CHAPTER ONE

DAYS EARLIER

 

JUST ANOTHER DAY

 

 

The sweltering heat didn’t stop the beat of the street in Southeast DC. Dudes were washing their cars or moving product, while females were walking up and down the block in the hopes of being seen in their designer fits and purses. While the blood in the veins of 58^th avenue’s worst project continued to move, 17-year-old Pepper Champagne Thomas was sitting on the steps of her house getting her hair braided, watching it all and hating every bit of it.

A few feet over, two girls who were supposed to be friends were pulling each other’s hair out over a boy who didn’t want either of them, while their fake friends crowded around.

As she watched, sweat ran down her back causing the white tank top she was wearing to cling to her skin and the black LRG sweat pants she was sporting didn’t make her much cooler. Ants were circling a piece of melted candy her cousin threw on the ground next to them, and the ice in her cup filled with Coke had dissolved and become tasteless.

It was hotter than a pair of opened legs.

When the fight was over, she wiped sweat off of her face with her hand, Pepper noticed her cousin used an entire pack of red braiding hair in an hour, which was strange considering she was supposed to be doing micro minis, not African twists.

“Nic…I think these too fat! You know I don’t lie ‘em like that!” Pepper said under her breath trying to avoid confrontation. She was rubbing her fingers over the extra large braids.

She knew the moment Nic’s big mouth friend, Treesy called on the phone and broke her concentration, that she’d be too concerned with gossip to tend to her hair.

“Nic, I said these too fat!”

Nic hit her cousin’s hand with the yellow rat-tail comb and said, “Hold on Tree.”

With that she placed the white cordless phone on her fleshy right shoulder, and held it in place with her fat cheek. Afterwards she gripped a fist full of her baby cousin’s unbraided hair.

“First off these ain’t too fat!” she said grabbing a few. “And I been braiding hair for ten years so if you don’t like ‘em, you can take your ass down to the African Hair Gallery and pay them bitches five hundred dollars, instead of the measly forty your mother giving me!” she pointed with the comb.

“If you don’t want to do them right then leave my hair alone.”

“You too grown. That’s your problem. One day I’m gonna fuck you up out here. Cousin or not.”

Without even giving Pepper a chance to respond she resumed the conversation she was having with her ghetto ass friend. Pepper’s stomach turned a little when a summer breeze came through, and forced the scent of Nic’s corn chip smelling pussy in her face.

Pepper was angry about the bullshit job she was doing on her hair but knew if she bucked, she wouldn’t get it done at all, plus she’d have to take out the thirty braids Nic had done so far. She wished she wasn’t afraid to speak up.

All her life she let people walk over her and her cousin was no exception.

As Pepper listened to her cousin talk about everybody else except for her own fat ass, she looked around the block. Just then she saw Khoury walking down the street with her best friend’s dumb ass brother Jordan and Izzy his other friend, who was nothing but a punk.

“What up, Pepper!” Khoury waved. “What you doing? Getting your self pretty for me?”

Pepper wasn’t considered the prettiest girl on the block but she was thick to death. She had a little bit around the waist but her ass made up for it. When you saw her, it was the first thing you noticed. And if there were any doubt it was Pepper, her light skin, bright red hair and freckles would assure you she was coming in the room. People didn’t believe her real name was Pepper but it was true. Her mother had given it to her the moment she saw the freckles throughout her face.

“No!” She rolled her eyes and at him and placed her head down. “Get outta my face, boy.”

Zykia, her best friend said she ignored him because she was feeling him. After all, he was easy on the eyes. Khoury was 6’3 with neat dreads and light brown skin. He had them young boy muscles on lock too. Word on the street was that he wrote and sang R&B songs and was new around the way so Pepper didn’t understand why he got up with the wrong crew so quickly.

“I told you she dumb as shit,” Jordan yelled afterwards throwing a rock her way. “Leave that bitch alone.”

“Don’t get fucked up, JD!” Nic yelled interrupting her call. “If I get up it’s over for you.”

