by A'zayler
Danna nodded but didn’t say anything. Cannon led them from the mall and to Danna’s car. Danna hit the locks and they got in. It was on the tip of Cannon’s tongue to ask what the hell was the problem, but she restrained herself. If Danna wanted to tell her, she would. The ride out of the parking lot was extremely quiet and awkward as hell as Cannon watched Danna drive with the phone still pressed against her ear.
When she could no longer take the silence, Cannon reached to turn the radio up, but Danna slapped her hand. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to halt Cannon’s movement. With a quick roll of her eyes, Cannon sat back and looked out of the window. When she noticed they weren’t going in the direction of Ezra’s house, she turned in her seat and whispered.
“Where we going?”
Danna held up one finger to silence her. Cannon was nearly annoyed when Danna stopped at the traffic light and slammed her open palm across her chest.
“What’s wrong, Danna?” Cannon questioned, overly concerned.
Danna’s head fell forward onto the steering wheel as she held her hand over her chest with one hand and the phone to her ear with the other. It was driving Cannon crazy, so instead of questioning her further, she snatched the phone from Danna’s ear and put it to hers. Danna put up a weak fight that Cannon overpowered easily.
There was a conversation happening, but Cannon couldn’t really hear it good enough to make anything of it. There was a man and a woman arguing, but that was it. Still nothing that made sense, so Cannon pressed the phone further into her ear to gain a better understanding of what had Danna so upset, but when she couldn’t understand it, she just handed Danna the phone back. She’d driven away from the light and was now parked in the parking lot of Burger King with water in her eyes.
“Danna, what is all of this?”
Danna’s sad eyes turned to Cannon as she shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.” Cannon’s eyes went to the name on the caller ID. “Is D your nigga?”
Danna nodded slowly.
“Kind of. We stopped kicking it for a while because I got mad, but we ended up getting back right.”
“Cool, is this him talking?”
Another nod from Danna made Cannon’s stomach flip.
“Did he call you?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out because from where he at, he shouldn’t have been able to, but that’s what got me tripping.” Danna scratched her head in confusion. “That’s his baby mama I heard him talking to. I just don’t understand how or why they’re together.”
“What you mean? How you know this her?” Cannon was lost as hell and Danna wasn’t making any type of sense.
“This some bullshit, Cannon,” Danna ran her hand over her face quickly before throwing her car back into gear. “I know it is, but I’m about to find out today. I can promise you that.”
“Danna, what’s some bullshit?”
“This nigga, but I bet you I kill his ass today. Watch me.” Danna’s head nodded in reassurance of her words as she sped out of the parking lot like a madwoman.
Still as confused as she’d been the whole time, Cannon watched her without saying anything. She had too many questions at once that Danna had yet to answer, but judging by the angry look of determination on Danna’s face, she was certain she would be finding out soon enough.
“Can you at least tell me what’s going on so I can know what you’re getting me into?”
Danna’s face remained the same as she mumbled stuff to herself about him having her fucked up and how she was going to kill him. Cannon’s mind was completely blown, but she was down for whatever Danna was down with, so she just sat back and rode.
“Danna?”
“What, bitch? Don’t you see me over here thinking?”
Cannon looked at her for a minute before laughing. “Don’t yell at me cuz your nigga fucking off. I’m just trying to see what you want to do when we get there.”
Danna snickered to herself before making a quick left turn. “Fight her.”
“Bet.”
A small smile curved Danna’s lips. “Bet? So, you’re down to beat their ass?”
“I’m game.”
Danna nodded again before smiling mischievously. “Bitch, you don’t even know these people, talking about you with what I’m with. They could be stone cold killers and you talking about fighting.”
Cannon looked at Danna like she was crazy. “Well, that makes you just as dumb as me. It was your idea, I’m just not about to let you cut the fool by yourself. If you hitting, I’m hitting.” Cannon shrugged as if it was no big deal.
“Ezra gon’ kill me for having you in the shit.”
“Don’t tell him.”
