Dope Girl 2: Just like daddy

by Sa'id Salaam

  "Hey baby." Lisa purred when she answered.

  "Sup ma. Yo, stop by the grocery store for whip cream on your way over here." Dasia ordered.

  "And just what is the whip cream for?" Lisa asked coyly.

  "So I can suck it out your….I mean my pussy!"

  ****

  "Aww push it." The girls screeched as they rapped along to a vintage Salt and Peppa song playing on the radio. They rapped, sang and laughed all the way through Alabama and into Mississippi. When a sign reading 'Longs Mississippi' sped by overhead, Cameisha suddenly became sullen. The car grew eerily quiet from the mood change.

  It wasn't until she pulled off the highway and hit the main road did Meisha speak up.

  "I have a confession for yall." She sighed.

  "It's cool yo, whatever it is." Jackie assured her from the passenger's set. She took her free hand in hers and gave it a comforting squeeze.

  "We fam yo." Aqua added from the back seat.

  "Ok um, well….the Fat-Fat dance. It's from a hamburger. A Fat-Fat burger. It's got meat, cheese, onions and bell peppers and…."

  "Wait!" Jackie frowned throwing her hand away. "You mean to tell me you got the whole country dancing about a damn hamburger?"

  "Not just any hamburger, a Fat-Fat burger." She whined.

  "Ooh, I want one." Aqua declared.

  "We bout to get one. That's why we here. I'm finally about to eat me a fat-fat burger." Cameisha said triumphantly. Aqua clapped and did the dance as they drove towards the center of town.

  "Huh?" Cameisha frowned when she drove past where the Fat-Fat Shack should have been. There were plenty of new stores since she left but nothing where the restaurant should have been. She drove up to the supermarket that once provided the free samples she ate for dinner and turned around. She drove to the empty lot and pulled in. It was obvious from the charred remains that what was once here had burned to the ground.

  Meisha got out and cried as she walked around the burned debris. A county worker taking pictures of the lot saw her and came over to check on her.

  "Are you ok?" He asked tenderly at the young woman's tears.

  "What happened? Where's the Fat-Fat shack?" She sniffled.

  "Grease fiyah! Whole place went up like a match box. You could see the flame clear down to the creek." He replied. "Just last week."

  "No!!!" Cameisha wailed dropping to her knees. "I waited my whole life for one, now it’s over. It’s over! My life is over." It was so sad, so Color Purple.

  "Here, here lil lady." The man said pulling her up and into his embrace. He rocked gently as she sobbed and slobbered on his chest. "Why don't you just go round to the house and get cha one?"

  "Huh?" Meisha said suddenly pushing away so hard she almost knocked him down.

  "Just go round to Ms. Anne's house. She fixes them up over there."

  "Where?" She demanded, snatching him by the collar.

  He barely got the address out before Cameisha was back in her car. The tires spun sending gravel flying as she peeled out. She knew the area well so she didn't need directions, especially since Ms. Anne lived a few blocks past where she grew up. When she neared their childhood home, Cameisha turned her head so she wouldn't have to look at it. Look or not look, she still felt it as she drove by. The history of abuse and neglect would not, could not be ignored.

  A steady stream of people and that delicious fat-fat smell said they were in the right place. People walked out with paper bags soaked in grease and smiling faces. One large lady couldn't wait and tore into the bag on the front lawn. She ripped away the wrapper and chomped into one. It exploded, sending a river of grease and special sauce running down her arm. Her body began to move in the familiar Fat-Fat dance as she chewed.

  "Meisha!" Jackie screamed after Cameisha when she jumped from the still moving car. Cameisha lost her footing, rolled, then popped up and continued running. Jackie reached over and pushed the brake to stop the car then put it in gear. Aqua bolted from the car and ran behind her.

  "Give me ten Fat-Fat burgers!" Cameisha demanded, holding up a fistul of dollars to prove it.

  "I want ten too!" Aqua announced running in after her.

  Ms. Anne just smiled her new smile courtesy of a new pair of dentures and got to work. She moved gracefully around the dirty kitchen compiling the ingredients. First she patted a ball of ground beef mixed with spices. Then slammed it on a cutting board and slapped it into a pattie.

