“Shawty, dis shit ain’t about no money,” Eagle said. “I been getting money before you and always will be stacking it on my own.”
“So what’s up?”
“You are the reason I can’t do this no more. You—”
“Because of me?” Niya said, cutting him off.
“Ni, damn, would you just hold up and let a nigga finish what he trying to say,” Eagle snapped.
“E, you not making any sense. What does this—”
“Shut up. Damn, Ni,” Eagle yelled over her. “Look, I been thinking about dis shit for a minute now. Niya, I love you,” he said, laying back down and looking up at her. “I been feeling you for a minute, and I know right now you feel the same way about me. The more time I spend with you, the more my heart clings to you. Having said that, I can’t be working for a chick that gots my heart.”
Niya didn’t know what to say to Eagle. He looked at her for a moment, then pulled her to him.
“I got my own bread, so I can do my own thing in another hood. I don’t need no handouts from you and I know I can find my own connect. All I need you to do is be my girl, and if you don’t love me the same way right now, that’s fine. I just ask that you give me a chance to earn your heart.”
Niya tried to fight the smile that stretched across her face. His words had touched the parts of her heart that Chad had trampled on. She wasn’t sure if her feelings ran as deep as Eagle professed his did, but she did have feelings for him.
“Eugene loves Niya, Eugene loves Niya.” Niya said, straddling him. “You better be careful of those words,” she warned, leaning in to kiss him.
Eagle’s and Niya’s phones rang in unison. Niya looked at the screen on hers and answered. She slid off Eagle, and sat on the side of the bed. Eagle sighed and grabbed his off the nightstand.
“What up, D,” Niya answered seeing that it was Diamond.
Diamond wasted no time telling her about the run in she had with Gwen and about Zion. Niya’s heart ached, she thought about Chad. Zion meant the world to him, for that matter, Zion meant a lot to her too. Even though she and Gwen had beef, she would not have wished this on her. The mood in the room quickly turned gloomy.
“I’m on my way to you right now,” Niya told Diamond and hung up the phone.
As she stood to find some clothes, Eagle stopped on a news channel. She looked at the screen and fell on the bed. Flames were jumping from a house on Betty Ford road. The news helicopter flew over the blazing homes. Smoke filled the area as flames leapt out of the house. The entire block looked like it was on fire.
“Ohhh shit,” Eagle said, putting on his pants
“Is that the block?” Niya asked, placing both of her hands on her head.
Eagle didn’t answer at first. He turned the volume up.
“This massive fire broke out about an hour ago on Betty Ford Road, claiming three lives so far. No one knows what sparked the blaze, but firemen are struggling to get the fires out.” The news anchor reported.
Niya and Eagle looked at each other. Eagle put on a shirt and his shoes, and they ran out the door.
__________
Bills don’t stop coming because you have changes in your life. Rose had not checked her mailbox in the last few days. That didn’t stop the mailman from filling it with bills. Being involved with this MHB thing had caused her to neglect some things. Utility bills, car note, car insurance greeted her as she looked through the envelopes. Damn, they were due in a few days. She was always on time with paying her bills, but she forgot to update her credit card information for her drafts. They probably made the attempt to draft, and it had been returned.
“Ms.Rose… Ms.Rose,” Mr. Parker yelled, running up the steps behind her.
Hearing Mr. Parker reminded her that she was late on paying her rent too.
“I came to make sure you were okay. You are never late on paying your rent.” Rose smacked her head with the pile of mail.
She almost began to tell Mr. Parker she would pay him next Friday when she got paid, but saw the eight thousand dollars in her sling bag as she placed the mail inside. She pulled the money out and counted out the fifteen hundred for the rent.
She paused as she placed the drug money in Mr. Parker’s hand. Mr. Parker’s face lit up when she handed the additional $60.00 late fee to him and headed up the stairs. She knew using the money was wrong, and the slope she was on was slippery.
__________
Eagle couldn’t get within two city blocks of Betty Ford Rd., due to the thick smoke engulfing the block, and police and firefighters blocking off the area. He parked his car and proceeded on foot. He slipped under the yellow tape and headed down the block to check the extent of the damage.
“Eagle!” a voice yelled from a house on the side of the street that wasn’t on fire. It was MeMe standing in the door motioning for him to come in. He walked inside. Just about most of the squad that worked for Niya was there, and they were shook.
“What da fuck is goin on?” Eagle asked looking around at everybody sitting down. The group was quiet for a moment. “Niggas, you gone mute, what the fuck happened?”
“It was dem niggas from around Ronheart Street,” one of the workers blurted out.
“Ronheart Street? Who da fuck is on Ronheart Street, and why da fuck is they bringin’ drama to the block?” Eagle asked, looking for an answer.
Nobody had one. Everything happened so fast. Eagle looked in the kitchen and saw that a couple of females had gathered in a huddle, and some of them looked like they were crying.
“What’s up wit dem?” Eagle asked MeMe, nodding to the kitchen.
MeMe teared up instantly. “Mandy…” she mumbled before covering her mouth. She began crying. “They killed …”
Eagle felt a sharp pain in his stomach. Mandy was like a sister to him. She had looked out for him when he was locked up, and made sure he was straight when he got out. He looked in the kitchen at the females comforting each other.
