by K'wan
The rest of the ride was spent in silence, each girl’s mind clutching at different things. In what seemed like no time they were pulling up on the corner of Ninety-eighth and Madison. Reese looked uncomfortable in the looming shadow of Mount Sinai, but Billy seemed totally at ease as she tapped her fingers on the wheel patiently.
“She ain’t out here yet,” Reese said with attitude.
“Be easy, she’s right over there.” Billy pointed to a fair-skinned girl who was speaking with a darker young lady. The dark-skinned young lady was youthful-looking, with the curves of a woman in her prime. The light-skinned girl wore a pair of fitted jeans and a long-sleeved black blouse. Her long, wavy hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wore no makeup, but there was no hiding her natural beauty.
“Who the hell is she talking to?” Billy peered in the rearview mirror. The girl looked familiar, but she couldn’t place her.
Reese turned her body all the way around so that she could see. “I’ll be damned, ain’t that . . . ?”
“Dena, please stop crying before you have me out here balling with your ass.” Yoshi dabbed the moisture from her eyes.
“I still can’t believe you did this for me,” the brown-skinned girl said to Yoshi. She was smiling from ear to ear, but her face was slick with tears. “All my life nobody has ever tried to help me and here you go screwing up the curve.”
Yoshi smiled. “Mommy, we girls gotta look out for each other, because the world sure isn’t. Besides, I owe you for the strength you showed when I was going through my little drama.”
“It was only a phone call,” Dena said modestly.
“Sometimes a little goes a long way. It was big of you to reach out to me to see if I was okay, especially in light of what happened to you,” Yoshi told her. While she was recovering from her loss, Dena was recovering from tragedies of her own: the betrayal of her lover and the theft of her body. Black Ice was a slick cat who was sought after by all the fast young girls in Harlem, but he had chosen Dena. The young ghetto superstar promised to take Dena into the stratosphere with him, but where he took her there were no stars, only grief.
As it turned out, Black Ice was recruiting young Dena for his stable of whores. She might’ve been a chicken head, but she was no whore willing to sell her body for money, and he knew this, which was why he used drugs to break her. One night at a big party he hosted, Ice had laced Dena’s drink and left her at the mercy of anyone who had the money to spend on her sweet hole. She was never sure how many men had bedded her that night, but from the way her pussy felt afterward, she figured it to be at least a half dozen. As if being gang-raped wasn’t enough, the doctors found traces of the HIV virus in one of the semen samples. It had been almost three years since it had happened, and thankfully Dena had yet to test positive, but it was a fear that she would always carry.
The events after the gang rape only made her life more complicated. In retaliation for what had happened, Dena’s older brother Shannon had murdered Black Ice and his right-hand man, Shorty. Ice’s evil might’ve been cleansed from the world, but it came at the price of losing her brother. Shannon had been on the run ever since and could never come back to New York for fear of being prosecuted for the murder.
During her recovery, Dena’s therapist suggested that she do some volunteer work at a group home for young girls. She reasoned that what Dena had gone through would be an inspiration to some of the girls and it would also help her to find the strength hiding within her, and she was right, because Dena took to social work like a fish to water, which was what brought her to see Yoshi that day.
In addition to being a registered nurse at Mount Sinai, Yoshi’s aunt Vivian worked a second job as the director of a group home in Brooklyn. After Yoshi had told her Dena’s story of triumph, she had arranged for Dena to enroll in a program that the Department of Social Services was running. The program was designed to train young men and women in the field of social work and eventually find them employment with the city. As if that weren’t enough, Vivian had also hooked it up so that Dena could take on an internship at her facility while she was studying for her certificate.
“Yoshi, I can never repay you or Vivian for what y’all have done,” Dena said for the umpteenth time.
“Dena, you don’t owe me shit, and if you wanna please Vivian, just have your ass to work on time. Other than that, the only person you owe something to is yourself. Live, little girl, let go of that pain and push on.”
“I will if you do.” Dena extended her hand.
“You’ve got yourself a deal.” Yoshi shook her hand and gave her a hug. “You call me if you need anything.”