  "Um, I'm cool." Jackie said frowning at the counter full of room temperature meat with all the roaches milling about. She knew one of them had to make it into one of those patties. "mm mm, I can't..."

  Ms. Anne dropped the patty into a black skillet of bubbling lard. After it went bacon, links and pork patty. While the meat deep fried, she laid out a piece of wax paper. She placed an open bun on it and lathered it with lard from a small paint brush that looked like it had been used to paint before.

  On went the patty, cheese, pork, cheese, onion, pepper, pork, bacon, cheese and finally lettuce, tomato and special sauce. Ms. Anne topped it with the crown of the bun and proudly presented it to Cameisha.

  "Hey Fat-Fat." Meisha smiled gently at the burger. She gave it an affectionate kiss then opened wide. The burger squirted as she bit into it.

  "Arg!" Cameisha frowned at the disgusting taste. Ms. Anne gave her a sad look at the reaction. Not wanting to hurt the old lady, she forced herself to chew it and swallow it down.

  "I think I'll save the rest for later." Meisha said wrapping it up in the wax paper.

  "Give me another one!" Aqua demanded as she polished off the first one.

  Cameisha paid for the twenty burgers and headed out to the car. Jackie was right behind her, followed by Aqua going in on her third Fat-Fat burger. This time when she neared her childhood home, she stared it down. Deciding it was time to face those demons she whipped into the driveway and got out.

  "I'll be right back." She explained to Jackie who asked a question with her facial expression.

  The house was still as vacant as the day it was abandoned but Meisha didn't venture inside. Instead she went around to the back and stared into her old bedroom window. Ole man Grimes smiling face appeared in her mind and then Maurice and all the other men who touched her.

  "Good fo you ass." She growled at the memory of the motel clerk's head exploding when she shot him. Then she thought of Maurice sitting on death row for killing Big Bessie and laughed. "Good fo yo ass too."

  The good laugh was chased away by a good cry. The tears came and washed the smile from her face as Kathy's face clouded her vision. She of course had no way of knowing that the woman was buried in a cardboard box in Texas.

  "Fucking junky!" Cameisha spat then spat as if the word had a bitter taste.

  "You a junky too." A voice said so vividly she snapped her head from side to side. There was no one present but the voice was definitely that of her mother.

  "No I aint!" She yelled, stomping her feet like a frustrated five year old.

  "I cain't tell. You poppin them pills err day." Kathy teased. "Chile you just like me."

  "I'ma show you." Meisha vowed as she dug into her purse. She removed the pill bottle and scrambled to get the top off.

  Once she had the bottle opened, she triumphantly slung the pills across the backyard. "See, I'm not like you! Nothing like you, I'm just like my daddy!"

  Chapter 30

  "What's wrong with you?" Cameisha asked across the table for a third time over dinner.

  "Hmm?" Bilal asked when her voice pulled him away from his thoughts. "Nothing." He replied assuming correctly that she had asked the same question again.

  His mind immediately went back to his dilemma. He saw all his hard work and sacrifice up in smoke behind a drug charge. Or, the alternative, snitching on the woman he loved. He cast a glance at her eyes and saw none of the tell tale signs of drug use. Maybe it was all some mistake? Maybe he should get a lawyer or run away with her?

  "You just need some pussy."
Meisha decided. She had been neglecting him as of late because of all that was going on in the drug trade. If it hadn't been for Juan's ten thousand pill order, she wouldn't have found time now.

  'Some sex would be nice' her body said tingling from the thought. "Check please."

  The ride from the restaurant to Bilal's condo was quiet except for the thoughts bouncing around their heads. The sex was mechanical and detached but since their bodies were in sync with each other, he came seconds after she did. Instead of the grateful kisses they usually shared after an orgasm, Bilal rolled off and closed his eyes. The only thing that can put a man to sleep quicker than a Thanksgiving dinner is a good nut. A minute later, Bilal was snoring. Snoring but not sleep.

  Cameisha waited a few minutes like always before easing from the bed. She stared down at him for a minute before tip toeing over to the computer. Bilal cracked his eyelids and watched her log onto his computer. He hoped she was going to post, like or tag but instead she pulled up his pharmacy program.

