Sloan pulled her legs into her chest and buried her face in her hands. How did she get here? Last night was one of the best nights of her life, and now it had turned into a nightmare.
Deshawn caressed her face and grabbed the bag. “I will be in touch with the time and place we need to meet.” He pulled her face closer to his. “Sloan, I understand why you left me, but you didn’t give me a chance to explain. I forgive you, and don’t worry about this.” Deshawn said, patting the duffel bag. “All of this will disappear, okay?”
Deshawn kissed her forehead and walked out the room.
Sloan sat on the bed and listened for the alarm to beep twice, signaling that he had opened and closed the door.
__________
Yogi parked her car beside King’s SUV and took off her sunglasses to allow her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the parking garage. It was two o’clock, and her baby had been locked up for hours. He had not been allowed to make a phone call until this morning to Carlton. This bitch had not even called to check on him.
She slammed the car door and began walking towards the elevator. This was the shit she was afraid of with this girl. Shit, she couldn’t stand Yessenia, but at least the bitch knew how to handle herself, and would have gotten King a bond by now.
She pressed the up button and waited for the elevator. The doors opened and a tall slim man stepped out. He held the door for her and nodded.
Yogi smiled politely at the stranger and pressed the button for the fifteenth floor. King always chose the wrong type of women, but this time, he went and got himself a weak little uptown chick who thinks she is the next big thang on the stage.
Yogi wrinkled her nose at the strong chemical smell that greeted her when the elevator doors opened.
For all the money he is paying to live here, the hallway should not stink, Yogi thought as she walked down the hall, and stopped at King’s condo door. She took out her key and unlocked the door.
As she entered the apartment, the alarm began to blare. She ran to the key pad and put in the code, but the alarm continued.
“Shit,” Yogi said as she searched her cell phone for the code. She heard something click behind her and froze. She swallowed and turned slowly, only to be met by a barrel of a Smith and Wesson.
“Oh shit, Ms. Yogi!” Sloan said as she lowered the gun and walked over to the keypad. “I almost shot you!”
Yogi looked at Sloan. Her hair was in a messy ponytail, and she had on one of King’s t-shirts. Her eyes were swollen and red, and she had been chewing her bottom lips so badly, they were split and chapped.
“Kareem called already and told me he was going to bail King out, Ms. Yogi. He told me he didn’t want me coming down there seeing him like that. Whatever that means.” Sloan said as she sat down on the couch, still holding the gun.
Yogi waited for her heart to return to her chest. The last thing she expected from this girl was for her ass to actually be strapped up. “Umm okay, why don’t we put the gun down? Have you eaten anything?”
Sloan stared off into space for a moment. She stood and placed the gun on the small glass table and walked out onto the patio.
Yogi looked around the apartment. She had never seen it so organized, clean, and comfy. Nothing was out of place. She walked out onto the patio and sat down in the blue chair.
“I… I should have called you, I know.” Sloan said, looking out. “It just all happened so fast, and I couldn’t think straight. I have never seen that side of King before. I don’t even really understand what happened. We had an awesome night. We danced, had some drinks, and were leaving the club. The next thing know, King banging on this dude’s head with his gun. Shit, I didn’t even know he carried a gun!” Sloan said, sitting down on the blue chair opposite Yogi.
Yogi took out her cigarettes and tapped them on the arm of the chair. She lit it, and sat back as she inhaled the smoke and released it through her nose, trying to calm her nerves. Right now, she wanted to throw this weak ass bitch over the damn balcony and be done with her stupid ass. She really fell for the whole music producer bit that King gave her?
“When King handed me the keys and the gun…”
“Whoa, what? He gave you the gun? Where the hell is it?” Yogi said, sitting up.
Sloan studied her for a moment. She narrowed her gaze, and sat back in the chair. She knew that Yogi was definitely not her biggest fan. She could feel the coolness from the woman at dinner a couple of weeks ago. She had to contain herself for the moment, because this woman had the nerve to look at her as if she wasn’t good enough for her son!
