I looked at her like she was crazy. I couldn’t believe she was ’bouta end our visit before visiting hours was over with. But I already knew when you in the game as tough as we were, you didn’t have time to be sitting around doing nothing. You had to constantly stay on the move to make sure money was being made. I wasn’t mad at her because I was the one who’d taught her that valuable lesson. I was actually proud she was utilizing the shit I’d instilled in her. I gave her a tight hug and a kiss on the lips before watching her walk away.
Chapter 15
I’m Gonna Get You, Sucka
“You doin’ all right, Vomo?” my new cellie, Joseph, walked in and asked as I sat quietly staring into space.
“I’m good, just thinkin’, that’s all,” I replied, trying to fight back the tears.
“Did they have yo’ mother’s funeral yet?”
“Naw, not yet. I called my cousin Vonda and she said it ain’t until Friday,” I said, feeling a lump forming in my throat.
Joseph must have heard it in my voice that I was about to break down so he quickly changed the subject. “You see the game last night? Man, Kevin Durant did his thang!”
“The fucked-up part about my momma’s death is it wasn’t even the cancer that killed her; it was some bitch-ass nigga doin’ a drive-by,” I said disregarding what Joseph was talking about.
Joseph didn’t know what to say. All he could do was shake his head.
“Can you believe that?” I asked rhetorically. “A fuckin’ drive-by and nobody got shot but my momma. It’s somethin’ about this story that just don’t make sense to me.”
“Well, brotha, we all know that a bullet don’t have no name on it,” Joseph said. I didn’t know if he was tryin’a pacify me or what but I wasn’t buying it.
“Man, I ain’t tryin’a hear that shit! A nigga killed my momma inten . . .” I said, stopping in midsentence. I had been so caught up in grieving over the loss of my mother, the comment Budz made to me the other day about her death never dawned on me until now. How would he know before me that my mother had been killed?
“That lowdown son of a bitch had somethin’ to do wit’ my momma’s death!” I shouted angrily.
“Who?” Joseph inquired.
“Budz’s bitch-ass,” I replied as I paced back and forth in the tiny cell.
“Are you sure or are you just assumin’ he had somethin’ to do wit’ it?”
“I know for a fuckin’ fact that fag-ass nigga had somethin’ to do with it! I put this on everything I love, as long as I have air in my lungs he gon’ die for takin’ my momma away from me!” I snapped and meant every word.
I had no clue how I would get close enough to Budz because he had security around him at all times, but as God was my witness I would find a way.
“You need to calm down, little brotha. You know Budz got all kinds of niggas on his payroll, so you should be careful about what you say and who you say it to,” Joseph said, concerned.
“Man, fuck that nigga and his payroll! I got more money than that nigga will ever have,” I lied.
“I’m just tryin’a look out for you, that’s all.”
“Chow time,” the CO called out.
“Yeah, whatever,” I said before walking out the cell.
“Dumb-ass nigga,” Joseph said shaking his head, following me out the cell.
“Hey, Vomo,” one of the girls said as I walked by her and a group of her friends.
“Sup,” I replied and kept it moving because I damn sure couldn’t let anyone see me speaking to these gumps.
“I heard about ya momma,” Precious called out.
I stopped and turned around. “What the fuck you just say?” I snapped walking toward her.
“I said I heard about ya momma,” she repeated. “That’s real fucked up.”
I quickly realized that all Precious was doing was offering her condolences. It wasn’t her fault that my momma had gotten killed. “Thanks,” I said, calming down a little.
“Did they find out who did it?” she asked.
“Nope,” I said, slowly shaking my head.
“That’s crazy. Well a little birdie told me to tell you that payback is a bitch and that bitch was ya momma.” Precious smirked.
I should have known Precious was on some bullshit from the get-go; she was Budz’s girl. Before I knew it, I punched Precious in the face, knocking her down. I climbed on top of her and wrapped both my hands around her throat, trying my best to choke all the life out of her while her girls screamed for the COs. I would have accomplished my mission if it wasn’t for the blow I took to the back of the head from the baton.
