Hood Read online

  “Somebody like Hood?” Zena asked, although she was secretly thinking of Dreko. Hood’s man had been pushing up on her hard, letting her know how much he wanted some of what she was holding.

  Egypt nodded. She’d been Lamont’s woman for a minute now, and she knew him like a book. His flaws, his weaknesses, all of his shortcomings, and yet she still loved everything about him.

  “Yeah, somebody just like my Lamont. He might be down with Xanbar’s operation in a major way, but he ain’t stupid. I can’t say I like all the shit the D.W.I.T. boys is out here doing, but if it wasn’t them it would be somebody else. But on the real, though, Lamont gonna be somebody big one day. You just watch,” she said, secretly wishing Lamont would show interest in something other than spittin rap music and making money. “My man is ambitious. He got dreams and big plans. Goals and intentions. Don’t sleep on him baby because one day Mont’s name is gonna be ringing big bells up on all of Brooklyn’s boulevards. He’s gonna be well known in this hood.”

  Egypt mighta been speaking the truth when she described the kind of guy Zena should be looking for, but Zena’s lot in life was a whole lot harder than hers. Things just didn’t flow for Zena the way they did for her friend. For one thing, Egypt commanded acceptance on the streets just because of who she was. Fitting in wasn’t a problem for her. She had a paid father, a capo boyfriend, and she looked just like everybody else looked in their hood so she dripped with confidence and never worried about whether or not she was doing or saying the right things.

  But Zena’s reality was way different and so was her mind set. Sackie mighta been brilliant with numbers, but Zena’s talents lay in other areas. She liked to floss. To be seen and to be admired. To fit in. She had learned to boost at an early age, and between that grind and Sackie’s hustle, they were pretty good on money and Zena used most of hers to keep herself popping tags and looking good.

  While Egypt was running back and forth to dance class and piano recitals and talking non-stop about college and medical school and what she was gonna do as soon as she got out of Brooklyn, Zena’s mind had never been stretched that wide. She’d grown up without a mother figure anywhere within reach. She’d had no one to school her on the ways of womanhood, or to tell her about her period, or even to show her how to take proper care of herself down there, let alone how young girls were supposed to navigate the waters of life to become a success. She was a tentative girl searching for a spotlight. Low on confidence and wanting badly to be a part of something big.

  So the first time Dreko stepped to her she was on receive mode. Wide open and delighted that a ruff-riding willie like him was showing her so much attention.

  He was real sweet at first too. And real possessive.

  “Bring that phat ass over here,” he would laugh and snatch her up in front of all his friends. “Girl you gone need an armed escort, rolling down this block looking that fine! Hey, yo!” he’d warn all the cats on the corner, “This me, ya dig? I know this shit looks good, but don’t get no ideas because all this fluffy angel cake is about to be mine.”

  Zena would blush and squeal like she was embarrassed, but the whole time she would be clinging to his strong brown arms, loving the way they felt wrapped around her, and enjoying the spotlight and the way the other guys gazed at her with hunger and envy in their eyes.

  To have a cat like Dreko wanting her also gave Zena mad credibility with other bitches and made her legit on the streets. Even some of the chicks who used to flex on her knew better now. Once word got out that white girl Zena was rolling with Big Dreko, it seemed like her whole life changed. No more was she on the outside looking in. She was the shit now, and the D.W.I. T. crew treated her like a queen. Zena basked in that glow, feeling glorious and goddess-like. She hung at the right spots, drank, smoked weed, popped X, and even hit the pipe every now and then. Anything to fit in with the crowd and stay on par with the crew who rolled with her new man.

  But Sackie was dead-set against her getting with Dreko from the beginning and he let her know it too. He’d run into them at a party and yanked Zena out of Dreko’s lap and taken her outside to scream on her while Dreko laughed behind them and reached for the next bitch.

  “You don’t wanna fuck with him, Zena. I mean it. You might think you know the streets but you don’t. That cat is a fool. A straight-up fool. The only thing he can do for you is bring you down.”

  Zena was high and feeling large. “Damn! Every fuckin body has somebody, except me. Don’t you want me to be happy for once?!?”

