The BP gas station was small but known to usually have lots of traffic. Not having any eighty-seven octane, their fill-up spots were empty. Since I wasn’t using my money anyway, I treated my old beat-up Grand Am with premium today. With a gang of teenagers being turned around for not being allowed to skip on the premises, I pulled them to the side offering to buy their products for them. I could use every dollar, especially since this place was super slow; and that was a quick twenty dollars made. While inside, I managed to sway away two paying customers but otherwise the station was dead. Not wanting the attendant to flag me for suspicious behavior, after making a simple fifteen dollars from one person and twenty from the other, it was time to be out.
“Ay, li’l ma, let me get the hookup,” one dude said, approaching me as I got ready to get into my car.
“Well, you’re going to have to follow me to another gas station because I think I’ve just about burned this motherfucker out.”
“I’m down for that, baby. I’ll follow you off the earth with yo’ fine ass.” He eye fucked me in slow motion.
“Well, that’s not called for. You can just follow me to another gas station.”
After I jumped in my car, I hightailed it a few blocks down to a Speedway. Ol’ boy was on my bumper each time I came to a stop sign. Acting desperate for some gas, something told me he was only about to get a few dollars and it probably wasn’t my time to even stop. And I should have followed my first mind. He only got ten dollars in gas with his broke ass so that was only five bucks for me, and he wanted a deal on that. I sent him on his merry way. This gas station was turning out to be a way worse bust than the other one. Mixed in with a few grannies that refused to be a part of my illegal activities and the corner boys with their own burned out debit cards, I’d only lucked up on one middle-aged woman gripping her man’s truck willing to pay forty dollars for an eighty dollar fill-up. I checked my phone once I got back into the car and saw that Nique was blowing me up. I wondered what the urgency was since we both had two cards apiece. Hopefully there hadn’t been a glitch in the plan and neither of hers had stop working. “You better be making money, ho.” I laughed when she picked up.
“Most definitely but I’ve got a client about to meet me at the house, so I’m about to head back on the block.”
“Oh okay, I feel you. I’m about to drive around to see where it’s some stations popping. It was slow over here today, not even worth my time for real.” The disappointment was clearly noticeable in my voice.
“Damn for real? Well go to the ones downtown. You should have more luck down there since the prices are spiked toward the wealthier parts of town. That’s where I would go if I were you.”
“You’re right; I should’ve went down there first. Not only can I catch a few taxpaying workers on their lunch breaks looking for a deal, but the high school teens skipping as well. My pockets are about to be fat.” I turned my car around and headed in the direction toward the most affluent part of the city.
“Make sure you answer your phone, chick. Did you get in touch with Wally yet about what we talked about?” Nique wasn’t letting the issue die down.
“Yeah, we’re supposed to be hooking up later so you can take a quick chill pill. Ya girl is on it.”
“That’s what’s up. I knew you weren’t gonna leave us hanging. We need this come up badly.” She spoke into the phone with urgency.
Nique was highly anticipating what I was dreading but I was used to taking sluggers for the team. Hell, let me not be selfish; we both were.
“After you get us right, you can start focusing on being faithful to Mike since that’s your main goal.”
“Girl, bye, let you tell it. He ain’t checking for me like that.” I nonchalantly played her comments off, knowing that regardless of what she really thought to be true, Mike was feeling me. Each time his toes curled in bed, I was moving closer up to his heart.
“I know better, Cori. I just wanted you to get your mind wrapped around doing business with Wally. Mike probably really is into you; he don’t run around giving dick to just any hood ho so you better feel honored it was you who got blessed since you feeling him so tough. But, back to business, answer your phone like I said. Peace,” she yelled out before finally hanging up the phone.
Damn, she was rude as fuck. Nique was playing like my pimp, but in the back of my mind, I knew her greed for the money was right. It was gravy though because I was in money mode also. Seeing a lot of police changed my mind about following Nique’s advice about pulling a gas scam on one of the hottest streets in the city of Detroit. But they weren’t about to send me back to my neck of the woods without trying my luck with at least one. I parked my car on the side street in an attempt to remain discreet then jogged over to my destination. If anything was to go south, I’d be able to get out of the overcrowded lot with quickness and ease.
