by Kiki Swinson
It didn’t take Ava long to get us back to the apartment. As soon as she drove into the lot and parked the truck, I hopped out of the passenger side. I couldn’t wait to go inside so I could check the news and see what was being reported about the guy I had just murdered. “Come on, let’s go,” I yelled back at Ava. For some reason it seemed like she was walking in slow motion.
“I’m coming,” she replied as she walked toward me.
About fifteen steps later, Ava finally reached the front door, unlocked it, and then she pushed it open. Immediately after I stepped across the threshold, I felt a sense of calmness come over me. I don’t know why, but I felt safe. “Turn on the TV for me,” I instructed Ava.
She picked the remote up from the coffee table and pressed the power button, and less than a second later the television came on. “Change the channel to ten,” I instructed Ava once more.
I took a seat on the couch and waited to see what the news was going to report. I sat there for about two and a half hours, and nothing happened. By then I was losing patience. “What the fuck is going on? Why haven’t the news reporters gotten their asses out there yet?” I roared. My blood was boiling on the inside. During that time, Ava cleaned herself up, washed a load of clothes, and fixed a pot of spaghetti. After she finished, she joined me in the living room with a plate of food for me and for herself.
“Nothing yet?” she asked me as she handed me a plate of food. I grabbed the dish and set it down on the coffee table in front of me.
“No,” I told her, and then I buried my face in the palm of my hands. Anxiety was beginning to take over my entire body. My heart was beating erratically and my head started hurting at the same time. It felt like I was about to lose my mind. And then I figured, What if the guy Sam isn’t dead? What if the paramedics got there and saved his life? I knew one thing, if that happened, then my job was botched and I knew that I would never have another chance to finish the job. The cops would be all over him. And I was more than sure they would put him in witness protection after this.
While my mind was spinning in circles, I heard a male voice coming from the television. I looked up at the television screen and zoomed in on a female reporter sitting behind a podium announcing that there was breaking news. “This just in,” she started off saying.
“Ava, I think this is it,” I yelled toward the kitchen.
Ava dropped what she was doing and raced back into the living room. She plopped back down on the couch and glued her eyes to the television.
“In breaking news this morning, Norfolk police are on the scene in the Ghent area investigating a murder. No word from the Norfolk police about how he was murdered but we spoke with a couple of the neighbors, who were not willing to go on camera, but they did say that they saw a black SUV fleeing the scene around the time the murder happened. They also said that a few of the other neighbors are saying that the utility truck parked near the crime scene belonged to the victim. I tried to get the homicide detectives to confirm it, but they declined to give a statement. They did, however, say that if anyone has any information concerning this unfortunate tragedy, to please call the tip line at 888-LOCKUUP.”
“There it is,” Ava said as she pointed toward the TV. “Call that nigga back and tell him that now he has fucking proof,” she continued.
“If he doesn’t call me in the next few minutes then I’m gonna call him,” I replied. “But did you hear when the reporter said that she spoke to two neighbors that said they saw a black SUV leave the scene?”
“Yeah, I heard it. And so what?”
“Do you think they got the license plate numbers?”
“If they did, then the cops would’ve been here by now,” Ava hissed. I figured she started whispering to prevent the neighbors from hearing our conversation through the walls.
I thought for a second, and then I nodded my head. “Yeah, you’re right,” I finally agreed with her.
Before Ava and I could utter another word, my throwaway phone started ringing. I answered the call on the second ring. “What’s up?” I said.
“I saw what I needed to see, so meet me back at the same place in thirty minutes,” he instructed me.
“A’ight, will do,” I assured him, and then we both hung up.
“What did he say?” Ava wanted to know.
“He told me to meet him at the same spot we met up at the first time.”
“Do you feel comfortable going back to that same place? Because personally I don’t think that would be a good idea. I mean, what if the cops have a hunch that the guy Winston had someone to kill the guy? If that’s the case, then whoever Winston talks to would be under surveillance, right?”
“That scenario definitely has some good points to it. So that’s why it would be in my best interest to have the guy pay me now, before the cops start wiretapping his phone.”
“I understand what you’re saying, but I still don’t think it’s a good idea. I think we should meet him somewhere else.”
“A’ight. Well, I guess I’m gonna call him back and tell him to meet me somewhere else.”
Ava let out a long sigh. “Good. Thank you!” she told me.
Without saying another word, I called Winston’s cousin back. “Hello,” he said.
“Hey, let’s meet somewhere else.”
“Like where?”
“Tell him to meet us at the Feather and Fin chicken spot down the street from the Longshoremen Hall,” Ava whispered to me.
“Meet me at the chicken spot, Feather and Fin, right up the block from the hall,” I suggested.
“All right. I’m on my way there now,” he replied.
“A’ight, I’ll be there,” I assured him.
