Payback Is a Mutha (3 page)

“That’s a whole ’nother story!”

“What happened? What happened, hoe?” Brianna prodded.

“I don’t want to talk about him.”

“C’mon, Shan. Tell me.” The suspense was now more than Brianna could stand.

Getting agitated, Shan spat, “We fucked and I haven’t heard from him since! A’ight?”

“What? No shit? That ain’t our style, Shan.
How’d you let him play you like that? Please tell me you got a couple of grand outta the nigga! I know I taught you better than that!” Brianna said with much attitude.

“Girl, please. You the last person I’ll let teach me anything.”

“So what happened? Did you or didn’t you get some paper?” Brianna was talking to Shan as if she was a moron.

“No, I wasn’t tryna hustle the nigga for no dollars but we’d been vibin’ off one another, and he made plans to take me to Las Vegas the weekend of my birthday. I told you that.”

“Damn, that reminds me. We haven’t kicked it since your birthday?”

“No, we haven’t. You’ve been doing what you do best, hoeing around, hustlin’ niggas, and I’ve been doing what I do, working and job hunting.”

“I’ma act like you didn’t say that. But for the record, don’t hate the player, hate the game. Now, finish telling me about Las Vegas. And please tell me you at least milked Las Vegas until it couldn’t be milked anymore.”

“Brianna do you ever rest from getting your hustle on?”

“No, I don’t. And you’s a sad bitch, if you tell me you didn’t milk that nigga.”

Shan waved her hand at her. “Anyways, Vegas was all good. We had a ball.” Shan’s face lit up as she spoke. “We gambled and I won $4,700 and lost it all but about $600. We clubbed, we wined and dined and saw two old school shows, the Whispers and the Temptations. I really had a good time. That was almost a month ago. I haven’t heard from his ass since. The nigga won’t even return my page.”
Shan looked over at Brianna and said, “B, I know my pussy is worth a damn return phone call!”

“Girl fuck him! Don’t let no sorry ass, ungrateful nigga get you down. Tricks that can take you to Las Vegas come a dime a dozen.”

“It wasn’t all about the trip. It was the vibin’ and the dick!” Shan had to smile at her rhyme.

“Oh, shit! Don’t say the nigga had it goin’ on with the dick?”

“I won’t say it then.” Shan pursed her lips.

Brianna was staring at Shan with her mouth open. “No. How good was it? Tell me.”

Shan laughed. “I promise you. You ain’t never came the way I came.”

Brianna’s mouth was wide open. “Dayum, girlfriend. That dick must have been tha bomb!”

“It was girl, I put that on my mama. Aw, shit, look at all these niggas out here.” Shan was checking out the club and all the black folks that were out to enjoy the evening.

I hope you find us a parking spot close by. We don’t need to be walking for miles and miles.”

“Shit. You know I’m not parking my Lex on the street. This is a night for valet parking. You know my rules.”

“Whatever hoe! Just get me in the club so that I can celebrate.”

“They shook, shook, shook/ah made you look/you a slave to a page in my rhyme book.”
Shan was feelin’ Nas as his beats was pumping her up. They squeezed their way right on over to the bar. Brianna was already scheming on how to get seated in the VIP section.

“So far so good.” Brianna stated her approval of the high-tech décor and atmosphere of the club.
“Crowded but cool. Black folks love a nice spot to go and chill out.” Then she nudged Shan. “Shan, look at that shoddy hoe. I know the fashion police must be nearby.”

“B, don’t start,” Shan warned before turning to see who Brianna was cracking on. “Oh, hell no!”

“See. I didn’t even have to tell you who I was talking about.”

“What do she have on?” Shan was puzzled. “Looks like a nightgown over a pair of biker shorts and some cowboy boots. Something has to be wrong with her. How did she even get in? I thought this place had a damn dress code the way ole boy was looking us up and down at the door.”

“Queen, please. You know what time it is. We got the look because of how good we look!” Brianna bragged as they both sang. “Okay!”

“Uh-oh. Here come the drinks.” Brianna’s night was now falling into place.

“Brianna, you know how I roll. I gots to see my drink getting poured,” Shan, being the responsible one, said. “You can’t trust these niggas. Now let’s get that table over there.” She pointed behind them. Shan eased off of the stool and grabbed Brianna’s hand. Brianna grabbed her drink and winked at the older brother who sent them over, ignoring Shan’s warning. Before he got off his seat to come to where she was, her and Shan were already lost in the crowd.

