Travon stood in silence and stared at her. His staring made her uncomfortable.
“What do you want me to say?” she asked. “They bother me now, okay?” She lifted the toothbrush to her mouth and began brushing.
Travon extended his hands into the air. “What’s with the attitude? I thought I worked all of that out of you earlier.” He laughed.
Poison stopped brushing and frowned at him.
“Damn, your mood swings are worse than Mika’s, and she was…pregnant.” Travon’s gaze turned into a glare, and he frowned and shook his head.
Poison stopped brushing, glanced at him, and upon noticing his expression, resumed her brushing at a much more frantic pace.
“Uh-un, this is bullshit,” Travon told her. “I recognize the symptoms. How long? And don’t bullshit me either!”
Poison ignored him and continued her frantic brushing. He grabbed her arm, stopping her in mid stroke. She pulled the toothbrush from her mouth.
“Okay, I’m pregnant!” she shouted, spitting toothpaste everywhere. “Is that what you want to hear? I’m pregnant!”
Travon stepped back. “Is it mines?”
Poison rinsed the toothpaste from her mouth. When finished, she stood erect and stared at him. “I’ll bet you didn’t ask Tamika that. Thanks a lot, Travon.”
Poison brushed past him and stormed from the bathroom.
Travon followed. “I mean, it could be Kilo’s, right?”
Poison halted. “No it couldn’t. I had just started talking to Kilo a month before I started talking to you. I never did nothing with him, because I didn’t trust him. Before you, I hadn’t had sex for damn near ten months. Regardless of what you and your little friends like to say about us, we ain’t hoes.” Poison turned and continued walking.
Travon followed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“Tell you what? That I’m not a ho, or that I’m pregnant?”
“You know what I’m talking about!” Travon shouted.
“Because I didn’t want nothing from you, Tre!” Poison snapped. She pointed her finger in his face. “Do you hear me? I don’t want shit from you! Besides, you and Mika already had y’all the perfect little family.”
“That’s bullshit!” Travon shouted, flailing his arms through the air. “That shit is fucked up and you know it! I have a right to know, that’s my kid too!”
“Oh, so now you’re sure it’s yours?” She placed her hand on her hip. “A minute ago you weren’t. You went from ‘is it mines,’ to ‘I have a right to know.’ Nigga, you crazy.”
Poison turned and stormed off into her bedroom. Travon followed close behind.
“What are you gonna do? I mean, are you gonna keep it?”
“Of course I am! Why in the hell would I kill my baby?” Poison pointed to her bed. “I laid down and made it. I love my baby. I’ll kill you before I kill her.”
“Her? You already know what it’s gonna be? How many months are you?”
“Don’t worry about it. When she gets here, if you want to, you can see her.”
Travon threw his arms up into the air. “What are you tripping for? I wanna help you.”
“I wanted to help you with yours earlier, and you acted as if I said something wrong. Now you wanna help me with mine?” Poison waved him off. “No thank you, we’ll be fine.”
“How? What the hell are you gonna do?”
“Well, if you came by in the daytime, instead of just at night when you wanna get your rocks off, you would know all of these things,” Poison told him. “For one, I’m in school. I have only two years to go, and then I’ll have my degree.”
“What? Bullshit! How old are you?”
“Now you ask? You should have been trying to ask that kinda shit months ago. Anyway, I’m nineteen, if it makes any difference.”
“What are you doing hanging out in the Heights and banging?” Travon asked incredulously.
“I’m real about mines!” Poison replied. “I know who I am, where I come from, and where I’m going. I’m trying to get my life together, but that don’t mean I’m a cut my home girls loose. We sisters. We been through the same shit y’all been through, and got the same bonds y’all got. I may not be some preppy little cheerleader, but I can still have a future. Why don’t you wake up before it’s too late.”
“You didn’t have to go there with that cheerleader comment,” Travon said softly. “You know you was wrong for going there.”
Travon turned and walked out of the room. Poison rushed up behind him and wrapped her arms around him.
“Tre, I’m sorry,” she said softly. “Wait, baby. I shouldn’t have went there, I’m sorry.”
They continued into the living room, where Lil Fade and Peaches were kissing. Upon seeing them enter, Lil Fade turned toward Travon.
