Still Hood

by K'wan

  “Man, I thought you was a mack, but how you macking and ain’t got no control over your bitch?” Stacks accused.

  “Man, don’t never mistake my game from not being together. Ol’ girl is new, but I’ll straighten this whole mess out,” Ice told him.

  “Had it been me, you’d have probably broke your foot off in my ass,” Lexi said slyly, while sipping her fourth glass of Hennessey.

  “And I still might if you don’t mind ya fucking business,” Ice said coldly before turning back to Stacks. “Look, y’all have a bottle on the house while I go straighten this shit out.” He grabbed Dena by the arm and dragged her back to his table.

  “Ice—,” she began.

  “Bitch, don’t you say another fucking word,” he hissed. “Now, I don’t know what the fuck your problem is, but you better damn well fix it.”

  “My problem is that you ain’t making these niggaz respect your lady. Muthafuckas keep grabbing on me and shit.” The drinks had her feeling herself.

  “Are you fucking blind? Every bitch in here is getting felt up, and you’re the only muthafucka complaining, coming out ya mouth like some square-ass bitch.”

  “I’m complaining because I didn’t come here for that, Ice,” she told him.

  “Then what did you come here for, to look good on my arm and say you’ve been with the Ice Man? Dena, look around you.” He motioned to the various girls trying to hustle up a buck. “Some of these girls in here are gonna turn tricks until their pussies feel like they’re gonna fall out they assess, all so we can live a step above the rest. You looking down on hos, but you ain’t looking down on ho money. How the fuck does that sound to you?”

  “Ice, I just ain’t used to niggaz coming at me like I’d sell my body for money.”

  “Dena, did I ask you to fuck any of these niggaz? See, that’s where you got it fucked up. Sure, a lot of these niggaz is in here paying for a shot of honey, but a lot of them just wanna talk some shit and maybe feel a little ass, but your prissy ass is too good for a lil chitchat, huh? I don’t need no prima donna on my team, I need bitches that’s about a dollar. You know what, I think I’m gonna have Shorty run you back to ya mama’s house, cause you clearly ain’t built for the fast lane.”

  At the threat of being cast out of heaven Dena began to panic. “Ice, I’m sorry, Daddy. This shit is just so overwhelming.” She flopped in the seat. “I just need a little time to get used to it. I’ll be okay.”

  Ice knew he had her right where he wanted her. He knew that there was gonna be fellas hitting on Dena, but he hadn’t expected them to come on so strong out of the gate. Dena was green to the game and had to be broken in gradually, but the plan had changed. He saw the money-making potential in her that night and formed a deliciously evil plan in his mind.

  Ice sighed heavily. “It’s cool, baby.” He sat next to her. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. There’s just a lot going on right now and I’m under a tremendous amount of pressure.”

  “I know, baby, and I don’t mean to add on to it.” She stroked his face. “I just thought for a minute that you were gonna toss me to the dogs like some tramp.”

  Ice pulled her close to him and nestled his face in her hair. “I’d never toss away such a precious jewel. You just gotta understand the hearts of men in this game. My daddy used to always tell me never to let an opportunity pass you by, because you never know when or if another one is gonna come along. I’d never ask you to do anything you didn’t wanna do, Dena, but I need all my ladies reading from the same page. If a nigga comes up on you and wants to spend a little paper for some conversation, let him. Do you think you can do that?”

  Dena hesitated. “I don’t know, but I’ll try.”

  “That’s my girl.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Shorty,” he called to his man, who had been watching the exchange, trying not to laugh. “Go to the bar and see if you can scare up one of them Blue Diamonds for my girl.”

  “I’m on it,” Shorty said, knowing how the story was going to play out. It was rare for Ice to resort to outright trickery, but when he did it always got results.

  “MAN, THAT BITCH BARKED ON you, Stacks,” Don B teased him.

  “Fuck that bitch; hers ain’t the only pussy floating around this joint,” Stacks spat.

  “I know that’s right, big time,” Lexi lowered her big ass into Stacks’s lap and began grinding on him. “Don’t stunt that uptight bitch, she probably don’t know what to do with her little pussy anyway.”

  “And I suppose you do?” True asked.

