Butler snickered and hit the button to unlock the door. Niya felt her pulse quicken as he sat down in the seat.
“Niya, Niya, how are you doing?” Niya regretted putting her gun in the console. She never had a pig get in her car before.
“I am fine, officer…”
”You know, Niya, most detectives would tell you to get your black ass out of town, or lock you up. But me, I enjoy having you around. You are the kind of woman who inspires me to get up every morning and come to work,” he said looking straight ahead. “Yeah Niya, you are inspiration and motivation for me.”
“I am glad you enjoy your job. Is there a reason why you stopped me?”
“Niya, this is a nice SUV, and well, you are always put together so well. You like nice things, and looking good like you do. You know everybody that works has to pay taxes, and well… call me Uncle Sam. Think of today as April 15th.”
Niya sighed. This was a shakedown. It had never happened to her, but she was expecting it. She knew that as she began to move up, the damn sharks with dirty badges would start circling for flesh.
“How much do you want?” she asked, looking out the window. She had to count to ten to stop herself from reaching in the console and blowing this fool’s head off.
“We’ll discuss that another time. Right now, I just wanted you to know who I am,” Butler said, as he began to exit the car. “Oh, and for the record… if you’re gonna go to jail for something, make sure what you going for is worth it, not a damn traffic violation for making an illegal turn. I’ll see ya around, Niya,” he said, then slammed her door.
Niya sat there for a moment and rested her head on the steering wheel. Her heart was pounding. What the hell just happened? What did he want? Maybe he knew she didn’t have enough cash on her to amount to anything. The bricks would have been hard for him to move, but the cash would have paid her taxes.
She took a deep breath, checked her side mirror and pulled back onto the road. She needed to get the hell out of there before another fucking pig showed up that wasn’t crooked like the one that just left her car. She did not want to think about being in a 6 by 8 for 20 plus years, and if paying a pig taxes guaranteed that, then so be it.
__________
“What was that all about?” Detective Rose asked Butler when he got back into the car.
Rose studied him for a moment. Butler had alerted Niya to the fact that she was under police surveillance, and she was aware of what he looked like. Why would he show his hand like that? This woman wasn’t stupid, and now it would be even more difficult to get what they needed on her.
“I just wanted to ruffle a few feathers,” he chuckled. “Now that she knows she’s being watched, she’s bound to do something stupid. Nine times out of ten, she’s going to fall back and let somebody else do the heavy lifting,” he said. “We need to be able to pull all this shit down, and the more they think they are outsmarting us, the more mistakes they will make. This ain’t no damn television series where the drug dealers are these groups of cunning, smart people. They are all the same, they all end up making the same mistakes, they just take different roads to their demise.” Butler pointed to the road to let Rose know it was time to go.
He laughed to himself. He had been doing this shit since heroin was big in Charlotte back in the day. Hell, he had spent so much time undercover, he could predict what the next move would be for these mother fuckers. Yeah that time in Miami taught him a lot, and made him a lot.
“I don’t get it,” Rose said as she turned onto the street.
“Rookie, that is because you are still on the bench,” Butler smiled. “I’m about to put ya in and onto the game.”
__________
Zion stacked the chicken nuggets on the table. He was not really hungry, but he did play with the Avenger toy a little.
“Come on, lil man. You gotta eat somethin’,” 4Pound said to Zion as he sat at the kitchen table. “You gotta eat, so you won’t get sick, then we can go out back and throw the Frisbee with Hermes.”
“I wanna go home,” Zion whined, while taking the toy and pretending to make it climb the nugget mountain. “You said my mommy was gonna come get me.”
4Pound smirked at Zion. Little dude was not slow. He had begun asking him more questions about how he knew his mother, and why he didn’t take him to the store with him. Little dude told him his mother told him never to talk to strangers, and he kept asking why he took him out the house when he was sleeping, and why his mother hadn’t told him he would be staying with a friend.
