Raunchy (The Cartel Publications Presents)

by Styles, T

  They all looked at her and laughed. “Bitch, I thought that was a dude,” one of them responded.

  “Right! She dressed like a fuckin’ man.” Another one chimed in.

  Jayden looked down at herself and the moment the girls left the restaurant, she took her hair down and allowed her long main to fall down her back. Then she took off the long sleeve shirt she had on exposing the dingy white tank top underneath it.

  Although she didn’t look as feminine as she’d liked, she did look more attractive. When she was finished dolling herself up as best she could, she waited. Waited for someone to talk to her. Waited for someone to say she was cute and waited for someone to give her some money.

  Two minutes later, one of the three girls who was there earlier walked back inside. She stomped up to the counter.

  “Sir, you forgot my fucking soda!” She yelled at the cashier. The other two girls piled back inside behind her. “And I know you heard me order one, too. Plus you charged me for that shit and everything!” she said throwing the receipt in front of him. “That’s not right, sir!”

  “Mam, if you are going to use that kind of language, what difference does it make if you call me sir or not?”

  “Okay, BITCH!” She laughed, her friends laughing with her. “You forgot my soda. Is that better now?” She was really showing off since she had an audience.

  The older gentlemen shook his head and went to get her drink. But in the process, she saw Jayden had taken out her hair and tried to appear more feminine.

  “Let me find out she tried to transform.” She laughed. “You still look like a boy, bitch.”

  “Fuck you,” Jayden said under her breath.

  “Oh shit! She said fuck you, Toni!” One of the girls instigated. “You got to go on her now.”

  Toni, followed by the other girls, walked up to Jayden. Jayden stood up and was going to do her best to defend herself realizing she was outnumbered. Before she could think of what to do, Toni smacked her in the face with the soda she’d just been given from the cashier. The cup busted all over her clothes and ice cubes clung to her hair.

  Jayden angry, and fed up at the world, began throwing wild punches at the girl. But after awhile, the other girls jumped in and they all began to beat her so badly, a few customers got involved. One of the customers had just walked in during the end of the fight. He had two friends with him and they moved in on the girls like a couple of cops.

  “Stupid, bitch!” Jayden said trying to get a hold of them again. “I’ll fuck you up!”

  But the seventeen-year-old boy maintained his hold on Jayden and his friends kept the other girls at bay.

  “Why you always starting shit, Toni?!” the one who had Jayden said.

  “Fuck that, Shaggy! She hit me.”

  “That’s ‘cause you threw a soda in my face, bitch!”

  “Yo, get the fuck out of here before I call your peoples,” Shaggy said to Toni. When she didn’t move he said, “I’m not fucking around, Toni. Move.” He pointed.

  “You gonna see me again, bitch!” Toni said leaving out the door with her friends behind her.

  “Go the fuck home,” Xion added. He was light, tall and cute and had a rough edge to himself that Jayden liked.

  When they left, Jayden tried to pull herself together by wiping the soda off of her drenched clothes and shaking the ice out of her hair. Shaggy, the one who helped her took a step back and looked at her fully. She looked familiar to him, very familiar but he couldn’t place her face. Still, he hadn’t seen her around the way before and wondered where she came from. At first glance, he thought she was into girls judging by the boyish way she was dressed.

  “You aight, shawty?” He asked trying to feel her out. He was attracted to her immediately although he didn’t know why. She was nothing like the girls he got down with normally. She was dirty and boyish instead of cute, clean and fly. “You can’t be in here fighting and shit. These peoples call the cops quick around here.”

  “Well them bitches shouldn’tve put their hands on me.” She said putting her hair in a ponytail. “I’m sick of this shit.”

  “I feel you,” he said looking at her angelic face. “But they gone now. Ain’t no need in you still bein’ riled up.” He paused. “You need a ride home?”

  She was so caught up in the fight, that she forgot her mission and said, “No. I just want to be left alone.”