I walked up on a few patrons as they were exiting their vehicles letting them know the deal I was bringing. Only one snobbish white man turned his pointy nose up at me thinking he was either too good for what I was offering or I was too low to be in his presence. Either way, I was sure I heard him mumble something about me being a degenerate thief but I let the harsh truth roll off my back. The other two men gave fifty dollars without question for their SUV fill-up. Come to find out, some white people loved a hookup too. After getting over the initial point of being scared and not seeing a dangling fiend around to help me, I got into an easy rotation like earlier having cars move in and out. I had to start the transaction, load and unload the nozzle, and get my cash but things were moving like clockwork. If caught though, we’d all go down. Making it my business to keep my eyes on both the attendant and my surroundings, if anyone seemed like they were on to me, I’d dip in a heartbeat.
I’d made close to $1,000 before the card burned out. I had to send willing customers away.
I shot Nique a text message back in the car letting her smart-mouth ass know that the first card crapped out; but not before I took off $200 for my own pocket. I knew she was probably out in these Detroit streets taking off the top too, so fuck it. It was an unspoken mutual understanding. So, I’ma do me, you better believe it.
Going in the direction of home, I wasn’t in the mood to meet up with Wally. I needed some down time after all the drama that had taken place this morning; plus I needed to get Mr. Goldstein on board with recanting the paperwork he’d sent to Ms. Donahue. I’d catch up with Wally before Mike’s party. Both him and Ta’Nique would have to understand.
Nique
I gathered all the stuff that I’d stolen from the beauty supply stashing it into my padlocked bedroom. Cori and I shared a three-bedroom flat on the west side in a run-down neighborhood of abandoned homes. On any given day you could catch a copper bandit running from the half-standing house next to your home with plumbing pipes on their back. Or a catalytic converter thief under your only car. Yeah, we were Detroit born and raised to the bottom of our motherfucking hearts. Neither one of us had jobs but that didn’t matter; we had hustle about ourselves, so the bills always got paid. Hook or hustle, Cori and I handled our business. Word to the empty purse sluts out here giving ya goodies away: wise up. As long as you have a pussy, aka a rent box, you’re never really broke. If a bitch wakes up broke, she had no business taking her raggedy ass to sleep. But times were getting hard, and by it being a drought our pockets were looking light ’cause niggas weren’t out here generating funds like they normally did. That’s why we needed the link with Wally badly.
Waiting on the porch for my first morning client, I was also waiting on Cori to pull back up. She was still out using ol’ girl’s credit cards and, if I was lucky, hooking up with Wally. That was the link we needed, plus Vic would have a reason to come back to me full time. It had been a hella busy morning with no slow down in future with heads to do back to back. Against my better judgment, I dialed my boyfriend’s number hoping he’d answer. Vic had put me out of his apartment last night after I told him my period
was late, and hadn’t bothered to call to see if I’d made it home safely.
“What up, doe?” he answered groggily, obviously sleeping well not knowing if I was alive or not.
“Damn, nigga, so you wasn’t gonna call to see if I made in last night or nothing? You ain’t shit.” Not wasting any time, I began cutting into him instantly. I was partially upset with myself for thinking he was going to take the news easily. Vic wasn’t the type of man who women fished for when looking to get wifed, but I thought my pussy had kryptonite in it. Now all I had was a crumb snatcher in my uterus.
“Kill that noise, Nique. Did you find out about that situation you called yourself bringing to my table last night?” Breathing hard and grumbling, he still didn’t seem thrilled about the mere mention of the subject.
“Not yet. I’ve been running around with Cori all morning taking care of business. I plan to though.” Seeing my client pull up, I waved that I’d seen her and to come on in before rushing to disappear into the house.
