Hell's Diva (6 page)

Mecca found talking to Tah easy to do. He was smart and funny. He made her laugh the entire conversation. Mecca found herself unintentionally opening up to him. She began telling him things that she planned on not telling him. Mecca told him that she lived in Sutter Gardens on Blake and Hendrix Street, and she told him she was a virgin, which excited Tah and made him want her even more.

On their first date, Tah took Mecca to a Tony Roma’s restaurant in Queens. Riding in Tah’s Porsche made Mecca want one. She reminded herself to save up money to get one. Mecca was surprised at how much of a gentleman he was. He opened doors for her and he picked her up with roses in his hands. Tah took her to Coney Island where they walked on the beach. They took pictures together holding each other. He never let Mecca pay for anything, even when she begged him to let her pay for at least a movie.

“It would make me feel less than a man if I let a woman pay for anything,” Tah would tell her.

Mecca realized Tah was a man of pride. Mecca got so caught up with Tah that she forgot why she started seeing him in the first place. Just like Dawn predicted, when Tah and Mecca got together, the workers in Brownsville Houses didn’t have any problems with Tah and his crew. What Mecca and Dawn didn’t know was that Tah was extorting Stone. Stone paid a thousand dollars a week for them not to rob the spot. Stone paid him out of his own pay.

When Tah wasn’t around, Mecca found herself missing him. All she talked about to Dawn was Tah. Dawn was happy for her. She noticed Mecca’s attitude change since she had started seeing Tah. Her explosive temper simmered down. Mecca usually was not someone who smiled, but she had a smile on her face almost all the time. Ruby noticed the change in her niece and she expressed it to Monique to see if Monique could shed some light on why Mecca’s attitude changed.

“What’s up with Mecca? She’s been acting different lately,” Ruby said.

“You acted the same way when you were in love,” Monique replied.

“Love!” Ruby yelled, not believing the words that came out of Monique’s mouth. “She’s in love with who?” she asked, sounding angered by the news.

“Some guy in the ville.”

“Why she ain’t tell me?” Ruby asked, this time sounding hurt. She thought she and Mecca had the kind of relationship where they could talk about these kinds of things.

“Because she knew you would act the way you acting now. You got to let her be, Ruby. You said it before: she knows how to handle herself.”

“I just thought she would share something like that with me. At least let me see the cat, you know.” Ruby sighed. When Mecca finally got around to telling Ruby, she didn’t react the way Mecca expected, and it shocked Mecca.

“Don’t rush to give up the pussy, Mecca. Make him wait until he proves he deserves it.”

Mecca said she would take Ruby’s advice. She told Ruby things that Tah did for her, and she showed her the diamond tennis bracelet he bought for her. It was Monique that Mecca confided in most about her relationship with Tah, and it made Ruby jealous. Monique was happy for Mecca but warned her about how guys could be.

“It’s risky dealing with niggas who are in the streets. You got to be prepared for him going to jail or getting killed. It’s gonna hurt real bad, Mecca, so be careful with your heart.”

“I hear you, but I love this nigga, Mo,” Mecca revealed, feeling like she was already in too deep.

“This is crumbs compared to what you could get from her,” Stone complained to Tah while he handed him the $1,000 he gave him a week not to rob Ruby’s houses. Both men stood in the pissy-smelling dark hallway of a building in Brownsville.

“You talking about that bitch with the green Sterling? You work for a bitch?” Tah asked, grinning and shaking his head. “Damn, Stone, you really fell off. How the fuck you let it get to that point?”

“It ain’t as sweet as you think it is, Tah. She ain’t your average bitch, kid. That bitch is a stone cold murderer. Remember Darnell from Langston Hughes? It was her that threw that nigga out the window. I don’t think you knew Wise, but she bodied that nigga, too. She’s the real deal, Tah,” Stone warned, holding his head down, ashamed. Tah, with menace and anger in his tone, put his finger in Stone’s face and gave him a warning as well.

