"ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME!" Sweettooth hollers. "GODDAMN!"
"Did it just take the car." I try to rehearse in my head what happened. There was a cow. Like a whole cow, standing up like a human and a gold chain around it's neck. "Sweet--I mean, Deelo?"
"What the fuck is Abner doing in the church?"
I wouldn't know. I blink one time and sweettooth appears in front of me. I press myself against the church door, my heart ready to stop. "What the fuck!"
"You do know, because you hung with the Cards."
"I don't remember--" his hand grips my throat. I have to kneel… "You do…"
"You're dead…" I gasp. "I am."
"Let--" he grips tighter. "Hush… help me look around the church." he pushes me to the floor.
What is wrong with him! I get up, despite everything sensible in my head. I am following him, AGAIN!
"What about the car?" That would be more important. "It's fine." he grumbles going up the stairs. A giant cow rides off with a fucking black Mercedes but let's go to church and pray. Normal.
We headed back to the throne and Sweet looked over the chair. "What are we looking for?" I lament. "I need the word to the underground." he says.
The church is in shambles. Open roof, I think I saw a dead body. The gargoyle and cracks in the wall.
"So… what is this again?"
"Aleigha's church. This is the church above the old one, I can't remember the name." says Sweet. "Thanks dad…" he mumbles. He leaves the throne and starts looking behind some of the broken seats.
He looks over his shoulder at me, "Do something."
"Oh…" I start looking behind the pew chairs. They should have a book or other behind it. Some of them have a slot to put the bible. The first few I don't see anything. I find a book with the corner cut off on the floor of the forth row. "I found a book."
"What does it say?"
I dust off the front cover with my hand. "The Words of Kinship."
"That's the roster…" Sweettooth walks over to me. Is he nice to me? "Stay calm…" he opens the book with me holding it. "You said it's the roster?"
"This should talk about the Kings of the hood." He opens the book to the introduction: It reads, By blood and bone; to thick and slim.
"What that mean?"
"Hush…" he turns the page. The second goes from Dubois Booker, Sha'quan Cox, Yanaye Richard, Cary Williams, Aleigha Bible, Urelles Horton, Rhad Haynes…
Rhad Haynes leaves me perplexed because it has an asterisk and page number. I turn the page without Sweet saying anything and he slaps my back.
"Look!" I point. "He ain't nobody!" he exclaims.
"No look at the first sentence. It says Rhad Haynes, is a nigga from the grave."
"Wow. I'm surprised you didn't ask me to stop and look at trees. " he purses his lips. "It says!" I don't care about his sarcasm. "It says that Rhad Haynes is know as the Cuckoo Bird. He's a half vampire and digs the graves of other vampires that were once part of the coven."
Sweettooth arches a brow. "See! You yellin' and dissin' you ain't shit!" I rebuke.
"It has the crimes in the book." he says completely ignoring me. "Deelo!"
"Animal abuse, possession of illegal weapons, child endangerment, child sexual abuse, child prostitution, child murder; theft, house invasion, selling drugs. Bribery, conspiracy--I'm not reading all this."
"You read most of it!"
He turns the page where it continues, "Rhad was a body bagger back in 1997. He was called the Baby Duffle Bag. He shot Aleigha Bibilo seven times. Aleigha later killed him in a speed chase towards Maine. He died in 2005 in Massachusetts." he reads.
"I thought you was done?"
"I'm helping you."
"BITCH!"
"So you don't ask me no more questions."
He closes the book and I'm tempted. "So what about the car!" I yell in his ear. I hope he burns. "Fuck it--"
"I asked a question." I look into his eyes. "Why are you dead?"
"Because I'm suicidal." he answers, I don't buy it. "Why are you the Antichrist?" her ogles, turning his head to the side. "I'm not." he cups my chin. "You are." he coos.
"Nigga!" I push him away. I won't get a straight answer. "I gotta find the basement."
"And do what?"
"See what's happening. Coochie fell through."
"If there's a bottom under Virginia; you mean the state has an underground city."
"Worst." he says. "There shouldn't be."
"And you wanna look?"
"Look, I kinda owe a nigga tryin' to help another nigga. Fuck my dad if he ever tried…"
"What's so bad about him?" I'm still wondering why he has no soul. "He's a bitch." he states. "My father is from Louisiana. I didn't know we were vampires."
