Back in the Hood

Read Back in the Hood Online

Authors: Treasure Hernandez

Flint
Book 5 :
Back in the Hood
Treasure Hernandez
All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I would like to thank God for all the blessings he has bestowed upon me.
I would like to thank all my fans for all the letters and pictures. It has kept me going.
Please send all letters to Urban Books, they will make sure I get them.
Holla at your girl!!!!
Treasure Hernandez
c/o Urban Books, LLC
1199 Straightpath
West Babylon, NY 11704
Love & Peace,
Treasure
Chapter One
M
alek paced back and forth in his extravagant living room, while Mitch stood at the door watching his partner go crazy.
“Where the fuck is she, fam?” Malek asked, his voice a mixture of concern and anger as he dialed Halleigh's cell phone number for the millionth time. “Why she got a phone, if she ain't gon' ever answer the mu'fucka?”
Malek snapped his phone closed and grabbed his Sean John coat. His thoughts went from one extreme to the other as he tried to reason with himself about Halleigh's absence. Malek loved Halleigh with all that he was, and she had never given him a reason to distrust her or shown him any shade in the past, but just the simple fact that she used to trick with niggas had him going crazy. Under normal circumstances, he knew she would never step out on him, but because of her history as a Manolo Mami, he was worried. That old cliché about a man not being able to turn a ho into a housewife, for some reason, was now haunting him.
He didn't want her reverting back to her old ways, and made it a point to do everything he thought possible to keep her on the up-and-up, seeing to it that she lacked nothing, especially when it came to sex.
He closed his eyes and could picture Halleigh being pleased by another man. He could hear the moans escaping her lips, the same moans that blessed his ears every time he stroked her right. “I'ma murder a mu'fucka tonight, fam.” Malek grabbed his car keys and stormed out of the house.
“Where you going, bro? Your chick ain't fucking around on you. Calm down and just think about it. We talking about Halleigh here, not some chickenhead off the street,” Mitch reminded him. “She probably just lost track of time, kicking it with some of her girlfriends,” Mitch added, trying to reason with Malek.
“Girlfriends,” Malek whispered to himself. He knew Halleigh didn't rock with a lot of chicks. The only friend she ever mentioned was Tasha. That didn't soothe any of Malek's concerns, seeing as Tasha was an ex-Manolo Mami as well.
I hope she ain't sliding back into her old ways, messing around with Tasha,
he thought. Out loud, he said, “Roll with me for a minute. I think I know where she might be.”
Malek left the house, and with Mitch in the passenger's seat, he rolled to Tasha's apartment complex just outside of the city. He had only been there once, when he had dropped Halleigh off to pick up some of her things, and he was hoping Tasha still stayed there.
He sped through the illuminated city streets, his brand-new 6 Series decorating the hood as he passed by. Malek hit a button on his panel, and a compartment slid out of his console, exposing various-sized money rolls, a blunt, and a pistol. He grabbed one of the money rolls and tossed it to Mitch.
Mitch caught the roll then looked up at his boy with confusion on his face. He had no idea what the money was for.
“For that work you put in on the Genesis center,” Malek explained, referring to the shooting that had taken place at the local rehab center. The place was cutting into Malek's business, and after the director refused to shut it down, Malek had decided to make her understand that she had no choice. “Good looking out on that. I saw it on the eleven o'clock news. We shouldn't have no more problems from Moses or her cause. Niggas trying to fly straight hurts my pockets, nah mean?”
Mitch didn't respond. He merely nodded his head and counted out the five stacks Malek had just hit him with.
Moments later, Malek pulled into Tasha's apartment community. “I'll be right back, fam.” He got out of the car and headed toward what he hoped was Tasha's place.
He approached the front door and almost knocked it off the hinges with his hard, police-like knock, more out of anxiety than anger. He couldn't fathom the thought of Halleigh backsliding and making a fool out of him.
People already thought he was off his game by making a Manolo Mami his wifey. The old saying “you can't turn a ho into a housewife” resonated tough in the hood, so he knew his relationship with Halleigh was a topic for discussion around the way. Because of his soft spot for Halleigh, some fools had misinterpreted that to mean he was a soft nigga altogether, testing him on a daily. On more occasion than one, he had to prove himself to be anything but. Sometimes he didn't know who he was trying to prove it to, though: the streets or himself. Nonetheless, he wasn't about to let everything he'd risked for Halleigh be in vain.
He had disregarded her lifestyle once because he knew what had forced her into the streets. It wasn't like she had planned on working for Manolo. A bad set of circumstances had put her out there, and once she was reunited with Malek, she left that life behind—or so he thought until now, when he couldn't get a hold of her. If he found out she was disloyal now, there would be no excuse. He provided her with everything and made good on his promise to take care of her. She was living lavishly and was in a spot where many females wanted to be.
If she's on the other side of this door, I'm cutting her the fuck off
, Malek thought as he banged on the door.
Tasha snatched open the door wearing sweatpants, a sports bra, and her hair wrapped. It was obvious that Malek had awakened her. “What the fuck?” she spat, her mug all twisted up.
She looked over Malek's shoulder, as if looking to see if anyone else was with him. She couldn't imagine why he would be on her doorstep. She knew this nigga had balls, but not this big to show up where she laid her head, knowing the loss he'd caused her.
“Why are you banging my shit down like you the police or something?” She folded her arms and stood waiting for an answer. She hated him for what he had done to her brother. What Tasha didn't know was that Malek had killed her brother in self defense. Maury and a chick named Mimi had set him up, but he got the best of them in the end. Still, none of that would have mattered to Tasha. All she cared about was that her brother was dead, and the man responsible was standing in front of her now. If looks could kill, Malek would've dropped where he stood.
