The Block

by Treasure Hernandez

  “I guess.” Russel couldn’t understand why Mya didn’t want to tell the police what really happened.

  “Yo, pass that Dutch, nigga.” Maine snatched it from the hands of a young hustler. “Damn! You got the shit all wet and shit,” he complained as him, Young Mike, and a few other hustlers on the team stood in front of the building getting high, getting their drink on, and talking shit.

  “Shit, all these li’l niggas just hanging around and shit,” Maine huffed. “Y’all niggas ’bout to have to start putting in work out here on these streets.”

  Right on cue, a tall guy walked up with a hard jailhouse bop and a mean look on his face. Maine stepped in the tall man’s path. “Yo, fam, who you coming to see in this hood?”

  “What?” the tall guy said, his face in a frown.

  Before he could even say another word, he felt a punch to the back of his head followed by a bottle being shattered over his head. The tall man hit the ground and felt hands and feet coming from all directions.

  “That’s enough,” Maine yelled, and him and his crew watched the tall man stagger back up to his feet, all bloody. Maine wagged his finger. “Don’t come up in this hood again!”

  Young Mike just sat over to the side sipping from his white foam cup, shaking his head. “Y’all niggas is mad dumb.”

  Maine turned to face Young Mike. “Fuck is you talking about?”

  “What if that nigga come back blasting?”

  “What? You scared or something?”

  Maine and the rest of the crew busted out laughing.

  “Scared?” Young Mike echoed looking at Maine like he was crazy. “If he come back blasting, that’s not good for business. You must’ve forgot—We in this for the money, not a rep.”

  Maine stepped to Young Mike. “Yo, you got a problem with how I’m running shit?”

  “Last I heard, Tone was still in charge,” Young Mike shot back.

  “Tone goes to turn himself in tomorrow for five years,” Maine reminded him. “So therefore I’m in charge,” he said, pounding on his chest.

  “Like I said, last I heard, Tone was still in charge. Until I hear otherwise, that’s what it is.” Young Mike took another sip from his foam cup.

  Maine was just about to steal on Young Mike, until one of the young hustlers yelled, “Damn! She got a fat ass!”

  Maine looked in the other direction and saw a thick chocolate thing dressed half-naked headed toward the building they was standing in front of. From the looks of it, he could tell that she was just coming from the club.

  “Damn, ma! Where the party at?” Maine grabbed the woman’s arm, stopping her in mid-stride.

  “What is you doing?” the woman yelled. She jerked her arm out of Maine’s grip. “Don’t put ya fuckin’ hands on me! Fuckin’ bum-ass niggas!”

  “Bitch, who the fuck you talking to like that?”

  “Nigga, I’m talking to you.” The woman looked Maine up and down, a look of disgust on her face. “Y’all muthafuckas don’t know how to talk to a real woman. That’s why y’all gon’ always be standing in front of this building looking stupid.”

  Just as she got ready to walk in the building, Maine snuffed her from behind, knocking her the fuck out.

  The whole crew bust out, “Oooooohhhh!”

  “Fuck is you doing?” Young Mike asked, shaking his head, helping the young lady get back to her feet.

  “Look at this sucker-for-love-ass nigga.” Maine laughed, pointing at Young Mike.

  “What you just call me?” Young Mike asked, dropping the woman back down to the ground. “You disrespecting me?”

  “Yeah. Fuck you gon’ do about it?”

  Before Young Mike could reply, a younger hustler quickly jumped in front of him, so the two men wouldn’t clash.

  “You a bitch-ass nigga!” Young Mike said as he walked off. He wanted to pull out his ratchet and pop Maine’s head off right in front of the building, but he couldn’t afford to fuck up his money.

  Maine yelled at Young Mike’s back, “Yeah, you better walk the fuck off!” He watched the woman get up and stumble in the building. “Tired of these young niggas out here running they fuckin’ mouth. Next nigga say some wild shit, I’m popping the fuck off.”

  “I’m going to get my brother,” the woman said, as she disappeared inside the building.