Danna nodded but didn’t say anything else as she drove. The car grew too peaceful for Cannon’s liking, so she changed the slow song that was on Danna’s phone to something more upbeat and fitting. When Yo Gotti’s “Shawty Violating” blasted through the speakers, Danna looked at her with a wide smile on her face.
“Man, Cannon you so fucking stupid. What you turn this shit on for?”
Cannon grabbed her hair that had been resting on her shoulders into her palms and began smoothing it into a ponytail.
“Because that crybaby ass song you just had on made me want to cry, not fight, and I’ll be damned if you make me get my ass beat because I’m sad and not mad.” Cannon tied her hair back with the rubber band she’d taken off Ezra’s wrist before they left his house. “I need to hear fighting music so I can get ready to take these hits.”
The feminine laughter floating around the car was a joy to hear until Danna’s car came to a slow stroll. She’d just turned into a neighborhood filled with brick houses, and had been driving slower ever since. She was looking out of the window, clearly looking for something in particular, when she pointed at the red car parked along the side of the street, she pulled over and parked.
“Why you park way back here if that’s the house?”
Danna was busy snatching her earrings off as she answered. “So, they don’t see me coming.”
“Fuck that, let them see.”
Danna shook her head. “Nah, this ain’t that hoe house, this her mama house. Bitch ain’t even got her own spot. Grown ass.” Danna’s rant continued.
“How old is she?”
“Thirty.”
Cannon’s mouth fell open. “What? What that nigga want with that old ass lady?”
Danna stopped moving and looked at Cannon with a smile on her face. “He older than her.”
Cannon’s eyes bucked as she sat back in her seat dramatically and covered her face. “Lord, we going to jail for fighting these old ass people. How old is he?”
“Old enough to be my daddy.”
“You need your ass beat,” Cannon shook her head at Danna. “I’m still with it though.” Cannon checked her face in the mirror and began removing her necklace and earrings. “I knew your sneaky butt had a man. Now I see why you kept him a secret. He old as hell.”
Danna was smiling again. “Nah, that ain’t why I’m hiding him. I’m hiding that nigga because he one of my daddy workers. If Vonetta knew I was laid up with the OG, she’d beat my ass to death.”
“Ah shit, you stay bucking. Is he somebody I know? Have I seen him before?”
Danna shook her head. “Nah, he’s been away since you’ve been around. You don’t know him.”
The two of them laughed together again before the car suddenly got quiet. Danna sat back in her seat, just staring at the house. She’d turned the music down and bitten her bottom lip, obviously in deep thought. Cannon wasn’t sure why, but she wasn’t about to wait too long.
“Look, I’m hype now so let’s go get it. If I calm down I might not be as strong.”
Danna was laughing again. “Man, I swear I’m sick of your ass preparing for this fight.”
“Shoot, we need to. We done pulled up on these people we need to be ready to scrap, bitch. I ain’t getting beat up.”
“You sit there too long, yes you is, too.”
Danna shook her head. “Nah, for real I’m trying to decide whether or not I’m finna’ take my gun or my bat up in here.”
“What the fuck? A gun?”
“Yeah, you think Vonetta my mama and I ain’t got no heat?” Danna leaned forward and pulled her gun from under the seat. The black gun was shiny and looked heavy as hell. “I don’t play, Cannon. My mama ain’t taught me to be no hoe, that’s why I’m chilling because I’m mad enough to go shoot his ass right now. Plus, that nigga big as hell, he can pick me up with one hand, so I might have to shoot his ass.”
“Oh, see hell nah. I ain’t got time for this.” Cannon sat back and started to shake her head. “He ain’t gon’ do nothing to you because you his woman, but he might knock me the fuck out.”
Danna shook her head while opening her door. “No, he ain’t. I got you. Go get that bat out my trunk.”
On cue with Danna’s words, her trunk popped open. Cannon looked back before opening her door and hopping out behind Danna. She met her at the trunk and took the steel bat she was extending to her. Cannon’s hands began to shake as she thought about how real this fight was about to get. She’d meant she was down with what Danna was down with, but that was before she knew Danna had weapons.
