Street Banditz

by CJ Hudson

  Red was about to get out of his whip and go bang on her door when Nancy came out of the house. “What the fuck took yo’ ass so long?” Red asked her.

  “I had to get ready.”

  “Get ready? Yo’ ass shoulda been ready! And the next time you wanna get in touch with me, send me a fucking text message instead of calling my muthafucking phone! What if my bitch had answered this damn thing?”

  “I’m sorry, big daddy,” Nancy said, speaking like a child being admonished by her parents.

  “Well, come on and show big daddy how sorry you are, girl.”

  After pulling off into traffic, Red grabbed the back of Nancy’s head and pushed it down toward his lap. His dick was already out, waiting to be serviced. Nancy wrapped her lips around his Johnson and did her thing. Red almost crashed his whip twice while Nancy was showing him her deep throating skills. Just as Red pulled into the parking lot of the mall, he came.

  “You holding something?” she asked as she came up, wiping her mouth.

  “I’m always holding something. What you need?” he asked as he zipped his pants back up.

  Nancy dug into her pocket and pulled out the $50 she’d gotten from Stone. “Let me get fifty dollars’ worth.”

  “Oh, shit, you got money this time,” Red said, surprised. After putting the money in his pocket, Red reached into his console and pulled out a bag of dope. Nancy took the bag out of his hand and dipped her pinky finger in it. Then she put it up to her nose and sniffed.

  “Thanks, big daddy,” she said as she opened the door to get out.

  “Next time, text me,” Red told her.

  “Okay,” Nancy said and headed for the mall.

  * * *

  Ray-Ray sat on the edge of the bed, puffing on a Newport. He had mixed feelings over what he’d just done. Red and Hank were his boys. He couldn’t believe that he’d just fucked both of their women. He also knew that he had to talk to both of the women and tell them to keep this affair a secret. Neither Red nor Hank was the jealous type, but they did value loyalty, and what he’d just done was the ultimate sign of disrespect. He did smile as he thought about how good April and Cookie had sexed him up. He wasn’t in the bar ten minutes before April approached him and invited him to come over and have a drink with them.

  He was just there to get his mind off his missing cousin, but he ended up having a good time with the two vixens. He wondered why they kept buying him shots of vodka, and now he knew why. They were fattening him up for the kill. Ray-Ray wasn’t stupid, though. He had a feeling they were only doing this because they were mad at Red and Hank. As the night continued, each woman took turns with him on the dance floor. They made sure to grind on him as much as possible.

  Then, as the bar closed down, April suggested that they go home and blow some trees. They weren’t finished with one blunt before Cookie went to the bathroom and came back out naked. April followed suit as she got up and stripped down to her bra and panties. Ray-Ray couldn’t get one word out of his mouth before they sexually attacked him. For the remainder of the night, the three of them engaged in every carnal action they could think of.

  Ray-Ray leaned back on the bed and smiled. “ I can’t believe these two hoes let me smash.” Although Ray-Ray did feel bad about screwing his boys’ women, he simply chalked it up to all things being fair in love and war. He’d told the two ladies that he was going to be gone by the time they got back from the store, but he was so tired from screwing the two of them that he lay back on the bed and fell asleep.

  * * *

  Cookie and April walked into the corner store, laughing like hyenas. You would think that they’d just heard the funniest joke in the world. Both women felt pretty good about themselves. Vindication filled their hearts as the revenge that they’d just extracted on their men had them feeling themselves.

  “Now that’s what the fuck I call payback,” Cookie bellowed as she gave April a high five. “Now I don’t feel so damn stupid!” Cookie noticed the half-hearted high five that April had given her. She also noticed the worried look on her cousin’s face. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

  April just shrugged her shoulders. Truthfully, she was starting to regret what she and Cookie had done. In her mind, it made them seem like whores. It made them no better than Red or Hank. Plus, she really didn’t want to end up having a major fight with Hank because she let Cookie drag her into something that she wouldn’t normally do.

  “Spill it,” Cookie pressed.

  “I’m just saying, I don’t know if we shoulda done that shit. What if those niggas find out?”