Zion took a bite of a nugget, looked at 4Pound, and pouted. If his mommy or daddy didn’t come get him soon, he was going to go find them himself.
__________
Gwen put on the black latex gloves and took the .45 out of the grocery bag, along with the clip. She cocked the bullet into the chamber and checked the street. The large red bush gave her the perfect shield from any prying eyes; after all, she didn’t want to make the same mistake as fucking Mayo. She felt sick to her stomach. Her conscience was yelling at her to not go through with taking this man’s life. She shook her head. It was his life for the life of her baby. She had to send this man to the afterlife, so her son could have a life. She conjured up the image of Mayo in court smirking at her, and her blood boiled. Taking a rachet nigga’s life was easy for her. There was never any thought behind her separating their fucking brains from their skulls. This was different—this was a decent man, who had done nothing wrong to anyone. She knew that taking his life would leave a mark on her soul.
She heard Zion’s voice on the phone, begging her to come and get him. She opened the door and began walking towards Mr. Walker’s house. The road seemed to stretch on forever, and her legs felt like she had forty-pound ankle weights on them. She stopped and inhaled.
“Gwen, buck the fuck up. You are doing this for Zion. You will make it quick and painless.” The words quick and painless echoed in her head as she made the trek to his home. It was only a block, but she felt like it was ten miles. Damn. If Chad was the dude she knew years ago, he would do this shit without thinking about it. Now he had a conscience, and she could not afford to leave Zion’s life in the hands of someone who would pause to do what needed to be done. After all, she was the mama bear, and bears do whatever it takes to protect their cubs.
She stopped and pretended to tie her shoe as she looked up and down the street in front of the old man’s house. She checked the numbers on the mailbox and checked the street again for any nosey ass neighbors. The short, cropped wig she wore had long bangs that partially hid her eyes. She checked her watch; it was 9:00 pm. She was sure the old man was settling in for the night. She walked on the porch and rang the doorbell. The light damn near blinded her. Duke Energy had mailed people those energy efficient bulbs, and they were bright as hell.
Mr. Walker opened the large mahogany door and looked out. Gwen could hear the news playing in the background. He stood behind the thick glass door and squinted. “Can I help you?”
Gwen forced a smile. He was small and frail. His voice had the treble of age, and his genuine smile made Gwen’s heart ache. She pulled Zion’s face to her mind. She had to get this over with, so she could get him home. Mr. Walker had probably had a good life, and she would make his end swift.
“Yes, how are you? I was jogging by, and I saw that your garage door was open.”
“I tell you, that thing. I could have sworn it went down this time.”
“Yeah, mine does that too, you might need to clean your sensor.”
The old man mumbled as he turned and walked towards the kitchen. Gwen looked around and opened the glass door. Typical man, they never locked the outside door. She made her way into the home, into the kitchen, and through the door. Mr. Walker was looking at the sensor, cursing under his breath.
When he turned, Gwen raised the .45. She paused for a moment, her heart ached, and she felt like she needed to tell him why he had to die.
“Young lady, whatever you need, just take it. Just take it.”
Gwen swallowed, took two steps. “I’m sorry.” she closed her eyes and pulled the trigger.
The bullet went into the center of his forehead. She stood over him and fired a second round into his temple. She removed the silencer and threw the gun under the car. She grabbed the gold watch from his wrist, went back into the kitchen, turned the television and the outside light off. She looked around the room for a moment. There were pictures of two women about her age, and small children.
She shook her head and closed the door. Mr. Walker’s azalea bushes were tall. She stood behind them for a moment to check the street. She jumped off the porch and jogged towards her vehicle. She felt something heavy over her heart, something she had never experienced after killing someone. Guilt.
__________
“So you mean to tell me that you had two bricks in the trunk, and a gun under ya lap, and the cracker let you go?” Tiffany asked, shocked by what Niya had told her and Diamond about the encounter she had just had with Detective Butler.
“Yeah, the peckerwood had me red handed and he didn’t lock me up.”
