Carl Weber's Kingpins (18 page)

Without any signs of nervousness she straight lied, “His name is Trevor. He's in one of my classes at school.”

“Oh,” he said as he got busy eating his sundae.

On the other side of the table Taj looked as if she was about to pass out. She stared at her girl, who seemed to be all cool and calm like nothing was wrong. Taj grinned and gave Shayla a look of admiration that silently said, “You go, girl!”

“You got some huge nuts, nigga! I can't believe you actually went over there and got at that broad wit' her nigga sittin' right on the other side of the room,” Tippi stated angrily.

“All I did was speak, damn. It ain't like I tried to get at her or nothin'. Besides, if that nerdy-lookin' nigga would have said some slick shit I would have let you deal with his ass,” replied King.

Shaking her head no, Tippi said, “Uh-uh, nigga, you would have been on yo' own with that one. You was bad for leavin' me to go talk to that bitch in the first place. Especially after all that dick you been servin' me.”

Ever since their first sexual encounter it seemed as if King couldn't get enough of Tippi. They made love damn near every night since. Lawanda had been calling King, trying her best to get him to come over to her house so he could break her off. He refused because, for some reason, he just couldn't get enough of Tippi. All of that was momentarily forgotten as soon as he saw Shayla. Tippi may have had his body locked down for the moment, but Shayla still had total possession of his heart.
Damn, and I can't even have her. Ain't that a bitch!

“You need to get that bitch off your mind and get yo' head right. We got a funeral to go to in the mornin', nigga.”

“Yeah, I know. That shit gon' be crazy. I hope that nigga Keko don't lose it.”

“Don't lose it? Nigga, that was his wifey! That nigga is gon' be mad hurt once we lay her in the ground. All we can do is stand by his side and try to help him through this shit. I think he'll be a'ight during the funeral, though. What you should be worried 'bout is how he's gon' be once it's over. So far you've been able to hold his ass back, but I doubt if you'll be able to put any of that shit down after we bury Neecy. That nigga is gon' flip the fuck out,” Tippi said seriously.

“I know, but I got something for his ass.”

“What's that?”

King smiled and said, “He's goin' on a vacation and a business trip all at the same time.”

“What the fuck are you talkin' 'bout?”

“I'm sendin' his ass out to Cali to take care of somethin' for me and to rest his mind a li'l bit.”

“Some rest? Nigga, if you think that Keko gon' go for some shit like that then you're outta your fuckin' mind!”

“Wanna bet?”

“You fuckin' right! How much you tryin' to lose, nigga?”

“A stack.”

“Fuck that! Make it ten stacks!”

“Bet.”

“Bet,” Tippi replied. She noticed that Shayla and her companions were leaving the restaurant and said, “Your bitch is leavin'. You don't want to run over and say good-bye to her and her man, do you?”

He frowned and said, “Fuck you.”

Tippi started laughing and said, “Maybe later on, Mr. Big Dick.”

 

Neecy's funeral was one of the saddest moments King had ever experienced. Keko took it harder than he had expected. He threw himself over the closed casket and screamed out Neecy's name over and over, begging God to bring back his wifey. It took King, Flex, Spook, and Tippi to finally get him back to his seat with the rest of Neecy's family. Not only was the funeral extremely sad, during the final prayer at the cemetery Keko and Neecy's mom went ballistic. Which in turn had everyone else crying their eyes out. King included. By the time the preacher finished with the final rites, there wasn't a dry face in the entire cemetery. As they were walking back toward the small fleet of limousines that King rented for Neecy's family, Keko stepped up to King and said, “I need to holla at ya for a minute, dog.”

After leading King away from the rest of the family, Keko told him, “I know you want to fall back and let this shit die down. I respect that 'cause I respect the rules of the game. I've tried not to let my anger and pain cloud my judgment, G, but it just ain't workin' no more. I got to have 'em niggas, King. I'm not tryin' to fuck up yo' money or put anyone else in the way. This is all 'bout me. My wifey has been laid down now, dog. I got to do what I got to do. 'Em fools gots to die by my hand.”

