When It All Falls Down: A Chicago Hood Drama (A Hustler's Lady Book 1)

by Tamicka Higgins

  “What are you talkin’ bout, Tramar,” Ayana asked. “What you mean you came close to almost having a body in here? You startin’ to scare me with all this code talkin’ you doin’ all the sudden. Why won’t you just tell me what you and Jackson did today and stop leadin’ me on like this.”

  “‘Cause,” Tramar said. “I was worried about you all weekend.” He leaned over the console and kissed his girl on the cheek. “It’s been a long couple of days without seeing you.”

  “I was so worried,” Ayana said. “I didn’t know what to think when you didn’t come back to the hotel room.”

  “Yeah, well,” Tramar said. “We not gon’ have to worry about that no more. I got the money I need to make all that go away and get that bitch off my back.”

  “Okay, stop playin’ with me, Tramar,” Ayana said, sounding serious this time. “What did you do?”

  Tramar explained to Ayana how Jackson had this guy who owed him some money and how the two of them rolled up on the north side to get it. He went on to say how they went ahead and took all of the money in the safe, with Tramar getting a cut and Jackson getting a cut. Ayana put her hand over her mouth and began to shake her head.

  “You not serious, is you?” Ayana asked. “I mean, y’all really just rolled up in there and took that nigga’s shit in his face like that?”

  “And the dude was with his chick, about to get it on, I guess,” Tramar said. “The nigga was naked.” He snickered. “And we walked in on his ass, put the fuckin’ guns with some silencers to his face, and took his shit. You shoulda seen the look on his face when we put that gun to his head. Dude was lookin’ scared and mad as fuck.”

  “I bet he was,” Ayana said. “I can’t believe y’all did that.”

  Tramar was now getting onto the highway and heading down I-90, crossing Chicago’s south side to cross the state line into Indiana. Traffic was building up in some spots, causing them to slow down. Every time a police cruiser would pass in the next lane, Tramar couldn’t help but look. Sure, he’d gotten used to doing that for most of his life anyway. However, now was different. He and Jackson had basically done a home invasion. Even if Byron wasn’t the kind of dude to call the police, because of the kind of life he lived, there was still the possibility that one of the neighbors had seen enough. There was still the possibility that somebody was watching. Now, however, only time would tell.

  “So, where is we going?” Ayana asked. “It look like we headed into Indiana or somewhere? Where did y’all hide the money?”

  “Well, I don’t know where Jackson got his,” Tramar said, “but we both got motel rooms over in this shitty part of Hammond. Since we just did the lick up on the north side, we figured it would be best to get as far away as we possibly could, and to do that shit as quickly as we could. So, we drove out here when we left the nigga’s house and been in these motel rooms since. Jackson got his own motel room while I got mine.”

  “Hmm, hmm,” Ayana said.

  Tramar looked over at Ayana. He picked up on the skepticism in her voice just then. He smiled, shaking his head. “Guess you think I mighta had some chick over.”

  “Naw,” Ayana said, shaking her head. “I don’t. That’s not what I’m sayin’. I mean, how long are y’all gon’ be hidden and shit with the money? Don’t you think the dude that y’all hit like that is gonna come after his shit sooner or later?”

  “That’s exactly what I was try’na tell Jackson’s ole stupid ass,” Tramar said. “When I talked to him about doin’ this shit, he made it sound like we was just gon’ run up in there and take what rightfully belonged to him and shit. But no, when we get there and shit and find the nigga in the kitchen fuckin’ with some bitch naked, Jackson decide that when we get the safe from upstairs that he gon’ just take all the money. All one hundred twenty something thousand.”

  Ayana turned and looked at Tramar. Even though he told her what happened, he hadn’t mentioned any dollar amount.

  “How much money you say y’all got?” Ayana asked.

  “A hundred and twenty somethin’ thousand,” Tramar answered. “I know you ain’t think when I was tellin’ you what all happened that that was all happenin’ over some little amount of money. We went up in there and got the real shit. But what I was sayin’ was that I was tellin’ Jackson’s ass when we was at the nigga’s house that we shoulda just killed his ass. I told that nigga that if we killed that nigga, we wouldn’t have to worry about nobody comin’ after us because nobody would know what had happened.”

