Street Banditz

by CJ Hudson

  As Ivory continued to drive, Tammy noticed for the first time that they had passed her house and were coming up on Superior Avenue. “Where the fuck are we going?”

  “To Hot Sauce Williams on 123rd. I figured I’d treat your broke ass today.”

  “Broke? I’m hardly broke. You know how much money I’ve saved for college?”

  “That shit’s for school. I ain’t talking about shit that you can’t spend.”

  “Anyway,” Tammy said, ignoring her friend’s comment, “what’s up with the birthday party Cookie is having?”

  “Oh, it’s gonna be Tizzano’s Party Center tonight.”

  “Tonight? When the hell were you going to tell me?”

  “I just told yo’ ass.”

  “Whatever. Hey, can I bring somebody?” Tammy asked, thinking about Nancy.

  “Who?”

  “Nancy.”

  “Who the fuck is Nancy?”

  “My coworker.”

  “You talking ’bout that dusty-looking-ass white girl you introduced me to the last time I came to your job?”

  “Yeah. Girl, she’s cool people.”

  “I don’t know about that one. I’m gonna have to ask Cookie about it.”

  “Well, just get back to me and let me know what she says.”

  Ivory yanked so hard into the parking lot Tammy was thrown into the passenger’s side door.

  “Damn, why are you pulling up in here like you’re the police?”

  Ivory smiled and ignored her, and the two women entered the restaurant. Fifteen minutes later, they walked out of the place with Tammy shaking her head.

  “I don’t know if I would eat that. Not the way you talked to them folks for taking so long.”

  “Please. I wish I would find out one of them bum bitches did something to my food. I’ll come back up here and stomp a mudhole in that ho’s ass.”

  Tammy laughed hysterically at her friend. She knew from experience, though, that Ivory meant every word she said. “Why does your ass always have to . . . What the fuck?” Tammy stopped dead in her tracks.

  “What? What’s wrong?” Ivory asked. Ivory followed her friend’s stare. Her gaze finally came to rest on the handsome young man across the street. With him stood some of the neighborhood’s most notorious young drug dealers. Without waiting for the light to turn, Tammy stormed across the street. People yelled and cursed as cars narrowly missed each other trying to avoid her. She ignored them and continued on her mission toward a blowup. As soon as the light changed, Ivory was right behind her.

  “What the fuck is wrong wit’ you? You trying to get yo’self killed or something?” She, too, was ignored as Tammy gorilla stomped across the concrete sidewalk.

  “Hakim!” she screamed when she got within ten feet of him. Hakim heard her but chose to ignore her, which only fueled her anger. “Hakim! Boy, I know you hear me talking to you!”

  The fact that her baby brother was ignoring her made her furious. She reached up with her right hand and tried to grab his shoulder. She tried to spin him around, but he responded by snatching his arm away from her.

  “I know you hear me! What the hell are you doing out here on the corner with these damn thugs?”

  The other three hoodlums looked at each other as if they had no idea who she was referring to.

  “Damn, sis, chill the hell out! Ain’t nobody doing shit!”

  “Chill out? What the fuck is that in your hand?” Tammy asked when she noticed him trying to put his hand behind his back. Right on cue, one of the thugs slipped behind Hakim and took the bag of rocks out of his hand.

  “I saw that shit,” Ivory screamed. “Stop covering for his ass!”

  “You need to mind yo’ muthafucking business,” one of the tatted-up thugs spat. He wore an unpleasant scowl on his face, and his thick braids protruded through the doo rag he had wrapped around his head.

  “Li’l boy, I’ll slap the shit outta yo’ ass out here,” Ivory threatened.

  “And I’ll beat yo’ muthafucking ass out here too,” the thug responded with a threat of his own.

  “Let’s do this shit then,” Ivory said as she started taking off her earrings. Hearing Ivory call him little again caused him to become incensed. She was at least four inches taller than he was, so it was no surprise that he would take exception to it. He took a step toward Ivory but was stopped in his tracks by Hakim.