  “I told you we should’ve got that nigga Tone when we had the chance,” Maxine said, pulling up in front of the weed spot.

  Gruff rolled down the window and called the young kid over. “Yo, shorty, lemme get five twenties.” He pulled out a big wad of cash.

  The young kid pulled the weed from out of his pocket and stood there.

  “Nigga, lemme see how big them shits is,” Gruff said with an attitude.

  The young kid thought about it for a second then dropped the bags of weed in Gruff’s hand.

  “Damn! These shits look like you been tapping the bags,” Gruff said with a smirk on his face.

  Right after he said that, Maxine stepped on the gas, leaving the young kid standing there, looking stupid.

  “Dumb-ass kids.” Gruff shook his head. “Selling drugs ain’t for everybody.”

  “I know that’s right,” Maxine said. “What’s our next move?”

  “We gon’ lay low for a hot minute and let the heat on the streets die down,” Gruff replied. “It’s mad hot, and the streets is talking right now.”

  “Damn! So what the fuck am I supposed to do while this heat is dying down?”

  “Whatever the fuck you wanna do.” Gruff shrugged his shoulders. “I think I’ma go to Atlantic City for a month and cool out.”

  “Atlantic City?” Maxine repeated. “What the fuck is out there?”

  “A peace of mind,” Gruff answered quickly. “You should roll.”

  “Nah, I’m good,” Maxine said, waving off the idea. She pulled up to the sleazy motel they had been staying at for the past few days. “I’ll be here when you get back.”

  Chapter 14

  Tone stood in front of the mirror fully dressed, just staring at himself. Today was the day he was going to turn himself in, and suddenly he wasn’t in such a rush to get this day started. Several things ran through his mind. He knew for a fact he was going to miss Serena, along with a lot of other things he had to give up.

  “You all right, baby?” Serena asked, wrapping her arms around Tone’s waist from behind.

  Tone turned around, so the two could face each other. “Yeah, I’m cool. I just hate that I gotta be away from you for so damn long sitting up behind a wall.”

  He huffed as he heard somebody ringing his doorbell. He looked through the peephole and opened the door and walked away from it.

  “Good morning to you too,” Detective Abraham said with a smile as he stepped inside the house, followed by Maine. “You not gon’ introduce me to this young lady I’ve been hearing so much about?”

  “Serena, this my pops,” Tone said dryly. “Pops, this is Serena.”

  Detective Abraham smiled. “How you doing, sweetheart?”

  Tone opened up the fridge, pulled out a bottle of Coconut Cîroc, and turned up the bottle. “Fuck!” he said loudly, out of frustration.

  “Stop crying,” Detective Abraham said. “You acting like you never gonna get out.”

  “That’s not the point.” Tone took another sip from the bottle.

  “Do you and Maine got this money situation under control?” Detective Abraham asked, a greedy look in his eyes.

  “Yeah, everything is already taken care of,” Tone assured him. “Come on, let’s get this show on the road,” he said as he exited his crib.

  Tone slid in the driver’s seat of his Range Rover.

  “You don’t want me to drive, baby?” Serena asked, sliding in the passenger seat.

  “Nah, I got it.” Tone took another swig from his bottle. “This gon’ be my last time driving for a while.” He smirked as he followed Maine and his father down to the courthouse.

  When Tone st
opped at a red light, Serena unzipped his pants and pulled out his dick.

  “Damn, baby! I don’t think my shit work anymore.” Tone was still sore from the nonstop sex they’d had all night and morning. “It ain’t no more come left in there.”

  “I’ll find some.” Serena went straight to work on her man’s dick, sucking it like it was so delicious.

  Tone stepped inside the courtroom and saw about twenty-five to thirty members from his team in the courtroom supporting him. He looked over to his right and saw Mya sitting over in the corner, her eyes watery. He smoothly gave her a head nod and a wink as he went and stood next to his lawyer.

  After about ten minutes of big-time lawyer talk, three officers came and grabbed Tone and escorted him to the back.

  Right before he disappeared in the back, Serena yelled, tears running down her face, “I love you, baby, and I’ma be right here waiting for you when you get out. Hold it down!”

