by Nikki Turner
I hope that one day Lucky will grow up and get past, that it's 87
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not about us, but about the boys. It doesn't matter how I feel about him or how he feels about me.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the car behind her blew its horn to signal that the light had turned green.
She drove off to the hotel to pack up the rest of their things.
She took the twins to their new home in the hood.
THE NEXT DAY AT THE PRISON:
Lucky didn't sleep all night thinking about the powerful words that Tressa told him over the phone. He thought about all the ways he could try to resolve the situation, but there was only one concrete way to keep the situation under control. The one person who had complete mental control over Tressa was her brother Taj. First thing the next morning, he was the first person in the state correctional center's visiting room, ready to seek out Taj's help.
Lucky sat in the dirty plastic chair, hands sweaty and heart racing. Although Lucky was a renowned killer and would try anybody, Taj was the only person to ever put fear in his heart. He replayed the rehearsed speech over and over in his head while he waited. While he was so focused on rehearsing what he'd plan to say, he never noticed Taj walking up on him from behind.
Taj wasn't surprised to see Lucky at all, he knew it would be only a matter of time before he'd show his face.
Taj was not too thrilled to see Lucky in spite of all the rumors he'd heard. He didn't know exactly what the final straw was. Tressa always seemed to keep the bad news from her brother. She took into consideration that he was in prison and prison was nowhere for anybody to find out any detrimental news.
When Lucky looked up, Taj gave him a look that could kill. "What's poppin'?" Lucky foolishly asked, trying to break the ice.
"Nigga, I wish I had my glock right now to show you."
"Damn General, you don't want to kill your best soldier. Do you?"
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"Man, what the fuck you want. I know you ain't come all the way up here to share no honey buns and chips."
Lucky took a deep breath. "Look Taj, we got a situation."
"I'm listening." Taj responded, unconcerned.
"Look, I fucked up man." Lucky said, as he shook his head. "I really fucked up, I mean big time." Taj only looked without changing his expression or batting an eye.
"Tressa had me gone. And there was a situation that I jumped the gun on and my actions put me in a place that there is no return."
Tears filled Lucky's eyes as Taj looked at him without any pity or empathy. Lucky continued. "Man, I went into a jealous rage and I lost Tressa and the boys.
They ain't never coming back. I never knew how much I loved them until they was gone. I did what I did and now I can't take back what I done."
"So, what you want me to do man?"
"Man, she talking bout turning states evidence on me."
"What you mean?" Taj all of a sudden wanted to hear what Lucky had to say. "Look man, I don't believe that."
"Man, I know I was wrong when I lost my damn cool, but I can't be looking over my shoulder wondering if, when, and how long before Tressa drop a dime on me. Nigga I know you didn't raise no 'snitch chick'. I ain't going to harm her."
Taj shot him a look, and in a firm, soft tone said,
"Nigga, I'm going to tell you like this. Don't even think twice about ever putting a hand on Tressa." Lucky interrupted and started trying to explain with his hands. "Taj, I would never hurt Tressa, I love her more than life itself. She's not just some broad off the street that I could hurt. She is the mother of my kids, the only person beside myself I have ever loved and she is your sister. So, Taj please don't let her turn states evidence on me, I don't deserve that."
"Shawdy." Taj stated as he put his hand up motioning for Lucky to shut-up. "I heard every word you 89
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said and no you don't deserve to be here." Taj pointed down making it known he meant prison. "Shawdy, you deserve far worse than this. You'll get yours in due time." Taj stood up and pointed in Lucky's face. "Nigga, I don't and didn't raise no snitch bitch! So, you are safe from the cops."
"Shawsdale, is everything OK?" The correctional officer asked, noticing Taj was about to make a scene. Taj sat down and looked at Lucky with disgust.
"Taj." Lucky tried to reason with him. "She's holding this over my head like she's my probation officer.
That's how she coming out her mouth at me."
"I'll speak to my sister, just make my last payment.
When you leave, don't look back. Tressa and I are a closed chapter in your life. Don't worry, you won't be judged by 12. You're more likely to be carried by six. She's not going to the grand jury. Trust me. You're safe. I got her." On that note, Taj got up to walk away.
"You're a lifesaver, Taj"
Taj stopped in his tracks. "Lucky, I'm not your life saver! That's something only you can do."
"I'll holla back, Shawdy!"
"Kill rocks nigga!"
Taj knew at that moment that Lucky would go all out to rat on him if he ever went under the gun. He shook his head as he walked to exit the visiting room, at how disappointed he was with himself for taking Lucky under his wing. See, he violated his number one rule. "Never confess to anything in this lifetime." He reflected over all the dirt he had done and all the treacherous rumors he confirmed to Lucky in depth. With this info alone, Taj could get life in prison, or worst, the death penalty.
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-10-
From Sugar to Shit
Over the course of the next few months, it was a major adjustment, because Tressa basically went from sugar to shit. What seemed at first like a blessing, began to feel like a curse. A combination of empty broken beer bottles, used condoms, crack pipes, trash, dirty stinky diapers, lay all over the ground. For the first two weeks, the strong smell of urine would get into her throat and literally make her vomit. She couldn't help it, although she managed to get over the vomiting, but the pissy smell she could never get used to.
