by K'wan
“It’s okay, T,” Animal told her and got up from the table to sign a napkin for the girl. Tionna started to get up too, but Gucci gave her the signal to be easy. It started with just the girl in the suit but within minutes Animal had a small line of people pressing around their table. Finally having her fill of the bullshit Gucci got up and left, with Tionna on her heels.
“Gucci,” he called out to her but she kept going, leaving him to the constantly swelling crowd of fans.
“Hold on, Gucci!” Tionna caught up with her as she descended the ramp of the restaurant.
“Let’s go, T,” Gucci called over her shoulder.
Tionna finally got close enough to Gucci to grab her arm and slow her down. “Damn, what’s your problem?”
“You didn’t see that shit in there, T? You didn’t see them bitches flirting with Animal?” Gucci fumed.
“Yes, I saw it, but I didn’t see him flirting back. Gucci, you need to relax for a minute.”
“Fuck was that all about?” Animal came out of the restaurant. He came down the ramp and stood directly in front of Gucci. She tried to give him a defiant look but her eyes betrayed her hurt. “Gucci, I was only gonna sign a few autographs then break the crowd up. Why’d you run out like that?”
“I don’t know, I guess the whole thing with you not wanting me to go to the party and then the groupie bum rush in there made me snap a little.” Gucci wiped the corners of her eyes.
Animal cupped her face in his hands so that she would have to see the sincerity in his eyes when he spoke. “Baby, I don’t want you at that club tonight for safety reasons, not because I’m hiding anything from you. All that Animal shit that people are feeding into is just a job. At the end of the day you’re a part of my real life, not Big Dawg and not the industry, just you!” He pulled her close to him.
“I know,” she said into his chest. “I’m just so scared you’re gonna come home one day and tell me that you’ve found something better in this new life of yours.”
“It’s this life of ours and ain’t nothing here or there better than what I already got.” He rubbed her cheeks softly and planted a tender kiss on her lips.
“Maybe we should do this whole lunch thing another time,” Tionna suggested.
“I’m sorry for being a basket case and fucking everything up, guys,” Gucci told them.
“Gucci, you know I love you even if you ain’t playing with a full deck.” Tionna hugged her.
“I second that emotion,” Animal agreed.
“Well, it’s still early so I’m gonna find something to get into. What’s good with y’all?” Tionna asked.
Animal put his arm around Gucci and snuggled against her. “I think I’m gonna go home and spend some time with my lady.”
• • •
When Animal and Gucci got back to their apartment they made love into the night and fell asleep in each other’s arms without a care in the world. When Animal woke up it was after eight in the evening and he had twelve missed calls on his phone, all from Don B. and various Big Dawg employees. Don B. had the entire evening planned; they were going to do a photo shoot wearing some of the latest of Big Dawg’s new clothing line, then they would dress for the club. Don B. hadn’t trusted them enough to dress themselves so he brought in professional stylists and tons of clothes for them to work with. Once the crew was dressed they would be shuttled over to the club in a caravan of three black on black Maybachs. Don B. had spared no expense on this one.
Animal sat on the side of the bed and woke Gucci up. “Baby, I’m about to boogie.”
“Okay, have fun and be safe,” she said sleepily and kissed him.
Grabbing his keys and his gun Animal slid out the door with a smile on his face knowing how big he and his team were about to do it. It would’ve been nice if Gucci was there, but considering how crazy it was sure to get it was probably best that she didn’t come.
As soon as the door clicked closed Gucci’s eyes snapped open. She rolled over and grabbed her cell phone so she could put the roll call out to her girls. Tionna refused to be a part of it because of her personal feelings about the whole thing, but Jada was down and so was Boots. It was hard convincing Jada to play nice, but she eventually went along with it so they’d be three deep when they crashed the building. If Animal thought that he was going to go party on some Hollywood shit and leave her at home waiting he had another think coming. The headline of his movie would read “Co-starring Gucci.”
PART 4
Beauties & the Beasts
Chapter 33
Malika lay on Teddy’s futon watching Martin reruns on TV while sipping a glass of white wine. She had found herself spending quite a bit of time with him over the last few days. As soon as Teddy had heard what happened with Malika’s entertainment system he was on the scene the next day with a brand-new one. Malika tried to refuse the gift but he insisted, pushing his way into her apartment and showing the delivery guys where to set up. Solomon was like a kid at Christmas when he saw the high-tech stereo set and television. When she’d left the house he was still sitting in front of the big screen playing video games. Teddy had even gone as far as getting Malika’s phone and Internet reconnected. Teddy was turning out to be the only bright spot in her dark days and because of this she found herself open all over again.
“Yo, I’m about to run to the store right quick, you need anything?” Teddy asked, slipping his jacket on.
“Yeah, bring me back a Pepsi and a bag of onion and garlic chips,” Malika told him and rolled back on her stomach to watch her show.
“And what’re you gonna give me for it?” Teddy slapped her across the ass playfully.
“I thought you were done for a while after round two, big boy,” she said, playfully running her foot over his crotch through his jeans.
“I can never get enough of that sweetness you got between these thighs.” Teddy spread her legs and stuck his face in her crotch.