“Dogg and Pete got hit up too,” one of the street workers said.
Eagle heard him, but his head was ringing.
“Two niggas ran in Pete’s house and shot him. Dogg and Mandy were bagging shit up when another nigga killed both of them. Me and Tone went for our shit when we heard the shots, when we got back, the houses were burning. Our shit was in the car. You know we can’t hold it on us on the block. Damn.” he explained.
“MeMe said niggas was pouring gasoline on the porches, and then lit them up. I mean, I don’t get it. They didn’t take shit. They just smoked them.”
Eagle stood and hugged MeMe. Dog and Pete were cool, but Mandy, that was his nigga. He walked out the door without saying a word.
__________
Niya traveled across town to Gwen’s apartment, she had knocked on the door looking for Gwen and Chad, but neither one of them was there. Niya sat in her car for minute, then it hit her that Gwen was more than likely at her mother’s house. She pulled up to Ms. Wright’s residence. It felt like home as she walked up to ring the doorbell. Ms. Wright opened the door and pulled Niya inside. She kissed her on the cheek. Ms. Wright’s embrace was warm. Niya held on to her, wanting to take the pain away
“Is she here?” she asked.
“Mom, is my phone down there?” Gwen yelled from upstairs in her old room.
Gwen turned around to walk out her room, and froze. Niya was standing in the doorway holding her phone.
“You know, I remember that day,” Niya said, pointing to a picture of the two of them hanging on the dresser mirror. “You were scared to death of Mr. Johnson’s dog that day,” Niya chuckled, passing Gwen her phone. “You could never run.” Tears formed in Niya’s eyes. This was her best friend since pre-school, and some ill shit that didn’t matter had happened between them. They were sisters beyond blood, and MHB
“He gone Niya, my baby gone.” Gwen sobbed and fell to her knees.
Niya ran to her and held her. “You should
’ve come to me.”
“We just got finished trying to kill each other, Niya. How was I gonna come to you?” she said, sobbing. “I thought I could save him, Ni, I thought I could save him, but I lost him. I lost my Zion.”
Niya held Gwen tightly. They laid on the floor and sobbed together.
“Damn, G, I’m sorry,” Niya apologized holding onto her friend. “I’m sorry. I should have been there for you.”
“My baby, my baby,” Gwen cried out.
They cried for Zion, and their friendship that had been broken. Zion had brought the two women back together, who had been his cheerleaders from the womb. It was a shame it took this to make them remember how much they meant to each other.
__________
“Where the hell have you been?” Detective Butler asked Rose before she sat down in the car. He hadn’t seen or heard from her in a few days.
“I’ve been undercover. That means sometimes I am not gonna be able to get away from the girls and call you. You acting like a rookie, now.” Rose said,
“So, what do you have for me?” Butler asked, trying not to pay her little attitude any attention.
“Nothing, really. Niya’s a hard ass. She got us doing a lot of training shit right now. By next week, I should have more for you,” Rose replied. “I gotta get back to work,” she opened the door, and stepped out.
What the hell was that? Butler said to himself. He knew that going undercover meant that you had to keep your mind on your character at all times. He hoped Rose was just playing the role and not being drawn into the life, if she was, he would snatch her ass back and have her put in a cubicle working cold cases.
__________
The two women let the recent hiccup in their friendship go. They needed each other right now, and Niya wasn’t going to make the mistake of not being there when Gwen needed her, ever again.
“So, how do you wanna handle this?” Niya asked, getting right to the business. “I know you got a plan. All you gotta do is tell me where I fit in at,” she said, looking down at Gwen as she rested her head in her lap.
“I have to get rid of a witness that could possibly keep Mayo in prison,” Gwen said, sitting up on the bed and wiping the last of her tears from her face. “Dis nigga took my little boy away from me, Ni. I’m a kill dis nigga myself.” Gwen said, grabbing a tissue from her nightstand.
Spending the rest of his life in prison was too easy, especially for somebody like Mayo who was used to doing time. He still had the ability to make moves from behind bars. She knew he would order hits on Gwen and Chad as soon as he got the chance. No, she needed him out on the streets where she could handle him.
“So, do you know where this witness is at?” Niya asked.
“See, that’s the problem. My connections don’t go that far into the police department, and I can’t afford to wait until the next time he goes to court. He goes to trial in two weeks.” Gwen said, handing Niya a Kleenex.
Niya stood up and looked out Gwen’s window. She couldn’t imagine what Gwen was going through, but she knew she was going to help her do what needed to be done.
“I think I might be able to help you out with that,” Niya said, walking over to Gwen.
Gwen turned around with a shocked look on her face. “How?” she asked with a sense of relief.
“Just trust me on this,” Niya assured her.
__________
Butler walked into police chief Rodney Monroe’s office to see three white men with suits standing there. At first, he thought that they were internal affairs coming to question him about some foul shit he had done before in one of his cases. But after they introduced themselves as DEA agents, Butler knew exactly what they were there for. Just like vultures, the feds waited in the background and let the local police do all of the dirty work until they felt like taking over the case. But this time, it was a little different. The feds were already investigating MHB well before Butler was.
