The Head That Wears The Crown

by D D Bridges

  Still, I couldn’t deny the fact that my heart felt like a piece of it had been ripped out. In spite of how I felt about Juanita, knowing that I may never get to meet my son or daughter was heartbreaking. Mike definitely struck a nerve when he said that I was doing the same thing to my child that my father had done to me, and he was right. My father neglected me for another woman who was also pregnant with his child. The only difference in this scenario was that Natalie wasn’t pregnant, and my mother didn’t betray my father the way that Juanita betrayed me. I was still processing all of the information that I learned about the real Juanita and I was sure that I would still be processing it for the next few months.

  Thoughts of Juanita were the reason that I couldn’t sleep even though it was almost three in the morning. I lay in my bed staring at the ceiling and listening to the comforting silence as the moonlight flickered through my sheer curtains. I didn’t know what Juanita planned to do now that I was forcing her to start a new life. I wondered if she would raise my child herself or give him up for adoption. Being a single mom could be very trying, even with five million in the bank. In spite of her indiscretions I believed that she would make the decision that would give our child the best chance at a good life.

  My phone began to chime and vibrate on the night stand beside my bed. No one ever called me this late so immediately my curiosity was piqued. I rolled over and grabbed the phone before checking the caller ID.

  “Leah?” I answered after seeing her name and photo on my screen. At first I didn’t hear anything and then I heard her sobs and erratic breathing. Worried, I sat up in bed. “Leah, is that you?”

  “Darius, I know it’s late but I need you,” she wailed into the phone. “I need you to come pick me up.”

  “Leah, what’s wrong? What happened?” I asked as I immediately got out of bed and went into my closet.

  “He hurt me.”

  “Who hurt you?”

  “Allen.”

  I honestly hadn’t even thought about Leah since the night that I saw her and Allen on Peachtree Street. Unfortunately, she hadn’t taken the advice that I had been giving her for months. I knew all along that Allen was no good for her, but tonight he was about to be dealt with. I already warned his punk ass about putting his hands on Leah and tonight he was gonna learn what happens to niggas like him.

  “Where are you?” I asked her, now dressed in black sweats and a hoodie.

  “I’m not sure,” she said. “Someone drugged me and left me in this abandoned building. I can’t see outside and I’m in too much pain to move.”

  “It’s okay, just stay where you are and leave your phone on. I’ll use your signal to track you. Just sit tight and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  *******

  Thirty minutes later I tracked her to an old building in a deserted part of town that I had never even seen before. I parked across the street and got out of my car. I checked my surroundings before deciding if I wanted to go inside alone or not. As always I was strapped, and since I knew that Leah was hurt I couldn’t allow her to wait any longer while I called my boys for backup.

  I walked across the street and immediately knew that I couldn’t get in through the front since the door and windows were boarded. This was definitely the place where Leah was judging by the tracker on my phone so there had to be another way in.

  I went around the side of the building and then walked into an alley between the back side of it and another abandoned building. I walked about half way down the alley and finally found a door. I turned the knob and pulled but it was jammed. I got in a two-point stance and jerked at it more forcefully a few times until it finally flew open. I checked my surroundings one more time before going inside.

  Once inside I couldn’t see a damn thing. I seemed to be in a type of hallway and at one end of it I could see a dim glimmer of light so I began to walk in that direction. I pulled my 9 out of the waist of my pants just in case I was walking into a trap. The place was silent and had a strange smell in the air. As I got closer to where the light was my nerves seemed to relax more and more. I just wanted to find Leah and get her out of there as quickly as possible.

  I got toward the end of the hallway and walked through the entry way where the light was illuminating from. The room was empty and only dimly lit by the light that hung from the ceiling in the middle of it.

  “Darius…”

  I looked to my right hand side which was where the voice had come from and saw Leah sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. I tucked my gun into the back waist of my pants and rushed over to her.

  “Leah, you okay?” I said as I knelt down beside her. I quickly scanned her body and could see a few bruises on her arms and along her collar bone. Her face was partially hidden by the dark shadows in the room, but I could still see that she had a bloody lip, a black eye and other bruises.

  “Where are you hurt?” I asked her as she began to cry again. “I’ve got to get you out of here.”

  “I’m sorry Darius. I didn’t want to do it but they made me,” she said tearfully.

  “What? What are you talking about? Who made you do what?” I asked confused.

  “They made me call you,” she said as her words trailed off.

  No sound was made but I could feel somebody behind me. I quickly got up and turned around. Two figures were approaching me from out of the shadows on the other side of the room that we were in. Once they stepped into the light and revealed their identities I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. I wasn’t surprised to see Allen, but why D.J. was with him had me baffled. They both had their guns drawn and pointed at me.

  “Surprise, surprise, motherfucker,” Allen said with an evil smile on his face. “It’s just like you to allow a bitch to let you get caught slippin’.”

  I reached for my gun but couldn’t get it out fast enough before Allen pulled out a second gun and pointed it at me.

