Around the Way Girls 9

by Moore, Ms. Michel

  The woman turned beet red at every word coming out of my mouth.

  “Toss me those handcuffs, tape, and cords.” I couldn’t let my emotions get the best of me. From birth Nique and I were trained to be about our dollars and cents; this summer breeze night would just be another notch under our belts.

  “Fa’sho, let’s see what’s in bag number one.” Nique winked her eye then dropped the black duffel bag down in front of Alyssa’s shivering body. I found humor in Nique taunting her. She unzipped the bag slowly then dangled the handcuffs, duct tape, extension cords, and the roll of Home Depot Husky contractor clean-up bags back and forth across her face.

  Bending back over, Alyssa puked almost instantaneously.

  “Aww come on now, chick, don’t tell me your prude ass wasn’t expecting this. They ain’t train you better than that, rookie?” At each turn Nique kept letting her know this occurrence wasn’t by coincidence and she was chosen to get tortured.

  “Listen up, lady. You need to get your shit together real quick.” I waited a few seconds before continuing. “I’m going to need you to lead me to where you stash your cash.”

  Slobbering, wiping vomit and snot across her face, the lady who was only accustomed to answering 911 calls to break-ins wept pitifully. She looked across her family room at Nique and seemed to get angered at her clearing the entertainment center of DVDs, CDs, speakers, radios, and video gaming systems.

  “Hey, stay focused. Don’t worry about her. I’m your main concern. Get up and move, bitch. I ain’t got all night.” Moving closer to her, I was ready to strike again.

  “Wait. Okay, okay, please just don’t hit me again,” she screamed, just as vain as the first day of her introducing herself at Mike’s gambling party.

  She was barely standing barefoot; I’d literally knocked her out of her Jimmy Choos.

  “It’s in my top dresser drawer in my bedroom, upstairs to the left,” she confessed in between sniffles.

  Exasperated and drained, it was clear she’d given me the true placement of her most valuable possessions when she hung and shook her head in defeat.

  “See, now that wasn’t so hard.” Antagonizing Alyssa, I knew she was hotter than fish grease.

  “Here’s your bag. Tie her up already and let’s get this on and popping. We don’t have all night.” Nique handed me a contractor bag, walking behind Alyssa, tying a blue bandana tightly around her eyes so she couldn’t ID me or her once we took off our black masks. “Get that rock off her finger, my baby.”

  “I can’t be smoking before licks . . . got me tripping.” Slipping the nice-sized diamond ring from her finger, she shook with overwhelming fear and probably anger. When I bent it back to hear her shrill, that was just an added bonus.

  The look was written all over Alyssa’s face. I know she regretted spending her free time out of this protected suburban lifestyle she had. Maybe this lesson would teach her to leave dudes from the hood alone. It hadn’t been said Mike was the relating link but I was sure the thought had crossed her educated mind. Wow, this shit is crystal clear. I’m hitting her jewelry stash fa’sho. Alyssa’s shrills almost made even me want to cry as I carelessly ripped a pair of gold hoops from her ears then ripped her necklace and pendant from around her neck.

  “Why are you doing this to me? Why? You’re not gonna get away with this. I swear you’re going to regret everything you’ve done thus far.”

  “Here the fuck we go.” I raised my sneaker and stumped her in the small of her back. “I knew you’d give me a reason to stomp throw down on that ass,” I hissed before grabbing her by the rear of her neck squeezing tightly. All I could see was her hugged up with Mike and I lost it. I couldn’t hold my temper any longer, jealous of the wealth surrounding me along with her now-bold attitude. So there you had it: a shoe to the back with a bruised-up neck, exactly what she deserved.

  “You people always taking things that don’t belong to you. Get a job for Christ’s sake.” She was struggling to break free, wheezing for air but still talking shit the whole time. “Taking my stuff ain’t right.”

  “You people? Ain’t that about nothing, you flat-booty, no-courage-having tramp. You ain’t nothing more than a dirty cop who loves long dick. So fuck you and your across-the-board judgments,” I shouted, spontaneously beating her several times across her face with the barrel of my burner. Fuck. I was mad as hell. As I went to work on the face I hated to see on Mike’s arm, her screams made my anger boil even more.

