Malek didn’t have time to distribute the bricks on the streets. He couldn’t hit anyone with consignment. He only had three weeks to get the dope off, and if he gave a nigga anything on credit and didn’t get the return on his money, he would have to kill him, and that wasn’t no front. That was on the real. He couldn’t risk it. He couldn’t jeopardize himself like that, because he had a girl and a baby on the way, and they were depending on him. Halleigh had given him an ultimatum, and he knew she meant what she’d said. In so many words, if Malek didn’t retire from the dope game, then Halleigh would leave him and take his seed with her. He couldn’t have that.
He spun through the city streets, acknowledging his street fame, giving head nods to the corner hustlers who noticed him and showed love. He would miss the game, but not the treachery that came along with it. He had seen a lot of people murdered, trying to be boss, and he himself had taken a lot of lives on his way to the top. Now it was time to pass the crown, which he knew Mitch would be more than willing to accept—that is, after he helped Malek get off those fifty ki’s.
“What’s on your mind, Mitch? I’ve been trying to throw this pussy at you all morning, and you been brushing me off, acting all brand-new. What’s up wit’ you anyway?” Keesha fussed as she sat up on the bed in frustration and hit a strawberry blunt.
“Halleigh was in the rehab center when it got sh—”
Keesha didn’t even let Mitch finish his sentence. She smacked her lips in disgust. “Halleigh? Why are you so concerned about Halleigh? I’m tired of every nigga in the city acting like that bitch pussy can’t get funky. Let me remind you of something, baby boy: Halleigh is Malek’s girl, and you work for Malek. You’re like his little bitch almost,” she said with a patronizing smirk. “That mu’fucka say jump, and you and the rest of these small-time-ass niggas asking how high.” Keesha choked on her words because of the weed smoke. As she held her head back to let the smoke ease slowly from her lips, she closed her eyes.
SLAP!
Mitch slapped the shit out of her, causing her to fall off the bed, the blunt falling on top of her and burning the side of her face.
“Let me tell you something, ma.” Mitch got on top of her and gripped his hand around her throat. “I don’t know how you talk to Manolo or that faggot-ass nigga, Sweets, but you better bite your tongue when you with me. You hear me?” Mitch said, spit flying in Keesha’s face with every syllable. All Keesha could do was nod as the fear of death filled her eyes. Mitch released her with a jerk and got off her.
Keesha humbled up real quick, picking herself up from the floor timidly and holding her burning cheek. “I didn’t mean nothing by it, boo,” she said. “I’m just frustrated because I hate to see somebody in a spot they don’t deserve. You know Malek wouldn’t be where he is if it wasn’t for Jamaica Joe. After Joe died, it was supposed to be you. You’re not a right-hand man, baby. You’re a star.”
She walked over to Mitch and rubbed his back as she continued to blow his head up. “You’ve got to take your hood back. Sweets don’t care if you run the North Side, because you’re about your business. It’s something in it for everybody; but Malek is still on that North versus South bullshit, and Sweets needs that nigga done.
“After you take out Malek, you’ll be boss. Everybody in the city will be on your coattail, and just to show his gratitude, Sweets will cop all of the dope he sells to the South Side from you. It’s a win-win situation. All you have to do is get Malek out of the picture.” Keesha went and picked up the smoldering blunt from the floor, took a puff, then passed it to Mitch.
As Mitch took a hit, Keesha added, “And you need to forget about Halleigh. If Malek goes, then she needs to go. She’ll get suspicious, and she’ll become a problem if you don’t get rid of her up front, so forget about them wet dreams you been having about her.”
Keesha walked around and stood in front of Mitch. Her red thong and bra didn’t even distract Mitch as he absorbed what she had just said. Keesha walked into the bathroom and out of sight as Mitch continued to get blazed.
Mitch didn’t realize it, but the same way he’d attempted to manipulate Halleigh, Keesha had just manipulated him. The only difference was when a woman does things, she does it right.
