Family Over Everything

by Paige Green

  “I’ll call Brooke; handle your business,” Jewels said, putting his cigar out in his ashtray.

  He sat down and leaned back in his chair, looking at the stacked money. Yeah, this is what the fuck I’m talking about. Life is good, he thought.

  “Hey, Daddy,” Yazmin yelled, running into the room.

  “Hey, baby girl; I didn’t even know you were awake. You hungry?” he asked.

  “Yes, but where’s Mommy, Daddy? When is she coming home from her vacation?”

  Staring into her eyes, he couldn’t help but think of how much of Relisha’s features his daughter had inherited from her. Even though he’d killed Relisha, he couldn’t help but think about her every day since she was the mother of his only child. Deep down, he regretted murdering her, but, on the flip side, she had the same blood running through her body as his archenemy, and that he could no longer accept.

  “She’ll be home soon, baby. Now go back into the living room while Daddy cooks for you, okay?”

  Yazmin nodded and ran back into the living room. It pained him that he would have to lie to his daughter for the rest of her life about her mother, but if that’s what he had to do to prevent her from knowing the truth, that’s exactly what he’d do.

  “You got fifty dollars on you, bro?” Day’onne asked Menace.

  He, Menace, and Troy sat on Menace’s couch, drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana. Menace, who once lived in a luxurious mansion, now resorted to moving back up Northview. His place was a live disaster, filled with trash scattered everywhere on the floor and a deadly stench. His apartment wasn’t a far cry from when he was younger, living in his mother’s house. They both had the same, spoiled food smell, dirty floors that needed a good mop job, and barely any furniture to make it feel like a home.

  “No, bro. You know I’m broke as hell. I want another bottle of that Dom P, though.”

  Day’onne shook his head and dug into his pockets, finding a ten-dollar bill in one and a one in the other.

  “Damn, I only got eleven stinky-ass dollars on me? This shit is a shame! We need to get back out there, bro!” Day’onne yelled in a drunken slur.

  “With what fucking money? We don’t even have fifty dollars on us!” Troy said.

  Day’onne shook his head again and sunk down into the couch, holding an empty bottle of Ciroc.

  The place he was in his life now felt like a nightmare. Not even able to afford a bottle of alcohol, he didn’t think he could sink any lower. Only two months ago, he’d been on top of the world, blowing money and living the fast life.

  “Man, I don’t give a fuck what y’all talking, Pittsburgh still my motherfucking city! I’m known in these fucking streets to wreak havoc!” he spat viciously.

  “Man, whatever.” Troy laughed. “Fuck it, we might as well deal with it, we broke as hell! Not everybody gets to stay on top for long!”

  Jumping to his feet, his eyes bucking, Day’onne threw the empty bottle to the floor and screamed, “Broke? Nigga, speak for yourself. I’m never broke, man. I’ll kill a bitch or nigga for calling me broke.”

  Menace and Troy laughed hysterically, watching him kick empty bottles around like a madman.

  “Bro, it’s cool; we’ll get back on our shit,” Menace finally said, trying to calm his best friend.

  “Fuck yeah, we will! And I’ll do whatever it takes!” Day’onne vowed.

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  Corrine sat in the corner of her bedroom with her legs glued to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, rocking back and forth, shaking. She wiped her runny nose with the back of her hand and scratched her dry, ashy neck. Her body was going through withdrawal. It’d been more than three days since she’d had her last dose of cocaine and she was craving for it.

  She needed to get her “medicine” soon and she’d vowed she’d do anything to get it. But ever since she got addicted to drugs and lost all of her drop-dead gorgeous physique, Corrine also had lost most of her clients. But deciding to beat the odds, she finally got to her feet before she walked out of the room. Her knees wobbled as she used the wall as her support and walked downstairs. When she reached the bottom of the steps, she bumped right into Sugar.

  “I hope you’re on your way to make my money, little girl. Because I’m telling you, if your ass don’t have my money, you’re out of here,” Sugar snapped, grabbing Corrine by her collar and poking her in the forehead.

