Hustle & Heartache

by D. Gamblez

  “That bitch was one of the cops who beat up Roland,” Lyrical revealed. “Then this bitch come to the hospital and try to question me and shit. Bitch got some nerve.”

  Raheem stopped pacing and looked at Lyrical like she had just revealed the exact time and day when Jesus would return. “This is some strange, crazy, fucked up, weird-ass, fucking insane... This just some fucked up shit, fam. This shit is so fucked up.”

  “Does she know who you are?” I asked. For some reason, due to the fact that she did not show even a smidge of remorse upon seeing Lyrical at the hospital, I did not think Sergeant Mills recognized her. I could not picture her being that coldhearted if she did. I am not exactly sure why I thought that to be the case just that I did.

  Lyrical shook her head. “When she came to my room at the hospital and asked me ‘bout the shootout at the club, she thought I was scared because I didn’t wanna go to jail, but I was just nervous ‘cause I thought she knew who I was, and I thought they was gonna get me again. You know, to keep me quite ‘bout the whole thing and shit.”Another bout of tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks. She tried frantically to wipe them away, but the emotion of it all was too much for her. She gave up trying to look tough in front of her friends, and sat back down on the ground with her head in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably as she released countless amounts of emotion that she’d been bottling up for years.

  I closed my eyes for about two minutes to gather my thoughts, and when I opened them again, I knew exactly what to say.

  Taking a moment to look them each in the eye, I took a deep breath and spoke.

  “This is how it goes down. I’ma bury my brother, then I’ma holla at Honor and let him know what the fuck went down with Lyrical Even though he wasn’t around at that time, he calling for the Vice Lords now and the Wild Deuces is his territory, so we need his permission to find out which one of them niggas responsible and if they even still out there. But also, no matter how long it takes, I’m gonna get Audi back, but when I do, I’m gonna marry her this time.”My gaze continued to go to each one of them. “But in mean time and between time, we gonna murk everyone of them ma’fuckas who decided that it was wise to cross the Tru Aetna Boyz and the Gucci Girlz. All them ma’fuckas gonna get got! Them niggas in the Wild Deuces that did that shit to Lyrical, the Death Dealers, Anika, Hensley, and that bitch, Naomi. And we gonna take back the streets of G.I. for Damon, Roland, that little girl, and every ma’fucka they done shit on or put in the grave. And whoever the fuck ain’t T.A.B. or down with T.A.B., they pushing up daisies. From here on out, we the only family that matters. We protect our loved ones and we protect each other. No matter the cost. Feel me?”

  “T.A.B.,” Devonte said emphatically.

  “T.A.B., fam,” Raheem nodded.

  Lyrical stood up and wiped away her tears. Then she took a moment to look at each of us. “T.A.B. for life,” Lyrical said, shaking up with each of us to let us know how sincere she was.

  “T.A.B.,” I nodded, proud of my crew.

  A week after Lyrical had revealed to us what had transpired between her and Sergeants Hensley and Mills, my family and I were at the Oak Hill cemetery laying my brother’s body to rest. His body was so riddled with bullets that it had to be a closed-casket service.

  “No, God, no! Not my baby,” my mother had cried an hour earlier after my brother Elijah had read the eulogy. She had nearly ripped the lid off the coffin just so she could get a glimpse of her son one final time, no matter how bad he looked. It took ten people to pull her off the casket.

  Even Audi had shown up, but she made it very clear to me that she was only there to give support and not for a chance at her and I rekindling our relationship.

  “I’m truly sorry about your brother, Dre,” she had said. “And I know this is a bad time, but you and I...you and I are over, Dre.” Her words were just as devastating to me as the loss of my brother.

  To my surprise, after nearly a week of me trying to get in touch with him, Honor− who I had been trying to get ahold of in order to address the situation regarding Lyrical−had shown up to attend my brother’s funeral. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, despite them being in rival gangs−Damon a Gangster Disciple and Honor a Vice Lord−he and my brother had been really tight with one another. At least, according to Honor, they had been.

