by Lisa Lennox
“Yeah,” Smurf said, smiling and rubbing his dick. Just the thought of puttin’ one in Dame gave him a hard-on. “I know just who you mean, son.”
“His time is up.” The phone sounded as if it had gone dead. “You still there?”
“Yeah, I’m here,” Smurf confirmed.
“You heard me?”
“Yeah, I heard.”
Smurf and Dame were all right since they had been hanging lately, but they weren’t like he and Dink were. They had fucked some bitches and gotten high together, but that shit didn’t count for much at the moment. What mattered was that Dink wanted him gone, and he had called on Smurf to do it. The teen knew that Dink had something brewing in his heart, and he would be busy for the next few weeks. Getting the go-ahead to do Dame was cake. But if ever the day came when Dink asked him to do Marco . . . that shit would be the icing.
“Time frame?” Smurf asked.
“Yesterday,” Dink replied.
“Aiight. Consider it a done deal. What about his business?”
“That nigga ain’t gon’ make or break my shit. This has been a long time comin’.”
“Yeah, I knew this was gon’ happen. I knew that if you weren’t makin’ plans to take care of him, the business was going to eventually fall apart. That nigga wants to shine more than he wants to grind. He wanted your spotlight, boss. Even God had to eventually throw Satan’s ass out the gates.”
“Yeah,” Dink said with a sigh as he listened to the lil’ nigga make sense. “You can only give a nigga a pass but so many times. He asked for it.” Dink paused. “I know you two was gettin’ kind of cool there for a minute. You got a problem wit’ it?”
“It’s whatever you say,” Smurf said, avoiding the trap. “You my nigga, and I’ma rock wit’ you.”
“Keep this quiet. I want to tell Marco about this myself. I know that he ain’t gon’ have no problems with it. He can’t stand that nigga. If it wasn’t for me, Marco would’ve tried to fire him on his own.”
“I doubt that,” Smurf chuckled. “But that’s ya man. I’ll get wit’ ya tomorrow, son.” Smurf hung up the phone and went back to reading The Devil’s Tear Drop. Dame was cool, but Dink was his employer. Smurf wasn’t trying to bite the hand that was feeding him. Dame had to go.
Dink hung up the phone and took a deep breath. He hated that it had to go down this way, but fuck it. He figured he was getting ready to start a new life anyhow, so he needed to rework some things. He would eventually sever ties with the streets, but not just yet. Things needed to be put into perspective.
Dink scratched his chin and thought about what he was going to do next. He turned to say something to Crystal and she hopped into his lap. She grabbed Dink by the face and threw her tongue in his mouth. She kissed him long and passionately. He returned her affection, but the thought of killing Dame, cutting her off, and hanging up his hustler’s hat made him pull away.
“Crystal, what are you doin’?” He was not in the least interested in her.
“What does it look like I’m doin’? I can see you have a lot on your mind right now. Let me help you forget about some of it. Now stop fighting me, Dink.”
“Crystal . . .” Dink said, hesitating.
“Don’t fight me, baby,” Crystal whispered, kissing him again. “Ain’t you tired of fighting?”
“Hold that thought.” He looked down at his beeper. “I’ll be right back.” Dink hopped out of his car and went to use the pay phone. It was Marco. He couldn’t wait to reveal his master plan, but there was no way he could have this conversation in front of Crystal.
“Talk to me,” Marco said into the phone.
“It’s D. You just paged me, man?”
“What up, nigga?”
“Man, what ain’t up,” Dink replied, running his hand down his face. “I got lots of shit to holla at you about.”
“Oh, yeah? What it look like?”
“Man, I’m thinking about making some changes.”
“Changes like what?” Marco asked.
“First off, I’m ’bout to cut Crystal off.”
“Yeah, and?” Marco said, knowing that there was more. Dink took a deep breath.
“And I’m thinking about early retirement, fam.”
“Get the fuck outta here!” Marco shouted in disbelief.
