Arthur Love looked up at his wife and said, “You don’t even know what’s happened.”
“I don’t care. And I don’t want to know!” she boomed.
Arthur Love sighed. “She’s our child,” he reasoned.
“I said I don’t care!” As far as she was concerned, her child had been buried over a year ago along with all the other memories that came with her.
Arthur Love stood and said, “I have to go.”
Jazmyne chuckled with teary eyes. “After all we’ve been through, all she’s put us through and everything we discussed,” she cried out, “you’re going to just up and run to her aid, just like that?”
Her words tore into her husband’s back as he put on his jacket. He shoved his service weapon into the holster and made his way to the door.
“It’s not like that,” he turned and said.
“So, how is it then, Art?” she asked with her hands on her hips and tears streaming down her face.
“There’s been a murder,” Arthur Love replied before walking out of the bedroom.
Jazmyne Love stood there, looking dumfounded. The word “murder” resonated in her mind. Despite all that had happened and all the resentment she held for her daughter, the words her husband had just delivered awakened her maternal side. She was stricken with a sense of guilt. She was overwhelmed with mixed emotions and became lightheaded. Jazmyne Love fell to the bedroom floor and began to weep for what she believed to be the loss of her child, knowing the part she had played in the matter.
Chapter 18
Craig Barnes pulled into the local Super 8 motel. He was having a good day. His anticipation level increased by the second, as he filled out the information on the card and submitted his driver’s license in order to rent a room.
As soon as Craig exited the office of the motel with the room key in hand, he became more turned on than he had been already, seeing the way the young girl he intended to enjoy sexually sat on his bike.
He rubbed the front of his Levi’s jeans at the sight of the young caramel-complexioned girl straddling his Suzuki GSX-R1000. Her miniskirt gave him easy visibility to her purple thong, left ass cheek, and thigh. As she licked her lip gloss–coated lips and twirled her tongue around seductively, his dick stiffened. He knew he was just mere moments away from putting his sex game down on the teenager. It had been a lot of work, he thought, but not enough to make him call it quits. Every hustler up and down Broad Street wanted a piece of the young tenderoni, but it was him she had chosen. Between putting in quality time and spending money, he knew his investment was well worth the wait, especially after he had learned that she was a virgin, which was one of the main reasons he had been so patient. Now, it was all finally about to pay off.
“You sure you ready for this, shawdy?” he asked, with a half smile, flashing his gold tooth.
“I may be young, but I’m ready,” she sang like a backup singer for Keith Sweat.
“That’s what I’m talking about.” Craig rubbed his hands together excitedly. “We right ’round back.” He threw one leg over the back of his bike. “You know how to ride one of these things?”
“No,” the young girl replied in a sexy tone. “But I can’t wait to ride one of these,” she said as she scooted back into Craig’s crotch area.
Craig smiled again. “Well, I’ma teach you how to ride one of these and one of these, the right way, shawdy,” he slyly remarked, pressing his rock hard up against her back.
“I like the sound of that,” she cooed.
Craig’s motorcycle roared when he started the engine. He took the young girl’s hand and placed it on the clutch. Then, he put the bike in gear. Craig guided the young girl’s hands on the handlebars as they drove around to the back of the motel. Thoughts of what he intended to do to her invaded his lustful mind as they pulled in front of the door to their room. Craig killed the ignition on his bike and climbed off. Then, he took the young girl by the hand and escorted her to the room. She stood behind him, rubbing her hands along the width of his back while he slid the key card into the door.
“Shit,” he cursed.
“What’s wrong?” the young girl asked, alarmed.
“Fuckin’ key keeps lightin’ up red.”
“Here. Let me try,” she offered, taking the key out of Craig’s hand.
The young girl slipped from behind Craig and gained position in front of him. Then, she gently slid the card into the door lock. The sound of a click could be heard as the lock device lit up green.
“Damn, shawdy! You got the magic touch,” Craig teased, slipping his hands around the young girl’s waist.
“It’s all magic, baby,” she playfully replied as she opened the door.
“And, I got that magic wand that’ll cast a spell on you, too,” Craig continued.
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the side of the neck as he followed her into the room. She could feel his weight on her 115-pound frame as he continued to smother her with a bear hug.
“Damn, baby! You’re heavy.” She giggled.
Before she could tell him to release her, his entire weight of his body came crashing down on her, sending them both straight to the floor.
“What the fuck, nigga!” she yelled, trying to free herself from under him, attempting to push him up off of her.
“Get the hell—”
That was as far as she got with her words before her own body became limp.
Chapter 19
The sign read RICHMOND CITY LIMITS as Treacherous cruised up the dark and empty lane of Interstate 95 northbound with no particular destination in mind. Baby hugged him tightly around the mid with the manila envelope safely in between them. The city of Richmond glowed to their left as the cool summer breeze offered a new chill complimentary of the water off to their right. Treacherous’s adrenaline was still pumping full speed from all of the excitement back at the mental hospital. His eyes had been watering since he had jumped on the highway from the gust of continuous wind smacking him square in the face as he traveled up the interstate. Despite his vision being blurry from the wind, something inside of him told him to keep going, so he rode solely off of pure instinct. He had no idea how long he had been driving, but it felt as if it had been all night.