As Mitch stood there blazing on the blunt, his jealousy for Malek turned to animosity, and he began to formulate a plan to knock him off his throne. It was a tricky situation, trying to get rid of Malek, who had inherited a lot of love and respect off Jamaica Joe’s strength. He couldn’t just kill him and then expect the city to pledge their allegiance behind him. There would be uproar, and Malek’s loyal soldiers and allies would always have revenge in their hearts. He had to do it quietly and make it look like the work of an outsider. That way, when Malek was out of the picture, everyone would follow Mitch, no questions asked.
DING-DONG!
Keesha came out of the bathroom with a bandage on her face after hearing the doorbell ring. She was still unclothed, but that didn’t seem to matter. She rolled her eyes and said, “I’ll get it.” Her “fatty” swallowed the thong as she left the room.
Mitch put on a pair of Sean John jeans over the boxers he’d been sporting as he continued to smoke, his chiseled and tattooed upper body still showing.
Keesha appeared in the doorway just as Mitch was about to exit. “Your daddy’s here,” she said with a condescending look, referring to Malek.
Mitch stroked her burnt cheek and whispered, “You don’t learn well, do you?” He gave her a hard pat, making her flinch in pain. “Don’t worry. I’ll teach you as soon as my company leaves.” He smiled as he thought about the foot he would put up her ass later.
Mitch and Keesha had a love-hate relationship at best. They weren’t a couple by any means. Sweets had put Keesha on Mitch to make sure that he remembered why Malek had to get “got.” They both knew their relationship was about business, but as soon as Mitch saw Keesha’s small waist and fat onion-shaped behind, he pictured himself hitting it. It wasn’t long before he actually did. So now they fucked and plotted, plotted and schemed, fucked, plotted, and schemed all day.
Mitch knew she was seeking the grand prize. After he took over, she wanted to be wifey. Never that, he thought as he entered his living room and found Malek standing in the doorway. He forced himself to turn his frown into a friendly smile. “Bro, what’s good?” he asked, approaching Malek and giving him some dap.
“I’ve got to talk to you about something,” Malek said seriously. He nodded toward the back of the house and added, “In private.”
“Yeah, a’ight. Let me grab a shirt and we’ll go grab some food or something.” Mitch walked away and disappeared into the bedroom.
Malek decided to go wait out in the car for Mitch. He didn’t know if it was just his nerves, but Mitch seemed to be taking extra long to come outside. He looked at the time on his cell phone and realized Mitch had kept him waiting for more than fifteen minutes.
When Mitch finally got inside the car, Malek cut him a look but decided against speaking on it. He just started up his ride and pulled away from the curb in silence as soon as Mitch closed his door.
Malek’s focus was straight ahead, and he seemed distant, causing Mitch to be a little uneasy. I hope he ain’t heard nothing about the deal I made with Sweets, Mitch thought as he shifted in his seat.
All of a sudden, the leather interior of Malek’s car felt like hot coals on Mitch’s ass, and he began to sweat as the silent seconds ticked by. As Mitch was sweating bullets, Malek was lost in his own thoughts.
Malek knew he couldn’t get fifty joints off on his own in three weeks. He would need Mitch’s help. Once he made his money, he planned on stepping down and giving it all to Mitch, but he would wait to tell him that news until after his work was already moved. Malek didn’t need Mitch thinking for self while pushing his product.
“The duffel bag in the back got fifty in it,” Malek stated.
Mitch finally let out a sigh of relief when he realized he wasn’t
busted. “Fifty? Why so many?” he asked.
“We got some moves we need to make,” Malek replied vaguely. “We need to get ’em off in three weeks. You think you can make that happen?” Malek kept his eyes on the road and never even looked over at Mitch.
“I don’t see why not,” Mitch answered with a shrug. Inside, he couldn’t help but wonder what the time frame was all about, why Malek was set on moving the dope so fast.
“Make sure all the spots get hit with double. All of them niggas need to be on post twenty-four hours. For the next three weeks, ain’t no such thing as sleeping. Nobody gets work on consignment. For the loyal niggas that cop from us, lower the price. Tell ’em they can get the bricks for eighteen each, or two for thirty. Make it so they can’t tell you no. Get ’em off however you can.
