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The sun rose high over the Cooper River Bridge as light raced into the cracked windows of the two-story condo in the upper-class section of Mount Pleasant exposing the voluptuous, sexy, ass freckled face, red bone sitting on the side of her bed. She’d been wide awake now for a while watching the sun come up as she sat impatiently by the phone. She closed the blinds slightly as the bright morning sunlight flooded the room causing her to shield her eyes momentarily then grabbed for a pair of shades and tossed them on. Her long, thick eyelashes fluttered as they adjusted to the light.
She reached over to her bedside dresser searching for the pack of cigarettes she could have sworn she’d just bought before she came in last night. She got up and grabbed the cashmere sweater slung across the top of the closet door and dug through the pockets. She pulled out a half-broken cigarette then sucked her teeth and threw the garment across the room. She lifted her shades and adjusted them on her silk, flaming red hair, then crossed her legs trying to piece it together. To hell with the promise she’d made to stop smoking...fuck that shit. She wet her full, rose-colored lips and lit it, sucking all the smoke her lungs would inhale then fell back dizzy on the king size bed.
“When is this muthafucka gonna call?” She sighed staring over at her glossy, black Samsung scanning it for texts.
Not seeing anything new she looked around the room for an ashtray then it dawned on her that she threw them all away. She’d been since reneged a while ago on that crazy ass New Year’s shit she was on, drunk at the moment it was just one of a dozen promises she slurred on and on about. Glancing down to the floor, she spotted a brand-new pair of pink Jordan’s and picked one of them up then flicked the ashes from the cigarette inside.
“It’s just ashes it shouldn’t hurt anything,” she convinced herself.
She propped up some pillows and leaned back staring up at the ceiling fan spinning round and round and started thinking out loud. “Why do I fuck with this shit anyway?” As she took another long drag of the cigarette the answer shot back at her like a light. “It’s too easy bitch!” She continued talking to herself as she went over it again for the hundredth time. “Damn, girl, it was only a week or so ago and still I haven’t seen any of my money.”
A knucklehead ass balla got himself knocked off on some ole bullshit, tricking. According to her people, he spent crazy money on crack hoes and cheap hotels. Picture that, she giggled at the thought. As much loot as he had at his disposal at any given time. He’d rather spend it playing Russian Roulette with HIV and Hepatitis. He was a fuckin’ sucka who deserved this shit, she said then flicked some more ashes into the sneaker.
His ass was easy to find, hell, everyone knew his business. Really it was just a matter of time anyway before the streets woulda got him. Her snitch told her where he’d be and all it took was a couple of calls to some crooked ass cops, she’d grown up with and boom, his twisted, crazy looking ass was in the county jail. Immediately she had his ass processed, thrown into an interrogation room and hidden away. It would have to go down quickly, they worked him physically and mentally. They told his dumb ass he was going away for life. That this was a felony and a strike.
Fuck the Fed’s, he’d do State time first, and at eighty percent. It didn’t take long, he panicked and got scared. They’d picked the right muthafucka, she knew he’d wanted to become a snitch, but she had enough of them already. If she needed to, she’d play that card later after she was finished with him. After a couple of good cop, bad cop scenarios, slaps and brutal stomach punches were administered just like in the movies. It was suggested in no certain way that maybe he’d have to get himself a lawyer.
They convinced him that he’d have to pay a lot of money getting out of this shit. They were gonna put it down on him and set him up good. They were going to smack up a couple of his crack hoe girlfriends, blame it all on him and maybe throw in a little sexual assault, rape, or after a couple of black eyes, attempted murder.
“Why go through all that?” they asked.
Once again, they suggested that maybe he could get his own self out if things were right. Not even see jail time or court, but of course, they’d have to ask their people to make sure it was ‘quote...unquote’, legit. She liked this part of it, making it her business to go down to the count joint dressed in the tightest, tittie hugging, ass fitting mini skirt she could find. She glanced over at the walk-in closet and she had many outfits similar to it. Different ones for the many moods and roles she had to play.
“Whatever!” She giggled. “It worked.”
When she got there, she let him know that yes, if he had the right money, he could walk away from all of this. She’d make this a simple matter and of course, the cops agreed, after all, they were in on it. But then he started second-guessing himself and shit, trying to figure shit out.
