Crackhead II: A Novel

by Lennox, Lisa

  “You left because of me?” Maybe one of them did really like me, she thought to herself.

  “No, I left because what they did was wrong, but I came back, because leaving put my grandmother in danger.”

  “Oh,” was all Laci could say. She was hoping Monique would say that she’d left because of her.

  “Sometimes you did act stuck up, Laci,” Monique confirmed, “but just like I told your mother, I apologize for my part in it and I hope that you can forgive me one day.”

  Laci’s stomach tightened up into knots before she spoke. “Actually, I do forgive you. I forgive all of you.”

  “What?” Monique said, surprised.

  “Life is too short to hold grudges, Monique. I’ve moved on.” She got closer to Monique and put her hand on her shoulder and smiled. “You know what I think would be cool?”

  “What?”

  “If we could all get together tomorrow afternoon or something and hang out, you know, SBB style.” Laci beamed with pride. “Y’all will finally be able to see that I’m not stuck up. I’m just one of the girls.”

  Monique looked at Laci as if the crack she’d smoked had done something to her brain, but agreed. “You know Tonette still don’t like you. Actually when I came to see your mother, I was looking for you to tell you that.”

  “I don’t understand, Monique.” Laci looked at her with wonder. “If you thought I was stuck up too, why are you here try’na warn me?”

  “Because like I said earlier, it was wrong to do that shit to you.” Monique paused momentarily. “I just wanted you to know you need to watch your back because she’s out there, but I’m outta here on Friday anyway.”

  “Where you going?” Laci asked.

  “Away from the South Bronx. It’s time to start my life now.”

  “That’s good,” Laci managed to say.

  “Actually, Laci, you’re not the first person who Tonette did some fucked-up shit to.”

  “I’m not?” Laci’s eyes got big. She wondered what else that scandalous bitch could have done. “It can’t be as bad as turning me out, is it?”

  Monique’s face twisted in a “don’t go there” expression. “Actually, you remember Angel?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Tonette had people in the same house using the same needles. It was rumored that a lot of them were HIV-positive, but there were some who weren’t who shared the same needle. I think Angel was one of them.”

  “What?” Laci’s eyes got wide. Her mind went back to when she got high with Angel. She remembered her shooting. “Ump ump ump.” Laci shook her head.

  “You know Quita used to be a SBB too, right?” Laci nodded her head. “Well you know she was fucking Dame, but when Tonette went after her to jump on her, Dame stopped that shit with a quickness.”

  “What he do?”

  “He kept Quita close to him, but he also kept a close eye on Tonette. As long as she the top ho, she don’t care. But Dame put Quita before her and she didn’t like that.”

  “Figures,” Laci told her.

  “Then there were some other girls, you know, just local junkies she fucked with. A girl owed her twenty dollars for a rock and came back to her for another. Tonette thought the girl was trying to play her, so she told the girl to meet her at the subway. Tonette had the girl’s rock, and she threw it on the tracks and pushed the girl off the platform. The train crushed her.”

  “Ooh,” Laci cringed at the thought. “Where’s Angel now?”

  “She got caught stealing so she locked up, I think. Actually, everyone she fucked with except the dead girl are locked up.”

  “So what is she doing now? She don’t have anyone to mess with?”

  “Well, besides looking for you, she’s thinkin’ ’bout pushin’ for Smurf.”

  This bitch try’na leave with a clean conscience, Laci thought to herself.

  “Monique, why doesn’t she like me?” Laci asked, seriously. She never really understood why the girls hated her so much.

  Monique studied Laci’s face. “You really don’t know, do you?”

  “No, that’s why I asked you.”

  “Laci, the girl is jealous of you. Everything about you, she’s jealous of.”

  “Girl, please,” Laci said, ignoring Monique’s claim, “she ain’t got no reason to be jealous of me.”

  “Whatever,” Monique said in a disgusted tone. “What can’t you see? Look at all of this, Laci.” Monique pointed to the immediate surroundings. “This is how you live. You got a fly-ass crib, you probably got maids up in this bitch, you stay fly in all of the latest shit, you got cake without having to hustle for it.” She looked around again. “And you wonder why she’s jealous? This is something that none of us will ever have.”

