Hustle & Heartache

by D. Gamblez

  “A’ight, fam, but if these niggas get the drop on us and we get smoked ‘cause of that stupid-ass shit, I’ma kick yo’ ass for eternity in the afterlife. Now put this shit in gear and let’s ride. Ya’ll niggas ready...or do one of ya’ll wanna read these niggas a bedtime story to go with this nigga’s lullaby?” I asked jokingly

  “Fuck that, yo. Let’s do this shit, fam,” Lyrical said.

  “T.A.B!”we all exclaimed in unison.

  With the headlights still off, Devonte turned the ignition and the Suburban roared to life. Then he put it in gear and eased his foot off of the break, letting the truck roll down the street, hugging the curb until we were directly across the street from where Diego and his crew were still loading up.

  We pulled our ski-masks down to cover our faces.

  “Hold up! Let me play the song,” Devonte said quickly.

  “Nigga, fuck that song!”Raheem spat.

  But before we exited the vehicle, the sudden sound of well-known rapper Eazy-E’s Real Muthafuckin’G’z came blaring out of the trucks speakers, loud enough that Diego and his crew could surely hear it. Hell, loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear it.

  “Damn, fam, I didn’t know the shit was turned up that loud,” Devonte said. “Fuck it! Let’s go, ya’ll, go go!”

  “You a stupid-ass nigga!”Raheem chided him.

  “Let’s get these spic-ass ma’fuckas!” Lyrical shouted, and we all hopped out and headed straight for them.

  Alerted by the sudden blaring of music, Diego’s head snapped in our direction, but before any of them even knew what was going down, we opened fire.

  The sound of the shotgun was deafening as I continued to pump shells and pull the trigger. There were at least twelve guys in the yard, but with Devonte and Raheem shooting their AK’s at everything that moved, about half of them had already fallen.

  I saw one of the guys reaching behind his back, and I put a hole in his chest before he was able to pull his weapon. Another guy got off two shots and hit me in the chest. The impact from the bullets knocked me back onto the grass, and as I laid there writhing in pain and gasping for air, I watched helplessly as the guy who’d shot me approached to finish the job.

  “Bitch-ass nigga!”he shouted over the music as he raised his gun and pointed it at my face.

  Lyrical crept up behind him and placed her weapon to the back of his head.Then the guy’s head exploded in a mess of brain matter and blood.

  “Get off yo’ ass and come the fuck on, nigga,” Lyrical barked, grabbing me by the arm and helping me to my feet.

  “Watch out for them ma’fuckin’ dogs!”Raheem warned as he slapped in another magazine and sent a barrage of bullets in the direction of the two remaining crew members. Their bodies spasmed wildly as blood splattered the front of the house.

  Devonte cried out when one of the dogs sunk his teeth into the flesh of his forearm. Infuriated from being shot and nearly being killed, white-hot rage boiled in my chest as I snatched up the shotgun from the grass and pulled the trigger. The Rottweiler’s insides were splattered all over the side of the van seconds later.

  “Watch out, Dre!”Lyrical shouted.

  Two shots sound off seconds later as something crashed into my leg. When I turned to see what had barreled into me, I saw the second Rottweiler lying in the grass behind me, its head nearly missing from the two slugs Lyrical put in its skull.

  “Punk-ass dog bit the fuck outta my arm, yo! Where the fuck that bitch-ass ma’fucka Diego at?”Devonte panted as checked the bodies on the ground for confirmation that we’d gotten Diego as well.

  “That pussy-ass ma’fucka hopped his scared-ass in the back of the van like a little bitch,” Lyrical spat as she raised her pistols and pointed them at the van.

  “Hold up,” I said quickly as I grabbed her arm. “Let’s take the drugs and loot after we pop this nigga. You know that’s what’s gotta be in them duffels, right?”

  “Hells yeah!”Raheem agreed. “Let’s take that shit. Shit, it ain’t like these ma’fuckas gonna need it no more. Not after tonight.”

  “A’ight,” Lyrical nodded, the thought of an easy come-up whetting her appetite.

  “How we gonna get this nigga out the van, though?” Devonte asked. “You know this ma’fucka gonna try to shoot us soon as he see one of us tryin’ to get at him.”

  “I got this,” Lyrical, then she walked right up to the back of the van and let off a shot.

  “Aaahhhh! Fuck!”Diego cried out as Lyrical climbed into the back of the van and forced him out onto the driveway.

