Payback With Ya Life (5 page)

She smirked as she seductively straddled his thighs, undid his belt buckle, unsnapped his jeans and slid his zipper down. He was breathing heavily as he looked on, anticipating what she was getting ready to do. His massive hard-on pushed through the slit in his boxers.

“You’re too little to handle this nigga.” He pointed down at his dick.

“Nigga, please, you obviously don’t know who I am. I have a master’s in brain surgery. They call me the head doctor.”

“Well, I need some help, Doc.” He watched her as she stroked him. “Show big daddy what . . . ungh . . . you got.”

“Uhmm-hmmm. Listen to yourself. Big daddy can’t even form a sentence and I ain’t even got started yet.” She leaned down, blew on the head and then began sucking him. One hand massaged his balls while the other hand was gripping the base of his dick, sending Briggen on a frenzy and whining like a bitch. Grabbing on to her head, he grunted and then released a warm load of semen all down her throat.

She slowly released his limp dick and was on her knees with a smirk on her face, both hands on her hips, looking down at Briggen, who had his eyes closed.

“Nigga, if I didn’t know what your dick game was all about I would call you the one-minute man. I hadn’t even got started yet.”

His eyes remained closed but he smiled. “Don’t let that shit go to your head. I bet you can’t do that shit again.”

“Nigga, what! Look at this.” She lifted his dick with a couple of fingers and it flopped back down.

“Oh, so now you got jokes.” He pulled her on top of him and greedily kissed her. “I gave you a cool point. I thought you was gonna leave a brother hangin’. But you showed me that you got skills. I’ma have to hold you hostage,” he teased.

“I don’t think so. I’m leaving in a couple of days.”

“A couple of days?”

“Yeah. I gotta call Brianna’s mother to see how the funeral went and I gotta talk to my brother and convince him that I’ll be all right.”

“I don’t want you to go. You can stay here. You got the joint all to yourself. I need you, Shan.”

“Need me? Briggen, don’t start. This is something I have to do for me. I can’t stay in this town much longer. I can’t.”

“I need you, girl.”

“Briggen, you don’t
need
me. Now I’m trying to be nice and not bring up all those bitches you got. But you’re really pushing me.”

He grabbed her by her locks and kissed her again. “I need you, Shan. There’s no way I can compare you with them other broads.” He traced her jawline with his thumb while gazing into her eyes, forcing her to look away. He turned her face toward his and kissed her again. “I need you. And you know it’s not for selfish reasons. I need you. I can’t let you get away this time.”

“Well, if it’s not selfish and you really do need me, leave this shit and come with me.”

“Cali is too far, but we can go someplace else, not too far, not too close. And I bet your brother would like that much better. You don’t have to answer me now. Think about it.”

“So, you would leave all of this shit behind? For me?”

“Not in a day. But I could do it in a couple of months.”

“There is no way in hell I could stick around for a couple of months.”

“I’m not asking you to. What I’m saying is that I could go back and forth but it will take me a few months to get shit wrapped up. Don’t answer me now. I want you to think about it. All right?” he asked her again.

“Why me, Briggen?”

“You know why. Them bitches are a one-hit wonder, in it to win it for themselves. You know they don’t give a fuck about me. They just want the money. I may get grimey sometimes but I’m still human. I do have a heart, Shan. At the end of the day when the dust settles, I gotta have somebody to be in my corner, not just in it for the paper. Somebody with that bulletproof love. And you know you the one.”

“I can’t believe this shit!” Shan stormed out of Brianna’s mother’s house. “Two damn weeks and they haven’t even buried the girl.” Shan yanked at her locks as she talked to herself.

Shan was in for a shock when she stopped by Brianna’s mother’s and was told that they were too distraught to bury Brianna but would cremate her when they got over their grief. Of course they hadn’t been too distraught to go over to her house and clean out her closet and take the furniture. Her sister and her mother both had on her clothes and jewelry. Shan couldn’t stomach being in the same room with them. She was in absolute disbelief. They gave her the key to Brianna’s condo and wanted Shan to clean it out for their trifling asses.

As soon as she got in the car she picked up her celly and called Peanut. When she was getting ready to turn off her phone he decided to pick up.

“Yeah.”

“It’s me. I need you to meet me at Brianna’s. I got the key.”

“Give me a half hour.”

“Hurry up.”

“Twenty minutes, Shan. Damn.”

