The Young Lady

The young lady stood in a long line of people. The muggy heat added to her uncomfortable feeling, as she was still sweaty from her night of work and had not yet taken a shower. Behind her, she heard whispering and snickering. When she turned around, she saw two women, similar to her age, laughing and pointing at her. The young lady took out her phone and opened her camera facing her. The brownish-red wig she was wearing was twisted to the side, her purple eyeshadow and eyeliner had started to run, and one of her fake eyelashes had fallen off. She readjusted her wig to hide the stocking cap she was wearing and pulled her remaining eyelash off.

As the line moved forward the young lady eventually reached the metal detector. She placed her keys and cell phone in a plastic bin so they could be scanned. She walked through the metal detector and stood there waiting for the plastic bin to come through. Standing on the other side of a table, directly across from her, was a female correctional officer. The female correctional officer frowned at her and gave a look of disgust. The young lady frowned back, and the female officer said, “Do you have a problem? ‘Cause if you have a problem, we can cut your visit off before it even begins.” The young lady looked down, gathered her things, and walked to another line so she could be checked in.

There were four separate lines of people waiting to be checked in. The lobby was filled with about a hundred people waiting to see a loved one for fifteen minutes. The young lady stepped into one of the shorter lines. At the head of the line was a woman screaming at a sheriff. The screaming woman looked as if she was around the young lady’s age. She was wearing a pink strapless shirt and cutoff denim shorts. Her body was overly developed and the outfit she was wearing left little to the imagination.

“What the fuck do you mean I can’t see my man today!?”, asked the lady at the front of the line. “Ma’am, you’re not allowed to visit any inmate when you wear such revealing clothes.”, replied the sheriff she had been screaming at. “The dress code was posted on the website when you registered.”, he continued. He was a tall and skinny dark-skinned man who looked closer to 50 than he did to 40. He was clean shaven, and his hairline began in the middle of his head. On his face were a pair of glasses so thick that they magnified his eyeballs to a cartoonish size.

“Ma’am if you change clothes and return before visitation is over you will be allowed to visit the inmate.”, he said. “That’s some bullshit! How the hell can I drive all the way home and make it back before visitation is over?”, yelled the woman. The Sheriff shrugged his shoulders in a sign of indifference; either he didn’t know how she would return on time, or he didn’t care. The young lady stood in line patiently as the people in front of her were checked in and eventually, it was her turn. She walked up to the counter and handed the sheriff her driver’s license and a piece of paper that she had written the inmate she’d come to see name, date of birth, and inmate number.

The sheriff took the paper and driver’s license from her and began to type on the computer in front of him. “You’re here every week at the same time. I could set my watch to it.”, said the sheriff with a smile at the young lady. She smiled back as he handed her driver’s license to her. “You know I had a chance to see your show the other night. I saw the bond for your guy too. It’s gonna take you a long time to get that much money. Let me know when you’re willing to do some things to make some extra money.”, he said.

The young lady frowned and walked over to place her keys and phone in the locker without responding to him. She took a seat with the other visitors who had checked in to see inmates. The young lady was tired and sweaty. She just wanted to take a shower and go to sleep, but this was the only time she would get to make it to the jail to see the love of her life. He had been arrested for aggravated assault and required $25,000 to bond out. The young lady was supposed to come up with half of that amount and his brother was supposed to come up with the other half. After many sleepless nights, not paying bills, and surviving off bologna and noodles she obtained her half. She could not wait to see the smile on his face when she told him.

As she sat there thinking a young fair-skinned black man in his early twenties sat down next to her. He had a low haircut, goatee, and diamond earring in his right ear. The young lady assumed the earring was fake. He had on a pair of designer gym shoes, designer jeans, and a designer shirt. She was trying to figure out why he got “dressed up” to come to visit someone in jail. He moved a little closer to her and the young lady gave him a look that let him know he was too close for her comfort.

