Street Banditz

by CJ Hudson

She returned the call she’d missed from Nancy, but after several rings, it went it voicemail. She thought about returning Ivory’s call but decided to do it later. She didn’t feel like hearing about her friend’s drama at the moment. Tammy went into the bathroom and jumped in the shower. She wanted to be fresh and clean for Bobby, whatever time he got back home. After getting clean, Tammy dried herself off and got back in the bed. She turned on the TV and flicked through the channels. She quickly became bored and started wondering what she was going to do until Bobby returned. An idea quickly formed in her head, and she got up and walked into the front room.

  * * *

  Bobby pulled into his driveway and took a deep breath. He didn’t want to take his anger out on Tammy, so he decided to sit in his truck and listen to music for a minute until he had a chance to calm down. Red had pissed him off so bad. Bobby didn’t know how long he would stay mad. If he thought that he was going to treat Bobby like one of them young cats helping them bag up the dope, then he had another think coming. Blood or no blood, Bobby wasn’t going to be disrespected. Although it was early, Bobby needed a blunt to calm his nerves. He reached into the glove compartment of his whip and took out a sack of weed and a box of Dutch Masters. After lacing the Dutch, he slowly took pull after pull as he sat back and thought about what had transpired between him and his cousin.

  Bobby pulled up in front of Red’s house. He knew his cousin was going to be pissed that he was late, but he really didn’t give a fuck. All he knew was he was happier than he’d been in a long time. He was a thug, but he was a thug with a heart. He jumped out of his truck and walked up to the door. Red must’ve looked out of the window and seen him coming, because before he even knocked, the door was opened by Dru. The two of them exchanged unpleasant stares as Bobby walked in. Dru was still pissed at Bobby for pistol-whipping him.

  Dru walked sideways so he could keep his eyes on Bobby as the two of them headed down the foyer and into the living room. Red stared hard at Bobby. Bobby stared right back. Dru, Hakim, and Cedric looked on as Bobby and Red continued their staring contest. The tension was as thick as fog.

  Finally, Red made the first move. “You late.”

  “I ain’t on no damn clock.”

  “I didn’t say you was on no fucking clock, but damn, man. We trying to make this paper. This shit ain’t gonna cut itself,” Red said as he pointed at the two keys of dope that lay on the table.

  “A’ight. My bad,” Bobby said as he sat down at the table.

  “Maybe you need to cut that bitch loose if she gon’ be causing you to slack on ya game,” Red mumbled.

  “Hold up. That’s the second time you done called my girl a bitch. You gon’ have to ease up on that bullshit.”

  Red started laughing until he looked up again and noticed that Bobby was serious. “You serious? I know damn well you ain’t trying to flex up on me over no broad. We blood.”

  “Then show me some damn respect.”

  “Ain’t that a bitch?” Red said with a surprised look on his face. “Yeah, a’ight. My bad, cousin.”

  The way Red said the word “cousin” let Bobby know that Red didn’t appreciate him putting a woman in front of their kinship. Whether Red knew it or not, that wasn’t what Bobby was doing. All he wanted was for Red to respect Tammy, and everything would be fine.

  Hakim was amused by the whole scene. He, too, couldn’t understand why Bobby was putting a woman before his own flesh and blood. Little did he know that the woman was his sister.

  “Yo, where that nigga Ray-Ray at? Ain’t he s’posed to be here too?” Bobby asked.

  “Nah, he called me and told me that he had an emergency going on with one of his baby mamas,” Red lied. He didn’t feel like explaining what had gone down with Ray-Ray. He decided he would just let Bobby think that one of their rivals snuffed Ray-Ray out when his body was found.

  Bobby shook the earlier events from his mind and hopped out of his truck. The closer he got to his front door, the better he felt. Bobby had smashed many women over the years, but being with Tammy felt different to him. It just felt right. Bobby walked in the door quietly just in case Tammy was still asleep. When he walked into his living room, a large smile fell across his face. Tammy was so engrossed in his manuscript, she didn’t even hear him come in. Bobby cleared his throat to get her attention.

