by Kiki Swinson
“That fuckin’ asshole fired you?” Cucci shrieked. “Even after you let him smash it? That’s madness! Wasn’t nobody tryna snatch his old big-headed baby anyway! He was asleep the whole time! Did you tell him that?”
“Since when do the truth matter when a man is tryna get him some pussy?”
Cucci chewed on a slice of bacon and shook her head. “Dang, I’m sorry you lost your job, mami. I know what kinda jam that’s gonna put you in with your probation officer. We gotta find you another job real quick, but I’m just so fucking tight with how that bullshit went down last night, yo! Them stick-up kids knocked me out and walked outta there with all our money so what we gonna do now?”
“That money . . .” Honore muttered under her breath as she tried to play it off and hide her look of shame. “I can’t believe somebody got us like that.”
“Me either,” Cucci said, frowning. “But they did.”
“A’ight, pick ya lips up,” Honore said brightly trying to boost their mood. “Shit happens. The streets is crazy and niggas is out here playing for keeps these days. Losing that money was bad, but it coulda been much worse, you know. True, them hittas put they paws on you and stole a lil pussy outta ya box, but they bodied that white boy and left him all wet up for real! You better be lucky they ain’t say fuck it and clip you in the forehead while you was knocked out too.”
“Yeah, I can dig it,” Cucci said as she dug back into her breakfast. “But I’m telling you the whole thing had to be an inside set-up because some kinda way they knew we were gonna be there holding that bank. I mean, they got a damn key and they walked up in that bitch going ham! I just wish I had a piece on me. I woulda rocked one of them niggas though!”
“Girl cut all that gangsta shit out,” Honore said as she set her plate down and reached up on the dresser and took down a small bottle and rubbed some lotion on her feet. “You ain’t no gunslinger, bitch. If you had’a been strapped last night it woulda turned out even worse.”
Cucci twisted her lips. “How so?”
“Because you was out-manned and you never even saw it coming. We just gotta take the loss, Cucci Momma. It’s all a part of the game. But I’m telling you, if Sly McFly wasn’t in the joint that shit wouldn’ta went down like that. He woulda made sure none of those new niggas out there even thought about violating our hustle like that.”
“Yeah,” Cucci agreed. “Sly is definitely thorough like that. Don’t nobody wanna fuck with a dumb-out killer like him. When he was out here going hard he had the drug game and the street game on lock.”
“Sho’ did,” Honore said. “It’s a damn shame that his connects won’t fuck with us just because we females. They won’t even let Chimp Charlie vouch for us. I guess I gotta wait till Sly calls so we can see what the next move is. He has to let his peoples know we good money so we can get the cash flow rolling again.”
“You ain’t never lied,” Cucci said. “ ’Cause my lil paycheck from the jewelry joint don’t be lasting but a hot minute these days. Matter fact, that shit be already spent up before I even cash it. Thank God I’m about to get me a promotion, though.”
“Damn,” Honore said, impressed. “Already?”
“Yep. I got the big boss so strung out he can’t keep his nose outta my twat. His lookin’-ass stays all over me, and he’s forever telling me how I could really rise up lovely through the ranks of the company if I keep my mouth closed and play my cards right. But you know what that shit really means, right? He wants me to keep my trap shut and don’t tell nobody how he be slippin’ and dippin’ on them diamonds he be taking outta the vault.”
“That’s what’s up, Cucci Momma. You really got yourself a good-ass come-up at that spot,” Honore said as her agile mind started racing. “You better hop on that promotion opportunity and work that damn program, girl.”
“Oh you know I sure the hell am.” Cucci giggled as she bent over and set her empty plate down on the floor. “Trust, baby. Joel Samuelson is taking damn good care of me and he’s elevating my whole game in the jewelry biz. Like I said, he done already told me that the new floater job that just came open is mine, and that means he’s gonna have me going from store to store selling small diamonds all over the city. I’ma keep my hands on all that pretty-ass ice,” Cucci said as she grinned.
