Wounded Love (G Street Chronicles Presents From Love to Loathe Series)

by Rayne, Phoenix

  I went and stood in front of Jyme, “I was going to tell you all this tonight. Remember before I left I told you we had to talk and get some things straight?”

  He nodded, and Troy handed him a glass of brown liquor. “You gone need this one, dawg,” he told Jyme. Jyme set the drink down on the coffee table.

  “Okay, so what had happened was Cricket told all of us she had a sick aunt down in Nantucket and she needed to go see about her. Well, we all noticed Cricket’s ass and titties were becoming astronomical, but nobody said a thing because the customers loved it. Cricket left back in November and came back in February. First, we thought she was really down with the sick aunt, but we found out before she left that she was going to see this fucker like twice a week.” Troy pointed back at the doctor. “So to make a long story short, she went to Nantucket to have a baby, and she’s been hiding it from us ever since; and from the looks of it…she hid it from you, too.” Troy said.

  The room was silent. Jyme’s eyes never left mine the whole time Troy was talking.

  “She looks like both of us; she has your hair, your eyes, and your lips. She has my heart-shaped face. Jyme, she’s the most amazing little morsel I’ve ever seen. We made her; you and me. She was born on Christmas Eve.”

  Jyme sat down on the coffee table, and I kneeled down between his legs.

  “I want to see her,” he said.

  “I have a thousand pictures of her. I’ll show you every last one of them.”

  He nodded at me and pressed my forehead against his, and we both closed our eyes.

  “Wait a minute. Let me get this straight. She told you the baby is yours, and you believe this woman who hid the baby from you for the whole entire pregnancy and the birth of your child?” Troy asked.

  “I know for a fact she’s mine,” Jyme smiled at me. I smiled right back, and he kissed me on my lips.

  “WOW! Cricket you must have that ILL NA NA pussy,” Troy said. “Well, since you’re so certain, I have a little something you need to see.”

  I turned to look at Troy, and Trey was rocking back and forth in excitement. Troy held up the remote to the T.V., and the screen came to life. All of the bodyguards moved in closer to Troy as the picture popped up on the screen. It was a guy standing up, and a woman was giving him head. I focused on the woman, and then I saw her face and shoes.

  “Cricket, don’t look at it!” Cinnamon shouted. I turned my hand away from the screen, and Troy turned the volume all the way up. Apparently, the screen had changed because now someone was having sex. I could tell by the things they were saying and all the grunting. Then, the scene changed again. I knew exactly who made those noises. It was Troy, and I was giving him head.

  “See? That was just last night. See? Remember she had that on yesterday?” he told Jyme.

  “Dang girl, you learned good. I taught her how to do that,” Chyna whispered.

  Troy and Trey both busted out laughing, and then, Troy gave Chyna a high five. “You taught her well because your little sister could suck the bone marrow out of somebody.”

  Three things happened simultaneously. The drink Troy gave Jyme fell to the floor, Jyme jumped over the couch, and Chyna screamed at the top of her lungs. I jumped up, yanked a heel from the floor and lunged over the couch landing right on Trey. I swung the shoe back and slammed the heel straight into one of Trey eyes. Jyme was on top of Troy punching him in the face and the gut repeatedly. He looked like a well-oiled machine with every punch Jyme was giving the now lifeless Troy; all that could be heard was crunching sounds. I’d stabbed Trey in the eye with one of my heels.

  Without him even realizing exactly what was happening, Trey fell to his knees screaming. Trey yanked the heel out of his eye, and blood shot out, spraying the back of the couch. Doc slid a big knife across the kitchen counter toward me. I grabbed it and went straight to Trey’s neck. Trey didn’t even try to get up; he was still screaming from the eye incident. I pressed the knife right up against his jugular. The bodyguards were momentarily distracted by Chyna screaming and the beating of Troy. None of them had touched Jyme, let alone, tried to get Jyme off of Troy yet. They were all staring at Chyna, then at Jyme and Troy, and finally, they focused their eyes on me. Jyme was now standing over Troy’s limp body. Jyme had beaten the living shit out of Troy, and I had Trey by the neck with a big ass knife.

