by Asia Hill
Chapter 18
Mia
(One week later)
I had to set my auntie straight. After I told her everything that happened, she quickly jumped sides. Yeah, you know I had to put my lil’ twist on a few things. Little Ms. JoJo had her fooled. She failed to tell her that them motherfucker killed Boogie, Jr., and Ramone. Cee was pissed. In the end, I accomplished my goal. I didn’t even know that Uncle T’s daughter, Spooky, was even in the city. I planned on hollering at her. For now I was just glad to be in the company of my man who, by the way, has been behaving really well. He was gaining my trust and making me love him even more.
Like today, I was in a bad-ass mood. I was tired of selling drugs with no help. True enough, I had some loyal-ass niggas that copped from me, but I wanted to expand and I couldn’t do that without a team. When I went downstairs to check on him, he was laying in the bed watching T.V. and eating popcorn. I kind of felt bad for keeping him locked up. He needed to be on the same page with me if I was going to let his ass out of the basement.
“What’s good, baby? Come here and give daddy a kiss.”
Damn I loved this boy. I prayed that he stayed like this. I mean two weeks under constant lock and key was enough.
“Baby I’m sad.”
“Why you sad, Lovely?”
“I’m tired of hustling by myself. I mean the money is great, but damn I need a break. I can’t keep doing this shit full time without no help.”
“You smart, boo. You’ll figure something out. Come lay down and let’s take a nap.”
I uncuffed his other arm and let him hold me.
“If I let you outta this basement, will you promise not to leave me?”
His whole life depended on him answering this question right.
“Man, ma, I gotchu. At first I hated you, but after I sat back and thought about all the shit we been through, I know you love me. I need that real love in my life. I’ma show you that I’m the man you want in your life. I love you Mia.”
Yes, gah damn it . . . yes. He said the right shit. I’m sure after two weeks of putting this A-1 pussy on him, he’d finally come around.
“Let’s go upstairs.”
(Jaw)
I thought that I wasn’t going to be able to survive this shit mentally. I ain’t never hated nobody the way I hated this bitch. I’m one of them niggas that cannot fake shit. I swear I should win an Oscar for my award-winning performance.
I quit underestimating that bitch, too. I haven’t tried shit that could potentially get me killed. That girl was unstable for real. I knew my family was going crazy. I had to find a way to let them know I was good.
(Door Unlocking)
Mia came in the room looking all sad and shit. Lights, camera, action!
“What’s good, baby? Come here and give daddy a kiss.”
“Baby, I’m sad.”
I knew what she wanted. I just had to play it cool and comfort her. Once she explained why she was sad, I knew this was my one chance to gain her trust. Not only could I gain her trust, but I could get paid in the process. What? You’re probably thinking . . . how could I be thinking about money at a time like this right? Because after I kill this bitch, it’s still money out there to be made.
“If I let you out of the basement, will you promise not to leave me?”
Got her! I was going to play it cool; but when I got what I needed from her ass, it was lights out bitch!
Chapter 19
Young Meech
I can’t believe the big homie has been missing for this along. Poohman been on beast mode. I ain’t never seen that nigga that mad.
(Ring, Ring)
I looked at my phone and saw that it was Money Man.
“Yo, bruh!”
“Nigger, get over here ASAP!”
“What’s wrong? We got beef?”
“This crackhead named Freddie just came and tried to sell Jaw’s chain.”
“WHAT? Where he get it from?”
“He said some hoe down the street on 42nd walked up to him and gave it to him.”
“I’m on my way. Don’t move ‘til I get there.”
(20 minutes later)
I walked in the spot ready for action.
“Money, don’t you think we should call Boo and yo momma?”
“For what? We got this. The nigga in the basement.”
When we walked down stairs, I couldn’t hold the laugh that busted out of my mouth. Outlaw was a little terror. He was down there slapping the shit out of the old man.
