undue attention our way. “Fuck that, Torch. We are going in the front door. Lock and loaded. If that

  bitch ass nigga, Duke, or his boy, Chris, shoot this way and ask questions, I want him to know that

  Lynise and three badass niggas rol ed up on his bitch’s apartment and smacked her around.”

  I was speechless. What the fuck was he thinking? We should be keeping a low profile. And I didn’t

  want to smack Diamond around, I wanted that bitch dead.

  Torch parked the Escalade and I was thinking that this was bad. This fire ass whip would be jacked

  as soon as we were out of sight. Then something happened as we got out of the truck. One, we were

  al sporting black jackets, a white shirt and black slacks. Two, Bishop signaled me to lead the way.

  Three, and this was the thing that real y fucked me up. As we walked, everyone who saw us had an

  immediate respect. We were four bad muthafuckas and everyone, including my cat, Rodney, saw us

  and knew not to fuck with us or our ride.

  I had never felt this fucking powerful before. Bishop had put me in front for a reason. To stand big

  and walk tal . And I did. My chest was out, my confidence was high, my stride was long. This is the

  bitch I always wanted to be. And I had three real fucking men behind me who had my back.

  It was then that I knew that no, I wasn’t dying that night. Matter-of-fact, none of us were dying that

  night. We owned the fucking night. This was our night, our temporary territory. We were about to set

  this muthafucka on fire . . . and I was the ring leader. Hel yeah!

  We made our way across the parking lot and up the stairs and no one said anything to us. I saw

  the respect, but I also saw the fear. And I loved that shit.

  As we walked towards the door, I realized why Bishop and his boys had jackets on. They were

  strapped to the hilt with Glocks, Sig Sauers and I was sure I saw both Torch and Monty hiding Uzis

  under their jackets. And amazingly, we didn’t break stride as al three guys pul ed our guns in both

  hands.

  As we approached the door, Bishop signaled to Torch to do his thing, which was kick the door in.

  When he did, Diamond was surprised as shit as she jumped up from the sofa. And even before she

  could scream, Monty pointed his Glock and told her to shut the fuck up. I was surprised as hel . That

  bitch’s mouth was wide open and not a word came out.

  I looked over at Bishop and he said, “For now, it’s your show. Do what you have to do, but don’t

  kil her. We need answers.”

  I didn’t say anything as I walked to Diamond and when I was within two feet of that bitch, I threw a

  right hand that connected squarely on her nose. And suddenly I was Laila Ali in that bitch. I was

  throwing combinations—lefts and rights, rights and lefts. I was hitting her ass on top of her head, in her

  face, on her body. I had the power on my side. But more, I had the strength of revenge, the memories

  of a one-sided friendship, the thoughts of jail, the reminiscence of a family who didn’t give a fuck

  about me . . . and lastly, the thoughts of a man, Duke Carrington, who had brought me to the lowest

  point in my life—with the help of my former best friend.

  I was in kil mode and Diamond’s nasty and grimy ass would have died then and there if Torch

  hadn’t lifted me by my armpits and pul ed me off that bitch.

  It was then that I noticed the door was off its hinges. But Monty didn’t stand in the doorway, he

  provided look out duties by looking out the curtains. These muthafuckas were serious. They knew

  what they doing. They were prepared for any and everything. And now I was one of them. Whether it

  be for a night, two nights or the rest of my life, I was one of them.

  When I turned back around to look at Diamond, Bishop had his hand around her throat, lifting her

  up. He threw her ass hard in a recliner near the television, opposite the wal where the couch set. It

  was a new recliner since I lived here.

  I got a look at her face and strangely as it was, I felt good. Her face was completely swol en from

  the beating I had given her monkey ass. Both of her eyes were completely shut. Her face was beet

  red. I think my first punch broke her nose as I noticed al of the blood from her nose as wel as her

  busted lips.

  And the good thing, I didn’t feel any remorse.

  That bitch tried to get me kil ed. And like Katrina, she picked the wrong fucking team.

  Bishop was barraging her ass with a series of questions.

  Did you set up Neeko to get kil ed?

  Who kil ed him?

  What part did you play in it?

  Where was Duke hiding out?

  Were Duke and Chris hiding out together?

  I couldn’t hear Diamond’s answers. She was barely whispering. I had fucked her up just that

  much. It was then that I noticed my knuckles were red with blood on both my hands and probably

  sore, but I didn’t feel the pain. I was high on adrenaline.

  When Bishop was through interrogating her ass, he spat in her face. Damn, I was a sadistic bitch

  myself because I was loving this shit. This real y was me. This was my world.

  Bishop went in the kitchen and I heard water running. When he came out he had two wet rags. He

  wrapped both around my hands. Then he looked at Torch and nodded his head one time.

  Torch took two steps towards Diamond and grabbed her head and made a hard twist. Just like

  that, her neck was snapped.

  No gun, no bul et, no knife, no noise.