“What up? I remember you. I saw you with my boy Jake. He told me about how you got down.”, said the man. The young lady looked at him with a confused face and said, “I think you have me confused with someone else. I ain’t never talked to no dude named Jake.” The man gave a sly grin and whispered to her, “I guess you probably don’t take the time to remember names in your line of work.” The young lady slid about a foot away from him and said, “I don’t have time for this, I’m here to see my man.”, she replied as she looked down and began to rub her hands together nervously. “Your man? Does your man know what you’re doing out there while he’s in here?”, he asked as he began to laugh. Before the young lady could respond a sheriff called her name to go visit the inmates and she got up to walk towards the gathering line.

She thought to herself that it was all worth it. She would get to see the love of her life and he would make her feel good. Everything that she had been through was worth it to make sure he would come home. She knew that if the roles were reversed, he would turn over a mountain to ensure that she came home as soon as possible. After leaving the visit she planned to shower, get some sleep, and meet up with his brother so they could bond him out of jail.

When the young lady entered the visiting room, a sheriff directed her to the far end of the room. She sat on a low metal stool that was just under two feet off the ground. In front of her was a thick glass and to the right of her was a phone that she could use to speak to the love of her life. He had not come out yet and she was anxious. She could not wait to tell him about how she had waited to watch his favorite television shows so they could watch them together and how she was going to cook his favorite meal for him once he got out.

She had never met a man like him and felt that she was lucky to have found him. He never complained about her profession or her past. He managed her money well for her and made sure her hair and nails were always done. Every now and again he would raise his voice at her or discipline her, but it was only so she would not lose her focus. He occasionally got high and drunk, but it was so he could relax because of all the stress he had to deal with. He was the type of man she needed in her life. 

After a few minutes, a door on the other side of the glass opened and inmates started to walk in, all of them wearing khaki scrubs. The men smiled as they walked down to see their visitors and the young lady anxiously waited to see the man who had changed her life. The last man to come out was a short, dark-skinned man, who appeared to be in his mid-30s. The young lady had a smile from ear to ear as the man sat down. He sat there and looked at her in disgust as he picked up the phone. The young lady hurriedly picked up the phone and asked, “What’s wrong?” in a worried voice. “Bitch why am I still in here?”, asked the love of her life. “Don’t worry baby. I got my half of the money. As soon as I meet up with your brother to get his half, we will bond you out.”, she replied in a low voice. “You’re coming home baby. I handled everything like you told me to.”, she continued.

The love of her life sighed and just stared at her as he shook his head. “You really expected my brother to come up with half of that money? Bitch he got kids. Why the fuck would you put that type of pressure on my family?”, he said in an angry tone. “He said he would come up with half.”, replied the young lady in a low mumble. “What did you say bitch? You getting smart with me?”, he asked. “No baby. I just took his word that he would get half. He’s your brother and I know he wants you out just as bad as me.”, she said. “Well, this ain’t his responsibility.”, he quickly responded as he leaned forward and raised his voice. 

“I’m sorry baby. I’ve been doing everything to make the money. I’m just tired and I’ve worked as hard as I can.”, she said as her eyes began to water. “You’re tired? You don’t think I’m tired of being here? This is how you repay me for looking out for you?”, he asked. “No baby. I work all day, every day. I only go home to sleep and shower. Any other time I’m working.”, she said as tears ran down her face. “Wipe your fucking face.”, he said as he looked at her with a scowl. 

