When A Woman Hustles

Chapter 18.

Chapter 18,

"Aint nobody gonna love me like i love meeeeee....nobody nobody nobody." Pumpkin drunkenly sung along to the song lyrics, a cup of tequila mixed with Hennessey on the rocks gripped in the palm of her right hand. She brought the plastic cup to her lips, the taste burning her lips as she swallowed. She reached forward to turn the volume up. The old-school playlist spilled from the speakers loudly throughout her range rover as she sat parked in a secluded parking lot. ''They say they got your backkkkkk but you're a fool to think thattttttt.'' She continued to sing along as she drowned the last contents of liquor in her empty cup. She glanced over in the passenger seat examining the three empty bottles sitting next to her. Shit. Pumpkin looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror, staring at herself as the song continued to play. Tears stained the sides of her cheeks. Her eyes were swollen as she leaned forward taking note to how awful she looked. She had been sitting in this parking lot for 2 hours. How did I get here? This is all my fault. How could I let this happen? Pumpkin sat in a daze as she focused her vision out the window, watching as the cars whisked by. Why not me? Why was I never good enough? She looked down at the 9mm handgun sitting in the center of her lap. She had lost it. Pumpkin had officially gone insane. Crying nonstop. Drinking herself into a pity. She leaned over as she felt a rush of emotions resurface. Damn, she had just stopped crying and was not in the mood to let out another round. She looked at herself in the rear view mirror a second time. She was ashamed at the reflection. Ashamed that she had finally given someone the power to bring her down this low. There was only one person to blame...

Pumpkin looked at the 9mm sitting in her lap again, her mind wandering. At this moment, she was suicidal. Then again, she wanted revenge. Pumpkin sat quietly to herself as she reevaluated her entire life. She began to think about that moment she will never forget...

It was around 8:00 last night. Pumpkin had an out of body experience. She wasn't really there. Physically she was present, mentally she had checked out. Pumpkin remembered seeing herself hunched over in her range rover, her video camera rolling as she sat parked behind a dumpster. She had only been sitting there for 10 minutes. She knew her target was close because her GPS monitored continuously went off, signaling her tracker was somewhere in the area. Pumpkin never thought she would have to go to these measures to find out the truth. But she needed to know. She looked down at the GPS in her hand. The target was pulling around the corner. She held her breath, hoping the car would continue to drive by and not stop. Hopefully this was all a coincidence. Pumpkin spotted the familiar car turn around the corner. Her entire world stopped. The time is here. She had waited on this moment and now she was about to find out the truth...

She sat still as she watched the red infinity cruised down the street, slowing at speed. Please don't stop, please don't stop. Pumpkin remembered chanting inside her head. She sat back, watching as her worst nightmare unfold right before her eyes. The infinity came to a stop, turning on the right signal to turn into the large condominium that sat at the edge of the inner harbor. Her heart dropped into her stomach as she sat back. Numb. She couldn't move. She watched as a young valet approached the driver side window smiling happily as if he had seen the driver plenty of times before. They chit chatted for a few moments as Pumpkin watched, her heart slowly breaking into pieces as everything came crashing down on her head. Reese stuck her head out the infinity, tipping the driver a wad of money who leaned down to give her a hug. She waved goodbye to him while speeding off up the slope and disappearing around the corner into a parking garage. She looked down at her GPS which had ironically lost signal. Everything she feared was coming true. This was real life.

At that very moment, her soul left her body. She no longer had one. She did not move. She felt if she did, her move would be the wrong one. Her eyes slowly traveled up the large building, knowing for a fact King was at the top waiting for Reese to arrive. She had been lied to. King promised he would never do this to me. And he did. I could kill her. I could kill her. I could kill her. Pumpkin began to fear her own thoughts. She was capable of anything at that moment.

Pumpkin shook the image from her head. She had to stop thinking about last night. It was driving her insane and she couldn't take it.

Pumpkin followed Reese home the evening after their meeting. That ignorant bitch Reese never pays attention to her surroundings and didn't look in her rearview mirror not once as she was being followed. Pumpkin shook her head at that foolish trick. Reese had no idea Pumpkin wire tapped her purse with a microphone prior to her leaving a restaurant. She made it so easy, all Pumpkin had to do was slip it in her purse as she walked past. Pumpkin already had the infinity installed with a GPS before she gave it away so that part was a piece of cake. By the end of the night, Pumpkin was able to hear each and every encounter she shared with King last night. The conversation. The dinner. The sex. Pumpkin drunkenly played back and listened to each audio tape, listening to every single word. She had never felt pain this deep. Pumpkin had no idea pain even existed. She picked up the gun, placing the barrel against her temple. She cried hysterically as she felt the steel touch her skin. "I can't live without you King. I'd rather dieeee if I can't have you!" She cried out loud as her shoulders bobbed up and down. She loved him so much. She loved King to death. How could he betray the woman who has always been there for him? She screamed out loud as she put her finger on the trigger. "I can kill myself now and all this pain will be over with." She cried, suddenly facing reality. King didn't love her. He never loved her and he never will. She felt herself falling into a deep dark hole. But Pumpkin could not go out like a coward. Not like her mother or her father. She had too much respect in the streets to let it all end like this. She took the gun from her head, taking a deep breath as she realized how close she had come to shooting herself. She meditated to herself as she reminded herself what was important. The money. The revenge. She narrowed her eyes as she realized this wasn't over. There was only one person to blame. And that person...