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“Damn! He get it in like that?” Kendu took a sip.
Dirty Black smirked. “Yeah, Big Time is certified, and I know jail only made him even worse.”
“So why not just put him down on the team?”
“He the type that’s used to being a boss,” Dirty Black told him. “Working for me, it would only be a matter of time before he tried to take me out, and take over. I can’t afford that right now.”
Kendu could already see some shit about to pop off between the two. “That’s crazy.”
Dirty Black had no problem hitting Big Time off with some work and a couple of dollars as a coming-home gift, but he didn’t like Big Time’s approach. It kind of made him feel like he was trying to extort him. That’s why he’d dismissed him so abruptly.
“Fuck that nigga!” Amazon cut in. “I hope he act up so I can light his ass up!” Back in the day, Big Time had murdered Amazon’s father over thirty dollars.
Amazon sat in the living room playing Nintendo 64 as his father sat at the kitchen table getting high, the sound of Al Greene filling the apartment.
“Hey, boy!” Terry called out to his son. “Put that damn game down and come here!”
Amazon sucked his teeth as he paused his game and made his way over to the table. Every time his pops was high, he would always talk him to death and lecture him. “What?” he said with attitude.
“Fuck you mean, what?” Terry raised his hand and back-slapped Amazon across the face. “Get over here, that’s what!”
Terry chopped up the small rock that sat in front of him with a twenty-five-cent razor. “I’m trying to teach you something, and you got the nerve to have an attitude,” he continued to rant. “You see this?” he asked, looking up at his son.
“Yeah,” Amazon answered with a frown on his face.
“What is it?” Terry quizzed him.
“Crack,” Amazon replied.
“That’s right.” Terry placed a small pebble in his stem. “You better not ever let me catch you fuckin’ with this shit, you hear me?” He grabbed Amazon by his collar.
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, this shit ain’t for you. I need you to promise me something.” Terry took a quick hit right in front of his son.
Amazon looked away while his father took a long drag from the stem. “What?”
“Promise me you going to finish school and make it to the NFL, like we talked about.” The corners of Terry’s mouth started to slightly foam. “Promise me right now!”
“I promise.”
“Thank you.” Terry took another hit in front of his son. “Okay, you can go back to playing your game,” he said, exhaling the smoke through his nose.
Terry was about to say something else, but before he could even get the words out, somebody kicked his front door open. Four men quickly rushed the apartment and tackled him out of the chair he was sitting in. Seconds later Big Time strolled up in the apartment like he owned it.
“Big Time, what’s this all about?” Terry asked from the floor.
“You know exactly what the fuck this is about,” Big Time said with a smile. “You snatched some work from one of my workers and ran.”
“I had twenty-six dollars and he wouldn’t let me go for three,” Terry said, pleading his case. “He was a new jack, so I know he didn’t know I was a loyal customer. So I just took that shit,” he said nonchalantly. “You know I’ma get that back to you.”
“You know my number one rule, Terry,” Big Time said, pulling a .38 from the small of his back. “No stealing,” he reminded him. “If it’s one thing I hate, it’s a thief.”
“Come on, man. Please don’t do this,” Terry begged in front of his son.
“Are you begging, muthafucka?” Big Time hurried over to Terry and stomped him in his face. “You wasn’t begging when you stole my shit!”
“I’m sorry. Please don’t do this,” Terry continued to beg.
“Stand that nigga up,” Big Time ordered, his pistol aimed at Terry’s chest.
“Noooooo!” Amazon yelled, charging toward the man holding the gun.
Big Time quickly side-stepped the big kid and hit him on top of his head with the gun, dropping him instantly. He then turned his attention back to Terry. “Hold that nigga up!”
“Wait please!” Terry begged. “Not in front of my son, please.”
Big Time paused for a second. “Take this muthafucka outside.”
One of Big Time’s goons stood over Amazon, making sure he didn’t move, while Big Time and his crew roughly escorted Terry outside.
