Still Hood

by K'wan

  “That was fucking amazing!” Dena said, squeezing her thighs together. Even though he wasn’t inside her anymore, Dena was still cumming. Her mind was racing so fast that the thoughts ceased to make sense to her. Dena rolled over to face Ice and saw that tears were twinkling in the corners of his eyes. She thought that Ice was crying because of the beautiful sex they’d had, but he was actually thinking about how much money he could make with her and her sweet pussy in his stable. Dena snuggled against his sweaty chest and drifted off to sleep to dream of the life she and Ice could have together.

  SHA BOOGIE AND CHARLIE ROCK had spent the last few hours bullshitting with Roxy and Sugar. They smoked weed and cruised Brooklyn in the minivan just killing time. Charlie had told Sha what Tina said to Sheeka about them being the last ones to see Spider, and Sha didn’t like it one bit. When the police finally identified the body it would surely lead back to them, thanks to Tina’s big mouth. Sha still had too much to do to worry about fighting a charge, and he reasoned that something had to be done.

  After making up an excuse about having a matter to take care of, Sha Boogie got Sugar to drop him and Charlie off on Tina’s block. The girls wanted to hang some more, but neither of them were talking about fucking, so Sha reasoned it wasn’t worth it. When the girls had pulled off, the two men made hurried steps towards Tina’s building and planned their next move.

  “You think she’s home?” Charlie asked.

  “She’s gotta be. The girl ain’t ventured from the block since the shooting,” Sha told him, fumbling around with the keypad on Tina’s lobby door.

  “So, what you think we should do?” Charlie asked, looking around to make sure nobody was watching.

  “We’re just gonna go up and talk to her,” Sha said, continuing to punch in a series of different combinations on the keypad.

  “Then why are we breaking into the building instead of ringing the bell?”

  The door beeped and popped open. “Sometimes you ask too many questions,” Sha said, stepping into the lobby. The two men hiked the few flights of stairs to Tina’s floor, where Sha put his ear to the door and listened.

  “She in there?” Charlie asked nervously. He didn’t really like the look in Sha’s eyes, because he knew the man was prone to do irrational shit.

  “Yeah, I can hear her on the phone,” Sha said, fishing a key out of his wallet.

  “Where did you get that?”

  “I stole it out of her purse and had a copy made. Call it insurance,” Sha said, with his ear still pressed to the door. When he heard her hang up the phone he quietly slipped the key into the door and undid the lock.

  Tina had her back to them, doing the dishes, so she never even knew they’d slipped into her house. The phone rang, causing her to turn in their direction. When she saw Sha and Charlie she dropped the plate she had been washing, shattering it.

  “What the hell are y’all doing in my house!” she shrieked.

  “Calm down. We knocked but you didn’t hear us over the water. The door was open so we came in,” Sha lied. “You know, you can’t be leaving your door unlocked in a neighborhood like this, T.” Though Sha hadn’t done anything threatening, there was something about him that made Tina uneasy.

  “Ben probably left it open. He just ran downstairs to the store. He should be back any minute,” Tina lied.

  “Word, we just seen Ben on Bedford like twenty minutes ago,” Sha said, inviting himself to a seat at the kitchen table.

  “He must’ve been on his way here. Now, what y’all want?” She addressed Charlie, knowing she had the best chance of reasoning with him.

  “Tina, you tell anybody what happened uptown?” Charlie came out and asked.

  “Hell nah, I ain’t spoke to nobody since it happened,” she lied.

  “So you didn’t see Sheeka?” Sha Boogie asked from the table, where he was playing with an elastic key chain. From the look on Tina’s face, he knew that he’d hit a sore spot.

  “Oh, I forgot I bumped into her the other day. She just asked if I’d seen Spider and I told her I hadn’t seen him since the day before.”

  “You wouldn’t lie to us, would you?” Charlie asked, moving closer to her, causing her to back up.

  “Look, what y’all do is your business and ain’t got nothing to do with me. I could care less if—” Her words were cut off as Sha Boogie looped the key chain around her neck. Tina tried to grab for the elastic that was now cutting off her wind, but Sha had all his weight leaned back, digging it further into her throat. Though Tina fought with everything she had, in the end she was no match for Sha’s strength. Even after her body went limp, Sha continued to pull on the cord. When he was satisfied, he let her drop to the floor.

