Mattie was vacuuming the carpet in the new apartment so she didn’t hear the banging on the front door. The fact that she was listening to SNOOP DOGG knocking through the stereo at full blast didn’t help the situation any either. The person at the front door waited until she caught a break between the songs and the vacuum had stopped. Bang bangbangbang!
“Mattie it’s me! Please open the door!” she heard a voice scream on the other side of the door.
Instinctively Mattie went and stuck her hand in the couch where they kept the home security system known as The Ripper! The Ripper was a long barrel chrome.357 magnum. Mattie’s little hands could barely fit around the rubber grip and reach the trigger, but she had been trained to go by past life experiences. She made her way to the front door of the apartment as the banging continued with the heavyweight of the chrome cannon leaning her to one side. She looked through the peephole and saw her sister Reebie standing there with a black eye and busted lip. In shock and disbelief she yanked the apartment door open.
“Who did this to you,” screamed Mattie, broken by the condition of her sister.
“That Crazy ass niggah Jeffery! He hit me like I was a fuckin man,” she cried.
Mattie wrapped her arms around her little sister and pulled her inside the apartment. All of the head games and playing dudes for their cash, making them believe that they were the only one, had finally run its course and caught up with Reebie in the worst way. As Mattie got ice and peroxide and proceeded to nurse her sister’s mental and physical wounds, Reebie explained who Jeffery was. He was a 6 foot 6 inch linebacker for a semi-pro football team that she had recently started dating. Mattie could vaguely recall the name and description sounding familiar, but Reebie was fucking with so many niggahs that Mattie couldn’t recall who was who.
“This crazy muthafucka actually came to my job and was watching me. He had to be waiting for a while because when Gerald dropped me back off by my car after lunch, Jeffery popped up from between two cars and started yelling at me. Before I could respond he attacked me!” said Reebie.
“Nobody tried to help you? Did you call the police?”
“I was parked at the far end of the parking lot, away from the building. He told me that it wasn’t over and if I called the police that he would kill me. Mattie I’m scared!”
Mattie wanted to track this Jeffery dude down and formally introduce him to the ripper. She could clearly see that her sister was terrified. Since the incident at the club with Raven and she had moved into the apartment with K, the closeness that they had established during his incarceration had slowly started to slip away. Mattie’s attention was diverted away from her sister when she heard the key spring the lock on the apartment door. K entered and headed straight to the bedroom talking on his cell phone. He didn’t even notice the condition of Reebie.
“Yo calm down and tell me what happened,” K said to the voice on the other end of the phone.
“They raided the house and locked up Lonnie,“ said a panicky Gwen into K’s ear.
This was bad news and he immediately thought of Mya and Moesha, Lonnie’s little girls. It was still early afternoon and K hoped that the girls were at the Day Camp that they attended. His temporary concern was soon replaced with thoughts of the 6G’s that he was supposed to pick-up this morning.
“Is it safe to talk Queen? Where you at?
“I’m at my sister’s house on Mount Avenue with the girls. They didn’t find the money but they locked up my Lonnie,” she stated and began to cry.
“What’s the address? I’m gonna come and get you so we can work on getting him out.”
She gave him the address and he gave her assurances that everything would work out ok. As K exited the bedroom, he noticed Reebie sitting on the couch with her grill fucked up.
“Dam shorty, what the fuck happened to you?” K asked.
Reebie never looked up, obviously embarrassed. Reebie and K had a love hate relationship. He held resentments and secretly blamed Reebie for some of the actions that Mattie had taken in the past and while he was locked up. He felt her sister was a bad influence on her even though whatever Mattie chose to do was entirely her own decision. But, he also had madd love for Reebie because she was a really goodhearted person. It was just that she was confused about many things in life. One of those things being relationships with men. K felt sorry for her and went over and sat beside Reebie and Mattie on the couch.
“What happened lil sis?” he inquired concerned.
Mattie explained the situation because Reebie had laid her head on his shoulder and began to cry.
“So where this niggah at? All I gotta do is call my dudes and we can handle it.”
“No K. Please don’t get involved in my mess. I created this situation and I’ll resolve it,” said Reebie.
“So there’s nothing I can do? You already know Pook got a crush on you All I gotta do is say the word.”
Reebie remembered how Pook was something like her bodyguard in school.
“Do you mind if I borrow your couch for a couple of nights. I’m kinda scared to be at my place alone. Plus I really don’t want anyone to see me like this,” said Reebie.
That was unexpected. Realizing that he had put his foot in his mouth and committed, there was no backing out now. He wanted to ask for how long but changed his mind. He locked eyes with Mattie and they were pleading with his to say yes.
“Yeah you good. You just gotta wash yo feet. I don’t want it smellin like corn chips up in my joint,” he said jokingly in an attempt to bring some humor to a tense situation.
They all laughed. K soon remembered that he had to go meet Gwen.
“I got some business to tend to but when I get back we can shoot over to your spot and grab you some clothes.”
Mattie walked K to the door.
“Thank you. I really appreciate what you just did, “said Mattie before they kissed and then he was out.
