by Shan
I was really trippin’ on Brandon right now; couldn't believe he accepted the money and even wrote down how he wanted the cheddar to go to his bitch in case he didn't make it home. Some hoe ass shit right there. I would be sure to holla at him about it the minute we come home. Tae has had Brandon back since the day Bandon came to stay with them; stood tall for him when he was being picked on by kids from around the way. Tae took beatings for him when he kept fuckin’ up around the house; had mad love for Brandon and he got the nerves to open his hand to accept the million dollars like it was owed to him.
“Hey yo, so where you bout to head to?” Money asked walking over to me.
“Meet up with the dudes that's supposed to have the artillery waiting for us. Why, what up? You going with them fools?” I headed over to a car that was already waiting at the private airport for us with Money following right behind me.
“Nah, I'm ready to get down to business just like you. I'm anxious to get this over with and get back to the house too.”
“Yes time is of the essence. Roll with me and let's get this handled. One thing I know for sure is if them niggas choose to party then I bet ya they won't be getting paid. I'm not about to let Tae give up no bread to somebody that don’t deserve it,” I threw my bag in the trunk and walked around to the driver side getting in. I popped the locks for Money to get in then rolled down his window to call for Brandon who was standing around chitchatting with Dmitri's crew most likely talking about going to see some ass.
“What up? Where ya'll about to head to?” Brandon said ducking down into the window.
“Bout to pick up these guns and get to work. I know you ain’t about to go looking for no pussy?” I asked skeptically.
“Shit, I wanted to get a drink or something and hit the sack. Been on that plane all fuckin’ day.”
“Bet that, bet that. Well me and Money about to pick this shit up and meet up with the P.I.'s. We trying to get it done and get back to the States,” I said.
“Well get up with me when ya'll ready to roll on them and I'm down. Right now I'm about to get a drink with them, ya'll should just pick the shit up and meet us at this lil’ spot they found out about,” Brandon said maintaining a straight face. I was waiting for him to say he was joking or something. I mean he was taking Tae's money so you would think that he was gonna be serious about the whole situation knowing what was at stake.
“Nah, we good on that. I'll hit you up when we find something out,” I put the car in drive signaling to Brandon that I was ready to pull off. I felt like cussing his ass out but didn't want to come at him like that in front of company. Brandon tapped the top of the car and walked back to the supposed to be soldiers.
“That's been ya'll boy since like grade school and shit right?” Money asked. “Tae sure do got some funny acting muthafuckas in his circle.”
I didn't respond to the statement mainly ’cause I didn't know what to say; the shit was true. It was like this whole big jealousy, envious, competitive type bullshit going on. Everybody clearly wanted to be him instead of just working with him and being part of a team. Listen at me sounding like a damn high school coach and shit. I laughed to myself, catching side glances from Money.
***
“How many of them is it?” Money asked reaching for the binoculars.
“So far just six. Ain't no telling how many is on the inside,” I passed the binoculars over to Money and accepted the blunt he was handing to me.
“Hey…hey…hey. Yo, I see the lil’ one,” Money passed the binoculars back to me. That cat P.J. walked out of the Villa carrying a baby on his hip. He said a few words to his men he had standing guard then turned to walk back into the Villa.
“We need to figure out a way to bring all of them away from Rozalyn and the baby,” I took a deep toke on the blunt then passed it back to Money.
“What happened to B, I thought you called him.” Money asked damn near choking on the hay.
“His phone going to voice mail,” I rubbed my chest when I felt a sharp pain hit me from where I'd been hit with a .45.
“How good is your aim? I really think you need to stay over here, you been rubbing your chest all day,” Money passed the last of the blunt back over to me.
“My aim is good and I'm good. Let me just think for a minute,” I sighed. “Okay, look you got your vest on?”
Money nodded then lifted his shirt like he had to prove to me that he was protected. I was hoping that the idea that popped up in my head would work. We came here an eight man team and was down to only two all ’cause the other muthafuckas wanted to play before they worked.
