The older man smirked under the umbrella and opened his palms at his sides.
“That is simple. I want the location of the meeting with Khiron and Don Rivera.”
“Fuck you,” Tyreek said, not giving in so easily. His loyalty ran deep.
“Say good-bye to your mother, then,” the Italian man said and started to dial a number on his phone.
“Wait!” Tyreek yelled and tried to reach for the phone. He was snatched back before one step could be taken. He jerked away from the arms and turned his head slowly around, eyeing each automatic weapon being pointed his way. These cats were playing no games, and he new that. He sighed big, knowing the decision he was about to make would be one he would regret, but what other choice did he have? “How do I know that you’ll let her live once I tell you? How do I know that you won’t just put two in my shit and leave her stinking somewhere?”
“You have my word,” the Italian man said. “I will also give you two hundred thousand dollars for your services, but we will keep your mother as collateral until the deed is done.”
Tyreek took a deep breath with his fists balled, knowing he was about to sell his brother out and sign his death wish.
Tyreek looked at Mocha and knew then that he had made a mistake by coming there. He couldn’t tell her what he had done. He couldn’t tell anybody. Still, when he left town that night, he didn’t want to be leaving alone. He of course planned to bring his mother with him as long as the Italians held their end of the bargain, but that wasn’t the woman’s touch he was looking for. He stared at Mocha, who looked back questionably into his eyes. He finally understood her. The two of them weren’t too different from each other. Both had sold loyalty for love. Instead of telling her what he originally had planned to, he shocked them both by going over to her and forcing her to her feet.
“Tyreek, what are you doing?” Mocha breathed. She felt one of Tyreek’s hands slide onto her lower back and the other found a home on the back of her neck. “Ty—”
He didn’t allow her to finish her sentence because by then his lips were already on hers. He knew it might be the last day he was able to see her, and he had always wanted to know what it would feel like to have her lips against his. Mocha kissed him passionately back and let her fragile hands grip the front of his denim shirt. There had always been a sexual tension between them, but it wasn’t until then that she knew how powerful it was. She wanted him to have all of her, and she wished that she could just stay in his arms forever.
“If we would have met in another lifetime,” Tyreek said to her when they broke apart, “you know you would have been mine, right?”
Mocha smiled at his words, stroking his handsome face with her hand.
“Too bad this isn’t another lifetime, huh?” Mocha knew she would miss Tyreek. He had been so good to her, but that time she would choose loyalty over dick. She owed Sadie that much.
“Listen, Mo,” Tyreek changed his mind again in a split second after seeing the sorrow in her eyes. “I need to tell you something important. Some shit is going to happen tonight. The Italians know about this whole meeting. It’s going to be a battlefield.”
Mocha gasped, and Tyreek thought she was surprised at the news he had just told her, but really she was surprised that he knew.
“Does Khiron know?” Mocha asked, scared of the answer.
“No,” Tyreek said, and Mocha felt relief wash over her. “But soon he will. I don’t plan on staying here until tomorrow, Mocha. I’m done with this shit. This life gets played out too soon. I don’t like the fact that the people I care about most get hurt because of the lifestyle I live.”
“That’s what you came here to tell me?” Mocha asked.
“Yes. . . .” Tyreek said. “And to ask you to come with me. Life won’t be the same, the money will be shorter. But—”
“Yes,” Mocha blurted out without even thinking about it. Anything was better than the way she was living currently. “I have some money saved up. It’s a little over eighty thousand dollars.”
She didn’t mention that it was her ho money; he might not want her to come with him anymore if he knew what she did to get that money. But little did she know, he wouldn’t have cared either way. He was just glad that she had said yes.
“Okay,” he was smiling from ear to ear. “You not gon’ have to worry about shit, ’cause I got you!”
“Let’s leave tonight!” Mocha said, not wanting to wait.
Tyreek thought about it, and when he couldn’t come up with a reason why he shouldn’t, he nodded his head.