“C’mon, homie,” Lil Fade said. “Let’s drink to the kids, all of them. May they grow up happy and healthy.”
Lil Fade handed Travon a glass full of gin. Travon accepted it, and gulped it down like soda. Lil Fade poured him another, and lifted a second glass that had been resting on the coffee table.
“To the kids!” Lil Fade raised his glass and Travon returned the gesture.
Lil Fade poured drink after drink, with Travon tossing them down one after another. They drank until after nightfall. They drank until long after Poison had gone to her room and fallen asleep. They drank until Travon began to stagger and slur his words.
“Say, Peaches,” Lil Fade called to her. “Where are them straps I gave you to hold for me?”
“They’re in the closet. Look in that big box at the top. Them masks and gloves, along with the rest of your illegal shit, is in there too.”
“Good.” Lil Fade smiled. “I’ma need you to take me and Tre somewhere and drop us off. We got some business to handle.”
“Boy, he’s drunk!” Peaches protested, pointing at Travon. “He can’t handle no business.”
“Yes he can. This is when he’s at his best, watch.” Lil Fade turned to Travon. “We gonna get Dejuan tonight, ain’t that right?”
“That muthafucka,” Travon slurred. He began crying. “Tamika, he killed Tamika.”
“That’s right, and Lil Fade is gonna help you get him. Who always kills for Tre?”
“Fade…”
“Good, good.” Lil Fade nodded. He turned to Peaches. “Help me take him in the room and get him dressed.”
“Boy, what if Poison wakes up tonight?” Peaches asked, pointing at the bedroom door. “What am I gonna tell her?”
“She won’t, and if she does, just tell her that you took us home.”
They helped Travon into Peaches’ bedroom, where they dressed him in some dark clothing, a mask, and some gloves. Travon was inebriated, but still able to walk and stand.
“Let’s go, Tre,” Lil Fade told him.
“Let’s get him,” Travon slurred.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Dejuan pulled into the driveway, exited his big white Mercedes, and walked to the front door. He and his friends had been up all night drinking, trying to ease the pain of losing their family and friends. He rang the doorbell.
The front door swung open quickly, to reveal Lil Fade holding a massive handgun, which he had pointed at Dejuan’s face.
Lil Fade smiled satanically, and placed his finger over his pale lips.
“Shhhh,” Lil Fade told him. He lifted his hand and waved for Dejuan to enter the dark house.
Dejuan stepped inside. “Where’s Tangela?”
“Bitch, shut up!” Lil Fade told him. He waved his handgun to a spot across the room. “Go sit your ass on the couch.”
Dejuan slowly walked to the living room couch and sat. Travon, who had been seated in a chair across the room, rose slowly.
“Muthafucka!” he shouted, slurring his words.
Lil Fade lifted his hand. “Hold on, T.”
Dejuan shook his head. “Lil Fade, I know it’s you already, so you can take
off the fuckin’ mask! Where’s Tangela? If this is another one of your jacks, then get it over with and don’t involve these people!”
“Nigga, this ain’t no jack, it’s a muthafuckin’ multiple homicide!”
Dejuan shook his head slowly. “You better not have.”
Lil Fade stormed over to the couch where Dejuan was seated. “How in the fuck you gonna tell me what I better not do? Blood, I think you forgot who’s holding the pistol.” Lil Fade struck Dejuan across the face with his gun.
“Fuck!” Dejuan cried out, grabbing his jaw.
“Get up!” Lil Fade shouted. “We taking you out to the country, so we can blow your ass away.”
Holding his jaw, Dejuan rolled his eyes at Lil Fade. “If you gonna do it, then do it here. I’m not going nowhere with you.”
“I figured you would say that. That’s why Darius and Capone took that bitch Tangela out there. When we get you out there, they’ll let her go.” Lil Fade nodded toward the door. “C’mon.”
“Fuck that bitch!” Dejuan shouted. “Kill her ass, for all I care.”
“I knew you was a sorry-ass ho!” Lil Fade struck him with the pistol again.
Dejuan screamed in pain, grabbed his face, and buried his head in the couch cushion.
“Get your bitch ass on the floor!” Lil Fade commanded. “Now!”
“Yeah!” Travon added. He staggered to where Dejuan was kneeling and punched him in the face. “You killed Mika!”
