The Fix 2 (7 page)

The last time Chucky had seen Benny it was in that apartment, still tied to the chair and professing how happy he was that his partner hadn't turned on him. If he only knew how close Chucky had been to going the other way with it. Ramses promised to release Benny and exile him instead of killing him, but Chucky knew that was a lie. Chucky wanted to stay behind and advocate further for Benny's life, but there was nothing he could do, short of putting himself back in harm's way and dying with him. He couldn't do anything to save Benny's life, but Chucky promised on his friend's soul that it wouldn't be in vain. Everyone who had a hand in his friend's death, and Chucky's humiliation that day, would be held accountable, including Ramses and his minions.

From there things went downhill for Chucky. He was falling out of favor with Ramses, Wolf was still on his back and everything he had stashed from the robberies was returned to the rightful owners. The pressure of everything going on, coupled with Benny's death, pushed Chucky further into his already festering madness and he began relying more heavily on drugs to cope. Ramses never really trusted Chucky after that and began feeding him with a long-handled spoon. Responsibilities that were once delegated to Chucky and Benny were now falling to Li'l Monk and Omega. While the two youngsters were on the come up, Chucky was on his way down the ladder. The pressure was coming from all sides and Chucky knew his days were numbered. It would only be a matter of time before Ramses discovered his involvement in the robberies or Wolf gave him up to Pharaoh. Either way he was fucked with a capital F and needed to bust a move, so he did what any rat on a sinking ship would do: he jumped off.

Chucky had outgrown New York and it was time to head for greener pastures, but not before tying up some loose ends, one of which being Ramses's friend Boo. Chucky had vowed to repay Boo for putting his hands on him and the part he played in Benny's murder and embarrassing him in the apartment that day and he made good on that promise when he caught Boo slipping one early morning and blew his brains out. Boo's death would surely hurt Ramses, as Chucky had intended it to, and for the final “fuck you” he robbed one last drug spot, taking enough money and product to hold him over until he figured out his next move. By the time Ramses, Pharaoh, or Wolf realized Chucky had crossed he would've been long gone, but thanks to that bitch Karen things had gotten complicated.

Chucky knew that betraying Ramses would've gotten him killed, but murdering Boo ensured that he would die very, very slowly, which was why he had been extra cautious when he did the deed or so he thought. His shady dealings had shortened his list of friends so he enlisted a hood rat named Karen to aid him.

Chucky had been fucking Karen since she was a young girl and had taught her damn near everything she knew about the hustle. In a sick way it was almost like he had raised her. Karen was a rider, and had helped Chucky clean up more than a few messes. She had gotten rid of a dozen murder weapons for Chucky so it seemed only natural that he went to her with the gun he had used to kill Boo. Chucky had never worried about Karen betraying him. For as long as Chucky kept feeding her dick and dropping the occasional monetary gift on her, she treated him like he walked on water. This all changed when Karen found out Chucky was now seeing her friend Persia.

Persia and Karen had been friends and rivals since they were kids, so when she found out about her and Chucky it crushed her. Had Chucky been a smart man, he'd have done whatever it took to smooth things over with Karen, but he let his ego get in the way. When Karen confronted him and Persia, Chucky played her to the left like a common chickenhead. He was trying to impress Persia, but all he succeeded in doing was infuriating Karen. In the ultimate act of revenge, Karen turned the murder weapon that had killed Boo over to Ramses and officially marked Chucky for death.

Chucky had barely made it out of the city with his life when Ramses's death squad came to his aunt's house looking for him. The hit men slaughtered everyone in the house, and they would've gotten Chucky too had he not been out tying up some loose ends in the city. His one regret was leaving Persia for dead in the house. He had such big plans for her, but when it came down to a choice between her life and his, she got the short end of the stick. To that day he wasn't sure how she made it out of the house alive, but he would make it a point to ask the next time their paths crossed, which would be sooner rather than later. He had been trying to reach Persia since his arrival back in the city, but it was proving easier said than done, which frustrated him to no end.