She stocked up on Raid motels and the Raid gel and kept them all over her apartment, due to the apartment being infested with roaches. Although she had bombed the apartment and followed up with all the accessories raid offered, it took about three months for the roach stuff to finally take a toll on the apartment, because it was so roach infested. She was persistant and never gave up on the war against the roaches. She finally got it to the point where she'd only see a roach every now and again. She kept telling herself, look on the bright side. "At least, I don't have any mice or rats."
It seemed like everybody in the complex hated her.
The females never spoke to her, they only looked at her up, down and rolled their eyes. At first, she considered entertaining one of the neighborhood guys, so she could 91
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have some help to pay her bills. When she thought about the how inconvenient that was, she changed her mind. The guys in the neighborhood began to torment her because she didn't socialize with any of them like the majority of the project chicks did. Naturally, most of the girls who actually resided there would let the guys who lived around there stash drugs, smoke weed, and hang in their house, but not Tressa. She wasn't having any nigga lay up or hang in, after everything she had been through. It wasn't much, but it was hers.
Although she thought the move would have a drastic effect over her boys, but unlike adults, children adapt to change better than adults. The kids were glad to see so many other kids. They were still young, so they didn't know they were living in the hood. Her children did however ask.
"Mommy, how come daddy not home?"
She would hug them and tell them. "He's sick, but he loves you both and he'll see you soon." For the first f
ew months, everyday she waddled in her misery, constantly reminding herself how much she despised the place and encountering situations within the complex that confirmed why she it hated it so much. She decided that until the time was right, she wasn't going anywhere, and nobody was going to run her away. So, she had to stand her ground just to let them know that she wasn't a square, type of country girl, for real.
It was a blazing hot summer July day. Tressa was coming up the stairs looking good with a Church's Chicken box in her hand for her boys. She had on her Guess peach short shorts, displaying her long brown legs with the matching peach and white halter-top that put emphasis on her D cup breast. Her outfit would not have been complete without her fresh, brand spanking new, low top, freestyle, snow white Reebok's on with no socks and a gold ankle bracelet. She was fresh out of the beauty salon. Like all the girls in Richmond, getting her hair done is something she took very seriously.
The fellas in the hood were out with their big, bazooka water guns, and as she pulled up, she saw the damage they had done to the other girls and were doing to any bypassers. When she got out of her car, no victims were in sight. The place was like a ghost town, but with 92
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water everywhere. The guys all looked innocently as if they were going to let her pass. When the one named Pondee displayed a slight grin, he let on that they had plans for her too.
She stopped and looked at Pondee eye to eye. "Look DO NOT wet me up. I am not playing in ya'll little reindeer games. So, don't wet me up."
"A'ight." He said shaking his head.
They let her get to the top of the stairs and as soon as she did, it was open field day on her. They all let loose, water was coming from every direction, the front, back and all sides. It all happened so quick, there was nowhere for Tressa to run. She was drenched, her clothes were soaked and sticking to her body. She went ballistic while all the guys laughed hysterically. They were falling down on their knees, crying laughing. "Oh, we got that stuck up bitch good." Because the outfit was so thin, you could see everything! Tressa's large round nipples and the white lace thong she was wearing. The guys started throwing dollar bills, yelling. "Shake what ya mama gave ya!"
"Oh, you muthafuckas think this shit is funny? Oh, okay, ya'll don't know who da fuck ya'll fucking with, cuz I am going to always get the last laugh, baby. Believe that!" She turned to walk away, tennis shoes squeeching, which only made the scene more hysterical to the dudes.
The fellas roared in laughter, holding their stomachs laughing when she screamed out again. "BELIEVE THAT!" Then to top it off, the Church's Fried Chicken she had in her hand for the twins was ruined! Now, if anybody knows Tressa, they know there are two things that are not to be messed with, Tressa's kids and her hair. When Tressa realized the fact that these scrubs had not only ruined her hair, but her sons chicken, their dinner, all hell was about to break loose!
Wiggles, on a weekend pass from the drug program, was inside of the apartment watching the boys. She came to the door because she heard all of the ruckus going on outside. As soon as she opened the door, Tressa barged through the door.
"What the hell is going on?" Wiggles asked, wanting to know, who was getting as big as a house since she wasn't getting high any more.
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Tressa didn't answer. She just walked straight to the kitchen, and screamed to Wiggles. "Put the boys in their room and shut the door, because see these folks don't know who the hell they playing with. See, this shit was uncalled for." She stormed to the bathroom to pull off the wet clothes, leaving wet footprints all over the carpet throughout the house. Coming out of the bathroom with dry clothes on, she was still mouthing off as she went back to the kitchen.
"See, I know for a fact these motherfuckas ain't as crazy as I am. I lived with a psycho, simple ass nigga for few years so they ain't got nothing on me. Believe that.