  “Oh, hey. I was wondering when you were going to get home,” she said in a sweet voice that nearly caused his heart to melt.

  Bobby’s stomach rumbled, reminding him that he hadn’t had anything to eat since early yesterday.

  “Damn, sounds like you’re starving,” Tammy teased.

  Bobby chuckled and shook his head. He just couldn’t get over how proper Tammy was talking.

  “What’s so funny?” she asked, sensing that he wasn’t laughing over her remark about him being hungry.

  “Nothing, just thinking about something. You know what, li’l mama? Let’s go get something to eat. I know this place that got the bomb-ass breakfast.”

  “You’re not tired?” she asked, reminding him that he’d just gotten in a few minutes ago.

  “Nah, I’m straight,” he lied. He was tired as hell, but he knew that he needed to put something on his stomach. Plus, he wanted to take Tammy out to breakfast.

  “Okay, boo. Let me go put some clothes on.”

  As Tammy walked back toward Bobby’s bedroom, he got a hard-on watching her ass switch from side to side. As she disappeared down the hallway, Bobby started wondering where he was going to take her. He wanted to take her to Maria’s soul food restaurant, but because Kat worked there, he ruled that out immediately. The last thing he wanted or needed was for his ex to cause drama and throw salt in his game. Bobby decided to take Tammy to Pancake Heaven. It wasn’t as good as Maria’s, but he was confident that she would enjoy it.

  Tammy came back out dressed in tight jeans and a gold Cleveland Cavaliers T-shirt. “I’m ready, boo.”

  Bobby frowned. That was the second time she’d called him boo. He wasn’t sure if he liked it. In his mind, it made him sound soft.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, noticing the wrinkles in his brow.

  “Nothing really. I mean, it’s just you calling me boo. What grown man wants to be called that bullshit?”

  “Ah, come on. You know you’re my boo,” she said as she ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck. Once again, his heart melted. Tammy and Bobby were falling for each other, hard.

  The two of them walked hand in hand out of the house. Tammy got confused when they passed Bobby’s truck. “What, are we walking or something?” she asked.

  “Nope.” Bobby led her to a white Nissan Maxima that was parked directly in front of his house.

  “Is this your car too? Why don’t you ever drive it?”

  “I do sometimes, but I like my truck better.” Bobby opened the door for Tammy and held it until she got in.

  “Then why did you even buy a car if you like the truck better?” she asked once they headed toward their destination.

  “I actually had the car first. But now that I have the truck, I like it better.”

  “Oh, so when you get tired of something, you just go out and get something new to take its place, huh?”

  Bobby knew where this conversation was going, and he wanted no part of it. He was relieved when Tammy’s cell phone started ringing. As she answered her phone, she wagged her finger back and forth at him, letting him know that their conversation on the subject was not over.

  “Where the hell are you?” she screamed into the phone at Hakim as soon as she answered it.

  “Stop tripping. I’m handling business.”

  “Oh, is that right? Look—”

  “No, you look. I didn’t call you for you to start the dumb shit. I was just returning ya call and to let you know that I was good. I gotta go. I’m gonna call you later, a’ight?”

  Before Tammy could protest, Hakim had hung up on her. Tammy just shook her head. In her mind, she parti
ally blamed herself for the way her brother was turning out.

  Bobby seemingly read her thoughts as he patted her leg. “Stop worrying about it. I know that’s ya brother and all, but if he wants to be in the streets, there really ain’t too much you can do about it.”

  “Yeah, I know,” she conceded. “That doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.”

  Bobby remained quiet as he pulled into Pancake Heaven. His stomach had been growling ever since they’d left. He couldn’t wait to sink his teeth into some good food. The two of them were seated in a booth right next to the window. When the waitress came over to take their order, Bobby instantly got a headache.

  “Hello, Bobby,” she said as she rudely and unprofessionally popped gum.

  Tammy looked at Bobby and then at the waitress, who refused to even acknowledge that Tammy was in the room.

  “Sup, Rita.”

  Instead of taking their order, Rita stood there for a few seconds and just stared at Bobby.

