by J-Blunt
Pop looked at Queenie through the rearview mirror. “Grind Squad?”
“Yeah. He kidnapped me and we made a deal. For me to live, I had to tell him where you and Princess was. But just in case I tried to play him, I had to tell him where some of the family lived. He killed Uncle Larry because he thought I was lyin’ about not bein’ able to find y’all.”
“Bitch-ass nigga,” Pop cursed.
Princess eyed Queenie like she was stupid. “Why would you tell him where our family lived?”
Queenie’s anger flared. “Because I wanted to live! I didn’t have a choice. I was trynna buy time to get back to y’all so we could figure it out. I wasn’t layin’ up, makin’ promises, trynna get married an’ shit. I was out here trynna survive, making power moves. I lost a lot. I took bullets for y’all, so don’t make it seem like I just did some punk-ass shit. I didn’t know he was gon’ kill Uncle Larry. If y’all wouldn’t have left me, we wouldn’t be in none of this.”
Princess was surprised Queenie had talked to her with so much hostility. The accusation that she left her sister to die cut deep, opening a wound that bled guilt. And as she stared into her sister’s eyes, she could see a change. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something was different about Queenie. “I didn’t leave you,” Princess cried. “I tried to get to you, but Pop wouldn’t let me.”
“I knew we couldn’t move you,” Pop spoke up. “I knew the only way to save you was to let the ambulance come get you. We couldn’t risk movin’ you or trynna get you to the hospital. We couldn’t risk gettin’ locked up.”
Queenie turned her anger on Pop. “So, just let me die? Sacrifice me to save y’all asses?”
“You muthafuckin’ right!” Pop exploded. “That’s what loyalty is. That’s what love is. You been to church. You know what the preachers say about Jesus dyin’ to save the whole world outta love. I tried to get you back. I killed the nigga that shot you. But I’m not goin’ back to jail for nobody. And you betta get that shit outta yo’ head, ‘cause you ain’t goin’ to jail for nobody, either. You think they gon’ play witchu if them white folks catch you for all the bodies you dropped? They gon’ bury yo’ ass, Queenie. Have you wishin’ you was dead. Fuck that. I made a call, and that’s what it is. If you gon’ be mad at somebody, be mad at me. And then get over it. Death before dishonor, baby. Loyalty over everything.”
Silence filled the cab of the truck as everyone digested the words spoken by Pop Somethin’.
From Pop Squad’s hideout, Pop drove downtown to rent a hotel. The plan was to lay low until Larry’s funeral, and then get back to Florida. When the foursome walked into the room, Pop went to the bathroom while the women settled around the room.
La’Qua noticed the tension between the sisters, so she busied herself with her phone. Princess sat in a chair near the window while Queenie plopped down on the bed. The twins stared at each other silently, waiting for the other to talk.
“So, y’all in love now?” Queenie asked.
“C’mon, Queenie. It ain’t like that. We ain’t’ gettin’ married or nothin’.”
“But ch’all gettin’ rings an’ shit. You knew I loved him. I tried everything to get him to love me. You said fuck love. Now all of a sudden y’all wearin’ rings. What I’m s’posed to think?”
“Pop is our nigga. I been fuckin’ him just as long as you.”
“You still ain’t answer my question. Y’all in love?”
Princess looked away, taking a few moments to think of an answer. When she looked back at Queenie, earnest expectation was in her eyes. “Yeah. We in love. For the first time in my life, I’m in love.”
Queenie cringed, the words feeling like a blow to the chest. Princess noticed the effect of her words and tried to explain. “You was gone, sis. I needed him to fill the hole you left in my soul. We thought you was dead. He was the closest thing I had to feel connected to you. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen, but this where we at.”
The tears rolled silently down Queenie’s face, a fire burning within her chest. “You know how I felt. I hear what you sayin’, but it still hurt. I wanted him to be in love wit’ me. I wanted kids wit’ him. I wanted to marry him. But now he in love wit’ you. And it hurt.”
La’Qua watched the sisters intently, wanting to intervene, but knowing to stay quiet.
When the door opened, all eyes flocked to Pop Somethin’. He emerged butt-naked, eyes locked on Queenie. “C’mere.”