  “That is true,” Ayana said, still thinking about Tramar’s cut of the money. “But what would y’all have did with his body after you killed him. That woulda been the smart thing to do, especially since you said that the two of you had guns with silencers on them, right?”

  “Exactly,” Jackson said. “That’s the whole reason I thought that Jackson got guns with silencers on them, so that we could go up in there and kill the nigga without nobody having to hear the gunshots. That’s why I think the ending part was crazy. I mean, the shit was totally fuckin’ avoidable. Who the fuck you know that don’t get caught when a nigga come walking out into the street naked and shooting at a rolling away car? The shit was crazy and ain’t even have to happen. Got me all nervous and shit.”

  Listening to Tramar’s words, Ayana began to connect some dots, and she looked around the car. “Hold up,” she said. “Y’all ain’t do that shit with this car, did you?”

  “Hell naw,” Tramar said, right away. “We did the shit in this black town car that Jackson got from somewhere. We ain’t dumb. I was just sayin’ that he shoulda killed that nigga. He convinced the nigga won’t come after us because he’s basically a little bitch or somethin’, but I don’t know. I could see the look in his eyes when we all was standin’ there, in the kitchen, with a gun to that head. That nigga looked like he wanted to kill us right then and there, but I guess Jackson ain’t see that.”

  Tramar crossed the Indiana state line then exited the interstate. As he and Ayana rolled through Hammond, the small town between the notorious Gary, Indiana and Chicago, he talked more and more about his idea for hiding the money. He’d thought that maybe he could hide it back at his father’s place, as his dad stayed out of the light at all times. However, hiding it at his father’s house could prove to be difficult because he was the kind of guy who kept track of any and everything that came into his house.

  When Tramar pulled into the parking lot of the Star Motel, Ayana looked around. Even though she was low on funds at the moment, this was the last place in the world she ever thought she would stay. They jumped out of the car, Tramar checking his surroundings, and headed into the motel. Inside, Ayana felt a little better as she saw the inside looked better than the outside. The furniture was decently modern while the sheets were clean and even looked as if they were brand new.

  Once inside, Tramar made sure that the door was locked and checked out of the window one last time to make sure he hadn’t been followed. Moments later, he was lifting up the right end of the dresser and pulling out the bag from underneath. He unzipped it and held it upside down over the bed. Ayana’s eyes practically glistened at watching so much money spill out onto the bed. Straps of blue-wrapped twenties and one hundred-dollar bills fell to the comforter and bounced around.

  Ayana began to reach down to grab a strap, but she paused. Tramar noticed. He gently tapped her ass with his hand. “You can touch it,” he said, snickering. “You the only person who can touch it.”

  Ayana sat down on the edge of the bed and looked through the money. With some in her hand and a smile on her face, she looked up at Tramar. “How much is this?” she asked.

  Tramar paused, looking into her eyes – a look that let her know that what he was about to say would be something she wanted to hear. “Fifty-something thousand,” he answered.

  “Damn,” Ayana said, nodding. “That’s a lot of fuckin’ cash to have.”

  The implications of this situation then floated into Ayana’
s mind. She dropped the money and stood up. “I don’t know about this, Tamar,” she said. “I mean, I don’t know what the fuck Jackson is thinking if he think that the nigga y’all hit ain’t gon come back after you for takin’ this kinda money. I mean, if niggas out here can get killed over a three hundred dollar pair of Jordan’s, then I don’t know why they wouldn’t kill somebody over this.”

  “Exactly,” Tramar said. “That is exactly what I was thinkin’, but we talked about it and shit and what we gon’ do if he come after us. I know I wanna do somethin’ else though. And what I wanna do with my money involves you, Ayana.”

  Ayana looked at Tramar. “What you mean it has to do with me?” she asked. “What you try’na do with the money?”

  “You know, I was thinkin, since the nigga Byron is prolly gon’ be try’na come after us, or at least Jackson, maybe I should take this as a sign that it’s time for us to move away,” Tramar said.

  “Move away?” Ayana asked. “Where do you wanna move away to, and when would you be try’na do this?”

