One Way To Heaven (The Sequel to Heaven & Earth)

by J. M. Benjamin

  “Damn, I missed this pussy,” Monty gasped.

  “And I missed this dick,” the chocolate dip rebutted.

  Monty rolled off her and laid on his back. The chocolate dip laid beside him and placed her head and hand on his chest. Monty began to stroke her hair gently.

  “You know you’re my heart right?” he asked rhetorically. Although he had known her since he had gotten out of prison, and had been dealing with her secretly off and on when he and LeLe were together, within the recent months he had fallen for the chocolate dip. He didn’t believe it was any coincident but rather fate that he had noticed her coming out of the convenient store on Commercial Avenue, his first day out since recovering, as he cruised pass. In his time of healing, she became his source of comfort and listening ear. The chocolate dip made Monty feel alive again when he thought he was dying inside and he appreciated that.

  “Aw!” she exclaimed. “And you’re mines,” she added.

  She slid up and kissed him on the lips. Monty pulled her in closer and tighter and kissed her harder. Their kiss was passionate and intimate. The chocolate dip broke free of the kiss.

  “What’s wrong?” Monty asked surprised by her reaction.

  “Nothing.” She shook her head. “I have to go,” she answered.

  “Go where?” he questioned.

  “I promised my aunt I would take her food shopping before the night was out,” the chocolate dip replied. “And it’s getting late.”

  Monty glanced over at the clock. “Aight, you comin’ back afterwards?”

  “Yes.” She flashed a smile. The chocolate dip stood and began to dress.

  “You better,” Monty stated, climbing out of bed.

  “Promise,” she said as she fastened her bra.

  Monty made his way to the bathroom. “Make sure you lock the door behind you.”

  “Okay.”

  Just as she was about to walk out of the room Monty called out to her. The chocolate dip stopped and turned around.

  “I love you,” Monty announced.

  His words caught the chocolate dip totally by surprise. Her eyes widened then began to fill with water. She fought back the tears as she replied, “I love you too.”

  Monty lit up behind her response. “I’ll see you later.” He winked at her and made his way to the shower.

  The chocolate dip wiped the few tears that managed to escape her eyes before exiting the room.

  She still couldn’t believe Monty had just told her he loved her. At age 30, it was the first time a man had ever confessed that to her, just as it was a first for her saying it to a man. As she made her way towards the door, she couldn’t help but wonder if he had really meant the words or was it all just game. Either way, she knew she would never know as she let herself out.

  As soon as she was in her car, the chocolate dip pulled out her cell phone.

  “Hello?” She noticed her voice sounded a little horse as she spoke when she heard the caller answer. She was still somewhat emotional behind Monty’s words. But she knew she was not going to allow her emotions to get in the way of business. She was paid to do a job and that’s what she intended to do.

  “Hey Mia, this is LaLa. I was calling to let you know that I left the door un-locked just like you asked.”

  After a few flirtatious exchanges between her and Mia, LaLa glanced over at the condo.

  Fuck ‘em she thought as she pulled off and headed towards her intended destination…

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Grim sat hunched down in his car and waited patiently in the parking lot of Jersey Gardens Mall. He watched as the cars thinned out one by one. Nearly four hours had gone by before he spotted who he had been squatting for the whole while.

  Now that he was one of the only few cars left in the parking lot, he slid down a little further into the seat to go un-noticed as he watched the woman bounce out of the mall’s exit. Grim noticed she beamed with excitement, sporting a minimum of four shopping bags from designer stores draped from each one of her arms. Grim had been tailing her off and on all week and had noticed her sudden elaborate spending pattern the past few days. Although it didn’t mean much it, was enough to raise Grim’s eyebrow. Especially since Monty had told him she was currently unemployed and knew Monty wasn’t breaking her off the type of money that would constitute frequent shopping sprees. Grim started his engine. Once the chocolate dip secured her bags and pulled off he pulled out right behind her. Forty-five minutes later, Grim broke the tail and zoomed past the chocolate dip as she parked in front of her apartment. He parked four car lengths up the block and watched as she entered her apartment...

