RedBone

by Styles, T.

  Chloe looked into her sister’s eyes. “Tell them what you do to prevent your breakouts. Let’s put everything out there on the table.”

  Right before she responded, Lesa banged heavily on the door. “Farah, you gotta come out here right now!” Bang bang bang! “Open this fucking door!”

  “What the fuck is wrong with that bitch now?” Mia said.

  “Fuck her.” She looked at the door. “I’m busy right now, Lesa! Go away!”

  “I don’t give a fuck about you being busy! Come out here right now! I’m sick of this shit! Somebody paying for my stuff today!”

  Farah walked to the closed door. “Go away, Lesa. If I come out there you not gonna like me.” She looked at the body on the floor. There was no way she could come in that room.

  “I ain’t going no fucking where! I’m sick of this shit, Farah!” Lesa continued, sounding intoxicated. “You gotta come out here right now or I’m knocking down your door!”

  “Pull him in Chloe’s closet,” Farah whispered. Mia and Shadow dragged him there and closed the door, while Chloe placed the sheet over the bloodstain. Angry, Farah walked out of the room and her siblings followed, closing the door behind them. When she walked into the living room she was angered to see Courtney and Lady in her house.

  In the middle of the floor Farah and her clan faced off against Lesa and her posse. “Farah, which one of y’all went under my bed and stole my weed this time?”

  Farah rolled her eyes, because she didn’t feel like the drama. Living on her own forced her to grow up quick. There was a situation in her bedroom that needed her undivided attention, yet she was out there talking about a bag of weed. “Lesa, I know you didn’t knock on the door for this shit.” She stepped so close to Lesa that she could feel the warmth from her body. “Especially since you ain’t run me my rent yet, bitch!”

  Lesa leaned in and said, “Did you just call me a bitch? Especially when I didn’t disrespect you?”

  “Then what the fuck you call it?” Shadow asked. “You banging on the door about fucking weed is disrespectful. When she could’ve handled this shit later.”

  “Who is this?” Courtney pointed. “The brother from Harvard?”

  “Harvard?” Shadow asked.

  “Don’t worry where he from.” Farah didn’t want her truth exposed to give her something else to laugh at. “You didn’t have no reason asking me about no weed, because I didn’t touch your shit.”

  “Somebody did.”

  “If you must know, I took it, and it was good, too.” Chloe grinned. “Thank you!”

  “You need to stay the fuck outta my room! I’m tired of telling you!”

  “Lesa, you shouldn’t have to pay shit since they smoked up all your weed. That had to be good for at least nine hundred bucks, right?”

  “Not only that, if you divide it five ways you would only owe her a few dollars,” Lady added. “Look at all these mothafuckas who live here.”

  “Naw, you got that wrong, baby girl,” Mia said. “This chick has yet to pay shit, so technically she just visiting, and as far as I’m concerned, her visit is up.” She looked at her sister. “What you think, Farah?”

  “I think this bitch betta run me my cash or get the fuck outta my house tonight.”

  Lesa laughed and looked back at her friends. “You want me gone ... not a problem. I’ll leave in two weeks, after my surgery.” She wanted to be there, instead of recovering around her mother, who didn’t want her to have it.

  “I don’t give a fuck about no plastic surgery,” Farah said. “You haven’t even signed my lease yet.” She looked at Lady and Courtney. “Why can’t you stay with them? Since they always in the business anyway.”

  “You heard what I said, Farah, I’ll be out in two weeks.” Lesa sat on the sofa.

  Farah knew she and her sisters could take them out but she also remembered the dead body in her room. If she wanted to get at her, she needed another plan. When she thought about how Chloe irritated her the first day she moved in, she had an idea. “Either get the fuck out, or I’m burning all of your clothes ... shoes included.”

  “I wish you would touch my shit!” She jumped up.