She picked up on the vibe. “Damn, this cat is really stupid.”
She slightly pushed back the chair she was sitting in and opened her legs wide long enough to allow him to get a good glimpse and detail what was in between her panty-less thighs. Showing itself was reddish blonde pubic hairs, revealing a pink clit hiding behind it if you squinted just right. She closed her legs and really went to work on him. She pulled her chair up closer to him playing like she was opening a folder.
His eyes were ready, he had just dropped a pencil and caught one show. “God-damn, now what?”
She adjusted her cleavage and out popped a nipple, so-called accidentally, in front of him.
“Equipment malfunction.” She laughed.
It was on, it didn’t take two minutes. His dick was hard, and a god-damn deal was in the making.
It wasn’t over with yet though. The good cop dude would come rushing in soon after whispering something in her ear, another part of the plan. Something about a stash house. He made sure he was loud enough so that he could hear. She looked up at him and smiled, suggesting once again that maybe if he had one of them stash houses, he might be able to go free today. You could see it in his face. If he told them about that he’d definitely have to deal with his partners later and it wouldn’t be good. He didn’t want to go with it.
Then on cue, the bad cop dude came in wrapping the steel cuffs around his knuckles shouting. “Fuck this shit, let’s fuck his ass up. Then lock his ass down and throw away the fuckin’ key!” She rolled her eyes at him letting him know what was going down if he fucked up and made the wrong move.
She got up and shook her fat round booty all the way to the door, opening it, then looked over her shoulder telling him she tried working with him. He’d never see her...again, ever. It’s amazing what a hard dick and some common sense could accomplish.
He was completely punked and played.
“Okay, okay!” he yelled.
She nodded to the cop to get the address then winked at him. “I got you, baby, don’t worry.” Then she let him get a good eyeful. “See you around, huh?”
He damn near snatched his dick out through his drawers and started jacking right there, both the perp and the cop. This bitch dripped sex. She hurried back to her office calling her folks on the street about the address he’d given up. It was his partner’s stash spot. He was supposed to be in charge of it. That’s where he was skimming all the money to trick. She told them they had to get there before the cops did, she’d delay them a bit with warrants and paperwork.
“Just fuckin’ get the money!” she screamed.
She was that girl, yep, that double-crossing bitch type. Her plan was set in motion. Rob the stash spot and when the cops came, they’d find scraps, a few thousand at best. Petty, of course, they would be pissed thinking that he’d lied to them, bullshitted them and renege the deal. Now they’d really punish him. Make sure he’d see jail time with busted ribs and shit. Life was a bitch!
She was smooth, she played it all too well. Her sweet Emmy award-winning, ghetto ass.
“Fuck it!” she told them. “Just split the money.”
Of course, she’d give them the lion’s share. They’d be happy with that. Whatever dope they found, which was always a couple of grams, she’d tell them to record it as evidence. A small-time dope bust, he’d get simple possession or and enough jail time for her to launder the real money and still keep tabs on him.
“Hell, give his ass a strike that’ll work in my favor later,” she said.
He would think somebody on the streets robbed him. Probably thinking one of those hoes he fucked with set him up. He’d deal with it as soon as he hit the streets, but he needed to disappear for awhile anyway. He needed time to explain this shit to his people. They were already on his ass about the tricking anyway. So, he needed to be safe for a minute and it never actually dawned on him that the actual thief was the one sending him up the road. That’s how she did business, one muthafucka at a time. It was consistent.
Charleston, South Carolina the port city full of dope boys, dealers, ballas, hustlas, whatever, all she saw was dollars. With two Beamers in the driveway, fur coats in the closet, brand new outfits, and stilettos from New York to Italy, jewelry and of course anything she fuckin’ wanted.
“Ouch!” she yelled as the cigarette burned her nails and snapped her back into the present moment. “Damn...now I gotta make an appointment.”
She got up and walked to the bathroom then flushed the butt down the toilet and flopped back in bed. She pulled back the covers exposing the naked man who laid sleeping underneath and giggled as she started playing with his dick feeling its warmth and marveling as it stiffened between her fingers. She wrapped her hands tightly around it as it seemed to explode and swing uncontrollably. She stroked it and it calmed down. He wasn’t circumcised, and she was entranced as she watched the foreskin slide up and down over his now enlarged tip. It freaked her out.
