”Aiight, but I gotta be in Manhattan by nine-thirty, so have shit together by then,” Petie said before hanging up the phone. He had to meet Patrice back at the hotel, and he didn’t want to miss her. She was a stress reliever. If his time wasn’t limited, he would take her under his wing and mold her. She wouldn’t be getting high anymore, fa sho. He hoped she showed up; he was feeling aggressive and wanted to beat something. He really wanted to be up in something right this second, and he decided to go outside and see if he could find the chick he had seen the last few days hanging around.
Petie was wearing his do-rag and a pair of Roz’s sunglasses. He looked around, making sure the coast was clear. Then finally he saw her. He walked up to her and said, ”Can I speak to you for a minute?”
”Who, me?” she said stopping in her tracks.
”No, your sister. Of course I’m talking to you; who else you see standing there?” She approached him slowly and he said, ”Let’s take a walk.” They went over to a nearby building and waited for someone to come outside. When a man walked out, they went inside the building, took the elevator to the top floor and then went up to the roof. Petie pulled the python out on her.
”Where you gonna put that?” the chick asked. Petie went in his pocket and took out two dimes and gave them to her. He stood in front of her and stroked himself.
”Come on, ma, let’s do this,” he said. She pulled her pants down to her ankles and leaned over the railing. Petie spread her cheeks and didn’t like what he saw. She also had bumps all over her legs, like roaches had bitten her. The skin between her thighs was wrinkled, and it looked like it needed to be ironed. He looked at her with disgust. He just wanted to get this over with. Without hesitating any further, he slid up in her.
When he pulled out, there was cottage cheese on his dick. It smelled like cat food that had been in the bowl for too long. ”Let me see what your gums feel like,” he said. She went to work, damn near sucking his skin off. Petie should have known she was a head nurse by the stretch marks around her mouth. He busted off and she swallowed it all. He gave her another dime and a dollar. ”Forget my face and take that dollar and buy a douche,” he said and bounced.
Chapter Forty-Two
Roz came in around seven o’clock and gave Petie the keys to a white Chrysler 300M. It was fully loaded and had a full tank of gas. Petie was straight. Roz gave him the registration and insurance card, and she said she had some people who would take care of the Navigator. Petie told her to do her thing, and she made a phone call to have the ride picked up. They swung an episode, and she hopped in the shower right before Petie left to go and meet Patrice in Manhattan.
Renee and Dante were playing Scrabble when Darnell walked into the living room. He had an attitude, and he rolled his eyes so hard at Renee that she almost thought he was possessed.
”What’s wrong with you, Darnell?” she asked him.
”Nothing,” he said and flopped down onto the couch. Renee asked him again, and this time he answered her with even more attitude than the first time. ”I said nothin’. How many times you gonna ask me?”
”All right, well, change your tone of voice so we don’t have a misunderstanding—you hear me?”
”Whatever.” Darnell sucked his teeth, got up and went to his room. Then he slammed the door behind him, locked it and turned on some loud music. Renee knocked on the door and when he did-n’t answer, she yelled out loudly, asking him to turn down the music. Darnell acted like he didn’t hear her, and he turned up the music.
Renee never cursed at either of her sons, but she was ready to go ballistic on Darnell right now. He finally opened the door and asked her what she wanted. She looked at him like he was out of his mind.
”What do you mean what do I want? Who do you think you’re talking to?”
”Nobody,” he said and turned his back to her.
Renee wondered if he was getting high. ”Darnell, are you doing drugs?” she asked.
”No, are you?” he replied. Renee could not figure out what his malfunction was, but she knew it had to be something serious. He had no right to be talking to her like this, and she wasn’t going to stand for it any longer.
”Darnell, please tell me what’s wrong. I don’t like your attitude and your tone of voice is unacceptable. Now what is the problem?”
Darnell started to cry. He turned around to face her and said, ”Why you tryin’ to keep Dad from seeing us? I don’t care what he did; he’s still my father.”
