Queen Hustlaz
Page 17
“Man, I been so twisted up, I don’t know shit. But tell Chris I’m good, and thanks.”
“You sure, man? You need to reach out to somebody. You can’t get by in here alone,” D-Red said.
“Man, I’m good. I don’t need anything but to be free. I don’t deserve to be in here. I didn’t do shit,” Larry cried out as he dropped his head down into his hands.
D-Red stood up and patted him on the back. “Man, you here. You got to suck it up or you won’t make it. I will tell Chris you good for now. Keep your head up.”
After D-Red walked away, Larry lifted his head up and thought about what was just said. D-Red was right, but he wasn’t ready to reach out to anybody just yet. He was more worried about how he was going to beat his case. He had a son to care for.
At the thought of Travis, Larry began to shake. Travis was now without either parent, and Larry had no clue as to who had him. He was more depressed now than he was before.
Larry stood up and glanced over to where a group of guys were playing cards, and he caught sight of Big Bam, who nodded his head in his direction, smiling.
“Fuck. This nigga gonna be an issue. I feel it,” Larry groaned to himself.
* * *
Jeryca was meeting Orlando for lunch Sunday afternoon. They had hit it off the previous night, and Orlando had to see what she was about.
“So, what are you going to have, beautiful?” he asked her as they looked over the menu.
“I don’t know. Everything on the menu has grabbed my attention, but I guess I will get the crab balls, steak, and fries. Oh, and a salad!” Jeryca said as she placed the menu back on the table.
Orlando was impressed; a beautiful chick who wasn’t trying to hide a healthy appetite.
“So, Jeryca, I know I’ve seen you somewhere before. I just can’t pinpoint where,” Orlando said once he placed his order and the waitress walked away.
“I don’t think so. I would remember you if I did,” Jeryca said as she glanced around the restaurant.
“I will figure it out sooner or later, but for now, I want to enjoy your company. Tell me a little bit about yourself.” Orlando sat back in the chair, enjoying the view in front of him.
“Well, there isn’t a lot to tell,” she said. “I’ve lived in the projects all my life. My father has never been in my life, period. My mother worked hard all her years to take care of us and barely made ends meet. She had several different relationships with men that I didn’t like or respect. I never understood how she could deal with a man and he not provide for you. Shit, a man got to bring something to the table besides dick. I have one sister, and I love her to death. We lived a rough life, you know. And I know we deserved more, wearing hand-me-downs from Goodwill and Salvation Army. We barely ate some days, and we never got to enjoy going places, ’cause we couldn’t afford it. I don’t want to live my life in the projects forever, so I am trying to do all I can to get the fuck out of there.”
“So, is that why you are riding with Dana and Zack on this hit?” Orlando asked.
“That’s part of the reason, but I want to show Thad that he isn’t untouchable. I got plans for him, and this hit is just the beginning,” Jeryca explained.
“Uh-huh, I think that’s where I know you from,” Orlando said, frowning slightly.
“I hope wherever you know me from won’t deter you from getting to know me,” Jeryca replied, noticing the frown that crept up on Orlando’s face.
Orlando looked at her without saying a word for a few seconds. He sat up straight in his chair, but before he could speak, the waitress came up with their food.
“Will there be anything else?” she asked, eyeing Orlando.
“Bitch, if we want anything else, we will let you know with your looking ass!” Jeryca hissed.
The waitress stared at Jeryca for a few seconds, and then turned and walked away.
Orlando smiled and whispered, “I’m very much interested in you, and nothing can deter me from getting to know you. After we eat, what would you like to do next?” Orlando asked, picking up his fork and digging into his food.
“Well, I need to go check on my friend’s mother and son before I do anything else. They have been having a hard time since her death,” Jeryca explained.
“Yeah, I heard about that, and I am sorry for your loss.” Orlando sighed as he grabbed her hand and gave it a slight squeeze.
“Yeah, well, Larry is locked up, and everyone involved in her murder will pay,” Jeryca hissed.
