The Trophy Wife

by Jaquavis, Ashley

Genres: Urban Fantasy

Synopsis

Love, lies, adultery, and death.
Ashley and JaQuavis introduce readers to London, a beautiful immigrant from Trinidad. She was given to her husband by her father in order to settle a debt. Standing by her husband's side to make him the envy of his associates is a day in the life, but behind closed doors, their relationship becomes cold, and the abuse that she encounters has her looking for a way out.
When she meets a young thug named Kalil, he opens her eyes to a world she never knew. Afraid of the repercussions of her actions, she avoids Kalil at all costs, but his relentless pursuit makes their love inevitable.
Enter the world of The Trophy Wife. Her story will keep you guessing until the final page, and the outcome will leave you breathless.

Release date: March 4, 2014

Publisher: Urban Books

Print pages: 288

Sample

“Yo, I’m telling you, son, I used to get it out in D.C.” June shook his head from side to side as he reminisced. “Nigga, you weren’t getting it like that,” Kalil taunted the nigga as he bragged.

An exasperated expression crossed June’s face as he stood to his feet and replied, “What! Yo, son, I’m trying to put you up on game. I was the man in D.C.”

“You were hurting ’em like that? In D.C.? I hear them cats out there ain’t working with nothing.”

“Man, don’t believe that shit. Those D.C. niggas is caked up. They got the money to spend. I was getting crazy-paid out that way. I was fucking with my man from the Midwest. He was giving me the bricks for cheap, so I was making a killing when I resold them in D.C.”

“You were traveling all the way west just to cop?” Kalil asked.

“Ain’t nobody around the way got that type of weight. I’m telling you, the dude I was dealing with was knee-deep in the game. Right before I got nabbed he was trying to cop like a hundred bricks. Word on the street is he still looking for somebody to fill that order.”

Before June had made that statement, Kalil was just having a friendly conversation, but with that one sentence June sparked his interest. June knew that Kalil was connected. There was hearsay around the prison that Kalil had gotten caught with a quarter million when he was arrested, and that he was connected to Hova, Manhattan’s most notorious drug lord. Hova wasn’t your average kingpin; in fact, it was almost impossible to touch him, which was why Kalil had so much respect. He’d done what other niggas couldn’t do. He’d touched the untouchable and become affiliated with Hova. Kalil knew that June was throwing out the bait.

“That could be a payday for somebody.” June watched Kalil put his belongings into the small box that sat on the top bunk.

“Maybe. I know what you getting at, man, but I ain’t fucking with it. That shit ain’t worth my freedom. Four years in this mu’fucka is long enough for me to know that I ain’t trying to come back. I got a daughter that’s waiting on me to come home. I can’t leave my family again. Getting money is what I do best, but I can’t mess with it right now. I got to find another way to eat, nah mean?”

June nodded his head. He’d left his own son to be raised by his mother, so he could definitely feel where his cellmate was coming from. He didn’t like it, because he knew that Kalil was the missing link that he would need when he got out, but for now he had to respect it.

“Kelly, it’s time to go,” the guard yelled, calling Kalil by his last name. He opened the door and stepped inside the small space and impatiently waited for Kalil to say good-bye and grab his stuff.

June stood up from his bunk and slapped hands with Kalil as they embraced slightly.

“You be easy, duke,” Kalil told him.

“I’ma get at you when I get out in a couple months. Maybe by then you’ll be ready to step back into the big leagues. Word to my mother, my man on deck for a hundred of ’em. One more time and we can both be set for a minute,” June mumbled in Kalil’s ear before releasing him.

Kalil nodded. “Get with me when you’re free.” He grabbed the box that contained his belongings and walked out of the cell as he was guided toward the exit.

The air outside the prison was fresh, and Kalil inhaled deeply as he made his way down the long driveway that led to his freedom. After four years in lockup he was finally going home. His facial hair had grown in abundance and he was in desperate need of a haircut.

The gray rusted-out Cutlass Supreme that was parked at the exit put a smile on his face, and he jogged slightly until he reached the car.

His cousin Quinn jumped out the car as he saw him approach. “What up, baby?” Quinn said as they slapped hands and embraced. “You finally out, mu’fucka. You looking good, still breathing and shit.”

“Barely, fam. These past four years have been hard.”

Quinn went to the trunk of his car and pulled out a Macy’s bag that contained the latest Sean John apparel. He threw it at Kalil. “Get out of that funky-ass jail suit.” Quinn walked around to the driver’s side and got in. He revved up the engine, and as Kalil hopped in the passenger side, they sped off, leaving skid marks in front of the prison.

Quinn was happy to see Kalil. They’d been close since childhood, and it hurt his heart to see him get sent away. “So how it feel to be out, fam?”