“I’ma sit outside until you show.”

“I’ll be there.”

When Shan pulled up in front of Brianna’s it felt eerie. “Damn you, Brianna,” Shan spat as she hugged herself. She dialed Peanut again, crying.

“Ten minutes, Shan, damn. Hold tight.”

“Why you gotta holler? I can’t stop shaking. I can still feel her. Her mom and her sister had on her clothes and her jewelry. I think them bitches are crazy.”

“Everybody deals with death differently, Shan.”

“It’s just fucked up, that’s all I’m saying. They haven’t even buried her yet. Who lets a body sit up for two weeks? We just as bad; we didn’t even have plans to go to the funeral.”

“You muthafuckin’ right! Fuck burying her. I sure didn’t have any plans to go nowhere near her bitch-ass funeral. I would have done some ignorant shit.”

“You still feel like that?”

“I hate that bitch!”

“It doesn’t matter. We gotta bury her. I don’t even know how much shit like that cost.” Shan was rambling.

“Don’t sweat it. I got it,” Peanut assured her.

“Where are you?”

“Almost there. Sit tight.”

“Hurry up, I’m waiting.” Shan hung up and called Briggen.

“What’s up, shawty?” Briggen asked.

“Hey.”

When he noticed that she wasn’t going to say anything, he asked, “You all right?”

“Not really.”

“What’s up?”

“I’m getting ready to go into Brianna’s house. It just feels . . . weird.”

“It’s supposed to. That was yo’ girl. Y’all were tight.”

She sighed. “You know I gotta bury her. Her own mother told me that she is not up to the task.”

Briggen chose his words carefully. “Look at it this way, your girl wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Shan thought about it for a couple of minutes. “You know what? I didn’t look at it like that. Thanks. I needed to hear that.” She dried her eyes and they kicked it for several minutes before Peanut pulled up next to her. “I gotta go. My brother is here. See you when I see you.” She hung up.

“Damn.” Briggen looked down at the phone. He and Woo were kicking it at their meeting spot. “She didn’t even ask where I was or was I coming by the crib. She just told me, ‘See you when I see you.’ ”

“Nigga, you ain’t all that. Not every shawty is gonna sweat you. It ain’t like you the best thing since sliced bread,” Woo teased as he laughed at him.

“You don’t understand. I am the best thing since sliced bread. I’m Briggen, nigga. I’m that nigga,” Briggen said with a straight face. “And she chillin’ up in my spot talkin’ ’bout see you when I see you.” He even had to laugh at that one.

Just then his dope broad Tami came in. She walked over to him, gave him a duffel bag and kissed him on the lips.

Peanut and Shan were cleaning up Brianna’s condo in silence. It was weird for both of them. She had been a big part of their lives. And the condo was just as much theirs as it was hers. Peanut took the kitchen and living room and Shan took the rest of the house. Brianna’s mom and sister had taken only the clothes and the big stuff. Peanut had called a locksmith to come open Shadee’s safe. They didn’t understand how the greedy broads had overlooked it. The way they left everything in shambles, it was obvious that they were in a big hurry.

Shan was seated on the floor, going through a briefcase of papers. The last two documents caused her to break down.

“Peanut,” she cried out. “Peanut!” she then screamed.

He ran into the bedroom and she was sitting on the floor crying. “Shit, you screaming as if someone was jackin’ you, girl, damn.”

“This ain’t good. This shit ain’t good.” She handed him the documents, pulled her knees up to her chest and was rocking back and forth.

Peanut took his time going over the top document. He finally said, “Yo, this is a life-insurance policy for a hundred g’s. You are the sole beneficiary. Damn. What if we hadn’t come over here? What if you would have left for Cali? You would have never found this out. See! This is a sign. You don’t need to go, baby sis.”

“It’s not that document,” Shan screamed. “Look at the other one. Plus, she committed suicide. I can’t collect the money.”

Peanut continued thumbing through the life-insurance policy. When he finished, he opened up a closed document. When he saw the test results stating that Brianna Russell was HIV-positive, he turned pale white as the papers fell to the floor.

“Peanut, I can’t lose you too. Go get tested.”

“What?”

“Go get tested. I know you was fucking her, Peanut,” Shan screamed. “I’m not dumb.” She jumped up off the floor. “If you got that shit, I will kill you myself.” She stormed past him and headed for the door. “I’ll holla at you later.”

