Thug Matrimony (20 page)

“Nana, don’t go cooking him fried chicken, corn bread, and all of that stuff. He’ll have time to eat that. He needs to stick to what the doctor ordered. Right, Pop-Pop?” She looked to Mr. Macklin for a little help.

“She’s right, sweetheart. He got all the time in the world to feast on your good cooking.”

Mrs. Macklin waved them both off. “I’m not crazy. Whatever I fix will be in soft form, thank you.”

Trae shook his head no, telling Tasha to let it go.

“Look who’s here to see Daddy.” Tasha picked up Kareem and sat him next to Trae, who immediately stole a kiss and hugged his son. “Aren’t they getting tall?”

He whispered in a raspy voice, “They sure are.”

“You’re talking, baby! You’re talking! You’re not supposed to be talking. Oh my God!” Tasha couldn’t conceal her excitement.

He grabbed her hand as he smiled at Kareem and palmed his head. The boy was already trying to squirm down off the bed. Tasha helped him down, and picked up Shaheem.

“Daddy, here.” Shaheem held out his arm, wanting Trae to take the balloon off his wrist. Trae stole a kiss and hug from Shaheem and then untied the balloon. It floated to the ceiling, causing both boys to giggle.

Kareem, seeing that, ran back over to the bed. “Daddy, do mines.”

Tasha helped Shaheem down and helped Kareem up once again. He untied the balloons and they rose to the ceiling. He jumped off the bed by himself. The twins occupied themselves with trying to reach the strings.

Trae pulled Tasha toward him. She placed her hand on his cheek, leaned over, and pressed her forehead to his. “I love you.”

“Love you more,” he whispered.

“How are you feeling?”

“Tired.”

Tears welled up in Tasha’s eyes. “I’m so glad you came back to me. You scared me, Trae.”

He wiped her tears away. “I was scared too. I could hear but I couldn’t find you. You were … far away. But I always knew you were around.”

“Baby,” she cried softly as she hugged him. “I did sumthin bad, Trae. At the time I thought it was the best thing … but now I …”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s over. We move forward from this moment on. All right?”

She nodded yes and then brushed her lips against his. She kissed him gently, as if she would break. Then she kissed him harder. He kissed her back. She eased her tongue in his mouth, and he played with it.

“Hey, hey, cut that out!” Omar tried to startle them.

“Yeah, break that shit up!” Kaylin yelled. Kajuan and Bo were behind him, laughing.

“This ain’t no motel, nigga,” Omar announced.

“You boys need to watch your mouths. This
is
a hospital,” Mrs. Macklin scolded, in a teasing way.

“Nana, what’s up?” Bo gave her a big hug.

“Hey, Auntie. What’s up, Unc?” Omar greeted his relatives.

Kaylin and Kajuan went over and hugged them both.

“Trae, we’ll be back later on.” Mr. Macklin scooped up both of the twins, who were trying to snatch the balloons down. “Tell your father you’ll see him tomorrow.” He took them over to the bed and Trae kissed his sons, his dad, and his mom.

“We’re taking your wife with us while you spend time with these knuckleheads. Keep a close eye on my boy,” Nana said to no one in particular.

“We got him, Nana,” Bo assured her.

Tasha leaned over and kissed him once again on the lips. And she left with the twins, Nana, and Pop-Pop. Omar closed the door behind them and they all gathered around the bed.

“Man, you scared the fuck outta us, son,” Bo snapped as he gave Trae a warm hug.

“Dude, what the fuck happened?” Kajuan chimed in, using his surfer boy interpretation.

“Nigga, I missed the hell out of you. I feel like a bitch.” Kaylin caused everyone to burst into laughter. He hugged Trae as well.

“Yo, fam, glad to see you up. What’s good?” Omar wanted to know.

“Can
you
talk or what?” Kaylin asked him.

“A little” he whispered. “My throat is raw.”

“Damn, maybe this will help.” Bo had a twinkle in his eye as he pulled out the bottle of Patrón. Kajuan opened up a case that held some champagne glasses.

Trae smiled and shook his head. “Crazy niggas.” He rubbed his neck where his throat was.

“Aiight, nigga, we get the point. We won’t make you talk tonight. We’ll do all the talking. We gotta shitload of stuff to bring you up on. But first let’s make a toast.” Bo was filling up the glasses. Kaylin was trying his damnedest not to choke up. He was grateful beyond words that his boy was all right. “Can you hold your glass, yo?” he asked Trae.

