Payback Is a Mutha

by Wahida Clark

  “Man how many times I told you, you can’t have complete control. You up in here nigga! When you gonna accept that? So what she went out? It ain’t like she goes out all the time. Hell, she don’t hardly go out at all!”

  “That ain’t the point man.”

  “Then what is the point?”

  Forever was quiet. Not knowing what his point was other than the fact that he was selfish, didn’t want to lose Nyla and scared that if she started to run the streets some other nigga would snatch her up. Especially since she had been talking about how tired she was of this jail shit. The devil was playing tricks with his mind. He was now getting paranoid. So they ended up arguing back and forth over the phone. She hung up on him and didn’t even show up on the visit. This was the first time she ever pulled a stunt like this. His gut was telling him that she had someone else. So Forever was really fucked up about the whole situation.

  “Forever,” Zeke broke his train of thought. “Chill out, man. She went out last night. It’s over. If I was you and Nyla was my woman, I’d call her up to apologize and beg her to come on the visit tomorrow. She works hard man. She’s a good woman. You better not let your insecurities push her away. You can’t control shit in here. You listening to me?”

  “I hear you.”

  “A’ight man. I gotta check on our shit.” Zeke gave him dap and left Forever outside. An hour and a half later Forever went to the phone and called Nyla.

  Shan didn’t come to work Saturday or Sunday. When she finally showed up on Monday, Forever was pissed to the nth degree, as he hung around the Education Department waiting on her. He looked at his watch; she was almost an hour late and in twenty more minutes he had an appointment to get his knee x-rayed.

  “Damn girl, I thought you went into hiding or some shit like that.” Forever smirked as she unlocked her door.

  “I’m off on weekends. I thought you knew that.”

  “How you gonna take off knowing that I’m here?”

  “Please. That’s why I’m in the predicament I’m in now. Coming to see you.”

  “I got an appointment to get my knee x-rayed but I’ll be back. We got a lotta shit to discuss.”

  “Yeah, we sure do. I’m anxious to see how you respond to what I got to talk about.”

  “I already know what you got to talk about.”

  “Oh no. I don’t think so playa.” And she slammed the door in Forever’s face, hoping that he wasn’t gonna respond to her the way her intuition was telling her he would.

  Forever plopped in his usual seat in front of her desk. He looked Shan over. She looked tired and stressed.

  “You a’ight? Why you haven’t been to see me? You had me worried about you.”

  Shan leaned forward onto her desk looking Forever straight in the eyes. “Where do you want me to start? Oh I forgot, it’s all about your paper, so I might as well let you say what you gotta say first.”

  Forever leaned back. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Just say what you gotta say Forever. You wanna know if I was fuckin’ your brother? To answer the question, yeah, I did once. And now, since he thinks that me and you are fucking he’s pissed off. The other night he wouldn’t give me the package or the four thousand dollars that you know I need. He told me I needed to talk to you. And on top of that”—she grabbed her purse, pulled out a plastic bag and threw it at him.

  “What’s this?” He examined it as if it was lethal.

  “A pregnancy test Forever! Pink means positive. Blue means negative.” She glared at him, anticipating a response.

  Forever caught a lump in his throat and threw the plastic bag back at her. “I know you ain’t telling me what I’m thinking you are?”

  “Telling you Forever? I’m showing you! What? You want me to say it? I’m pregnant! You want me to spell it out? I’m P-R-E-G-N-A-N-T!”

  Forever just stared at her, waiting for her to say she’s joking or something. When she didn’t he leaned forward, smothering his face in his hands. “Shit! How the fuck?”

  “I’m keepin’ it Forever,” she interrupted him.

  He looked up with the quickness. “You what?”

  “I’m keeping it.”

  Forever sighed. “Shan. What the fuck you talking about? Do you hear yourself? You remember who I am? A nigga in prison with a wife. I don’t think you want to do that. You can’t do that!”

  “What? Oh so now you want to all of a sudden be this responsible and logical family man? What are you saying Forever? Go ahead; I want to hear you say it! Tell me to get an abortion!” she was screaming.