She got up and walked over to stand before him.
The big man towered over her, peering down at the bald woman like he was her god. He brought the pinky ring to her face, giving her a good look at it. “You see this? I got it from Princess. This a symbol of her dedication to me. And the ring she got is a symbol of my dedication to her. We past bein’ niggas and bitches. She part of me, and I’m part of her. We are one. I love her and she love me. I would sacrifice myself for her, and vice versa. You got a problem wit’ that, say what you need to say.”
Queenie didn’t hesitate. “I love you, Pop. You knew that. And I tried everything to get you to love me. But you wouldn’t. And now I get back and find out you love my sister. That shit hurt, and I’m mad about it. I was down witchu from the minute we first met. If you should be lovin’ anybody, it should be me.”
Pop nodded in agreement. “You right, and I respect how you feel. And I want you to know I love you, too. When we thought you died, you took a part of us. We bonded over that, and it brought us closer. And now that you back, that bond is shared by all of us. Queenie, we love you. We are one, like a three-stranded rope. This ring don’t matter to me. What matter is those bullets you took for me. You sacrificed yo’self for me. That’s love. C’mere, Princess. Gimme that ring.”
When Princess handed Pop the ring, he went in the bathroom and flushed it down the toilet. “We don’t need jewelry to show what we already know. Instead, we gon’ do it how they did it back in the day. We gon’ get branded. I’ma go first. I know one of y’all got tweezers in them purses.”
After getting the tweezers from Princess, Pop took off his ring and used the tweezers to hold it over the fire from a lighter. When it was blazing, he touched it to the left side of his chest, above his heart. He repeated the process three times, branding interconnected rings like an Olympic sign. Then he did the same thing to Princess and Queenie.
La’Qua sat at the table watching everything, unsure what she should do. “So, if I stay, do I gotta get that, too? Shit look like it hurt.”
“Nah. To be all the way down, you gotta have a trial by fire. This another level of loyalty. This ain’t for you. Yet,” Pop said before turning to his women. “Now it’s official. I love both of y’all equally. We all pieces of each other. We ain’t fightin’ over who loves who. We are one. Y’all good?”
Princess nodded before turning to Queenie. “You good?”
Queenie smiled, satisfied by the display of love and devotion. “I’m good. And I’m sorry for gettin’ all emotional. I love y’all, and those rings had me feelin’ left out. But I’m good now. We are one.”
Pop smiled. “Now let’s kiss and make up. Princess, let me and Queenie get this first round so I can show her what she been missin’.”
“Get her, baby!” Princess smiled.
Pop shoved Queenie onto the bed roughly before climbing on top. After a wild tongue kiss, he nibbled his way down her neck to her breasts. Queenie’s nipples were black as night, poking out like hard, black diamonds. He took the left one in his mouth, sucking and flicking his tongue across the top. Queenie moaned her approval. After a few moments, he went to the right one and gave it the same attention before licking his way down to her waist. Instead of attacking her pussy, Pop focused on her inner thighs, kissing, licking, and sucking the erogenous zone.
“Oh yeah, baby!” Queenie moaned, grabbing a fistful of his dreads. “That feels so good!”
After a few more minutes of foreplay, Pop finally moved to her pussy. It was clean shave
n, her lips plump and engorged with blood. He licked the labia from top to bottom a few times, Queenie sucking in deep breaths of air, loving the attention Pop was paying her body.
After tasting her juices, he used his thumbs to spread the lips apart, exposing her clitoris. His tongue became a blur as it flicked across her pearl.
“Oh shit, Pop! Oh shit!”
He switched back and forth from sucking and licking her clit, then stuffed two fingers in her pussy and one in her ass. When Queenie came, the orgasm blew through her body like a typhoon, taking her breath away. Pop didn’t even let her catch her breath before jumping on top and shoving his meat into her still-spasming pussy. He threw her legs on his shoulders, beginning with short, slow strokes, allowing her to adjust to him being in her walls again.
“Oh, muthafucka! Shit!” Queenie moaned, digging her nails into his shoulders.
“You want some more?” he asked. “Tell me how bad you want my dick.”
