Durty South Grind

by L. E. Newell

  Thirty minutes later they piled out of the car. His nephew, Stacy, and niece, Kym, tackled him to the ground. He looked up the sidewalk; these were the same apartments where he used to stay with the twin sisters from Washington, Georgia.

  He smiled, recalling the sweet honeys; especially how down they had been with their hustles. He silently wondered how they were doing, since he hadn’t heard anything about them for several years. He made a mental note to track down their whereabouts. Those surely had been some good times, getting high and getting plenty of digits with his boy, Rainbow. One of the twins had ended up being one of his fastest steppers in his ever-revolving stable.

  Sparkle got up off the ground and then he and Stacy had a hugging and shoving match up the walk to Debra’s apartment. Stacy was draped in a number 38 Georgia Tech football jersey and wore denims bunched around his gold-trimmed Nikes. He was the spitting image of his daddy, Sam, a top player who drove the honeys wild with his squinty-eyed smile and Mack man mentality.

  There was a five-player Tonk game in progress when they entered the apartment. Sparkle’s initial instincts were to join in the game. He fought off those urges to complete the greeting and to chow down on some fried chicken, fish, spareribs and corn-bread; all finger-licking good. He washed down the food with ice-cold Heinekens. Sparkle, Debra and Stacy disappeared into the kids’ room. They smoked a couple of blunts before everybody started leaving. It was indeed a blessing to be home.

  CHAPTER THREE

  It’s Rolling Rocks Time

  “I hear that that nigga Sparkle is about to hit the bricks,” a silhouetted figure said out of a haze of blue smoke from the shadows.

  “Uh-huh, he should be hitting the city in a little while, if he ain’t already here,” the other figure in the fedora-cocked aceydeucy responded.

  Silhouette cleared his throat. “How long you think it’ll take afore he hooks up with his boys?”

  “Ya can’t really tell. He may chill for a day or two. Then again maybe even a week or so; hell, your guess is as good as mine.”

  Silhouette got up from behind the desk and started pacing the floor; the hard face was deep in concentration.

  Fedora frowned suspiciously before reaching across the table to pluck the smoking blunt out of the ashtray. He took a few tokes, then hacked and coughed from the acrid scratching caused by the harsh smoke. “Well, how ya wanna play it?” He coughed and sniffled. “Whatcha wanna do; wait ’til they all get together?” He coughed and sniffled again. “It don’t make me no difference, know what I’m sayin’?”

  Silhouette squinted nervously and sat back down, wondering how far dude could really be trusted. He plucked the blunt from his dangling fingers and took some tokes. “Let’s sit back and see what happens. He may get away from the game altogether and go straight.”

  Fedora leaned back in the chair and folded his arms across his chest. “You really think that he’s gonna do that, huh?”

  Silhouette gave up a snorted laugh and spat, “Hell naw, to tell you the truth, I’m sorta hoping he does. It’ll be a lot easier taking care of the other two instead of all three of them at the same time. From what I’ve heard, these niggas ain’t nothing to be playing with.”

  “Uh-huh, yeah, you probably right about that there. Hell, they ain’t nothing to be playing with. Ain’t no need for us to even pretend they are.” Fedora shifted in his seat, obviously getting slightly uncomfortable.

  Silhouette shifted in the shadows as well. “Yeah, you right, because if something happens to the other two, he’s definitely going to get involved.”

  “Okay, so what we do is wait ’til they get together.” Fedora took a deep breath and raised the Glock from the table and aimed it out the window. “Pow, pow, pow, yeah, we wait. And be ready for whatever whenever.”

  “Yeah, and be ready,” Silhouette grumbled. He took another deep toke before he got up to leave the room.

  Fedora watched him leave and then pulled the empty chamber out of the gun, and replaced it with a loaded one. Damn, you can’t really trusty anybody in this damn city, on the real.

  After the last of the family had left, Debra and JJ went into the bedroom and left Sparkle to chill on the couch in the living room. The excitement of being released and the following activities had him spent and snoring in no time.

  It seemed like he had just closed his eyes when he felt somebody shaking his shoulder. He stirred groggily, yawning and knuckling his eyes before was able to focus on whoever had awakened him. “Yeah, what’s up, nigga…” JJ placed a firm hand over his mouth and sshed him. Sparkle glared at him angrily and mumbled, “Whadda fuck, man?”