  “Shit, I don’t know,” Tramar said, shrugging his shoulders. He grabbed Ayana’s waist and pulled her closer to him. “I mean, as soon as we could I guess. Part of me wanna stay here in Chicago, but you know all these niggas try to do out here nowadays is kill another nigga. That’s what I started to think when I was drivin’ back and shit. Jackson ain’t wanna listen when I was tellin’ him that we might as well go ahead and kill that nigga before he come after us. He stupid if he think he not.”

  “And now you got me involved in this shit,” Ayana said. “So, if the police find out about this and shit,” her hands were on her hips, “that makes me an accessory or somethin’.”

  “Ayana, calm down,” Tramar said. “Ain’t no damn police gon’ find out about this shit. Ain’t no way the nigga gon’ even call the police. I’m talkin’ to you about movin’ away. We can pick up now and go to some other part of the country and start over again.”

  “Yeah, but you know I told you on the phone earlier that I got that job interview tomorrow,” Ayana said.

  “I got money,” Tramar said, now sounding a little hostile. He frantically pointed at the straps of money spilled about the bed. “What the fuck you think them white people gon’ pay you somewhere? Ten dollars an hour or some shit? I got enough money to where we can get up and start over somewhere else. Shit, you can find a job there.”

  “And you don’t think this nigga, Byron, is gon’ come lookin’ for you and shit even if you do move away?” Ayana asked. “I don’t know. I mean this shit is crazy to me. Why y’all have to take all the money like that?”

  “‘Cause,” Tramar said. “Jackson is my boy and if somebody done fucked him over, then they done fucked me over. If that woulda been me and some nigga ain’t give me back the money that they owe me, Jackson woulda did the same thing.”

  “Yeah, but y’all went up in there and took way more than what the fuck he owed him to begin with!” Ayana said. “Y’all took way more, Tramar. That’s the fuckin’ difference. Y’all took way more than five or ten thousand. Y’all took ten times that. I mean, it is a lot of fuckin’ money, but still.”

  “But still, what?” Tramar said, purposely talking in a more soothing way. “You know you still want it, I don’t even know why you playin’. And plus, you ain’t been worried about it when I been out here making this money in other ways. Remember the car ring? Remember when we was hittin’ them licks? What ‘bout them condo’s downtown? You sure spent all that money no problem.”

  Ayana rolled her eyes, hating when she felt like her back was against a wall with Tramar’s words. “I know, I know,” she said.

  “Okay,” Tramar said. “So you know that a nigga is gonna take care of you. At first, you was talkin’ bout you had to think about whether or not you was gon’ move in with a nigga or not. You been stallin’ me on that. Now, I done went out here and made some money and now you talkin’ bout you don’t know if you can move away. What the fuck you got here anyway, Ayana? What the fuck you got to keep you in Chicago? I know you love your family and shit, but it ain’t even like y’all all that close no way.”

  “Yeah, that’s not it,” Ayana said. “I mean, what you gon’ do with the money from now on. It ain’t like even if I did want to move away tomorrow or some shit I could do it, I’mma at least need a little bit of time, damn. And you can’t stay in this hotel room for days and days like this with that kinda money.”

  “Why not?” Tramar asked. “Why can’t I?”

  “‘Cause, one of them cleanin’ lady people or something will come in here, and you gon’ wind up coming back and finding the shit gon,” Ayana explained.

  “Fuck she not,” Tramar said, shaking his head. “Let somebody come up in here and try’ta fuck with my money. I ain’t stupid like Jackson.” Tramar paused to pull his gun out from between the mattresses. He showed it to Ayana. “I will kill a nigga over my money…over our money.”

  Ayana looked at Tramar, her heart beating fast. Even though this situation was one that she would rather have not been in, she couldn’t deny the fact that she loved how Tramar cared for her so much. Ayana walked over to Tramar and put her arms up around his shoulders.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I guess you right. This ain’t really no different than the other things you done did.”

  “Yeah,” Tramar said. “It is but it isn’t. I’m tellin’ you, baby.” He kissed her softly. “I just wanna get out of here sometimes. We can go somewhere else and start over.”

  “But where?” Ayana asked. “Where would you wanna go? Saint Louis? Indianapolis? Where?”

