Nicole's Smoking Story Part 28

With her family drama in the rearview mirror, Nikki could now get back to her normal life, which included school and running her business. Now that her mother was onboard, Nikki didn’t have to worry about spreading herself too thin between the two. It actually made the business run smoother and more lucrative.

Nikki had been wanting to create a crest for her business for quite some time, so she tasked that plan to Erica, given her creativity. When she came back with her sketch, Nikki instantly loved it. The crest showed a skull with a tiara on top and cigarette coming out of its mouth, similar to the tattoo Nikki had on her right arm. The skull also had two guns on either side, almost like a pirate logo. Around the edges read, The Perrillo Family.

She liked it so much, in fact, that Nikki had it made into patches, which would be put on leather vests for the summer and gave them to each of the girls. She also required each member of her organization to get the crest tattooed somewhere on their body to show loyalty. Nikki got hers on her left rib cage, while Al put hers on the upper half of her back. Greta decided to put hers on her shoulder blade, while Erica, the lone member of the group without tattoos, got the tattoo on her foot.

Nikki wasn’t going to ask her mother to get a tattoo, thinking she wouldn’t want to, but Gina shocked her when she volunteered to do so. When Gina came home from getting her tattoo, Nikki was sitting at the kitchen counter, having just lit a cigarette.

“Are you ready?” Gina asked excitedly.

“Yes!” Nikki screamed. “Let’s see what you got.”

Gina took off her leather coat, revealing the tattoo of the crest, covering the entire upper half of her left arm. Nikki nearly dropped the cigarette hanging from her mouth in shock. Even she had decided against getting a second half sleeve, thinking she needed to keep a bit of elegance.

“Mom!” Nikki shouted. “That’s as big as the one on my arm!”

“I know!” Gina squealed. “I figured if I was going to do this, I might as well dive right in! Besides, it’s not like a have a job where it needs to be covered up.”

Nikki couldn’t believe her mother not only got a tattoo, but get one so large. Gina had changed so much two months and Nikki was incredibly proud of her for doing so.

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One thing Nikki wanted to tackle was the fact that she wanted a female bodyguard. She felt that having a man drew too much attention and Al was too valuable to follow Nikki around when she went out. Nikki needed to find someone tough, menacing and trustworthy, but that was a lot to ask for, so the search was taking longer than she wanted it to.

In the meantime, Nikki and Gina planned to take a trip to Nashville to see a Toby Keith concert in the middle of November. It was the first true vacation that had taken together since going to Myrtle Beach a few years earlier. Things had certainly changed drastically since then.

Nikki wore a light blue Harley Davidson tank top, tucked into a dark blue pair of bootcut jeans, tied together with a thick black leather belt and a light blue bandana in her curly hair. She also wore her black cowboy boots, all of her gold jewelry and her leather blazer. Gina, meanwhile, wore a tight white t-shirt, tucked into a pair of light blue straight leg jeans, a thick brown leather belt with rhinestones and a western buckle and her brown Ariat cowboy boots. She also wore a navy blue dress blazer.

After the concert, the two women decided to go to a bar to continue the fun. As they entered the bar from their limousine, Nikki noticed a woman pulling up on a Harley Davidson. Right away, she liked the look of this woman. She was black, wearing a white tank top tucked into black jeans and a thick black leather belt and an gold oval belt buckle with what appeared to be her name scrawled on it. She also had on black cowboy boots and a black leather vest. The woman also had a tattoo on her right forearm and a thick gold chain around her neck and a gold Michael Kors watch on her wrist, half-smoked Newport 100 dangling from the corner of her mouth as she got off her bike.

Nikki took one last look at the woman and a drag on her cigarette before flicking it aside and walking into the bar with her mother. The two had some fun throughout the night, drinking and dancing. Gina checked her silver Michael Kors watch and Nikki could tell she was ready to crash for the night.

Just as they were about to leave, the woman from earlier in the night had turned over a table and was brawling with another woman. She was able to do a number on the woman before the fight was finally broken up and the police arrived.

Impressed by the woman’s mean streak, Nikki hurried to make her move. While she was loaded into the back of the squad car, Nikki slipped the officers some money to let her go free. When they agreed, Nikki walked over to the police car.

“Nice work in there,” Nikki said to her.

“Who are you?” The woman asked.

“My name is Nicole,” Nikki responded. “I’m visiting from New Jersey.”

“No offense, but this really ain’t the time to chat,” She said.

“Don’t worry about that,” Nikki said as she lit a cigarette. “Is that your bike? I’ve got a Harley myself. Best thing I ever bought.”

“Seriously,” The woman said. “I’m about to get locked up here.”

“What’s your name?” Nikki asked, ignoring the woman’s last comment.

“Jasmine,” She answered.

“Jasmine, I want you to come work for me,” Nikki said.

“Work for you? I ain’t no whore or maid,” Jasmine snapped.

“No, nothing like that,” Nikki assured her as she exhaled. “I need a bodyguard.”

“And why do you need a bodyguard?” Jasmine asked.

“To protect me,” Nikki said. “We can fill in the details later.”

“Why would I be your bodyguard?” Jasmine asked, confused.

“Because you’ll make more cash than you’ve ever seen before,” Nikki told her. “What do you for work now?”

