In My Hood (16 page)

Ishmael thought about his plan carefully. If he could get some of the top doggs on his side on the strength of his rep then everything should go down smoothly. But he needed shit to pop off with a quickness.

He looked at his watch, and it was 6:30 p.m. He had to drop by the crib, shower, and change before he picked up Desiree.

“A’ight, I’m out. I’ll get up with y’all later,” he said, heading for the door.

“Yo, Ish, let me holla at you for a minute,” Derrick yelled.

“What’s up?” Ishmael asked.

“Step outside for a minute.”

The two men walked out into the evening air.

“What’s up?”

“You strapped?” Derrick asked.

“Yeah.”

“Where you headed?”

“I’ma go see Rae. Why?”

“I don’t think you should be rolling solo.”

“I’m good, man.” Ishmael shook Derrick’s hand.

“Let me put a tail on you, man, just in case that faggot Leroy breaks new.”

“I’m good, dogg. Good looking out though.” Ishmael walked away.

Derrick stood there looking after his boy, not feeling him rolling without security, but that was Ishmael. He relied so much on his street credibility, confident that no one would step to him.

A
fter Ishmael picked Desiree up, they headed over to Desiree’s favorite restaurant, Oceanside, for some seafood. The two ate, drank wine, and laughed. Desiree loved his company, and Ishmael equally felt the same. They both made each other feel happy and complete. When they were together, nothing else mattered.

After dinner, Ishmael wanted to check out a movie.

“For real, Ishmael, if we go to the movies now, I know I’ll fall asleep. I don’t want to waste your money.”

“Anything I do for you is never a waste, no matter what it is,” he said as they walked hand and hand to his truck. “So what do you want to do? Anything you want to do, I’m with it.”

“I want to go home and go to bed. I’m tired,” she stated sincerely.

“No, I’m not ready to take you home.”

“Ishmael, I need to get some rest. I’m dead on my feet right now.”

He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. “Let’s go to a hotel.”

“Don’t get cute.” She smiled up at him.

“Oh, come on. Not like that. I’m saying, we can get a nice suite. You can soak in the Jacuzzi and sip on some champagne and eat strawberries, then I can give you a nice massage. No freaky shit or nothing like that, and you can get your sleep on with no interruption. I need to get away anyway,” he said.

“Hmm, sounds good, but all the Jacuzzi, champagne, and massaging definitely sounds like something freaky, and I don’t care to get into that with you yet.”

“Naw, Rae, I’m serious. I’m not tryna get in your drawers. What type of dude you think I am?” He looked at her mischievously.

She looked at him, and they both laughed out loud.

***************

They arrived at the exquisite Marriott Nashua Hotel. Once they entered the room, Ishmael immediately started the water for the Jacuzzi. Desiree had to admit that she was nervous. She trusted Ishmael, but she didn’t trust herself. Her imagination ran wild every time they were together, and now they were going to spend the night together.

Ishmael kept his promise and gave Desiree her space to bask in her dream getaway. Desiree nodded off several times. She decided to get out of the Jacuzzi before she really fell asleep and drowned.

She threw on one of the hotel robes that was left on the bed. When she came out of the bathroom, Ishmael laid sprawled on the king-size bed asleep. He looked so peaceful. Desiree didn’t want to bother him, so she curled up next to him. Fatigue took over her body, and she drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile Zola was sitting on the sofa at Nick D’s three-bedroom ranch house an hour away from where she lived. They had been kicking it hard since the night she ran into him when she was with Nettie. She sat there sucking on a blunt when he walked in through the front door. He bounced toward her with a sly grin on his face.

Damn he is fine as hell,
she thought.

The way his bow legs curved when he walked turned her on big time.

She already had plans for Nick to be the one to take Ishmael’s place as soon as Damon handled his business. Nick was spoiling her already, and he was a pipe-laying fool. He satisfied her body’s every craving.

He handed her the bag he received from the Chicken House restaurant. She reached inside, grabbing a chicken breast and ripping into it. Nick picked up the remote and changed the television back to MVP Baseball on PlayStation 2 before Zola got the munchies and he had to leave.

