by Jontu'
“I’m just saying, you kept him around for damn near a year dealing with his insecure ass. I figured you had some kind of feelings for him.”
I shook my head trying to figure out how to explain it so that China could understand me. “Nah, see, it was like he was just there. Like at the end of the day, my heart and mind are pre-occupied by Tone no matter who comes along and my love for him was so deep that at this moment, there is no room for another nigga to even squeeze in,” I said, trying my best not to get emotional. “Plus, Chris got a baby on the way.”
I filled China in on the direct message I’d received and the conversation I’d had with Chris when he came over. Once I told her that nigga was crying, we sat there and laughed hella hard, cracking jokes back and forth until we were in tears. As we were trying to stop laughing, Gio and Q had walked into the room and took a seat. Q was still holding my son and clearly they had taken a liking to each other because even though I was sitting right in front of him, he was content in Q’s arms.
“What ya’ll in here laughing about?” Gio asked.
“Nothing, babe. We were talking about crybaby ass Chris. Nigga cry more than yo nigga LeBron,” China said as we started cracking up all over again.
I lifted up and handed Charlie to Gio as I felt my phone vibrating in my back pocket. I looked at the screen and I saw that it was Pam calling. “Yo!” I said into the phone.
I listened as she told me that she was about to send me a picture to my burner phone. I reached into my Tory Burch bag and retrieved my other phone to I open up the message from Pam. I stared at the message for a second as I realized that this was the address to where Quita had been hiding out. I put both of my phones away and pulled out my Galaxy Tab and began looking up flights from Oakland to Ontario airport. I purchased three tickets and then I booked a rental car under a profile that I had scheduled for pickup later tonight. After I was done, I sent a text to B and Greg and told them to ride with me somewhere in the all-black truck, which was the code that we were about to put in some work and to meet me at my house in an hour. It was already two in the afternoon and our flight was scheduled to leave at five, which gave us a small amount of time to make sure that we had everything in place.
I looked up and everyone else was engrossed in the babies. I smiled at the fact that no matter the dynamics of it all, my son had a family that loved him.
I cleared my throat. “Come give mama kisses, baby,” I said to Baby Tone. He wobbled towards me and as soon as he reached me, he started leaving slobbery kisses on my legs. “Give me kisses bye, bye.” I kissed my son and held him tight. I always missed being away from my baby but I had business to tend to. “Okay, ya’ll, I’m out of here. My flight leaves in less than three hours. Gio, I will buzz you in when I get back, just make sure you turn your phone on,” I said, speaking of his burner phone. I kissed China’s cheek and gave Charlie multiple kisses before I leaned down and kissed Gio’s cheek as well.
“Damn, everybody gets some love except the king?”
I turned around and laughed at Q’s cocky ass statement. “Bye, ya’ll,” I said and walked out the door.
I hopped in my truck and took off. I pulled my phone out and dialed up Big Tank and let him know we were taking flight in a minute and I needed everything in place by sundown.
Chapter 12
I pulled up to the house and saw that Greg and B hadn’t shown up yet so I parked my car and hurried in the house. I rushed up the stairs so that I could grab a change of clothes that would be appropriate for what we were about to go do. I grabbed a long sleeve black body suit with some black tights, an all-black zip up hoodie and some all-black Timberland boots and threw them all into my Gucci carryon bag.
I looked up and realized that some of my boxes of shoes were out of place. I stopped and just stared at them for a moment. The last time I had gone into the safe was last week and I didn’t remember the shoes being out of place. Usually my nude red bottoms were the top box and then the black ones under it. I must have been rushing then because that was the order, but I couldn’t even remember back to that day. I mean, it was impossible for there to have been any other reason as to why they were mixed up. I vowed at that moment to get a little more rest because everything had a process and an order and even the smallest mistakes could be detrimental to the operation we were running.