"Are you serious?"
"My mama married my dad we moved… I don't know anything about him in terms of vampires and necklaces. Though," he looks at the ceiling. "What?" I look around the room. "My dad would go out drinking a lot. I thought maybe mama pissed him off or he was cheatin' like a regular nigga."
"That's what y'all call it?"
"I have a brother and everything."
"What's his name?"
"Clifford." he says. "Clifford Fornicade."
"Why?"
"Will you shut the fuck up!"
"Excuse me, it's like--"
"It's like you never had friends or some shit. What the fuck is wrong with you!" he bellows. "Ain't you Mable's granddaughter?"
"About that, I never knew my mother…" I put my hand over my heart. "I was… left with my great grandma. She made me clean, I learned to cook at the age of two--"
"HUSH!" he snarls. "Goddamn…" he walks off. "Come help me find the crawl space." he huffs.
"You mean basement?"
"Whatever, bring yo skinny ass…"
To the left side of the throne, there is a hall that leads to a room behind the throne room. Sweet examines the area before stepping in and going over to a long party table with dishes stacked on it. Varies bowls, plates, and a box containing forks and knives on a white, start pattern cloth. He picks up the bowls, looking at each one closely.
I want a fork, as a weapon, in case. I take a fork out the box and start slashing it in the air. "Why don't you get a knife for that?" he questions.
"Because, a fork is easier. Like with a knife I could seriously hurt myself but nobody has gotten stab with a fork."
He blinks slowly, "Are you stupid?"
"I'm off my meds." I scratch the back of my neck. "So you registered?"
"Yeah…"
"I guess you really ain't Toy."
"I said that shit already!" who the fuck is Toy? His ex? "Who is Toy?"
"I used to have a group and Toy was the girlfriend of one of members. Another got shot but I can't remember so fuck them." he moves to the kitchen with a white refrigerator and empty sink. Sweet opens the fridge and a nasty odor escapes, slams it close.
"OH BOY!" he pinches his nose and rapidly blinks his eyes. "What the fuck is in it?" I grimace and march to the fridge. "Don't open like shit back up!" he warns.
I do it any way but slightly to peek. Inside is the head of a black man with his mouth open and no teeth. "Was he a vampire?"
"Why the fuck you wanna investigate?"
"Cause that's a clue!"
"We the goddamn scooby doo gang so I guess scooby ran?"
I turn, "That wasn't a dog!"
I can't believe he included one of America's prized Great Danes of cinema history to a goddamn cow from hell. "Where the fuck would a cow get in at?" he asks himself. I start using my brain, "The backyard."
"That's so fucking simple. Can you imagine yo house getting broke in from the back?"
"Yes." I say. "It's called r*** too."
Sweettooth looks at me, "You sad."
"I never got r***." I shrugged. He looks up, his face crinkles, "You sure?"
"Yeah… I never got r****."
"Alright. Does this place even have a backyard? Let me ask the gargoyles…"
"They talk?"
"They supposed to." he says. Sweet exits the room and across the kitchen. Why do I keep following, I peek at the back area and it's a church with mini rooms like classrooms in school.
I bet I can find it before he does. So I leave.
I don't have to go far as it, literally right down the hall. I hear a door on the classroom side. Its just sweet and I go out the back. The backyard is a full garden. Down the middle is a patch of sunflowers while to the left and right are different flowers and bushes.
Toward the walls, my blood pressure drops at the sight of a gargoyle with no legs laying on it's side. Do I wake it?
I move closer and nudge the gargoyle with my foot. No response. What killed it?
I have a fork. I dig it out my pocket looking about for any signs of niggas. There is a bench back here that's broken in half. I step forward, towards the flowers. The sunflowers are looming over me, they shake from the wind.
If this is Aleigha's church, why plant such big flowers? Off to the right side, there are these small pink flowers. This garden is weird, it's shaped like a square and instead of treading through the sunflowers, I walk by the pink flowers.
Nothing unusual. I keep walking. It endless.
"Hey." I angle my head and drop my fork. There is a black man with a bent neck and long legs. His penis is against his thigh as he wears a loincloth. "Hey."
My body is light.
"Hey."
"ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME!" Sweettooth hollers. "GODDAMN!"
"Did it just take the car." I try to rehearse in my head what happened. There was a cow. Like a whole cow, standing up like a human and a gold chain around it's neck. "Sweet--I mean, Deelo?"
"What the fuck is Abner doing in the church?"
I wouldn't know. I blink one time and sweettooth appears in front of me. I press myself against the church door, my heart ready to stop. "What the fuck!"
"You do know, because you hung with the Cards."
"I don't remember--" his hand grips my throat. I have to kneel… "You do…"
"You're dead…" I gasp. "I am."
"Let--" he grips tighter. "Hush… help me look around the church." he pushes me to the floor.
What is wrong with him! I get up, despite everything sensible in my head. I am following him, AGAIN!
"What about the car?" That would be more important. "It's fine." he grumbles going up the stairs. A giant cow rides off with a fucking black Mercedes but let's go to church and pray. Normal.
We headed back to the throne and Sweet looked over the chair. "What are we looking for?" I lament. "I need the word to the underground." he says.
The church is in shambles. Open roof, I think I saw a dead body. The gargoyle and cracks in the wall.
"So… what is this again?"
"Aleigha's church. This is the church above the old one, I can't remember the name." says Sweet."Thanks dad…" he mumbles. He leaves the throne and starts looking behind some of the broken seats.
He looks over his shoulder at me, "Do something."
"Oh…" I start looking behind the pew chairs. They should have a book or other behind it. Some of them have a slot to put the bible. The first few I don't see anything. I find a book with the corner cut off on the floor of the forth row. "I found a book."
"What does it say?"
I dust off the front cover with my hand. "The Words of Kinship."
"That's the roster…" Sweettooth walks over to me. Is he nice to me? "Stay calm…" he opens the book with me holding it. "You said it's the roster?"
"This should talk about the Kings of the hood." He opens the book to the introduction: It reads, By blood and bone; to thick and slim.
"What that mean?"
"Hush…" he turns the page. The second goes from Dubois Booker, Sha'quan Cox, Yanaye Richard, Cary Williams, Aleigha Bible, Urelles Horton, Rhad Haynes…
Rhad Haynes leaves me perplexed because it has an asterisk and page number. I turn the page without Sweet saying anything and he slaps my back.
"Look!" I point. "He ain't nobody!" he exclaims.
"No look at the first sentence. It says Rhad Haynes, is a nigga from the grave."
"Wow. I'm surprised you didn't ask me to stop and look at trees. " he purses his lips. "It says!" I don't care about his sarcasm. "It says that Rhad Haynes is know as the Cuckoo Bird. He's a half vampire and digs the graves of other vampires that were once part of the coven."
Sweettooth arches a brow. "See! You yellin' and dissin' you ain't shit!" I rebuke.
"It has the crimes in the book." he says completely ignoring me. "Deelo!"
"Animal abuse, possession of illegal weapons, child endangerment, child sexual abuse, child prostitution, child murder; theft, house invasion, selling drugs. Bribery, conspiracy--I'm not reading all this."
"You read most of it!"
He turns the page where it continues, "Rhad was a body bagger back in 1997. He was called the Baby Duffle Bag. He shot Aleigha Bibilo seven times. Aleigha later killed him in a speed chase towards Maine. He died in 2005 in Massachusetts." he reads.
"I thought you was done?"
"I'm helping you."
"BITCH!"
"So you don't ask me no more questions."
He closes the book and I'm tempted. "So what about the car!" I yell in his ear. I hope he burns. "Fuck it--"
"I asked a question." I look into his eyes. "Why are you dead?"
"Because I'm suicidal." he answers, I don't buy it. "Why are you the Antichrist?" her ogles, turning his head to the side. "I'm not." he cups my chin. "You are." he coos.
"Nigga!" I push him away. I won't get a straight answer. "I gotta find the basement."
"And do what?"
"See what's happening. Coochie fell through."
"If there's a bottom under Virginia; you mean the state has an underground city."
"Worst." he says. "There shouldn't be."
"And you wanna look?"
"Look, I kinda owe a nigga tryin' to help another nigga. Fuck my dad if he ever tried…"
"What's so bad about him?" I'm still wondering why he has no soul. "He's a bitch." he states. "My father is from Louisiana. I didn't know we were vampires."