  “What the fuck?” Nique rushed over grabbing me by the forearm. Catching me deviating from the game plan and whipping ol’ girl’s ass, she hurriedly tried to get me back on track. “What you doing? Damn, stay on point so we can get the hell up out of here.”

  “Fall back, Nique. I’m slow teaching her a little lesson about talking down to me.” I mocked Alyssa’s proper, valley girl voice. “Let her see how the fuck it feel to be down and out.” At that moment I was high off an adrenaline rush from beating her face until blood oozed onto the carpet. Staining my knock-off scuffed sneakers, Miss Thang was bucking frantically but my stomps to her stomach calmed her wild ass down quickly. I was getting the best of the one-sided battle until Nique, fed up with my over-the-top antics, pulled me all the way off her.

  “Yo, listen up and get back into role. Enough of her; let’s clean this house out.” Grabbing another bag for herself, we both stood over a limp, beat-down officer of the law knowing she was knocked out cold. “Damn, you went to town on Alyssa. Mike ain’t gonna recognize her ass.”

  “That was the point. Now let’s get to work.”

  Ta’Nique was happy to hear that since she’d already started getting down. I finally took the time to look around Alyssa’s house. I had to give ol’ girl props, it was decked out no doubt. I ain’t fronting, please believe I was keeping it one hundred. This wasn’t the hood-style living me and Nique had grown numb to closing our eyes to nightly. It suddenly become more than me just wanting some dollars, diamonds, shoes, clothes, and furs. I wanted Alyssa’s easy life. This was bigger than her though. Up until encountering the greedy, jealous faces before her, she’d probably never been so unlucky. She had the life my moms couldn’t give me because she was too caught up on the pipe. I’d fantasized about most of this stuff as a kid and here before me was my chance to finally have it. If it was possible to back a U-Haul up in the driveway in broad daylight and empty this entire spot, I would in a heartbeat.

  I was about to leave this whore bare and really afraid to visit Detroit. I wanted her to feel all the pain, anguish, and humiliation me and my friends from around the way were forced to feel every time we’d take our last to survive and government state emergency relief programs failed to help us.

  Not needing to hear her voice just in case she woke up, I duct taped Alyssa’s mouth closed, leaving enough room for her to breathe out of her nostrils. Pulling her up and onto one of her barstools, I used the extension cords to secure her down. Fuck getting away or screaming for help. “This should keep you out of trouble. And I’ll be taking all of what you’ve got in those pockets.” I cleared and put the few dollars, cell phone, and stick of gum I found into my own. Now out of energy and spunk, she refused to fight back.

  Me and Nique ransacked the house taking practically everything we could load into her Taurus and Mike’s F-150, hatchback included. Not forgetting about the stash in her dresser drawer of jewels, cash, credit cards, and even a few bank statements I could forge later, my girl and I had hit a nice little lick thanks to my side boo I desired to be my man. No doubt this was going to be our meal ticket for the next few weeks.

  Ta’Nique, who was always laidback and collected, pulled off first heading back to the nest. Making sure the coast was still clear I ran past the woman on my way out of the door callously kicking her in the back of the head giving her some words of wisdom and some small but free bit of advice. “Money makes mischief, and with real thirst out in the streets, ain’t no telling who gonna be down for whatever.” Still moani
ng, trying to break free, I giggled at her being so persistent. “I’ve gotta give you credit though, you can sure enough take a beat down. You just might be equipped for the hood after all.”

  I turned the lights off and closed the door behind myself, quickly scanning for early bird neighbors before making my way to Mike’s fully loaded truck. Quickly jumping in, I felt unstoppable. Yeah, now who is the bad bitch behind the wheel? I’m about to be the new queen on Moneymaking Mike’s arm, believe it. Once I adjusted the seat and turned the air conditioner on blast, I threw the car into reverse then backed out of the driveway. It was time to make my escape just how’d we’d made our entrance: slow, calm, and unsuspecting.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Nique

  Back in the grimy zone I’d survived in since a young sprout playing freeze tag outside of my mother’s crack-infested shack, I was instantly depressed again. Being in Alyssa’s reminded me of my situation. Even with a carload of stolen merchandise guaranteed to go for top dollar on the street, upgrade my appearance, or even get an abortion, having seen better at her well-to-do community made my life seem much worse. Sharply pulling into our pothole driveway, I popped the trunk to begin unloading the ill-gotten goods. Not too long after that Cori pulled up.

