by Nikki Turner
“Hell, it aint like you my man or nothing so there is no need for me to stress myself protecting you. Ain’t that what you said?” she laughed as she delivered the gut retching blow that had been a direct quote when he had all the power just a few hours ago. “Well, get back to me when you decide if taking me seriously is an option. Oops! I understand now why that might now be happening,” she swung her hips a little extra as she sashayed out of there shooting him a dirty look over her shoulder ’cause this shit was now his problem. Tariq had always been told that his love of new pussy would one day be his downfall and he hated to think that this might be that day, but it looked that way.
“Look man, no disrespect, but I’d been set up. We didn’t know nothing ’bout you or your house.”
“Yeah,” he answered making Tariq think that he was leaning in their direction. To be fair, it wasn’t like he couldn’t recognize the validity of his statement if that was all there was to it.
“While you make a very valid point there is something important that neither of you factored in when you decided to rob me a other night.”
Shit! Tariq thought, This isn’t for the robbery at Dino’s this is from the other night. Damn!
“You see I’m incredibly, how shall I say this? I’m protective about my shit. I work real hard at what I do so when someone or people, like you believe that you don’t have to work because you can just take mine it pissed me off. You motherfuckers are under the illusion that it’s your right to steal from me? Why? Because you grew up piss poor and no one gave a shit about you? Well boo-fuckin-hoo for your non-existent father and your whore of a mother who didn’t make sure that the guy she was fucking gave a shit?”
“No disrespect. It’s the nature of the beast. I’m sorry man. I’ll give you your money back.” Tariq thought about, all the years of he and Spoe’s careful hits he had and now he was caught out there like an amateur.
“Are you sorry or sorry you got caught?” He smiled at the man he had at his mercy sadistically enjoying his fear, as how the tables had turned. “It ain’t fun when the rabbit got the gun, huh?”
“Nope.”
“Great,” he continued, a huge smile of forgiveness plastered on his face as he extended his hand to Tariq who was filled with a feeling of relief when he saw Marky smile. The expression on his face turned sour when he felt his arm being twisted straight out of the socket. “Do I look like a fuckin idiot to you? You motherfuckers stole from me time, and time again and neither of you had the good sense to hide it. No, you took my money and spent it like it was water and you bitches were Niagara Fall and the shit would never stop flowing.” The realization that this was the owner of the majority of stash houses they had robbed rocked him to his core.
“You might know me by my other name.” He leaned forward and slowly and methodically unbuttoned his shirt showing hints of the full body tattoo inscribed with the name he figured out moments earlier.
“I want my motherfucking money!” Ghostman’s groveley voice raised sounding like a wild beast hungry for revenge. To say Tariq was shaking in his boots as he began to circle him was an understatement. Considering the crimes they had brazenly committed against him, he knew he wanted payback and the way things were going he was afraid he’d end up forced to pay with his life.
“I can give you everything we have,” he figured that if he offered to pay the guy back he would have a better chance at leniency. “Yes, everything.” Tariq, understanding where this was going joined in the promise knowing good and damn well that there was no way his ass was willing to go straight back to ghetto poor which happened to be a few levels under the poverty line. These were levels so low no one ever talked about them, but they all existed in the lower socio-economic areas.
“And you think what?” That it will be repayment for the pain and suffering you caused me?” Ghostman screamed causing both of the heathens in front of him to start praying for God’s mercy and grace.
“I think you should let me use this.” One of the men held up an uzzi and pointed it at him.
“Which one of you was the mastermind? You or your boy?” Ghostman got right up in his face as if daring him to lie.
“Me. I’m the one that made all the plans. I found the dope houses, cased them, and made all the plans on how it was gonna go down. My boy just came along to help me. It wasn’t his fault, it was all mine.” Since Spoe was dead and dead because of him, it was the least he could do. He had not expected Ghostman’s reaction.
“So you were the mastermind?”
“I said it because I’m the one that got us into this messing ’round with that bitch ho, Tiffany.” Whap! Whap! The butt of Ghostman’s gun whacked Reek across the temple collapsing him to the floor in a heap.
