Chapter 13
“Can you please state your first and last name for the record?” the homicide detective said, pressing the record button on the tape player.
Several other prison officials were in the room as well, sitting attentively with their note pads and ink pens in front of them. The events that took place in Mayo’s cell had to be explained in detail, and there was only one person alive who could tell that story. Mayo’s celly thought he knew what was going on until he saw all the guards rushing the block. The prison staff asked him for a statement but he declined, sticking to the G code of never talking to the cops.
“My name is Kea Nealy,” she said in a low tone.
Kea’s acting skills were excellent. She sat there in front of the group of men like she was intimidated by their presence. The warden had to stop the interview to bring another female guard because he could tell that she was uncomfortable.
“Can you tell us what happened last night?” the detective asked softly as if he cared.
The obvious bruises on Kea’s face and neck told most of the story, but it was the bruises between her legs that told the rest. Immediately after the encounter took place, Kea was taken to a local hospital where nurses used a rape kit to determine that the small tears in her vagina were consistent with a female who was resisting penetration. That came from when Kea tightened up her canal as much as she could while Mayo shoved his large member in of her. Making Mayo pretty much pry her legs open to get to the pussy also helped the ruse.
What sealed the deal was Mayo’s cum, which was found inside Kea. She had taken a morning after pill to kill any chances of getting pregnant. As far as the possibility of catching an STD, Kea had made sure Mayo had a clean bill of health before anything. Several trips to the jail’s hospital afforded her the opportunity to check Mayo’s health record. That was courtesy of a fellow MHB member who worked as a nurse at the jail.
“So, Ms. Nealy, is there anything else you wanna tell us about the incident?” the detective asked.
He looked around the room to see if anybody from the prison staff had any questions, but they didn’t. Kea had this whole hit on Mayo mapped out to perfection. She left little to no room for doubt, and when she left the office, she took with her any suspicions that might have been lingering around the room.
It was broad daylight when Gwen pulled up to Patrick Street and hopped out of the car with her gun in her hand. Two other cars pulled up right behind her and MHBs locked, loaded and ready for whatever jumped out of them.
Niggas standing on the corner of the block were staring at the women hard, but Terrence had already given them the heads up to let them do what they had to do and leave. That was all negotiated in the deal Terrence made with Gwen the night before. For Diamond’s life, Gwen or nobody else from MHB could retaliate for his people snatching her up.
“Come wit me,” she told Alexus. “Everybody else wait out here.” Gwen directed, walking up to the house she had recently bought from Terrence.
When she got up to the door, it was already partially open. Gwen and Alexus proceeded through the door, guns in their hands, cocked, and ready to shoot. According to Terrence, nobody else was supposed to be in the house but Diamond, so if anyone other than her jumped out of the woodwork, they were getting shot.
“Keep ya eyes open.” Gwen spoke, leading Alexus up the steps.
The whole house was silent, and for a minute, Gwen didn’t think Diamond was going to be there. It kind of felt like a set up. Gwen was relieved when she got to the back room and saw Diamond lying on the ground. She was half-naked and still knocked out cold from a concoction given to her less than twenty minutes ago. It was codeine and Xanax mixed together, something Terrence knew for sure would put her to sleep.
“Oh shit, D!” Gwen said, running over and kneeling down next to her.
She cradled her in her arms, checking her wrist to see if Diamond had a pulse. It was a little weak, but Diamond was alive. The blood had been wiped from her face and her body, but Gwen could still see the traces of it on her bra and panties.
“Hold this.” Gwen said, passing Alexus her gun.
She took her jacket off and wrapped it around Diamond before lifting her up. She carried her out of the house and to the car. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she laid her down in the back seat. Just as Gwen got into the driver seat, her phone went off. She wasn’t going to answer it, but when she saw that it was Terrence, she just had to give him a piece of her mind.
“What da fuck is wrong with her?” Gwen snapped into the phone, looking back at Diamond.
