Against the Grain

by Freeze

  Kay turned so that he could lay her flat on the bed. He kissed her before pulling away and picking up his glass of coconilla. He stood up and positioned himself between her legs. He raised and spread them. He poured the ice-cold coconilla down her right leg so that it would run between her legs. The excitement made her moan. He put the glass down and began sucking on her toes and licking the inside of her right thigh, making her giggle. When he got to the spot he was looking for, she arched her back off the mattress and pulled the sheets off the bed.

  • • •

  Kay didn’t leave Shu-Shu’s house until the next day. “I’ll see you later on,” he said as he kissed her and shut her car door. She drove off to work and he walked toward his house. He smiled. He had this funny feeling inside him. Something he hadn’t felt in years. Shu-Shu wasn’t the only one in love.

  When he walked in the house, his mother was getting ready for work. He heard her in the kitchen singing with the radio.

  “Hi, Mama.”

  “Where you coming from this early?”

  “Ahh, nowhere, Mama. Just hangin’ out.”

  “Mmmm-hmmm, I bet you were hanging out. Hanging out with Shushawn. Look at you, boy, you’re glowing. She’s a good girl. She’s strong, too. If a man expects to make it in this world, he has to have a woman that is strong, a woman that thinks about what benefits both of you. You can’t have a selfish woman that might make a decision that may benefit her but endanger her man.”

  “Lyniece got a big mouth,” he said with a smile.

  “You know that girl can’t hold water. Plus, I needed to know where you were. Your baby been calling here every ten minutes looking for his daddy. Poor chile. He got on my nerves so much, I told him to stop calling. Then his mother called about six or seven times, worrying the hell out of me for your pager number.”

  “I’ll pick him up from school later, Mama.”

  “Please do before he goes crazy. I thought he was going to cry on the phone last night. And don’t do that boy like that no more. You hear me?”

  “Yes, Mama,” he said as he kissed her on the cheek.

  “I’ve got to go to work. I’ll see you later. I hope Shu-Shu keeps your butt out of trouble, too.”

  “She will, Mama.” Kay disappeared upstairs.

  • • •

  Kay laid down and dozed off in minutes. . . .

  Apache’s dead body hit the pavement in front of him and everything went pitch black. Out of the darkness, Apache walked toward him. He was holding his index finger in front of him, waving it back and forth and shaking his head at the same time. When he reached out to touch Kay, Kay woke up.

  Kay jumped up so hard, he woke Shu-Shu, who was sleeping next to him. She sat up. “What’s wrong, baby?”

  “I keep having this bad dream.”

  “You want to talk about it? You want something to drink?”

  “Nah, I’m going to get some air.” He got up and got dressed. He looked at the clock. It was 7:30 p.m. He must have fallen asleep after he and Shu-Shu had finished another wild session when she got off work. He picked up the phone and called Mike on his cell phone. “Yo, where ya’ll at? . . . . Aiight, I’ll be around there in a few.” He hung up. “I’ll be back in a little while,” he told her.

  “Okay, baby.”

  As he walked down the stairs, he could hear Big Duke in the living room watching TV. “Let’s roll, big guy.” Once they were outside, Kay locked the door with the key Shu-Shu had given him. “Let’s walk around to Romano’s. That’s where all the fellaz are hangin’ at,” Kay told Big Duke.

  When they got around to Harlem and Fremont, the whole crew was there. All types of people were out tonight. Even kids were out in front of their stoops playing. As Kay and Duke approached their clique, they could hear Pimp, one of the neighborhood old heads, telling everyone what happened after the knockers ran up in his crib, found a bag of dope, and locked his wife up. It was his dope but he wasn’t home at the time.

  “Nah, for real see, my old lady called me collect when she got over to the jail, talking about what I’m gonna do since the dope was mine? I looked at the receiver, then hung that motherfucker up in her face. When she called back, I asked her, ‘Okay, you ready to talk like you got some sense? You said you loved me, so go head and lay down for a minute and watch The Young and the Restless. I got the kids. And don’t call here talking crazy no more.’ ” Everyone laughed as they greeted Kay and Duke with hugs.

  Tank passed Kay a lit blunt. “Where you been, nigga?”

  “I just woke up. I was at Shu-Shu’s,” Kay said with a smile.

