Microphone Fiend

by Sa'id Salaam

  “Argh,” she grunted, sounding like a pirate when she came.

  “Damn, that must’ve been a good one,” Breeze said proudly as she shook and shivered beside him. He withdrew his wet fingers and sucked her nectar off.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Shit, I don’t know why you got an attitude! It’s your fault we had to pay,” Tasheena chided, correctly reading her friend’s face. It was Tosha who had actually paid the ten dollar admission fee for the both of them, despite the pronoun we being used. “And we still need drinks!”

  “Okay,” Tosha growled through gritted teeth. She went on and tuned he user of a friend out to avoid hearing all the complaints and gripes coming out of her mouth. To have Tasheena tell it, she was as sick of Tosha as she was of her. Tosha shrugged, since tonight was their last night together.

  “Two Ice Teas, please,” Tasheena ordered, since they were the strongest drinks on the menu. They were also the most expensive, but like they say, it ain’t tricking when it ain’t your money.

  “Coming right up,” Pops replied, and turned to fill the order. He was back in a flash with the drinks. Tasheena picked hers up, took a sip, and turned her back to the bar. That was body language for ‘she got it.’

  “I got it,” Tosha confirmed, and parted ways with her second twenty-dollar bill within minutes of the first one.

  “Thank you,” Pops smiled when she waved off the four dollars change.

  Tosha smiled, “You’re welcome,” before taking a sip of her own drink. She couldn’t help but calculate the forty dollars she had just spent by the damn near three hours it took to earn it. Three hours of back-hurting, eye-straining dealings with irate customers. Meanwhile, Tasheena had sucked half of hers down already.

  “Come on. Let’s go turn up,” Tasheena ordered. They never voted or drew lots, but somehow she was the appointed leader. Still, tonight was the last night.

  She led them to a spot near the front of the dance floor. This way they could see everyone seeing them shaking their asses. The plan worked, and they were spotted by a couple of suitors at the same time. Meeka was closest to Big Money, so he beat Ray to the punch.

  “S’cuse me. See those two hos right there?” Big Money asked, pointing at Tasheena and Tosha.

  “Yes,” Meeka mumbled, since she was literally biting her tongue at the use of the ‘H’ word. She couldn’t even escape it when she tried to read.

  “Bring them to me,” he demanded with an outstretched C-note.

  “Okay,” she said, and swallowed hard so her pride could go down. She actually felt like crying at taking the money. She had looked down at some of her classmates who stripped for extras, but she was becoming a pimp.

  “Excuse me, ladies, but a gentleman in the V.I.P. section requested your company. Weren’t you guys here last week?” Meeka asked. The change of eye and hair color may have fooled Big Money, but she recognized them.

  “Who? Where? Le’ go!” Tasheena replied eagerly.

  Meeka just shook her head woefully as she made her ho delivery. Tosha was in the rear, shaking hers as well. She was not a ho, and was tired of pretending to be one.

  “Here are the ladies you sent for,” she said and dropped the girls off.

  “’Sup, ladies? You can call me Big Money,” Big Money introduce as they slid into the booth.

  “Thought you forgot about us,” Tasheena said as he filled their glasses with champagne. Big Money frowned that where-do-I know-you-from frown and leaned in for closer inspection.

  “Aw, man! I fucked y’all already,” he fumed when it came to him before she could get a sip.

  “Beat it!” he ordered, pointing his finger at them in case they didn’t understand.

  “Good!” Tosha spat and stood up in relief. Not Tasheena, though. She was 38-hot.

  “Beat it? Really? Oh, I got you, nigga!” She nodded wickedly. This is why you never dis a chick who has panties full of your semen at home in a plastic bag.

  Ray-Ray saw, but didn’t hear, the brief dust up. Whatever happened worked to his advantage, because he had no problem freaking the same freak twice.

  “Get these hos right here,” he said, grabbing Meeka’s arm.

  “Why they gotta be hos, though? For real, why not ladies or young women, girls? Something? Why hos?” she demanded.

  “Shawty, I met her last week, took her home, and put my dick in every hole on her body ‘cept her ear, and she don’t even know my name. If that ain’t a ho, what is?”

