I pushed the picture of a large leafy plant inside a circle across the table to Momma. “Do you think your embroidery machine can stitch this onto my green t-shirts?” I wasn’t going to wear a spandex body suit, but even I was savvy enough to know that branding was important. I had designed the emblem myself and used my allowance money to copyright it.
She took the picture, then smiled at me. “I guess that would look nicer than the toe and you do look handsome in your new slacks.” She looked down at my design again. “I could do it in a real pretty dark green so it stands out.”
“That sounds perfect, Momma!”
She was happy again as she took the stack of identical green shirts into her sewing room.
The screen door from the back porch slammed and Starkeisha stood before me. “Come on, Corey. It’s time for your lesson.” She slid out of a floor-length trench coat to reveal a red spandex bodysuit with a bright gold star emblazoned on the front. It looked great on her. She had appointed herself my sidekick and she’d taken the name, Superstar. I thought it fit her perfectly.
She had also taken it upon herself to teach me how to fight and she’d spent the last week kicking my ass all over our basement floor. “Now? Can’t I get a break just for today?”
“You said it yourself, there’s a dangerous drug lord still out there and supplies of Psycho Silly are already starting to seep back into Onyx city. We can’t rest. We gotta keep fighting until this mess is gone for good! In order to do that, you gotta learn how to fight. Even though me and Super Soartastic got our shots to protect us against the drug side effects, we may not always be there to help you. You can’t always depend on us to fight your battles. You need to learn how to fight for yourself. So on your feet, Cultivator and prepare for today’s ass whoopin.”
She reached out and grabbed my hands and pulled me to my feet, then led me down the stairs. I had no choice but to follow. A superhero’s job is never done.
TALLY MARKS
Chris Wiltz
“Yo, what is that?”
“It’s a cop uniform, right?”
“Man, cops don’t come through here anymore. They stay downtown, protecting white folks. I ain’t never seen a cop uniform like that. It look like some shit off Xbox.”
I picked up the helmet and showed it to Jay. “Nah man, this is like military, I seen stuff like this on CNN.”
“When you ever watch CNN?”
“All the time. I ain’t a dumbass like you. I know what’s up in the world.”
“Please, you can’t even spell C-N-N, talking about you know what’s up with the world.”
“Fuck you.” Jay always gotta put you down. Just ‘cause he can’t even read, he act like everyone supposed to be stupid.
I shoulda cracked back on him, but he was pulling the rest of the pieces out from under all the trash.
A bunch of roaches popped up from under some bricks when he moved them. Jay didn’t even flinch. “You scared of some roaches dog?”
“I hope you get AIDS digging around in all that shit.”
***
Now we had all the pieces.
“See, it’s body armor or something. Look at the bullet holes,” Jay said. There was parts for your whole body and it all had holes in it. “And it’s all scratched up.”
I looked closer. “Those ain’t scratches, it’s tally marks. Dirty ass cops keeping track of how many niggas heads they cracked open.”
“Well, then this dude cracked open every head in the damn area code.”
I flipped over the helmet. It was shiny like a mirror on the outside but the inside was all dark like if you put it on you’d be blind. There was a bunch of circuits inside.
“What’s it doing here? This stuff look like it cost more than the whole hood.”
Jay started laughing after he picked up the piece that went around your nuts.
“Okay, okay I got it. Officer Tally Marks needs to take a piss, but see you gotta take all this shit off first.”
“So he strips butt naked four blocks off of Woodward?
Jay didn’t pay me no attention and kept going. “So, homeboy figures ‘Damn I gotta hide this stuff so nobody sees it.’ Then he goes off to cop a squat and gets dapped over his head by some goons. He probably lying face down in a empty field right now with shit halfway down his legs.”
“Or he ain’t back yet, and when he see you playing with his nut protector he gonna put a 12-gauge in your chest.”
Jay dropped the nut protector and started looking all which ways.
“Damn. You probably right.” He start picking up all the armor pieces. “C’mon man, help me get this shit up.”
