Against the Grain

by Freeze

  The bodyguard looked around and realized that there was no furniture in the living room, just an expensive-looking keyboard and hundreds of books scattered all over the carpet.

  “Yo, man, let’s have some fun with this bitch before we kill her,” the one with the bruised nuts said.

  “Mike said put two in her head and get the fuck outta here,” the bodyguard responded.

  “Yeah well, Mike ain’t here and this bitch hit me in the nuts, so I’m going to make her kiss ’em,” the first guy said as he pulled his gun and walked toward her. He snatched her hospital scrubs by the collar and tore it down the middle, exposing her bra and stomach.

  “Oooh shit, man. Would you look at that? This bitch is bad as shit! She got her navel pierced. That shit is getting my dick hard just looking at it.”

  Twan laughed and said, “Hurry up, so I can get mines.”

  The first guy passed his partner his burner, then pushed Mina, causing her to stumble over a stack of books and fall on her back. But when he reached for her pants, she kicked, punched, and screamed ferociously. He had just about pulled her scrubs all the way off when the front door flew open and cops rushed in. Mike’s bodyguard turned around with both guns in his hand, which would be his undoing. The police opened fire on him, killing him instantly. More police came in through the back door. They handcuffed the first guy and took him out the house.

  “Are you all right, Mrs. Black?” the officer in charge asked Mina. “It’s a good thing you had that ADT alarm system. When you put the code in backwards, we knew to come full force. Do you want to go to the hospital? Or we could drop you off somewhere else if you don’t want to be alone.”

  “No, I’m fine. I’ll call my husband in a minute. I just need to get myself together.”

  After removing the dead body and a few more questions so that he could finish his report, Officer Friendly and the rest of them fucks left the scene.

  • • •

  Kay, Big Duke, Nut, Caleek, Tramaine, and Big Duke’s cousins were all in the game room. Shu-Shu had come home earlier, so all the women and children were upstairs with her. Even Sonia was up there. Dre’s cell phone rang and he stepped to the side to talk. When he finished talking, he threw the cell phone against the wall with all his might, smashing it to pieces. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. Kay rushed over. Dre had tears in his eyes.

  “What’s up, yo?”

  “Mike violated me, man. I’ve got to kill him now.”

  “What are you talking about? What did he do?” Kay asked his friend. Dre told Kay what Mina had just told him and the two of them left in a hurry. When they got to Dre’s house, Kay saw for himself how much Dre loved Mina by the open display of affection he showed for his wife in front of him. They both held each other and cried. Dre went in the bedroom to his walk-in closet and opened his safe. He took out his Ruger P89 9mm that was fully loaded with Black Talon bullets. They were called cop-killers because they could go through a bulletproof vest. Kay stopped him.

  “Yo, chill for a minute. I know you want to kill this nigga. By law you’re suppose to kill him. But I’m asking you as a friend and a brother, let me handle this. Just take all your dough and your wife and leave town tonight. You said you wanted to see the world, so why not leave tonight? Shit is hot around here anyway and it’s about to get hotter,” Kay said.

  “Do you realize what you’re asking me, Kay?”

  “Yeah, I know. But I promise that nigga won’t live another twenty-four hours,” Kay told Dre. Dre trusted Kay. He and Mina packed a few things along with all the money he kept in the house and they got in their Benz and left.

  Kay drove home thinking of his next move. He’d been trying to avoid it by staying away from Mike, but now Mike was a dead man. He had to kill him. He gave Dre his word.

  27

  The next morning Kay, Big Duke, his cousins, and Nut kicked in Gee’s door while he was still in bed. Kay sat down in the living room while the rest of them made Gee get dressed. Sandra and the kids had left already. The cousins were standing over Gee to make sure he didn’t try any “Super nigga” shit. Once he was dressed, he came out and sat next to Kay on the leather sofa.

  Kay looked at him with a smile. “What’s up, sleepyhead? You about to sleep your life away, ain’t you?” Gee didn’t say anything because he didn’t know how to take Kay’s statement. “You want something to drink? Yeah, you look a little thirsty. Yo, Chris, get this nigga something cold to drink for me.” Chris turned and walked to the kitchen.