  Farah looked at her brother and said, “Shadow, go in Chloe’s room and lock the door. Chloe and Mia, follow me.” A stampede ensued toward Lesa’s bedroom. Farah, Chloe, Mia, Lesa, Courtney, and Lady fell into the doorway as everyone tried to get to her clothes first. Fists were being thrown, and faces were scratched, and it was obvious that things were terribly out of hand. When Farah, Mia, and Chloe beat Lesa and her friends to the closet, they began ripping her clothes to shreds. Farah seemed to be enjoying herself because of everything she put her through since she’d been there. They looked like a pack of niggas.

  “Get off my shit!” Lesa cried, trying to push them out the way. This was exactly what Elise feared would happen if Farah didn’t get herself together.

  “This is so fucking immature!” Courtney yelled, trying to help Lesa out while Lady disappeared. “I can’t believe y’all doing this shit.”

  “Well, come over here and do something about it!” Mia said, egging her on. “I been waiting to kick your ass ever since my sister told me about you.” Courtney ignored her, not trying to go one on one.

  “I want you out of here!” Farah screamed, as she punished a red La Perla bra before grabbing her vintage Gucci bag. “You gonna leave, or do you want us to start on your purses next?”

  Lesa was just about to respond when there was a heavy knock at the door. Everyone rushed into the living room to see what was up. When Chloe opened the door, she was angered to see the same cops who questioned her the day Slade murdered Tornado in the hallway. “We received a call about a fight,” one of the officers said. “Can somebody tell us what’s going on?”

  “Who the fuck called the police?” Farah asked as if they weren’t there. Lady walked toward the couch and sat down, making herself look guilty.

  This was exactly what Farah didn’t want so she decided to give it to them straight. “Sir, this girl won’t leave my apartment.” She was huffing and puffing. “And I been trying to get her to, but she won’t go. Can you take her with you, please?”

  “Is she correct?” he asked Lesa.

  “No, she’s not, sir.” She smiled. “I live here.”

  “I’m confused. What is going on ... Either you live here or you don’t.”

  “Give me one second.” Farah ran into her room to get the lease. When she returned, she handed it to the officer. “This the lease right here and nowhere on it does it say Lesa Carmine. I let her stay for a few days and now she won’t go. I want her escorted out.”

  “Can we come in?” He looked at the ladies, who looked like they’d been in a wrestling match. “We don’t want to disturb the rest of your neighbors.”

  Farah wanted to say, “fuck no,” but realized she couldn’t, so she backed up and allowed them into her apartment. The officers moved to the living room and examined the lease carefully in silence. She was positive that once he saw her papers all this foolery would come to an end.

  “Look, this is quite simple,” he said, looking at all of them. “Either you live here or you don’t. There isn’t a whole lot to it.”

  “And she don’t,” Mia said. “That’s what we trying to tell you.”

  “Do you live here?”

  “Yes, she does,” Farah said. “And so does she.” She pointed to Chloe. “And him.” She pointed at her brother who reentered the living room to see what was going on. “This is my place. I don’t know what else to say.”

  The officer turned to Lesa. “Let’s go, ma’am.”

  “I can show you my room!” Lesa said. “My pictures and everything are up.” Then she looked at Farah. “My clothes that she destroyed are in there, too.”

  “That’s not answering the question. Are you on the lease or not?”

  Lesa appeared very confident and said, “No. My name is not on the lease.” Farah smiled at her sisters. “But I
have been here for over thirty days. So I have the right to be here.”

  What the fuck does that mean? Farah thought. Lesa went into the kitchen to retrieve her mail. “See.” She handed a jewelry bill to the officers. “That has my name on it with this address. So unlike what she told you, I do live here.”

  “So what, the bitch got mail coming here?” Shadow said. “That don’t mean shit if you ask me.”

  “Good thing no one is asking you,” one of the officers said. He walked away. “By law, she can’t throw her out, because rent or not, she’s an official tenant,” the officer clarified. “So she has every right to be here.” It was obvious that Lesa’s sheisty ass had done this before.

  “There you go, Mr. Harvard.”

  “Wait ... what you saying?” Farah asked, leaning in. “She not on my lease.”

  “I’m saying whether she pays you rent or not, if she’s been here for thirty days, she has a right to be here.”

