When It All Falls Down 2 - Strapped Up: A Chicago Hood Drama (A Hustler's Lady)

by Tamicka Higgins

  “Fuck,” Tramar said. A small tear erupted from his eye and began to make its way down his cheek. “Fuck, man. I ain’t mean to kill him. I had to.” He opened his arms. “I had to or else he was gon’ kill me or hold my ass there until the police and shit showed up, and then they woulda killed me. I had to do it. I had to.”

  “Okay, man,” Jackson said. “Okay. I understand, man. I woulda did the same thing. If it was between me and him, and he had a gun too, I woulda shot him too. It’s okay, dude. It ain’t like you meant to do it.”

  “So, she said she seen on us there, huh?” Tramar asked. “Faces and all now, I guess.”

  Ayana shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know,” she said. “I was just so taken back and surprised when she said that that I zoned out. Already am nervous as shit because they ran up in the motel rooms and stuff. Just think, Tramar,” Ayana said as she voiced her thoughts about the situation. “If you hadn’t come when you did to pick me up to roll over to Precious’s place to get Quan, I woulda been sittin’ there when they came up in that room and shit. I woulda been sittin’ there.”

  “So, what are you saying, Ayana?” Tramar asked. He had thought the very same thing when Jackson had called him and told him what he was watching from across the street at the motel. “You saying you want us to go ahead and drop you back off over at your mother’s place and stuff?” he asked. “I mean, it’s cool if you want to do that and stuff. I understand. It ain’t like the news got you or nothin’. Your name wasn’t on the motel room, and you wasn’t in the banks when we ran up in them. Hell, all three times, you wasn’t even close for them to connect you to it and stuff.”

  “Yeah,” Jackson said, “but you know how them damn white people are, especially when you black. They gon’ go lookin’ up everybody you know and have ever even talked to since you was sixteen years old and shit.”

  “So, what you saying, nigga?” Tramar asked. “You think they gon’ go around askin’ niggas in the hood questions and actually getting answers? Nigga, you crazy. But, like I was saying, Ayana, do you think you need to just go ahead and go back home before this gets crazy? Well, before it gets crazier?”

  “Naw,” Ayana said, shaking her head. “Naw, I ain’t goin’ nowhere. I love you, Tramar. And I know that if this was my family, no matter what, you would be doin’ the same thing.”

  Before the conversation could continue further, another family walked into the swimming pool area. A white man with a big gut and white towel led what appeared to be a wife and three small children. Without thinking, Tramar, Jackson, and Ayana sat down at chairs around a table off to the side of the pool. They remained quiet, realizing that they needed to go somewhere with a little more privacy, as well as somewhere that could keep Quan busy and out of their faces. They only had one more day to get with Byron before something bad could happen to Tramar’s stepmother and father.

  Tramar leaned in over the table and spoke quietly when he said, “I got an idea. I’mma have to get him something to eat, ‘cause you know his mama ain’t really cook him nothin’ like that on a regular basis.”

  “Yeah, but we gotta jump into some sort of action, nigga,” Jackson said firmly. “Sorry Father of the Year, but you picked the worst time to do the babysittin’.”

  “Nigga, fuck you,” Tramar said. “I had to do this shit. That’s my son. And look, we can get my family back while we watch him and keep him safe. That’s part of the whole reason that we got this hotel room under Ayana’s name, so that the fuckin’ police and shit won’t know where to find us and shit. But what I was just thinkin’ is that since I gotta get him something to eat, and we gotta keep him distracted while we figure out what our next move gon’ be, why don’t we take him over to that Chuck-E-Cheese on Sargent’s Road. I feel like it ain’t too far from here, if I remember right. Shit, a nigga ain’t been somewhere like that in like two fuckin’ decades.”

  The three of them agreed that Chuck-E-Cheese would be a good idea. It was crowded with lots of parents trying to keep an eye on their children, rather than on a few black people who came walking through the door that they might recognize from the news. Also, it had the kind of food where all three of them could fill up on while talking amongst themselves in a loud environment.