  “What?! You mean as in, I hit the pussy and it was so good that I fell asleep and now I’m just waking up?” Tank asked. He had everyone’s attention, cause secretly, they all wanted to hit Shu-Shu, even Dre.

  “That’s my girl now,” Kay said.

  “Ahh skunt, da mon touch it. I gon kill he,” Gee said. They all laughed. Then everyone got quiet and watched a white Ford Taurus coming down the block slowly. Everyone, except Kay, knew that it was the knockers coming to fuck with everyone.

  “Yo, Kay, throw that shit away,” Mike said. Kay thumped the blunt under a parked car. The Taurus stopped. There were two agents in the car. A man was driving and a woman was on the passenger side. They both got out. They walked over to Mike.

  “Okay, assume the position for us. The faster we get this over, the faster you can get back to your little party,” the male agent said. They knew Mike wouldn’t have any drugs on him. He never did. They just liked fucking with him because they knew he was the man. The woman agent stood there watching her partner’s back. She looked really close and recognized Kay.

  “Well, well, well. If it isn’t Arkadian Frost. When did you get out?” she asked. Kay didn’t answer and stared into her eyes, wondering how she knew him. So did everyone else.

  “You don’t remember me do you, Mr. Frost? My name is Officer Ayala. The day you robbed that bank and your little friend was killed, I was the one that busted your ass. You remember the barrel of my shotgun at the back of your head don’t you? I was hoping that you didn’t drop that gun.” Kay still didn’t respond even though a knot had formed in his stomach at the thought of Apache’s death.

  “I got promoted to narcotics detective after that. I also received a medal. I never got to thank you properly, did I? Get your motherfucking hands on the wall,” she yelled. Kay did as he was told and she searched him real good, going in every pocket. When she finished, Kay took his hands down.

  “Did I tell you to put your hands down? Put ’em back on the wall until I say move them.” Again Kay did what she said. Then she got right up in his ear. “You remember this, don’t you?” She stuck her Glock to the back of his head. “If you get it fucked up just once, your ass is mine, and this time I’ll finish the job.” She turned to her partner and said, “Let’s go.”

  Once they got in the car, she told Kay he could take his hands down. He turned around and stared at her again. She blew a kiss at him and said, “Thank you,” as they drove off.

  When they turned the corner, Tank said, “Fuck that bitch, man. That dyke bitch is just mad cause your dick is bigger than hers.” Everyone laughed but Kay.

  Mike’s cell phone rang. “Hello. Yeah, who the fuck you think it is? You got my fucking money? What the fuck you mean, not all of it? It’s been a week. I’m on my way over there now,” Mike said as he hung up. Everyone got in their cars and followed Mike. Kay rode with Mike, and Duke rode with the rest of security in the Suburban.

  “Yo, Mike, I’m getting ready to start my own thing,” Kay said.

  Mike turned down the music. “What are you talking about? This is your thing.”

  “I don’t want it. No disrespect. I just want to do this on my own. You keep my share. I’m still part of the family but I want to fuck with the boy.” At the sound of that, Mike was relieved. For a minute he thought Kay was going to try and compete with him.

  “Well, do your thing, nigga. Y
ou have my blessings. Just remember that with that dope shit, you’ll be making new friends. Scrutinize everyone. No one should be above suspicion. No one! And don’t bring anyone new into our family.”

  “I feel you, Mike.”

  “You need some money?” Mike asked.

  “Nah, I’m getting a front,” Kay lied.

  “Damn, nigga, you moving kinda fast, ain’t you?”

  “I’ve been locked up for a long time. I gots to get mine. Fuck it.”

  Mike stopped at a house on Calhoun Street. They all got out and Mike knocked on the door. A pretty dark-skinned girl answered the door.

  “Is Scoop here?” Mike asked.

  “No, he just left.”

  Mike looked at one of the bodyguards and nodded. The big man pushed shorty aside and they all rushed the crib. After searching and seeing that Scoop wasn’t there, Mike looked at shorty. “Who are you?”

  “I’m Sabrina, his girlfriend,” she said standing there with their one-year-old baby in her arms.

  “Get some clothes for you and your baby, you’re coming with me.”

  She knew Mike’s reputation and did exactly what he said without any hassle. Once she had packed, security led her and the baby to the Suburban. Mike was right behind her with her bags. When she was safely in the truck, Mike walked to his car. As he was getting in, he noticed a figure peeping out the dark alley across the street.

