The Grind Don't Stop (6 page)

“Oh hell yeah we is, hisssssss.” Laurie snarled as she lifted her long designer nails into a pair of deadly claws. They started circling each other, snarling and feinting back and forth.

“Man, why you looking all hype for? Dem silly hoes ain't gonna do nothing but act stupid,” Rainbow shouted over his shoulder as he headed into the club.

Sparkle started to follow him when the girls started screaming and shrieking. He expected to see a real throwdown, but those crazy hoes were laughing and dancing.

“I'll be damned,” he muttered, shook his head and turned away, mad because he was hoping to see female talons windmilling in large circles. He laughed at the clowning foursome and pushed through the door. As he swung through the Old West-styled swinging doors he was immediately mesmerized by the black and red blinking lights that made the undulations of the scantily clad dancers seem mystically herky jerky. He paused for a brief moment
admiring their alluring movements. Won't nothing like a well-endowed honey shaking what her mother gave her. After a moment of lusting at their glistening bodies, he started looking around the club for his boys. He spotted them at the bar in a heated conversation with Bertha.

Now that was one helluva tough honey, that Bertha. Back in the day, when Rainbow was first getting his feet wet in the pimping game, she'd been one of the first real stud streetwalkers that he'd scooped. If the truth were told, which Rainbow would never admit, she was the one who had shown him how to be a real mack man. A big-boned, exotic redbone, Bertha had a squeaky little girl voice that shocked everyone she met.

“I done told y'all poor hustling muthafuckas that I ain't gonna be waiting no hour for y'all to be answering no godayum call,” Bertha spat and rolled her eyes.

“And I told your fat ass that I was in a jam on I-20. My batteries ran out and there ain't no phone on the fucking interstate woman,” Rainbow lied with a snarl between sips of Heineken beer.

“So whaddafuck you want me to do? The dude was in a hurry shit. Aw fuck you Rainbow I ain't gonna bend over backwards to try to please your yellow ass,” she spat back immediately.

He pinched his nose and sniffled with a heartwarming smile. “You used to?”

She bucked her eyes and laughed. “Yeah, nigga, that was when I was young, dumb and full of come. I mean, cum, aw fuck you, man.”

He stuck his neck over the bar. “Shiiit, looks like ya still toting enough to hold a whole lot of yo favorite treat.” He licked his lips seductively before adding. “Uh, Rainbow pimp juice, uh-huh.”

She wrinkled her nose and playfully mushed his face. “You wish.” She turned away to pick up a tray of glasses.

He reached over the bar and slapped her big ass. It vibrated like a bowl of Jell-O. “Uh-huh, wish I could rock dat ass til you go to speaking in tongues like you used, too.”

She blushed and stuck out her tongue. “Sho nuff, lover boy, as if that giant dick of yours could stay out of all this even if you wanted to.” She was smiling seductively as she looked back at her massive butt and made it jiggle.

“Fer sho, jam ain't never shook like dat there.” He winked.

The conversation came to an abrupt halt when her attention was drawn to the entrance. The guys' heads snapped in the direction she was staring.

A low moan hummed through the crowded room as all eyes followed the entourage of cops dressed in black riot gear stepping stiff faced towards the bar. Flanked by the half dozen menacing giants was the oriental black widow herself, the dreaded Lt. Woo, terror of the wards Red Dog drug squad. Even the hardest players in the joint turned away from the crazy bitch's cold-hearted gaze, giving her all the respect she expected. The conniving little monster deserved every bit of it too with the way she stretched the rules as dirty and hard as she could.

With her eyes narrowed to nasty little slits she walked straight up to Rainbow and hissed, “What's up, fellas?” in a low birdlike voice.

‘B' responded to the unwanted intrusion. “Ain't nothing kicking, Woo, just us plain dudes and chicks enjoying a little drink.”

She placed her talonlike fingers on his neck and squeezed. He hunched his shoulders grimacing in discomfort.

“Hold up there, Miss Kung Fu shortie. You can't just come in here harassing my peeps.” Bertha snarled, obviously the only in the club willing to stand up to the little bitch.

Woo snorted, pinned her with angry eyes and snarled right back at her. “Whatcha say there, big momma?”

