by Shan
When we were in high school, she handpicked Quin out of a crowd of niggas, married him, and had a good life until he got locked up. Now, the bitch hit the jackpot again. My ass couldn’t grab a boss if my life depended on it, and I couldn’t understand why. I had the looks, the body, and I know, for a fact, I got some good pussy.
“Hell is you doing, Honey?” Imran fussed as he finally brought his eyes up to look at me.
“Where the hell is Jah at? I haven’t seen her in weeks,” I smiled and put a coat of lip gloss over my lips.
“My girl doesn’t fuck around in the traps anymore, didn’t she tell you?” Imran said with a smirk.
“What you mean ‘she doesn’t fuck around in the traps anymore’? I’m surprised to even see you here.”
“Yeah. Well, I needed to count up my money and keep an eye on you and Tomeka. This place has come up short over the past two weeks, so we need to figure out what the fuck is going on.”
“Well, if it came up short, then it wasn’t on my end. You better holla at Tomeka’s ass about that or one of these other niggas you be having up in here,” I said, placing my arms over my chest.
“I will. Now get your ass off the table, so I can continue counting my damn paper.”
I hissed and climbed over the table just like I was asked. I leaned against the refrigerator and watched as bills went through the counter and the number increased by the second. I wish I could put a gun to the back of this fool’s head right now, blast his ass, and take all his shit. What the hell did he mean ‘his girl doesn’t fuck around in the traps anymore’? That’s where she started and where I am still, so why the hell isn’t she here?
“So, Imran, when am I gonna see my girl? I mean, you won’t tell nobody where you live, and her ass ain’t checked in in a minute. How do I know you haven’t killed her and disposed of her body?” I asked sarcastically.
“Why don’t you call her? I’m not holding her hostage. She should be coming back from Houston in a couple of hours. I don’t have anything to do with your girl time.”
“Of course, you don’t. I’m surprised you let her go out of town. I mean, you so busy sniffing behind her pussy like a lil’ puppy that I didn’t think you ever let her out of your sight.”
“Bitch, get the fuck out or get to work! Jealous ass bitch!” Imran yelled.
I laughed, “Damn! I’m just playing around with you. Don’t get so mad.”
“Fuck you! Get to work or get the fuck out like I said!”
“Alright, boss! Chill the hell out! ¡Cálmese!”
“You calm down!” he retorted.
I rolled my eyes and went over to the stove where there were dubs sitting out, waiting to be cut up. I hated dealing with this petty shit and knew that was one of the reasons why Jahzara wasn’t here anymore. Her little boy toy didn’t think this was a woman’s job, and I knew, the only reason why he hadn’t booted me or Tomeka out was because Jahzara would kill him. I grabbed a plate, a razor blade, and a few little baggies and took my ass across the apartment to get to work. Every now and then, I couldn’t help but glance at Imran’s cocky ass as he sat and counted up money that he made off my slavery and the slavery of other young boys looking to come up. Yes, the money was good, and it allowed me to have a better life than what I’d had months ago, but the paper he was getting was fantastic. A house in the suburbs, more than enough cars for just one person, and— Hell!— a woman at home that no longer has to work. Maybe, instead of me pining over DeMarcus, keeping my eye on him, and making sure that he stays away from Tomeka, I should be trying to pull Imran away from Jahzara. I mean what does she have that I don’t have? All she has going for herself is big tits and a fat ass, and I damn sure have more than enough of both, I smiled, thinking about the time Jahzara told me that Imran was working with somewhat of an anaconda. I couldn’t wait to try that shit out for myself. Jahzara, never tell your girlfriends what your man is working with. Didn’t you learn that from Tomeka? I laughed on the inside as I watched Imran with lust filled eyes.