“Don’t let that nigga hurt me, Danna.” Cannon whispered as they walked down the street.
“I got you, sis,” was all Danna said.
Her face was serious as she held her gun down by her side. The aura exuding from her was totally different from the one she’d had in the car. She looked to be on some other shit right then. Her face was straight, devoid of any type of emotion. No tears, no talking, no nothing. She wasn’t even shaking, which was odd to Cannon, because anytime she got too nervous or too hyped, she could barely keep herself still. Much like right then. Danna was clearly a different breed of woman. The way she walked with so much relaxation and power made Cannon feel somewhat untouchable as well. Danna was so confident in her steps, that it almost wiped Cannon’s fears away. Almost.
Her long locs were pulled back into a ponytail, swinging against the middle of her back, while the subtle frown on her face yelled to the neighborhood that she wasn’t to be fucked with. Vonetta had raised a real-life girl gangster. Danna wasn’t fucking around, and it low-key made Cannon want to be like her. Even with her still not knowing the full story, she was sure she wouldn’t have been handling it as well as Danna was.
“You ready, Cannon?” Danna looked at her with bold eyes as they approached the front door to the house.
“Yep.”
“Bet, don’t be no hoe when we get up in here. Use that fucking bat.”
“I got you.” Cannon reassured Danna just as she snatched open the glass screen door to the house.
The butt of Danna’s gun sounded against the front door as she banged on it with all her might. Cannon’s heart jumped with each pound of the gun. On one hand, she was scared it would accidentally go off, and on the other she was scared what would happen when the door finally swung open. Her anticipation was cut short the moment the lock began to turn. Oh hell! What the fuck had Danna gotten her into?
16
I may be young but I’m ready
Danna’s mind was on one hundred as she stood face to face with the one hoe that had been giving her problems from sun up to sun down any free moment she got. Totiana, or Tot, as the streets called her, was a tall red bitch that thought she was God’s gift to niggas. Trashy, but hood classic at its finest. She was one of those hoes that fucked with you for what you could do for her, and nothing more. How in the hell had she gotten stuck with Don was Danna’s biggest question? His stupid ass.
Tot’s long burgundy bundles of weave in her head fell around her face as her light skin grew brighter from anger. The scanty clothes she had on showed how much class she lacked, as the round stomach full of stretch marks poked from her crop top displaying the one “up” she had on Danna when it came to her nigga.
Her eyes went from Danna’s face to the gun in her hand. Though Danna could tell it took her nerve, she saved face and threw her weave over her shoulder, slapping the baby right across his dirty face. He was wrapped around one of her hips, with a nasty onesie on and face full of dried up snot. Danna frowned immediately.
“Bitch, go get Don and get this li’l dirty ass fucker out of my face.”
Tot’s face distorted in fury as she took a step toward Danna, totally forgetting about the gun she’d been holding until it was pointed in her face.
“Bitch, go get Don before I come in here and get him myself.”
“He ain’t here.”
Danna chuckled in disbelief. “Yes, the fuck he is. Go get his ass right now and leave that crusty ass baby back there so I can beat your ass once I get done with Don’s.”
Danna’s chest heaved up and down as she and Tot glared at each other. Tot could think she was playing if she wanted to, but she would real live walk up in that bitch’s mama house and drag Don’s ass out of there.
“Don’t keep talking about my baby, Danna. I’m trying to stay off your ass because you’re young and I’m pregnant, but you’re pushing it.”
Danna turned around and handed Cannon her gun before looking back at Tot. “Don’t do me no favors, hoe. That’s what I been waiting on. I don’t give a fuck about that damn baby.” With her fists balled up and swinging lightly at her sides, Danna taunted Tot with a smile on her face. “Come out and do something.”
“Man, Danna, care your young ass home.”
With a small chuckle and a shake of her head, Danna pushed past Tot, palming her whole face along the way. She made sure to push her head into the door as she moved. Cannon was hot on her heels bumping into Tot as well as they rushed into the house.
