by Leo Sullivan
I had to make sure that the job was done, so I lightly touched his wrist with my finger. His pulse was still faint, so I picked the pillow up and put it over his face to finish him off. His feet kicked slightly and he moaned a little before giving up completely. After checking his pulse again I knew that he was dead. I carefully used a towel to wipe down any and everything that could carry a fingerprint, although we’d taken the proper precautions. In a hurry I removed my bloody clothes and changed before I stuffed them inside a plastic bag. Last but not least, I stuck the plastic bag and glass I’d drank my Hennessey from in my over-sized Gucci bag.
I opened the door to the adjoining room, but it was empty. I wasn’t surprised. After what Money had confessed to me, I had already expected it. She knew that he was going to spill the beans and that’s why she didn’t want to do it. It all made sense to me. She wanted to stash the money at the apartment, because the robbery would be easier there. Buff and Zeus’s house had crazy ass security with sensory lights, pit bulls and all types of shit. There was too much of a risk involved. It didn’t make any sense to me. She could’ve gotten so much more by being loyal to me and Buff. Those robberies weren’t worth love and friendship? Not only did she throw love away, but she didn’t give a shit about our so called friendship either. When I thought about it, she was always consumed by Buff’s money.
Anger took over as I rushed out of the side door to make it to my car that was parked at the upper deck. I was sure to park where the security camera’s view was obscured. As I stepped in the car, I dialed Peaches’s cell number. She picked up, but didn’t say a word. I figured she just wanted to hear what I had to say.
“I know you can hear me bitch and I know why the fuck you ran. Don’t worry about me telling Buff about this shit. I’d hate to hurt him because he loves your trifling ass. Shit, I loved your trifling ass.” I let out an evil chuckle. “Buff’s the least of your worries bitch. I could’ve killed you right when Money told me, but I knew it was more important to make sure that he was out of the way first. So, I am giving you a head start bitch. I have the rest of my life to kill you. I am going to enjoy hunting you down and torturing you. I can hear you breathing, but you won’t be breathing for long. Enjoy your last breaths bitch.” I hung up the phone and dialed Teena’s number.
“Hello,” she answered sounding out of breath.
“You and Jazz okay?” I asked suddenly switching attitude.
“Yeah. You?”
“I’m good, except for one thing, but you can’t tell Buff,” I said before filling her in about Princess.
* * *
The gruesome murder scene had been discovered early the next morning by housekeeping. After the police found the text that had been sent from Desi’s phone, she was arrested for murder. It was a piece of cake and nobody had a clue about what really happened in that hotel room. Desi didn’t know how that text had been sent from her phone, but of course the detectives thought she was lying. Add the fact that his family members cosigned that she was insanely jealous and had threatened him in front of them plenty of times.
The case was closed based on circumstantial evidence alone. Desi had benefited from the robberies, but her punishment seemed harsh to me after knowing that Peaches was the one that the gunman was talking about before she shot him. Damn, it all made so much sense when I put it all into retrospect. Buff and Zeus had been stashing money at the apartment for weeks. That was the reason they’d asked where the rest was at. That greedy ass, conniving bitch!
Of course Peaches was gone and Buff was hurt. Me and Teena kept our mouths shut about what she’d done. I couldn’t stand to see him all fucked up over her shady ass. Never in a million years would I have ever thought Peaches would fuck me over; let alone Buff. I should’ve killed that bitch, but I couldn’t leave her dead in that hotel room. How would I have explained that shit to my bruh? It didn’t matter where that hoe went, I was going to find her. When I did, she was going to wish she’d never fucked with me and two of the few people I loved.
* * *
Meanwhile in Miami, Fla
Donreco tried to open his swollen eyes to see what was going on around him, but it was next to impossible. All he’d remembered was seeing a bunch of men dressed in all black like ninjas on his security monitors. The air was permeated in an overwhelming scent of mildew and rotting corpses. Suddenly he knew that he wasn’t at home anymore. As he took in the smell of smoke in the distance, he could also hear the faint sound of water leaking. Someone was smoking a Cuban cigar. That’s when he heard a voice.