“Where my money at? I mean the rest that you haven’t blown on bitches, cars, and dumb shit.”
“At our stash house,” Tariq admitted, but then he started to hope like hell that Bunny was with her sisters and not laid up waiting for Spoe.
“Look, man you not going to be able to get it without me. Let me go get it. You can send Tiffany with me.”
“That would mean I trust you two to leave this room.” His muscle men started to laugh at the idea that Ghostman would do anything that stupid.
“We wouldn’t run. We’ll just go and get your money and bring it back.” Reek nodded to Ghostman with a faint smile on his face like he had just figured out the key to saving his ass.
Tiffany came back into the room and made a suggestion. “Have Spoe’s bitch bring the money.”
-19-
“Bitchesssss I’m free! The things we take for granted.”
“Not quite! You gotta abide by your house arrest rules. Only church outings and that’s it.”
“You know I’m going to get me some passes to the doctor and some more shit. But bitch I’m free. I will figure out the rest!”
“You gotta stop fucking with Deidra, you know that right?”
“I know I can’t believe that, bitch left me high and dry!”
“I don’t know why, the bitch been leaving us all for dead since, she gave birth to us.”
“Damn, I’m hungry as hell,” Ginger’s words elevated competing with music, singing and cell phone pinging messages in the car. “Something about almost cutting a niggas balls off always makes me wanna eat some down South food like barbecue hot links, chicken gizzards, and fried fish with some baked mac and cheese and collard greens.”
“Nuh-uh Gin, that all sounds good except for the chicken gizzards part. That shit sounds nasty. Who the hell eats chicken gizzards?” Bunny exclaimed.
“Bitch, I know you not tryin’a get all uppity on me? Don’t act like you ain’t had nastier shit in your mouth!” Ginger began making sucking noises while she pretended to be sucking on a lollipop.
“Yeah, I suck dick and what? And I bet you my man’s dick taste better then some nasty-ass chicken gizzards.” Bunny nudged her sister playfully. There was never a dull moment when her and Ginger got together, “I’m driving and since I’m also the one paying I say we hit up Mama J’s kitchen. All this talk about food got me fienin’ fo some fried catfish, collard greens and potato salad,” Bunny said starting to salivate thinking about how good that food would be.
“Me-Ma can cook you that shit at home, besides why you wanna drive this nice-ass car up into that hood. We don’t need to test our luck to see if we can get outta another place alive in one day,” Ginger shrieked ready to make her case until both of them were interrupted by their sister’s screams.
“Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord!” Tallhya cried from the back seat. Her body wracked with sobs as she screamed out in pain like a damn lamb brought to slaughter. Bunny and Ginger jumped in their seats. They had completely forgotten that Tallhya was sitting in the back seat. She hadn’t said a word since they got in the car after they left the funeral home. This whole time she had been in a zombie-like state. Now it was as if she was coming out of her trance and finally reacting to what had happened.
/> “No, Lord, no!” she hollered. A look passed between Bunny and Ginger as they drew visual straws to choose which one would be the first to deliver the ‘shut the fuck up’ sermon to their bereaved sibling.
“Ain’t like that nigga died or nothing,” it was Ginger that started first. “Hell, I never liked his selfish-ass no way. None of us did.” She sure wasn’t, lying but Tallhya was way beyond the point of being able to be reasoned with especially about the trifling piece a shit she called a husband. All her screaming and hollering had begun to grate on her sisters’ nerves and Bunny was a second away from completely losing her shit.
“Tale? Babe, you’re gonna be all right.” Bunny spoke in the sweetest tone. It was a tone she usually reserved for her man and not one of her siblings, but as bad as Tallhya was right now, she needed to calm her sister down. It was hard for Bunny to sympathize with Tallhya though. Bunny didn’t play that victim role and had no time for crying over no man, especially not one who had the bad taste to cheat with someone else and act like it wasn’t his fault. Walter would have been buried alive if it were up to Bunny.