  “Man, you said we was coming to talk to her!” Charlie said, looking nervously at Tina’s lifeless body.

  “Charlie, calm ya ass down,” Sha said, stuffing the length of elastic into his pocket. “This bitch was gonna leave a trail of bread crumbs right to our doors for the police to follow. She had to go.”

  “This is bad business, Sha,” Charlie said, as if he was about to have a breakdown. Faster than his eyes could follow, Sha was nose to nose with him.

  “No, what’s bad business is doing life on a fucking murder charge, dummy. Now come the fuck on. We’ve got some people to see at Club Envy tonight.” Sha headed for the door.

  Charlie stood motionless over Tina’s dead body, unable to turn his eyes away. Tina had been a cool chick from the neighborhood who was just trying to help Sha settle a personal score. As with most things, Sha discarded her when she’d outlived her usefulness. It made Charlie give some serious thought as to what his future might hold.

  “Come the fuck on!” Sha called from the door. Charlie Rock took a minute to make the sign of the cross before leaving Tina’s body for someone to find.

  Chapter 33

  JAH WAS AWAKENED BY THE LOUD RINGING OF HIS cell phone. Day had given way to night, so he had to fumble around in the dark to find it. When he looked at the caller ID he didn’t recognize the number, so he answered with attitude. “Yeah?”

  “Rise and shine, playboy,” True said on the other end. “Man, I’ve been trying to call you for the last two hours, where you been?”

  “I had some shit to take care of,” he said, looking over to make sure the phone hadn’t waked Yoshi. “What’s good?”

  “Get ya shit and lets roll. We’re heading down to Envy.”

  “Envy? What the fuck is going on down there?” Jah asked.

  “Stacks is doing a show at Envy tonight and the Don says we need to be there.”

  Jah sighed. He and Yoshi had been going at it off and on for the better part of the day, and he really didn’t feel like going out. Still, he had made a commitment to True, and as a man of his word, he had to honor it. “A’ight, gimme a few ticks and I’ll meet you on the block.”

  “No need. We’re parked in front of your building. Just get dressed and lets roll,” True told him.

  “A’ight,” Jah said, peeking out his window. Sure enough there was a red Bentley double-parked downstairs. “I’ll see you in a minute.” He ended the call.

  “Who was that?” Yoshi asked, startling him.

  “Nobody, ma.” Jah got up and went to the closet to select an outfit.

  “Nobody has got you getting out of bed with me, so they must be somebody. Let’s not start this half-truth shit, Jah.”

  Jah sighed. “It was True.”

  “Jah, I know you ain’t still gunning for them kids from the video shoot? We just talked about this.”

  “Calm down, Yoshi, I know what we talked about. I took a contract with Big Dawg to guard True, so I gotta honor it.”

  Yoshi sat up and clicked on the bedside lamp. Even with a scarf tied around her head and no makeup, she was still beautiful. “Jah, True is hot as a firecracker right now. Can’t you pass on this? I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”

  “Baby, you know I can’t do that. You were the main one talking
about how I should stop thumbing my nose at checks.” He kissed her on the forehead. “Besides, what kind of nigga would I be if I left him out to dry? True has gotten himself into some serious shit, and those steroid-pumped niggaz on Don B’s payroll ain’t gonna keep him alive.” Jah made it out to be like he was just honoring a contract, but it went deeper than that. He just couldn’t seem to get past the fact that Sha Boogie and his crew had violated. Regardless of what anyone said, they would pay for it.

  “Okay, supper nigga, but whose gonna keep you alive?” Yoshi asked seriously.

  Jah took his twin 9s from the dresser. “These bitches right here. Look.” He placed the guns back. “As soon as Stacks leaves town and some of the heat dies down I’ll pass the contract off to somebody else. Stop worrying,” he told her, before disappearing into the bathroom.

  Yoshi tossed a pillow at the bathroom door and only succeeded in aggravating her injury. She understood Jah wanting to be a man of his word, but she knew firsthand what could happen to people who ran in Don B’s circle. They said that everyone was only separated by six degrees, and she knew it to be true from the six deaths associated with the Big Dawg camp. Pain, Lex, Jay, Rhonda, Paul, and Chiba—all of them had dealings with Big Dawg in one way or another, and they had all met with horrible ends. She didn’t want that for Jah, but knew that running in Don B’s circle made it a very real possibility.