  “Hell naw,” Tramar said. “If I’mma go somewhere, it’s gon’ be somewhere that I really wanna go. Like California or Colorado or somethin’.”

  Ayana chuckled. “Well, that’s all well and fine,” she said, “but we ain’t gotta rush out here like that. I mean, not unless you really think the nigga you and Jackson hit is going to be coming after you real soon.”

  Tramar shrugged his shoulders. “Shit, if the nigga do, I’mma be ready for his ass,” he said. “But I wouldn’t wanna be hanging around here for too long.”

  “But what about Jackson?” Ayana asked. “He talkin’ bout movin’ away too?”

  “Naw,” Tramar said. “You know how that nigga is. He dedicated to the streets and shit here in Chicago. Ain’t no way he gon’ ever leave this shit. I ain’t even told him that I’m thinkin’ bout movin’ away. You the first one I even talked to about that.”

  Ayana smiled. She loved how Tramar always put her first. “Well, I feel special now,” she said.

  “As you should,” Tramar said. “Now, why don’t you sit on the bed with a nigga, and we can look at this money together?”

  The two of them sat down on the bed as Tramar watched Ayana pick up stack after stack and skim through it. Of course, she’d never seen this much money in her life. And while it wouldn’t last all that long in Chicago, if they did indeed move somewhere that was cheaper, this money could certainly do a lot for them. As different cities flipped through Ayana’s mind, Tramar stood up and started pushing up on her. Within a matter of minutes, they’d pushed the money off onto the floor.

  “I love you,” Tramar said, looking into Ayana’s eyes as he lay on top of her. “I swear to God I do, girl.” He reached up and squeezed her ass.

  Ayana giggled. “I love you too,” she said. “I swear, on Saturday, when you ain’t come back, I was so scared. Then on Sunday, you ain’t answer neither. I was really thinkin’ that somethin’ had happened to you or somethin’. I even called your daddy and he was sayin’ that we’d have to wait three days to file a missing person’s report or something.”

  “Oh snap,” Tramar said. “I do need to call my daddy. I know he prolly wonderin’ where his little nigga is at and shit. Well,” he shrugged, “a nigga gotta handle this business first. Then, I can worry about all that.”

  “What business you talking about?” Ayana asked. “What bus
iness you got to handle first?”

  “You know,” Tramar said, smiling. His eyes glanced down, repeatedly, toward his crotch. This caused Ayana to look down that way as well. “You know you want some of this dick,” Tramar said. “I don’t even know why you playin’ with a nigga. Go on and let me get some of that pussy. I done had a stressful day and shit.”

  Ayana slid out from underneath Tramar as he laid back onto the bed, pushing the back of his head into the motel pillows. He glanced down, putting his hands up behind his head. “Go on,” he said, watching Ayana undo his belt buckle then zipper. “You know you wanna suck that dick.”

  “Boy, shut up,” Ayana said, smiling as she continued to pull Tramar’s manhood out of his pants. Once Tramar’s dick was out of his pants, Ayana could see that he was already on his way to getting hard. She took him into her mouth, the motel room filling up with her slurping noises, as he grew to his full size.

  “Fuck,” Tramar said, finally feeling like he could let go of some of the stress. He’d had to deal with so much in the last couple of days. From going to jail over some bullshit, to having to deal with Precious, to having to run up on Byron with Jackson earlier today. It felt good to finally sit back, relax, and enjoy a little head.

  Ayana bobbed her head up and down on Tramar until Tramar couldn’t take anymore. Eventually, he lifted her head up, kissed her, then turned her around doggy style. He grabbed her hips as he stroked into her, feeling his erection throb at the feeling of her insides tightening up around his dick. “Fuck, this pussy feel good!” Tramar announced. “Goddamn!”

  Ayana squealed as she felt Tramar practically reaching up into her stomach. Several minutes later, with her feeling sore and having had two orgasms, Tramar came. They laid in the motel bed, side by side one another, and talking.

  “You’re not going to keep doing stuff like that, are you?” Ayana asked, referring to the way he and Jackson had run up in Byron’s house.

  “Fuck no,” Tramar said. “That was just so I could help Jackson out with his problem. It wasn’t like that was my idea anyway. Why you ask? What you thinkin’ bout?”