Still Candy Shopping

by Swinson, Kiki

  I freaked out. I mean, she was just standing beside me, giving me a head’s up about how to deal with Slim and his girls. But now she was dead. What the fuck was this world coming to?

  Unfortunately the guy driving that pickup truck got away before Slim got a chance to get him. Tacora, Sabrina, and Jennifer ran to Paris’s limp body and cried over her.

  “She’s dead!” Sabrina yelled while sobbing.

  Jennifer sat down on the curb, lifted Paris’s head, and laid it in her lap. Blood oozed from Paris’s head as Jennifer wrapped her arms around her face.

  “Somebody call the fucking ambulance!” Jennifer screamed. But there was no one in sight except the four of us.

  Slim ran back to where we were standing a few minutes later. He was completely out of breath. “We gotta go before the police come,” he told us.

  Jennifer looked up at Slim like he was crazy. “We can’t just leave her here.” She continued to sob.

  Slim grabbed Jennifer by her arm and lifted her from the ground. Paris’s blood was all over Jennifer’s hands and clothes. “Let’s go now!” he demanded.

  The minute he lifted Jennifer from the ground she became hysterical. She started kicking and screaming. “I can’t believe she is dead, Slim. That man killed her just like that.”

  Slim realized that Jennifer wasn’t going to leave Paris’s body willingly, so he picked her up and threw her over his shoulders. Before he walked off, he looked at me and instructed me to grab Paris’s purse. I looked at him like he was fucking crazy. I mean, who did that? Who tried to rob the dead? I knew I’d done some fucked up shit to people, but I’d never taken anything from a dead person. That was by far the most foul thing any human being could do.

  Frustrated with my lack of cooperation, Slim looked like he was about to spit venom out of his mouth. “Faith, why the fuck are you standing there when I told you to get her purse?”

  “It’s got blood all over it,” I said.

  “Do you think I give a fuck? Pick that shit up before somebody else gets it,” he demanded.

  I reached down, grabbed the strap of Paris’s purse, and I immediately handed it to Slim so I would not have to carry it. Slim clutched the purse in his right hand while he used his left hand to hold Jennifer’s body across his shoulders. Let’s go,” he roared, and then he walked away.

  Sabrina, Tacora, and I walked behind Slim as he led the way back to his apartment. Paris’s blood was all over my hand, and I desperately wanted to wash it off. I had not started crying yet. I was more focused on processing what had just happened.

  In the distance we all heard paramedics and sirens from several police cars blaring loudly. The louder they got, the closer we knew they were. Slim panicked. He took Jennifer off his shoulder and made her run beside him. As a matter of fact, he instructed all of us to do the same.

  We were all out of breath when we arrived back at Slim’s apartment. There were a couple of his neighbors standing outside when we ran up to the building. They looked at all of us and I was sure they wondered why we were running, and why Jennifer and Slim were covered in blood. They didn’t open their mouths to question us, but they watched until we disappeared behind the door of the apartment.

  The Candy Shop part 2 Kiki Swinson

  No Respect 4 Da’ Dead

  Jennifer tried to collapse on the living room floor when we entered the apartment, but Slim grabbed her and took her into the bathroom while Sabrina and Tacora took a seat on the sofa. I walked into the kitchen to rinse the blood off my hands. When I was done I joined Tacora and Sabrina in the living room.

  We heard Jennifer crying in the bathroom while the shower water was running. We knew Slim had stripped her down and made her get in the bathtub to wash off all of Paris’s blood.

  We sat in complete silence until Sabrina finally opened her mouth to speak. “I can’t believe Paris is dead! What the fuck happened? Why did that guy kill her like that?” she asked, I guess hoping that someone in the room could answer those questions for her.

  I had to speak up, because I was right there. I heard exactly what the truck driver said. “Right before that man shot her, he yelled at her and told her that she gave him herpes,” I said.

  Tacora and Sabrina both looked at me like I was crazy. “You sure he said that to her?” Sabrina asked me.

  “Yeah, I heard him loud and clear. But then he shot her before I could even absorb it. I mean, it happened so fast.”

  Sabrina gave me a puzzled look. “He said Paris gave him herpes?” she asked me. Then she looked at Tacora. “But Paris didn’t have herpes, did she?”

  “If she did, I didn’t know shit about it,” Tacora replied.

  “Know about what?” Slim asked as he walked into the living room.

  We all turned our heads in Slim’s direction, but Sabrina was the one to repeat the question. “I just asked Tacora if she knew Paris had herpes.”

  Slim stood next to me and folded his arms. “Why the fuck you wanna know if she had herpes?” he asked.

  “Because Faith said she heard the man say that Paris gave him herpes right before she shot her,” Sabrina said.

  Slim turned his attention toward me. “You heard that motherfucker tell her that?”

  “Yeah, I heard him say it right before he shot her.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure.”

  Slim stood beside me with a bizarre expression on his face. I assumed that he didn’t know what to say. Sabrina broke the silence by asking Slim what were they going to do now. I also wanted to know what plans he had for us, so I waited patiently for him to respond. It took him a moment to reply, but he finally had something to say. “We gon’ have to lay low from C Avenue and find another spot to work at until all this shit blows over.”

