The Day the Streets Stood Still

by JaQuavis Coleman

“Why the fuck y’all been following me? Robbing me would be a mistake, take my word for it. Y’all don’t know who I am,” the woman snarled, moving her finger into the trigger guard on her gun.

  “Nah, ma, we don’t get down like that. If we wanted to rob you we woulda been did it weeks ago,” Ty clarified, his arms burning from having them extended with the gun out so long.

  “Our boss . . . King Sean . . . he wanna have a quick minute with you. That’s all,” Beans told her. “We look like we need to rob you, ma? It’s bad enough your man sends you out here to do his job,” Beans said mockingly.

  The woman laughed, flashing a glimpse of her gleaming, perfectly straight white teeth.

  “Fuck so funny,” Freddie hissed at her back.

  “My man? I work for myself. Y’all niggas got the story all wrong,” the woman said, lowering her gun a little. “Where ya boss at?” she asked, clearly amused.

  “Yo, this bitch mad disrespectful like she don’t believe we will dust that ass right here,” Ty growled. He already despised the beautiful creature standing in front of him. Ty hated to feel like people were making fun of him.

  “Chill . . . she know what it is,” Beans said, nodding at the woman knowingly.

  She lowered her gun and looked at them expectantly. Beans lowered his, but Ty wasn’t going for it.

  “Nah, son, I don’t trust no bitch this calm after all her peoples got dusted right in front of her fuckin’ eyes,” Ty snapped, keeping his eye on her.

  She laughed at him. “I’m the only one that matters to me,” she said calmly. “Security is replaceable. You should know . . . you’re the security right?” the woman taunted Ty.

  “Yo, Beans . . . tell this bitch something,” Ty said through his teeth.

  “Again . . . where’s this so-called boss of yours?” she said, taking a few steps toward the Escalade.

  Beans was alone with the woman when Sean arrived. Ty, Ak and Freddie had taken Bo to the in-house doctor they used in cases like this. No way they could take their people to the hospital with gunshot wounds because that would mean an automatic call to the police.

  Sean bopped into the conference room above the boxing gym with a cool, even expression on his face. He had already heard about the woman’s brazen standoff with his crewmembers and her mocking behavior. He was intrigued.

  Beans stood up and rushed toward Sean, giving him their signature pound and tap hug.

  “Well she here, but she ain’t talkin’ to me about BG. Beware she got a slick tongue that make a nigga wanna take her head off for real, son,” Beans filled Sean in with a harsh whisper. Sean took his seat at the head of the table. The woman was sitting at the other end, also at the head of the table. Bold to say the least.

  “I’ma get right to the point. I heard you work for somebody named BG . . . I don’t know if he’s your man or your boss, but I don’t like his moves,” Sean said, his voice even, calm.

  The woman smirked, leaned back in the chair and crossed her long, slender legs. Sean was having a hard time keeping his eyes off of her cleavage. She had taken off her bloodied blazer and wore nothing but a close-fitting camisole now.

  “Is that right?” she replied, seemingly uninterested. “You had me dragged here at gunpoint to get to my man or my boss . . . okay,” she said sarcastically.

  Sean bit down into his jaw. He quickly changed his lustful attitude toward the woman. He didn’t like her tone and he surely didn’t like to be tested.

  “Look . . . you’re a woman. I’m not tryin’a go back and forth with you. I just need to know who BG is . . . if he’s your man . . . if he’s your boss . . . don’t really make me no difference. I have a talk with the nigga and I need to know from you where I can find him,” Sean said sternly.

  The woman smirked again. She stood up in a bold move. Beans immediately sprang to his feet and touched his gun.

  “No need for all that, cowboy,” the woman said smoothly, placing her well manicured hands up where Beans and Sean could see them. She shook her silky, long hair out of her face and started making her way toward Sean. When she was finally close enough, even with Beans breathing down her neck, she extended her hand toward Sean. Sean could smell the sweet scent of her perfume and he liked it . . . a lot.

  “Hi . . . I’m BG, short for Black Girl, nice to meet you,” she said smiling slyly, flashing her perfectly straight white teeth. Sean could feel his mouth drop open by itself, but he couldn’t close it. For the first time in a long time, he was at a loss for words.

