Soft: Cocaine Love Stories

by Styles, T.

  “Kane,” he replied. “Snoop sent me. I was locked up with him. I just got out today.”

  The man with the beard stuck his head out the door and saw Abel’s car sitting there. “Who the fuck is that?” he asked suspiciously.

  “That’s just my brother and his girlfriend,” Kane told him.

  “Tell them to come inside for a second,” the bearded man said.

  Kane walk back over to the car. “Yo, my man wanna meet you two,” he said as he stuck his head in the passenger side window.

  “Nah, we leaving,” Abel said. “We don’t want nothing to do with nothing you got going on,” he said as he started up the car.

  When the bearded man saw the car start up, he ran up on Kane from behind and placed the .38 to the back of his head. “Cut the car off now!” he yelled.

  Abel quickly did as he was told. Abel and Monica slowly got out of the car.

  “Get in the room!” the bearded man commanded and then watched the couple do as they were told. Once inside the room, the bearded man slammed the door and locked it. Inside the room, another man with short dreadlocks stood holding an M5 machine gun.

  “What is this all about?” Kane barked. “I’m here to do a job.”

  “We told you to come alone,” the man with the short dreads said as he quickly patted down the trio.

  “I just got out of jail a few hours ago. I needed a ride,” Kane said. “Which one of y’all is Styles?” The bearded man raised his hand. “So you must be Jimmy,” Kane said, looking at the man with the dreads.

  “Listen,” Abel said, “me and my girl have nothing to do with this. If y’all want to go on a suicide mission, that’s y’all’s business,” he said as he tried to leave.

  “Fuck you think you going?” Styles said as he blocked the exit.

  “C’mon,” Abel pleaded. “Let me and my girl go, please . . . Please.”

  “Sorry, but I can’t do that,” Styles said. “Y’all know too much for me just to let y’all go.”

  “Nah, you don’t understand,” Kane said, jumping in the conversation. “My little brother don’t got nothing to do with this. He a school nigga. He don’t know nothing about the stree—” A punch to Kane’s mouth interrupted his sentence.

  “Shut the fuck up!” Styles barked. “If you didn’t want them in this shit, then you shouldn’t have brought them in the first place.”

  Kane touched his lip, and his hand came back bloody.

  “What you want me to do with these two?” Jimmy said, looking at Styles quizzically. “I say we kill ’em”

  “Kill us!” Monica snapped. “We didn’t even do shit.”

  “Two choices,” Styles said, turning to face Abel. “Either I kill you and your girl right now . . . or you and your girl have to come on the job with us. Choice is yours. What’s it gonna be?”

  Abel hesitated before speaking. He knew nothing good could come from either choice. He looked at Monica, who had a scared look on her face. Abel knew he should never have given Kane a ride in the first place.

  “I guess we gon’ have to go on the job with y’all” Abel said, feeling backed into a corner.

  “Good,” Styles said. “The more eyes we have on the job the better.”

  “If anything happens to my brother, I promise it’s going to be me and you,” Kane said, looking Styles in his eyes.

  Styles didn’t reply. He just stared at Kane, his face remaining unmoved.

  “Okay, let’s get down to business,” Jimmy said, reminding everybody that he was still in the room.

  “Fuck all the small talk,” Kane huffed. “When is the job and what’s the plan?”

  Styles and Jimmy broke out laughing. “We have to know we can trust y’all first.”

  Abel’s eyes glazed over in anger, but he kept his voice neutral. “What do we have to do?” Whatever it was, Abel knew it wasn’t going to be good. When you do dirt, you usually get dirt back in return.

  “It’s this big-ass card game going down at The Plaza Hotel in about a hour,” Styles said with a smirk on his face. “A bunch of Chinese motherfuckers go there every month just to gamble, but tonight they not gonna know what hit ’em.”

  “So you want us to rob a card game tonight?” Abel asked.