I was tempted to open the safe just to check and make sure everything was straight but I knew there was no possibility that anybody else had been up here. Lexis was the only one with my spare key and Greg was the only one that knew about the safe, so each of them were missing a link. Plus, I trusted them to the fullest. I closed the closet doors and shrugged it off. As soon as I threw in my toiletries in the bag, my doorbell was ringing.
I headed down stairs and opened the door for them. I moved to the side to let them in but out the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a familiar car. When I looked again, there was nothing there. I definitely needed some rest because I was tripping. I needed to take a nap on the plane and during the 45 minute drive to our destination. I grabbed my keys and pulled my truck into my garage and made sure both of my vehicles were locked up and then I closed and locked my garage doors as well. I grabbed my bag and locked up my house. Ten minutes later, we were heading out and hopping into Greg’s Chevy Malibu before getting on the freeway headed to the Oakland Airport.
I had a weird, uneasy feeling but I pushed it to the back of my head. I hadn’t had any nightmares in a few months so I ignored the feeling and put my head back against the headrest so that I could focus. There was no small talk at all during the entire hour ride to the airport. Once I laid down the plan, we were all in our zones and focused on the situation at hand. There was no room for error. We had to make sure that we were in and out and that we made it smooth and flawless so that we could head to the airport.
We were flying into Ontario airport but flying out of John Wayne in Orange County, so we had to be back at the airport to catch the last flight into Oakland and it departed at 11:10. We would land at 7:05 in Ontario so that gave us an hour to get there, no more than 20 minutes, in and out the house, and then back on the freeway for an hour and a half to make it to the airport on time. Pam’s sister had everything ready in an under car at an apartment complex that we had rented out not too far from the Western Union that Quita returned to every week to send money to her mom. In the event that anything went wrong, we would go to the apartment and call Pam’s sister for her and her husband’s assistance if we needed it.
Once we landed in Ontario, we went to the rental car desk and picked up our reserved car and headed towards our destination. I had the layout of the small house through an associate and knew it would be a breeze getting in but I just had to make sure that the element of surprise was on our side. We had to move fast and execute the plan and then get the fuck out of Dodge undetected.
Quita had been with my uncle for some years so I knew not to put anything past her. She would shoot first and ask questions later. Luckily for us, Quita was a creature of habit. I knew that day after day, she took her showers at 9 o’clock on the dot every night and I knew that the routine was so normal for her that it wouldn’t change now. We had to catch her off guard at her most vulnerable state and the shower would be the perfect place. Quita stayed out here with her grandfather. He was old as shit and was ailing so he didn’t pose a threat to us.
Once we pulled on the street that the small, two bedroom house was on, B killed the lights to the mobby which is what we called an inexpensive car that we did our dirt in and most likely dumped afterwards. I grabbed the small duffle bag that held the items that we would need and we all exited the car. As we walked up to the house, we pulled our masks down and pulled on burner gloves. We were in all black and the sun had already gone down so we blended in with the fresh darkness. The houses weren’t too close together, so it would be easy to get in and out.
I went to the front door and B and Greg went around the back. I slid out the torque
tool and pick and after a few seconds, I was able to pop open the front door. I closed the door quietly and then locked it back because we would be exiting from the back door where the kitchen was located. I pulled my .38 from the small of my back and checked the front rooms. Once I saw that they were clear, I went to the back door and let the guys in.
I could hear the shower water running from the bathroom that was to the left of the kitchen. Quita’s voice could be heard as she was doing a horrible job of singing a Whitney Houston classic. That bitch’s voice had me ready to just shoot her ass dead but I was going to follow through with the plan. I gave B a head nod and he went toward the first bedroom door which was cracked open. He peeked in and shook his head. Quita’s horrible voice could still be heard and she was oblivious to the fate that lay ahead of her. B then went to the second door and eased it open, he looked back at me and nodded his head. I gave him a nod back and he entered the room. I gripped my pistol tighter as Greg and I stood in the room and waited for him to reemerge.
