by Deja King
"I love you too."
My life finally had meaning. I decided that when I bought my house, I was bringing my mother with me. We could both leave Brooklyn and start over together. Maybe even open up a beauty salon or a nail shop together. We would be the flyest mother and daughter team ever.
Getting caught up in the future I was now planning, I looked at my watch and realized I only had an hour before I was supposed to meet up with Boogie. I needed to go all the way back to my storage spot in Jersey to get the cash I had to hit him off with. There was no way I was going to make it there and back in an hour, so I called Boogie and told him I would be an hour late. Luckily traffic wasn't that bad and I was making good time.
As I was coming back over the bridge, Inga's named popped up on my cell. I figured Porscha must've told Tanisha's cousin about our episode at the courthouse this morning and Inga was calling to get the dirt from me. "Hello."
"What up, Precious?"
"Nothing. Just handling some things. I'm kinda busy. What's up?"
"Oh, nothing. Where you at?"
"In the streets."
"Oh, you in Brooklyn?"
"Nah, that's not what I said. I'm in the streets," I replied, feeling funny about how Inga was coming at me.
"So when you coming back over to Brooklyn, `cause I wanted to see you?"
"I'm not sure. You haven't been staying at my place in Harlem."
"No. Wit' the pregnancy and all, my moms wanted me to be close by family."
"That's cool."
"Do you want to stop by and pick up your apartment keys since I won't be staying there?"
"I'm good. I have an extra set. Inga, I hate to cut this short, but like I said, I'm in the middle of handling some things. We'll get up later." That nauseated feeling was coming over me but I tried to shake it off as just being overwhelmed by seeing Nico and my encounter with Porscha.
When I pulled up to Boogie's shop it was almost eight o'clock. I parked around the back so nobody could see my car from the main road.
"What up, ghetto queen?" Boogie smiled and said when I walked in the door. I knew it was because of the 100 grand I agreed to pay him for having his people set all my shit up so my money would be clean.
"I know I'm late, but I hope yo' people still coming," I said, feeling anxious.
"No doubt. I got you covered. You got that money for me?"
"Of course. It's in the car. After we finish up I'll give it to you."
"Look at you, Precious, being all business-minded. You've come a long way."
I was looking out the window blinds, patiently waiting for Boogie's people to show up. "Who the peoples you dealing wit' on this anyway?"
"Oh, these my folks. They fuck with a cat who deal with a lot of major hustlers out here, getting they shit in order. When I told them it was a female looking to clean up a million dollars, they damn near had a heart attack."
"You told them my name?"
"Yeah, but they family. They know old school rules. They just wanted to make sure you weren't the police or nothing. It's not every day a woman comes through with that type of money to wash."
"So, what's the dude's name?"
"Who? My nephews'?"
"No, the dude yo' nephews fuck wit."
"Oh, I think they said his name is Tommy?"
Before I could vomit, I saw Tommy's truck pulling up in front of the shop. "Oh shit, Boogie."
"What's wrong, Precious."
"Boogie, this is a trap. Shit, fuck!"
"Stop tripping. I told you them my nephews."
"Boogie, Tommy used to work for Nico. I saw him leaving our crib yesterday. He came there looking for the money." My hands were shaking as I ran to the door to lock it.
"Precious, you sure it's the same Tommy?"
"Yes, that's his truck outside right now. Come on, Boogie, let's go out the back. I parked my car out there. We can duck these motherfuckers before they get inside."
But before we could take another step, the front door glass flew everywhere from the bullets that Tommy sprayed. Boogie and I both threw our bodies down on the floor.
"Get the fuck up!" Tommy yelled as he and two other guys entered the shop.
"Where the fuck is the million dollars, Precious?"
Boogie stood up before I did and recognized the two other men as his nephews. "Lamont, Andre, what ya doing? You got yo' friend fucking up my shop. What is this all about?"
"Listen, Boogie," the taller, darker nephew said. "We ain't got no beef wit' you, but this a million dollars we talking `bout. The three of us gonna split that shit."
