Powder Blu

by Brandi Johnson

  I’m lookin’ forward to the day they release me, nigga; you got somethin’ comin’ yo’ way, believe that! And stop sendin’ ya soft-ass goons my way, fag-ass nigga! Trust and believe when I see you it’s gon’ be a “Blackout” for you! P.S. Do your girl know what I know?

  This nigga, Vomo, done got real bold sendin’ mail to my house. But we all get bold when we locked up; but this nigga must’ve forgot who the fuck I am. I don’t take threats lightly, I thought as I tore the letter and tossed it in the trash.

  “Wait,” I stopped in my tracks and said aloud. “A blackout? I wonder if this nigga and Black plottin’ against me.” I wasn’t feeling this shit at all. I pulled out my cell phone and called my nigga, Miguel.

  “Sup, Budz?” Miguel answered.

  “Hey, I need to see you as soon as possible. We got some shit we need to discuss. Meet me at the club in about an hour. We gotta find this nigga Black today!”

  “One,” Miguel said before hanging up the phone.

  Chapter 20

  They Know Now

  I didn’t know why Budz thought I was one of them young, dumb-ass broads. I was far from that. He thought I was ’sleep when he came in the house at six o’clock this morning, reeking of 1800 and cheap perfume. He could have at least washed up before he climbed in bed with me. Times like this, I wished Black would call. Not that I would cheat on Budz with him; I just wanted someone to hold a decent conversation with who wasn’t scared of Budz. I can’t lie; Black was constantly on my mind. I liked the fact that he had that “I don’t give a fuck” attitude, the same one he’d taught me to have. I never thought I’d get to the point where I didn’t give a fuck about people and their feelings.

  I pulled up in front of my mom’s apartment complex, grabbed my purse, and got out of the car. I walked through the door and headed to the elevator.

  “Hey, Mom,” I said walking in her door without knocking.

  “We don’t knock no more?” she asked. “I coulda been runnin’ around here buck-ass naked,” she said half laughing.

  The thought of that made me nauseated. “I’m glad you wasn’t.” I laughed.

  “Shut up.” She laughed too.

  “Here’s your work,” I said, pulling the dope out of my purse, laying it on the coffee table.

  “Let me go get my scale,” she said.

  “What? You think I’m gon’ short you?” I asked lightweight offended.

  “I don’t trust nobody,” she said and proceeded to head to the kitchen to grab her scale. She walked back into the living room and weighed the dope. After seeing that it added up to what it was supposed to be she handed me the money.

  I began counting the money. I noticed the evil eye she shot me.

  “You don’t trust me?” she had the audacity to ask.

  “I don’t trust nobody either,” I replied and continued counting. “Nice doin’ business wit’ you.”

  “Get a li’l money and don’t know how to act. You drivin’ a new car, livin’ in that nice-ass house, got all this jewelry and name brand clothes and wanna get new!” my momma said out of nowhere.

  “I don’t know where all this is comin’ from, but you coulda left it where it was at,” I said as I finished counting my ends.

  “Wassup, Blu,” Craig said, coming out of my room with just his boxers and socks on.

  I looked at him and turned up my face.

  “You can’t speak?” my mom asked.

  “I’m countin’ my money. And plus, I don’t gotta speak to that nigga, he yo’ man, not mine,” I said.

  “You so disrespectful,” my mom said angrily.

  “Speakin’ of bein’ disrespectful, you two hundred short,” I replied.

  “No, I’m not, it’s all there,” she argued.

  “No, it’s not. It’s only eighteen hundred dolla’s here,” I replied, getting angry because she was tryin’a play me.

  I tried my best to keep my composure but she was going out of her way to push all of my buttons.

  “Whateva,” she said waving me off.

  “Momma, I need my money or give my dope back!”

  “I ain’t givin’ you shit back! Now you betta take ya eighteen hundred dolla’s and get the fuck on outta my house,” she said.

  “So you just gon’ play me like I’m just some weak-ass bitch?” I asked just to make sure.

  “Girl, get the fuck on outta my house,” she said, nonchalantly.

  “With pleasure, but not before I get the rest of my money.”

