From Ratchet to Riches

by Patrice Balark

  “AYE LIL BITCH… I SHOULD BEAT YO ASS!” Danielle heard a voice say along with a set of squeaky brakes.

  Her eyes rolled to the back of her head because honestly, she was tired of fighting. Yet and still, she stopped and turned to face the car. Cracking a smile at the sight of Stephany, Danielle picked up a plastic bottle that was laying nearby and threw it at her car.

  “That’s yo problem, you play too much.” Dani said, heading to the car.

  “YOU STAY READY FRIEND!” Steph yelled out of the passenger’s side window.

  “Where you going anyway?” Steph asked once Dani was inside the car.

  “Up here to the store.” Dani pointed as her friend pulled away from the curb towards that direction.

  Once in front, Dani told Steph that she’ll be right back before opening the car door when the sound of females arguing stopped her.

  “Ohhh look bitch, they about to box.” Steph said, putting the car in park and hopping out.

  Danielle slowly closed the car door and jogged ahead, catching up with a nosey Steph.

  “Aye, I know that bitch with the long ponytail.” Dani spoke once they made it in clear sight.

  “You do? She go to Westinghouse?” Steph asked, squinting her eyes.

  “Nahhhhhhhhhhhh” Dani replied, shaking her head, looking at the altercation.

  From where Danielle was standing, it was clear the argument was over a man or some money, maybe both, but the girl with the ponytail was out-numbered 2 to 1. She wasn’t a punk, but she wasn’t as hype as the other two girls either. It was obvious that they came there to fight. Danielle noticed ponytail constantly looking down the street as if she was waiting on someone to pull up. Following her eyes, Danielle noticed as soon as this truck turned the corner, she got louder.

  “Oh she tough tough now huh?” Steph laughed, elbowing Danielle who agreed.

  “Yeah, she went from take me to the king to knuck if you buck real quick.” Dani laughed, causing Stephany to curl over in laughter too.

  The sound of tires screeching ended their laugher abruptly.

  “That candy apple red Range Rover is nasty.” Stephany said, admiring the luxury vehicle.

  “That’s Pip.” Dani said in a low tone, causing Stephany to turn and look at her.

  “You know her too?” she asked with widen eyes.

  “Something like that.” Dani mumbled, focusing back on the show.

  Pip, who was now out the car, whispered something to all three women who had seemed to magically calm down.

  “Damn who is she, they pimp?” Steph joked as she looked on too.

  “Yup.” Dani said low, observing everything in front of her.

  “Aye, let’s go. I gotta get back home.” Danielle said, pulling on Steph’s arm.

  Both friends turned around to walk away when Danielle heard her name.

  “Danielle, that’s you?” Pip yelled out while motioning for her to come here.

  “I’ll be back.” She told Stephany who walked behind her anyway.

  “Bullshit, them bitches ain’t finna try to jump you.” Steph cursed, trailing her friend.

  The two of them joined the circle, which only consisted of Pip and Miss Ponytail aka the bitch from the front seat that was talking shit when she was picked up from the station.

  “It’s a reason we keep bumping into each other young lady.” Pip said, giving a warm smile.

  “I- I was just going to the store when….”

  “When you stopped to be nosey…” Ponytail butted in, cutting her off.

  “No… when I stopped to see you about to get yo ass beat.” Dani replied, causing Stephany to laugh.

  “Cuz the bitch was sholl about to get beat the fuck up.” Steph chimed in, still giggling.

  “Is that true Brandy?” Pip turned to ponytail and asked.

  “Hell naw, these hoes lying. I was only playing it cool cuz I ain’t have my knife on me or else I would have…..” she paused.

  “Would have what?” Pip quickly asked.

  “Sliced them hoes up.” She finished proudly with her chin held high.

  “Here, it ain’t too late.” Dani now interjecting, pulling the knife she kept from under her bra strap.

  Danielle handed the knife to Brandy who hesitantly accepted it.

  “I mean, it’s over now.” Brandy shrugged, twirling the knife around in her hand.

