Still Sheisty

by T. N. Baker

  Keisha was turning into some crazed madwoman, screaming vulgar obscenities and throwing a raging tantrum in the front of the house. She wanted her son, but what really set her off was the assumption that Tucker had a girl inside the house with him.

  Tucker was furious. His tolerance had just exceeded its limit. Baby momma or no baby momma, he was gonna beat that ass.

  Running out of the house, Tucker charged right at Keisha and tackled her. Releasing all the anger and pain he was holding in, he literally tried to strangle the life out of Keisha.

  The upper class neighborhood they lived in wasn’t used to such disturbances, so instantly many of their neighbors peeked from their windows to see what the commotion was about. Some even called police, but not one of them came over and tried to get Tucker off of her.

  Leanne ran out of the house and tried to pull him off of Keisha, but he was so worked up that he shoved her so hard she went flying across the grass. It was the sound of his son’s cry that caused him to free Keisha from his choke hold. Breathing heavily, Tucker got off of her and rushed over to the door to calm and console his son.

  Keisha’s eyes were bloodshot and watery as she coughed and wheezed, trying to catch her breath. Once she gained control of her breathing, she heard a recognizable female’s voice.

  “Baby, are you okay?” Lea’s face fit the voice, and seeing her set Keisha off again. She jumped up from the ground and attacked her from behind. Grabbing Lea by her long, frizzy, half-black/half-white mixed hair, she tossed her to the ground and ferociously punched her face.

  It happened so fast that Tucker couldn’t come to her rescue right away. He was holding his son. Running in the house, Tucker secured Li’l T safely in his stroller and came back out to her rescue, but by the time he made it back out front, the police had arrived and already controlled the situation.

  After the police questioned the three of them, all fingers pointed to Keisha as the villain. Tucker decided not to press charges, but Lea did, so Keisha was hauled off to jail and charged with aggravated assault, disruptive behavior, and disturbing the peace.

  CHAPTER 40

  Shana stared at the ceiling half of the night, tossing and turning. Raina’s threats, her STD results, K.C.’s infidelity, and her money investment with him, were all way too much to grasp. Through it all, one thing troubled her the most—K.C.’s phone conversation earlier. Despite felling that Epiphany was a complete bitch who worked every nerve in her body—plus, she had enough problems of her own not to get involved in someone else’s—she knew her conscience would only eat away at her if she kept quiet about it. Not only did she feel Epiphany had every right to know what really went down, she also felt, without a doubt, that Ness should pay for his actions.

  Shana glanced at the clock on the nightstand, which read 12:45 a.m. She got out of the bed, still fully dressed from earlier. Without turning on the lights, she felt around the bed for her car keys, which were still at the foot of the bed where she had left them.

  She unlocked and slowly opened the bedroom door,. Peeking out, she saw K.C. asleep on the couch, with the TV watching him.

  Thank God, she thought. The last thing she wanted to hear was his mouth.

  Shana left the house, went for a drive, and ended up in front of Epiphany’s house. She called her on her cell.

  “Hello?” Epiphany answered, half asleep.

  “What’s up, E? I need to holla at you about something.”

  “Who’s this?”

  “It’s Shana. Come outside.”

  “Shana, I’m sleeping.”

  “E, C-God ain’t do it.”

  “What?” Epiphany’s voice got louder.

  “C-God ain’t the one that shot you, but since you sleeping, fuck it.”

  “No, wait. I’m coming.” Epiphany was awake now. She hung up, hopped out of bed, threw on some sweats and slippers, and headed out the side door.

  Opening Shana’s passenger-side door, she got in, eagerly anticipating what she had to say.

  “What’s going on, Shana?”

  “Listen, I know who shot you. I don’t know him like that, but he be with K.C. and this guy name Smitty.”

  “Well, who is he, and how is he linked to me?”

  “His name is Ness. He used to run with C-God.”

  “So, how do you know he’s the one that shot me?” asked Epiphany.

  “Look, that’s not important. I just know, okay?”