Amazon lay on the floor crying not because he was hurt, but because he couldn’t help his father. All he could hear was loud bumps and banging against the wall, followed by a slap, then his father begging again. Not too long after, he heard thirteen shots go off, one after another, followed by silence. Right then and there he knew his father had just been killed.
“Don’t worry about that clown. If he act up, we gon’ lay his ass down point-blank,” Dirty Black said, snapping Amazon out of his trance.
Amazon still felt a certain way about what happened to his father. “I think we should go at that clown before he decides to bring it to us.”
“We getting money,” Dirty Black reminded him. “We can’t be sitting around worrying about these broke niggas.”
“You right,” Amazon said, but deep down he was ready to go put in some work.
“I’m about to get up outta here.” Kendu gave Dirty Black and Amazon both a pound. “Y’all need me to do anything tonight?”
Dirty Black told him, “Nah, you got the night off, champ.”
“A’ight. If y’all need me, just holla,” Kendu said as he walked off.
When Kendu reached his car, he no longer wanted to go home. He was tired of just sitting in the house all alone by himself. He didn’t feel like hanging out at Carmen’s crib either. “Fuck it,” he said to himself as he slid in his car and headed to the nearest bar.
From the outside Kendu could see the lounge was crowded. He slid his .45 under his seat as he got out of his whip and headed toward the entrance. After waiting on line for ten minutes he was finally searched and allowed to enter the lounge. The packed lounge had a cool setup. Immediately, he made his way over to the bar and helped himself to a seat on an empty stool.
“What can I get you?” the bartender asked in a friendly tone.
“Vodka and orange juice.”
Kendu scanned the entire place while the bartender prepared his drink. Seconds later the bartender handed him his drink. “Thanks.” He took a sip.
No matter how hard Kendu tried not to think about Diamond, he just couldn’t help himself. She just stayed on his mind. He wanted to know where she was, what she was doing, and who she was doing it with.
As he sat at the bar sipping on his drink, he heard a few other guys say, “Daaamn!” as all their eyes headed toward the entrance. Kendu turned to see what had the men acting like zombies. He saw a beautiful light-skinned woman walk up in the lounge like she owned the place, her heels stabbing the floor with each step she took. Just by looking at her face, you could tell that she knew she was the shit.
“Damn!” Kendu mumbled. The woman’s ass was so big, he could see it from the front.
The woman came and sat on the empty stool right next to him. “Hey, Henry,” she said, calling the bartender by his name.
“Hey, Crystal. Haven’t seen you in a while. Where have you been?” Henry said, as if he was happy to see her. Actually he was, ’cause Crystal was a good tipper.
“It’s a long story, Henry.” Crystal fanned herself with her hand. “Let me get a bottle of vodka. It doesn’t matter what kind, and I need some cranberry juice to go with that.”
When Henry returned with Crystal’s bottle of Cîroc and cranberry juice, Kendu quickly told him, “Let me get another vodka and orange juice.”
Crystal looked over at him like he was crazy. “You don’t see this big-ass bottle of Cîroc sitting right here?”
“How about we punish it together?”
“I’m down,” he said smoothly.
“Henry, let me get some orange juice over here,” Crystal said as she started on her first drink.
Once Kendu had his orange juice, he poured himself another drink and scooted his stool closer to Crystal. “So where you from and all that?”
“I’m from Miami, but I been living in New York for about twelve years now.”
“Damn. What brought you all the way from Miami to the city that never sleeps?”
“A man, of course.”
“It’s all good.” Kendu noticed the embarassed look on her face. “Love done made everybody do some crazy things.”
“I thought he was the one. But, come to find out, he wasn’t.”
“What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Turns out that muthafucka was crazy!” Crystal said, shaking her head. “He was so nice in the beginning. Then, after a year or two, things just changed.”
“I can dig it.” Kendu took a sip from his glass. “Any kids?”
“Yes, I have a beautiful daughter,” she said proudly. “So enough about me. You have any kids?”
