The Grind Don't Stop Read online

  Also by L.E. Newell

  Durty South Grind

  Strebor Books

  New York London Toronto Sydney

  Strebor Books

  P.O. Box 6505

  Largo, MD 20792

  http://www.streborbooks.com

  www.Simonschuster.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are

  products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance

  to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  © 2011 by L.E. Newell

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means whatsoever. For information address Strebor Books, P.O. Box 6505, Largo, MD 20792.

  ISBN 978-1-59309-364-8

  ISBN 978-1-4516-1771-9 (ebook)

  LCCN 2011928058

  First Strebor Books trade paperback edition January 2012

  Cover design: www.mariondesigns.com

  Cover photograph: © Keith Saunders/Marion Designs

  The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  To my brother James “Jimmy” Newell Jr.,

  and the real love of my life, my mama, Mama Marion

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  The Prologue

  Chapter One: As The Hood Turns

  Chapter Two: The Game Heats Up

  Chapter Three: A Hustler’S Dilemma

  Chapter Four: Even Good Girls Gotta Have It

  Chapter Five: Scamming The Scammer

  Chapter Six: The Freaks Come Out at Night

  Chapter Seven: Snazzy Bitches on the Prowl

  Chapter Eight: Get Back Times So Sweet

  Chapter Nine: Bang-Bang, Things Heat Up

  Chapter Ten: Dealing with Scoundrels

  Chapter Eleven: Hunters on the Prowl

  Chapter Twelve: Enjoying the Spoils

  Chapter Thirteen: The Hunters and the Hunted

  Chapter Fourteen: Nitty-Gritty Time

  Chapter Fifteen: Chasing the Hunters

  Chapter Sixteen: The Sh— Hits the Fan

  About the Author

  Reader Discussion Guide

  Durty South Brind Teaser

  Acknowledgments

  First of all, I’d like to thank GOD for not allowing me to give up on myself—for inspiring and continuing to inspire me through the trials and tribulations to keep pursuing my dream. For without GOD’s guidance I couldn’t have developed one word, one sentence, phrase or idea toward the beginning and the ending of this project.

  I’d also like to thank my mama, Mama Marion—how she likes to be called—for birthing me and my sisters, Janet and Debra, who have continued to support me despite my hard-headedness to do the right thing; and my brothers, Jimmy and Mike. I’d also like to thank my nephews and nieces who’ve stuck by me, too.

  To Robert, we call him Bobby, “Hollywood” Washington; you would, too, if you ever met him. He’s a character, my main man, adviser and manager, who has certainly played a pivotal role in getting all this done.

  To my buddies from back in the day, who traveled hand in hand through the triumphs and failures of surviving the street life. I choose to leave them unnamed for obvious reasons.

  Special thanks goes out to all the writers I have used to teach me about how to write by reading their works over and over again until I got it right. Nikki Turner, Zane, Michael Baisden, Omar Tyree and countless others. Oh yeah, and Charmaine Parker, thanks, lady. Thanks, guys and gals, for without your brilliant styles I wouldn’t have been able to develop my own.

  And finally to Sister Michelle Renee Donaldson, my inspirational adviser, who has continuously encouraged me throughout the years that I could accomplish whatever I set out to do despite the odds as long as I put GOD first and foremost in my life. She’s always saying that GOD is in my corner and heart, and with Him, all things are possible. Thanks, Chelle, you are wonderful.

  The Prologue

  Sparkle’s breath came in raspy gasps in the stifling humidity as he struggled to keep his footing with each uncertain step in the soggy terrain. The light breeze slithering through the dense foliage gave him little comfort as he swiped at the sweat that stung his eyes as it rolled down his face. His knees ached from what seemed like hours of squatting on the sloped embankment. He needed to keep out of sight of the passing cars and late-night strollers along the sidewalk some twenty yards away.