“Meet me here at midnight,” he said.
“If we’re still alive,” Mocha joked.
“We will be,” Tyreek said. “We have a heads up. Which means we can duck out before the bullets get to flying. But I’m gonna go, I have to meet Khiron and your driver will be here soon. Be easy.”
He kissed her on her forehead and then her lips one more time before making his exit. Little did he know, he had left her with a whole new sense of happiness.
* * *
Don Rivera stood in his room inside the penthouse suite he was inhabiting in Downtown Detroit. He was staring at a picture he had removed from his wallet. On his face there was a small smile as he looked down at the family that was ripped from him. The last time he had been to the states was a year ago. After twenty plus years, he had finally decided that it was time to make it right with the woman who had his heart. He had his share of young women, but none of them compared to his equal. The woman who was able to match him stride for stride and fire for fire. She was the only one ever able to test his authority, because with her he had none. It tore him apart inside knowing that he would never know what it would be like to be with her again, but had been given the opportunity to make everything right. He wasn’t going to mess up this time. Don heard water being ran and knew that his grandson was almost finished getting ready. Don placed the photo back in his wallet and exited the room.
Chapter 19
Showtime, Mocha thought.
Mocha walked side-by-side with Khiron in her red dress and four inch heels. Everything was a blur as she put one white pump in front of the other. The sunglasses she wore shielded her from the curious gazes of people watching the large group of people walking through the hotel lobby. Mocha, Khiron, and Tyreek walked ahead of fifteen men all wearing black suits and holding brief cases. Little did the onlookers know, but all it would take was a small flick of their wrists for those briefcases to turn into automatic weapons. When they reached the elevator, the three of them got on the first one, along with three of Khiron’s goons. The others waited for the second elevator so they could follow closely behind. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Mocha swallowed the spit forming in her mouth and she fought the urge to vomit.
“You know the drill,” Khiron’s voice was distant, but Mocha knew he was talking to her. “Your role is simply to sit there and look pretty. You are not to speak unless spoken to, understood?”
Mocha felt her head nod in agreement. She glanced over at Tyreek’s face and saw that it was expressionless, which meant it mirrored hers. Whatever happened both of their fates were sealed. When the elevator doors opened, the goons exited first and motioned for the three of them to exit too. They’d reached as far as the elevator would take them, and walked up two flights of stairs the rest of the way to the hotel’s roof top. Mocha blocked out the sounds of everything else, all she could hear was her own breath. Looking behind her, she saw that the rest of Khiron’s men had caught up to them and were honing in on them. The ones who walked in front of her opened the thick, heavy door before them, and the rays of the bright sunlight that hit their faces were blinding.
The top of the building was very busy. There was a restaurant up there, and several groups of people sitting comfortably at tables under umbrellas laughing. There were people dancing and kids running around chasing after each other. The breeze was soothing, but didn’t really relieve the heat from the blazing sun.
“Right there,” Tyreek said, nodding toward one corner of the roof top.
Sure enough, at a table far away from all the commotion, was an older Dominican man sitting and waiting patiently. Around him stood his shooters, but Mocha was sure there were a lot more of them lurking around somewhere. Their group made their way over to him, and once there, he stood up so that he could shake Khiron’s hand. His sharp brown eyes were tantalizing, and although older, he was very handsome. She held her hand out when he turned to her and he kissed it respectfully.
“Very beautiful,” he said with a thick accent.
Don wanted to make the meeting short and sweet. He waited for them to sit before he smiled at them, sending uneasy chills up Mocha’s spine.
“Good evening,” Don said to them, giving them all eye contact, but his eyes lingered on Mocha. “Would you like a drink?”
Khiron declined.
“No, thank you,” he said. “I like to have a sober mind when discussing business.”
“What about the lady?”
“She can do without as well.”
Don sipped his wine and looked at Khiron over the rim of his cup.
