Married to the Game

by King Benjamin

  He felt some type of way every time the reality set in that another dude was more involved in his daughter’s life than he was. But there wasn’t much he could do to change the circumstances except rethink some resolutions he’d already thrown out the window. It is what is, he thought as he called Chenille. She didn’t answer, but moments later Butter popped out on the front porch with a bright smile and a glow in her eyes. He could tell she was elated and he was proud that he still had that effect on her.

  Butter stayed in new Jordan’s and designer clothes. Her skin was high yellow like her mom’s which is why she was given the nickname. Gunner made sure she didn’t need for anything and tried to show Butter he loved her as much as time permitted him to do so. When she came to the car, she leaned on the door with both arms. Her hair was in two long braids with bangs dangling from her forehead.

  “Hey Daddy,” she spoke.

  “Get in, what you standing outside the car for?” Gunner said.

  “Oh,” Butter said as she opened the car door and got inside.

  “How you been?”

  “Good,” she replied.

  “You missed me?”

  “Yeah,” Butter answered looking around the car.

  Every time Gunner showed up he had some gifts so she was looking for bags or boxes in the car. She spotted a small bag on the backseat. “What’s that?” Butter said.

  “Look at you…you just know you got something in here, huh?”

  Butter smiled shyly and shrugged her shoulders. Gunner grabbed the bag and pulled out the contents revealing a brand new cell phone. He handed it to Butter.

  “This is your cell phone. I bought it so you can call me whenever you want without having to ask your mom. That way she don’t gotta be all in our business, you feel me?”

  Butter giggled and nodded.

  “The phone is already on with my number stored inside.”

  Just then Kelly called Gunner’s phone, but he didn’t answer. He had something to say to Butter that couldn’t wait.

  “You should answer that,” Butter said.

  “How you know?”

  “Because…it could be important,” she replied.

  Butter was really growing up fast.

  “You important too though. Listen, I know we don’t hang out as much as we should and I know you don’t see me that much but don’t ever, ever think I don’t love you like I say I do, you hear me?”

  Butter nodded as Gunner went into his pocket and peeled off three hundred dollars. He gave her two-fifty to give to Chenille and fifty to keep for herself.

  “That’s a lot of money,” Butter said staring wide-eyed.

  “Anything for you lil’ mama. You gon’ call me right?”

  “Yup,” she agreed.

  “Okay, I’ll see you soon,” Gunner said hoping he wasn’t telling her a lie this time.

  As he drove off, Gunner thought about how much he loved his daughter and how he wished she’d come out of Kelly’s vagina instead of Chenille’s. The one thing Kelly had made abundantly clear to Gunner was that she would never stay with him if he had a kid on her. Ironically, that same year Butter was born.

  ****

  Things worked out in the projects with Jazzy and Oshiwa’s cousins for a few days, but then she got another call stating that Rell and Jazzy had words again and almost came to blows. To hopefully reconcile the situation once and for all, Oshiwa picked up Rell and Frank from home and the three of them drove to the projects to have a meeting with Jazzy and Doe. The Terrors, as the locals had nicknamed the projects, was where all the dirt went down. You could get just about anything you were looking for inside this ghetto compound filled with addicted hood niggas and ratchet women. Bones had managed to corner the market on crack cocaine but there were still a lot of petty freelancers floating throughout.

  When Oshiwa pulled up and parked, she checked to make sure her gun was off safety. It was after dark and she didn’t make it a habit of coming around these parts at this time of night. Even though she had Rell and Frank to watch her back, at the moment there were questions on whether either one had any bite to their bark. They just couldn’t seem to keep Jazzy in line, but then again, Bones's talk with Jazzy didn’t seem to hold much weight either. Something had to give and hopefully, she could help everyone come to a firm understanding that they were all on the same team.

  Inside they had two apartments. One was Doe’s apartment where they did all the hustling. The second one was Jazzy’s spot where they stashed cash and most of the drugs until they ran out. When Doe opened the door he was smoking a blunt.

  “What up, what up,” he greeted everybody.

  “What’s up, is Jazzy here?” Oshiwa asked.