  The pungent odor of damp, dead vines and tree roots had him bending over on the verge of puking several times as he waited patiently for his boy Rainbow’s signal. They’d split up after entering the mini jungle. He sighed in anguish, silently cursing the spur of the moment plan. But let Rainbow tell it and he’d swear to God it was one of his most masterful ones; as he did with all of his crazy ideas.

  One look around and it was obvious that it definitely wasn’t. But naw, I had to go on this crazy shit with him anyway, even when I knew it was fucked up. As far as he was concerned they could’ve easily walked into the club and blasted Black Don’s grimy ass, gangster style, for all the static he’d caused them lately. Imagining the wannabe godfather’s gorilla grit dissolving into a bitchy sob as he blasted his kneecaps with nine-millimeter pellets was like a rush of top-grade cocaine.

  Sparkle leaned against a slimy tree, flexed his legs and moaned under his breath. Suddenly he jerked toward a flicker of light from the other side of the house. Shifting around for a better view, he slipped twice in the muddy leaves and branches, cursing angrily when his boots got snagged by some thorny vines.

  The more he tried to free himself, the more his anxiety mounted. He began concentrating on any movements wondering if Rainbow was signaling him or if it was a reflection off of some shiny object like a car bumper. Worse still, was it his imagination playing paranoia tricks from the effects of the cocaine he’d snorted earlier?

  He wasn’t sure, so he got on his hands and knees and crawled closer. Almost immediately his black fatigues got snagged by the thick vines. Grimacing, he tried to jerk free. “Aw fuck,” he cried out when a thick branch whacked him violently across the face. His trembling hand cupped his mouth as the pain shot sharply down his neck.

  Gagging from the repulsive taste of acrid mud that coated his tongue, he grimaced. “Godayum, Nnnngggg.” He grunted as mucus shot from his nose. He grinded his teeth in pain.

  “Yo, man, you aight over dere?” Rainbow’s voice whispered through the tingling in his ears from several yards away.

  Sparkle jerked toward the sound, not realizing that he was that close. He blinked several times before he was able to focus on the look of concern on his boy’s face. Sparkle muttered through clenched teeth, “Yeah dog, I’m aight.”

  “Whatcha say, man? You’ve gotta speak up.” Rainbow hissed as he edged closer.

  “I said that I’m aight.”

  “Don’t sound like you aight.”

  Sparkle moaned in a strained voice, “Shit, man, I could’ve sworn you gave the signal from over yonder dere.” He nodded to the other side of the house and rubbed vigorously between his eyes. “Dayum, dog, this coke’s got me tripping, seeing all kinds of stuff. You sure you want to do this here, this way, because I’m jittery as hell,” he stuttered through the pain.

  Feeling the stress himself, Rainbow scratched his chin with his thumb. But since they were out there now he felt they might as well get it over with. He turned away from Sparkle’s strained expression and looked toward the house. He noticed an eerie mistiness developing.

  A watery-eyed Spar
kle, still grimacing, flinched when he saw Rainbow’s shoulders tense. The pain was all but forgotten as he followed his gaze toward movement in the backyard. They gave one another an intense look before they began creeping on their hands and knees toward the edge of the woods for a better look. Their senses dulled to the slaps of wet branches and sharp thorns as they went on full alert. Both of them flinched when the metallic click from cocking their guns echoed through the night air. Anxious to blast away, their eagerness faded when a lone figure emerged into the halo of light glowing from the open doorway. Simultaneously, they snorted with disappointment as a middle-aged lady wearing a flowery apron wrapped around her rounded waist dropped a garbage bag beside an overflowing trash bin.

  Rainbow bumped Sparkle’s slumped shoulder and cursed in a low voice full of tension. “Aw godayum, man, who da hell is that?”

  Sparkle wheezed just as confused and his disappointment quickly turned into a sigh of relief. He was disappointed it wasn’t Black Don so they could’ve gotten this thing over with once and for all, and he was relieved they hadn’t opened fire on the old lady. He tapped Rainbow on the shoulder and nodded toward the way they had entered. It was time for them to make their retreat.