“I will, and thanks again, Yoshi,” Dena said as she departed. Even after the car Yoshi had gotten into had disappeared, Dena was still rooted to the spot, smiling and thinking how she had been blessed with a second chance.
Yoshi said her goodbyes to Dena and hopped into the Saturn. No sooner had she closed the door than she turned to find Reese giving her an inquisitive look. “What?”
“You tell me,” Reese shot back.
“Knock it off, Reese. What’s up, ma,” Billy greeted Yoshi.
“I’m here, can’t ask for much more,” Yoshi said with a sigh. The years had been the least kind to Yoshibelle, and it had started to show on her face. Under the dome light in the car you could see the dark circles around her eyes. Her skin hadn’t completely regained its luster, but at least she was getting her weight back.
Yoshi had been the rebel of the group, using sex as a deadly weapon, until the day when her heart was allowed to taste true love for the first time. She and Jah were like day and night, but there was no mistaking the chemistry between them. In Jah she had found the strength to come in off the streets and in her he had found a reason to hang up his guns. They had finally found the missing pieces to their souls and wanted nothing more than to explore love and life together, until a hail of bullets shattered their picture-perfect image. He had been gunned down while doing security for a rapper named True, in an attempt to find out who had shot Yoshi while trying to kill the rapper. For a long time Yoshi held on not only to the pain of Jah’s death but to the feeling that she had caused it. When her mind snapped, nobody thought that she would ever recover, but with the support of her friends and family she had begun to put the pieces back together.
“Ain’t that little what’s-her-face?” Reese asked, referring to the girl Yoshi had been talking to.
“Yeah, that was little Dena,” Yoshi confirmed.
Billy craned her neck. “Damn, I ain’t seen her in like two years. She ain’t so little no more.”
“Your balls are showing, William,” Reese teased her.
“Fuck you, slut,” Billy shot back. “What’re you doing over here with her, Yoshi?”
“Probably getting a checkup. Doesn’t that little bitch have the bug?” Reese asked crudely.
“I brought her over here to see my aunt about getting a job. Why don’t you get some fucking class, Reese,” Yoshi snapped.
“Yoshi, pay this ignorant heifer no mind. I think she’s off her meds today,” Billy said, trying to smooth it over. Some of the anger drained from Yoshi’s face, but the fire still danced in her eyes. “I didn’t know you pumped with ol’ girls like that?”
“We didn’t at first. She remembered me from the video and somehow tracked down my number and called to check on me after Jah died. It started as just seeing how I was feeling and it grew from there. I guess since we had both been some shit we ended up finding strength in each other.”
“That must’ve been one hell of a makeover you gave her,” Reese joked. This got Yoshi to laugh.
Billy shook her head. “You’re such an ass, Reese.”
“The both of y’all are shot out,” Yoshi added. “Besides my job, all I did was lend her a few kind words. It’s crazy how sometimes the smallest gesture leaves the most lasting impressions.”
“Church,” Billy chimed in. “But on the real, I think it’s dope that you’re t
rying to help the little homegirl out.”
“Somebody gotta give a damn about these kids,” Yoshi replied.
“I was just telling this one the same thing.” Billy cut her eyes at Reese.
“Sharon still out here acting a fool?”
“An ass is more like it,” Billy corrected.
“Look, ain’t none of y’all bitches no saints, so stop trying to throw my little sister under the bus.” Reese sounded offended.
Yoshi leaned forward so that she could see Reese’s profile. “Ma, you know us better than that. Anything me or Billy say to you is said out of love. Hate don’t live here.” Yoshi placed her hand over her heart. “Everybody in this car knows that Sharon is riding a train that ain’t gonna do nothing but wreck, and we need to see that she isn’t on it when it reaches its final destination.”
“Reese, we all came up hard and we all know what’s waiting at the end of that concrete rainbow,” Billy said, lending her wisdom. “These fast-ass young girls think they’ve got it all figured out, same as we did, but they don’t know shit. It seems like every day another one of these little chicks ends up pregnant or getting something that the doctor can’t get rid of, and I can’t help but to wonder when we’re gonna stop walking into these bullshit setups, but these fraudulent ass niggaz?”