  Tramar allowed Quan to continue playing in the swimming pool for another twenty minutes or so. When the three of them went upstairs, Jackson went out and waited in his car while Tramar helped his son to take a shower and slip into some clean clothes. Once they were ready to go, Quan walked ahead of his father and Ayana as they walked down to the elevator. Ayana looked up at Tramar. “Are you sure about this?” she asked.

  Tramar looked at her and spoke softly softly. “Am I sure about what?” he asked. “What you talkin’ about, Ayana?”

  “Are you sure about us keeping him for these couple of days while we try’na get Bryon and stuff, Tramar?” Ayana said. “That’s all I’m asking.”

  Tramar took a moment to think – a moment that seemed twice as long as they were walking down a hallway where at any moment law enforcement could come jumping into their paths. “I don’t know,” Tramar said. Ayana could hear the uncertainty in his voice, and it was so disheartening. “But we ain’t got no choice now. I mean, I ain’t got nowhere that I can take him and shit. I ain’t got nobody that I can ask or nothin’. And plus, he jus gon’ be with us until tomorrow night, I think. Or, at the worst, early Monday morning, cause he gotta go to school on Monday morning. It ain’t no damn holiday or nothing.”

  “Yeah,” Ayana said. “I see.”

  The three of them rode the elevator downstairs then walked out to the back parking lot. Jackson informed him that he had looked up the Chuck-E-Cheese located near the airport. They could simply follow him. Tramar pulled out of the parking lot behind Jackson and followed him down the road. The car ride was probably one of the quietest rides that Tramar and Ayana had in a very long time. Silence filled the space that might normally be filled with laughter and chitchat.

  Every so often, Tramar would look over at Ayana. He could see that she was worried beyond belief. Just like him, every car on the road next to or behind them was a potential threat. Tramar froze up once upon seeing a car that he had mistook for a police car. He felt almost panicked upon seeing nondescript black cars. If a car rode quickly up onto the back of him, he was certain lights were about to pop on and something was about to go down on the side of the road.

  When they pulled into the Chuck-E-Cheese, it was exactly what the three adults had expected it would be on a Saturday night. It was crowded with little kids, white, black, and Hispanic. When they walked thought the door and were stamped on the tops of their hands, they found a booth off in the corner. Jackson and Ayana slid into it as they waited on Tramar to come back over. He bought tokens for Quan to use to play games. Once they ordered a large pizza, and Quan had run off to play games, they knew it was time to get down to business. In the darkness of the back corner of the play center, they spoke softly as they could barely hear anything outside of where they were sitting.

  “So,” Tramar said, “I don’t know what y’all niggas is thinkin’, but we gotta find this nigga, Byron. I don’t care what we do. There’s gotta be a way that we can find this dude and stop all this playin’ around. The quicker we get my family and make sure that they straight, the quicker we can go ahead and get the fuck up outta here. Shit, a nigga don’t even feel comfortable bein’ out like this to where somebody can see us and shit.”

  “Nigga, calm down,” Jackson said. “You know that these people up in here ain’t lookin’ at your black ass. They too busy watchin’ out for they little kiddies and shit runnin’ around in here.”

  Ayana felt it was her time to interject. “That’s why I was askin’ you if you wanted me to let my cousin Sharli in on what is going on and stuff,” she said. “That’s exactly why I was askin’ you.”

  “What you mean?” Tramar asked. He shook his head. “I don’t know about that, Ayana. I don’t know. I mean
, your cousin is a coo chick and shit, but I just don’t know if we need to be lettin’ nobody else in on what we got goin’ on. Shit, you know how niggas are. The more people involved, the more you gotta worry about somebody runnin’ to the police, and runnin’ they mouths and shit.”

  “Not if they involved so deep to where if they go to the police, they ass is in trouble and shit, too,” Jackson said, nodding his head. “I mean, let’s hear Ayana say at least why she think that her cousin should even know more than what she already seein’ online and on the news and stuff.”

  “That’s the thing,” Ayana said. “I got to thinking about Sharli. I was thinkin’ about how she said she saw the post online, right?”

  “Yeah, so,” Tramar said.