  “Yo, I’m going to get straight to the point here. By the code of the streets I’m suppose to kill you because you crossed me. But we grew up together and plus I know that you were just doing what you were told. That’s your fuckin’ problem; you’ve always been a follower so I don’t blame you. That’s why I’m going to let you live.”

  Chris came back and handed Gee a glass of water while he drank a bottle of papaya juice.

  “I’ll allow you to live under one condition, Gee: I want you to get in your car right now and leave town.”

  “What about mi family, mon?” Gee asked in his Jamaican accent.

  “Don’t give me that Shabba Ranks shit right now. I’m not going to harm your family. Wherever you decide to relocate, just call Sandra. She and the kids will be there. I promise. There’s no negotiations here. It’s a onetime deal. Take it or leave it,” Kay told him. And with that said, Big Duke pulled out his gun and handed it to Kay. Gee knew that he didn’t have a choice. Life was better than death.

  He looked to Kay. “Thank you, mon.” He and Kay stood up and Kay handed him his car keys.

  “Let mi get some money out mi safe, bredren?”

  “What the fuck did I just say? Leave right now, nigga. Sandra will bring you everything you need,” Kay told Gee. Gee understood. They all walked out the house. Gee got in his car and drove toward I-95.

  28

  Later, that same night, Kay sent Big Duke’s cousins with Nut to kick in a few doors to some of Mike’s DL spots. They had the green light to kill anyone that gave them problems, and they were to call Kay as soon as they found Mike. Kay and Big Duke were also looking for Mike. Kay needed to make a phone call. He’d left his cell phone in his car and he knew he couldn’t call Officer Ayala from Big Duke’s cell phone, so he told Big Duke to stop at a phone booth in front of 7-Eleven on the corner of Eutaw and Saratoga.

  “I ain’t seen one of them shits in a while,” Big Duke said in his slow drawl.

  “Yeah, I know, right. I thought all them shits had been taken up,” Kay said as he got out to make his call.

  Big Duke turned the music up and bobbed his head up and down. He didn’t notice the car that passed them on the other side of the street making a U-turn and pulling up two cars behind them. Kay had his back turned so he didn’t see the car either. Three guys dressed in all-black hoodies got out the car. The driver stayed in the car with the engine running. The three guys dressed in black walked toward Kay. Two of them walked right past him and rounded the corner. The third guy stopped, looked at Kay, then walked into 7-Eleven. This strange action caught Big Duke’s attention. He noticed that all three were dressed alike, which meant that they were probably together. Why did they separate? Why did the one that went in the store stop and look at Kay like that? That was a sign that they were up to something. Maybe they’re getting ready to rob the store, Big Duke thought. He pulled his gun and cocked it so that there was a bullet in the chamber then got out his truck. He put his back against the driver’s-side door and looked up and down the street to make sure a cop didn’t ride up on him with his gun in his hand. He peeped around the windshield of his truck. Kay was still in the phone booth with his back turned.

  The driver of the car eased out of the car and pulled his gun. Mike tiptoed up on Big Duke and shot him in the back of the head. At the sound of the gunshot, Kay jumped and turned around. The first guy ran out the store and opened fire on Kay. The other two came around the corner and also opened fire into
the phone booth. A few shots hit Kay in the chest and backed him into the booth. He dropped the receiver and pulled out the gun Big Duke had given him for his birthday. Glass flew everywhere as Kay returned fire. His first shot hit one of the niggaz that came around the corner in the head. He opened the phone booth door and stumbled out, shooting the one that came out the store in the face twice. The third gunman shot Kay in the back, knocking him to the ground. He ran past Kay after taking care of his business and jumped in the car with Mike. Mike pulled away from the curb and sped away. He thought to himself, Yeah, I knew I was going to get that bitch-ass nigga Duke. Mike had to drop his man off somewhere and hurry up and get home, so that he would be with Lyniece when she got the phone call about her brother’s death.

  The clerk in the store ran outside. She wanted to get a good look at the dead bodies before the cops got there. When she got to the body lying on the sidewalk closest to the door she recognized him immediately. She bent down to check Kay’s pulse. And when she did, he grabbed her hand, almost scaring her to death. The 7-Eleven clerk screamed. Kay asked her to help him up. He looked around for Big Duke but didn’t see him. They heard police sirens getting closer.