“You should’ve checked your piss before you called yourself checking me. What type of dumb shit are you are on, Nique?” Vic called himself checking me. I could hear it in his voice that he was waking up ready to go hard like last night. The bass and hostility in his voice took me back to being manhandled then tossed onto my ass.
“I’m not on no dumb shit as you like to call it, babe. That was me keeping it real and preparing you for our future. But your reaction was harsh and bold. I didn’t expect for you to clown me like you did. You don’t want to stress me out do you? I could be carrying your seed.” My intentions were to lay it on thick so I put on the soft girl voice that got me the long stroke on many days. I needed for Vic’s mood to lighten up. He was too tense over nothing. Having a baby, a small family, and committing to what we’ve been doing for months wasn’t so bad . . . at least in my opinion.
“Bitch, please. Piss on a stick then get back at me.” Swiftly dismissing everything I’d just told him, Vic hung up the phone not giving me a second thought.
Chapter Four
Cori
Safely back at home, Nique was in the dining room with a client while I was snuggling up with my pillow watching The Game reruns on Netflix. When I first got home from sliding through the gas stations, I went online to order a few credit cards with the information found in her wallet. When the instant application was approved, I had them overnight the card and provide the sixteen-digit number for instant online shopping. Everything was mailed to abandoned houses throughout the neighborhood so it couldn’t be traced back to me. The UPS man was an undercover junkie I’d pay twenty dollars to forget it ever happened. Since he wanted his drug habit to stay under wraps to keep his good-benefits job, he never gave me a problem. Once done burning through all other cards ordering a few laptops, cameras, and video games for Mike, I cut the cards up, but anticipated new ones coming bright and early in the morning.
Everyone came to me for legitimate-looking paperwork like insurance, identification cards, check stubs, and even bills. I was a mastermind when it came to crafting replicas and had been getting down on the system for years. Tax time was my best time. You didn’t have to work daily and pay taxes to get a refund at my establishment. All I needed to hook you up was a social security number, state-issued ID number, birth date, and the checking or savings account information with routing numbers so the returns could be direct deposited. Knowing all the drop dates, it was customary for me to stalk like a hulk and make sure those who owed me paid the fee. I’d wait on doorsteps or usher to banks if necessary. I made sure me and Nique ate like kings from January to April. It was hit and miss every month after that. Identity theft should have been a major in school; I would’ve never dropped out.
A single day hadn’t gone by in the last year I hadn’t been on the streets grinding. Rain, sleet, snow, or blazing hot rays of sun, you could catch me trying to turn what little I had into something more. When I called dry-snitching Mr. Goldstein and told him to recant his form and send a new one to Ms. Donahue, he agreed but not before requesting a hand job at least. My rest was about to end shortly. I knew from past experience he was quite punctual when it came to getting his nut off. Getting bored with the made-for-TV saga between Melanie, Jenay, and Derwin, I decided to do some social surfing to see what people had up for the day. Mike was too busy getting everything ready for the weekly gambling party to text or talk to me so there was nothing but spare time to kill.
As usual, my Facebook feed had the same long, drawn out sob-story posts. I wasn’t trying to scroll through all that nonsense having my own woe-is-me book to write so I quickly logged off to log into my Instagram account. Now on here it was popping. Laughing at all the joke photos and videos until my stomach ached, my drama-filled morning had turned back around. I didn’t know how people lived before the invention of social media. Continuing to kill time, I took a few snapshots of myself making a collage and hash tagged them selfie before posting for likes. Slightly ratchet with my purple bonnet on, I didn’t care ’cause my brows were crispy and even on my worst day I was cute. Waiting on the picture to load, I damn near dropped my phone at what popped up in my feed.
“Really, Mike? So you’re out getting liquor? This looks like a light brunch date to me.” Sitting up from comfortably lying across the bed, I spoke out loud as I intently studied the picture of him and some random female. I was looking for details that told a definite when and where the picture was taken. Where’d this flunky come from? Who is she? And why is she cutting in on our morning wake and bake sessions?
