Girls from da Hood 11

by Nikki Turner

  “Get out of the car with your hands up ma’am!” the cop screamed at her. His gun was still pointing in her direction.

  “What did I do wrong?” Kima asked, still holding her hands up high so he could see she didn’t have a weapon.

  “Get out of the fuckin’ car now!” he barked.

  Kima’s stomach was in knots. She felt a serious wave of nausea come over her. All Kima could think about was Kori. He would whip her ass if this didn’t go the way it was supposed to. The cop holstered his gun as the other cop came around with his gun drawn on her now. The white cop yanked the door open and pulled Kima out of the car roughly.

  “I’m pregnant! Please don’t hurt my baby!” she cried out.

  It was too late. From the force of his pull, she hit the ground. Luckily, she landed on her knees and not her stomach.

  “Help!” she screamed.

  “Nobody can help you right now,” the cop said as he roughly placed the handcuffs on her.

  “Call for the dogs and a female officer to search her. I’m sure we will find plenty of drugs in this car,” the officer said.

  Kima hung her head and the tears came in a flood. Her life was over either way she looked at it. Not only that, Kori was going to be fucking pissed.

  Chapter 5

  Six Months Later. Protective Custody Unit. Riker’s Island, NY

  Dear Kima,

  I hope you are okay. I got your letter. I read about the baby and I am so sorry. I wanted to come to your court dates, but Cess has been having some of his own troubles out here and I’ve just been caught up. Anyway, I know you asked for some money on your books and I’m going to try to do that as soon as possible.

  About that other thing you asked me about. I finally caught up with Kori. I had to search for his ass because he moved. Of course when I finally found him, he was with another woman already. I guess it didn’t take him long to figure out that you were not coming home so he moved right on to the next one. Sorry for telling you this, I just want to be honest with you, like I promised I always would.

  Anyway, Kori made it clear that he wants no parts of you or the case. He said hiring his lawyer to defend you would be like admitting he was guilty. He didn’t seem remorseful about the baby either. He handed me two hundred dollars and told me to take care of your commissary. Yes, two hundred dollars for your life. Can you believe that bullshit? I know you must be getting angrier and angrier as you read this shit. I couldn’t believe the audacity of that motherfucker so I threw the money right back at him. He was looking really well- dressed to death in his usual name brand shit. He was rocking some big, gaudy diamond watch and a different chain from the last time I saw him with you. Oh, yeah, and he got a new car. I think it’s a Bentley, but I can’t be sure. I guess he found a way to make some money after all.

  I also saw Smoke. He wanted to come and see you, but I told him I didn’t know how you would feel about that. I am going to try to visit you before they send you upstate. I know you told me that you already got sentenced and that Riker’s was only the holding jail, so I’m gonna try to hurry up and come. I can’t believe they gave you that much time for just driving a car with drugs in it. They know you didn’t get the drugs yourself. Seems to me, women get harsher sentences and are doing hard time for being drug mules, while the real drug dealers and so-called kingpins get away with a slap on the wrist. Shit, I thought when they tried to revise those fucking Rockefeller drug laws it would’ve made shit better for girls like you. I guess not. I am going to reach out to that organization you told me about, the one that advocates for women like you caught in these situations with severe sentences and doing hard time behind a man.

  I’m so glad you thought to write me, because I would’ve never known what was going on with you. Grandmother didn’t have anything positive to say about your situation, so I won’t bother repeating it. I promise to be there for you as much as I can. Please stay strong. As for Kori, we will figure something out. If not, God will deliver justice to his ass. Please stay strong and I will see you soon.

  Love Always,

  Your best cousin Lawanda.

  Kima could not control the tears streaming down her face as she folded her letter and placed it back in the envelope. Reading about Kori doing so well and that he had already moved on with his life was enough to send Kima into a yearlong depression.

