Get Some (18 page)

But Lil Steve ignored her. He turned his back on her face. He laughed, leaning against Ray Ray's shoulder, rubbing his slender goatee. “Ain't this a bitch. She's trying to flip the script, man. She stuck Charles, dog. Shot him point-blank. Now she wants to tell some fairy tale shit about the past. I'm telling you, you're dealing with a garden tool, man. She ain't nothing but a cold-blooded 'ho!”

The cops were almost there, but suddenly they wildly veered off when they got a call that a drunk driver had hit the center divide.

“Go ahead, call me names,” Trudy said boldly. “But I'm still gonna tell him what happened.”

“Come on, man. Am I making this up? This bitch is just like her tired-ass mama,” Lil Steve said.

Trudy ignored him. She wiped her braids back. “Yeah, I'm like Mama. We both got a few flaws but Mama could always recognize bullshit when she saw it. Your name-calling is not gonna stop me from talking. I'm telling this shit whether you like it or not.” Trudy whirled around and faced Ray Ray full on.

“That night at the party, Lil Steve was watching us, I remember. I thought he looked worried. I was wondering why he kept staring. Next thing I know he starts blowing me kisses, licking his thin, nasty lips.”

“That's a lie! I didn't even go to that party.”

But Ray Ray remembered. Lil Steve definitely was there.

“First, I ignored him. Refused to look his way. But when you left to get a drink, Lil Steve came over. He told me you were high. He said he'd been listening. He said everything you told me that night was fiction and that you were nothing but a heroin addict who served time.”

“That's a lie! I never said that!” Lil Steve wanted to slap Trudy's face.

Ray Ray looked at Lil Steve but decided to stay silent. He wanted to hear the rest of what Trudy had to say.

“He said y'all had business. Said you had to do some job and he'd be damned if he let some young trick like me mess it up. I thought he was crazy. I told him to leave. But Lil Steve just stood there and played with his mustache. I tried to push past him but he blocked my way. ‘I'ma take you,' Lil Steve told me. ‘Watch how I work it,' he said. ‘Ray Ray won't never know what happened. '”

Ray Ray raised both his eyebrows but still he said nothing.

“Don't listen to this tramp. Can't you see she's crazy? Look at her, man. She ain't even fine. You seen my stable. None of my 'hos look like her.” Lil Steve thought insulting her would make Trudy stop. But Trudy was already on a roll.

“What I remember,” Ray Ray glanced at Trudy as he spoke, “is that I went to jail and then got sent to prison. When I came back you'd already been with my man.”

Lil Steve smiled. “Yeah, I fucked her. So what? So had every other damn dick in town.”

“He lied to you, Ray Ray! But you couldn't see. Lil Steve's been manipulating your ass from day one. And you walk around with your dumb little codes. Not talking to his girl. Shit, he didn't give a fuck! He didn't want me. He's always been selfish. He didn't want you near me because he wanted you to do that job. He wanted to use you so he could get some money, and you're the one who ended up doing time.”

“Shut up!” Lil Steve screamed. “You fuckin' got damn slut!”

“Lil Steve was my first,” Trudy said to Ray Ray. “I was a virgin and Lil Steve knew it.”

Ray Ray could not believe what Trudy was saying. A virgin. That's not what he'd heard.

“She's a liar!” Lil Steve screamed. “That ain't how it went down!”

“He knew if you had someone decent in your life, you'd see him for the crackhead he is.”

Lil Steve lunged at Trudy. “I ain't no crackhead, you bitch!”

But Ray Ray remembered. He had lots of time to think in prison. Lil Steve told him Trudy was no good. He'd told him everyone at that party had already had her. That she'd been with a whole bunch of men. But Ray Ray never heard that from anyone else. All Lil Steve kept saying was that he shouldn't trust no woman and that the only thing trustworthy was money.

“You listened to him and you ended up in jail!” Trudy said.

Ray Ray recalled the robbery. Lil Steve stayed in the car. He told Ray Ray he'd drive and would wait by the curb. But the liquor store had a security camera. They arrested Ray Ray and Lil Steve got away. And Ray Ray never ratted on his friend. He looked at Trudy again. Some of what she said made sense but he knew she had a part in this too.

“Well, you ended up with blood. You must have wanted him too.” Ray Ray lit one of Jimmy's cigars and blew his smoke down the long dusty road.