Staring his man directly in the eyes, King said, “No question, G. But there's a time and a place for everything. Charlie has my hands tied for the moment 'cause of all the work and shit. Charlie keeps the blanket around us. If we lose that protection then we're open game for the Ones as well as 'em alphabet boys. I'm not tryin' to go back to nobody's jail, dog, and I know you ain't either.”

“Jail is the last thing on my mind. All I want to do is get each and every one of 'em niggas. Once that's a done deal I can have some kind of peace with myself. We buried that girl today 'cause of me. Me and my greed. That's what hurts me the most. I gots to do what I gots to do, King. Please, don't get in my way, nigga. I'm beggin' you, dog, let me do me,” Keko pleaded.

Once again King stared at his man and said, “Check it, in order for this to be put down, it has to be put down right. I need you and Spook to fly out to L.A. and hook up with my peoples. They gon' hook us up with the right equipment to do this thang right.”

“What are you talkin' 'bout?”

King then went on to explain, “Some of my peoples from Compton are gon' give us some heavy, and I do mean heavy, firepower. I'm talkin' 'bout hand grenades and some mo' shit. Y'all gon' have to drive them shits back out this way. When you get back, then we'll handle them clowns. And I promise you with all of that shit we gon' have, we won't miss, real talk.”

Keko stared at King for a few seconds and asked, “This shit on the up and up? You ain't tryin' to shake a nigga, are you?”

“Come on wit' that shit, dog, you know I don't play games with real niggas. I'm not gon' lie; I'm also bankin' on the time you're out that way you calm down a li'l bit. Regardless, it is what it is when you get back. My word.”

“How long is it goin' to take to put everything in motion?”

“Everything is everything already. Y'all flight leaves in the mornin' at ten. When y'all make it to the West my niggas will be there to take y'all to get a suite at the W 'til everything is put in order for y'all return.”

“What you mean by that, dog?”

“I'm havin' someone drive a Suburban out to Cali for y'all to use for the drive back out here. I don't want y'all on that highway wit' all of that shit driving a vehicle with Cali plates. It'll look better if y'all had a ride wit' Oklahoma tags. Feel me?”

“Yeah, I feel yo' slick ass,” Keko said with a smile on his face.

King returned his man's smile and said, “Come on, let's go chill wit' the fam. We'll talk 'bout the rest of the details while we get our eat on.”

* * *

Later that evening, while King and Tippi were lying next to each other on King's California king-sized bed, he told her, “I'm gon' need you in the mornin'.”

“What's up?” Tippi asked as she turned and faced him.

He smiled and said, “I want you to take Keko and Spook to the airport. Their flight leaves at ten, so you're goin' to have to get up early in order to have 'em there on time.”

Tippi smiled and punched him lightly on his chest and said, “You sneaky-ass nigga, how you do it?”

“Do what?”

“You know what! How did you get Keko to agree to that California shit?”

He laughed and told her about his plans for Keko and Spook to acquire some weapons for them. What he didn't inform her of was the fact that his people in Compton were not really his people at all; they were Charlie's. When Spook and Keko arrived in California, Charlie's people would take them to their hotel suite and lead them on a nice long run-around. By the time they did get the weapons that they came for, a minimum of thirty days would have passed. That's how long King figured he'd need. Hopefully, by then Keko would have calmed down. If not, then he'd have to think of something else. There was no way he was going to mess up his plug with Charlie. No way.

After he was finished he said, “Okay, this is what we're goin' to do 'bout what you owe.”

“What I owe? Nigga, I know you ain't gon' take no ten stacks from me! Not after all of this good pussy I've been given yo' ass,” Tippi said as she reached under the covers and gently fondled his nut sack.

“Hmmmm, that shit feels good right there, baby, but you are in the red and I could use some extra chips to blow. You know my birthday is comin' up. Ouch! Girl, what the fuck you doin'?”

Tippi laughed and started back rubbing his balls after she had given them a real hard squeeze for his slick remarks. “Yeah, I know your birthday is comin' up. What you wanna do? Fly somewhere real fly and kick it this year or what?”

“I was thinkin' 'bout throwin' a party at Déjà Vu. You know, get real flossy wit' it and clown a li'l bit. It'll be fun for everyone to come out and get they shine on.”

