Lil’ B and E had been scouring the streets for hours. They were nearly out of cocaine and they needed to find a new connection, but so far, they’d been unsuccessful.
“Ay Unc, we gone go see my Paw at court tomorrow, right?” Lil’ B asked as E made a right onto Second Street.
“Lil’ B, why the fuck we let Skinny kill White Boy?” E asked, ignoring Lil’ B’s question. He was shifting his gaze from the street in front of him to Lil’ B sitting in the passenger seat. It wasn’t that he hadn’t heard Lil’ B’s question or that the question wasn’t important, E just knew that business was running dry and that was something that Richard had never allowed to happen. He had to figure something out, and fast.
“Unc, fuck White Boy!” Lil’ B exclaimed, pounding the dash with his fist. “I asked you ‘bout my Paw.” Still receiving no response from E, Lil’ B added, “If you think I’m gone look for a plug with you tomorrow, you got me fucked up.” Lil’ B crossed his arms over his chest. He glared at E, challenging him.
“Nephew, we going to the courthouse tomorrow,” E replied with a loud sigh. “Just calm down. You always get all emotional when a nigga ain’t thinking ‘bout Rich.” Truth be told, E had been thinking about Richard all week. He couldn’t wait to see his best friend, but right now wasn’t the time. He needed Lil’ B to focus.
“Whatever, Unc.” Lil’ B’ uncrossed his arms. Now having the answer to his question, he was ready to focus on business as usual. “I know a lil’ stripper bitch that say her people’s got work.”
“How much they taxing?” E asked, glad they were finally getting somewhere.
Lil’ B shrugged. “I’m gone holla at that hoe tonight and see what’s up,” he replied, but as they neared Lil’ Haiti, Lil’ B came up with a better idea. “Matter fact, make a left right here.”
E turned left on 53rd and Lil’ B told him to pull over and park just up the road. “Who you know over here?” E asked, looking around.
“That lil’ stripper bitch be over here sometimes,” Lil’ B answered, looking around as well. “There she go right there.” He pointed just up ahead to a tall, slender girl with bright red hair just up ahead.
“That’s that hoe always hating on Joy,” E said, a frown crossing his face. She’d caused a lot of trouble, always calling Skinny about how Joy behaved around Richard. Joy’s behavior had never been an issue to them. She was just another dick hungry hoe. Cherry, however, tried to cause an issue, for what reason, no one really knew.
“Yeah, but that bitch bad, ain’t she?” Lil’ B asked as he eyed the sexy stripper. She was making her way towards their car, but she hadn’t noticed either of them. Her black mini skirt crept up with every step she took, but it never quite revealed what hid underneath.
E rolled his eyes in response, “Yeah, but fuck that. Go holla at that hoe and see if her people got something.”
Lil’ B nodded in response and opened the car door. Slamming the door shut behind him, Lil’ B yelled down the street, “Ay Cherry!”
Cherry snapped her head in the direction of her stage name and recognized Lil’ B instantly. The two of them walked towards each other and met halfway between the place where Cherry had been and where E still sat, waiting in the car.
“Lil’ one, what’s good?” Cherry asked, now standing in front of Lil’ B.
“What I tell you ‘bout calling me that?” Lil’ B’s brow furrowed. “Only two people call me that,” he seethed, pointing an index finger at Cherry, driving his point home.
Cherry rolled her eyes. “Whatever boy. What you want?”
“Yo’ people still got that? What you was telling me about?” Lil’ B asked, glancing between Cherry and the car.
“What you talking ‘bout?” she asked dimly.“That coke?”
“You know that’s what I’m talking ‘bout,” Lil’ B answered in a condescending tone. Strippers could be so stupid sometimes. “Matter fact, you got a number you can call them at?” he asked as he pointed at her phone.
“Yeah, why?”
“I want you to call them and ask them how much they want for a zone,” he answered, crossing his arms over his chest.
Cherry huffed out a loud sigh. “A’ight, hold up.” Turning her back to Lil’ B, Cherry flipped open her phone and dialed the number. “Hello? Cuz?” Cherry turned back around to face Lil’ B. “Y’all still straight?...’Cause I got somebody want to buy a couple of plates from y’all…Hold on.” She looked up at Lil’ B. “How many you want?”