*****
I moved Imran’s dick in and out of mouth, gliding my hand down the shaft of it. He’d fallen asleep in one of the back bedrooms, and, as soon as the guys left to get something to eat, I ran in there to make my move. I knew, soon as I wrapped my lips around him, he wasn’t going to be able to resist me. This was the same way I had got DeMarcus. My head game was spectacular, and, after this, Jahzara would struggle to keep her man happy. He would always think about me and the night he spent with me until he just couldn’t take it anymore. Then, he would come to me to find what he wasn’t able to get at home. It worked every single time.
“Shit, Jah,” Imran groaned and grabbed the back of my head.
I frowned at him calling me by Jah’s name, but it didn’t stop my flow. I sucked and sucked until he was grinding his hips and pounding his dick into my mouth. I’d already stripped down to my bra and panties, and, right when Imran was getting into it, I pulled his rod out of my mouth and climbed on top of him. He still had his eyes lazily closed as I slowly slid down onto his dick. I clenched my muscles tightly around his shaft and steadily rode him, sliding up and down, trying my hardest not to moan from the good feeling. I leaned over and kissed Imran on his ear, and that was when I felt a hard tug at my hair and a sting whip across my face.
“Grimy bitch! Get the fuck off of me!” Imran yelled. He pushed me off of him and caused me to fall off of the bed and hit the floor. I got up and charged over at him when he backhanded me in the face, sending me flying back into the wall where I hit my head. I brought my hand up to my head and began to rub it as I watched Imran frantically put his dick back into his pants. He looked around like he was expecting Jahzara to come bursting through the door at any moment. “Bitch, get your shit and get the fuck out of here! Don’t let me catch you here or at any of my other spots, you got that?”
“Nigga, you can’t fire me! My girl started this shit, and, once she finds out you tried to have sex with me, she’s gonna fire your ass!”
Imran chuckled, “You heard what the fuck I said! Get the fuck out or get put out! Your choice!”
“Yeah, you just wait until Jah hears about this! I’m gonna make sure she leaves your ass, and we’ll see what kind of shit you be talking then! You are eating because of her nigga, because of her!”
“Yeah, whatever, bitch! Step! Fuck outta here!”
I grabbed my clothes from the floor and angrily pulled my pants up. Imran walked over to me and grabbed me by my hair. When he forced me to look up at him, I could see the venom that poured from his eyes. I’d really fucked up this time. Unlike DeMarcus, Imran wasn’t an easy mark.
“You go ahead and tell Jah that bullshit story and see if I don’t have one my niggas murk your bitch ass. I can’t fucking stand bitches like you!”
He released my hair, grabbed me by my arm, and pulled me out of the room towards the front door.
“Imran, let me go! Get your damn hands off of me!” I screamed and tried to fight him off.
He opened up the door and pushed me outside of it closing the door in my face. I brought my foot up and kicked the door and then slid my shirt over my head. I slid my cell phone out of my purse and dialed up Jahzara’s number. Whether she answered or not, she was gonna find out what her man did to me.
“Hey,” Jahzara answered. “Haven’t heard from you in a minute.”
“Yeah, I know. You’ve been too busy with your bitch ass man to even see how your damn girls are doing,” I said vehemently.
“What? Honey, don’t call me with that shit. I’m in the middle of a meeting right now. Do me a favor and let Imran know that things ran over, and I’ll have to catch a later flight.”
“I’m not telling him a damn thing! Your man just tried to have sex with me over here at the place on Bonnie View. I told the muthafucka, ‘No!’, and he slapped me several times, grabbed me by my hair, and threw me out of the apartment. Then, he tried to tell me that he doesn’t want me here or at any of the spots
anymore.”
“What? Oh, my god! Honey, are you okay?” Jahzara asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
“No, I’m not okay! If I can’t get money, then how am I supposed to take care of myself? You know, I finally got out of the hood after all these years and that muthafuckas trying to send me back! You can’t let him do that, Jah!” I cried.
“I won’t. Let me wrap things up here, and I will be there as soon as I can to handle this shit!”
“Hurry, Jah. You should’ve seen the look in his eyes. It was so scary, girl. He threatened to kill me if I told you, and now I’m scared to go home.”
