Pitbulls In a Skirt 3 Page 6

  “Stop!” She yelled. “I got your point, okay? I’m not gonna fuck with your shit no more.”

  C shook his head and put his weapon back under the bed. Although he was mad at her for going through his shit, he understood how she felt because he was in the same boat. But there were some slight differences between them.

  Lil C wasn’t your typical hustler's son. He was smarter...different and harder than most kids his age. More than anything, he hated how people older than him always felt as if he wasn’t smart enough to know what he wanted out of life, just because he was young. For instance, he was sick of school. Sick of the bullshit, sick of the fake bitches and sick of feeling like teachers could teach him anything he needed to know in order to be rich.

  He was paid, and even as he stood over Persia, had no less than three G’s in his pocket. His clothing came from the finest designers, his eyewear of choice was Blvgari and most of his jeans were imported from Italy. He had everything, but the love of a father and he missed that most of all.

  Although Mercedes was harder on C’s schooling, more so since Cameron’s death, it was only because she was scared. She wanted to make sure he had an opportunity to go after a life she and Cameron didn’t have. She made sure he took advantage of the classes Sidwell Friends, an upscale school in Washington D.C., had to offer, even when C wasn’t feeling it.

  And because of it, most of his friends didn’t realize that he was fluent in Spanish, Chinese, and French and could play the piano like Mozart. And if art was your thing, C could paint a picture better than Picasso himself. He had the traits most people wouldn’t believe the son of two drug bosses would have, yet for him it was not enough. He wouldn’t feel worthy unless he had street cred.

  “I know you going through some shit, but you gotta chill,” C said. “You gonna fuck around and use all your lives playing dumb games.”

  “Boy, please. Don’t act like you give a fuck about me,” She said sitting up, cutting on the TV. BET’s 106 & Park was on and she dropped the remote to let it play out.

  “Who said I did give a fuck?” C said, always giving her a hard time.

  She laughed and said, “Whatever, boy.”

  Although her reckless mouth bared no fruit, he couldn’t get over how pretty she was. He knew they were considered cousins, because their mothers were best friends, but he couldn’t lie, over time he started looking at her differently and didn’t know why.

  “I’m just fucking with you. But what’s on your mind, cuzo? You and your moms beefing again?” He called her cuzo out loud as if that would lessen his attraction towards her.

  Persia sat up in the bed and said, “C, I’m so sick of my mother’s shit! I mean, I wish she would just listen to me sometimes before jumping the gun.”

  “The gun huh?” C said.

  “Drop it already!” She laughed.

  “Okay, what she do?” He said, picking his candy off the floor to throw it in the trash. Then he took off his coat and hung it in the closet.

  “Somebody must’ve told her that I was fucking with Zulo and she in my shit.” She said looking at C seriously. “I mean, she be busted, drunk and stupid and she wanna clock who I fuck? What kind of shit is that?”

  “Hold up, what you mean you fucking Zulo.”

  “I said somebody said I must’ve fucked Zulo…I’m not fucking him.” She laughed.

  “I hope not, cause that nigga grimy and too old for you.” C said. “You betta hope I never see that nigga ‘cause I might put something to his ass for even coming at you like that.” When she looked sad he knew she was considering dealing with him. “You were really gonna give him some pussy wasn’t you?”

  Zulo was an anything hustler who provided dealers with quick re-up when they were in between meeting their connects. He marked up the price of his drugs and the quality was bad but when you needed something quick he was the man.

  “Maybe I was thinking about dealing with him.” She shrugged.

  “Persia, you gotta start acting like a lady. You royalty around here, so if you carrying it like that, you making the whole organization look bad. Niggas gotta think that getting with you is like a dream come true. And even up until the point you pick someone you wanna be with, they gotta see you as unattainable.”

  “Unattainable huh?”

  “Yeah…beyond approach.”

  “Well I’m tired of being by myself and boys my age too stupid.”

  “There’s some good niggas out there your age. I know a few of ‘em.”

  “Hook me up.” She said wide-eyed.