“Nothing. It’s just a little cough syrup. She’ll be woke in about an hour,” Terrence responded. “Aye yo, I need to talk to you about something important…”
Gwen couldn’t entertain anything he had to say right then. If she wasn’t a woman of her word, she would have blown his head off for this stunt he pulled. She’d put niggas in the ground for less, so it kind of ate her up not to ride on this one. Making matters worse, when Diamond finally did wake up, Gwen had to give her the news of the “no retaliation” deal she made with Terrence.
“By now, dese bitches know we here,” Cornell told his boy. “I know I bodied at least one of those bitches at the bar,” he said, toting his sour diesel stick.
Cornell and his crew had been riding around the city all day finding more spots owned by MHB. For his little brother, Dink, Cornell was ready to literally burn the city down. He didn’t care who was in his way.
“Yo, pull over right here so we can get some gloves and shit.” Cornell said, pointing to the small shopping center.
They pulled into the shopping center and parked right in front of a hair store. “Damn, Niki run in here with me,” Stacey said, seizing the opportunity to buy a wig while they were in the city.
The wig wasn’t to look good in, but rather to disguise herself while riding around with Cornell. He was crazy as hell and didn’t care anything about cameras when he went to put in work. Niki was a little harder than Stacey when it came to gunplay, but she too felt the need to change her look.
“Yo, don’t be in there all day. I’ma go over here and grab this shit and come right back.” Cornell told them.
The group of four dispersed. Cornell and his man went in one direction, while Stacey and Niki went into the hair store. Cornell didn’t take long at all, because he knew exactly what he was going into the department store to grab. Duct tape, latex gloves, gas cans, and some rope was all he needed, which he got and was out the store within ten minutes. When he got back to the car, the girls were still in the hair store.
“I just told these bitches to make it fast.” Cornell said with an attitude, looking into the window of the store.
Stacey looked out the window to see him standing there with an attitude, so she and Niki sped up.
“Yo, my nigga, we gon turn dis shit up and get da hell out of here.” Cornell said, leaning against his car.
“Man, fuck it.” his boy responded. “Dese bitches killed my folks.”
Cornell relighted his weed, looking at the store’s window. A sign on the window caught his attention as he inhaled the weed smoke. He tilted his head sideways like he a curious dog, then got up from the car and walked over to the window. He stood there looking at the small 6 by 9 inch MHB sticker in the right hand corner of the window.
“Yo, you see dis shit homie?” Cornell said, waving his boy over to the window.
He thought he was tripping for a second when he saw the realty sticker, but just to squash all curiosity, he stepped into the store to ask a few questions.
“Yo, who own this store?” Cornell asked the female cashier who was ringing up Stacey and Niki’s items.
She didn’t know what to say, so Cornell clarified his question to get a better answer. “Do MHB own this store?” Cornell asked, pointing to the sticker on the window.
The cashier simply nodded her head with a half grin on her face. Cornell looked a
t the woman a little harder, noticing the MHB tattoo on the back of her hand. Cornell threw his head back in frustration, fed up with how much shit MHB had their hands in. He looked around the store and noticed the camera in the corner pointing at the cash register.
“Y’all bitches gotta go!” Cornell said, reaching into his waist and pulling out the .38 he loved so much.
The cashier looked at him, but all she saw was the flash before the bullet crashed through her forehead. Her body fell backwards, and onto the floor.
“What the fuck, Nell?” Niki said, covering her ears.
Mr. Kwan came from the back of the store, but was met by gunfire from Cornell once he saw him. Mr. Kwan dipped back into the room as Cornell sent three more shots at the door.
“No! No!” Stacey yelled, grabbing Cornell before he could walk to the back of the store.