  Kay looked at shorty and whispered, “I wasn’t here, aiight?”

  “I didn’t see anything, Kay.”

  Kay winked at her and stumbled around to the driver’s side of the truck where he found his friend’s dead body on the ground. Big Duke’s forehead was missing. Kay didn’t want to leave his body lying in the street, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He jumped in Big Duke’s truck and drove off. When he got a few blocks away, he took off his black leather jacket and then took off the bulletproof vest that Big Duke had made him put on that night. He looked at the vest as he threw it in the passenger seat.

  “Thanks, Big Guy,” he said out loud as he drove on.

  29

  Kay stopped a few yards away from Mike’s house and opened the secret compartment in the truck by holding in the lighter and rolling down the driver’s-side window at the same time. He removed two extra clips. He put one in his gun and pulled the slide back, putting a bullet in the chamber. He stuck the other loaded clip in his pocket, and walked to the back of the house and looked through the window. Lyniece was doing something in the kitchen. Kay tapped on the back door and she smiled when she saw Kay outside the window.

  “Boy, what are you doing out there? Is something wrong?” she asked him as she opened the door to let him in. He kissed her on the cheek.

  “Nah, girl, everything aiight. Where T-Kie at?”

  “She’s sleep, thank god. That girl has too much energy for me. She fell asleep while I was on the phone with Shu-Shu. You want a sandwich? I was just making one for me and Mike.” Kay shook his head no.

  “Oh yeah, Shu-Shu was just saying that she’s going to kick your ass if you don’t hurry up and bring your ass home. She said that you’re supposed to bring her some Breyers vanilla ice cream and Trix cereal.”

  “Damn, it was like five o’clock when I told her that shit. I’m glad you said something because I forgot,” Kay said.

  “I think her ass is pregnant, eating all that crazy shit.”

  “Nah, she ain’t pregnant. She been eating that shit since we met.”

  “Well, why has she been sleeping so much and getting sick?” Lyniece asked as she headed out the kitchen with two sandwiches and two glasses of juice on a tray.

  “Maybe she been working too hard,” Kay said to her back.

  “You don’t believe that dumb shit,” she said, walking upstairs.

  “Yo, tell Mike to come down here for a minute. I need to talk to him; it’s very important.”

  “Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t forget that girl’s stuff. I love you.” Lyniece disappeared upstairs.

  “I love you, too,” Kay said, but doubted if she heard him. Within a minute, Mike was downstairs, face-to-face with Kay.

  “Yo, you wasn’t expecting to see me here tonight, was you?”

  “Nah, not really,” Mike said.

  “You killed Big Duke?”

  “You killed Gee?”

  “I gave Gee a choice, life or death. He chose life and left town on his own. I didn’t touch him.”

  “I had to kill your man Duke. He pulled a gun on me, remember?”

  “What the hell is wrong with you? You buggin’ lately. We were a family and you let a few dollars come between us, you greedy motherfucka!” Kay yelled.

  “Did you come here alone to tell me this or is Dre’s punk ass somewhere hiding?”

  “I’m alone. I had to talk Dre outta coming here to kill you.”

  “Hmph, picture that,” Mike said. “Let me tell you something, you bitch-ass nigga. You wouldn’t be shit if it wasn’t for me. I gave you your life back when you came out of prison. Niggaz wasn’t checkin’ for you. You was a fuckin’ dinosaur out here. I held this shit down the whole time you was gone. This is the house that Mike built and the first minute you start smelling yo’self you want to get on some ‘big me, little you’ shit with me, nigga?”

  “C’mon, man, is that what all this shit is about? You think I’m trying to take over your shit? Nigga, you could’ve had this little-ass city. You deserve it, if that’s all you’re worth. I’m on some international shit, you petty-ass nigga!” Kay yelled again.

  There had been enough talking. Both men stared at each other, eye to eye. Mike flinched as he bit down on his bottom lip. Both men pulled their guns and shots were fired.

  Shu-Shu was in the shower when she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. It made her go down on one knee.

  Mama was downstairs in the kitchen when she felt that same pain. She dropped her glass of water.