“I'm looking for Halleigh. She ain't been home all night. It's four in the morning. I know she been out tricking with you.” Malek pushed past Tasha as if he were walking into his own house.
“Nigga, I don't know you like that. Don't come at me out the side of your neck. Your bitch ain't here. I don't rock with Halleigh as long as she's fucking with you.” Tasha went to retrieve her phone.
Malek was paying absolutely no attention to the words coming out of Tasha's mouth as he walked all over the apartment looking for his girl. “Halleigh?” he called out, opening door after door.
“You need to get out! No, wait. As a matter of fact,”—A sinister smile spread across her lips—“you can stay. I got something for your ass.” She picked up her phone and began to dial Sweets' number.
Sweets was in charge of the South Side until he had Jamaica Joe, his North Side rival, killed. He went underground for a while after the hit, and that's when Malek stepped in and took over his blocks. Now Malek was on top of both the North and South sides, and Sweets wasn't having it. He teamed up with Halleigh's ex-pimp, and they were working on a plan to take Malek out. Sweets and Manolo had been trying to touch Malek for a minute, and what better opportunity than for Tasha to serve him up on a silver platter. Malek had come right to her.
Just as she was about to click on her cordless, the phone rang in her hand. Only one person called her on her home phone, and that was Manolo. She answered the phone with a smirk on her face, not even looking at the caller ID. “Manolo, I—”
The voice on the other end of the phone line interrupted Tasha. “Hello, I'm calling for Tasha Smith regarding your sister, Halleigh.”
“Halleigh?” Tasha's eyes then quizzically darted toward Malek.
Malek stopped in his tracks at the mention of Halleigh's name. He slowly walked toward Tasha as she turned her attention back to the caller on the other end of the phone.
“Uh, hello,” Tasha greeted with a stammer.
“Yes, is this Tasha Smith?”
Taken aback, Tasha responded, “Uh yeah . . . yeah, this is Tasha.”
“You are listed as Halleigh's emergency contact in our hospital records. Halleigh was shot today, and—”
“Shot? What? Hold on.” Tasha put the phone on hold and looked at Malek.
She hated Malek and everything he stood for, but she felt an obligation to tell him the news she'd just received. She wasn't surprised that the hospital had reached out to her instead of Malek because, back in the day, Manolo had ensured that Tasha was the contact person for all of his working girls, just in case a john ever decided to get rough. Tasha wanted to be an asshole and leave Malek wondering where his girl was, but if Halleigh was dying, she didn't think she deserved to die alone.
She sighed from frustration at her hatred for Malek, but her conflicting loyalty to her old friend prevailed. Tasha took the phone off hold and continued her conversation with the caller, learning a few more details, including exactly what hospital Halleigh was at. Afterward, Tasha hung up the phone and turned toward Malek.
“Why you storming up in here accusing Halleigh of fucking around?” Tasha said heatedly. “She's laid up in the county hospital. She's been shot, Malek. Now see yourself out.” She pointed at her front door.
The words hit Malek like a thousand darts to the heart, and he backpedaled out of Tasha's apartment without saying another word. He didn't know what to think. He closed his eyes and washed his hands down his face and shook his head. He hoped that once he opened his eyes, he'd be lying in bed next to Halleigh, waking up from what had to be a nightmare, but when he opened them, there he stood, right there in front of Tasha's apartment.
“Damn,” was the only word that escaped Malek's mouth as he stood frozen in his own thoughts.
Is she a'ight? How did this happen?
He realized he was wasting time standing there, so he snapped out of it and ran and jumped into his car. He sped out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.
“Whoa! Fam, slow this mu'fucka down,” Mitch stated as he looked at Malek.
Malek, his mind fixed on thoughts of Halleigh, had forgotten all about Mitch even being out there in the car. “She's been shot, fam. She's pregnant and could be dying, and I thought she was out doing dirt,” Malek whispered regretfully. He banged his fist against the steering wheel.
It was then that Malek knew he would have to fully forgive Halleigh and renew his trust in her. This “hard” role he had been trying to play wasn't becoming of him, nor was it by any means fair to Halleigh. He had no idea where the college-bound Malek who used to be the star of the high school basketball team had gone. He had to be somewhere underneath that hard-ass exterior Malek donned himself in on a daily. Halleigh, to this day, was still the same Halleigh he had fallen in young love with. So, if he was going to spend the rest of his life with her, then he had to be real about it. Living in the past wasn't going to get them anywhere.
Constantly thinking of what Halleigh used to do and who she used to do it with had clouded Malek's judgment and was making him go crazy. Halleigh needed him, and he was out wildin' over something she hadn't even done. Once again, he hit the steering wheel forcefully, his anger shifting to a new place.
“Whoever did this is dead. On my mother, I'm going to catch a couple bodies when I find out who hurt her.”
“I'll put the word out,” Mitch said as he shook his head in disgust.
Mitch secretly envied Malek because of his relationship with Halleigh. He'd heard the stories of the young couple's history and knew he could never break their bond, but he had been interested in Halleigh since the first time he'd seen her. The fact that he'd twisted her out in the back of his car when she was working for Manolo was his own private joke that he often chuckled at. Malek would be bragging about his lady, and silently Mitch would be thinking,
I know, nigga. I've had her.
But having her once wasn't enough for Mitch. He wanted her permanently.
He had tried his hand at Halleigh after she got back with Malek, but she was loyal to her man. She'd turned down every advance Mitch made toward her; still, the fact that she never told Malek always gave Mitch hope. He was just waiting for Malek to mess up. Then he would get him out of the picture for good and take the streets away from him, along with his woman.

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