by K'wan
When the building formally known as Westside Manor was sold, the new owners jacked the rent for new tenants to ten times what the old ones were paying. A good amount of the residents had inherited the apartments from their parents or grandparents, but every new tenant had to pay the piper unless they managed to hit the Mega Ball. The Mega Ball was a lottery the city forced the Marquis to hold every few years that gave government-assisted tenants a shot at getting into the building. Because of the circumstances surrounding how Tionna had lost her apartment they made an exception to the rule and gave her a two-bedroom that had just been vacated.
As soon as Tionna touched the foyer of the lobby the security guard, Angel, buzzed her in. He was a handsome Puerto Rican kid who wore his hair in a low cut that he kept freshly shaped. Angel was a good dude who had run into some less than favorable luck and ended up catching some short time. As a condition of his parole he ended up doing security at the Marquis. Unlike some of the other guards he wasn’t a hard ass. Angel was easygoing and unless you were harassing the tenants or doing something to put his job in jeopardy you were cool.
“What is it, ma?” Angel greeted Tionna when she crossed the threshold.
“Chilling, just getting in from work,” Tionna replied.
“Yo, how is that shit for you? Working at a law firm and all, I know you get the four-one-one on a lot of shit.”
“It ain’t even that serious, Angel. I just answer the phones and do a little filing. I do my job and come home, period,” Tionna said. She had been working at the law firm of Gould and Silva for over a year and still didn’t know everyone there by name.
“I still wouldn’t mind being a fly on the wall for one of those crazy muthafuckers who roll through there. I hear the broad’s specialty is castrating niggaz,” Angel half joked.
“Marlene isn’t that bad, she’s just good at what she does,” Tionna defended her boss. She really thought Marlene to be too uptight, but she had to admire her. Here was a woman who had managed to claw her way up out of the same ghettos and managed to become a successful attorney. Gould and Silva practiced a variety of law, but their specialty was divorce. Marlene was like a freak of nature when it came to making sure her clients left their spouses with nothing. Some said that she was a scorned lover seeking to take her revenge out on all men, but whatever her motivation you couldn’t deny the fact that Marlene Silva was one of the best at what she did. It was even said that on more than one occasion Marlene had reduced abusive husbands to tears in open court. Tionna figured if she could muster up a fraction of Marlene’s determination she’d be all good.
“So you say. Just hope you don’t ever come across her in a courtroom. My man Jose had to get two more jobs just to keep up with the payments she got his bitch of a wife,” Angel said.
“She wasn’t a bitch when he was laying with her now was she?” Tionna shot back. “Yo, if I’m fucking a nigga, washing his drawers and breeding his kids, then I need to be taken care of when we split the pie. What, you think the wasted years of that woman’s life don’t count for anything?”
Angel took a step back and raised his hands in surrender. “Damn, T, I wasn’t looking for the cross-examination. You’re starting to sound like your boss.”
“Nah, I ain’t sounding like Marlene. I’m sounding like somebody that’s been through it. Angel, when you’ve given your time and your heart to somebody only to have them pull the plug and leave you with nothing but your sorrows then we can have this conversation again,” Tionna said and headed for the elevator.
Tionna stepped into her apartment and breathed a sigh of relief. After dealing with the bullshit at Gould and Silva all day it felt good to be home. The kids were still at school so she had at least another hour to herself. She planned to roll up a blunt and pour herself a glass of wine and soak in the tub before she did her homework. Since she had been working at the firm Tionna had developed a fascination with the law and decided to take some paralegal courses online. There was no way she was going to put herself through eight more years of school to try for the bar, but with the certificate she could push for a promotion or at least a pay raise.
She had just kicked her shoes off when someone started ringing the hell out of her doorbell. She cursed under her breath because she just knew it was thirsty ass Zada trying to get in on her blunt. She considered ignoring the bell, but Zada knew she was home because she had just seen her in the store. Tionna decided to just tell Zada that she didn’t wanna be bothered and didn’t care if she was hurt by it or not.
“Hold on a fucking minute!” Tionna shouted as the ringing increased. She snatched the door open with a four-letter-word pursed on her lips, but the curse fell away when she saw the dark sunglasses staring back at her.