Baby’s ponytail blew in the wind as she stared at her city, while deep in thought. The scene put her in the mind of one of her favorite movies with Nia Long and Larenz Tate as Treacherous navigated the bike through her hometown. It had been quite some time since she had been so close to home, and, at that moment, she realized just how much she had missed it. The familiar sign for the Chamberlain Street exit reminded her of some of her wild and fun times at the Virginia Union parties and the football games she had attended. Baby closed her eyes and laid her head on Treacherous’s back as she tightened her grip. Thanks to him, she was able to breathe again. She thought it would be a long time before that would ever happen again and she was grateful.
Treacherous could feel the warmth of Baby’s face pressed against his back. He placed his left hand on top of the back of hers as he navigated the motorcycle with the right. He gave her an assuring rub. He had no regrets about what he had just done nor did he have any remorse. During their breakout, all he could think about was how his father would have handled the situation had it been his mother in Baby’s predicament.
At seventeen and with only a few more months to go before he was released and Baby being seven months younger than he was, there was no way he was going to allow her to be transferred to another facility and have to get through her stay without him. From day one, when they first laid eyes on one another officially, in his mind and in his heart, he knew she was the one, and he knew he was rescuing them both. As the days had passed and he learned more and more about Baby, he knew he had found in her what his father had found in his mother: a ride or die chick.
Treacherous’s chain of thought was broken when Baby tapped him on the side. She pointed up ahead for Treacherous to get off at the
next exit. He nodded and accelerated the motorcycle. Treacherous veered off onto the exit that read 60–67. Baby directed him to the back of the motel on Midlothian Turnpike, and then instructed Treacherous to park the bike up under a set of bushes. The tree served its purpose as a camouflage in the semidark parking lot.
“This is where the so-called ballers come to trick,” Baby informed Treacherous, referring to the motel.
Treacherous gave her an odd look.
“This is where the drug dealers come to fuck chickenheads and sack chasers,” she said, rephrasing her statement.
Treacherous smirked at her bluntness.
“We should be able to find a place to stay here for the night,” Baby said matter-of-factly.
“How? You got friends who come here?”
Baby laughed. “No, silly.” She shook her head at how naïve Treacherous was. “You ever rob anybody, Treach?”
Her question embarrassed Treacherous. Not because he didn’t know what she was talking about but because he had come from a long line of robbers, and yet he had never experienced the act. “No, but I will,” he boldly stated.
“Good.” Baby smiled. “Because you are.”
Now, it was Treacherous’s turn to laugh.
“I’m glad you find it funny, but I’m serious.” Baby was stone-faced. “Now, here’s what we’re gonna do. . . .”
Chapter 20
Craig opened his eyes, but he couldn’t see a thing. Everything was a blur, and he had a splitting headache, but he didn’t know why. His shoulders were sore, and the tingling sensation in his legs let him know that they were asleep. Craig tried to rise up, but he soon discovered that he did not have the usage of his hands or legs.
“What the hell?” he cursed.
A sense of fear and confusion set in as he struggled to lift himself from what he knew to be a bed.
“What the fuck is this shit?” he bellowed, realizing his hands had been tied behind his back. His feet were also tied together.
“Shut the fuck up,” a baritone voice boomed in his ear right before a blow was delivered to the side of his head with what Craig believed to be the butt of a gun.
Craig tried to fight off the pain caused by the assault, but there was no way he could stop the blood from pouring out of the gash on the side of his head. The injury only added to the imminent danger he knew he was in. As he regained his senses, it all came back to him. The last thing he remembered was following the young girl into the room after she had gotten the door to open. Next, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head before everything went completely black.
Craig clenched his teeth at the thought of getting caught slipping. Then, his thoughts immediately zeroed in on the young girl. ”Bitch, you muthafuckin’ set me up.”
“No, Craig—” the young girl tried to plead before being cut off.
“Both y’all shut the fuck up,” another female demanded.
Craig silently cursed himself for being lured in by a piece of ass. After he had quickly come to the realization, his only other thought was how he could make it out of the situation alive.
“Yo! Whoever you are, we don’t gotta go through this,” he started to reason. “I got money, and I’ll take you to it if you let me go.”
“We don’t want your money,” Craig heard the male voice say.
Instant fear overcame him. He immediately began backtracking, trying to figure who he had done wrong and who he had been beefing with, old and new. If they were not there for money, then he was sure they were there to take his life.
Craig strained to open his eyes. Drops of blood spilled into his right eye, making it difficult to see out of it, but he managed to get his left one to focus. The first sight he laid eyes on was the young girl balled up in a fetal position against the wall with her mouth, hands and feet gagged and bound. She, too, was bleeding from her head, and fear was plastered across her face. The sight confused him. With his good eye, he did a quick scan of the room.
Next, his eye landed on a female standing near the bathroom. She was not too far from where the young girl sat in bondage on the floor. She did not look familiar to him, so he nixed the possibility of the situation being over a female. He was surprised to see that she did not have a mask or anything on to disguise her identity. Where he came from, that was a bad sign.
