Chapter 27
The long walk back to the bus station was made even longer by the thought of his mama sitting on that bench in a nod. He tried to tell himself that she was just tired from the walk, but the house full of Junkies wouldn’t allow him to. He found her in the same spot he’d seen her in hours before when he’d gotten off the bus.
“Mama, I’m home, Mama!” Billy said gently as he stood over Lady. It took three tries but she was finally able to tilt her heavy head back enough to look back. The boy felt his knees buckle when the weather beaten face came up. It lifted to reveal a yellow smile held in place by grey gums.
“Is that my baby?” Lady cheered. She rocked back and forth trying to stand, but couldn’t. Billy helped her up and then pulled her into his arms.
“It’s me, Mama. I’m here,” he said squeezing her tightly. “Come on, let’s go home.”
“We better wait for Mary. You know that gal still ain’t came home!” Lady fussed. If Billy had, had a heart it would surely have broken, but he didn’t so it didn’t. Instead he got angry and somebody would soon feel it.
“Taxi!” Billy called as he tried to hail a cab. The white drivers looked at the young black boy holding up the black junky and kept right on driving.
An older black driver gave him a
‘yeah right, I ain’t hardly finna take yo’ ass nowhere so you can hit me over the head and rob me’
look. He was about to push on until Billy pulled out some cash.
****
Billy’s first order of business when they arrived back at home was to expel all the riff raff. He kicked out all the junkies along with the stray cat with a “Y’all get the fuck out! Now!”
“Will you look at this shit!” he fussed when he looked at the tub. He’d planned on giving his mama a bath but she would get even dirtier if he put here in there. It took some doing but he managed to get it clean.
Billy ignored his mother’s nakedness and her stench as he stripped her to put her in the tub. He knew she needed to soak, a good while, so he left her to go clean up her room. The best he could do in her room was to drag the trash out to the curb.
Once Lady was washed he helped her into bed and tucked her in.
“I’ll fix us up somethin’ to eat,” he said and left her to do just that. The gas was shut off so even if there had been some food in the house he still wouldn’t be able to cook it. Instead of cooking he walked a block over and got them a couple of BBQ plates.
“Hey Baby! When did you get home?” Lady asked, as if it was the first time she’d seen Billy since his release.
“Just now, Mama. I bought you some dinner,” he said softly. He had been back for hours but she’d been sleeping so soundly that he hadn’t wanted to wake her.
“Thank yo—” Lady began then paused. Her face turned green and she threw up what little she had in her stomach. Junk food, wine, and cum mainly, all came back up. “I’m sick, baby. I needs me a hit!”
Billy knew enough about dope and dope addicts to know that saying no wasn’t an option. He used the works he found in her nightstand and cooked up the small amount of dope. It wouldn’t be enough to get her high but it should be enough to get her off sick.
“You a good boy,” Lady purred as her son slid the needle into a well-used vein. Lady let out a sigh of relief and farted when the dope began to spread throughout her body. Once she nodded Billy got up and walked out. He could’ve called Byron but he needed the air so he walked.
****
“Is that Dollar Bill!” Leroy exclaimed when Billy walked in. He knew he was home and was shocked that it had taken so long for him to show up. Billy nodded in reply as he scanned the area for his friend. When he failed to find him he walked over to greet the pimp.
“Sup Leroy?” he said stoically as if he were the only one present. The sound of his voice lifted Mandy out of her nod momentarily. She cracked a smile and then resumed what she was doing.
“Where Byron?” Billy asked, looking around for him once more.
“Byron? You should be getting you some pussy and instead you worrying about Byron! What, you took a liking to that boy pussy while you was away, huh?” the pimp teased.
“Huh? NO! I ain’t fuck no boys when I was down there,” Billy said launching into a long story that told Leroy that he was lying. “They was fuckin’, but not me! No sir! I…”
“Mandy take him to the back and fuck him,” Leroy demanded. The prostitute popped up immediately to obey the order. This was actually the precursor to on-demand movies.
Billy was too embarrassed by the talk of boy pussy to say no to some real pussy, so he got up and followed her into one of the back rooms used to turn tricks. She fell back on the narrow bed and pulled her skirt up to her stomach.
Mandy didn’t wear panties so her bushy box was in plain sight. Billy fondled it a bit to get it wet but it didn’t respond. As a result he was soft and limp when he pulled out.
“What you waiting on?” Mandy wondered. She lifted her head and got the answer seeing he was still soft. She sat up and gulped him into her mouth.