“Yo, you should try to snatch a couple of them shits up on the low when ain’t nobody watching,” Honore suggested as she chewed on a thick slice of slab bacon. “If you get you one, make sure you get me one too. You know diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”
“Bitch don’t be stupid,” Cucci snapped sharply. “I’ma pimp the situation to the max, but I ain’t going to jail behind that shit! There’s levels to this diamond business, Honore. You just can’t walk up in there and stick a diamond in ya bra and think won’t nobody notice it’s gone. Nah, this game is way more sophisticated than that.”
Honore shrugged. “I’m just saying it’s stupid to be busting ya ass surrounded by big money and millions of jewels every day, and meanwhile you only bringing home minimum wage, Cucci! That’s like being a bank teller and taking in all them hundreds of thousands of dollars for the white man all day long, and at the end of the week you only walk away with three hundred dollars for your own damn pockets. It just don’t make no sense not to try to find a way to get some of them riches and rewards for yourself. That’s all I’m saying.”
“I know what the hell I’m doing,” Cucci said, acting fake annoyed. “I already told you the boss is on my damn heels so hard he’s giving me a promotion! Girl, please. I got that nigga’s dick jumping like Jordan to salute me every time I walk in the room, and no matter how many times I put it on him he still can’t get enough of this funky stuff! On the real, I hear what you saying though. Don’t worry, cuzzo. Once I get that promotion shit is gonna be real grand for both of us. I’ma slow grind every inch of this diamond shit and milk it for all it’s worth.”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Honore responded, and then she said quietly, “but why you ain’t never asked your boss to hire me at that diamond joint, Cucci? Hell, you over there in Money-Making-Manhattan rubbing elbows with the big shots and getting benefits and shit. I want me some of that corporate action too. Why’ont you tell that nigga Joel to put ya fam on too?”
Cucci cut her eyes and gave her cousin a wary look. “I already asked him to look out for you one time already, damn, don’t you remember? How the hell do you think you got that babysitting job with Sal and stayed your ass outta jail, Honore? Joel talked to Sal and gave you the hook-up like I asked him to. You think he’s gonna go outta his way for you again just like that?”
Honore shrugged. “Hell, yeah. Why not? You fucking him real good, ain’t you?”
Cucci Momma shook her head and twisted up her lips. Hell no. She wasn’t feeling this shit at all. She liked the lil setup she had going at the New York Diamond and Jewelry Exchange. Finally, she was somebody important and had herself a real career. Joel Samuelson had seen how special she was, and he had taken her under his wing and was showing her the ropes in the black market diamond business. Honore didn’t know it, but Joel had recently taken Cucci with him to make a drop at an old jewelry store in Brooklyn where he passed off a diamond he had stolen from the Jewelry Exchange’s vault. An elderly Jewish dude who had been in the game forever took them into a back room and made a cloned copy of Joel’s diamond and then gave him the fake diamond to slip back into the store’s vault.
The next day, Joel had introduced her to some cat named Avi, who he said was an underground diamond trader on the black market in Belgium. Joel had given this dude Avi the real diamond that he had stolen, and Cucci had overheard Avi saying something about crushing it up into ice and talking some real big numbers that he was gonna get for it on the underground market.
Cucci knew Joel was grooming her for something really amazing, and when he told her there was a new job opening and asked her if she would be willing to help him bait and switch company diamonds f
or a small share of the profits, she had said hell yeah with a quickness. Cucci was scheduled to go out on a job with Joel real soon, but she was keeping all that secret shit under wraps. Nah, she thought as her eyes slid over to Honore. She had shared just about every damn thing in her whole life with her favorite cousin, but Cucci wasn’t wit’ none of that slide-in-on-her-shit kinda action that Honore was talking right now.
“Yeah, I’m the one fucking him,” Cucci finally said with mad snap on her lips. “Remember that. Besides, they ain’t hiring nobody down there who don’t have jewelry store experience right now.”
“Yeah, well whatever,” Honore said, taking note of the shade, “we still gotta switch up our hustle then ’cause this escort shit gonna fuck around and get us killed or locked up. We gotta use our heads and lock in. We can’t just roll over in the game and slip all the way off, Cucci! When you let them niggas roll up and take our money it put us all in a bind. We need to start thinking about our future and how we can come up on some more cash.”