  “Lil fella, not only do I know how to work my pussy, but I got a shot of head that’s so retarded that you would think you was in the pussy.”

  “I need to see what that’s about,” Stacks rubbed her leg.

  “All money down is a bet,” Lexi said looking around the room. Before she had a chance to press her pitch, Black Ice came back over.

  “Stacks, I wanna take this time to apologize about that lil scene a minute ago. My girl is new, so she was a lil nervous,” Ice said.

  “Its all good, cause I think ya girl Lexi got what I need right here,” Stacks replied.

  “Indeed. Lexi is a mean bitch, on a mean team, but what say we sweeten the pot?” Black Ice leaned in. “How much is it worth to you to have both these fine hos show you the time of your life?”

  Stacks looked over at Dena, who was getting drunk with Shorty, and back to Lexi on his lap. “Shit, I’d spend a good piece of change with you, homey.”

  Black Ice rubbed his hands together greedily, thinking how he was going to charge Stacks a king’s ransom for a taste of Dena’s sweet candy. “A’ight, give me about an hour and then I’m gonna show you Texas niggaz how juicy the Apple is.”

  Chapter 44

  JAH SAT IN THE CORNER WATCHING EVERYONE watch the rappers. Though being around them repulsed him, at times he had to admit that they knew how to party. Being behind the gun more often than not didn’t allow him much time for fun, and sometimes he missed it. His reflecting was disturbed when his cell phone vibrated. Looking at the number on the caller ID screen, he knew it was a call that he had to take in private. Excusing himself from the table, he dashed to the bathroom and flipped the phone open.

  “Tell me something good.”

  “Yeah, I think you gonna like this,” Tech said on the other end. “I’ve been laying on this nigga since last night and he ain’t strayed too far, so I’m guessing this is where he stay at.”

  “Is he home now?” Jah asked excitedly.

  “I’m looking at his fat ass right now,” he said, watching his mark stroll up the street, busy with a scratch-off. He had no idea how closely the shadow of death followed him, but he would learn soon enough. “You want me to bust his brain?” Tech asked, praying Jah would gave him the green light. The mark had never done anything to him personally, but he wanted to kill him just off the strength that he had gone out like a faggot.

  “Nah, I’m bout to jump in a cab, so I should be there in like twenty minutes. I wanna see the life drain from his muthafucking eyes when I peel his shit,” Jah told him. “Sit tight and I’ll be right there.” He ended the call. Jah was so excited that he had to compose himself before going back out to join the group. He had waited over a year for this moment, and Larry Love’s number was finally about to be called. When he arrived back at the table, Cooter and Soda were arguing over who had second dibs on Black Ice’s new cop. For as hostile as they were, you would’ve thought shorty had a golden pussy.

  “True, I’ll be back in about a half,” Jah whispered in his ear.

  “You leaving?” True asked.

  “Nah, I got a little jump off down on the second floor that said she wanted to suck my dick from the back, so you know I gotta see what that’s about,” Jah lied.

  “You might wanna stick around, kid. These niggaz is scheming on running a train on shorty over there.” He nodded towards Dena.

  Jah looked over at the young girl who was clearly high out of her mind off of somethi
ng more than weed. She was laughing at everything and couldn’t seem to sit still. The way Don B hungrily watched her, Jah knew the man had something sinister up his sleeve, and he just hoped the girl didn’t end up like Reese, with a trick baby. He sometimes wished Reese had been his sister so he could’ve had a reason to take revenge on the man.

  “You a’ight?” True asked, noticing the change in Jah’s facial expression.

  “Yeah, man. I just ain’t wit that train shit,” Jah told him.

  “Me either. All that balls-swinging shit ain’t my cup of tea. I don’t wanna see nothing but pussy when I’m going in on a bitch.”

  “I know that’s right.” Jah gave him dap. “But let me go ahead and get wit this bitch before somebody else snatch her up.”

  “Handle. You’re my nigga!” True called after the departing man.

  “BITCH, WHERE THE HELL HAVE you been? I ain’t seen your ass since you slid the other night. I was beginning to think home boy had snatched yo ass,” Sugar said, cradling the phone between her ear and her shoulder. Her hands were covered in flour from the chicken she was frying for Sha Boogie and Charlie, who had come by with liquor and weed.

