Chapter Five
Bamboo sat at his desk in his office, watching Fresh and Rusty pull up in his driveway.
“These surveillance cameras are lifesavers,” Bamboo said to his bodyguard, King.
“Let me go let these clowns in,” King said, walking toward the front door. “Gentlemen,” King said, answering the door with his Uzi held tight under his armpit.
“King, what it do, my nigga?” Fresh responded as he and Rusty stepped foot inside the mansion.
“Bamboo is in his office,” King said in a flat, unfriendly tone.
Rusty gave the big man a cold stare as he walked past. Rusty never liked King; it was something about him that bugged Rusty. All Fresh had to do was give him the word, and he would be more than happy to rock his ass to sleep.
“What’s going on, baby?” Bamboo asked, giving Fresh and Rusty both a pound.
“You tell me, what’s up with you raising your prices? We’ve been doing good business with you for a while, what s up?” Fresh stated.
“It’s just a temporary thing. Shit is a little fucked-up on my side right now, just stick it out with me for a minute,” Bamboo said nonchalantly.
“You saying stick it out with you like I’m not the one losing money,” Fresh said, not understanding. “I mean, work with me, do something. Raise the prices on them other niggas. They not copping heavy like me anyway so what’s the problem?”
“Fresh, in a month when this is all over I’ll be sure to throw you something extra, a’ight?” Bamboo told him.
“Make sure you do that, ’cause I got a lot of people depending on me to come through, and you know when mu’fuckas pockets start getting short, people can’t be held accountable for their actions,” Fresh warned as he stood up to leave. “Yo, Pooh will be up here next week on his regular schedule,” he stated plainly as he and Rusty headed for the door.
“No hard feelings,” Bamboo yelled so Fresh could hear him. “I’ma take care of you.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Fresh said as he and Rusty made their exit.
“Hey, boss, why are you raising the price on Fresh? He’s a good customer,” King asked, unsure.
“Fuck that young punk,” Bamboo snarled as he watched the monitors as Fresh pulled off his property. “He’s lucky I don’t triple the price on that faggot. I don’t respect young hustlers; they think they know every goddamn thing when they don’t know shit. I’ve been out here since the eighties when crack first started. Fuck Fresh—whatever I say the price is, he’s just going to have to pay it point-blank. He need me, I don’t need him. As soon as he try to get tough I’m going to cancel his fuckin’ contract, simple as that,” Bamboo chuckled, giving King a pound.
“But what we gonna do if Fresh finds a new connect?” King asked. “That’s going to be mad money out of our pockets.”
“Find a new connect where?” Bamboo asked, looking around. “He ain’t gonna be able to find a cheaper price anywhere else and if he does find it cheaper it won’t be the same quality, so fuck him, he can kiss my ass.”
“Why the fuck are we paying these high-ass prices for this garbage-ass work?” Rusty asked, confused.
“At the end of the month when we re-up we’re going to take a package from Bamboo and not pay him shit,” Fresh said, stopping at a red light. “I’m going to get ten bricks from him and just dead that clown.”
“You know that’s going to start a war, right?” Rusty stated plainly.
“I’m not even worried about that, B. My shoot-out record is twenty-two and oh, I’ll take my chances, you dig?” Fresh paused. “As a matter of fact, fuck that—we ain’t paying that nigga shit, if he want it he gon’ have to take it in blood.”
“I can dig it, you know I’m down for whatever,” Rusty replied, giving Fresh a pound.
“Either ball hard or fall hard,” Fresh said as he pulled up on the corner of Dyckman so he could get some raw piff.
Pop and Pooh stood in front of the building listening to Lucky try his hardest to sing an old school song.
“Okay, okay, that’s enough,” Pop said, interrupting Lucky in the middle of his song.
“I used to be one of the Four Tops back in the day,” Lucky lied proudly.
“Nigga, you can’t even spell Four Tops,” Pop said, tired of listening to the dirty man’s lies.
“Young blood, why you trying to disrespect me?” Lucky asked.
“Yo, just tell your wack-ass stories somewhere else,” Pop said, not hiding his dislike for the man.
“Back in my day I would have knocked your young ass the fuck out,” Lucky said coldly as he walked off.
“What!” Pop said as he quickly dug in the garbage until he found a bottle.
“Yo, chill,” Pooh said, stopping Pop from throwing the bottle at the homeless man.
“That bum-ass nigga better watch his fuckin’ mouth, before I break his jaw, Pop said watching the bum walk off still singing.
“You know he didn’t mean anything by that shit,” Pooh said, trying to calm Pop down.
“I’m about to get up out of here anyway—I got some pussy to get,” Pop said, pulling out his cell phone.
