Queen of the City 2: The Life of a Female Rapper

by Tamicka Higgins

  “Then he will still be aight! Shit! You actin’ like a bitch right now, damn! I told you everything was straight, now just chill!”

  I could tell he was hurt by how I just came at him. He turned around and walked back to his car. “Whatever, Lyric,” he said on his way. That was my brother, but I didn’t want him to get in-between anything that was going to happen after we got Prince. This was my problem and I’d already gotten enough people hurt and even killed at this point, I didn’t need another death weighing on my conscious. I sat back down in my car, and as I waited for Loc, I texted Vinny, Yo, why don’t you just go ahead and get back to the crib. I’ll meet you there. I looked over at him as he read the text. He peered back at me as he shook his head and sent back another text, Nigga, if it weren't for me, you wouldn’t even know where Prince was, and now you are telling me to go home like I’m a pussy ass nigga or something? I came here to find Prince, so that’s what I’ma do. I thought it was crazy that we were only about 10 feet away from each other, but yet, we were sending text messages to each other like we were in another state.“This is not you, Vinny. This not even who you are. I don’t need you gettin’ hurt and shit. Just go home.

  Oh, you can stay but I can’t? Really?

  Yeah. Vinny, look, we’ll be right to the crib after this, aight. Just go home and stay there.

  Why?

  Because I need somebody there for Prince in case something happens to me, aight?!

  It was probably better that we were texting because if we were face to face, my emotions might have gotten the best of me and I would’ve become physical with him. Not that I would’ve overpowered him or anything like that, I just didn’t want to be in a position where something like that could happen between us. I loved him too much for us to even go there. He looked up at me as I peered over the steering wheel in his direction. He shook his head and moments later, he peeled out of the parking lot, screeching the tires as he left. A few people around us flinched and prepared themselves to hit the ground in case it was a drive by. Typical behavior for individuals in the hood and if they didn’t do it, I would’ve questioned if I was really in the gutter or not.

  I finally got a text from Loc,

  Where you at?

  Qwik Mart around the corner.

  Moments later, they showed up three cars deep. Loc waved me over to him as I got out and headed in his direction. Two men in the back of his truck were loading clips into pistols and rounds into shotguns, passing them around to other men in the car when they were ready to be fired. “Where?” Loc asked as he continued looking out the front window.

  “It’s just around the corner; it’s the second house on the right at the end of the block. There should have been a bunch of Mexicans out there on the block just chillin’.”

  “Let’s roll.”

  “Wait, how we gon’ do this shit?”

  He glared at me like I just asked an absurdity,

  “We go in there; we kill everything in our way, and we get the boy back.”

  “Wait, we can’t just go in there blazin’, we don’t know where Prince is. One of the bullets could hit him.”

  He looked at me, waiting for me to continue,

  “I think we need to start a commotion with the Mexicans if they still chillin’ out there. Like one or two of us, and it's better if it doesn't lead to anybody getting shot. While their attention is distracted, then we send two more people to the front door and knock. Tell whoever answers that they are looking for Keyonna and say it’s one of Big Tuck’s boys, and they are comin’ to pick up Prince. Now, if they look at the two guys crazy like, who the fuck is Prince?, then we know he ain’t there, and we can roll. But if they go back and get her, then we know he is in there.”

  He kept his eyes focused on the front windshield. I knew he was paying attention to me, but he never gave affirmations that he was. I was used to him, so I continued,

  “Then, if there is any resistance, the niggas who went inside the house pulls out and handles up. By that time, them Mexicans on the corner will probably turn to run to the house, and that’s when the niggas that were on the corner with them takes them out while they aren’t looking. While all that is happening, I’ma sneak through the back. It’s a window that is cracked open that overlooks the backyard. I don’t know if they got security back there or not because I couldn’t see everything over the fence, but if it is, I know all the commotion in the front will draw them away. After that, it’s on me.”

