Payback Ain't Enough

by Clark, Wahida

  Me and Wise left the funeral together and went to this hole-in-the-wall bar and grill on Rosemont called Scotty’s. We grabbed a seat at the bar, and Wise brought a bottle of Hennessey.

  “Dude, you really tryna get fucked up, ain’t you?” I teased him.

  Wise poured both of us a shot and tossed his back. He then poured himself another one, leaving me out.

  “That’s fucked up, man. That beef was supposed to be squashed,” Wise complained. “If them muthafuckas think for one minute that I’ma let that shit go, then they obviously don’t know about me.” He threw another shot back.

  “I feel your pain, but to take a head you gotta be ready to give one. And them niggas you planning on going after, they ain’t no lightweights.” I had to remind the nigga what he was up against.

  “So what are you saying, Brig?” Wise threw another one back. “Just let the shit go?”

  “I’m just saying, be ready to die, that’s all. Ain’t no way in hell you gonna fuck with them niggas and stay alive,” I reminded him.

  “So what? Act like shit ain’t happen? You already know I can’t do that.”

  “Just don’t throw caution to the wind on this one, man. Not having a plan, my nigga, is a death wish in itself. You need to have a plan. Me personally? I’m sick of all this shit. I got a son, one on the way. You got how many kids? It’s a suicide mission, and Melky was my man, but it ain’t nothing I can do.” I said what I had to say and got up to leave.

  “It’s like that?” he asked, still on the defense.

  “Nigga, I ain’t got nothing to do with it.”

  “Aiight, then, cool.” He held out his fist and I bumped it. “Just stay out of the way,” he warned.

  I left and headed to my house.

  JANAY

  Marquis and I were driving around the city. I was going down Northwestern one day and stumbled on this restaurant called Beans and Cornbread. They served a Louisiana gumbo that was to die for. We were just here two days earlier, and now we were back. Nick was meeting us for lunch. I was hesitant about bringing Marquis, but he kept begging to hang out with his mommy.

  “What’s up, boss lady?” Nick snuck up behind us and kissed my cheek. He grabbed the seat across from me. “I didn’t know you were bringing a guest.” He held out his hand for Marquis to shake. “I’m Nick.”

  Marquis extended his hand. “I’m Marquis. Nice to meet you,” he stated proudly.

  “Likewise.” Nick turned to me. “I’m not going to order anything because I have another engagement. I was hoping that Boomer would be here. Should I wait? I really wanted to speak with him.”

  “Look, Nick, get over it. You are looking at the decision maker. Just say what you got to say,” I told this chauvinistic nigga.

  “Alright then. Because of who you represent I will. I’m musclin’ Mr. G out. I am monopolizing the game. I wanted Boomer to be the first to know out of respect. All prices are going up twenty percent. But for your family, ten percent. Everybody else, twenty percent. Even with the increase I’m still damn near twenty-five percent lower than Mr. G. If you don’t have any questions I’m going to excuse myself. Oh, and Melky’s people said for you to watch your back.”

  I sat there watching this nigga leave. What does he mean by, “monopolize the game”? He’s not holding like that. And muscle? I know he can’t go up against a triple International OG like Mr. G! I mean, he got work, but shit, so does half the city. What is he talking about?

  SHARIA

  I couldn’t believe my luck. This was un-fuckin’-believable. I kept putting it off, but Dark wouldn’t let up. I could kiss him right smack in the mouth for that! He was determined to find the owner of the license plate that I had tossed into my garage. And bingo! Who did it belong to? The ol’ bitch! Briggen’s baby mama. I was ecstatic. That bitch was finally getting ready to go down, and I wanted a front row seat so I could watch it happen.

  JANAY

  I couldn’t wait to get back so I could fill Boomer in on Nick’s announcement. Boomer would have gone to breakfast with me, but he wasn’t feeling well. I was beginning to worry about his health. When Marquis and I walked into the living room, Boomer was in his easy chair knocked out.

  “Go play, Marquis. I need to talk to uncle Boomer.”

  “Mom, can I go next door to Shawn’s?”