  For some reason, C didn’t want to hook her up with any of his boys. But he needed her to be unavailable to him and hooking her up might be what he needed to do.

  C sat on the bed next to her and said, “Aight, I’ma hook you up with my man, Mazon. He got good paper and he good people. But don’t fuck this nigga off the rip. He still a dude who might try his hand if you let him. Even though if he do some shit like that, I’ll fuck his ass up and you better tell me, too.”

  “Is he cute?”

  “How the fuck would I know?” C said standing up.

  “Boy, ya’ll kill me acting like you don’t know if another nigga cute or not.” She said smacking her mouth real ghetto like. “I ain’t fucking with no eggs, C. ‘Cause I break ‘em.”

  C laughed. “Bitches like him if that’s what you wanna know. But that’s all I got for you.”

  She smiled and said, “Man, I wish our mothers weren’t so close, because I’d fuck with you.”

  Silence.

  “Yeah, whatever.”

  “What, C? You don’t think I could be good enough for you?”

  “I ain’t never think about it before.” He lied. “Uh…let me call Mazon, though.” He said getting his phone off the dresser. And from the mirror he could see the embarrassment on her face. “You aight over there?”

  “Yeah…I was just playing about what I said about me and you. I know I’m not your type plus we could never do anything like that. Right?”

  “Fuck, naw! You my peoples and I know how reckless you be sometimes.”

  “Reckless?”

  “Yeah. I heard about how you be fucking your own shit up when you mad. Instead of calming down and seeing how shit play out.” Then he looked at her again. “So naw, we could never be like that because I’d kill you if you fucked with my Range.”

  She smiled and said, “Your loss.”

  He was just about to call Mazon when his cell rang. It was his homie Daps from school. He was known for saying that if he could bottle his swag, take a few drops out and mix it into a girl, it would turn into Daps. She was just that smooth.

  They called her Daps because when you bought smoke from her at school, you'd put the money in her locker, and when she made sure the count was right, she'd give you ‘dap’ in the hallway to make the transfer. She did it so quickly and smoothly she never got caught.

  A lot of white dudes were attracted to Daps in Sidwell, because she had skin light enough to be okay if you hung around her but she loved the girls.

  "What's good, C!" Daps said. "Why you weren’t in school the other day?"

  Daps, like him, sold weed on the side to a few of the high school students. The money at school was steady but not good enough to keep him around. He needed to pump something worth the money and his time, and weed wasn’t it. That’s when he sold pipe dreams to some white dudes he met at a club. Now all he needed was the coke to follow through.

  Through the mirror he could see Persia about to leave his room. “Where you going?” He said holding the phone to his ear. “’Cause I know you don’t want to hear your mother’s mouth.”

  “Oh…I was gonna give you your privacy since you on the phone.”

  “Relax.” C told her. “If I wanted you out of here you would be gone.”

  She smiled and said, “Okay.”

  “Yo, nigga! You there?” Daps laughed. “Let me find out you got a bitch in your room.”

  “It ain’t
even like that.” He paused. “It’s my cousin.” He said, not really believing the tag he put on their relationship. “But to answer your question, I’m not fucking with school no more. I’m done.”

  “What? You playing right?”

  “Naw.”

  “I thought you said going to school was so easy you could do it in your sleep? So why leave now? You almost done.”

  When she said that, C saw Persia get up, grab the Robb Report magazine off of his dresser and skim through the pages. C only subscribed to the Robb and G Q magazines to stay up on the richest clothes, cars and real estate.

  As Persia skimmed through her choice of reading material, C eyed her again. Her ass was so phat and round it almost looked fake. She had a smaller version most of her life but now it was just unreal. With the magazine in her hand, she sat back on the bed, put her hair behind her ear and as if she knew he was staring at her, smiled. What she doing to me? And why now? He thought.

  He took his eyes off of her, looked down at his dresser and said, "You act like I ain't been telling you I wasn't fucking with school no more, Daps. The only difference now is that I’m serious. I’m ‘bout to be king of my own empire, and school ain’t for me. "

  "Well if you leave, I'm going with you."

