CHAPTER 26
News of the shooting at the club had spread in Harlem quickly and was talked about for days, creating high tension between both cliques. When Chico returned from out of town and heard of the incident, he wanted to gun everyone down. Apple was ready for war, and everyone was on high alert. Within months, Apple had created so many enemies in her life, she was on everybody’s official shit list.
Apple sat in the cut, her guns close and loaded for action. Her mother was nagging her about her beef with Kola. They had been arguing all day, and Apple was ready to slap the shit out of her. Apple let it be clearly known that she was in control of everything. She stared at her hip, thirty-seven-year-old, ghetto-fabulous mother bitterly and wondered why she put up with her.
She heard the doorbell and cautiously went to see who it was. She was surprised to see Kola standing outside her door, and a few thugs lingering by her car. She wondered how Kola knew her address.
Apple cocked back the Glock 17 and shouted out, “Bitch, get the f-uck away from my door!”
“I wanna talk to you,” Kola exclaimed.
“There ain’t nothin’ to talk about,” Apple shouted. “I’ll see you on the streets, Kola.”
“Bitch, open the fuckin’ door so we can talk,” Kola shouted back.
Denise heard her daughter outside and rushed to the door, telling Apple, “Just open it.”
“Ma, step the f-uck back!”
“No. I wanna see her.”
“Ma, get the f-uck away from the door,” Apple warned again.
But Denise was too stubborn to listen to anything her daughter had to say. She swiftly pushed Apple aside and unlocked the front door.
Kola burst into the home and marched up to Apple. Before she could throw the first swing, Apple smashed the gun over her head, and Kola stumbled back a little dazed.
“Apple, is you fuckin’ crazy?” Denise shouted.
While Apple was distracted, Kola charged and knocked the gun out of her hand. She pushed Apple into a wall, and followed that up with a series of blows to her face and midsection.
Apple and Kola tore into each other like two ferocious lions, knocking over furniture and breaking precious items in the home.
Apple soon got the upper hand, grabbing Kola by her long hair and knocking the wind out of her with a hard right uppercut. Kola, her mouth full of blood, lost her footing and fell over a chair. She hit the ground like she had received a blow from Mike Tyson.
Apple pounced on her like she was a stranger in her home. “I told you, bitch, don’t f-uck wit’ me! Look at you! I’m that fuckin’ bitch now!” she screamed out, landing a series of vicious blows on Kola.
Denise ran to aid Kola. She grabbed Apple from behind and flung her across the room, screaming out, “Apple, stop it! Stop it!”
Apple fell over the couch, surprised by her mother’s strength. But she was more hurt to see Denise helping Kola off the floor. Apple’s eyes stretched with shock. She couldn’t believe how, out of the blue, her mother actually became a mother to Kola, asking if she was OK.
Kola pushed away from her mother, shouting, “Get off me!” She wiped the blood from her mouth and looked at Apple with so much contempt, if looks could kill, Apple would have been torn apart. The sisters’ intense gaze at one another was deadly. But Kola dared not continue the fight because Apple had the Glock 17 gripped in her hand and looked wild.
“You gonna get yours, bitch. I ain’t playin’ games anymore,” Kola warned. “The only sister I ever loved is six feet fuckin’ deep.”
Kola’s crew of thugs was at the front door, making sure she had a protected exit. She exchanged hard looks with her sister and mother once more then left the house.
Apple’s living room was in disorder, but she didn’t breathe lightly after Kola left. She focused her hard stare at her mother. “Get the f-uck out my house!”
Denise was shocked. “What?”
“Bitch, you ain’t deaf! Get your shit—Nah, f-uck that! Just get the f-uck out!”
“Apple, you ain’t serious.”
“I am. After all the fuckin’ love I showed you, Ma, you take her side and diss me. I fuckin’ hate you. I thought I had your loyalty, but I guess I was wrong,” Apple said with tear-filled eyes. “I put you up and gave you nice things, and this is how you repay me?”
Denise looked at her sternly. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“What? Bitch, you think I’m playin’ wit’ you!” Apple shouted. She raised the gun and fired suddenly, and the bullet whizzed by her mother’s ear, startling her.
“Apple, are you fuckin’ crazy?!”
“Yeah, I am.”
Denise saw the seriousness in her daughter’s eyes. She knew there was no changing Apple’s mind.
“Don’t take shit wit’ you, bitch, ’cause I bought all that. Just leave my crib wit’ the fuckin’ clothes on your back and take your ghetto-fabulous ass back to the hood and stay the f-uck out of my life!”
“You’re gonna regret this, Apple.”
“I don’t think so. My only regret was taking you in, but now I’m done wit’ you.”
Denise slowly backed her way toward the door and walked out the brownstone with a heartrending look. She had nothing to go back to; she quickly went from something to nothing.
With her mother gone from her home, Apple slammed the door and gazed at herself in the mirror that hung by the doorway. She looked a mess. Her hair was a mess, her face was bruised, and her outfit torn and ruined. Still holding onto the gun, she felt she didn’t need anyone. She was on top of everybody, and nobody could tell her a damn thing. It felt so good to finally whup Kola’s ass. She was definitely the baddest chick, and Kola had better recognize.