“Ay Unc,” Lil’ B called E from the kitchen. “This some good coke. We drop twenty-six grams and still brought back twenty-eight. I think we found us a plug.” Lil’ B placed one of the cookies back on the scale for the fourth time. He’d measured it himself three times already, but he knew that E would want to see the results for himself. just as Lil’ B had expected, E approached the table to check the scales for himself.
E hoped Lil’ B was right. With Richard in prison for at least two more weeks, the pressure to find a new connection had intensified tremendously. This was the last of the product they had to sell and their regular business was already going to other sources. E leaned down and examined the scale closer. He peered up at Lil’ B. “You sure?”
Lil’ B nodded his head in confirmation. “Unc, this is the fourth time I put this shit on the scale.”
Straightening himself, E released a small sigh of relief. “A’ight then, hit Cherry up on the phone. Tell her to let her people go get that ready for us.” He walked out of the room smiling.
In a little hotel not too far away, Cherry’s cell phone rang. “Hello?” she answered.
“Ay Cherry, this Lil’ B. Tell yo’ people I want that.” Lil’ B said.
“A’ight,” she replied, looking up at Ben and Jay. “I’ll call you right back.”
“I’m gone be waiting on yo’ call,” Lil’ B responded.
But Cherry hadn’t heard him. She had already removed the cell phone from her ear to snap it shut. She grinned smugly at Ben and Jay. “I told y’all they’d call.” She stood up from the little hotel table and headed over to the mirror on the wall.
“So, what they talking ‘bout?” Ben asked impatiently. He watched Cherry apply a new coat of lipstick with irritation.
Cherry rolled her eyes at Ben in the mirror. “They want the half a brick of coke I told you they wanted.” She replaced the cap to her lipstick and turned to face the two men.
“Where we gone get them at?” Jay asked, speaking for the first time since the conversation had started.
Ben shrugged. “I say we get them round the corner from Take One.”
“No!” Cherry cut in. “Y’all aint gone do that shit by my job!”
Ben raised his hands in defense. “A’ight, a’ight. So where?”
“I know!” Jay said, trying to dissolve the tension. “Let’s just do it over there by I-95. You know, the street right there when you coming from Lil’ Haiti.”
Ben dropped his head in his hands, considering carefully the pros and cons of meeting there, his head bopping back and forth as he thought. Cherry and Jay stared and waited anxiously for his decision. It definitely seemed like the best place. Finally, certain that there wasn’t any where better to meet, he picked up Cherry’s cell phone from the table and handed it to her. “A’ight,” he said, a maniacal grin pulling at his lips. “It’s show time.”
***
“You say they was gone be in a black Impala, right?” E asked as he turned the corner on Sixth Ave.
“Yeah,” Lil’ B answered, looking out his window for the car. Just a block down the road, he spotted the one he was looking for. “There they go right there.” He pointed just in front of them with one hand and tapped on E’s shoulder with the other.
E pulled their car into the closest open spot. There were a few cars in between them, but the distance wasn’t too far. Cherry and another man stepped out of the Impala onto the street as he put his car into park.
Lil’ B was already out of the car and standing on the street. He focused his gaze on Cherry and the other man approaching. A strange feeling pulled at his gut the pair walk towards them. Not wanting them to get any closer, he called out, “Y’all got what I asked for?”
Still walking forward, the tall man answered, “Yeah. We got ours. You got that money?” He was now no more than ten feet away.
E walked up behind Lil’ B, slowly. He suddenly felt on edge, too, but couldn’t explain why. All he knew was that Lil’ B looked just as tense as he felt. E held his hand up to signal to Cherry and the tall man that they weren’t to come any closer. “Let me see the coke first.” Keeping his eyes on the pair in front of them, Lil’ B gave a single head nod to communicate to E that he was feeling the same vibe.
Ben kept his gaze fixed on E and Lil’ B. Ben was certain that they knew something was about to happen. The tension loomed in the air and he could feel it all the way from where he stood. The last thing they needed was panic right now. Swiping his arm in the air, Ben told Cherry, “Go get that shit out the car.” He spoke much louder than necessary.
Cherry turned and made her way back to the car. Opening the back driver’s side door, she leaned in as though she was grabbing the coke, but everyone who had arrived in the Impala knew there was nothing there. With her head poked in the car, she waited and listened for the sound of Jay’s voice. Three…two…one…
“Y’all fuck niggas put yo’ hands up!”
The voice came from behind E and Lil’ B. Lil’ B focused an accusing glare at Ben. “What’s this? A robbery, homeboy?”
Ben had already drawn his 9mm and was now aiming it directly at Lil’ B’s head. “Yeah, nigga. Where the money at?”
Without hesitation, E answered, “The cash in the back seat.” He knew that losing a few thousand dollars was better than losing a life. He also knew that these fools weren’t going to make it far with his money.
“Go get the money,” Ben barked.
Jay turned to grab the money from the back of E’s car and Ben glanced back to make sure Cherry was already in the Impala. The last thing they needed was that hoe tying them up and slowing them down because she hadn’t followed the plan.
That quick glance was all Lil’ B needed to grab his gun, but Ben had turned around before Lil’ B had had a chance to aim. Ben yelled to Jay for help. The sound of a shot fired. Instantly, a hot, crippling pain pierced Lil’ B’s lower back. His legs buckled and he fell to the ground. Sitting up as much as his body would allow, he raised his gun and fired shots towards Ben, who was already retreating to the Impala. He missed. E turned and fired shots at Jay as he climbed into E and Lil’ B’s car.
The sound of shattering glass filled Jay’s ears as he put the car into reverse. Glass shards flew at his face. Ducking his head into the dash, he wheeled the car around. Tires squealing loudly, smoke filling the air, Jay sped away in E and Lil’ B’s car. Quickly looking over his shoulder, Jay could see the tail lights of the Impala fading off into the distance. They’d pulled it off, and even better than they’d expected.