  “Look, I ain’t gon’ tell you no more that you ain’t got shit comin’!” she yelled. “Craig, come get this bitch outta my house!”

  “No problem, baby,” he said walking toward me, but stopped dead in his tracks when I pulled my baby .380 out of my purse and pointed it at him.

  “What the fuck?” him and my momma asked simultaneously.

  Black’s word replayed in my head as I pointed the gun. “You gotta be willin’ to take out yo’ own momma if it come down to it!”

  “Now you can either give me my money or I can take it from you. The choice is yours,” I said, redirecting my gun toward my momma.

  “Bitch, you done lost yo’ mind!” my momma said.

  “That wasn’t the answer I was lookin’ for,” I said, grabbing my dope off the table, putting it back in my purse.

  “You gon’ give that back,” Craig said coming toward me as if he’d forgotten just that quick that I was armed.

  I shot him once in the leg and watched him fall to the floor. My momma started screaming while running over to his side as he cried like a little bitch.

  “I don’t know if y’all thought I was playin’ or what! But y’all see now that I wasn’t,” I snapped.

  “Get the fuck out and don’t eva come back,” my momma yelled as she applied pressure to Craig’s leg.

  Over the years I had become so sick of hearing them same words come out my momma’s mouth. She betta be glad I didn’t shoot her too just because.

  “It didn’t have to turn out like this,” I said as I turned to walk out the door. I had no sympathy for what I’d just done. I didn’t care who you were or how much history we had, when it came down to getting in the way of my money, I didn’t care who got hurt. The sooner muthafuckas realized that, the better it would be for them.

  I walked in the house pissed. I couldn’t believe I just had to shoot my momma’s boyfriend.

  “Where you been?” Budz asked as I walked into the kitchen.

  “I told you I was goin’ over to my momma’s house,” I said walking over to the refrigerator opening it up. “Oh, and you don’t have to worry ’bout doin’ business wit’ her no more.” I grabbed a bottle of water out and opened it up.

  “Why not?” Budz asked.

  “’Cause the bitch tried to jack me outta two hundred dolla’s. Then Craig tried to step to me and I shot his bitch-ass in the leg,” I said once I finished taking a drink of my water.

  “What the fuck, Blu? You can’t be goin’ around just shootin’ muthafuckas!” Budz frowned. “What if they call the police on you?”

  “Well they shouldna tried to play me! And they ain’t gon’ call no police. You know my momma ain’t cut like that; she hate the police.”

  Budz shook his head. “Sit down, we need to talk.”

  I sat across the table from him as he smoked a blunt. “Wassup?”

  “I know you don’t like goin’ to parties wit’ a bunch of bourgeois-ass, rich people, but I got hooked up wit’ this new connect and he invited us to his party on his yacht so we can discuss numbers.”

  “You right, I don’t,” I snapped still in my feelings about my momma and Craig’s bitch-ass.

  “I need you to do this for me. If we get this cat on our team, we gon’ make so much money it ain’t even gon’ be funny,” Budz said, smiling.

  I thought for a brief second. I hated being around a bunch of stuffy, stuck-up rich people. But if it made Budz happy, I was willing to do it.

  “We al
ready makin’ a buncha money,” I said, trying to get out of going to this party.

  “Yeah, but the money we gon’ make if we work wit’ Mr. Davenport is gon’ be stupid!”

  “I don’t know, Budz.”

  “Pleeeeease?” Budz asked smiling.

  I shook my head and smiled. “Okay, damn. I got chu.”

  “Good! Now, I need you to wear somethin’ sexy, but classy,” he said standing up from the table.

  “I will be the sexiest bitch up in the party, I promise you that.”

  “That’s my baby.” He smiled as he walked out of the kitchen.

  As I pieced together an outfit in my head, my cell phone began to ring; I pulled it out of my purse and saw Restricted Caller come across the screen. There was no doubt in my mind that it was Black. I wanted to answer the phone so bad it was eating me up, but I couldn’t chance Budz catching me talking to this nigga. As bad as it hurt, I pressed the ignore button and threw my phone back in my purse before going to get dressed for this party.

