by Noire
CHAPTER 10
Showing Luv
Damn it feels good out here this morning! Time to get the festivities started. The kids are gonna love this shit.
Jewelz was enjoying the warm breezy Saturday in Bucktown, New York, but something about the vibe today was just a little bit different than usual. Today was Old Timer’s Day, where nearly the whole hood came out on the blocks to have a good time. People who had moved away years ago flocked back to Brownsville to hang out with old friends. It was a time-honored tradition that had been going on for over seventy-five years.
The energy around the projects was upbeat, positive, and cheerful, and that was rare for one of the worst neighborhoods in the entire Empire State. The local gangs and drug crews had called an unspoken truce for the day, and people knew it was safe to come out for block parties and to and enjoy them some loud music, a drank or two, and some good-ass soul food.
The neighborhood playgrounds and parks were filled with kids and parents who were jamming out the Brownsville way. Pitkin Avenue was live as hell, and all the cute chickenheads rocked their get ’em girl outfits and clucked for the attention of all the real right niggas in the hood.
This was a time of year that Jewelz really liked. She loved watching all the project kids run around and play. It reminded her of how she used to run around the playgrounds with Slick and his brothers and sisters when they were little.
This year Jewelz was continuing her own personal tradition of giving back to her community with a little twist. She called it her Dollar Day, where she lined up all the children in the building she used to live in and gave them each a few dollars so they could rush to the corner store and get as much junk as they wanted.
Jewelz made sure the kids didn’t fight each other over the money and she looked out for the weaker ones. She walked to the store with them to make sure they didn’t get jacked by no winos, and she always had encouraging words for them all.
So much of her own childhood had been filled with scars and misery that it really brought her joy to put smiles on these babies’s faces. Jewelz felt real good about giving these kids the money to get chips and cookies and stuff. She liked easing the tension in the town that she called home.
There had been very few smiles for Jewelz when she was a kid. Growing up in Brownsville was like going to gladiator school. Nobody had two nickels to rub together and a lot of people were out for self. It was a stressful place that would test the hardest of hearts, and you could bet your ass that only the strong survived in the concrete jungle.
This year Jewelz had some help so she’d decided to do things a little differently. Noodles had offered to participate in her Dollar Day and help her make the event even bigger.
Forget the penny candies and quarter waters from the corner store. Noodles had gone to the outlet mall and shut down the Nike store a few days ago and blew a good five grand as he filled his truck up with boxes and boxes of nice kicks to give away. Jewelz blew a few racks on book bags, school supplies, and coats for when the weather got cold and the kids had to walk back and forth to school.
Together they had set up a bunch of big folding tables in Betsy Head Park and stacked them up high with the latest Jordan sneakers and other gifts for little boys and girls of all sizes.
“Thanks again, Noodles,” Jewelz said. She was out of breath and sweating from making trips back and forth to the truck as they got ready for their giveaway. “The kids are gonna love all this shit you bought them. Now that everybody can have something nice to put on their feet maybe they’ll stop trying to kill each other over a simple pair of sneakers.”
Noodles nodded in agreement. After all the death they dealt with in their profession it felt good to give something to the youngsters who represented the future life-force of The Ville.
“But we gotta put some rules down on this shit,” Jewelz said as she stacked a bunch of colorful book bags up on a table. “Nobody gets a damn thing this year until they tell us their future goals and give us the names of two foreign countries that they wanna visit one day. We need to help stimulate these young minds, and I figure we can start by letting them know that there’s a world out there beyond these projects.”
As Jewelz explained her plans, Wild Man walked up eating a chocolate-and-vanilla Mister Softee swirl ice cream cone. A bunch of little kids were surrounding him and eating cones of their own, and they were thanking him for his treat as he smiled and gave them all high fives.
“Wild Man, w’sup! What are you doing out here?” Jewelz asked, surprised to see him.
“Rolling through,” Wild Man responded. “I was sitting in my whip talking on the phone when I peeped y’all standing over here.”
“Well since you put on the brakes why don’t you chill for awhile and help us give out some of these goodies to the kids today.”
Wild Man shrugged. “A’ight. I can hang out for a few. I usually don’t fuck with Old Timer’s Day, but this is my hood so I’m always down to show love. I can’t stay all day though,” he warned. “I gotta bounce out to Queens to pick up this lil honey I got a date with later.”
“I’m not staying out here too long either,” Jewelz said. “I’m going to a basketball jam in Money Makin Manhattan this afternoon. It’s at Rucker Park.”
Wild Man looked over at Noodles who was hitting him with the killer glare. They hadn’t seen each other since the night they got into that lil scuffle after the failed Queen of Diamonds hit. Wild Man had straight violated the rules of brotherhood and Noodles still wanted to drill him behind that shit.
“Noodles. W’sup bro,” Wild Man said as he walked over and offered Noodles some dap. “I ain’t seen you in a minute, my slime. What’s poppin with you?”
Noodles looked down at his hand coldly. He was itching to pull out his gat, and not one move was made to reciprocate the love.
Instead of trying to flip and wild out, Wild Man kept it cool.
