Spot Rushers

by Brandon McCalla

  twenty-six

  Christmas Eve came and went with a successful spot rush. It was like taking candy from a baby. Pebbles played her part with Dora Dean seductiveness and ease. Sabrina, Rayne and Samantha had made sure the dealer’s house was empty. They taunted and teased about what they could do to him as soon as everybody else was gone. By two in the morning, everyone except for one of his boys was shown the door.

  Pebbles walked over to Rayne and said, “He must be giving his boy a Christmas present, one of us. One of us had better keep him company.”

  Rayne knew exactly what that meant.

  “Tell Samantha to keep him in the living room.” Rayne ordered. She wasn’t about to fuck no one on a spot rush. Only Trevor could make her a whore.

  Samantha did her job and kept the other man downstairs. He was so drunk, not even Samantha’s lip service could keep him up. Pebbles was upstairs working her charms on the mark. Rayne and Sabrina went up to the room. The mark was already on top and between Pebbles’ legs, pounding the hell out of her pussy.

  With each of his thrusts, her head banged against the wall. She was screaming loudly. The sound of Barry White pumped from a stereo in the room. He didn’t hear Rayne and Sabrina creeping.

  He had a hand around Pebbles’ neck, choking her. He was stroking her long and beast like. Rayne could see Pebbles’ face. She looked like she was suffocating. Sabrina took a step forward, gun in hand. Rayne grabbed her arm.

  “Let that nigga cum first,” Rayne whispered with an evil grin, visions of crimson dripped. “Yeah, let that nigga skeet the fuck off.”

  “You want it, huh bitch…? You want my juice in you…uh… ah?”

  Sabrina moved up on the mark. Rayne grabbed her by the shoulder. Pebbles couldn’t scream, his hands clenched tightly around her windpipe. She was finally able to breathe when he shot his load and released his grasp on her neck.

  She was coughing and trying to get him off her. The nigga was still digging hard inside her pussy.

  “Damn!” he exhaled loudly. “I think I made you bleed bitch.”

  “You, you fucking asshole…! I’m gonna kill you! I warned you about doing it like that!”

  Before the mark could say anything else, Sabrina put a bullet in the back of his head.

  “Fuck!” Rayne yelled snatching the smoking gun out of Sabrina’s hand. “Why the fuck you had to do that?” She exasperated.

  “Damn nigga ain’t even use a condom. He was raping me,” Pebbles said while rolling off the bed. Her legs were weak and she fell.

  “Bitch, that nigga ain’t rape you. You said he was rough. You should’ve prepared yourself,” Sabrina said with a cold voice.

  “Why did you shoot him like that?” Rayne asked with the gun pointed to Sabrina’s breasts.

  “You didn’t see what he was doing to Pebbles?” Sabrina asked ignoring the gun aimed at her. She looked at Pebbles. “Where is the cash and jewelry kept?”

  Pebbles staggered to her feet. Rayne saw a thin line of blood trickling down her inner thigh. He had ripped Pebbles’ immaculate weave apart and there were bruises on her neck. Rayne almost felt sorry for her. She looked at Sabrina with red eyes and all feelings of sympathy dissipated.

  “You heard Sabrina,” Rayne barked. “Where’s the money and all that jewelry?”

  Pebbles responded by screaming like an animal. Rayne got closer and smacked her.

  “Get yourself together. You wanna be gangsta right? What sort of ho’ are you? You used to ho’ on the street and now you can’t take dick?”

  “Rayne is right, bitch.” Sabrina scolded Pebbles. Sabrina walked over to the stereo and turned down the volume. They were yelling without being aware of it. Things were a bit calmer. “Let’s get the stash and get the fuck out of here. Look! There’s a dead nigga here. We need to move fast.” Sabrina snatched the gun from Rayne. “I gotta finish shit,” she said walking out.

  Rayne shook Pebbles.

  “I’m fine bitch.”

  Pebbles went around the room and found the loosened plank of flooring. Pebbles pulled it up and lifted out a strong-box. There were three Ziploc bags filled with cocaine under the floor as well.

