by Erica Hilton
“Okay, hold up. First, tell me what the hell is going on.”
“Get the muthafucka on the phone!” Bebo reached into his waistband and pulled out a snub-nosed revolver and pointed it at Jasmine.
Jasmine’s heart started racing. Narjara tried to turn and walk out of the living room.
“Don’t move, chica!” Bebo ordered.
Narjara stopped dead in her tracks. At that moment she would have given anything to be at home with her man, getting her ass kicked.
“Bebo, seriously, I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t. I mean, I was just about to take my girl to the hospital and—”
“Get the muthafucka on the phone! What the fuck?” Bebo yelled, his booming voice startling Jasmine. “I’m not playin’ no games!”
Jasmine didn’t know what was going on, but she knew in her gut not to test Bebo at that moment. She reached for her phone and dialed Nico. She didn’t know if she wanted him to pick up, or ignore her calls as he had been doing.
“It’s going to voice mail,” she stated, her heart thumping out of her chest.
“Dial that shit again!”
Jasmine complied, and again it went to voice mail.
Bebo, his gun still aimed at Jasmine, walked closer to her and pressed the gun to her temple. “Where-the-fuck-is-Nico?” he asked in a cadence.
Jasmine had never been as scared as she was at that moment. “Bebo, I swear to you, I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to him in a few days.”
Bebo pressed the gun into her temple with more force, and then he cocked it.
“Bebo, I swear I don’t know! I swear on everything!”
Bebo could see Jasmine tremble just slightly. His instincts told him that she was telling the truth, but he still kept the gun to her temple. “Call him again!”
Jasmine held her phone out so that Bebo could see she was really calling Nico, and then she decided to put the phone on speaker to prove that she was really calling him.
“See, he’s not picking up. I swear to you he’s been ignoring my calls. I don’t know where he’s at. I don’t know why he’s not taking my calls.”
“Who the fuck is that?” Bebo asked, referring to Narjara. He took the gun away from Jasmine’s temple.
“That’s just my homegirl from nursing school.”
“Where the fuck Nico keep his shit?” Bebo again raised his gun to Jasmine.
“He don’t tell me nothing about what he do,” she replied, a combination of desperation and exasperation in her voice.
“Jasmine, this ain’t a fuckin’ game! Where the fuck is the safe at?”
“I don’t know. I swear to you.” Jasmine felt she had no choice but to lie because she had no idea what was up.
WHACK!
Bebo slapped Jasmine across the face with the butt of his gun, and she instantly saw stars and felt woozy, but she didn’t fall to the ground.
“Where the fuck is the safe?”
Narjara yelled, “Jasmine!” and rushed to her aid.
One of Bebo’s goons stepped up and grabbed Narjara by her hair.
“It’s cool. I got this,” Bebo said as he held his gun on both Jasmine and Narjara, now standing right next to each other. “Go find the stash. I got these bitches.”
In a matter of seconds, Bebo’s henchmen were rummaging through Nico’s mansion and ransacking every room, looking for Nico’s stash. Jasmine was praying that Nico would call her back and help her get out of the immediate hell she was facing, with Bebo starring as the devil.
While Bebo’s boys turned the house upside down, Jasmine quietly pressed the record feature on her BlackBerry.
“Get off of me!” Narjara screamed, trying to fight Bebo off.
Bebo had grabbed her by the throat and pulled her toward him before putting her in the headlock. Her back was to his chest, and now he was pressing his gun against her temple.
“Bebo, she ain’t got nothing to do with anything. Let her go!” Jasmine pleaded as Narjara scratched and clawed at Bebo’s muscular arms, trying to free herself from his grip.
Bebo’s arms were cutting off Narjara’s air supply, and she felt like she was going to pass out at any moment.
Two minutes later Bebo’s boys were back in the living room.
“We can’t find the stash, but look at this shit we found, yo.” One of Bebo’s henchmen handed him FBI Agent Battle’s card.
“What the fuck!” Bebo screamed at Jasmine and Narjara. “You snitchin’? This bitch is a fed?”
Bebo began to apply so much pressure to Narjara’s neck, he was almost on the verge of snapping the bones in it. Narjara’s face was blood red, and her eyes looked as if they were bulging out of their sockets.
“No. No, she’s—”
BLAOW!
Narjara’s limp body fell to the living room floor like a bag of bricks from the gun blast that had entered the right side of her temple and exited the left. Her blood and brains splattered all across the walls and floor of the living room.
“AHHHHH! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” Jasmine screamed, trembling with fear. She couldn’t believe what she had just witnessed.
“Bitch, I’m asking you one more time—Where the fuck is the stash at?” Bebo asked like a coldblooded hitman. Bebo was furious with Nico, but at the same time he wanted to get his hands on that pure heroin that he had sold to Twist, and he was desperate to find out where he had stashed it.
Jasmine, frozen in fear, wanted to tell Bebo where Nico’s two safes were, but she was so afraid for her life, the words simply would not form in her mouth.
She started to backpedal. She was seconds from turning and bolting up the stairs, where she was going to attempt to jump out of a window to safety. She knew she was looking at death, but the only thing she could think of was surviving.
