A Sip of Hennessy

by Lucinda John

  Quickly picking the wig up off the floor, Tanya adjusted it on her head before standing to her feet. She was filled with attitude as she walked down the aisle, picking up items and dropping them in the basket. Tanya’s lips moved as she mumbled some bullshit I couldn’t hear while she continued to shop for the things she needed for the house. When we finally reached the checkout line, Tanya grabbed KJ’s car seat and walked out of the store.

  “Did you find everything okay?” the pretty cashier asked.

  “Nah, I wasn’t sure which aisle your number was located in,” I flirted.

  “Ummm, are you asking me for my number?” Her cheeks brightened as she blushed.

  “I mean, if you trying to give it to me.” Placing my hands on the counter, I towered over her before licking my lips.

  “Okay,” she squealed.

  After I paid for the groceries, she scribbled her number on the back of my receipt before handing it back to me.

  “Don’t take it if you’re not going to use it,” she purred.

  Looking down at her name that was neatly written underneath her phone number, I smiled at her.

  “Imma use it, Lisa.” I winked before pushing the cart out of the store.

  Popping the trunk, I loaded up the car with the groceries before making my way to the driver seat. Once I was sure KJ was buckled in his car seat, I pulled off. As I drove home, I pulled out my phone to call Hennessy. She was under strict orders to sit her ass in the house until I was able to uncover the true reason why she didn’t bring her ass out last night.

  “Hello?” Hennessey groggily answered.

  “Wassup, what you up to?” Peering back at Tanya, who was in the back, acting like her nosey ass wasn’t all in my business, I motioned for her to keep her mouth shut while I talked to Henny.

  “I just woke up. You on your way home? I’m bored.” Hennessy yawned.

  “Nah, I got some moves to make, but give me a few hours, alright?”

  “Well, I’ll be here.” A loud sigh escaped her lips.

  “Good. I’ll bring you some more candy later, then we can go shopping or some shit.” Taking a right turn on Tanya’s block, I slowed down as I inched toward her house.

  “Alright.”

  “I’ll talk to you later.” Hanging up the phone, I reached for my business phone and skimmed through the messages from the fiends who desperately needed their fix.

  Once I backed into Tanya’s driveway, I quickly unloaded the car before kicking it on the couch with KJ while Tanya cleaned up. After feeding KJ his bottle, I changed his diaper then rocked him to sleep. Having my lil nigga in my arms was a rewarding feeling. I didn’t think I could love another motherfucker in the world until I met him.

  Walking KJ to Tanya’s room, I laid him down in his playpen. On my way out, I spotted Tanya in the kitchen, bent over in front of the oven with her ass cheeks hanging out of her shorts. Making a detour, I made my way to the kitchen to shoot my shot.

  “Damn!” I griped, smacking her ass. “What you in here cooking?”

  “BBQ baked chicken, baked macaroni and cheese, white rice, and string beans.” Tanya was still bent over, checking the chicken as she spoke.

  “Damn, I want a plate of that...” I allowed my words to trail off while I took a second to appreciate Tanya’s newly enhanced curves. Thanks to KJ, she was thicker than ever.

  “You’re more than welcomed to wait. I can roll you up a blunt, and we can kick it,” she offered.

  “I gotta make some moves but put my plate up for me I’mma swing back through to pick it up.”

  “Yeah, alright.” Tanya sighed. Her tone was filled with disappointment, but I didn’t give a fuck. The money was calling, and I had to answer, especially since I was paying bills in two households.

  Pulling out my work phone, I hit one of my loyal fiends to meet me a block away from my stash house. Swaggering my way to my brand new Impala, I was still mad over them bitches stealing my shit. The fact that I didn’t believe in fucking with the police was the only reason them hoes still had my shit. Most likely, they were out of town bitches, running licks on motherfuckers, and my dumb ass got-got.

  The aroma of the potent weed filled my car the moment I pulled a few buds from the massive bag I was toting around with the intent to distribute. Breaking down the weed in the center of a twenty-dollar bill, I filled the Dutch with my drug of choice before sealing it closed with a few licks. Running the flames from my lighter over my blunt, I made sure it was seamed up to perfection before placing the joint to my lips and firing it up.