Billy watched with curiosity as she worked her mouth on him. Her dry mouth also failed to get any results. It wasn’t until thoughts of Carl popped into his head that he got an erection. Once the wood was good and solid she lay back again and spread her legs.
“Come on,” Mandy invited and parted her lips with one hand and pulled him down by his dick with the other. “Go on hump!”
“Hump? It ain’t even in yet,” Billy replied. He looked down to correct the situation and found he was buried in to the hilt in her worn out box. He took a few pumps but barely felt her walls.
“What you doing?” Mandy protested when he pulled out and roughly flipped her over. She got her answer when he plunged inside of her anus. “I’m telling Leroy!”
“So!” Billy shot back and kept right on going. He didn’t even bother pulling out when he came a few minutes later. When the spasms subsided he snatched out and stood. Mandy had fallen into another deep nod so he used her dress to wipe himself clean before leaving the room.
“You good?” Leroy asked with a wide grin. “Where Mandy?”
“Yeah, I’m good. She sleep,” he replied and sat down. Leroy pushed a cold beer across to him and he quickly took a sip. Byron finally arrived and spared him from any more uncomfortable small talk with the pimp.
“There go my nigga!” Byron yelled as he slid into the booth. He slid a thick envelope over to Leroy and then hugged his friend.
Billy watched Leroy squeeze the envelope and then put it in his pocket. He wondered why he didn’t count the money, not knowing that’s what the squeeze was about.
“You ready to get you some money too?” Leroy asked, watching Billy watching him. “Yo’ lil partna’ got him a lil’ stable, a caddy, and a pocket full of bread. Don’t you boy?”
“Yassir!” Byron cheered and nodded.
“I guess so,” Billy replied unsurely. He’d been the leader when he left so this new role was confusing to him.
“I’m finna take Dollar Bill out! Gon’ get him high and get him some pussy!” Byron exclaimed. Billy couldn’t help but notice the appeal in his tone. He was stating it, he wasn’t asking for permission.
“Yeah, he look a lil’ uptight. He done had some pussy, but he still definitely needs some reefer. We’ll talk tomorrow,” Leroy replied. The boys took their leave and walked out of the pool hall. Byron’s car was right outside so they quickly got in.
“What he mean you got some pussy already?” Byron asked once they were seated in the car. He then pulled out a stick of reefer and pushed the car’s lighter in.
“If you can call it that! Mandy got the Grand Canyon between her legs. I need to go find Shawna with that good-good, that wet-wet, that tight-tight!”
“There she go,” Byron replied pointing towards the corner. Billy looked then squinted his eyes to look again.
“Where? All I see is some skinny junkies!” he gave up.
“That’s Shawna, Shonda, and Bernice!” Byron said as he pointed them out. “They all work for me now.”
“Damn, err’body on the dope now! Why you ain’t tell me my mama was on it too?” Billy asked with pain in his voice.
“Cuz, it wouldn’t have changed nothin’. I brang her somethin’ err’day to keep her off the streets. That’s the best I could do.” Byron said solemnly. He then slid Billy a small package to take home.
“That’s something,” Billy said twisting his lips again at the thought that his mama could’ve been out on that corner too.
“Look-it!” Byron cheered as he pulled a long pistol from under his seat. “Case one of these niggas try me when I make my pick-ups fo’ Leroy.”
“Lemme see,” Billy said reaching for the pistol. He felt a surge of power when the gun hit his hand. He looked at it lustfully as he studied the pistol in his palm. Byron watched with a curious frown since he’d never had the feeling. Then again he wasn’t a killer.
“Here,” he finally said trading the reefer for his gun back. He tucked it back under the seat and put the car in gear.
“Drop me by Shonda’s house,” Billy tossed out as they rode.
“Fo’ what? She on the corner!” Byron said ready to turn around.
“Not fo’ Shonda, I’m tryna see her mama!”
Chapter 28
“I gotta go,” Billy announced when he saw the sun rising outside of the bedroom window. He looked down at Shonda’s mama riding him backwards and repeated himself.
“Huh?” she asked looking over her shoulder. The fact that she picked up her pace told him that she’d heard him so he didn’t bother repeating himself. Instead he took her hips in his hands and slammed himself upwards inside of her. She came with a grunt and then tipped over to catch her breath.
“I need to hol’ yo’ car until later, if it’s okay?” he asked with great timing. The woman couldn’t even catch her breath, let alone say no.
