Street Chronicles Girls in the Game

by Nikki Turner

  Back at the block party the crowd was thinning out. Bossy grew angrier and angrier thinking about that bitch-ass Ant. She wanted to pop his ass the moment she witnessed him stealing money she knew he didn't need. She had put off making a crucial phone call long enough, but it was now time to return to her roots—some straight-up survival-of-the-fittest type shit.

  10. WHERE YOU AT TWAN,

  WHERE YOU AT?

  Bossy finally made the phone call she'd been putting off for too long. Because of Ant's immature ways of thinking, she had given him the benefit of the doubt after he disrespected Aisha the way he had. Even after approaching him and warning him not to fuck with her again, he chose to ignore Bossy's warnings. Trying to steal the money from the block party was stupid, even for Ant. He knew who had sponsored the event this year. KAT69 put thousands of dollars into backing the event, so stealing from it was the same thing as stealing from her.

  It took about an hour to drive to the Pittsburgh airport. Bossy couldn't help but reflect on old times. The night she had taken a life was something she didn't want to reminisce about, but it was the one thing that kept coming to mind. After leaving baggage claim and finding Bossy's 2006 Chrysler 300, Jalil “Big Black” Perry got right down to business.

  It had been about twelve years since they'd seen each other, but Bossy and Big Black kept in touch with monthly phone calls. He'd always promised to be there if she needed him and true to his word, here he was. The only change he'd made in twelve years was his weight. Bossy didn't think it possible, but Big Black had actually gotten bigger. He'd always been a big man, at six feet, six inches and two hundred seventy pounds. He had smooth skin the color of fudge brownies, and eyelashes that most women would kill for.

  Unbeknownst to Bossy, about two months ago Big Black had received a call from his lifelong friend C-Lok. In the years that Big Black lived in Raleigh, North Carolina, the lines of communication had stayed open between the men. They never discussed business over the phone, so when C-Lok brought the subject of Bossy up and explained the problems she was having with Ant, Big Black knew shit was serious. He knew how Bossy was getting hers, and it sounded as if this young blood Ant was putting her livelihood in danger.

  Big Black knew that if Ant crossed the line, Bossywould need his help, but he'd come only if she reached out to him. So he packed a bag and waited for the call.

  “You told me about this punk, but you never said how you, of all people, got mixed up with him.”

  Bossy filled Big Black in on Twan's relationship with Teddy Bear and his current status in the streets.

  “How does his punk-ass boy play into this?” asked Big Black.

  “They've been best friends for years, and Ant was in the game, too. So naturally Twan made Ant his right-hand man.”

  “Let me guess. Ant either got greedy, jealous, or both, right?”

  “You know you right. They got bigheaded and started slangin’ money around like they were millionaires. I couldn't believe how often Twan was bringing me kilo after kilo to store, chop, mix, and bag. At one point he even got into messing with prescription drugs and that white-boy drug, meth.”

  “So what changed?”

  “Ah, you know me, Black. I let him know he had to slow the fuck down or I wasn't gon’ fuck wit’ him no more.”

  “I bet his boy didn't like that.” Big Black laughed.

  “No, he didn't, and he had the nerve to attempt to threaten Aisha. You know the project girl surfaced in her.”

  Big Black and Bossy laughed and joked about how Aisha could go from a prissy woman to a ghetto bitch quicker than a crack-head could make a fifty-dollar rock of cooked cocaine disappear on a hot pipe.

  “Girl, you still crazy. But back to the matter at hand. I'd like to meet this Twan and get a feel for him. Tell me this—where do you think his head is at?” inquired Big Black.

  “I think Twan is a good guy, but still in his twenties—he's impressionable. His loyalty to his best friend made him blind to Ant's greed and jealousy. In everything that's gone down, Twan has never disrespected me and has never lied to me, even when the truth put him in an unfavorable light.”

  “We should have a meeting with him once we hit the Yo right after I get settled in. Besides Aisha and Terry, the fewer people who know I'm in town, the better it will be for all of us. Especially if I end up doing what I think I'll have to do.”