  She nodded and made her way out of the house. On Hazlet Street, onlookers laughed when she licked her cracked, chapped lips and took a rubber band from around her wrist, folded her dirty T-shirt under her small breasts, and tied it. After standing on the corner for twenty minutes, a black Escalade pulled up in front of her and she got excited. She sashayed to the passenger side of the car, putting an extra switch in her walk and forcing a smile.

  “Hey, papi, you ready for a good time?” Corrine asked, her voice cracking.

  Jewels, who was in the driver’s seat, nodded and flashed a fake smile to mask his disgust. Corrine hopped into the passenger’s seat and before she had a good chance to close the door, she was already fumbling with his crotch.

  “Damn, ma, hold up. Trust me, you’ll have plenty of time for that.” Jewels laughed.

  She rolled her eyes and folded her arms under her breasts when he finally drove out of Northview.

  Brooke, who was in the backseat of the SUV, discreetly drenched a folded washcloth with chloroform. Corrine was too focused on turning her next client to notice Brooke slide out of the backseat, kneel, and wrap his muscular hands around her mouth. Her eyes bucked when he placed the cloth against her nose and tightly held it there. She tried clawing at his hands but she became weak, losing consciousness moments later.

  “Hello, son,” Ms. Younger said, opening the front door to allow Deion to walk in.

  As usual, he was clean-shaven and dressed in a Adidas jogging suit with matching tennis shoes.

  He and Ms. Younger hadn’t seen or talked to each other since their argument when she’d kicked him out of her house. With all he was dealing with, it was finally time to go see and talk to the only person who’d loved him unconditionally for the past several years.

  “Hey, Ms. Younger,” he said, walking into the kitchen.

  “So, how have you been? Have you taken my advice?”

  “I’ve been good, low-key lately. And yes, I have. I don’t know what I was thinking,” Deion admitted, holding his head low.

  Placing her hand under his chin, Ms. Younger gently lifted his head. “Baby, don’t be so hard on yourself, we all make mistakes. Like everyone else, I want the best for you. I love you, boy. I would hate to see something happen to you while you’re out there on those streets, Deion. I wanted to teach you a lesson.”

  “And lesson learned, Ms. Younger. I was so caught up in the money and fast life, I didn’t take heed that my decisions were affecting everyone else. But it’s all good, I’m completely out of the game. I want to focus on my writing again and finding my little sister, Corrine.”

  Ms. Younger’s eyes beamed in excitement when he mentioned Corrine’s name. She had been waiting for the day that he would finally look for his long-lost sister.

  Even though she didn’t know her and had never met her, she was his family and that was the most important thing.

  “Really? What made you finally want to find her?”

  “I had a long talk with an old friend, Jarell. He convinced me. I want to reunite with her and apologize for never being there for her.”

  Taking a deep breath, Deion shook his head, his mind drifting back.

  “Why haven’t you ever been there for her? What was really stopping you?”

  “When I was sixteen, Day’onne raped Corrine. She asked me, begged me, not to tell Melissa, and I agreed. All this time, I’ve felt so guilty for never telling Melissa, that I never wanted to look at Corrine. Every time I looked at her, my mind would rewind to the day he raped her and I couldn’t do anything to prevent it. I felt too guilty,”
Deion finally admitted.

  Ms. Younger wiped the tear that ran down Deion’s cheek before wrapping her arms around him and giving him a tight hug. She cupped her hands around his face. “So, that explains why you didn’t want to see her. In eight years, Deion? You’ve got to let that go, baby. That was the past. Neglecting your family isn’t going to solve anything. You’ve got to learn how to quit running from your problems and face them. The time is now, Deion. You have to stop running from Corrine and finally face her.”

  Deion nodded in agreement as he wiped his tears away. “I know and—”

  The loud ringing of his cell phone interrupted him. Taking it out of his pocket, he looked at the screen and saw it was someone calling from a private number.

  “Who’s this?” Deion answered.

  “What’s up, Deion?”

  “I asked you who this is?”

  “Don’t worry about that. All I want you to worry about is saving your crackheaded little sister. Now, I want you to listen to me and I want you to listen closely, you understand?”