  “STRAIGHT PUSSY!” Danielle and Stephany turned to her and yelled in unison.

  Embarrassment was written all over Brandy’s face although she tried to hide it with a fake smile.

  “Danielle, how would you have done it?” Pip turned to her and questioned with a straight face.

  “What you mean?”

  “Show me.” Pip urged, snatching the knife from Brandy, handing it back to Dani.

  Grabbing the knife, Danielle walked over towards both girls who were still standing a few feet away. Locking eyes with the one facing her, Danielle blew her an air kiss before grabbing the back of the other one ponytail. She was a tall Hispanic chick with a head full of curly blonde hair. Gripping the base of her ponytail, Danielle took the knife and cut it off with one sharp swipe. Letting out a loud scream, she reached and felt the back of her head. Realizing she was missing a whole ponytail, she screamed even louder as her friend tried to calm her down. Without uttering one word, Danielle turned around and walked away.

  “Impressed.” Pip smiled as she clapped her hands together.

  Danielle joined Stephany who stood there like a proud parent while Brandy look on, highly pissed.

  “You hungry? Let’s go eat.” Pip said, walking around the back of the truck, heading to the driver’s side.

  “I- I- I gotta drop some groceries off back home to my sisters.” Dani stuttered.

  “No problem… go grab the groceries and I’ll meet you around the corner at your crib. As a matter of fact…” She paused, reaching inside the car and pulling out a red Chanel bag. “Here’s five hundred dollars, go get y’all some food food.” She replied after peeling off five hundred-dollar bills.

  “I can’t accept that….” Danielle began to say but stopped.

  She definitely needed that money and she for damn sure could accept it. Her and her sisters had to survive.

  “Thank you. I’ll meet you around there.” Danielle said, stuffing the money in her back pocket.

  No other words were exchanged before Brandy jumped in the front seat and Pip pulled off.

  “WOWWWWW!!! That shit was crazy!” Stephany geeked as they walked back towards the store.

  “That lady gon’ fuck around and be pimping you.” Stephany continued, causing Dani to cut her eyes in her direction.

  “Nah, you got me fuck’d up.” Dani replied before heading into the store and grabbing a few things.

  21

  “Damn, why you in a rush?” Mecca asked as she watched Danielle fly in the house with the groceries.

  “I’m not but I’ll be back.” She replied as she placed each bag on the floor by the front door.

  Mecca watched her sister move about like Speedy Gonzales acting all suspicious and shit.

  “I got everything Yana asked for. Here, put her card back in her drawer. I’ll be back.”

  Danielle practically tossed the link card at Mecca, who had to pick it up off the ground.

  “Don’t be throwing shit at…..”

  When Mecca stood back up, Danielle was gone; she didn’t even have the decency to close the front door.

  “Stupid bitch.” She grunted as she grabbed all the bags at once.

  “Where my Flamin’ Hots?” Yana came bouncing out the room into the hallway asking.

  “If you don’t move…” Mecca warned, swerving around her towards the kitchen.

  Placing the bags on the floor, she headed back towards the living room to close the front door. Stepping onto the porch, Mecca peeked down the street to see if she could see where Danielle went but the block was empty. Going back inside, she slammed the front door sh
ut.

  “Can I go on the porch?” Yana asked, walking back into the living room with a bag of chips in hand.

  “No, it’s about to rain.” Mecca replied, walking passed her and going into the room.

  Flopping down on the bed, Mecca laid back and closed her eyes. Just as she did, the rain began to hit the window pane. Unsure of how much time had actually passed, Mecca’s vibrating phone woke her up. Slightly startled, she sat up quickly and focused. Her eyes then landed on Yana who slept loudly from the other bed. Mecca thought about silencing her loud snoring with a pillow but figured she was better off sleep anyway. Grabbing her phone, Mecca looked at the time just as the phone began to ring again.

  “Hello.” She answered on the second ring.

  “What you doing?” Capone asked in her ear.

