Black & Ugly as Ever (6 page)

Smokes was driving in his white Hummer on the way to get it washed at Laurel Car Wash off of Baltimore avenue in Maryland. In his mind, no one knew how to clean his truck better than the Mexican employees who worked there. He was getting ready to open his third beer knowing full well he was a target for the cops by driving a white truck with illegally tinted windows. But opening the beer and pouring it to his lips while bumping loud ass music was a testament of his lack of respect for the law.

His phone rang and he was upset because he was just getting into his favorite song off of Jeeze’s CD called “Hypnotize”. Whoever it was, he wanted them to be quick.

“Speak on it.”
“Smokes, its Silver. You got a sec?”
This bitch nigga is gettin’ on my fuckin’ nerves. He

thought.
“What’s good?”
“When we gonna take care of that thing?”
“What thing?” Smokes asked as he pulled into the car

wash’s parking lot. There was a long line so he knew it would be about thirty minutes before they even looked at his truck. He had plenty of time to discuss the matter with Silver. Instead he said, “Hurry up! I’m busy.”

Silver was talking about Jay. Ever since Jay put a hit on his brother Markee while he was in jail which resulted in his murder, he had been heated. Silver didn’t care that his lil brother had raped and robbed Jay’s cousin. None of that mattered to him.

“I feel you, but didn’t I say shit is too hot for me?” Silver let out a heavy sigh.
“Yeah but he was my brother.”
“I know who he was, but Markee got dealt with because

he raped that nigga’s cousin. What’s done is done.” Silence
“So it’s like that?” Silver barked.
“It’s just like that,” Silver yelled back. “Plus I’ma need

his ass later. You gonna have to just chill.”
“But this shit is fucked…”
Silence.
“DID YOU FUCKIN’ HEAR ME?” Smokes yelled causing Silver’s heart to pump fear instead of blood.

“Yeah.” He said trying to be cool even though he was about to piss his pants. There was no denying he was frightened when it came to Smokes.

He could hear Silver breathin’ hard from frustration and decided to fuck with him a little. And although he didn’t like Jay because he knew he could get in Parade’s head and turn things around, he had to be easy. He him needed him alive for his own purposes.

“What you poutin’ for?”
“I ain’t poutin’.” Silver lied.
“Well you sound like you poutin’ like a l’il bitch over

there.” He said in an authoritative tone. “Now tell me you understand and agree with me.”
“What?” Silver said with a little buck in his voice.
“I said tell me you understand, and that you agree with everything I say because I know better than you.”
Silver was silent and Smokes decided to put the fire under him.
“Are you hearin’ me? Or do I have to make a visit for you to feel me instead?”
Silver breathed heavily and submitted.
“I understand…and…agree with everything you say because you know better than me.” He recited like a mad 10 year old little girl.
“Now get out there and make my money.”
With that he hit the end call button on his Apple Iphone and smiled.
“Anotha nigga in check.”
He was about to be next in line to get his car washed until the phone rang again. This time the caller’s number was unknown but he knew exactly who it was, Ace.
“Speak on it.”
“What’s up with the girl?” the caller asked with a heavy Dominican accent.
“Everything’s going as planned.”
“Everything’s going like whose plans? Yours or mine?”
“Ours.”
“Listen you black, nigger,” Ace said disrespecting his heritage. “I want you to do whatever you have to quickly! You fucked up the last time and we won’t have that problem again. That ‘lil bitch will make me a lot of money and I want her as planned. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yeah.”
“And she better look like you says she does.”
“She does.”
“Good. Now get her here!”
The caller hung up. Smokes felt punked and if Silver would’ve heard the call he would’ve called it poetic justice. Smokes was furious.
He was so angry that the moment he opened the door to allow the Mexican driver to take his truck to be cleaned, he stole him in the face. The small man dropped to the ground gripping his mouth while people looked on in disgust. He needed to take his anger out on someone and didn’t stop to think about who would take the brunt of his hate.
Now realizing his error, he helped the man off the ground and shoved three hundred dollars in his hand for the trouble. The man wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked at him in horror.
Handing him the keys he said, “Don’t forget the tires.”

“Excuse me have you seen her?” I asked a few people around East Capitol street in D.C. I heard that Miss Daffany stayed in a dope house somewhere in this area and was determined to find her tonight. As I showed the picture of her before she got on heroin, I hoped someone would recognize her even though she didn’t look the same.

“Why don’t you get in the car, baby?” Dayshawn asked. He was a gay friend of mine that I’d been hanging with recently. I’ve known him for a long time but wasn’t as close with him as I was with Miss Parade and Miss Daffany. He was what I considered a quiet Gay. His style was preppy like Kanye West and he wore a lot of pastel colors. He was certainly fly. Like right now he had on a dark pink polo vest a white button down shirt and light blue jeans. Ever since Parade didn’t want to hear anything about Daffany, he was the only one I talked to. “It’s getting dark out here and we been outside all day.” He continued, following me slowly in the car as I walked up the street.

