Altered Destiny: A Hustler's Choice

by Sherylynne L Rochester

  “What?”

  King who was silent the whole time finally spoke up. “Basically he told Ice to handle everything down here.”

  “I told him to handle things since he told me about the—”

  He didn’t care. “I told you not to trust him S.D,” King said.

  He was about to say something back to King, but he was distracted by a noise from downstairs.

  “What was that?” Sasha said as she looked at S.D.

  “I don’t know. I’ll check it out. Stay here.”

  No one was in the house. All the servants had left for the night since he had gave them the night off. She was concerned. He got up immediately to find out what was happening downstairs. Before heading out the door he went into his draw and grabbed his gun.

  “I’m going to have to call you back,” he said to King. He hung up the phone and told her to stay put. Seeing the gun that he pulled up from the dresser made her extremely uneasy. It brought back memories of the day T killed someone right in front of her eyes and now it was happening once again.

  Why tonight? Why here? Why while I’m here? She thought.

  He slowly opened the door aiming the gun forward as he looked side to side. He had hoped that what T told him had not followed him to Italy. He hoped that it was just something falling over onto the floor. But, deep inside his heart he knew differently. He had a gut feeling that someone had come to kill him tonight.

  It was dark and he could hardly see anything as he continued down the long hallway. He did not bother to turn on the lights as he walked towards the stairs. He continued to aim his gun while he searched for an intruder. Then, he walked down the steps one by one quietly. When he was halfway to the bottom of the stairs he saw that the window had been broken. Someone had broken in and that someone wanted him dead. He prepared himself for battle.

  * * *

  The killer watched as S.D. walked down the stairs. He was hiding directly behind the grandfather clock near the door. When he broke the window he quickly angled the grandfather clock in such away for him to hide where no one could see him. He did it quickly. S.D. could not see him, but he could see him.

  It would be an easy kill, thought the killer.

  * * *

  T, who was outside, was looking in the other window. He had been following the killer since he arrived in Italy. T was watching his every move. He crept behind him every step of the way. He had seen when he broke into the house. He saw where the killer had positioned himself. T then angled himself to where he, too, could not be seen from the outside. He was watching the killer and now watching S.D.

  Neither will know what hit them, T thought. He will kill S.D., then I will kill the killer to cover my tracks, and then I will go for Sasha. He would protect her at all cost, like he had so many times before. She was his girl and she worked the plans he had flawlessly.

  * * *

  As S.D. walked down the stairs he could not see what was in front of him. It was just too dark for him. He did not see the killer who was off to the side aiming his gun at him, but he knew the killer was somewhere. S.D. continued to search and search. It was too dark. He thought about going to get a flashlight, but then decided against it.

  * * *

  Just take one more step, thought the killer. One more step. I’ve got you now!

  * * *

  Sasha was really nervous upstairs wondering what was happening. She could not take it anymore. She decided to go after him. She opened the door and headed down the hall to the stairwell.

  * * *

  His heart was racing and his mind was wondering. Was it the killer? S.D. thought.

  * * *

  Her heart skipped a beat. She was really afraid. “Steph, everything okay?” she asked, as she walked down the long hallway.

  * * *

  “I ain’t going out like no coward,” S.D. screamed. “Why don’t you make yourself known and fight me light a real man. Only cowards hide. You wanted to kill me now let me see who you are.”

  Sasha made her way to the stairway and asked, “Steph, you okay, what’s going on?” She peeked down the stairs and saw S.D. with his gun aimed straight ahead. “Steph!” She saw the killer behind the grandfather clock. “Watch out!”

  S.D. turned.

  Bang.

  Sasha screamed.

  Another bang.

  Another scream.

  S.D. then slumped to the floor. He was shot in the chest and in the arm. Sasha was in shock. She could not move a muscle. All she could do was scream.

  The killer ran up the stairs and aimed his gun at her mouth. She could not believe that she was this close to death once again.

  “Your decisions will affect your destiny and outcome, choose wisely and you will avoid death. Choose wrongly and you will see death.” What the old lady said rung in her ears. She was so focused on the gun, death, and what the old lady said that she did not see the killer drop to the floor.

  “Sasha...Sasha...” Sasha was in too much shock and she did not notice that T had come from behind and killed the killer.

  “You tried to kill me. You said I would be protected,” screamed Sasha.

  “No...no!”

  “You said he would only go after S.D. not me.”

  T grabbed Sasha and hurried out the back door. She would not stop screaming or crying. While they ran he tried to keep her quiet. He did not want anyone to notice them.

  “Sasha…baby, please be quiet. I’ll explain everything to you later. I promise. We need to get out of here without anyone noticing us. Okay?”

  She nodded her head still not sure what to believe. She opened her mouth to say something, but he stopped her. He placed his finger on her lips to quiet her. Someone was coming.

  He quickly grabbed her. They were able to hide behind one of the many elegant statues in S.D.’s backyard. With clean cut grass and stone benches it was a sight to see. They waited as a man walked passed smoking, whistling, and enjoying the night air. Once he was out of sight they ran to the gate. T looked both ways making sure no one else was around. Then, they made a dash to where the taxi waited.

