Feels So Right, It Must Be Wrong

by Charmanie Saquea

  Feels So Right, It Must Be Wrong

  Charmanie Saquea

  Prologue

  Asia was wakenedfrom her sleep by the sound of her mother’s screams. She tiptoed to the door and cracked it open. She heard loud footsteps coming her way so she ran and hid under her bed.

  "There's no one else here! I swear!" she heard her mother yell.

  She heard the sound of the footsteps coming towards her room so she held her breath. If whoever it was did decide to come in her room, she didn't want them to hear her breathing. The bedroom door swung open and it scared her so she covered her mouth with her hands so she wouldn't scream.

  The mystery person left out of the room with a grunt after they confirmed that there was no one in the room. He walked back into the living room where he had Asia's dad, Syrus, gagged and tied to a chair. He and his wife Sasha were sending each other a message with their eyes that only they could understand. Don't let him get to Asia. They didn't care about what happened to them as long as Asia was okay and safe.

  Syrus was a big time drug dealer that was well known throughout Miami for having the purest dope. He pushed more weight than a bulldozer could. He did his best to keep his wife and only daughter away from his street life, but somehow the two had run into each other tonight. Syrus and Sasha were both relieved when Big Tone walked back into the room without Asia.

  "You know Syrus, I hate that things had to come to this, but then again I don’t. I told you about being in my territory, but you didn't listen so I took that as a sign that you were saying fuck me," Big Tone said as he pulled his gun from the back of his pants. With his eyes still on Syrus, he shot Sasha in her chest.

  Syrus closed his eyes. He couldn't bear to watch his wife take her last breath. Yet he still refused to let Big Tone see him cry. He wasn't worried or scared of dying because he knew everyone had to go someday.

  "Is this shit really worth it, Syrus? All this because you didn't know how to stay the fuck out of my way?" Big Tone taunted. Big Tone had been released from prison five months before and hated the fact that Syrus was the nigga that everyone was talking about. He felt like it should have been his name ringing bells in the street, not some lil nigga who was only twenty six years old. He did everything he could to let Syrus know that he didn't want him selling shit in his hood but Syrus wasn't a punk ass nigga. He was going to do whatever he wanted to do. When Big Tone realized that Syrus wasn't going to bow down or fold, he went another route; which led them to where they were tonight.

  When Asia heard the gunshot, she jumped from under her bed and ran to her closet. One day, she watched her daddy hide a gun in a shoebox in her closet and he had made her promise to never touch it no matter what. He hid it there because he knew that Sasha would have a fit if she found out that he had a gun in the house. She had never broken a promise to her daddy ever in her life, but she was about to. She took the gun out of the box and took the safety off like she had watched her father and uncles do many times before. She tiptoed out of the room towards the living room.

  "Any last minute words before you go see your maker?" Big Tone smirked as he took the gag out of Syrus' mouth.

  Syrus saw Asia standing there with the gun but there was nothing he could do. He knew if he said anything, Big Tone would kill her and he would rather go out than his daughter. "Yea, see you in hell muthafucka!" Syrus spat.

  Big Tone lifted his gun at the same time Asia lifted hers.

  POW!

  Both guns went off at the same time. Syrus had a bullet hole in his forehead and Big Tone had one in his back. When she saw that Big Tone wasn't falling, Asia let off three more shots into his back. She watched as he fell to the ground with a big thud. She dropped the gun and immediately ran over to her daddy. Her mouth fell open at the sight before her.

  "I'm so sorry daddy, I tried to save you. I was just too slow," she cried. She slowly walked over to her mom and cried even harder. Her whole world just fell apart in front of her eyes. She had just lost the only two people that she had ever loved. Not only that, but she had just committed her first murder at the age of eight.

  1

  Twelve years later

  "Hello," Symir said as he waved his hand in front of Asia's face. Once again Asia had zoned out as her mind traveled back to her parents. Tomorrow would be twelve years since they were killed.

  "I'm here, Mir. Chill out," Asia said as she waved him off.