“Did you pick up ole dude from here the other night that I told you about?”, he asked. “Yes baby.”, she replied. “Did you take care of him?”, he asked. “Yes, but when we got to the motel room, he called over two more guys. It wasn’t what he told you.”, she said. “Ok, did they pay you extra?”, he asked in a disgusted tone. “Yes, they did. But they were trying to record me and I didn’t want to do it.”, she said as she looked at the floor. “What? Why not?”, he asked. “I just didn’t want them to post anything on the internet.”, she said as she still looked at the ground. “So now you’re fucking embarrassed about what you do? You’ve been doing it for so long that you need to get that shit out of your head. Do I need to get me another bitch?”, he asked. “No baby.”, she said as she continued to look at the ground. “Bitch look at me when I speak to you. I asked if I need another bitch.”, he said in a stern voice. The young lady looked up at him and shook her head. “Is something wrong with your motherfucking mouth?”, he asked her. “No.”, she replied in a low whimper. “Well get your ass to work then. I got two more guys who are getting out tonight. I already told them that you’ll pick them up. I don’t give a fuck what they want to do, you do it. I don’t give a fuck if they want to record it and send a copy to your old-ass grandmammy, you better get that fucking money and get me out of here.” 

“Did you talk to your cousin about representing me?”, he asked her. “I’ve been calling him, but he doesn’t pick up and hasn’t called me back.”, she said. “So you’re just fucking up all around. Ain’t no nigga out there gonna look out for you like I did. Bitch I think you want me to stay in here.” He slammed the phone down and got up to exit the room without even telling her goodbye. 

The young lady sat there crying as the other visitors looked at her. A sheriff came over to her and told her that it was time for her to leave since the person she came to visit had left. She got up and walked out of the room, looking at the ground and playing with her hands, as everyone in the room looked at her. A few people snickered and she sniffled as she felt more embarrassed than ever. She was embarrassed because she had let the love of her life down and it would take longer to get him out. It was her fault; she should have known not to trust his brother and disappoint a man who had done so much for her.

When she entered the lobby, she saw the young man who had spoken to her earlier sitting with a group of other young men. She went to the Lady’s Room and looked in the mirror. She wet a paper towel and washed the rest of her eyeliner off. After making sure she looked as decent as possible she smelled herself to make sure she was not musty. Once the young lady made sure she was as decent as possible, under the circumstances, she exited the Lady’s Room.

She walked right out of the Lady’s Room and over to the young man from earlier and said, “I’m sorry about earlier. I had to think about it. I do remember Jake. I’m trying to get to know you too.” She forced a smile and the young man smiled back. “Take down my number and give me a call in about two hours. I have to handle some things and then we can meet up.” she said. The young man gave her a giddy smile back and put her number in his phone. “I’m going to call you in two hours mama. I heard you’re a monster with it.”, he said. “In a little while you’ll get to find out.”, she replied. She rubbed his cheek and walked to the locker to get her phone and keys. As she exited the lobby the female sheriff from earlier looked at her and shook her head,

The young lady stepped outside and thought, “I need to go home and shower. If I hurry, I can meet this guy and pick up the other two dudes later. I’m definitely going to get my man out.” The sun shined brightly as she smiled and walked down the steps toward her car. “He’s gonna be so happy when he calls me later on.”, she thought.

The naked woman laid in the bed holding a pillow with the lower half of her body covered by a blanket. The man set on the side of the bed and chopped cocaine into three lines using a business card. When he finished, he rolled a one-dollar bill and quickly snorted all three lines. “Damn, did you save me some?”, asked the lady as she turned over to look at him. “Yeah, I left you a few grams with the money on the nightstand.”, he replied.

The man got up and started putting on his clothes. “You gotta go to work?”, the woman asked. “Yup, gotta be there in about two hours.”, he replied. He wiped the cocaine residue off the card with his pinky finger and rubbed the residue on his tongue. He looked at the all-white business card and it read, “Gabriel Alexander Godfrey, Attorney at Law”. The man placed the card in his wallet and began to walk towards the door. “See you next week Gabriel.”, said the woman as she rolled back over to go to sleep. 

The sun looked as if it were just starting to come up and Gabriel put on his sunglasses to block the sun. He walked across the motel parking lot to his car and pulled off. It was 7:27 a.m. and he had approximately two hours to shower, get dressed, and get to court. He only had two cases that day, so he wanted to start fast and get the day over with. As he drove down his street, he saw a tow truck parked in front of his house, and an older white man dressed in coveralls was standing in his driveway, looking through his garage window. 

