Crackhead II: A Novel (28 page)

“I guess,” Shaunna said apathetically.

“You peep those mirrors on the closet door?” Laci tried to lighten up the mood. “They face your bed and you can . . . well, you know.”

Shaunna giggled.

“You need to go anywhere else?” Laci asked. She was tired of driving, but she had to keep up appearances.

“No, but I really don’t want to go home. I been cooped up in the house too long as it is.”

“Okay, well, let’s call Tonette and see if she wants to hang out with us too. Monique can catch up with us when she gets off.”

“No,” Shaunna said abruptly.

“Why?” Shaunna’s reaction startled Laci.

“I dunno. I guess I ain’t never hung out with you by myself, you know. This is pretty cool.”

Laci shrugged her shoulders. “A’ight girl, let’s hit The Hub and see what we can get into there.”

The two went to the heart of the Bronx and scoped out stores. Laci boosted some items from The Gap. Although nervous every time and out of her character, she couldn’t believe how easy it had become. Plus, carrying a diaper bag was the perfect disguise. Nobody would ever suspect anything.

Almost two hours later, Laci looked at her watch. “Um, it’s getting close to five o’clock. Don’t you have to pick up lil’ man from the sitter?”

“Oh shit, it’s that late?”

“Yeah.”

“We need to get back there. Do you mind taking me over there?”

“Nope, not at all.”

Just as the girls were walking to Laci’s car, Shaunna stopped. “Oh shit!”

“What?” Laci asked, looking around. She didn’t know if she needed to run or what.

“Over there, girl,” she pointed slyly, “it’s Play.”

“Play? Who the fuck is Play?” Laci asked, trying to see where Shaunna was pointing.

“Girl, I been wantin’ to get at that for a minute.”

Laci looked at the man and he looked familiar. She wondered if she’d tried to get at him when she was high. Everything was a blur to her. She had done a lot in such a short amount of time.

“Shaunna,” Laci spoke in a tone to get her attention again. “Don’t you need to go pick up lil’ man?”

The smile on Shaunna’s face disappeared as she thought about it. “A’ight. Come on.”

O
VER THE NEXT
couple of days, Laci made it a point to spend time with each of the girls alone. She noticed something that she’d never noticed before. When the girls were all together, they were cool, but when they were alone, Monique and Shaunna talked about Tonette, and Tonette dogged them too.

Thursday night, Laci was riding shotgun with Tonette in Dame’s car.

“You don’t wanna get the girls?” Laci asked, holding onto the door handle as Tonette drove wildly.

“For what?” she answered.

“’Cuz, we the SBBs, Tonette, we roll together.”

“Fuck them. They can’t roll with me no more.”

“Why not? They your girls, ain’t they?”

“Shit, look at it. Shaunna got them goddamn kids. I ain’t try’na hear all that goddamn crying and shit. Then you got Monique with her ole scary ass.”

“Well, I’m here,” Laci told her, trying to calm her mood. “Damn, what’s up with this?” she asked as she looked around.

“Nothing. Just another day at the office for me,” Tonette told her. “Come on.”

Tonette got out of the car and began to walk. Laci’s heart beat
fast, because she was back in the Jackson Projects, on St. Nicholas Street to be exact. It was a place Laci knew all too well. She looked at her nemesis, who was waiting for her outside the corner store with a sly smirk on her face.

Laci looked at her and wanted to kill her with the rage that was inside her heart. She finally got out of the car and walked toward Tonette.

“Sorry it took me a minute,” Laci told her. “Let’s do this.”

Laci hung tight with Tonette throughout the night. She noticed that mostly women copped from Tonette. There were no female dealers just months ago.

“Nette?” Laci called out. “Is it just my imagination or are there more female junkies out here now?”

“Nope, it’s not your imagination.” Another person came up to Tonette and they exchanged product for money. “It’s easier to have a woman dealer. You pay your money, you get your shit, and then you go get high. Niggas always want something.”

“You got that right,” Laci said to her.

“Damn, I ran outta shit.” Tonette looked at her watch. “I need to run back to the crib.”

The two rode back to Tonette’s apartment and went inside. Laci waited in the living room for Tonette to return from the bathroom.

“What’s up, girl?” Laci said when she returned.