“Shit, I can see in your eyes that you mean business. Let’s finish eating and get on out of here,” Orlando replied, eating more of his food.
Jeryca smiled at the thought of making everyone that she felt had violated her pay. She was going to wait her time and then wreak havoc on several people.
After the pair finished eating, they left the restaurant hand-in-hand, chatting all the way to the car. Orlando opened the door for Jeryca, which was so different from what she was used to. Thad never opened doors for her, nor carried on the type of conversations that she and Orlando had shared. She felt at ease with Orlando and wondered if he could possibly be the one. She knew that only time would tell; however, she couldn’t help but feel that he was right for her.
Once they drove up to Shirley’s house, Jeryca’s smile changed immediately to a small frown. Orlando noticed it immediately. He got out and walked around to Jeryca’s side and opened her door.
“You okay, Ms. Lady?”
“I’m good,” she mumbled.
As soon as the pair climbed the stairs, Travis ran to the door and jumped into Jeryca’s arms. He buried his head into her chest. A few seconds later, he looked up. “I want my mommy, Auntie Jeryca.”
Jeryca stroked his hair and whispered that everything would get better soon.
Orlando was taken aback by the compassion that Jeryca was displaying toward Travis. She was a different person around Farrah’s people, especially Travis. He had no doubt that Jeryca would one day make a great mother, which was what he needed.
As he looked around the living room, he noticed several pictures of Jeryca and the three girls. He realized from the smiles and poses that they had been close. As he looked further, he saw pictures of the girls when they were younger.
“Oh, how cute,” he whispered as he picked up a picture of the girls standing by a swimming pool, hugging each other.
“They were some awful kids!” Karen said, laughing lightly.
“Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that,” Orlando said as he placed the picture back down on the table.
“Yes. That Farrah stayed into some mess. But when Travis was born, she slowed down a lot. He was her world, and I don’t know what we are going to do with our baby girl gone. You know, her and Jeryca were the closest out the group. They were together all the time. Jeryca has been here since Farrah’s death, and Lord knows we appreciate her,” Karen said, looking over at Jeryca adoringly.
Orlando was getting to know a part of Jeryca that he absolutely knew she wouldn’t have shared with him right away. Jeryca glanced over at him and gave him a partial smile as she followed Shirley into the kitchen.
They spent the remainder of the day with Shirley and Travis, as different people walked in and out. Orlando felt somewhat comfortable being there with Jeryca, and the more he observed her interacting with Farrah’s family, the more he realized that her love for Farrah was sincere.
Jeryca sat down next to him after putting Travis to bed. “I’m actually glad you are here, Mr. Orlando.”
“I’m glad you let me be here with you, Ms. Lady,” Orlando said, smiling.
“I can’t believe she is gone, Orlando. This seems like a nightmare,” Jeryca said with her head down.
Orlando reached over, grabbed her chin, and lifted her head up. “You know what? I know I just met you and all, but I want you to know I’m here for you.”
“I appreciate that,” Jeryca said, feeling that he was telling her the truth.
* * *
“Damn, bro. Are you going to go or what?” Steve asked impatiently.
“I wasn’t paying attention, man,” Larry answered.
“Well, you need to be. I ain’t gon’ keep babysitting your cards, bro. If you going to play, then keep the fuck up. If you not going to play, get the fuck up. Either or is fine with me,” Steve snapped.
Larry sat back, looked at Steve for a second, and then stood up. “Fuck you, nigga. You ain’t gonna disrespect me and think I’ma sit down for it. Do you know who the fuck I am?” Larry yelled.
Steve stood up and walked up on Larry. “Yeah, I know who you are: you are a bitch nigga, and I will beat yo’ ass for real. Who the fuck do you think you talking to? Huh?” Steve growled.
“Listen, man, I suggest you fall back and get the hell out of my face, ’cause this ain’t what you want,” Larry replied, pushing Steve back.
