10 Crack Commandments

by Erica Hilton

  His father just stood there staring his son in his eyes, trying to glean whether he was telling the truth. Once he was satisfied, he began walking away. Over his shoulder he yelled, “Keep your ears open. Those stupid motherfuckers will slip up!”

  Lil Nut was pissed. His father was talking as if he knew who’d set him up, yet he wasn’t telling him. Lil Nut also expected his father to ask him for money, but was surprised that he didn’t. He certainly could use money, a hot shower, clean clothes, a hot meal, and a warm bed.

  A couple hours later Lil Nut looked down at the telephone number code 500 and the 911 emergency page. It was Lamiek, and Lil Nut couldn’t understand what the urgency was. Doing a slow stroll to the corner payphone, he punched in the digits.

  “What?” Lil Nut asked.

  “Whatchu doin’ tonight?”

  “Damn, you had me run to the fucking phone to ask a silly-ass question? I thought you were getting pounded on by motherfuckers!”

  “Shit. I was standing by this phone for twenty minutes. Your punk ass took forever to call me back.”

  “Whatever, man. What’s the 911 for?”

  “My girl is having a house party tonight and she wants me to come through with a few friends. Meet me at eight on Pitkin and Belmont.”

  “Where’s the party?”

  “At her crib on Lafayette Avenue. She’s not too far from Dekalb.”

  “OK, but since she’s so close to the movies, we should go see Krush Groove with The Fat Boys. I’ve been fiending to see that for a while now. Maybe you can bring ya girl.”

  “A’ight, I’ll ask her.”

  Lil Nut was excited to go to the house party and then to the movies. Yesterday he went down to Delancey Street and bought a new three-quarter leather jacket. It was almost full-length and cost $220. He was the first in his neighborhood to own one. The coat was burgundy, and he had a pair of burgundy Lee jeans that he would sport with it. He couldn’t wait to get some new pussy. He was tired of sleeping with all the girls around his way. He wanted to hook up with someone new, and he was sure with his fresh clothes and knot of money he planned on taking to the party, he’d pull someone sexy.

  At home he ate a large plate of baked macaroni and cheese, pork chops, and collard greens his mother had cooked. Now that his father wasn’t home, his mother doted upon him night and day. Even though she smiled, Lil Nut could still see the pain in her eyes. She missed her husband. Even though it gave her pleasure to clean her son’s room, cook his food, and wash his clothes, her son couldn’t hold her at night when she was feeling lonely.

  Lil Nut wondered briefly if he should tell his mother that he saw his father. He figured that he should because at least she’d know he was still alive. There were so many crackheads being murdered daily behind the dumb shit they pulled. In the past, Lil Nut never pegged his father to be stupid, but getting caught up in the crack epidemic was the dumbest shit Lil Nut thought a person could do, although their stupidity did provide his riches.

  “Ma, I saw Milton today,” Lil Nut said.

  Julie swung around to face her son. “You mean your father.”

  Lil Nut shrugged.

  “Mind your manners. No matter what, his blood still runs through your veins, and he deserves your respect.”

  “Do you still love him?”

  “Do you?”

  “I asked you first.”

  “If he walked through that door today sober, I’d take him back. That’s my man, and I will love him until the day I die. You better only wish you find a wife who will love you the way I love your father.”

  Lil Nut thought about what his mother said. And he did wish he had a girl who would love him like his mother loved his dad, but it seemed like all the girls in his neighborhood only loved his money. Lil Nut didn’t mind sharing his newfound wealth with the ladies. He’d already purchased Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, Gerry G jackets, and leather Nikes for a few girls. But all that was nothing compared to what he’d do when he met his future wife.

  Before getting robbed last year, Lil Nut would have taken three hundred dollars with him to the party to front, but now he wasn’t that dumb. Instead he took one twenty-dollar bill and wrapped it around eighty one-dollar bills. Now he actually had a knot of money, only it wasn’t what people would think it was.

  Later that night the cold weather had Lil Nut stressed. He felt like he was too old to be walking. And why the fuck didn’t any of his friends have rides? He finally realized that he was a spring-summer type of dude. The tropical weather inspired him, and that was when he made the most money. Now he understood what his father meant when he used to say that the cold weather was for making babies.