  “One sec,” Meeka agreed and rushed off to get the hos before the bouncer bounced them from the V.I.P. section. She caught them just in time and delivered them to the table.

  “Oh, hey, um,” Tasheena greeted, struggling to recall his name. Ray shot Meeka one of those told-you-so looks and slipped her a tip.

  “Ray,” he helped out, and then introduced his friend. “This Blockhead.”

  “Hey,” they sang together like a choir and slid into the booth. Ray poured champagne for their guests and passed it around.

  “Here you go,” he discretely producing a one-hundred dollar bill filled with glistening cocaine. Tasheena glanced around before scooping some in a fake fingernail.

  “Come on girl,” she urged after putting two doses up each nostril.

  “Un-uh,” Tosha declined verbally, but still frowned and shook her head no. She thought it was clear, but Tasheena still asked.

  “Girl, what you mean, un-uh? Don’t be rude,” she pressed her peer. Friends will lead you to destruction quicker than any enemy can.

  “Un-uh as in no. No, I don’t want to use drugs,” she shot back.

  “Chill, lil’ mama,” Blockhead cooed and grabbed a handful of titty.

  “Get yo damn hands off me,” she spat, knocking his hand away.

  “Tosha! Girl, stop trippin’,” Tasheena urged, hoping she didn’t fuck up her shot to go home with the baller once more.

  “No, I was trippin’! I’m good now,” Tosha said proudly as her dignity returned. She slid out of the booth, threw up the peace sign, and marched off.

  Julious watched the whole episode curiously from where he sat. As bad as he wanted to bag one of these sophisticated women, he knew he had to catch another lick soon so he could continue with his sophisticated lifestyle. Having to split the money from the last robbery made it go twice as fast. It probably would have went three times as fast if he had split it evenly.

  “Guess you on your own,” Ray told Blockhead while squeezing Tasheena’s ass under the table. He recalled how freaky she was and planned on taking her home so he could really give her the business.

  “That’s okay. I’ll just roll through the parking lot at The TRAP and scoop a ho,” he said.

  Julious waited and watched for a second when his mark stood and left. Once they hit the door, he was right behind them. The valet returned with Ray’s car and they were off. They had a couple minutes’ head start on him when he got his. He floored the Range Rover and shot up Peachtree in pursuit. A few lucky turns later and he caught up with them getting on I-20.

  “There you go,” Julious cheered when he spotted the donk. He lit a blunt and tailed them from a distance. When Ray pulled off in East Atlanta, he was right behind him. He followed him all the way home and wrote down the address.

  Julious pulled over and watched Ray approach the house. To his surprise, he had no fences, security guards, or burglar bars. His rep in this neighborhood was all the security he needed, or so he thought. Complacency will get that ass robbed every time.

  “Strip!” Ray ordered as soon as they stepped into the expensively-cluttered room. It was stuffed with oversized leather furniture and electronics. A huge flat screen TV dominated an entire wall.

  Stripping didn’t take much doing, since she wasn’t wearing many clothes. She pulled the spaghetti straps off of her shoulders and let the dress fall to the floor below. Meanwhile, Ray fiddled with a video camera on a tripod. He turned the TV on, casting the room up onto the large screen.

 
“Here you go,” Ray said, dumping a mound of cocaine on the table. Tasheena didn’t have to be told twice. She kneeled down, leaned in, and got busy. Ray busied himself with playing in her box from behind. He pulled her silky panties aside and ran his finger in and out of her wetness.

  “Here you go,” Ray said once more. This time he was offering his erection. She didn’t need to be told twice about that, either. She quickly turned and stuffed as much as she could into her mouth.

  A dose of Viagra kept Ray from deflating once he busted a nut in her mouth. He pulled Tasheena up and guided her onto his dick. Now all he had to do was sit back and watch the porno scene play out on the big screen.

  Another nut later, Ray rushed her into his bedroom and sexed her from every known position. Bouts of sex were paused only to smoke, drink, and snort more coke.