“Don!” Danna yelled while walking through the living room. The older lady seated on the sofa looked alarmed as she moved to protest. “Don! Bring your ass out here right muthaf—”
Danna’s words were cut off by the large stature of a man rounding the corner. In nothing but a white tank top and some black sweatpants, Don, the muscled, drug-dealing, hardcore, lifetaking criminal, stood face to face with the one thing that made him weak. His fresh haircut and long beard were lined to perfection, further angering Danna. This nigga had gone out and gotten cute for that bitch Tot, and hadn’t told her shit. Rage rushed through Danna’s veins as she thought about him disregarding her and going straight to Tot’s hoe ass.
“I’m finna’ kill your ass.” Danna’s hand moved, momentarily forgetting she’d given Cannon her gun. “Cannon, give me my heat.” Danna’s words showed her history in the streets.
She was used to being the main chick to a street nigga, even if it was on the low, and she was about to show him that even though he obviously had forgotten who she was, she hadn’t.
Don’s hazel eyes went to Cannon quickly before the vein in his jaw flexed. With cold eyes staring back into hers, Danna stood unmoved and angrier than she’d ever been in her life. Her heart was beating, and her body was shaking. She could literally feel the heat encompassing her, as thoughts of him fucking Tot as soon as he touched down crossed her mind. She’d wanted to be his welcome home, but clearly he and Tot had other plans.
“Give me my gun, Cannon!” Danna yelled again.
“Oh Lord!” The older lady that had been seated on the sofa screamed before running from the room.
“Don, get this baby ass rat out my mama house.” Tot’s annoying yell came from behind Danna. “If you don’t, I will.”
“Bitch, you ain’t gon’ do shit but shut the fuck up and let Danna talk to her nigga.” Cannon’s voice simmered the rapid beating of Danna’s heart. For a second she’d felt overwhelmed with the decision of who she was going to handle first. “I ain’t Danna, I’ll beat your ass with the baby in your arms.”
Again, Don’s eyes went to Cannon. His massi
ve presence in the living room said everything he wasn’t saying. Even though he hadn’t opened his mouth yet, Danna could tell by his posture and oddly enough, his silence, that he was just as mad as she was. Don had been a quiet dude for as long as she’d known him. Never saying more than necessary, and especially in moments of irrationality.
“The fuck you doing here, Danna? Bringing strangers to my kid’s crib and shit.” Don’s voice boomed, but it didn’t scare Danna one bit. After all she’d been to that nigga, she’d punch his ass right in the mouth.
“What am I doing here? Nigga, the fuck you doing here? The last time I checked you was supposed to still be locked up somewhere, when the fuck you got out?”
“Oh shit,” Cannon’s words were just above a whisper, but Danna heard her.
She even smirked a little at the surprise in her voice.
“Danna, let’s go outside and talk.”
Danna’s head began to shake instantly. “Nah, tell me when you got out. It was obviously recently because I just talked to your ass the other night. Got your li’l haircut and shit. Oh, you getting fine for this hoe huh?”
“Chill, Danna. Let’s go outside.”
“Fuck no, Don! Stop playing with me.” Danna spun around quickly and snatched her gun from Cannon. She shot Tot an evil glare. “Hoe, you getting this ass whooping today, pregnant and all. Just wait on it.”
Cannon’s eyebrows raised as she looked at Danna. “You want me to go ahead and do it for you? I don’t give a fuck about her being pregnant, shit, her head ain’t.”
Danna looked at Cannon for a minute, weighing her invitation. She wanted to get Tot for herself, but right then she really wanted to get in Don’s ass.
“Let me know, because I’ll skull drag her all around her mama’s shit.” Cannon looked Tot up and down. “Her skinny ass.”
“Aye, Danna, get all this shit up out of here.” Don’s tone of voice showed his anger. “You know I ain’t even the one for all this messy shit.”
“Yeah, you go ahead and handle him because he clearly has a problem with you being at his baby mama’s house with him.” Cannon relayed with plenty of disgust and attitude to burn the house down.