  The worst of it though, was picturing some other chick sleeping next to him in her bed. That shit made Kima boil inside with anger. Kima had regretted that she didn’t snitch on Kori and tell the cops where she had gotten the drugs. She was still kicking the shit out of herself for that move. Kima didn’t know if it was out of love or fear that she decided not to tell. She had taken the full fall for the drugs and on the urging of her public defender Kima had pled guilty to two counts criminal possession of cocaine. The prosecutor had agreed to drop the other ten possession counts, the charge of intent to distribute, and the criminal enterprise charges as part of the plea agreement. Kima had been offered a lesser sentence if she would cooperate with the narcotics officers, but she had refused. Even when they had yelled in her face and threatened to take her baby away as soon as he was born, Kima still stayed loyal to Kori. Even after her baby died and he had left her for dead, Kima didn’t tell. Somewhere deep down inside, she held out hope that he would come around and get her the assistance she needed. It never happened. All of those sacrifices she made for him, just for him to turn around and betray her.

  * * *

  Kima lay down on her bunk and just cried. The unit she was on housed women at high risk of being injured in general population so it was an open dorm style area. It was part of the infirmary unit inside the women’s jail. Most of the general population inmates said the letters PC, in protective custody, really stood for pussy city. Kima didn’t care. She knew that once she got upstate, life in prison would take on a whole different dimension. She just hoped that she wasn’t placed in the same house as her mother. That would just be too much for her to handle. Kima was facing ten to fifteen years and that was a reduced sentence because she had ‘pled guilty and taken full responsibility for the crime.’ The judge also acknowledged that Kima had lost her child in jail. He called it a tragic waste of life for selfish reasons. Those words made Kima’s legs buckle. She had always felt solely responsible for her son’s death, no matter who had commissioned the beating that killed him.

  “Kay Kay . . . w’assup?”

  Kima’s thoughts were interrupted when she heard the familiar squeaky voice approaching from her side. She turned and saw her jailhouse friend, Allison. Kima wasn’t in the mood for Allison’s bubbly personality. As she got closer, Allison could tell Kima had been crying.

  “What’s the matter chica?” Allison asked, sitting down on the end of Kima’s bed.

  Kima tossed the letter in her direction, she didn’t really feel like talking, besides the letter would explain it better anyway. Allison picked it up and looked at Kima strangely.

  “Just read it,” Kima said in an almost inaudible whisper. Allison read the letter at a feverish pace, her head moving side to side as she scanned the loose leaf. Allison’s eyes turned dark and her face hardened as she read each line.

  “That puta! Fucking maricón!” Allison spat in her Puerto Rican dialect. “You know what? When I get the fuck out of here, I’m going to see his ass,” Allison threatened.

  Kima had forgotten that Allison only had another two weeks on Riker’s. The thought of Allison leaving her made Kima feel even worse.

  “I’m never gonna forget about you Kay Kay so don’t be sad. Look, whatever you want me to do for you when I get back in the world you know I got you,” Allison said, rubbing Kima’s knee. “Here, read this shit right here. Take your rec time and go to the law library. This shit right here helped me and a few bitches upstate get an early release,” Allison said, tossing a thick packet of papers at Kima.

  She picked them up and could tell they were legal briefs. Here we go again, Kima was thi
nking.

  Allison was like the jail lawyer, always spitting about getting cases over turned on shit like illegal searches and lack of rights. Kima just figured Allison was talking shit.

  “Don’t just hide that shit under your bunk. When I leave out of here, you better read that shit. I’m telling you, there might be something between them pages that’s gonna save your ass, chica,” Allison said seriously.

  “You know what? There is something you can do for me when you get out. I want to know it’s done before I get transferred upstate. Promise?” Kima asked seriously, ignoring what Allison was saying about the legal briefs.

  “I got you. Just say the word and it’s a done deal. Shit, especially if it’s something to get back at that no good nigga of yours I’m down for sure. You know I’m Puerto Rican, we love revenge,” Allison replied. She looked at Kima and they both started laughing.

  “You know you just made that shit up just now,” Kima laughed.

  “But it got a bitch feelin’ better and shit, right? A’ight then. My work is done here,” Allison chuckled.