“Why is it that no matter where you live I have to wait a hundred years before you answer the damn door?” Gucci said with a warm smile.
Tionna was so overjoyed to see her best friend that the only thing she could do in way of a response was to embrace her.
• • •
Gucci had always been a pretty girl, but her time away from New York had done her good and it showed in the subtle glow her skin had picked up. She had put on some weight, all in her hips from the looks of it, and now wore her hair in a short feathered cut that showed off her face. She was dressed in a black skirt with a low-cut red blouse with a thin black Gucci scarf slung around her neck like she was going skiing. It wasn’t cold enough for the scarf, but it looked good with the black and red print Gucci bag.
Tionna and Gucci had a friendship that went back as far as grade school. When Tionna’s mother was off on her drug binges she often found herself spending the night with Gucci and Ms. Ronnie. Unlike the other kids, Gucci never made fun of Tionna having a crackhead for a mother and always went out of her way to make her feel like family. Gucci was a year or two younger than Tionna, but had an understanding of life that would rival that of a girl twice her age. They were more like sisters than best friends and you rarely saw one without the other.
By the time they hit middle school the call of the streets was ringing loudly in both their ears. They were both off the hook, but whereas Tionna’s mother let her run wild, Ms. Ronnie didn’t play that with Gucci. Ms. Ronnie gave Gucci enough rope to hang herself, but she always stressed the importance of school. Gucci managed to hang in there long enough to finish high school, but Tionna ended up getting pregnant with little Duhan and ended up dropping out. She eventually went back and got her GED, but she always regretted not being able to walk down the aisle as her friend had.
Over the years Tionna and Gucci still hung out, but Tionna slipped further and further into the role of a kingpin’s wife while Gucci was searching for her own escape from the ghetto. When they closed the curtain on Duhan’s movie, Gucci was right there to help Tionna pick up the pieces. It wasn’t long before Gucci had her running partner back and the two girls hit the hood with a vengeance. It was during the brief resurrection when Gucci met Animal and things began to change.
Animal had been a guaranteed case of a kid who wouldn’t make it very far into his twenties. The streets knew of him because he was a part of Tech’s crew, but they feared him because of his Jones for violence. The letting of blood was like a high for him that he couldn’t get enough of, so he let his gun go to feed his habit. Animal was a beast when it came to battle and even the heaviest hitters in the game didn’t want to tangle with him, but the brute was only a portion of who he was. The side that few other than Gucci knew was a compassionate young man with a talent for music. It was because of his talent that he landed a record deal with Big Dawg Entertainment and ended up becoming an overnight superstar. His train out of the ghetto had finally come in, but it was an empty moment because he couldn’t share it with the people closest to him. China lost her life during their last job and the police canceled Silk, but Tech was a victim of his own demons. The governing body of the New York underworld decided that Tech’s bark was getting too loud and silenced him.
<
br /> The courtship between Gucci and Animal was something no one had expected, especially Tionna. Gucci was someone who didn’t give her heart easily, and definitely not so soon. Tionna tried to tell herself and Gucci that it was a phase, but the sparkle in both their eyes whenever she was around them said that it was real. Each of them had found something in the other that they felt was missing in their lives and they used it as the foundation of their relationship. Gucci always said that she wasn’t with Animal for his money, but the large black diamonds in her ears said that she was reaping the benefits.
“You sneaky heifer, why didn’t you tell me you were flying in?” Tionna rocked back and forth with Gucci still in her arms.
Gucci broke the embrace and smoothed over her outfit. “Because if it’d been up to you, I’d still be at the airport.”
“True,” Tionna agreed. “So what wind blows your country ass up this way?”
Gucci took off her shades so that Tionna could see her brown eyes. “First of all, I ain’t country, and second of all, the last time I checked my driver’s license said New York State.”
“I can’t tell, seeing how you spend more time in Plano than you do in Harlem,” Tionna accused. Animal had a cute two-bedroom in a working-class section of town that Gucci shared with him from time to time.
