I Can Touch the Bottom (15 page)

Before Mickey knew it, Stackz was standing behind him. As his eyes grew wide, the leash was wrapped tightly around his neck. Stackz pulled on the leash using all his jailhouse-chiseled body strength. “Yup, it was all good when you and your boys tried to play me like I was some duck, green-ass motherfucker! Y'all thought it was all fun and games then; so laugh now, nigga. Laugh now. Had me have to get rid of my favorite whip and a guy was straight hungry that night. Man, fuck you.”

When his victim fell over toward the floor, he planted his shoe literally in the spine of Mickey's back for more leverage, causing his Adam's apple to bulge out even more. Strangling the breath out of his lungs as he kicked, snatching at the leash, Stackz tightened his grip, trying his best to snap Mickey's neck. Gee was beyond elated watching his sibling put in work. Ghoulishly, he even smiled, taunting Mickey as he reached out to him in one last attempt at mercy help. Finally, Mickey stopped resisting death and gave in to Stackz's will.

Stackz was breathing heavy. He had a look on his face the average person would swear mirrored the devil himself. He didn't take any great pleasure in killing; but business is business. And as far as he was concerned, Mickey and Rank were just that: unfinished business.

“Yeah, two down; one to go. That other motherfucker got away, but we'll catch up with him one day. He too much of a bug to stay in hiding,” Stackz declared. “It's only a matter of time.”

As the murderous trio looked for any clues as to where Mickey's cohort Rank might have slipped away to, they also collected a few other items. The young warrior had already taken the weed off the table, so he was good on that payback for his ruined sneakers. Gee found two more ounces of kush, a tiny plastic baggie half-filled with pills, and an old starter pistol in the dilapidated kitchen cabinet. With what they found, including the two puppies and Mickey relieved of his poor excuse of a life, the three exited the trap, on to finish the remainder of their day; no worries.

* * *

Underneath the gigantic pile of clothing Leela lay as perfectly still as she possibly could. Holding her breath from the awful stench of the garments she wanted to die. However, in reality, if she was seen moving or breathing, her wish would have been instantly granted. Leela might have been a tough tone talker when it came to Ava and her mother, and maybe with the hoes in the street, but Gee was an entirely different animal. He never tolerated her bullshit for too long before putting his foot up her ass; much like Devin used to do. But this was betrayal; it was not the same as simply running off at the mouth. Leela knew if Gee discovered her nonloyal, shady, two-faced ass hiding in this closet, it'd be lights out, for sure. She was as good as dead. She wouldn't be able to suck or fuck her way out of this situation—No matter how long they'd been banging. She wanted to call 911 but had left her cell in the room where she'd been sleeping. She was all alone. No one was coming to her aid.

The smell was close to unbearable.
Please, God, please. I'm begging you, God. Please let me live!
Leela prayed all types of lies to God. She prayed if she lived through this she would get her life together. Get her kids and move out of Detroit for good. She'd treat her mama right. Stop fucking random men for sport.
I'ma change. I'ma change starting right now. Fuck, I swear, God; right now! Please, damn!
Leela figured since it was God that woke her up off that filthy box spring instead of the sound of Rank closing the door, and God who had her go in the hallway to go get some water, enabling her to dash in the dogs' domain and take refuge underneath this mountain of mouth-vomiting animal-drenched waste, he'd step in and spare her life now as well.

Leela braced herself hearing not only Gee's, but Stackz's eager-to-kill voice as well. She wondered if Ava was with him, but knew her little sister would never tolerate or participate in anything as off the chain and vile as this. She wasn't cut like that. What was jumping off now was more her own style, but Leela wasn't trying to live that life right now, either. Terrified, she couldn't see who kicked the bedroom door in, but she heard them pause, walk over toward the closet, then leave the room. She was scared they might have fired a round or two into the pile of clothes she was in, but once again thanked God it didn't take place.