“Nigga need half a block,” Lil’ B answered, adding, “but tell them we gone buy one zone to see what they working with.”
“Ay cuz, they want eighteen plates, but he only want one right now…Yeah, he want to see what it tastes like…Ok…a’ight…Love y’all.” Cherry flipped her phone shut and returned her full attention to Lil’ B. “For only one, they want six hundred fifty, but if you end up getting the half like you said, they’ll give you that for eleven g’s.”
Lil’ B shook his head, “I ain’t never been bo-bo-the-fool, so just get one zone for me now,” he said, pulling a wad of cash from his wallet. “And if it’s right, we gone fuck with y’all.” He counted out the six hundred and fifty dollars and handed it over to Cherry.
Cherry shrugged as she took the money, thinking that it was silly for Lil’ B to pass up such a good deal, but it was his money. “You want me to bring it on Eighteenth Ave?” she asked as she shoved the money into her pocket.
“Naw. Just take it to work tonight with you and we’ll come get it from there,” Lil’ B answered before turning to walk away. As he made his way back to the car, he tried to think of a way he could get E into the strip club after what had happened earlier that week at Rolex’s.
“What time y’all coming?” Cherry called to Lil’ B who was now halfway back to the car.
Lil’ B turned around to answer her, but continued walking backwards. “Don’t worry ‘bout it. Just know we coming. And don’t feel like a nigga just using you. Everything go smooth, I’m gone break you off, long as we like what we get tonight.”
Smiling and waving, Cherry yelled loudly so Lil’ B could hear her. “A’ight. I’ll be waiting on y’all.”
Without another word to Cherry, Lil’ B climbed back into the passenger seat and waited for E to finish his phone call.
“I’m gone call you back baby, a’ight?” E cupped his hand around the receiver, as if doing so could keep Lil’ B out of the conversation. “Yeah, see you later.” He flipped the phone shut and turned to a grinning Lil’ B.
“Unc, I think you gone get that bitch pregnant.” Lil’ B knew E well enough to know that’d been Bay-Bay on the other end.
E shook his head in response, a disgusted expression on his face. “Fuck that shit!” he said before changing the subject to more important matters. “So her people straight?”
“What you think I gave her that money for?” Lil’ B asked, knowing that E had been watching them the whole time.
“A’ight, so how long she gone take to get it?” E asked eagerly.
“Unc, you know shit hot round here in Lil’ Haiti.” Lil’ B tried to murmur the next words just enough to make them sound not important. “So I told her we’ll come to Take One and pick it up tonight.”
E winced at the words. “Why you told her that? I ain’t going in that death trap.” E put the car into drive and headed out of Lil’ Haiti thinking about how badly they needed to find a new connection. As he made the next right, without looking at Lil’ B he said, “I’ll just wait for you in the parking lot.”
Lil’ B shrugged. “Whatever, Unc. It’s gone be straight.”
***
E pulled into the strip club parking lot several hours later and parked the car in one of the open spots. From where he sat, he could see both the entrance to the club and the street leading up to the club. “Don’t be in there all night, nephew."
“I ain’t gone be too long,” Lil’ B said, opening the car door. “I’m just gone get that.”
“I’m for real, nephew,” E said as Lil’ B climbed out of the car. “These hoes be gettin niggas fucked up out chea.”
Lil’ B shook his head as he closed the passenger side door and headed towards the club’s entrance. “Ay Fatboy, Cherry in there?” he asked the doorman.
“Yeah, she in there,” the doorman answered, only glancing quickly at Lil’ B as he waved a freshly patted patron forward. “Hold up,” Fatboy said as he put his arm out to stop the next man in line. “Let him in first, homeboy,” he said, nodding to Lil’ B.
Giving the door man a quick smile, Lil’ B walked around the man that Fatboy had stopped from entering the club. “I ain’t gone be in here long,” he told Fatboy. “I’m coming right back out.”
The two men who had entered the club just before Lil’ B – the one who had just been cleared by Fatboy and the one that was still waiting for his pat down – gawked at Lil’ B as he walked by. The fact that the doorman had let Lil’ B pass without a pat down hadn’t gone unnoticed. The two men exchanged a silent, confirming nod - a nod that no one else noticed.
