For the Strength of You (6 page)

Anshon was glad the sun was out. He was at a stoplight on New Bern Avenue when he dropped the top with Slick Rick's “Hey Young World” massaging the four 12s in the trunk. He called Monica, hoping that she was up. She picked up on the second ring.

“What up, shawtie? Let me come scoop you.”

“Anshon, you heard what happened to Tom-Tom?” she asked.

From Monica's tone, he didn't know if she was asking him or telling him. “Is that a question?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Oh. Naw,” he said. “I ain't heard nothin'.”

“He was electrocuted. His insides were outside of his body by the time the police found him. You know anything about that?”

“Come on now, shawtie. What I look like? I can't say that I feel bad about the nigga being dead . . . I mean, my sister may feel some kinda way, but hell, we all gotta die sometime.”

“Whatever, Anshon.”

“Yo, I'm tryin' to see you. Wassup?”

She sucked her teeth and blushed at the same time. “Come on, boy.”

Anshon smiled. “Fe-Fe and Teck are having a small card party later on, so I hope you know how to put your Spades game down.”

* * *

“My book!” Fe-Fe yelled at Teck, grinning.

Teck did a double take. “Baby,” he said, not wanting to embarrass her in front of Monica and Anshon. “Where's your other cap at?” He pointed to her mouth.

“I wanted to surprise you. I got implants, one porcelain and one gold.”

“Let me see,” Monica said to Fe-Fe. “You look good, girl!”

“Thank you,” Fe-Fe said, covering her mouth. As she did that, her present from Teck slid down her arm.

“Wow, Fe-Fe!” Monica screamed. Anshon and Teck looked at her like she was crazy. “That bracelet is beautiful! Let me see.”

“Teck gave it to me.” Fe-Fe held her arm out.

Monica looked at the bracelet and her eyes lit up. “This is mine! Where did you get this from, Teck?”

“This ain't yours,” Fe-Fe said, snatching her arm back. “My man gave me this.”

“That is mine!” Monica said. “My name is engraved on the lock. Look at it closely. That's my bracelet that I was jacked for that night in the club.”

Fe-Fe took off the bracelet and looked at the lobster claw lock, and it read
Monica
. Fe-Fe felt like a fool. She looked at Teck.

“I thought this was the jeweler's inscription. I'm sorry, Monica. I thought maybe I had a name brand piece.”

“I can't believe this shit,” Teck said, looking at Anshon, who had his face twisted. “I bought that shit from the pawn shop. I would've never known that it was stolen.” He took the bracelet out of Fe-Fe's hands and gave it to Monica. “Here you go, baby girl. My fault.” He turned to Fe. “I'll get you another one.”

Fe-Fe sat back down in her chair, embarrassed. This was one time that she wished she was still getting high.

“Girl, you hear what happened to Tom-Tom?” Monica said, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

“Naw, what?” Fe-Fe mumbled, peeking at the bracelet that was now on Monica's wrist.

“My homegirl, Gina,” Monica said, “called me this morning and told me that Tom-Tom's next door neighbor found him electrocuted. The insides of his ass were on his living room floor.”

“What!” Fe-Fe screeched, looking at Teck. “Who done it?”

“I don't know.” Teck frowned. “What the fuck is you, the law? Don't be looking at me.”

Fe-Fe looked at Anshon. He simply turned his head. Fe-Fe sucked her teeth, grabbed the deck of cards, and reshuffled them.

“Anshon?” Monica said. “You seen my electric curling iron? I left it in your car.”

Anshon spit his beer out. Teck looked at him and handed him a napkin. “What the hell kinda question is that?” he asked. “I don't keep up with no damn curlers.”

“It ain't that deep, Anshon. I just asked.”

“Well, naw,” he snapped. “I ain't seen it.”

The card game was downhill from there. They finished the hand they were playing and then Anshon started yawning.

“I'm getting a little tired. We'll get up with y'all tomorrow,” he said, looking at Monica.

Monica lifted her arms in the air and stretched. “Okay, baby.”

“Well, I'm glad y'all came by,” Fe-Fe said.

They all stood up from the table and walked toward the front door. Anshon and Teck walked outside to Anshon's car, while the girls lagged behind.