“I got rid of it, Ms Yogi. I am not stupid, nor am I as naïve as you think.” Sloan said, not dropping her eyes from Yogi’s.
“Really? So where is the gun?” Yogi said, now leaning forward.
“It is gone, and that is it. It has been…. taken care of.” Sloan said, standing again.
Truthfully, she was terrified that Deshawn had the gun in his possession. She had no idea what or how he intended to use it. She knew it would only be a matter of time before he would come seeking his payment for keeping her secret. The alarm beeped and the women looked at each other.
“Babe, babe?” King yelled as he walked through the door.
Sloan ran inside. She threw her arms around him, and for a brief moment, the events of the night disappeared. His touch made her feel safe. She sobbed as he kissed her cheeks.
“Hey, hey what are the tears for, babe? I’m fine, everything is ok.” King said as he held her. “Hey Ma, what you doing here?”
“Boy, you’re gonna stand there and really ask me that? What the hell were you thinking? They say that boy laid up in the hospital! Mouth wired shut.”
“Good, he shouldn’t have shot it off to me, and called my babe a bitch. You know I ain’t letting no one disrespect her like that.” King said, kissing Sloan on the forehead and walking into the kitchen.
“Disrespect her? Is that what this is about? What do you think your father would say to you right now? Seeing you act stupid like this over some girl?
“Damn babe, we ain’t got nothing here to eat?” King said, ignoring his mother’s last statement. He walked over and began looking through the refrigerator.
“Umm, I can run to the store.” Sloan said and walked to the bedroom.
Yogi rolled her eyes and turned to King. “This, this right here ain’t gonna work. She isn’t made from the right stock to be with you, baby. Why in the world would you give this little girl the gun to get rid of? Why?”
The door opened and Sloan walked out wearing the same t-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans. She slid her feet into a pair of brown flats, grabbed her keys, and walked out the door without looking at either of them.
“What did you say to her, Ma?”
“I didn’t say shit to her, King. Right now, she is a freaking non-factor. We need to clean this mess up. One of the things that made you so successful in the game is that you managed to remain under the radar of the authorities.”
“I got busted for assault, Ma. It will go away in a few days. Bolter will have it fixed, stop worrying.”
Chapter 12
Red watched the video of the fight that had taken place at King’s club on the screen. He shook his head and slammed the laptop closed. He stood and walked out onto his patio. The Jacuzzi was at the right temperature. He was sore from playing basketball , so he stepped ginferly into the hot water and slowly descended into the whirlpool.
“How you doing, Red?” a man said as he walked over to the hot tub.
“Yo, what’s up, Officer?” Red responded to one of the many police officers who he supplied information to about what was going on in the streets.
Deshawn had been one of the first he ever cooperated with when he was busted years ago. His information had allowed Deshawn to rise through the ranks from being a uniformed officer to a detective. Deshawn had also helped Red’s rise on the street by taking out most of his competition, and even sometimes selling Red cocaine that h
ad been recovered when those busts went down.
“Well, I’m trying to see what the fuck is taking you so long on handling the situation with this nigga, King.” Deshawn said angrily.
“Look man, I told you the nigga stay guarded up, and I got to make sure I cover myself. I’ll get to it when I can.” Red responded.
He was tired of Deshawn calling him every day about the same shit. Hell, he wanted King dead also, but Deshawn was taking this shit to the next level.
“Yeah, that’s what I figured.”
Deshawn laughed and stepped closer to the hot tub. He made sure that the hoodie covered his face at all times, but he wanted the security camera to catch everything he was about to do.
“Man, I said I got you. And why you sneaking around my spot anyway? It’s too damn late for all this. Damn, I am trying to relax before my girl gets home.”
“Red, you know I never really liked you. You not that smart, and I should have known that when I asked you to do this job for me. Since I knew there was already bad blood between the two of you, I thought offering you the chance to get rid of his ass and pick up his business would have got you going. But you know you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. Anyway, shit has a way of working itself out, and I think I will handle King myself.” Deshawn said, laughing.