“Damn good, nigga. I just can’t wait to see Jada.” Kalil thought about his baby girl. She was his world. Out of her eight years on this earth he’d been absent from her life for four of them. He promised himself that he would never miss another minute with her.

“Yeah, she’s getting big too. I didn’t even tell her that you were getting out today. I figured you should surprise her.”

“Thanks for looking out for Destiny while I was down. She raising my daughter and she ain’t strong enough to do that by herself. If I couldn’t be there, I’m glad that you were.”

Kalil and Destiny had been together off and on since high school. When she got pregnant he was a stand-up dude and was there for her. Kalil was a man and he took care of his responsibilities. Destiny and Jada were his world, and he spoiled them both until he got nabbed.

“Man, you family. Ain’t no need for all that thank-you bullshit. I did what I had to do to make sure your shorty was straight.”

After an awkward silence filled the car, Quinn added, “Yo, open that glove box and hand me that Reasonable Doubt.”

Kalil reached for the glove box, and the entire panel fell to the floor. He burst out in laughter as he scooped the CD and the other contents from the floor. “Damn, fam, I’ve been down for four years and you still ain’t copped anything new?”

“You don’t know nothing ’bout the Cutlass,” Quinn replied with a boyish smirk. He adjusted his side mirrors so that he could see his tires.

Quinn’s gray Cutlass Supreme had a few rust spots around the body, and the interior was old, dusty, and worn. It was barely running, but the highlight of the car was the twenty-two-inch rims he had it sitting on.

“Look at them rims, duke. You don’t know nothing about that set right there. That’s three stacks right there, just on the tires.”

Kalil was cracking up as he listened to his little cousin defend his whip. He knew Quinn though, and he was a born hustler with a ridiculous car fetish. He knew that Quinn’s pockets had to be hurting for him to be rolling in a broke man’s car. It was in their veins to get money, so he didn’t understand why Quinn was barely making it.

“But, for real, what’s good out here? Money slow or something?”

“The game has changed, man. Ain’t nobody really been getting it like that since you went away. Fatboy the only mu’fucka in the city that’s doing something.”

“Fatboy? That bum-ass nigga?” Kalil knew Fatboy well and couldn’t believe that he was now the man on top. Fatboy was a grimy hustler who had no loyalty whatsoever. He was also a known snitch, cooperating with the police on more than one occasion to avoid getting shipped upstate, which was why Kalil and many other hustlers around the city kept him at a distance.

“I’m telling you, can’t nobody get they hands on nothing quality. Fatboy the only mu’fucka who got some decent work. I mean his shit ain’t the greatest, but it’s better than nothing. He stays consistent. He always got work, and you know a nigga got to eat.”

“You fucking with him?” Kalil tried to keep the disapproving tone out of his voice, not wanting to knock Quinn’s hustle, if in fact he was doing business with Fatboy. On the inside he hoped that Quinn wasn’t desperate enough to mess with Fat-boy.

“Hell, nah. I’m trying to stay free. I know if something ever went down, Fatboy would be the first one singing to the cops, so I don’t fuck with him. That’s why I ain’t really messing with the coke right now.”

“You should’ve contacted my man. Hova would’ve taken care of you.” Kalil shook his head. He couldn’t believe that Fatboy had taken over the city. Before he went in Fatboy was a clown. He’d tried his hardest to get down with Kalil, but Kalil refused to mess with him. Kalil only dealt with thoroughbreds, and Fatboy was definitely not that.

“Man, Hova ain’t messing with nobody but you. He ain’t trying to be associated with anybody black. That’s why you need to holla at your boy, so we can get back in it.” Quinn pulled onto Destiny’s street.

Kalil was about to respond, but his words stuck in his throat when he saw the little girl riding her bike in the middle of the street. His eyes were glued to her, and his heartbeat sped up. She was identical to him in every way. Their bronze skin tone was identical, and their almond-shaped eyes were the same shade of dark brown.

Quinn pulled the car toward the curb and parked as Jada ran up to him.

“Uncle Quinn!” she yelled as she bum-rushed him with a hug.

He hugged her back. “I got a surprise for you.”

“What is it?” she asked eagerly as she patted his pockets.

Usually he would give her money or jewelry when he came over, so she was excited to see her new gift. Quinn patted his body and snapped his fingers in defeat. “Dang, I think I left it in the car. Go get it from my partner in the passenger seat.”

Jada looked toward the car and ran over to the door. “My uncle said you have my”—She couldn’t complete her sentence when she saw her father sitting in the car. She hadn’t seen him since she was four years old, but she loved him dearly. Although she was very young when he went away, the feeling of security and unconditional love that she felt when she was around her father was something that she would never forget. His face was forever implanted in her mind, and she immediately recognized him.

“Daddy!” she screamed as she jumped into his lap.

Kalil grabbed his daughter and held her tightly as he rocked her back and forth. He stood up out of the car with her still in his arms. “Hey, baby girl,” he cooed as she clung on to his neck, her legs wrapped around his body. He could feel tears running from her face.

