Her Sweetest Revenge 2

by Saundra

  I had to admit, though, money was doing her good. In the past I had never seen her in no more than Baby Phat. Here she was standing in front of me in Burberry down with some Prada. And she brought her ego. It was riding shotgun on her shoulder. With a slight smile, she spoke to me and Rochelle by name. The hoe had nerves.

  Instead of opening our mouths, we both nodded in her direction. Trina knew something was up, but had no clue as to what. She gave me and Rochelle a questionable look.

  “I need to get my head done,” Felicia spoke up again.

  I was not shocked at her ghetto tact. See, you can put red bottoms on a bitch and she will still be hood. How she gone stroll her Brewster project ass up in a five-star hair salon thinkin’ a chair was waiting for her and that old cheap-ass weave. I turned and looked at Rochelle, who grinned.

  I turned back around to face Felicia. “Sweetie, this is a business, okay. Now what that means is you need an appointment to get your wig done up in here.” I was being sarcastic, but I wanted to be clear.

  Felicia turned around and looked at her hood-rat friend who she had brought along with her. This bitch had the nerve to blow a bubble with the wad of gum she was chewing on. Looking back at me, Felicia tried her plan B. “I know this a business.” She scanned the reception area, shaking her head in approval. “By the way, it looks really nice. And I’m sure that a nice salon like this can fit me in. Besides, I can pay extra.” Felicia dug inside her Burberry bag and pulled out a wad of money. Just like a hood rat to not have her money in a wallet. The bitch rockin’ a seven-hundred-dollar bag with money just thrown inside. Ugh. I shook my head in disgust.

  “Rochelle, look in the computer and tell her who and what appointment times they may have available.” I kept my eyes on Felicia, not impressed by her cash flashing.

  The smile Felicia was rocking when she first entered the salon had now faded; she started to look defeated. Rochelle scrolled through the data on the computer looking for slots. It was taking a minute because we were normally so booked. New appointments most of the time ended up being a month out. Felicia started to shift her weight from left foot to right foot as she was growing impatient. I enjoyed that a lot.

  “Looks like the first thing we have coming up is gone be at least four weeks away,” Rochelle finally said.

  “Are you sure? Because that is too fucking long.” Felicia frowned.

  “If that’s what I said we got, then that’s it. Now if you can’t wait, why don’t you go some fucking place else?” Rochelle shot back before I could stop her.

  “What . . .” Felicia started to shout back. Trina stepped in.

  “I’ll do it for you. Right now.” Since Trina was always fighting with Teddy in her daily home life, she was not big on drama.

  “Trina, you don’t have to . . .” I started to speak.

  Trina looked at me with a reassured look. “I will do it. My next appointment is not for two hours. I came in early to work on a wig. So I can do it. Now, what’s your name again?” Trina asked.

  “Felicia.” The bitch had the nerve to roll her eyes.

  Trina was still polite. “Come on back, Felicia.”

  But I stopped Felicia with a wave of my hand. “I will allow her to do it this time, but next time you need to have an appointment.” Stepping to the side, I let her pass. Even though Felicia had a slight smile plastered on her face, I could feel her eyes burning a hole through me. She wanted to curse me out but that bitch knew better. When they were out of the reception area I turned to Rochelle and at the same time we both mouthed, “Bitch.” We laughed out loud.

  Before long, my entire plans for the day had been changed. Hood called me up and told me that instead of meeting at the Outback Steakhouse later that evening he wanted me to go out that night and celebrate in honor of Rob. Initially they had planned to do it the week before I was in New York. But some of the crew had a change of plans. After leaving the salon I headed home for a bubble bath, some wine, and then some relaxation, and in that order, before getting dressed for the celebration at the club.