  The moment I pulled out of Tanya’s driveway, heading East, I noticed a car trailing me. Reaching for my gun, I placed it on my lap while I made two sharp right turns. When I looked up through the rearview mirror, I didn’t see the car, yet I kept driving in circles just in case I was still being followed. Once I was sure the car was gone, I continued on my way.

  Pulling up on my fiend, I hopped out of the car to quickly serve him. Since he was copping six hundred dollars’ worth of drugs, I decided to call it a day the moment I made this transaction.

  “Hey, what took you so long?” Ray, the fiend, asked.

  “Shut the fuck up and stop questioning me. Give me my money,” I growled. I didn’t play that friendly shit with the druggies. There was no reason for small talk. Give me my money, get yo’ fix, and keep it moving was the motto I lived by.

  “Here you go.” Ray handed me six dirty, crumpled up hundred dollar bills.

  I didn’t know what he did to get this money, and that shit wasn’t my business. After I inspected each bill for authenticity, I stuffed the bills in my pocket before reaching deep in my crotch to pull out the work.

  “Thank you, man.” Ray beamed, displaying the only six teeth he had in his mouth.

  Frowning, I waved him off. Hoping that the foul-smelling odor that penetrated his flesh hadn’t traveled to my clothes.

  Getting back in my car, I headed in the direction of my stash house. I had too much money and weed on me to carry around. Even though my work phone kept blowing up, the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach told me it was time to punch out for the day.

  Since my stash house was on the other block, I figured I could quickly put my shit up and be gone until I spotted a pair of flashing blue and red lights cruising behind me. Praying that they would go around me, I switched lanes, only for them to follow.

  WHOOP! WHOOP!

  In a blink of an eye, a slew of police cars came out of the cut, blocking me in. They had me sealed in so tight that I couldn’t take them on a high-speed chase if I wanted to. Looking down at my gun, then the bag of weed that sat on the passenger seat, the strong urge to shit consumed me. My body began to sweat profusely, making it hard to grip the steering wheel.

  “Put the car in park, turn it off, then toss the keys out of the window… NOW!” The cop who had his gun trained on my car loudly spoke.

  Knowing those pigs were quick to lay a nigga out, I slowly did as I was told. The moment my feet touched the pavement, I hoisted my hands high in the air.

  “Slowly interlock your fingers behind your head, drop to your knees, then lay flat on your stomach,” the same pig ordered.

  Shaking my head, I drew in a deep breath before loudly exhaling. The tightness of the cops’ fat finger around the trigger prompted me to do as I was told. These motherfuckers were looking like vultures, ready to take my ass out for any sudden movement, even if it was an innocent one.

  The moment the side of my face touched the dirty ground, three cops were on me like white on rice. Gritting down hard on my teeth, I silently coached myself to stay quiet, even though those motherfuckers were pouncing on me and putting all their weight on me. The forceful twisting of my wrist forced me to wince in pain. I was determined not to show these motherfuckers any sign of weakness.

  “You are under arrest for distribution of an illegal controlled substance within a five hundred foot radius of a school zone.” I was Mirandized before being cuffed with
excessive force.

  “Come on, man, you know that shit too tight,” I fussed, feeling the cuffs cut into my flesh.

  “Shut the fuck up!” Roughly jacking me up, the cop who was yelling out the orders, who I believed to be the one in charge, violently pushed me down until I was sitting on the curb.

  “Shit!” I groaned, feeling a sharp pain shoot through my shoulder. Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I bit down hard until I drew blood, attempting to cancel out the unbearable pain I was feeling.

  Two cops stayed posted up next to me while the other four walked over to my car to search it. The moment the bag of weed and gun was pulled out and tossed on the hood of my car, I knew I was fucked. Staring at them motherfuckers, I watched as the head pig in charge called for back-up. When the K-9 Unit pulled up, my heart leaped out of my chest. I knew those motherfuckers had no plans to play fair.

  “What the fuck?!” My eyes widen in fear the moment the dogs started going crazy as they neared my trunk.