  “Aight, fam,” he smiled. “Well, look, I’ma grab something to eat. Can I get you something?”

  For the first time since he introduced himself, she calmed down and looked at his face. He was very attractive with his brown skin, a neat low hair cut and stylish clothes. Surely he had one hundred dollars on him. She thought. Now all she had to do was convince herself to be bold enough to ask him for it.

  “Uh…Yeah,” she paused trying to fix herself to ask him for something small before asking for something big. “Can you get me a Big Mac meal?”

  “You got that,” he said. He told his boys who were already at the counter placing their orders, to add a Big Mac meal to the order. Then he said, “You sure I can’t take you somewhere? It ain’t a problem.”

  Ask him for the money, girl. She thought to herself. What are you waiting on? You see he a drug dealer.

  “Look, can I ask you something serious?”

  “Yeah…What’s up?”

  “Can you let me borrow two hundred dollars?” She remembered what her mother said awhile back. To always ask for more then what you want to get exactly what you need.

  “Damn, you going hard ain’t you?”

  “Look, if you can’t help me forget it,” she said grabbing her jacket preparing to leave. Her food came right before she went out the door and he handed her the bag. “Thanks for the food though.”

  She went outside, sat on the ground against the window and tore into the food. But she was sure to leave half of sandwich and some fries for Madjesty. Whether her mother knew it or not, she would sneak her sister the food.

  Jayden looked homeless and hungry and Shaggy felt for her. And although it wasn’t his style, for some reason, he wanted to help her out. He didn’t think she was on drugs because he’d been around enough dope fiends to know the difference. But she definitely had a hard life.

  “What you doing, young?” Spirit, one of his friends asked watching him staring at Jayden. “I know you got the number right?”

  “Yeah, nigga. She a little rough around the edges but she still a cutie.” Xion added.

  “Ya’ll go wait for me in my truck,” he said referring to the red Navigator in the parking lot. “I’ma holla at shorty for a minute.”

  “Okay…Just wanted you to know that one of your pops prowlers just passed by.”

  Shaggy hated the extra security his father put around him but dealt with it, knowing it was for protection. His boys went to his truck without relenting. Besides, he was the boss and in control of everything anyway. When he was alone, Shaggy walked outside and caught Jayden right before she walked away after finishing her meal.

  “Come here, shawty,” he said smoothly.

  She turned around looked at him and said, “If you can’t help me, fuck it.”

  “Aight then,” he said about to walk to his truck.

  Realizing she was going to lose her chance to help her sister she said, “No…Wait. Please…Don’t leave.”

  He stopped and walked over to her. “How much you need again?”

  “Two hundred,” she repeated.

  “Why you need two hundred dollars?”

  “Why?” She said anxiously. “I just need it. Okay?”

  “No it’s not okay. You don’t know me from a hole in a wall yet you ask me for two large. I need to know why, shawty. And since I’m in a position to give you what you need, you best be tellin’ me somethin’.”

  Jayden sat down on the ground again and started sobbing. “My…My life is fucked up. My mother is a horrible person who is keeping my sister under the steps in our house unless I
give her some money.” She cried harder. “I don’t have nothing to offer you in return, but if you give me the two hundred dollars, I promise...I’ll do whatever I can to give you the two hundred back. Just please…Please…Help me help my sister. She’s all I got.”

  Shaggy was moved by her sadness and sat down on the ground next to her. His friends couldn’t believe what he was doing as they watched him out the window of his truck. He was the type of dude who wouldn’t put himself out there for nobody. He had to be feeling her. They thought.

  He reached in his pocket and handed her four hundred dollars. Her eyes grew big as saucers as she accepted the money.

  “I’ma give you my number before I drop you off. I want you to call me if you need anything else.”

  “For real?” she asked wiping the tears from her eyes.

  “For real.”

  “Ummm...Not that I don’t appreciate it, but why so much?”

  “Because I feel you and I got it to give.”