  "Naw...you can't. Your peeps would fuck you up."

  "What peeps? My mom’s?” She paused and sounded sad. “She don't care what I do just as long as I go to church on Sunday and bible study on Thursday. Ma, not all the way right, C. She ain't paying for school anyway. The scholarship took care of that."

  C laughed and for some reason, looked at Persia again. This time she looked up from the magazine, and he winked at her. Letting her feelings be known, she gave him her best Janet Jackson smile and his heart melted. Something was happening between them that he couldn’t explain. They’d been around each other on many occasions, and every time they were in each other’s presence, they connected in some way that was unknown to them.

  When their parents sold dope, or had to leave their kids to get Emerald City in order, the same babysitter would keep them all in line. And when all the Pitbulls took an out of town trip, they’d arrange for all of their kids to be together. During these times C and Persia would go off on their own leaving their siblings alone.

  “Daps, I saw you in the gym the other day. I heard you be there a lot. What’s up with that?”

  “Oh…uh…why you ain’t say nothing?”

  “You went from the front door to the locker room. You had two big ass bags with you, too.”

  “I’m running a marathon for breast cancer,” she said. “It ain’t nothing serious but I do got to be in shape.”

  “Well good luck, homie.”

  “Thanks. So where you gonna stay? ‘Cause if you dropping out of school, I know your mother not gonna let you stay home.”

  C laughed and said, "Please, my mother don’t want me to do nothing but stay home. I can be here for as long as I want."

  When C’s iPhone vibrated, he took it off his ear and saw a text message from this bitch named Cute Nikki he fucked with in Emerald. That’s one of the features he liked about iPhones, you could get a text and stay on a call at the same time.

  'Where U @? I thought U were meetin' me ova Ryan's house?'

  C texted her back, 'I'm In Emerald, and I’m leaving in a sec. Whatz up?'

  'Somebodee came by askin' bout U. N they say ya'll got beef.'

  C texted, 'Did they say who they were?'

  While he waited on her response he said, "Yo, Daps, meet me at Ryan’s house in Emerald City later. And bring some friends. A lot of niggas gonna be there.”

  “You know the only friends I got is you and Monie.”

  “Oh yeah. I forgot.” He laughed. “I’ma see you there.”

  “Love, C. All love.” Daps said.

  While most people said bye, she ended calls with ‘Love’.

  When he hung up with her he said to Persia, “What you doing later?”

  “Nothing. Why?”

  “You wanna hang out with me over Ryan’s house? Mazon gonna be there too in case you wanna rap to him.”

  She jumped off of the bed and he knew Carissa wouldn’t care about her hanging out with him because they knew she’d be safe.

  “Yeah I wanna roll with you.” Persia smiled. “But you just gotta rap to my mom’s for me.”

  They grabbed their coats and he watched her put on her fur. “Damn, that’s how you feel?”

  She laughed. “Yep, so I hope Mazon got money like you say he do, ‘cause I’m expensive.”

  C laughed and said, “Now you talking like royalty. Let these bamma ass niggas treat you like you supposed to be treated.”

  The response text C was waiting on to find out who came asking about him still hadn’t come through his phone as he and Persia walked to the table where Carissa and them were.

  “Aunt Carissa, Persia coming with me. So if you want to reach her, call my phone.”

  “You sure, C? I don’t want her getting in your way.” Carissa said.

  “Naw, she family, she good.”

  “Okay, well…have fun.” Carissa said secretly wanting Persia to sit by herself and sulk for the way she was acting.

  “C, we can talk when you come back.” Mercedes said.

  “No doubt, ma. But let’s make that conversation for tomorrow. I might be tired when I come back.”

  Mercedes looked sad and said, “Okay, C.”

  He and Persia left out the door and he called Wallace to tell him he was coming downstairs and to bring the car around. Once they were outside, they stepped into an awaiting black Mercedes Benz with smoked out windows. Wallace and Kit were in the front waiting on him as usual. Truthfully they could’ve walked to the building Ryan lived in but it wasn’t their style.