  “Lower your voice man.”

  “Fuck my voice! Go ahead and say it! Tell me to get an abortion! You say it and I swear I will fuck you up!” she threatened.

  “What’s that suppose to mean? Do you hear yourself? You know we was just fucking. Mixing business with pleasure.”

  “Nigga, no, you didn’t just say that!”

  “Come on Shan. You was fucking to get what you wanted and I was fucking you to get what I wanted. But you gotta get rid of it. Let’s keep it real now.”

  The tears were rolling down her cheeks. I’m glad he didn’t disrespect by asking me how do I know if the baby was mine. That was the only relief she felt. Shan’s voice trembled as she said, “Well nigga, we now got us a baby on the way, and that’s keeping it real!”

  The next day Forever went to sick call and got an idle for the rest of the week. He didn’t want to deal with Shan at all until he figured out what he was going to do. This pregnancy shit had him stressing like a mutha. Zeke was on him because all of the dope was gone and the customers were feinin’. Forever calmly told him, “Zeke man, we ain’t starvin’. So business will have to be put on hold for a minute.”

  Forever had finally smoothed everything over with Nyla. He apologized and the whole nine yards. As they were sitting in the visiting hall, Forever looked up and in comes Shan. When she finally made eye contact with Forever, he gave her a look that said, “Bitch don’t even think about it.” And just to be sure he looked at Nyla and said, “Excuse me baby, let me go take a leak.” He went over to the desk where the officer’s station was.

  “What’s up Thompson?” Officer Mendez was one of the cool visiting room officers.

  “Let me out. I need to go to the restroom.” He then turned to Shan and said, “What’s up boss? I see you decided to come back to work.”

  Shan came over to where he was. “Make sure you’re in my office before I leave today.” And walked away.

  When Forever came back from the restroom Nyla shot at him, “What was that all about?”

  “What?”

  “Forever don’t play dumb. Who is the broad?”

  “She works in education.”

  “And?” Her left eyebrow raised up.

  “And what Nyla?”

  She stared at him, and it felt like forever to Forever. Her eyes felt as if they were piercing through his soul. She finally spoke. “Okay Forever. Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance to come clean,” she snapped.

  “Come clean? What is you talkin’ about?”

  “I gave you a chance Forever. And that’s all I’m going to say.”

  Damn. Forever said to himself. Shit seems to be crumbling all around me.

  By the time the visit was over Forever was all tensed up. Then, on top of that, Shan came back into the visiting room, throwing daggers at him, which only made Nyla that much more suspicious. Then when he walked past the TV room both TVs were showing a video of Usher revealing his “Confessions.” When he grabbed his Walkman to run off some of the tension he was feeling, there was Usher again revealing his “Confessions.”

  He remembered that Shan wanted to see him but he was not in the mood for any conversation from her, even though getting between her thighs would surely ease all of the tension he was feeling. But he didn’t have together what his next move was gonna be. “Fuck it,” he said out loud. “I’ll see her when I see her.” And he went outside to ru
n. He needed to clear his head.

  Monday afternoon Forever made it into work. Shan cut into his ass as soon as he stepped foot into her office.

  “I waited for you Forever. I told you I needed to talk to you.”

  “No you didn’t, you just told me to be in your office.”

  Shan sucked her teeth. “I—”

  He cut her off. “Shan I’m here now. I had to get my head together. So talk.”

  “You had to get your head together? What about me? I’m the one pregnant! I’m the one needing money! You said you got your head together, so what’s up Forever? If you gonna leave me hanging let me know now.” Her voice was trembling but she refused to cry.

  “A’ight, look. We can keep getting money together. My brother ain’t gonna fuck with you so I gotta set you up with some new folks.”

  “How soon?”

  “By the end of the week. A’ight?”

  She sucked her teeth. “And that’s it? That’s all you got to say?” Shan jumped up and smacked him dead across the face.

