Wedding. I can’t fucking believe it. When Cleo dropped dime about that shit I thought I was going to pop a blood vessel. Like how dare that freak of nature go on about his shit while my man is rotting at the bottom of the Mississippi River. Maybe we should go back and shoot his ass again.
I close my eyes and savor the taste of revenge, but it’s already bitter on my tongue. My elation fades into the black hole where my heart used to be.
“After taking out that muthafucka, our name is going to ring out in the streets,” Novell boasts. “The throne is yours, Lucifer. Ain’t nobody gonna doubt that shit after tonight.”
“The throne is already mine,” I say, irritated.
Profit’s smile vanishes like a poof of smoke.
What is he thinking? Is he still thinking about forming an alliance with Bishop? That shit pricks my pride more than I care to admit.
Novell doesn’t know when to shut the fuck up and continues blabbering, “I know. I know. I’m just saying that all that side noise Bishop has been—”
“Squash that shit,” I bark. “I don’t want to speak on that bullshit.” Tombstone glances at me sideways. I grind my teeth together, determined not to get into any discussion about Bishop. Novell is right. This shit tonight squashes any planned mutiny.
Tombstone changes the subject. “Why didn’t Cousin Skeet tell us that bitch, LeShelle, woke up?”
A good question. “No clue.”
“Think Bishop knew?” he asks.
Another damn good question. “No clue.”
Tombstone’s gaze sneaks back over to me. He’s probably wondering what the hell do I know.
“Watch the road,” I tell him, my emotions safely tucked behind a stone mask. In the backseat, Novell rehashes the night’s events, tryna convince himself and Profit how much their street fame is about to put them on.
None of it interests Profit. He’s lost inside his own head, probably realizing the same thing I am. Revenge can’t bring Mason back. I know this, but in the back of my head, I still hoped.
“We need to muthafuckin’ celebrate,” Novell says. He’s the only one in the car still high off our hit. “Let’s hit Da Club. That shit should be bumping right about now.”
It will be just the place for him to blow his shit up.
When none of us say shit, Novell glances around and notices our long faces for the first time. “What the fuck is wrong with y’all?”
Silence.
“I don’t believe this,” Novell thunders. “This shit is the end of an era. We’re the new kings on the street. Now that we settled this shit with those paper gangsters we can focus on stomping those cripple-walking Crips back down into the ground and rule the whole muthafuckin’ city. All is well, my people.” He slaps me on the back and gets a sharp look from me.
His smile wobbles at the corners until he removes his hands and holds them high into the air. “My bad.”
I cut my eyes away from him, knowing in the back of my head that I overreacted. “A’ight,” I say, nodding. Either we’re going to sulk or we’re going to celebrate—and I’m tired of sulking. “Let’s head out to Da Club.” I’ll deal with Cousin Skeet’s ass later.
Forever the faithful soldier,Tombstone bobs his head. “You got it, boss.”
A half hour later, we roll up toward a sea of flashing blue lights surrounding Da Club. Dread creeps up my spine. “What the fuck is it now?”
Novell pulls up the backseat floorboards and starts gathering up everyone’s gats and cramming them down into the secret compartment. “All clear,” he announces before climbing back up into his seat.
Tombstone turns into the parking lot, but is immediately barked at by a cop.
“Sorry but you’re going to have to pull out, sir. This is a crime scene.”
I ignore his ass and hop out of the car. “What’s going on?”
Profit and Novell follow suit.
“Ma’am, sirs, I’m gonna need you all to get back into the vehicle.You can’t be here right now.”
“The fuck we can’t,” I snap.“This is my shit.What the fuck happened?”
“Are you the owner?” the young cops asks.
At the front door of the club, I see them break out the yellow tape. “I asked you what the fuck happened?”
The cop looks like he’s ’bout ready to check my ass when Hennessey and Cutty shout across the lot. I know the shit is serious when I see my two big boys break away from the crowd and jog to get at me.
Tombstone shuts off the engine and climbs out of the car, too.