  Loc didn’t say anything for a few moments. I heard some of the guys in the back laugh when I finished up, and I couldn’t tell if they were laughing because it was a good idea or if it was one of the dumbest things they’ve heard, but whichever one it was, I didn’t care. We needed some plan before we just went onto their block with bad intentions. An intoxicated man exited the gas station as I sat, waiting for Loc to respond. He had stumbled down the sidewalk before he fell flat on the ground, smacking his face into the pavement. Another man walked outside, laughing and pointing at him, “Get yo’ drunk ass up, muthafucka! Shit! You done knocked the teeth out yo’ mouth with ya’ dumbass!” He helped him to his feet as two of his teeth remained on the ground while they walked away. I turned back to Loc. “Get in. Let’s roll,” he said, rolling up his window before I could respond.

  Dusk was setting in as we pulled up on the block. Loc sent two of the trucks ahead of us as they went and parked just across the street from the house. The Mexicans were still gathered outside on the corner as two of our men got out the truck and walked in their direction. I couldn’t tell what was going on, but I watched intensely as they began to make a small commotion with the SA’s. Soon after, three of our men got out of the car and walked to the house unabated as the Mexicans attention was kept close to the distraction. Our guys stood at the door for a few moments when suddenly, one of the Mexicans unexpectedly turned around. He put his hands up and walked over to the porch where our guys stood. Just then, that one Mexican went inside as the men on the porch sent a signal back to us, sending us around through the alley. -We parked a few houses down from our targeted house, and four of us got out the car while one man stayed in the driver’s seat, ready to peel off as soon as we got out.

  The streetlights flickered on as we crept through the alley. A cat knocked over a small trash can and sprinted away as we inched past the house. I was the only one to flinch, but I quickly regained my focus and kept up with them. When we got to the fence, I held my hand up, signaling for them to stop. I ducked down and peeked through the boards on the fence. I couldn’t see anything moving around back there, no dogs, no other people, nothing at all. Loc put his hand down to boost me over the fence, and he lifted me up in one swift motion and just like that, I was over. I went to the gate and unlocked the door, thinking at any moment I was going to hear gunshots, but still there was nothing. Loc and the other guy with him snuck into the gate as we crept to the window. Suddenly, out of nowhere, two Rottweilers charged at us, barking and growling like they were ready to devour us. Loc’s man shot at them piercing them right in the head one after the other. The gunshots echoed throughout the hood and for a split second, it was quiet. The calm before the storm and I knew this storm was going to be ferocious. Immediately after that, gunshots could be heard from the front of the house. I ran to the window and hopped through as the bullets were being fired in every direction. My mind went to Prince because with all these stray bullets, one could pierce him at any moment. I stumbled over a table when I got in as Loc and his guys ran to the back door for me to open it. I popped the lock and froze, not knowing which way to go. There was a staircase that led upstairs and just in the middle of a hallway there was a door. It seemed like it led to a basement or something but I couldn’t decide which way to go. I choose to go to the basement and, through a brief silence in the gunfire, I heard a baby’s cry come from upstairs.

  I spun around on a dime and headed up, skipping handfuls of steps at a time. There were only three rooms to choose from and as I
pulled my pistol out, I opened the first door and to my surprise, Prince was sitting up in the bed, crying. “Prince,” I said, lowering my pistol as my eyes began to water. When I was halfway to him, a blunt object crashed into the back of my head and caused me to fall forward into the dresser. I flipped over on my back as Keyonna stood over me with a lead pipe. I glanced up at Prince as he reached for me. When I tried to get up, Keyonna struck me again, this time, knocking me in my chest.

  “Yeah, bitch. You want to set muthafuckas up, huh? How it feel now, huh? How does it feel to,” she picked up the pipe and swung again as I used my forearms to defend myself, “know the one you love is the one that got you set up, huh? This little nigga right here got you into some shit that you won’t be able to make it out of alive. Yeah. I told Big Tuck at his grave that I would get you back for this shit!”

  The gunfire kept going off below me and I knew it was just a matter of time before I was killed or the police showed up. Either way, it was going to be over. She swung the pipe again as it came crashing down onto my collarbone. Prince cried on the bed as the gunfire eventually came to silence. She lifted the pipe again, but I rolled out of the way as it smacked into the dresser that was right behind me. I quickly scooted over to the gun that flew under the bed and cocked it, aiming it straight at her. I barely had enough strength to load the bullet into the chamber, but I did, and she stood over me, just a few feet away breathing heavily with the pipe in her hand.

