Roulette (Sin City Chronicles)

By Toshia Shaw

They say don’t get mad get even, and Dawn vows to get revenge on her former best friends Shauna and Felicia for ruining her life. Shauna is now married to Jeffrey, and living the fairytale Dawn dreamed and schemed for. The two virtually swapped places leaving Dawn abandoned, jilted, and seething at the teeth. Felicia is a changed woman on a mission. She is no longer caught up in the nightlife; she is preoccupied with saving others who walk the same path she once took. She and Shauna are closer than ever without giving Dawn a second thought... but maybe they should. With Tony standing in the background and the introduction of Lamar, Felicia’s boyfriend the girls are playing a lethal game of Russian Roulette. The stakes are high, and out of 6 chambers in the revolver there is only one chance for survival. Who will be left standing to take it all?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Toshia Shaw
• Release date: Mar 5, 2013
• ISBN: 9780974042626

Toshia Shaw

Toshia Shaw is an author, speaker, and philanthropist. She is the founder of Purple W.I.N.G.S. Organization, a 501 c (3) for at-risk girls in Las Vegas, Nevada. She is a triumphant survivor, and educator of sex-trafficking, modern day abolitionist, and public speaker. Toshia recorded a Spoken Word CD entitled, Open Book in 2003. She performed locally in Memphis, Tennessee on a regular basis spreading her message about life, love, social issues, and the uplifting and empowerment of youth. It was also during this time she became a Domestic Violence and HIV/AIDS advocate. The proceeds she made from her musical events were donated to various organizations. She went on to pen her first work of fiction entitled, High Stakes, and self-published to national acclaim in the year 2010. She gave readers a sneak peek inside the shrewd nightlife of "Sin City." She exposed the myth: "What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas." Toshia is a member of the Women's Federation for World Peace, Las Vegas, Nevada chapter. She has also been chosen as an Ambassador for Peace, by the Universal Peace Federation, due to her commitment of service to women and girls. She has been named by Las Vegas City Life as a Local Hero 2013, Las Vegas Business Magazine as a Woman to Watch 2011. She is the proud mother of two children.

Book preview

Roulette

By Toshia Shaw

Published by Toshia Shaw at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 Toshia Shaw

Roulette

Toshia Shaw

Published by Purple Wings Publishing for Smashword

Copyright ©2013 by Toshia Shaw

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without prior written consent from both the author, and publisher Purple Wings Publishing, except brief quotes used in reviews.

ISBN 978-0-9740426-2-6

First Printing February 2013

This is a work of fiction. It is not meant to depict, portray or represent any particular real persons. All the characters, incidents, and dialogues are the products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any references or similarities to actual events, entities, real people, living or dead, or to real locales are intended to give the novel a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, entities, places, and incidents is entirely coincidental.

Cover Copyright © 2013 by Purple Wings Publishing.

All rights reserved

Cover Layout & Design – INIKCOKREATIVE L.L.C.

Editor – Leila Jefferson

Purple Wings Publishing

7473 W. Lake Mead Blvd.,

Ste 100

Las Vegas, NV 89128

To Tristan and Trinity, thank you for being my driving force, and reason for it all…

To my Purple W.I.N.G.S. Organization family, the volunteers, who spend countless hours being of service to the many young ladies in the Las Vegas valley. You are my heroines; you make the job easier, and a great place to make change. We might not be able to save all of the girls, but the one’s we do save makes the all the difference in the world. I just want to say, Thank You to God for choosing me as his vessel, for giving me his vision, and providing the strength to extend my hand to those in need. We will continue to fight the good fight, to provide a voice to the speechless, to provide comfort for those who need comforting. To the butterflies who have come through our program and gathered up the courage needed to reclaim your life; I am proud to know you, you have each made my life that much better just by having you in it. To those young ladies we lost, who are no longer with us due to the atrocities of sex-trafficking, may God bless you with your wings, so that you may be free. Your smiles live in my heart forever.

Chapter 1

The timer finally went off on the washing machine Dawn’s clothes occupied. She threw down the magazine she was reading and bee lined to transfer her clothes into the only available dryer. Just as she was about to approach the dryer, a tall, skinny, blonde pushed past her and threw her tattered and skimpy clothes into it.

Lady, you saw me heading over here to put my clothes in this dryer!

Yeah, so?

Yeah so, it’s my dryer, she mockingly told the woman. So, take your raggedy ass clothes out of there so I can use it!

What? You’re crazy! You don’t own this freaking dryer.

Just as she began to retort, a loud car horn interrupted the two. The blonde perked up when she saw the truck sitting outside. She turned to the dryer and pulled her clothes out. I guess it’s your lucky day, lady, it’s all yours. She threw the wet clothes into a trash bag and hustled out to the awaiting truck.

Damn, that’s a nice truck, black on black rims. I wonder who’s behind the wheel, Dawn thought. The driver’s side window inched down to expose just who was behind the wheel, and the sight of the driver made Dawn drop the clothes she had in her hands. Tony? she gasped. Damn, he done came up…all the way up!