Nika sat on the couch watching The Wire when she heard her phone ringing.
“Hello?” she answered innocently.
“Can I speak to Nika, please?”
“Yeah, it’s me,” she said in her sexiest voice.
“What’s good? This Pop, you busy?”
“Nah, what’s up? I thought you forgot about me,” she responded.
“Nah, I just been a little busy, but I’m free now and I’m trying to see you, can you come to me or do I have to come to you?” Pop asked.
“I just got out the shower so you going to have to come see me,” Nika replied flirtatiously.
“A’ight, bet, what’s the apartment?”
“9E,” Nika answered again in her sexy voice.
“I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes,” Pop said as he closed his cell phone.
“Okay, boo, I’ll be waiting,” Nika said right before the line went dead.
When Pop hung up he went straight to the corner store and bought a box of Wet n Wild before he headed toward Nika’s building, hoping maybe tonight might be his lucky night.
Nika threw on some perfume as she heard somebody knocking on the door.
“What’s up?” Nika asked, answering the door wearing nothing but a long T-shirt.
“Tryna see what’s up with you,” Pop answered as he stepped inside the apartment.
“I was just chilling, watching TV. Come sit down,” Nika said, patting the cushion on the couch.
“Yeah, I think I saw this episode already,” Pop said, moving in closer to her.
“Well, you better not tell me what’s going to happen,” Nika warned showing Pop her fist.
“Nah, I won’t spoil it for you,” Pop responded with a laugh and scooted even closer to her.
When Nika saw Pop moving closer to her she immediately went into panic mode.
If I give him some now he s going to think I’m a jump-off, then if I don t give him none he going to think I’m fronting. Damn, what should I do?
Before Nika could think of an answer she felt Pop’s soft lips on her neck.
In a quick, smooth motion Pop slid Nika’s shirt off and was happy when he saw that was the only thing she had on. He immediately placed one of Nika’s firm but soft breasts in his mouth as his hands explored the rest of her body.
Nika let out a soft moan as she stuck her hand down Pop’s jeans and began stroking his penis with her hand, until it got harder than a block of ice. All of her inhibitions went out of the window when she felt the size of his dick. She didn’t care if he looked at her like a jump-off or not. She was wet and needed him to handle his business.
“I want you to fuck the shit out of me,” she whispered as she laid back on the couch, spreading her legs open like the Red Sea.
As Pop rolled the condom on he noticed Nika had two piercings on the lips of her pussy.
“Oh, well,” Pop said, shrugging his shoulders as he slowly entered Nika’s walls of heaven.
“Oh my God,” Nika shouted as she dug her nails into Pop’s back, clawing away at his skin. She wrapped her legs around his waist as Pop slowly slid in and out her at a nice pace. Once Pop felt like he had broke Nika in, he quickly turned her over on all fours. He pulled her hair as he watched his dick disappear and reappear in and out of her juicy, wet pussy.
“Ooh,” Nika moaned, loving every stroke. “Spread my ass cheeks apart, daddy,” she begged as she began throwing her ass back.
“Damn,” Pop groaned as he plunged in and out of her sopping wet pussy.
“I wanna ride that dick,” Nika said aggressively as she forcefully pushed Pop down on the bed. She planted her feet down on the bed as she bounced up and down on Pop’s dick like an animal.
Pop tried to last as long as he could, but Nika’s pussy was so wet, he couldn’t help but cum faster than normal.
“Damn, I didn’t know you were packing like that,” Nika stated as she headed to the bathroom to clean herself up.
Pop just laid on the couch speechless, watching Nika’s ass jiggle all the way to the bathroom.
“Yo, why do you have two earrings on ya pussy?” Pop asked, taking a sip of the orange juice he had just poured himself.
“Because I’m freaky like that,” Nika said, letting out a light laugh before she continued. “A lot of times when I be walking, I just have an orgasm from the earrings rubbing up against my clit. Some people say I’m a freak but I say I’m just a girl that knows what she likes.”
“Wow, that’s some freaky shit, but if it works for you, then it works for me,” Pop said, staring at Nika’s naked body.
“I tell you how it is straight-up, plus I don’t care what people think of me. It’s what I think of myself that counts,” Nika stated firmly as she sipped on her juice.
“I can dig it,” Pop agreed.
For the rest of the night Pop and Nika sat up chitchatting and getting to know each other better.
The next morning Pop left Nika’s crib while she was still sleeping. She was sleeping so peacefully that he didn’t even bother to wake her up.
“I’ll call her later,” Pop said to himself as he hopped on the elevator and pressed the lobby button.
When Pop made it to the lobby he saw that there was nobody there except for an older-looking white man.