  “How the fuck they gon’ find out? Ray-Ray damn sure ain’t gonna tell ’em. Unless he wanna end up with a bullet in his head. Stop acting so muthafucking scared!”

  After purchasing their items, Cookie and April headed back to Cookie’s car.

  “I’m still horny,” Cookie admitted. “When we get back to the house, I might just give that nigga some more of the good-good.”

  “Damn slut,” April said, laughing.

  As Cookie weaved through traffic, April reached into her pocket and took out a dime bag of weed. She normally didn’t smoke before three in the afternoon, but for some reason, she was feeling a strong urge to blaze up. It took her less than five minutes to slice the Dutch Master open, empty its contents, replace it with weed, and seal it back up. After lighting it, she took a deep pull and held it in. She smiled as she blew the smoke into the air. The get-high stick instantly relaxed her.

  “Damn, stop babysitting and pass that shit,” Cookie fussed. After taking one more hit, April passed it to Cookie. Cookie then took a long pull and held it in. “Yeaaahh, that’s that shit right there,” she said, letting a stream of smoke slide through her nostrils. Cookie then blew her horn three times at a familiar car that was going in the opposite direction.

  “Hey, bitch,” she shouted out the window.

  “Girl, what the hell you doing?”

  “That was Kat’s ass.”

  “So?” April asked, confused.

  “So my ass! That bitch owes me ten dollars!”

  “You can chalk that. That ho been owing me twenty for over a year now. Is she still sniffing up Bobby’s ass?”

  “Hell yeah. She was tryin’a holla at that nigga at my party, but he gave her ass the brush-off.”

  April tried to think of something to say real quick. Cookie had already let her have it about skipping her party. Truth be told, she didn’t feel like being bothered with her cousin and faked being sick that night. “I heard Bobby got him a young tenderoni now.”

  “Yeah, I think her name is Tammy. She’s friends with my girl Ivory.”

  “Who?”

  “The one I told you about who jumped on the supervisor at work.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  “Anyway, that bitch Kat better cough up my dough or it’s gon’ be on!”

  April looked at her like she was crazy.

  “What?” Cookie asked when she noticed April’s expression.

  “Let me get this straight. You gonna jump on yo’ own flesh and blood over ten dollars? Heifer, you owe me thirty.”

  Cookie opened her mouth to protest but then remembered that she did owe April. “Oh, but that’s different,” she said. The two of them burst out laughing. They continued to laugh all the way back to Cookie’s house and up to the front door. They were so engrossed in their giggling, they never even noticed the truck parked two doors down.

  * * *

  Ivory sat in front of the nursing home, staring at it. She’d been sitting there for twenty-five minutes and had yet to make a move to get out of her car. She never imagined that it would be this hard building up the courage to go and visit her mother. After sitting there for five more minutes, Ivory figured she’d stalled enough. Ever so slowly, she climbed out of her car and headed toward the building. A knot formed in her stomach as she walked through the glass double doors of the front entrance. Ivory decided to pick up the pace, knowing that there was a gr
eater chance of her turning around if she didn’t. Before she lost her nerve, Ivory rushed up to the counter.

  “May I help you?” asked the light-skinned receptionist.

  “Yes, I’m here to see Ms. Loraine Moore, please.”

  “Sign here, please.”

  After signing in and being told what room her mother was in, Ivory proceeded down the hallway. She felt her knees weaken as she came to her mother’s room. Her hand trembled as she reached for the doorknob. Feeling that she might back out if she didn’t hurry, Ivory pushed the door open and barged in. Her heart broke as she looked at her mother. The woman lying in bed was Loraine Moore, but she looked nothing like the vibrant woman who had birthed her.

  Hair that was once full of bounce and shine was now brittle and dry. Her once-radiant skin was now ashy and pale. She was so thin that Ivory wondered if they were feeding her. A light snore emitted from her nostrils, letting Ivory know that she was asleep. Ivory tried to fight back the flood that was building up in her eyes, but it was no use. Seeing her mother lying there in such a state was too much for Ivory to handle. With tears rushing down her face like waterfalls, Ivory sat down beside the bed and held her mother’s hand.