  VIP was on fire from the time I stepped inside. The drinks were flowing, the DJ was on fire, and out of the speakers blared T.I. and Trey Songz’s “2 Reasons.” Hood hit the door taking shots of Don Julio. He was ready to celebrate to the fullest for Rob. The room was set up with plenty of memories of Rob. The big television screen on the wall was showing pictures of Rob from past gatherings with the crew and his family. Rob’s baby momma, Leslie, had decided not to come. She was still in the grieving mode. The party was emotional but krunk at the same time. Rochelle had arrived before me and already had a drink in her hand. She pulled me away from Hood and handed me a shot of Patrón, which I gladly downed. Thinking about the earlier portion of the day, from Hood about to kill Silk to Felicia popping up at my salon, my day had been a little wild. I needed to have a good time.

  An hour into the celebration, Silk arrived with Felicia proudly jumping off his arms.

  “Don’t tell me we got to party and drink with this hoe, too,” Rochelle mouthed. Rochelle was full of Patrón and a shot or two of that Don Julio so one could only pray she behaved.

  “I know, right.” I laughed.

  Before we knew it, Felicia had gotten a drink and made her way over to us. She stopped directly in front of me. Raising my glass to my lips, I took a drink and swallowed. Because the wrong word out of her mouth and her ass was mine. “Mya, I just wanted to tell you that Trina is a badass stylist. My shit is tight.” She touched her hair in approval. Did she really believe she was telling me something that I didn’t already know? Instead of replying with my voice, I gave her a tight-lipped smile. All her fakeness was getting on my nerves. I knew the bitch still held a grudge against me and Rochelle for beating her ass years ago. The neighborhood we grew up in, you didn’t just forgive and forget.

  I guess she realized I had no words for her, so she spoke up again. “Well, see you later, and I will be returning as a regular customer.” She looked at Rochelle and smirked. Rochelle went to get in her face, but I blocked her path.

  “Just make sure you have an appointment first,” I replied. Without acknowledging what I said, she turned and strutted toward Silk. I knew she was trying to blow me off but she did not want to try me. Rochelle was shaking her head watching Felicia walk off.

  “Mya, that bitch is bold. I told you she thinks that she is hot shit now, but she do one more cocky thing and I swear I’ma beat that ass.” Rochelle rolled her eyes in Felicia’s direction. “Bitch,” she released, then polished off her drink.

  I felt the same way. I knew Felicia was just trying to rub her newfound success with dating a baller in our face. For the rest of the night she was all over Silk, but a few times I felt him gawking in my direction. Each time I would almost catch him, he would try to play it off. But his wandering eye was getting on my last damn nerve.

  After a while, Rochelle forgot all about Felicia and put her attention on Dontae. They danced and blazed together all night. I spent a lot of time thinking about Li’l Bo. I missed him so much. The celebration for Rob just made me realize my sufferings for my brother. Even though he had been gone for two years, it still felt fresh. Then Trey Songz’s “Fumble” started banging out the speakers and Hood pulled me to the floor. As soon as we wrapped our arms around each other, his cell started to ring and vibrate. Instead of answering it, he wrapped me tighter in his arms, ignoring the ring. It stopped, but it quickly started up again. The song was about over and his phone was still ringing. Annoyed, I stopped and told him to answer it.

  Hood glanced at the phone caller ID, then hit talk on the screen. “What, nigga?” he yelled into the phone over the music. The look on Hood’s face immediately showed a sign of trouble. “Lock that shit down, shit better be tight when I get there. Buzz them other niggas off the block. Now,” Hood yelled and ended the call.

  “What happened, babe?” I asked as soon as he hung up.

  “I gotta bounce. Have Rochelle drop you by the crib.
A’ight.”

  “Babe, is everything okay?” I was worried. Calls like these meant trouble and the end of somebody’s life.

  “Later, a’ight.” I knew that he would talk with me later; now was not the time. He leaned down and kissed me, then signaled Dontae, Rico, Pablo, and Silk, and they were out.

  Rochelle rushed over to me. “What’s going on, Mya?” Clueless, all I could do was shrug my shoulders.

  “Just take me home.” The night was over for me. It was a wrap.

  Chapter 14

  Turning over in bed, I peeked my head from under the covers and realized it was daylight. I reached over to the left of me and spread my fingers wide. Feeling an empty spot made it clear that Hood was not home yet. I grabbed my cell phone to check for missed calls. There were none. I also noticed that it was damn near noon and that made my heart drop. Sitting up in the bed, I slid my feet into my slippers just as Hood walked into our bedroom. Distress was all over his face. The look was familiar.