“Excuse me, sir, do you have change for a dollar?” Pop asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” the white man responded as he dug into his pocket.
When the white man pulled four quarters out of his pocket, Pop already had his 9 mm pointed at his stomach.
“You know what time it is, old man,” Pop said, snatching the white man’s wallet from his back pocket along with his watch.
“Take anything you want, please just don’t hurt me,” the white man begged, throwing his hands up in surrender.
“Have a nice day, brother,” Pop chuckled once he had all of the white man’ s belongings.
When he made it to the middle of the projects, Pooh was already playing the front of the building, watching the goingson of Fresh’s operation.
“What’s good, my dude?” Pop said, giving Pooh a pound.
“I know you not just now getting back from shorty crib,” Pooh said, fishing for some gossip.
“Yeah, I had a long night if you know what I mean,” Pop replied as he playfully mushed Pooh.
“So what happened?” Pooh asked nosily.
“I shagged,” Pop said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders. “You know, regular shit,” he bragged as he saw Rusty coming down the path.
“What’ s good, my niggas?” Rusty asked, giving both men dap.
“I’m going to need you two to go to the Bronx and go see Pete for me, he owe Fresh some money. I don’t care what y’all have to do just come back with that money,” Rusty stated as he walked off.
Pooh and Pop knew Rusty didn’t give a fuck about nothing—his nappy Afro and unshaved face told you to stay the fuck out of his way.
I wonder what he does with all his money, Pop wondered before Pooh interrupted his train of thought.
“Yo, I heard Tito is supposed to be coming home soon,” Pooh stated as the two men hopped in the car to go handle Fresh’s business.
“Who the fuck is Tito?” Pop asked, not really caring, but just being nosy.
“He was Fresh’s second best soldier until he got locked up. That nigga is a straight-up fool, he’s loud, rowdy, rude, and dangerous,” Pooh said, trying to keep his eyes on the road and talk at the same time. “This Spanish cat is a straight-up loose cannon.”
“Sounds like fun,” Pop joked.
“It won’t be no joking when that nigga touch down,” Pooh claimed seriously.
“So who is this Pete guy?” Pop asked, changing the subject.
“Some clown that’s always trying to be slick, always paying late, always got an excuse for why he ain’t got the money,” Pooh said pulling up on Pete’s block.
Both men cocked back their pistols before they hopped out the car.
“I think this the apartment right here,” Pooh said as he knocked on the door.
“Hey, what’s up Pooh?” Pete said, extending his hand to give Pooh a pound.
“It’s payday, my nigga,” Pooh said, brushing past Pete, leaving him hanging.
“Give me a few days and I’ll have it. This stupid-ass bitch fucked up a package but she working it off now,” he told the two gunmen who stood in his living room.
“Mu’fucka, you already a week late,” Pooh reminded him.
“I know, shit been mad slow around here lately,” Pete said nervously as he lit a cigarette. “Give me two days tops and I’ll have everything that’s my—”
“Fuck all that, you got the money or not?” Pop growled, revealing his 9 mm.
“Chill, I told you I’m going to get it,” Pete said, raising his brow. “Yo, Pooh, who is this new nigga?”
“This my man right here, that’s all you need to know, Pooh told him. “You need to be worrying about getting that money.”
“Tell this young wet-behind-the-ear mu’fucka that I’m good until next week,” Pete boasted.
“Wet behind the ears?” Pop said, aiming his 9 mm at Pete’s kneecap.
Pow!
The bullet ripped through Pete’s knee.
“Aw, shit!” Pete screamed out in pain as he clutched his kneecap, watching the blood gush out.
“Last time I’m going to ask you,” Pop said, placing the hot barrel to Pete’s temple.
“Okay, okay, it’s under the sink in the bathroom,” Pete screamed out, still in pain, clutching his knee.
When Pop checked under the sink he found twenty stacks in a grocery bag.
“Grimy-ass nigga,” Pop growled, kicking Pete on the side of his head.
“All we wanted was $15,000 stupid, now we taking all of it,” Pop said, tossing Pooh the garbage bag full of money.
“Mu’fucka had twenty stacks back there,” Pop said as he and Pooh made their exit, leaving Pete laid out on his living room floor leaking.
“Yo, go give Fresh that fifteen real quick,” Pooh said as he doubled-parked in front of the warehouse.
When Pop made it to the front of the warehouse, Rusty was right there waiting for him.
“It’s all there,” Pop said, handing Rusty the garbage bag containing the money.
“Fresh would like to have a word with you,” Rusty said as he led the way to Fresh’s office.
“What’s good with you, youngin’?” Fresh asked, sitting behind his desk.
