by Roy Glenn
Chapter Thirteen
Tenikka pulled up to the curb of the school and Barbara had to force herself not to roll her eyes and it had nothing to do with her relationship with her sister, which was still a bit strained. That was mostly because they didn’t know each other very well, and Barbara still felt resentment over finding out that she had an older sister.
The reason that her eyes were rolling was due to the fact that Tenikka was driving a candy apple red CLK 350 Mercedes Benz that Barbara knew their father bought for her. RJ got a car for his sixteenth birthday and here she was seventeen and still no car, nor an explanation of why she didn’t have one. No matter how much she asked about it, and no matter how many different arguments she made about it being a good idea that they get her one, she still had to rely on the train, Uber or Lyft to get her around when all else failed.
“You coming or not?” Tenikka called out to her.
“Yeah,” Barbara said and walked to the car. “Destiny wants to hangout too.”
“Nah, maybe next time. I wanted for this to be about me and you. Come on,” Tenikka said. Barbara didn’t like it, but she understood that Tenikka was trying and she could try too.
“One second,” Barbara said and hurried over to where Destiny was waiting. “Sorry, Dest; she said maybe next time.”
“It’s cool, Barbie. I understand.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, go hang out with your sister,” Destiny said. “Call me later.”
“I will,” Barbara said as she got in the car she was now jealous of and Tenikka pulled off.
“You learn anything today?” Tenikka asked.
At first, Barbara just looked at her, thinking that she was taking the whole big sister thing too far. “No, but I wasn’t trying to learn anything,” she said.
“You need to be. First, because you’re smart and can go far in this world. Further than I ever will, but not if you are hanging out all the time and getting caught up with your friends that aren’t going anywhere. It’s okay to have fun, but there has to be some balance. Feel me?”
“Yeah,” Barbara said, thinking that this was going to be boring if all she wanted to do was lecture.
“Good. You never want to have to make the choices that I had to make.”
“Like what?”
“Dancing naked in front of a room full of horny ass men for money.”
“Oh,” Barbara said. It always made her feel bad that Tenikka had to do that and she wondered if she could do it if she had to. The answer was no.
“Now, do you smoke?”
“Cigarettes?”
“Don’t play stupid. Do you smoke?”
“Yeah.”
Barbara watched as her sister opened the console between them and pulled out a blunt and a lighter.
“Here, light this. And you know the rules, right?”
Barbara lit the blunt. “What rules?”
“Puff, puff pass.”
Tenikka and Barbara laughed. “I know that rule,” she said and hit the blunt again before passing it to Tenikka.
“I need to go get some more since I’m out. That is if you’re okay riding there with me.”
“Hell, yeah.” Barbara felt so excited to be out with Tenikka. She was about to be exposed to the world. The real world that had been hidden from Barbara her entire life. At least that’s how she saw it.
“As I was saying earlier, this is the time to have fun but when you are back in school, get to those books?”
“I will.”
Once they got to the dope spot, Tenikka and Barbara went inside the house. There were a group of guys in the smoke-filled living room; all wearing dark, baggy clothing.
“What up, Butta?”
“What’s up, Trig?”
“Who’s your friend?”
“That’s my sister,” Tenikka said, and Barbara noticed that he stopped looking in her direction.
While Tenikka made the transaction, Barbara took a seat on one of the worn-down couches and checked out the variety of cute guys, but one stood out to her. He was taller than the others and much more handsome. He had smooth brown skin and nice eyes that seemed to soften his rugged look. There was something about him that made Barbara think he was a bad boy with good guy qualities. She wasn’t sure why she thought that, but she attributed it to what Bobby had taught her about people.
So, she watched him while he talked to Tenikka. Then her sister came and sat next to her. “Can you roll?”
Barbara nodded her head. “Yes,” she said, and Tenikka tossed her the weed and a blunt.
“So, what’s been up, Butta?” Nice eyes asked as Barbara proceeded to split the blunt.
“I’ve been good,” Tenikka said, watching out the corner of her eyes as her sister removed the tobacco.
“I ain’t seen you at Shooters in more than a minute,” Trig said. He ran the spot, along with Azibo, Wolf and Dequain.
“That’s because I don’t dance anymore.”
“Where you dance at now?” Dequain asked.
“Didn’t you hear what she said, dumbass? She said she don’t dance no more,” Nice eyes said, but he was watching Barbara as she sealed the blunt with her tongue.
“You’re not bad.” Tenikka sat down and started to roll one for them to ride with.
“We gonna call you blunt roller,” Nice eyes said.
He’d been looking Barbara over since she came in and now he was moving closer to her. Barbara fired up the blunt, hoping that she wouldn’t choke on it, especially since nice eyes came and sat down next to her. She passed him the blunt.
He hit it. “You seem a little out of place here.”
“Why is that?” Barbara asked him.
“Hard to explain, but that’s not a bad thing.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah,” he said and passed the blunt to Tenikka. “The same people roll up in here all the time, and I’m just sayin’ you ain’t like them.”
“And I’m sayin’, how so?”