“Look man, I apologize for what went down that other night,” he said sincerely. “You know me, dawg. Sometimes I bug the fuck out but deep inside I don’t mean no harm. I was wrong for what I did, though. My bad for disrespecting you and getting outta pocket like that. You my brotha, Noodles. Whether you like it or not, ain’t nothing gonna ever change that, and even if you stop fuckin with me I’ll still ride out and take a bullet for your silent ass any day of the week.”
Jewelz gave Wild Man the side-eye as she watched him humble himself, which was a very rare sight. Noodles still wasn’t feeling it at first, but after a few more moments he gave Wild Man some dap and just like that shit was all good again.
“I’m sorry, man. For real, I love you like a brother,” Wild Man said and hugged Noodles real quick. “We all in this game together.”
Jewelz laughed and clapped her hands. “See that’s what I like to see! Family over everything. Now let’s get a group hug going,” she said as she pulled both men toward her by their massive arms.
“Gimme a kiss Noodles,” she said and laughed as he kissed her cheek. “Now give Wild Man a kiss.”
Both men gave her the fuck outta here look as she giggled her ass off.
“Yo, I ain’t kissin you either muthafucka,” Wild Man joked, “but like I said, Noodles you my ace, my day-one nigga, and I got mad love for you, G.”
Noodles stared at Wild Man for a second and then he nodded as he heard Ayesha’s sweet voice echoing in his ear. He wrote something on his tablet and passed it to Wild Man.
That’s Snapple Facts. I got love for you too. Life is too short to hold grudges.
CHAPTER 11
Plottin and Plannin
The jewelry conference had dragged on like a mothafucka that morning but Honore found herself in a much better mood after talking to Wild Man. She had ducked outta the conference early and gone home and changed into some fly sexy shit in preparation for the Saturday afternoon date they had lined up. Hot 97 was killing the radio with classic 90’s hip hop and R&B, and her and Wild Man were riding down the street
with the windows open battling each other to see who knew the words to every song.
People driving next to them gave them crazy looks as they sang at the top of their lungs and goofed off. Honore was sitting on one ass-cheek working her grind, but she was actually having fun too. She felt like she could be more playful with Wild Man than she could with Slick because this cat was less guarded with his info and he was definitely a whole lot lighter in the forehead.
In spite of her playfulness Honore’s mind was firmly on the task at hand, but she couldn’t front like she wasn’t feeling dude a lil bit. However, it was bizz over bullshit, so if she could squeeze some info outta him while they hung out it would be a win-win situation.
“So, where are we going? You taking me to another poetry club?” Honore asked as they cruised through a neighborhood called Chelsea all the way on the west side of Money Makin Manhattan.
“Nah, not exactly,” Wild Man said with a mischievous grin. “This place is a little more intense than the poetry spot.”
“Oh really? What do you mean by intense?” Honore said as she looked at him suspiciously with a half-grin. “Why you gotta make shit so secretive. I don’t even like surprises.”
Wild Man didn’t answer, but a few moments later he pulled over and parked the car. He nodded his head in the direction of a building.
“Well, surprise!” Wild Man said grinning even harder than before.
Honore looked up and saw a sign that read Westside Rifle and Pistol Range.
“What the hell?” she blurted out. “You taking me to a goddamn shooting range?” Was this mothafucka serious? As sore as her ass was the last thing she wanted to see was a fuckin bullet!
“I know you ain’t nervous around guns, Little Miss Tough Ass,” Wild Man teased her as he came around and opened the passenger door so she could get out.
“No, I’m actually glad you brought me here,” Honore said as she got outta the car being careful not to slide too hard and scuff up her tender ass.
“Hanging out with you I’ma need to learn how to handle myself cuz ain’t no telling what’s gonna happen! I never knew a stick-up kid who actually practiced at a gun range before.”
“Ay, I’m a professional…stick-up kid.” Wild Man said reluctantly. He hated associating himself with petty thieves but he wasn’t about to expose her to what he really did for a living. “I believe if you’re gonna do something you might as well try to be the best at it.”
“Well, it’s a little disturbing but I know what you mean,” Honore said and winked her eye at him as she smiled.
As they walked inside the range they were directed to go to an area where they were required to attend a mandatory gun safety class. The instructors were polite but urged people to listen carefully and to take their precautions seriously.
“Have you ever fired on a gun range before?” Wild Man whispered to her.
Naw, but I’ve practiced on some human beings before, Honore thought to herself with a smile.
“No,” she whispered back. “This is my first time. I don’t think I’ll be very good at it.”
“You’ll be fine,” Wild Man said, patting her arm. “I got you, baby.”
The gun safety class only lasted about twenty minutes and then they were given the option to choose the type of guns they wanted to shoot.
“I wanna try the rifles,” Honore said before Wild Man could make a suggestion. “I mean, if that’s cool with you.”
Wild Man looked surprised that she would choose the rifles over the smaller pistols that she could handle a lot better, but he didn’t object.
“Yo, I’m good with whatever,” he shrugged. “Let’s do it.”
Honore put her ear protectors and protective glasses on, and then she elected to shoot first. She picked out a .22 rifle that she thought she’d feel comfortable with. She tried out the grip and peered down the sights as Wild Man loaded the magazines with their rounds of ammunition.