It was hard to say who ranked highest on his shit list, but Karen was definitely up there near the top. She had seriously jammed him up with her triple cross and he would've killed her had she not disappeared. She was trifling, but she was no dummy. She got out of dodge after pointing the finger at Chucky, hoping that Ramses would kill him before he found her. Fortunately for him, her hopes had been dashed and Chucky escaped execution. Though the smart thing for him to do would've been to put as much distance between himself and the Big Apple, Chucky couldn't just yet. There were more scores to settle and these were of a more personal nature. So instead of leaving New York for good, Chucky bounced from place to place around the tri-state area, plotting and waiting for the right moment to slip back in town and tie up all his loose ends. Now, months later, his time was almost at hand.

“Earth to Chucky.” Maggie snapped her fingers in front of his face, bringing him out of his daze.

Chucky blinked as if he was just awaking from a dream. He hadn't even realized that the whole time he had been hunkered over the table staring at his own reflection for the last few minutes. “What?” he snapped.

“See, you wanna be all nasty and shit and all I was trying to look out for your thirsty-ass. Rissa is back and she scored. She's in the kitchen,” Maggie told him.

“About time.” Chucky got up and brushed passed Maggie on his way to the kitchen.

“Ungrateful-ass nigga. I shouldn't have told you a damn thing and hogged it all up like you did the last of our stash,” Maggie called after him.

Chucky heard her voice, but he was deaf to everything Maggie was saying. The only thing he was concerned about was getting to the kitchen to get first dibs.

When Chucky rounded the corner into the kitchen, he was greeted by a round butt in a pair of tight jeans poking out of the refrigerator. He could hear the clinking of glasses as she rummaged around for whatever she was looking for. Chucky spared a glance over his shoulder to make sure Maggie wasn't behind him before creeping up behind Rissa. He grabbed her by her hips and pumped himself against her ass twice, startling her and causing Rissa to bump her head on the freezer door when she jumped up.

“Damn, why you play so much?” Rissa punched Chucky in the chest with her thin fists. She checked the back of her head to make sure she didn't have a knot. Rissa was a cute girl, with brown skin and a pretty smile. She was on the thick side, but she carried it well, mostly in her hips, ass, and breasts.

“You know I like it when I give it to you from the back.” Chucky moved in and invaded her space. He hadn't brushed his teeth yet, so he knew his mouth smelled like cigarettes and warm beer, but he didn't care. Neither did Rissa. Though she tried to act like she wasn't, she was fully in Chucky's thrall just like her sister.

“Chucky, stop playing before Maggie comes in here and tries to kill both of us.” Rissa pushed him away.

Rissa was Maggie's younger sister and Chucky's secret lover. Chucky had actually met Rissa first when he left New York and found himself in Pennsylvania. He had a light piece of business to handle down there. Rissa was a rough girl who hailed from the north side of Philly who Chucky had come across when he was trying to establish a cocaine connect in the city. Rissa was hustling dimes and twenties in Germantown before Chucky came into her life. She was young and street just how he liked them so Chucky immediately tried to charm her, but Rissa was into girls and wouldn't be swayed so easily.

It took awhile before Chucky was really able to work his way into her circle of trust. Whenever Chucky came through to buy coke he always made sure to spend at least a couple of hundred dollars with Rissa. It got to the point where Rissa began to look forward to Chucky coming through because those were some of her best days. Eventually Rissa felt comfortable enough with Chucky that she had him with her one day when the dude she was selling drugs for came through to drop off a package. That turned out to be a mistake for Rissa and it would alter the course of her life and career as a drug dealer.

Rissa's supplier was a corny-ass dude from somewhere in Virginia who tried to reinvent himself as something he wasn't when he relocated to Philadelphia. Chucky was able to see right through is façade and immediately started making plans to get him. And Maggie was the dude's girl. Chucky took one look at her and knew they were both cut from the same cloth; they were both addicts. Maggie was from the fast track, much too fast for the Virginian, and was just living in the moment. Chucky started fucking Maggie behind the Virginian's back. Within two weeks of getting Maggie on his team, he had convinced her to help him rob the Virginian and was heading to New York, dragging Rissa along for the ride.