  After only ten minutes in the room, she couldn’t take it anymore. She got up to walk out of the room and got as far as the door when she heard a faint voice call out to her. Ivory turned around and slowly walked back over to the bed.

  “Hey, Ivory,” her mother weakly said. “I’m . . . glad to see you,” she said to her child.

  “I’m glad to see you too, Mama,” Ivory said through tear-soaked eyes.

  “I just want you to know . . . that I’m sorry for what I did to you.”

  “Shhh, it’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not. I mistreated you in the worst way. And I will never be able to forgive myself.”

  Ivory grabbed her mother’s hand and stroked it gently. “I forgive you, Mama.”

  Ivory’s mother smiled and fell back asleep. While she was sleeping, Ivory sat there and stared at her mother, remembering the good times they shared when she was much, much younger.

  Chapter 29

  The second Cookie stepped into her crib, all the color drained out of her face. “Oh, my God,” April said, as she saw the blood pouring from Ray-Ray’s mouth. Standing behind him with a gun trained on the back of his head was Cedric. Dru was seated on the couch, drinking a bottle of Heineken.

  “Oh, baby, I see you back,” Red said as he walked in from the kitchen with a glass of vodka in his hand.

  “Red, what the hell are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be somewhere fucking yo’ nasty-ass ex?”

  “You know I don’t care nothing about that ho,” Red said, trying to make amends with Cookie. He knew that of all the women he messed around with, Cookie was his main girl and by far the one who had his back the most. He told his boys that Cookie wasn’t his girl, but she was as close to it as being someone’s girl can get.

  “You are and always will be my main bit . . . girl. And oh, April, Hank told me to tell you that if you over here, get yo’ ass home.”

  Dru and Cedric cracked up laughing.

  “What the fuck y’all niggas laughin’ at? Y’all need to take y’all asses somewhere and do some fucking homework, young-ass niggas,” April said, dissing the two youngsters.

  “Yo, who the fuck you think you talking to?” Dru said, taking two steps toward April.

  Red put his arm out to stop him from going any farther. Then he walked up to April and put his finger in her face. “Make that the last time you disrespect somebody in my damn crew. Y’all getting a little too liberal with that bullshit.”

  April rolled her eyes and walked out the door. Red walked up to Cookie and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a roll of bills, peeled off $1,000, and handed it to her.

  “Here ya go, baby. A little peace offerin’.”

  Cookie looked at the money then back at Red. “Thanks,” she said as she stuffed the money into her pocket. Then without warning, Red backhanded Cookie to the floor. With a busted lip, Cookie looked up at Red with a stunned look on her face.

  “Did you really think I was gonna let you just give up the pussy to one of my boys and not have to pay for that shit? You lucky I don’t kill yo’ muthafucking ass behind some disrespectful shit like that! Which is more than I can say for this backstabbing-ass nigga,” he said as he stared heatedly at Ray-Ray. “I guess killing yo’ punk-ass cousin wasn’t enough! Now I gotta body yo’ bitch ass too!”

  “What?” Ray-Ray screamed. “You killed my cousin?”

  “Shut yo’ bitch ass up,” Cedric yelled as he cracked Ray-Ray upside the head with his gun.

  “Cedric, take this nigga on a li’l ride somewhere.”

  Feeling a little slighted because Red asked Cedric and not him, Dru tried to prove his worth. “Ay yo, Red, I can do that shit if you want me to.”

  “Did I ask yo’ ass? Damn!” The two youngsters were starting to get on Red’s nerves. His plan to pawn them off to Bobby was backfiring.

  “Cookie, go in the kitchen and fix me a sandwich,” he ordered her. Cookie dragged herself off the floor and went into the kitchen. She knew that she was out of bounds by sleeping with Ray-Ray, but the pain she felt when she caught Red and his ex drove her to revenge.

  “Cedric, I don’t know if yo’ ass is hooked on phonics, but I thought I told you to take this punk-ass nigga on a ride.”

  Cedric took his gun and pushed Ray-Ray in the back of the head. “Let’s go, muthafucka.”

  “Come on, Red. Don’t do this to me,” Ray-Ray begged.