As she pulled him out the store, Niki went behind the counter to retrieve the surveillance tapes. She stepped over the female’s lifeless body and began pushing buttons on the monitor, but nothing happened. She wasn’t leaving without the tape. Without wasting any more time, Niki grabbed the whole 19-inch monitor and yanked it off the shelf it was on. She exited the store with both the monitor and the wig she was buying and jumped into the back seat of the awaiting car.
“Go get her some more water.” Gwen told Porsha.
Diamond finally woke up, thankfully in the comfort of the condo. She was thirsty as hell for some reason, having already drank two bottles of water within the last seven or eight minutes. Luckily, the bruises that she sustained weren’t serious enough to make a hospital run, but her jaw still hurt a little, along with her arms and ankles from being tied up for so long.
“So, how do you feel?” Gwen asked as she sat on the couch with Diamond.
“I’m alright, but I’ll feel much better when I put bullet in Terrence’s head for kidnapping me.” Diamond responded.
Gwen had forgotten that she didn’t tell Diamond about the deal. She turned and looked at Diamond with a sad face. “I made a deal with Terrence,” Gwen spoke. “In order for you to be returned alive, MHB made a pact not to retaliate in any way.” she explained.
“Tell me that you’re joking?” Diamond said, sitting up on the couch. “They kidnapped me, beat da shit out of me, and was two seconds away from killing me. And you’re sitting here telling me that we’re gonna honor that shit?” Diamond said.
“I’m sorry, D, we have honor it,” Gwen said.
It was a tough pill to swallow, but Diamond had to. She couldn’t go against one of the most important pillars MHB was built on. Honor was one of the things that made MHB so strong. In time, Diamond would get over it and it might be sooner than expected because she already had jokes.
“Dat nigga must got a golden dick for you to be making deals like that.” she chuckled, taking another swig of the water.
Gwen and Alexus chuckled too, but only Gwen knew that there was a little truth to what Diamond said. Before Gwen could continue to talk, the locks to the condo’s door started to unlock. Seconds later, Kea walked in looking joyful, even with a black eye. Until then, Gwen had forgotten that she was supposed to put the work in on Mayo. Kea was so busy with the detectives, prison officials and the hospital, she didn’t have time to call, but she definitely brought good news.
“Is it done?” Gwen asked as Kea walked towards her.
“Girl, you’re not gonna believe what I had to go through in order to get these pictures.” Kea smiled as she rambled through her bag.
She pulled out a small yellow envelope, which contained about ten pictures of the crime scene in Mayo’s cell. Gwen reached in and pulled out the pictures and tears came to her eyes when she saw the first flick. It was a picture of Mayo lying on top of the steel table pale faced with the word deceased next to his head. The rest of the pictures were horrific to the average eye. It showed Mayo’s lifeless body lying in a pool of blood in his cell. It showed the three fatal stab wounds up close, and it also showed the shank that was used. Last, but not least, Gwen saw a picture of Kea standing outside the cell with blood all over her face and clothes like she was Carrie.
“Sweet!” Diamond said, bending her head to see the pictures. “You pulled dat shit off.”
Gwen jumped up with tears running down her face. “Thank you so much!” she said, giving Kea a huge hug.
She’d been waiting for this moment for what seemed like a lifetime, and now it was finally here. It was a feeling that couldn’t be described with words. It was like a huge burden was lifted off of Gwen’s shoulders, and she only wished Chad was still alive to see what she had done. She knew that he would have loved to share the moment with her.
Gwen looked up to the sky and spoke. “Babe, it’s done. Give Zion a hug and kiss for me.”
“What you up in here thinking’ about, homie?” Randy said, walking into the office.
Terrence was at work, but he wasn’t actually working. On his desk was a bottle of scotch and a glass of ice. He had been drinking all morning, thinking about the events that had taken place over the past few days. One particular person he couldn’t get off his mind was Gwen.
Randy had a feeling it was more to Gwen than what Terrence was telling him. He just never questioned him about it, and wasn’t going to. Whatever was going on, Terrence was going to have to fight those demons alone.
