The Pink Palace 2 Read online

  Dre made love to me for hours before emptying himself inside me. My orgasm lasted another ten minutes, until my pussy finally calmed down.

  After Dre was done having his way with me, I curled up on my side and went to sleep. I was so drained. Literality. Dre spooned up behind me, and the bed was so soft. Damn, there was nothing like a real man to make a woman feel so good.

  After a while, I didn’t feel Dre behind me, and then I heard him on the phone on the balcony. His voice was raised, arguing with someone. I listened to him speak.

  “I don’t give a damn what you think, nigga! I paid you back every dime I owed you,” Dre yelled into his phone. “No! What you need to do is stop calling my motherfucking phone, nigga! I don’t owe you shit anymore.... Whatever, nigga! It’s like that? Well, suck my dick,” Dre yelled and hung up his phone.

  Dre was irate, and I knew in my heart that this was going to be a major problem for both of us. I sat up in bed and waited for Dre to come in.

  He walked back in the room and saw me, and we shared an awkward silence.

  Dre sighed. “You heard everything?”

  “Yeah. What’s going on, Dre?”

  “I didn’t want you to worry about this shit,” Dre said regrettably.

  “Dre, if I’m going to be your wife, then you have to be honest with me or this will never work. Are you hustling again?”

  “No. I haven’t been selling for over three years now.”

  “Then what’s going on? Who do you owe money to?”

  “I don’t owe money to nobody. Not anymore,” Dre clarified. “Back when I got arrested, the police seized all of my supply, and I owed my supplier a lot of money.”

  “How much money?” I inquired.

  “A little over two hundred thousand, but for the last two years, I’ve been paying him back every week from the profit we’ve made from the store.”

  I frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

  “Because it was my problem, and you were having a baby, and it was something I had under control.”

  “And now? What’s changed?”

  “This nigga Malachi Turner says that I owe him interest, and he wants me to pay him another hundred thousand. What kind of bullshit interest rate is that?

  “Who’s Malachi Turner?”

  “This nigga that was supplying me from Decatur. He has a connection to a drug lord down in Colombia. This nigga is starting to take over most of Atlanta, becoming the number one dope supplier. But this nigga is trying to extort me, and I ain’t gonna let nobody do that to me,” Dre explained and sat next to me in bed.

  “So what are we gonna do?”

  “I’ve been talking to my nigga Polo, and he said he would see what he can do to get Malachi off my back.”

  “And if he can’t?” I asked him and Dre stared at me.

  “Then I’ma have to do what I gotta do.”

  “What about Tyler, Dre? What about me? We need you, baby. I thought we left all this bullshit behind us. I can’t lose you now.”

  “Nikki, you ain’t gonna lose me, ’cause I ain’t going nowhere. You’re going to be my wife, and I’m going to make sure we straight for life,” Dre affirmed and caressed my face. “Come on. Let’s go back to bed.”

  Dre got back into bed with me and held me close, but I just knew that this shit with Malachi wasn’t going to be as easy to handle as Dre said it would be. Why was this happening now? I just wanted to be happy with Dre and Tyler, so why couldn’t I have that?

  * * *

  It had been two weeks since we left Miami, and life had gone back to normal. I started to make plans for our wedding, and we set a date for four months later. I decided to hire a wedding planer instead of driving myself mad trying to arrange everything.

  I was at the shop working with Penny, and Janelle came by to visit me. Like I said before, I was so proud of my little cousin Janelle. She graduated from Georgia State University, got married to Jayson, and was now a Production Assistant working at Radio One, Hot 107.9. She didn’t let her past as a stripper define her life. She was still so beautiful, even dressed causally in a pair of Dereon jeans and a pink Dereon hoodie and Air Force Ones.

  “Girl, I’m so excited about your wedding. When are you gonna pick out your dress?” Janelle demanded to know.

  “Dress? I’m still trying to figure out what type of food I want at the reception!”

  “Why are you worried? What’s the point of hiring a wedding planner if you’re gonna be stressed?” Janelle asked me.

  “I don’t know. I guess I’m just nervous.”

  “You don’t got anything to be nervous about. You and Dre are going to be happy together for years,” Penny said to me.