“They put you away for close to two years, Ray Ray. Lil Steve kept coming. Kept sniffing at my door. He told me you didn't want me and that you were locked in there for life.”

Ray Ray was pissed. “What difference does it make?” He tossed his lit butt down the long, littered highway.

“That's right, dog! None of that shit has to do with the bank. Yeah, I had her. So what? Shit, I had lots of women. It's not like the shit was a secret.” Lil Steve spit down on the asphalt again. “The bottom line is this trick set us up. Keep yo' ass focused on that!”

“I set
you
up, punk! You dumb muthafucker! You made Ray Ray come, just like you did last time. You always make him do your dirty work for you, while you always hide in the car!”

Ray Ray asked Trudy point-blank, “So what is it, shorty? You did this bank shit with Charles?”

The way Ray Ray said “shorty” was like he separated himself from her now, like she didn't mean more than some chick on the street.

“Wait, Ray Ray, listen. Lil Steve got it twisted. Charles did help me out. But I didn't shoot him. Flo shot him because she thought me and Charles were messing around.”

“Were you?” Ray Ray asked. He'd seen Trudy and Charles together a couple times. He didn't know which part was true.

“Hell, yeah, she was. I'm telling you she's scandalous! I saw 'em sneak away a whole gang of times. Creeping off after the show.”

“Why are you lying on me, Lil Steve? What did I ever do to you?”

Lil Steve almost smiled. She really was cute. “Do to me? Ain't that a muthafuckin' blip. You used me and Ray Ray to take the fall for this job.” He had Trudy against the ropes. There was nowhere for her to go, and he could see his boy Ray Ray was bending toward him.

“Something musta happened.” Lil Steve sneered. “Nobody just comes after your ass with a gun. Yo' big ass musta done something.”

Trudy saw the doubt entering inside Ray Ray's eyes. She ignored Lil Steve and tried to talk just to Ray Ray. She had to make him understand. “Look, Ray Ray, I did do the bank job with Charles. I tried to tell you that day but you just got out from prison. I didn't want to get you involved in a crime. I wanted to protect you. I wanted you to stay clean. But Lil Steve sucked you back in. I'm sorry. I didn't think it would turn out like this. All I wanted to do was pay his ass back and get the fuck out of L.A.!” Trudy tried to hold Ray Ray's hand but he moved.

Trudy stepped to Lil Steve. She got in his face. “Why don't you tell him about that videotape, huh? Same kind of videotape you made of me. Tell him how you finked on your friend.”

Lil Steve swung at Trudy, but Ray Ray blocked his arm.

“He was so proud. He couldn't resist telling. Always talking about Teflon! How he's never been caught. He did get caught and would have definitely done time, but they let him go because he gave you up!”

“How the fuck would you know? You weren't even there.” Lil Steve looked at Trudy with a confident air. He tried to leap toward her again but she moved farther away, backing up toward the highway. They were all standing right near the traffic.

“ 'Cause you told! Vernita told me you bragged to her about it. Said it was business. That you had to give Ray Ray up. That you weren't going to jail no matter what,” Trudy said.

See, that night, after the robbery, they picked Lil Steve up too. They kept him in a room asking him questions for hours. They played him the videotape again and again. The video showed a bandana-faced man holding a gun, running toward the liquor store door. It was Ray Ray but the cops didn't know it at the time. All they knew is they had Lil Steve. The cops worked a special deal for giving Ray Ray up. Ray Ray went upstate, got a year and a half at Norco. Lil Steve got a slap on the wrist.

Ray Ray was stunned. Was this really true? All this time he figured the storeowner was the one who popped him. He couldn't believe it was really Lil Steve. Maybe that's why they nabbed him so fast. Ray Ray looked at Lil Steve hard. He couldn't believe what he was hearing but deep down he knew it was true.

Lil Steve noticed the heat in Ray Ray's eyes, so he tried to quickly shift the blame to Trudy.

“She set us up, man,” Lil Steve said fast. “Look all around you. Homeboy lying over there is shot. She dealt with that brotha. Charles is laying up bloody, that's another brotha she had, and we don't want to mention what happened to Vernita and that was her own got damn friend!” Lil Steve steeled himself when he said that last part. It was hard to lie about what had happened to Vernita. He felt guilty but he knew how to bury it well. “She fucked over us, man. That's a muthafuckin' fact. Ain't no two ways about that!”