  “Can’t believe they murked my homey, man,” Honor said. “In cold blood, too. Man, we at his funeral right now laying him to rest. I mean, aren’t you trippin’ out about how this shit went down, homey?”

  “Yeah, I’m trippin’, but I’ma handle it,” was all I said in response.

  “I hear that, lil’ gangsta,” he said, giving me some dab.”Sorry it took me so long to get back to you−had to handle some business. You know how it is. So what did you wanna holler at me about?”

  “Not here,” I said out of respect for my brother.

  “Oh, yeah, that’s cool,” he said. “Just text me with the when and where and I’ll be there. Alright, gangsta, I’m gonna go ahead and get up outta here. Can’t stand to see my niggas in caskets, especially when it wasn’t their time, feel me?” And with that he left.

  The most noticeable moment of the funeral was when Sergeant Mills decided she would show her face and offer her condolences. But I suspected that the only reason for her presence was because she was trying to get the families of Death Dealers victims to come together and work with her in some capacity towards her ultimate goal of apprehending the elusive coldblooded killers.

  “If the Death Dealers were responsible, then they murdered your brother, DeAndre,” she said to me. “In cold blood. Just as I told you they would if he ever came back. We’re at his funeral right now laying him to rest. This city, or at least the people who’ve suffered a loss of a loved one to these animals has to come together in an effort to get these assholes off of our streets, or who knows who they’ll target next?”

  But I was not interested in, nor was I buying, what she was trying to sell me. I knew she was somehow behind my brother’s death, and the only thing I wanted to do with her was have her buried right next to the people who had killed him. I suspected that because my brother Damon and I had declined working for her as confidential informants, Sergeant Naomi Mills had indirectly but purposely, heartlessly offered him up on a silver platter to the Death Dealers in some failed attempt at apprehending them, and I really wanted her to answer for it.

  At first I did not give a care as to who the Death Dealers were nor what they were doing or why. The only thing I cared about was getting me and my family up out of the ghetto. But all that had changed after Mills pretty much told me herself that the Death Dealers were the ones behind my brother’s murder. Coupled with what Lyrical had revealed to us pertaining to what Hensley and Mills had put her through nearly five years ago, my list for retribution had increased tenfold.

  “I’m gonna be a gentleman out of respect for my mama’s hurt and pain for the loss of her eldest son, my brother. So instead of telling you to go fuck yourself, I’ma kindly ask you to leave and never come near me or my family ever again, ‘less it’s to slap cuffs on me. I get you just doing yo’ job, but I don’t need you for shit, and G.I. don’t need you for shit either. Have a nice day, officer.”

  “This city doesn’t need my help, huh?” she said with arms wide, indicating that my brother’s funeral was the exact reason this city needed her.

  “Me and this city don’t need you for shit!” I shouted a little too loudly, earning a few disapproving glares from some of my relatives.

  “We’ll see,” she responded before signaling to the big black guy who had arrived with her. Then they hopped in an unmarked cruiser and drove away.

  Later that evening, Honor and I were at PetCo, a popular pet store located in the Southlake Mall plaza. Since the Aetna and Wild Deuces neighborhoods were in the middle of a territorial dispute, we had both agreed that it was the safest place to meet away from prying eyes.

  Plus, I was already planning to
get Audi a puppy as an apology gift. I knew it would not be nearly enough to mend her broken heart, but hopefully it would be a step towards the direction of us getting back together after such a lengthy time apart.

  Besides, I did not want to sleep at my mother’s house. Too many people were stopping by to offer their condolences, but most of them were just there to be nosy or to see what they could get. And I hated every minute of it. My brother was dead, so I just wanted everyone to leave me and my family alone and allow us a moment to grieve and put my brother to rest.

  “Like I said, fam, we ain’t got no beef with you and yours,” I was saying to Honor as I let my index finger trail underneath the neck of a black, brown and white kitten. It was purring like crazy in response.

  “Yeah, I feel what you saying, but at the same time you making some serious accusations against my people. How you think I’m supposed to respond to that shit, my nigga?”

