Authors: Kevin Bullock
“Uhhh-“
“I know you have her in your sights.”
Ron’s whole demeanor changed. He displayed an almost shameful look. “I’ve searched high and low for her. I can’t find her nowhere.”
“What about her school? I know she’s going, right?”
“Not since she…ran away. I even put booby traps in the house so I-“
“Not to hurt her, I know!”
“No, man. They’re to let me know if anybody has been there.”
“Oh. What about the faggot, Ching?”
“I haven’t got to him yet.”
“You find him, I guarantee you’ll find her. Or at least find out where she’s at.”
“I’m on it.”
“You should’ve been on it! Ain’t no telling what she’s out there doing. Especially hanging with a faggot.”
“I apologize. I’m about to turn the heat all the way up.”
“Crush anything that gets in your way. My daughter is all I got left in this world other than my momma. That’s all that I really asks of you and you’re failing me.”
“I’m doing my best. Damn!”
“Well, it’s not good enough! Keep your promise!”
“You’re right. I promise I’ll have this matter wrapped up within two days.”
“You can’t get it done sitting here talking.”
Ron rose from his seat. He knew a dismissal when he heard one.
* * *
I miss you, too,” Cataya replied, to Ching over the phone. “It never occurred to me how much I would when I planned this.”
“It did me, I say nothing.”
“Is everything other than that okay?”
“Yeah. I glad when hospital let Mrs. Billups go.”
“I know. She sounded almost normal when I talked to her earlier.”
“She look normal when I see her. I tell her how much I miss you.”
Cataya smiled like a Cheshire cat. “You can’t miss me that much; this is only your second time calling me.”
“That because I try to get my P.I.M.P. on and let you call me, but I fell weak.”
Her smile turned into a hearty laugh. “What’s up with you and all this 50 Cent stuff? You’re really obsessed with him, aren’t you?”
“Fif cool. I like you better.”
She smiled again. “I like you too, Ching. That’s why I need for you to be careful. You know it’s possible that Ron is going to come after you.”
“I know. That’s why I drive different car.”
“Good.”
They talked for another ten minutes before ending it. She returned the phone back to its charger, and cocked her head to the strange sound that was coming from upstairs.
She thought that she knew the source of it, but it was beyond her understanding what he was doing. Rafeal had proven to be a strange and complex entity. It was like he was in a constant battle with right and wrong. That made her very uneasy to be around him alone.
A large green photo album on the coffee table caught her attention. She opened it up and was immediately introduced to an era of Sasoon jeans and Member’s Only jackets.
In one of the pictures she noticed a familiar stranger that she had dreamt about so many times, standing next to Fannie. She was beautiful and radiant in every picture. Everybody that stood with her in them seemed honored to be in her presence.
A few of the pictures featured a man with his face cut out, and she guessed that man was her father. It was without question that Fannie had been the scissor culprit. Her hatred for Hammer was legendary, so to speak.
Cataya also noticed how her mother was draped in different jewelry in every picture. Not to mention her clothes. They still gave off an air of royalty although they were styles of the past.
The only thing that looked foolish to her was the phone that her mother was profiling on. It connected to a black carry bag that was a bit smaller than the coach bag that Ching bought her.
Fannie strolled through the front door dressed in a nurse’s uniform. She seemed startled by Cataya’s presence. “You scared me, child.”
“Sorry.”
“Where’s Dee?”
“She went out with her friend.”
Fannie sucked her teeth. “Her fast self. She better not come home pregnant, I ain’t raising no more younglings.”
Cataya remained silent. She felt as if she had said too much already.
“I see you’re going through my old photo album.” She sat down beside Cataya. “These were the good old days.”
“Y’all look so happy in them. Especially my mom.”
“She was the life of the party. That’s how we met that …your dad, at a house party. We walked in and he was all in her face saying how he had to have her. LeLe ate it up. I wasn’t impressed. His persistence spooked me. You know, set off an alarm. I begged her not to talk to him.”
“She didn’t listen?”
“No. LeLe was always her own person to a fault.”
“Maybe he treated her good. She seemed very happy with him in these pictures.”
“Oh! Best believe, he was very charming. He took us out clubbing almost every night and exposed us to all the finer things. It was the best time of LeLe’s life.”
“All soon changed after our mama died. He started trying to control every aspect of LeLe’s life, and I watched the light gradually fade in her eyes.”
“I mean, tell me some of things he was doing?”
“He stopped taking her out; wanted her to stay in the house all the time. She couldn’t have no friends. A couple of male friends that she grew up with mysteriously disappeared. It was terrible. It’s hard for me to talk about most of it.”
Cataya stared at the pictures of her other until she felt her throat constricting. Fannie tried to console her when the tears came.
“It’s okay, baby. Let it out if it makes you feel better.”
“It’s…It’s not fair!”
“I know. But do you know what keeps me going when I feel like it’s all too much?”
“What?”
“Knowing that God is good, and He doesn’t like ugly. It’s only a matter of time before that fucker gets what he has coming. Mark my words, Taya.”
Cataya realized then that her tears were worthless. She decided right then that she couldn’t sit around any longer and wait for God to avenge her mother’s death. It was time for her to play the leading role, and prepare a cold dish. Her father had a high bill to pay…
–—Chapter Nine–—
School had been let out thirty minutes ago, and while most kids were long gone, a crowd of twenty gathered in the student’s parking lot to hear a rap battle.