  Farah’s mouth dropped. “So what ... people get to fuck up your house? Not pay bills and everything is still sweet? That’s not fucking right! Where’s the justice?” She ranted as if a dead boy weren’t lying in the closet in one of her rooms.

  “Ma’am, calm down.”

  “She has been in my house for over thirty days, running up bills, fussing at my family, and not helping out! It’s not fair!”

  “Ma’am, you have to go to court and have her evicted properly. In most cases you’ll have to give her thirty days to find another place.” He handed her back the lease. “But until then she lives here and I don’t want to be called down here again for any other issues. Understood?” Farah didn’t nod but the officers accepted her silence as an understanding.

  “This is our second time here in less than thirty days. We don’t wanna come back again.”

  “You weren’t here for us the last time,” Chloe interjected. “So don’t put that other shit on us!”

  “But we were here nonetheless,” he said. “You ladies better make sure it’s the last. If not, the next time we come back, we locking everybody up!”

  When they left the apartment Lesa and her friends sat on the sofa and smirked. “I’m glad you laughing, bitch,” Farah said. “I doubt very seriously that you’ll last two weeks.”

  Chapter 39

  “Sorry, man, but we don’t work for nobody.”

  —Major

  Slade walked into E.A.T. with Markee and his three brothers. It took every creative excuse Markee had in the book, coupled with a call from his aunt in Mississippi, to get Slade to meet Randy to discuss Tornado’s death. Markee realized that Randy was not stupid, so he ended up coming clean about what happened to Tornado the day he died. Randy decided to meet with Slade after remembering Farah saying his name.

  When the men made it inside E.A.T., Randy had a scowl on his face. “Which one?” he asked Markee, who pointed to Slade. “He doesn’t look so tough.” Slade was unmoved by his comment.

  “Randy, these are my cousins: Slade, Major, Killa, and Audio. He really is sorry about what happened to Tornado.” Markee looked at Slade and didn’t see any remorse. “Aren’t you?” Slade didn’t say a mumbling word.

  Randy motioned for them to sit down, but the Baker Boys didn’t budge. Markee, feeling like it was just a matter of time before shit kicked off, tried to diffuse the matter. “Sit down, y’all.” He looked at his cousins.“Please”. One by one, they reluctantly took a seat on the lounge chairs. Slade sat directly across from Randy, who busied himself with a jar of peanuts on the table. Slade didn’t like Randy’s arrogance one bit and was about to bounce, especially since nobody was available to take Knox’s call at the apartment. Markee looked at all the armed men in the hopes that Slade would follow his gaze, see they were outnumbered, and realize now was a bad time to make a country move.

  “Explain to me how four of my men walk into your apartment alive, and at the end of the night, one walks out dead.” The Baker Boys laughed and Randy smirked. “What’s so fucking funny, niggas?”

  Killa stopped laughing for the moment and said, “Dead men don’t walk.”

  “Sure they do,” Randy advised him, cracking peanut shells. “You’re walking now, and technically you’re all dead.”

  Slade’s jaw flexed. He was trying his best to keep his cool. “What do you want with me and my brothers?”

  “I thought I answered the question already. I wanna know what happened the other night.” He popped a few peanuts in his mouth. “Let’s start there first. You need to say something to convince me to let you live.”

  “Your man was murdered. With my bare hands.” Slade grinned. “And my brothers didn’t have shit to do with it.” He nodded. “That’s what happened.”

  Randy looked at Markee. “It was an accident, man. Honestly. They got into a fight and shit got out of hand. Tell him, Slade.”

  Randy cracked seven more peanuts and chewed them fully before swallowing. If they were back in Mississippi, Slade would’ve already brought Randy to his knees by stuffing the jar into his mouth. But for the sake of his cousin, for the moment anyway, he would bite his tongue. “Was it an accident or not?” Randy asked.

  “If you’re asking me if I meant to defend myself the answer is yes. Now, did I think he would break so easily? No.” He grinned.

  Randy didn’t like Slade but he loved his fire. If he could tame him, he would certainly make a come up. “You killed one of my men, so now you work for me.” Randy wiped his hands on a napkin before dotting the corners of his mouth. “All of you.”