Gabriel parked in front of his driveway and the man walked down to the driver’s side of the car. “Are you Gabriel?”, asked the man. Gabriel put a piece of gum in his mouth and began to chew without even responding. The man continued to speak, “Well this is the car that I’m looking for. It’s six months behind on payments and it’s registered to Gabriel Godfrey.” Gabriel continued to chew his gum and did not respond, simply looked at the man. “Sir, can you simply make my job easy by getting out of the car and letting me tow it?”, asked the man. “Get off my property old man. If you don’t, I’ll call the police.”, replied Gabriel without blinking or raising his voice. “Listen here sir, you haven’t paid your car note in half a year. Just let me take it off your hands.”, said the man with a smile.

Gabriel revved his engine and said, “I’m about to pull into my garage. If you try to stop me, I’ll have you arrested. If you break in there, I’ll have you arrested. Now, if you want the car, follow the proper procedures. By then I’ll probably have caught the payments up. So, get the fuck off my property and find something to do with your time.”

The tow truck driver walked over to his truck and drove off. Gabriel hit a button and his garage door opened. He pulled into the garage and lowered the door. “Damn, I gotta pay those muthafuckas before they do some shit I can’t talk my way out of.”, Gabriel thought to himself.

Gabriel Alexander Godfrey was a 42-year-old attorney living in Chicago. He had practiced law for 17 years, and made a lot of money, but managed to waste more money than he made. After a while, his lifestyle of expensive suits, foreign cars, and beautiful women caught up with him. All he could do now was find more ways to make more money and hopefully dig himself out of the hole he had put himself in.

After taking a quick shower Gabriel stood in the bathroom mirror looking at himself. His mixture of salt and pepper hair made him look more distinguished than old. His hair and goatee were perfectly lined and trimmed. He looked down at his hands to see manicured nails with a coat of clear nail polish on them. Gabriel began to rub moisturizer on his face to help maintain as youthful of an appearance as possible.

In his closet were thousands of dollars of custom Italian suits and shirts. He removed a gray Italian suit, a silk white shirt, and a silk black tie. After putting on his clothes he stepped into some calfskin Italian loafers and pumped a few sprays of overpriced cologne on himself. He looked in the mirror at himself and smiled. On his nightstand were two lines of cocaine and a rolled-up dollar bill. He leaned down and snorted the two lines. He took a final look in the mirror to remove any white residue from his lip and smiled to reveal a set of perfectly aligned sparkly white veneers. 

He looked at an old, faded picture of his grandfather as a young boy in overalls when he lived in Dante County. Before walking out of the house, he put on his 3-carat diamond pinky ring and 24-karat gold watch. “Money attracts money” was a motto that Gabriel lived by. He always believed that people loved giving money to people they thought already had money, and that mentality has helped him for most of his career. He pulled out of his garage and began driving down the street. 

As he merged onto the expressway his phone began to ring. He looked at the phone and saw that it was Alisa Sinclair. Alisa was a 28-year-old woman whom he had a relationship with in the past. She had a baby six years ago and claimed that the young girl was Gabriel’s daughter. In the child’s six years on Earth Gabriel had never seen her in person or provided any financial support to her. “What do you want?”, asked Gabriel when he picked up the phone. “Gabe, I need help with your daughter. I’ve told you that I was only with you when I got pregnant. If you don’t believe she’s yours, just come to court and take the DNA test. There’s a hearing scheduled next month but you haven’t accepted service from the Sheriff. Can you please just show up?”, pleaded Alisa. “I’ll see what I can do. I’m on my way to 26th for court.”, replied Gabriel. “So that really means you won’t be showing up?”, she asked. “It can mean whatever you want it to mean.”, said Gabriel and he hung up before the woman could even respond. 