Leela's heart hurt from beating so fast. She could faintly hear Mickey from the front room moaning. She had no idea whatsoever where Rank was or what they were doing to him. Leela kept thinking, if only the houses on each side of this spot weren't vacant someone would hear Mickey's voice and possibly call the police. She prayed more lies to God as she tried blocking out the agonizing sounds of her friend moaning, begging to live.

Leela came out of hiding. With caution, she crept slowly toward the front of the house. As she did, she prayed that the coast was clear. Having had waited twenty minutes or so before coming out—which seemed like forever—she could taste the smell of piss in her throat. As she moved closer down the hallway, she stopped in her tracks. She wanted to throw up. What she was seeing was unbelievable. Mickey's body was lying on the floor. With blood everywhere, a dog leash around his neck and his eyes wide open, Leela was stunned. Covering her mouth, she screamed into her hand as tears streamed down her face. She wanted to check to see if he was still alive, but her legs wouldn't let her move. She was shook, frozen with fear.

Moments later, she heard someone coming back into the house from the side entrance. Her eyes widened, and she began to hyperventilate. She couldn't breathe, her legs shook uncontrollably. Frightened, she stared at the door praying it wasn't Gee and Stackz coming back for her. As the footsteps got closer, time moved in slow motion in her mind. Squeezing her eyes shut, horrified of who would walk through the door, she took a deep breath, still tasting piss. Waiting to be killed, Leela heard the footsteps get closer ... then stop. She knew whoever it was that had come in the house was now standing in the room with her. Leela still wanted to run away but strangely, couldn't move a muscle in her body.

Eyes still shut tight, she heard a familiar voice call out her name. Relieved, she opened her eyes to see Rank had come back to the house after jumping out of the bathroom window. Her body gave out as she dropped to her knees, thankful it was him and not Gee and them coming back. Rank looked over on the far side of the room and saw his manz Mickey lying on the floor dead. First, Devin, now, Mickey. Rank lost it and began punching the wall until the plaster fell out and his knuckles began to bleed. Tears fell from his eyes and anger built inside of him. This was worse than Devin being gone; he and Mickey had been day one homeboys.

Rank gathered himself together and kneeled down next to Mickey, looking at him. Out of respect, he tried closing Mickey's eyelids, but eerily, they were stuck open. Leela cried even more watching that scene play out. Rank was messed up as well. Digging into his own pocket, he pulled out a small handful of pills and tossed them into his mouth. Chewing them up, he ran over to Leela, grabbing her by the arms. Heartbroken and furious, he demanded to know every single thing about Gee and Stackz she knew. Leela never saw the look that was on Rank's face before. Needless to say, it scared her. Rank stood up, telling her they had to get outta Dodge as soon as possible. If they got caught in the house with a dead body, they'd be years tied up in jail and court trying to explain. As Leela ran in the room to gather some of her belongings, Rank went to get the stash.

“It's gone! It's fucking gone!” He knew the weed out in the open would more than likely be ghost, but not the entire bag. “What the fuck! Them grimy bitches got every damn thing. I swear they gonna die for all this bullshit!”

Rank held his head with both hands as he shook it. He thought to himself what the hell he was going to do next. With all the work gone and so little money in his pocket, he knew he was hit. Dispirited, he remorsefully went back over to Mickey's dead body. Hoping they hadn't beaten him to the punch, he went through his deceased friend's pockets. As luck would have it, he pulled out a few hundred dollars that had blood on it and shoved it in his own pocket, and then was ready to bounce.

* * *

With little loot, no place to stay, on the run, and two of his boys dead at the hands of the same man, Rank was at his wit's end. He had no choice but to kill them all before they caught up with him. Soaring high off pills, he and Leela rode around on the back streets of Detroit, hoping not to be seen. They found themselves miserable, practically living out of Rank's car while he plotted on Stackz and his people. Leela suggested to Rank that they just leave the city, and he snapped on her, announcing he was not going nowhere until Stackz and the fools that killed Mickey were dead.