“Shut up! (Slap) Punk ass nigga! (Slap). You better not be lying.” (Slap, Slap)
“Man, Outlaw, fall back, killa.”
I walked up to the old man who looked like he was about to have a heart attack. When he saw me, he started pleading his cases.
“I swear, Young, I didn’t steal the chain. The girl gave it to me.”
“Can you take us to the crib?”
“Yes, please just don’t let that lil’ nigga slap me no more. My gah damn face hurt!” (Slap).
“Shut up, nigga.”
Me and Money Man fell out laughing.
“Chill, Outlaw. Untie him. Don’t try no funny shit, Freddie.”
We all jumped in my truck and drove down to 42nd street. As soon as I hit the block, I asked Freddie to show me where the crib was.
“It’s red and white.”
I was about to say something until I heard . . . (Slap).
“All these houses red and white, mothafucker.”
Outlaw slapped the poor man again.
“You gotta do better than. that. What else you remember?”
“It was a black Lexus in the drive way.”
I looked at Money Man.
“Do you know what type of car she drives?”
“I know it’s black. That’s all I remember. You know I smoke hella weed. I can barely remember the days of the week, Young.”
We decided to park in the middle of the block and wait. Freddie started rocking back and forth getting on my nerves.
“Quit fucking rocking, dude!”
“I need my fix. Let me get a dub, Young?”
“Outlaw, give him a dub.”
When Outlaw gave him the work, I couldn’t believe that nigga whipped out his crack pipe and was about to flame up.
“Whoa, what the fuck? Get the fuck out.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you didn’t need me.” (Slap)
Outlaw slapped him the back of his head so hard that his head bounced off of the window. “Damn,” was all I could say. He jumped out and ran into a house not too far from where we were parked. I knew this was going to be a long day.
“Money Man, roll something.”
I figured I’d play catch-up with my crew since we ain’t been kicking it like that.
“Money, what’s good, bruh?”
“Shit, chasing that almighty dollar. The spot over here been juking.”
“That’s what’s up. You paid all the runners yet?”
“I’ma do it tomorrow before we re-up.”
“Where yo girl?”
“She been hanging out with her cousin. I think her name JoJo or something like that.”
Did I hear him right?
“You say JoJo? What does she look like?”
“I ain’t never seen her, but aww shit I forgot to ask you something. Do you know some nigga name Big T that ran Englewood?”
I looked at Money Man with some suspicious eyes.
Why the fuck was he asking me about that pussy-ass nigga? I never told Money Man or Outlaw about that Thanksgiving night.
“What about him?”
Money Man sensed my sudden change of mood.
“Damn nigga, chill. I was asking because Spooky said the he was her father.”
I dropped my head. You have got to be fucking kidding me. This world was indeed too small. My mind started to race. Was this nigga out to get me, too? Was he going to ride with his bitch? He couldn’t be. He didn’t know. I had to tell him.
“Yeah, I know that nigga, Big T. He had my father killed.”
I could tell he didn’t know the history. His mouth dropped open and he almost dropped the blunt.
“Nigga, tell me you lying.”
“I’m not. I didn’t kill Big T. Poohman did. I killed his bitch who, by the way, happened to be my mother.”
Outlaw whipped his head around and gave me the craziest look.
“Yo momma?”
“Hell yeah. That bitch played a part in my father’s death. They both had to go!”
I looked Money Man dead in the eyes and said, “So now that you know your bitch is the enemy, what’s good?”
“Nigga, I’ma Chi City boy all day. She not in the city for no reason. I think she said her cousin JoJo got a baby daddy named Lil Man that she . . .”
“Nigga, if that’s the JoJo I think it is; this shit is bigger than all of us. JoJo fucking with the same Lil Man that killed my sister and my auntie. But I’ma ‘bout to fuck yo head all the way up. Remember the nigga Big Moe that got robbed by Ju, Re, and Dirty?”
“Yeah, Jaw told me about that nigga.”
