Always Unique Page 5

  Right, she thought as he kissed her on the lips. Couldn’t be better.

  A VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCE

  Over the next week Kennard doted on Unique. As far as he was concerned, nothing was too good for her—or good enough. Outwardly, Unique basked in his generosity—flowers, candy, notes, jewelry, clothes, food—but inside she felt like a heel for keeping secrets from him. Her conscience ate at her like a tiger dining on slices of raw meat.

  But she’d already made up her mind. Now, the shoe was on the other foot, and she had to do what she thought was best for her and her new family.

  In Unique’s eyes, it was a real blessing in disguise that the big sellout fight was less than two weeks away. The upcoming festivities kept Kennard extremely busy. This was being called the fight of the decade and Kennard was milking it for all that it was worth. Set to take place in Madison Square Garden, the sheer magnitude of the event kept him away from Unique more than usual.

  The timing couldn’t have been better. Unique hated not seeing him until late at night, but the time alone was perfect for putting her own business in order. After playing and replaying the pros and cons in her mind over and over, she decided that the only logical option was to heist Shummi’s diamonds. She liked Shummi a lot and the man had never done anything to her, but what else could she do? Her back was up against the wall. It was the only way to get Fat Tee off of her back and out of her life.

  And with that being said, today was the day it was about to go down, and she had solicited Tyeedah and her little brother for help.

  All I can say is love makes a person do some strange shit!

  Unique waited on Fifty-second Street for the courier to pass. She had his schedule down pat like the finale to a tango. Once she saw him bend the corner, Unique knew there was no turning back. It was about to go down. She felt bad that she had to do this but was relieved that this was going to finally be over once and for all.

  Once Unique saw the courier, she spoke into her Bluetooth. “There he goes: blue jeans, camouflage jacket, and a Jets baseball cap. Game on, Playboy.”

  “Roger that,” Lil-Bro said from a motorized scooter. He confirmed he had seen the target. “I got him.”

  Unique quickly hopped into a pedicab and instructed the guy to take her to Fifth Avenue. The man maneuvered the three-wheeled passenger bicycle with great precision while she still had the courier in sight. He started weaving in and out of the afternoon traffic, seemingly unfazed by the congestion and poisonous exhaust fumes and diesel fuel he breathed in from the clusters of cabs and buses polluting the atmosphere. Lil-Bro was in and out of traffic as well, trailing the courier on his moped. Traffic came to a halt but it didn’t stop him. The courier, used to sharing the crowded streets with many modes of transportation, didn’t think anything of the moped on his tail.

  In between buses and alongside cabs, Lil-Bro rode that motorbike like he was in a triathlon, trailing the courier like he was racing for the medal.

  In the process of coming to the surprise stop, Lil-Bro ran up beside the messenger and bumped the back wheel of his bike by mistake, causing him to lose control of the bike and fly over the handlebars and hit the concrete.

  “Oh shit!” Lil-Bro said, quickly stopping his own moped. “Man, I’m sorry!” He added, as innocently as possible. “I was texting and riding, man … you know how that shit is.” Lil-Bro got off his bike and began to help the man off the ground. “I feel bad, man. Hope I ain’t bruise your ego.”

  The jewel mule, upset from the fall and even more distracted by Lil-Bro’s grungy-looking appearance, never felt the needle prick the skin on the back of his neck as he was being helped up. Lil-Bro was so swift that he should have been a nurse or a doctor the way he pulled it off. Unique watched and even she missed the sight of the syringe. She had to admit Lil-Bro was smooth.

  Instinctively, the courier felt for the satchel that was still safely around his neck. “Yeah, I’m good,” he said, getting back on the bike, trying to get his focus back on his route.

  Lil-Bro’s role was vital—when he took that syringe filled with the date-rape drug and injected it straight into the courier’s bloodstream, everything was going as planned. “On the road again,” he said into his Bluetooth to tell his sister and Unique. “Coming your way now, Big Sis.” He let the girls know that it was all about to unfold.