“Whatever!” he screamed grabbing at his crotch. “The moment you come over here this fat dick gonna be in that mouth.” Jordan and Izzy broke out into heavy laughter.

“That lil boy worthless!” Nic said to Treesy. “How you gonna tell an adult to suck your dick?”

When they were gone, Pepper took a bite of her pickle in a bag. She glanced around and saw empty potato chip bags, beer bottles and drug paraphernalia all around her street. Graffiti decorated all the boarded up houses yet kids played in and around them as if they were playgrounds. Even though she lived in the P.J.’s, every other house had either a Cadillac or a souped up hooptie on 22-inch rims sitting in front of it. Every day she walked out of her door she dreamed of one thing…getting away.

“Pepper, hand me another strand of hair!” Nic yelled breaking her out of her thoughts. Pepper carefully parted a few strands of the red hair from the bundle, so that she could limit the thickness of her braids. Nic snatched it and said, “Give me some more!” Rolling her eyes, Pepper parted a few more strands and handed it to her.

When she took another bite of the sour pickle, she saw her next-door neighbor, and 58^th avenue’s biggest drug dealer walking to his car.

He was dressed perfectly for the hot weather. Wearing a pair of blue Evisu jean shorts, a white wifebeater and his platinum diamond chain and watch, it was no mistaking that he looked like money. He completed his look with the trademarked original Timbs, most DC natives donned. Ice favored The Game greatly.

At 6’2”, he had that jailhouse body thing going on strong. Every muscle on his body was formed and he was tattooed from head to toe. But the one Tat that stood out the most was the snake that wrapped around his neck and ended at the tip of his dick. Some people said the snake represented his personality and he never denied it.

On hot days, he’d be outside cleaning up his silver Aston Martin, with no shirt on. And all the females young and old would be outside just to catch a glimpse of him.

His mother “Dip” was right by his side sporting a brown Birkin bag and a major attitude. They called her Dip because even though she was 36, she had been stripping and dipping, up until a year ago. She even looked like Ronnie, from The Players Club movie but thought she was better looking.

Dip was wearing tight blue Seven jeans, a brown tank top, and brown Prada sandals. Her waist was still small and her ass was beyond fat. She had a hell of a body to be 5’2 with a bigger mouth to go with it.

As always, Dip sported a blond bone straight weave that hung down her back. Even though nothing was natural about its color, her hair was always fresh. Plenty of niggas would kill for a chance to fuck Ice’s mother because she was beyond sexy. But since they valued their lives too, these same niggas left her alone.

Dips high heels could be heard clicking as they walked toward the car. They stepped over Deadman, the neighborhood drunk who’d shown up out of nowhere about two months ago. “I’m so sick of this nigga.”

“Don’t worry about it, ma. He’ll be slumping on somebody else’s curb soon.”

She shook her head and Dip waved with her extra long red nails when she saw Nic and Pepper sitting on the steps. “Hey, girls! So what kind of braids you getting today? The fat ones?”

Pepper sighed, because Dip had confirmed that her braids were too big. “Nah, they ‘spose to be small.” She looked up at her cousin with a side eye.

“Awww…they still cute though,” Dip winked.

When Ice saw whom Dip was talking too he opened the car door for his mother and yelled, “What up, Nic? You good?” The passenger door remained open as his mother slid inside. The thick black hair under his arms was shown as he waved.

“Hey,baby.” she screamed over Pepper’s head. She pressed her mouth against the phone and whispered, “Hold on, Tree. Ice’s fine ass out here.”

Nic was just like the other girls in the neighborhood when it came to Ice, always on his dick. As much as Pepper hated his guts she could see why. He was the kind of sexy that only a secure woman could date because every chick he passed dropped their jaws when he walked by.

Ice slammed the door shut. He gripped the top of his pants to pull them up and strolled in Nic’s direction. The strings on his Timbs were untied and dragged against the ground and the snake on his neck moved when he did.

He winked when he saw Pepper staring at him and embarrassed, she turned away.