  Styles chuckled again before he replied, “Of course not.” He paused. “I want y’all to help us rob the card game,” Styles said as he grabbed a bag full of guns from under the bed. “And don’t get any ideas, ’cause if anything happens to me or my partner, y’all can say goodbye to your mother,” Styles said, pulling out a picture of Ms. Linda from his back pocket and handing it to Abel. “We just protecting ourselves. Y’all do y’all part and we’ll do ours.”

  Abel took the picture then turned and looked at Kane with fire in his eyes. Not only did Kane get him and Monica caught up in some shit, but he also got their mother in the middle of his shit too.

  “I didn’t know it was gonna be like this,” Kane said in a concerned tone. Deep down he wanted to kill the two men for holding his family hostage, but he knew if he did try to make a move, his whole family would have to pay for it with their lives.

  “Just shut up,” Monica said with a disgusted look on her face. She couldn’t believe what was happening right now, all because they decided to give Kane a ride to the sleazy motel.

  “So what is it that you need for us to do?” Abel asked as he grabbed a 9 mm from the bag and examined it closely.

  “I need you two,” Styles said, pointing at Abel and Monica, “to just stay in the car and keep it running. I don’t give a fuck what happens. That motherfucking car better be there when we come downstairs.” Styles’ voice was soft, but Abel didn’t miss the order beneath the surface. “While they outside in the car,” he said, turning to face Kane and Jimmy, “we gon’ go up in there and go rob these Chinese motherfuckers blind.” He grabbed a shotgun with a pistol’s grip on the handle.

  Styles then reached inside the bag and removed three masks. He tossed two to Kane and Jimmy and kept one for himself. The mask looked like a brown paper bag with holes for the eyes and mouth, but the material wasn’t paper; it was cloth.

  “Fuck it. Let’s go get this paper,” Kane said, grabbing two .45s from the bag.

  “I told you you shouldn’t have volunteered to pick him up today,” Monica whispered to Abel.

  “I’m sorry, baby. I wish I would have listened to you,” Abel said, blaming only himself for the situation that they were in. All he had to do was say no to his older brother, something that he hadn’t been able to do since they were kids.

  “Come on. It’s time to go,” Styles said, looking at his watch. “Them Chinese niggas should be just now getting there.”

  “I promise I’ll get y’all out of this somehow,” Kane whispered as they all exited the raggedy motel.

  The Plaza Hotel

  Abel pulled up in front of the hotel and placed the stolen van in park. “Y’all niggas hurry up. Don’t be in there playing.”

  “You just make sure this van is here when we get back!” Styles said as he hopped out of the van with Jimmy and Kane and headed inside the hotel.

  Abel looked over at Monica and noticed that her leg was shaking. “You all right?” he asked.

  “No, I’m scared,” Monica admitted. “What happens if this doesn’t work out how it’s supposed to?”

  “Everything will be fine,” Abel assured her. “All we have to do is stick together and we’ll be fine.”

  “Fuck that. I say we just leave and say fuck it,” Monica suggested. She just knew that if she and Abel didn’t get killed, they were going straight to jail, and she didn’t like the sound of either option.

  “We can’t do that,” Abel said. He wanted to just say fuck it and leave, but the first thing that came to his mind was his mother. “They know where my mother lives.”

  “Damn.” Monica sucked her teeth. She so badly wanted to leave, but there was no way she was going to leave her man hanging like that.

  “All we ha
ve to do is—” Abel’s words got caught in his throat when he noticed an officer walking up on the van. His eyes quickly went down to the screwdriver sticking out of the ignition.

  “Hey, you can’t park here!” the officer shouted. “Keep it moving!”

  “Fuck!” Abel mumbled. “Sorry, officer” he said as he pulled off.

  Inside the hotel, Styles walked right up to the woman who stood behind the counter with a huge smile on her face.

  “Hi. May I help you?” she asked in a friendly voice.

  “Yes,” Styles said, looking the woman dead in her eyes. “I need a room next to the action.” He licked his lips.

  “Not a problem,” the woman replied as she handed him a key. “That will be four hundred dollars.”

  Styles reached down in his pocket and peeled off four hundred-dollar bills and handed them to the desk clerk. “Have a nice day,” he said with a wink as he and his partners walked over to the elevator.