He noticed the revolver he kept tucked in his ankle in her right hand along with a thick tree branch in her left one and wondered if she was the one who had cold cocked him in the back of the head. His eye roamed the room further, but he could not locate a face to go with the male voice he had heard. He wondered if he, too, did not have anything concealing his identity. His question was quickly answered.
“You lookin’ for me, chump?” Treacherous came from around the other side of the bed and stood in front of Craig.
Craig struggled to look up at Treacherous. Nothing about Treacherous rang a bell with him. Despite his size, Craig could see that he was a young kid. He couldn’t help but laugh to himself. He knew there was no way Treacherous could possibly know who he was.
“Yo, dawg,” he said calmly. “This is all just one big misunderstanding. Now, I know you don’t know who I am because, if you did, you wouldn’t be standing here right now, which is why I have a proposition for you. So, here’s how we can handle this.” Craig paused. Then, he said, “I got about three grand in my pocket. Why don’t you and your little girlfriend just take that and disappear, and I’ll forget this ever happened. I give you my word, and my word is everything in these streets.”
“Well, you’re right about two things,” Treacherous began. “One, I don’t know who you are; and two, all together you had $2,864 in your pocket, not including what your chain, watch, and bracelet are worth. I left the change, though. All that other shit you talkin’ is for the birds,” Treacherous firmly stated.
Craig laughed to himself. He had underestimated Treacherous. He hadn’t even realized he had been relieved of his jewelry. “So, what do you want then?” He wanted to know.
“It’s nothin’ personal,” Treacherous offered. “You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. We just needed a place to lay our heads for the night and a couple dollars to hold us over.”
“You must be fuckin’ kiddin’ me.” Craig laughed. “I’m being jacked by a couple of homeless runaway kids.”
“Babe, stop talkin’ to that fuckin’ pedophile,” Baby barked, taking offense to Craig’s last statement.
“Pedophile? Naw, shawdy, that ain’t on my jacket,” Craig said in his own defense.
“Oh, no. So, what do you call bringin’ a sixteen-year-old girl to the motel to fuck, you dirty dick muthafucka?” Baby lashed out.
“Shawdy, I don’t know where you from, but in the State of Virginia, she legal, so she a consenting adult.”
Had he known how Baby was going to react to his statement, he would have thought before he spoke. Before anyone knew what was happening, Baby snatched the gun out of Treacherous’s hand, grabbed one of the pillows off of the bed and, using the pillow as a silencer, shot Craig in the groin. Before Craig’s screams could be heard, Baby took the pillow and suffocated him. Treacherous stood there in shock. Everything happened so fast. He couldn’t believe Baby’s actions. The young girl’s muffled cries could be heard as she sat in the corner, wide-eyed and soiling the carpet.
“Treach, shut that bitch up!” Baby commanded, as she continued smothering Craig.
Treacherous wasted no time. He walked over to the young girl. The sight of the gun he had earlier relieved from Craig’s waistband caused her to go silent as he stood in front of her with the weapon down by his side. She looked as if her eyes would jump out of their sockets at any moment.
Baby released the pillow from Craig’s face. She was confident that she had snuffed all the life out of him. The entire time she was smothering him, all she could think of was how Craig reminded her of the type of people who took advantage of the weak and helpless. Images of her own past ordeal played i
n her mind until she no longer saw Craig’s face but rather another.
She removed the pillow, and all was confirmed. Craig’s lifeless eyes peered up at her. The first time she had killed, she felt nothing, and this time was no different. She had no remorse for what she had done, and, in her mind, she had just done the world a big favor. Baby tossed the pillow to the side.
“There’s been a change of plans. We can’t stay here. We gotta go,” Baby announced.
Treacherous nodded in agreement.
“You know we can’t leave her here like this,” Baby said. “She knows what we look like.”
Treacherous didn’t say anything. He had already thought the same thing. Instead, he gave Baby a confirming look. The young girl sat with tears streaming down her face, shaking her head, but Baby and Treacherous paid her no mind.
“You sure you can handle it?” Baby asked all too prepared to finish what she had started. She knew Treacherous had killed before, but she knew that her first kill had been intentional and his had not.
Rather than answer her, Treacherous walked over to the bed, grabbed another pillow and walked back over to the young girl. He, too, felt nothing as he and the young girl’s eyes connected right before he placed the pillow over her face. The feathers of the pillow floated in the air as smoke lingered around the hole the bullet had caused. The shot painted a maroon picture behind the young girl’s head as her brain matter decorated the wall. Treacherous dropped the pillow to the floor. The bullet from the .38 revolver made it appear as if the young girl had a third eye.
“It had to be done,” Baby told him.
“I know.”
Baby smiled. At that moment, she knew no matter what, regardless of how dangerous or extreme, she would go to hell and back with Treacherous and for him.
“Okay, let’s get out of here,” she said.
After checking to see if the coast was clear, one by one, Treacherous and Baby exited the room. Baby stopped next to Craig’s bike. Treacherous turned around, realizing she was not behind him. She flashed the keys to Craig’s motorcycle.
Carl Weber Presents Ride or Die Chick 3 Page 8