  Ayana looked at Tramar, realizing that she was talking to someone who was not a social media guru. “So…” Ayana said. “If she logged in on her Facebook like she said and one of the first things she sees is a photo of your stepmother Vivica and stuff, then that mean that she must know somebody or something that is connected to Byron.”

  Tramar nodded his head as he thought about it. “I see what you sayin’,” Tramar said. “But, Ayana, I just don’t know. I mean, the more people who know, the more the police and shit may be able to find out where we head after this. I’m already try’na figure out how I’mma handle this with my son. You already know how Precious is.”

  “Man, you might just have to let that go,” Jackson said. He hadn’t wanted to say it, but he felt as if it were necessary. “I mean, I hate to say it, but it’s the truth.”

  “Let go of what?” Tramar asked. “You talkin’ bout me lettin’ go of my son and shit? Nigga, what the fuck is you talkin’ about with that shit?”

  Seeing that Tramar was clearly angry, Jackson watched his tone as he continued. “I’m just sayin’ that you might have to let that go because if you try to stay in his life, especially with the authorities following you and stuff, you could wind up hurting him more in the long run, especially if you get caught up while he with you or somethin’. I know you don’t wanna do it, and I wouldn’t either. But I was just saying.”

  Tramar could feel Ayana rubbing his arm in an effort to get him to calm down. After a few moments, he did and was back to focusing on the task at hand. “About this Sharli, thing,” he said. “I’m cool with her knowing and shit, but we gotta be sure we can trust her, and we gotta be sure that she can get us to Byron. If she can’t, then ain’t no point in us even having anybody else know what we doin’.”

  Jackson understood and nodded.

  Tramar then turned to Jackson and asked him, “Man, is you sure that we can’t find no other way to find this nigga? I mean, outta all the niggas in Chicago and shit, we gotta be able to find a way to find out something. I mean, y’all must know some of the same niggas. Are we thinkin’ about all the savages we know between the two of us? I mean, I know that I only seen the nigga once, when we was out at his house and shit. But, I do gotta say, that based on the kinda money I think that nigga is probably making, he probably gotta know more people than just his immediate family and shit.”

  Jackson took a moment to pull his phone out of his pocket and scroll through his contacts. Many of his contacts, especially with people out in the streets, were saved under different names just in case he had a chick who liked to go through phones.

  “Well,” Jackson said, hesitantly. “I was thinkin’ about how Byron would even know that we was stayin’ out in them motels out in Indiana. And I got to thinkin’…”

  Tramar and Ayana leaned in attentively, waiting to hear what Jackson was going to say.

  “I had this one chick over,” Jackson said. “And I’m guessin’ that she musta told somebody and shit, because neither of you two did.”

  Tramar bit his bottom lip and shook his head as he watched Jackson come to the same conclusion he and Ayana already had. “Yea,” he said. “I figured that. So, you think that she know somebody or something like that who would know Byron?”

  “I mean,” Jackson said, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m startin’ to think so and shit. I mean, I couldn’t think of no other way that nigga woulda known something like that, especially all the way down to details like what town and shit we was stayin’ in, out of all the little towns and shit over in Indiana.”

  “Hold up,” Tramar said. “When we ran up in that nigga’s house on Monday, he had that chick there, and he was about to get it in with her, right?”

  “Right,” Jackson said, clearly confused about where Tramar could be going with such a question. “And?”

  “I think the dude might be one of those niggas who will chase after any piece of pussy that look good,” Tramar said. “That means that we can find some thots and shit out in the street and maybe they know where to find the nigga. Come on, man. You know how these girls are nowadays and stuff. If you follow them and stuff, you can just about find any nigga who fuck around like that nigga Byron probably do. You saw the way he ain’t even care about the chick who was over at his house. It was clear she was just there to fuck and that’s it.”

  “Yeah, man, but I don’t know,” Jackson said. “I mean, I don’t know the girls like that.”

  “Hit up the one you do know and say that you wanna hook up with her again and shit,” Tramar suggested. “When you get her over to wherever you at and shit, we can get that bitch to talk.”

  “Wait a minute, nigga,” Jackson said. “You talkin’ bout havin’ me call her over and basically settin’ her up and shit?”

