Zero Degrees Part 1 (5 page)

Then she said, “All y’all bitches ain’t have to jump me.”

I rushed over to Chanda, but Teena grabbed my arm. I pulled away. Shit, I wanted to finish want I had started.

“I punched you in your fuckin face!!” I said waving my fist. “If you don’t want me to get on your ass again, pack your shit and get the fuck out BITCH!”

Chanda jerked forward like she was going to get up. I was prepared to put that bitch to sleep again if need be.

“Stop, y’all ain’t got to jump me again!” She scooted away from me.

“Ain’t nobody jumped your ass,” Teena and Peaches said in unison.

As Chanda packed her meager belongings, she kept mumbling about us jumping her. That shit had me mad as fuck.

As soon as Chanda was moved to another unit she began to spread vicious lies to her crew about us jumping her. Word was out that she and some girls from her neighborhood were going to assault us with knives. There was tension in the air between us and Chanda’s clique of ratchet ass hoes. I was going to try to get a weekend pass to go to the crib, but I changed my mind. I didn’t want to risk them trying to jump on my girls while I was away.

The next day was a Friday and I was chilling on my bunk reading a copy of The Art of War by Sun Tzu. He was a Chinese high ranking military general, strategist that specialized in fucking up some shit. Peaches was sitting on her bunk as she asked,

“Are you still going to try to get a weekend pass to go home?”

“No, I’m gonna have to put it off. I know I’m gonna have to take care of Chanda’s crew if them hoes try some shit. I guess I’ll get to see Buff and Zeus next time,” I sighed.

“I wish I could go with you to see him,” Peaches said. She’d been exchanging letters with Buff on a regular for the past year.

“He’s been talkin’ a lotta shit lately about what he’s gonna do to me. I’m so horny that I’m ‘bout to lose it in here.”

Teena shook her head. “You look too damn innocent to be so freaky.”

“Whatever. Buff told me in his last letter than Zeus wanna holla at you. Since you’ll be legal and shit when you get out.”

That day we made another trip to the dumpsters and made sure that no one was looking as we ducked behind them and sparked up the joint. We were on some puff, puff pass real quick shit, just in case one of the guards walked by. I hit it a few times before passing it to Peaches. She took a hit and started coughing. I didn’t even respond to what she’d just said, but I had butterflies in my stomach at the mention of Zeus.

“Damn, Buff be sending you some strong ass green,” she said staring at the joint like it was going to explain itself. She hit it one more time before passing it to Teena.

Teena took a puff and coughed too. “This some good shit. I don’t see how you make any money selling this shit, since we always smokin’ it.’

All I could think about was what Peaches had just said about Zeus. “Well, why didn’t Buff tell
me
that?” I asked taking the joint back from Teena.

“I don’t know. I thought you knew since Buff be writing you too.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “He never did and Zeus is older. He’s gonna wanna have sex.”

“Well, if you like him and he likes you it is gonna happen eventually,” Peaches said like she just knew that it would.

“I don’t know. Does it hurt the first time?” I asked.

“Yeah, I ain’t gonna even lie to you. Some chicks lie and say that it didn’t hurt. That’s some bullshit, but after the pain ends its all pleasure.”

“I’m already fucked up,” Teena punked out when the joint rotated back to her.

“Me too,” Peaches and I agreed.

I put the joint out and put it in my bra. We returned to the cottages plotting on Chandra and her crew. Growing tired of waiting for something to happen made us decide to pop that shit off ourselves.

* * *

There were metal detectors outside of the chow hall, so we couldn’t bring in our tools. Instead we decided to smuggle in big bars of soap in socks that we’d wrapped around are hands. We sat behind Chandra and listened to her loud ass lie about us jumping on her.

The plan was to wait until the chow hall got crowded, but when I heard that hoe say,

“That bitch Zero ain’t tryna see me be herself! I’ll beat dat hoe’s ass!” I lost it. Unfortunately, the Warden was doing a tour with some type of juvenile advocacy group. I stood up from the table and all I saw was red as I confronted that heifer.

“Bitch, why do you keep lying, talkin’ ‘bout we jumped you. It was just me who knocked your ass out cold and you know that shit.”