“Yeah. I’m not a cripple”

“All right, then, nigga.” Kaylin raised his glass to Trae’s, and everyone followed suit. “To our nigga, first and foremost, and to our fam. We thank you, OAllah, for keeping this nigga here with us. We thank you for all the peace and prosperity you have bestowed upon us, even though we still have to get down and dirty every now and then. We thank you. This toast is for my nigga, my brother from another mother, the one and only nigga who can live through bullets and die and come back to us.” Everyone chuckled. “The one and only Trae Macklin.”

“You still got jokes,” Trae whispered.

Everyone clinked glasses and drank up.

“Can we light up or what?” Bo asked.

“Nah, man,” Kajuan snapped.

“Why not?”

“Because, nigga, look where the fuck we at!”

Kaylin gave Trae another big hug. “Man, don’t do this shit no more,” he whispered in his ear. Everyone gave him more brotherly hugs and spread love.

“Ain’t no music up in this piece?” Omar teased.

“Yo, listen up.” Kaylin got serious. “Trae, we know you need your rest and everything, but when you get stronger, we want to
hear what happened. And I got a lot of shit, deep shit to share with you. But what I have right now is pressing. Very pressing. Everybody listen up, because you all were there except for Kajuan. The don came to see me.”

“Who?” Omar asked, trying to make sure he heard him right.

“Don Carlos. He had a message from Don Alexjandro.”

“What?” Trae’s real voice broke through.

“Aw, this can’t be good.” Bo poured himself another drink and threw it back.

“What the fuck they want? I agree, this can’t be good,” Omar added.

“So when did all this go down?” Bo asked.

“Right after O hung up from telling me he handled that other situation.”

“Damn, who are these people? I ain’t never seen y’all hard-ass niggas shook like this. Y’all acting like real bitches. Damn, bro, why the fuck y’all so shook? Y’all out, right?” Kajuan was trying to get some understanding.

“We thought we was out. They told us we were out,” Trae whispered as he shook his head no.

“Yo, they showed up at my fuckin’ house,” Kaylin spat, drawing a bunch of “oh, shits” and “goddamns.”

“He knows about the gold and what we did to El Gordo. Bottom line, he needs some work put in. So if anyone in this room doesn’t want to get dirty, I’ma ask you to leave now. Me and Trae, we don’t have a choice in the matter. So trust, I won’t be mad.” He looked everyone dead in the eye. Nobody moved. He poured himself another glass of Patrón and threw it back. “Aiight, then. He wants someone, a family member taken out.”

“And what if you don’t do it?” Kajuan wanted to know.

“Nigga, did you just hear what I said? This cat sent me pictures of me, my wife, my son, my baby’s mama, and my business. He told me they are praying to the saints for Trae’s speedy recovery. So they know every fuckin’ thing about us. He said he knows that Kyron is doing a twenty-seven-year state bid.” He
looked at Kajuan. “So what the fuck does that tell you?” Kajuan let out a whistle. “Yeah, nigga, that’s what I thought.”

“Yo, so who says that after we handle this, he won’t come back?” Omar wanted to know.

“I can’t say, man,” Kaylin said sincerely. “I can’t say.”

“Fuck! After this, I got a feeling he’s gonna try to pull us back in,” Trae warned.

“Y
o, Unc, I’ll be up this way for a minute. Send Bullet and-L White Boy up here.”

“So, what’s up?” Dino wanted to know.

“I’ma kick it with Phillip for a few. Check out a few things.”

“Ummm, hmmm. So you need Bullet and Whitey to chill with you?” Dino was already suspicious. “Don’t let that nigga get you caught up in no bullshit. I don’t give a fuck how much money he got.”

“I got you, Unc. That’s why I’m sending for Bullet and White Boy.” Snake tried to be reassuring.

“Aiight, I’ll tell them. But I’m tellin’ you and you know I ain’t muthafuckin’ playing. Don’t bring no bullshit and no heat to our fucking family or our reputation. One!” Dino hung up the phone.

That evening, Snake was at the airport circling the arrival terminals, in an attempt to avoid getting a ticket, when he finally caught a glimpse of Bullet and Whitey. Bullet turned around and was signaling, obviously to get someone’s attention. When he saw Carmen rushing toward him with a big suitcase he was ready to flip. He jumped out of the car and yelled, “Bullet! Whitey!”

They both looked up at the same time. Bullet grabbed Carmen by the arm and led her to the car.

“Keenan, what’s good?” Whitey grinned.

“I sent for y’all muthafuckas, not this bitch. So what the fuck is up? Y’all should know what the business is, y’all about some stupid muthafuckas acting like y’all new to this and not true to this. And, bitch, I told your stankin’ ass to sit tight until I got back. Now why the fuck are you here?”

