The tires of an emerald green Nissan Maxima squealed in protest as Richard brought the car to a halt. Throwing the gear shift into park, he looked up at the single story house in front of him just before killing the ignition. Chipped blue paint gave the impression that it had weathered many storms. Broken car parts in the yard told the story of an out of work mechanic who had tried to pick up odd jobs wherever he could.
Richard smiled when he caught sight of Mike sitting on the stoop, fiddling with a carburetor. “Yo’ Mike!” yelling through the open passenger window. “Where my girl at?”
Mike looked up from his tinkering, his face and hands covered in grease. “She in that back room sleeping.”
Richard swung the driver’s side door open and stepped out onto the street. He took quick strides towards the front door, excited to see Skinny. Not having her by his side at the funeral had been difficult, but it was something he had needed to do alone.
When Richard reached the stoop, he stopped to greet Mike, giving him a dap. “Wuz up cuz’?”
“Nothing.” Mike looked up at Richard, his eyes hopeful. “A’ you got some beans on you?”
Like Mike, Richard preferred ecstasy over any drug known to man. Ecstasy didn’t make him jittery, like dope, nor did it make him tired or hungry, like weed. And the brightly colored pills gave him a high that both he and Skinny could enjoy together; a high that always sent her up the walls screaming his name.
“Yeah, I got two in the cup holder. You can have them,” Richard waved his hand in the direction of the parked Nissan.
“Bet that up, cuz,” Mike smiled. “You always looking out for a nigga.”
As Mike made his way towards the Maxima, Richard made his way up the remaining stairs. The barred metal door creaked as he pulled it open. The scent of fried chicken and collards tickled the inside of his nose, causing his mouth to water and his stomach to grumble. On the couch, Richard saw the source responsible for the delectable scent: Momma Pearl. She was watching her favorite show, Wheel of Fortune.
Without looking away from the television, Momma Pearl greeted Richard, “Boy, you a’ight?”
Richard stopped just to the side of Momma Pearl and stared down at her. He wondered why everyone kept asking him that question.
His silence broke Momma Pearl away from the spinning wheel. She turned her pudgy face up towards him, noticing the baffled look on his face. “What is it boy? You a’ight?”
“Yea’ Miss Pearl, but why everybody keep asking me that?” Richard shook his head gently, tossing the haunted feeling out of his head. “I mean I guess it’s what you supposed to say after somebody die. It’s just strange ‘cause my Daddy asked me that question at my Momma’s funeral.”
Mamma Pearl gave Richard a sympathetic smile. “Boy, they just worried ‘bout you, that’s all. Making sho’ you a’ight.” Mamma Pearl’s soft smile suddenly disappeared, replaced by the wrinkled forehead of correction. “And what’s this ‘Miss Pearl?’ You my grandson, so you just call me Momma like all my grandkids, you hear?”
“Yea Momma,” Richard replied, stifling the urge to roll his eyes, giving her a smile instead. He knew better than to get the old woman started.
Richard had known Momma Pearl since before he could remember. She had watched him play in the front yard of his grandmother’s house as a toddler, and she had been there for him after his mother had died. Richard had watched Miss Pearl struggle through the years as well, but she has always held her family together; she was as strong as they came.
“That’s more like it,” a big grin of satisfaction filled Miss Pearl’s round face. “Now go see that girl. She back there waiting on you.” Finished speaking, Momma Pearl returned her attention back to the spinning wheel.
Richard made his way down the narrow hallway, his steps padded by the green shag rug under his feet. Without bothering to knock, he turned the knob to Skinny’s door, swung it open and leaned against the wall just on the other side of the door. He stood there, watching her sleep, her legs spread wide, as if she were inviting him to dive in between them. A bulge hardened in the front of his pants as he thought about jumping unto the bed and burying his face in her tasty snatch.
But his relationship with Skinny wasn’t just about the sex. She was beautiful, crazy sexy, resourceful and she put up with his shit. She would have his back, in any circumstance, in a heartbeat, with no questions asked. Thinking about all they’d been through and how many times she’d been there to pull him out of the messes he’d gotten himself into, his heart filled with pride. That’s my bitch!
“Skinny!” Richard yelled, causing her to jump straight up in bed. “Get yo’ fine ass up!”