  “Don’t you fuckin’ move you piece of shit! I will fuckin’ kill you, and you know it,” I yelled at Trey. “Shut the fuck up, Chyna,” I screamed.

  She obeyed my demand and glued her eyes on the door. I looked at every single one of the bodyguards in the eye and they knew I would kill Trey in a heartbeat. The bodyguards didn’t rush us; they didn’t even budge. I noticed the doctor was walking toward us now, and he was holding a gun. My eyes widened as I realized that’s why the bodyguards weren’t moving. Doc had a gun pointed at them.

  “CINNAMON!” I yelled, “Get my purse. We have five minutes.”

  Cinnamon grabbed my purse and bolted for the door. No one followed her, and I don’t think anyone even looked her way.

  “Cricket, you’ve been too good to us. We would never hurt you,” Korliss told me.

  A few of the bodyguards shook their heads in agreement, but I noticed a few didn’t. I nodded and told them all to go and sit on the couch. They all obeyed me and went to sit down on the sectional.

  “Korliss, I need for you to get everybody’s guns and cell phones.”

  Korliss took his suit coat off and collected all the guns and cell phones. When he was done, he tied the coat up in a knot and handed it to me. Jyme was standing beside me; he took over the grip I had on Trey’s neck, and then I gave him the knife. Trey was sobbing now, but it was under control.

  “Doc, where’s your wife,” I asked.

  “She’s in Mr. Paul’s office.”

  I picked up the jacket full of guns and pulled one of them out. I took the safety off and pointed it at the bodyguards. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I sat the guns back down and answered it.

  “I’m ready,” Cinnamon told me.

  “I need my ring, and Jyme needs a change of clothes.”

  Cinnamon and I had been planning this very moment for almost a year now. Adding Jyme to this equation was awkward, but we had to make it work. Once I fully knew I could trust Cinnamon with my life, I told her everything. She was down for whatever I wanted to do. I apologized to her a dozen times for getting her into this shit, but she told me repeatedly that I saved her from the streets. I couldn’t help but think I had only gotten her closer to the grave.

  “I’ll get them. I need three minutes.”

  “You know where to meet us?” I asked her.

  “Yes.”

  I looked over at Doc and he was a nervous wreck. This whole entire situation was all my fault and it was a complete clusterfuck.

  “Go and get your wife, Doc.”

  He nodded back at me and then he watched all of the guards as he ran to the bedroom. My phone buzzed again.

  “I’m here and our ride is waiting” Cinnamon told me.

  “Sugar?”

  “She’s already gone.”

  “We’re on our way.”

  I hung up the phone and grabbed the bag of guns. I looked over at the guards.

  “I never wanted anyone to get hurt, and I’m sorry if I’ve put you all in a situation you didn’t want to be in.” A few of them put their heads down and the others just stared silently at me.

  “Korliss, how did he find me in Seattle?”

  “There’s a tracking device in your cricket ring.”

  I looked down at the ring and then over at Jyme. I yanked the ring off and threw it on the floor. Doc came back with a small Asian women clinging to his neck.

  “Doc, you need to leave now and go to your safe place. I will contact you.”

  Doc walked passed us and bolted to the door with the small woman dangling from him. I slid another gun out and handed it to Jyme. He threw the knife behind us and grabbed the gun.<
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  “Korliss, I need five minutes.”

  He nodded at me, and a few of the bodyguards did as well, but I noticed again all of them weren’t on board.

  “Chyna, get up!” I yelled. I walked slowly to her, still aiming the gun at the bodyguards and gripping the jacket of guns in my hand. She shot up like a rocket.

  “Korliss, I need my other shoe.”

  He handed it to Chyna. I made eye contact with Jyme, nodded at Trey, and then looked down at the floor. Jyme reared the gun back and struck Trey in the back of the head with the butt of the gun. Trey fell to the floor, and Jyme grabbed my bloody shoe off the floor then stood at my side. He handed Chyna the other shoe, and then he got the jackets of guns and cell phones from me. I had to halfway drag Chyna up the stairs; she was whining about how Troy had her package.

  “I’ll buy you a package,” I growled at her. That silenced her, and she was ready to go.

