Checkmate: The Baddest Chick by Nisa Santiago Read Free Book Online

in the toilet. She had stomach cramps and was getting headaches on the regular. Between turning tricks and being drugged up on dope, she didn’t know what was going on with her body. Sometimes, she would go for days without eating, or go for long periods of time without sleep.
    There were moments when she would be sick while a trick was on top of her doing his business. She would have the urge to throw up, and a few times, unable to hold the sickness in, she had thrown up on a few of her dates. This ended up upsetting the client and made Shaun to go into a rage. The clients would demand their money back, and Shaun would only give them half, since they didn’t finish but still got half the pleasure. When the men left, Shaun would unleash his wrath on Apple, berating her and sometimes becoming physical.
    Apple’s sickness went on for weeks, but none of the whores or Shaun paid her any attention. Some of the whores even thought she was faking illness to stop from turning tricks or to get sympathy.
    When she threw up on her tenth date within the month, Shaun screamed out, “What the fuck is wrong wit’ you? Are you fuckin’ retarded? I’m losing money because of you!”
    Apple sat there naked, cleaning the puke from her face and looking sorry for herself. She was sore and feeling nauseous again. She just realized she had stopped menstruating months ago.
    Mary was in the room during Shaun’s outburst. She looked at Shaun and blurted out, “I think she’s pregnant.”
    Shaun stood there looking dumbfounded. “What the fuck you say?”
    “She’s pregnant, Shaun—look at her!”
    Shaun looked over at Apple, who was hunched over a bucket next to her bed and holding her stomach. The thought wasn’t farfetched to him, knowing how many tricks had been inside of her, and not knowing which one probably pulled off the condom, or if they even used one. Shaun had a strict rule inside his whorehouse and that was no raw-dogging it. He was furious that one of the tricks had played him. He would have charged a fortune to a trick if they wanted to go raw dog. When Apple got sick he thought she’d contracted some sort of virus that runs rampart around Mexico; like H1N1.
    “Fuck me!” Shaun shouted.
    Mary’s eyes showed concern for Apple, knowing that she was now carrying a life inside of her.
    Shaun marched around the room, trying to come up with a plan. He glared at Apple and shouted, “She ain’t goin’ to no fuckin’ hospital. Y’all fuckin’ hear me? It ain’t happening. That bitch is gettin’ a fuckin’ abortion. I ain’t having no daycare up in here. This is my fuckin’ place of business.”
    Mary cut her eyes at Shaun, but she didn’t say a word to him. She remained silent and watched Shaun storm out of the room, slamming the door behind him. She walked over to Apple and crouched next to her. She was now trying to console and comfort Apple.
    “Just try and breathe easy, relax,” she told Apple calmly.
    Mary understood Apple’s condition. She had been pregnant a few times over the years. Her last pregnancy ended in a miscarriage fifteen years earlier. But Mary gave birth to four children, and after giving birth, she never saw her babies again. She was distraught about her kids being snatched away from her by the men she worked for. But afterwards, the depression would fade, and it would be back to business for her. Mary understood that because of where she lived, and what she did, she wasn’t fit to raise a child anyway. So soon after, she came to terms with giving birth, kissing her newborn lovingly for one last time and then departing from them. It was the life she was used to.
    “I’m not pregnant, Mary,” Apple said.
    “I think you are. I know the signs. I’ve been there, Apple, too many times,” Mary stated, sadness in her tone.
    Apple looked at Mary. She suddenly became confused why Mary became so caring for her all of a sudden. Mary wasn’t difficult or cruel to her, like the majority of the