There was a long line to get into the parking garage and Gabriel patiently waited as he listened to the radio. When it was his turn to enter, he lowered his window and flashed his Attorney ID to the Sheriff. The Sheriff greeted Gabriel with a big smile and shook his hand. “Mr. Godfrey I sure would like to be like you when I grow up. Nice clothes, fancy car, and a successful law practice; I bet you can’t keep the women off you.”, said the Sheriff. Gabriel merely laughed and pulled into the parking garage. 

Walking across the street into the courthouse there were a group of young men smoking cigarettes before they entered the courthouse. Gabriel loathed the smell of cigarettes and alcohol. He didn’t want anything around him that made him smell what he described as desperate. In his mind, people who drank and smoked could not deal with life’s problems, and everyone who smelled those substances on them recognized it. He did use cocaine, but you couldn’t smell it on him. As he walked by, he waved the smoke out of his way and frowned at the young men.

Once in the courthouse, Gabriel placed his crocodile skin briefcase on the conveyor belt as it was scanned by the Sheriffs. He flashed his ID once again, grabbed his briefcase after it had been scanned, and walked towards the elevators. He smiled, nodded, and greeted everyone he made eye contact with. In his mind, everyone he smiled at was a potential customer, mark, and a victim.

On the elevator was a State’s Attorney named Maria Sanchez. “Damn, you smell good.”, said Maria with a sly smile on her face. She was in her mid-40s, overweight, and always looked as if she had just rolled out of bed. However, Gabriel was always nice to her and even flirted with her a bit. It was his way of ensuring that he always got the best deal possible for his clients from her. He leaned over to her ear and said, “I smell better the closer you get to me.” He winked at her and got off the elevator as she began to blush and smile.

Both of Gabriel’s clients were in the same courtroom. He planned on getting both out of the way and hustling up on some new clients. Standing in front of the courtroom door was Cynthia Adams, his client’s mother. She was in her late 30s or early 40s, but very beautiful. She was a professional woman with an out-of-control son. Her payments were always on time, so Henry had no problems with her. 

“Hello Mr. Godfrey.”, said Cynthia as Gabriel approached her. The two shook hands as Gabriel smiled. She handed Gabriel an envelope with cash in it and a sullen look on her face. “How’s everything looking for Charles’ case?”, she asked. “Everything should be fine ma’am. We’re still early in the case and everything should be fine. I’m just waiting to see if there is anything new or unexpected in the discovery.”, replied Gabriel. “Ok, thank you very much. Charles is in a hurry to get out, that’s all.”, said Cynthia. She smiled at Gabriel and walked into the courtroom as she was unknowingly being watched by Gabriel. 

He looked in the envelope to see that the $500 payment was there. $75 of the payment was paid in singles. She owed Gabriel $5,000 more dollars and could tell that it was getting harder for her to make payments. Gabriel knew people and recognized that she would do anything to get her son out of jail. All he had to do was stretch the payments out a few more months and she would be willing to do whatever he wanted her to do once she could no longer make payments.

“I guess she didn’t have to pay you with pussy?”, asked a young lady standing a few feet away from Gabriel. He had not even noticed her walk up as he counted his money. “Nope, she makes all of her payments on time, without any problems.”, replied Gabriel. This young lady was named Sara Henton. She was the girlfriend of his client, Damien Hansfield. “What’s the deal Gabriel, are you gonna get my man out anytime soon?”, she asked. “Sure, as soon as you catch up with your payments.”, he replied.

The young lady walked to a corner and beckoned Gabriel over to her. “What about what we did last week? I thought that covered what I owed?”, she asked in an angry voice. “No young lady. What occurred last week only covered the $500 you owed for last month. You still owe me $7,000. I don’t know what these young men or your man have told you, but I would like to inform you that your pussy and mouth do not have a Fair Market Value of $7,000. You as a person are not worth $7,000.”, said Gabriel. The young lady’s eyes started to tear up. “That’s not fair Gabriel. You didn’t tell me that.”, she said. “Well, you have three options; 1.) You can continue to pay me $500 a month 2.) You can continue to pay me with that barely average vagina and subpar mouth or 3.) You can tell your boyfriend that you fucked up the money you were supposed to pay me with and tried to pay me with sex. You do what you feel is appropriate.”, said Gabriel.

