Eve (4 page)

Butter sat in front of his big-screen television, laughing his ass off as Maury revealed test results to young couples who were seeking the identity of their kid's father. The only time you could've caught Butter out of bed before eleven was when Maury's show covered this topic. He got a kick out of the grown-ass men and woman who played themselves on national television.

Butter got his name from his butterscotch complexion. He was a short man with broad shoulders and limbs like little tree stumps. Butter had a hard face to go with his hard-ass persona. His was a shoot-you-first, fuck-a-questions kinda guy. He was Felon's bulldog and his bite was far worse than his bark.

Tynisha, the chick that Butter had lain up with the night before, came out of the back room wearing only her panties. She flopped her horse ass on the couch next to Butter and began to watch the show. Butter looked at her and sucked his teeth. He hated when people interrupted his morning talk show.

“What are you doing?” he asked, looking down at her.

“Watching the show,” she responded innocently.

“Did I ask you to watch the show with me?”

“No, but I thought—”

“See,” he cut her off, “that's the problem with women these days. Y'all think too damn much. Why don't you go in the kitchen and fix a nigga something to eat?”

“Damn,” she said getting up. “You ain't exactly a morning person, are you?”

“Hell nah,” he said, lighting the blunt clip that he had left in the ashtray. “I ain't real big on afternoons either.”

“What do you want me to fix you?”

“I could give a shit. Just as long as you don't come back out this muthafucka til my show goes off. Now go ahead,” he said, slapping her on her yellow ass.

Tynisha let out a giggle and ran off into the kitchen. All Butter could do was shake his head. Tynisha was cool, but she wasn't Cassidy. He found himself thinking of the tall beauty more and more. His peoples thought he was whipped. It wasn't that. He just knew a good thing when he saw it. He was quite aware of Cassidy's extracurricular activities, but he didn't really care, as long as she kept it away from him. Cassidy was fine and had a good head on her shoulders. He figured that, with a little coaxing and few well-thought-out gifts, he could reform her. That was the main reason he had let her hold his car. Unbeknown to Cassidy, Butter had big plans for her.

Butter's show was again interrupted by someone knocking on his door. Before going to the peephole, he got his 9 from under the sofa cushion. Butter never received guests this early in the morning, especially unannounced.

“Who that?” Butter asked, easing to the door.

“Me, nigga!”

Butter relaxed a little when he heard the voice. Tucking his pistol into the small of his back, he opened the door and invited his closest road dawg into his apartment. He and Felon had been down since free lunch. They had met during an awkward situation back in junior high school. Butter, a seventh grade transfer student, had moved to the neighborhood from the Bronx. It was already halfway through the school year, so most of the other children had already paired off into clicks. Butter, being short and fat at the time, often found himself alone and on the receiving end of nasty taunts.

On this particular day, after school, a group of eighth graders had Butter cornered, trying to take his Delta Force sneakers from him. The youth was outmanned and unarmed against three eighth graders and a box cutter. Still he wouldn't back down. Breaking a Snapple bottle against the ground, he squared off against his foes. The kids who had gathered around the fight cheered and instigated as blood was about to be spilled.

Suddenly the crowd parted and five youngsters stepped through, wearing war faces. Felon stood there, decked out in a Wind-breaker and untied Timberlands, moved to the middle of the circle, with Bullet guarding his flank. The five-man crew surrounded the three and let Felon act as the spokesman.

“What's up with this shit, Ricky? Why it take two of y'all to get at one nigga?” Felon asked, folding his arms.

“This ain't got nothing to do with you, B.” Ricky tried to smooth it out.

“I think it does,” Felon replied coldly. “See, I don't like sucka shit. You having the numbers and still needing the blade seems like sucka shit to me. If you got a beef with shorty, give him the one-on.”

“I'd fuck this nigga up!” Butter shouted, trying to sound like he wasn't scared to death. He never broke eye contact with Ricky or loosed the bottle.

“Break that nigga up, Rick!” someone shouted from the crowd.

“What's up?” Felon asked.