  Serena hopped back in the Range Rover and started the engine. She was getting ready to pull out of the parking spot, until she saw the other woman who was in the courtroom flagging down her truck.

  “Can I help you?” Serena asked politely.

  “I just wanted to tell you thanks for fucking up a happy home,” Mya said, an evil look on her face.

  Serena shot back, “I ain’t fuck up shit. Tone told me all about y’all’s relationship, and you just need to get over it. He’s mine now.”

  “You can have him. But if you ever hurt him or do him wrong, I’ma see you—”

  “That was cute.” Serena laughed as she pulled off, leaving Mya standing there.

  Nut hopped up out of his bed in a hurry. Not many people knew where he lived, so he knew it could’ve only been one of two people knocking on his door at eleven in the morning. He snatched open the door. “Fuck is banging on door like they the”—Nut’s words got stuck in his throat when he saw his sister’s face. “Mary, what the fuck happened to you?”

  “Some guy beat my ass ’cause I didn’t want to talk to him.” Mary started sobbing.

  Nut sat down on the couch. “Start from the beginning.”

  “I was going home from the club when I saw a bunch of guys out standing in front of the building. One was trying to holla, but I ignored him.” She paused. “So I kept walking and didn’t say nothing. Then the guy grabbed me, so I pulled my arm away, and then he just hit me.”

  “Who is this guy?” Nut asked, his killer face on.

  “I don’t know,” Mary cried.

  “If you seen him again, would you be able to point him out to me?”

  “Yeah,” Mary answered. “I’ve seen him around a few times, but he always be with a bunch of niggas every time I see him.”

  “Let me worry me about all that.”

  Nut answered his ringing cell phone. “What up? ... Yeah, a’ight. I’ll be there in a minute,” he said, ending the call.

  Nut told his sister, “I’ma call you later on tonight, and we gon’ go out and find this nigga who did this to you, a’ight.”

  “Okay,” Mary said, and she got up and left.

  “I’m just letting you know how it works around here,” Detective Abraham stated plainly.

  Mario wanted to smack the shit out of the detective for trying to extort him. “You asking for a little too much.”

  “Actually, I’m hooking you up,” Detective Abraham told him. “Usually, I charge niggas way more. You gotta pay to play out here.”

  “I’m saying though”—Mario stood up—“I’m not really with all that extortion shit, smell me?”

  “I’m not extorting you,” Detective Abraham said, trying to downplay his scheme. “But everybody has to pay taxes.” He shrugged his shoulders.

  Mario chuckled. “Fuck you and your taxes! You want money from me, then you gon’ have to take it in blood.”

  Detective Abraham raised an eyebrow. “That’s how you wanna do this?”

  “Yeah, that’s exactly how I want to do this. And guess what? If I ever see you again, I’m going to kill you. Stay the fuck away from my area!”

  Detective Abraham rose to his feet, with a smile on his face. “You got it, big man,” he said, and he exited the restaurant.

  “Punk-ass cop.” Mario shook his head as he hopped in his whip and broke out.

  Mario pulled up in front of Ice-T’s crib and let the engine die. “He gonna have to tax me,” he mumbled to himself as he walked up to the front door and knocked on it.

  Ice-T stepped to the side, so Mario could enter. “What’s good, my G?”

  “Yo, I’m about to bust a cap in this punk-ass policeman!”

  “What policeman?”

  Mario looked down at the card he had left. “Some clown named Detective Abraham.”

  “Why? What happen?”

  “Nigga trying to extort me. You know I don’t even get down like that.”

  “Calm down. I do business with that clown. I’ll talk to him for you, a’ight.”

  “A’ight. But I’m telling you, if the nigga come at me like that again, it’s on!” Mario stormed out of Ice-T’s crib.

  “Fuck wrong with this greedy-ass cocksucker?” Ice-T said out loud. He picked up his cell phone and dialed Detective Abraham’s number.

  “What’s up?” Detective Abraham answered.

