Last Bitch Standing (8 page)

"I hope you're not too far away, because Arnez
just got to the restaurant."

"I'm very close. I'm staying at the hotel where the
restaurant is at."

"Aren't you a smart girl!"

"I like to think so. So, the waiter is expecting me
and will make sure I get a seat near Arnez, correct?"

"Indeed. He is expecting you. He wanted me to
ask you what you'll be wearing and how long before you
show up."

"He won't be able to miss me. I'll be in a red dress.
Tell him I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"Will do...and be careful."

"Don't worry about me, I'll be perfectly fine. Now,
call the waiter and let him know to be looking out for me
shortly."

After touching up my makeup and scrutinizing my
entire look a few more times to the point that I knew it
couldn't get any better, I grabbed my purse and headed out. I strolled down the hallway towards the elevator and
noticed a room door slightly open, but nobody came out
so I kept on my way, not thinking too much of it. When I
turned the corner, I heard a door slam shut. The sound of
keys dangling let me know how much closer the person
was getting. I hit the down button on the elevator again,
because for some reason I was getting an uneasy feeling.

When the elevator door opened, I damn near
leaped inside. There was a middle aged Asian couple
looking at me bizarrely, and they practically jumped
to the other side trying to get as far away from me as
possible. I couldn't front, my entire vibe was giving off
a crazy-chick-up-to-no-good, especially when I diligently
kept pushing the button to close the door.

Right when I moved back to the corner to breathe a
sigh of relief because the elevator was almost completely
shut, a huge hand with long thick fingers latched on to
the steel which caused the doors to open right back up.
I swallowed hard, about to break out in a sweat. I didn't
understand why I was tripping so hard, but the pouncing
in my stomach indicating to me that shit was off wouldn't
stop.

Oh shit! Maybe Devon's )rorthless ass got hp to me being
in Philly and `bout to take my ass out right here on this elevator
with these Asian motherfuckers watching. Damn, it's gon' be a
massacre, 'cause he gon' getya' too. I started feeling inside my
purse. Oh shit, I ain't even got no heat on me! I m fucked.! Damn,
maybe I can grab one of they asses and use them for a shield. Fuck
that! I ain'tgoing out like this. This nigga gon' have to come harder than this.

All this shit was running around in my head, and
I was about to snatch the Asian lady since she was the
closest to me, but then I caught his face and the fear
vanished. The nigga was clean; I mean I'm talking custom
designer shit that I wouldn't even know the brand of. It
seemed to be tailored to fit his physique, and .his only. He
was in all black, but the richness of the fabric even had
the Asian folks sizing him up, like who the fuck is this
Negro? Then I caught the blinged out pinky ring. The
shit was flashy but classy, and you wouldn't think a ring
that big with so many diamonds could be described that
way.

When the elevator door opened, I was strongly
considering diverting my original plan to seduce Arnez,
to get at dude instead. The nigga was so on point that I
started thinking about any celebrities I had seen that he
might be, but I couldn't think of any, and his hotness
superseded theirs anyway. He exuded confidence, which
took his sexiness even higher up on the radar. What
also intrigued me was that even in my red dress, dude
wasn't paying me no mind. It was like he had an agenda,
and sniffing after some pussy wasn't on it. I knew I had
business to tend to, but was drawn to this man. It was as
if I had to know what the fuck he was up to. As I tried to
stay out of view but watched his movements, there was
something dangerous about his aura too. That also had
me open.

I diverted towards the front desk area to make it look as if I was off his trail, and once he went outside to
the front, I quickly went to the glass opening to be nosey.
There were three black Yukon's parked behind each
other. The mystery man first stopped at the last truck,
and the passenger window rolled down. A few words
were exchanged, and then the window rolled back up.
Then he went to the next truck, and the same exact thing
occurred. He finally went to the truck parked in front.
A big burly dude stepped out and opened the back door
for the mystery man. He got in, and then all three trucks
drove off.

I wasn't a psychic, but some shit seemed terribly
off to me. That pouncing in the pit of my stomach
hadn't left, but I decided there wasn't shit I could do
about it, so I continued on to what brought me out to
this motherfucker in the first place.

When I entered the restaurant, like I knew it
would and should be all eyes were on me. Even the old
undercover KKK type motherfuckers were drooling at
the mouth, causing their knifed up elderly wives to curl
up their lips in disgust.

Right when the hostess was making her way over
to greet me, the waiter, who I assumed Steve had put
on the payroll, cut in. "Amanda, she'll be dining in my
section. I'll seat her," he said, taking the menu from her
hand. She gave him a confused stare, but didn't put up a
fuss. I gave her a pleasant smile and followed him. "You
were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago," he said,
in a lecturing whisper."

"I got a little held up."

"You're lucky we're not swamped tonight or
I wouldn't have been able to hold your table." He had
somewhat of a diva attitude with him, but I let it slide
since his services were needed.

"Sorry, but I'll make sure to leave you a good tip.
How `bout that?" He gave me a gracious smile, so I guess
all was good now.

"One table over to your left." He winked, then
followed with a, "What can I get you to drink?"

"Bottled water will be fine." I wanted liquor, but I
needed to feel the situation out first. It didn't take much
to give me a buzz, and I wasn't sure how much work I
had to put in to get Arnez's attention.

I looked over at the table the waiter informed me
about, and saw Arnez sitting there, having an intense
conversation with another gentleman. I then noticed a
man standing behind him who I recognized from the
pictures Steve showed me as being his bodyguard. I
wasn't quite sure how I was going to pull this shit off. He
came across just like the man on the elevator; too much
business on his mind to think about sniffing after some
pussy. The red dress I was rockin' wasn't going to be a
powerful enough tool. I needed to be butt-ass naked to
pull this shit off.