“What you think that was all about?” Diamond asked, walking into the kitchen and taking a seat at the table with Niya and Tiffany. She placed the two ice-cold daiquiris she had just made in front of them.
“I don’t know, but he did say that he would be in touch. And I ain’t even gonna lie, the motherfucker got a bitch a little shook,” Niya said, thinking about possibly having to go to jail and having to be away from her children. Shit, any and everything Niya did, the thought of the twins welfare was always on her mind. They meant everything to her and she didn’t make a move without thinking about their well-being first.
“So what now,” Diamond asked Niya.
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll play it by ear. Just be on point and try to avoid ridin’ dirty until I find out what this cop is up to,” Niya instructed.
“We need us some intel on this cracker.” Diamond said, getting her laptop. “If he dirty, we have to be careful who we ask in the street, but the internet… that is a cool bitch.” They all laughed and pulled their chairs closer to her.
__________
Gwen sat in her car for a moment. She reached in her pocket and took out the silencer. She opened the grocery bag that contained a box of baggies. With her gloves still on, she opened a baggie and placed the silencer inside, then zipped it. She opened a second baggie and placed Mr. Walker’s watch inside. She placed them both back into the grocery bag, and drove out of the development. She drove down Cottage Grove court. They were building new houses, and she knew the development would be empty at night. She drove to the end of the cul-de-sac, reached under her seat for the small planting shovel, and looked around. She knew the developer had not paid for security to be there yet, due to it only being marked for lots. She dug into the red clay they had outlined for the foundation to be poured. She wanted to make sure the hole would be deep enough, so that the contents would not be discovered before they poured the foundation.
She took the silencer and watch out of the grocery bag, dropped them into the hole, and covered it. The street didn’t have any streetlights, which meant no cameras, but just to be safe, she had her hoody pulled up, and the SUV parked at an angle that made it hard to see the license. Even if they did see the plates, it didn’t matter because she had stolen them anyway.
She got back in her vehicle and drove down the street. She reached in the console for her cell phone, waited until she was about eight blocks away, and turned it back on. She took off the black latex gloves and placed them in her pocket. The screen showed she had three missed calls, all from Chad. She had not spoken to him since this morning when she left to go to Mayo’s hearing. They had discussed and agreed that Chad would take care of the witnesses. She was supposed to go to court, gather information, and give it to him to handle. She knew that it was going to be a blow up when she told him she had taken care of Mr. Walker. She swiped the screen, the phone didn’t even seem to ring once before he answered.
“Yo, where you at,” Chad answered with an attitude as he sat in the apartment waiting.
“I’m on my way home, now. I had to take care of something,” Gwen said, looking off into the highway.
Chad knew Gwen, and to anyone else she may have sounded calm, but he could tell that something had her upset and shook. Thinking back to her recent attempt to take her own life, he decided not to press her too much. “Aight babe, you coming home now, right?” Chad said as he checked the bullets in his clip.
“Yeah,” the phone clicked.
Chapter 3
Butler kneeled next to Mr. Walker’s dead body. The old man still had his eyes open, which meant that he saw what came at him. He cursed himself for being so sloppy. Him being focused on MHB had caused him to be careless, and to not take care of his homicide witnesses. He knew Mayo had this done; it reeked of him. Smooth, clean kill. He might be locked up, but he still had his goons to do his dirty work. Although he had given him valuable information on MHB, he was still a ruthless king pin. He only provided information to save his own skin.
“You think Mayo had something to do with this?” Detective Rose asked.
“What do you think, Rookie? This old man didn’t have any enemies. Who else would gain anything from his death? I mean, we need to still investigate this like any homicide, but I am pretty sure that bastard ordered this!” Butler said passing Rose a clear Ziploc bag with the gun in it.
Butler couldn’t even think about Mr. Walker. His mind was on MHB. He shook his head and closed Mr. Walker’s eyes.
“I think we need to put the other witness into protective custody before they get to him next,” Rose suggested.