A mix of pleasure and pain shown on Queenie’s face and in her eyes. “Quit playin’ wit’ me, nigga. I want all that dick. Fuck me hard.”
A grin as wide as the Joker’s spread across Pop’s face as he deepened his strokes and sped up his pace. His pelvis slammed against hers every time he pushed forward, making a slapping noise. He beat up the pussy, showing no mercy.
Queenie screamed in ecstasy, loving the drilling by her man.
When he was about to nut, he pulled out of her and aggressively rolled her onto her stomach. He grabbed a pillow and slid it under her pelvis, lifting her ass in the air a little. Then he was back at it, long-stroking his woman into sexual bliss. Her ass bounced and jiggled violently as he pounded her pussy from behind.
Queenie came in a rush, her vaginal walls squeezing his dick, making his nut come faster than he wanted.
“Aw, shit!” he grunted as he snatched out and busted on her ass and lower back.
“Damn!” La’Qua moaned. “Y’all muthafuckas got me horny as fuck!”
“I wanna get fucked like that!” Princess added.
Pop looked over his shoulder at the horny women. “Quit standin on the sideline and get in the game. It’s enough of me to go around.”
Chapter 19
Drama sat on the couch playing with the .40 caliber Smith and Wesson, clicking the safety on and off. He had been sitting in the same spot for twenty minutes, the same thoughts passing through his mind. “We shoulda blazed his ho-ass when he was standin’ in front of the house.”
Snot sat across from his war brother puffing a blunt of loud, the words echoing through his head like he spoke them. “All them muthafuckas gon’ be pushin’ flowers, brah. La’Qua bitch-ass, too. I can’t believe she hit it wit’ that nigga. That shit was disloyal, fam.”
“On what Breezy wasn’t spittin’ the truth when he said these hos ain’t loyal?” Drama agreed. “We should go to that funeral and get they ho-asses.”
Snot looked up at his boy like he had just solved a Rubik’s Cube. “Won’t nobody expect that, brah. We can lick all they asses at the same time.”
Drama dialed back his enthusiasm about shooting up the funeral when he seen how serious Snot was. “I was just sayin’ that shit, mane. You know how many people gon’ be at that funeral? You know a muthafucka prolly gon’ be recordin’ that shit. I want all they bitch-asses dead, but a funeral, mane? I don’t think we should make that move.”
Snot sat up straight, eyeing Drama intently. “Brah, that’s the perfect time! We can wear disguises and blend in. Get some of La’Qua wigs and some big-ass glasses. We can do it, my nigga.”
Drama didn’t look convinced. “I don’t know, mane. That shit hot as fuck.”
“We always been hot, nigga. We been takin’ these penitentiary chances since we started fuckin’ niggas over. We bring heat to niggas no matter where they at, mornin’, noon, or night. If Deso was here and these wasn’t muthafuckas he fucked wit’, you know he’da be ready to make this move. This our shot, brah. They won’t see us comin’.”
Drama seen the eagerness to spill blood in his brother’s eyes. It was true they had gotten down on niggas at all times of the day, and now they had an opportunity to silence four enemies in one shot. The opportunity to get Pop Somethin’ might not even fall into their laps again. “Fuck it. This might be our only chance to get this nigga. How we gon’ find out where the funeral at?”
Snot smiled. “I got it. I’ma call La’Qua all sad an’ shit. She gon’ let that shit slip. Watch. All they bitch-asses gettin’ mopped up, brah. We gon’ turn that funeral into a massacre!”
***
Shanice lay in bed with her daughter watching cartoons. The bouncing toddler was snuggled up next to her mother, loving the attention she got from the most important person in her small world.
“Momma, do you think you can see love?”
Shanice looked down at the spitting image of herself, surprised by the question. “Why you ask me that?”
“Because everybody always say ‘I love you,’ but how do you know it’s real if you can’t see it?”
Shanice laughed aloud, amused by the child’s question. “How long you been thinking about this?”
“Ever since you came back home. You said you loved me, but you left me for a long time. I was mad at you. Do you really love me?”