“Don’t be, girl. I’m gonna handle his ass. I promise you that.”
“Okay! I believe you. I’ll be waiting for you.”
We hung up and a huge, sinister smile crossed over my face as I thought, I bet Imran will think twice before he tries to threaten me again.
101
Tomeka
14
Tomeka
I stared into the mirror, looking at the small, white lines that I’d cut up. My head seemed to be so freaking heavy, and my mouth seemed to be swollen, like I’d been beaten by DeMarcus all over again. I burst into laughter and nodded my head knowing that I’d scared the shit out of that nigga and that he wasn’t going to be hitting anyone anymore. My laughter turned into a hysterical one as I thought about the look on his face when the knife penetrated his chest the first time. He looked how I always imagined myself to look when I saw him raise his fists to hit me.
“Boom, nigga! Should’ve got a gun and shot your ass because you should’ve been six feet under with my mama, nigga,” I laughed again.
I ran my hands over my gums. Then, I took the dollar bill that I rolled up in front of me. I placed the dollar bill over one of the white lines and sucked it up my nose like it was a vacuum cleaner. Immediately, I brought my hand up to my nose and pinched it closed, shook my head, and sat back on the bed with my head against the wall. It seemed to swell more and more by the second. Coke was starting to become my new best friend, seeing as how the bitches I thought were my sisters were too busy living their own lives to give a damn about mine.
Jahzara had Imran, wife-ing her better than that nigga Quin did, and Honey was too busy with this mystery man that neither of them noticed that I’d been getting high for the past few months now. One of the d-boys that worked in one of the spots that I was also working introduced me to the drug. He had a little crush on me and promised me that I would have some of the best sex I ever had in my life when I was on the white girl, and I wanted to see if he was right. I planned for it to only be a one-time thing, but, once I took that first hit, I just couldn’t seem to get enough of it. Ol’ boy that turned me on to it told me that he couldn’t fool with me anymore because I was using more than he could afford. Said that my habit had gotten out of control and how he only used every so often. The nerve of him. I really hated that he did that shit because I had to start stealing from the weight they had us cooking up. I would make sure I only took enough to last me until the next shipment, so that it wouldn’t be so obvious.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Damn, who the hell is this? I thought as I grabbed the mirror off the nightstand and slid it under my bed.
I slowly got up from my bed and headed to the front door. I peeked into the peephole and saw Honey’s tiny ass standing on the other side, looking like she’d been to hell and back. I pulled the door open just as she was about to knock again and frowned at her for messing up my session with my little friend.
“What’s up? What happened to you?” I asked with a look of disgust.
Her hair was all over her head. She had these huge scratches on her face and neck, and her clothes were torn. It looked like she’d been to war with a damn cat or something.
“Imran is what happened to me! I told you we shouldn’t trust him. Look what he did to me! He tried to rape with me, and, when I wouldn’t give in, he beat the shit out of me,” Honey said as she stormed into my apartment.
“Oh, my god! Are you serious?” I said, trying to stifle the laugh I had been holding in. I thought she was gonna tell me that she got into it with a bunch a chicks and got her ass beat. I wasn’t expecting this news at all.
“I’m dead serious. I want that muthafucka dead, Meka! I want him dead!” she ranted.
“You need to tell Jahzara what’s going on. You can’t let her go on thinking she’s got this good man when she doesn’t.”
“I already told her, and the bitch hung up in my face. She tried to tell me that you and I are just jealous of her, and that’s why I’m accusing Imran of this. I wouldn’t do that, and you know that, right, Meka?”
“Yeah, of course. I can’t believe that she said that we were jealous of her. Why the hell would she say that?”
“She said that we were just hating on her because she makes more money than us, and now she doesn’t even have to trap anymore because Imran is taking care of her.” Honey went into her purse and pulled out a cigarette and fired it up.