When it rains it pours, K thought as he shot pool in the local bar on the strip. He had bailed Lonnie out for $2500, but his crib was on shutdown. For the past two days Rat and Fat had been parked on the corner of Lonnie’s block in their patrol car. Lonnie had only had a slow quiet little hustle until K started hitting him off with the slabs that made the traffic run crazy. Gwen was scared and rightfully so, because they had trashed her house. The worst part of the whole situation was how they had drilled Lonnie with questions about K. But, Lonnie was a soldier, and stood strong.
“Somebody been doing some serious talking,” Lonnie had told K on the day he bailed him out.
K had decided to throwback a couple of shots and shoots a couple games of eight-ball. His problems were beginning to $tack on top of each other and he needed to revise his game plan. Last night he had went by Norma’s house to pick up his money and when he pulled up there was an ambulance and two police cars in the driveway. His first thought was that it was a robbery gone wrong. He figured it was only a matter of time before the stick-up kids would try their hand.
Naturally he didn’t feel that it was in his best interest to stop, so he sent a fiend that was up the street to be nosy. He waited up the block until the fiend returned, impatiently fearing the worst.
“They said Norma Od’d on heroin. She aint dead yet but it’s not looking good,” the fiend said as he returned with an update.
K only had 2G’s tied up in the spot because the goldmine had slowly begun to fall off. He knew Norma was a heroin addict, but when she had started to work for him it wasn’t a problem. But the more money, she made the heavier her habit become. It had gotten to the point where she was too fucked-up nodding out to handle business.
So now two of his main spots were pretty much shut down, and the boys in blue were inquiring about his business.
“Twelve ball, two rails, cross corner,” he stated as he sank the shot like he could have done it with his eye’s close.
“Oh it’s like that? If you miss it’s over,” said Money Al, who was playing K.
“Oh, I hear you yappin, but I done won four of the last six and one of the two you won I scratched on the 8 ball,” said K.
K knew once he got in his groove he was unstoppable. The small crowd of about 20 afternoon occupants were broke off into about six small groups, all obviously discussing something criminal. Outside of K wanting to relieve some stress, he did have another purpose for being in the bar. Dante had called him three hours earlier from a 610 area code. He said he was on his way back and he had good news. K really needed some good news. Just as he was about to seal the deal with an 8-ball bank shot, skulls and Darkside entered the bar. K had told him where he would be.
Dark and Skulls gave dap and acknowledgements to the usual suspects as they made their way to the rear of the bar where the pool table was located. K gave a quick greeting to Skulls, handed him his pool stick and motioned for Dark to come with him to a table in the corner.
As they sat down the barmaid approached the table.
“What up thickness? My next drink on you,” Dark asked the 5 foot 11 inch 240 pound barmaid.
“That all depends on how you gon pay me back,” said the barmaid that everyone knew as Thumper. She had gotten her name from many sources.
The first being her fight game was crazy.
“Girl you crazy as hell! Bring me and my man 2 Heinekens,” said Dante and slapped her hard across her extra wide ass.
She took off smiling, but not before giving him the evil eye and getting some kind of confirmation of a time they would hook up later. Everybody knew Dark had love for the big girls and they had love for him.
“So tell me something good,” K said when Thumper was gone.
“Check it out fam. It is crazy cash out that muthafucka. I got 9 G’s outside in the car and if I would have sold some weight I would have been done the same day we got there. You sellin O’s here for $750 and they payin $1200 all day long, “said Dark excited about future prospects.
K too was getting excited as he ran numbers through his mental calculator. He had bubbled his paper to just under enough to grab 2 bricks. Then something clicked in K’s mind. In all his stress he had forgotten that he only sent him with a 4? ounces.
“Hold up. You made 9 G’s in 2 days off a big 8?”
“Nah niggah! I made $10,500, kept $500 for the pocket and got an apartment with the other G.”
K smiled as he absorbed this new information with his mental calculator counting up the possibilities. Outside of his local weight customers he only had one spot left pumping slabs. It was still flowing decent, but overall his hustle had taken a significant blow. Always the thinker K switched angles.
“So what’s the weather like out that way? Is the po-po hot or did you maneuver around without problems, “ K instinctively asked, recalling his recent troubles.
“I’m sayin-I seen a few riding but it wasn’t nothing that I couldn’t work around. I’m ready to make moves though, that’s why I grabbed the crib.”
Thumper returned with their drinks and K filled Darkside in on everything that had happened since he left town. The situation with Lonnie and Norma.The living conditions with Reebie which was beginning to be a burden. And last but definitely not least, the situation with the crooked cops Rat and Fat.
“You need to get out of town and lay low for a minute. I’m telling you fam,that shit is soooo sweet, “ said Dark.
“I’m with you, I just have to handle a few things. When Yalltryin to bounce back?”
“Shit- yesterday!”
“I can dig it. But look let’s go grab that paper so I can make a move. I’ll grab the work in the morning and we can roll after I handle some overdue business tomorrow night,” said K with determination in his voice. They toasted drinks to mo money and focused on the near future.
Mattie wasn’t cool with K going out of town. She had already begun to feel that dependency feeling again on a man, and that she was very uncomfortable with. He had told her that he would be leaving for no more than four days and there would be plenty money in the safe in case of emergency.
