Gangstress

by India

  “Oh, my God, Jane.” Michelle struggled with attending to my needs or running for shelter. Most people would’ve let me be in order to save their own ass. Nevertheless, she stayed behind and attempted to pull me to safety. My purse housed my gun, but it had fallen a few inches away from where I was lying and was out of reach.

  “What’s up now, bitch?” The man pointed the gun and shot again, this time hitting my arm. His aim wasn’t worth shit. If he were a real killer, I would’ve been dead at this close range. But I wasn’t complaining. “Pick her up and get her in the house,” he instructed Michelle, who was covered in my blood.

  “What’s the matter with you? She’s pregnant!” she screamed.

  “Shut up and do what I said.” The masked man pointed the gun at her. She shrieked. “Now hurry up!”

  Michelle struggled to lift my body with her 135-pound frame. She did as best she could until we were in the house.

  “Where’s the dope?” he asked.

  “We ain’t got no dope,” she yelled. “Just leave us alone.”

  “Bitch, stop lying.” Once again he pointed the gun toward her.

  “I’m not lying. We ran dry over an hour ago,” she insisted.

  “So where’s the money at?”

  “It’s been delivered to the stash house,” Michelle replied.

  See me, I would’ve come up off the bread and lived to fight another day. Michelle, on the other hand, was from the old school. She would die before she gave a nigga anything. Once word got out that you did, they’d think you’re soft. It then became an open invitation for every Tom, Dick, and Harry to get at you.

  “So you wanna be tough. Suit yourself. Both of y’all get into that closet,” he barked.

  Up until this point, I hadn’t said anything. I was concentrating on the sound of his voice and the pattern of his movements and memorizing the shoes he had on. “Son of a bitch!” I spoke low yet loud enough to be heard. “For real, dude, is that you?” He was one of the local residents I’d had an encounter with a few days ago.

  Ali and I had stopped at the corner store for snacks. When we came outside, he and his homies were leaning on Alicia’s Lexus like they owned it. We asked them politely to move but they decided to get ignorant. Dude actually tried to flex on me until I revealed my gun and shot at his ass. I wasn’t really trying to hit him. But now I wished I would have. This man had the audacity to run up in my spot trying to rob me while wearing the same neon green Air Max’s he had on the other day.

  “Get in the closet!” He snatched the mask off and threw it to the floor, no longer attempting to conceal his identity.

  “You better kill me, I swear on my mother, because if you don’t, you’ll wish you had.” With my adrenaline racing, I no longer felt the pain. He walked over to me, grabbed the collar of my shirt, and dragged me into the closet. Auntie Michelle tried crawling away, but he shot her right in the ass. Screaming in agony, she dropped to her stomach and lay flat. Old boy went over and pulled her by the legs into the closet.

  Once he closed the door, she wrapped her arms around me. “Janie, if only one of us makes it out of here alive, I’m gonna make sure it’s you.”

  “We’re both going to make it,” I assured her as we heard his movement throughout the house. He had to be looking for drugs, money, or anything else to make his robbery worthwhile. A short time later, the footsteps stopped. Soon, he increased the volume on the television to the max. I didn’t know what the hell was going on until I saw the bullets tear into the closet door. The first two shots barely missed us. I was petrified yet pissed off because I wasn’t able to do anything about it.

  Michelle flung her body on top of mine as the remaining bullets ripped into the wooden door. I wanted to scream as her body rocked from the penetration of bullets, but I knew better. If he was going to think we were both dead, then I had to stay still and remain silent.

  Chapter Fifty-six

  Too scared to move an inch or make a sound, I lay in the closet for hours, balled up like a baby. It wasn’t until I heard, “Yo, is anyone in here? I’m trying to get serviced,” that I relaxed. The voice belonged to Leroy, one of the crackheads I served. He was a middle-aged war veteran who had returned home with a habit. After years of intravenous drug use, his skin was damaged, his teeth were decaying, and he was half out of his mind. Nonetheless, Leroy was my savior at the moment.

  “I’m in here.” I was too weak to open the closet door myself so I stayed put.