“I can’t leave until I find her. You know that!” I screamed. I was wearing sneakers, sweat pants and a baggy sweat shirt. Outside of my hair in a ponytail, it was the closest I came to looking like a boy in years. “I have to bring her home tonight!” Tears ran down my face. “If you can’t understand that you can just leave!”

When my phone rang I anxiously answered it without looking at the number. I got a new cell phone and put the number on my voicemail at home for Miss Daffany to reach me in case she called.

“Hello. Miss Daffany, is this you?”
“No, Miss Wayne it’s Parade. Where are you?” “I’m out.” I sighed.
“Out where?” she persisted. “I’ve been trying to reach

I had been deliberately ignoring her because lately all I could think about was Miss Daffany and that unborn baby she was carrying. And since Miss Parade didn’t want to talk about her, I left her alone. It had been a few months since we saw Miss Daffany at the police station and I was worried sick.

“I’ve been looking for Miss Daffany.”
She sighed.
“What’s wrong with you?” she screamed into the phone.

“I know, Miss Parade but I can’t help it. I have to try! She ain’t got nobody out here but me since you turned your back on her too.”

Trust me, she’s not the same person we use to know.” “I don’t want to believe that.” I told her getting into the
passenger seat of Dayshawn’s black Acura. Dayshawn parked
and let me talk to her knowing when I was done, I’d be right back
out there looking for my friend. “All she needs is love. If you
were sick wouldn’t you want somebody to be there for you?” Silence.
“You care about her more than me!”
“What?” I asked not sure if I heard her correctly. “I said you care about her more than me!”
“That’s not fair!”
“Well that’s how it seems!” she cried. “I’m getting married and you not even here for me. You steady runnin’ around town tryin’ to find Daffany’s-fuckin’-fiend ass! What about me?
Huh?”
“Parade, please,” I shook my head and looked up. “That
girl is alone out here!”
“Oh so now I’m Parade!” she sobbed. “I ain’t got nobody
either! Remember that while you outside at night chasin’ zombies!”
When she ended the call I fell back in my car seat. I can’t
believe this chile is doing this to me right now. Mentally I can’t
deal! She know I love her more than anything but I love Miss
Daffany too. I think she’s taking her problems out on me because
although she’s getting married, she’s not happy. I was so pissed I
almost
didn’t even feel like looking for Miss Daffany anymore. I
was done.
“Excuse me? Ya’ll lookin’ for Daffany the Dopehead?” a
little boy said approaching my car window.
I looked at Dayshawn and back at him. Did God answer
my prayers so soon? It hurt to hear the name he gave her but I
was relieved he knew who she was.
“Yes, honey?” I looked him over. He had to be about
twelve years old. “You know where she is?”
“Yeah…she be at the Smokehouse. It’s around da corner.
I can take you dere for some money.”
“Uh…sure, honey.” I reached into my purse. “Take it!
Just get in and show us the way.”
“You sure about this?” Dayshawn asked unlocking the
door for the kid to get in.
“What you think?” I responded.
He sighed and pulled off. After a few minutes of driving
we arrived at a large group of houses. They looked run down and
dilapidated.
“Dere the house right there?” He pointed to the worst looking one of all. It was green and most of the windows were
shattered. “Ya’ll can let me out here.”
“Hey, you don’t want to wait for us to take you home?” I
asked, realizing it was too late to have somebody’s child out on
the street looking for dope heads.
“I ain’t got no home.” He said, as he jumped out of the
car and ran down the street.
We watched him disappear into the night and felt pity.
Had I had more time, I would’ve grabbed his little ass and
demanded that he let us take him somewhere. But I had neither
the time nor the patience.
“Wait right here.” I told Dayshawn preparing to exit the
car.
“I don’t like this, baby.” He said grabbing my arm. “Can’t
we come back during daytime?”
“No! I might lose her if we wait.” I snatched away from
him.
“Please be careful. And if she don’t want to come, don’t
force her.” He yelled.
“I’m not leaving out of there without her.” I told him as I
unbuckled my seat belt and moved toward the run down house. When I got behind the old green house I saw a bordered
up door. It didn’t appear as if anybody could come in and out of
it so, I figured there had to be another way. When I looked down
I saw a dark hole with steps leading within it. That’s must be how
they got inside.
The smell hit me the moment I took the first step. But my
love for Miss Daffany pushed me forward. If Miss Parade was
gonna give up on her she’d have to live with it but I wasn’t. The
moment my foot hit the last step water splashed inside my tennis
shoes causing it to make a squishy noise when I walked. It was
disgusting and I hated being wet. I could only pray it was musty
old water and not piss. The moment I entered the house somebody reached for me begging for money. I kicked him off and gripped my arms hoping I’d live long enough to help Miss Daffany out if she was in there. I didn’t want any of my limbs hanging. People continued to reach for me like they were in hell
and needed an escape. Maybe they were.
When I turned a dark corner I saw a candle on the ground
and a dude giving another dude a blow job and even I was disgusted. Walking past them did nothing to stop their rhythm. As I
continued down the path I came to a bigger room. The smell was
so strong I was sure I smelled it before. It was the day we popped
