Another Hood Love

by Jontu'

  “I ain’t got to front, all these texts in my phone that I got talking about come through and how good my pussy is, the late night texts, and now you playing me like I’m some kind of thot for this BITCH!” she yelled. Jaeda stepped forward and leaned into the girl’s face.

  “I’m not going to be too many more of your bitches, bruh; clearly you are some kind of thot if all he ever called you for was pussy. He got me on his arm in public and you bent over in private, what does that tell you?”

  Soon as the words left Jaeda’s mouth, the girl lunged forward trying to grab Jaeda’s hair, but she missed and Jaeda countered her with a right to her temple and a left to her chin. Soon as the girl stumbled, her chubby patna threw a wild punch that landed on Jaeda’s shoulder, and I was on her ass from then. I was going in on old girl when I saw her other friend, who was the smallest of the group, pull her razor and lunge for my sister. That’s when Tone slapped the Holy Spirit out that bitch and sent her and her razor flying across the grass. By then, people were trying their best to break us up. We had fucked them bitches up, and the one that Tone had slapped was yelling about calling her brother. Everybody that had come with us ended up gathering together and dipping out after that fiasco.

  On our way back, we decided to stop at this little crab place not too far from the lake since we never had a chance to eat any of the barbecue. I decided to take this time to lay out my plans. I wasn’t sure if Jaeda had told Tone about us getting in the game, but I decided to just put everything on the table. With the four of us, we could make a lot happen and a lot of money together. Yes my Uncle Ken would be raking in a lot, but with the brains of Jah and me, we wouldn’t be two years down the road with nothing to show for our sacrifices and hard work from a situation we had no choice in. Once we were full and ready to go, the plan had been set. We would be grinding our asses off for the next couple years, and there wasn’t any doubt about it that we would get money.

  Jaeda

  Three months had passed since we had begun to work for my Uncle; it actually wasn’t as bad as I thought. The four of us were seeing more than a little bit of paper, and we had begun to make a name for ourselves in the streets. The bitches didn’t even come at us on no sucker shit at all; they knew Laela and I weren’t the ones. My hands were lethal and Laela didn’t do no playing when she pulled her razor. We had to make a few examples, male and female, but now they knew we were quick to give that act right. Between the four of us, and the others we had on our team, we were moving mean in the East.

  We had added my best friend Lexis, who was a tall slim light bright with naturally curly hair. She wasn’t no punk either; she talked shit like a second language and could back it all up. Then there was Rico; he was a half black half Mexican kid from the deep east that was sick with a pistol, and moved his bundles like ice cream in the hood. Brayden, or B as we called him, was a stocky black ass guy that was a little older than us, but he had the line on anything and everything – business or leisure, whatever we needed he knew somebody with it. B had hands like boulders, and niggas didn’t want parts of that. Lastly were the twins, Sage and Greg; they were almost identical but had obvious differences and they moved together. You rarely saw one without the other. Both were caramel-complexioned with curly hair and hazel eyes, with attitudes out of this world. Sage wouldn’t hesitate to get disrespectful; she would cuss your mama out if she felt the need, and Greg had absolutely no filter – he didn’t hold back a thing. It was funny because he was that disrespectful nigga that would have a bad bitch reevaluating herself just from his words.

  We had been named Gas Squad in the streets because we were out here making moves. Our squad had the East on lock, but we were known in the East, West, and the North. Niggas feared us, but we also got a lot of love. Uncle Ken had his meetings with us, but we conducted our own meetings at the beginning of every month. Tone and I had made it official, and Laela and Jah were still going strong. We had a cool little savings, but it still wasn’t much to have us set like we wanted. Our stocks were doing well thanks to Jah and Laela, and yeah we were flexing a little like any normal teenager, but we kept it to a minimum. Laela had recently bought a car; it was actually the twin to Jah’s whip. She had bought the exact same Audi but had hers painted red; she had a custom box built in her trunk for three 12” speakers, and had a clean TV deck installed with caramel interior. Her shit was nice and I loved riding with her. Her whip was cleaner than Jah’s, but I would never tell him that.

