Page 53 of Gang of Roses: Dice

Hearing my phone chime, I saw I had a notification from Greg.

Greg: You will not believe the day I had.

I most definitely would believe it!

Me: Are you okay?

Greg: Yeah. We was robbed.

Greg: My co-worker Scott was killed.

By choice.

Me: Omg!!!!! Sorry to hear that!

Me: We boarding ttyl

Greg: Well damn!!!!

I left him on read. I would be ditching this burner I used to communicate with him soon anyway. The job was over, and Greg would be placed in lost files.

I finished my wash, dried off, and started my skin routine, so I could bounce up and down on a real nigga. Greg had to go find some training classes or something; his looks were only gonna get him so far. I had major B.D.E waiting for me, and I was hot and ready.

I guess I was taking too long because this man had the television on. How was the news going to get him in the mood?

Wait?

I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard something about numbers as I removed my towel and started to lotion my body. That was until I heard the news reporter say:

“Authorities are investigating whether today’s armored truck robbery is connected to the same group responsible for a string of unsolved robberies across multiple states over the last decade. Based on the individuals’ frames, we have determined that these are most likely women.”

NO. NO. NO.

The words from the news reporter had my heart sinking to the soles of my feet, but the next lines had me saying, damn the lotion, I had to get in there and cut this shit off.

“Investigators say the women, known only by surveillance footage, have remained unidentified despite multiple robberies across state lines. The group first gained national attention after this highway footage captured four individuals fleeing a bank robbery two years ago with these exact same frames. The witness stated here today that there were three bikers and not four, so we are unclear.”

What the fuck? This can’t be happening.

They had to play an old video. When Rose died, we had her body flown back home to Magnolia Valley for burial, careful not to raise suspicion. Thank God for Kash’s late father’s connections.

Play it cool, Dice. Play it cool.

I walked into my bedroom slowly and as normally as possible, trying not to raise any suspicion. I did a slow power walk in there, trying to be seductive, while trying to get to that damn remote. Once I had it in my hand, I turned off the television and pretended I was looking for music to set the mood. Slow-jam R&B started playing in the overhead speakers. But I might have been a little too late, because when I looked back, Ritz just stared at me. He didn’t give a damn about my naked body; he was locked in on my eyes.

“Where you coming from?”

I didn’t speak.

“Where. Are. You. Coming. From?” he said, his head now tilted to the side, like he was studying my whole chemical makeup.

“Huh?”

“Don’t do that, ma. Answer the question.”

I could have taken it better if he had been yelling, but his voice stayed at the same octave. Hell, he was still seated, and his aura had me shaking. When he stood, this was Radar; this was who the streets once feared. Coca told me as much as he could about the man before me now.

“Look... don’t answer.” He tilted his head, never taking his eyes off me. “Just know I know your body so damn well I could draw it with my eyes closed, and that’s from one night.”