“Naw, man. I ain’t playing,” Dink assured him. “I’ve been runnin’ the streets all my life, son. There’s gotta be something better out here for me.” Dink had a view of his car from where he stood. He looked through the car window at Crystal, who just happened to be smiling at him. “As a matter of fact, I know there’s something better out there for me.”
“Well, when did all of this shit happen?” Marco said.
“Man, I’ve been thinkin’ about this for a grip now,” Dink said. “I just see myself doin’ something bigger and better. I can’t see me doin’ this shit at thirty-five, forty years old. I might want to have a wife and a family someday.”
“A wife and family?” Marco gasped. “What kind of shit you smokin’?”
“My head has never been clearer,” Dink told him. “I know what I want for my life.”
“Man, you sound like a whole different dude. I hope you know what you’re doin’. You know what they say about gettin’ out of the game, son.”
“Yeah, but with a good woman by me, I can do this shit, man.”
“But you just said you was ’bout to cut your woman off,” Marco reminded him.
“I ain’t talkin’ ’bout her,” Dink said, looking over at Crystal.
“Then who you talkin’ ’bout?”
“You don’t know her.”
“Nigga, I know everybody you know,” Marco said, sucking his teeth. “Who is she? Where is she from?”
Dink closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He might as well put it out there. In the hood, the shit was gon’ get out there regardless. It might as well come from the horse’s mouth.
“Laci. Her name is Laci.”
“Laci? Who the fuck is Laci?”
Dink gave a sigh of relief that Marco hadn’t heard anything about a Laci on the streets. “I told you that you didn’t know her, man, so just let it go.”
“Whatever, man.”
“You sound upset,” Dink teased.
“How long have you known her?” Marco grilled him.
“Long enough,” Dink said.
“How long is long enough?” Marco said, not about to let Dink slide with that lame-ass answer.
“I don’t know. About a month,” Dink answered.
“What? A month? What kind of shit you on, nigga? You ready to give up the game for a girl you ain’t known but a month?” Marco was too beside himself. “You playin’ yourself, D. You playin’ your crew.” Marco had his own reasons for not wanting Dink to give up the life and run off with some bitch.
“Nah, Marco, you wrong about that. I think I’m gon’ marry this girl.”
Marco started laughing out of frustration. “How the fuck you gon’ marry somebody you’ve only known a month, dude? Do that sound smart to you?”
Dink turned his back to Crystal, who he had a feeling was trying her hardest to listen to his conversation. “Yo, I ain’t talkin’ ’bout gettin’ married right away,” he whispered. “We gonna establish a relationship and maybe get a place together in Boston or some shit. It’ll be a while before I settle down and get married, but I’m gonna do it one day.”
“Whatever you’re using is what we need to be selling, ’cause it’s got you fucked up,” Marco laughed.
Dink chuckled. “You crazy, yo.”
“No, you the one that’s crazy,” Marco said. “I know one thing, though. If you leave, me and Dame gon’ knock heads like a muthafucka.”
Dink grinned. “Well, you ain’t gon’ have to worry about Dame much longer.”
“What you talkin’ ’bout?” Marco asked curiously.
“Like I said, you ain’t gon’ have to worry about that nigga.”
“Why? Is
he tryin’ to run off and get married too?”
“Nah. That nigga’s time is up. He’s done.”
“Well, it’s about fuckin’ time,” Marco said. “You know if it wasn’t for you, I would’ve been cancelled the nigga. What made you finally pull the trigger on that fool?”
“He just don’t listen,” Dink half-lied. “And he’s been doin’ a lot of shit that he needs to pay for. I don’t really want to get into all of that, but he gon’ pay.”
“Man, if you could see the smile on my face.”
“Yeah, I knew you were gon’ like to hear that.”
“You put Smurf on him?”
“Yeah. He got that covered. And you need to stay away from Dame if you don’t want to get caught in the crossfire.”
“Bet,” Marco said. “But back to this marriage shit. I still feel funny about that.”
“Nigga, you act like I’m talking about tomorrow. It ain’t like that. I just met somebody I click with. I want all my niggas to meet that special girl in their life one day. Then you’ll see what I’m talkin’ about.”