Skinny’s eyes shot around the room before finding Richard. Her hair reached to all different directions and her eyes hung in half-open, sleep-filled slits. She rubbed them, trying to focus on the handsome, slightly taller than her, muscular man standing in her doorway.
“Baby, you back already?” Skinny’s voice cracked, still groggy from her nap. She tried to smooth down her dreads. Knowing the action was pretty much useless, she scooted towards the edge of the bed and motioned for Richard to come closer.
“Yeah baby. You didn’t think I was gone watch them throw no dirt on my Daddy’s casket, did you?” Richard replied. “I know that’s what people’s supposed to do, but seem s like disrespect to me.”
“Yeah, I feel that, but baby, why ain’t you let me come to the funeral?” Skinny’s full lips formed a pronounced pout.
Richard reached down and wrapped his hands into Skinny’s. “I told you baby. I wanted to do that by myself,” pulling her up from the bed. Her tiny frame melded with his body. She leaned in to kiss him, and he pressed his groin further into her pelvis.
Suddenly, Skinny pulled herself out his arms, “You done took that gun in there with them church people?” Both of her eyebrows raised and her mouth hung slightly open.
A sly grin spread over Richard’s lips. “Baby, you know this like my Visa card. Can’t leave home without it.” He reached for Skinny again, forcefully grabbing one of her butt cheeks into his right hand, and pulled her back into his embrace. Gently, he pushed a lock of hair away from her milky chocolate forehead.
“Damn baby. You think we got some time before we go. I’m a little hungry,” Richard said. He leaned down and bit the flesh on her neck.
She quickly dodged him in protest. “Boy, you ain’t gone have me climbing the walls with my gra’mma out there. You know how she is.” Giggling, she placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away.
He unzipped his pants and pulled his penis out. Grabbing her belt loops, he pulled her forward and yanked her towards his semi-hard shaft. “Girl, get over here,” whipping his penis around, smacking it on the front of her pants, he tried to arouse her.
She squealed and swatted his shoulder with the back of her hand, smiling. “Richy! Put my toy up before you get me in trouble with my gra’mma!” she whispered sternly. She wanted nothing more than to feel Richard bulging between her legs. Watching his penis flop around brought a tingling sensation to her crotch and moistness to her panties, but she knew better than to give in. She could never muffle her screams of pleasure with him, and the last thing she needed was trouble from her Grandma.
A giggle emerged from behind Richard. “Richy, put my toy up before you get me in trouble with my gra’mma,” mimicked a small, nasal voice. He recognized it immediately. His testicles shot up into his groin. Frantically, he scrambled to put his penis back in his pants and zipped them up. He turned around to meet the small intruder, but by the time he’d composed himself, all that he could see were a set of braids bouncing back and forth on the little head that belonged to Skinny’s cousin, Ke-Ke as she skipped back down the hall.
“See what I be talking ‘bout,” Skinny hissed from behind him. “You know there ain’t no locks on no doors ‘round here.”
Richard stood there, speechless, staring down the hallway. His face was still warm from embarrassment and mouth hung open in a complete stupor. Skinny walked around him to shut the door and returned to Richard’s side, rubbing his arms with her palms, trying to help him come out of his shocked trance.
Shaking his head, he shrugging off the idea that Ke-Ke might have seen his penis. “Come on baby, let’s go. I got shit to do before we go to Gina’s.”
“K, just let me get my stuff,” Skinny replied, walking over to her dresser, grabbing her cell phone and purse. She stopped in front of Richard and gave him a short nod, indicating that she was ready to go.
Skinny and Richard walked down the hallway and headed towards the front door. As they rounded the corner to the living room, they saw Ke-Ke sitting next to Momma Pearl on the faded blue couch. Ke-Ke watched them approach, a smile on her face so big, it reached from one ear to the other. Momma Pearl didn’t speak, but her gaze followed them as they walked towards the front door, arms crossed over her extraordinarily large bosom.
“Lil hater,” Skinny mumbled under her breath, the words barely audible, even to Richard. Walking out the door first, Skinny flung the barred door so hard it made a loud “BANG!” on the exterior of the house. It bounced back and almost hit Richard in the face. He shot his hand out to catch it and held it open as he stood in the doorway for a moment, a plan brewing in his head. He glanced from inside the house to Skinny. “Baby, head on out to the car.”
