by Jahquel J
“My nigga I was fucking with. His nasty ass is HIV positive and he didn’t tell me. He tried to act like he didn’t know when I shoved the papers in his face.”
“The fuck? You fucked him?”
“Hell no. I make all the people I get involved with get checked before we have sex. I’m going to be a doctor and they teach us that before we start anything.”
“Good.” I blew a sigh of relief. “Now tell me what happened?”
“I ran the test myself. We have a test lab at the university and I decided to run the test. Me and my classmate ran the test three times to make sure we did it correctly. He’s HIV positive and was talking about sexing me and all of that.”
“You told your brother?”
“What would that do? All he would do is overreact and ask me why I’m thinking of niggas in the first place. I’m where I need to be and a man isn’t going to distract me.”
“What you should be thankful for is that you didn’t sleep with that nigga. Did he admit he had it or something?”
“Nope. He said I was wrong and needed to retest it and tried to kiss me. I kissed him, Benny. Thank God I don’t have it, but this could have gone wrong.”
“Shit. You got my heart racing and shit. Your brother don’t play about you.”
“I know. Grand act like he got the pull. When I slapped him and left, he told me he’ll call me later to talk. If I could, I would reveal his status online.”
“I would fucking do it.”
“As a future doctor, I can’t do things like that. It could hurt me down the line. So, all I can do is complain about this and move on.”
“Just thank your lucky stars your ass ain’t got the clap.”
“The clap?”
“I fucking forgot you so damn proper. Forget it.”
She plopped down on the couch next to me and gave me that same look she gave me at her brother’s crib. Inching away from her, I put my feet on the coffee table and stared at the TV.
“Gigi, stop trying to start something between me and you. The shit isn’t going to work.”
“Why are you so quick to think it wouldn’t work?”
“Your brother is one of those quiet, crazy niggas. You think I want to deal with that?”
“He’s not going to go crazy if me and you mess around. I’m grown, Benny. I have my own place now and it can be on the low.”
Grape spent all his time trying to make sure Gigi didn’t hang with chicks from the hood and put her in these fancy schools, and she was attracted to the same niggas he tried to keep her away from. Gianna was beautiful and was about to do amazing things in the medical field. I was a ex-con who would never be able to go straight and narrow unless I decided to step back from the game. Even then, I would never fit in with her life as a doctor. We would never be able to work and be together. Especially not with her brother. Grape wouldn’t approve of this shit and right now, I was cool on having drama with him.
“Nah, I’m not going that way with you. You chill and I’m cool with kicking it with you, but I’m not about to do my nigga Grape dirty. I’ve always been solid and will always remain solid. Go to school and stop focusing on hood niggas.”
“The guys at my school are so boring.”
“Boring is what you need. Apparently you fucking with the live niggas is what gets your ass something you can’t get rid of.”
“Shut up. That was one time.” She rolled her eyes and laughed. “I’m smart and know what I like. These guys at my school don’t turn me on and I need a man that has some swag. Me being book smart and him being street smart will make us a power couple.”
“Yeah, keep thinking like that. You being book smart and him being street smart will have your ass driving upstate to visit him in prison. Stop trying to rebel against your brother and take advantage of the opportunity he has provided you with.”
She sat there and listened, and I could tell that it went through one ear and came out the other. Shorty didn’t want to listen to me and hear the truth about the streets she was trying to get involved in. Part of it was Grape’s fault. He allowed her to be just book smart and didn’t teach her the game. So any nigga that had baggy pants, a charming smile and had good game could have her head gone. Being book smart was one thing, but not knowing the code of the streets was something you needed to know. Grape was so consumed with protecting his baby sister that he didn’t follow the main rule and put her on to game. I refused to be the nigga who had to go in front of Grape and explain why he had his little sister craving the dick. My dick game hadn’t been used in some years, but I was willing to bet it was still on point and would have Gigi’s little ass crawling the walls.