After a couple of seconds, B came out the room with Quita’s grandfather thrown over his shoulder like a rag doll. I know her grandfather was innocent in all this but I didn’t see any way around killing him and still getting away. He was old and had lived a full life so I saw it as putting him out of his misery.
Once B had gone into the living room, Greg and I burst into the bathroom. Quita shrieked and covered herself out of reflex. I pointed my gun straight at her as I threw her the towel that was on the back of the toilet. “Shut the fuck up and do what I say.”
Greg grabbed her arm and pushed her towards the living room where B was waiting. Once in the living room, both Quita and her grandfather sat next to each other and stared at us, waiting for what was next to come.
Tears were in her eyes but I could give a damn. She wasn’t doing no crying when she was in that interrogation room signing deals with them people. I looked at my watch and we had a little over ten minutes to get this shit over with. I pulled my mask up and looked at Quita. Her eyes bugged open in shock as she stared at me and started shaking her head while tears began to pour out of her eyes.
“You can save them tears, hoe. Better just pray for your soul ‘cus I ain’t got time for the explanation and long death speeches.”
I tossed the duffle bag to Greg and he caught it then opened it, removing the syringe and bottle of deadly nightshade that Big Tank had gotten off the black market. Once he’d filled the syringe with the powerful drug, he injected it into both Quita and her grandfather.
I then went into the kitchen and turned on the front eyes to the stove. I grabbed a pot and filled it with cooking oil and placed it on the stove and then dipped a dish towel in the pot. A couple of seconds later, B met me in the kitchen while Greg went and took the batteries out of the smoke detectors and I placed the dish towel that I had dipped in the oil pot on the eye and watched it flame up. The stove immediately caught fire and the flames began to rise and catch the wall. Greg had started a cigarette fire on the couch and I could smell the flesh burning as we stood in the kitchen watching the flames rise. I looked at my watch and we had a little less than two minutes to get out of the house.
I opened the backdoor, locking the bottom lock and holding it open as B walked onto the steps and Greg came running out of the living room and we all ran out the backdoor and didn’t stop until we reached the car. We hopped in and drove back to the apartment to retrieve the rental car, quickly change and proceed to the airport. Pam’s sister would handle discarding the car. Once we had made it to the airport, I pulled my burner and shot a text to Gio letting him know that we were about to board and then I tossed the phone.
As soon as my ass hit the seat of the plane, a feeling of relief washed over me and I just wanted to get home and climb in bed with a jar of sea salt caramel gelato and catch up on some ratchet TV. I missed my son but I was going to enjoy the little break to just kick my feet up and relax. I would also take this time to write a letter to Rico and Uncle Ken. I closed my eyes and took a cat nap for the remainder of the flight.
“Jae, wake up.”
I opened my eyes and stared at Tone as he stared at me. His eyes seemed angry and it wasn’t the love that he used to hold for me sitting behind them. The look on his face told me that I had done something wrong. I reached out and touched his face. He was so beautiful like I remembered and I missed him like crazy. Tears fell from my eyes as I rose up on my knees and reached up to kiss him, but surprisingly, he turned his head away from me. I was shocked and hurt. Had he not missed me like I missed him?
“What’s wrong, Antonio? What did I do?” I asked as he got up from the bed. I looked around and we were back in his old room at Gio’s house. I slung my legs around so that they were now dangling off the bed and watched as Tone turned towards me with fire in his eyes.
“You need to stay on point, Jae Money. You know how to peep shit when it ain’t adding up, so don’t be no dummy. Keep ya eyes open.”
I nodded my head but I didn’t know what I was supposed to be keeping my eyes open for. I had been being extra cautious in the streets but I soaked up his words and hoped that I would see whatever I was supposed to see before it was too late. Tone walked towards me and then leaned down and kissed my lips passionately. I became dizzy like my body had been missing the life that this kiss was giving me but now it was too much and I was drunk in this kiss. Tone pulled away and I kept my eyes closed as he rested his forehead on mine.