CHAPTER FOUR

W
hat the fuck happened to him, yo? Won’t nobody tell me shit. They wouldn’t even let me see him.” Born was crying out of frustration. “He’s not just my uncle; he’s like my pops, yo.”

The entire crew was in Shadee’s apartment, upset, confused and trying to get some answers. Here their leader, brother, fellow soldier and mentor was laid up in a hospital bed in critical condition under police protection. Janay couldn’t be reached and no one was giving them any answers. They could feel it. Shit was about to be fucked up.

Born was sitting on the floor, his back against the front door. Jo Jo, Teraney and Slim were seated on the sofa. Kay-Gee was sprawled out on the love seat and Doc had the floor. He was pacing back and forth chugging on a forty ounce of Budweiser. Tears were flowing nonstop down his cheeks.

“Maine, you making me dizzy, sit yo’ ass down,” Kay-Gee snapped, causing Doc to hurl the now empty bottle at him. It slammed onto the back of the love seat and bounced onto the floor. The room already smelled like a wet bar.

“Will y’all cut that shit out,” Slim ordered. “All of us are stressed out and we’ll continue to be until we get to the bottom of this shit.”

“Shit’s gonna be fucked up,” Born yelled. It was obvious that he was taking it the hardest. Most likely because he was the youngest and the closest to Shadee.

Teraney sparked up the purple haze. “No it ain’t, lil’ nigga. Sha wasn’t the only soldier. We all hustlas but we’re soldiers first. That’s how Sha did it. You know that and that’s how he taught us.”

Born was gently banging the back of his head against the door. His eyes were bloodshot and his nose was beet-red and running.

“Yeah, and we still got to eat,” Jo Jo reminded everyone.

“I can’t believe that bitch did that to my uncle. I should go and do her whole family,” Born gritted.

“Maine, her family ain’t have nothing to do with that gold-diggin’ sac-chaser’s bullshit. They didn’t even fuck with Brianna like that,” Teraney told him. “So don’t go and do something stupid.” Born was now banging his head harder against the door. “Born!” Teraney yelled. “Her family ain’t have nothing to do with her bullshit. Don’t go and make us hotter than we already are over some shit we ain’t have no control over. We still gotta get this money.” He shot Born a look that sent a serious warning.

“How you know Janay ain’t have nothing to do with this? The shit went down at her house! Now all of a sudden we can’t get in touch with her, her pops, her sister . . . everybody’s ghost,” Doc spat as he used this opportunity to show his hate for Janay.

“Maine, what you been smokin’?” Jo Jo asked him.

“Yeah, don’t you think she would have been arrested by now?” Kay-Gee wanted to know. “Her nosy-ass neighbors would have told us that as well as the police. But everybody is talkin’ about Brianna going off and then blowing her own fuckin’ brains out.”

“Doc, nigga, you know Janay didn’t do that shit. I don’t know why you always got beef with her,” Born snapped.

“Aiight, yo. Y’all muhfuckas sleep on Janay if y’all want to but I ain’t. And speaking of beef, Sha’s connect wants three extra g’s for a key. I got at him last night.” Doc figured this was the opportune time to slip that in.

“What?” Jo Jo snapped.

“Maine, fuck that! He on some bullshit,” Teraney added.

“Hell yeah,” Slim agreed.

“Fuck him. We can get weight from Janay and Big Chop. That’s Sha’s wifey.” Born said it as if the shit was a no-brainer.

“Hold up everybody. Y’all didn’t even give me a chance to finish. I got this. I’ve been working on something that’s almost three and a half cheaper than Sha’s connect,” Doc assured them.

“Nigga, when did this come about? And who is this connect?” Kay-Gee wanted to know.

“Ray-Ray, my cousin down in Dyersburg.”

“Nigga, how you gonna take food out of Sha’s son’s mouth?” Born was ready to spaz out on Doc.

“Boy, three g’s less than what we already payin’ plus half on consignment? That’s not takin’ shit outta nobody’s mouth. Young nigga, that’s how you do business. Plus in Sha’s absence I’m in charge. I ain’t gonna let Sha’s son starve. Let’s make this paper.” Doc was letting them know that he was now the HNIC.

Then all of a sudden everyone in the room started yelling at once.

