Against the Grain (20 page)

“Nowadays these young bitches out here is using sex to get romance and the niggaz is using romance to get the sex. Then the dumb bitches is wondering why them niggaz ain’t calling back when they page them,” Lady said.

“I wouldn’t know about all that, ’cause I got a man and he calls me all day. But I do know that I’m kinda hungry and I’ve got a taste for some fries,” Shu-Shu said, pulling into a McDonald’s parking lot.

“Ya’ll want something?” she asked.

“Yeah, bring me a vanilla milk shake,” Lady said.

“Yeah, bring me one, too,” Lyniece told her. When Shu-Shu walked into McDonald’s the first person she saw was Sonia at a table eating with another girl. Sonia rolled her eyes when she recognized Shu-Shu. She still couldn’t stand the fact that Shu-Shu and Kay were together. Shu-Shu knew about her thing with Magic and noticed that her eye was healing. Shu-Shu didn’t say anything; she just walked past them to the counter.

“Good evening, welcome to McDonald’s. May I take your order?” the young girl asked.

“Yeah, let me get a small fry and three vanilla shakes,” Shu-Shu said.

“Would you like a hot apple pie with that?” the cashier asked as she rang up Shu-Shu’s order.

“No thank you.” As Shu-Shu watched the girl fix her order, Sonia and her friend walked up behind her.

“Excuse me, can you make that a super-size fry?” Shu-Shu asked the young lady.

The girl just smiled at Shu-Shu and shook her head yeah.

“I wish this bitch would hurry up and move. I want to order a soda so I can go. I don’t like her ass anyway,” Shu-Shu heard Sonia say to her friend Kimmy. She knew that Sonia was talking about her, but she refused to stoop down to her level, so Shu-Shu didn’t say anything. As she paid for her food, four girls got in line behind Sonia and Kimmy.

“Ay, Shonda, ain’t that the bitch that got Magic locked up?” one of the girls asked, pointing at Sonia. Shonda was Magic’s baby-mama.

“Yeah that’s her. Yo, bitch! Why you put the police on Magic?” Shonda yelled. Sonia turned around to say something to her but changed her mind when she saw how many girls there were.

“Yeah, I’m talking to you,” Shonda said as she got in Sonia’s face. Shu-Shu paid for her food and walked around the crowd. She looked back over her shoulder and smiled at Sonia, then walked out. Sonia saw her but couldn’t say anything. The four girls surrounded Sonia and Kimmy. It was about to be on. Shu-Shu went back to her car and sat in the driver’s seat. She passed Lyniece and Lady their shakes, reached for her bag, and dropped the money that was in her hand inside. She took out her Vaseline and put some on her face. Then she popped the trunk, got out, and slammed the door. When she got back to the driver’s seat, Lady and Lyniece were looking at her like she was crazy.

“What’s wrong with you?” Lyniece asked.

“You’re not going to believe this. Sonia is in there. She just tried to start some shit with me, but then, that nigga Magic’s baby’s mama came in with her crew and they are about to beat Sonia down in there,” Shu-Shu said as she put on her white shell-toe Adidas.

“Oh shit, here we go,” Lyniece said as she put her shake down and kicked off her shoes. She didn’t have any sneakers, so she was going to roll barefoot.

“I haven’t beat a bitch down in years,” Lady said as she got out the car.

The three of them walked back into McDonald’s with Shu-Shu leading the way. She’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Just as Shonda slapped the shit out of Sonia, Shu-Shu grabbed Shonda by the back of her hair and drug her to the floor then started stomping on her. By the time the other girls figured out what was going on, it was too late. Lyniece was all over one, and Lady was on another. Sonia jumped on Shonda with Shu-Shu and Kimmy took the other girl. The manager came running from the back and tried to break it up until he got kicked in the nuts by Lady.

“Call the cops!” he yelled to one of his employees. Hearing the word “cops” got the girls’ attention. They all ran. Shu-Shu, Lady, and Lyniece jumped in one car. Sonia and her friend jumped in another. They went in different directions, leaving Shonda and her crew in McDonald’s.

