The Dopefiend

by JaQuavis Coleman

  “So, what you want me to do?” the young hustler asked.

  “Get out there and hustle. Stay strapped and don’t let niggas run up on you again,” Seven said nonchalantly. “Have a nice day, sir,” Seven said while puffing on his blunt. The young hustler stepped out of the car and by the way Seven was treating him, the offer that Baby had presented to him and his crew was looking more tempting by the second. He slammed the door and then took a couple of steps back. “Yo’, Seven,” he called and looked at the tinted window on the passenger side where Seven was sitting. Seconds later Seven rolled down his window while still looking forward and blowing out a thick cloud of smoke. Seven didn’t even give him the respect of looking in his direction.

  “Yeah?” Seven answered.

  “Why you never on the block?” the young hustler asked, knowing that the greatest leaders in history were on the field with their troops at the time of combat. Seven smiled and didn’t even think the question was worthy of an answer. Seven understood that he was the boss and didn’t have to answer any questions from anyone. Rah slowly pulled off, leaving the young hustler on the sidewalk alone and unanswered. Seven didn’t know, but his arrogance had just cost him his most loyal crew. Seven had just lost killers on his team and Millie had just gained some.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Two weeks had passed and neither Seven nor Rah had heard anything else about the B-more crew coming on their most lucrative block. Actually, they heard nothing from their own crew at all. Rah hadn’t even gotten a call from them to re-up with heroin, which threw up red flags, because that block ran through numerous bricks per week on average. Rah was on his way to the block to see what the cause was of the sudden drop in production. He had a surprise waiting on him when he pulled onto the block. He pulled up to the street with a duffle bag full of bricks in his passenger side, ready to hit the youngsters off with the dope even though they hadn’t requested a re-up.

  Rah stepped out of the car and noticed the group of hustlers sitting on the stoop as usual, but an unfamiliar face was in the middle talking with the hustlers, as fiends loomed around the area like zombies.

  “Yo’, what the fuck is going on? Why y’all niggas just sitting around?” Rah said in an authoritative tone, knowing that they should have been at their post moving that work.

  “Because, it’s a new sheriff in town,” a man said as he stood up and stepped off the stoop.

  “Who the fuck is this nigga?” Rah said, pointing and not even looking at the man, but looking past him. Rah brushed past him, bumping him hard, turning the man’s body violently. Rah looked at his crew and the lead young hustler stepped out and put his hand on his waist as if he was going for his gun.

  “Handle that nigga,” Rah instructed as he continued to walk toward the dope house so he could break down the bricks and distribute them. However, just before Rah reached the door the young hustler spoke. “No, Rah. Why don’t you handle him!” the young hustler yelled in a menacing tone, remembering how Rah and Seven belittled him weeks ago.

  “What?” Rah said, not believing what he had just heard from the youngster. Rah dropped the bag and knew that his gangster was getting tested, so he was about to show them that he wasn’t against putting in work. He pulled out a snub nose pistol and walked hurriedly to the man who had originally stepped out of line, who was Baby.

  Rah swiftly grabbed Baby by the neck and then stuck his gun against Baby’s forehead.

  “You might not want to do that,” Baby said as he smiled even though he was looking down a barrel of Rah’s gun.

  “What nigga?” Rah said, not understanding how Baby could be so calm in such a compromising position.

  “Look around,” Baby said as he put both of his hands up. Rah jaws were clenched tightly as he stared at Baby with a burning desire to kill him. Rah finally looked around and saw five different guns being pointed at him by his own crew.

  “Oh, it’s like that, huh?” Rah asked, not believing how his crew had all of a sudden turned on him. Rah knew he was outnumbered so he released the grip he had on Baby and stepped back, but still had his gun pointed directly at Baby’s head.

  “Yeah, it’s like that,” one of the young hustlers yelled as they fixed their aim on Rah’s head.