  “I know. It just seems too good to be true.”

  “Is there something wrong, Nikki?” Janelle queried, sensing there was something else on my mind.

  “No, I’m fine. I just want everything to be perfect like you are with Jayson.”

  “Jayson and me are far from perfect, but he’s a wonderful man. We make it work. And now he’s ready for us to start having kids.”

  “Are you ready?” Penny asked her. “’Cause I just got one, and Tarius is a handful.”

  “Tarius done been here before with his little bad ass self! He’s gonna be getting Tyler in all sorts of trouble when they get older. But, J, are you ready for kids?” I asked her.

  “I am. It’s just I have a good chance of moving up quickly at my job, and I don’t know if I can have a baby now and still move ahead,” Janelle said to us.

  “Janelle, I know you can do anything you put your mind to. Don’t let a job stop you and Jayson from starting a family if that’s what you want.”

  “Thank you, Nikki,” Janelle replied and hugged me.

  We continued to talk about our lives and my wedding plans for the next few minutes.

  Dre came in the store, holding Tyler. Tyler was two and a half years old, and was a daddy’s boy already. He loved Dre so much; sometimes he’d cry until his daddy came and picked him up.

  “Hey, y’all,” Dre said to us.

  “What’s up, Dre?” Janelle replied and went over and picked up Tyler. She loved him as if he was her son too.

  “Hey, big man! How you doing?” Janelle talked to Tyler and kissed his chubby cheeks. Tyler loved to be kissed, especially from Janelle. He was going to be a little playa when he grew up.

  “What y’all up to?” Dre asked and gave me a kiss.

  “Nothing. Just having girl talk.”

  He smirked. “Y’all talking about sex, huh? That’s all y’all women do.”

  “No, that’s not all we do. You just nasty,” Penny said to him.

  “I know you know I’m nasty. I bet Nikki be giving y’all details blow by blow,” Dre said braggingly.

  “Shut up, boy! I don’t be talking about your narrow ass,” I lied. We did talk about sex, but that was done when we all had a drink or two at lunch! “We were talking about our wedding.”

  “Yeah, Dre, you better enjoy your last few months of freedom. Anyway, I gotta get going. I’ll call y’all later.” Janelle kissed Tyler and gave him to me.

  “All right, girl. Later.” Janelle walked out of the store.

  “You ready to go too, Nikki?” Dre asked me.

  “Yeah, Penny, you’ll be all right here by yourself?”

  “Girl, I’ll be fine,” Penny confirmed to me.

  Dre, Tyler, and I went outside to Dre’s black Cutlas Deville. I swear he loved that car almost as much as me.

  A-Town Grillz was on the corner of Spring Street and Mitchell, the small business part of Midtown Atlanta. I put Tyler in his car seat in the back and got in on the passenger side.

  “Damn, Dre, I forgot Tyler’s baby bag behind the counter inside.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll get it,” Dre said and got out and went back inside the store.

  Dre came back out of the store with the bag, and that was when everything started to move in slow motion for me.
A white Crown Victoria car screeched out in front of Dre, and he dropped the baby bag and started to run the other way. Then I hear gunshots ring out.

  “Dre!” I cried as he collapsed on the sidewalk.

  The white car sped off down Spring Street. I got up out of the car and ran toward Dre. He was lying on his stomach, and I saw a gunshot wound in his back.

  At that point, I think I was freaking out. I got down on the ground and held Dre in my arms.

  “Help me! Please, somebody help me!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

  Penny came out of the store and ran over to me. “Oh God! Nikki!” Penny yelled, crying.

  “Call the paramedics!”

  Penny dialed on her cell phone. A few people on the streets stopped and stared at me on the ground with Dre.

  “Dre, Dre . . . baby, please wake up,” I pleaded with him, but his eyes wouldn’t open. “Please don’t leave me. Please.” I could feel the blood coming from Dre’s body on me. Then I heard Tyler crying from inside the car. Penny ran over to the car to comfort him.

  My worst fear had come to life. The next few minutes were a blur, as both cops and paramedics crowded the area.

  The paramedics took Dre to Grady Memorial Hospital.