  Rainbow heaved with his mouth turned down in disgust, before resigning to the inevitable, then nodded in agreement. They crept silently towards the embankment, maneuvering carefully around and over the jagged rocks and jutting vines. The stench of the rotten foliage was less bearable and the muddy footing added to their discomfort. They cursed continuously on the descent down the messy slope, slipping and sliding, scraping their elbows, hands and knees before eventually making it to the sidewalk.

  Sweaty, bruised, exhausted and frustrated, they mumbled and grumbled, wiping mud and picking twigs off their black fatigues. They made their way toward Rainbow’s low-rider Chevy pickup truck. They pressed their guns along their thighs, tense and ready to fire at the slightest target as they turned the bend of the winding road. Once the truck came into view, they became even more anxious and started jerking their heads back and forth, aiming wildly into the darkness.

  They finally made it to the truck parked a quarter of a mile down the dark, forbidden road. Wheezing heavy with frustration, they laid their weary necks on the headrests. An eerie mist of rain started settling on the windshield and added to the gloominess.

  Sparkle rotated his neck on the headrest, cursing the nauseous effect the comedown from the coke, mixed with the empty feeling of their failed mission, was having on him. He took some deep breaths before squeezing his eyes shut and reached for the crumbled pack of Kool cigarettes resting on the dashboard. Taking a long deep drag, he exhaled the smoke slowly, exhilarating in the calming taste and feel of nicotine.

  He looked over at Rainbow and huffed. “Aw man. Why I let you talk me into this dumb-ass shit, I’ll never know.”

  Rainbow had rested his head and arm on the steering wheel. He cocked a wary eye at him. “What, I talked you...”

  Shaking his head up and down, Sparkle cut him off. “Yeah. man, that’s right, talked me into this commando bullshit.”

  Rainbow lifted his head off of the steering wheel, raised his hands in exasperation and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

  Sparkle feigned shock. “You’re being what?”

  Bracing his back against the door Rainbow coughed and swallowed hard. “Well, I’ll be damned if you ain’t bitching about a little mud and...”

  Sparkle cut him off again. “Nigga, please, a little mud…man, this here’s a real live welt across my nose, shit.” He hissed, then rubbed the bridge between his eyes.

  “Let me see.” Rainbow reached over and pulled his hand from his face. “I said, let me see.” He leaned forward and squinted to get a better look in the dim light. His eyes widened before he jerked back and put his hand over his mouth to try to hide the smile he felt creeping to the corners. “Damn, dog, dat do look kinda fucked up, yo.”

  Sparkle turned his face in different angles in the mirror. He turned away and pinched his nose when he felt the laugh boiling in the pit of his stomach. It didn’t do any good for as hard as he tried to look serious, he couldn’t hold it and grabbed his side and laughed. His forehead was wrinkled as he stared at Rainbow for a full thirty seconds before sighing.

  “Aw, fuck you, nigga,” he growled at Rainbow, who had started rolling around in the seat, wiping tears out of his eyes.

  Rainbow swiped his forearm across his eyes and folded it across the steering wheel. He moaned and looked at Sparkle one more time before putting the key in the ignition. While the car was revving up, he leaned sideways to dodge Sparkle’s wild swing at his head and pulled into the street. They had only driven a short distance before he switched on the windshield wipers to clear the mist that was starting to blur his vision.

  Sparkle was reaching over to cut on the radio when the harsh high beam lights of a fast-approaching vehicle suddenly flooded the interior of the truck. Before it registered, the vehicle was right on their bumper.

  “What the fuck?” Rainbow grumbled when the stinging glare from the rearview mirror blinded him. He raised his hand to cover his eyes. Sparkle peeked backward but the pain made him jerk away. There was a shocking boom, as the invisible terror rammed into the truck, jolting them into the dashboard. Boom. Another jolt sent Sparkle head first into the windshield and forced Rainbow to put a death grip on the steering wheel, as he struggled to maintain control of the now swerving truck. No sooner had he managed to keep the truck from skidding when there was another sound that sent shock waves down their spines. Plink, plink, plink. The sound of hot metal piercing metal invaded their senses and then the rear window exploded, splattering them with lethal shards of glass.

