by Jackie D.
“Man, you washed up in the drug game anyway. Ain’t nobody checkin’ for yo’ old-ass over here,” Sandino said.
“That may be true and I may be done wit’ slingin’ drugs, but I’ll still fuck a nigga up if they step to me wrong. That shit will never change,” Dre bragged.
Standing at 6’4, with a two-hundred and eighty pound physique, Dre looked very intimidating to most. The tattooed guns on his neck and the words Thug Life, going across his back didn’t help either.
Sitting back down, Sandino didn’t waste time passing Dre his fresh blunt. It wasn’t long before the two men sat smoking weed and reminiscing about some of crazy shit they experienced in jail.
“So, what’s ‘dis business proposition you wanted to talk to me about?” Dre asked.
“I was just about to bring that up. Do you remember when I used to talk about my wife all the time?”
Dre shook his head. “Yeah, I remember.”
“Remember when I told you she left me and took my kids? Well, that’s why I need your help. I need you to find her for me.”
Dre chuckled. “Are you serious? So, you want me to be on some ole’ Magnum PI type shit.”
“Exactly.”
“Man, you were in the joint for a minute. I just knew as soon as you got out she would be waitin’ for your ass. Why don’t you just call her and start beggin’. You know women like ‘dat soft shit.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“So, why do you wanna find her so bad? It’s obvious that she doesn’t wanna be found. Even if she wanted a divorce, is bein’ by yourself ‘dat bad nigga?”
At that moment Sandino lost his patience. “Look, that bitch took my kids and I want ‘em back. Do you want the damn job or not? You said you broke, right?”
“Yeah, I am, but do you even have any money left? Didn’t you get kicked out the league?”
“Don’t worry about that nigga. All you need to be concerned wit’ is that I’ll pay you half the money now and if you find her I’ll give you the rest.”
Dre rubbed his thin mustache that he’d decided to let grow in. “Let me think about ‘dis for a minute. You caught a nigga off guard wit’ ‘dis shit.”
Dre pulled on the blunt thinking about the proposition when someone knocked on the door. Sandino walked over and peeped through the hole before opening it.
“What’s up nigga?” Black yelled. He and Sandino gave each other some dap and a quick hug.
Neatly dressed in a pair of Hudson jeans, Prada loafers, and a grey button down shirt, Black walked over to the couch and sat down. It wasn’t long before Dre noticed Black passing Sandino some type of pills.
“Dre, this my right hand man, Black,” Sandino introduced. “Black, this the nigga Dre I was tellin’ you ‘bout. The one who was locked up wit’ me.”
“Yeah, I heard about you. What up?” Black said, giving Dre some dap. He then grabbed the blunt sitting in the ash tray, took a huge pull and inhaled.
As Dre wondered what the pills were all about, Black continued to puff on the blunt until he suddenly snapped his fingers.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot.” Black reached in his pocket and pulled out a huge wad of money before tossing it to Sandino.
Sandino smiled then held the money up. “Yeah, I needed this. I’m not used to walkin’ around wit’ empty pockets.” He looked at Dre. “You still think I’m broke nigga?”
As if she could smell currency in the air, Trina walked back in the room with a bowl in her hand. Quickly cutting her eye at the money, she placed the bowl on the table as Sandino examined the food. This time she’d prepared Ramen noodles with two pieces of grilled chicken breasts on top and some broccoli. Sandino really went off this time.
“You been in there all this time and this is what you came out wit’? Bitch maybe this is what the fuck you call a meal, but I don’t eat shit like this. You told me you could cook. My wife could cook; she would never bring her man no shit like this!”
Trina was beyond sick of him by now. “Well, maybe you need to go find her and tell her to come cook for your ass!”
When Black and Dre started laughing, Sandino’s blood began to boil. Not to be disrespected by any female, Sandino stood up and slapped Trina so hard, she instantly saw stars.
“Say something else out of line bitch!” he warned.