“I miss you, baby. Plus, I was bored. And I do have a few dollars for you. I had a good night dancing at the club last night.”

He threw Bullet the keys while Whitey put the bags in the trunk. He pushed Carmen into the backseat and got in behind her. He then hauled off and slapped her so hard, her nose squirted a stream of blood. Her eyes grew big with surprise and fear.

“Bitch, when I tell you to stay put, that’s what the fuck I mean,” he gritted and then backhanded her. She yelped as she crouched back into the corner. This was the first time Snake had ever exhibited this kind of behavior toward her.

“I—I’m s-sorry. I di-didn’t think—”

He grabbed her by the neck and punched her in the face. Bullet and Whitey had jumped into the front and Bullet had pulled off. “I do all the muthafuckin’ thinking around here. You got that?” Carmen nodded her head up and down. “Speak, bitch!”

“Yes,” she sobbed.

“What the fuck y’all bring her for? Y’all fuckin’ her or somethin’? If so, run me my fuckin’ money. Y’all know what time it is,” he spat.

“Naw, man,” Bullet lied.

“C’mon, dude,” White Boy said. Snake looked at all three of them. “Drop this dumb ho off at the first hotel you see.” He snatched her by her hair and looked into her eyes. “You gettin’ high? And without my fuckin’ permission?”

“No,” she wailed.

“She did a couple of lines before we left the club.” Whitey ratted her out.

Snake punched her repeatedly in her face. “Oh, now you lying too?” He was raging mad.

Bullet turned off the radio. Between the music and her screams, he was feeling as if he were sitting in a surround-sound movie theater, watching a blaxploitation flick.

The car was silent except for Carmen’s sniveling. Bullet finally pulled into a Holiday Inn on Route 1 and 9. She grabbed her purse, pulled out a wad of bills, and held them out to Snake. He slapped her again. “I don’t need your funky-ass money, bitch! Plus, you need a lot more than a couple of lousy dollars to be on my team.” That made Carmen cry even harder. “I’m going to Canada, first thing in the morning. I want yo’ ass to stay put until I send for yo’ funky ass. You understand me, bitch? And if I ever find out you told somebody where I am … well, you know what we talked about. You got that?”

“Y-yes,” she stammered.

He leaned over and pushed the door open and shoved her out.

“I’m sorry. I just wanted to see my mom and sister. But if you want me to go back, I’ll go get the first flight out,” she pleaded as she looked up at him.

“Nah, you was bored, remember? So sit yo’ ass at this hotel.”

Bullet mashed the gas pedal and they were out of the parking lot. “She gonna take a lot of work,” Whitey said as he looked back and saw that she was still on the ground crying.

“Niggas, I can’t believe y’all brought that bitch to tag along on a fuckin’ mission! What the fuck y’all niggas smokin’? I thought y’all was smarter than that,” Snake spat.

Bullet and Whitey both knew it would be foolish to say a word. Just let Snake vent and hopefully he would let it go. But as usual, Whitey couldn’t resist. “Yo, Unc just said you wanted us to come and chill. So how was we supposed to know? Cut us some slack.”

“What?” Snake looked at him in disbelief. “You challenging me, you white muthafucka! Yo, Bullet, pull over, man. Get the fuck out!”

Whitey cocked his head at Snake. “Get the fuck out? Nigga, you put me out and I don’t know where the fuck I am. I’m from tha South. Got me all the way up here in New York. Shit, I just got a call saying Snake need you. I ain’t ask no questions. I ain’t even know where the fuck I was going until I got to the airport. I’m at your beck and call, nigga. The only thing Unc told us was that you wanted us to chill with you. You the one sent for me. Now you wanna put a muthafucka out? And over a bitch? I wish the fuck I would get out. Put me out. You trippin’, man.”

“Get this fool out of my ride,” Snake said nonchalantly.

They were on Route 1 and 9. Bullet pulled into a BP gas station. Whitey got out and before he slammed the door he warned, “You need me, nigga.”

Bullet pulled off. “Where to?”

“Just drive, nigga. I gotta get geared up for this work we gotta put in.” He leaned back into the seat and thought about it. At the first exit he said, “Turn around and go back and get that white nigga.”

“You know you was wrong.”

“Man, shut the fuck up!”

“Aiight, Snake. You can’t keep disrespecting us like that. Get us down here and acting all grimey. You shut the fuck up!”

Three days later, low on funds and her suitcase still in the trunk of Snake’s car, Carmen found her way to her mother’s house. Embarrassment swept over her face as she rang the bell.