  Little did she know, Kima had a bigger job for her than she thought. Revenge was an understatement.

  Chapter 6

  Allison and Kima held each other in a long embrace. Kima was sniffling back the snot that threatened to escape her nose, but Allison’s face was dry. She would miss Kima, but she couldn’t bring herself to cry. Allison was happy as hell.

  “C’mon chica, don’t be crying and shit. You’re making me sad on my release day, when a bitch like me is supposed to be jumping for joy. I told you, you gon’ be a’ight in here. If you would just listen to me and read that shit I gave you, you’ll be joining me soon,” Allison said.

  They let each other go and Kima swiped at the tears on her face. “This is a happy day, you’re right. I’m sorry if I’m gonna miss a crazy Puerto Rican chica that made my days doing this time easier,” Kima said, smiling at her friend. “Just be good out there,” Kima told her.

  “C’mon, I know you didn’t mean nothing. I’m a real lovable bitch so I know you gon’ miss my ass,” Allison said trying to put Kima at ease. “You know the first thing I’m going to do when I hit the world. I’m not going to let you down Kay Kay. For real, I’ma tell you somethin’, I never had a female friend before I met you. I never got along with chicks, but you were different from day one. I’m your true friend,” Allison told her.

  That had touched Kima’s heart. She had never had a female friend either. Kima never trusted anyone like she trusted Allison. Kima guessed doing time together could make the most unlikely of people formulate a bond.

  “Diaz, let’s go! Unless you plan on staying with us another year or something,” a male C.O. called out. Allison smiled at Kima one last time. “I’m coming, fat ass!” Allison snapped at the C.O. She and Kima laughed.

  “Doing hard time ain’t nothing for ride or die bitches like us. It’s those bitch-ass niggas that can’t make it inside the walls. That’s why they send us to do their fuckin’ dirty work like pussies,” Allison called over her shoulder.

  Kima nodded in agreement. Although she felt sad, Kima was excited about the possibilities of what Allison could do for her from the outside. Kima walked back over to her bunk and picked up the paperwork Allison had given her. Kima finally took Allison’s advice and began to read the thick stack of legal size papers. After the first couple of lines, and before long, Kima was enthralled with what was contained in those documents.

  * * *

  Smoke shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he waited outside of the BBQ’s in downtown Brooklyn just like Kima had asked him to do in the letter her cousin had passed on to him. He scanned every chick that passed by the restaurant, wondering which one was going to be this girl named Allison. Smoke looked at his watch for what must have been the twentieth time.

  “Ssss,” he hissed out a long breath of air.

  He hated when people didn’t keep their appointment times, but more than that, he hated to be stood up. After forty-five minutes of waiting, Smoke shoved his hands down into his pockets and got ready to walk away. He jumped when he felt a hand on his arm from behind.

  “You’re Smoke, right?” a real cute, light-skinned, thick female asked, smiling. Smoke took immediate notice of how attractive she was with her seductive cat-like eyes.

  “You Allison?” he asked, eyeing her up and down.

  “That’s me. Sorry I’m late. I’m from the Bronx. That train shit had me all fucked up,” she laughed.

  Smoke could hear her accent. “Damn, I would’ve came and got you. That’s a long-ass ride,” he said, pulling open the door for her.

  “It’s all good. I would take that long-ass ride for my girl Kay Kay,” Allison replied. She noticed the look on Smoke’s face. “Oh, I mean Kima. I called her Kay Kay while we were locked up together,” Allison explained.

  “Oh, a’ight. I gotchu,” he said.

  They were seated and the conversation immediately shifted to business. Smoke laid out his idea for the plan and Allison shared Kima’s side of it. Over their Texas-sized drinks and sticky wings, Allison and Smoke devised the perfect layout of how shit was going to go down.

  Smoke was happy with the plan too. The one thing he felt the best about, was the fact that doing business with women didn’t draw any suspicion. If any niggas from Kori’s hood had seen Smoke and Allison together, they would’ve just assumed they were out on a date. That’s exactly what he wanted too.

