ANYTHING 4 PROFIT (ANYTHING FOR PROFIT)

by Justin Amen Floyd

  Before they pulled off, Bug hollered at Mike and told him that once they took care of their business, to come back to the Met and chill for a minute. “M-m-m-me and my folk just opened a night club called Th-th-the G-Spot. Nothin’ but the best f-food, the best drink, and the best p-p-p-pussy, ya’ heard?”

  “That’s what it is, Bug. As soon as this shit right here get handled, we probably gonna need to get away for a lil’ minute anyway. So we’ll be back through,” said Mike, giving Bug a pound. Ant D started the U-Haul up, and pulled out of the parking lot onto the main road. They headed for the interstate that would take them back to the UPS.

  $$$

  At 11:30 P.M. Ant D pulled into his mama’s driveway back in the District, relieved at having made it back home without being stopped by the police. There was no telling how much time they would have got if they were caught with the type of shit they were riding around with. Those dumb ass crackers might’ve even thought they were fucking terrorists recruited by Bin Laden or the fucking Taliban.

  All of the lights were out, and the house looked completely deserted. And since Glo refused to leave the hospital until Meka woke up out of her coma, it was. She had been there earlier, to pick up a change of clothes and some hygiene products, and then she headed right back to the hospital to be by her daughter’s side. She hadn’t been there for her daughter when she was growing up, but she was damn sure going to be there for her now.

  Mike and Ant D got out and headed towards the rear of the truck to get the crate out so they could take it inside. As they were pulling it out, a candy apple red convertible Benz pulled up to the curb. It was Sylvia Brown, the owner of Sylvia’s Hair and Nail Salon. She waved and said, “Hey y’all, what’s going on?”

  “Ain’t nothin’, Sylvia. Same shit, different toilet, ya’ dig? Just tryna flush this muh’fucka, ya’ know?”

  “Yeah, I hear that. Somebody moving or somethin’?” asked Sylvia, being nosey as usual.

  “Naw, ain’t nobody moving, Sylvia. Why you ask that?”

  “Because when I pulled up I saw y’all pullin’ a big ass crate outta that U-Haul truck. So I figured somebody was moving.”

  “Sylvia, let me ask you a question real quick,” said Ant D. “Why the fuck is you so nosey? You done stopped doin’ hair, and started workin’ for the Sheriff’s office, or some shit?”

  “Damn Ant, calm yo’ ass down! I was just asking, damn! Anyways, tell Meka she need to come get her truck out my parking lot for somebody steal it. That lil’ pink Range Rover been sittin’ there since Saturday, and I ain’t gonna be responsible if anything happens to it. Y’all know how trifling muh’fuckas is. They’ll have that shit stripped, and sitting on bricks befo’ long. Where Meka at anyway?”

  Mike and Ant looked at each other. As meddlesome as Sylvia was, it was highly unlikely that she hadn’t already heard about what had happened to Meka. So more than likely, she was just playing dumb in order to see what additional information she could get.

  After a few seconds, it hit Ant that this would be the perfect opportunity to put his plan in motion. And what better person to get the word out than Sylvia, with her big ass mouth? Ant said, “Mike, go ‘head and tell her what’s poppin’, dog. I’m finna run in the house and grab somethin’ real quick.” Ant D took off for the house, leaving Mike to explain the situation to Sylvia.

  “So what’s going on, Mike,” asked Sylvia, salivating with anticipation at the juicy gossip she was about to receive. “Is Meka okay?” Sylvia lit up a Newport 100 and took a deep pull. She exhaled the smoke into the air, waiting for Mike to talk. He told her as much as he felt she needed to know to put the word out in the street, but without going into a whole bunch of details. Some shit was just better left unsaid, especially when dealing with somebody with a mouth like Sylvia’s.

  Five minutes later, Ant D came out of the house with a plastic Bi-Lo shopping bag filled with money. “Mike told you what time it is, right?”

  “Yeah, but who’d do something like that to Meka? And why?”