“Be smart, though. We ain’t had no trouble from the police so far, and we don’t want none now, nah mean?”
“Yeah, I hear you. I got it,” Mitch replied, still puzzled by the sudden urgency in moving product. “What’s going on? I mean, why is there such a hurry to make this move? What’s going on in three weeks?” Mitch chuckled. “You got a ransom you got to pay or something?”
Malek remained serious, acting as if Mitch hadn’t even asked him anything. “When they’re all done, I’ll bless you with something. I’m not gon’ be out here like that because Halleigh needs me right now, so I’ma need you to be my eyes, ears, and pistols. You feel me?” Once again he looked over at Mitch.
“I feel you.”
“I’m not going hard for nothing, though, bro. It’s something in it for everybody. Everybody’s gon’ eat as long as it gets done,” Malek promised as he pulled back onto Mitch’s street after circling the block.
“I got you, fam. It’s as good as done,” Mitch replied. He frowned when Malek stopped in front of his house. “We ain’t going to eat?”
“You got three weeks, baby. Time is money.” Malek popped his car locks, signaling for Mitch to exit his vehicle. “We can eat later. Oh and, trust me, we’ll eat, but right now, it’s all about that paper.”
On that note, Mitch exited the car, and was left standing there confused as Malek peeled off.
Chapter Four
Mitch hit the streets with a vengeance all right, but his motivation was greed. By giving Mitch free reign over fifty kilos of cocaine, Malek had given him the push he needed to put his plan into action. Mitch was going to sell the coke, but he had no intention of giving all that paper back to Malek, and he definitely wasn’t planning on lowering the prices. There was a cocaine drought in the Midwest, and Mitch was going to take full advantage of it. Supply and demand was the only scale he set his prices to. In fact, he was taxing for the bricks by charging cats twenty- four stacks for just one. Malek’s loyal customers were the only ones getting a lowered rate, only so that they wouldn’t go back and complain to Malek. Everybody else was getting raped by his outrageous prices.
It was nothing for Mitch to blow through the dope, because he had Sweets on deck for more than half of them. By the time the three weeks was up, he would be close to a million dollars richer, and Malek would be closer to death.
Mitch, like a lot of other cats in the game, had always been “lightweight” jealous of Malek because of how he seemed to have come up in the game without putting in half as much work as some other cats did. It was as if all he had to do was grow into his inheritance. Mitch didn’t care how hard Malek made himself out to be; he wasn’t no true hood nigga. It made Mitch sick, especially when he recalled all those write-ups in the local paper about Flint’s godson, the kid that was going to put the city on the map the same way LeBron put Cleveland on the map. Now more than ever, Mitch was bound and determined to put his own self on the map.
He used to feel bad and disloyal at the thoughts of undermining Malek that would often cross his mind, but Keesha had kicked her “fuck Malek campaign” into overdrive. That, along with the fact that Mitch was getting crazy paid, helped to erase any guilt that remained. Malek’s demise was an equal trade for Mitch’s come-up. The day that Malek called to ask for the money would be the same day that he would be found leaking somewhere. There was no way Mitch was letting that much dough slip through his hands.
Malek made it his personal mission to visit Halleigh every day in the hospital. Her room was filled with flowers and balloons from him, and every day he was bringing her a new gift. He was just so grateful to have her in his life and so excited by the fact that he was about to be a father. The flowers, balloons, and gifts weren’t bribes just to get Halleigh to forgive him for the part he played in her being in the hospital in the first place. He truly wanted to give Halleigh the world and show her in every way how much he truly loved her.
Eventually, Halleigh did express her true forgiveness to Malek, although he had not forgiven himself yet. Every time Halleigh smiled at him, he would think of how close he had come to never seeing her smile again.
“I’ma take care of you. You know that, right?” he asked her as he held her hand.
“I know, Malek, but who’s going to take care of you?” she countered. “I know you’re not going to leave the streets alone.”
“I am,” he said abruptly and definitively. “By the time you walk out of here, I’ll be out of the game.”