“To be honest with you, you’re prettier than any of them.”
Barbara had to work hard to contain her grin. She may have been young, but she knew enough about boys to know that pumping girls’ heads up was what they do, and taking it too seriously was a mistake.
“That’s nice of you to say. I’m sure you say that to every girl that comes in here.”
“Actually, I never have.”
The two of them just stared at each other not speaking. Barbara was silent because she was tongue-tied, and her body was tingling with an awareness that she had never felt because he was different than the other guys that always came on to her.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Barbara.”
“Barbara.” He smiled at her. “That’s a nice name. I’m Ramses, but my niggas, they call me Ram.”
“I like that,” she said and returned his smile.
Tenikka had been listening to their conversation and knew that it was time to intervene. Her purpose was to get to know her sister better and introduce her to the world that had been hidden from her, not for her to get involved with the kind of people that she’d meet along the way.
“Ram, let me holla at you for a minute,” Tenikka said and stood up. She walked into the kitchen to wait for him.
“I’ll be right back,” Ram said to Barbara. And then he stood up and went in the kitchen. “What’s up?”
“I guess I don’t need to remind you that she is my underage sister, or that our father is Bobby Ray, or that she calls Mike Black, Uncle Mike.”
“No, Butta, you ain’t gotta remind me, but thank you for the reality check.”
“Just checking. I’d hate for our daddy and Uncle Mike to have to kill you over her.” Tenikka stepped closer to Ram and looked up into his eyes. “And they will kill you over her,” she said and came out of the kitchen. “You ready?” Tenikka asked Barbara as she headed for the door.
Barbara looked at Tenikka and then to Ram as he came out of th
e kitchen. “Yup,” she said, stood up and followed her sister out.
“Nice meeting you, Barbara. Come back anytime,” Ram said as they left. “With your fine young ass.”
Tenikka and Barbara got back in the car and started up the car. As she drove away from there, Tenikka felt like there was something she needed to say.
“That’s exactly what I was talkin’ about.”
“What’s that?”
“Hanging out and getting caught up with niggas like that that aren’t going anywhere.”
“What?” Barbara smiled.
“I saw the way you were lookin’ at Ram, and all I’m sayin’ is nothing good will ever come from fuckin’ with a nigga like that.”
“I know,” Barbara said.
“So, where you wanna go?”
Barbara smiled excitedly. “Wherever you wanna take me,” she paused. “I wanna see everything.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. You said that you were gonna show me the world that our daddy, and Uncle Mike and Aunt Rain and everybody else … including RJ, been hiding from me. That’s what I wanna see.”
“Okay,” Tenikka said and headed for a nearby gambling spot that was run by a man they called Jelly, who ran the spot for Doc. “But I want you to understand something.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m showing you this because you’re out here in the real world, fuckin’ around with your girls and you need to know who you are in that world, so you’ll be aware of what’s going on around you and can protect yourself, if necessary.”
“Protect myself from what?”
Tenikka stopped at the corner and looked at her younger, naïve sister. “How much do you want to know?”
“Like I told you that night, I wanna know everything.”
“Okay, so let’s start there. Club Garage, the club you and Destiny was at that night.”
“What about it?”
“Club Garage is owned by a lowlife named Bruce Lloyd. He’s a street soldier for Baby Chris Arcus. He runs a crew for his captain, Jackie Washington.”
“Wait, I know her,” Barbara said. “I met her at my cousin’s wedding. She’s nice.”
“They’re all members of a criminal organization called The Family.”
“What does any of that have to do with me?” Barbara asked as Tenikka parked the car.
Tenikka looked at Barbara and took a deep breath. “That family was started by our father and Mike Black,” she said and before Barbara had a chance to even think about what she had just heard her sister say, Tenikka said, “Come on,” and got out of the car. Barbara got out of the car and hurried to catch up with her sister.
Daddy and Uncle Mike?
They were the two men she admired most. The idea that they were gangsters was almost unfathomable, but then again, in so many ways, it was.
“Where are you going?” she asked, still trying to wrap her head around it.
“This is one of Doc’s gambling houses,” Tenikka said.
“Doc?” Barbara asked in shock. She hadn’t just met Doc at Malia’s wedding; she had known him all her life.
When Tenikka walked in the joint, Barbara was a little scared, and it wasn’t just because she was going to a gambling house, but because of the two big ugly men on the door. They just said, what’s up Butta, and let them in. Barbara followed her in laughing.
“What you laughing at, the gruesome twosome?”
“No … well, yeah, kinda. But I just think it’s funny that everybody calls you Butta,” Barbara said as she looked around the smoke-filled room that was full of people gambling and drinking.
“I told you that was the name I used when I danced, right?”
“Right,” Barbara laughed and pointed. “Because of that gigantic ass you gotta carry around.”
Tenikka smiled. “You ain’t too much better.” She looked at Barbara and laughed a little. They were just about the same height, Barbara may have been a shade or two darker, but if you looked closely, you could see it.
“We’re our father’s daughters. Only real difference between us is that I got my mother’s ass and you got your mother’s titties,” she said, and Barbara laughed, but she had to admit that Tenikka was right.
