The Grind Don't Stop (21 page)

Lady was waiting at the door when they arrived. Stacy followed about ten minutes late, eyes glistening with excitement when he saw all the decks of cards scattered on the bed and across the floor. He jumped directly into it.

Some two hours later they had completed the task of unsealing, marking, making slides and shake-outs, and resealing each deck.

Rainbow and Googie left to check on Duke and the girls and to put the cards back. They trashed the place to make it look like a robbery/burglary. They were pleased to see that big boy had managed to burn through the heavy steel safe. He was sweating like a pig leaning against the safe smoking a joint. He was so blitzed that he nearly jumped out of his skin when Rainbow shoved his shoulder to let him know that it was time to go.

When they gathered back at the apartments, they blazed rock,
reefer and heroin for about an hour, celebrating a job well done. They went over the pattern of days when each of them would hit one of the skin games. Joyce was the first to split, having a date to freak Mary Anne and check her state of mind after she knew that the lick had been pulled off. Rainbow and Duke got ready to leave together after assuring the rest of them of a rendezvous later at the Red Roof Inn on Candler Road to continue the partying.

Sparkle was looking forward to getting a shot of good head to help release some of the tension.

He wanted to have a square alibi just in case, so he and Stacy decided they were going over to Al's spot to be seen at the poker game after the freak-off.

Having sealed up their plans they locked up the apartment and headed to their rides parked on the side street. The twins and Googie were to ride with Lady to wherever they were headed. As they were waving at each other from their perspective rides, the night was suddenly set ablaze with rapid gunfire. Damn, it hadn't been a perfect lick, after all. They scattered around and under the cars to avoid the onslaught.

With sweat flowing and bodies superhyped, they watched wide-eyed as several sets of feet shot by them and down the street with guns blazing behind them. They were being chased by two carloads of younguns spitting hot lead.

The gunfire was still echoing in their ears when they finally stood up after the guys and cars disappeared around the corner. Sparkle checked to make sure that everybody was okay. Googie was the first to speak. “Man, that was some scary-ass shit there. I thought our asses was busted, for sho. We better roll up out of here before the five-o show up.”

Lights started coming on in the surrounding houses. Somebody was bound to throw a 9-1-1 down with all the racket. He didn't
have to repeat it twice as they piled in the cars and sped away in different directions.

Rainbow, Sparkle, Duke and Googie got together the next day to split the initial take. The bigger share of the lick was going to come from the skin house now that it was flooded with their cards. While there they told the girls that another party was involved in case they got antsy. That way they'd be less likely to talk about it if they didn't know exactly who might be coming after them if they tried to cross them.

Joyce continued her lesbian affair with Mary Anne to keep a pulse on what the vics at the club were thinking. Rainbow, having handled her from back in the day, knew that she was one wily ho, but even wily hoes were scared of unknown adversaries.

They waited until the middle of the week for the robbery to wear off before they sent Cynt in to be the first to take advantage of the scam. After the whole crew had made a lick, they let Junior and Mack know about it. At first they were sorta pissed; after all they still had to deal with Black Don on a nearly daily basis. But they were also some greedy bastards and soon welcomed the chance to chop up some of Don's ends.

Rainbow occasionally intervened in Joyce and Mary Anne's secret meetings to bang the pussy and get an earful of how those niggas at the club were handling the aftermath. Things were running smoothly.

For a month they kept sending different teams to fill their pockets with the stern message not to exceed $10,000 in winnings. One night though Duke got really lucky when some out of town hustlers dropped in. He raked in six-digit money, the titles to a couple of fancy rides and hard-stepping hoes, who fell under Cynt's guidance.

Sparkle and Rainbow stopped by several times to play off the deck, winning big bucks. Playing off the deck was the best way to
keep suspicions away because one wasn't actually in the game but caught side bets. You never touched the deck, stayed on the fringes of the game choosing anybody's card to bet on. Knowing the longest-playing cards was a straight-up mortal lock enabling you to trash talk other players into placing big bets and then bigger bets trying to recapture some of their loses.