Leela urged him to stop popping pills because he wasn't thinking clearly. She stood up to him, telling him he was going to mess around and get both of them killed. “It gotta end sometime.”

Rank got pissed off. He informed Leela she was welcome to get the fuck on. He wasn't making her stay with him. “You got me all the way fucked up. Matter of fact, having your ass trailing behind me is getting stale anyway.”

Leela didn't appreciate how Rank was speaking to her, but had to put up with it for the time being. She was afraid to go back to her mother in fear of Stackz looking for her there. And, of course, she couldn't trust Ava because she was too far gone on Stackz. Rank was her only hope. Once, maybe twice, Leela thought about going to the police, but ruled that out in fear of being locked up for an assault warrant she had pending. She was stressed out, depressed, and pregnant. It had been almost a month since Mickey's untimely death, and Rank was no closer to catching up with Stackz as the day it happened. It was like he was a dog chasing his tail. Mickey's funeral had come and gone, and neither Rank nor Leela went to pay their respect because they didn't know if they would end up in the basement cooler themselves. This life on the run was getting old to Leela, especially since she was only weeks away from showing. The mother of three knew she had to figure something out soon.

* * *

Stackz was back to business and on top of his hustle after putting Mickey to sleep for good. Things couldn't have been better in his personal life. Saying he was in love was an understatement. He was gone. However, he was not alone. Ava was still posted by her man's side and enjoyed living the high life. Stackz had convinced her to stay with him after he'd returned home from running up in Mickey and Rank's weed spot, telling her it wasn't safe for her to be at her house. Ava was not used to being a hand puppet for no man. She wasn't like her sister Leela who did exactly what she was told and would bow down if a dude was spending cash.

Ava soft grilled Stackz. Not to the point of becoming policelike, but enough for him to tell her to not ask questions she really didn't want to know the answer to. She had many things she wanted to know but opted not to press Stackz further. Ava trusted him and believed he could do no wrong. She'd fallen in love with Stackz in a short amount of time. The hardened murderer on parole had given and showed her a world any woman in her right mind could only dream of.

Since putting her sister out, the house was relatively empty anyway. There was no loud music playing all times of the day and night, no wannabe thugs pulling up in front, blowing their horns for Leela to come out, no one there sneaking up to her bedroom, stealing her clothes, and no one there asking to borrow money on the regular and never repaying it. Ava's house, just like her life, had taken a rapid and drastic change . . . all for the better. In between school and work and spending time with Stackz, she only went by her place to check on it and pick up the mail.

Ava was fully aware Leela had fallen out with their mom and was nowhere to be found as of late, but she couldn't make that her main concern. Leela had been pulling disappearing acts and stunts like this since they were in their early teens, so it was no big deal. Even Leela's three small children didn't seem to give a fuck where she was at; so life went on without her presence.

It had been nearing two solid weeks since Rank and Leela had been on the run. Quickly tapping out of cash and options, the desperate pair had to think smart if they wanted to survive. People who they once believed to be their friends had turned their backs on them. The connect refused to front Rank any more product, and the word was out in the streets that Rank had run off and left his best friend Mickey to get killed by some unknown assailants. And, of course, by not attending the funeral services, or at least blessing Mickey's people with cash assistance to help bury him, Rank seemed all the more guilty of shitting on Mickey.

Leela, of course, was fighting her own battles and demons with suspicions of guilt . . . turning her back on her sister Ava, who'd, up until the moment she'd thrown her out, had been nothing but good to her, and even more sadly, abandoned her children, not even bothering to call and check on their well-being. She knew Stackz and Gee wanted her dead just as bad as they wanted Rank dead. She wanted to go home, but couldn't. She wanted to call the police and tell them what she knew about both Devin's and Mickey's untimely demises, but dare not, knowing she'd really have a street bounty on her head then.

