Lies of a Real Housewife (10 page)

mind, and would vividly haunt me in my darkest hour.

I was a fighter and a survivor capable of giving super human efforts,

but her illness proved to be the kryptonite. It weakened me, and out here on the streets, a fragile soldier will lose the battle every time. I needed my

strength on a daily basis, and I walked into the lion’s den seeking it.

My friends were but a few. I considered them all liabilities. Dur-

ing this time, some of my closest family members turned on me. They were jealous because I was managing to stay ahead. I constantly had to watch my back. I scpoed not just for the police or the federal agents, but for my haters, and fake friends, the real enemies. My mother’s sickness would only break me down. Therefore I was going to do whatever it took to make sure she had

everything she needed.

After her chemotherapy treatments, the doctors said she was cured,

but she never fully returned to her old self, not ever. My mother loved my children, and she always kept them with her. They were the loves of her life and
her main concern. She always encouraged me to go to school or get a job, but she already knew that I was hardheaded, and wouldn’t listen. She knew the only thing she could do for me was pray. Praying was what she did

constantly, without ever ceasing.

One sunny morning at 8:47 a.m., Phaedra called me to her office. I

had no idea what she had planned for me. I guess this was all part of her gimmick so that I would never be able to figure her out. When I walked through her office door, Phae had specific ins
tructions for me.

“Take your Maryland drivers license along with this social security

printout, and go to the Bank of America, downtown Branch on Peachtree Street and open a bank account,” Phae said.

She also instructed me to deposit money and provide h
er with the

account numbers. Phaedra Parks was about her business, and she did that very well. Later that morning, I left Phaedra’s office on Spring Street. On leaving her office I opened the envelope, and counted the cash. Then I walked a couple blocks o
ver to Peachtree Street.

Once the transaction at the bank was completed, I headed back to Phae’s office, receipt in hand. This assignment was really simple. Of course, I was not afraid to open the bank account. It was not my name or social security number
, but hell the bank teller was none the wiser. The driver’s license I had in my possession was an official document. I knew that, so quite naturally I acted with confidence.

I never ceased to amaze Phae. Every time she sent me on a mission it

was accomplished, and there were hardly any miscues. It wasn’t like I was a dummy who had to call back just to find out what exactly it was I’m supposed to be doing smack-dab in the middle of the operation. Phae only had to instruct me once, and it was understood. My pregnancy was moving along fine, and I was getting closer to my delivery date. Phae was aware of this, so we had to move a little quicker on the operation. Unfortunately, we had to wait at

least thirty days before there could be any major activity on the
new account.

After the allotted time went by, Apollo gave me a check for $27,000

to deposit in the account. The check was from an insurance company and made out to my alias. I deposited the check, and Apollo told me that we had to wait five to seven business days for the check to clear. I was cool with that, but those five days were the longest days ever. I was tired of window-

shopping, I was ready to go to the malls and buy everything I deserved.

The day Phaedra called my phone and told me the check had cleared

was like sweet music to my ears. It seemed I had waited for her to call all my life. I knew how to handle my business. Straight up! I put on a navy blue business suit and broke out my sophisticated wig. Then I met her at her office within forty
-five minutes.

I had already told my baby’s father, Slim, and my first cousin, Scott,

exactly what was going on. I loved Slim, and told him about the business just to keep my end covered. My father always told me that there was no honor amongst thieves. People could be real shady when it was time to deal with a

lot of money. I needed to make sure I had my end covered, just in case.

Scott was brought in because he was connected to the streets. Al-

though, I trusted Phaedra, it was Apollo who I had a hard time trusting. I just wanted to make sure I got my chips at the end of the day. Those two were from the streets, and they did not trust Phaedra or Apollo. As a matter of fact,

they didn’t trust any
one.

Slim parked across the street from Phaedra’s office, and waited. Then he followed our every move, oblivious to Phaedra and Apollo. Phae stayed in her office while Apollo and I went on the move. He drove to the first stop. It was the Bank of America l
ocated on Windy Hill in Marietta, Georgia. Apollo parked the car and, I walked inside the bank to make a withdrawal.

