“Yeah, but it’s all good. I got two more weeks in New Orleans before I be calling Florida home,” Justice replied.
He’d already moved everything out of the apartment that he shared with Indigo. His brother drove down with a moving truck and it was already set up in his new apartment. His boss had approved his transfer and he was about to be supervisor at one of the facilities in Florida. Besides his brother, Indigo was the only person who he had in New Orleans. Since they’d broken up, he felt that there was no reason to stay. Well, that and safety reasons. He felt bad about what he’d done and he called to apologize. He even called and apologized to her father. Irvin told him off and he couldn’t even blame him. He would have done the exact same thing if he had a daughter. Justice wasn’t raised that way and he was ashamed of himself. His parents would be ashamed of him too. He still hadn’t told them that he and Indigo were no longer together. They were under the impression that she was moving to Florida with him.
“Yeah, I feel you. I don’t plan to leave New Orleans any time soon but I do think it’s time for a change,” Lacey sighed.
She was over living with Lane and she was ready to get a place of her own. Lane was always calling her stupid, but she was no better. West showed up a few months ago looking like he’d gone a few rounds with Mayweather and lost. He claimed that some niggas jumped him after they tried to rob him. Lacey didn’t believe a word he said because he didn’t have shit for nobody to take. West was a joke who couldn’t seem to let go of the past. He kept reminiscing on how things used to be and all the money that he used to have. He didn’t have shit now and that wasn’t hard to see. He had been laying low at their house and Lacey had a feeling that he was hiding from someone. Lane let him use her car and he was probably going by other bitches in it.
“Well, it was good catching up Lacey, but I gotta get ready for this long ass drive to work,” Justice said. He had been staying with his brother and his job was almost an hour away.
“Okay, good luck with your move,” Lacey replied before she hung up.
She blew out a breath of frustration when she pulled up to her house. There was no doubt in her mind that West was still there and she was over it. Lacey was tired of going half on bills while her sister had a nigga laying up on them. Since she couldn’t sit in the car all night, Lacey turned off her engine and prepared to get out. As soon as she opened the door, she wasn’t fully able to get out on her own. She was pulled out of the car by her hair before she felt a barrage of licks to her face.
“Bitch, you thought I wasn’t gonna find out what you did,” Indigo fumed as she slammed her up against her car. She was small in stature but she was strong as fuck.
“Let me go!” Lacey yelled as she tried to fight back.
“Ask your sister-in-law about me hoe!” Indigo ranted as she continued to hit her.
Now, Lacey knew why Erin was ringing her phone off the hook. Indigo had never met her and she was curious about how she found out about what they had done.
“Get off of me!” Lacey yelled while kicking her as hard as she could. Indigo stumbled a little but that seemed to enrage her more.
“Oh, so this bitch is kicking people now. Put them Air Max in her back Indie,” Boston instigated.
She wasn’t even surprised that he was there egging her on. Boss and Indigo had a dysfunctional ass friendship, so she was sure that the marriage was just as bad. They hyped each other up and did all their dirt together. Lacey made the mistake of looking over at him and she quickly regretted it.
Indigo delivered a bone crushing punch to her face that had her dazed and confused. Lacey tried to cover her face as the licks came harder and faster. When she tripped and fell, all she felt was the bottom of Indigo’s shoes just like Boss wanted her to. She curled up into a fetal position, praying that it would be over soon. Either her prayers were answered or Indigo was tired. She stopped her assault and backed away.
“You bum ass bitches better stop playing with me. Y’all hoes be doing too much behind a nigga that was never yours,” Indigo huffed.
As pretty as she was, Indigo was just as hood. Her looks were deceiving because she was as ghetto as they came.
“Come on baby. You feel better now?” Boss asked as he reached his hand out to her.
Lacey couldn’t help but to think about how crazy he really was. He actually accompanied his wife to fight somebody, just to make her feel better. To her, that surpassed love. That was obsession.
