The very thought of Dante coming up to his job just didn’t sit all that well with him. If he worked at McDonald’s or somewhere like that, then he might not care. However, Johnson & Pearl was a different story. Even though it wasn’t a major corporation with a glass building in downtown Chicago, it was a good paying job with good benefits, and he didn’t have to drive far to get to it. If Dante were to ever do anything that would cause him to lose that job, Breon didn’t know what he would do. That would cause an all-out war. Now, with Breon desperate to find Dante before Dante caught up with him, he would also have to wonder who was acting as Dante’s source of information. Breon was more than sure that he’d never mentioned where he worked to Nikki. She was only a butt and throat for him, so bringing up and talking about his job just didn’t seem like something he’d do.
When Breon finally pulled up outside of Ray’s apartment building, he paused for a moment. He turned his SUV off and allowed himself to just hear his breathing and the humming of city noise in the background. He looked around, noticing nearly each and every car parked in the parking lot. Some of the vehicles, he was used to seeing. Others, however, didn’t look familiar right away. Breon then thought of his conversation with Dante and how he’d said something about a van. After seeing that there wasn’t one in the parking lot, he pulled himself together enough to step out onto the pavement. The cold wind hit him, blowing snow up off of the sidewalk. Breon, turning his back to the wind when it was necessary, made his way into the apartment building.
“This nigga betta be up,” Breon said to himself, shaking his head. “I done called off work for this shit, and might even have to give up a day of my trip with Trina. This nigga betta get outta bed so we get this nigga.”
Breon walked up to Ray’s door and lightly tapped. After standing there for several seconds and not getting a response, he banged. Within seconds, the door swung open. There Ray stood, in nothing but a pair of blue boxers, with a mean look on his face.
“What the fuck?” Ray asked. “Nigga, you ain’t got no phone?”
“Nigga, you knew I was comin’ over,” Breon said, walking inside. “You know we ain’t got time for fuckin’ around and stuff.”
“Nigga, what time is it?” Ray asked. “I mean, really? Shit… You know I don’t get up this early in the morning and shit. I mean, come on.”
“Nigga, it’s like ten o’clock,” Breon said. “Man, this shit is so fucked up now.”
Ray walked over to the kitchen area and poured himself a glass of orange juice. After holding the jug up and asking Breon if he wanted some, to which Breon declined, Ray put the jug back into the refrigerator and stood in the living room. He was ready to hear what Breon was talking about.
“What you mean the shit is so fucked up now?” he asked. “What you talkin’ about?”
“He got Nikki, man,” Breon said. “He got Nikki.”
“He got who?” Ray asked, the name not exactly ringing a bell at this early hour of the day for him.
“The chick I was fuckin’,” Breon said. “The big booty bitch we went and got the guns from last night.”
“Oh,” Ray said, nodding his head. “What you mean he got Nikki? What? Like he done made her some sort of deal to where she doin’ shit for him now? Or what?”
“Naw, man, listen,” Breon said, trying to be sure to explain this clearly. “He got her. He kidnapped her.”
“What the fuck?” Ray asked. “How the fuck the nigga kidnap her?”
“Man, we wasn’t watchin’ like we shoulda been last night,” Breon said. He then slid out of his coat and plopped down onto the couch. “I guess, ‘cause I really don’t know, but I guess when we was leavin’ his place last night, you know, over by my cousin Wayne’s house, he and whoever the fuck he got workin’ with him and shit followed us.”
“What the fuck?” Ray asked. “He did what? What you mean he followed us? Nigga, we woulda seen some shit like that. You sure that he just don’t know Nikki and that chick ain’t been somewhere runnin’ her mouth or somethin’. You know how chicks can be, especially when they want attention from a nigga and stuff.”
“Man, I really don’t know,” Breon said, sounding a bit frustrated. “All I know is that he got Nikki. She was textin’ me last night about it all, try’na see if I would come get her from wherever she was.”
“And what happened when you went to get her?” Ray asked. “What happened then?”