  Sitting down, the color drained from Deion’s face and he felt his esophagus closing in. His breathing became heavy and his eye twitched. Seeing the fear in his face, Ms. Younger became concerned but remained quiet.

  “On the east side in Homewood, I want you to drop off two hundred thousand dollars, in cash. There will be an abandoned building right by the bus station and that’s where I want you to put the money. You have four hours to make this happen, Deion. I got your precious little sister right here, and I know you don’t want anything to happen to her, now do you?” Jewels said.

  “No, I’ll have the money.”

  “That’s what I like to hear. Like I said, you have four hours. I’ll keep in contact,” Jewels said, ending the call.

  Deion slammed the phone down onto the table and laid his head into his hands.

  “If it isn’t one thing, it’s another, man!” he cried.

  “Baby, what’s going on?” Ms. Younger asked with concern.

  “They have Corrine! They want two hundred thousand or she’s dead!”

  “Who has her? Why do they have her?”

  “I think it’s a man named Jewels. Remember I was telling you about him? Ever since Day’onne robbed him when we were younger, he never seems to go away. But I have to go, I got to go save Corrine,” Deion said, flaring his nose and standing to his feet.

  “But wait, baby! Where are you going to get all of that money from? I don’t want you to do anything dangerous, Deion!” Ms. Younger cried.

  “I still got money saved up from the book. I’ll give them all of that. And this is my only chance, Ms. Younger. I’ve never been there for Corrine before, but I’ll damn sure be there for her now! She’s family and she needs me.”

  With that, he left, slamming the door behind him, leaving Ms. Younger speechless.

  Returning to his condominium, Deion stormed into his bedroom and flipped his mattress to retrieve the .9mm that Day’onne had given him a couple months prior.

  Reaching under the bed, he pulled out a box labeled Hustling Hard and opened it. In it was over three hundred thousand dollars he’d retrieved from his book royalties. He counted off two hundred thousand dollars and placed it in a duffle bag he got from the closet. Grabbing the bag, he jetted out to his car and headed to Northview.

  Mercedes stood on her usual corner on Penfort, dressed in a burnt-orange sleeveless dress. It was eleven o’clock and she promised herself the next customer would be her last for the night. She closed her eyes tightly as the cold, bitter winter wind assaulted her bare skin as she rubbed her hands together to keep them warm. When she opened her eyes again, she saw a black BMW approaching. Standing tall, she arched her back and made her legs go inward, making herself appear bowlegged.

  When the man behind the wheel flashed his headlights twice, she sashayed to the passenger’s seat and smiled. Hopping into the car, she said, “What’s up, daddy? What you—”

  The man with sleek the temple fade and slanted eyes caused her words to get caught in her throat. She glared at him and tried to open the door, but he had already locked it.

  “Please, don’t go anywhere, I need your help!” Deion pleaded, grabbing her wrist.

  “What the fuck do you want?” she spat, snatching away from him.

  Taking a deep breath, he shook his head and a single tear slipped from one eye. “Look, Corrine is in danger. I came to you because you two are close and I need your help. I can’t do this alone.”

  “What do you mean, she’s in danger?”

  “About two hours ago, I got a call from some man demanding two hundred thousand dollars for Corrine, or else.”

  “Or else, what? Who’s this man?”

  “Look, I don’t have time to discuss all of it, girl. All you need to know is that Corrine needs our help, and I know she’s counting on someone to help her.”

  “Our help? Since when did you start caring about her? Last time I checked, you haven’t seen that girl in years and didn’t give one fuck about her! Why the fuck do you care now?” Mercedes asked harshly.

  “Because she’s family—”

  “Family? I’m the only family she got! You haven’t seen that girl in over what? Eight years? And now you’re screaming family? Get the fuck out of here! I’ll help you, but please know I’m only doing this for her, not you.”

  “I deserve that, but that’s all I ask, Mercedes. She needs both of us,” Deion said, pulling off.

  Mercedes shook her head in disbelief and folded her arms under her chest.

