“Uh, I ate some bad food last night. I’m in the bathroom. Ah…my tummy hurts. Will you….uh, I mean, are you coming back soon?”
“Tell him or we through for good, Bria!” I breathed.
“Is somebody there, Bria?”
Caught between Will’s angry voice and my deep-stroking, Bria couldn’t make a decision. I made it even more difficult by grabbing the phone from her while banging her box hard to take the fight out of her. She couldn’t help but squeeze her knockers and scream in carnal bliss.
“You know who it is, nigga! Bria is done with you. You heard me?”
“Okay Jaden! You went and rekindled that flame, huh? No skin off my back. I can get a half-dozen of Bria’s kind in a minute, J! But you gonna get dealt with.”
“You expect me to be scared, Will? Should I apologize for snatching my girl back? Never that. I’ll be waiting, Will. Bet on that.”
“You don’t know shit about the streets, Jaden!”
“I know how to break jaws!”
I hung up and slung the phone across the floor, knocking the battery cover off with a loud snap, while pumping Bria. She climaxed and slid off the counter, bucking her hips like she was having a seizure. I buried my manhood to the hilt inside her and blasted off. I kissed her tenderly and carried her to the couch.
“Will’s gonna come straight here trying to get at us. Let’s roll out.”
“Wherever you wanna go, baby, I’m down.”
Bria and I headed to my mother’s place. We spent close to an hour burning a blunt on the rooftop while holding each other and watching the sun set.
“Will’s mad at you. He won’t get between us, baby.”
“It ain’t my call. I didn’t put him where he’s at right now as far as you’re concerned. I’m not worried about him. I’ll take a couple of days before I decide what to do. Just relax, baby. Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing.”
I laid low for a few days to conserve money and keep a low profile before the next caper. It meant no contact with Bria. I visited General Lee early every morning to sharpen my conditioning and fighting skills. It was well worth the effort. One day I got a call from Nick.
“Hey yo J, I’m over there by Rucker Park! You won’t believe this! I just saw your little sister over here handing a pack to Javier. He’s bad news. You better handle that shit, man. Pull her out of the game before she’s stuck.”
“Go get her and don’t let her move a muscle until I get there. I’m a take a cab and be there right now.”
Twenty minutes later, I pulled up in a cab. I was shouting in her direction before she saw I’d arrived.
“What’s wrong with you, girl? You moving that shit for somebody? That shit can get you killed!”
“You ain’t my father, Jaden. I can do whatever. I’m through with getting allowance. I wanna make my own money. You’re acting like you’re a goody two-shoes or sump’n. I know what you do for money. I ain’t stupid.”
“This ain’t the way to get it, lil’ sis… Don’t let me hear you pushing shit again, Julissa. Some of these dudes would murder you for one of those packs. As a matter of fact, it’s hot as hell out here. Take your ass on home.”
“Jaden—”
“Go home now! Here’s some dough for food if mom ain’t cook.”
Nick and I watched her take off in a cab. I called Eric and trooped it up the hill to meet him in Jackie Robinson Park. Eric showed up later looking hung-over.
“Sup E? You look like a train hit you. Didn’t we talk about being sharp when we about to pull a caper, man? You trying to get us bagged?”
“Relax, Nick everything’s under control. I talked to my boy at the dealership and he’s got a brand new Mustang waiting for us.”
I started pacing anxiously.
“A brand new Mustang…? We’re not trying to cruise pass Grant’s Tomb looking for chicks, E! We’re trying to rob these dudes. That thing’s gonna attract too much attention.”
“It’s too late. I already paid the man,” he replied.
I threw my hands up in frustration.
“Whatever, we’ll make it work.”
Eric rubbed his face and squinted.
“So what’s up with the secrecy? You done asked me to sign on to a job and didn’t tell me where, when, who or how many. Spill the beans.”
I sighed then laid out the plan.
