39. Rico
Rico
Me and Snow both have scars now. She’s sleeping with her head tilted, to give it room to breathe and heal.
Her surgery is a success. The entire tumor is gone, so there’s only a minute chance of it growing back. One less person I would have to kill. The whole hospital seems to exhale when we leave.
Now, Snow is sound asleep in her bed. She’s been lethargic and irritable. Haze is scared her personality is permanently altered, and I tell her that she’s just tired from having brain surgery, because I’m the only muthafucka around Snow with sense.
“Go on to Peanut’s. I got Snowball.” Nan straightens out Snow's comforter, her glassy eyes never leaving the granddaughter she always wanted.
I don’t want to leave her side. But I’ve been putting off my bro for weeks, and Nut hates being ignored almost as much as he hates being alone. I help settle Nan into her designated chair and hand her the book she’s been reading, before I let my feet lead me farther and farther away from my heart.
Pilar pops up from the stove as soon as I leave the hallway. She smiles at me as she wipes her hands on the kitchen towel.
Nan, I was expecting. Pilar is an interesting development. A small part of me burns to ask Snow how she knows this woman, and what could have happened for Pilar to be so devoted to her.
“You’re coming back, right? I’ll put up a plate for you.”
My feet stop, and I know I’m gawking at her, since her smile disappears by the second.
Fred would know what to say. Or maybe he wouldn’t, not with how fiercely he wanted to shield Ma. I’ve met all of Pooh’s honeybees, the ones that worked before Ma passed, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t around back then.
“You knew my mother?” I finally ask.
Pilar rests her palms on Snow’s island and shakes her head. “No, I didn’t. But I’ve heard–”
“You was fucking Pooh while he was married?”
Her lips twitch, before she licks them. Not in a sexual way, but she’s not nervous either. I think she’s amused.
“That’s not my style. I’ve known your father for a long time, and when I met him, he was still married. But we did not become intimate in any way shape or form until well after he was a widow. Any more questions?”
“Just two. You sell pussy?”
“I’m more of a… salesman than the actual corvette.”
Figures. Only the female version of Pooh could deal with him. “Last thing: you wanna fuck me?”
Her gaze turns critical as she drags it from my feet to my head, before glaring at me.
“I don’t fuck with dupes when I can get the original.
And if my girl in that room tells me you’re treating her any less than what she likes and deserves, that cut across your eye will look like child’s play compared to what I’ll do.
And this corvette rides smooth enough to convince your daddy to do my dirty work for me.
” She winks at me, before turning toward the fridge, effectively dismissing me.
Yeah, she’s no Ayani. But I don’t think that’s such a bad thing.
“Be safe,” she calls to my back as I move past her.
I think I like her.
“Shut up,” I snort, before looking around to make sure I’m alone.
Nutty’s front door opens before I can fully knock. My hand freezes mid air, and I stare into a barrel of a glock 19.
Tilting my head over to the right, I’m surprised to find Macy, holding the shaking gun in my face.
“The safety’s off, and dammit I will shoot that sexy ass face of yours clean off if you try anything!” she screeches.
Her baby tee barely contains her breasts and growing stomach. Her emotional outbursts at Reem’s housewarming make sense now. She brought two steak knives to her throat to get Set to take his good hand off my neck after I alluded to taking Brina and making her Snow’s sister wife foreal.
This would be baby number three for them.
I’m sure Shad won’t stop until he has enough for a band.
Most only children do weird shit like that; having as many kids as they wanted siblings.
And poor Macy tries to play like she runs shit, but as she stands in front of me, a direct contradiction of her complaints of Shad keeping her barefoot and pregnant, it’s obvious she’s exactly where she wants to be.
“You know, you can always just tell Shad to stop nutting in you,” I drawl, raising my hands in the air.
She backs up slowly, letting me walk inside the house. I close and lock the door behind me, and she gestures for me to walk further into the house toward Nutty’s mancave.
“The fuck is going on, Mace? What you and Nut up to?”
“What’s going on is you niggas act worse than my kids, and certain people are tired of it! Go to the island and place every weapon you have and your phone on it. Now.”
My eyes roll when I feel the gun poke my kidney, but I do what she says, placing my own piece and ankle gun on the island counter along with my phone.
“Knives, too, Richard!”
Macy digs the barrel into my back, and I bend down and get the knife from my other ankle holster, and well as the switchblade in my pants pocket.
“Do I need to strip search you? I will, and I’ll tell Shaddy you made me!”
Turning around, I twist the corner of my mouth in a wry grin. “I’m naked. Figuratively.”
“Good,” she sighs. “Go to the mancave.”
