Another Hood Love

by Jontu'

  As we were approaching the airport, we passed a couple squad cars heading in the direction of our hotel. I called Tone to see what their location was and text Alex her flight information, because it was apparent that Raj had given us up.

  “Pull into the 8th floor garage where it says rental car return,” Tone said, then hung up. We pulled the car into the parking stall and grabbed all of our bags out; we had about 45 minutes before our flights were scheduled to board. Once we had checked in to our flights, I relaxed a little. I guess this was why I had butterflies all day, because those same butterflies that I woke up with were fluttering like crazy while we were headed to the airport. I’m glad that we had a plan already set in motion in case anything happened, because this situation could have gotten extremely messy. Knowing that my crew was good, I sent a simple text to Gio and Uncle Ken “7:50” was all that I had to say; they would both know that we had come in early, and to pick us up from the airport at that time.

  Once we all had boarded our flights, I was able to relax; we hadn’t taken a loss, but it was unfortunate that Raj had cracked under pressure. The money that we would have put up for her bail, I would give to Alex once we got back home. I appreciated her for moving smart and keeping it solid. I leaned my head back as Tone placed his hand on my leg and rubbed it, giving it a slight squeeze as we began to take off down the runway. I could breathe easy knowing that he was with me, and he would never let me down. I wiggled my finger that held the ring that he had given me a couple nights ago; I smiled and leaned over to kiss his lips. Once we got back to Oakland, it would be back to our routine. It was July and the guys would be starting their summer classes before fall camp at Cal Berkeley for their freshman year. They would be gone most of the day due to classes and practice schedules, so it was up to the rest of the Squad to pick up the slack.

  I was proud of Tone and Jah because no matter what, they were not letting these streets distract them from the bigger picture. Although we had more than enough money to just quit and not look back, Laela and I were stuck in this–at least until we graduated and were out from under Uncle Ken’s jurisdiction. I had talked to Tone about he and Jah just leaving these streets alone, and focusing on school and football. We had enough money put away to keep us cool until we were able to up and leave, but Tone wasn’t ready to leave the streets alone. Although he swore he was only in it because I was still in it, I knew that he just loved the rush that he got knowing that he was the man in the streets, knowing that he was touching money every day. I got that same rush, but I wanted to walk away. I wanted the normalcy of not having to watch my back and look over my shoulder, having to watch for the police or from these niggas in the streets.

  Oakland was a city like no other; it was one of those places that taught you everything if you just opened your eyes and paid attention. It was the city of the hustler. The streets were rough, because you could have all the love in the world out here, but there was just as much hate lurking. The body count rose higher every year, and it was sad when every time you turned on the news or logged onto your social media accounts, you were bombarded with RIP posts and “Free such and such” posts. There were only two places guaranteed out here in the streets, and that was jail and a casket. I didn’t want that for any of us. We would play out this final year as planned, and then we were gone. We could make a new start somewhere else. I loved Oakland, but I definitely wanted more than what it had to offer.

  Laela

  We had been back from Arizona for a few weeks, and everything had gone back to normal. Jah and Tone had started at Cal for the summer, so that left Jaeda and I on the block more. I had been talking to Ricky, the guy I had met at the store a couple of months ago, but it wasn’t anything too serious. We had kicked it more than a few times, but he wanted a little more than I was willing to give. I can’t say that I was over Jah, because I wasn’t. Jah and I still had sex occasionally, but that was also nothing more than that. His baby mama was showing more at six months, and was even more irritating. She swore that her and Jah had something, but every time I turned around she was playing on my phone asking me had I seen him. I didn’t understand how she would even want to deal with him as bad as he dogged her out. I could care less though; that was exactly why I couldn’t throw myself back into a relationship with him – the drama was ongoing, and I didn’t have time.