* * *
The ride to the chicken spot Ava suggested didn’t take long at all. When we pulled up and parked in the parking lot, Ave also suggested that we go inside and order some food; that way things wouldn’t look suspicious. So I followed her inside. The eatery was small as hell. They only had limited seating for like ten people, but I counted at least twenty people in there waiting to order or waiting to get their food. In other words, the place and the people in it were ghetto as shit.
“Can I get three boneless breast sandwiches with cheese combos and three tea and lemonade drinks?” I heard one chick say. I could tell that she was very young. Maybe twenty-two years old, if that. She was loud and she looked unkempt, trotting around the place with a sleeping bonnet on her head and bedroom shoes on her feet. There was a housing project up the block, and I was sure she lived there.
After she placed her order, a couple other people asked for the same chicken sandwich combo. I immediately assumed that that combo was an urban favorite, so when it was my turn, I got Ava to order me the same thing while I sat down in a chair near the glass door so I could see everything coming my way.
Twenty minutes after we arrived there, Winston’s cousin finally pulled up. He arrived in a different car this time, and it raised a red flag for me. In my mind, I started wondering why he’d do that. What was on his mind?
“Why do you think he drove a different car this time?” I asked Ava.
“He’s probably paranoid just like us,” Ava stated. “Shit, I would’ve done the same thing.”
“Do you think he wants me to come outside to meet him?”
“I’m sure he does. Because he doesn’t look like he’s trying to come in here with all these fucking people. So go,” she insisted as she nudged me in the back.
Listening to Ava, I stood and walked out of the chicken spot. I watched Winston’s cousin closely as I approached him. I saw him look around at his surroundings the entire time he was sitting there. “Are you all right?” I asked him as soon as I got within arm’s reach of him.
“Yeah, I’m a’ight. I just don’t like this fucking area. Cops hang around this area a lot,” he said.
I leaned in toward him. “Want me to get in the car or what?” I asked him.
“No. I’m gonna hand you the money ri
ght now,” he told me, and then he lifted a wad of hundred-dollar bills from his lap and handed it to me.
“Is it all here?” I wanted to know. I wasn’t in the mood to play games with my money.
“Yeah, everything is there.”
“A’ight, well, I guess that’s it,” I said as I stood straight up.
“Good looking,” the guy said, and then he sped out of the parking lot.
I shoved the money down into my pocket and headed back toward the door of the chicken spot, but as I approached it, Ava was walking out. “Everything good?” she asked me.
“Yep, we good,” I told her.
“Ready to go and celebrate?” Ava continued as she smiled at me.
I smiled back at her and said, “Hell, no! I wanna go back to the apartment and wind down a bit.”
“Well, back to the apartment we go,” she replied.
A few minutes into the drive, I rolled down the passenger side window and tossed the throwaway phone onto the street. I heard it crack that instant, so I knew it had broken, which was what I wanted.
CHAPTER 8
MAKING MORE MOVES
It had been a week since Aiden had done the job and got paid for it. The shocking thing about it was that when he got the money from that hit, he gave all of it to me and told me to get my own car because no sister of his would ever depend on a man. I thought the gesture was sweet and accepted the money. I hadn’t used it yet, but I started looking for a new car. So while he and I were sitting in the living room watching TV, I searched the Internet for a really nice used car. I ran across a handful of Hondas and Acuras, but they were just a little over my spending budget. “Can you believe this shit?!” I cursed while I thumbed my way through the car section of Auto Trader online.
“What’s the matter?” Aiden asked me. But before I could answer him, the front doorbell rang. That shit startled the hell out of Aiden and me both. I mean, who in the hell could it be? What, the cops? I swear, I wasn’t trying to go back to jail. Not right now. I’ve got too much shit to lose. Hell, I had just got into a relationship with a guy I finally liked. So whoever was on that side of the door wasn’t going to come in here. No way. I refused to let anyone turn my life upside down.
Aiden looked at me with a spooked look. This was the first time I had seen my brother looked scared since we were kids. “Who do you think that could be?” he whispered.
I hunched my shoulders because I didn’t know. No one has ever knocked on that door. Even when Nashad is in town, no one comes here. So answering my brother’s question wasn’t going to happen.
We sat there in silence and heard the doorbell ring a total of eight times. Then, when the ringing stopped, the person started knocking on the fucking door. This shit started off a panic alarm in my head. “Why the fuck are they still ringing the doorbell and knocking? If no one hasn’t answered the door by now, then that means that no one is fucking home,” I continued to whisper.
“Wait, I’m gonna look through the peephole to see who it is,” Aiden volunteered as he stood up.
“No, don’t do it. They may hear you walking toward the door,” I warned him.
Aiden waved his hand at me. I knew that meant to be quiet and let him do him.
I watched Aiden as he tiptoed toward the front door. It felt like my heart was about to jump out of my fucking chest. I swear, this whole scene was becoming unbearable, to say the least. “Please be careful,” I whispered. Aiden looked back at me and waved his hand at me again. I knew then he really wanted me to shut the fuck up.
