by Shan
“Imran, it’s me again. Will you please answer my calls or, at least, call me back? I really need to talk to you,” I desperately stated in his voicemail.
I pressed the end button and let the phone fall into my lap. All I wanted was to just tell him how I felt. That was it. If after he heard me out he wanted nothing to do with me, then I would have no choice but take it for what it was, but I was not going to stop until I, at least, talked to him.
After driving around for hours, hoping that I would spot Imran somewhere, I decided to go to my parents’ house to see how they were doing and, also, to let them see that I was okay. I knew they were stressing ten times as much lately with all that had been going on and for them to see my face and hear my voice would mean the world to them.
As I pulled down the street to where my parents lived, I noticed Quin’s car before I even get close to it. I hadn’t heard a peep from him since the day he choked me and left me on the bathroom floor to die. For him to be sitting on my parents’ block didn’t make a bit of damn sense. For that reason, instead of me stopping like I had planned to, I stopped the car, backed away, and went back to my hotel room. If Quin had anything that he needed to say to me, he could’ve easily called me. The fact that he was sitting a few houses away from my folks’ house with someone in the passenger seat screamed trouble, trouble that I didn’t want to get into. He and whoever he had with him could sit and wait all day and night if they wanted, but they wouldn’t catch me there.
20 Imran
"When did this happen?" I asked, holding my head to the ground.
"Some time last night while we were in a meeting with the head lieutenants," B.B. explained.
"Everybody's dead?" I asked, unsure if I wanted the answer.
"Everybody that was in the house. Dom is fucked up and ready to go to war. Davion and I can't do shit to calm this nigga down. I know you’re going through some things with Rain, but the family can really use you around. Fuck all that other shit that's going on and get here for your fam."
"For sure. Give me a little time to get shit together this way, and I'll be through," I replied with an endless amount of tears pouring from my eyes. I hung up the phone and slouched all the way down in my seat. My heart was heavy with pain and guilt knowing that I had let money get in the way of my loyalty to my family. How could I show up and support my family when I was part of the reason the shit happened anyway?
For some reason, I honestly had thought Tamar would chalk this shit up to the game, and, at the worst have Dom beat down for fucking with his family but not this shit. The worse thing about it all was I was not even sure that Dom was the one that had gone after his family. Nothing was clear at this point.
An eye for an eye was part of this crazy game we played every day, but— Damn!— I just hoped that I wasn't wrong in the information that I had given him. At least, then, I wouldn't feel so fucked up about the turn of events. I had tried everything to get in contact with Tamar last night to stop him but got no answer. I had left several messages and had even sent him text messages but no response.
"What the fuck have I done?" I said to myself.
The vibrating of my cell phone stunned me from my thoughts and forced me to face the fact that Jahzara was calling me yet again. Over and over again, I'd been ignoring her calls, but she just wouldn't stop. I hit the accept button to take her call and pressed the phone to my ear.
"What up?" I asked with tons of frustration in my voice.
"Damn, Imran! I have been going crazy trying to get in contact with you. Are you okay? Why won't you answer any of my calls?" Jahzara huffed into the phone.
"I don't understand why the fuck you're even calling me! You sent this nigga to my house, and you got the nerve to call and ask if I’m okay. My shit is a pile of ashes right now, and someone very close to my fucking heart is laying in a hospital bed with burns on her body! Is this a fucking prank call?"
"No! I fucked up! Okay? I made a bad judgment call out of a moment of weakness. I apologize for that, but please don't shut me out!"
When someone was speaking bullshit to me, I always remained quiet. There was no need for me to get loud and belligerent with a person when the shit coming out of their mouth was invalid.
"Imran!" Jahzara yelled. "Please don't go getting quiet on me. Look, I have a funny feeling about this nigga Quin, and I'm scared. If you ever loved me, you wouldn't shut me out like this. I need you."
Fuck! I thought. She got me right there. Same way Rain had pleaded pitifully in my ear for help, Jahzara was doing the same thing. Playing on my heart strings and forcing me to give in when I knew I shouldn't.
"I'm at Methodist Hospital for the time being. I guess you can meet me up here, Jah. Don't bring no shit my way, or I promise I'll have to end your life. Seriously," I replied, shutting my eyes tightly.
I couldn't believe that I was doing this shit right now. I really hoped that Jahzara wasn't on any bullshit or I’d be forced to kill her. I hung the phone up and pulled my pistol from my waist. Then, I checked everything to make sure it was ready to go when needed.
Once I looked up, I saw Rain staring at me with a look of disappointment in her eyes. I shook my head and looked away from her.
Sadly, Jahzara was the reason that Rain was there, and I had just invited the bitch to come and join me at her bedside.
"Look, I'm ‘bout to go outside and clear my head. I'll be back," I said to Rain.
Just as I was about to exit the room, my phone lit up with several text messages from a few of my goons. I opened up the one from Ant first and damn near collapsed to the floor: Da spot on Overton N da one on Marsalis was hit. Errything is gone. N Lil Lewie N Eric are dead.