  “Shit, nigga, I don’t know how you supposed to respond to that shit, and I don’t give a fuck how,” I shot back. With everything that was going on in my life, I was already on edge. “You know, I was tryin’ to be respectful and shit by coming to you humbly ‘bout this on account of you and Damon being homeys and whatnot and you being real enough to pay yo’ respects at his funeral. But now that I think about it, I don’t need yo’ permission for a ma’fuckin’ thang, nigga. Some bitch-ass niggas from yo’ set raped one of mines, and I means to get payback for that shit. Now, you can either get out the way and let us handle business, let us right a wrong, so to speak, or you can stand behind them niggas, them sex offenders you call ‘mines,’ and you can get got with ‘em. Either way, I don’t give a fuck,” I said while at the same time trying to decide whether or not a kitten would be the better option for Audi as a gift as opposed to a puppy.

  “You joking, right?” he smirked.

  “Sound like I’m joking, nigga?”

  “Look, little nigga, I’m gonna take into account that you just put your brother to rest, so I’m gonna let you slide with that slick shit that just came out ya mouth and I’m gonna ride out before I do something I’ll feel bad about later.”

  “Nigga, don’t bring my brother into this shit. If sumthin’ I said made you feel some type of way, then let that shit be heard. And this ‘little nigga’right here is T.A.B., in case you ain’t know, and we don’t play ‘bout ours. Bets recognize, nigga, for you get got.”

  “What? Man, who the fuck you think you talking to, little nigga?” he asked through gritted teeth, looking me dead in the eye.”Fuck you talking about ‘get got’? Man, I oughta smoke yo’ bitch-ass right here, right now, you little punk-ass bitch. Nigga, you and them bitch-ass niggas you roll with ain’t shit but a bunch of kids and wannabes. Talking about ya’ll the Tru Aetna Boyz. Pshaw, what? Nigga, fuck the Tru Aetna Boyz, whoever the fuck ya’ll are, and fuck them dusty-ass hoes you think you got on yo’ jock while you at it! Gucci Girlz? Pshaw, nigga, them trick-ass bitches ain’t shit but some dicksucking skeezers. I oughta send my niggas through there to straight snatch them bitches from ya’ll and run trains on them bitches, then smoke all you pussy-ass niggas in the process. Fuck up outta my face, little nigga, before I do yo’ bitch-ass in, right here and now. On Vice Lord, nigga, you ever send word to me or get at me about any motherfucking thing, whether it be a bitch getting fucked or raped or some motherfucker taking yo’ big wheel from you, I’m gonna put a lynch around yo’ mama’s throat, nigga, and let that ho rest in piss.” With that last statement he turned and walked out the door, shaking his head and mumbling to himself while doing so.

  My heart was suddenly racing...the way it always did when I was about to pull the trigger. “Yeah, a’ight, nigga,” I said to myself before reaching towards the small of my back for my .45.

  Whether or not he had something to do with Lyrical’s rape, he had made the terrible mistake of disrespecting me and my people in the worst way, and I meant to let him know how I felt about it. Even if it meant killing him in the parking lot in front of a store full of people.

  But just as I opened the door to exit in pursuit of Honor, Sergeant Naomi Mills walked into the store.

  “Good to see you have manners,” she said as if I had intentionally opened the door for her.

  Man, this bitch is always in the ma’fuckin’ way! I thought as I watched Honor’s Cutlass burning rubber out of the parking lot.

  “Ooh, he’s so cute,” she said, reaching out and taking the small kitten out of my hands.

  “How the fuck you find me? What, you got a tail on me or sumthin’?”

  “Actually, I came here to get my daughter a pet. Running into you was just a coincidence, so don’t flatter yourself, honey.”

  “A coincidence, huh? Yeah, a’ight. Look, if you came here to sweat me about being a snitch for you, or to bitch me out ‘bout that shit I said at my brother’s funeral, then you wasting your t”—”

  “I didn’t come here to try to get you to snitch nor did I come here to fight,” she said. “And I truly am sorry for what happened to your brother and what you and your family are going through.”

  “You have no idea what my family’s going through right now.”

  “No, I don’t. But I can sympathize.”

  I did not respond as I did not believe she could possibly sympathize with me.