  I know Bobby didn’t used to date this overweight heifer. Tammy cleared her throat to let Bobby know that she was still there, in case he’d forgotten.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, baby. This is Rita. Rita, this is my girl, Tammy.”

  Tammy nodded in agreement. She wondered how Bobby was going to introduce her. “Hello,” Tammy said, trying to be cordial.

  “Yo’ girl?” Rita asked as if she found that hard to believe.

  “Yes, his girl,” Tammy chimed in.

  Rita stared at Tammy like she was a piece of shit before saying, “Anyway, Bobby, have you talked to my girl Kat?” Rita wanted to make sure that Tammy knew who Kat was.

  “Hell nah! You know damn well we broke up.”

  “Yeah, right,” she snickered, trying to make it look as if Bobby were lying. “What y’all having?” she said, rolling her eyes at Tammy.

  “Not a damn thing from here,” Tammy said as she started to get up.

  “Sir, is there a problem over here?” asked a thin man with a receding hairline. The crisp shirt and starched khakis suggested that he was probably the manager. The conversation among the three of them had gotten louder than they thought.

  “Your rude-ass worker won’t take our order, and unless we get another server, we are not eating here,” Tammy said before Bobby had a chance to respond.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. I will send someone else over here right away.” The manager dismissed Rita and called another waitress over to serve them. He also assured them that the situation would be handled accordingly and even agreed to give them their meal for free. When the manager walked away, Tammy’s neck snapped around like in The Exorcist.

  “Who the fuck was that bitch?” she asked with attitude.

  Bobby wanted to go to the back of the restaurant, find Rita, and break her neck. He had no idea that one of Kat’s friends was now working there. Bobby didn’t want to lie to Tammy about the situation, so he told her the truth. “Okay, look. That was the best friend of a girl I used to mess around with. As you can tell, she’d petty as fuck, so let’s just ignore her ass and get our eat on.”

  Tammy listened intently while keeping her eyes trained on Bobby the entire time. It only took him a few seconds to explain to her who Rita and Kat were. Tammy rolled her eyes and snorted. She believed him, but she decided that she would make him suffer a little. After ordering her food, Tammy looked at Bobby.

  “And what will you have, sir?”

  “Yes, what will you have, lover boy?” Tammy said.

  The waitress let out a light chuckle as Bobby sighed and placed his order. From the sound of Tammy’s voice, Bobby figured it was going to be a long day.

  Tammy smiled on the inside, giddy over the fact that Bobby had introduced her as his girl. Bobby didn’t know it, but he was in for a treat that night.

  Meanwhile, as Bobby and Tammy enjoyed their meal, a cold set of eyes was trained on them from behind a newspaper. Detective Dryer had been given a week off from work because of his injury sustained during the fight with Hank. Knowing that if he’d told his boss the truth, he would be disciplined, Dryer lied to his captain and told him that he’d gotten the injury by falling down the stairs. For the past two days, he’d been trying to come up with a plan that would take down Red and his crew once and for all. Seeing the way Bobby seemingly felt about Tammy caused his mind to race. A devious plan unfolded in the corner of his mind.

  * * *

  Shortly after leaving the nursing home, Ivory decided to go shopping. She felt really proud of herself for having the ability to forgive her mother after all these years, so she figured that she’d reward herself by splurging a little. Ivory had already put the word out that she was holding the weed tip, so she figured it was just a matter of time before she made back the money she’d spent.

  When Ivory got home that night, the joy and warmth that had occupied her soul turned to anger. The eviction notice on her door had her wanting to choke her landlord. She’d accidentally erased the recording that she’d made earlier, so she had no leverage to use. The only thing she could think of to keep herself from getting kicked out into the street was to try to use weed as payment.

  * * *

  Ivory awakened from her deep sleep feeling refreshed. She looked at the four bags of clothes she’d bought, which cost close to $1,200, and she thought seriously about taking them back. The eviction notice was starting to hit home. But before she took them back, she had one last trick up her sleeve. Even though she knew it was a scandalous, trifling thing to do, she made plans to go over to Darnell’s place and search his house for cash and weed.