“A’ight, so look I'm walk out here in the middle of the sand and distract they asses, make them come my way. All of them not gonna come so the ones in the back I need you to pop they asses, quick Money. Work your way from side to side lay them bitches out.”
“What? Hell nah, let's think of something else. That's definite suicide. Hell nah. Call them niggas up and see where they at.”
“Money it's just us, they too busy trying to get laid bruh,” I laid back in the sand looking through the binoculars checking to see if I could catch these cats off of guard.
“Fuck I'm down for whatever you wanna do…but let me be the one to go out there. You really should still be in the hospital,” Money suggested. I looked at Money like he was crazy; shit he did the same thing I did so I knew he was getting paid.
“Yo, Tae paying you more than the mil he offered everybody else?” I questioned suspiciously.
“Hell nah, why you say that?” Money sat in the sand, pulled out a swisher sweet, and a small bag of weed.
“You willing to stick your neck out for a nigga you ain’t been knowing but a few months…just for a million dollars seem kind of odd.”
Money was tall, dark-skinned, look like he weighed no more than a buck fifty. His face showed signs of aging, stress, and fuckin’ depression. He was already showing signs of worry with the many of wrinkles that were permanently growing their way into his forehead.
“I've been knowing Tamar longer than a few months; you know I heard a few stories about him from cats around the way talking about shit he had done in the ATL. Everybody was talking about him like he was this cold, heartless dude that was out for himself, will murk a nigga just for looking at him wrong and all this shit. So shit when me and my fellas heard that he was coming down here to take over we was trippin’. Tae stepped to me told me he had heard some things about me and wanted me on his team. I was still thinking like fuck that nigga; bitch ass ain't finna come down here and take over shit he gonna have to earn it first. I got with my goons and got to thinking how we can take this dude out or either send him back to the A,” Money took a lighter from his pocket and lit the blunt he just rolled.
“While I was standing out in front of my lil’ spot chopping it up with him still thinking how I was gonna send him back to where he came from, my granny came outside told me she needed me to run to the pharmacy and get her medicine. She got HIV you know so her meds be breaking me; but hell she broke her back to take care of me so why not do the same for her. The shit wasn't her fault; she got sick a few years back. I took her to the lil’ clinic in the hood and she ended up having to run to the bathroom to throw up and a muthafuckin’ nurse turned around and ran into my granny with a needle. The nurse had just finished taking blood from an AIDs patient and a few months after that the test confirmed that my granny had it,” Money passed the blunt over to me.
“Damn, that's messed up, yo,” I took a pull from the blunt and blew the smoke in the air.
“How about Tae handed my granny five thousand dollars; told her he found it in her grass,” Money laughed. “He ain’t have to do that shit; he didn't even know me didn't even know my granny but he just handed her that bread like it was nothing. Then he turned around and handed me an envelope and said he'll have the other half when I finish a job for him. Guess how much he paid me, yo?”
“Shit I don't know. What he pay you?” I
shrugged my shoulders handing the blunt back over.
“A hundred G's bruh, half that day and half after I murked this cat for him. He was talking about how he can do it his self or get somebody else to do it but he was too busy looking for Rozalyn at the time and wanted to see for himself what I was about. I appreciated that for real.”
I laughed, “Damn, you act like you ain't never seen a hundred stacks before. The way you say you passing up a million dollars you acting like it's nothing to you.”
“Believe it or not I ain’t never seen that much money at once in my life. Niggas before him wasn’t paying that much; like five thousand dollars a hit. After spending five and six hundred on retroviral meds, paying hospital bills and household bills I wasn't making shit. I ain’t start getting no real money until I got with Tae.”
“Yo, you risk your life over five thousand dollars. You gotta be out of your muthafuckin’ mind,” I shook my head.
“That's what they were paying; I thought it was good until I got that bread from Tae. That's when I felt like I was being fucked.”
