Durty South Grind

by L. E. Newell

  Sparkle looked beyond the speeding car for a brief second toward Rainbow’s mother’s house. He squinted at the familiar figure leading Mama Dobbs into the house. Was it? Could it be? Oh no, it damn sho is. Man, I ain’t ready to see this woman. Why was that? And what was he afraid of?

  He checked the mirror again just in time to see the girls’ expressions change from wide-eyed exuberance to shocked concern. He spun around frowning. “What’s wrong with ya’ll…..?”

  He paused when their mouths shot open and their arms pointed down the street at the same time they heard the pop, pop, pop of gunfire. He spun back around in time to see Rainbow diving for cover beside his car.

  Automatically he reached under the seat to get his piece. The girls screamed. He kicked the door open and rolled out of the car into a crouch. But before he could let the lead fly, the speeding car made it around the corner with several arms sticking out of the window with their guns blazing.

  He sprinted for Rainbow’s car. His boy was pressed to the side of the vehicle. The shock on his face told it all before it turned into a gasping smile when he saw who it was.

  Sparkle looked toward the store. The old man was leaning back in his chair with blood spewing from a red blotch on his chest. Rainbow sat up and followed his partner’s gaze. His mouth suddenly formed into a big “O” before he blinked several times and croaked, “Man, where the hell that nigga go?”

  Sparkle leaned down and grasped his elbow to help him get up. “What nigga, dog…?” He froze when he spotted Beverly sprinting across the street with her gun held high. He wasn’t ready for this and let his boy’s elbow go, ignoring his waving arms as he plopped back into the car and ran for his car.

  “Man, what the fuck!” Rainbow screamed as his head and back banged against the car. He raised his head to look over his shoulder through the window to see what had frightened Sparkle so much. “Oh shit.” It was all he could mutter as he ran his hand down his face, sighed heavily and plopped his head back against the door.

  Beverly shivered when she heard the glass splatter off the floor. Through the screen door she could see the frightened look of shock on Mama Dobbs’ face. She motioned for her to remain in place, not really knowing whether the sight of her gun or the loud report of the other ones, had scared her so. She cocked her gun to make sure a round was ready to fire and rushed toward the car speeding down the street. She immediately saw that it was no use as it swerved around the corner several blocks away. Her attention swayed to Old Man OJ slumped in his chair.

  She scanned the entire area for any more gunmen. She saw someone running away from Rainbow’s car. Yep, it was that nigga, aight. Sparkle. Why in the hell is he running? She growled at his departing back, “Halt, muthafucka.” She shouted in despair as he jumped in the car with what she could now see were two females. He sped backward down the street until he had enough room to make a wildly spinning U-turn and jetted out of sight. Before he could do so Beverly grimaced at the two women with him. They stared back at her until their heads were jerked every which way when he maneuvered the car out of sight.

  She had immediately recognized one of the women as Violet, her best childhood buddy Yolanda’s aunt, but she couldn’t place the other face. Dejected and disgusted she ran over to where Rainbow was groaning against his ride. “Why’d that fool run away like that? And who were those niggas that tried to do yo ass?”

  Rainbow spread his arms far apart frowning. “Girl, how in the hell am I suppose to know that?”

  “Know what? Who those niggas were or why he got the hell out of here like that…?” She froze when she noticed him trying to look around her. She turned around, sighed and rushed over to Old Man OJ. It was too late. She checked his pulse; Pops was a goner. She started shouting over her shoulder as she headed for her car to send for an ambulance and backup. “You tell that muthafucka there ain’t no need to be running from me…” She was halfway across the street when she heard his tires screaming in front of the store. She stopped and looked around. He was waving at her as he bent the corner with a mask of death creasing his features.

  Oh, here we go again, damn. She turned back toward her ride. Before she could make another step, she heard another car rev up and spin tires after Rainbow from the adjacent street corner. She strained her eyes at its occupants. It was Lt. Woo and a couple of her henchmen. Now what in the hell is she doing around here? Had Sparkle or Rainbow spotted her? Was she the reason they had jetted out so abruptly?

