A Gangsters Melody

by Wright, Sean A.

  “Hey Tiff what’s up?” Monica said, answering the phone.

  “Nothing much. How’s our girl doing?” I asked.

  “Still no change, but I guess it could be worse.” She answered, solemnly.

  “Yeah you’re right about that. Well look, I need to clear my head so I’m headed to Nieman’s. You wanna come?” I offered.

  “Yeah, why not? I have been at the hospital for hours. And Lashawn left a little while ago.”

  “Okay. Meet me at the back entrance in about fifteen minutes.” I instructed.

  “Give me twenty minutes I just want to say a few words to Terry before I leave.”

  “Not a problem. Give her a kiss for me and tell her I love her.”

  “Will do. See you in a few.”

  When Monica hung up, I hit the highway headed toward Nieman’s. Suddenly out of nowhere I was overcome with grief and depression. I couldn’t hold back the tears as thoughts of Terry laid up in the hospital fighting for her life ran through my mind. I prayed out loud for God to keep her safe and allow her to pull through it. But after what happened to my parents I knew that God had a plan for all of us. And if it was his will to see Terry through this then he would. Flashing lights behind me interrupted my thoughts.

  “Pull the vehicle over now.” The cop yelled through the loud speaker.

  Before I could wonder what I did wrong, I looked at the speedometer and noticed that I was accidentally going 95mph in a 55mph zone. I pulled the car over to the shoulder and awaited further instruction from the police.

  “Driver. Turn off your vehicle and drop the keys out of the window nice and slow.” He continued to yell.

  Now this was a bit ridiculous. All of this for speeding? But in any event I did what I was told. Once I dropped the keys out of the window, the two officers exited the car with their guns drawn. The driver approached my window with caution as his partner covered the passenger side of my Benz.

  “Well what do we have here?” He said with a perverted look on his face.

  “Let me see your license and registration.” Officer hard ass instructed me. I handed him the documents he asked for and awaited further instructions.

  “You know you were doing 95 in a 55 right?” He asked.

  “Yes officer, but I didn’t realize it until you were signaling for me to pull over. I apologize sir. I have a lot on my mind and wasn’t really paying attention.” I replied, trying to talk my way out of a ticket.

  “Mmm Hmm. Step out of the car please ma’am.” He instructed.

  I knew that this wasn’t protocol, but I did what I was told to avoid pissing this racist redneck motherfucker off. I stepped out of the car and he immediately turned me around placing my hands on top of the car.

  “This car runs about $150,000.00. How does someone as young as you afford such a vehicle?” He asked sarcastically.

  “I own my own business and my boyfriend is in the entertainment industry.” I answered, honestly.

  “Yeah that seems to be everybody’s story now days. I’m gonna let you go with a warning but first I need to pat you down and make sure you don’t have any weapons on you.” He said, with a perverted sound in his voice.

  “Excuse me officer, but in case you haven’t noticed I am wearing a sweat suit. Where would I hide a weapon?” I asked, now getting agitated.

  “There’s no telling now a days.” He said as he started the pat down, running his dirty ass hands all over my ass and tits. As he proceeded to head towards my pussy area I turned around.

  “Okay. Officer McCarty. That’s enough.” I stated firmly. Letting him know that I had read his name off of his badge.

  “Okay Ms. Davis, you run along now and be mindful of the laws we have here in the city of Baltimore.” He said, as he walked back towards his squad car.

  Now I was really pissed. With everything else I had to deal with, this racist motherfucker just put the topping on a very fucked up morning. I got back in my car and continued on towards Macy’s. Travon warned me that the city police would be on my ass every now and again because of the fancy cars that we drove. But all of our shit was legal so I had nothing to worry about. The shit was just a big inconvenience. I couldn’t wait to tell Tray what happened.

  I got to the mall just in time to see Monica pulling up driving somebody’s silver Cadillac Escalade. I just smiled and shook my head. I parked not far from where she did as we both exited our vehicles simultaneously.

  “Hey girl.” I said, giving Monica a hug and a kiss noticing that she looked a whole lot better than she did earlier. I wasn’t surprised though. We were going out in public, so I knew despite the circumstances that she was going to turn her swag on.

  “Girl I’m just trying to hold myself together. This shit with Terry has really got me tripping. Who in their right mind would dare disrespect one of us, let alone do some shit like that? She asked, rhetorically “Well Monica, there are a whole lot of haters out there. I mean let’s be real. It’s not like we walk on egg shells with anything that we do. But I tell you what. My money is on that nigga Gerard’s wife. Ya’ll did put it on her something terrible.” I reminded her. “Yeah well the bitch had it coming. And I thought about her too. But I checked around. She is way too square to pull some shit like this. Anyway, I don’t even want to think about that shit right now. Let’s go spend a gang of money and try to enjoy the day.” She responded. Grabbing my hand and walking me towards the mall like she was my mother afraid of me getting hit by a car.