  “Sorry, man, but we don’t work for nobody,” Major said. “We in town on business and when that’s done, we on the first thing home.”

  “You not listening to me.” Randy’s men aimed their weapons at the Baker Boys, and Markee wanted to faint. “Tornado’s life for yours. Don’t look at it like a punishment. I’m giving you a chance to right a wrong. And if you knew me, you’d consider yourself lucky.”

  “He’s right, Slade,” Markee interjected. He was on him so hard, it was only mere seconds before he had Randy’s balls and dick in his mouth. “Normally he wouldn’t be so nice. Y’all should go ahead and take his offer.”

  “You a punk-ass nigga,” Killa said. “Sometimes I can’t believe you’re even my cousin.”

  “Like my brother said, we not gonna be in town long, Slade interjected. “We just here to take care of a few things, and then we out. So we not gonna be able to work for you.”

  “I think you’re under the impression you have a choice.” Randy laughed. “If you are under that notion, let me assure you that you’re greatly mistaken.” He took off his shades and looked into their eyes. “You took one of my best, and this is how you make it right.” Slade laughed. “What’s so fucking funny now?”

  “That man crushed within ten minutes of me putting my hands on him. And you call that your best?”

  Randy couldn’t tolerate Slade anymore, so he decided to have the man closest to his head pull the trigger. “Get rid of this nigga!” The Baker Boys jumped up, ready for war, until Randy’s phone rang. He raised his hand and said, “Wait. When he picked up his iPhone, Farah’s picture came across the screen. “Luckily for you it’s my fiancée ... Farah.” He flashed it to him, knowing he was familiar with her name. “What’s up, baby? I’m busy right now.” He looked at Slade and could see he finally got to him. He was feeling Farah and it showed all over his face.

  Slade’s jaw flexed, and his fists clenched, as he watched him talk to Farah on the phone. As if it were even possible, he hated him even more, and was five seconds from breaking his jaw. Killa, seeing his glare, nudged him and woke Slade out of his thoughts. Farah was not his, and he had to realize it or they all would die.

  When Randy got off the phone, he was in a better mood. “I’m gonna give you country boys two days to reconsider my offer. After that, your fare back home will be on me, because you’ll be going back in coffins.”

  Chapter 40

  “If I did do something, I’
m sorry.”

  —Farah

  Farah sat nervously in the passenger seat as Randy drove speedily down the road. Her puppies, Diamond and Pearl, who she’d grown to love dearly, were barking in the back seat at the top of their lungs. She’d shush them ever so often, but it was obvious that they could feel Randy meant her harm. “Have you ever had a man who would ruin a whole city for you? A man who would kill you, so nobody else could have you?”

  Farah grabbed Pearl, who found his way in the front seat. She placed him in her lap and began rubbing his head to calm him down. She was growing tired of Randy’s threats and she just wanted him to do something, or shut the fuck up. “No, but did I do something to you?” She could feel sweat dripping from under her arms and pouring down the sides of her body under her coat. “If I did do something, I’m sorry.”

  “You know I’m tired of hearing that shit.” He looked over at her. “So don’t tell me that anymore.” Randy drove in silence for five more minutes before pulling up at an abandoned warehouse. She knew where she was, because she’d been there with him before, but she never went inside. He parked his car and said, “Come on ... I want you to go with me this time.”

  Farah grabbed her puppies, and followed him into the drab building and up the dirty stairs. The place didn’t have as many bugs as Grand Mike’s building, but it was still nasty. They stopped climbing the steps when they reached a blue door. “You know why I brought you here?” She shook her head. “I want you to see who I really am.”

  Not knowing what he meant, Farah stood behind him as he knocked on the door using a certain rhythm. A few seconds later, Juice came out and smiled at her before even noticing Randy. He hadn’t seen her since she got into the fight at the store.

  “You know that’s got to be the fifth time you eyed my bitch,” Randy said. “Make that your last.”

  “It’s not even like that,” he lied.