  “What?” Beans shouted. “You? BG? Get the fuck outta here,” Beans gasped in disbelief, twisting his lips for emphasis.

  “In the flesh,” the woman replied, her hand still dangling out in front of her.

  Sean extended his hand and accepted hers for a firm handshake.

  “A’ight, BG, I guess we got a lot to talk about then,” Sean said flatly, although his mind was blown away.

  Three weeks after his first encounter with BG, Sean sat across from God; both men deep in thought.

  “I don’t know, Sean. Seems to me this woman showed up out of nowhere and now she wants a partnership. Smells like setup or devious takeover to me,” God said apprehensively. Sean let out a long sigh. He had been spending a lot of time with BG for the past couple of weeks and his gut was telling him that she was a stand-up person. Not to mention, she had the other side of the city on lock and was moving more than just heroin. BG was willing to open up a new methamphetamine market to Sean on a half-and-half partnership basis.

  Sean could see his dollars growing by leaps and bounds partnering up with BG. Now he had to convince God of the same.

  “Yo, God . . . I’m tellin’ you. I seen her in action. She’s smart . . . real smart. She about her business. Yo, she so good niggas in the streets thought she was a nigga when her name first started ringing bells out there. Nothing flashy, real demure, sexy as hell, too. If you see her you would never guess she’s so powerful,” Sean replied, trying to sell God on the idea of partnering with BG.

  “She got certain areas on lock already without even tryin’a step on my toes. She started riding through my spots just to get my attention. I mean that shit is fucking commendable because she could’ve gotten her wig twisted but she stood her ground. All in the name of growing her business. There’s niggas that ain’t got the heart to do that shit. She ain’t satisfied with the scraps niggas leaving behind and that’s the type of people we need to align with . . . All these other so-called bosses let niggas come in, sell kilos a dollar cheaper and they automatically jump on the dollar cheaper team instead of standing their ground . . . not her,” Sean went on.

  God sat silently for a minute. He looked up and snapped his fingers. One of his beautiful servants rushed over with his signature cigar and a shot of Ace of Spades on a gold-plated serving tray. The statuesque model-like woman held the glass up to his lips and God sipped the liquor slowly. Then the beauty lit God’s cigar and handed it to him.

  “Sean, the years we’ve been in business have been sweet . . . I must say. You’re a smart kid and I trust your judgment. If you vouch for her I’ll take the chance . . . but only because it’s you. You’ve made me a lot of money out there and I know you’re loyal. You know how I feel about you, kid,” God finally relented. Sean smiled and sprang to his feet excitedly.

  “But . . .” God said, putting his free hand up in a halting motion. “Don’t let me regret giving you and your new female partner this chance. Don’t cross me for a bitch,” God warned, his gaze hot on Sean’s face. “It won’t be a pretty picture if you do.” Sean looked God in the eyes for a few seconds, the awkwardness of the situation almost palpable.

  “Nah, never that, God,” Sean said in earnest, finally breaking their heated eye lock on one another. “Never that,” Sean repeated.

  Chapter Nine

  Club Azure was packed inside with wall-to-wall people. The DJ had everyone moving their bodies in unison to the extreme bass that was pounding through the clubs and making
the walls shake. It was New Year’s Eve and the crowd was ready to bring 2003 in with a bang. It was also Sean’s twenty-first birthday and he planned on doing it big.

  Sean and BG navigated slowly through the tightly packed swarm of people, taking in eyefuls of scantily clad women—young and old—who had probably saved up for months to buy the gaudy, ill-fitting outfits they wore and huddles of dudes rocking their obligatory diamond Jesus pieces—some fake and some real.

  “You pack this shit out didn’t you?” BG screamed into Sean’s ear as their bodies were forced close together, flanked by Beans and Ak in the front and Ty and Freddie behind them.

  “Everybody love a King Sean party. What did you think niggas was gon’ do when they heard I bought out the bar tonight?”

  “Bring they asses to the club,” BG and Sean said in unison. Then they busted out laughing.

  “Shit, you better know it,” Sean joked, yelling over the music. BG laughed again, but it had registered with her how serious his statement was. Sean was the man in the city and it was widely known that he was sitting on major cake.