  “What about Malikai? Is he the one that killed him too?”

  “More than likely, but listen, his boy Smitty is feeling you hard, so I was thinking maybe you should fuck with the nigga just to manipulate the situation, try to turn him against Ness. That way he could take care of him for you,” Shana suggested.

  “I don’t know. I think I should just put all this behind me. I mean, what’s done is done. Besides, I’m trying to get up out of here anyway.”

  “What! Come on. I know you ain’t trying to let that nigga get away with this bullshit, Epiphany. The muthafucka left you for dead, and you wanna put that behind you?”

  “Shana, I almost died, and that shit scares me. I ain’t trying get caught up in some bullshit with the same muthafucka that tried to kill me. And anyway, what’s it to you? You act like you’re the one with the vendetta.”

  “What? I’m trying to look out for you, but if you don’t feel like your life is worth getting payback, fuck it then! Have a good night.” Shana turned the tables on Epiphany. Of course she had her motives, but she couldn’t disclose that.

  “Yeah, whatever.” Epiphany slammed the car door behind her and headed back to the house. Inside, she glanced over at Keisha’s empty bed and briefly wondered where she could be at that time of night. Sitting up on her bed, she thought about what Shana said and the dream she’d had at Keisha’s house. There were two male voices present the night she was shot.

  Epiphany sat in the dark, deep in her thoughts, for more than twenty minutes, when suddenly the sounds of Prince’s “Do Me Baby,” Mali and her laughing, and the moment she froze from shock when she saw the bullet pierce through his skull flashed in her mind. She could remember the splattered blood mixed with pieces of Mali’s brain sprinkling all over her, and the way her body trembled as she stood still in fear, watching his body slump over to the side.

  C-God ordered the trigger man he called Ness to search her crib. She could feel the enormous amount of pain she had experienced that night all over again as her tears began to fall. Epiphany rehashed everything that had taken place that night, from the verbal to the physical abuse she was subjected to, and the reason it all took place. She remembered all the horrific details that led her to squeeze the trigger of her nine with the intent to kill C-God. It was Ness who entered the room and blasted off his .38 in C’s defense, hitting her in the chest and sending her into a state of unconsciousness.

  CHAPTER 41

  Keisha cried the whole ride over to central booking. She couldn’t believe Lea had actually played her like that.

  How long has she known him? Keisha wondered. Putting two and two together, she realized how well Lea smoothly played everything off. She made it seem like she only liked Spanish guys, and she always claimed to have a man. She’d say anything to cover up the fact that she was a jealous, man-stealing, backstabbing bitch.

  Keisha felt like such an idiot for letting her guard down and befriending Lea. She told her personal things about her and Tucker’s sex life: his dick size, how he was always away from home, and even about her alter ego, BAPS, that she used in the dirty online chat rooms. She had to admit she had set herself up for the kill, played right into Lea’s hands. She had agreed to inviting strippers that night, when in her heart she was dead set against whole the idea.

  By the time Keisha finished getting processed, it was too late to stand before a judge. Although it was late, she decided to use her one phone call to call Mrs. Wright, she was certain she’d reach her. She explained her situation to Mrs. Wright and told her that she wouldn
’t know anything further regarding her release until the morning, which meant she had to spend the night in the bullpen.

  Keisha had never experienced such filth in her life, locked up with prostitutes, drug addicts, boosters, and God only knew what else. It was a tight squeeze in the overcrowded cell. With one dingy stall in the corner, the men in the other cell directly across could see everything. The idea of having to stay in a place like this turned her stomach. There was one long wooden bench up against the wall that was so full, women were stretched out in the remaining three corners and all over the floor. With no place to rest, she thought she’d be standing in that one spot for the remainder of the night.

  “Here, honey, come sit next to Big Doris,” a woman said, patting a small space next to her on the bench. Detecting Keisha’s hesitation, she continued, “Come, honey, I ain’t gon’ bite you. Shit, I got daughters your age.”

  That made Keisha feel a little more at ease. Hopefully Big Doris wasn’t on no lesbo shit. She proceeded toward her.