As the pair began scuffling around, D-Red ran over. “Y’all need to chill the fuck out before y’all get all of us locked down.”
Larry straightened his clothes and walked away without saying a word. He was tired of them suckas trying him. It was war if anybody else stepped to him foul. He didn’t have anything to lose, and he didn’t care who got locked down afterward. People were going to respect him from that point on.
After the last count time and the lights went down, Larry lay on his bunk with his eyes closed and his arms folded behind his head. He thought about Travis and Debra. He couldn’t believe that she had betrayed him as she did. What else should he have expected? She was a THOT like the rest of them.
After about an hour, he dozed off, only to be awakened by someone nudging his bunk.
“Rise and shine, baby. It’s time for me to introduce myself,” Big Bam whispered while pulling at his boxers.
“Big Bam, g-g-go ’head now. I’m not trying to go there wi—” Larry stammered.
“But he trying to go there with you, nigga,” Steve interjected. He was standing at the head of the bunk.
“What the fuck—” Larry began to yell, but Steve clamped his hand over Larry’s mouth before he could finish his statement. Another inmate grabbed Larry’s feet and held him down firmly. Larry jerked his body around but couldn’t break free, no matter what he did.
Big Bam ripped Larry’s underwear off and eased onto the bunk with him. “Don’t fight it, ’cause it’s happening,” he whispered.
Larry finally found the strength and twisted at an angle, which caused Steve’s hand to slip. Larry immediately bit down on the side of his palm, broke free, and stood up swinging. He hit Steve in the mouth and attempted to hit Big Bam, but he was tackled by another person. As he fell backward, his head hit the side of the steel railing and he lost focus.
When his vision cleared up a bit, he saw D-Red standing to the right of Bam, smiling. “Man, it ain’t nothing personal.”
Big Bam pulled Larry up by his T-shirt and punched him several times in the face, until he no longer had any strength to struggle. The other two inmates moved back away from Larry and Big Bam and turned around, making sure no one entered the room or attempted to help Larry. Soon after, grunting and harsh moaning filled the dormitory.
Chapter Eighteen
Jeryca, Dana, and Stephanie sat behind the family at Grace Funeral Home. Orlando and Zack accompanied them to the funeral and supported them until it was over.
Dana sat stone-faced as she listened to the sermon. Once they opened the casket for viewing, she refused to walk up there, but Jeryca and Stephanie persuaded her to go. Once she was there, she stood staring down at Farrah with no feeling of regret at all. She couldn’t afford to allow herself to feel anything, or she would lose control.
“She looks like she is asleep,” Stephanie whispered.
Jeryca began crying uncontrollably. She was talking, but the words were inaudible, and as she stood there, she began falling to the floor. Orlando rushed up, helped her back to her feet, and stayed by her side for the remainder of the funeral.
Farrah’s mom had to be taken out by paramedics. She had collapsed after witnessing the funeral coordinators close the lid on her beloved child’s casket.
Shirley had decided that Travis wouldn’t be allowed to attend his mother’s funeral. She felt he was too young to be there. Shirley didn’t have the will power or the desire to explain to him why his mother was lying in a casket or why his father hadn’t been there. It was all too much for her.
After everyone returned to the family home, Orlando’s phone rang. He answered it and began talking, but he never took his eyes from Jeryca’s face.
“I need to talk to y’all immediately!” he whispered to Jeryca once he got off the phone.
“What’s up?” Jeryca asked, frowning.
“I can’t say in here. Just get everybody and come outside,” Orlando said as he walked out, taking Zack with him.
Jeryca got Dana and Stephanie, and they walked outside.
“What’s going on?” Dana asked as she approached Zack and Orlando.
“Man, dude got killed early this morning,” Orlando answered.
“Who got killed?” Stephanie asked.
“Larry! They say he was gang raped and strangled,” Orlando replied.
Everyone stood quiet for a minute, before Stephanie broke the silence. “Serve the nigga right! Why the hell should we sit around worrying about that nigga? We need to focus on how we can help Shirley and Travis even more now. Fuck Larry.”
