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Authors: Edd McNair

BOOK: A Hot Mess
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CHAPTER 3
Joy turned the page of her photo album. She smiled at the pictures of her and Minke leaning against the Milano as they stood in front of Dairy Queen. Then she looked at the pictures of Queen and Hitler. After they got past the arguing, they became inseparable, just like Minke and herself.
Her eyes moved to the dry picture of Sizemo and Malaina. Malaina didn't feel him. She still had her mind on Wiz, who had brought them to the cookout. Malaina just didn't want to kill the opportunity for Queen and Joy to get with some real niggas. That was her style, roll with the flow.
She looked at the next picture that her and Queen had taken a year later at their seventeenth birthday party, where they had a cookout at Wiz's house.
 
 
Wiz was from New York also, but he'd been living in Norfolk since he was twelve. His parents had moved from Jamaica, Queens to Norfolk. He always traveled back and forth to New York, and never lost contacts with his roots there. When he got into Norfolk State, he came across some New York cats that were getting it, so he thought he could save a trip, not money. But it wasn't until he ran into Minke that his hopes came alive. Minke was hustling with a Brooklyn team that had come down from Bed-Stuy and had set up shop and was doing it big.
Wiz knew Hitler's man, Sleepy. When Sleepy ran into Wiz, it was over a bitch named Shaqvelle that was going to Norfolk State. Sleepy had fell in love with the pussy, while Wiz was just hitting.
Sleepy, with the 9mm in his waist, waited outside Shaquelle's door to confront Wiz. He froze as the familiar face came his way.
“Wiz?”
“Sleepy?” Wiz asked surprised.
They hugged.
“Yo, you fuckin' Shaquelle?” Sleepy asked.
“Fuckin' the shit out of her,” Wiz said proudly. “Oh! Shit! That's you, son?”
“I been fuckin' with that bitch for about a year,” Sleepy said to Wiz. “I was gonna lay a nigga down tonight. I was feeling this shit.”
“Well, guess what, son? We go way back, and if she was worth shit, I would step back and say go for it. But grab your heart, my nigga. Bitch suck mad dick. Then I twist her ass every way but loose. And it ain't only me and you.” Wiz smiled. He could see the hurt in Sleepy's eyes. He knew Sleepy was one of those wild niggas, quiet, low-key, but treacherous.
“I was feeling her, Wiz.”
“So you go home, son. Get your mind together, get your heart together. Then come back and fuck the shit out her thick ass. Come on, man, let's go.” As they eased away from the building, Wiz asked, “What the hell you doing in VA?”
They caught up, and Sleepy introduced him to Minke. Wiz knew how to move, and hustling was his thing. Him and Minke became tight, and money was being made. So when Minke found out that Malaina was feeling Wiz, he was all right with that.
After a year Malaina and Wiz were dating seriously, and he was treating her like a princess. Queen was serious with Hitler, who was controlling her in every way. Joy was still chilling with Minke at his apartment every day, and was six months pregnant. When Minke found out Joy was seventeen, he was totally shocked, but his love for her was unimaginable. He had fallen hard for her, and all he wanted was for her to feel loved and secure.
 
 
Joy frowned at a photo of Hitler and Queen. He loved Queen with a crazy, controlling love, but she was never scared of him. He gave her the world, but beating her ass was a regular. She turned the page to see pictures of herself and Minke on their wedding day. After the birth of their son, he was feeling so much love and closeness, he married her at seventeen, with her mom's consent. Queen was her maid of honor, and Sizemo stood as Minke's best man.
That was when Joy realized who was who. Minke and Sizemo were moneymakers, and Hitler, a Jamaican in the States illegally and with a don't-give-a-fuck attitude, was their connect. Hitler made Sleepy his enforcer, but because of his love for murder, he ran tight with Sleepy.
She turned the page, feeling her eyes getting heavy, but the pictures taken two years later gave her a big smile. That was the happiest time of her life. She was eighteen with two kids living in her three-bedroom, two-bathroom home with a gated yard and garage. It was 1991, and the year had just started. Malaina and Wiz were at their new home because they had the kids and no sitter, along with LeMar and his girl Taniesha. All of them would be graduating from Norfolk State in the spring.
Joy missed Queen, but her and Hitler decided to do the new year in New York. That would be the happiest time of her life and the worst. She remembered the call they received on January 3, 1991 at 4
A.M.
Minke's phone went off, which it never did at that time.