I grabbed a hold of the door to keep myself from falling. Lil Lewie and Eric were fucking babies, only hustling for food and kicks for school. Each of them had absentee parents and lived in the bottom of the bottom. They didn't deserve this shit at all.
Errybody is saying dis nigga Quin is responsible. Hit me, cuz. I'm ready.
Over and over again, I read Ant’s last message. Over and over again:
Errybody is saying dis nigga Quin is responsible. Hit me, cuz. I'm ready.
21 Honey
"Deeper! Deeper, baby!" I yelled in pure pleasure. I spread my legs a little wider and slowly threw it back at him. "Mmhhh, papi! ¡Justo allí! Right there, papi!"
"I'm ‘bout to cum! Stay just like that!" he growled loudly, giving three long pumps.
Shortly after, we collapsed onto the bed, giggling like two teenagers.
"Damn! Who would've thought that, after all this time, you would be better than I remember?" I said into his ear. I placed soft kisses along his neck and ear and twiddled his nipple between my thumb and index finger.
"I might’ve been locked up for four years and some change, but my dick game will always be proper. Believe that."
"Oh! I believe that alright," I said with laughter. "I must say that it’s good to see you. I thought that you were gonna kill me once you saw me. I never thought we would end up doing this again.”
“Why would you think I was going to kill you?” Quin asked as he fired up a cigarette.
“I know you heard that I damn near killed your wife. I figured there would be bad blood between us.”
“Yeah, I heard about that, but, I mean, you kept me up on game and everything that was going on with my lady, and I appreciate you for that.”
“So, how is that working out for you and the Mrs.?” I asked as if I didn’t already know.
I had sat in their home for hours, listening to them have plenty of meaningless conversations, boring sex, and a few heated arguments.
“We’re divorced, Honey. I know you knew that already. Stop acting like you’re fishing for information.”
“I’m not fishing for info. I just saw the two of you together the other day, and…”
“When did you see us together?” Quin asked, cutting me off.
Fuck! I thought. Why the fuck did I ju
st say that shit?
“I came through to holler at you one day and saw her, so I turned around and went back home,” I lied, hoping he wouldn’t think nothing further of it. The last thing I needed was for him to know that I’d snuck into his house and watched him and that bitch fuck, while I got myself off. I damn sure didn’t want him to know that I’d cashed in on the bricks that he’d stolen from Imran either.
“Oh, yeah? Well, I guess she went back to that nigga Imran. Who the fuck knows? I don’t have time to be catering to that bitch anyway. I’m trying to get money the way I used to,” Quin sighed, putting the cigarette he was puffing on out in the ashtray.
Hearing him say those words in the way that he did was just perfect for me. I could tell that he was sour about Jahzara and Imran. Hell! Most of the fights the two had were centered on that nigga, so I knew that he felt some kind of way about it, so the best thing for me to do was to use it to my advantage and get him to assist me in my plot to get at those two little lovebirds. I figured, if he was out to get money and I was out to get them, then neither of us could lose. Imran was definitely caked up, and that bitch Jahzara had some bread sitting around somewhere. She always talked about how Imran made sure she kept some cash put up for a rainy day.
“I know a dude that can help us get closer to Imran,” I said, hoping to reel him in.
“Who said I wanted to get close to Imran?” he replied. “And why do you wanna get close to Imran?”
“I know that you are mad about him taking advantage of Jahzara and getting her to give him those bricks you had put up. I know that he now has your old connect, and I know you want some kind of payback for it. What better way to get payback than to take him for everything that he has? From what I hear, he has a lot.”
“And why do you wanna get close to him?”
“He’s the reason that things got bloody between Jahzara, Tomeka, and me. He raped me, and, when I tried to tell Jahzara about it, she turned her back on me, and things just went way south from there.”
Quin turned his head to look at me sympathetically before reaching to get another cigarette from the pack. He fired it up and took a couple pulls from it before saying anything. “Who is this dude, and do you trust him?”
“Just a lil’ nigga that got a mean-ass grudge against Imran. He claims that Imran killed his brother Jay not long ago over a bullshit mistake. I don’t know, but I do know that him and a few of his patnas stole a couple of trucks and knocked off his corner boys for just a few thousand dollars. He told me, if I needed anything else, to just let him know.”
“Damn! That was you behind that shit? Bitch-ass nigga came kicking down my muthafuckin’ door thinking it was me!” Quin shook his head and sat up in the bed.
“Hell, yeah! I was behind that, and that’s not the last of the shit he’s ‘bout to get. You should’ve heard the shit he used to sit back and say about you to Jahzara. I’m so surprised that she fell for that shit. I never knew her to be so damn gullible.”
“Never mind all that. Go ahead and call ol’ boy up,” Quin said, nodding his head in approval as he took another puff from his cigarette. He reached over and put the cigarette out in the ashtray. Then, he pulled me on top of him.
