The car idled at the light. Deedee’s eyes were closed as she inhaled, and seemed to be in deep thought. Coco exhaled, staring at her and wondering.
“Are you okay, yo?”
“I was just thinking about that night those assholes raped me. And where were the cops?”
“They never around when you really need them, yo,” Coco deadpanned. “That night was a fucking trip, yo. All I remember is getting clocked by a goon outside the club, yo.”
“I remember it all…” Deedee inhaled then exhaled.
“That must’ve been some shit, yo. All I remember was the aftermath of getting off my ass outside the club after that nigga cold clocked me.”
“I hear you and I’m telling you I wasn’t going through that shit ever again,” Deedee said.
“We were soo shook that night, yo. That was such a totally fucked-up night.”
Outside the club, Coco gathered herself. She touched her nose. Blood appeared on her fingers, and her eyes stung.
“Those muthafuckas! Fucking bastards,” Coco thought aloud, pulling off her headwear and dabbing at her nose.
The white do-rag was now stained red. She headed back inside the club. Her head was pounding from the blow. The music from the club only served to exacerbate the pain. She went straight to the ladies’ room where she washed the cloth and stared back at her bloodshot reflection.
After she left the restroom, she went to the pay phone and paged her girls. They responded in a flash, and the three girls left the club without saying anything. Once outside, they walked a few feet away from the entrance. Coco held the headwear to her throbbing nose, hiding the bruise.
“Coco you’re letting your dreads fly. What’s up?” Josephine asked.
“This whazzup, yo!” Coco said, removing the blood-soaked wrap from her face. “Some niggas mush me and jacked da whip. They must’ve grabbed honey too, cuz I ain’t seen her since. Y’all ain’t seen her back in the club, yo?”
“No, we were all up in VIP. She wasn’t back there,” Danielle said.
“Yeah, Deedee was kidnapped!”
“Oh fucking shit! They didn’t!” Coco yelled as Danielle and Josephine looked on in amazement.
“You know who could’ve done it?” Josephine asked. “Tell me so I can step to that muthafucka!”
“Ah Jo, you know you ain’t gonna do a damn thing…” Danielle said.
“I didn’t really see who they were, yo. But the voice sounded kind a familiar. It was like… Did any of y’all see Lil’ Long leave…?”
“Coco, you know we were both all the way in da back booths. We couldn’t see them. They could a left anytime,” Josephine said.
“Word,” Coco said, nodding her throbbing head in agreement.
“All she wanted to do was drop me at da rest, yo. That’s it. And they jacked her. That shit is fucked up.”
Coco searched for cigarettes. There were none. Her head throbbed. She wondered about Deedee. The thought made her whole body shudder. Then Josephine said it. Maybe Da Crew was thinking it, but nobody wanted to say it.
“We’ve got to call five-oh,” Josephine said.
The words hung for a beat before the discussion began.
“Now, ya know them muthafuckas ain’t gonna do shit,” Coco said.
“I agree, we should call the cops,” Danielle said.
“A’ight,” Coco said.
The girls walked to the phone on the corner.
“Police, 911…” the operator said after Danielle dialed emergency.
“Yo, some guys just mugged some girls and stole a car. They kidnapped the girl. They had guns and they were shooting at everybody. It’s crazy out here. Send your baddest peoples out here.”
“Slow down, Miss. Where are you calling from?”
“We’re at the corner of 116th and 1st. send the baddest cops.”
Danielle hung up and the girls sauntered away from the payphone.
“I’m out. Y’all stay and talk with da cops. I gotta take care of my nose, yo.”
“Yo, Coco, wait up. You know what happened. Come on, you gotta stay,” Josephine pleaded.
“A’ight, I’ll stay. But shit’s not gonna be solved by talking all night with five-o. We don’t even know if she stole da whip or if she had her license, yo,” Coco said.
“Well, she said her uncle—” Danielle started saying, but Coco cut her off.
“Her damn uncle could’ve stolen that,” Coco said.