  Forever, on instinct, grabbed her by her throat. “What the fu—”

  Tap. Tap. Forever turned to look at the door, then he pushed Shan back down into her chair. She gagged a little, rubbed her neck and said, “Come in.” When the inmate came in Forever walked out. “Mr. Thompson, I am not through with you.” She then looked at the young man and said, “Come back in about an hour please and go tell Thompson I said to come in here now. His work is not finished.”

  “Yes ma’am.” The inmate turned back around and left out. What the fuck?

  When Forever came back in he calmly said, “What?” But she could tell that he was pissed off.

  “What? I’m pregnant that’s what!” She was pacing back and forth pulling on her locks. “Bear with me for a minute Forever. I guess I’m having a hard time accepting that what we’ve been doing don’t mean shit to you. Close my fuckin’ door Forever! I’m usually a good judge of character,” she continued, “but I’m having a hard time accepting that you don’t feel shit for me. I can’t believe my judgment about you was all wrong Forever.”

  “Look. I need you to consider an abortion. I told you before, you know I got a family. But me and you, from this point on, can only do business. In a couple of days let me know what you want to do about the baby.”

  Shan snapped. “Get out Forever!” she screamed. “Get the fuck out!” She picked up her coffee mug and threw it at him.

  On her way home she pulled over at a CK’s and ordered a cup of tea. Finding a booth in the corner she slumped down in the seat. Damn, I need to talk to Peanut. She swiftly wiped the tears off her face. I’m transporting drugs, putting my freedom on the line. I’m pregnant by a married man who’s in prison. What the fuck? That bitch Brianna! All this shit is her fault. I hate her!

  22

  BRIANNA AND SHADEE

  Even though Shadee had been over Brianna’s for the last week she still was lonely and missed the companionship of her girl, Shan. But right now she was on cloud nine because last night Shadee had proposed to her. His proposal really threw her for a loop. There were rose petals sprinkled over the table that was draped with fine Irish linen set with Tiffany Platinum china and Baccarat crystal goblets. There was filet mignon, lobster tails with drawn butter, baked potatoes and asparagus. For dessert they had cheesecake smothered in fresh strawberries. He had set the table himself. The candlelight shimmered and sparkled as he threw on a slow jamz wedding CD and then popped the question. Of course Brianna didn’t hesitate in accepting. She was dying to tell Shan the news but kept getting her voice mail.

  The following morning Shadee got up early to go take care of some business. Brianna decided to use this time to get some housecleaning done, grocery shop, go to the hairdresser, do all of the things that she’d been neglecting due to her depression. As she mopped the kitchen floor her phone rang. She turned down the radio before answering.

  “Hello.”

  “Brianna it’s me. I still need four thousand more dollars. How much you got?”

  Brianna was surprised and glad to hear Shan’s voice. “I’ve been calling to tell you that I have seven thousand for you. I wrote you a letter. Have you open—”

  Shan abruptly cut her off. “I’m on my way to come get it.” Click. All Brianna heard was a dial tone. Still, excited that Shan was coming over, she hurried and finished with the kitchen. She showered and threw on the Prada jeans and blouse that Shan had bought for her. She was dying to talk to a female, especially her number one girl, since she had been living like a recluse ever since her and Shan fell out.

  An hour and a half later she heard a knock at the door. “I’m coming Shan.” The tears were rolling down her cheeks. “I miss you so much!” She swung the door open.

  “We miss you too.” This big black burly brother damn near knocked her backwards as he pushed the door open. He was followed by what looked like albino twins.

  “Damn she fine,” one of the twins said.

  “Who the fuck are y’all?”

  “Don’t worry about who we are. You need to be worrying about what we’re getting ready to do to your scandalous ass.”

  Brianna took off running towards her bedroom. The twin who said that she was fine ran behind her and snatched her up by her hair. Brianna began kicking, screaming, and scratching whomever she could get her hands on. The big black burly brother stuffed a handkerchief into her mouth and then began ripping off her clothes. She was still swinging and kicking like a wild animal. Pop! He punched her in the face.