The young lady stood there with teary eyes as Gabriel looked at her with an emotionless face. She wiped away the tears and said, “Ok, meet up with me later on today. This is the last time though. I will have cash for you next week.” she said. “Ok, but make sure you bring your “A” game this time. Last time wasn’t even worth a $500 credit.”, said Gabriel. He turned and went into the courtroom to get the two cases called. 

When he exited the courtroom he saw Shelton Hurste, another attorney, standing against a wall sending a text message. As he approached Shelton with a big grin Shelton, without even looking up, asked, “What do you want Gabe?” Gabriel smiled and rubbed Shelton’s shoulder. Gabriel made it a point to stay on Shelton’s good side because he was one of the few people who knew Gabriel’s squeaky-clean image was just a facade. “Shelton, don’t be so rude.”, said Gabriel while laughing. “You don’t have to put on your act for me Gabe. I have no reason to expose you, so you don’t have to butter me up every time you see me.”, replied Shelton as he still looked down at his phone. 

“I just came over to say what’s up Shelton. There are no ulterior motives at all.”, said Gabriel as he was still smiling. “No problem at all. Text me and we can hang out sometime. “, replied Shelton in a sarcastic tone. He knew it was highly unlikely that Gabriel would ever contact him unless he needed something and preferred it stayed that way. Gabriel shook his head, walked over to the elevator, and took it to the first floor.

Gabriel walked slowly as he exited the building. He wanted someone to notice him and possibly try to hire him. By the time he had reached the exit no one had approached him, and he figured he wouldn’t get any new clients. As he walked down the steps of the courthouse an older Black gentleman approached him. “Excuse me, sir, are you an attorney?”, asked the older man. “Yes, I am sir.”, replied Gabriel with a friendly smile that displayed every tooth in his mouth. Gabriel loved doing business with older people. They always paid on time and never questioned what you were doing. “Well, I wanted to hire you to represent my grandson. He got caught with a gun and I’ll pay whatever I need to get him out of this trouble. Do you have a card?”, asked the old man. Gabriel removed a card from his inside coat pocket. “You’re Gabriel Alexander Godfrey?”, asked he asked. “Yes, I am sir. Have you heard of me?”, asked Gabriel with a big grin. The old man removed some papers from his jacket pocket, gave them to Gabriel, and said, “You’ve been served Mr. Godfrey. You are to appear before a Cook County Judge next month pertaining to a Domestic Relations issue. Have a nice day.” The old man turned and walked away.

“Alisa, that bitch!”, Gabriel thought to himself. She finally had him served and he would have to appear or be held in contempt of court. Gabriel walked down the stairs and across the street to the parking garage. He sat in his car for a moment and realized that he messed up the moment he told Alisa where he was going that morning. Now all he could do was hope for the best or try to figure out a way to convince her to voluntarily dismiss her case. Based on his history with her over the past six years he knew it would be hard to convince her to do such.

He pulled out of the parking garage and drove towards his house. When he got to this house he parked in the driveway and walked to his mailbox. There were about 10 letters, all bills, and all past due notices. Gabriel parked his car in the garage and entered his home through the connecting entrance. He went to his room, opened his dresser drawer, and removed a small bag of cocaine. Gabriel dumped a small amount of cocaine on the part of his hand between his index finger and thumb. He quickly snorted the cocaine and walked into the living room to sit on his couch.

Due to years of cocaine abuse the drug no longer had the same effect on Gabriel anymore. It had more of the effect of coffee or an energy drink on him now. His abuse had become so bad that he could even go to sleep after using it. 