  “You a smart muthafucka,” she said, smiling. “All I wanna know is how you found out that that little nigga was here. Shit, the fun hadn’t even gotten started yet.”

  “Fuck you, bitch. I should’ve let Nas do yo’ ass when he had the chance.”

  “Nas,” she laughed, “Right. The nigga that… is most likely going to kill you anyway for getting his son kidnapped. Yeah, that Nas, right? No, bitch, YOU should’ve killed him when you had the chance because now, that nigga will kill you. Trust me. The bug has been put in his ear.”

  Prince’s cries became louder as I slowly raised myself up from the floor and peered at her from the barrel of my gun. Before I knew it, my finger contracted around the trigger, and I fired three shots in her direction. They all went right into her head, and her body collapsed onto the floor. I stood over her and emptied the rest of the clip into her purely from rage. I looked over at Prince as he sat on the bed, his eyes full of tears and ready to burst again as I put the gun back on my waist and grabbed him with the one arm that I could use. The heat from the pistol burned my waist as I winced, carrying Prince down the stairs. When I got to the bottom, there were dead bodies everywhere. Some of our guys but mostly it was theirs. I walked out the back as police sirens increased their volume but to my surprise, the truck I rode in with Loc was gone from the alley. Oh my, God, I said to myself, this nigga left me? I looked to my right as a car flicked on its headlights. I reached for my pistol as it rolled down the alley but I was relieved when I saw who was driving.

  “I thought I told yo’ ass to go home.”

  “Shut the fuck up and get in the car.”

  He helped me get in the back seat as I laid sideways. As Vinny drove away, the streetlights above me passed over my head in five-second intervals, illuminating Prince. His face made me forget any pain I had and everything else that was going on in my life. He sat on the seat next to where I lay, not crying, not fussing or anything. He was expressionless and even though he wasn’t even a year old yet, he had probably been through more in his life than a lot of grown men. The thing that scared me the most was how calm he was. As the lights passed over us and shined into the car, he didn’t look much like Junie anymore. At some point that had all gone away. Now, when I looked at him, he looked exactly like Nas, and it scared the shit out of me. I have my boy back, I said to myself, he is safe. The only question I had now was what happens next.

  Chapter 13

  For the next few days, I laid low so I could recover. I didn’t go to the hospital for them to check on my injuries. I had nothing but bad memories every time I’d visited there so if I could stand to stay away, then I would. I didn’t hear from Loc or anybody since I had gotten Prince. I didn’t know if Nas decided to bury the hatchet or not but if I had to guess, I would say that he didn’t. The man he had turned into was not the man I met back at Remy’s concert over a year ago. He completely changed, and I didn’t know if it was because of the drug lord mentality getting the best of him or if it was simply because I crossed him with Prince. Either way, I knew the romantic chapter of my life with him was over. I stayed away from Big Mama’s house because I knew that if they were going to try to do something to me that would be the first place they would look. I checked myself into a hotel and remained there for a few days. I told Mrs. Butler and Vinny where I was just in case they needed to find me, but I didn’t want to put them in any more danger than they needed to be. Mrs. Butler visited us a few times. Allen’s funeral was a few days ago and it hurt me to not be able to attend, but for obvious reasons I couldn’t. She walked into my hotel room and immediately went to Prince, “Hey, honey. Hey Grandma’s baby!” she said to him as she lifted him into the air. Ever since I’d brought him back with me, he hadn’t smiled as much as he used to. It was almost like he was an entirely different baby than he was before. He wasn’t the jovial bundle of joy that we had grown to love and maybe the events he went through in these past couple weeks were traumatic enough to affect him, even at his young age.

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with him, Mom.”

  “Oh, he’ll be alright. He’s just been through a lot. He’ll snap out of it.”

  When she found out about Prince being kidnapped, it was after I had gotten him back. I didn’t think she would be able to handle all of the emotional stress at once, so I did my best to protect her from it. She was angry but more importantly, she was just grateful that he was back in the right hands. I tried to sit up in my bed, but the pain shot through my shoulder as I winced

  “Baby, maybe you need to go and get yourself checked out. Your collarbone could be broken.”

  “Nah, I’m good Mama. I’ll be fine. I just need some time, that’s all.”

  “Do you want me to take Prince for a few days?”

