CHAPTER FIVE

 

ANOTHER KIND OF CRIMINAL

 

 

Pepper and Zykia sat on the edge of the bed eyes glued onto Pepper’s TV. Zykia had her hair in two pigtails wearing pink pajamas and was a cute short but thin girl who looked as if she was mixed with Indian and black. Pepper was right beside her wearing a long t-shirt with sweat pants.

It was supposed to be a sleepover but it was anything but. They couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Pepper watched it ten times and felt like the first time, every time.

“Pepper, ya’ll ready to eat?” Grace yelled from the kitchen waking them out of the stupor they were in. The sound was completely down on the TV.

“Uh…no…ma,” she said wiping the tears from her face. “We’ll eat later.”

“Well don’t let it get cold,” Grace continued. “Ya’ll have been in there all day and its time to come up and get some air.”

“Okay, mama we will,” Pepper replied as she got up to lock the door, just in case her mother got the urge to bust in on them. Afterwards Pepper turned the sound back up a little.

When she returned to the bed, she saw the part where Ice was on top of a young girl. Her naked body was tied to the bed as he repeatedly raped her over and over again, pushing her legs so far apart it looked as if they would break. In the background they heard a woman’s voice coaching and encouraging. And since Dip was always with Ice, Pepper recognized it to be her. When a portion of her long nail appeared in front of the camera, it was confirmed.

“Just smile, sweetheart and enjoy yourself,” Dip said to the young girl. “This DVD is going to be seen around the world.” She laughed. “You’ll be a star, we’ll see to that.”

“Damn this young bitch’s pussy tight as shit.” Ice responded as the girl cried out, begging him to stop. “She may be the best one, ma. That’s for sure.”

Dip giggled. “Well enjoy yourself. You killing it.”

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Zykia said. “This…this can’t be real.”

“It is,” Pepper said.

The scene was extremely violent and had both girls cringing as Ice pounded into her like a maniac. The girl was clearly around their age and this made the scene all the more real to them. The sheets were covered in blood but he didn’t care.

Instead of letting her go Ice placed his entire mouth over hers and kissed her harshly. His jeans were down at his ankles and his body was sweaty. What gave his identity away was not his face, because it couldn’t be seen. It was the snake tattoo that ran from his neck, across his back and ending on this penis. He looked like a monster.

“Pepper…this is serious,” Zykia said wiping the tears from her face again. “We have to tell somebody.” She looked at the TV once more. “He’s…he’s hurting her and she’s crying.”

Pepper moved closer, her eyes widening. “Who we gonna tell, Zy?”

“Uh…how about the police?” She replied sarcastically as she cleared her throat. “Look at what he’s doing? I mean, I can’t believe you waited this long. We have to say something now. Maybe we can save her, she could still be in his house.” She continued reaching for the phone.

Pepper stood up and pressed pause which stopped on the part in which Ice was licking between the frightened girl’s legs.

“Calm down, Zy,” she responded slowly taking the phone from her hand. “I’m fucked up about this too. But I have a plan.”

“You have a plan?” Zykia repeated. “What are you talking about? You’re not making any sense.”

“Do you know why my mother is still here? Instead of at work?” Pepper asked, as her face turned red. “She’s still here because she lost her third job today. That means we can’t get the new house. That means I can’t leave this fucking place, Zy and I’m tired of being around here. ”

“Pepper what you talking about?” Zykia asked as she stood up. “You living around here ain’t got nothing to do with that DVD. At least your mother ain’t all strung out and shit like mine.” She added. “I would give anything to live in your house instead of my brother’s.”

“I want more than this place, Zy.” Pepper said ignoring her comment. “A lot more. I’m sorry that you have a lot going on at your house but this can’t be my life.”

Silence.

“What does that mean?” Zy shrugged. “Because you said you have a plan and I don’t hear it yet.”

Pepper paced in front of the bed. “I say we get paid for this shit,” she pointed looking at the TV. “And we get paid big.”

“What?” Zy yelled.

“Think about it for a minute, Zy, ” Pepper continued as she paced the room. “He knows the DVD is missing so…he’ll probably be looking for it. He don’t want nobody to find it.”

“But he won’t be able to find it because the police will have it,” Zykia advised. “Right? Because that’s what’s right.”

“And then what, Zy? He pays some high priced lawyers and gets off easy.” She pointed at the window. “You know how shit works. How many niggas been locked up for doing shit only to get out two days later?” She sat next to her. “But we can make him pay for this.” She pointed at her and then herself. “Us.”

Silence.

“And guess what will happen when he finds out who snitched, Pepper? He’ll kill us. And I don’t know about you but I’m not ready to die.”

“Pepper, what’s going on in there?” Grace yelled as she knocked on the door. “I thought you were coming out to eat.”

“Oh shit,” she whispered clearing her throat. “Nothing, ma! We…we were just talking.”

“Well talk a little lower,” Grace responded. “I can hear ya’ll all the way out here.”

Pepper knew that wasn’t true because she’d be in there asking a whole lot of questions instead of yelling at the door. “Aight, ma, we’ll keep it down,” Pepper responded before turning back to Zykia. “Like I said, we should get paid,” she continued whispering. “I’m tired of seeing Ice with diamonds and new clothes while we’re walking around here looking a hot mess.”

Silence.

“This is scary to me.” She said waving her hand in her face. “And I don’t want no parts of this.”

“It doesn’t have to be…so I propose,” she continued when she felt Zykia wasn’t buying in. “We blackmail him.”

“Pepper…you sound crazy! Aren’t you scared of what could happen if we fuck with Ice? Aren’t you scared of what he could do to you or your mama? Or to me?”

“And don’t you want your own money for a change? Ain’t you tired of relying on JD for money and then having to hear his mouth?”

Zykia shook her head no.

“Look at your shoes, Zy.” She said picking her Nikes off the floor. “They run down. Don’t tell me you want to roll like this.” She tossed them down. “You get messed with at school more than I do because of how you dress.”

Zykia was no longer rebellious. She thought about having to wear the same banged out clothes day after day and having to wash them in the sink by hands. She shared her panties with her mother and who knew where or who she’d been with. Suddenly the idea of getting a little something for nothing started to sound good to her.

“Pepper,” Zykia said breathing heavily. “What will stop Ice from killing us? I mean…if he finds out we’re blackmailing him he will end our lives. By his own hands too!”

Pepper could hardly be still she was moving around so much. Besides her best friend was coming around. “No he won’t because we will be smart.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he won’t know it’s us. Trust me, Zykia, I’ve thought about this long and hard. We can do this.”