Tales from da Hood

by Nikki Turner

  SIX

  DODO GOT UP off the bed and walked over to the dresser to inspect the few groceries that he had purchased before checking into a hotel room. The decaying hotel mainly catered to transients, cheating husbands, and drug abusers. Dodo grabbed a bag of Doritos off the dresser and settled down in a vinyl chair to watch television. He realized that the last two nights he had slept surprisingly well here. Mainly it was because the late-night rabble-rousing of the hotel's numerous patrons reminded him of being in prison, where the inmates sang, cracked jokes, and talked from cell to cell at all hours of the night. The hotel was relatively close to the neighborhood but far enough that he shouldn't bump into anyone looking for him. It still didn't sit right with him that he was hiding from Danny Man.

  After crunching his way through the bag of Doritos, Dodo drank the remainder of a lukewarm, flat two-liter of Pepsi as he continued to watch television. An hour passed and he moved to the side of the bed and picked up the telephone and placed a call.

  “Crystal, it's me,” he said into the receiver. “Yeah, I'm all right. Nall, I ain't doing nothing, just laying back trying to get my mind right. Now remember if my PO call tell her I still live there. If it's daytime say that I'm out job hunting. If it's at night tell her I'm over at my girlfriend's house and that I'll be back later…. Yeah, I got the number to Johnny's house, I'm bout to call out there to see how Momma doing. Do me a favor, I left a piece of paper on top of the fridge with a number on it, see if you see it. It say Mary on it. Don't worry bout all that, just give me the number.”

  Dodo looked around for a pen but couldn't locate one; instead he traced the number in the dust on the nightstand with his fingertip.

  “Thanks. Yeah, I got enough money for now. I didn't run through what you gave me yet. Yeah, I appreciate it and if I need something else, then I'll give you a call. Tell La and La I said w'sup, and kiss Mulan for me. All right, I'm gone.”

  Dodo pressed the button to hang up and held it down for a few seconds to get a dial tone and then he dialed another number.

  “Hello,” Dodo said when his party answered. “It's Donnell. … Praise the Lord, Johnny. How are you doing? I'm blessed, too. … Yeah, I know God is good all the time. … Of course. As soon as I get a chance I'ma get out there to your church for one of these Sundays. Right. I know that I have to have fellowship with God's people for him to forgive me for my sins. I know that Jesus died on the cross for my sins.” Dodo's eyes rolled to the ceiling. “Not to cut you off, Johnny, but is Ma there? Sorry I missed her. Why don't you tell her that I called when she come back and that I'll call back later. And tell your wife I said hello. All right, Johnny, I gotta go. I'll keep you in my prayers, too.

  “Whew!” Doda exclaimed as he hung up the phone. “I don't know how Momma do it.”

  Dodo knew that his eldest brother had had his own share of struggles in his life, but he wondered what could have made Johnny so religious. He decided to make one more call.

  A small child's voice answered. “Hello. Who this is?”

  In the background, Dodo heard a woman ask, “Kenshawn, who is that on my phone? I keep telling y'all asses to stop answering my gotdamn phone if you don't know what you doing! Now bring it here! Hello, who is this?”

  “It's Dodo.”

  “Who? I don't know no damn Dodo. And if you one of my sorry-ass ex-husband's friends don't call here no more 'cause he don't live here!”

  Dodo chuckled. “This is Dodo, Mary. You gave me yo number a coupla days ago at the Laundromat.”

  Mary's voice instantly sweetened. “Hey, Dodo, w'sup? I thought you wasn't gon’ call. How you been doing?”

  “My back still hurt from carrying yo heavy-ass bags, but other than that I'm good. What you up to?”

  “I know you ain't hurt yo'self, not with all them muscles you got. You had a sister looking real hard. You almost got me a little wet seeing you flexing like that. I ain't had none in a minute neither, shid.”

  “That's what I like about you, Mary. You ain't scared to say nothing.”

  “Dodo, life is too short to be scared to say how you feel. Especially when I see something as fine and chocolate as you.”

  “What you doing later on, Mary?”

  “Me, my cousins, and a couple of my friends is playing cards tonight if you want to stop over. Around eight or nine. Bring yo own beer and bring me a Boones Farm Strawberry, would you? It's the little gray house, second from the corner.”