  “Yeah, baby! Get yo’ ma’fuckin’ bitch ass on yo’ knees, ma’fucka,” Lyrical spat, shooting him in the back of both knees.

  “Aaa-haaahhhh! Shit! Come on, man!”Diego cried out again as he fell to the ground.

  “Turn yo’ bitch-ass over,” Raheemspay, kicking Diego in the side hard enough to break his ribs.

  “Suck m-my dick, bitches!”Diego spat in broken-English. Then he spat blood in our direction, throwing his head back and cackling like a hyena.

  “Oh, yeah?” Lyrical asked, slapping a fresh clip into her .45andshoving it into Diego’s mouth with so much force that she broke out his two front top and bottom teeth. “You suck mines first, bitch!”

  Wincing in pain, Lyrical removed her arm from the sling and grabbed a handful of Diego’s hair to keep his head steady, then she pulled the trigger sixteen times, emptying the entire clip down his throat.

  “T.A.B, bitch-ass nigga,” Raheem said as he spat on Diego’s corpse.

  “Let’s load this shit in the truck and get the fuck outta here ‘fore the ma’fuckin’ cops roll up,” I said, retaking charge as the mission was now over.

  “Good thing you got them bulletproof vests from that Crazy Curt ma’fucka,” Raheem said in reference to me getting shot.

  “Shit still hurt like a ma’fucka,” I grimaced in pain. “Felt like a nigga got hit in the chest with a bowling ball or some shit.”

  “Who the fuck left the damn door open?”Devonte asked, pointing to the Suburban.

  We all exchanged knowing looks then ran to the truck and looked inside.

  “Fuck!”Devonte shouted after noticing that the truck was empty. Anika had somehow gotten free of her binds and was now in the wind.

  “Fuck it,” Raheem said. “Let’s find that bitch. She couldn’t have gotten that ma’fuckin’ far.”

  “Naw, my nigga,” I disagreed. “We ain’t got time for that shit. Let’s load these bags and get the fuck outta here. We in Cobra territory, remember? And I’m sure some snitching-ass nosy ma’fucka done called the po-pos by now.”

  “You for real, my nigga?”Devonte asked. “Man, we don’t find this bitch now, she gonna tell what the fuck happened, then we gonna have every ma’fuckin’ Cobra out here coming at us, coming at are peoples and shit.”

  “Hell yeah, fam,” Raheem agreed. On the real, gangsta, we gotta go get that b”—”

  “I know that shit,” I shot back. “I know we gotta get that bitch, I know we gotta find this bitch before she get word to the rest of Diego’s crew, and naw, I ain’t tryin’ to go to war with them crazy Cobra ma’fuckas either, but what the fuck you wanna do about it? Wanna chase after this bitch, out here at night, walking or driving ‘round in the ma’fuckin’ dark, in ma’fuckin’ Cobra territory, like we untouchable or some shit? Naw, we gotta get the fuck up outta here before them crazy ma’fuckas roll down on us. Now, let’s take the jewelry and shit off these ma’fuckas ‘cause they ain’t gonna be needing it no more and let’s get the fuck outta here before the po-pos show up. Then we can deal with whateva the fuck’s gonna happen. A’ight? Can’t really do shit before then, feel me?”

  “Fuck it,” Raheem relented. “We’ll get that bitch later.”

  “Holy shit,” Lyrical hollered from over by the van. She was peering down into two opened duffel bags. “These ma’fuckas full of money, ya’ll.”

  I hurried over and grabbed one of the other bags from t
he van and opened it to examine the contents inside.”How many bags are in here?”

  “Like ten, maybe a couple more,” Lyrical said, her lips forming into a wide smile.

  I, too, smiled and zipped the bag closed. There’s at least ten stacks in each of these bags.

  Devonte backed the Suburban into my garage around 9:50 that night. I noticed too late that someone other than Audi was in the house as Lyrical, Devonte, Raheem and I entered through the side entrance that was adjoined to the garage.

  “What’s up, guys?” Sergeant Naomi Mills asked as she and another woman entered the kitchen, Audi and Cherish trailing silently behind.

  “If you came here lookin’ for more money for the vending machine again, I ain’t got none,” I said jokingly, trying not to how nervous I was.

  What the fuck is she doing here? Whatever the reason, we gotta stay cool.

