by Asia Hill
“Why the fuck is she calling you?”
“Come on. I’ll tell you in the car.”
Chapter 25
Boo
“Sis, you wanna come out and have a few drinks with me?”
“I don’t know, Boo. Every time we go out, we got one foot in jail and the other one dangling in the graveyard.”
I started cracking up because she was dead serious.
“It’s all good, sis. We chilling tonight. So go on and get all dressed. It’s a ladies night.”
“Alrighty then. I’m breaking out my cat suit. It got diamonds and glitter all over it, too. Girl, hurry up and come get me.”
I hung up and called Lil Mama to see if she wanted to go. No answer. I wasn’t about to kiss her bony ass. Let me go put on my freak ‘um dress. I might find my future tonight.
Three hours later, we were sipping Ace of Spade at this club called Adriana’s, enjoying my cousin Zona, Man, and Future rip the stage. Heidi was having a ball.
“You see, Boo, this is my idea of a good time. No drama! You did good, sis. You think I can get Future to take me with him tonight? I know he’ll like all this thickness, unlike his bony-ass baby mama Clara.”
I spit my drink all over the floor. My sister was crazy, but I loved every minute of it.
“Oh, Boo, look, there goes Ashley. Oh my, I’m not gay, but look at what she got on her arm. Cute huh?”
Yeah Ashley had a cutie on her arm tonight. All right, Ash, get it bitch. I waved my hand in the air to get her attention. She gave us both hugs. My girl was glowing.
“Well who is this, Ash?”
“Heidi . . . Boo, this is my boo, Carmen.”
“Hey ladies, how ya’ll doing?”
After the introduction, Carmen went to the bar to get us another round.
“Damn Ash, nice one.”
The four of us had a ball. Carmen was a good match for her. She was a perfect gentle woman. I saw her phone ring several times. She never bothered to answer it. All her attention was on my friend. I was happy for her.
“Ash, you look good, girl.”
“I feel good, too. I didn’t think I would date again so soon, but you know.”
“Yeah, we know. Lil Mama got a boo, too. I tried to get her to come out, but she was in her mood so . . .”
“I’m glad she didn’t come. I’m not really feeling her like that.”
“Are you still mad about that shit?”
“Yeah I am. No matter if she meant well or not, I suffered in that basement. I just can’t let that go.”
“Alright then. Let’s enjoy the rest of our night.”
The night ended without Heidi knocking somebody out. Thank you, Jesus!
(Lil Mama)
“You got the nerve to not answer the phone for me? Fuck you, Cee!”
I was on fire. That bitch called me and told me to get ready to go out, and now she didn’t want to pick up the phone? Oh bitch, you must not know ‘bout me. I took a shower and went to bed. Carmen had me fucked all the way up.
(Next Day)
(Ring, Ring)
Well look who’s calling. It was Carmen.
“What the fuck you want?”
“Whoa, that’s how you wanna start the day?”
“Don’t worry about how I start my day. You fucked up my night.”
“I’m downstairs. Open the door before I kick it in.”
“Yeah a’ight.”
After I opened the door, I thought about bussing her ass in her eye.
“So what happened to you last night?”
“Man, you know my job is demanding. Go get dressed. I’m about to take you and my niece to lunch.”
I hurried up and took my shower. I was ready to meet this niece.
(Spooky)
Things were almost back to normal. After they found Jaw, Money Man got right back to the money. I was tweaking when I heard that my cousin, Mia, was the one responsible for kidnapping Jaw. That bitch crazy. I been spending a lot of time with JoJo lately. My Auntie Carmen wanted me to stop talking to her after Mia told her all that bullshit, but I wasn’t. I’ma do what the fuck I wanna do. Today my auntie was taking me and her new boo to lunch. I did notice that Money Man ain’t been the same with me since his brother’s kidnapping. He’s been real distant. The only time he really said anything to me was when he needed me to hit up my auntie for some more work. Today was no different. No kiss or hug . . . nothing!
“I’m about to leave. Can I have a kiss?”
“Naw, I ain’t in the mood for no kiss.”
See?
“What the fuck is your problem?”
“Ain’t got one. Don’t you got somewhere to be?”
Fuck him. I wasn’t about to kiss his ass.
(Money Man)
In the back of my mind, I always knew something wasn’t right with that girl. Damn shame she was on the wrong side. I called Young Meech to set things in motion.
“Yo, whud up boy?”
“Shit, what’s cracking?”
“What’chu wanna do about shorty?”
“Make her rob her auntie, then rock her ass to sleep. We need that work though. You a’ight with that?”
“Man, there’s a million hoes out there. I’m sure I can find one that ain’t related to our enemy.”
“After I clean out my crib, we can do a little spring cleaning of our own.”
Chapter 26
Lil Mama
I felt kind of dumb for doubting Cee. Lunch with her and her niece was really nice. She truly loved that lil’ girl. It reminded me of the relationship I got with JuJu. Things have slowly but surely been falling back in place. The three stooges have been on their school work. We thought that it would be best if they were all home-schooled. Once they caught up, they’d finish the rest of the year at school. Young Meech was another story. He was falling deeper and deeper into those Kingpin shoes. His attitude was changing. I was starting to get worried. You would have never thought that he was just 15 years old. I figured it was time for us to clean out Shawn’s stuff.