Her pussy started tingling, she felt it and it was hot and wet. She hoisted herself on top of him quickly and slowly thrust his dick inside of her then slid up and down its shaft until it was swallowed whole. She leaned forward and kissed the side of his neck, then sucked his nipples making his dick even harder inside of her. She sat deep, it hit her G-spot and she heard him moan as she grinded down on him. She rested her large titties on top of his face and his tongue reached out eagerly searching for her thick stout nipples and sucked them. She closed her eyes and her pussy juices ran down her leg and tickled his nuts.
She stroked faster and faster until she worked up a lather and he couldn’t speak. When he did it made no sense, but she had the cure for that. She started working her strong hips on his pelvis and whispered gently in his ear.
“What’s my name, baby?” she asked.
“Uggghhhh...” he groaned.
She grabbed him by the throat. “What’s my name, muthafucka?”
“Sunshine...”
“Sunshine what?”
“Sunshine Brown!”
She squeezed her pussy with all her might feeling his dick get fatter as his blood vessels thickened pushing the cum up inside of his balls to the top. Then, without warning, she came to a dead stop and slowly raised up. The tip of his head was the only thing left in her wet tightened pussy.
That fucked him up and he yelled out like a bitch. “Oh my God...oh my God!”
“No...not, God!” she said giggling as she started backstroking making her ass clap as he dug deeper into her pussy. “Not God, but who...who muthafucka?”
He grabbed at her and tried pulling her closer to get intimate. She wasn’t going for it, she pushed him back down and he tried once more but slipped from the sweat that raced down her back. She could feel the precum build up and then grabbed him by the throat again and squeezed some more. He was defeated. She felt hot sperm shooting wildly inside of her like a hose.
She started draining the life out of him and yelled. “I said, what’s my fuckin’ name?”
“Sunshine Brown...Sunshine Brown!” he yelled out.
“Sssss...give me that dick! Sunshine Brown what?”
“Sunshine Brown...D...District Attorney!”
That’s what she wanted to hear, that’s all she wanted. That and the ninety god-damned grand and the dope she was supposed to flip. That’s all she wanted as she leaned forward and whispered softly into his ear.
“And you know this...man!” she giggled, then raised up and adjusted her pussy over his face snuggling down on his mouth. “Now...let’s see if you can get this promotion okay.”
The young college law student that interned in her office lapped up her pussy eagerly and hungrily. Now it was his chance to shine for the now moaning and convulsing 9th Circuit District Attorney of Charleston, South Carolina, and part-time hood-rat Sunshine Brown!
****
It had been a couple days and Dondi still hadn’t heard anything from Rip or Jabari. She’d been expecting them at least that next morning after they left. Maybe she thought, and the idea even pissed her off a little, that they might have taken what money they made and went tricking out of town or the country. But now it was just too long, at the rate they got high it woulda only been a couple of days at best before they bought their asses up in here.
The rent was due, the hotel owner had come to see her twice already. She gave him what little she had but it still wasn’t the rent. Her mind wasn’t too bent on tricking, she wanted to stay close just in case they came back with money or even dope. She could use both right about now. She hadn’t got high in a minute and hadn’t been able to hit the streets.
That’s what cost her, she paced the small hotel room mumbling. “Just wait until they get here!”
A couple of her so-called girls came through with the occasional trick-daddy but quickly left after he got a good eyeful of Dondi. Instead of losing them to her and in fear of Dondi getting all the money, they dipped. They probably took them way across town to West of Ashley taking the back way so the trick couldn’t retrace his steps back to Dondi. She had that type of effect on men.
Something had to be done, though. She turned on the television and started flicking through the stations then heard a knock at the door. She ran to it and opened it wide. It was the hotel owner, Pasheeva or something, she could never get his name right for the hell of it. She stood in the doorway in her panties and wifebeater, bowlegged with her arms crossed.
He stood right in front of her with his hand out. “You got money?”
Her mouth dropped a little from the disappointment of seeing him and not Rip and also tired of him asking the same shit. ‘You got money...you got money...you got money?’
