Hungry for the Paper

by Hood Rich

  As soon as she said that, something clicked in my brain as I watched Paper pick her skinny-self up, getting ready to carry her to the back of the house. I stopped him. “Wait a minute, bruh, I need to let her test something for me. It’s important.”

  Paper sucked his teeth. “Nigga, I gotta holler at you on some real shit. Can’t that wait?” he asked, looking irritated.

  I shook my head. “Hell n’all. Especially if she talking about throwing a smoker’s party here for her birthday. I need for her to test this new product out and tell me what she thinks.” I pulled the half ounce out of my crotch and sat on the couch, taking the mirror that was on the table with crack residue already on it, and breaking off a chunk of Andrea’s mixture before handing about a dime bag’s worth to Shirley.

  She held out her hand and I dropped it inside of it. She picked up the crystal rock and looked it over closely. “I can already tell that I ain’t gon’ like this, because it don’t look right. I like for my dope to have a yellow tinge to it. This shit right here look like something else.” She pulled her pipe out of her dirty bra and licked her crusty lips, getting ready to sit on the couch before Paper interrupted her.

  He shook his head. “Un-un, Shirley. Go smoke that shit in there and let us know what’s good when you done. For now, I gotta holler at my mans on some important shit. A’ight?”

  She rolled her eyes and stood all the way up. “You sho’ be acting funny when Rich come around. But when it’s just me and you in here, you’re the nicest muthafucka in the world. Ugh, sometimes I can’t stand you, nephew.” She rolled her eyes again and left out of the living room.

  Paper waved her off and pulled my arm until we were both sitting on the couch. “Look, bruh, we might gotta handle my mother’s husband because I think he suspicious about his son’s death. He keeps asking me all these weird ass questions that’s making me uncomfortable.” Paper took a pull off of his blunt and handed it to me.

  I took three puffs off of it and inhaled deeply before blowing it back out, wanting to slap myself across the face because I’d somewhat forgot all about the Jay situation. I handed him back the blunt. “What you think he trying to say in so many words? That you had something to do with it?” I asked as somebody started knocking on the backdoor.

  Paper got up and held up a finger. “Hold on, bruh. I’ll be back. It’s probably just a few addicts. You want some of the money?” he asked, pulling a Ziploc bag from under the couch.

  I shook my head. “I’m good, bruh. Just hurry up and let me know what you thinking so we can figure this thing out.” I watched him leave into the back of the house.

  My mind was spinning. I was hoping that we didn’t have to kill Jamie because that would have been two murders that were up in the air that me and Paper had done, not to mention the one I was helping Aaliyah shake. I wasn’t trying to be in prison for the rest of my life.

  In Wisconsin, they were slaying niggas for the pettiest of crimes. I could only imagine what they would do for two homicides, but at the same time, I wasn’t trying to have that fool Jamie go to them people on us either. All it’d take would be for them to start to investigate us from a distance and we’d be done. Just thinking about it was giving me the hee-bee gee-bees.

  Before Paper was able to come back and sit on the couch, he’d have to answer the backdoor ten times from fiends wanting product. The trap was jumping, and it was only the beginning.

  Finally, he came and sat down. “Alright, so I can kind of tell that he suspects that I had something to do with it because he can’t look me in the eyes, and all yesterday when I was over my mother’s house, he kept saying shit like, ‘You was the only other person that knew about that shipment, Demetrius. You sho’ you ain’t got nothing that you want to tell me about my son’s murder?’ That shit had the hairs on my arms standing up on end. Then, my mother pulled me aside and asked me if I had something to do with it too, so I can tell that her nigga been all up in her head. Long story short, I wanna kill this nigga and get him out the way, as soon as possible. I just need to know if you gon’ rollout with me.”

  Somebody started to beat on the backdoor again. He jumped up and held up another finger before disappearing into the back of the house.