“I love you, Daddy,” she cried. “Don’t leave me again. You were gone for a long time.”

“Don’t worry about nothing, baby girl. I love you so much, I’ll never leave you again. Daddy’s home to stay.”

“You promise?”

“I promise, Jada.”

When he placed her gently back on the ground, she ran and hit her Uncle Quinn lightly in the stomach. She yelled, “You kept a secret from me, Uncle Quinn!”

Quinn couldn’t help but laugh at her attempts to beat him up. He picked her up and spun her around above his head. “I had to keep it a surprise, big head.” He laughed as he put her down.

Kalil looked down at his daughter. She had gotten so big, and he had missed so much time in her life. He smiled as he noticed for the first time what she was wearing. She wore baggy jeans that were twice her size and one of his old Rocawear hoodies that swallowed her tiny frame. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, and she wore a fitted baseball cap on her head. The last time he’d seen her, she was pretty in pink. Now she was a tomboy.

That’s my baby girl, Kalil thought to himself. He knelt in front of his daughter. “Where’s your mama?”

“She in the house,” Jada replied.

Quinn came up behind Jada and picked her up and put her on his shoulders. He looked at Kalil. “Go handle your business with Destiny. I’ll keep an eye on Jada.”

Kalil walked into the house and heard Lyfe Jennings’s voice coming out of the surround-sound system he’d purchased before he went to prison. He could smell the scent of incense burning, a look of disgrace crossing his face as he looked around the filthy house. Destiny was slipping. She was getting trifling, and he knew he had to straighten her out now that he was home.

As he made his way through the house, he called out, “Des!” His voice was drowned out by the loud music. “This girl got my daughter living in this dirty-ass house,” he mumbled as he stepped over pizza boxes and empty Heineken bottles. He tripped over a large pair of boots in the middle of the floor but caught his bearings before he fell. “Damn!” he yelled as he picked up the pair of boots. He frowned when he realized that they were a size twelve. I know Destiny ain’t had a nigga in my house.

He walked toward her bedroom door, and as soon as he opened it, his suspicions were confirmed. Destiny was on her knees hitting off Fatboy. Stunned to the point of silence, Kalil felt a thousand daggers shoot through his chest.

Fatboy looked up and saw Kalil standing in the doorway, and he nodded as a smirk grew on his face. Fatboy could see the devastation and anger in Kalil’s face, and it felt good to be degrading his baby moms right in front of him.

Yeah, nigga, watch me bag your bitch. You ain’t on top no more. This my bitch. Fatboy put his hand on the back of Destiny’s head and guided it up and down on his shaft. He knew that he was getting the best revenge for all of the times that Kalil had punked him before going to prison. He continued to look at Kalil with a smirk as Destiny gave him the best oral sex of his life. He was grinding into her mouth, one of his hands resting on the back of her head, the other on the pistol that sat near him on the bed.

He felt the orgasm building. “You gon’ swallow it for me, ma?”

Before she could answer, he exploded in her mouth and she swallowed it. “Hmm,” she moaned.

Kalil shook his head and closed his eyes. He didn’t want to believe what he’d just witnessed. His temper quickly began to rise as he opened his eyes. “You dirty bitch,” he stated as he laughed lightly. He had to laugh to keep from choking the shit out of her. “You stink-ass bitch!” He hit the wall and turned to leave the room.

“Kalil? Oh my God!” Destiny screamed. “Baby, it’s not what it looks like.” She rose from her knees and made her way to him.

Kalil couldn’t believe that Destiny would pull that tramp shit on him. He had been messing around with her for years, and although he didn’t expect her to stay faithful while he was away, he would’ve never pictured her with Fatboy. Fatboy and Kalil had been adversaries for a long time. Their beef was nothing new, and Destiny was well aware of the history between the two men.

“This nigga? You up in here sucking dick while my daughter outside by herself? You had my daughter around this mu’fucka?” Kalil grabbed her by the neck and shoved her hard against the wall.

Tears fell from Destiny’s eyes when she saw the devastated look on Kalil’s face.

He pinned her against the wall and punched beside her head, causing her to jump. The pain that he felt from her betrayal surprised even him.

“Wait, Kalil. Baby, I love you. I’m sorry,” she shouted as she cried hysterically.

Fatboy smiled as he stood and pulled up his pants. He mugged Kalil as he picked up his Tims and slowly put them on his feet. “Yo’ bitch give some good head.” Then he peeled off a couple hundred dollars and threw them on the floor. “Thanks for the entertainment, Destiny. Yo’ nigga too broke to feed you, so take that money and buy you and your brat something to eat.”

Just the mention of his daughter from Fat-boy’s lips sent him into a different mind state. “What?” Kalil pushed Destiny one last tim. . .