"Lamont Johnson, I know you ain't telling me you sold me out."
"Boogie, chill. You already chipped. Just have shorty hand over that money and we can all walk away from this wit' no problem."
"You sonofabitch!" Boogie yelled, leaping towards his nephews.
"Pops, you betta chill," Tommy warned as he raised his gun to Boogie's chest. Through all this I was still on the floor trying to figure out a way out of this bullshit.
"Precious, get the fuck up."
I slowly stood, locking eyes with Tommy.
"I know you didn't think I was gonna let you keep that money. Soon as I heard Nico was locked up and Ritchie was dead, I started thinking about getting hold of that money. I had to find out certain facts before I knew that the deal neva went down so the money had to still be in the house where I dropped it off. But yo' slick ass had already swooped it up by the time I got there. You taking it neva crossed my mind. I figured once the streets got word that Nico Carter was locked up, some gutsy nigga broke in his crib trying to clean him out and came across all that loot. It wasn't until my boy, Lamont here told me about a friend his uncle was helping out who had a million dollars, did it all start coming together."
"How you gonna steal from Nico? He was good to you, Tommy."
"Fuck Nico. He didn't give a damn about nobody but himself. He was living the high life while the rest of us out there busting our asses. Nico can fucking rot in that jail cell for all I care. Enough talk about that shit. Where's the money before I start dropping bodies up in here?"
"You ain't dropping shit, you punk-ass nigga. Now get the fuck out my shop before ya start something that you won't be able to finish."
"Old man, shut the fuck up," Tommy barked.
"Yeah, Boogie, shut the fuck up before we have to show you what's up," the once silent nephew, Andre echoed.
"Boy, I'ma whip yo' ass," Boogie trilled, raising his hand to back smack his nephew as a reminder to respect your elders. But that lesson would not be learned. Without warning, Andre blasted off his gun, shooting Boogie twice, once in the chest and last in the face. Boogie's brains splattered on the wall and a few drops of blood even landed on my cheek. I put my hands over my mouth, horrified by what I witnessed. I knew that I would be next. They would never let me leave alive. I was an eyewitness to a murder.
"Why you do that?" Lamont said to Andre.
"It was reflex. He was about to slap me like I was a bitch."
"Fuck all that. We need to hurry up. Precious, where the money at?"
"In my car."
"A'ight, move. Let's go get it," Tommy directed. "Yah go pull the truck around to the back while I go get this money."
"We gon' clean out the register first," Lamont said.
"Nigga, we about to split a million dollars and you talking about cleaning out the cash register. What is you smoking? We need to get the fuck up outta here. Somebody could've heard the gunshots and called the police."
"You right. We gon' pull the car around." Tommy tossed Lamont his keys and escorted me out the back. My feet moved slowly trying to buy myself time to come up with a plan. I looked straight ahead as Tommy kept his Berretta pointed to my back. I could feel him sizing me up as he smacked his lips and whistled in his attempt to taunt me.
"Damn, Precious, it's too bad shit had to end this way. You a bad bitch. I wish I could make you my girl. But if Nico ever heard about that, he
would put a hit out on me from his jail cell," Tommy said with a chuckle.
"What do you think he's gonna do when he finds out you robbed me to get his money?"
"How is he gonna ever know?" That was a clear indication that he had no plans to let me live. "I wish I had more time. I would love to get up in that pussy," Tommy added, furthering the insult.
When we got to my car I popped the trunk. Tommy lifted it and saw a bunch of bags stacked on top of each other. "Which bag has the money?"
"The black one."
"All these bags are black. You dig through this shit. Them goofy niggas still ain't pulled the truck around, and I'm damn sure not about to let you make a run for it while I'm rummaging through these bags. So hurry up and get my money."