See, I am going to have to show these clowns." She said, as she could hear them at the crap game just right outside of her door, laughing about the expression on her face when the first water jet hit her. Listening to them only made her madder and madder. She walked back and forth pacing the kitchen floor. As she listened, Wiggles could see the smoke coming from out of Tressa's head.
Tressa walked very slowly to the door and she took a deep breath. She opened the door quickly, and before any of the guys at the crap game knew what was going on, the two pans of boiling, scorching, hot water was hitting them and all she could hear was. "Shit!, what the fuck? Goddamn!" And the best one. "That beitch!"
"Didn't I tell you I was going to get the last laugh, you clown muthafuckas?" And she slammed the door.
One Hour Passed:
Tressa and Wiggles sat at the kitchen table waiting for the water for the hotdogs to start boiling, but laughing when the doorbell rang. Now, Tressa was the only person in the whole complex that actually went out and bought a doorbell for her government-subsidized apartment.
"Ding-dong, ding-dong." Somebody laid on the doorbell, then she heard the voice on the other side. "Bitch open up the door, you wanna throw blistering hot water on my man and fuck up his new hundred and something dollar Jordan's. I am about to whip yo ass." 94
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Tressa looked at Wiggles. "Go ask who it is, while I go put some shoes on, cuz see, these people been asking for it since I moved around here."
Wiggles was laughing, getting a kick out of the whole episode, because in all honesty, the people didn't know who they were messing with. Tressa was very meek, humble and the definition of a lady. But don't get it twisted, because her spunk and feistiness would make one think she was a lion.
"Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong." The doorbell sounded, but over top of the doorbell, was the female voice.
"You scared bitch, open up the door, cuz I'm bout to whip you like the pigs did Rodney King, since you want to burn my man with some hot water."
At that very instance, that's when the girl, Crumpy, the neighborhood's bad ass, always manipulating and trying to intimidate somebody, was greeted with scorching, sizzling hot water followed by a blow straight in the right eye and another one. Crumpy stumbled and fell backwards. She couldn't really get her balance back or herself together. Tressa had threw the hot dog water on her with the greasy film that comes from cooking the hot dogs.
Tressa didn't give Crumpy a chance to pull herself together.
Tressa who was wearing her Timberlands, just kept stomping a mud hole in Crumpy.
"Bitch, that ain't fair, you fighting dirty." Said one of the bystanders.
Tressa just went over and punched her in the face catching her off guard. The girl bounced back. She hit Tressa back with what was supposed to be a smack, and tried to take off running down the steps, when her lame plan backfired. Now, everybody knows that when a fight breaks out in the projects, the crowd comes from nowhere and forms a huddle. So, the girl didn't get far when Tressa caught her and started throwing punch after punch and strike after strike, until Pondee, the guy who initially let the first shot of water out, pulled Tressa off the girl. Tressa didn't know what the deal was with Pondee pulling on her, and neither did Wiggles, so Tressa gave Pondee two blows and Wiggles charged him. Together they both was on Pondee, and that's when one of Pondee's boys pulled them 95
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off of him when they seen he was not fighting the two girls back, only breaking up the fight.
When the fight was over, the word had spread like wildfire throughout the hood that the girl who lived in 3012
building on the 3rd floor, with the two-lil boys, is not to be fucked with, because she was crazy. So, pretty soon after, just about everybody stopped rolling their eyes at her and gradually began to speak to her. There was still a couple of the girls that tried her anyway, but on the low. And on the low was exactly how she dealt back with
them. But those were the ones who were usually the biggest and most deadly snakes.
The only thing Wiggles could say to Tressa was.
"Didn't I tell you back when you were in the 7th grade, that if you beat the bully or the one with the most mouth, you don't have to worry about the rest of them. They chuckled together.
Later that night, Pondee knocked on her door. She looked through the peephole. She wasn't going to answer it because she wasn't expecting anybody. When she seen Pondee, she thought he was bringing more drama. He looks like he's by himself, but maybe he has some other people with him standing to the side of the door.
"Who's there?" She asked, with her two-shot derringer in her hand.
"It's Slap Jack." He said, knowing that she was probably hesitant about opening the door.
"What do you want?" Tressa said through the door, sure he was up to something devious after all the episodes that had went down earlier.
"Look shawdy, open the door. I just came by to give you the money for your hair, and to tell you that that shit I did today was real fucked up, wettin' you up and shit. But that shit you came back with was on point. I know you think I'm coming back for some mo' drama. Boo, I just want you to know it ain't no beef no mo'. And, I got ya back."
Oh, now you don't want war huh, yeah, yeah, yeah, was what she thought to herself as she continued to talk through the door. She said to him. "Oh, OK, that's nice to know."
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"I know you think a nigga blowing smoke up ya ass, but you'll see. I'm going to slide the money up under the door, cause I know you ain't going to open it, but it's cool though."
She looked down and saw the fifty and twenty dollar bills coming through to her side of the door. She looked through the peephole and watched Slap Jack walk away to meet a crack head to exchange some of his product for some bawled up money before he walked down the steps.
Damn, that saying is so damn true, things don't always come when you want them to, but when you need them to. I surely spent my last money to get my hair done and didn't know what I was going to do with my hair.