  As we walked through the mall we were buying things as if money were going out of style. And in a strange turn of events, this time it was me who was doing the treating. Thanks to Travon I was in possession of three platinum American Express cards and four other gold cards that I could use at my leisure. This sure was the life. Just to think that a little over a year ago I didn’t have two nickels to rub together, and now look at me. My life was almost care and worry free. The only thing I was missing was my parents, but I get the feeling that they are my guardian angels smiling down on me and most likely the reason for my good fortune.

  “Ooh girl look at this watch.” Monica said, directing my attention to the diamond encrusted Gucci watch that was in the showcase of the Gucci store.

  The watch was beautiful; it had a platinum bezel and 3 karats of crushed diamonds throughout the face. As we were admiring the watch, a saleswoman walked over.

  “Good afternoon ladies, I see that you are taking notice at the newest women’s timepiece designed by Gucci. Well ladies that watch retails at $8,500.00 maybe I can direct you a few stores down. There is a Guess store where I’m sure you will find timepieces a lot more in your price range.”

  Monica wasted no time retaliating to the insult.

  “What did you just say to us bitch?” Monica screamed, ready to jump over the counter before I interjected.

  “What my friend means, is we’ll take two of them bitch.” I said, in my most pleasant voice as I let my Gucci wallet unfold showing the seven major credit cards and I opened up the billfold showing at least two grand in all hundreds just for good measure. The saleswoman’s mouth watered at the notion of the hefty commission she thought she was sure to receive from this sale.

  “Why of course ma’am. And which card, I mean how would you like to pay for this?” She asked, unable to contain her greed. I was about to say sike and burst her bubble when a young African American saleswoman came over to the racist and pleaded her case.

  “Miss Mary, I’m sorry I’m late I couldn’t get a babysitter for Josh. I really apologize it won’t happen again.” She said, almost as if she were begging for her job.

  “Yeah well, let’s hope not. Babysitting issues are personal and no excuse. This is a business you know? I will deal with your tardiness issue later.” The racist boss scolded her. I couldn’t resist.

  “Umm excuse me. I want her to handle this transaction and get full credit for it and all the commission.” I said, pointing to the young black saleswoman.

  “
I’m sure you would, however that is not the way it works around here. I am the one who waited on you so I am the one who will handle the transaction.” She stated matter of factly.

  “Okay, so I’ll tell you what. Watch this.” I said, as I took three giant steps backwards out of the store and walked right back in.

  “Excuse me miss? Can you help me?” I asked, now directing my attention to the black saleswoman. She looked to her very visibly pissed off boss for approval, who just rolled her eyes and walked off.

  Monica and I both burst out laughing as I paid for the watches and gave the saleswoman a one hundred dollar tip on top of her already hefty commission. When we left the store we had so many bags that we decided to run the first load out to the car. When we got to the parking lot Monica’s cell phone began to ring.

  “Oh shit it’s the hospital, Hello? What? Okay I’m on my way.” She yelled, unable to hide her emotions.

  “What, Monica what happened?” I asked, ready to cry just because she was.

  “Terry took a turn for the worst; they are asking all friends and family to head to the hospital.” She said, sobbing uncontrollably. I too began to cry as I hugged her.

  “Let’s go, I’ll meet you there.” I said, unable to fight back tears as we both got into our vehicles and sped through the parking lot headed to the expressway.

  When we got to the hospital we both came to a screeching halt right in front and jumped out of our vehicles not caring about getting towed. We raced through the lobby and straight to the staircase with no time to wait on the elevator we took the steps two at a time until we reached the ICU ward. When we got to Terri’s room our worst fears were confirmed our sister was gone. And the sad thing is with the exception of one or two family members, me, Monica, and LaShawn were the only ones there for her.

  THE AFTERMATH

  Back at my house Monica and I consoled each other over the loss of our dear friend. LaShawn said she was going to do some detective work to find out what happened to her. This was all becoming too overwhelming for me. First my parents, and now Terri. I did not handle death well, while Monica on the other hand, after her initial cry looked like it was back to business as usual.

  “Girl, thanks for the shopping spree and definitely thank you for the watch, we gonna kill em with these shits.” She said, holding the watch up to the light as the lights bounced of the diamonds like a piece of prism glass.

  “Uh. No problem but how can you think about that at a time like this?” I asked, a little irritated.

  “Look girl, Terri was my baby, and everybody knows that. But this is the life we chose. She ain’t the first person I lost and she won’t be the last. In this life either you end up like Terri, you end up like you, or you end up broke. And that’s just the reality of it. The party don’t stop because Terri is gone. It didn’t stop when we lost Jennifer, it didn’t stop when we lost Jackie, shit the list goes on. This ain’t nothing new in Bmore. Now around here we mourn our lost ones by celebrating their life. So tonight in Terri’s honor we gonna do it up really big ya’ dig?”

  “I don’t know Monica, this is too much to handle. Terri didn’t trip and accidentally break her neck. She was murdered. Shot to death. This is serious. And now you wanna go party like it never happened? Fuck that. I ain’t with it. That’s all ya’ll fuckin bitches think about is partying and catching the next victim for his money. Look where the fuck it got Terri. She was only 22 for God’s sake, she was only a baby.” I couldn’t hold back anymore and the floodgates were open tears flowed from my eyes like a leaking roof in a thunderstorm as the deaths of my parents and Terri flashed through my mind I was on the verge of having a breakdown.

