by BlaQue
“Mother? More like a fucking drug addict!” I shouted. “You haven’t been a mother to me my whole life, so don’t try to come in here with that shit now! And respect? Why should I respect a two-dollar whore?” I spat.
Christa lunged for me and slapped me across my face. I was stunned that the nasty bitch had touched me. Oscar moved in fast.
“That’s enough Christa! I will not have you beating on one another in here!” Oscar barked as he carried me out of the room kicking and hollering.
“Imma’ get you; you better believe this shit ain’t over!” I screamed.
I could see Christa staring at me like she knew what I said was true. Her days were numbered. I had no love for the woman who gave me life. I had no respect for her. I vowed right then and there that she would never get another chance to make me feel like I was the cause of her misery. I saw Neko watching me as I was being carried away. I knew I should have protected him from the wrath of Christa. I was not going to let her fuck up his life anymore than she already had. I was fortunate enough to have my father in my life. God only knew what he had been through in his.
Chapter 4
The House
Georgia Avenue
NW Washington, DC
“Girl, I wanted to knock her on her ass!” I said into the receiver of the cordless phone that I had glued to my ear. I was talking to my best friend ShaniQua.
ShaniQua still lived in my old hood in Trinidad NE. That’s where I was born and raised until my father decided we needed to be upgraded. ShaniQua and I had been best friends since we were babies. She was the sister of one of my father’s lieutenants who was responsible for dropping off product and picking up money.
My father paid his people well, so ShaniQua was well off; but she wasn’t doing it big like I was. In the eyes of the folks in the hood, ShaniQua was a ghetto princess and people respected her gangster. NiQue and I were thick as thieves, and everyone in the streets knew we were going to be running shit once our folks passed on the torch. NiQue was on the thicker side just like me. She had a creamy complexion. She was a “red bone” with a mean swag. NiQue knew the power of pussy and used it frequently to get what she wanted.
“NiQue, I almost crushed her in front of my dad. I know she is down there trying to con her way back into the house, but I got plans for that ass.” I said.
Just as we started to speak on some nigga NiQue was craving to give the booty to, I heard a knock on my door.
“NiQue, someone is at my door. It’s probably my dad and I rather you not hear him let me have it about this hoe.”
“Aight girl, call me when you’re done.” NiQue laughed as she hung up.
I hit the end button on the phone just as my father entered the room. “YaYa, Christa will be staying here until she gets herself clean.” He stated with authority. “I will not tolerate the bickering between the two of you while she and Neko are here.” He continued.
I stood there in shock as my father told me my crack head mother would be staying in our home while she rehabbed.
“Daddy, why does she have to stay here? Can’t she go to a shelter? They got plenty of shelters for crack head whores.” I whined.
I knew I had crossed a line. My father looked at me like he never had before and I knew what was coming next was not going to be good.
“YaSheema, I don’t know who you think you are talking to, but it certainly ain’t me. Did you forget about who calls the shots around this muthafucka’?” He growled.
I must have looked as though I was in shock about the whole thing because my father’s face softened. “YaYa, it is only gonna’ be for a hot minute and then she and Neko are out. This is temporary, just so she won’t be dragging that boy from place to place. I am ordering Ledo’s for you and Neko. I thought it would be a good idea if you and Neko spent some time together, seeing that he is your brother and all.”
With that my father turned and walked out of my room. I thought my father had lost his damn mind. He let this woman sucker him into letting her stay. I knew the real reason my father let her stay, he had a soft spot for charity case youths like Neko. He grew up without a loving home, and he never wanted to see a youngin’ down on their luck and fighting just to live day by day.
I took all of those things into consideration and thought about my, “not so little brother” who I would get a chance to know. Christa and I could squash our shit for a little while for his sake. I eased out of my room to see if Neko was adjusting to his new surroundings. He was in the guest room sketching a picture.
“Wassup wit’ chu’?” I asked sitting Indian style on the floor next to him.
