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

by Tamicka Higgins

  “Well you didn’t get a hundred thousand when you was doin’ that shit,” Ayana responded. “You wasn’t doing shit that would make a nigga want to kill you. I don’t know what is going through Jackson’s head, but I’m tellin’ you, I got a feeling that Byron nigga ain’t gon’ just let this go.”

  Tramar was silent for a moment before he said, “That’s why I was sayin’ to you that me and you should hit the road,” he said. “I promise you girl, I love you more than I love myself. And, if you want to start over and shit, like I told you, we can pick up and do just that. All you gotta do is say that you ready to go. I’m sorry about what happened with you and that white man downtown today, and about how your mama be acting with you and shit, but maybe them are signs from God. Maybe that is God just try’na tell you somethin’. I’m out here hustling to get this money, doing whatever I gotta do. And it ain’t just my money, it’s our money.”

  Ayana smiled and looked into Tramar’s eyes. She could see his dedication to her in his eyes, and it was so nice to see such a thing in a man. He was keeping it real with her and even willing to risk getting into trouble just to make sure that she would be okay.

  “I’m tellin’ you,” Tramar said. “You ain’t got to do nothin’ but be you, and I’mma take care of you.” He kissed her. “I swear, Ayana. I’mma take care of you.”

  Ayana smiled. “I know you will,” she said. “I know you will. I was thinkin’…what you think about Atlanta?”

  “Oh snap!” Tramar said, putting his fist over his mouth as he leaned back, smiling. “I ain’t know that you was try’na get into the A-T-L.”

  “Boy, calm down,” Ayana said, smiling. “It was just an idea. I don’t know. I need to calm down and do some thinking.”

  “Bet,” Tramar said, standing up and grabbing his keys. “Come on and we gon’ go hit up a mall. Today, I’mma drop a stack on you. You can get whatever you want. I don’t care what you want. You deserve that shit.”

  Ayana’s face lit up as she imagined herself walking through the mall. She loved shopping, and she was so grateful to have a dude who would take her shopping with the money he went out and got. She followed him out to the car and they headed to the Oak Forest Shopping Center, where he surprised her and let her spend $1,500.

  Chapter 6

  When Ayana walked through the door at the apartment with her shopping bags, she could feel her mother’s eyes burning a hole in her back when she took the bags back to her bedroom.

  “Well, what do you have there?” Neeci asked. She sat on the couch, dressed in nothing but a white tank top and some gray leggings. She’d just gotten back in the house from chilling with this guy who lived downstairs. “Look like you went out and got that nigga to buy you some nice things, huh?”

  Ayana rolled her eyes. With having just gotten into it with her mother last night, she really didn’t feel like trying to hold any conversation with her just yet. However, she grinned and pushed through, coming up with something to say. “Yeah,” she said. “Tramar took me shopping and got me some things.”

  “Hmm,” Neeci said. “Ain’t that something.”

  Ayana walked out into the living room and across to the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of tea then stood in the dining room as she drank it, looking away from her mother.

  “Girl, I hope you not still mad about last night,” Neeci said. “If you just watched how you fuckin’ talk to me, we ain’t gotta worry about stuff like that happening and shit, you know? Just watch how you talk to me, and everything is gonna be okay. So, tell Mama how the job interview went this morning. You look nice in what you got on.”

  “It went,” Ayana said, in a flat tone.

  “You think you got it or what?” Neeci asked. “You think they gon’ hire you for it or what?”

  Ayana shook her head. “Naw,” she said. “I don’t. He said he had some other candidates he wanted to consider, and that he would be giving me a call once he’d made a decision. But I know he ain’t gon’ call me. He told me that he had a problem with the way I talked. He told me that I sounded too urban.”

  “Uh oh,” Neeci said, snickering. “You know what that mean. They don’t want your ghetto ass up in there. Girl, you need to learn something from your mama. You gotta have class if you wanna be downtown working for them white people and shit. They not gon’ let you work up in there if you all ghetto-fied and shit. That’s alright, though. You’ll find something sooner or later. See if the dollar store will hire you or somewhere like that.”