“That’s her fucking cousin. So if Spooky is JoJo’s cousin, you do the math!”
He was speechless.
“You know her Auntie Cee is the one giving us the work for the low-low? Plus, Spooky’s lil’ slick ass been stealing work on the side, too.”
“You gon’ have to WHACK! that bitch.”
“I gotchu. After we find my brother, it’s a done deal.”
Damn, I hope we find Jaw . . . and fast. You never know who is who around this motherfucker.
Chapter 20
Boo
“Officer, please don’t lock my sister up, we are under enough stress.”
“Well, she should have thought about that before she punched my partner. Her ass is going to jail.”
That gah damn Heidi. This shit has gots to stop. I was about to call Ashley back when she pulled up. Thank you Jesus! She got out of the car and walked right past me to the other squad car, said a few words, and that was that. I could tell the officer was pissed.
“Let her out of the car.”
“But Serg!”
“LET HER OUT NOW!”
After the officer let Heidi out of the car and uncuffed her, they pulled off. Ashley looked at Heidi and rolled her eyes.
“You cannot hit my officers, Heidi . . . period!”
“Bitch, that’s my son’s car. He’s missing, and I’m under slot of stress. I needed to release some built-up anger. My bad.”
“I don’t care. You can’t hit the police!”
“Why not? They shoot us black folks for no reason.”
When we finally made our way over to Jaw’s car, the inside was a mess. Food wrappers and pop cans were all over the place. I knew that something was wrong then because Jaw never left his car like that.
(Phone ringing)
We each checked our phones. It was coming from the backseat. I got in the back seat and looked around on the floor. Bingo! I found his phone under a Wendy’s bag.
“Heidi, don’t you still have a key to Jaw’s car?”
“No, he took it back when I stole his car and went to St. Louis.”
I picked up my phone and called JuJu.
“Ju?”
“Yeah, Boo.”
“We found Jaw’s car around the corner from E’s house. Do you have a spare key?”
“Yeah, I’m at E’s now. I’ma ‘bout to come outside.”
Not even three minutes later, Ju came outside and gave us some much-needed motivation.
“Is his phone in the car?”
I was kind of reluctant to give it to her. I mean, this was still my nephew. I didn’t really know what the fuck he had going on. She saw right through me.
“Boo, I’m not trying to be all in his business. Young told me that Jaw was recording him and Mia’s conversations.”
Damn, I felt stupid. I handed her the phone, and she went straight to the recording device on his phone.
“See, look, the date it was recorded is right here.”
She pointed to the screen
“This was the last conversation that was recorded. It’s Valentine’s Day.”
She pressed play: “What’s up?”
“Hey baby, where are we meeting at?”
“Let me come to your crib and chill for a minute.”
“We could do that. Just pick me up something to drink.”
“What’s your address?”
“4231 Princeton.”
“I’m on my way.”
Ju, Heidi, Ashley, and I stood frozen for a several moments. I couldn’t believe what we heard. We knew where he was. Now it was time to form a plan. How the hell were we going to get him out of there?”
“We should just go kick in the bitch’s door!”
I was known to do a little door-kicking back in my gang-banging days. Ashley shook her head.
“I think that’s the best way to go. If you call the police, they gon’ get all up in your business.”
Heidi had a crazy-ass look on her face. It kinda scared me.
“Heidi, call Money Man and Outlaw.”
She walked off to make the call. I couldn’t help but eavesdrop on the call. She was getting all hyped and shit. She ran back over to us.
“Money Man, Young, Meech, and Outlaw are over on that block right now. Some cluck tried to sell them Jaw’s chain he got from some girl. He told them where to find her but didn’t know the exact house she came out of. Let’s suit up and go get my boy!”
“We not about to get over there and make a scene. Let’s do this as quietly as we possibly can.”
I saw JuJu looking like she was able to cry.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’ma kill that bitch. Let’s go!”
Well, alrighty then!