Later on that night, Sonia called Shu-Shu to thank her and to squash the beef.

•         •         •

When Mike saw Magic in the mall he knew it was time to deal with this nigga once and for all. Mike sent this shorty from around the way named Nyree at him. Nyree was an exotic dancer that used the name Tasty and looked like Naomi Campbell. As soon as she walked into the sporting goods shop, Magic and his crew were all over her. She did as she was instructed to do and chose Magic. She hung out with him all that afternoon and they eventually ended up at the hotel. As soon as they got in the room Magic took out his dick and she started sucking it. Just when he was about to cum, she stopped. She didn’t want him to cum because then he might try to leave.

“Damn, shorty, what’s up?” he asked when she didn’t jump right on it.

“Nothing, just relax. Let me slip into some sexy shit and dance for you first. I’ma let you cum on my face and all that. I love that shit,” she said as she picked up her bag and went into the bathroom. Magic smiled and got undressed. Nyree turned on the shower, sat on the toilet, and took out her cell phone. She paged Mike and put in her code, the number to the hotel, and the room number. Then she got undressed and took a shower. She came out and danced for Magic then fucked and sucked him until he couldn’t get hard anymore. They were both lying on their backs out of breath looking up at the ceiling when Nyree heard her pager vibrate. She picked it up and looked at it.

“I’ve got to use the bathroom. Your dick’s too big. Felt like you was hittin’ something up in there,” she said to Magic, stroking his ego. He smiled harder as he watched her walk toward the bathroom. But instead of going to the bathroom, she went to the door, opened it, and walked back toward Magic. Mike, Tank, and Gee, along with a few of their bodyguards, were right behind her. By the time Magic looked up, it was too late. He still reached for his pants that were on the other bed because that’s where his gun was. Nyree was working him so good, he hadn’t even noticed when she picked up his gun and put it between the bed’s mattresses.

“Yeah, playboy, you don’t want to do that,” Mike said as they surrounded the bed.

“What’s this all about, Mike?” Magic asked.

“Shhhh, don’t speak. Just get your bitch-ass up,” Mike told him.

“And hurry the fuck up!” Tank yelled. Nyree bent down and got Magic’s gun and handed it to Mike.

“Bitch! You set me up! I’ma put my foot in yo ass when I see you again. You triflin’ bitch.” Everyone laughed because they knew that he wouldn’t be doing anything to anyone after tonight. She bent down and picked up her clothes. She was still naked. Mike handed her three grand and smacked her on the ass as she disappeared into the bathroom to get dressed.

“Let’s go, main man, put your shit on,” Mike told Magic. He got up and got dressed. Mike told Gee to frisk him. He didn’t want any suprises later. All Magic had on him was $4,200 in cash, his two-way, his cell phone, and about thirty-five or forty grand worth of jewelry.

“Let me get all that shit. He ain’t gonna need it no more,” Mike said. Nyree came out the bathroom dressed in a two-piece business suit. She looked like a lawyer.

“Here, shorty, you can keep this shit. Just sell it when you get where you’re going. Try to stay gone at least a year. That will give shit time to calm down. You know his peeps seen you with him, so they’ll be looking for you. Don’t call or come back for shit. I’ll make sure your moms is aiight,” Mike told her as he handed her the jewelry and Magic’s money.

“Okay, baby, I hear you. I’m going to miss you though,” she said as she hugged Mike.

“A year ain’t nothing, ma. You’ll be back in no time. If you run out of money, page me.” He kissed her, then he and the crew left with Magic. Nyree finished putting on her makeup and called a cab to take her to the Amtrak station.

•         •         •

Mike called Kay on his cell phone. “A yo, what you doing, nigga? Yeah? I got something for you. Nah, I ain’t talking about no bitch. Just meet me at the spi-dot.” Kay agreed. “Aiight, one,” Mike hung up the cell phone.