  Lil ‘C’ jumped and sat straight up when he felt the pain. They all knew something was wrong.

  Mike stood over Kay as he lay on the floor holding his side where he’d been shot. Blood gushed through his fingers as he struggled to get to his feet. Mike kicked Kay’s gun out of reach and yelled, “I told you, nigga! You can’t fuck with me. Look at you all fucked up. Remember when we were kids and we use to play? You always had to be Batman, Superman, Ultra Man, Johnny Sock-O, or whoever. You just had to be the leader. The Fucking Man! Don’t look much like The Fucking Man no more. You too soft, motherfucka! I’m the man! I run this! Don’t nothin’ go on in this city that I don’t instigate or bring to a conclusion. Now I’m about to bring yo ass to a conclusion. Hey, Superman, let me see you dodge this.” Mike pointed the gun at Kay’s head and pulled the trigger.

  POP!

  Kay pushed Mike’s dead body off of him and saw Lyniece standing there with a gun in her hand and tears running down her face. She helped Kay to his feet.

  He looked down on Mike’s body and said, “All is fair in war.”

  “Huh?” Lyniece asked.

  “Nothin’, I was just thinking about something that Mike said.”

  “I’m going to call an ambulance.”

  “No!” Kay yelled. “The police will come and lock us up. Just go pack up as much shit as you can and take T-Kie to my house. Don’t mention this to nobody ever! I’ll take care of it.”

  Lyniece ran upstairs to do as she was told. Kay called Nut and Big Duke’s cousins. By the time they got there, Lyniece was gone. Kay had to tell them that Mike killed Big Duke. There were no tears but you could tell that they were hurting. If Mike wasn’t already dead, they would have definitely killed his ass. They had to move all the furniture out of the living room and roll Mike’s body up in the carpet. They cleaned the walls where his brains had splattered. Kay was on the phone talking to Shu-Shu, while Nut bandaged his wounds. They weren’t that bad. The bullet went in and out. Kay knew a doctor friend of Shu-Shu’s that would see him in the morning without involving the cops. The cousins searched the house and found the huge closet safe opened. Lyniece must have left it like that because all the money was gone. The only thing in there was a lot of paperwork, like car titles, property titles, mortgage receipts,
other bills, and twenty kilos of cocaine. Kay let them keep it. He also gave them the keys to Big Duke’s truck.

  “Ya’ll niggas go ahead and bounce back to North Carolina. Me and Nut will take care of the body. And don’t worry about Big Duke; I’ll ship his body down south with a fleet of limos so that ya’ll can give him a proper burial. I’m sending his girl and Lil Duke along, too, so make sure that he knows his father was a soldier.”

  30

  The next morning when Kay got up, Shu-Shu was getting dressed for work. “Hey, baby. Why are you up so early?” she asked him as he stepped around her in the bathroom to take a leak.

  “I’ve got to make some moves and then we’re going to leave town for a while. I’m thinking Atlanta. I’ve got someone looking for a house for us now. You can keep the business in D.C. and open another one down there. After I get rid of the shipment that came in last night, I’m through with this shit. I think I want to open a few strip clubs or start my own record label or something. I’m just tired of this shit,” he said.

  Shu-Shu walked up to him and put her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Are you serious?” she asked with excitement.

  He shook his head yeah.

  “Baby, I’m so proud of you. I thought you were too caught up in the game to just walk away. I’ll put my manager in charge of daily operations and make the necessary plans to leave. How long will it take you to get rid of everything?”

  “I’m not sure. Five hundred kilos came in last night. I’m not even going to cut ’em. I’m just going to sell them to niggaz, lower than regular price.

  “I’ll be taking a loss, but fuck it. Our lawyer is holdin’ twenty million for me. I’ve got at least a mil on the streets and that’s not even counting the money I got in the other states. I want you to close down all the restaurants and stores and give all the employees a grand each as a bonus. Call the real estate agent and tell her to put this house up for sale. And my mother’s, too. I also want you to open a trust fund in Lil Duke’s name. I’m going to stop by there this morning to make sure his girl is aiight and to give her money for the funeral. Put twenty grand in the trust fund and no one can touch it but him, when he’s eighteen.”