A Sticky Situation

by Kiki Swinson

  “I know you heard me,” she said as soon as she entered the bathroom.

  “Yeah, I heard you, but what do you want me to say?”

  “I want to hear you say that you ain’t gonna go try and see her,” she replied, standing before me with her chest poked out.

  “Look, I told you I wasn’t, so why are we going through this again?”

  “Because I don’t believe you.”

  I turned the shower water on. “Well, you’re just gonna have to.” I slid my boxer shorts off and stepped into the shower.

  I thought Maxine was going to give me some more lip service, but she didn’t. I guess it sunk in her head that she could do nothing else but trust me. I mean, what other choices did she have? Whatever they were, it wouldn’t have mattered because I was going to see my baby today if it killed me.

  “What time are you leaving?” I heard her yell from the hallway.

  “After I get out of the shower. Why?”

  “Because I was hoping we could go out for breakfast.”

  “I thought you were going to work this morning.”

  “I don’t have my first case until one o’clock, so I’m not going in until then.”

  “Well, I ain’t going to be able to go to breakfast because I’ve got a few things to do.”

  Her pressure must’ve risen after I uttered my last words, because she stormed back into the bathroom with the quickness, snatched the shower curtain back and said, “Like what?”

  There I was, standing butterball naked, dick hanging with soapsuds running down my body, and she wanted to ask me a whole bunch of unnecessary questions. I looked at her and said that I had a few things to do for my mother. I also told her I needed to run by the spot and check things out since I hadn’t been there for a few days.

  “But I thought you said that there was no need for you to go out there if you didn’t have any work?”

  “Maxine, I am just going out there to check the scenery out and to see if Mike got a hold of some new shit.” I was lying through my teeth because, truth be told, I didn’t want no parts of that spot anymore. Especially now that I knew Mike wanted me dead. If I told her that, she would lose her motherfucking mind and would surely call a couple of her

  U.S. Marshal buddies to protect us. The best thing for me to do was to

  keep her nosey ass as far away from the truth as long as I possibly could.

  “Why can’t you call him and ask him all that?”

  “Come on now, you know that ain’t how we get down. What niggas you know talk about drug deals over the phone?”

  “Oh, there are still some out there who do.”

  “Well, believe me, it ain’t many,” I commented as I rinsed off.

  “So when do you think you’ll be done?”

  “I’m not sure, but I can try to be done with everything by the time you come home from work.”

  Maxine looked at me suspiciously and then she chuckled a bit. “Yeah, OK. Whatever you say,” she commented. “Just keep your phone on, because I might be getting off work early today.” She walked out of the bathroom.

  “Yeah, a’ight.” But quiet as it’s kept, I wasn’t paying her ass any mind because I wasn’t gonna do anything but wait on my baby Samantha. As soon as I got my phone call from her oldest sister Paulette to let me know that they were on their way from Alderson, West Virginia, I was going to be straight. I knew it was going to take them at least five hours to get here. In the meantime, I was going to handle some business. Mike was first on my list. I had to keep that nigga at bay. I had to let that motherfucker think that I didn’t have the slightest idea that he intended to have my head on the same platter as Jay’s. I couldn’t give him any reason to suspect that I took the dough Trina had collected from Jay before the hit. As long as I kept making him think that the police had confiscated his dough, the better my chances would be in getting close enough to kill him.

  Since the shootout, I had only spoken with Mike twice. After I told him what happened and that Tina got caught up in the crossfire, I said it would be best if I laid low for a few days until the shit blew over. He agreed and told me to get with him later. I never did ask him for the money he promised to give me after I knocked Jay off, but I was going to mention it the next time I talked to him. I could not give this nigga the slightest inclination that I walked off with his dough. Knowing the way he was, he would put two and two together, if he hadn’t already. God forbid, though, because he would definitely go after my moms, and I couldn’t have that. Lucky for me, I never showed him where she laid her head because shit would really hit the fan then. I wouldn’t allow anybody to touch a hair on my mother’s head. If that meant I would have to die for her, then so be it. She didn’t ask for the lifestyle I chose for myself, so I had to protect her to the end. And that’s my word!