She was sitting watching him while stuffing her face when her cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID, and it was Damon. She wasn’t feeling him and didn’t want Nick to know it was a dude calling her, so she pretended it was her girl Nettie.

“What’s up, girl?” she asked.

“What?”

“What’s up?” she repeated, looking over at Nick who was definitely engrossed in the game.

She got up off the sofa and took the bag into the kitchen.

“What Damon?” She changed her tone once she was finally in the kitchen.

“I need to get at you for a minute. I got something I need you to do. You need to meet me at the spot—now.”

“No, D. I’m into something right now.”

“Zo, now is not the time for this shit. If you want to do this then I need to see you. Don’t have me waiting on yo’ ass.” He disconnected the call.

“A
lright now, Rae-Rae. Don’t mess this up for us,” Bilal stated.

It was the day of the robbery.

“What are you talking about? I know what I’m doing. Don’t you fuck this up. You’re the one drunk off that diesel, not me,” Desiree yelled, referring to his drug use.

Bilal tried to remain calm. “Okay, Rae-Rae, I’m sorry. That’s a lot of money in that other room.”

“You ain’t gotta tell me. So let’s go get it.”

It was 4:30 p.m., and security had already dropped the money off in Harry’s office and left the building.

“Freeze. Put your mafucking hands where I can see them,” Desiree yelled after Bilal kicked the door open.

She and Bilal were wearing ski masks as they burst into Harry’s office. His assistant began to scream.

“Bitch, if you don’t shut the fuck up, I’ma put one right in yo’ ass,” Bilal assured her.

The woman muffled her scream and began to cry. Harry sat there with his hands resting on the table with a smirk on his face.

“Well, well, lookie here. The two crackheads gonna try and rob me.” He smiled, exposing their identity.

“Shut the fuck up,” Desiree yelled.

Bilal began to feel uneasy as he realized their cover had been blown. The ski masks they wore didn’t disguise them at all. They never considered that Harry would recognize them. But their malnutritioned bodies gave them away. Desiree moved swiftly over to the table.

“Cover me,” she yelled to Bilal as she began to fill the duffle bag with money.

“How far you junkies think you’re gonna get? Huh? Do you know who the fuck I am?” Harry yelled.

Desiree dropped the duffle bag and practically leaped across the table at Harry. She cracked him across the face with the gun then shoved it into his mouth.

“No, do you know who I am, you fat fuck!” She spit venom at him.

Harry began to perspire, and blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. Bilal didn’t like the way this was going down. The guns were to scare Harry. He didn’t intend for anyone to get hurt. Desiree was taking this too far. Desiree could tell that Bilal was ready to back out, but she wasn’t having it.

“Now you shut the fuck up and nobody will get hurt,” she said. Desiree swept the money from the table and into the bag.

“Let’s move,” she said to Bilal. “Now sit yo’ fat ass still and don’t move,” she told Harry. “I’m gonna wait outside that door, and if I so much as hear a peep out of you, you and your bitch will catch one right between the eyes.”

Desiree spotted the open safe behind the bookcase, which had been moved. She could see stacks of money lying in the safe. She tapped Bilal and pointed to the safe.

“We don’t have time for that,” he whispered to her.

“Fuck that,” she shouted and dashed for the safe.

Desiree began raking stacks of money into the bag like a madwoman.

“Take off your jewelry,” she commanded.

“Harry,” his assistant whined for him to do something.

“What the fuck you calling him for? Run your jewelry, bitch,” Desiree spat.

She began to help his assistant remove her jewelry.

“Get his shit,” she told Bilal.

“We wasting time,” he said to her.

“Just do it,” she shouted.

Bilal did as he was told. Once they received the jewelry they backed slowly toward the door. Bilal flung open the door, and two security men were standing there, catching everyone by surprise. The second security team had arrived early to take the money over to the safe house. Harry had informed them earlier that day to come.

The men drew their guns, and everyone was pointing their guns at one another in a showdown stance.

One single shot was fired.

Desiree woke up in a cold sweat, screaming. She couldn’t breathe from the stifling hot air that filled the room. She was soaking wet. Ishmael grabbed her and held her tight. She cried in his arms.

