As I descended the stairs I had to admire how smart we had been in choosing this to be our trap. Most niggas used places that a dope fiend would frequent and drew attention to themselves. We took a raggedy house in North Memphis where an old lady lived and paid her a few dollars to build our fortress in her basement. Ms. Iola was the widow of a street legend named Danny Dolla and back in the day he used to rush shit’ but that was way before I was in the game. Once Legacy’s father put us on to her, I knew we were good.
“Damn y’all started the party without me,” I joked walking into the basement dapping up my niggas as they sat around a card table smoking. Legacy and Makayla snatched Alisha up, pulling her over to the leather couch that sat in front of the 60 inch flat smart TV we used for meetings. I would have to see what their little pow-wow was about later, but for now I needed to get this meeting started.
“Y’all know why we’re here so let’s get to it.” Everybody followed me to the far end of the basement to what used to be a laundry room. I punched the code into the wall before opening the door. Inside was a bar, our round table and chairs, and another smart TV that was mounted from the ceiling. As everybody got seated, I slid out of the room, opening the control panel so the cameras outside would come on, giving us a view of what was going on. Once the door locked behind me everybody got quiet.
“Y’all know that we in some shit right?” I asked looking over at Jacori.
“Yeah we took a loss today and that shit was my fault,” He admitted. Legacy looked like
she wanted to add something, but she kept her mouth closed choosing to shake her head instead.
“Yeah well beyond all of that, Alisha had to do some recon to make sure my car didn’t get impounded and now we all got to lay the fuck low. I mean, like we need to get out of dodge but we gotta do the shit in a way that don’t draw attention. I got peoples in the police department but shit is only good for so long. Who got any ideas?” I sat down giving the floor to whoever had something to say. I wasn’t surprised when Legacy stood up running her hands through her hair or lack of it. Her fade was tighter than most niggas I knew.
“I feel like the answer is simple. We move any weight that we have to the alternative location I told y’all about months ago. You always want to include us,” she pointed to herself, Alisha and Makayla, “when it’s small shit, but you need to take us more seriously. We need to get my husband’s car from in front of Breland’s…Speaking of cars, look who just arrived to our party.” We all turned to the TV to see Alonzo stepping out of my car. I jumped up, but Javon pushed me back down in my seat before exiting the room. Legacy sat down as we waited in silence staring at the screen. Javon walked outside greeting Alonzo with a gun to his back.
“Well I guess I underestimated his young ass,” Jacori remarked as they appeared inside of the house on another monitor. We sat with baited breath waiting for them to come into the meeting room. When the door popped open blood was gushing from the side of Alonzo’s head.
“What the fuck?” I remarked.
“Man he tried me so I popped his ass, but he already had a wound,” Javon explained. I slid a chair out for him as Makayla dug into her purse retrieving a few restaurant napkins. I felt like Javon hit him to make himself feel important, but I would check his ass about that later.
“Looking for this?” Javon questioned stating the duffle bag on the table in front of me. I slid it to Alisha. She opened it nodding her head after she was sure everything was accounted for. Javon sat down next to Jacori like he had done something.
“Like I was saying,” Legacy stated standing back up, “We get our shit out of here, tie up loose ends, and move into the new spot I was telling you all about.”
“I agree,” Alisha chimed in. I waited for Makayla to say something, but she was more interested in staring at Davion.
“Man, this is a dope ass set up over here. Why would you all want to fuck it up to move somewhere out in the boonies?” Javon questioned. We all looked at him in shock. This nigga was only involved because of Jacori. He didn’t have a say in shit and that’s the way it would always be as far as I was concerned. Legacy rolled her eyes as she looked over at Jacori.
“I didn’t know this nigga had a say,” Davion commented. Javon wanted to say something so bad but he didn’t. He already knew that Davion was bad with his hands because he had tried him before.
