notice that if I tried to jump down onto the ground I would surely break my fucking legs. But I couldn’t

  just stand there and let those niggas fuck me up so I raced towards the bedroom door and hurried up

  and locked it. I figured by me locking it, it would give me a little more time to figure out how to climb out

  of this window without crippling myself.

  With my heart pounding like a racehorse I climbed back on the ledge and then I eased my way

  through the window, sliding out on my stomach. And as soon as I had gotten halfway through, I heard

  two gunshots and then the bedroom door flew open. My eyes damn near popped out of my head

  when Chris burst into the room with Duke in tow. I could tel in their eyes that they were shocked to

  see me. Chris aimed his gun at me. “It’s Lynise!” he yel ed.

  “Shoot that bitch in the head!” Duke instructed him and Chris fol owed through by letting off two

  more rounds. BOOM! BOOM!

  I saw the sparks from the barrel of the gun after he fired both shots. I knew I didn’t want to die. But

  I also knew that I didn’t want to let go of the window ledge and drop down twenty feet to the ground.

  “God, show me what to do,” I said and then I closed my eyes. And without given it anymore thought, I

  let go of the window ledge.

  God be with me and please, stay with me.

  Cheaper to Keep Her part 2 Unique

  Another One Bites The Dust-Chapter Thirteen

  If only I could fly, I thought, as I let go of the ledge and felt the wind beneath me.

  It was a matter of seconds before my body fel into a bush with sharp limbs. The limbs cut through

  my skin real y bad. But I couldn’t complain. The bush also was a lifesaver, because it broke my fal .

  Lucky for me the entire backyard was pitch-black. So after I rol ed myself out of the bush I scrambled

  to my feet. But I was only able to move a few feet before Chris started shooting his gun again. Duke

  nor Chris was able to see me but it didn’t stop the damn fool from pointing his pistol in every location

  of the backyard.

  “Do you see her?” Duke yel ed.

  “No, I don't see her anywhere,” Chris told him.

  ,“Come on, let's hurry up and get her before she gets away.” Duke instructed.

  I was scraped up pretty bad. But knowing that they were on their way downstairs, al owed me to

  block out al the pain I was feeling so I could use my strength to get out of there. Katrina’s backyard

  was pretty big. And it was fenced in. The fence was made with iron and it was only six feet tal , which

  wasn’t hard for me to climb over. I was breathing so hard, I was panting. By the time I reached the

  other side I saw Chris running directly towards me. He came from the front of the house, so I had no

  choice but to turn and run in the opposite direction. I had no idea where I was going. And the fact that it

  was extremely dark outside prevented me from planning a better escape. Al I knew was that I

  needed to run because my life depended on it.

  It seemed like the further I ran, the shorter of the distance Chris had to catch up with me. “When I

  get my hands on you bitch, I am going to choke your motherfucking ass out,” I heard him threaten me

  from behind.

  I thought he would’ve fired more gunshots at me. But for some reason, he didn’t. And since he

  hadn’t, I figured that maybe he ran out of bul ets from shooting blindly at me in the backyard. Whether

  I was right or wrong, I was determined not to let him catch me. Not tonight nor any other night. So I

  mustered up every inch of strength I had to pick up speed. My heart raced at a faster speed than my

  legs as I continued to prevent this maniac from catching me. I hope Chris’s big ass wasn’t in the kind

  of shape that I was.

  A couple of times I tripped when my feet landed on uneven ground. I didn’t know this at first, but

  Katrina’s house and her neighbor’s houses were built around a man-made lake. I contemplated

  jumping in the lake but I was afraid it might’ve been too deep for me to swim in. And I definitely didn’t

  want to drown. Then I thought drowning would be a better way to die than fatal gunshots wounds.

  It seemed as if Chris had chased me for at least a mile but when I looked back I saw the

  bedroom light from Katrina’s house and the distance between me and her house was less than a

  quarter of a mile. “Lord,” please help me!” I prayed underneath my breath. I needed God more now

  than any other time in my life. I hoped the Good Lord heard me and didn’t ignore my pleas.

  It seemed like Chris had no plans of giving up. I even noticed he was getting closer to me than I

  thought. I figured if I kept running at the speed I was traveling, then he’d eventual y catch up to me.

  Besides the sound of running feet, I’m sure I heard Chris breathing real y hard. He was breathing

  so hard he could barely catch his breath. Although he seemed a little winded, that bastard showed no

  other sign that he would slow his big ass down. So without much more thought, I did the unthinkable. I

  dipped through a set of gigantic trees and then I made a quick left turn towards the lake and dove

  straight in. The immediate splash from the water was loud enough for the neighbors to hear. So I was

  hoping it would dawn on at least one of them to investigate it.

  “You motherfucking bitch!” Chris screamed. I could tel he was pissed that I had jumped into the

  lake. And when I looked back, I noticed that he’d stopped in his tracks. My heart skipped a beat when

  I realized he hadn’t jumped in the water behind me. I wanted to stop swimming but my mind wouldn’t

  let me. I knew I had to get as far away from Duke and Chris as quickly as I could.