“Bitch, don’t make me spill this!” Brianna yelled over the music.

As soon as they found a table and sat down Sean Paul was telling somebody to,
“Gimme the Light and Pass the Dro.”
Shan said, “Yeah! I’ll be back, B!” and went to get her dance on.

Brianna sipped on her drink as she scanned the
room. Her eyes landed on this baller named Skye. He wore a baby face but the neatly trimmed goatee added some maturity. His cheekbones were high, making him look Indian. He wasn’t all that cute but she heard that his pockets made up for it. He was six foot three, light brown and had light green eyes. His hair was cut to a low fade. He had on a tan Enyce velour sweat suit and had two hoochies grinning all up in his face. She had heard about Skye and they had crossed paths a few times but she’d never had the opportunity to talk to him. She kept staring at him until he looked over at her.

“Come here,” she mouthed. He smiled and looked back and forth between the two honeys before him and looked back at her. “Fuck them hoes! Come here!” she mouthed again. She never took her eyes off him as he said something to the two hoochies and made his way over to her table.

“Damn playboy, is it really that serious?” B asked as she looked him up and down.

He grinned and she was liking the smile and the gorgeous set of teeth. “That depends on you.” He was checking her out as well.

“All I want is a number.”

“You called me all the way over here just for a number?” He teased as he pulled his chair closer to hers.

“I gotta start somewhere. What else do you want me to ask for?” she flirted.

As he pulled out a business card two of his boys came over. “Yo Skye, let me holla at you.”

He nodded to his boy and then passed B his card. “What else do you want?”

“I want you to ask me my name.”

He flashed them pearly whites again, and stood up. “I’ll get at you before the night is out.”

“Damn, he looks paid.” Shan whispered teasingly in Brianna’s ear as they watched him walk away. “Who was that? You just met him?” she said as she sat down. “Do you already know him? Damn, you move fast.”

“His name is Skye and I plan on getting to know him before we leave up out of here.” She put his card in her purse. “So you’re through getting your dance on?”

“For now, yeah.” Shan was fanning herself and looking around for a waitress. “I’m thirsty as hell! Oh shit, this is my song!” She snapped her fingers and began chair dancing while singing along with Khia.
“All you ladies pop that thang like this/shake your body don’t stop don’t quit/just do it, do it, do it, do it, do it now.”
She abruptly stopped and began frowning.

“What’s the matter with you?”

Brianna turned towards the door to see what or who had Shan’s thong crawling up the crack of her ass. Who she saw was a nigga who she wanted to see but at the same time didn’t want to see if that was who her girl was sweatin’. It was Briggen. One of the biggest ballers in Memphis. Foine. Six foot two, clean shaven and cut up. Nigga looking good as Tyson Beckford. He was dressed in all black and he was busy meetin’ and greetin’. His demeanor reminded her of the character Nino Brown in
New Jack City.
A little more polished but very cocky. Hook had promised to introduce her to him but he never did. Shan snapped her out of her thoughts.

“I’m ready to go,” she snapped.

“What’s up?” B asked while deep down she was filled with envy and hoping that Briggen wasn’t the one who took Shan to Las Vegas.

“There goes that nigga Calvin I was telling you about.”

“Damn, Shan, you should know who you’re opening your legs for!” She shook her head back and forth in disgust. “You call him Calvin. Who the fuck is Calvin? That’s Briggen. He’s one of the biggest dope dealers in Memphis. He also owns Sharia’s Beauty Salon in the South Memphis, that auto shop you went to, a daycare center and nine times out of ten the way he stepped up in this place, he owns this club. For real, for real, if you play your hand right you got it made in tha shade; why you playin’! The only downside is he has at least three or four
steady
bitches who he fucks with.”

Shan rolled her eyes at Brianna, not wanting to believe what she just heard, and sank deeper into her chair.

“Ain’t this some shit!” she mumbled.

“Yeah, I must say so myself.” Brianna said, not able to conceal her jealousy. “So what’s your next move?” She was watching everybody who was somebody trying to holla at Briggen as he got closer to their table.

“I want to get the fuck outta here. My night is shot. I feel like I’m about to throw up.” She stood up. “Let’s bounce.” When she went to turn around she ran right into a hard chest and some Armani cologne.

“I thought that was you.”

“Do I know you? “She looked at him as if she was confused. “Oh! Your name is Calvin; or is it
Briggen
?”