“Yeah, get that done.” Butler almost stepped over the body, but he stopped and walked around. Damn, he was off his game.
He walked into the kitchen where the neighbor was being questioned. She had come over to check on Mr. Walker when she didn’t see him taking his morning stroll, and found his body in the garage. Mayo had given him information on MHB, but Butler did not want him on the streets. He had murdered two people that he knew of, and an animal like that needs to be in a cage. Sometimes you may have to dance with the Devil, but you need to leave him in hell. He remembered the saying his father would always quote.
__________
Selena touched Gwen’s arm. She had been sitting at the table, looking off into space for the last five minutes. Her bottom lip was cracked from her chewing on it, and her skin didn’t have its usual glow to it. Her hair was pulled back off her face, and the bags under her eyes were so large that she almost appeared to have two black eyes.
“Gwen, you look troubled, ma, what’s going on?”
Gwen finally looked at Selena for a moment, then looked back at the wall behind her. She licked her lips and rubbed her eyes.
“I really don’t wanna get you involved with my problems,” Gwen answered without looking her in the eyes.
Selena studied her for a moment. She had lost weight and seemed to be on edge. She looked into her eyes, and didn’t see a light. Something dark had taken hold of her. Selena didn’t like it at all. She had grown fond of Gwen. Being a woman in a nigga’s game wasn’t easy. She squeezed her hand and gently turned Gwen toward her.
“Gwen, you gotta know by now you can trust me, boo … You got problems, I’ll do whatever I can do to help you,” Selena said as she looked into Gwen’s tired eyes.
Gwen sat there for a minute. Her eyes began to well with tears as she thought about her Zion, and how much she wanted to hold him in her arms. Selena looked around the nail shop. They needed to be away from potential eavesdroppers. She grabbed Gwen by the hand and pulled her into the waxing room. Selena nodded to Ming to keep herself and others away.
“Now, you’re really not leaving until you tell me what’s going on,” Selena said as she sat Gwen down on the table
, and pulled up a stool.
Gwen started breaking down. She told Selena the whole situation with Mayo, her deceased boyfriend, JR, and about her son being kidnapped. Gwen cried the whole time. As she spoke, she felt something lift inside of her, just having someone else besides Chad. He had lost his heart when he decided to go straight. The street prince she fell in love with was not there anymore. She was pissed when he said they should go to the Feds about Zion. She looked at Selena, and she could see wheels turning in her head.
Selena listened to every word she said, while trying to wrap her mind around the words, and thinking of how she could help her.
“Mayo has made me a monster, just like him. I took the life of an innocent old man, Selena,” Gwen cried out. “I just want my son back,” she cried.
“Shhhhh, we’re gonna get ya son back,” Selena assured her, pulling Gwen into her arms. “Whatever you need from me, I got you. We got resources everywhere. We got this, don’t worry, Zion will be back with you.”
Gwen wanted to believe what Selena was saying, but she had not told her everything. She was on a ticking time line. All she had was the other witness’s name and no idea where he was. If the cops had found Mr. Walker, they had surely put him in protective custody, which meant it would be even more difficult to get to him. She knew the longer she took, the less time Zion had to stay alive.
__________
Niya quietly opened the door to the twin’s room. There was a soft glow from the twin’s night light, and sounds of soft snoring coming from both of them. She pulled the door closed and sighed, then stretched, and grabbed her laptop. She checked some of her social networking messages, and laughed at a few pictures some fools had posted. She had “liked” the page of Mr. Marcus, one of her favorite porn stars. Looking at his pictures made her squeeze her legs together. She laughed as she thought back to the conversation that she and the girls had earlier about riding a black stallion. She logged onto Mr. Marcus’s website, and searched through the on-demand movies. She had a paid membership, and could watch all his movies any time. It was worth the twenty bucks a month. Dude had some backbone and pelvic skills.
Country Girls Trilogy (Parts 1-2-3 Boxed Set): MHB Love Page 17