  Right after I got dressed, I kissed Maxine on the lips and promised her that we would get together and do dinner later.

  “Don’t stand me up,” she said.

  “I won’t,” I replied and left.

  To kill a little bit of time, I went by my mom’s crib just to make sure my dough was still in its safe spot. Once I unscrewed the door to the vent, retrieved the box from inside and opened it, my eyes lit up like lights on a Christmas tree. I counted every single bill and the count was still $317,000. I wrapped it up, placed it in the box and put it back into the vent. Immediately after I put the screws back in, my Blackberry rang. I looked down at the CallerID and saw that it was Paulette’s number. I answered it because I knew Samantha had to be in the car with her.

  “Sam, baby, this better be you,” I said with excitement.

  “You know it is!” she replied with the same amount of excitement.

  “Where y’all at?”

  “We just got out of West Virginia.”

  “How far are you now?”

  “Well, we’ve been on the road for about an hour and a half, so we probably got about four hours left.”

  “If you’ve been on the road for an hour and a half, then why are you just now calling me?”

  “I tried calling you a few times, but Paulette’s cell phone didn’t get a signal until we got out of them damn mountains.”

  “A’ight, y’all go ahead and drive safe and I’ll see you in about four hours.”

  “Where we gon’ meet at?”

  “Paulette is going to bring you to the Marriott hotel in downtown Norfolk, so you ain’t gon’ be too far from the halfway house.”

  “By the time we get there, we ain’t gon’ have nothing but two hours to spend together.”

  “Trust me, Ma, that’s plenty of time.”

  “Seth, have me something hot waiting for me, because I am starving.”

  “Whatchu want?”

  “A nice T-bone steak with a baked potato and some jumbo shrimps.”

  “Whatchu want to drink?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Just something really cold.”

  “A’ight, I’m on it,” I assured her.

  “I love you,” Samantha said.

  “I love you too, Ma. Can’t wait to see you.”

  “I can’t either. So get your dick ready, ’cause I’ma fuck you real hard.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, a’ight. We’ll see.” Within minutes, my phone started ringing again. This time, it was Maxine. What a fucking coincidence. To avoid any drama from her silly ass, I answered my phone to see what she wanted.

  “Where you at?” she asked.

  “I’m at my mom’s house, why?”

  “I was just checking because my sources tell me that your codefendant was just released from Alderson not even two hours ago.”

  “So whatchu telling me that for? You know I could not have been with her, because I just left you less than thirty minutes ago.”

  “I’m just calling you to warn you that I am not playing with your ass! I also want to tell you that I may not be able to follow you around and watch every move that you make, but trust me when I tell you, I got other peop
le watching you for me.”

  I took a deep breath. “Are you trying to start an argument?”

  “No, I’m not. I just wanted to warn you.”

  “A’ight. Now, are you finished?”

  “Yep.”

  “A’ight, well I’ll holler at you later,” I replied, gritting my teeth. On some real shit, I wanted to tell that bitch that I didn’t care who she had watching me because I was going to see my girl today if it killed me. Then I figured, since she got motherfucker’s spying on us, let them tell her. This bitch was making shit really easy for me to just walk away from her ass and not bless her with shit. The last few days this ho had been carrying me like I was the bitch, and that shit was getting old like a motherfucker! Whether she knew it or not, I was getting ready to make a power move, and neither she nor Mike was going to see it coming.

  As soon as I hung up with Maxine, I hopped on the highway and drove to Portsmouth. I had no intention of stopping, and all I wanted to do was ride by the spot to see what was going on. Mike had already schooled me and told me that he had niggas pushing dope for me until I came out of hiding. Supposedly it was the same two niggas he had riding shotgun in the truck with him the night of the shootout. It had been killing me to see how they were handling things out there. I knew they still had Hakeem and Bishop on the payroll and the other two young’uns as lookouts, so to prevent any of them niggas from seeing me, I parked on the other side of the horseshoe and traveled on foot.