Skinny narrowed her eyes and glared at Richard. Her mouth opened to protest, but instead of saying anything, she turned and stomped off to the car, stopping at the passenger side door to wait for him.
Once satisfied with Skinny’s location, Richard called back into the house, “Ke-Ke! Come holla at big cuz.”
Ke-Ke came running outside, stopping just in front of Richard, her braids still bouncing with the momentum of her sprint. She gave him a gap-toothed grin and waited patiently for him to speak.
Squatting down so that he was level with Ke-Ke, Richard tucked a twenty dollar bill into her pocket. “Don’t tell Miss Pearl what we was doing, okay?” Ke-Ke’s grin grew wider. Her braids flopped around her head wildly as she nodded.
Maybe she won’t say nothing now that she’s got some money in her pocket, Richard thought as he walked towards Skinny.
“You know she already told on us baby,” Skinny yelled into the yard, her hands cupped around her mouth. “You shouldn’t gave her nothing!”
“Well, then it’s some learn how to stop snitching money,” Richard called over his shoulder, yelling loud enough for Ke-Ke to hear.
“Okay, I won’ tell nobody else,” Ke-Ke hollered back. Happy to have the twenty dollars, she committed to not tattling on anymore, at least not on Richard, anyway. She skipped back into the house.
As Richard reached the driver’s side door of the car, he heard Mike call from the front yard, “Holla’ at you later cuz.” Richard answered with a nod of his head and looked down into the car from the driver’s side door.
“Baby, I don’ feel like driving.” He tossed her the keys. “You drive.”
“A’ight daddy,” she answered, catching the keys in mid-air. She walked around the car to the driver’s side door while Richard headed over to the passenger’s side. “Where to?” she asked as she opened the door to climb in.
***
Click…click…click
Dwayne lifted the lighter towards the glass stem. A crackling sound filled his ears as the now black rock of crack heated inside the small glass tube. He let the lighter go out and pulled in a long, slow hit. The almost burnt rubbery-tasting smoke filled his mouth and his lungs. He held the deep hit and a tingling sensation, followed by a warmth spread throughout his body. With that warmth came a strange sense of relaxation and anxiety, all at the same time. Dwayne knew Richard would find out about his indiscretions eventually, and when he did, there would be a price to pay. He exhaled slowly. “Damn! I done fucked up this time.”He passed the pipe to his girl.
“Maybe he won’t find out,” she replied, holding the stem just inches from her mouth as she prepared for her hit. “Why you so worried?”
Dwayne snatched the stem back out of her hands, just before it touched her lips. Confusion flooded her expression and desperation filled her eyes.
“Bitch!” Dwayne’s face turned red as he spoke. “My lil’ cuz can feel when somebody done something to his Daddy. I don’t know why, but he can.”
“Why you acting like that, baby?” Her eyes rested hungrily on the glass stem in his hands. “I just want to smoke.”
Dwayne ignored her request, lit the lighter again, allowed it to heat the stem and pulled in another long draw. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her squirm, itching for her high. Once the thick, vapor-like smoke escaped his lips, he turned to look at his girl. Guilt for what he had done, disgust and regret over his decision to allow her back into his life and fear for his life overwhelmed and angered him.
“’Cause it’s your fault I’m gone get fucked up. If I’d just let you keep walking, I’d have never gotten back on this fucking crack in the first place.” Dwayne yelled, spittle flying from his lips.
“Dwayne, I love you, baby. Now, just give me back the stem,” she pleaded, grabbing for it. She didn’t even care if the hot tip burned her, as long as she could finally take a hit, but Dwayne had already lifted the stem and all of the rocks above his head.
“Bitch, this is all you love,” Dwayne replied, voice thick with hatred. For maybe the first time ever, he saw her sunken cheeks, hallow eyes and withering frame for what they really were: the signs of a crack head. And not just a casual smoker or an addicted crack head. Those traits only belonged to a crack head that would do anything for their next high.
“You use to be finer than a mother fucker when I met you.” Vomit rose into his throat as he realized just how pitiful his life had become. “Now look at you.” He shook his head in grief as she continued to claw at him, trying to pull his arm down so she could reach the stem Begging for one more pull-off that glass dick.