Trina grabbed her throbbing face. “But that’s the only thing I have left in the house to cook.” She looked at the money Sandino had placed on the table. “If you give me some money, I’ll go to the store.”
“I’m not givin’ your coke-head ass shit. Get the fuck out my face Trina!” Sandino yelled.
Trina walked away embarrassed by the fact that Sandino had played her in front of his friends.
Dre shook his head thinking, Damn, I thought I had a short temper, but Sandino is off the chain. I see why his wife left his ass.
“Yo, Black you seen that nigga Cruze?” Sandino asked then sat back down.
“Hell no, I ain’t seen his punk-ass.”
“That nigga is beyond foul. After all the shit I did for him he could’ve at least came to see me while I was locked up. I haven’t heard from his ass since I dropped him off after that shit happened at the diner,” Sandino replied.
“Yeah, that nigga probably still saltly about how shit went down, but fuck that nigga. He weak anyway,” Black said.
“What about that bitch, Asia? Anybody seen her around?” Sandino continued.
Black shook his head. “Ain’t seen her either.”
“Well, I guess that was a dumb question because I know for a fact that bitch popped Keon. Do you know some bullshit-ass detectives came to question me about that shit while I was locked up? Talkin’ ‘bout I was the last one he called,” Sandino stated. “I gave that bitches name up easily, cuz I wasn’t about to go down for that shit.”
“Her ass definitely skipped town by now,” Black chimed in.
Sandino switched the subject. “Has Kareem tried to reach you again?”
“Nope. He only called that one time. When I asked if they were still in Atlanta he said yeah. But when I him asked what area, he rushed me off the phone. It sounded like he really wanted to tell me though. I called the number back, but he wouldn’t answer,” Black informed.
“What’s the number? Hopefully he’ll pick up this time,” Sandino said.
Black reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. After blurting out the number, Sandino grabbed Trina’s house phone and dialed Kareem’s phone. He listened as the phone rang and then an automated voicemail came on.
Sandino slammed the phone down. “That bitch probably found out he called you!” He looked at Dre. “So, what are you gonna do nigga? I don’t have all day. The reason why I even asked you to do this shit is because I remember you tellin’ me you were from ATL. If you not up to the task, then I need to find somebody else.”
After looking at the stack of money on the table, Dre finally decided to take Sandino up his the offer. Besides, he had nothing to lose. The trip to Atlanta was the key to him getting back on his feet. After paying all his lawyer fees, all his money was gone. He was dead broke.
“Yeah, I’m down. All my people still in ATL, so ‘dis shit might work out. Once I hit the streets, I should be able to get some information on her. What’s her name? Do you have a picture?”
“Her name is Skye. Ain’t too many black bitches walkin’ around wit’ that shit, so once you put that name out there, it shouldn’t be hard,” Sandino replied before turning to Black.
“Man, I looked for a picture of her when I went by the house to get the money, but I couldn’t find one,” Black informed.
As soon as Sandino was about to go off, it hit him that he’d burned any picture that had Skye in it one night after she left. “No picture. But I can tell you that she’s about 5’6, light complexion, long hair and has the most beautiful green eyes.”
“Cool, that’ll help. Meanwhile keep callin’ your son because he might just break and
actually say where they are,” Dre said.
“Sandino, I don’t know why you never sent me,” Black stated. “That’s what I’m here for…to take care of shit.”
“You know why I never sent you nigga,” Sandino replied. If you were gonna take that gun and assault charge, I needed your ass around.
Dre looked at Sandino. “Why don’t you go yourself?”
“Because the last thing I want is for people to see me ridin’ around lookin’ for her. Black people talk, so you never know, the shit just might get back to her, and that bitch might leave again. No…I want her to get comfortable. I wanna sneak up on her ass when she least expects it. Besides, I might take my agent’s advice and go do that rehab shit. If I get my kids back, I at least want it to seem like I’m a good father.”