Tommy eyed me like a hawk as I pretended to look for the money. The million dollars wasn't even in the car. The only money I had was the $100,000 I brought for Boogie, and that was in the front seat. I was fidgeting around in the trunk for my savior, and when I found it I cocked my 9mm right before I tossed one of the black bags in Tommy's face. He lost his balance and the gun he was holding fell out of his hand. I used the opportunity to blast Tommy three times in the head before he even knew what hit him. I slammed the trunk and jumped in my car.
The treacherous nephews pulled up right when I was taking off. They saw Tommy splashed out on the cement and rolled right over him in their quest to get to me. Lamont was driving and Andre was busting off as we flew down Flatbush Avenue. They were gaining on me, so I pressed down on the accelerator, swerving trying not to hit anybody. Two more bullets hit my car and Lamont was pulling up so Andre would be directly on my side.
The light ahead was about to turn red and I noticed a truck about to pull out from the right side of the street. When the light turned green and the truck started pulling off, I jammed my foot on the gas and swiftly cut across the car Lamont was driving and cut in front of the truck, barely sliding through. By the time Lamont realized what I was doing, he couldn't hit his brakes fast enough and he collided into the side of the truck. The entire car exploded into flames instantly.
I drove off once again beating death.
FfiII or HE
The street life had no loyalty to no one, not even family. Being up close as Boogie's brains were splashed everywhere was making my body weak. The dried up blood was still resting on my face. I had no tissue, so I tried to use my hands to scrub the blood off, but it only made my face red and bruised. This was a nightmare, and I couldn't imagine it getting any worse.
When I drove up to the projects, I sat in my car for a few minutes, getting my thoughts together. I knew my mother would immediately sense something was terribly wrong, but I wasn't ready to tell her all the grimy details of what had taken place in my life. She'd finally gotten her life together and I didn't want her stressing over my problems. Before I got out the car I fixed my hair and spit on my hands to wipe off the dried blood on my face. I was determined to appear as if ev erything was straight when my mother saw me.
I took a deep breath when I opened the apartment door. It was pitch black, which was unusual. My mother never went to bed before one o'clock and she always fell asleep on the living room couch with the television on.
I finally located the light switch and to my despair the entire place had been ransacked. The brand new couch my mother purchased was cut up. The kitchen cabinets were open with broken dishes everywhere. The plants that were in the window were now knocked on the floor with dirt all over. I slowly walked towards the hallway and saw the words "You're A Dead Bitch, " written on the walls.
My whole body became flooded with the most agonizing twinge I ever experienced. At that moment, I knew my life would never be the same.
I didn't even want to walk in my mother's room because reality would truly set in. Her door was slightly ajar. When I pushed it completely open, I saw my beautiful mother's body lying there on the bed with her head completely severed. My knees completely buckled and I fell to the floor. For the first time, since I was a little girl, I cried. The tears flowed, and they wouldn't stop.
It was as if all the heartache and pain from so many years roared out begging to be released. I not only cried for myself, but I cried for my mother, the mother that I just found only earlier today. Now she'd been taken away from me, before I could enjoy all the moments that I dreamed of all my life. Dreams that I never believed could be possible and now they wouldn't be. The shimmer of hope my mother gave me when I looked into her beautiful green eyes today had died with her.
On my way back to Jersey, I contemplated ending my life, by driving off the side of the road. The only thing that stopped me was that I didn't have the guts. With all the bullshit I'd seen and done, I was scared to end it all. I was riddled with guilt. My revenge on Nico caused the death of Boogie and my mother. I would never be able to live that down.
When I made it back to the hotel room, I raided the mini bar and guzzled down every ounce of alcohol available. All I wanted was to sleep without enduring the pain.
"Oh goodness," I mumbled out loud when the ringing of my cell phone wouldn't stop. "What?"
"Precious, wake up," I heard Inga yelling through the phone.
"I'm up. What is it?"
"Precious, I have something to tell you." There was silence on the phone for a few seconds. "Precious are you there?"
"Yeah, what do you have to tell me?"
"It's about your mother and Boogie."
"What about them?" I asked, not wanting Inga to have a clue I already knew.