  “Aww baby come here.” Monica said, hugging me and rocking me back and forth. “It’ll be okay. Terri is in a much better place now. Truth be told, she was miserable as hell, just like the rest of us, depending on a niggas hustle skills as our source of survival. You right. The shit gets tired, the shit gets old, but it’s all we got, it’s all we know. Our parents, grandparents and great grandparents all lived the same way. So what the fuck are we gonna do? Nothing but try and perfect they hustle.”

  I’m not sure if it was the fact that I was super emotional or the fact that I was a little too tipsy from the cocktails that we just had but Monica’s words were making a lot of sense. Who was I to judge their lifestyles and how they handled their business. I was fortunate enough to be raised in a two-parent home, slightly above middle class and in a place where there was hardly any violence. I had no idea what these girls have been through, now I saw things totally different. No wonder Monica was the self-proclaimed leader of the Stiletto Diva’s; she was like the pied piper, leading us into a world where everything was everything. She had my attention now, more than ever. I listened to her soothing words as she held me in her arms and rocked me back in forth. Before I knew it we were embraced in a passionate kiss.

  FUNNY MEETING YOU HERE

  We interrupt this program for an ABC news brief. The violence continues throughout the city of Baltimore with the body count up to 15 in the past 48 hours. Sources close to police officials say there is a war being waged. Residents are urged to stay indoors as much as possible until the situation is under control…in other news.

  “Damn baby that is so fucked up. I’m glad you’re doing something with your life and you ain’t involved in no dumb shit like that. These guys are so ignorant and stupid. Killing each other off and for what? That shit is just stupid. Leaving all these babies with no fathers. I mean these girls are just as stupid for getting wrapped up with those types of dudes.” Tiffany stated, as she muted the television.

  “Alright Tiffany damn. Slow up on all that preaching shit. You ain’t never been from the hood so you don’t know why these people act the way they do. You can’t judge these people because all you know that might be their only means of survival.” Travon replied, angrily.

  “Aww that’s bullshit. Don’t give me that line about the man got his foot on they neck bullshit. So are you telling me that God forbid you stopped doing good in the music industry, that you are going to start slinging drugs like the rest of these fools?” Tiffany asked, just as angry.

  “Hey, you never know.” Travon answered, sarcastically.

  “Well you better not because I’m fucking pregnant.” Tiffany announced, almost in tears.

  “What did you say?” Travon asked, in amazement.

  “I said I’m pregnant Travon.” Tiffany responded, smiling and crying.

  “Oh shit. When did you find out?”

  “I went to the doctor this morning. I had actually taken the drug store test twice yesterday but I wanted to be sure before I told you.”

  “Oh shit. Are you fucking kidding me?”

  “Are you mad?”

  “Mad? Hell no baby. Get dressed we’re going out to celebrate.”

  “Aww Travon I love you baby.”

  “I love you too Tiffany.”

  I can’t believe you gonna be my baby daddy.” Tiffany said, in her best chicken head accent.

  “No Tiffany. I’m going to be your child’s father.” Travon responded, kissing her soft

  When we got to the restaurant it was nice and elegant and out of the way. Travon had taken me to some very nice places before but never to this spot. Once we were seated I ordered steak and lobster tails with a side of rice pilaf and Travon order broiled swordfish over a bed of lettuce. We passed the time talking about our new bundle of joy and before we knew it our food had arrived. My greedy ass dug right in.

  “Baby this food is good. How come we never came here before?” Tiffany asked, stuffing a piece of lobster into her mouth.

  “Because baby, as expensive as this place is we need to have a good reason to be here.” Travon responded, wiping his mouth and sipping his glass of wine.

  “Okay punk I got you. It’s too expensive to take your girl to. But I bet you and your boys come here all the time.” Tiffany stated.

  “Only when we’re cel
ebrating something big.” Travon responded.

  “Whatever. Anyway where’s your entourage at? We always have at least three of them with us.” Tiffany asked.

  “Yeah baby I know but this is a very special occasion. And I though because of that we could use some time alone. As a matter of fact I’ve turned my phone off.” Travon said, before stopping a waiter. “Excuse me waiter.”

  “Yes sir, how may I help you?” The waiter responded.

  “Can I have a bottle of Kristal please?” Travon requested.

  “Certainy sir.” The waiter responded.

  “Hold on a second. What happened to the Louis the 13th that you sent to my table the night we first met?” Tiffany asked matter of factly.

  “Oh that was just to impress you. I got you now so Kristal it is.” Travon said.

  “Boy don’t make me throw this water on you.” Tiffany said, raising her glass.

  “Okay, okay . Calm down. Waiter I’ll have a bottle of the Louise please.” Travon requested.

  “Excellent choice sir. I’ll be right back.” The waiter said.

  “Yeah that’s what I thought.” Tiffany said, to Travon.

  “That’s your problem. You’re too damn spoiled.”

  “Well you did it daddy. Blame yourself.”

  “Yeah I know. I’m kicking myself now.” Travon joked, as the waiter returned.

  “Here you go sir.” The waiter said, as he started to pour two glasses.