  Tone and I had made it official after one of their away games. The guys had gone to an away game for the weekend, and Tone had called me late night even though he should have been sleep getting rest for the big game the next day.

  “Aye Jae Money, when you going to stop playing with a nigga?” Tone asked when I answered the phone.

  “How I’m playing Tone?” I giggled as I looked at the time to see that it was after midnight.

  “Because I’m really trying to fuck with you blood, and you acting like you don’t want a nigga.” I sat and let Tone’s words sink in, I really did like him; we spent a lot of time together due to Gas Squad and Jah and Laela, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to take a risk on ruining our friendship for a relationship. On the other hand, I knew I would go crazy seeing him with another bitch.

  “Look Tone, I really like you but I don’t know about taking that step to a relationship. I mean, we are moving at different speeds and I’m not trying to slow you down,” I replied.

  “Look Jae Money, I know how you rock and I’m willing to take it slow, but a nigga want you and if it’s bad then say that, but if you rocking then say that, but tell a nigga something.” Tone’s voice was so sexy and after a short pause, I let go of everything and told him what I was feeling.

  “Okay Tone, we can do this but I don’t play that bullshit, don’t make me cut a bitch or drop a bitch – you see how I did ya boo, don’t play with me fool.”

  From that night on, Tone and I were a team. I rocked for him and he rocked for me. It had been almost three months and that was my boo for real. I wasn’t a very intimate person, but Tone brought out things in me that I didn’t know existed; it was easy to open up about my dreams and fears to him. Things that I put in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but be able to smoothly discuss them with him, and that’s how I knew that I had made the right decision by taking a chance on our relationship. I know that I said I wanted to take it slow, but we had been moving extremely fast. I had already been having sex with him as of two weeks ago, and Laela and Jah hadn’t even done it yet. I don’t know if it was because of my past and the things that Sheldon did to me, but I felt like when it came to sex, a whole another person came and took over my body.

  The first time Tone and I had sex, we were watching a movie at the drive in movies and next thing I knew, I was on top of him kissing on his neck; seconds later, my pants were at my ankles. The next day I was so embarrassed about my actions that I ignored Tone all day. I didn’t know where those actions came from; it was like some force took over me and turned me into a freak.

  Now two weeks later, and I was sitting in the Planned Parenthood with Lexis to get some condoms, because Tone and I were definitely not using protection from the beginning. I may have been dumb for not protecting myself at first, but I knew I had to get it together because I wasn’t going to assume that just because a boy says I’m his only boo that I’m the only one he’s fucking. I wasn’t trying to catch no STD’s or any babies. I was browsing through Instagram as I made small talk with Lexis while we waited for our names to be called.

  After handling everything I needed at the Planned Parenthood, Lexis and I made our way over to Gio’s spot for our monthly Squad meeting. We had been doing pretty well on the streets and our squad was strong, so I knew the numbers at the meeting would be good.

  “Alright squad let’s get this meeting going,” Jah raised his voice slightly to get everybody’s attention. I looked around the room as I rolled up some cookies blunts. Jah began to go ov
er the numbers that we pulled in over the last month. According to Uncle Ken, the team on the West side was bringing in about $12,000 a night with a team of 15, and we had assembled our own team of nine and we were bringing in a minimum of $20,000 a night. We had our regular knocks as well as 12 blocks on lock, so money flowed a little more freely on our end. We dealt with hard and soft, but were starting to look into other ventures. Uncle Ken wanted us to move into weed, but Jah and Rico had been looking into moving in on the heroin territory. Dealing with a lot of different people we had started to get a lot of different people coming to our blocks looking for tar, and they figured we should try it out. The West side had that on lock but our squad didn’t. Because we were the younger team, Uncle Ken didn’t exactly feel as if it was safe for us to jump into that game. The risks were so much greater but if we added two more bodies to the squad, we could add the heroin block to our territory and increase our profits by almost double.