  “Shit,” Tasheena shouted as she came one last time. Ray rolled off and struggled to catch his breath. She was all set to cuddle until he did catch his breath, and said, “Grab that money off the dresser. Walk down to Moreland and catch the bus.”

  “Um. Okay,” she said, twisting her lips at the snub. She could only hope the money was straight. It was, but it was sitting in front of the mirror, and she accidently looked into her eyes. What she saw scared her so bad she dropped the money and reeled back a few feet.

  “’Sup with you?” Ray-Ray asked at her strange reaction.

  “Huh? Nothing,” she replied, and picked up her money. He wouldn’t have understood her realizing what she had become, since that’s what he took her for, anyway. At least the thick roll of cash contained a few hundred bucks.

  ***

  “Well?” Breeze asked hopefully once the club closed. It seemed like another successful night, but he needed confirmation.

  “Looks great!” Billie cheered after going over the unofficial numbers in her head.

  “It was okay,” Carlton interjected sarcastically. “We can do better. I have a few things I want to try next week.”

  “Okay,” Breeze sighed, feeling dejected. He was about to second-guess himself for a second time. Maybe I am in over my head. Maybe I am just a hood, a street nigga, he wondered. “Goodnight.”

  “Night,” Billie said with her usual exuberance. Her tone changed to serious once he cleared the room. “We did great tonight! Why would you tell him that?”

  “Because, he’s a monkey! He doesn’t deserve a venue like this! Have you any idea what I could do with a space this large! Of course you do, but we have a hoodlum holding the reigns. Mark my words, I’m taking control of this place. I just have to get Breeze out of my hair.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Saturday rolled around, and it was party time once again. Everyone made preparations for a night on the town except for Ju-baby and Wesley. They were on a stakeout, parked outside of Ray’s house. There were several cars still parked at the house, but the donk was gone. Still, they waited and watched, because only fools rush in.

  “Shawty, when I tell you this bitch had a big pussy,” Wesley exclaimed, recounting his episode from last night. In his defense, he only referred to her as a bitch because he didn’t get her name, just some pussy. “That shit was farting, whistling, and blowing bubbles!”

  “Blowing bubbles?” Ju-baby laughed. He wondered inwardly which STD causes a vagina to blow bubbles. Knowing his partner, his dick would be blowing bubbles next, then half the vaginas on the west side.

  “A’ight, I’m a circle the block once while you go in.” Ju-baby suggested wisely. This way, if someone was inside, only one of them would get killed. Besides, he had to check on something around the corner, anyway.

  “Okay,” Wesley cheered, because again, only fools rush in. Wesley whipped his head left, right, and then left again as he walked briskly to the front door. He tapped on it a few times, then checked the knob. When it didn’t open, he used his shoulder to make it open. A few seconds of pressure from his weight, and the door buckled. The threshold was the point of no return, so down went the ski mask and out came the gun.

  Ju-baby circled the block and parked back in front of the house. Seeing Wesley was in, he got out and followed him inside.

  “Come on in,” Wesley whispered, and smiled so wide his molars were visible.”

  “You check the house to make sure no one is here?” Ju-baby whispered.

  “Huh?” he replied, meaning he hadn’t.

  “Stay here and watch the door,” Ju-baby ordered, and set off to clear the house. He crept from room to room looking for somebody to shoot. The search came up empty, and he returned to the front.

  “It’s empty,” he relayed in a whisper.

  “So, why we still whispering?” Wesley wanted to know.

  “I don’t know,” he whispered, then laughed out loud. “Now, where that safe at? I know this nigga sitting on a mil or two.”

  Actually, Ray-Ray should’ve been sitting on a couple of million, but he wasn’t. He certainly made enough, but it went out as quickly as it came in. First, he took a page from his older brother’s playbook and paid his workers well. While you can’t buy loyalty, you can rent it. That was all good, but the bad was Ray liked to trick off. He spent a plethora to keep his dick somewhere warm and wet. So, instead of a couple million, he was sitting on a couple hundred grand and didn’t even have a safe.

  “I can’t find no safe, nowhere,” Ju-baby whined when he returned from his search. He did, however, find a few grand in cash and jewels, but they were stuffed in his pockets.

