“I gotta stop up here and get an ice cream. Y’all want one?” Dani asked her sister and friend.
“Where you get some money from?” Mecca questioned, eyeing her suspiciously.
Danielle never told Mecca about the $500 she got from Pip, the day she cut the girl ponytail. As a matter of fact, Dani hadn’t spent a single dollar, not that she didn’t want to; she didn’t have time with all the drama going on.
“I found five dollars….”
“You a I found five dollars lie girl.” Mecca cut her off.
Danielle couldn’t help but laugh since trying to fool Mecca was never an easy task. It was as if she seen through Dani and knew exactly when she was lying.
“Girl what flavor?” Dani asked, trying to change the subject.
“I don’t’ want no DAMN ice cream.” Mecca replied, giving her a playful push in the back.
“Fuck that, I do, get me strawberry.” Kay chimed in, causing the other two to laugh.
After grabbing her and Kay’s ice cream, they took off on their journey to find a crackhead. It was imperative that they got Yana back before school started next month. The Young sisters didn’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. All they had was each other and their education and they weren’t risking either.
“Don’t Melissa’s ugly ass friend Linda live up the street on Harding? Let’s start there and work our way through Holy City.” Kay suggested, making perfect sense to both girls.
As they walked through each block looking for their mother, Danielle regretted not accepting that ride from Kay. It was hot; the sun seemed to only be following them as nothing, but hot wind blew.
After ten minutes of drowning in their own sweat, the trio finally arrived at Linda’s house but there was no answer when they knocked. Spotting her fake baby daddy Brandon across the street on the corner, Danielle called out to him. Dani watched as B sprinted over to them with a loose square hanging from his mouth.
“What up Dani? Hey Mecca. When you gon’ let me fuck Kay?” Brandon asked, stepping closer to Kayla, eyeing her up and down.
“What up!” both Dani and Mecca spoke while Kay mugged Brandon.
If looks could kill, B would be six feet under, the way Kay’s facial expression was set up.
“So, you not gon’ speak?” he asked, licking his lips.
“Boy leave my friend alone. Have you seen Melissa?” Mecca questioned, pulling Brandon out of Kay’s face.
“Melissa? Y’all momma?” he ask confused while flicking the cigarette into the grass.
“Nah, MELISSA. Have you seen her?” Dani chimed in and asked.
“Literally like five minutes before y’all walked up. Her and her crew was at the park last time I checked.”
Without formally thanking him for the information he had just supplied them with, all three girls headed in the direction of the local park. As soon as Dani turned the corner, she spotted Melissa long brown curly hair.
“There she go!” Danielle announced, pointing in the direction of Melissa.
Melissa and Linda were sitting on a red bench inside the park, both looking like they had just done a few lines. As Dani got closer, Linda nudged Melissa, warning her that they were approaching. Standing up, Melissa greeted her daughters as soon as she turned around.
“What y’all want?” she asked, her eyes bloodshot red from whatever was in her system.
Counting to ten in her head, Danielle tried to control her anger and get the situation handled for Yana’s sake.
“So, at this point, you just don’t give a fuck about us.” Mecca started off by saying before getting cut off my Dani.
“She never gave a fuck. This ain’t nothing new.” She hissed.
Melissa’s eyes darted in the direction of her second oldest. The hatred she held in her heart for Danielle spilled over in her eyes.
“You one disrespectful lil bitch.” She yelled, her spit hitting the top of Danielle’s lip.
Unable to control her anger at this point and grossed out by the bodily fluid, Dani began to walk off when Mecca grabbed her by the arm.
“This is for Yana… it’s bigger than this bitch.” Mecca whispered in Dani’s ear, reminding her of what’s important.
Knowing Mecca was right, Dani turned around with attempts of trying again.
“Look, you don’t fuck with us and we don’t fuck with you, but we need your help.” Mecca spoke calmly.
“HMPH!” Melissa shrugged, folding her boney arms across her chest.
“Yana was taken by child protective services.” Mecca continued.
Impressed by the way Mecca was handling the situation, Dani remained calm and allowed her to finish.
“What that gotta do with me?” she asked with a straight face.
“The fuck you mean…. That’s your child.” Dani snapped, unable to control her emotions anymore.
“We need you to talk to DCSF so we can get her back.” Mecca stepped in, completely ignoring what either of them said.
Melissa stood there staring at them, not once speaking on the fact that their home had been destroyed. If they were unsure is she gave a fuck about them before, it was crystal clear that she didn’t now. She hadn’t even tried to get in contact with them, and it had been days since the fire happened. Not being a fan of Dani and Mecca was one thing, but how could she not care about Yana, especially after what happened to Coby?
“I got the case worker info. You gon’ help?” Mecca pleaded with her again.
Melissa’s eyes shifted back and forth between them before she finally spoke.
“Fuck y’all and fuck Yana. Now get the fuck out my face.” Melissa snapped, turning back around to Linda, completely dissing and disrespecting her daughters.
Danielle stood there, trying her best to register what had just taken place as well as trying to make sure she had heard her correctly. After repeating Melissa’s words over and over again in her head, reality hit and her mother officially had her fucked up.
