by Freeze
“Oh, so I’m a freak now? You can’t stand to see someone happy, can you? If it was all about some pussy, I would have fucked you to keep your mouth shut. That’s fucked up! That shit was corny. You didn’t have to fuck my shit up like that, Tank,” Mia told him as she turned and walked away. When her words set in with everyone, an awkward silence came over the group. Tank had played himself this time.
• • •
Kay watched the monitors in his office. Both floors were off the hook. He turned the temperature on the cooling system down some more and took his time getting dressed. While he watched the monitors, he listened to the music change over and over. “C.R.E.A.M.” by Wu-Tang finished playing, which was Kay’s cue. The music stopped and Kay stepped on stage with a mic.
“I’d like to thank all of you for coming out to celebrate the grand opening of The Raven. I hope everyone is having a good time. For those of you that don’t know, I’m your host, Arkadian Frost, but you can call me Kay. Before we continue this party, I’d like to take a minute to make a toast to all my family—I love you guys to death. And let’s not forget all our fallen soldiers and playaz in the belly of the beast. Apache, P-Lay, P-nut King, Mickey, Clark, Achie, Eric Brown, Michael Bonds, Liddy, Jo-Jo Dancer, Dan Hill, Andre Poole, AJ, Anfernee Allen, Farmer, Rudy, Sidney, and the many others.” He raised his glass. Everyone in the club who had a drink did the same thing. There was complete silence in the club. Kay continued, “In the game of life you win some and you lose some. When you win, don’t laugh too loud, and when you lose don’t cry too hard cause neither one lasts too long.”
Tank leaned forward and said in Mike’s ear, “Damn, that nigga’s trying to be you.” Mike stared at Kay, whose face was on every TV monitor in the club.
“Aiight, DJ, let’s do this,” he shouted. The music came on and the crowd went wild. Kay started making his way to VIP 1. He was now dressed in a pair of white Perry Ellis slacks, a white wifebeater, and a pair of denim/silver/frost Nike Air Max Plus. He wore a platinum link and Jesus piece, which was sixty-five carats altogether. His iced-out Presidential Rolex, bracelet, and ring were another sixty carats. On his way through the crowd, a woman ran up to him and kissed him.
“Can I go with you?” she asked. Big Duke pushed her back and Kay got a good look at her. She was wearing a pair of watercolor Iceberg shorts with a matching sleeveless jacket, a baby T with Iceberg on the front, and a pair of Giuseppe Zanotti jeweled heels. She was brown-skinned with long dark hair down her back. Shorty is like that, Kay thought, but he didn’t like the way she came on to him. Shu-Shu might be watching.
“What’s up, Kay?” she said, looking around Big Duke, who was between them.
“Yo, chill, ma. Lots of love but don’t push and shove,” Kay said stepping away from her. Agent Powell stood there for a moment watching Kay walk away. She was upset with herself. She had fouled up maybe her only chance of getting close to Kay, by coming on too strong. She told herself that she would try again later. She turned and went to the bar.
When Kay got to VIP 1, he was greeted by everyone. Mama, Lyniece, Scatter, Lady, Mina, Quchelle, Sandra, Sonia, and her boyfriend had all made it.
“So how ya’ll like it?” He asked as he kissed Mama, Lyniece, Lady, and Shu-Shu.
“Hi, baby. Ya’ll having a good time? Your brother called last night. He said that it wasn’t important, he just wanted to talk to you about his appeal. He said he’ll call you back. I sent him and Yang both a grand this morning,” Kay told his woman. He kissed her again and walked over to the fellaz. He hugged Dre, Gee, Tank, Scatter, and then Mike. He sensed something in Mike’s hug and backed up.
Mike smiled. “Damn, nigga, if I didn’t know any better, I would think you were trying to close my shit down,” Mike said.
“Nah, stop buggin’, it ain’t like that,” Kay told him.
“I’m only playin’, nigga. Congratulations, this shit is fly. Especially the coed bathroom,” Mike said as he hugged Kay.