Cucci Momma hit her cousin with the side-eye as she nodded and took mental notes. Honore had one fucking thing right. It was time for Cucci to start thinking about the future all right. Hers!
CHAPTER 6
The visitor’s area on Rikers Island was jam-packed and noisy. Some of New York City’s most brutal criminals were awaiting trial behind those bars, and Sly McFly was one of them.
Honore had left home early so she could catch the bus and ride over the bridge, hoping to be one of the first visitors in line. She hated coming up to this bitch-ass jail. The correctional officers were just as crooked as the inmates that they were paid top dollars to keep locked up. Crime and treachery ran amok just like on the streets up in there, and the prisoners weren’t the only ones who had drugs flowing through the joint like toilet water through shitty pipes neither. You could best believe that the guards were being paid to be mules too, and they were getting a real nice piece of all the action that went in and out of those doors.
For the visit today Honore had braided her long hair in two cornrows and she wore a dull baggy Polo sweatsuit so she would draw less attention to the wide hips and curvy ass she had on her. The last thing she needed was a bunch of corrupt ass COs eyeballing her shit and tryna holla like she was gonna take them in the bathroom and fuck them in a stall.
The visit was taking place in a high-security area, so first Honore had to fill out all kinds of forms and submit to being questioned and thoroughly frisked, and then finally she was allowed to walk across the room to the cubicle and sit down so she could wait for the man himself to walk in and take a seat on the other side of the glass.
It had been a minute since she had seen him last, and as she sat waiting for her handsome godfather, the notorious OG Sly McFly, the anxiety she had been feeling inside for the past few months showed all over Honore’s face.
A few moments later Sly McFly stepped in the room, cool as shit. Unlike the other prisoners he was swinging his arms with no handcuffs on as he joked around and talked easily with the veteran guards who escorted him in.
Honore grinned inside.
Her favorite old-head looked strong and confident up in that bitch. Life on Rikers Island had done nothing to diminish Sly’s swagger or detract from his glow. He was a king-ass lion who looked real comfortable in the concrete jungle and he still had his roar. Sly sat down on a stool and smiled broadly at Honore through the glass before he picked up the phone.
“Damn! You looking happy as fuck to be in the worst place in New York City, nigga!” Honore said sarcastically with a smile on her face. “This must be some real easy time because you over there grinning just like a kid in a damn candy store.”
“You know how I do baby girl,” Sly said smoothly as he laughed at her sarcasm. “I’m just enjoying my lil vacation, ya know? They treat me pretty well in here, as you can see. I’m laid back in this bitch with my feet up not worried about a damn thing. I’m doing my time and not letting the time do me. Now what’s going on that you had to come all the way out here and see me? All you had to do was wait for me to call.”
“Forget waiting. Shit ain’t moving right, Sly,” Honore said, showing her irritation. “Those connects you told me to holla at won’t even acknowledge me because I’m a chick. They won’t let me collect on the debts they owe you so my cash flow is real funny. Plus, me and Cucci gotta step away from all that escort shit because niggas are starting to line us up. Cucci got caught in a bad one and almost got pushed messing around with some greedy-ass hittas the other night. We think somebody on the inside set us the fuck up!”
“Calm your ass down, baby girl,” Sly said gently as his hawk eyes scanned the room. He was a tall, thin man with light skin and long, wavy hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. He was well into middle age, but due to his good genes and disciplined lifestyle, he was strong, fit, and trim. Sly was dressed in the same prison clothes as all the other inmates, but somehow his shit looked regal and boss on him. Like he was wearing royal robes or some shit.
“Is that all you got to say is calm down? You don’t know what it’s been like for us out there on them streets without you, Sly!”
“Don’t worry, lil mama. Everythang is gonna be all right.”
“But I’m telling you shit is getting real funky out there,” Honore insisted. “Without you steering the ship the supply is drying up and all them businesses of yours are veering way off course.”