“Yep.” Indigo nodded as she grabbed his hand and walked away.
Lacey was on the ground writhing in pain. She would have loved nothing more than to get up and get back into her car. Having Lane look down on her for making yet another stupid decision behind a man was not something that she looked forward to. Since she was in so much pain, driving anywhere wasn’t about to happen. After a few minutes, she picked her battered body up and limped towards her house. That was it as far as Lacey was concerned. She didn’t want to deal with another street nigga for as long as she lived. Truthfully, she didn’t want to deal with anyone at all.
“Girl, that’s fucked up,” Ari said as she sat on Lane’s sofa and sipped her wine.
“That’s all on her. Fuck Lacey. She got an attitude with me like I was the bitch who beat her ass. Where was all that energy when Indigo had her looking like a fucking black eyed monster two weeks ago?” Lane asked angrily.
“You tried to warn her, but she didn’t listen. I saw that shit between Boss and Indigo a long time ago. The way he looked at her said a lot. I’m not even surprised that he married her. I can’t lie and say that I was never stupid for his ass, but I know better now,” Ari replied.
She had just moved into a one-bedroom apartment and she was happier than she’d been in a while. She was dating an older man, and he was good to her and her daughter. She heard that Quita and Keema had moved out of Boston and Indigo’s house and got another apartment together. Ari still didn’t fuck with them shady bitches because she couldn’t trust them anymore.
“I told her a long time ago that I was done helping her fight over niggas. Lacey has been doing this shit since forever and I’m over it. I’ll just have to put in some extra hours at work to cover my bills since she left me in a bind,” Lane fussed.
Lacey was in her feelings, and she and Lane got into it. She claimed that it was because West was there and wasn’t helping out but Lane knew the real reason. She was in her feelings because Boston had married Indigo. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Indigo beat her ass, not that she didn’t deserve it. Lacey was dead ass wrong and so were Erin and her sisters. They went at Indigo over some shit that didn’t have nothing to do with them. She did right to catch their asses and beat them down one by one. Lacey was always doing the most over a man, instead of just letting the shit go. Lane tried to tell her that it wasn’t that serious and they almost got into a fight. Then, two days ago, Lacey packed up all her shit and told her that she was moving out. The house was in Lane’s name, so there was nothing that she could do. Lacey didn’t even give her any warnings before she just up and left.
“I’m sorry friend but I have to keep it real with you,” Ari said, pulling Lane out of her thoughts.
“Keep it real about what?” Lane asked.
“I love my brother and all, but West is dead weight. You shouldn’t have to be putting in extra hours at work when you got a nigga digging up in your guts every night. I agree that Lacey should have told you something before she moved out, but you can’t blame her for leaving. She was going half on bills and food and his bum ass is laying up in here chillin’,” Ari replied.
Since he’d been home, Ari saw an entirely different side of her brother. West used to be bout his money a while ago, but he wasn’t shit now. As much as Ari hated to admit it, she knew that it was only because of Boss that her brother had anything at all. He was always blaming other people when shit didn’t go right for him. She was bitter when Boss left her alone, so she used to do the same thing. Now, she knew who the pro
blem was. The lil money that West did have when he came home went on clothes and shoes. Nobody in the dope game wanted to deal with him since he just got out of jail. They didn’t know or trust him like that.
“His ass is about to get some walking papers too. I don’t have time for no dead weight. I can’t pay bills off of promises,” Lane fussed. The sex with West was good as hell and that was the only reason why he was still around. That nigga could eat his way to freedom and Lane fucked around and got hooked.
“Girl, right about now, a promise is all he has to give,” Ari replied with a roll of her eyes.
Their mother had been on him about getting a job but he didn’t want to hear that. All the other chicks that he dealt with saw right through his broke ass and didn’t want to be bothered. Ari was surprised that Lane was still dealing with him. Her girl was usually about her money and she didn’t fuck with niggas who didn’t have any.
