by Wahida Clark
“Calm down, Nina.” Michelle was pulling her back.
She pushed Michelle away. “No, fuck that!” She pushed Derrick, causing him to fall back onto the tattered loveseat. “Why should I even let you live, nigga?”
“C’mon, y’all, before Peedie come down here. Plus we still got business to take care of. What time Canada’s mom want you to meet her to pick up her money?” he asked. Nina didn’t respond. She just stood there mean-muggin’ Derrick.
“C’mon, Ni, why you trippin?” Derrick pushed himself up on his elbows and Nina pushed him right back down. “Stop trippin’, Ni!” he yelled. “Let’s get this money… What time?”
Getting her composure together, Nina said, “She told me to page her as soon as I’m done on my end. Just be ready, fool.” She smacked his head. “I’ll call you. If you don’t pick up the phone the first time, it’s your loss. So don’t go running off on no crack binge with all your little buddies that just ran outta here. Y’all get a few dollars and the glass dick is all y’all know.”
Derrick got up. “Aiight. I’ll be on point.” He limped up the basement stairs.
Nina sat down on the couch, pulled out all the money and began counting.
“Your brother is a piece of shit,” Michelle said with disgust apparent in her voice.
But Nina shook her head no, to tell her to shut up and not to interrupt her counting the money.
By the time she finished counting, there was 44,700 dollars. She was giving Canada’s mom 22,500. Using Derrick and his fiend crew had been worth it. She had practically doubled her take. Now, if they could finish it off, her stash would almost be right back to where it had been. Not quite, but close enough so she could get the fuck out of Dodge. She felt that she couldn’t get away fast enough. That’s why she had agreed to Derrick’s plan. She was desperate. After paging Canada’s mom she stood up, ready to go.
“Let’s roll, chica.” Nina felt that she could finally see the light at the end of this ghetto tunnel.
“Aiight, boy. Don’t fuck this up. I’m meeting her at the Red Roof Inn at ten-thirty,” Nina told her crackhead brother.
“Chill, girl. Let me do what I do. One!”
“Why did I get thrown into this dysfunctional family?” she asked Michelle.
“I don’t know, trick. But I do know you need to come on, we got stops to make. Plus, I need to know what’s up with ol’ boy from NY?”
“Nothing’s up yet. He said he was swinging by later on this evening.”
Earlier, they had taken Daysha and Jermichael across the street to Ms. Ruthie’s house and Jatana over to her grandmother’s house. Supreme was Ms. Della’s baby boy and Jatana was her only granddaughter. All of her other kids had boys, bad-ass ones at that. Ms. Della loved it when Jatana came over. Jatana loved how she would get spoiled whenever she went to spend time with her grandmother.
At ten-fifteen Michelle and Nina pulled up in the parking lot of the Red Roof Inn. Michelle cocked her two boys, Smith & Wesson, and placed them on her lap. Nina backed into a parking space and cut off the engine of the stolen Escalade.
“This ho had the nerve to ask me why she couldn’t meet me at my house. I said let’s meet at your house. She then got all quiet and shit. I was like, ‘That’s what I thought.’”
Michelle laughed at what Nina had just said. “Bitch, it ain’t like y’all don’t know where each other live, so it really didn’t make a difference.”
“Ho, it’s the principle of the thing. Plus, I don’t want her near my crib when them fools try to jack her.”
“Try?”
“Yeah, try. You know my brother is the biggest fuckup! So be ready.”
“Yeah. You got a point there.”
“However, if he pulls this shit off I’m leaving next month. I’m making reservations for next week to fly down and find a spot to rest my head and then it’s a wrap.”
“Word? You bouncin’ that fast?” Michelle was shocked because she really didn’t believe that her dawg was leaving her.
“You thought I was playin’, didn’t you?” When Michelle didn’t respond Nina sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes at her in disgust.
“It wasn’t that I thought you was playin’, it’s that I was hoping you was just running your mouth because you know I don’t want you to go,” she pouted. “The fuckin’ country? What the fuck you gonna do down there?”