Breon looked down and away, avoiding eye contact with Ray. “That’s the thing,” he said. “I ain’t go get her. Man, I had just got home to Trina, and you know how she be up and ready to ask me questions and stuff. I had just got home to Trina, and I was in the bed, try’na go to sleep. A nigga still ain’t had no sleep, so I’m crank as fuck. Anyway, that’s when she started textin’ me and stuff. I couldn’t go get her anyway because not only was I already in the bed with Trina, but I asked her where she was, and she said she didn’t know. All she knew was that the Dante dude had kicked her door in, like a little bit after we left and shit, and they took her and put her in some green van.”
“Damn, did they blindfold her or something?” Ray asked. “I mean, that’s some fucked up shit, but if they ain’t blindfold her, and it don’t sound like they did, then how she not know where they took her to? Why she ain’t just call the police?”
“’Cause,” Breon said, already tired of having to tell this story, “you and me and her all know that if she call the police, that nigga Dante is really gonna go fuckin’ crazy. Look at all the shit he doin’ already and ain’t even no cops involved.”
“Fuck,” Ray said, coming over and sitting on the other end of the couch. “So, you just left her there?”
“Left her there?” Breon asked, now sounding defensive. “What the fuck was I supposed to do? I told you, I couldn’t go and get her no way. It just wasn’t gon’ work no way. But that ain’t all.”
“Oh fuck,” Ray said, fearing what would come next.
“Yeah,” Breon said. He shook his head. “I just got off the phone with that nigga Dante, and I’m superheated, dude. Like, for real, I’m so fuckin’ heated.”
“You just got off the phone with Dante?” Ray asked. “What the fuck?”
“Yeah, he musta got my number from Nikki, I guess, ‘cause I got this crazy text last night about somebody is gonna be seein’ me soon, and I’m in deep shit and all that scary talk,” Breon explained. "But just now, when I was on my way over here, he called and shit and got me all fucked up. I need to fuckin’ find out how the nigga know where I work at.”
“He know where you work?” Ray asked. “Oh shit. And you know that Johnson & Pearl ain’t gon’ be cool with some niggas comin’ down to they place and startin’ some ole hood shit on they property. They will fire yo black ass real quick and get some Mexicans to work in there to replace your ass.”
“I know,” Breon said. “I know, I know, I know. Man, we gotta get this nigga. Straight up. I wanna find this nigga and make sure that he ain’t gon’ be a problem for me no more. This is some fucked up shit that would happen to me right now, right before I’m about to go outta town with Trina and propose to her.”
“That’s what I mean to ask,” Ray recalled. “What the fuck are you tellin’ her? Did she stay up last night and ask you the deal when you came walkin’ through the door?”
“You know she did,” Breon said. “She was up and shit when I came in. You know, I just told her that we went over there and talked and shit and that was it. I told her that when I talked to Dante, I told him that he need to hit up that Pablo dude because I ain’t have shit to do with the bullshit he talkin’ ‘bout. Man, I hate lyin’ to her like that, especially to her face, but I can’t let her get pulled into this mess.”
“Nigga, you hate lyin’ to her?” Ray asked, shaking his head with laughter. “You fucked some other bitch, and now that bitch has been kidnapped because of your ass.”
“I know, Ray,” Breon said. “I know. Man, this shit is so fucked up. Like
I said, I ain’t had no sleep at all. All I did was stay up, lookin’ at the ceiling and shit, until I heard Trina get up to go to work. I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinkin’ that Nikki was gon’ call me or somethin’, and I wanted to make sure that Trina ain’t get to my phone again before I could.”
“Man, this nigga Dante is really crazy, ain’t he?” Ray said, standing up.
“Damn, nigga,” Breon said, looking away. “Can you go put some pants on or some shit? I ain’t with that gay shit.”
“Nigga, calm the fuck down,” Ray said, walking toward the bedroom. “You wanna smoke this blunt I got ready?”
Breon nodded. “Yeah, I guess,” he answered. “Why the fuck not? I ain’t come over here to just chill or nothin’. We need to ride over to Wayne’s house ‘cause I know that nigga is mighty salty. When I told him what happened, it sounded like the nigga was mad that we ain’t come and get him.”
“Bet,” Ray said, disappearing down the hallway. “I feel him on that.”
Ray returned in a matter of seconds, now dressed in gray sweatpants and carrying a blunt in one hand. He plopped back down onto the couch. “What that nigga try’na do, though?” he asked.
