Hustle Hard

by Martin Blaine

  The hooded thug laughed. “That nigga crazy, homie. You don’t know my nigga right here. He gonna kill you and the girl. You should’ve let her die, my dude.”

  The dude talking walked up next to me and watched Nick’s approach closely. I wanted to put my piece to his ear and squeeze off but I couldn’t risk scaring him and making him accidentally pulled the trigger. I couldn’t sleep with that on my mind. Just like that, he backed off and Veronica got in my line of fire. It was going on right next to me and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

  “Drop the fucking gun, now!” The dude that had Veronica yelled. Nick didn’t back down.

  “You put yours down first!”

  “Ha, ha! You’s a funny nigga! What up? You ain’t been watching movies on this shit, my dude? You don’t got no power in this shit here. I got the hostage. That means I call the shots. You’re gonna drop that gun and pray that I don’t pop both of y’all for making me sweat! Do it now, bitch-ass nigga.”

  “I said put it down!” Nick countered.

  Nick let the gun swing free on his thumb. Chris backed up and stumbled. Veronica took advantage and sank her teeth into Chris’ palm but that just got him pissed. He slapped her in the back of her head with the steel and made her scream in pain. She was crying her eyes out. Nick pleaded his case.

  “Please, just let her go. Don’t go and do sump’n you’re gonna regret forever.”

  “I’m gonna make this shit clear. Don’t no nigga tell me what the fuck to do unless he cutting me a fucking check, you heard? Let it be known that I run shit! And for me to run shit, people gotta die. Even innocent fucking bitches like this one right here!”

  He pointed his gun at her back and pulled. I didn’t see but I could tell he did by the look on his face. Two holes burst open on her left side. Blood splattered mad far across the blacktop roof. The shooter tossed her limp body at us and took off in the other direction. Nick let off two and scooped her up right after she hit the ground with a hard thump. I popped up and knelt to them both to give him cover.

  Dude with the gun nearly hit me with three shots and sent a hot one through my shoulder before he made it around a smokestack for cover. It was hurting worse than getting crushed by a linebacker.

  Nick dragged Veronica to a safer spot and straight lost it. He held his hammer sideways and popped a shot at every stack until he forced them to run to a spot with better cover. I flanked him and wasted caps just the same. The second them dudes ducked and reloaded, we pinned them down with heavy shots. They waited until we stopped firing and shot back. Nick caught one in the arm; luckily it was his left. I walked closer to them while they ran across from our rooftop to the next.

  I heard one of them say “We’ll meet again, J! Trust me!”

  Sirens sounded and the three of us huddled tight around Veronica, panicking. Some of her shiny, long black hair floated in blood on the blacktop. Nick and Bria cried hard. I fought the tears. Somebody had to stay strong. Her eyes were fluttering and her body started jerking like she was having a seizure. Bria couldn’t take it. She kissed Veronica on the forehead and petted her, all the time shaking.

  Nick rested her head on his leg and rocked her, keeping pressure on her side, asking, “What the fuck are we gonna do, J? We got shells all over this roof!”

  Bria instinctively called 911 before I replied.

  “The cops will never believe us if we tell them what really happened. Shit, we go to jail even if they do.”

  I gathered all the shells while she tried to say something.

  Nick said, “What is it, Veronica?”

  “Tell, tell my mother… I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry for what?” he asked, his tears hitting her cheek.

  “For being so… so…”

  Her chin shook uncontrollably. I knelt next to her and cut in, saying, “You can tell her yourself. Think positive, Veronica. The ambulance is on their way.” I gave her some room before I said, “I know I’m an asshole for saying it, but we got to haul ass, Nick. Cops are gonna lock us up on-sight.”

  Nick looked at the ground and ran his fingers through her blood. “Give me your shirt, nigga. Hurry up!”

  I gave it to him, and Nick rolled it into a ball and tried to slow the bleeding down. It was impossible. Her wounds made a puddle of blood that couldn’t be plugged up.

  “Oh my God! I… I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” Bria said.

  The three of us knelt and scooted next to Veronica when she struggled to open her mouth.