  “That’s what we tryna find out,” said Ant. He opened the plastic bag, and revealed the money to a wide eyed Sylvia. “You see that? That’s a hun’ned stacks right there on deck, cash money. We tryna find out who them pussy niggas was that did that shit to my sister. Whoever comes through with some reliable information we can use, the money’s theirs, ya’ heard?”

  “We want you to put the word out for us, Sylvia,” Mike said.

  “Oh, y’all know I’ma do that. This the best gossip I done got all year. Shiiiiiiit, with that much money, if I hear something I’ll tell you myself. I could use that money for real. Especially with the holidays coming up.”

  “That’s what it is then. Get at us if you hear somethin’, Sylvia.”

  “Oh most definitely,” she replied. “Oh yeah! Before I forget, y’all know tomorrow Shawn’s funeral, right?”

  “Naw, we ain’t even know that shit,” said Mike. “But that was our nigga, so you know we gon’ come through and show some love.”

  “Fa’ sho’, man. Shawn wasn’t even supposed to have died like that,” said Ant. “That nigga could’a had made it to the N.B.A or some shit, fa’ real. But you know what’s really crazy? After a while, you lose so many niggas that you kinda’ become numb to that shit. Shit don’t even mean nothin’ no mo’…”

  There was a moment of silence as the gravity of Ant D’s statement sunk in. He and Mike reflected on all the niggas they’d known that had fell victim to the streets in one way or another. Either dead, strung out, or in jail with a number so big that they might as well have been in the grave. This was the unfortunate reality of life when you lived and survived in an impoverished neighborhood, where the cycle of death, either mental or physical, seemed to never end. But they were given this world, they didn’t make it.

  After her own brief moment of reflection, Sylvia inhaled on her Newport. As she exhaled, she broke the silence by saying, “Well, I guess I’ll see y’all at the funeral then.”

  She slowly pulled away from the curb. Before she had even reached the end of the street, she had her cell phone out, running her mouth. “Girlllll, wait ‘til I tell you what done happened now!”

  After getting the crate inside the house, Mike and Ant D inspected and cleaned their newly purchased arsenal before putting everything back into the box, and placing it inside Ant’s closet.

  Looking at the diamond encrusted bezel on his watch. Mike saw that it was past midnight. He suddenly remembered that he was supposed to have made a call earlier. Ant D was in the kitchen emptying a whole box of Lucky Charms into a large bowl that Gloria used to mix cake batter in. He got the milk from the fridge, poured it into the bowl, got him a spoon, and then took his dinner into the living room to bust that shit down. He put his favorite movie, “Scarface”, into the DVD player, and took a snort of coke off a twenty dollar bill before he began watching it for the thousandth time.

  Mike was beginning to notice that Ant was fucking with that “white girl” a lot more often now. And Mike knew how easy it was for that “girl” to turn into a bitch that wouldn’t leave, no matter how hard you tried to throw her out. He wasn’t going to let his best friend turn into no coke head. He couldn’t let him go out like that. He’d have to talk to that nigga about that shit soon.

  Mike pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number Nikki had given him the day before at the park. Meanwhile, Ant noisily continued eating his cereal beside him on the couch watching Al Pacino brilliantly play a refugee Cuban on the come up.

  On the seventh ring Mike heard Nikki’s tired voice answer the phone. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Nikki, it’s me,” said Mike.

  “Me who?”

  “It’s Mike, Nikki. Damn, you done forgot my voice that fast?”

  “Oh no, I didn’t forget your voice Mike. It’s just that I was expecting you to call me a lot earlier than this. It’s late, and I was sleeping. I’m not used to getting calls this late in the night,” said Nikk
i with an attitude, irritated that Mike had waited so late to call. Any call past 10 O’clock from a dude was a booty call to Nikki. And after the conversation they’d had the other night, she really hoped that Mike wasn’t trying no shit like that.

  “Yeah, that’s my bad, Nikki. I had meant to call you earlier, but there’s been a lot of shit going on today that I had to deal with.”

  Thinking that this was just some lame ass excuse, she said, “Yeah? Like what?”

  Briefly Mike went into what had happened to Meka, and the time he’d spent at the hospital with Glo and Ant D. Hearing the raw emotion in Mike’s voice, the irritation in Nikki’s own voice quickly melted away into concern. “Oh my God! Is she going to be alright?”