“Get a job. I’ma be legit.” Her eyes landed on a Honda Accord with three niggas in it. They all had on dark clothes. She was sure one of them was Derrick.
“You peep that Honda?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
Then came the burgundy Q45 that Nina had been expecting. There were two females in the front and two males in the back. Nina flashed her parking lights and the Q came over and got in a spot a couple of cars down from them, just as planned.
“Don’t get out; make that ho come to you…” Michelle ordered as she fingered her boys.
“I got this.” Nina was making eye contact with Canada’s mom, Serita, who was getting out of the car. Nina cracked her window. “What’s good, ma?” she said as she popped the lock to the back door. “Get in. I got something for you.”
Serita looked just as young as her daughter. She hung with the youngens and even fucked the young niggas. She was a hustler, just like Nina, trying to make ends meet. As she opened the back door the two niggas she had with her stepped out of the Q. The short one got in the back with Serita, the other one leaned against the car. No one said anything as Michelle handed a Gap bag over to Serita.
Serita turned on her small penlight and immediately began counting the cash. Nina watched through her rearview mirror as Michelle was turned around in the front seat glued to each dollar that Serita fingered. When Serita folded the last bill Michelle said, “We straight?”
“Man, y’all roll better than most niggas. If I come up again in a day or two, y’all down?”
Nina said, “Not for half. I gotta round up too many people. Too many mouths eating outta the pot. I need seventy percent. I only did it this time because niggas and hoes was starvin’.”
Serita sighed. “I don’t know about seventy percent, there are a lotta folks tryna eat on my end as well. I gotta holla at my peeps.”
“Aiight. Just hit me on my cell.” And right on cue Michelle turned on her lights to let Derrick know they were done. She then turned the ignition on before unlocking the back door. As soon as Serita and her man stepped out of the car she put the gear in drive and was out, all the while looking at her rearview mirror. As she turned the corner, the Honda Accord gunned out and blocked the Q45 in.
Nina and Michelle pulled up to Ms. Della’s and parked. Nina’s celly vibrated. She looked at the caller ID and smiled when she saw it was Reese, but didn’t answer it.
“What’s taking your brother so long to call back?” Michelle kept looking at her watch.
“We just left ten minutes ago. Damn, give the nigga time to jack some muthafuckers! Plus you know how trifling Derrick is. They all probably taking a hit off that glass pipe right now.”
Michelle couldn’t help but laugh at her girl. She was truly pissed big time at her crack-fiend brother. They got out of the car, climbed the porch and rang the bell. “Damn, is everybody on CP time tonight?” Michelle cracked, after four rings and no one coming to the door.
Nina began knocking. “Ms. Della is probably asleep. You know how old people are.” Nina peeped in the front window. “Here she comes now.”
“Who is it?”
“It’s Nina, Ms. Della.” They stood and listened to Ms. Della unlock the dead bolt and two other locks.
“Damn. Where we at, Fort Knox?” Michelle cracked again.
“Bitch, chill with the jokes,” Nina snapped.
Ms. Della opened the door and said, “It’s late, baby. Why don’t you let her spend the night and get her in the morning?”
“I would love to, but she has a doctor’s appointment at nine.”
“Well, co
me get her at eight.”
“It’s no way I’ll be on time with getting two other kids ready and driving way across town at rush hour. Where is she?” Nina said, walking through the house.
“Well, um, her daddy called and, um, said you was taking her South so he had his friend to um… err… um… come pick her up.”
Nina froze in her footsteps, her heart sank to her stomach. “Wait a minute. Who did you give my baby to?” Michelle was seated at first but she had jumped up.
“Her daddy’s friend came and got her.”
“Who is this friend? Call her and tell her to bring my daughter over here right now. I’m not leaving here until she comes.”
“I don’t know her name or number. Butchie”—which was Supreme’s government name—“called and said for me to give Jatana to her until you came back from down South.”
“Ms. Della,” Nina screamed. “Where is my daughter? Michelle, call the police!” she frantically ordered. “Y’all ain’t gonna play no fuckin’ games with my child! Ms. Della, you and your son got me fucked up! You can play games with him if you want to but your ass will be sitting right in the cell next to your son if you don’t get my baby back! I’ll have you arrested for kidnapping.”
