Payback With Ya Life (16 page)

He jogged over to his ride and noticed that all eyes were on them. He jumped in and pulled off behind her. He followed behind her until she pulled into a mini shopping complex. She parked her ride and rolled down the window and watched him get out. He was driving a Vette exactly like hers, except his was money-green.

“Yo, you gonna have me catch a case. We drivin’ the same whips and shit. I know they think we are partners in crime,” he joked as he checked her out.

“I’m Janay. Who are you? And you’re not from here. New York?”

“Yeah, that’s who I be and where I’m from.”
Big Choppa’s other daughter. Damn, I’m the shit when it comes to being at the right place at the right time. Melky ain’t gonna believe this one
.

“Well, New York, I wish you would have let me pop that nigga.”

Damn this bitch is gangsta.
“You need to chill out, Ma. You’re allowing anger to overcome any and all rational thoughts.” He went around to the passenger’s side, and she unlocked then opened the door. He got in and pulled out a blunt.

“Who are you? The po-po?” she asked.

“The po-po?”

“Yeah, I mean you just appeared out of nowhere. Like you were following me.”

“Hell nah, I’m not five-o! I was there getting my car detailed before you pulled up. Plus don’t you think I would have locked yo’ ass up for possession of a firearm or for tryna kill somebody or some shit like that?”

She giggled. “Okay, nigga, I get your point. So since you ain’t the po-po, fire that up then. I think I need a drink too. I still can’t believe that nigga violated me like that,” Janay vented and was still shocked as they sat in the car, smoking and talking for the next hour. New York was her kind of nigga.

Nyla was curled up on her love seat with the phone pressed to her ear. She was waiting on the operator to put the call from Forever through. Peanut was stretched out on the sofa across from her, snoring. She was actually feelin’ him. He was slowly but surely winning her heart.

“Hey, Forever, how are you?”

“Hey, Forever, how are you?” he mocked. “Bitch, you got a lot of fuckin’ nerve. You fuckin’ that nigga all up in my house? You got my daughter around this nigga? I never thought you would go out like this. I ain’t gonna lie, you hurt me, Nyla.” Forever felt that he had totally lost control of everything.

“Hold up. I know you didn’t call me a bitch!”

“Nyla, I didn’t stutter.”

“You the bitch! Okay, yeah, I’m a bitch. But it’s Ms. Bitch to you, nigga. Anyway, what yo’ punk ass want callin’ my house? You want to dish out the bullshit, but I bet you can’t take it.”

Forever laughed like a madman. “Bitch, I’ma talk real calm. What? You bumped your head on that nigga’s balls while you were sucking his dick? Because all of a sudden you talkin’ real greasy to a nigga. And what house do
you
have? That’s my fuckin’ house you’re in, bitch!”

“Punk nigga, please! I earned every brick, nook and cranny in this muthafucka. Just because you ain’t got no in-house prison pussy you call yourself checkin’ me? What, you can’t get no dick neither?” They went back and forth.

“Real talk. I ain’t even tryna go there with you. Do you. ’Cause I’ma shine when I get home.”

“Good for you. However, you need to keep in mind that I am not your enemy. We still have a daughter together. Just because I’ve decided to move on doesn’t mean that we have to be enemies and disrespect each other.” Nyla couldn’t believe he had called her out of her name and was talking to her as if she wasn’t shit. That hurt. He was losing his fuckin’ mind as far as she was concerned.

“And as far as the enemy is concerned, you dumb ho, you sleepin’ with the enemy! So keep fuckin’ that lame-ass nigga, Peanut. I’ll be to see both of y’all when I touch down. Oh, cat got your tongue? Yeah, you fuckin’ the enemy. I know all about Peanut. Obviously you don’t. But I ain’t mad at you for keepin’ it in the family. Shan’s baby will be a part of our family, bitch. And since you are fuckin’ her brother that makes you auntie.” He started laughing.

Nyla’s mouth was wide open. She had jumped off the love seat and headed upstairs. She couldn’t chance Peanut hearing this conversation.

“What did you just say?”

“You heard me. Shan and Peanut are brother and sister.”

“Who?”