  Janelle drove me to the hospital. Tears just rolled from my eyes as I sat in the waiting room and asked God why. I was planning to have the wedding of my dreams, and now I might have to plan a funeral for the man I loved more than anything else in the world.

  The police, of course, asked me what I saw, and I told them what happened. I couldn’t identify the two guys I saw in the car. The only thing I knew was that Dre had beef with this Malachi Turner, but I didn’t tell the police that.

  “Nikki, I’m so sorry,” Janelle said to me.

  “What am I going to do now?” I asked feebly.

  “It’s going to be okay, Nikki. Dre’s a strong man. He’ll pull through this.”

  “We both are gonna be here for you and Tyler,” Penny added.

  * * *

  I knew that they would be by my side, but that still didn’t change the fact that Dre was shot right in front of me and they weren’t gonna stop until he was dead. Dre was in a coma. The doctors said he could wake up the next day or next year. It all depended on how fast his body could heal itself.

  I sat in his room, holding his hand as tears rolled down my face. They were not tears of sadness, because I had already exhausted them, but my tears were of anger. I was furious that Dre was shot down in the streets and the police weren’t doing anything to find who did it. Dre being an ex dope boy was reason enough for them to drag their feet on this case.

  Dre’s friend Polo came to the hospital to see him, and I was sure he had to know who was behind Dre’s attempted murder.

  “Hey, Polo,” I greeted him as we stood by Dre’s bed.

  “Hey, Nikki. I know this is a hard time for you. I’m sorry this happened,” Polo said to me.

  “I know. But you do know who did this, don’t you?”

  Polo shook his head. “Nikki . . .”

  “You do! Dre said some guy name Malachi Turner was trying to extort him.”

  “Nikki, you don’t need to be talking about this now.”

  “Then when?” I snapped in a raised tone. “He did this to Dre and you know it.”

  Polo looked at me sadly. He was one of Dre’s best friends. “Yeah, Malachi did it.”

  “Then what are you gonna do about it?”

  He crinkled his eyebrows. “What you want me to do?”

  “Kill him. That’s what I want you to do,” I coldly retorted.

  Polo shook his head in disbelief. “Nikki, you don’t know who Malachi is or just how powerful he is.”

  “I don’t give a fuck who he is! All I know is you’re Dre’s best friend and you’re too much of a coward to kill the nigga that did this to him,” I spit angrily. Polo frowned because I was calling him out, but I didn’t give a fuck at this point.

  “Nikki, Malachi is the biggest dope man in Atlanta. He ain’t some corner boy. This nigga got an army around him. Ain’t nobody that stupid enough to try him.”

  I stared at him suspiciously. “He’s supplying you too?”

  “Yeah, he does. Listen, Nikki, this nigga is huge. He even owns The Pink Palace. Nigga is paid,” Polo explained to me.

  “He owns The Pink Palace?” I said, shocked.

  “You didn’t know? I guess Dre ain’t wanna tell you. Yeah, he runs the place himself. I can’t help you on this one, Nikki. I’m sorry.” Polo looked at Dre’s unconscious body in the bed then walked away.

  It became clear to me that nobody was going to try Malachi—not the police, and definitely not Polo. But I couldn’t just let go.

  For the next two weeks, I was at the hospital by Dre’s side with Tyler. Penny was running the store for me. I tried to move on, but I couldn’t. All I could think about was what Malachi did to him. Sometimes I would just stare at Tyler and see Dre in him and cry. I just felt like there was this hole in my chest, and the only thing I could fill it with was rage.

  Why was this all happening to me? Why did this happen to us? We were going to be a real family. Dre was going to be my husband.

  1

  The Baddest Bitch

  Atlanta, GA

  JACQUELINE “JASMINE” DAWSON

  The spotlight shone on the long black runway stage. The smell of liquor and smoke lingered in the air throughout the dimly lit club. My skin tingled with excitement as my body glowed from the baby oil I rubbed all over me. My breasts stood firm in my skimpy bikini top, imprinting my erect nipples underneath.