  “Just go, guys. The… the ambulance is coming.”

  Nick was in tears. It was the first time I saw him cry. He kissed her again and again, promising she’d make it. Then he got up and took off. Bria and I hugged her and dashed behind Nick.

  Two thin streaks of blood followed us down the stairs. Bria slipped in it twice and screamed. I grabbed her hand and led the way. We couldn’t show up bleeding at mom’s place.

  “Let’s go to General Lee’s house. He’ll let us in!”

  The only problem was that his place was the first apartment after entry into the lobby and the first one the cops would pass as they came in.

  I slammed my fists on his door and screamed for him to open it up. A minute passed and we didn’t hear any noise. I thought fast, clutching the handle of my heater on my waist. Nick had one too and we didn’t have anywhere to stash them.

  I kicked and punched his door, praying that he’d open it. Then the door opened, but he had the chain up. I saw cops beyond the double doors planning to storm in and started talking fast.

  “Look, you gotta get let us in.”

  “Come on, Jaden. I got a honey in here, and we don’t got no clothes on.” Nick was almost as breathless as I was. I had to sum it up fast before we got nabbed and taken downtown for questioning.

  “Long story short-we had a shootout on the roof and they coming in to get us. Our shells are all over the rooftop. Lets us in! Please!”

  He removed the chain and we poured in there, leaking blood on his hard wood floor. He shut the door and locked it. His little honey barely wrapped her body in the bed sheet.

  “Hurry up and head through the back door,” he said.

  We hurried back there. Luckily, the people on the first floor could access the communal backyard. Trash and bottles that people tossed out of their windows was scattered everywhere. It was spacious, but grimy, protected with high fences all around and razor wire.

  We slammed the door shut behind them and felt safer.

  “Imma a use my shirt to sap this up, J.” Bria said and took off her shirt.

  I could tell Nick was still shook. He didn’t do a double-take. Once I heard General Lee open his door, I rushed in. We all stopped talking and moving. I heard Lee say something to the pigs, but I couldn’t make it out because Bria’s sweaty boobs had my full attention. I couldn’t believe myself. Veronica could’ve died up on the roof and I’m here thinking about sex.

  “Shit. If we don’t light up now I’m gonna flip the fuck out, my nigga.”

  Nick paced the same three feet at least twenty times before he stopped and pulled out a bag of what he said was some watermelon type sticky-icky. He tossed me a Dutch, I split it down the middle. How he managed not to break a cigar through a gunfight is beyond me. I twisted it up mad fast and had him light it for me. It went around twice but Bria was still shaking.

  “Maybe we can go now,” Bria said. Nick let her know what the deal was.

  “Wait until the blunt is done, Bria. Are you in a rush to get locked up? Or you don’t care cuz it’ll only be me and J in jail!”

  “Cool out, Nick. Long as we keep our mouths shut and lay low ain’t no one going to jail. Let’s just finish this up and slide out real smooth-like, all right?”

  We pulled hard on the blunt and I could feel the high. I looked at their faces and knew Veronica was the only thing on their minds. We were so shook that we waited for two hours for the coast to be clear. Then we knocked on Lee’s backdoor. L
ee and the Misses wore a fresh layer of sweat. They were obviously boning in the last few minutes.

  “Can’t y’all hop the fence?”

  “Nigga there’s razor wire all around back there. Thanks, though. We’re breaking out now. Till next time,” I replied.

  He gave me and Nick a pound, then we peeked out of the front door to check the scene. All was clear and we got a cab and headed to Harlem Hospital. The loss of blood had me dizzy and I just couldn’t keep my head still.

  “It’s OK, baby,” were the last words I heard before everything went black.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  THE CALL

  “Call Will up and tell him the news, Mookie.”

  “Ahight, I’m on it, homie.”

  Mookie stood in front of Chris at their corner, anxiously waiting for Will’s reply. He finally picked up.

  “This better be good, Mookie. I’m in an important meeting.”

  “Guess what, boss? We drew first blood from Jaden.”