“Shit, I gotta re-up. I ain’t got jack!” She patted her pockets and dug her hands inside them. Nothing. “I thought I had more, but I guess I sold it all. Guess it’s been busy, huh?”

She picked up the phone and paged Smurf.

Within moments, he called her back.

“Um, hey Laci,” she said when she got off the phone with him, “you go ahead and leave. I got some shit I need to take care of.”

“A’ight, cool. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Laci left, knowing some shit was about to kick off. Just as she had heard nasty rumors about herself, Laci heard rumors on the street that Tonette was giving up ass when her shit came up short. She wasn’t sure if it was true, but she would find out.

THERE WAS A
knock at Tonette’s door.

“Hey Smurf,” she said when she swung it open.

“Nah, it ain’t him.” It was Lil’ Rob.

“What the fuck you doing here?” Tonette asked.

“Came to collect on boss man’s shit. You got his money?”

“Yeah, here.” She let him in the house and closed the door. She counted out her money.

“It’s short,” he told her.

“What the fuck you mean it’s short?”

“You get fifty packets of ice alone every time you re-up. I ain’t even including the crack you get. You sell ice for twenty dollars, that’s one G, ma, and right here,” he counted out, “is only eight hundred dollars, so where’s the other two?”

Tonette began to get pissed.
What the fuck is going on?
she asked herself.

“Look, I can make that shit up; just give me my shit and I’ll work just as hard to make that money up and bring back the right amount. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I’m gonna find out what’s up.”

“That’s cool and all, but boss man said to collect before I give you anything else.”

“Well, what the fuck am I supposed to do?”

“Gotta pay the piper, ma. You got debt now and so does that nigga Dame.”

“What the fuck you mean, ‘and Dame’? That shit already worked off.”

“No it ain’t,” he told her. “I didn’t get my payment yet.”

“What fuckin’ payment you talkin’ ’bout?”

“That nigga owed me too, so you know what’s up. Drop dem drawers.” Tonette looked down and saw an erection growing in his pants.

“Nuh uh,” she smarted off.

Lil’ Rob pulled out his gun and cocked the trigger. Tonette stopped in her tracks. “Now, drop ’em,” Rob ordered. Becoming scared, Tonette did as she was told.

BACK AT THE
spot, Laci walked the street and held it down with niggas who weren’t on Smurf’s payroll. She had her backup, though. Terrance wasn’t that far away.

Feeling comfortable, she mingled with the fiends and the hustlers.

“Hey,” a crackhead said to Laci. “What’cha got for me?”

Laci looked at the man. He was skinny, had pimples on his face and missing teeth, and smelled of urine. Laci had to turn her nose up to deal with him.

“Hey, I got a job for ya.”

“A job? I don’t want no fuckin’ job! What you think I am?”

“I ain’t talking about that kinda job, damn. I need you to do me a favor.”

“How much you payin’?”

“If you got about four friends, they’ll get two rocks each and I’ll give you three.”

“You know where I be at. Just tell me where to be and what to do.” He grinned a snaggle-toothed grin.

“You got it!”

L
ACI WAS AWAKENED
by a gentle knock on the front door. She had fallen asleep on the couch after she got home the night before.

She stumbled to the front door and opened it.

“Oh hey, Monique,” Laci said, sleepily.

Monique looked at Laci and couldn’t believe how she still looked pretty even when she first woke up.

“You said you had a package for me you wanted me to take to the post office.”

Laci blinked, trying to get her into focus.

“Oh yeah,” she said, remembering what she had told her the night before. “I got a couple of packages. Do you mind sending them off for me?”

“No, it’s not like I’m going out of my way.”

“Cool, let me go get them.”

Laci left and within minutes, she came back with two perfectly wrapped boxes, one in brown paper, which she handed to Monique while she kept the other one, wrapped in decorative paper, in her hands.

“So, you still planning on leaving?” Laci asked, handing the packages to her.

“Yup. Friday morning, me and my granny are outta here. I can’t wait, girl.”

“I bet. It’s nothing like starting your life over,” Laci confirmed.

“Actually, we’re moving to Jersey and from there, I dunno.”

“So you really going through with it, huh?”

“Yep. After my shift tonight, I’m outta here.” Monique looked down at the package in her hand. “Oh, you need to address this.”

“Oh shit,” Laci exclaimed, looking at the box. “I need to get the address from my moms. It’s a pair of shoes she’s sending to my aunt. She’s been busy with housework and stuff and keeps forgetting to mail it. Guess she forgot to address it too, huh?”

