THIRTY-ONE
It was seven in the evening. The girls heard ranting from behind them. They turned and saw Rightchus approaching the door of the parked Range. The bodyguards stepped to the front. Rightchus pulled out a long knife.
“Coco, Deedee. My, my what are you two beautiful beings doing here? Who’s that? Don’t tell me, Josephine, what’s goin’ on y’all? I ain’t seen you in a minute.”
“Hi,” Josephine said.
“Sorry to burst your bubble but we gotta go, Mr. Rightchus,” Deedee said.
“I gotta get da fuck up, yo?” Coco exclaimed.
“Everyone is in a hurry. I’m in a hurry too if I didn’t have them Maruichi boys after my ass, I’d be cool. I didn’t know the shit wasn’t real. It ain’t my damn fault. It’s them cheap ass drug dealers dancing up an’ down on da product.”
“Yo, what da fuck you yapping’ bout nigga? We ain’t got time to yap about no coke, Wop. I gotta be gone like yesterday.”
“Yeah, I feel you,” Rightchus said putting away the chopper. “I mean, shoot, we need to conversate on lots of subjects. I’m a person with all kinds of knowledge. Great minds think alike feel me, Coco? But I’m saying, what is da real science, girl?”
“Rightchus don’t start with that bullshit…”
“Ahight, ahight, I hear you, I hear you girl. Well, in reference to that, I wanna say, I don’t wanna start fucking with y’all young girls anyways, cuz I always gets fucked around, see? I’m not having my shit screwed up on y’alls’ account. Every time I get around y’all young chickens, shit happens. Bullets start flying, people dropping. I don’t get down like that. Speaking of dropping, I’ve seen the walking dead…”
“You and everybody else living in these parts, yo,” Coco said, interrupting Rightchus.
“Then you know what I’m dealing with, Coco?”
‘“The Walking Dead’ isn’t that a scary movie?” Deedee asked, cutting off Rightchus’s explanation.
“I could tell y’all ain’t serious. Peeps all the time wanna run up on a nigga, ya kno, reason why I’m here is cuz me an some fuckin’ peeps at war ya kno. Can’t go home an’ all. But I’m build me a MTV crib with bullet proof everything, all in time, still…” Rightchus said.
“All right Mr. Rightchus we gotta be moving on…” The bodyguard pushed Rightchus as he spoke.
“Nah, don’t do that. A muthafucka can’t be takin’ aim over here. I can see y’all just right. What y’all should be more interested in is the muthafucka I be seein’. Saw him. Yesterday… last night. Hmm twenty-four hours later, things tend to get fuzzy. Old age.”
“Negative. Too much drugs. Your brains fried. Gone out to lunch, yo.”
“Coco, you can keep spitting all that b.s. But I’m telling you girl, you need to put me down. Me da Shawty Wop, cuz I’ve seen him. I’ve seen da nigga,” Rightchus said.
“Seen who, yo?” Coco asked. She threw her hands in the air, perplexed.
“I’ve seen him,” repeated Rightchus. He took a couple steps back and noticed the security team moving in front of the girls.
Coco and Deedee stood close to the security team, Josephine stood next to the Range. Rightchus was in his flow. “I’m saying, I’ve seen him, I’ve seen dude…”
“Who is this fool talking ‘bout, yo?”
“Lil’ Long, that’s who.”
Silence like an eagle, descended swallowing the atmosphere and leaving each girl with cold feet. There was a power to ruthlessness on the street. It was visible when the mention of a name conjured fear. The girls slowly acknowledged Rightchus’s urgency. The mention of his name was a reminder of a brutal period in the girls’ experiences. He had preyed on many victims and was responsible for the deaths of Coco’s friends. He and his friend, Vulcha had savagely raped and assaulted Deedee.
“I thought he was dead. Wasn’t he killed in the shoot-out at Deedee’s uncle? I was there. And he was spitting up lead and all that, yo,”
“Yeah, I know, I know. I thought he was dead,” Deedee said.
“Yeah, you and everybody else, right? But un’nerstan’, I’m sayin’ I seen da nigga. He doubled up like he got a hunch-back or sump’n. I’m sayin’ I seen him, I seen da muthafucka. You kno’? He be wearing dark shades covering his eyes, limpin’. I’m tellin’ da truth. Coco, he knows, he knows. He limped away and broke out as soon as I was getting ready to step to him. Feel me? I’m Rightchus Allah. I’m da mu’fuckin’ Shawty Whopper. And y’all know that whopping ain’t even easy. Peeps be acting cheesy, and all. But you know what?”
“What?” Coco and Deedee asked simultaneously.
“When I hit you, I hit you with da raw truths. No lies or tales follow my word, cuz my word is bond.”
“Rightchus, Rightchus, listen we’re not sweating Lil’ Long. We gotta be out, so hear me out. If Lil’ Long wanna jump, he’ll catch the worst beat-down of his life. And it’s for ignorant people like him that we’ve got bodyguards. Know what I mean, yo?” Coco said.
“Matter o’ fact, word on da streets is that his man Nesto is cominng from up-north soon. And Coco; they got tight when they were locked up together. Let me get down with y’all. I’ll supervise them big boys for you. I’ll keep it on the down low. Them dumb bodyguards; ain’t got a thing on da Shawty Wop. I’ll wop a mu’fucka so fast, his family be hurting,” Rightchus said as he shuffled his feet, shadow boxing.
“Rightchus, please stop. Just stop it alright. Chill before something really does go down, yo,” Coco said.
“Please, before you hurt yourself,” Deedee added.
A gunshot sounded somewhere close. Rightchus took off down the street.
“We’re all good? What happened to Shawty?” One of the bodyguards asked.
“Man, I don’t know, yo. Homey said he had beef with Maruichi peoples. I don’t know, yo.”
“Who were those guys?” Deedee asked.
“Should we check if he is dead or what?” Josephine asked.
“Nope, I think we should bounce, yo. No use getting involved with this nigga, he might be hot. Fuck around and get shot,” Coco said then she turned at the bodyguards. “Y’all could check if y’all want. But I’m out, yo.” The bodyguards hesitated for a second.
“Don’t make sense sticking your nose in other people’s business.” One of the bodyguards said as he put his gun away.
“Everybody in the set’s good. Then we fittin’ to go,” the other said. They peeled out.
“You know my uncle said every time I’m around you, bullets start flying. I had to argue with him and that’s why he sent the bodyguards.”
“Look, it will be all right, you can drop me at the cab stand or sump’n. Don’t bug on Rightchus’s account. It was his ass they were busting at,” Coco said.