  “Beautiful, to think my live soldiers are the youngest ones. This is big. This means I can trust you on the frontlines. Good work. Okay, so I should be expecting them to pop up in a hospital soon, huh?”

  “Yeah, no doubt about it, J got huge a hole in his shoulder. The other took a shot in the arm.”

  “You drew blood, huh...? Good... very good, that’ll slow his ass down. I’ll have my peoples call all the hospital. Then we move in and take him out. I wanna do it myself. Expect a little reward when you come back to headquarters. I got y’all, young soldiers.”

  “Thanks boss!” Mookie replied, infused with energy. He shared a hearty pound with Chris then Will hung up.

  “We finally gonna eat, my nigga!”

  “Indeed, indeed. Shit, he don’t even have to peel off a fat grip for me. If he just hook me up with an infra-red piece, we even.”

  “God knows you need one. Your aim’s horrible.”

  They went a round of shadow-boxing and laughing. Continuously they exchanged money for bags and vials with crack-heads and potheads. Customers constantly flowed to the spot. Mookie grinned and took a look at his swelling money wad.

  “Whew! Five hundred in four hours…? I can’t never do a nine-to-five, my nigga!”

  I awoke with a nasty headache. I had a couple tubes in my arm and my shoulders in bandages.

  “Relax, baby. You’re in the hospital. How’re you feeling?”

  I sighed relieved that Bria’s pretty face was there to greet me. Her smile was the perfect thing to wake up with even though it seemed she’d been crying for mad hours straight.

  “All my muscles feel sore. Where’s Nick?”

  “He’s in the room next door. His arm was pretty messy but he’ll be okay.”

  “And Veronica…?”

  “She... she didn’t make it, Jaden.” Bria broke down and tears flowed. “She died on the way to the hospital.”

  I cupped my face in my hands. Bria’s touch and soothing words calmed me down a bit and helped me hold back tears. We dragged her into street life. She was such a good girl. Her future had been cut short.

  “I went to your house to pick up some clothes for you. Your mother was sick. She needs that operation now! Her insurance won’t cover shit. You had a bunch of messages, too. One of them was from some guy named Vic.” She wiped her tears.

  “I gotta hear it.”

  Bria handed me her phone. I dialed my phone number then the code. I heard Vic’s message and perked up. Dollar signs popped off in my head. I still had Sid’s number in my head and called him. It sounded like he was having a party.

  “Jaden, how are you, young man? Are you feeling any better?”

  “Not so hot. I had a bullet rip through my shoulder. I’ll live. Wait, how’d you know I’m hurting over here?”

  “I’ve got people in Harlem. You’ve kicked up a lot of dust in the last few weeks, my good friend.”

  “Look, I can’t tell you who told me, but he’s a good dude. He gave me word that you uh, helped out some foreigners lately. I want in.”

  I heard the music fade away.

  “Let me step into a more, uh, private setting.” His voice echoed a little, making me think he went to the bathroom.

  “Yeah, it’s true. I’ve done some questionable things to fund my sports betting enterprise.”

  “I’m not questioning your morals, Sid. I just want in. How much will it take?”

  “I don’t need your money I need your help. If you’d find a mover for me that I can trust, you’ll get paid fifty large for a successful exchange. On a good week, it happens three times.”

  “How can I turn down all that bread?”

  You or your partner will make the pickup in, uh, an undisclosed location and make the drop in Chinatown. I’ll fill in the details when you pick up the ride you’re gonna use from me. No serial numbers on it from top to bottom. Are you up for it, kid?”

  “No doubt about it. I need the dough desperately. Me and my soldiers are hurting right now, though. We need time to heal up. I’ll call you when I have the man for the job picked out.”

  “I’ll be waiting,” he said before he hung up.

  I looked at Bria and said, “Our bank accounts just might get a lot fatter in a hot minute, baby.”

  “I’m not even gonna ask. Just don’t get yourself shot over it, baby.”

  I heard somebody jogging our way through the hall and perked up. In walked Eric and some white girl.

  “I heard what happened. I can’t wait to smash on the bitch-ass niggas!” E said panting.

  “Don’t get him excited, Eric. He’s in a lot of pain.”