  Sean’s partnership with BG had grown by leaps and bounds over the course of the year since they’d had their first rocky encounter. Sean respected her business mind and she respected his status in the streets—a perfect combination that served their takeover well. Sean and BG had taken their collective businesses and merged them into millionaire status. It had taken them a little time to work on the friendship part of their partnership, but it was getting there.

  Sean had shared with BG how much she reminded him of his mother, especially her smooth, dark skin and no-nonsense attitude. BG had opened up to him that she’d had a rough upbringing in the poorest part of Panama. She told him she had actually gotten her nickname—Black Girl—from being teased and called the name as a kid, because in Panama there was a lot of prejudice against darker-skinned people; therefore, she started referring to herself as BG, which was really a derogatory term. She thought embracing it showed how strong she was. Sean agreed.

  Just as Sean and BG made it to the VIP section at the back of his club, a small commotion in the far left corner of the club caught Sean’s attention.

  Sean stopped for a few seconds, his abrupt pause causing BG and all of his crewmembers to look at him strangely.

  “Everything good?” BG asked, looking at Sean with widened eyes.

  “Yeah . . . yeah,” Sean replied with his head turned in the direction of the distraction. His eyes were trained in on something and he would not turn away.

  “Yo, y’all go ahead inside VIP,” Sean told his crew, waving them on. He grabbed Beans’s arm and stopped him from walking behind the velvet ropes that separated VIP from the rest of the club. “Yo . . . follow me over there,” Sean told Beans, nodding his head toward the gathering crowd in the corner.

  “A’ight, what’s up?” Beans asked, more interested in getting to VIP with all of the beautiful women than he was in following his boss.

  Sean didn’t answer; instead, he forged ahead as if the club was empty.

  “Damn I guess it’s just . . . let’s go,” Beans said rushing behind Sean, hot on his heels.

  Sean was pushing and shoving people out of his way as he steamed forward like he was on a mission. His chest was heaving up and down and his nostrils flared in anticipation that what the thought he was seeing might be true. The closer Sean got to his target, the clearer he could see that his initial suspicion had been correct.

  “Fuckin’ Sunny. I knew that was you,” Sean grumbled under his breath, the vein at the side of his temple pulsing hard against the side of his skull.

  Although he hadn’t seen or heard from her in almost a year, Sean could still spot his best friend anywhere. Sean could see Sunny clearly now and he didn’t like what he was seeing. She was surrounded by at least eight dudes, who were all touching the intimate parts of her body at will. Sunny was the center of attention as usual. She was laughing and giggling like it was fine with her that these men were basically violating her.

  “Get the fuck out my way,” Sean barked, pushing a few females and dudes aside. Once the crowd realized who he was, they began to part like the Red Sea giving Sean a clear path to Sunny.

  “Yo! Sunny!” Sean called out. “Sunny!” But it was impossible for her to hear him over the ear-shattering music that was blasting. The men surrounding Sunny shot dirty looks in Sean’s direction, but Sunny was too gone to even hear him or notice him right up on her.

  “Sunny! Get the fuck up!” Sean growled, grabbing Sunny by her arm up off the lap of one of the dudes and pulling her out of the clutches of the other hungry dudes that had been taking advantage of her. Sean hadn’t noticed until he was up on her that she was wearing nothing but a tiny piece of material that barely covered her butt cheeks and as a top, a thin sheath of cutoff spandex that barely made it over her ample breasts.

  “Get off me,” Sunny slurred, squinting to see who was grabbing on her. “Don’t touch me.” Her words came out so garbled Sean knew right away she was more than just drunk.

  “Sunny! It’s me Sean!” he shouted, grabbing her face trying to force her droopy, half-closed eyes to focus on his face.

  “Ohhh, Daaaviid,” Sunny sang drunkenly. “My best friend . . . where you been at, nigga?” Sunny slurred and laughed. “Why you tryin’a break up my fun?” she garbled, finally focusing her dilated pupils on Sean’s face.

  “Whatchu doin’ in here dressed like a trick, letting niggas put they hands all over you?” Sean snarled in her face. “You ain’t stayin’ in here! Let’s go!”

