Soft: Cocaine Love Stories

by Styles, T.

  “You good, ma?” he asked, freeing her mouth from the gag.

  “I am now,” she replied. Smooth could hear the fear in her tone despite her response.

  “You knew I wasn’t gonna leave you for dead,” Smooth said proudly.

  Silk’s heart melted. It was the first time she had ever heard or seen Smooth display some type of emotion or love for her. She revealed a half smile.

  “No, you didn’t leave me for dead,” she repeated. Smooth noticed how her eyes had softened.

  “Later for that. Let me find something to cut you loose, but first let me handle this.” He turned his attention toward Troub, who had found the strength to roll over onto his stomach and was trying to squirm his way over to where his gun had landed.

  “What the fuck you think you doin’?” Smooth’s tone switched back to raw. He rolled Troub’s body over to face him.

  “Yeah, you punk-ass nigga. You ain’t shit without a gun in ya mu’fuckin’ hand,” Smooth antagonized. “Ain’t no fun when the rabbit got the gun, huh, nigga?”

  “You think you won?” Troub managed to chuckle. “Nigga, this shit is bigger than me. You don’t know—”

  Troub’s next words were silenced by the bullet that shattered his two front teeth, ripped through his tonsils, and exited the back of his head.

  “You lose, pussy!” Smooth spat.

  Smooth dragged himself over to where Riq lay. He picked up the bloody knife that had him in the condition he was in and made his way back over to Silk. Once he freed her, Silk flew into his arms and rested her head on his chest.

  “Whoa, ma!” He caressed the back of her head. “You good now. It’s over,” he assured her.

  Tears began to spill out of Silk’s eyes and onto Smooth’s shirt. He could hear her sniffling.

  “Come on, babe. Suck that shit up. We good.” Smooth released her.

  “I’m good,” Silk said, wiping her face.

  “That’s what I’m talkin’ about. That’s my girl. Now, let’s get the fuck outta here,” Smooth suggested.

  Silk nodded her head in agreement. She slid her arm around Smooth’s waist and guided him as the two of them made their exit.

  The Aftermath

  Silk’s eyes burned fiercely as the brightness of the sun beamed through the front windshield of the SUV. She had been driving aimlessly for the past six hours, nodding occasionally on the interstate. Between all she had been through back in Jersey and then jumping on the road, she was exhausted. She looked over at Smooth, who was fast asleep in the passenger’s seat, and sighed. She couldn’t believe he had risked it all, including his life, to save hers. Just the thought of his actions caused tears to moisten the creases of her eyes.

  When the situation had first unfolded, never in a millions years would she have thought that Smooth would consider agreeing to the demands the three Bloods had presented. When she heard Smooth had agreed to the terms, she had mixed emotions. Both fear and joy overcame her. Fear of the outcome, but joyful that he had cared enough to consider. She couldn’t help but shake her head. Her emotions had nearly gotten the man she loved killed.

  The night she stormed out, she had no intentions of returning. All she had wanted to do was to get as far away as possible from Smooth. She felt that he had hurt her deeply without any remorse. She drove around the city of Plainfield without any particular destination and found herself riding through the Bricks. How ironic, she thought, as she rode through the very same housing projects Big Sheed was from. As she floated down Liberty Street, she heard a voice yo’ing her down. For the life of her, she did not know why she stopped, but she did. She saw a short, light-skinned brother with dreadlocks wrapped up in a red bandanna. She clenched her baby 9 mm as he approached her car.

  When he asked her to roll down the window, she could have easily pulled off, but instead she did as he requested. His first words had thrown her back. “Yo, didn’t you used to fuck with the homie Big Sheed?” Before she could have conjured up a lie, his second statement eased her. “Man, fuck that nigga anyway. He gone. I wanna know what’s real with you.”

  Before she knew it, she and Troub were engrossed in a deep conversation, which found them in his crib, then eventually in his bed, with Silk telling him about all the money and drugs she knew Smooth had. She never thought she would have followed her plan all the way through, but at the end of the day, she was grateful for the final outcome.