“You’re so nasty.” She rolled to the other side of the futon and out of his reach.
“You ain’t seen nasty yet. Wait until I get you to Puerto Rico in a few weeks. I’m gonna really show you nasty then.”
Malika frowned. “Teddy, why do you play so much?”
“Ain’t nobody playing, I’m serious. You’ve been having a rough time of it lately, Malika, and you deserve for someone to do something nice for you every once in a while. I’ve got some time off coming and I think Puerto Rico would be a great place to spend it, but it’ll be even more special if I had someone to share it with.”
“And what am I supposed to do with my son while we’re traveling the coast?” Malika wanted to know.
“He’s a big boy and we’ll only be gone for a weekend. Couldn’t you get one of your friends to check in on him from time to time while we’re gone?”
“Teddy, I’m not gonna just leave my son like that, especially not in the projects we live in. I don’t play those types of games.”
“A’ight, so maybe we take him with us? You said you’ve been worried about him being on the block, so why not get him out of the hood for a weekend to open him up to something new. The culture will do him good.”
“I don’t know, Teddy. You and me doing us is one thing but it may be a little soon to be bringing my son into it,” Malika said. One thing she didn’t do was bring men around her son who she was still unsure about.
“Damn, treat a nigga like a stranger why don’t ya?” Teddy shook his head.
“I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean it like that.” Malika crawled up on her knees and hugged him. “Teddy, you’ve been a godsend to me and I don’t know how I would’ve made it through some of this stuff without your shoulder to cry on, but there’s more than just me to think about in this equation. I’ve got my son to think about, and you’ve got situations to deal with.”
“See, I knew you fed into that bullshit Marsha and them were kicking at the pool hall,” Teddy said hostilely.
“First of all, you need to calm down
.” Malika snaked her neck. “And second of all I didn’t feed into shit, I’m just calling it like I see it. Teddy, you said yourself that you’ve another situation that hasn’t been completely resolved so it doesn’t make any sense to get too deep into another situation before you’ve cleaned up the first one.”
Teddy clutched his head like she was giving him a headache. “Malika, I want you to trust me but you gotta be willing to let me in. Don’t answer me about Puerto Rico now, give it some thought, then get back, okay?” Malika nodded. “Good. Now I’m going to the store.” Teddy left the apartment.
Malika lay there for a minute and contemplated Teddy’s offer. For as bad as she would’ve loved an all-expense-paid trip to Puerto Rico she knew the timing was wrong. Solomon seemed to be becoming more belligerent by the day, questioning her when she told him something and hanging in front of the building every time her back was turned. The neighbors were even whispering that Solomon might be selling drugs, but she didn’t believe her son had slipped that far yet. Solomon was feeling himself and she needed to find a way to slow him down. Thinking of Solomon made Malika realize that she hadn’t spoken to him in a few hours. Teddy had left his cell phone on the table so she decided to use it to call Solomon. As Malika was flipping the phone open another call was coming through, so she ended up answering the phone by accident.
“Hello? Hello?” she could hear a feminine voice coming over the line. She looked at the caller ID screen and it read “home.” “I hope this ain’t one of Teddy’s bitches playing on the phone. I keep telling you little bitches about staying in your lane, but I can see that I’m gonna have to show you . . . again. Is anybody there?” Not really sure what to do Malika hung up the phone.
For a long while Malika just sat there holding the phone. She had completely forgotten that she was supposed to be calling Solomon as her mind tried to make heads or tails out of the situation she had allowed herself to walk into. She shouldn’t have been surprised by something like this going with Teddy, especially after the things Marsha and the other girl were saying to her. The phone rang three more times, twice were from home again and once from a blocked number. Malika just ignored it and slipped her clothes on.
Teddy finally came back from the store looking like he had run both ways. Dropping the bags on the floor he began to search the room. “Looking for this?” She held the phone up and as she did it started ringing again. She looked at the word home on the caller ID and handed the phone to Teddy. “It’s for you.”
“Malika, I can explain . . .” he began, but she didn’t want to hear it.
“No need, Teddy. I know just how this movie plays out,” she said emotionally.
“Malika, it ain’t like you think.”
She looked at Teddy as if he had lost his mind. “What the fuck do you mean it ain’t like that? Teddy, you had the number stored as HOME in your phone. I might not have gotten my degree, but I’m not an idiot. Teddy, just say that you live with a bitch!”
“Okay, I live with a broad, but it’s complicated, Malika.” Teddy tried to plead his case, but Malika didn’t need to hear it.
“Trust me, boo, I know all about it. You and shorty are on the outs and it’s looking like y’all are headed for a breakup, right?”
“Malika . . .” he began.
“Teddy, please stop. Anything else that comes out of your mouth is gonna be a lie so save your tongue and my ears the speech,” Malika said, calmly pulling her dreads back into a ponytail. “I told you from the gate that all you had to do was keep it one hundred with me, but you couldn’t do that, could you? Men amaze me because they’d rather lie and risk a problem than telling the truth and letting the chips fall where they will.”
“So you would’ve still fucked with me if I had told you that I was living with another chick who I’m not fucking?” Teddy asked.