“If I may,” Makayla stated getting out of her seat. “I think that Legacy is right. It’s only a matter of time before this shit blows up. Alisha already told us what happened with the police. You really think they're not looking for Kortez’s car? I say we blow that shit up too. I think we take this traitor-ass nigga and use him as bait to get Jacori’s car back and then we disappear for a while.” I almost started a slow clap because usually this bitch was whining. I couldn’t believe she was trying to be in on some shit. I guess these women really were starting to take a page out of our book.
“Well damn was I the only one that heard my baby? For the first time she is making some real sense,” Davion stated poking his chest out. I stood up looking over at Alisha and Legacy before letting my eyes rest on Alonzo. “I say that we clean house and do what Makayla said. I never saw myself agreeing with nothing a female said but she is making sense right about now.”
Scanning the room, I noticed Legacy and Jacori whispering among themselves, but nobody objected so in my mine it was settled. “Let’s get this shit out of here, torch this place, and get J’s car back.” I ended the meeting by smacking the table with my palm, but I didn’t like the looks of the faces as they stood to their feet and began the task of clearing out the meeting room. While Jacori and Javon grabbed all of the electronics, Legacy and Makayla slid back the wood paneling partitions, grabbing the bricks stashed behind them. Davion grabbed whatever odds and ends that we could use and started making his rounds through the house to make sure nothing important was left behind. Alisha kept watch over Alonzo whose eyes were about to pop out of his head.
It was hard for me to believe that I used to trust this nigga. He sat there greedily eyeing everything that we had worked hard to gain and I thought to myself that he could have been a part of this. Even though I fucked with him, I never allowed him this far in the process. I knew now that he had seen too much, so after all was said and done this nigga was about to be a casualty in a war he was never prepared for.
ALISHA
Kortez was standing there all smug like he was the king of some shit; like I didn’t just save his ass. Had it not been for my quick thinking, he would still be in that jail and they would’ve nailed him when we killed that officer. They would have easily connected the dots and realized we were helping him conceal what was in that car. I would have to pay Officer Franks a debt of gratitude for not allowing a thorough search of the vehicle. She was from the hood just like we were, and therefore looked out for her own. I felt like the only reason she obtained a badge was to help further the cause of the niggas in the hood.
I stood over Alonzo with my hand tapping my hip. I had to let him know I was not to be fucked with, but I think he knew better than to try me. Javon was a punk for trying to hit a man while he was down earlier. He wanted to be important so bad but he was nothing more than a flunky.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Kortez asked with an attitude. I didn’t want to fuss and fight with my husband anymore because we were going to get through this tribulation together, but he was trying me right now. Instead of answering him I bit down on the inside of my jaw.
“Oh so you can’t talk huh? Cool. Well don’t have shit to say later then either.” He sneered before leaving the room.
“How the fuck he gonna be mad and you the one that helped his ass out,” Legacy asked as she filled up the duffle bag in front of her.
“I know right?” Makayla chimed in, “He actin’ like you the fuckin enemy. Niggas kill me sometimes.”
“Kay mind your business and let them two deal with that,” Davion warned as he wa
lked out of the room carrying two heavy boxes. She closed her mouth as Legacy shook her head. Jacori knew better than to tell her to shut up so he continued to pack up and mind his damn business. For some reason he seemed to show more respect to her than Davion and Kortez showed me and Alisha.
“We got the last of it. Let’s roll out!” Javon commanded. We all whipped our head in his direction.
“Sit your ass down and learn something before you go making orders. Jacori you better get him. He knows he ain’t running shit but his mouth,” Legacy stated, rolling her eyes. Javon looked over at Jacori for help but didn’t get any so he stormed out of the room carrying the home theatre system. I laughed a little bit to myself. Once we had the room cleared out Kortez came back down texting on his phone. He was smiling a little bit too hard for my taste.
“Go ‘head upstairs with everybody else,” Kortez said to me. “I need to holla at Alonzo real quick.” He didn’t bother to look up from his phone.
“Stand up,” I command Alonzo. He looked from Kortez to me not sure who to listen to.
“Did you not just hear me say that I needed to talk to him?” Kortez questioned, placing his phone in his pocket. I didn’t give a damn about him challenging me because I was about to show his ass something.