  She couldn’t help but smile. Smooth opened his eyes and yawned.

  “Whatchu smilin’ about?” he asked.

  Silk’s heart nearly leaped out of her chest, but she played it cool.

  “You.”

  “What about me?” Smooth questioned, not convinced.

  “Glad you’re alive,” is what she answered. But her thought was how she had managed to survive and get away as smooth as silk.

  “That’s what’s up.” Smooth grinned then closed his eyes.

  Nothing to Lose

  by Boston George

  “Please drive this motherfucker!” Monica yelled from the back seat as she held Abel’s head in her lap.

  “Is it bad?” Abel asked, looking up in her eyes.

  Monica looked out the window as she replied. “It’s not that bad. You going to be fine,” she lied. Abel’s whole blue mechanic jump suit was now red from the amount of blood he spilled. “Please drive faster. We have to get him to the hospital,” Monica yelled as she saw Abel’s eyes start to roll in the back of his head.

  “A hospital?” Kane echoed as he snatched his clown mask off his face and looked at Monica through the rearview, zipping through highway lanes like a NASCAR driver. “We can’t take him to a hospital,” he told Monica, while looking at her like she was crazy.

  “If we don’t get him to a hospital he’s going to die!” Monica yelled. “He’s your brother for God’s sake!”

  Monica knew if she wanted to get Abel to the hospital, she was going to have to make a move. She quickly reached down in her mechanic jump suit and removed her 9 mm. “Take me to the hospital right motherfucking now!” she demanded as she pressed the barrel to the side of Kane’s head. She had heard stories of how grimy and low-down Kane was, but right now she was witnessing it firsthand.

  Kane and Abel got their nicknames from their own mother. Ever since they were kids, Kane was always doing dirty, grimy shit. Abel did the right thing most of the time. One day she sat both of them down and read them a story out of the Bible about two brothers. From then on, Kane and Abel were the brothers’ new names.

  “Bitch, you gon’ pull a gun out on me?” Kane growled as he quickly stomped on the brakes, causing Monica to come crashing to the front of the vehicle. Immediately Kane grabbed the gun, trying to pry it from Monica’s hand. As the two fought for the gun, it accidentally discharged. POW!

  Kane violently elbowed Monica in her face as he snatched the gun from her hand. “Dumb-ass bitch!” He opened the door and kicked Monica out of the truck, then pulled off, leaving her lying there, bleeding on the concrete.

  5 Days Earlier . . .

  “Why you gotta go and pick him up?” Monica asked from the passenger seat.

  “’Cause he’s my brother,” Abel replied, keeping his eyes on the road. He knew a lot of people didn’t like his brother, but no matter what, Kane was still his brother, and in Abel’s eyes, family always came first.

  “He just gon’ be back in jail next week anyway,” Monica said half jokingly as they pulled up in front of the prison.

  After a forty-five-minute wait, Abel and Monica saw a group of inmates being released. Immediately, Abel spotted his brother out of the pack.

  “I see you, my nigga!” Kane yelled, sounding extra ignorant, with a smile on his face as he walked up to the car. The two brothers gave each other dap followed by a hug.

  “I see you been in there getting your workout on,” Abel said, touching his older brother’s muscles.

  “You know I had to keep my weight up, just in case one of them clowns tried to st
unt on me in there,” Kane said, looking inside the car. “Who that smutt?”

  “Watch your mouth,” Abel said, throwing a phantom punch at his brother. “That’s my baby right there, Monica,” he said, tapping on the glass.

  Monica stepped out of the car looking extra sexy to Kane, especially since he hadn’t seen a woman besides the lady C.O.s in years.

  “Hey, it’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you,” Monica said, extending her hand.

  “The pleasure is all mines,” Kane said, looking in Monica’s eyes as he raised her hand up to his lips and kissed the back of her hand gently.

  “So I hope you plan on getting a job,” Abel said as he quickly got in between the two. “Mommy already got a few interviews lined up for you.”

  “Man, fuck a job. I’m ready to make some real money,” Kane huffed as he hopped in the back seat.