“Ray Ray, I did pull this job,” Trudy said, coming clean. “I didn't want you involved. I did try to stop you, but I didn't know nothing about taking that cocaine.”

Hearing the word “cocaine” immediately triggered something inside Lil Steve. He looked at the cocaine bag in the paneling of the car. His mouth started to water. The cocaine called his name. He could see the loose duct tape flapping in the wind. He wiped his dry lips before speaking. “Don't trust a big butt and a smile,” Lil Steve said. “They even make songs about raw chicks like her.”

In the distance, there was the faint driving sound of sirens. The cops were trying to get the drunk driver to pull over.

Lil Steve inched close to Ray Ray. He stood right in front of his face.

“Man, this bitch gonna send yo' ass back to the pen. 5-0 is coming. We got to raise up. Let's off her ass and get in the car!”

Trudy looked horrified. What was Lil Steve saying? A second ago, Ray Ray had just saved her life. Now Lil Steve was trying to tell him to kill her.

“Come on, man. It's just you and me, homes. Get this shit over with once and for all and let's go sip some mai tais and see some titties on the Strip.”

Ray Ray hesitated. He didn't want to shoot Trudy. He still couldn't believe his good friend had turned him in.

Lil Steve leaned closer to Ray Ray's suit jacket.

At that range Ray Ray noticed a powdery substance faintly sprinkled over his mustache. Lil Steve was definitely high.

Lil Steve felt the cocaine kicking in full steam. He'd snorted a whole lot while Ray Ray and Trudy were inside but now his body was aching for more. Lil Steve's arm started to mildly shake. Sweat leaked down his long, narrow back.

But before Ray Ray knew it, Lil Steve grabbed Ray Ray's gun from the underarm holster and pointed it at Trudy's head.

Ray Ray tried to reach for it but Lil Steve backed up.

“Get away from me, man. I'm not playing with you no more. I'm haveta put your work in myself.”

“Dog, what are you doing?” Ray Ray said fast. “You ain't got to kill her. Let's just split the shit and go.” Ray Ray tried to lunge toward Lil Steve's arm but Lil Steve jerked back. He raised the gun to Ray Ray's chest.

“Don't fuck with me, man. This ain't about you, dog.” Lil Steve stared at the cocaine inside the car, then he stared back at Trudy. His tongue drew a line across his top lip. He wanted to kill Trudy, but he wanted that coke too.

He made Ray Ray take a step back. He got in and revved the VW engine. He pointed the gun back at Trudy. “I got business with this trick. Stay out of it, dog.”

“Homegirl's always been my business,” Ray Ray said loudly over the sound of the engine. He stood right in front of Trudy's body.

“She ain't worth it, man. Move over, G!” Lil Steve's hand shook while holding the gun. Sweat dripped down from his face.

“Naw, man. I can't let you go out like this, dog.”

“She ain't shit. Don't let no tramp come between friends.” Lil Steve pointed his gun at Ray Ray's scarred face. “Look what the last 'ho did to your mug. You better step off this bitch, homes.”

But Ray Ray just stood there. He wouldn't move over. Car after car was whizzing by them now. The wind blew some sand into his eyes.

“She got you so whipped and your ass only smelled it. You tripping and you ain't even had you a taste.” Lil Steve pulled back the safety on Ray Ray's large gun. “Sorry, dude, but I have to do this.” His finger rolled over the trigger.

Suddenly, a red sports car came zigzagging up. The car came so close it whipped the gun from Lil Steve's hand. The gun danced across the thick double lines. Lil Steve was stunned. He turned his back to the highway. A semi was coming down the hill the opposite way. But the weaving red sports car made the truck driver brake hard. Lil Steve tried to get the VW Bug into gear but was shaking and couldn't find the right groove. The driver tried his best to keep the Mack truck in line. But the red car came so close, the truck driver had to swerve, forcing the semi to jackknife.

Ray Ray and Trudy raced out of the way. But Lil Steve was in the Bug. He struggled to get it going. The Mack driver honked the horn a long time. He lost control and hoped the Bug would move out of the way. But it was no use; he was coming too fast. He smacked the Volkswagen like it was a gnat. The hubcaps flew off. Smoke rose from the tires. The truck dragged the car over five hundred yards before the crumpled thing fell off the grill. The Bug was completely engulfed in dark smoke. The desert black night blazed with tall orangey flames. The red car kept going. It never eased its pace. Its taillights melted toward the gambling lights of the state line.