“Well dam, can I go with you?” she asked not wanting to be separated from him again.
“Please don’t make this more difficult than it is. You know I just took some losses and I need some getback. Plus I don’t know a lot about the town. If it’s some gunplay, I don’t want to take you into a situation like that.”
This really wasn’t the truth and Mattie could sense it. The truth was that with all the stress that K had been going through and the added stress of Reebie staying with them at the apartment, he needed some time away. He was also going through a mental battle over the rumors of Mattie’s other extra activities while he was locked up. He had come to find out that she had been on some real loose shit. He was really trying to work past the past.
“So you just going to leave me again? Alright that’s cool, “ said Mattie and stormed off to the bedroom with an attitude.
K just figured he’d deal with that later because he had other more urgent business to tend to. He had called Pook and Blass earlier and told them that he needed to holla at them about handling something. As he headed out of the apartment he considered trying to reason with Mattie, but decided against it. When he got to Pooks crib, they were there waiting. He gave them his plan and they nodded in agreement. There was no argument that it was time to send a message.
“How much did you take from them young chumps?” asked the fat dumpy cop as the two uniformed officers sat parked on the dark street.
“We got $2,200 so far and we still aint hit the north side, “ said the officer who closely resembled a rat in the face.
Rat and Fat had been taking hustler’s money for years. They had also built up a fear factor in the hood because they would sometimes put drugs on dudes who gave them a hard time. They had been beat walkers in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn until an investigation into a mysterious shooting death produced evidence that pointed fingers at the duo. The sergeant that they were under made the evidence strangely disappear and immediately after, they were transferred to Long Island. That was five years ago.
“Did you see them niggahs faces when I pulled that ounce of crack out of my pocket? The skinny kid looked like he was gonna shit himself,” said Ratman laughing hysterically.
“Yeah, we could do this shit forever and never get caught because they are too scared to go to jail,” Fatface continued.
The moon shined brightly overhead and every star was clearly visible. The two officers paid little attention to the car slowly approaching from the rear.
These fuckers are gonna put my kids through college and pay for the down payment on my new house,“ said Ratman.
Just as he was finishing his sentence the driver’s side window exploded into a thousand tiny pieces. The first slug from the AK-47 entered in the left side of Ratman’s head at the temple, and immediately exited taking with it his last thoughts.
As Fatface sat in shock, fear, and horror looking at remains of what was left of his partners head in his lap, the roar of twin desert Eagles ripped through the front windshield. The first two shots from the cannon killed him and were followed by 10 more. They left gaping holes as the bullets tore through flesh like wet tissue and lodged in the backseat. What followed was a barrage of slugs attacking the vehicle from all sides that riddled the cruiser and insured a sudden death for both of the officers. Within twenty seconds it was over.
A half hour later K, Pook and Blass were leaving a close associates body shop where all the guns that were involved had been cut up and turned into scrap metal. With that problem solved; K and the cats in the hood could breathe a little easier. They would celebrate the next day, and the streets would be on fire for a while following the murder of two officers. But the message was sent.
K went and dropped off Pook and Blass and went to go re-up. Once again it was time to make moves.
“What’s up with this nigga Skulls? I aint seen him in a couple of days,” K said to Dark.
“The last time I saw him he was with some cat from Queens that he brought out here.“
“Word? That’s cool, “K said as he placed a rubber band around the 13th and 14th of the thousand dollar $taxxx they were counting.
They had both noticed Skulls begin to act shady, but K and Dark didn’t lose sight of the mission. They’d hit Allentown, PA a week earlier and had already made the 90 minute trip back to N.Y. twice. Now as they began to learn the new territory, they continued to meet new people. The streets of Center City were flooded with heroin, weed, coke, and crack. There were literally bars on every other corner throughout the town. The one-way streets and narrow back alleyways were quickly identified as accessible escape routes in emergency situations. K heard a commotion outside the apartment and walked over to peek out of the curtain to the street below.
“I don’t want to deal with nobody but Darkside. Ya’ll don’t hook me up like he do, “ said the Caucasian hooker with the heavy make-up.
“He aint here ma, but I gotchu, “ said the young Puerto Rican worker under Dante’s employ.
“Well when will he be back? I got $700 and I know you aint gonna hook me up like he will, “ she stated looking defeated.
K looked back over his shoulder at Dante AKA Darkside.
“Yo, one of your regulars is out here and she don’twanna deal with nobody else.”
When they first got to town, K shouldn’t have been surprised that Dark had rented an apartment on a block with the heaviest drug traffic in the city. Never send a stick-up kid to do a hustlers job. Fortunately for the duo, one was a thinker. There was an eight unit building on the opposite side of the street. The building had off street parking. It also had a rear entrance and windows that faced the main strip. After scouting the area for two days K approached an elderly couple that lived in the building across the street. He made them an offer to relocate them to wherever they wished, plus $1500 which they happily and immediately accepted. K rationalized that this was a small price to pay for the cause. Now as they stood in the small but nicely furnished two bedroom apartment listening to the conversation outside, K realized it was money well spent.
“Let me go handle this. She always spends heavy. I wanna make sure we don’t lose her,” Darkside said as he quickly headed out of the apartment.