I laughed again, “You were, you can go to jail for life, you can fuck up, and the person you after can cap your ass. Ain't no way in hell I'll do a fuckin’ job for five stacks knowing what's at stake. I used to do the shit for free then Tae and his bruh them start dropping off that paper and it really got me to thinking; I ain’t never dropping another muthafucka’ for free again when I can get paid for it.”
“Yea and now I have a fuckin’ minimum, but on the real that's why I told Tae to keep his money. He done showed me love numerous of damn times so I feel like I can show it back.”
“Already,” I exclaimed. “Now get off Tae's dick and let's get wifey and son home.”
“Fuck you, yo.” Money playfully popped me in the arm then proceeded to take his pick of weapons out the bag. “Hey yo, I seen your crib right? Seen it on a picture or whatever so I know you got bread. How bout we make a bet?”
“I ain't got time for that shit….”
“Nah, ‘cause I hear you supposed to be like the coldest goon alive so put your money up. Let's see who can take the most niggas out. It's six of them out here and we'll do a quick count when we get on the inside. I bet you a quarter million that I can knock off the most.”
“Hell nah, let's just get this shit over with.”
“Put your money up, what you scared?”
I laughed, “A’ight bet that. Bet that.”
POW! POW! POW! TAT-TA-TA-TAT-TAT!
“Shit, get down, get down!” I screamed. “Fuck they spotted us!”
POW! POW! POW! TAT-TA-TA-TAT-TAT!
“How the fuck they see us way over here?” Money asked.
“Hell if I know but we gotta move,” I snatched the bag up and took off running from the spot we were camping out at. Money went the opposite direction. Looks like we were gonna have to go for what we know; no time to enact a plan. I positioned myself behind a bush, and then got a clear view of my target before firing.
PFFT! PFFT!
One down! I thought as I seen one of the goons running towards my way drop to the sand. I made my way down the long beach and to another set of bushes to hide behind. I saw another goon go down; credits to my man Money. Two down!
POW! POW! POW! TAT-TA-TA-TAT-TAT!
“Shit!” I yelled suddenly feeling like I was under pressure.
PFFT! PFFT!
“Fuck it!” I came out of hiding; it was the only way I was gonna be able to knock these muthafuckas down.
PFFT! PFFT!
Money caught my drift ’cause he came in from the other side giving it to these cats just the same. We both were able to take down five of the six that were posted up on the outs; I looked around hastily trying to locate the sixth man but couldn't find him. I assumed that he must've went on the inside so I ran to meet up with Money so to let him know I was going through the front door and he could go through the back. I paused when Money raised his gun and aimed it directly at my head.
PFFT! PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!
“Come on! I saw that P.J. dude running out the back with Rozalyn and the baby!” Money shouted.
I shook my head when I noticed the sixth man laying at my foot; his blood mixed with the sand. Damn, I thought this muthafucka’ was about to shoot me.
“Which way they go?” I questioned.
“Around the….” Money paused when a Jeep Wrangler came whizzing past us, eating up the distance of the beach in seconds.
PFFT!
“Don't shoot!” I slapped Money's hand down to prevent him from shooting at the Jeep then took off running towards our vehicle that was parked at least a couple of miles away. “Come on before we lose them!”
Money and I made it to the vehicle only to see that the two back tires had been shot out as well as the two driver side windows. Damn! Damn! Damn! Shit! Now I had to call Tamar to let him know that I fucked up and allowed P.J. to get away along with Rozalyn and his son.
“Yo, what the fuck we gonna do now?” Money questioned sounding more defeated than I felt.
“Yea!” I answered my phone when I felt it vibrating in my jacket pocket.
“Hey, this is the P.I.; I'm following your man right now,” the P.I. stated.
“Thank God. He got the girl and the baby right?” I walked towards a set of cars that was parked on the side of a villa a mile from where our car was jammed and inoperable.
“Yes, she is in the backseat and holding the baby in her arms.”