Both girls laughed. Monique looked at the clock. She had to get going so she wouldn’t be late. “Oh, and this right here,” Laci handed Monique the box wrapped in decorative paper, with a card attached to it. “This is for you.”

“What is it?” Monique said happily, putting it down to tear into it immediately.

“Girl, don’t open that now,” Laci urged. “It’s kind of a housewarming gift, so you have to wait until you get to your new home to see what it is. I don’t like good-byes, so . . .”

“Thank you, Laci,” Monique said genuinely. “You didn’t have to.”

“I know, but you really helped me out by coming clean with everything and I really appreciate that.”

“It’s the least I could do.” Monique smiled at her and looked at the clock once again. “I gotta get going, but hey, call down to the post office and ask for me when you get the address. I’ll address it for you.”

“Alright, cool.” Before Monique could walk out the door, Laci stopped her. “Oh, and Monique?”

“Yeah?”

“Good luck with your move.”

“Thanks,” Monique acknowledged and left.

LATER THAT DAY,
Laci rode over to Tonette’s to see what was up with her.

“Hey girl, what’s up in here?” she asked while walking into Tonette’s place.

“Everything’s all fucked up,” Tonette growled, looking down the hallway to see if anyone was outside. She was still sore from the assault that Lil’ Rob put on her the other day, but she was making it.

“What’s wrong, Tonette?”

“I think Monique is stealing from me.”

“Stealing? Stealing what?”

Tonette looked at her as if she should know.

“Oh,” Laci sighed. “So is that the reason she’s leaving town?”

“Leaving town?” Tonette screeched. “When?”

“She said tomorrow, but—” Laci looked at Tonette. Her nostrils flared. She looked like a red bull on the run. “You didn’t know?” Laci asked with shock on her face. “I thought y’all were tight. I mean, she
is
living in your apartment.”

“What else she tell you?”

“Girl, it don’t matter,” Laci assured her.

“Yes it does.”

“Nothing much, other than how you played Quita and the other SBBs.”

“She told you that?”

“Yeah. If she is selling yo’ shit, I don’t know if she’s really selling it or giving it away. Monique doesn’t strike me as someone who could be as smart on their feet as you are. I can see her givin’ yo’ shit as payback for the beatings.”

“She told you that?” Tonette raised her voice.

“Tonette, she told me everything,” Laci said, in the most convincing tone she could muster. “How you giving up booty to all these niggas.”

“I’m gon’ kill her!”

“Tonette, don’t even trip. It ain’t even worth it. You my girl, and you know I got your back.”

“Laci, I need to be alone for a minute,” Tonette said somberly. “Please go, and I’ll talk to you later.”

“Did I say something wrong?”

“No, it’s not you. I just need to be by myself.”

“Well, she said she’ll be at yo’ spot, if you wanna talk to her.” Laci hesitantly got up. “Um, okay girl, if you need me, let me know.”

Tonette realized that Laci was true blue. Even after all she had done to her, Laci still had her back. Tonette picked up her keys and switchblade. She hadn’t used it in years, but today, it was going to come in handy. “I’ma cut this bitch’s tongue out.”

She headed to her spot to find Monique.

Laci waited a few minutes, then got in her car and tailed Tonette. She pulled up to the spot, making sure to park out of Tonette’s sight, just as Tonette jumped out of her car. Running into the building, Laci waited until she heard the sound she was waiting for.

The screams that echoed through the air were music to Laci’s ears.
And it only cost me ten rocks
, she thought to herself.
Although she hated to poison other people’s bodies with the drugs, ten rocks were well worth Tonette getting gang-raped and beaten by crackheads.

Laci left and drove to Southview. Knowing that Shaunna’s new apartment building was a known crack spot, Laci called her from the pay phone.

“Hello?” Shaunna spoke into the phone.

“Girl, you won’t believe this shit!” Laci yelled, all hyped. “Play is down here.”

“Where you at?”

“Girl, the arcade, and guess what . . .”

“What?”

“He lookin’ good and he askin’ about you.”

Shaunna smiled momentarily, then said, “Um, Laci, I can’t come down there.”

“Girl, why not? He waitin’ for you.”

“I don’t have anybody to watch my kids.”