Hakeem & Tasia : A Brick City Love Story

by K. C. Mills

  “Good. We’ve got some shit to take care of.”

  “What’s up, what’s going on.”

  “The numbers don't add up.”

  “The fuck you mean the numbers don’t add up?” I knew I raised my voice, so I glanced over at Tay and she was still sleep.

  “We’re short bruh. We’ll talk about that shit when you get here, but on another note I know who came at Tay.”

  “You one hundred?”

  “Hell yeah. He was at Rivals drunk as hell and bragging about that shit. Telling anyone who would listen how he forced himself on a shorty at a party a few months back. It’s gotta be Tay. He’s not from around here, which is why we couldn’t find him but he’s got a cousin over on Elizabeth Ave. We got that muthafucker Keem.”

  “Did you pick him up yet?”

  “Nah, I just found out.”

  “I’m pulling up at Tay’s house now. I’ll hit you back in a few.”

  “Aight bet.”

  I ended my call with Jodie and dropped my phone in my lap. I had been waiting on this day for the past three months, and believe me when I say somebody was dying tonight. I glanced over at Tay as I pulled up in front of her house. I couldn’t undo the past, but I could certainly make sure he would never hurt her again.

  “Tay, wake up baby girl.” Her eyes popped open as soon as she heard me call her name.

  “Are we here already?” she said as she stretched and adjusted her body in her seat.

  “Already?” I just laughed, and she balled up her fist and nailed me in the shoulder.

  “I see you got jokes,” she said with a big ass smile.

  “Come on, I’ll walk you upstairs.” She looked at me and frowned.

  “You’re not staying?”

  “Nah, I have a few things to take care of with Jodie, but I’ll check you out tomorrow.”

  “Okay.” I could see the disappointment in her eyes, and as much as I wanted to stay, I needed to handle this situation.

  When we finally made it to her door, she stood there just staring at me for a minute like she wanted to say something, but was either afraid or couldn’t find the words before she finally spoke.

  “Call me when you get in,” she said before she bit down on her bottom lip. I swear, it was taking everything in my not to kiss her, but I was trying not to cross lines that I wasn’t sure if she was ready to cross.

  “Yeah I can do that. It might late though,” I said, and let my eyes lock on hers.

  “That’s cool, I’ll probably be up anyway since I got two mean ass naps today.”

  I just shook my head and laughed. “Trust me, I know. That drive was lonely as hell. Preciate that by the way, but I gotta run. Jodie is waiting on me, so I’ll hit up later.”

  I pulled Tay into a hug and kissed her on the forehead like I always did, but this time she held on like she didn’t want to let go. When she finally pulled back, I could see something in her eyes that hadn’t been there before, and that shit had me wanting to stay but I knew I couldn’t, so I let her go and stepped back. I waited until she was inside and I heard her lock the door, and then took off down the stairs.

  *****

  “Somebody’s stealing from us,” I said after Jodie and I collected money and did inventory. I looked around and everybody had eyes on me and Jodie, but nobody said a word.

  “This is the second time this shit didn’t add up, somebody wanna fill me in on how that keeps happening?” Jodie said, looking around at our crew. Debo, Larry, and Ced all looked at each other before Debo glanced at Juice and Rock, who were in the corner looking suspect as hell.

  “Yo, I don’t know what the fuck happened. Me and Ced checked the product and the money last night and it was straight, but when Juice and Rock came to pick up and did their count to hand off to Jodie, that shit was short,” Debo said before he glanced at Juice and Rock one last time, before letting his eyes fall on me and Jodie.

  “The fuck you trying to say yo?” Rock said, moving towards Debo. Debo wasn’t a bitch by any means so he squared off, waiting like he was ready for anything.

  “I’m not TRYING to say anything, but what I AM saying is that we counted that shit last night and everything was all go, and when it got handed off to Jodie shit was short. Now what happened in between I don’t really know, but our count was A1 before I left here last night.”