“Nigga, I’m the real deal. Ain’t no bitch or nobody else going to put fear in my heart. You’s a bitch-ass, washed-up nigga. I ain’t like you, mu’fucka. You just get that bitch to bring something heavy to you. Tell her somebody you know want three of them pies, and I’ll take it from there.”

Stone nodded grimly, agreeing to the setup. The pressure that Tah put on Stone, coupled with the fear of Ruby possibly finding out that Stone agreed to help set her up, caused Stone to relapse, and he started smoking crack again. When he got paid, the monkey on his back caused him to even cop crack from the workers he collected money from for Ruby. To his demise, word got back to Ruby that he was smoking again. When she confronted him about it he denied it, and she was full of anger.

“This nigga tryna insult my intelligence, Mo,” Ruby said to Monique back at her Hamptons villa.

“Bitch, you must really be pissed. I’m down here with all your pussy in my face, and you rambling on about Stone,” Monique complained to Ruby from her place in between Ruby’s thighs while Ruby sat in a beach chair out on the patio.

Monique wiped Ruby’s wetness from her face with a pink beach towel, opened up the sliding glass door and marched into the house, angry and naked. Ruby took a puff on her blunt, and blew circles into the air before she yelled for Monique to come back.

“Mo, come here. I’m sorry.”

Ten minutes later, Monique appeared on the patio fully dressed in a sexy, tight-fitting pair of Gap jeans, a white button-down shirt from the Gap as well, with a cute pair of Gucci stiletto sandals to match the Gucci hobo bag dangling from her wrist.

“You need me to bring something back? I’m driving to the city,” Monique asked Ruby, not bothering to make eye contact.

“I’m sorry, Mo. I’m just stressed a little, you know?” Ruby replied, pleading for forgiveness with her eyes.

“Yeah, I know. Do you need anything?” Monique asked again, not willing to forgive Ruby that easily.

“When you coming back?” Ruby asked her, now seeing her through a weed-filled daze. Monique just shook her head.

“I’ll be back by midnight.”

“Bring me back some cheesecake from Juniors.”

Monique drove Ruby’s Sterling into the city. She knew in order to get Ruby’s attention back on their love life she’d have to get rid of whatever it was that got in the way. What got in the way was Stone. Monique felt for the nickel-plated .45 in her Gucci bag as she drove the two-hour drive into Brooklyn. While driving, she half listened to the New Edition tape that was playing. She loved the sound of Johnny Gill’s voice when he sang “Can You Stand The Rain.”

When Monique reached the dark, grimy streets of Brownsville, she drove to Rockaway and Dumont where Stone usually hung out. There were groups of hustlers and stick up kids standing on the corners. Some waved to Monique and some just stared at the Sterling as it drove by. Everyone knew Ruby drove the Sterling, but the mirror-tinted windows blocked anyone from seeing Monique driving it. She looked in front of a brightly lit liquor store and in front of a few bodegas and couldn’t find Stone.

Monique then drove to the block she hated going to: Mother Gaston Boulevard and Sutter Avenue. Stone usually hung out up there, either at the gas station or on the opposite corner. He wasn’t there, either. Driving around her birthplace, her native Brownsville, Monique looked at the neighborhood like an outsider. She could not believe the decaying, dilapidated houses were occupied by human beings. Living in the Hamptons made her beloved Brownsville leave a bad taste in her mouth.

She could not believe she felt this way. What was wrong with her? This is where she was from. This place made her who she was, and she loved who she was. She inhaled deeply in thought.
I love the ville. If it ain’t rough it ain’t right.

Monique drove to what was said to be the most dangerous projects in the ville, Brownsville Houses. She drove around the projects looking for Stone, but still didn’t see him. She noticed groups of young men sitting on benches with boom boxes blasting the latest hip-hop joints. The neighborhood was noisy with music and hustlers yelling,
“I got those red tops over here!”
You could hear mothers yelling to their kids to come in the house. Groups of extension-wearing young girls with big, gold earrings and bangles walked around the projects, flirting with much older men. Some were looking for their baby fathers for money or trying to catch them messing with some other girl.