  Ayana’s nostrils flared as she once again felt insulted by her mother. All she could do was shake her head. She couldn’t understand how a mother could be so negative toward her daughter when she was trying to improve herself and get a better class of job. It just didn’t make any sense to Ayana at all.

  “Yeah,” Ayana said. “Maybe I will.”

  Ayana finished her tea and began walking back across the living room. When she’d gotten halfway across the room, there was a knock at the door. She stopped and looked at the door, then her mother.

  “Well what the fuck you lookin’ at me for, Ayana?” Neeci asked, shrugging her shoulders. “Answer the fuckin’ door. You speak English, don’t you?”

  Ayana rolled her eyes and walked over to the front door. When she opened it, her eyes met with one of her neighbors. She’d seen the woman in the building, but the two had never met. Ayana guessed the woman to be in her mid-thirties, somewhat attractive in the face with a decent body. Her stomach was a bit bulgy, telling Ayana that maybe she’d given birth a couple of times.

  “Yes?” Ayana said.

  The woman looked Ayana up and down with her hands on her hips. “So you the one who been up here suckin’ my man’s dick, huh?”

  Ayana’s neck snapped back as she immediately began to shake her head. “Naw,” she said. “Who are you talkin’….” Her words trailed off as she realized what was going on. Ayana turned and looked back at her mother. She stepped back from the door and to the side. “Mama, it’s for you.”

  Neeci stood up, not really thinking much about who could be at the door as she walked over to it. “Yes?” Neeci said, now standing in the doorway.

  “You?” the woman said. “You the bitch I heard about that be suckin’ these niggas dicks around here, even if they is married.”

  “Girl, what is you talkin’ about?” Neeci asked. “Do I even know you for you to be coming to my door like that?”

  “Just tell me, woman to woman,” the woman said. “Have you been sucking on my husband’s dick? One of my friends in the building said they saw him leaving your apartment today.”

  Ayana snickered as she walked away from the doorway, further back into the apartment. She wanted to make sure that she gave her mother all the space she needed to handle her company. In all honesty, she was getting a little excited to see what would happen. The woman looked extremely mad, letting Ayana know that maybe her mother had finally sucked the wrong dick.

  “Bitch, I don’t even know your husband,” Neeci said. “Bitch, I don’t even know you.”

  “Chris, bitch!” the woman yelled. “Chris is my husband, and why would my friend lie about seeing him leaving this apartment?”

  “Chris?” Neeci asked, trying to sound as convincing as possible. “Never even heard of him.”

  “Bitch, I know you lyin’,” the woman said. “I know you lyin’, you dick suckin’ hoe!”

  Next thing Ayana knew, the woman was swinging at her mother in the doorway. By the time Ayana had rushed over to the doorway, the woman had ahold of her mother’s hair, calling her every kind of hoe that ever existed and ever will exist. Neeci got a few hits in, but she was nothing compared to this woman. To make matters worse for Ayana’s mother, this lady was beyond pissed. As she pummeled Neeci to the floor, veins popped out of her forehead. Her arms looked as if they’d swollen up with water just to fight.

  “Yeah, bitch,” the woman said. “I heard about your dick suckin’ ass. Don’t think that people ain’t
talkin’ bout your ass. We know you, bitch! All you do is suck dick and you don’t give a damn whose dick it is that you suckin’. Just nasty! Just fuckin’ nasty!”

  “Bitch, you crazy,” Neeci yelled, getting her ass beat in the hallway of her apartment building. Blood now rolled down her face from it hitting the wall as the woman pummeled her unmercifully. “I told you, I ain’t suck his dick! I ain’t suck his dick!”

  “Bitch, you lyin’!” the woman yelled. “I know you lyin’! I can look at you and tell that you be up here suckin’ dicks and shit. If it wasn’t true then everyone wouldn’t be talking about it and shit. You a hoe, bitch! That’s why I’m beatin’ that ass.”