“Fe-Fe,” Monica said, grabbing her hand. “I got something for you.” She handed her the bracelet.

“What you doing, Monica?” Fe-Fe was surprised and tried pushing the bracelet back into Monica's hands. “This yours.”

“You can have it.” Monica smiled. “The diamonds ain't real, and the gold is just ten karat. I don't need it. You take it.”

Fe-Fe didn't know what to say. She kissed Monica on the cheek. “Nobody never gave me nothing. Anything I ever had came 'cause I sucked dick real good or I stole it. So thank you. I really appreciate it, but it's yours, and I don't want it. Please take it back.”

Monica could tell that she was making Fe-Fe feel uncomfortable. “Okay, Fe-Fe, but the next time, I want you to take what I give you.”

“I will.”

Monica kissed Fe-Fe on the cheek, and she and Anshon left.

* * *

The next morning, Teck and Fe-Fe were bagging up coke when Fe-Fe asked, “You think Anshon killed Tom-Tom?”

Teck picked up two grams off the table and rolled them in the palm of his hand, making sure they were the same size. He placed them back on the table then carefully picked up a razor. Fe-Fe repeated her question.

“Yo, check this,” Teck snapped. “You see I'm tryin' to handle this.” He pointed to the coke. “Just mind your business and handle this trap right here. This li'l spot is all we got to worry 'bout. I got a wrist fulla rubber bands, which equals mo' money and mo' problems, and that's more than enough to have on your mind. Don't worry about what happened to Tom-Tom.”

“I understand.” Fe-Fe smirked. “I understand quite well. Anshon ain't kill him. Both y'all did!”

Teck ignored her and continued bagging up his work.

An hour later, Teck finished and said to Fe-Fe, who was serving a fiend and listening to
All My Children
, “I gotta roll real quick. I need to go and check my brother.”

Fe-Fe nodded her head as Teck left out the back door.

* * *

It was ten o'clock in the morning. Anshon had just dropped Monica off for her morning classes at the community college. He started to run home, but then he decided to go by Fe-Fe's and check Teck.

“Yo, Fe,” Anshon called, rattling the screen on the front door.

Fe-Fe didn't hear Anshon announce himself, but she heard the door rattle. She ran to the front door hoping it was Teck. She'd been unable to sleep ever since she found a bloody ski mask tucked under her bed, along with five different IDs from people that she knew lived on the other side of Selma.

I hope this nigga ain't runnin' no credit card scheme
, she thought on her way to the door.
Shit, if white folks locked Martha Stewart up, niggas can forget about it. It's pretty much a wrap, 'cause in a moment, lynching gon' be legal, so I know Teck got better sense than to be messing with white collar crime shit. He better stick to the nickel-and-dime state charges.

“Teck,” she yelled, snatching the front door open. “What is this shit I found?” She held the ski mask out. When she saw Anshon was at the door, she quickly snatched it back. “Anshon,” she said, breathing heavy, “I thought you were Teck.”

Anshon was so taken aback by Fe-Fe that he never noticed the mask. She was dressed in a tight white turtleneck that hugged her heavy breasts. Her nipples were hard, slightly poked out through her bra, causing the imprint to come through her shirt. She also had on a tight pair of Never Broke jeans that Teck had bought her.

Anshon wanted to grab his dick. It was so hard that it was starting to ache. For the first time, Anshon knew that as long as she was sober, he could imagine fucking her.

Fe-Fe turned her back to him. “Close the door behind you.”

Immediately, his eyes went to her ass. He had no choice but to grab his dick. Her ass resembled a brand-new, pumped-up basketball.

Fe-Fe sat down on the couch and Anshon went to sit next to her.

“Where's Teck?” Anshon asked, trying to cover up his hard-on as he sat.

“Good question.” Fe-Fe reached over Anshon and grabbed the cordless phone, her 36-Ds brushing back and forth across his dick.

She dialed Teck's number and got no answer. “Fuck this. I was gonna cook, but ain't no tellin' when his ass gonna get here. Can you take me to McDonald's right quick?”

“Yeah,” Anshon said, standing up. He placed his hands in his pockets, hoping to somehow hide his hard-on again. “I can go for a few bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits . . . and some fries.”

