I t was well after 3:00 A.M., but there were still a sprinkling of people hanging out in the projects. Most of the regular folk had called it a night, giving the hustlers and crackheads free reign over the land. Sticks, Stone, and Danny were posted up around the mouth of the 103rd Street entrance, surveying the Columbus side of the projects. They were having a deep discussion, but all fell silent when a cherry red BMW 528 pulled to a stop directly in front of them. They tried to see who was driving, but all the windows were tinted.
“Who the fuck is that?” Stone whispered to his brother, inching closer to the gun he had stashed in the grass. They had whacked Jimmy, but Vince was still missing. The back door, on the street side popped open and when the passenger emerged, the crew let out a sigh of relief.
Daddy-O stretched and rubbed his gut like he had just eaten a hardy meal. From the way he teetered, you could tell that he had been drinking. The other rear door opened and Lizzie stepped out, drawing “oh’s” from the fellas posted up. She was killing ’em in a pair of black Capris and lace-up sandals that tied around her calves. Daddy-O stepped around to the curb side and gave her a warm hug.
“Don’t forget to call me, nigga,” she pinched his gut.
“No doubt, ma. If I don’t do nothing else I’m gonna call you,” he said, drinking her in with his eyes. She kissed him gently on the cheek and went around to the passenger’s side, where Prince was stepping out. His eyes too, held a slight twinkle, but it wasn’t from the alcohol. Marisol had provided him with good company and conversation, something he didn’t get from the girls he fucked within the projects. She was someone he could definitely see himself keeping time with.
“This is your hood, huh?” Marisol rolled the driver’s side window as Prince stepped onto the curb.
“Monster Island, the only home I know,” Prince said with a smile.
“Why do they call it Monster Island?” Marisol asked.
“I’ll tell you the next time I see you,” He said, slyly.
“Who said there’s gonna be a next time?” she teased.
“Cut that out, ma. You know you’re feeling a nigga.”
“Umm, hmm. No more than you’re feeling me.”
“True,” he nodded.
“Yo, Prince, who dat?!” Stone shouted. Prince ignored him and turned his attention back to Marisol.
“So, when can I see you again?” he asked.
“You’ve got the number, use it,” she told him.
“I’ll do that,” he tapped the car door. “So, would it be too much to ask for a kiss?”
“Being that you have to ask, yes,” she said, rolling the window partially up, then pausing. “Next time take the initiative.” She gave Prince a wink and pulled out into traffic.
“Yo, that was a bad bitch, kid. Who the fuck was that?” Sticks asked.
Prince watched the taillights until they disappeared down Columbus Avenue. “My future wife.”
“You know you was wrong for that, Marisol,” Lizzie said, peeking through the rear window at Prince, who was standing on the curb smirking.
“Can’t make it too easy, can I?” Marisol snickered. “Besides, he’ll get his chance.”
“You gonna give that buck nigga some pussy ain’t you?” Lizzie asked slyly. Marisol gave her a look, but didn’t answer. “I always knew you had a thing for chocolate,” Lizzie teased.
“He a’ight,” Marisol said nonchalantly.
“Bitch, that nigga is fine. You know I love my poppies, but you gotta call a spade a spade, and that spade has got it together!”
“Whatever, ho. Don’t act like I ain’t see you all up on his man. Shit, I thought y’all was gonna fuck on the dance floor.”
“When I felt that snake pressing against my ass, I sure as hell thought about it. Whoever said all fat niggaz had little dicks didn’t know Daddy-O!”
“Liz, your ass is crazy!” Marisol said, headed across 125th to the Tri-Borough Bridge.
“So, have you thought about what Felix is gonna say?” Lizzie asked, becoming serious.
Marisol cut her eyes at her. “Like I give a shit about what Felix is gonna say.”
“Wow, where did that come from?” Lizzie asked, knowing that her friend was head over heels in love with Felix.
“I’m tired of his shit, Liz. All Felix does is come over, fuck me, and beg for dope. That fool ain’t about shit.”
“Ah, you’re just now figuring out what we’ve been trying to tell you for the longest. Cano told you not to fuck with him, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“Liz, I don’t need another lecture. I get enough of that shit from Cano.”
“How is that sexy-ass brother of yours?”
“He’s still in South America. He should be back in another two weeks though, so I’m handling things while he’s gone.”
“Cano let you into the family business, huh?” Lizzie asked surprised.
“Hardly, when he left I stole two bricks from one of his apartments.”
“Girl, you must’ve fell and bumped ya head! Cano is gonna fuck you up when he finds out,” Lizzie said seriously. “Marisol, I don’t understand you. Cano spoils you rotten, and you go and steal from him. What the hell were you thinking about?”
Marisol banged her fist against the steering wheel. “I don’t know, Liz. This was my father’s business and Cano acts like he’s king shit. He says he keeps me away to protect me, but that’s just an excuse for him to try and run my life. I’m twenty-one years old, and he still treats me like a kid. I just wanted to show him that I can handle it.”
“Marisol,” Lizzie began, flashing a hint of accent. “You’re my girl, so you know I’m gonna keep it gangsta with you. I know you came up around that shit all your life, but drugs are a very serious business, especially heroin. You’re playing with fire, and you’re gonna fuck around and get burnt.”
“You don’t think I know that?” Marisol said with an edge to her voice. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. Look, what’s done is done, and I can’t change that. All I can do now is hope that Cano doesn’t get too mad about the money I lost.”
“And you lost money?” Lizzie asked in disbelief. “How did you manage to fuck that up?”
“I didn’t fuck anything up, that asshole Felix did.”
Lizzie slapped herself on the forehead. “Marisol, tell me you didn’t give that man your brother’s drugs?”
“He works for him, so it seemed like the logical thing,” she reasoned.
“Yes, as a soldier. Cano kept him at that level because he’s a fuck-up, Marisol. Everyone knows that.”
“Felix is not a fuck-up!” Marisol defended.
“If it walks like a duck.”
Marisol sighed. “I figured he could flip the work and make us some money. Then when Cano came back, I’d have his money and prove to him that I knew how to handle myself and that Felix wasn’t a fuck-up, as you call him.”
Lizzie just shook her head. Marisol had done some dumb things since they’d known each other but never this dumb. Instead of running how wrong she was into the ground, she decided to try and figure out how to help Marisol out of it. “Okay, how much does he owe so far?”
Marisol thought on it for a minute. “Well, so far I’ve given him about a half a kilo at eighty grand, street value. For a whole one, you do the math.”
“Jesus, Marisol, he’s into Cano for at least forty grand! Cano is gonna shit a brick. What are you gonna do?”
“Honestly, I don’t know, but I’ve got two weeks to figure it out.”