“T, you of all people should know that my heart is and always will be on Seventh Avenue, a bitch is just trying to come up. And speaking of come up, this shit doesn’t look like no government-assisted housing to me.” Gucci admired Tionna’s high-rise apartment.
“Girl, it was the luck of the draw, literally.” Tionna went on to give Gucci the short version of how she’d come by the apartment. “I swear I didn’t know what to do when my crib got burnt down, but God had a plan for me.”
Gucci looked at Tionna suspiciously. “I know your ass ain’t on no saved shit?”
Tionna twisted her lips. “As much as I love weed and dick, I don’t think so. I just know a blessing when I see one. And it’s a good thing too, because if me and my kids had ended up homeless then Don B.’s ass would’ve ended up missing,” Tionna said venomously.
“T, you still running with the theory that Don B. was behind your crib getting burned down?”
“It ain’t no theory, Gucci, it’s a fact. Even if the police are too fucking stupid to figure it out I know it was Don B.,” Tionna said, recalling his threat.
After their falling out Tionna threatened to go to the press with a story about Don B. taking advantage of her and he warned her that if she played with fire she was going to get burnt, she just didn’t think he meant it literally.
“They say that all is fair in love and war,” Gucci teased.
“Love didn’t have anything to do with me fucking Don B. That was about business. And speaking of business, where is that workaholic boyfriend of yours? I haven’t seen Animal since the first trip you guys took.”
Gucci shrugged. “Hell if I know. He dropped me off and said that he had something to do.”
Chapter 8
By the time Honey finished making her rounds through the Jersey Gardens Mall they were among the last few people there. She went in every store from Level X to Zales making purchases as she went. Most of the stuff she bought she didn’t really need, but she bought it because she could. That’s how it was when your man was Shai Clark, the reigning Don of New York City.
“How many more freaking stores are you gonna go in?” Shai asked as Honey stood in front of a lingerie store having a staring match with the mannequin in the window. He and his best friend/bodyguard Swan were sitting at one of the rest areas surrounded by dozens of bags. Between Honey and Giselle they had nearly cleaned the mall out.
“Knock it off, Shai. You know you can’t rush perfection,” Honey said over her shoulder. She was trying to figure out if the teddy she was staring at went with the red pumps she had in one of her bags. Even after giving birth to her second child she still boasted a flat stomach and small waist. Men couldn’t help but to give her a second look in passing, but they did it at their own risks. In New York Shai had almost as much authority as the mayor and he wouldn’t hesitate to exercise it to protect what was his.
“You’re rushing her now, but when her ass is prancing around the house in one of those sexy outfits you’ll be glad you waited,” Giselle added her two cents. She was a pretty Spanish girl who was thick in all the right places.
“Why don’t you mind your business, Giselle?” Swan warned.
Giselle spun on Swan and snaked her neck when she spoke. “Nigga, you better stop talking to me like I’m Mara.” Mara was their young daughter.
“At least she listens.”
In response, Giselle give him the middle finger. She and Swan fought like cats and dogs, but there was no mistaking the love hiding behind the insults. They had been together since high school and had two kids together.
“I know one damn thing, if you don’t hurry your ass up you’re gonna be taking the bus back to New York,” Shai threatened her.
“Considering how funny these buses run at this time of night, I’d catch the ride if I were you, shorty.” The voice drew all their attention.
Animal stepped from behind a kiosk bringing with him an air of tension. His mane of wild black hair fell around his childlike face, partially obscuring one eye. When he parted his bowed lips to sneer at the startled group you could see the diamond and gold teeth hiding behind them.
“Little nigga, you must’ve lost your last mind rolling on us like this.” Swan stepped forward and began reaching for his weapon. He’d taken two steps before he felt something pressed into the small of his back. Swan cursed under his breath because he had allowed himself to be caught slipping. Giselle looked at him with pleading eyes waiting for the signal to pull her .22, but Swan shook his head. He might die, but there was a chance that his lady may live to raise their kids. He turned his head slowly and saw Brasco’s scowling face and the shotgun. Ashanti and Nefertiti appeared next and they too were armed.
