Coco held the door and Deedee walked in with Coco behind her. The smiling maître d waved them to a vacant spot inside the café. The late Monday morning rush was over. Coco and Deedee sat quietly at the table for two, perusing the menu. Coco looked up and stared longingly off into the distance.
Deedee observed her quietly and went back to perusing the menu. After a few minutes, Deedee raised her head and spoke.
“I’m trying, but I don’t see anything here that I’d like. What about you?”
Coco cocked her head in a gangster sway. She studied Deedee for a moment before answering.
“You know all the rappers with ‘Big’ in their names were dope, but they all died early. There’s some science to that, yo.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know Big L, Biggie Smalls and Big Punisher…? They were all dope but they all just died real fast, yo.”
“I’d never think about something so morbid prior to breakfast. But I got it, you won’t name yourself Big Coco in the fear that you’re gonna die young, huh…?”
“I’m just saying, those artists… Those rappers were really ill. Soo ill they died real young, yo.”
“On second thought, I’ll skip the big breakfast and just have some hot chocolate to drink.”
“Yeah, I think I’ll go for some of that too…”
“That’s good we decided on breakfast. Now we’ve got to decide on working with those two or not.”
Coco held a blank stare as Deedee drank from a glass of water, waiting for an answer. She was still in limbo when the waiter returned to take their orders.
“Did you guys decide yet or do you need more time…?” he asked.
“I’ll have pancakes with eggs and a hot chocolate,” Coco said.
Deedee was surprised by Coco immediately answering his query, but had not responded to hers. A loud sigh escaped her lips before she placed her order.
“Okay, I guess. I’ll have another hot chocolate with waffles and strawberries on the side,” Deedee said.
The waiter walked away. “Coco are we gonna get to an understanding on how to deal with the issue with the employees? My uncle is locked up and—”
“Yeah right, you were telling me about that before we were rudely interrupted by them hood rats in the studio.”
Deedee stared at Coco for a beat, trying to decide where to begin. Coco interrupted Deedee’s thoughts.
“So, where the cops rolled up on him, yo?”
“It was yesterday. We went bowling and then we were supposed to visit my father’s grave, but Uncle E had to make a stop at the studio. He wanted to get a disk he left in his office. So we went upstairs and I was chillin’ in the lounge while Uncle E went to his office. Then it just turned into a nightmare. Coco, there had to be about ten cops. They were all over the studio and then…”
The conversation paused when the waiter arrived with their hot chocolates. He walked away and the girls sipped. Deedee recounted her uncle’s arrest.
“Music producer arrested on weapon charge…”
Police following up on anonymous tip found the gun that was involved in the killing of police detective Jim Kowalski. The detective was a six-year veteran and was the lead detective involved in the investigation of the music producer, Eric Ascot.
“And have you seen how every newspaper in the city ran with the story this morning? The police made it up. They want him to be convicted in the media so he won’t stand a chance in court. My uncle didn’t kill that detective and then bring the gun to back his office. That’s so fucking crazy, Coco. I can’t even begin to fathom it,” Deedee said.
She held Coco’s gaze and the two looked at a world they had been introduced to. The loss of her friends had Coco’s mind going. And she knew what Deedee had been through. In that moment a connection was made. They both knew it. Coco held Deedee’s hand.
“That shit is wild, yo. I mean, damn it, seems like what madukes been saying all along. She always telling me there’s a lot of bodies falling. And things ain’t always what it seems out in da streets. Five-oh setting up your uncle is just another example, yo.”
Deedee took a deep breath before continuing. It was clear as the strain showing on her face. She was deeply concerned about her uncle’s fate.
“It gets worse,” she said, taking another sip of hot chocolate.
“Say word…?”
“Word, listen to this, I called Sophia—who’s supposed to be on my uncle’s side, mind you—and she told me, ‘Oh it’s unfortunate, but I’m afraid I can’t help him.’”
“Damn, cut you off like that, why…?”
“I really don’t know. Of course she tried to explain why, but yeah, like that.”
“That’s fucked up, yo. She was just with us after he had gotten knock the last time. What’s up with that, yo?”