  “Look, the truth is that I actually did follow you here, but I was being honest when I said that I didn’t come here to fight. I truly did want to tell you how sorry I am. No one should have to lose someone in such a violent as that. With that being said, I also wanted to warn you not to do anything stupid. If you’re planning revenge of some sort... Look, the Death Dealers have been wreaking havoc on this city for far too long, and it’s about time someone does something about it. The Death Dealers−these monsters need to be locked in a cage in a prison deep underground. And I’m going to be the one to put them there. Mark my words−I’m going to deal with these assholes...one way or another.”

  One way or another? Is she talkin’ ‘bout murkin’ these ma’fuckas?

  “That’s what I came here to tell you. I’m going to get justice for your brother and every other person impacted by their brutal acts of violence. Trust me, Dre−I know what I’m doing.”

  Just like you knew what you were doing when you and your boss beat the fuck out of Roland and left him and Lyrical out in the Wild Deuces so she could get gang raped, right? And just like you knew what you were doing when you set my brother up to get murked by the Death Dealers? Don’t worry, bitch−you’ll get yours. Believe me−your big payday’s coming sooner than you think.

  “So...we got a deal?” she asked, looking at me intently with those beautiful hazel eyes.”You’re gonna take my advice, allow me to do my job and let me deal with whoever took your brother from you, Death Dealers or not, right? Or did I just waste my breath?”

  “Yeah, a’ight, shawty. Deal,” I sighed.

  “Shake on it?” she persisted.

  “Shake on it?” I asked.

  “Shake on it,” she confirmed, sticking out her hand.

  “Yeah, a’ight,” I said. Then we shook hands.

  “Hold up a sec,” Sergeant Mills said, handing me the small kitten then reaching into her jacket pocket to retrieve her phone.

  Sumthin’s up, I thought to myself as I watched the lines on her forehead crinkle, her lips slightly moving as she read the message.

  She turned her back to me to face the clerk behind the counter. “Mind if I use your phone? My battery’s nearly dead and I don’t want to lose this call. You know, in case it’s important,” she said.

  At first he denied her request, but after a quick show of her badge, he was more than eager to help law enforcement. He handed her the phone and stepped to the side to tend to a customer, an old white male carrying two small gerbils in a cage.

  Why do they always put wheels in cages with gerbils and hamsters? It’s like saying, “Run, run as fast as you can, you little shit, even though you know you
can’t escape.”

  “What’s up, Vida?” Sergeant Mills said into the phone, bringing my attention back to her.

  “Excuse me, you two,” one of the other store employees said as she approached with a large box in her hands. She was a short and chubby, dark-haired white woman. Her breasts were so big that she nearly fell forward when she sat the box down on the floor in front of us” Here’s some more kittens in case you two lovebirds were having a hard time deciding.”

  Lovebirds? Man, this chick straight trippin’!

  “Just one moment, please, Miss, uh, Tracy,” Sergeant Mills said hurriedly, putting up a finger. “Wait, what? Vida, slow down. What are you trying to tell me?”

  “I’ll just come back,” the woman said with a tight smile. Then she turned her attention to me. “Just let me know when you and your girlfriend are ready, okay?”

  I gave employee, Tracy, a look that I am sure she interpreted as, “Bitch, if you don’t get lost and find somebody else to fuck with,” because she quickly and nervously excused herself immediately after.

  “O-Okay,” she stammered before rushing off.

  I was about to correct the woman about our relationship status when Sergeant Mills hung up the phone and nearly ran out the front door.”I’m so sorry for the inconvenience, Miss, uh, Miss...” she said over her shoulder. “I-I have to go.”

  “Guess she doesn’t want a kitten,” I said to the chubby employee. “But I’ll take one. How much for this little guy right here?” I opted to get the kitten that I’d originally chosen.

  “That little angel costs $100, but it comes with one year of free veterinarian visits and checkups,” the woman beamed.

  $100? Sheesh! Audi better let me back in after this.

  Just then my phone when off in my pocket.

  “Could you give me a minute first?” I said, grabbing my phone. When I looked at the screen, I was surprised to see my home number.