CHAPTER 5

THE ULTIMATUM

Kano waited until he lost sight of Ameen to make his way to the dressing room.

He knew better than to go inside because the owner would have barred him from making any more money at the club, so he waited for Renae to walk out before he went on a tangent.

He was angry. Pissed. Intimidated by her strength to disobey him for another man. He was her pimp. Her only pimp. And any time she got out of line or thought she was better than the life he gave her, there was always a price to pay.

“And where the hell you think you going?” he asked, stepping into Renae’s path as she went to search for Ameen.

“Kano, I … I …”

“I, I, what? You think you fina leave with another nigga that ain’t ran shit by me? See, this how you hoes end up face down and never getting back up. Get your shit and let's go. I’ma show you bout playing with me.”

Fear washed over Renae because she knew what Kano had in mind. A beating. Another branding. Sleeping on an old dirty mattress in the room where his other hoes got fucked into oblivion.

She was lucky enough to have graduated from that tier of his pimpage, but he never failed to remind her that she could always go back.

“You hear me, bitch? I said get your shit and let's go! Before I have to show my ass in these people establishment.”

His yelling made her so tense, she almost pissed on herself. Yet, she couldn’t move to grab her things. Her eyes were too focused on Ameen approaching Kano from behind, and her brain was too busy wondering what he might he do.

She could tell he wasn’t a man who was afraid of many things—if anything at all.

She could also tell that he was wired with a short fuse for niggas like Kano, and he proved it to be true when he grabbed Kano by the collar and forced him up against the wall.

“You really like testing your luck huh, nigga?” he grunted as he used the strength in his forearm to damn near choke Kano out. “I ran this same club once upon a time. I didn’t fuck around then and I damn sure don’t fuck around now. So I’ma tell you one more time, you Pinky from Next Friday wannabe ass nigga, stay out my way.”

Before letting Kano breathe again, Ameen shoved his arm against his throat so hard that Renae thought he might’ve crushed Kano’s windpipe. Judging by his coughing and gasping for air, she would have betted her last dime sack that he had. When Kano dropped to the floor, her first instinct was to rush to his aid, but when she looked at Ameen, she felt a sense of power that she hadn’t felt in a long time.

“Fuck you, nigga!” Kano spat, still trying to catch his breath. “That’s my hoe. She does what I say.”

Renae stood by, speechless, and also afraid that Ameen might kill Kano for talking shit. But she was also turned on.

Somewhere deep in her vault of guilty pleasures, Ameen had flipped a switch that she thought was broken.

A switch that never powered on anything, unless she was high or just needed to get her rocks off.

“I’m going with him, Kano.” Her voice cracked, but she stood on business. “If he knows where my daddy is, this is my one chance to finally piece together the broken pieces of my life. I been needing answers for so long, and now, they’re here.”

“That nigga don’t know shit about your daddy,” Kano said as he drug himself off the floor. “I been the nigga taking care of you. I been the nigga making sure you had a place to lay your funky ass head, food, clothes on your back, and you telling me you just walking out with the next man?” He let out a light chuckle as he fixed his wrinkled shirt and tried to play off his embarrassment. “I’ll tell you what, bitch; if you leave with him, there ain’t no coming back. So make sure you choose wisely because the streets of Memphis can get reeeal cold for a bitch like you.”

Renae looked desperate for his understanding. She thought he might’ve had real love for her tucked somewhere deep inside. But when he gave her the ultimatum, the truth she already knew became clearer than it ever was.

Kano didn’t give a fuck about her.