  When I looked back again, I noticed Chris had disappeared from where he was original y standing.

  A new level of panic shot through my entire body. I didn’t know whether to keep swimming to the

  other side of the lake or turn back. Either way, I wanted to avoid Chris from catching me.

  The water in the lake wasn’t as deep as I thought it was, but the temperature was freezing cold.

  And I knew that very soon I would need to get out of it. Without making a lot of noise I decided to

  move about in the lake. Instead of swimming to the opposite side of the lake, I swam to the East side.

  I figured if Chris and Duke were looking for me, they'd wait for me directly on the opposite side in

  which I entered. I stopped a couple of times before I was able to exit the lake. For one, I was

  extremely exhausted from al of the running I had done before I jumped into the water. And two, it

  seemed like the more speed I put behind my swimming, the louder the splashes got so I had to slow

  my pace. It bothered the hel out of me that I couldn’t see a thing around me. I could see the light from

  Katrina’s daughter's room was stil on, but that was it.

  I thought about screaming for help at one point. But then I figured that wouldn’t be a smart move,

  because what if no one hears me but Duke and Chris? I’d real y be a dead bitch then. So after taking

  a couple of swimming breaks, I final y got up the nerve to swim back to land.

  I said another silent prayer and exited the water quietly. I got down on my knees and crawled

  behind a tree that was near someone’s backyard. I waited there for a moment, while on high alert. My

  heart was beating like a racehorse but I did my best to remain calm. A couple of times I jumped

  because I heard crackling sounds around me. But when I looked a little closer, I realized there were a

  couple of squirrels playing around, so I exhaled. I knew I wasn’t out of harm’s way yet and that’s why

  I kept my guard up. After being on my knees for at least a good five minutes, I stood up, but hunched

  down so I couldn’t be spotted if Chris was indeed waiting for me to reveal myself.

  Being that it was extremely dark it became impossible for me to plan an escape route. I was able

  to stil see Katrina’s house because no one ever turned off the bedroom lights. Suddenly my actions

  hit me. During al of the excitement, I hadn’t thought about Katrina. Now I wondered what kind of

  turmoil she was in. I knew how Duke operated so there was no question in my mind that he was

  beating the hel out of her. I knew his ass wasn’t going to spare her any leniency because she had me

  hiding upstairs in her daughter’s room. Trust me, he was making her tel him why I was there and what

  we were talking about before he arrived at the house. Knowing that she threw her own man and his

  brother underneath the bus, I knew she sung like a bird when he questioned her about me.

  I couldn’t blame her. After al , my new motto was the same motto as most of America, “survivor of

  the fittest.” I could only apologize to her in my mind.

  It wouldn't surprise me if she lied and told Duke that I fol owed her to her house and how I knew

  where she lived. Either way it wouldn’t matter to me, because her life was in the palm of his hands

  and mine wasn’t. Wel , at least, for now it wasn’t.

  Once I felt like the coast was clear, I tried my luck and maneuvered my way out of the darkness

  surrounding Katrina’s neighborhood. With every move I made I had to look back and see if I were

  being fol owed. I was disappointed no one had cal ed the cops after hearing gunshots and me

  splashing around in the lake. This wasn’t the ’hood. This was a nicer part of the beach and they didn’t

  suppose to go for that shit out here. Or that’s the lie we in the ’hood suppose to believe.

  When I got at least a half of mile away from Katrina’s house, that’s when I knew Chris had turned

  back and gone back to Katrina’s house. Drenched from head to toe from that nasty lake water, my

  clothes clung to my body like a bad habit and I wanted nothing else but to get out of them. I had

  nowhere to go to do just that. And even if I did, I didn’t have a spare change of clothes, so once again

  I was ass out. One part of me wanted to just scream out loud and ask God why me? Why was I going

  through al of this turmoil? I also wanted to ask God how was this al going to end? I knew He was the

  only one who knew what was around the next corner. And the fact I didn’t know nearly drove me

  crazy.

  I looked down at my watch and noticed it had not only stopped, but it also had water damage. I

  sighed heavily. I felt like if it wasn’t one thing, then it was damn sure another. And since I had no way

  of knowing what time it was, I bit the bul et and kept it moving down side streets to prevent from being

  seen, just in case Duke sent Chris back out to look for me.

  I wished I had a chance to go back and get Bishop’s truck. I was at least ten or fifteen miles away

  from the downtown area of Virginia Beach, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to get there on foot. I also

  knew it would be impossible to get to Bishop’s truck. If Chris wasn’t out here looking for me, I knew he

  was certainly keeping his eyes on that truck.

  And for the first time I wondered if revenge was worth my life . . . or worse, my death.

  Cheaper to Keep Her part 2 Unique

  Fuck Everybody-Chapter Fourteen

  Only a fool wouldn’t change their fortune.

  I didn’t know who said that but they were right. And that’s why I had to see this through. That was

  the only way to change my fortune—I had to see this son-of-a-bitch in jail or dead.