As K heard the door close he took a look around the apartment. He figured if he was going to spend a lot of time here, he might as well make it comfortable. The thick dark green carpeting he’d had professionally installed was offset by the cream colored Italian leather sofa and loveseat combo. Two newly purchased oil paintings of abstract art hung on the walls of the living room. 70 inches of widescreen television, which played every cable channel available occupied the wall opposite the sofa. He dropped onto the couch with the remote and began flipping through channels. He looked at his watch noted that he would need an upgrade soon from his plain faced Rolex.
Where is this goddamn bitch? He thought calling Mattie’s cell phone for the 40th time. He had also made numerous calls to the apartment which went unanswered as well. This sent his imagination on overdrive. Becoming frustrated with the unanswered calls to the apartment as well as the ones to Mattie’s cell phone, K turned off the TV and hit the streets to see what he could find to occupy his attention. He remembered a local spot at a hotel on Hamilton Street that he’d heard Dark say was a hangout for the locals. K was far from being blind to the large number of cuties that were in the town, but he was more focused on taking his hustle game to another level. He exited the apartment and headed down the back stairs that led to the alley where the rental was parked.
As he headed to the rental he noticed the locals, a few elderly couples, sitting on their porches living life and was slightly consumed by quilt. This place was nothing like his hood in NY which he had left. This was a quiet place where people felt comfortable letting children and grandchildren play outside without the threat of violence. But on the front side of the building in an apartment across the street, he and Dark were contributing to the destruction of their community. He pushed the thought out of his mind knowing that if he wanted to get where he was trying to be, he had no room for empathy. He could hear the sounds of salsa music playing a few doors down from where the elderly couple lived as he hit the button on the key ring releasing the automatic locks on the rental.
K slid in the brand new champagne colored Cadillac that he’d rented from Enterprise. He smelled the new car scent mixed with the smell of the tan leather interior. Shit was flowing real decent so he felt entitled to treat himself to this small luxury. His Acura was also sacrificed as one of the losses from his last incarceration. Another casualty which he knew when his pockets got right, he would replace. K pulled up to a club called HARRYS which was attached to a hotel called The Traylor. As he cruised the parking lot looking for a space he noticed various groups of honeys in all flavors making their way to the entrance of the club. He saw a few dudes here and there, but the numbers of cuties were far more than dudes. He smiled to himself considering the possibilities. He pulled into a spot next to a green Navigator. He was familiar with the car and the driver because he was one of the cats Dark had put him onto who had been copping weight. You would have thought by his car game that dude was doing big things, but he turned out to only be an ounce copping niggah. K turned off the caddy and exited the vehicle. As he started towards the entrance of the club, he felt the weight of the snub nose.357 magnum that was tucked in his waist. He had close to 7G’s in his pocket, which when he thought about it, wasn’t a real good idea to be carrying going into a hood spot for the first time. He returned to the passenger side of the caddy and checked the parking lot carefully. Seeing that the coast was clear he peeled $1500 off his bank roll, which was more than enough for Henny and Heinekens.
He locked the rest of the money inside the glove compartment. Next was the issue of the hammer(gun). He wasn’t sure what the security was like or the atmosphere in the club. Just because he didn’t see niggahs, didn’t mean that they weren’t inside and on some bullshit. Still observing his surroundings, he slid the heavy steel from his waistband and slipped it under the wheel well and sat it on top of the back tire. This was an old trick that he’d learned coming up in the hood. If shit popped off it was always easy access to get to his piece.
Just As he was starting towards the club, he heard female voices coming up the parking lot. He turned to to see four cuties headed towards the club and dressed to impress.
“Hi,” one of the honeys said catching K off guard.
Upon further observation he noticed that all four of them were bad as a motherfucker.
“What’s good gorgeous? How you?”
This piece of eye candy was giving K some mean eye contact; leaving no room for dispute that she was interested.
“What’s your name? I’m Trish. I saw you in the diner with Skulls the other night,” she said in a seductive Latino accent.
“This is Jeanette, Julie, and Heather,” she added introducing another Puerto Rican and two white girls.
The statement about Skulls put K on point to what type of chicks he may be dealing with. If they knew him they were probably, hoodrats in Diva disguises. Good enough to freak with, but you probably didn’t want to put too much time in with them. And you definitely didn’t want to wife one. He had seen the type before. The who these new niggahs? Bitches. Most of them had been run through by all the out of town hustlers, and most of the dudes in town.
But K wasn’t looking for a relationship, just something to do to occupy his time and take his mind off Mattie.
“I’m K. What’s up, yall trying to hangout wit a niggah?” he said returning the same eye contact she was giving him. “Drinks on me.”
That pretty much sealed the deal as they made their way to the club. After paying for everybody to get in and passing security, he realized that he had just found him a new hangout spot. Of course the grimey cats he anticipated might be inside were there, but he could deal with them. He had been dealing with them all his life. The part that officially locked him in was the wall to wall to wall honeys that filled the spot.
K headed straight to the bar with his newfound friends close on his heels.
“Get what yall want,” he told them over the loud music.