  “Listen, I ain’t gon’ let you have Mommy crying like last time,” Abel said as he pulled off. “You gon’ do right this time. Mommy been talking about you coming home for the past two weeks non-stop.”

  “All right, all right, all right,” Kane huffed, already tired of hearing his little brother’s mouth.

  Ever since they were little, Abel was always the “good kid” in his mother’s eyes, the one son that could do no wrong. But the master plan that Kane had up his sleeve would sure change the way his mother and the rest of the family looked at him forever.

  “I’ma make the whole family proud.”

  “That’s what I’m talking about,” Abel said with a smile as he pulled up in the empty parking spot in front of his mother’s building. He couldn’t wait to see the look on his mother’s face when his brother walked through the front door.

  “Ay,” Abel said, looking at his brother as the trio entered the building. “Try to be nice to Mommy’s boyfriend.”

  Kane sucked his teeth. “She still with that bitch-ass nigga Darrel?”

  “Yes,” Abel told him as he pressed the button for the twelfth floor in the elevator. “Darrel is a cool dude. You just never gave him a chance.”

  “Fuck him,” Kane said, waving him off. “Only reason I ain’t kill him yet was ’cause of Mommy.”

  “Would you two please cool it?” Monica said. “Y’all been going at it for the whole ride.”

  Abel shook his head as he walked down the hall to his mother’s apartment. He took a deep breath as he raised his arm and knocked on the door. “Here, you go in first,” Abel said, moving out of the way so that Kane was standing in front of the door.

  Seconds later, Ms. Linda answered the door with an excited look on her face. “Oh my God!” she screamed as she hugged Kane tightly and dragged him inside the house. “My baby is home!” She continued to rant.

  As soon as Kane stepped inside the house, a packed living room yelled “Surprise!”

  Kane smiled from ear to ear. “Thank you, thank you.” He smiled even harder when he saw his little sister Cindy come and give him a hug.

  “Glad you made it home safe,” Cindy said, kissing her brother on the cheek. “I want you to meet my new boyfriend, Black.”

  “What’s up?” Kane said as he shook Black’s hand. Just from taking one look at Cindy’s new boyfriend, he could tell that he was a drug dealer. “You take care of my sister, a’ight?” he said as he walked through the living room and said hello to all the other guests.

  “Look at my baby looking all buff,” Ms. Linda bragged with a huge smile on her face. “I’m so glad he’s finally home.”

  “Let’s just hope he can stay home this time for longer than a week,” Darrel said, seeming to appear out of nowhere. “Glad you home,” he said, extending his hand for a handshake.

  Kane looked at Darrel until he finally put his hand down. “Maybe if you stopped living off of my moms and got out here and got your own money, then you would see how hard it is to get a job,” Kane said, looking at Darrel like he was pathetic. “Especially when you have a record.”

  “You may not like me, but you damn sure will respect me in my house,” Darrel said, setting his cup down like he was ready to get busy.

  “Don’t y’all dare start,” Ms. Linda said, quickly jumping in front of the two. She already knew how they felt about one another, and a fight between them was the last thing she wanted to happen, especially in her house.

  “I’m cool,” Kane said, throwing his hands up in surrender. As soon his mother moved out of the way, Kane was already in motion. He stole on Darrel, dropping him with one punch just off impact alone. Kane quickly hopped on top of Darrel and rained blow after blow on the older man’s exposed face.

  Once the fight popped off, the whole house immediately went into a frenzy. Abel and a few other people in the house quickly hopped on Kane and dragged him up off of Darrel. He was one bloody mess.

  “Fuck is wrong with you?” Abel yelled as he finally pushed Kane out of the house and into the hallway. “You ain’t been in the house for five minutes and you already fucking shit up.”

  “Fuck that old nigga,” Kane said as he walked down the hallway and disappeared in the stairwell.

  All Abel could do was shake his head as he walked back inside the house. His mother was crying, Darrel was lying on the floor bleeding, and the whole surprise was ruined. Something had told him that this surprise was going to be a bad idea, but since his mother was so excited, he’d decided to go along with it.