“Fuck him!” she mumbled to herself, then sucked her teeth and turned around walking away from him.
She rubbed her arms trying to warm them from the cool draft that rushed inside through the open doorway. Her nipples poked out causing the hotel owner to stare.
He smiled. “Look you got money...or what?”
He followed close behind her after he stepped in and closed the door. She put on a pair of jeans, squeezing into the hip-hugging garment as he continued to ogle at her body.
“No, not yet. I told you by the end of the week...” she jumped slightly as he reached for her hand pulling him close to her rubbing his groin against her ass.
“Maybe we can work something out...” he said.
At first, she pulled away slightly, then said fuck it and started to go with it.
“Hell, fuck it!” she mumbled. “If that’s all he wanted was a shot of ass then that’ll work.”
She figured he’d be easy to pull anyway. All she had to do was fuck his God damn brains out and he’d be bringing her money. She rubbed on his dick, it was getting hard as she pulled him towards her and sat down on the edge of the bed. He backed up and walked over to the window and looked out and around both ways then closed the curtains tight. He walked back over to her pulling his dick out of his pants and started stroking it in front of her face.
She looked up at him and said, “So...will this take care of it or what?”
“Sure...you give me some pussy, too!”
“That’ll work!” she grinned. “But I don’t want no shit or I’ma tell your wife.”
“No...no don’t do that. No need for that!” He grabbed the back of her head. “C’mon, just hurry!”
She started to open her mouth and she caught something that popped up on the TV in front of her. A picture that flashed on the screen caught her eye. Some sort of special report.
“Oh my, God!” she said as she held the hotel owner’s dick in her hand. She dropped it and pushed him aside.
He looked down beside. “What...what is it?” He tried shoving his dick into her mouth, but she just kept pushing it away. “C’mon...before my wife gets back!”
She paid him no mind as she focused intently on the television. He turned and caught the headlines that read:
A man identified who was shot dead. His name is Mark Brown! He was found dead in the street at Montague Street and Nesbitt Avenue in the Liberty Hill section of North Charleston a week ago. Apparently, the victim of a robbery. If you have any information on the shooting call Crime Stoppers at...”
He recognized Rip from the shoddy mugshot they showed. He looked at Dondi who was sprawled out on the bed crying. His dick started to go limp, but not without thinking that maybe he should just take the pussy. He knew that now she had no one to look after her. Rip used to be there all the time and would help her out with the rent and even put the tim down on him from time to time buying her a couple of days in back rent. He straightened up his pants and grinned there’d be plenty of time.
He walked over to the door and said, “Uh...look, I come back later on today, okay!”
She didn’t respond, she didn’t have too. It was what it was, he opened the door and left.
Dondi laid crying hysterically on the bed for a long while after, but in between the sniffles, it suddenly dawned on her. If Rip was dead, where the hell was Jabari? She rubbed her eyes wondering did he have something to do with it? He would know what happened to him or was he dead too and just not found yet? She sat up staring into the TV screen at much of nothing.
Her mind filled with so many thoughts. “What should I do? Should I claim the body? I need to find his people.”
She got up and went into the bathroom to straighten her face. She put on her best hooker outfit and ran out of the room. She knew just the place to find Jabari if he was still alive and she hoped he was. Then she’d find out exactly what happened.
On her way out, the hotel owner’s wife beckoned her inside the office. She pointed her finger at her and said, “If you do not have the rest of the money by this evening, pack your stuff. If you are not here, we will.”
Dondi peeped behind her and caught a glimpse of her husband coward behind in the back office. A red mark was visible on the right side of his face.
“He was slapped.” She snickered. “Yeah right, if that happens...we might need to talk first.” She straightened up her tight fitted top revealing her plump, mellon titties then winked at her husband. “I really don’t think you want...uh, what’s his name Pasheeva to get in any trouble. Now, do we?”
It was on, she’d play her completely out of the box. She’d run the bullshit about her husband. Tell her he used to take the pussy and eat her out. Hell, that right there would get her at least a couple of months or so of free rent.
‘Damn!’ she thought. ‘Why didn’t she think of this before?’ She zipped up her leather jacket and turned towards the door going out. “Not unless you want me to call...the cops.”