Kay, Big Duke, Dre, and P-Nut met them at the old warehouse. Kay hadn’t been there since he scared his father off years ago. As they pulled the old hooptee they were driving into the warehouse, they noticed Magic hanging butt naked in the air by chains. He had been beaten pretty badly. They stopped the car right in front of him. Mike opened the back door and told P-Nut to get out so he could take his seat.

“I told you I had something for you,” Mike said laughing.

“Damn, the nigga looks like he’s dead already,” Kay said.

“Nah, he just wishes he was dead right about now. Shit, I owed him that for putting his hands on Lil ‘C’ a while back. I don’t know why you didn’t kill him then. Let a nigga violate Lyniece or T-Kie, he’s a fuckin’ dead man.”

Kay didn’t respond because he knew Mike was right. “Lemme see your gun, Duke,” Kay said.

“Yo, I never understood why you don’t carry a gun. Duke ain’t always wit you. One of these young boys might kidnap yo ass one of these days,” Mike said.

“ ’Cause I know the law. I’ma convicted felon and if I get caught with a gun, that’s fifteen to twenty for me. Plus, if a nigga fucks with me, he’s going to get repercussions from ya’ll niggaz. Who wants that?” Kay said, knowing that he’d just stroked Mike’s ego.

Big Duke handed Kay his gun. “Be careful with this big dog, that ain’t no twenty-two, that’s a fo-fifth, you could blow your own foot off with that,” Big Duke said to Kay. They all laughed. Kay got out the car.

“What’s up, nigga?” Tank said to Kay. Tank nodded to Gee who threw a bucket of cold water on Magic.

“Wake yo ass up, so you can see yourself die,” Tank said.

Everyone laughed but Kay and Magic. Magic looked Kay in the eye and looked like he wanted to beg for his life but his pride wouldn’t allow it. Instead, he took a deep breath and shut his eyes as Kay walked over and dumped five in his head and face.

Mike had taken out his gun to kill Big Duke for pulling his gun that day. He was the one that brought Big Duke in anyway. Fuck it. Kay would just have to get another bodyguard. Besides, Big Duke was feeling himself since Kay promoted his ass. After watching Kay kill Magic, Mike decided he would catch Duke by himself. He jumped out of the car, “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about! That’s the Kay I remember!” He grabbed Kay and swung him around. “You had all of us scared for a minute, nigga. I thought you had got soft on us or something.”

“Get the fuck outta here. Never that,” Kay said.

“Aiight, let’s go celebrate, my treat,” Tank said.

As they got in their cars to leave, Kay thought to himself. . . .
There’s no turning back now. He’d committed murder in the first degree.
They left a few niggaz behind to dispose of the body so that it would never be found.

21

Gee was around the way standing on the block with the fellaz. It was a nice day. The sun beamed down as the neighborhood kids ran up and down the street, and as the fiends schemed to get their drugs of choice. He walked out of the 77 carry-out with a box of chicken wings and fries and a large half & half (half lemonade, half ice tea). Mike and Kay each took a chicken wing from him. He offered Tank one, but he waved Gee off because he was on the phone. Gee looked up just in time to see wifey bend the corner and stop in front of him. The window on the passenger side went down.

“Gee, come here for a minute,” she said. Gee looked back at his crew for a second. They were all smiling because they knew it was getting ready to be some drama. Sandra was the drama queen. She didn’t mind busting this nigga in the head or cutting him when they got in an argument. She’d put Gee out a week ago after a big fight and she hadn’t seen him since. Gee dropped his piece of chicken back in the box and licked his fingers. He walked over to the car and got in. She drove up the block a few yards and parked.

“Nigga, why you ain’t been home?”

“Shit! You told me to get out.”

“So what, motherfucker, you ain’t never been gone this long before. You be right back the next day apologizing and sniffin’ my ass.” Gee didn’t say anything, he just kept eating his chicken and fries.

“I know what it is. You ain’t slick, motherfucker. Somebody told me they seen you coming out some bitch named Tracy’s house down in the projects. If you fucking her, I’m going to fuck you up.”

“Nah, it ain’t like that. I use shorty’s crib to bag shit up. I just stayed over there a few nights but I slept on the couch. That bitch is ugly as shit. She ain’t my type.”

