When A Woman Hustles, Danielle Martin [books to read in your 20s .TXT] 📗

She shouted into her face again. "Why did you do this to yourself Reese?'' She wanted to know in all honesty. If only she would have listened, things could have turned out a lot of different. Now Reese had ruined it for everyone. No one was going to be happy now.
Reese cried, her shoulders bobbing up and down. Her face was stained with blood as she opened her mouth to speak. "I didn't do anything with King!" she shouted out as she cried. Pumpkin anger boiled over again. This ungrateful bitch was still making up lies. Her blood turned cold. She already knew everything. Heard everything. She had all the evidence. 
"Reese, you can take a bow sweetheart because the gig is up. Aren’t you the one saying you tired of hiding from me and you ready to tell me what’s up. Didn't you say you were done hustling? Aren’t you the one ready to play fake Miss Betty Crocker and open up King’s hair salon business next month? Oh yeah, are you that much of a hoe that you been fucking him every single night since you been there without a condom and your ass aint even on birth control? How was those steak and potatoes last night???" Pumpkin caught her breath as she watched Reese stare in shock, her body shaken as she still lay sprawled out on the floor. Pathetic. This lying bitch had nothing to say now. Pumpkin just read her entire story word for word. There was no denying now.

 

She continued to watch as Reese lay hunched over holding her stomach. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she continued to cry in pain. "Pathetic bitch." Pumpkin murmured under her breath as she watched her hysterically sob. She hated this woman. Reese came along and completely ruined her life. She took away her happily ever after. Now she was going to pay for it. She was going to regret the day she stepped foot into King’s territory. She was going to regret the pain she caused.

Reese looked up at her, blood staining her lips as her body continued to shake. "Did you...Did you video tape me or something?" she nervously stammered after coming to the conclusion that Pumpkin knew every single detail. She smirked, extending her 9mm in Reese’s direction who cowardly backed down the closer the steel inched towards her face. "Just know that you fucked with the wrong one honey." Pumpkin placed her finger on the trigger, wanting to send 9 rounds into this girls head, making her existence disappear forever. She never felt so much rage. Payback never felt this good. Pumpkin warned Reese to stay away. She warned her there would be consequences. She didn't listen.

Suddenly interrupting the moment, the front door creeped open sending a loud echo throughout the empty warehouse. Pumpkin continued to stand over Reese’s motionless body, her attention jolting to the left as the figure stepped through the door frame. Right on time. They locked gazes as she looked over. Pumpkin could feel her entire world come to a standstill as she watched the man that she loved stare her down with his mouth wide open. She watched as King’s eyes dropped down from her crazed expression to the 9mm handgun she was holding in her hand. His expression immediately turned into fear. She never seen that before. His eyes widened. He was in shock. She could tell. Her heart weakened as she realized how afraid he was. He was never afraid. She loved him so much no matter how hard she tried to fight it. She hated to see him standing here like this. King was the only person in this world who could break her down. She had no control for her love and she hated that. For a moment, Pumpkin began to regret sending that message to King's phone. She told him it was a code red. She was in trouble and if didn’t get here now, he may never see her again. She should have known it would take less than 15 minutes for him to show up to her rescue. Pumpkin set him up, something she vowed she would never do. Now her stomach flip flopped as he walked through the door witnessing everything unfold. "Punk." he whispered her name as he held his hands up in fear she was going to turn the gun on him. He looked down at Reese who lay hunched over. "Oh my god." he took a deep breath, reality hitting him hard as he watched his lover sprawled out on the floor covered in blood. "What did you do to her Punk??" he asked, wanting to rush to her aid but afraid to move. Pumpkin still had her gun extended in Reese's direction, who had stopped squirming but was still conscious.

"I did everything to her that she did to me." Pumpkin glared, wanting to end it all right now. She hated Reese. She hated King. She hated herself. She tried so hard to keep her true feelings buried inside her, and now everything she kept hidden was beginning to resurface and there was nothing she could do about it. King slowly stepped forward. Pumpkin hesitated as she felt him inch closer. "Punk, don’t do this." He pleaded to her, his hands still in the air. She closed her eyes, blocking him out of her heart refusing to let her guard down. She would have done anything for King once upon a time. If he asked her to put the gun down, she would have. But not anymore. Her cup had spilled over, and there was no fixing this damage.