  “I’m glad you made it, my baby.” I set down the bag I was carrying onto the porch then embraced her in a tight hug. “You lost it in there, so I’m glad you were able to drive with some sense.” Cori and I had been more like sisters than enemies, comrades than opponents, and companions when it came to hustling to maintain. She had really been a true friend through all this drama with Vic so I appreciated her.

  “Shit me too. And I’m glad you were there to hold me down. I wanted to kill that trick.”

  We pulled back from the emotion hurriedly getting back to work. Not asking for any help from the next man, full of greed and refusing to share, this was a two-way split and there wasn’t enough for an extra hand in the pot. Once Mike found out about everything, I was sure he’d be coming for his cut to make this a three-way split. In my neighborhood if you asked a person for so much as a slice of bread at the end of the month they felt like you owed them your first born in repayment. It took us a good twenty minutes of breaking a sweat going back and forth up and down a flight of stairs but the aftermath was gonna be gravy for us, and us only.

  “I ain’t gonna lie, we got down this time for sure.” Cori smiled locking all three deadbolts on the front door and the security gate. “I mean like damn, she had some high-priced shit stashed everywhere. If there were more time, we would’ve left that house high, dry, and empty. Once I got my temper in check and hit that upstairs drawer, I felt like a kid in a candy store.”

  “Who the fuck you telling? I was stealing petty stuff just for the fuck of it.”

  “I know right, but that’s exactly what her snake in the grass ass deserved for trying to play Mike like a sucker. And to think, he was dissing me for her. That shit has me livid. Matter of fact, I’m going to swing by his crib in his truck and break the news face to face since he won’t answer my calls.” She was grinning from ear to ear.

  “Girl, g’on and get your man. After he finds out you saved him from going down with a dirty cop, he gonna be all up your ass for sure.” I was geeking Cori up but was right back up in the dumps. Here she was going to get more dick but I was going to bed alone. This was not how I expected this night to go. Running out of the door, Corielle left me with my thoughts.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Cori

  Getting to Mike’s house, I saw the lights were on and Alyssa’s red Benz parked in the driveway. I didn’t waste any time getting out banging on his living room window.

  “What in the fuck?” he mouthed, looking out seeing me and his F-150.

  “I tried calling so I could tell you,” I blurted out. “You should try answering the phone.”

  Mike pulled me into his house where I began to run down everything that had played out over the past few days, starting with my stamps getting cut off. I didn’t leave any parts out, not even the ones concerning Alyssa being a Detroit police officer. All Mike could do was stand before me with a dropped jaw once I finally gave him word to how me and Nique had robbed Alyssa, leaving her tied up in her mini-mansion.

  “Damn, a cop? Are you sure?”

  I continued to run everything down to him, even told him how Wally suggested we go down to Club Ignite where I ran into her. “You were playing me for a dirty cop, ain’t that some shit?”

  “Looks like you took care of that though.” Mike pulled me into him kissing me deeply, the most passionate he ever had. He took my clothes off piece by piece as I allowed him to devour my body. For the first time, I was sure: I was being fucked by my man.

  Chapter Seventeen

  When Being Down for Whatever Goes Wrong

  Me and Mike were finally going to make it official. I couldn’t wipe the cheesy smile from my face as I drove back to the hood in his truck to pack and wait for him. I’d never been out of this broken-down city before; and now the love of my life was getting ready to be the one to escort me out of here. Stopping by Meijer to get a new swimsuit and a few new outfits for our impromptu trip to Miami, I had to get right to floss on his arm. Calling Nique to let her know me and her were officially going to be family, she seemed to be a little occupied. Chalking it up to her still being stressed over Vic, I hung up but promised to bring her something nice back.