Almost down to point zero in revenue, Leela told Rank about an old woman that was close to her grandmother when she was alive. She informed him that she always helped people in need. Leela convinced Rank that they could go to her place for at least an afternoon and get some rest.

“She doesn't need to know all our business or nothing about us trying to stay underground. You know, just that we stopped by and wanted to get a bite to eat. I'm telling you, the old lady takes food donations for the church so she keeps food. We can get a hot meal and maybe mess around and take a shower.” Leela ran her fingers through her tangled weave. “I mean, we do need to get ourselves together.”

Rank looked at the gas needle, smelled his underarms, and listened to the grumbling sounds of hunger as they drove to nowhere particular. Hearing Leela's claim the elderly woman always had some roasts, fried chicken, corn, greens, and cakes and pies on deck, he asked his female partner in crime which way they should turn to get to the food. En route, Leela also told Rank that whenever she and Ava used to go to church with their grandmother, the old lady would always show up every Sunday with a lot of gold and diamonds on. She suggested when they left the old woman's house, maybe they could take the jewelry with them so they could get their empty pockets off craps.

* * *

The old woman, Mrs. Baines, lived alone on the far West Side. She had no family left in Detroit. Her son, his wife, and their children moved out of state when the city jobs started a mass layoff. With no other opportunities, he opted to relocate down South. He wanted and begged his mother to go with him. Mrs. Baines, however, wouldn't go. Not only did she feel she was too old in life to make such a big move, she believed Detroit is where she wanted to die and be buried, next to her husband. After awhile, her son stopped asking and calling every week; now she was lucky if it was once a month. Yet, she felt as long as she had her church family, she'd be good.

Just finishing have cooked several meals for the next few days, Mrs. Baines always prepared enough to make it light on herself. After leaving the pots on the stove to cool off, she stepped out of the hot kitchen and into the living room. Not expecting anyone, she was startled to hear a knock at the door. Searching for her cane, she thought about leaving it in the corner and navigate past the coffee table, but knew that wasn't a good idea seeing how she stumbled in there a few days back.

Hearing the person knock once more, Mrs. Baines didn't want to be rude and keep whomever waiting, so she took her chances, no cane in hand. Moving slowly, she finally reached the front door. Peeking out the small window, she smiled recognizing little Leela, her old dear friend's granddaughter. Pulling her housecoat together so she wouldn't catch a draft, Mrs. Baines excitedly unlocked the door for Leela.

Missing the past and most of the people that were in it, she was elated as she let her inside. “Come on in, child. How have you been? I'm so glad to see you.” The woman patted Leela on the arm. “And where are those babies of yours? Did you bring them? I showl wouldn't mind seeing them again.”

“It's good to see you too, Mrs. Baines. How old are you now? You look so pretty. You don't look a day over fifty,” Leela smiled as she searched the living room with her eyes; low key. “Naw, I'm sorry. The kids couldn't come this time. They're at the house with my mother.”

The old woman blushed and waved her hand at Leela and said, “Child, stop lying. I'm old and tired looking. I'll be eighty-seven next week, God-willing. What brings you over today, baby? And you bring them kids next time, you hear?”

Leela thought it best to be honest; well, at least halfway honest with Mrs. Baines. So she did just that, hoping things didn't have to be done the hard way. “Well, the truth is, I'm in a little situation right now. I need a place to stay just for tonight.” Leela knew if she wanted to get what she wanted, she had to pile it on thick; the same way she did when trying to finesse money from some dude. “See, I'm into it with Ava and my mom. I keep trying to get her to stop drinking so much, and she told me to mind my business, she was grown. Well, she threw me out.”

“That's a shame, Leela. I thought your momma would have gave up drinking that poison after all these years.”

“Me too, but she don't wanna listen to me. Ava told me I was wrong too for telling Momma she need to stop drinking. Ava said I was wrong for telling Momma what to do in her own house.”

