by L. E. Newell
Rainbow nodded solemnly. “Yeah, they do, don’t they?”
That expression on his face caused ‘B’ to get serious real quick. “Uh-huh, so clear me up on this shit, man.” His dark skin turned blue-black with anger.
“Thought I’d wait until Sparkle joined us.” He paused to look around the raised trunk at Sparkle, who was still sitting in silence, making sure they hadn’t been followed.
“Fuck it, man, dat nigga Don is still shooting hot lead at us. They hit up Big Duke on I-20 the other day.” He slammed the trunk and walked back to the driver’s side. On the way he caught eye contact with Sparkle and dapped himself across the chest three times. As he was bending down to get in the car, he heard ‘B’ mumbling something. He sat down and turned to face him. “What’s that you said, dog?”
‘B’ was massaging the corners of his mouth as he stared at the back of his head for a moment. “Boy, I can hardly wait to get my hands on Joker. I’m gonna leave my whole ankle in that little nigga’s black ass.”
“Why you coming off on our little player like that for, partner?” Rainbow asked as he lit up a Kool cigarette and eyed him in the mirror.
His head was bowed and he was rubbing his forehead before he looked up to the roof. “My nigga...” He took a deep breath. “Our little player’s been running dope from Miami for that nigga Don. Uh-huh, he’s been doing that shit behind our back for damn near a year and there ain’t no telling what else he’s got his young stupid ass doing.”
Damn, come to think about it, I ain’t seen Joker since he got out of the youth center. Hmm, heard that youngun done got himself a condo and big car, no fucking wonder, he thought as he contemplated the consequences of his protégé siding with the enemy. Not good, not good at all.
Before they could go any farther, Sparkle opened the front passenger door and sat down. He turned around to wave at Miriam and throw dap at ‘B.’ He turned around to settle down in his seat, but he couldn’t get comfortable because he felt some bad vibes tingling in the air.
“Damn, what’s the dilly, yo?” he questioned as he looked back and forth between the three of them.
Rainbow started to speak but ‘B’ threw up his hand. “My nigga, Joker’s been down with that punk-ass nigga Don. Which means that Stack and his little gangsta-ass crew is probably down with him, too.”
Rainbow interrupted, “Yo, wait a second here. You didn’t say nothing about Stack and those other younguns.” His mind went back to all the times the younguns were at his crib gambling and sucking game out of him. Damn.
‘B’ cocked his head to the side and threw a palm into his face. “Dat’s because you didn’t give me a chance to finish what I was telling you.”
Rainbow reached back and pushed his hand down. “Okay, partner, you got the floor. Go ahead and finish then.”
Sparkle didn’t give him the chance to respond as he jumped back in. “Hold the fuck up. Stop the godayum presses. So how come you just telling us this?”
‘B’ bucked his eyes. “Because I just found out while I was in Orleans. Hold up, I take that back. I found out about Joker before I went to Orleans. Hey, man, straight up, I was like too fucked up to bring it to y’all without checking things out first. I did a little checking around while I was there. That’s when I found out about those other young muthafuckas.”
Rainbow and Sparkle looked at each other with doubting expressions. Neither of them knew what to do, so they turned their attention to Miriam.
She was lying back chilling and listening to them air their bullshit. But now the spotlight was on her. “Whaddahell y’all want me to say?”
Sparkle turned around to look at her and thought, Damn, she has a remarkable resemblance to that girl Eve, minus the blonde hair, but definitely the same pouty lips and chilling demeanor.
She batted those sexy eyes and wiggled her little booty in the seat real dainty-like and said in a raspy voice, “Dat nigga Stack, he’s like way out dere with the nose job on my sister, but she’s all up into that nigga Al. Anywho, he likes to tell her everything, trying to show her he’s gangsta and shit.”
Rainbow, not in the mood to be hearing about no family dramas, hissed out loud, “Where those niggas at?”
“How the hell am I supposed to know? I’m here with y’all niggas,” she hissed right back at him.
“You just said...” He froze when he saw the look on her face in the mirror. He started feeling stupid for even throwing that at her and slumped down in the seat a little before he slung his arm over the steering wheel and shook his head. “I guess that’s the part we got to figure out for ourselves, huh.” He looked up and she was nodding at him in the mirror.