  "Everything cool?" Wallace asked as he opened the door for him and Persia.

  "Yeah, man. Why you ask that shit?”

  “Because we went up to the school to pick you up yesterday and you were gone.” He paused getting behind the driver’s seat.

  “And Mercedes ain't say nothing 'bout you being out of school early." Kit added.

  "My mom’s ain't say shit because she ain't know." Kit picked up his cell and C knew he was about to call her. "What you doing, young?"

  "I'm calling your mom’s. I'm 'bout to make sure it’s okay to take you anywhere."

  Persia looked at C and he was heated with embarrassment and anger. "Put the phone down," C said in a low voice. “My mom’s don’t need to know every little move I make.” He ignored him.

  "Yo, Kit, put the phone down, nigga." Wallace said. “You heard him.”

  C could feel Persia tense up and that made him mad that she was uncomfortable. It was their first time hanging out together on some party shit and this nigga was trying to play him.

  But C remained calm, because he knew Kit needed to get with the program if he wanted to get money. And he also needed to respect him, because do or die, Mercedes wasn’t going to be hustling forever. Eventually she would have to pass the reigns over to someone she trusted, and who would she trust more than her own son?

  Wallace looked at Kit and said, "Put the joint down, man."

  C looked at Kit and said, "I know you loyal to my mom’s and I 'ppreciate that shit. But I ain’t Lil C no more, I’m a grown ass nigga who gonna be running all this shit soon. And there's gonna come a time when you gonna have to answer to me. Do you really want the last thing I remember to be this shit?"

  Kit dropped his head. "Sorry, man.”

  “Fuck sorry. Just respect.”

  After he finished with him he sent Cute Nikki another text. He was anxious about who stepped to her about him.

  “Where we going?” Wallace asked.

  “Take us to Ryan’s building.” He was on edge waiting for her response and didn’t realize it was showing all over his face.”

  “Don’t look so mad.” Persia said.

  “I’m fine. You aight?”


  “Yeah…you put that nigga in his place,” she whispered, obviously turned on.

  “Sometimes you gotta let niggas know.” He told her. “I just wanna make sure you good.”

  The moment he said that, Cute Nikki’s text came through. It read, 'C, he said his name was Tamir, and that ya'll have some unfinished business to settle. He said to tell you to watch your back.’

  C had been waiting on his bamma ass to surface sooner or later. So he typed, ‘Tell him he’ll see me soon. And when he do he betta be ready.’

  “The rest of ya’ll can get it how you feel it.”

  Tamir

  Tamir had just signed the paperwork for two brick apartment buildings he purchased in Southeast Washington, DC. Although his family knew he was buying one of them, they had no idea about the second unit or his reasoning for making the purchase. Outside of his name, the only other name on the building’s was Energy’s and she loved it, feeling her good credit would mean she’d carry more weight within the Klan. She was wrong. All of the women hated her, knowing that Tamir was the man to have in your bed, if you wanted to keep the good life.

  “We are happy to do business with you Mr. and Mrs. Holman,” Mr. Cornice said handing him the keys. “I see you have quite a large family out there waiting on you. And rest assured, you’ve made great purchases.”

  “Don’t worry about all that, mothafucka. It just bet not be no problems in them buildings, because if it is…I’m coming for you. Just ‘cause we buying them instead of renting don’t mean they can be fucked up.”

  Mr. Cornice stood incredulously. “No…no, sir. There aren’t any problems with the buildings at all. They’re in tip top condition.”

  Tamir looked at him evilly due to everything he put him through to buy the properties. If it wasn’t about the down payment it was about his taxes or lack thereof. Had it not been for Energy keeping her credit in tip-top condition when Black Water was alive, they would not have a place to keep their overstocked family. To say they were living large was an understatement.

  Energy hugged Tamir lovingly and he kissed her passionately on the lips. He loved being where his father had been, in control, believing it made him closer to him in spirit than anyone else. So what Energy at one time was his wife, now she belonged to Tamir.