Cracked Dreams (23 page)

Suddenly he was climaxing and with one last stroke, he was bursting over and over again as mind-boggling vibrations ran through his body with every drip and drop. When he couldn't cum anymore, he eased out of her slowly and they just lay there on the sand holding each other. They quickly dozed off right out on the beach for a couple of hours before Spits woke up and carried Ginger back up to their room. There, they would sleep into the late hours of the morning.

Tomorrow's agenda would be different from today's by far. Lucky thing they'd started early or they might not have had a chance to have as good a time as they were having.

T
he next morning, Ginger woke me up out of a sound sleep. She had apparently gotten up before me and arranged for breakfast.

“Wake up, honey,” she said, rubbing my back.

“What time is it?” I asked as I slowly woke up.

“It's already past eleven o'clock, baby,” Ginger said. “You looked so peaceful; I didn't want to disturb your sleep.”

“Thanks, Mommy,” I said. “Did you have breakfast already?”

“Yeah, I had a little something to eat,” Ginger responded. “I had the cook hook you up with something, too. I got you some sausage and eggs on a croissant, and some sliced fruit. It's right over there whenever you want it” she said, pointing at a tray sitting by the window.

“Good lookin' out, Ma,” I said. “I'ma get in the shower right quick though. Where you goin' be at?”

“Oh, I'm goin' up on the roof in that Jacuzzi,” she said with a big smile. “Are you coming up with me?”

“Oh, yes!” I said with vigor. “No doubt. Let me get washed up and I'll be right out after I finish eating.”

“All right, Daddy,” she said walking away. “Don't keep me waiting too long.”

“I won't,” I said. “Don't worry about that. Oh, and last night . . .that was the best ever, you freaky little girl.”

“You're so nasty,” she said playfully as she left the room with a little bit more wiggle in her butt.

“Uh-huh,” I said, noticing she was trying to get my attention. “Keep it hot for me, Mommy.”

When I got out of the bed, I stretched my body and went into the bathroom for a long, relaxing hot shower. I thought about all the things that had led to this point in my life. I was definitely at my highest right now. My life was definitely peaking, as far as experiences go, and I loved every minute of it. I almost didn't even want to call back home, just for the simple fact that I didn't want to be reminded of the daily grind that I would sooner or later have to return to. But something was calling my attention back to the Bronx. I had a bad feeling, and I felt no news was worse than bad news. When I got out of the shower, I called Ceelow for an update.

“Yo, what's up, dog?” I asked as Cee answered the phone.

“Yeah, what's good, my nigga?” he said.

“Oh, everything is good, dog,” I answered. “This shit is some hot boy shit out here, for real, son. What's good in the hood though?”

“Ain't nothin',” Cee answered. “As a matter of fact, I think it's more bad than good out here.”

“Why, what's poppin'?”

“Remember I told you about that nigga Fish?” Ceelow asked.

“Yeah,” I responded. “What he dealin' with?”

“We goin' probably have to body that nigga, son,” said Cee.

“Say word.”

“That's my word, dog,” responded Cee. “I'm tellin' you, this nigga's makin' shit too hot out here for these niggas to even make a sale. The police be posted up on the Ave, and shit, just waiting for some shit to go down.”

“What the fuck happened since I been gone?” I asked confusedly.

“It's these niggas on the other side, dog,” he began. “They startin' beef over the dumbest shit, just cause. Ain't gonna be too much more of this shit before we just have to body all of them niggas.”

“Startin' beef?” I asked. “They ain't fuckin' with our workers, are they?”

“Oh, naw,” Cee quickly responded. “They beefin' with niggas from the Valley, and shit. You know them Valley niggas run that side of the block now, since Fish got knocked. Since he been home, his old crew all of a
sudden got heart now. Son, I would wreck each and every one of those bitch-ass niggas, son.”

“Be easy, dog,” I said, trying to calm him down. “Tell me what happened.”

