by K'wan
“He creeping?” Tech asked.
“Sho nuff,” Animal smiled at his cunning.
“I’m on him,” Tech pulled out into traffic a little too reckless for Animal’s taste.
“Slow down before you get us knocked off.” Animal warned.
“This might be our best chance at getting him and I don’t wanna lose the nigga in traffic.”
“I doubt if we’ll have to worry about that. I know exactly where he’s going.” Animal assured him before chambering a round in his gun and reclining the seat.
*
What Animal had discovered about Lionel during his investigation was that he had five hundred dollar a day coke habit. Knowing the habits of addicts, especially with an oil burner like his, it would only be a matter of time before he would have to figure out a way to score.
The beat up station wagon containing the killers pulled up a few houses down from a small one story house, situated at the tip of Coney Island, just in time to see Lionel hop out of the cab and disappear inside. It was a routine that Animal had become familiar with over the last few nights. He had first noticed the Lionel creeping a few nights into his stakeout and immediately saw how he could use it to his advantage in pulling off the hit.
The first few times Animal just followed him to make sure it wasn’t a set up, but sure enough Lionel had found away to elude his captors to score his blast. Lionel would climb out of the motel window and take a taxi out to Coney Island where he would buy his coke in the projects then make his way to a residence a few miles out, where he would get high then return to the motel and the cops in charge of him would be none the wiser.
Tech looked at the house and shook his head sadly. “You’d think that the police would have enough common sense to take this fool somewhere out of state until the trial, but they take him to the next borough. And to add insult to injury this idiot sends one of Shai Clark’s people to jail and is still running around like it’s all good.”
“You know snitching has become the new fad,” Animal said sarcastically and slipped on a pair of latex gloves. “Fuck it, their stupidity is our gain; because this pussy’s head is sure gonna make us rich over night. Get what we need out the trunk and meet me around the back of the house. I’ll be done by the time you get there,” Animal slipped out of the car.
Moving as silently as the grave Animal moved between two houses and rounded the back of the one Lionel had disappeared inside. It was a nice neighborhood with manicured lawns and SUV’s in the driveways. What Lionel was doing in the neighborhood was anyone’s guess, but the only thing Animal was concerned about was killing him and collecting his money.
The house was dark except for a desk lamp in the living room that illuminated an empty chair. On the table Animal could see a small piece of tin foil and two playing cards. Lionel hadn’t gotten a chance to take his blast yet, and if Animal had it his way he never would. He crept around to the backdoor and tried the knob. It was open, as he knew it would be Animal had rigged it the night before with box tape so that the lock could be fully turned from the inside, but the tape would prevent the cylinder from sliding in place completely to secure it.
As he was easing the door open the light from the refrigerator came on, freezing him in his tracks. He peered through the crack and saw Lionel with his head shoved in the refrigerator rummaging around. When he removed his head Animal got his first up close and personal look at him. He was of average build with skin so tanned that he could’ve been mistaken for a Latino in the right light. His dirty blonde hair looked like it hadn’t been combed in a while, but addicts rarely gave much thought to their appearances. Animal waited until Lionel was done putting together his snack before he made his move.
“Psst,” Animal called from the darkness. When Lionel turned around the last thing he saw was a spark before a bullet whistled through his cheek, breaking several of his teeth.
Lionel lay on the ground writhing in pain as he chocked on his own blood and pieces of broken teeth. He looked up at the cold eyes of the killer and croaked, “Please.”
Animal’s lips twisted into a sneer. “I got no mercy for you or your kid, pussy. You lived like a bitch, so the least you could do is die like a man,” Animal snarled before shooting him twice more in the face. When Lionel had finally stopped moving Animal pulled a small hacksaw from the satchel slung across his back and proceeded to saw Lionel’s head off, just above the collar bone.
Animal was so preoccupied with trying to cut through the muscle’s in Lionel’s neck to pull his head free that he never heard the soft footsteps behind him. He temporarily blinded when the kitchen light came on suddenly. Without giving it a second thought Animal spun around and started firing. There was the sound of shattering glass and a body hitting the floor. When Animal’s vision cleared his heart sank into the pit of his stomach.
Lying across the room, on the floor near the refrigerator was a white haired old woman dressed in her housecoat. With terror and sorrow gripping his heart Animal rushed to her side. The bullet had struck her in the temple but thankfully she was still breathing. He grabbed the dish towel and packed it against her wound to try and stop the flow of blood.
“You’re going to be okay,” Animal rocked back and forth with the woman’s frail body in his arms. “I’m so sorry,” he sobbed over and over. Animal was so broken up over what he’d done that he didn’t even bother to turn around when he heard the kitchen door creek open.
“What the fuck happened?” Tech looked around nervously.
“She came in and I…I…,” Animal could barely speak.
“My nigga, we gotta get outta here,” Tech told him as he snatched Lionel’s head from the ground and stuffed into a plastic bag. Animal remained where he was. “Did you hear me?” Seeing that Animal was unresponsive Tech grabbed him by the shirt and began dragging him.
“I can’t leave her here like this. I can’t,” Animal struggled.
Tech snatched Animal to his feet and began shaking him. “Look, I ain’t gonna let your bleeding heart put me in nobody’s gas chamber. Let’s get the fuck outta here,” Tech shoved him roughly towards the door. Eventually Animal ceased his struggling and started to move on his own. Before he followed Tech back out the kitchen door, he grabbed the phone from its cradle on the wall and dialed nine-one-one.
“Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?” the operator asked on the line.
“A woman has been shot,” he said and let the phone drop.