  He dropped his keys on the bed, took both his hands and rubbed his face as a sigh escaped his lips. Anger was dripping from his veins and stinging at his bloodshot red eyes.

  “What happened?” I prepared for the bad news.

  “My trap spot over by the Brewster was jacked,” he released with a sigh.

  “They get away with the work?”

  Hood looked at me and I knew that there was more that he was not telling me.

  “What else, Hood? Tell me.” I wanted to know. I braced myself for what he would say.

  “Chuck bucked one of the niggas that jacked the spot. It was Anthony. That li’l nigga dead.” For a minute I thought I heard him wrong. I asked him to repeat it.

  “Chuck killed Anthony, the dude Monica messin’ off wit’. Clearly them niggas don’t know who they messin’ wit’. I caught up to the other two, now they bodied. Sucka mothafuckas act like they know what time it is,” Hood barked, moving on from the fact that Monica’s new boyfriend was shot dead in his trap house.

  I bit my bottom lip with confirmation. I knew that Anthony’s ass was no good. And he had to be stupid, trying to jack one of Hood’s spots. Clearly he had no idea who he was messing with. But forget him. I shook my head, feeling confused, because my next thought was Monica. She would know by now or would be finding out soon. She would be upset and I had to be there for her. I got up and started to get dressed. I had to get over to their crib.

  Hood continued to ramble obscenities about fucking up this or that, but I heard nothing he said clearly. Finally, one of his questions got through. “Where are you going?”

  “To check on Monica.” I slid into a pair of pink-and-black Flight Jordan hightops. “I’ll hit you later.” I had gotten dressed in record time. Grabbing my cell off the nightstand, I all but dashed out of the room without so much as a good-bye to Hood. Besides, I knew he had business to tend to. I was sure he had only stopped by the crib to shower and hit the stone again.

  “Yeah, check on her and make sure she’s straight.” By the time he said it, I had already made it to the stairs. I was in a hurry.

  Using my key for the first time in a long time, I opened the door to find Ma coming out of the kitchen. The look on her face showed that she was not shocked to see me. My mother knew that regardless of any issue that Monica and I had, I would be there for her. I was consistent when it came to that.

  “She’s in the living room,” she informed me without me saying another word.

  With a couple of steps I was standing in the living room watching Monica. She sat on the couch as the television played. But I knew she wasn’t watching it. Looking up at me, she gave me a quick glance and turned her attention back to the TV. Standing in one spot, I just watched her. Gradually the tears started to pour down her face. I walked over to the sofa and sat down next to her.

  “I just found out . . .” Her voice was shaky. She wiped her tearstained face with her hand. Ma came out of the kitchen and handed her some Kleenex. Monica dabbed at tears that continued to flow one after the other. “I should have listened to you . . . I knew you were right about him.”

  I felt so bad, even though I knew what she said was true. But now was not the time for me to say I told you so. “It’s not about that. I’m here for you.” I reached out and hugged her. We held each other tight as she cried.

  “I thought he would be different, Mya. I really did. But nope, just another two-bit stick-up man. It’s either that or trapping.” Monica broke our embrace as if something had just occurred to her.

  “I bet Hood’s pissed?” She searched my face for confirmation.

  Smiling at her, I confirmed. “You know he is, but don’t you worry about that. Anthony’s fuck-up has nothing to do with you.” I chuckled, hoping to cheer Monica up just a little. But no smile graced her face; instead another single teardrop formed in the crease of her eye socket.

  “I just can’t believe he would do that. He had to know that was Hood’s spot. He should have known better.”

  “Look, you can’t worry about that. It’s done now. So do your best to forget about it.”

  “But will it always be like this? Am I ever going to meet someone that is normal? I mean, will I ever find someone like Hood? He is an all-around good guy. Or will I only ever attract thugs with no future? Is it me, Mya?” Hearing her say this and question herself broke my heart. How could I reassure her that one day she would find the one? Hell, truth be told, Detroit was full of snakes. Losers looking for a quick and easy come-up. Either that or they were a monster waiting to beat the life out of you. But she was right: Even though Hood was in the game, he was a good guy. Somehow I had gotten lucky.