“Here’s the deal. I used to play football with this fierce left tackle. Johnny Smith. His father Sid is a sports bettor that stays out in Vegas but he came to Jersey to visit his son. They call him Sid the Great. I’ve been keeping tabs on his investments and moves for the last few months and found out that he’s a regular at the Naval Base. Man, he gets drunk as a fish. I’ve seen him myself- but he trusts no one and goes everywhere solo, except when he brings a lady friend along with him, so I know he has to be strapped. That’s why we’ve got to get at him with our pieces loaded and ready. Just for insurance. I got General Lee watching his every move for me. Let’s gear up and the plan move. We’ll meet up in two hours.”
We gave each other daps and split up. I went back to the house and noticed that I had a new voicemail. It was a message from Bria. She was sobbing like crazy.
“He beat me up, Jaden! My eyes are swollen. It hurts so bad. I can’t go to work like this! I stayed at my friend’s house, but he saw me going to work and hauled off and slapped me out of nowhere! I should’ve never left you for him! He kicked me out and now I’ve got nowhere to go! You know my mother. I can’t go crawling back to her after cursing her out and stomping out like I did! Please call me back! Please!”
As I was about to leave to go see Bria, my mother walked in with Julissa crying.
“Do you know what your sister was doing, Jaden? She’s out there pushing drugs for them Puerto Ricans! They checked her bag and found traces of cocaine in it! Now your bad habits rubbing off on her! I can’t believe you.”
My mother hissed and bent over, struggling to support her own weight. She rubbed her knee. It swelled up in seconds. “Oh Lord, the doctor said I’ll need surgery if this gets any worse. On top of that I’ve got your sister here stressing me out.”
I rushed to help her but she shooed me away. I persisted but she shoved me away.
“I didn’t have anything to do with what she did, mom.”
“How else did she get the idea, Jaden? I wasn’t born yesterday, you know!”
I turned to leave but she blocked my path.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going? This is your family! You’re gonna sit down and talk some sense into her head. Or would you rather go out and drink and smoke with your scumbag friends?”
“So everything’s that go wrong around her is gonna be my fault, right mom? Is that it?!”
I slammed the door in her face. Concealing my weapon, I packed two clips and headed back out.
“I tried, mom. She’s not a ten year old anymore. I already called her out in the street and sent her home once already. What do want me to do, beat her up? I can’t make her decisions for her anymore. And last time I checked, you were her mother, not me.”
Anger sizzled her pupils. She moved away from the door.
“It’ll be your fault if she ends up in jail, Jaden! It’ll be on your head!”
I could hear my mother’s cry fading as I booked to the train station.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
BOXED-IN
“Will beat up on Bria, Nick! I’m at their place right now.”
“You went over there without backup, Jaden? Are you losing it, my man? He might have a trap waiting for your ass over there. I’m on my way, man.”
I stood at the front of Bria’s place, took a deep breath then boarded the elevator. My brain’s wasn’t working. I reached her floor before figuring out that Will would probably have plenty of backup with him. Two hoodlums, one of them rotund and hooded, cursing up a storm about the previous night’s Nets game were smoking on the steps. They seemed harmless. I paced back and forth in front
of the door. A second glance helped jog one of the thug’s memory.
“Oh shit! Ain’t you Jaden Jackson, the star high school running back?”
“That’s right. I used to be.”
“I heard you thugging now. You a full-time gangsta, or sump’n now. Is that right, my nigga? You supposed to be robbing muthafuckas and shit. Why don’t you rob me?”
The hooded tough guy leaned back and let a heavy-linked chain clank on the steps with a smile. I backed up. The other guy pulled a knife. They weren’t worth wasting rounds on. I put my hands in my back pockets and slipped on the pair of bladed brass knuckles. The blades were covered with the foam that came with the case. All it would take was two good swings to put them down.
“He done disrespected Will! Kill this fool!”
They stopped their charge when they saw the foam-covered knuckles and laughed. “What we supposed to do, choke on that Styrofoam?”
They rushed me. The knife-wielding assailant went for my ribs but I stepped back and hit him in the jaw. My punch left slashes on his face. The fat man pushed his friend into me and hit us both with the chain. I winced when the last link tapped my ribs.
