“Yeah, it’s still here now,” Cavanaugh said. “That’s why I was so sure that she’d be here. Where would she have gone without a car? You didn’t hear from her, did you?”
Gracelyn shook her head. “No,” she said. “If I woulda heard from her, since that time you was on the phone with you when they took her, I woulda told you.”
“Good to hear,” Cavanaugh said. “Well, do you mind if I look in the bedroom for a moment and see if there’s anything that might let us know a little something about where Nikki could have gone to?”
Gracelyn nodded and motioned toward Nikki’s bedroom door. For the next few minutes, she stood in utter anxiety as she waited for the detective to return to the living room. Meanwhile, in her own bedroom, Nikki was lying as flat as she possibly could on the floor. For her, there was at least a bright side because she didn’t have to worry about her phone going off as she didn’t have it. Nikki listened very closely, trying to hear as much of the conversation happening out in the living room as possible.
Cavanagh walked back out into the living room and looked at Gracelyn. “She must’ve come and left rather quickly,” she said, based on her observations. “It looks like she washed her face and hands and things like that and then left. The wash cloth is wet and the soap bar has been used.”
Cavanaugh asked Gracelyn a few more questions, such as where Nikki might go after something like that happened. Cavanaugh left her card with Gracelyn once again and told her that she’d be stopping by Nikki’s mother’s house to see if she’d seen her. Gracelyn assured the detective that she’d call her if she heard from Nikki and said goodbye.
Gracelyn waited for Cavanaugh to get to the bottom of the steps in the hallway and walk out of the building before she turned around and rushed to her bedroom.
“Nikki, Nikki?” Gracelyn said, walking into her own bedroom. “Where you at?”
Nikki quickly stood up and rushed around the front of the bed. Just as Gracelyn was about to go over everything she and the detective had discussed, Nikki stopped her and said that she’d heard everything.
“Girl, so,” Gracelyn said, hesitantly, “what do you wanna do? I mean, like what do you wanna do?”
Nikki bit her bottom lip in thought. “Let me just lay low for a couple days,” she said, “until I get to talk to this nigga Breon face to face, ‘cause I’m not even gon’ try to call him or hit him up on Facebook. I want him to think that them niggas that is still after him still got me and shit and just surprise his ass. I want to see the look on that nigga’s face. Then, maybe after that, I can call the police and let them know that I’m free. For right now, shit, girl, it might be betta off that they don’t even know where I am.”
“I see what you mean, girl,” Gracelyn said. She smiled and shuddered. “Girl, this is like some hood James Bond shit.”
Nikki shook her head. “Girl, James Bond ain’t got shit on me. If you knew just how fuckin’ mad I am. I was kept in a fuckin’ corner room in a fuckin’ basement like some prisoner.”
“Nikki, I don’t know,” Gracelyn said. “Maybe you need to just go right to the police.”
“No,” Nikki said. “I’m not goin’ to the police until I at least get to talk to Breon. I’m not, so don’t even go there. Shit, with how I’m feelin’, I’mma get my captors my damn self. Got one down, and one of the others seemed too nice… He seemed like he was just there ‘cause he ain’t have shit else to do. But that one nigga, that Dante nigga, he the one I’mma really get. He fucked with the wrong chick when he shoulda been fuckin’ with that Trina chick. That’s what make this so messed up. But that’s okay… that’s okay. They wanna classify me as the side chick, I’mma bout to show them what kinda attention a side chick can get.”
“Okay, well,” Gracelyn said. She then went on to tell Nikki that she had a cousin, whose name was Steph, who they could go to in case Nikki felt like she needed any protection. Nikki listened closely, keeping the information in mind long after she and Gracelyn had gone their separate ways for the evening.
CHAPTER 4
Breon felt a little funny being off work in the late afternoon. In fact, the last time he had missed work it was warm outside and women were walking up and down Michigan Avenue downtown in as little clothing as possible. After leaving Charles’ store over by Wayne’s house, they’d swung by Wayne’s place quickly to make sure that Jayron had what he needed to get going with looking for a job. Once that was finished, Breon, Wayne, and Ray headed over to Ray’s house. During much of the ride, Breon had been quiet. It was very clear to Wayne and Ray that he was feeling all sorts of salty about the situation. While he did not regret taking off of work, he wanted to use as much of his time as he could to catch up with Dante. The plan had been for Breon to catch up with Dante, but now it had changed to putting a bullet in his head on sight.