  I was leaving the block about to go meet Ricky at the bowling alley. Ricky was 19 and from the East; he was going into his second year at one of the local city colleges studying business management. He had a two-year-old daughter that he took care of full time, because her mother was killed at a party a year ago. His mother helped him raise his daughter, and I really respected how he stepped up to his responsibilities and didn’t let his baby mama’s mother gain custody like she wanted.

  Ricky had a part time job working at his uncle’s car lot, and he was just a breath of fresh air. He may not have been a street nigga, but he was far from a square and that’s what I liked about him. He was fun to chill with and easy to talk to, but he wanted me to be his girl and I just was having fun. I had been talking to this other guy named Hasaan; he wasn’t from Oakland and he was in the streets, but we had only kicked it like twice. He seemed like he had way too much going on, so I really only made time for him when I was just overly bored. I just wanted to kick it right now. I guess in the back of mind, I was waiting on Jah; waiting to see if this baby was his, waiting to see if he was going to grow up and leave all these hoes alone. Jah didn’t give a fuck though; instead of him trying to get me back, he seemed to be enjoying his little freedom. It hurt to see him talking to other females and living his life without me, but what could I do? I prayed every night that the baby Ericka was carrying wasn’t his, but I expected the worse.

  I pulled up to the bowling alley and called Ricky to see if he had made it yet; he let me know that he was standing by the entrance and had already purchased our lanes. I hopped out of my car and headed towards the entrance. I hadn’t told Ricky what I did to get my money yet; maybe if we took things further one day, but as of now I figured it was none of his business. I had told him that my uncle had money, and that was how I was able to afford the things that I had. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the entire truth either.

  It was a Friday night, and the alley was packed. I walked up on Ricky as he was looking into his phone.

  “Must be interesting,” I said as he looked up and smiled, showing off a fresh bottom grill that he had recently gotten. I didn’t really like the gold teeth thing, but it was cute on some niggas. Sage had just recently gotten some too and it was real cute on her, but it just wasn’t my thing – it seemed so country to me.

  “What’s up beautiful?” he said, leaning in to give me a hug. I inhaled his Gucci cologne, and then pulled away. I didn’t like getting too close, because he had the persona that would have me ready to throw out all my inhibitions and let him in more than I desired to at the moment.

  Once we stepped into the bowling alley, we grabbed our shoes and headed to our lane. We were halfway through our game when I felt like I was being watched. I looked around and noticed that there was a group of girls about three lanes over that were looking in our direction. I looked at them hard, and then turned around back to our game. A couple of minutes later, the broads were still looking in my direction,

  “Ricky, you know them hoes over there?” I asked, getting tired of the bullshit.

  “Who?” he asked, looking around.

  “Them bitches,” I made a point to turn and point in their direction.

  “Nah, I don’t know them hoes. Why?” He turned back around and grabbed his ball as he prepared to take his turn. I shrugged it off and tried to focus on the game, but just as I started to forget about the bullshit, I noticed two of the females walking in my direction. I placed the soda that I was sipping back down on the table, and then fingered the razor that I had hidden behind my bra strap. The tallest of the two girls approached and placed her hand on her hip as
she turned to address Ricky.

  “So this how we doing Garrick?” she asked, calling him by his government name. I was pissed because I had clearly asked this dumb ass nigga did he know the hoes, and he smooth lied to my face. Typical bitch shit; I wasn’t beat for the drama so I grabbed my purse, preparing to leave. I was glad that I had driven my own car, because I refused to stay around for the circus show that was sure to begin.

  “What’s up Laela, you leaving?” he had the nerve to turn and asked me; I gave his ass a crazy look.

  “Clearly, nigga. I asked did you know the hoes and you said no, and now this bitch all over here calling you by your government name and shit, fuck I look like sticking around?” I said with hella attitude. I watched as the bitch scrunched up her face and turned back to Ricky.

  “So you just gonna ignore me? Shit, you checking for this ugly ass bitch like this ya girl or something, is there something I’m missing?” she said.

