Crackhead II: A Novel (26 page)

While Laci was in the kitchen, the girls spoke quietly among themselves.

“You believe this shit?” Shaunna said to Tonette and Monique. “What you think is up?”

“I don’t know,” Tonette said, watching Laci fumble around in the kitchen. “I don’t trust her.”

Laci made her way out of the kitchen and darted off to the bathroom. She turned on the faucet to cover up any noise she might make. With the help of a washcloth, she pried the masking tape away from the unfinished porcelain under the toilet tank top and took all the packets of drugs that Tonette had taped there.
That stupid heifa need to get more creative
, Laci thought. She wrapped the stash up in the washcloth and slid it inside her purse.

“Well, what you gonna do?” Monique asked.

“I’ll show you,” Tonette whispered as Laci made her way out of the bathroom.

Laci noticed that the girls were mumbling when she returned. She hoped they weren’t on to her.

“Um, Laci,” Tonette spoke. “That shit that went down . . . it wasn’t our idea.” Tonette looked at the other girls. “Crystal came up with the idea.” Laci said nothing. She figured Crystal would have had something to do with it because she knew that Dink was feeling her, but she remembered what Uncle Sonny told her.

“Still,” Laci said, “it was fucked up, y’all.”

“Speaking of Crystal,” Tonette said, changing the subject, “you still hollering at Dink?” She noticed that Laci had avoided the question earlier. “We saw how he was peepin’ you, plus people saw you with him.”

“Did them same people tell you that I was getting my shit from him? I know he was try’na hook up with me, but hell naw, I ain’t with him, I don’t want no second-hand nigga. That’s Crystal’s man. Where she at anyway?” Laci looked around.

“Um . . . you ain’t heard?”

“Heard what? Girl, I told you I ain’t been around.”

“She’s dead, Laci,” Tonette told her.

Laci eyeballed Monique, who looked uneasy. She didn’t want Laci to let on that she knew, because she was certain that Tonette would think that she’d told her more.

“What you mean dead?”

“Dead like in shot, six-feet-in-the-ground, ain’t-never-coming-back dead.”

“Girl, you bullshittin’.” Laci played the game so well that even Monique had to question if she’d truly told her or not. Laci’s expression told Tonette this was the first time she’d heard of it. Laci didn’t want to ask too many questions, because she and Crystal hadn’t been all that cool.

“Naw I ain’t,” Tonette told her seriously. “I’m a lot of things, but one thing I’m not is a liar.”

“Damn,” Laci said. She sat down for a minute to gather her composure. “That’s really fucked up.”

“Yeah it is,” all three girls mumbled in unison.

“Um . . . what y’all got going on for tonight?” Laci attempted to change the subject and looked at the girls. “You wanna hang?”

“Shit, I gotta page Smurf,” Tonette said. “Gotta tell him I’ll work wit’em.” She went to the bedroom and closed the door.

“Damn, I must’ve ate too much,” Shaunna admitted. “Shit, I need to head home and take a nap.”

“Yeah, I think I’m gonna crash for a bit, too. Laci. But maybe later?” Monique responded.

“That’s cool. You girls got my number.” Laci stood up as Tonette came back into the living room. “That yo’ man or somethin’, Nette?”

“Nah . . . but I gotta head out real quick,” Tonette said. “Maybe we can hang later?”

“A’ight, cool.”

Tonette walked out of the apartment. Laci said her good-byes to Shaunna and Monique, and followed behind her.

A
S TONETTE DROVE
to the corner store, she thought about Smurf’s proposition to join his crew and realized it wasn’t such a bad idea. Ice was the newest drug to hit the street and she was sure to make a killing with it.

She knew that ice gave a more potent and longer high than the brief high with cocaine, so she would have to push more than just ice to keep her money flowing right. What Tonette liked most was that it was odorless and undetectable, and it was more easily transportable, in penny-sized plastic bags, than crack, which she carried in the plastic vials. Pulling up at the spot, she waited.

“Aye, yo Lil’ Rob,” Smurf called out, “go around the corner, and you should see a blue Camaro. A bitch in it,” he described. “Tell me if she’s by herself.”

Rob did as he was told and came back within two minutes. “Yeah, she’s by herself. Whatchu fuckin’ with Tonette for?”

“Damn, man, just be cool. Just cover me, okay?” Smurf didn’t trust her one bit, but he was gonna tame her.