  Laci could tell Monique needed to get that off her chest.

  “I didn’t look at it like that,” she told Monique. “You know, I can’t help where I came from, but I’m still as down as the rest of you. Actually, I’m going to be leaving soon, but I’d like to see all of y’all before I leave. I don’t know when I’ll be back here again. You know, let bygones be bygones.”

  “Are you sure you want to do that?” Monique asked, looking at Laci, not believing she’d said that to her.

  “Yes, I don’t have any animosity toward anyone,” Laci lied through her teeth. “So do you think you’ll be able to hook that up? I really wanna see all of y’all.”

  “Let me see what I can do to make that happen. I can’t make any promises, but I’ll call you and let you know what she says.” Right before Monique walked off the front porch, she turned to Laci and spoke. “You know what? You’re not so bad after all. I’m glad you’re okay and again, I’m sorry for everything that happened.”

  She left so she could see if she could get the girls together on short notice. Monique didn’t have a lot of time left. She was leaving the South Bronx on Friday, so she had only five days to honor Laci’s request.

  Laci watched as Monique drove away. Her plan was already in motion. She grabbed her keys and headed to the mall. Buying a pair of Jordache jeans, different-colored Reebok sneakers, and a couple of oversized sweatshirts, she couldn’t believe how tacky she would need to be to fit in with her former crew, but she had to do what she had to do. Making a few more stops, she finally got what she needed to help with her plan. While she shopped, Laci thought about all that Monique told her. Even though Monique was trying to clear her conscience, she had to go down with them, and Laci needed to move quickly. Friday wasn’t that far away.

  CHAPTER 38

  BACK AT TONETTE’S, Monique sprawled across the couch and called Shaunna. She had to tell someone what had just gone down.

  “Girl, you got to be kidding me,” Shaunna said to Monique. “You actually saw Laci and talked to her?”

  “Yeah girl,” Monique said, amped up.

  “Crackhead Laci?”

  “Yeah girl,” Monique laughed, “but she’s changed though.”

  “What you mean she’s changed?”

  “I can’t describe it. Maybe more like one of us now. More laid back and less—”

  “Stuck up?” Shaunna laughed.

  “Yeah girl,” Monique chimed in.

  “Damn, you gonna tell Tonette?”

  “Yup. Laci said she wanted to see all of us and kick it SBB style again.”

  “Bitch, you lyin’!” Shaunna jibed.

  “No I’m not.”

  “Wow. Even after what happened? All I know is she better watch her ass, because Tonette is one step away from making her Crystal’s roommate.”

  “Tell me about it,” Monique interjected. “Oh, she asked about you and your baby.”

  “Really?” Shaunna said, surprised but excited. “You know, she was the only one who ever cared to ask me about my baby.”

  Monique felt bad because she hadn’t asked how Shaunna was doing, even after she had her son.

  “But you just let me know when and where,” Shaunna said, “and we can do our shit, SBB st
yle. Well, I guess all we can do is sit back and watch the fireworks.”

  Once Monique got off the phone with Shaunna, she paged Tonette. Within minutes she called her back.

  “What’s up?” Tonette said hastily. “Talk fast. The spot is hoppin’ tonight.”

  “You’ll never guess who I saw today.”

  “Who?”

  “Laci.”

  Tonette became quiet and her tone changed. “Um . . . where?”

  “Her momma’s, but check this out: she wants to see all of us.”

  “What?” Tonette laughed. “Straight up?”

  “Yeah girl. So what you wanna do?”

  “You know how we do it: invite her ass over and let’s see what pops off from there.” Tonette began laughing. “I can’t wait to see my dear friend, Laci Johnson.”

  Monique laughed right along with her. “A’ight, cool.”

  SMURF LAY BACK in his bed while Quannie rode him like a bull. He still didn’t take broads to his real crib; just like Dame and Dink, he had another place for ass only. Smurf had begun to sex Quannie often. For being only fifteen years old, her sex game was tight and she knew what to do to keep a nigga coming back. Even though he usually didn’t like fucking young girls because they fell in love quickly, Quannie was different. She kept her ear to the street, alerting him to anything she felt he should know. She truly looked out for young Smurf, without asking for anything in return, and that impressed him.

