Sophisticated DIVA (eBook)

Chapter 1

Sunlight glared through the large picture window of the Holiday Inn Hotel room distracting Novis, as she sat on the hotel bed counting dead presidents. Without interrupting her count, she reached over to the window and pulled the heavy cotton drapes closed.

“Twenty-eight...twenty-nine...thirty...one...two. Damn thirty-two thousand!” Not bad for a few hours of hustling she thought. Considering, they had only been running short cons on the banks, it was actually a good day.

Novis glanced up from the stacks of one-hundred-dollar bills on the bed, in time to catch, Sasha and Toni, flicking lighters underneath their crack pipes. Exploding in a fit of anger she threw one of the hotel’s pillows across the room at the two women sitting on the bed.

“I’m not going to keep telling you two Ho’s not to smoke that shit around me. What the fuck!” She shouted angrily. “Sasha, you are about dumb as a box of rocks, smoking crack with a baby in your stomach. I thought you were going to stop.”

“I am going to stop,” Sasha lied. “Today will be the last time. Anyway, I’m not that far along in my pregnancy. The baby will be just fine. Ohh... my stomach. I need to use the bathroom bad.” Sasha eased off the bed and waddled her not too far along, pregnant- self to the bathroom.

“My bad Novis. I know how you feel about crack,” Toni said softly. “Maybe I should go make sure Sasha is ok.” Toni almost tripped over her own feet running into the bathroom.

Novis shook her sadly. She knew exactly what the two women were doing in the bathroom. However, they were grown ass women, and if they chose to ruin their lives smoking that poison. Then so be it! As long as, it never interfered with their ability to hustle and get on the grind.

Not wanting to remain in the room any longer than necessary, she quickly counted out two stacks of five thousand dollars. She stuffed the remaining twenty-two thousand dollars in her black Prada purse. The day was still young, and she had some people to see about purchasing some information. Information was gold in the con game, separating the wannabe playas from the tru playas.

Novis stood up and straighten her black silk Prada dress and prepared to leave. She set the two stacks of money down on a nightstand between the two beds. When she turned to leave, a loud terrifying scream came from the bathroom. Recognizing Sasha’s voice, she threw her purse on the bed and rushed into the bathroom. The scene that confronted her was confusing to say the least.

“What’s wrong?” Novis asked breathlessly. She examined both women carefully and could find nothing wrong with either of them. They were simply standing there with stunned expressions on their faces.

“What the hell were you screaming for?” She demanded still unnerved by Sasha’s loud scream.

It took Sasha a few moments to get herself together before she could answer. “I don’t know...my stomach hurts and I peed on myself,” Sasha replied, peering down at the floor in embarrassment.

Novis followed her eyes down to a small reflective puddle of water. “Oh shit! Girl your water has broken!” Novis exclaimed. “Toni help me get her back to the bed. Relax girl we are going to get you to a hospital.”

Novis grabbed one arm while Toni held onto the other arm. Together they helped her back into the room laying her gently down on the bed. Fortunately, Sasha was already completely naked having stripped in the bathroom to get high.

“Call nine...one...one,” Novis ordered Toni. “Sasha, I thought you were not that far along. When was the last time you went to your preterm appointment?”

“I don’t remember. I think...AAHHH!” Sasha screamed suddenly. “It hurts... God it hurts!” She cried out.

Novis settled down on the bed with Sasha, shocked to see her dilating so quickly. “Oh shit! Hang up that damn phone. NOW!” She hollered at Toni. Immediately positioning Sasha’s legs to give her a better pushing leverage. “The baby is coming Sasha. I guess it does not want to wait on the ambulance. Listen Toni, go into the bathroom and bring me two clean towels soaked in hot water. Hurry!”

Novis sat back with a calm demeanor which belied how she truly felt and watched in fascination as Sasha’s vagina entrance expanded to the size of a softball.

Toni ran back into the room holding two steaming hot towels. She swiftly handed the steaming towels to Novis, and then backed up nervously against the wall.

