Chapter 20
Niko could barely keep his eyes open. He’d been sitting on the stoop for what seemed like forever. Antwan had told him to go ahead and leave after Bishop got there, but Niko wasn’t ready to go home after smashing James in the back of the head with the liquor bottle. Niko knew that he had to find some way to show his mother that James was just playing her. Telling her wasn’t going to do any good. She was so much in love with him that she would never believe it.
“Nigga, why don’t you take yo’ sleepy ass home?” Temp said.
“’Cause I don’t feel like it. You go home.”
“Nah, fuck that shit, my nigga. I gotta make this ched-da.”
“Well, what the fuck you think I’m out here doin’, killin’ time?”
“Man, why don’t y’all two be cool with that shit?” Mario said.
“Yeah, y’all gon’ scare away the fiends,” added Bishop.
“Man, I gotta go take a piss,” Mario said, getting up to leave.
“Yo, Temp, what you gon’ do with that car when you get another one, man?” Bishop asked.
“Probably sell it. Why?”
“’Cause, nigga, if you gon’ sell it, I wanna buy the muthafucka, that’s why.”
“Word? Shit, nigga, I’ll sell you that muthafuckin’ piece of shit. I’ma buy me a truck.”
“Whateva, nigga. How much you want for it?”
“I don’t know yet, dawg. I gotta think about it first.”
“Ay yo, what time y’all going to Antwan’s party?” Niko asked.
Bishop looked at Niko liked he was crazy. “Nigga, that shit is a week and a half away. The fuck you asking us about that shit now for?”
“’Cause I wanted to know, that’s why.”
Just then, a pregnant woman came walking across the street. Her hair was wrapped in a dingy tan scarf. She had on a yellow oversized shirt with a smiley face on the front. The tight shorts she had on threatened to cut off her circulation. A loud horn blared as a black Dodge truck almost sideswiped her. “Asshole,” she yelled after the truck. After finally making it across the street safely, she walked up to the stoop and looked at each one of their faces. Earlier, she had copped from Chris and Mario, but when she didn’t see either one of them, it caused her to hesitate.
“What you need, homegirl?” Temp asked. Bishop hit Temp in the arm. “What, nigga?”
“Man, that chick is pregnant,” Bishop said.
“So what?”
“Man, we can’t serve to a pregnant bitch.”
“Nigga, you betta get the fuck outta here with that ‘Captain Save a Ho’ shit! What you need, baby?”
“Uh, I, uh . . . I want—”
“Look, ain’t nobody got time for that shit,” Niko yelled. “Either cop somethin’ or get the fuck on.”
Fearing that she wouldn’t get her hit if she continued to waver any longer, the woman quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled bill. “Let me get a twenty.”
As fast as lightning, Temp dug into the pouch he was carrying and took out a twenty piece. After serving the woman, Temp went and sat back down on the stoop. Bishop started to say something about what Temp had just done but was interrupted by his buzzing cell phone. He looked down and saw that he had a text message from Veronica. Bishop then looked up and saw three men coming toward them from the right. Then he looked the other way and saw two women coming down the street from the left. Bishop jammed the phone back in his pocket. Veronica was just going to have to wait. Bishop had to make this money.
* * *
Sweat ran down Antwan’s face and splashed on the floor. He and Rhonda had been cooking dope nonstop for the past twenty-four hours. The fiends were coming out in droves and showed no signs of slowing down. As soon as the dope was cooked and cut, one of the Young Lionz came up the stairs to re-up. After cutting and bagging up the dope, Rhonda went into the kitchen to see if Antwan was done whipping up another pie.
She stopped and stood in the doorway, staring at Antwan as he put in work. She was proud of herself for the way she’d taught him. He was pretty close to being an expert dope cooker, in her opinion. Rhonda got hot looking at the muscles glistening on Antwan’s body. She let her eyes fall to his crotch and licked her lips as she daydreamed about stuffing his pecker in her mouth. Now that Bo was gone out of town, Rhonda wasn’t as nervous about messing around with Antwan.
Just as Antwan was finished cooking up another rock, Rhonda crept up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Hey, baby,” she said as she started kissing him on his neck.
“Oh, so now I’m ya baby, huh?”
Rhonda took a step back and looked Antwan up and down. “Nigga, are you gonna start that bullshit again?”
“Nah, I’m just messing with you,” Antwan said, laughing.
“Oh, I was about to say,” she said, walking back up on him. Rhonda then grabbed his dick and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “’Cause I would hate for this big muthafucka to go to waste just because you wanna act an ass.”