  The cops were hands on as they tore through my truck, searching for whatever the dog was smelling. With each brick of cocaine that was ripped out from underneath my spare tire, I knew somebody was setting me up. If I hadn’t watched the cops conduct their search, I would have concluded that they planted those drugs in my whip. Unable to contain my bladder, I let it all out. It was over for me.

  “Hey, Bernie, this motherfucker just pissed his pants.” The cop who was standing behind me laughed.

  “He isn’t so tough after all.” Bernie chuckled.

  “Answer the fucking phone, bitch!” I yelled into the receiver the moment I got Hennessy’s voicemail for the fifth time.

  It had been three days since I’d been locked up, three days that I’d been calling her ass with no answer. Picking up the phone again, I swallowed my pride and called Tanya. I knew calling her ass would be all she needed to gloat in my face about leaving my family to be with a young hoe. Pushing a deep breath through my lips, I nibbled on the corner of my inner cheek, hoping Tanya wouldn’t thug me out by not accepting my collect call.

  “Hello,” Tanya sang.

  “Yo, T, I need your help.” Hanging my head in defeat, I pressed my forehead against the gritty wall, praying Tanya wouldn’t be on no bullshit.

  “You locked up, Kenny?” Loudly smacking her lips, Tanya sounded as if she had a smile plastered on her face.

  “What the fuck you think, man?” My level of annoyance shot through the roof as I detected the direction of our conversation.

  “I’m trying to figure out why you calling me when you got a whole hoe you shacked up with. Oh… I forgot, her ass ain’t even old enough to bail you out. That milk on the breath ass hoe can’t do shit for you right now, boo-boo,” Tanya gloated.

  “Are you going to help me or not?”

  “Why should I?” she countered. By her tone, I could tell she was enjoying having the upper hand.

  “I’m not about to play with you right now, man. I get it, you were right, but now is not the time for all that extra shit. I need you, ma.” Lowering my voice, I spoke in a softer tone.

  “Damn, it feels good to hear that shit.”

  “You got me, bae?” I added, laying it on thick.

  “Yes. What do you need me to do?”

  “I need you to pull up on Hennessy for me. I don’t give a fuck what she’s doing. You walk up in that house and clear out my safe, then I need you to do the same at my stash house. When you got all my money and shit, I need you to find me a lawyer, a good one… you got me, baby?”

  “Yes, I gotchu,” she purred.

  “Don’t fuck me and turn into a mark bitch like Hennessy,” I warned.

  “Never. No matter what, I never stopped loving you. I just hope now you can see that Imma always hold you down,” Tanya confessed.

  “Yeah, okay. Good looking out. I’ll call you tomorrow to see if you handled that for me.

  Once I was done giving her the code to my safe, and the addresses to both the house I resided in with Hennessy and my stash house, I checked in on my lil man before hanging up the phone. Picking up the phone I decided to call Hennessy again. She had life fucked up if she thought I wasn’t coming for her head the moment I got out.

  “Stupid bitch!” Banging the phone against the wall, I was blinded with rage the moment I realized she changed her number.

  I was far from a stupid nigga. The way Henny acted all jittery this morning had a nigga thinking she had something to do with me being locked up. Even if she wasn’t the one who initially set me up, I was sure her ass was a part of the plan. Being alone in my cell with my thoughts had me fucked up in the head. The fact that a sixteen year old broad was able to pull the okie doke on me had me feeling stupid as fuck. The moment Tanya got in contact with a good lawyer who would have me out on bail, these motherfuckers were going to have to detain my ass for putting a bullet in the center of Hennessy’s head.

  S tepping out of the shower, I wrapped a powder blue towel around my body as I made my way to my room, followed by the scent of my blueberry body wash that lingered around. Noticing that my room door was wide open had me high on alert. Thinking it was my mom looking for money, I stormed inside, ready to lay her ass out.

  “What the fuck are you doing in my room?”

  The big booty intruder was rummaging around in Kenny’s safe with a confused look plastered on her face.

  “Where the fuck is my nigga’s shit?” she spat, getting in my face.

  “Your nigga?” I chuckled.