  The next thing I knew, Shirley came into the living room with her eyes wide open and glossy. Her lips were folded over her teeth and her hand was in her panties. She walked toward me with a delirious look on her face. “Rich, this shit good.” She folded her lips back over her teeth again, then smacked her lips together loudly. “I need you and Paper to fuck me. I’m so horny. Y’all just touch all over me, baby, right now. Please, Sugars.” She took her shirt and pulled it over her head, exposing her A-cup, saggy breasts that wouldn’t have looked so bad had I not known the woman that they were attached too. She ran her hand back and forth inside of her black panties, closing her eyes, then opening them wide. “Please, Rich.”

  I stood up and held my hands out to keep her at arm’s length. My nose was scrunched, and I felt sick to my stomach. I wasn’t about to touch her, even with another nigga’s dick. “Yo, chill with all that, Shirley. You know I got way more respect for you than that. You’re like my aunty. Let’s keep everything on the up and up,” I said, looking over her shoulder for Paper.

  She shook her head, took a step back and pulled her panties off of her ashy ankles. She threw them against the wall, laid on her back and opened her thighs wide, separating her sex lips. “Just put it in me for a little while, Rich. I’m hot down there. I need some dick. One of y’all gotta fuck me.” She slid two fingers into herself and started to move them in and out, and that’s when I stepped over her, just as Paper came into the living room.

  “Shirley, what the fuck are you doing in here?” he asked with a handful of money. He stuffed it into his pocket, reached down and pulled her up by her kinky afro. “Get yo’ ass up and get dressed.” He ordered.

  Shirley shook her head, ran her tongue across her lips and moaned into his face. “Fuck me, Paper! Please. I need it so bad. That shit that Rich just gave me fucking with my pussy. It’s so hot in there, baby. Feel it.” She reached for his hand.

  He allowed for her to grab it and put in on to her sex lips before he jerked his hand away, looking at me as if he was embarrassed. “Quit that shit, Shirley! Ain’t nobody on that right now. We got business to take care of! Take yo’ ass in the other room. Now!” He pointed in the direction he needed for her to go.

  Once again, she shook her head, dropped to the floor and opened her legs wide. “Fuck me, Paper. You know I got some good pussy. Don’t be acting all like that now in front of Rich. Tell him how I get down when he ain’t here.” She moaned.

  I bucked my eyes and couldn’t believe what I was hearing, and I knew that it had some truth to it because my homey Paper was a dark-skinned nigga, but after she said what she said, he turned beet red. I was embarrassed for him.

  Paper shook his head, snatched her up and carried her out of the room with her legs wrapped around him. “I’ll be right back, bruh. Let me handle this bitch real quick.” He carried her into the back room and closed the door.

  I heard a loud slap followed by a big bang as if somebody fell to the floor. I was about to rush back there to get him off of her because I assumed that he was beating her ass, but then I heard something that blew my mind as I stood outside of the door, getting ready to turn the knob.

  “You want this dick, Shirley, huh? You want me to beat this shit up? Well take this dick then, bitch. I’m finna fuck the shit out you.”

  I took a step back as Shirley begin to encourage him. “Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me, ooh, fuck me! Aww, aww, aww, Paper, aww, aww, oooh, fuck me, baby!”

  Chapter 11

  Later that night, after me and Paper got an understanding that we were going to have to take Jamie out of the game, I got a text from Aaliyah saying that she needed to see me as soon as possible. So, I confirmed with Shirley that Andrea’s mixture was five times better than the cheesed version of our
crack. She said not only was it better, but it made her feel like she was getting high for the first time all over again. It made her feel highly sexual and as free as a bird. She said that she would get the word out and make sure that the whole city knew that me and Paper were holding the number one product in town. Her birthday party was in two days and I figured that it’d be the perfect time to get our dope into the hands of as many fiends as possible. I was ready to blow up and to get as much money as possible.

  When I got to the motel, Aaliyah opened the door with tears dripping off of her chin and she was reeking of Vodka. As soon as she saw me she dropped the bottle and collapsed into my arms, sobbing loudly. “He killed my mother, Rich. I told you he wasn’t to be played with. He killed my mother, and now he looking for me all over the city. What am I going to do?” She groaned.