  After two more blocks, the double dose of the date-rape drug began to take effect quicker than they thought. Judging by the way the courier was riding he had a low-tolerance for narcotics. He swerved and then almost fell off the bike, which let the trio know that the courier was well ahead of schedule. The messenger seemed to be discombobulated and it was clear that he was going to go down soon. Unique was close by, trailing behind him in her bicycle-drawn carriage. It was time for her to be rid of her chariot and be on foot. She alerted the driver, “Pull over here up ahead.” She paid him and got off. “Game on, girly!” she said to Tyeedah.

  Another block away, Tyeedah was also on foot, waiting for the messenger to bend the corner and when he did, people were lined on both sides of the streets in the middle of rush hour.

  As soon as the courier hit the ground, Lil-Bro darted in front of a Nissan and caused an accident himself, running smack-dead into a yellow cab and making himself fall to the ground and appear injured. Some people saw him and stopped to look, but most people minded their own business and went about their merry way. Unique looked over her shoulder and couldn’t believe how nobody really was paying attention. “You gotta love this city,” she murmured aloud.

  “Girls, you’re on your own,” he said into the Bluetooth, but he kept it moving, not looking back. He’d done his part.

  By now, the courier was on the ground, clueless as to what was going on or what happened to him. As soon as he fell to the hard concrete, Unique and Tyeedah went into action.

  “Oh my God, somebody call an ambulance!” Unique exclaimed, right after Tyeedah had grabbed the courier’s bag from around his neck and headed to hail down a cab. He was too out of it to even try to put up a fight. In fact, he was sweating and about to pass out.

  The minute somebody else stopped, she left the bystanders there to deal with the poor diamondless guy.

  She couldn’t believe it was as easy as taking candy from a baby, or in this case, taking carats from a rabbit. Unique smiled; she couldn’t believe how simple it was. She mixed into the crowd and hopped in the cab, and she and Tyeedah fled the scene like bandits.

  LET’S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS

  An hour later the girls were in a booth, waiting on Fat Tee. Tyeedah had refused to allow Unique to go alone to deal with the jackass. The coffee shop was crowded with patrons trying to boost their already high and unhealthy caffeine levels.

  “That’s him.” Unique nodded to Tyeedah. Fat Tee walked in, wearing a wrinkled Willie Esco jean outfit that looked like he had slept in it. The girls didn’t even have the common courtesy to motion to him; they let him look lost as he searched the coffee shop for Unique. Once he laid his eyes on them, he grinned that aluminum smile as soon as he saw Unique. Then he headed over to where they were sitting.

  “Damn, girl, that’s what I always loved about you, Unique,” he said, plopping down in the booth seat on Tyeedah’s side, opposite of Unique. He was excited. “Anything you put your head to, you make happen. You are one of the most ambitious people I know, I will say that,” he said, feeling the vibe that Unique had really pulled off getting him his million dollars. “You know I give props where they are due.”

  Unique just sat there with no emotion toward Fat Tee as he tried to act like a big shot.

  “Who’s your friend?” He looked Tyeedah up and down and licked his lips. “Fine ass. You know the freaky things I’d do to you, girl?”

  Tyeedah glared at him, and her nose flared like someone had just dropped a bag of shit next to her. “Not in your wildest dream or nightmare for that matter,” she responded, shutting him down.

  Unique never offered a
name; Fat Tee already knew too much for his own good. Fat Tee kept eyeballing Tyeedah, obviously feeling himself, but Unique wasn’t bothered by that. “How about you let me take you down south with my friend,” he said with an exaggerated drawl, painting his crusty, purple lips with his tongue.

  Tyeedah snorted. “If you were dying of starvation, I wouldn’t even allow you to eat out of my ass.”

  Not sure whether he should take the remark as a compliment or a diss, Fat Tee was at a loss for words. His mouth parted but no words came out; the look on his face was priceless.

  “Let’s get down to business, don’t nobody have time to be shucking and jiving with you. This is not a leisure session, this is a business meeting,” Unique said, and handed him a Bergdorf Goodman shopping bag, which contained the knapsack with the diamonds in it.

