Payback Ain't Enough (4 page)

“Giving me info and gettin’ all pretty to sit up at the bar ain’t puttin’ in work,” I teased.

Yeah, I was only teasing. And she was right. I needed her. Even though Forever put me up on game, he wasn’t out here on the streets with up-to-date intel. I needed real, live info on the new players. Those on top and the ones tryna get there. I needed to get close to somebody high up on the food chain and for what I needed done, only a chick could do. And who better than a bad-ass bitch like Sharia and someone close to me that I could trust.

Sharia was that bitch that made it possible for all them pole-dancing hoes to have those big asses. Her shit was illegal. She learned from a plastic surgeon that she used to work for and took what he was doing and made it her own hustle. Now for 3 Gs a cheek she would inject anything that she thought would plump those asses up. She worked out of hotel rooms keeping her hustle on the move. The best part was the main bitches that could afford her ass injections were those that worked the poles for their pimp daddies, and those hoes that fucked around with and chased them hustlers. Those very same bitches told all of their business. And those were the niggas that we were after. My plan wasn’t
to rob them. Hell no! I just needed to be put on, introduced to all the key players, and then make my move.

I had been waiting on this day for damn near a year and a half. I needed to show all them muthafuckas around here who really had the last laugh. And, for all who didn’t know, that would be me.

Niggas thought it was funny when I lost my club for a measly fucking two dollars. Actually, I didn’t lose my club. Briggen stole it from right under me. That was followed up by me losing him to some off-brand bitch who was fucking both, Briggen and his brother, Forever. That nigga, my ex, Briggen, don’t respect nothing. The sad part was he fucked over everybody who cared about him. That’s why I was now in the fast lane headed for Payback. Thanks to my hungry cousin, Mills aka Dark, my day was coming soon. But first things first. I had to stay focused. I had to hook this nigga up with some gear. He needed an outfit to wear to the funeral I was sure that Forever’s people were going to have and to a couple of big parties they had been promoting the shit out of the last few months. If we couldn’t get the leads we needed from the funeral of a former baller and some parties, then we were some sorry-ass muthafuckas that didn’t deserve to come up.

I was driving around the city, veered off and ended up in front of Mia’s. I hadn’t been back home since Nyla came by
and told me that Forever was gone, and that was three days ago. I gotta admit I was feeling some kinda way since I cut him off. After all, he was my brother, even though he did do some stupid shit. But hell, who didn’t? Even though I was mad at him, I didn’t want him to die, especially not the way he did, bound to a wheelchair and I got word that he was drowned in bleach.

Shan had been blowin’ up my phone with texts asking when I was coming home. “I’ll be there when I get there,” I texted her back. Right then, I just needed to clear my head. Partly because she was a big part of this picture. He was fucking her at one time, and then I took her. And plus, I was busy pulling strings to get Forever’s body from the prison in record time. My moms wasn’t having it any other way. She said fuck all of the Bureau of Prison’s red tape.

I rang the bell and Mia opened up. She and I used to kick it heavy, that is, until Shan came along. Shan showed up right when I thought I was ready to purge myself of anything and anybody that had to do with the streets. That included hustling, Mia, Sharia and Tami. My plan was to go one-hundred percent legit. That notion, however, didn’t last for long. Shan and I had been together for the last two years, but I got bored, living the square life. In less than six months I craved the action of the streets.

Finally, Mia appeared in the doorway sporting a sheer nightie and not a damn thing else, saving me from my thoughts of one sin while replacing them with another.

“Damn, girl! Can’t you put on a robe or something?” I inquired, not that I minded her little show.

“Last time I checked, this was
my
house. It’s 2
A.M
., and
besides, it ain’t like I’m showing you something you ain’t seen before,” she said as she slammed the door behind me.

“What’s up, Mia?”

“For what it’s worth, sorry about Forever.”

“What else is up, Mia? You called me over here,” I asked, exhausted and exasperated at the same time.

“And just like the obedient nigga you are, you came running, didn’t you?” she gloated.

This chick was still bitter because she could no longer get the dick. I stopped blessing her a little over two years ago, but she refused to let what we had in the past go. “I don’t have time for this shit,” I said as I turned and headed for the door.

“Briggen, stop it with the attitude. I’m serious.” She paused for a moment. “Demetria got busted,” she told me.

I stopped in midstep and stood there hoping I heard her wrong.

“She got busted last night.”

Demetria was my main mule and had been running my dope for a little over a year. She only got busted once before and kept her mouth shut.
So what happened?
I wondered.

“And you just telling me now?” I bellowed as I turned and got up in her face.

“I tried sending you messages, but they said nobody could find you! I told them you was playing house and for them to go by and let you know that it was an emergency. But them niggas was scared and on that, ‘nobody goes to Brig’s crib’ bullshit. I would have come myself, but that ho you shackin’ up with probably would’ve come slick out of her mouth, and then you would’ve been bailing both me and Demetria out,” Mia explained.

“Where was she?”

“I think she was coming through Arkansas. The same place she got popped before.”

“Fuck!” I gritted. “What did she say?”

“She hasn’t called me yet!” Mia blurted.

“What the fuck you mean she hasn’t called you yet?” I looked at her like she was crazy.

“She called her sister!”

“Sharia? She called Sharia?”

“Yeah, it’s odd to me too. And I only found that out because of Melky.” Mia’s voice sounded suspicious. Melky was one of my most trusted workers.

Damn!
I knew she had twelve keys a piece of both raw and dope. And Sharia? Hell, she couldn’t stand her damn sister and wouldn’t extend a rope to Demetria if the bitch was stuck in a ditch. I could understand why Mia was skeptical. The shit ain’t adding up. I needed some answers and I needed them fast. I stood there, trying to run what little details I knew of the scenario through my head but kept coming up empty. First Forever, and now this? Shit wasn’t right; that’s all I knew. I sat down on the sofa, not sure what moves I was going to make next. I lived for these moments. That shit was like a live chess game.