“Not yet,” Kendu replied with a smile.
“You want any?”
“Of course.”
“You single?” Crystal helped herself to another drink.
“Yeah and no.”
“Explain,” Crystal said with a warm smile.
“Well, legally I’m married, but me and my wife are no longer together.”
“Well, you wanna know what I think? I think it’s her loss.”
That last comment brought a smile to Kendu’s face. Coming to the lounge turned out to be a good idea after all. “So are you single?”
“Yes, I am.”
Kendu gave her a disbelieving look.
“What’s that look for?”
“Just hard to believe that a woman as fine as yourself is single. I mean, I know men throw themselves at you all day every day.”
“They do, but that doesn’t mean I have to have a man. Actually this is my first time out in over eight months. And I only came here ’cause I didn’t want to go to no club. Just needed to get out the house.”
“That’s the same way I was feeling tonight.” Kendu smiled. “So are you looking for a new man?”
“No, not really.” Crystal stirred her drink. “I’m about to move back to Miami at the end of the month.”
“Damn! I just met you, and you ready to leave me already?”
“No. I love New York. But my crazy ex-boyfriend just got out of jail, and he’s been sending me threatening letters before he got released, and I just don’t got time for all that drama.”
“Is that the guy you had your daughter with?”
“Yeah, but I don’t want him around her with all that foolishness. He’s ignorant and crazy.”
“You never know. He might’ve changed his life around.”
Crystal smirked. “Trust me, he’s one that’s never gonna change.”
An hour later, and on their second bottle of Cîroc, Kendu and Crystal were still at the bar enjoying each other’s company.
“You seem like a real cool guy,” Crystal said, looking in Kendu’s eyes.
“That’s because I am.”
Kendu returned her stare, and the two got caught up, staring in each other’s eyes, until Crystal said, “Damn! This my shit!”
Kendu’s face crumpled up when he heard “Teach Me How to Dougie” blasting through the speakers. “This your song?” He thought she was too old to like the song.
“Yes!”
Crystal grabbed Kendu’s wrist and dragged him to the dance floor. As soon as the two hit the dance floor, she pressed her ass up against his dick and started seductively gyrating her hips to the beat, looking back at him the whole tine. Kendu flowed with the beat, matching her step for step. Just from dancing with her, Kendu could tell that her sex game was off the hook.
After the dance, the two made their way back over towards the bar.
“Yo’, I had a blast, but I gotta get ready to get up outta here.” Kendu downed what he had left in his glass in one gulp.
“You gotta leave right now?” Crystal asked, a disappointed look on her face.
“If I don’t, I’m not going to be able to make it home,” he replied honestly.
Crystal finished off her last glass. “I know you just met me and all that, but you wanna take this back to my place?”
“If you cool with that, I’m down.”
“We just going to chill though, all right.”
“Cool,” Kendu said as the two stumbled out the lounge.
When the two got outside, they both agreed that neither one of them was in any condition to drive, so they walked over to the corner and flagged down a cab.
“What about our cars?” Crystal slurred.
“We’ll just come back and get ’em tomorrow,” Kendu replied as they slid in the back of the cab.
After a twenty-minute ride, the cab driver pulled up in front of Crystal’s house. Kendu paid the cab driver then escorted her inside her own house. Once inside the house Kendu laid Crystal down on her couch. He could tell by how expensive the house looked that she couldn’t have worked a regular job and been able to maintain it.
“Damn! This a nice-ass house. Can I move in?” Kendu joked.
Crystal chuckled with her eyes closed as she lay on the couch. “My ex I was telling you about was a big drug dealer before he went to jail.”
“I see,” Kendu said, looking around.
He went to say something else but stopped mid-sentence when he heard Crystal lightly snoring. He just smiled and removed her shoes for her. Then he found himself a nice spot on the floor and called it a night.
