Sambo stretched and took a deep breath. Cho frowned. The scent of alcohol, weed, funky niggas and Sambo’s breath attacked his nostrils. His whole crew was there. They were laid out every which way all across Scrappy’s living room.
“It stink in here. I gotta get the fuck outta here!” He turned and walked backed to the door. “Sambo, get these niggas up and come the fuck on! Y’all got 20 minutes. Hurry the fuck up!” Sambo shook his head as Cho slammed the door shut.
It took them about a half an hour to get themselves together and make it to the hole. Everyone was up and lively, joking about the night before. Cho was sitting on the stoop tapping his foot. They had taken too long and he couldn’t wait to let them have it.
“A yo, you lor niggas gonna start getting da fuck up inna mornin!” Cho warned his crew. “I’m not doin’ this shit no more. I been spoilin’ you niggas for too long. From now on, Scrap,” he said to the skinny one in the middle, “you can’t be so fuckin’ lazy! You’re in charge so you have to make sure the rest of these niggas on top they shit.”
Scrappy looked around. “Man, I can’t get these niggas up at no 5 inna morning. Dat’s early as shit!”
“I be just getting in the house at 5,” Rocko added.
“Why we can’t come out 9?” Sambo suggested.
‘Cause by 9 we would’ve made at least eight grand, Cho thought. “Because we would miss out on a lotta dough cheese,” he answered. He never really discussed how much they made every day. It was none of their business. He paid them very well and made sure they didn’t blow all their money.
“Look, I haven’t told you niggas anything wrong. If y’all do shit the way I tell you, we’ll make a lot of money and no one will get knocked off. Everybody has a part and if you do yours correctly,” he frowned, “we’ll prosper. You niggas been doing your jobs, but y’all just have to get the fuck up in the morning. I’ve been doin’ da shit all this time. It’s time y’all niggas step up.”
“Man, I’ll get up and do it as long as someone wakes me up,” Lor Man interrupted. “I’m wit whatever as long as we gettin’ paper.”
“Yeah, fuck dat shit. I’m wif it,” Scrappy added.
Out of his whole squad, he loved these two young niggas the most. They looked up to Cho and did whatever he told them to. He would always go on and on about how to get money and how to keep it. Damn near every experience he had he would tell them about. He wanted them to be better than he was, so he stressed a lot of shit so they wouldn’t make the same mistakes in the game. Cho stayed preaching, and Scrappy and Lor Man stayed listening. They treated selling dope like a job. It wasn’t a game—their lives were on the line, and one fuck up could cause them to be gone.
“Good! So Scrappy, you get Lor Man up so he can come out at 5. He’ll hit ‘til 9 and take his ass to school!” Cho said, grilling Lor Man.
Lor Man was 16 and hadn’t been going to school, which made Cho angry. “By 9 the rest a you lames should be up and shit should move smoothly.”
“That’s cool ‘cause I know I couldn’t get up at 5 inna morning,” Rocko said, looking at Phill.
“I know. I would probably still be rollin’ at 5,” Sambo added. Everyone laughed.
“OK! Enough congregatin’. It’s hella fiends in da hole.” They all went to their designated positions and business commenced as usual. “Scrap, if you need me I’ll be in the one crib chillin’.”
• • // • •
Time had flown. He hadn’t realized he’d been gone for two hours. He hadn’t fucked Sheila in over a month and he knew it was about time that he did. For some reason that morning, she turned him on something terrible. Just the thought of how wet she was made his dick hard. His thoughts were interrupted when he walked in the door and saw little Kicks sitting in the middle of the floor, watching Dora the Explorer.
“What’s up Cho,” Kicks said, smiling. He loved Cho and thought he was his dad. He’d never met his father and since Cho took care of him, that’s all he knew.
“What’s up my nig? Why you so close to the TV?” Cho asked. “Back up some.”
“OK. I’m waiting for my ride to skoo,” Kicks explained as he scooted away from the television. He was very intelligent for a 3 year old. Sheila had found a Headstart program that kept him all day while she worked. Her girlfriend’s daughter went there also, and she picked Kicks up every day and brought him back home.
Just then a horn beeped. Cho looked out the door and waved his hand. “He’ll be right out!” he shouted. “Come on, get your coat.”
Kicks jumped up like he was a superhero and put his hands on his hips.
“Who are you today?” Cho asked.
“Biderman, but my real name is Beter Barker,” Kicks said.
Cho smiled. He knew what Kicks meant. “OK Spiderman, put on your coat and get your bookbag.”
“Yes,” Kicks said as he jumped in the air and acted as if he was swinging from a building using his web. He put on his coat and grabbed his Spiderman bookbag. Then he dashed out the door yelling, “Bye Mom! Bye Cho! See you later.”
“Alright my nig,” Cho replied. He watched him get in the car and shut the door.
Cho walked up the steps and into Sheila’s room. She had just gotten out of the bathtub and was lotioning her body. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, pretending to have an attitude. “Hmph, I didn’t think you were coming back.”
“I'ma man of my word, ain’t I?”
“Hell no!”
“Whatever bitch!” He smacked her thigh.
“That shit hurt!” she yelled as she threw the lotion at him. “You play too much boy!”
“Whatever,” he laughed, dodging the lotion bottle. “If that would’ve hit me I would’ve fucked you up!”
“I hear that shit,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“What? You think I’m bluffin’?” he asked as he jumped on top of her. “Run your mouth now.”
“Boy, get the fuck up. Stop playin’,” she said jokingly. She knew she didn’t want him to move. In fact, she wanted him to stay there forever. Because she knew that he wouldn’t, she decided to just be satisfied to have him for that moment.
As they tussled, she began to rub his dick. She enticed him easily. When it got hard, she grabbed it, looked at him and began to lick her lips. She had him where she wanted him and he gave in. She unbuckled his belt and pulled his pants down. He was a sucker for head and Sheila’s was a beast. As soon as she licked around the shaft of his penis, his eyes rolled to the back of his head. From there it was on.
• • // • •
Bzz! Bzz! Bzz!
The phone