“Oh she explained, very lengthily, that her job is quote unquote ‘with the DA and I do not work for your uncle’. Those were her exact words. She was the woman who was supposed to be marrying my uncle at one point, not so long ago.”
“Damn, that’s really fucked up. Where did the love go…? She ratchet, yo… I mean she just gonna do him like that? What about the time they were together, yo?”
“I guess that doesn’t mean a damn thing. Sophia says her boss told her she had to cooperate with the DA or face disbarment.”
“Damn! What you said to her, yo?”
“Coco, I was like, ‘Can’t help? Honey, you’re supposed to be his ex-fiancée and been talking about making up! I was like, ‘Whoa. Hold up, sweetheart!’ She didn’t want to discuss it. She was quick to remind me that my uncle had a criminal attorney. So I’ve been calling his office and I’m yet to speak with him.”
“Damn, yo…”
“I mean of all the people I thought would turn their backs on my uncle, Sophia would not have been one of them.”
“I hear you, Dee. She’s slipping. They used to be crazy tight. There must be sump’n else behind all this, yo.”
The girls sipped in silence for a while.
“I’m telling you Coco. It stinks like a setup, and I’m gonna get to the bottom of it.”
“But what are you gonna do, yo?”
“I don’t know yet. Got any ideas?”
“Hmm, we could check Rightchus—he used to know everything that goes down, but that nigga dead, yo.”
“Didn’t he have friends…? Someone he trusted like his girlfriend or maybe family—”
“Matter of fact he did, yo. He had this Puerto Rican chick. She used to go on missions with him, yo.”
“Missions…? What kind of missions?”
“Crack-head type… You know, ‘Beam me up, Scottie…’”
“Coco, you’re being silly. Where can we find this Puerto Rican chick?”
“I think she still comes to my building, her peeps live there.”
“Think we should give it a shot? I mean what would she know?”
“True that nigga dead, but he could’ve told her something. I don’t know, yo.”
“You’re right. It’s worth a try. Let’s go see her now. This breakfast is taking too long.”
“Real talk… It’s lunchtime and they still ain’t served us breakfast yet, yo.
“Let’s go, later for that,” Deedee said, standing and gesturing to the waiter.
The girls were about to walk out when the waiter arrived. “Oh, I’m sorry! We’re still waiting—we ran out of strawberries,” he said.
“Please don’t worry yourselves. I’d like to cancel our order. How much do we owe?”
“It’s all good. The hot chocolates are on me. Your uncle, he always comes here. Tell him we’re all behind him one hundred percent.”
“Thanks,” Deedee said. “I’ll make sure he knows.”
They walked out of the café and hurried down to the garage located below the recording studio. The valet quickly handed Deedee a set of car keys, and the girls jumped into Deedee’s new car.
“This is your uncle’s BM or yours,
yo?”
“Oh, that’s right. I’m sorry, you were in the hospital and… Anyway, it just totally occurred to me, you haven’t seen my new car. Uncle Eric bought it last week for me,” Deedee smiled, starting the engine.
“Huh…? Oh shit goddamn. I didn’t know, yo.”
“Yes, it’s a 2004 BMW 545i. I think it’s super hot.”
“I’m with you on that. This really a dope ride, yo!”
“Uncle Eric gave it to me for my graduation gift.”
“This shiny black color is soo fly, yo.”
“Metallic black, girl,” Deedee smiled, high-fiving with Coco.
“Go girl…” Coco laughed.
“Yes, I really liked the white one too, but they didn’t have any in stock. So they gave me this one and when the white one comes in, I can take this one back if I want.”
“No, yo, keep this. It’s the shit. Haters are gonna die. You better have a good alarm. You can never be too careful, Dee.”
“The alarm system is intensely complex. Plus it’s got lo-jack through the dealership.”
“Yeah, but what about niggas who wanna take your shit cause they think you’re a girl and can’t defend yourself. I mean you been around long enough to know how niggas be hatin’ on a girl who got hers.”
Deedee reached inside her Birkin bag and pulled out a small nine millimeter. She pointed the gun and Coco stared in awe.