  “Oh shit,” she muttered and covered the mike. That youngun flashing the green was with those niggas down the street giving those other boys the whipping. She fingered the drugs in her pocket as she pondered the connection. Old Man OJ is shot up, the youngun disappears. Woo, Sparkle and Rainbow are all mixed up in this shit together. No doubt she had her work cut out for her. Whatever was going on she had to get to the bottom of it before her beloved city was turned into a bloodbath. And because her boys were involved, it would definitely have to be a solo mission; for their safety as well as her own. She sighed and took a deep breath. “Oh well, Miss Policewoman Chief, get on your muthafucking job,” she mumbled just before the static from the police band hit her.

  As she was about to start shouting orders, she suddenly felt strange and icky. She stared past the mike down to her crotch. It was glistening with her juices even through her pants. She shivered, more than a little embarrassed, because she knew why she had gotten so excited. She’d seen her man again—Sparkle. Whether he was with another bitch or two or three, he was still her man and she was going to get him. Hell, and he knows it, too, the sonofabitch. That’s why he was running from me, or was it? Whichever way this is going I’ve got to have him. I’ve waited all these years and I ain’t about to let no other bitch have him—period.

  About the Author

  L.E. Newell, a talented author and artist, was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and currently resides in Richmond, Virginia.

  You may reach the author at lenewell@ymail.com or via his Facebook page, Facebook/lenewell.

  IF YOU ENJOYED “DURTY SOUTH GRIND,”

  BE SURE TO CHECK OUT

  The Grind Don’t Stop

  The Continuing Saga of Durty South Grind

  COMING SOON FROM STREBOR BOOKS

  As The Hood Turns

  The persistent static racket on the police band was really starting to get on Beverly’s last nerves as she spun around the corner in pursuit.

  In pursuit of what? Who? Her thoughts were twisted in a whirlwind of scenarios. Am I following Lt. Woo because she and her squad of police hoodlums were trying to bust one of my boys? Or am I chasing Rainbow to see if he’ll lead me to that bastard Sparkle? Or does he know or have a hint of who took out Old Man OJ? Or was the hit actually meant for him?

  It was a hit that Rainbow felt; naw, a hit he knew was meant for him. What other reason would that nigga Joker be sneaking gritty sneers at him while he was shooting the breeze at the store counter with Junior’s brother “Big Guy,” the longtime co-owner of the store with OJ? Add that grit with watching Joker’s reaction and facial expressions as he dashed from his and OJ’s checker game right before the shooting had started. The circumstances and consequences added up to a hit; no matter how you wanted to see it.

  Rainbow’s thoughts were in straight-up killer mode of revenge as he jumped into his Caddie and jetted in hot pursuit of those niggas. He hadn’t paid the least bit of attention to Lt. Woo and her hoodlums parked near the end of the block as his tires screamed around the corner. He was only concerned with finding out where those niggas were headed. As he pressed on the gas pedal to possibly overtake them, he chanced a look into his rearview mirror and spotted that worrisome little bitch and her henchmen. Oh shit, I got to shake this little bitch first. Because when I catch these little muthafuckas, dey asses have got to go meet their maker. Dey ass got to die, leave this earth. Try to take me out like that…and kill one of my childhood idols. Oh hell yeah, ya’ll niggas got to die, for sho. Rainbow was way
beyond shook up. He had to get rid of the bitch and her hoodlums; no doubt about it. He surely couldn’t take the chance of them witnessing him blasting on those fools. He shot down the next intersection and sped up, hoping to lose them.

  Regardless of how things had gone so far, Beverly knew she had to get to the bottom of it; and without Woo or anyone knowing. Talking about skeletons in her closet, this mess was really getting out of hand. She realized she had to make sure that Woo didn’t see her. But how was she going to do that and keep up with Rainbow? She was following Woo chasing Rainbow while he was following the niggas who’d thrown down on the drive-by.

