Eviction Notice (28 page)

“Leave her,” Animal told Sincere.

“What the fuck do you mean leave her? Poppito says everybody in the building dies and she’s in the building. You’ve had your fun, now let me have mine.” Sincere tossed the girl onto the bed and pressed the ax blade to her throat. “What do you want first, baby, the blade or the cock?”

“No!” the girl screamed as Sincere ripped her panties off. He had freed himself from his boxers and was about to penetrate her when pain shot through his skull. Animal grabbed a fistful of his hair and tossed Sincere onto the floor. Sincere drew his gun, but Animal shot him in the shoulder before he could get off a shot. Sincere rolled around on the floor, clutching his shoulder in pain.

Animal stomped Sincere in the gut before straddling him and shoving the barrel of his Desert Eagle into his eye. “What kind of man would rape and murder a little girl? You sick muthafucka, I should splatter your brains all over this place.” Animal rained spittle on him as he spoke.

“Okay, you’ve made your point, kid,” K-Dawg told him. Animal didn’t respond. “I said let him up!” K-Dawg barked.

Animal wanted to shoot Sincere so bad that his hand was trembling. Slowly he got up off Sincere, but the urge to kill remained. “I’m done,” Animal said in a shaky voice.

“Just relax, bro.” Justice went to place his hand on Animal’s shoulder but he slapped it away.

“Fuck you and fuck relaxing!” he shouted. “I didn’t sign on for killing no kids and I ain’t gonna stand by and see nobody else killing no kids.” He turned to K-Dawg.

K-Dawg tried to stare Animal down, but he wouldn’t turn his eyes away. “Fuck it, let the girl be.”

Sincere looked at him in disbelief. “What kinda shit is this? Poppito paid us to wipe everybody out and we just gonna let this bitch live? Fuck all this.” Sincere struggled off the floor, holding his shoulder. “This muthafucka Animal been causing problems between us since he got here and now he’s calling the shots for Los Negros Muertes?”

“Calm down, Sincere,” Justice warned.

“Nah, because I’m only saying what everybody else is thinking. K-Dawg laid out a bunch of rules for the rest of us, but his pet Animal seems to be exempt from those rules. You know, shit like this can make muthafuckas start to question who’s running Los Negros Muertes.”

The whole room went quiet. K-Dawg approached Sincere and stared him down. “You’re way outta pocket right now.”

“K-Dawg, miss me with that shit. Don’t tell me I’m outta pocket for voicing my grievance when all this nigga Animal does is challenge your authority. What happened to that shit you were talking in the hall about being the one who decides who lives and dies?”

Without warning, K-Dawg shoved the barrel of his gun into Sincere’s gut and pulled the trigger. Sincere flew back onto the bed next to the girl he had been trying to rape, staring at her with dead eyes. “I do,” K-Dawg told his corpse. “Anybody else feel like challenging my authority today?” He looked around at everyone in the room, but let his gaze linger on Animal. Animal remained silent and walked out of the apartment. “Good, now let’s get the fuck outta here.” K-Dawg tossed the bag containing Cruz’s head to Justice and left.

CHAPTER 43

Gucci drove up,
down, and sideways at least five times before finally finding a parking spot. Unfortunately, the spot was three blocks from the club, so they would have to hoof it the rest of the way. The walk didn’t bother Gucci too much because she had brought her breakdown flip-flops in her purse, but Tionna hadn’t had that kind of foresight so she would have to do the walk in heels.

“Girl, the way my left shoe is pinching my pinkie toe, I’ll barely be able to walk, let alone dance when we get to the spot,” Tionna complained. She was wearing a fierce black spaghetti-strap sequinned dress and black needle-toe heels.

“I wouldn’t know nothing about that.” Gucci wiggled her toes in her flip-flops. She looked stunning in a green off-the-shoulder dress that hugged her hips enough to give off sex appeal but not scream
slut
.

“Sometimes I really hate your ass.” Tionna sucked her teeth.

