The Candy Shop Read online

  “Bingo,” Bootsey replied and then he started coughing really bad.

  So, I looked at him with concern and said, “Bootsey, you really need to take care of that.”

  “If I could, baby girl, I would. But, trust me when I tell you that a muthafucka’ ain’t made a cure for the shit I got.”

  “Oh my, God! Bootsey, I’m sorry! I didn’t know,” I began to apologize after realizing he was sick with AIDS.

  “Come on now, you ain’t gotta be sorry! I’m a big boy. I’m handing it.” He tried assuring me, but that smile he put on his face wasn’t convincing enough for me.

  So, I said, “How long have you been living with it?”

  “Probably about ten years now.”

  “What does your family say about it?”

  “Come on now, what family?” he began to say, “You know you ain’t got no family when you out here on these streets.”

  “Well yeah, I know that. But, have you ever been married, or have any kids?”

  “Yeah, I was married once. For fifteen years, as a matter of fact. Had two kids by my wife too, but they’re all grown now with their own families.”

  “So, why did you and your wife split up?”

  “These muthafucking streets split us up. Because as soon as I got turned on to dat dope, my whole world turned upside down,” he started explaining, “I lost a good-ass job working as the lead foreman at a welding shop for the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, so that’s ten years gone down the drain. And then I lost my house to a foreclosure and that’s when my wife told me she had enough.”

  “What did she do?”

  “Whatcha think she did?” She packed up her shit, took the kids back to her mother’s house, and filed for a divorce a year later, after she saw that I wasn’t gon’ let this life here go.”

  “Have you ever tried to stop before?”

  “Hell yeah, I tried plenty of times. And I even went into detox a few times, but as soon as I left, that urge to get another pill of that dope comes right back on you.”

  “You sure ain’t fucking lying about that,” I agreed.

  “So, what’s your story?” he asked.

  “Well, mine is quite similar. I used to be an assistant principal at a performing arts school out in Virginia Beach. I’m still married, but I’m legally separated from my husband of ten years and we have a little girl named Kimora, whom I miss so much it kills me when I think about it.”

  ‘When is the last time you seen her?”

  “It’s been almost two years now.”

  “Have you tried to go and see her?”

  “Her father won’t let me come near her.”

  “Ahhh . . . man, I feel your pain. ’Cause my wife took me through the same exact thing. But now, when I look back on everything, I don’t fault her for doing what she felt was right. I mean, look at us. Do we really want our children to see us like this?”

  I thought for a moment and then I said, “You’re right. I wouldn’t want my baby to see me like this.”

  “Exactly. So, when you’re ready to get yourself together and leave these streets alone, he’ll see a change in you, and when he does, trust me, he’ll let you come back into her life.”

  “You think so?”

  “Baby girl, I know so,” he told me, and then all of a sudden, our attention was shifted back over toward the house.

  “Oh, shit! Look, who they got!” I blurted out, as I witnessed one of the narcotics officer escorting two familiar dope fiends out of the house in handcuffs.

  “Ahhh . . . man, ain’t dat Zena and Pookie?” he asked.

  “Yep, it sure is. And trust me, they gon’ talk their asses off when they get downtown.”

  “Shit, look how long they been in there,” he pointed out, “So, believe me when I tell you, that they already started telling dem crackers what they wanna know.”

  “I wouldn’t doubt it,” I replied.

  Now it took the narcotics officers another thirty minutes to clear out all the drugs and guns they found doing that bust. They arrested six people in all, so I guess they felt like it was a job well done. I was just blessed that I hadn’t been caught up in that mix. And since I still had my freedom, I was gonna take my ass out to Grandy Park to see if I could get me some of that penny candy or that Predator floating around there.

  Scheming Hard

  Grandy Park was kind of deserted when I got out there. But, there were still a few fiends hanging around. And where there was dope fiends, there was dope. So, I approached this guy who looked like he had just had some good dope himself. I mean, you should have seen how this nigga was nodding and carrying on.