“You got clothes over there?”

“Just a couple pairs of shoes and shit.”

Sandra put the car in gear and made a U-turn.

“Where you going?” he asked.

“We going to get your shit and I don’t want you to say nothing else to her.” Gee just kept eating, thinking how he was going to get out of this one. When Sandra stopped in front of the correct building Gee wondered how she knew where to go. He was going to ask her but dismissed the thought quickly. That wasn’t important right now. Gee opened the door and looked at Sandra.

“Stay here, I’ll be right back,” he said.

“Get the fuck outta here, I’m going with you, nigga,” she told him as she got out, too. When they got to Tracy’s apartment on the seventh floor, Gee knocked on the door and within a few seconds Tracy opened the door. She had a look of confusion on her face as she looked back and forth from Gee to Sandra. She knew who Sandra was, everyone did, but that didn’t stop her from fucking with Gee. They had been dealing with each other for two years and she’d never seen the look on Gee’s face that she saw that moment. Sandra couldn’t take her eyes off her. She was beautiful. Tracy couldn’t have been any older than twenty-one or twenty-two years old. She was tall and had the body of a model. Her skin was pretty. She had a milk-chocolate complexion and could have been Tyra Banks’s little sister.
This nigga lied to me,
she thought to herself.

“Wait right here,” Gee said.

“Nah, motherfucker, I’m coming with you. Excuse me, miss, can I come in while he gets his shit?” Sandra asked Tracy.

“Yeah, c’mon in. What’s going on?” Tracy asked.

“This is my man and he told me that you were ugly and that he just uses your house to bag up drugs.”

Tracy shot Gee an evil look.

“I know he ain’t shit and he’s a lying black-ass motherfucker and I just came over here with him to get his shoes and shit, so he won’t have no reason for coming over here,” Sandra said. Tracy looked at the playpen that was in the living room. Sandra looked, too, and saw a newborn baby. She walked over to the playpen and looked into the little boy’s eyes and knew it was Gee’s baby. No one said a word. She picked the baby up and said, “Hey, precious.”

The baby smiled and reached for Sandra’s gold chain.

“There go your sorry-ass daddy.” The baby smiled again. Sandra turned to face Gee and Tracy.

“What’s his name and how old is he?” she asked.

Tracy started to answer and Sandra held up her hand to cut her off. Then she looked at Gee.

“Rayshon and he’s fourteen months,” he said.

“When were you going to tell me about this, Gee?”

“I didn’t know how,” he told her with a stupid-ass look on his face.

“Just go get your shit. We’ll deal with this when we get home.”

Gee disappeared into the bedroom. While he packed his stuff, Sandra and Tracy talked. Sandra made it clear that Gee was her man and that she’d invested too much time in him to let her come in and tear her family apart. She also let her know that the next time she wouldn’t be so nice. Sandra wanted to be a woman about the whole situation. It wasn’t their fault that they were both in love with the same sorry-ass nigga. Sandra wanted her kids to know they had a new baby brother. She promised Tracy that the baby would be well taken care of and that she would help her get an apartment in a better neighborhood. The projects was no place to raise a child. They exchanged numbers as Sandra continued to play with the baby. Gee finally came out the room with four big-ass garbage bags full of shit.

“I thought you said that you only had a few things over here. You’s a lying black-ass nigga,” Sandra said as she handed Tracy the baby. Gee couldn’t say shit. He was busted. Sandra took one of the bags from him and they headed out the door.

“Gee, I need my house key back,” Tracy said to him. He looked at Sandra first, then at Tracy and said, “I told you I lost your key,” putting extra emphasis on the word “your,” like the key was never his.

“So how did you lock the door when you left this morning?” Tracy asked, switching the baby to her other hip. Sandra didn’t say a word. She walked over to Gee and reached in his right front pocket. She pulled out his key ring and handed it to Tracy. Tracy went through each key until she found hers. She took it off the ring and handed it back to Sandra.

“I’ll call you later, Sandra,” she said, and almost slammed the door on Gee’s leg.