The Corner III (No Way Out) (25 page)

“We at that new club, get your ass down here. You ain’t partied with us in a minute.”

“Nah, homey. I’m chillin’ with little man and Chantel,” Noonie said.

Chantel sat on the edge of the bed. She could hear in Noonie’s voice that he wanted to hang out. She thought about how he had been such a good man by taking care of her and Jr. that he may need a break. She wasn’t the jealous type and knew that Noonie was hers. She trusted him and didn’t want to have him feeling as if he was locked down so she walked to him and whispered in his ear, “Go out. The baby and I will be fine.”

She then knelt and unbuckled his jeans. She grabbed a hold of his manhood.

Noonie told Reese, “I’ll be there. I’ll hit you when I’m on the road.” He dropped the phone to the carpeted floor as he felt nothing but the warmth of his woman’s mouth.

*     *     *

Noonie stepped inside the club,
and it was happening. It was packed with women in outfits that would make a stripper cry in shame and women who were grouped with their girls dressed in fashionable outfits. They were the proper looking ones. The ones who acted sweet or stuck up but get them behind closed doors they were some of the biggest freaks. The men, well Noonie noticed some hustlers he knew and some he didn’t. They were rocking the latest fad and sported much ice. There were also men who weren’t hustlers, but chasing the same thing—pussy.

“Damn, married man, I thought your ass wasn’t going to be able to get out,” Big Reese said as he gave Noonie some dap.

“I’m a daddy, not married. Little man is what keeps me locked down. But don’t get me wrong. I don’t have a problem with staying at the crib to help Chantel out. That’s what men do!” Noonie replied as he tapped a passing waitress on the arm. “Can I get a double shot of Remy on the rocks?”

Shaun walked up to where the two men were standing. “No need for that, just bring some Heinekens to our table,” he told the waitress as he gestured to where Ant was sitting.

Noonie gave Shaun some dap, looked him over then said, “Damn nigga, you checkin’ out my wardrobe or what?”

Noonie was referring to Shaun’s  Antonio Zengara shoes, Sean John white button-down and jeans. Noonie had on the same attire except for his shirt was a lavender color.

Shaun joked, “We need to play this shit like them women do and say ‘fuck this shit that MF got on the same shit take me home’!” he joked

Noonie walked off toward the table. Shaun and Reese followed. Noonie said, “You’re lucky we’re wearing different colors.” They all laughed.

Anthony stood and gave Noonie a hug. “How’s Chantel and Jr.?” he asked.

“All good, baby. This you?” he said as he pointed to the glass.

“Yeah, just poured it.”

Noonie smiled at the bottle of Remy XO and saw why he told the waitress to bring only some beer. Noonie poured a double shot and sipped as they all sat.

Reese said, “We got your locked down boy out the house.”

Noonie said, “Okay, kill the lockdown shit. I’m here to get my chill on,” Noonie said as he noticed a thick in the thighs sista staring him down. Noonie acknowledged with a smile, but he wasn’t interested.

“I know you saw that shit,” Shaun said.

“I’m straight. I’m here to fuck with y’all. I mean do y’all thang, but I’m chillin’.”

Before anyone could respond, Ant patted Noonie on the shoulder and said, “Y’all need to follow in me and my man’s footsteps. This shit ain’t gonna last, so we’ve been preparing to settle down.”

Shaun said, “I feel ya, but dig. Y’all know how I get down so I’m ’bout to go holla at that freak right there,” he said as he pointed to two women standing at the bar. He downed his shot then left his boys to rap to the woman. One woman was light-skinned, short and thick, all ass and tits. The other was tall, dark and leggy. Her body was of average build, but her long legs and hair are what attracted Shaun to her. Those attributes on a woman were what he was a sucker for.

Reese said, “Look at that nigga, he always going for them skinny bitches.”

They laughed and then talked amongst themselves as a cut by Rick Ross blared through the club’s speakers. The waitress finally made it with their beers. They drank, and the woman who had been staring Noonie down, stepped to him. The tight Deron jean skirt with a wrap-around top showed off her well-endowed body well.

“Hi, baby, do you mind if me and my friend chill with y’all?” she cooed.

“No problem, baby,” Reese said as he checked out the friend who was just as thick.

Noonie said, “We’re straight. Maybe a little later. Me and my boys are kicking it now.”

The women looked a bit confused. Anthony nodded for the waitress, and she came over. “Give them a round of whatever they want.” He nodded for the women to leave.

As they did, they gave a snobbish, “Thanks!”

Reese said, “Damn, y’all may be locked down, but a nigga here to play, feel me?”

Anthony replied, “I got y’all here to talk business. We can play later.”

Reese pointed toward the bar and said, “But playboy over there can…what the fuck?”

The men looked over to where Shaun was and saw what Reese saw. Reynard, Bone’s right hand man had stepped to Shaun and he looked pissed.

Reynard faced Shaun as he stood in between him and the woman he was talking to. “Shonda, get the fuck up outta here,” Reynard said to the woman.

She replied, “Reynard, I wasn’t doing shit. He came up talking to me.”

Reynard kept his eyes locked on Shaun emphatically saying, “I ain’t about to repeat myself.”