“That li'l nigga Nutta gon' love some shit like that.”

“Boleg and Cuddy too.”

“Do you want me to start hookin' that up?”

“Yeah, get on top of that for me.”

“A'ight. Now, I'll pay you what I owe you.”

“You got my money on you?” He smiled.

“Uh-uh. I thought I'd start payin' you back like this,” she said as she ducked her head under the covers and started sucking him off.

“Mmmmmm, that's a damn good way to start,” he moaned.

* * *

“What are you going to do for your birthday this year, girl?” Taj asked.

“I don't know. I'm tired of going out of town, so I hope Marco doesn't come up with any surprise trips this year. We've done that way too much. It's gettin' old,” said Shayla.

“Leave it to your ass to say traveling is old. Girl, it ain't like you been all around the world yet. There's plenty of exotic places y'all can go.”

“I know, but I'd rather stay here and do something in the city. It's been a minute since I spent my birthday at home.”

“Why don't you throw a party then?”

“Come on, that's so corny.”

“No, it's not! Especially if you let your man take care of it. Shit, you can have the most talked-about party this city has ever seen.”

“You think so?”

“Do I? Run it by Marco and see what he says. You know how that nigga gets down. Shit, he might even fly in Diddy or some wild way-out shit like that.”

Shayla laughed and said, “Marco has a li'l pull, but I doubt he got it like that!”

“That nigga has chips, and with the right amount of chips anything is possible, girl, even here in li'l old Oklahoma City.”

“Whatever. I'll talk to him about it when he gets home, though. It might be fun to have a party. God knows it's been a long time since I've had one.”

“All right then, girl, give me a holla when you've talked to him about it.”

“Okay, bye, girl,” Shayla said as she hung up the phone.
September seventh I'll be twenty
-
six years old,
Shayla thought as she relaxed on the bed. She rubbed her stomach and said, “Twenty-six years old and still no direction with my life. Ugh!”

* * *

Tippi was gone the next morning when King opened his eyes. He climbed out of the bed and got dressed. He had a busy day ahead of him. After he was dressed and inside of his car he called Lawanda, who had been blowing up his phone all damn night. “What you want?” he asked as soon as she answered the phone.

“I need to talk to you. Why haven't you returned any of my calls, King?”

“I been busy.”

“When can you come over here?”

“Why you ain't at work?”

“I took the day off. If your ass wouldn't have called me back I was coming to the north to find you today.”

“Yeah? Is somethin' wrong with the kids?”

“Nah, this ain't 'bout them.”

“Well, what's it 'bout then?”

“You.”

“Look, I don't have time for games, Lawanda. What the fuck do you want?”

“You comin' at me foul and all I'm doin' is lookin' out for your best interests. You need to calm the fuck down. When can you get over here? 'Cause what I got to say can't be said over no damn phone.”

He checked his watch, sighed, and said, “I'll be there in 'bout twenty.”

“A'ight.”

“Oh, and, Lawanda?”

“What's up?”

“If this is some bullshit you on, I'm gon' slap the shit outta yo' fuckin' ass. Do you hear me?”

“Yeah, nigga, I hear yo' ass,” she said and hung up the phone.

Twenty minutes later King pulled into Lawanda's driveway. He jumped out of the car and strolled toward the front door. Lawanda opened the door before he made it there and said, “Well, well, look at the father of my children lookin' dope boy fresh as ever.”

“You better fuckin' believe it. Now, what's up?”

Once he was inside of the house she closed the front door and joined him in the living room. She sat next to him on the couch and said, “I do expect to be blessed if what I tell you turns out to be important. Agreed?”

“Yeah, yeah, I got ya.”

“Your man, Flex, is making some power moves. He's even thinkin' 'bout shakin' you and your peoples.”

“Where did you get this from?”

“He's fuckin' a friend of mines. She turned him on to some white boys who be spendin' a lot of money. He's made a whole bunch of money off of her and her people. At first he was breakin' her off lovely, but now he's on some grimy shit, shakin' her ass off and not kickin' it like he was. She called me and told me of his plans of doin' him. She even told me that he's thinkin' 'bout gettin' with some nigga you got beef with out on the south side. Flamboyant, I think is his name.”