“Butchie said he’ll be calling you in the morning.”
“Fuck Butchie!” Nina was about to lose it. “I want my daughter with me tonight. Call the police now, Michelle!” she screamed.
“That’s what I’m doing. Bastards got me on hold.”
Ms. Della snatched the cell phone out of Michelle’s hand and turned it off. “No, this old lady didn’t do that!” Michelle gasped in surprise.
Bbrrring. Nina’s cell phone rang. “What!” she screamed into it.
All she heard was heavy breathing. “Sis. I got shot. Come pick me up. I’m walking down Olden. Hurry up. I think I killed Canada’s mom.”
“You what?” Nina yelled out in disbelief.
“I got your money, though. I’m bleeding bad. Hurry and come get me!” The phone went dead.
“Oh shit!” She looked from the phone to Ms. Della. “Ms. Della, I gotta go but I’ll be back in an hour. I swear, if my baby is not here your ass is goin’ down! Come on, Michelle!”
Michelle snatched her cell phone outta Ms. Della’s hand. They stormed out of the house, slamming the door so hard the whole house shook.
SIX
What the fuck?” Michelle commented as she trailed behind a frantic Nina.
“Why is he doing this?” Nina screamed as she yanked the car door open.
“Who? Supreme?”
“Of course Supreme! I told you that nigga said I better not take his child no-damn-where.” She zoomed out of the parking spot as if she were a NASCAR driver.
“Nina! Watch where you going! Shit, you need to slow the fuck down!” Michelle was pressing her foot to the floor as if she were the driver hitting the brakes.
“My baby, Michelle. How he gonna take my baby! I swear to God if something happens to my daughter I’m killing him and his whole damn family. I put that on everything,” she snarled through clenched teeth.
A few minutes later they were riding down Olden Avenue. “Where is this clown? Nina snapped. “I gotta get back and get my daughter.” She was straining to see in the dark.
“Slow down. Is that him?” Derrick was in the middle of the street limping toward them and holding his side. “That is him.” Michelle said.
“Fuck! He’s bleeding,” Nina yelled out, as if it was just sinking in what he said over the phone about being shot. Nina had jumped out of the car.
“Get me to a hospital, Ni.”
Michelle also jumped out of the car and opened the back door. She and Nina helped him inside. He threw the bloody Gap bag up front before stretching out onto the backseat. “There, I got your money back.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “Damn, it’s burning bad, Nina.”
“What the fuck happened, Derrick?” Nina yelled as she slammed the door and gunned the gas pedal.
“What do it look like, Nina?” he responded between short breaths. “It wasn’t a fuckin’ cakewalk! Owww, damn! Don’t hit no more potholes! Fuck!”
“I’m trying to get you to the fuckin’ hospital before you bleed to death in the back of my car!”
“This ain’t your car and I’ma be dead before I get there.”
“Don’t say that, nigga!” Nina pleaded.
Michelle was busy counting the money in the Gap bag. It was stained with blood, causing her to think of the term “blood money.” “D, after you got shot you counted the money?”
“I wanted to know how much it was,” he groaned.
“What happened to Canada’s mom? Where is she?” Nina was trying to see Derrick in her rearview mirror. “Derrick! Can you hear me?”
Michelle stopped counting and looked back at him.
“What is he doing?” Nina said in panic mode. “Is he dead?”
“He’s not moving. I think he is dead.” Michelle grabbed his wrist to see if she could feel his pulse. “Hurry up! We gotta get him to a hospital! Shit! We gonna have to drop him off and jet.”
“Girl, is you crazy?” Nina screamed.
“What are you gonna tell five-o, Nina? Shit, you stay if you want, as a matter of fact let me out here. I’ll find me a way home.”
“This is my brother, Michelle. Derrick, hang in there. I’m sorry, okay? That’s my brother, Michelle!”
“I know that. But what are you going to say to the police?”
“What? What do you suggest, Michelle?”