Chapter 21
ReRe
It had been cold in this house and I wasn’t talking about the weather. Poohman been on ice mode ever since Jaw came up missing. I didn’t know how to get through to him either. Shit, he was always the lovey-dovey one. I had to try and defrost his ass.
“Poohman, come here.”
“Na, you come here. I’m busy.”
Huh? Damn, cracked my face. He ain’t never talked to me like that. When I walked in the living room, he was laying on the couch.
“Really?”
“What Re? I’m not in the mood for nothing right now. My best friend is missing, and I want to kill something!”
He wasn’t mad, he was hurting.
“Baby, let’s go for a ride. Maybe we can just hit the expressway and . . . (Ring, Ring).
I was so glad my phone rang. It was Ju. I started not to answer it, but when Poohman gave me that ‘who the fuck is that’ look. I knew better.
“Ju, what’s good? WHAT? We are on our way.”
I hung up and grabbed my shoes.
“Bay, come on, they know where Jaw is.”
He jumped up so fast I didn’t even realize that he already had his shoes on.
“Was you laying on the couch with your shoes on?”
The look he gave me shut me the fuck up . . . quick! He snatched my keys from me.
“I’m driving.”
(Lil Man)
I knew my joy-riding days were over when I saw the police car pull up behind Jaw’s car. Fuck! It was too cold to be walking. I had to steal another car. My mission wasn’t all bad. I finally saw JoJo. She was indeed staying with Dirty. I wasn’t going to kill her just yet, but Dirty was about to die.
(JuJu)
My heart was racing the whole time we were driving. My man had been gone for over two weeks. What the fuck was she doing to him? Did he have sex with her? Is he even still alive? I realized at that very moment that if he was still alive, we were going to make our relationship work. I didn’t know how much I loved him until all this bullshit started happening. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t know that we were a
lready on 42nd. I looked at Boo and waited for her to make a move.
“What’s the plan?”
“You are going to stay put. Heidi is going to stay put with you.”
Heidi looked at me and I saw the relief all over her face. I almost laughed.
“Don’t worry, me and Ju gon’ be right here when ya’ll get back.”
I wasn’t feeling that shit at all. I was about to say what was on my mind until Boo gave me her infamous stank face.
“Just bring him out safely.”
(Young Meech)
“Hello Boo? What’s the verdict?”
“Put me on speaker phone.”
I did as I was told
“You on?”
“Okay, we found Jaw’s phone, and he did record all his conversations he had with that girl. We got am address.”
I saw the look of death when I looked at Outlaw. He was ready. It was time to finally lay that hoe, Mia, down.
“Well what’s the address?” She started laughing.
“Ya’ll sitting right in front of the house . . . 4231. Outlaw, you and Money Man are going to go through the back. Meech, meet me at the front door. Poohman and Re are at the end of the block, and Heidi and Ju right behind ya’ll.”
I looked at my crew and said, “Let’s go get our boy.”
(Mia)
I thought I was making a mistake letting Jaw out of the basement. To my surprise, he didn’t make a run for it. He actually went upstairs, took a shower, and got in the bed. I was so happy that he was on my page now.
“Baby, you hungry?”
“Make me a steak and some cheese eggs.”
“Anything else?”
“Yeah, come suck my dick before you go.”
Now that’s what I’m talking about. I climbed on top of my man and gave him the best head of his life.
(Jaw)
My heart was racing the second she let me out of that dungeon. I had to play it cool if my plan was going to work. I walked right passed the front door, went upstairs, and headed straight for the bathroom like I owned the place. She made sure my draws and socks were on the bed when I got out of the shower. I let the hot water beat my body up. I didn’t realize that I was crying until I looked in the mirror. My eyes were bloodshot red. It wasn’t tears of sadness. I was angry. I wanted to kill that bitch. I knew that my girl was hurting. I had to be careful. I knew she had some shit up her sleeves. After my shower, I turned on Sports Center and lay in the bed.