  “No. Stay on the porch.”

  “Let that boy go next door, Nay. Why he gotta stay on the porch?” Boomer said, not opening his eyes.

  “I thought you were asleep?”

  “Just because my eyes closed don’t mean I was asleep. Go on next door, Marquis.”

  “Y’all got that boy spoiled.”

  My son took off running. I sat down on the sofa. “You ready to hear this?”

  “What?”

  “I saw Nick this morning, and he said that Mr. G is out. He said that he was going to monopolize the game and that we all should be buying from him. All prices are up twenty percent, but for our family, ten percent. And he said that’s outta respect. But at the same time he bragged that he was still coming in twenty-five percent lower than Mr. G.” I sat back and waited to hear what my uncle had to say. He closed his eyes and didn’t say a word. After several minutes, I got up to go get something to drink. I came back with a glass of sweet tea.

  “You want something to drink?” I broke the silence.

  “Your father always called him the ‘spook who sat by the door,’ and he called it right. He works quietly and strategically. I told you that boy was a damn genius.”

  “Genius or not, Mr. G’s shit is five times better. Nick’s is five times cheaper. If he muscles G out, how long will his prices be so low? What happened to Mr. G? Why didn’t he call a meeting to let everyone know that he was out and Nick was replacing him?”

  “Because that’s probably not what happened.”

  “What do you mean that’s probably not what happened? He can’t just muscle Mr. G out. And what? Are we going to sit back and let him do it? What is everyone in The Consortium going to think?”

  “Baby girl, that’s up to you. If you would have been in this business as long as I have, you would have seen and heard of a lot of things. And you would know that anything is possible. But you are in charge of this family now. If a nigga is hungry enough, he can move mountains. If my hunch is right, this youngin just cornered the market.”

  “Greasy muthafucka,” I laughed. “I can’t be too mad at him because I would do the same damn thing if I could have. But I will tell you this, if he gets too greedy, some changes are going to have to be made.”

  “Calm down Nay. Don’t think with your emotions. Mr. G most likely will be asking for a sit down. Once you hear what he’s got to say, then you move from there.”

  “I hear you, Boom, but damn. This Nick character is rubbing me the wrong way. And before I forget, he told me that Melky’s camp said for me to watch my back.”

  Boomer let out a sigh. “That’s how this game is played. I really don’t want to go to war right now, but we will do what we gotta do to protect our family. But we got a man over at his camp. If and when they make a move, we will be ready.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  DARK

  Shit was starting to unravel at a very fast pace. I had heard that the police had been questioning witnesses about the two niggas I dropped at the club. They were a couple of nobodies, so I knew that shit wasn’t going anywhere. I actually did the city and its good citizens a favor. At the same time, by eliminating those crumbs, I had earned more respect from Cisco. And now he was sending them two scary security guards to Oak Ridge along with Rob and Mac. Cisco was still telling everybody how they froze up the minute it was time to do battle.

  We were all sitting in Cisco’s smoke shop, and once again, I was the man of the hour. I had the info on the license plate of the dude that snatched up Cisco’s dope and money. Cisco’s goons were piled in two cars and on their way over to this idiot’s house when somebody told Cisco it was a chick… Briggen�
��s chick.

  “I don’t give a fuck whose chick it is!” Cisco ranted. “Go and bring back my money and my dope right now or there’s gonna be more than just one dead body lying around! And I mean, right now!”

  “Hold up, boss man. Let me talk to you in private.” I pulled him to the side. He was still crying about this loss and I was tired of hearing about it. Taking an “L” every now and then was a part of the game. But now that he knew who had got him, he was amped, when at first he had placed a lot of the blame on Dreamer, who wasn’t even there.

  “What? Can’t you see that I’m in the middle of rallying the troops? We need to make a move now. Waiting around is only going to show weakness.”

  “I think you are going about this the wrong way. Let me handle it, boss man.”

  “The wrong way? Nigga, what the fuck you on telling me how I’m handling my business?”