  “Don’t even think about it,” he said. “I will shoot you, so don’t get it twisted.”

  I took my hand off of my gun and dropped it at my side. I was already fed up with Allen and I really didn’t believe that he had the balls to shoot me. Looking away from him I turned my attention to D.J. He was standing there with that expressionless look on his face that always unnerved me. Him being here with Allen didn’t make any sense.

  “What the hell are you doing, man?” I asked D.J.

  “He’s here for business purposes. Right, D.J.?” Allen spoke up for him.

  “Yeah, that’s right,” D.J. replied.

  “Oh, so you doin’ business with this sorry motherfucker now?” I asked, keeping my attention on D.J.

  Allen began to laugh, causing me to turn my gaze back to him.

  “What, you thought that D.J. coming back to Atlanta was a mere coincidence,” Allen said mockingly. “I once overheard Walter talking about your dad and how he had a family. I figured that there had to be somebody who wanted to check up on the company that he built and see how you were running it into the ground. So I did some digging and found D.J. When I talked to him, he told me that he wanted to get what was supposed to be his. So I told him that I would help him get you out of the picture by any means necessary.”

  “You really expect me to believe that you set all this shit up?” I said in disbelief.

  “That’s right. I’m the brains behind this operation,” Allen replied.

  “So what are you gonna do, kill me?”

  “Not unless I have to.”

  “And what are you getting out of this?” I asked Allen. Knowing this greedy ass nigga, he probably wanted a share in the company.

  “Nothing,” he said, but I knew he was lying. “The satisfaction of seeing you go down will be enough for me. You know that I have never liked you. You don’t belong in the same class as me and D.J. You’re nothing but an imposter. A fake! You’re not cut out for this shit and everybody knows it!”

  Allen could yell and wave his guns around all he wanted to, but niggas lik
e him didn’t scare me. He was all talk, but what concerned me was that he was a smooth talker and D.J. was an emotional hot-head. Chances were that Allen would probably try to convince D.J. to shoot me for him.

  I looked at D.J. His eyes were still cold and expressionless but now his brow was slightly wrinkled in confusion.

  “You’re really gonna do this?” I asked him. “Kill your brother, your flesh and blood?”

  “I didn’t come to Atlanta so that we could bond as brothers,” he spat bitterly. “I came for one thing and one thing only. I told you when we first met what my intentions were so I don’t know why you’re acting all surprised and shit.”

  “So why wait all this time to do this?” I asked. “What, did Allen tell you to play nice until he decided that it was time to off me? You can’t think for yourself now?”

  “I can think for myself!” he said raising his voice as he cocked his gun back and then aimed it at me again. “You think you’re so slick, trying to use that reverse psychology shit on me.”

  “D.J. you’re not thinking clearly,” I said. Every time I spoke I inched closer and closer to them and they hadn’t seemed to notice. I had closed half the distance between us now and I was just waiting to make my move. “Why would Allen go out of his way to find you if he didn’t want something out of this? He’s just using you to do his dirty work so that he can get a share in the company. He’s a snake and if you choose him over me he’s gonna always make you feel like you owe him.”

  “Shut the fuck up!” Allen said.

  “No, you shut the fuck up!” I shot back. “We both know that I’m telling the truth! You can’t stand to see that a nigga like me got more than you.”

  “Shut up or I’ll shoot you right now,” Allen said through clenched teeth.

  “Do it,” I said calmly as I took a step closer to him. “If you want to that damn bad then do it. I’m right here.”

  All Allen could do was stare at me angrily as his hand began to shake.

  “Is it true?” D.J. said to Allen.

  “What?” Allen said as he turned his head and looked at D.J.

  “What do you want out of this? What’s in it for you?” D.J. questioned.

  “Don’t let this sorry ass nigga get inside your head, man,” Allen said quickly. “We got a plan and we gotta stick to that plan. If we don’t then this motherfucker will win and you’ll never get what’s yours.”

  Since I now had them going at each other I took that moment to snatch my gun out. They both turned their attention back to me. D.J. began to slowly lower his gun but Allen wasn’t having it.

  “What the hell are you doing? We still got three guns to his one,” Allen reminded him causing D.J. to raise his gun at me again.

  “It’s over, Allen,” I told him. “This can go one of two ways. Either we can all die right here or you can let me take Leah out of here so that I can get her some help.”

  “Nah. I’m not giving you a chance to go into hiding,” Allen said.

  “Why the fuck would I hide from you,” I said to him. “I just want to get her out of here. But trust me, we will see each other again.”

  “No,” Allen said. “D.J. shoot him or I will.”

  D.J.’s finger was resting on the trigger and I knew that he was about to execute me. I had a clear shot that I could take at either one of them. But I knew that no matter which one of them I took out first, chances were that I still wouldn’t get out of there alive.

  TO BE CONTINUED……

  © Copyright D.D. Bridges