by Ivory B.
Los’ office phone rang suddenly demanding his attention as he was mid laugh, it was late and everyone who worked in the office had long gone home. “Yo,” Los answered not caring to answer with any pleasantries it was after business hours anyways. “Who dis Los?” a gruff, scratchy voice asked. Whoever the caller was sounded as if he had spent way too much time smoking bogies. He had that cigarette smoker’s voice and it was a voice Los wasn’t familiar with. Carlos screwed his face up with distaste. “You should know you calling here, who the fuck is this?” Los asked with authority. “Yeah I got the right mufucka,” the caller said with a snicker. Carlos’ arrogance was seeping through the phone with every word he spoke. He knew Los was the man he was looking for. “I think you need to pipe down wit all that base in ya voice nigga. Especially, since I got something of value to you.” Los sat up straight in his seat the caller had his full attention now as his heart beat against his chest wildly. The first thing that came to mind was Lucky. Los was feeling nervous and uneasy even though he would never let it show. His father’s voice rang through his head, Never let em see you sweat, play it like a boss, don’t show emotion. Los swore on god if this nigga has his bitch and hurt her he would paint this whole city red. “I don’t know what typa fruity shit you on calling after 12 AM in ya low baritone but I ain’t wit it, call the next nigga wit that bullshit.” The caller let out a low sinister laugh. “You’s a funny dude but I betchu wouldn’t think it was so funny if you knew I had ya beef patty, curry goat, eatin nigga tied up in a basement ready to meet his maker if I ain’t got half a mill in my hand within the next two hours.” Los was silent trying to digest what the caller had just said to him. It wasn’t Lucky he let out a quick sigh of relief but could this dude really have Buju? Los snatched his cell phone off his desk and dialed Buju’s phone only to hear it ring on the other end of the line. “Yeah I got ya attention now ha? Where all that tough talk at now ha?” The caller taunted. “A half mill ha? You sure that’s all you gon need to keep me from finding ya bitch ass and bodying you?” Los asked with fire dripping from his words. “It’s not wise to be making threats when I got ya manz is it? Since you ballin and shot callin nigga make it a milli and make it quick; ya manz already took one. You gon wanna get him to a hospital before he bleeds out. I got ya cell phone number I’ll be calling you real soon, now go get my money bitch!” With that the caller hung up. Carlos snatched the phone from his ear and looked at it in astound shock. It was clear from his facial expression he wasn’t used to people talking to him in such a manner. Los was seething as he sat there for a few seconds with the wheels turning in his head.
Nice looked over to catch Los looking vexed and anxious at the same time. “What’s good?” Nice asked knowing something was wrong. “Yo, they got Buj; they want a milli within the next two hours or he dead.” “Who?!” Everyone barked simultaneously getting hyped. Los was already on his feet heading out his office door. “I don’t know some dude just called my phone and said they got Buj. I called Buj phone and heard it ring in the background. The nigga said Buj already took one and he gon need a hospital soon.” “Yo what the fuck!” Nice barked jumping up heading for the door as well clearly pissed.
No one had to ask where Los was headed; if you knew Buj you knew exactly where he would be at this hour of the night, his mother’s restaurant. Los cursed Buj under his breath as he jogged to his car. Buj was the only dude Los knew who could eat all the fattening known Philly food, like Philly cheese steaks and cheese fries then go to his Momz shop late night to eat some good home cooked food and still stay skinny. Buj would always end up at his momz restaurant close to closing time where he’d hang out in the back, catch a bite to eat and wait until his mother was finished closing up her restaurant, like any good son would do. His mother’s restaurant wasn’t in one of the safest areas in Philly so Buj tried to always make it there to ensure his mother didn’t have to close the restaurant by herself.