Within minutes he had pulled his car up next to hers. She got out of the Camaro and walked over to his car and climbed in.

“Cool, so you also down for payin’ off Dame’s debt?”

“Yeah, but I wanna make a deal with you.”

“A deal? Girl, this ain’t no fuckin’ game show,” Smurf said, irritated.

“No, hear me out. This will benefit everybody.”

“Make it good,” he told her as he took his gun out of the holster and shined the chrome with his shirt.

“What if I pay off Dame’s debt with this?” She pointed to the small
v
in between her legs.

Smurf looked over at her. Her winning smile, smooth skin, and smoky eyes did something to him. Smurf felt an erection growing in his pants.

“And what makes you think that’s gonna replace what he owed me?”

“Because my shit is that good,” she told him seriously.

“That was a lot of shit you got from him,” Smurf reminded her.

“And I got a lot,” she said teasingly.

“Is that so?” Smurf unbuckled and unzipped his pants. “Well you know I gotta test the product. Take your clothes off,” he ordered.

Tonette didn’t object. The opportunity to fuck Smurf was what she wanted, since she’d heard of his reputation. This was also an opportunity for her to shine, because she was tired of sexing the niggas who worked for another muthafucka. Smurf was the big nigga in charge and she wasn’t going to fuck up this opportunity.

Tonette slipped her blue and white Reebok sneakers off, then slid out of her Jordache jeans. Her black cotton bikinis covered
her perfectly shaped bottom and Smurf could see the tender puff of pubic hair that was hidden by the black fabric.

“Take your shirt off, too,” he ordered.

She did as she was told and removed her sweatshirt. Smurf saw that her bra matched her panties. He pulled the lever to recline the passenger seat so he could have better access. Tonette attempted to lie on her back, but Smurf didn’t want that.

“Turn over and get on your knees. I wanna hit it from the back.” Smurf reached on the side door, grabbed the small bottle of lotion he always kept there, and greased up his dick real good.

Tonette got on all fours, arched her back, and tooted her ass up high in the air. It was something that Dame taught her and each time he hit it from the back, she would have an orgasm so strong that she’d fall asleep within minutes after it was over.

Putting her right hand on the seat and the other hand against the door, Tonette braced herself for the big dick that Smurf was rumored to have. Actually, she wasn’t too worried about the size because Dame had also been big. She just hadn’t had none in months, and it would be a little difficult for her.

Smurf appreciated the sight of Tonette’s perfect round bottom in front of him and he lotioned it eagerly.

Smurf took his dick and ran it up and down the slit of her pussy. The wetness of her snatch teased the sensitive nerve endings at the head of his penis. The visual of him behind her reminded him of the tape of Dame fucking Laci. He got angry thinking about it, but it also got him turned on. In one swift motion, Smurf shoved into Tonette. She attempted to scream, but he pushed her head down into the seat to quiet the noise. He grabbed her hips and thrusted inside her again. Pulled out and pushed again, ignoring Tonette’s muffled whimpers.
Smurf looked down and saw the width and length of his dick in Tonette’s tight asshole. Besides the obvious smell of sex in the air, he smelled the faint scent of blood.
Guess I didn’t use enough lotion,
he told himself. Smurf didn’t care, because he began to move his dick in and out of her until she moved to his rhythm.

Tonette was pissed that Smurf fucked her in her ass without saying something first. She never let Dame get it back there, but the more Smurf dug into her, the better it was starting to feel and the more aroused she became. Reaching back to remove his right hand, she felt his pistol on her waist. Tonette smiled because the rumor was true that he fucked with his piece on, so she grabbed his left hand and pulled him forward so he could grab her titties while he banged her. Smurf pulled and twisted her hard, brown nipples, which caused Tonette to moan in pleasure and pain.

Tonette held her ass cheeks open to let Smurf watch himself drill into her under the flickering lights, and she threw it back on him like it was just a thang. He looked to his left and saw his boys across the street high-fiving each other while they watched Smurf handle his business. With a small audience, Smurf decided to go all the way and stroked her deeply, causing Tonette to thrash around wildly.

He couldn’t hold back too much longer before he came. The vice-like grip that Tonette’s ass had on his dick was too tight and too good. Letting go of her titties, Smurf grabbed Tonette’s hips tightly and bucked one last time, filling her tight hole with his cum. Once he was done, he sat back down in his seat and fixed himself up.