“Very respectable!” Don said, but Mocha couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not. “Let us talk business then, shall we?”
Khiron nodded. This was the conversation he had been waiting on.
“You have moved quite a bit of product,” Don started. “I like how you work. You are hungry but not starving. Your cartel fairs well, but it is time to put you in the seat of a king. I will front you one hundred kilos and you will only need to pay me half of that back. Use that to expand, and in the business aspect of things, the money will be doubled back to me.”
Khiron didn’t even think twice before accepting the proposal, and Mocha silently shook her head. A real boss knew you were never supposed to accept anything fronted, nor were you supposed to accept the first offer. A real boss would have known that there was always an underlying clause. In a way that Khiron clearly did not understand, Don had just called him incompetent. No matter how much weight Khiron moved and how much he profited, he would forever be in debt to the Dominicans. Even if Don said he wasn’t. He would never be able to be a connect if his connect owned him. Accepting a front meant he had accepted the fact of being inadequate and being a flunky nigga.
He went on to tell Khiron where he would pick up the product and who he would be meeting with. Mocha saw Don slip Khiron a piece of paper and was surprised at how fast the meeting had gone, and that nothing had happened. She knew there was a tracking device in her arm, but maybe Sadie decided against retaliating against Khiron at that moment. Don stood up to make his exit, and just as Khiron was about to shake his hand again Khiron felt something fly by his cheek and saw half of one of Don’s shooter’s face get blown off. His blood splattered on those standing around him and his body dropped. After that it was like a ricochet effect, more bullets started flying and making their home in whoever was in their path. Everyone reacted at once. Panic erupted all around, and the whole rooftop broke out in a frenzy of blood curdling screams.
“Get down!” Mocha heard Tyreek’s voice as he pushed her forcefully under the table and pulled out his gun.
Don’s men surrounded him as they looked around desperately to find the source of the bullets. Tyreek reached down and grabbed Mocha by the arm.
“Get out of here, get off the rooftop!” he screamed at her.
Khiron’s gun was drawn as he took cover. He looked around and all he saw were people running around, crazed and bumping into each other trying to reach the exit. There were no gaps for him to see through.
Who the fuck is shooting?
Just as the thought left his mind, there was an even louder scream by the exit door. The crowd of people backed up, and as soon as the path was cleared all Khiron heard were barks of a powerful fire arm.
Legacy gave no leeway as he fired off on the Dominicans and Khiron. He knew that once they saw their targets they would have no hold back with their clips. He wanted to drop as many of them as he could before they did so to him. Behind him, Lace and Looney made their grand entrance on the roof toting AR 22s. They were dressed in all black, not caring about the heat from the sun or what civilians they hit; if they valued their lives they would duck. The Dominicans were shouting something in a language that they didn’t understand, but they began to fire back relentlessly. Legacy ran fast, ducking and dodging their fire, and hid behind a table to reload his gun. The rooftop was already a bloodbath, and he heard the loud clicking of the automatic weapons adding to it. Their snipers were clipping all of Don’s shooters, and it seemed to them that they were winning. Legacy saw Khiron cowering under a table and couldn’t help but aim his gun at him. Khiron must have felt like a sitting duck, because he jumped out of the way just as the bullet Legacy sent almost ended his life. Khiron busted back out of instinct and the two of them commenced to waging their own gun battle. Legacy felt heat on his arm when one of Khiron’s bullets grazed it, but that did not stop him from reloading and going in for more.
“They’re coming!” Legacy heard Devynn’s voice come from the walkie talkie on his hip.
Looney was covering for Lace against the Dominican shooters as she ran through ducking and dodging their rapid fire to get to where Mocha was still perched. But before she could reach her, the door to the rooftop opened again, and an army of nonstop Dominican men ran atop of the roof.
“Fuck!” Lace said as she dove to take cover, just as life threatening bullets were sent her way.
She used the body of a dead teenage girl to shield her underneath a table. Looney was right behind her.