“No, child, you done told her right.” Mrs. Baines easily agreed while Leela helped her sit down in a chair near the plastic-covered sofa.

Leela knew it was time to put the icing on the cake. “I thought I was right too, until they both ganged up on me and threw me out. My momma, at least, let the kids stay. I didn't have or know anywhere else to go, until I thought about you.”

After taking in all of Leela's sob story, the old, often lonely, woman replied, “I guess it won't hurt any. Sure, you can spend the night.”

Leela was relieved. So far, things were going as planned. Asking the elderly woman if she could please have a glass of water, the response, of course, was yes. When Mrs. Baines returned, Leela had unlocked the door allowing Rank to come inside the house. He'd been waiting outside the entire time, hoping not to be seen. Mrs. Baines wasn't happy to see a strange man standing in her living room. She was scared and didn't know what to say or think. Before she could get a chance to react either way, Rank revealed his gun, pointing it at her. Speaking in tongues and begging the good Lord to protect her from the wicked hand of Satan, the blessed senior citizen cursed both Rank and Leela, condemning them both to hellfire.

Leela felt some sort of way. Having a flashback that her mother predicted she was on her way to hell as well, she snapped. In between living in the streets, all the death she'd been exposed to, and being pregnant, her mind was gone. In the dark zone, she began talking real nasty to the old woman, as if she was some sort of stranger out to do her harm. Not caring that her grandmother was probably turning over in her grave at the way Leela was treating her longtime friend and church member, she sucked her teeth, fed up with people's judgments.

With resentment, Leela ordered Mrs. Baines to sit down and cut all the praying and promises of God to bring down his mighty hand of wrath. Picking up a nearby Bible, Mrs. Baines refused to comply, shouting, “Praise Jesus, praise his name,” even louder. An extremely hungry and mentally tired Leela had just about as much as she was willing to take. To Rank's surprise, who was still pointing the gun at the woman, Leela stormed across the room, running up in Mrs. Baines's face. Drawing back her hand, Leela brought her palm down, slapping the elderly woman's dentures clear out of her mouth. The force of the blow was so hard, poor Mrs. Baines dropped to the floor next to her teeth. As she held the side of her face crying for leniency, she asked Leela if she was smoking that crack rock that was ruining the community.

“Damn, shut the fuck up, old hag. I never like your holier-than-thou ass anyhow.” Leela spewed more words of hatred directed toward the dedicated prayer warrior.

After knowing Leela all this time, Rank had never seen this side of her emerge. He knew she was basically down for whatever, seeming not to give a fuck about much of nothing, but somehow, this old woman had struck a nerve where Leela was concerned. Whatever the case was that had his female cohort on ten, showing no mercy, Rank couldn't worry about it now. He had to do his part to ensure they'd be able to eat whatever that was that had the house smelling so good and not to forget the sack of jewelry that was promised.

Surprised to find Mrs. Baines actually still had a house phone, he ripped the cord out of the wall, using it to tie her up. With her face red, on the verge of turning black, she started praying out loud once more. Not trying to keep hearing God, Jesus, the Savior, or Jehovah's name anymore, Leela swore she'd stump Mrs. Baines's mouth shut if she gummed out one more single word. With that understood, Rank and Leela proceeded to ransack the house, looking for anything of value.

* * *

Coming up with a little less than $200 and some loose change, Leela knew they were lucky to get that much out of an old person's house. Most seniors kept their money in the bank, only taking out small amounts at a time. Leela also found an old style .22 in the woman's stocking drawer and tucked it in her pocket, not letting Rank know; just for her on protection against anything in the streets, as well as him if he ever flipped out on her. Rank gathered up all the jewelry Mrs. Baines had on her person and lying on the dressers, as well as in a medium-size sparkly covered box. Leela was convinced they'd hit the mother lode. She convinced Rank to not waste another moment. He could go to the pawn shop so they could get on.