Sparkle brought an abrupt end to their one-on-one when he turned around and slapped ‘B’ on the shoulder. “Hey, soldier, it sho took your ass long enough to holla at us.”
“Hey, fuck dat, I’m here now, ain’t I?” ‘B’ said with a frown, but immediately followed that up with a smile.
“Sho ya right, partner, sho ya right.” Sparkle nodded several times and then turned back to Rainbow. “You hip him about what happened in Jonesboro?”
“Not yet, but I was getting ready to.” Rainbow cocked an eye to the mirror to see ‘B’‘s reaction.
‘B’ leaned forward and propped his elbows on the back of Rainbow’s seat. “Let’s see, I’m figuring y’all niggas done been on the hunt. So why couldn’t y’all wait for me to get back? Damn, Bow, you knew y’all had done this while you was talking to me. What’s the deal on that, dude?”
“Ain’t no big deal. You wasn’t here so why bug you with it?”
‘B’ stared at the back of his head, his jaws clenching in anger. “Dog, that’s fucked up. So now which of you two so-called partners of mine are going to tell me why?” he hissed at both of them in turn.
Neither of them even bothered to turn around to face him, choosing to avert the harsh stare they knew he was giving them. They started scratching their jaws and the sides of their necks. That really hit a nerve with ‘B.’ It was the same way they used to act when they tried to leave him out of the rough-and-tumble stuff ever since they were kids. ‘B’ was really starting to get pissed off now. To camouflage his frustration, he sat back and turned his face to the window, fogging it up from the steam flaring out of his nose.
Recalling the way he always acted whenever they seemed to be shutting him out, Rainbow and Sparkle eyed each other sideways until a smile started edging to the edge of their mouths. Turning their heads away from ‘B’’s line of vision, they started coughing to try to hide the laughter that began snorting through their noses.
The familiar sound caused ‘B’ to jerk away from the window with his face all balled up. Sparkle sneaked a peek in his direction, doing his best to hold it in. But the fire shooting out of ‘B’’s eyes triggered a sprinkle of spittle to spew out of his mouth before he could cover it. Laughter erupted from deep in his stomach.
It splashed all over Rainbow’s neck and the side of his face. He swiped at the sprinkling onslaught and jerked his head back, thumping really hard against the window.
“Ow, whaddafuck, godayum, man, cover your muthafucking mouth, shit!” he screamed in disgust.
“Good, get his ass, Sparkle; serves his red ass right.” ‘B’ slapped his knee and laughed. “Leaving me outta shit and then got the nerve to laugh about it.”
Sparkle leaned back from the window holding his hand over his eye and turned a hard grit toward ‘B’ but he couldn’t hold it, so he faked an elbow at his face that was hanging over the seat. After a moment of ribbing each other, Rainbow pulled out of the parking lot. His tone had turned serious. “All bullshit aside, we got to go ahead and take this nigga out, once and for all.”
Sparkle cleared his throat and motioned toward Miriam. “What about honey here? That nigga don’t know her, so we can wire her up. And when she get under that nigga, we can take his ass out at a love nest. His freaky ass sho won’t be looking for that there.”
Ra
inbow didn’t give her a chance to respond. “Uh-huh, that just might work. Plus, we can get Joyce to play the tag team with her. She’s real good at getting a nigga to trust her. Fer sho, one of them can get him to take them to one of those outta-the-way hotels so we can wax his ass.”
Sparkle laughed. “Yep, and while they’re working him, they may be able to find out who all’s rolling with Joker, too. I got a funny feeling that they all had something to do with that hit on Duke.”
‘B’ joined in, “Miriam, baby, this here’s gonna be some hot and deadly games you’re about to pull off. I know you got the heart, but are you ready to throw down on this?”
Miriam blinked her long lashes and started running her baby finger along her collarbone for a moment before she pinched her nose and snorted. “Gangsta ‘B,’ you told me that you was going to make me a lioness.” ‘B’ frowned and slanted his eyes toward his boys. He knew they were snickering with the lioness bullshit but he decided not to interrupt her. She kept it flowing. “Well, baby, I’m ready to use my claws. That nigga done dogged some of my buddies at that club of his, so his ass has got to go, straight up. When y’all ready to do this?”