Dawn frantically threw the remaining of her wet clothes into the dryer with a dryer sheet, added a dollar fifty in coins, and slammed the door. She checked her reflection in the dryer door. Her edges needed redoing, but other than that she looked good, like an around the way girl. That was her usual look nowadays, she never really did get back on her feet since her fiancé left her.

She checked out the scene between Tony and the skinny blonde for a minute before pretending to head toward her car. In fact, she went out of her way to walk past the truck to get to her car, which was parked closer than she alluded.

As she walked past them, she indirectly glanced into their direction. The girl snarled at her, and she could see Tony furrow his brow in an effort to try and recognize her. Sensing he took too long to figure out who she was, Dawn decided to help him out and switched over to his truck to reintroduce herself.

Tony, oh my God, is that you?

Yeah…wait a minute, do I know you?

It’s me, Dawn! You remember, Shauna’s old friend.

Yeah, yeah, that’s right, Dawn. Tony looked her over slowly while licking his lips. Damn girl, it’s been a minute. How you been, ma?

Dawn, recognizing the instant power she held, placed a hand onto her hip while leaning against his truck to take a closer look. It has been a minute. It looks as though life’s been good to you, Tony. What have you been up to? She instantly calculated his watch, necklace, diamond solitaire pinky ring, earring, and his shoes. She noticed he had two cell phones laid out on the dashboard. From what she could remember, he was heavy into selling drugs and even did a bid. That was how Shauna came to live in Las Vegas, which led to them meeting. From the looks of things, that might still be the case.

Just as Dawn predicted, Tony’s eyes zeroed in on her breasts. So, she stuck her chest out a little more and batted her lashes while playing in her hair. She smiled coyly, waiting on him to finish lusting.

I’m straight. What about you, though? From what I can remember, seems like you and me both got something in common.

That last statement stung a little. He was talking about her fiancé, Jeffrey, leaving Dawn for her ex-best friend, which just happened to be Tony’s baby mamma, Shauna. That left a sour taste in her mouth, but she forced a smile, anyway. Dawn wanted to tell Tony how that affected every aspect of her life. How she started drinking so heavily, she had to drop out of culinary school due to alcoholism and extreme depression. How she briefly moved back home to her old neighborhood in New York, but had to leave because her mother remarried. She wanted to tell him how she could barely function or focus on anything. That was why she had changed jobs seven times in the past two years.

Tony interrupted her thoughts. Say, mamma, why don’t you give me your phone number so we can catch up on old times?

Dawn noticed that the woman was now sitting on the passenger side of Tony’s truck. She thought it was strange that he was asking for her information with her sitting there, but it was Tony and with him, nothing really surprised her. Tony picked up his cell phone and Dawn rattled off her number to him.

555-0432, and feel free to use it anytime.

Good, I plan on doing just that.

Well, I better get back in there and tend to my clothes. Anyway, it was really good seeing you again, Tony.

Yeah, you too. I’ll holla.

Alright, you do just that. Dawn gave him a suggestive smile, and turned on her heels to walk away.

She knew he was watching her, therefore, she put extra sway in her stride. She turned back to look at him one last time, and gave a wink and half-smile. Tony turned up his rap music before he sped out of the parking lot, and Dawn heard the lyrics loud and clear. It was at that moment she knew exactly what he did for a living. It didn’t matter to her one way or the other. She knew what she had to do to get what she wanted. She lived that life in the past, and had no intentions of going back. However, she had a different plan that she was sure Tony was the perfect for, and only person who would understand and could help her execute.

She smiled to herself as she unloaded the dryer. She folded her clothes whilst whistling an upbeat song. Thanks to the chance encounter, things were definitely going to change. She was going to make sure of it, and unsuspecting Tony was going to be the change she needed whether he wanted to or not.

Chapter 2

Tony pulled his truck up to the house he rented in the Flat Sholes suburban neighborhood. He pulled into the driveway and saw one of his nosy neighbors leer at him, shake her head disapprovingly, and hurriedly enter her house. Tony let the door up on the garage and finally turned his music down. He pulled the huge truck into the garage, and the woman jumped out of the truck and lugged her clothing into the house. Tony entered behind her and found his way to the couch. He plopped down in front of the television and before he could turn it on, the woman stood in front of him with her hands on her hips.

Tony, who was that woman you were talking to?

Tony haphazardly looked up at her. What the fuck you talking about, Goldie? Don’t start any shit with me. Go get me a beer out of the fridge.

I just want to know if she’s gonna come and live here with us? I got enough girls I have to worry about.

Look, I ain’t got to explain shit to you, alright? I know ole girl, and, naw, she ain’t gonna come and live here with us. She don’t even get down like that. And, if she did, she wouldn’t come here and live with ya’ll chicken head asses.

What’s that supposed to mean?

Just what I said! Didn’t you see her? She ain’t trying to come up in here with these ignorant ass hoes! Goldie stormed away huffing and puffing. What you need to do is stop worrying about what the fuck I’m doing and check in with them hoes. See if they making my money. Because if they ain’t, guess who’s gonna be out there making it up? This fucking rent ain’t gonna pay itself!

Goldie stuffed a beer into his hand and stomped to the back of the house. Tony opened up the beer and took a long gulp. No matter how long he lived in Las Vegas, he would never get used to