  The block was packed, like I thought it would be. Fiends were lined up all the way around one side of Melody’s building. I didn’t see Bishop nor the other two young boys I had watching the spot for me, but I saw Hakeem and one of the niggas who tried to murder me that night. At one point, Melody stepped outside to empty her trash can and as she entered back into the crib, I noticed the other nigga step to the front door without a shirt on, so I knew he had already made himself at home. From the look of it, the nigga looked like he had been living there for years. He also looked like he just came home from doing a bid. The nigga’s guns were huge as a motherfucker, so I knew he’d bench press every bit of three hundred pounds. He was the type of cat Melody liked, so I knew right off the bat that her trifling ass had already fucked him. He just didn’t know that she was probably about to set his dumb ass up too.

  After I sat out at Dales Homes and watched these clown-ass niggas parade around like they owned the projects, I turned around to leave. On the way to my car, I ran into that fiend chick named Faith that always harassed me about sucking my dick for a pill of dope. I thought I was going to have to curse her ass out before I dipped out, but she came at me with a different approach and I was stunned like a motherfucker.

  “I told you they were going to replace you, didn’t I?” she said.

  “Yeah, you did,” I said and chuckled. “But, how did you know?”

  “I know a lot of shit, but a lot of these niggas out here don’t be trying to listen to me. They think I’m crazy as hell! But I’m not. I’ve got plenty of sense.”

  “Well, tell me what you know.” I stepped just a little bit closer to her.

  “Information doesn’t come free,” she told me.

  I reached into my pants pockets and pulled out twenty dollars. “What can I get for this?” I asked her.

  “I can tell you a lot for that,” she insisted and snatched the twenty-dollar bill out of my hand.

  “Well, start talking,” I demanded. Instead, she walked in the direction of my car and gave me an earful. She told me that Melody was an informant for the police; that was why a lot of the niggas that sold out of her house didn’t last more than two months.

  “Does Mike know this shit?” I wondered aloud.

  “Yeah, he knows it. That’s why he keeps sending niggas over there to her.”

  “But I don’t get it. Why is he doing it? He can lose a lot of product and dough setting niggas up to get busted by the police.”

  “See, they got this pact where he’d send different niggas over there for about a month or so to get rid of about $100,000 worth of dope. When he gets low, he gives Melody the cue to hand the nigga over to the police, in exchange for his own freedom.”

  Shocked as hell by what this chick was telling me I said, “You are bullshitting me! You mean to tell me this nigga uses motherfucker’s to sell off all his dope, and then sets them up to get busted with the last bit of his dope, just so he can keep his own ass from going to jail?”

  “Yep.”

  “Come on now, you’ve got to be kidding me! This has got to be a joke.”

  “I don’t do no joking. Melody and that nigga Mike have been doing this shit for some time now. I mean, I know I have seen at least ten different niggas selling dope out her spot and all of them either get knocked off by the police or shot because somebody tried to rob them.”

  I shook my head in disbelief. The shit this lady was telling me was crazy like a motherfucker. Who would’ve thought that both of them were snitches? They had intentions on having my ass done in either way, and that was some foul shit. Now it all made sense. Trina wasn’t lying; Mike wanted Jay’s murder to look like a robbery so he could get all his earnings before the police had a chance to get it themselves. Too bad I intercepted those fake gun-toting-ass niggas, or else they would’ve gotten me, too.

  After Faith gave me all the information I needed, I hauled out of there and never looked back. I figured I was going to have to come at this nigga Mike another way since he had the police on his side.

  SETH

  Welcome Home

  I was bugging out, thinking about all the shit Faith told me while I headed back over to Norfolk. My mind was clouded like a motherfucker, trying to figure out how I was going to handle this situation. Whatever I came up with, I knew it wouldn’t be a cut-and-dry solution because these motherfucker’s I was dealing with were a new breed. And that was some ill shit.