  Oh shit, has that bitch spotted me? Beverly thought as she narrowed her eyes when Woo’s silhouette angled upward toward the rearview mirror. Had the little bitch slowed down to get a better look at who was following her?

  Beverly knew that she could no longer take the chance that she’d been spotted. She made a quick left at the next intersection knowing that she was giving Woo the worst possible angle to recognize her. As she was making the turn, she saw that the car involved in the drive-by was making a right some three or four blocks ahead. She pulled to the curb, jumped out of the car and sprinted to the corner. She pressed her back to the brick wall of the paint store and did a quick peek. She ducked back around the edge of the building in time to see Rainbow make a right turn a couple of blocks away. Beverly presumed that he was either trying to cut them off, or that he had spotted Woo chasing him and was trying to put a move on her. Either way he pressed the pedal to the floorboard, speeding down the street at double the limit. She could hear the rubber screaming and see the smoke spiraling in the air from his tires as he jetted away.

  It shocked Beverly when Woo didn’t follow him but zoomed down the street the shooters had traveled. Even though she was puzzled why Woo had responded this way, Beverly had seen enough and rushed back to her car.

  From the sounds of the radio, some of her troops had already arrived at the scene of the shooting. What should she do now? Go back to the scene? Follow Rainbow to keep his crazy ass from getting into any more trouble? Follow Woo to find out what the little bitch was really up to? Or put some more troopers on their trails?

  While she was contemplating her next move, another familiar vehicle jetted past her and turned left speeding down the street. She shot her car into gear and pulled up to the corner in time to see the car following the path of Woo and the shooters.

  She blinked several times at the antennae sticking out of the trunk, knowing that it was a cop’s car. She zoomed in on the license plate and the silhouette of the driver. It hit her like a ton of bricks. That bastard. She grimaced as it dawned on her that it was JR, the deputy chief. “What in the hell is he doing here? What’s his connection with all of this?” she mumbled to herself.

  The light was red. Normally she’d flip on the siren and speed by all traffic signs. But her intuition kept those responses at bay because she knew that she couldn’t draw any attention to herself. So what should she do now? There were definitely too many things happening to handle all of them.

  She took a deep breath and started across the intersection. For some reason her eyes shot to the rearview mirror. “Now ain’t that a bitch.” She cursed at the image of Sparkle in the car trailing hers. Why had the fool jetted away from her in the first place? From what she could tell, he hadn’t recognized her. So what now? Should she keep going to see what would happen?

  She maintained her concentration on his face for several blocks before she decided to circle the entire block to get behind him. She saw that Violet and the other girl were both still in the car. For a brief second, she considered pulling them over just to fuck with them and display her power; to let them bitches know that she wasn’t anything to play with. She also thought about how the girls would react. If they got loud, it would certainly defeat her purpose of secrecy. Besides, she didn’t really trust how her jealousy would make her act.

  After all, she was not only hiding from the authorities but from the street gossip as well; especially knowing how cops always maintained their own personal crew of snitches. She had an army of them herself.

  She followed Sparkle and the girls to the house by Turner Field and settled in the parking lot. She pulled out her mini binoculars to check out the activities of the house.

  A huge lump roughed its way down her throat as she watched Sparkle pull up to the curb in front of the house. He leaned forward in the driver’s seat to let the other woman out. From where she was sitting it seemed like the girl pushed the seat forward with a little attitude. Violet jumped out of the other side and eased into the front seat with a smirk on her face. One that said, Aw, little bitch, handle it.

  It only meant one thing to Beverly: both of these girls had to be Sparkle’s woman. She shivered with jealousy as the car sped down the street. She followed them to a small set of apartments on Memorial Drive. She knew she couldn’t park there so she drove across the street and stopped in the supermarket parking lot facing the apartments.

  No matter how long it would take, Beverly was going to find out what the hell Sparkle was up to. Her heart pounded with grief and anger as she settled into the seat and pressed the binoculars to her eyes. It might just be a long night.