“Nothing, just sketching a picture of you.” He said with an innocence I instantly fell in love with. He seemed like he was nothing like our mother.
I sat with Neko long into the evening. I guess being an only child made me long for companionship. I never really realized that I wanted a sibling. Neko had just finished his pizza as though it were his last meal. I watched him closely and studied him. He was surprisingly well mannered for someone with a devastating upbringing as I am sure he had.
“Neko, this is your room.”
He looked around like he was in a fairytale. “This is my room?” His grey eyes, which resembled mine, showed their appreciation. Neko pulled the blankets off of the bed and laid them neatly on the floor. He then gathered a fluffy pillow and placed it on the floor with the blankets.
“What are you doing?” I asked, curious to know why he wanted to sleep on the floor instead of the bed.
He stopped dead in his tracks. “I guess I’m just used to sleeping on the floor. Creature of habit you know? I usually gotta’ sleep on the floor where ever we end up; so it’s no big deal. She says I am young and I can handle it. Plus, I don’t wanna’ sleep with her. She always makes noises in her sleep.” He laughed.
I couldn’t believe some of the stuff Neko and I talked about. My brother was forced to take care of my mother’s strung out ass! I couldn’t tell who the parent was and who the off spring was. Based on the conversation we had, it seemed like he did more taking care of Christa than she did of taking care of him. Neko and I talked until he fell asleep. I stared at him and promised myself that I would take care of him. I made up my mind that Christa would pay dearly for whatever she had forced my brother to live through; because I was certain that he had endured a lot.
Chapter 5
The Awaking
National Harbor
Fort Washington, MD
Two months had gone by and Christa still wasn’t straight. NiQue and I were out shopping at the mall. It was Friday; better yet, it was Memorial Day Weekend. Everyone knew the spot to be at was Anacostia Park for the three major summer holidays: Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day. The niggas would be out and you had to be fly to catch the bait.
“Girl, you think Tonio gonna be at the park?” NiQue asked with excitement while looking at a pair of sandals.
We were in Tyson’s Corner where you had to go if you wanted that fly shit. We loved shopping at Tyson’s Corner because it was in a predominately white area. There was nothing but rich white people there, and they stayed the fuck out of your way because you looked like you were up to no good if you were black. We used to love the attention we got when we would cop some of the most expensive shit and pay cash for it. Those dumb broads would be picking their faces up off the floor when we would hit up Bloomies (Bloomingdales).
“Girl, damn if I know. You know how these niggas be acting’. He and Twan say one thing and mean another.” I said, looking through a rack of blouses.
Twan and Tonio were twins who still believed in dressing identically. I thought the shit was just for show until I realized those bamma niggas were dressing alike all the time. They were twenty seven and I couldn’t figure out why they were still dressing alike I wasn’t feeling it. The twins hustled and lived around Lincoln Heights, one of the most notorious projects in DC.
Twan was the better looking twin, but
he wasn’t shit in the bedroom. He had a dick the size of a toddler’s. He couldn’t eat pussy and he would almost always bust a nut after three strokes – give or take a stroke. Shit, fucking him was so bad that I would just lay there and wonder how the hell I could let him slither his trifling ass on top of me, pump three times, and then roll over snoring like he just put in that work. That shit had gone on long enough!
“I hope Tonio bring his fine ass on girl. I want some of that!” NiQue said, winding her body like she was a stripper.
NiQue was sprung for Tonio. He only wanted to see her after dark and behind closed doors. She was so clueless it was almost comical. He just dicked her down and went on about his business. NiQue was convinced that they were in a relationship. My girl needed to open her eyes about that nigga instead of her legs. She got like that when she was dating someone new.
“Who cares about either one of those ratchet niggas? We are supposed to be trying to find some new goodies. I ain’t wasting an outfit to be hanging around Twan. Girl, all the niggas that’s going to be up at Ana with their bikes…I’m trying to go for a ride bitch, and it won’t be on Twan’s lil dick!”