  When Asia was twelve years old, a lady and a boy that was a few years older than her that looked just like her daddy walked into the foster home she was living in and took her away. Apparently, the lady was a woman whom her father had gotten pregnant at the age of fifteen and the boy was her brother. Crystal took Asia in and adopted her, she treated Asia like she had birthed her. Down the line a few years, Crystal explained how Syrus had kept in contact with Crystal up until his death. Sasha knew about Crystal and Symir. They all actually had a close relationship. Sasha wanted Asia to meet her older brother but Crystal didn't want to cause any problems in Asia's life, so everyone kept it from her.

  It took Crystal four years to find Asia because no one wanted to tell her where she was. She was devastated to find out that Asia was being bounced around from foster home to foster home. When she finally found her, she showed some papers that both Sasha and Syrus had signed saying that in the event that something was to happen to them, Crystal was to raise her.

  "You gotta do it right this time, A," Symir said seriously. "Last time you almost fucked it up."

  "I know, Mir. I promise I will go in with a clear head tonight," Asia promised.

  "Good, now let's go. We gotta pick up Symare," Symir said as he got up from his seat.

  Asia perked up at the mention of her son. Besides Crystal and Symir, he was all she had in the world. He was two going on twenty and a handful. His dad Khyree was in his first year of a twelve year bid for an armed robbery charge. She hated that he would miss out on a lot of Symare's life but she sent him pictures and kept him posted as much as she could. She loved the relationship Symare had with his Uncle Symir. Those two were inseparable. At least he had a male figure in his life to keep him on the right track.

  They pulled up to Crystal's house where she had been keeping Symare and Symir's daughter, Sasha, hostage for the weekend. Sasha was four years old and acted like Symare was her son. He was always following her around and she didn't mind it one bit. Symir decided to pay homage and name his daughter after Asia's mother.

  Crystal was sitting on the porch watching Sasha and Symare play in the yard. Everything came to a halt when the kids noticed their parents walking their way. Sasha ran to her auntie and Symare ran to his uncle. Crystal laughed at the little exchange. They had each other’s kids so spoiled that they forgot who their parents were sometimes.

  "TT, guess what? Granny let us make cookies today. I saved you some," Sasha said as she hugged Asia and kissed her cheek.

  "Thank you, pretty girl." Asia smiled. "What's up, Mare? Mommy can't get no love?"

  Symare smiled bashfully as he leaned over and kissed his mom. "Mommy." He smiled. They walked on the porch to find Crystal smiling. She shook her head and ushered them in the house.

  "What you smiling at, Ma?" Asia asked.

  "Yea, what you smiling at, Lady?" Symir cosigned.

  "My kids and grandkids. Y'all four are something else. Now come on in here and get something to eat," she said as she led them to the kitchen.

  Symir walked over to the stove and lifted a top off of a pot and Crystal slapped him in the back of the head. "You know better. Go wash your hands. Big kids use the bathroom sink. I got the little kids."

  "Ma, I only see one big kid in here. Why you use tha
t word in a plural term?" Symir laughed.

  "Right, Ma. Symir is the only big kid in here. Me and you are grown." Asia rolled her eyes and ran past Symir. He ran after her but she was too quick, she ran to the bathroom shut the door and locked it.

  "C'mon A, stop playing. You always do that shit," Symir said as he banged on the door. "Ma, Asia hogging up the bathroom!"

  Asia snatched the door open. "Snitch!"

  "It worked though. Now move." He pushed past her.

  They washed their hands and ran back to the kitchen while throwing water on each other. They had been doing the same routine since Asia came home with them. Crystal just smiled at the two. When she first adopted Asia, she was afraid of how she would take to her and Symir,but the two hit it off instantly. After only living with them a couple of months, Asia started calling Crystal‘mom.’

  "You two will never change," Crystal said.

  "Because your son is an ass...a butthole," Asia rephrased her words around the kids.

  "And your daughter is a brat," Symir said.

  "Symare and Sasha, please do Granny a favor and don't act like that when you get that age." Crystal shook her head.