"King, don’t you step any closer! I will kill her I promise!" She shouted at him.  He halted in place, no longer walking towards her as he stood about 10 feet away. His shoulders dropped in defeat. "Why are you doing this Pumpkin?" He asked, searching her expression for answers. She could hear the pain in his voice. Pumpkin bit her lip, feeling her defense against him weaken. She hated she had to drag him into this, but she had to teach him a lesson. She was the women for him. King should have chosen her. Not Reese.

 "You lied to me King!" she shouted at him, feeling tears brim in the corner of her eyes. She hated him for doing this to her. She loved him, and he shitted on her in return. Now everyone was going to pay. Everyone was going to feel the pain she felt the day she watched those video tapes.

 "But what did I do Pumpkin?" He asked. Pumpkin could feel her blood shoot through her veins as he questioned her. She wanted so bad to tell him about the wire taps, but she decided against it. Pumpkin knew for a fact that King would probably never trust her again after this day, but a part of her did not want him to know how she invaded his privacy. If Pumpkin hadn’t done so, she probably would have never found out about King and Reese. She didn’t regret her decision no matter what came of it. "You lied to me King. You told me you would never date a woman who hustled." She looked down at Reese, becoming even more upset as she gripped the handle to her 9mm. "What does this bitch have that I don't? Huh???" She asked again, wanting to know the truth. She searched his expression for answers. He appeared guilty as she stammered for a response. She was heartbroken. She loved him and he did not love her in return. "Pumpkin..I.I..." he tripped over his words not knowing what to say. There was no explanation for his actions. If he wanted to be with Pumpkin, he would have. A long time ago. Clearly, there was a reason behind why he hadn't. She wanted to know the reason, but he refused to tell her the truth no matter how many times she asked.

  "It wasn't you Pumpkin. It was never you. I didn't want to hurt you." He pleaded. She did not respond immediately. Pumpkin stared at him, wanting to believe that was the reason. But it wasn’t. She knew it. "I love you Pumpkin.” He continued. “I have always loved you and protected you. Why is that not enough?" he asked pleading for an answer. Pumpkin could see in his expression it hurt him to see her standing here like this. Pumpkin could feel her heart break. He was right. She owed her entire life to King. He was there when she needed him and always kept her out of harm’s way. She appreciated him for that. But it still didn’t change how she felt now. She kept these feelings buried inside for over 16 years. It was only a matter of time before she exploded.

  "Do you understand how much I love you?" she asked him. Tears silently fell down her cheeks as she felt all her emotions come crashing down at once. He helplessly stood back, watching as she stood over Reese's body sobbing. "I have been rocking with you for 16 years King! I loved you from day fucking one!" she shouted in between her cries. She never got the chance to tell him how she really felt about him. It was a shame that it took all of this for it to happen. Her attention reverted to Reese as she began to cough, regaining movement to her legs. Reese looked up, her eyes falling upon King who appeared devastated to see her laying there on the floor covered in blood. Reese didn’t say anything, she turned her head, closed her eyes and began to sob, knowing for a fact King was the reason everyone was here right now. Pumpkin wiped her face, not wanting to appear weak. These tears were angry tears. She had lost all control, and she had taken things too far to go back now. "This all feels too familiar. We have been here before King. You have hurt me like this before." She closed her eyes as she spoke, feeling the truth surface on the tip of her lips. She had been holding this in for too long. It was time to let it all go. "It was because of you... It was all because of you that I....that I..." she stopped to take a deep breath. She could feel her body tremble as she spoke, the truth so chilling she could no longer hold it in. She was ready to let it out. She was tired of lying about what really happened. "It was because of you King. It was because of you...... that I killed Trix."

Pumpkin felt the entire room stand still as the words slipped from her mouth. Words she will never be able to take back. Kings eyes widened as he unknowingly dropped to his knees, shocked by the devastating blow. She looked down at Reese who also appeared shocked, her mouth hung open as she laid in fear that she would be next. No one said anything as they all exchanged glances. She had finally admitted it and felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders. It was true. She was a cold blood murderer. For a moment, Pumpkin revisited the night she pulled that trigger. She remembered the details so vividly, she couldn’t forget the moment Trix took her very last breath. Pumpkin sat outside her house for almost 3 hours that night waiting for her to return from an assignment. She remembered sitting in the car with her handgun fully loaded. She couldn’t allow Trix to continue with this pregnancy. She could not stomach the thought of her having a child with the man she was so madly in love with. Pumpkin did not wait to her ear out. She felt betrayed. King was her man, and if he was going to start a family, it was going to be with her.