Sly shrugged coolly. “I said don’t worry about it, baby girl. The streets will always be the streets. Anything I got once, I can get it again. Just take care of yourself and help Cucci hold Frita down until I get out. My court date is gonna be here before you know it and I guarantee you I’m gonna walk outta that courthouse a free man.”
Honore nodded. “I sure hope so because me and Cucci are both broke as hell.”
“She still got her job at that diamond joint, don’t she?”
Honore nodded again. “Yeah, but they don’t hardly pay shit. And like I was saying, we had a lil situation the other night . . .” she started, then her voice trailed off.
“What kind of situation?” Sly leaned forward and probed.
Honore shrugged. “Just some stupidity. Some predator-type niggas got wind of a party we had set up at a hotel and they showed up to crash it. Cucci got fucked, we lost out on some bread, and a drunk white boy got his melon split. So now me and her are both broke again.”
Sly shook his head in disgust. “I wish I could help you out more, baby girl, but you know them federal muthafuckas got my shit all tied up. They seized my houses, my whips, and they ran down on Frita for almost all my cash too.”
“Damn, it’s like that?” Honore was shocked. She had always thought Sly McFly was a legitimate bankroller who had endless dollas stashed away in secret underground vaults all over the big city. His name and “broke” just didn’t even go in the same sentence as far as she was concerned, and to hear him say all his chess pieces had gotten wiped off the board was a real blow to her system.
“Damn, I didn’t know we was doing that bad,” Honore said, miffed and sounding close to tears. “I mean, yeah, Cucci’s still working so she’s holding shit down, and I get a couple of ends from Chimp Charlie ere’now and then . . . but I didn’t know our shit was so crucial, Sly.”
Sly waved his hand at her and grinned. “Don’t even sweat that shit,” he said in a cock-sure tone that always immediately calmed Honore’s anxiety. “Niggas never pay you what they owe you when you locked up. I could get them niggas touched from right here if I wanted to, but I ain’t living like that. I got shit clicking like clockwork in this joint, and as soon as I get out life’s gonna be lovely for all of us again. Y’all just gotta find a way to survive for a little while longer, and then shit will be back to normal. I promise you. Anyway, now you done told me all the bad shit and we got that outta the way. You got some good news for me or what?”
“Not really,” Honore said. “I got fired from my job, though.”
“Three,” Honore corrected him. “I worked for three days. Nights, really. And then Cucci got caught up in that bullshit and I had to go get her. It was in the middle of the night and I was watching that hollering-ass baby. I couldn’t bring myself to leave the lil guy all by himself, so I took him with me. My boss busted me when he saw me leaving the house on his security video, so he fired me.”
“So whatchu gonna do now? Try to find yourself another gig? What about that jewelry joint where Cucci works? Just tell ya cousin to put you on so both of y’all can make some money.”
Honore’s eyes lit up. “You would think she would look out for a bitch, right? Man, I been tryna get Cucci to gimme the hook-up for a minute now but she be acting all funny-style whenever I bring that shit up! She keeps saying I don’t have no job experience with that type of thang or some shit like that.”
“Neither does Cucci!” Sly bucked, then stared deeply into her eyes. “Look, fuck Cucci. You can suck a dick just as good as she can, right?”
Honore nodded vigorously.
“Then cool. You been properly raised, Honore. When you see something you want don’t you let Cucci or nobody else stand in ya way. Go get that fuckin’ job, baby, and make sure you come out on top! Now, that’s enough for today. I need to get back to running my game. Take heed to what the fuck I said and stay above water until I touch down.”
CHAPTER 7
Joel Samuelson was a big-money roller and he executed whatever he pursued with style and class. His deep pockets showed in almost everything he did, which is why the dinner party he was holding tonight for his district managers and their families was nothing less than elegant and extravagant.
Joel was dressed to perfection in his smoke gray Armani suit, and he exuded supreme confidence as he sat at the large banquet table surrounded by people who adored him. Guest speakers from other major jewelry companies were in attendance, both to show their support and to soak up game from Joel and his team.