  “All right, them niggas gonna be in a lot more pain that that.”

  The girl stepped up and Eric introduced her. Bria glanced at her annoyingly as the girl chewed gum.

  “This Mandy, Victor’s people…so who did this?” Eric waved at the girl.

  “Some young boys, they’re dangerous though. I could feel their hunger. They got problems now that they put a hole in me, Eric.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll get them.” “

  I got the perfect job for you, though. Ladies, don’t take offense but I’ll have to ask you to give me a minute alone with my man.”

  Both Bria and Mandy stepped out and closed the door. E sat next to me. I signaled for him to move closer, just in case they were eavesdropping on us.

  “Sid’s into people-moving. He’s paying fifty G’s for a successful pick-up and drop-off. If I’m not able to come with you, we split it sixty-forty. It’ll be half and half when we split the work.”

  “I’m all for the money,” he replied. “When do we start?”

  “Soon as we figure out how Nick’s doing. Tell him to limp his ass over to my room. I gotta be hurting worse then he is right now.”

  After a collective chat, we decided that we had to get discharged to go and make some money.

  “Look, we have to leave now, doc. I got business to take care of.”

  “Guys, your wounds are still fresh. You need to stay at least six more hours so we can run more tests.”

  Nick sat up in the hospital bed and stared at him to make sure he heard him right.

  “Look, my dude, if you need a little sump’n, sump’n to fix our little problem here, all you had to do was ask. Break him off a few, E-money.”

  Eric peeled off a few hundreds, but doc put his hand up and nodded, saying that he couldn’t take the money.

  “Okay, you run a hard bargain. Peel him off some more.” He looked at us bright-eyed.

  “Look, guys. Your health comes first. You’ll just have to stay until tomorrow. We have to keep checking your wounds out. Infection could be deadly, okay? Just relax and enjoy the great room service we have. Our security is airtight, too. As a matter of fact, some big shot name Sid had a few of his guys sent down to watch your rooms to make sure you were safe. I tell you, a tank couldn’t get through these two guys standing outside your door.”

  Eric looked at me all conf
used.

  “Wow, how’d that dude know what happened?” he asked.

  “Sid’s got dough. He can throw a few dollars up and find out anything he wants.” I called Bria back in the room with me. Nick headed back to his room. Eric grabbed Mandy’s hand, making her skip behind him, leaving me and sexy Bria all by our lonesome. Bria curled up like a kitten next to my arm in bed and my wound didn’t hurt so much. She purred like one when I ran my fingers through her sexy mane, too.

  She sat up next to me and peppered me with kisses, asking, “So tough guy, are you gonna hang up this thug life for good?”

  I kissed her big, sexy lips before replying.

  “You know I’m not a thug. I just do what I must to survive, Bria. Feel me?”

  “Yeah whatever… All I know is that the bullet that ripped through your shoulder was for real. It’s time to stop this criminal stuff, baby. Don’t you wanna be around so we can be together? Start a family together?”

  I gently hooked my arm around her neck and caressed her face.

  “You know that’s all I want. But I got a lot of things to do first. I gotta get this money up for my mom’s operation first then fatten our ban accounts, then—”

  “Then blah, blah, blah… How long are you gonna keep making excuses to not be with me?” Tears welled up in her gorgeous almond-shaped eyes. “I just wanna be with you Jaden!”

  I pulled the curtain around my bed shut then I tightened my grip on her and wiped her tears as they rolled down her cheek.

  “Look, I’m not putting you on the backburner. You’ve been rolling with me this whole time, right? You know all I want is for us to be together, right?”

  She nodded pretending to believe me. She never was a good liar.

  “Don’t sweat it, beautiful. We’ll be together and far away from here in no time. Just let your man get his money up.”

  I gave her a soft kiss to emphasize my point but she wouldn’t give it up. Being a Taurus, my patience was short.

  “Baby, let’s just leave. We’ll worry about getting money for your mother later.”

  I raised my voice a few notches and said, “Oh. I see. So I’m just supposed to pull out when things get rough? My mother could die over this. She needs me.”