  “Naw, he ran to his spot to get some more work,” Doe said.

  “Why don’t you run and grab him right quick. I don’t wanna be here all night,” Oshiwa said with attitude.

  She was upset that Bones put so much pressure on her to handle everything. Even though he was out of jail, it was still as if she was running the show because of his situation. Doe stepped out to find Jazzy and a crackhead appeared from the bathroom. He’d just finished taking a master blast and you could see he was feeling it already. He looked around and spotted Frank and Rell.

  “Somebody let me out,” he said and Frank followed him to the door.

  The three of them sat around waiting for Doe and Jazzy’s return. Rell sparked up a half blunt he’d had tucked behind his ear since before he left home.

  “Just let me talk to this nigga before y’all say anything,” Oshiwa said and the brothers nodded.

  Moments later, Jazzy came in with Doe and it was obvious that Jazzy still had a chip on his shoulder by the way he entered the room. His scowl was meant to be intimidating, but Oshiwa couldn’t tell if it was supposed to include her or just the brothers. She wasn’t worried either way. Jazzy might’ve been crazy but he wasn’t stupid.

  “What’s happening?” Jazzy spoke to no one in particular as he moved past everyone and took a seat on the arm of the loveseat.

  “Tryna found out why this ain’t working out over here the way we planned it,” Oshiwa replied.

  “It’s working out. These lil’ niggas just do too much whining and shit, that’s all.”

  Oshiwa scratched her forehead right between her bang as she tried to choose her words carefully.

  “It’s not working out though, Jazzy, because they not finishing they bag in a timely manner. This spot got enough money flowing through it for everybody to be eating, but you taking half the pie for yourself it seems like.”

  “Y’all getting paid ain’t y’all? I don’t have no unpaid bills with Bones do I?”

  “That ain’t the point, Jazzy, it’s about teamwork. These niggas ain’t over here hustling for they health, they here to make money. Besides that, this is a spot we wouldn’t even have if it wasn’t for them.”

  Jazzy was listening and rubbing his bald head, contemplating Oshiwa’s words. Really, he didn’t see what the problem was. He and Doe were eating good which meant Bones had to be eating as well.

  “So what you want me to do baby girl?”

  Oshiwa grew frustrated.

  “Let ‘em eat nigga, what the fuck? Go back to the two-man shifts the way the shit was supposed to be. Whatever you don’t get on your shift you just don’t get.”

  Jazzy shook his head disagreeing.

  “Fuck that shift shit. It’s too much money passing by me like that.”

  Oshiwa couldn’t understand why Jazzy thought he could call the plays as if this was his operation. She knew he was being overly uncooperative because Bones was way on the other side of town and refused to get directly involved.

  “You can’t say fuck the shift shit, Jazzy, that’s not your decision to make.”

  Rell had been sitting by holding his tongue as he finished his blunt but he was tired of trying to negotiate. It had been eating him up since day one that Jazzy thought he could just bully them out of making mon
ey to better their situation. He desperately needed the money and he’d made up his mind if he couldn’t get it here then he wasn’t going quietly.

  “Man fuck this shit! If me and my little brother can’t eat, ain’t nobody eating, how about that?” Rell said as he sat across from Jazzy staring him straight in the eyes.

  Jazzy was taken by surprise. Before today, Rell had never spoken with such brawn in his vocal cords. He’d tried to stand up for himself but it was always through the way of diplomacy. Jazzy wasn’t buying his tough guy act.

  “Who you think you talking to lil’ bitch?” Jazzy said as he stood up.

  “See that’s what the fuck I’m talking about, Jazzy, you can’t talk to nobody like that,” Oshiwa pleaded.

  “I’m talking to you lil’ bitch, whatcha gonna do about it?” Rell fired back.

  Even Oshiwa was startled by the fire in Rell’s eyes as she tried to quickly defuse the situation. Doe and Oshiwa tried to step between the two of them but Jazzy was already in motion. As he shoved Doe to the side and went to swing over Oshiwa’s head and punched Rell, he didn’t realize Rell was already raising his pistol until the barrel was pointed right between his eyes.