She waves me off with her gun, and I walk off, curiosity getting the best of me as I make my way through the first floor of Nutty’s house.
Another gun greets me behind this door; this one an AR. Nutty lowers it so I can see his scowl.
“Sitcho ass in one of the empty chairs, Dub.” he grits, and I turn away from him to survey the room.
His couches are pushed all the way to the walls. Folded chairs form a circle in the middle of the room, and only two are unoccupied.
I sit in the one next to Shad, directly across from Set. Nigga tries to clench his fist, but those pesky end fingers still don’t bend as well as he’d like.
Nut takes the other empty seat and sighs.
“You muthafuckas have been beefed out for months. All off some shit that shouldn’t even be close to the chest. Niggas swear I’m nosey, but this is why I don’t hold water!
Niggas get to keeping secrets and shit and when everything come out niggas all butt hurt.
So, this is what we finna do. We finna go around in a circle and muthafuckas are gonna say all the shit they keep to themselves. ”
“And how you know niggas gon’ act right?” Turk asks.
Nut scratches his head, before snapping his fingers. “You know what, you right, Turk. Let’s switch it up; we gon’ go around and say someone else’s secrets. Everybody got someone they confide in. And to get you niggas going, I’ll go first.”
“Shouldn’t Ty be here?”
“I’m on speaker. Some of us actually have to go into work.”
I roll my eyes as Reem sets his phone onto his lap. When I look up, Nut is smirking at Shad beside me.
“Sahara tried to suck Set’s dick when he was beefed out with Shad. He ain’t do it though, so I told him it’s straight.”
“Oh shit!” Ty barks from the receiver, while the rest of us gawk at this nigga.
“Man, they wasn’t even together.” Set tries to play it off, but the way Shad chuckles, I just settle into my seat.
“Nut, bro, this is messy—”
“Nut had a wet dream about Autumn because he walked in on her on accident in the shower when she was living with him.” Turning to Turk, Shad shrugs. “Nigga cried like a baby when he woke up because he felt like it was cheating.”
Ty-Ty snorts. “Y’all trippin’ foreal. Ay, but, niggas know I’m a ho turned husband, so I’m out of here. Reem, gimme the Cliff Notes later.”
“Maaaan, fuck that!” Nut grits, but Ty-Ty is already off the phone. “He told me Rico the one who shot Trippy way back when. Said he, Fredo, and Rico left school, shot at Wynter and Trippy and the abortion clinic they was coming out of and dipped. You was fuckin’ with her back then?”
“Nigga, you knew! Told me you seen them kissing at they house and asked me if I knew anything. I told you ya ass must have been seeing shit.” Turk flicks his nose, before turning to Set.
“Shad was the one who side swiped yo Lexus. He altered the footage because he knew you’d get on him for driving drunk.
Oh, and he also knew about you and Sahara.
That nigga stole like fifty thou from you when he found out, gave Sincere half of it and told him to buy B that tennis bracelet she be wearing sometimes. ”
“Now how the fuck do you know that?!” Nut bellows.
Turk just shrugs, before Set turns to Nut.
“So you knew about Rico and Wynter?”
“I ain’t know shit,” Nut waves him off. “And I damn sure warned you to leave Freckles Francine the fuck alone, but you and ya friendly dick having ass don’t listen to me.”
“And you a fuckin’ thief.”
Shad shrugs. “And you almost put ya dick in my bitch’s mouth.”
“I should have just done it if I was gon’ have to watch my wife wear some shit another nigga bought her with my fuckin’ money.”
“Aight,” Reem sighs, stopping the building commotion.
“I’ll go for myself and Ty… aight. So, me and Ty figured out Rico and Wynter was fucking around back in the day.
We ain’t know it was clearly as deep as it is, but we both decided to stay out of dick and pussy shit.
Maybe… that wasn’t the best decision back then. ”
“Yeah, prolly,” Set grits. But Reem doesn’t look contrite or even sheepish. The nigga glares at Set, his jaw clenched tight.
“Well since you feel like you be putting niggas on game, I gotta question for you. You know X wasn’t my pops?”
Five sets of eyes are on Set, and he meets it head on. He wipes his mouth before he answers, “Yeah. I knew.”
“Wait, how the fuck Big X not yo pops and you look just like the nigga?!” Nut barks, but Set ignores him.
“It ain’t no secret why he got sent up the road.
The whole hood know what them niggas was up to.
Big X told me the specifics ‘cause if it ever got back to you I was the one who was gon’ put any and everyone involved in the dirt.
He felt like you ain’t need to know, and to be honest, I agreed.
You was never gon’ find out from me, brodie. ”