“I got a little something for them too,” Deedee smiled.
“Yeah, please put the gun away. We’re safe right here, yo.”
“Yeah you right,” Deedee agreed, putting away the gun
“Is it loaded—lemme see it, yo?” Coco asked.
She took the small handgun and examined it while Deedee continued talking. “Yes, this car has a remote twelve-play CD changer, TV, and heated seats.”
“I meant the gun. I see it is, yo.”
“Of course, Coco. Ten rounds in the magazine… Yeah, I think the black one is cool,” Deedee said, slipping her Gucci shades on and whizzing through the parking lot.
“The gun or the car, yo…?” Coco asked, quickly passing Deedee the gun.
“The car silly,” Deedee laughed, returning the gun to her bag.
They were waiting to join traffic when Deedee pressed a knob, and the top dropped. Coco was visibly impressed when the car went convertible. She smiled when the engine roared with power as Deedee raced into the busy late-morning traffic.
“This shit is awesome, yo. Your uncle…” Coco said, making a circle with her thumb and index finger. “He’s mad cool. He really hooked up. You’ll be styling going to college, yo.”
“That’s why I have to do all I can to help him.”
“I hear you. Let’s go see if Rightchus’ girlfriend is hanging in the building. You know a lot of crack heads be in my building and they all know each other, yo.”
Deedee thought for a beat and kept driving. She wanted Coco to know that she understood her mother’s situation. But Deedee remembered how Coco had slapped Tina, and thought better of it.
“So what’s her name?” Deedee gunned the engine and asked.
“Your mother died from drug overdose, right yo?”
“Yeah, cocaine, not crack—”
“What’s the difference—it still drug addiction, yo.”
“You’re right Coco,” Deedee said.
She stared ahead and kept driving. Coco eased back in her seat with her arms folded. Deedee bit her lips and without looking at Coco, she spoke.
“My mother died of a drug overdose. The important thing is your mother is still living.”
“Yes, but as long as she keeps using crack she’s barely living, yo.”
“We could help her. She has a chance.”
“Yeah, but she always go back to that bullshit, yo.”
“I hear you Coco, but you can’t give up on her. I gave up on my mother.”
“Anyways… fuck all that bullshit, yo,” Coco said and was about to light a cigarette.
“Hey you can’t be smoking in my car without offering me one.”
“My bad, yo,” Coco smiled, pulling out another cigarette.
She lit both cigarettes and handed one to Deedee. Pressing a knob, Deedee produced an astray.
“So what’s the name of Rightchus’ girlfriend?” she asked, taking a puff.
“They call her Tuttie,” Coco answered, looking at Deedee.
“Tuttie…?” Deedee asked with a smile. “That’s it?”
“Yeah yo, that’s it. I really don’t know her, but I know who does.”
Deedee turned the music on from the control on the steering wheel. A hard-knocking hip-hop beat rang out.
“Aw shit, taking it back old-school style. Blast that Apache shit, yo.”
I need a gangsta bitch yo (a gangsta bitch)
I want a gangsta bitch (a gangsta bitch)
“This reminds me of the first time I’d met you, Danielle, and Josephine outside that nightclub,” Deedee said. What was the name of it again?”
“Club Deep,” Coco answered. “I remembered that night, yo. You were such a geek,” she laughed, and Deedee joined in.
“I was. But y’all had been kicked out of Deep, and were outside smoking,” Deedee said.
“Yes, then some fools started shooting and we broke out in your uncle Benz.”
“Yes, I remembered that night soo well, Coco. Like it was yesterday,” Deedee said.
“Me too, we was wilding outside Deep, then you showed up with that nice ride, yo.”
The girls’ chatter fell silent, each of them replaying that fateful night in their mind.
Coco, her friends, Danielle and Josephine, the crew as she called them, started to walk. They had just been tossed from a jam for teens thrown by Disco Dave at Club Deep, caught lighting up a blunt. Now they stood around outside, at 23rd and Fifth enviously checking out all the happenings. They watched the party people stepping into the club, some they knew and some they didn’t. It really didn’t matter; they were outside scheming on getting back inside when headlights hit them.