  “I’m just saying, think about what you doing for a minute. You getting ready to send two carloads full of niggas, in broad daylight, after a woman. Not only that, we gotta think about who we are dealing with. From what you told me about Briggen and from what I’ve learned, dude ain’t no lightweight. We gotta be ready for him. And you know them niggas you sendin’ are gonna fuck shit up. So let me handle dude. Ain’t no rush. You know your money is spent. The dope is sold. If we do this right, we will come off with more than just some payback.”

  Cisco scratched his head, looked at me and started pacing back and forth. He looked at me again and started to speak, but I stopped him.

  “I got you boss man. Let me handle this,” I assured him.

  He walked away from me and went outside. I assumed that was a yes.

  SHARIA

  “Dark, what the hell is going on? Why is that nappy-headed ho still breathing? I’m sick of seeing the bitch! I see the bitch in my dreams I’m so sick.” And I meant that shit. She took my man and was flaunting her bastard child around as well as a big belly. I hated both of them. Just like I was going to take Briggen down, and since she was with him, I was taking her down too.

  “Seeing her? What, you stalking her? That jealousy is eating your ass up,” his simple ass had the nerve to say to me.

  “Hell no, I ain’t stalking her. Her face is plastered on all of these damn posters all over the city. Tell me you ain’t see ’em.” I unfolded a poster and showed it to him. “Instead of the bitch hiding or being dead, she around here playing fuckin’ Don King! Promoter of the Year and shit. The bitch got a new car, she rockin’ muthafuckin’ Red Bottoms, the heifer dripping with ice, and I heard that when she go out she be giving her waiters $500 tips… This is some bullshit!”

  “Damn, girl! How you know all of this?” Dark started laughing as if the shit was funny. I was dead serious. “My cousin is jealous!” he teased as he squeezed my cheek.

  “I ain’t jealous. It’s just that I played my part in our agreement. When are you going to play yours? You had the bitch’s info for over a week now. I know Cisco ain’t going for this bullshit!” I spat, hoping to get him to pay my rage a little more attention.

  “Sharia, chill the fuck out. She’ll get handled when the time is right. If you ain’t willing to put the work in yourself, then I suggest you sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up. I got this.”

  “I can’t tell.” At that moment I knew what I was going to do. I was going to see Cisco. I grabbed my purse and keys. “Fuck you, Dark! You black bitch!”

  “Fuck you, too! Jealous bitch!”

  DARK

  My cousin is a nut. When she told me who that mystery license plate belonged to, I was skeptical because she hated Briggen and was mad jealous of his bottom bitch. Now she wants me to stop what I’m doing, run over there and take the girl out. Just like that. She had me fucked up and was talking shit while she was all up in my house, when I told her not to be coming over here. Cisco still didn’t know that we were cousins, and I didn’t want him to find out.

  I was on my way to pick him up. The only thing he told me was he wanted me to make a run with him. I was on my way to meet Lisha when I got his text. I was wondering why she still hadn’t introduced me to my son yet. That was the first thing we were going to discuss when I saw her.

  When I pulled up in front of the smoke shop, Cisco obviously was looking out the window because the nigga came right out.

  “Damn. You miss me?” I teased him.

  “Nigga, I’m hungry. Let’s go to the Subway or some shit like that,” he said as he jumped into the car.

  No, this nigga didn’t get me way over here on an urgent text to take him to get something to eat! What the fuck is wrong with him? “Nigga, I’m on my way to get some pussy and you talking about going to Subway? Get somebody else to take you.”

  “Man, you know them niggas is rowdy around the way. I need to get in and handle my shit and get out. Who else I’m gonna take that’s gonna have my back? Plus, I got something to show you.”

  “What you gotta show me?”

  “Let’s go pick up the sandwiches first.” He sat back and got comfortable in my front seat. I could only shake my head and pull off.

  I took him over to the Subway on Piedmont. The spot was clean, and he fucked with this chick named Jamilla who worked there. Every player I knew had that one hood bitch that they would smash whenever they got the chance.

