me? But it’s the truth, and I got to call it as I see it. This wasn’t the first time I’d stood outside of a hotel room that was occupied by my future Mrs. This is just the first time she’s known I was there. I’ve had to fall all out of character to make this shit work between Savannah and me. I’ve acted like a police K9 just to see what Savannah was up to and got fed up with my role as a bloodhound. I would park my truck blocks away to hide behind parked cars to see what my bitch was doing. I wasn’t about to wait for the truth when I could go out and get it. That’s how I found out her mama was doing the same. I had Savannah’s car tracked, so I knew which way she was headed, and I’d beat her there. Once I got there, Savannah would pull up, and so did a black Benz. It followed Savannah’s Cadillac like a funeral procession. No matter which direction Savannah traveled in, that black Benz was always a car or two behind her.
I had originally planned on busting Savannah in the act of cheating, but I had a bigger job to do now, and that was to protect her from harm. She was still mine, and as her man, I had a duty to protect her. Savannah had done some unbelievable shit to folks in California, which gave them enough motivation to get revenge. Everybody involved in that Cali mess didn’t get a life sentence behind bars, and the way California was going broke, they didn’t have the funds to keep people in jail longer than they had to. Folks were getting released for good behavior left and right, especially first timers. I didn’t want to tell Savannah this. I just decided to be an extra pair of eyes and ears and make the necessary moves to keep her protected. A car following her everywhere she went smelled like trouble to me, so I jumped on it. I got with Savannah’s homeboy, Will, who’s a Los Angeles county sheriff, to make sure none of the people she got revenge on were released. Once he confirmed they were still a part of the county jail’s population or waiting on their prison stays, I decided to make sure nobody else would be out to get Savannah by getting friendly with her girl Stephanie.
I wasn’t sure if it was going to work, but once I realized Stephanie was feeling me, I knew she’d be down to betray Savannah for a ride on this dick. Stephanie’s big booty-having ass was sexy as fuck, and if Savannah had asked for a threesome, I would have drilled both of their pretty asses. But to lay Stephanie down in search of a nut, I wouldn’t. I only did what was needed to get the information I wanted. Putting Stephanie on my dick’s payroll was too close to home, and I knew that chick was too confused to be able to handle it. She was Savannah’s flunky, and that’s all she knew how to be. Once I got the dumb bitch to join Team Dre, I had her committing treason by telling me everything fucked-up about Savannah. All that time I spent with Stephanie and all the work I was putting in wasn’t enough to uncover anybody else that would want Savannah’s head. All I got was a long list of Savannah’s past lovers, both male and female, out of Stephanie, and most of the names on the list were flings that didn’t last longer than two weeks.
I was sure that the Benz following Savannah had a new hunter in it, but I couldn’t uncover why she was the prey. I waited for the Benz to park, and normally, no one got out of it, but this last time I watched Peaches exit the driver’s seat. She disappeared behind Savannah into the hotel, and so did I. I caught her hiding behind a newspaper in the lobby, pretending to be invisible as Savannah took a seat at the bar.
“How long you gon’ keep following her, Peaches?” My voice had her closing the newspaper as fast as she opened it.
“What in the world are you talking about, Dre?” She laughed as if I said something amusing, then continued, “Who am I following? I’m just catching up on current events.” Peaches tried to sound calm as she spoke, but my accusation caught her off guard, and the look on her face gave her away.
“Let’s not play dumb. If I’m following her, Peaches, then I’m following you too, and your lying ass is reading the obituary section. You don’t know anybody in Seattle.” That’s when I snatched the paper out of her hands and turned my volume all the way down, hoping not to catch Savannah’s attention. “What do you want with her?”
Peaches, being the crook that she is, was worried about her surroundings, so she invited me to her room. She spent the first thirty minutes lying to me. She tried to use that “rekindle” and “rehabilitation” shit I put in her head back on me. She wanted me to think she really wanted a mother-daughter relationship with Savannah, but it wasn’t working. She then offered to sell me information on the niggas Savannah had been fucking, but I already knew enough to get my own information on them. Twenty minutes later, I had broken Peaches down for the truth, and she was offering to split the money she was planning on stealing from Savannah with me. I couldn’t knowingly let her rob Savannah, but I could help fix her money issues while I straightened out my bitch.
Three meetings with Peaches later, this plan was put in motion. If losing everything she worked hard for didn’t wake Savannah’s ass up, I’d have to let her stay asleep.
“Peaches, where’s Savannah?” I said as I walked in the room, cotton-mouthed from thirst and yelling.
At that very moment, Savannah exited the restroom and handed her mama a cell phone. She had a look of disappointment on her face, but she wiped it off as she walked up to me and kissed me on my jaw. “Hey, baby, what’s wrong?”
She tried to flip it like I was the one with the problem. She was smooth but not smooth enough. I could see the ashy tracks of dried tears on her face. I was glad to see the decision to choose me over her life’s savings brought her pain. It was a sample of the payback life I had lined up for her for all the bullshit she’d done. It’s good to know that Karma and I were in cahoots in making sure Savannah got back everything she dished out.
“That’s what the fuck I’m trying to find out. What took you so long to answer the door?”
My words made her jump, or it could have been the sight of me holding my pistol in my busted, swollen hand. Savannah nervously turned away from me, looking for help from her mama, but she was too busy listening to the voice on the other end of the phone. I’m sure Peaches was listening to her pending transactions on her banking account and couldn’t care less about helping Savannah at that moment. I glanced back at Royce. He looked at me and the gun, then turned to Peaches for help as well.
Savannah and Royce were scared shitless. I had them both running to Peaches for protection, as if she were a walking, talking bulletproof vest. A feeling of power rushed through me, and laughter grew in the pit of my stomach. My anger was still present, but it had collaborated with humor. My pops was wrong—respect and fear were the same things. Savannah’s and Royce’s actions proved it. I decided to make them sweat, all the while laughing inside at their asses.
“Who the fuck is he, Savannah? Is this nigga the reason you couldn’t open the door for me? Huh?” I asked, hoping my voice would still sound angry. Then I pointed the barrel of my gun at Royce’s head with about twenty feet of space between us. It was juvenile of me to play with my power, but I wanted to hear Savannah’s lying at its best.
She didn’t bite. Savannah continued to look at her mama for help as her heart pounded against her chest. Her breasts reacted to the pounding by hugging her black shirt and fluttering like a butterfly’s wings. Royce was waiting for her response to my question with his hands covering his face as if they would shield him from bullets, but it became obvious Savannah didn’t have one. Still protected, he focused his attention on Peaches again.
A smile reappeared on the face of Peaches. She hung up the phone, then approvingly nodded at Savannah before speaking. “Dre, I said, put the gun down. This is our lawyer, Royce Reed. He was here helping Savannah and me try to figure out how to get that nasty little background of yours expunged. Weren’t we, Royce?”
The bitch nigga nodded his head “yes” faster than the speed of light, then stood up and extended his hand to me.
“How are you, Dre? I’m... I’m Royce Reed, your new lawyer. I was wondering when I would get the chance to meet with you.”
I should have knocked his teeth down his throat for standing in my face lying. But then again, he was a lawyer, a career that paid him to lie. He was spineless, which made him the exact opposite of me. If this was the type of nigga Savannah was normally attracted to, then I know why she was interested