I walked into the trap and plopped down on the couch. Grape and Yoshon was sitting on the couch chopping it over some basketball game. These niggas were so mad that they were taking money out of their pockets and tossing it on the table to bet on their team. Shaking my head, I laughed because these niggas were always about their business so it was nice to see them talking and serious about something other than business. The trap was located in Park Slope in a house that was on a tree lined street. You wouldn’t have known it was a trap and we made sure to keep the traffic low. If there were too many people coming and going, the neighbors would become suspicious. The only people who knew where this place was, was our white clients who were too good to come to the hood and get their fix.
“What you been up to, Ben?” Grape finally stopped tossing money out his pocket and turned his attention to me. Yoshon had his eyes glued to the TV and was making sure his team was going to win.
“Shit. I slept all day. Your sister stopped by my crib earlier.” After I set Gigi straight, she stayed by the crib for a while and then said she was heading home. Did I believe she was heading home? Nah, she had got a message and was up on her feet and ready to leave quicker than she came.
“Oh, word?” He looked skeptical and I nodded my head and laughed.
“It ain't even like that, Grape. I wouldn’t cross that line with you. Gigi is just cool people and she had to vent about her man.”
“Man? What fucking man she got?” Grape forgot that his sister was grown and she could date whoever she wanted without telling him shit.
The way he acted was the reason she didn’t come to him with shit. This shit with her boyfriend having HIV and trying to fuck with her was too close to home. I’ve seen niggas in prison sharing their fucking diseases by fucking with each other on the inside. Those same niggas wanted to link on the outside after I walked past their cell and they had their ass tooted up in the fucking air, getting fucked. HIV and other STD’s were running rampant in prison. Gigi thought the shit was a joke and laughed it off like it wasn’t something serious and she needed to fucking realize that the shit was serious. If she didn’t get tested before fucking this nigga, she could have gotten infected with the same virus he was denying he had.
“My nigga, you need to realize that she’s grown and has a life. School isn’t her entire life, G,” Yoshon butted in without taking his eyes from the TV.
“School is what she need to be focused on, not these niggas. When she graduate from medical school, then she could be with somebody. I knew I shouldn’t have let her move back to the city.”
“You didn’t have a choice in the matter. Gianna made that choice for your ass,” Yoshon laughed and I joined in. Grape kept acting like he had a choice in her moving back home. She told him what she wanted and now she was enrolled in medical school in the city.
“I told her she shouldn’t be fucking with niggas and should be worried about school. This clown ass nigga she was fucking with tried to fuck and she was smart enough to get tested. The nigga had fucking HIV.”
If looks could have killed, me and Yoshon would have been dead in our chairs. He was so mad that if his ears were releasing steam, I probably would have seen it coming out of his ears. This nigga’s hands were shaking so bad that he couldn’t grip his cellphone in his hand correctly. Even Yoshon stopp
ed watching the TV and turned his attention to us with a shocked expression on his face.
“You serious?” Yoshon questioned me.
“Dead ass. That’s why she stopped by my crib earlier. Gigi ran the test three times, and the nigga still tried to fuck and claimed that she needed to retest the shit.”
“Who the fuck is the nigga?” Grape grilled me. I wanted to tell this nigga to back the hell up because he was too close.
“How about you move the fuck back? You ‘bout to tongue kiss this nigga,” Yolani laughed as she came through the door.
“Where the hell my food? You late as fuck and you empty-handed?” Yoshon got right on her.
“Damn, I forgot that shit on my kitchen counter. Pit Pat went all out with the food too., she bragged like this nigga didn’t look hungry.
Plopping down across from me and Grape and next to Yoshon, she looked at us. “You foul as fuck.”
“Damn, my bad. What the fuck happened?” Yoshon filled her in on everything that just happened and she shook her head. “Gigi smart as fuck. A lot of women wouldn’t have done that shit.”
“Who the hell is this nigga?” Grape still wanted to know.