  I picked her up and carried her to the bed while she broke down, shaking as if she was losing her mind. “It’s gon’ be okay, Aaliyah. I got you. We gon’ figure out what’s going on,” I promised. The heavy scent of liquor and her cycle roamed up my nose. I figured that it must’ve been a while since she’d had a bath, so I laid her back. “Chill for one second, okay?”

  She broke down a little harder and covered her face with her hands as she laid on her back.

  I got up, jogged into the bathroom and ran some warm bath water before coming back into the room and slowly stripping her out of her clothes, one piece at a time while she cried and cried.

  “I loved her so much, Rich. She was all that I had left. Now what am I going to do? It’s all my fault,” she whimpered, and continued to allow for me to strip her. That part I couldn’t believe.

  “I know, Aaliyah. We gon’ figure it out. I’mma handle that nigga for you. But for right now, you gotta take a bath, ma. You don’t smell so good.”

  After she was naked, I picked her up and she wrapped her right arm around my neck. I carried her to the bathroom where she sat on the toilet and pullet out her tampon, placing it into the plastic bag that I had waiting for her. Then, she sat on the toilet and peed before I picked her back up and slowly lowered her into the bath water.

  Taking a towel and lathering it with soap, I took her arm and began the process of washing her entire body from head to toe while she cried and told me how she was feeling.

  “I feel sick, Rich. I hate Ken so much. I’ve always hated him. My mother didn’t have anything to do with what went on between me and Meeka. He’s nothing but a bully, and one day he’s going to reap what he’s sewn.”

  I knew I didn’t have the right words to say to her. I could only imagine what she was going through. Her mother had just been murdered by a man that she felt had her trapped. I don’t think there was anything that I could say to make her feel better, so I continued to wash her body in silence while tears rolled down her cheeks.

  After I made her stand up, so the shower water could wash off all of the dirt and grime, I watched her put her tampon back in. Then, I picked her up and carried her back to the bed, softly laying her on it.

  She took the clean sheets that I’d bought her from Walmart and pulled them over her body. “Rich, I know you have to leave and everything, but I really don’t want to be alone for a while. I’m so afraid. Can you please hold me until I fall asleep? I need to be in your loving arms, if that’s okay.” She looked me in the eyes.

  I nodded, taking a second to kick off my black and gray Jordan’s before climbing on to the bed, laying on my side and pulling her close to me, placing my chin on the top of her head. I could

  smell the coconut scented shampoo and conditioner that I’d used to scrub her scalp with.

  She waited for me to take hold of her before she lifted the sheets and pulled them upward, exposing her naked body from behind. “Get under here with me, Rich. Don’t be afraid.”

  I laughed and slid under the covers with her, feeling her naked body mold to my chest and stomach. I placed my chin back on the top of her head and closed my eyes, making sure that I held her nice and firmly. She felt good in my arms, I can’t even lie.

  “I’ll do anything, Rich, to have you get rid of Ken for me. I know that you’re a hustler, and I can put you up on a lick that will get you all the way right. Trust me when I tell you this,” she said, scooting backward until her booty was in my lap.

  It felt soft and warm. I tried my best to think unsex like thoughts, but I was finding it so hard because Aaliyah was so cold and was a long-time crush. She was one of those females that you always imagined yourself laying in the bed with, but in the back of your mind you never thought it would come true. I knew I had to restrain myself because, first off, she was on her cycle, and secondly, her mother had just been murdered. Only a scumbag would’ve tried to go in on her at a time like that. I just needed to be there for emotional support, but the talk of a lick did have my ears open wide.

  “What you talking about, lil’ mama?” I asked, inhaling her womanly scent a lil’ bit.

  She snuggled back into me and sighed. “I’ve never had a man just hold me before. Especially not while I was on my period. It feels nice.” She was quiet for a second. She moved backward into me, took my hand and placed it on her hip. “I got this trick, a white man, that’s real heavy into narcotics. Every time he fucks me, he takes me out to his mansion in West Allis. You know, on the south side of town. It’s like Scarface lives there or something. There is coke and heroin all over the place. I’ve seen bricks of it. That and weed, but I’m pretty sure that doesn’t interest you.”