Renee hadn’t seen Darnell cry like this since he was ten years old. She really didn’t know what to say, and she needed to say the right thing now because she didn’t want him to push her away any more than he already had. She understood his pain. Even when he was younger and Petie was locked up, he spoke to him every day. And no matter how far away Petie was, Renee always took the time to visit him with the boys. Darnell was not used to being away from Petie. That was the bottom line.
Renee sat him down and tried to explain that things had changed. They were going to move to Pennsylvania in order to have a better life. That’s when Darnell flipped out.
”I’m not leaving my dad—you go! Me and Dante can stay with Uncle La,” Darnell said, his mind made up.
Renee realized that she had to take control of the situation; it had clearly gotten out of hand. Now it was her turn to flip. ”You don’t tell me what you’re going to do—I tell you! Do you understand me? Don’t you ever think you’re the boss, because you’re not—I am!”
”No you not. My dad is, and don’t you forget it!” he said rolling his eyes at her. Renee lost it and slapped him. She hadn’t hit Darnell in years, and it was the last thing that either of them expected.
Darnell spazzed out and jumped in Renee’s face. ”You can’t be hittin’ on me!” He wiped his tears, trying to be tough and continued. ”Do you know how old I am?”
Dante walked into the room just as Darnell was storming out. He asked Renee what was wrong, and she told him that they were moving to Pennsylvania and Darnell hadn’t taken the news too well. Dante went into the living room where Darnell was and told him to calm down. ”Stop treating mommy like that,” he said.
Darnell spazzed on him. He told Dante that their mother couldn’t wait for their father to go to jail so she could kidnap them and take them far away. They wouldn’t be able to visit him in jail at all either. He said she was a traitor, worse than Benedict Arnold.
Renee had heard everything Darnell just said. She walked into the living room and looked at him in disbelief. She was convinced that he was taking Ecstasy. She knew the pill was popular amongst teens, and now he must have started taking it too.
Dante was stuck in the middle, not knowing whose side to be on. He looked at them both and didn’t know what to believe.
Renee began to yell, telling them why the police were looking for Petie, and Darnell yelled back at her and called her a liar. He grabbed his hoodie, went to the door and looked back at Dante. ”You coming or what?” he said to him. Dante didn’t move. Darnell told Dante to get his jacket and then he opened the door.
”Boy, you better not step out that door. Don’t make me jump on you, Darnell. I don’t know who told you that you couldn’t get it. Now close that damn door!” Darnell remained standing there waiting for Dante until he finally grabbed his jacket and put on his baseball cap. He told Renee that he was sorry, and he left with Darnell. Renee ran over to Darnell and tried to grab him. He pushed her away like she was a mosquito. Renee fell back onto the carpet and Darnell slammed the door. The two boys ran down the hallway and Renee jumped up and opened the door. She stuck her head out into the hallway, yelling for them to come back.
When they reached the corner, Darnell went to a pay phone and called Petie.
”Speak,” Petie said.
”Dad, she beatin’ on us. You gotta come get us now,” Darnell said exaggerating.
”What?! Who’s beatin’ on you?”
”Mom is. She just came in and started wildin
’ out on us. She was grabbing on me, and I had to push her down just to get out the house,” Darnell said, being sure to tell just his side of the story. It really didn’t matter, because either way Petie would have sided with Darnell over Renee anyway. He told him and Dante to wait right there; he was on his way.
Renee sat at the kitchen table, hoping that the boys would soon return. She started to call the police, but she really didn’t want them in her business. She decided to call Rhonda at work to tell her what had happened.
After hanging up from Rhonda, Renee called Ladelle, thinking that the boys might call him. She could only hope that he would take her call. Renee told Lydia what happened, and Ladelle immediately came to the phone. ”What you mean my nephews ran away? What did you do to them?” he said.
Renee started to ask him why she had to be the one to do something, but she decided against it. She just gave him the details, and he told her he’d take a ride and see if they were heading toward his house. ”Call me if you see them before I do,” he said and hung up.
