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Authors: Treasure Hernandez

Back to the Streets (13 page)

BOOK: Back to the Streets
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Halleigh stood in the doorway, her arms crossed. She asked sweetly, “Was you gon' make me wait all day?”
“You know it ain't like that, ma,” he responded. He put his hand on the small of her back and led her out of the house.
Mimi watched from the living room window as Maury opened the car door for Halleigh. She couldn't believe how he tried to play her.
Yeah, nigga, I got some information for you.
She decided to put Maury up on Malek, make him think that Malek was the biggest kingpin Flint had ever seen. Then, once Halleigh found out about Maury's plans to rob Malek, she would never fuck with him.
Nigga think he just gon' play me. I'm-a make sure Hal can't stand the sight of the nigga.
Tasha sat in the styling chair as the stylist worked in her hair. New Attitudes was buzzing with gossip, and everybody was talking about Jamaica Joe's going-away party.
“Yeah, that nigga is out of the game. Word is, he bought a house down South and ain't never coming back,” a girl stated as she flipped through a hair magazine. “His party is gon' be jumping. You know everybody gon' come out to show him love.”
Tasha smiled to herself as she thought about Jamaica Joe making a clean break from the drug game. They had known each other a long time and at one point meant a great deal to one another. Tasha knew that she would be attending Jamaica Joe's party this weekend. It was time for her to show her face again, to let it be known that she was no longer one of Manolo's hoes.
After getting her hair finished in loose curls, she paid her stylist and prepared to leave.
As Tasha reached the doorway, Keesha entered the salon and made her presence felt by bumping Tasha harshly, causing her to drop her purse onto the floor. “Excuse you,” Keesha said as she mean-mugged Tasha.
Tasha told her, “I know you saw me coming out of this mu'fucka. You better watch where the fuck you going. Now pick my shit up.”
“No,
you
better check your tone before I tell your little secret,” Keesha replied softly.
“Bitch, you better stay in your place.” Tasha peered at Keesha in a threatening manner.
“I know about your little set-up, Tasha. You, Mimi, and Halleigh better stay in your places. Y'all bitches treated me like shit when y'all thought you were sitting on top of the world, always looking your nose down on a bitch because she wanted to get down with Manolo. It's funny how the tables turn.”
Keesha pushed her luck with her last comment, and Tasha smacked the shit out of her, as if she were her pimp. The girls in the salon abruptly ended their conversations and focused on the scene unfolding before them.
Before Keesha could even react, Tasha grabbed her by the back of her weave and brought her head down onto her knee. Keesha screamed in pain and surprise as Tasha pushed her face into the floor. “Bitch, you better remember who kept your ass. I run shit. You can never be a boss bitch like me,” she stated as she pushed her head into the marble floor forcefully.
Tasha stood up, collected her belongings, and straightened her clothes as Keesha rolled on the floor, moaning.
Tasha could hear the laughter and instigating comments break out inside the shop as she stormed out and hopped into her car. She had to get to Halleigh and Mimi. They had a problem to handle.
Halleigh sat across from Maury in Applebee's. They were talking and enjoying each other's company as usual.
“So, what have you been up to these past couple days? I haven't seen you since we got here,” Halleigh stated as she picked at her food.
“Nothing important. I've just been getting to know your city.”
“You still could've stopped by.”
“You sound like a woman who was trying to see her man. You can't have it both ways, Hal. You're the one who said you just wanted to be friends.”
“I know, I know, and I do want us to be friends. I just missed you, that's all,” she admitted. “I've gotten used to spending so much time with you, and then when we got back here, it just stopped all of a sudden.”
“I can see this ‘friends thing' is gon' be hard already.”
Halleigh laughed loudly at the look of distress on Maury's face. “Is it that hard for you?”
“Don't play, Hal. You know how I feel about you. You say you're not ready, but when we're together, it feels like this is where you want to be. You'll fuck a nigga head up, if he let you.”
Halleigh smiled because of how strongly Maury felt for her. “I'm sorry. You're right. I can't expect you to act like my man if you're not my man,” she replied. “That's not fair to you.”