  “Bruh what the fuck you over here for asking me questions like you my bitch? You know what this shit is so what you trippin for?” he asked, getting irritated by the girl’s presence. I took that as my opportunity to leave; if I wanted drama, I would deal with Jah and his bullshit, but I most definitely wasn’t about to stick around and deal with some shit behind a nigga that I wasn’t even fucking.

  Old girl looked as though she was ready to chunk em behind that nigga, and I didn’t even know if the dick was worth fighting over. It could have been bunk for all I knew, but I know it wasn’t because wasn’t no female approaching another bitch over some whack dick. I got in my car and sent Jaeda a text to see where she was at. It was Friday night, and still kind of early. I was hungry, and could use the company of my sister.

  I pulled up to the Mexican restaurant and headed inside to get a table as I waited for Jaeda to arrive. I approached the hostess and requested a table for two; she showed me to a table, and I hopped on Snapchat as I waited for my sister to get there. I looked up a few minutes later, and spotted Jaeda walking in. I was going to slap this bitch for not telling me that she was with Jah and Tone, and was bringing them along. I should have known though, since she was still on the block when I hit her. I put on my game face and decided to just deal with it. Jaeda sat across from me next to Tone, as Jah scooted into the booth next to me. He kissed my cheek and then grabbed the menu. I gave Jaeda the finger as I looked over the menu to see what I wanted to eat; as I looked up, Jaeda and Tone were all googly eyes taking selfies and shit. I made a gagging noise and threw a chunk of ice at them.

  “You a hater,” Jah said; I looked at him with an evil glare.

  “How I’m a hater?” I asked with a twist of my neck.

  “Because if you stopped playing, we could take little dumb selfies too, but you on your stubborn shit not tryna give a nigga a break.” I just looked away and didn’t respond to his comment. I didn’t have the energy to get into this conversation with him.

  We ordered our food and made small talk, clowning around like old times; after a few shots, I had loosened up and wasn’t as bothered about having Jah there next to me. I looked up as I noticed a loud crowd being seated to the side of us. I looked up and I noticed it was Ricky with the bitch from the bowling alley and her patnas. I laughed to myself as I thought about how shady niggas were. He must have felt me looking, because he looked up and stared right back at me. I shook my head and returned to the conversation.

  Once we had finished eating and paid our bill, we were headed out of the restaurant as the bitch decided to get cute and call me a bitch as I was walking by. Jaeda’s head snapped around hella quick.

  “What the fuck did you just say?” she stopped directly in front of the tall girl and asked her.

  “I said Bitch! And I was referring to this bitch right here,” she said, pointing in my direction.

  “Well that bitch is my sister, and I don’t take too kindly to bitches disrespecting her, so if there’s a problem then what’s good hoe!” Jaeda was pissed. Tone was grabbing her hand and trying to get her to calm down, but once the girl got up on some tough shit and tried to swing, all hell broke loose. It was four girls and just the two of us; Jaeda and I were handling shit for a minute, but then one of the hoes had taken a fork and tried to stab me. I snatched the razor from my bra and went in on the bitch, and the next thing I know I was being pulled away by strong arms. I looked up and into the face of Oakland’s finest; I shook my head as I looked down to see the blood on my hands. I knew I was fucked; I was 17 and I had just stabbed a bitch in front of a handful of witnesses.

  The officer placed me in cuffs and escorted me out the restaurant. Jah, Tone, and Jaeda were all placed in cuffs, and so was the tall girl that started all this drama. I looked at Ricky and shook my head in disgust.

  Jaeda

  It had been a week since the fight at the restaurant, and Laela was going to court today. I was sick with my sister sitting in juvenile hall. That night, the police ended up letting everybody go except for Laela and Toya, the bitch Ricky was with. Ricky had gotten in touch with me and had expressed how sorry he was for letting shit get that out of hand. I gassed that nigga though, because he should have been able to control that bitch from the beginning.

