“Please,” she croaked, blood leaking from her busted lip. Sunny immediately assumed these were Faheem’s people coming back to avenge his death.
“Where he deh? Where yuh man deh?” another goon barked getting so close to Sunny’s face she could smell the weed odor on his breath.
“Where yuh man deh?” the dread growled, backhanding her. This time Sunny’s nose busted and blood sprayed from it. Sunny refused to answer him.
“Fuck you,” she whispered defiantly. She didn’t care what they did to her; she would never give Sean up.
“Yuh wan’ play hard?” the same dread gritted, punching Sunny across her face so hard more blood and a tooth shot from her lips. Sunny was taking the hits like a pro. Each time they hit her, she forced herself to raise her head to meet them face to face. Her attackers didn’t know that Sunny had been being beaten all of her life and it took much more to get her to fold.
Sunny was fighting, flailing her arms and trying to kick her captors. She was fighting so hard, she didn’t hear Sean’s grandmother calling out to her.
“Hit she again. Make her shit on she self,” one of the goon’s growled evilly. When his partner moved in to hit Sunny, she extended her left arm and swiped at him, catching the end of one of his dreads. Sunny yanked wildly on the lock of hair she had and was shocked when the dreads came off of the man’s head. Sunny couldn’t believe that the dreads were a wig, but she didn’t have time to think hard about the fact that all of Faheem’s people were real dreads.
“This bitch!” the disguised dread barked. He was so angry that he’d been exposed that he punched Sunny in her chest like she was a man. He hit her so hard her back teeth clicked together. Sunny made a squealing noise and her body folded as pain shot through her chest so fast and furious she just knew her heart had exploded. Sunny’s oxygen was being cut off, but before her world went black she finally heard Sean’s grandmother calling her name frantically.
Be quiet, Big Mama! Run, Big Mama! Run! Sunny was screaming inside of her clouded head, but she could not get the words out with the amount of pain wracking her body. Another hard blow made Sunny’s eyes snap shut by themselves and piss leaked from her bladder involuntarily.
“Somebody else here . . . go!” the goon holding Sunny barked at the other two. “Take care of it!”
“No!” Sunny rasped out, immediately thinking about Sean’s helpless and innocent grandmother. “Big Mama . . .” Sunny gasped, her words barely audible, but it was too late. Both dreads were already heading toward the kitchen and toward Sean’s grandmother.
“Shut up, bitch!” the one holding Sunny barked and with his last blow to her head her world finally went completely black.
BG and Sean sat across from one another at Ruth’s Chris Steak House. The awkward silence between them caused both of them to squirm in their seats a bit. It had been awhile since BG and Sean had had any time alone and there were several long bouts of painful silence that had made BG uncomfortable. She had been killing herself trying not to think about Sean in a sexual or romantic way, but whenever she laid eyes on him it was extremely difficult.
“That profit is almost triple what we were making.” BG cut the silence with business talk as she sliced her food properly using her knife and fork. “I told you that deal was going to be the sweetest thing for us,” BG said with forced excitement in her voice. She was trying to make their time light, but it wasn’t easy. Sean nodded like he wasn’t really interested in talking about it, but BG wasn’t ready to give up just yet.
“So did how did God react when you told him we found a new connect?” BG asked, taking in a forkful of asparagus. Sean reared back in his chair and shot her a look.
“Let me handle God and his reaction. Keep your mind on the new business and the distribution. Period,” Sean snapped curtly. BG dropped her fork on her plate loudly and glared at him evilly. A few patrons in the restaurant looked over at her after hearing the fork clink loudly on her plate.
“Look, you been acting real different since your girl been back,” BG gritted leaning into the table using a harsh whisper and doing air quotes with her fingers when she said the word “girl.” “Don’t tell me to keep my mind on the business because God’s reaction is my business too. I can turn around and tell you to keep your mind on the business and not on the drug addict, but I don’t.” BG could feel the blood rushing to her face and her heart pounding so wildly it moved the silk material of her shirt.