  She was still upset that her lover was dead, but there was no sense in letting the money and marijuana go to waste. Ivory got up and hopped in the shower. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that Darnell had stashed a few dollars in his house. As she lathered her body up, Ivory tried to remember if there was a place in particular that Darnell didn’t want her to go when she visited him. Then it hit her. His bedroom closet. He always made it a point to tell her not to go in there.

  Even if she didn’t bring it up, he did, using excuses like he thought there was a rat in there and he was embarrassed because it was so junky. Ivory started smiling, figuring that she’d just hit the jackpot. She quickly jumped out of the shower and got dressed. The notice said that she had three days to pay her rent or she, along with her belongings, would be tossed into the street. She cursed herself, thinking that if she hadn’t accidentally erased that recording of her weed-smoking landlord, she wouldn’t be in this mess. She picked out one of the outfits she’d purchased and slipped into it.

  She sure as hell wasn’t going to take the clothes back now that she was about to get paid. After getting dressed, Ivory quickly rolled a blunt, stuffed it in her pocket, and headed for the door, grabbing her keys off the kitchen table as she went by. She opened the door to leave and was greeted by a tall, thin black man with a short Afro and sideburns.

  Who the fuck is this Shaft-lookin’ nigga? “May I help you?” she asked.

  “Is yo’ name Ivory?”

  “Who the fuck wants to know?” Ivory responded defiantly. The words had barely left her lips before the man’s bony right hand backhanded her to the floor.

  “I’m askin’ the muthafucking questions up in here, if you don’t mind.”

  Ivory was dazed. She shook her head twice in an attempt to clear the cobwebs. Then she heard the door slam. She looked up and saw the man who’d hit her being flanked by two other men. One of them, the larger of the two, stood slightly slumped over, as if his back were hurting him. He was a brute of a man who easily stood over six feet two inches and weighed in the neighborhood of 300 pounds.

  The other gentleman was significantly smaller, at around 180 pounds. His long, angular face and oversized ears made him look like he something you would visit at the zoo.

  “Oh, excuse my manners,” the man said sarcastically. “These two gentlemen are my, uh, associates, Rilla and Monk. My name is Bo,” h
e said as he walked slowly over to Ivory. He leaned down and got face-to-face with her. “Now I’m gonna ask you one more time and one more time only. Is yo’ name Ivory?”

  Not seeing any other way out of the predicament she was in, Ivory answered, “Yes,” through gritted teeth. She could’ve kicked herself in the ass for not following her first mind and grabbing her pistol on the way out the door. She would’ve surely shot this asshole in the face if she had it on her.

  “Now we getting somewhere.” Bo stood up and reached down to help Ivory up. She looked at him like he’d lost his mind. With a sinister scowl on her face, Ivory got up and wiped blood from the corner of her mouth. Bo shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Ivory’s attempt to act brave. The smile then slowly disappeared from his face. His brown eyes turned to narrow slits, and his cold stare gave her the chills.

  “I’m gonna make this short and sweet. Darnell owes me ten thousand dollars, and since I can’t seem to locate him and you’re his next of kin, you assume the debt.”

  “Next of kin? What the hell are you talking about, next of kin?”

  “Ain’t you his fucking wife?”

  “Wife?” Ivory broke out in laughter. “If I were his wife, why the fuck would we be living in separate places, genius?” Ivory continued to laugh until Bo quickly walked up on her and wrapped a bony hand around her throat. Ivory raised her hands to scratch his face but was stopped cold by the .45 he pressed against her temple.

  “You better watch how the fuck you talk to me! I ain’t Darnell, and I damn sho’ ain’t none of these li’l niggas you be fucking around with who are wet behind the ears and pissing on they self! I don’t give a fuck if you’re his wife, girlfriend, or muthafucking concubine. The last time I talked to that nigga, he told us that if we couldn’t find him, then we could come see you! And from the look on yo’ face, I guess he fucked you too. But I gave him that shit on consignment. All he had to do was sell that shit and gimme my cut! Apparently, his ass didn’t sell it, ’cause you ain’t got my money . . . or do you?”

  “No.”

  “Well, since you got played too, I’m gonna give you some time to come up with my dough. I’m gonna be back here in two weeks.”