Monique smiled at what used to be her way of living. She felt a sense of pride now. Places like Brownsville make a person appreciate the little things in life. People who live in the Hamptons and other suburban getaways don’t know what it’s like to be dirt poor, and would kill themselves if they ever had to go through it. People in Brownsville are survivors. That’s what Monique was, a survivor.

Monique stopped at a light on Rockaway Avenue in Brownsville Houses waiting for it to turn green. She looked at a group of men in front of one of the tan and brown buildings to see if she spotted Stone among them. With her focus on the men in front of the building, she never got the chance to see the teenager dressed all in black walk up to the passenger-side window with his .44 Magnum pointed at the tinted glass. The loud shots from the gun could be heard within a five-block radius.

Monique heard the first shot clearly. The rest were muffled and her vision became blurry. Everything began to turn dark, and her hearing faded out. She didn’t hear the teenager yell, “That’s for Darnell, bitch!” People in the projects saw the teen run from the car while the horn blared from the weight of Monique’s slumped body pressing against the wheel. Stone heard the gunshots while he loaded his stem with crack while sitting on the staircase on the roof of a Brownsville Houses building. One of Ruby’s workers ran up the stairs while Stone inhaled the lit crack inside.

“Yo, Stone! Somebody just bodied that chick Ruby. She’s slumped in her Sterling on Rockaway right now!”

Stone almost choked on the smoke he inhaled when he heard what the worker said. He had to see it with his own eyes. He couldn’t believe Ruby slipped up and got herself killed. He started thinking Ruby was invincible, that she couldn’t be touched. He knew how cautious she was. She trusted no one except Mecca. Stone didn’t even think she trusted her lover Monique.

Stone ran down the stairs thinking it couldn’t be Ruby.
Nah, not Ruby!
He ran toward Rockaway Avenue still not believing what he just heard. When he saw the Sterling he still couldn’t believe it. He saw a crackhead he knew reaching inside of the car with the driver-side door open.

“Yo, Smoke, get the fuck away from her!” Stone yelled as he approached the car. The smoker backed up out of the car, holding a gold chain in his hand.

“She won’t be needing this, Stone. She deader than a mu’fucka, man.”

“Smoke, put that shit down before I peel your skull back, nigga,” Stone said, pointing a .38 revolver at him. The crack-head dropped the gold chain and ran off, not wanting to test Stone’s patience. Stone approached the car, putting his gun back on his waist. He exhaled loudly when he realized it wasn’t Ruby.

“Damn, Monique. What the fuck you doing over here, girl?”

Stone heard police and ambulance sirens headed toward the scene and he didn’t want to get caught up out there. He walked over to the pay phone a few blocks down and paged Ruby.

The backdrop of Mecca’s vision of a white-robed man named Lou changed from bright light to total darkness. Lou’s robe turned blood red. Mecca looked at herself for the first time, noticing she was naked. Seeing Monique killed made her cry. She wasn’t there when it happened, but seeing exactly how it went down hurt her to her soul.

“I don’t want to do this anymore. Why are you doing this?” she sobbed.

“Monique loved you, Mecca. She didn’t want you in the streets. Not only did she express that to your aunt, but she also told you plenty of times to get it together. You didn’t listen. Or was it that you didn’t take her seriously because she continued to play the game?” Lou asked.

Mecca still shook her head, sobbing. “I don’t know! I don’t know!” Mecca sobbed as she heard Monique’s voice in her ears warning her about the streets:

“Mecca, don’t be like me and your aunt. You see what happened to your moms and pops. Your mom wasn’t even in the game like that, but she still died for what your pop was into. You got your whole life ahead of you. You don’t want to die young, or end up in jail forever. These streets don’t discriminate. Just because you’re a pretty girl don’t mean shit. You can’t change the direction of a bullet with a fat ass and good looks.”

“And you know what, Mecca?” Lou continued, “She wasn’t the only one who wanted what was best for you. You were blinded by greed and lust.”