Rhonda got down on her knees and unzipped Antwan’s pants. After pulling it out, she hungrily shoved his dick into her mouth.
“Oh, shit,” Antwan moaned, throwing his head back in ecstasy. Rhonda devoured Antwan’s meat with zest. She reached around his waist and grabbed his ass as her head moved back and forth. It didn’t take long for Antwan to bust as Rhonda worked her magic like a porn star.
“Damn, that felt good as fuck,” Antwan said, breathing heavily. “I gotta get back to work, baby, but I wanna hit that shit later tonight.”
“Oh, baby, we gonna have to do that somewhere else. I ain’t gonna take the chance of getting caught fuckin’ in here now.”
“Just tell me where and when, baby.”
“We’ll work that out later. Whip up that last pie. After that one is gone, I’ma shut it down for the night.”
Rhonda walked toward the living room with a smile on her face. She’d wanted to suck Antwan off ever since Bo left. Now that she’d gotten her appetizer, she couldn’t wait to get him in a motel somewhere and enjoy the main course. The second she got inside the living room, her smile disappeared. Mario just stood there shaking his head. His cold eyes lingered on her for another five seconds before he turned and walked away.
* * *
Rhonda gripped the flimsy headboard and held on tight. She was in a cheap motel, down on her hands and knees. The bed she was in had cum stain spots all over it and smelled like someone had fucked on it less than an hour ago. Rhonda gritted her teeth as the nine-inch dick slammed into her asshole. Her pussy hole had already been beaten sore. Her jaws were aching because of the thirty-minute blowjob she’d been forced to give.
Now her asshole was being stretched to its limits. Rhonda bit her lip until it bled in an attempt to keep from screaming. She didn’t know how long she was going to be able to hold out without tears falling down her face. Just when she was getting used to the sodomy, she was yanked back onto the thick pole. The maneuver caused pain to shoot up through her stomach, which in turn caused her to let out a glass-shattering scream. Just when she thought she couldn’t take anymore, hot cum filled up her asshole and ran down the inside of her leg.
Rhonda then fell face-first onto the dingy brown pillow that used to be white. Slowly she turned over on her back and looked up at the ceiling. After catching her breath, she looked at Mario with hatred in her eyes.
An hour after walking out of the bathroom and catching Rhonda on her knees servicing Antwan, Mario gave her two choices. Either she gave in to his desires whenever he wanted her to, or he was going to go straight to Bo and tell him what was going on. Rhonda laughed at him and cussed him out, telling him that Bo would never believe him.
But Mario had the last laugh. In the midst of Rhonda’s laughing spell, Mario pulled out his cell phone and showed her the video he’d made of her sucking Antwan off. Fearing that Bo would kick her to the curb and she would no longer be able to live in the lap of luxury in which she was accustomed to living, Rhonda quickly buckled under the threat. When Rhonda asked him why they were going to such a fleabag motel, Mario told her that she didn’t deserve to be taken anywhere nice. Rhonda tried to make him feel guilty by mentioning the fact that Bo was his brother.
“How can you do this to your brother?” she’d asked. Mario responded by slapping her and telling her that she had some nerve to try to make him feel bad when she was the one who lied about Antwan being her cousin. Little did Rhonda and Bo know that it was actually Bo’s fault that Mario wanted to sample Rhonda’s cookies. From the first time he’d fucked Rhonda, Bo had constantly bragged about how good her pussy was.
Mario, being the dog he was, couldn’t wait for an opportunity to get a piece of that good ass. The way she dressed only made him lust after her more. Now Rhonda was lying on a nasty bed, disgusted with herself for even allowing herself to be caught up in this web of deceit with her man’s brother. As Mario got dressed, Rhonda just lay there with tears in her eyes. When he got his clothes on, Mario walked toward the door. Just before he left, he looked back at her and smiled.
“My brother was right. You got some good-ass pussy, baby. And remember, whenever you give that nigga Antwan some ass, I want some too, unless you want me to show my brother this video,” he said, continuing to blackmail her. Mario then walked out the door, leaving Rhonda with nothing else to do but cry.
* * *
The sun had just started to dip beneath the earth, providing the city’s skyline with a nice hue of orange. Except for a man walking his dog on the other side of the street and an elderly couple holding hands and making goo-goo eyes at each other, the streets were pretty empty. A strong gust of wind swept through, causing the old man’s hat to blow off of his head. Before he could bend down to pick it up, however, Niko was on the job.