Sasha stared frighteningly from one woman to the other, screaming loudly, as pains of labor racked her body.

Novis glanced up at Sasha when she screamed, thinking to give her some words of encouragement to endure the pain. However, what she saw enraged her, Sasha was gripping a crack pipe in her hand. “Crazy bitch! Put that damn crack pipe down and concentrate on having this baby. Push... damn you...Push!” The baby’s head was already starting to show.

“Fuck You!” Sasha shouted through the pain. “I am... pushing!” She hollered, still gripping the crack pipe tightly in her hand.

Novis leaned over between Sasha’s legs holding the warm towel beneath the baby’s head. “The head is out keep pushing. Come on...Push harder!”

Sasha suddenly let out an ear-shattering wail, pushing with all her might. She wanted more than anything to stop the pain that was literally ripping her body apart.

“It’s coming!” Novis exclaimed excitedly. “The baby is coming!”

Sasha gave one final push and the newborn’s shoulders burst forth out of its mother’s womb. The rest of the baby’s body slid forth with ease.

Novis caught the tiny infant in the warm towel and wrapped it up carefully. She used the other towel to wipe the baby’s face clean. However, something was wrong, the newborn was kicking and weakly waving its tiny arms. It took a second, before she realized the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck choking it. She quickly unwounded the umbilical cord watching the newborn’s face to see if it was all right. That was when she noticed something else on the child’s face. Some type of bloody gooey film was covering the baby’s nose and mouth. Using her fingers, she pulled at the slippery stuff, only to watch it pop back into place.

Novis intuitively knew that she had to free the baby’s nostrils and mouth from the gooey film, or it would suffocate to death. She tried again to pull the stuff away with her hands to no avail, and she was running out of time. In a moment of sheer desperation, she placed her lips over the baby’s tiny nose and mouth and sucked in a huge breath filling her mouth with the bloody gooey stuff.

After spitting the foul-tasting bloody stuff out of her mouth, Novis peered down at the baby and smiled. It was all worth it.

“Hello precious... welcome to the world,” she whispered tenderly. “It’s a girl!” She exclaimed in wonder.

Novis glanced wistfully at the baby’s face, before attempting to pass her to her mother. Sasha stared at the baby for a long time and shook her head refusing to hold it. Confused, Novis did the only thing she could think of, she gently laid the baby down between Sasha’s legs using her vagina as a pillow.

Shaking her head at Sasha’s callous attitude towards her own child. Novis burst into action, grabbing the hotel phone, and alerting the front desk, that one of its guests had just delivered a baby in their room. She knew the front desk would make the rest of the necessary calls, and who knows, the Holiday Inn may even have a resident doctor inside the hotel.

“Toni snap out of it,” Novis barked fiercely. “Clean the room up right quick and make sure nothing incriminating is laying around. You got people on their way up here. I need you to ride to the hospital with Sasha. I’ll follow behind the ambulance and wait for you in the parking lot.”

Novis snatched her black Prada purse off the bed, while her eyes carefully scanned the room one last time. “Put the money up,” she ordered, spinning around on her heels preparing to leave. The absolutely last thing she wanted was to be inside the hotel room when the ambulance and Cleveland police arrived.

“Novis wait!” Sasha cried out in panic. “Please go to the hospital with me. Please! I’m scared I want you to come.”

“Girl you know Cleveland police is going to come with the ambulance. I don’t fuck with no police. Period. Anyway, Toni is going with you. I’m out,” She declared, almost running to the hotel door.

However, before she could even turn the doorknob, she heard the telltale crackling sound of crack cocaine being melted. Unable to stop herself, she spun around and saw both women holding crack stems to their mouths, filling their lungs with its poisonous smoke.

“Stupid ass dope fiend bitch!” She snarled. “You’re lying there with a newborn baby between your legs. The baby is still connected to your fucking umbilical cord, and you smoking crack. Bitch... you need help. You could have at least waited until they cut the cord and took the baby. What the...