“I would hate me too if my dogs were barking. So what kinda place is this? I’ve lived in Harlem all my life and have never been there, let alone heard of it.”

“I’ve never been there, but I guess it’s nice for Marlene and those stiff-ass lawyers to be partying up in there. She’s cool as hell, but some of her friends are bourgeois as hell.”

“Jesus, that’s all I need, some Oreos in tight-ass suits singing Biggie verses in my ear all night long. The things I do for my friends.” Gucci shook her head.

“Gucci, you need to stop acting like that. It’ll be good for you to get some culture in your life once in a while.”

“Shit, you’re one to talk. You just stopped dating niggaz fresh outta prison, so don’t make me go there, T.” Gucci rolled her neck.

“Fuck outta here, after Duhan I learned my lesson.” Things between Tionna and Duhan, the father of her two sons, had ended poorly when he found out she was doing her own thing instead of holding him down. They decided to call it quits by way of a fistfight in the visiting room on Rikers Island.

“Speaking of Duhan, have you heard from him lately?” Gucci asked.

“Hell no and I don’t wanna hear from him. He called me a few times when they shipped him upstate to try and make it right, but I ain’t beat for that shit. I changed my number and had the collect calls blocked.”

“That’s fucked up, T. I know shit went sour with y’all, but that’s still Duhan and Duran’s dad. He should at least be able to speak to his kids.”

“Shit, they know how to read and write. If he was that worried about being in his kids’ lives, then he wouldn’t have gotten his simple ass thrown in jail in the first place.”

“But you didn’t feel like that when you were balling out of control,” Gucci pointed out.

“Listen, I didn’t put no gun to Duhan’s head and tell him to take it to the street, that’s something he chose to do on his own, and I just reaped the benefits of that. After I laid up and had them babies for him, what I got was owed to me.”

“You sure did get what was owed to you.” Gucci snickered.

“Very fucking funny.”

The two girls hiked the rest of the way, reminiscing and trading insults. Though Gucci and Tionna argued more often than they didn’t, neither of them could deny the fact that it felt good to be hanging out with each other again. They rounded the corner of the block where the club was located and were pleasantly surprised by what they saw. Because of the location they had expected it to be a hood spot, but the club actually looked pretty nice. There were a few luxury cars double-parked out front with guys and girls mingling before they headed into the club. When Tionna and Gucci came into view, everyone did a double take.

Tionna checked her makeup in her small compact mirror while Gucci put her shoes back on. “So what’s up, you ready to turn this joint out or what?”

“Honey, I was born ready. Let’s go show these bitches that the queens of Harlem have returned.” Gucci flipped her hair and led the way inside.

*   *   *

Alonzo sat at
the bar, nursing a Hennessy and Coke and wondering for the hundredth time what the hell he was doing there. He had had one of the worse days at work, starting with the argument with Porsha. He hadn’t meant to come off on her like he had, but once he’d opened his mouth the words had started spilling out and he couldn’t stop them. He knew he had hurt her feelings and felt horrible about it, but there was nothing that he could do about it at that point. He intended to apologize to her when he saw her again, but Porsha had been MIA since then.

Just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse, two crackheads decided to start fighting in the supermarket. They managed to knock over a whole rack of jelly and of course Mr. Green called on Alonzo to clean it up. He had to mop the aisle four times before he finally managed to get the floor to stop sticking. On top of all that, one of the cashiers called in sick so Alonzo had to work through lunch, covering for her on the register. By the end of his eight-hour shift, which had turned into ten hours, Alonzo was too through. He needed to blow off some serious steam and Lakim had just the trick: King James’s birthday party. At first Alonzo was going to pass, but he figured it beat sitting in the house all night. So once again he found himself in the company of wolves, feeling like a German shepherd.

Lakim rolled up behind Alonzo and draped his arm around him. “What up, kid, you good?”

“Yeah, I’m straight. Just came over here to get a drink.” Alonzo nodded at the half-full glass.

“Nigga, why you over here blowing your bread and we got all kinda bottles popping in our section?”

“I just wanted to get some space for a minute, ya know?”