“Y’all niggas shut the fuck up!” Slim jumped up screaming and stood in the middle of the room. “Damn, yo, what the fuck?” He shot daggers at everybody until the room was so quiet you could hear a dollar bill hit the floor. Then he turned to Doc. “Nigga, we know who’s in charge.”

“I can’t tell. Everybody got somethin’ slick coming out of their mouths,” Doc countered. “Y’all act like I don’t know what the fuck I’m doin’. Shit, I ain’t new to dis, I’m true to dis.”

“Nigga, everybody can voice their opinions. I know you can understand where Born is coming from. Sha copped from Choppa most of the time and Janay, that’s wifey, so we should keep doin’ that. You was actin’ like coppin’ from her was out of the question,” Slim barked.

“Naw, it ain’t like that. I’m just tryna get as much paper as possible as long as my peeps is givin’ it to us on these terms. I already gave him my word that I was gonna get at him.”

Slim yanked at his beard, as he always did when he was weighing his options. “Aiight, nigga, go ahead and get that because time is of the essence. We don’t know how long he’ll keep those terms. Plus we can’t get in contact with Chop and ’em.”

Born couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He looked at Slim as if he had sprouted three heads.

Born and the rest of Sha’s crew had been blowing Janay’s cell phone up. Of course she understood they wanted to know what happened to their boy, but damn, right now everything was just too much to handle. So she got her father to take her to his hideaway crib that no one knew about but her, Boomer and her sister Crystal. The four of them packed a bag for a couple of days and headed out as soon as they dropped Marquis over at his grandmother Ida’s.

Janay was really fucked up seeing her baby’s daddy laid up in the hospital helpless, fucked up, bandages covering his head and face, tubes sticking out of his mouth, nose and arms. She was feeling some kind of way at first. She was ready to cry and was wishing that she could carry his pain for him. That is until she remembered the night she walked in on him getting his dick sucked by another nigga then turning the nigga over on his ass and diggin’ his back out as if the nigga were a bitch.
His faggot muthafuckin’ ass needs to die. Here this nigga is trying to hold on for dear life. And for what? To get well and fuck up somebody else’s life?

That painful night she stood at his bedside, if the po-po hadn’t been at the door she was contemplating pulling out all the plugs. But instead she stormed out of the hospital room and swore that she would never go back.

“Aiight, man,” said Ray-Ray, Doc’s cousin, then gave him dap and watched him pull off.

Doc had just copped seven keys from his cousin and now he was headed back to the crib. He picked up his celly and dialed Teraney. “Yo, it’s me. I’m on my way in. I’ll call you when I get to the crib.”

“Aiight, we waitin’.” Teraney sounded as if he was gettin’ lifted.

Doc hung up and focused on his four-hour drive back, compounded with the turn of events with his boy Shadee. He didn’t know why the hospital wasn’t allowing everyone to come and see him. Shit, he wasn’t the muthafuckin’ president. And that bitch Janay . . . it’s as if she had disappeared off the face of the earth. That was an admission of guilt as far as he was concerned. Shadee was at her house, was shot at her house, and now she was gone. C’mon now, he figured it don’t take a rocket scientist to figure that shit out. Plus, since Janay caught him and Sha fuckin’ he knew it was only a matter of time that she was going to flip out and want some get-back. So the fuck what! That’s how he and Sha got down. Damn, his dick was getting hard at the thought. The more he thought about Sha the harder his dick got. His mind was clouded so much that he found himself driving to the hospital while jackin’ his dick off. He was imagining Sha bustin’ off in his mouth. He picked up his celly and dialed Teraney.

“Yo, you in?” Teraney yelled over some loud music.

“Almost; I’m at the hospital to see if I can see Sha. I’ll call you.”

Teraney was trying to be rational. “Maine, what the fuck you smokin’? You got all that shit on you and you stoppin’?” He could hear Doc sniffin’. “Nigga, pull yo’self together and get yo’ mind right. Swing by here first, then I’ll go to the hospital with you, aiight?” Teraney could still hear sniffin’. “Aiight, maine? Come see me first and we’ll go together.”

“Aiight.” Doc hung up.

“Ay, Slim!” Teraney called out. “Let’s roll, maine. I just got off the phone with Doc. That nigga trippin’ off of somethin’. First, he say he on his way to the crib. Then he calls back cryin’ and shit, talkin’ about he on the way to the hospital to see Sha.”