“T
hompson! Let’s go! You’re out of here!” The CO yelled as he kicked the bars.

Forever pulled the covers from over his head. He was just dreaming that he had Beyoncé’s legs thrown over his shoulders and he was knee deep in that pussy.

“What’d you say? Who did you call?”

“You, Thompson! Let’s go! You want out the hole or what? I always did think that you liked it over here,” the short muscled CO yelled.

“I don’t like your big mouth.”

“What was that?”

“You heard me man.” Forever stood his six foot frame up and stretched. If the rapper Method Man was to look at Forever he would be looking at himself. Even their raspy voices resembled. The only difference was the light brown eyes that Forever owned. “Damn,” he muttered. “I was just getting ready to bust a nut inside Beyoncé.” He stretched
again, trying to make himself become fully awake. He had another night of uninterrupted sleep, being that his neighbor was dragged out two nights ago in a strait jacket. Every night he would scream, holler, and cuss at the imaginary children in his cell. So Forever was blessed with a few days and nights of peace and quiet all to himself. Seg will fuck with a nigga’s mind. The only thing Forever liked was he had the cell all to himself. Being by yourself in a cell is a big blessing. The other advantages were you didn’t have to work and your meals were brought to you. But from there, it was all downhill. Locked down twenty-three hours a day, one phone call a month, a shower every other day and your mail constantly fucked with. The only thing to do was read, sleep, write letters, and do push-ups and sit-ups. And in Forever’s case, no visits. After he pissed off his hard-on he washed his face, brushed his teeth, and threw on his prison gear. He had been in the hole, or seg, for eight months.

The prison officials finally decided to end their eight-month-long investigation on him. An inmate overdosed on some heroin and Forever was the suspect only because the dead person was his cellmate and Forever was the number one suspect of getting drugs smuggled into the prison. However, they were never able to prove it. Surprisingly, no one was brave enough to come forward and rat him out.

He packed up all of his belongings and was now ready to go back to General Population. He missed not being able to get his hustle on. So, hell yeah, he was looking forward to going back into GP.

As soon as the officer opened the door, Forever picked up the plastic bag with his belongings and headed to the civilization that he knew eight months
ago. As he walked through the halls many peeps were hollering at him. When he reached his unit his right-hand man and cousin, Zeke, was mopping the floor. Zeke looked like the stereotypical prison convict. He had dark skin, a bald head, was five foot eleven, two hundred sixty pounds, with plenty of tattoos hugging his overly muscled frame. He had a thin scar running from the back of his ear down to his shoulder blade. The flip side is he looked good and had a charming personality that goes over well with the ladies.

“What up nigga?” Forever yelled.

Zeke looked up at his boy and grinned. “It’s about time your punk ass came off of vacation.”

“Man, I wish I was on a vacation.” They gave each other dap and then embraced. “I’m glad as fuck to get outta there. Let me throw this bag in my house and jump on this phone. I gotta call Nyla. I haven’t got any mail from her in over a week.”

“Then what?”

“Then what? I’ma shit, shower, and shave. After that I’ll get with you. I know you’re ready to bring me up to speed on things but foreal, foreal, I’m in no hurry.” He smiled. “I got that feeling that I won’t like what I’m gonna hear.”

“You’re right about that. I’ll be out in the yard.” Zeke went back to mopping the hallway.

The first time Forever tried to reach Nyla, his wife and daughter’s mother, he didn’t get an answer. So he decided to go ahead and shower and shave. As soon as he did that he was called to get his property and to see his counselor for work placement. After he argued to no avail about losing his old job of
cleaning the visiting hall he was assigned to a different orderly job for the new computer teacher. He would be cleaning her office, the computer classroom and hallway. After that he headed outside to the weight pile and was anxious to breathe some fresh air. As soon as he stepped foot outside he stopped, inhaled, looked up to the sky and welcomed the sun beaming down on his face. “Yeah!” he yelled out.

“What up Forever!” Jay yelled, disturbing Forever’s moment. Forever’s eyes scanned the yard, taking in the typical prison yard scene. Blacks in one area. Whites in another. Latinos over there. Also the typical red bandannas, blue bandannas, tattoos.

“Bout time nigga!” Moose strained as he lifted 270 pounds.

“Uh-oh! I know the drought is about to be over,” Tone hollered.

Forever nodded at everybody and went over to his partna in crime who was on the pull-up bar. Forever got down and proceeded to do two hundred push-ups. They both worked out in silence. When they finished Zeke said, “Let’s walk.” As they circled the track Zeke asked, “How’s the family?”