Bertha continued staring defiantly and spread her thick forearms on the bar gritting. “I said don't be bringing your slanty-eyed, wannabe gangster ass in here scaring my peeps; that's what the fuck I said.”

Woo leaned on the counter and spit angrily. “And if I don't, then what?”

Bertha's nosed flared fire as she growled. “I'll call downtown and find out why the fuck not, bitch.”

Woo smiled impishly and looked over her shoulder at her crew. “Mmh, Bigga mama here must can stand a shakedown.” She turned her mouth down and snarled. “I heard that y'all got some underage girls dancing up in here, Miss Smartass. Whatcha gotta say about that?”

Bertha straightened up, folded her arms. “Underage my ass, either you produce some warrants right fucking now, or take these dumb-ass storm troopers of yours and make some tracks up out of here.”

Woo casually lifted a Kool cigarette out of a crumbled pack in her arm pocket, took her own good time lighting it up and blew a stream of smoke into Bertha's face. Bertha didn't so much as flinch as she continued her fierce stare.

Woo cocked one eye. “I'm gonna let your big ass slide this time, girlfriend, but you can bet that I'm watching your ass really close from here on out.”

Bertha turned her mouth down. “Whatever, get a microscope, bitch, do what you gotta do but do it legally—and right now since your little funky ass ain't legal, you can just ride on up outta here and take your fake-ass muscle heads with you.”

Woo smiled slyly, stumped the cigarette out in a freshly cleaned shot glass, spun around angrily and exited with her crew. On the way out those nasty-ass troopers gave menacing stares to anyone who dared to make eye contact.

Rainbow spun around on the stool, leaned his back against the bar. “Whew, what in the hell was that all about, damn?”

Bertha wheezed tight little gasps of air to try to control her temper and began organizing glasses under the counter. She finally took a deep breath. “Aw that evil little bitch just be trying to catch a ho short. She been doing that dumb ass shit there every other week or so just to let a nigga know that she's running things, which I hate to admit but she damn sure is.”

Sparkle picked up Rainbow's beer and took a large gulp. “Well, big sexy, all I can say is to keep it tight around this bitch, because I don't think that little monster took too kindly to you shining on her like that.” He reached across the bar and lifted her face so he could look her in the eyes. “Especially in front of a crowded room like this and without a doubt in front of her goon squad. Shit, I'd watch myself if I was you, home girl.” One could easily see and feel the pride swell up in the former street walker, who had seen it all from A to Z. She raised her head matronly. “And fuck her, too, especially in front of my peeps and her goons,” as she defiantly hefted her voluptuous breast and squared her shoulders like a real soldier.

The whole room stood up and saluted her for protecting her turf the way she had. And ‘B' threw his two cents' worth in as well. “You the dog, uh dogette shawtie, a bitch of a dog but you definitely the dog, uh doggette.”

Rainbow touched her cheeks and nodded towards the other side of the club. “Let's catch a booth so we can kick it, yo.”

As they made their way across the room, the rhythm of the club picked back up since there wasn't going to be a shake down. Bertha went back to serving drinks and the dancers got back into their thing.

After they got seated, ‘B' addressed Rainbow. “Man, I told ya
a couple of months ago that I'd started noticing groups of dreadlocks hanging around yo dope spots, but naw, you wouldn't pay me no mind as usual.”

Rainbow massaged the corners of his mouth with his thumb and index finger before he squeezed his bottom lip. He lifted his head. “That's because up until now I've always figured there's enough business out here for anybody who wants a piece of the action, dreads included.”

‘B' arched a brow and shot back, “Yeah, well, it looks like some people want a lot more than just a piece.” He snorted and cleared his throat. “To tell you the truth I was really hoping that y'all had a little more to go on.”

Rainbow nodded. “Uh-huh, I feel ya on that, but I be kicking it with the dreads and I don't see them doing no small robberies like that. Matter of fact the way they be ousting niggas outta they spots is to up the quality and quantity. Mmh, that's just what I see.”

‘B' placed his glass on the bar with a thud. “So whatcha saying, dog, that it's some other bastards? Come clean, nigga.”

Rainbow leaned back and stretched his arms along the back of the lounge seat. “What I'm saying is the girls that got took, ain't mentioned no dreads, man.”