I picked up the belt and a gun fell out.
“Oh shit, is that loaded?” Jay was looking a little too excited.
I checked. “Nope.”
I opened one of the little holders on the belt – three full clips for the gun.
“It ain’t loaded. But it could be.”
***
We went to three pawn shops, wouldn’t nobody buy the gear off us. Crooked ass Arab Joey offered us a grip for it, but Jay and me ain’t that stupid. We had the whole thing in a shopping cart, covered up, pushing it down the street – just two dudes hustling for empty cans. At least if somebody rolled up on us we had a gun.
I came out of the liquor store with two Faygos and Jay was trying to get one of the pieces on his arm. I had to run up and snatch it from this dude before anyone saw.
“You trying to get us jacked?”
“Yo, this is stupid. Ain’t nobody gonna buy this. The cops probably got like tracking numbers and shit on it.”
“So you wanna just dump it for the next fool to find?”
“Nah I got a better idea. Peep that.”
As soon as Jay pointed to the house across the street I knew what he wanted to do. Crack houses look like other abandoned houses unless you know what gang graffiti looks like. Crescent moon means Vice Lords. You can get paid real quick knocking over a crack house. If you got the balls.
“You wanna roll up on that?”
“Hell yeah.”Jay had that look on his face. Jay ain’t never gave a fuck in general, but sometimes he really ain’t give a fuck.
“Here…” He shoved a piece in my hand. “I can’t fit in this shit, you gotta do it.
“Why I gotta put this on?”
“Cause you a skinny ass nigga.”
“Man, them Vice Lords gonna shoot me in the head.”
“Hell nah. Look at this shit. You gonna be like Robocop, just tell them you police and snatch they shit.”
I picked up another arm piece and looked at it. Looked like it was blood stains on it. “Man I dunno Jay.”
“You trying to get paid today or what, son?”
***
We was probably at it for a good hour trying to get the suit on. Jay stupid ass put the chest part on me backwards and we had to start over.
“Man, the crack-house is gonna be closed by the time we get all this on.”
“Shut up, nigga.”
The last leg piece clicked in place. “How’s it feel?”
I moved around. “Feels light as hell; like I ain’t got nothing on.”
Jay pushed the helmet on me. It was pitch black inside it. “Just go!”
I could hear Jay’s voice loud and clear though.
“I can’t see shit.”
But then all these crazy ass lights hit me. Like sitting real close to the TV. Then it was like the helmet wasn’t there no more. I could see like I didn’t have anything on my head.
“What’d you do, Jay?”
“Nothing. Can you see now?”
“Yeah.”
“Good! Let’s go get paid.” Jay had loaded the gun already and put it in my hand. As soon as he did, a little green triangle target popped up in the air.
“Yo. Can you see that?”
“I ain’t got the helmet on.”
The triangle was following my eyes. It was zooming in when I looked at
something hard enough.
“Yo this is some Modern Warfare shit right here, for real. Shit is tight.”
Jay was all like “Whatever.” I could tell he was hating ‘cause I fit in the suit and he didn’t. “March yo ass across the street and collect some bills, then.”
“What do I say?”
“Tell them niggas you police and get they money. They ain’t gone fuck wit’ no cop.”
I don’t know why I knocked when I got to the door. I knew it was stupid while I was doing it. I turned around and shrugged at Jay. He was hiding behind a bombed out car across the street, looking at me like I was retarded.
He started motioning. I ain’t understand. He swung his leg in the air and ducked back in his hiding place.
Right. I should kick the door in.
The cheap ass door collapsed around my foot when I kicked it.
There was human shit in the hallway. A bunch of half naked broads was laying out on the steps going upstairs. Some dude was at the end of the hall mumbling crazy shit to himself. There was babies crying from somewhere.
I took a step and stepped on a crack pipe. I looked down and a bunch of crazy shit popped up in the air – arrows and windows and numbers. Then it all went away and the words “CRIMINAL ACTIVITY DETECTED” flashed for a second. The triangle turned red.