  Hakim wasn’t stupid. He knew that if Ivory got into it with the thug, his sister was going to get involved. He also knew that the thug was strapped. In his mind, there was no sense in all three of them going to the morgue.

  “Dru, I got it. Ivory, you need to be cool. This ain’t even none of yo’ business.”

  “Anything that involves my girl is my business!”

  “Yo, my dude, you betta check that broad before I put some heat to her ass!”

  “Whateva, nigga!”

  “What the hell are you hiding, Hakim?” Tammy asked, dismissing every other statement that was being uttered.

  “Ain’t nobody hiding shit! Take yo’ ass on somewhere!”

  “You think I’m stupid? I know what you call yourself doing out here, and trust me, there are better ways to make a living.”

  “Yeah, right. You mean by going to school like you?” Hakim asked as he spat out a laugh.

  “Go to school?” Dru repeated as if the idea of higher education were something to be ashamed of.

  “Yeah, school, you li’l ignorant bastard!” Ivory shouted.

  “Ignorant? Fuck you, bitch!”

  “Oh, I got yo’ bitch, nigga,” Ivory spat as she set her bag of food down.

  “Yo, sis, you and Ivory need to take y’all asses on wit’ that dumb shit!”

  “You know what? Cool! Maybe I’ll just go home and tell Mama what the hell you’re doing out here! How do you think she will feel about that?”

  “I don’t know, maybe the same way she would feel if she knew yo’ ass was smoking weed on a regular fucking basis! Now what?”

  Tammy was shocked. Not only had she kept her habit a secret from her mother, but she was almost positive that she had kept it from Hakim, until now. She didn’t want her mother knowing that she smoked weed, but in her mind, keeping her brother out of the streets was more important than her mother getting mad at her.

  “You know? Whatever! I’m telling her as soon as I get home!”

  “I don’t give a fuck what you do! Just get the fuck out of my face!”

  Before she could stop herself, Tammy hauled off and slapped Hakim in the mouth.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you? Don’t you ever put yo’ muthafucking hands on—”

  Slap! Hakim couldn’t get the last word out before Tammy slapped him again.

  “Ooh, she slapped the nigga again,” one of the other thugs said.

  Purely out of instinct and embarrassment, Hakim backhanded Tammy to the ground.

  “Dayyumm, that nigga just slapped the shit outta his sister,” said an innocent bystander who just happened to be waiting to get served. Hearing the word “sister” brought Hakim back to his senses.

  “Oh, shit, sis. I’m sorry! I’m sorry,” he repeated as he reached down to help her up.

  “Get the fuck off of me!”

  Ivory gave him a death stare as she helped Tammy up. The two of them walked back across the street and hopped in Ivory’s whip. Tears formed in the corners of Tammy’s eyes as she watched her baby brother start down the wrong path of life. Her jaw had already started to swell and was aching off the charts. But the pain shooting through her face was nothing compared to the pain of losing her brother to the streets.

  * * *

  “Why the fuck does she get to leave early?” asked one of Nancy’s coworkers.

  “First of all, watch your damn language in here. This is a place of business, not the street corner you’re accustomed to. Secondly, because I said so. Now get back to work before I send you home permanently.”

  “But that’s not fair, Mr. James
. Whenever we get slow around here, she’s always the one who gets to go home early.”

  “Let me tell you something,” he said, stepping into her space. “I don’t have to justify or explain to you why I make the decisions that I make around here. Now, I’m going to say this only one more time. Get back to work!”

  Nancy smirked at the hater as she stormed by. She had informed her boss earlier in the day that she was going to have to leave early. But when he told her that there was too much work to be done and, therefore, she would not be able to leave, she decided to pull her trump card. Mr. James had no idea that, during their last screwing session, Nancy was secretly taping him on her cell phone. At first, he just laughed and told her that it could be anyone’s voice on the recording. She agreed but then told him that she was willing to bet her paycheck that his wife would recognize the voice. She then laid down the law to him as far as what she expected to get away with, not to mention that she had plans to extort a few bucks from him from time to time to support her habit.

