Gutta Mamis (7 page)

Tandra met Lenora's eyes. Lenora's mouth opened, shame clouded her face. “Tandy, I didn't know…”

“Lenora, what did you do?”

Sweat poured down Crown's brow. “This is one of your people?” Crown gasped.

Tandra nodded.

“You fucked up,” Crown whispered. “You fucked up, sexy lady.”

Tandra met his eyes.

Detrick pushed past Tandra to stand directly in front of Crown. “It didn't have to be like this. I told you I was doing my own thing. You should have let me go.”

“You stole from me. You don't steal and walk away.” Crown dragged himself to a chair and sat down.

“I didn't steal from you, Crown. I learned the game and used it, the way you did. That ain't stealing.”

“You cut a side deal. And didn't offer up any tax on it to me or to those who have embraced you.” Crown spat phlegm at the floor. “You are a thief, dumb bombaclot.” The words curled around Crown's tongue like a marble in his mouth. “And now, now you are a dead man.”

Detrick shrugged. “I was a dead man, anyway, right? It was just a matter of time. But you crossed the line. PJ? My son's mother? You did that?”

Crown shrugged. “She was nothing but a low-paid trick. And the pussy was a tad bit raggedy, anyway.” He laughed; a weak sound
of fury. “I figured I would fuck her one last time before I let my boys get a taste. Let her do what she specialized in before she took her last breath.” Crown sized Detrick up, his eyes traveling up and down his body. “And look at you. Supposed to be a man, standing here signing your own death sentence over a fiend.” Crown pressed his fist against his thigh. “Pathetic.”

Detrick stared at him as if he didn't hear a word Crown had said. Instead his lips moved, like he was having a private conversation with himself. He nodded his head, lifted the gun and riddled Crown's body full of bullets. Tandra flinched, but didn't move. She was going to distract Detrick out of his trance, that was for sure.

She met Lenora's eyes again; this time her own eyes were blank. Emotion had been wiped clean. Lenora was now an enemy and would be handled like one.

“What did you do, Nora?”

“I didn't know you were going to be here.”

“You sure about that? I called you a hundred times. Or did you decide you were going to come in during the meeting and do me, like he just did Crown.”

Detrick snorted at Tandra's comment. He stood over Crown and stared at him. “Your empire is mine now. Trust.”

“Tandy, listen to me, I went to Detrick's like you said. To ask for double for the cleaning. But he ain't have nothing to do with the cleaning. He just put it together.”

No explanation would matter to Tandra. Maybe Lenora didn't realize that. “You went over there in the same clothes, Nora. Then you come up in here wearing them? With all the bodies you touched and all the shit we cleaned, you still wearing the same fucking clothes?” Tandra's normal calm broke; she could hear herself screaming.

“I was just trying to let him know that you wanted double.”

“You fucked him?”

Silence. Lenora looked at the floor.

“I am going to ask you again. Did you fuck my client?”

“It's wasn't like that.”

“Enough of the bullshit, Nora. Just tell her.” Detrick pushed his gun back in the side strap and pulled out a cigarette.

“Tell me what?” Tandra crossed her arms and stared at Detrick, who smiled at her.

“I been fucking Nora for months,” Detrick said with a shrug. “She a'ight.”

Tandra laughed, her eyes glinting fury. “See, Nora, I told you he was an asshole.”

“No doubt.” Detrick lit a cigar and took out his cell phone and called someone. “Come to Enjami. Now,” he demanded.

When he hung up the phone, he and Tandra looked at each other and shook their heads in unison.

Lenora looked back and forth between the two as if she were left out of some sick joke. Why was she never included in the silent conversations that happened all around her? It was obvious they thought she was a fool, some little errand girl who didn't deserve any respect.

“I'm a'ight?” Lenora faced Detrick. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Shorty, I'm not feelin' it right now. You need to take it down.”

“What it means, little girl, is that he is simply fucking you. And in the process of getting fucked, you put my business at risk.”

“That's all you care about, Tandy? Is your business?”

Tandra ignored her and looked at Detrick. “Why are you coming in here blasting like this?”

Detrick bit his lip. “I've known you forever, Tandra. That's why I can't even be mad. Not really. Was PJ up in that spot?”

Tandra shook her head. “I don't know who PJ is.”

“A girl was up in there alive. The little girl told it.” Detrick didn't bother to look at Lenora, either. “She was mine, Tandra.”

Tandra bit her lip. “I didn't know. It would have been different, Detrick, had I known.” She moved closer to him. “You know that, right?”

“Who did it? Who pulled the trigger?”

“I did.” Tandra didn't hesitate. She looked him in his eye, power for power, respect for respect. “I'm not going to lie to you. I did it.”

A moment of silence passed between them. Tandra wasn't going to apologize, because she wasn't at fault. It was part of the job, part of the life. And Detrick understood that.

“This one here.” He pointed at Lenora without looking at her. “Loose lips, Tandra. You got to be careful with her.”

“Fuck both of y'all.” Lenora had her guns drawn, pointing at Detrick and Tandra.

Tandra felt her body temperature rise; her anger was making her blood boil. Detrick chuckled.

“Put that gun down, Nora,” Tandra said.

“No, I am sick of both of y'all. I am not stupid. I'm standing right here and y'all gonna act like I ain't even in the room—”

Detrick moved quickly, his gun trained on Lenora. “If you point a gun at me, you better be prepared to use it, stupid bitch!”

Tandra shook her head. “Don't do this, Lenora.”

Detrick chuckled, dropping his gun to his side. “Fuck this little girl.” Detrick turned his back on her and walked toward the bar. “I need a drink.”

“You gonna turn your back on me?” Lenora's hand began to shake
as a tear tumbled down her back. She hiccupped and shrieked at the same time. Tandra knew the look of craziness that crossed her face; the look of pure desperation just as a woman's heart breaks.