  Fat Tee looked confused and asked, “What the fuck is this? Ain’t no million fucking dollars in here.”

  “Actually, it’s more than a million dollars,” Unique said dryly. She looked around to make sure no one had heard his loud voice before she spoke again. “Just open it up and look in the bag.”

  When he did, the sheen from the diamonds seemed to lighten up the entire room. His eyes did a double take. “What the fuck is this?”

  “This fool can’t be as stupid as he was acting,” Tyeedah said to Unique.

  “What does it look like?” Unique asked Fat Tee mockingly.

  “I know what they are,” Fat Tee acknowledged, “but what the fuck I’m supposed to do with them? I asked for cash.”

  There were over a hundred diamonds in the pouch, all either nicer or just as nice as the ones that Shummi showed to her and Kennard. Unique’s mental appraisal of the jewels was that they were worth way over a million dollars. Damn, I’m so wanting to get this nigga off my back that I’m slipping. In fact, Unique was disappointed in herself that she wished in hindsight that she had taken out a few of the diamonds for herself; at least she could have given Tyeedah and Lil-Bro a couple for their help. But she just wanted to get Fat Tee out of her face, out of her life, and on his way.

  “What the fuck you think you’re supposed to do with them? They are fucking some of the best diamonds available,” she informed him. “You still a hustler, right?” she said sarcastically.

  He looked at her like she was asking him the most stupid question. “Until the day I die. But that don’t have shit to do with the fact that I asked for cash. Hell, you might as well have given me fuckin’ euros that I have to go to the foreign currency counter to exchange. I wanted cash.”

  Tyeedah sucked her teeth and added, “Again, are you sure you a hustla? Or a pimp? ’Cause it’s a little confusing to me.”

  That comment bothered Fat Tee, and he used his neck to motion to Unique. “She knows my résumé in the streets?”

  “Résumé? I can’t tell? You asking her what you gonna do with some diamonds. Who knows? Shit, you stalking ladies for money and shit—ain’t no real hustla raping and extorting no woman for money,” Tyeedah said, wanting to give him more than a piece of her mind.

  Unique spoke up before this got out of control. “Just like coke, dope, weed, guns, or whatever you moving these days, you hustle these but the return on these beauties is going to be so much more than anything you ever grinded in your life.”

  “It didn’t cost you nothing, so the only thing you gotta recoup is that Chinese bus ticket you got to get yo ass up here and that roach motel you staying at,” Tyeedah said, dead serious.

  Fat Tee brushed the last comment off and was thinking about what Unique said. Then it dawned on her that the fool had never seen this many precious stones in his life, outside of a movie. But that wasn’t her problem and she continued to sell the gems to him. “They’re top-notch cuts and the clarity is ridiculous. Well over millions of dollars retail.” She looked in his eyes. “Do it right…,” she assured him with sincerity, “and you’ll come off with a million plus.”

  Unique could tell by Fat Tee’s blank expression that he had no idea if what she was saying was true or if she was just shooting game to him. Fat Tee sold drugs and dealt in cash; that’s all he really knew. “Look, I’m not blowing smoke up your ass. I wish we could keep them for myself. I’m just trying to make this right because what Took did was wrong,” she said genuinely.

  “She putting you onto something new and at this point; what do you have to lose?” Tyeedah asked.

  Unique’s patience was growing thin with all this back-and-forth with Fat Tee, and she was about to tell him to take it or leave it when her cell phone went off. It was Kennard calling. This wasn’t the time or place to take his call. But it was her cue to end this meeting and get the hell out of there. For good. “I think our business is done,” she said. “I have a life to go live now that this chapter is closed.” She got up to leave.

  Fat Tee stayed seated. “I think I’ll stay for a cup of espresso.”

  He was blocking Tyeedah in. “Excuse me,” she said.

  He played dumb. “My bad.” Or maybe he wasn’t playing. He stood up so that Tyeedah could pass. When she did, Fat Tee smacked her on her behind.

  Tyeedah shot him a look like she wanted to cut his head off with a dull knife right there in the coffee shop. “That’s your first and last time ever touching me,” she said, with the words of dynamite.