We both cracked up laughing as we walked to the counter to pay for our items. We shopped for a few more hours before deciding to make our way back towards Georgetown. When we arrived home, Christa was milling around the family room and I was not particularly happy to see her tired ass.
“Is that all you do? Spend money? Wait and see…he will cut you off the way he cut me off.” She mumbled; referring to the bags filled with all of the items I had just purchased. She was high as gas prices. I knew Christa was trying to cause a scene and I had been doing really well not falling for her shit.
“He will not cut me off.” I simply stated. I wasn’t trying to get into an argument with her. I knew she was looking for anything to use as ammo to have Daddy on her side so she could post up a little longer. “I am in no mood for your shit today lady, so I advise you to get out of our way.”
NiQue and I tried to get around her and up the staircase. Christa stepped in my path and grabbed me by my arm with a force I never knew she could have in that frail ass frame of hers.
“Look here little girl, before all is said and done ‘round here, I will have all that you took from me. You owe me and I will get everything due to me.” She said coldly.
I dropped my bags on the parquet floor and stepped up to Christa. I used one hand to back her into a wall and I grabbed her around her throat with the other hand.
“Maybe you don’t understand, this is my house bitch, and if you think you are going to be here much longer you got me fucked up!”
I was shaking Christa. She had long since let go of the hold she had on my arm. Instead she was gasping for air and clutching at my hand around her neck.
“I see through this bullshit you trying to pull. Daddy may not see, it but I see it. Fuck it, I’ll kill you myself!”
I took my other hand and placed it alongside the one that was cutting off her air supply. Christa started to turn red and I wanted her dead. I wanted to watch her fall to the floor lifeless. Just as I thought about snapping her neck like a chicken, NiQue stepped in and grabbed me.
“Nooo…YaYa!” She cried. “Not here, not now, we got company.”
I looked over my shoulder only to see my new-found brother, Neko, watching me throttle and shake his no-good-ass Momma like a dog in the street. I released my grip from her throat and wanted to say something to Neko. The words wouldn’t formulate. He just stood there looking from me to Christa and back again.
“What cha’ got in the bag for me?” He chimed in trying to break up the bad scene.
“I might have something in here for you.” I said hinting at the bags I had dropped in the confusion. I gathered my belongings, and Neko and NiQue followed me up the stairs as if nothing had even happened.
“Awww, shit! YaYa your brother got it going on! Here try this.” NiQue said to him handing him a black fitted cap that matched the jeans and Jordan’s he was proudly sporting.
Neko looked happy and I was grateful that I had the chance to spend time with him. Just when I thought my day was going better, there was a knock on my bedroom door. I swung open the door to find Christa on the other side of it with her bags behind her.
“Neko, take off that silly shit and come on let’s go!” She said like she was talking to a child instead of a grown man. Her words cut through me like a knife. Where did she think she was going with my brother?
“Christa, go ahead with all that. You know you ain’t going anywhere and neither is he.” I said pointing to Neko who stood off to the side looking for any reason to go with Christa.
“That’s my son, not yours. Neko, I know you ain’t really considering staying here with all I have done for you. Hell, I took care of you by myself all your life.” Christa whimpered as she pushed her way into my room.
Neko just stood there off in the corner not wanting to be taken from his new home and his newly-acquired sister. He enjoyed the new life he had been given, and could not see going back to the way things were before they had found me and Daddy. Christa grabbed Neko and tried to exit my room. NiQue jumped up and blocked the doorway and I got a few things off my chest.
“I don’t know what little games you think you are playing Christa, but I don’t give a fuck if you leave; better yet, take this as a warning: get out of my house in the next twenty-four hours or you will live to regret it! As a matter of fact, you won’t live to regret it!” I said cruelly. “Neko stays.” I walked right past NiQue and flung the door open. “Neko, give me and Christa a moment to talk.” I said while motioning for him to exit the room.
