“Bitch, what am I supposed to be, scared?” Rell said, looking Niya in her eyes.
“Naw, I don’t want you to ever be scared. Mama say scared niggas will kill ya. I want cha to be just dickless,” she smiled and squeezed the trigger.
The two young niggas and fiends hit the ground, hearing the gun shot. Niya pulled Rell out of the truck. He fell to the ground, groaning and grabbing his dick. Niya searched Rell and took his gun. She checked his sock and took the small .22. She ordered the workers to throw their guns under the truck. The boys were young, and shaking, so they obeyed without issue.
“Now get down and stay down,” she ordered the two young boys.
“Arrrggg, bitch I’m going to kill you!” Rell yelled.
Niya stood over him. She took her foot and stood on his groin. Rell yelled in pain. Niya put all her weight on his crotch. The young boys stared at her. Rose had the two niggas on the porch laying on their stomachs. She had disarmed them. She looked towards Niya and knew she had to do something before things got worse. She could see Niya laying blows to Rell’s face with the butt of her gun. Shit, she was going to kill him. She looked at the two goons, and then back to Niya pummeling Rell.
One of the young dudes had taken a chance, while Niya was beating Rell, and had run inside one of the houses.
Niya was exhausted from the blows she had delivered to his face. She had beaten Rell so badly that his eyes were swollen shut, and blood was coming out his mouth and nose as he exhaled. She stood and raised her gun to his bloodied face. Rell was wheezing. Niya felt her adrenaline kick in, she was happy seeing his ass struggling to breathe, and knowing his life was about to end.
“Niya, it’s too many witnesses out here. One of dem boys done ran in one of those houses. Come on, we got to go. Finish this shit another time,” Rose said, walking up on her.
Time was of the essence, and she knew that they didn’t have long before the boy would be back out the house, and armed.
“We gotta go,” Rose yelled, pulling Niya away.
Niya yanked away from her. She wasn’t done yet.
“Touch … Somebody… Else… From MHB, and I’ma… blow ya fuckin face off!” Niya shouted through clinched teeth as she continued hitting him with the butt of her gun.
Bullets whizzed in their direction. Not only had the young boy brought fire, but the dudes on the porch had gotten up and gone inside. Just as Rose expected, one of the gunmen came rushing out of the house, this time with a large assault rifle.
He let off eight shots in one second, most of which hit Rell’s truck. Rose grabbed Niya and pulled her around to the front of the truck. Fuck! Rose looked around for the best strategy to get out of there. Niya began returning fire towards the porch. Rose followed suit. She knew she could take each one of them down, but aimed for shoulders and legs. Rose hit the young boy in the thigh. As the boy fell, Niya jumped into Rell’s truck. Rose jumped in the passenger side.
Niya punched the gas, looked at Rell, and turned the truck then headed towards him.
Rose panicked. She had to do something, so she began firing back at the porch. Niya swerved, hitting Rell’s legs instead of his head. They disappeared down the street.
Chapter 11
“Gwen, where are you going?” Ms. Wright asked, stopping her daughter at the door of Zion’s hospital room.
Gwen was terrified. The thought of Zion not surviving this cardiac surgery or that they would not find any brain activity was more than she could bear.
“I really can’t deal with all of this right now, Mom. I got some stuff I need to take care of, and the doctors don’t need me to help them do their job.” Gwen replied, grabbing the door handle.
As Gwen tried to open the door, Ms. Wright slammed it back, then stood in front of it. Ms. Wright looked at her daughter. Gwen’s face was sunken, she had lost weight, and she walked around like a zombie. She was pale and she was jumpy.
“Sit down, I wanna talk to you,” Ms. Wright said, pointing at the chair.
“Mom, I don’t have time…”
“I’m not asking you, Gwyneth,” her Mom said, pointing to the chair.