up over my grandmother’s house to check on her and she was
dead. She had been that way for weeks. I was sure a corpse lied
amongst them and either they didn’t know or care.
“Do you know Daffany?” I asked a stranger who was
lying up against the wall nodding off. There appeared to be thirty or so people in the broken down house. The person ignored
me, appearing half dead.
I repeated the same question ten times before I finally
spotted her. She was lying on the bare floor her pregnant belly
straight up in the air. I gasped seeing her like that. How could she
come to this?
She was completely naked and appeared so thin that had
it not been for looking for someone pregnant, I would not have
known it was her. A man crawled on top of her gripping her legs
and pressing her belly without regard for her position. Seeing
this, I rushed past everyone to get at her kicking people in the
process. This dirty mothafucka had her legs spread a part while
he moaned inside of her.
“Get the fuck off of her!” I screamed grabbing him by his
neck throwing him to the floor. His monstrous dick was rock
hard.
“What the fuck?” he responded, too high to challenge me. “I will kick your ass if you come near me!” I told him.
“Get up, Miss Daffany!” I grabbed her arm as delicate as possible but forceful enough to lead her out. I had plans to take off my sweatshirt and put it on her naked body the moment we got outside but first, I needed to get her out of that house before these
mothafuckas got up and decided to hurt me.
She moved very little and I decided to carry her when I
realized walking wasn’t working. The stank from her body was
atrocious. We were out in the backyard when I gently put her
down on the grass. Stooping down I was preparing to take off my
sweatshirt until she wrapped her limp arms around me. I held her
tightly happy that she recognized me. But instead of speaking,
she went tugging at my pants instead.
“What you want your dick sucked?” she said going for
my zipper. “I can suck it for you real good if you let me. I just
need to get
hiiiiiiiigggh
.”
“Miss Daffany, please!” I hit her hands. “It’s me! Miss
Wayne!”
She stopped reaching for me and wept. She appeared
conscious but I could tell she didn’t recognize me. And then she
smiled and I wondered what brief moments filled her mind to
remind her who I was. Was it the times we played on the playground in Elementary school? Or was it the time when me, Miss
Sky, Miss Parade and her ran away from home just to be together after a party.
“Ooooohhh, MissWayne,” she replied her eyes half
closed. “You like it kinky huh? I’ll call you whatever you like” Didn’t she know who I was? Did the drug have her mind
that gone? I could barely see her face because tears flooded my
eyes so I pushed her hands off.
“Miss Daffany, please! I’m family!”
I was somehow able to get my sweatshirt off and onto her
when I felt a blow against the back of my head. The pain was
blinding. I fell face first on the grass and received another blow
to the back of my head. It felt like rocks were in my mouth due
to my tooth being cracked. Finally able to turn around, I placed
my arms out in front of me to stop any more blows. One by one they hit me with a bat, back to back. All I could see was their feet. One of them had on some old white Air Force Ones and the other
had on some run over yellow Timberland boots.
“Help!!!! Please!” I screamed hoping Dayshawn would
hear me. “What did I do to you?!”
They didn’t answer. Just kept hitting and kicking me. I looked up and saw Daffany scoot back away from me
on the grass. She looked nervous and scared. And although her
breasts were covered with my shirt, her vagina was exposed.
There was so much blood on my face that it was useless trying to
identify the suspects now. The more they hit me, the more I didn’t feel the blows. I knew I’d be dead if they continued. “Get the, bitch!” one of them yelled. “And hurry up
before she gets away!”
I guess Miss Daffany was about to run when they directed their attention to her. I was thinking about my next move until
I heard…
click
. It sounded like a gun and I knew I would die. My
mother would not be able to take me being murdered. What about
Miss Parade? She couldn’t survive without me either. Why hadn’t I listened to them? I was so stupid.
And then I heard, “Unless you want a bigger whole in the
tip of your dick then the one God blessed you with, I suggest you
put her down and get the fuck out of here.”
It was Dayshawn!
“We ain’t got no business with you!” a man’s voice said.
“We just want the girl. She makes us a lot of money.” “Did you hear me? Cause the next thing I say will hurt I
promise you.”
“Fuck her!” the other man said. “She ain’t worth it! We
can get another whore way better than her someplace else. And
one who looks better.”
I heard them run and then I heard Dayshawn’s footsteps
rush over toward me.
“Look at you!” he said touching my face. “Oh my gawd!
Are you okay, honey?” he said lifting my head sniffling. “Yes! Is Miss Daffany okay?”
“She’s right here. Let me get you to the car and I’ll come
back for her.”
“No…please, take her first!” I told him. My head hurt so
bad it was terrible.
“Miss Wayne, I’m not leaving you!”
“And I’m not leaving without her! Now take her first.
Please, Dayshawn,” I pleaded with him. “Cause if I leave her,
and she gets away, all of this will be for nothing.”
Silence.
“Bitch, you gonna cause my ulcer to flare up!’ he said to
me as I heard him stand up. “I’ll be right back.”
I heard him grunt like he was lifting her up and I was
relieved. Everything in me just wanted Miss Daffany to be okay.
And it all most cost me my life.