  “Not with Dreko. Ain’t he fuckin with that girl Fatima from Riverdale? You don’t wanna go up against her, Z. She carries a razor and she’s wild as hell.”

  Zena put her hands on her hips. Sackie just didn’t know. She had already beat Fatima’s ass into the concrete for wagging her bubble ass around in front of Dreko.

  “Nobody tells you who you can be with! You fuck that grimy bitch Tina on our couch almost every night and I never try to stop you. She was the one who got those girls over on Dumont to jump me that time. But I didn’t shit on her name or tell you you couldn’t be with her, did I?”

  Sackie glanced around the streets, then shook his head, concern shining in his eyes. “This ain’t the same, Zena. That girl is just a piece of ass. Dreko is something different. He’s off, Z. Mental. No chick is safe around him, if you ask me. Especially a chick like you.”

  Zena moved closer to her brother. She put her hand on his arm and pleaded with him. “But I like Dreko. And he’s feeling me too. He treats me right, Sackie. He makes me feel good. He might be wild and crazy out on the streets, but when he’s with me he’s all the way straight. I’m serious.”

  “You don’t even know that dude, Zena. Trust me. He leaves shitty footprints wherever he goes. Find somebody else. Sip is in there, right? He’s a cool guy and he’s always liked you. Go back inside and hang out with him tonight.”

  “I don’t like Sip.”

  “I’m telling you, stay away from Dreko or come home with me, Zena. That’s it. Those are your only choices.”

  Zena had gotten pissed off then. Sackie was probably jealous. He’d never approved of none of the guys she liked. It had always been just the two of them against the rest of the world, and while Zena loved her brother from the heart, he wasn’t her damn father and he couldn’t tell her what to do.

  “Too late,” she said defiantly. Dreko had already fucked her so good she’d lost all sense of herself. She would have cut some damn body if they tried to come between her and all that good black dick he was laying on her. She backed toward the club entrance, about to dip back inside and leave her brother standing alone on the streets. “Me and Dreko are already together. All the way together. We gonna stay that way too.”

  Sackie swallowed hard. He knew what that shit meant and it scared him. He glanced around, then lowered his voice. He didn’t wanna say it, but he had to. “Be careful, Zena. I heard some real foul shit about Dreko back in the day from Miss Newman. I used to go to the store for her all the time, remember? Well she told me something so grimy I never repeated it. Not even to Hood. So watch yourself, you hear? Dreko might have some unnatural tendencies about him, nah’m saying? He’s a hard body soldier right now, but he ain’t always been no straight shooter.”

  “You just don’t wanna see me with nobody. Especially nobody who’s riding harder than you.”

  Sackie sighed. “Make him wrap it up real tight, Zena. Make him double-bag that shit, ya hear?”

  Zena smirked. “You don’t rule me. Just let me do me, okay?”

  Sackie’s heart fell. Zena was right when she said it was too late. He could have muscled her down and forced her home, but then what? Lock her up in the crib forever? His sister had never been slick or street savvy, and Sackie knew if she was defying his word, then Dreko already had her by the brain.

  Tears of anger and frustration were in his eyes as he turned away from his little sister so she couldn’t see his pain. He started to call out over his
shoulder, but then he said fuck it and turned around again. If seeing the hurt on his face would help wake her up, then let her see it.

  “You’ve got a hard head and you’re making a mistake, Zena. A big one. That fool is gonna dog you. Fuck up your whole life. He’ll turn you out, then drag you down in the sewer with him and toss you off when you start stinking. You gonna end up just like these other bitches out here who fuck with these crazy ballers. Strung out and on the streets. Just remember, I love you and I tried to warn you.”

  Chapter 12

  Bacardi and a O.J.!

  Got me in my zone, eh!

  Ready to touch something,

  Mami please gimme the okay!

  IT WAS LATE night in Brownsville and the streets were just going quiet. They would stay that way for less than three hours, then the cycle of work and play, hustle and grind, would start all over again.

  Egypt lay in her bed waiting. Xan’s crew had hung out in the shop later than usual so Hood was probably still down there. With her eyes wide open Egypt thought about all the things she wanted to do in life, and all the places she wanted to see. She thought about the boy she loved too, and tingled inside as she anticipated what the rest of the night held in store for them.