Sean looked at her strangely, his jaw rocking feverishly. “Nah . . . God is my business and only my business. And you sound jealous,” he snapped cruelly. Sean wasn’t stupid; he knew how BG felt about him and sometimes he toyed with her. BG laughed like he’d told a real funny joke.
“Me, jealous of a fucking broke-ass, run down, sucking dick for money, heroin addict? I don’t think so. You got me fucked up. Yeah, we fucked and your dick was decent, but it’s all business with me and you. It was purely physical. You needed to get off that night just as much as I did . . . King,” BG retorted, fighting real hard not to jump up and slap Sean. BG was jealous of Sunny because BG felt she had much more to offer Sean than Sunny did. BG had become very sensitive when it came to the topic and tonight was no different.
“You be talkin’ real breezy. Don’t mention her and I won’t have to say shit like that to you. Don’t worry about the heroin addict. It’s business with us . . . simple and plain,” Sean gritted with a stiff jaw.
“Matter of fact,” he grumbled as he dug into his pocket and took out four crisp one hundred dollar bills and threw them on the table.
“I’ll see you tomorrow for the shipment,” he said standing up. “No need for dinners and small talk and shit. Let’s just keep shit strictly business between us.”
BG was looking at him like he was crazy. She couldn’t believe he was walking out on her.
“From now on all business,” he spat before he stormed out of the restaurant.
BG sat back in her chair and stared at Sean’s half-eaten steak and the empty seat in front of her. This was the second time he’d left her hanging by herself over something that had to do with Sunny. There wouldn’t be a third time. BG’s insides were boiling and her mind turned with ways to get Sean back for this one. Since Sunny had come back into Sean’s life things were slowly but surely changing . . . and not necessarily for the better.
Sean drove in silence after his failed dinner with BG. He felt bad about what he’d done at the restaurant, but he felt he had to let BG know that he was still in charge and not her. Sean let the silence in his car and the serenity of the drive ease his mind. It was one of the rare times he had driven himself around without his crew and he was cherishing the mind-clearing time. Sean was thinking . . . thinking long and hard. Sunny had come back into his life struggling with getting clean, he had cut off all interaction with God without facing God like a man, and, now he was beefing with BG. Sean had the weight of the world on his shoulders and was feeling overwhelmed to say the least. He knew the one person who would make him feel better though. Sean made U-turn and headed toward his grandmother’s house.
“Big Mama, I really need a hug from you right now,” Sean mumbled as he dialed his grandmother’s phone number. Sean pursed his lips and crumpled his eyebrows when he didn’t get an answer.
“Sunny, why you ain’t answering the phone if Big Mama can’t get it?” Sean grumbled out loud. He disconnected the line and called again. Still no answer. The first thing that Sean thought was Sunny had probably relapsed again and gone out to get high and left his grandmother alone. That thought alone made him bite down into his jaw and grip the steering wheel so hard the veins in his hand popped up under his skin.
Sean stepped down on the gas and sped his Range Rover through the streets. A cold chill came over his body because it wasn’t like his grandmother and Sunny to ignore his calls.
Sean finally pulled up to his grandmother’s house and nothing looked immediately different from the outside. He pulled into the driveway
, threw his Range in park and hopped out. As Sean climbed the front porch steps he immediately noticed the front door to the house was slightly ajar.
“What the fuck? No way Big Mama gonna have her door open and it’s this cold outside,” Sean whispered, grabbing his gun from his waistband. He pushed the door in and slowly stepped inside. “Big Mama . . .” Sean started to call out, but his words were clipped short by what was in front of him.
“Nah! Nah! Big Mama!!” Sean hollered as he looked up at his grandmother’s naked, gutted body hanging from the large, overlook center banister. Her intestines were dangling from the center of her body and her tongue protruded grotesquely from her mouth. But, her eyes being open is what had hurt Sean the most. “Big Mama!” he screamed again. The smell of rotting meat and death choked Sean and threatened to make him throw up. He was immediately thrust back to his childhood when he’d found his mother nearly decapitated. Even the sharp metallic scent of his grandmother’s blood reminded him of that day.