  “Damn, you’re worse than my mama. And for your information, he did snatch my ass. My ass, my hair, and some of everything else!” Roxy squealed. “Girl, let me tell you that the saying about fat niggaz having lil dicks is not true for everybody.”

  “Youz about a dick-thirsty bitch,” Sugar said.

  “Takes one to know one.”

  “But fuck the dumb shit, is the nigga holding?” Sugar asked.

  “He tricked a few dollars, but his crib ain’t all that. I did see some credit cards in his wallet though, when he went to the bathroom.”

  “We can do some serious shopping with those on the Internet,” Sugar said. Credit fraud was another one of her talents.

  “That’s what I’m talking about. I ain’t snatched em yet, but please believe I’ll have them shits before I leave here,” Roxy assured her.

  “So, when you coming back to BK?” Sugar asked.

  “Probably tomorrow afternoon. I’m trying to get him to take me shopping on Fordham when the stores open.”

  “Bitch, don’t bullshit around with that fat muthafucka all day. Don’t forget we gotta hit that barbecue tomorrow.”

  “I ain’t forget. I’m gonna throw on something real slutty and press that nigga Stacks. Its time to take the gloves off.”

  “Amen to that!” Sugar agreed. “Maybe we can convince Sha Boogie and Charlie to rob his ass.”

  “I don’t see why not. Them niggaz is crazy as hell anyway.” Roxy paused when she heard a key jiggling in the front door. “Bitch, I gotta go cause that nigga is back from the store. I’ll call you in the morning.” Roxy hung up before waiting for Sugar to respond. When Larry came into the bedroom she acted like she was just waking up.

  “Damn, yo ass is still sleeping?” he asked, placing a plastic bag on the floor.

  “Yeah,” she stretched, “you put it on a bitch.”

  “They don’t call me Larry Love for nothing.” He began fumbling around in the bag. He pulled out a fifth of Hennessey and a box of magnum condoms. “You think you’re up for another round?”

  “SHA, HOW LONG WE GONNA play cat and mouse with this nigga?” Charlie asked, putting flame to the end of a blunt.

  “We play till I say the game is over. What, you getting scared or something?” Sha snapped.

  “Hell nah, you know we ride together. I’m just saying, we need to bump this nigga off before we miss the chance. Its bad enough them niggaz is always crew-thick, but that lil nigga he running with is starting to give me the creeps.”

  “Man, fuck that nigga, he ain’t hard.” Sha put his cigarette out in the ashtray. “You should’ve seen that nigga all uptight over his bitch in the club.”

  “That was a bad lil bitch. I think she used to dance at Shooter’s,” Charlie said and tried to remember.

  “Clown-ass nigga trying to turn a ho into a housewife,” Sha Boogie laughed. “Maybe we’ll run up on her ass, too, when her man is dead.”

  “If we ever get around to killing anybody,” Charlie said. He didn’t mean anything by it, but he could see that Sha Boogie was offended by the statement. “Sha, I ain’t mean nothing by it. I just wanna get this shit over with so we can get back to business. I really ain’t trying to chase True all summer.”

  Sha Boogie gave Charlie a disgusted look, but deep down he knew his partner was right. The hit had taken months to plan, but the execution wasn’t going exactly how he had expected. After the botched hit he decided to have a little fun and make True sweat, but the time for games was over. True had to die and the debt had to be settled.

  “Fuck it, Charlie Rock. We gonna push over to that locked-door joint in Harlem and end this shit once and for all. Let’s go twist these niggaz caps back.” Sha pushed away from the table.

  “Where the fuck is y’all niggaz going, and I done fried all this chicken?” Sugar came into the living room holding a bowl full of fried chicken.

  “Something came up and we gotta bounce,” Charlie Rock told her.

  “Fuck you mean, something came up? Y’all niggaz come through my house, have me cook and shit, and you breaking out? That’s some real bullshit.”

  “Listen,” Charlie Rock pulled her to the side, “it’s five bags of weed and twenty cash for your trouble, but if you know like I know, you’ll leave this situation alone,” Seeing the frightened look in his eyes, Sugar decided to take his advice and she didn’t say another word until they were out of her apartment.