Maury shook his head. “You ready?”
Halleigh nodded and then hopped out of the booth, while Maury placed his hand on the small of her back.
“Did you pay the club owner for the party?” Jamaica Joe asked Malek as they pulled into the restaurant parking lot.
“Yeah, I took care of it,” Malek replied as he parked his brand-new Lincoln Navigator. “Quit worrying about that mu'fuckin' party, fam. Everything is in line for this weekend.”
Jamaica Joe and Malek exited the car and headed into Applebee's.
Halleigh stopped in her tracks as Malek crossed her path.
Malek noticed her, and a sense of jealousy overtook him as he saw her standing so intimately with Maury. He looked Maury up and down, and Maury returned his stare as he checked his hip to make sure he was strapped.
Halleigh's breath caught in her throat as Malek approached.
Maury leaned over and whispered, “You know this nigga?”
Halleigh nodded, but didn't say a word. She couldn't take her eyes off Malek. He looked so different. He'd put on some weight, and his demeanor was hard. Tears welled up in her eyes as she put her head down and began to walk with Maury past Malek.
Malek reached out and grabbed her hand as she passed. “Hal, can we talk for a minute?” he asked.
Halleigh looked back and forth between Maury and Malek.
Maury thought he recognized Malek from the couple of times he'd seen him on television back in the day. He just looked so different, but Maury still had a hunch that the dude standing before him was Malek Johnson, Halleigh's ex-boyfriend. She'd told Maury a lot about their situation. He leaned down and whispered, “Handle your business, shorty. I'm right in the car if you need me.” He squeezed her hand in support and lifted her head with his fingertips before he turned to walk away.
Jamaica Joe nodded his head toward the restaurant. “I'm inside, fam,” he told Malek.
Malek nodded, never taking his eyes off Halleigh.
The last time Halleigh had seen Malek, he was down with the nigga that had raped her. Coldness immediately filled her heart. “What, Malek?”
Malek eyed Maury's car. “That's your nigga?”
“You know what, Malek? I don't have time for this. After everything we've been through, that's the first thing you ask me?” Halleigh turned to leave.
“A'ight, a'ight, Hal, wait. You're right. That's not my business.” Malek looked at her appearance. The last time he'd seen her, her body was deteriorating from drug use, but now she looked good. She was back to the Halleigh he'd fallen in love with, and although there was a lost look in her eyes, she was still very attractive. She had picked her weight back up and was filling up her designer jeans better than ever. She looked healthy, and had transformed from a beautiful girl to a young woman.
“I see you still fucking around with the niggas that raped me,” she stated.
“Look, that's handled already.”
Halleigh was silent as she stared at Malek.
“I heard about your nigga, Manolo. You good? You need some money or something?” Malek pulled a wad of cash out of his pockets.
“I don't need your money, Malek. Or your pity. I needed you.” A tear fell from her eyes. She quickly brushed it away as she began to walk away.
“Halleigh, I'm trying to be here now,” he said, halting her in her step.
“How do you know I want you here now?”
“Look, I know you feeling that nigga.” Malek nodded toward Maury's truck. “I know you. I can see it in your face, Hal. But you don't love that nigga the way that you love me. You know what we got. I'm trying to make it work with you.”
“I've got to go, Malek,” Halleigh whispered. Her heart was beating a mile a minute. Malek was right. She did love him. He did know her, but she didn't know if they could ever get past all of their demons to make a relationship work.
“Can we talk later?” she asked. She knew that they needed to talk, but she needed the right words to say. Right now, she was simply running on emotion.
Malek pulled out a VIP pass to Jamaica Joe's party and handed it to Halleigh. “Come by Celebrations this weekend for Joe's going-away party. Things are about to change in Flint, Hal. The nigga leaving everything to me. We'll do it big Saturday night, and we'll talk later that night. I'm trying to see you, Hal. Don't stand me up.”
“I won't,” she answered with a weak smile.
“I love you, ma,” Malek whispered. “You know I do.”
“No, I don't know, Malek. We'll talk later,” she replied before walking back to Maury's car.