“Now take aim and if the bulls-eye looks blurry you should change your rifle because your shot will never be true,” an instructor informed Honore.
“It looks fine,” Honore said as she took aim at the Zombie targets that Wild Man had purchased and placed twenty-five yards away. “I’m ready.”
“Fire at will,” said the instructor.
Honore concentrated on the target, then she took a deep breath and began firing.
POP! POP! POP! POP! POP!
She looked focused and totally comfortable as she got in a zone. She hit the bulls-eye on the zombie’s forehead on her first try and the rest of her shots were center mass and headshots. Wild Man and the instructor were both impressed at her seemingly natural ability to handle the rifle.
“Woo-hooo! I fucked that zombie up, didn’t I?” Honore shrieked in total jubilation as she gave Wild Man a high five.
“Damn girl, you put in work on that nigga!” Wild Man said truly surprised. “You did way better than I expected you to.”
The instructor smiled and walked away.
“Tank you, tank you!” Honore clowned, still excited. “I do my best. Now that you see how I put it down with the blicky maybe I can join you and your team on your next kick door mission, huh?”
“Haaa-haaa, now you pushing it,” Wild Man said as he laughed and got into position to shoot his rifle.
Wild Man had the target moved back to about fifty feet and got bizzy. He picked specific areas to attack on the zombie and hit them with effortless accuracy.
“Yeah!!! Now that’s how you get it in right there!” Wild Man yelled then turned and grinned at Honore.
The smell of the gunpowder and the act of yanking the trigger had Honore real excited. She didn’t know why she hadn’t thought of going to a gun range before. Popping off rounds sure relieved a whole lotta stress and she was starting to really feel herself.
“See there,” she grinned at Wild Man, impressed with his shooting, “you just tryna show off. You lucky I’m a college girl because if I really wanted to I could get on some stick ’em up shit with you too.”
Wild Man shook his head. “Don’t get me wrong, you’re a New Yorker so I’m sure you’ve seen ill shit all ya life. But you don’t strike me as the type of person who has the stomach for getting your hands dirty like that. Those college books you be studying don’t have the answers to the type of shit I’m into, you best believe that.”
Honore shrugged and shook her head as she reloaded her magazine like the instructor had taught them during the safety class.
“What’s so hard about running up in jewelry stores and blasting on mothafuckas? What? You want a cookie for that? That’s just regular hood-nigga shit. Y’all didn’t do anything spectacular that night you know,” Honore said dropping into ghetto zone and setting the bait for him to bite.
“Y’all robbed a jewelry store and probably got some gold ropes just so you could wear some shines. Whoopty-fuckin-doo.”
“Ay! I don’t give a fuck about no jewelry,” Wild Man barked. “I’m not attracted to the bullshit bling-bling them idiots be out there killing each other over.”
He was insulted now and Honore knew she had him.
“So do y’all have any pieces left or did y’all sell it all?” she pressed. “I mean, I used to sit up in there and look at all those nice necklaces and rings and wish I could afford one. I’ll buy a couple of pieces from you if you got any left.” She grinned. “Cut rate of course.”
Wild Man shrugged. “Whatever we got from that jewelry store is put up. Stashed. Wasn’t nothing but small-time jewels in that display case anyway. Slum shit. You should know that.”
“Uh-huh, I do. But what about what was in that briefcase y’all took?” Honore probed even deeper. “That there alone musta been a real big-time take, wasn’t it?”
Wild Man stared at her through slitted eyes. “What fuckin briefcase? What do you think was in it?”
Honore shrugged innocently even though his anger had her excited. “Beats me. I just figured it had to be somethi
ng kinda special because the police keep asking me about it.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yup. Since I worked in the jewelry store they made me go down to the station and look at mad mug shots the day after the robbery. And guess what? You really are a thief because I saw yours!”
Wild Man cracked a crooked smile. “Liar. It takes a thief to spot one, now don’t it?”
“Yeah, whatever.” Honore shrugged him off with a laugh. “I’m not into boosting trinkets, but like I said, I’d buy a few pieces from you real quick if they were still available.”
“I already told you I don’t have nothing to sell.”
She smirked. “That’s some bullshit! Why you holding out on me? What kinda kick-door thieves don’t wanna offload their stolen shit?”
Wild Man threw his hands up like he was caught out there.
“A’ight, you got me baby. You right. I prolly shouldn’t even be telling you this, but Slick is the one sitting on all that jewelry. He said that shit is too hot to dish off right now so won’t nobody wanna buy it. So we just waiting for the streets to cool down. That’s all.”
Honore smiled brightly. Blabbermouth!
“Well wait no more! I wanna buy it! You looking at a cash customer right here! Do you know how long I been waiting for that jewelry to go on sale? My boss was so damn cheap he wouldn’t even give me an employee discount! I know y’all made off with more than just some old earrings and bracelets too, so don’t try to hold out on me. Just let me see everything that was in that red briefcase and I’ll buy as much of it as I can, bet?”
Wild Man nodded. “Yeah, bet, baby. Lemme get with my crew and see what we got. I’ll let you know.”