Ricky looked from his crew to Butter, then to Felon. He really wasn't much of a fighter, but he was bigger and always had his boys with him. Butter was smaller, so Ricky figured he might be able to take him. He never considered the fact that the younger boy might have hand skills. Butter blackened one of Ricky's eyes and split his lip pretty badly. After the incident the eighth graders never bothered Butter again. He was so grateful to Felon that he took to hanging around him. On a spring day, behind Booker T. Washington, Felon and Butter became friends and crime partners.

“Nigga,” Butter said playfully. “You gonna fuck around and get shot popping up at a niggaz' house unannounced.”

“Put that damn thing away,” Felon said, inviting himself to a seat on the couch. “I tried to call ya bitch ass three or four times. Cut ya fucking phone on, dickhead.”

“Oh shit,” Butter said slapping himself in the forehead. “I forgot to cut that shit back on last night.”

“See, that's ya own damn fault. What if it had been an emergency?”

“Then you would've handled it, kid. You know you're the eyes in back of my head, Felon.”

“I know that's right,” Felon said, picking up the clip and taking a pull. “From now til we leave this here for warmer climates. Smell me?”

“To hell and back again,” said Butter, taking the clip. “So what the fuck is so important that you gotta come fucking with me at the crack of dawn?”

“First of all, it's after ten,” Felon corrected him. “Second of all, we got a problem, son. A problem that needs to be addressed.”

Before Felon could continue, Tynisha came out of the kitchen, carrying a snack tray. On the tray there was some bacon that looked like black licorice, toast that obviously had burnt, and eggs that ran more than Luke and Laura from
General Hospital
. She tried, though.

“What the fuck is that?” Butter asked.

“Your breakfast, daddy,” she responded with a confused look.

“Ain't this some bullshit? It's bad enough that I gotta worry about niggaz trying to kill me on the streets, then you wanna try to poison a muthafucka?”

“The bacon is just a little overcooked because I was talking to my mother on the phone and got caught up,” she explained.

“Baby, I'm not eating that shit. You can give it to Felon.”

“I'm good,” Felon said, putting his hands up.

“Fuck the dumb shit,” Butter said, getting off the couch. “I'm gonna throw some sweats on and go get some real food. Felon, Give me a few minutes. In the meantime,” he turned to Tynisha, “give my boy some of the fire top you twirking wit.”

She looked at Butter with hurt in her eyes. She loved the shit out of Butter, but he didn't seem to feel the same way. He only had eyes for her home girl, Cassidy. Tynisha knew that Cassidy wasn't checking for Butter like that. She thought that if she could just show Butter what a good bitch she was, he might come around and wife her. She knew that she would be playing herself, but if Butter wanted her to knock Felon down, then she had to do it.

Felon caught Tynisha by the shoulders as she was descending, head first, into his lap. “Hold on, baby girl. I appreciate the gesture, but I'm good.”

“Stop acting like a bitch,” Butter said from the doorway. “Let the bitch gum you down, nigga.”

“I said I'm good, Butter.”

“Come on,” Tynisha pleaded in an attempt to earn Butter's favor. “Let me get that up outta you, Felon.”

“I said I'm good.” He pushed her away.

Tynisha was offended by Felon's rejection, so she decided to take a jab at him. “Oh, I get it,” she said with a wicked smirk. “Butter, looks like ya boy is still stuck on Eve.”

“Bitch, I'll split yo shit if you ever come at me like that again!” Felon snapped, grabbing a fistful of the girl's hair. “I don't care if you are my dude's flavor of the month, you better recognize and show some respect!” With his point made, Felon tossed her roughly to the couch.

Tynisha had touched on a very sore spot. Felon did indeed have a thing for Eve, but he would never admit it. He had fallen for her when she first moved to the block from Brooklyn. At the time Felon was just a lil nigga causing trouble just for the hell of it. He ran with a crew of young thugs from her block. Eve had always been like one of the boys, so they often found themselves in each other's company. Most of the other guys used to tease Eve about her tomboyish nature, but Felon never did. She was his dawg and he treated her equally. Felon had even started putting her down with some of his heist. People thought that he favored her because they were crime partners, but Felon had a secret crush. Seeing as how he was a few years older than Eve, he never spoke on it. He didn't want people to think that he was a molester or anything. There was only a four-year gap between them, but that seemed like a whole lot when he was sixteen and she was only twelve.