  “One of my workers just dropped by my crib, talking about you was trying to lean on him. What’s up with that?” Ice-T asked.

  “Everyone has to get taxed. You already know how I operate.”

  “Yeah, but Mario gets his work from me, and you already taxing me. So couldn’t you just let me slide? ’Cause that would be kinda like you taxing me twice. Know what I mean?”

  “No, I don’t know what you mean,” Detective Abraham shot back. “I’m a businessman, and I’m just doing my job. Ya man don’t wanna pay, then he gon’ really have to pay, point-blank,” he said, ending the call.

  “Muthafucka tryin’a bargain and shit. Fuck outta here!” Detective Abraham looked over at Maine. “As a matter of fact, I think I need you to pay that clown a visit tonight. I’m tired of these niggas acting as if they can just do what the fuck they want.”

  “What’s this clown’s résumé?” Maine downed a shot of Henny.

  “I got you.” Detective Abraham pulled up Mario’s rap sheet, along with his address, on his computer. “I want you to make this one messy too.”

  Maine laughed, leaning back in his chair. “Not a problem.”

  “You see that nigga?” Nut asked, pulling up in front of a crowd of men standing in front of the building where his sister had been attacked the other day.

  “Nah, I don’t see him.” Mary squinted her eyes, so she could get a better look. “He must not be out here today.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  “We gon’ come back every day ’til we find this muthafucka!” Nut pulled off, mad that the person they was looking for wasn’t outside.

  Maine crept up along the side of Mario’s house with his silenced .380 in his hand. He peeked through the kitchen window and saw him standing in the kitchen with his back turned, talking on the phone. Maine quietly placed his .380 on the window, aimed it at the back of Mario’s head, and pulled the trigger.

  The gun chirped Spt! Then Mario’s body suddenly collapsed.

  Maine then quickly walked around the house to the front door and shot the lock off. He entered the house and headed straight for Mario’s body. Then he stood over him and emptied an entire clip into his already dead body. He then reloaded his clip and emptied it into Mario’s lifeless body before making his exit.

  Maine slid back in his car and drove off like nothing never even happened. “Bitch-ass nigga,” he mumbled, picking up his cell phone and calling Detective Abraham.

  “What’s up?”

  “Done!” Maine said, and he hung up.

  Maine turned up his new Lil Wayne mixtape and bumped that shit all the way until he got back to the hood. He pulled up in
front of the hood and saw all his people standing in front of the building like they always did. He hopped out his whip so he could join them.

  “What’s good, my niggas?” he said, giving each man dap. “How it’s looking out here?”

  A man wearing a do-rag replied, “Slow motion.”

  “Damn! Ain’t no bitches out here or nothing?” Maine cracked open a Dutch Masters.

  “Nah.” Do-rag looked up and saw a familiar-looking black car. He became suspicious. “Yo, son, this same car been riding through here for about the last three days.”

  “What black car?” Maine looked up with the quickness and instantly spotted a black car with dark-tinted windows just sitting idly at the curb.

  “That black car right there.” Do-rag nodded.

  “Shit! I hope they strapped.” Maine laughed, ready for whatever.

  Nut was running out of patience. “You still don’t see the nigga?”

  “I think that’s him right there,” Mary said, pointing at Maine.

  “Oh shit!”

  “You know him or something?”

  “Yeah, we had a fight a few weeks ago in the club.” Nut grabbed his TEC-9 from off the backseat.

  “What you about to do?” Mary asked in a panicky voice.

  “Nothing.”

  Nut quickly stepped out the car, aimed his TEC-9 at the building, and pulled the trigger, swinging his arms back and forth three times, trying to hit every last nigga standing in front of the building. Once he ran out of bullets, he hopped back in the car and pulled off, almost hitting an oncoming car.

  Mary screamed, “Oh my God!” when she felt something pierce her thigh. She had ducked down in her seat when she heard the back window rip, but she didn’t hear any gunshots.

  “Yo, if that car still sitting right there by the time I finish rolling this blunt, I’m airing that shit out!” Maine huffed.

  “Yo, they getting out,” Do-rag announced.