Chapter 11
The next morning Kendu woke up to the smell of turkey bacon and home fries. He got up from off the carpet and saw Crystal in the kitchen with some tight stretch pants and a wife-beater standing over the stove.
“Damn! You fine and you know how to cook.” Kendu stretched.
“I do it all,” Crystal said with a smile. “I hope you hungry.”
“Starving.”
“Okay, it will be ready in five minutes,” she told him. “Oh, and there’s a brand-new toothbrush in the bathroom with your name written on it.” She laughed.
“Oh, you got jokes.” Kendu laughed as he disappeared in the bathroom.
After Kendu came out the bathroom, him and Crystal enjoyed a nice turkey bacon, pancakes, and eggs breakfast that she prepared for them.
They laughed and joked all morning, getting to know one another, until Kendu received a text message from Dirty Black that read:
I need to holla at you, young’un. The sooner the better.
“I already know.” Crystal said. “You gotta go, right?”
“Yeah, gotta go handle some business. If you ain’t doing nothing later on, call me and we can hang out again.”
Kendu decided to call a cab. Five minutes later he heard the cab driver outside beeping his horn.
“Yo’, scream me later, and I’ll swing back through to see you.”
The two hugged and kissed each other on the cheek.
“I’ma call you later, okay,” Crystal said as she watched him leave from the doorway. “Be careful.”
Kendu yelled over his shoulder, “You already know,” and slid in the back of the cab.
Crystal watched the cab pull off and bend the corner. Just as she was about to go back inside the house, she saw a Suburban on chrome rims pull up in her driveway.
“Who the fuck is this?” she thought out loud.
Big Time slid out of the Suburban with a cold-ice grill on his face. Crystal immediately closed the door and put the chain lock on the door. Seconds later she heard a hard knock at the door. Bang! Bang! Bang!
She opened up the door as far as the chain wo
uld allow. “What are you doing here?”
“So I ain’t seen you in five years, and the first time I do, I see a nigga running up out ya crib,” Big Time said, a smirk on his face.
“Me and you been over for years,” Crystal told him. “And I have the right to see anybody I want to.”
“So is that nigga the reason I haven’t seen you in over five years and you haven’t replied to any of my letters?” Big Time said, looking in Crystal’s eyes. He knew back in the day he did her wrong, but now that he was out, he wanted to get back with her and show her things would be different this time around. But the look in her eyes told him that she wasn’t having that.
“A man has nothing to do with anything. Me and you been over for years. You don’t remember all the nights I cried and begged you to spend time with me? What about all the women? Yeah, you remember. Then you wonder why I ain’t answer none of your letters.” She shook her head in disgust. “You ain’t got nobody to blame but yourself.”
“I know I fucked up back in the day. But now I’m here to make things right. Give me a second chance.”
“Sorry. You’re all out of chances.” Crystal knew Big Time did miss her, but she also knew he was the type of guy who couldn’t change even if his life depended on it. “It’s a million other women out there. Why don’t you go and get one of them?”
“I don’t want them, I want you. I need you. All I’m asking for is another chance. And what about my daughter?”
“What about her?” Crystal asked, looking at Big Time like he was insane.
“Fuck this shit! Open up this fuckin’ door!”
Crystal quickly tried to shut the door and lock it, but Big Time kicked it open. “I’m tired of fuckin’ playing with ya ass!” He grabbed Crystal and slammed her down on the couch. “You belong to me!” he growled, forcing his mouth on hers and sloppily kissing her. “I paid for this muthafuckin’ house, and you gon’ try and talk to me through the door?”
“Get off of me!” Crystal yelled as she tried her best to get him off her.
Big Time growled, “Listen, bitch, I’ma be back tomorrow.” He grabbed a handful of her hair and forced her to look at him. “Make sure my daughter is here! We gon’ be a family, whether you like it or not!” He let go of Crystal’s hair then turned around and smacked the shit out of her. “Next time, watch your mouth when you talking to me. Daddy is back home.” Big Time turned and exited the house.