  The woman gave Neeci the business until she grew tired and nearly blue in the face. With Neeci weak and having a hard time getting her balance, the woman knocked her down and kicked her in her sides a couple of times. Once Neeci was on the ground, lying flat on her back, the woman sat on top of her. “Now look at you!” she said, smacking her across the face. “On your back, just like you used to. Now look at you!” Ayana watched as the woman slapped her mother across the face at least a dozen times, her mother struggling to move. Once the woman had gotten tired, she stood up and walked down the hallway. “Fuck around with my husband again and see what happen, bitch!” she yelled. “See what happen!”

  People in the hallway watched and chattered amongst themselves. They all were trying to figure out what was going on—why these two women were fighting. Ayana could feel all of their eyes when she rushed out into the hallway to help her mother up off of the ground. It seemed that all of her neighbors saw her mother as a hoe that would mess with any man. They’d seen her having different men over and had heard the rumors.

  Neeci, furious, managed to get up, and she rushed back into the apartment. She slapped the door behind her. Now standing across from Ayana, she could see that her mother’s face was pretty bruised up. Both eyes were blackened and there were scratches, some kind of deep, on both cheeks. Her bottom lip was busted while her hair looked as if the weave had never been done professionally. She looked at Ayana.

  “Bitch!” she said. “What the fuck was your problem? You just gon’ stand there and watch some bitch you don’t even know beat my ass – your mama ass? You just gon’ watch her do that shit to me and not even help me or anything? What the fuck is your problem, you stupid bitch?”

  Ayana shook her head and smiled. “I didn’t know what was going on,” she said, lying. “My bad, Mama.”

  “Oh, so you think this shit is funny, do you?” Neeci said. “You lucky I gotta put some ice on my wrist and face, or else I’d get in that ass the way I did last night.”

  “Yeah, whatever,” Ayana said, walking away. She couldn’t care less what her mother had to say. In her eyes, her mother had gotten exactly what she deserved. If the circumstances were different, she might have thought about helping her mother. However, some of the things her mother had said to her lately, especially about how she could have Tramar anytime she wanted, left too bitter of a taste in her mouth. At this moment, she’d lost all respect for her mother. Furthermore, Ayana was feeling kind of brave. She knew that she had Tramar in her corner, and that she wouldn’t have to worry about anything. He’d always take better care of her and support her in ways that her mother would never even try to do.

  “Yeah, whatever my ass,” Neeci said. “You can get the fuck out my house! I’m tired of lookin’ at your ugly ass! Get the fuck out here bitch!”

  Ayana walked into her bedroom, sashaying all the way. “I will gladly get the fuck outta here,” she said. “I don’t wanna live in the damn hoe house no way. I actually care about my reputation.”

  As Ayana was pulling a suitcase out of the closet, a flying lamp narrowly missed her shoulder. It crashed against the wall and shattered, the little pieces of white ceramic falling to the floor and spreading about the carpet.

  “Damn, Mama,” Ayana said. “You coulda hit me or somethin’.”

  “I was try’n to,” Neeci said. “You deserved that shit if it did hit you. Go on and pack your shit. I can’t believe that my own daughter is just gonna sit there and watch me get my ass beat like it’s nothing. You just gon’ sit there and watch.”

  Ayana shook her head and said, “Whatever. I don’t care. Let me pack my shit so I can get the fuck up outta here before somebody come to the door and think that I’m the one that is suckin’ dick and stuff.”

  “Good!” Neeci yelled. “‘Cause girl, I don’t ever wanna see you again in life. I swear I don’t.”

  Ayana continued packing her suitcase, trying to get as many pieces of clothing and shoes that she get squeeze inside of it. Once she’d finished, she pulled the suitcase off of her bed and rolled it toward the door. She paused when she opened the front door and looked back at her mother. She was sitting at the dining room table, pressing her face with a rag filled with ice cubes. “Bye, Mama,” Ayana said, feeling so done with living here. “I’ll see you when I see you.”

  Neeci looked into her daughter’s eyes and didn’t say a word. She simply looked away and ignored her. Ayana pulled her suitcase out into the hallway, slammed the door behind her, and headed downstairs to the parking lot as quickly as she could. She wanted to try to get in touch with Tramar before he crossed the state line and was back in Indiana. Quickly, she pulled her phone out and called Tramar.

  “Hello?” he answered.

