by Lucinda John
“Be a good girl and you might live,” I lied.
There was no way I was going to allow her to live after she disrespected Donna.
“Kill me now because I’m not telling you nothing about my brother, bitch ass nigga. You killed Dixon, and I can’t wait until he makes you pay for it.”
“How is that you and Dixon have more loyalty than your brother?” I asked while screwing the silencer tip on my gun. I was going to make her death a nasty one.
“Do what you came to do pussy ass nigga,” she spat.
I nodded my head and Ralph and I both emptied our clip, aiming for her head only. The murder scene was a gruesome one.
Heading to a hotel, we decided to get some sleep, I had to take down Alan and Nico before heading home and I knew this was going to be a challenging job since they were now Flint’s most powerful men. Before heading to bed, I sent Lala a text letting her know I loved her and to let my daughter know I loved her as well. I prayed that I could get this mission over with, so I could return home to my girls safely.
The following morning, I switched out the rental, and we laid low in the hotel until it was time to move. I didn’t want to risk anyone seeing me that was why I preferred to move at night. When it was time to go, a bad feeling came over me. Something told me to leave it alone, but I shook it off. Waiting at the arcade where they had their main shop set up, I waited for one of them to leave alone.
A commotion outside woke us up out of our catnap. Nico was outside arguing with a crack head. He backhanded her, and she flew into a parked car. Laughing, he got in his car and pulled off. Allowing him to make it down the street, I started the car and followed him. He led us to a big house in the suburban area. We staked out the house until all of the lights were turned off. Hopping over the back gate, Ralph picked the back door’s lock and just like that we were in his house. For someone who was swimming in money, his security system sucked.
“Move and I’ll blow your head off.” I felt the cold steel of the barrel of a gun in the back of my head.
Turning around, I was face to face with my long time enemy.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Stacks,” Nico smiled feeling victorious.
I smiled inside seeing Ralph out the corner of my eye slowly inching towards us.
“I planned on coming to Miami to pay you a visit and finish your ass off, but you made it that much easier for me by showing up to my house,” he laughed. “I have to call Alan and let him know this.”
The quick second that he turned his attention from me to his phone, Ralph took that as his opportunity to blow Nico’s head off. His body hit the floor like a sack of potatoes, causing his gun to go off. I bent down, picked up his phone, and searched for Bear’s number, but came up empty.
POW! POW! POW!
Three shots from behind us rang out. Nico’s wife was standing behind the smoking gun. Pulling out my gun, I shot her two times in the head, and she fell next to her man, giving them the perfect Romeo and Juliet ending.
“Ughhh,” Ralph groaned, holding his shoulder.
I carried him to the car, and then went back inside the house in search of something to start a fire with. Since Ralph’s blood was stained in the carpet leaving his DNA, I had to burn the place down. Using some cooking oil, I poured it all over the floor leading up to the front door. I started the fire and watched it burn before hopping in the car and burning rubber.
The pilot did his best to patch up Ralph until we could make it back to Miami to see a doctor. I didn’t want to risk being in Flint alone with an injured man. Lacey was right. I was outnumbered and I wasn’t trying to play Russian roulette with my life.
When we landed, I had my private doctor meet up with us. The bullet went in and out, so he patched him up and gave him some pain pills. I brought him back to my house to allow him to rest in the guest bedroom.
“What happened to him?” Lala asked as soon as I walked in the room.
“He took a little hit to the shoulder. He’ll survive no need to call Lisa and get her all worked up.” I kissed her before going to take a shower.
“The nursery is finished,” she said as soon as I entered the room.
“Come show it to me then.”
We walked next door to the nursery and I was amazed. The room was painted pink, purple, and lime green. She had a care bear theme going on that really went well with the color scheme. All of the furniture in the room was white. Rubbing my hands across the grain of the wood, I could tell it was all top of the line. The baby’s bathroom was nicely decorated in a pink zebra theme. All of her bath products were neatly stacked in the cabinets. These past three days I was gone, Lala was really putting in work.
“You like it?” she asked.
“I love it baby. You did a wonderful job. Did you think of any names yet?”
“No. Not yet. You?”
“Still thinking.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Not really just tired.”
I checked on Ralph, before Lala, and I retired in our room. I wasn’t really able to sleep knowing I left Flint and Alan and Bear were still alive. I planned on sending a few of my guys to finish up Alan for me, but I wanted Bear brought back to me alive. I dreamed of the things I wanted to do to him, and I couldn’t wait to put him through hell before sending him there.
Chapter 25
Ralph
I woke up to the smell of bacon and a horrible headache. I tried to get out of bed, but the pain in my shoulder caused me to lie back down.
“Baby, are you ok?” Lisa asked.
“Yeah, I’m good, just in some pain,” I said. “Where are we?” I asked looking around at the unfamiliar room.
“Stacks’ house. He brought you here to rest.”
“That’s what’s up. Help me out of the bed, something smells real good, and I’m hungry.”
She helped me out of bed, and into the shower. Careful not to wet the dressing on my arm, she soaped up every inch of my body. Rinsing me off with the showerhead, she got on the bed and gave a nigga some of that real good down south sloppy toppy.
