Powder Blu (9 page)

It wasn't always easy being in charge of the streets. I had to fight my way all the way to top. I'd been shot, shot at, threatened, and even robbed but I managed to hold and keep my throne to the city of Chicago. I can't lie; having Blu by my side made it a lot easier for me. She didn't even know it but I'd been conditioning her to be my partner ever since she was about eleven years old. I used to sit back and watch how hard she hustled niggas while standing in front of the candy store. She used to ask every big-time dope niggas, wine heads, pimps, and hoes for a quarter, knowing most of them didn't carry change, so they would end up giving her a dollar and by the end of the day, Blu would go home with at least thirty or forty dollars.

I liked that in her; besides her mother was a straight-up hustler, and I'd heard from Miguel that her father had been a big-time hustler in his day as well. It was in Blu's blood; she didn't have a choice but to be a natural-born hustler. I knew I couldn't depend on another bitch like I depended on her. I loved her because I knew she would always be loyal to me and that's one of the reasons I would always give her the world, even if I ever decided to sever all ties with her. I just wished I could love her how she wanted and deserved to be loved, but Frenchie stayed on my mind constantly.

She was the only woman who had ever made me fall in love. I didn't know what it was about her, but she's the only woman who was hard for me to shake. I met her the first time I went to the penitentiary; it was love at first sight. She was a bad-ass bitch she had a face like Janet Jackson and a body like J. Lo.

She worked the serving line in the chow hall and every day she would give me extra food, until niggas started hating and got to snitching on her. We began getting close, a little too close. I had a bid to do, I didn't have time to be falling in love, but I had no control over what my heart wanted to do. People started watching us, making shit too hot for us to be in a relationship. But one thing led to another and before long, she was giving me head in the gym.

We had started having her partners watching out for us while I snuck her back to my cell to fuck. I had a reputation to uphold so I made her keep our relationship between me and her, but it wasn't long before niggas started piecing shit together. Trying to keep my reputation reputable, I had to transfer to another facility; as bad as I wanted to stay, I knew I couldn't.

She had gotten out and moved on with her life, which I couldn't blame her. She needed a nigga who was gon' sit still. I still talked to her from time to time and eventually we planned on getting back together, but I had to get my shit all the way right before I could settle down; she wouldn't have it no other way. Even after I bounced, I still took care of Frenchie and her family and still to this day I made sure she was straight and every Christmas I made sure her kids got everything on their list. Hey, what could a nigga say; she had my nose open.

I was happy as hell. Blu was coming to see me today to fill me in on how the business was doing. Truth be told, I already knew how shit was going because I'd already asked my right-hand man, Yogi, and Nikki. He told me Blu was handling her business like a straight boss, taking no shorts along the way and I was happy to hear that. After showering and getting dressed in my freshly pressed state clothes, I began killing time by looking through some of my letters and pictures. I ran across a picture of Frenchie that I had asked her brother to send me. I stared at the picture for a few minutes. I couldn't believe how perfect this woman was.

“Yo, Budz, the CO just called you for a visit,” Roz, a nigga who was in my pod, stuck his head in my cell and said.

“A'iiiight,” I said, glancing at the picture once more before safely tucking it underneath my pillow.

As I headed to the visiting room I ironically ran into Vomo. Ever since I'd made it to the same camp as him, he'd been definitely keeping himself hidden. He already knew I wasn't gon' touch him myself; the thing was he didn't know who I was gon' have do it for me. When I told him that I was gon' make him pay dearly for tryin'a cross me, I meant every word. It was gon' be much deeper than just fucking his baby mommas. My intentions were to get him where it hurt the most. One thing that made my dick hard was I'd already put my plan in action and he didn't even know it.

“Wassup, Vomo?” I spoke as we crossed paths.

“Sup?” Vomo frowned.

“Damn, nigga, what's up wit' all the animosity?” I chuckled.

“Nigga, you know we don't fuck wit' each other so let's not pretend that we do!”