“The bitch who says she’s pregnant by me and the lame-ass nigga that you are fuckin’ all up in my house are sister and brother.”

“What?” Her head started spinning.

“You keepin’ the shit all in the family,” he brazenly stated.

Nyla fell to her knees.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

B
orn quietly opened the door to Shadee’s hospital room. He was pissy drunk, and even though he had a visitor’s pass he was sneaking in. Shadee was still in the ICU and remained hooked up to a breathing machine. Along with the heart monitor those were the only sounds in the room. Born, in his drunkenness, leaned up against the rolling tray table beside the bed. His weight caused it to roll away from the bed, and Born fell backward onto his ass.

Several seconds later a nurse rushed in and alarm was evident on her face. She was confused when she saw Born struggling to get up off the floor.

“Are you okay? What happened?” The nurse grabbed Born by the arm and helped him up.

“Why y’all makin’ my uncle suffer like this?” he slurred. “He’s already dead, why y’all doin’ him like this?”

She could see his fiery red eyes tearing up. “Sir, I can’t answer that but if you would like for me to page the on-call resident I will.”

“Nah, nah.” He waved her off. “Just leave me alone with my uncle, yo.”

She checked Shadee’s IV and the rest of the equipment before slipping out.

Born clumsily managed to get seated in a chair next to the bed. “Yo, Unc, we gotta talk. I don’t even know how to bring this up. Fuck it!” He pounded his chest. “You hurt me, man. I saw some shit and I heard some shit and it fucked me up. You was never on no homo shit. That wasn’t you, maine. But Janay . . .” He choked up and tried to continue. “Janay said she caught you and Doc . . . ungh.” He jumped up, ran into the bathroom and threw up, almost missing the toilet. He grabbed some paper towels, wet them with cold water, wiped his face and then rinsed out his mouth. “Fuck!” He punched the wall.

He made it back to the chair, falling into it. “Why you go out like this, Unc? And you got that package? Why you ain’t go out like a real G? You was like a father to me. I looked up to you. You fooled me, nigga. I thought you practiced what you preached. You was supposed to be a man of your word. You still my uncle though. Yeah, fag, AIDS-infected and all. I got your back. I took care of Big Freddie’s sick ass and made them muhfuckas pull all them DVDs. Nobody will see you with the dogs, so don’t worry. That nigga is toast. I’ll catch him in hell. But not before I catch up with Doc’s bitch ass. Ya girlfriend or boyfriend, whatever the fuck he is, I don’t want him spreading the word that y’all was doin’ that thang thang. Plus he done fucked us out of seven birds. So you already know he was canceled. Trust me, he gettin’ ready to lay with the worms. I’ma make sure of that.”

Born took a good look at Shadee. He actually looked like a dead mummy to him.

The nurse who had helped him up earlier stuck her head in and said, “Visiting hours are over, young man.”

Born stood up, looked down at his uncle and said, “I can’t front no more. Just the sight of you makes me sick to my stomach.” He then pulled out a syringe and stuck the needle in between Shadee’s big toe and the one next to it. “I wasn’t going to do this, but I changed my mind. Ain’t no sense in chancing you getting better and walking around here like a dead man. I figured I might as well take you outta ya misery.” Born stumbled out of the room.

Janay and Crystal were in Big Choppa’s kitchen cooking their father’s dinner. They were making sure to talk low enough that Big Choppa couldn’t hear them. They were acting like schoolgirls. Crystal was still seeing Skye, and Skye and Janay would kick it over the phone except that he told her that his name was New York.

“I can’t believe you seeing somebody and didn’t even tell me,” Janay said in a chastising tone. “What does he look like? Where does he live?”

“It’s only been a few weeks. And it’s not serious or anything. I don’t know where he lives. We went out a couple of times, we fucked and we still talk. We doin’ it like that. I ain’t trippin’. Plus the nigga dropped a few grand on a sista. I ain’t tryna marry the nigga or no shit like that. Sis, you know how I do. So, now that I told you all of my business, what’s up with you? And turn that fire down.”

Janay lowered the flame under the chicken and went and stood in front of her sister. “I’ve been talking to someone,” she whispered.

