“Baby, I’m…I’m starting to see Gabriella more.”
Terrell cut the TV off and looked at her with great concern. “What? How often?” He paused. “And did you take your medicine?”
“No. I’ve been too busy.”
He dropped his head and shook it. “Then what set you off?”
I burned a bitch’s hair. She thought. “Nothing, I don’t think I was upset.” He didn’t believe her. “Terrell, is this illness hereditary?”
“It can be. Although I don’t think you have anything to worry about.” Terrell got up from the couch and got her medicine along with a cup of water. “But, Yvonna, why are you forgetting to take your meds all of a sudden? This is why I could never leave you if I wanted to, you’re not ready.”
She took the pills. “I don’t know.” She shrugged. “So much is going on,” She crawled up under him. His heart rate increased having felt her touch. He was head over hills for the crazy bitch. He wrapped his strong arms around her and she immediately felt calmed. Around Terrell, she could show her softer side because she didn’t care what he thought. She knew no matter what, he’d always be there.
“Yvonna, you’re not cured, you’ll never be. Remember that.” He paused. “Now you sure nothing happened?”
She couldn’t tell him about her jealousy towards Carmen, because she wasn’t supposed to care about anybody. Not even the man of her dreams…Bricks. “Ming, burned Bricks’ girlfriend hair.” Saying girlfriend made her stomach rumble.
“What the fuck is up with you and Ming? That’s some young ass shit.”
“That’s my best friend. If she in some shit, I’m in some shit.” She said. “And after she burned her hair instead of going after Ming, she framed me for stealing her wallet.”
“Yvonna I wish you settle down and let me take care of you.” He paused. “I texted you two times today trying to hook up. All I wanna do is love you.”
When her cell phone rang she got up and answered without responding. It was Phillip. She walked toward the kitchen and said, “What?”
“I have her.” He paused, sounding scared. “But how long you want me to hold her?”
“Until I say when.” She hung up.
She and Terrell were just about to continue their conversation when someone knocked at the door. It was an unexpected visitor.
Washington, DC
Bilal Jr.
Bilal heard his best friend Jukes talking to him as he hung outside, but he wasn’t listening. He was still brewing over the nigga Marx who posted a comment on Facebook that he thought Bilal was a bitch for letting some niggas whip on his girlfriend Rozay.
“Bilal, I know you hear me, nigga! You coming with us to Kristina’s tonight or what?” Kristina’s Diner was a hangout spot for teenagers in the daytime, and a layback spot for adults at night. “That girl who wanna meet you gonna be there.”
“Did you see the shit that Marx put on Facebook? Fuck is he talking about, son? He don’t even know me like that.”
“Kill! Why are you tripping off of that shit? Drop it.”
Bilal and Jukes were sitting on a car in the parking lot of a Washington DC project they lived in together. After Yvonna murdered Bilal’s grandmother, he moved from foster home to foster home. It wasn’t until he opened up to Jukes about his home life that he told his mother about his friend’s situation. Seeing how much her son cared for his friend, she did what was necessary to bring him into their home.
Life had given him a tough break and Bilal often had to fight at school. Not just because of how he looked, which often put younger insecure boys on the defensive, but also because he was angry. Everything was taken from him, and he didn’t know why. Why was his mother killed? Who murdered his father? Where was his family, his grandparents? Wherever he turned for answers, he’d find nothing but lies. He wanted nothing more than to belong to a family and in the end he always felt worthless and rejected.
“The nigga wasn’t even there, Jukes. What he know about what happened to her hand?”
“Son, stop worrying about that shit.” Jukes jumped off the car and said, “Now let’s go to Kristina’s. Moms gave me fifty bucks yesterday.”
Bilal’s eyes widened in confusion. “Why she ain’t give me nothing?”
“She told me to give you half.” Bilal knew he was lying.