Fe-Fe went upstairs to get her purse and left a note for Teck that she went to McDonald's with Anshon.

“It's cold as hell out here,” Fe-Fe said as she got into the Chevy. “I'll be glad when it's summertime.”

“Me too,” Anshon replied. “I wonder if Teck and Wallo gon' be selling them dinners again.”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Fe-Fe said, looking out the window.

Anshon took I-95 then rode it until he reached the rest stop. This McDonald's was closer than the one in the center of town.

They went through the McDonald's drive-thru and twenty minutes later, they had the food and were back at Fe-Fe's house. Teck still hadn't returned.

“How old are you?” Fe-Fe asked Anshon as they sat in the living room eating their food.

“Twenty-two. Why?”

“Just askin',” she said, balling up the wrapper from her sausage biscuit. “Hey, I got another question to ask.” She took a sip of her Diet Coke.

“Yeah?”

“Let's say . . . if you was to like . . . um . . . to meet me out of town and didn't know me, would you step to me?”

Anshon had a mouth full of food and quickly picked up his cup of Sprite to wash it down. “I'ma act like I didn't hear that, Fe-Fe.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fool, I ain't tryin' to do nothin' wit' you. I just wanna know if you would find me good to look at . . . that's all.”

“Oh . . . well . . . if I had never met you and didn't knew your past . . . then hell yeah. I'd step to you with a quickness. Why you ask?”

“'Cause your dick was hard when I reached over you for the phone earlier.” Fe-Fe smiled, pushing her wavy hair behind her ears.

“You trippin', Fe-Fe,” he said, removing the wrapper from his third biscuit. He peeked at her from outta the corner of his eye. He hated that she knew his dick was hard, but hell, ever since she'd been clean, she was something to look at. Five foot three, 36-26-38, 140 lbs. She was turning a lot of heads, and most, like Anshon, were ashamed to admit it. Fe-Fe was a coal-covered diamond that just needed to be polished, and Teck happened to be the only one to see that she was a rare jewel. Niggas that had tricked Fe-Fe knew how good the pussy was, and a few were now hating Teck because he had Fe-Fe on lock.

He glanced over at Fe-Fe to see if she was still looking at him.

“Let me stop.” She laughed.

“A'ight.” Anshon stood to leave. “Tell Teck to call me.”

As he went to step out the door, Fe-Fe called out his name. “Anshon, thanks for not puttin' dirt on my name. I know you could have told Teck about me tryin' to give you some ass that night when I was trickin' with Bobby at Masters Inn. I know it was before me and him hooked up, but you know how it would look.” She hunched her shoulders. “Teck would start thinkin' we up to somethin'.”

“That's the past, Fe-Fe, and you still cool wit' me. Just have Teck call me when he get in.”

“Okay.” Fe-Fe blushed, closing the door behind him.

* * *

A week had passed, and still no Teck. Fe-Fe was starting to give up on their relationship.

She was cleaning her living room when she found a shitload of jewelry and more stolen IDs under her couch.
What the fuck is going on here?
she thought to herself.

She was holding the jewelry in her hand when Teck walked in. She quickly threw it back under the couch. When she looked up, Teck was standing over her.

“What you lookin' for?” he asked.

“Nothin',” she snapped. “Where the fuck you been?”

“Out!”

“Well, since you been out, you can stay the fuck out! Nigga, I'm sick of y'all big-dick ma'fuckas that think you runnin' shit. You ain't runnin' shit for me! Fuck you!”

Fe-Fe was going off so bad that Teck couldn't get a word in. “Wait a minute, Fe—”

“No, you wait a minute, nigga. Punk bitch-ass, cripple-eyed ma'fucker!”

“Look, I'm sorry, a'ight? Come on. I was buggin'. I should've called, but I didn't.”

“Nope.” She twisted her lips. “Not workin'! Plus, nigga,” she said, reaching under the couch and throwing the jewelry at him, “I'm finding more goddamn goods than drugs. What the fuck is really going on? You robbin' niggas? You a stick-up kid?”

“Hell no!” Teck snapped. “How the hell you just gon' say some shit like that to me? Fuck it, Fe. If it's that deep, fuck it. That's my grandmother's shit. I was hiding it under the couch because I was gon' give it to you.”