“OH MY GOD DANIELLE! NO!”
Dani heard Kay yell out to her, but it was too late. Danielle had Melissa’s long hair wrapped around her fist, yanking her back like a Mortal Kombat fighter. Melissa tumbled backwards, eventually falling to the ground. Still maintaining a good grip of her hair, Dani spun around, getting on top of Melissa. One hand in her head, the other fist landing hard blows to her face.
With the first punch drawing blood, Danielle turned into a shark. Blacking out, Dani punched Melissa in the face until her knuckles started to bleed.
The woman who brought her into the world, laid on the ground, trying her best to avoid the blows from her daughter but it was no good.
“Stop Danielle, she’s had enough.”
Hearing Mecca’s voice for the first time snapped her back to reality, causing her to stop swinging. Releasing the grip on her mother’s hair, Dani stepped back and examined the damage. She had put a whopping on Melissa and didn’t feel one ounce of remorse. That ass whopping still didn’t equal to the amount of shit Melissa had put her and her siblings through their entire life.
“Friend. Get up friend.” Linda’s squeaky voice sang through the park as she tried to help an aching Melissa to her feet.
“Let’s go y’all. I think somebody called the police.” Kay said, pulling at Danielle’s shirt as police sirens blared through the air.
Still not satisfied with the outcome, Dani knew it was no use; they had to find a way to get Yana back on their own. If Melissa had any intentions on helping them before, she damn for sure wasn’t helping them now after that ass whooping she had just received.
“FUCK! I told y’all to come on.” Kay cursed as a male and female officer approached them in the park.
“What’s going on here?” the woman asked, placing her hand on her gun, which was still in the holster.
“These little bitches jumped me.” Melissa finally spoke, causing both cops’ eyes to land in their direction.
“She’s a motherfuckin’ lie.” M
ecca spoke up first.
“Call me another lie and I’ll slap the shit outta you.” Melissa threatened, growing a fresh set of balls since the cops was present.
“Calm down.” The male officer advised her as the woman officer walked off towards the bench.
“What do we have here? Which one of you ladies dropped this?”
The female officer returned back to where they were with a bag of drugs in hand. Both Melissa and Linda’s eyes grew the size of goofballs.
“Don’t look at us. Do we look like we on drugs?” Kay asked, rolling her neck for special affect.
“AND…. Do it look like we would have drugs in a school zone, ain’t that a felony?” Dani followed up with, smiling at Melissa who looked more nervous than a hoe at church.
The female officer whispered something to the male cop before he headed back to the squad car. They all stood around in silence until he returned with a pair of surgical gloves.
“Against the gate please.”
Ms. Officer ushered Melissa to the black gate that was behind them and began searching her. Upon entering the first pocket, she pulled out a pot of gold.
“Y’all get out of here. Go home. You, you going to jail.” She turned back to Melissa and informed her, placing the cuffs around her wrist.
When Melissa turned around to face them, Dani noticed tears in her eyes, yet, she didn’t care. Melissa was STILL on parole for a drug charge she caught while pregnant with Coby. The judge had given her chance after chance before promising her that if she got arrested again, she was going to do some real time. Melissa didn’t give a fuck about nothing. Nothing but her man, her drugs, and her freedom, and all three had disappeared.
25
“Baby, grab that pan of ribs for me and take it in the backyard.”
Capone looked up from his phone after hearing his mother’s voice. Without replying, he grabbed the aluminum foil pan and did as he was told. Balancing the pan in one hand as he slid the patio door open with the other one, Capone stepped out in the hot heat.
“Those ribs or hot links?” his dad asked, yelling over the Frankie Beverly and Maze that played through the speakers.
“Ribs.” Capone replied, standing in the middle of the huge backyard, waiting for further instructions.
“Aight, put those on the table by the grill and then go grab that case of water out the basement and put it in the cooler.” His father further instructed.
“Man, I ain’t come over here to do work and shit.” Capone yelled out to his father, who held up his middle finger before throwing more meat in the fire.
After placing the ribs where he was instructed to, Capone headed back into the house to grab the case of water. Sliding passed his mom, he headed to the basement, grabbed a 24 pack of Aquafina and headed back upstairs.
“Capone, when you’re done with that, I may need you to run to the store for some more BBQ sauce.” His mother explained, never once looking up from the spaghetti she stirred at the stove.
“Ain’t Diamond and Jaylan on the way? Have one of them stop.”
“Boy, do what I asked you to do.” His mom snapped, dismissing his idea.
Heading back outside, he took a seat on one of the patio chairs and texted both his siblings. Capone lied to the both of them and said that their mother requested for them to stop. When the both of them texted back and agreed, he relaxed and listened to the old school music that played.
It was the Wilburn’s annual end of summer barbeque. This year, it was being held at his parents’ house as they rotate every year. Capone family was as close as any family could get. Raised by both parents, along with his older brother and sister, Capone was the baby and at most times, the go to person. His father Redd grew up on the southside of Chicago in the projects, where he met his wife Shannon. Living in a small two-bedroom apartment, Capone’s father hustled his ass off to become the man he is today. Once he started getting too much money, he moved his family out the hood and never looked back. Being the man in the streets, Redd passed the torch down to his kids. Capone wasn’t a kingpin; he was simply the nigga in the streets, and he had his father to thank for that.