“Yeah, right, Malek. You’re just saying all of that, thinking it will make me feel better, heal better, and get out of here even faster. I don’t know. But I do know how addictive the street game is. It’s much easier to just say you’re going to give it all up than to actually do it. Trust me, I know.”
“But I’m serious, Hal. At the end of the day, a nigga’s word is really all he got. My word is gold; it always has been, when it comes to you. You don’t know that by now?”
The tone of sincerity in his voice let her know that he wasn’t lying.
“I don’t want to lose you. If I got to give up the streets to keep you, then that’s that. Plus, you being in that rehab center has been eating me alive. I can’t believe I did this to you.”
Their intimate moment was interrupted by a knock at the door. They both looked up and saw Sharina walk through the door.
Malek stood up to leave so that he could give mother and daughter some privacy. Halleigh hadn’t really told him what went down when they met each other at the rehab center, but he knew they must still have a lot to talk about.
Halleigh shook her head and said, “No, Malek, stay.”
He sat down reluctantly, but held her hand tightly to give her his support. Seeing Halleigh’s mother put a bad taste in Malek’s mouth. He didn’t have too much respect for her, considering all that she had put the love of his life through.
“You’re so pretty,” Sharina said almost in a whisper as she slowly crept toward Halleigh’s bedside. She stopped before making it all the way over to Halleigh. Her eyes clouded over with tears, almost like she was seeing her daughter for the first time.
Halleigh was silent as she stared at her mother from the hospital bed. There was so much anger built up inside of her. As she looked at her mother, she tried to forget that it was Sharina’s sin that had sent her world spiraling out of control. On that fateful night, Halleigh’s life was forever changed for the worse. Looking at Sharina, it was hard not to also see the men she’d let rape her daughter for the sake of a hit.
“It’s been a long time, baby girl. You’re all grown-up now. You remind me so much of myself.” Sharina stood at the foot of the bed nervously twiddling her fingers as she waited for Halleigh to respond. She seemed to be afraid to get too close.
Two years ago, Sharina was frail and sickly-looking; but now, it appeared as though she had picked up some of her weight, and she wasn’t high, which made her almost unrecognizable.
“Well, I’m not you. I could never be you,” Halleigh shot at her. “Why did you come here?”
“I’m sorry, Halleigh. I’m so sorry. I’ve thought about you every day since then,” Sharina said. She swallowed the knot in her throat,
hoping she wouldn’t have to elaborate. Her hopes were shattered when Halleigh sat straight up in her bed and spoke.
“Since when, Ma? Since the first time you pawned my Christmas gifts to get high? Since the time we got put out in the streets in the winter because you spent the rent money on dope?”
“I know, baby.”
Halleigh almost jumped out of her bed and across the room. “No, you don’t know shit! You have no clue what I’ve been through!”
Growing up, Halleigh had never disrespected her mother. Dopefiend or not, Sharina was her mother, and Halleigh had always treated her as such. But right now, she could no longer control all of the bitterness that had mounted up against her mother. “See, I could’ve forgiven all of those things, Ma. I didn’t want the Christmas gifts. I would have lived in a cardboard box with you. I accepted you for who you were, because you were still my mother and I loved you. You were the only one I had.”
“I love you too, baby girl,” Sharina pleaded as tears fell down her cheeks.
“No, you don’t. I forgave you time and time again, Ma, but you did the unforgivable the day you sold my virginity to the dopeman!”
There, it had been said. Sharina always knew that decision would come back to haunt her someday. What she did to her daughter was the thing she wished she could take back more than anything.
“I know, baby. I have regretted that since the day I did it, baby. I’m so sorry. I truly am. You have to forgive me.” Sharina took one step closer to the bed, as if the invisible wall that separated them was slowly being chiseled away. “I’m clean now, Halleigh. I’ve been clean for six months, baby. I go to meetings at the rehab center to stay clean. I’m going to do it this time, if not for myself, then for you.” She looked down at Halleigh’s small baby bump. “And it looks like for my grandbaby too. I just want to be here for you and make it right.”
Back in the Hood Page 3