  “Y’all really need to clean up. Look like a murder scene up in here.” He rambled on at the mouth while walking through the house.

  “I’m in the closet, Leroy. Open the door.”

  “What in the hell is you doing in the closest? And they say I’m crazy.” Slowly, he turned the knob and damn near leaped from his skin when he observed the scene before him. “Jane, are you all right?”

  “No, Leroy, I need help. Please call Ali for me.” He was a regular at our spot and real familiar with Alicia and me. From time to time, he would wash our cars or cut the grass for some free crack.

  “I ain’t got no phone, boss.” He shook his head.

  “My purse is on the ground outside in the driveway. Go get it and grab my cell phone.” It probably wasn’t the best idea to send a crackhead to retrieve my purse. However, my options were limited at the moment.

  Leroy was back in a flash, handing me my phone. I put in the finger code and dialed Alicia.

  “I’ve been calling you all night, Janelle! Where in the hell have you been?” She was pissed, but now wasn’t the time for that.

  “Alicia, get over on the east side now. That nigga we had issues with at the corner store came over here and robbed us.”

  “What?” she screamed. “Are you okay?”

  “He shot me twice and he killed Michelle.” I looked down at my aunt’s lifeless body. A wave of emotion came over me. However, I couldn’t allow my tears to fall in the trap house.

  “I’m on my way.”

  “Get here fast. I think my water just broke.” The liquid flowing from between my legs was a telltale sign that my baby was coming.

  In no time, Alicia and Keisha were at the spot. They picked me up and carried me to the car. Then Ali went back and locked the house down. With a baby on the way, no one could worry about Michelle. Just as I did with Gudda, I would send someone to clean up the spot and move Michelle’s body to another location. The only difference was I made sure they burned his ass to a crisp afterward. The coroner was probably still trying to make heads or tails of his ashes.

  “So you know for sure it was old boy?”

  “Yes, Ali, he took his mask off.” My stomach was doing its own thing. I prayed like hell my child wouldn’t be born in this car.

  “I got that nigga on the real.” She beat the steering wheel. Surely, he would get what was coming to him, but right now I couldn’t concentrate on anything except having this baby.

  “Janie, you know once they see those bullet wounds, they’re going to call the police.” Keisha rubbed my shoulders from the back seat. Until now, I hadn’t thought about my injuries.

  “I’ll just tell them I was robbed on my way to the corner store or something.” I shrieked from the pain in my vagina and held on to the seat belt for dear life.

  “They’re gonna want to know which store,” Keisha continued.

  “It doesn’t matter. Pick one. Hell, you could be robbed at any one of the corner stores in this city.” She was beginning to work my nervous system. Alicia recognized the apprehension so she turned on the radio. We rode the remainder of the way to the hospital in silence.

  When we got there, emergency staff determined that I was indeed in labor, which trumped my bullet wounds. Therefore, they bandaged me up then dispatched me to the maternity floor. On the way up, I thought of Gran. “Can someone call my grandmother?” I had already been pushing for over twenty minutes. The baby was just about here.

  “I already did. She’s on the way.” Alicia squeezed
my hand.

  “Push, Janelle, you’re almost there,” the nurse coached me.

  “Push, Janelle. Push, baby.” Gran stepped into the room on cue and came over to be by my side. It meant so much to me that she was here. She was the only family I had left, besides my child.

  “Come on, J, you can do it.” Alicia jumped up and down.

  “I can see the baby’s hair.” Keisha smiled from behind her cell phone. She was using the camera feature to record the birth for Ace. I was exhausted and drenched in perspiration. My lips were dry and I felt cold. I’d been pushing for too long in my opinion and was ready for my baby to make her entrance into this world.

  “Janelle, just give me three good pushes. I promise this will be over and your baby will be in your arms.” Dr. Nolan stood between my legs in light blue scrubs. The nurses stood in the rear of the room, ready and waiting for my baby to arrive.

  “J, you got this!” Alicia rubbed my shoulder.

  “One,” Dr. Nolan counted and I pushed. “Two,” she continued. I gritted my teeth, pushing until I was blue in the face.

