A Day in the Life (3 page)

6

              I pulled into Morris Black projects and parked my car crooked in my designated parking space. My hands were still shaky after witnessing what had transpired at the GP. My mind was in shock, while my emotions were a train wreck. I dragged myself out the car and headed towards my unit.

I was standing at my door fishing through my purse for the house keys, when I heard the pitty pat of footsteps approach me from behind. Just as I was turning around I felt the cold hard steel pushed against the small of my back.

"What do you want?" I cried.

I heard the trigger being cocked, and my heart raced uncontrollably. With my captor standing behind me with the gun pressed harshly against my back, I couldn't see who the bastard was.

"What do you want?" I yelled again. "Money?"

I tried to turn around but my aggressor shoved me against the front door of my apartment. "Here! Take it!" I quickly dug in my purse and retrieved the two small ziplock bags of money. Over two thousand dollars of hard work went down the drain all because of a hating ass motherfucker.

I tossed the money onto the wet pavement. "There! Take the damn money!"

The person was silent for several seconds, and I couldn't help but wonder what was going through his/her mind. Suddenly the person took a few steps away from me and--

Pop!

I heard the sound of the gunshot go off before I felt the pain. The captor had grabbed the money from the ground and ran off before I hit the pavement. My entire body felt as if were on fire. I tried to reach for my purse but I couldn't move. Surely, I believed I was paralyzed. A wet liquid pooled around my face as I lied on the floor and it took me a minute to realize that blood was slowly oozing from my mouth.

Suddenly everything began to go dark almost as if the cruel world was closing in on me. Was it worth it? Was it worth it? An unfamiliar voice kept repeating that question in the back of my mind. Just as I felt myself slipping away from life I heard the sound of Kevin screaming my name as he ran up beside my motionless body.

"Lydia? What the fuck, Lydia?" he cried with tears in his eyes. "Who did this shit, man?" He held me in his arms as he fumbled with retrieving his cell phone. "This is a fucking emergency! I need an ambulance right now! My girl...My girl's been shot!"

Tears streamed from my eyes at the realization that my life was slowly slipping away.

Who did this to me? And most importantly why would someone do this to me? I thought about the man who had tried to talk to me outside the projects earlier. I thought about Diamond. I thought about 69. I thought about Luther. Everyone was a suspect...but it didn't matter now...

Was it worth it?

I looked up at the starry sky. It was beautiful. Suddenly blackness engulfed me...

PART 2

PROLOGUE

              I pulled into Morris Black projects and parked my car crooked in my designated parking space. My hands were still shaky after witnessing what had transpired at the GP. My mind was in shock, while my emotions were a train wreck. I dragged myself out the car and headed towards my unit.

              I was standing at my door fishing through my purse for the house keys, when I heard the pitty-patter of footsteps approach me from behind. Just as I was turning around I felt the cold hard steel pushed against the small of my back.

              "What do you want?" I cried.

              I heard the hammer being cocked, and my heart raced uncontrollably. With my captor standing behind me with the gun pressed harshly against my back, I couldn't see who the bastard was.

              "What do you want?" I yelled again. "Money?"

              I tried to turn around but my aggressor shoved me against the front door of my apartment.              

"Here! Take it!" I quickly dug in my purse and retrieved the two small ziplock bags of money. Over two thousand dollars of hard work went down the drain all because of a hating ass motherfucker.

              I tossed the money onto the wet pavement. "There! Take the damn money!"

              The person was silent for several seconds, and I couldn't help but wonder what was going through his/her mind.  Suddenly the person took a few steps away from me and—

              POP!

              I heard the sound of the gunshot go off before I felt the pain. The captor had grabbed the money from the ground and ran off before I hit the pavement. My entire body felt as if were on fire. I tried to reach for my purse but I couldn't move. Surely, I believed I was paralyzed. A wet liquid pooled around my face as I lied on the floor and it took me a minute to realize that blood was slowly oozing from my mouth.

              Suddenly everything began to go dark almost as if the cruel world was closing in on me. Was it worth it? Was it worth it? An unfamiliar voice kept repeating that question in the back of my mind. Just as I felt myself slipping away from life I heard the sound of Kevin screaming my name as he ran up beside my motionless body.

              "Lydia? What the fuck, Lydia?" he cried with tears in his eyes. He held me in his arms as he fumbled with retrieving his cell phone. "This is a fucking emergency! I need an ambulance right now! My girl...My girl's been shot!"

              Tears streamed from my eyes at the realization that my life was slowly slipping away.

              Who did this to me? And most importantly why would someone do this to me? I thought about the man who had tried to talk to me outside the projects earlier. I thought about Diamond. I thought about 69. I thought about Luther. Everyone was a suspect...but it didn't matter now...

              Was it worth it?

              I looked up at the starry sky. It was beautiful. Suddenly blackness engulfed me...

***

              "She's going into shock!" An EMT yelled.

              My eyes opened slightly as I managed to take in my surroundings. Apparently, I was in the back of an ambulance.

              I felt myself slipping in and out of consciousness, and the last thing that I saw was a female EMT placing a pocket mask over my face before everything went black.