K noticed a couple of cats who he’d met since he’d been in the town and dealt with on a business level. He also noticed all the chicks that came by the bar trying to see who the new niggah was hanging with Trish and her crew. A few shots of Hennessy later and K felt a tug on his hand. He had been deepin thought after hanging up his cellphone with yet another straight to voicemail call to Mattie. Trish’s smile combined with cognac was all that was needed to stitch up the wound in his heart that was reopening.
“Come dance with me Papi,” she said seductively. Thoughts of Mattie vanished. She swayed her hips like a snake charmer and K followed her lead. Yep, he thought to himself, I think I might like it here.
Mattie and Reebie entered the apartment just after six in the morning. They were both tired from the night of partying at a club in Manhattan that Reebie had talked Mattie into going to.
“Come on Mat. Let’s go hangout in the Village. I’m tired of sitting around in this apartment,” Reebie had said yesterday.
Mattie was also tired of sitting around, and she was still fairly content with a couple of blunts and some loud music. But Reebie had kept pushing the issue.
“We can go shopping and go to Juniors to get cheesecake. Please?” Reebie whined.
Now Mattie thought, this bitch aint playing fair. Cheesecake and shopping.Her two weaknesses. So after a little more persuasion, Mattie had reluctantly given in. She really didn’t want to leave the apartment either. Especially due to the fact that she had misplaced her cellphone, which she kept on vibrate because she always listened to her music at such a high volume. The last time she had spoken to K was yesterday and he said things were going good. He was also coming home in a couple of days and had something important to talk to her about.
Now as she stuck her key in the apartment door, she wished she would have kept her ass at home. They had almost missed their stop on the train and would have had the conductor not woke them up. Of course they didn’t have to catch the train back out to Wyandanch, which Reebie reminded Mattie all the way through Penn Station. Of the five crews of dudes that tried to get with the undeniably gorgeous sister, three dudes actually offered to bring them back out to the Island… after breakfast.
But of the dudes that had offered, none of them were the ones out of the crew buying drinks. Not to mention one of them looked like he couldn’t even spell car, let alone own one. As soon as Reebie was through the door she kicked off her heels and headed straight to the couch. Look at this crusty bitch, Mattie thought as she smiled to herself. There was no doubt how much she loved her sister. At times she wished that she could put her in her pocket and protect her from the world and all the hurt that she had been through. Mattie dreaded the thought of some manipulating man entering her sister’s life and destroying it.
It wasn’t five minutes before Mattie could hear Reebie snoring. She was dead tired too, but she had to shower before she went to bed. She also wanted to make another attempt to find her phone. She knew that it had to be somewhere in the house. Mattie kicked off her shoes and headed towards the bathroom. She knew the weed that K had left wasthe reason that she kept misplacing shit. She didn’t know where he got that shit from, but it was straight fire.
Mattie was on her way to turn on the shower when she heard it.
What the fuck? aw hell naw! She thought as she looked at the medicine cabinet. She pulled open the mirror and there it sat next to the Advil that she’d taken earlier for a headache. She grabbed her phone which was vibrating out of control. 46 missed calls.
“Shit! I know this niggah is buggin right now,” she said in a worried whisper.
“So how do you like it?” K asked.
“K, this shit is fly. Mattie look at how big this living room is,” Reebie spoke up saying.
“This is nice baby. I’ve never seen a kitchen so big in an apartment. I’m ready to start cooking already,” said Mattie.
It didn’t take K that long to find another place to call home. Even though he kept his first spot a secret, he decided to bring Mattie and Reebie to Allentown. The decision to bring Reebie came with persuasion from her big sister and due to her situation it didn’t seem like a bad idea for everyone to get a fresh start in a new place. But the main reason that K brought Mattie with him, outside of her being wanted for cutting the chick at the club, was to slow him down and keep the dick at the crib. After that first night hanging out at Harry’s, K had been on a mission. Later on that night Dark and Skulls had come up in the club with two carloads of chicks from a town a few miles away called Bethlehem. K had woke up the next morning with two of the prettiest bitches he’d seen in his life and couldn’t even remember their names.
After a week living reckless, he knew that he had to tighten up. He knew that by fucking outta town chicks, it would always eventually lead to some type of beef somewhere down the line. You can’t come to a town and fuck all the bitches, get money, and shit stay sweet. It just didn’t work like that.
So he found a real nice condo in one of the more upscale sides of town, went to NY, grabbed two bricks, all Mattie and Reebie’s shit and loaded up the u — haul truck.
“Well this is our new spot so we might as well start unloading this truck.”
“I’m going out to look for a job tomorrow,” said Mattie headed out the door to the u — haul.
He knew that wouldn’t take long. If it was one thing Mattie was dead set on, it was being independent.
“Oh dam, that reminds me. Here’s that license that I got made for you,” K said handing her a Pennsylvania State Drivers license.
“Kim Ortiz” I kind of like that name,” Mattie said inspecting her new I.D.
“Cool. Once we get all this stuff of the truck, I gotta make a few moves to collect some money. But as soon as I’m done, we going to the furniture spot so you can hook this shit up however you want to.” K walked over and wrapped his arms around Mattie’s small waist and grabbed her ass.” Where is your sister?”