  “Yo, you ready, man?” Lamiek asked.

  “Nigga, I was born ready,” Lil Nut responded and tapped his jacket to let Lamiek know he was carrying his pistol. When Lite emerged from the shadows, Lil Nut was pissed. “What the fuck he doing here?”

  Lite put up his hands in surrender. “It ain’t even like that, man. I don’t got no beef with you.”

  Hearing the plea in his voice, Lil Nut felt exhilarated. Ever since he shot Lite last year and earned a ruthless reputation, secretly he wondered if Lite would seek revenge. He’d watched all the obligatory gangster films that addressed whether it was better to be feared or loved, and Lil Nut decided that he loved being feared.

  “We cool then,” Lil Nut said.

  “Why you got all dressed up to see my girl?” Lamiek asked with a smirk on his face.

  Lil Nut had changed clothes three times before settling on his new three-quarter leather jacket, a leather Gucci suit from Dapper Dan’s in Harlem, and new burgundy and white suede Puma sneakers with thick white laces. He could see the jealousy and envy in Lamiek’s eyes.

  “This ain’t about your girl. You know I stay fresh.”

  “Yeah, so I guess the drug game is being better to you than my profession. Maybe I should retire?”

  “Maybe you should and come work for me.”

  Lamiek was disgusted. “Work for you? Nigga, I been running my own enterprise since I was twelve. What the fuck I look like coming to work for you?”

  “Shit, you won’t be the first motherfucker working for me.”

  Lil Nut didn’t give a fuck about Lamiek’s outburst. He knew that he was soft like butter.

  “Yo, chill, man,” Lite began. “I hope y’all don’t blow my high. I got a nickel bag of the best weed from Fulton today. Lil Nut, you should start moving weed.”

  Lil Nut shook his head. “Ain’t enough money in that for me. With weed money I can buy me a hooptie. With crack money I can buy me a Benz. I’ve been saving up money to buy me my own ride. Soon I should be able to buy me a Benz!”

  Lamiek had Benz visions as well, but he didn’t have the capital to get one. He knew in order to execute his plan, he’d need backup.

  “Listen, how we look walking to this party?” Lamiek asked. “Damn, flag down a cab. I don’t want my sneakers to get all scuffed.”

  Lil Nut looked down at Lamiek’s British Walkers and Lite’s Travel Fox shoe-boots and shook his head. “Yo, why y’all niggas be buying those bullshit footwear? Y’all not Jamaican. If y’all want something fresh, then y’all should get the new Wallabies.”

  “Now you think you can tell me how to dress?” Lamiek asked. “This motherfucker here . . .” Lamiek spat and shook his head in disgust.

  Lite ran into the street to hail a gypsy cab. Five minutes later a driver stopped. Lamiek ran off the address and then got down to business. “I got a plan that if done properly we can all make a lot of money. Enough to buy us all rides.”

  “What type of rides?” Lite asked.

  “Benzes.”

  “Get the fuck out of here!” Lil Nut replied.

  “I’m telling you”—Lamiek lowered his voice
—“that if we rob Blue Bug we could make a fortune.”

  “Are you crazy?” Lite asked.

  “Nah, I ain’t crazy. Shit, you scared? He bleed like we bleed.”

  Lil Nut thought about the proposition, and although he wasn’t into taking money, his ill feelings toward Blue Bug resurfaced, and visions of his own robbery crept back up. For all Lil Nut knew, Blue Bug could have set him up. He had to work three weeks without any profit in order to pay back Blue Bug. That was free labor.

  “I’m just saying that Blue Bug ain’t the average cat to be running up on with a burner,” Lite commented.

  “If I can get got, then fuck it, he can get got too,” Lil Nut spat.

  “Don’t act like you got heart ’cause you caught wreck off Lite,” Lamiek said. “Blue Bug is a different type of motherfucker. He appears to be all polite and nice, but cross that motherfucker and he’ll do more than punch your bitch ass in the nuts!” Lamiek replied, trying to embarrass Lil Nut.