  Once the elevator door closed, Kane started up. “If one of them Chinese niggas even look at me funny, I’m popping off,” he said, sounding ignorant as usual.

  “Shut the fuck up!” Jimmy said, nodding toward the camera that rested in the upper corner of the elevator.

  Once the elevator finally came to a stop, the trio quickly stepped off one by one. Styles immediately turned his back to the camera at the end of the hall as the men put on their masks. Styles removed his shotgun from the duffle bag then handed the bag to Jimmy, who removed his M5 machine gun. Kane removed his two .45s from the small of his back.

  Once Styles saw that everyone was ready, he quickly slid the key card in the slot. As soon as the lock on the door turned green, Styles pushed his way inside. “Let me see those motherfucking hands!” Styles yelled as the trio barged inside the room.

  In front of Styles stood a Chinese man with a dumb look on his face, like he didn’t understand English. Styles viciously hit him across the face with the nose of the shotgun, dropping him instantly.

  “Get on the floor!” Kane yelled then watched the Chinese men do as they were told.

  “Do you fools even know who you’re robbing?” one of the Chinese men said in a calm voice. “I’m Charlie Young Fat,” he said with authority.

  Kane walked up and punched the Chinese man in his face. “I don’t give a fuck about no Charlie Young Fat!”

  “We don’t care who you are. All we want is the money,” Styles said as he removed all the gambling money from the table and put it into the duffle bag. Styles had the hustler’s eye, so just by looking at the table he could tell that there was around $200,000 on the table, if not more.

  “You can take the money, but there will be consequences behind this,” Charlie Young Fat said in an even tone.

  “Shut up before you make me mad!” Styles said, shooting the Chinese man an evil look.

  “Those masks can’t protect you,” Charlie Young Fat said with a smirk on his face. Seconds later he felt a fist smash into his face. Blood flew from his lips and dotted the floor.

  “Say something else,” Styles said, hoping the Chinese man was feeling brave; but Charlie Young Fat decided to just keep quiet. “That’s what the fuck I thought,” Styles said as he removed a roll of duct tape from his back pocket.

  After Styles taped each man’s hands behind their backs, Jimmy and Kane quickly searched every man’s pockets, removing all money and jewelry.

  “Y’all niggas ready?” Styles asked, looking over at Kane and Jimmy. Once they gave him the head nod, they all quickly exited the room, heading straight to the stairs. In the stairwell, all three men quickly removed their masks and tossed them, along with their guns, in the duffle bag.

  “Damn, my gun won’t fit,” Styles huffed.

  “Fuck it. Throw that shit away,” Jimmy said, looking back and forth over his shoulder.

  “Fuck outta here. I ain’t throwing my shit away,” Styles said, looking at Jimmy like he was insane.

  “Well, nigga, you better do something,” Kane huffed.

  “Fuck it.” Styles sucked his teeth, but he left his shotgun in the stairwell as he ran down the steps.

  When the trio made it down to the lobby, each man walked at a normal pace, trying not to draw any attention to themselves. Styles winked at the desk clerk as they exited the hotel.

  “What the fuck?” Styles cursed when he didn’t see the getaway van waiting out front. “Where the fuck are they?” he growled, looking over at Kane.

  “How the fuck am I supposed to know?” Kane replied. “I was upstairs with y’all.”

  “Fuck that,” Jimmy said as he walked off. “Y’all can argue all y’all want. I’m outta here.”

  As the trio walked down the street, all Styles could think about was how he was going to brutally murder Kane and his mother for Abel and Monica abandoning them like that.

  As they continued to walk down the street, a van pulled up on the side of them. “Get in!” Abel said, coming to a sharp stop.

  “You don’t know how close you just came to almost getting all of us killed,” Kane said as they all hopped back in the van.

  “Y’all thought I bailed out on y’all?” Abel asked, glancing at them from the rearview mirror.

  “You just don’t know,” Styles said with a smile on his face, but a few seconds ago, wasn’t shit funny.

  Are You Serious?