Nic jumped up from behind Pepper, knocking her over with her cheeks just to hug him in the process. The entire back of her grey sweat pants was filled with sweat.

Since Nic was gonna do all she could to talk Ice’s head off, Pepper felt she had enough time to get something to drink. Plus her hand had landed in the candy with ants beside her.

She walked into the house, washed her hands, got something to drink and walked back out. Ice was still there. Shit why didn’t he leave? I can’t stand him.

When she saw a baggy dandling in his hands with creamy colored rocks inside she realized what was up. Nic was getting served. They took a few steps forward to each other and Ice placed a 20 sack in her hand. Nic stuffed it in her bra, afterwards turning around to see if Pepper was watching.

She was.

Nic had just taken drugs from Ice.

Caught snooping, she stepped outside. Once there Ice smacked her upside her forehead causing an immediate red bruise. “What’s up wit your punk ass?” he joked. “You nosey as fuck!”

“Why you do that?” she said rubbing her head making the mark worse. “That hurt and I’m not bothering you!”

Pepper didn’t understand why he insisted on treating her like a kid. If he wasn’t slapping her upside her head, he was clowning her in front of everybody on the block.

“Girl, shut up and stop tripping,” Nic interrupted as she nudged her cousin in the arm. “He was just playing wit’ you. Toughen up.”

“Yeah…calm down, girl,” Ice laughed. “That mark gonna go away. It ain’t like you weren’t ugly to begin with.”

Ice and Nic both laughed.

“She a mess ain’t she?” Nic continued.

When they saw how mad Pepper was, they continued to laugh at her expense until Dip began blowing the hell out of Ice’s car horn. “Come on, Ice! I ain’t got all day.”

He turned to look at her. “One second, ma.” He turned back to Nic. “Aight, girl,” Ice said after giving her a pound. “I’ma get up with you later.” He pointed.

Pepper sat down, eager to get her hair braided and to get rid of her cousin.

“Good looking out, boo,” she smiled, taking her seat behind Pepper. When she saw him pull off, she directed her attention to Pepper. “You need to stop acting all funny and shit with Ice,” she yelled grabbing her hair. “He ain’t gotta speak to you.”

“Stop pulling my hair!” Pepper screamed snatching away from her.

“I’m serious! It ain’t like he ain’t your neighbor,” she continued pointing the comb in her face. “Plus he be just playing with your ass because he think you cool. Respect the politicians of the hood.”

“So you taking drugs now?” Pepper asked out of nowhere. She couldn’t believe she called Nic on her shit, knowing Nic would fuck her up.

“You ain’t see shit,” Nic said staring at her. “If my mamma tell me you told aunt Grace I’ma beat your ass every day for a week.”

Pepper looked at her cousin’s face. It was weird how much she looked like her mother. All of the women in Pepper’s family had light skin with some freckles. But none of them had as many as Pepper.

“Keep your mouth closed, Pepper. I’m serious. And ease up on Ice. He just a man.”

“Well I don’t like him playing with me like that.” Pepper advised as she spotted her best friend walking in her house a few doors down, with her mother who was strung out on crack. “I just want him to leave me alone.”

“Keep acting like that and see where it gets you, Pepper.” She grabbed her hair and told her to turn around. “All them A’s and B’s ain’t gonna change the fact that you still live in the P.J.s. So pllleeeeassse believe, you ain’t no better than the rest of us. You gonna always be here, so get use to it.” After she finished chastising her, for what Pepper didn’t know, Nic got back on the phone and ran her mouth until the battery ran dead.

Pepper was relived because she wanted a chance to think. So what she wanted something different with her life. And so what she wasn’t sweating Ice like the other girls on the block. Her dreams extended out the hood. Still she thought about what her cousin said repeatedly.

All them A’s and B’s ain’t gonna change the fact that you still live in the P.J.s. So pllleeeeassse believe, you ain’t no better than the rest of us. You gonna always be here, so get use to it.

“I might not be better than everybody but I am getting out of here.” She said to herself. “I don’t care what I gotta do.”