Animal cast his cold eyes on Swan and grinned ever so slightly. “Swan, if you can’t count on anything else you can count on the fact that you and me will butt heads sooner or later, but not right this minute. Now you be cool before I let my young boy push you.”
“Let me push this pussy, Animal, come on, man.” Brasco was almost pleading. He had a burning hatred for Swan and made no secret of it.
Animal studied the scene and for a minute it almost looked like he was gonna let Brasco off Swan. “Nah, when and if Swan’s number is called his head belongs to me. I need a few ticks with Shai to discuss more immediate business.”
“Just tell us what you want and get out of here!” Honey pleaded.
“Bitch, did anybody give you permission to speak?” Nefertiti barked.
Unexpectedly Animal grabbed Nefertiti by the collar and shook him like a rag doll. “You trump-mouthed little bastard, I should smack your head off your shoulders for disrespecting that man’s wife. You been hiding down that rabbit hole so long that you don’t remember the G-code? Apologize!”
“Yo, Animal . . .” Nef began and Animal shook him more violently.
“Nef, either you apologize for disrespecting this lady or we’re gonna put this meeting on pause while I fuck you up,” Animal said seriously.
“My fault,” Nefertiti mumbled.
Animal shook his head. “And they call me an animal.”
“What do you want, man?” Shai asked in a fearless tone. He knew better than to antagonize Animal with him having the advantage, but one thing his father always taught him was to never show fear when facing a wolf.
Animal spread his arms. “What any man wants. Justice. I think everyone here knows the reason for my abrupt departure from New York and let me be perfectly clear that it’s never sat well with me. First, some piece of shit who I don’t even know sets the police on my ass to save his own sorry hide and then the closest thing I had to family got smoked by someone he considered a friend.” He look
ed at Swan when he said this and the young man tensed. “Don’t look so surprised, Swan. You think I don’t know it was you who killed Tech?”
Just the mention of the name made Swan’s heart ache. Tech had been a young boy who had balls the size of Yankee Stadium. He would bring it to anyone who wanted it and always played by the rules, which is the thing Swan admired most about him until he was ordered to take his life. Tech’s was the one death out of them all that Swan regretted most. Had it been his call he’d have let Tech go with an ass whipping, but Shai was the boss. At the end of the day his personal feelings held no weight when it came to business.
“He was out of control, Animal. Even you knew that,” Swan tried to reason.
“He was your brother, muthafucka. Or have you been eating out of your master’s hand so long that you’ve forgotten your oath?” Animal rolled up his sleeve and showed them the fresh tattoo on his forearm. It was a portrait of a blindfolded woman holding a scale in one hand and a sword in the other. Sitting on her head like a crown was a five-pointed star. Written in script beneath her was the phrase Blood out, Blood in.
“Look, if you wanna kill me then go ahead, but don’t involve my people in it,” Swan said bravely.
Animal laughed. “The jungle creed only applies to those of us who decide to play the game. Unlike you, the word honor still means something to me. Killing you would be sweet as candy, Swan, but watching you spend your life, however long or short, looking over your shoulder amuses me. It’s like the cat playing with a mouse that knows he’s living on borrowed time, but isn’t really sure when the cat is gonna get tired of playing and eat him. You broke my heart when you murdered Tech, but at the end of the day I know you were just playing the good soldier and following orders. Tech died by your hand, but it was not your will.” He looked at Shai.
“So you plan to kill me for ordering the hit?” Shai asked.
“For as much as I’ve thought about it, no. It would thrill me to whack you, but it would complicate what I got going on by going to war with the Clarks. And even if I chopped your fucking head off it wouldn’t balance the scales because you reacted as they expected you to, like a child trying to drive his daddy’s car. Shai, I applaud you for trying to bring the peace back to Harlem, but you’re hardly Poppa or Tommy Gunz for that matter. Neither of them would’ve allowed one of their capos to force their hands over a personal beef. I don’t want no problems with you, Shai, at least not yet, but I am gonna take my pound of flesh out of everyone that’s caused me pain, including Rico. I’m only telling you this as a courtesy because you’re the boss of New York, even if it’s in name only.”