  “Monica, you are only seventeen. You have forever to find the right guy. It is only natural at your age to attract thugs. Comes with the territory, but yes, you will find the right one. Just give yourself time. See, you are actually lucky. You gettin’ all your experience while you are young. Five years from now you’ll be a pro at dodging the losers. Trust me. You got this.” I nudged her shoulder and smiled. And then finally, she smiled back at me. She trusted my judgment. I would never give her bad advice.

  “I guess I believe you, you are normally right. I’m lucky to have a big sis like you.” Monica reached over and tightly wrapped her arms around me. Now that caused tears to spill all over my face. We were such crybabies. I saw my ma watching us with a smile. She was proud we were always there for each other in our time of need. That was important for any family.

  Monica wanted me to stay and hang out with them so I stayed over for a while. We ordered Chinese food and watched Dreamgirls. We both loved that movie. Monica seemed to have cheered up, but I knew she was having a hard time with her newfound situation. She had experienced death too much to be a fresh seventeen years old. I wanted so much more for her. I wanted her to have all that I did not have. And education was at the top of the growing list that I had generated for her. But I also knew that in life you needed more than books and degrees. Achievement was good, but happiness was very important also.

  Chapter 15

  Weeks had gone by since Anthony had been shot and killed in the process of jacking one of Hood’s trap spots. Besides the fact that some of the dudes that had been involved had been dealt with, aka bodied, I knew nothing. Hood never really discussed the details of his dope business with me. I guess he figured the less I knew about his operation or empire, whatever he wanted to call it, the better it was for me. Not that I really cared. My only concern was him letting that life go. That was best for us as a family.

  I had been spending as much time as I could free up with Monica. I wanted her to know that I was there to support her one hundred percent. Soon she would be done with high school and starting college. I wanted her to focus her energy on keeping her GPA up and taking care of Imani. To ease our minds, we had gone shopping and blew ten thousand easy. We spent that money on clothes, shoes, and whatever else her little heart desired while we were out. We loved to shop. For us it was a pressure re
lease. My mom, on the other hand, threw her hands up at us and waved us off, telling us just pick her something up, because one thing she refused to do was go shopping with the two of us. According to her, we took absolutely too long when we shopped. But we had just been hanging out. I wanted to help Monica to keep her mind off Anthony and that entire situation as much as possible if I could.

  Of course Monica assured me that she was okay or “over it,” as she put it. But I knew that deep down she was hurting. She had decided it was best for her not to attend Anthony’s funeral services. According to her, she was done with that situation and of course I was more than fine with that. He had crossed the line and unfortunately he paid a high price.

  I had not been at the salon for three days because I had to be with my Monica. She needed her big sister around for moral support. So today I had gotten up bright and early, made breakfast for Hood, and broke out. I had two heads to do first thing in the morning. I was done before lunch. Hood had stopped by the salon to bring Rochelle and me a catfish plate. So we were just sitting around eating and chopping it up.

  “So how Monica doin’? She over that bullshit with Anthony’s punk ass?” Rochelle forked some coleslaw.

  I allowed my sweet tea to slide down my throat before responding. I loved some ice cold sweet tea. “She cool.”

  “Good ’cause the last thing she need to be doin’ is trippin’. That nigga had that comin’. Stick-up kids always pay the price. He should have known better.” Rochelle may have seemed heartless, but like I always say, she keeps it one hundred.

  “Yeah, I know. I’m just tryna keep her encouraged. She think that it’s her own fault that she keep ending up with guys like that. Like she a curse or something.”

  “Ha, if that is the case, then I got it, too. Check my track record, let me see . . . Mike, the only good thing I got out of that was Tiny.” Rochelle smiled. “Then Li’l Lo snuffed out by the game. And let’s just be honest, Dontae ain’t Carlton off the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” She chuckled. “If I ain’t considered cursed with all that bad luck, then she good.”