  11. YOUNG-MINDED GIRL

  WILL FUCK SHIT UP

  Twan stood in line at the liquor store when the barmaid from the Southern Tavern walked up behind him.

  “Hey, Twan, I haven't seen you at the bar lately,” said Brianna.

  “What up wit’ you, girl? I just been lying low for a minute. Spending a little time with the family.”

  “From what I'm told, it's not enough time.”

  Twan paid the store clerk for the fifth of Absolut and returned his attention to Brianna. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  Brianna paid for her purchase and walked outside with Twan. “About two weeks ago I got a phone call from some chick advising me to stay away from you.”

  Twan wasn't surprised, because he'd heard this same thing from other female friends of his.

  “Damn, Twan, I've known you forever, and never knew you could put it down like that. Got that girl acting all ghettofied to keep you?”

  “Man, I'm sorry she did that shit and put you all up in my business like that.”

  “Don't sweat it. We been cool since we met, and you know I got much respect for you. But on the real, you need to check ya girl. She's also called a few other girls we both know, and you're now the topic of gossip because of it.”

  “Damn, it's like that?” Twan was getting angrier by the minute.

  “Yeah, you know how small this city is. Those with nothing to do feed on shit like this. It'll die out soon, though, and another bailer will take your place.” Brianna tried to make the situation seem like it wasn't so bad.

  Twan and Brianna made small talk for a few minutes before he left to sit in his Escalade and gathered himself before driving off. When he left the liquor store parking lot, he made a right onto Southern Boulevard, headed for the lower east side to check on his drug house. Careful to maintain the posted speed limit, Twan coasted down the hill. When he switched lanes, he noticed a familiar ride two cars behind him. Brushing it off as a coincidence, Twan shook his head and put on some classic DJ Quik. Relaxing in his leather seat, he checked the traffic surrounding him and again spotted the familiar car that appeared to be following him. This has to be some kind of fluke, thought Twan. He slowed down as he approached a traffic light. As the light changed from green to yellow, he sped through it in an attempt to get away from the Lexus. If this car runs the light, it's following me.

  Glancing in his rearview mirror, he saw that the Lexus was right behind him. Twan immediately picked up his Nextel and paged Lajetia. She responded immediately.

  “Hey, Twan, what's up?” Lajetia asked innocently.

  “Nothing, I'm just checking on you and the kids. Where are you?” He hoped she wouldn't lie to him.

  “Just chillin’ in the park with the kids.”

  “Liar! I'm looking at you in my mirror. What the fuck you doin’ following me?”

  “You trippin', Twan. …”

  “Take ya connivin’ ass home and quit following me. You ain't got shit else to do but run up behind my ass?” For weeks now he had felt someone was following him, and he thought it was the police. He never considered that it might be his own woman. Twan hung up his cell, exited the highway, and made a sharp right onto Himrod Avenue while Lajetia turned left to circle back onto the highway.

  Her eyes blurred with tears; Lajetia knew she'd been caught and that Twan would demand answers the second he got home. If he came home at all. She may have just lost everything she had.

  Deciding to put his rounds on hold, Twan headed home to confront Lajetia. She'd crossed the line by making those junior high school type phone calls, and now s
he was following him. He didn't know how much more he could take. Ignoring the fact that the babysitter, Auntell, was still there, Twan let Lajetia have it before he got both feet through the doorway.

  “So, what is it? Have you lost your mind or are you that damn bored?”

  “Twan, calm down, please. Auntell is still here and you're embarrassing me,” Lajetia responded calmly.

  “I don't give a fuck if ex-President Clinton was sitting up in this bitch with you. You should have thought about that shit before you copied those numbers out of my phone. And you really should have considered the consequences of following my ass like you the fucking police or some shit.”

  Lajetia had no idea he knew about her making those phone calls. The only way for him to find out was for one of those bitches to run her mouth. “Please calm down; you know the kids don't like to hear us arguing.” She was sure that mentioning the kids would make him at least lower his tone.