Chapter 16
All Work and No Play
I still couldn’t believe how Nikki’s dumb-ass had gotten me caught up in her bullshit with Black, I thought as I blasted my music one Saturday afternoon while cleaning the house. If Budz even thought I put our business on the line to help her dope fein ass, he would have no understanding. As soon as I turned off the vacuum I heard my cell phone ringing, I walked over to it, picked it up, and checked the caller ID. Normally, I wouldn’t have answered it because it was an UNKNOWN CALLER, but today I felt like I needed to.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hello, beautiful,” I heard the voice say with the Trinidadian accent.
Speaking of the devil, I thought and meant it literally. The sound of Black’s deep voice sent chills down my spine. “Who is this?” I asked, already knowing who the voice belonged to.
“It’s your knight in shinin’ armor, who else would it be?” he joked.
“How did you get my number?” I asked.
“I got my ways of findin’ out anything I need to know,” he responded.
“Well know this, I don’t want you callin’ my phone!”
“Stop it!” Black laughed. “We still got business to tend to.”
“Speakin’ of our business, is it done yet?”
“Now let’s not be so pushy.”
“And I need proof before I pay you,” I stated.
“Oh trust me, you will have proof firsthand.”
“What do you mean by that?” I inquired.
“You’ll see. Just meet me at the same warehouse around three a.m. with the rest of my money. Oh, and this time come alone,” he said hanging up before I could even respond.
This crazy-ass nigga had me shook. The thought of going to the warehouse without Nikki had me feeling uneasy. Black had my mind so messed up I couldn’t even finish cleaning the house. I decided to get dressed and head to the mall to do some shopping to try to relax my mind. As I headed to the car my cell phone began ringing again. I prayed it wasn’t Black calling me back as I quickly dug in my purse to retrieve it. I smiled when I saw the number of the correctional facility. After the automated operator went through her spill, I accepted Budz’s call.
“Wassup, baby?” he asked.
“Nothin’ much. Just on my way to the mall to do a little shoppin’,” I replied as I got into my car.
“Shit, you out there spendin’ all a nigga’s money on shoppin’ ain’t you?” he joked.
“Not all of it.” I laughed as I started up the car and pulled off. “You know a bitch gotta stay lookin’ fly though.”
“Who you tryin’a look good for?” he asked.
I could hear the jealousy in Budz’s voice. I was glad that he was; now he knew how I felt when he be out there fucking other bitches. He had no idea how many niggas I could have and should have fucked since he’d been locked up, but no, my dumb-ass was staying faithful to this nigga. Why, I didn’t even know. Maybe it was the fact that I knew what he’d do to me if he ever found out that I’d fucked around on him.
“For myself,” I answered trying my best to ease his insecurities.
“Yeah, okay, don’t get fucked up!” he warned.
“I won’t,” I said as I drove.
“When I get out I gotta pay a visit to this nigga named Black,” Budz said, nearly making me run a red light.
“Some ho-ass nigga from Trinidad who’s tryin’a step on my toes,” Budz said.
“Oh, okay well I’ve never heard of him before,” I lied.
“Well, if you do ever cross paths with him, stay the fuck away from him! The nigga is dangerous as hell!”
Hearing Budz saying someone other than himself was dangerous made me fully believe that Black wasn’t playing with a full deck so the quicker we got done with this business the better.
“Story is he out here clockin’ dough, his and some of mine. He came here from Trinidad and bodied the nigga who was supposed to be down here workin’ for him. I guess the nigga was jackin’ his money off and stealin’ from him and the nigga took him out in broad daylight, across from the police station,” Budz said trying to speak in code over the monitored phones.
“Wow, across from a police station? That nigga got heart,” I said, slightly getting turned on by Black’s thuggish ways.