“Lenora, no!”

Tandra lunged at Lenora and bumped her arm just as she fired at Detrick's back. Another shot rang out into the air. Lenora gasped in surprise as the bullet hit her in the back and shoved her body forward with its momentum. She stumbled and looked down at her chest; blood trickled down the front of her body suit, the hole squarely between her breasts.

“Oh shit.” Detrick fell forward; the bullet had penetrated the back of his arm. “Did this trick just shoot me?”

Tandra looked around, trying to figure out where the shot that hit Lenora had come from.

Tears covered Lenora's face. “Tandy?”

Another shot hit Lenora in the back of the head. Tandy stepped toward her as Lenora fell into her arms.

Breeze stepped out of the shadows, smoke trailing from the tip of her gun.

Tandra stared down into Lenora's blank eyes.

Detrick rubbed his hand over his face.

The three of them said nothing for a long while. Detrick stood up when his cell phone beeped and started walking across the dance floor to the door.

“Tandra,” Detrick said just before he walked out, his voice quiet. “I need this scene cleaned.”

Kai is the author of the highly acclaimed urban fiction novel,
Daughter of the Game.
She is also receiving critical acclaim for the novel
The Loudest Silence,
a chilling and raw examination of the death of love.

A published and nationally recognized poet and writer, her poem, “Pre-Destiny,” was featured in the April 2008 issue of
Essence
magazine and she was a F
eatured
Poet in A Place Of Our Own (APOOO) national tribute in April 2008 and RAWSISTAZ Author Showcase, April 2007. Kai is a contributing poet i
n
Step Up to the Mic: A Poetry Explosion
, by Poetic Press (Xpress Yourself Publishing). A winner of the No Candles Infinity Contest, hosted by Osbey Books
, Kai is credited for writing emotionally raw and thought-provoking works and has been published in numerous anthologies and magazines under other pen names. Her highly anticipated sequel,
Daughter of the Game II: The Secret Keeper
, is now available. An alumni of Hampton University, SUNY Brockport and Georgetown University Law Center, she is a licensed attorney and proud parent. For more information, visit the author at www.authorkai.com
.

Roni and Kita sat in a stolen Chevy Trailblazer and watched the front door of their mark intently. At any minute, it would swing open and all hell would break loose.

Roni and Kita were members of the Get Money Bitches, three cold and heartless women who were about making paper by any means necessary. Whether it was carjacking, spot-rushing, or strong-arm robbery, the Get Money Bitches were all about clocking the dough. During their last spot-rushing heist, an unexpected problem had arisen and their leader, Jasmine, had to pump three hollow points into the owner of the house.

The fact that he wasn't supposed to be there in the first place contributed to his own demise. During the GMBs' week-long casing of the house, they had learned that the man and his wife consistently left the house together every Friday night around seven and didn't return until after nine. But on this particular day, the GMBs arrived to their surveillance spot just in time to see the couple's car pulling out of the driveway. They assumed that the couple was together, but they really couldn't tell since the BMW 325 had tinted windows. So when the GMBs made their move and broke into the house, they were surprised to see the man asleep in his recliner. He was startled awake when Kita accidentally knocked over a lamp.

The man, too brave for his own good, made a lunge toward Jasmine and got rewarded with three slugs to the stomach from a weapon he never actually laid eyes on. His wife had forgotten her purse and pulled back into the driveway in time to see the GMBs flee through the backyard. She couldn't see Roni's and Kita's faces but clearly made out Jasmine's. Her husband died two days later and now Jasmine was on trial for first-degree murder. Her attorney recommended copping a plea to a lesser charge, but the GMBs had other ideas.

Blunt smoke filled the cavity of the truck as Roni and Kita passed the get-high-stick back and forth. Roni looked at a picture of the mark again and shook her head.

“Damn,” she said. “I can't believe that we about to dirt a piece of ass this fine. I shuda asked Jasmine if I could rape this bitch first.”

“Roni, don't start that gay-ass shit,” Kita said. “You lucky I'm even lettin' yo pussy-eatin' ass hit this blunt.”

Roni laughed as she checked the clip in her AR-15 assault rifle. She had been bisexual since her fifteenth birthday, when her drunken gay aunt snuck into her room that night and gave her a birthday present she would never forget. Roni was five feet seven inches tall and built like a brick shit house. She kept her hair in Chinese bangs and wore gray contact lenses. With the exception of a cut on her left shoulder, her cinnamon-colored complexion was scar-free.

“Bitch, please,” Roni said, snatching the blunt out of Kita's hand. After taking one last hit, Roni focused her eyes on the door and waited for it to open.

“You need dick in yo life, bitch,” Kita teased, “to open up that tight-ass coochie.”

Roni gave Kita the finger. Whereas Roni was bisexual, Kita was
all woman and was always down for the dick. On more than one occasion, she used her angelic face and perky breasts to woo a mark. With long, flowing, golden hair and butter-light skin, most men were pure putty in her hands when she decided to turn on the charm. Kita's head snapped around when she noticed a slight grin fall across Roni's face. Their mark had emerged from the building wearing a blue scarf wrapped around her head and large Gucci sunglasses covering her eyes.

Roni slowly lowered the passenger-side window and pointed the weapon at the woman. Her finger twitched as she observed the woman walking toward her BMW. The woman looked annoyed and they understood why. Earlier that morning, after the woman had left to meet with the prosecutor, Kita had fixed her garage door so it wouldn't open, making it necessary for her to park on the street. Deciding to change the plan at the last minute, Roni took the gun off of the woman and pointed it at her tires.

“The fuck you waitin' on, bitch?” Kita asked. “Dirt that hoe!”