Trap Queen

by Christine N. Davis

Genres: African American Urban

Synopsis

At a young age, Lihanny’s life was forever altered when, after the murder of her
father, her mother decided to sell her to the highest bidder. She didn’t think
things could get any worse, but she was sadly mistaken. Being at the wrong place
at the wrong time can change your life forever, which is exactly what happened to
Lihanny.
Fed up with feeling powerless, Lihanny takes the drug world by storm when she
meets Malaki. But what happens when the love for the game trumps everything
else? As a woman, Lihanny must work double time to prove herself to be
respected as the Trap Queen. Headstrong just like her father, Lihanny will knock
down anything that stands in her way.

Release date: August 30, 2022

Publisher: Urban Books

Print pages: 288

Sample

June 18, 2014

“Bitch, didn’t I tell you I was going to bust you in your fucking face if you missed another appointment? Huh? Didn’t I?” Patty, aka Patrice, yelled in my face.

I wanted to roll my eyes so bad, but I didn’t feel like fighting with her ass tonight. “I told you to push it back because I had to walk across the stage this morning.”

Thankfully, by the grace of God, I was able to graduate high school. Despite all the shit I went through with my mama, I promised myself that, no matter what, I was going to walk across the stage come June 18, 2014. And that was exactly what the fuck I did. I didn’t give a damn about these stupid-ass appointments.

“I don’t give a fuck, Lihanny. I don’t fucking play about my money. I told you not to play with me about my money.”

“One fucking appointment isn’t going to hurt your ass,” I muttered.

Patty grabbed me by my hair and wrapped it around her hand, pulling me to her. “What the fuck you say, bitch? Huh? Say that shit louder for the people in the back.”

I tightened my lips, trying my hardest not to scream out because of how hard she was pulling my hair. After a second she let me go. “That’s what I thought. Now get yourself together. You have another one in thirty minutes.” Turning on her heels, she walked out of my room and slammed my door behind her.

My hands immediately went to my hair. I needed to make sure my shit wasn’t bleeding. Once I felt around and saw that it wasn’t, I sighed and walked to my mirror in my room. I was proud of myself for sticking through it and graduating. I couldn’t lie. I didn’t think I was going to make it, but seeing myself in my cap and gown was a realization for me that I could do anything.

Coming out of my thoughts, I took off my gown and hung it up in my closet. After stripping out of everything else as well, I grabbed my towel and hopped into the shower. I was ready to get this dumb-ass appointment over with so I could go to work. For the confused minds as to what kind of appointment it is, I’ll be glad to tell you.

Ever since my father was gunned down in a drug deal gone bad, my mama had been selling my body for money. I was 15 when she called me downstairs to “play” with one of her friends. The sick-ass nigga paid almost $5,000 to have sex with me because I was a virgin. My mother was down bad after my father was killed and the banks froze his accounts and repossessed everything we owned. We went from living in a mini mansion in Ghent Square to staying in the Timbers townhouses. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t anything that I was used to either. Even though Patty had all the money she needed to live comfortably, she continued to sell me out to the highest bidders. I was 18 now, and as soon as I got what I needed, I was moving the fuck out and away from her ass forever.

After I got out of the shower, I walked back into my room and put lotion on my body. I couldn’t lie. For me to be so young, I had a really nice body thanks to my mama. In some cases it was good, and in others it was bad. I looked at myself in the mirror, admiring my beauty. Many people said that I favored Lulu Simmons, the model, with my milk-chocolate skin tone and long hair that stopped in the middle of my back. My eyes were a deep hazel, and I had big, full lips. My breasts were the size of cantaloupes, my stomach was flat, and my butt was phat as hell.

I went into my drawers and grabbed a pair of light blue jean shorts. It was going to be ninety-seven degrees today, and I refused to wear jeans. I tossed the shorts and my gray crop tank top onto my bed. I grabbed a pair of panties and the matching bra and put them on. Looking at the time on my dresser, I saw that I needed to be leaving in five minutes, so I quickly put my clothes on and went into my closet to pull out my gray and white Jordans. After I put my hair in a cute ponytail, put a few coats of lip gloss on, and grabbed my phone, I was out the door.

When I walked outside, my eyes squinted immediately because of the sun glaring in my face. I rolled my eyes at the sight of my mama sitting on our poor excuse of a porch and smoking a cigarette with her ugly-ass boyfriend, Karl.

She looked up at me and turned her nose up. “Hurry the fuck up and get there, Lihanny. I told you, you had thirty minutes,” she fussed.

“You didn’t give me a damn address yet,” I replied.