The music changed: “Wifey,” by Next. Everyone in VIP 1 was dancing, especially Scatter, doing all that old-folk shit. VIP 1 sat in the middle of the club. The whole room was made of two-inch-thick bulletproof glass and held about thirty people. There were leather couches and chairs. The atmosphere was comfortable. People on the outside could walk all the way around it, looking at whoever was inside. Ray Lewis sat in one of the recliners playing Madden NFL 2000 on the PlayStation. Kay told everyone, “Watch this.” He picked up the extra remote. It was one of those fancy ones with the little TV screen instead of buttons. He touched the screen and the game Ray was playing went to every TV monitor in the club. Everyone ooohed and ahhhed. Then he touched the screen again and the laser light show started.
Kay touched the screen again and VIP 1 was soundproof. He touched the screen again and the music came back on. The next time he touched it a black curtain came down real slow. No one could see in or out. He made the curtain go back up. He touched it again and Sharese, the club manager, came in a few minutes later.
“Sharese, have a case of Salon champagne bought in,” he said. The woman turned and left.
“What the fuck is Salon?” Tank asked.
“I don’t drink that Cristal shit, it’s low budget,” Kay said with a smile. Shu-Shu lit up a cigarette. Kay stopped talking mid-sentence and gave her a look that could kill. He’d told her about smoking around him. She sucked her teeth and grabbed her bag.
She said to Misha, “Girl, I’ll be right back.”
Kay finished showing everyone the rest of his gadgets while Shu-Shu went to the ladies’ room.
There were a few women in the bathroom when Shu-Shu went into a stall to finish her cigarette. When she was almost done, two young women walked into the bathroom talking loud. They stopped in front of the mirror to check out their hair and makeup.
“Who was that, that paged you?” Reut asked.
“Who else?” Kilita said.
“Your granddaddy?”
“Girl, I done told you to stop saying that dumb shit.”
“Bitch, stop being so sensitive. He could be your granddaddy.”
“He ain’t that old. Besides, he takes good care of me and my kids. I’d rather be an old man’s sweetheart before I’m a young boy’s fool. Ya feel me? And he got the Viagra jumpin’ off.”
“I know that’s right. I can’t say shit, my man is out-of-town hustling and I know he got another bitch down there. He loves to fuck too much not to. He just thinks I’m stupid.”
“Reut, did you see that fine-ass nigga, Kay?”
“Hell yeah! He could have kept all that free food and just gave me dessert, girl, dick and nuts?” They both laughed out loud. Then Kilita said, “I heard he’s holdin’, too. I love a big fat dick. I’ma pain freak. I want it all up in my back like a spinal cord. Know what I’m sayin’?” All the women in the bathroom laughed as Reut and Kilita high-fived each other. The toilet flushed and the stall door opened. Shu-Shu walked out, and everyone became silent.
The bathroom attendant turned on the water so that she could wash her hands. She stared at Reut and Kilita in the mirror. All the women in the bathroom knew that Kay was Shu-Shu’s man and they also knew that she had overheard the two women talking. When Shu-Shu finished, the attendant turned the water off and handed her a fresh towel to dry her hands. She reached across Kilita without excusing herself and dropped the used towel in a basket. Then she looked both women up and down and said, “Puh-leeze, he wouldn’t even let you two broke-ass bitches suck his dick.” She turned and walked out. Kilita and Reut couldn’t say a word. They were upset and embarrassed.
Someone in the background said, “Dayum! No she didn’t just say that!” Everyone laughed.
The next day was just a bright Sunday afternoon in June. Everyone was at Kay’s house for a big barbecue. While kids ran around playing with the dogs, the guys were in the game room shooting craps for money on the pool table. They were discussing their big trip to Virginia Beach for the Fourth of July.
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“Yo, I rented a big-ass Ryder truck for ya’ll niggaz to load your bikes on. My man is going to drive them down on the first so everybody needs to have their bike at Mama’s by then,” Kay said.
Tank was winning the game and talking shit to everyone. “Yeah, I’m going to send all you niggaz to your re-up money fuckin’ with me.” He rolled another seven and picked up all the money.
“That’s it for me,” Scatter said.
“Yeah, pops, go lay your old ass down somewhere. When you’re ready for some more, come on back. I’m sure Kay will loan you some money. Yo, Kay, loan this old motherfucker some money.”