  “Hey, you trying to share some of that dope that got that got you nodding like that?”

  He started smiling and said, “Only if I had some left.”

  “What did you have? ’Cause I’m ill as hell right now,” I told him.

  “Dem young boys wit’ dat Predator is ’round that building right there,” he replied as he pointed to a building standing directly across the street from where we were standing.

  “All right,” I said and started walking that way.

  As soon as I bent that corner, I saw Papoose standing right beside two of his people, talking on a cellular phone. But, as soon as he recognized who I was, he told the caller on the other end that he’d call them back. And when he said that, I kind of felt really awkward. Humiliation engulfed my entire body while I was standing there. And all I could do was give him a cheesy-ass smile and ask if I could cop one of his pills of dope.

  “Damn, girl! I almost didn’t recognize you,” he said as he moved closer toward me.

  I handed him my ten dollars and waited for his homeboy to hand me my product.

  In the meantime, Papoose had a lot of fucking questions for me. “So, where you been at?” he asked.

  “Chilling out in Huntersville.”

  “Oh, so you been copping your dope from the Candy Shop, huh?”

  “That’s where I stay at,” I told him.

  “Oh, so you fucking wit’ dat nigga Walt?”

  “I was. Before he got locked up.”

  “When did he get locked up?”

  “Almost four months ago.”

  “So, what, the police ran up in the spot and bagged him up?”

  “No. He was hanging out by the corner store on Church Street when the police got him.”

  “What they catch him wit’?”

  “Five caps.”

  “Have you talked to him?”

  “Nope.”

  “So, whose been holding shit down while he’s been gone?”

  “Well, I had them Helter Skelter boys selling their dope out of there, but they’re gone now.”

  “So, who’s got heroin out there now?” Papoose wondered aloud.

  “Nobody. That’s why I came out here.”

  “Is there a lot of money out there?”

  “Damn right, it is! That Helter Skelter dope used to keep motherfuckers lined up all day long.”

  “You bullshitting!”

  “No, I’m not,” I said with certainty.

  “A’ight. Well, I’ll tell you what,” he said, “if you let me and my homeboys set up shop ’round there I’ll hit cha’ off with three pills a day.”

  Hearing Papoose give me an offer like that made me happy as a motherfucker. And before I gave him the okay, I broke down and told him about the narcs busting up in the spot. But, I neglected to tell him that it had just happened. I didn’t want to deter him from coming by there and setting up shop, because it probably would’ve killed my chances of getting some free dope. And boy, you know I couldn’t have that.

  “So, whatcha say? Can we do business?” he continued.

  “Hell yeah!” I said, “But, just so you know, it’s kind of hot out there right now. So, you might wanna wait a few days before you come through.”

  “Oh, we was gon’ do dat anyway.”

  “Well, okay. I guess it’s on, then.”

  “A’igh
t! Well, that’s what’s up. So here, take these two joints and come holler at me tomorrow,” he told me as he handed me two caps of dope.

  I looked down at my hand just to make sure I wasn’t seeing things and when it finally registered that this nigga gave me a free cap of dope, I became giddy as hell.

  “Good looking out!” I said and started walking away.

  “Oh, you’re a’ight! Just don’t let nobody else come in that spot, ’cause I done already put my bid in.”

  “I ain’t gon’ let nobody else come up in there,” I assured him and then I left.

  **********

  Papoose and about five other niggas came through about three days later. They were suited up like fucking soldiers ready to go to war.

  He had two of this boys lined up out back as watch-outs, as well as two in front of the house and one on the inside at the front door. But, what was really fascinating was when I saw Papoose install a steel door with a two-by-four latch to prolong the police from running in there at will. He also had a bucket of acid placed in the closet where he hid his stash of dope. Nobody was allowed in that room but him and the man he had holding up the front door.