“Fuck bitches, man,” Marco said hatefully. “I ain’t fuckin’ with them like that.”
“Damn, kid. You’re the most woman-hating man I’ve ever met in my life. I should know, my daddy was a pimp.” Dink didn’t want to press the subject. Marco and women was always a touchy subject. “Don’t nothin’ feel as good as a warm pussy, nigga.”
“Whatever,” Marco said, sucking his teeth.
Crystal had had enough of Dink’s phone calls. She honked his horn to get him to rush his conversation and get back in the car.
“Yo, let me get out of here,” Dink said. “I’ll speak to you first thing tomorrow. Better yet, as soon as I hear from Smurf, I’ll call you.”
CHAPTER 20
Make It Last Forever
DINK LOOKED INTO Laci’s eyes and felt sheer passion.
Everything after that seemed to go in slow motion. They both exhaled when their lips touched. They shared a kiss that only soul mates share. Laci massaged the top of Dink’s head, and he softly began caressing her breasts.
“Hold on,” Dink said, pulling away.
“What?” Laci whined.
“I can’t do this, Laci.”
“This?” Laci asked, puzzled. “What do you mean this?”
“I can’t disrespect you like this,” he said, looking around. “In a car? No, I won’t allow you to go out like that.”
“Please allow me to,” Laci said, clawing at his pants and trying to kiss him again.
“Goddammit, Laci, no,” he said, grabbing her. “You deserve better than some dude fucking you in a car.”
“But you’re not just some dude, Dink,” Laci said, stroking him softly.
“You know what I mean, girl. Regardless of what you’ve been out here doing, you ain’t some whore who drops her panties in the front seat of no man’s car, and I’m not going to ever treat you like that. Don’t ever allow yourself to be treated like that either.”
Dink paused as Laci climbed from his lap and sat back in the passenger seat. Laci had never been with a man who wanted to stop when things got hot and heavy. She knew Dink wanted to fuck her because his dick was rock hard, but he showed restraint out of respect. She knew at this point that what came out of his mouth was legitimate and he meant business.
DURING THEIR DRIVE to Laci’s house, they went over their plan. Laci was to tell her mother everything, no matter how hard it was. Dink had explained to her that she needed all the help and support she could get, and that her mother couldn’t help her with a problem she didn’t know about.
“Damn, this is your house?” Finally, Dink got a chance to see where Laci came from, why she was so different.
“Yeah, I know it’s big. We have a gardener and a maid who come help my mother twice a week. I don’t know what my mother is going to do with herself once I’m gone.”
“How many rooms is it?”
“Five bedrooms, six bathrooms, two living rooms, and a pool in the back,” Laci spouted off, unfazed by her plush lifestyle. The white brick Colonial-inspired home had four pillars in front, similar to the White House. In all his years of stackin’ chip, Dink had never seen a home like this. Of course he’d imagined it and if he wanted to, he could drop the cash right now and buy the home that was for sale right across the street. However, until he met Laci he’d had no real desire to leave the hood. Actually, he’d never thought he could.
Focusing back on the matter at hand, Dink checked himself and turned to Laci. “Now page me if you need me, girl. Aiight?” He looked directly into her eyes. She cracked a smile. “What?”
“Nothing. It just feels like I’ve been with you all my life. You know how it is in the movies? You get to see someone’s entire life in ninety minutes. Well, that’s how this day has felt.”
Dink smiled back at her. “Well, you definitely gon’ get more than ninety minutes out of me, girl. But like I was saying, hit me up anytime during the night. I got some business I need to take care of in the morning, then I’m going to come back through to check you out. Is that cool?”
Laci nodded. Dink wanted to get up first thing in the morning and get some info on rehabs so that he didn’t show up empty-handed. He promised Laci he would help her and that’s exactly what he planned on doing. From here on out, any obstacle facing either one of them they’d tackle together.