A big, manly looking chick continued to grill me as she huffed and twisted her face up. She towered over me and looked like she was pass her 20’s. She had an ugly scar across the bridge of her nose like somebody had tried to bite it off in a fight. Her breasts were huge triple D’s and they kept moving as she made her way closer to me. When she shoved me that was all I needed to get fired up. Ready for war, I took out my soap in a sock weapon. I swung it and hit that big bitch in the head. A dent immediately showed up and part of her hair was gone. She squealed like a pig as she held her bloody head and took off running. Teena and Peaches were standing right beside me when Chandra threw her plate at me. After that it was pandemonium. Blow for blow, toe to toe we beat those hoes asses. Next thing we knew, we had started a full-fledged riot as the Warden stood there watching with his jaw dropped in shock. The people touring the facility took off for the exits.

We were all sent to solitary confinement after the guards came through and sprayed our eyes with pepper spray, because we wouldn’t stop otherwise. Solitary was just a single room with a small cot and wasn’t like the hole in a real prison. We could leave the room for school, but had to eat all meals in the room by ourselves. We only got one hour outside and had our privileges suspended for six months. I kind of missed my girls, but I knew that I’d see them again in less than thirty days.

When we were finally released from confinement we were all sent to different cottages. That didn’t stop us from running shit. Chanda and her crew didn’t stand a chance and stayed away from us. The weed kept coming once my visitation was reinstated. I kept selling it and smoking it with my girls behind the dumpsters. I made sure that Teena had money on her books when her bitches on the outside stopped looking out for her.

Peaches didn’t have any issues with money because her mother made sure that she was okay. She’d told us later that her father had been killed during a carjacking a few months before she got in trouble. Teena’s mother had been in and out of mental hospitals since she was an infant and her father died in a car accident when she was seven. I guess we’d all bonded because of the loss of our fathers. Whatever the common thread was, it was becoming stronger and stronger by the day. They had my back and I damn sure had theirs. We even talked about what we planned to do when we were released. It was funny that all our plans included each other. That shit had me mad hyped. I couldn’t wait until our feet touched down in the free world.

Chapter 5

1996

Peaches was pacing back and forth nervously because Buff and Zeus were coming for their first visit. Buff had already seen plenty of pictures of her and thought she was fine. I had no idea why she was tripping so hard. Over the past couple years she’d put on about ten pounds and was proud of her thicker frame. She had wash board abs that she maintained by doing one hundred crunches before she went to bed at night. After washing her hair and pressing it out bone straight she put on some mascara, eye shadow and some shimmering lip gloss.

My hair had grown out pass my shoulders and I decided to wear it naturally curly. I didn’t do make up at all, but put on some clear lip gloss. My pouty, thick lips would give him something to think about when he left. I was now 5’6 and weighed a tight, curvy 135 lbs. Shit, I had ass for days and firm, perky breasts like my mother. I knew that if all else failed on the outside, I’d have my looks to fall back on. It was just a thought. There was no way I’d sell my soul or ass for money, but I figured I could use my looks in other ways.

“Chill Peaches, damn. You look fine,” I told her in annoyance.

She sighed. “Where’s Teena?”

“In the restroom,” I said reading an issue of Vibe. Tupac had been murdered and that shit had me all fucked up. I was reading the article about his untimely death and he was on the cover looking fine as hell. I just thought he was so sexy and I loved his lyrics. It was as if we were kindred spirits because he spit my pain in his verses. He would’ve been the perfect boyfriend, because he was a thug with a sensitive side. Why did a sensitive man appeal to me when I wasn’t really that sensitive at all? Maybe someone like him would balance me out.

“You think they’re still coming?” She asked anxiously.

I rolled my eyes at her and shook my head. “They’re coming.”

Mrs. McGee walked into the cottage. Peaches and I had been moved to the same cottage two months earlier thanks to her. Next thing we knew Teena came a few days later. Mrs. McGee had pulled some strings to get us back together. We were finally growing up and she felt that we deserved it. We’d earned our respect and were examples for the new girls who came into the camp. Plus, we were all getting out within a year and we didn’t want to fuck it up.

“Ladies, there’re two very handsome young men in the visitation room waiting for you.” She was grinning from ear to ear. Winking at us, she turned and walked out.