Tonette got off all fours, turned around, and sat down gingerly in the seat in an attempt to put her clothes on.

“Don’t get that shit on my seat,” he told her, making reference
to the nut that was in her ass and the blood. She was exhausted by what had just happened and didn’t want to argue with him, so she quickly pulled her panties up and put the rest of her clothes on.

“So we’re cool?” she asked Smurf before she got out.

“Just like you said, you’re trading in your shit for Dame’s debt, right?”

“Right.”

“And it’ll benefit everybody, right?”

“Yup.” She beamed, high from the good dick she had just gotten. “We cool on the money tip too, right?” she asked.

“Yup, we’re cool,” Smurf told her. The loss he would take on the money was worth what he was going to do with her. Little did Tonette know that Dame sold his shit on different corners. The corners now had new lieutenants, and each would have his turn collecting on his debt.

WALKING BACK INTO
her apartment, Tonette was relieved to see that Shaunna, her kids, and Laci were gone. She was worn out and a little sore, but had to get back out on the streets to make money. After she showered and changed clothes, she saw Monique.

“You going back out?” Monique asked when she returned from the kitchen.

“Yeah. But girl, let me tell you what happened.” She filled Monique in on all the dirty details. “Girl, I was pissed that he fucked me in my ass, but—”

“He ain’t even try to get the pussy?” Monique asked.

“Naw, girl.”

“You think he kinda . . . you know.”

“Smurf? Hell naw!” she spat back. “You know niggas. They
always try’na get the bootyhole, like they really think our pussy is up that high.”

“Right!” Monique agreed.

“But that’s cool,” she told Monique, “it’s over and done with, but I tell you what, if he fucks my pussy the way he did my ass tonight, he can have me selling anything anywhere without no kickback.”

“Get the fuck outta here,” Monique said out loud. “You’d give up the money for some dick? It was that good?”

“I’m sure he’ll break me off some money, but just like you know, a nigga with deep pockets is good, but a nigga with a deep stroke is priceless.”

The two girls giggled and high-fived each other.

T
HE NEXT DAY,
bright and early, Laci and Shaunna were back at Tonette’s. Coming in from a late night, Tonette had more energy than usual. “So damn, what we getting into?” she asked. “I know we ain’t gonna sit around this bitch all day.”

“I wanna hit The Hub. I was up there earlier and saw some earrings I wanna pick up,” Laci told her.

“There you go with that rich-girl shit again, flashing your fuckin’ money around,” Tonette barked.

Laci twisted her face. Tonette was always jumping to conclusions and heard what she wanted to hear. “I said ‘pick up,’ ” Laci told her, making a swiping move with her hand. “Who said anything about money? Y’all wanna roll with me?” She looked at the girls and dug in her Dooney and Bourke purse for her keys.

“What you rollin’ in?” Tonette asked.

“I got my momma’s car but she don’t know it,” Laci said sneakily. “I don’t know if she’s gonna report it stolen, but we’ll handle that if it happens.” She dangled the keys in the air. “Y’all game?”

“Hell yeah!” Tonette announced, shaking her head at Laci’s crazy ass.

Just as the girls were getting ready to leave, Laci turned to her. “Tonette, I’m really glad to see you.” Laci embraced her. “I really hope we can put the past behind us and be friends.”

She turned and walked out of the apartment with Tonette following closely behind her. Tonette had one test for Laci to see if she was genuine about what she was saying.

As they all rode, Laci cranked up “How Ya Like Me Now” by Kool Moe Dee and headed to Fordham.

Enjoying the smooth ride of the Mercedes, Tonette pulled out a bag of weed and started rolling a blunt. “Y’all want some blow?” she said, concentrating on picking out the seeds and not spilling anything.

Monique and Shaunna agreed, but Laci didn’t know if she should or shouldn’t. True enough, she smoked a little at school, but her friends there were nothing like the South Bronx Bitches. One thing she would make sure of: the girls would hit it before she did. Laci kept a sly eye on Tonette, making sure the shit was kosher.

Tonette lit the blunt and handed it toward Laci and smiled. “You want the first hit?”

“Nah, y’all hit that shit first, then I’ll do it,” she said seriously, and the girls laughed. The girls passed the bud between each other like it was no big deal. Laci noticed that nobody said anything about Shaunna’s kids being in the car. She didn’t agree with kids being around drugs of any kind, but if their own momma didn’t care, hell, she didn’t either.