“I told you, let’s drop him off and get ghost. That’s what you need to do, Nina.” She looked at the blank stare in Nina’s eyes. “Do you understand me, Nina? Yes or no? We are gonna pick him up and drop him off at the emergency room entrance.” Nina nodded her head up and down. “Aiight then,” Michelle said as they turned the corner heading toward St. Francis Hospital.
“Derrick,” Nina called his name.
Michelle thought quickly about it. “Let me out first and I’ll get a stretcher, wheelchair or something.”
When they pulled up in the emergency room driveway, Michelle did just that: jumped out, ran and got a stretcher. Nina’s heart was pounding as she got out of the car and opened the back door. She grabbed under his arms and got a good grip on his shoulders.
“Oowww,” he groaned, causing Nina to fall back in fright when she heard the sounds of pain escape from his mouth.
“He’s not dead, Michelle! Derrick, we got you at the hospital, hold on, okay?” She breathed a sigh of relief.
“C’mon, let’s get him moved,” Michelle ordered. Even though he weighed about one hundred and fifty pounds soaking wet, it was still a struggle to get his scrawny body off the backseat and up onto the stretcher.
Nina kissed her crackhead brother on the forehead. “Hang in there, Bro.”
“Move the car!” Michelle ordered as she began pushing the stretcher with all her might toward the emergency room entrance. “I’ll meet you up the street,” she hollered back, as she was going as fast as she could. “I think this man has been shot! Excuse me, Doctor, I believe this man has been shot!”
“I’m not a doctor, I’m just an orderly,” a young black guy looking like Ruben Studdard announced.
“Can you call a fuckin’ doctor?” Michelle screamed out.
He flicked his cigarette across the driveway and took off yelling, “We need a doctor out here!”
Two ladies who appeared to be nurses came over to the stretcher. As soon as one of them felt his pulse and saw the blood, she yelled, “C’mon, guys, we don’t want to lose him!” As they rolled him through the double doors, Michelle turned around and began jogging up the street looking for Nina. She ran right past her. Nina beeped the horn, causing her to almost jump out of her skin.
“Why the fuck are you parked?” a startled Michelle barked as she jumped into the car.
“I was trying to see what was happening, plus two squad cars rolled right past me.”
“Let’s get the fuck away from here. Let’s go to my mom’s. We gotta change cars. And we both got blood on our clothes. This is fucked up!”
“What did they say?” Nina wanted to know.
“The nurse’s last words were we don’t want to lose him.”
“That’s what she said?” Nina looked at Michelle in bewilderment. Michelle nodded her head yes. “This is all my fault.”
“Naw. It’s your crackhead brother’s fault. He shouldn’t have stole your money and when you told him don’t jack Canada’s mom, he insisted. You didn’t make him do it. Or did you?” She looked at Nina, daring her to say yes.
“No. I didn’t make him. I’m the one who told you he was gonna fuck up. But I didn’t anticipate it being this bad.”
“Well then. So why the fuck you talking about it like it’s your fault?”
“I don’t know.” She started crying. “I just don’t want him to die. Especially over something involving me. I hate him for stealing my money but I don’t want him to die.”
“He’ll be all right. You know crack fiends don’t die, they multiply.”
“Why the fuck you want me to clean a stolen car?” Peedie cursed as he grabbed a bucket of water and other stuff with plans to clean the stolen Escalade.
“Because of blood, DNA, fingerprints. How was I supposed to know he was gonna get shot?”
Beep. Beep. Michelle was outside beeping the horn. They had changed clothes, washed up and gotten Michelle’s Rover. Now they were ready to go back over to Ms. Della’s.
“I gotta run, Peedie.”
“Tell Supreme if he don’t send my niece home, I’ma do something to get arrested and come where he at and fuck him up my damn self. Ya heard?” Peedie hollered at her.
Nina ran outside and jumped in the car. She grabbed her celly and dialed Ms. Della’s. After four rings the answering machine kicked in. “No, this old lady don’t have the machine on! I don’t disrespect old people but I swear, she’s itching for me to tap that old ass!” Nina was forcefully redialing Ms. Della again. This time on the fourth ring she answered. “Ms. Della, I’m on my way to pick up Jatana.”