“Yeah, but I ain’t barrin’ that ho-ass nigga! I tell you one thing, me and that nigga gon’ get an understandin’ about what’s happenin’ around the Chi, I know that much!” Budz said with a straight attitude.
I quickly changed the subject, trying to calm Budz down. After a few more minutes of talking, the automated lady chimed in telling us we had sixty seconds left on our call.
“Well, I’m about to go to rec. I will call you later on,” Budz said.
“Okay, do that. I love you,” I said.
“You have ten seconds left on this call,” the automated lady said.
“Love you too,” he said before our call got disconnected.
I stuck my phone back into my purse before pulling into the mall’s parking lot. I was still shook by Budz mentioning Black’s name to me. I got out of the car and headed into the mall. I knew one thing for sure and two for certain I had to make it my business to never let Budz find out that I’d been fraternizing with the enemy or he would be handling me too.
After spending hours at the mall shopping, I decided to grab a bite to eat before going home to take a nap. Waking up two hours later, I looked over at the clock.
“Damn, it’s only nine o’clock,” I snapped, realizing I still had six hours before I had to meet Black at the warehouse. With nothing to do around the house I decided to head over to Nikki’s as usual to see what was popping off over there. I had money to collect anyway.
I pulled up in front of Nikki’s and looked over at the Davidsons house. It was pitch dark on the inside. A part of me felt bad for what Black had done to them but the other part didn’t give a fuck because they shouldn’t have been tryin’a fuck wit’ my money!
“Sup, girl.” Sierra smiled when I walked in.
“Hey, momma,” I spoke, looking around at the empty house. “Where everybody at?”
“They all in the basement smokin’, drinkin’, and watchin’ the Mayweather fight on pay per view. And I don’t know where Nikki’s ass at; she been gone all day,” Sierra replied.
“Well if they down there kickin’ it who runnin’ the door?” I questioned. “And did Nikki get her kids back yet?”
Sierra shrugged her shoulders. “Girl, naw. Nikki was supposed to go to some parenting classes but didn’t go. They gave her three chances. The first two classes she woke up too late to go and the third time she just said fuck it and didn’t go! Some white lady showed up one day lookin’ around and of course the house was full of niggas drinkin’ and smokin’. The white lady was talkin’ ’bout the condition of the house and said the kids would be better off livin’ with her mother permanently.”
All I could do was shake my head.
“Wait, listen to this. The white broad asked Nikki if she had any questions and Nikki asked, ‘Will I still get my check and food stamps?’” Sierra said, shaking her head too.
“Wow, so you mean to tell me all this bitch is worried about is a check and muthafuckin’ food stamps?”
Sierra shook her head. “Yep. And as far as who’s watchin’ the door, all I know is it’s some fine-ass niggas down there and I’m goin’ back down there to see which one I wanna come up on,” Sierra said as she headed to the basement with me in tow.
“We’ll see about this,” I said as we headed down the basement stairs.
“What’s up, Blu?” Ervin spoke as the rest of the niggas followed suit.
“What’s up, y’all,” I spoke back. Looking around the basement at our workers sitting around drinking and getting high when there was money to be made had me feeling some typa way. I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to speak on it.
“Listen up, y’all,” I shouted over the loud noise.
“Wassup?” Neeko asked never taking his eyes off the fight.
Seeing that I was being ignored had me hot as a firecracker so I walked over and stood in front of the fifty-five-inch TV that Budz had bought for Nikki to show his gratitude for all the money she was making for him.
“Awwwww, man, what you doin’?” JB shouted as I stood blocking their view.
“I told y’all I had somethin’ to say!”
“Well can’t you say it while standin’ a little more to your left?” Kane asked, waving me out the way.
“I could, but I ain’t!” I said quickly grabbing the remote of the table and turning the TV off.
“Awwwww, man, what you do that for?” the fellas sang out simultaneously.
“Man, you trippin’. I got a thousand dollars on this fight!” Ervin frowned.