She lit the end of it, puffed it, and quickly blew out the smoke. I could tell that all of this had her heated, and I didn’t blame her because it was starting to piss me off as well. My high was suddenly starting to come down, and I didn’t appreciate that.
“I was wondering why I hadn’t seen her at the spot lately. I can’t believe that Jahzara would be talking like this. I’m not in the least bit jealous of her or her man,” I said truthfully.
I was never the type to hate on any female when they were doing good or when they were happy, especially not on my friends. If Imran made Jahzara happy, then I was happy for her. If he made her sad, then I would hate Imran, and I expected the same from my so-called girls.
“Well, that’s not how she feels. I didn’t want to tell you, but, back when you got locked up behind that bullshit with DeMarcus, she was saying how you deserved to be in jail and how she didn’t want to bail you out. I had to give her the money to bail you out, and, because I was a little short, Imran gave me a couple of hundreds to go on there. When it came time to come and get you, the muthafuckas left me and tried to pretend like they did that shit all by themselves.”
“What? I have paid Jahzara back, at least, five thousand dollars by now! What do you mean she didn’t put no money up for me?” I asked, suddenly becoming dizzy. I’d worked extra hard before I picked up my little habit, making sure that I did whatever I had to do to get Jahzara her money back that she put up for my bail money. Now, Honey was sitting here telling me that Jahzara didn’t pay my bail and that she did. Wow! I didn’t know what to believe at this point. If that was true, then why?
“If that’s true, Honey, then why haven’t you asked for none of your money back? I know how much you love money, girl. You just gonna let ten stacks slide without asking for so much as a dollar back?”
“What? You like my damn sister. I was happy to pay your bail and would do it again in a heartbeat. I cannot believe that Jahzara is even taking money from you, knowing that she didn’t do a damn thing. That pisses me off. I’m about to call her and put her ass on blast.” Honey took another puff of the cigarette and took out her cell phone.
“No! No! That’s not necessary, Honey. You know I’m a believer of what goes around comes around. Don’t say a word to her about it. I can’t believe she is even acting like this. All because she’s making a little money and letting the shit go to her head. Wow!” I said in disbelief.
“Right. That girl is something else right now, and I really believe that it’s all because of Imran. We get her away from him, and then we get our old friend back. She is not herself.”
I crashed down on my sofa, the very spot where DeMarcus was sitting when I smashed him over the head with a beer bottle. This had become one of my favorite spots in the house, only because it was a reminder of when I finally stood up for myself, a reminder that I was bolder and stronger than my mom had been. I always feared that I would be worse than what she was. I sat there thinking ab
out all the things that Honey just revealed to me and wondered if Jahzara had really let the paper she was making go to her head like this. I mean she wasn’t new to money, so I couldn’t understand why she would now.
Her parents moved her out of the hood when she was thirteen-years-old, and they spoiled her up until the time she left and moved in with Quin, who, in turn, did the same thing. He showered her with gifts, kept money in her pocket, so what was so different about now? The fact that Imran stayed in a nice house in the suburbs couldn’t be the problem. Or wait! At least, that was what she told us. Who knew if she was telling the truth about where Imran lived at in the first place since we couldn’t even get an invite to come over. Anytime she wanted to chill, it had to be at my house, which she hated coming to since I damn near killed a man here, or at Honey’s little condo she just got.
“Honey, what is it? I just don’t understand why Jahzara would be acting brand new like this with us. She should know us well enough to know that we wouldn’t get jealous of her like that,” I said, breaking the silence.
“I don’t know. The only reason I hadn’t said anything before is because you had a lot going on, trying to clear this situation up with DeMarcus and the state,” Honey said with a shrug of her shoulders.
I nodded my head and told Honey that I would be right back. I rushed into my bedroom, closed the door behind me, and grabbed the mirror that was underneath my bed. I needed to get a quick hit, so I could deal with the things that Honey was telling me right now. I knew that I had felt some distance from each of the girls, but I really expected it to be because we were all so busy and distracted, not behind some jealousy and envious mess.