“Some nigga named Fear, but I found out that his name is Grand. Shit sound familiar like I crossed paths with this nigga. You know the streets is small and I could find out shit I need to know quick.”
“Oh hell fucking no!” Yoshon was the first to jump the fuck up. “That nigga is like a fucking fly. You try to let the shit out the house, and they still manage to get in and get on your nerves.” Yoshon started pacing the floor.
“Yo, come through to PS. I need you to pick up your product early. We’re about to shut this shit down.”
“Word? Do I need to pay for the shit right now? Cause I don’t got all of that, I could do half and give you the rest the end of the month.” Grand’s voice came through Grape’s phone. When did this nigga pull out his phone and dial the number?
“Nah, give half and you better not fuck around with the other half. Only reason I’m doing this is because I don’t have time to move it to the new place and need to close this one down quick.”
“Bet. Give me an hour and I’ll make my way over there. Wifey in her feelings and I’m trying to calm her down. Yoshon still didn’t give me the shipment from a week ago, the fuck up with that?”
“I’m not your wifey, so stop saying that. I don’t even know why I’m sitting here with you.” We heard Gigi’s voice and I could of sworn I saw Grape’s entire soul leap out his body and run out the door. Biting the inside of his cheek, he spoke slowly.
“Look, it’s either you come get this shit now or I’ll have someone else scoop it and you’ll have to wait to shit is running at the other spot to pick up your shit next month. I’m not Yoshon and I don’t know what he got going on, but I got next month’s shipment. Take it or leave it.”
“Damn shit. Babe, you gonna ride with me real quick?” You could tell he removed his phone from his mouth, but we could still hear clearly.
“Do I have a choice? You’ve been driving around for hours trying to convince me of shit I already know,” she snapped.
“Give me thirty minutes and I’ll be there.”
“Bet.”
Grape ended the call and tossed his phone across the room. It hit the wall and the pieces fell to the floor. “I’m not one to talk because I’ve made some dumb ass decisions, but why the fuck is she even with this nigga?” Yolani asked.
“Shit, I just asked myself that,” I replied.
“I’ve risked my life to provide her with the best so she could ride around in cars with trap niggas? Every move I have made was because of her and trying to give her a better life than I had.”
“You spent so much time trying to hide her from something and now she’s curious. Gianna wants to know how the other half lives and she’s attracted to the street niggas,” Yoshon explained, and Grape still didn’t understand. In his heart, she was breaking his heart by doing the opposite of the plan he had mapped out for her. She was supposed to go to school, get good grades and not be involved with hood niggas.
“Shit, we all know pretty girls love trap goons” Yolani snickered and I shook my head at her.
“That nigga need to be dealt with.” Yoshon sternly looked at Grape. “Either you do it, or I’m going to do it. You already know me and that nigga aren’t on good terms.”
“Is that the reason that nigga still haven’t got his shipment? The man sound like he ‘bout to damn near cry because you fucking with him.”
“He fucked around with my wife and now I’m fucking with his money.”
“Golden? What she got to do with this?” I met Golden a few times when I stopped by the crib. She was beautiful and down to earth. Each time I came through, she always tried to feed me. Now that she and Yolani were responsible for the legal side of things, she was always over her crib when I came over.
“That’s her husband,” Yolani explained.
“So, this nigga just trying to keep it in the family, huh?”
“And he fucked with the wrong chick.” Grape screwed on a silencer and then cocked it back. “I’m gonna get on Gianna’s case too. The fuck is she thinking?”
“She’s not,” Yoshon replied. “You not gonna like this, but I got something that may get her to realize that this street shit ain’t a game.”
“What you got in mind?” Grape was intrigued and wanted to know what he had up his sleeve.
“Me, Lani and Big Ben run up on the car while he in here with our guns drawn. Make her get out the whip.”
“Do it.” Grape didn’t protest or ask anything, he was down for the cause, and I felt bad for Gigi. This shit was going to scare the shit out of her and probably make her ass go back to the books and leave the street niggas alone.