“Well, I’ma let you chill out in here. Whenever you ready to leave for the day, just call me. I’ll be waiting out here.” Randy said and tapped on the door before leaving.
Some alone time is exactly what Terrence needed in order to get his affairs together. Between Gwen, Cornell and his crew, and finding another drug connect, Terrence definitely had to draw up a new game plan if he wanted to stay relevant in Gwen’s eyes, the dope game and corporate America.
Chapter 14
Chad’s funeral was low key and only immediate family members were invited, aside from the few MHB members who were there to support Gwen. In total, about fifty people were there. The location was undisclosed, so the many friends that Chad had would have to wait until his public viewing which was scheduled for the next day.
“They’re together now.” Ms. Evette, Chad’s mother said, scooting over and putting her arm around Gwen.
She was talking about Chad and Zion being together in heaven. Gwen was being strong, not wanting to cry, but when Ms. Evette said that, it brought tears to her eyes. For a moment, she wished that she could be in heaven with them so that they would be a family again. The two men she loved most were gone, never to walk the face of this earth again. The more Gwen thought about it, the more hurtful it was.
“Ms. Evette, if you don’t mind, I have to leave.” Gwen said looking over at her with tears falling from her eyes.
Ms. Evette understood. It was hard for her to sit there and look at her only child in a casket.
“I’ll keep the twins for as long as you need me to.” Ms. Evette told her, leaning over and kissing Gwen on her forehead.
Gwen wiped the tears from her face, got up and walked over to the casket. She reached into her bag and pulled out the pictures of Mayo’s dead body.
Tucking the pictures on the side of his body, Gwen leaned down and kissed him on his cheek. “Rest in peace, my love,” she whispered in his ear before she stood up straight and walked away.
As she walked down the aisle, the MHB members in attendance got up from the pews and followed behind her. They almost ran into her back when Gwen stopped suddenly right before they got to the front door of the church. She looked over and saw Terrence standing next to a statue of Mary.
When Tiffany saw him, she immediately reached for her gun. She didn’t know what type of shit he was there on. All she knew was that Terrence had become an enemy of MHB.
Gwen stuck her arm out, telling her crew to stand down. The look in Terrence’s eyes told her he wasn’t there to start any trouble. Tiffany stayed on point anyway, holding the P.80 Ruger down by her
side.
“Just because I told you we weren’t gonna retaliate doesn’t give you the right to show up here.” Gwen said, walking up to him.
Terrence was lucky Diamond wasn’t there, because she probably would have taken this as a breach of the verbal contract.
“I didn’t come here to provoke a war.” Terrence said.
“Yeah? Well, why are you here? I know you don’t know the man lying in that casket.” Gwen shot back.
The other attendees weren’t aware of what was going on in the back of the church.
“I’m here for you, Gwen,” he said with a sincere look in his eyes. “I know you might think I’m the—”
“Not right now,” Gwen said, cutting him off. “Now ain’t the time or the place for this. My son’s father is laying up there in that casket right now.” Gwen told him.
Gwen did want to talk to him, but she was right, now wasn’t a good time for that. Aside from Chad’s funeral, Gwen had a host of problems going on, one being Dink’s people running around the city causing havoc with anything and anybody claiming MHB. After the murder at the hair store, someone came back later on that night and burned it to a crisp. The MHB Bar & Grill was also burned to the ground, and several cars that had the MHB logo were shot at. One MHB member was stabbed and left for dead in an alleyway off Nixon Street. Cornell and his crew was going extra hard, and Gwen didn’t have any way of finding who was responsible for it all. It was like chasing ghosts around the city.
“Look, I’ll call you later on. We’ll talk then.” Gwen said in a low tone so only Terrence could hear her.
She didn’t want to just blow him off, but at the same time, she didn’t want everybody in her business.
Terrence read between the lines well and humbly dismissed himself.
Gwen and her girls waited a few minutes, and then they left too.
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