  He paid the taxi driver more money than the taxi driver had ever seen. He told him to wait for him no matter how long it took. He also paid him extra to keep his mouth shut. The taxi driver obliged to his wishes and drove them to a safe place.

  Once they were safely away, T tried to calm Sasha down. What just happened frightened her.

  “Sasha!” She stared blankly at T. “Sasha!”

  She was not trying to hear him. “He almost killed me.”

  “You’re going to be alright”

  “That wasn’t the plan,” she said as she cried and screamed at him.

  “Sasha, get a hold of yourself.”

  “No! You tried to have me killed.”

  “Look, I didn’t. Believe me.”

  She placed her face in her hands and began to cry even more. She was scared. She had not expected what had just happened. She at least thought she would be away from all harm. She was not. You will see death, she thought again. What the old lady said rung deep in her ears again.

  Chapter 13

  When you’re young you want everything whether it was right, wrong, or indifferent. The wrong was really enticing. It looked so good. The money, being with a drug dealer, and wanting to be the top girl on the streets was what was on my mind and on my agenda. When you’re young these things looked good and attractive, but those things can cost you everything. They can hurt you.

  My decision to go along with T in this plan was wrong. I look back at it. I felt so bad. I wish I could change it all. I wanted what S.D. had. I wanted the money and the status. I didn’t love him and I tricked him so that I could get what we wanted.

  I met T a year before I started trying to get S.D. T and I fell in love. He was everything I wanted and needed. He had money. He took care of me. He showered me with so much love that I didn’t want anyone else. One day he got this idea of trying to kill S.D. I couldn’t
believe it. S.D. and him were cool, but T told me that is how the game was played. It was time for a new leader. So, T got all into S.D.’s business. He found out everything he could from S.D. When the time came he knew where everything was, the money, dealers, suppliers, whatever. It took some time, but he got all the information he needed to take over.

  There were even times when he made things up, set people up. S.D. would then trust him. He planned everything very well and it all worked.

  For instance, the drop where Spook was killed that was all T’s doing. I don’t know why he did it, but he did. Even Money who ended up dead was all planned out by T. I guess he needed some people out the way. It was horrible, but that’s what happens on the streets.

  * * *

  They arrived at the hotel T was staying at. No one had noticed that they had entered the building. The front desk was deserted and the lobby was empty. T was thankful for that. He did not want anyone to notice them coming in so late at night. He just wanted to get Sasha up to the room, clean up, and get some much-needed rest. The last couple of weeks were stressful and what was up ahead would be even more tiring. He had a lot of work to do in the coming weeks and tonight would probably be the only night he would be able to sleep.

  Sasha was filled with splattered blood from the killer. As she looked at herself in the mirror remembering what had just happened, T said, “Why don’t you get cleaned up.”

  Sasha nodded her head slowly. She quickly went into the bathroom, removed her clothing, and got cleaned up. Her mind was thinking a million and one thoughts, but all her thinking would not take away what she saw and experienced that night.

  Sasha came out of the bathroom and T threw a shirt over to her. She looked good, he thought.

  She had a wonderful body, great face, and was top notch in his eyes. This was his girl. She did anything for him. She was a down chick. She was down for whatever.

  “Here come to bed.”

  She nodded her head again and pulled the covers aside. It had been a long time since she had been with T like this. She cuddled next to him and held on for dear life as she cried herself to sleep. T on the other hand, now lay dazed on the bed, wondering about the next move and how he would take action.

  So far the plan worked. With S.D. dead he was the new man in charge. He knew where S.D. stashed the money, the goods, and who the suppliers were. He had another crew, one he got together a few months back. They would follow him and his every move. Now everything he planned would come together. He just could not wait to take over the streets.

  S.D. was stupid, T thought. He was stupid to put so much trust in people. That was one of S.D.’s weaknesses. T knew it. He used it against him. He used those weaknesses to gain trust. Yes, they were boys in the beginning, but things change when you are in the game of drugs and money. He wanted more than just being the sidekick who handled the drops and the killings. He wanted the icing on the cake. He wanted to be the man who took over the streets, the man who ran the streets. The man that people would be truly afraid of. Greed got to T. That greed made him turn on and kill a true friend indeed.

  * * *

  It was a beautiful day in Italy, but as beautiful as it might have been the events of the night made Sasha think it was the worse place ever. She wished it were all a dream. She knew it was not. Just weeks before S.D. and her were having a good time. First, when they arrived they were enjoying the sights, having wonderful dinners, and conversations. Now, he was gone and now she was saddened by it all. She was not returning there ever again. There were now bad memories for her in Italy. Memories she would never forget.

  Where’s T, she thought as she got out of bed. She picked up the remote and turned on the TV. She hoped that the police would not find out that she was at the house until after she had left Italy. She knew that when the housekeepers and workers of the grounds arrived back to work she would be the most wanted person here. She feared that even more.