The sirens sounded and the police arrived in a swarm. They came four cars deep, totaling nine officers. The cars moved slowly, red lights flashing as the dawn echoed an ominous air outside the club. Members of the baggy-clothes generation were still haunting their favorite hangout. The officers got out of their patrol cars and began to scrutinize the kids. What were they looking for? These kids didn’t know. Each group gave a negative response to the police inquiries.
Quieted by the presence of the police, club-goers filed by the officers in a hasty urban exit, oblivious of whatever had taken place outside the club. Suddenly, the officers saw the three girls smoking while standing under a broken-down lamppost.
“Here they come, the city’s finest tin badges,” Danielle opined.
“Did any of you happen to hear any gunshots being fired? Or have you seen anything unusual?” an officer asked.
“I think it all happened over there,” Josephine said, pointing to where they thought the Benz was parked. “Some kids jacked this girl and her car, and they took off, heading that way.” Josephine pointed the officers to where the carjackers were last seen.
“Did you know the girl? Her name…?” another officer asked.
“Well, she—” Josephine started.
“Nah, not really, yo,” Coco interjected. “That’s all we know.”
“Your nose looks bad. What happened?” the second officer asked, looking directly at Coco.
“A fight, yo. Someone messing ’round with my man, you know. Gotta defend what’s mine,” Coco said.
“It’s a tough world, young lady. Did any of you happen to see any faces, or anything that may help to identify someone?” the officer asked.
“A black Benz… A bad car,” Danielle said, her voice trailed off.
“That’s it?” the officer asked. “Is that all you know?”
“Yeah, that’s it. They jacked her right over there,” Josephine said. “It was too dark to see much more.”
“They…?” the first officer asked, focusing on Josephine.
“How many were there?” he questioned, excitement in his voice. “Two, three, four…? How many…?” he asked almost shouting.
“There were about two of them,” Coco said sternly.
“And they kidnapped a girl,” Josephine cried. “That’s all we know.”
“Stay here, I’m gonna get an ambulance,” an officer commanded.
“Can you describe the girl? What was she wearing?”
“Black girl, black spandex and red sweater,” Danielle replied.
“Anything else?” the officer mumbled, and proceeded to put in the call for an ambulance.
“Just a black girl in black with a black car… All black everything,” Coco said sarcastically.
“That’s all we know,” Josephine said. The officers huddled. The senior guy returned.
“Stay out of fights,” he said directly to Coco. “The rest of you best be getting home.”
Sirens pierced the air. The ambulance arrived. Coco was given a bandage and treated by the EMTs. When she alighted from the ambulance, Da Crew ran to meet her.
“Well, it’s not broken, is it?” Josephine asked.
“No. Takes more than a little punch from a sucker to break something here, kid,” Coco bragged.
The girls embraced. This was the first time all three had shown any emotion, other than in their passion for singing. They hugged, and each thought about Deedee. Oneness enveloped the group, which came through in the tenderness of the moment. Coco, still a little woozy from the alc
ohol and the blow to her nose, was now able to speak.
“Wonder what’s up with Dee. I hope she’s a’ight,” Josephine said.
“Yeah, I hope she’s okay,” Danielle added.
“She was only looking out for me. I owe her some kind a due, ya know?” Coco said, searching for corroboration.
The idea was still overwhelming to her. She had just met Deedee, didn’t even know her last name, and was already feeling connected.
“Deedee was looking out, yo,” she said, quickly summing up the moment.
“Y’all could stay at my place. My parents won’t mind,” Josephine said.
She did not look directly at her, but Coco felt the last part was meant for her. After all, had they gone to Coco’s, her mother would probably be drunk and curse up a storm. Josephine understood. And besides, she had her own room, and her home was always clean.
“I got some loot. Let’s catch a cab, yo,” Coco said.
“Yeah, let’s do, that,” Danielle and Josephine agreed.
The girls hailed a cab, and it stopped. They looked at each other with surprise.
