Page 35

“The mufucka you called was my nigga Key. When you said you wanted to speak to my boss, I called him, so he could know some shit went down. I knew he would track me and show up where I was. I ain’t never worked for a nigga a day in my life. When you got me at the trap, I was there to handle business. I don’t have any affiliations to them niggas. Oh, and your lil nigga can thank me as well. I paid them the seventy five thousand, that’s why he’s safe.” Anton looked annoyed, but the more I played everything back, I realized what he said was true. When I told him to call his boss, he was shocked and looked confused.

For a little while, I couldn’t understand why I was feeling hurt. Peanut was safe, and that’s all that mattered. It’s all that should have mattered, but here I was fighting to hold my shit together. It was hard because all I could see was Anton comforting me as I fell apart in the basement. I cried telling him how guilty I felt. He knew how scared I was. Hell, I was out here stealing food trying to make a deal happen that was fake. Even when I went running into the basement, full of excitement, letting him know I did it. This low down mufucka helped me celebrate. I felt good because I thought he was proud of me. Whole time, he was making fun of me. I was a joke to him. Well, not anymore. I refused to drop another tear in front of him.

“Take me home.”

“Bubbles.” I turned my head and looked out the window. I didn’t care what he said. I didn’t have anything else for him. I could see Juanita’s block come into view through my blurry eyes, and I couldn’t have been happier. As soon as the car stopped, I got out and looked back at Anton.

“I’m glad I was a fucking joke to you.” I wanted to say more, but my voice began to crack.

“I don’t think that. I-…” Putting my hand up, I cut him off.

“Stay the fuck away from me before I do something to your ass for real.” Slamming his door, I walked toward my car. As soon as I was inside, I broke down. Fuck Anton!”

Anton “Tax” Hodges

I spent most of yesterday thinking about the way Bubbles looked at me when she got out of my car. I knew she was upset, but I didn’t expect her to look at me like I betrayed her. Now it was twenty four hours later, and I was still thinking about it. I could see where I fucked up at. It wasn’t with telling her the truth because she needed to hear that. It was how I went about everything. I glanced at my watch, and I could see it was getting late, but I refused to let another night pass without talking to her. She had enough time to calm down, and I had enough time to see my wrongs. I picked up my phone and called Key.

“What up?”

“I need you to hit up ol girl that be doing them money bouquets.”

“To go on a date?”

“Naw, Bubbles mad at me.” Key laughed.

“She found out your ass was lying, huh?”

“I told her.” That shut him up for a second.

“I thought you said you wasn’t gone tell her that part. What brought on the change?”

“She was talking about hitting another lick.”

“After all the shit she just went through?” He was thinking like me.

“Exactly. Mufucka was sitting in my car talking about she a big dog. How she did all that and got away with kidnapping a nigga and not having to pay the money back. Whole time, her ass ain’t even take the right nigga.”

“She lucky she not dead. Girl just out here clueless and have no idea who she had trapped in that basement.”

“I’m not about to sit around and watch her get into some more shit when she barely made it out of the last situation.”

“I feel what you saying, but I told you that shit was going to backfire.”

“You ain’t told me shit.” He did, but I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction.

“Whatever, she gone be even madder when she finds out you only giving her twenty and give bitches you don’t like fifty.”

“Bubbles already think I look down on her. You see how she acted when I bought her that bottle. Now, she mad at me and you think I’m supposed to walk in there and throw fifty or a hunnid at her?”

“Ahhh, so you gotta sneak the money in.” Key laughed, but I was serious.

“Hell yeah! I gotta slow walk her. Twenty is enough to give her room to breathe. She won’t make any plans to do something stupid, and the rest I can figure out later. I don’t need her feeling like a charity case.”

“Shid, I’d let a mufucka treat me like a charity case if it came with that.”

“I bet you would with your cheap ass.”

“I’m just saying. Fifty thousand is fifty thousand.”