Crackhead (21 page)

Dame was his own man. He was tired of taking orders, especially from an ol' cocky, ego-trippin' nigga. Dink was talking some bullshit and he didn't like it. Dame felt like he was in a position to make things happen without him. “Let me put you on to something, my man,” Dame said slyly. “You ain't no-fuckin'-body. Before I came into the fold, niggas was doing whatever the fuck they wanted around here. Now you talkin' 'bout respect the block.
I
brought the fear to this side, yo. My gun ring off! All that bullshit you poppin', you need to slow it up before you find yaself in a bad way. Word to mine, son.”

“What?” Dink said, looking at the phone.
I know this nigga ain't trying to threaten me.
“Aiight. We gon' see about this shit.” He slammed the phone down.

Dame was playing himself and he needed to be checked. Dink had long let all the little bullshit slide—the hoes, the slick-ass comments, et cetera. Well, now it was time to take action.

Dink immediately paged Smurf from the pay phone, but he put in his car phone number. He needed to put things in order within his camp. He couldn't focus on helping Laci if his own affairs weren't in order. That just wouldn't do.

He had almost forgotten all about the food, so he rushed back into the chicken spot and placed an order. Crystal was switching the dials on the radio when Dink finally got back in the car. He handed her the food without saying a word. She immediately noticed that something was wrong. His body had become rigid and he was flexing his jaw muscle.

“What's the matter, Dink?” she asked with a look of concern.

“Nothing I can't handle,” he assured her. “I'm just waiting on a phone call. Did my phone ring?”

“No. Who you waiting on a call from?” Crystal asked. She couldn't help but wonder if he was expecting a call from Laci. Monique said she'd seen Dink driving her around the hood yesterday. “Must be important if it's got you all uptight like this.”

“It's just business.”

Dink tried to hide his anger, but he knew Crystal picked up on it. He wanted to tell her what was wrong with him and be comforted, but he couldn't put his team at risk, especially his lil' man. Before Dink could think on it further, the car phone rang.

“What's up, D?” Smurf asked from the other end. “Your shit read
9-1-1.
What's poppin'?”

“Ain't nothing,” Dink huffed. “Got some shit that I need you to do, though.”

“Just give me the basics,” Smurf said, paying full attention.

“Ya man,” Dink began. “The nigga you was wit' a while ago. You know who I'm talking about?”

“Yeah,” Smurf said, smiling and rubbing his dick. Just the thought of puttin' one in Dame gave him a hard-on. “I know just who you mean, son.”

“His time is up.” The phone sounded as if it had gone dead. “You still there?”

“Yeah, I'm here,” Smurf confirmed.

“You heard me?”

“Yeah, I heard.”

Smurf and Dame were all right since they had been hanging lately, but they weren't like he and Dink were. They had fucked some bitches and gotten high together, but that shit didn't count for much at the moment. What mattered was that Dink wanted him gone, and he had called on Smurf to do it. The teen knew
that Dink had something brewing in his heart, and he would be busy for the next few weeks. Getting the go-ahead to do Dame was cake. But if ever the day came when Dink asked him to do Marco . . . that shit would be the icing.

“Time frame?” Smurf asked.

“Yesterday,” Dink replied.

“Aiight. Consider it a done deal. What about his business?”

“That nigga ain't gon' make or break my shit. This has been a long time comin'.”

“Yeah, I knew this was gon' happen. I knew that if you weren't makin' plans to take care of him, the business was going to eventually fall apart. That nigga wants to shine more than he wants to grind. He wanted your spotlight, boss. Even God had to eventually throw Satan's ass out the gates.”

“Yeah,” Dink said with a sigh as he listened to the lil' nigga make sense. “You can only give a nigga a pass but so many times. He asked for it.” Dink paused. “I know you two was gettin' kind of cool there for a minute. You got a problem wit' it?”

“It's whatever you say,” Smurf said, avoiding the trap. “You my nigga, and I'ma rock wit' you.”

“Keep this quiet. I want to tell Marco about this myself. I know that he ain't gon' have no problems with it. He can't stand that nigga. If it wasn't for me, Marco would've tried to fire him on his own.”