  * * *

  Allison checked herself in the mirror one more time. The form fitting dress Smoke bought her was perfect on her body. It looked like someone had poured her into it. Allison had butterflies in her stomach, but she couldn’t wait to meet the infamous Kori. After what she learned about him and knowing what he had done to Kima, Allison told herself she would even do another bid behind getting revenge on his ass. The money Kima had arranged for her to get as a result wasn’t bad either. Allison took a cab to the party in the city at a place called Nobu. It was swanky just like she suspected. All she had to do was get Kori’s attention, from what Smoke had told her, Kori had a serious addiction to pretty women with fat asses, so she didn’t think she would have a problem.

  Once she was inside of Nobu, Allison didn’t see Kori or Smoke right away. She climbed up on one of the beautiful, shiny metal, ultra-modern bar stools and ordered a Coco-Loso. Allison nursed her drink and took in the atmosphere. After being locked up for more than three years, the club scene was all new to her. The music wasn’t, since inmates watched all of the new videos and heard all of the new songs just like people in the world did.

  Allison’s heart jerked in her chest when she noticed Smoke walk into the club. He was surrounded by dudes and from what Kima and Smoke had described, the nigga in the middle, with the huge cross, blinging on the center of his chest, was Kori.

  Kori and his crew quickly grabbed a spot on one of the leather lounge chairs that extended from the far back wall of the place.

  “Perfect! Right near the bathroom so all I have to do is get his fuckin’ attention,” Allison mumbled to herself.

  It was on and popping now. She caught eye contact with Smoke as he approached the bar and ordered a bottle. Allison winked at him and jumped down from her seat. The plan was in motion and there was no turning back now.

  Allison swayed her hips and sauntered past Kori and his boys. Just like they all predicted, Kori took the bait. My girl is locked up behind your no-good ass, and you out here in the world chasing pussy. It’s gonna be so good turning the tables on your ass, Allison thought as she smiled at Kori. “I’m Allison, and you are?” she asked using the most seductive voice she could conjure.

  “I’m that nigga that can change your life forever,” Kori said smoothly.

  Wrong nigga! I’m that bitch that’s gonna change your life forever, Allison screamed silently. “Where can we go to talk in private? It’s too busy in here. A girl like me wants all of the attention,” she said to him batting he
r long false eyelashes.

  “Say no more,” Kori replied excitedly standing up. He just didn’t know that would be his last stand as a free man.

  Chapter 7

  Crash! Bang! Bang!

  “What the fuck!” Kori belted out as he jumped up and whirled his head around in response to the loud noises coming from downstairs in his house.

  Kori’s heart began thumping painfully in his chest. It could only be one of two things going on—niggas were coming to get his ass or the police was raiding his shit. Kori finally got enough of the cobwebs of sleep and liquor from his mind and bent down at his bedside in an attempt to reach for his ratchet, but it was not between the bed and his nightstand where he always left it.

  “Fuck!” Kori cursed.

  The sounds seemed like they were getting closer to him. It sounded like a herd of wildebeests trampling through his house. He looked over at the side of the bed where the girl he had picked up last night was supposed to be, but the spot was empty.

  “Where did this bitch go?” Kori mumbled looking for anything he could use as a weapon.

  It had only been a few seconds after the banging noises started that Kori finally heard the words he always dreaded hearing ever again in life.

  “Police! Don’t fucking move!” Kori was staring down the barrel of a huge semiautomatic weapon.

  Kori threw his hands up in surrender. “What the fuck is going on here?” he asked as the police officers moved in on him. He was forcefully yanked from his bed and thrown to the floor in a prone position on his stomach.

  “It’s a visit from the Easter bunny. What the fuck you think is going on?” said one of the many cops that were now pillaging through is place.

  “Y’all better have a fuckin’ warrant to be here. My lawyer is gonna have a field day with this shit,” Kori snarled, chuckling confidently afterward.

  He never brought anything home with him so he was far from worried. He was placed on the floor on his stomach and his arms were pulled behind his back as they placed the handcuffs on him.