As Gabriel set there trying to determine how he would deal with Alisa his phone began to ring. It was Sara and Gabriel really didn’t feel like dealing with her. “Gabriel Godfrey.”, he said in as professional a manner as he could muster under the circumstances. “You ready for me?”, she asked in an alluring voice. “I guess so. Where are you? `` replied Gabriel. “I’m going to text you the address. It’s a nice little spot”, said Sara. “Ok, give me about two hours to get ready.” As soon as he hung up the phone a text message came in from Sara with an address and room number. 

The address was in the south suburbs and a quick internet search showed Gabriel that it was a rather expensive hotel. He thought that she could have paid him the money she was spending at the hotel and met him somewhere cheaper. When he finished taking a shower, he called Cinnamon. The phone rang a few times, and she picked up. “What’s up, Gabe? You really want to see me again after this morning?”, she said with a little laugh. Gabriel laughed and said, “Shit, I’m trying to get this threesome action in and wanted to see if you were down. Needless to say, you will be compensated well.” Gabriel could hear her shuffling through some papers, and she said, “Cool, I’m still in the room. Come pick me up and she’d better be clean. I don’t fuck dirty bitches.” Gabriel hung up and went to his car.

The sun was still in the sky and Gabriel hated the sun; the nightlife was what he really preferred. However, his profession required him to operate during the day and his after-hour activities sometimes got in the way of his efficiency. When he was down the street from the motel, he sent Cinnamon a text letting her know that he was pulling into the parking lot. When he pulled in, she came out, closing the door behind her. 

Cinnamon and Gabriel had been involved in a sexual agreement for about a year. She was a young Black woman in her early 20s with a great body. She always made Gabriel happy, and he always paid her well. What made things even better was that she had access to coke for Gabriel when he couldn’t get any for himself. She got in the car and smiled at Gabriel. “Hey baby.”, she said. He smiled back and pulled off.

“So, who is this chick?”, asked Cinnamon, Gabriel was always honest with Cinnamon about everything. “She’s my client’s girlfriend. She owes me money so she’s fucking to get rid of some debt.”, he replied with a little laugh. “I’ll never understand you Gabe. You can go get some free pussy, but you’d rather pay me. You are a special type.”, she said. Gabriel would much rather pay for sex. He felt that anything you paid for was always better than anything you received for free; people put more effort into activities for they are properly compensated for.  

As he drove Cinnamon looked in a mirror she had pulled from her purse. “You look good. Don’t make yourself look any better or the bitch might not want to fuck with either of us.”, said Gabriel with a laugh. Cinnamon smiled and put the mirror away. 

Gabriel pulled into the parking lot and parked. The hotel had five floors and looked pretty big. The two exited the vehicle and entered the hotel. At the front desk was an unconcerned concierge who looked up at them as they entered and then continued to play with her phone. They got on the elevator and took it to the third floor. As they walked down the hall there was a faint scent of weed in the air. “Apparently this hotel doesn’t mind if people enjoy themselves.”, thought Gabriel.

The two walked to the end of the hall and knocked on a door. Sara Henton opened the door dressed in nothing but a blue silk robe. Sara looked shocked and said, “I wasn’t expecting anyone else to come with you.” Gabriel entered the room and Cinnamon came in behind him. “Is it a problem?”, asked Gabriel. “No, she’s cute. I like cute girls.”, replied Sara. Cinnamon smiled back and pulled at Sara’s robe to expose her body. Cinnamon gave a nod of approval and walked over to the nightstand to put her purse down. 

Sara walked to a table in the room and picked up a bag filled with about 8 grams of a white powder and Gabriel began to smile. She spread the powder over the table and took her robe off. Cinnamon took the straps of her dress off and let her dress drop to the ground. She walked over to the table and picked up some of the powder in her nail, then held it up to Gabriel’s nose. He snorted the powder in, and Cinnamon put some of the powder in her nose. 

Sara got on her knees and started to unbuckle Gabriel’s pants. Cinnamon took one of the hotel’s business cards off the table and started to separate the white powder into lines with it. As Sara removed Gabriel’s dick he looked down at her and said, “Perform like you want your nigga to get out of jail.” Sara didn’t respond and started sucking his dick.