“I doubt that,” Smurf chuckled. “But that's ya man. I'll get wit' ya tomorrow, son.” Smurf hung up the phone and went back to reading
The Devil's Tear Drop.
Dame was cool, but Dink was his employer. Smurf wasn't trying to bite the hand that was feeding him. Dame had to go.

Dink hung up the phone and took a deep breath. He hated that it had to go down this way, but fuck it. He figured he was
getting ready to start a new life anyhow, so he needed to rework some things. He would eventually sever ties with the streets, but not just yet. Things needed to be put into perspective.

Dink scratched his chin and thought about what he was going to do next. He turned to say something to Crystal and she hopped into his lap. She grabbed Dink by the face and threw her tongue in his mouth. She kissed him long and passionately. He returned her affection, but the thought of killing Dame, cutting her off, and hanging up his hustler's hat made him pull away.

“Crystal, what are you doin'?” He was not in the least interested in her.

“What does it look like I'm doin'? I can see you have a lot on your mind right now. Let me help you forget about some of it. Now stop fighting me, Dink.”

“Crystal . . .” Dink said, hesitating.

“Don't fight me, baby,” Crystal whispered, kissing him again. “Ain't you tired of fighting?”

“Hold that thought.” He looked down at his beeper. “I'll be right back.” Dink hopped out of his car and went to use the pay phone. It was Marco. He couldn't wait to reveal his master plan, but there was no way he could have this conversation in front of Crystal.

“Talk to me,” Marco said into the phone.

“It's D. You just paged me, man?”

“What up, nigga?”

“Man, what
ain't
up,” Dink replied, running his hand down his face. “I got lots of shit to holla at you about.”

“Oh, yeah? What it look like?”

“Man, I'm thinking about making some changes.”

“Changes like what?” Marco asked.

“First off, I'm 'bout to cut Crystal off.”

“Yeah, and?” Marco said, knowing that there was more. Dink took a deep breath.

“And I'm thinking about early retirement, fam.”

“Get the fuck outta here!” Marco shouted in disbelief.

“Naw, man. I ain't playing,” Dink assured him. “I've been runnin' the streets all my life, son. There's gotta be something better out here for me.” Dink had a view of his car from where he stood. He looked through the car window at Crystal, who just happened to be smiling at him. “As a matter of fact, I
know
there's something better out there for me.”

“Well, when did all of this shit happen?” Marco said.

“Man, I've been thinkin' about this for a grip now,” Dink said. “I just see myself doin' something bigger and better. I can't see me doin' this shit at thirty-five, forty years old. I might want to have a wife and a family someday.”

“A wife and family?” Marco gasped. “What kind of shit you smokin'?”

“My head has never been clearer,” Dink told him. “I know what I want for my life.”

“Man, you sound like a whole different dude. I hope you know what you're doin'. You know what they say about gettin' out of the game, son.”

“Yeah, but with a good woman by me, I can do this shit, man.”

“But you just said you was 'bout to cut your woman off,” Marco reminded him.

“I ain't talkin' 'bout her,” Dink said, looking over at Crystal.

“Then who you talkin' 'bout?”

“You don't know her.”

“Nigga, I know everybody you know,” Marco said, sucking his teeth. “Who is she? Where is she from?”

Dink closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He might as well put it out there. In the hood, the shit was gon' get out there regardless. It might as well come from the horse's mouth.

“Laci. Her name is Laci.”

“Laci? Who the fuck is Laci?”

Dink gave a sigh of relief that Marco hadn't heard anything about a Laci on the streets. “I told you that you didn't know her, man, so just let it go.”

“Whatever, man.”

“You sound upset,” Dink teased.

“How long have you known her?” Marco grilled him.

“Long enough,” Dink said.

“How long is long enough?” Marco said, not about to let Dink slide with that lame-ass answer.

“I don't know. About a month,” Dink answered.