“Damn, I can tell y’all niggas really salty about this shit,” Ray said as the three of them walked into his apartment. “But I can’t say that I blame you and shit because that nigga blew out my damn window and shit. He gon’ pay for that shit. Before we kill him and shit, just let me squeeze some money out of the nigga ‘cause I ain’t got time to be comin’ up off no money if I ain’t got to.”
“I feel you on that,” Breon said.
Ray rolled a blunt and the three of them passed it around. As they felt themselves loosen up, they talked more and more about how they would catch up with Dante.
“Nigga, here’s what I say,” Wayne said. “I say we just go sit outside that house, in some unmarked car or some shit that we can get from somebody we know or some shit like that. When the nigga come in the house late at night, or in the middle of the day, I don’t give a fuck, we run up on his ass and ride out real quick. ‘Cause you know the longer we wait, the more I gotta worry about him puttin’ that video out. Man, if he do that shit…”
“You through,” Breon said, not realizing how the words had just slipped out of his mouth.
Wayne’s eyes cut over to Breon, letting him know that he didn’t have to be so blunt about it. “Yeah,” he said. “And there’s that. But what I really meant is if he put that video out, I don’t care if you get that big booty Nikki back or not. Fuck all that. If that video go on the internet, I’mma make it my personal mission to make sure that nigga is dead within a couple days and shit. I mean, I ain’t gon’ sleep until I find his ass, I don’t give a fuck what I gotta do.”
Breon could hear the anger in his cousin’s voice. In fact, this was really the only time he’d ever seen Wayne get so angry about something. However, he couldn’t blame him. Not only was what Dante did to him disrespectful and humiliating but it was also something that had simply gone too far, especially since Wayne didn’t have anything to do with the supposed conflict that Dante had with Breon.
Just as Breon was about to brainstorm more ideas, having thought about some of the people that he and Ray knew in the streets that might be of some use, his phone rang. Quickly, the three guys got quiet. At the front of each of their minds, there was the idea that the person calling could very well be Dante. Ray and Wayne watched as Breon pulled his phone out and looked at who was calling.
“Shit,” he said. “It’s my girl, Trina. Don’t say nothin’. I’m supposed to be at work and shit, you know? Just be quiet and shit so she don’t think nothin’ up. If she just got off work, then she probably think that it’s my lunchtime and shit.” Breon held the phone up to the side of his face and answered, putting on his most positive sounding voice. “Hello? Yeah, wassup?”
“Breon, are you on break or what?” Trina asked.
Breon looked at Ray and Wayne before he responded to Trina. “Yeah,” he answered. “But we only got a few minutes left. The manager just came in and said that we might be able to leave work early. Well, I mean, some of us might be able to leave work early ‘cause we ain’t got that many trucks coming in. Why, wassup?”
“Well,” Trina said, her voice clearly sounding hesitant.
“No, what is it
, Baby?” Breon asked. “Tell me, Trina. I can tell something is wrong with you, so don’t lie. There ain’t some nigga that come givin’ you a problem, is there?”
“No, no,” Trina answered. “We need to talk as soon as possible.”
“Well, I don’t know if I’mma be able to leave early and stuff,” Breon said. “And I’m not try’na have you waitin’ up and stuff ‘cause I don’t want you to be late when you get to work.”
“It’s about that Dante guy,” Trina said.
“Oh, okay,” Breon said, looking around Ray’s living room. “What about him, Trina? I told you, you ain’t gotta worry about him and stuff. Okay? For real, we just talkin’ and stuff, and like I told you, he supposed to be hittin’ that nigga Pablo up and stuff.”
“Yeah, I remember,” Trina said. “But that’s not what I’m talkin’ about. I mean, it is and it ain’t. I feel like this is worse than you might be thinkin’.”
“What you mean it might be worse than I’m thinkin’?” Breon asked.
Ray and Wayne looked at one another, each wishing that they could hear what Trina was saying. Whatever she said to Breon clearly had caused him to become alarmed. The look on his face said in all, whether he was trying to hide it or not.