  She smiled, peeled off two hundred from the four hundred and gave it back to him.

  “See, like I said, I paid you the two hundred back.” They both laughed. “No seriously, thank you.” She tucked the money in her pocket.

  He took notice that she could have easily taken the four hundred dollars and never saw him again. He knew then that she wasn’t on drugs and that she was a girl of her word.

  “You paid me back the two hundred, but you still gotta pay me for the other two.”

  “Okay,” she said hesitantly. “Well does it have to be cash?” She figured he wanted sex and she needed to be broken in anyway.

  “Naw.”

  “Well what you want?”

  “I want you to let me take you out. Since it’s obvious you like to eat and shit,” he laughed. She laughed too. “Where you live?”

  “At Concord Manor.”

  “Wait, the mansion up the street?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And you ain’t got two hundred on you?” He continued.

  “Everything is not what it seems.”

  “I heard that.” He said. “But look, my folks is having a little somethin’ at their house tomorrow. My mother is sick and goin’ blind and she might not make it. So before she loses her eyesight completely, we want to do somethin’ nice for her.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “It is what it is.” He said looking out in front of him. For a moment he disconnected. “But we been knowin’ she might not make it for a while. If you want I can come scoop you. We can stay at my spot for a while, then go grab somethin’ to eat.”

  “That sounds nice,” she said. And then she remembered her mother. Making plans without knowing Harmony’s moods could be a waste of time. “But can I call you first to make sure? I got to ask my mom first.”

  “Yeah…That’ll work.”

  “What’s your mother’s name?” She asked figuring she could get her a card or something so she wouldn’t go to the celebration empty-handed.

  “Tracey Battles but everybody calls her Trip.”

  Evil Manifested

  Madjesty

  Madjesty was just let out from under the stairs when she entered her room for the first time. It was big and spacious and she couldn’t believe she had a king sized bed and her own bathroom. The furniture inside was pretty and better than anything she ever had before. Since Harmony told her the room probably belonged to one of Irma’s daughters, which was also her aunt, she wondered what kind of girl she was. Was she pretty and feminine, and did she like who she was? Because when Madjesty looked in the mirror, she saw a boy in a girl’s body and she hated that about herself.

  When Madjesty walked to her bedroom window, she looked out of it and imagined what people driving past the large gates thought about the family inside. She figured they’d think they were rich and happy, both of which they weren’t.

  Five minutes after getting into her room, Jayden came knocking on the door.

  “Come in, Jayden.” Madjesty said sitting on the edge of her bed.

  “Are you okay?” She whispered, closing the door behind her. Although her mother’s room was on the far end of the mansion, she wanted to be sure she couldn’t overhear them. “I got the money as quickly as I could. Did mama let you eat anything?”

  “Naw.”

  “Here,” she said handing her the half of sandwich and fries. Madjesty downed the food quickly. When she swallowed it all she said, “How did you get the money? You didn’t do anything nasty did you?”

  “No…I didn’t,” she smiled. “But I did meet somebody. I like him and he kind of likes me, too.”

  “For real? Do he know your age?”

  “Naw…But I think he’s eighteen or somethin’. He’s probably around my age.”

  “No he’s not if he’s eighteen.”

  Jayden laughed, “But Madjesty, he is so cute. I think he likes me.”

  “If he gave you one hundred dollars off the rip, he must be a drug dealer or something. I doubt if he like you though. You gotta be careful, Jayden. You kinda naive sometimes. That’s why mama gets mad at you so much.”

  “I’m not naive.”

  “You are. Ain’t no eighteen year old boy gonna give you no money unless you fuck him. Don’t put yourself out there like that.”

  “Then what I’ma do? If she make me get money again how am I supposed to get it?” Jayden cried. “She put my sister under the stairs with nothing to eat.”

  Madjesty felt bad for going on her the way that she did, when she put herself out there for her. She gave her a tight hug, which was the only thing she could offer to repay her. Little did Madjesty know, the hug meant more to Jayden than anything money could buy.