"Are you serious?"
"My mama married my dad we moved… I don't know anything about him in terms of vampires and necklaces. Though," he looks at the ceiling. "What?" I look around the room. "My dad would go out drinking a lot. I thought maybe mama pissed him off or he was cheatin' like a regular nigga."
"That's what y'all call it?"
"I have a brother and everything."
"What's his name?"
"Clifford." he says. "Clifford Fornicade."
"Why?"
"Will you shut the fuck up!"
"Excuse me, it's like--"
"It's like you never had friends or some shit. What the fuck is wrong with you!" he bellows. "Ain't you Mable's granddaughter?"
"About that, I never knew my mother…" I put my hand over my heart. "I was… left with my great grandma. She made me clean, I learned to cook at the age of two--"
"HUSH!" he snarls. "Goddamn…" he walks off. "Come help me find the crawl space." he huffs.
"You mean basement?"
"Whatever, bring yo skinny ass…"
To the left side of the throne, there is a hall that leads to a room behind the throne room. Sweet examines the area before stepping in and going over to a long party table with dishes stacked on it. Varies bowls, plates, and a box containing forks and knives on a white, start pattern cloth. He picks up the bowls, looking at each one closely.
I want a fork, as a weapon, in case. I take a fork out the box and start slashing it in the air. "Why don't you get a knife for that?" he questions.
"Because, a fork is easier. Like with a knife I could seriously hurt myself but nobody has gotten stab with a fork."
He blinks slowly, "Are you stupid?"
"I'm off my meds." I scratch the back of my neck. "So you registered?"
"Yeah…"
"I guess you really ain't Toy."
"I said that shit already!" who the fuck is Toy? His ex? "Who is Toy?"
"I used to have a group and Toy was the girlfriend of one of members. Another got shot but I can't remember so fuck them." he moves to the kitchen with a white refrigerator and empty sink. Sweet opens the fridge and a nasty odor escapes, slams it close.
"OH BOY!" he pinches his nose and rapidly blinks his eyes. "What the fuck is in it?" I grimace and march to the fridge. "Don't open like shit back up!" he warns.
I do it any way but slightly to peek. Inside is the head of a black man with his mouth open and no teeth. "Was he a vampire?"
"Why the fuck you wanna investigate?"
"Cause that's a clue!"
"We the goddamn scooby doo gang so I guess scooby ran?"
I turn, "That wasn't a dog!"
I can't believe he included one of America's prized Great Danes of cinema history to a goddamn cow from hell. "Where the fuck would a cow get in at?" he asks himself. I start using my brain, "The backyard."
"That's so fucking simple. Can you imagine yo house getting broke in from the back?"
"Yes." I say. "It's called r*** too."
Sweettooth looks at me, "You sad."
"I never got r****." I shrugged. He looks up, his face crinkles, "You sure?"
"Yeah… I never got r****."
"Alright. Does this place even have a backyard? Let me ask the gargoyles…"
"They talk?"
"They supposed to." he says. Sweet exits the room and across the kitchen. Why do I keep following, I peek at the back area and it's a church with mini rooms like classrooms in school.
I bet I can find it before he does. So I leave.
I don't have to go far as it, literally right down the hall. I hear a door on the classroom side. Its just sweet and I go out the back. The backyard is a full garden. Down the middle is a patch of sunflowers while to the left and right are different flowers and bushes.
Toward the walls, my blood pressure drops at the sight of a gargoyle with no legs laying on it's side. Do I wake it?
I move closer and nudge the gargoyle with my foot. No response. What killed it?
I have a fork. I dig it out my pocket looking about for any signs of niggas. There is a bench back here that's broken in half. I step forward, towards the flowers. The sunflowers are looming over me, they shake from the wind.
If this is Aleigha's church, why plant such big flowers? Off to the right side, there are these small pink flowers. This garden is weird, it's shaped like a square and instead of treading through the sunflowers, I walk by the pink flowers.
Nothing unusual. I keep walking. It endless.
"Hey." I angle my head and drop my fork. There is a black man with a bent neck and long legs. His penis is against his thigh as he wears a loincloth. "Hey."
My body is light.
"Hey."