“Bitch, who the fuck you talking to?”

I refrained from saying anything.

“I’ll text you the address. Now bye.”

I looked over at her before shaking my head and walking off the porch. When the message with the address came through, I opened the Uber app and called for one. It didn’t take long before they got here and drove me to my hell.

Two Days Later

Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

I turned around and checked to make sure that my black thong bikini bathing suit was looking right. It was showing off my cheetah tattoo, which went from the top of my shoulder down my back and to mid-thigh. My bikini showed off my double belly piercing that I had. I did my hair in some cute wand curls, and I had all of my gold body jewelry on. The sound of my phone ringing made me quickly throw my cover-up on and grab my phone. I knew that it was my best friend, Alondra, telling me to come outside. We were going to the biggest beach party of the year down on the oceanfront.

Grabbing my phone and overnight bag, I slipped my feet into my Gucci slides and left my room. Alondra was waiting for me in her car when I walked outside. Quickly, I walked over and got into the car.

“Damn, bitch, where did you get that bathing suit from?” Alondra asked as she pulled out of the parking spot.

I buckled my seat belt. “Some website called Romwe,” I answered, plugging my phone in. Even though it was at 80 percent, I needed it to be fully charged for the night because it was going to be epic.

“I’m going to have to look up there.”

“Are you going to get Cassie?” I asked her, referring to my other best friend.

Alondra, Cassie, and I had known each other for a good five years. We met in middle school when I transferred to Norview from Blair. We all had the same homeroom, and we clicked instantly because we were all pretty as hell, not to sound cocky though.

“She said she was riding with Nigel, so she’ll meet us there,” she replied.

Nigel was Cassie’s boyfriend of three years. He was a good dude, I’d give him that, but personally, I didn’t think he was for her. Mainly because Nigel was a bitch while Cassie was the exact opposite. Her ass popped off on any- and everybody, not giving a fuck. But sometimes it backfired on her because she got in nigga’s faces, too, and her nigga was a punk. You couldn’t tell her shit about him though.

“Did your cousin get the room for us? I am not trying to go back home tonight,” I said just as my phone vibrated. I picked up my yellow iPhone 5c and rolled my eyes at the sight of Patty texting me.

The Devil: Bitch, didn’t I tell you that you have two appointments tonight?

Instead of responding, I blocked her number for the night. I was getting really sick of her money-hungry ass. I needed this weekend to do me without having to fuck some sloppy little-dick-ass nigga. I was just going to deal with her wrath tomorrow.

“Yeah, she got it. You have the money?” She looked over at me for a second before turning back to the road as she got on the interstate.

I went into my bag and pulled out the $50 before passing it to her. She, Cassie, and I were splitting the money for a room for the night. We were going to stay at SpringHill Suites, so when we were kicked off the beach, the party would resume in our room. I had gotten some weed from our weed man yesterday so we could smoke something before we walked on the beach.

After I gave her the money, I pulled the bag of weed out and rolled it up. “You got a lighter?” I asked after realizing that Patty took mine with her annoying ass.

“Yeah, it’s in the armrest.”

I opened it up and grabbed the lighter before lighting the blunt and taking a long pull from it. A bitch really needed this. I plugged my phone up to the aux, and we jammed out the whole way to the beach. This shit was about to be epic.

It took us a good fifteen minutes to get to the beach, and when I say the shit was packed, it was packed. I was glad that we were getting hotel parking because if not, we weren’t going to have anywhere to park. Alondra called up her cousin to get our room keys and parking ticket. We went up to the room to put our stuff away, then headed down to the beach. As soon as we stepped on the boardwalk, a huge smile spread across my face. There wasn’t an empty spot on this beach, and I’m not even exaggerating.

“Bitch, look at all of these sexy-ass niggas,” Alondra squealed, biting her lip at the group of chocolate niggas who walked past.

I giggled, “It should be a sin to look that good.” We laughed and high-fived before walking onto the sand.

“Heeeey, bitches!” The sound of Cassie’s voice caused us to turn around.

“Hey, ho.” I walked a few feet to hug her and nod at Nigel.

I couldn’t lie and say that Nigel wasn’t fine because he was. But you needed to be more than fine to get a pass.

“Y’all look good. If I were gay, I would have both of y’all on lock,” Cassie said, playfully smacking Alondra’s butt.

“Bitch, you gay,” I laughed.

She shrugged her shoulders and bit her lip at me, and I just shook my head. Cassie always played like that, but I was starting to think that she was really like that.

“Let’s go get some drinks,” Alondra suggested.