  Smurf grabbed her hips tightly as he watched her go up and down on his dick like a pogo stick. Her small breasts bounced and Smurf liked the fuck faces she made when he dove deep into her. Just as he broke off another nut, Quannie collapsed on his chest. Both of their bodies were worn and well used. She looked over at the clock that sat on his nightstand. “Oh shit,” she said, sitting up fast.

  “What’s up?” Smurf said tiredly. He had dozed off for a minute.

  “It’s getting late and I gotta go to school in the morning.”

  Smurf took a deep breath and let it out. That was another thing he liked about Quannie. She had some idea of what she wanted to do with her life and regardless of how well he sexed her, she wasn’t going to miss school for anybody. When Quannie saw that Smurf was trying to go back to sleep, she playfully kissed his neck.

  “Come on boy, quit playin’. We can finish this up tomorrow.”

  Yawning, he got up and threw his clothes on so he could take her home.

  An hour later, at 3:30 A.M., Smurf arrived back at his crib. He opened his safe and put in another stack of money that he had collected after dropping Quannie off.

  Smurf’s riches had grown almost fourfold since Dink left. The ice that Dirty brought to town, along with pure cocaine, heroin, and crack, instantly took Smurf and everyone in his crew to another level in the drug game. Because of his reputation of being more deadly than cancer, cats didn’t fuck with young Smurf. Many of his rivals felt it was best to work with him instead of against him. It’s better to be fed than be dead, many rationalized. With the support of Dink, who still had him under his wing, Smurf rid his circle of the dead weight. Now everyone was benefiting, and he was gaining new territory as quickly as the product came through.

  Dirty was around more often, schooling young Smurf. They began to forge a father-and-son type of relationship in just a short amount of time. Dirty took Smurf under his wing and taught him the business side of street dealings—from weight to cake. A man in Smurf’s position always needed to know everything he could about running a fine-tuned operation and just like the economy, it changed often.

  One particular day, Dirty holla’d at Smurf seriously.

  “Yo, Smurf,” he called out. “I need ta holla at cha for a minute.” Dirty sounded serious. There was obviously something on his mind.

  “What’s up, man?”

  Dirty sat down on Smurf’s couch while Smurf walked into the kitchen and grabbed two beers. Handing Dirty one, he sat down on the armchair directly across from his mentor.

  “I think it’s time to get you off the streets.” Smurf remained quiet, listening to Dirty.

  “I think you’d be more useful in travel.”

  “You know I’ll do what I can to help you out, but man, you know I ain’t no damn runner,” Smurf said forcefully.

  “You wouldn’t be running, son,” Dirty said seriously. “You’d be working with me to get weight in.” He leaned forward and pointed at Smurf. “You already see what’s on the street. We need to make sure we keep getting top-notch shit. You need to look at your areas and see where your slowest spots are and shut them down.”

  “Shut ’em down? Why?”

  “That’s too much unproductive time, man.” Dirty took a swig of his beer. “We can get more business in areas where it’s already high volume. You already got the shit on lock, you just need to tighten it up now.”

  Smurf sat back and stroked his imaginary chin hair and sighed. “A’ight, man. I gotcha. I’ma call a meeting with my crew.”

  “Oh, also, you need to switch up yo’ houses. Shut down a couple, then open ’em up again.” Smurf gave him a confused look. “You always wanna switch up because you never know who’s watching you. Remember what I told you before. Never be predictable. You fall into a routine and then boom,” he motioned his finger like he was shooting, “that’s when you get popped.”

  SMURF CALLED A meeting with his top execs at the corner store and told them of the plan. Dirty watched as Smurf handled his business.

  “Yo, there’s been a change in operations here.”

  “What’s up, boss,” Drake, Chunky, and Lil’ Rob asked.