“It’s too many of these muhfuckas, man!” Looney yelled over the pounding of the bullets. “Where the fuck is Tyler?”
Whoever’s idea it was to put concrete tables on the roof was greatly appreciated, because they came in handy. To their luck, they didn’t have to wait for very long for their Calvary to arrive. Lace felt her hair blow violently with a big gust of wind, and she heard loud noise of propellers and she smiled big when she saw the chopper.
“Right there,” she answered when she saw the door to the helicopter open and Tyler standing behind it.
The Italian in the helicopter with him threw down a rope ladder as it hovered a little ways away from the building.
“We have to jump,” Legacy yelled, still firing his weapon at the advancing enemy until it clicked.
“One . . . two . . . Go!” Lace yelled.
Once the three of them stood up, their snipers clipped any Dominican trying to blow their heads off. They ran to the edge of the rooftop without looking back, stepped up on the ledge and jumped. The fact that they were thirty stories up didn’t dawn on them until they were hanging from the rope dangling in the open air.
“Hold on!” Legacy yelled down to Looney, who was at the end of the ladder.
Khiron ran to the edge of the rooftop with the Dominicans and looked down at the unknown attackers getting away.
“Ahh!” he yelled and pointed his gun directly at Looney and emptied his clip.
Looney didn’t even know what hit him. When the bullets entered his body his eyes were looking up. Tyler saw the whole thing, but couldn’t do anything to save his friend.
“No!” he yelled and tried to reach down, but it was too late. His old friend’s hands loosened their grip on the rope.
“Looney!” Lace screamed, and Legacy held her tightly to him as the helicopter made its get away. She shut her eyes, not wanting to see Looney’s body fall thirty stories to the ground.
“Fuck!” Legacy shouted. “Fuck! Get us out of here Tyler!”
The Italian pilot navigated through the rooftops until it reached its destination. The building was a ways away from the hotel, but he lowered them down a safe distance to let go of the rope with a rough landing. Tyler climbed down the rope and jumped, landing just barely on his feet. The helicopter made its exit, and Tyler saw Ghost and Smoke running toward th
em with sniper rifles still in their hands.
“Where’s Loon?” Ghost asked, but seeing Tyler’s face he already knew. “Damn, man.”
Smoke came and patted Tyler’s back one time.
“Sorry ’bout ya man, bro,” Smoke said sincerely. “But come on, we gotta go.”
Tyler knew that business had to continue. It was time to meet with Sadie to finish the deed.
“All right. Let’s go.”
Chapter 20
I sat in my Hummer, waiting patiently for my team to come back. Outside my vehicle I heard several ear splitting screams just before I heard a loud thud and crash. I hurriedly jumped out of the car and ran to where a crowd was circling around a parked SUV. What I saw made my stomach turn.
“No,” I whispered as tears welled up in my eyes.
Looney’s body had fallen on top of somebody’s parked vehicle, and seeing his body all distorted with his bones poking out of his skin made me weak to my knees. My chest tightened and I tried to get oxygen to my lungs. His eyes were open, and as bad as I wanted to go close them out of respect, I knew with the advancing law enforcement I couldn’t. Instead, I walked away and made my way back to my vehicle breathing heavily. I prayed that the others got away safely, because I couldn’t get the image that I had just seen out of my head. I couldn’t help but feel like I had Looney’s blood on my hands. From my rearview I saw the entire hotel being evacuated and I saw Mocha exit with a darkskinned man.
I’ll handle that later, I thought to myself.
I knew Don wouldn’t be exiting through the front doors, but I knew Khiron would be. I assumed that Mocha would have been with him, but seeing her get inside of a different vehicle I knew I wouldn’t be able to track him that way. Instead, I watched and waited patiently for him to make his exit out the front door. In the crowd of people I was finally able to spot him, he exited with precaution and made sure he had goons on every side of him. And even with them there he still looked all around, studying his surroundings.
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