  “We don’t even know yet. We gotta wait and find out.”

  “Mike, I’m really sorry I came off on you like that a second ago. I had no idea what you’ve been going through.”

  “You ain’t gotta apologize. I still should’a called you earlier.”

  “So how are you feeling? Are you ok?”

  “I’m dealing wit’ it,” Mike said, as images of Meka’s swollen body lying up in that hospital bed flashed through his mind.

  After a few seconds of silence, Nikki said, “Mike, do you want to come over and talk about it?”

  “I thought you stayed wit’ your mama and lil’ brother.”

  “I do, but they’re both out of town visiting with some of my family in Florida. So I’m here by myself for the next few days.”

  “Ok, I’ll come over. But you gotta make me a promise.”

  “What?”

  “You gotta promise me that if I come over, that you won’t try to take advantage of me,” joked Mike.

  Nikki laughed, and said, “Ok, I promise.” But she had her fingers crossed.

  Chapter 22

  After he got Ant to drop him off at the hospital so he could retrieve his Escalade from the parking lot he left it in earlier that day, Mike rode out to Nikki’s apartment complex in Berea. Once he got there, he killed the ignition, got out and walked over to apartment # 37.

  Just as he was getting ready to knock on the door, Nikki opened it and greeted him with a hug. She was wearing a white baby doll tee-shirt and a pair of tight pink panties. It wasn’t expensive lingerie, but it didn’t need to be. Nikki was one of those rare girls who looked sexy no matter what she had on. She was a modern-day Stacey Dash. Pretty face, green eyes, dimpled smile, and a tight, beautiful body. She gleefully said, “Hey Mike.”

  Mike returned the affection and immediately became aroused by feeling Nikki’s warm, soft body pressed against his.

  She noticed Mike’s developing erection, and said, “Let’s go inside.” She pulled Mike towards the living room, so he kicked the door closed behind him and locked it.

  A few steps into the living room, Mike gently grabbed Nikki by the waist and turned her around so that she was facing him. Nikki stood up on her tip toes, leaned in and slipped her tongue inside Mike’s mouth, and gave him a slow, sensuous kiss.

  While they passionately explored each other’s mouths, Mike let his hand drop from Nikki’s waist to her soft round ass, gently squeezing and rubbing each cheek through the soft fabric of her underwear. Nikki felt a fire slowly begin to burn between her legs, and within a matter of seconds the front of her panties were noticeably wet with the moisture of her arousal. Slowly she pulled away from Mike.

  “What’s up, Nikki? What’s wrong?” He didn’t want to let her out of his arms. He was loving the way she felt next to him.

  “Nothing’s wrong, Mike. It’s just that, if this is going to be our first time, I want it to be special.”

  “This is special. Me and you together, and we both feelin’ the same thing at the same time. What’s mo’ special than that?” He pulled her back towards him. Mike bent his head down and kissed Nikki’s forehead, and then worked his way down her face. He kissed her closed eyelids, her nose, her lips, and then began to suck softly on her neck.

  Nikki’s eyes remained closed, and she gasped at the pleasure that Mike was giving her body. After a moment it became too intense for her to bear. She jumped up in Mike’s arms, and wrapped her legs around his waist. She whispered in his ear, “Take me upstairs.”

  Mike carried Nikki up the stairs to her bedroom, and gently laid her down on her queen-sized bed. He began taking off his clothes, so Nikki smiled at him and did the same. When she came out of her T-shirt, her full, ripe C-cup breasts with dime sized nipples were revealed, proving she was braless.

  Mike looked at Nikki lying there on the bed, and couldn’t believe how incredibly sexy she was. It was like she had no flaws. He hurriedly pulled his boxers off and got onto the bed with Nikki, lying between her legs. Using his forearms to support his weight, Mike leaned down and slipped his tongue in her mouth again, savoring her taste.

  Feeling his erection rubbing up against her stomach, Nikki lifted her hips and pulled her moist panties off. Mike immediately tried to get inside of her. In his haste, he missed the entry altogether. Nikki reached down between their naked bodies and grabbed Mike’s throbbing dick. She guided him inside of her already well lubricated pussy. Mike couldn’t believe how tight she was, or how good she felt. He began to quickly thrust in and out of her.