We walked through the sand with our shoes in our hands and headed over to where the DJ and the drinks were. We had to hold hands so we didn’t lose each other. It was so crazy out there. As we were walking through the crowd, some nigga grabbed my ass, causing me to turn around quick as hell. I didn’t play that shit even though I allowed niggas to do that and more for money.

“Excuse you, nigga,” I fussed, eyeing him up and down.

He was fine as hell. Like pretty boy kind of fine. His light skin was glowing under the sun, and his big brown eyes looked lighter than they really were. He had a low cut and a few tattoos here and there. His lips were pink and soft, not too big for his face but just enough to bite on. He had to be about six feet as he stood next to my five-four frame. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, so I could see his muscles and what looked to be almost a six-pack coming in.

“You’re excused, beautiful.” He licked his lips at me, and I turned my lips up.

Sucking my teeth, I turned on my heels and started back to the drinks.

“Damn, baby girl, where you going?” he called after me, but I ignored him and continued.

“Girl, you are tripping. He was fine,” Alondra yelled over the music.

I shook my head as I opened the cooler and pulled out a fruity alcoholic drink. “Rude as fuck, too.”

After I took a few sips of my drink, I damn near ran over to where everybody was dancing when my song, “Handsome and Wealthy” by Migos, came on. This was my shit, and Quavo was my man. I bent over with my drink still in my hand and started popping my ass and swaying to the beat. Alondra and Cassie weren’t far away, doing the same thing. We were having so much fun. Fun that I hadn’t had in a long time.

By nightfall, I was a little more than tipsy. The police were starting to kick people off the beach, so we decided to head to the Hookah Lounge for a little bit.

“I’ll be back. I need to go to the bathroom,” I told them before getting up and heading to the back.

I went into the girls’ bathroom and into one of the stalls. As I was peeing, I heard a huge bang as the door of the bathroom came open. I quickly finished up so that I could get the hell out of there.

“Check the stalls,” I heard a dude say, so I quickly stood on the toilet, almost falling in. I almost peed on myself, even though I just finished using the bathroom, when another dude came and looked under the stalls.

I held my breath when he came to the one I was in. He was trying to open the stall, but because I was in it, it was locked, so he just looked under it again. I let out a quiet sigh of relief when he moved to the next one before saying, “They’re empty.”

“So explain to me why you don’t have my fucking money,” the first voice said.

“M . . . man, listen. I told him I needed a little more time,” a different voice answered and almost sounded as if he was crying.

I couldn’t honestly tell you how many people were in here with me, but I was too scared shitless to care.

“You don’t get fucking time for owing ten Gs, muthafucka. You get a bullet in your head.”

Pow!

I gasped but covered my mouth because I didn’t want them to hear me, but it was too late.

“Nigga, I thought you said there wasn’t anybody in here,” the first nigga said before I heard footsteps.

“There isn’t.”

They got to the one I was in and banged on it before he bent down to look under. But when he looked, he stuck his whole head under it and saw me. It was the same dude who touched my ass on the beach.

“Get out here,” he said, but I just stood there. “I don’t want to have to kill you.”

Sighing, I got down and hesitantly unlocked the door. When it swung open, he grabbed my arm and pulled me all the way out. I wanted to yell at the sight of the dude lying on the floor with a hole in the middle of his head. The blood was going everywhere, spreading on the floor. I backed up a little as it moved closer to us.

“You clever little bitch. You want me to kill her?” he said, pulling out his gun from behind him.

“Titus, chill,” ass-grabber told him before turning back to me. “You didn’t see anything, right?”

I nodded my head frantically. “This is none of my business.”

“A’ight, give me your number.”

I quickly rambled off my number to him. “Can I go now?”

Before he could even finish nodding, I was bolting out the door. Everybody was chilling and acting like they didn’t even hear the gunshot. It was loud, so how couldn’t they hear it? But then again, the music was blasting. I quickly walked over to the table that Alondra, Cassie, and Nigel were at.

“Wait, where are you going?” Cassie asked.

“Uh, my stomach is cramping. I’m going to the room.” I gathered all my stuff and left.

Without looking back, I hurried across the street and started walking back to the hotel. The feeling of my phone vibrating in my pocket scared the shit out of me. I took a deep breath to try to relax myself. I felt like if a pen dropped from miles away, I would jump out of my damn skin.

757-556-6659: Bitch, you think you could block me and I wouldn’t get to you? Bring your ass home now!