“Listen, Rank, don't pawn the stuff; just sell it outright,” Leela instructed, trusting that he'd come back and not strike out on his own.

Rank located the keys to Mrs. Baines's car. He wisely took hers, leaving his own car parked deep back in the driveway. While they were alone, her grandmother's friend tried to reason with Leela. She begged her to stop this madness at once and pray to God for forgiveness. Not trying to hear anything the bruised-faced old biddy had to say, Leela paced the living room back and forth waiting for Rank to return. With nothing else to do to waste time, Leela looked over the fireplace at the multitudes of family photos of the woman's grandkids.

Suddenly overwhelmed with shame of never giving her young kids the life they deserved, Leela was close to tears. Taking her cell out of her back pocket, she decided to do something she had failed to do since leaving her mother's front porch; check on her seeds. Their fathers were not in their lives, and for the past few weeks or so, neither was she. After dialing her mother's number, she braced herself for an onset of a verbal assault. Receiving no answer, Leela told herself she'd call back later; that is, if it was still weighing heavy on her black heart.

* * *

Ninety minutes dragged by. Hearing a car pull up on the side of the house in the driveway, Leela assumed it had to be Rank finally coming back. She'd tried to reach his cell phone once or twice and didn't receive an answer. Peeking out from behind the dark red lace curtains, Leela smiled, knowing he hadn't deserted her as she thought he might. Joyfully meeting him at the front door, her enthusiasm was not returned by a twisted-faced Rank.

Bursting through the doorway, he reached his hand deep into the grocery plastic bag. Digging out a handful of the jewelry he'd stolen from the bedroom, Rank's aim was perfect, hitting Mrs. Baines in her already swollen, bruised face. Just as Leela had done earlier, Rank ran up in the old-enough-to-be-his-mother's-mother's-mother's face, yelling and cursing every foul word he could think of.

“What happened? What's wrong, Rank? What's the deal that got you so pissed? And why you bring all this stuff back?” Leela stood over to the side letting him take all his aggressions about whatever on Mrs. Baines.
Better this bitch than me.

Rank rubbed his trembling hand back across his hair, then down across his face. “What's wrong with me? What's wrong with my fucking black ass?” he fumed, ready to explode. “Okay, how about they laughed me damn near out the building at the pawn shop about this fake-ass jewelry!”

“Fake?” Leela repeated, glancing over at Mrs. Baines.

“Yeah, fake as fuck. I mean, you had me all up there on front street arguing these old Jew motherfuckers that this bullshit some old priceless heirlooms. Yeah . . . right, this shit straight garbage; all of it! Got me looking a damn fool!”

Leela rolled her eyes, shaking her head. Walking into the kitchen and over to the stove, she lifted the lids off the tops of the pots of food the old woman had cooked. Leela had the food on a low simmer, hoping to eat a good meal to celebrate all the money Rank was going to bring home from the pawn shop. However, she was used to disappointments in her life and men not doing what they said they would do; even though this cliché in the Matrix wasn't directly on Rank.

Rank finally calmed down. He was starving and not once protested when Leela told him it was time to eat and to come fix himself a plate. With the nerve to sit at the woman's dining-room table, the ruthless pair carried on as if they really lived in Mrs. Baines's house and she was no more than an old dishrag or towel lying on the floor near the fireplace.

Having eaten almost everything the woman had prepared for two days, Leela opened up the freezer. Rambling through it, she took out a pack of pork chops to unthaw so she could fry them later. Rank, like Leela, had made himself at home. He had gotten comfortable on the sofa after kicking his shoes off. Finally finding a black-and-white movie on the old box-style TV, he was about ready to doze off. Just as the old woman shot her shot with Leela, she tried to talk to Rank. Not in the mood to hear her mouth, especially because he blamed her for sending him on a dummy mission to the pawn, Rank promised to her and God if she didn't shut up, he'd stuff his filthy sock in her mouth.