“Ma’am!” the cop shouts again. When he lunges for my hand,Tombstone steps up and shakes his head at the rookie.
“You don’t want to do that, son.”
The police officer looks confused, but then decides fuckin’ with us ain’t worth the headache.
Meanwhile that flush of dread feels like a tsunami crashing around inside my soul as Henessey and Cutty draw near.
“Lucifer, thank God you’re here,” Hennessy says, already sweating from the short run.
“Whassup?” My gaze swings between him and Cutty. If I’m not mistaken, Cutty looks like he’s been crying. Now that they have my attention, they act as if they’ve forgotten how to speak. “Whatever it is just spit it out.”
“It’s . . . Bishop,” Hennessy says.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention. Tombstone and Profit step up behind me. “What about him?”
Hennessey and Cutty shoot another look at each other before Cutty tosses a hand grenade into my world. “I’m sorry . . . but Bishop is dead.”
31
LeShelle
Muthafuckas keep walking across my grave.
That’s the only explanation I have for my ass surviving yet another attempt on my life. The shit has me shook. After the Vice Lord slobs peel off, a few of our niggas who survive the assault pour out into the street, blasting at the fading backlights of a black SUV.
“Muthafuckas slashed all of our shit,” one brothah curses, staring at row after row of flat tires.
My chest threatens to collapse. I attempt to push Python off of me, but it’s like lifting a brick building. Around me, people are crying, wailing, and cursing. I can’t see what’s all going on. At long last, I hear a small stampede of sneakers rushing back up the church stairs.
“Python, man. Are you all right?”
Like the rest of them, I wait with bated breath for an answer. The seconds feel like minutes before Python groans and rolls off of me. Relief sweeps through me for the oxygen as well as my having avoided having the shortest marriage in history. “I’m fine,” he grumbles, sounding anything but fine. “Shell? Baby, are you all right?”
I can’t recall the last time Python has spoken to me with such tenderness and concern—if the shit has ever happened. We’ve always talked so much shit to each other that I’m thrown for a moment. When I glance up, I see something that I’ve never seen before in his face: fear.
He really does love me. “I’m good.”
Python helps me up into a seated position. I do a quick body-check, but I’m stunned that there isn’t a drop of blood on me anywhere. “What the fuck?”
Smiling, Python rips open his shirt and reveals a bulletproof vest. That explains the extra bulk on his frame. “You were expecting this shit?”
“Nah. But wasn’t taking any chances. Enemies all around me with their dicks out ready to piss on my grave.” He glances over his shoulder and together we take in the carnage around us.
There are at least ten bodies down, but only one catches my attention. “Oh fuck.” I stagger to my feet, ignoring the stinging scrapes on my knees and hands. “Pit Bull.”
Beside her, Kookie wails, snotting up like she’s lost her soul mate. I take one look at the blood pooled around Pit Bull’s body and know that her ass is gone.
“Shit.” My girl was a good soldier. I hang my head for a few seconds and wish her luck on the other side, before I take another look around.
&n
bsp; Python is huddled up with our people, no doubt plotting and planning revenge. Rage floods my veins. Those muthafuckas ruined my wedding. When I replay the scene over in my mind, that bitch Lucifer sticks out like a sore thumb. There’s no mistaking that evil bitch, but I’m certain that one of the other gunmen I saw spraying bullets was Ta’Shara’s nigga, Profit.
“Looks like the children want to play.” My lips curl into a smile as my mind races with evil possibilities, but my fantasies are interrupted when I feel the heavy weight of someone’s stare. I search around and can’t find the source of my uneasiness. Maybe I’m imagining things.
“Shell,” Python hollers.
My attention whips back to my man, who is waving me over. I tense when I see another car cruise up the street. I don’t relax until it rolls to a stop and Dutchboy pops out and rushes around to open the back door.
“Let’s roll,” Python roars.
Nodding, I rush to his side. The whole time, I can’t shake the feeling of someone watching me.
“Let’s get you out of here, baby.” Python presses a possessive kiss against my lips that takes my breath away. This new version of Python continues to surprise me. “C’mon. Get in.”