  “Let me try,” Wesley said, and traded places with his friend. He searched the house while Ju-baby watched the door. He checked the cupboards, cabinets, fridge, and deep freezer before double-checking the bedrooms. He, too, came upon a couple of grand in petty cash and put it in his pocket. There has never been honor among thieves, so why start now?

  “Shit, I guess the burglary done turned into a robbery,” Wesley announced when he returned.

  “Guess so,” Ju-baby concurred. They took a seat on the sofa and waited for Ray’s return. They even lit the blunt laying in the man’s ashtray.

  “May as well watch a little TV,” Wesley reckoned, and hit the remote. The wall filled with images of last night’s sex.

  “I know that chick from somewhere,” Ju-baby stated. Tasheena’s face was contorted from the dick in it, making identification difficult. “Probably best to turn it off. He might see it.”

  Wesley complied and went back to his story from the previous night. Ju-baby was saved not long after when they heard Ray-Ray pulling into his driveway. The sound of two doors opening and closing meant he was not alone.

  “Showtime,” Ju-baby whispered and pulled his ski mask back down. Wesley did the same and took position behind the front door, while Ju ducked behind the sofa. A second later, Ray and Blockhead walked in, carrying on a conversation.

  “Shawty, that chick pussy was blowing bubbles,” Blockhead said about the late-night episode, and closed the door behind him. He was about to continue, but Wesley stepped out and shot him in the back of his block head. He didn’t fall quick enough, so he fired again.

  “What the fuck, shawty!” Ray shouted in shock at his friend’s murder.

  “Oh, we robbing you,” Ju-baby explained as he popped up from behind the sofa. The vicious robbers learned if you shot someone at the start of the stick up, it makes people a lot more pliable.

  “Do you know who I is?” Ray-Ray asked hotly. He got even hotter when he saw blood on his hand from touching his head.

  “Course we do. That’s why we here. Now, where the safe?” Ju-baby replied, quite cordially for a thug.

  “Come off that bread!” Wesley screamed raising his gun to deliver another backhand blow if need be.

  “Ain’t no safe,” Ray-Ray yelled hotly. He wasn’t lying. He really didn’t have one.

  “Shoot him,” Ju-baby shrugged, ending all conversation. Wesley turned his gun and…

  “Wait! Hol’ up! In the sofa, lift the cushion,” Ray pleaded.

 
; Ju-baby and Wesley looked at one another incredulously, neither of them thinking to have checked themselves.

  Wesley lifted the cushions, and there under a piece of cloth was stacks upon stacks of bundled cash. It looked like a million, but was far shorter.

  “’Preciate it,” Ju-baby said sincerely, then shot him in his temple.

  “Boy, we struck gold,” Wesley cheered as he removed the bundles of cash.

  “Yeah, I did,” Ju-baby replied ominously. Wesley frowned and turned to address the selfish statement and got shot, too. “Sorry, partn’a, but I’m going solo from here on.”

  Chapter Twenty

  When Saturday night sprung, Tasheena was ready to turn up. It was time to get dressed, douched and ready to roll, but she hadn’t heard from Tosha. She got her answer when she called her friend’s phone.

  “Oh, it’s like that, huh?” Tasheena barked at her phone when the recording announced the number she had dialed had been changed. She was just selfish enough to accuse Tosha of being selfish. Never mind the fact the only thing she ever gave her friend was orders. Do this, do that, come get me, drop me off, let me borrow…

  “That’s exactly why I don’t mess with yo’ ass no mo’,” She vowed, like she was the one cutting Tosha off. “Finna run into my boo Ray-Ray, anyway.”

  Tasheena didn’t get a number, but hoped to catch him in the club once again. The way she put it on him last night, she just knew she had him whipped. Have her tell it, that’s why she had to walk down to the bus stop this morning. Lying beats crying, so she went on telling herself what she wanted to hear.

  Inside the shower, she cleaned herself inside and out before stepping back out. She closed her eyes and played her game of chance to select an outfit. When they opened, she had picked a knee-length church dress. It went well with her long, brown flowing wig, so she pulled that off the top shelf as well. A tan Pucci purse and pumps also got called for duty.