Kay saw the look in Scatter’s eyes and knew he was upset. “Yo, chill, Tank.”
“Man, fuck chill! How the fuck?!” Tank stopped himself. “Aiight, you got that Kay. Just for you. What you got for the beach this year, nigga?” he asked.
“It’s a surprise.”
“Mike is going to bust yo ass again this year, watch,” Tank said. Every year Kay and Mike bet to see who would have the flyest car for their annual trip to Virginia Beach. Whatever they wanted, Shu-Shu would get it for them. And she never told one what the other ordered, even though Kay was her man. Mike had won every summer.
“What you tryin’ to bet, nigga? All ya’ll niggaz ante up. I’m takin’ all bets,” Kay said. Tank threw two grand on the pool table. Everyone bet against Kay. Even Dre bet a grand. Everyone knew that Mike would go all out. He always did.
17
Virginia Beach
Sunday, July 2, 2000, 1:00 a.m. Everyone was ready to go. They were about twenty-five-deep including security, waiting at Crazy Johns on Baltimore Street for Kay to get there. Mike’s burgundy Saleen 57 was parked in the center of the parking lot. Everyone was standing around it getting good looks and taking pictures. They all took turns sitting in the driver’s seat to see how it felt. Everything on the inside was white leather trimmed in burgundy. Even the carpet, steering wheel, and dash were white. It was the 2000 model and it cost Mike $375,000. It could do zero to sixty in under four seconds with a top speed of over two hundred mph. There was a tiny video camera mounted to the rear of the car for the live video rearview mirror. This was how they did it every year. It became the talk of the town so much that each year more and more spectators showed up with their cameras and video cameras to see the outcome of the contest before they left for Virginia. Even the Feds were watching.
The family had already begun to celebrate. They just knew that Mike had won again this year. Mike looked at his Rolex. “Damn, where is this nigga at? Yo, Dre, call Kay and see where he’s at,” Mike said.
Dre took out his cell phone and started dialing Kay’s number when he noticed the way everyone was looking toward the street. Then he saw what everyone was looking at in awe. Kay pulled into the Crazy Johns parking lot next to Mike’s Saleen 57. “Oh shit! What the fuck is that?” someone yelled from the crowd. It was over. Mike and everyone else knew that Kay had won. Kay and Lil ‘C’ got out and left the doors open.
“You got me this year, nigga,” Mike said with a smile. They hugged each other. Tank was the first one to jump in the driver’s seat. “Yo, this shit is like that. What is it?”
“A Bentley Hunaudieres,” Kay said. The car was black and chrome, 623-hp engine with sixteen cylinders. The interior was done in engine-turned aluminum and Connolly leather. It could go 230 mph easily.
“I saw it at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Élégance car show when I went with Shu-Shu. She had to pull a lot of strings for me to get it. She ordered it from London. I spent about 1.2 mil altogether. It’s the only one on US soil right now. So I’m going to party off ya’ll niggaz money this trip,” Kay said.
Mike and Kay walked over to the Eldorados Lounge to check out the strippers while people took pictures of their cars. They came out twenty minutes later ready to go. It was about two in the morning. Everyone loaded up. Tank rode with Mike. Dre rode with Scatter. Gee had one of his workers riding with him. Mike had a three-man security team in a black Yukon. There were ten vehicles all together. Big Duke had P-Nut riding with him. The rest of the team consisted of lieutenants and a few workers.
“I want to ride with Pop-Pop,” Lil ‘C’ told his father. That’s what he called Scatter.
Kay blew the horn to get Scatter’s attention.“Lil ‘C’ wants to ride with you. Dre can ride with me.”
“Tell the lil’ nigga to come on,” Scatter said. This was ‘C’s first trip with them to Virginia Beach. He and Dre switched seats. Mike had already pulled off, leading the convoy toward I-95 South. Kay took up the rear. Everyone tailgated and raced each other all the way there. They always had the best radar detectors. They would communicate with each other via cell phones and two-way pagers. They made only one stop on the three-hour journey and that was for gas and the bathroom break.