Gwen knew not to test her mother when she took that tone. She sighed and took a seat in the green leather chair. Ms. Wright sat beside her. “You haven’t shed one tear since you been coming over here to check on Zion. When you come, you only stay a little while, and then you leave. You look like hell, and I can tell you are not taking care of yourself. You gotta do better, baby, for Zion. Tell me what is going on.” She took Gwen’s face in her hand, and looked into her eyes. “Come on, baby, tell me. You know I am here for you. Now what’s going on with you, Gwyneth?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
“Momma, I don’t got time to cry. I gotta handle my business first.”
“What business?” Ms. Wright asked.
Gwen was silent, thinking about her baby having a 50/50 chance of surviving or at least having a normal life, caused her blood to boil. Mayo’s face entered her mind. She needed to make sure there was a zero percent chance that he survived. She imagined pulling the trigger and letting the heat from her Glock enter his forehead.
“What business?” Ms. Wright asked, snapping her fingers and bringing Gwen back.
Gwen and her mother had a close relationship. There was nothing she could not tell her. Her mother always was there for her. Even when Gwen did wrong, her mother would scold, but stand right by her. There wasn’t too much she hid from her.
She looked in her mother’s eyes and kissed her cheek. “Mom, I gotta make sure the dude that did this to Zion pays for it with his life. I ain’t gonna rest until I take him out, and anybody else that wants to get in my way. I can’t sleep until he is six feet deep.” Gwen answered.
Ms. Wright sighed and squeezed Gwen’s hand. She knew there was nothing she could say to change her mind. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
“Listen to me, baby,” Ms. Wright said, turning Gwen’s face to her. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now, but please baby, remember I am a mother too. I love you, and I can’t take losing my only child.” Ms. Wright said, kissing Gwen on the cheek. She touched her face and walked over to Zion’s bedside.
Gwen walked over to kiss Zion. Her heart ached. Touching her baby’s hand, she knew that he was no longer in that body. She didn’t feel him there any longer. The machines were beeping and hissing, keeping his body alive, but his little spirit was gone. She knew what the brain scan test was going to show. She had already processed the loss of her only child in her mind, but she just couldn’t get up the nerve to disconnect him from the life support system. She took her baby in her arms and held him tightly as the doctor and the Reverend entered the room.
__________
Detective Rose sat on the edge of her bed, staring down at her badge and gun on the floor. Her mind was still reeling from the shootout. She replayed the incident in her mind and shuddered as she thought about how close she came to losing her life. Niya was a crazy chick, she had responded to the situation out of sheer emotion for one of her MHB sisters. Rose grabbed the bottle of Moscato off the nightstand. She turned it up and sighed.
A loud bang at the front door caused her to jump. She grabbed her gun off the floor and walked up the hallway. She made sure the light was off behind her, and placed her hand over the peephole first, then looked through it. Her heart stopped when she realized that Niya was standing outside the door. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out how she had found her home.
“I see ya shadow under the door,” Niya said, letting her know that she knew she was there.
Rose unlocked the door and opened it slowly.
“What, you didn’t think I’d find out where you lived?” Niya joked, walking past Rose.
“No, it’s not that. I’m still on edge a little from the other day,” Rose said, trying to play it off.
Actually, Rose was more than a little concerned. If Niya knew where s
he lived, how possible was it that she knew Rose was a cop? She had been to the station a couple of times since the shooting.
“Well, I just stopped by to see if you wanted to ride with me. I got some business to take care of, and since you handled yaself the other day, I thought I could show you the flip side of the MHB coin,” Niya said, looking around the apartment.
“Yeah, yeah, that’s cool,” Rose said. “Come back here while I get dressed,” she said, trying to get Niya away from the living room. “It’s cleaner in my bedroom anyway.”
She needed to guide her away from the living room. She didn’t want to take a chance on Niya seeing the photo of her in her officer’s uniform after she graduated from the academy. Rose still felt uneasy. Knowing where she laid her head was a big no no in undercover work. She wanted to make sure she kept her gun accessible at all times. She wasn’t taking any chances on what else Niya might have found out.