  Back at the room, Styles paced back and forth with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, while Jimmy sat on the bed, counting the money. Even though the job went smoothly, Styles still wasn’t sure he could trust Abel and Monica. Their hands were still too clean.

  “One more job and you two are free to go,” Styles said.

  “One more job?” Kane repeated. “This some bullshit. I thought we was supposed to be robbing a bank.”

  “That’s not going down until the end of the week,” Styles said quickly. “But I can’t just let your brother and his girlfriend go that easy. One more job and they are free to go.”

  Abel didn’t say a word. He just looked over at Monica and shook his head in disgust. This was definitely a day that neither one would soon forget.

  “I’m a man of my word,” Styles said, looking at Abel. “One more job and y’all are free to go.”

  “What do we have to do this time?” Abel asked, knowing it was going to be something crazy.

  “I’ll explain everything to you tomorrow,” Styles told him as he continued to pace the small room. The .38 on his waist was visible to the entire room.

  “Two hundred thirty thousand,” Jimmy said with a smile on his face. “Here,” he said, tossing Styles his cut. “That’s a hundred.” He kept a hundred for himself, and tossed the remainder over to Kane. “That’s thirty thousand, ten a piece. Split that up.”

  Kane nodded his head as he handed both Abel and Monica their share of the money. At first Abel wasn’t going to accept the money, but after giving it some thought, he figured why not take the money, especially since he had risked his freedom for it.

  “I’m hungry,” Monica said, looking at Styles. She hadn’t eaten anything since earlier in the day. “Can we order something?”

  “No!” Styles replied. He didn’t want anybody coming to the room. He turned to Jimmy. “I need you to make a store run.”

  “I got you,” Jimmy replied as he grabbed the 9 mm from the dresser and stuck it down in the small of his back. He took everyone’s order and quickly exited the room.

  “You sure you going to let my brother and his girlfriend leave after this next job?” Kane asked as he helped himself to a glass of Grey Goose that rested on top of the dresser.

  “That’s what I said, right?” Styles snapped. “I don’t know why you even brought them here in the first place.”

  “Like I told you the first time,” Kane said, “I needed a ride. How else was I supposed to get here?”

  Styles looked over at Abel. “You can thank your idiot brother for y’all being here.”

  Kane was about to reply, but Styles
quickly put one finger up, hushing him. “You hear that?” Styles asked as everyone in the room got quiet. Loud voices yelling in the next room could be heard, followed by loud banging against the wall.

  “Somebody in there getting fucked up.” Kane laughed out loud. Seconds later, the fight got even more intense ; then a woman’s screams could be heard coming through the cheap walls.

  “That don’t make no sense,” Monica said, shaking her head. “I don’t even understand why y’all would even meet up in a sleazy place like this.”

  “Needed a place that was low key and under the radar,” Styles said. “And besides, they don’t ask for ID here.”

  “Man, fuck all that,” Kane interrupted. “This nigga need to hurry up with the food,” he said, peeking out the window.

  “Y’all hold it down,” Styles said as he went in the bathroom to take a shit.

  “I’m about to take a nap,” Monica said as she lay back on the bed. “Wake me up when the food get here.”

  Before Abel could reply, the trio heard a loud knock at the door.

  Kane pulled out his .45 as he eased his way to the door. “Who is it?”

  No answer came back.

  Kane cracked the door, and on the other side stood a nice-looking young girl, standing butt naked and covering her breasts with her hands.

  “Please help me,” the naked woman begged. “Can I please come in? He’s going to kill me!” she yelled in a strong whisper.

  Kane didn’t hear anything the woman said. The only thing he knew was that the girl who stood before him was butt naked. “Yeah, come right on in,” Kane said, hungrily eyeing the woman’s body as she entered the room.

  “So what’s your name?” Kane said in his mack daddy voice, eyeing the young woman’s curves.

  “Please don’t let him get me,” the woman said with a terrified look on her face as she backed up against the wall.

  “Baby, don’t be afraid,” Kane said in a smooth voice. “I ain’t gon’ let nobody hurt you.”

  Monica quickly hopped up and snatched the sheet off the bed and covered the woman’s body. “Are you okay?” Monica asked.