  “Sounds like you’re putting that shit one us!” Juice yelled.

  “Yo, chill the fuck out. All of you,” I said, stepping in between Rock, Juice, and Debo. They might have been bold enough to go at each other, but neither of them were stupid enough to come at me.

  “Look, I don’t know what the fuck is going on but trust, I will find out. Until we do, the only people you hand off money to are me, Jodie, and Talen. Is that understood?”

  Everyone nodded except Juice and Rock. They were pissed. I could see it in their eyes, but fuck it. Neither me or Jodie trusted those them, and this shit right here further confirmed that we had good reason. I was starting to appreciate the fact that Simuel was okay with Rock and Juice being handled however we saw fit because I could feel their end approaching quick as hell.

  “You good on inventory right now, Debo?” Jodie asked.

  “Yeah, we’re straight for now.”

  “Aight, I’ll be through tomorrow to switch the codes for the safe. One person and one person only will have that code, and Debo since this is your house you’re responsible for it. That way if shit doesn’t add up, it’s on you. Are we good on that?”

  “Yeah we’re good on that,” Debo said, mugging Rock and Juice hard as hell.

  “Aight fam, we’re out. I’ll get up with you tomorrow,” Jodie said before he dapped Debo, Larry, and Ced. I did the same, and we left the house. Rock and Juice followed, and the second we were on the porch Rock stopped us.

  “What’s the deal with all the changes? It’s like you feel like we had a hand in the money coming up short too,” Rock said, eyeing me and Jodie. He was trying his best to control his temper, but he was pissed; I could see it all over his face.

  “I don’t know who the fuck is responsible for it, but trust me–I will find out. All this does is place responsibility on one person and one person only. That way if shit don’t add up, I know why.”

  “Yeah, but if we only have one person at the house that can access the product, we’re stuck if something goes down. We never did shit that way,” Juice said.

  I was tired of this of him always referring to what they used to do.

  “If somebody needs access and they can’t get their lieutenant, then they can call me or Jodie and we'll handle that shit. If they can’t get us, they can call Talen; other than that, shit will just have to wait and as for how things used to be, we run this shit now. If anybody has a problem with that, I’m sure there are plenty of other organizations out there.”

  “Is that a problem?” Jodie added.

  “Nah, we’re good on that,” Rock said before he looked at Juice.

  “Aight then. We got shit to do so we’ll talk tomorrow,” I said before I turned to walk off. Jodie followed me to my truck, and we leaned against it and watched as Rock and Juice climbed in their vehicles to leave.

  “I don’t trust them for shit,” Jodie said.

  “Me either, we need to limit their access and have eyes on their shady asses 24/7. I knew this shit wasn’t gonna work out.”

  “You think we need to holla at Simuel?”

  “Nah, we need to handle this shit on our own. If this is our shit then we need to be able to take care of business, no matter what that business is.”

  “Yeah I feel you. I’d hate for them bitches to have to come up missing, but fuck it. Business is business.”

  “Exactly. So what’s the word on our other situation? We know where he is?”

  “Yeah, let me call Ace real quick and then we can ride out,” Jodie said, reaching into his pocket for his phone.

  “Yo Ace, you still got eyes on dude? Yeah I’m with him
now. He alone? How many? Aight stay put, we’re heading that way now,” he ended the call before turning to me. “Ace has eyes on him, and there’s two others in there with him. They’re over in East Orange,” Jodie said.

  “Fuck it, they can all die tonight,” I said.

  “You know I don’t give a fuck.” Jodie looked at me with a grin. He was too damn trigger happy. “You driving?”

  “Yeah let’s go.”

  Thirty minutes later, we were in East Orange outside of what looked like an abandoned house. It was dark as hell, and it looked like no one was home.

  “I hope nobody lives in that shit,” Jodie said after I parked and we both had eyes on it.

  A few minutes later, my back door opened. Jodie and I both pulled our pieces and had them aimed at Ace’s head.