Lil’ B made his way through the club, past the main entrance, past the bar and through the lounge area. He was looking for Cherry, but she wasn’t on the floor. Heading towards the stage, he noticed Ice Cream walking over towards the dressing rooms. He stepped up behind her and grabbed a hold of her arm. “Ay Ice Cream, check this out.”
Ice Cream spun around and glared at Lil’ B, her free arm poised and ready to deliver a slap to his head. Her arm dropped when she recognized the face attached to the hand that had grabbed her. Her eyes narrowed to tiny slivers. “What you want pulling on me like that?” she asked, yanking her arm out of Lil’ B’s grasp.
Lil’ B blatantly ignored her defensive attitude. “Where Cherry at?” he asked, looking around the strip club once more.
“She on stage next, so probably in the dressing room,” Ice Cream shrugged.
Just then, Juvenile’s lyrics filled the club. The house DJ announced Cherry’s entrance. As she walked onto the stage, Lil’ B headed over to one of the tables and sat down to wait.
Across the room, the two men who’d watched Lil’ B pass by the doorman without a pat down sat and sipped on Jack and Cokes. Like Lil’ B, they weren’t interested in a show tonight.
“Ay Ben, you see that young nigga sitting over there?” the taller, lankier man named Jay asked his partner as he nodded in Lil’ B’s direction.
“Yeah, you talking ‘bout that nigga who came in after me?” Ben shrugged, unsure of what that young boy had to do with their deal tonight.
“I bet that’s who she got fo’ us.”
Ben quickly glanced over his shoulder and assessed Lil’ B. “You think so?” Ben turned his gaze back to Jay, his eyebrow cocked in disbelief. “He don’t look like he got no money for half a block.”
Jay took a long swig from his drink and sat back in his seat. “He got it or whoever he fuck with got it,” he said, certainty in his voice.
After finishing her performance, Cherry hopped off the stage and headed straight for Lil’ B. Planting her butt firmly on his lap, she extended her hand. “You like what you saw?” she cooed as a seductive smile spread across her lips.
Lil’ B leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “I got a tip for you when you get my coke.”
Cherry jutted her bottom lip out in a pout, but stood and responded, “Okay, let me go get that then.” A loud sigh escaped her lips as she walked away.
Cherry took the long way around the club, zipping through the bar area and past the DJ station, glancing back every couple of steps, making sure Lil’ B wasn’t following her with his eyes. Convinced that he hadn’t seen where she was headed, she walked over to Jay and Ben’s table and slid in to one of the chairs. “Y’all got a tip for me?” she asked, hand extended as Ben handed her the bag of coke.
“Come give me a dance when you get back,” Jay replied with an impish grin.
“Baby, you always want a dance when you come in here,” Cherry said, shaking her head and giggling.
Instead of going straight back to Lil’ B, she walked into the dressing room, hoping that he would think she had come from there. After waiting a few moments, she stepped out into the lounge area.
“Damn, you took long enough,” Lil’ B said, digging a tip for Cherry out of his pocket.
Rolling her eyes, Cherry exchanged the money in his hand for the coke in her hand. “Here you go, boy.” She smiled to herself with satisfaction and stuffed the money into her thong.
Without another word, Lil’ B marched towards the exit. Once Cherry was certain he had left, she made her way back over towards Ben and Jay.
Lil’ B stormed towards the car, yanked the door open and plopped himself into the passenger seat.
“Damn, nephew!” E said, turning the radio down.“You took long enough.”
Irritated at how long the deal had taken, Lil’ B grumbled in response. “That’s the same thing I told that hoe Cherry.”
E put the car into reverse and backed out of their parking spot. “What the fuck took you so long anyway?”
Lil’ B rolled his eyes. “When I walked in the club, that hoe was just getting on the stage.”
Now driving down the road, E looked at Lil’ B expectantly. “So, what that shit look like anyway?”
“This shit look straight,” Lil B answered, pulling the bag from out of his crotch.
E reached into his lap and produced a small bag of broken weed and a twenty-dollar bill. “Take a lil’ bit of that and put it on this weed,” he said, handing the items over to Lil’ B.
“Look at yo’ junkie ass,” Lil’ B laughed as he took the items.
“Nigga, got to make sure that shit right,” E smiled, watching Lil’ B roll a joint.