“When do you wanna get ‘dis done?” Dre questioned.
“As soon as possible. The sooner you find her...the better,” Sandino replied.
Dre and Sandino talked a few more minutes about the plan before Sandino handed him ten thousand dollars. To make sure they were on the same page, Sandino reiterated that he would give Dre the rest of the money once he found Skye, which was fine since Dre planned to put his private eye skills to work.
“As soon as you find her, call me. I’ll tell you what to do at that point,” Sandino stated. “I might just have you bring my kids back, then throw in an extra fee to get rid of that bitch.”
Dre turned to Sandino and looked at him with an odd expression. He was down for playing Private Eye, but killing someone, especially a woman was an entirely different playing field.
Well, maybe he’ll change his mind about that part. In the meantime, it’s time to find this bitch so I can get paid, Dre thought to himself.
Chapter 17
Skye was hard at work on her shift at one of downtown Atlanta’s historic food spots called, The Varsity. Established in 1928, and home of the world’s largest drive-ins, The Varsity was one of the most popular fast food restaurants in the entire city. Skye presented a fake smile every time she had to recite there famous slogan, “What’ll ya have” to the customers as soon as they walked inside. It wasn’t necessarily her dream job, or a top paying profession at some Fortune 500 company, but for now it would have to do. As long as she had money to pay her bills and put food on the table, she couldn’t complain. Sandino had taken care of Skye all her life, so her first job was definitely a reality check.
The place was jammed packed as usual and since Skye was still in training and didn’t know much about being a cashier, she had to be closely monitored by the head cashier named Flo who always seemed to have a funky-ass attitude. Skye did her best to get along with the mean, older woman because she really needed the job. Although Justice offered to help out, she refused to ever rely solely on another man.
It had only been two weeks since Skye started, but it felt like she’d been working there forever. Skye hated it. Her feet constantly had blisters and what she hated most of all was the fact that she went home every day with her red smock smelling like onion rings and chili.
Skye was so busy taking orders and busting tables since they were short staffed that day, she didn’t even realize it was time for her break. She’d been there since seven that morning cutting up potatoes for their fresh cut fries, and it was now noon. She walked over to Flo.
“It’s way past my break time. I’m going to take it now if you don’t mind,” Skye said.
Flo was at the counter cutting a piece of their famous apple pie for a customer when she turned and looked at Skye then around the restaurant.
“I’ll let you know when it’s time for your break. Do you not see all these people in here?” Flo asked, rolling her eyes and walking away.
Flo had worked there for almost twenty years and acted as if she owned the joint.
An older heavy set white woman in her mid sixties and a bad blonde dye job, Skye couldn’t remember when the woman ever had anything nice to say. With a frown constantly pasted on her face, Skye wondered why she was so damn hateful all the time.
Instead of a having a confrontation, Skye held her composure and continued working. She took several orders for the famous chili cheese dogs and homemade ice cream during the busy lunch rush while trying to talk herself out of quitting at any moment. After nibbling on stuff all morning, luckily she wasn’t hungry and didn’t plan on using the break to eat. Skye could handle a lot of things, but after dealing with Sandino, disrespect wasn’t one of them.
About an hour later and after the place had slowed down some Flo finally walked over to Skye.
“Now, you can take a break,” she stated.
Skye grabbed her coat and quickly walked outside to get some fresh air before the wicked witch of the east changed her mind. She was determined not to let Flo ruin her day.
As Skye sat outside, she propped up her aching feet and removed one shoe before rubbing the bottom of her heel. She watched as the parking lot became full again, but was determined not to go back inside before her break was over.