  BANG!

  Rell fired one single shot that struck Jazzy in the forehead causing his body to drop with a loud thump to the floor. Oshiwa and Doe broke wide for the front door, not knowing if Rell was about to go on a shooting spree or not. His brother Frank was petrified but he stayed behind begging Rell to leave the apartment with him immediately as Rell stood over Jazzy’s lifeless body feeling victorious.

  Chapter 5

  Gunner drove with Ray Ray in the low-key rental car on his way to meet up with the new plug for the first time. Both were excited to get their hands on some good work after eating the loss they’d taken with the Mexicans. The timing couldn’t be better for Gunner to bounce back. His anniversary was coming up and he had big plans for him and Kelly to take a nice vacation. The connect was an African named Chiku that E had introduced him to not long ago. E had done some business with Chiku but was now migrating all his investments from coke to the marijuana trade. After E lost his brother Bake, he began to think that Jay had the right idea. He wanted to ease his way out of the game in the near future, but he had to line his ducks in a row first.

  Chiku had Gunner meet him at a small twelve unit apartment building he owned and operated out of on the east side. As Gunner pulled up to the apartment building he couldn’t help but think about the irony of his new plug. How was it that a man all the way from Nigeria could have a better direct line to the Mexican drug cartels than the Mexicans in Detroit? But with the numbers he kicked out, that seemed to be the case. As he called Chiku he was given instructions on how to enter the building and which apartment to come to. Cameras surrounded the outside of the building, letting Gunner know that Chiku was on point as he headed inside leaving Ray Ray in the car.

  His wife Gugu answered the door wearing a two-tone, purple, long sleeve dress and a purple beanie pulled slightly back to fit a purple ribbon with a flower in the front of her kinky twists. Gunner thought the weather was a little too hot for her attire but he admired her beautiful mocha skin as he stepped inside.

  “How you doing?” he spoke.

  “Hello, and welcome,” Gugu spoke back.

  “You’ve met Gugu right?” Chiku said sitting at the dinner table.

  Chiku and Gugu spoke with a very thick accent. If you didn’t know they were African by looking at their features, you knew immediately after they spoke. Chiku was dark brown with very little facial hair. He looked to be in his late thirties and he dressed to fit in with the African-American culture, wearing basic designer brands like Polo and Sean John but nothing too fancy. He wore his hair in a low cut Caesar. It was nothing about him that screamed drug dealer or even financially well-off.

  “Yeah, she was around when we met that day,” Gunner said as they slapped fives and he sat down at the table.

  “She’s always around, that’s my right hand. And she not afraid to rockabye, you hear me?” Chiku bragged before he and Gunner started chuckling.

  “That’s the best kind of right hand to have,” Gunner replied as he glanced at Gugu and she smirked.

  Just then Gunner noticed the AK-47 right by the front door. He figured Chiku must really trust her to do business up in this building all alone with his wife as his only backup.

  “So how can I help today?” Chiku said.

  “I’m just gon’ grab one and see what it’s hitting like. If it’s what you say it is then I’ll be back tomorrow for a lot more.”

  “I like that, always play it safe. The straight line is not always the shortest distance to the goal,” Chiku said.

  “Exactly.”

  Chiku then spoke to Gugu in his native tongue and she dipped off into another room. When she came back she was carrying two bricks of cocaine wrapped in grey duct tape. “I just wanted the one for now,” Gunner reminded him as she sat them on the table.

  Chiku walked to the kitchen and pulled a bag with a drawstring from the upper cabinet. He came back and sat down.

  “In this business, the most important thing is your word. Without your word, you don’t have one leg to stand on. Take the two, and if it’s what you need then you pay me for the other when we meet again. We wanna make big money… so let’s not waste time with play money,” Chiku said.

  “Dig dat,” Gunner replied nodding.

  He didn’t like doing consignment, but after the loss he’d just taken, he liked the way Chiku was starting out their relationship. It told him two things about his new connect; he could definitely help Gunner advance and he wasn’t afraid to take a loss. He paid Chiku for the first brick and promised to return shortly.