She stared over at Minke when he got the news that they found Hitler in his new Q45 shot up. He'd been hit seven times from the fifteen shots that ripped through his car as he sat at the light on Utica and East New York. The unknown woman that sat in the passenger side was later identified as Queen. Five of the fifteen shots had hit her at point-blank range. She never had a chance.
Tears formed in Joy's eyes and said a pray. Through her ordeals, she had come closer to God, but she knew she wasn't where she should be, but was trying to get there.
She said a prayer for her family, and for Scheri, and ended it by saying, “Watch over Minke, God. Watch over Minke.”
Joy knew down inside that when Hitler and Queen got killed, something inside both of them had died. Queen was her sister, which said it all. But Hitler was more than Minke's connect. They'd grown up in the streets of Brooklyn from six years old.
Hitler and his family had moved to BK straight from Jamaica. His mother and four boys moved in the building right across from Minke's family. At six they began to hang, by eight, Minke had taught Hitler more English than he knew. By twelve, Minke had learned to talk and speak patwa, so if he wanted you to think he was Jamaican, you would.
By sixteen, Hitler had made his name, with killer instincts and the rude boy attitude, but Minke was more laid-back. He moved slow, moved smart, and only told Hitler about niggas fucking up, if necessary. By eighteen, Hitler was making major moves down the East Coast—Baltimore, Norfolk, Carolina, and Atlanta—while Minke was still making moves, and plenty of money right in Brooklyn. He was gonna go to college in the city. He wasn't trying to leave because his money was flowing right.
One day when Hitler was home, he told Minke that wherever he went to school, he would make sure he was okay, so go ahead and apply. Minke checked into some schools and had always heard New York niggas talking about VA. So he checked out Virginia Union in Richmond, and Hampton University in Hampton, and Norfolk State in Norfolk. After Minke hollered at Hitler, Hitler told him he didn't care for Richmond, but he liked Norfolk.
The following semester, Minke enrolled at Norfolk State University. Two months later, Hitler hit the scene. People had already begun to take notice of the slim, dark-skin nigga always wearing the Yankee fitted pulled low, and driving the bright yellow Milano. So when Hitler hit the scene with the BMW 740 with New York tags, niggas knew the kid with the yellow Milano was well connected.
Minke ran with Hitler hard for the first semester, making big-boy moves, doing big-boy things. By the end of the semester, they had three of the downtown projects locked: Tidewater Park, Youngs Park, and Grandy Park, all with New York coke and heroin. Hitler had set it up to get rich, but Minke wanted something else. He didn't trust Norfolk for dealing coke, and always told Hitler it was too small, but Hitler said it was easier to take over, so he did.
Minke came back to school second semester and got him an apartment in every project Hitler did and a couple more. Then he set niggas up in each apartment, distributed the thirty pounds of weed he'd brought in, as well as the twenty pounds of hydro and the fifty pounds of chocolate Thai. He had weed spots from Park Place to Reservoir, which he locked down smoothly, and his shit would run for years to come.
Two years later, Hitler and Minke met Queen and Alecia. And Wiz, who worked for Minke, met Malaina. Two years later, he married Malaina and gave her three kids.
Minke gave Alecia a life she could only dream about and more. Gave her two kids and loved her like she could never imagine. But Hitler and Queen had a crazy love-hate relationship.
Minke and Hitler's family always wondered why Hitler was caught in East New York. They'd never ventured over there too often. It would be five years later before the truth would come out and destroy their life.
CHAPTER 4
Joy shook her head at the expression Minke had on his face as he came through the door. She didn't know at the time why he didn't want her to pick him up at the airport.
“Come over here, baby,” she said, walking up to him, allowing the dark green silk robe to swing open so he could see the short, dark green nightie with the spaghetti straps, that was cut low and showed all her cleavage.
“What up, ma? What's the deal?” Minke said coldly, not hugging her back. He dropped his bag and made his way to the kitchen.
“Hold up. You been ghost for four days, and come in this bitch with attitude? I got the kids in bed, got your Dutch already rolled, got wine and shit laid out, and you go shitting on me?”
“Alecia, you know I just came from New York. You know we had the thing for his memorial.”
“And it's been six years now. I lost my sister too, but that can't dictate our lives now,” she said, getting even more upset.
“I ain't with all this shit, yo. Fuckin' blow out these candles and turn on some gotdamn light.” Minke pulled a bottle of Moët from the refrigerator. He popped the cork, and excess bubbly ran on his plush, light-blue carpet.
“You fuckin' up, Minke. You lost your damn mind.”
“Fuck this shit, all this shit, when it come to my peoples!” he yelled. Then he turned the bottle up to his head.