  While, turning on the TV she noticed a note from T, saying that he went to the store to get some clothes and food. She gave a little smile as she placed the note on the bed, and focused on finding the news channel. She flipped through each available channel. There were no news or word from the night before.

  The doorknob turned. T walked in. He looked at her and went straight to her. He wanted her to know he would never do anything to harm her.

  “Are you okay?”

  “No!”

  He truly wanted to comfort her, but he knew that right now she was upset with him. He approached her cautiously. She felt betrayed. She did not know if she could trust T anymore. After the killer who happened to be Spunk, an old business friend of T’s, tried to kill her she did not know what to believe. Did T want her dead so that he could cover his tracks? Did he tell Spunk to pull a gun on her? Those thoughts kept running through her head. T interrupted them when he pulled her close to him and kissed her.

  “I didn’t tell Spunk to kill you. I didn’t! You believe me don’t you?”

  She gave a questioning look to T. Spunk had pulled a gun on her and was ready to pull the trigger. It was all T’s plan for her to get with S.D., make it seem like she loved him to get his guard down, and then kill him so that he could be the next man in charge and so that he could get the riches and all that came with it.

  She pulled back looking at him. “I believe you, but don’t you ever ask me to do anything like that again.”

  “You don’t have to worry anymore, baby. All is good. We got everything we need now.”

  “So where’s the money? What’s next? What do we do about all this? How do we—”

  “Slow down, boo. Slow down. First, we have to make it look like I didn’t know it was going to happen until recently. I came here to save him, but it was too late. I would tell them the story that, ‘I didn’t know when it was going to happen. All I knew was that they put a hit out on him. A reliable source informed me of that. I told him about it and told him that he should go away to someplace safe. He said that he would go to Italy. I didn’t know that the killer knew he was in Italy until someone called me last week and informed me. I’ll also say, that the reason I was gone was because I had some family issues the time you guys left for Italy. I went and took care of that and had Ice handle everything and—”

  She interrupted him. “Well, what’s the story for me? People will question me about what happened. Why I was there? Who was it that killed him—”

  He stopped her. “Look, don’t worry. Don’t worry. Just say that he asked you to go to Italy, which he did and you accepted. You two were dating on the side, which you two were. The night that everything happened you were there. Tell them everything that happened. How I saved you, how Spunk pulled a gun on you, and how S.D. died. That’s all. No one will suspect a thing. I promise you that. Our tracks are covered and nothing’s going to go wrong. If it does I’ll handle it.”

  “I don’t know. This is too much. Plus, the story sounds a little flakey. Everything will point back to you. People will question you. You have to come up with something better for it to be believable.”

  T thought about it for a while. She was right. Their stories needed to be tight. If it were not then everyone would know it was a lie and be after them.

  “Ok, I’ll just say that S.D. said he was going to go away to get away from all of it, to stay safe. They shouldn’t question that. We have plenty of time to make our stories right.”

  She shook her head and agreed.

  “Now we should be getting out of here before they start looking for you. I got you some clothes. Change into them. We got to get out of this country pronto.”

  She rushed into the bathroom and took a shower while T sat in a daze with his thoughts. She allowed the water to fall all over her face. It was calming, but it could not help erase the night before. Once finished, she quickly changed into the dress with the hat and sunglasses that T had brought for her. She looked herself over in the mirror. Her eyes were puffy from all the crying she did through the
night. It seemed though she aged from it all.

  When she finished looking at herself in the mirror she came out of the bathroom. T was sitting in the chair in deep thought. Although, she looked at him with loving eyes, he did not see her. She was really in love with him and happy that they could finally be together. It had been a long year. A long time since they were together like this. He interrupted her thoughts, “are you ready to go?”

  They headed out the building with no one noticing them. She was grateful for that, but they still had to get to the airport. That was going to be a tough task to get through customs. She started to ask him about it, but decided against it. T was in a hurry. He did not seem like he wanted to be bothered.

  All of this was really scary for her, but T seemed to know what he was doing. That reassured her. He had saved her before. He would save her now and later. Right now she would put all her trust in him. She would not worry about anything.

  Chapter 14

  “Let’s take the water taxi to the airport. Everything should be

  good. I remembered a while ago we did business with some people here. When you told me you were coming to Italy, I made a phone call to them and asked them to help us out, if there came a time we needed it. They agreed, of course, for a price. So, we should get through everything with no problems. He gave me a name, Max, and we need to meet up with him at the airport now.”

  As soon as they got off the water taxi he spotted Max. He told her to wait. He went to conduct business with Max. They exchanged a few words. He then signaled for Sasha to come over. They all began to walk to the airport. Once inside Max took them to a tall Italian guy. The guy shook T’s hand and told them to follow him. They would soon be safely in the States.

  An hour later, S.D. and now T’s connection had gotten them on the plane and in the air with no problems at all. Sasha was truly happy and grateful that she was able to get back to the States. She was glad to be getting out of Italy for good. She would try to forget what happened in Italy and focus on her future with T. Now the really good life could begin. She was looking forward that.