  Chapter 21

  Déjà Vu

  I couldn’t believe the size of the yacht as me and Budz pulled up to the dock. This was something straight out of a movie. I was glad that I had decided to come. As we walked into the party everyone seemed so happy. They were laughing and talking as drinks flowed nonstop. Whoever this cat was Budz was about to meet with had money and by the looks of this yacht he had lots of it. I smiled over at my handsome man who was dressed in a black Ralph Lauren tuxedo with a pair of black Steve Madden Yippee dress shoes. He was dressed to kill and so was I. My baby asked for sexy and I gave it to him. I rocked a red Valentino strapless dress with a plunging neck line and a slit that stopped at the top of my thigh. It showed off every curve that I had and then some. I wore a pair of black Givenchys that had a silver heel with a snake design that wrapped halfway up my leg. I had pin curled my hair up and left a little hanging on the side. I made sure my makeup was on point, too. You couldn’t tell me nothing after accentuating my attire with the finest diamonds money could buy.

  “Budz, my man,” some handsome gentleman walked up to him and said.

  I didn’t know what it was about this cat, but his voice seemed so familiar to me. It was like I knew him from somewhere; I just couldn’t put my finger on it.

  “Mr. Davenport.” Budz smiled, giving him a firm handshake.

  “Glad to see you could make it. And who is this beautiful young lady accompanying you tonight?” he asked.

  Mr. Davenport looked at me as if he knew me from somewhere too. It felt kind of awkward because I knew I knew this man. Mr. Davenport was distinguished looking, with the most intense, hypnotizing gray eyes. You could tell he was of mixed heritage due to his light-colored skin tone. He had one of the clearest, smoothest complexions I’d ever seen on a man. He wore his hair in a short fade with a beautifully manicured goatee. His body was in great shape for a man his age; you could tell he stayed in the gym.

  “Oh, this is my girl, Blu,” Budz introduced me.

  “Blu?” he asked, surprised.

  “Yes, Blu,” I answered, noticing his sudden mood change.

  He stared at me for a brief second. “Nice to finally meet you, Blu,” he said, grabbing my hand and kissing the back of it.

  Finally, I thought. “Nice to meet you too.”

  “She’s not only my lady but we work together as well,” Budz added, proudly.

  Mr. Davenport couldn’t keep his eyes off me. It was as if he was trying to figure out where he knew me from as well.

  “You let your lady sell drugs?” Mr. Davenport looked at Budz and asked.

  “It’s not like I force her to; she wants to. Ain’t that right, baby?” Budz justified.

  “Yep,” I agreed.

  “Well if I had a daughter she damn sure wouldn’t be out here sellin’ drugs. She would be in somebody’s school gettin’ an education,” Mr. Davenport replied.

  Thank God I ain’t yo’ daughter, I thought.

  “Let’s get down to business,” Mr. Davenport looked at Budz and said.

  “Let’s do this.”

  “I’m gon’ steal your man for a few; make yourself comfortable,” Mr. Davenport said. “Nice meetin’ you again, Blu.”

  “Nice meetin’ you too,” I said as I watched him and Budz disappear into another room.

  This party was really nice, I thought, as I sipped champagne while walking and looking around. These people were partying hard on Mr. Davenport’s expense. It was a mixture of whites, blacks, and Spanish people all having fun together. Some people were dancing; a few of them were in the Jacuzzi while others were snorting lines of light blue powder. This was the first time I’d ever seen powder so pure and uncut. I was so mesmerized by it; I walked over and stood in front of the couple who were snorting it.

  “You want some?” one of the guys looked up at me and asked.

  “No, thank you,” I said quickly walking away.

  “Hello, beautiful,” I heard a familiar voice say. I knew my mind was just playing tricks on me. There was no way Black could really be at this party. It must have been the expensive champagne I was drinking.

  I quickly turned around. “Black, what you doin’ here?” Damn he was sexy as fuck all dressed up in a black Sean Jean tuxedo. His locks were braided neatly to the back and the smell of his cologne sent me over the edge.

  “I was invited. What you doin’ here?” He grinned.