  “My boss wants to make you and your man Seven an offer. You can get money with us or you can get pushed out. It’s all on you,” Baby said as he smirked casually and showed not an ounce of fear, even though he was being held at gunpoint. “This block is not your block anymore. If you want it back, tell Seven to meet me here. Time is of the essence, playboy. My boss will be here to talk business,” Baby said as he walked past Rah, disregarding the fact that he had a gun pointed at him, and stepped onto the stoop and sat down. Rah slowly lowered his gun and nodded his head, conceding defeat. He made sure he looked each young hustler in the eye before he walked back to his car, non-verbally letting them know that he would make them pay for their betrayal. Rah knew that the dope game was a big business and he would have to handle it as just that and make plans to see Baby’s boss. He grabbed his duffle bag and returned to his car and headed over to see Seven. This was the beginning of a war.

  Seven slammed his fist on the table after hearing the news from Rah. He grabbed his cane that leaned against the oak table and slowly stood up. He limped from around his desk in his home office as Rah sat on the leather couch a few feet away from him with his hands folded into one another, shaking his head from side to side.

  “Who are these B-more niggas?” Seven questioned as he hobbled to the bar to pour himself a drink.

  “Don’t know. He just said his boss wanted to meet you tomorrow at noon on the block,” Rah said, relaying the message.

  “Who is his boss? The nigga got to have some balls. Coming on my block like that?” Seven said as he downed the shot of cognac. “I’ma show his ass! Set up a meeting,” Seven said just before he exited the room, leaving Rah there alone. Rah stood up and headed back to the block, so he could set something up between the two bosses: Seven and the unknown second party . . . Millie.

  An hour later Rah was pulling back onto the block. A dark blue, luxury Maybach with temporary plates was parked on the block and he pulled up just behind it. He walked up to the stoop where Baby was sitting and with a mean mug, and he addressed him.

  “Yo’, where is your boss?” Rah asked.

  “Don’t worry about us. Where is Seven?” Baby asked as he leaned back on both of his elbows.

  “Take me to your boss, you bitch-ass nigga. Why am I even talking to you right now? I’m speaking on Seven’s behalf for now,” Rah demanded as waved his hand at Baby, dismissing him as if he was a flunky.

  “Okay, have it your way. Boss is in the backseat waiting for you,” Baby said as he pointed at the tinted Maybach. Rah immediately looked behind him and spotted the car. Rah, without fear, walked over to the car, and the passenger-side window rolled down. A female’s face emerged; it was Lovie.

  “Get in the back,” she ordered in her heavy Baltimore accent just before rolling the window back up and disappearing again. Rah took a deep breath, patted his waist to make sure his strap was there, and opened the back door. He slid in and what he saw totally surprised him. Millie was sitting in the backseat with her legs crossed, smoking a cigarette.

  “Damn, Rah, you look like you just seen a ghost,” Millie said as she smiled and looked over at Rah.

  “What the fuck?’ Rah whispered as he tried to figure out in his head what was going on. But before anything else could be said, Millie swiftly pointed a gun to his head that was concealed on the side of her. The goon in the driver seat along with Lovie also turned around and pointed guns in Rah’s face. He was totally vulnerable and taken off guard. He had three locked and loaded weapons pointed at his head, and what he thought was going to be a negotiation turned out to be into a plotted-out ambush. Millie reached into Rah’s waist and relieved him of his pistol.

  “Let’s go,” she said and her goon turned around an
d pulled off as she and Lovie still kept their guns on Rah. Millie had already had a plan B if Seven didn’t come, and they were doing just that.

  The next day Seven rode through the block looking for Rah. After Rah had left him to meet the B-more crew, he never returned, which had Seven kind of worried.

  “Where is this nigga at?” Seven whispered to himself as he scanned the block, cruising slowly down the street in an F-150 truck, his most low-key car. Seven had some of his goons who came with him from Flint tailing him just to have his back if anything popped off. Seven checked his rearview mirror and saw the green Grand Prix that was full of his shooters as he bent the corner. He pulled up on the same block where Rah had been earlier and saw young hustlers posted on each block, obviously hustling. He pulled up on one of them and the young hustler squinted his eyes, trying to see through Seven’s light tint. The naïve hustler assumed that Seven was a fiend who was pulling up to get served.