Once in New York Chucky changed the rules of the game. Instead of the palace in the sky he'd promised, he had Maggie back on the track selling ass and Rissa in the streets getting it however she could. When he finally got tired of fucking just Maggie, he resumed his pursuit of Rissa's goodies. She was still resistant, but not as much as she had been before being snatched from the only home she'd ever known, and relocating to a foreign city. She was homesick and vulnerable and Chucky used it to his advantage. He had to damn near rape Rissa to get the pussy the first time, but after laying his pipe game down Rissa was with the program. Chucky made sure to keep it a secret since Maggie was currently the breadwinner. He was a marked man in the city and had to be careful where he showed his face, so his movements were limited. Everybody in the house had one hustle or another, but they depended heavily on the money Maggie made from selling pussy to keep them afloat. Maggie finding out that Chucky was fucking her and her baby sister too wouldn't go over well. Maggie had her suspicions about them, but could never prove it and until she could, they could keep sponging off her whore money.

“What you got for me?” Chucky asked, finally ready to get down to business.

Rissa reached down into her bra and pulled out a cigarette box. “It ain't much.” She shook it. “But it should do the trick.” Rissa was extending the box to Chucky, but Maggie swooped in like a Pro Bowl defensive back and intercepted it. “Thirsty bitch!” Rissa spat.

“Ya mama's a thirsty bitch,” Maggie replied, while checking the contents of the cigarette box.

“My mama is your mama, smart-ass,” Rissa shot back.

“Whatever.” Maggie shook the contents of the box onto the table. Out spilled a small Baggie, containing several grams of cocaine. Maggie frowned in disappointment. “Damn, Rissa, you didn't get no hard?”

“I got what I could get and you should be thankful for that,” Rissa told her. “It's hot as a firecracker on the streets, with police on damn near every corner. I don't know how niggas from New York get money on these blocks.”

“Because we're born and bred to do it.” Chucky snatched the Baggie off the table, and held it up to examine it.

“Let me put some water on so I can cook up,” Maggie said, rummaging through the dishes in the sink to find a pot she could fill with boiling water.

“Maggie, you must've lost your mind if you think I'm gonna suck on that glass dick with you. I snort, not smoke and since I went out and got it, it should be my choice,” Rissa said.

Maggie snorted. “Bitch, a junkie, is a junkie, is a junkie. It's all cocaine, so no matter how it gets to your brain, you're still a hype. Now come on down from your soapbox so we can get high.”

“Stall baby sis out. You know that ain't really her bag. We'll do it her way,” Chucky said in a cool voice. He knew Rissa primarily smoked weed and drank, but since she had been riding with Chucky and her sister, she was known to take an occasional bump here and there. The more time she spent around them, the more frequent her bumps came. Chucky was slowly dragging her down the devil's road, but he didn't want to make it seem forced. It had to be of her own volition.

“You awful defensive of her lately, Chucky. Something either of you wanna tell me?” Maggie asked, looking back and forth between them. Rissa couldn't hold her gaze, but Chucky's face was unreadable as usual.

“You gonna start with this shit again?” Chucky asked with an attitude.

“All I'm saying is that every time me and Rissa get into it, you jump on her side,” Maggie accused.

“Maybe it only seems that way because you're always on her about dumb shit,” Chucky suggested. “Maggie, when you're high you get on some paranoid shit and think I'm fucking every bitch I come in contact with.” He sat down at the kitchen table and began shaking the coke out onto a glass plate that they kept in the kitchen for such occasions.

“Not every bitch, just the young and naïve ones,” Maggie corrected him.

Chucky knew she was baiting him, but he didn't bite. “Whatever you say, Maggie. I'm about to get high.” He began chopping the coke into lines with a razor. The sound of the blade hitting the plate was like a chow bell, as all grievances were temporarily forgotten and both of the women took seats around Chucky, waiting for him to divide up the spoils. He scraped a little over half the cocaine to one side and scooped the remainder onto the back of a magazine, which he extended to Maggie. “You can cook that and we'll fuck with the soft.”