__________
“You mean to tell me that you got one of ya balls shot off and you refuse to tell me who did it?” Detective Butler said, standing next to Rell’s hospital bed.
Rell was a top player in the drug game in Charlotte. Detectives had files so thick on him that there was almost a filing cabinet in the station just for his files. Butler knew that trying to find out who shot him was useless. These people didn’t come to the police for anything. He lost one ball to the bullet, and his face was jacked up too. He was missing teeth, and his eyes were swollen shut. His left leg was in a cast and his right was elevated. He looked like something out of a horror movie or a sci- fi film.
“Alright, look. I know you think courts of the streets will resolve this issue, but if a kid stumps his toe in Charlotte over the next month or so, I am going to be coming for your black ass.”
Rell managed to lift his hand and shoot the bird at Butler.
Butler shook his head and exited the room.
Rell didn’t know if he was dizzy from his injuries or from the rage that was rising inside of him. As soon as he was released, Niya was going to wish she had never run up on him. His head began to ring with pain as he imagined Niya begging him for mercy. After a moment, the pain began to subside. Yeah, MHB would be nothing more than an urban legend when he got finished with them hoes. He was going to take all of them out.
__________
Diamond and Tasha walked into the courthouse suited and booted like they were about to begin a high profile trial. The truth of the matter, is that Diamond was only there for a hearing to get her criminal record expunged. She didn’t have any convictions or felonies, but her arrest record made it hard for her to apply for a license to carry. Tasha just came along for the ride. Each senior MHB had taken on protégés: Diamond mentored Tasha, Niya mentored Mille, Porsha was with Tiffany, and Kea with Alexus.
“Walk me to the bathroom,” Diamond told Tasha as they got off of the elevator.
“Aight.” Tasha replied.
When they got to the bathroom, Diamond stopped in mid stride when she walked in and saw Gwen at the sink washing her hands. The last time she saw her was when she put a gun in Gwen’s face and kidnapped her for Niya to kill. Tasha felt the room vibrate with tension. Diamond readied herself for a violent encounter with Gwen. Gwen took towels from the machine. She looked up and locked eyes with Diamond.
Diamond pushed Tasha behind her. Gwen thought back to how she had thought of the things she was going to do to Niya, Tiffany and Diamond the next time she saw them, but there was nothing there right now for them. She was too exhausted to even try to fight this bitch. She had bigger things to handle right now.
Diamond stood ready to fight.
Gwen sighed. “I really don’t have time for this. Are you gonna move from in front of the door so I can leave?” she said, throwing the towels in the trash can.
Diamond noticed how skinny Gwen had gotten. She looked like hell, and she didn’t feel the normal energy from Gwen. She unclenched her fist as she looked down at the MHB tattoo on her ankle. Through everything, Gwen was still family, and it looked like she needed family right now instead of an ass whooping. Diamond move to the side, Gwen began to walk by. Diamond took a chance and grabbed her
“G, what’s wrong?” She squeezed her hand. Damn she wasn’t accustomed to this Gwen. There was no light or fire in her eyes.
Gwen was quiet and instinctively returned the squeeze to Diamond. Gwen teared up for a second, but fought back the tears. She had to stay focused and handle business.
“It’s nothing, I’m fine Diamond,” she replied.
“And how’s your son?” Diamond asked, wondering if she had gotten him back yet.
Gwen turned to Diamond. She wanted to fall onto her sister, but there was too much bad blood. She let go of her hand and opened the door.
“My son is caught between here and heaven.” Gwen said and then brushed past Diamond and right out of the door.
Diamond froze. Those words alone were like a blow to the heart. She’d really hoped that Gwen and Chad would have gotten him back safely. It also made Diamond feel guilty because all this time while Gwen was going through her situation, the rest of MHB stood by and did nothing to help her.
“Who was that?” Tasha asked, still a little confused about everything. “I see that she is MHB,” she said, noticing Gwen’s tattoo.