We both fell and the knife-wielding enemy lay on top of me. He was trying to sink the blade in my neck. The big man swung but only hit his friend in the process. I managed to snap his knife on the floor.
“Move the hell out of the way, Ced!”
“You fucking me up, nigga!” Ced howled as the chain hit him in the back.
I put a knee in his nuts and rolled him off. I jumped to my feet, swung and missed his chin by inches. My jacket got caught in the knuckle blades. I pulled him close and hit him with light jabs that would only sting but the blades ripped through his chubby face. Hunks of fat-glazed flesh stuck to the bladed brass knuckles.
I knelt next to him and held his head to the floor. My breath was coming hard hyping me to finish the job. I took too long. He slapped the chain to my neck causing me to crumble. The tables suddenly turned. Fat man touched his face and his head shook in disbelief.
“Look what that nigga did to my face! I’m a kill that piece of shit!”
I was dizzy but far from done. Crawling away as if I was beaten, they dragged me back by my feet. I looked back and shot a grin at them before deftly plucking a knife from my waistband and planting it firmly in the skinny one’s thigh.
“Oh shit! My fucking leg!”
Fat man lunged for me. I heard people racing up the steps.
“That’s my peeps, fat man. You’re done for.”
I could see the wheels turning in his head. He got his answer when I called out to them and they hollered back. One of them buckled to the floor and screamed for help.
“Drag my ass outta here, Ced! I can’t walk!”
“Screw you, nigga! I got kids!”
He pushed his huge fat frame up the stairs as fast as he could. After a blow from Nick and Eric’s jab to his throat, he was coughing but still standing. They punched him ten times in his kidneys before he fell to his knees. I rubbed my head and rose then joined the others standing over the bloody would-be assailants. They were now victims.
“His name’s Marlon, y’all.”
Eric squatted low in front of Marlon, rubbed his goatee and said, “Shit, look at you. You sweating, bleeding and crying all at the same time. I’m a call you miserable Marlon, my dude. Ah! You’ve got stogies, I see.”
I snatched the box from his chest pocket, pulled his lighter out and lit one up.
“I-I don’t know, man! Just let me go home to my family!”
Nick pushed past Eric and kicked Marlon in the ribs, sending him into a coughing fit. Visibly shook, he was consumed by his fear. All three of us threatened and promised to kill him if he didn’t tell us where Will was.
“I can’t tell you, he’ll kill me.”
I growled with anger and punched him in the nose then scowled at my bloody hand.
“You’re gonna talk? My boy here got ways to make you sing like a canary.”
Eric grabbed his head and thumped it into the floor.
“It’ll take about ten more of those to make you blind and fifteen to kill your ass.”
He banged his head into the floor twice more and opened a deep gash.
“I ain’t squealing, mutha—”
Marlon’s cell phone rang. Me and my boys looked at each other and smiled when they saw Will’s name on the caller ID. I answered it and put him on speakerphone.
“Will! Say hi to your boys!”
“I ain’t say shit, Will! I ain’t tell ’em nuthin’!”
“Marlon? You let that football-playing nigga get you? You’re fired! I’m guessing Ced’s hurting too, huh? Y’all are both off my pay roll.”
“You put your hands on her, Will. You’re gonna pay for that.”
“Aw? Is little Jaden mad that I whoopped on his one true love?” Will responded mocking me. He laughed then his tone grew cold when he added, “Well, I put my hands on her all the time, as a matter of fact. I found out you did too so I punished her. I can’t lie. You can swing with the best of ’em, J. But I’ve got money and power. That extends outside of my fists. I could’ve had you erased with one phone call. Stay away from me and that ex of yours, or you’ll pay dearly. Let it go, homeboy.”
“Can’t do that, fam. I’m a see you soon.”
I hung up and kicked the hell out of Marlon until he wailed in agony. Then Eric put in some work. His belt had a huge metal buckle on it. He pulled it off and held Marlon’s hand down to the ground. Eric banged the fat man’s finger until tears mingled with his bloody face. All his fingernails were destroyed before he gave up Will’s location.