It was 5:45 a.m. when they pulled into the parking lot of the Holiday Inn on the strip in Virginia Beach. While they looked for parking spaces, the first thing they noticed was the huge Ryder moving truck in the far corner. All the motorcycles had been unloaded and lined up next to the truck. They took up most of that side of the parking lot. After parking the cars, they all went over to inspect their bikes, to make sure they hadn’t fallen down during the trip. Kay called his man that drove the truck for him, and he came down with all the room keys. They had booked about twelve rooms all on the fourth floor for the lieutenants and workers. Kay rented a two-story beach house for everyone else, the same house that they used every year. It belonged to this rich dude who was one of Shu-Shu’s customers. He rented it to them each year for a few ounces of coke. The house was right off Atlantic Ave., a couple of miles from the hotel. It had five bedrooms, a spiral staircase, and an elevator, and it was fully furnished. Two big patios: one upstairs, one downstairs, both overlooking the beach. You could walk out the back door and onto the beach. Once they got in the house and settled in, niggaz was knocked out twenty minutes later.
By the time everyone got up, showered, and changed clothes, it was two o’clock in the afternoon. Niggaz was hungry so they decided to kill two birds with one stone. They linked up with everyone at the hotel and rode their bikes to the Military Circle Mall in Norfolk. They ate at Piccadilly’s and hung out for a while. Kay made it a habit of going into the Cavalier Men’s Shop because that’s where all the prettiest women worked. He, Mike, and Dre had met three bad-ass shorties from there last year. Kay met Alzina, Mike met Kim, and Dre met Chastity. They hadn’t talked to the girls in a while. Alzina saw them as soon as they walked in the store. Her eyes lit up, because she really liked Kay. He treated her nice, even though it was only for a few days. Plus she knew these niggaz was ready to buy something that meant commission for her.
“What’s up, nigga, why haven’t you called me?” she asked Kay as she kissed him on the cheek. She playfully greeted everyone else. “How long ya’ll going to be here?”
“A few days,” Kay answered. “This is my son, Lil ‘C’.”
“Hey, Lil ‘C’, wit yo fine self.” Lil ‘C’ just smiled and spoke back.
“Yo, Alzina, where’s your friend?” Mike asked.
“Oh, she had the day off. I’ll call her in a minute for you.” Chastity was just coming off break when she walked in the store and saw all them niggaz standing around.
“Damn!” she said out loud, not recognizing anyone until she saw Dre. She smiled and walked over to him.
“What’s up, Boo? I got your message but you didn’t say what day you would be here.”
“I got here this morning,” Dre said in his normal voice, not showing any excitement about seeing her. That’s what she liked about him; that’s what most women liked about Dre. He was mysterious. They couldn’t figure him out. Shit! Nobody could. She pulled Dre over in a corner to talk to him. Everyone else was spread about the store looking for clothes.
“Ya’ll know I got to make it look good for my boss, so buy something. A T-shirt or something,” Alzina told them. She pretend
ed to help everyone while she talked. Alzina would talk your head off if you let her. Nobody really needed anything but they bought shit anyway. Lil ‘C’ picked out a Nautica sweatsuit that he hadn’t seen in B-More. Niggaz gave Alzina and Chastity tips before they bounced. Kay told her about the party they were throwing again this year on the fifth.
“What’s up for tonight, can I come by?” she asked.
“Yeah, come through around eleven o’clock. I got something for you.”
“I ain’t doing nothing with you. You haven’t called me in a few months and think that I’m going to give you some just ’cause you pop up at my job. Nigga, you trippin’,” she said with a smile.
“I ain’t talking about that. Who said I was going to give you some anyway? You ain’t call me either.”
“So you ain’t going to give me none?” she asked with a smile.
“You got some money?”
“Only my school money.”
“That will do. Bring it with you,” Kay said as he picked up his helmet and walked out to catch up with everyone else. The mall was getting packed. The tourists were making their way to town. The mall was the hot spot right now. People from all over were walking around. Kay and his crew stood out because they were twenty-five-deep and all carried helmets. So whatever store they dropped in they drew attention. They were all getting phone numbers from different women, while they just walked around the mall, flossin’.