  Lil Nut didn’t respond. He was too busy trying to hide his emotions and steady his breathing. How the fuck would Lamiek know that the gunmen who robbed his stash and pistol whipped him and his mother had punched him in his nuts unless he was one of the three? No doubt, Lite was two out of the three. His father told him that if he listened, he’d find out who set him up. And he had also promised his father once he found out who put his hands on his mother, he would take them off this earth.

  “Fuck Blue Bug! I’m telling you he can get got!” Lil Nut stated, keeping his newfound knowledge to himself for now.

  “OK, let’s meet tomorrow and talk about this. You know I’m down,” Lamiek said. He, too, was trying to steady his voice and get his heart to slow its pace. He wondered if Lil Nut had caught his slip about him getting punched in his balls. Lamiek feared what Lil Nut would do to him if he knew that he and Lite had set him up last year. Yeah, Lil Nut shot Lite as target practice, but Lamiek feared that Lil Nut didn’t need further practice. If pushed, he would shoot to kill.

  When the cab driver pulled onto the block of the party, before the car could come to a complete stop, Lamiek and Lite both opened their doors and dashed out. Lil Nut hesitated for a second, and then followed suit. On the second block, Lil Nut ran out of his new Puma sneaker. He didn’t give a fuck whether the driver gave chase or not, he was not losing a pair of forty-dollar sneakers for an eight-dollar cab ride. Besides, if the cab driver got stupid, Lil Nut was prepared to back him down with his gun.

  Lil Nut slowed down, turned around, and realized that the cab driver wasn’t anywhere in sight. Lil Nut shook his head because the driver had done the right thing. He realized that his life was worth more than eight dollars. After putting his sneaker back on, he adjusted his clothes and stood there for a few minutes to see if Lamiek and Lite would come back looking for him. When they didn’t, he walked back around to the party.

  Eddie Murphy’s “Party All The Time” was blasting from the first-floor apartment. Lil Nut knew if they kept playing music like that, he wasn’t going to be staying long. His tap on the door turned into a bang because no one could hear him. That was when he decided to turn the knob on the door and it opened. He walked in to see about thirty people crammed into the small living room, drinking, smoking, kissing, and grinding to the music. Some of the guests looked up to see who’d just entered the apartment, but most didn’t. His eyes perused the apartment, looking to see if Lamiek and Lite had somehow gotten there first, but they hadn’t. Those suckers are probably still running, Lil Nut thought.

  A sexy, shapely girl made a beeline directly for Lil Nut. Her smile was welcoming as she extended her hand, “Hi. My name is GG. How did you hear about my party?”

  “Oh, my man Lamiek told—”

  “Now how can we both have the same man?” GG asked and then giggled. Lil Nut didn’t understand her humor, but he smiled anyway. He didn’t want to be rude. “Where is my guy anyway?”

  “He should be here shortly.”

  “Good. Do you want me to take your coat?”

  Lil Nut didn’t have any intention of giving her his coat. That was how motherfuckers got jacked. They piled all the jackets on the bed in a dark room while the unsuspecting sucker got high off weed and liquor, and by the end of the night someone had walked out with his shit. The local thieves would go around the neighborhood, sell the coat, and then come back and give the girl who helped set it up a cut. Lil Nut was far from a dummy. And he’d hate to have to put his hands on a girl, so to avoid all of that, he simply shook his head.

  “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea that you hold on to it. I would hate to be responsible for such an expensive item. No telling what could go on in here.”

  GG walked off with a smile, but inwardly she was pissed. She and her brother, Chris, had plans to steal as many coats and sheepskin hats as possible. She knew her brother could have sold Lil Nut’s coat for at least ninety dollars, and she would have gotten half. So far they were scheming on two sheepskins and a leather bomber jacket.

  GG inched over to Chris, who was surveying the room, and whispered in his ear. His eyes darted toward Lil Nut, who was standing close to the door.

  “Who he with?”

  “He’s with Lamiek.”

  “What’s his name?” her brother asked.

  “I didn’t ask.”