  “Come on, dude, keep your voice down,” JJ whispered with his face twisted. He looked down the hall to the bedroom.

  Sparkle pushed JJ’s hand from his mouth. He waved his head back and forth, indicating that he understood and was cooperating.

  JJ grimaced at his aggressive motion and backed away slowly to the closet.

  A slightly woozy Sparkle sat up on the couch and eyed him curiously. Man what’s wrong with this here fool, waking a nigga up like that?

  JJ, who didn’t notice the aggravated look on Sparkle’s face, kept peeking back and forth between the hallway and the closet. When Sparkle started to get up and ask him what all the tripping was about, JJ waved him back down. He opened the closet door and then reached down to the floor and up to the shelf.

  When he turned around, he had a shoebox pressed to his stomach. He started tiptoeing toward the dining room table, then paused to look down the hall again.

  Whaddafuck’s up with this nigga? Shiiit, the way he acting is starting to make me all nervous and shit. He looked at the grandfather clock in the corner and saw that it was one o’clock. He yawned, realizing that he was bone tired.

  JJ got to his full six feet and retied the sash of his robe. His bald head was shining, even in the dimness. He was one quick-witted dude, but had the annoying habit of overflowing his sentences with street slang; probably to portray the image of always being hyper hip. But the jittery way he was acting now wasn’t hip at all.

  Sparkle frowned as he watched him take out some baggies. One contained a lot of blocked cubes that reminded him of macadamia nuts. In the others were some smaller bags and some glass tubes. JJ didn’t mutter a word as he took one of the cubes and placed it in the glass tube and lit up. He proceeded to suck the smoke greedily through the tube until all of the fumes stopped. Then he held his breath for what seemed like at least thirty seconds. When he exhaled, extremely slowly, Sparkle could see the euphoria spread across his face.

  He wiped away some beads of sweat that had instantly appeared on his forehead. “Ooo-wee, that be some bomb shit there, dog, some real bomb shit.” He wheezed as he sat back in the chair. “Go ahead, dog; do one of them muthas. Take your time though because that’s some potent shit, for real.”

  Sparkle was curious and got off the couch to join him at the table. JJ sshhed him, as if he’d never caught the message. Sparkle sat up, getting a grip on his pissed-offness, feeling like JJ was overdoing it with that sshhing bullshit, but his curiosity kept him quiet.

  Eyeing him suspiciously, Sparkle pulled out a chair and sat down. With a still sleepy voice, he asked, “Yeah, man, what the fuck is up?” As he eyed him intently, it dawned on him that the nuts reminded him of free-basing coke.

  The unmistakable aroma of cocaine whiffed through the air. He pinched his nose and rubbed his neck and chin.

  “Wave the lighter back and forth over the rock and when it starts to melt, start sucking up the smoke.” JJ motioned for Sparkle to try as he continued to look toward the bedroom.

  The rock started sizzling immediately and Sparkle sucked in the smoke. Exhaling slowly he soon felt that old familiar rush of cocaine bliss erupt into his brain. From seemingly far away, he heard JJ’s voice, but the coke had him already zooming to Scottieville. The buzz was simply a buzz.

  After a few moments he was able to decipher what he was saying.
“Be sure you hold the smoke for a while before you exhale.” Hell, he’d already done that; dude was tripping or was it him? JJ paused and leaned back in the chair with his forearms folded across his knee. “Now pinch ya nose. Uh-huh, that’s the way. Now slowly let the smoke out.”

  Sparkle nodded and squeezed one eye open to see him still looking down the hall. This nigga’s tripping, yo; ain’t even watching me. Oh, well… The exhilarating effect of the coke had hit immediately with a rush; it felt like he was getting a nut.

  His mouth flew open and his eyes bucked wide. “Oooh-weeee, man, whaddafuck?” He wiped a river of sweat off his brow. “Feels like freebasing coke; godayum, this shit be good.”

  JJ squinted at him. Damn, partner was down for a helluva long time. No wonder he acting so strange. “Yeah, dog, that’s exactly what it is.”

  “No shit, where you come up with this, yo?”