  Looking at her watch, Nancy saw that she had forty-five minutes before she was actually scheduled to get off. After her growling stomach reminded her that she hadn’t eaten anything all day, she decided to stop at the food court and get some nourishment. Thirty minutes later, she saw Red slithering through the mall with a few bags from Diamond’s Men’s Wear in his hand, talking with another man. As they got closer, Nancy could overhear their conversation.

  “Why the fuck you keep asking me the same ol’ shit? He yo’ cousin. How the fuck should I know where he at?” an irritated Red ranted.

  “I’m just asking ’cause Shavonda been bugging the shit outta me the last few hours. Plus, it ain’t like that nigga to disappear and not say shit to nobody,” Ray-Ray said.

  “For the last time, I don’t know where the fuck that nigga at, so stop sweating me about that bullshit! Oh, shit, what’s up, baby girl?” he asked when he spotted Nancy at a nearby table.

  “Nothing. Just waiting for you, big daddy. Hello,” she said to Ray-Ray when she noticed him gawking at her.

  “What’s happening, sweet thang? My name is Ray-Ray, but you can just call me Sugar Ray,” he said, trying to get his mack on.

  “Why?” Nancy asked.

  “Why what?” he responded with a strange look on his face.

  “Why should I call you Sugar Ray? Is it because you’re sweet like candy, or is it because you stick and move like ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard?” Not only were they impressed with her quick wit but her knowledge of the legendary boxer as well.

  “Take yo’ pick,” Ray-Ray said without missing a beat. “Whicheva you prefer.”

  “Ay yo, let’s roll the fuck out,’” Red interrupted. “I got a party to go to tonight and a lot of shit to do before I start to get ready.”

  The three of them walked out of the mall and got into Red’s truck. Ray-Ray twisted up his face as Nancy walked straight to the front passenger’s side door, opened it, and hopped her thick frame into the front seat. He was about to say something, but Red silenced him with one of those looks that said there was a plan in motion. Truth be told, Red had forgotten all about telling Nancy that he was going to pick her up. Since he now knew where she worked, Red figured that he was going to get the pussy sooner or later anyway, so in his mind, there was no need to rush it. He was basically at the mall to get some new shoes and clothes.

  As soon as Red turned onto Monticello, he reached into his ashtray and picked up a half-smoked blunt. “Here, fire this shit up,” he said, passing the icky back to Ray-Ray. In the rearview mirror, Red saw that he was still bent out of shape about having to sit in the back. Red just smiled, reached into his console, and pulled out a bag filled with cocaine. He closed the bag back up and set it on top of the console. Out of the corner of his eye, Red saw Nancy lick her lips. Subconsciously, she started sniffing like she was trying to keep snot from coming out of her nose. Nancy tried in vain not to look at the pure white cocaine. Red looked in the review mirror at Ray-Ray. He, too, was now smiling because all of a sudden, he realized what Red was doing.

  “You okay over there, baby girl?” Red asked.

  “Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m okay.”

  “You sure?” he asked, trying to bait her.

  Nancy looked at the bag, then at Red, and then back at the white devil and sighed heavily.

  “What? You want some of this?” Red asked, knowing full well what the answer was going to be.

  Nancy, who was smart enough to know when someone had her figured out, decided to answer the question truthfully. “You know I do,” she said with her eyes still glued to the bag.

  “I would love to help you out, but to be honest with you, this ain’t even my shit. This shit belongs to my buddy Ray-Ray back there.”

  Nancy’s head snapped around so fast she almost caught whiplash. She was now looking straight into Ray-Ray’s face as he took another puff of the blunt. “Sugar Ray, can I have some of your candy?”

  “I don’t know about that. That kind of candy is expensive. How much money you got on you?”

  Nancy had heard this line before. Unbeknownst to Ray-Ray and Red, Nancy had been through this many times. This wasn’t the first time she’d had to give up some ass or suck some dicks to get high, and it damn sure wouldn’t be the last.

  “Well, actually, I’m kind of broke right now, but I’m sure we can work something out,” she said, licking her lips.

  Red pulled into the parking lot of a corner store that he knew sold liquor. “Ay yo, I’ll be back in a second. I’m gonna run in here and get a gallon of Cîroc.”