Before I knew it, I was walking all the way into the back, right past the crazy dude and into the kitchen.
Four Vice Lords, dressed in all black, were playing spades at the table. There was a fat broad with her ass out, wearing nothing but an apron.
I shot all three of them niggas in like three seconds, right in the forehead. The broad got scared and spilled cocaine all over the floor. The helmet focused on the coke, then on her, then I shot her three times – two in the chest, one in the head after she already hit the floor.
I was already heading back out. Two more VL’s came down the stairs, trying to climb over the passed-out crackheads. I shot another one at the top of the stairs in both knees. He fell down on the other two. They landed right at my feet and I put the heat in the back of all they heads.
It took me three steps to get upstairs. I found one VL smoking in the bathroom and shot him right in the heart and head. I caught another in the bedroom doggystyling some crack hoe. The hoe didn’t notice his brains hit the wall in front of her. He kept at it for like a second after I shot him in the head, the hoe didn’t realize what had happened until his body fell on her.
There was another bedroom, with like three kids and some crying babies in it. They were all huddled around a box of stale pizza that had some roaches crawling over it. The helmet flashed all around the room, then I just left.
The stash was in the second bedroom. The word CONTRABAND flashed in my face. Next thing I know, I was pouring the product into the bathtub and washing it down the drain.
I marched my ass back outside. Jay was pacing in the street.
“Holy shit, nigga, what the hell did…”
The helmet zoomed in on Jay, he was looking behind me.
I spun around. There was another Vice Lord coming out from around the back of the house – a fat, slow nigga with a shotty.
He raised the gun up. The triangle zoomed in on it and I fired. There was an explosion and next thing I know, fat nigga is on the ground screaming. His hands are missing a lot of pieces.
Before I could take it all in, the triangle was on fatty’s forehead and a bullet sprayed his brain all over the overgrown lawn.
Jay gets up in my face. “The hell are you doing?”
I can’t explain what just happened. I ain’t do any of it. I mean I did, but at the same time, I didn’t.
“The suit did it by itself,” I said.
The triangle moved up to Jay’s face…but it flashed and turned green again and settled.
I saw the words “ALL THREATS NEUTRALIZED” for a second, then they disappeared.
***
“What you mean, the suit did it? What’d you do? Did you get shot?”
The only blood I saw on me was the stains that had been there. “I was the only one shooting.”
“You blasted all them fools?”
“The suit did.”
Jay got all antsy, like he was gonna run up in the house.
“I looked. There ain’t no money.”
“SHIT!” Jay was having a fit. “We gotta bounce!”
Jay was way ahead already. I took off running after him.
My breath was funking up the inside of the helmet. I knew I should run. It don’t matter if they think you a cop. You dead one Vice Lord, let alone like a dozen of them fools, and you better run.
Me and Jay kept running. There was another little window for a second in the corner of my eye – I ain’t know what the words meant – ENDORPHINE STIMULATION.
I started feeling better. I wasn’t breathing so heavy. I ain’t never shot nobody before in real life. I felt like I’d just finished playing a video game.
I felt like I just had fun.
***
Damn, ain’t hardly nowhere to put the tally marks no more.
Jay is over there on his Xbox trying to act like I ain’t getting on his nerves with the noise. But the armor is tough as hell. You gotta really scrape the knife into this shit to get the marks on there.
“FUCK!” Jay yells. He probably just got killed by some 12-year-old in Korea or somewhere. Then he throws the controller at me. I catch it; no problem. The suit does everything.
“Damn nigga! You stink!”
I ain’t tell Jay the suit is reading a “THREAT ASSESSMENT” on him and he outta calm his ass down.
“You need a bath. You can’t take that shit off?”
I ain’t seen no point in taking it off. I take the helmet off sometimes but I don’t remember last time I did that. I ain’t been sleeping much, so probably since last time I slept.