  “All right, I'll see you in a couple of hours then.”

  Dodo hung up the phone for the third time. As he did he thought about Mary and their chance meeting at the Laundromat. In the penitentiary he had grown accustomed to washing his clothes and underwear every Thursday and it was a habit that he continued now that he was on the outside. He had helped Mary and her two teenage daughters with several huge laundry bags. When he introduced himself to Mary, she said that she remembered him from high school before he dropped out. He didn't remember her, but that didn't deter him from asking for her telephone number after she told him she didn't have a man and lived alone with her two daughters and her only grandchild. To him Mary was quite attractive. Dodo had always liked big legs on a woman and Mary wasn't shortstopping in the hips department.

  Dodo went to take a shower and prepare himself for his date.

  WHEN DODO CLIMBED the porch steps to Mary's house, he noticed that several steps and the banister were loose. There was no doorbell, so he knocked on the door. One of the girls who had been with Mary when they met opened the door and walked back to the couch and plopped down and reattached herself to the television remote control.

  “They on the back porch,” she said uninterestedly as she turned to the videos. “Straight through there.”

  Clutching the bag that contained his six-pack and Mary's wine, Dodo followed her instructions to the enclosed back porch. The moment Mary saw him standing in the doorway, she jumped up and rushed over and hugged him.

  “Everybody, this is Dodo,” Mary announced as she pulled him into the kitchen and took the bag from him. She handed him a beer and put the rest in the fridge. “I thought you wadn't coming. Had me get myself together for nothing.”

  Dodo smiled at Mary as he admired her tight jeans and even tighter sweater. “You got it together real good, too.”

  Mary grinned. “This ain't nothing. You just caught me on laundry day. A sister don't care what she look like when she at the Laundromat.”

  “Yeah, y'all be all up in there wearing rollers and nightgowns and walking on the back of a pair of old shoes.”

  Mary pursed her lips. “But you still wanted to holler though.”

  “Ah, Mary, c'mon!” a female voice called out. “Bring Dodo back out here. We ain't gon’ bite him. We ready to play some cards! Matter of fact we'll kick you and his ass in some spades!”

  “Here we come!” Mary yelled back. To Dodo, she said, “You do know how to play spades, don't you?”

  “I'm all right. Let's make a little bet.”

  Mary put her hands on her hips. “What you wanna bet?”

  “If we win I get to spend the night with you.”

  “We'll see,” she said as she switched toward the back porch. “Deal them cards, big mouth, 'cause we bout to kick y'all ass.”

  MARY ROLLED OVER and shook Dodo's shoulder. Instantly he woke up.

  “You got to go before my daughters get up for school,” she rasped.

  Dodo sat up and reached for his boxers and pants. “What time is it?” he asked hoarsely.

  “Five thirty.”

  He dressed quickly in the darkened bedroom. When he was dressed, Mary shrugged the covers off her nakedness and pulled on a housecoat. They crept past the kids’ bedrooms and made their way down the stairs. At the front door, Mary wrapped her arms around Dodo's waist and kissed him on the neck.

  Clutching her housecoat, she opened the door. “Call me later.”

  Dodo nodded and stepped out on the porch. The crisp morning air felt exhilaratin
g as he pulled his thin jacket closed and buttoned it. Hands in his pockets with his shoulders hunched against the cool air, Dodo headed for the hotel.

  SEVEN

  “GILLY, LET THEM niggas in,” Danny Man ordered, covering the mouthpiece of his cell phone. “Bring y'all asses in here and sit down. I'll be with y'all in a minute.”

  The three men trooped into the apartment and sat down. They surveyed Danny Man's face—he was looking much better. The swelling was gone from his eyes; only green and purple bruises remained.

  “Alright, Crystal,” Danny Man said in an exaggerated tone. “I'll talk to yo ass later. I don't know if I'm coming over. Quit asking me that shit! Alright, I'm finta go!”

  Danny Man pushed the button to end his call and slammed his telephone on the couch next to him. The jarring made the phone redial Crystal's number.

  Danny Man directed his attention to his guys. “Timo, Kenchy, and Bogart, my heavy hitters,” he said with a hint of sarcasm. “You niggas is 'sposed to be my problem solvers right?”