“No, because that shit sounds crazy. Teddy, we had fun, but I guess at the end of the day it is what it is.”
“So you’re just gonna walk out on what we have without even giving me the benefit of the doubt?” Teddy called after her.
“Teddy, what do we have except a bunch of problems and lies? I’ve got enough problems of my own without you adding to it, man.” Malika felt herself getting emotional so she cut it short. “It’s been fun, Teddy, but I deserve better than what you’re offering.”
“Hold on, Malika. It’s late, so at least let me give you a ride back to your block.” He grabbed her by the arm trying to stop her.
Malika jerked away and gave him a look that made Teddy take a step back.
“Teddy, please don’t pick now to start acting like you care about me. I’ll be fine on the train.” She closed the door softly behind her.
With the weekend subway schedule it took Malika over two hours to get home. She didn’t mind the ride though because she needed the time to clear her head. The way things played out with Teddy stung because she was really feeling him, but it could’ve gone a lot worse. At the end of the day she knew to take it for what it was, a good time. Malika might not have had a fancy job or any degrees but she had a good heart and because of this she knew good things would come to her. When the time was right a man would come along that only saw her and no one else, and until then she would just learn to be happy with herself.
When she crossed Manhattan Avenue the first thing she noticed was the eerie silence. It was a relatively nice night and no one was on any of the corners. When she crossed the street on 102nd she spotted Scar and Jay skulking through the parking lot, with Scar whispering in his ear about only the devil knew what. Tucked under Scar’s arm was a rolled-up paper bag.
No matter how far down the rabbit hole Jay slipped Malika still saw him as the little boy who used to come by the house to play with her son. Seeing what Jay was becoming made Malika thankful for Solomon. He could be hardheaded and had mannish ways but at least he wasn’t out committing crimes like the rest of the kids in the neighborhood. Malika knew she raised her son better than that and felt bad about turning a blind eye to little Jay. She was going to make it her business to go and have a talk with Jay’s aunt about the things he was getting into.
When Malika rounded the corner toward her building she found the courtyard just as empty as the avenue. As she walked along she noticed that several of the streetlights had been busted out as well as the ones in front of her building. She almost didn’t see Prince until she was right on top of him.
“Damn, you scared me.” Malika jumped when Prince peeled from the shadows.
“I’m sorry, Malika, but I’ve been trying to find you all day,” Prince said. There was something in his tone that made her uneasy.
“Prince, what’s wrong?”
“Some shit went down out here earlier between Scar and some niggaz from the other side of the projects. There was a shooting and Solomon got caught up in it,” Prince said with a heavy heart.
“Oh, my God, please don’t tell me my baby is dead?” Malika grabbed Prince by the shirt.
“Malika, calm down. Solomon wasn’t shot, he was the shooter!” Prince informed her.
“What? We don’t own a gun. Where did he get a gun from?” Malika went on and on to the point where she was almost hysterical. She couldn’t imagine her son in jail for murder and even toying with the thought made her nauseous.
“Malika, I don’t know a lot because I wasn’t out here. From what I’m hearing some words were exchanged and that escalated to a fistfight. Sometime during the fight Solomon came out with a hammer and started banging,” Prince explained.
Malika shook her head in disbelief. “No, maybe somebody else’s kid, but not Solomon. My son is no killer. He would never even touch a gun.”
“Yeah, well, tell that to the police who came and picked him up. Malika, there was at least a dozen people that saw what went on out here and they all tell the same story.”
“Dear Lord, I need to sit down.” Malika stumbled over to the benches and took a seat. “How could I have allowed Solomon to ge
t caught up in this foolishness?”
Prince tried to console her. “Malika, you didn’t get Solomon into anything. Sometimes the call of the streets gets too strong and we answer it.”
“This is that muthafucka Scar’s fault. I know he roped my boy into this shit and I’m gonna kill him.” Malika hopped up off the bench, but Prince stopped her.
“Malika, you can’t blame somebody else for what Solomon decided to do. I made it clear to everyone in the hood that he wasn’t to be recruited but if somebody does something voluntarily it falls on them. Solomon tried to make his movie and took his first knock upside the head. The D-boys swooped down on him about three hours ago, so he may still be in the twenty-fourth.”
“I’ve gotta go see about my son.” Malika started off in the direction of the precinct.
“Hold on, I’ll come with you,” Prince offered.
“Thank you, but you and your crew have done enough for me and my son. I’d appreciate it if you stayed away from us. If I catch you or any of your boys talking to my son again I’m calling the police,” Malika said coldly.
“Malika, you know I’d never do anything to hurt Sol.” Prince’s voice was thick with emotion.
“Which is just why you’re going to let him be,” she said and disappeared down the hill.
Chapter 34
Animal peeked through the curtain of the Maybach like a starstruck kid watching the throngs of people lining the sidewalks that had come out to see them. He had come a long way and he knew that his crew was smiling down on him, but the moment felt empty as none of them were there to share in the moment. His thoughts went to Gucci and what she might have been doing.
“What up? You good?” Soda snapped Animal out of his daze. He was running a lighter back and forth under the blunt to seal it.