  “Thanks,” Keisha said, sitting down.

  “No problem, honey. What you in here for?” Big Doris asked. “Ahhh, I had a fight with this backstabbing bitch that stole my man.” Keisha was still bitter.

  All of a sudden, she noticed all the track marks and sores on every visible part of Big Doris’s body.

  “Honey, you are too much of a good-looking girl to be fighting over some damn man. And I’ma tell you just like I tell my own girls: If you got to fight over a man, then he ain’t yours. Now look—you in here, and he’s probably with that heifer.”

  Keisha explained to Big Doris that the situation was much deeper, because they had a child together. Big Doris told her she understood and advised that if a situation calls for her to move on, then that’s what she should do. Keisha revealed how Lea had betrayed her, and that’s when Big Doris changed her tune.

  “You should beat that bitch with a bat every time you see the ho!”

  Keisha was enjoying her conversation with Big Doris. She had a great sense of humor, plus she knew a lot of shit about life. Talking to her made the hours go by a little faster, despite the fact that she would nod off for at least thirty seconds in between each sentence and pick at the nasty scabs on her arm and neck, exposing the tendencies of a true dopefiend.

  Finally, morning came and Keisha’s name was called to stand before the judge. As soon as she entered the courtroom, she spotted Mrs. Wright seated, hopefully waiting to take her home. No doubt she was happy to see her, but she was also expecting Tucker to be present as well. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and she couldn’t hold back her tears from the pain she was feeling. The judge released her on her own recognizance and scheduled her to appear back in court in three weeks.

  CHAPTER 42

  C-God continued to school his new student, Alpo, about the hustling game. Even though C-God was still getting high as a kite, the two became kind of close. Alpo looked at him as somewhat of a mentor, while C-God viewed Alpo as his prodigy. He had heart, will, and a hunger that could take him far.

  C-God wanted to help him prosper, but he needed something done for him first. Alpo was down for C-God’s vengeful plan. He ran the necessary questions by Alpo: Had he ever caught a body before, and was he afraid to? C wanted to personally see to it that Ness suffered. He also needed to know that if Alpo had to pull the trigger, he wouldn’t bitch up.

  Alpo assured him that he had his back. All C-God had to do was say when and how he wanted the shit to go down. C-God had mapped out the whole thing weeks ago. All he had to do was get a hold of Reggie, who was still ducking C-God’s calls, even though he left messages that it wasn’t about money but rather another very important matter.

  Reg figured he had somehow gotten word that he and Tanya were in a relationship, and he wasn’t ready to face C with that yet. Once again, he’d betrayed C-God, this time falling in love with one of his baby mothers, and he didn’t know how he was going to explain that. C-God had asked him to look after her, and now they were living together.

  In order for his plan to be carried out, C-God was willing to ignore Reggie’s shitting on him. He needed him as an inside connect and felt Reggie owned him that much.

  CHAPTER 43

  Epiphany had replayed that deadly night over and over again in her head for the last couple of days. It was clear now that Ness was the one responsible for Malikai’s death and her being shot.

  Because she was so focused on nothing but her newfound recollection, Wild’s phone calls were the only thing that made her feel better. He would phone her whenever he got a break from the music, just to let her know she was in his thoughts. Their relationship was quickly growing strong, and he made it clear that he wanted to take things to the next level by asking her to come live with him.

  Epiphany wasted no time giving him her answer. she excitingly blurted out “Yes!” without putting any thought into it. She didn’t care whether it was too soon or if it would even work out. Love had nothing to do with it. All she wanted was to leave the hood and to live her life in a rich man’s world.

  As much as her gut was telling her to move on and put her past behind her, though, she just couldn’t until Ness paid for what he had done to her and Malikai. After putting as much thought into it as she possibly could, she phoned Shana.

  “What’s up?” Shana answered, recognizing Epiphany’s number from the caller ID.

  “Shana, listen. I’ve been thinking about what you said and you’re right. That son of a bitch has to pay for trying to take my life away.”