Mary Anne proved to be a real trooper and eventually ended up back in Rainbow's stable. She never was told the whole story and was assigned to running the drugs out of the rundown apartments where they had fixed the decks up. She also worked cell phone orders, mostly in the suburbs.

T
he sexual tension was ecstatic with the musky aroma of the sweaty passionate bodies permeating the room. Sparkle sighed and rolled lazily off of Mercedes. It had been several weeks since they'd chilled off the scam. Most of the decks had probably been used up anyway. Money was flowing in good from the gambling, drug running and the boosting runs when Violet happily took Mercedes. In a weird sort of way, Sparkle was getting a little jealous of Violet acting like the mother hen sheltering the little princess under her wings. It was all good though because it certainly kept their pockets nice and fat with cheddar.

A comforting smile edged to the corners of his mouth when his eyes traveled to the oval ceiling mirror. He felt that familiar tingling start in his groin.
Damn, I can't get enough of this little bitch.
I wonder if she done slipped some menstruation in my food or something.
Damn, listen to me, all up in an old wives tale and shit.
He admired her glistening flesh. The rivulets of sweat rolling along her back to her luscious booty and creamy thighs reminded him of pearls. He blinked rapidly and groaned when he noticed a mixture of their juices lining the folds of her pink-lipped pussy.

“Whatcha say, baby?” she murmured, interrupting his hypnotizing lust and then cooed in a husky voice, “Oooooh baby, that fat-ass dick was the bomb, whew! I thought you was going to fuck
me raw, for sho again.” Her trembling climax finally subsided.

The sound of her sweet voice vibrating against his chest made his dick jump with a life of its own. He sighed with exhaustion. “Was it, girl? Whew! Girl, you really had me putting in some real work dere,” he said between gasps of air. He rolled to his side and she moaned weakly when she felt his throbbing meat bouncing against her stomach. She reached down to grasp it and rolled her thigh on top of his. Her small fingers froze when she felt his body stiffen.

The hairs on the back of his neck pricked to attention. Was it his imagination or had he actually heard a sound like someone creeping through dry leaves? He heard the sound again and went into full alert.

Baby girl, still breathing heavily, began to speak. “Yeah, honey, daddy, we...” She froze in midsentence when he put his hand over her mouth. Her eyes budged in shock.

He whispered, “Shh, be quiet for a sec, girl, listen. You don't hear that?”

Her eyes twitched nervously back and forth and Mercedes tried to mumble a frightened reply into Sparkle's sweaty palm. He replaced his hand with a finger to her trembling lips and eased out of the bed butterball naked.

He crept to the window on the balls of his feet and eased the curtain back in time to see a shadowy figure edge around the corner of the house. He pressed his back against the wall.

Mercedes sat up in the bed with the sheet pulled up over her pert titties, nipples outlined through the dampened sheet. He waved his hands several times, signaling her to remain calm and mouthed that everything was gonna be okay. She showed no response, terrified.

He continued
shhing
her as he tiptoed to the closet. Tingling with anticipation, now as a hunter. Reaching into the multipocketed
windbreaker jacket hanging on the back of the closet door, he silently removed a Glock millimeter pistol. Its weight energized his bravery genes as he quietly cocked it, placed it comfortably on his hip and crept to the bedroom door. He turned the doorknob gently. In commando mode now, he used a quick look-peek-jerk back maneuver around the doorsill.

Seeing no one, he placed his back against the wall and edged toward the kitchen where he felt the predators were headed. His senses were locked on radar as he entered the threshold of the kitchen. He had just turned his head to a slight sound behind him when the door was practically kicked off its hinges.

There was a loud thud as glass shattered and two dark-clad figures zipped through and spread to each side. He immediately raised his gun and spit fire at the splitting dangers. The return fire thundered back and he hit the floor, getting off several more shots of his own.

A dust cloud of plaster sprinkled his face, causing him to belly crawl backward into the hallway with the quickness. He peeked back around the corner and froze, as several rapidly fired shots zoomed over his head from behind. The thundering vibrations of the shot were still buzzing in his head when he heard a grunt, followed by a nervous yelp and the attackers sprinted out of the door.

