Chronicles of Crooklyn, page 9
The words weren’t even outta his mouth good when the office door busted open. Before Slick could blink, a chick brandishing a chrome .45 handgun was aiming her heat directly at his dome. The sight of her made Tisha’s spine relax as she leaned back in her chair and gave Slick a little smirk of her own.
“You must be out of your fucking mind coming through my employer’s establishment making threats,” Haitian Tisha barked from her pretty lips. “Nigga we running shit up in here, and you obviously don’t know who the fuck we are,” she snarled and then jumped up outta her chair. “Matter of fact, who the fuck are you?”
She flicked her hand in the air. “Never mind. It don’t even matter because whoever you are your game is weak. You fucked with the wrong one tonight you fuck-nigga!”
Ignoring the pistol aimed at his dome Slick calmly took off his dark shades and looked into the windows of Tisha’s soul as he spoke quietly.
“Fuck-nigga?” His laugh was deadly. “You see, the thing is Tisha, I know everything about y’all, and y’all fuck-niggas don’t know shit about me.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Slick leaned back in his chair. Even at the end of a gun barrel he exuded a killer’s confidence, cooler than the other side of the pillow.
“Listen, I’m not big on explanations or intimidations. I’d rather let my actions speak for me. So if you’re as smart as I think you are, then look me in my eyes and tell me what you see. Do I look like the type of amateur fuck-nigga who rolls around half-stepping without covering every angle or planning for every scenario?”
His dark eyes sucked at hers, suffocating her in his glare.
“I advise you to tell this bitch over here to tuck her strap because you have a young sister who is very near and dear to you and she gets off her night job up in the Bronx in about fifteen minutes. If this bitch don’t drop her heat my people will be mailing your sister’s fuckin head to that nursery school right off Fordham Road that her son Tey-Tey attends. So please don’t do your precious sister and your cute lil man nephew that way.”
A look of shock and horror washed over Haitian Tisha’s face.
“Okay, okay!” she pleaded in a negotiating voice, trying to maintain control over a situation when she knew damn well she didn’t have any.
“I’ll give Andy your message! I’ll tell him exactly what you said! Just please don’t touch my sister or my nephew because one little stank-pussy white bitch just isn’t worth all this trouble!”
She waved frantically at the young woman near the door. “Put the damn gun down! Put it down!”
Slick finally turned to look at the chick who had gotten the drop on him. His cool, calm persona almost crumbled the moment he stared into her big brown eyes.
Their eyes locked and she returned his gaze with a look of confusion and familiarity. When it finally dawned on her who she was looking at, the sudden recognition made her stagger backwards.
What felt like a bone-deep connection of hours had only lasted for a split-second, and Haitian Tisha’s impatient voice broke them out of their trance.
“Hurry up! Escort this cocky bastard outta here, Jewelz! And make sure he don’t fall and break his neck on the way out the door!”
Slick had wanted to jump outta his skin at the sound of the chick’s name, but he played it cool and smoothly put his shades back on as he rose from his seat.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Tisha,” Slick said calmly. “Somehow I knew you were a real smart woman, and if your boss has any questions or concerns tell him I’ll be contacting him personally if Lola isn’t returned to her home address at the specified time. I can guarantee you that.”
Without waiting for her response, Slick walked calmly out of the office with Jewelz clocking right behind him. The moment they stepped outside the gym he snatched her into the shadows of a doorway and she flung herself into his chest and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.
“Jewelz…” Slick embraced her closely as she whimpered and cried out and trembled like her very soul ached.
All Slick could do was hold her close. His heart was pounding and his breath was all caught up in his throat.
Tears slid from both their eyes as the painful memories that had been deeply buried so long ago threatened to explode out of their entwined bodies like a blast of dynamite.
Jewelz pulled back first.
“Lil Slick! What the fuck are you doing here?” she whispered in amazement. “Boy is you crazy? Rolling up in Andy’s spot like the Gestapo coulda got you shot!” She looked up at him with her teary eyes lit up with joy, pain, and confusion all at once.