Shonda and her friend were pissed as she walked off, but knew to do what her man said.

“Nigga, you trippin. Not off the broad, but being up in my space,” Shaun said coolly as he swallowed the last bit of his beer and kept a hold of the bottle in case he had to use it as a weapon.

Reynard barked, “Nigga, you know who I am and who I’m with, so you need to watch whose bitch you tryna holla at.”

“Is there a problem?” Reese’s voice was deep and forceful.

Reynard had seen Shaun’s boys at the table and knew they would come to their partner’s rescue, but he had to let Shaun know what time it was. Shaun had seen Reynard with Shonda last weekend and knew that it was his girl, so trying to push up on her was total disrespect to him. At the moment Reynard had no help. His partner was outside smoking a blunt with his boy, so he decided to chill.

Reynard stared all the men up and down as he slowly walked away. “There will be another time, pretty boy!”

Reese gritted at him and said, “Kick rocks like Barney Rubble, bitch.”

The men walked back as some of the clubbers watched. Some would have like to have seen a fight, but the ones who knew of the men were glad nothing popped off because it could have gotten chaotic.

Reese poured everyone a shot of Remy. “Man, I wanted to knock that mothafucka out!”

Noonie sighed relief, Anthony caught it and said, “Y’all know how them grimy niggas in Bone’s crew do. They have their broads bring the heat in the club since the bouncers don’t really check them.”

Noonie said, “And I left my nine in the car.”

Reese said, “No need to worry, home boy.” He nodded to a heavy-set woman in a jean outfit. “I keeps a gat near me. Them fools not the only ones who got women bringing in pieces.”

The woman smiled showing the gold tooth she had in her mouth, sipped her drink then turned her attention to the women who were at her table—women who carried pistols for Shaun and Anthony.

The men drank, danced, and had conversation with women and men. Women who wanted to bed the ballers and men who wanted to be down. Noonie ran into Boogie, an old acquaintance who was an independent, but got his dope from Bone’s people. Boogie lived on the west side on Marquette in the West Englewood neighborhood. It’s a tough area where Boogie was given the rights to hustle as long as he bought his drugs from Bone. Boogie and Noonie had become tight when Noonie moved to the city from Gary. He had meet Boogie’s sister, and they were an item for about a year. When Boogie got jumped while visiting his sister, who lived on the southeast side, Noonie didn’t hesitate to help the young man who was on the wrong side of the city. Needless to say, they have been cool ever since.

Noonie and Boogie were at the end of the bar, and once the bartender brought their cognac, they talked over the bass of the rap
Thug
by Slim Thug.

Boogie patted his small natural and said, “Man, look how these hoodrats and wanna-be gangsters run their asses on the dance floor whenever they play some hood shit.”

Boogie was a drug dealer and from the hood, but he was also smart and didn’t get into much of the gangster shit. He had some shorties slanging crack and heroin for him and a handful of soldiers to protect what he had. It also didn’t hurt that he made money for Bone so if shit got to hairy that he couldn’t handle it, then Bone, who loved money, would.

Noonie laughed. “I know, but there was a time when we both loved that shit,” he replied.

Boogie gave him some dap saying, “Fo sho!” He downed his drink. “Ah, damn that’s some good shit.” He set the glass on the bar then said, “You know my sister asked about you.”

“How she doing?”

“Straight, besides that buster ass nigga she keep having them kids by.”

“I forgot about that fake ass gangster. How many she have by his ass?”

Boogie frowned as he held up four fingers.

“Damn, she’s pumped ’em out every year since I kicked it with her,” Noonie said surprised. “Tell her I said what’s up, but keep it at that. You know I just had a shorty.”

“No shit? Congrats, my nigga. So you and your girl going strong, huh?” Boogie said as he gestured to the bartender.

“Yeah, she and my son are my life, nigga.”

The bartender asked, “What you need, Boogie?”

“Let me get two more shots.”

Noonie said, “I’m good, Boog.”

“One more. A toast to your son.”

“Ahight.”

The bartender poured their shot and they toasted.

Boogie said, “Congrats, but on some serious shit.” He looked around then said, “Piece of info from my mouth to your ears, that nigga, Reynard, ain’t feeling that truce shit ya’ll and them Fuentes’ got going on. That’s Bone’s boy, but he ain’t feeling it, and I think that shit that just happened with him and your boy, Shaun, was just to get some shit started. I think he got some shit up his sleeve.”

Noonie nodded and said, “I feel where you are coming from. That nigga still feels like me and my boys are the ones who shot him up, so I know he wants some get back.”

“That’s what I’m saying, but Bone put a stop, or should I say a hold, on that shit because of the truce. With y’all getting your dope from the same supplier, man, money is pouring in. This shit ain’t like it was in the nineties when there were so many niggas on the streets selling, buying and using that you could have made a Tarzan movie. But money is being made.”

“You got that right,” Noonie nodded as he noticed his boys getting ready to go.

“What I’m saying is, Bone isn’t sharing like Reynard think he should, so I think he got something up his sleeve.”

“Like taking over?”

“I’m just saying,” Boogie said with a raised brow.

“Good looking on the info, fam,” Noonie said as he gave Boogie some dap.

“No doubt.”