Butler looked at Chief Monroe. From the look on Monroe’s face, he knew the vultures were there to take over.
MHB had managed to get the attention of the big boy agencies, due to the amount of drugs and money they had flowing through Charlotte. When they moved weight, as they were moving, snitches jumped at the chance to have their time reduced and telling or making up anything to sing to the feds and DEA.
__________
The house where Chad found Zion was still covered in yellow tape, but there wasn’t a cop in sight. Gwen didn’t really know if she was ready for what she was about to do, but something inside of her wanted to see the last place her son was. Instead of going in through the front door, Gwen went around back. Even though the house had been secured by the police, and more than likely nobody was there, Gwen still pulled a .45 automatic from her back pocket before she ripped the yellow tape down and entered through the back door. The afternoon provided her light.
She walked into the living room and looked down at the blood stained carpet. She heard a noise coming from upstairs. It sounded like some furniture was being moved around and then the noise stopped. Gwen gripped her gun, and listened. She walked into the kitchen as she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. She slipped by the refrigerator, and listened to the person talking.
“Yo, I don’t know what dis nigga done wit the money,” the person coming down the stairs said into his phone.
Gwen took the safety off her gun and then slowly peeked around the refrigerator to see who it was. She couldn’t make out his face, because the sunlight was shining on the back of the house, causing the living room to be dark. The man looked around, opened the front door and walked out. Gwen went to the window to see where he was going, and to get a better look at his face.
She ran out the back door and then darted through the alleyway until she came out at the end of the block. Gwen began jogging, getting closer to the guy, who was still talking on his phone. As she got closer, she recognized him. She kept her gun down by her side as she jogged closer.
“Muthafucka,” she mumbled to herself when she recognized Made from the first meeting and the shootout.
As Made reached for the door of the car, he caught Gwen out of the corner of his eyes running up on him. He turned in time to see her raise her gun. He froze for a moment and then looked in the car at the glove compartment. He would never make it in time. As he began to run, Gwen fired. Bullets hit the driver side window of his car in quick succession.
Bullets hit the windshield and his grill as Made ran away. He was glad she was so far away, because any closer he knew she would have hit him. A bullet zinged his coat. He dropped it, disappeared between the houses, and jumped a fence.
Gwen continued running and shooting. She lost sight of him when he hit the corner of one of the houses.
“Shit!” She ran back, grabbed his jacket, and ran to her car.
Chapter 13
“You made bail,” the detective said, walking into the small cellblock where Chad was being held.
He was glad that he was getting out. He was numb as he waited for them to finish the paper work and return his property. As he walked to the lobby, he stopped. Niya was sitting in the waiting area. He looked around and approached her.
“Hey you,” Niya said, standing up and giving him a hug. “I’m so sorry about Zion,” she whispered.
“Damn, you the last person I’d expect to be here,” Chad said, fixing his belt.
“I wasn’t gonna let you sit here. I know things ended on a fucked up note, but the fact remains that I still got love for you.”
This was the first time he’d seen Niya since the apartment and he missed her. But more than that, he missed the twins. He just needed to hold them close to him. He and Niya had things to talk about, but today wasn’t the day for that. Today, he needed to try to begin to put back the life that had become so undone, that he had actually thought about not living anymore.
__________
Detective Rose pulled up and park
ed in front of Goldy’s Bar, she was supposed to meet a dude named RJ. Niya was busy dealing with the death of Mandy, and making the funeral arrangements. She had given Rose the authority to handle business. Rose was doing so well at the game that she almost forgot she was a cop, especially when the money was coming to her so easy and quick. This lifestyle had the same risk as being a detective, but with much higher pay.
“Damn Shawty, you right on time,” RJ said, hopping into the passenger side.
“Always on time. What you got for me?” she asked.
RJ reached into his pocket, pulled out a stack of money and handed it over to Rose. “I need a whole loaf this time,” he said with a smile on his face.
“You know they forty a pop,” Rose said, looking at the money.
“Yeah, I know, Shawty. It’s all there,” he replied, nodding at the money.
Rose reached into the backseat and grabbed a small grocery store bag and set it on her lap. The other good thing about being MHB was that niggas respected the movement. They knew that MHB wasn’t falling short and that every female that repped it had no problems at all putting in work.
“Damn, MHB. Good working with y, shawty.” He grabbed his brick, and headed out of sight.
__________
Niya, Chad, and Ms. Wright sat downstairs, waiting for Gwen to finish getting dressed, so they could visit Zion at the hospital. Zion had been in and out of surgery for the last couple of days and his condition had not improved. He was still in a coma and unresponsive. The doctors had asked her to consider removing him off life support, and today was the day for her to render her final decision. Gwen had requested the alone time. She needed to try to get her mind together, and everyone understood this was going to be a hard day for her.
“I’ma get us something to drink,” Ms. Wright said, getting up from the couch and heading into the kitchen.
She couldn’t take the quietness of the house, and needed to move around. She left Chad and Niya alone. They were silent for a moment.
Country Girls Trilogy (Parts 1-2-3 Boxed Set): MHB Love Page 26