“Like I said, stand up and walk on out to the car. If you hesitate I will put two in the back of your dome. Don’t try me because I’m already feeling some type of way.” Alonzo stood up walking past Kortez and I followed right behind him. We made it up the stairs and out of the back door where everybody else stood talking.
“You will get in the car with me and Kortez and we gon’ drop you off over by Breland’s. You will get in the car and wait until we drive past before pulling off. You will follow us to our location and then we will let your ass go. But if you deviate from this shit even a little bit, I got a line on where your granny, mama, and baby mother live. Play wit' it.”
Alonzo nodded his head slowly as Legacy tossed him the spare keys. We walked back to our cars where Kortez snatched my arm as Alonzo got in the back seat.
“What the fuck you on? Since when you think you can just disregard what the fuck I say?” I looked at him sideways because he was holding up progress; plus all eyes were on us. If he wanted to talk his shit, now was not the time.
“Cat got your tongue now? You had so much to say earlier when you were ignoring me.” I snatched my arm away from him and reached for the door.
“Don’t keep playin’ with me Alisha. I hate to have to embarrass you in front of your lil’ girlfriends.
“If you don’t get out of my face then you will be the one embarrassed. I just risked life and limb to make sure you got the fuck out of that cage. I don’t need this shit!”
“You risked life and limb? Mane every day I am in these streets I’m risking life and limb. You step up once and that makes you a woman? Get the fuck outta here! You so worried about who I am fuckin’ that you can’t see the blessings we getting. What bitch you know can rock whatever designer she wants? Who you know can get that expensive-ass Brazilian hair fresh off the boat? Who gets to go on vacations out of the country? You need to respect my fucking gangsta because I’M the reason we eating!”
I had to take a step back and look at this smug son-of-a-bitch because he was really feeling himself. “So I guess my lil’ labor was in vain? The penitentiary chance I just took didn’t mean shit, huh?” Kortez’s butter pecan face and long dreads suddenly seemed less appealing. I didn’t recognize the man standing before me. My chest was heaving up and down as I stared up at him in disbelief.
“You know what? Just shut the fuck up talking to me bitch!” Kortez had the balls to say.
“Bitch?” I repeated.
“You heard what the fuck I just said!” he confirmed.
Hearing him call me a bitch for the very first time hurt me to the core of my very soul. Why couldn’t he see that I did what I felt needed to be done to protect him and keep him safe? All this disrespectful shit he was spitting to me had me torn all up on the inside of my heart.
“So I’m a bitch now?” I repeated pointing to myself. I saw Legacy open the door, but I held my hand up holding her off. I needed to handle him myself.
“Don’t start getting in your feelin's. You only did what you did to protect your lifestyle; a lifestyle I work hard to maintain. What you do all day but sit up and gossip? Bitch please.”
“There you go calling me a bitch again. I’m not a bitch, so stop calling me that shit.”
“Bitch, whatever.”
Tears repeatedly flowed down my face onto my shirt. I had never seen this side of him and didn’t know why it was coming out now. I felt like my knees would buckle beneath me as I struggled to stand there and take his verbal assault. I could see Alonzo fidgeting around in the back seat. My girls were all giving Kortez the evil eye and the fellas seemed to be shaking their heads.
“So you gonna’ pretend like all this is about money? I was with you when you were nickel and diming, Tez. How you gonna come to me like this? I don’t want you for your money. You ain’t even the most paid nigga I know!” He replied to that statement by kicking the tire behind me. I can’t lie I did jump a little but I stood my ground.
“I deserve better than a project hoe like your freaky ass. My mother warned me before she died. She told me not to marry you. She told me that your hot ass was nothing but trouble. Why the hell did I not listen to her? She was right. Got your girls thinkin’ I’m fuckin all these hoes when we bring bitches into the bedroom for both our pleasure! If you wanna tell something then tell that!”
“Fuck you Kortez!”