  B then came with another proposition; he had a line on some sliders and explained that he had four bitches that were with the shit, and would run the packs across 5 different states every three weeks. He explained that the numbers were legit and we could stand to bring in $20,000 per head off sending them on runs. B told us how that all worked, and how he had a deal on all the equipment to press up the cards as well as fake ID cards. After telling us how it all worked, both ventures sounded like they were going to have us papered up. The Squad was in agreement to go ahead and move on both ventures, which meant adding more people to the Gas Squad, but way more money. We were definitely young and getting it.

  We agreed to talk to Uncle Ken and let him know that we would be moving in on that new block within the next month. We were going to send the twins to scope out the block to see who the regulars were and how the operation was running as of now, so we would know how to run once we took over. Strong-arming the block wasn’t the smartest strategy, but in this day and age you just had to go and take what you wanted. Fuck all that trying to talk and join forces. Uncle Ken was cool with the O.Gs over that way, and although they had a few hands on that block, they would make our move smoother for a small percentage. Gas Squad was definitely coming up in the streets and also expanding; with our hands in so many different pots, we definitely were going to have to move smart because with more money came more problems and we didn’t need FED issues.

  After the meeting ended, we all decided to go to hang out in the hood. Jah had his older brother grab us a couple bottles of Grey Goose, and Avion and I had hit up Tommy and grabbed a zip of cookies from him and some swishers. We were chilling tonight, and it was better to chill in the hood and make money while doing it. I was sitting on Tone’s lap as I rolled up multiple blunts; watching B and Rico slap box was cracking me up. I could feel Tone’s lips on my neck as I licked the swisher closed on the final blunt. I was ready to shake everybody and go lay up with my boo, but there was money to be made so I shifted on his lap so that I was now facing him. I kissed his full juicy lips as he stared into my eyes.

  “You ready to take over the world bae?” he asked.

  “As long as the Squad with me, I’m ready for whatever,” I replied. He shook his head and brought his lips to my ear.

  “Fuck the rest – as long as I’m living, the world will always be yours.” I blushed at his words; in such a short time, we had both become head over heels for each other. I would be 16 in two weeks and I didn’t have anything to compare this feeling to, but what I felt for Tone was deep. When my heart beat, his was beating at the same pace; I could text him and he would be texting me at the same time. We were just so in sync with each other and it was creepy at times, but at the same time it was a good feeling to know that there was somebody in this world besides Laela that I could say really cared for me fully and whole-heartedly. My sister and I would always move as one but now there was Tone, and our souls just connected.

  We spent plenty of nights on the phone talking about our futures; neither of us wanted this life forever, but we were going to use this as a stepping-stone to bigger and better things. Tone had three different schools eyeing him for potential scholarships, and I was going to push my bae to be the best on the field. Oakland was home, but it wasn’t life; too many people ended up stuck here, and some never made it to see their next birthday. As much as I loved my city, the Town was a dangerous place, so Tone and I constantly talked about getting out.

  We hung on the block clowning until about one in the morning. When we decided to wrap it up, the twins went into the trap apartment that we had rented out down the block to secure everything, and closed it all up for the night. Once everything was locked up and shut down, we said our goodbyes, hopped in our cars, and went our separate ways. Once Laela and I made it home, I texted Tone letting him know I was in, and I passed out minutes later on top of my bed – still fully clothed. I was high as shit and low key tipsy. I drifted to sleep dreaming of Tone and our future together.

  Laela

  I’ve been dreaming bout money, I been dreaming bout money girl I been.