  “If it isn’t one thing, it’s another.”

  “So tell me because I’ve been dying to know, why did you do this to Corrine? What has she done to you to make you act as if she never existed?”

  “It’s a long story, Mercedes. But I’m here now; isn’t that all that matters?” Deion asked sincerely.

  “I guess so, Deion. I’m surprised that you popped up out of the blue, wanting to be in your sister’s life. She’s been through a lot and she’s losing it. But I guess you’re right; you’re here now and that’s all that matters.”

  They remained quiet until Deion pulled up in front of his designated destination and got out of the car.

  “Where are we?”

  “At my brother’s. Stay close to me and put this on,” Deion instructed, taking off his leather jacket and handing it to her.

  She nodded her head and she slipped the jacket on and followed close behind him. Walking into Day’onne’s safe house—a small, roach-infested apartment—he wrinkled up his nose. Mercedes’ mind instantly rewound back to the time when she, Corrine, and Tessa lived with Rachael. She cupped her hands over her nose, trying to muffle out the vicious odor. When they walked into the living room, they found Day’onne and Menace on the couch, high out of their minds.

  “Yo, Day’onne, get the fuck up!” Deion yelled angrily, shaking Day’onne.

  Day’onne, who had smoked at least five blunts and drunk a whole bottle by himself, smiled goofily up at Deion.

  “What’s good, bro?” He snickered.

  “Yo, I need your help, bro. Corrine’s in trouble!” Deion yelled.

  “Man, fuck that bitch!”

  “Fuck you mean? Nigga, get the fuck up, man! She needs us!”

  Day’onne waved him off, taking a liquor bottle off of the table and taking a swig from it. Angry, Deion walked back out of the apartment with Mercedes following him.

  “Did you say his name was Day’onne?”

  “Yeah, that’s my twin brother. I wanted him to help us out with this shit since he’s the source of the problem. But fuck it, I guess we got to do it ourselves.” Deion kept walking.

  So he’s the one that raped Corrine, Mercedes thought as they hopped back into his car.

  Deion started his ignition and pulled off.

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  Feeling hands assaulting her, Corrine opened her eyes.

  They had her stashed in one of their old t
rap houses. The dirty place reeked of decomposed bodies, fish, and burned flesh.

  She was sprawled out on a dirty abandoned apartment floor, beaten to a bloody pulp, her breath becoming short gasps. Her eyes were almost swollen shut and her naturally supple lips looked like golf balls on her face. Her body ached and she continued to go through withdrawal, yearning for a dose of cocaine.

  Gathering the little strength she had within, she managed to say, “Please stop.”

  Jewels wickedly laughed as he ripped her clothes off and pulled down his pants.

  He spat on his fingers and wiped it on Corrine’s opening, then grabbed the base of his fat, nasty penis and roughly plunged it into her. Corrine arched her back in pain and released a loud scream, trying to squirm out of the tight grip he had on her. Tormented, she cried from the pain that continued to taunt at her young body as Jewels continued to rape her.

  “Damn, your shit feel just like Relisha’s!” Jewels panted as he continued to pound her insides.

  Jewels laughed as he kneeled down, forcing his tongue down her throat. Hot tears continued to burn her cheek as she tried to escape, but it was to no avail.

  “Oh, shit!” Jewels moaned, ejaculating on her stomach.

  Jewels stood up and pulled his pants back up. Corrine curled into a fetal position, paralyzed with pain. For the first time in a very long time, she wished she was in Mercedes’ arms, letting her know everything would be okay.

  “Bitch, we’re not done with you!” Brooke yelled, grabbing hold of her hair.

  She let out out a bloodcurdling scream as he dragged her back and forth like a mop in the abandoned apartment. Brooke continued to beat her like she was nothing; less than a human being. He stomped, punched, and even pistol-whipped her with the butt of his gun.

  Lying in a pool of her own blood and watching her whole life flash before her, she lost faith in life.

  “Just kill me . . .please,” she pleaded weakly.

  “When do you think they’ll call?” Mercedes asked Deion, taking a sip from her can of soda.