  Just as we had walked to the apartment, we walked the same way back to the car. Bishop

  whispered in my ear as we approached the car. I signaled my cat, Rodney, over and I told him to

  spread the word to the folks around the area that was out tonight that this was done by Duke

  Carrington, the cat who always dropped Diamond off in the Porsche. Then I handed him a wad of

  cash. Bishop would tel me later the amount of the wad—twenty thousand. Hush money. It was

  Rodney’s job to spread the money around and of course, keep half for himself.

  Rodney knew the deal as did everyone else. They knew power when they saw it. And in the

  ’hood, money and power truly did talk. Even though they didn’t know Bishop, whoever opened their

  mouth knew this powerful dude would come back and take them out. And if he was in a bad mood, he

  would probably take out the whole family as wel .

  As we departed the apartment’s parking lot, I thought about the good and bad times Diamond and

  I had together. We were girls. I loved that bitch for most of my life. She was my girl, my bitch. She was

  my ride and die forever. And the bitch betrayed me—and for what, a no-good ass nigga who didn’t

  give a fuck about me, her or anyone else.

  You chose wrong, bitch. You chose wrong.

  Cheaper to Keep Her part 2 Unique

  One Down, Two to Go-Chapter Twenty-Three

  Loyalty has been known to die a hard and painful death.

  Torch took his time departing that wretched ass neighborhood as if we were cruising the park

  after freshly waxing a car. I didn’t get these cats. You would think we were just chil ing on a Friday or

  Saturday night. My adrenaline was pumping hard through my entire body and I was ready for what

  was to come next. But I stil didn’t get these cats.

  Bishop gave Monty the address to program the GPS to where Chris was hiding out. When he said

  Lake Edwards Drive, I knew we were headed to the Lake Edwards area. Lake Edwards was

  considered the ’hood. The townhouses out there were built in the early eighties and back then it was

  considered a middle class neighborhood. Now those same houses were worn down from al the bad

  tenants and wannabe drug pushers that plagued the streets of the neighborhood. I wanted to ask

  Bishop why Chris would be in Lake Edwards. I was sure Diamond told him. If she answered al of his

  questions, which I was sure she did, then he also knew where Duke was hiding out. But truthful y, I

  realized it didn’t even matter at this point. So I said fuck it as I sat back and took in the scenery.

  Torch entered Lake Edwards from Newtown Road, near a 7-Eleven convenience store. My heart

  picked up speed the closer we came to the address Chris was reportedly at. I was shocked to see

  that the streets were deserted. This wasn’t how this place normal y was. Something just wasn’t right.

  Either the police had just rol ed through and did a sweep or we were walking into an ambush. Damn, I

  wished I could put my finger on it. But I couldn’t, so I warned Bishop and his two men to keep their

  heads up. And after they assured me that they would, I said a quiet prayer. I had a feeling that God

  wouldn’t want to hear a word I had to say, especial y after what I did to Diamond. But I figured what

  could it hurt to talk to Him anyway? He was the ruler of al the earth. And nothing would happen unless

  He signed off on it. So who better to go to but the source?

  I had to get in focus. I was losing perspective. Thoughts of that trick, Diamond, were shooting in

  and out of my head. Good times and bad were playing ping pong in my brain. One thought was of us

  as kids and pre-teens, playing hop-scotch and jacks. Other thoughts were of us growing up to be

  teenagers and doing al kinds of foul shit that pissed off our teachers, parents and any other authority

  figure we could piss off. Then there were the memories of me always trying to save her grimy ass

  from this situation or that situation—from some nigga wanting to kick her ass for her stealing from him

  to a mad wife tired of Diamond fucking her husband. In the long run, that didn’t make a bit of

  difference either, that bitch deserved to die. And most importantly, she deserved the ass whipping I

  gave her.

  By the time we arrived at the residence Diamond said Chris would be, Bishop’s Blackberry

  started vibrating. It was easy to hear. The radio was on a jazz satel ite station and turned down low.

  Bishop looked down at the cal er ID, and I shot a look as wel . The name on the phone display was

  Wifey.

  Fuck me! For whatever reason, an instant and sharp pain shot through my heart. I literal y wanted

  to take the phone out of his hand and tel that bitch to go and get a life. This was my time with Bishop,

  not hers, so why the fuck couldn’t she stay in her own lane. Shit, he would be back in New Jersey

  soon, so stop sweating him while he was here. It was at that time that I realized I wanted the fairy tale.

  I wanted this muthafucka to come swinging down on a vine and sweep me off my feet and take me

  away from this wasteland forever because I did not deserve to be here.

  Yep, I realized snatching the phone from Bishop would not have gone over wel . Not with Bishop,

  nor with the men who sat in the front seat as his bodyguards and protectors. So I sat back and

  waited to see how he would handle this awkward situation.

  “Drive around the block one more time,” Bishop instructed Torch and then he pressed the send

  button. “What’s up, baby?” he said to her.

  I had to be honest and say I was about to flip out, because I had become jealous. The way he

  said baby had a lot of meaning behind it. I’d never had a man talk to me like that. And what was even

  worse was he said it like he meant it. Thank God I couldn’t hear what she said on the other end,

  because I knew her voice alone would probably irritate me.