  I was riding on the freeway with Jaeda and headed to the mall as we were listening to our cousin’s music. He was an up and coming rapper in Oakland that had a big following. Young Ro was a young nigga coming up in the streets, and although he was our cousin, we didn’t spend much time with him because he was always on the go – either with music or in the streets trying to get it. His music was the truth, and I could definitely relate to the shit that he rapped about. Jaeda and I were headed to the mall to go find something to wear for the weekend. It was Jaeda’s 16th birthday and we were going the club. B had made us all some fake IDs and we were going to go to the club to see our cousin and his crew 120 Records perform, along with others. I did my best to try and make Jaeda feel special today for her birthday. I was taking her to MAC to get her makeup done, and after we finished shopping we are going to eat at The Cheesecake Factory, and then I got us adjoining hotel rooms for the after party. My little sister was growing up and I had all intentions on making this just the beginning of many great birthdays to come.

  Jah and Tone were going to meet us at dinner, but until then I just wanted to enjoy our sister time. I turned the music down and looked at my little sister.

  “Jaeda you’re growing up on me, how does it feel to be 16 biiiiitch?!” I yelled twerking in my seat. Jaeda laughed at my silliness.

  “You would think it was your birthday, shit – you more juiced than me.” We laughed together.

  “It is my birthday bruh, what’s yours is mine,” I told her. I turned the music back up and changed the CD to Peezy. I was in my zone and just was ready to turn up. I passed Jaeda a blunt and a lighter, and waited for her to fire up.

  “Damn bitch, you snatched right now,” I told Jaeda as she looked over herself in the mirror. The girl at MAC did her thing on my sister, and she looked like she was turning 18 instead of just 16. Jaeda’s hair was flat-ironed bone straight with a middle part, and it was laid. She had grabbed an all-white jersey dress from BEBE that wasn’t too tight, but hugged in all the right places. Her shoes were Steve Madden Foxxee closed-toe, multi-colored pumps with a matching clutch, and silver accessories. My bitch was bad off top. I, on the other hand, was dressed in an all-white romper I found in Forever 21, and I topped it off with some fire red peep toe heels from ALDO, and a matching cross-bag. I had installed a 24” red ombre Malaysian bundle, and together my sister and I were going to kill shit. We walked out of our hotel room headed to dinner.

  I dialed Jah and let him know that we were on our way to the restaurant. Tonight was the night that I would finally give Jah some action. I had been celibate in my relationship so far, and I was finally ready to rid myself of my innocence and give my boo the most sacred part of me. I knew Jaeda and Tone were already sexually active, but we hadn’t really talked about it with each other. Every time I would bring it up, she would change the subject. Jaeda was funny when it came to sexual things; she would close up like an oyster when sex was the topi
c. I wasn’t sure why, especially since it wasn’t like she wasn’t engaging. I planned to get the scoop sooner or later. For now, we would just enjoy this night.

  I pulled up to the restaurant and let valet park my baby. As we walked up to the door, I spotted the guys standing near the entrance engaged in a conversation with a couple of females. As we walked up, the guys were looking in our directions while the females were still standing there running their mouths. These thot ass bitches was looking like young rats, skimpy clothing barely covering them and colorful stiff ass weaves.

  “Eew,” I said under my breath.

  “Excuse me babe, are you done entertaining the circus animals bae?” Jaeda asked Tone as she walked up on him.

  “Bitch you wish you looked this good,” one of the thots screeched. I began to laugh out loud at the nerve of these hoes.

  “Girl you been done, now excuse us,” I pushed past them as I grabbed Jah’s hand. We walked off into the restaurant.

  “Them ugly hoes ain’t even on our level, Chanel,” I heard one of them say. I laughed; just like black folks to name their children after some classy shit, but they looking like Shenaynay.

  During dinner we ordered drinks and food, and enjoyed our time clowning, just the four of us. We talked about the future, and moving to the East Coast once we were able to be on our own. We were all determined to go to college and own our own businesses. We had big dreams, and I was glad that even with the money we would have, we all were still focused on bettering ourselves and moving on from the game. Yea the money and the fame were a temporary high, but it could all be gone in the blink of an eye. Fast money wasn’t always good money because you could lose it just as fast as you got it. If we died, we knew we couldn’t take it with us so we had fun and bossed up when we wanted to, but we were also smart and had plenty stashed for a rainy day.