“Yo, check out that fat Benz,” Coco had shouted.
Danielle, Josephine and Coco all made tracks for the corner to take a better look at the sleek black ride.
“Damn! Now that whip is P-H-A-T. Now I could see jacking a nigga for sump’n like that.”
Danielle placed her hand under her shirt like she was gonna pull out a gun. They saw Deedee approaching them.
“If this bitch comes out of her face, I’m a have to smack her down.”
“You’re soo hood, always thinking mean and shit,” Josephine said.
“Them security chumps just kick my ass out the club, I could’ve met some cutie tonight. You think I should be welcoming people and all that, bitch?” Danielle retorted.
Deedee had walked into their bickering before Josephine could answer.
“Can I get a light?”
The driver was a tall and beautiful dark-skinned sister and wore a sexy red DKNY outfit. She popped out from nowhere, scaring the girls. Coco tried to size the girl up as she stepped closer to her. She didn’t look like she was a hood-rat.
Is this bitch packing, or can she be jacked? Coco wondered. The girl appeared to be sixteen or seventeen, taller than Coco, but much thinner. If it came down to a fight, Coco was sure she could kick her ass.
“Yo, are you gonna give me a light, or what?”
The girl stood a couple feet from Coco. One hand rested confidently on her hip, and the other held out a cigarette. Coco gazed at her, smirked and decided, She trying to act Ghetto. Moving past the girl, Coco went back to admiring the car.
“Wow this shit’s nice! How much does a whip like this cost?” Coco demanded.
“Don’t ask me,” Deedee replied. “It’s my uncle’s, and he’s outta town, so I’m driving it this weekend.”
“So I know you got a lighter in that whip,” Coco said with a wry smile. “That shit cost too much cheddar not to have a lighter, yo.”
Coco then removed the cigarette dangling from her lips and handed it to the newcomer. The girl lit hers.
“Yeah, but it ain’t all that,” Deedee replied, returning Coco’s cigarette. “Have y’all been inside the club yet?”
“Yeah, it’s a’ight. But we—”
The conversation ended abruptly as a volley of shots erupted. The blast of the bullets rang out and all the girls hit the dirt, except for the newcomer. She was frozen to her spot. Coco yanked her down.
“If you wanna keep driving this weekend, you better get your black ass down here with the rest of us,” Coco said.
All of the girls scrambled on their stomachs back to the Mercedes 600. Another volley went off as they raced to get inside the car, slamming the door.
“Shit! Is the whip bulletproof?” Coco asked.
“You mean this car? I don’t know,” the newcomer said.
“I think we should be ghost,” Danielle shouted.
“Yeah, we should definitely be leaving this spot,” Coco agreed.
The driver put the car in gear and slammed on the accelerator. She barely avoided hitting another car. She swerved wildly to the middle of the street.
“Damn this thing can really fly, yo,” Coco exclaimed from her place, riding shotgun. “Oh, um, I’m Coco, and that’s Da Crew, Josephine and Danielle.”
“I know who y’all are! I mean, I’ve seen y’all in L.’s last video.”
“Yeah, we were in that joint dancing our asses off. But we’re coming out with our own style now, yo.”
“I’m Deedee…”
“What’s up, Deedee? You cool with me. Good looking out on the ride. What kind of biz is your uncle into, yo?”
“Music biz,” Deedee smiled. “He’s a music producer.”
“That’s a’ight,” Coco smirked, pointing at McDonalds. “Yo, make a left and go through the drive-thru, Deedee. I want me some fries.”
“Yeah, I could go for some fries, too,” Danielle added. “But what I really want is a chocolate shake.”
“I’m with that,” Deedee said, turning into the McDonalds entrance. “Y’all wanna chill here or go to the drive-thru?”
“Drive-thru, no doubt, we could be chilling, listening to music and all that.” Coco said, checking out the restaurant.
“Ain’t no niggas worth sump’n sitting up in there,” Danielle said.
Ghetto Girls 5 Page 4