“That’s our sister,” Diamond said, walking out of the bathroom with her head down.
__________
“Look, Millie, it’s a lot of money in the drug business. You just gotta be ready to put in the work. Sometimes, as women, we gotta do just a little bit more for men to understand how serious we are,” Niya explained as she drove down the highway.
This was the conversation Rose had been waiting for. It was the core of the whole investigation and she knew that in order for the case to stick, she would have to get Niya to talk and teach her how the business was run. It was going to take time and patience, and of course a whole lot of trust, which Rose was gaining fast.
“Do you know something about cocaine?” Niya asked, looking out into the highway.
“Yeah, I know a little something,” she replied.
“What about heroin?”
“I can’t really say that I do, except for what I heard about it in the streets,” Rose lied, not really wanting Niya to know her full knowledge about drugs.
Niya pulled out her iPhone and tapped on the screen a few times. It rang once and a man picked up.
“You ready for me?” Niya asked, holding the phone away from her face.
“Yeah, come holla at me,” the man said and then hung up the phone.
Niya placed the phone in her bra and reached under her seat for her gun. She steered the truck with her knees, as she made sure she had a full clip.
Rose watched her, then turned to look out the window. She hoped they would not be dodging bullets again today.
“Don’t worry,” Niya chuckled. “I don’t think we’re gonna have to use these,” she smiled, placing the gun on her lap.
Niya made a few turns, until they arrived at a diner. Niya parked, popped the trunk, and jumped out. Rose sat there for few moments to look around before getting out, and walking to the back of the car.
“Millie, look around the corner. You should see a big ass dude with a blonde beard. You can’t miss his fat ass. He wants to buy two bricks.” Niya pulled and pressed something behind the license plate. The left light popped out and she grabbed a black backpack.
“Aight Mills, you need to start getting familiar with the business. I sell my bricks for 40k a piece to these niggas around here. You need to be able to know who these niggas are and how to handle their asses.” Niya said, slamming the trunk and passing her the bag before hopping back into the car.
Rose’s stomach tightened. Niya was serious about her business and making the new recruit ready to move. This seemed a little fast for her. She eyed Niya and she wondered what was really around that corner. She pulled her gun
from her waist and followed Niya down the quiet suburban street.
__________
Gwen smiled a sinister smile as she walked away for the clerk of the court. She had gotten Mayo’s next court date. As she walked to her car, she thought about Diamond. It actually made her feel good seeing her. She knew that Diamond’s concern was genuine; Gwen was MHB for life. She noticed that the girl Diamond had with her, had a new MHB tattoo on her left breast. So much had happened since the Niya incident, she wasn’t sure if they still had beef or not. At this time, she didn’t have time to play these high school games with MHB. She had adult shit to handle, and she needed to be focused on her business.
Chapter 12
“Yo, wake up babe,” Eagle said, tapping Niya on her ass.
Niya was exhausted, and annoyed that Eagle was waking her up. She looked at her cell phone. She had a couple hours until she needed to pick up the twins. She and Eagle had been kicking it for about a month and half now. She had grown fond of him, and he seemed like a good dude. She needed a lot more time with him before he could be around her babies.
“Yo, Ni, get up,” Eagle said, this time shaking her.
“Yeah, babe?” Niya rolled over to face him. He brushed the lock of hair from her eye and sat up. Niya sat up also, seeing that he was not smiling.
“Yo, I’m ain’t gonna be able to work the block. You gotta find somebody else to do it, shawty,” Eagle said.
Niya rolled her eyes. What the fuck did this nigga want from her? “Really E, what’s up? It ain’t like you don’t get paid. I mean, I feed your ass.” Niya dropped the chick shit quickly and went into boss mode.
Eagle laughed, but it was without humor. It was one of trying not to snap on her for talking to him like he was some low level street imp.
Country Girls Trilogy (Parts 1-2-3 Boxed Set): MHB Love Page 25