  “You know we take care of shit for you, DM,” said Kenchy. “Whenever you got a problem we stand straight on that shit for you.”

  “What you saying, we don't hold you down, DM?” Timo asked.

  “You hear this shit, Gilly?” asked Danny Man. “These niggas say they hold me down. Out the whole crew they got the sweetest jobs. They ain't got to touch no merchandise. All they got to do is take care of mutherfuckers who don't want to go by what's going on. Now since niggas so rarely fuck up these days, that mean you niggas get free money. Now tell me is there a such thing as free money? I ain't never heard of that. So I must be paying y'all for something. So tell me what I'm paying y'all for if you can't get rid of one nigga for me?”

  “Man, we can't find this nigga,” Kenchy said. “First of all we really don't even know what this nigga look like.”

  “How many cocky-ass baldheaded niggas could there be around here?” Danny Man asked disgustedly. “The nigga look like he just got out the joint.”

  “We been on point,” Bogart said. “We ain't been slacking. We been watching Crystal crib, but the nigga ain't showed. Believe me, DM, when you call on us you calling on the pit bulls and we ready to lock on a nigga ass. If this nigga would have showed his ass once he would be leaking right now.”

  “I don't even want that no more,” said Danny Man with an air of finality.

  Gilly looked at Danny Man questioningly. “Is you saying let that nigga ride with the bullshit he pulled with you?”

  “What the fuck I look like? You saw what that nigga did to my face. It's just that when I first called for this nigga's head I was mad. I had to rethink this shit. I got to handle this shit a bit more delicately than that. So really it worked out for the best that you sorry-ass niggas couldn't take care of him.”

  “So, DM, now you telling us not to burn this nigga up?” asked Timo.

  “That's exactly what I'm saying.”

  “So what you want us to do then?” Kenchy asked.

  “Nothing, nigga. Just play the low unless I tell you different. Me and Gilly gon’ handle this one. I figured that Dodo might be a little too slick for y'all to catch. Now just 'cause I'm taking y'all off this one, don't disappear. I still want y'all out and about so niggas don't think shit sweet just 'cause I ain't get up with Dodo yet. All right, I'll holler at y'all.”

  The three killers, slightly disappointed at being deprived of hunting an elusive prey, cleared out quietly. Danny Man looked over at Gilly, who was sitting on a bar stool looking rather grumpy.

  “Nigga, what's wrong with you?” asked Danny Man. “You been looking crazy all night.”

  “It's this bitch Bam-Bam. She ain't answering her phone. If I find out she on some bullshit, I'ma kill her and the mutherfucka she with! That bitch ain't got but one time to get caught and it's curtains! I ain't one of these sucker-ass niggas that be letting they bitches disrespect them. I can't go out like that. I'ma fuck that bitch up and that nigga!”

  “How you gone fuck the nigga up though?” Danny Man asked.

  “It ain't his fault, especially if he didn't take the pussy. That is some unplayerlike shit you saying. Don't hate the player, hate the game.”

  “If the nigga know me, then he know that's my bitch. If he knew that was my bitch and he still fuck with her, then he saying fuck me. I don't let nobody say fuck me. I would rather die or do life in a box before I let a bitch or a nigga disrespect me or dishonor me. Forget all that though, what you gon’ do about Dodo and why you call them niggas off the job?”

  “Man, I told you this shit got to be handled delicately. And delicate them niggas ain't. As bad as I want to fuck Dodo up, I still got to realize that that is my 'sposed-to-be baby momma's brother. Even though she ain't seen him in a long time and he ain't never done nothing for her, she might decide to get sentimental and shit. Blood is blood. Plus I know that nigga done holed up somewhere and I might have to use that dumb-ass bitch to pull him out of his hole without her knowing it.”

  “Man, you a cold nigga. After me and you killed her baby daddy over that cash he owed us, I thought you was crazy when you started laying up with that bitch. She didn't never suspect shit, huh?”

  Danny Man laughed. “I told you she was a dumb bitch.”