Halleigh hopped into the car and stared out of the window at Malek. She didn't know what to do regarding him. He had hurt her to the point where she thought she couldn't live without him, but now here he was in her face, confessing his undying love.
“Don't let the nigga break your heart, Halleigh,” Maury stated as he started his car and pulled away. “You're too good for that.”
Chapter Twelve
L
ynch, the leader of the infamous Shotta Boyz, passed the Dutch to Sweets as they sat in the front seat of Lynch's Toyota Camry. The haze of the blunt filled the insides of the car, and the two were beyond high as they plotted their murder game.
“You know that bitch nigga Joe leaving town. The grimy mu'fucka know what he got coming to him. That's why he trying to skip out,” Lynch stated. “He's throwing a going-away party down at Celebrations. A nigga like me trying to fall up in there just to light the mu'fucka up, nah mean?”
Sweets knew that Lynch was still out to avenge the death of his brother. Jamaica Joe had shot him at point-blank range a year ago, and Lynch had been trying to see Joe ever since. Jamaica Joe was hard to touch, however. He ran the North Side of Flint and stayed on point at all times. He had an army of young soldiers who were willing to protect him at all costs, making it hard for Lynch to get his revenge.
“Nah, fam, I got that handled. The only thing we got to do is sit back and listen to the gunshots ring out. The nigga Joe ain't ever gon' make it out of Flint. Him and his li'l nigga Malek gon' meet death that night.” A smile crossed Sweets' face. He hit the blunt and held the smoke down in his lungs before passing it back to Lynch.
“Fuck you got doing the job? You know ain't a nigga in Flint who can put they murder game down better than your boy.”
“That's why I got a bitch doing it.”
“Whaat?” Lynch exclaimed in disbelief. “You's a lyin' mu'fucka.” He shook his head.
“No bullshit, my nigga. They'll never see her coming. Like I said before, it's curtains for the North Side and anybody who affiliated with 'em.”
Lynch nodded his head. His focus was taken off the conversation when he noticed a short, light-skinned girl with curly hair approach Sweets' home. He tapped Sweets. “Ain't that the bartender bitch from Manolo's spot?”
Sweets peered through the window. “Yeah, that's her. Fuck is she doing?” he wondered as she knocked on his door. “How the fuck this bitch know where I live?”
Sweets rolled down his window, releasing clouds of haze into the sky. “You looking for something?”
When Keesha turned around and looked at him, he could see that there was a long gash across her forehead. He frowned at the sight.
Somebody fucked this bitch up,
he thought.
“Yeah, I need to talk to you,” Keesha replied.
Sweets shook his head, figuring she wanted money or a place to stay. Manolo had only been locked up for a couple of weeks, but many of his hoes had come to Sweets looking for help. They figured, since Sweets and Manolo were partners, that Sweets would take them in. Sweets didn't bother with Manolo's bitches and only took a cut of their earnings. He could give a fuck if they were out on the streets.
“I ain't got nothing for you.” Sweets hit the button to roll up his window.
“Wait!” Keesha approached his side of the car.
“Bitch is persistent.” Lynch chuckled at Sweets' irritated expression.
“What?”
Keesha said quickly, “I got some information about why Manolo's club was raided.”
Sweets immediately changed his tune. “I'm listening.”
“Tasha, Mimi, and Halleigh went to the police and told them what Manolo had in his safe. After the raid, they met with the lead detective and split the bricks and the money. That's why nobody's seen their faces since it happened.”
Sweets shook his head. “I don't know where you got your information from, but somebody told you wrong. Don't come around my block looking for me again unless you got something important to say.”
A look of confusion spread across Keesha's face as she watched Sweets roll his window up and disappear behind the dark tint.
“How the fuck you just gon' pass on that valuable shit she just told you, fam?” Lynch asked, an annoyed look on his face. “The bitch info might be legit.”
“It was legit. I just didn't want the bitch to think I owe her something for putting me up on game. That's why I don't fuck with these bitches. You can't trust 'em. I took a loss when the police confiscated what was in Manolo's safe. I'm gon' take care of them bitches . . . right after I take care of Jamaica Joe.”
BOOK: Back to the Streets
4.98Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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