“You ain’t nuthin but an overweight snitch!” Eric barked.
He spat on fat man’s face, emptied his wallet and served him a few kicks to the groin before we walked away. I called Bria but she didn’t answer.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
SID THE GREAT
It was a humid and extremely foggy night. I dropped my window and stuck my hand out. It looked way darker than it really was. I was ready. We strapped up and hopped in the getaway car. I looked confidently at Nick. He was a good wheel man. He always threw in one of his CD’s to get us riled up. Eric was dependable and never let me down. That was when I realized that I trusted them with my life from the beginning.
It seemed only yesterday, we were running all over Harlem looking for a good time. First it was comic books then video games then girls. After that, it was all about getting a rep. Eric got his through fighting and paid the price. He was a little shorter than all of us. He felt he had to prove he wasn’t scared of the bigger guys. He was always close to getting kicked out of Lincoln and had the record for the most suspensions. I got into a few major scrapes. I wouldn’t be pushed around.
Eric got his start going to Catholic and private high schools to sell weed. The kids at these schools were from rich families. Some drove SUV’s when they were only sixteen years old. He started out pushing drugs on them and saw that they were soft, so he robbed them. One pissed-off kid ratted him out to the cops and he ended up in Riker’s Island, where up he earned a rep for slicing guys up. His sentence was extended a few times for that.
I wasn’t as wild as Eric but I had problems. I wasn’t a mindless thug but I loved bloodshed. Seeing my own blood and making someone else bleed gave me a thrill that even sex couldn’t match. After I got suspended twice for fighting, my uncle caught word of it and suggested that I let out my pent-up aggression on the gridiron. I took his advice and never got in trouble again.
At 6’1”, I was taller than most at the running back position. I was really lanky so I worked out hard to change that. I ran laps around Jackie Robinson Park every morning. It did wonders for my stamina. When defenses were sluggish in crunch time, my legs still packed the energy to bust through the line. I was one of the best tackle-breakers and scouts took notice. Girls did too. All of a sudden, chicks flocked to me and were willing to do any
nasty favor I wanted.
I didn’t want to walk around like a hot shot, but I did abuse the attention I got and had chicks buying me sneakers, shirts, whatever in exchange for sex. Dudes outside the circle tried to tag along, but I wasn’t having it. I kept the circle tight because I stood to get a fat football contract a few years down the line. It was always Nick, Eric, Devlin and me when I was chilling.
My father always warned me about yes-men when I came into major funds. His circle was loose and he paid the price. Dudes who swore they loved him turned when the heat was on. Mom would tell me the whole story of his downfall.
Mom used to say, “Respect those under you on way to the top because they’re the same people you’ll see on the way down.” I made sure I didn’t step on any toes. I was on my way to a scholarship when my so-called friend tainted my drink with steroids. I was crushed, had no job skills and had lots of pride. These factors led to my criminal activity.
Nick lived in five different cities before he was 15 due to his father’s military enrollment. He was a bookworm but was led astray by his thugging cousin, Darren, from North Carolina. He never hung out with scholarly types. Darren came to New York when his folks gave up on him. Nick elected to take a year off before going to college. He saw Darren hustling and the street money enticed him. Nick never looked back. One thing that was different about him was that whenever he did something foul, he brought it back to church and prayed for a way out. We knew where to find him when he wasn’t at home or with a chick. Nick would be in St. Martin’s church up no 125th and Lenox. It was an ancient church and was a short walk away from his house. I got chills every time I stepped in there. I wasn’t heavy into the church but knew God wouldn’t protect us forever.
I tugged the back of my Nike gloves hard so the gripped loosened around my fingers and turned up the volume as we approached Harlem River Drive. I got worried. Riding around in a brand new Mustang brought us too much attention.
“Hi, Eric!” some girl hollered, and we nearly forgot the mission looking at her tits bouncing. I caught myself and tapped my fist on the dashboard.
Hustle Hard Page 11