Besides that, West was a liar. He had Lane thinking that he got jumped by some niggas who tried to rob him, but Ari knew the truth. Boss beat his ass and he was in his feelings about it. When Ari told him that she knew the truth, he begged her not to tell anyone else. He was furious with his former friend and he was out for blood. She was hoping that her brother took his L and moved on. Boss was not someone that he wanted beef with and he should have known better.
“It’s all good. Since Lacey got her own spot, I might look for something smaller. No need to have all this extra space that I’m not using,” Lane said, right as West walked out of her bedroom. He was dressed to kill and smelled like expensive cologne.
“I’ll be right back bae. I need to make a run,” he said as he gave her a kiss.
He took her keys off the kitchen counter and walked out the front door. As soon as he got into the car and pulled off, West called his boo to see where she was.
“Hey baby,” she cooed sexily into the phone.
“What’s good beautiful? Are you free to see me tonight?” he asked.
“Aww, no baby. I have to work,” she replied, sounding disappointed.
“What about right now?” he inquired.
“My husband is home. I can’t move the way I want to,” she whispered.
“Damn man. I’m trying to see you so we can discuss that business,” he replied.
“Hold on one second. Let me go into another room,” she said.
“Okay,” he replied excitedly.
West didn’t think his luck could have gotten any better than it did about three weeks ago. He had been asking around about Boss and Indigo, and he learned a few things. Not only did Indigo work at Boss’ father’s bar, she also work at a strip club as well. When a thick, dark chocolate beauty walked into the pool hall wearing a shirt that said, “Dixie’s Dynasty”, West damn near tripped over his own feet trying to talk to her. He sat next to her and, to his surprise, she was just as interested as he was. He learned that she was a dancer at Dixie’s and she knew Boss and Indigo very well. She was married but that didn’t matter to him. Boss ate her out in the back seat of Lane’s car and she was on board to do whatever he wanted her to.
Together, they were gonna put a plan in motion to rob Boss’ connect, who he found out was part owner of the club. He was hurting for money bad and willing to do anything to get it. He had robbed a few niggas since he’d been home, but he never walked away with much. He needed to hook a big fish and Boston’s connect was the one that he wanted.
He not only wanted everything that Boston had, he wanted his life too. Taking Indigo’s life would suffice since he loved the bitch so much. There was no way in hell that West was willing to just walk away after how Boss embarrassed him. West had been too embarrassed to show his face at the pool hall for a while after he and Boss fought. He was humiliated but he was angrier than anything else.
“Are you still there?” she asked when she came back to the phone.
“Yeah, I’m here,” he replied.
“So, there’s a big party in the club in two weeks and everybody will be there. Indigo will be working and I’m sure that Boston will be there too. The crowd will be thick and it’ll be the perfect time to do what you need to do. You can take care of Boston first to distract everybody. They keep their offices locked up but getting the keys shouldn’t be too hard. You can come a little earlier and I’ll sneak your gun in for you since they have metal detectors,” she said, making him smile triumphantly.
“Damn baby. You thought of everything,” West said, impressed with her ideas.
“I told you that I got you, boo. Just don’t forget about me when you get all that money,” she replied.
“I’ll never do that. You might need to get away from your husband for a while, so I can show you a good time,” West flirted.
“I can’t wait, but I gotta go boo. I need to rest up before I hit the stage tonight. I’ll be in touch,” she said as she blew a kiss into the phone and hung up.
“That’s what the fuck I’m talking about!” West yelled as he pumped his fist in the air happily.
In about another month, he would be rolling in the dough and he couldn’t wait. It had been a while since he’d seen some real money and he was ready to be back on top. If that meant putting his former best friend in the dirt, then that was a risk that he was willing to take. The game was dirty, but somebody had to play it. West didn’t only want to play; he wanted to win.