"They're dead, Precious. Both of them were murdered sometime last night."
"Damn, do they have any idea who did it or why?"
"Well, Boogie was found dead inside his shop and Tommy, that kid that worked for Nico, was found killed right outside the shop. The cops tryn' to piece all the shit together."
"What about my mother?"
"They don't know. Because of the profession she was in, they thinking it could've been anybody."
"My mother had cleaned her life up. She wasn't in that profession no more, so tell them bitch-ass cops and anybody else that's running they mouth to shut the fuck up. They don't know nothing about my mother. She better than all of them!" I screamed, as I tried to defend my mother in death, since she was never defended in life.
"Precious, I'm sorry. I had no idea yo' moms turned her life around."
"How would you know?" I responded sarcastically.
"So when you coming back to Brooklyn?"
"Inga, I don't fucking know. Maybe neva. Coming through BK seems like a death sentence to me. Five motherfuckers I know have died in the last week. I don't want no parts of Brooklyn right now."
"So where you gon' go?"
"Why the fuck you keep asking me so many damn questions? You been coming at me like you the feds since you called me about Nico's arrest."
"Damn, Precious, you my best friend I'm just worried about you. Excuse me."
"You got enough to worry about. You need to concentrate on that seed you got growing inside you instead of wondering when the next time I'm stopping through Brooklyn."
"You know what, Precious? I know emotionally you fucked up in the game right now. First, Nico get locked up and now both your mom and Boogie get killed. That's a lot to swallow, so I'm not gonna take none of the shit you saying personally. Just know I'm here for you."
"Yeah, I hear you, Inga. I'll speak to you later."
My head was killing me and the conversation I had with Inga didn't help. I had to get my mind off all the bullshit. I dragged myself out of bed, took a shower and headed to Short Hills Mall. Shopping would at least numb my mind momentarily.
After racking up clothes from Fendi, Gucci, Versace and just about every other store in the mall, I went to the nail salon for a pedicure. I was reading my XXL magazine when I heard the girl sitting next to me complaining about how her roommate bolted on her without notice, and she didn't know how she would be able to maintain her rent. I instantly thought
about how it was time for me to get the hell out of that hotel and this might be the perfect opportunity.
Before getting too excited, on the sly I sized the girl up. She reminded me of one of those college prep girl types, all goody-goody and shit. Which was cool since I needed a major break from my normal `bout-it, `bout-it chicks. When the girl got off the phone I decided to put on my best All American girl voice and inquire about her apartment.
"Hi, I didn't mean to eavesdrop on your conversation, but I heard you say something about needing a roommate." I then peeped the girl doing her own sizing up of me. She first eyed my snakeskin Gucci purse and scanned down to my matching boots. Her eyes finally landed on the few pieces of ice I was rockin'.
"Yeah, my girlfriend just broke out on me without any notice. She got some new boyfriend and moved in with him. There is no way I can afford the rent on my own. Are you looking for a place to live?"
"Actually, I am. I just moved here from Philly and I'm staying at a hotel. I was going to start looking for my own place, but it would be great to have a roommate, especially since I don't know anybody here."
"What hotel are you staying at?"
"The Hyatt Regency in Jersey City."
"Oh, I know where that is. It's nice."
"Yeah, but you can't stay in a hotel forever."
"True. Well I live in Edgewater. My rent is a little expensive because I live on River Road-they actually call it Rappers Row."
"Why's that?"
"Because a lot of Rappers and industry people live in the condos and high rises on that street."
"Oh that's cool. So how much is the rent?"
"Three thousand a month, so if you took the place your part would be fifteen hundred plus half for utilities. Is that within your budget?"
"Definitely. I could even pay you six months upfront so you don't have to be worried about me leaving you in a bad predicament like your other roommate did." The girls eyes lit up and I knew it would work out. Money had a way of doing that to people.
"Cool. You'll love the place. The building is fabulous and everyone is really friendly. Your room is a nice size and you have your own bathroom."
"Are you saying the place is mine?"