  “Yo’, I got that Lady Luck!” the young hustler said and it instantly made Seven frown his face up.

  “Lady Luck?” Seven whispered as he stopped and looked at the hustler approaching him. As the young hustler walked up on the car, he looked up and down the street to check for cops. Seven immediately began to think about his hometown, Flint, MI, where Lady Luck was a hot commodity and this made him think about Hassan. The boy walked up to the car and Seven rolled down the window. The boy opened his hand, revealing the pack of dope that had the blue stamp that Seven once flooded the streets with.

  Is Hassan the one moving in on me? How did he know I know I was in Ohio? Seven thought as so many different things ran through his mind as he caught a glimpse of the stamp on the pack the young hustler had. Seven’s face wasn’t familiar with the hustler, so he didn’t realize that he was trying to serve his former boss. Seven took out twenty dollars and traded the boy for the pack; just to see if what he was thinking was true. He looked at the pack and verified that it was an official Lady Luck stamp. He rolled up his window and drove off. “What the fuck is going on?” Seven whispered as he began to drive off; his paranoia had just elevated to an all-time high. Just before he reached the corner, the young hustler who he had belittled weeks ago waved down the car, noticing the truck because Rah occasionally drove it through the hood.

  “Yo’, have you seen Rah?” Seven asked after he came to a complete stop and rolled down his window.

  “Yeah, I seen him,” the hustler answered while smirking.

  “And? Where the nigga at?” Seven yelled, getting frustrated with the lack of information. All of a sudden the young hustler reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, red box that had a silver bow on it. It was the size of a ring box and he dropped it in Seven’s lap. The young hustler turned and walked away from the car. “What the fuck is this?” Seven asked as he frowned up. “Yo’!” Seven yelled as the hustler continued to the stoop where the other hustlers waited for him at. Seven picked up the box and examined it. A small tag hung from the bow and he slowly opened it, only to find a number and a few words on it that read: COME TO MAMA. He didn’t understand the message, but he soon would. Seven then opened it up and what he saw made his heart jump up in his throat. A bloody, severed finger was placed in the box, propped up as if it were an expensive jewelry display, and the putrid smell of decaying human flesh almost made him gag. A diamond, invisible-set pinky ring was placed on the finger and he automatically knew that it was Rah’s body part. Seven had bought Rah the ring when they first relocated to Columbus, Ohio as a token of his appreciation for Rah’s loyalty. Before Seven could even get angry and ask the young hustler where this came from, bullets began to rain. Seven heard bullets whiz past his head and the thumping noises of the bullets hitting the side of his truck sounded like a black college band on game day. Seven quickly rolled up his window, knowing they were bulletproof, and by instinct he ducked down. He looked and saw that the same young hustlers who used to work for him were now emptying their whole clip at him, trying to murder him. He quickly pulled off the block and his goons who were behind him traded shots with the young boys. The sounds of automatic assault rifles filled the air and the block was on fire; total chaos.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Millie stared out of the window, characteristically puffing on a cigarette with a smug look on her face. She was in deep thought and was alone in the spacious hotel room. Well, she did have one more person in the room with her, but he was soon to be dead. She ordered Baby and her crew to leave her alone with Rah so she could “catch up on old times.” Rah squirmed as his body was tightly duct taped to a wooden chair. Blood leaked from his left pinky and dripped onto the Berber carpet as he tried to call Millie a bitch, but couldn’t because of the sock stuffed deep down his throat.

  “I know what you’re probably thinking. How did this dopefiend bitch catch me slipping, right?” Millie asked rhetorically as she left the window and slowly began to circle Rah, watching him as a lioness would her prey. Millie stopped directly in front of him and looked directly into his eyes. She pulled out the sock that was stuffed down his throat and Rah immediately began to cough violently.

  “Where do that nigga stay? Tell me or it’s on to the next one!” Millie joked as she repeated a rap lyric, totally having fun tormenting Rah, threatening to cut off the next finger. She pulled out the sharp pliers that she used to cut off his pinky a day before and waved them around, giving him one last chance to spill the beans before she played doctor and made a surgical cut. “Now, are you sure you ain’t trying to come up off that info on your man?” Millie asked.