  I pranced up and down aisles at last feeling good about myself. I tossed a few different swimsuits, colorful wife beaters, pajamas, panty and bra sets, and mesh booty shorts into the shopping cart then headed to check out. Mike was in the process of packing and taking care of a few loose ends with the streets; then he was gonna meet me on the block. And I wanted to make sure of I was all set, ready to go. All of the self-checkouts were closed for servicing so I walked up to the attendant. I wasn’t worried about there being a problem since I’d been using the card freely since the day it arrived in the mail. But for some reason, my nerves were getting the best of me.

  “$219.25,” she said, smiling and waiting for my form of payment.

  Without thinking twice, I reached into my purse then handed the card I’d ordered in Kelly Tandy’s name. For some reasons my palms were starting to sweat and I couldn’t get my game face on.

  “Excuse me, umm Ms. Tandy, but, ma’am, can you please wait right here a moment? A manager has to sign off on all of credit card purchases because my machine is down.”

  I was instantly on alert. The cashier might’ve been trying to play it off, but it was obvious something was wrong. She tried not to seem obvious as she looked back and forth between me and the register’s screen before heading toward the customer service desk, but it didn’t work.

  Flashing alarms went off in my head. Shit! That card is burnt out. That bitch thinks I’m dumb. No way in hell was I about to get carted off to jail after finally winning big with Mike. Nope, not me. I might’ve been making a rash decision, but with too little time it was the best one I had. I flew like a bat out of hell out toward the car.

  I could hear security yelling behind me as I ran like lightning speed. I was scared as fuck because I couldn’t go down. With all the prints I’d left behind during robberies, they’d bury my young, beautiful ass underneath the jail cell. Hopping in the car quickly, I pulled off without a second glance. I heard a loud thud before rolling over what seemed to be a speed bump.

  “Oh my God. Call the ambulance. She’s run over Security Officer Baldwin,” I heard one employee scream.

  Looking back in my rearview mirror but definitely not stopping or going back, I pushed my foot all the way down onto the gas pedal and sped off. Once on the freeway, I started calling Nique nonstop. I was pretty sure the hit and run was reported to the police by now. Not only had I given them a bad credit card, still stealing the merchandise I’d shopped for, I now had a hit and run to be held accountable for.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” I hated my life.
I truly hated my life. Now Mike’s car was involved with a hit and run. His plates, if anyone saw, would be run then plastered on the news for sure. Oh well for that new relationship.

  I rapped to Jeezy President is Black rap as I floated to the house. I’d been calling Nique the entire time to get her advice before calling her cousin but was having no luck. As I cautiously pulled up in front of our house parking next to Nique’s ride, my nerves were still on edge. I pulled a bag of weed from my purse to roll up quick. Since I’d made it safely back on the block without sirens trailing, it was safe to assume I’d gotten away. After a few puffs, I was in the zone on the strong Purp we’d gotten from Wally. I didn’t want to call Mike but I didn’t have a choice. What other option did I have? He was going to nut all the way up once he saw the damage I’d created. Spook walked up as I was getting out the car. “Cori, let me get five dollars so I can something to eat.” He walked over with his hand out.

  “Damn, Spook, I ain’t even got it,” I replied, slightly agitated and caught up in my own drama. For once I thought things were looking up for me then right back like that, shit had gone back south.

  “Well run in the house and tell Wally to come out for a second. I know he’ll give his boy Spook a few bucks. I know fa’sho his ass got it,” he sarcastically said.

  “What the fuck, Spook? Ain’t no damn Wally around these parts. That was earlier,” I replied surveying the block for his Caddy.

  “Damn, niece, you ain’t gotta lie. I might be a crackhead but a fool I am not.” He turned around and walked away seeming pissed and insulted.

  And that’s when I spotted Wally’s car parked a little farther down the street like it was an attempt to be hidden. Running up the concrete stairs, I was too worked up and anxious to see what was really going on. Why had Wally parked his car up the street and why hadn’t Nique been answering? I reached for the gold-plated doorknob on the security door; it was locked. What the fuck? The door was never locked and that was a dead giveaway that something wasn’t right. On my toes as always, I went around to the back of the house careful not to trip on anything or make any noise.