  “No,” I said abruptly, “I mean, no, it’s ok. I’ll keep him here with me. He’ll be fine.”

  “Ok, baby. I understand, trust me.”

  “How is Serena doing?”

  “She’s…. she’s doing the best she can right now, I guess. You know, she’s trying to keep herself busy with work and everything.”

  “She was a mess when I saw her at the house last week.”

  “Yeah, she… she took it hard. I mean, she did start carrying that little pistol around, though. I honestly can’t tell if it is for protection or if she does it because her father bought it for her. I don’t know which is which but all I can say is that I’m glad she has it.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  Mrs. Butler left later that night, and I was happy that she visited me. It felt like I was in somewhat of a hospital already because I never left the room. Anything I needed, Vinny or Mrs. Butler brought it to me so I could stay in and rest. That’s what they would tell me, but deep inside, I knew they were doing it because they didn’t want me to end up shot dead. “Hey Mama’s baby,” I said to Prince as he sat up in my bed. He turned towards me with a lock-lipped expression on his face. Nothing I said or did could make him smile and eventually, he turned his head back towards the television. “What is wrong with you?” I asked him just under my breath. I reached out to rub his leg as I gingerly laid down on top of the bed and moments later, I had fallen asleep.

  I woke up to Prince’s laughter as he sat in Nas’s arms in the hotel room. I jumped up and threw my back into the headboard as my eyes bucked open in horror. Nas turned to look at me, “He aight, Lyric. He just wanted to see his daddy, that’s all.” They both looked towards me with the same eerie smile escaping their lips. “How have you been?” Nas asked as h
e got up and sat on the bed next to me. I scooted away and remained quiet.

  “Oh, so you’re not speaking to me? What a shame. What happened to us, Lyric? We used to be so tight. Remember when we first had sex down at the lakefront. Now that I think about it, it’s probably the time we conceived little old Prince. Yup, it sure was. We were just about inseparable then, you know what I’m saying? What happened?”

  He reached for me, but I jerked my leg out of his grasp. “Ok, I get it. You’re afraid of me, right? You think I’m going to hurt you?” He laughed as he kissed Prince on the cheek, “Listen, I’m not going to put my hands on you anymore. Well, I’m going to try not to anyway. You see, my son loves you, and I never want him to see me hurt you or anything like that. I don’t want him to SEE it. Are you paying attention, Lyric? I mean, as long as he doesn’t see it, it should be fine, right?”

  “Nas, what did I do to you for you to treat me like this, huh? What did I do?”

  He smiled and looked at Prince, “Oh, she speaks now,” he said as Prince giggled, “your mother speaks. What did you do? Well, first of all, you protected an enemy who clearly was ready to drop the dime on us. If not you, then definitely me. On top of that, you stayed in this city when I told you to leave and what happened? You ended up getting my only son kidnapped and almost killed. You crossed me, Lyric. Not to mention the shit you tried to pull in front of Man-Man at the stash house. Disrespecting me like that? No, not in front of my people. It just seems as though you’ve worn out your welcome, you know what I’m saying?”

  “Look, whatever you’re going to do, just do it, aight? I’m tired of this shit. I've had enough of living like this. You want me, then here I am.”

  He laughed, “The thing is, Lyric, I already got you. You are as good as dead; you just don’t know it… but you will. Slowly but surely, you will know.”

  I jumped up off my bed and immediately, the pain shot through my shoulder blade, almost paralyzing me. Prince looked over at me as he sat in the same position he was in when I dozed off. I wasn’t sure how long I had been asleep, but it couldn’t have been for long because the same TV show that was on before I went to sleep was still on now. Prince turned back around and laid backward on the bed. I reached for the bottle that was on the nightstand and handed it to him, but he turned over on his side, completely rejecting it. “Alright Mama’s baby, alright. I understand,” I said as I placed it back on the shelf. I hated that he totally flipped into another child since being kidnapped, but I couldn’t blame him. In reality, I could only blame myself. If I had just left like Nas told me to do in the beginning, none of this would have happened. Maybe Mr. Butler would still be alive and Nas and I probably wouldn’t even be at odds, but I couldn’t live on hypotheticals; I had to live with facts, and the fact was that Nas doesn’t forget and forgive, so I knew I had to get out of the city.