“I think she went out to grab something off the truck.”
K really wanted to take Mattie in the bathroom and bend her ass over for a quickie, but since he’d come home from jail the only quickie’s he’d had were his first two nuts. Outside of that he’d been, Fucking. Mattie felt his hardness pressing against her thigh and smiled. She was thinking the same thing.
“Later,” K said remembering the money he had in the streets.
As they were on their way out to the parking lot, K was thinking how fortunate he was to have a down ass bitch like Mattie. Sure she had her flaws and made some mistakes, but so had he. Nobody was perfect. Of course he had his pick of the litter in a new town, but who wanted to go through the motions of trying to learn the ways and likes and dislikes of a new chick. Especially when he had 90 % of everything he wanted right here with Mattie. Of course the pussy was so good that it had his perception off, and trust should have accounted for much more of the 10 % that he gave it.
His thoughts were cut off as he walked down the sidewalk and saw Reebie talking to a cat in a big body green Lexus with chrome factory rims. He was a pretty boy, who looked harmless. But looks could always be deceiving. As hard as K had looked to find a low spot to rest easy, Reebie had blown it up just that quick. Mattie looked at K and knew what he was thinking, as well as how he felt about niggah’s knowing where he slept.
“Don’t worry baby I’ll talk to her,” said Mattie as she heard Reebie laughing and pointing to the door of the condo.
“Yeah Ma. You do that.”
K cruised slowly down Turner Street which was one of the hottest blocks in the town, looking for one of his workers. While Dante and Skulls had been out and about making moves, K had been doing some recruiting of his own. There was much too much paper floating for K to sit back and wait for somebody else to make things happen. And of course K being the Crimedanch bred hustler that he was, he had go getta in his blood. The sun was setting giving the sky a burnt orange tint. There were various crowds and crews making guap and doing their thing in the six hundred block of Turner. K had found out from his own investigating that there were niggah’s from Jersey, N.Y., Philly and Pittsburg in the town getting their grind on. This wasn’t K’s first venture OT (outta town) so he knew how to maneuver in this type of atmosphere.
He got caught by the red light on 6th street and was able to get a better view of the area. K saw some local cats standing in front of the corner store bodega on the corner. He didn’t see who he was looking for, but one of the cats on the corner noticed the Caddy. G’d-up gave a head gesture saying what’s up and K nodded letting him know shit was all good. Once the light turned green K pulled off cruising slowly in search of a parking spot. He found a spot midway down the block, just after a bar called Trinkles, and pulled in. He removed the.45 caliber Glock from under the armrest and slid it into his waistband. The extended clip made his shirt poke out a little, but he really didn’t give a fuck. Shit is real in these streets, he reasoned. K leaned against the caddy.
“Yo what’s up fam?” said G coming down the sidewalk.
“You know the struggle youngun. Tryin to make moves, I got mouths to feed. What’s good witchu?”
“I been trying to holla at Dark, but he said shit was dry. I’m trying to make a move.”
“Watchuworkin wit. I just touched down (got back in town),” said K.
G had been buying ounces pretty consistently and K knew he had the potential to be a big customer. K didn’t believe in going to the top by himself. Before he had got knocked and was getting money in VA, he made sure everybody in his circle, as well as niggahs he dealt with was eating. Jealousy and envy usually came into the equation when everybody in the food chain wasn’t getting fed.
“Yo that shit yall had, had my customers blowing up my phone. I got like $2000 I’m trying to make a move with. What can you do for a niggah? I’m tryin to come — up.”
“Come on and hop in the whip. Let’s take a ride and talk about some things,” said K.
“Hold up, let me stash this shit, I copped from the Philly niggahs. I snatched a lil seven grams to keep me going, but they shit aint that good.”
G spun off and went down the alley. He reappeared two minutes later and slid in the front seat of the caddy.
“Open the ashtray and fire up that kush,” K said a Styles P came through factory speakers.
Eyes are the window to the soul/too many people lookin’/so I blow a dutch and leave em half closed- Styles P flowed.
As the whip slowly began to fill with the lovely scent, K got right to BI (business).
“Look fam, I been peepin your moves and it seems to me like you trying to get some bread.”
“No doubt, but it been kinda hard. Everytime I start getting right shit get dry. Or shit might be going good and something come up on the homefront. Mymoms be running into tough times, so I gotta hold her down. On top of that shorty is pregnant. That’s why I’m spending 2 G’s trying to stack for this seed I got coming,” said G.
K had seen the little cute white girl named Jodi. He had met her sister named Terri, who was a freak that another crew of N.Y. niggahs was running through.
“True. I can dig it. Peep game though. I’m trying to help you change your situation. How long would it take you to rock (sell) a big 8(4? ounces)?
“Nah fam, you don’t understand. I only got 2G’s.
“Nah playa. You don’t understand. I’m trying to take you to the next level.”
It was like a light went on. When the reality of what K was saying hit home. G hit the dutch and thought for about 20 seconds.
“It all depends on how I move it, you know-if the numbers is right. If I bust it all the way down, it might take me a little over a week. But if I could get it for like $3800 I could sell some eight balls, and quarters and move it in a couple of days.”
