Hold U Down Read Free Page A

up.
    Checking her reflection in the mirror, Unique saw that her eyes were red. Going through her purse she found a tiny bottle of Visine. The blue contacts in her eyes were irritating the hell out of her. After dropping a few drops in each eye, she fingered through her black wig and touched up her makeup. The contacts and wig were all a part of her disguise. None of Unique’s victims really knew how she looked.
    Meeting Rico back outside, Unique saw him in a heated argument with the valet driver.
    â€œI swear, sir, I don’t know what happened,” Thomas tried to explain.
    â€œI trusted you with my car, man! Where the fuck is it?” Rico yelled.
    â€œWhat’s wrong, sweetie?” Unique asked, pretending to be concerned.
    â€œMy car is gone! I told you we couldn’t trust these muthafuckas. You betta hope yo’ shit is still here.” Giving Eric her valet ticket, Unique listened to Rico’s whining until her car pulled around the corner.
    â€œMy car is here,” she replied.
    â€œWhat am I gon’ do without my baby?” Rico cried.
    â€œI’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have suggested that you leave your car with them,” Unique said, conjuring up some fake tears.
    â€œBaby, don’t cry. This is not your fault.” Rico hugged her. “It’s this idiot’s fault,” he said, pointing to Thomas. “Not yours.”
    â€œSo, what do you want to do?” Unique questioned, dabbing tears from her eyes.
    â€œI’m gonna stay here and fill out a police report. You go on back to the hotel. I’ll call you later.”
    â€œOkay,” she said, kissing and hugging him good-bye.
    Securely in the rental car, Unique gave Rico another wave while thinking, Good riddance, you stupid fuck. Whipping the car out into the busy intersection, she never looked back.
    A couple of blocks away, parked and relieved that the job was almost over, she pulled off the wig and exhaled a sigh of relief. Changing into a wife beater and jeans, she placed another wig on her head and drove to the rental place. Since everything was cool with the car, it only took her a total of fifteen minutes to drop it off.
    After taking a shuttle bus to the airport, she checked her luggage in and headed for Gate 16. Once she reached the gate, she saw all three girls laughing and talking as if they hadn’t just committed a crime.
    â€œY’all hoes sure do look cool, calm, and collected.”
    â€œWhat up, dawg?” Kay Kay smiled.
    Taking a seat next to Zoë, Unique placed her carry-on luggage down beside her and began telling the story. “Girl, that nigga was so paranoid about leaving his car with the valet, it wasn’t even funny.”
    â€œHe was?”
    â€œYeah, I kept on having to reassure him that the damn car would be all right. He even kept calling it his baby .”
    â€œDamn, straight up? So, how did he react when he found out the car was stolen?” Kay Kay questioned.
    â€œGirl, he went ballistic.” Unique laughed.
    â€œIt’s always funny to see the reaction on their faces. Where is he at now?”
    â€œAs far as I know he’s still at the restaurant wondering where his car is. Oops, I mean, his baby .”
    â€œHe’s probably all like, ‘Dude! Where’s my car?’” Kay Kay laughed.
    â€œGirl, you silly. Y’all FedExed the money to Patience, right?”
    â€œYeah, Nique, Zoë, and I went before we came here.”
    â€œY’all wrapped it up in newspaper and bubble wrap, right?”
    â€œYeah, they did. Damn, quit trippin’,” Kiara said annoyed, slumped down in the seat with her arms folded across her chest.
    â€œWhat the fuck is yo’ problem?”
    â€œWhy is it every time we do a job you ask us the same stupid-ass questions over and over again? Ain’t nobody gon’ fuck up.”
    â€œYo, who the fuck you think you talkin’ to? Last