  I parked across the street, and we got out. I saw Cisco looking around to see if he saw her car. She drove a small, grey Toyota. It was parked on the corner across the street. She must have had the bomb-ass pussy because Cisco couldn’t leave her alone, and plus, he gave her small packages to get rid of just so she could have some extra money.

  This particular Subway stayed packed. It wasn’t run by the Indians or Arabs. Nah, niggas owned this spot. Mr. Charles, who used to run a gambling spot back in the day ran it with his two sons. Bottom line, the nigga took pride in his restaurant.

  When we walked in, Jamilla was propped up on a stool behind the register as if she was the queen bitch sitting on her throne. We gave a few niggas fist bumps and got in line. Jamilla didn’t see us at first because she was barking orders at the Mexican lady working the sandwich bar to put more meat on the sandwich that she was making. The Mexican lady mumbled something in Spanish, and Jamilla mumbled something right back. And then she said in English, “You ain’t the only one who knows that shit,” and she rolled her eyes.

  Cisco and I moved up to the counter and she rolled her eyes at Cisco. “Hey, Dark, what’s up with you?”

  “Shit. What’s happening with you, Lady Jamilla?” She liked it when I called her that. “How are you? Long time no see.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “Oh, so Dark is the only nigga you see up in here? You better get your fine ass down off that stool and come make Big Daddy a sandwich. You know I don’t have these other hoes working up in here making my shit,” Cisco announced.

  She rolled her eyes, but got her ass down off her perch. She went and washed her hands, put on some gloves and came over to make our sandwiches. “Quita, come sit at the register for me,” she called out. “What kind of sandwich do you want, Dark?”

  “Oh, it’s like that?” Cisco teased her. They did this same shit every time we came there. The nigga only came by once or twice a month. You would think that she would be used to it.

  I said, “Fix me a meatball sub on a white roll.”

  “That’s it?”

  “That’s it.”

  She got busy making my sandwich. “Dark, I ain’t know you was my girl Stephanie’s baby daddy. Let me call her. I told her you stop by here every once in a blue moon. I’ma call her as soon as I make your sandwich.”

  “Jamilla, don’t play me like that. I ain’t her damn baby daddy. She wish. I don’t fuck with her like that. You can call her but wait until I leave this bitch.”

  “Y’all niggas ain’t right. Be all in a bitch’s shit and riding bareback, then when we say baby, y’all onto the next one.” She twisted her lips and shook her hea
d in disgust.

  “Bitches ain’t right either. Y’all be giving the pussy up wholesale, and then when the nigga don’t want no more, y’all try to throw salt in the game. Going around talking about I’m her baby daddy. She on some bullshit.”

  “Dark, the boy look just like you.”

  “I don’t give a fuck who he look like. He ain’t my kid. Sheeit. You look like me, too. Am I yo daddy?”

  Cisco thought my comment was funny.

  “Hell no, you ain’t my damn daddy!”

  “Well then. Just give me my damn sandwich.” She took my sandwich out of the microwave, wrapped it up and gave it to Quita who was now perched up on the stool and grinning at me as if I was fresh meat. It was obvious that Jamilla told her all about me and Cisco, because Quita was ready to be down with whatever. I turned my attention to her as Cisco placed his order and flirted with Jamilla.

  “Would you like something to drink with this?”

  “Yeah, give me a Sprite and three chocolate chip cookies. I gotta sweet tooth.” She got off the stool and went to get my drink. I looked her up and down. She had on her little Subway outfit, improvised with a short-ass miniskirt. She had some thick legs and a phat ass that was trying to bust out of the skirt. She looked to be no more than eighteen. “Your name Quita?” I read off her little name tag scoping those C cups.

  “My friends call me Q.”

  “How old are you?”

  “I’m old enough. And that will be nine forty-seven.”

  I passed her a twenty. “Keep the change.”

  “Thank you.” She got her change and stuck it in her pocket.

  “Thank you, Q,” Jamilla interrupted, walking over to the register with Cisco’s sandwich in her hand. She was ready to get her throne back.

  “Naw, Quita, stay right there. I need to talk to Jamilla. Jamilla, let’s go outside,” Cisco commanded.