Lisa handed me my clothes. I got dressed and we headed downstairs to have breakfast.
“What’s good nigga, how you feeling?” Stacks asked.
“I’m straight. My shoulder hurt like a bitch though.”
I sat at the table, and Lala sat a plate filled with eggs, grits, sausage, bacon, French toast, and home fries. Cleaning my plate, I washed everything with a glass of orange juice. Stacks and I went to his man cave while the ladies went to get their hair done.
“I’m mad that bitch caught me slipping.” I grabbed the Xbox controller as we started a game of Madden. Stacks started to laugh.
“Yeah, that nigga Nico had him a gangster bitch.”
“Well, I guess they’re in hell riding for each other,” I laughed.
We chopped it up and played a few more games before the girls came home.
Back at my place, I had just finished eating Lisa up for dinner, and she was getting ready to go home. Today was my boy, Tommy’s birthday, and he was having a get together at KOD. Stacks was on lock down for the night so I got fresh in my Polo outfit, hopped in my Bentley, and was on my way to turn up.
My niggas and me were in V.I.P balling the hell out when a stripper by the name of Seduction came out on stage. I had a big booty bitch, name Orgasmic, on my lap popping her fat ass. I wasn’t paying the dancer on stage no mind. The dancer that was all on me whispered in my ear that she wanted to take me to the backroom and fuck, but I had to decline.
I wasn’t fucking with strippers like that. I made it rain on her, and then dismissed her ass. I had nothing against strippers. I just ain’t want my girl doing it, unless it was for my eyes only.
“Damn that bitch bad,” Tommy said.
By the time, I looked up she was done with her performance and exited the stage
“I’ma see if she’s gon’ comeback to our se
ction and give me some birthday head.”
I laughed at his extra eager ass and sent Lisa a text. Feeling my bladder fill up, I went to the bathroom to relieve myself. When I was done, I stopped by the bar to put in an order for some more bottles. I peeped some bitches in our V.I.P section and I wanted to make sure everybody had a drink.
I was no longer feeling the scene, so I left my credit card on file and told the bartender to charge everything to it. I was walking back to our V.I.P section to tell everybody I was out until I bumped into Lisa. She was dressed in a yellow fishnet short and bra set allowing every nigga up in here to stare at what was mine.
“Ralph, I can explain.”
I ain’t want to hear that shit! I made her go get her shit and dragged her ass out of the club. The air in the car was thick with tension as I drove to her house. When we got there, she jumped out of the car and ran to the door. I was hot on her heels pissed the fuck off.
As soon as the door closed, I backhanded her ass sending her flying to the floor. I picked her up by her throat with one hand and slapped her with the other.
“I’m sorry, please stop,” she cried.
That shit only enraged me more. Smelling another nigga’s scent on her body sent me over the edge. I slapped her around a few more times. I ripped the clothes off her body and demanded she go wash that damn cologne off her skin.
I rolled me a blunt and sat on her bed smoking it while waiting for her to return. I was mad at myself for hitting her, but she deserved that shit for keeping that from me. This explained why I could never get her to move in with me. The bitch was living a double life. How do you sit and tell someone you love them every night, but hide something so big like you shaking your ass for money every night for the next nigga?
The scent of fresh wild berries had entered the room before she did. I could see that her lip was swollen and her eyes were red and puffy. I got up and made her an ice pack then handed it to her.
“So, when were you going to tell me that you are a stripper?”
Silence.
“I know you hear me talking to you.”
More silence.
I got up to leave. I wasn’t playing games with a grown ass woman. If I wanted to play games, I’d play them with my two kids. When I finally made it to the door, she found her voice and started talking.
“I been stripping since I was young. Stripping is all I know. Stripping is what bought me this house, my cars, and is what has me financially stable at the moment. I never had anyone to take care of me, so I did it the best way I knew how. I was going to stop stripping when I met Bear and go to school, but he fucked me over so bad it was ‘fuck you pay me’.
When I met you, you changed things around for me. You showed me how it felt to be loved again, but I was still scared. I held onto my job as my security blanket, something I could fall back on. I wanted to tell you millions of times, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. I’m sorry.”
I just looked at her and walked away. I couldn’t deal with this shit right now. I completely understood in this world you had to get it how you live. She knew jumping into this with my occupation and not telling me would lead to something like this happening.
Hell, she even knew my life story so there was no reason why she should have kept that from me. In my book, that bitch was being sneaky. My phone beeped with a text from Kandi telling me she was in town visiting her family, and she wanted to meet up with me. I texted her my address and headed home.
Chapter 26
Bear
Tied to a chair, I was getting the living shit beaten out of me by Alan. He felt like I had something to do with the death of Nico and his sister, but that had Stacks written all over it. I didn’t expect Stacks to come for me as hard as he did and because I underestimated him, my baby mama and sister were both dead, and my son was in foster care.
I felt myself fall in and out of consciousness as my flesh ripped as he severely beat me with a metal paddle. I must have blacked out because he was throwing ice-cold water in my face.