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Saleski sat in his unmark on the corner of Commercial Avenue and Remsen Avenue eating his lunch while watching the ongoing human body traffic. For days, he had patrolled the area searching high and low for any clues, answers or leads to the one person he felt could help him close this case. He ran down on and shook down every possible snitch, potential snitch, drug addict and dealer he could come across. He had been bombarded with street information, from who was selling what to who had beef with who. None of the information had fit what he was looking for. He found it funny how everybody had a story to tell about somebody. Saleski was convinced that the information given to him by the drug dealers were pertaining to their rivals and enemies. He shook his head in disgust at the lack of loyalty criminals in the streets had nowadays towards one another. The saying, no honor amongst thieves, was at an all time high in the city of New Brunswick he thought. He reminisced on his old days of police work when only about 10% would have offered information and motivated officers like himself to work harder at solving crimes. Now, it was more like 90% of them had no problem with lending a helping hand or pointing them in the right direction, making their job a lot more easier. Saleski’s trip down memory lane was disrupted by the tap on his unmark’s glass. Saleski recognized the intruder and rolled down his window.

  “To what do I owe this pleasure?” Saleski said to the man.

  The man looked nervously to his right and then to his left.

  “Heard you lookin’ for somebody in particular. I might be able to point you in the right direction.

  Saleski’s looked at the man suspiciously.

  “What’s in it for you?” he asked knowing there was a catch.

  “You know me baby.” The man smiled, revealing a mouth full of yellow stained teeth from too much coffee, too many cigarettes, too much drugs and bad hygiene.

  “It’s gonna cost you. It may cost you a little. It may cost you a lot. But it’s gonna cost you,” he slyly stated.

  “Get in,” Saleski instructed.

  “Man, is you fuckin’ crazy or something?” the man frowned up at Saleski.

  Saleski had to laugh. He knew himself the offer was insane. He knew dope fiend Charlie was taking a big chance even talking to him out in the open the way he was now.

  “So how do you wanna play it Charlie?”

  “Meet me on Kilpatrick in 20 minutes over by the bank.”

  “How do I know you’re on the up and up?” Saleski asked. “The last time your information lead me down a dead end.”

  Man, go ahead with that Saleski. That shit I told you was straight up and down like 6 o’ clock. I can’t help it that the shit was over by the time ya’ll asses made a move. But if you think I’m try’na bs you then let’s just say I got a little cousin that came around my momma house braggin’ to my little sister how she just got broke off from one of her home girl’s for settin’ up some nigga who be getting’ money that’s hard to find.”

  Saleski chuckled. “Get the hell out of here. That don’t mean squat. There’s plenty of drug dealers here in town that are hard to find, unless good Samaritans like yourself help us find them.”

  “Fuck you Saleski.” Dope fiend Charlie took offense. He started to walk off but added, “Yeah, but often do bitches put up money to find a nigga?”

  Saleski’s eyes lit up. Before
dope fiend Charlie could walk off, Saleski said, “I’ll meet you on Kilpatrick.”…

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  LaLa stepped out of her bathroom in the nude as she dried herself with the towel. She hummed and danced to the sounds of Nikki Minaj blasting out of her bedroom speakers. Her eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets and she nearly had a heart attack when she finally looked up and saw that she had company. She dropped the towel, exposing her full flesh.

  “Grim, what the hell are you doing here?” she nervously questioned as she made an attempt to cover her nudity with her hands.

  Grim was sitting calmly on her bed. “I came for some answers,” he replied.

  “What?” she tried to give him attitude. “I know damn well Monty ain’t send you over here and if he knew you was up in here right now he wouldn’t be feelin’ this shit.”

  Grim smirked. “You’re right. He didn’t send me and he probably wouldn’t be feelin’ this if he knew I was here. But he doesn’t.”