While they were there, Tenikka told Barbara a few of the stories that she’d heard. “I grew up hearing about Mike Black and Bobby Ray, not knowing that he was my father.”
Barbara listened to what was being told to her in absolute awe, because she had no idea. But now that she knew the truth and was thinking about it, there were things about her life that once made no sense, that now made perfect sense. Like why her mother, who never went anywhere other than the grocery store, needed a driver, and why Treshaun lived in the house.
Because he’s not a driver, he’s our bodyguard.
She thought back to the night her father almost died. The way Pills was acting when he came and found her and the lame story that nobody could get straight, about him getting shot by muggers.
And then there was her Uncle Mike, her father’s best friend. This explained why he wasn’t at the hospital when she got there. Uncle Mike was out looking for the people that did it.
And there was another thing.
Barbara had always wondered why Aunt Shy coming back from the dead was no big deal to anybody.
Like that happens all the time.
There was a part of Barbara that was mad that it had been kept from her, and especially the lies she was told to protect The Family’s secret.
Well, secret from me anyway.
But at the same time, and with a lot of urging from Tenikka, she came to understand why it was kept from her and her younger sisters, while RJ was permitted to grow up in it.
“Aunt Wanda?” Barbara said in shock, because Wanda was her role model.
“Listen, girl, you gonna have to stop acting surprised that just about everybody you know is a gangster.”
They didn’t stay long at Jelly’s before Tenikka and Barbara left there and went to Shooters, because Barbara wanted to see where Tenikka used to dance. When they got there, Tenikka got the same reception.
“What up, Butta?” the door man said and allowed the ladies to pass.
It didn’t take long for Treach, who ran the spot, to hear that Tenikka was in the club, and he came out to show her respect because she wasn’t just some ex-dancer. When he saw that Barbara was with her, he was not happy that she not only brought a minor to his club, “But a minor who is Bobby Ray’s daughter,” he said and pointed at Barbara. “You must be trying to get me killed.”
“We’re not gonna stay long. She wanted to see where I used to dance and now we outta here.”
“Okay, Butta,” Treach said, and Barbara laughed as they walked away.
As they were leaving, Fantasy arrived, and they stopped to talk to her because she and Tenikka were friends from the time when they both used to dance there.
“Is this your sister? I can see the resemblance, Butta,” Fantasy said and once again, it cracked Barbara up.
“Did I say something inappropriate?”
“No. But there’s something I need to tell you, Fantasy. My real name is Tenikka and this is my sister, Barbara. Bobby Ray is our father.”
“Oh,” Fantasy said in surprise, and she wondered if Jada knew.
Tenikka hugged her. “Good to see you, Fantasy. We need to get together and hang out like we used to.”
“I was about to go to The Four Kings and then to J.R.’s, the two of you ladies should come with me. I have a limousine waiting outside,” Fantasy said, and Barbara shook her head, thinking, oh hell no.
“Thanks, but we’re gonna call it a night. We both have class in the morning, right, Barbara?” Tenikka asked as they walked out with Fantasy.
“Right,” Barbara said quickly.
“You always said that you wanted to go to college. Good for you,” Fantasy said, as the driver held the door open for her and she said good night to Tenikka and Barbara.
On the way home, Barbara was quiet and that was mostly because she had seen and heard things that day that opened her world and her mind. Things that fascinated her. She looked out the window thinking about something Tenikka said to her earlier.
In these streets, our father and our uncle are kings, and in that world, we’re princesses.
Barbara thought about how that asshole at Club Garage reacted because she was Bobby Ray’s daughter. She had seen how Tenikka was treated everywhere they went. Barbara took a second or two to think about how she felt about it all and what she felt was proud. Her father was a very powerful man, and other men feared him.
“What you thinking about?”
“Nothing really. Just how cool it was to hang out with you today.”
“I enjoyed it too and remember, if you ever need me, I’m here. We’re sisters and we should always have each other’s backs. Remember that.”
“I will.”
They pulled up to Barbara’s house and after a moment of hesitation, she asked her, “Wanna come in?”
Chapter Fourteen
Marvin sat alone in his car parked outside of Classics, a club that played nothing but old school rap music from what they deemed The Classic Era of Rap because the owners felt that the genre had lost its way, waiting for RJ to get there, and he had a lot on his mind. He needed to find ways to earn.
To be a contributing member of this family.
Judah had already established himself as a loan shark, now he was moving into numbers and Pills had a couple of card games up and running. Even though Marvin ran the gambling at The Four Kings along with Ayisha, and he got a cut of that money, he still felt the pressure to earn on his own. It was pressure that he put on himself, but it was pressure all the same. His father, Nick, was a legend. And now that he had legally changed his name to Simmons, in his eyes, he had a lot to live up to. The problem was that Marvin only knew one way to earn and that was to deal.
I was Money Marv!
Money Marv always had that good weed.
But since that was no longer an option, Money Marv was just a name, somebody he used to be. But that wasn’t the most pressing concern at that particular moment, his mind was focused squarely on Evander.