“Who is he?” Crystal whispered back and they both broke into giggles.

“His name is New York and—”

“New York?” Crystal cut her off. “What’s his real name?”

“I don’t know.”

“And you call yourself checkin’ me?” Crystal flipped the script.

“I’m the oldest, bitch! You can’t be questioning me. I’m supposed to be looking out for you,” Janay snapped as she went to turn over the chicken. “I’m feelin’ his conversation,” she continued. “This nigga is either a boss or he frontin’. I haven’t been able to put my finger on it yet but it’s something about him.”

“Well introduce me to him and I’ll let you know what’s up.”

“All right, I’ll see what can be arranged. And why don’t you get with Skye, and I’ll check him out for you. You know how we do when it comes to these niggas.”

“It’s a done deal then,” Crystal said. The sisters were in agreement for a change.

Briggen and Woo were chillin’ in Woo’s living room. Briggen was checking out Woo as he dumped the ounce of weed onto the plate. Briggen had grabbed some hydro from a Detroit nigga from P. Rock, Plymouth or whatever they call it. The nigga had all different kinds of weed. This was far beyond Briggen’s knowledge. All he had smoked was purps. But dude introduced him to some weed with white hairs on the end of the leaves. You needed scissors to cut them off the bud. Briggen was laid back as Woo was cutting it up.

“Nigga, why you so quiet?” Woo asked, full of suspicion.

“Shan is pregnant.”

Woo kept cutting the weed until what Briggen said registered. Woo leaned back into his chair, cocked his head to the side and ran his hands over his beard. “Word? I thought you wasn’t tryna get none of these hoes pregnant.” He sat up and began rolling up the weed.

“I wasn’t.” Briggen shrugged. “But sometimes shit happens.”

“So let me get this straight. Your original plan was to expand to the D. First get a house, put this broad up in it so that you can run shit in comfort. Then, open the beauty salon and have Shan and your cousin run it, set up a couple of traps and run the dough through the business. But . . . now you feelin’ this broad and since you knocked her up the game plan has changed.”

Briggen reached for one of the blunts, fired it up and immediately began choking. As he held the weed in his lungs he looked at Woo, who had a look on his face that said, “You dummy!”

“So what’s the game plan now?” Woo prodded.

“I don’t know why you trippin’, ain’t nothin’ changed, nigga. I want Silk and Tee Tee to come down. Let Jay and Donny-Boy step up. I need to get with them tonight.”

“All four of ’em?”

“Yeah.”

“Aiight, cool. Wanna meet at the club?”

“That’ll work.” Briggen stood up. “Just hit me up later when all of y’all are there.”

“Sit yo’ ass down, nigga. I ain’t lettin’ you off the hook that easy.”

“Maine, go ’head with that.”

“When Mia and them find out, shit’s gonna be crazy.”

“What? So you sayin’ you don’t got my back?”

“I got you, dawg. I’m just surprised at this whole scenario. But hey, big pimpin’, you dat nigga.”

“I got this.” Briggen took another pull off his blunt, opened the door and left.

“Let me find out big pimpin’ ready to settle down and be a family man!” Woo yelled out.

Briggen smiled and headed for his ride. “Nah, never that!”

“Did you get that info for me?” Janay sweetly asked Skye.

“Yeah, I got it,” Skye cockily answered.

“I appreciate it. Give it to me so I can write it down.”

“Whoa, whoa, hold up, shawty. I still think that you need to rethink this.”

“Oh, so now you gonna flip the script on me?”

“Naw, it ain’t that. I just don’t want to see you get caught up in no unnecessary bullshit.”

“The nigga put his hands on me! Or did you forget?” Janay was getting pissed all over again as she paced back and forth, replaying the scene at the detail shop.

“You not thinking clearly and that’s not good.” Skye swerved around a wooden plank in the middle of the road.

“You shouldn’t have gotten the info if you never had intentions on giving it to me,” Janay snapped. She listened to him chuckle.

“Whoa, little snapper. I ain’t the enemy.”

“You know what? I’m straight. I’ll put somebody else on the job. Believe that. Ole boy will get dealt with.”

