by K'wan
Devil stood outside the car, holding the back door open and scaring the hell out of the kids. From inside the car came the sounds of an unidentified track that had the unmistakable Big Dawg stamp on it, along with thick clouds of yellowish smoke that smelled quite inviting to those who indulged. The girls beamed at their waiting chariot.
“As I live and breathe, look at these two beautiful sisters. Heaven is surely short two angels tonight!” Cords exclaimed.
“Amen to that.” Rayfield fanned himself. “Where’re y’all off to this fine evening? The inaugural ball was in January.”
“None of your business,” Tionna said playfully as she stepped past them. She could feel their eyes locked hungrily on her body, which was the effect she was going for.
“I see big things are popping.” Rock Head stepped out from the crowd of onlookers. He had a young girl with him, who was dressed like a grown woman but the starstruck look in her eyes said that she was quite younger than she appeared. “Y’all must’ve hit the lotto or something, huh?”
“Rock Head, why don’t you go find something to do instead of trying to fuck little girls.” Gucci cut her eyes at Rock Head’s little friend.
“Shit, shorty is growner than you think,” he said suggestively.
“I don’t even know why I bother with you dumb ass. Get out my face, boy, I ain’t got time for your shit.” Gucci adjusted her shades.
“Oh, since you hopping in Maybachs and shit, you ain’t got no rap for a nigga? A’ight, see about me when you back to taking cabs.”
“Everything cool?” Animal appeared by Gucci’s side as if by magic. He was decked out in a mint-green V-neck sweater and black jeans, with his ever-present medallion scowling on his chest. His hair was braided in neat swirls that crowned his entire head. With the mane out of his face, you could appreciate how handsome the young man really was.
“Oh, shit. What it is, playboy; I didn’t know it was you rolling like that.” Rock Head extended his hand to give Animal dap, but Animal just stared at him.
“Do we know each other?” Animal scowled at him.
“Not directly, but we got a friend in common. I know ya boy Tech,” Rock Head explained, as if it made a difference to Animal.
“Then you address him. Me and you don’t know each other so ain’t no need for us to be speaking,” Animal said in a not-too-friendly tone.
“It’s like that?” Rock Head looked offended.
“Straight like that.” Animal didn’t give a shit.
“That’s what it is, then,” Rock Head said, wearing an expression that said it wasn’t over. “Tell Tech that Rock Head said what’s up.”
“Do I look like a carrier pigeon to you? Tell him your fucking self. Y’all about ready?” Animal looked from Tionna to Gucci, whom he almost couldn’t take his eyes off.
“I’ve been ready,” Gucci said with her head held high. She extended her hand and like a gentleman he helped her off the curb and into the back of the Maybach.
Don B. had never been much of a dater, so he had let Animal plan the evening and agreed to foot the bill for it. As he’d expected, Animal did something out of the ordinary and roped them into taking in a show. It was a production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, featuring James Earl Jones, which had come back to New York for an encore performance. Gucci, who had never been to a Broadway show, thought that she’d fall asleep halfway through, but she ended up enjoying it.
Gucci tried to get Tionna’s take on it, but her friend had only caught some of the show, because she spent the majority of their time in the darkened theater making small talk and flirting with Don B. One thing that Gucci had to give her friend was, when she made up her mind to get something, she dove in headfirst. Don B. was eating out of the palm of her hand, and by the end of the night she’d likely be eating out of his pockets. Even though it was for a shady purpose, Gucci was glad to see flashes of the old Tionna peeking out.
As they walked through Times Square, people snatched pictures and asked for all their autographs. Don B. was the celebrity, but they all felt famous that night. Gucci knew Tionna was uncomfortable with the pictures, since she was trying to stay on the low, but how low did she really think she could get walking through Midtown New York with a multi-platinum rapper.
Next they went to the ESPN Zone, where Gucci and Animal ran around playing the different games like two kids. In a battle of free throws, Gucci showed Animal why she had set a record for most consecutive free throws when she played JV basketball in school. Throughout the evening, she and Animal talked about everything from hood politics to world politics and he had an opinion on everything. Animal was more interesting than she had imagined, and she found herself wanting to know more about the so-called scourge of the streets.