  Jah came out of the bathroom and began dressing. For the night he selected a black button-up shirt, with black Akademik jeans and an Atlanta Falcons fitted hat. From the closet he pulled out the lock box containing his .380 and dropped the small gun in his pocket. When he turned around to tell Yoshi he was leaving, he found her glaring at him.

  “What, you just gonna be mad all night?” he asked, flopping down on the bed next to her.

  “Nah, I ain’t mad Jah,” she told him.

  “Look, I know you’re not feeling this whole situation, but everything is gonna be cool. As a matter of fact, why don’t I call you when I’m finished at Envy, and you can get all sexy for me, so we can get back to business.” He ran his hand up her exposed thigh, but she was unresponsive.

  “It’s cool, Jah. Handle ya business, I’m cool,” she said, and picked up the copy of Gutter she had been reading from the nightstand. She thoroughly enjoyed the prequel, Gangsta, and had waited five long years to see how the story had played out.

  “A’ight, I’m out.” He slid from the bed and headed for the door. Before he left the bedroom he stopped short and turned back to Yoshi. “I love you, ma.”

  “I love you too, baby,” she said sincerely. Feeling a little better about the situation, Jah bounced. As soon as he was out the front door, Yoshi picked up the phone and dialed Billy.

  WILLAMINA JEFFERSON FOUND HERSELF IN a very awkward predicament. She was stretched out on a king-size bed, ass-naked, with her hands cuffed to the post above her head. Pacing the bed was a man in a leather mask who was also nude, only from the waist up. He had a well-built physique and skin the color of melted chocolate. In his hand he held a cat-o’-nine-tails, which he impatiently slapped against his palm.

  “So, are you going to tell me where the drugs are?” he asked in a heavy Spanish accent.

  “I told you, I don’t know anything about any drugs,” she said frantically.

  “Still not talking, eh? Well, I have ways of making you talk.” He laughed sinisterly, moving away from the bed. She couldn’t see what he was doing, but she knew from the devilish chuckle he was up to no good. When the masked man turned back around he was holding a squeezable water bottle containing a brown substance. “Still not talking?”

  “I don’t know anything,” she insisted.

  “Very well then.” The masked man moved around the bed to stand over Billy, shaking the bottle of strange liquid. The terrified look in her eyes only succeeded in exciting him more. Uncapping the bottle, he slowly began squirting the liquid on her naked body. Billy squirmed as the liquid coated her breasts and stomach, splashing over to the sheets. The masked man tossed the bottle and climbed on the bed straddling her.

  “Please don’t,” she pleaded, struggling under his weight.

  Leaning in to whisper, he said, “Begging won’t help you, sweetie—but it turns me on.” Starting with her neck, the masked man began making circular motions with his tongue. His firm hands gripped her ass, pulling her body closer. Billy’s head lolled back in ecstasy, while her arms tried to fight the masked man off. In the end her defenses gave way, and she allowed herself to be a victim. Just as she was about to get into her groove, her cell blared, ruining the moment. She would’ve ignored it, but hearing Mary’s vocals on “Runaway Love” told her it was important, because only an important person had that ring tone. She tried to reach for the cell, which was on the nightstand, but the cuffs reminded her of her situation.

  “Baby, grab my phone,” Billy panted.

  The masked man stopped his licking session. “What? Are you fucking serious?” Marcus asked, losing his accent and the mask. “I was just about to start my interrogation!”

  “I know, baby, and we can get right back to it, but I need to take this call, cause she wouldn’t have called me this late if something wasn’t wrong,” she explained.

  “Man,” Marcus whined, climbing off Billy. He grabbed her phone off the nightstand and tossed it onto her stomach.

  “And how do you propose I answer it?” She jerked the chains a bit. Marcus sucked his teeth and held the phone to her ear. “What, bitch? You fucking my groove up right now.” Billy answered. Marcus used his right hand to hold the phone to her ear and his left to play with her erect nipples. Billy gave him a fuck face and tried to focus on the phone call.