Lou posed with his hands on his waist like a female posing for a photo shoot and said, “You were a diva in the streets. You were invincible, right, Mecca? Nobody could touch the Queen of New York.” Lou laughed out loud, then, just as quickly, his expression turned serious.

“You were wrong though, but it’s my job to show you what you failed to see. Let’s carry on,” he said, clapping his palms together to continue Mecca’s journey.

Hundreds of people convened in the Brownsville funeral home to pay their respects to Monique. Monique’s oak wood casket was surrounded by expensive wreaths and flowers paid for by Ruby and Mecca. Ruby paid for the funeral, the casket, and the mausoleum that Monique’s body would be laid in to rest.

Ruby had Monique’s body dressed in a white pants suit with gold buttons down the front of the jacket. She made sure Monique was made up beautifully. She almost looked more elaborately dressed and made up as a corpse than she did alive. Some people commented on that fact out of earshot. When people tried to hug Ruby, offering her their condolences, people she didn’t know or had ever seen Monique associate with, she verbally assaulted them.

“Who are you? Did you even know Monique?” To some of Monique’s family members, she growled as they walked by.

“Stop being phony, when was the last time y’all saw her? What you do, chew an onion to get them fake-ass tears in your eyes?” she asked as they came up to view the body, causing everyone to avoid her.

She paid her workers to keep their eyes open. If they find out who killed Monique, she wanted to know. She offered a $50,000 hit for the person who found the person. She had a plan for Stone’s ass too, who showed up at the wake high off crack, and smelling like he hadn’t bathed in months. He went up to view Monique’s body, and Ruby gave him a look that he missed. He was definitely going to pay.

“Ruby, I’m gonna find out who did this. I swear to God, someone is gonna pay!” Stone whispered in her ear before he walked away. Little did he know he would have to pay for this too.

Damn near every killer in Brownsville tried to cash in on the hit. There were thousands of rumors about who did it. When the rumor of Tah’s involvement spread around the streets, Mecca quickly put an end to that, letting everyone know that Tah was with her that night.

It was the most memorable night in Mecca’s life. After she and Tah dined at Red Lobster, Tah rented a room at the Ramada Inn near LaGuardia Airport. Mecca sat in the passenger seat of Tah’s Porsche feeling the wind blow against her face as Tah sped down the Van Wyck Expressway. She tried to mentally prepare herself for the physical act of sex. She had never been this nervous, except when she first felt the flow of blood leak from her vagina. Instead of running to talk to Ruby about her period, she confided in Monique.

“Monique, come here,” Mecca whispered from the bathroom, standing behind the door and sticking her head out.

“What’s up, girl?” Monique asked, concerned.

Mecca opened the door all the way and pulled Monique into the bathroom by her hand. She showed her the drops of blood on the panties she held in her hand, and Monique started laughing. Mecca was confused.

“Why you laughing, Mo? I’m bleeding!”

“Girl, ain’t no reason for you to be scared. It’s your period. It’s all a part of being a woman. It’s going to happen every month, so get used to it,” Monique said, opening the door. “Stay right here, I’ll be right back.” When Monique returned, she handed Mecca a Maxi pad.

“Put this on your pussy, and change it throughout the day until you stop bleeding. It usually takes three to seven days. Here is a bag of pads. I’ll get you a douche to clean yourself afterward. You don’t want your pussy smelling like trash truck juice.”

Mecca sat at the funeral home staring at Monique’s body, thinking of her. She felt a lump in her throat as she tried not to cry. Monique wouldn’t be here to talk to her about sex, and she didn’t think sex was a topic Ruby wanted to speak to her about. Mecca’s mind wandered back to that night with Tah, and it saddened her how she wouldn’t have anyone to talk to now. That was one of the most memorable nights of her life, and she zoned out as she thought back.

“You all right?” Tah asked, seeing Mecca’s facial expression in deep thought. “If you’re not with it we can wait, Mecca.”