“You at work, Breon,” Trina said. “I’m not try’na bother you and stuff, but I just heard some stuff that I think you might wanna know. But for real, I don’t want you to be distracted and shit at work in case it ain’t nothin’ that you need to be worried about or nothin’ like that. Just go on and work and stuff. I was only calling ‘cause I’m just now leaving downtown ‘cause I went to this Greek restaurant over by the park because my sister, Monique, had hit me up when I got off work and she was like we should have a quick, early dinner and stuff. So, I was like okay and I went and met with her and stuff. Don’t worry, though, Baby. I just thought that you might be at work. Just send me a text when you on your way back to the apartment and stuff and maybe, probably, I’ll still be up and we can talk.”
“Okay,” Breon said, officially feeling concerned.
Breon and Trina said goodbye to one another. When Breon pressed END CALL, he dropped his phone onto the couch cushion next to him. He then turned and looked at Ray and Wayne. “That was Trina,” he explained. “She said she wanted to talk to me about this Dante shit, but she ain’t wanna say why or what it was ‘cause she don’t want me to be worried and stuff.”
“Oh, yeah?” Wayne said. “So, she don’t really know what the fuck is goin’ on.”
“Man,” Breon said, knowing that he was about to jump into a deep explanation. “Like I told you, I’m about to propose to her and shit, okay. Okay. So, anyway, that’s why all this shit is fucked up because it’s all bullshit, and I don’t know how far this Dante nigga will go. I mean, I know the nigga is crazy and shit, but just ain’t know how crazy.”
“Okay,” Wayne said.
“Right,” Breon said. “But, of course, you know that I ain’t tell her about Nikki. I mean, why the fuck would I do some shit like that? Anyway, she just think that me and Dante is meeting up to talk and stuff. I’m really try’na keep her away from this shit ‘cause I know, especially with how her family treat her like the little princess and stuff, that if she feel like somethin’ is up, them sisters of hers might find out and then this shit will be all over the fuckin’ city. Them bitches can’t keep they mouth shut at all. They can’t hold water even if you seal up the leak. Feel me?”
Ray and Wayne nodded, understanding what Breon meant. “So, you need to leave and stuff right now?” Wayne asked.
Breon shook his head. “Naw,” he answered. “Like I told her, she just think that I’m at work and shit, on break. So, I can chill and shit for a little while longer. Maybe in a couple hours or some shit, we can get goin’ and shit, but ain’t no point in me runnin’ home right away if she think that I’m supposed to be at work and shit.”
The three men continued passing the blunt around as they pondered the various ways they could get to Dante. This entire situation was frustrating for many reasons. One of these reasons, which each of them felt deeply, was the fact that they knew where Dante had been, as in the house just a few streets over from where Wayne stayed. However, not being able to touch something so close was the problem.
“Man, I’m tellin’ you,” Wayne said. “We know where the nigga is and stuff. Niggas, I really think that we just need to go sit out over there and when we see the nigga, it’s gon’ be on sight.” He held his hands up. “It’s just that simple, feel me?”
“Yeah, it sounds simple,” Breon said. “But that nigga ain’t dumb. He may be stupid, but he ain’t dumb. I really doubt that it’s just gon’ be that easy to catch him. And especially now because he know that we know where he stay and stuff and that we might be lookin’ for his stupid ass.”
“Right,” Ray said, shaking his head. “I don’t mean to put your idea down and shit, but I doubt that nigga is gon’ be just sittin’ over there and shit. For all we know, that nigga coulda got up and moved after the little shootout and shit that we had. I know if I was him, I wouldn’t be sittin’ up over there and waitin’ on a couple niggas to just run up on me when I’m sleepin’ and shit.”
“Damn, you right,” Breon said. “And plus, he got Nikki and I doubt he keepin’ her over there ‘cause when I talked to her and shit, she said she ain’t know where they took her. All she remember was seeing Sacramento or something.”
“Yeah, well,” Wayne said, “that ain’t really sayin’ much. You know how far Sacramento go. Shit, that street damn near go all the way from the far north side to the south side. Shit, there’s probably some parts of that street that I ain’t even seen.”
“Exactly,” Breon said. “That’s why she was shitty with me and stuff when she called me ‘cause I told her I wasn’t gon’ be able to come get her and stuff unless she could tell me where the fuck she was.”
“Right,” Wayne said. “Okay, well, how about this? Since we know the nigga prolly ain’t over at the house, I say we set his ass up. He so busy try’na set you up and shit, right? Or else, he wouldn’t have done some shit like takin’ the chick that he thought was your chick. I say you hit that nigga up and get him to come somewhere, or maybe you go wherever he say, but do it in a way to where you go real late and shit or some shit like that. Me and Ray know what time and where and shit and we can be there, hidin’ and shit. Or shit, we can be in cars that are just ridin’ by or somethin’.”