  “I told them that you guys were”—”Audi started to say, but Sergeant Mills raised a hand to quiet her.

  “Where are you guys coming from?” she asked.

  “Why?”I asked. “You keepin’ tabs on us or sumthin’?”

  “Just curious”.”She shrugged.

  “Are we suspects or something?” Audi asked. I could tell she was getting irritated.

  “Yeah, you still haven’t told us why you’re here in the first place,” Cherish added.

  “I was gonna tell you why I was here, but it would’ve been kinda hard for you to hear me, you passing out and all.”

  “What?”I turned my gaze to Audi, visually checking her for injuries.”Audi, are you”—”

  “She’s fine, Dre,” Sergeant Mills said quickly, stepping in front of me to block me from getting to Audi.”I mean, she’s standing right here, isn’t she?”

  “Only my friends call me Dre, and only my family calls me DeAndre. You’re neither,” I said lowly. I was starting to get irritated because I felt like she was toying with us.

  This bitch don’t know shit or we’d be in cuffs right now. She just over here sniffing around for some bullshit. Time for this bitch to get the fuck up outta my crib.

  “What’s that smell?” Sergeant Mills asked.

  “We just came from the movies,” Devonte said quickly.

  “The movies, huh?” she said, never taking her eyes off of me. “Did they have a shootout in the theatre? Or is that obvious smell of gunpowder emanating from your clothing all part of the movie experience? Wonder what I’d find if I hauled all of your asses down to the station and had you all tested for gunshot residue. That might turn out to be interesting, wouldn’t it?”

  She smiled up at me triumphantly, but I did not waver. “We went to the shooting range afterwards. Anything else, Naomi?”

  She did not waver either. “I don’t know. What do you think, Vida? Should we search their vehicle? See what turns up?”

  Knowing if she searched the Suburban she’d find guns and money, I was desperately trying to think of ways to change her focus of attention. “What happened to your face, Naomi?” I asked, noting the swollen lip, the small cut on her cheek, and the bruise underneath her right eye.

  Boyfriend troubles, maybe?

  “What do you think happened, Dre?” she asked in a accusatory tone, folding her arms across her chest defiantly as if I was the one responsible for the marks.

  “Shit, I don’t know. You arrested Bruce Banner and he turned into the Hulk?” Even the woman whom Mills simply referred to as Vida, the pretty athletic woman with the short hair and well-toned buttocks, chuckled lightly.

  “Heard the Gang Unit caught a call a little while ago regarding the Cobra territory. Seems they were beefing with a rival gang and got hit pretty hard,” Sergeant Mills said with a raised eyebrow. “I also heard that they were the ones who shot up club Déjà Vu that night, too. But most importantly, I heard that you were their intended target that night.”

  I realized that she was not talking to me anymore. To my surprise, she was actually looking directly at Lyrical. When I glanced over at Lyrical, I noticed the expression on her face was exactly the same as it was at the hospital when Sergeant Mills had shown up to her room.

  What the fuck’s goin’ on with these two? What this bitch got on Lyrical to make her pussy-up like that?

  “Didn’t you just get out of the hospital earlier today? Shouldn’t you be resting at home with your family?” Sergeant Mills continued, taking a step in Lyrical’s direction.

  “We wanted to take her out to celebrate her gettin’ out of the hospital,” Raheem offered. But Sergeant Mills wasn’t so easily convinced.

  “Sure you and your friends here didn’t just come back from what we call down at the station a ‘Vengeance Ride’?” She was now face to face with Lyrical.

  When I saw the way Lyrical was shaking, I knew we were going away for life... But then Sergeant Mills’ police radio crackled to life, possibly saving us all from a date with the electric chair.

  “Dispatch,” a female voice shouted frantically over the radio. “All units city wide−reports of multiple gunshots in the 400 block of the Miller Projects area. I repeat; reports of multiple gunshots in the 400 block of the Miller Projects area. All responding units please acknowledge.”

  “We responding to that, Sarge?”Vida asked. “Could be our guys.”

  “Dispatch, this is 21-9. Repeat location, please,” Sergeant Mills said into her walkie talkie.

  “400 block of the Miller Projects area.”

  “Dispatch, I’ll take that call as I am two blocks out. Be advised, there will be two plain-clothes officers on the scene,” Mills said.

  “Copy that, 21-9. I show you responding,” the radio crackled back.

