“Okay, but the last product was a good product right.”

  “It was, but why do we need him?”

  “Transportation.”

  “Fifty thousand dollars for transportation?”

  “No, he invested a hundred thousand. What part of that don’t you understand?”

  “I don’t want to meet him.”

  “I never said you had to meet him. I will deal with him.”

  Black scooped up the packages of dope off the table and examined them.

  “My contact said it’s better than before.”

  “Perfect.”

  Shamari said, “One thing, before I leave we need to change the goddamn name. This is getting out of hand. I don’t want to be associated with that Obamacare name. Its killing people and I don’t care if it’s not our package that’s killing people. I don’t want that name.”

  “Look, Shamari, I handle distribution, you handle everything else.”

  Shamari snatched the product from the table and said, “I will take this somewhere else. I don’t want you to use that name.”

  Black stepped in front of Shamari. “You want to take a step back! I sent money with you, so this is partly mine.”

  Shamari said, “I’ll give you your goddamned money back, but I’m not going to let you use that name.”

  “Let me use? I’m confused. You are talking to me like you are my goddamned daddy! I’m a grown-ass man. I will do what the fuck I want to do.”

  “Look, Black.” Shamari lowered his tone. “I want to keep working with you. I really do. I think we make a good team. Can’t you see motherfuckers are dying off that Obamacare heroin?”

  “But it’s not our package.”

  “You don’t know if it’s ours. I didn’t know you were cutting our shit with rat poison.”

  “Look, everybody cuts their shit with deadly shit.”

  “I guess you’re right. It doesn’t matter what you name the shit if it’s deadly.”

  “All heroin is deadly—if they OD.”

  “But why rat poison?”

  “Look, man, when we started this shit, I didn’t know shit about this business, just like you didn’t. This is what the OGs said to cut it with and they showed me how to do it. I had to cut it, otherwise I wouldn’t have made shit.”

  “What are you talking about? You gave me a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. I know you made at least that much.”

  “I don’t know what world you living in, but you cannot make three hundred thousand dollars off a kilo of heroin.”

  “Really?”

  “Who told you that dumb shit? Like I said, I gave you damn near all the profits the first time because you needed the money more than I did. Did I make money? Yes. But the first one was pure, but we still didn’t make three hundred thousand dollars. That isn’t possible. Notice the second time we made about seventy-five thousand each.”

  “I thought that was because it wasn’t as pure as the first.”

  “You are right. It wasn’t as pure as the first kilo and guess what? If it wasn’t for the goddamned rat poison, we wouldn’t have made what we made.”

  “Well, why do it then? Why don’t we just get some coke, something that we both know about?”

  “Because coke is not going to sell this goddamned fast. These heroin junkies, they need this shit, man, and I’m going to give them what they need.”

  “We gotta change the name.”

  “I’ve been giving it some thought. I think I got a new name even better than Obamacare.”

  “And that name is?”

  “Pretty Hurts.”

  “Like Beyonce’s song?”

  “Exactly. I mean who don’t like Beyonce? Whites. Blacks. Mexicans. Asians. Hispanics.”

  Shamari wanted to tell Black that Mexicans were Hispanics but he knew Black didn’t give a fuck. Shamari laughed. As crazy as Black was, he was a shrewd-ass businessman.

  “I actually like the name,” Shamari said.

  He hugged Black and Black whispered into Shamari’s ear, “This partner of yours better not run his motherfuckin’ mouth.”

  “I’ll handle him.”

  “If he runs his goddamn mouth, I’ll handle him.”

  Chapter 19

  Black changed the name of the product and it was a hit in the streets. The two kilos were gone in a week’s time and Shamari and Jada met Craig in California again. This time, Shamari purchased three kilos of heroin. Craig called Jada as soon as they made it back to Atlanta. It was a little after six p.m. and he told her to meet him at his office. The other surgeon and receptionist and all the assistants were gone for the day. As soon as Jada stepped in the office, Jada saw a woman that she recognized, but she didn’t know from where. A really cute, skinny, black girl.