  JJ looked at him like he had lost his mind. “Come on, dude, you did a pretty long bit but it won’t that fucking long. I know you had to hear how lethal this shit done got.”

  “Damn, man, this here’s some really good stuff. And yeah, I heard something about it for years, but you know how it is in that dungeon. You never really know.”

  JJ turned his nose up a tab. “Yeah, man, this be the shit. Yep, rock cocaine, and the bitches be whatever to get a hit of this shit.” He got up and looked down the hall again before he continued, “That’s what it is, dog; the same from back in day when yo ass was freebasing, except folk be using stuff that’s a lot more potent these days. And like I said, the honeys be giving it up big time, for real, yo.”

  “For real,” Sparkle repeated with a smile spreading from ear to ear. “A nigga could really use a shot of pussy, for sho.”

  “Hey, man, that’s exactly what we getting ready to do. But first we gotta bag up some of this stuff. Might as well clock some dollars while you get your nuts out the sand.”

  “True dat; true to muthafucking dat.” Sparkle grinned hard as hell and started rubbing his crotch vigorously.

  JJ got up from the table, put a finger to his mouth and tiptoed back to the closet.

  Starting to feel a little jittery himself, he also looked down the hall to Debra’s bedroom. Damn, he sho don’t want Boo Bear to know.

  As if he were reading his thoughts, JJ said, “Man, no way we can let Debra know we doing this shit. Man, she really be tripping; especially with little Ebony and Mike around.”

  Sparkle got up from the table and went to sit back on the couch. He felt real good. “Yeah, I can’t blame her. So what’s up now?”

  JJ reached into the shoebox and took out some miniature Ziplocs in various colors. He placed them in separate piles on the table. Immediately Sparkle started fingering them. JJ watched him for a moment and got up to peek around the corner again before he crept into the kitchen.

  Damn, dude’s starting to give me the creeps. I’ve gotta watch his ass, Sparkle thought.

  JJ tiptoed back to the table, placed a saucer on it and poured a load of the cubes in it. He took the time to light up one more hit before he got down to biz. “Check this out, dog, pick out the bigger ones, like these; they are twenties. Put them in these brown bags. And the smaller ones; they are dimes, so put them in the red ones.”

  Sparkle, his mind focused on getting some pussy, immediately responded by picking up the bags, opening them and sliding rocks inside. JJ nodded in approval.

  They worked in silence as they bagged up at least a couple dozen before JJ gathered up the stuff and put the remainder back in the shoebox. He quickly placed the box back in the closet and grabbed two jackets. He tossed Sparkle a jean jacket and put on a khaki one.

  After easing down the hall to check on Debra and the kids one last time, JJ waved for Sparkle to follow him, ssshing him once again. He quietly unlocked the door and slipped out the apartment.

  Enough of that ssshing, fool, like I don’t know that we sneaking out of here, Sparkle thought as he tiptoed behind him.

  The paranoid effects of the coke were starting to make him trip, too, as they walked across the field to the other side of the complex. Both of them kept taking turns looking back toward the apartment.

  Damn, this jitteriness must be contagious, fucking with this here rock, Sparkle thought. He followed JJ up the steps to a second-story apartment where he rapped on the door.

  They started to feel the chill in the air. An impatient JJ rang and kicked the door at the same time when there was no response. He shouted in the crack of the door, “Come on, girl, I know yo ass in there.”

  Sparkle wrapped his arms around himself as he glared up and down the door. He zeroed in on a shadow that passed across the peephole. He smiled, nudged JJ and pointed to the peephole. “Man, what kind of folk you dealing with here, dog; playing peek-a-boo games and shit?”

  JJ rolled his eyes and snorted angrily. Huffing he kicked the door harder and shouted again, “Damn red-ass bitch, I can see your stupid ass at the peephole. Whatcha playing these games for?” He started to give it a more vicious kick before Sparkle pulled his coat sleeve. JJ’s head whirled and he growled over his shoulder, “What?”

  Sparkle nodded toward the door. “Listen, dude, somebody’s pulling the chain; check it out.”

  JJ leaned toward the crack and snorted. “About time. Damn, a nigga gotta freeze out this bitch, fucking with your tired ass.”

  The door opened up a few more inches only to be closed back just as fast.

  “Damn,” they said in unison and looked at each other bewilderedly.