No matter how much Katherine said she treated the boys equal, he knew that at the end of the day, she always favored her son more. Bilal didn’t buck about it too much because he didn’t have plans to hang around after he was eighteen. For now he had a good friend who looked out and a bed to go to sleep in at night. And for now, that would have to do.
“Bilal, why you sitting over there all quiet and shit?” Shawnda said pushing up on Bilal on the bench style seat. “I know you don’t be this quiet in school.”
“I mean, what you want me to say? I don’t talk a lot.” Bilal responded, his mind still with Rozay and what she was doing.
He pulled out his cell phone and logged on to his Facebook page. A few people had commented about the situation, and it fucked him up because he wished they just minded their own fucking business.
‘I knew that nigga was a bitch’, Ustayouttamyshit, responded.
‘Ya’ll some haters. Bilal still my peeps,’ DC Cutie replied.
‘Ain’t nobody, hatin’. He just a sucka’ Southeast Tony, added.
As if it couldn’t get any worse, Rozay commented about two minutes earlier and his stomach flipped.
‘Awww, thank ya’ll. My hand is a little better but I doubt Bilal’s will be too much longer. He gonna have to see my brothers soon. Real soon.’
“B, we ‘bout to go to the movies or something. You rolling right?” Jukes asked tapping him on his shoulder.
Bilal put his phone in his pocket. “Jukes, let me holla at you on the side.”
They excused themselves from the table. “What up?”
“I got some work I gotta move for AJ. I forgot to tell you about it.” Bilal said. “I ain’t gonna be able to hang out tonight.”
“Why? I know you still not tripping over that dumb shit.”
“It’s worse than that. Rozay talking about getting her brothers. I gotta think about what I’m gonna do, and I ain’t feeling the movies right now. Plus the girl Shawnda not my type.”
Jukes couldn’t believe his ears. “Are you serious? She a cutie.”
“You ain’t hearing me. I’m ‘bout to bounce.” They gave each other dap and went their separate ways.
Bilal worked off half of AJ’s dope and was about to go into the house when a black Lincoln Continental pulled up in front of him. Everything in Bilal’s spirit told him to run, but just like some people do when intuition calls, he ignored it.
“What up, son? You holding?” A tall black man with a mean grill asked.
“Naw. I ain’t got shit.”
Another man got out the car that looked just as intimidating. “I know you got something on you, homie. It’s still early.” They closed their car doors, looked around for witnesses and approached Bilal.
“Naw, like I said, I’m out.” Bilal said attempting to walk away.
One of them grabbed him by his shirt and pushed him against the car. “You might not be holding but I know you got a problem knowing how to treat women.”
Bilal was scared. “I think ya’ll got me mixed up with somebody else.”
“Fuck that,” he laughed, “we wanna see if you know who we are after we do what we came to do to you.”
Sin City
Young Black Millionairz
The members of the YBM swaggered to their room at the MGM Grand hotel. They were irritated and pissed the fuck off that they didn’t make any progress when it came to finding Yvonna. Members of the YBM were throwing a party and they brought the best freak whores in the game from DC and ordered a few more from Vegas.
When Growl, Rook and Mike stepped into the room, it was loud and overcrowded. But what really fucked their heads up was the bit
ch that was butt ass naked, and bent over on all fours in front of the door. When you came in, it was the first thing you saw. The back of her ass cheeks had the words WELCOME written in a black sharpie and the room smelled of smoke, pussy, and alcohol.
“Ya’ll niggas finally came back!” Ross said as he dapped up each of the men. Mike didn’t bother to dap him up because his eyes were glued on the girl’s ass.
“Fuck it look like, nigga?” Growl said stepping past the girl with the stanky pussy on the floor. “And we still ain’t find this bitch.”
“Aye, Ross, we can hit that?” Mike pointed to the girl on the floor.
“Yeah…niggas been in and out of that thang all night though, so fuck her at your own risk.