  I bullshitted around at MacArthur Mall for another couple of hours, trying to get Samantha some things I knew she would need. I remembered that about a month ago, she told me she had put on a few pounds so now she wore a size twelve jeans and a medium shirt. With that much information I was able to pick her up a few things I knew she would love. After I went into all the hot female clothing, lingerie, and shoe stores, I packed all the shopping bags in the trunk of my whip and headed straight to the hotel.

  Earlier that morning, I made the reservations over the phone, so all I had to do was pay for the room when I got there. As soon as I paid in cash, the clerk behind the desk handed me a room key, and the bellboy escorted me on up to the Executive Suite, which was on the top floor. The inside of this motherfucker was plush as hell. For a whopping five hundred a night I had a king-sized bed with a Sleep Number mattress. The room also came with a kitchenette, a living room, and an eating area. The bathroom was even hotter, with a Jacuzzi bathtub big enough for four people. I mean, the shit was huge. I knew one thing, and that was if I wasn’t getting this room for me and Samantha, I sure could’ve called in about two or three other chicks and would have had plenty of room to get buck fucking wild.

  While I was getting everything organized, I remembered that I had to get Samantha’s food. I called Guest Services and ordered us both steaks with baked potatoes and one side order of fried jumbo shrimps.

  “How long will it take for y’all to bring this order up to the room?” I asked the man.

  “It shouldn’t take more than twenty to twenty-five minutes,” he replied.

  “A’ight. Well, that’s cool,” I assured him.

  “Are we billing this to the room?” he asked.

  “Nah, I’m paying cash,” I told him.

  “OK, we will see you in a bit.”

  “A’ight.”

  In a bit was exactly how long it took for the room service guy to bring the food, which was perfectly timed because less than five minutes later, Samantha was calling to tell me she was downstairs in the lobby of the hotel.

  “Come on up. I’m at
the top floor in the Executive Suite,” I told her.

  Moments later, my baby was getting off the elevator. I stood there in the entranceway of the door to my room, ready to take her right into my arms. As soon as she rushed toward me, that’s exactly what I did. After I hugged her for a good three minutes straight, I pushed her away from me so I could get a good look at her.

  I smiled and grabbed her into my arms and escorted her into the room. “Damn, Ma, you look real good.”

  “You look good too baby.”

  Admiring every inch of the room, Samantha said, “Ahhh man, I like this. This shit is nice as hell!”

  “Good. I’m glad because this motherfucker cost me and arm and a leg.”

  “How much was it?”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just get on over here and eat your food before it gets cold.”

  “Fuck that food! I want you!” She started tugging at my clothes.

  “Come on, let’s get in the shower,” I suggested.

  “A’ight, come on.”

  When I saw Samantha’s body hit that water, my dick got hard in an instant. The way her ass looked after all these years brought back some serious memories. I grabbed her into my arms and pulled her body into mine. Then we started kissing like our minds were going bad. Sam started grinding her pussy against my meat, and I had to admit that the shit was driving me crazy.

  “Pick me up,” she demanded.

  I did and she wrapped her legs around my waist. That left enough room for me to slide my dick right into her pussy.

  “Ooooh, yeaaaaah!” she said the second I pushed my joint inside of her. I started stroking my dick in and out of her like I was searching for something really nice.

  “Yeah baby, fuck me harder!” she demanded. I grabbed her around her waist real tight and brought her body down on me real hard. Her pussy and my dick collided into each other like a train wreck. Boom! Then, her body jerked.

  “Ahhhh yes, baby, do it harder,” she moaned.

  “You love this dick, don’t you?” I asked as I pushed my dick up in her harder. The feelings inside of me were indescribable. I didn’t know if I was coming or going, but I did know that after pounding her pussy real good and consistently for about seven minutes, I was ready to bust off. But being the man I was, I knew I couldn’t. I knew it would have only been proper to wait for her to get her shit off first, so I held my nut back by thinking of other shit. Then after two more minutes passed, I heard her say, “Ahhhh baby, I’m about to cum!” I knew it was on then. While Samantha spilled her juices out on my dick, I ejected some of my own. When it was all said and done, both of us collapsed inside the bathtub until the water started getting cold on us.