Lakim sucked his teeth. “Man, fuck all that, you amongst family, my G. It’s a party going on and you over here looking all stressed out. What’s good with that, somebody fucking with you or something?”

“Nah, it ain’t nothing like that. I just had a rough day at work,” Alonzo explained.

“The man still got his foot knee deep in your ass, huh? I keep telling you fuck that supermarket shit. You need to come get this money with us.”

“Lakim, I’ll leave the trap to y’all, you know I ain’t off that no more,” Alonzo reminded him.

“C’mon, sun. You think I’d have my baby bro in harm’s way? I ain’t talking about putting you on no fucking corners, I’m talking about upper management. We’ll give you your own spot and you run it as you see fit.”

“I’m good, La.”

“A’ight, but when you get tired of lugging boxes for that cracker you know big bro got you, fam.”

“Break yoself, blood.” Ashanti interrupted their conversation. His eyes were glassy and he reeked of alcohol and weed. Because of his age he had never been in a club before, and shouldn’t have been in that one, but Lakim had pulled some strings and gotten the manager to look the other way.

“I keep telling you about that ‘blood’ shit,” Lakim warned.

“Chill, B, you know I don’t mean no disrespect by that. I call you blood cuz you my family,” Ashanti half slurred. “Man, I ain’t never seen this many hos in one spot at one time.” Fascinated, he looked around at the women moving about the club.

“I told you, fucking with us, your lifestyle was gonna change. This ain’t shit, wait until we really start balling and then you’ll see why we’re the winning team,” Lakim promised.

“Shorty, let me get another shot of Patrón.” Ashanti banged on the bar top.

Lakim pulled him away from the bar. “Chill the fuck out, sun. You need water more than you need a drink right now.” Lakim slid away the shot the bartender had just set down and requested a bottle of water for Ashanti. “Here, nigga, flush that li’l kidney of yours.” He handed Ashanti the water.

Ashanti reluctantly accepted the water, but once he began chugging it he felt his head start to clear. His eyes wandered around the club and he spotted two familiar faces coming down the stairs to the club area. “Oh shit, look at these muthafuckas.” He nodded at the two girls.

Lakim’s eyes zeroed in on the girls and he began licking his lips. “Damn, shorty in the green can get it!”

“Show some respect, nigga. I know her.” Ashanti put the water on the bar and made his way across the room.

*   *   *

“This spot is
a’ight.” Gucci nodded in approval, taking in the stylish decor of the place.

“I told you that it had to be something special if Marlene and them were partying here. Speaking of Marlene, I wonder if she’s here yet.” Tionna looked around. “Fuck it, I’ll text her in a minute to see where she’s at. You wanna get a drink?”

“Sure, if you’re paying,” Gucci said.

“That’s a bet. First round is on me.” Tionna led the way to the bar.

It didn’t take long for the vultures to swoop in, trying to invade Tionna and Gucci’s space. Most of them were locals so they didn’t get any play. After swatting hands, sidestepping guys, and cursing a few out, they finally made it to the bar. There were no seats, but two dudes gave up theirs, thinking that it would earn them the favor of the young ladies, but all it did was get them dismissed once the ladies were planted on their seats. Tionna ordered two Hennessy and Red Bulls for them and enjoyed the scenery.

“Damn, I’d almost forgotten how thirsty niggaz uptown could be,” Gucci said, ignoring a dude at the other end of the bar who was trying to get her attention.

“That’s the price we pay for being young, fly, and pretty.” Tionna winked.

“You ain’t never lied,” Gucci said. She felt someone touch her arm and spun around, ready to curse out whoever it was who had touched her uninvited. The frown on her face turned into a smile when she saw that it was Ashanti. She almost didn’t recognize him all clean-cut in his button-up and soft-bottom shoes. But for as grown-up as he was dressed, the red bandanna tucked into his shirt pocket said there was still a lot of kid in him.

“What’s good, ma.” He greeted Gucci with a hug.

“Hey, Ashanti!” she said happily. “I haven’t seen you in a minute, what you been up to?”