  Fat Tee rolled his eyes and Unique stepped in. “Let’s go, girl.” Unique pulled Tyeedah by the arm. “He’s not worth the drama. Like I said, our business here with this Bozo is done.” Unique walked out of the coffee shop with Tyeedah, satisfied that she’d righted a wrong and had gotten a bitch-ass nigga off of her back in the process.

  It was too bad that Fat Tee had other plans.

  THE HOOPLA

  It was Thursday, two days before the big fight. It had been a couple of weeks since the big news that she and Kennard were expecting their first child and Unique seemed to be glowing. She wasn’t showing any signs of a baby bump but with Fat Tee off her back, she was starting to embrace the fact that she was indeed about to bring a life into the world. And she was the first to admit that it was a scary thought.

  It was standing room only at the grand ballroom of the Tabby Hotel. Unique sat in her seat, positioned between Tyeedah and Kennard’s mother, Katie, who loved Unique and thought that she was a lovely Southern belle. In Ms. Katie’s eyes, the girl was a godsend to her son and could do nothing wrong. The conservative lady would go into a cardiac arrest if she knew that Unique was no angel and had been to hell and back.

  They were there for the press conference in preparation for the big fight at Madison Square Garden. With a sellout crowd and all the hoopla and hype surrounding the fight, Unique wondered what more press could they really need?

  Both boxers had outsized personalities and backstories that lent themselves to characters created for television, and this event was staged for pure entertainment. Rumor had it that both fighters had been offered reality shows on VH1.

  The champ was Jockney Jang, who was signed to Kennard’s management company although on paper he belonged to Ms. Katie. The Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act didn’t permit promoters to manage and promote boxers, so this was the way to maneuver around that rule. Jang had been with Knockout Management for eight years. He had an undefeated record and was known for his flamboyance and trash talk.

  He punished the guys who got in the ring with him and afterward would feel so bad about the damage that he’d done that he’d often send flowers and letters of apology to some of his opponents’ mothers and wives for having to witness their loved ones take such an embarrassing beat down in front of them.

  His opponent was a guy who, three years ago, no one thought would ever fight another match that didn’t involve him in taking a dive. At that time, Taymar Woodley was nothing more than just another washed-up boxer who appeared to lose his drive and passion for the art of boxing. The rumor mill had it that his sole purpose for even being in the ring was to get the IRS off his back and get current with child
-support payments to all his babies’ mothers.

  One day, Kennard and Taymar were talking about life and the sport in general.

  Taymar said he wished he had a chance to do it all over again, how he would train like there was no end and never take anything for granted. Would’ve, should’ve, and could’ve were all Taymar kept saying, as Kennard listened attentively to him.

  For years, Kennard had seen something in this man that Taymar didn’t even see in himself anymore: a champion.

  Kennard decided that since odds had always been in his favor, he’d take his chances and roll the dice on Taymar. The guy just needed the right people in his corner, and it started with the trainer.

  Kennard’s dad, Bernard, was the best of the best when it came to training champions. Bernard had been in the boxing game since he was ten years old. He started out as a prizefighter and went on to become one of the best trainers in the sport. Then one day, he gave up training professional boxers to dedicate all of his time and money to giving back to the youth, training underprivileged kids to become Olympic-quality fighters and even better men became his new passion.

  Bernard had high expectations and big dreams for his only son, Kennard, who was once a boxing phenom himself. He’d never lost a fight all the way through the Junior Olympics, generating huge buzz. Everybody in boxing knew that Bernard’s boy was destined for stardom and would one day become the heavyweight champion. There was no doubt that Kennard had the potential to exceed any of his father’s expectations, if only it was what he wanted.

  The problem was, at the time, Kennard was sixteen and being a champion in the ring wasn’t what he wanted. That was his father’s dream and his father’s father’s. Not at all his.

  Kennard’s dream at the time was to be a street champion. He was more interested in running the block than moving around in the ring. Eventually he lost his focus for boxing, and instead redirected his attention to building a drug empire.