Now I’m going to keep it real, and let you all know that this time I

was genuinely shaken. I was soo nervous, my knees were shaking, waiting for something to go wrong. It was going uneasily for me because I didn’t want to go to jail, lawyered-up or not. Although I had an attorney, I didn’t want to use her. I had been in the bank for about an hour. Apollo was calling on one line and Slim was calling on the other. I was trying not only to assure myself that everything was good, but I was also busy assuring them as well.

Then all of a sudden, the branch office manager asked to see me

in her office. Now I was afraid. I was about seven months pregnant, and there was no way my fat-butt could outrun any of these folks. I was sh**ting

bricks, thinking about what I was going to do next.

I knew that I had to maintain my composure. I kept it all the way

cool walking closer to the manager’s office.
I was scoping out the layout of the branch and possible escape routes. The security guard was pretty much preoccupied. He didn’t look at all concerned with my activities. Maybe the Branch Manager merely wanted to ask a few questions in private.

My heartbea
t was getting louder with each step, but I cautiously fol-

lowed the neatly dressed woman into her office. The moment we were inside, she politely gestured for me to have a seat. Then she closed the door. I was just about to scream bloody murder and act li
ke I was about to go into labor, when she pulled out a brown paper bag. Whew! I thought. Thank you sweet Heavenly Father Jesus! I quickly and efficiently counted the money. It was

exactly twenty-thousand dollars in cash. All big faces too!

It was the first time I had ever held that much money in my hands. I quickly placed the money inside my briefcase, thanked the bank manager, and quickly exited the bank. Apollo was waiting and I hopped into his BMW. Within seconds, we were out of there, putting distance between us and the bank. Apollo was smashing southbound on Interstate 75, doing about a hundred miles per hour.

This was one of the best feelings I had ever experienced in my life,

getting away while carrying twenty-thousand dollars cash money. There was still seven-thousand dollars remaining in the account. I started wondering,

what would become of it?

Apollo called Phae to inform her that we had scored a touchdown

for the home team. I smiled when I overheard Phae bragging about me. He told Phae we
had another stop, and after that we would link up with her. I was very excited about the money, don’t get me wrong, but I kept thanking God that I had gotten away. I wasn’t all that excited about going into another bank anytime soon. I mean, how many times can a person get away before that

person is actually caught?

This was twenty-thousand dollars, and was a good number. I was

cool with that, but Phaedra was greedy. She always had to have more. She

wanted it all, and if I didn’t get it all then I wouldn’t be paid. The job had to

be completed. I had Apollo and Phae on my team, and we were winning! I

was ready to get it!

The next stop was the Bank of America on Piedmont Street. I walked

inside the bank, again pushing any fear to the back of my mind. I walked back out of the bank with seven-thousand dollars cash. I gave Apollo the money to put with the other twenty-thousand dollars. He immediately called Phae and we met up at the Checker’s restaurant downtown on 10
th
and Spring St. Then I called my baby’s father and told him to meet me. He was already behind us anyway, but they didn’t know that. Phaedra pulled up and hopped in the car with us. She gave me four grand. She and Apollo kept the rest of the money.

I eventually recognized that the four-thousand dollars was low pay

for the high risk of my freedom. Being young and naïve, four-thousand dollars seemed like a lot of money to me at that particular time. Besides it was a little too late to start complaining about the money. I had agreed to the pay-

ment for my service beforehand.



We were at the office one day having one of our girl talks when I

brought up Apollo’s name. Phaedra seldom talked to me about Apollo. At the time, he was not her love interest and she told me often that he was nothing more than a worker and a plaything to her. When Phaedra told me that Apollo never satisfied her sexually, I knew then that their relationship was nothing more than a game for her. I didn’t ask, she just decided one day, to blurt out

that Apollo had only one testicle.

“What the hell? Phae girl, you crazy as hell!” I laughed at the time.

After working with Apollo, he and I became cool. He was my part-

ner. While Apollo and I ran the streets, Phaedra was able to sit hidden away behind her desk. Apollo was never disrespectful, and was always about his

business. I respected that!

I was being a sh**-starter. So I told Apollo about the conversation

me and Phae had about him. Phaedra had not mentioned to m
e that she was serious about him or that she had any intentions on being with him. I felt like she didn’t give a damn, so I didn’t either. I also wanted him to know that I knew his business. I wanted to see his reaction, it may not have been right,