“Hell no, I’m not gonna be all right,” Tallhya finally answered back flinging her tears and sadness all over the car interior. All this emotional drama had started to affect Ginger’s attitude. “How could he do that to me?” Tallhya’s voice wailed on.
“That motherfucker ain’t thought about nobody ’cept his self. Shit, I bet he ain’t never even gone down on you.” Ginger snapped her fingers as she rolled her eyes upwards at the very idea that any man would get the chance to leave her unsatisfied. Ginger loved her sister, but saw this whole episode as plain ole stupidity and had to stop herself from saying as much. “You need to go home and burn all this nigga shit. Make a great big bonfire in the front yard on some Waiting-to-Exhale-type level. I promise you, seeing that shit go up in flames, would make you feel better.”
“He’s my everything and now what is my life without him?” Tallhya squealed and kept at it, digging the hole of self-pity a little bit deeper with every sob.
“And that big ole butt girl he had all over him? Did you see that heifer?”
“Yes, I saw her, and the truth of the matter is, she was pretty and way better looking than me.”
“No the hell she wasn’t,” Ginger said. “That bitch was plastic as these damn tities I bought. That ho bought all that shit.”
“Yes, probably with my money.”
“That’s why you gotta look out for yourself. Stop giving them niggas yo’ money. They don’t desserve shit.”
“And if a ho, stand by and let a man take money from another woman. That ho got a whole other set of issues. I don’t care how much of a bad bitch she may appear to be on the outside, but she got low self-esteem to except that kind of shit.”
“You right about that.” Tallhya had to agree, “And besides her breath was stinking, talking about she’s Walter’s fiancé.”
Ginger laughed at Tallhya’s weak attempt at badmouthing Walter’s mistress. Tallhya had always been the softest out of the four sisters. Before Simone went to live with her father Bunny had to stick up for her sister in school because she was always being taken advantage of by the other kids. She never cursed or talked bad about anyone so to hear her try to badmouth someone was almost comical.
Ginger busted out laughing again, giving Bunny a high five.
“I’m glad you two find my tragedy so amusing,” Tallhya said.
“Oh, Tale,” Bunny laughed. “Please don’t play the woe is me card. This is not a tragedy. You were too good for Walter and you know it. That no good, cheating liar don’t deserve you. I know you love him and you’re hurting right now, but you are better off without him,” Bunny said reaching in the back to grab her heartbroken sister’s hand.
“Amen to that!” Ginger exclaimed, “Now can I get Hallelujah?” she went on in her best preacher impersonation as she raised her hands as if she was praising in a church. She looked over at Bunny, but she was giving her the ‘time to get serious’ look. “Okay, for real though. Walter was selfish and his ass was basically broke so I don’t get it.”
“I love him,” Tallhya screeched throwing herself on the mercy of the seat, bucking back and forth, cradling her sides as she droned on.
“Look sis, when you done with all this crying and carrying on you need to figure out a way to make his ass pay for betraying you,” Bunny said starting to lose patience for Tallhya’s victim bullshit. She couldn’t imagine loving a man who treated her the way that she had observed Walter treating her sister. As much as she didn’t believe in the whole modern day self-esteem crisis the girl needed some serious charge by the hour help. She thought about how lucky she had been to find a man like Spoe who committed himself on the same deep level to Bunny as she did to him. But not to get it twisted Bunny saw herself as wholly incapable of putting up with any bullshit from anybody, dick or no dick including Spoe and he didn’t expect her to deal with bullshit from him either. “You hear me Tal? This feeling sorry for choosing a looser bullshit has to stop.”
She admonished her little sister, but what Bunny didn’t get was how much she sounded like Deidra who had no patience when it came to tears or neediness. Bunny wished that Simone was with them because of the four sisters, she was the only one who possessed real compassion and understanding in emotional situations like this one. Right now with Tallhya looking and acting so vulnerable she knew Simone would know how to handle it. It seemed that what her sister needed was to be able to break down and let it all out without being chastised for it, but Ginger and Bunny weren’t built for that sentimental stuff. They weren’t kumbaya hug it out kind of girls. They had tough skin and even tougher hearts. Bunny thought about calling Me-Ma and filling her in on everything that had happened. She decided against it because as sweet as her grandmother was, she was very protective of her granddaughters and Bunny was almost positive if she called Me-Ma, she would go Government grade A Ham on Walter and even the good Lord couldn’t save him.