  “Fuck you!” Rah yelled as he tried to break free from the chair, but it was to no avail because Baby had done a number on him. Baby made sure that Rah could never escape the situation on his own.

  “You crazy bitch,” Rah said as he breathed heavily and began to feel lightheaded because of all the blood he had lost. Millie smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

  “Suit yourself,” she said as she pulled out a cigarette and put a flame to it. She let it dangle from the left side of her mouth as she took a long pull and knelt down, casually grabbing Rah’s finger. “Oh, I almost forgot,” Millie said just before she grabbed the sock and forced it down Rah’s throat as he tried to turn his head away from her, but she managed to stuff it even further than before.

  “Don’t want the neighbors to hear, feel me?” Millie asked and she grabbed Rah’s middle finger and placed it in between the pliers and looked up at him. “Give that nigga info up. I’m only going to ask you one more time.” Although Rah couldn’t speak, he wanted to express how he felt. He just barely raised his middle finger slightly as his hands were duct taped together, flipping her off as a smile formed on his face. Without hesitation, Millie squeezed the pliers as hard as she could. The sound of his finger’s bone cracking filled the air along with muffled screams and vigorous twitching and jerking. Millie yanked the pliers, trying to rip his finger off, and blood squirted six feet into the air. She yanked for a third time, squeezing even harder, causing his severed finger to fly across the room. Millie had gone mad; mad with revenge and hatred in her heart.

  “You want to tell me now, homeboy?” Millie said calmly as she wiped the blood off her face and tossed the pliers onto the bed. She pulled the sock out of his mouth and waited for him to respond. Rah panted heavily as he sweated profusely. Only whimpers could escape his mouth as he began to drool on himself. He was in excruciating pain and began to black out because of the overwhelming pain. His head became heavy and he felt himself slipping out of consciousness.

  “Seven is going to kill you, bitch,” he managed to whisper with pride just before he fainted and his chin hit his chest. Millie had to admit, she admired his courage but she also knew that she couldn’t let Rah die. At least, not at that moment; she still needed him. He was her only connection to Seven and that was who she wanted badly. She smacked the hell out of him and screamed his name, trying to wake him up.

  Smack!

  “Rah! Don’t die
on me, you son of a bitch,” she yelled as she grabbed him by his jaws and raised his head up. Millie saw that Rah’s eyes began to roll in the back of his head and she smacked her lips as she let his head drop back down to his chest. Obviously, her plan to squeeze the information out of Rah wasn’t working so she decided to go with her plan B. Rah had a little secret back home. When Baby went through Rah’s phone, he discovered baby pictures and text messages from a woman from Flint; Toya, to be exact. It just so happened that Rah was a new father. Millie anticipated Rah’s stubbornness and loyalty, that’s why she had already sent Baby and half of the crew to Flint to snatch up Toya and the baby for collateral. One way or another, Millie knew Rah was going to give up some info.

  Just as Millie picked up her phone to call Baby, a blocked number was incoming and she smiled as she picked up the phone.

  “Speak,” she said as she held the phone to her ear.

  “Yo, who the fuck is this?” Seven said coldly into the phone.

  “Hold up. Is that any way to talk to a lady?” Millie said sarcastically as she put her cigarette out on Rah’s forehead and began to slowly pace the room.

  “Bitch! Fuck you. Put your boss on the phone or whoever sent me this package.”

  “Seven, relax. You don’t remember me, honey?” Millie asked in a sweet voice, but was steadily getting heated by the second.

  “What?” Seven asked, not understanding.

  “Let me help you out. You tried to have me killed, but instead you . . .” Millie paused as she felt her eyes begin to water just at the thought of Hazel’s painful death. She then clenched her jaws and shook the feeling off. “But instead you killed an innocent young lady for no good reason.”

  The words were like darts to Seven’s heart, being that he still had a heavy heart for what he had done to Hazel. He knew exactly who he was talking to. But never in a million years would he had thought that a dopefiend could get to him like Millie had just done. The phone was silent and the sound of Seven inhaling deeply was the only noise.