  “We need to shut down and move our operations.” The three of them listened intently to Smurf, who continued. He was surprised that he wasn’t met with resistance. “We’re getting rid of the empty buildings and we’re going to start occupying tenement buildings in Southview. Do y’all know someone who could use a lil’ cake?”

  They nodded their heads in unison.

  “Good, so this won’t be hard. Make whatever deal you have to with them, and those will be the spots from now on.”

  “When we doin’ this?” Drake asked.

  “Yesterday,” Smurf confirmed.

  Before they left the corner store, Lil’ Rob asked, “Hey Smurf, what you wanna do about Tonette?”

  “What about her?”

  “You shuttin’ down buildings. You know she posted by one all the time.”

  Smurf knew that Lil’ Rob wanted a piece of the young meat, so he didn’t answer like Lil’ Rob wanted. “I’ll deal with her. Just leave her there for the time being.”

  CHAPTER 39

  LATER THAT AFTERNOON, as promised, Laci showed up at Tonette’s apartment. She was glad that Tonette had agreed to see her.

  Nervously, Laci stood outside the apartment in a pair of skin-tight black l.e.i. jeans, a purple turtleneck, and a pair of black riding boots. She also had on a necklace with her name spelled out and a fierce leather jacket. Laci’s trademark diamond earrings were replaced by gold hoops and her Movado watch was replaced by ghetto-girl gold bangles.

  Butterflies fluttered in Laci’s stomach as she knocked on the door and waited for it to open. She smiled when she saw Tonette standing before her very eyes.

  “Look at this shit right here!” Tonette slipped, saying what she was thinking when she saw Laci. She was itching to kick Laci square in her proper ass but she’d promised her girls she’d behave, though she didn’t tell them for how long.

  “SBBs!” Laci said excitedly. Monique, Shaunna, and Tonette couldn’t believe their eyes. “What up, tricks?” Laci was getting into true form, and fast.

  The three girls looked at each other and then back at Laci. Laci didn’t know what took over her, but she hugged each of the girls.

  “Hey, y’all want something to eat?” Shaunna said, breaking the obvious tension in the air by cooing at her newborn baby and trying to get her two-year-old to stay still.

  “Y’all know what’s up,” Ton
ette said and retreated to the kitchen. Shaunna followed behind her with her wobbly toddler. Monique and Laci looked at each other.

  “Just be cool and don’t overdo it,” Monique whispered and walked into the kitchen.

  “Y’all want any?” Shaunna asked as she fried up some bologna sandwiches.

  “Not right now,” Tonette said, grabbing a bowl and a box of Cap’n Crunch cereal.

  “Me neither,” Monique said as she made a cheese and Miracle Whip sandwich.

  “I’ll make the Kool-Aid,” Laci volunteered, opening Tonette’s silverware drawer and looking for the packets. “What kind y’all want?”

  “Um . . . purple,” Monique said.

  “That cool?” Laci asked everyone else.

  “Yeah, it’s cool,” Shaunna and Tonette responded.

  Shaunna kept her son in the kitchen and turned on a Garbage Pail Kids video to keep him occupied. The rest of the girls retreated to the living room and waited for the Kool-Aid.

  Laci made the drink with extra sugar, just the way the girls liked it. She grabbed four colored plastic cups out of dish drainer and went in the freezer to get ice. Laci pulled out an ice tray and pulled the silver handle back.

  Crack.

  She heard it separate the cubes. Not enough ice was available for four cups, so she went to the next tray. It looked funny. She looked closely at the ice and saw that there were little packages of something in the cubes. Oh shit, did I find where she keeps her shit? Laci looked at the other cubes and sure enough, there were little packages of something frozen in each ice cube. Quickly, she put the tray back in the freezer and dumped the ice out that was already in their cups and ran hot water on the cubes to melt them. She didn’t want Tonette to know she’d found anything.

  She returned with the pitcher of warm Kool-Aid and four cups. They all sat around not knowing what to say next. Laci looked like she had changed, but none of the girls really knew how much.

  Shaunna reached over and handed Laci her plate of fried bologna sandwiches. Instantly, Laci removed the bread to see if anything was sprinkled on it.