Dink made sure Laci understood how serious he was about her kickin’ that shit. He told her that he intended to go as far as patting her ass down if necessary. If they were going to try and do the damn thang, she had to get her shit back in order. And college still had to be part of her future. If it were up to Dink, she’d start on time with the rest of the freshmen.
Dink warned Laci to stay away from the Jackson Projects, too. And he told her that if she really wanted help, then she would have to help herself as well. He wasn’t going to try to pull dead weight.
“I know all this might sound like I’m just trying to step up in your life and take over, but this is what I gotta do. Do you understand that?”
“Yes, I do,” Laci said like an obedient child.
“Then you have to put all of your energy into leavin’ this crack shit alone. You ain’t been on it that long, so maybe that counts for something. Right now your mind is just caught up in it. It’s got you thinking your body needs it, but it don’t. It ain’t gonna be easy, but we’ll get through it. Are you with me?”
“Sure, Dink,” Laci said, trying to sound confident.
“Well, I’m gon’ head out.”
“Dink?” Laci said softy.
“Yeah.”
“Where you headed? To Crystal’s?” Laci couldn’t help but ask.
Dink sighed. “Don’t even think like that. I’m takin’ care of her. She’s gon’ get what she’s got comin’ to her. Don’t worry about it. You have my word on that. So, are you truly with me?”
Laci paused. Life with Dink would be a gamble. She could try and make it work with him, but what if he turned out to be just like everybody else who’d tried to befriend her? Looking at her other options, which were somewhere between very few and none, Laci was willing to take a chance.
“Yes, of course I’m with you.”
“Good. Now head on in that house and handle your business with your moms.”
“Okay,” Laci said. She leaned in, kissed Dink good night, and opened the car door. Before getting out she turned toward him.
“Don’t hurt me,” Laci said with desperate eyes. “Please don’t hurt me, Dink.”
“I’ll never hurt you. We’re going to grow old together and sit on our porch drinkin’ lemonade, watchin’ our grandkids play.”
Laci put her head down and smiled. “Do you promise?”
Dink looked at her warmly. There was nothing he wanted to do more at this moment than just take her in his arms and ride away somewhere far—to get away from all the bullshit forever. But right now he couldn’t offer her that. Right
now all he could offer her was his word. “I promise.”
CHAPTER 21
Too Little, Too Late
LACI WOKE UP the next day thinking that the night before was all a dream. That was until the grip showed up twice as strong. The desire to smoke wasn’t the only thing that had her wide awake. The phone kept ringing. Her mother must have already gotten up and headed out for the day or else she would have answered it by now. Laci tried to sleep through the annoying rings, but her craving wouldn’t let her rest.
The night before, Dink had occupied her time and thoughts. He had been her rock. But now, all she had was a craving for that get-high.
“Hello,” Laci said, frustrated with the caller.
“Hello? Can I speak to Laci?” the caller asked.
“This is she,” Laci said, clearing her throat.
There was a pause. “Laci, it’s Shaunna.” Shaunna figured that two in the afternoon was enough time for anyone to have gotten a sufficient amount of sleep.
“Shaunna?” Laci said, sounding both irritated and surprised.
“Yeah. Where you been, girl? Your mother didn’t tell you that I called? I haven’t seen or heard from you in weeks.”
Laci remained silent, trying to focus her eyes. Hell, it might have been two in the afternoon, but it felt like the middle of the night for her.
“I know that you haven’t heard from me in a while, but I did try to call you.”
“What do you want?” Laci asked dryly. She wasn’t interested in anything Shaunna had to say.
“What do I want?” Shaunna asked, as if she was surprised by the response.
“Yeah, you heard me,” Laci snapped. “I know you’re not my friend. Only friends call each other just to say hey. So why are you calling me? You feel guilty?”
“Guilty?”
“Yeah, guilty. Why are you trying to act stupid? You were a part of the whole thing too.”
“I didn’t want to do it, Laci, I swear,” Shaunna confessed. “I even got into an argument with the girls after the fact.”
“Yeah, whatever, Shaunna. You’re just trying to clear your conscience. You don’t give a fuck about what happens to me.”