“Cool, don't lose them. I gotta get another vehicle. Call me the minute they stop!”
“You got it!” he said.
I'm fuckin’ Brandon up the minute I see him.
17 ROZALYN
Twisted Fate
“Slow down! You gonna make us crash!” I screamed at P.J. who was driving what felt like a good 90 miles per hour down this raggedy ass road.
“We're almost there!” P.J. screeched.
“You're gonna get us killed! P.J. just stop the car!”
“I told you I'm not letting you go! Not with my baby in you!”
“It won't be a baby if I die stupid muthafucka’! Fuck this baby! I'm worried about my baby I have right now!”
P.J. glanced at me through the rearview mirror but never slowed the Jeep down. Never in my life had I anticipated the sounds of gunshots like I had been ever since P.J. told me that Tamar and his boys were coming for me a couple of days ago. I could barely sleep at night or even get comfortable in the day knowing that things were gonna get ugly; I wanted to be ready.
The moment I heard the shots sounding off outside I grabbed Tamarion and was ready to run right in the middle of the mini war but was quickly snatched up by P.J.. I did everything in my power to fight him off, keep him away from me and Tamarion. We were so close to being rescued, so close that I could feel the victory before the battle had even been won.
"I'm almost there, be on the lookout for us," P.J. said into the receiver of his cell phone.
We'd finally made it onto smooth pavement; the road had become a lot less bumpy and we no longer felt like we were about to go tumbling over. I breathed a little easier and felt somewhat calmer but that was immediately replaced with worry and reverence. A small black sedan pulled out in front of us causing P.J. to swerve off the road barely missing the sedan. I did my best to protect my infant son who was not strapped down in a car seat like he should be. The sound of one of the tires exploded sounding like a bomb going off in my ear; I ducked down situating myself on the floor shielding Tamarion with blankets and my body. The Jeep hit something solid, the engine humming loudly until it gradually died. P.J. turned the key over and over again pounding on the gas pedal but nothing happened.
"It's okay baby, shhh!" I cooed in Tamarion's ear trying to calm him. I slowly got up from the floor but froze when a shock of pain shot through my shoulder, paralyzing me, and forcing a vigorous yell from deep down within.
"Aagghhhh!" I cried.
"Come on! Come on!" P.J. jerked
the backdoor open and reached out for my hand but I didn't move. I looked over his shoulder then closed my eyes when the striking blow from the butt of the gun came down on his head. P.J. crashed to the ground and a dude I had never seen in my life stood over him.
"Tamar sends his best," the guy said then fired his pistol without hesitation.
POW!POW!POW!POW!
"It's over lil’ ma, let's get the fuck outta here and get you home," he said reaching for my hand.
What if this is a set-up? Who is he? I don't know him. Where is Tamar?
"You can trust me. I ain’t here to hurt you, I work for your boy. Key is down by the road trying to get us another car. Promise you it's good,"
"I think...I think my arm is broke," I said looking into his eyes to see if I could detect any sign that he was the enemy.
"A’ight, just keep it still," the unknown guy reached down onto the floor where I was still sitting cradling Tamarion and lifted us. He carried us through the brush of trash, branches, grass, and gravel until we reached the main road that we veered off of.
"Oh my God," I broke down letting out a stream of tears. The unknown guy gently let me down to the ground. I walked towards Keylan who held his hand over his chest but wore a big grin.
Thank you...thank you so much!"
Keylan embraced me, sending a fiery feeling of pain when he bumped my arm but I no longer cared. I was so happy to see somebody that I knew was here to take me home.
"Damn, look at you. I guess that wasn't really you we buried, huh?" Keylan stepped back and looked me over.
"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.
"We buried you; well what we thought was you. Everybody thought you was dead.....wait you ain't know that?"
"What...no....I've been waiting and waiting for Tamar to come for me. Ya'll thought I was dead?" I asked through tears. "No wonder Tae talked to me so badly when I called him....where is he? Where is he?"