  Mecca sat up straight and fixed her shirt like he could see her.

  “Nothing, in the house.” She nonchalantly replied.

  “I’m outside, come fuck with me.” He said in between coughs.

  “I- I…”

  “I- I- shit…. Come outside now Mecca.” He mocked, hanging up in her ear.

  Mecca laughed before standing to her feet. She fixed the shorts and tank top she wore, fluffing up the big curls that sat in the ponytail on top of her head and walking out the room. Stepping onto the porch, she spotted his car parked across the street and headed towards it. No matter how many times she’s been around that man, he always made her feel some type of way.

  As she crossed the street, she looked through the window at him as he lit a blunt. Capone had the window down, his music playing low as he bobbed his head up and down to the beat. Never once looking over at her, Capone still hit the locks as soon as made it around to the passenger’s door.

  “What up shorty?” He greeted her with a smile before hitting the blunt.

  “Hey.” She replied softly.

  “What’s been going on?” he asked, reaching forward and turning down the music.

  “Nun. Ain’t seen you since the pool party.” She shaded, cutting her eyes at him.

  Capone looked at her and laughed before silencing his ringing phone.

  “So, about that pool party. Look right…”

  “You don’t owe me an explanation.” Mecca cut him off in mid-sentence and said.

  Capone’s phone began to ring again. This time, he held up his finger, asking for Mecca to give him a minute while he answered.

  “Yeah. I’m around the corner. Aight man. Bye.”

  Capone ended the call and turned back to Mecca.

  “You done fake snapping?” he asked, licking his lips, giving her his full attention.

  “Boy, fuck you.” Mecca laughed, causing Capone to laugh as well.

  An awkward silence fell upon the car before Capone started the engine.

  “Aye take this ride with me.” He requested, preparing to pull away from the curb.

  “NO! I can’t… my little sister in the house.” She panicked, pointing across street at the building.

  “I swear to God I won’t be long. Is she in there alone?” he stopped moving and asked.

  “My mom and her friend in there. They all sleep.” She explained.

  “I ain’t gon’ be long but if you don’t wanna go, I’ll just come back when I’m done.” He stated.

  Mecca sat there in deep thought. She definitely didn’t want her time with Capone to come to an end, yet, they hadn’t left Yana alone since finding out about Dame. She thought about calling Kay but remembered she was out on a date and there was no telling where Dani had gone.

  “OK, let’s go.” She said, pacifying her conscious with the fact that Dame may be gone for good and that she wasn’t going to be gone long anyway.

  “You sure?” Capone doubled checked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Let’s go Capone.” She replied, yanking the seatbelt across her as they pulled off into the flow of traffic.

  For the first time, Mecca felt like one of the girls in the urban fiction books she read on Kay’s kindle. She definitely wasn’t the bad bitch on his arm, but he definitely was one of those niggas.

  “So, Mecca, what’s to you?” he looked over at her briefly and asked before looking back at the road.

  “Shit.” She hunched her shoulders and replied, still staring out the window.

  “You too cool for me.” He laughed, pulling in front of a home and putting the blunt out.

  Mecca watched as the car door of the car in front of them open and a man got out. The guy, dressed in all black, walked over to Capone’s window and shook his hand.

  “What up?” He spoke, ducking in the car, looking at Mecca.

  “She good?” the guy asked Capone.

  “Would I have her with me if she wasn’t? Now what’s up?” he redirected the conversation back to the reason why they were there.

  “I know how you is about the no phone call policy, so I had to meet you here. I talked to the connect and he said we gotta find another way to get the shipment.” he explained.

  “Why?” Capone asked smoothly.

  “Something about no longer having access to the docks for a few months. Either that or it’s gon’ be a drought.” He replied.

  Capone stared at the guy but never said a word. Mecca could tell by the look on his face that the wheels were spinning in his head.

  “Aight. I gotta get her back home. Call a meeting for tomorrow and hit my phone in an hour.” Capone ordered.

