The Devil Wears Stilettos

Five

[B]

I crossed my arms as I stared at Jackson. CJ brought him to the basement level of my warehouse. I let him sit here for about two hours before coming myself.

"Please, please don't kill me!" He cried. I rolled my eyes.

"I haven't even done anything yet." I said. He sniffed. I continued to look at him, seeing the bruising on his face from CJ.

"Do you know who I am?" I said.

"I don't know... the girl I work for?" He said. I chuckled.

"Woman, and maybe." I said. "Do you know why you're here?"

"No!" He cried. I chuckled, winding my hand back and slapping him. I shook it afterwards to making the stinging go away.

"Take a fucking guess!" I yelled.

"Keeping the money?" He said. I nodded.

"Mhm, I'm going to give you a chance to tell me why." I said calmly.

"I don't know, I was being dumb. I thought it would be okay, you make so much... I didn't think you'd notice," he cried. I pursed my lips.

As pissed off as I was, I did like that he didn't lie to me. He honestly said he just wanted more. I'd rather him be honest than lie and say he needed it - which I knew he didn't.

"You're a fucking dumbass, Jackson." I said, laughing.

"You know my name?" He whimpered. I nodded.

"Of course I do. I know a lot about you. Listen, do you realize how stupid what you did was?" I said. He sniffed.

"Yeah," he mumbled.

"I don't think you do. You know literally any other nigga you could work for out here would have killed you on the spot? They would've have even brought you in to talk." I said, raising my voice.

"That's y'all's problem. You think this shit is a fucking game. It's not. You can ruin your life by doing this shit!" I continued.

"Are you gonna kill me?" He asked again. I rolled my eyes.

"If you weren't in high school, yes I would. I definitely would've, because people messing with my shit pisses me off. You're so lucky I'm more understanding with my younger guys. Anybody else out here is not." I said. He sighed.

"But listen to me, there's a few things I need you to do." I said.

"Anything," he said. I nodded.

"You aren't to tell anybody that this happened. I promise you I will find out if you do, and I won't be so nice. I swear I'll kill you, that's a promise." I said simply. I could see his face go white.

"You aren't working for me anymore, and you aren't to work for anybody else around you. I will ruin your life if I find out you are. Your parents, school, potential colleges... they'll all know about this shit. I promise you it won't ever be traced back to me, you'd only be hurting yourself. Focus on school... I'm actually being kind. A way out in this game is not easy to come by, take it and learn from this shit." I said. He nodded.

"And..." I started, going to untie his hands. "Give me your belt." I said, seeing the Gucci logo. I watched as he slowly took it off, handing it to me.

"You wanna...?" He said confusedly. I furrowed my eyebrows before widening my eyes.

"Say some stupid shit like that again, and I'll break your neck. Oh my god," I spat. He dropped his head.

"Tell your parents you got beat up by some guys for your belt. It'll explain the bruises. Tell them you don't want to do anything about it, it is what it is." I said. He sighed.