“What!” Slim exclaimed. “The fool on his way to the hospital with seven birds? That stupid muthafucka! We need to get to the hospital and take his car. Fuck it! He can find a way to get home. Nigga talkin’ about we need to get this paper and here he is throwin’ bricks at the penitentiary . . . and with our muthafuckin’ shit.” They both were heated.

“You got his key ring?” Slim asked as he put on his jacket.

“Yeah, I got ’em.” Teraney tossed them to him.

“Let’s be out den.”

Doc was already sweet-talking the receptionist as she popped on her chewing gum and blushed. He slipped her a twenty and his phone number as she gave him a visitor’s pass and watched him head for the elevators.

When Doc stepped off the elevator and headed toward ICU, the first thing he looked for was the po-po. There was none. His eyes scanned for room 510; he bypassed the busy nurse’s station and came up on Sha’s room. He stepped into the dark room and took a deep breath. The only lighting was from the moonlight and the monitors. He stepped up cautiously to the bed. Seeing all the equipment and tubes had him stuck on stupid. This was not the nigga that he had grown to love.

After overcoming the initial shock, he was finally able to speak. “Sha, Sha, can you hear me? What happened, yo? Everybody is worried about you.” He picked up Sha’s hand and began stroking it. “I miss you, dawg, I don’t know what all happened to you and why, yo.” He kissed Sha’s palm. “Get well, man, you gotta pull through. Don’t leave all of us like this.”

“Excuse me.” The heavyset nurse on duty interrupted by turning the lights on. “Are you on the patient’s special visitors list, and where is Officer Polk?” she rattled off.

“Yeah, I’m his brother and Officer Polk is on break. He knows I’m here. However, I’m leaving. I just had to check on him. You know, make sure he’s all right. You takin’ good care of him, right?” Doc flirted as he eased toward the door.

She still was looking at him with suspicion. “He’s in good hands. Good night Mr.—”

“When he becomes conscious tell him his nigga Doc was here and I got much love for him.” He turned and rushed for the elevators.

By the time Doc reached his car the tears were streaming down his cheeks. As he pulled off, Teraney and Slim were pulling up, missing him by a minute.

“Let me out here; I’ll take this side and watch the front door while you drive around. Stupid nigga,” Slim snapped, referring to Doc, as he jumped out. Teraney pulled off to continue cruising the lot looking for Doc’s ride.

When Doc pulled up in front of his house, he started to call Teraney but changed his mind. He decided that he would call him when he got inside. He hit a few switches before getting out and popping the trunk. His secret compartment was in the amplifier in the trunk and was activated from the inside. He slid the lid off the amplifier, grabbed the heavy navy blue duffel bag and slid the lid back. He wiped more tears from his face, slung the bag over his shoulder and slammed the trunk. He went around to the back entrance and took out his keys and opened the door. That’s when he felt the cold steel kiss the back of his skull. When he went to turn around he heard . . .
click
.

“Don’t move, muthafucka, ’cause if you do I’ma send you to meet your maker.” Doc felt a gloved hand frisk him and snatch Duke, his Smith & Wesson.

“Man, what the fuck you want?” Doc based up.

“Shut yo’ bitch ass up! Who the hell you think you talking to?” Skye barked as he pushed Doc inside the house. He was glad that the living room light was already on. “This here is my show, partna, and you gonna do what the hell I tell you to. Now drop the muthafuckin’ bag and strip, then you can get on your knees and suck my dick.” He laughed. “Nah, fool, I’m fuckin’ with you. I don’t get down like that. Hurry the fuck up, nigga, you takin’ too long to strip.” Skye grew impatient from the usual adrenaline rush he always got when jackin’ and smacked Doc several times in the back of his skull for not moving fast enough.

While Doc was standing in all his glory butt-ass naked, Skye told him to lock his hands behind his head and commanded him to walk to the bathroom. Skye struck Doc two more times, just because.

“Nigga, that’s on GP just in case you think about pullin’ some funny-ass shit. Now stand the fuck up before I shoot ya dick off and make you suck ya own shit.”

“Man, just take the—”

“Just take what, nigga?” Skye cut him off. “And what the hell you looking at? You thought you was gonna see who’s jackin’ yo’ ass? Nah, playboy, shut the hell up and speak when spoken to, bitch. This is my game. Get ya ass in the bathtub,” Skye barked as he kicked Doc square in the ass, sending him flying headfirst inside the tub.