“No, I’m all right. I don’t want to wait any longer. I love you, Tah.” Mecca sucked her teeth before responding to him.

Tah was caught off guard with the four-letter word that he swore he would never say or feel toward a woman except his mother or grandmother. Too many cats he knew fell victim to that word. He knew dudes who fell in love with a chick, got locked up, and the girl the dude loved was in the free world fucking the dude’s friends, brothers, and even the nigga’s sister.

A lot of cats got killed over women, and Tah swore to himself that it would never be him. He really liked Mecca a lot, though. He even dared to say he cared about her. She wasn’t like the girls he usually dealt with. She wasn’t the neighborhood freak like the girls he and his crew got a piece of. She was a virgin, and she wanted him to be her first. That sent Tah on an ego trip so far he had to pack a year’s worth of luggage. But love? That’s a whole other level that Tah didn’t think he was ready for. Not wanting to ruin the night, Tah told Mecca he loved her too, and was almost convinced that he believed it.

Tah and Mecca entered the plush hotel room with cream wall-to-wall carpeting, mirrored walls, and a Jacuzzi shaped like a martini glass. Tah surprised her with a pair of hoop earrings with diamonds on them. Mecca hugged Tah, then their mouths met and their tongues began to wrestle with each other. Tah tried to be as gentle as he could. He wanted this night to be special for her. He wanted her to be strung out on him and never want to share her love with anyone else. He felt he was experienced enough to pull it off.

Tah began to suck on Mecca’s earlobe, then slowly moved down to her neck. Mecca felt chills through her whole body as Tah began to unbutton her shirt. Her black satin bra came into view, and Tah had to make himself slow down. He picked her up and walked her over to the king-sized bed to lay her down, afterward softly kissing her belly button while caressing her breast. Then suddenly he stopped.

“Hold on, Mecca. Let me use the bathroom.”

Tah went into the bathroom and looked at himself in the large mirror over the beige porcelain sink. His manhood bulged against the crotch of his red Fila velour sweat suit. As was routine with every girl he bedded, Tah took out his dick and began to masturbate so that when he had sex with Mecca he wouldn’t cum quick. Mecca unhooked her bra while she waited for Tah to take off her tight-fitting jeans. Her panties matched her bra. Remembering what Monique had said about keeping her pussy smelling fresh, Mecca rubbed her hand against her pussy and smelled it. She was satisfied with the smell the vinegar-and-water douche left behind.

She heard plenty of tales from being around guys in the projects and listening to the workers she collected money from of a girl’s pussy smelling like fish chasing a nigga away. The news that a girl had a stink pussy spread around the neighborhood and did severe damage to a girl’s reputation. Mecca made sure that it would never be her. Three minutes later, Tah came out of the bathroom ready to give Mecca the best first sexual experience ever.

Tah took off his pants and crawled on the bed in his Calvin Klein boxers. He looked at Mecca’s body and he felt his dick begin to stiffen. Her firm breasts and plump rear end didn’t fit a sixteen-year-old’s body. Her body fit a woman in her twenties. Mecca could tell that Tah worked out. He wasn’t bulky or too small; his body was well defined from the eighteen-month sentence he served in D.F.Y.

Tah let his tongue explore Mecca’s body, taking her on a high she had never experienced before. She gasped when she felt his warm tongue on her nipples. He licked down her belly button while removing her jeans and panties. He continued to taste and caress Mecca until he was sure she liked what he was doing.

“Tah, that feels so good,” she moaned.

Mecca tried to get away from Tah, but it felt too good. She felt waves of pleasure run through her body. She didn’t know why she kept feeling her entire body when Tah put his tongue inside of her. He brought her to multiple orgasms in no time.

He wanted to loosen her up some; the tightness of her pussy made Tah grind his teeth. Not that Mecca was his first virgin, but she felt a lot tighter than previous ones he had encountered. Slowly he opened her legs in the missionary position, and glided his rock-hard dick inside of her.