I ordered some food that I knew I wasn't going to
be able to eat, not because I wasn't starving, but figuring
out how to maneuver this shit was consuming too much
of my energy to devour any food. As the time ran away, I was coming up short.

I went to the bathroom twice, switching my ass
slowly hoping to get a glimmer of his attention, but got
nothing. The bodyguard was so in tuned to watching over
his boss that he didn't even glance in my direction. A
bitch was stuck.

Once my dinner came, I used the fork to play
with my food, wishing for a miracle to fall in my lap, but
death seemed to land instead. As my mind was wandering
about, my eyes fell upon a familiar face. Devon had just
entered the restaurant, dressed in all black, and I knew he
had come gunning for me. How did this motherfucker know
I was here? Maybe the dude on the elevator really was after me,
but was playing it cool so I wouldn'tget suspicious. Oh shit, I can't
believe it! I have to get the hell out this place, now)! There has to be
a back )))ay out!

I turned my face away, hoping that Devon had not
yet noticed where I was sitting. At the same time, I was
searching for my waiter so he could tell me how to get
the fuck outta here. My hands and legs were shaking so
badly that my knees were knocking up against the bottom
of the table. I didn't see my waiter anywhere, and I didn't
know what the fuck to do. I didn't have a weapon on me,
so I grabbed at the knife on the table but quickly dropped
it, knowing it wouldn't do shit for my cause. My brain
was spinning, determined to come up with a plan, and I
decided precisely what my next move would be.

I grabbed my purse and slid from my chair, and
walked directly up to Arnez's table. His bodyguard moved forward, and Arnez put his hand up as if telling him it
was okay. "Yes?" Was the only word he spoke in a calm
but firm voice. The man sitting across from him looked
up at me, and then back at Arnez.

"Don't make it obvious, but the man standing near
the entrance dressed in all black is here to kill you."

"How do you know?"

"Because when I went to the bathroom, I overheard
a gentleman on the phone giving a description of a man
that needed to be taken out. I didn't realize he was talking
about you until I sat down and looked over at your table.
You've been warned."

Arnez immediately tapped his bodyguard and
nodded his head as if directing him to look forward. From
where he was sitting, his view was somewhat obscured,
and I guess he needed someone he trusted to legitimize
what I said. I slightly turned my head to see if Devon
was still standing in the same spot, but to my horror he
was coming in my direction, and right beside him was the
big burly man who opened the car door for the mystery
man I saw on the elevator. Damn! That nigga brought backup
so just in case he missed, somebody else would fznish the job. Were
the rest of those motherfuckers in them trucks here for me too? Oh
shit, I m fucker!

As I saw them getting closer, I turned back around
to Arnez, and that's when I caught his bodyguard pulling
out his metal. At that moment I hit the floor, because
I knew in only a matter of seconds it would be on and
poppin'.

Less than two seconds after I hit the floor, the man
that was dining with Arnez followed my lead, but he was
one second late. The bullets I was sure were meant for
me caught him instead. His hand was grabbing onto the
back of my ankle, and I had to kick my leg to get free as I
hauled ass, trying to make an escape. The entire restaurant
was in an uproar, as they couldn't believe `hood violence
had made its way to their elite establishment.

The chaos persisted as all the patrons and staff
were bolting towards the same exit while trying to dodge
bullets. I refused to stand up, preferring to crawl fast and
try to stay unnoticed, which I knew would be difficult
in a bright ass red dress. I observed a bunch of staff
rushing towards the kitchen, so I knew there had to be
an exit that way, so I crawled as quickly as I could in that
direction. When I made it out, I could hear the mayhem
continuing, but my life was still intact and that was all
that mattered. So what if innocent people had to die so I
could live? It was them or me, and I chose them.

Unsure whether Devon and his people knew what
room I was in, I decided not to take a chance and go
back inside the hotel. Instead, I ran to the parking garage
where my rental car was. I drove slowly around the corner,
wanting to see if the cops had made their way to shut shit
down, or whether the shootout was still in effect. As I
drove closer, I could see that they were already beginning
to lock the street down.

While in the process of making a U-turn, from my
rearview mirror I could see what looked to be Arnez running down a back street. I figured that the nigga was
dead, but since he was still alive, I decided to use it to my
advantage. I sped down the street to catch up with him,
and the car screeched loudly as I pressed down on the
brakes pulling up beside him. He was visibly shaken until
I rolled down the window and showed my face. "Get in!"
I said, unlocking the door.

At first Arnez hesitated, but then looked back and
saw all the police going down the street. I figured after
weighing his options, he decided to ride with me.

The entire ride back to Philly, I kept wondering what the
fuck could've happened that we had to leave Brooklyn
ASAP. All I knew was that CoCo had placed a call to Nico,
but because she was so paranoid about saying certain shit
on the phone, she wouldn't give him any details. The
most he got out of her was that there had been some
major drama, and we needed to come back now.

Before even going back to our hotel, Nico went
to a warehouse CoCo told him to meet her at. When
we pulled up, I only saw a white Range Rover, which I
assumed belonged to her.

Once inside, the huge warehouse had millions of
dollars worth of weapons and drugs. This chick must really
trust Nico to bang him here.

"I hope you didn't have any trouble finding the
spot," CoCo said, when she came walking out from a
back room.

"No, your directions were on point. So, what the
fuck is going on?"