(Ring, Ring)
It was Boo’s crazy ass.
“Yeah, sis.”
“Aww shit, you answered the phone for me?”
“Fuck you.”
“Wha’chu ‘bout to do?”
“Go help Meech pack up Shawn’s things. You wanna come?”
“Yeah, I think I can help. Yo ass shoulda came out with me and Heidi. We met up with Ashley and her new boo. Girl, we had a ball.”
“I ain’t miss shit. You know that girl ain’t fucking with me like that. Shill in her feelings about that bullshit. Maybe me, you, and Heidi can go out this weekend. I was in my chest last night anyway. My girl been walking on thin ice We good now, though. Let’s see how long that shit last. I would have to see this new boo of Ashley’s though. Is she cute?”
“Hell yeah. I’ma meet you at Shawn’s. I’m about to leave now.”
(One hour later)
We were all joking and laughing, trying to lighten the mood. It was real emotional going through Shawn’s things. Young Meech was doing the best he could at holding it together. He usually didn’t smoke his weed around me, but today I made an exception. I saw a few tears when we got to the box that held Young Meech’s daddy’s things.
“Ma, look at me when I was a shorty.”
He was as cute as he wanted to be. King was holding Meech and his mom was off to the side. The expression on her face didn’t read happiness. It looked like she was jealous of the joy King shared with his son. There were a few pictures of King and Tank as well. Meech snatched the one I was looking at and attempted to rip it.
“No, don’t do that.”
“Why Ma? He had my father killed.”
“Good or bad, it was a part of his life. Just know that King was a beast. T was a pussy-ass nigga. He couldn’t kill King. He had to have another nigga do it.”
While I was trying to comfort my baby, Boo’s ass was tweaking off some other pictures.
“Damn, this world is really small.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Here is Ashley’s new boo in the picture with King and Tank.”
“Oh yeah? Let me see.”
When she gave me that picture, I took the blunt my son had and took a deep pull. Yeah, I was still on parole, but I couldn’t believe my eyes. She saw the look on my face and came to my aide.
“What the fuck is your problem? You can’t smoke. What’s wrong?”
“That lying bitch! This . . .” I pointed “is my girlfriend, Cee.”
Boo just stared at me.
“Bitch, is you sure?”
“You don’t think I would know my bitch?”
“Man, ma, what you fussing about? Let me see what you talking about.”
I handed her the picture and started pacing. I noticed Meech was shaking his head.
“What boy? Say something.”
“You fucking Carmen?”
I was shocked that he even knew her name. I said Cee not Carmen.
“How you know her name?”
“This bitch is Tank’s sister.”
Me and Boo were stuck. She grabbed the blunt from me and lit it.
He continued, “I’m about to fuck ya’ll head up even more. The lil’ bitch that Money Man is fucking is Tank’s daughter.”
“That little girl, Spooky?”
Damn we just had lunch two weeks ago.
I was speechless.
“So you mean to tell me that not only am I fucking the enemy, but the bitch is a cheater too?”
Boo was in deep thought.
“Lil Mama, this shit has got to stop. We can’t let nobody take down what we’ve worked so hard to build.”
“Boo, you right. Me and Money Man already had a plan to make Spooky show us where her auntie kept her work at. After that, we was gonna pop her ass.”
I was with that plan, sneaky-ass bitch. Probably got it from her auntie.
“Well, Ashley asked me to come out with her and her boo. Wanna show up and show out?”
“Absolutely.”
“Ma, don’t give away the fact that we know who she really is. Let shit settle before we make that big move. Okay?”
“You asking for too much. I’ll try.”
Chapter 27
Dirty E
(Ten weeks later)
I had been laying extremely low ever since that mothafucker shot me. Ohhhwweee . . . when I get right, that nigga’s ass was mine. I couldn’t stay at my crib because I was almost a hundred percent sure that Lil Man was lurking nearby. I had to grab another crib over on 83rd and Phillips. It was low-key enough. JoJo’s ass was good and pregnant. At almost six months, she was big as shit. Lil Mama paid a tutor to come by and home-school us both. I needed to take things to another level. I was trying to establish myself, so when it was time to graduate I could jump right into this business management course and open my barber shop. I wanted to be a real estate agent; but since my ace boon-coon died, I wanted to open a hair shop in her memory.
“What’chu up in here doing?”
“Thinking, Biggie Smalls. You hungry?”
“I’m always hungry.”
“Alright. I’m ‘bout to cook.”
I had been taking care of JoJo. I was really starting to care for her. She had some family support, but lately her cousin and auntie ain’t been fucking with her. I could tell it bothered her. My friendship with Re was really suffering. She won’t even come in when her and JuJu come through. I wasn’t about to kick JoJo out for her because she was a damn retard.
“Damn, E, somebody keeps playing on my phone.”
“Change your number then.”
“I did already.”
“Well, do it again or you gon’ keep having problems.”
(Knock, Knock)
I jumped up; and before I could reach for my gun, JoJo was handing it to me.