  THE RIDE FROM HARLEM TO the Concourse was a short one, so Jah had enough time to do what he had to do. When he hopped out of the cab on 156th Street Tech was on the corner waiting for him. Tech was his usual smiley self, but Jah’s face was grim and hard.

  “Jah, what it do?” Tech gave him dap.

  “It dies, my nigga,” Jah said, continuing past him. The two bandits made their way to the building where Larry Love was held up, with murder on their minds. There was a group of young men sitting on the stoop, and they gave the two men a wide berth. The young street punks knew death when they saw it.

  Thanks to the recon done by Tech over the last twenty-four hours, not only did Jah know which building Larry lived in, but the apartment as well. Moving as silently as they could, they jogged the four flights of stairs and positioned themselves outside Larry’s door.

  “He alone?” Jah asked, checking the clips of his twin 9s.

  Tech shrugged. “He was when I seen him last.”

  “Then lets get it popping,” Jah said, just before kicking the apartment door off the hinges.

  THE SEX DIDN’T LAST AS long as the first few times, but Larry got his nut off. Whether Roxy did or not was irrelevant. While Roxy was in the bathroom cleaning herself up, Larry reflected on how easy it was to dupe her. He had made the girl think that he was holding, not knowing he was ass-popped and all the credit cards in his wallet were canceled. He would continue the façade until she was gone, and he hoped she didn’t have to go into her purse for anything, because she was going to be mad as hell when she found out that he’d swiped her money and Medicaid card. Roxy thought she was slick, but nobody was slicker than Larry Love.

  Larry smiled at his own cunning, but the smile faded when the door to his studio apartment came crashing in. Larry tried to reach for the .22 he kept in the drawer by the side of the bed, but the shorter of the gunmen was on him before he could get to it. There was something about the dark-skinned teenager that was familiar to Larry, but he couldn’t place it; but he knew exactly who the second shooter was and what he had come to do. Not being able to control it, he pissed himself.

  Jah took his time coming into the room with a pistol dangling in each hand. He had waited so long for this moment that it almost didn’t seem real. The look on Larry Love’s face was one of pure terror, which only made Jah’s dick hard. Larry made a quick movement and Jah thought he might be going
for a weapon, but to his surprise the big man bolted for the window. Larry hurled himself at the flimsy glass, and though it shattered, the frame kept him from making an exit. All he succeeded in doing was cutting himself up something awful.

  “Now that was dumb,” Tech laughed at the bleeding man.

  “Damn, Larry, that ain’t the reception I expected from my long lost brother,” Jah said icily.

  “Jah, Jah, Jah … wait a minute, man,” Larry stuttered. “Before you do something stupid, you need to know that my next-door neighbor is a cop.”

  “Good, then it shouldn’t take the meat wagon long to come collect what’s left of you,” Jah kicked him in the face, knocking his head into the wall. Larry was dazed but didn’t pass out.

  “Oh, your ass is gonna get it!” Tech said, while doing the cabbage patch over Larry. His little warped ass was getting a kick out of Larry’s situation. He stopped mid-dance and sniffed Larry. “Nigga, did you piss yaself? Jah, this nigga pissed on his self!”

  “Tech, shut the fuck up,” Jah snapped.

  “Dawg, lets talk about this,” Larry pleaded through his bloody lips.

  Jah placed his guns back in the holsters and crouched down so that he and Larry were eye to eye. “What we got to talk about? How you and that skank bitch Marlene crossed my brother?” He slapped Larry viciously across the face. With rage adding strength to his slim arms, Jah grabbed Larry by the throat and lifted him to his feet. “Paul was a good dude, Larry. He didn’t deserve to go out like that!”

  “You don’t think I know that? I live with the guilt of what happened to him every day, so ain’t shit you can do to me that’s worse than what I’m already going through!” Larry shouted. He really felt bad for what had happened to Paul, but it was mostly theatrics for Jah’s benefit.

  “Larry, a piece of shit like you couldn’t begin to even grasp the fundamentals of guilt,” Jah said, reaching down to retrieve a piece of the broken window glass. “But you will know pain.”