“Let me find out she struck a nerve?” Butter teased.

“Ain't nobody strike shit. Fuck you too, nigga.”

“It's all good, boo,” Tynisha said, heading for the bedroom. “Eve's touching down today. See if she'll suck your little cock for you.”

“Fucking nosy bitch,” Felon mumbled. “Man, why you ain't tell me Eve was coming home today?”

“You're probably the only muthafucka who didn't know. You know them Twenty hoes got big mouths. Besides, I thought you wasn't checking for shorty like that.”

“I ain't. Eve is my nigga, plus she gets down. I was thinking about putting her on with us.”

“Hell nah, Felon. We can't put her down.”

“Why the hell not, Butter?”

“Well, she's a girl for one thing. Plus, you know all of them bitches from Twenty-Gang is scandalous.”

“Man, this is Eve we're talking about. The same chick that took a charge for us and never said shit.”

“Hey, don't try throwing that up in my face,” Butter snapped back. “I seem to remember your ass running through the woods too, Felon. Nobody wanted Eve to take the fall, but we can't change the fact that it happened. My dude, I'm all for helping the home girl out, but not by bringing her into this.”

“Man, I know Eve, fam. Me and her done pulled some hellified capers together. She's built like that.”

“Dawg, just because she played look-out on a few jobs don't make her hard. Eve is my nigga too, but a bitch is a bitch. Besides, the kinda stakes we're playing for are too high for her. Eve is too inexperienced to bring in on it. We can't watch our asses and hers.”

“Let me put you up on something, Butter. Eve has been doing dirt since she was a shorty. Even when we were young she was always fresh. Home girl was getting down solo before we hooked up. So ain't like this is nothing new to her.”

“Whatever, Felon. The only reason you're sticking up for her is because you wanna pop that.”

“You wilding, son. Eve is like my little sister.”

“Then you're thinking of committing incest,” Butter said, laughing at his own joke. “Let me go put something on so we can dip.” Butter disappeared into the bedroom, leaving Felon to his thoughts.

Felon couldn't believe the news. Little Evelyn was coming home. It had been a while since Felon had seen his lil homey. He had visited her once, but afterward she had sent him a letter requesting that he stay away. She said that it was too painful for her to see him leave at the end of the visits, knowing that she couldn't leave as well. Since then Felon had written her one letter a week. She never responded, but he kept writing.

When Eve had been in the world, they were thick as thieves. She was one of the few people who had held him down when his father passed. He poured his heart out for hours as she listened intently, never once interrupting. He told her all that was in his heart except the feelings that he had for her. This was one of his most closely guarded secrets.

Felon knew that he was doing a poor job of hiding his feelings about Eve. It was evident after she was sentenced. Felon sat with Butter in his living room and sobbed for her when they got the news. His heart desired to be with Eve, but his logical mind was cock-blocking. What most people didn't realize was that Felon was toxic to women.

He had had girlfriends here and there. Some were good, while others were just larcenous. He seemed to attract the latter. They all wanted to be with the cats who were winning, or had the potential. They came with sweet whispers and promises of loyalty, but there was always motive. It seemed like every time he was tempted to give his heart to a woman, she showed her true colors. They wanted to be with Felon's title, not him.

Felon's outlook on women became twisted and bitter. He turned cold and calloused toward women, treating them as nothing more than objects of pleasure, for him to torment at will. Even when he found ones who were worthy, his base nature kicked in, and they too were cast aside. He wouldn't subject Eve to that, so he closed that part of his heart to her. Love was a myth, and he was too old to believe in fairy tales.

 

Eve sat in the passenger seat, holding her ribs. She had been laughing so hard at the two kids from White Castle that her sides threatened to split open. When she kissed Cassidy, they looked like they were gonna drop dead. Neither she nor Cassidy were gay, but they couldn't resist an opportunity to make asses out of the two young players.