  ****

  “Why can’t I go with you?” Michelle whined as Jay laid out the outfit he planned to wear tonight and then proceeded to lotion up in the bedroom.

  “I don’t know what this spot is gonna be like so I’d rather be alone. If it’s not too crazy I’ll take you with me next time,” Jay promised.

  Being proactive in his pursuit of new talent, Jay decided to hit up an open mic night at a popular club in Raleigh. He had to start somewhere so he decided to check out the nightlife in the bigger cities like Raleigh and Charlotte.

  “Booooo,” Michelle sounded displaying her displeasure with Jay.

  “I said you can come next—”

  “Booooo, to your next time,” she went on.

  Jay’s phone rang, giving him an out and he quickly answered.

  “Hello?”

  “Whachu up to?” Niecey Girl said.

  “What up doe? Shit, I was about to get dressed but what’s up with you?”

  “Nothing, I seen your boy today and I realized we ain’t talked in almost a month,” Niecey said.

  “Who you see?”

  “E.”

  “Oh for real? Where you see him at?”

  “You know his car wash ain’t too far from where I stay at now,” she reminded him.

  “Oh yeah, you did tell me that.”

  After all the drama and beef, Niecey Girl thought it was best for her to move after Jay left the city. Her house had been like a trap house for so long she would never feel safe there without him around.

  “He said you supposed to be coming home for his birthday. Why you ain’t told me nothing about you coming home?”

  “Damn, I forgot all about that nigga birthday is coming up. I did tell him that but I wasn’t sure if I was gon’ really make it. I’m gonna try and make it though.”

  “You need to come home. Your family wanna see you.”

  “My family who?” Jay replied, knowing he only dealt with a few.

  “Me and my mama nigga, what the fuck you mean?”

  “Oh, right. How is my auntie doing anyway?”

  “She right here and she wanna talk to you too. Hold on,” Niecey said.

  “Awe shit,” Jay mumbled.

  Jay was on speaker phone and
didn’t know it.

  “Ain’t no awe shit you black muthafucka. You know damn well we wanna see yo’ black ass but you can come to visit your punk ass friends on they birthday, huh?” his aunt Jean fussed.

  “I called you a couple weeks ago Auntie,” Jay said before she got in his ass.

  “You a got damn lie.”

  “I did I swear.”

  “You know what Jay? Whenever you bring yo’ ass back to Detroit, I’ma give you a big hug and a kiss and then I’m a stick my foot so far up your—”

  “Auntie I didn’t even do nothing this time. You said you want me to call you every month, I been calling you every month since I been gone.”

  “Yeah, well it’s time to call the airport and set up a trip. I ain’t gon’ live forever, you know that right?”

  “Yeah, you will. You gon’ outlive me. But I’m gonna make sure I come back for my boy birthday so I can get a chance to see everybody.”

  “You betta. And have you put a ring on that girl's finger yet?” Jean asked.

  “Yeah, what’s up with that?” Jay heard Niecey yelling in the background.

  “It’s coming Auntie, it’s coming,” Jay promised.

  “That girl stood by you, Jay. Don’t wait too long to show her what she means to you,” Jean said seriously.

  “I hear you,” Jay replied.

  “Okay. I ain’t gon’ get all in your business, but just remember that.”

  “Alright. I’ma gon’ get dressed so I can get out of here. I talk to y’all again soon.”

  “Okay. Tell Michelle I said hey.”

  “Okay, love you.”

  “Love you too, nigga.”

  Jay ended the call and proceeded to get dressed.

  “My aunt Jean said hey,” Jay said to Michelle who was busy on her laptop now.

  “Why you wait until you get off the phone to tell me?”

  “Because I was trying to end the call as quickly as I could,” Jay chuckled.

  “She was cussing you out again?”

  “What you think?”

  Michelle had to laugh. His aunt Jean was hilarious to her and she believed it was only a matter of time before she herself ended up in the line of fire of Jean’s spitfire tongue. But that would be a good thing because it was well known that Jean only cursed you out if she loved you. When Jay was dressed he gave Michelle a goodbye kiss as she sat up in the bed still on her computer, but she stiff-armed him.