Slick chuckled as he used his thumb to wipe the glistening tears from her cheeks. “Nah, what the fuck was you doing up in there?” he angled his chin at the gym, “Playing hired heat for them low-level outta town niggas?”
“It’s been years,” Jewelz said, ignoring his question and squeezing his hands tightly. “So many years since the last time I seen you! I never knew what happened to you after the funerals and all—”
“Shhhh….” Slick pressed his finger to her lips and then ran his sleeve across his damp face and shook his head.
“Look, I gotta make a run, baby girl. I can’t talk right now. Lemme get your number.”
Jewelz spit out her cell phone number and Slick quickly logged it into his phone.
“Way to keep closed lips back there,” he praised her. “You know I wanna get with you, but now ain’t the right time. I’ll holla. I wanna know what you been up to. I wanna spend some time with you and hear all about your life, Jewelz, but now just ain’t the right time.”
Slick leaned down and kissed her on the cheek as he struggled to control the painful memories swirling through his mind. Jewelz was like a ghost from his past. From the most horrific part of his childhood. He felt a surge of protectiveness for her and he had a sudden urge to snatch her up and take her with him.
Fighting against his swollen heart, Slick pulled away to leave but Jewelz grabbed him by his coat. She clung to him like a child and she could barely get her words out past her desperate cries.
“No, wait up, Slick! You can’t just run off and leave me just like that! Where you staying at? Tell me where I can find you at?”
“I’ma get at you,” Slick said and backed away feeling like his heart was about to fall outta his chest.
They stared at each other with intense survivor’s guilt shining in both their eyes. Jewelz opened her mouth to protest again, but before she could say a word Slick whirled around and took off around the corner and into a dark alley.
Jewelz was stunned. All she could do was stand there filled with an undying emptiness that just like a vicious stab wound, plunged straight through her heart and deep into the depths of her soul.
CHAPTER 7
Reunited and it Feels So Hood
With her eyes locked on him while her mind played on rewind, Jewelz stood on the rooftop under the moonlight reading Slick’s thoughts right outta his head. That night at Bajan Andy’s joint had played out for her like a dream come true.
But a whole month had passed before she’d finally heard from Slick. She had thought about him constantly, night and day, and she coulda kicked herself in the ass for not getting his number before he ran off. Or at least finding out where he stayed.
But when his call finally came she was shocked by how cold and distant his conversation was and she couldn’t even believe where his head was at. Instead of wanting to get up with her so they could reminisce about their dreams of Paris, Greece, and Switzerland, and all that sweet lil puppy love that they had once shared, the only thing on Slick’s mind had been the possibility of forging a lucrative business relationship with her.
“Yo, the reason I’m calling is because I got a proposition for you,” Slick had told her straight off the bat. “I wanna make you a job offer, Jewelz. That lil worker-ant shit you doing for Bajan Andy is way beneath you, baby,” he said. “Come hook up with my organization and I’ll show you how to become a real professional and increase your skill set. Fuck with me and all these lil slanga niggas you clocking will be bowing down in your presence and showing you the utmost respect on these streets.”
Jewelz had jumped on the chance for a new grind. Especially since it meant she’d be much closer to Slick and sharing a part of his world. And now, as she stood facing him on the rooftop of his grandmother’s building with her deepest feelings shining brightly from her eyes, she realized that even though she saw him practically every day she was no closer to Slick than she had been during all those years when they were apart.
“Look,” she told him, sensing his turmoil. “Fuck that vote we took just now, and fuck them stupid-ass rules about side-hits and outside hits too. I’m down to help you take Handgun Goody and his entire crew out. Just tell me the time and the place and I’m there on the job, Slick. That’s my word.”
“Jewelz,” Slick muttered, his mouth suddenly bone dry. He didn’t even wanna tell her but he had to. He hated to have to tell her. He just didn’t wanna take her back to that dark-ass place that both of them had come from. But he knew he had to. He had done his research and he couldn’t let her walk up on this shit blind. She needed to know what kinda mix she was getting herself into. He had to tell her.