  “I’m sorry, Jayden. I just...I just want you to be careful.”

  “She told me I gotta be the one who brings the money in now.” She said wiping her tears. “I don’t have a choice, Madjesty.”

  “Man, I hate that bitch!”

  “But I think I can do it. Instead of giving me one hundred dollars, he gave me four hundred.”

  “FOUR HUNDRED?!” Madjesty yelled by mistake. “YOU GOT FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS FROM HIM?”

  “No…Please be quiet,” Jayden whispered looking at Madjesty’s bedroom door. “We don’t want mama to find out.”

  “He gave you four hundred dollars?” She whispered. “You sure you didn’t do anything with him, Jayden?”

  “I’m positive.” She giggled. “But I gave two hundred back to him.”

  “Fuck you do that for?”

  “Because I only needed one hundred. And I kept a hundred for us,” she said handing her sister fifty dollars. It was more money than she ever held in her life. “It’s for emergencies though. Don’t use it unless you have to.”

  Madjesty stood up and hugged her sister again. She felt she should have been the person who helped her instead, not the other way around. After all, she was yanked from Harmony’s womb before Jayden which made her the oldest and she was more aggressive. Yet her meek feminine sister had risen to the occasion.

  “I love you, Jayden. I don’t know what’s gonna happen with us, but I want you to know I always got your back.”

  “And I got yours.”

  They were still rapping to each other when the doorbell rang. Madjesty and Jayden rushed into the hallway and looked down the stairwell. They saw their mother walk to the door and they followed her down the steps. As far as they knew not many people knew they were there. So who could be coming at that hour?

  When Harmony flung the door open, a man was standing outside with a woman in a wheel chair. Harmony backed up and put her hand over her mouth. She looked scared and Madjesty took a little pleasure in her mother’s fright.

  “What are you doing here?” She asked backing up. “What are you doing in my house?”

  The man walked inside, pushing the woman in the chair. “What, you not happy to see me?”

  “How did you find me?”

  “Come on, Harmony. How do
you think I found you?”

  “Angela?”

  “Of course. You didn’t really think she could change overnight now did you?”

  Harmony looked at the woman in the wheel chair and said, “After all this time, I can’t believe you’re still with him, Cherry.”

  “You can’t help who you love.” Cherry responded holding her head down. “Now can you?”

  “Where is Nut?” Harmony said.

  “She overdosed and died.” Kali said. “The stupid bitch took too much in.”

  When he looked behind Harmony and saw the children staring at him he said, “So Harmony…When are you going to introduce me to my kids?”

  Hearing this caused the sisters to look at one another in confusion.

  Harmony turned around slowly and looked at her daughters. “Madjesty and Jayden…This is Kali, and he may be your father.”

  Jace

  Van Murderer

  The ride was bumpy as I sat in the back of a white Ford Cargo Van. At thirty-one years old, I was getting too old for this shit. But it was time to make a move and I was taking shit to another level. These niggas wasn’t feeling me when I said every corner in DC belonged to me. Back when I was coming up, there was a code. If a nigga had more soldiers than you, and was able to bark you off your blocks, then you bowed down with respect. But today all these niggas know is gun power so I was going to have to give these niggas what they wanted.

  I had come up with a plan to handle these dudes who weren’t trying to let up on some real estate I had on South Capitol St in Southeast, DC. From what my squad told me, they had about twenty niggas who were trafficking there and they even managed to one by one, kill off a few of my foot soldiers. So today I was coming with ten white vans filled with fifteen niggas each to send a message I knew they’d understand loud and clear.

  “This is where the main crew be,” Paco said to me from the driver’s seat. “I see four or five of them out there now. The others be in the back of the apartment building over there on the right.”

  “Cool, dispatch the other vans to the other areas on South Capitol. I want all of them niggas cleaned out tonight. No more fuckin’ around.”