Gabriel woke up a few hours later with a headache and cottonmouth. The room was spinning, and he struggled to sit up in the bed. Next to him, naked and laying on her stomach, was Cinnamon. He called out for Sara and received no response. He struggled to his feet and walked to the bathroom. Sara was not in the bathroom. “Where the fuck is this bitch.”, he said aloud. Gabriel stumbled back over to the bed and shook Cinnamon’s body. Her body was limp and she didn’t respond. 

He rolled her over and there was blood coming from her nose and on the sheets of the bed. Gabriel jumped back and started to breathe hard. He slowly walked back over to Cinnamon and placed two fingers on her neck. She was still alive, but barely. He looked around the room for his pants and reached inside to get his phone. The only number he could think to call was that of Shelton Hurste. 

The phone rang and Shelton lazily picked up the phone. “What?”, asked Shelton in an annoyed voice. “I fucked up and I need your help!”, said Gabriel in a low and nervous voice. 

Shelton, who was drafting a motion at the time, did not feel like being bothered with Gabriel’s hijinks. They had known each other for years and Gabriel always managed to get involved in some type of problem. “There’s a girl here with me. We did some coke and she’s not moving.”, replied Gabriel. Shelton sat up in his chair and rubbed his forehead in annoyance. “Is she alive?”. He asked. “Barely; she has a light pulse.”, replied Gabriel. “Is the hotel room in your name?”, asked Shelton. “No.”, he replied. “Ok, text me the address and room number. Do not leave the room. I’m sending someone to you.”, said Shelton and he hung up the phone. Gabriel texted the address and room number to Shelton and he responded “OK”. 

Gabriel sat on the end of the bed sweating and thinking about how his life was over. After about 30 minutes there was a knock at the door. Gabriel looked through the peephole and saw two large men outside the door; both dressed in black sweatpants and black hoodies. “Shelton sent us said one of the men in a deep Haitian accent. Gabriel opened the door, covered in just a towel from the waist down, and beckoned for the two men to come in.

The two men walked into the room and over to Cinnamon’s body. One of the men placed his finger under her nose and felt air coming out. He placed his ear on her chest and could hear a heartbeat. “She’s alive, but she’s fucked up. She can live, but we have to move fast.”, he said to the other man who had come with him. “Wait.”, said the other man. He spread her legs and peered closely at four tattooed dots on the inside of her right thigh in the formation of a box. The two Haitians looked at each other and shook their heads. “If we don’t save her your ass might want to go into hiding.”, the man said to Gabriel. 

The Haitian man who located the tattoo picked Cinnamon up and took her into the bathroom. He placed her in the bathtub and begin to run cold water in the tub. As the water ran he checked her pulse and nodded at the other Haitian in assurance. “Do it”, he said as he walked out of the bathroom. The other Haitian entered the bathroom and removed a needle from his pocket that was filled with a clear liquid. “What is that?”, asked Gabriel. “Something to regulate her body.”, replied the Haitian administering the shot. He squeezed her arm until a vein exposed itself and injected the concoction into her arm. 

The three men sat there looking at her for about ten minutes until she started to cough. Gabriel began to smile and thanked the Haitians. “Nah, don’t thank us yet. Do you know who she’s with?”, asked one of the Haitians. “Let her rest for a few hours and talk to her. You’re in a shit storm now man.”, said the Haitian who had administered the shot.

The two Haitians shook hands with Gabriel and left the Hotel room. “You scared the shit out of me woman.”, Gabriel said to Cinnamon.”Fuck, I scared the shit out of myself. Your lil bitch laced that coke with fentanyl. I think she was trying to kill your ass.”, replied Cinnamon. “Yeah, she didn’t try hard enough. Who the hell are you?”, asked Gabriel. Cinnamon smiled and said, “Just a woman who hit a bad line.”