  There was something in the way he spoke that made LaLa nervous. She couldn’t tell whether he knew anything by the way his words came out.

  “Well, I’m about to call him and let him know,” she threatened.

  The huge gun Grim brandished from under his armpit stopped her in her tracks and made her think twice.

  “Shit Grim,” LaLa cried out. “What the fucks going on?”

  Grim studied her. Her body language and eyes made him feel she was hiding something.

  “You tell me.” He cocked his gun back. “You the one ballin’.”

  His statement caught LaLa by surprised. If she was unsure before, she wasn’t now. The sarcasm in his tone was undeniable. She didn’t know what he knew but she was sure he knew something.

  She tried her best not to give herself away. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Now I’d appreciate it if you leave and I’ll forget this ever happened. The last thing-.” LaLa bent down to retrieve the towel she had dropped while she gave Grim the riot act. She was roughly yanked up by her hair in mid sentence. She let out a screeching yell.

  “Shut the fuck up.” Grim shoved his gun into her mouth to silence her. “You got three seconds to tell me where your new found riches came from,” he growled.

  LaLa’s eye’s widened. Her biggest fear about her decision had now become her reality. Her only hope now was to save herself. She knew her answer and the ones thereafter determined that.

  Seeing that she was trying to say something, Grim removed his gun from her mouth so she could talk. LaLa began coughing and gasping for air as soon as Grim removed the weapon. She collected her thoughts and then cleared her throat before she spoke.

  “I had no choice,” she cried out. She knew if she wanted to live she would have to put on her best academy award winning performance. Tears began to stream down her face.

  “Ohmigod, I swear I didn’t,” she repeated.

  “Bitch, stop all of that mutha’ fuckin’ crying and talk.” Grim reached out then wrapped his hand around her throat and applied pressure around her larynx. He was in no mood for the game he knew LaLa was trying to play. “What the fuck you mean you ain’t have no choice? No choice about what?” He released LaLa from his death grip.

  “Pleeaasse Grim!” LaLa cried. She thought she would pass out from Grim’s hold. She was more afraid now than she had ever been in her life. “I’ll tell you everything, just don’t hurt me,” she stated.

  “I’m listening,” Grim dryly replied, stoned face.

  LaLa began to concoct a story she thought to be the best lie to tell to keep her in the clear about her encounter with the crew that had paid her for Monty’s information. Grim listened as she told a story about a girl named Melissa from Plainfield, setting up her home girl to get kidnapped to get to her. She went on to say how she too was abducted and thrown into the back of an Impala then taken to Melissa’s house. She lied and said how she was bombarded by the names she had heard Mia say before she had left the apartment that day. She cried as she told Grim how they threatened to kill her unless she provided them with Monty’s current address. She could see the disdained look on Grim’s face as she rambled about the situation. She could tell he had recognized the names or at least one of the names she had mentioned by the way he clenched his jaws and his eyes grew cold. She was as nervous and as scared as a black woman at a lynching, but she continued to paint the picture of a victim through sniffles. She concluded her story by down-playing the money she was given. She told Grim they only had given her five-thousand versus the twenty-five thousand dollars she had received and added that they told her they’d be watching her every move, threatening her life if she blew the whistle on them. She let out another floodgate of tears, only this time they were real. At that moment, LaLa regretted her decision to set her lover up. She hoped Grim had bought her story.

  “Yo, stop crying,” Grim calmly said. He stepped in and put his arm around her. “All you had to do was tell Monty and we could’ve protected you,” he continued. “but, since you didn’t.” Grim’s tone changed. “I know you was down with this shit.” All in one motion, Grim grabbed LaLa by the side of the head and twisted it. The powerful jerk broke LaLa’s neck instantly. He let her limp body fall to the floor. Knowing LaLa was just at his man’s house earlier in the day, Grim had a funny feeling time was of the essence. He immediately pulled out his cell phone and placed a call to Monty. He cursed to himself when he received the voicemail.