Los had mentioned to Buj in a joking way not too long ago that if anyone wanted to catch up with him all they had to do is go to the shop between 10 and 12. Both men laughed about it but when the laughter subsided Los told Buj he was getting too comfortable; that he needed to switch his schedule up because Jack Boys never took days off. Now it seemed as if Los’ foresight had come true. It didn’t take a genius to figure out if Los had noticed Buju’s schedule so had somebody else.
Los tore down the streets of Philly towards Buju’s mother’s place of business with everyone that was in his office and a couple other heads that was down in the studio following close behind. They made it to the restaurant in record breaking time. From the outside nothing looked out of the ordinary. The lights were off in the front and the closed sign was lit up. But as the men rounded the back of the shop with burners cocked and loaded it was obvious something was very wrong. The back door to the shop was wide open and that was something out of the ordinary. Buj would never leave the door open especially since it was a known fact that he left work stashed in the back of his mother’s restaurant sometimes.
All of the men looked at each other and knew what time it was. They didn’t know if anyone was still inside or not but they were going in. The first thing Los noticed was the huge puddle of blood on the floor at the back door. As each man walked in the shop they took perspective spots that allowed them to watch each other’s back and let off if they saw anything moving. The scene didn’t look good at all; there was bloody drag marks on the floor that lead towards the freezer area of the restaurant and blood spatter all on the walls. They made their way towards the back office that was adjacent to the freezer area and stopped when they saw two females lying dead on the floor. Both were shot in the back of the head execution style. Los froze when he recognized one of the girls, despite the bullet damn near blowing away the side of her face Los could still tell it was Buju’s baby sister. The pretty 19 year old girl was helping her mother in the restaurant while visiting from D.C where she was a freshman at Howard U. The other chick he didn’t know personally; all he knew was that she worked in the shop alongside Buju’s mom. “Damn this fucked up,” Nice said shaking his head back and forth with anger. “Ayo she still breathing!” Jah yelled kneeling over Buju’s mom who was laid out on the floor in front of the meat freezer. Mrs. Sharon was making gurgling noises choking off of her own teeth and blood. The injuries that she sustained were so bad the men initially thought she had been shot in the head like the other two women. They hadn’t realized she had been viciously pistol whipped in the face and head leaving her to look as if she had been shot. Los rushed over to Buju’s mom and reached out for her hand, she squeezed his hand firmly. Her grip was strong she was definitely still alive and had a lot of fight in her. “Roll her over, roll her over,” Nice said with urgency. She was choking and desperately trying to breathe. Jah didn’t think twice before he placed his gloved finger in her mouth to try and clear her air wave. “You gonna be a’ight.” Los said in an even tone trying to put her at ease. “Ayo Meat! You and Twin get her to a hospital fast!” Nice instructed. He didn’t have to mention to them not to talk to any cops. They all been in the game long enough to know what the deal was, drop her off at the emergency room and get ghost. Both men hoisted her off the floor and rushed her off to the nearest hospital. The rest of them jumped in their vehicles and peeled off. Los drove to an off street blocks away from the restaurant pulled over and hopped out of his car. He needed fresh air to think as he paced back and forth outside his car. The rest of the crew followed suit, they parked up and hopped out as well.
