Tampa Black: Part ! (3 page)

“Damn lil momma, you look good enough to eat,”

he said flirting. Taking note of Trion’s shirtless, chiseled chest, she couldn’t help but to reach out and touch it. Smiling she flirted back,

“well I hope you’re hungry …”

Playfully snatching her off of her feet and closing the door behind them, he carried Tasha back to his bedroom and laid her down on his new bed before climbing in next to her. There was a moment of silent enchantment.

“Listen Tata, this nigga Zion is dangerous ma, this aint a game. I don’t want you in the middle of this.”

Looking up into Trion’s eyes as she lay on her back, all Tasha could think about was how long she had been secretly in love with him.

As she lay under the warmth of his body, slowly she felt her body beginning to surrender to the throbbing wetness pulsating between her thighs. At this moment, she knew that there was no turning back. She had to have him in her life, and more specifically, right now she needed to have him inside of her body. Reaching up to grab the back of Trion’s neck, Tasha initiated the tumble of a snowball of ecstasy that would melt their souls to the core as they explored each other’s essence…

As old friends became lovers, only God knew the tragedy and trials that were to come, but for now they had each other…

Across town Carlos and Smoke prepared for their latest undertaking. Looking down at his watch, Smoke was frustrated.

“Damn Dawg, what the fuck is taking this train so long?”

The two of them had been laying in the bushes beside a secluded railroad track for over an hour, but the military cargo on board was worth it. Although the sun had just set for the evening, it was hot and humid; so being dressed in all black didn’t help Smokes frustration.

“Man fuck this shit dawg. If this mothafucka aint here in the next ten minutes, I’m gone.”

Just as the words left his mouth, as if on que, the train came around the bend at a slow crawl. As the train eased by, Carlos and Smoke seized their opportunity by jumping on board and making short work of the locks that secured the cargo. Gaining entry, they quickly began to unload as many crates of the firearms and ammunition as possible. Sensing the train about to pick up speed, they both jumped exiting the freight, and began to load the stolen cargo into a waiting van. Suddenly, a plain clothed security guard yelled out,

“hey what are you guys doing?”

Before he could reach for his walky-talky, Smoke opened fire, shooting something that looked like it came off Star Wars. As multiple high caliber shells exploded through the car that the guard had ducked behind, he silently began to pray that he made it through this ordeal alive. Just as fast as it had begun, it ended as Carlos and Smokes van disappeared into traffic.

Pulling into the garage of their safe house in Rovers Park, Carlos and Smoke breathed a sigh of relief as they closed the garage door. Unloading their new treasure, they opened the crates and stared in aww. While Smoke felt his way around the weapons like a kid in a candy store, Carlos made a few calls, one was to a Cuban arms dealer he had been doing business with, and the other was to Trion.

Hearing his phone ringing, Trion rolled over to answer it being careful not to wake up Tasha.

“Yo, who is this?”

He breathed into the phone…

“What up dawg, dis Los. We just hit for some more toys to play with, we still going to the Burg to pay ole boy a visit tonight?”

“Nah, we gone pull out tomorrow night when the sun falls, I’ll check out the fire then. Y’all niggas lay low until then.”

“Bet dawg… one …”

Hanging up the phone, Carlos turned to Smoke.

“Say dawg lets separate this shit. We gotta drop these pieces off to Cuba, then get ready for tomorrow night.”

Both cousins knew what lie ahead. When it was all said and done, no one was promised to still be breathing. The law of the streets called for a life for a life, so now equipped with enough weapons to go to war with Iraq, this was sure to get messy.

Waking up the next morning, Carlos stepped outside to smoke a blunt and look out over the harbor; when he noticed Smoke standing up the block with another young shooter who went by the name Freeze. Word on the streets was that Smoke was fucking Freeze’s baby momma Kim, so his arrogance mixed with ignorance propelled him to pull up on Smoke and try to check him about her. Sadly, for Freeze this lapse of judgement would be his last.

Pulling up on the block, Freeze had spotted Smoke, so he jumped out and confronted him.

“What up jit? I heard you been fucking round with my olé lady?”

Annoyed at the fact that he was even being approached about a female, Smoke replied with malice fueled by anger.

“Look pussy nigga, fuck you. This my dick, I fuck who I want, when I want. You need to check your bitch.”

Losing his last thread of self-control. Freeze went for the pistol in his waistband, however, Smoke was quicker to the draw. As the desert eagle in Smokes hand barked to life, chunks of flesh and blood disappeared from Freeze’s face; spraying through the air like some sort of twisted version of confetti. As Freeze’s body dropped, the potential witnesses and by standers cleared the block with urgency.

The law of the street was see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. If you minded your own business, you lived, if you didn’t you died. It was just that simple. Gathering the supplies that they would need for their trip to the Burg, Carlos and Smoke decided to relocate to another spot just off main street in the heart of West Tampa until the heat died down; and it was time to pull out…

CHAPTER 4

CASULATIES OF WAR

After Tasha got up, and left to get back to St. Pete so she could get situated for her set at the show case, Trion rolled over and called Carlos…

“What up dawg? You and Smoke ready for the meeting?”

Hating to tell Trion about Smoke’s incident with Freeze, Carlos thought for a moment…

“Yeah dawg, we on standby. We had a little issue in Rover’s Park, but nothing major. We at the spot off main street, we waiting on you.”

Hearing the movement in the background, Trion knew that the trap was in full swing; So he ended the call before getting up and heading to West Tampa.