“Check it out, there’s more to this situation than what I let on to the crew,” he confessed. “It ain’t just about the old people in this building, yo. It’s about my people too. It’s about getting revenge for me and for you as well, ma.”
A brief flash of concern crossed Jewelz’s face and suddenly she was all ears as she left the doorway and walked back out to the open area of the roof.
“What are you talking about, Slick? I already said I’d help you murk that nigga. What are you tryna tell me?”
Slick shook his head and placed his hands on her slender shoulders. “Yo, before you sign up for this job I need you to know who you really running up against, a’ight? You need to know that Handgun Goody ain’t just some slum nigga fresh outta the joint and running dope all over Brownsville, Jewelz. That nigga used to scramble in our old building back in the day. He was locked down for a good minute, but I looked into his background closely and he’s the same nigga who came knocking on the door that day. He’s the same nigga who—”
Suddenly all the blood seemed to rush outta Jewelz’s body.
Slick pulled her close as her smooth brown skin flushed and beads of sweat broke out on her nose. She took a deep breath and stared up at Slick like he was miles away. His lips were still moving so she knew Slick was talking, but for some reason she couldn’t hear a damn thing he was saying.
Instead, what she heard is what her little six-year-old ears had heard on the fateful day that was buried deep in their past. She heard the gunshot and Miss Kea’s bloodcurdling screams coming from the kitchen. And then she heard the terrified cries of helpless, innocent children as a butcher knife was plunged deeply into their chests and stomachs by a raging fuckin madman.
“Lil Slick,” Jewelz’s knees felt weak as she fell against him and called him by his childhood name. She thought about the first time she had met him. How she had knocked on their project door and told his mother that one day she was going to marry her oldest son.
“My name is Diamond-Ruby-Emerald-Amethyst-Moonstone-Sapphire Jordan,” she had proudly announced, and Miss Kea couldn’t help but bust out laughing.
“Diamond-Ruby-Emerald-Amethyst-Moonstone-Sapphire Jordan?” Kea had held the door open and repeated in surprise. “Well, pleased to meet you, sweetheart. Come on in, baby girl. You’re just a beautiful bag of jewelz, now ain’t you honey?”
The name Jewelz had stuck, and so had her infatuation with young Slick. That day had been the first of many days and nights that Jewelz had spent in the Williams household playing with Slick and his siblings and being loved on by Kea and Big Slick.
Jewelz remembered the first time that her and Slick had snuck in his mother’s closet together and hid behind the clothes way in the back. They didn’t hump or kiss or do nothing nasty like most kids do, they just wanted some time alone so they could hold hands real tight and make their plans. Slick’s grandmother had given him an Encyclopedia of the World, and they had sat close together in the darkness whispering about all the faraway places that they planned to visit when they grew up. Jewelz had told Slick that she wanted to have lots of babies, and Slick had promised to marry her and take her to Paris, Holland, Greece, and then finally to Switzerland so they could raise their kids there one day.
Jewelz had clung to those sweet memories through a lotta hard days, but she also retained the memory of looking into Slick’s eyes as they lay stabbed up on his living room floor with the smell of death in the air and chaos ensuing all around them.
Miss Kea had been shot dead and Lil Slick had practically been gutted, and Jewelz had been severely wounded too. She had heard Crazy Haz as he ransacked the apartment, screaming all kinds of crazy gibberish from the back room as he searched desperately for his brother’s stash of drugs.
As weak and bewildered as she was, Jewelz had summoned the strength to do what she always did. Stretched out on her back and staring up at the ceiling, she had inched her battered body painfully across the bloody floor until she was laying close enough to touch her best friend. Their fingers somehow found each other and gratefully intertwined. Her and Lil Slick had lay there wounded together. Staring at each other and holding hands, they had gasped for their last breaths together and waited to die together.
Long moments had passed and Jewelz remembered feeling Slick’s hand grow slack in hers. His fingers uncurled from hers and became cooler as she closed her eyes desperately begging Jesus to let her die with him. She wanted God to take her wherever it was that Lil Slick had gone.