  “Why the fuck not?”

  “I don’t know. I just didn’t. What’s the big deal?”

  “’Cause if he has a name that rings a bell, then I’ll know what I’m up against. If he’s a sucker, then I can stick him up in the hallway no problem. But if he’s known to be trigger happy, then it could get ugly and I might have to pass. I don’t want no problems in front of Mommy’s door,” Chris said.

  “OK, I understand. I’ll find out more from Lamiek.”

  “Nah, that greedy motherfucker gonna wanna be down, and I already got to split shit with you. Let me clock this nigga on my own. If he seems soft by the end of the night, then I’m gonna diss him and take his shit.”

  “Oh, and don’t forget to get me Samantha’s Gucci bag.”

  “Samantha? Ain’t she your friend?”

  “Fuck that bitch. Now that she got that bag she thinks she’s flyer than me,” GG said.

  “Well how you gonna wear that bag in front of her? She’s gonna know it’s her bag.”

  “Let me worry about that. All you gotta do is get me her bag!”

  GG walked off because she saw Lamiek walk through the door. He and Lite were regulars at her apartment when her mother wasn’t home, which was often.

  “Hey, baby!” GG said. She wrapped her hands around his neck and gave him a juicy kiss. She could tell that she’d interrupted a heated debate between Lamiek and the guy in the burgundy coat.

  “GG, this my man Lil Nut from Pitkin.”

  “We’ve already met.” GG was now nervous. She had to warn her brother not to try anything stupid with Lil Nut from Pitkin. Chances were that he would be carrying a pistol, and from his reputation he wasn’t afraid to use it. She was sure that if he got robbed at her party, he would definitely come back looking for her. And she knew her punk boyfriend wouldn’t be able to help her. Although he pulled guns on people almost daily to rob them, he was no killer.

  GG’s friend Samantha had been eyeing Lil Nut since he’d walked through the door. So had almost every female in the place. Now was her chance to meet him.

  “GG, this party is fresh,” Samantha said, approaching her friend.

  “You know it,” GG bragged. “Samantha, you know my man, Lamiek. And these are his friends, Lite and Lil Nut.”

  Everyone exchanged pleasantries and then Samantha pulled GG to the side to talk.

  “What’s up with Lil Nut?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. I just met him. Why? You like him?”

  “Well,
he is cute.”

  Samantha wasn’t fooling GG. Lil Nut was dark-skinned, and everyone knew that it was all about the light-skinned niggas with the good hair. She knew her friend was only interested in Lil Nut’s pockets.

  “Ain’t nothing cute about that motherfucker, but he seems to have some money,” GG said.

  “No, for real, he is cute. You’re not taking a good look at him. His eyes and his lips . . . and I can only imagine what his body looks like under that coat.”

  “So go for yours,” GG encouraged.

  “You think I should ask him to dance?”

  “What’s that gonna do? If you really want to get to know him, take him in my room and get busy,” GG said.

  Samantha wasn’t down with that. She didn’t readily give away her pussy like GG did. She decided that it would be best to ask him to dance, and was happy when he accepted. The DJ put on the smash hit “I Can’t Live Without My Radio” by LL Cool J, and the crowd went berserk. They both started off doing the Smurf on the crowded dance floor, and then ended up simply grinding.

  As everyone passed joints of weed, Samantha was happy to see that Lil Nut didn’t smoke. And neither did she. Although they both drank, they both decided against it that night. For some reason they were both on high alert and wanted to be prepared for anything. Samantha was thinking about her Gucci bag and nameplate earrings that her parents bought her, and Lil Nut was thinking about his coat and reputation. If he allowed himself to get robbed twice, he would never live it down.

  After trying to hear each other over the loud music, Lil Nut and Samantha moved their conversation to the hallway.

  “What grade are you in?” Lil Nut asked as they sat on the steps of the six-story tenement building.

  “I’m a junior at Fashion Industries high school.”

  “Where’s that?”

  “I live in Harlem, not too far from the Apollo Theatre, but my school is on Twenty-fourth Street in Manhattan.”

  “Word? What are you doing in Brooklyn?”