“Tell me who you’re workin’ with,” the deep, sinister Cuban accent echoed in the darkness.
When Donreco moved he could hear the menacing sound of chains clinking in the silence. He tried to move, but realized that he was chained securely to a pole or something. “What the fuck!” He yelled still unable to see what was going on around him. His skin felt like it had been lit on fire, his head was pounding and he could taste the rancidness of blood on his tongue. What had they done to him and who were they? His heart literally sunk when he thought about it.
The deafening hum of a chain saw made him lift his chin up. He couldn’t see shit, but he was trying to use all of his other senses.
“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about!” He yelled frantically. “Just let me go!”
“It’s not that easy. Roberto told me to do whatever it takes to get that shit out of you.” The sound of footsteps approaching made him automatically recoil in fear.
A piercing, burning pain on his cheek caused him to scream out in agony. “Arghhh!!!” He realized that the man was putting the cigar out on his face.
“Give me names now, or you will die!”
“Arghhhh!!!!!!!! FUCK!!” The jagged blades of the saw cut through the flesh of his leg and he fainted.
The shocking, cold of water hitting his face brought him back to and he couldn’t breathe. He had no doubt that the man would kill him, but he had to try. His wife Mari had just had a baby girl. He decided to talk.
“Ze…Ze…aira…uhhh…Rowe…”
“Who else?” The chainsaw tore into the muscle and blood vessels of his thighs, splashing hot blood into both of their faces. “Who else!”
That time when Donreco passed out he didn’t respond to anything else the man did to torture the truth out of him. He’d bled out and all the man had was one name. He made his way through the darkness and found the stairs leading to the main floor of the warehouse.
Roberto stood there with a flask in his hand. It was full of Bourbon, his drink of choice. He was anxious to find out what information Salvador had gotten for him.
“What he say?” He asked as he put the flask to his lips. The alcohol burned as it went down, but it was a welcome distraction from the pain of his loss.
“Uh, sir…I uh…he’s dead…”
“You fuck! Did you get anything out of him?” Roberto walked over to the dim wit and slapped him repeatedly upside the head. “I should’ve done the shit myself.”
“I did get a name.”
Roberto’s spirits perked up as he looked up at the tall, burly, tan Cuban who’d been working for his family most of his life.
“What you got?”
“Zeaira Rowe…or something like that.”
Roberto chuckled. “That sounds like a broad. How could a broad bring down the top members of damn drug cartel by herself?”
Sal stupidly shrugged his shoulders. “I’on know.”
Roberto didn’t think much of the first name, but the last name sounded really familiar. “Rowe,” he repeated out loud. “Where the fuck have I heard that fuckin’ name?” Then it came to him like someone had flicked the light switch in his head. Without hesitation he pulled out a .380 and shot Sal between the eyes. He turned and walked away before his body even dropped. He’d told that moron not to kill that motherfucker until he got all of the names. There was no way a girl could’ve done that shit alone, but he did know why she’d done it and who she
was..
Chapter 8
It was a little after one a.m. and we were in the VIP of the club popping bottles and choking on some of the best BC bud you could get from Canada. That shit had me buzzing like a bumble bee and I was ready to take my man home. Things had been kind of tense between us since the situation with Money a few weeks prior. Of course he knew what I was planning to do and although that nigga was dead, Zeus still wasn’t too keen on the idea of me fondling his dick. The kill had actually given me a high that day though and I was ready to do it again. As I glanced at Zeus, I realized that he was really pissed at me because I hadn’t promised him that I wouldn’t kill again.
He’d been talking about retiring, getting married and raising a family even more lately. We hadn’t even been together a whole year and he was ready to drastically change my life. I was still young and wanted to experience some new shit before I was strapped down with a family. Zeus had to realize that I’d spend most of my teenage years locked up. I wanted to have fun, but I wanted him in my life too. All I wanted to do was make him happy for making me so happy, but I didn’t know how far I was willing to go.
“Girl, we’re in the fuckin’ club and your ass is actin’ all depressed and shit,” Teena said as she shoved me playfully. She knew that the shit with Peaches was getting to me.