And that’s when she heard somebody banging on the door.
Instinctively, Jewelz had squeezed Lil Slick’s hand tighter. She changed her prayer and asked Jesus to let there be help for them on the other side of that door.
She held her breath and peeked from the narrow slit of her eyes. But when Crazy Haz snatched the door open instead of seeing help standing there, Jewelz had seen Handgun Goody. Or rather Dirty Mike, as he had been known back in his younger, filthier days.
“H-h-hey man,” she had heard the fifteen-year-old dope-head stutter. “Is Big Slick home?”
“Get your bitch ass up in here!” Haz had snatched the teenager inside and quickly locked the door. With Lil Slick laying beside her already dead or unconscious, Jewelz had closed her eyes and pretended to be dead too.
“Yo, get in the back and let’s find that fuckin dope!” she heard Haz bark the order to the tall, lanky teen. The two men had disappeared into the back room together, and when they finally found what they were looking for Dirty Mike tried to dash outta the apartment with his small cut, but Haz had other plans for him.
“Uh-uh!” he exploded as Dirty Mike froze with his hand on the doorknob. “Fuck you think your dirty ass is going? Get in that living room and pick up that fuckin knife, nigga! Finish them kids off! Finish them lil shits off!”
“But they dead!” Dirty Mike had shrieked as he peered into the blood splattered living room that looked like a battlefield. “They already fuckin dead!”
Crazy Haz’s laughter had come from deep in his fat belly. “You want that dope, nigga? Then put your hand on that knife and kill they lil asses again, bitch! Make ’em deader!”
The teenaged drug fiend had walked into the carnage of the living room and kneeled down beside seven-year-old Jewelz. He gripped the bloody butcher knife by the handle and started jabbing it deeply into the bottom part of her belly without hesitation. He stabbed at her so hard that he fucked around and punctured her tiny womb and the knife slid through her stomach and straight outta her back. He didn’t kill her, but he damn sure killed all her dreams.
Jewelz had swallowed her agony and lay there silently under his assault. If she woulda made one sound or uttered just one sniffling cry, Dirty Mike would have kept stabbing until she was deader than dead, and this she knew deep in her young heart.
So she lay there with her head turned toward her best friend, drawing strength from him and staring at him through glazed eyes as she fought the pain and pretended to be dead in order to stay alive.
Eventually Dirty Mike had gone down the line stabbing all the rest of the kids too, and then he came back for Lil Slick. Jewelz was certain that her friend was already gone, but to her surprise Lil Slick’s eyes had fluttered open just as Dirty Mike stuck him. Lil Slick had opened his mouth to cry out in pain, but then he passed out again. Silently.
And that’s when Haz took his depravity to another level. Stepping over the bodies of his blood-nieces and nephews, he had unzipped his pants and lifted the hem of Jewelz’s purple sundress up high. Fumbling with his fly, he took his fat dick out and started peeing all over her.
“Greedy little bitch!” he laughed and cackled as his urine splashed down in Jewelz’s face and hair, further degrading and defiling her. “You ain’t even related but your hungry ass be over here eating shit up all the damn time! You shoulda stayed home and ate some pork n’ beans tonight, bitch!”
“Yes,” grown-woman Jewelz whispered into Slick’s neck as the horrible memories flashed before her eyes. For years Jewelz had fantasized about killing the men who had dishonored her body and stolen her dreams. She was already cooking up a couple of side hits on a cat named Donnie Haskell and his manz Chimp Charlie, and now that she knew where Dirty Mike was at, adding his name to her murder-list was gonna be oh, so sweet.
“Yes,” she repeated again. “Dirty Mike is as good as fuckin dead!”
“Yo, are you sure?” Slick stared deeply into her eyes and asked. “Cause I can go in on my own, Jewelz. I plan on wiping Dirty Mike and his whole fuckin fam off the map, baby! I want that pussy to suffer just like we suffered. I want him to know what it feels like to lose every fuckin body you love. I just don’t wanna overstep my bounds and take away nothing you might want for yourself, nah’mean?”