  “Where you at?” Ayana asked. “I need you to come back and get me. Is you across the state line already or what?”

  “Naw,” Tramar said. “But I’m comin’ up on it now. What’s wrong? What happened?”

  “I’ll tell you when you get here, Tramar,” Ayana said. “Some bullshit with my mama. I’m standing outside with my suitcase. Just try to get here as soon as you can. It ain’t cold out here, so I can wait.”

  When Ayana hung up, she waited out on the sidewalk until she saw Tramar’s car coming down the block. She’d never been so happy to see him in her life. All she wanted to do at that point was to get as far away from her mother as she could possibly get. She couldn’t believe that her mother, once again, had found a way to blame her for the consequences of her own actions. The cherry on top was the fact that she had to hear her mother say that she never wanted to see her again in life. With how Ayana was feeling right now, that could very well be possible.

  When she got into the car, she waited while Tramar loaded her suitcase into his trunk. Several seconds later, he was behind the wheel and asking Ayana what had happened. All the way down to the Indiana state line and into Hammond, he listened closely as Ayana explained what all went down with her mother and the woman at the doorway. Yet again, Tramar reiterated his promise, for he now was even more motivated to make money. He was going to do everything he could to make sure that his woman wouldn't have to hurt the way she was hurting right now anymore.

  That evening, while Tramar went and hit the licks in Merrillville with Jackson and their friend Antonio, Ayana chilled in the motel room. Even though the room was nothing close to as nice as her mother’s apartment, it was still better than having to deal with her mother. Ayana lay on the bed while she waited for Tramar to return. She was seriously contemplating moving away with Tramar, especially if they moved down to Atlanta. The more she thought about the idea, the more she liked it. She’d gotten so tired of applying for jobs and being ignored, let alone what had happened at the office downtown that morning, that she was completely put off of going to white people for jobs. She would rather be a hustler’s lady than have to put up with being mistreated, be it at work or in her mother’s house.

  Chapter 7

  Since Monday morning, Byron had been furious. Never in his life had he let his guard down to the point where a couple of dudes could make their way all the way up into his house without him knowing it was happening. While he was partly angry with himself, he also knew that his feelings would only be resolved once he got Jackson and his boy back. There was just no way he was going to
let this go. Over and over again, he remembered having the gun pressed to the back of his head. He almost wanted to laugh, finding it hysterical how bold Jackson was for robbing him like that. Just wait till I catch up with that nigga, Byron had thought to himself when he walked back into the house Monday morning after they fled – and it had been his mantra since.

  Now, on Tuesday evening, Byron had a couple of ladies over to keep him company. They were chicks he’d met at the strip club that were throwing pussy at him every time he came around. He hit them up letting them know that they could come and chill at his house. Once he’d sent them the address, they were on the way with little hesitation. Now, Byron smoked a blunt with his pants down around his ankles as he leaned back into his couch in the living room. A gun rested on the couch, on the cushion next to him as he looked down at two thick honeys giving him head. One licked on his balls while the other gobbled down on his dick. They would alternate on their own at times, but Byron kept one hand on each head and moved them back and forth between his dick and his balls as he pleased.

  “Yeah, bitches,” he said, smiling. “Suck that dick and them balls. Suck that dick and them balls. Damn that shit feel good.”

  Both women put in as much work as possible, almost soaking Byron’s crotch with their spit. Neither one of them ever pulled their head up to say a word. A few minutes crept by and Byron’s phone rang. It was his boy, Juan. He’d known Juan since grade school. They’d grown up in the streets together. Juan was known all over the south side of Chicago as being a connect for getting the good weed from down south. There were even times he’d get his hands on some Colombian marijuana and cocaine from Central America. When he did, all of the rich white kids would swarm him.

  “Wassup?” Byron answered.

  “Wassup nigga?” Juan said. “What you up to?”

  “Shit,” Byron said. “Got these two hoes over here suckin’ on this dick while I smoke this good shit and blow off some steam.” Byron held the phone between his shoulder and ear as he pulled one chick’s head off of his dick, pulling the other’s head up and pushing it down. “That’s all. Got two of these bitches suckin’ on this dick. Damn, this shit feel good.”