“Ayo Nice get on the horn right now and find out anything you can through the wire, put the word out that we looking for any info on who’s behind this,” Los ordered. “I already handled that, that’s done.” The wire was like an underground hotline that ran through the whole tri-state area. It was considered the hoods very own crime stoppers hotline for criminals that is. “This shit right here is ugly,” Nice said while leaning up against his whip. Los was quiet as a mouse and eve
ryone knew what his silence meant. Finally he spoke. “We gotta find Buj. I told this nigga he was gettin too comfortable. I can’t believe this shit!” Los fumed as he ran his hand over his waves then his face letting out an exasperated sigh. Real looked over at Los and wanted to choose his words wisely because he knew of the relationship Los had with Buju, Buj was one of his day ones, he’d been down with Los and Nice from the beginning but Real wanted Los to be realistic about this situation. “Ayo Boss, you peeped the scene back there, how you even know Buj still alive? We could be out here chasing a ghost right now.” Los looked Real straight in his eyes before he responded. “It wouldn’t matter, that’s peoples and we don’t leave our own behind.” Real said nothing in response, all he could do was nod his head in understanding. Real got it; Los was loyal to a fault to the niggaz that was loyal to him. “Jah have you got up with Buj in the last coupla weeks?” Nice asked. “Nah, not since he got back from Jamaica.” Jah answered feeling a little guilty at that moment that their schedule differences caused them to not be able to link up lately. Bzzzzz, bzzzzz, bzzzzz Nice’s phone vibrated. “Big Mike, damn baby what’s good? Uh huh, when was this? A coupla days ago, what else you know about ole boy? Oh yeah, a’ight, yeah good lookin out,” Nice said ending the call. Los looked over with eager eyes waiting to hear what Nice had to say. “Big Mike said the last time he saw Buj was at his club three days ago. Buj came through with a nigga named Stanks that just came home from upstate like three months ago.” Los bobbed his head up and down this sounded really promising. “It gets better nigga. He said one of the girls at the club overheard them talking. Stanks asked Buj to front him some more work cause his pockets wasn’t right. Apparently Buj told the nigga no. He said he already fronted him money and work when he first touched down and he would have to stand on his own two like a man.” “Yo Buj a hard headed ass nigga. I told him to stop fuckin wit ole boy. I didn’t like his vibe; I knew that nigga was funny money. Buj tellin me nah he good, he good, I know dude from way back,” Jah spat angrily. “What y’all know about this dude Stanks? Where he from? Where he lay his head? Where his bitch live?” Los spat angrily. Los was angrier at the fact that the same dude Buj tried to help out pulled grimy to this extent. As messed up as it sounds sometimes you couldn’t help niggaz, not even the ones you grew up with.
20 minutes later they were pulling up in front of the Jefferson Apartments in North Philly. Stanks Baby Momma lived in the low income housing complex that housed five individual high rise buildings. The building she lived in was the last one in the rare of the complex which would make slipping in and out easier for them. As they pulled up the scene was nothing different from any other hood. Niggaz standing out there involved in a deep dice game. Crackheads walking around like they were extras for the video thriller, children running around unsupervised even at this hour of the night and chicks posted up on front stoops and perched in windows like true birds talking about all the latest drama.
The men seemed to go unnoticed by the occupants of the neighborhood. 4 black men wearing dark clothing was hardly anything out of the ordinary. Los walked past a group of young dudes playing a dice game and shook his head in dismay. It was clear they weren’t dealing with any real niggaz out here. These dudes weren’t on point at all; here they were so deep in a dice game they hadn’t even looked up to acknowledge a group of niggaz walking up on them that could’ve stuck the whole dice game up and took them for everything; cash jewels and most importantly their lives.
They entered the building’s lobby which was set up like a Jack Boy’s paradise because it was pitch black. The lobby was ideal for a schemin nigga to catch a D-Boy slippin coming in from a hard day of hugging the block on his way to his apartment. All the men took their heat out immediately as they made their way through the dark lobby to the lit stairwell. The stairwell although lit was still just as dangerous a place to get got in this building. Stanks' Baby Mother lived on the 5th floor of the building that had approximately 10 floors to it.
Real knocked on her apartment door while Los, Nice and Jah fell back and waited on the sides of the hallway out of view. Knock! Knock! Knock! Real rapped on the door. When no answer came he banged on the door again and called her name over the sounds of loud music and blaring televisions coming from her neighbors apartments. “Ayo Jessie! Open up. Stanks told me to come check on you.” Real called from outside the door hoping by using her nickname she might feel a little more at ease.