  Both of them hunched over as the shock sent them into near panic mode. The rarely rattled Rainbow was forced to steer with his head barely able to see over the dashboard. Plink, plink, plink. Another round of scorching metal screamed over their heads, eating up the roof’s upholstery.

  Fuck this, time to fight back, Sparkle thought and shifted his body and reached under the seat, where he had placed his gun. He maneuvered around for a better angle. He reached over the seat and started firing blindly. His confidence immediately soared when the blinding light was cut in half, followed by the sound of tires screeching as the charging vehicle swerved sideways and slowed down. Recognizing the bleak advantage with renewed energy, Rainbow sat up and wheeled the car into a quick U-turn. Both of them stuck their guns out the windows and blasted away.

  They were still firing when their truck bumped onto the sidewalk and skidded sideways into some thick bushes. Their bodies jerked around for a moment before they gathered themselves, reloaded their weapons, kneed the doors open and sprung out of the truck. Kneeling behind the doors they pumped lead until their pursuers skidded into a U-turn, before righting themselves and speeding out of range around the winding bend.

  With the scent and sight of gun smoke swirling in the air, they slowly rose up and face each other. The combination of sweat, fear and chilly rain had them trembling in their soaked fatigues. Sparkle closed his eyes and twisted his neck in short circles embracing the sound and feeling of the crackling release of tension. Sighing heavily, he stretched a weary arm onto the roof of the truck. “Whadda fuck; how in da hell did somebody know we were out here?”

  Rainbow lifted his muddy shirttail and put his gun in his waistband, then leaned forward to put his hands on his knees. Steam hissed through his fingers when he wiped the sweat off of his face. His whole body screamed ouch when he straightened up and hunched his shoulders. He took a deep breath, eased out of the truck and started circling the vehicle for damages. After taking a head-shaking tour, he eased back into the driver’s seat, leaving one foot on the damp road and the other on the running board. With mounting frustration, he braced an arm on his knee to rest his head and stared off into the darkness.

  Sparkle let him agonize for about a minute, before he circled th
e front of the truck and leaned on the open door and faced his boy. Gasping between clenched teeth, he snarled, “Hey, buddy boy, don’tcha think we better roll up out of here before one of these neighbors sends the five-o to check out all of the gun play?”

  Rainbow sat mesmerized for a while longer before he slammed the door shut and cranked up the bullet-riddled truck. The tires spun for a moment before he was able to back out of the bushes and pull into the street. Sparkle barely had the chance to close the door.

  They were only about a half mile away from the scene when they heard police sirens approaching fast in the distance. Rainbow refused to let the panic overwhelm him when he saw the red and blue lights on the horizon and turned into the next alley. Since he had been driving with the lights out, he doubted if they had seen him make the turn. When he got halfway down the alley, he turned the lights on and pressed the pedal to the floor, zooming along the bushes and tree-laden path. He alternated between side streets and other alleys until they got into College Park. From there he mixed with the normal flow of traffic on Main Street, through East Point and headed to Lee Street toward his crib near Turner Field.

  Both of them were stuck way too deep in their own thoughts of what had just happened for them to have a conversation. Rainbow eased the truck alongside of the gray brick house, into the backyard and parked under an often used, rusty tire rim basketball hoop nailed on the garage door. He laid his head on the headrest. He stretched the seat out and lay back. “Aaah.”

  Several tension-filled moments later, Sparkle pulled on the handle and kneed the door open. The only light available was the car’s dim roof bulb. “My nigga, I’ve been wracking my brain all the way over here and I still can’t figure out how they could’ve known we were out there.”

  Rainbow lifted his aching body. “Mmm, me too, partner, there’s one thing fer sho: we must really open our eyes to anybody other than the two of us.”

  “No doubt, no motherfucking doubt,” Sparkle moaned.