The Foundation

It's Too Late at Night for this Shyt

Ria wakes me up out of a good sleep after she hears the woman next door screaming. I really don't need this shit tonight; I have an important meeting in the morning.

"Ice, that nigga is over there again hitting on her. Get up and do something." She says handing me my gun.

I take the gun, put on some shorts and my wife beater (pardon the pun). I walk out the front door holding the gun along my leg. I notice our neighbor, Niecy, on her lawn bleeding, and a man standing over her with a gun. It's somewhat obvious that she had been beaten with it. Where the fuck is Metro?

"You know man, it's way too early and she's way too pretty for you to be treating her like this." I say, using my free hand to wipe the sleep out of my eyes.

His eyes widened as he noticed I was standing there. He and I are no strangers to each other. Clyde, Niecy's ex-boyfriend, gets drunk and comes over here to curse and beat her. Last time he was here, it came to blows and he got his ass kicked. Tonight, I guess the gun is supposed to deter me. Especially since he now just pointed it at me.

"I got something for ya ass tonight, Ice," Clyde yells out, not having seen that I am armed also, "I suggest you go home."

Now normally, I would just go back in the house knowing Metro would be here soon, but I cannot let a man with a gun stand out here without doing something. It's just not me. I quickly close the gap between him and me. He nervously drops the gun. I kick it away and elbow him under his chin. He rears back to hit me; I train my gun on him. He stops. I'm not one for smart lines and anecdotes; I normally shoot first and let them curse me as they die.

"Clyde, I will fucking wet you up right here just so I can get back to sleep, but I'm going to give you a chance to walk away before Metro gets here. Oh fuck it, you've already pissed me off!" I say.

I move my gun to the right, just above his elbow and shoot him. He falls to the ground screaming in pain. The shot also causes Niecy to scream also. I kick him in his gut. He rolls around in pain. Ria comes out with her cane in one hand and her gun in the other. I'll explain the cane thing later. Seeing I was the one who fired the shot, she comes over and motions to Niecy to go into my house.

"Muthafucka, I can't believe you shot me! Nigga, you better hope I die, because if not, nigga, I will be back." Clyde says working himself to his knees.

I just shrug it off and hit him on his head with the butt of my gun. I know it seems a bit cruel, but fuck it, he woke me out of a good sleep and he pointed his gun at me. I finally hear the sirens from Metro. The first car whips around the corner, and screeches to a halt in front of the house.  I notice it’s Smitty, a cop that has been patrolling this neighborhood for years. He sees me, rolls his eyes and gets on the radio to call for an ambulance no doubt. He slowly gets out of the car, now two other cruisers pull up.

"Dammit, Ice, you can't stay out of trouble." Smitty says, chuckling a little.

I know this routine, I casually hand him my gun, which he takes. We both turn to look at poor Clyde and I say, “At least I didn't kill him."

After about 2 hours of answering questions, signing statements, and shooting the shit with Smitty, I wander back into the house. I notice Ria sitting at my desk puffing on a cigarette--a habit she picked up after she got out of the hospital about 5 weeks ago.

"I put her in the extra room after I cleaned her up a little. You need to get to bed because you have an appointment in about four hours." Ria says, now sounding like a mother.

I just nod and head to my room thinking about how much sleep I can get before my appointment. City council member Carl Gates and his wife Vernetta want to speak with me about the upcoming election. Ria is so excited; she went out and bought me a new shirt, tie, and slacks. She even got herself a new dress. Though I speak to a lot of politicians in my work, this is the first time one has thought about using my services. I wonder what he could want. I thought more about that as I drifted back into sleep.