“I'm going upstairs,” Joy said.
For real, she hadn't seen him like this but a couple times, and each time she seen murder. Being with him, she seen the same shit she'd grown up around, and more. Ever since Hitler had died, Minke had taken on Hitler's roll in every way. His fuse was always short, but now it was shorter. He was always quick to pull his burner at the right time, but now he pulled it fast at anytime, with one in the chamber, safety off. Ready!
“You ain't goin' no muthafuckin' where!” he yelled as he threw the champagne bottle through the forty-two-inch Sony television that sat in the black lacquer entertainment center.
Joy's heart began to beat harder and then faster. She grabbed her chest but couldn't move. But the second try was different. She shot for the stairs, with him on her ass, skipping the first three and never slipping as she made it to the bedroom and slammed the door. But her security came crashing down, just like the door off the hinges.
“What did I do? What did I do?” Joy cried as she jumped on the bed on her knees, her arms extended and palms up, begging for an explanation.
“I seen my girl Nikki from the East side. She was at Hitler memorial. She telling me—”
“Who the fuck is Nikki?” Joy yelled.
“Your fuckin' cousin. Nicholy Foxx, Nikki the nigga. Bitch get money like a nigga, down for anything—boosting, credit cards, setting niggas up. Then she turned into a stripper at night. You know who the fuck I'm talking about. Play stupid if you want to.”
“I haven't seen Nicholy since I left New York. And even then we didn't fuck with her. She was into all kinds of shit.”
“Well, Queen got with her—your sister Queen, if you forgot her. And they got those niggas in your old building, Redd and Paco, to get my dude. Queen told them when she was gonna get him to bring her through, and that he would have at least two hundred fifty stacks in the back. What she didn't expect was, they killed her for her cut. And know what? Nikki told them to.”
“What?” Joy's eyes widened.
“Yeah, Nikki told me all her shit that you knew, Alecia. You knew this shit and didn't tell me. You my wife. People could have thought I was involved. You let me go out there not knowing, and that could have gotten me killed.”
“I never knew if it was all true. I wasn't gonna bring chaos, not knowing if there was any truth to it.” Joy knew she was wrong.
“When?”
“When what?” she asked, confused.
“When did you find out?”
“I got a call from Nikki two years later. She was drunk and crying at the club, but she ain't say shit about her involvement.”
“Naw, I got that from Winner, old man Winner.”
“He still around, gettin' high?” Joy asked, sitting back on her feet.
“He was there when Nikki asked Redd and Paco. Queen said she would give them fifty thou to split, and she would take the rest, and they agreed. But Nikki told them that she'd let them split one hundred thou, and she'd take one fifty.
“And what Nicholy say?” Joy was furious.
“Bitch shouldna been in the car, and laughed. Now that's some shit for ya.” Minke walked back to where the door used to be.
“I'ma kill all them muthafuckas, word on my mother! They gonna see me,” Joy said.
Minke stared at Joy, the love of his life. He loved her with all he had in him, but questions ran through his mind.
Did Queen tell her about this? Was she in on it? Had she been fucking with Nikki?
Minke had never doubted her. He never felt he had a reason, and no matter how hard he tried to look at her as his sweet, loving, innocent wife, he now saw a woman who would lie and keep things from him. And he hated that feeling.
“Paco and Redd, dem dead. Me cut 'em up real good for Hitler, real good. Nikki gonna get hers. But I'm gonna tell you, Alecia . . . I never expected nothing to go on and you know and not tell me. I'm your husband, you are my wife. You question my love and loyalty to you and my family because you thought I wouldn't understand. Now you got me doubting and questioning you,” Minke said, a sad look on his face.
Joy sat on the bed with tears in her eyes. She couldn't believe what she was hearing after she'd given her all.
“I've loved the shit out of you since we've been together, gave you my everything. How could you say that?” she yelled as he made his way down the stairs.
Minke sat on the couch, lit his Dutch, and leaned back. The more he thought about things, the more upset he got, but the smooth-burning chocolate Thai stopped him from wilding out.
Joy cried and explained until Minke decided to leave. He had to fight to get out the door, and left her lying on the cold hardwood foyer, crying her heart out.
He returned days later, and it started.
Over the next several months, Minke began to treat her as if she was just another woman he fucked with, staying away for days at a time. And his patience was short when it came to her. He began to verbally abuse her because of her weight change. Then he went from making love and not being able to stay off her to her pleading, almost begging him to please her.
After almost a year of being treated like shit, Joy began to pull herself together for her kids. She realized Minke was too far gone to be reeled back in, so she slowly stopped calling his phone so often, stopped catering and waiting up, and went on with life, taking care of her kids.