Of course that trifling bitch knew better than to show her face. I made up some bullshit to feed to Buff about her getting scared. He bought the excuse of her having flashbacks of what happened with her and Reggie.
Don’t ask me why I was protecting her from Buff. Maybe I wasn’t protecting her from him at all. I was more concerned about protecting him.
I cracked a smile. “I was just thinking girl,” I said as Teena passed me a blunt. She and Jazmine had decided to come out with us.
I kept catching Zeus staring at me and wasn’t surprised when he made his way over. “You ready to go babe?” He asked with an intense look in his eyes. As I leaned over to kiss his cheek, I whispered in his ear, “I thought you’d never ask.”
I looked over at my girls and winked at them. “I’m leavin’.”
“Where’re you going?” Teena asked with a bottle of Moet cuffed in her hand.
“Home with my man,” I said grabbing his hand.
“Shit, we goin’ be right behind ya’ll,” Teena said as she kissed her woman lovingly.
Buff had skipped the club because he was still torn up about Peaches. I still wanted to kill that bitch and that was all I could think about. Of course I told him I had no idea where she’d gone. I told him she didn’t even show up at the hotel.
“Maybe she chickened out and had flash backs of what happened with Reggie. This life is probably just not for her, so let it go.” I’d lied to spare his feelings. When I invited Peaches into his life I thought I knew her, but I guess I didn’t. That bitch was going to get it like no other and I couldn’t wait to torture her ass because of her betrayal. Not only had she fucked me over, but she’d fucked over my best friend and almost got Zeus killed. For that violation, she was going to get what the fuck she deserved.
On the drive home I kept noticing that a dark colored car was riding on my ass and whenever I turned, they turned too. Were we being followed? The thought sent an ice cold shiver down my spine. We’d murdered quite a few people and destroyed the life of one. Anything was possible under those conditions. Zeus didn’t seem to notice and when we pulled into the driveway, I noticed that the car was gone and brushed it off as a little paranoia.
* * *
“Mmm, Zero, my ice princess, your ass look like you’re glowing in that necklace,” Zeus said as he kissed my cheek. “I’m tryin’ to ice your ring finger out.”
I didn’t respond as I snuggled up with him. Hours of good sex had me exhausted and I didn’t bother to take my necklace off as sleep tugged at me.
“Baby,” he whispered as he caressed my cheek.
I opened my eyes. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow baby.”
He nodded with a disappointed look on his face. “Okay,” he agreed without wanting to.
* * *
My phone rang loudly on my nightstand, waking me up from a very peaceful sleep. I had to peel Zeus’s arms from around me before scooting over to answer as I looked at the clock. It was only a little after six in the morning, so I answered quietly in an attempt to not wake Zeus up.
“Hello,” I said after noticing my mother’s number on the screen.
“Zeaira, I’m a friend of your mother’s and I need you to come over now,” a man said calmly. His voice was unfamiliar.
“What the fuck is going on?” I asked as the phone went dead.
Suddenly panic had set in and I didn’t know what to think. I quickly scribbled Zeus a note letting him know that I’d gone to my mom’s.
* * *
When I pulled up to my mom’s house in Zeus’s white BMW, I noticed a black Lincoln in the driveway and someone was sitting in the passenger seat. My mother’s gray Nissan Altima was in its usual spot in front of the garage. A year before I got out my mother had finally moved out of my aunt’s house and got her own place. Of course Buff and Zeus had bought it for her. I wondered whose car that was.
I pushed the door open, which was practically kicked off the hinges and was surprised to see my mother lying on the sofa with bruises all over her pretty face. My heart raced as I scanned the room. There was a dead white man lying on his back on the floor in a pool of blood with half of his face gone. A very nice looking chestnut brown skinned man, with full lips, a keen nose and narrow eyes was standing over my mom. He looked to be in his late forties and was holding a black gun with a silencer on it.
“What the fuck is goin’ on?” I asked as I made my way inside the room. My hand was on my heat the whole time.
The man’s lips turned up into a genuine smile as he looked up at me. “You must be Zeaira,” he said.