***
Skinny put the car into park and turned to look at Richard. “Baby, you still ain’t told me why you put on thug gear to go to Wine’s funeral, or why you took your gun with you.” She couldn’t shake the feeling that he was intentionally hiding something from her. The thought was unnerving. He never hid things from her.
Richard rubbed the palm of his hand across his forehead and then his scalp, trying to clear his frustration and organize his thoughts. He still wasn’t sure how to explain everything to Skinny. Closing his eyes, he pulled in a long breath and released it slowly. After a few more seconds of holding his eyes closed and contemplating his words, he turned to face Skinny. His gaze was intense with anger, but under his anger, Skinny could see a deep sadness. Something was really bothering him.
“This is the deal,” another shorter, frustrated sigh left his lips. “You remember my cousin Dwayne?”
“Yeah, I remember him. Why?”
“Well, I was gone kill his fuck ass today,” Richard replied intensely, seemingly unaware that he spoke louder than necessary, given their close proximity to one another.“But Alicia made me promise not to.”
Shock and confusion crumpled Skinny’s face. Dwayne wouldn’t be the first person that Richard had killed; there had been many that had crossed his path the wrong way, but Richard usually drew the line at family. Besides her and Momma Pearl, family was all Richard had ever really had.
Had she really heard him say he was going to kill his cousin?“Hold up!” she said, shaking her head, trying to determine if something had happened to her hearing. “Baby, did you just say you was gone kill yo’ cousin?” Her voice lifted half an octave as she neared the end of her question.
Richard focused his steely gaze on the street in front of him. He knew what was running through Skinny’s head. He wasn’t ecstatic about crossing the family line, but what Dwayne had done was inexcusable, unforgiveable. “You ain’t imagining shit,” he replied flatly, shaking his head. “I said what you thought I said. But like I was saying, I made a promise to Alicia today that I won’t kill that bitch ass fucking nigga Dwayne. But I’m gonna fuck him up real bad though.”
Staring right past Richard, Skinny contemplated Richard’s statement. For him to be that angry with a family member, the wrong-doing had to have been something really big. Her eyes lit up as the many possible indiscretions filled her head. “What’d he run off with baby? Some dope?” She bit her lip and shook her head, realizing that a little dope wouldn’t be enough to push Richard over the edge. “No, no, he stole a gun from you. That’s gotta be it.”
Richard shook his head no and leaned in towards Skinny, whispering as if he had to tell. “Don’t tell my sisters this, but I found out he stole from my Daddy. I’m talking like thirty g’s.” He leaned back and waited for the bomb to go off. .
Skinny felt as though her heart rate had tripled. The rush of blood coursing through her veins made her head throb with adrenaline. “Let’s go fuck his ass up right now then! What we waiting on?” Whatever Richard was planning to do, she would be right there with him, ready to back him up if he needed her.
Richard likened her reaction to a provoked pit bull on a chain; it made him smile. He thought she might explode, or, at the very least, put the car in drive and take off to Dwayne’s without thinking things through, so he gently placed his hand on her forearm. But he wasn’t done riling her up just yet. “Baby, you know the worst part? I don’t think he even know I got a bank statement showing me exactly what he done took out.”
Skinny’s expression reflected the deep and sinister thoughts running through her head. Richard could just imagine what she might be plotting, but he also realized that couldn’t have her foaming at the mouth just yet. He needed her to reserve those feelings for later. The timing needed to be perfect. “Just chill baby,” he said, rubbing her arm gently. “I’m gone get his ass when it’s time.” He waited to continue until her wild eyes met his. “It’s gone be hard for me not to kill him though. I can’t break my promise to Alicia.”
Skinny bit her lip. She’d been with Richard long enough to know that he always kept his promises, especially promises made to family. But she couldn’t see how he could possibly avoid killing Dwayne. She was ready to kill him, and Wine hadn’t been her father. Of course, he had been the closest she’d ever had to one.
“Stay here baby,” Richard said, pulling her from her thoughts. “I got to go talk to E for a minute.” Leaning over, he gave her a quick kiss before opening the passenger side door. Stepping out onto the street, he turned to face the two-story brick apartment building in front of him and headed towards the stairs on his left, the flight that led up to E’s apartment.