“Wake up! You’ll get all the sleep you want when I kill you.”
“I didn’t have nothing to do with it. It was Stacks,” I mumbled.
“What makes you so sure?”
“Because he killed my sister and baby’s mom in retaliation for me killing his grandparents,” I said. “Why would I kill Nico knowing that y’all holding my mother hostage.”
“You got a point, but I’m going to make sure this doesn’t’ happen again.”
He pulled a walkie talkie out of his back pocket and spoke into it.
“Bring her in,” was the last thing I heard before I blacked out.
“Wake up fat boy you have a visitor,” he said, slapping me in the face.
When my vision finally became clear, I saw my mom tied to a chair right across from me. I allowed the tears to fall as she began to receive the cruel beating before I blacked out again.
After he had beat her until she was black and blue, he handed me the gun.
“One of you have to die, it’s either you or her.”
He was saying either I kill myself or I kill my mother. I thought about it long and hard before stuffing the gun to my head. The only thing that stopped me from pulling the trigger was my infatuation with Stacks. He was going to be living his life while I was going to be the one buried six feet under. I was in too deep, and I didn’t want to give up. Pulling the gun from my head, I whispered ‘I love you’ to my mom before blowing her brains out.
“You one cold ass nigga,” he laughed.
I looked down at my mom’s lifeless body, and I felt my face get hot. Not only did I want Stacks dead, I wanted Alan dead, as well. With any luck, they would do me a favor and just kill each other.
Alan left me tied to the chair and in the same room with my mother for two weeks straight. The smell of her body was unbearable. I threw up a few times. I was so dehydrated. I had to gather as much spit as I could in my mouth, and then swallow it. My pants were filled with my shit and pee due to me not being able to go to the restroom. I prayed for that gun so I could take myself out of this misery.
The next day, the doors finally opened and I was untied. I tried to get up, but my body was too weak. I gathered all of my strength then got up and walked out the door. Alan was standing by his car waiting for me.
“I wanted to kill you, but I need you. If any more of my people turnup dead, I am going to make you carve your son like a turkey, then I’m going to kill you personally myself.”
He handed me a wad of cash.
“Go get yourself cleaned up, you stink. Meet me at the Arcade in two hours, so we can discuss how we are going to handle this Stacks situation and you better not have me waiting either.”
He got in his car and left, leaving me standing in the dust. I walked to a nearby shopping center and bought me a few things that I would need. I felt embarrassed as hell walking around in the streets that I was well known in with a shitty ass. I wanted to slap the look off the cashier’s face she was giving me as she rung up my things. Snatching my bags from her, I walked two blocks to a motel and got a room.
Peeling off the filthy clothes from my skin, I tied them in a bag and threw it down the hallway. I made sure the water was scorching hot before I stood under it and scrubbed my skin raw. I went through three bottles of Axe body wash trying to feel clean again.
Closing my eyes to wash my face, images of my mother’s dead body began to haunt me. I got out of the shower, lined up my beard and got dressed in my new clothing. Spraying my body with the Nautica perfume, I felt much better now that I was looking and smelling like myself. My fresh new, out the box, pair of all white forces hit the pavement as I left the motel and waited for my cab to arrive.
Cab #664 finally pulled up. I gave him directions to the arcade and sat back until we got there.
“Twenty-three dollars,” the taxi cab driver said giving me my price.
I paid him twenty
-five dollars and made my way into the Arcade.
“You clean up nice,” Alan laughed.
He motioned for me to have a seat.
“Now, tell me everything I need to know to take Stacks down.”
I sat down in the chair and started running my mouth like the snitch I was.
Chapter 27
Ashley
Looking down at my baby boy, I examined his features. Nothing in him showed that he was half Columbian. I was baffled because the baby looked more like James than Pablo. I knew my math wasn’t off, so I was confused as to why my baby was brown instead of tan. I was scared out of my mind that this was actually James’ baby for the simple fact that Pablo would make good on his threat and kill me if he found out this baby wasn’t his. I was also pissed because this baby was fatherless, so every hope I had of balling out on his father’s expense was now dead.
“Why does the baby look fully black if his father is Spanish?” Amanda asked the same question that I was racking my brain trying to answer.
“He has to grow into his color I guess.”
“So, how did you feel after giving birth?” She sat in the chair that was next to my hospital bed.
“I feel normal, just happy to be one person finally again.”
“So where is his father?”
“He just left!” I snapped. I was getting annoyed with her interrogating me.
“Okay, no need to get hostile. It’s just, I’ve been kicking it with you for the past month or so, and I never once seen him around.”
“That’s because he’s married,” I lied.
“Oh,” she said. “Can I hold him?”
I gave her a blanket to drape across her before gently placing the baby in her arms. Although I was in a fucked up situation, it still didn’t stop me from loving my son. The first time I held him I apologized to him over and over again for the fucked up things I did and said about him.
I just prayed that when Pablo finally decided to show up he would have mercy on me for leading him into believing this was his son. It was not like I did it intentionally, like with James. I actually did believe this was his child.