He smirked before picking up his newly-purchased clothes and shoes, and then headed out of the room. Christa stood dumb founded, like she couldn’t believe her own flesh and blood could toss her out on the streets. She became enraged with the thought of being tossed out again, and like a wild animal, she lunged at me. I was caught off guard for a moment, not really recognizing what was about to go down, and NiQue quickly sprang into action for me. She grabbed Christa and the scuffle began.
“You little ghetto trash…get the fuck off of me!” Christa screamed. It was too late because NiQue had pinned Christa down to the floor and began wildly slapping her like she owed her money.
“You see bitch, you just brought your one way ticket out of here!” I said icily.
I sauntered across the room and reached into my night stand and pulled out my butterfly switchblade. Walking over to the woman who gave me life, I stooped down beside her and whispered the last thing she would ever hear.
“I’ll see you in hell Christa!”
With one swift motion, I slid the knife from one side of her neck to the other with no remorse. Christa gargled and tried to stop the blood that was flowing from the open incision in her throat. What Christa didn’t know was that she had bred a killer. NiQue covered Christa’s mouth to stop the sounds of her choking on her own blood. She finally stopped thrashing around and her grey eyes shut. She would never get another chance to hurt me or my brother again.
NiQue, being the ride or die bitch she was, dismounted Christa’s lifeless body and left the room. She came back in seconds with an old blanket and a plastic table cloth we kept for picnics. We spread the plastic tablecloth on the floor and rolled Christa onto it. Luckily, years of drug abuse made it easy for us. She had done so many drugs she couldn’t have weighed more than 90 pounds. After wrapping her up in the plastic and blanket, we moved her to the side. I went to the maid’s closet and retrieved the mop and supplies to clean the wood floors.
I knew Daddy and Oscar were out, so getting out of the house with Christa’s remains would be easy. Neko was safe because the housekeeper was on duty and I left her instructions to keep an eye on him. I gave her a “C” note and she went off to finish her duties. I didn’t know how Neko might react if he came looking for me or Christa and neither of us were there. Even with him obviously having
gone through a lot with Christa in his lifetime, I could tell that he still loved her.
NiQue pulled her Denali around to the back of the house. Together, she and I loaded Christa in the truck and headed in silence to Ana. Nightfall was approaching and we drove through the city of Downtown DC with Christa in the back of the truck.
“NiQue pull over right here,” I instructed.” I need to grab something.”
I had a plan. I stepped out of the truck and surveyed my surroundings. After making sure no one was in the construction lot where I made NiQue stop, I ran over to a pile of concrete and began hauling blocks of cement to the truck. After four trips and several pieces of cement later, I got back in the truck and NiQue pulled off.
After several more minutes of driving, nightfall fell upon us as we pulled into Anacostia Park. The park was off limits after dark so we had to move fast. NiQue and I removed Christa’s corpse and I tied thick plastic bags all around her body. Then I inserted the cement into the bags and we dumped my mother’s body into the Potomac. NiQue never questioned any of the moves we made; she simply went with the flow. I got into the driver’s side of NiQue’s truck and we pulled away. As we exited the park and I looked down at my hands and noticed that they were covered in grime from the cement blocks.
“Dammit! I broke a nail fucking around with that bitch!” I said.
NiQue looked at me with a wide-eyed stare. She finally said something after what seemed like an eternity. “Where the fuck are you gonna’ go and have that fixed?”
Chapter 6
The Shrimp Boat
Benning Road and East Capitol Street
NE Washington, DC
After NiQue and I returned to Georgetown, she decided she'd had enough excitement for the evening and she left to head towards her own home. I hadn’t even remembered Neko was in the house until I heard him knock on my door. He entered the room looking a little frightened. Maybe he thought Christa would walk in at any moment and demand that he leave with her.