“I will always be there. Shit will get rough but you a survivor. Don’t trip, I got my little prince.”
I smiled and opened my eyes but Tone was gone. I looked left and right but I was now sitting in the room alone.
“Jae Money.” I turned around but I didn’t see anything.
“Jaeda.”
I felt a hand on my shoulder.
I opened my eyes and heard the pilot announce that we were making our final descent into Oakland International. I looked to my right and Greg was staring at me with a smirk on his face.
“Yo ass was over there knocked out. Fuck you was doing, having a wet dream?” he asked, chuckling. I shook my head. “Nasty ass Jaeda,” he said and I laughed as I lifted the blinds and stared out the window as we began to slowly drop from the sky.
Tone’s words kept replaying in my head. “Keep your eyes open.”
Chapter 13
I walked into my house with Baby Tone in my arms after a long day of school, running around getting last minute things for the baby’s birthday and a couple of hours on the block. I was exhausted and Tone was cranky as hell. He had gone to the doctor earlier and gotten shots so right now he was irritable and whiny and it was just time that we both crashed and called it a night. I was so tired that I just grabbed one of my wool blended throw blankets out of the hall closet and removed Tone’s clothing and we settled on the couch. I didn’t feel like lugging his chunky butt up the stairs and trying to get settled up there so I turned on Netflix and started an episode of Scandal. After about ten minutes of my son rubbing my cheek with his tiny fingers, he was out cold, snoring lightly as he lay on my chest.
As tired as I was, I couldn’t make myself fall asleep or even focus on the television. I picked up my phone and saw I had some notifications. I had texts from Loren and Lexis and about ten missed calls from Chris. I couldn’t understand why this nigga wouldn’t just leave me alone. He had been calling and texting me all day, every day and I didn’t understand how he had time to work as much as he stalked me. I shook my head, just as I was about to send him a text another text came in from him.
Christian: Why are you doing me like this? I ain’t no lame ass nigga but u keep trying to play me like I am. All I want is to make shit work with you.
Me: I’m not doing you like shit. Mr. Marbry please leave me alone. I told you I’m koo on you now u got me feeling like u on some stalker shit. Now that’s lame.
I shook my head as he started calling again. I sent him to voicemail but he called again. I was starting
to get pissed. I didn’t want to talk to him or even hear his voice at all. I just wanted to move on peacefully. I looked at my phone and he had sent another text.
Christian: It’s good, bitch. We’ll see if you still talking slick when I pull up on you. See you shortly hoe ass bitch!
Something was truly wrong with this dude and I didn’t have time to play games. I sat up and adjusted my son in my arms and then carried him up to my room and placed him in my bed, pulling my covers up over him. I kissed his cheek and walked out the room, pulling the door a little. I stopped for a brief second by the door as I got a whiff of a familiar scent, I looked around and thought that I was tripping.
I was clearly tired and becoming delirious because I was hit by the scent of Chris’ cologne and he hadn’t been in my house since the day I’d broken up with him, and that was weeks ago. I continued walking back down stairs as I dialed up Greg. As the phone rang, I checked all my doors and windows and made sure they were all locked.
“Sup, Jae Money?” Greg said, answering the phone.
“Hey, don’t mean to bother you but this nigga Chris won’t leave me the fuck alone and he just called threatening me and shit. Can you come over here, please?” I asked as I sat down on the couch and muted the TV.
“Yeah, I’ll be there in 10,” Greg said and ended the call.
I was thankful that they stayed so close because I wouldn’t know who to call if I was out here by myself.
I called Loren and added Lexis to the call and began to tell them about Chris’ crazy ass. I wasn’t scared of his retarded ass but I didn’t have time to be trying to find out if he was little crazy or big crazy. Tomorrow was Baby Tone’s first birthday and I had planned to have a little gathering here at the house for him with just those that were closest to us. I was telling Lexis what time I needed her at the house when I heard a car door shut outside my house. I got up to look out the window.