“I work in a factory,” Jasmine said.

“Well this beats working in a factory for pennies,” Nikki said.

“And if I say no?” Jasmine said.

“Then you get locked up,” Nikki shrugged. “I just paid to get you out.”

“OK, I’ll bite,” Jasmine said.

Once Jasmine agreed, Nikki took her to their hotel and filled her in on exactly what she would be doing. No longer reluctant, Jasmine was intrigued and Nikki gave her a week to move to Princeton.

Nikki had a feeling this woman, in her mid-30s, would be exactly what she was looking for.

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Once Jasmine arrived in New Jersey it didn’t take long for her to prove her worth to Nikki. She was exactly what was desired for the position. Jasmine wasn’t big, slightly shorter than Al, but she was muscular.

For the first week, nothing eventful happened and Jasmine simply drove Nikki whenever she went to the club or anywhere but to school, but the Saturday before Thanksgiving, things picked up a bit.

Nikki was at her club with Gina and Jasmine for the night, when Al came to inform her of a situation. Greta had been attacked while collecting and it appeared to be from a competitor. They managed to find the attacker and held him at secluded location.

Wearing tight black dress pants, tucked into a tight black blouse, along with a thick black leather belt, her black leather high-heeled boots underneath and her leather blazer, Nikki rose from her chair and motioned to Jasmine -- who was wearing a white tank top, tucked into dark blue jeans, her signature black leather belt and cowboy boots, along with a black dress blazer -- that they had to go. Nikki told her mother to stay behind, but Gina insisted on coming along out of curiosity. The former simply shrugged and said, “OK, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

When they pulled into a secluded field outside of town, Nikki stepped out of the back of the car with a freshly lit cigarette in her left hand. She looked at the man sitting on his knees, clearly roughed up a bit from what her men had done to him. Unfortunately for him, Nikki was not even close to being done with him. She slowly walked up to the man and surveyed him for a few seconds.

“So who do we have here?” Nikki asked.

“He’s not from the same outfit as before,” Al informed her.

“OK, well who do you work for?” Nikki demanded.

The man remained quiet, fearful for what was about to happen.

“Not going to talk?” Nikki asked. “Have it your way. Jas, you’re up.”

Nikki snapped her fingers and Jasmine took off her blazer and put on a pair of black leather gloves. She walked up to the tied up man, and delivered a stiff right hand to the side of his jaw. She then mounted him and continued the onslaught until his face was covered in blood. As she got up, Jasmine gave him one last kick to the groin.

“Hold him up!” Nikki barked.

Nikki walked over to the man, squatted down to look into his eyes, causing her leather blazer to rise up to reveal her belt, and blew a stream of smoke directly into his face.

“So are you ready to talk?” Nikki asked softly. “No? Have it your way.”

Nikki ripped open his shirt and extinguished her cigarette directly onto the flesh on his chest, causing him to writhe in pain. Then, she motioned for Jasmine to continue her assault. Fearful that Jasmine would beat him to death, Gina spoke up.

“Nicole, this has gone on long enough,” Gina said. “Don’t do something you’re going to regret.”

“No, Mom,” Nikki snapped. “I’m not taking anymore of this bullshit! We already had to take care of a situation like this and now we’re doing it again!”

“Is beating him to death going to help?” Gina asked.

“Look, I warned you not to come!” Nikki yelled. “Don’t tell me how to handle my fucking business! This isn’t a goddamn democracy. I’m in charge here.”

Gina didn’t say another word.

“We’re not going to take this shit anymore,” Nikki announced to all in attendance. “I’ve gotten away from what put me at this level. Not anymore. From now on, you’re all to be ruthless. Instead of people thinking they can push us around, they’re going to be terrified of us. No mercy. Is that fucking clear?”

All of her employees nodded in agreement and then Nikki turned back to the man, who was barely conscious.

“So, who do you work for?” Nikki asked menacingly.

“Africano,” The man muttered.

Geno Africano was another boss in New Jersey, and as Nikki learned, he was attempting to move in on her territory.

“Thank you,” Nikki smiled. “But honey, it didn’t have to be this hard.”

The man seemed to settle down a bit, thinking the worst was over, but Nikki was still not done.

“Jas, finish him,” Nikki said as she lit another cigarette.

Jasmine walked forward, pulled a glock that was tucked into the back of her belt and unloaded it in the man’s chest.

“This is twice in less than a month!” Nikki screamed at her men. “I don’t want to do this again! We aren’t going to be killers.”

Nikki climbed back into the back of the car and rolled down the window, hanging her left out of the window, gold Rolex sliding down to her palm and cigarette between her fingers.

“Dump him on Africano’s doorstep,” Nikki ordered. “That ought to send a message.”

Jasmine had proven her worth to Nikki in a major way, but her mother was mortified by what just transpired. Gina simply sat in the back seat quietly.

“Mother,” Nikki said as she exhaled. “Don’t ever question me in front of my employees again. You might be my mom, but in this instance, you’re my employee and I cannot tolerate workers questioning me openly.”

“Did you really have to go that far?” Gina asked.

“This is how it goes in this business,” Nikki snapped. “If you don’t like it, you can go back to the lake. This is only the second time I’ve had to do that and I don’t plan on it happening often.”