Sparkle raised his hands and spread his fingers out.

‘B' growled, “Yeah, nigga, what? Raising your hand like you need permission to speak or something.”

Sparkle shot him a bird., “You ain't acting like you wanna say it but we can't rule this nigga Don out of the picture. Hey, it ain't like he appreciates you dropping boulder rocks around the spots he wants to dominate. And straight up, the nigga don't particularly like that Mercedes was swept from under him like that, know what I'm saying.” He gave both of them the evil eye. “Hell, probably ain't the only ho y'all done swiped from that fool either. You just don't
know who had some of these hoes y'all be snatching up like bags of candy, yo.”

Rainbow frowned and pinched his nose. “Damn, I hadn't even thought about it that way, but shit that's the rules of the game, cop and blow; every player knows that. Come to think of it, some hoes be spilling rumors that he had some bitch iced for talking about his business out in the open. And he has been spitting out some nasty bricks about losing that little Mercedes that he considered a diamond.”

Rainbow's cell phone started vibrating on his hip. He raised his shirt to view the blinking light. Sparkle could see that it was Duke's code.
Damn, big boy must've really jetted down the way this time,
he thought. He felt Rainbow hunching his hip and slid over to let him out, wondering why he needed to talk to Duke in private.

Duke, a six-four, 300-pound hunk of street nigga, was the fourth member of their dude gang-turned-bank-robbing crew. They'd found themselves trapped in a big dope scam that had them in a position where they had to get the kingpin's digits or die. After that initial debt-clearing adventure, it became their main source of getting the big dough. After a couple of years of good licks, they'd gotten busted when ‘B' had run into a fire hydrant a few blocks from Five Points during their escape. That first mistake had cost them five years in the joint. From that point, Duke had stayed strictly in the dope game. The rest of them had stayed in whatever game had made them the most money. Eventually, it led to each of them doing a couple of more bits apiece; most recently it had been Sparkle's latest venture in the lion's mouth.

While he was gone, they made plans to get their girls together to go on a boosting run through Alabama. “Yeah, dog, you gonna really like this little diamond Mercedes; she's funnier than a mug. She out there right now getting the ropes from Yolanda and Violet,” Sparkle said.

‘B' sat there wondering why he hadn't been told about or introduced to this Mercedes yet, especially since his main squeeze Yolanda was investing her time in the bitch's development. He frowned. “Whatcha just say?”

Sparkle repeated himself and ‘B' frowned some more. “Aw, man, I just sent this new diamond with the prettiest smile a nigga done ever seen that I just scooped over to the crib to hook up with Yo. That's why I'm over here with Laurie and Pinky because I put a little seal on the deal by letting her groove with the Chrysler. How long they been out, man?”

Sparkle pinched his nose. “Couldn't be no more than a hour or so.”

‘B' started nibbling on his bottom lip as he considered what to do. Then he patted Sparkle on the shoulder. “Looka here, dog, I've got to make a few runs, so y'all keep me up on what y'all wanna do. You know I'm down with whatever way y'all want to handle it.”

Sparkle gave him some dap before he left and sat back to wait on Rainbow. He was sure that he'd give him the ups on the Duke thang when he returned. Still he was more than just a little disturbed about all the secrecy.

A
unt Rose bagged up the sugar babies, chewing gum and Little Debbie cakes for the cutie pie who stayed down the street on Jonesboro Road. When she waved goodbye and disappeared beyond the store window, Rose rushed to the door. She looked in both directions to make sure no one else was coming. She sighed and flipped the “closed” sign around and locked the door.

After turning off the light switch, she went to her small office in the back and closed that door too. She didn't want any late-comers disturbing her. She placed a call to Marietta and let the phone ring six times before hanging up in frustration, refusing to leave another message.
Where in the hell can that bastard be? He knows damn well we have to have those condos furnished before the week's out. Ain't no way he ain't got at least one of those messages I've left over the last few hours. Should've been called a bitch by now. That's what I get for relying on a bitch nigga. No way his ass ain't satisfied with that last package and nephew getting rid of most of it for him. What more could the nigga ask for? He act like he dealing with some
old project bitch or something,
she thought grudgingly before dialing the next number
.