  A soft feminine voice eased through the crack. “Whodat widcha, playa?”

  “He’s wid me, my brother-in-law; Debra’s brother.”

  That didn’t faze her. “And?”

  “And what?” JJ retorted, starting to get pissed.

  “And whaddafuck he want?” she asked suspiciously.

  JJ took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Clown-ass geeking bitch, he with me. You gonna open the door or what?”

  JJ and Sparkle heard another voice whispering.

  A naturally suspicious Sparkle nudged JJ’s shoulder. “What’s the deal, yo? Why they doing all that whispering and shit?”

  JJ hunched his shoulder and raised his brow questionably. He started feeling a little antsy and then said angrily, “Looka here, Dee, you either open this damn door or I’m taking this new bomb I got down to Shorty Mack’s crib.”

  Sparkle nudged him again. “Who the fuck is Shorty Mack? Don’t tell me it’s the same nigga who used to run that fake hash scam around Buttermilk Bottom back in the day.”

  JJ nodded with a smile. “Yo, man, this bitch here be up most of the night. And all kinds of geekers be flowing through her spot on the regular. So this be a good spot to nest in. Money, then pussy; money, then pussy; in that order. You feel me?”

  “Oh yeah.”

  JJ snorted a short laugh and punched him on the shoulder. “Yeah, dude, she ain’t the finest bitch around but she be a freaky-ass ho. And I know you ain’t about to be choosy about getting those nuts of yours out the sand. I got to turn a dollar in this bitch, too.”

  Sparkle rubbed his hands in excited anticipation and smiled. “You sho nuff right about that there, partner. Let’s do this.” He elbowed him in the side and nodded at the door.

  JJ chuckled and reached into his pocket. He rummaged through the bag and took out six rocks and handed them to him. “Split these with her after I leave.” He reached back into his pocket. “Here’s a key to get back in the crib, but make sure that you be real quiet; know what I’m saying?”

  Another shadow rolled past the peephole, followed by mumbling. The door cracked open again and a shock of curly red hair eased out, followed by a set of green eyes and pouty red lips on a light-skinned face. The eyes zoomed in on Sparkle and the long eyelashes batted daintily as those luscious orbs traced up and down his body.

  Damn, dis ho got some sexy eyes, whew, he thought and then posed to let her check him out
. An appreciative smile started to crease the corners of those lips. JJ cleared his throat with a harsh grunt to break up the mini lust fest and then pushed the door open.

  Dee stepped back and put her hands on her ample hips and frowned. “Nigga…”

  She didn’t even get to finish as JJ barged past her into the apartment. “Nigga, my ass, bitch; you gotta nigga out here damn near freezing with this stupid shit you be pulling.” He spun on her and added, “In here geeking hard for a bitch, ain’tcha?”

  “Nigga, how was I supposed to know it was you; X-ray vision or sumthing? Hell, a bitch ain’t supposed to check, what?”

  JJ gritted on her before he continued to spit, “Hell naw, not after I done told you that it’s me.”

  She stuck her head under the porch light to make sure that nobody else was out.

  “Ho, it’s cold as hell out here. Get yo ass out the way and let my nigga in. Damn, a nigga be looking out for your stupid ass and you be acting all silly and shit. What the fuck’s wrong with you anyhow?”

  She put her hands on her hips again, eyeing them both up and down before she rolled her eyes. “Ain’t a damn thang wrong with me. Who be this bigga wid ya, yo?” Her voice sounded a little harsh but there was a slight smile on those sexy lips as she looked into Sparkle’s eyes.

  He stepped by her, shaking the chill off his bones. He eyeballed her curves. JJ be bullshitting. This bitch here be shake-a-booty fine. He felt an ache in his groin, eyeing her hips pressed into a pair of crushed velvet shorts; the kind that cling snugly. Even though every nerve in his body was about to burst, he hid this initial reaction well. All his bitch training from way back in the day kicked in. He could see right off the bat that she wasn’t the type of bitch a man should show any weakness to; unless he wanted to be eaten alive by her charms.

  Sparkle followed JJ further into the apartment, eyeing her voluptuous figure. He nudged JJ in the side as he passed by him. Without turning JJ nodded to let him know that she was the ho he was talking about.