“No, we don’t want that...just go...just go!” she heard Pasheeva say from out the back room.
His wife’s brown-skinned face turned red and she looked down unhappily at the desk. At first, Dondi felt sorry for her but this was the game and besides, she really would have thrown her shit out in the street.
“Look...I’ll try to have something by the end of the week like I said.” She opened the door and as it closed behind her, she heard shouts from Pasheeva in the background. Good for his stinkin’ ass!
She stepped into the chilly, wind blowing street ass first and immediately a car stopped.
‘My first trick of the day,’ she thought.
Maybe it was some old man with his dick in one hand and money in the other. She looked up River’s Avenue towards Remount Road and figured after she was finished with him, he could take her the back way into Liberty Hill. She grabbed the car handle and bent over to get inside the vehicle.
“Oh my...” She was snatched in and the car sped off. She rubbed her eyes, not believing what she was seeing. When she finally adjusted to the reality of what was going on, she started shouting. “Fuckin’ Jabari! I thought you mighta been dead! What the hell happened to, Rip? Did you kill him...did you kill him!” Dondi started yelling, then grabbed his arm. “Why aren’t you saying anything, Jabari? Talk to me...talk to me goddamnit!” She yanked at the steering wheel and Jabari swerved avoiding a car just to his left.
They were just approaching Remount Road a busy intersection and Jabari knew five-o always sat on the corner in front of the Quickie Mart. Jabari had to quiet Dondi down quick. He pulled into the parking lot of Piggly Wiggly right next to Highway-26 around back. Dondi was still hollering and acting out and shit, but Jabari understood. Jabari knew he should’ve gotten in touch with her earlier, but he needed to find a place and gather his thoughts and lay low. He managed to catch a ride that night to Dorchester Road over near Pepper Tree Houses.
Melissa took Jabari in without questions, didn’t ask him shit about where he’d been. She just gave him some clean clothes, she’d put up from her old man. He’d just caught a bid for twenty years. She gave Jabari some quilts for a pallet and he fell out. He didn’t remember what time he’d gotten there or even he’d gone. After gathering his thoughts, he knew exactly why he’d gone there. There was no bullshittin’ it, he was in love with Melissa and would probably always be. She was his high school sweetheart. They were each other’s first loves but had gone their separate ways after school.
He got caught up in drugs and she got caught up in dope boys and three kids. Jabari still managed to see her from time-to-time. They caught eyes whenever her old man would swing by the block and drop off some work. Jabari didn’t even know he was up the road. He’d heard some things...but he really needed to talk to someone, and she was that one.
Sometime during the day, she’d woken up and asked him everything was alright. Did he need help or something? He told her that he needed to get his head together and asked if she could give him another day. She agreed, when he woke that following morning, he went to get and told her he needed to go on a run for a minute. She had just watched the news and knew something. Jabari could see it in her face. She cooked breakfast for him and told him to wait in the crib until she dropped the kids off at daycare. When she did, she hugged him tight and told him she loved him.
Then she dropped three stacks on the table and a set of car keys. Jabari felt obligated and started explaining rambling off at the mouth. Melissa shushed him, putting her fingers to his lips then planted a big wet kiss on his lips. She told him she still loved him too. Jabari helped washed the dishes then he got dressed and she walked him out to the parking lot. She pointed to a royal blue, 96 Nissan Maxima and said that all he needed was gas. Jabari smiled, gave her a hug and was waving goodbye as he turned onto Dorchester Road.
It seemed like the news was on everything he turned the radio to. Everywhere he looked, he felt watched. He gassed up the ride and felt the money burning a hole in his pocket. He wanted to get high so fuckin’ bad, but he had one thing left to do before he dipped.
“Calm the fuck down, Dondi!” Jabari yelled.
“Calm down...fuck you! Rip is dead, ‘Bari...the news said he was killed in a robbery. I thought y’all was going to just put the tim down on someone...what happened?” Buckets of tears rolled out of her now puffed up, pretty doe-like eyes and Jabari felt so fuckin’ bad. But he couldn’t tell her anything because he didn’t know nuthin’ his damn self.
“Look, Dondi! We met these dudes and we heard them out. Then, when we got to the spot to do what we had to do it all just went fucked the hell up,” Jabari tried to explain.