“Ain’t shit just out here getting this money,” Pop responded, helping himself to a seat.
“I hear you been handling yourself well out there on the streets.”
“I just try to do my part,” Pop said.
“Bullshit, word on the streets is this nigga laying down order,” Rusty cut in.
“Good, that’s what we need; without order we will have disorder and disorder leads to conflict and we trying to do without conflict, you dig?” Fresh stated plainly.
“The reason I called you in here is because I like what you been doing on those streets. Keep it up and I might give you a promotion,” Fresh told him.
“That’s what’s up,” Pop said excitedly. “I appreciate it.”
“And you the employee of the month,” Rusty cut in again, slapping $500 dollars in Pop’s hand.
“You family now, B. If you ever need something, all you have to do is ask, we take care of our own around here,” Fresh said firmly.
“I feel you, looking for everything especially the opportunity,” Pop said as he gave Fresh and Rusty both a pound, then made his exit.
“That little nigga got heart,” Rusty said as he strapped on his bulletproof vest and loaded his 12-gauge shotgun.
“You ready?” Fresh asked.
“I’m always ready to take some of Bamboo’s money,” Rusty chuckled as the two men hopped in the all-black Denali and pulled off.
When Pop finally made it back to the projects, he wasn’t quite ready to go upstairs so he just sat on the bench, enjoying the night air. As he sat on the bench chilling he saw Nika coming in his direction.
“Why you sitting over here all by yourself?” she asked.
“I was sitting here waiting for you, hoping you walked past,” Pop joked on some lover-boy shit.
“You are such a liar,” Nika said as she sat down next to Pop. “What you doing later on?”
“Nothing,” Pop responded. “Why, what’s good?”
“I was wondering if you wanted to keep me company later,” Nika threw the question out there. She was afraid that he might not be interested. She hoped that Pop wasn’t the type of dude who would hit it and quit it.
“No doubt we can definitely hook up later,” he assured her.
Before Pop could say another word he saw Teresa coming his way looking like a bum.
She wore a stained-filled Newport T-shirt along with some orange shorts and a pair of blue run-down skippies to complete her outfit. Not to mention her hair looked like stir-fried shit.
“So is this where the fuck you be at all day long?” Teresa growled. “Sitting here on the bench not doing shit all day?”
“Why are you bothering me?” Pop huffed. Embarrassment filled him as he stared angrily at Teresa. He could feel Nika’s eyes staring at him, but he didn’t look her way.
“I ain’t start to bothering you yet,” Teresa said, putting her hands all up in Pop’s face.
“Yo, back the fuck up out his face with all that,” Nika said, hopping up off the bench.
“Bitch, I will tear your little ass up out here,” Teresa shot back, trying to get her hands on the ghetto girl.
“Yo, chill,” Pop said, holding his moms back.
“You better go hold that bitch before I whip the both of you. How dare you let her talk to your mother like that,” Teresa said as she violently smacked Pop across his face, causing his hat to fly off.
“Fuck you do that for?” Pop yelled, ready to steal on his moms.
“You lucky that’s all I did, now let me borrow ten dollars,” Teresa said with her hand out.
“Nah, I ain’t got it,” Pop said, refusing to support his mother’s bad habits.
“Why you lying for?” Teresa said loudly. “You think I don’t know you out here selling drugs?”
“Fuck is you talking about?” Pop said with a disgusted look on his face. “I don’t sell drugs.”
“Yes, you do,” Teresa snapped. “How else would you be able to get all those new fancy clothes you be wearing?”
“Whatever,” Pop said, shaking his head from side to side. “You think you know everything, but you don’t know shit.”
“My bad, Pop, I didn’t know that this was your mother,” Nika said, feeling horrible inside. “I’m going home. Holla at me later. I’m sorry again,” she said headed in the opposite direction.
“You always coming around with that bullshit, that’s why I don’t fuck wit’ you like that,” Pop said heatedly, pointing his finger at his mother.
“You better get your mu’fuckin’ hand out my face before I break it,” Teresa said with attitude, and placing her hands on her hips. “Yeah, you care more about that chickenhead than you care about your own mother.”
“Yo, I’m out,” Pop said as he walked off, leaving his mother standing there.
“Go ahead and chase that bitch, you won’t give your own mother no money, but I bet you giving that bitch all your money, stupid ass. And you better not even think about bringing your black ass home tonight either,” Teresa yelled, angry that Pop wouldn’t give her no money.
“I’m sick of this bitch,” Pop said to himself as he walked off. No matter what he did it was never good enough for his mother. He hated the fact that anytime she had a problem she took her anger out on him. There was no pleasing her, so Pop decided to stop trying.