$3800? He was leaning more towards 34.
“We can make that happen, but I’m trying to have you at half a brick status in like a month, month in a half. That is if you ready to go there.”
”Hell yeah, I’m ready. Niggahs be always looking for weight.Especially my peoples on Chew St. and my fam down on Second.”
K already knew about the money down on Second Street. He had a few cats he rocked with down there, but the potential for that spot was unlimited. Them 2nd niggahs was about they scrilla. They pulled up in front of G’s crib and K dropped him off.
“Yo, call my cellphone so I can have your number and lock it in. You won’t be dealing with Dark after today. Give me about 20 minutes and I’ll call you when I’m pulling up,” K said handing G his cellphone number.
“Good looking out on the hook up too. I’ve been waiting for a chance like this.”
“Just keep it funky with a niggah and we gonna shine like 50 carats of clear blue stones on everybody. That’s my word.”
After K dropped off G’d-up at his crib he called Mattie.
“Hey daddy. Where you at? “ Mattie answered.
“I’m on my way to the crib. I need you to fix me something to eat,” he said talking in code.
Mattie knew exactly what he was talking about because K had put her up on game a long time ago.
“What you want me to fix for you? A steak (ounce) a burger (2 and a quarter ounce) or barbeque ribs and macaroni and cheese (four and half ounces)?”
“Them barbeque ribs and macaroni and cheese, is what’s really good?”
“Alright, I’ll start on it right away. I got something to tell you when you get here.”
“I’m on my way.”
K pulled in the complex ten minutes later and Mattie had the big 8 waiting for him when he came through the door. She was almost done unpacking and shit was everywhere.
“Good looking out baby. I’m taking all this work up otta here before we go to bed. Where is your sister?”
“That dude took her to go get some trees. I told her we had to talk or I was gonna send her ass back to N.Y.”
Mattie could see the expression on K’s face and knew he was getting frustrated.
“You know what I went through in Amityville and I’m not trying to relive that nightmare again,” she quickly added.
“And I dam sure aint. What did you want to tell me?” K said changing the subject.
“I’ve got an interview tomorrow.”
“Already?Dam girl, you aint bullshittin. That’s what’s up though. Where?”
K could see her expression change and could see that he might not like what was coming next.
“I saw a billboard for a club when we were on our way in town and called the number. They want me to come in for an audition tomorrow.
“Audition? What kind of- oh….”
It didn’t take long for K to figure out what kind of club Mattie was talking about. He was about to protest, but quickly remembered how she had told him about her last experience, being in another state with him, and left with nothing after he got locked up. As much as he wasn’t feeling the idea, he had to respect the fact she was covering her tracks. He could look in her eyes and see the fear of possibly reliving the experience. But he could also see the determination as a go getter which was another characteristic he admired about her.
“Aight. We’ll talk more about it later. Let me go and handle this BI.”
Mattie could tell it was bothering him more than he let on, but hoped that things wouldn’t change. Things were definitely going to change in the near future, but not in the way that either of them had expected.
Things began to move quickly and within six weeks K had managed to crank up four spots and employ 17 workers around town. Mattie had gotten hired on at the spot because of her skills and beauty, and soon became a main attraction at the club. The first few weeks in PA had been sweet. K had done exactly what he said and let Mattie hook up the condo. From the furniture to the flat screens, and computers, to the fully stocked bar. It definitely had every outward appearance of home. The first weeks Mattie only worked at the club a few days a week. So on the weekends while Reebie was out learning the town with her new friend in the Lexus, K and Mattie would blaze blunts and sip mixed drinks on the balcony and talk about their goals and aspirations for the future.
Mattie wanted desperately to get her life together and reclaim her son Miguel, which she’d had at a very young and confusing time in her life. She’d also speak about her hopes to own rental property and a huge ranch with lots of land and horses in Montana. She had actually begun the process to enroll in college before the incident in the strip club in N.Y.
K had plans to own a bunch of everything. They would talk and laugh for hours and screw like rabbits for hours after that. The fact that they were one in the same, could dream together, and actually believed that they could achieve their goals, made their relationship that much better. But it wasn’t long before Mattie’s popularity at the club grew, and the owner began to schedule her to work more days out of the week. It was great for Mattie, but it left K with a lot of free time on his hands after he handled his business.
He had gone to her job to hang out and have a couple of drinks in the beginning believing that it was no big deal watching her dance, But he soon realized that it affected him more than he thought it would. Watching her dance for other men brought about feelings and emotions that he didn’t care to deal with. But he saw how much bread she was caking and wasn’t willing to knock her hustle because of his feelings.
So it wasn’t long before K was hanging at some of the local spots and bars where some of the people he dealt with hung out. After he had run through some more of the local cuties, he began to want to do something different. His conscience was starting to get the better of him as he watched some of the young kids in the community that he was destroying. Just like today as he cruised past the park on Tillman Street between 6th and 7th. The park was full of young kids playing on swings and sliding boards as their mothers watched from the benches. K cruised by slowly in the Suburban that he had traded the Cadillac in for. He had become a familiar face in the hood, so a lot of the people in the park recognized him. A few people that he knew waved and smiled and it was at that moment that he made the decision to do something to make a difference.