When she finally got up, thirty minutes later, Skye noticed a man standing across the street looking at her. As the man continued to stare, she pulled her sunglasses down to get a closer look at him. After looking for only a few seconds, her heart felt like it was about to come out of her chest. Jumping up, Skye instantly ran back inside because the man looked just like Cruze. Same height, same skin tone…same premature dreads. She wasn’t a hundred percent sure it was him, but didn’t want to take any chances. Although she tried to take a deep breath, her anxiety skyrocketed when the man headed toward the restaurant’s front door. Panicking, she took off running toward the back of the restaurant where her car was parked and jumped inside. Curious, Flo came running behind her.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she yelled. “Your shift isn’t over!”
“I have a family emergency, I have to go!” Skye replied.
Flo’s pale skin turned red. “It’s a packed house in there. You can’t just leave knowing we’re short staffed. If you don’t get back in that restaurant, you’re fired!”
“Well, fire me then bitch, I hated working here anyway!” Skye yelled, then pulled off. She was scared and furious at the same time.
“I can’t believe it’s because of Kareem that all this shit happened, I’m tried of running!” she yelled to herself. Skye gripped the steering wheel and shook it. She was so fucking mad at him.
Speeding down Spring Street and toward I-75, Skye almost hit several cars trying to get home so she could pick Payton up from Lydia’s house and Jordan from school. Even though Lydia lived in the same building, Skye didn’t even want Kareem to pick up the baby, especially if all of this was his fault.
With one hand on the steering wheel, she picked up her cell phone and called the shelter looking for Justice.
“BTC, how may I help you?” Mercedes answered while smacking her gum.
Skye took a deep breath before speaking. “Can I speak to Justice?”
“Who is this?” Mercedes asked with an attitude.
“You know who this is Mercedes, cut the shit!” Skye yelled.
“First of all, you better bring that shit down to a four, because right now you’re at a nine and a half.”
Skye wasn’t in the mood to deal with her right now so she quickly changed her tone. “This is Janelle. Can I please speak to Justice?
“Bitch, Justice isn’t here.”
CLICK
“Oh my God. Mercedes is really testing me right now,” Skye said. She dialed Justice’s cell phone and waited for it to ring.
“Hello,” he answered.
“Where are you?” Skye asked.
“I’m at the shelter, baby.”
“I just called and Mercedes said you weren’t there. That bitch is getting on my last nerve!” Skye belted. “I need you to meet me at my apartment. I think I just saw one of my husband’s friends outside my job watching me.”
“Are you serious? Are you okay? I know yo
u’re probably upset, but please drive careful.”
“I’m fine. Just trying to get to my kids.”
While on the phone, Justice thought he heard the bell on the shelter’s door open, but quickly diverted his attention back to Skye.
“Okay hold tight, I’m on my way, baby,” he said, hanging up the phone.
Justice grabbed his keys, walked out the office and then locked the door. A few seconds later he bumped into Mercedes in the hall.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she questioned him like a non-trusting wife.
“I’m headed out,” he replied in a harsh tone. “Oh, and the next time my girl calls, don’t ever lie and tell her I’m not here.”
Mercedes tossed her wavy hair over her shoulder. “Oh, so she’s your girl now, huh?” She didn’t even give Justice a chance to respond, before tossing out the next question. “So, are you headed out to meet that bitch? Justice you don’t know anything about her, or where she even came from. You running behind her ass like a little puppy.”
“Mercedes, mind your business. Nobody asked for your opinion.”
“So, does she know that you were my man, first?”
Justice glared at her. “I wasn’t your man and no, she doesn’t need to know what happened between us that one time. And if you wanna keep working here, you better keep your fucking big mouth shut,” he said, walking past Mercedes and heading out the door.
He quickly got into his car and tried to pull off, but didn’t make it far when he realized something was wrong. When he got out to see what the problem was, rage consumed his body instantly.
“Fuck!” he yelled then walked around the entire car.
All four of his tires had been slashed.
“I know that bitch did this shit!” Justice said, running back into the shelter
When he reached Mercedes’ office, she was sitting at her desk filing her nails and looking like an innocent child.
“Did you slash my fucking tires?”
She looked up. “What are you talking about?”