“Agggh!” Sean screamed, falling to his knees; his gun skittering across the floor. It wasn’t until he hit the floor that he noticed Sunny’s battered body lying behind the couch.
“Sunny! Oh God! Not you too!” Sean rushed over to Sunny’s side; his insides were boiling. He lifted her swollen and bruised head into his hands. “Sunny! Sunny! Not you too!” Sean whispered holding her head carefully.
“Sssss,” Sunny made a low hissing sound, blood and spit bubbling from her battered mouth. Sean lowered his ear to listen for more breath sounds. Sunny made the hissing sound again, this time louder.
“Sunny?” Sean shouted, realizing that she was still alive. He couldn’t even stand to look at the mess that used to be Sunny’s beautiful face. Both of her eyes were completely swollen shut. She had at least six huge knots on her head and the bridge of her nose was caved in. Blood leaked from her nostrils, mouth and ears and she had purple rings around her neck. Her chin was gashed open and her cheek had been slashed down to the white meat.
“Sunny, who did this to you? Hold on! Hold on!” Sean cried out as he tried to get his phone from his pocket. He went to put her head down so he could call 911. Sunny squeezed his arm and made more hissing noises.
“What? What do you want to tell me?” Sean asked her, putting his head close to hers. Sunny mumbled something but he couldn’t make it out. “What? Who?” Sean urged her.
“Dr . . . ea . . . ds” Sunny managed through her severely swollen lips.
“Dread? Dreads came in and did this to you and Big Mama?” Sean asked for clarification. Sunny moved her head slightly and after that she was immediately unconscious again.
Sean’s chest heaved up and down. “Arrrggggh!” He belted out a loud frustrated growl, which signaled that he was waging war against the dreads that he thought were responsible for the tragedy in front of him.
Sean cut his grandmother down before the police, ambulance and coroner arrived at the house. He lay her down and tried to make her look as presentable as possible by placing a blanket over her naked and severely disfigured body. Sean was covered in Sunny and his grandmother’s blood by the time the police came flooding into the house with their guns drawn. At first they took him as suspect, until they realized he’d been the one that found Sunny and his grandmother in that condition.
It didn’t take long before the entire block was crawling with emergency vehicles.
Sean’s crew was waiting outside as the ambulance brought Sunny out on the stretcher with Sean right behind them.
“Yo, son . . . what the fuck is going on?” Beans rushed over to Sean. “I figured when BG told me you wasn’t with her that you was here. But when we couldn’t get you on the phone we all came. What’s up?” Beans rambled.
“War, nigga. We at war,” Sean said cryptically as he watched the EMTs load Sunny into the ambulance. Sean waited for the black bag that carried his grandmother’s body to be carried to the coroner’s van, then he calmly climbed into his Range Rover and headed to his office. Beans had already rallied up Sean’s crew for the war they were about to engage in with the dreads.
Chapter Fourteen
“Four of them m’fuckas is dead tonight. All them m’fuckin’ clubs being shut down as we speak. Niggas ain’t leaving nobody breathing,” Beans reported to Sean as they stood together in the hospital waiting room. “We shuttin’ down all dreads in this m’fuckin’ city and that’s a promise, bruh,” Beans assured with sincerity. Sean nodded and gave Beans a pound and a hug. When he turned around to head back to Sunny’s room he ran into BG, who had just arrived at the hospital. Sean and BG both paused for a minute, unsure of what to say to one another next.
“I’m really sorry about what happened,” BG started off sincerely. Sean softened his facial expression letting their differences fade away for the moment.
“Thanks,” he said flatly. “I gotta go back in and see about her. It’s real touch and go right now, but I appreciate you showing your support though,” he said with halfhearted sincerity. BG shook her head up and down signaling that she understood. She stepped aside and as Sean passed her she grabbed his arm.
“I know shit has been sketchy between us . . . but I’m always here for you. Outside of the business, I do care about you, Sean,” BG told him, love and admiration glinting in her eyes. Sean didn’t change his facial expression and he didn’t have time to deal with BG’s emotions right now.