I climb into the SUV and scoot across the leather seats. A chill races down my spine. Some muthafucka is walking across my grave. Python climbs in after me and shuts the door. I do another desperate sweep of the scene from the backseat window. That’s when I spot her—staring a hole in the center of my head.
Cleo.
32
Qiana
I can’t move.
Lying on silk sheets across Diesel’s California king bed, every inch of my body is sore—but in a good way. Diesel has fucked me in so many different positions that I can barely remember them all. I’ve never been with no real nigga like this before and I definitely have never been in no big crib like his, either. Muthfuckas out here on St. Andrew know how to fuckin’ live. Everywhere I look oozes money. Big money.
Smiling, I open my eyes and instantly drown in Diesel’s beautiful green eyes.
“Morning,” I whisper, hoping my morning breath ain’t too fucked up.
“You mean afternoon,” he corrects, his shit all minty-fresh.
“What?” I pop my head up off the pillow and look around, tryna spot a clock.The glowing red numbers on the nightstand back up his claim. It’s 2 P.M.
GG is gonna kill me.
I rush off the bed with a reserve of strength that didn’t exist a moment ago.
“Problem?”
“I gotta get home.” Frantic, I search around the floor for my clothes.
“Why? Your man looking for you?” Diesel asks, lazily folding his arms behind his head.
It’s in that position that I notice his dick standing straight up beneath the bed’s black sheets. Instantly, my pussy throbs. “I told you. I don’t have a man.” I swallow and lick my lips. I remember what that fat muthafucka feels like gliding between my lips.
“You sure about that?” Diesel slides his free hand beneath the sheet to massage his hard-on.
“Positive.” I drop my clothes back onto the floor.
“Then get your fine ass back in here and take care of this shit.” He pulls the sheet down so I can watch his chocolaty dick stretch up a few more inches.
GG is gonna have to understand. I fly back into the bed and ride that fat dick until I black out.Time slips away and the next thing I know, I’m waking up again and the glowing red numbers on the clock read 3:00 and Diesel is nowhere in sight.
Groggy and still saddle-sore, I peel off the sticky sheets and go in search of my new fuck toy.The minute I step out of the bedroom, I hear Diesel talking downstairs. I creep over to the banister and peek over the rail.
Diesel grins at a curvaceous amazon of a woman who looks as if she’s stepped out of the pages of a glossy magazine. The blood in my veins heats up.
He leans in and whispers something in the bitch’s ear. She giggles and wiggles her breasts in his face. Bitch.
Diesel cocks his head and checks her out from head to toe. His gaze lingers on her thick ass.
Pissed, I clear my throat.
Both heads snap up in my direction.
“Oh. I didn’t know that you had company.” She smiles but she doesn’t bother stepping back from my man.
Diesel doesn’t react to my standing naked above them. In fact, he dismisses me, and then inches closer to the bitch to whisper something else in her ear.
The woman laughs and then tries to downplay the shit by slapping her hand over her mouth as if that’s gonna soften the blow.
No this muthafucka didn’t just disrespect me like that!
Enraged, I bolt back into the bedroom and search for my clutch purse on the floor. I whip out my gat and storm back out of the room.
“Yo, bitch. I got something for you to laugh at.”
I reach the top of the staircase and take aim.
“WHAT THE FUCK?” Diesel’s reflexes kick in and he jerks his giggling girlfriend out of the way at the moment I fire.
POW!
Ms. Ha-Ha screams as they hit the floor.
The bullet slams into the wall above them.
“QIANA, PUT THE DAMN GUN DOWN,” Diesel roars.
“Why don’t you suck my dick?”
POW!
They split up. Diesel bolts toward the staircase while his bitch scrambles toward the front door.
“WHERE ARE YOU GOING, MS. GIGGLES?”
POW!
The third bullet tears a chunk of the door frame as my prey flees the house. I take off down the stairs in hot pursuit.