Chapter Forty-Three
Ladelle got in his mother’s car and rode toward Rhonda’s building. Renee had told him over the phone that she still wasn’t ready to go home after Kalif had showed up at her door and wilded out.
Ladelle thought about Kalif for a moment. He had to give him credit; he was definitely ‘bout it. But ‘bout it or not, he was still a dead man if he ever got his hands on him.
Ladelle saw the boys when he got to Rhonda’s block. He beeped his horn and waited for them to come over to where he was parked. Dante got into the car first. ”Now tell me what happened,” Ladelle asked Darnelle when he took a seat in the back.
Petie told Patrice he had to make a run and would be right back. She tried to keep him from leaving, not knowing that this was something he wasn’t about to put off. But Petie wasn’t surprised; all the chicks got open after they got the dick.
”Where you gotta go?” Patrice whined.
”To my sons. I’ll be right back,” he told her and went to put on his boxers. Patrice got up and followed behind him, snatching them out of his hand.
Petie flipped. ”Check this out: anything dealing with my sons is more than important—ya heard? If I say I gotta get my sons, that means everything else stops. Don’t get it fucked up!”
Patrice hadn’t seen this side of Petie before. It was a side she didn’t want to see again. He got dressed and said he’d be back as soon as he could, and he told her not to go anywhere.
Petie got to the spot where Darnell had told him to meet him and Dante, and he panicked when he didn’t see them. He thought that maybe they went back inside the building. His cell phone rang. It was Ladelle, telling him that Darnell and Dante were at home with him. Petie didn’t bother asking Ladelle how they ended up over there, because he knew that no matter what happened between them, Ladelle loved his sons like they were his.
Ladelle opened the door for Petie and invited him to come in and sit down. Petie told him he didn’t want to, and he asked him where Darnell and Dante were. Ladelle told him that they were upstairs at his mother’s house.
”So what kind of game you playing, dick? I ain’t come to politic with you; I came to get my seeds,” Petie said, grilling him the whole time.
”This ain’t no game, punk,” Ladelle said. “We need to talk, but not in front of my nephews. Fuck you talkin’ ‘bout?” Petie looked at Ladelle, and all the anger he was feeling had disappeared. He missed him. Ladelle was his man.
”Talk, nigga—I’m listening,” Petie said before taking a seat. Ladelle started off with an apology, and he reminded Petie of all the years they had stomped together. He told him he forgave him for putting heat in his face, and if it was anybody else he would have killed them.
Chapter Forty-Four
Ladelle called upstairs to tell the boys to come down because Petie was there. They came downstairs, anxious to tell Petie what went down.
Darnell told Petie that Renee was funny style and he didn’t want to be in the same house with her anymore.” She talkin’ about taking us out to Grandma’s house. I’m not goin’, Dad. I mean it. Me and Dante ain’t bouncin’ without you,” he said, looking more serious than a chess player. Petie looked at Dante and asked him what he thought about all of this. Dante just shrugged his shoulders and said he would do whatever Darnell did.
Petie called Renee and told her that Darnell and Dante were at Ladelle’s house with him. He paused for a moment. ”Listen, you asking me too many questions. I said they’re okay, and that’s all that matters.”
”Bring my sons home now or I’ll come get them,” Renee demanded. Petie wasn’t feeling this shit at all and he got at her. He asked her what she meant by her sons, knowing that would piss her off even more. He told her that Darnell and Dante didn’t want to be with her anymore because she was beating on them.
”What the hell you mean beating on them? Did they say they didn’t want to be around me, or did you say that? Did you tell them their father is wanted for raping and assaulting a woman? Huh? Huh, punk?! Did you tell them that?! Do they know that their father is one of New York’s most wanted?! Huh?!” she barked.
”Oh, shut the fuck up! You sound real stupid!” Petie said. Renee continued to holler and scream like somebody was trying to steal her purse, and Petie told her that she was going to bust an artery. Darnell stood behind him laughing. He might not have been if he could hear what his mother was saying on the other end of the phone. Petie told her he didn’t have to tell them anything because channel 7 had already done that for him.