I shook my head because I knew that it was Patty texting me. I looked at my notifications and saw that she had called me five times from that number. I knew it had to have been Karl’s phone. I blocked that number, too. I was going to have to deal with her when I got home. Too much had happened tonight.

What a fucking night . . .

A Week Later

I was walking down Chesapeake Boulevard and listening to my music. I had just come from one of those damn appointments out at the Oaks. It was going on two o’clock in the morning, and I had to be to work at Food Lion at seven. My body and my feet were hurting from having to walk all over damn Norfolk. It was crazy how Patty had me doing all of this shit, but she didn’t have the decency to at least drop me off and pick me up from the places where I had to go. That bitch had two cars. Hell, I could even drive myself, but she wasn’t going for that either. I was just waiting until the day I hit my $10,000 goal. I was going to get my car and move out of Patty’s house. Hell, out of Norfolk as well. Since I had graduated, there was no purpose for me here. I loved my city, but there were way too many bad memories for me. I was even transferring my job to wherever I moved in case Patty decided to come looking for me.

Bobbing my head to DeJ Loaf’s “Try Me,” I looked both ways before I crossed the street. I knew for a fact that I made sure no cars were coming, so I was confused as fuck when this BMW almost smacked my ass.

“What the fuck!” I yelled, smacking my hand on the hood.

The music in this shit was blasting and the windows were tinted, so I couldn’t see who was inside. The door swung open, and none other than ass-grabber stepped out. Annoyance and fear immediately spread across my face. I was annoyed because this nigga was rude as fuck, and I was already tired. And I just wanted to go home. I was afraid because I knew what he was capable of, and I wasn’t trying to be the next bitch found dead.

“Damn, if it isn’t my future wife. What’s your sexy ass doing out here this late with that tight-ass skirt on?” He smiled wide, showing his perfect white teeth.

All I could see were his lips moving because I had my earbuds in still, so I took them out and paused my music. I looked over at him with a stank expression on my face. “What?

“Ay, fix your face, baby girl. I ain’t do shit to you. Now come get in the car and I’ll take you home.”

By that time, there was a car behind him, blowing the horn like crazy. But he didn’t give a fuck, because he was still parked there. I shook my head. “No, thanks. I’m almost there.”

“I didn’t ask you that, sweetheart. I simply told you to get in the car.” His tone was stern, which made me roll my eyes but get my ass in his fucking car.

My body melted as soon as it touched the leather seats. The inside of this car was beyond beautiful. Patty had one, too, but my ass couldn’t even touch the bumper on that bitch. Ugh, I couldn’t stand her ass. Ass-grabber climbed in the car after me before speeding off, making an illegal-ass U-turn right before the entrance of my neighborhood. I quickly strapped my seat belt across my body before looking at this nigga like he was crazy.

“Where the fuck are you going? My house is over there.” I pointed behind us.

“We gotta make a quick stop first,” he said, making a left onto Chesapeake Boulevard.

“Look, I don’t want any problems. All I want to do is get home because I have to work in”—I hit the lock button on my phone—“five and a half hours, and I am exhausted.”

“I got you, shorty. Just sit tight.”

Oh, I was sitting tight all right. Stiff as a muthafucka because I was scared as fuck. I was clutching my imaginary pearls something serious. This nigga could easily take me somewhere isolated and chop me up for witnessing that murder at Hookah’s. Now I was regretting not running when I had the chance. I should have just taken the fuck off. Hell, I used to run track in my middle school days, so I was pretty fast. He would have most likely caught up to me, but at least I would have tried.

The ride was quiet except for the loud-ass music he had playing. He would occasionally look over at me, then back to the road, but I kept my eyes straight ahead. I knew my way around Norfolk like the back of my hand, so if he was trying to kidnap me, I could jump out right now and find my way home with no problem.

“What happened to your face, baby girl?” he asked, looking over at me briefly.

Last week when I came home, as soon as I walked in the door, Patty went ham on me. By no means was I a punk, and I could go round for round with the best of them. But at the end of the day, Patty was my mama. And although she was a horrible mother, I couldn’t disrespect her by beating her ass. I just couldn’t.

“I was in an accident.”

“What kind of accident?” he inquired.

“Car accident,” I lied.

“Oh, yeah?” he said like he didn’t believe me.

I just nodded, not up for conversation. All I wanted to do was go home. I had no interest in wherever he was taking me. None. But all that changed when we drove into a dark-ass alley. I sat up in my seat and looked over at him before looking to where he stopped. Placing the car in park, he looked over at me.

“You know I should have killed you at Hookah’s last weekend, right?” he said in a calm tone.

I s. . .