“Where did you learn all that stuff?” she finally asked, after an interesting debate on why it would be a bad thing for the government to legalize marijuana. Animal made several financial and economic points to support his argument, but his biggest problem was that it would start to get watered because of the increasing demand.
“Books, mostly.” He shrugged. “I read a lot, it’s one of life’s few joys. Most of my time is spent reading or writing; I don’t do much outside of that.”
“Yeah, right.” Gucci twisted her lips.
“What, I don’t strike you as somebody who knows how to read?”
“I don’t mean it like that; I just mean that you seem like two people,” she admitted.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” He was curious.
“Nothing. You know how the streets paint one picture of a person and when you get to know them they seem like somebody else. You gotta ask yourself which is the real and which is the mask, ya know?”
“Not really, so why don’t you tell me what it is that the streets are saying, and we can try to make heads or tails of it.”
Gucci felt stupid for following up with Rock Head’s bullshit, but the cat was out of the bag, so she decided to get to the bottom of it. “They say that you’re a bad man, Animal.”
“Of course, I’m bad like Michael.” Animal did a little spin.
“You’re so silly; you know I don’t mean it like that. Look, I’m not really one to follow up on rumors, but if I plan on dealing with somebody, I like to know that neither one of us are going in blind.”
“Oh, oh, Gucci plans on dealing with me. I need to find a loudspeaker so I can announce this shit.” He looked around.
“Animal, are you gonna play all night or are we gonna talk?” she said seriously. Hearing the change in her tone got her his undivided attention. “Animal, you seem like a really nice guy and I wanna try to get to know you better, but from what I hear, you’re on fire in the streets. They talk about you like some monster hiding under a little kid’s bed.”
“You can’t believe everything you hear,” he told her.
“I know that, which is why I’m asking you myself. I’m not naïve enough to think that you ain’t out there getting it how you live, but before I invest my time in you, I wanna know how deep you’re in?” She took her glasses off, and for the first time that he could remember, he looked into her eyes.
Animal studied her face and saw what was beneath the mask. Behind those expensive sunglasses there was a little girl who was trying to find her way in life, same as he was. As it had been with him and China, he decided that there would be no lies between him and Gucci. “I’m in deep, way deep,” he said as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
“I knew it.” Gucci turned her face away from him. “They told me that you were a killer, and that’s how you really got the name Animal.”
“Hold on now.” He turned her face back to him. “I never said all that. People are afraid of me on the streets because they know I get it in. I do what I gotta do to keep from going back to eating out of garbage cans and I ain’t ashamed of that. But if you’re gonna judge me, then judge me for my actions and not what they say about me in the hood.”
The convi
ction in his voice moved something deep within her. Looking into his eyes, Gucci knew full well that Animal was a killer, but she also knew that he had a soul. It was the same with him as it was with a lot of little boys in the ghetto, children forced to become men way too early or risk being swallowed by the jungle.
“Let me tell you a story.” She took his hands in hers. “A long time ago I dated this guy, we were young, but you couldn’t tell us that he wasn’t gonna blow up and we were gonna live happily ever after. The deeper he got, the more hectic things became. When I stared getting bad vibes, I asked him to get out, and he always promised he would, but never got around to it. One day I get the call from his mother telling me that he got murdered. The fucked-up part is that him and the kid that killed him went back to grade school. The kid had stole some work from him and he was afraid that my guy was gonna kill him for it, so he got him first. Now, I can’t say that I’ve never dated a street nigga, but since then I’ve never given my heart to one. I can’t take that kinda hurt anymore.”
Animal measured his words carefully. “Gucci, these streets are feeding me right now, but they ain’t gonna write the story of how my life plays out. I know the Lord has a plan for me, but I just ain’t figured it out yet. Who knows, maybe one day it’ll fall in my lap like those people who discover they have hidden talent,” Animal said, trying to lighten the mood.