Hearing this the woman popped her left ass cheek and then her right. Loving the scene Mike smiled, dropped to his knees, kissed both of her ass cheeks and whipped out his dick. No condom covering his rod, he plowed all nine inches into her pussy. Rook looked at Growl and the both of them shook their heads at Mike.
“That niggas dick gonna fall all the way off,” Rook said.
“Ross, let me holla at you for a minute,” Growl replied as Rook followed.
“No doubt. Let’s rap in the kitchen.”
Growl and Rook dapped up several members of their crew and went into the kitchen to discuss business. Once there Growl got right to the point. “You talk to Swoopes?”
“Naw, I been calling this nigga for the past week. He ain’t answering his phone. All he cares about is finding this bitch.”
Growl shook his head and said, “What’s that chick’s name again? The one who told you Yvonna was here.”
“Who? Quita?”
“Yeah. Can you get a hold of her?”
“I can do better than that,” Ross said. “I can take you to her room.”
Quita was in her suite eating vanilla cake batter from a bowl and farting. She had on an ear-set as she ran off all of the day’s business to her best friend. She was just about to tell her how fine Kelsi was when someone knocked at the door.
“Girl, I’ma holla at you later.” She rose up off the couch and moved for the door.
“Bitch, make sure you call me back, too.”
When she got off the phone she opened the door without looking out of the peephole and Growl, Rook and Ross pushed their way inside. To keep their privacy, they put the Do Not Disturb sign on the door and locked it. Seeing this she got seriously nervous.
“Sit the fuck down,” Growl said. She obeyed.
“What’s going on, Ross?” She looked up at them. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Shut the fuck up, bitch! I’m asking the questions!” Growl said. “Now, where is Yvonna?”
She frowned. Why were they questioning her about Yvonna. They weren’t even friends. “I don’t know, why?”
“Stop lying, bitch! You told me you watch her daughter back home.”
“I do, but I don’t know where she is now.”
“Look, we got beef with this bitch and we want you to help us get our hands on her.” Ross said. “If not, we gonna put our hands on you.”
“Me? Why?”
“Don’t worry about all that. Just know that if you don’t help it’s gonna be consequences on your life. Are we clear?” Growl asked.
As she listened to them she knew she had to protect herself. But how? And then she remembered Kelsi’s gun. But getting it would be next to impossible; they barely let her in the room to use their bathroom. For now she would have to comply, until she could think of a better plan.
“Okay, what I gotta do?”
FRIDAY
Sin City
Yvonna
It was in the mid afternoon and Yvonna decided to shake Onik off so she could grab a drink alone. She was stressing about Delilah and she prayed that her only child didn’t suffer from her ailment. The moment she walked to the bar, a man she’d seen before stopped her. He was wearing a pair of blue Polo swim trunks and a red towel hung over his right shoulder.
“I knew I was gonna see your ass again,” he paused. “I swear I should drop your mothafuckin’ ass right here!” He said as he stepped closer.
“Who are you?” She stepped back.
“You don’t remember me? After what you did to my ride you don’t know who I am.”
Yvonna suddenly remembered the day, when she was rushing to handle business that she ran into a BMW. And if that wasn’t enough, she cried rape and hit him in the head with her car door, minutes before leaving the crime scene.
“I remember you. But the real question is, do you remember me?” She was cold as ice. “Don’t fuck with me, nigga. I’m not the one. Oh, and how’s the head?”
He stepped back, smiled and smacked her down. A few people pointed but no one bothered to help her. Yvonna immediately considered Yao, and how important it was to finish his mission. Stay out of trouble, stay out of trouble, stay out of trouble. She chanted. Let him walk now, and get that ass later.
Yvonna stood up, smiled and said, “You just signed your own death certificate, nigga. Remember I said that shit, too.”
The man laughed thinking she wasn’t as big and bad as she was the day he first met her. She’d soon prove him wrong.