  “Where we gon’ go?” Tacora blurted out.

  “I don’t know. But I’ll figure out something by tomorrow,” he told her.

  “Do you think the police is gonna catch that guy and charge him with Paris’s murder?” Tacora asked.

  He gave us this uncertain look. “I don’t know,” Slim answered.

  “Do you think somebody ’round there by the Shop & Go gon’ tell the police that Paris stayed with us?” Sabrina asked Slim.

  “I hope not. ’Cause I can’t handle that type of heat right now.”

  “They may not be able to identify her body since we took her purse,” I said. “I mean, if you wanted her money, all we had to do was take it out and leave her purse behind.”

  Slim was not at all happy about my comment. He snapped on me as soon as I closed my mouth. “What the fuck you mean her money? Paris worked for me! So whatever she got out there on those streets was my money. And for your fucking information, she didn’t have shit in her purse for the police to indentify her body with.”

  “I was referring to her ID,” I interjected.

  Slim leaned into my face. His face was beet red and so were his eyes. “She didn’t have a fucking ID! So mind your motherfucking business!” he yelled, causing spit to come out of his mouth.

  I stepped back about two steps. It was apparent that Slim wanted to take my head off because of what I said. I was not in the mood to be his punching bag, so I kept my mouth closed. I decided only to talk when I was spoken to since I was a newcomer in this group.

  After Slim let off all his steam on me, he stormed back down the hallway toward the bathroom. We could still hear Jennifer sobbing, but she wasn’t as loud as she was before. I ended up sitting down next to Sabrina while she and Tacora buried their faces in the palms of their hands and cried.

  When Jennifer was done bathing, she joined us in the living room and crawled on the sofa beside Tacora. Tacora let Jennifer lay her head in her lap. Slim walked into the living room and stormed right by us. We all sat there and watched him as he opened the front door and walked outside without saying a word to any of us. Something inside me told me that he wouldn’t be going too far considering what had just happened.

&
nbsp; Sabrina confirmed my thoughts when Tacora wondered out loud where Slim was going. “He told me he was just going in the front of the building to find out what’s being said about Paris’s murder,” Sabrina told us.

  “Does any of y’all know her family?” I blurted out. I couldn’t help it. I had to say something, since it was revealed to me that she didn’t have identification on her.

  Jennifer lifted her head from Sabrina’s lap and said, “I don’t know who her parents are, but she did say that they lived out in Suffolk somewhere.”

  “Do you know if she kept in contact with them? I mean, it would only be right if they knew about what happened to her,” I said.

  “Since she’s been ’round here with us, I don’t remember her ever calling them. But I do remember her telling me that her and her mama had a falling out because Paris told her mama that her daddy tried to molest her when she was seventeen, which was why she ran away.”

  “Damn! That’s fucked up!” I said. “You would think that when you’re home, you’re safe. But then you find out later that you’re living amidst a predator. How crazy and screwed up is that? She didn’t have a chance in hell, either way you look at it.”

  “Her daddy ain’t the only one who’s fucking sick in the head,” Tacora said. “My daddy got the chance to molest me over a dozen fucking times and my mama still don’t believe me till this day. I hate them both and I wish that they’d get hit by a fucking train and die painful deaths,” she said as tears began to fall from her watery eyes.

  “Did the police get involved?” I asked.

  “Nope.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because he didn’t penetrate me.”

  “Well, how did he molest you?” I asked.

  “When I was fourteen that nasty motherfucker used to make me get undressed in front of him. And while I was naked, he used to make me play with his fucking dick.”

  “Oh my God, Tacora, did he make you suck it?” Sabrina asked.

  Tears falling more rapidly, Tacora said, “No. He just used to make me jerk him off.”

  “Where was your mother when all of this was happening?” I asked.

  “She worked at night so that’s when he always came after me.”

  I shook my head with disgust. I could not imagine a father doing that type of act to their own children. It was so fucking sick. Those guys were mentally fucked up in their heads.

  As we continued to chat about what episodes in our lives brought us to this place, Slim burst through the front door. He looked even more worried than when he left the apartment. “The homicide detectives are ’round there on C Avenue asking everybody questions,” he said. “Somebody told one of the cops what Paris’s name was. And they told the police that she was a prostitute.”

  “Who told you that?” Jennifer asked Slim.

  “That’s something you don’t need to concern yourself with. All you need to worry about is what to say to the cops if they run up on you and start asking you questions,” he replied.

  “Do you think the police is gonna come over here and ask us questions?” Sabrina asked.

  “I hope not. But if they do, y’all gon’ have to be prepared.”

  “So whatcha want us to say?” Sabrina asked.

  Slim stood in the middle of the floor, demanding everyone’s attention. “If they come ’round here, they might ask y’all if y’all are prostitutes, and if they do, y’all gotta tell ’em nah. I mean, y’all gon’ have to deny it like your life depends on it. And then if they ask y’all if y’all knew Paris, you can tell ’em you knew her, but do not tell them that she stayed here with us. Do I make myself clear?”