“Shit,” Peaches panicked. “I wanted to ask Teena how I look. She likes pussy, so she’ll tell me the truth.”

I laughed and pulled her. It had been three years since I’d seen Buff and Zeus in person. Of course they’d sent pictures, but that wasn’t the same. When I spotted them my heart melted. It had been so long. I walked over and hugged Buff first and Peaches stood back to give us a moment. He’d finally made it to Zeus’s status in the looks department. He’d matured and his body was just as built and toned as his brother’s.

“What’s up lil’ girl?” He grinned showing his dimples and straight, white teeth. “You lookin’ good Killa. Growing on up I see.”

“I missed you Buff.”

“I missed you too Zero, for real.”

I pulled away and looked at Zeus. He was even finer and I didn’t think that was humanly possible. I felt like I couldn’t breath as I stepped aside so Peaches and Buff could get acquainted. As I hugged the sexy, chocolate man I’d been in love with since the moment I saw him, I felt his hand travel up and down my back. I wished I didn’t have on a simple pair of jeans and Air Ones. I felt so young and boyish, but Zeus was looking at me like I was a woman.

“You’re lookin’ good Ze,” he said grinning. He had pretty white teeth and dimples too. I fell in love with him all over again. How someone with a heart of stone like mine could feel that was beyond me.

“You too Zeus.” I cleared my throat. “Let’s sit down. They’re gonna come over and break us up in a minute.”

We sat down and everyone was silent for a minute. I glanced at Buff who was staring into Peaches’s gray eyes like he was hypnotized. “You’re even sexier in person than you are in your pictures,” he said like he was out of breath. “Damn, now I want some naked pictures.”

Zeus chuckled. “I bet he thinks he’s really mackin’ over there.”

We all laughed as he clowned Buff’s talk game.

“I’m just sayin’ shorty’s gorgeous. When you get outta this mufucka I’m goin’ wife you up. You comin’ to live wit’ me, shit.” He was holding her hand like they were already an official couple. “Mind your business Zeus,” he added.

By the end of the visit I had talked to Zeus about everything under the sun. It turned out that he was into a lot of things I liked. He was a sensitive thug, like Pac.

Before they left Zeus went to the restroom and I showed Buff a picture my mom had given me on her last visit. It was a picture of my uncles and two of the men my mom thought killed them and my father.

“Take this and find out whatever you can about them. Their names and everything else you need to know is written on the back.”

“Gorge and Jose Gutierrez. Okay, you know me and my brother will do anything for you. Your mama broke bread with me and gave me that work. A nigga ain’t looked back since,” Buff said putting the picture in the pocket of his jeans.

Suddenly he looked really serious and his brow formed a tight line across his forehead as he asked, “Why do you wanna find them?”

“We can’t discuss that right now. Just know that I have a good reason. My birthday’s in a few months and I’ll be released soon after that. In the meantime do whatever you have to do to get some info for me. Ya’ll deal in the same trade and you never know who you’re connected with,” I explained.

His eyes sparkled with mischief. “A’ight Zero, anything for you Killa.”

We hugged and then I turned my attention back to Zeus who’d returned to the table. He hugged me tightly before giving me a soft peck on my lips. “A few more months baby,” he whispered in my ear.

Time couldn’t go by fast enough.

Chapter 6

1997

Teena had been released a couple months before me and Peaches because she’d been there longer and she was older. When Peaches was released she wasn’t welcome to her mother’s house. Her mother had remarried and promised to help her financially until she got on her feet. She had the money from her trust fund coming soon due to the death of her father. Peaches wanted to tell her mom to fuck off since she had Buff, but she didn’t just in case she couldn’t rely on him until she got her own money.

There was no way I could go back to my mom’s crib, so I was glad to know that Buff and Zeus had hooked us up with our own apartment. They’d risen above Campbell Terrace and had a house built from the ground up. It was located on over 25 acres of land outside of Fayetteville’s city limit. That shit was hot as hell, but I missed Campbell Terrace. I guess I was ready to get into some trouble. Peaches explained that they’d gotten us our own spot just in case living together so soon wasn’t a good idea. It made perfect sense being that we’d only lived with other bitches for so long.