  “This is it, baby.” Gran patted my arm.

  “Three.” I pushed like my life depended on it and felt something ooze out of me like a ball of slime. I watched as Dr. Nolan cut the umbilical cord and remove mucus from my daughter’s mouth and nose.

  “Eight o’clock on the dot.” One of the nurses called out her time of birth then placed her onto a machine to measure her height and capture her weight. “She’s twenty-one inches and eight pounds eleven ounces.”

  “Here’s your big girl, Mommy.” Another nurse placed my baby girl into my arms. I showered her with my tears and covered her with kisses.

  “Happy birthday, Juliana Antonia Valquez. I love you.” As she blinked slowly, I peered into her tiny face and acknowledged that her eyes reflected a hint of hazel and green, just like her dad. Truthfully, she looked like the mirror image of Ace. In that instant, I realized it would be exceedingly complicated to look at her every day and not be distressed.

  “She is absolutely adorable.” Gran dabbed at a tear.

  “J, you did so good.” Alicia was crying as well.

  “Congratulations on your miracle.” Keisha rubbed Juliana’s tiny hand. The moment was bittersweet. Therefore, I didn’t say anything. Closing my eyes, I pretended that Ace was standing beside me, that they were his words I was hearing rather than theirs.

  Chapter Fifty-seven

  Being a new single mom was definitely something to get used to. With the help of Gran and Alicia, I was making it happen. They were my support system when I needed assistance. Primarily, I kept Juliana with me. She was the apple of my eye. I loved her more than anything. Every day she was growing and changing right before my eyes, which only saddened me because her daddy was missing out.

  Speaking of Ace, today I was taking Ju to visit him for the first time. To me, it was important for him to lay eyes on his daughter as a reminder of what he had waiting for him at home. The prison officials tried to give me a hard time about it. However, Richard pulled a few strings and arranged the meeting.

  Beep! The sound of the corrections officer swiping his badge to enter the room captured my attention, startling me slightly. Just like the first time I was here to see Ace, my stomach was in knots and I was a nervous wreck. Sitting up straight, I put on the best smile I could muster. Juliana’s car seat rested atop the metal table as she napped quietly. “You all have fifteen minutes.” The officer turned then exited the square room, leaving us alone.

  “Damn, Janie, you look nice.” Ace stood in the doorway and looked me over from head to toe. His eyes roamed every inch of my body like a lion ready to devour his prey.

  “Thank you, baby.” I stood and performed a slow spin for him to see what I was working with. Then I went over to hug him. He grabbed me with so much force that I was lifted off the ground. His shoulders were tight and his back tense.

  “Girl, I’ve missed you.” Ace sounded sad, which in turn made me sad. I was aware of the fact that prison was definitely taking a toll on him. He even had a few gray hairs on top of his head. “What happened to your teeth?” He frowned.

  “They’re called Lumineers. Do you like them?” I couldn’t keep wearing the surgical mask. The jig was up.

  “It looks okay I guess, but why did you get them?” Ace never missed a beat when it came to me. Sometimes it was gift and a curse.

  “I had a run-in with Gudda, but it’s been handled.” I hated to even say the bastard’s name.

  “What happened?”

  “Baby, let’s talk about this some other time, okay?” I kissed his lips. “I wanted to cheer you up, so I brought someone to see you.”

  He put me back down on the ground. “Who is it?”

  “Her name is Juliana Antonia Valquez. She’s three months old.” I pulled him in the direction of the table in the middle of the floor and tapped on the door. Richard opened the door and handed me the car seat with our daughter waiting bright-eyed, ready to meet her father.

  “Oh, shit, she’s actually here.” Instantly he was overcome with joy as I set the car seat on top of the table. “I didn’t think I would see her in person anytime soon.” Ace sat down in front of the car seat and smiled. “Oh, my gosh, Janie, she’s beautiful!” He rubbed her tiny leg. Ju smiled in her sleep, which made his day.