Bebo was like a man possessed. As soon as Jasmine took two steps backwards, without warning, he raised his gun and pointed it at her and fired twice.
BLAOW! BLAOW!
Jasmine had raised her hands in the hair in a defensive motion, but it didn’t stop the first bullet from ripping through her right hand and causing blood to splatter everywhere. The second bullet pierced her neck and spun her around, and her body went crashing to the floor. She lay face down, motionless, and bleeding about fifteen feet away from her friend.
Bebo surveyed the room one last time, making sure that Narjara and Jasmine were both dead. “Let’s get the fuck up outta here and find that bitch-ass nigga.”
He used his baggy shirt to wipe his fingerprints off the gun he had just used. He then walked over to Narjara and knelt down beside her, still holding the gun with his shirt. He then took hold of Narjara’s limp right hand and positioned it so that she was gripping the gun.
He chuckled. “It’s fucked up how that bitch shot Jasmine and then killed herself,” he said to his two partners in crime.
After he’d said that, he and his two hitmen hustled out of the house, got into an all-black Lexus, and sped away.
Six
Mia and Nico landed safely in Las Vegas, and they took a car service to the Wynn Resort hotel. They checked into a deluxe top-floor corner suite with a panoramic view.
As soon as the couple stepped foot in the room, Mia said, “Oh, my God! Baby, I love this!”
The suite had floor-to-ceiling windows and a fantastic view of the Las Vegas strip. They were up so high, Mia felt like she was on top of the world.
“Nothing but the best,” Nico said.
Mia kissed him on the lips, and she went to explore the other parts of the suite.
Nico was exhausted. He sat down on the couch and put his feet up on the ottoman. He smiled when he heard an excited scream come from the bathroom.
“Oversized Turkish towels! I loves it!” she said as she looked at
all of the bathroom amenities.
Nico was ready to doze off and get like an hour of sleep before heading out shopping with Mia, but first he wanted to charge his prepaid cell phone so he could check in with BJ. He plugged it in and set it on the dining table.
Mia came back into the room and started massaging his neck and shoulders. “You tired, baby?”
Nico ran his hands down his face. “I’m good. Get me a drink?” He then explained that he was going to lie down for about an hour before they headed out to shop and gamble.
Mia liked the plan. After she poured Nico his drink, she went back to massaging his shoulders.
Nico loved the way Mia made him feel whenever she gave him a massage, and her hands never felt so good.
Nico’s phone charged to the point where it was able to turn itself on, and it began vibrating to indicate that he had messages. Nico gulped down his drink and put the glass down. He asked Mia to pass him the phone. Immediately he dialed his voice mail and heard three messages from BJ.
“Yo, call me as soon as you get this,” was the first message from BJ.
An hour later, BJ had called back and left another message. “My nigga, I don’t know if you touched down yet or what, but get at me ASAP.”
Nico knew something was up because BJ never left messages like that. BJ hated the phone and only used it when necessary.
BJ left a third message a little over an hour after he had left the second. “Nico, where are you? Hit me back. This shit can’t wait.”
Nico unplugged the phone, took the charger, and walked into the bathroom and plugged the phone back in. He called BJ back.
Mia could sense something was up, but she didn’t ask any questions. She poured herself a drink, sat down on the ottoman, and turned on the flat-screen TV.
BJ picked up on the second ring.
“What’s good?”
“Where you at?”
“In Vegas. Why? What’s up?”
“You need to get back to New York. Muthafuckas ran up in your crib and shot shit up,” BJ explained.
“What the fuck you talkin’ about?”
“My dude, shit is on the news and everything. Something went down at your crib, and people got killed. I don’t know what the fuck is going on. Five-0 got shit roped off, and you know they won’t tell a nigga shit.”
“What?” Nico’s mind started racing. He knew Jasmine was probably the only person in the house. “You spoke to Jasmine?”
“Her shit been ringing out to voice mail.”
Nico immediately thought the worst. He could sense that Jasmine had been murdered.
After Mia had moved out of the crib, Nico had gotten rid of the security firm he had hired, after dudes had run up in his crib looking for him and Mia was home alone. He was kicking himself at that moment for not keeping the security guards on the premises.
“I’m heading back to New York tonight, and we gonna handle this shit. Find out what the streets is saying. Get Lorenzo and everybody else and tell them niggas to strap up and get ready to go to war,” Nico ordered.
“We ready right now, my nigga! We just waiting on word from you before we make a move.”
“A’ight, that’s what’s up.” Nico ended the call.
Nico stood in shock and disbelief. He thought about all of the mistakes he had made recently. Without a doubt, he knew his biggest mistake was not staying in touch with Jasmine. Maybe she had been trying to tell him about some new drama, but he didn’t give her the opportunity.
Nico emerged from the bathroom and walked back into the living room. Mia took hold of the remote control and turned down the volume to 106 & Park. She asked if everything was okay.
“I gotta get back to New York tonight.”
“Why? What happened?” Mia stood to her feet.
“That was BJ on the phone. He told me niggas ran up in my crib, shot the shit up, and people got killed. He said the shit was on the news and everything.”