“Aw shit!” Danielle said. “This must be some kind a omen or something. Strange things happen in threes, and this taxi stopping for us makes two. No more car rides for the weekend, y’all.”
The girls ran to the cab. The three girls huddled in the back seat of the taxi. The driver hesitated.
“A Hundred-and-Twelfth and Lenox,” said Josephine. “What’s the problem?” she asked repeating the address.
The driver glanced nervously at the rear-view mirror. His actions had the girls looking at each other then back at him.
“Aw c’mon…we ain’t trying to jack your ass. See, we got loot, yo,” Coco said, pulling out a couple of ten-dollar bills.
“See money. Now drive,” Danielle ordered.
“Yeah let’s go already,” Josephine shouted.
“Alright,” the cab driver said. “Now I drive.”
“Think we gonna disrespect your livelihood, yo?”
“We should,” Danielle said. “Take his loot and all. Straight jacking…”
“Will you cut that out Dani. Hello, we are trying to get somewhere here,” Josephine said. “She’s sorry, Mr. Cabbie.”
Coco and Deedee were sitting in Deedee’s new BMW, reflecting on the past. After a couple beats, they both shook their heads. The girls were recovering from the attempted carjacking. This time Coco was in the car. That night two years ago when they first met Deedee was forcefully taken, and she was by alone.
“Oh my God, I swore it would never go down again the way it did before,” Deedee said.
“I’m telling you on the night it happened, I ain’t know what had gone down ‘til the cab driver told us, yo,” Coco said. “We called po-po, and then we were out. Caught a cab to Josephine’s home.”
“As much as I try to forget that incident, I still remember that shit like it was yesterday,” Deedee said.
“Dee, that type of incident stays with you until you die. You don’t ever forget. And in my case, where I don’t know the muthafucka who assaulted me, every man is a suspect, yo. That whole night was a trip.”
“You said it Coco. It sure as hell was no joy ride.”
“I hear you, yo. There was soo much shit going down that night, but I remember everything, yo.”
“Everything…?” Deedee asked.
“Everything, yo.”
The cab started moving, but the driver was still a bit uneasy. He kept glancing back as if he expected something. Nothing happened. The girls remained quiet.
“In my country people are poor, but not so disrespectful. They respect life and property. Americans, have no regard for either, especially Blacks and Latinos,” the cab driver said.
“A’ight, a’ight be easy. Watch what you’re saying or I’ll have to let my girl Dani, jack your ass,” Josephine said.
“I’m telling you, that is exactly what happened to a girl earlier. It’s not your fault you’ve been brought up in a violent world…”
The cab driver’s voice crackled through the tension in the air. The girls sat glowering in the back seat. Before they had playfully heeded what he was saying. Now he had their undivided attention.
“Uh, what did you say?” Coco asked with a annoyed tone.
“I said you’ve been raised in violence, and…” the cabbie said.
“Nah, nah, before all that, you mentioned something about a girl,” Coco said.
“Oh yeah. I said that on the news someone call the police they saw a girl along Route 87? It was over the radio.”
There was a deadly silence as the girls held their breath. Coco grabbed her bandaged nose as her heart sank. It had been on her mind since she had recovered from the punch in the face. Everything seemed to hurt a little more as the driver continued with the second-hand news.
“Apparently, she was raped,” the cabbie informed his passengers.
“Wait up. What girl?”
“Found her where? Is she dead? Oh man. Damn!”
“They fucking did her, those muthafuckas,” Danielle cried out in anguish.
Coco heard the other girls firing out questions, but was dry-mouthed. Things became a blur to Coco. She winced from the pain. Sitting erect, her back slightly arched, she put her hand to her nose. No sound came. She had just met Deedee, but the pain she felt was deep. Her head started to pound again. This was real bad. They had jacked her and the car. Why didn’t they just take the car? Coco rewound the memory of the voices outside the club prior to her getting hit. She tried to mentally sketch the faces with the voices. Her head hurt. She stopped.