“That’s the gospel,” Yoshi added. “Reese, you know that at the end of the day we’re here for you, but you’re gonna handle it however you’re gonna handle it, but before you step to your sister, I want you to remember how it played out for little Dena.” And Yoshi left it at that.
CHAPTER 8
Tech had the girls drop him off near the D train just off 145th and St. Nicholas and walked the rest of the way, as he often did. Before they peeled out, he instructed them to keep their phones on, but it was more out of habit than necessity. Silk and China were young, but their game and understanding of the life was deeper than most. It was the glue that bound the four orphans.
The sun hadn’t fully set, but the dark things of the city streets had already began to stir. Two addicts who looked like little more than hastily dressed pipe cleaners argued on the corner, while a trio of young boys stood around, trying to instigate a fight. Neither one of them looked like they had the strength to do much more than take that final blast before drifting off to meet with death. Coming out of the nondescript walkway two buildings from the corner was a bowlegged chick dressed in a plastic skirt and a fur coat that looked like it been woven together from different pieces of discarded carpet. Her face still held the dim glow of what she’d been, but her glassy eyes told the story of what she’d become. She gave Tech the once-over before hopping into an idling Honda Accord parked along the curb. There was a balding white man behind the wheel, tapping his finger nervously against the steering wheel. Tech shook his head when he saw the faint gold glint on his finger. He wondered if his wife knew that he was down in the ghetto, gambling with both their lives.
As soon as Tech stepped into the lobby he heard the music. It wasn’t the typical hip-hop song you were likely to hear blasting from one of the upstairs apartments, but something totally out of place in the hood, something darker. “Wild child, full of grace . . . savior of the human race.” The words were familiar because Tech was made to suffer them whenever he came by, but he never bothered to learn the title of the song. Tech rapped on the door of apartment 3 with his keys and waited.
“You know it’s gonna take more than one of y’all to take me in, don’t you?” he said with a sharp edge to his voice. His slim, shirtless body teetered back and forth, causing the large medallion hanging from his chain to pound against his chest. It was a red-and-yellow-diamond bust of his favorite Muppet character, Animal.
“I got this under control just fine by myself.” She held her Glock lazily in one manicured hand, like they do in the movies. Her blue police uniform hugged her large breasts and thick hips like a second skin. “I see the Animal ain’t so rabid when he’s on the other end of the pistol.” She took a moment to taunt him, which is when he made his move. With blinding speed, Animal knocked the gun from her hand and put her in a reverse choke hold. She struggled, but he was too strong for her.
“Funny how the tables have turned,” he whispered in her ear. “Before you say anything, be mindful of your word, because they’re what’s gonna be etched on your tombstone, pig.”
Before Animal could make good on his death threat, she dropped and sent him sailing over her shoulder and onto the king-size bed. He tried to get back to his feet, but she was on him before he could get up, with her weight pinning him to the bed. She outweighed him, but he was able to flip her over and wind up on top. She struggled, but he had her hands pinned firmly above her head. With his free hand, he used her handcuffs to secure her to the bedposts. “Get the fuck off me!” she snapped.
Animal responded by slapping her viciously across her face. “Muthafucka, you ain’t in no position to give me orders. I’m running this fucking show, or hadn’t you noticed.” He motioned toward her cuffed wrists. “Now that I’ve got your ass in a sling, the question is what I should do with you.” He let his eyes roam over her hungrily. When they landed on her breasts, which were straining against the buttons of her uniform shirt, a light bulb went off in his head. With a wicked smile on his face, Animal tore her shirt off and exposed her D-cup bra.
“You’ll never get away with it!” She continued to struggle until she was out of breath.
