the age of twenty-three. He has the same caramel complexion as you with very curly jet black hair. He also has a large tattoo covering half of his neck. That is my cousin; we were raised together like brother and sister. I would be able to help you locate next of kin if it is him.”