Renee got quiet; she must’ve forgotten that Petie’s face was on the news every day. There was nothing the boys didn’t know. Renee wanted to speak to them, but Darnell said he didn’t want to come to the phone. Dante followed his brother’s lead.
Ladelle and Petie sat and talked for a bit longer until Petie decided to take the boys home. When they got to the front of Rhonda’s building, Petie told them not to give their mother a hard time and to be respectful. ”She means well, so be easy on her,” he said mainly looking at Darnell. ”Call me every day and we’ll meet up after you get in from school.”
”Aiight, Dad. But only ‘cause you say so,” Darnell said.
”Listen, if she asks you what I’m driving, tell her you don’t know—ya heard?”
”See, Dad, you don’t trust her either.... She might try and put something in our food,” Darnell said before he and Dante got out of the car.
Petie waited until they got inside the building before pulling off. He drove back to the hotel.
Patrice was asleep when he got back. She didn’t even hear him when he came into the room. Petie stood there and watched her as she slept, wishing he had met her earlier. She had potential; she was just one of those chicks who needed a chance to start over. She had shown him that she could follow instructions. That was important to Petie.
Petie’s cell phone rang after he got undressed and turned on the TV. It was Roz. Not now, he thought. Petie hit the No button on his cell phone so the call would go to voicemail. He lay down next to Patrice on the bed, and she curled up close to him and asked him when he got back.
”That don’t matter; I’m here now,” he said grabbing her butt cheeks and spreading them. Patrice got on top of him and went to work. Petie pushed himself deep inside her and she rode him like a buffalo soldier. Patrice leaned forward and Petie sucked on her earlobe. He put two fingers in her butt hole as she continued to slide up and down on him. Petie was long and fat, and the way he had her ass spread open made her come immediately. He gently lifted her up and down, and her body shuddered until she finally fell on top of him, breathing heavily. Petie finger-fucked her ass until she came again and then he busted off, filling her insides with his juices.
Petie watched Patrice sleep. She was all curled up and looked real comfortable. She knew she was in good hands, even though they had just met a few days ago.
Petie really wasn’t one for small talk, but he’
d been wondering where Patrice was from; she didn’t have a New York accent. ”Baltimore, Maryland,” she said after waking up.
”I knew you wasn’t from New York by your accent,” Petie said.
”Oh, a lot of people say that. I don’t think my accent is that strong.”
”Tell me how you started smokin’ that shit. I know it was a knucklehead that got you started, right?” he asked, his question really more of a statement.
Patrice reached for her bag and pulled out some photos of herself before she started smoking. She was with some cat in some of them, and in others she was at a table counting money. Petie was impressed. He told her she looked real good before she started smoking, and if she really wanted to stop he’d help her.
Patrice got up from the bed. Petie noticed that there were tears in her eyes, and he knew she wasn’t faking. He already knew she was in a lot of pain, just from her lifestyle alone.
Patrice was a dime piece. She just got caught up with a knuckleheaded nigga who left her after she started getting high. She used to come to New York with the cat and re-up right uptown. And when she and Petie got to talking about shit, they realized that they knew the same people. The pictures revealed that she was doing her thing at one time and just got caught out there. Petie understood.
He went into the bathroom and took some tissue off the roll. He came back out and wiped Patrice’s eyes. They sat at the foot of the bed now, and she turned toward him and put her head on his chest. She cried some more and told him how lonely she had been, and the only thing she could do for that loneliness was get high.
Chapter Forty-Five
Petie drove uptown to Washington Heights after speaking to Calderon. He told him he wanted some weight, but he had something else in mind.
He got to Calderon’s building and whistled up at his window. Calderon buzzed him in, and Petie walked up two flights to his apartment. Calderon greeted him at the door, happy as ever to see him. He knew that whenever Petie came through he always spent dough.
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