“Yes, I really love you, Shawntale. And you know this because I make sacrifices for you. I take care of you. I provide for you. I feed you and clean up after you. And when you was a baby, I had to wipe all your no-no spots because you couldn’t do it yourself. Love is an action word. You can’t see love, but you can see if people love you by what they do for you.”
“What about Daddy? He gone to Heaven. If he really loved me, why he leave?”
“Daddy didn’t have a choice, baby. God took him to Heaven. God can take whoever he wants, whenever he wants. And it ain’t nothing nobody can do about it. But just because he left don’t mean Daddy didn’t love you. He loved you as much as I do.”
“What about Queenie? She said she loved me and you, but she gone now. Did she really love us? And why do everybody that love us keep leaving?”
Shanice was momentarily thrown by the question. It opened a wound that was still healing, and the way Shawntale stared up at her told she was awaiting an answer. “Queenie loves us, too, but she had some really important things to take care of.”
“When is she coming back? Can I call her?”
“I don’t know when she’s coming back. She might not ever.”
“So, can we call her. I miss her, Mommy.”
Shanice looked toward the phone that lay on the dresser. It was Queenie’s. “No. We can’t call her. I don’t have her number. But when she calls, I’ma make sure to let her know you want to talk to her.”
“Okay, Mommy. You know I love you, right?”
Shanice smiled at her daughter, planting a kiss on her forehead. “And I love you, too, baby.”
When Shawntale turned back to the TV, Shanice’s mind stayed on Queenie. She missed the bald-headed woman. Her body burned to be touched by her dark skin. She had never loved anyone as much as she loved Queenie. She would do anything for that woman. Sacrifice anything. Everything. But she was still in love with Pop Somethin’. The man Shanice hated. The man who single-handedly destroyed her last two attempts at happiness. He killed her C-Note and her baby, and almost got Queenie killed. But nothing bad ever happened to him. All he did was bring pain. The world would be a better place without him in it. If only there was a way to get rid of him. Then she could get Queenie back. But how? He had enemies everywhere but no one could touch him. She wished Queenie had told D.D. where he was. Then she wouldn’t be lying in bed love-sick. She would have her woman in her arms and they would be planning their future. But Pop had ruined that. And he needed to pay.
That’s when she remembered Queenie’s phone. She jumped out of the bed so fast she got lightheaded.
“You okay, Mommy?” Shawntale asked.
“Yeah. I’
m fine. I just need to make a call,” she said, powering on the phone and scrolling the call logs. When she found the name she was looking for, her heart rate increased and palms began to sweat. The problem-solver was literally at her fingertips. But could she handle the blood being on her hands?
Then she thought of everything Pop had taken from her and pressed call.
He answered on the fourth ring. “You betta have that location for me, Queenie. Next time I hit, I’m takin’ more than one.”
“Um. This not Queenie,” Shanice stuttered. “Is this D.D.?”
“What the fuck is this? Don’t be playin’ on my phone!”
“Um. I can’t tell you my name, but I know where Pop Somethin’ is.”
There was a slight pause before D.D. spoke again. “Who is this? How you know I’m lookin’ for Pop Somethin’?”
“I can’t tell you who I am, but I’m a friend of Queenie’s. She with Pop Somethin’ right now.”
“Okay. Where they at?”
“Wait. Before I tell you this, you need to promise me one thing. The only way I’ma tell you where they at is if you promise not to touch Queenie. I need her to live.”
D.D. laughed. “I know who you is now. You her girl she was fightin’ wit’ the last time I called. Okay, stranger, I’ma play yo’ game. I won’t touch her. On one condition. Tell me if I’m right. You her girl. You mad she wit’ him?”
Shanice was surprised at how easily he figured it all out. “Yeah. She my girl. And Pop took her. I want her back.”
“So we got somethin’ in common, because Pop Somethin’ took somethin from me, too. My brother. Okay. I won’t touch Queenie. That’s my word. Where he at?”
“Her uncle’s funeral is tomorrow. In Houston. When I find out the location, I’ma text it to you. Please, just don’t hurt my girl.”
“You got my word, stranger. I’m a fair-minded businessman, and I honor my word. Send me that text.”
***