“I hope a’ight. I haven’t caught up with her yet. So what’s up? Why has it been so damn dry? Where’s Rice?” Rice was one of the officers who smuggled in Forever’s dope.

“They walked our number one man off on some fucking an inmate bullshit.” Zeke answered nonchalantly.

“What?” Forever said, not sure if he was hearing right.

“Yeah. Rice was coming in wearing red panties under his uniform and shit. He was getting fucked
by that punk named Juwan. They got busted in the infirmary. Red panties and all!”

“Damn.” Forever shook his head in disbelief. “What about Carter and Scott?”

“When Carter saw that, he got scared as fuck and transferred to Atlanta. Scott is still around but he just made lieutenant so he’s chillin’ for now. I can’t talk him into doing shit. And you know the visit situation really ain’t worth our while. We need some fresh meat. The market is off the meter. I went up a little on the prices because ya know these niggas still gonna cop. But the little shit I get in now is a fuckin’ joke. You gotta handle your business, and fast.”

“What’d you do?” Forever listened intently.

“An ounce of weed is a “G” and an ounce of powder is double that. I told them that’s all we’ll be moving. Everybody’s waitin’. It’s on you now.”

Forever nodded his head. “How’s your family?” He asked Zeke.

“Man, don’t get me started. That bitch won’t even bring my boys to see me and always bitchin’ about how much money she need.” They walked in silence some more until Zeke blurted out, “I’m just tryna maintain but that hoe be havin’ me stressin’.”

“I hear you man. Some nigga gotta be all up in her head for her to be trippin’ like that.”

“Her head! Fuck that! All up in that pussy!” Zeke spat. Now he was really pissed.

Forever had no comment for that. He switched the subject and Zeke filled him in on the jailhouse drama for the next half hour. “A’ight man. I’ma go try this phone again.” Forever jogged back to the building.

When he reached the phones there was a long line. “Damn,” he mumbled under his breath and leaned up against the wall. He hadn’t held his woman or his five-year-old daughter Tameerah in eight months. He had to admit and be thankful that he was one of the lucky brothas who had a woman on the outside who was riding with him. Finally, after twenty minutes a phone came open. He quickly dialed home hoping that his wife was there. After the fourth ring he heard his daughter’s voice and started smiling. She had the nerve to press five.

“Hello,” she said.

“Hey Tameerah, baby. How’s Daddy’s baby?”

“Mommee! It’s Daddee!” she yelled. “Hi Daddee.”

“Hey baby. You okay? How’s school?”

“It’s fine. We got a rabbit.”

“A rabbit! At home?” Forever acted shocked.

“No.” She laughed. “At school. His name is Fred.”

“I see. You miss me?”

“Yup. Here comes Mommee.”

“I love you baby.” Forever smiled.

“I love you too.” Tameerah passed the phone to her mother.

“Hey baby. How are you? I miss you.” She squeezed the phone tight.

“I’m out the hole.”

“Are you?” She gasped.

“Yeah. I came out earlier today. Can you come see me this weekend? I miss the shit outta y’all.”

“Not as much as I miss you.” Her voice cracked.

“Y’all a’ight?”

“Other than you not being here, we’re fine.”

“How about money-wise?”

“I’m working part time for an insurance agency.”

“Working?” Forever was surprised.

“Our stash is getting low. I know you didn’t think it was going to last forever.”

“Who watches the baby?”

“She’s in school and she’s not a baby anymore, Forever. I take her and pick her up. I’m here when she leaves and here when she gets out. Plus, I’m doing my little balloon hobby, as you like to call it.”

Forever was silent, mulling things over in his mind.

“Everything’s working out fine,” she tried to assure him. “You know I have to keep busy.”

“How does she like school?”

“So far so good. Let’s just hope it lasts. Do you miss me?” Nyla ran her hand across her breast.

“Baby, you know I do. You don’t even have to ask that.”

“I just like to hear you say it.”

“I’ll show you how much when I see you this weekend. I can’t wait to see you.”

“I can’t wait to see you either. You been dreamin’ about fuckin’ me or that bitch Beyoncé?”

“Be who?”

“Nigga, don’t play with me!” she joked. “I’ma step into your dreams and beat that bitch’s ass and then I’ma beat yours!”

“You know I only dream about makin’ love to you. You love me?”

“Always and forever.”