I
shmael handed her a glass of water. Desiree took a few sips and handed it back to him. He leaned his back on the headboard of the bed and pulled her into his arms.

“What time is it?” she asked.

“It’s about eight o’clock in the morning. Desiree, I think it’s about time you came clean with me. That was a scream from a nightmare. That sounds familiar to me.”

“What do you mean, it sounds familiar?”

“I have some demons from my past that haunt me, too, and I wake up sweating and screaming just like you did. Stop fronting and tell me what’s going on. The only way the nightmares are going to go away is if you face them and talk about them,” he said sincerely.

“I don’t want to talk about it. I’m scared, Ishmael.” She began to cry.

“Baby, I know you are, but I’m here with you. Rae, I never felt this way about no woman before. There was another in my past that I thought I loved more than life itself, but since I’ve been with you, I don’t think my love for her was as deep as what I’m feeling for you.”

“You love me?” She looked at him with tears in her eyes.

“For sure.” He smiled.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“The words don’t mean shit. It’s the actions that say it all.”

She was so impressed with him. He was so passionate and caring. She didn’t admit it to him, but she had fallen in love with him a long time ago. She had to realize and come to terms with herself that Bilal was gone. Although she still loved him and thought about him, she knew Ishmael had her heart. Once he left the game then she could let go and build a relationship with him.

“So? Talk to me, Rae.”

***************

She did it. She told him about her being incarcerated for the robbery. She told him how she was sick to her stomach to have witnessed Bilal kill the security guard. She broke down and started to cry uncontrollably.

“It’s gonna be a’ight, baby.” He held her tightly while she cried.

He pulled her on top of him, and she straddled him and laid her head upon his chest. He rubbed her back while she whimpered.

“I ain’t gonna let nothing ever happen to you, Rae. I want to one day wife you, plant my seeds, and spoil you.”

She looked into his eyes. “I would love that, Ishmael, but only if you leave the streets in the streets.”

He stared into her beautiful green eyes. “I’m trying, baby. I’m trying.”

She leaned in and kissed his lips. He opened his mouth slightly, inviting her tongue in. They kissed deeply. He ran his hand down her back and over her ass, massaging it gently. Desiree’s hormones cheered with excitement. It had been more than five years since she’d had sex. She wanted to fight the urge, but it was overwhelming.

His tool began to grow the longer they kissed. When she began to protest about his steady growing erection, he took it a step further. Ishmael rolled her over onto her back and began to kiss and suck on her neck. She moaned and held the back of his head. While kissing her neck, he loosened the belt on the robe with his other hand. He opened the robe and exposed her beautiful naked body. He ran his hand down her stomach and back up to her breasts and massaged them.

He kissed her breasts and bit her nipples lightly. Desiree moaned with pleasure. He removed her breasts and sucked and licked them seductively, circling his tongue around her rock-hard nipples.

Desiree was nervous, but she was so horny that she was ready for whatever Ishmael was working with—until he removed his Phat Farm boxers.

She couldn’t believe her eyes.
Is that thing real?
she thought. Her body tightened when he began to rub her leg. All she could think of was the pain that she was about to feel. He must have felt her tense up because he began to lick her breasts again. She relaxed a little but that wasn’t enough.

“I’m not going to hurt you. Just relax,” he whispered in her ear.

Easy for you to say. Let me put all that up your ass,
she thought.

He began to fondle her clit and finger her. Desiree forgot all about the side of beef that was waiting to enter her canal. Once she was good and wet, he climbed aboard.

It was tough going in, but he continued to kiss her neck and suck on her earlobes until he filled her canal raw dog. She flinched a couple of times, but Ishmael was a pro at finding a woman’s g-spot.

They moved together, slowly meeting each other stroke for stroke, breathing together and holding each other like they never wanted to let go.

Ishmael was a talker, and he talked to her the whole time. He took his time with her, exploring her body and satisfying her over and over, orgasm after orgasm until he exploded a river of cum inside her. Neither of them said a word about not using protection. He had thought about it, but he didn’t expect to have sex with her so he wasn’t strapped with any condoms. Either way it was all good with him. He knew Desiree was clean, but she couldn’t say the same for him.