  “Hold this bitch down niggas!” Big black burly ordered. “Naw. Hold up. Maybe we should put her on the couch. She could take two of us at the same time.”

  “Fuck that! Take that rag outta her mouth. She could suck my dick and take all three of us!”

  The other twin and big black burly laughed.

  “Let’s do it!”

  They carried her back into the living room kicking and screaming with the gag in her mouth. Big black burly hurled her onto the couch.

  The shorter albino twin was the first to drop his pants. Brianna’s eyes got big as saucers and she was screaming and shaking her head no. Short albino’s dick was so big that it definitely could have been his third leg. He sat on the couch and began giving orders as if they did this before.

  “Get this bitch up and have her straddle me. While I’m beating up the pussy one of y’all could be tappin’ that ass hole.”

  “That ain’t gonna work man. Let’s put her back in the bed. That way she could lay on top of you and I’ll get on top of that ass. Or we can sixty-nine this hoe. I do know this couch ain’t gonna work.” Big burly snatched her back up and they went back into the bedroom.

  Oh, God. Please, Shan, hurry up over. Brianna was praying to herself. Please God, send her through that door right now.

  Little did she know that last night Shan had called Briggen over and told him that she needed a favor. He thought it was money. So as soon as he got to her house he asked her how much did she need. She told him that she didn’t need money she needed a huge favor and that it was very important to her. After she told him what she needed Briggen asked her if she was sure. She looked crazed and bugged out; and assured him that she was very sure. So luckily the three dudes who were at Brianna’s now were in town for a couple of days and were the type of niggas who would do anything. So Briggen put them on it in exchange of her promise to leave Forever alone.

  They finally got Brianna in a position where one twin could hit the pussy and the short albino with the third leg decided he wanted to bust her a new ass hole. Brianna was in so much pain from being fucked in two holes at the same time she had fainted. But that didn’t stop big black burly from throwing them legs up over his shoulders and continuing to beat that pussy up. After they were all satisfied they tied up her wrists and ankles and big black burly went to the kitchen and raided the fridge. They brung her back into the living room.

  The twins sat down on the couch. Third leg
grabbed the remote and began flicking channels. “Shut that noise up, bitch!” he yelled at her.

  “Please go,” Brianna pleaded. “Leave me alone,” she screamed.

  “Bitch I gotta hit that one more time,” the taller twin said.

  Big burly came into the living room carrying a bag of Doritos and was chomping on a turkey and cheese sandwich. “Damn. That hoe got some good pussy. You gotta man baby?” he joked, causing them all to burst out laughing.

  The more the taller twin looked at her naked the hornier he got. “Fuck it!” He got up, scooped Brianna up off the floor and headed for her bedroom.

  “Yo, what you doin’ man?” Third leg’s eyes followed his twin who ignored him. They heard the door slam. Minutes later they heard Brianna’s gut wrenching scream and tall twin slapping her, telling her to shut up.

  “Damn. Your brother into that S and M?” Big black burly forced a mouthful of Doritos in his mouth.

  “I wouldn’t call it S and M. But he do like to beat bitches up while he fuckin’ them. He get off on that sick shit.” He turned down the volume on the TV and they heard him beating Brianna. She was screaming, “Oh, God, somebody stop him!” “See what I mean?” third leg said. Big black burly shrugged his shoulders.

  Fifteen minutes later the door came open. “Yo come back here!” he yelled.

  After the other two raped her again they stood up over her and pissed all over her body.

  When Brianna finally woke up her whole body was aching, her head was pounding and she was lying in puddles of blood and piss. She snatched the handkerchief out of her mouth and her throat was so dry she began to gag. As her eyes focused the room began to spin. Then her body began to tremble as she cried herself to sleep.

  When she awoke again it was pitch black outside. She remembered that she was supposed to go grocery shopping, get her hair done and drop by the cleaners. Her thoughts then went to her cleaning up, Shan calling, and as she waited for her to come over that’s when that knock came and she was greeted with her worst nightmare. What happened to Shan? Where is Shan?