  Two shots startled Rayne and Pebbles. The sound came from downstairs. Rayne whipped out the knife she had in a pocket and ran downstairs. She was stunned by what she saw when she got there. The dude Samantha had been servicing had been shot in the back of his dome-piece by Sabrina. Blood covered Samantha. Sabrina didn’t give her a chance to push him off her.

  Rayne was more scared of Sabrina than she’d ever been. Sabrina was a mad woman. Rayne laughed hysterically. It was a clear sign that she had not taken her meds. She felt saner than Sabrina though. Sabrina had just killed two people. She didn’t have to murder neither.

  Sabrina held her hands up and calmed them before anyone could say or do anything.

  They all took showers to wash off any DNA they had on them. They all carried a change of clothing. Samantha had gone outside and walked the four blocks to the vehicle. Sabrina took all their clothing and made a fire in the middle of the living room.

  “Everything is going up in flames,” Sabrina told no one.

  “Bitch, you crazy,” Rayne said with sincerity. “We’re gonna do the Steve Stunner job and then I’m out of this.”

  “I don’t wanna do this no more either,” Pebbles said feebly. “My pussy hurts for real.”

  “Shut up bitch!” Sabrina snapped giving Rayne fierce, narrowed eyes.

  Rayne returned the stare with even more intensity. There was a fire raging. Rayne and Sabrina coldly stared at each other. There were no words. Their eyes said nothing would ever be the same. The planets were aligned.

  Rayne realized that she was carrying vengeance for Steve Stunner and more. Sabrina murdered Trevor as easily as she’d murdered the mark and his friend. Rayne truly loved Trevor. His death had to be avenged to make things right.

  twenty-seven

  The events from Christmas morning hit the news hard. There were many miscreant people at the party and the authorities had no leads. No one would cooperate. Rayne had a suspicion that things would blow up in their faces. She figured some of the drug dealer’s people might get at Pebbles and Samantha, eventually getting to Sabrina and herself.

  The Fatal Four had always divided the spoils of their spot rushes evenly. The Christmas rush wasn’t any different. Sabrina took all three Ziploc bags of coke and said, “When this shit is worked out on the street, I’ll make sure everyone gets their share.”

  “Give my portion to Pebbles.” Rayne told her while counting her share of the dough.

  What Rayne said came as a shock to both Sabrina and Pebbles.

  “What the fuck would you wanna do that for?” Sabrina asked her suspicions on the rise.

  “Consider it payment for Steve Stunner’s whereabouts,” Rayne answered directing her attention to Pebbles. “You said you know where he is, right?”

  “Sure Rayne,” Pebbles answered.

  “You don’t even gotta go inside that deep. You just tell me where he hangs out at. I’m gonna get him right where I see him.” Rayne pledged.

  “Nah bitch,” Sabrina said rising from off the living room couch. “We gonna rush Steve Stunner and get him like we got those two niggas last night. It ain’t all about you killing the nigga. That nigga got large money. I want some of that.”

  “Sabrina, this shit ain’t about you. It’s about me burying Dora.”

  “That bitch is already buried.”

  “I bet you ain’t even go visit where she’s buried. Bernadette did. I plan on doing so after all of this is done. You ain’t visit Trevor either.”

  “Don’t ever mention that nigga. I told you about that Rayne,” Sabrina warned.

  “Nah bitch, you told Dora Dean that and this new Dora Dean.” Rayne looked over at Pebbles. “That’s all you are bitch, just a bad replica of Dora Dean, a replacement. The nigga upstairs is a sad excuse for Trevor. Sabrina is living in a past that’s over a
nd done with. A past the bitch ruined.”

  Sabrina pulled out a pistol.

  “Go ahead bitch,” Rayne shouted. “Kill me and end shit. All things must come to an end. Bitch you just a spoiled brat. I wish I had the life you lived taking karate and ballet and shit.” Rayne grabbed her coat and started towards the front door.

  “Rayne you take another step and you’re gonna get exactly what Trevor got.”

  Rayne turned around to face Sabrina.