“All right,” said Cee trying to get the situations in proper order. “You know Bullet, and Duff, and all them Valley Mob niggas, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, they ain't even really been too vexed about Fish since he came home. They figure as long as he ain't tryin' to make no sales, he could live, you know? Him and that nigga AG be posted up in the liquor store all day, just chillin'. But for some reason, they decide they want to jump off for no reason. I peeps this nigga Duff goin' in the liquor store, right? I don't know what happened while he in there, but when he came out, this nigga Fish is backin' him down with the burner out. Now, everybody think it's about to go down, but he ain't tryin' buss him. He just swingin' it at his face, tryin' to pistol-whip him. Now, Duff ain't stupid, so as he backin' down off of Fish, he's leadin' him around the corner where Bullet and the rest of them niggas is. Fish, like a dick, just keep tryin' to hit him with the burner while Duff just duckin' and weavin'. Like two seconds after they get around the corner, that's when the shots start to go off. Everybody start running, and shit. Later on, I finds out that ain't nobody even get hit. Now these niggas is gonna be goin' back and forth with this bullshit forever, and sooner or later, it's gonna reach our side of the block. I'm about to just dead all of them niggas, and ain't nobody gonna get no money on they crew.”

“Hold on, son,” I said. “Them Valley niggas been cool from the beginning so the problem ain't with them. If anybody gotta go, it's that nigga Fish, and that nigga AG, and the rest of they bitch-ass crew, feel me?”

“Yeah, no doubt,” answered Cee. “But you know how I gets down. I'll fuck around and do everybody dirty just on GP, like fuck it.”

“Yeah, I got you in my radar,” I said. “If anything, concentrate on that nigga Fish's crew. I never liked that nigga anyway. Just holla at me, and let me know what's goin' down.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I got you.”

“One.”

“One.”

This whole thing with Fish left a weird feeling in my stomach from the first time Cee had put me on to him. I didn't know what it was, but I just wasn't feeling that dude. It wouldn't be long before he got his, though. Then I would relax. As for now, that nigga could sneeze wrong and get a hit put out on him. Fuck that!

When I hung up the phone with Cee, I decided to check my voicemail at the crib. Something was still leaving a pain in my stomach. As I scanned through the messages, one was from my mother, hoping that I had a safe flight and a good time. She made sure she wished the same for Ginger, too. She knew that one day, Ginger would be my wife, and she didn't disagree one bit. The next message was left by El Don, just asking that I call him back. The next message was left by someone much unexpected. When I heard his voice, I knew something was wrong. It was Red. He called to let me know that there was an emergency out there and that I needed to call him back. He said that it wasn't something that I should hear on a machine. When I heard that, all kinds of things ran through my head. My first thought was that Trigger had gotten arrested. My second thoughts contained worse circumstances, but nothing I could have imagined would have led me to believe what he actually had to tell me. I called him immediately.

“Hello?” said the voice on the other line.

“Hello,” I said hurriedly. “Let me speak to Red.”

“Who dis?” the person asked.

“Yo, this is Spits!” I yelled. “Is Red there or not, nigga?”

“Oh, I'm sorry, cuz,” he replied. “Red said that you should be calling. He's over at the hospital right now. Let me put you on three-way.”

Just as he said that, my heart stopped. I had no idea what was to follow. I thought maybe he'd gotten into some shit out there and had gotten shot. Or maybe it was Trigger that had gotten shot. I didn't know what to think and this insensitive asshole had just put me on hold before I had a chance to ask what the fuck was going on. When he clicked back over, the phone in the hospital was already ringing. When Red answered, I spit, “Yo, what the fuck is going on, dog? What you doin' in the hospital? Somebody hit you up, or somethin'?”

I kept asking questions back to back before he could answer and then he just said, “It ain't me, dog.”

“Wha?” I asked confusedly.

“It ain't me, dog,” he repeated. “I'm fine. It's  . . .”

“What nigga!” I said, cutting him off. I was in a very volatile state right then and this nigga was not moving fast enough for me.

“It's Rachel,” he finally said. “It's not me. I'm over here in San Jose Medical with Rachel.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked now, even more confused than I was at the beginning of the conversation. What did he mean he was with Rachel? What would he be doing with her at work?