Rainbow uncovered his mouth and cocked a eyebrow at Sparkle, who cocked his right back at him and then turned to ‘B,’ who was beaming like a Cheshire cat. All of them were a little surprised at Miriam’s thuggish display. “You go, girl,” they said in unison.
‘B’ smiled at her like a proud daddy and patted her on the thigh before addressing his boys. “What y’all say about bugging his office at the lounge?”
“Hell yeah, his and Big Junior’s at the 617, too,” Rainbow added quickly.
Sparkle spat immediately as well, “Man, fuck the 617. Let’s just burn that bitch down, since he want to get revenge and shit. That way his ass’ll be stuck at the lounge most of the time. Uh-huh, we can really keep tabs on him better at one spot.”
“Sounds like a plan to me. Let’s do it.” Rainbow gritted as he pulled into the traffic heading out of the airport.
Rainbow and Sparkle immediately jumped on their cells to hook up with the girls. While ‘B’ was lying back in the seat eyeing the skyline, he tried to figure out a way to punish his little cousin Joker without his boys taking it overboard. After all, blood was thicker than water. As he watched his boys rattling on the phones, he shook his head feeling sort of weird about how thin that bloodline really was—at what limit they would take their revenge or whether there was a limit.
Rose had a lot of things on her mind when she pulled into the parking lot of the club. Not only had she not heard from Don in a couple of days, but those two younguns were still stuck up in the apartment. Every time that she went over there to get her chill on, those bastards were either playing video games and bitching about how long Don was keeping them there; and generally leaving the place in a mess. She was at her wit’s end cleaning up behind two grown-ass men. She dreaded the thought of going over there, but somebody had to do it.
Kicking it with Bertha was some good therapy. That’s why she was there now. She needed a good friend’s ear to bend and listen to her bitch about life.
The beaming smile on Bertha’s face hit her like a ray of sunshine as soon as she stepped through the door. Any other time she would’ve gone straight to the office in the back, not wanting to be noticed by the patrons of the club.
As she approached the bar, Bertha held up a glass, tilted it toward her and started fanning herself with a drink menu. “What can I pour you up, sweetie? You look like you could certainly use a stiff one.” She beamed as she placed the glass on the counter real ladylike.
Rose propped her elbow on the counter and rested her chin on the back of her hand, as her eyes rolled to the ceiling contemplating her options. She licked and popped her lips. “You got any pimp juice up under those panties that you could pour me up right quick?” She bit down on her bottom lip and squinted her eyes up real sexy. “Naw, home girl, go ahead and pour me up one of them Heinekens. Uh, it’s on the house, right?”
Bertha wiggled her head around real silly-like. “Duh, of course on the house. Shit, it’s your house.” She snickered. “I might as well let you know now that Max and Junior are back there in the office.”
The expression on her face changed with the quickness. “Damn, I sure ain’t in the mood to be hearing their bitching and crying about Don this and Don that. Girl, hurry up and pour up. Aw, fuck it, give me the bottle.”
Bertha reached under the counter and into the cooler to get the beer. As she was snapping the top off, the telephone started ringing. They stared at each other for a moment before Bertha sighed and picked it up. “Yeah, this here Bertha,” she said into the mouthpiece. Then a grimace of concern etched its way across her face and she snatched her tinted shades off and said breathlessly, “What!!!” She lowered her forehead into her hand and started massaging her temples. “Where have they taken him? Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Sighing deeply, she ended the conversation as a single tear rolled down her cheek as she stared at nothing, stunned.
Rose felt a tingling start at the base of her neck as she watched Bertha’s chest rise in discomfort. Her eyes blinked with uncertainty while a feeling of dread bumped at her heart. She struggled to find her voice, mouth agape, mind spinning, female intuition causing stars to spiral before her eyes, knowing something bad had happened. She closed her eyes, squeezing so tight that her corners ached, trying to will away the thoughts running through her mind. Finally she thumbed the dampness off of her eyelashes and found her voice. “What happened?” She wheezed as she tried to control her composure.