  Nikki whispered into his ear, “Slow down, baby, you don’t have to rush. Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Mike slowed down the tempo and started making passionate love to Nikki. She wrapped her legs around his waist, using her pelvis to match the grinding of his slow steady thrusts inside of her. She looked Mike in his face and bit her bottom lip in ecstasy. Every time he went deep inside of Nikki’s wetness he rubbed against her clit, causing her to lose her mind with pleasure. The feeling was so good that she didn’t want it to stop. But her tightness already had Mike on the brink of a powerful ejaculation. He tried to hold it back, but it was no use. In seconds, he was cumming violently inside of her. Nikki was far from disappointed though. She saw this as an opportunity to give back the pleasure she’d received, and at the same time get him ready for round two.

  When Mike rolled over onto his back, Nikki got up on her knees and began kissing all over his body. She licked and sucked on his nipples, and kissed her way down her lover’s torso. When she got to his dick, which was limp and wet with her juices, she kissed that too, before putting it into her mouth. Nikki was far from experienced when it came to giving head, and it showed. But just the fact that she was willing to please him like that was enough to revive Mike’s erection.

  Once she saw that he was ready for another round, Nikki mounted him so that she was on top facing him. Slowly she rode his rejuvenated dick up and down, and back and forth, loving the way he filled her up and stretched her insides. Nikki looked into Mike’s eyes and sped up the pace, going faster and faster until she reached her first orgasm of the night - but not her last…

  For the rest of the night, and into the early morning, Nikki and Mike explored each other’s body. They each learned what turned the other on until finally, out of sheer exhaustion, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

  Chapter 23

  The sky was overcast with sadness as tears drizzled down from the heavens and fell upon the earth, wetting the many mourners who had gathered to see Shawn Christopher McGee’s body laid to rest. Closest to the rich mahogany wooden casket, standing under umbrellas in the front row was Shawn’s family. He never knew his dad but his mama, Renee, his two younger sisters, Ashley and Angela, and his grandparents, Ruth and Gerald McGee, were there. Renee was crying uncontrollably, her salty tears mixing with the rain as they trickled down her weary face. Her daughters had to hold her up in order to keep her from falling to the ground. She was overwhelmed with the indescribable feeling of grief. Seeing her only son getting ready to be placed into the ground from which he came was unbearable.

  Standing on the grass behind the family were over a hundred mourners whom Shawn had touched in some way or another throughout his sh
ort life. Coaches, school faculty, old girlfriends, and numerous homeboys wearing black R.I.P. tee-shirts with Shawn’s photo on the front of them were all in attendance. Some of the people there hadn’t even met Shawn personally, but had seen him on the local news, or read about him in The Greenville Newspaper so much that they felt as if they had. They had lived vicariously through him and his many exploits on the basketball court, and now it was suddenly over. Cut short by a bullet that didn’t even have his name on it.

  Among the many mourners who had gathered at the cemetery were Ant D and Mike, who had known Shawn for years. Shawn had always been cool with them, but he had never been in the streets like them. He might’ve gone to a party every now and then and had a few beers, but overall he was a good dude that went to school, got the grades, got the girls, and was on his way out the ‘hood to a better life. He wasn’t supposed to be laid up in that casket like that…but he was. Shit like that tended to happen in the ‘hood so often that it made Ant D wonder if there really was a God.

  “…And so we gather here today… not to mourn the life of a young man that is no longer here with us physically, but to celebrate the life of a young man whose memories will be here with us long after his body has returned to the dirt from which God Almighty has created us all. Let us not cry any tears for young Shawn. Instead, let us smile and rejoice at the fact that his soul is now with the Heavenly Father in paradise…at peace,” said the dark skinned, heavyset preacher affectionately called Pastor Johnson.

  He continued. “And let this be a wakeup call to all of us, especially to our youth, that life is a precious gift given to us by the Lord, that shouldn’t be taken for granted. It’s a gift that should be appreciated and cherished. For we never know when it will be our time to meet the Heavenly Father…”