Gucci was about to say something, but Don B. interrupted their conversation. “Yo, kid, I was trying to wait for you to finish ya little lovemaking session, but y’all was taking too long and what I got to say can’t really wait.”
“Damn, you could fuck up a wet dream,” Gucci told Don B.
“I’m gonna forgive that insult, because I’m in a good mood right now. Animal, I know I told you that I wasn’t gonna do nothing with that track you laid, but I kinda sent it to my nigga Stacks out in Texas.”
“Man, you a shady muthafucka, Don. You said that you just wanted to hear how I sound!” Animal snapped.
“Calm your little ass down, Animal. I knew you were gonna lunch out, but when you hear what I got to say it’s gonna cheer you the fuck up. Gucci, can you excuse us for a minute?”
“It’s cool.” Animal motioned for her to stay seated. “With the big-ass production you’ve made of it, you might as well say it in front of her.”
“Check it, the nigga Stacks had a deal on the table for like five million to put out a group album with my little nigga Soda and his partner Sip. Sip got killed, so they can’t do the album, but the nigga Stacks ain’t trying to give the bread back, smell me?”
“What the fuck does that have to do with me?” Animal asked, still uptight with Don B. for letting the track get out.
“What it has to do with you is, he wants you to replace Sip and help Soda finish this album. Yo, when he heard the track, he jumped on your dick so hard that he might try to give you some pussy when he flies you out to Texas in two weeks to meet with him. Stacks says you can bring whoever you want and he’s footing the bill, first class all the way, baby!”
“Don, you know I ain’t wit’ no rap shit, especially with a nigga I don’t know,” Animal said as if it were final.
“Not even for one-point-two million?”
“What did you just say?” Animal and Gucci asked in unison.
Don B. smiled, knowing he now had Animal’s attention. “Stacks is gonna give you two hundred thousand, plus points on the album if you help him out. And I’m gonna do him one better and hit you with a million as an advance against the solo deal you’ll sign with Big Dawg. That’s if you’re with it?” Don B. waited for him to respond.
Animal felt like he’d just been spun around a hundred times and was trying to figure out which end was up. People were always telling him how nice he was on the mic, but they were local. Even when Don B. had begun pursuing him he’d thought it was just hype because Don B. liked to associate himself with dangerous men; but with $1.2 million dangling in front of him, he knew there had to be some truth to it. He looked at Gucci with a question lingering in his eyes.
“What’re you looking at me for; he didn’t just offer me a million dollars,” Gucci said.
“Animal, I don’t mean to pressure you, but Stacks is not only impatient, he’s stingy as hell. That man don’t shell out nothing unless he thinks he can make triple back, so you might wanna get on this before he comes back to his senses. What do you say, my nigga?” Don B. extended his hand.
“Yeah, what do you say, because I’m gonna bust you in the head if you say no,” Gucci teased him.
Animal gave her his jeweled smile. “What I say is, how do you feel about taking some time off from work to fly with me out to Texas?”
The happy quartet spent the rest of the night riding around in the Maybach, popping bottles and celebrating Animal’s newfound success. Gucci was genuinely thrilled for Animal, not because she had expected anything from him but because she knew that he wasn’t going to let his blessing go to waste.
“It’s like I told you, my nigga: the Don knows how to make stars,” Don B. boasted, hoisting his champagne glass.
“So, Animal, are you excited about all this?” Gucci asked.
“It ain’t really set in yet,” Animal said as if it were nothing.
“See, this is why I love this nigga.” Don B. draped his arm around Animal. “I just made him a fucking millionaire and he’s acting like it’s nothing.”
“Now that you got all that money, you know niggaz is gonna superhate, so you better be careful before someone snatches you up,” Tionna said playfully. Gucci hadn’t missed the fact that Tionna was being extra friendly to Animal since Don B. had let her in on their little venture. She didn’t think that her best friend would cross her, but she kept her eyes on Tionna anyway.