  “Miss me with that bullshit! All these muthafucking hoes in Cleveland, and you gotta violate by fucking with mine? You wanna go against the code like that? Fuck you! Get this punk muthafucka the fuck out of my face!”

  Cedric put his gun against Ray-Ray’s back and guided him toward the door. As soon as they were out the door, Red stuck his hand inside the couch and pulled out a large package of cocaine, which was the only reason he went over to Cookie’s in the first place. After calling one of his customers to confirm the transaction that was supposed to go down later, he called Bobby and told him that he needed him to come by later that night to get the dope ready.

  Ray-Ray racked his brain, trying to think of a way out of the mess he was in. He didn’t know where Cedric was taking him, but if he didn’t find a way to get out of that car, he was a dead man riding. “Yo, Cedric—”

  “Shut up! I don’t wanna hear shit you gotta say!”

  After riding in silence for a few more seconds, Cedric looked at Ray-Ray and shook his head. “How the fuck you gonna stick dick to ya homeboy’s girl? That’s the foulest shit a nigga can do!”

  “I don’t know. We just started drinking at the bar, and the shit just escalated from there.”

  “And that little piece of pussy about to cost yo’ ass big time.”

  Ray-Ray started sweating profusely. While he was trying to think of a way out of his current predicament, Cedric was busy texting on his phone. Ray-Ray’s prayers were answered when Cedric dropped his phone, and it bounced under the seat. “Shit,” he said as he reached down to get it. Ray-Ray glanced at the bent-over Cedric and saw his opportunity.

  Foolishly, Cedric placed the gun in his right hand, making it impossible to get off a good shot in the event that he had to take one. Feeling this was his only chance at freedom, Ray-Ray slammed on the brakes hard. Cedric’s head hit the front of the glove compartment with a loud thud.

  “Ah shit,” Cedric screamed. Although he still had possession of the gun, he couldn’t get off a shot because his own body was in the way as a result of his body being twisted. As soon as the car came to a stop, Ray-Ray jumped out and sprinted across the street.

  He heard two shots ring out but kept running. The man whose car was rear-ended jumped out to say something to Cedric but froze when he saw the smoking pistol in the young man’s hand.

  “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck,” Cedric shouted as he jum
ped back in the car. He hit a U-turn in the middle of the street, causing other drivers to slam on their brakes. He looked around for his prey as he drove down the street, but it was too late. Ray-Ray was long gone.

  * * *

  Nancy walked into JCPenney like she owned the joint. She knew that the other women who worked there hated her because they felt that she got special treatment, but she didn’t give a fuck. All she was concerned about was keeping enough money in her pocket to feed her habit. And with the boss in her hip pocket, all she had to do was show up every now and then and her job was safe. Her coworkers giggled and pointed as she strolled toward the back of the store. She didn’t know what they were laughing at, and she didn’t care. As soon as she got to the back, Nancy went into the bathroom and took out her bag of dope.

  While sitting on the toilet, she rolled up a dollar bill that she’d taken out of her pocket and stuck it into the bag. Then, after sniffing into each nostril, she sat back and allowed the drug to take effect on her system. Her nose got numb as she got up off of the commode and wiped herself. Nancy washed her hands and walked out of the bathroom, sniffing. Knowing that she would probably snort up the dope before the day was half gone, Nancy decided to go and visit her personal bank, Mr. James.

  She ignored the stares of her coworkers and continued walking toward where her boss’s office was located. “Damn, that bitch look high as fuck,” she heard one of the women say. “She ain’t gon’ be gettin’ no special treatment no more,” she heard another say. Nancy didn’t know what she meant by that, but she was more than prepared to pull her trump card if she had to. She still had the recording of her and her boss, so if he wanted to resist, she would use it to blow his marriage out of the water.

  Nancy walked into her boss’s office without knocking. She was surprised to see him packing up his things.

  “Mr. James? What’s going on? Why are you packing up your things?” Before he could answer Nancy’s question, his wife came out of the back. As soon as she saw Nancy, she went into a rage.

  “Is this her? Is this the bitch you’ve been fucking behind my back? Is this the bitch I saw coming out of this office when I popped in to surprise your trifling ass last week? Bitch, you been fucking my husband? I’m about to fuck your ass up!”