“Appreciate it,” Sean replied coolly, then he walked away toward Sunny’s intensive care unit room. Once again BG was left alone with her feelings. No matter what she did, BG could not take that number one spot in Sean’s heart. It was clear that Sunny had that spot now and seemingly forever.
Sean buried his grandmother in a small, private, dignified service with tons of security around. He’d been able to take his mind off of losing her sitting vigil at the hospital through Sunny’s recovery. It was almost two months before Sunny was finally able to come home from the hospital. The physical therapy had taken longer than anything else with her recovery process. Sean had been by her side the entire time. He’d even brought in his twenty-second birthday and the New Year at Sunny’s bedside. Sean and Sunny had toasted and promised that 2004 was going to be a better year for the both of them.
“This is it,” Sean said cheerfully as he pushed open the door to his waterfront penthouse condo. Sunny smiled brightly and stepped inside with a look of awe on her face.
“This is it? Please . . . this is crazy! Sean, you have moved up in the world, boy!” Sunny gushed in amazement. “I can’t believe how many windows you have,” she exclaimed rushing over to the huge bank of windows that extended the whole length of the place. “And this view is breathtaking.” Sunny stood in front of the window staring out in awe. She couldn’t believe her friend Sean had come so far. When Sunny was strung out on heroin, she had heard about Sean making it big in the streets, but she could’ve never imagined that he was really living like a king.
“Now it’s ours . . . not just mine,” Sean said moving close to her. Without warning Sunny spun around and threw her arms around his neck, just like she used to when they were kids. A bit taken aback, Sean took a few steps back. “Whoa, whoa, what’s this for?” he asked chuckling, but hesitantly returning Sunny’s embrace.
“For years of being the best friend a girl can have,” Sunny said, her voice going low.
“Don’t start no sentimental shit,” Sean griped playfully.
“Shut up,” Sunny mumbled into the skin of his neck. “Let me have a moment.”
Sean and Sunny held on to each other for a few minutes, both realizing how much they’d missed one another. Then Sunny moved her face in front of his in an unexpected show of affection. They locked eyes for a long minute and without even saying a word, they both moved closer and began kissing. Sunny melted into Sean’s embrace and he held on to her like he never wanted to let her go. The heat between them was enough to start a forest fire as their hands moved like snakes, curling over every inch of each oth
er’s body.
“What are we doing?” Sunny whispered through labored breaths as Sean trailed his tongue down her neck.
“What we’ve been wanting to do all of our lives,” he panted, undoing the buttons on her shirt. Sean pulled Sunny’s shirt down over her shoulders and touched the raised scars on her collarbone. Sunny flinched, lowering her eyes, embarrassed at her marked body.
“I love every one of them. Each one shows how strong you are and why I admire you so much. Don’t be afraid to show them,” he said softly, kissing her war marks. Sunny closed her eyes as Sean lifted her off her feet and carried her toward his bedroom.
“You haven’t even given me a tour yet,” she giggled playfully.
“You gon’ get a tour all right,” he joked back.
Once inside his bedroom, Sean placed Sunny in the center of his California king-sized bed. Her healthy skin and striking green eyes glowed against his dark gray silk comforter. Sean took off his pants and slowly climbed onto the bed. Sunny removed her pants and as Sean took in her beauty his manhood rose to the occasion.
“You are still the sexiest m’fucka I know,” Sean wolfed, crushing his mouth over hers again. They kissed like two teenaged kids in heat, darting their tongues in and out of each other’s mouths. Sean let his hands roam down to Sunny’s hot box, where he used his fingers to gently massage her swelling clitoris.
“Ah,” Sunny let out a breath, letting her legs fall apart.
“That hurts?” Sean asked, quickly moving his hands.
“No. Don’t stop,” she whispered, guiding his hands back to the right spot. Sean smiled up at her.
“Yeah, you like that,” he panted, biting down on his bottom lip eagerly. Then he moved up onto his knees so he could get better leverage. He started at Sunny’s mouth, moved to her neck, licked down her chest, making sure he gently sucked her nipples before he finally trailed his tongue past her navel to her throbbing clit.
The Day the Streets Stood Still Page 14
