When It All Falls Down 3 - Somebody is Gonna Die: A Chicago Hood Drama (A Hustler's Lady) by Tamicka Higgins Page B

their shoes making contact with the street’s black pavement. The noise of the city – traffic, gunshots, trains, and police sirens – roared in the distance, from all directions. Moving almost silently, and stepping in unison, the two men made their way across the street. As they stepped into the front yard, they remembered what they’d talked about on their way down into the city from Byron’s suburban house. Tramar simply wanted everything to stay coo.
                  Tramar, with his gun tucked in his jacket pocket, walked up to the door. Jackson crouched down at the side of the house, ready to jump and take the opportunity should a nice old lady not answer the door.
                  Tramar knocked on the door. He heard the talking and clapping noise inside stop as question were hurled into the air over who it could be knocking at the door. Tramar knocked again, this time looking down at Jackson. “They comin’ to the door,” he said.
                  Before the door even began to open, a man asked who was standing out on the porch.
                  “Your neighbor?” Tramar said. “It’s the dude who live next door, dude. You know me, Byron. There’s a problem.”
                  Jackson wanted to snicker at how Tramar pretended to be a neighbor who was under the impression that Byron was in the house. Quickly, the front door opened and Tramar stood across from a tall, somewhat built but still rather thin dude. In the flash of a second, Tramar had raised his gun to head level and stepped over the threshold. His bold move caused Juan to step back, his hands in the air as his boy was covered in sweat from the smashing he’d just been giving Lexi on the couch.
                  Jackson rushed in behind Tramar and went right, causing Knight and the two naked girls to jump up. The girls covered their chests and they ran to opposite corners of the room. Curse words flew about the living room like stray bullets. Jackson quickly pushed the door closed.
                  “Shut the fuck up!” Tramar demanded.
                  “Yo, nigga, who the fuck is you?” Juan asked. He then realized he’d just asked a very dumb question. He looked at the two dudes, who both had guns pointed at him and his company. “Y’all them two niggas that Byron is lookin’ for, ain’t you?” he asked. “Hey, Knight. This is Tramar and Jackson, nigga, them two niggas Byron lookin’ for.”
                  Tramar kept a cool head, wanting to keep control of the situation. He stepped closer to Juan. “Where the fuck is my family?” he asked. Tramar then turned and looked at the living room furniture. “Jackson,” he said, keeping the gun on Juan, “look at this furniture.”
                  Jackson remained calm as well as he looked around. When he looked back to Tramar, his eyes were wide. “Nigga, they here,” he said. “They here in this house.”
                  “Where they at?” Tramar asked, looking at Juan. Something told him, by the look in Juan’s face compared to that of this other guy, Knight, that Juan was the ringleader. Knight didn’t look all that smart and Tramar was just meeting him. “Where the fuck is my daddy and stepmother?”
                  Juan smiled. “Nigga, we don’t know where them niggas is,” he said. “Fuck you, nigga. You know that when Byron catch up with your ass, ain’t no tellin’ what he gon’ do. You just diggin’ a bigger hole for yourself.”
                  “Daddy!” Tramar announced. “Vivica! Are y’all here.”
                  “Yes, baby!” Tramar could hear his stepmother’s voice announce. “We in here, Tramar! We in here! The bedroom!”
                  It was like music to Tramar’s ears to hear his stepmother’s voice again. Hearing her voice meant that his dad’s voice was not