“Man,” Breon said, “I told him that Dante stay not too far from where he stay, you know, and that was enough. He wanna kill that nigga after what he did to him with the belt. I mean, for real. I ain’t never heard that nigga get so fuckin’ heated over that shit. I swear it felt like I was talkin’ to a different person or somethin’. Might have to watch out ‘cause you know Wayne can be coo and stuff, but…”
“He a real savage at heart,” Ray said, finishing the sentence. “And based on what you sayin’, I’d wanna kill that nigga too.”
“Right,” Breon said. “And if that tape come out, Wayne gon’ really find that nigga and kill him.”
“He not gon’ have shit else to do,” Ray said. “I’d kill a nigga too if he did some shit like that to me and recorded the shit. Swear, I would. No lie.”
Ray lit the blunt, hit it twice then passed it to Breon. As Breon smoked it, he walked over to the balcony door and pulled the curtains open. Light leapt into the dim apartment, exposing that it was somewhat cluttered.
“Damn, nigga, when you gon’ clean this shit up?” Breon asked, sarcastically.
“When I ain’t busy fuckin’ bitches,” Ray responded. “So, nigga, when you try’na go over to Wayne’s house and shit?
“What you mean when?” Breon asked. “I’m talkin’ about right now, like in a little bit.”
“Nigga, I need to go back to sleep,” Ray said. “Is you fuckin’ serious? Why we can’t do this shit later on or somethin’? What we gon’ go do at fuckin’ ten o’clock in the morning?”
“That’s the thing, nigga,” Breon reasoned. “Think about it. If we try to pull some shit this early in the day, Dante ain’t gon’ be expectin’ it. Hell, you know niggas can’t even get up early. I know he ain’t thinkin’ that we gon’ do shit this early in the day.”
“But what are you try’na do?” Ray asked. “You try’na get that Nikki chick back and stuff?”
“Man, naw,” Breon said, shrugging his shoulders. “I mean, I feel bad that all this just fell on her head like that, but at the same time, you already know what Dante is try’na pull off and it ain’t gon’ work. He must think that we stupid or somethin’. Listen to this. When he called me and shit just a little bit ago, it sounded like he kidnapped Nikki because he thought that she was my chick.”
“Thought that she was your chick?” Ray asked. “Where the fuck he get some shit like that? And you say he know where you work? I wouldn’t be surprised if she told him some shit like that just to get him off her back. You know how females can be.”
“Man, I was thinkin’ the same thing,” Breon said, “but you already know I ain’t tell no side chick no shit like that. And plus, she wasn’t even really my side chick. I only got my dick sucked and fucked her, but I ain’t even known her a whole week and shit. That’s what’s fucked about this. And plus, with that being said, I know I ain’t tell some bitch that was suckin’ my dick and givin’ me some pussy that I work down at Johnson & Pearl. Come on, nigga. I know you don’t think I’m dumb or somethin’. I wonder if that nigga know somebody that know me or somethin’.”
“He probably do,” Ray said. “That’s why you gotta watch who you associate with, especially when it come to niggas in the hood.”
“Right,” Breon said. “But I know Dante is just try’na get me to come and get the bitch so he can take me out and shit. I know that’s what he’s doin.”
“Yeah, that’s what they do,” Ray said. “And it usually work, too.”
“Yeah, well, it ain’t gon’ work with me,” Breon said. “If that was Trina he got, then I woulda got up and a nigga woulda got over there as quick as I could so that she ain’t have to go through whatever Nikki goin’ through, but I’m not about to get killed for that bitch. I want this nigga to come out where I can see him, or us to walk up on him when he’s least expectin’ the shit, and just get him. That’s why I wanna go over to that house when he ain’t thinkin’ that we will. I know that will really fuck with his head, ‘cause he not gon’ be prepared for it. And I know he know that we was over there last night. He told me that I fucked up by fuckin’ with his girls, I guess he was talkin’ about them hoes we walked in on last night. Guess they suck his dick or somethin’.”
“Man, that one can really suck my dick if she want to,” Ray said, playfully jumping up and down.