  “Yo, my dude, the bitch LaLa wasn’t right. She set you up. The bitch Heaven knows where you live, I’ll be to you after I go take care of something.” Grim hung up the phone. His only thought was that he hoped he wasn’t too late as he bolted out of LaLa’s apartment…

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Monty was a split second too late as he made his way from the kitchen to where his phone laid on the bed. He noticed the missed call was from Grim. He was hoping it was LaLa calling to tell him she was on her way back but wasn’t so lucky. He saw that Grim had left a voicemail message and made a mental note to check it and return the call once he finished eating the late lunch he had just prepared. Monty tossed the phone back onto the bed with the intent of returning back to the kitchen to demolish the two turkey burgers and crinkle cut French fries he had just finished making. The thought of the meal made his mouth water. He never got to taste it. The metal object he was met with connected with the side of his face and sent him crashing to the bed. The blow caused total darkness to fall on him…

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  “Mel, I don’t know what you put in this spaghetti, but this shit is bangin’,” Sonya was the first to admit. She took another fork full of the turkey spaghetti and filled her mouth.

  “You ain’t never lied,” Shell followed up with. “Girl, you need your own damn restaurant.”

  “Aw, thanks ya’ll. I know my way around the kitchen a lil sumpthin’ sumpthin,” Melissa bragged.

  “Shit, you know a lot of something. I’m takin’ a to go plate with me,” Sonya retorted.

  Melissa flashed a pleasing smile. “I’m going to miss you guys,” she sighed.

  “Yeah, were going to miss you too. We’re going to miss Jersey period,” Shell stated. She stroked her fingers through the portion of her wig that hung down to her shoulders she wore underneath her hat as she spoke.

  “How are you feeling?” Melissa asked her. It was the first time she had actually gotten to ask since they had been back in New Jersey.

  “I’m gettin’ better, but still sore. The pills you gave Mia to give me helped.”

  “Good. I’m glad to hear that.” Melissa smiled.

  “Again, on behalf of everybody, I just wanna say thank you again,” Sonya offered. “Without you shit couldn’t have gone down as smooth as they have,” she added.

  “You’re welcome,” Melissa replied. “I’m just glad I was able to contribute to my baby’s killer being brought to justice. You know she was my heart.” Melissa added.

  “So
are we, and we know how you felt about her. You were her heart too,” Shell added.

  “Definitely,” Sonya backed her up saying. She glanced at the time on her phone. “Speakin’ of justice being served, Heaven and Mia should be hittin’ us any moment lettin’ us know something, and then from there, we out.”

  “Ya’ll just be careful.” Melissa’s tone was full of concern.

  Before she could speak her next thought, she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

  Sonya and Shell looked at each other and then at Melissa. Melissa shrugged her shoulders and then directed her attention towards the door.

  “Who is it?” She called out as she began walking over to look through her peephole.

  Sonya and Shell drew their weapons as an extra precaution and were now on their feet.

  “I asked who?” She was silenced in mid sentence.

  The bullet that entered her eye socket and exited out the back of her head through the peephole knocked her backwards and onto the floor.

  By the time Shell and Sonya had processed what had just happened, Melissa’s condo apartment door had already flung open. They were both met with a barrage of bullets as they opened fired in the direction of the door. After kicking the door open and letting off over a dozen shots into the apartment, Grim took cover off to the side. Two of his slugs wasted no time penetrating Sonya’s mid and finding a resting place. She bellied over and onto the floor. One bullet tore into Shell’s neck while the other slammed into her chest. The shots knocked her into the wall. Both Shell and Sonya’s weapons were forced out of their hands from the impact of the bullets. Grim closed the door behind him as best he could then pumped two more shots into Melissa’s already lifeless body. He stepped over her and made his way over towards Sonya and Shell. He kneeled down and retrieved Sonya’s weapon then did the same with Shell’s. He noticed Shell staring dead at him with a blank stare. He didn’t have to be a coroner to know that she was dead. Sonya’s uncontrollable breathing on the other hand indicated to Grim that she was still alive.