Mia placed her hand over her mouth in disbelief. She didn’t want to ask the obvious, but she knew Jasmine was still living at Nico’s Long Island estate. Mia couldn’t help but think about how lucky she was because she would have been dead at that very moment had Jasmine never stepped into the picture.
“Listen, just chill here. I gotta get to New York and find out what’s up. I’ll get back out here as soon as I can, and if I can’t, I’ll fly you back to New York.”
“No, baby. I want to go back to New York with you. I can’t let you just go back to New York alone by yourself like that.” Mia pressed up close to Nico and held his hand.
“Nah, I need you to stay out here. Just hold me down from out here. Trust me on this. I don’t want you in New York until I take care of this and sort everything out.”
Mia knew not to press the issue. She was perfect at playing her position, so she got on her iPad and started looking for flights for Nico. She found a flight heading out in two hours, and she booked it.
***
Nico kissed Mia and then made his way down to the lobby, so he could head to the airport.
As soon as he left the suite, Mia went on Google to see what she could find out about the shooting, and without reading the entire article from New York’s Eyewitness News Web site, she stopped and focused on where the article said that the names of the female victims at the location of the suspected drug kingpin’s residence were being withheld.
Mia wouldn’t have wished that kind of death on her worst enemy. But she couldn’t help but plaster a smile across her face. Her biggest competition had managed to eliminate herself, and that brought her joy.
She poured herself a drink of Bailey’s Irish Cream on the rocks. She sat down on the couch and smiled at the thought of her and Nico’s unimpeded future together.
Mia decided to celebrate Jasmine’s demise by treating herself to a luxurious spa treatment, so as soon as she finished her drink, she dialed the front desk and had them book an appointment for her.
With a smile that just would not leave her face, she walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows and looked out at the breathtaking view. She said out loud to herself in a sinister tone, “She should have just listened to me. I told that bitch that—‘I am wifey.’”
Seven
Nico’s red-eye flight landed at New York’s LaGuardia Airport at five thirty in the morning. He had already spoken to BJ, and he would be at the airport when the plane arrived, waiting to drive them to Nico’s Manhattan apartment.
BJ had managed to gather what the streets were saying, and one thing was crystal clear—Bebo’s name kept ringing out. He was convinced that Bebo was behind the shootings. His theory: Nico had played Bebo by not coming to the meeting Bebo had called.
Nico unbuckled his first-class seat and waited for the plane to taxi its way to the gate. What normally took no more than ten minutes was taking much longer, and he was getting extremely restless.
The pilot spoke through the intercom and apologized to the passengers, telling them they had arrived safely at the gate but, due to a mechanical issue with the plane’s door, they would be delayed in getting off the plane for another fifteen minutes or so.
Everyone on the plane was tired and groggy, and they voiced their anger and disgust before returning to their seats, where they had no choice but to sit and wait for the doors to open.
Nico called BJ and told him what was going on with the plane.
“It’s all good. I’m here,” he said to Nico.
“What’s the word?”
“That muthafucka Bebo.”
Nico gritted his teeth. “That’s what you hearing?”
“From everybody. And everybody can’t be wrong on this shit.”
Nico was quiet for a moment. “We handlin’ this shit today!”
“No doubt.”
At that point Nico could see one of the flight attendants opening up the front door to the plane. “I’ll be out in like five minutes,” he told BJ. He looked down at his seat and on the floor to make sure he wasn’t leaving anything behind. Then he stepped into the aisle to exit the plane.
As soon as he looked up, he saw five white uniformed Port Authority police officers. Before Nico could blink, they had him surrounded.
One of the officers said, “Mr. Carter, can you turn around and place your hands behind your back?”
A smirk came across Nico’s face. “Y’all niggas serious, man?”
“Mr. Carter, turn around and put your hands behind your back!” the young, rookie-looking officer commanded much more forcefully, his face blood red.
“Get the fuck outta here! Put my hands behind my back for what?” Nico tried to brush past one of the officers.
Two of the cops instantly drew their Taser guns and aimed them at him, while two other cops ordered everyone to go to the back of the plane. The rookie officer tried to grab hold of Nico’s wrist to cuffs him as he told him he was placing him under arrest.
“You arrestin’ me for what?” Nico demanded to know. “What the fuck is the charge?”
The people on the plane looked on in shock, wondering if Nico was a wanted shoe-bomber or something.
The next thing Nico knew, the rookie cop punched him square in the face and spun him around and had him laying facedown across two seats in row two.
Nico had the rookie cop by at least thirty pounds and knew it wouldn’t have taken much to beat his ass, but he didn’t want to get tased, or worse, catch a hot one in his back from one of the trigger-happy cops.
The cop applied the handcuffs extremely tightly and yanked Nico up to his feet by his right elbow. In the process he almost pulled Nico’s shoulder out of its socket.
Pain shot through Nico’s body, but he clenched his teeth. “What the fuck y’all arrestin’ me for?”
The cops didn’t reply. Two of them flanked Nico and walked him off the plane.
Although it was still early morning, the terminals were busy. It seemed as if every eye in the airport was on Nico as the cops walked him through the terminal and outside to a throng of waiting Port Authority police cars.