“Here you go, sir,” he said after scooping the man’s hat up and handing it to him.
“Thanks, young man,” the elderly gentleman said to him, smiling.
Niko was on his way home when his cell phone vibrated. He smiled when he saw that it was Regina. When Niko wasn’t spending time with his crew or hustling, he was kicking it with Regina. The two of them had gotten to know each other pretty well over the last few days. He still hadn’t told her that he was married to the streets, but he knew that he would have to tell her sooner or later. He didn’t want to get too attached to her and then have it all fall apart because he kept secrets from her. Regina wasn’t like any of the other girls he’d been associating himself with. She was smart and pretty, and she had a future.
He couldn’t for the life of him figure out why she would even be bothered with a dude like her ex-boyfriend, Ricky. But then again, the more he thought about it, people would probably look at him and wonder the same thing. Niko could hardly contain himself as he answered the phone. Her sweet voice sounded like an angel from heaven to him. He was already thinking about telling his crew that he wasn’t going to be in the trap later tonight. The last time they were together, Regina suggested that he come over and watch a movie with her.
Niko didn’t answer right away, mostly because he was worried about her parents. Regina put those fears to rest when she told him that her natural parents were dead and she lived with her grandmother. This caused Niko to like and respect her more than ever. Most teenagers he knew who lived with their grandparents tended to take advantage of the situation by running over and disrespecting them. Regina told Niko that as long as she did well in school, her grandparents gave her the freedom to date as she saw fit.
“Sup, baby girl?” Niko answered.
“Nothing. Just called to see what you were doing this afternoon.”
“Not much. Just lying around the house, chillin’,” he lied.
“Really? Because you sound like you’re outside,” she said.
“Oh, yeah. Well, actually I’m standing on my porch. When I said I was lying around the house, it was just a figure of speech.”
“Oh, cool. Well, the reason I was calling was because I wanted to know if you wanted to come over and watch that movie like we were talking about the other day. My grandparents went to play bingo, so they’re gonna to be gone awhile. And it’s just so lonely over here by myself,” she said in a seductive manner.
“Is that right?” he said, matching her tone. Niko looked at his watch and saw that it was later than he thought it was. “Okay, just gimme about an hour, and I’ll be right over there.”
“An hour?” she asked, wondering why it was going to take him so long.
“Yeah. I gotta jump in the shower. You don’t want me coming over there smelling funky, do you?”
“Yeah, you right. Go ahead and jump your musty ass in the shower,” she laughed.
After hanging up with Regina, Niko started a light jog. In light of what he’d done to James, he didn’t know what was going to be waiting for him when he got home, but whatever it was, he wasn’t going to let it stop him from getting with Regina. Niko had found out that he only lived a few blocks away from Regina, so he didn’t even have to catch a bus to get there. By the time he got home, he was sweating like he’d just run a marathon, although in reality, he’d only been running for about ten minutes. Luckily for him, Niko was in good shape, so much so that he ran to his house and didn’t have to stop to catch his breath at all.
When Niko got in front of his house, he stopped. He didn’t know who was going to be here, so he tiptoed up the steps and into the house. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that neither his mother nor James was there. He quickly ran upstairs to his room and looked around. Everything seemed to be the way he left it, except that there was a note on his bed. The note informed him that someone had attacked James from behind while he was taking out the garbage and that they were going to stay in a hotel for a few days just to be safe. After ripping the letter up and throwing it in the trash, Niko just stood there shaking his head.
“Let me get this shit straight,” he said to himself. “This lying muthafucka tells her that he was attacked from behind while taking out some fuckin’ garbage, and not only do she believe this nigga, but she goes to a hotel with him and don’t give my ass a second thought!” Niko snatched his cell phone off of his hip and dialed his mother’s cell phone number.
“Yo, Ma,” he started when she answered the phone. “How you just gon’ leave me in a house you think is unsafe and roll out with that nigga?”
“First of all, boy, don’t be callin’ my phone talkin’ to me like you losin’ yo’ muthafuckin’ mind. Yo’ mannish ass ain’t never there no muthafuckin’ way, so what’s the damn difference? I know you ain’t scared, Mr. Bad Ass.”
“Nah, Ma, I ain’t scared, but I’m just sayin’. This don’t seem right to me.”
“Oh, boy, please. If you need me, I’ll be in the Marriot downtown.”
“But, Ma—”
That was as far as he got before he realized that his mother had hung up on him. Tears welled up in Niko’s eyes, but he refused to let them drop. With the back of his hand, he wiped them away before they could even come out of his eyes.