Dejuan looked up in surprise. “Is that what this is all about? I didn’t kill her, and I didn’t tell Quentin to kill her either. I swear.” He shifted his gaze from Lil Fade to Travon. “Tre, you heard me, I told him to smoke you, but that’s because y’all jacked me.”
Dejuan extended his hands into the air with his palms facing Travon. “Tre, I swear, you gotta believe me.”
“Shut your whining ass up,” Lil Fade told him. “At least die with some nuts.”
Lil Fade pulled a second handgun from his waistband, which he handed to Travon. “Do this fool.”
“Do this fool!” Travon repeated. He began crying again. “That’s what you said, you said, ‘Do this muthafucka.’ And he killed Mika, he killed my Mika!” Tears streamed down his face.
“That’s right!” Dejuan said excitedly, “I didn’t tell Quentin to kill that girl! He did that on his own.” He pointed out of the window. “Quentin killed her, not me. And Quentin is already dead!”
“Kill him, Tre,” Lil Fade said softly. “Lil Fade gave him to you, now kill him.”
“No, Tre!” Dejuan’s hands flew into the air. “I saved you! I took you to the hospital, and I stopped Quentin from killing you!”
The frown slowly drifted from Travon’s face, and the gun he held to Dejuan’s head slowly fell back down to his side.
“Yeah, Tre, I took you to the hospital, and I even tried to look out for you when you got out,” Dejuan told him. “You was my little homie.”
Lil Fade smiled. He was enjoying himself immensely. He walked up behind Travon and whispered softly into his ear, “He wanted to use you. He wanted to use you, like he used Too-Low.”
The frown returned, shooting across Travon’s face like a bolt of lightning. “Too-Low,” Travon muttered. His tears came again.
“That’s right, Too-Low!” Dejuan jabbed a finger toward Travon. “Too-Low was my homeboy. He was like a brother to me. I looked out for Too-Low.”
Dejuan crossed his index and middle fingers and held up his hand. “Me and him was always together, remember that? I used to always go over to your house with Too-Low.”
Lil Fade frowned. He leaned forward and whispered into Travon’s ear again. “He’s not Too-Low’s friend. He tried to kill Too-Low’s little brother. He tried to kill you, Tre. He made you leave the Courts. You can’t even go back over there to see your mother. They didn’t help pay for Too-Low’s funeral. They just used Too-Low to kill. Dejuan made Too-Low kill.” Lil Fade smiled. “He hurt Too-Low.”
Anger spread across Travon’s face, and once again, the gun rose to Dejuan’s head.
“No!” Dejuan exclaimed. “Don’t listen to him, Tre. Whatever he tells you, don’t listen!” Dejuan jabbed his thumb toward himself. “Too-Low was my friend. We served the East Terrace after they killed Too-Low.”
Being heavily inebriated, Travon blurted out the first name that came to him upon hearing East Terrace. “Re-Re,” he said, slurring.
Dejuan did not know who Re-Re was, so he provided another name. The correct name. “Slow Poke did it. It was C-Low, Jermaine, Turtle, and Slow Poke. Slow Poke is the one who pulled the trigger.”
Although intoxicated, it was a name Travon easily recognized. It was the name of the boy whose life he saved after the concert. It was too much for him. Travon broke down into tears, and the gun fell back down to his side.
Lil Fade shook his head and frowned. He placed his left arm over Travon’s left shoulder, resting his hand upon Travon’s chest and making a Blood sign. His right hand glided down Travon’s right arm until it came to rest upon Travon’s right hand. Lil Fade slowly lifted the gun back up until it was once again pointed at Dejuan’s face. He slid his finger into the trigger guard with Travon’s, and then slowly squeezed until the pressure built, and the gun popped, releasing its energy.
Together, they repeated the process over and over again. Squeeze and release. Squeeze and release. It was sensual, sexual, powerful, and rhythmic. Together they squeezed and released, consummating their relationship with Dejuan’s blood. When finally they tired, Lil Fade walked to Dejuan’s body, and took his money, jewelry, and car keys.
Lil Fade and Travon exited the house and walked to the big, beautiful Mercedes; they climbed inside and drove away. Inside of the home, they left Dejuan, Mrs. Collins, and her two daughters. Their only sin being that one of them had been a mistress to Dejuan.
Inside the car, Lil Fade turned to Travon.