***

              The steady beeps from the heart monitor had awakened me the following morning...that and the moderate pain in my lower back. I groaned as I struggled to sit up in the stiff hospital bed. In the process of doing so, I noticed someone sitting beside me in a chair sleeping.

              I smiled at the sight of Kevin. Slightly leaning over, I brushed my fingers across his cheek.

              He stirred softly before he stretched and sat up in the chair. "How do you feel?" he asked.

              I smirked. "Like I was shot in the back."

              A sudden look of apprehension swept his features before he looked down at his feet. The atmosphere had quickly changed. Apparently he wasn't amused by my attempt at making humor out of the situation.

              "Look, Lydia," he whispered. "I'm..."

              "
Ssshhh
," I told him as I took his hand in my mine and caressed his knuckles.

              Strangely, he pulled his hand from mine and looked away.

              "What's wrong?" I asked him with a look of concern.

              His gaze finally met mine and I was shocked at the sight of tears pooling in his eyes.

              "I...didn't," he sighed and looked away again. Obviously, whatever he had to say he could not look me in the eyes and say it.

              I tried my hardest to sit up in the hospital bed, but the pain wouldn't allow it. "What?" I asked.

              He looked back at me and blinked the oncoming tears away. "I didn't know...I didn't know she was going to shoot you."

              A wave of anxiety shook my senses as he spoke those words. "Who?"

              "I just," he paused and looked down at his feet. "I just wanted her to scare you," he whispered. "I didn't know she was going to shoot you."

              "Who?" I repeated in a more stern tone.

              Kevin finally locked eyes with me. "God, I only wanted the best for you, Lydia. I just wanted you to stop stripping...but you wouldn't. I just wanted her to scare you," he repeated for the third time.

              "What are you talking about, Kevin?" I asked through clench teeth. I wanted desperately to know about what and to whom he was referring to, yet in the back of my mind, I was too scared to hear the truth

              "Diamond," he whispered.

              He took my silence as a means to continue. "I paid Diamond to rob you."

              The minute the words came out, I wished he could instantly take them back.

              "But I swear to you, Lydia," he said. "I swear I had no idea she was going to shoot you. I just wanted her to scare you. I just wanted her to scare you to the point that you'd quit dancing."

              He was rambling on and on when I wanted nothing more than for him to just shut the hell up. Finally fed up with his excuses, I held up my palm up towards him, signaling silence. I couldn't even look at him right now. The reality of what he was telling me was just too overwhelming.

              Kevin was the one and only true person that I could honestly call a friend. He was the only person in my life who had yet to turn their backs on me once they found out I was stripping. He was the only person I could trust. And now he was telling me that he not only knew but also orchestrated the robbery that could of very well ended my life.

              "Please go," I whispered.

              "Lydia, please," he cried reaching for my hand but I quickly moved it away.

              I could have said a mouthful. I could have cursed his ass out...but I didn't know where to begin or what to say. Then again, what would be the point? What was done was done and there was no undoing it.

              "I'm so sorry," he cried. "Baby, I'm so sorry."

              "I said go," I repeated through clench teeth.

              "I only did it because I care about you—”

              "GO!"

              Kevin sat there stunned for a minute as though he were expecting me to apologize. If he did he had life fucked up. Lucky for him, I was too sore to truly give him a piece of my mind.

              After several seconds, he finally stood to his feet and headed towards the door. He looked back at me, and the minute he did, I quickly turned my head away. I couldn't stand to see the sight of his conniving ass right now.

              "I hope that someday you will forgive me, Lydia," he said before he walked out the door.

              I wanted to tell him to jump off the Detroit-Superior Bridge, but instead I turned my head away and looked out the hospital room's window so he wouldn't see the tears streaming down my cheeks.              

***

              I had no idea how blessed I truly was. The bullet had lodged itself in my lower back, but luckily no major arteries were hit. Of course, I had to stay in the hospital one week so that my healing progression could be monitored.

              Strangely, I was disappointed about being discharged from the hospital. Naturally, I should have been elated, but I was anything but happy. The hospital was my seclusion away from the real world and I didn't quite know if I was ready to jump back into it. I had been shot by a woman I once considered one of my closest associates and set up by a man I had given my heart to.

              The entire week I had been in the hospital, I had spent my time conjuring up ideas of how to exact my revenge on Diamond's two timing ass. I had even went as far as to plot setting her house on fire, but quickly dismissed the idea after I remembered she had kids. After a while, I just gave up on the whole "payback scheme".

              The morning I was released from the hospital, the first place I went to was the library of all places, and it wasn't to catch up on some reading. Naturally, I needed a new place to lay my head at night because there was no way in hell I was going to step foot into Morris Black Projects ever again.

              Thankfully, I found a two bedroom double on the West Side of Cleveland for four hundred dollars a month, on Craigslist, that needed immediate occupancy. I caught a taxi over to the house and had my brother, Lamont pick up the few things I cared about from my old apartment. Of course, I didn't tell him the reason I was moving and didn't even bother telling him that I had been shot. If he did somehow find out it would be because he'd heard it in the streets. Cleveland Streets were more informative than the National Enquirer.