K pulled up to the curb of the Allentown Youth Center five minutes later and exited the truck. He went through the entrance where two young boys were standing talking about the newest play station game. Inside the front doors was a wide open carpeted area, with six pool and ping — pong tables. Only six kids occupied this area engaged in recreation. Towards the far end of the building K saw a flight of steps that lead up to a second level. He could hear the sound of bouncing balls and the rubber soles of sneakers screeching on wood floors. After he headed up the stairs, the sound of male voices yelling competitively could be heard. When K reached the top of the stairs there were a few different groups of kids balling, but nowhere near as much as it should have been in a youth center of this size.
He walked over to the bleachers and took a seat. He watched the future as they ran up and down the courts without a care in the world. He wondered at what point would lives full of such young innocence, take a dramatic turn that would lead them to make the kind of choices he did. Then it hit him almost immediately. He remembered when that time had come for him like it was yesterday. K knew how easily the wrong kinds of influences and wanting for things that family couldn’t provide could lead an individual to take the next available option. For him that had been the streets.
His thoughts were interrupted by a female voice.
“No disrespect, but you look a little old to be hanging out in here,” she said.
K turned and was awestruck by a vision of beauty that smiled back at him. She looked like she had just walked off the screen of the popular show on Spanish television called Caliente’. She stood five feet tall and weighed about 130 pounds, which was proportioned properly in all the right places. Her catlike green eyes smiled when she did. Her olive — tan complexion was a perfect contrast to her shoulder length Jet black straight hair. Her hip hugger jeans gripped her Dominican assets to perfection.
“Nah, my bad. I mean — I’m sorry,” K said trying to catch himself, realizing that he was staring.
She saw that he was struggling and helped him out.
“I’m Liza — Liza Montez,” she said extending her hand. “I’m the Youth Center Coordinator.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Kevin Johnson.”
There was an awkward silence momentarily.
“I just moved out here recently. I was just checking out the center, trying to see what kind of activities it offered to the kids.”
“Do you have any children that you’re planning on bringing here?”
“Well I do have a son, but he’s in N.Y. with his mother. The reason I’m interested is because I was considering getting involved. You know like fund raisers, talent shows, cookouts for the kids. Stuff like that.”
“Oh” she stated. “That’s a wonderful idea. But right now we are fighting to keep the center open. The budget that we have is barely covering the expenses. On top of that we may not even have operating capital for next year. We can’t get the kids off the streets and into the programs in here,” said Liza.
She looked truly heartbroken. K could tell by the way that she was watching the young fellas on the court that her position here was much more than a job. She cared for every child that came through those doors as if they were her own.
“I got some ideas and I’m pretty sure that if we put our heads together we could fill this place up and invite some of those bigwigs down at City Hall to come check it out.”
He saw that he now had her full attention. Someone that was willing to help her with her first love. She became excited.
“Do you really think so? I’ve been trying to get some help for months but nobody seems to care. If we could show them that this place can keep more kids off the streets, I think they may even increase our next year budget.”
He also asked that if she was free for dinner, maybe they could talk over the details. She respectfully declined due to the fact that she had to pick up her boyfriend who worked as a front desk clerk at the Red Roof Inn out on Airport Road. K told her he completely understood, but then she quickly added,” If you like, you can pick me up here tomorrow at 12 for a strictly business lunch,” with a smile.
K looked at those pretty eyes and got lost in her catlike stare.
“ ’ll see you tomorrow at 12.”
On his way out and as she was locking up for the day, He saw Mattie and Reebie slowly ride by, both giving him icy glares as he was smiling a goodbye to Liza. He knew Reebie was taking Mattie to work in the hooptie he brought her, but they didn’t stop or wave. No sign of recognition at all. As he was pulling out of his parking spot driving the truck with his music turned up, He saw Liza smiling at him shaking her head as she climbed into her two year old Altima. He knew she was thinking, look at this drug dealing cat trying to impress me by helping out the kids. But she would soon find out that it really was about the kids.
Just then K’s cell phone rang.
“I see your making some new friends,” said Mattie with a slight attitude.
“Yeah, I told you I was thinking about doing something with the youth center. That was the director. Her name is Liza.”
“Yeah that’s cool. Look, me and Reebie made plans to go to NY after I get off work. We gonna stay at one of her girlfriends apartment and go to Webster Hall. You don’t mind do you honey?”
She knew that he knew all kinds of crazy and freaky shit went down at this club that catered to every crowd except individuals they considered thugs and would turn them away at the door. He knew that she was also going, only to be spiteful.
“Nah love, do ya thing. But today is only Thursday, “he paused and considered reminding her that it was kind of early in the week for a weekend outing.
”You know what, never mind. Call and let me know you aight, if you get a chance. Aight, peace.”
K already knew what was going down, but at the time he was smashing so much new pussy, it didn’t affect him either way. Or so that was what his ego said. But his heart loved Mattie’s trifling ass and that’s all there was to it. So K punched up one of his replacement lickers on his cell and hit the liquor store. He went and snatched up this little thick cutey, and bounced to his down low spot.