“Okay, Billy Bad-Ass, but you still need to eat. Every good soldier needs to eat for strength to be ready for war. So can a nigga take you out?”

“Who said anything about a war? That peon-ass nigga just didn’t know who he was fuckin’ with. I plan on teaching him some manners. That’s all. No need for a war.”

“Yeah, all right, but you still didn’t answer my question.”

“Where?” She still couldn’t believe he had asked her that. “Where do you want to take me?”

“I don’t know. Give me a time to pick you up and by then I’ll have it all together.”

“I don’t know you like that to be inviting you to my crib.”

“Aww, that’s low.”

“Well I don’t.”

“I can respect that. We’ll just arrange to meet somewhere.”

“Yeah, we can do that if I decide to go out with you.”

“You want that info, right?” When she didn’t respond he said, “Then you’ll be going out with me.”

“This is bullshit.”

“What?” Skye asked, acting as if he didn’t know what she was referring to.

Janay and Skye continued to kick it on the phone and Skye wasn’t even aware of the beige Impala tailing him. The streets had finally coughed up Skye’s name. Doc couldn’t believe that this out-of-towner had the balls to come on their land, set up shop and eat lovely off their hard-earned sweat, blood and loot. But Doc swore to himself that this nigga wouldn’t live to see daybreak.

At the light Doc did two more lines. His boys were right. That recent loss was all his fault. If he hadn’t been pillow-talking while laying up with this bitch-ass nigga Greg, Skye wouldn’t have known about his move. Doc had been trying to catch up with Greg but it was obvious that dude was ducking him out. But he knew he’d eventually catch up with him. Greg couldn’t stay away from the ass. And for now, he just needed to know where Skye laid his head.

Doc was so focused on Skye he failed to see the Caddy tailing him. Born had borrowed the ride from a friend, and going against his orders from Slim, here he was anxious to put Doc to sleep. He refused to have him around to tarnish Shadee’s reputation. His anger was sharpening his focus because he noticed that Doc seemed to be following that money-green Corvette.

When the Corvette pulled into a Hampton Inn, so did the Impala and the Caddy.

When Skye got out of his Vette, the Impala came to an abrupt stop and a figure jumped out and pointed a burner at his face. That’s when he realized that he had been followed and hadn’t even peeped it.

Splat!
The impact from the bullet penetrated his shoulder, causing Skye to jerk back. “Ahg!” he screamed and noticed that the shooter was the nigga he had jacked and tied up in the shower. “Fuck!” he gritted as he dropped down and crawled around to the other side to seek cover.

“Who you gonna jack now, pussy?” Doc yelled out.

Skye heard more shots pop off and wondered what the fuck was Doc shooting because it damn sure wasn’t him. Then he heard an unfamiliar voice yell, “You the pussy, nigga. And this here is for my uncle.” Skye heard four more shots fired, someone scream out, footsteps running followed by a car pulling off.

Then it got quiet.

Born smiled as he lit his blunt. He replayed in his mind that beautiful shot to Doc’s dome. It was no way in hell he’d survive the shot that split his wig, literally, in two. “Meet me at the crossroads,” he sang along with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Skye peeked over the hood and didn’t see anyone . . . not even his shooter, the nigga he had jacked. He wasted no time getting in his ride and pulling off. He fumbled with his cell phone and finally got the call through.

“Hello,” a familiar voice answered.

“Tommy.”

“Who is this?”

“Skye, man,” he gritted as he tried to drive and apply pressure on his shoulder at the same time.

“Skye? Long time no hear from. What’s up, dude?”

“I need to see you. I got one in me and I can’t stop the bleeding.”

“Whoa, whoa, dude. I got company.”

“C’mon, man, you know I can’t go to the hospital. It’s only one. Let me come over there.”

“Aww hell naw, you know the rules. Where you at?”

“I’m in my car.”

“Well park that muhfucka and I’ll come to you.”

Skye frowned as he looked around and noticed that he wasn’t too far from Crystal’s house. “I’m close to this broad’s house. You can meet me there.” He gave Tommy the address. “I owe you one.”

“Nigga owe? Have my paper when I get there. You know how I do it.”

“Nigga, just hurry up. I ain’t ready to die,” Skye teased.