  “I was invited too,” I said, trying to sound important. “Plus, I’m here on business.”

  “Damn, sexy, if you dress like that for business, then maybe we should start workin’ together.” He smiled.

  I smiled back. “So you do business wit’ Mr. Davenport too?”

  “He wants me to, but I have a better connect with a better product,” he said, unfazed.

  “Have you seen his shit? It’s pure.”

  “I’ve seen it, but like I said, I found better,” Black replied.

  “Well excuse me, smart mouth,” I teased.

  “You like it,” he said leaning in close to me. I tried not to look nervous but I knew I did.

  “Yeah, okay, keep tellin’ yourself that, you might believe it one day.” I laughed.

  “I’m confident,” he said cockily.

  “Is that right?”

  “Yep. Oh, and tell ya li’l boyfriend to stop goin’ around town askin’ about me. Tell him he will find me when the time is right,” Black said with a serious look on his face.

  “It ain’t no biggie, he just wants to know who his competition is, that’s all,” I said, taking up for Budz.

  “Yeah, a’iiiight,” Black replied.

  “It’s true.”

  “You know you are sexy as fuck,” he said.

  “Thank you,” I said, coyly.

  “Why don’t you let me mess up your hair and makeup?”

  I would have loved to say yes, but I knew better. “I can’t,” I said, disappointed.

  “I like this dress on you,” he said tracing the V with his finger. “It complements your skin tone perfectly.”

  I bit down on my lip, not being able to say a word.

  “You got panties on under there?” he asked.

  My box was throbbing and dripping wet as I shook my head no.

  “I would fuck you right now, but I have two reasons not to,” he looked me dead in my eyes and said.

  “What’s the reasons?” I asked, needing to know.

  “I don’t want to fuck you, I wanna make love to you is one reason; and the other is I don’t wanna have to fuck up your li’l boyfriend, not yet. He’s already mad that you over here talkin’ to me,” Black said.

  I looked behind me and saw Budz coming our way. My heart felt like it was about to jump out of my chest. I started to panic. I turned back around to see what Black was about to do and just like that he was gone.

  Chapter 22

  Catchin’ Feelin’s

  “So how did the meetin’ go?” Blu looked over at me and asked as
we drove home. I was still feeling some type of way at her for having that nigga all up in her space at the party.

  “Who was that nigga you was talkin’ to?” I asked, ignoring her question.

  “I don’t know, I just met him at the party,” she said hoping I would believe her. Well I didn’t. He seemed too comfortable with her for them to just have met.

  “Since when you start lettin’ niggas you don’t know get all up in yo’ face?” I asked, trying to keep calm.

  “Damn, Budz, we were just makin’ general conversation. It ain’t like we planned to hook up or no shit like that!” she snapped.

  “I don’t know what the fuck y’all was talkin’ ’bout; all I know is he was all up in my girl’s face,” I said angrily, not being able to control it any longer.

  “Baby, you don’t have to worry ’bout him; he was just a nigga I was talkin’ to that’s all.”

  “Well, you betta make sure all these niggas know that you belong to Budz!”

  “They already know. I always represent you to the fullest.”

  My demeanor softened just a little. “Well, I really can’t blame the nigga for bein’ all up in ya face; you are lookin’ good as fuck in that dress.” I smiled.

  “Thanks.” She smiled back.

  “My new business partner was really impressed by you. The way he looked at you, I thought maybe y’all knew each other from somewhere. And when we got to the back, he was questionin’ me about your family and shit,” I said, pulling into the driveway. “Oh yeah, before I forget I gave Mr. Davenport your number as a backup in case he can’t reach me.”

  “That was smart; he need a backup cause you know how you be MIA sometimes,” Blu said half laughing, but serious.

  “Whatever.” I smiled, before getting out of the car.

  “But for real though I had that feelin’ too. I ain’t gon’ lie; he feels familiar to me, like I met him before. It’s weird as fuck,” she said getting out of the car too.

  “You ready to take this shit to a new level?” I asked, unlocking the door and walking in with Blu right behind me.

  “You already know I’m ready.” She smiled.