  I stepped out on stage in my five hundred–dollar red Prada shoes like a supermodel and gave the crowd of men ogling my curvy body my signature walk on the runway. It was more of a strut than a walk. Nobody could match my swagger as I grabbed the chrome pole and pulled my body upside down like a trained athlete. I wrapped my long, smooth, golden brown legs around the pole and swung around until I touched the ground.

  The crowd of horny men loved the way I flexed my body to the beat of Ray J’s “Sexy Can I.” I dropped into a split and made my ass clap, and twenties and fifties flew like confetti on the stage.

  I stared in the eyes of this one dude and licked my full, succulent lips. He was hypnotized. Without a word, I mentally commanded him to empty his wallet for me. Plus the fact that I took off my bikini top made him my slave. It was amazing how stupid men got when they saw titties.

  This one guy decided to “make it rain” and showered me with ones, tens, and a couple of twenties. I guess he thought all women were impressed by that, but it was the dumbest thing I’d ever seen! You think a woman would throw money on the ground for a nigga? Dumb-ass!

  I’d been dancing at The Pink Palace for only ten months, and I was already the top-dollar bitch in the club! I had just made over a grand in less time than it took to fill out a job application.

  I walked out front and saw this new girl that called herself Kandi. She did look sweet enough to lick all right. She was a young, tight thing, just like I liked them!

  Oh, no. I saw her doing a table dance for the nasty little pervert Reggie. He was Malachi’s little brother and he walked around there like he owned the place. Half the time he was up in VIP trying to fuck with the girls or walking through the locker room like he was an inspector trying to look at everybody’s ass for free. Nasty little troll was always scratching his crotch. That was why nobody with common sense and 20/20 vision would fuck with his ugly self. He might have been Malachi’s brother, but he ain’t had the money, power, or respect his brother did.

  Poor Kandi didn’t know any better. He was slapping her ass so hard I could hear it from across the room. She was just smiling like she enjoyed it, but that shit had to sting. Great. Now he just pulled her down in his lap and was rubbing all up on her. She was trying to stop him from digging his fingers under her bikini thong. The bouncer wasn’t gonna say nothing to Malachi’s little brother, so I decided I be
tter check this stupid nigga.

  “Come on, stop,” Kandi said to him, but he didn’t.

  “Damn you got a fatty, girl. Let me get a sniff,” Reggie said to her.

  “Reggie! You didn’t hear what she just said?”

  He stopped and smiled at me.

  “Hey, Jasmine, why don’t you join us and let’s get this shit really crunk!”

  “How about I tell Malachi you’re fucking with the girls again?” I shot back at him and he glared at me.

  “Get the fuck up,” he spits to Kandi, and she did quickly and started to walk away.

  “Hold up. Don’t leave so fast,” I said to her, and she looked at me, confused and scared. “This nigga owes you for your lap dance.”

  “What? Bitch, please.” Reggie rolled his eyes.

  “Pay her . . . now,” I said to him seriously.

  Reggie glared at me as he pulled out a wad of cash, peeled off a ten, and gave it to her.

  “Lap dances cost more than that,” I informed him. He cut his eyes at me and then gave Kandi a twenty.

  “Here. Now piss off!”

  “Fuck you too,” I snapped at him and took Kandi backstage with me.

  “Thank you for helping me,” Kandi said and smiled.

  “No problem, sweetie. Don’t ever let me see you fucking with that dusty nigga again. Just because his brother owns The Palace don’t make him shit,” I explained to her.

  “Okay,” she said shyly. She had to be barely eighteen, if that. She looked kinda like Keisha Knight Pulliam, only a little sexier in a blue two-piece and stilettos.

  “You heading out?”

  “Yeah, my feet are killing me. Thank you, Jasmine.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just remember what I told you.” I gave her a hug and seductively brushed a few stray hairs from her face.

  She smiled and then turned and walked toward the locker room backstage, but then she turned and looked back at me. Gotcha! Pretty young thing didn’t know it yet, but she was gonna be mines soon.

  I looked around the club and noticed that there was nothing left there but some small-time niggas. I’d already made my paper for the night, so I decided to bounce out of there too. Then I saw the man himself come through the club doors. Unlike his ugly-ass brother Reggie, Malachi just looked like money. Don’t get me wrong; Malachi was ugly too, but his money just made him a lot sexier.