  I moved my head around until my cheek was laying on top of hers. “Don’t try and overthink things. Just give me the information that you have and allow for me to make my own decisions, okay?”

  She smiled and rubbed her cheek against mine a lil’ bit. “This is so nice. You smell good, too. I love it.” She exhaled loudly. “Okay, well he usually meets up with me two times out of the month, and he’s the only trick that I have that Ken doesn’t know about. I’ve kept him a secret for my own selfish reasons. We’ll get into those at another time. However, I am willing to set him up for you, so you can get all of his goods. If you do things the right way you can walk away with so much dope that you’ll never have to work the block again. You’ll be a king. All I ask is that you, in turn, kill Ken for me. That way I’ll be free, and he’ll be forced to pay for what he’s done to my mother. She didn’t deserve to die, and I don’t deserve to be in fear for my life. What do you say?”

  I started to rub the side of her hip for a minute, collecting my thoughts. What she was proposing sounded real good to my ears, but almost too good to be true. I started to wonder if she was selling me a dream just, so I could knock Ken off for her, and if she was, it was something that she didn’t have to do because I was already considering murking him anyway. One thing I disliked was a liar. I tried my best to keep shit one hunnit at all times. Lying to me was a good way for me to quit messing with you on all levels. I didn’t care who you were.

  “Aaliyah, you know we just getting to know each other and everything, and I don’t want to come at you bogus or make you feel like I don’t trust you or nothing like that, but I just gotta protect myself, nah’mean?”

  She sat up and turned around to face me. “Rich, stop all that beating around the bush shit and say what’s on your mind. I feel like you know enough about me that you can keep shit real and let me know what you’re thinking at all times. So, spit it out.”

  I sat up and exhaled loudly, running my hands over my face. “A’ight, look. For Ken, if you blowing smoke to get me to knock that nigga off, you ain’t got to. Just on the strength of how me and him had an ugly run in, I’m gon’ take care of him, so you’re good.”

  She frowned. “Wait. What do you mean blowing smoke? What? You think I’m lying to you about the lick or something?”

  I shrugged and looked into her eyes without saying a word.

  She sucked her teeth and got out of the bed, wrapping a sheet around her naked frame before walking back and forth, looki
n’ at the floor. “Damn, so I guess since I sold a lil’ pussy that gives you the right to think I’m dishonest, and that I’ll play you like some two-dollar whore, huh?” She blew air through her teeth and shook her head. “Wow.”

  I got out of the bed and dusted myself off, picking up one of my shoes and putting it on my foot. I ain’t feel like arguing with no female. That just wasn’t my thing. I tried my best to be as respectful as I could when it came to them because within every female I saw a version of my mother or little sisters.

  “Look, I ain’t mean no disrespect by it. Like I said, I was just protecting myself because I represent a picture that’s bigger than my own. I got a lot of vulnerable loved ones depending on me to make it happen, which is why I have to dissect everything that this game brings. It’s unfortunate, but it’s my life.”

  Aaliyah lowered her head and bit into her bottom lip. “I guess I can respect that.” She walked across the room until she was standing in front of me with her head leaned to the side, looking into my eyes with her pretty face. She was without make up. She looked pure and a bit younger, even though there were bags under her eyes.

  I reached out with my thumb and ran it across them. I don’t know why I wanted to feel her there, but I did. I grabbed her cheeks and brought her forehead to my lips, kissing her right in the middle of it.

  “Mmm-a.” She closed her eyes and stood on her tippy toes, so she could feel it better. “I’ve never met a dude as affectionate as you are. It’s so rare, and it makes me feel so good. I’m getting weaker over you and I know it ain’t cool because don’t you have a girl?” She looked up at me, waiting for my response.

  I rubbed the side of her soft cheek with the back of the fingers on my right hand. “Yeah, it’s something like that. I got somebody in my life that I care about, but we ain’t got no labels or nothin’, though she is special to me.”