1

            Two weeks later, I was settled into my new home and finally running low on cash after decking the crib out in furniture. Funny, I could recall a time when my main mission in life had been to get out of Cleveland for good...but that dream had drowned in the same sewer as my trust.

              As expected Gentlemen's Persuasion had been shut down after Luther shot the place up, so I couldn't go back there and dance even if I wanted to. And even if it hadn't been closed down, I probably still wouldn't have went back. That club was old news anyway. I needed new scenery. And since, I already lived on the west side I figured I might as well look for some gentlemen's clubs to dance at on this side of town.

              The GP was the only strip club I had ever danced at so I had never contemplated shaking my ass anywhere else. However, times were hard and they would only get harder if I didn't get some money rolling in, and soon. There was no way in hell I was going to get a nine to five, since I knew there was so much potential money to be made. My hustler's instincts were as sharp as my looks, and as long as I used both I could get whatever I wanted.

***

The following day, I went to audition at a few strip clubs on the west side. The first one was this small, hole in the wall ass bar on West 25th called
Mugsy's
. The minute I walked in there, I walked out. Besides the foul smell, it looked like a club my grandmother might dance at. No, I needed a place big and lively like the GP used to be.

              The Golden Horse was my second destination, but after the owner explained that we—the dancer—had to sell a minimum of thirteen drinks or else we'd be stuck paying for them, I turned on my heel and left immediately. Stripping and tricking was already a tough enough job itself, there was no way in hell I was going to take on the responsibility of selling drinks too. It was already hard enough trying to get a motherfucker to come up off ten dollars for a lap dance let alone getting a nigga to buy you a drink.

              With my options now limited, the only club left for me to try was Susy's Secret. It was located on West 130th and from the outside it appeared pretty classy. It was only 6:30 p.m. but the parking lot was already full to capacity.

              After parking my Regal across the street at the bowling alley, I sauntered across the street to what very well may have been my new job.

              The minute I entered the club, Pitbull ft NeYo's "Give Me Everything" was blaring loudly throughout the spacious club. Pop wasn't really my thing, but when it came down to it, I would shake my ass to whatever as long as I was getting paid.

              There was a tall, slender white girl on stage popping her petite ass on the floor. I smiled to myself. "I will tear this motherfucker up," I arrogantly said to myself.

              "Can I help you?" A white man asked as he approached me.

              I immediately took in his appearance. His eyebrows were arched, he had one gold hoop earring in his left ear, and I would've been deaf to miss the unmistakable lisp in his tone.

              "Yes. I'm here to audition," I told him.

              He looked me up and down with a look of pure disgust which was never a look I received from most men...but then again what I had between my thighs was useless to him.

              "I'm the manager. My name is Peter," he explained. "Do you have your outfit with you?" he asked.

              I stepped out the way so he could see my roll away suitcase behind me.

              "Follow me," he said before leading me towards a door to my left.

              As soon as he opened the door, I quickly concluded that this was the dressing room. Dancers were seated in front mirrors primping and prepping themselves for today's fruitful endeavor.              

              "You've got fifteen minutes to get dressed and you'll be up. What's your name honey?"

              "Taboo."

              He quickly made a face at my response. "That's sort of ghetto. Honey, we'll have to work on that," he said before he departed.

              I shook my head. This man was going to be a mess.              

              "Taboo?"

              I quickly looked up only to be disappointed by the sight of Miss Behavin's tired ass.

              I put on a phony smile. "Hey, girl."

              "What you doing here?" she asked.

              This hoe knew damn well why I was here. Obviously, the same reason she was. I just bet the bitch was fuming inside at the sight of me. Dancers hated competition, especially competition they knew could easily beat them.

              "I'm here to audition," I said playfully. "I see you wasted no time in finding a new spot to call home."

              Miss Behavin' looked at me through the reflection of the mirror as she flat ironed her cheap weave. "Girl, I had to find a new club after the GP closed down. The money can't stop flowing in."

              I wanted to ask her what money, but instead I asked, "Are there anymore girls here from the GP?"

              She shrugged. "Nope just us. Last I heard, most the girls went down to Glitter Girls on Saint Clair or Larry Flint's downtown."

              "So what's the weather like up in here?" I asked.

              I wanted to know if there was any good money to made before I undressed, because if there wasn't I damn sure wouldn't waste my time and energy on an audition.

              "Girl, this bitch be rocking! It be hella ballers up in here. East side niggas ain't got shit on West Side niggas. These motherfuckers get paper," she bragged.

              I wanted to ask her what she'd make on a bad night, but thought better of delving into her personal business. Besides my fifteen minutes were almost up. After undressing, I slipped on a custom made dark blue micro mesh body suit with the name Taboo emblazoned across the butt in silver glitter. I completed the finishing touches by pulling on a pair of clear light up high heels and covering up my bullet scar with MAC foundation. I was spraying on Bath and Body Work's Pomegranate when Peter finally returned.

              "You're up, Honey."

              I smiled. "Okay."