Crooked G's by S. K. Collins Page B

wink and then walked out of the room as he sipped his coffee.
    Shakita curled up on the couch and thought about the night ahead of her. She had never worked on the gold floor and didn’t know what to expect. She hoped to get the money she needed for Latrice really fast. She didn’t know what she was going to be doing on the gold level but was so curious to find out. She needed to get herself ready so she could go shopping to get some outfits to wear for work.
    She got in the shower and put on the same clothes once she stepped out, except for her bra and underwear. She threw her undergarments in the wastebasket knowing she was about to get all brand-new stuff. She pressed the button for the elevator and once it arrived, she inserted her card again. The elevator took her directly to the lobby where she passed the guard again, and then walked over to the receptionist to turn in her card.
    â€œThank you. And I will have your gold card for you when you return.”
    Shakita wasn’t surprised that the receptionist was already aware of who she was. Eric had a keen way of keeping all his people informedabout everything that was going on. Eric loved to keep his operation running smoothly.
    â€œThank you,” Shakita said as she smiled at the receptionist before walking out the door.
    Shakita’s first stop was Victoria’s Secret. She needed to get all the right outfits so that the customers would spend more money with her. Victoria’s Secret was the perfect place. Since the floor she was working on had the gold theme, she needed to get all matching accessories. She picked out some white, black, and gold teddies and baby-doll halters.
    When she was finally done shopping, she managed to still have one hundred and eighty-five dollars left from the thousand that Eric had given her. She wished she wouldn’t have spent that much money, but she strongly believed that it took money to make money. The new wardrobe was an investment for all the money she would make the rest of the week. The money she had left and the money she planned to make tonight would be used to go gambling. She had to make as much as she could in hopes to win everything back that she’d lost.
    Shakita had time to kill after she was done shopping and wanted to drop off all of her bags at her apartment before she went to work. As she was en route to her house, her phone started to ring. She looked at her phone and saw that Latrice was calling her again. “Damn!” Shakita said as she put her phone back in her purse. She thought that maybe Latrice knew that the money was missing and was trying to question her about it. Latrice already told her that she couldn’t flip any of the money and would be the first person to come to if the shit came up missing.
    When her phone stopped ringing, she reached back in her purse and pulled out a cigarette. She lit up the cigarette and turned upthe stereo on full blast. She drove nervously trying to think of a way to tell Latrice what had happened to the money if she were accused of taking it. She couldn’t think of a more logical way of explaining than simply telling the truth. Shakita was only willing to do that if she were caught in the act. Shakita planned to avoid Latrice as long as she could in order to stall for more time. She only had a month to make it all happen.
    Shakita arrived back at the spa around 7:30 p.m. That gave her a good half hour to get comfortable before she started working. When she walked through the door, she could see dozens of men waiting for their appointments. She quickly eyeballed all the customers wondering which one of them would be her first client. She thought that he might not even be there yet, so she continued to the receptionist area.
    â€œWelcome back,” the receptionist said, giving her a bright smile.
    â€œThanks.” Shakita wondered if the lady were very happy to see her or really loved her job.
    â€œHere’s your