  Now, for the first month, shit was going really well. I was getting my dope like he had promised, and he and I used to sneak around in the back to keep his homeboys from seeing me sucking his dick. He would’ve probably jumped out of a window if one of them caught us in the act. He was truly ashamed and didn’t want them to think that he was a desperate nigga.

  But, then it all stopped. He found a bump on his dick one night and went the fuck off on me. He called me all kinds of dirty bitches! And he even beat my ass behind it, talking about I got a dripping mouth and that it fucked up his dick. But, when he went to the clinic and found out it was just a case of genital warts, I never got an apology from his ass, and I didn’t expect one either. He’s just that fucking arrogant. But, I had a trick for his motherfucking ass. And it was gonna be for all the old and new shit too.

  Pointing Fingers

  A couple of people from the city came by the house and posted up “no trespassing” signs, deeming the building unfit to live in. They even had a maintenance worker board up the windows and the doors. Luckily, Papoose and his boys were nowhere in sight because those officials had the police escort them on and off the property. When everything was said done, all my shit was put outside on the streets, and I was right back to square one.

  Papoose decided to show back up at the spot later that night, and got the surprise of his life. I was sitting outside on the stoop when him and his boys walked up to me and the first thing that came out of his mouth was, “What the fuck happened?”

  But, I didn’t want to be the one to come right out and tell him that the Candy Shop was closed for good. So, I approached his question at a different angle.

  “Some city service workers came by here early this morning and told me I had to leave,” I told him.

  “So, when did they board up the windows and shit?”

  “Right after I got all my shit out of the house.”

  “Have you tried to get back in?”

  “You know I did. But, they got their maintenance workers to nail them windows and doors shut real good.”

  “A’ight, well, this is what we gon’ do,” he began to say as he turned toward his homeboys. “We gon’ go ’head and set up shop out here, since there’s a lot of money to be made. But, I’m gon’ need y’all niggas to work like soldiers and act like we use to act when we was on foot out Grandy Park. That means we can’t be all laid back and shit like we was when we was in the house. Y’all feel me?”

  “Yeah,” everybody said in unison.

  “Good. Now, let’s start grinding,” he continued, and they all went to work.

  But before Papoose walked off, I got his attention by saying, “Can I get my three pills now?”

  “Nah, I’m sorry but ain’t no freebies jumping off tonight.”

  “Whatcha mean?” I began to say, “But, you always give me three caps a day.”

  “Yeah, that was because we was using the spot, but we outside now. So, your services are no longer needed.”

  Choked up by his words, I wanted to just crawl under a rock and die because I had truly been looking forward to getting me some of that dope he had. In all honestly, I’d been waiting all day to get high, so you could imagine how sick I was. But, that nigga wouldn’t care if I dropped dead right at his foot, which is really fucked up considering all the shit I’d taken from him. But, I’d be all right, and when it was all said and done he was gonna feel it.

  My Death Wish

  I’d been going through the motions all night, watching that motherfucker sell his shit in my face. Him and his homeboys had been through about four sandwich bags of his dope, so I knew he was rolling in money. I also sat back and peeped out their stash spot. And from the looks of it, I thought I might be able to snatch it up as soon as they went off to make the trade with whoever came along. But, then the more I thought about it, I knew the only way I would be able to execute this plan without getting caught, would be to get somebody I trusted to be my decoy. And that was gonna be tough because there was not a soul out there I could rely on. So, I’d be better off doing the shit by my damn self. But, since I knew it wasn’t gonna work, I was gonna sit back and wait for the next opportunity to present itself.

  Now while I was working my mind overtime, trying to figure out how I was gonna get close enough to grab Papoose’s stash without him noticing it, Bootsey walked up behind me and said, “You don’t look too good.”

  “That’s because I’m ill,” I told him.

  “Ain’t that dem Predator boys’ right there?” he asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, I thought they be looking out for you.”

  “Yeah, they did. But, when the city closed down the house, that nigga Papoose told me I didn’t have shit coming.”

  “Damn, dat’s fucked up!”