“You right,” I said and kept it moving.

“Whatever, nigga,” I heard Vomo mumble.

“Oh, by the way,” I called over my shoulder as I headed toward the visiting room, “sorry to hear about ya momma's death.”

“What the fuck this nigga talkin' about? My momma ain't dead. I just talked to her two days ago,” Vomo said to himself and hurried back to the pod to call her.

I started laughing as I walked into the visiting room.

“Wassup, baby?” Blu stood up from her chair and smiled as I walked over to her.

“Wassup, dollface.” I smiled back, giving her one of the tightest hugs. Seeing Blu always put a smile on my face.

I could tell Blu continued to dress like I'd told her to. I can't even lie; my baby was fly! She had on a pair of Big Star Alex mid-rise skinny jeans, with a brown Jobe sweater, and to set her attire off she sported a pair of brown and cream Star Stretchy leather ankle boots. She was on point. I was quite sure her entire outfit cost more than some of these homely looking bitches' rent.

“So what's goin' on?” I sat down across from her and asked.

“Well first off, the revenue is looking good, real good, might I add. Sid came back and was fifteen hundred dollars short on his sack. I told him he got two days to get me my money or it was curtains for his ass. He got until tomorrow.”

I smiled as I listened to my girl talk like a woman who was taking care of her business.

“The bills and car notes are paid, the workers are paid, and I transferred money into the three Swiss bank accounts. Oh, and before I forget, I kept a little somethin' for myself and went shoppin'; is that okay?” she asked with a smile.

“Yes, baby, as long as you keep handlin' my business the way that you are, you can get anything you want from me.” I knew Blu was leaving out Lenny getting knocked and his little young soldier getting shot. I knew she wanted me to think she had everything under control. I trusted her enough to know that she could handle it.

“My?” she asked, offended.

“My bad. Our,” I said rephrasing my word choice.

“Anyways. Do you remember the little Davidsons situation?” she leaned in and asked in a slight whisper.

I shook my head yes. “Don't tell me they still callin' the police and shit. When I called Nikki she didn't even mention it to me.”

I could tell by the look Blu shot me, she didn't appreciate the fact that I was calling her girl. I tried to explain to her that it was all business, but I didn't think she was buying it.

“Naw, they haven't called the police lately, but I found a nigga to handle that fuck shit,” Blu looked at me and said.

“Do we know this nigga?”

“I know him.”

“How the fuck you know him and I don't?” I asked in a raised tone, feeling slightly jealous. It must have been these walls that had me feeling this way because if I was out on them streets I wouldn't give two fucks about what a bitch was doing.

“Lower your voice,” she said looking around.

“You right, my bad,” I said, knowing that I didn't want to alarm anyone about what we were discussing. “How good you know this nigga, Blu?”

“Good enough to know that he's gon' do the job, get paid, and move the fuck on without mentionin' it to anybody,” she answered.

Blu's answer wasn't good enough for me so I dug deeper. I wanted to know exactly where she knew this nigga from. “How many times do I have to tell you that crackheads ain't to be trusted?”

“He ain't no crackhead; he about his business,” she said.

“What's the nigga's name?” I asked with a slight attitude.

“Damn, baby, why can't you just trust me on this? If you trust me wit' ya life savings then you should be able to trust me enough to know that I can handle this situation, too,” she huffed.

As bad as I wanted Blu to give me more details about this nigga she had hired to take the Davidsons out, I knew she was right. I knew if she could handle my empire, she could handle almost anything.

“Can you please just trust me on this? You know I'm not gon' fuck this up. I would never do anything that's gon' get me or you in no trouble,” she said, sincerely.

I stared at Blu for a brief moment. “I trust you,” I finally said. “But please, baby, be careful. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you and I couldn't be there to help you.”

“I will, I promise,” she said.

“Good.”

“Well look,” Blu said standing up. “I just came to fill you in on what was what. I got some business to handle so I will be back next month.”