“Tre, who kills for you?” he asked softly.
“You do,” Travon slurred.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Next Day
Aunt Vera’s House
“Tre,” Aunt Vera called out to him. “Tre, get up!”
“Huh?” Travon rolled over, opened his eyes, and tried to focus.
“Get your ass up and clean off this porch!” she commanded.
Slowly, Travon sat up. His Aunt Vera stood over him, glowering at him.
Vera pointed at the floorboards of the front porch. “I want this mess cleaned up by the time I get back! No, change that. I want it cleaned up now!” She stepped around Travon and stormed off to her car.
Travon quickly deduced that he was on his aunt’s front porch, but how he came to be there, he could not recall. In fact, he could recall little from the previous night. Slowly, he braced himself and stood.
Both the front of his shirt and the white, wooden floorboards of the porch were covered with vomit, and he felt as if he were toting a thousand-pound anvil on top of his head. He staggered out into the front yard, where the sun’s fresh beams slapped him across his face. The brightness caused him to reel, lift his arm and cover his face. Clumsily, he made his way over to the garden hose.
Travon turned on the water, then leaned forward and twisted the nozzle on the hose, which sent water gushing out from the end of it. He inhaled deeply, and then lowered his head into the stream of water, rejoicing in its cleansing effects. He quickly removed his shirt, doused it with water, and then proceeded to the front porch, where he cleaned off the result of the previous night’s excesses. When this was done, he returned the hose to its holder, turned off the faucet, and headed inside. With his head still pounding, he ascended the creaking stairs to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth, rejuvenated himself with a quick shower and some fresh clothing, and then headed to his bed for some much-needed sleep.
Later That Day
Travon woke, stretched, and glanced at the clock. Two o’clock. He slowly climbed from his bed, where he ventured into the bathroom and fr
eshened himself. He was still tired, and still aching, but more than anything he was hungry. He left his room, struggled down the stairs, and headed for the kitchen. While passing through the living room, he heard voices coming from the front porch. Curiosity defeated hunger, and Travon turned to see who had gathered this early in the day. It was Marcus, Darius, Romeo, Capone, Lil Fade, and a stranger. Darius interrupted the stranger and introduced him.
“Say, Taariq, this is my cousin Tre,” Darius said, waving toward a disheveled Travon. “Tre, this is my homie Taariq. Me and Taariq used to be untouchable back in the day. We used to get into all kinds of shit.”
“Yeah, Spook was downer than a muthafucka,” Lil Fade added.
Travon nodded at Taariq. “What’s up, Blood?”
“What’s up, my brother?” Taariq greeted.
“So, that’s yo hustle now?” Lil Fade asked Taariq.
Taariq shook his head in disappointment and stared at Lil Fade. “If you wanna call it that. In fact, it’s the greatest hustle of all, young blood. It’s the hustle that saved my life. It’s the only hustle that can save us all.”
“Can it save me?” Lil Fade asked cynically.
“He can save anybody, you just have to believe,” Taariq told him.
“Man, after all the shit we been through, it’s a trip to hear you talking like this,” Darius told Taariq. “You was the shit. It was me and you, baby!”
“I’m still the same, but different,” Taariq told them. “It’s hard to explain. I’ve been through the belly of the beast, and I saw what it likes to eat. It likes to eat us, Darius. It likes to eat young brothers like ourselves. I fell with the attitude, I’m gonna do my bid, get out, and then get my hustle on. But as time passed by, I got to thinking. If it’s one thing prison does, it gives a person time to think. My eyes opened, D, and I saw us. I saw what was happening to us. Bloods, Crips, and everybody else. We all die alike. We all human, and we all in this together.”
Taariq waved his hand through the air in a grand sweeping gesture, pointing out the neighborhood around them. “Our women are being strung out on crack and made to sell their bodies in the streets for it. While we, all of the young brothers, are killing each other. We sell that poison to our people, and then wonder why our mothers and sisters are on it. We doing it to them! Sure, them folks is bringing it over here by the shipload, but that don’t mean we got to fuck with it. They bring that shit, and guns, and weed, and a whole lot of other shit that’s bad for us, over here by the shipload. They also bring oil, cars, and consumer electronics over here by the shipload, but do you think they are letting us get as much of that shit as we want?”
Eastside Page 28