“What? A month? What kind of shit you on, nigga? You ready to give up the game for a girl you ain't known but a month?” Marco was too beside himself. “You playin' yourself, D. You playin' your crew.” Marco had his own reasons for not wanting Dink to give up the life and run off with some bitch.

“Nah, Marco, you wrong about that. I think I'm gon' marry this girl.”

Marco started laughing out of frustration. “How the fuck you gon' marry somebody you've only known a month, dude? Do that sound smart to you?”

Dink turned his back to Crystal, who he had a feeling was trying her hardest to listen to his conversation. “Yo, I ain't talkin' 'bout gettin' married right away,” he whispered. “We gonna establish a relationship and maybe get a place together in Boston or some shit. It'll be a while before I settle down and get married, but I'm gonna do it one day.”

“Whatever you're using is what we need to be selling, 'cause it's got you fucked up,” Marco laughed.

Dink chuckled. “You crazy, yo.”

“No, you the one that's crazy,” Marco said. “I know one thing, though. If you leave, me and Dame gon' knock heads like a muthafucka.”

Dink grinned. “Well, you ain't gon' have to worry about Dame much longer.”

“What you talkin' 'bout?” Marco asked curiously.

“Like I said, you ain't gon' have to worry about that nigga.”

“Why? Is he tryin' to run off and get married too?”

“Nah. That nigga's time is up. He's done.”

“Well, it's about fuckin' time,” Marco said. “You know if it wasn't for you, I would've
been
cancelled the nigga. What made you finally pull the trigger on that fool?”

“He just don't listen,” Dink half-lied. “And he's been doin' a lot of shit that he needs to pay for. I don't really want to get into all of that, but he gon' pay.”

“Man, if you could see the smile on my face.”

“Yeah, I knew you were gon' like to hear that.”

“You put Smurf on him?”

“Yeah. He got that covered. And you need to stay away from Dame if you don't want to get caught in the crossfire.”

“Bet,” Marco said. “But back to this marriage shit. I still feel funny about that.”

“Nigga, you act like I'm talking about tomorrow. It ain't like that. I just met somebody I click with. I want all my niggas to meet that special girl in their life one day. Then you'll see what I'm talkin' about.”

“Fuck bitches, man,” Marco said hatefully. “I ain't fuckin' with them like that.”

“Damn, kid. You're the most woman-hating man I've ever met in my life. I should know, my daddy was a pimp.” Dink didn't want to press the subject. Marco and women was always a touchy subject. “Don't nothin' feel as good as a warm pussy, nigga.”

“Whatever,” Marco said, sucking his teeth.

Crystal had had enough of Dink's phone calls. She honked his horn to get him to rush his conversation and get back in the car.

“Yo, let me get out of here,” Dink said. “I'll speak to you first thing tomorrow. Better yet, as soon as I hear from Smurf, I'll call you.”

D
INK LOOKED INTO
Laci's eyes and felt sheer passion.

Everything after that seemed to go in slow motion. They both exhaled when their lips touched. They shared a kiss that only soul mates share. Laci massaged the top of Dink's head, and he softly began caressing her breasts.

“Hold on,” Dink said, pulling away.

“What?” Laci whined.

“I can't do this, Laci.”

“This?” Laci asked, puzzled. “What do you mean
this
?”

“I can't disrespect you like this,” he said, looking around. “In a car? No, I won't allow you to go out like that.”

“Please allow me to,” Laci said, clawing at his pants and trying to kiss him again.

“Goddammit, Laci, no,” he said, grabbing her. “You deserve better than some dude fucking you in a car.”

“But you're not just some dude, Dink,” Laci said, stroking him softly.

“You know what I mean, girl. Regardless of what you've been out here doing, you ain't some whore who drops her panties in the front seat of no man's car, and I'm not going to ever treat you like that. Don't ever allow yourself to be treated like that either.”

Dink paused as Laci climbed from his lap and sat back in the passenger seat. Laci had never been with a man who wanted to stop when things got hot and heavy. She knew Dink wanted to fuck her because his dick was rock hard, but he showed restraint out of respect. She knew at this point that what came out of his mouth was legitimate and he meant business.