  “Get my money, Scoop, if you want your family back. I’m gonna have your son growing up calling me Dad,” he said in the direction of the alley. The figure took off running down the alley into the darkness. They drove off.

  • • •

  The next day Kay, Big Duke, and Dre were riding around talking. Big Duke was driving. Dre decided he wanted to be down with Kay. He was getting tired of Mike and his careless ways. Kay had one more person he needed to talk to before he made his move.

  “Duke, take me by Scatter’s house,” he said. When they pulled up Scatter was sitting outside on his stoop. He smiled at the sight of Kay. Kay got out and walked over, giving him a pound before sitting next to him.

  “What’s up, old man?”

  “I done told you about that ‘old’ shit, nigga.” Scatter passed him a blunt.

  “Why you sitting out here in the open with this shit?” Kay hit the blunt.

  “You know Bug don’t want no drugs in the house no more. Even if she ain’t home.”

  “Oh, so now she’s doing the pimpin’?” Kay smiled.

  “Fuck you, nigga, I’ll beat you and Bug the fuck up,” Scatter said laughing at Kay. Kay’s pager went off. He looked down at it.

  “Yo, Dre!” he yelled. Duke turned the music down.

  “What’s up,” Dre asked.

  “Call Lil ‘C’ at his mom’s and tell him I’m busy right now but I’ll call him back in a minute. And find out what the emergency is. He put 9-1-1 in my pager.”

  Dre got right on top of it.

  “Yo, Scatter, I’ve got something important to talk to you about.” Kay looked straight at Scatter. “You know how you always told me never fuck with no drugs ’cause it would be my downfall?” He passed the blunt back to Scatter. “Well yo, man, look around. Everybody is fucking with drugs somehow. They either selling or using it. Look at my friends, them niggaz is eating off that shit real good. And so is everyone that’s around them. I could roll with them and be aiight, but then I would be following their lead. That ain’t how you raised me. I got to lead in everything I do. Control my own destiny. I’ve got this plan that I’m trying to put down and I need your blessings before I make my move.”

  Scatter hit the blunt hard, took a deep breath, and held it. Once he got his thoughts together, he blew the smoke in the air and passed the blunt back before he spoke. “I raised you the best that I could without having an education myself. All I knew was the streets, so that’s what I taught you. You’re the son I never had, but you’re a grown man now. There are things that I can’t teach you. You’ve got to learn them on your own. You’ve got my blessings, but remember this: It’s a big jungle out there. You just got to find your vine and swing like you mean it, yo,” Scatter said as he and Kay slapped five.

  “I’m going to need your help though,” Kay said.

  “Nah, I left that shit alone, years ago. I fucked around and started using my own shit and lost everything.”

  “C’mon, man, you know everybody in the city. I just need you to hire certain people for me and maybe oversee them. You won’t have to touch any drugs. I promise. You can be my Top Lieutenant. Plus I’ll get your teeth fixed.” Kay smiled.

  Scatter thought for a moment. It would feel good to be back on top. “You know you’re going against the grain, don’t you? I’ma help you set up shop, then I’m through. And you better get me some new teeth or I’m going to kick your ass.”

  “I got you,” Kay said with a big-ass smile on his face.

  “Now I’ve got to think of a way to tell Bug. She’s going to flip.”

  “You know how she loves money,” Kay told him.

  “Yeah, you’re right, I might have to take her out tonight, then fuck her real good before I tell her. Let me go to the bar and get me some Tanqueray gin. She likes that Alizé bullshit, so I’ll get her a bottle.”

  “Well, you handle that and I’ll get back to you in a few days and let you know what’s up,” Kay said as he got up to leave. He gave Scatter a pound and they said their good-byes. Kay got in the truck. He looked at Dre. “It’s on.” Kay noticed the look on Dre’s face and he stopped smiling.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Lil ‘C’ said to come get him because Sonia’s boyfriend pushed him down. I tried to talk to Sonia to see what happened but there was a lot of fussin’ going on. Then that nigga got on the phone talking shit and hung the phone up,” he told Kay.