“Wait…wait, Tah. It hurts!” Mecca screamed out loud, holding on to Tah tightly. Tah kissed Mecca’s lips and whispered in her ear to calm her down.

“I’m sorry, Mecca. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I know, Tah. Please try again, I want you in me.”

After Tah’s first orgasm, he took Mecca into the Jacuzzi and they enjoyed a bottle of Moët while they relaxed. Tah stared at Mecca and it reminded him of something his partner Boogie had told him awhile back, and it had him feeling confused.

“Yo, Tah. Your chick Mecca is the bitch with the Sterling niece.”

“Get the fuck outta here, Boog!” Tah responded in disbelief.

“Word is born, son. Your chick work for her aunt, too. She manages her spots in the projects.”

“How you know all this, son?” Tah asked, not wanting to believe what he was hearing.

“You heard of Blast right?” Boog asked, and Tah nodded his head, indicating that he remembered. “That’s her pops. Darnell bodied her mom and pop and her aunt took her in. That bitch from Langston Hughes.”

“Mecca, let me ask you something,” Tah said as he took a sip from his glass of Moët.

“Go ahead, ask me whatever,” she answered, hoping he wasn’t going to back out on her.

“Where you be getting money from? How you get all that fly gear?” Tah asked, registering the look on her face. The smile left Mecca’s face. His question surprised her. She wondered why he asked that after all this time they been together. Mecca put her head down, looking at the bubbling water.

“My parents are dead, and I get SSI checks.”

It was true, Mecca did receive SSI, but it was a mere $500 a month. She put that in a bank account and spent the money she made working for her aunt on the things she had. Tah was glad that she didn’t lie, figuring since he had heard her parents were dead, that just maybe she was getting SSI. He chalked up the idea that she may be working for her aunt as just a rumor.

“Damn, sorry to hear that. Do you mind me asking how they died?” Tah replied consolingly, hoping she would open up more to him.

“Yes, I do mind, so don’t ask,” Mecca said, cutting him off.

Tah watched Mecca’s facial expression change into one that he had never seen on her before: the look of pure rage. It was more than rage; it was more like pure evil. Tah knew it was time to change the topic before the mood got messed up. Besides, he wanted some more pussy because his dick was hard again.

“I didn’t mean to make you angry, Mecca. I’m sorry.” Tah smiled, then reached over to kiss her.

He kissed her cheek, and his mouth traveled down her neck. He placed his hand between her thighs and his fingers found their way to her clit. The evil look on Mecca’s face disappeared, and she expressed pure pleasure. Deciding to not even leave the Jacuzzi, Tah sexed Mecca in every position imaginable until the wee hours of the morning.

A week after Monique’s death, Stone had just finished making his rounds at each of Ruby’s spots. He stopped in Langston Hughes to chat with some of the workers who were mostly young teenagers whose parents were customers. Stone saw one of the workers running through the projects, and stopped to see what was happening. By the time he and the other workers realized what the young guy was running from, they were all surrounded by unmarked cars, undercover detectives, and federal agents.

People in their apartments, and hoe’s standing outside in the area, heard cars screeching and the sound of police yelling for them to get on the ground and put their hands in the air before they blew their brains out. At the same time there were raids conducted in Langston Hughes, Ruby’s spots in Brownsville and Coney Island were being raided as well. Ruby was watching an episode of
As The World Turns
when she heard a knock on the door. Dressed in only a long blue and yellow Polo robe with thong to match, she hated to have to get up from in front of the television, but she had no choice. She got off the couch and walked to the large, white double doors, grabbing hold of the gold-plated doorknobs.

“Who is it?” Ruby yelled on her way to the door.

“It’s the police and we have a warrant. Open up!” an officer yelled through the door.

“Hold on, let me get dressed,” Ruby yelled back, not knowing what move to make next.

“Open up, now!” the officer yelled before busting through the door and rushing Ruby to the floor before she had a chance to get one of her guns from the closet. Ruby didn’t plan on getting arrested. She planned to go out in a gunfight, but it was too late.

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney…”