  “What did Trevor get but released from the madness. He stopped fucking with us because he knew shit had gotten crazy. He wanted to run off with Dora because she was gonna have his baby, something me and you could never provide for him. We were weak hos’ who did whatever he told us, even sharing him. You got mad when you lost control.” Rayne started yelling even louder. “Bitch you lost control the day your mother kicked you out the house. You lost control when you thought I’d be easy and I sliced your fucking face up. You had to live with a woman who was fucking your man, who scarred you for life.” Rayne let out a mocking laugh. “I bet Trevor never said anything bad about me but he always said shit ‘bout you.” Rayne could tell from the way Sabrina was looking at her that she was right. “I knew it bitch. At night sometimes while you were snoring Trevor would whisper Scar Face in my ear. I’d laugh. I felt sorry for you because you actually could’ve had a real life and you choose bullshit. Shoot me if you wanna bitch. Do it in the back of my head like you do everyone else. Do it when I don’t expect it like the coward you are.”

  Sabrina lowered the gun. She went upstairs where her man was.

  “Rayne,” Pebbles called out.

  “What bitch?” Rayne snapped already halfway out the door.

  She was planning on going to Bernadette’s and waiting until she got her GED results.

  “What do you want?” Rayne sneered.

  “I wanna help you get Stunner. I don’t wanna be another Dora Dean. I wanna help you.”

  Rayne continued walking out the house.

  New Year’s Eve was uneventful for Rayne. 2000 went and 2001 came with her lounging in Jenny and Bernadette’s living room watching the ball drop on television. Rayne had not been to the doctor or taken a pregnancy test. Her body was acting all crazy and she had gained some weight. She felt pregnant and hadn’t gotten her period since being with Angel.

  She didn’t blame him. She hadn’t told him to pull out. He never called. That made her pissed. She didn’t really want to call him. She was responsible for this situation. Her whole life was one perfectly bad situation.

  On January 3rd, Rayne received a piece of mail she had been waiting for. She had failed the GED test. Tears came silently. She really wanted to pass. Bernadette saw the disappointment on her face.

  “Don’t worry about a thing, Rayne. You can always take it over…” Bernadette tried consoling her.

  “But I really wanted to go back to school.” Rayne vigorously interrupted her.

  Bernadette rubbed her hunched shoulders. Rayne shook her head defeated.

  “If you want it, you gotta work for it.”

  “You’re right, Bernadette. I’ll do it again and study much harder for the test.”

  The next day Jenny Chen walked into the house with a copy of a GED test.

  “It would be better if you study from this,” Jenny said giving the copy to Rayne.

  “Thanks for looking out,” Rayne said.

  “Not a problem,” Jenny said.

  An urge to see Sabrina hit Rayne. Over there, she was always so high she hardly worried about anything. Going back to Sabrina’s wasn’t a good idea. She hadn’t seen or heard from her since Christmas. The last time she saw her, Sabrina pulled a gun out on her.

  Mid-morning, January 10th, Rayne’s phone rang while she was studying. Jenny had given her a book on how to pass the GED test and Rayne was focused on it. Jenny seemed to be genuinely concerned about her future. She liked Jenny a lot. Bernadette was the most positive thing Rayne had going. She picked up the phone and realized the person on the other end was the most negative.

  The caller id had Sabrina’s name next to the number. Rayne answered and heard Pebbles’ voice.

  “Hello, is this Rayne?”

  “Pebbles…” Rayne said a bit confused. “What do you want?”

  “Rayne, Sabrina shot Wayne and is on the run…”

  “What…? Who is Wayne?”

  “The one who used to live with her…”

  The wanna-be-rapper-boyfriend…? Rayne mused.

  Sabrina was unraveling and moving lower than she had ever been.

  “She just flipped out the other day. We were doing things with Wayne and she just went crazy. She pulled out a gun and shot at Samantha first and missed. She shot at me but hit Wayne instead. She shot him right in the chest and then ran out the house.”

  “Damn,” Rayne uttered with sadness. “Where is she? Do you know…?”

  “I didn’t know at first but I went to my aunt’s house and Sabrina was in the hallway. She put a gun to my head and asked me where Steve Stunner lived. I told her. I thought she was gonna kill me. She said she’d let me live if I called you...”

  “What did she want you to tell me…?”

  “She wanted you to meet her out in Philly. She said, right where Dora Dean died. I don’t know where that is. Do you…?”

  “I know…When am I supposed to meet her there?”