“Damn, you really got a hard on for that nigga.” Red said jokingly. “What he do to you? Fuck your girl?”
Deshawn’s vision became slightly blurry for a moment. He had to concentrate on his breathing and focus on Red’s face. As his vision cleared, Deshawn pulled out the gun that he had taken from the dumpster. He made sure the Rolex on his wrist was on display for the camera, and fired two shots. One shot hit Red in his left eye, and the other in his chest. Brain matter and blood sprayed back on the gun and the watch.
“Yeah nigga, he did.” Deshawn laughed and ran out the door towards the large wooden fence that enclosed the property, and dipped down the street into the dark.
He made sure he dropped the Rolex in the bushes. He had carefully removed a pin, making it look like the watch fell, due to an issue with the clasp. He threw the gun into some bushes a little further down and jogged to his car, which was three blocks over.
“Now how does it feel to be King?” Deshawn said, feeling higher than he had in a while.
__________
Carlton held Imani’s head and exploded down her throat.
“Fuck yeah! Yeah babe, swallow that shit!” Carlton yelled as he pulled her hair.
Imani winced as her scalp stretched from all of the tugging. He loosened his grip and wiped the tip of his dick across her lips. She smiled at him; she loved when he was satisfied.
He walked over to the couch and grabbed his underwear.
Imani slid off the bed, and kissed his back. “You leaving? I thought you were going to stay a couple of hours today.”
“Nah baby, I got some business to handle.”
Imani pouted and walked into the kitchen.
Carlton had recently rented this place for them, so they could get in some quick visits during the week, without exposing himself to going in and out of hotels. It was a one-bedroom apartment on the north side of Charlotte. She opened the refrigerator and took out the cranberry juice as Carlton continued getting dressed.
“Aight babe, I will catch up with you later.” Carlton said as he kissed her on the cheek.
The door closed and Imani sighed. She walked over to the couch where she had placed her purse, and pulled out the white sheet of paper. She sighed again and sat down. Things were about to get real, very soon. She had hoped that her period being late was simply due to the stress of her final exams. However, the test results from the doctor confirmed that the stress was just beginning.
Final Chapter
Two Weeks Later
King sat in the large leather chair and watched the faces of the producers as they listened to Sloan’s demo. He knew he had them when they kept adjusting themselves in their seats.
There was a knock on the door of the studio and Panama entered. He leaned down and told King that he was needed outside.
“Aight, gentlemen, I will return in a few moments.” King said as he stood.
He opened the door and walked out into the lobby where six men were waiting. He knew they were cops by the way they were positioned.
Panama walked closely behind King with his right hand twitching.
“Ronnie King?” the shortest of the men said as King approached.
Two of the other men tried to walk behind King, but Panama wasn’t going to let that happen.
The short man pulled out his badge and smiled at King. “Mr. King, you are under arrest.”
King looked back at Panama and laughed. “Arrest for what?” King said, waving at Panama to stand down.
“You are under arrest for the murder of Travis Indigo,” the detective said as the other detective placed the handcuffs on King.
King felt the cuffs click and tighten on his wrists. The detective patted him down and found his Glock, and .22. He handed the guns to his partner and pushed King towards the doors.
“Who the hell is Travis Indigo?” King said as they opened the door.
The detective just shook his head and read him his Miranda rights as he walked him towards the unmarked police car.
“Yo King, Imma call your Pops.” Panama yelled to King as the detective closed the car door.
King sat back in the seat, trying to think of who the fuck and what the fuck was going on. He wanted to ask the detective again, who Travis Indigo was, but decided it would be best just to stay quiet and wait for his lawyer.
As the car pulled off, King looked back at his studio, and mumbled to himself, “Damn, man. Even when you try to do right, wrong won’t leave you alone.”
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Final Chapter
The King Of The South Page 10