Bertha lowered her eyes, not really wanting to witness her reaction and mumbled, “He got beat up really bad out near the Farmers Market. Some kids saw him crawling out of the woods. He’s on his way to Grady’s now.” The rest of whatever she said sounded like a lot of mumbo-jumbo, as a combination of fear and anger consumed her thoughts as she headed for the door.
Al fought back the impulse to slap the emergency room attendant for not giving him the information he sought. The attendant took a step back when he saw the thick veins pop out of his neck and lowered his hand to his beeper to signal for security. Al noticed the motion and checked himself. There was no need to draw unwanted attention. So he forced a smile that caused the attendant to take his hand away from the beeper. He walked away eyeing him over his shoulder toward the elevator. Al pinched his nose and snorted as he maintained his smile until he disappeared.
As the door was closing, he started looking up and down the corridor, trying to spot somebody else in authority who could help him find out where his boy was. The whole time he wondered who could have done this. But he was really more concerned about his portion of the coke package that he was supposed to be bringing him.
This was the first time that he had used some of the money that he owed RJ to re-up with. What really made him feel extra fucked up, was that his gut instincts had told him not to chance it. But his greed had taken over, figuring he could double up on his profit and be able to invest more into their venture. He’d already provided the furniture through the hijacked truck. Man, if they could pull off this project of high-priced furnished condos, there was no telling how much money they could reap in doing this all around DeKalb and Fulton counties.
If nothing else, he had to find out where the coke was. Even he couldn’t afford to lose that many bricks of raw. Especially when using other folks’ money to get it, damn. After all those years of grinding in the red light district, he finally had a connection that could get him fully legit. The chance to get in with the big boys. And most of it was based on his word; how much they knew he could be trusted to come through when he said that he could.
He was really spaced out in his near panicking thoughts when he heard the sound of a familiar voice from the elevators. He recognized Bertha’s voice immediately and started toward her, totally ignoring the protest from the attendant who had reappeared. He even let out a short laugh when th
e doors started closing.
“What room he in?” he asked when he turned to face her. She didn’t say anything as she punched the button for the fifth floor, as he was reaching to grab her arm. As the elevator started upward, he repeated the question, more harshly this time.
Bertha looked down at the hand gripping her arm with disdain. She certainly wasn’t used to people manhandling her and wasn’t about to start now. She jerked her arm away and said with a grudge, “Man, I don’t know what kind of women you’re used to being around, and handling, but I ain’t one of them.”
The grit on her face let him know that she meant what she said. Even though a stroke of anger glazed across his eyes, he didn’t want to draw any more attention to himself. He laid off the gorilla tactics. For now anyway, he’d deal with her smart-mouthed ass later; that was for sure. He turned away from her and started tapping his foot to help control the rage that was boiling up in his gut. Bertha frowned for the entire ride up and tssked at him when she got out of the elevator, then headed down the corridor without saying another word.
He growled under his breath as his eyes followed her to the last room. At least she had left the door ajar. That cooled him down a tad. When he entered the room, she was nowhere in sight. Bitch must’ve gone to the bathroom or something, he thought right before the toilet flushed. He looked from the bathroom to the other side of the room where he saw Rose standing at the window, staring into the horizon. He’d started toward her when his peripheral vision was drawn to the figure lying in the bed. Damn, the figure was kind of small, much too small to be Don. He was in a bit of a daze as he walked to the bed and then cocked his head toward Rose with a puzzled look on his face.
“Who in the hell is that, Rose?” he asked after he pulled the cover back and saw the face.
Rose hadn’t heard him come in. She looked at him over her shoulder and squinted her eyes, momentarily astonished by his question.
“Whatcha mean who is that? You mean to tell me...” She caught herself before she could finish. Her eyes squinted when it dawned on her that there was a possibility that Al didn’t even know JJ. “Damn, I assumed it was Don myself from the way Bertha reacted to that phone call.” Al probably wasn’t even aware that JJ had been paid to try that sneak attack on Rainbow. She wondered where that nigga Percy was, his buddy on that lick.