  “Hi, I’m Jada.”

  The girl said, “Hi.” But she didn’t offer her name.

  Craig said to Jada, “Just wait out here in the reception area.”

  Jada said, “Can you just give me what I came for so I can go see Shamari?”

  “It will be just a few minutes.” Craig disappeared into the back.

  Jada skimmed through a People magazine but then turned to the black girl who was sitting in the lobby holding her breasts. Maybe she’d just gotten implants and they were bothering her, Jada thought. She looked really uncomfortable.

  Jada said, “Where do I know you from?”

  The woman said, “I don’t know. Do you dance?”

  “Hell no,” Jada said. “Not that I have anything against dancers, but it’s just not my thing.” Jada sat the magazine down and said, “You dance?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Where?”

  “Mostly Cheetah’s. I dance at the white clubs.”

  Then it occurred to Jada that the girl was the skinny bitch that had been dancing for Craig that night that he’d asked her to buy him some coke.

  Jada said, “Oh yeah, I remember you. I was with him at Cheetah’s the night that he met you.”

  “Oh yeah, I remember,” the woman said.

  “You got a name?”

  “Rain.”

  “So you fuckin’ for tits, Rain?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Never mind,” Jada said, as she scooped up a Time magazine and skimmed through it. She thought that not only was Craig addicted to coke, he was a sex addict as well. Fucking all these low-class, black, stripper girls, but that wasn’t her problem. She was over his trifling ass.

  Jada said, “How long have you been waiting for him, Rain?”

  Rain was still holding her chest like she was in excruciating pain and Jada noticed that her boobs were leaking blood. She had a gauze that she was using to try and slow the blood.”

  “I was out here an hour before you came.”

  Jada glanced at her watch and said, “Well, this is getting ridiculous.”

  Jada set the magazine down and marched to the back and burst into the operating room. Craig stood over Imani who was lying naked on the operating table. When he realized Jada was standing over him, he turned to her and said, “Get the hell out of here!”

  “Can you give me the dope, so I can go? I don’t have time to wait for you to perform surgery on this bitch.”

  Craig held Imani’s hand. He said, “Jada, get out of here!

  Jada was about to shut the door when she noticed two blood drenched balloons on the counter. She stepped back inside the operating room and said, “What the fuck is that, Craig?”

  “Nothing. Get out of here!”

  “No, I ain’t going no motherfucking where! What the fuck? I can’t believe you, Craig!”

  Craig let go of Imani’s hand and made eye contact with Jada.

  “Are you out of your mind? You implanted the heroin in this woman’s body? What the fuck were you thinking?” Jada yelled.

  “It’s not like that.”

  Imani looked very faint. She said, “Daddy, am I going to be alright?”

  Craig said, “Jada, please get out of here.”

  He turned to the woman and said, “Yes, you’re going to be okay.”

  Imani smiled and said, “Good. I want to be perfect for you, Daddy, and when I get rhinoplasty, I’ll be perfect.”

  Her breasts were leaking blood and it was disgusting as fuck to Jada. It suddenly occurred to Jada why Rain’s breasts were leaking. She’d been transporting heroin in hers as well.

  “I feel so tired, Daddy.”

  Jada said, “What happened? What the fuck happened in here?”

  “Relax. Everything is going to be okay,” Craig said.

  Imani faded in and out of consciousness.

  “What the fuck is going on in here?”

  “Everything is going to be fine, Jada,” Craig assured her.

  Jada grabbed Craig by his scrubs. “There’s dope in this woman’s blood isn’t there?”

  “No.”

  “You’re a goddamn liar!” Jada said. She stared at the two blood drenched balloons. One of them was ruptured and dope leaked from it. “We gotta get her to a hospital.”

  Craig said, “We’re going to go to prison if we do. It’s going to be okay.”

  “Hold my hand, Daddy.”