  “Quit talking about every- and anything besides your fucked-up actions. Why, Lajetia? Are you that insecure that you got to put my personal business on the street like that? Do you think that if I was fuckin’ one of them bitches she'd tell you the truth? You need to grow the fuck up! I ain't down for this at all.”

  “When a man don't come home until the wee hours of the morn—”

  “How many times do I have to explain to you that the streets never close down?” Twan cut her off “Don't answer that, because you obviously will never get it. You've fucked with me for the last time, Lajetia. I'm out of here!” Twan marched off to the bedroom to pack a few things with Lajetia on his heels.

  “No, Twan, please don't leave me. I'm sorry; just tell me what I can do to make it up to you. I can make this right.”

  “How can you make this right when you haven't done shit right since I got with ya ass?”

  Those words cut her to the bone, but Lajetia was determined not to let Twan leave her. “You can't leave us now, Twan. I'm pregnant!” Lajetia froze as Twan faced her with a look of hatred in his eyes.

  “What did you say?”

  “I'm pregnant, Twan. I'm going to give you another child, and then we can get married and you'll be able to adopt Kiara and Tyler, like you said. We'll be a real family. So now you know why I did what I did. When I found out I was pregnant, I had to hold on to you.”

  “You are stupid if you think that lying to me will hold on to me. Did you getting pregnant hold on to any of them other nig-gas?” Twan reached into the closet and grabbed his duffel bag to throw a couple of outfits into it.

  Lajetia sat on the corner of the bed crying and trying to convince Twan of her love and that she'd never lie about being pregnant. Twan walked into the private bathroom and returned with his toothbrush and deodorant. As he walked out of the room, he turned to look at Lajetia and told her, “You should have realized a long time ago that the one and only thing you had to do to hold on to me was just trust me.”

  The oversize duffel bag landed in the trunk with a thud. His cell phone rang and the caller ID read, KAT69-1. It was Bossy calling.

  “Hey, girl, you all right?”

  “Yeah, I need for you to get over here to my apartment as soon as you can. We have some things to talk about.”

  “I'll be there in fifteen,” replied Twan.

  As he drove away from his lavish house, he wondered if he'd ever call it home again. His Escalade took him away, and he never looked back to see the three kids looking out the bay window, just as their mother had told them to do.

  Well, Bossy brought me up to speed on ya boy,” Big Black said to Twan.

  “I can't believe he flipped on me the way he did. Money has really changed him,” said Twan.

  “Correction, young blood: Money didn't change him; it just brought out who he really is.”

  “Twan, let me ask you a question,” interjected Bossy. “Do you trust him?”

  “That's an easy question—hell, no! Lajetia told me something that will never allow me to trust Ant's bitch ass ever again.”

  Twan went on to explain the details of the traffic stop involving Ant and the two dirty officers.

  “Did you say officers Powell and Meeks?” Big Black sounded confused.

  “Yeah, man, they've been robbin’ hustlers all around the city for years. I can't believe they've been getting away with it for this long,” complained Twan.

  “Neither can I, but the fact that Ant might be fuckin’ with dem two bitches makes me worry even more about my girls,” Big Black said between gulps of his third forty-ounce. Big Black's physique was intimidating, but his heart was filled with love for Bossy, Aisha, and Terry.

  “I wouldn't put it past him to flip on me. He knows my operation from top to bottom.” Twan picked up his watered-down Belvedere and orange juice.

  “Haven't I always told you there ain't no friends in this business? Seriously, you know I got love for you like a little brother, but you don't know my shit all like that. My girls don't even know everything there is to know, and that's for both their protection and mine,” preached Bossy.

  “I've heard enough. This fool done stepped to Aisha, stole money, and is layin’ down with five-O. That's three strikes, and that lets me know it's time to send Ant on a permanent vacation.” Big Black ended the topic of conversation.

  Twan rose to leave, but Bossy had one more question for him. If he answered it honestly, she knew she would be able to trust him.

  “Twan, before you leave I want to ask you something.”