“O–o–o–ok,” she huffed and puffed. If he had her car she figured he’d have to come back.
Billy pulled to a stop in front of his house and drifted off into his head. He wondered what he would find once he went inside. If he found Lady dead it would mean a lot less work for him. That thought quickly snapped him out of his head and into the house.
“Lady!” he called out hoping that she didn’t answer. “Mama!”
“In here baby,” Lady moaned. Billy stepped into her room to find her curled into a tight ball in the middle of her bed. “I needs my medicine. Is Leroy here?”
“Leroy?” Billy asked hotly. “Why you askin’ ‘bout him?”
“Where Byron at? I needs my shot!” Lady pleaded. She sounded so pitiful he didn’t waste any more time fixing up her fix. He’d been so busy pleasing Shonda’s mama that he’d left his own to wallow in sweat from the grips of withdrawals.
“That’s right, mama,” he replied softly to the satisfied smile spreading on her face. He waited until she went into a proper nod before he got up and left.
****
Billy’s first stop in Shonda’s mama car was to Stein Brother’s Clothing. The two old Jews supplied the colorful clothes favored by the flamboyant pimps. He definitely wanted some clown clothes of his own, but today he was looking for something a little more conservative.
The dark grey suit, tie, and shoes he purchased ate up all the money Byron had given him, but it didn’t matter. He may have been broke but he looked like a million dollars. He knew the address that he was headed to next like he knew the back of his own hand so he took the back streets to get there.
A scowl grew on Billy’s handsome face when he drove by Pastor Paul’s street on his way to his destination. It turned back into a smile as he looked at the upscale houses on the good side of town. He found his destination and pulled to a stop. The average person would have had to psyche themselves up to do what he was about to do, but not Dollar Bill. He wasn’t the average person, he was psycho.
“Yes?” A very pretty, very light skin black lady asked when she pulled her door open. She couldn’t help but to notice how handsome the caller was yet he was far too brown to be calling on her daughter.
“May I speak with AnJanay please?” Billy asked properly and politely, as he’d been taught to do in Junior Pastor Team.
“Why?” AnJanay’s mother demanded. They were born and bred to be yellow and she intended to keep it that way. A brown grandchild would be unacceptable amongst her group of high society, high yellow friends.
“Who’s there?” AnJanay asked when she heard her name. She looked around her mother to see the boy standing there.
“That’s what I would like to know,” her mother replied. “Are you selling something?”
“No, Ma’am. My name is Reverend Cash, William Cash and I’m with Pastor Paul at First Calvary Baptist Holiness Church of the Rock and…”
“Well, we attend First Presbyterian,” the elder lady said and then began to close the door. The white folks allowed them to worship in their annex so they had no desire to hoop and holler with the niggers.
“Ma’am, I also counseled at the reform school. I knew Carl…” Billy said as the door shut in his face.
“Wait, Mother!” AnJanay insisted and pushed the door back open. Her mother let out a deep sigh and let her by. “You knew Carl?!”
“Yes, Ma’am. I met him along with the other boys at the reform school. I really took a liking to Carl. He was very warm, tender, and tight on the inside,” Billy said contritely.
“Tight?” AnJanay’s mother frowned.
“Bright, he was very bright. A very smart young man,” Billy quickly corrected.
“He sure was! I can’t believe that he’s gone,” AnJanay moaned and broke down into sobs. Her mother shot the intruder a
‘look what you did now’
glance from the side. It had taken months to get her daughter to stop crying after Carl’s death and just that quickly it had started back up again. To be honest, she was quite relieved that Carl wouldn’t be coming back, after embarrassing them all.
“I… don’t have…” Billy said as he patted himself down for a handkerchief.
“I’ll get a tissue,” her mother sighed and turned to go get one. Billy wasted no time whipping out a pen and piece of paper.
“Give me your number, so I can call and counsel you,” he urged. She got caught up in his sense of urgency and quickly scribbled down her number. He put it in his pocket just in the nick of time.
“Here you are, dear” her mother said when she returned. She frowned suspiciously, feeling like she’d just missed something.
“Well, thank you for stopping by. I’m glad that Carl had nice people in his life in his last days,” AnJanay sniffled.
“It was a pleasure to be with him. I really got into Carl,” Billy said. He then offered a slight curtsey before turning to leave. Both women watched his butt as he walked away. They didn’t close the door until he reached his car.