  As soon as Red got out of the truck and went into the store, Nancy got out of the front seat and made her way into the back. When Red came back, he wasn’t surprised to see Nancy’s head in Ray-Ray’s lap, giving him a supreme blowjob. Ray-Ray’s eyes rolled to the back of his head as Nancy worked her magic. “Mmmmm,” she moaned as she tried to suck the skin off of his dick in anticipation of her powdered gift.

  “Shit!” Ray-Ray yelled as he came deep down her throat. No sooner had she lifted her head up than Nancy was reaching for the white lady.

  “Not so fast, baby girl. You obviously know how this game works, so after you rest ya jaws and we get to my place, you can get ready to work with a real monster,” Red told her.

  “Can’t I have just a little?” Nancy asked, feening.

  Red reached into his console once again and took out a mirror. He opened the bag, scooped out a small amount of powder, and placed it on the mirror. After giving Nancy a dollar bill, he watched as Nancy rolled the bill up into a tube, held the mirror up, leaned her head down, and sniffed the cocaine up into her nostrils.

  Nancy lay back and smiled as the powerful drug took hold of her bloodstream. “That’s what the fuck I’m talking about.”

  While Nancy floated up to cloud nine, Red continued to stare at her thighs, anxious to get her home so he could get up in some white girl pussy.

  Chapter 14

  Meanwhile, just off Interstate 271, Bobby was holed up in the Marriott with a pretty brown-skinned hottie he’d met after they’d taken care of the three fools who had made the fatal mistake of trying to rob him and his crew. Although the girl was doing a nice job of sucking him off, Bobby’s mind was otherwise occupied. For as tough and ruthless as Bobby was, the one thing that he was missing in his life was love. Bobby may have grown up in the streets, but he was the product of a stable home. His father was a postal worker, and his mother was a librarian. When Bobby was younger, he was a very respectable young man with a passion for writing. He was well-mannered and respected females.

  All that changed when he turned 15. After hearing their parents arguing over their father’s suspected infidelity, Bobby’s older sister, Robin, took him to the store to get him away for a while. When they returned, it was to a deathly silent house. Robin, getting an eerie feeling from the moment she stepped inside the house, told her brother to wait downstairs while she went upstairs to make sure everything was okay
. Seconds later, her earsplitting screams caused Bobby to run upstairs. When he got there, his life was turned upside down. The nightmarish scene that awaited him would haunt him until his dying day. He nearly threw up at the sight of his parents’ brains hanging out the side of their heads. There was so much blood spilled that it had started to seep through the cracks in the wooden floor. While his sister screamed and cried, Bobby stood there in shock as his mother and father both lay on the floor, dead from gunshot wounds.

  It was ruled a murder/suicide. With his sister being 21 years of age at the time, he was never in danger of being placed in foster care, but from then on, Bobby started hanging out more with his cousin Red. Although he loved his sister, Bobby saw his cousin as a role model. Red was the only other male in his family whom Bobby had a connection with. The two of them hadn’t seen each other much before the incident, but their bond became stronger afterward. Soon after, he started selling drugs in order to keep money in his pocket. Robin tried in vain to keep him from falling victim to the streets, but the lure of fast money, shining jewelry, and easy women was too hard to resist. No one, including his sister, could ever give him a satisfactory answer as to why his mother had taken their father’s life and then decided to take her own. But the one thing he did hold on to was the memory of the good times that their family used to have together.

  He would often smile when he thought of all the fun his parents had as a couple and how they seemed to genuinely love and care for each other. He promised himself that, once he grew up, he would have that same kind of relationship that his parents had. Robin, on the other hand, had seen much more than Bobby had. She and her mother were very careful to keep it from Bobby that their father was abusing their mother physically and mentally. In Bobby’s eyes, his father could do no wrong. He was the best father in the world. He would always make time for Bobby and had never ever hit him. That’s why Bobby thought he was the best thing since sliced bread. All of the ugly things that were going on behind his back had been hidden from him. As a result of his mother’s and sister’s love for him, they shielded him from his father’s beastly ways.