  “Come with it.”

  “Who's your new contact?”

  “Clifton ‘C-Lok Boyd,” answered Twan.

  He'd passed the test.

  12. WHAT'S DONE IN THE

  DARK WILL COME TO LIGHT

  With Ant loose on the streets acting like a bitch in heat, lives were in danger, including Bossy's. She knew that with Big Black now involved, once the shit hit the fan, nothing would ever be the same again. Bossy just prayed that the right people were left standing.

  She drove more than forty-five minutes to her destination. She hadn't been out this way in years and took a couple wrong turns, making the trip longer than it should have been.

  Bossy slowed her car down as she searched for the house number that read 6789- She exited her car as fast as possible so the three young men manning the corner wouldn't mistake her for a customer.

  The guarded front door opened wide as Bossy climbed the stairs. C-Lok's frame blocked Kayla from entering his house without first greeting him with a hug.

  “Girl, you look good. It's been a long time,” said C-Lok.

  “I have missed you, too,” replied Bossy.

  They walked into C-Lok's office, where a couple of his runners waited. There was no need to introduce Bossy, because they had known about her for years. Bossy never knew that C-Lok looked out for her almost as much as Teddy Bear had. The two runners greeted her and exited the room.

  “Tell me what brings you this far away from your comfort zone.” C-Lok stared into Bossy's eyes.

  “I need to talk with you about Ant and Twan,” responded Bossy.

  “I heard about the rift between those two,” C-Lok shared.

  “Some things never change. It's never a good idea to mix business and personal. Twan did, and shit has gotten hot.”

  “That's what I hear. But I take it you think I should know about something more.”

  “Yeah, I believe ya boy Ant is in bed with dem two bitch-ass po-po, Meeks and Powell. Watch ya back closely, and keep Ant closer.” Bossy went on to explain about Ant fucking up three times, and the info about him chillin’ with the cops.

  C-Lok listened intently to Bossy.

  “Good lookin’ on comin’ to me like this.”

  “You know what's up,” stated Bossy. She had never stopped loving C-Lok, but had long ago accepted that they were not to be.

  “How is Devin? That nigga keepin’ his head up behind those concrete walls?”

  “You know he's straight. If he can keep his n
ose clean, he can possibly see daylight the next time he comes up for parole. Lord knows between the two of us, we've paid that damn prosecutor enough. By the way, thanks again for helping me.”

  C-Lok had promised Bossy to take care of her brother, Devin, the day he went up on burglary and murder charges, and had kept his promise. Right before C-Lok moved out of the projects, Devin and Bossy's mother, Linda Tucker, overdosed on a mixture of crack and heroin, leaving Bossy with no family. It was C-Lok who made certain she had a roof over her head that would forever be hers if she wanted it. He'd paid for the apartment building by giving the money to Teddy Bear, and requested that his friend never let Bossy know of his gift to her. He feared she'd feel obligated to work for him. C-Lok and Teddy Bear decided that was not an option.

  C-Lok and Bossy visited for another hour, and then Bossy headed back to the Yo'. Big Black was waiting for Bossy in her apartment when she walked in.

  “What took you so long? I know C-Lok's ass ain't trip on you.”

  “Naw, it wasn't nothing like that. He was straight. We got caught up on a few things. I was telling him about me wanting out.” Bossy hadn't told Big Black of her plan to go legit, and waited anxiously for his response.

  “It's about time, girl. You just made my fuckin’ day. Do you know how much sleep I've lost over the years worried about you? Since that night we lost our boy Poppy, I've wanted you out the game. You just ain't the type of woman to take to somebody telling her what to do,” confessed Big Black.

  “Well, the time has come, and after this shit is finished, I'm out before some of the things I've done in the dark come to light.” Bossy released a sigh of relief.

  13. LOVE DON'T LIVE

  HERE ANYMORE

  “Good morning, Ma. You need anything done besides the grass cut?”

  “No, son, I'm fine. What I don't have the good Lord will provide,” Olivia Quarles solemnly answered her son, Ant.