“I don’t care nothin’ about y’all bein’ mad ’cause y’all already know if Budz was out y’all wouldn’t be sittin’ around watchin’ no damn fight! Y’all would be out here gettin’ money,” I said angrily. “And, Yogi, you know what I’m sayin’ is true.”
“Damn, Blu, we been gettin’ money all damn day, baby girl,” Yogi said, pulling a knot out of his pocket.
“Well that’s good, but there’s always more to be made,” I said, unfazed.
“Damn, man, she worse than a slave master,” Kane said, getting up from the couch.
“Hell yeah,” Neeko agreed.
“A nigga can’t even take a break I see,” JB said.
“You right, y’all can’t,” I said not caring about their attitudes.
“Here you go, boss,” Ervin said, handing me the $3,800 he owed.
“Thank you.” I smiled before collecting the rest of my ends from the other niggas.
“Nice doin’ business wit’ y’all; now get back to work,” I said as I watched them all head up the basement stairs in a single file line mumbling the entire way.
I couldn’t have cared less how they felt. Like I said if Budz was out, he wouldn’t let them get away with slacking either.
“Damn, bitch, you be on them niggas’ heads about makin’ that money.” Sierra laughed.
“It ain’t that. I just don’t like the fact that they think because Budz is locked up they can slack off. I’m not havin’ it, point blank period!”
“Okay, boss lady,” Sierra joked.
“That’s right.” I laughed while embracing the nickname Boss Lady.
Sierra and I sat around the house shooting the shit, while taking much needed shots of Grey Goose. I needed something to calm my nerves before going to meet Black.
“A’iiiiight, girl, I’m ’bouta bounce. I got business to take care of,” I said standing up from the couch.
Sierra looked over at the clock on the cable box. “What typa business you got to take care of at two o’clock in the mornin’?” She smirked.
“Why, nosey-ass hefah?” I asked as we headed up the basement stairs.
“Do Budz know you ’bouta handle this business? ’Cause I can only think of one typa business bein’ handled this time of mornin’.” Sierra laughed.
“It ain’t even that typa business, girl.” I l
aughed too. “Lord knows I wish it was.”
“Girl, you betta gone and get you some while Budz ass is locked up. I bet chu he wouldn’t be faithful to you if the shoe was on the other foot,” Sierra said.
“Shit, the nigga ain’t faithful no ways. He thinks I don’t know. I’m just playin’ dumb for the time bein’. I will have my time to shine, just wait and see,” I assured my friend.
“Shit, fuck waitin’; if I were you I would be out gettin’ me some dick as we speak,” Sierra said.
“Naw, I’m good. I’ma be a good girl; my time comin’,” I said as I headed out the door.
“Well, take ya good girl ass on then,” Sierra joked as I walked out to my car. Sierra watched as I made it safely to my car before shutting the door.
I laughed as I got in my car, started it up, and pulled off.
All the talk about sex had me horny as fuck, so I decided to go home and take a quick, cold shower before going to the warehouse. Lord knows I couldn’t go see Black’s fine ass feeling like this because money might not have been the only thing he would have been getting from me.
Chapter 17
Game Over
I pulled up at the warehouse, grabbed the duffle bag, and headed to the door. After being let in and searched, I was led to Black’s office. My heart beat fast as hell as I entered through the door.
“Welcome, beautiful.” Black grinned as he sat behind his desk. His entourage wasn’t as big as it was the last time I’d been here. In fact, there were only two dudes in there with him.
“Let’s get down to business,” I said wasting no time, wanting to get up out of there as quick as possible.
“Calm down, sexy, no need to rush,” Black said standing up from his chair and walking toward me.
Damn, damn,damn, James, I thought as he walked over and stood in front of me. I could smell his cologne he was standing so close.
“The name is Blu, so please feel free to use it,” I said smartly.
“Blu, I like that name. Just like Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s daughter huh? Your parents stole that name from them didn’t they?” He smiled.
“For your information, my name is spelled differently and I was born first. It may sound the same but it’s different all the way around the board,” I said, defensively.
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