  “Yo, chill the fuck out with your trigger happy asses. Damn,” Ace yelled as he held his hands up in the air.

  “Shit, you know better than to move on us unannounced,” I said, laughing at Ace’s dumb ass.

  “What’s the move? We just going in guns blazing?” Ace asked with a smirk as he cocked his gun.

  “Shit I guess so,” Jodie said.

  “It’s dark in there,” Ace said.

  “I need him to see my face before I make this happen. I need him to know why he’s dying tonight, so don’t shoot him. He’s all mine,” I said.

  “I feel you Keem, but if he’s dumb enough to shoot at me then I’m shooting back. I’ll aim for an arm or a leg or some shit like that, but I’m firing back on his ass,” Jodie said.

  I just shook my head and laughed. “Let’s do this shit.”

  I turned off my phone and placed it in my glove compartment before I handed Ace and Jodie some latex gloves. We all pulled them on and then headed towards the house. We scaled the front porch and looked through the window, and could see candles burning.

  “This is a fucking crack house,” Ace said. “Those bitches are in their getting high and shit.”

  “They're in the front; let’s try to get in from the back,” Jodie said, so we all left the front porch and scaled the house until we got to the back.

  We climbed the stairs and there was door leading into what looked like the kitchen, so I tried it and it opened. The house was quiet, so the three of us made our way inside and sure enough, all three of them were in there high as fuck, zoned out.

  Ace pointed to one of them. “That’s him right there,” and when he heard Ace’s voice, his eyes popped open and got big as hell.

  “What’s…what’s going on?” He tried to stand, but stumbled and fell before he finally was able to get his balance. Ace and Jodie had their guns on the other two guys there, but they were too high to know what was going on.

  “So you like to rape women, huh?” I asked just before I shoved him into the wall.

  He slid down to the floor, but I could tell he was coming down off his high because fear quickly filled his face. It was dark in the room with the only light coming from a few candles that were placed around the room, but I could see his eyes and he was afraid.

  “I don’t, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he fumbled over his words and struggled to get to his feet again, careful to keep his distance from me.

  “See, I think you do because from what I hear, you’ve been running your mouth about a situation that happened a few month ago at Rivals.”

  He was on his feet now with his back pressed against the wall.

  “I think you got the wrong guy. I don’t know anything about a situation at Rivals.” His eyes were no longer on me; they were focused on my gun, which was pointed at his head.

  “Nah see, I know for a fact that I’ve got the right guy. I do my research, especially with situations like these because I do have morals and shit. I’d hate to end a life that didn’t really deserve it, so trust me when I say I’ve got the right guy.”

  “How do you know she’s telling the truth? You know bitches lie all the time,” he started rambling, but hearing him potentially call Tay a bitch struck a nerve with me, so I shot him in the leg.

  “Oh shit, I’m sorry.” He doubled over and grabbed his leg before he fell to the floor. I stood over him before I kneeled down so that he could see my face. I wanted him to know who was taking his life and why.

  “You hurt somebody that I care about, and because of that you’re gonna die.”

  “I swear man, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t rape anybody. I was there that night but I swear I didn’t rape her. She left with me and she was all over me, but then things got out of control and she changed her mind. But you know how that goes man, we were already into it and…”

  His brains splattered on the wall behind him after one shot. I couldn’t take that shit anymore. A few seconds later, I heard two more shots–one from Jodie’s gun, and one from Ace’s. The other two guys were still passed out from whatever the fuck they were on, but Ace and Jodie knew we couldn’t risk leaving witnesses, so they had to be handled.

  “Yo, let’s get the fuck outta here,” Jodie said, moving past me and followed by Ace.

  After we made it back to Jodie’s truck, we sat there for a minute and blazed one. I needed to clear my head.

  “Are you gonna tell her?” Jodie let his head fall back against the headrest, but he turned just enough to look at me.

  “I don’t know.”