  “So what, you ready to fuck with Smitty?” Shana questioned.

  “Yeah, if he’s the one that could help me.”

  “Hell yeah, he’s the one, plus he got it bad for you, E. All you gotta do is get the nigga open, and I’m telling you he’ll probably do what whatever you want him to.”

  “But if Ness is his boy, how am I gonna get him to get at ’im for me?” Epiphany asked.

  “Come on, E. Good pussy can make a nigga do anything. This is me you talking to, and I know you know how to put it down for your crown. Just manipulate the shit out of his ass and make him think you feeling him like that, then set him up for the kill.”

  “A’ight, I got you.”

  “Cool. I’ma set it up, so expect his call, a’ight?”

  “Okay!” Ending the call, Epiphany felt jitters. She was a little nervous about the plan.

  It has to work, she thought, because nobody fucks over Epiphany Janee Wright and gets away with it.

  Shana wasted no time getting on it. As soon as she got off the phone with Epiphany, she phoned Smitty and made arrangements to meet with him at IHOP for breakfast. He agreed. Shana got up, showered, and dressed. On her way out the door, she glanced over and rolled her eyes, disgusted with K.C. He was on the couch, where he’d been sleeping for the past couple of nights, since she began her silent treatment.

  When she got in her car, she turned on her cell phone and retrieved the six messages that were waiting for her.

  Message one: “Yeah, bitch, I see you trying to front on me, huh? A’ight, ho, I’ma see you!”

  Message two: “Yo, Cream, I see your sheisty ass really ain’t trying to get me outta here, huh? Watch your back, bitch!”

  Message three: “Shana Scott, how ’bout this: You can ignore my calls all you want, but my peoples will be seeing you, a’ight!”

  Messages four, five, and six were pretty much the same. Raina went from calling her Cream to her government name and admitted she knew who her man was and where they lived. Now Shana was starting to fret.

  She pulled up to the IHOP, went inside, and was seated. Of course, Smitty had her waiting for over thirty minutes, and when he arrived, he was freshly dipped in a Rocawear sweatsuit, all-white Uptowns, a pair of at least four-carat diamond earrings, and a platinum link chain with an iced-out Jesus head on it. Shana never understood how a nigga out to do so much dirt could walk around sporting Jesus on a chain.

  Look at
this character, she thought, pissed off, assuming that her money probably paid for all his shit.

  “Sha-money, what up, girl?” Smitty smiled as he slid into the booth next to her.

  “What’s up? Why you always gotta keep a bitch waiting, huh?”

  “Yo, what’s up? Oh, wait. Let me order some food first. A nigga starving.” Smitty looked at the menu, disregarding her attitude and her question.

  The two ordered breakfast before Shana began to conduct business.

  “Listen, I know you heard that the police ran up in Honey’s and shut shit down, right?” Shana asked.

  “Nah, when this happened?”

  Shana knew he was lying, but she didn’t call him on it. She just continued on about Raina getting caught up in the sweep.

  “A’ight, so why is you telling me?” Smitty questioned.

  “I’m telling you ’cause the bitch is locked the fuck up and she’s making threats to snitch me out. Her bail is five G’s and I ain’t got it, and if I ain’t got that, then you know I ain’t got the money to keep paying your fucking ass for that bullshit you got on me. Don’t you think we played this game long enough? Me and K.C. ain’t working out, but I’m willing to do you a favor if you could front me the money for Raina’s bail, and after I pay you back, we’re even.”

  Smitty laughed at her.

  “What kind of favor you gon’ do for me that’s gonna cost me five G’s? That shit sounds funnier than a muthafucka!” he said. “Anyway, what’s up with your E connect? Honey’s ain’t the only strip joint you could sell them shits at.”

  “I know that, but my connect ain’t fucking with me no more. The last time I went to check him he told me that that was my last play, ’cause he was giving it up and moving to Vegas,” Shana lied. Truth be told, she didn’t want to do it anymore, but she knew if she told Smitty that, his greed would get in the way.