“Man, you know that if I meet up with that nigga, he gon’ say some obscure place that is gon’ have us out of the way of the public and stuff,” Breon said, resistant toward the idea.
“Okay, that’s coo,” Wayne said. “Just think about what I’m sayin’ and shit, nigga. Just work on makin’ a meetin’ with the nigga and shit and we can be there and shit to get the nigga. Make sure he think that you gon’ be comin’ alone and stuff and we can surprise the nigga when he get there. He not gon’ even see that shit comin’, and he gon’ think that you came on your own."
“I know,” Ray said, interjecting. “He want you to come get that hoe, Nikki, right?”
“Right,” Breon said, nodding.
“Okay, nigga,” Ray said, continuing. “Act like you try’na get Nikki back. When you do that shit, let us know every fuckin’ thing. Maybe sure that you get the nigga to meet with you in the middle of the night and shit. Just make sure you sound like you’re really try’na get Nikki back. He gon’ fall for that shit ‘cause he gon’ think that what he did worked. Wherever he wanna met, we be there and shit too.”
“But I don’t wanna kill the nigga right away,” Wayne said. “With what that nigga did and shit, just killin’ him would be too nice… Too easy for him. I want that nigga to suffer and shit. Then I wanna leave his naked body out in the cold for whoever gives two shits about his slimy ass to find him and shit.” Wayne nodded and smiled, thinking of the sweet feeling of revenge. “Yeah, that shit would be wassup. Fuck that nigga. And I wanna make sure t
hat I get his phone and stuff so I ain’t gotta worry about that video and shit gettin’ out.”
Breon, Ray, and Wayne finished passing around the blunt. By the end of the evening, which was around 8 o’clock, they decided that Breon would hit Dante up in the middle of the night. While the ideas they had certainly could work, there was also so much room for them to backfire. He couldn’t believe that he was going to stick his neck out for Nikki, but she could very well be enough to get Dante to show up.
“And what if he ain’t got Nikki with him?” Breon asked.
Ray and Wayne paused for a moment before they each shrugged their shoulders. “I mean,” Ray said. “She a big girl. She can get herself out of it. Shit, for all we know, that hoe could already be over there suckin’ his dick or somethin’ for favors and stuff. You never know with these hoes nowadays, especially nowadays.”
“You right,” Breon said. “I can’t go riskin’ more than I really got to. We just gotta worry about gettin’ Dante. Plus, if we get Dante, then she gon’ be okay. Right?”
Ray shrugged. “Fuck all that,” he said. “Like I said, it ain’t worth your life and shit try’na go after some side chick and stuff. Plus, man, you know how these females are nowadays. If that have been your black ass caught up in some stuff, they woulda stopped answerin’ they phone and stuff.”
After they agreed to meet up later on that night, they sat around and talked for a while longer before Breon stood up and announced that he was ready to head out. Wayne said goodbye to Ray then Breon and Wayne headed out to the car. As Breon drove home, Wayne noticed his silence.
“Damn, that nigga really got you feelin’ ruthless and shit, don’t he?” Wayne asked Breon.
Breon shrugged his shoulders. “Shit, I mean, I ain’t mad if a nigga just come after me and me only,” he answered. “That’s kind of the price that you pay when you caught up in that street shit. But, now that I know that he only went after that chick Nikki because he had thought she was my girl only makes me even madder.” He paused. “Man, what if that had been Trina that he’d gotten? Huh? You think about that shit? What if that was actually Trina that he had got instead of Nikki? That’s the shit that just don’t sit well with me because, like you know, I’m try’na marry Trina and shit and I ain’t got time for this fuckin’ bullshit. If that nigga wasn’t try’na play games to get me out to wherever he want me to be, I woulda put a fuckin’ bullet in his head already. But, like we said, tonight I’mma hit the nigga up and we gon’ roll up to him and he gon’ be surprised ‘cause y’all niggas is gon’ already be there and he ain’t even gon’ see the shit comin’. I wanna see the look on the nigga’s face when he realize that we outsmarted his ass. And when he realize that he went through all that work gettin’ Nikki for nothin’…like she really worth all the effort or somethin’.”
Wrath of a Side Chick 4 (Side Chick's Wrath) Page 4