  ~ ~ ~

  Asia poured the potion into the drink and stirred it quickly with her pinky nail. She went back to her spot on the bed and waited for Santiago to come out of the bathroom. He was already tipsy, so she knew he would immediately go for the glass. He had been glued to it until he had to empty his bladder.

  Santiago came out of the bathroom with a big smile on his face. He couldn't wait to get inside of Asia. He walked over to the table and grabbed his drink and took a big gulp before slamming the glass back down in the table. Dumb ass, Asia thought as he started walking in her direction.

  She put on a fake smile and motioned for him to come to her. He slowly walked over to her and climbed into the bed. He started kissing her thighs and Asia was trying not to cringe. Five, four, three, two...

  "Oh, shit," Santiago said as he grabbed his head.

  "What's wrong?" Asia feigned dumbness.

  Santiago tried to speak but he couldn't form a sentence. The room started spinning and he suddenly couldn't move. Asia kicked him off of her and went to put her clothes back on. She sent Symir a text on the burn out phone and wiped the room down for any prints before she went to the back door to let Symir and his boys in.

  "Bout damn time," Cordae complained.

  Asia rolled her eyes at him and left out the house. She was so tempted to put a bullet in the back of Cordae's head. It was no secret that the two didn't like each other. Cordae didn't like the fact that Symir had brought a female in their organization. He felt that Asia was a liability and would sing like a bird if she ever got the chance. Asia felt that Cordae was a bitch, period.

  Asia walked to her car and pulled out her phone to call Crystal. She knew she would be up so she wanted to call and check on Symare.

  "Asia, Mare is fine. Don't call back here again tonight," Crystal said when she answered.

  Asia chuckled to herself a little. "Sorry Ma. Give him a kiss for me."

  "Mhm, you and your brother just better be safe. Now goodnight," Crystal said before hanging up.

  Sometimes Asia wondered where she would be if Crystal hadn't have come and saved her when she did. That instantly made her think of what her life would have been like if her parents were still alive. She was jarred from her thoughts when Symir hopped in the car with a bag in his hand.

  “Let’s roll,baby,” he said. Without asking any questions, Asia drove off into the night. "Aye, I need you to come home with me tonight. Cordae trynna get his cousin down with the crew and I want you to check him out with me."

  "I don't trust shit that has anything to do with Cordae," Asia said with her eyes on the road.

  Symir waved her off. "I already told you that nigga act like that because he want you, and he want you bad."

  "The only nigga I need in my life is Symare Khyree Sims. Plus, Khy would flip the fuck out if he even thought I had a nigga around his son."

  "You know Khy my nigga til the death of me but you gotta live ya life."

  Symir was the one who introduced Khyree to Asia. When he first laid eyes on her when Asia moved in with Crystal and Symir, Khyree said he was going to get her and make her his; for forever. Before Asia could even become legal, he did just that and got her pregnant on purpose.

  "I hear you talking Mir," Asia said.

  "I know you hear me, but are you listening?" he asked.

  "Yup," Asia answered, even though everything he was saying was going in one ear and out the other.

  2

  Cordae pulled up to Symir's house with his cousin Knowledge in his passenger seat. He knew deep down in his gut that Symir would like him. Knowledge was a real nigga. He stayed to himself, didn't beef with niggas and was all about his money. Knowledge had just moved to Miami from North Carolina.

  "Damn, he doing it like this?" Knowledge asked as he admired Symir's house.

  "Yup, he had his house and his sister houses built from the ground up," Cordae said as they climbed out the car.

  Before they could even knock, Asia was opening the door. She looked Cordae up and down before rolling her eyes and walking away. "I love you too, Asia," Cordae laughed. Both he and Knowledge had their eyes glued to her ass.

  She led them to Symir's office where he had his phone glued to his ear and was counting money. He looked up and hit Cordae with a head nod before returning back to his phone call. "Yea, that nigga was acting like he ain't know what the fuck I was talking about when I asked for my money so I had to go and get it," he said into the phone.