As bad as I wanted to jump crazy on his phone, me and Mike weren’t official so I didn’t have that privilege. Instead, I studied the picture so hard I could imagine myself at the same table with them going upside his head. My mind was psychotic over this good-looking man but he refused to give me sincerity, commitment, or even the hood label of wifey. How we got down was more between us but having the side title of his side chick was better than anything. Not being able to contain myself, I doubled tapped the picture and joined the other ten people who liked it so far. I was sure I wasn’t the only thirsty side piece in desperation for his attention. Oh well, guess he’ll catch up with me when he’s done caking with her less-than-pretty ass. He’s gotta drop those gift cards off anyway.
With my attitude now sour, my stress reliever quickly turned into an even worse stressor. Once I hit refresh, the newsfeed reloaded itself and the first post had me more choked up than the picture of Mike and his mistress. Is this a joke? Already? It ain’t even been but a couple of hours. CrimeInTheD, a social networking site that gives almost real ticker time brief details of crimes that take place in Detroit, just posted a picture three minutes ago of the beauty supply Nique and I robbed. The headline readLOCALCOMPANYBURGLARIZEDWITHOWNERSLEFTFORDEAD. My soul nearly jumped out of my body, scared shitless if the only real witness we knowingly left behind was currently singing like a canary. My hands momentarily went numb as the phone fell to the floor.
“Nique,” I shouted, swinging my bedroom door open, running into the front room.
“Girl, what’s wrong?” She turned around holding up a smoking hot pressing comb. “I almost sizzled her scalp.”
“Bring ya ass to the back right quick. It’s important.” Once I noticed her client staring me up and down, I calmed down almost instantly. Because females always found a reason to keep my name in their mouth, I didn’t feed them with tidbits of my business. I’d never been too fond of females.
“It better be, girl. I’m trying to stay on schedule.” Nique placed the hot comb on the already burned-up towel then tapped her client on the shoulder. “I’ll be right back, boo.” She must’ve read the seriousness in my face and caught on to what I was doing then played right along with it. Nique was always good with picking up on my vibe. The customer looked on pissed with a half head of weave, probably more so because she couldn’t be privy to what was going on. Not paying it any mind, Nique followed me back to my room.
“Some
one already reported the break-in,” I whispered low enough so the nosey client up front couldn’t hear. I handed my cell phone over for her to see the same post that had me on ten.
Her eyes immediately bulged out. “Already? This is crazy.”
“Yeah, it is. Which makes me think one of those three are talking.” Taking my phone back, sitting down onto the bed, I was ready to take action and roll out.
“I don’t think so, Corielle. We already knew the Koreans had to report everything that happened. But half-English-speaking Sue and Sam won’t be able to tell them anything specific other than “black girl, medium hair and short hair.” Nique imitated Ms. Swan from MADtv perfectly.
“If you’re that comfortable, then I guess I should just cool out.” I shook my head while checking the ashtray for a long-enough tail to smoke. “But if I hear a description even close to one that matches yours or mine, we’re on Kelly Tandy’s head!” I was ready to go take her out now. What was the point of leaving someone the opportunity to talk?
“No doubt, no doubt. You already know how we get down so if the time presents itself, it can be whatever.” Taking a few puffs of the stinky Mary Jane it was easy to tell Nique had something else heavy on her mind. Knowing she wasn’t the one to vent about her business, easily able to mask her emotions, I didn’t probe for answers. Whatever it was, though, had her better judgment clouded. We were a ghetto force to be reckoned with but I wasn’t comfortable with leaving my fate in some stranger’s hand. This bell might have to be rung with me on the solo tip. Kelly Tandy wasn’t going to be my downfall.
After a few more times of passing the blunt back and forth, Nique left without even bringing up Wally. That was a definite red flag that something was up with my girl. I couldn’t be the monkey on her back, though, ’cause I had my own issues with Mike. Not seeing him respond to my text had me feeling some type of way. It was hard not to let what he was doing faze me since in my mind we were working on a future. Hood girl or not, I had a heart that he was way too crafty at manipulating.
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