  Craig held Imani’s hand and she said, “I love you, and I want to be perfect for you.” She took a breath and closed her eyes.

  He held her hand, his thumb on her wrist and he felt her pulse getting weaker.

  She looked up at him again, smiled and said, “I’m going to be perfect for you.” She closed her eyes again and her pulse stopped.

  He placed his lips on hers and breathed into her mouth three times then with the heel of his hands between her bloody breasts he began to apply pressure expecting her heart to jumpstart. There was no result.

  “Goddamn it!” Craig said.

  Jada said, “What the fuck is going on, Craig?”

  Craig smacked Imani on the face three times. “Open your eyes, damn it! Open your eyes! Goddamn it, don’t you die on me! No you can’t go! Don’t go! You can’t die on me!”

  He placed his mouth over hers again and tried to resuscitate her but he couldn’t.

  “No. No. No,” he whispered, tears cascading his face.

  Jada said, “I fucking hate you! I hate you so goddamned much!”

  She called Shamari.

  “Hey, babe,” Shamari answered.

  “Get over here right away!” She was crying and screaming into the phone.

  “Over where?”

  “The surgeon’s office!”

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  “Just come and come fast!”

  Twenty minutes later, Shamari was banging on the office door. Rain opened the door and Jada was sitting in the lobby with her head between her legs crying like hell.

  Shamari said, “Jada, what’s wrong with you?”

  She looked up at Shamari and hugged him, but kept crying

  Shamari had to calm her ass down. “What’s wrong, babe?”

  She kept sniffling, trying to talk but couldn’t get her words out.

  Shamari looked at Rain. “Who the fuck are you? And what is going on?”

  “Imani is dead,” Jada said.

  “What? How did this happen?”

  Jada stood and led him to the operating room where he found Craig wearing latex gloves as he mopped up a small pool of blood. Then Shamari saw Imani’s corpse on the operating table. There were speckles of blood on Craig’s scrubs and his surgeon’s mask.

  “What the fuck happened?”

  Jada said, “This goddamned clown placed the dope in this woman’s implants and the heroin leaked into her blood and killed her.”

  Shamari grabbed him by his scrubs. “Motherfucker, I will kill your bitch ass in here! Now you got me in more bullshit!”

  Shamari punched Craig in his goddamned mouth. He stumbled over the body and his head crashed into the counter.

  “What the fuck have you done, you dumb motherfucker?” said Shamari.

  There was a scalpel lying on the counter. Shamari picked it up and was about to stick Craig in his goddamned throat when Jada grabbed him.

  “Don’t kill him. He ain’t worth it, Bae.”

  “You defending this motherfucking idiot?”

  “No. Not at all, babe. You are in all kinds of shit. You don’t need to kill him. If you kill him, you’re fucked for real.”

  “I’m fucked anyway.”

  Jada tried to pry the scalpel from Shamari’s hands. “Gimme the knife, babe.”

  Shamari released it. Craig rose to his feet and Shamari punched him in his motherfucking mouth again, and knocked out one of his front teeth.

  Craig nursed his mouth.

  Shamari said, “I can’t go down for this.”

  “What are we doing to do?” Jada asked.

  “Where is the dope?”

  Jada pointed to the four medical balloons on the table. There had been only two before. Jada realized that Craig must have removed the other two balloons from Imani’s chest.

  “Who is the other chick?” Shamari asked Craig.

  “The other courier,” Craig said.

  Shamari turned to Jada. “Did you know about her? Tell her to bring her skinny ass in here.”

  When Rain entered the operating room, Shamari said, “We’re all going to have to take this secret to our grave.”

  Everybody nodded except Rain, and Shamari said, “Do you understand, skinny bitch?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What are we going to do?” asked Jada.

  “We got to get rid of the body,” Shamari said. “That’s the only thing that we can do.” He turned to Craig. “Does her family know she was with you?”

  “She was raised in an orphanage.”

  Shamari slapped the fuck out of Craig for taking advantage of the clearly emotionally damaged woman.