We were all kicking it and waiting when we heard the doorbell ring. Grape turned the TV and saw Grand standing on the front stoop with his car double parked in the street. “Damn, this nigga didn’t waste no time. It ain't even been thirty minutes,” Yolani laughed.
“Head out the back; I’ll handle him,” Grape told us. I grabbed my piece off the coffee table and the ski mask that we kept in the back. The traps had ski masks in case we ever had to leave in a hurry, and the crib was being raided, no neighbors could identify who escaped out the back. It was Yolani’s paranoid ass rule that I learned about when I got out of prison. She must have made the rule when her ass was high as fuck because it made no sense. If they see us coming and going on the regular, what the fuck was the ski mask going to do?
We waited in the alleyway between the two houses. When we heard Grape greet him, we continued around the house with our guns drawn. Gigi was sitting in the passenger seat on her phone scrolling Instagram. This is how I knew she wasn’t ready for this life. Shorty had her window open while she carelessly scrolled her phone. Yoshon was the first one to appear and reached in and unlocked the door.
“Oh m—” she tried got ready to scream and Yolani put her hand over her mouth.
“Shut the fuck up or I’m going to put this heat to your head,” Yolani deepened her voice and whispered.
“Open this damn door and step the fuck out. When I let go of your mouth, if you scream, I’m gonna knock your fucking head off.”
Tears came down Gigi’s eyes and fell onto Yolani’s hand. She took her hand off her mouth and she stepped out the car. “My brother will give you whatever you want. Don’t hurt me. I’m in school and have my whole life to live.”
“Who is your brother?” I had to throw my voice off a bit so she didn’t recognize it.
“His name is Grape. He runs a lot of these streets and he doesn’t play with me,” she readily gave the information which was a wrong move.
“Have those niggas kill that nigga Grape,” I told Yoshon and he pretended to make a call. Gigi could have died right there in Yolani’s arms with the way her body went limp.
“Bring her ass in the crib. We gonna have fun cutting h
er ass up,” Yoshon said and followed behind us as she walked up the stairs to the crib.
When we entered the crib, Grape was sitting on the couch chopping it up with Grand. This nigga even had a fucking beer. He really thought shit was all sweet and it wasn’t. When we snatched our masks off, and he saw Gigi, his face dropped.
“Gerald!” she cried out and ran right into his arms with tears streaming. Gianna was hysterical and shaking with tears coming down.
“What the fuck is going on?” Grand stood up and reached for his gun.
“Looking for this?” Grape held up his gun and Grand’s face dropped. “Nigga, when the fuck have I even hugged or fucked with you since I found out what you about? You let me come up on you and get you for your gun and didn’t even feel me. Rookie move.”
“Nigga, I signed the fucking papers for that bitch and just been cooling. The fuck y’all want from me?”
“Nah, you been trying to stick you infected ass dick into my little sister.”
“I don’t got the fucking clap. I’m clean and got an appointment to prove to her she did that test wrong. Even she said she messed the first test up,” he tried to lie his way out of this shit.
Niggas never went to the doctor. They just allowed their girl to get checked and if their girl was good, that meant that they were good. This nigga really believed that he didn’t have HIV and that he was clean.
“This not about my fucking wife. Call her bitch again and I’ll fucking shoot you right here and now,” Yoshon growled. From his stance, I could tell he wanted to get this nigga bad and was just being patient.
“Yo, I just been chilling. I’m not fucking with nobody,” Grand really tried to convince us that he was a good guy. Niggas had all that heart until it was time to pay for their sins.
“Yoshon, Yolani and Benny…. Why would y’all do that to me?” Gigi looked hurt and took the shit personal. It was another reason her ass needed to stay in the city and just go to school.
“Yolani, take Gigi home for me.”
“No, I’….” her voice trailed off when she saw the look her brother gave her.