“Is … the girl dead?” Josephine asked.
“No, no she’s alive,” the driver said.
The girls breathed a collective sigh of relief. “She was taken to a hospital,” the driver continued.
Hope returned. The girls held one another’s hands tighter. “She was badly beaten and raped. She’s the niece of that famous music producer, Eric Ascot.”
Eric Ascot! That’s her uncle, thought Coco. The girls looked wide-eyed at each other. The mention of Eric Ascot’s relationship to Deedee was a huge surprise. Eric Ascot was one of the most popular producers in the music industry.
“Those muthafuckas…! Ooh! I don’t fucking believe…” Coco exclaimed.
“That shit is incredible. But that’s city life for ya! Man,” Josephine said, staring straight ahead. “That’s why my dad wants to leave the city.”
“Your dad’s a player, Jo. That’s why he wants to leave the city.”
“They fucking did her.”
The words were so final that they made the air go dead inside the taxi. The ride continued in virtual silence. Nothing more was said until they reached the building where Josephine and her parents lived. Coco paid the fare, and the girls walked to the entrance of the huge building.
“Dammit. I don’t have any cigarettes,” Coco said, searching her pockets.
“We could get some stogies off my parents,” Josephine said.
She opened the door and the girls walked in. Coco gave an excuse for not calling home. She knew her mother would be asleep or drunk, probably both. Danielle called her mother. Josephine led the way to her room, and the girls followed in silence. Once inside the room, Josephine turned the television on. All three girls plopped down on the small bed. Josephine sprang up and tossed the remote to Coco, who began to scan the channels.
“Nothing but reruns,” Danielle said.
Coco continued to channel surf. There were talk shows and religious programs.
“Misty and overcast…” the weatherman reported.
Josephine left the room then reappeared ten minutes later. She was carrying milk, soda, water, cookies and cigarettes. Coco helped herself to a cigarette and soda. She lit up and took a drag.
“This was a fucked-up evening, yo!” she proclaimed.
The girls remained silent and her thoughts disappeared in the cloud. They were reminiscing over the s
till-unsettling events. The girls sat around nodding their heads in agreement.
“Yep,” Danielle finally said. “This was more a fright night than any Thriller could bring.”
“Shit’s foul,” Coco said, and leaned back, closing her eyes.
The room seemed to grow smaller. Josephine had always liked to get away to this space. When she closed the door all the world’s trouble stayed on the other side—except for today. The dawn had already dragged something sinister across the threshold of her room.
“Everything was fucking crazy that night, yo.”
“It was. I don’t think I ever can forget that night. And when those two muthafuckas tried that shit just now, you know I went right there, Coco.”
“I hear you, yo. Madukes always say, ‘what don’t kill you, only makes you stronger’. You’re an example of that, yo. They created a monster! I guess them two felt it for all the other goons trying a jooks.”
“Yes, it was the wrong night, wrong time, wrong peeps, wrong everything.”
Coco shook her head. She watched Deedee caught up in the moment, reminiscing. They had completely forgotten where they were. Then they heard the horns of motorists behind them. Both girls gave each other a knowing glance and smiled openly.
“…Though we’re far apart
You’re always in my heart…”
Scats from Michael Jackson were heard above the music blasting in the ride. Deedee drove across town to her uncle’s place and pulled into the parking lot. They cautiously made their way inside the apartment building.
“True story, yo…”
10
The doorman held the door opened and watched the rear ends whisk by. His eyes followed them into the lobby of the Manhattan apartment owned by Eric Ascot. They stepped aboard the elevator, the door closed and, in seconds, the ride ended inside the hallway of Eric’s apartment.
Deedee led the way to one of the six bedrooms. She opened the door, waved her hand against the wall, turning on the light. Coco stepped inside and glanced around the bedroom furnished with a queen size bed. There were matching dresser drawers along with nightstands on either side of the made bed. Lamps were sitting atop them.
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