“And that’s just why his ass is officially off the streets,” Don B. declared.
“Don, I ain’t never had a daddy and I don’t think I want one now,” Animal told him.
“Dawg, I ain’t trying to be your father or your boss, I’m just telling you what it is. Once you sign that contract, you become an investment. There’s gonna be a lot of money riding on you to win, and you don’t need that petty hood shit you and Tech are into fucking it up, you smell me?”
“Yeah, Don,” Animal said as if it were no big deal.
“I’m serious, Animal. I gotta know that if I put this money behind you, you’re not gonna fuck it up for either of us.”
“I said I heard you, man.”
“That ain’t good enough. I need your word that you’re gonna come in off the block and really see this thing through. If it’s money you’re worried about, don’t sweat it, I’ll have a check for a hundred thousand waiting for you tomorrow morning when you sign the contract, and the rest will be paid out to you when the paperwork is properly processed. But I need your word on this one, homey.”
The eyes of everyone in the Maybach, including Devil, who was driving, were on Animal to see what he would say, but he was focused on one person, Gucci. Although she hadn’t voiced much of an opinion about the whole thing, he knew what she wanted and he knew what he wanted to give her. “You’ve got my word,” he said to Don B., but he was looking at Gucci, who smiled proudly at his response.
“Now that we’ve settled that, let’s shoot uptown. I know an after-hours spot that should be off the chain about this time.” Don B. looked at his diamond-flooded watch and saw that it was just after three in the morning.
“I’m wit’ it. You down to roll, Gucci?” Tionna looked at her friend.
Gucci shrugged. “I’m with it; I ain’t got nowhere to be. Besides,” she looped her arm around Animal’s, “I’m in no rush to end this night.”
“Let me find out that million dollars got you ready to give Animal some,” Tionna teased.
“Knock it off, T. Even if Animal wasn’t about to be rich, I planned to give him some,” she said seriously. This brought a big grin to his face. “Once he’s earned it,” she added.
Anima
l’s cell phone cut off the snappy comeback he had for her. When he looked at the caller ID, his spirits picked up even more. “I’m glad you called, family, I got some good news I wanna share with you. I’m with the nigga Don B. and—”
“Later,” Tech said, cutting him off. “I need you to meet us at the spot.”
“A’ight, I’ll see y’all in the morning, then.”
“Not the morning. Now,” Tech insisted.
“Big homey, you kinda caught me in the middle of something.” He looked over to see if Gucci was watching and of course she was. She didn’t say a word, but the look on her face said that she knew what kind of call it was.
“Look, Animal, you can go back to chasing that lame-ass dream tomorrow; tonight we got real business to attend to. We’re handling that score tonight and I need you to be the eyes in back of my head. I know you ain’t gonna bail on your family for your new friends, are you?” Tech said, playing on his sense of loyalty.
“A’ight, I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he told Tech and ended the call. When he tried to reposition himself next to Gucci, she slid away.
“Is everything alright?” Tionna asked.
“Yeah, just a family emergency,” he half lied. Don B. read something in the exchange between Animal and Gucci and spoke on it.
“Animal, I know you didn’t forget the conversation we just had that fast?” Don B. sized him up.
“It ain’t nothing like that, I just gotta make a quick run.” Animal averted his eyes when he spoke.
“Drop me off so I can hop in a cab,” Gucci said.
“Girl, where’re you going? The night is still young.” Tionna snapped her fingers to an imaginary beat.
“I’m good, I just need to go home.” Gucci folded her arms and looked out the window.
“Gucci.” Animal reached to touch her, but she moved away.
“Don’t worry, Animal, she’s just mad that her time with you was cut short. She’ll be okay—ain’t that right, Gucci?” Tionna nudged her friend, but Gucci remained silent. Tionna acted like she was really concerned with Gucci and Animal, but she was really worried that her friend’s snubbing of Animal would complicate things between her and Don B. If he had a million dollars to give Animal for an album that didn’t exist, then she definitely needed to keep him around for a while.