“I don’t see no cameras nowhere around the building bruh. I told you that the last two times we came here,” Draco said as he got back into the back seat of the car.
Bear was driving and Boss was sitting in the front seat. No matter how many times he tried to tell his boy to let it go, Boss just wouldn’t listen. It was day three of them showing up to Justice’s job and they hadn’t seen him yet. Anyone could access the parking lot, but only employees with badges could get into the building.
“I’m really not understanding this shit right now fam. This nigga was barely home because he worked so much at one time. I’m trying to see what changed.” Boston frowned.
He knew that Justice was back at work because he got his father’s girlfriend to call there and make sure. It was crazy because Boston wasn’t even worrying about Justice anymore. He and Indigo had a lot going on and he wasn’t at the top of his priority list. Besides taking GED classes, they were trying to get their house together. They were getting it painted and Indigo wanted some of the floors changed out. She had someone drain the pool and she was getting a picture of her and Boston put at the bottom of it. She saw it in some magazine and she fell in love with the idea.
Justice came close to getting the pass that Indigo wanted him to have until he fucked it up. He must have been in his feelings when he called Indigo’s phone a week ago. He called her every name that he could think of and some that she’d never been called before. Apparently, Lacey told him about Miami, even though she didn’t know much her damn self. She also solved another mystery that they had been wondering about. Lacey found out about them messing around the night that Justice came to fix Indigo’s car. That explained why she had her brother’s girlfriend and her sisters jump her that night. Boss was still livid but it all made sense to him now.
“Maybe this is a sign that you should let that shit go just like you told your wife you would,” Draco replied after a lingering silence.
“I never said I was letting this shit go,” Boss noted.
“Let’s just say you do see him coming in or out of the building. What do you plan to do? You can’t just start shooting at the nigga,” Draco pointed out.
“Why not? I gave him a gun with a silencer.” Bear shrugged.
“This nigga,” Draco mumbled.
He was happy that his boy had been reunited with his father, but Bear was no better than his son. He encouraged a lot of what Boston did and he was no help at all. Draco used to be the voice of reason, but it was almost impossible now since it was two against one. Boss was certified all by himself. He didn’t need any help.
“You good
son?” Bear asked as he looked over at Boss. He was unusually quiet and that was a side of him that he didn’t really know.
“That nigga straight. He only gets quiet like that when he’s thinking about doing some crazy shit,” Draco answered on his friend’s behalf.
Bear nodded in understanding. He was still getting to know his son but he was learning a lot every day. Draco knew him well but nobody knew him better than Indigo. They were in sync with one another and that amazed him. It was because of Indigo that he got a second chance with Boss and he was indebted to her forever.
“What size you think that nigga wear?” Boss asked when they saw a man walking out of the building.
“How the fuck would we know?” Draco countered. Boss had been quiet for a long time, so he knew that he had thought of some bullshit.
“Fuck it,” Boss said as he jumped out of the car. He put his hoodie over his head as he walked over to the unsuspecting employee.
“What the fuck is he doing?” Draco yelled when he saw Boss use his gun to knock the man out.
Bear jumped out of the truck to offer his assistance as Draco acted as the lookout. His mouth hung open in shock as he watched Bear undressing the man and handing the uniform to his son. Boss put on the safety vest and hard hat, right before he grabbed the man’s badge. Bear pulled the unconscious man out of sight as Boss used the badge to enter the building.
Boss didn’t know where he was going, but he maneuvered around the building like he really belonged there. He had to use the badge damn near everywhere he went, so he knew it would be hard to leave if he was in a hurry. He kept his head down and tried not to make eye contact with anyone. The rest of the employees were in their own world and weren’t even paying attention to him. Boss walked the entire assembly line and didn’t see Justice anywhere. He checked the break room and bathrooms and still didn’t have any luck. Although he had his gun on him, shooting Justice inside of the building wouldn’t have been a good look.
To Boston, With Love Page 24