“No it’s too late for that. I already did that. I fucked you with no Vaseline with your dry ass, no walls, loose-pussy-having ass. Yeah I cheated on you with Plum and she carrying my babies. Bitch how do you feel?”
Kortez had just struck a nerve and I could no longer control myself. I lunged at him full force screaming to the top of my lungs while slapping him. I punched him directly in his right eye as hard as I could. Crying hysterically and fighting him was all that my emotions allowed me to do. I was at my breaking point and all I saw was red. He had just disrespected me and my love but he wouldn’t have to worry about my hoe-ass, as he called it, any longer. My limit on my love had been reached and my heart was being shattered by the one and only person I loved the most. I never felt so low, ashamed and unappreciated in my life then he had hit the ultimate betrayal. He cheated on me and produced not only one baby, but two. There was no coming back from that. Homicide was in my eyes.
I pulled out my pistol, aimed it directly at Kortez’s heart, said a quick forgiveness prayer and pulled the trigger. Everybody ran up on us as I lowered the gun. I felt it being snatched from my hands as Legacy calmly stated, “We got to get this nigga to a hospital, but we can’t call no ambulance or we all done.”
“The only thing we can do is drop his ass off and keep it moving,” Jacori chimed in. I took their words in as everything seemed to move in slow motion. I found myself behind the wheel and pulling off leaving them to figure out what the fuck to do with this nigga. It wasn’t until I was around the corner that I felt the warm blood seeping through my shirt. I stopped at the light, pulling it up to reveal a wound. How the fuck had I shot myself?
MAKAYLA
As Jacori, Davion, and Javon went to lift Kortez, he sat up effortlessly. “I can’t believe that crazy bitch shot at me,” he commented as Jacori helped him up. He lifted up his shirt to survey the damage, but other than blood, there was no wound on him.
“Oh my God!” Legacy screamed diverting our attention. “If she didn’t shoot that nigga then whose blood is that on him?” His eyes grew large as saucers as we realized what happened. Alisha pulled off in Kortez’s bulletproof Denali and left her car. That meant that when she shot at Kortez the bullet must have ricocheted off of his truck and hit her.
“Fuck!” Kortez yelled walking towards the alley.
“We ain’t got time for th
e bullshit. We gotta find her. Somebody get her on the phone!” Legacy ordered. She hopped in her car revving the engine to life, damn near leaving Jacori. Javon grabbed the gas can and walked back towards the house. We had to get the fuck out of here and quick. I looked at Davion, who looked toward Kortez, who was on the phone.
“Go talk to your boy, baby. I’ll wait right here.” Davion kissed me on my lips before walking over to Kortez, who was struggling to keep from breaking down. I didn’t feel sorry for him one bit the way he talked to my girl. I watched as Legacy peeled out, disappearing down the alley. A few minutes later Javon ran out of the back of the house shaking the empty gas can.
Kortez walked towards Alisha’s car. He used the spare key Alisha leaves in her console to start the car and pull off. Javon waited for me and Davion to get in our car before he pulled up close to the house and quickly lit a piece of paper and threw it towards the house, igniting the fire. At first we didn’t think it had done anything, but soon we saw the first flickers of a fire. By the time we got down the alley, the old house was engulfed in flames. A funny feeling came over me as if we had forgotten something but I shook it off as Davion got on the phone to see what the next move was.
****
They shoved wires down Makayla’s throat. The doctors were trying to get the bleeding to stop while the nurses assisted the doctors. I paced back and forth. Time seemed to stop moving. The obnoxious ticking of the large clock on the wall didn't seem to ease my nerves, either.
Legacy wore a similarly pained expression on her face as she impatiently watched the doctors work. Five minutes later the doctors asked us to go wait in the waiting room lobby while they got her stabilized. The hospital smelled like a gang of bleach and the fluorescent hospital lights flickered on and off every time an airplane flew past. It seemed like it was taking the surgeons forever to come out and inform us of her condition. Looking up at the door the first person I spotted out of the fellas to come through was Kortez punk-ass looking like a broken hearted puppy.
The Real Trap Wives Of Memphis Page 9