Jessica heard loud knocking at her front door and froze. She didn’t know what to do. All she knew was her Baby’s father who had just come home from doing nearly a 4 year bid told her to pack her and their daughter’s things and he would be back through in a little while to pick them up. Now someone was banging at her front door like she owed them money. She knew Stanks was most likely up to no good again. Although, while locked up he promised when he got out he would be on the straight and narrow path. Lately Stanks had been hanging with a dude that looked like his money was long. Stanks said he’d known the dude since he was a little homie in the neighborhood. At the time Stanks was that nigga on the block and Buj was a younger cat who sorta looked up to him. Stanks claimed that the dude was going to help him get back on his feet by giving him a jump start, which means work on consignment. Although, she didn’t approve initially she couldn’t deny that money wasn’t exactly an issue for them. It had been hard doing it on her own while he was locked and she was tired. Despite all Stanks’ promises of a better day when he finally did get a few dollars in his pockets he splurged on jewelry, clothing, weed, and other bitches. Jessica was at her wits end; she may have been in love but she was nobody’s fool. Just when she was packing his shit up in garbage bags to put him out he promised he would come up with some money and do better by her. This time though she believed him when he told her he had a come up and they would no longer have to live in the section 8 apartment her and their daughter had called home for the last 3 years. He even told her to pack their things up, only clothes and leave everything else behind.
The knock came again but this time her daughter made her way to the door. “Girl you betta sit yo ass down! Move,” she said placing her daughter behind her. “Who is it?!” “Ayo, it’s me Ren. Sean wanted me to come scoop you and his daughter up, bring y’all to him. Ma you gon have to hurry up some shit just went down we gotta go now!” Real said urgently. Real looked over at the other men waiting to see what her next move would be when suddenly they heard the locks unlocking from inside the apartment. Los shook his head thinking If Lucky ever pulled some reckless shit like this if the intruders didn’t kill her he would. Jessica kept the chain lock on the door as she stood behind the door using her foot as extra security.
“Where’s TraeSean?” Jessie asked nervously peering out through the crack in the door searching Real’s face for recognition. When suddenly Los rushed the door shoving it all the way open with his shoulder and weight. “Awwee!” Jessie screamed in agony as the government issued flimsy chain gave way and the door flew open sending her crashing to the floor. Jessica was temporarily dazed after having the door knocked into her forehead. She quickly came to her senses when she looked up to see four masked men rushing her living room with big guns. “Awwee! Oh my god!” “Bitch shut the fuck up!” one of the masked men demanded. Jessica scurried over to her daughter on her hands and knees wrapping her arms around the little girl protectively as they both cried. She watched on as two of the men rushed to the back of her apartment towards the bedrooms. She could hear them tossing things around in the room. One of the remaining two men in the living room stalked towards her and she gripped the bottom of her t-shirt to cover her thick thighs. She noticed the masked man jerk his head back in insult. “You think somebody wanted ya pussy bitch please where the fuck is Stanks at?” Real asked with venom in his voice. “I…I don’t know,” Jessica stammered. The two men who were trashing her bedroom returned to the living room holding a packed suitcase. “She know more than what she sayin cause she all packed up
to go somewhere,” Jah said holding her suitcase up. Real shook his head with anger building inside by the second. “Where this nigga momz live?” “I don’t know,” Jessica lied. Without further ado or warning Jessica was snatched up from the floor by her hair like a rag doll and smacked so hard she saw stars, then tossed back to the floor like she weighed nothing by the man who was standing over her. Real had yanked pieces of her hair out when he snatched her up from the floor. He glared down at her through his ski mask. “You think this shit a game? Bitch I ain’t playin.” Jessica had an immediate headache. Most importantly she was scared shitless. “Where his mother stay?” The masked man asked who was standing further back in the room. He was the one who hadn’t said a word until now. His demeanor scared her the most, he seemed so cold and so were his Amber colored eyes that showed through the slits of his ski-mask. Jessica rambled off the address fast. Los looked over at Nice who pulled out his phone and repeated the address without saying anything else.