  Asia left out the office to finish fixing them something to eat. She slapped Cordae on the back of his head before walking out of the room. Symir ended his phone call and turned his attention to Cordae and his cousin. He reached out his fist for dap from both men. "As you probably know by now, I'm Symir."

  "I'm Knowledge," he said.

  "Knowledge, huh? That's your real name?" Symir asked.

  "Middle name. My birth name is Omari," answered Knowledge.

  Symir nodded his head and dialed something on his phone. He hit speaker before putting the phone down on his desk.

  "Yea?" Asia answered on the third ring.

  "Come here," he said before hanging up. Minutes later Asia walked back into the office. "Asia, this is Knowledge. Knowledge, this is my sister Asia."

  Asia eyed Knowledge real good as she went to stand by her brother. She was trying to see if he had any bitch tendencies like his cousin. He stared back at her intently, never breaking eye contact.

  "Asia here plays a big role in this thing I'm running here," Symir said.

  "Yea? What she do?" Knowledge asked.

  "A set up bitch," Cordae answered.

  "I don't think he asked you," Asia snapped.

  "Am I lying?" Cordae retorted.

  "Does it matter? You don't need to be talking if nobody was talking to you," Asia said.

  "What I don't want you to do is bicker like these two here. It's not necessary and it's annoying as fuck," Symir said.

  "So let me ask you," Knowledge said to Asia. "What do you do?"

  "Any and everything."

  "So Cordae tells me that you had it popping in NC," Symir said as he sat back in his chair.

  "I had a little something popping but I was told it wasn't shit compared to what you got going on," Knowledge answered honestly.

  "So much did you sell them things for back home?"

  "Bricks went for $13,000 and rocks went for $35."

  Symir let out a whistle and shook his head. "Well, here bricks go for $20,000 and rocks are $50. We don't do no negotiating or credits because that means we're missing out on money and niggas don't like to pay you back. I don't know about you, but I don't play about my money."

  Symir had learned everything he knew from his dad. When Syrus was killed, Symir was up next to the throne; his connect and everything got passed down to him. It
didn't take long for Symir to get into the swing of things so when he was sixteen years old, he started doing what he knew he was born to do. He even schooled Asia on a couple of things; but for the most part he didn't want her in on anything, but her little feisty ass just insisted that she be put up on game. He would rather he do it himself than some other nigga do it and she get caught in some bullshit.

  "I buy at least 100 keys whenever we need a re-up, and I collect every third Friday of the month, no exceptions," Symir further explained.

  Knowledge just nodded his head as he took in everything. He could tell that Symir was that nigga and knew what the fuck he was doing. "I got you."

  "Good. I need to holla at Cordae real quick, so Imma have Asia take you for a ride to show you how things operate and where we got shit set up. Plus, today is payday and I need her to collect the rest of my money."

  "Wait, what?" Asia interjected. "Asia is doing what now?"

  "What, you got something better to do?" Symir asked with a raised eyebrow.

  "Yea nigga, I need to eat," she snapped.

  Symir reached in his pocket and pulled out a knot of money. He peeled off a couple of bills and handed them to her. "Pick us up something when you on your way back."

  "Spoiled ass," Cordae mumbled.

  "If you knew how to spoil me, you could have me." She smirked before walking out of the office with Knowledge behind her.

  Once they reached her 2014 Audi A8, she hit the automatic lock and they hopped in. She shuffled through her phone until she found the song she wanted to ride to. "Buckle up," she said before“Hold Me Back” by Rick Ross blasted through her speaker system. She mashed down on the accelerator and pulled off. She bobbed her head to the music and mouthed the words.

  I look in my fridge, my shit lookin’scarce

  I got a few kids, we need some shit on the shelf

  I get a knock at the door, they say my rent overdue

  And while my niggas sell dope and don’t know what else to do

  Knowledge looked over at her and tilted his head. He never would have thought that a woman as beautiful as her would be out putting in work. He decided to pick her brain a little so he reached over and turned down her music. Asia looked at him like he was crazy.