  “Korliss? Five minutes please?”

  “We won’t follow you, Cricket. Good luck.”

  All three of us busted out the door and ran to the freight elevator. I pressed B for the basement. The elevator stopped on the L, and I jumped in front of Jyme. One of the girls from the information booth stepped on.

  “Hey, Cricket. Hey, Jyme. What ya doing?” the bubbly red head asked. I looked over at her, and she was staring at my feet. I looked down, and they were all bloody. Her eyes left my feet, and she looked Jyme over.

  “What have y’all been doing?”

  “Major damage in the wine cellar.”

  She nodded and the elevator doors opened. The redhead went to the left, and we went to the right. Once we turned the corner, we started running. I pushed through the double doors and saw the black Hummer with all the doors wide opened. We ran to the car and piled in the back. Walt was slamming down on the gas before we shut all the doors. Cinnamon held on to the dashboard, and I buckled Chyna’s seatbelt and then mine. Walt drove over the hill of the shipping hanger, and then we were driving down the shipping docks. I looked at the clock on the dash.

  “We have two minutes,” I shouted. “Jyme, throw the jacket out before we leave the grounds.” Jyme let down the window and chucked the jacket out. He threw his gun out, and I handed him mine. We were almost at the casino’s entrance when the sirens went off.

  “Get rid of your phones, too.” I shouted. Cinnamon and Jyme threw theirs out the window. I gave Jyme both of mine, and he threw them out too. We drove through the entrance, and I took a breath.

  “Walt, you have to hurry.”

  He reached below the seat and put the blue flashing light on the dashboard. Then, he slammed down on the gas some more, and we all fell back deeper into the car seats. We made it to the small airport in twenty minutes.

  We all jumped out the Hummer, and Cinnamon ran to the back and swung it open. Chyna was gripping my arm out of straight terror now. Jyme helped Cinnamon with the four bags, and they ran to the small plane.

  “Walt,” I smiled at him.

  “You just take care of that little angel of yours.”

  I ran to the plane tugging Chyna along with me.

  Chapter 7

  Nantucket

  I sat looking out the tiny window next to my seat. Jyme was on the plane’s phone with Mrs. JJ, and he told her to call everybody and give them a serious heads up. I noticed he didn’t tell her about the baby, and that kind of hurt me a little. Maybe he didn’t think she really was his anymore.

  “Things got bad and we had to leave right away. There was a lot of fighting and damage. Mom, please be careful.”

  Everything became silent on the plane, and I felt myself becoming numb.

  I felt someone sit next to me; I knew exactly who it was. I didn’t turn to face him because I wasn’t ready to have this conversation, but I knew I had to. He didn’t say anything at all, so I decided to start.

  “Jyme, I didn’t find out I was pregnant until July. I never had morning sickness or any other signs of being pregnant. I had a period until June, and then it stopped. My period has always been irregular, so I thought nothing of it. We were having our Independence Day fireworks show, and everyone was on the roof. I got so dizzy and passed out. When I woke up, I was in the doc’s office at the casino, and he was examining me. He pressed down on my stomach, and I almost came off the table. Troy and Trey were there with me, and Doc asked them to leave the room because he needed to do a thorough exam. They left, and Doc prepped me for a pap smear. He was down there for maybe a minute or so, and then he jumped back. He asked me when my last menstrual cycle was. He said I was pregnant and asked when the last time was I’d had sex without a contraceptive. I told him, “never.” He gave me a dirty look and pulled out an ultra sound machine and checked my stomach. About a half a minute later, we both heard the heartbeat and I saw the tadpole on the screen. I freaked out because I honestly truly couldn’t remember. My thoughts went to Troy and Trey. Maybe they had drugged me somehow, but I pushed that thought away quickly because I knew there was no way they could have done that.

  My thoughts wandered further and I started reliving that moment.

  “I’ve only had sex with one man vaginally, Doc.”

  “Cricket, please forgive me, but Honey, I know what you do, and you didn’t just start this lifestyle.”

  “All of my previous partners enter elsewhere. Therefore, unless I could pregnant through the butt, I have no clue.”