  “Yeah, I know. But, it’s cool though because as soon as I figure out a way to sting his ass, trust me I’m gonna do it.”

  “Whatcha got in mind?” he asked me with an inquisitive expression.

  I hesitated for a moment before I answered his question. I wanted to make sure I was comfortable enough to tell him about my plan to snatch up Papoose’s stash. But most importantly, would he be trustworthy enough not to divulge a single word of it to Papoose for a trade off? Now, I didn’t know where Bootsey’s loyalty was, but I figured he couldn’t hurt me no worse than what I was feeling already. So, I finally got up the nerve and told him every detail involving my plan. I even told him that I preferred to go and do this thing alone, but I knew that this job required a second person. And when heard me say that, he wanted in immediately.

  “Are you sure, Bootsey? ’Cause, this will be a dangerous game we’re about to play.”

  “Let me tell you something,” he began to say, “I play Russian roulette with my life every muthafucking day, so this shit here ain’t nothing but a walk in the park.”

  “Well, all right. This is what I need you to do . . .” I began to tell him.

  After I felt like he understood what needed to be done, he and I both sat back and waited for the perfect timing. And guess what? It finally came when we noticed Papoose laying down a fresh Ziploc bag of his dope. And as soon as he did it, the four narc officers rolled up on him and his boys. So, they all started walking up the block to avoid being seen near the stash. But, not only that; they were all carrying heat on them, so they wanted to avoid getting a weapons charge, too.

  Meanwhile, Bootsey and I were checking everything out. And as soon as we saw how the narc was fixated on harassing Papoose and his boys while they were being followed down the block, we made our move.

  “Now, you know this is the perfect opportunity right now?” Bootsey pointed out. “So, if we gon’ do something, den we need to do it now.”

  “I’m ready,” I assured him, my adrenaline pumping.

&n
bsp; “A’ight. Well, I’ma sit right here and watch your back. So, I’ma need you to go around dat building right there and come back up through the alley.”

  “I know that. I’ve already got that part down in my head,” I told him and then I skated off.

  Now, the whole time I ducked and dodged behind every car and bush I came upon, my heart started racing faster and faster. Believe me, I was a nervous fucking wreck, but somewhere in my mind I knew that I was gonna be all right after I got my hands on the prize. So, immediately after I had gotten across the street and within in a few feet from the bush where Papoose had his drugs stashed, the narcotics left the scene. And that meant Papoose and his homeboys were marching their asses right back down in my direction.

  “Here they come,” I heard Bootsey say in a loud whisper, and then he disappeared on me.

  Now, I had enough time to snatch the shit up, but getting away without being seen was another hurdle I had to jump. So, my first mind told me to leave it alone. But, my body was telling me something totally different. And after listening and feeling the effects of my ill body, I reached down behind the bush and grabbed the sandwich bag from underneath the rock placed on top of it, and sprinted off like Jackie Joyner Kersey. But, it was too late. My timing was off, because when Papoose saw my reflection from the light shining in the alleyway, he yelled out and said, “Bitch! I’m gon’ kill you when I catch you!”

  Hearing the tone of his voice and the speed at which he was running made me well aware that it was a matter of time before I would be begging him for mercy. I tried to speed up, but my body wouldn’t allow me to. And then all of a sudden, it felt like I was running in slow motion. As I looked around for an escape route, I noticed how all eyes were on me. It was two o’clock in the morning to be exact, so the eyes beaming from the sidelines of this dimly-lit street belonged to the local crack heads and dope fiends who’d migrated to this part of town. Some of them were silently cheering me on.

  When I looked back and noticed that this nigga was gaining on me, I nearly shitted on myself. I seriously had a good fifty-feet head start on him, but he quickly made up that distance in speed and now he was on my ass. As I was about to cross over from one block to the next, I felt a hard blow hit me in the back of my head, forcing me headfirst to the pavement. And upon my fall, the bag of dope flew out of my hand and every pill of dope scattered all over the ground.