After dealing with Mr. BMW, she walked to the bathroom in her suite to take her medicine, only to find out the bottle was empty. Had she used them all? I can’t worry about that right now. She thought throwing the bottle in her purse. She couldn’t get over what happened with Mr. BMW and seeing him made her realize that more people she knew was probably in Vegas than she realized.
When she opened the door to Delilah and Boy’s room, she thought she was talking to him. But once the door was fully open, she saw Delilah sitting on the bed with her back faced her. She was swinging her legs and talking to herself.
“No. I’m not going to do that, Ra Ra.” She frowned. “I don’t want to hurt him. You can’t make me. My mommy said it’s not nice.”
Silence.
“Please, don’t make me do that.” She pointed at the space. “I want to play nice. I want to be a nice person.”
Yvonna was so devastated by what she had seen that she covered her mouth, slowly closed the door and tried her best to prevent the tears from flowing down her face. She was so distraught that she didn’t see the real Gabriella standing behind her.
“Yvonna, are you okay?”
Yvonna released the doorknob, turned around, and said, “Oh, my God! She…she has my curse.” Vulnerable, she wrapped her arms around Gabriella and hugged her tightly. “I can’t believe she has my curse!”
“Come here, Yvonna. Please, sit down.”
Yvonna and Gabriella walked to the table and sat down. Although she didn’t see Gabriella regularly, she missed her. It seemed as if every time Gabriella wanted to be alone with her, Yao would send her on a mission or his people would be around. For that moment Yvonna was grateful she decided to pop up in Vegas to spend some quality time with her. It was a surprise that Terrell and she had put together and she was glad they did.
Gabriella waited patiently for Yvonna to relax before she said a word. It was just like it was when they were kids. Gabriella was the protector, and Yvonna needed to be saved. Onik stood by the door staring. He learned a long time ago to avoid jumping into every emotional issue Yvonna had. He only made a move when she called on him.
When Yvonna calmed down, she said, “Onik, wait outside the rom.” He did. “I’m sorry. I know I’m a mess right now.”
“Don’t worry about it, just tell me what’s wrong, sweetie. You have to talk to me slowly.”
“I…I hate my life. I thought by having money, and being able to afford suites like this, and cars like the ones at home, that all my problems would go away. And now that I have everything, I realize all I really want is for my baby to be safe and happy.”
“Yvonna, you have to slow down….”
“I am slowed down.” Yvonna snapped, not being able to take anymore of the slow down shit. “
But are you listening? I said my baby is messed up and it’s all because of me.”
“Listen,” she said softly, “by slow down, I mean for you to slow your life down. You have to focus on what’s important.” She softly put her hand on her knee. “Yvonna, you are not well. Neither one of us is for that matter. We experienced a lot and we never had a chance to deal and heal. One minute we were eating rats and living beneath a church and the next minute we’re adults.” Gabriella paused. “I been running all my life, hoping they wouldn’t get me,” she paused looking out into the distance, “and in a sense you were, too. We have never really felt safe.”
“I hate that life dealt us this hand.”
“We gotta move on.” Gabriella smiled, hugging her again. She paused and said, “When are we going to take that vacation we wanted? Away from everybody? I just want to get you alone to talk about things we can’t tell others.”
“Whenever I can get a break.” Yvonna shrugged. “I really would love some girl time, plus I have so many questions I need answers to.”
“I know. But some of the questions I can’t answer, because I’m not ready.”
Her hesitation about speaking about their time as kids angered Yvonna but she let her be. But soon, whether she wanted to or not, she was going to give Yvonna the answers she wanted. Yvonna was plagued with so many questions about that period in her life. Like why didn’t she take her with her, when she escaped?
Changing the subject slightly Yvonna asked, “Do you think…I mean…do you think they are still looking for us? It’s been like five years since Terrell found you. Is it possible that they may still want us dead?”
Shyt List 4: Children of the Wronged (The Cartel Publications Presents) Page 8