I looked at her like she was crazy. I couldn't believe she was 'bouta end our visit before visiting hours was over with. But I already knew when you in the game as tough as we were, you didn't have time to be sitting around doing nothing. You had to constantly stay on the move to make sure money was being made. I wasn't mad at her because I was the one who'd taught her that valuable lesson. I was actually proud she was utilizing the shit I'd instilled in her. I gave her a tight hug and a kiss on the lips before watching her walk away.

“You doin' all right, Vomo?” my new cellie, Joseph, walked in and asked as I sat quietly staring into space.

“I'm good, just thinkin', that's all,” I replied, trying to fight back the tears.

“Did they have yo' mother's funeral yet?”

“Naw, not yet. I called my cousin Vonda and she said it ain't until Friday,” I said, feeling a lump forming in my throat.

Joseph must have heard it in my voice that I was about to break down so he quickly changed the subject. “You see the game last night? Man, Kevin Durant did his thang!”

“The fucked-up part about my momma's death is it wasn't even the cancer that killed her; it was some bitch-ass nigga doin' a drive-by,” I said disregarding what Joseph was talking about.

Joseph didn't know what to say. All he could do was shake his head.

“Can you believe that?” I asked rhetorically. “A fuckin' drive-by and nobody got shot but my momma. It's somethin' about this story that just don't make sense to me.”

“Well, brotha, we all know that a bullet don't have no name on it,” Joseph said. I didn't know if he was tryin'a pacify me or what but I wasn't buying it.

“Man, I ain't tryin'a hear that shit! A nigga killed my momma inten . . .” I said, stopping in midsentence. I had been so caught up in grieving over the loss of my mother, the comment Budz made to me the other day about her death never dawned on me until now. How would he know before me that my mother had been killed?

“That lowdown son of a bitch had somethin' to do wit' my momma's death!” I shouted angrily.

“Who?” Joseph inquired.

“Budz's bitch-ass,” I replied as I paced back and forth in the tiny cell.

“Are you sure or are you just assumin' he had somethin' to do wit' it?”

“I know for a fuckin' fact that fag-ass nigga had somethin' to do with it! I put this on everything I love, as long as I have air in my lungs he gon' die for takin' my momma away from me!” I snapped and meant every word.

I had no clue how I would get close enough to Budz because he had security around him at all times, but as God was my witness I would find a way.

“You need to calm down, little brotha. You know Budz got all kinds of niggas on his payroll, so you should be careful about what you say and who you say it to,” Joseph said, concerned.

“Man, fuck that nigga and his payroll! I got more money than that nigga will ever have,” I lied.

“I'm just tryin'a look out for you, that's all.”

“Chow time,” the CO called out.

“Yeah, whatever,” I said before walking out the cell.

“Dumb-ass nigga,” Joseph said shaking his head, following me out the cell.

“Hey, Vomo,” one of the girls said as I walked by her and a group of her friends.

“Sup,” I replied and kept it moving because I damn sure couldn't let anyone see me speaking to these gumps.

“I heard about ya momma,” Precious called out.

I stopped and turned around. “What the fuck you just say?” I snapped walking toward her.

“I said I heard about ya momma,” she repeated. “That's real fucked up.”

I quickly realized that all Precious was doing was offering her condolences. It wasn't her fault that my momma had gotten killed. “Thanks,” I said, calming down a little.

“Did they find out who did it?” she asked.

“Nope,” I said, slowly shaking my head.

“That's crazy. Well a little birdie told me to tell you that payback is a bitch and that bitch was ya momma.” Precious smirked.

I should have known Precious was on some bullshit from the get-go; she was Budz's girl. Before I knew it, I punched Precious in the face, knocking her down. I climbed on top of her and wrapped both my hands around her throat, trying my best to choke all the life out of her while her girls screamed for the COs. I would have accomplished my mission if it wasn't for the blow I took to the back of the head from the baton.