“Go in the back, JoJo.”
When she was safely in the back, I opened the door. It was Meech.
“What the hell you doing this way?”
“Dirty Man, I need to holla at you.”
“Come in.”
I wondered what was so important that he couldn’t say over the phone.
“How’s the arm?”
“I’m good. My trigger finger works better than ever. What brings you this way?”
“I need to holla at JoJo.”
“Why?”
“Are you still in touch with her?”
I was skeptical about that question. Before I could say yes or no, she walked up on us. Young’s eyes damn near popped out of his head.”
“Damn, Joe, you big as shit, girl.”
“What you wanna talk to me for, Meech?”
“What’s the deal with your cousin, Spooky?”
JoJo’s eyes grew big as hell.
“How do you know she’s my cousin?”
“She’s messing with Money Man. I need to know if she ever said anything about us that we need to be aware of?”
“All she said was that she was on a mission to find out who killed her father. When she does, she said that Carmen was going to help her handle her business.”
I was confused like shit. Meech saw my facial expression.
“I’ll tell you the whole story later. Where does she live?”
“She be at our auntie’s other crib on 79th and Essex.”
“I need you to help me get at Lil Man.”
“Meech, I’m six months pregnant. What can I do?”
“He’ll never bother you again. I promise, I won’t miss. I need to get him.”
She thought about it for a few seconds.
“Alright, I’ll help you. I got a plan that will make him come out of hiding. It’s gonna take a few minutes. Let me have my baby. Can you wait?”
“I ain’t got no choice.”
(Lil Man)
“WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?”
I had been posted across the street from Dirty’s crib for almost two months. There ain’t been no sign of either one of them bitches. I can’t believe I lost her.
(Ring, Ring)
I didn’t feel like being bothered. I picked up the phone without even looking at the caller I.D.
“What!”
“Uh uh, mothafucker. Don’t answer the phone like that. Where the fuck have you been?”
“Looking for your punk ass sister. She ain’t staying with Dirty no more.”
“Come on 9th and Essex. I’m at my auntie’s crib. I got somebody over here that knows where JoJo at.”
“I’ll call you when I’m outside
I pulled off in my latest stolen car heading to a destination that I really didn’t want to be at. Mia was something that I didn’t feel like doing. I was tired of all this conniving shit. That bitch was pitiful. She wasn’t really ‘bout that life. If she was, she’d just kill everybody she had a problem with instead of playing with them. I called her when I hit 18th and Essex and told her to come outside. She makes me wanna stick nails in her eyes. That’s how annoying she was.
“Hey lil’ bruh?”
“Whud up? Who you got with you that could lead me to JoJo?”
I wasted no time getting down to business.
“My cousin.”
No sooner than she said that, this chick came out of the door. My palms started sweating. I knew that face. I started giggling to keep from snapping. That bitch shot and killed my cousin, BayBay when we rushed that spot in Englewood.
“Lil Man, this is my cousin, Spooky.”
She smiled like she didn’t have a care in the world.
“So, you JoJo’s baby daddy? I know where she at. I also got her new number if you want it.”
Chapter 28
Lil Mama
It had been almost three months since I found out that shit about Carmen. The night Ashley invited us out to talk and squash the beef, I declined. There was no way that I wasn’t going to show my ass. I would have ruined the whole plan be
cause I would have shot that sneaky bitch. She’s been really feeling herself lately too She was still doing the same disappearing acts on the weekend. I didn’t even care anymore because I turned my feelings off. I just wanted to bust her ass out. She was on a countdown to die anyway.
(Ring Ring)
I looked at my phone and saw that it was Ashley. What the fuck did she want? I didn’t bother telling her that we were fucking the same bitch.
“Well hello stranger. What?”
“I would like to know why you are texting my girl asking her why the fuck she’s not answering her phone?”
“Huh?” I was actually shocked. “Yo girl? Who Carmen?”
“Yes, my girl.”
“Well, I’ve been fucking our girl for over four months. I doubt if she was your girl back then.”
I heard nothing.
“Thought so.”
“That little grey-eyed bitch!”
“How you find out it was me texting her? I’m not saved in her phone under Lil Mama.”
“Boo told me after I called her when I found the text.”
“BOO?”
“She also told me that we needed to squash this bullshit between us.”
“You’re the one in your feelings, Ashley. I’m cool.”
“I’m good now. I forgive you. You mad about Cee? I’m not.”
“I’m Gucci,” I lied. I was in my feelings. Nigga’s and bitches ain’t shit. “So how you wanna bust this hoe out, Ash?”
“She’s on her way over here right now. Come through.”
I jumped up and grabbed my Air Max’s and headed for the door.
“I’m on my way.”
“Leave your gun at home.”
After I fucked Carmen’s ass up, I was going to curse Boo’s ass out for talking about me with that bitch!
(Carmen)
“Ashley, I’m on my way. You want something before I get there?”
“Nope, just come on.”
(Click)
What the hell was her problem? I hope it wasn’t that time of the month. I wanted some pussy. For the last few days, she’s been acting funny. And if that wasn’t enough, Lil Mama been ice cold. I think it’s time that I find me some more pussy.