  Meisha placed the order and paid for it using a pre-paid credit card. She frowned at how long the order took to process. The anomaly unnerved her and she was about to cancel the order. The approval code popped up a second before she aborted the mission. Delivery was set for three days. She got back in the bed and looked at Bilal sound asleep. She wiped a lone tear from his face and kissed his cheek before going to sleep herself. She needed some rest because tomorrow was a big day. Qisas.

  ****

  "Bout time you hung out with a nigga." Pedro said arrogantly then vowed, "I'ma fuck the dog shit out yo black ass."

  "That's so romantic." Jackie said dryly. She fought the urge to shoot him in his head for touching her thigh as he drove. "Yo my girl Meisha told me you know how to throw that dick. Fuck that movie, let's go fuck."

  "You aint said shit!" He proclaimed and swung a reckless u-turn in the middle of the street. His dick had been hard since she called him and asked to link up. He had a date with Cynthia but wasn't going to make it. He wasn't going to make any more dates after tonight.

  Pedro pulled into his raggedy apartment complex and sped towards his apartment. He skidded to a stop in and empty spot and jumped from the vehicle. He practically drug Jackie to the door in hopes of getting inside of her. They raced through the darkened apartment to the bedroom, hit the light and….

  “Surprise!!" Cameisha, Juan and Manny cheered as they stepped inside.

  The greeting was so cheerful Pedro actually smiled until his mind processed the guns in their hands.

  "What yall doing here?" He frowned curiously.

  "Ooh ooh! I won; you owe me a pound of weed." Meisha teased Juan. She had bet him that Pedro would ask a dumb ass question and won.

  "I got you Mamcita." He laughed. His face turned to stone as he turned back to his victim. "Qisas, eye for an eye."

  Pedro was about to talk some gangsta shit but Juan shot him in his face. The bullet tore through his jaw and into the wall. He turned to flee but Meisha shot him in his knee. The thug rolled around on the floor moaning and pleading for his life.

  "Come, come now. Stop the whining. Did I whine when you shot me?" Juan asked, kneeling beside him. Manny handed him some rope from a bag and he began tying his arms and feet. Next a super sharp machete came out of the bag.

  "This is how we deal with snitches and thieves in my country." Juan growled as he straddled his back. "You ladies should leave now."

  "Holla." Jackie blurted and bolted. She was a killer and didn't mind killing but she could tell something gruesome was on the horizon.

  "I'm staying." Cameisha announced and drew closer.

  Pedro looked directly into Cameisha's eyes when Juan pulled his head back and brought the knife around. A blood curdling scream emitted from Pedro as his throat was cut. Meisha winced as he gurgled in his own blood. Juan moved the knife back and forth until the head came off cleanly.

  "Aki." Manny said holding open a plastic bag. Cameisha took a second to have a word with the shocked expression he would take to hell with him.

  "See! This is what you get for being a grimy ass nigga." She chided.

  "Manny, cut this piece of shit up and put him in the garbage where he belongs." Juan said after tossing the head in the bag. He turned to his adopted sister and asked, "Hungry?"

  "Very! Let's get some scrimps." She cheered.

  "Scrimps!" Juan laughed. "I know a good Columbian spot."

  Chapter 31

  "Let me get a gram!" Cynthia demanded as she barged into Jackie and Cameisha's dorm room.

  "A-yo why don't you drag yo damn bed down here as much as yo ass be in here?" Jackie spat.

  "What do you mean?" The airhead asked sincerely.

  "Chile you know you gotta get that from Dasia and dem at the 'partment.” Cameisha advised.

  Just like with the weed, Jackie only handled larger amounts of blow. If you needed an eight ball to an ounce, this was the spot. Anything under, go holla at Dasia. Dasia offered to handle the blow while Aqua handled the weed. The system seemed to be working because every penny was accounted for. That was Meisha's job, counting cash.

  "The stuff yall got is better than what they got over there." The druggie pouted.