“What went fucked the hell up? Who did you meet?” Dondi questioned.
“I can’t tell you all that, at least not yet, trust me on this.” Jabari grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her closer. At first, she resisted then broke down in his arms. “I know it’s crazy! I wanted to come see you earlier, and let you know what it was up, but damn was hard. Rip was my friend, too. Hell, Dondi, I don’t even know where his people at!”
Dondi looked up into Jabari’s eyes. “I know...that’s fucked up! All this time together and we really didn’t even know each other. All we did was get high. Damn...” She rubbed her eyes with the cuff of her sleeve and mascara smeared her face.
Jabari reached into his jacket and pulled out a tissue wiping her eyes. “I need to get outta town for a minute so that I can get shit together. We was fucked over and I’m gonna make sure some sort of way that we get ours.”
“What happened, y’all got robbed? Tell me sumptin’!”
“Naw, we got set up.”
“By who...who did y’all go see?”
Jabari wanted to tell her something, but he knew that the police would be coming to see her. Everyone knew about Rip and her and even Jabari. It would be easier if they had just split up. Jabari couldn’t take her, and he knew she would want to come.
“I’m going in the country,” Jabari informed her.
“Where...can I go?”
“Dondi...hear me out. The cops will be coming to see you sometime today, believe that. I wouldn’t doubt it if they were already at the hotel waitin’. They gonna ask you a lot of questions and that’s exactly why I can’t tell you shit. You understand?”
She nodded her head, she finally started to come around. “The less I know...”
“Yeah, the better.” Jabari reached into his jacket and pulled out six hundred and fifty dollars. “I gotta lil’ bit of money. Take this and give it to the hotel dude so he won’t fuck with you.”
“Don’t worry I got that covered,” Dondi said winking at Jabari. She crossed her legs kind of cocky and he knew then she was already on some dumb shit.
“No, take care of the business. I don’t need his ass snooping around. Just do what you normally would do, but just nothing illegal.”
“I can’t hustle...get high?” Dondi looked at Jabari like he’d lost his mind.
Jabari grabbed his hand, deciding to go another route. He gently stroked it and with the other hand rubbed the side of her face. “Dondi...for this to go right, you got to stay straight because I need someone to watch my back. I thought that it might just be you.”
She cocked her head slightly like a little puppy and shit searching his eyes for any signs of the bullshit she was so used to encountering. “You want me to have your back.” She found none.
“That’s what’s up.”
“Okay, but I ain’t never had no one...” she smiled. “Okay, you got it!”
“Cool, so I’ma drop you off and just chill a’ight. Order Chinese or something, watch movies but know this five-o will be there soon. If they’re not already and they’ll be watching you, so be careful.”
Jabari hoped this shit wasn’t going in one ear and out the other. Jabari needed to use Dondi as his contact, but if she fucked up then he’d know they’d locked her up, trying to get whatever they could outta of her.
“I got you.” Dondi leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Be careful, Jabari.”
“I will, I’ll be in touch soon.”
“Okay.”
Jabari drove back to the hotel and dropped her off. He watched her go into the office and come back out. She was smiling so he knew she’d done the right thing. She waved and he peeled out into traffic. Jabari thought about it for a while, he finally made up his mind though. He would go someplace small where no one would know his face. Somewhere he could blend in, somewhere secluded. Summerville was the next town over, but he needed to go much further than that. Not out of the State though, he had another school mate he knew. Not too many people knew they were friends, but they were. He looked out for him one time before and no he needed to return the favor. He looked at the sign as he slowed down to get onto the highway, heading to Walterboro forty miles away.
“I knew that muthafucka would tell something. Look at his ass...punk muthafucka!” Hulie sat across the street in a cut watching as Jabari dropped Dondi off and pulled off. A grimace came across his face as he watched her go into her room. “Six-o-four yeah bitch! I’ll be seeing you real soon, real fuckin’ soon.”
He slouched down in the seat as he also watched an unmarked police car turn into the hotel parking in front of the office. Hulie picked up his cell phone. Sunshine’s number popped up damn near a hundred times. He knew he needed to call, but he had to make sure his plan was set in motion just right. Now after seeing what he needed to see, he could finally call.
“Wassup...Sunshine?”