After composing himself, Niko jumped in the shower and washed off the previous night’s hustle. He cursed himself for not going shopping like he’d planned on doing. The last thing he wanted to do was go over to Regina’s house looking like a bum. He looked in his closet and took out an old shorts set that he’d worn a thousand times. He examined it, saw that it was clean, and decided to throw it on. His checkerboard Timberlands made his gear complete as he walked out the door in a rugged state of mind.
Niko didn’t know whether Regina drank, but he definitely needed a drink to calm his nerves. On his way to Regina’s, he stopped off at the store and picked up a double deuce of Olde English malt liquor. He hadn’t eaten anything since early yesterday, so he stopped a few buildings down the street and picked up a Subway sandwich. By the time he’d gotten to Regina’s house, he’d already eaten half of it.
He walked up on the porch and was about to knock on the door until he realized that he had his gun tucked in his waistband. During the time he’d spent with Regina, he still hadn’t told her that he often carried a gun. Niko slowly walked back off the porch and looked around for someplace to hide his weapon. On the side of the house, he spotted some shrubbery that would be perfect. He then looked across the street to see a few girls standing on the porch, gossiping. Slowly, he scanned to his right and his left to see if anyone was on the porches of the houses next to Regina’s. Regina lived on a cul-de-sac, and there were a couple of kids riding bikes in a circle. Since no one seemed to be paying any attention to him, Niko casually slid around the side of the house and stuck his gun down in the bushes. He then walked back up on the porch and knocked on the door. He was surprised when the door opened slightly.
Damn. Maybe she in there naked and wanna surprise a nigga. Niko knocked on the door once again. “Regina?”
When she didn’t answer, Niko pushed the door open and carefully walked in. His back stiffened when he peeked into Regina’s living room and saw her on the floor with her clothes half torn off. The sky blue T-shirt she had on was ripped down the middle. Her skirt was torn down the seam. Niko looked around and for the first time saw that the room was in disarray. He was so focused on Regina that he never even paid attention to the room at first. A lamp was lying on the floor, smashed into five pieces. Several pictures that appeared to have been sitting on tables were now resting on the floor. The glass frame that held one of them was shattered. Glass fragments from it were spread across the carpet. She was turned on her side, and Niko could hear light whimpering coming from her.
“Regina!” he yelled as he rushed to be by her side. When he reached her, Niko reached down and grabbed her shoulders. Regina jumped, a loud scream emitting from her throat.
“It’s me, baby, it’s me. What happened?”
When Regina saw that it was Niko, she threw her arms around him and hugged him as tight as she could.
“Who did this shit to you?” he asked as he picked her up and carried her over to the couch. As soon as he lifted her, Regina’s face twisted in agony. Low moans of pain escaped from her mouth. Although he tried his best to be as gentle as possible, Regina’s injuries caused her much discomfort.
When Niko laid her down on the couch, he noticed for the first time the damage that had been inflicted on her. Her left eye was puffy and slightly swollen. A few drops of blood trickled from her right nostril. Niko look down at her waist and saw burn marks on her hips.
He looked back over to where she had been lying, and he saw her ripped panties on the floor. He had been so preoccupied with making sure she was okay that he hadn’t seen them at first. Niko looked down into her face and saw the fear in her eyes. Whoever did this to her had left an impression that would stay with her for life. He gently stroked her hair as he asked her a second time who did this to her.
“Ri . . . Ricky. Ricky did this shit to me.”
Niko got so mad his whole body started to shake. In his mind, he could picture putting his gun in the middle of Ricky’s forehead and pulling the trigger.
“Where is your bathroom?” he asked her.
Regina pointed him toward the hallway. Before leaving, Niko kissed her on the forehead. He got a washrag to help her get cleaned up. When he came back, he gently rubbed her arms and legs with the cloth. He didn’t want to press too hard for fear of aggravating her already-sore bruises. After doing this, he went back into the bathroom and rewet the cloth. Niko then came back and washed her face. He was careful not to put too much pressure on her eyes. His blood boiled as he wiped the blood from her nose.
“What happened, baby?” he asked when he was done.
“That asshole snuck in through our back door. At first, I thought it was you messing around, but it wasn’t.”
“The fuck that nigga want?”
“He wanted me to take him back, but I told his ass that I had a new man in my life,” she said as she reached up to touch Niko’s face. “That’s when he went crazy and started tearing off my clothes and shit.”