  “Looks like it’s your lucky day, handsome,” Detective Vida said as she and Sergeant Mills rushed out the front door.

  “Catch you later, Dre,” Sergeant Mills said over her shoulder to me as the screen door shut behind them.

  I closed my eyes and breathed out a sigh I had been holding in since walking into the house and spotting Sergeant Mills in my kitchen.”Is anybody else’s heart on the floor right now?”

  “Where in the hell were ya’ll?” Audi asked. “Me and Cherish been worrying our asses off when ya’ll didn’t answer your phones then we get here and find this fucking cop bitch out in front of our house. What the fuck, Dre?”

  “Fuck you want me to do ‘bout it?” I retorted. “Answer the fucking phone in the middle of a shootout so I can get shot and shit? I mean, I got shot anyways, but that’s beside the point.”

  “What?”Cherish and Audi asked in unison, both of their eyes wide in shock.

  “It’s cool,” I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. “I had on a vest. I mean, shit still hurt like a ma’fucka, though, but it ain’t no thang. Anyways, we ain’tgotta worry ‘bout bitch-ass Diego and his crew no more.”

  “Yo’, Lyrical,” Raheem said. “What the fuck’s up with you and this cop bitch? You looked like you was”—”

  “Shut the fuck up talkin’ to me, nigga,” Lyrical spat angrily, pulling out her pistol and pointing it at Raheem. “Fuck is you talkin’ ‘bout? I ain’t look like shit. Think I’m some ma’fuckin’ snitch or sumthin’? Now, say sumthin’ stupid if you want to, nigga.”

  “Fuck you trippin’ for, Lyrical?”Devonteasked.

  “Lyrical!”Cherish shouted.

  “I know you better get that ma’fuckin’ gun up out my face,” Raheem said through gritted teeth. “‘Fore shit get really real up in this bitch.”

  “Make it get real, then, nigga,” Lyrical spat back, not a bit fazed.

  “Everybody just chill the fuck out!” I shouted. “Lyrical, put that ma’fuckin’ strap down. Fuck’s wrong with you?”

  “Ain’t shit wrong with me, nigga,” she said defensively, putting the gun back in the small of her back. “Fuck’s wrong with you?”

  “Pull that ma’fuckin’ strap on one of us again, and I’ll show you what the fuck’s wrong with me,” I growled, getting right up in her face.”
Should beat yo’ ma’fuckin’ ass fordoing some stupid-ass shit like that. We Tru Aetna Boyz! Which means we family, not enemies. Straight like that. Anybody got a problem with what the fuck I just said?” Now my gun was out, the slide already jacked, a lethal round already chambered for emphasis. “And if you do gotta problem with it, you can get the fuck up outta my spot...or you can get what the fuck you know you can get.”

  “T.A.B for life,” Devonte said.

  “T.A.B and Gucci Girlz for life,” Audi added.

  “True that, fam. T.A.B till the casket drop,” Raheem said, hitting his chest for emphasis.

  Everybody stared at Lyrical. She just stood there, shifting her weight from foot to foot, as if she was anxious to get out of there. Then she walked over to Raheem and through her arms around him, embracing him tightly.

  “My bad, fam. You my dawg for life. You right, I was trippin’.”

  “It’s cool, my nigga. You know you my dawg,” Raheem said, retuning her embrace.”I wasn’t tryin’ to question yo’ gangsta or nuthin’, fam, but I was just a little confused by how you keep gettin’ all fidgety when this cop bitch show up. Anyway, never mind, fam. Shouldn’t of even said shit in the first place. My bad, gangsta.”

  “Naw, fam,” she said as she pulled away from him. “It’s just that I don’t like ma’fuckin’ cops, that’s all. And ya’ll already know I’m T.A.B to the fullest, so ain’t no need to even question that. Ya’ll know what it is.”

  It’s a little more than just not liking cops, Lyrical. Some shit ain’t right between you in this Naomi bitch. But I’ll let it go...for now.

  “We gotta keep an eye on that cop bitch, man,” Devonte said.

  “Yeah, she sure is on our top,” I agreed. “But we’ll talk about that shit later. Let’s get to counting this money.”

  “What money?” Cherish asked, her mouth already salivating with thoughts of spending.

  “Yeah, what money? How much ya’ll talking about?”Audi joined in, her eyes bulging out of her head.”What money, Dre? Where’s it at?”