  “You all right?” Abel asked his mother, who sat on the couch crying.

  “That boy just can’t do right to save his own life,” Ms. Linda cried. She had hoped that this time when Kane came home from jail he would be different, but instead he had come out even worse than when he went in. “Please go and try to talk some sense into your brother, ’cause I don’t want to see him get killed out here on these streets,” Ms. Linda said as tears ran freely down her face.

  “I got you,” Abel said as he and Monica stood up. “You all right?” he asked, looking down at Darrel.

  “Please,” Darrel said, waving him off. “Your brother hit like a bitch,” he lied. The truth was his face felt like a few bones had been cracked or maybe even broken. Abel knew that was just Darrel’s pride talking, from how his jaw sagged down on his face.

  “Come on. Let’s go try to find this nigga,” Abel said, as he exited the house with Monica.

  When Abel and Monica made it downstairs, they saw Kane sitting on the bench in front of the building, smoking a cigarette.

  “What is wrong with you?” Abel asked, snatching Kane’s cigarette from his hand. “Do you know how hard Mommy worked to set that up for you?”

  “Fuck all them fake people up there,” Kane huffed. “I can’t stand being around fake motherfuckers.”

  “You keep on acting like this and you going to be right back in jail,” Abel said, shaking his head. He knew his brother was a loose cannon, but now it seemed like he had gotten even worse. Jail had only turned Kane into more of an animal.

  “Yo, I need you to take me downtown real quick,” Kane said, standing to his feet. He had only been out of jail for a few hours, and already he didn’t feel like he fit in.

  “What you need to go downtown for?” Abel asked curiously.

  “I’ll tell you when we get in the car,” Kane said as he walked off toward the car. They saw an ambulance pull up, followed by a cop car.

  “Okay, now where we going?” Abel asked once they were inside the car.

  “That motel down by Sixty-fifth Street,” Kane replied.

  “The one where all the dope fiends be?” Monica asked with her face crumpled up.

  Once Abel heard where his brother wanted to take him, he knew that trouble wouldn’t be too far behind. “What you need to go down there for?”

  “Business,” Kane said flatly. He didn’t want to get into details, because he knew his brother would start acting like a punk.

  “I ain’t taking you nowhere until you tell me what’s going on,” Abel said, cutting off the car.

 
; Kane sighed loudly. “Listen,” he began, “me and my homie who I was locked up with up came up with this plan to rob a bank.”

  “Rob a bank!” Abel echoed, looking at Kane like he was crazy. “You a stupid motherfucker!”

  “We got four people working on the inside. No way we can get caught,” Kane said. “In and out in less than two minutes.”

  Abel started up the car. “If you want to throw your life away then go right ahead. I don’t even care anymore,” he said as he headed downtown to the motel. Abel was tired of trying to save his brother from himself. If he wanted to go out and rob a bank, then that was on him. If Kane didn’t care about his life, then so be it.

  Abel pulled up to the motel and placed the car in park. “Go throw your whole life away,” Abel said.

  “Let me use your cell phone real quick,” Kane said with his hand out. He took the phone and quickly dialed a number that he read from a crumpled up piece of paper that he pulled from his pocket.

  “Wassup? This Kane. What room y’all in? Okay. Be there in a sec,” Kane said, snapping the phone shut and handing it back to his brother. “You sure you don’t want a piece of the action?”

  “Get out,” Abel said, not even bothering to look at his brother. He couldn’t believe his brother was stupid enough to go out and try to rob a bank. He knew his mother had taught him better than that, because they both had the same mother.

  Abel got ready to pull off, until Monica stopped him. “You don’t want to make sure he makes it inside first?”

  Abel sucked his teeth as he watched Kane knock on one of the doors.

  Kane stood in front of the door, waiting for someone to answer it. He could hear feet shuffling inside the room from behind the door. Seconds later, a man with a full beard and sunglasses answered the door with a .38 in his hand.

  “Who the fuck are you?” he growled, his breath smelling like a mixture of alcohol and cigarettes.