  “When was the last time you had sex vaginally?

  “Three weeks before I started at the casino.”

  Then, we both started counting back. I sat up straight on the table. Doc placed both of his hands on my shoulders.

  “Cricket, everything is going to be fine,” he tried to assure me, but there was no use.

  “It’s going to be alright.”

  “Troy and Trey will kill it,” I whispered. My eyes now staring at an invisible spot on the door.

  “Cricket, do you want to keep it?”

  I thought of Jyme and I told him yes. I couldn’t kill anything that was a part of him. I started crying and then Doc promised to help me.

  “Since your menstrual cycles have been going on this long, you might not show too many of the symptoms; and since you are a fuller girl, you can hide it better.”

  Jyme’s eyes were all glossy, but he didn’t wear a sad face. He was different and I didn’t know how to approach this Jyme. It was obvious that I had broken him, and I didn’t know how to put him back together again.

  “Doc got me all the prenatal vitamins I needed, and he promised to examine me in secret. We became good friends, and he did any and everything to protect me. October got bad for me. I’d gained all of the weight in my breast, butt, thighs, and hips. My stomach was still practically as flat as it is now. I had a very small bulge, but Spanx took care of that. I had already been saving every single penny I had way before I found out I was pregnant. I had to eventually tell Cinnamon because I didn’t know what I was going to do once the baby came.”

  Jyme balled both of his hands into fists; they were so tight that his knuckles turned white.

  “I knew Troy and Trey wouldn’t let me keep it, and I knew I couldn’t leave. So I remembered when Chyna and I were small, we stayed with this lady in Tennessee who kept mob kids mostly. She has a well-secured compound; many important people send their kids there because they are targets. Chyna and I accidently ended up there one day. We met this nun in the church and we trusted her dearly. She knew our true story and she fell in love with Chyna and me. So she called her sister who kept kids, and told us it was children’s camp and that it was super fun. She took us there and we stayed for a year.”

  He frowned a little and then his face relaxed.

  “There was a raid there one night: men looking for two little boys that belonged to a king pin. So many got shot and killed that night, and I was one of them. I was nine years old and playing basketball in the gym with a ton of other kids. These men came in shooting, and Chyna ran from the bleach
ers toward me screaming my name. I tried to reach her, but everybody was running, and I got knocked down and was hit by a stray bullet. Chyna somehow got me to the infirmary before the lockdown happened. We were stuck in there for a week, and then a bunch of nuns showed up to get us and take us to the Catholic Schools. Some parents came and got their kids; others just sent money for them to go to private schools, or they paid the nuns to put them in the Catholic Schools. No one ever knew each other’s real name so we fit right in. The woman who ran the compound was named Nadine Tucket, but we all called her Auntie Nan. We found out later that there was a breach in the security and that’s why the compound was overrun.

  Jyme’s eyes shifted a little, but he said nothing.

  “But since then, Auntie Nan has stepped up her security one million times over. It costs a small fortune, but if you want your child to make it to their eighteenth birthday, Auntie Nan was and is your lady. I thought of her when Cinnamon and I were planning this baby’s birth. I needed a safe haven for the baby; I couldn’t risk Troy and Trey finding out I was pregnant. They would have held the baby over my head for the rest my life, and I couldn’t put that innocent child in that kind of danger. I thought of you so many times, and I wanted to tell you; but I knew you’d come get me and they wouldn’t let that happen. Then I thought I could just give you the baby; you’d take care of it. But I knew they knew where you were, so if I ever pissed them off, they’d come looking for you and they’d find the baby.”

  Jyme jerked a little, but he still said nothing. My mouth was so dry, I just swallowed hard and continued.

  “Cinnamon and I came up with a plan: my aunt was sick with cancer. I was her only living relative and I needed to go see her in Nantucket, Maine. Cinnamon and I made arrangements for a safe house just in case something went wrong. We bought a small cabin in the mountains and hired someone to keep up with the grounds. We had everything planned, the escape route, money, IDs…you name it, we covered it.”

  I reached for his hand, but he just stared back at me with the coldest eyes I’d ever seen. I just let my hand drop and I looked back out the window.