Finally, he made it to the door without making a sound, so I was relieved at that point, but as he leaned forward and put his right eye near the peephole, my body started doing all kinds of weird things. First it felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest, then it felt like I was about to hyperventilate. And then it felt like a headache was about to come on. I couldn’t tell you if I was coming or going.
When Aiden pulled his head back from the peephole, he looked at me and said, “It’s Winston’s cousin.”
“What?” I replied. I was puzzled but relieved all at the same time.
After Aiden opened the front door, I got a chance to see that it was really the guy who had paid Aiden for the hit. “What the fuck is you doing here?” Aiden asked him. Aiden was extremely irritated.
“Can I come in?” he asked Aiden.
“Fuck, no! For what? My business with you is over,” Aiden spat.
“I’ve got another job for you,” the guy said in a volume that no one would hear but us.
“Whatcha trying to set me up?” Aiden reached out and grabbed the guy around the throat.
I jumped up from the sofa. “No, Aiden, don’t do that,” I pleaded as I raced over to the front door.
The guy was trying desperately to get Aiden’s hands from around his neck. “Please let him go,” I pleaded with Aiden once more.
Finally, after grabbing hold of Aiden’s hand, I got him to release the guy. So when that was done, I grabbed the guy by the arm and led him into the apartment.
“I don’t think you should be letting him in the house,” Aiden said.
“I’m just trying to help him get his self together. I mean, you did almost choke him to death.”
“What if that nigga is wired?”
“I’m not wired,” the guy said as he began to massage his neck.
“Well, tell us, how the fuck did you find us?”
“Winston wanted me to make sure you wasn’t working with the police, so he had me follow y’all from the day you were released from prison.”
“Yo, the next time you talk to that nigga, tell him to fuck himself. I’m not no fucking rat! The rat was the cracker I eliminated a week ago.”
“Well, now that you know my brother isn’t working with the cops, then tell us why you’re here?” I asked him.
“I tried to tell him that I had another job for him.”
“What kind of job?” I wanted to know.
“Check that nigga to see if he’s wired before he says another word,” Aiden instructed me.
Before I could frisk the guy, he took it upon himself to lift up his shirt and pull down the jeans he was wearing. All that was left covering him were his boxer shorts. “See, I told you I’m not wired,” he said.
“Take your fucking shorts off, too, nigga!” Aiden roared as he stood only a few feet away from the guy and me.
“See, I’m not wearing a wire,” he insisted while he removed his boxer shorts.
I can’t lie, after the guy took off his boxer shorts my eyes froze at the sight of how big his fucking dick was. It was unbelievable. “All right. You can put your clothes back on,” I told him.
While he was putting his clothes back on, Aiden said, “Where the fuck is Winston?”
“He’s home,” the guy answered.
“So, the judge dropped the charges?” Aiden wanted to know.
“Yeah, his charges were dropped the next day when he went to court,” the guy explained.
“So, tell me what do you want now,” Aiden pressed him.
“Well, I figured since you did the last job without any hiccups, I thought that you would do me a good service by eliminating some more people.”
“How many people are you talking about?” Aiden asked.
“It’s a total of nine lives.”
“Nine fucking people? What the fuck do you got going on that you need me to off nine more fucking people?” Aiden challenged him.
“Yeah, what kind of shit you got going on?” I interjected, because my brother had a point. Who orders a hit of nine people at one time? My brother and I needed more answers.
“Look, it’s like this,” he started off. “Winston and I run downtown. We got the best heroin money can buy. But while Winston was locked up, shit got a little crazy. Niggas started trying to take over our territories. I have a little bit of muscle on my team, but it’s not enough. And plus, we’ve already lost two of our people. Remember that nigga Winston sho
t?”
“Yeah,” Aiden acknowledged.
“Well, he was one of the top enforcers in that group. So, after Winston did him in, they retaliated by killing two of my niggas, and then they tried to take over a few of our spots.”
“Who are these cats?” Aiden asked. I could tell that he was getting more interested by the minute.
“Niggas around town call ’em the Hot Boys. They sell heroin, too. But their shit is straight garbage. So what they do is try to intimidate our customers into buying their shit. And if they don’t buy it, then they get beat up really bad,” the guy pointed out.
“Damn, so these niggas are crazy, huh?” I spoke.
“They ain’t as crazy as I am,” Aiden said.
The guy looked at Aiden as if he was hoping he would say that he was going to take the job. But Aiden turned his attention toward me. “Whatcha think?” he asked me.
Aiden always valued my opinion, so I knew that if I said yes, then he’d do it. So I thought for a moment, and then I looked at the guy and said, “How much are you paying?”
“I’ll pay ten thousand dollars per head,” he said as his face lit up.
“Whatcha think about that price?” I asked Aiden. Aiden looked at the guy and said, “If you give me fifteen grand per head, then you got yourself a deal.”
The guy thought for a second and then he said, “You got it.”
“So when does he get paid?” I interjected.