  With my eyes trained on her, I reached for my shorts. Allowing the towel to drop to the ground, I pulled my shorts over my ass before slipping my arms through one of Miami’s t-shirts.

  “My nigga! Where the fuck is all his shit, bitch?” Stomping over to me, Kenny’s bitch got in my face.

  “Kenny ain’t been here in days.” I smirked.

  “I’ll slap that fucking smile off your face if you don’t tell me where all his shit at!”

  “Do what the fuck you gotta do, cuz I don’t know what shit you keep talking about. I mean… you’re more than welcome to pack up all his clothes and shoes. That’s the only shit he got here.” I shrugged and made sure I was in my fighting stance just in case sis wanted to pop off.

  “I told Kenny about leaving his family behind your young ass.” She chuckled.

  This must be his baby mama.

  WHAP! WHAP!

  Kenny’s bitch caught me off guard with a two-piece, dazing me a bit.

  “Bet,” was all I said as I followed up with a bunch of punches of my own.

  Standing toe to toe, me and Kenny’s bitch went at it as if we were boxers fighting for a championship belt. Since she was bigger than me in size, she was able to use her weight to her advantage. Swigging me to the floor by my hair, Kenny’s bitch straddled my waist and started viciously punching. Sinking my teeth into her thigh, I pierced her flesh until she yelped out in pain.

  “Dumb hoe!” I huffed, regaining the upper hand.

  “What the hell is going on in here?” My mother appeared at the door, watching the commotion.

  “I’m about to fuck this bitch up!” Dragging ol’ girl around my room by her hair, I reached in and started pounding my fist in her face.

  “Whoop her ass, Henny!” My mama cheered me on. “Do that hoe dirty!” She clapped as if I was winning an award or some shit.

  “How dare you bring your ass in my house, fucking with shit in my room?!” I spoke between blows.

  Breathing heavily, I could feel myself starting to get tired as my blows began to slow up.

  “Stomp that hoe, Henny!” my mother called out.

  Using my bare feet, I stomped Kenny’s bitch out until she pleaded for me to stop.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw my mother rummaging through Kenny’s bitch’s Coach bag with a huge grin on her face. Dumping out all the contents, she snatched up all the money down to the pennies. After placing her findings in the Coach purse, she walked out of my room with the bag
tossed over her shoulders.

  “Get the fuck out of my house before I beat your ass to death!” My chest heaved as I spoke.

  Scrambling to her feet, ol’ girl tried to run up on me. Luckily, Miami was there and caught her before she could get to me.

  “Yo, beat ya fucking feet before I whoop your ass,” Miami warned and pushed her ass hard on the floor.

  With her hands and knees planted on the floor, Kenny’s bitch crawled around the room, gathering the few of her things that my mother left behind before racing out of my room, leaving a trail of blood behind.

  “What ol’ girl was on?” Miami quizzed, taking a seat on the edge of my bed.

  “I guess Kenny sent her here to clear out his safe.” Using my towel, I applied pressure to the blood that dripped from the gash on my upper lip.

  “Y’all gotta move out.” Pulling me between his legs, Miami examined my lip.

  “Where we gon’ go, Miami?”

  “I can help falsify some documents that might help get your mom into one of those new low income homes they just built in Sunland.

  “You can do that?”

  “There’s a lot of shit I can do that you don’t know.” Miami licked his full lips.

  “Oh yeah?” Straddling his lap, I locked my fingers around his neck. “Show me.”

  Whipping his dick out, Miami pulled my shorts to the side before pushing my warm, wet flesh down on his hard dick.

  “Why you never give me head?” I asked Miami as our sticky, naked bodies clung to my sheets while we passed a blunt back and forth. The aroma of the gas we were puffing on mixed in with the scent of sex filled the air. We’d been fucking like the horny teenagers we were since four in the morning, and it was now almost seven.

  True to his words, Miami was able to create some false documents that allowed us to move into a new two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment. The apartment we moved to wasn’t anything fancy, yet it was a major upgrade from where we used to live. The apartment complex we moved to worked around your income, so we only had to pay three hundred dollars in rent.