“Sweet bitch, I already have.” With a tug, Animal snatched her bra off, exposing her huge breasts, which he proceeded to suck like a starved child. She screamed and called him everything but a child of God, until her screams turned into moans of pleasure. Next, her belt came off, followed by her pants, which revealed that she hadn’t worn any panties that day. Animal shoved his fingers roughly inside her, testing her wetness, which he licked off his fingers like frosting. “Your pussy taste like honey, Mrs. Officer, but I wonder if it feels as good as it taste.”
“Please don’t,” she begged, tears streaming down her face.
“I like it when they beg,” he replied, undoing his jeans. Animal couldn’t have weighed more than 140 pounds on a good day, but he was hung like a quarter horse. She continued to plead, but he ignored her and shoved his entire length roughly inside her. She gasped as if the air had been sucked from her body from the force of entry, but after a few strokes the pain lessened. The thug known to all the NYPD only as Animal was more than ten years her junior, but he was hitting spots that most of the men she’d dealt with had been ignorant of, even her husband. Twenty-five minutes later, she was howling at the moon as both their juices spilled from her pussy and down her thighs.
“Damn you, you little criminal muthafucka, I didn’t even come like that on prom night.” Her voice was raspy; and she rubbed her thighs together.
“That’s because you weren’t being fucked by an Animal.” He smiled, revealing a mouthful of diamond and gold teeth that spelled out his name across the top row.
“Um, you say the streets gave you the name Animal, but the way you just dug my back out, I think you got it from one of your old girlfriends.”
“I guess that will continue to be one of life’s greatest mysteries.” Animal rose from the bed and stretched. Grabbing a towel from the recliner, he made his way to the bathroom.
“And where are you going?” she asked, lying on her back and looking over at him.
“To wash my ass, where do you think?”
“Boy, you better get over here and take these handcuffs off. My shift starts in forty-five minutes and I ain’t trying to be late.” She jiggled the handcuffs for emphasis.
“I don’t know, I kinda like you like that. Let me think on it for a minute and get right back with you.” He winked and closed the bathroom door behind him.
“You better quit playing, Animal, you hear me? Animal? Animal!”
It didn’t take long before Tech’s multiple locks were undone and the door came open. Tech found himself starin
g at a beautiful caramel honey dressed in a blue uniform. Her hair was mussed and her shirt was buttoned wrong, so it was clear that she hadn’t come here to address the overpowering smell of weed coming from the apartment, or the blasting music coming from the one next door. Tech smiled, but she didn’t.
“Hey, Officer Grady,” he greeted her with a toothy smile.
She rolled her eyes. “Fuck you, Tech. See you later, boo,” she said over her shoulder, before storming past Tech. She and Tech had never gotten along, but they tolerated each other for the sake of Animal and the benefit of having a cop at their disposal. Grady thought Tech disliked her because she was a married woman sleeping with a kid young enough to be her son, but that wasn’t it. Grady was actually cool as hell, but Tech had a natural dislike for her because she was a cop and therefore his sworn enemy.
Tech stepped through the door and was greeted by Animal, who was dressed in baggy jeans and a tank top, with orange slippers on his feet. His hair looked like an explosion at a hair-weave factory, but he didn’t seem to mind it too much. His attention was more focused on the plastic cup in his hand, which held only God knew what.
“ ’Sup wit’ you, Tech-Nine,” Animal greeted him in his lazy drawl. He had the face of a boy just reaching manhood, but the voice of a small child, which is why he didn’t talk much publicly. Nobody was stupid enough to make fun of him, but he was self-conscious about it.
“Just making the rounds.” Tech gave him a pound and then a half hug.
“I hear that.” Animal lit the joint that he’d just realized was tangled in his hair, just behind his ear. “So, what brings you to the zoo?” Animal picked up an African mask that was lying on top of the box it had been shipped in and held it in front of his face. “You finally ready to sell your soul to the devil?”
“Nigga, you need to lay off that sip,” Tech said, taking the mask from Animal. He flipped it over and examined the price tag. All he could do was sigh and place it as gently as he could back on top of the box. Animal was quick to drop ridiculous amounts of money on things that Tech considered junk, but it was one of the youngster’s few joys so Tech didn’t ride him about it.