  Everyone, including myself, agreed to say what Slim had instructed us to say. But Jennifer wasn’t quite clear on one thing, so she brought that to Slim’s attention. “What should we say if they ask us if we witnessed the shooting?”

  “You can tell ’em you were out there, but do not tell ’em you were right there at the scene. Act like you were down the opposite end of C Avenue when she got shot.”

  “Why you want us to tell ’em we were down the other end of C Avenue? I mean, don’t you want them to catch that guy who killed her?” Sabrina asked.

  We all looked at Slim and waited for an answer. We could tell that he was extremely irritated by her question. “What kind of fucking question is that? You damn right I want them to get that nigga, but not at our expense. Because as soon as you start talking to them, they’re gonna start harassing you every time they see you. And then when that happens, you ain’t gon’ be able to make my money. And I can’t have that happening. Life for us ain’t gon’ be productive, so it’s gon’ get really ugly,” he replied, and then he stood there to see if anyone else had any questions for him.

  I wanted to say something to him in reference to Paris’s murder, but I figured he’d snap my fucking head off, so I kept my mouth closed. It was clear that he cared about no one else but himself. It was also clear that he wasn’t going to let anyone or anything come between him and his money, so I played it safe and allowed him to run his show.

  When he realized that no one wanted to raise another question, Slim raised a question of his own. He turned his attention to Tacora first and asked her where the money that she made tonight was. Apparently she knew the drill because she went into her purse and dug out every dollar she’d earned. I couldn’t tell how much money she gave him, but it looked to be around the neighborhood of one hundred dollars. A couple seconds later, Sabrina handed him her profits for the night, and I followed suit and gave him what I made as well.

  “Remember you already got mines from earlier,” Jennifer told Slim.

  “Yeah, I know,” he replied, and then he went into the kitchen area of the apartment. He sat down at the table and started counting the money. After he was done, he folded all the bills together and stuck them into his front pocket.

  We all watched him in silence as he grabbed a Corona from the refrigerator and opened it. After he threw the bottle top into the kitchen trashcan, he took a swig. He swallowed and let out a loud burp. From the entryway of the kitchen he dropped another bomb on us. “Looks like we gon’ have to go back on the streets tonight,” he announced.

  Jennifer and I looked at him like he’d just lost his fucking mind. “I thought we weren’t going back on the streets till tomorrow,” Jennifer said.

  “I changed my mind,” he replied. “I need more fucking money because y’all didn’t make y’all goal tonight.”

  “You’re acting like it was our fault,” Sabrina commented softly. She knew that if she’d raised her voice, Slim would’ve buried his fist in her left eye.

  “Look, don’t back talk me!” he snapped. “Just get your asses up and get ready to head back in the streets.”

  “What about the police?” Tacora wondered aloud.

  “What about them?” he asked.

  “Aren’t you afraid that they may come up on us while we’re on the stroll?”

  “Let me make something clear to all of y’all,” he said. “I run a tight ship and I’m about my motherfucking money! So I ain’t gon’ let no one stop me from getting it. Now I know y’all are upset about Paris and shit, but she’s dead. So wipe the fucking tears and getcha asses up so you can get me some more money.”

  Everything within me wanted to curse out his insensitive ass. How dare him tell those girls to wipe their fucking tears and get their asses up? Come on, show some respect for the dead. I mean, she did give him every fucking dollar she earned on those streets before she took a bullet in her head. And to add insult to injury, I was sure he fucked Paris at his leisure, so where were his fucking tears? It was bad enough that he was not contributing to her funeral fund or helping the homicide detectives identify her body. If I had my way, I’d tell him to shut the fuck up and then I would bounce on his good for nothing ass. But I was trapped, and for now I had to do what he said so I could keep my life.

  Seconds after Slim made his speech, everyone got up and he
aded back out to the streets. We followed him down to the other end of Huntersville and posted up on the corner of Washington Street and Tidewater Drive. It was a little after midnight so the streets were semi-crowded. A couple of people Slim knew stopped and gave him a bit of information about what they’d heard and what the streets were saying about Paris’s murder. None of them mentioned that the cops were looking for him for questioning, so I was sure he felt good about that. That didn’t settle my mind though. If I were in his shoes it would had bothered me to know that a lot of people in the neighborhood knew Paris worked for me and that I was the last one to see her alive. So, I would’ve stayed out of sight for a few days until everything blew over.

  The Candy Shop part 2 Kiki Swinson

  The Lifestyle of a Drug Addict

  Slim wasn’t aware of this, but one of my dates was with a heroin dealer from around Young’s Park. I knew he wasn’t a big time hustler, because I copped some heroin from him in the past. When I got into his car on this night he asked me if I’d suck his dick and let him fuck me for fifty dollars. I told him no and ran down the prices. But he made a counter offer and told me he’d give me sixty dollars. So I came back at him and demanded that he give me fifty bucks in cash and two pills of dope. He smiled and agreed. I was so fucking happy. And so was he after I served his young ass up really nice and sent him on about his way.

  Thank God Slim didn’t make us work the streets all night because I was tired and I needed a pick me up. And these two caps of heroin were definitely right on time.