  I practical y dragged myself a half of mile before I was able to come upon a gas station. It was

  more or less one of those convenient stores with a couple of old ass gas pumps outside and a store

  ful of Arabs who posed as the owners. When I walked inside, everybody in the store, including the

  customers turned around and stared at me like their fucking minds was going bad. I dismissed al of

  them with a funky ass expression and proceeded to the counter. I knew everyone probably wondered

  why I was soaked and wet when it hasn’t rained in the last twenty-four hours. But I couldn’t worry

  about them. I had other shit on my mind.

  “You got a phone I can use?” I asked one of the two men that were standing behind the counter.

  The one nearest to the register said, “Sorry, we don’t have a public phone.”

  “But I got an emergency. I need to cal somebody so they can come and get me,” I expressed

  with urgency.

  But he insisted that he wasn’t about to let me use the store’s telephone. I became extremely

  frustrated. I mean, he saw how I looked, so it wasn’t hard to tel that I needed some type of

  assistance. And as bad as I wanted to curse him out, I held back al my anger and suggested that if

  he didn’t want me to use his phone, then could he dial the number for me. I further explained that I

  had just escaped from this man who was trying to kil me.

  “I’m sorry but I can’t help you,” he replied. “Go outside and use the pay phone,” he continued and

  pointed towards the door.

  When he pul ed that stunt I nearly lost it and instantly retaliated, “If I had money I would’ve used

  the fucking pay phone outside, you idiot! Y’al come here from your country with your little bit ass

  money so you can set up shop and overcharge us black folks with al that expired shit you got on

  those nasty ass shelves. Y’al think y’al got al the sense in the world but you don’t. Y’al ain’t shit!

  Y’al ain’t nothing but fake ass Muslims trying to get rich off of us. But this place ain’t last long ’cause

  I’m gonna get my boyfriend to blow this shit up. You fucking has-beens!”

  Immediately after storming out of the convenience store, I marched across the parking lot. I was

  damn near to tears when this guy approached me from behind. “Yo’ Shorty, was that shit you said

  true about a nigga trying to kil you?”

  I turned around and looked into the eyes of this five feet eleven cat with a shiny bald head. I

  started to get sarcastic with his ass for asking me that stupid ass question but once again I held my

  tongue. Primarily because he might let me use that Blackberry he had attached to his hip. I hesitated

  for a moment and then I said, “Nah, I was kidding. I only said it to see if he would let me use his

  phone.”

  The guy laughed. “Yo’ sweetheart, you are mad funny!” he commented.

  But I didn't think the shit was funny so I didn't laugh with him. He caught on real y quick. “Yo’, my

  bad! I’m sorry for laughing at you.”

  “Do you mind if I use your phone?” I cut to the chase. I real y didn’t want to engage in any smal

  talk with this guy. Al I wanted was to use his phone and that was it.

  The guy took his Blackberry from his holster and handed it to me. “Yeah, sure you can use it.”

  I took the phone from him and tried one more time to see if I could get my ex, Devin, on the

  phone. But once again that tired ass nigga refused to answer his line. I knew before I even dialed his

  number that I wasn't going to be able to talk to him cal ing from this unknown number. He was real y

  big on sending unknown numbers to his voicemail. And the fact that his voicemail was ful , I couldn’t

  even leave him a message. I was so frustrated, I just ended the cal and handed this guy his phone

  back.

  I sighed heavily as I stood before him. I couldn’t think of anyone else to cal . I didn’t even have a

  place that I could go to. So I stood there and wondered to myself what my next move would be.

  “If you need a ride somewhere I’m sure my cousin wouldn't mind dropping you off,” he told me.

  “Where's your cousin now?” I asked.

  He pointed to an old mid-size van that was tricked out with a white and silver flip-flop colored

  exterior paint, tinted windows and a set of chrome rims. “He's right there sitting in the driver seat of

  that caravan.”

  I frowned when I checked out this guy’s cousin. From where I was standing his cousin had to be at

  least fifty years old. He looked more like his father than his cousin. But I rol ed with it. I mean, who was

  I to say how they were related. I was in a bad place and I had no other options, so I took this guy up

  on his offer and decided to accompany them.

  On our way towards the van I asked him, what was his name? He told me his name was Leroy

  and his cousin's name was Tyrone. They also didn’t live too far from the convenience store. The he

  switched the conversation around and asked me how did I get so wet? By this time I was standing

  outside of the van with the sliding door pul ed back. Leroy was inside trying to find something for me

  to sit on, so I wouldn't saturate their backseat with my wet clothes.

  I started to tel him the truth about me jumping into the lake but then I decided against it. I was like

  the military—they didn’t have a need to know. So I fabricated a story about being thrown into a pool

  and I was so mad at the person who done it, that I just simply left and didn't look back. I sensed he

  believed me because he commented that he would never do something like that. Then he started

  talking about something else.

  While I was waiting for him to lay a cover or something on the backseat, his older cousin, who

  looked like he could be his father, started flirting with me.