  The guy shook his head up and down before sprinting back to the car. Capone waited until he was inside and gone before he too pulled off.

  “See, I told you I wasn’t gon have you out long.” He looked over at her and said.

  “You know anybody with a car dealership that you can trust?” Mecca asked, completely ignoring Capone’s last statement.

  “What?” he replied, giving her the side eye.

  “Your shipment. Put the product in air bags. The air bags are in the car’s steering wheel. Have them shipped to the dealership and BOOM!” she said, giving off a dramatic ending.

  “Ok, Griselda Blanco Jr. I hear you. What made you think of that?” Capone asked.

  Mecca laughed at the name he had called her, but the funny moment was cut short when her eyes spotted Dani walking down the street.

  “Aye. Aye. Aye. Let me out right here.” Mecca eagerly requested.

  Noticing the confused look on Capone’s face, she explained.

  “There go my sister. I’ll just walk around the corner with her.”

  Capone slowly pulled over to the side of the street and stopped.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow. See you later.” She jumped out and said, slamming the door.

  Mecca jogged to catch up with Danielle who was about the turn the corner onto their block.

  “DANIELLLLEEE!!” She yelled out loud enough to make her sister turn around.

  Danielle waited by an alley for Mecca to catch up before she finished walking.

  “Where you coming from?” An out of breath Mecca questioned once she was finally in front of Danielle.

  “Where you coming from?” she shot back, causing Mecca to smack her lips.

  The two of them continued towards their house but came to a stop when they turned the corner. The street was blocked off as firefighters battled flames that came from their building.

  Mecca felt the breath leave her body as her entire body froze. Dark smoke filled the clouds while red flames filled the windows on both floors. The sound of the sirens faded out, leaving Mecca’s ears ringing.

  “MEECA… LET’S GO!”

  “MECCA… LET’S GOOOOO!”

  She eventually heard Danielle scream, but she still couldn’t move.

  “WHERE IS YANA?” Dani panicked, shaking a stunned Mecca.

  “MECCA? WHERE IS YANA? IS SHE IN THE HOUSE MECCA?” Danielle screamed in her ears.

  Still unable to speak, tears began to flow down Mecca’s cheeks as she envisioned last seeing Yana laying on the bed sleep.

>   22

  Capone placed his key inside the door and turned it slightly to right, setting off three loud beeps from the security system. Gliding inside the house, he went directly to the home security system box and entered the password. Once it was set and the coast was clear, he proceeded to the basement when the kitchen light flickered on. Glancing over, he spotted Pip going inside the refrigerator, pulling out a bowl of fruit.

  “You ain’t gotta sneak in the house Capone.” Her voice ranged through his ears.

  “I’m a grown ass man Pip, I ain’t gotta sneak and do shit.” He let it be known.

  “How about you start acting like one instead……”

  Capone had completely tuned Pip out by the time he had reached the cream leather couch inside the basement. Snatching the remote control off the coffee table in front of him, Capone turned to BET, where he knew he’ll be able to catch an episode of Martin on.

  “I mean, I just don’t get it. Why can’t you come in the house at a respectable time?” Pip argued as she came down the basement stairs.

  “Ava look, I wasn’t in no pussy, I ain’t dead or in jail so be cool.” Capone said, walking over to her, pulling her close to him by the waist.

  “I hear you baby, I just feel like….”

  Capone cut her off with a kiss on the lips. Pip looked up at him and smiled as Capone grabbed two handfuls of her ass. Kissing her on the neck, Pip tried her best to escape his touch, but he overpowered her.

  “Goooonnnneeeee Capone, you think dick gon’ shut me up all the time.” She whined, although she melted inside his arms still.

  It was true; if they weren’t arguing, they were fucking. Being almost ten years older than Capone, Ava “Pip” Banks sometimes tried to play the role of his mother instead of his girl. Being together almost two years, Capone and Pip’s bond was like a forty-year married couple.

  “You came downstairs in this little shit… you knew what you were doing.” Capone replied, lifting up the silk see-through teddy Pip wore.