  About thirty minutes passed, and after Fat Daddy’s snores had been rocking the apartment for a good minute, Egypt heard a faint tapping sound. She answered the door for Hood and let him inside. They tiptoed back into her bedroom quietly, then Egypt giggled as she opened her closet door and pulled him deep inside.

  “I luh this pussy,” Hood panted in the darkness as he slobbered and kissed all over her collarbone. He helped her pull her shirt over her head, then threw it to the floor. She wasn’t wearing a bra and her fourteen-year-old titties was still small, but very firm.

  His fingers found her zipper and lowered it. She moved like a snake as she wiggled out of her jeans. The muscles in her stomach curled under his hand, and he had the urge to stick his tongue inside her navel. She hooked her thumbs in the waistband of her panties and slid them down until they were halfway off her hips. Hood pulled them the rest of the way down, his fingers touching the wet fabric of her crotch that was soaked through with her early juices.

  Bending over to help her step out of her panties, his nose picked up the scent of her heated sticky and he couldn’t wait to get into it. Fuck Fat Daddy snoring in the room next door. Hood was about to give his baby girl some real good dick up in this closet. Already he could feel his nut rising and he pressed himself against her body grinding slowly, his wood hard enough to poke a hole in her leg.

  He nibbled up her neck and she parted her lips, sucking his tongue. Hood gripped her long chocolate thighs, spreading them as wide as he could. He moved his hardness between her damp thighs without inserting it. Just playing with the pussy as her clit dripped with liquid sugar.

  “Oooh, yeah.” His hands cupped the high, round muscles of her ass cheeks and he pushed his rock against her. Hard. Harder.

  “Suck my nipples,” she demanded, and he did. Licked them two chocolate buds like there was honey running out of them.

  “Now put it in,” Egypt whispered after helping him slide into a condom. She threw her head back, knocking clothes down and clanging hangers against the wall as Hood guided his dick deep inside her wet gushy.

  Holding tight to her ass, he beat that thing up real good. She moaned on his tongue as they both whispered words of love. He stroked it proper, and pounded it up into her as she screamed and her young juices wet up his pubic hair and ran down his balls.

  “I love you, Egypt,” he told her from the heart, then backed off as she reached for the bottom of his shirt and yanked it up over his head.

  “Yeah,” he whispered as she held him to her, the sensation of her naked breasts pressed against his heart the best damn feeling in the world. “I love you, baby.” He started stroking again. Gentle. Slow pull outward, then nice deep thrust inward. “You know that right? I’ma always take good care of you, baby. You ain’t gotta worry ’bout a damn thing.”

  Egypt responded by clamping her pussy muscles down on him and sighing. She wrapped her long legs around his back as he hoisted her in his arms, then held onto him like he was the only damn thing keeping her on the face of the earth.

  With his dick in her up to the hilt, Hood lost it. He bounced her ass up a few times, and her breasts jiggled. Heat and the scent of sex rose between their bodies and her nipples glided across his sweat-coated chest, sending his nut rushing up out of his balls.

  His dick jerked and spit, and Egypt screamed out her love, coming hard as her pussy muscles spasmed uncontrollably. Hood waited until she was through and then lowered her until she was standing again.

  He kissed her forehead and laughed. “I bet you wasn’t worrying about Fat Daddy hearing you just now, was you?”

  “Hell no! Besides, if he had heard us fuckin in his house he woulda snatched both of us out this closet by now.”

  Hood smirked in the darkness. “I keep telling you I ain’t scared of your daddy. This my pussy all sticky between your legs, girl. Mine. Not even your father can tell me shit about that. It’s mine.”

  Egypt smiled. She liked the way Hood claimed her body and her heart. If it ever came down to it she knew he would walk straight through a wall of fire over her and she would do the same for him. She loved Lamont. With every bit of her young, tender heart, she loved him.