“Call him up after this round. Let me see if you still got it.”
I laughed and slid Quin’s dick inside of me while staring into his dark brown eyes. Immediately, his eyes roll to the back of his head, letting me know that he is already enjoying every moment of this. I took my time with him and soaked every second of the pleasure in. I didn’t know if it was Quin or if it was the fact that I knew that soon Imran and Jahzara would finally get what they deserve.
22 Quin
The next morning, Honey and I headed out to meet the guy that she claimed would give us one up on that bitch-ass nigga Imran. I hoped that Honey was being legit and not trying to pull a fast one on me. I knew this hoe was all about paper and didn’t give a fuck about the next muthafucka. I wasn’t surprised to see that Tomeka was dead and Jahzara was close to it behind Honey’s shit. I’d seen her set niggas and bitches up left and right and had even heard about a scheme she came up with to have her own boyfriend Cedric robbed, at one point, when they were on a break. The shit this trick would do never ceased to amaze me. I never knew how Jahzara could even be friends with her, but, after seeing the treachery she’d committed against me, I saw why the two of them bitches stuck together like glue. I would use Honey to get whatever I could out of Imran and get the hell out of Dallas. I had people down in Memphis and thought I just might go that way to get me a fresh start. Dallas had changed anyway since I’d got home. Seemed like a lot of these young gunnas were running shit, and the old heads were somewhere trying to make it in the rap game claiming they been spitting since they was a youngin’.
“Where is this dude, man? I hope y’all ain’t playing no damn games, Honey. I would hate to have to put one in your head and throw you the fuck out of my car,” I said, making sure my hammer was visible in my lap.
“¡Calmarse! He’s coming! ¡Ser paciente!” Honey hit her hands against her legs out of frustration and looked out the window.
“Man, don’t start speaking all that Spanish and shit. English! Call that nigga up and see what’s taking him so damn long.”
“Look, look! There he is. Just calm down. I told you he would be here.”
“Taking too damn long. I don’t like that shit.” I looked out of the passenger side window and saw a tall dark-skinned dude coming in our direction. He had both of his hands in the pockets of a hoodie and, immediately, my guard went up. I don’t know this dude and wasn’t about to take Honey’s word that he could be trusted. As soon as he reached for the handle of the back door and got in, I had my gun pointed directly at the center of his forehead.
“Whoa! Whoa, man! Chill out! Tell your boy to chill out, girl!” he yelled out, throwing his hands in the air.
“Quin, damn it! Put the fucking gun down. He’s here to help us! What the hell are you doing?”
“Keep your muthafuckin’ hands just like that until you get out this damn car! I don’t know you like that, lil’ homey,” I yelled, lowering the gun just a little. Just looking at him, I could tell that he was no more than about eighteen or nineteen years old.
“My bad, bruh. It’s kinda chilly out there. I’m Pee Wee by the way,” he said, holding his hand out for me to shake. I reached out and shook his hand but watched him very closely for any sudden movements.
“What’s up? What you got, man?”
“That nigga up in there,” Pee Wee said, pointing to the Methodist Hospital that we were sitting across the street from. “I just took him and the lil’ bitch he with some food. I don’t know what happened to shorty but some people saying that his house was burnt down and that shorty was trapped up in there. Suffered from a few burns.”
“She didn’t die?” I asked a little upset that all the bitch suffered was just a few burns.
“Nah, she didn’t die. They said he got to the bitch just in time, just before she was scorched to damn death.”
“Damn! That’s too bad,” I replied, shaking my head in disappointment.
“But yeah, he up there with her and the lil’ female he been rocking with for the past few months. He don’t know that I know about him killing my brother, but— Shit!— my brother told me right before he left with Imran that night that he fucked up and killed some nigga in his driveway in front of Imran’s chick. Said that it was ol’ girls ex that Imran sent him to kill, but the shit went bad, and Imran was fucked up about it.”
“Fucking ironic,” I laughed. “You gotta be fucking kidding me?”
“You heard about it?” Pee Wee asked, raising a brow.
“Oh, yeah! I heard all about that, my dude, but good looking out, my nigga. How much we owe you for this tad bit of information?”
“Y’all don’t owe me nothing, man. Just get rid of his ass for me. I wanna touch him so bad, but a couple of my homies know how deep this shit is bet
ween us, and I don’t trust them niggas.”
“Understood. Well, I appreciate it, lil’ homey, and don’t worry about it at all. I got it,” I said, nodding my head, assuring him that everything was all good.
“That’s what’s up. I’ll holla at you later, Honey,” Pee Wee tapped Honey on her shoulder and exited the vehicle.
I grabbed a cigarette from its pack and fired it up while looking around to see who all was on the scene. There were no police or security cars around, which meant we could easily slide up on the inside and handle business accordingly.
“So, what you wanna do? It sounds like Jahzara and Imran are up there together,” Honey asked, grabbing a cigarette.