  “Let’s go, Duke.” When they stopped in front of Sonia’s building, Lil ‘C’ was sitting out front. Sonia was hanging out the window yelling something to him in Spanish. As Kay got out he looked up at her. She pulled her head back in the window. He walked over to his son.

  “What happened?”

  “Mommy’s boyfriend pushed me down.”

  “Is he still upstairs?” Lil ‘C’ shook his head no. Kay headed for the front door of the building. Sonia met him at the door. One side of her face was red and swollen and it was obvious that she’d been crying.

  “Before you go off, let me explain,” she said as she saw the hatred in Kay’s eyes.

  “Magic and I got into it about that phone call the other night when you were here, and he slapped me. C-Allah tried to protect me by jumping on his back. When he spun around, he knocked ‘C’ down, that’s all. He didn’t mean it. I swear, Kay. You think I would have other men putting their hands on my son? My own father don’t put his hands on ‘C’ the wrong way. Your son just overreacted by calling you.”

  Kay felt a little relaxed now. He looked at his son. “You aiight, champ?”

  “Yeah, I’m aiight.”

  “Go get in the truck with Dre.” Lil ‘C’ did as his father told him to, giving Dre and Duke pounds as he got in the car. Kay smiled at his son. The thought of him jumping on a grown man to protect his mother made him proud. He turned to face Sonia.

  “I thought you cut that nigga off.”

  “I did. He just popped up and asked if he could talk to me for a minute. When he finished talking, I told him that I was trying to work things out with you and he started flippin’ and shit. Where you been anyway? I haven’t seen you since the morning you left. And you haven’t returned any of my messages, but as soon as your son calls, you come running. What’s up with that, Kay?”

  “I’ve been busy, that’s all. I’m trying to find a job.”

  “Yeah right. Who do you think you’re talking to?”

  “Nah, for real,” Kay said with a smile on his face.

  “So you coming over tonight or what?” she asked.

  “Yeah, go ahead and fix dinner, ‘C�
� and I will be back in a little while,” he said as he walked to the truck.

  “I ain’t playin’ with yo ass, Kay. You better come back. If you don’t, I’m going to bust the windows out this bitch. Watch me!” she yelled to his back, pointing at the Land Cruiser.

  He didn’t respond. He just got in the truck and Big Duke pulled off. Kay knew that he had no intentions of going back. It was time for him to stress her out now.

  • • •

  Kay, Scatter, and Dre were all standing in front of his mother’s house waiting for Shu-Shu. They were going over a few details before Kay and Shu-Shu left for California. Dre had invested fifty grand. Some was used for the trip, but the majority of it was going to be used for stash houses, old cars to make moves in, glassine envelopes, quinine and morphine base to cut the dope with, beepers and cell phones, and workers. All of this would be handled by Dre and Scatter and ready when Kay returned.

  Shu-Shu stepped out her front door, travel bags in hand, wearing a Chanel cream and brown zebra print dress with the split up to her waist. The dress was complemented by her cream-colored open-toe Prada heels. Her hands and feet were neatly French manicured and pedicured. She also wore a cream-colored Indian-designed choker to accent her cleavage and held a cream Prada bag. She definitely looked like a movie star and would fit right in once they got to L.A. She looked down the block at Kay, then back at her watch trying to let him know it was time to go.

  “She’s Benz material,” Scatter said. “Every broad can’t sit in a Benz and look good. Shit! She’d make the car look better. I wish I’d had her in my stable back in my day.”

  “It’s time to get this show on the road,” Kay slapped hands with everyone. Dre and Scatter got in the backseat of Kay’s truck. Big Duke was driving and P-Nut was in the passenger seat. The truck pulled off, and Kay walked in the other direction with his Nike carry-on bag over his shoulder. He put it down on the ground behind the car, then walked over and got Shu-Shu’s Fendi travel bags as she turned to lock the door. He opened the trunk to Dre’s Lex coupe and put the bags in. Then he walked around to the passenger side and opened the door for Shu-Shu’s fine ass. She got in and he shut the door. She leaned her seat back a little as Kay walked around to the driver’s side. As he got in he watched her put on a pair of brown Gucci shades and throw her right arm behind her headrest. Kay smiled at her. He started the car and put on the Versace shades that she bought him. He pushed in the CD. “HERE COMES THE BRAND NEW FLAVA IN YA EAR. TIME FOR NEW FLAVA IN YA EAR.”