Niko was so mad he was trembling. “Babe, we need to get you to a hospital and—” Niko stopped talking when he noticed Regina shaking her head.
“No, Niko. I’m not going to any hospital.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“Niko, do you know how embarrassing it is for a woman to go to a hospital and tell someone that she’s been raped? I just don’t want to go through that.”
“You won’t have to go through it, at least not alone. Regina, ain’t no telling what kind of injuries that nigga caused. He could have done some major damage, and the only way we’re going to know is if you get checked out.”
Regina looked into Niko’s eyes and saw that he was silently begging her to go. After taking a deep breath and thinking on it a little longer, she relented and agreed to go, but only if Niko could stay there with her until her grandparents got there.
“Baby, you don’t even have to ask that,” he said, wrapping her in his arms.
While they waited, Regina fell asleep in Niko’s arms. His mind was on one thing and one thing only. Revenge.
* * *
“Look, I don’t why the fuck you keep tryin’a handcuff that damn girl,” Tangie told Veronica. “Yo’ ass was just as fast as she is when we was comin’ up.”
“Why the fuck you keep switching the shit back to me? We ain’t talkin’ ’bout me! We talkin’ ’bout her little fast ass!”
Tangie, Veronica, and Cynthia were sitting on Tangie’s steps, getting lifted and blitzed. While Cynthia wasn’t much of a weed head, she could drink like a fish. She was on her third bottle of Corona while the other two women hadn’t even finished their first.
“Bitch, I don’t know who the fuck you think you hollerin’ at like that. I ain’t yo’ baby sister.”
“Sorry,” Veronica said, rolling her eyes. “I’m just sayin’. What I did when I was growing up ain’t got nothin’ to do with her ass.”
Tangie took a puff off the blunt and passed it to Veronica. “I’m just glad yo’ snitchin’ ass didn’t tell on that girl.”
“I shoulda told on her ass! What if her ass gets pregnant?”
“Then her ass just gonna have to deal with it. But if you think you gonna stop that girl from having sex, you foolin’ the hell outta yo’self.”
Tangie noticed that Cynthia wasn’t saying anything. She didn’t know if she was just trying to feel Veronica out, but Cynthia hadn’t said ten words since Tangie had introduced them. “What do you think, Cynthia?”
Cynthia took a sip from her beer and then slowly shook her head from side to side. “I don’t know this woman to be gettin’ in her business like that.”
“Yeah, we just met,” Veronica said. “Why you puttin’ her all in my shit like that?”
“Whateva, bitch. A’ight, you don’t wanna talk about Dana? Fine. Let’s talk about how you came to start fuckin’ Bishop.”
“Damn, bitch, you nosy,” Veronica laughed.
“Nosy my ass. If the shit was reversed, you know damn well you woulda been all up in my muthafuckin’ business!”
“You gotdamn right,” Veronica said, holding up her hand for a high five.
“I ain’t slapping yo’ muthafuckin’ hand until I get some details, bitch.”
Veronica just shook her head. She knew her friend well enough to know that she wasn’t going to leave it alone until she told her what she wanted to know. Veronica knew how her friend liked to hear it, so she told her how it went down with her and Bishop without leaving out any details. Cynthia remained quiet. She wanted to learn more about Veronica before judging her. After Veronica gave up the goods, a wide smile broke across Tangie’s face.
“Get yo’ freak on, girl,” Tangie said, finally giving Veronica a high five. “I just hope you know what you doin’, fuckin’ around with that young-ass boy.”
“I got this,” Veronica said smugly. “And you can’t talk, bitch,” Veronica said once she thought about it. “Yo’ ass is older than Antwan.” Tangie didn’t have a comeback for that.
“Is the party still on for tomorrow?” Cynthia asked.
“Oh, shit, girl, I’m glad you mentioned that shit. I’m pushin’ it back to next Saturday. Antwan been outta town so much, I’ma have to do it next week to make it work.”
“Oh, okay. Can I use your bathroom right quick?”
Tangie looked at Cynthia like she was crazy. “You was a guest the first time you asked,” Tangie said as she took the blunt from Veronica and took a puff. Catching the hint, Cynthia got up and walked in the house.
“You invited her to the party?”
“Yep.”
“You neva did tell me where you met her ass at.”
“Oh, shit, that’s right. I didn’t tell you what happened at the bar the other day.” Tangie quickly gave her friend the rundown of the altercation and how Cynthia came to her rescue.
“Damn, that bitch gangsta like that?”
“You betta believe it,” Cynthia said as she walked back into the room.