Everyone agreed, and Jeryca volunteered to be the one to tell Shirley what they had just learned. By the time that Jeryca walked into the house, the look on Karen and Shirley’s faces told her they already knew.
“You heard what happened?” Jeryca asked Shirley.
She nodded her head with a shocked and unhappy expression.
“Why is this happening to them? First, it was Farrah, and now Larry. Travis was sitting here and saw his daddy’s picture flash across the screen. He wants to know why his daddy was on TV, and we don’t know what to tell him. What is that little boy going to do without his parents? How could this happen?” Karen asked as she held Shirley tight.
Jeryca didn’t have an answer for them, but Travis didn’t deserve to grow up without either of his parents. Jeryca sat down on the loveseat and bowed her head. She knew that she and the girls held some responsibility for Travis being without his parents. She had to do something to make sure he would be very well taken care of, but what could she do?
* * *
“We didn’t want him dead just yet! How the hell are we going to find our money with that nigga dead?” Thad shouted after finding out that Austin had set up and executed a hit on Larry.
Austin sat at the bar, sipping his Hennessy with no expression. He had told them he would take care of it, and that’s what he did. If they weren’t ready for that type of move, they should’ve told him. He was put in charge to handle Larry, and he did just that.
“Man, fuck that money. We probably weren’t ever going to get that shit back with Larry dead or alive, so let’s just dead that conversation. Austin did what was necessary,” Toby snapped.
“Fuck that money? Did you really just say that shit, man? I can’t let shit go that easy. That was our shit that they fucking stole, and I can’t imagine letting someone else eat off what we fucking worked for. Fuck that!” Thad yelled.
“Well, ain’t much we can do about it now. Farrah and Larry are dead, nigga, so what do you propose we do?” Toby said in an aggravated tone
“What-the-fuck-ever. You mean to tell me that we shouldn’t try to get our shit back?” Thad yelled.
“See, nigga, that’s why so much bad shit has happened to us. You running around here all ho
t-headed, not thinking or understanding that there are repercussions for everything that you fucking do. Karma is a bitch, my nigga, and we probably deserved, on some level or another, what has happened. But damn, nigga, we got to use our head logically and make sure we don’t get fucked before we get a chance to win. We got to take that loss and re-up how we said we would,” Toby explained.
“That don’t make no goddamn sense, bro. If karma gon’ get us for doing fucked up shit anyway, then why the hell shouldn’t we get all we can? Hell, it’s damned if we do or don’t, and I for one say let’s do something,” Thad replied.
“Well, since you got all the answers, little brother, then what can we do? I’ma sit here and wait on that answer, Mr. Know-it-all,” Toby said harshly.
Toby sat down on a stool next to Austin, who was looking back and forth at the two men. Neither brother moved him, because whatever was decided, he was good with it. Thad wasn’t going to point his finger at him for losing some fucking money they had lost before he came into the picture.
Thad sat down and looked at Toby long and hard before he spoke. “Fine. We will do it your way. It better work, ’cause our asses are on the line. Those Colombians aren’t going to wait forever for their fucking money. We owe them a lot more than what we ’bout to get from Orlando. So whatever we do, we got to do it big and fast,” Thad said through slightly gritted teeth.
Toby could see that Thad wasn’t happy with the end result, but they couldn’t waste time chasing invisible money, especially with the Colombians on their asses. If Thad would breathe and think about it, he would see that as well.
“Let’s put our heads together and come up with how we will move on Orlando and his boys. Thad, you also need to apologize to Austin for exploding on him like you did. We a team, nigga,” Toby said.
“Apologize my ass. Bitch, hit this blunt and let’s move forward,” Thad replied, passing a fat blunt to Austin.
Austin grinned as he took the blunt, and even though Thad didn’t apologize, Austin knew they were good. As he pulled on the blunt and exhaled the smoke, he laughed. “Apology accepted, bro.”