Breon passed the blunt back to Ray, looking at him as if he were crazy. “Nigga, we not talkin’ about that right now,” he said. “And let’s hurry up so we can get goin’ and shit. I know Wayne thinkin’ we comin’ and stuff.”
“Nigga, okay, okay,” Ray said, passing the blunt back to Breon. He stood up and casually walked toward the hallway. “Let me wash up real quick and throw on some clothes and I’ll be ready to go.”
“Nigga, hold up!” Breon said. “You ain’t have no hoes over here last night that got them guns, did you?”
Breon then heard some rustling about, sounding as if Ray was moving a couple of things around. Within seconds, Ray walked back out into the living room and pointed one of the semiautomatics at Breon. “Now, what, nigga?” Ray said, smiling. “Now what?”
“Okay, okay,” Breon said, moving out of the path of the gun’s barrel. “Don’t be pointin’ that shit at me.”
Ray went and grabbed the other gun then placed them both on the couch. “Nigga, don’t question a nigga. You know I got this shit. You know I got it.”
Ray took about twenty minutes to take a shower. He then hopped into some black jeans and a blue Polo shirt. Once he’d gotten into his boots then grabbed his hat and coat, he was ready to go. Just as Ray was locking the door, with Breon headed down the steps, he thought about something.
Out on the sidewalk, with the wind blowing snow into their faces, Ray stopped Breon from walking to the passenger side of his car.
“Hold up, nigga,” Ray said. “You said that they followed us last night?” He looked at his car, shaking his head at how his back window had been blown out. The empty space was now filled with a plastic bag, only reminding him that his “baby” had taken a hit.
“Yeah, that’s what it was soundin’ like to me,” Breon said, shrugging. “I mean, how else would he know where Nikki was and how would he have gone through and snatched her up and stuff?”
“Okay,” Ray said, shaking his head. “Then I think that we should drive your shit. He might not know what your shit look like.”
Breon thought about it for a moment. He really didn’t know what Dante knew, but he certainly didn’t want him to know for sure what kind of vehicle he drove. If he could have his way, he would never show his SUV. His SUV would be a dead giveaway to find him, as it was very easily noticed when riding down the street. In a row of parked cars on a residential street, his SUV stuck out like a sore thumb. It was just too hood.
�
��Man, let’s just get over to Wayne’s in my shit and we can go from there,” Breon said.
The two of them climbed into his SUV. After a moment of allowing it to warm up, Breon pulled out of the parking spot. Ray looked over at his boy. “So, what we gon’ do about my window?” he asked, looking at his busted backseat window.
Breon looked over at Ray. “When we get this Dante nigga, you can ask him that,” he said. “He the one who shot your shit out and stuff.”
The two best friends talked back and forth as Breon drove the SUV over to Wayne’s neighborhood. This ride seemed twice as long as it would normally be, as well as ten times as stressful. Anytime he was out on the road, he feared that Dante would pull up in some unrecognized car. Eventually, Ray picked up on Breon’s mood. “That nigga got you really thinkin’, don’t he?” he asked.
Breon had to be a man about it and admit the truth. He nodded and said, “Yeah. I mean, he a sneaky little nigga. I can’t believe we ain’t see him followin’ us last night and shit. I mean, I really can’t believe we really just led him right to where we went last night.”
“That’s what I was thinkin’ when I was showerin’ and shit,” Ray said. “If he said that he saw you gettin’ the guns from the chick he thought was your girlfriend and stuff, and he supposed to be serious about try’na get you back for what happened when you and him was workin’ out in the streets under that Pablo dude, then why he ain’t just walk up and kill you right then on the sidewalk? I mean, that’s what a real nigga would do.”
“Shit if I know,” Breon said. “I mean, he probably got some reason. If he went through all the trouble, and the risk, of snatchin’ Nikki out of her house, then it look like he try’na get me to come somewhere.”
“Shit, for all we know, nigga,” Ray said, “he might be keepin’ that bitch over in some warehouse or somewhere and try’na get you to come over there so he can do some fucked up shit to you.”
“Yeah, well,” Breon said. “Fuck all that. He ain’t gon’ lure me out.”
Wrath of a Side Chick 3: A Chicago Hood Drama (Side Chick's Wrath) Page 9