  “I’m . . . I’m grown. Now get the fuck off me! You don’t know nothing about what I do . . . King Sean,” Sunny yelled putting a nasty emphasis on Sean’s street name as she pushed him in his chest with all of her might.

  “Sunny, this shit ain’t up for discussion. You’re drunk or some shit and you ain’t stayin’ over here like this,” Sean declared.

  “You think you know me?” Sunny spat, viciously yanking her other arm away from him and pushing him again. Sean was shocked to find her like that; he was at a loss for words.

  “Yo, Beans grab her and bring her on,” Sean demanded. Beans stepped closer to Sunny. Just then, Faheem stepped up behind Sunny. He smiled evilly at Sean.

  “We got a problem, potna?” Faheem asked, trying to sound more American than Jamaican. He pushed Sunny behind him and shielded her with his body.

  “Yeah, nigga, we do and what?” Sean growled, touching his waistband. “You supposed to be her man right? You got m’fuckas feelin’ all up on her?” Sean gritted, the butt of his gun showing.

  “When you gonna get it, nigga? She with me and she don’t want you. It’s been years now, li’l soldier . . . she don’t want you. She don’t want to be your friend . . . nothing like that,” Faheem said viciously, stepping a few steps too close to Sean.

  “Fuck you, m’fucka!” Sean barked, pushing Faheem in the chest so hard he stumbled backward into Sunny and they both fell. Beans was all over it. He slid his gun out of his waistband and put it to Faheem’s head. Beans’s eyes were flashing with fire and his bottom lips was drawn in between his teeth.

  “I will spill this dread nigga’s brains right here with a million witnesses, King . . . on my word I ain’t got no problem. Just give me the word,” Beans said through clenched teeth.

  “Don’t do it, Sean! Don’t do it!” Sunny screamed and cried. She was sobering up real fast now. “For me! Just leave us alone! Don’t do it! I don’t want to go with you! I hate you! I’m happy with him! I’m happy with him!” Sunny cried out. Even she didn’t believe her words, but she couldn’t bring herself to give into Sean. She was too angry at him for that. Ever since they had been kids, Sunny would never surrender to Sean, but she had perfected the art of getting him to surrender to her.

  “Leave me alone, Sean! I don’t want to be your friend! I don’t want to be with you! I want him! I want only him!” Sunny screeched through a waterfall of tears with the lies b
urning on her tongue.

  Sean saw her tears, listened to her words and was immediately drawn back to their childhood. Sean tapped Beans on the arm calling him off.

  “Nah, son, it is what it is. She wanna be with a nigga that’s gon’ let m’fuckas violate her . . . so be it,” Sean spat coolly, pulling Beans back. “We came to enjoy our new year and it’s my day. This wannabe bad boy fake-ass Jamaican nigga ain’t gon’ fuck that up,” Sean proclaimed hawking a wad of spit down on Faheem.

  Beans released Faheem with a hard shove and then kicked him in the stomach. Faheem doubled over and Sunny fell on top of him. The entire left side of the club was watching the spectacle now, but no one jumped back because everyone knew about King Sean and his crew.

  “Fuckin’ lucky . . . bitch-ass nigga,” Beans snarled at Faheem. “You ain’t gon’ always be this lucky though. We gon’ see ya m’fuckin’ ass again.”

  Sean didn’t even bother to take another look at Sunny, but he could hear her screaming at his back.

  “You don’t know shit about me and what I do! You don’t give a fuck about me! You don’t care shit about me, Sean! So what! You a millionaire! The same people you shit on going up you have to see on your way down, Sean! Remember I said that!” Sunny was screaming at the top of her lungs. Her words were breaking Sean’s heart, but his face remained stony and unfazed.

  “You ain’t no better than me! We the same, Sean! We come from the same place! You just like me!” That was the last statement Sean heard Sunny say before he’d gotten so far away that the music had drowned her out.

  “Fuck you, Sunny, and fuck me for ever loving you,” Sean mumbled under his breath.

  When Sean returned to the VIP section, BG was sitting on one of the huge leather wraparound benches. The table in front of her was decorated with hundreds of expensive bottles of champagne, exclusive cognacs and a variety of flavored vodkas.

  “You good?” BG asked as soon as Sean slid onto the seat next to her.