“Who the fuck are you?” I asked making my way over to my mother. I crouched down on the floor next to her and looked at her face. “What’s goin’ on ma? Who is that and who the fuck is he?” I pointed at the dead man. “Who did this to you?”
Her eyes were barely open. “I’m sorry sweetie,” she whispered. “I did this to myself.
“What I’m here for is more of your priority,” the strange man said behind me.
My blood boiled at the thought of him beating my mother and possibly trying to murder her. I had no idea why, but he was there with a gun. I stood up and turned to look at him. “Did my mom tell you what happened to the last man who hit her?” I asked narrowing my eyes at him. As I reached in my pants for my gun my mom stopped me.
“No Ze. That’s Darrick. He was your father’s best friend.” Her voice was weak and I scanned her body. That was when I noticed the bullet wound in her abdomen. She was wearing a red shirt and I didn’t notice the blood soaking through at first. I quickly put my hand over the hole to stop the bleeding. Then I remembered the name. Darrick, yeah, I remembered her telling me about him. He was the one my father ran the drug game with back in St. Louis.
Darrick placed the gun on the coffee table. “Your mother contacted me recently and told me that she felt like her life may be in danger. She felt like someone was following her, so I rushed here. When I came in he’d already shot her, so I killed him. We don’t have much time before they find out and send someone to kill you.”
“Who? Somebody tell me what the fuck is goin’ on!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.
“Calm down,” Darrick said in a gentle voice.
I looked back at my mother, whose bruised face seemed to be swelling up right before my eyes. The beating she’d received must’ve been fresh. Tears rolled down her face and she couldn’t even look at me. “What is he talkin’ about ma? Did you call an ambulance?”
She shook her head no. “No cops or hospitals baby. It’s too late.”
My heart was crushed.
Darrick spoke up. “I’ll start, but I’ll let her finish the story.�
��
“What?” I asked with a hard look on my face. Trying to hold the tears back was taking a toll of me. “What the fuck mom? You have a bullet hole in your stomach, but….”
She whispered with tears in her beautiful, brown eyes. “Baby. Just listen to Darrick, please.”
I reluctantly turned my attention to him.
“He was hired by the Gutierrez family to settle a score for their fallen family members Gorge and Jose,” he started as his eyes drifted to the lifeless body on the floor.
He looked back at me and gauged my face for a reaction. I managed to keep my face neutral, so he continued. “When you and whoever helped you massacre the top members of the Gutierrez Cartel, you failed to totally dismantle them. They have a younger brother named Roberto, who hired him. He’s the unbalanced live wire of the three, so they’d normally leave him out of the business affairs. They didn’t mind letting him do the “exterminations” though. Now that they’re dead he’s next to take the throne. It turns out that your mother and Gorge were having an affair that she didn’t have much choice in. This was during the time that she was married to your father.” He studied my facial expression again.
I guess Donreco didn’t know about Roberto. That time the shock was evident on my face, but I kept my mouth closed as he continued. “Gorge wanted to get your father out of the picture, so he hired someone to take care of that. The plan was for your mother to leave you behind and move to Miami with him. However; it didn’t work out that way. Your mother only agreed out of fear, stole millions of dollars from Gorge and left St. Louis never to be seen by him again. He had no clue where she’d fled to, but he suspected that she’d come here. At the time she was staying on the army base with your aunt and nobody’s crazy enough to commit a murder on military soil. Over time Gorge decided to just let it go. He’d had a soft spot for your mother, which is very rare when it comes to volatile and powerful men like Gorge. After the murder of Gorge and Jose, Roberto had one of his goons torture a young man by the name of Donreco to find out what had happened to the slain Cartel members. He noticed that the murders had happened close to the time that he’d started doing business with him. He wasn’t buying the Miami Jamaican Mafia theory. Roberto’s suspicions were right because Donreco’s confession led them to you and your mom. They know that you conspired the murder to avenge your father and even about the drugs and money you all stole. Turns out that Donreco died before they could get the names of who helped you. That was all of the information I could get out of him before I shot him.”