  “She didn’t say. She just said that she was gonna be there and that she was gonna kill Steve before you did. She said she was gonna end shit. And that nothing was gonna end till she ended it.”

  “That bitch is wacko… She needs more medication than me. Pebbles, I gotta go.”

  “If you gonna go to Philly you gotta take me. I gotta see this end out…”

  “Fuck you bitch!”

  “No bitch, fuck you! Look at how you bitches are? I don’t wanna end up like y’all. I wanna…”

  Pebbles voice cracked and Rayne could hear her crying. Rayne hung up the telephone.

  twenty-eight

  Rayne convinced the reluctant Bernadette to accompany her. They were headed to where Dora Dean had died. It was a crack house that belonged to Steve Stunner. They wanted to go inside the kitchen where Bernadette and Dora Dean were ambushed.

  Rayne had never seen where Stunner had murdered Dora Dean. She knew Dora was shot twice in the back of her head. She was unconscious, face down on the floor. Rayne wanted to see where Dora breathed her last breath.

  “I’m doing this for you Rayne, not for Sabrina. I want you to put all of this shit behind you. None of this has to do with Stunner. Not Dora Dean, not even Trevor. It’s about you right now. You need to get that through your head.”

  Rayne understood all that Bernadette had said. She almost broke down crying in the car while they sped down the highway toward Philly. Rayne had a .32 revolver. Bernadette had another gun stashed.

  “Let me carry both guns,” Rayne said. “I don’t want you doing any dirt. I’ll take the weight if things don’t work out.”

  “I ain’t no punk-bitch! I’m smarter now that’s all.” Bernadette snapped, glancing at Pebbles through the rear view mirror. The girl was in the backseat of the car watching them. Bernadette changed the conversation. “Why is this bitch tagging along again?” She asked.

  “Because she eats pussy real good,” Rayne said looking back at Pebbles.

  They all laughed. Rayne was feeling good about herself. It was strange because she didn’t know what was ahead. All she knew was she wanted closure, wanted to bury all that haunted her. Rayne cared less and less about Stunner being alive or dead now. She wanted Sabrina stopped. She figured it could come down to her killing Sabrina, maybe Sabrina killing her.

  “I owe Sabrina for murdering Trevor.”

  The words unconsciously escaped her lips. Bernadette and Pebbles heard her.

  “Sabrina is crazy,” Pebbles said.

  “You don’t owe Trevor anything, Rayne. The only person you owe is yourse
lf. What do you think you owe yourself?” Bernadette asked.

  “I think I owe myself some closure. I think Sabrina owes me some peace of mind.”

  Bernadette knitted her brow in confusion. She didn’t know why Sabrina had told Rayne to meet her where Dora Dean died. She wasn’t sure if Steve Stunner was still selling drugs in that place. Was someone else living there? Was the place abandoned and torn down? All she knew was that Sabrina was crazy. She couldn’t let Rayne do this alone.

  The Fatal Four were about to make one last ride. Rayne, Bernadette, Sabrina and the ghost of Dora Dean. They were on a quest to straighten things out. Once and for all, bury the past. The mission could bring the end to those who weren’t already dead.

  They arrived in Philly just before nine in the evening. At 9:45pm, they reached the south side and rolled up across the street from the house.

  “I’ve gotta do something, so everyone stay in the car,” Rayne said opening the car door.

  “You ain’t going in there all alone,” Bernadette protested.

  “No,” Rayne started. “I gotta make a call first. I can’t let y’all hear what I’m gonna say.”

  “Why didn’t you just call this person before we left New York or something?” Bernadette asked.

  “Because I didn’t know what to say, now I do.”

  Rayne walked a few steps away from the car. She couldn’t stop looking at the house. It looked abandoned. There were boards nailed, blocking each window and the front door had a chain locked bolt that the Sheriff had placed there. It was probably being resold or renovated.

  Rayne dialed Angel’s number. He picked up just before his answering system did.

  “Rayne…”

  He said her name like he was really surprised. He didn’t expect her to call him ever again.

  “Yeah Angel, it’s me.”

  “I haven’t heard from you in a while. How’ve you been?”

  You haven’t heard from me because you ain’t never bothered calling me, Rayne’s thoughts pleaded. She said, “I’ve been pregnant that’s how I’ve been.”