E bent down, putting his face directly above Lil’ B’s. “You a’ight?” His eyes bounced wildly around the street, looking for any sign of help. Seeing none, he wrapped the crook of his arms into Lil’ B’s. “Lil’ one, we got to go,” he grunted as he tried to lift Lil’ B off the ground. Lil’ B’s body remained limp.
“Unc, this shit hot.” Involuntary tears of pain welled in his eyes. “I can’t move. Just get the guns and leave.”
E shook his head furiously. “I ain’t leaving you here! You done gone crazy!” He tried pulling Lil’ B up again.
“You gone hurt that boy,” a female voice came from just a few feet away.
E jerked his head up; his gun instinctively came with it. Just in front of them stood a young, pretty little thing with cornrows.
The girl closed her eyes. “Please don’t shoot me.” Her empty palms slowly raised level with her shoulders.
Seeing that the girl was unarmed, E dropped his gun and turned his attention back to Lil’ B. “What am I gone do?”
Lil’ B looked over at the girl standing a few feet away. He didn’t really understand it, but looking at her seemed to help ease his pain. “Just leave me here with her.” He spoke to E, but his gaze still focused on the young woman.
E nodded, but a conflicted feeling flooded over him. How could he just leave Lil’ B? His eyes shot back over to the guns. He had to get them away from here. His gaze then returned to the young woman standing in front of them, her eyes were still filled with fear. Letting out a deep sigh, he decided that he didn’t have much of a choice. “A’ight, hold up.” E stood and took a slow step towards the girl. “Lil’ mama, check this out.” he motioned for her to come closer.
“Okay, but please don’t shoot me.” She took a few hesitant steps forward. She somehow felt pulled in the direction of the man lying on the ground, but she stopped walking as she reached the place where E was now standing, afraid to go any further.
“Look,” E said, digging in his pocket. “I’ll pay you to stay here with him until the police come.”
Warily, she glanced at the money in E’s hand. He nodded at her and shoved it at her, signaling for her to take it. Without another word, she grabbed the money and knelt down on the ground. “You better hurry up,” she said, looking up at E. “I know one of these old people done called the police after hearing all them gun shots.”
Grabbing the guns, E looked over at Lil’ B again. That same conflicted feeling swept over him. Fear and worry creased his brow and tears tried to flood his eyes. “A’ight Lil’ one, I’m gonna go to yo’ gramma’s house.” And with that, he took off running down the street. He focused his gaze forward, refusing to look back, for fear that he would turn back and risk it all.
The girl’s face hovered over Lil’ B’s. He heard her angelic voice tinkling in his ears. “You gone be a’ight. Just hold on. I hear them coming now.”
Her braids danced around her head as she glanced down the street towards the approaching sirens. The sun seemed to form a halo around her head. Lil’ B thought to himself, if her face were the last he ever saw, he would die a happy man. “Am I looking at an angel or are you just that beautiful?” he asked.
Heat rose to the girl’s cheeks. She’d been hit on hundreds of times, but never by a man that was dying. “Boy, you out here fighting for your life and you trying to run game on me?” She had to admit, he was cute and rather charming. And she couldn’t shake this feeling that meeting him was somehow fated.
“Shit, if I die out here, at least I got the chance to meet my soul mate.” A cough sputtered from Lil’ B’s lips as he spoke.
The girl giggled and shook her head. “Boy, you too much.” She grasped his hand and squeezed.
“What’s yo’ name?” Lil’ B asked, pleading with his eyes, hoping she would answer before he passed out. He could feel his consciousness fading.
“Shawntay. But my friends call me Shawn.”
Lil’ B tried to smile. A beautiful name for such a beautiful girl, he thought. “Shawn.” His eyelids drooped as he spoke. His voice was barely louder than a whisper. “If I make it through this, I’m gone make you my girl.”
Tears filled Shawn’s eyes. He had to be okay. Meeting him couldn’t be an accident. Behind her, the commotion of men climbing from the ambulance surrounded her, but she barely heard.
“Miss…” a deep male voice pulled her from the face in front of her. “Please step back.”
In shock, Shawn stood up and took several steps back. Tears streamed down her face as she watched the paramedics work over the man on the ground – a man she’d just met but somehow felt connected to.
***
“What are we gone do now?” Cherry screamed as she paced the small hotel room, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“What you crying for?” Ben asked, irritated.
“They gone find us!” Her hands flailed wildly as she spoke. “I’m telling you, I know they are.”
Jay stepped forward and tried to comfort her. “Just chill, baby girl. We out of here. We gone leave in the morning.”
Ignoring Jay, Cherry’s pacing increased in speed. “Ya’ll should have killed them. Out of all the robberies we did, them niggas are the ones y’all should have killed.”
“Them niggas bleed just like us,” Ben said, dismissing Cherry’s concern. Just like her to overreact. “Look, we just hit for thirteen g’s and an AK and you round here worried ‘bout some niggas coming back.” He pointed to the loot on the table.
Cherry stopped pacing, slowly turning towards Ben, her eyes wide with fear. “Look, if Rich Kid was out, I would have never put y’all on them.” She returned to her pacing, mumbling as she walked circles in the tiny room.
“Cuz, you need to calm down!” Ben yelled. Her pacing and ranting was starting to make him nervous now.
Cherry stormed towards the hotel restroom. Just before entering, she turned back towards Jay and Ben. She screamed with such intensity that her body bent at the waist and her face scrunched.“I ain’t leaving this hotel ‘til we’re ready to get out of here!” Turning on her heel, she stormed into the restroom. She slammed the door, locking it behind her as Jay and Ben exchanged a nervous look.