I’m so focused on getting at this bitch that I forgot about Diesel until he tackles me in the center of the stairs and knocks the gun from my hand.
“Get the fuck off me!” I swing at him, but he pins my hands down over my head and mean-mugs me hard.
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Fuck you—you and your silly ho!” I fight harder to get loose, but he’s like one large wall of muscle and my energy drains in no time flat. When I stop struggling, I’m left panting like a dog in heat.
Diesel’s lips slope into that sexy grin again. “Are you through?”
I refuse to answer him. I’m waiting for him to release me so that I can beat his ass.
“Thinking about whipping my ass?”
I blink. Can he read minds?
“Since you can’t speak then maybe I’ll keep you pinned down like this. The shit makes my dick hard anyway.”
“Fuck you.” I smirk. “You’re gonna have to get up sooner or later.”
Diesel’s smile grows wider. “Damn, Scar.You’d think that I was your man or some shit.”
I cut my eyes away as my anger flips the script to embarrassment.
He laughs. “You want me to be your man?” he asks me point blank. “Is that why you’re running around shooting at women? I done sprung that ass already?”
“Nigga, please.”
He laughs. “Look at me.”
I don’t want to.
“C’mon, Scar. Look at your man.You were just fighting for him.”
Ignoring the voice in my head, I peek up at him and see amusement dancing in his green-blue eyes.
“I see right now that I’m going to have to train your ass if I’m gonna keep you around.”
“Who said that I want to stick around?” I challenge.
“Then it sounds like I have some more fucking to do.” He leans down and bites me on my lower lip. “Because you belong to me now.”
That shit makes me hot as fuck. Next thing I know we’re back in bed having angry sex and clawing up the sheets. At 4:00, I wake to see Diesel watching me again. I smile lazily when something on his neck catches my attention. “What’s that?”
Diesel frowns. “What?”
“On your neck.” I squint.“It almost looks like a horseshoe. It’s kind of cute.”
“Oh. That.” He shrugs. “It’s a birthmark.”
&nbs
p; Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow” blasts from my phone.
GG!
I groan. I don’t want to talk to her ass. All she’s gonna do is cuss me the fuck out for leaving Jayson with her for so long.
“Let it go to voice mail,” Diesel says, pinching on my titty.
My eyes bulge—but it feels . . . nice.
The song cuts off, signaling the call going to voice mail. In the next second, it plays again.
Damn, bitch. Go away.
The phone cuts off.
It plays again.
Diesel chuckles. “Better answer that shit before your man sends the whole Peoples Nation after you. You gangbangers stick together, don’t you?”
“I done told you that I don’t have a man.”
Diesel laughs. “You ain’t got to be scared to call him back,” he says, nuzzling my neck. “I’ll be quiet.”
He’s being so cute right now that I don’t even know what to do.These past few hours have been like a dream and I don’t want it to end.
“Go ahead. Call,” he says but there’s an underlying dare and suspicion in his voice.
I crawl out of bed to get my purse and dig out my phone. I sigh at seeing Charlie’s name printed across the screen. “It’s my brother.”
Diesel leans back, folds his hands behind his head, and watches me.
“Hello.”
“WHERE IN THE FUCK ARE YOU?” Charlie thunders.
I pull the phone away from my ear to save my eardrums.
“I’VE BEEN CALLING EVERY-FUCKING-WHERE LOOKING FOR YOU!”
“Charlie, calm down. I’m fine.” I glance up at Diesel. “I’m with a new friend.”
“I don’t fucking believe this shit. Da Club gets shot up last night. Lil Bit and Adaryl say you were there, but no one has seen you since.You leave GG with this baby and you have the nerve not to answer your phone? This kind of shit, I expect your ass to be lying in a gutter somewhere.You feel me? We’re in the middle of two damn wars right now—and Bishop dropped last night.”
“What?” I couldn’t have heard him right. “Bishop is dead?”
“Ain’t that what the fuck I just said? He was killed last night. Lucifer is . . .” His sentence hangs for a second before he changes the subject. “Get home.”
Gangsta Divas Page 18
