He gave the middle-aged woman a hug and left the apartment. Chanel shot a warm smile at her parents with thankful eyes, and she followed Pyro out the door.
When they left, Bacardi stood in the foyer baffled. They were behaving more like a couple than friends. And she didn’t like it.
Chapter Fourteen
Charlie looked in the mirror and grimaced at what she saw. She was becoming tired of seeing bruises. Her meek little sister actually beat her down. Shit felt surreal. If there was one thing the hood respected, it was power, and everyone witnessed her looking powerless and humiliated. Charlie wanted payback. She needed to get back on her A game and show niggas and bitches how powerful she really was. If they wanted to call her grimy, then she was going to show them just how grimy she could be.
She seethed at her reflection. “Fuckin’ bitch.” She spun around and marched out of the bathroom.
Claire was sleeping, and Charlie didn’t want to wake her up. She threw on some clothes and left the building. It was time to implement her plan. It was time to go to the extreme.
She left the apartment and climbed into the backseat of an Uber. She needed to head to the city and get her cash from her Chase stash box. She gave the driver her destination, sat back, and marinated in her anger.
After the bank, she headed to a used car lot in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. The dealership on 4th Avenue had some of the best cars that money could buy. Charlie walked onto the lot with $70,000 on her. Right away, her eyes landed on a candy red Mercedes Benz SL. It stood out.
“She’s a beauty,” the dealer said loudly.
Charlie turned around to see a short white man in a gray suit approaching her with a smile.
“Say what?”
“I said she’s a beauty. Red must be your favorite color,” he said.
“I just like the car.”
“I do too, but unfortunately, I’m gonna have to part with it today because it looks like you like it a lot more than me,” he replied.
She did. She loved it. It was like love at first sight.
“My name is Benjamin,” he said, holding out his hand for a shake.
“Charlie.”
“Well, Charlie, I already know you have good taste because you came here.”
“How much?” She motioned toward the Benz.
His thick smile continued. “For you, we’ll work something out, since you love this car more than me. It goes for ninety thousand—”
“Ninety?”
“Yes, but like I said, we can work something out.”
“Yeah, we need to, cuz I’m willing to pay cash for it right now.”
“Cash? You have cash on you right now to buy this car?” he asked.
Charlie unzipped the bag she had come with and had him take a peek inside. He smiled wide and said, “Well, um, let’s get started on the paperwork.”
“First, how much?”
“Straight cash? Sixty-five thousand, and that’s because you and I have the same taste, and I like you, Charlie. You’re my kind of woman,” he complimented.
She wasn’t much for the brown-nosing, but he was humorous. Charlie followed him into the main building to fill out the paperwork. An hour later, she had the keys to the Mercedes Benz SL. She slid into the driver’s seat and took a s
trong whiff of her new car. It was two years old, but it still had that new car smell. Now she was the one smiling brightly.
“Enjoy it,” said Benjamin.