“Look,” he began. “Some shit happened with your sister, duke. She ain't get a chance to tell nobody what happened yet, but she's not looking good right now. She keeps goin' in and out, but all she says when she can talk is, ‘Where's my brother?' She won't even talk to her own pops. You gonna have to come out here or somethin', homie. This shit is straight fucked, blood.”

I didn't know what to say. I just sat there, staring at the wall with a perturbed look on my face. I was completely confused. This couldn't be happening to me, not at the pinnacle of my happiness. I couldn't believe it.

After Red yelled into the phone a few times to see if I was still there, he hung up thinking that we'd gotten disconnected, but I was just sitting there with the phone in my hand unknowing of what my next move would be. When Red hung up, the phone slipped from my hand and the sound of it hitting the ground brought me back to my senses. I just blinked and shook it off. I had to get into my problem-solving mode to get my shit back into proper perspective. All of a sudden, it came to me like a flash of light. I would have to go to Cali to make sure my sister would be all right. California wasn't that long of a flight from Hawaii, so it wouldn't even take too long to get there. I tried to think positively. Everything would be fine. It would take no longer than five hours to reach Cali, and when things were all good, I could just come back. Ginger would have to understand. I finally got up off of the bed and went up to where Ginger had been impatiently waiting for me in the Jacuzzi. She smiled when she saw me, but it took all of five seconds for her to realize that something was wrong.

“What's wrong, Daddy?” she asked.

“I have to tell you something that's not going to make you happy, Mommy,” I said.

“What?” asked Ginger curiously. “Just tell me.”

“I have to leave right now,” I said.

“What?!” she said angrily. “Where do you have to go? And what am I supposed to do while you're gone?”

“Listen,” I began. “Some shit happened with my sister in California.”

“Oh my God,” she said. “Rachel? What happened? Is she okay?”

“I'm not exactly sure of all of that shit yet,” I answered. “But she's in the fuckin' hospital right now, and she just keeps asking for me.”

“What?” she asked. “I don't understand. What do you mean? She won't tell anybody what happened?”

“All she does is ask for me,” I responded. “I don't know what's going on. I was checking the messages on the house phone when I heard a message from Red that sounded urgent, so I called him up. He said he's in the hospital with her right now, and I don't know how serious this shit is. I have to go there and see what's going on. I'm gonna have to fix this shit.”

“I understand, Daddy,” she said, just like I knew she would.

“I mean, Cali is right there though,” I stated, trying to make her feel comfortable with me leaving. “It's only a few hours to get there. If everything is cool, I'll be right back. You can even come with me if you want.”

Although the offer sounded nice at first, just the thought of the flights there and back made Ginger think that she'd be pushing it. She'd just gotten used to flying, but she wasn't completely comfortable with it yet. Besides, this was time that Spits would need to spend with his sister alone. Not to take from her concern, but she felt that she'd be intruding in their personal family business. “No, that's okay, Daddy,” she calmly said. “You go and be with your sister. She needs you more than I do right now.”

With that, I was making arrangements to charter another flight from Maui to Cali. I was informed that there would be an aircraft available as soon as 5 p.m. From then, I would be in Cali by ten or eleven o'clock.

T
he flight took approximately four hours and fifty-five minutes. It was 9:55 p.m. when the pilot landed at Livermore Airport. From there, it took approximately forty minutes in a cab for Spits to get to the San Jose Medical Center. When he got there, he asked for Rachel's room at the front desk. He got her room number and as the elevator doors opened on the fifth floor, he was immediately greeted by Red while he was sitting in the waiting area.

“Thank God, you're here, blood,” Red said as he walked over to Spits to exchange a pound and a hug. “Long time no see, huh?”

“Yeah,” Spits said, still feeling distant. “Where's she at, dog? Where's my sister?”

“Her room is uuh . . .right down here, homie,” Red said after a slight hesitation. “She uuh . . .lost consciousness not too long ago. I gotta warn you though, homie, it ain't pretty.”