  I was tired of fighting these retarded ass bitches behind these lying ass niggas. Every other week it was something new. Uncle Ken had hired a lawyer for Lae’s case, and they were trying to get her charges dropped to misdemeanor battery; because Toya had stabbed Laela first with the fork, it was looking good. They also didn’t have the blade that Laela had supposedly cut the girl with; Ricky had told me that he had grabbed it and got rid of it when the police had first snatched her up. That was real cool of him, considering that all this bullshit was over is lying ass.

  I needed my sister home like now though. I had talked to her a couple of times, and she didn’t seem to be tripping too hard, but I could tell she wasn’t feeling the bitches in there. I wasn’t too worried though because Laela was no sucka, but she was calmer than me and could definitely walk away from an altercation, where as if I felt disrespected or threatened I would just take off. Fuck these hoes – shit, they wasn’t nobody to be afraid of.

  I pulled up to the courthouse and when I got up to the floor outside of the courtroom, I was met by my uncle and Jah. We stood there talking for a minute as we waited to meet with the attorney before court started. Once the attorney approached us, he explained that the judge would most likely drop the charge to a misdemeanor and Laela would be able to come home, but she would be on probation for the next year. I was relieved to hear that. As we took our seats in the courtroom, I looked up to see that Ricky had walked in and took a seat towards the back of the room. Jah had also seen him and had mugged him, clearly pissed that he had shown up. I knew that it would end up being some shit behind these niggas. Egos were a motherfucker when it came to niggas, so I just hoped that they steered clear of each other – shit, we done had enough drama in the last few months, I could go another year without any more.

  Court went well, and Laela was released a couple of hours later. I had just left the block and was pulling up to the house to go spend some quality time with my big sister. I had missed her so much, even though it had only been a week, but we were so close that we had never spent that much time apart from each other – ever. We decided to just chill in the house for the night and have a girl’s night; we even were going to let Tamia and Jamiya join us. They were cooking in the kitchen when I walked in; they had it smelling good making nachos. They had steak, chicken, and shrimp laid out on different platters, Doritos chips, regular tortilla chips, and my favorite lime tortilla chips.

  I didn’t even realize how hungry I was until that food aroma hit my nostrils. I had been doing so much running around today that I never had a chance to eat. I had to make pick ups from all the blocks as well as the pick ups from the girls that made our runs. We usually sold a lot of our merchandise to the Arabs that had a few stores around the block. They would buy the merchandise and send i
t back to their families in the Middle East. I also had to drop off the cash to Gio so that he could make the deposits into our accounts; we had him move some of our money into some offshore account once we had reached a half a million. Yes, we were really doing numbers in the streets, and I knew that it wouldn’t be long before there would be more drama – either from the police, or from one of these niggas that wanted to take what we worked for. It was crazy how we all had the same 24 hours in a day, and niggas felt like they needed to take what somebody else worked for, because they lacked the hustle and ambition to just go get it themselves.

  I walked into the family room and grabbed a bottle of Patrón from the bar, and sat down to roll up a few blunts. The music was playing, and I was nodding my head as I sealed the blunt.

  “Damn, do you ever not have some weed?” Laela asked as she walked into the room holding some shot glasses.

  “Shit, do you ever not drink?” I countered her question. We laughed together as I got up and gave her a big ass hug. I had really missed her, and I could tell by the way that she hugged me back that she had missed me just as much. My sister and I were so close, and even though we had our own things going on, our bond would never falter.

  Tamia came into the family room and informed us that the food was ready. I was so ready to eat I rushed my fat ass to the kitchen, with Laela behind me. I had made my nachos with all the meats and piled my chips high with toppings; I was about to go in on that shit. We all took our food into the family room as we turned on Power; the new season had just started back up last week, so we caught up on the first episode and then played the second episode that we had missed as well. We drank, smoked, and just chilled as we all tuned in. Once we were finishing up the second episode, the doorbell rang. I got up to go answer the door once I saw that nobody else had even budged. I opened the door to find Ricky on the other side. I let him in, but I wasn’t sure if Laela even wanted to see this boy.