Ashanti shrugged. “Not much, just trying to make it.”

“You staying out of trouble?”

“As best I can, but you know how that goes.”

Gucci laughed. “Still the same li’l badass Ashanti, huh?”

“I’m a trap boy for life,” he said honestly.

“Ain’t you a li’l young to be in here?” Tionna asked.

“Age is a small thing when you’re rolling with big boys,” Ashanti boasted.

“So you’re getting your weight up, huh?” Tionna looked him up and down. It had been a while since Tionna had seen Ashanti and he was growing up to be quite handsome.

“Back off, cougar. Fifteen will get you twenty,” Gucci said playfully.

“Stop hating, Gucci. I’ll be eighteen in a few months. So what’s good, T?”

“Ashanti, you need to quit. Tionna’s old ass will eat you alive,” Gucci tried to tell him.

“Gucci, we’re less than a year apart so if I’m old, what does that make you?”

“Still younger than
you
,” Gucci shot back.

Ashanti shook his head. “Y’all are still crazy as hell.”

“And you’re still in places that you have no place being,” Gucci told him. “Who are you in here with, Brasco and them?”

“Nah, my nigga B-Sco locked up and I don’t see Nef too much no more,” Ashanti said in a saddened tone.

“Brasco stay locked up.”

“You know how it is when you’re in the life, Gucci. We take the good with the bad.”

“Yeah and it’s mostly bad,” she pointed out. “Ashanti, I sure wish you would get up outta these streets and go back to school. You’re still young enough to do something with your life.”

Ashanti laughed. “What life? My family doesn’t want me and the system can’t hold me. The one nigga who did love me is gone.” When Ashanti said it he saw hurt flash across Gucci’s face. “I’m sorry, Gucci, I know that’s still a sore spot for you. How are you holding up?”

“I’m working through it one day at a time. Some days are easier than others.”

“True story.” Ashanti looked down at his shoes. “You know”—when he raised his head, his eyes were misty—“I ain’t never known no good in my life. From my mama pimping me out when I was a baby to having to fight every day of my life because I’m so small, people have always treated me like shit unless I was able to benefit them, but it wasn’t like that with my nigga Animal. Even when that dude didn’t have shit I could still get half of it, ain’t too many niggaz built like that no more. On the real, if I ever found the niggaz who got at him…” His emotions overcame him and he couldn’t find the words.

“It’s okay, Ashanti.” Gucci rubbed his back. “I know, trust me I know.”

The guy who had been at the other end of the bar trying to get Gucci’s attention finally got up the courage to come over. His timing couldn’t have been worse. “What’s good, can I holla at you for a minute?” He was a dark-skinned kid with bad skin, dressed in a fake Polo shirt and some ugly brown shoes.

“Now is not a good time,” Tionna told him.

“My fault, I didn’t mean to intrude. I was just trying to see if I could buy the lady a drink. She looks like she could use it,” he said pleasantly.

“Can’t you see we’re having a moment? Have some fucking respect,” Ashanti snapped.

“Chill, shorty, I wasn’t trying to come over here and fuck up your groove,” the guy told him.

When Ashanti heard the word
shorty,
his Napoleon complex and the liquor kicked in. “Who the fuck you calling shorty, you trying to play me?”

“C’mon, B, you bugging right now. Calm that big-man shit down.” The kid waved Ashanti off.

“You’re a tough guy, huh?” Ashanti folded his hands behind his back. Nobody but Tionna saw that he had just pulled a gun out of his pants. “How about if I smack the shit outta you for talking slick?”

“What?” The kid moved in on him. Ashanti’s arm had started inching from behind his back when Lakim grabbed him by the wrist.

“I think you’ve had a little too much to drink. Maybe you should go kick back for a minute,” Lakim whispered in Ashanti’s ear.

“A’ight, La,” Ashanti said, but kept his eyes on the kid he’d been arguing with. “Gucci, Tionna, Ima catch up with you later on.” He backed through the crowd, still glaring at the kid.