After Capone turned twenty-one last year, Redd officially included his youngest son in the family business. All this life, Capone sat back and watched how his dad moved. He literally studied everything: from the way his father talked, down to the way he handled his wife. Capone learned a lot from his dad and planned on one day tripling the worth of the family business and becoming that kingpin he was born to be.
“Why yo big head ass lie?”
Capone felt a slap on the back of his head. Turning around, he came face to face with his older sister Diamond.
“Mommie told YOU to go to the store, not me nigga.” She snapped, now mushing Capone in the head with her index finger.
Laughing out loud, he stood to his feet and attempted to hug Diamond, but she pushed him away.
“How long you been here?” she asked, taking a seat in the chair next to his.
“About an hour, they keep asking me to do shit, I’m about to leave.” He replied, looking around as more family member filed in.
“Well I’m about to leave with you.” Diamond stated, rolling her eyes to the back of her head.
Capone noticed Diamond went from joking to being serious in a matter of seconds. Wondering what changed her mood so quickly, Capone followed her eyes to the side gate where he noticed Jaylan, Brianna, and Pip walking in.
“Aw, here come yo homies.” Capone joked, laughing as Diamond screwed up her face.
“Don’t play with me. I hate them hoes, I’ll be back.”
Diamond stood her feet and left before the three of them made it over to where they were. As soon as Pip spotted him, she smiled and sashayed over.
“Hey baby.” She greeted him with a soft kiss on the lips.
Capone eyed Pip before she took a seat wearing a yellow sundress that hugged her small frame. She wore her hair in a high bun, which Capone loved, that along with her face full of freckles.
“What’s up? It’s hot as fuck out here.” She complained, fanning herself with her hand.
“Yeah it is. I’m ready to eat.” Capone replied, picking up his chiming phone.
“I’ll go make you a plate. I’ll be back.
Pip dismissed herself but Capone barley heard what she said, seeing how he was indulged in the text message he had just received.
Mecca: Hey Stranger…..
Capone hadn’t seen Mecca in almost a week. The night of the fire, her phone kept going to voicemail and they had been playing tag ever since then.
Capone: lol where u at shorty?
Staring at his phone, the bubble with the three dots appeared on his screen, indicating she was texting back. Texting wasn’t Capone’s thing but for some reason, he was anticipating a reply back from Mecca.
Mecca: I’m at Kay’s house. Wyd?
Capone: At a bbq. How your little sister doing?
Capone found out her youngest sister Yana had been taken away from them due to the fire. From the first time he held a conversation with Mecca, Capone knew she loved her siblings to death. Mecca and Capone were alike in that sense-- they both held family close to their heart. The biggest difference is that Capone was raised in a stable household and Mecca wasn’t.
Capone thought back to the day she held the drugs for him. It was his first time meeting her, and they hadn’t said more than two words to each other, yet, she helped him avoid a charge.
Mecca looked absolutely nothing like the women Capone dealt with. She was beautiful, no doubt. She had all the drive and personality he loved in women, but she just was a hood chick with no guidance.
“What you over here smiling at?” Pip appeared out of nowhere, handing Capone his plate.
“Thanks baby. You not eating?” he asked, grabbing the plate from her and digging in.
“Nah, me and Brianna had a big breakfast this morning.” She replied, taking a seat, crossing her legs.
“There go my dadddddyyyy.” She sang as Nate walked over to them.
Pip stood to her feet and greeted her father with a huge hug before he pulled Capone up into a manly hug.
“What’s going on young bull?” he asked Capone as Capone’s father Redd walked up and joined them.
“Shit, working. What’s up with you old man?” Capone questioned him.
“Shid, I can’t call it. Laying low.” Nate answered, pulling a lighter out of his pocket to light the Cuban cigar Redd handed him.
Capone’s father Redd and Nate were best friends. They grew up together in the projects and pretty much had the same story. Establishing and building the empire together, Nate was just as much of the man like Redd was. Only difference, Nate ran their drug business on the East Coast. When Pip was about ten, they moved to New York, where they lived up until three years ago. They returned when Capone and Pip started dating. At first, both sides were against their relationship but clearly neither of them cared. Everyone eventually came around and that’s where they’re at with it today.
“Pip told me about some shipment issues.” Nate spoke, causing everyone in their circle to look at him.
“Issues with shipment? Ain’t nobody told me shit.” Redd interjected, looking at his son.
Capone’s eyes darted to Pip, who tried to avoid eye contact with him. He never went into details with her about what happened. He made it perfectly clear to her that there was no issue and no need to involve her father, yet she didn’t listen. Boiling over with anger, Capone tried his hardest not to lose it.
“There’s no issue. We good.” He assured them.
“I surely hope not. I thought we made it clear that if there were any known problems, we would be informed.” Redd replied, still looking at his son.
“Pops, we good.”
“I sure hope so.” He stated, walking off with Nate in tow.
From Ratchet to Riches Page 12