  “Dumb bitch,” Crystal repeated as she shut off her phone. She had heard enough. At first when Danny Man's phone called her back, she had happily answered it, thinking it was him calling back to say he was coming over. When she heard his voice talking to someone, she had instinctively listened instead of hanging up. The contents of the conversation she'd overheard shocked her to the core of her being.

  “If this punk-ass nigga think I'm gone help him kill my brother, he must be losing his damn mind!” she raged. “Dodo was right, he is a punk! I got him! I don't believe this shit! He killed Laquan! I been fucking with this nigga and he killed my man! All the shit I put up with from this nigga! I got him!”

  Crystal stormed over to her bedroom closet and threw open the door. She was crying as she struggled to drag a large packing trunk into the middle of the bedroom floor. She flipped open the trunk and looked at the countless stacks of money in it. On her dresser was a bottle of fingernail polish remover. She grabbed the bottle, unscrewed the cap, and emptied it on the money.

  “Dumb bitch, huh?” she snapped as she rifled through her purse for something to ignite the money. “Well, this dumb bitch about to show you that you ain't so mutherfucking smart!”

  When she couldn't find matches or a lighter in her purse, Crystal slung the purse on the bed in frustration. The purse hit Mulan on her back; she had been napping on the bed. Mulan awoke and began howling, bringing Crystal back to reality. Horrified, she realized that she was about to start a fire in her bedroom with her baby a few feet away on the bed. Mortified at her own behavior, Crystal raced over to the bed and picked up Mulan to comfort her. She rocked her crying baby in her arms and cooed to her. While she was doing this, Crystal's thoughts became clear and concise.

  Eventually Mulan went back to sleep and Crystal laid her back on the bed. For several hours she sat and looked at the chest of money. The shame and humiliation she'd felt after Danny Man had said those terrible things was gone—replaced by scorn and a thirst for revenge.

  Crystal was still wide awake when Mulan woke up for her late-night feeding. She fed her baby and put her back to sleep. Finally she undressed, pushed the trunk back into the closet, and lay down beside her baby on the bed, but she didn't fall asleep.

  The sun had begun to rise and she was still awake, but in her mind she had the formation of a plan—a plan to pay Danny Man back for his transgressions. She heard her kids stir in their room as the alarm clock went off. Crystal pulled on her bathrobe and got up to help her kids get ready for school. She decided to make breakfast for the kids, and by the time Laheem and Latrice took their places at the table, the aroma of pancakes, eggs, and sausage hung heavy in the air. As she served each of the children their food, she
kissed them on the forehead.

  “What was that for, Mommy?” asked Laheem as he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

  “That's just to show you both that I love you and blood is thicker than mud.”

  Crystal didn't see the bewildered look on her children's faces as she opened the fridge to get them some orange juice. “Y'all make sure that y'all come straight home from school. I'm taking y'all out to y'all uncle Johnny's house for the weekend. And, yes, y'all going to church.”

  EIGHT

  BAM-BAM WAS DRUNK as she got up off Crystal's couch and slightly weaved her way to the living room window and raised it. She turned back around, fanning herself.

  “Damn Crystal, it's hot as hell in here,” said Bam-Bam.

  Trina giggled. “Bam-Bam, bitch, it ain't nowhere near hot in here. You just drunk and that Smirnoff got you hot.”

  “You ain't lying,” Bam-Bam said, rubbing her stomach suggestively. “But it ain't like I'm gon’ be able to get me some the way I want it. I got to go home to Gilly stalking little dick ass. When he do finally get around to changing my oil, he got to get into that loveydovey shit. Licking my back and my knees and shit. He got to light candles and play soft music and all that bullshit. Then he go downtown for like thirty or forty minutes. When he finally do come up for air, he want to get on top of me and be going all slow and shit, trying to look into my eyes.” Bam-Bam shuddered.

  Trina was looking slightly flushed as she said, “Bitch, I don't know what's wrong with you, but that shit sound good! I wish I had a mutherfucker that would treat me like that! Hell, he wouldn't have to do that shit for me but a coupla times a year if he wanted to. Special occasions and holidays.”

  “Fuck that, I need a nigga that's gon’ thug me!” Bam-Bam shouted. “I want a nigga with a big dick that tear my panties off, bend me over, pull my hair, and bang my back out. A nigga like …”