  "It's the same shit!" Jackie shot back. She still felt some kinda way about the connection between Cynthia and Pedro. If it was up to her, she would have killed her too and been done with it. Cameisha was convinced she was duped and spared her. She was going to regret that decision one day but that’s part 3.

  "Nuh uh! This stuff barely gives me a buzz." Cynt said holding up half a gram from out of her purse.

  "Where you get this from?" Meisha demanded even though she recognized the crew's distinctive pink baggies. The coke inside however, was not theirs. This was cut to shit.

  “From yall, it don't even do nothing." She whined sadly.

  "Must be the wrong batch. Yo Jack, give her one of those eights. My bad." Meisha directed, keeping the sample.

  "Thank you." Cynthia cheered gratefully. As soon as she cleared the room, Meisha grabbed her phone.

  "Sup Meisha? Meisha?" Aqua sang upon answering the line.

  "Chillin yo. Yo Cynt been by there?"

  "Last night. She came to holla at Dasia though."

  "Let me holla at D." Meisha asked.

  "She went out with that chick Lisa last night. She aint back yet." Aqua replied. Cameisha frowned at the girl's name. The one time she met Lisa, she kept looking Meisha up and down like a man looks at a woman or like a woman who likes pussy.

  "She leave anything?"

  "Yeah, I'm holding it down." Aqua said proudly.

  "Aight yo, I'ma fall through." Meisha said and hung up."

  "Sup yo?" Jackie frowned sensing something was amiss.

  "Bout to find out."

  Cameisha rushed over to the apartment and collected one of the gram packages Dasia left behind. She could tell off the muscle that it was the same cut up crap Cynthia had. She went into the secret stash and took out a gram of pure coke and set off to see an expert.

  ****

  “Hey Cameisha. What brings you by?" Samantha sang when she answered the knock and saw Cameisha.

  "Sup yo." Meisha replied stoicly and barged in. She looked around the cluttered space that resembled a lab more than a dorm room. "Need a favor yo. I got an ounce of loud if you do it."

  "Sure!" Samantha cheered as if free weed were a touchdown.

  "I need you to test these for me." She said handing her the samples. One was the gram from Dasia, the other from Jackie's bomb and finally the pure coke from the stash.

  "I'll be back in an hour."

  "I’ll be done by then." Samantha called after her as she fled the room.

  Cameisha went back to the dorm to grab an ounce to pay for the test. Jackie tagged along when she went back for the results.

  "Hey guys! Come in. I have something amazing to show you!" The hyper scientist announced pulling her guests inside.

  "Ok, this." Samantha began ho
lding up the coke from Jackie, "is roughly 60% pure cocaine. It's cut with…"

  "I know, I know." Cameisha cut in cutting her off since she knew what it was cut with.

  "Ok and this is the same cocaine, cut with …the same stuff only its 25% pure."

  Cameisha could only shake her head. Math was one of her best subjects and two and two added up to Dasia stealing from the crew. Why and how was the question because all the money added up.

  "What?" Jackie asked to the questions twisting Meisha's face.

  "Tell you as soon as I figure it out myself." Cameisha shot back. "What about the last one?"

  "Glad you asked, let me show you something amazing." Samantha said in awe as if she had discovered a new species. In a way she had.

  "This is four grams of 98% pure cocaine. I made it from the gram you gave me." She said beaming with pride.

  "Wait a second…you took one gram and made four? Same strength? How is that possible?" Cameisha asked in elation mixed with fear.

  "Quite simple actually, well not really simple because I used a process I developed to activate inert substances and forcing them to take on the qualities of a particular host. You have to use a magtrometer and…"

  "You know what this means Jack?" Cameisha asked as Samantha rambled on about the process.

  "Yeah yo, you bout to be the queen of cocaine out this bitch!" Jackie exclaimed.

  "Nah yo. Fuck the queen. I'ma be the king, just like daddy!"

  The end

  Epilogue

  "Is that her?" Detective Walton demanded as Cameisha pulled into the parking lot of the P.O. Box to pick up her 10k pill order.

  Bilal only sighed as her presence killed all the excuses he made for her. He wanted to save her but even though he shook his head 'no' his mouth said, "yeah, that's her."