Jay talks a lot of shit, but he know I know he ain’t left the house in like weeks. He scared the Vice Lords, or the Black Disciples, or just some random hood niggas is gonna run up on him. He don’t like to talk about how that brand new Xbox and giant-ass TV came from dough that we took off them fools. It was all good when he was trickin’ off strippers with the money we found in the stash spots, but now the streets is talkin’ and he trying to be a hermit.
I don’t remember why I started doing the tally marks. I can’t tell which ones is mine anymore. I’m gonna have to start doing them on the inside of the suit soon.
“You gonna take it off or not?”
The triangle ain’t turned red, but Jay is dancing on that line.
I’m at Jay like, “What you scared of? You don’t want niggas finding us, maybe you shouldn’t have that Camaro outside.”
“Nigga, don’t nobody know that’s mine.”
“How many of these broke ass niggas around here rollin’ with the matte paint and turbo engine? You keep trying to please all them hoes and…”
“Tisha ain’t no hoe, homie!”
Tisha is the newest hoe Jay been seeing. She got a big booty, but every dude around here know she ain’t got all them fine ass clothes and that dope apartment downtown cause she work hard.
“Whatever, dog. Just don’t be expecting me to be helping with child support when that broad trick you into having her seed.”
“Man, fuck you!”
“I’m just sayin’…you ain’t seen her in a minute right? She probably stealing some other dude’s sperm right now and gonna show up in nine months talking about it’s yours.”
Jay swings on me, but I catch his hand. I want to let go, but the suit is squeezing and twisting. Jay’s on his knees and I can hear his knuckles crunching.
I don’t tell Jay about how much the suit can do. He knows something but not everything. Half the time, I don’t even tell him where the money comes from. He too scared to come along anymore, so I don’t say nothing.
Like I ain’t tell him the reason he ain’t seen Tisha in like two weeks is cause I went over
to her spot downtown. She was in there with some other stripper broads and these lame looking niggas. After I got done shooting them I almost laughed. Turns out Tisha’s place was a stash spot. I found a gang of cash inside the bathroom wall. Tisha was in shock or something, I think. I ain’t wanna hurt her, but when she picked up one of them dudes’ guns and came at me, the suit did the rest.
Shooting fools is like a virgin getting some ass for the first time. You just wanna keep doing it.
I manage to force my hand open and Jay is down on his knees. His hand look like crumpled paper. I ain’t never seen a grown ass dude like Jay crying before.
I should tell him about Tisha, but I ain’t feel like it. I ain’t feel like a lot of stuff.
Like I ain’t feel like telling him I told the VLs where they could find me. Right off Grand River, the yellow apartment building – the only one ain’t been gutted for scrap yet – eighth floor, end of the hallway. They will probably be over here any minute. I ain’t sure why I told them. It seemed like it would be fun.
The helmet picks up the sound of car engines. It says the sounds are half a mile away. It’s a lot of car engines.
***
Jay is bleeding all over my shit. That’s what I get for saving his heavy ass.
The first of them fools kicked the door right in. Jay even got a couple shots off with his pistol. I had the shotty we kept under the kitchen sink. Some more was climbing up the fire escape. One got through and Jay took a bullet in the back.
I shottied that nigga right in his face. Two more tried to come up but I grabbed them and threw they ass all eight floors back to the street.
The suit is telling me I’m low on ammo. It’s flashing stuff about “TACTICAL WITHDRAWAL”
I take Jay’s gun and clean out the hallway. Jay won’t stop screaming and get his ass up, so I have to throw him over my shoulder. I catch two more dudes coming out the elevator and run for the stairs.
Jay is whining like a bitch, all, “I can’t feel my legs, dog! I can’t feel my shit!”
Instead of going all the way down, I get out the stairs on the second floor.
I’m running down the hallway fast as I can. A dude rounds a corner and I put two in him. I don’t know if he was VL, but he was in all black, so fuck ‘em.
Black Power- The Superhero Anthology Page 38