“So what are you going to do?” Mia asked as she sat down next to me.

“The first thing you need to do is call Rudy,” I told her. Rudy had been my attorney ever since I got in the game.

“What do you think about her calling Sharia and not headquarters?” Mia inquired.

I lay my head back and thought about her questions.
Demetria’s actions definitely raised a red flag. She was in total violation. We have rules, and she had just broke a cardinal one. That’s not a good sign in the game. I planned to have Rudy look into the root of her deviation. Everybody knew those two sisters didn’t get along, and Demetria can’t stand Sharia, which made it all the more suspect.

“Let Rudy do the diggin’. In the meantime, keep your eyes open and your mouth shut. I want niggas to stay asleep,” I ordered.

“If you say so,” Mia said sarcastically sweet. She was the one who told me not to use Demetria, and if I did, it was going to come back to haunt me. I hated to admit it, but by the looks of things, she just might turn out to be right.

“You damn right,
if I say so
,” I glared at her. “Right now, we don’t know shit. We can only speculate, and I’m not one for speculation.” Mia folded her arms across her chest, sat back and clammed up. I took that as my cue to leave. I stood up, and she grabbed my hand.

“Briggen, don’t leave,” she pleaded.

“I gotta go,” I stated sternly.

“Answer me this. You don’t find me sexy anymore?” she asked as she took her finger, circled her nipple, and then ran it down her stomach.

“Mia, don’t start that bullshit. You know I got shit to take care of right now.” She was turning me on, but it was not the time.

“Briggen, she will never love you the way I love you,” she professed as she moved closer to me. “I don’t know why you can’t see that. And she will never have your back the way I do. You do know that, right?”

“Mia, it’s over between us.” I looked her right in the eyes.

“Just remember those words when she shows you her true colors,” she warned.

“Mia, let it go, aiight?”

“Well, answer me this, Briggen. Why did it stop working between us? Because at one time, I was all you needed. What does she have that I don’t? She has nothing, Briggen, nothing.”

“Mia, just do what I told you. I’ll talk to you later,” I said as I turned and walked out.

What the fuck was going on? She was the second bitch in less than a week to tell me to watch my wife and that she was a fake.

And just like that he was gone. I swore to myself the last time that I saw him, I was not going to let him see me sweat. But just like the last time, I caved. “Damn it!” I said as I locked my front door. “Damn it, Mia!” I fumed again.

Whenever Briggen came around, it was still a struggle for me. And he could lie to himself all he wanted, but I knew that he still loved me. And I wasn’t buying that good-wife-at-home-I’ma-have-your-kids bullshit. To this day, I haven’t been able to put my finger on it, but I do know that bitch Shan is not for real, and he better hope that when he finds out I’ll still be here for him.

Since Forever’s death, Briggen had been acting like an entirely different person. He’d been standoffish, real short with his
words and had been trying to stay out of the house. So now I was sitting here watching him get dressed to go to Forever’s funeral, and the way he was taking his time, it was obvious that he didn’t want to go.

“Is there something you want to talk to me about?” I asked him as he adjusted his tie. That was my first time seeing him wear a tie.

“What made you ask me that?” Briggen replied.

I chuckled. “You know what? If you have to ask me that, then forget it,” I snapped.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he hollered at my back because I had left his ass standing there. I had my purse, keys and my son, and I was out the door.

I dreaded the day. I always wondered which one of us the streets would take first. Even though I was mad enough to hate and stop speaking to Forever, he was still my flesh and blood. If it wasn’t for my mother, I would not be attending my brother’s funeral. I tried to get out of it by paying for everything and saying that I did my part, but my moms wasn’t having it. Ever since his death, I’ve been on edge, and Shan has been picking up on my mood swings and has been trying to trip. But the one thing she does not know about was that my mule got busted. Okay, well, she didn’t even know that I had a mule. As far as she’s concerned, I no longer hustled, and I wanted to keep it like that. But I kept feeling like any day now the Feds were going to put those iron bracelets on me.

I stepped outside and every cloud in the sky was dark… just like my mood.

By the time I pulled up in front of the funeral home it was drizzling. My family was mad because I chose to ride solo. I wasn’t up for being around my family showboating and fighting over who rides in the first car and all that silly bullshit. My moms was rolling with her two sisters, Aunt Jane and Thelma, their daughters, Tanisha and Jeanette, and I can’t leave out their henpecked husbands, Paul and Tony, who were there to sniff up their asses. Keeta, my uncle Bill’s daughter, was in the mix. My uncle Bill was my mom’s only brother. He died one year ago to this day. That’s why my moms was hell-bent on having Forever buried today. My plan for real was to arrive when shit was almost over.

Before I could get out of the car good, I spotted Mia coming my way. I got out and said, “Not now, Mia.”

“What do you mean ‘not now’, Briggen? There’s a place and time for everything, and even I know that.”

“I’ll get with you later,” I said, my eyes fixed on the New Day Baptist Church awning.

“I think you want to hear what I got to say right now. Word is Sharia talked Demetria into giving you up to the Feds,” Mia revealed.

“What?” I snapped incredulously.

“I told you something was up. And Rudy said to come see him as soon as possible,” Mia informed me. The day couldn’t get any better.

CHAPTER THREE

Whoa
. It was my first time in a church in seven years. I was surprised when I saw that the casket was open. I was sure the nigga was going to have a closed casket send-off. The last time I saw Forever, his face was yellow looking and he had craters all over it. Obviously, nothing a skilled makeup artist couldn’t handle.