  Quite honestly, this was messing me up. Bishop being on the phone supposed to be an awkward

  moment for him, but it wasn’t. It was awkward for me, considering my feelings. I was sure this was

  normal, everyday business for him. But for me the awkwardness spoke volumes. We were about to

  probably commit murder again and this muthafucka was talking to his bitch on the phone. I wonder if

  there was even a morsel of regret for what he did to Diamond.

  Shit! I had to get a grip. In my heart I was acting as if Bishop belonged to me or I was his lady. The

  hug when we saw each other again and the clothes and food at the hotel had given me a false sense

  of reality. The truth was I wanted his ass. I wanted him to treat me like the bitch he was talking to. The

  inflection in his voice had changed. He was gentle with her, whoever she was, and more attentive. In

  any other man it would probably come off as a sign of weakness. With Bishop, it only added to his

  strength. He real y was the epitome of powerful in so many ways.

  “Nah, I won’t be able to do that right now. But I could probably do it early in the morning,” he told

  her and then he fel silent.

  While Bishop spoke calmly with his worrisome ass woman, I turned my attention towards the

  houses and the trees we passed in the neighborhood. I tried to block his conversation out, but it was

  very difficult to do. Final y, after three long and agonizing minutes, he ended his cal . And boy was I

  happy about that.

  “Come on, let’s get down to business,” Bishop said and I knew the meaning in his words, Let’s

  hurry up and do what we have to do so we can get out of here.

  Torch drove slowly back down Lake Edwards Drive and we noticed a white late model Honda

  Accord had pul ed up in front of the address Diamond gave Bishop. Monty pointed it out.

  “Yeah, I see that,” Bishop replied.

  “Do you want me to stop or keep going?” Torch wanted to know.

  “Pul up about three or four houses behind the parked car,” Bishop instructed.

  “Maybe I should pretend I’m going to go knock on someone’s door,” I suggested. Bishop liked that

  idea. When I was about to step out of the truck, both the passenger and driver side doors opened on

  the Honda Accord. Bishop put his hand on my shoulder as if he was tel ing me to hold on.

  We al watched as a young black woman stepped out of the driver side, while a tal cat hopped

  out of the passenger side, with an Applebee’s carryout bag in his hand. I couldn’t believe our stroke

  of luck. I knew that big muthafucka anywhere. It was Chris. Both luck and coincidence were on our

  side. “That’s him. That’s Chris right there,” I blurted out.

  Bishop looked at me. “Are you sure?”

  “Fuck yeah, I’m sure!” I spit out. “He’s wearing the exact same thing he was wearing last night and

  even if he wasn’t, I know that muthafucka anywhere.”

  Bishop didn’t say another word. He touched Torch on the back of his shoulder and without saying

  a word, Torch knew to drive up directly behind the car.

  These fucking guys and their non-verbal communication were amazing. They were poetry in

  motion and the only thing I needed to do was fol ow in their footsteps.

  When Torch punched the gas and pul ed up behind the Honda, al three men jumped out in unison,

  and bum rushed Chris and his lady. “I want both of them in the house,” I heard Bishop say.

  “What do you want me to do?” I cal ed out to him.

  “You coming with us,” he said in a fading voice.

  Within seconds they were in the face of Chris and his lady. This shit reminded me of some gang

  wars. It was surreal. I couldn’t believe that I was yet in another sting operation to take down another

  one of Duke’s flunkies. I couldn’t wait to see Chris’s face when he saw me. That shit would be

  priceless.

  The sudden bum rush on Chris and his female companion caught them both off guard. I didn’t get

  it. This son-of-a-bitch real y wasn’t on the lookout for anyone assaulting his criminal ass. He should

  have known either the cops or somebody would be after his sorry ass. After al , it was over the news

  that Duke Carrington and his bodyguard, Chris Washington, was wanted in the murder of Katrina.

  When Chris’s female companion saw Bishop and his boys coming at them with their guns aimed

  and cocked, she screamed instantly. Torch pointed his gun directly into her face and demanded she

  shut the fuck up or else. Chris dropped the carryout bag and tried to make a run for it, but little Monty

  got to him before he could move an inch. My heart raced as I watched everything unfold. I swear it

  was like watching an episode of Fugitives.

  “Get ‘em in the house,” Bishop instructed Torch who had the female in his grasp.

  I watched how Monty and Bishop handled Chris, while Torch forced the chick towards the front

  door. “Is anybody in the house?” he asked her as she fumbled to get her keys out.

  She whimpered a barely audible no.

  “You better not be lying to me,” he threatened her.

  I looked around at the other townhouses on the street. I had to make sure no one was watching

  us. At this point in the game, we didn’t need any interruptions. Not the police, or anyone else. But as I

  thought about it, if someone did see us, they would probably put a deaf ear and blind eye to what we

  were doing. If they knew Chris or anything about him, they probably thought he was getting what he

  deserved. Anyway, when I felt the coast was clear, I focused my attention back on Bishop and Monty

  as they forced Chris into the house behind Torch and the woman.

  Before I entered the house behind them, I looked around at al the windows and front doors once

  more. This was the least I could do in a situation like this.