  “Well, hello to you, too, slut,” Yoshi teased.

  “Yoshi, you got me at a real bad time, so if it ain’t life or death, give me the details tomorrow,” Billy said, using her legs to pull at Marcus.

  “How you feel about clubbing tonight?” Yoshi asked, now going through her closet to find an outfit.

  “Bitch, you called to ask me about the gitty?” Billy asked, rolling over onto her side so Marcus had a better angle at her pussy. Keeping his eyes locked with hers, he slipped between her legs and kissed her inner thigh.

  Yoshi listened in for a minute before asking, “Billy, you on the phone fucking?”

  “No, but I’d like to be,” Billy said, biting the sheet, as Marcus nibbled at her ass cheeks. “Yoshi, I ain’t fucking wit you.”

  Yoshi changed her tactic. “Billy, you know I wouldn’t have called if I really ain’t wanna go. Stacks Green is performing at Envy tonight.”

  Billy managed to roll over on her stomach and cocked her delicious ass in the air. Marcus shoved damn near his whole face inside her pussy and went for what he knew. “Yoshi, I could give less than a fuck about Stacks Green, Stacks Blue, or Stacks muthafucking Purple. What I wanna know is, does this have anything to do with Jah and True?”

  “Yes and no,” Yoshi said.

  “Shit, nigga, watch that.” Billy swatted at Marcus after he bit her clit a little too hard. “Yoshi, I got too much on my plate right now to be dealing with riddles, but since you my bitch, I’m gonna do you this courtesy.” Billy had to pause for a minute, as Marcus’s dick slid into her moist pussy. “Meet me at the crib in like an hour and we’ll talk about it.” Billy tossed the phone onto the floor and gave her man her undivided attention.

  Chapter 34

  JAH STEPPED OUT OF HIS BUILDING WITH A MAJOR chip on his shoulder. He was high, tired, and thirsty for another romp with his boo, but duty called. When he stepped out of the building he noticed Devil leaning against the car, smoking a cigarette. His movements were neutral but his eyes attempted to be threatening. Jah maintained eye contact with him until he was tucked inside the back of the Bentley.

  “What it is, soldier?” Don B gave Jah a dap as he settled into the seat. “You handled ya business and all that, fam?”

  “I’m good,” Jah said, giving True, who
was sitting to his right, a pound.

  “That’s good to know,” Don B continued. “We keeping it local, so tonight should be easy. Stacks and them is doing they thing at the spot, and we gonna shake through there and shine, simple as that.”

  “Yo, y’all niggaz is on some real Mission Impossible shit right now,” True said, licking the ends of the blunt to seal it. “Who the fuck is gonna try to hit me in a crowded-ass club, with all the security and shit?”

  “They tried to get you at the video shoot, and that was in Harlem, under police surveillance,” Jah reminded him. “You really think these niggaz wouldn’t try to take ya head in a dark club?”

  True thought on it for a minute, but had to agree with Jah. The shooters from the video had been brazen and reckless, so they’d surely have no qualms about popping off at a crowded nightclub.

  “Yeah, that reminds me,” Don B spoke up. “We can’t take the hammers up in there, so I hope you can get down with the hands as well as you get down with a pistol?” he asked Jah.

  “I’m good,” Jah said, immediately planning a new strategy. He had expected their celebrity status to make them exempt from security checks, so his guns played out in every possible scenario; but Jah was by no means a novice at boxing. He had made a rep as a knockout artist before one as a shooter.

  “In case you run into a situation.” Devil handed Jah a retractable baton. “Hit the button and it extends. That’s the best we can do for the venue.”

  Jah examined the baton, testing the weight and extension time. Though the rod was very slim, it was sturdy, and that’s what was important. It didn’t have the range of a gun, but in the close quarters of the club he wouldn’t need it. He could split a nigga’s shit and keep it moving with little hassle. Satisfied, he said, “I can make do with this.”

  The ride was a short one, with plenty of blunts and booze to go around. From the moment the Bentley pulled up, all eyes were on them. Chicks rushed over, trying to get pictures on their camera phone with the rapper. True posed modestly and signed autographs while Don B put his best Hollywood moves on for the camera. Remo, Devil, and Jah hung back, checking the crowd.