  “She knows who you are, Keem.” Jodie was in my head. Tay knew I was in the streets, and I was sure that there were some things she just assumed, but she didn’t really know for sure. If I told her about tonight, it would be like admitting to a part of my life that I was trying to keep her from.

  “What time is it?” I asked, and Jodi looked at his phone.

  “Almost midnight? What’s up?”

  “Nothing. I’ve got something I need to take care of.”

  “Something or somebody?” Jodie looked at me with those creepy ass eyes with a big grin on his face.

  “Mind your fucking business,” I said, and then laughed. He knew me too damn well.

  “Yeah aight.” Jodie opened the door to get out, but leaned down and stuck his head in before he shut the door. “Tell Tay I said what’s up,” he said, and then shut the door before I could say anything.

  I just leaned my head back and laughed before I started my truck. I couldn’t say shit because he knew what was up.

  Tasia

  “Are you home?”

  “Nah, not exactly?” I could tell Hakeem was tired just from the sound of his voice. It was heavy and deeper than usual.

  “Where are you?” The phoned went quiet, and I sat there waiting. I looked around my room, which was dark except the glow of the moon creeping through my curtains. I was laying in the center of my bed on my side, with my comforter pulled up damn near to my ears.

  “You feel like company?” Hakeem asked.

  “Yes, how long before--”

  He chuckled. “Go open the door, I’m coming up.”

  I climbed out of bed and rushed in the bathroom to brush my teeth; after I was done, I repositioned my bun on top of my head. I looked down at the oversized t-shirt that I was wearing and decided against changing before I tiptoed through my house in route to my front door. It was almost 1:00 in the morning. I knew everyone in my house was likely sleep, so I tried my best to stay quiet so that I wouldn't wake anyone up.

  When I finally made it to the door, I turned the lock, looked back over my shoulder to make sure none of my family members magically appeared, and then cracked the door. Hakeem was standing there leaning against the wall, with his hands deep in his pockets. I pulled the door open and he stepped past me, waited for me to lock it, and then he led the way to my room.

  As soon as we were inside, I found my way back to my bed while Hakeem shut and locked my door. He stepped out of his loosely laced sneakers, pulled his hoodie over his head, and then sat beside me. He leaned back and then folded his arms, resting his wrist on his forehead so that his face was cover
ed.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  Hakeem lifted one arm, letting his hand rest on my knee before it moved down my thigh. “I’m just tired. It’s been a long fucking day,” he said, turning his head just enough to look up at me.

  “You wanna lay down?”

  Hakeem lifted the t-shirt he was wearing and pulled it to his face, and then let it go. “I smell like smoke,” he said.

  “You can take a shower.”

  “Hell no, so Charlie can shoot my ass,” Hakeem said, and laughed after he mentioned my father.

  “They’re sleep. I’ll locked the hallway entrance and they’ll never know; besides, if they do wake up, they’ll just assume it’s me in there anyway.”

  Brit and I shared a bathroom but because I was the oldest, I got the bedroom that had a door that led into the bathroom, while the other one opened into the hallway since technically it was only other bathroom in the house besides the one in my parent’s room.

  “I don’t have any clothes.” Hakeem lifted his head just enough to look up at me as I scooted to the edge of my bed and stood up. I walked over to my dresser and pulled out a pair of his boxers and one of his t-shirts, the ones he let me wear the night I stayed at his house, and then I dropped them on the bed next to him.

  “Did you steal my shit, Tay?” Hakeem sat up with his eyes focused on me. He was halfway smiling.

  “You let me borrow them and I just haven't returned them yet so no, I didn’t steal anything.”

  “You left my house with them, without permission, so that’s stealing.” He stood up and picked them up off the bed.

  “Shut up.” I shoved him in the shoulder as I moved past him into the bathroom. I opened the closet and got him a towel and washcloth while he turned on the water, and then pulled his t-shirt over his head. I watched him through the mirror as he unbuckled his jeans, and then turned to face me.

  “You getting in with me?” he said with a smirk because I was so caught up in watching him that I was still just standing there.