For the entire ride back to Harlem, Animal was silent, with nothing but his grief and his thoughts. What he had done to Lionel was truly monstrous but it failed in comparison to what he’d done to the old woman. Every time he closed his eyes he saw her wrinkled face and the blood staining her white hair. He would find out later on that the woman lived, but the bullet had claimed her sight leaving her alone in the dark until the end of her days on earth. He was happy that he hadn’t killed her, but it still didn’t change the fact that he had damned her and himself in the process. Something inside him changed after shooting the old woman. The last bit of innocence inside him had died and a monster was born.
IV
Shai, Swann, Holiday, Angelo and Baby Doc sat at a private table in the back of the Caribbean restaurant discussing family business and stuffing their faces. There was only a few days left until Big Doc went before the grand jury and they had yet to hear from Animal or Tech. They had their people on the street looking for them but the two thugs seemed to have vanished.
“I knew it was a bad idea for you to send a kid to do grown man’s work. What the hell were you thinking, Swann?” Angelo asked, between taking scoops of his stewed chicken.
“I was thinking we need to make this fucking problem disappear and get Big Doc the fuck outta jail.” Swann shot back.
“Man they’re gonna throw the book at my dad if that dude shows up. Y’all should’ve let me clip him.” Baby Doc said heatedly. Though he was only a teenager he always tried to carry himself like one of the big
boys in the presence of Holiday, who was his big homie and mentor.
“Stop talking crazy, BD. That was a suicide mission we sent them on, but it was also our last resort.” Holiday explained.
“Do you think the police caught them?” Baby Doc asked.
Shai thought on it for a minute. “I doubt that, or we’d all be in somebody’s holding cell right along with Big Doc.”
This made Swann laugh. “Shai, you say that because you don’t know them boys like I do. Tech's a loose cannon, but he ain’t no snitch. He’ll wear whatever time they offer him just to prove to us how much of a stand up guy he is.”
“Yo Swann I almost bust out laughing when you told them niggaz that we’d give them a seat on The Commission of they pulled the job off.” Holiday chuckled.
“It was Shai’s idea.” Swann admitted and all eyes turned to Shai.
“This is true. Money wouldn’t have been enough to get a sensible mutha fucka to take on this job so we had to sweeten the pot. They’ve got as much chance at sitting at this table as they do of pulling this job off,” Shai laughed and everyone laughed with him except Swann. His eyes were fixed on the front door that had just swung open.
Animal strode into the restaurant with Tech and Brasco flanking him. There was hardness to his eyes that hadn’t been there when they’d first met. As Animal approached their table, Holiday and Angelo stood up with their weapons drawn, but Shai waved them back into their seats. Animal studied every face at the table and burned them into his memory so he would never forget the men responsible for what he had become, but his eyes locked on Swann’s. Baby Doc was about to ask Animal what he was looking at when he suddenly dropped a plastic bag on the table, knocking over their food and drinks.
“Problem solved,” Animal said coldly.
Angelo peeked inside the bag and recoiled as he saw Lionel’s bloody head. “Lil nigga, are you fucking crazy?” he tried to move on Animal, but Swann held him back.
“Thank you,” Shai said humbly.
“Don’t thank me, pay me. One million dollars and a seat on The Commission for Tech.”
Swann nodded in approval. “No problem, kid. I’ll have one of my people bring your money through the hood later on tonight, but the seat on The Commission…”
“Is ours,” Animal cut him off. “We’ve honored our promise to you, and you’ll honor yours to us.”
“Boy you must’ve fell and bumped your head. Nobody tells Shai Clark what to do.” Angelo said.
“I’m not telling any of you what to do; I’m telling you what’s right. All we have in this life is our word and when you break that you’re left with shit on a stick. You promised us that if we did this the seat would be ours. Now if you’re thinking about trying to screw us then maybe it’ll be one of your heads they find in a plastic bag tomorrow night,” Animal said, looking each man in the eyes.
“Is that a threat?” Shai asked.
Animal searched for the words before responding. “No sir, I would never disrespect the boss of New York by coming at him like some no-class street punk. I’m just sharing my thoughts. Now I can’t speak for your team here, but from what the streets say Shai Clark is a man of his word.” Animal ignored the glares he was getting from Shai’s crew and looked Shai in the eyes. “Will you keep your word?”
Shai looked around at his advisors and without speaking he knew what they were thinking. They wanted to kill Animal and be done with it, but if Shai broke his promise it would be looked upon poorly to his associates in the streets. One thing Poppa Clark had always taught his children was that a man always keeps his word, even if they may not want to.
“I’ll honor the promise,” Shai extended his hand.
“Thank you,” Animal shook his hand and left without another word. When the trio had exited the restaurant Holiday broke the silence.
“That kid is gonna be a headache,” Holiday poked at the bag with his dinner fork.
“Going to be?” Shai from Holiday to the bag. “Looks like he already is.”
*
“My nigga Animal, the hardest mutha fucka to ever slide out of a woman’s hole,” Brasco said excitedly. Animal didn’t respond he kept his eyes glued to the scenery they passed as they moved through traffic.
“The game has definitely changed for the better.” Tech said, nudging Animal playfully.
“Dawg, do you know how much pussy we gonna get when bitches find out we’re connected?” Brasco asked.
Tech looked at him like he was a complete idiot. “After all that just went down is that all you can think about is pussy? Yeah, the bitches and the money are gonna come, but this is so much bigger than that. Do you really understand what this move means, Brasco?”
“What?”
“Its open season on the streets and we’re taking it all,” Animal answered for him and went back to his staring.
To be continued……
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