  So what she had lied to Zena and Lamont didn’t plan to see any more of the world than what was right before his eyes? There was nothing he seemed to be passionate about at all, other than moving those lips and composing mad rap lines, or his far-out dreams of joining forces with his man Reem Raw and owning a record company, a mansion, and an NBA franchise one day. It was his his strength that she admired. The way he handled the curves life threw at him with a straight back and squared shoulders, like a real man should. All that other street shit she had learned to accept about him, and she was confident that once he saw her in college and pursuing a real career, he’d hop on it and get busy too. But in the meantime she was cool with things the way they were. It was kinda nice knowing she had a street baller with a powerful reputation who would eat out the palm of her hand just as quickly as he’d lick out the center of her pussy.

  But a few minutes later Lamont surprised her as they sat together on the warm radiator and looked out of her bedroom window. The streetlight was bright outside and the cool air felt good on her face even as the iron radiator grooves dug into the back of her legs. They gazed down at the street below as the el train roared overhead, zooming down its shiny silver tracks.

  A just-fucked peace had settled down over both of them and Egypt was startled when Lamont jumped up and stuck his whole head out the window, then cursed loudly.

  “What?” Egypt asked. She followed his gaze, then looked up at him and froze. A wall of stone had slid down over Lamont’s face. The only sign of emotion she could detect was the deep pain that shone in his eyes. Moo had been dead for over two years, and this was one of the sporadic sightings they’d had of Marjay. She was an all-out fiend now who stayed in and out of jail, and Egypt wasn’t sure if the woman even knew her baby was gone.

  Egypt looked back down at the street below and sighed as they watched Marjay come around the corner, running from a cop. The man caught her easily and twisted her arm behind her, then forced her to the ground. The faint sound of clanking buttons rose to their ears as Marjay tussled with all her might, and Egypt couldn’t bear to watch as the cop’s partner pulled up in a patrol car and got out to help him. The first cop picked Marjay up by the back of her jacket and flung her inside the car as soon as his partner opened the door. Seconds later they drove off toward the precinct with her wilding out and kicking on the back window.

  “C’mon,” Egypt urged Lamont, pulling him back inside. She closed the window then shifted her position until she was sitting on his lap. “It’s okay,” she whispered, stroking his rigid face. “It’s okay, baby. Th
ey gone let her sleep it off and then they gone let her go like they usually do. Really, everything is gonna be all right.”

  The glow from the streetlight spilled into the room casting radiance over his features, and the tears she saw him trying hard to fight were heartbreaking.

  “Nah, it ain’t all right,” Lamont finally said, wiping his eyes with his arm. Egypt pulled him down to the floor and cradled his stiff body. Yeah, her man was a stone-cold street thug, but it touched her soul that he still had a tender place in his heart for his mother.

  “They need to keep her ass in jail because as long as she on that shit ain’t nothing never gonna be all right.”

  “Baby, don’t say that,” she urged, taking his hand. She’d never known her own mother but that didn’t stop her from missing her and feeling Mont’s pain.

  He snatched away from her. “I lost Moo behind her craziness, Egypt. Because of her suckin on a pipe, me and my brother stayed out there on them streets! Cold. Walking. Scrambling. I lost my baby brother, but she lost her fuckin son. And what makes it so bad is that she didn’t even notice.”

  Egypt took his hand again and held it tightly, but she had to agree. “In a game like this, everybody loses, Mont. There ain’t no winners on these streets. Just losers, baby.”

  “I know,” he said, sounding almost like a little boy again. “But I just wish she could get clean, ya dig. I want her clean. I just want her clean! What kinda chick puts a fuckin crack pipe in her mouth anyway, E? Tell me what it takes to make a woman do that kinda shit because I just don’t fuckin get it.”

  Egypt shrugged. “It’s this street life, Mont,” she said. She kept her voice low and gentle, but that didn’t stop the truth from ringing out clearly in her words. “I guess anybody can fall victim to it. I mean, we gotta keep it real, baby. You out there slinging the same shit your mother craves. You even selling it to other people’s moms. You think the pipe can only get hold of strangers, and the people you love and care about gone be immune to that shit? This is real-world poison we talking about, Lamont. It produces mass casualties, baby. And what you’re doing out on these streets is a big part of all that.”