Sparkle looked back and forth from his prone position. His squinted in the darkness as a silhouette emerged out of the shadows. He was too stunned to even raise his weapon, when a familiar voice whispered, “Yo, ace, you aight, dog?”

Sparkle released a heavy sigh and replied in a shaky voice, “Uh-huh, who dat? You, Rainbow?”

“Whodafuckcha think it is, fool?” Rainbow responded quickly. “Man, who in da hell you done pissed off now, dude?”

“Whew!! I'll be damned, I should be asking. Hell, I am asking;
this yo crib, man. Whoever them niggas was thought I was you, nigga,” Sparkle spat as he sat up against the wall. “You got any idea who the hell dem niggas was? There, I'm asking you, man.”

“Naw, partner, but we sho nuff gotta find out.”

“That's for damn sure.” Sparkle huffed and stood up.

Rainbow slowly eased out of the shadows, making sure to stay away from the window. He was still dressed in a black monogrammed silk robe, matching his pajamas. He cleared his throat and said in a hoarse voice, “I think they've split, dog.” He paused to take another look out the window. “I heard a couple of doors slamming and wheels screaming down the street.”

“I think you hit one of them bastards,” Sparkle whispered.

“Yeah, me, too, that's why they split. I know I heard one of them grunt,” Rainbow spat as a smile finally came across his face.

“Oh yeah, one of them did. Matter of fact I'm gonna make a run outside to make sure every thangs safe. You check out things in here.”

Sparkle nodded as he headed for the door. “Don'tcha wanna cover ya naked ass first?” Rainbow smirked as he blended back into the shadows.

Sparkle spun around, muttering over his shoulder as he headed back to the bedroom. “Ah, fuck you, man.” Even through the darkness in the room, he could see that Mercedes still had the cover pulled up over her, frozen to the same spot. As he stopped in front of her, he heard her whisper softly, “Is everything aight? Those shots sounded like a damn cannon going off.”

His first instincts were to cuddle her, but he kicked that emotion to the side and started pulling on his baggy blue jeans, Polo shirt and tan Timberland boots.

He put the gun in his waistband and covered it with his shirt. As he headed for the door, he looked at her frightened features
and paused. He walked over and lifted her face to give her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “Just lay back and chill. I've got to check outside to make sure but I'm pretty sure they've split.”

He blinked in anticipation until she gave him a curt smile and walked halfway down the hall and turned back. When he got to the door, she sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed. Mercedes blinked demurely a couple of times before she sat on the chair and slipped on her red flowery print blouse. Then she stood and wiggled her hips from side to side as she pulled on a pair of faded blue jeans.

Sparkle sighed and his mind went all mushy.
Mmh mmh, baby girl's
got one phat juicy juicy
as those tight jeans fit around her like a second skin
. Her butt was so blessed you could set a cup on it without spilling a drop. It was the first thing he'd noticed at the strip club months ago when she was working the pole on the circular center stage. Didn't make no sense for her to have an ass that big and bouncy on such a little frame. He remembered how her large doe- like eyes had him thinking,
What's a girl like that doing in a place like this?
A pure aphrodisiac for sure. But the thing that made his dick ache and drool, was how she enjoyed dancing so much that he damn near thought they was actually fucking right there.

Her hypnotizing eyes were devouring his. He went all tingly when he saw the cum soaking through the crotch of her ultra-lacy outfit. Her face withered up as she undulated on the pole until she got a nut. He was certainly surprised when he felt his own nut squirting down his leg without even touching himself.

Pulling her had proven to be a real feather in his cap; not only did she keep him super-hyped for sex, she had blended right into all of their hustling scams.

“Y'all got any idea who dem dudes was?” Mercedes asked as her voice broke the trance of her curvaceous figure.

“Huh, what did you say?” Sparkle blinked as he walked over to her.

“Y'all got any idea who dem dudes was?” she repeated.

He frowned. “Naw, baby girl, but you can bet your sweet little ass that we're gonna find out, that's for damn sho.”