  Chapter 20

  Trey sat in the parking deck, his car parked directly across from Starr’s BMW.

  Trey had found out from Brooke that Starr usually went home about six o’clock in the evening. He’d wanted to surprise her and show up at the showroom, but he’d peeked inside earlier to find her talking to a white gentlemen. It looked as if they were discussing business and he didn’t want to impose. He decided he’d let her handle her business and then speak to her later.

  Trey glanced at his watch. It was 7:45 p.m. He’d watch Brooke leave five minutes ago so he decided now was the perfect time to surprise her. He’d observed Starr through the window of the showroom talking to someone. A black man seated in one of the sofas on display. He couldn’t see the man’s face since his back was turned. Trey wondered if he was an employee or a customer. If it was a customer, he’d soon be leaving. He entered the showroom. A bell rang indicating that someone was entering the building. Starr was behind the counter organizing a desk while talking to the man who was seated with his back turned. When she heard the bell ring, her eyes darted toward the door.

  “Trey. What are you doing here?”

  “I thought I would come by and check you out.”

  The man stood up and turned toward Trey. Trey recognized him immediately. His brother, Troy. What the fuck was he doing here?

  Troy said. “Bruh, what’s up?”

  “You tell me what’s up?”

  Troy stood and was making his way toward Trey smiling. “Good to see you.”

  “Really?” Trey said.

  Trey glanced at Starr. Trey was trying to figure out what the fuck was going on between the two. Troy was standing there in some tight-ass pin stripped suit with a pink shirt.

  Now Trey knew goddamned well Starr was not trying to fuck with this corny-ass dude. But why was he here and why hadn’t he been in touch with him? This was the second time he’d been around her without checking in with him. Well, the second time that he knew of.

  Troy offered Trey his hand but Trey refused. He stared at Starr.

  “Somebody tell me what the fuck is going on? Why is he here? Sitting down all relaxed and shit.”

  Starr said, “He was just visiting.”

  Trey turned to Troy. “Why are you visiting my girl, brother?”

  Starr said, “Trey, we are not together.”

  Trey said, “We are together until I say we are not together.”

  Starr said, “See, that’s why we aren’t together. Because of an attitude like that. You think you can do whatever the fuck you want to do and I have to obey you. Really, Trey, is that how this works? You go out and fuck whoever you want to fuck but I can’t talk to anyone?”

  Starr made her way from behind the counter and was walking toward Trey.

  “You tell me how it works! You get to fuck my brother?” Trey said.

  Starr made her way to Trey and slapped the fuck out of him.

  “You think I’m that kind of woman,” she said.

  “You may not be that kind of woman, but I know my brother and I know how dudes are. This nigga wants to fuck you.”

  Troy said, “I’m going to leave now.”

  He tried to make his way past Trey and Starr but Trey stopped him. His hand now on Troy’s chest.

  “It’s like that, huh, bruh?” Trey said.

  “What are you talking about, man?”

  “Look me in my eye and tell me that you ain’t trying to fuck my girl?”

  “I gotta go, man.”

  Trey took hold of his arm and Starr said, “Trey, don’t start no bullshit up in here.”

  “I just want this nigga to tell me why the fuck he hanging around you.”

  Troy said, “Look, you got a good woman. You need to learn how to treat—”

  Before he could finish talking, Trey punched him in his goddamned mouth. Blood shot from his lip and he broke two teeth before falling onto one of the living room display tables.

  Starr tried to get in between the two of them but Trey shoved her out of the way.

  Troy tried to stand up but Trey kicked him in his ribs then pinned his arms to the floor. Though Troy was younger, Trey was stronger and had more experience with fighting. He held Troy down as blood spilled from Troy’s mouth.

  Trey said, “Motherfucker, I will kill you over this woman! The only reason I don’t shoot your punk ass is because of our daddy!”

  Trey kicked Troy in his ribs once more and said, “You get the fuck out of here, and don’t never come back in here!”