  “Ain’t she do the same thing to you?” Tramar asked, making his point. “Ain’t she the one who told the very nigga that got you in this mess where you was stayin’ and stuff? Man, don’t be thinkin’ about how the fuck she feel and shit. Fuck her, nigga. Fuck her. We think she might know something that we need, and you worry about settin’ her up and shit. When you get a room and shit tonight, hit her up. Throw some money at her. You know how these women love money and shit. Throw some money at her to get her over to you and shit, and I swear to God she’ll open right up and start talkin’. Shit, for all I care, you can call me over and I’ll hold a gun to the hoe’s face and make her talk. We not playin’ with her. We ain’t got time for these games and shit, nigga. Hit her up.’

  Jackson realized that everything Tramar was saying was true. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that this chick probably was the link – the route of information from them to Byron. Without second guessing it any longer, Jackson sent the chick a text message, asking her what she was doing for the night.

  “Okay, okay,” Jackson said. “I just hit her up and now I’m waitin’ to see what she gon’ say. In the meantime, while we waitin’ on her to hit me back, I think we need to be thinkin’ more about this Sharli thing, nigga. Just in case this chick ain’t so willing to give up the information like we want her to.” He looked at Sharli. “Ayana, do you think that we can work with your cousin without really having to tell her everything?’

  Ayana hesitated, trying to look at such a question as clearly as possible before answering. “Well,” she said. “Sharli got a good heart and stuff, so I know that she really do care about me and what is happening with me and stuff. Like I said, we really are like sisters in a lot of ways, especially since I never had one. But she do like to ask a lot of questions and stuff. I mean, I just don’t see her going along with everything without wanting to know why we was asking her this and that. I’m just keepin’ it real. She is gonna want to know and stuff, and I can’t blame her for that.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I don’t know about,” Tramar said. “Just seem like a big risk.”

  “Well, it’s all a risk at this point, Tramar,” Ayana said, kind of feeling tired of being so nice when things were getting to be so serious. “No matter what happens or who knows, the fact is that they done got your ass on the news. On the news, Tramar.”

  Jackson kept a plain face as he watched Ayana be more forceful.

  “If you don’t see h
ow hard up shit is right now,” Ayana said, “then I just don’t know what to tell you. They know you done robbed two banks, and probably that you connected to the one that Jackson did. After all, Jackson did say that he watched them bust in the doors at both of y’all’s motel rooms. And, as I know you ain’t forgot, you killed a security guard. I know you didn’t really mean too, Tramar, but I’m just stating the facts, I guess. Ain’t nothin’ my cousin Sharli could ever do that would make this situation any worse. In fact, she could probably help us more than she could hurt us. And we can make sure we got details of the story lined up in such a way to where we don’t have to tell her everything but can tell her enough to find out what we need to know and to make sure that it matches up with the news. Shit, she don’t even have to know that I even know where you are.”

  “Yeah,” Jackson said, grabbing Tramar’s attention. “That’s what I was thinkin’, nigga. Have her go to her cousin and shit and see if she can find a connection on her social media that we can use. If there is, like some nigga who she know that know Byron or something that we can get in touch with and get some information and shit out of, the betta. What kinda chick is this chick Sharli? Is she like a good church girl or what?”

  Ayana laughed out loud, covering her mouth with her head. “Far from that,” she answered. “Actually, Sharli is as hood as it comes. The chick love weave and she love doing hair. I know that if she know somebody that know this Byron dude, then it’s probably some nigga from the street.”

  “Bet,” Tramar said, deciding that he’d heard enough. “I guess like you said, we ain’t got nothin’ to lose by gettin’ with her and seein’ what she know. But, just to be sure, can we get on Facebook and shit and at least try to see if we can see the connection and if it would be one that she know like that. I don’t wanna waste our time only to find that she know this nigga Byron through someone who live far away or some shit.”

  Quickly, Ayana pulled out her phone with a smile on her face. She considered herself to be a social media expert, having had all of the accounts and even being able to accumulate a respectable amount of followers. She quickly logged into her Facebook account, having seen that she’d missed several calls and text messages from Sharli wanting to know why the phone call had ended so suddenly earlier.