“You don’t understand. I’m not lucky like you are when it comes to men. I have to take what I can get and Walter is the best I ever had,” their jilted sister swore through the tears sounding like a crazy bitch.
“Don’t you ever get tired of accepting so little from the men in your life? For a big girl you almost as pretty as my fine-ass and if you thought a little more of yourself you’d bring the men running.” Ginger, like Simone and Bunny didn’t understand why Tallhya allowed a steady stream of losers into her life. Me-Ma used to say that she had a magnet attraction to Mr. Wrong. She’d even thought that demanding Walter commit to her before marriage would guarantee her loser streak would come to an end, but clearly it didn’t.
“Look honestly, if you feel that way, because you are fat, then loose some weight. Carry your ass to the gym. Watch what you eat. Go to see a nutritionist and push away from the table.” Ginger knew it hurt, but hell the truth hurts. And some things need to be said.
Bunny hit Ginger, “Now that wasn’t nice you fucking trannie! But for real Tallhya, you are pretty and if you don’t like what you see in the mirror. You can do something about it.”
Just at this moment the phone rang and Bunny’s phone blew up over the bluetooth. She switched it to her headpiece when she saw that it was her man Spoe calling from Tariq’s phone. Her sisters were so nosey, but Bunny would not allow them to live vicariously through tales of her good fortune. “Y’all need to shut the hell up so I can hear my bae,” and Lord why did she say that? All it did was to remind Tallhya of her new single reality and the boo-hooing escalated to a whole other level.
“Bitch, shut up,” Bunny snapped at her sister who was too far-gone to listen.
“Lord why you have to say that to her?” Ginger whispered at Bunny and then whipped her head around at the hot mess her sister had collapsed into. Bunny hit the button on her earpiece and tried to make sense of what Tariq was saying. She couldn’t really understand what he was saying because his voice was cutting
in and out but from what she could hear, him speaking fast, and she could hear the panic in his voice.
“Shut the fuck up!” Bunny screamed her emotions coming apart at the seams throwing her sisters off. She had gone from normal to apoplectic, her tone strong enough to quiet Tallhya’s wailing.
“Tariq, what did you say?” Bunny said into the phone as she grew intensely focused trying to listen to her man’s homeboy. But Tariq’s frazzled tone triggered an alarm bell deep inside of her that damn near rocked her to the core. See Bunny could tell that something was off. He didn’t sound like the man she had watch leave her house to head off to work with her boo. He sounded spooked giving her an eerie premonition that she tried to shake off as she struggled to hear what he needed from her. She pulled into a parking lot and was finally able to hear him clearly, but what he kept saying wasn’t making much sense.
-20-
Me-Ma rode the elevator to the third floor just like it had been explained to her on the telephone. When she got off she stood facing the glass and marble entryway of the law office of Callahan, Crosby and White. The senior Mrs. Banks didn’t normally find herself in places like this and she had to admit, she felt a bit out of place. Me-Ma’s first thought was if she had dressed nicely enough for the meeting, but her second and the most important was how much would this whole thing cost?
“May I help you ma’am?” a red headed receptionist seated behind the desk looked up to greet her before fielding more phone calls.
“Yes, I’m here to see a Lauryn Shelton,” Me-Ma informed the young woman, “I have an appointment”
“Certainly ma’am. Can I have your name please?” the friendly receptionist asked.
“Mrs. Banks” Me-ma replied.
“Hello, Mrs. Banks. Miss Shelton will be with you in a moment. In the meantime, can I get you some coffee, tea or another beverage while you wait?” the woman asked and though she was actually thirsty Mrs. Banks didn’t want to waste time sipping on a drink when she came to handle important business. Not to mention that this woman charged by the hour and how was she to know that an hour didn’t officially begin until she saw that lawyer.