Minke realized the change in Joy's routine. Thinking she was fucking around, he came harder at her. His disappointment changed to a dislike, and because of the way she began to ignore him, hate seeped into his heart and mind. He moved all his money, so she had none, and he let all the utilities go off.
The last straw was when he took her truck and drove it to New York. Then he called her and told her it was stolen. He came back got his car, and she didn't see him again.
Joy was humiliated and hurt as she and her kids were put out of her home that Minke had allowed to go into foreclosure. She couldn't stop the tears from rolling as she threw her last few things in her moms' car and they rolled away from her home.
“I don't believe this, Mommy,” Joy cried. “I can't believe this shit. I was good to him.”
Her mom said, “Go ahead, baby. Cry your heart out. Shed all those tears.”
“Stop at the pay phone,” Joy said before they reached her moms' house.
“Yeah, call him one more time, say all you gonna say,” her moms said, knowing she was gonna call Minke.
Joy dialed Minke's number. She hadn't spoken to him in weeks. He wouldn't answer her call, knowing an argument was on the other end.
This time, surprisingly, he answered on the second ring. “Yeah. Who's this?”
“Didn't call to fuss. Just wanted you to know they foreclosed on the house and put me and your kids out on the street. I can see you leaving me, but your kids didn't deserve this. And they don't deserve to be in a shelter. All you had to do was walk away, just leave. I got nothing. Can't get no lower. But you watch me, nigga. I shedded my last tear, my last muthafuckin' tear, over you,” she said with a smirk she let him hear. “Believe that.”
“Fuck you and them kids, bitch!” Minke hung up.
Joy's heart stood in place. It didn't fall and hurt like it usually did. She slowly walked back to the car.
“It's done, girl. Get your shit moving and go ahead without that nigga,” her moms said. “You can only stay with me one night, Alecia. It will be faster getting a place if you and yo' kids went.”
“Mommy, I'm good,” Joy looked at her moms with hurt in her face, but her heart in place. “Carry me downtown. We goin' in tonight. I'm gonna be fine.”
“Damn right, you gonna be fine. Hold your shit in place and your head up. Now you will always know—one, never put your all into a man, and two, always have your own to fall back on,” her moms told her. “What he say anyway?”
“Fuck me and the kids.”
“Baby, you just learning how cruel men can be. When a nigga broke, he act the fool, when he got dough, he even worse. Get yourself together and find you a nigga with a regular life.”
They rode in silence until they pulled in front of the shelter, where Joy would spend the next three months living in conditions far worse than she was accustomed to. She was hurt and confused, but she saw much more confusion and strain in her children's eyes. That was when she knew it was all on her.
Like she'd seen so many women do, she had to provide and make a way for her and her kids, so she found a job. With no transportation, the city bus became her friend. She rose early and got her kids straight. Performing her duties throughout her day allowed days to pass by without the stress of wondering what tomorrow would bring.
Joy couldn't believe the day she got the call from housing authority. Grinding for months, they had given her a date then shot down all her spirits. She sat on her cot with her kids close by, hurt, sad, and angry. She'd been sweet and passive her entire stay, so when one of the homeless people in the shelter tried to borrow without asking, something in her snapped, words were said, and in seconds, all the frustration that had built up in her exploded. And she was that wild, crazy, city bitch that people speak on.
Joy sprang from the cot to the intruder and was going hard until she was pulled off. Her daughter stood crying as her son stood firm, looking at his mom break this bitch down. Suddenly, Joy broke loose and grabbed a hard-cover Bible and charged at the sizeable woman, bringing the spine of the Bible across her nose. Blood splattered as Joy began throwing a flurry of punches.
This time she was grabbed and thrown to the ground until the police arrived. The other woman was hurt bad.
Joy looked up at her kids. Her son held his sister tight, keeping her from losing control, or more so trying to calm her down. She could see the anger in his glassy eyes at the men who were restraining his mother.
When he heard her yell from the knee in her back and saw her eyes fill with tears, he grabbed his lunch bucket and, with all his might, swung it, coming across the man's head, striking him in the corner of the eye and then again across the forehead. The man fell off Joy, grabbing his head. Without thinking, he jumped on the other man, but he was no match.
In seconds Joy was on him too, throwing blows, as her son held on the stranger's neck for dear life. After it was finally broken up, Joy was restrained and taken to Norfolk City Jail, from where they called her mother and, as first of kin, released all Joy's belongings and kids to her.

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