  “I went into premature labor and had her early.” I specifically skipped the horrific details about what caused Ju to come early. Ace didn’t need to know anything about it. “I would’ve brought her sooner but I had to make sure she had all of her shots first.” I stood behind him and massaged his shoulders.

  “I’m so glad you brought her. Thanks, baby, I really needed this today.” He kissed her hand and rubbed her hair.

  “Don’t you wanna hold her?” I asked.

  “No, I have too many germs on me. This place is filthy.” He shook his head and continued watching Ju sleep.

  “Baby, I brought a bunch of blankets to cover you in. If you would like to hold her, trust me, it’s okay.” Juliana awoke just as I went to unlock the belt on the car seat. “See, she has your eyes.” I pointed and he smiled.

  “She looks like the girl version of me.” As I handed him the blankets and then Ju, he was awestruck. Although he was nervous at first, within a minute or two he was comfortable cradling her small body. I took out my camera phone and snapped a few shots of this moment for Juliana’s photo book.

  “Damn, J, she has stolen my heart already.” He kissed her forehead while rocking her gently. I watched Ace with our daughter and wanted to cry. But I kept it together.

  The rest of the visit went smoothly. While Ace held his daughter, I showed him the recording of the delivery so he could feel as if he were there. For a small moment in time, things felt normal again, up until the officer came to inform us the visit was over. Ace requested fifteen more minutes, and the officer obliged.

  “I need to holler at you about some business.” He placed Ju back into her car seat. “You know when they took me down, they took the whole Pauletti family down, right?”

  “Yeah.” I didn’t have anything else to say so I let him finish.

  “Well, I literally just got word that the wives of the men arrested have stepped up to take over the business in order to make sure the family stays afloat until this shit is worked out.”

  “That’s what’s up.”

  “Well, Nicky Carmichael sent a kite to me this morning asking if I had someone willing to take my spot. I sent a kite back and told him about you. If you’re game, you’re on.”

  “So you want me to go into business with the mob?” I was shocked. Ace never wanted me anywhere near the trap. However, now he was handing me a connection on a silver platter.

  “You said you set up shop with Chucky in order to make money for us, right? Well, I figured if you were gonna take such a risk, then you might as well make it meaningful. The money they bring in is unheard of. If you do this shit like I know you
can, then you’ll be a millionaire in less than five years. Your new position with the mob makes you the number one supplier on the streets in all of the black community.”

  “Straight up, it’s like that?” My mouth was wide open as I intensely considered what he had just said. On one hand, I wanted to be a better role model for Ju. Conversely, this connection could also be just what I needed to live the way I’d always dreamed I would.

  “If you want the position, it’s yours, J. Just say the word.” He licked those perfect lips I loved to hate. “You know how I feel about you hustling, especially now that you’ve got my seed. But I know you’re a grown-ass woman and you gon’ do your own thing regardless of how I feel. The coins you make with Chucky is chump change compared to mafia money. So if you gon’ do it, at least do it right.” He made a very valid point. I was hooked.

  “Thank you, baby! Count me in.” I kissed him.

  “Before you get all excited, you need to know these fuckers don’t play. If you mess up, they come for you hard.”

  “I promise I won’t mess this up.” I was excited about the new opportunity. It was time to take my crew to the next level. I couldn’t wait to get started.

  “I love you, Janelle. Please be careful.” When he pressed his lips up against mine, I felt a shiver from the tips of my toes all the way to the pulsation that was happening in my vaginal area. “Do you still love me?”

  “Of course I do.” I looked at him crazy.

  “Say that shit then. ’Cause a nigga need to hear it right about now,” he demanded with a smirk, all the while rubbing my thighs.

  “I love you, Anthony.” I slid my hand down toward the bulge in his pants and fondled him.

  “Damn, I miss this shit,” he groaned softly.

  “You’ll be home soon, don’t worry.” My nipples were hardened and my body was aroused. Shit would’ve gotten real had the officer not come back to stop the party. The rooms Richard always arranged for us were the ones inmates used to meet with their counsel. Therefore, nothing could be monitored or recorded. Before Ace left, he gave me an address and a phone number for some woman named Karla.