Pulling up in the projects in his black on black Yukon, Trion let the tinted windows down allowing the humid summer air to blow through. Turning his head to look out of the window, he saw an old beat up yellow school bus pulling past him. Inside of the bus was a greasy looking old hustler named Big Man.  His mobile store had everything a kid could want from ice cream to candy. He even had a few hood favorites like: boiled peanuts, cigars, and single Newport’s

Big Man looked over at the black truck, and smiled seeing that it was Trion.

“Hey there young blood. Boy I aint seen you since you were a jitter bug. What you been up to?”

Amused by the old hustler, Trion smiled;

“I’ve been taking it easy old timer. I see that old bus is still doing numbers huh?”

Remembering his years in the game, Big Man flashed back to when he ruled the streets of West Tampa with an iron fist. As the memories began to fade, they left traces of a bad taste in his mouth. Big Mans brother had been murdered by federal agents as they raided his home, consequently, Big Man was hauled off to serve a 240-month sentence for racketeering and money laundering. Slipping out of his trip down memory lane, Big Man answered Trion’s question with a pained expression.

“Yeah young blood, these crackers aint playing fair out here in these streets. This old truck is keeping the bills paid, and my old black ass out of the chain gang…”

Knowing the twenty years that Big Man had done, and the loss of his brother had taken their toll, Trion respected the old timers’ words.

“I dig old timer, it’s good seeing you; take care man.”

As the old beat up bus pulled away, Big Man smiled and honked his horn…

Stepping into the two-bedroom project apartment, Trion waited for Carlos to make his last transaction before closing the door behind the customer. Coming into the living room area, Smoke struggled to carry two military duffle bags filled with weapons. Dropping the bags on the floor, Smoke immediately unzipped them, and emptied out the contents. While they critiqued their weaponry and the plan for the evening the phone rang…

“Hello …”

Hearing the seductive voice drifting through the receiver, Trion knew exactly who it was.

“What’s up Bae?”

It was Tasha.

“Hey Tri… listen, one of my girls said that Zion gone be leaving the club to go to the after party at a sports bar off the harbor at about one o’clock. He always parks in the V.I.P parking lot, so his car will be in the back.”

That was enough said for Trion.

“OK Bae. It’s about 8:06 now, we’ll be at the club in a few hours.”

Disconnecting the call, Tash allowed her beautician to place her head under the dryer as her mind drifted back to the last time she had seen her mother. . .

Stepping into the visitation room of Florida’s prison for woman, the butterflies in Tasha’s stomach began to flutter as she inhaled the distinct stench of confinement. Finding her seat, Tasha sat in front of her biological mother. The emotional storm brewing inside her was raging. Timeless moments seemed to drag into forever, until Tasha’s mom finally spoke.

“Hey Pooh…”

Hearing the childhood name that her mom had just called her provoked a response that would never come.  Though her words struggled to find freedom, it was illusive, so she remained silent.

Reluctantly accepting the fact that her daughter had yet to forgive her in all these years, a shadow of disparity washed over Cent. Parting her lips, she spoke her heart.

“OK baby, I see that you’re still fighting within your heart to forgive me. Listen, Lord knows that I never wanted you to go through what I went through as a child, but sometimes circumstances corrupt even the best of intentions. I can’t take what happened between us back, but someday I pray that you and the good Lord forgives me. The doctor told me that I have an advanced case of Aids …”

As Tasha listened to her mother speak, she fought to stop the tears from falling. Knowing that this would be her last opportunity to make amends with her daughter just as she already had with God, Cent pressed on, stumbling over her words

“I’ve given my life to the Lord now baby, so if I never get to see you again I want you to know that momma loves you, and that I’m truly sorry …”

As Tasha and Cent stood up and embraced at the end of the visitation, neither of them could hold back their tears. A lifetime of pain had finally found its peace…

“I love you, momma …”

“I love you too baby …”

Slipping back into the present, Tasha got some tissue from her purse and dried her eyes. Her mother’s death two years ago was now her motivation to live. She had made enough money from dancing to start her life over, all that was left to do now was make sure the only person in the world that she loved, made it through this war to get to see the sun shine…

Pulling up in the parking lot of Club Ecstasy was like pulling up at a hood version of Hollywood’s infamous red carpet.  Everybody who was anybody in St. Pete and the surrounding cities were in attendance. As Trion pulled up to the V.I.P entrance, he and Carlos stepped out of the Yukon as Smoke insisted on accompanying the valet to go park the truck. Dressed to impress, both Trion and Carlos were adorned in Marc Jacobs casual wear. In preparation for the coming fireworks, both men wore two 40 cals nestled in shoulder holsters under their blazers.

Stepping up to the security personnel at the entrance, Trion slipped the door man six crisp hundred dollar bills and walked through the make shift security station undeterred by a pat search or metal detectors. Walking into Ecstasy’s was like stepping into another world. There were exotic, sweaty, half naked bodies everywhere. As Trion and Carlos were escorted to their private booth, they passed by a young dread coming out of a V.I.P booth marked 112. As the room door opened, the hallway was instantly filled with marijuana smoke. It was so cloudy inside that you could have sworn that it was a steam room if you couldn’t smell. Even though there was smoke and numerous bodies packed in the room, Trion caught a glimpse of Zion laughing while a sexy young stripper sat on his lap.

Just as he was about to pass the room, the young lady turned her head in his direction and they instantly locked eyes… It was Tasha… Although the plan was sat and was moving accordingly, it took everything in Trion not to put a bullet in Zion’s head right then, but then again that would mean sudden death for his whole team. Weighing his options, he walked to his booth, it would have to wait.