Ching listened carefully to June as he rapped for five minutes straight. He had to admit, June had skills. His only flaw was he said the same thing too many times. It reminded Ching of Mike Jones.
He waited until the crowed quiet down before he started rapping:
“My name Ching-a-Ling I a super duper star-
if I clubbed, I probably buy the bar.
Your girl on my dick, but I careful what I hit-
‘cause if she cucked you raw then she probably got that shit.
I rich, man. Fuck banks, I approve your loans-
And you pissy poor broke the dirty imitation of Mike Jones…”
The crowd when into an uproar once Ching finished his freestyle, minutes later. June wasn’t in the least impressed. He was actually infuriated because not only did he thing that his verse was better, he was also infuriated because all of his so-called friends was cheering Ching on.
“That wack ass verse! You can barely speak English, muthafucker.”
“Don’t be a sore loser,” said the boy with the large gap between his teeth. “You got roasted, Mike Jones.”
The crowd laughed.
“Bullshit! You’re just saying that because you last week, piano mouth.”
“Just pay up like I did last week. Piano, that.”
June handed Ching a twenty-dollar bill, against his better judgment. ‘I at you and you know it.”
Ching stuffed the money that held no real value to him in his G-Unit hoody. The only thing that mattered was he had just out-rapped the best rapper in the school, and he now had the juice.
He spun around in the most dramatic fashion that he could muster, and pimped to his car. The crowd went crazy and began chanting his name.
Ching pulled off feeling nothing less of exhilarating. This was the highlight of his school year, and yet, something was missing. It took him a few minutes to figure out what it was before he made the call.
“Who the fuck is this?!” a man demanded.
“Uhhh, Cataya there?”
“I said, ‘who the fuck is this?!’”
Ching was baffled by the man’s hostility. ‘Ching, sir.”
“Ching?”
“Yes. I Cataya’s f-“
“Who sent you, muthafucker?!”
“Huh?”
“I’ll rip you fucking head off and shit down your throat if you ever call this number again!”
The line went dead, leaving Ching even more confused than before. He knew that he had dialed the correct number because he had it on speed dial.
He then began to wonder if something had happened to Cataya, when he noticed a car following him. The dark interior and tint on the car provided a cover for the driver, so all the Ching could see was gloved hand on the steering wheel.
Panic washed over him when he remembered that Ron wore black leather gloves.
Oh, my God! Oh, my God! How did he know what I was driving? Has he been to my house?
Unlike his Lexus, the Jetta that he was driving started shaking once it exceeded past forty miles per hour. He was now angry with himself for assuming that he would be incognito driving it.
Ching knew that the only way that he was going to out-run Ron was if he made some high-risk maneuvers. He committed his first one by running a red light. Ron did the same.
The second one was a reckless U-turn and a quick left down a narrow street. This stunt proved to be a terrible decision cause the street was a dead end.
Ching began to frantically search for his cell phone when he saw that Ron had now blocked him in. But what he saw next made him start praying.
* * *
Ron assumed that Ching had spotted him by the way he began to drive erratically. If he had, Ron decided that his Plan A was out the window. There was a very slim chance that Ching would lead him back to his house, or where Cataya was hiding.
Therefore, he put his Plan B into effect. It was bold and risky, but so was not finding Cataya at all. Hammer wasn’t the type that took well to failure, and he wasn’t the guy who liked letting him, down…
He easily caught up with Ching and grabbed his gun from the glove compartment.
* * *
“Roll down the goddamn window, muthafucker!”
Ching found it very difficult to function with the gun pointed at his face. He managed, somehow. “W…What’s going on, June?”
“Shut up and cut the car off!”
“What-“ his words were cut short when June smacked him with his free hand.
“Didn’t I tell you to shut the fuck up and cut the car off? This is my last time telling you!”
Ching did exactly what he was told this time. He wasn’t trying to find out what June would do if provoked.
June opened the car door to pull him out. “Get the fuck out here. I got the A.I.D.S., huh?”
“No. That just rap. Entertainment, June.”
“Don’t try to cop deuces now. You was all hoodied up and shit earlier. Where’s my fucking money at?”
“Here,” Ching said, handing it to him, “take it. I was going to give it back tomorrow, anyway.”
“What the fuck ever. Give me your wallet today.”
Ching did exactly what he was told. He was shaking so bad that he was scared June might think that he was up to something and shoot him.”
“Tried to embarrass me with your bubblegum ass rap. I should make your hardcore image complete with a few slugs in your ass. You know 5o Cent got shot nine times, right?”
Ching wasn’t paying attention to June anymore. His focus was on the approaching car. He didn’t know whether to feel relieved, scared, or both.
The man got out of his car and approached them in calm manner. “Ching, we need to talk.”
“Hey,” June growled, “he’s busy right now. You have to catch him on your own time.”
Ron ignored him. “Where’s Cataya, Ching?”
June became furious. He turned the gun on the newcomer. “Didn’t you hear me, muthafucker?! Don’t you see this big ass gun in my hand? I will take your old ass out!”
Ron finally acknowledged June, but he didn’t it in a way that shocked both June and Ching. He slapped June with the back of a gloved hand, causing him to drop Ching’s wallet.
“The next time that you decide to threaten somebody with a gun, make sure it’s real.”
Ching’s eyes dropped to the gun and saw that it was indeed fake. He felt tremendously foolish, mad, and cowardly all in one. It crossed his mind to slap June also as he picked up his wallet.