Breon wanted to groan, but he suppressed it. He hadn’t thought about how he’d saved his last few days of vacation time for the trip to the Smokey Mountains.
“So,” James said, “if you wanna take off today, you can, but then your trip will be cut short by one day because I can’t guarantee that we’d be able to let you have a free day off then.”
Fuck, Breon thought. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Breon wound up asking for half of the day off, saying that he would work with his coworker Fasil to see if he could work the other half of the day that would be during his trip out of town. James said doing such would be fine, as long as it was approved by a supervisor. They ended the call with Breon agreeing to work the second half of his shift.
When Breon hung up, he looked toward the window. The sun was slowly rising, helping the bedroom to gradually light up. Just as he’d thought about hitting Ray up, he knew that hitting up Wayne would probably be the better thing to do. It was going on 9 o’clock in the morning, and Wayne was usually the kind of guy to be up. In fact, as he quickly searched his phone for Wayne’s number, he realized that he should’ve probably texted him during the night to keep him up to date on what was happening with Dante. Breon made sure to keep his voice low and friendly-like, considering how Wayne had been humiliated by Dante. And Dante went too far by taping it all, now using the tape as blackmail.
“Hello?” Wayne answered, sounding a bit angry.
“Wassup?” Breon said. “I ain’t wake you up, did I?”
“Naw,” Wayne said. “Shit, I ain’t had much sleep for real since that nigga Dante ran up in here and shit. I keep hearin’ shit and wantin’ to look outside and shit. Jayron be tellin’ me that I’m paranoid, but I can’t let that nigga walk up in here twice and make no fool outta me. I sleep with my goddamn guns right next to my pillow, and we done rearranged the house a little bit and stuff so if that nigga do try something, we won’t be totally helpless.”
Breon listened as Wayne quickly described how they’d changed the house around. He then broke in, wanting to make sure that his cousin knew about Dante. “Man, I was just callin’ to let you know what shit went down last night,” he said. “Did you hear some gunshots near you?”
“Hell yeah,” Wayne said. “Sounded like they was at that corner, at that gas station or some shit. I heard that shit and was like it’s too damn cold to get laid out on the concrete. I wondered who it was and if it was somebody that I knew or something.”
“Naw, nigga,” Breon said. “It was me and Ray, nigga.”
Breon took a few minutes to describe the events of the night. It was very clear to him that Wayne was surprised, but also worried. He knew that if Dante was walking out into the yard and shooting at a car, as well as possibly secretly following someone, he was getting worse than he used to be.
“Thanks for tellin’ me that shit, nigga,” Wayne said after hearing the address of the house that was just a few blocks over from where he stayed. “It’s crazy that nigga is stayin’ up in my hood, and I ain’t even know it. That’s how you know it’s cold outside. Niggas ain’t even runnin’ they mouth like they normally would and shit.”
“Yeah, well,” Breon said, “don’t you go talkin’ and shit. I want him to know as little as possible. And if he know that you know where he might be stayin’, he might do some stupid shit again.”
“Fuck that!” Wayne said. “I want the nigga to try to do some stupid shit again. Swear to God, I want that nigga to try some shit again so I can put this bullet that got his name written all over it in his fuckin’ scalp. Why y’all ain’t hit me up last night and shit?”
“’Cause,” Breon explained. “Man, we ain’t even know if the address was any good. Last thing we thought was gon’ happen was that a dude would come out and start shootin’ at us and shit. The back window of Ray’s car got blown out by that crazy ass nigga.”
“Shit,” Wayne said.
“But now I got a bigger problem that I’m try’na figure out to do something about,” Breon said. “Remember that chick Nikki?”
“Yeah,” Wayne answered. “The chick that got her ass beat at the party? Had them big ole titties that came flying out and shit.”
“Yeah, nigga,” Breon said, shaking his head. Normally, he’d be baited into a conversation about the female anatomy. However, his mind was weighed down with the thought of Nikki being kidnapped. “Well, that nigga Dante went and swooped her ass up last night.”
“What?” Wayne asked. “How you know that shit? How you know they messin’ around and stuff?”
“Naw, man,” Breon said. “I ain’t say they was messin’ around or nothin’ like that. I mean, that nigga went and kidnapped her.”
“What the fuck?” Wayne asked. “How he even know her?”
Breon took a deep breath and explained how he’d started to somewhat have Nikki as a side chick, but had only smashed her a couple times and gotten some head. He then went on to explain how he and Ray had gone to Nikki’s place last night to get their guns and that Dante must have – evidentially – followed them back to her apartment complex.
“Man, what you gon’ do?” Wayne asked, clearly sounding confused.
“Man, I don’t know,” Breon answered. “I mean, I wanna kill this nigga. No, I don’t wanna. I have to kill this nigga. I am gon’ kill this nigga. That shit he did to you was fucked up, and with what I got on with Trina and stuff, try’na wife her up and stuff soon, hopefully, I don’t need none of this bullshit. I can’t let none of this come back on me and hurt Trina in any kind of way. I already know that her family would never let it go, no matter what I did to try to make it up, if Trina was to get caught up in something.”
“I feel you on that shit,” Wayne said. “You can’t let nothin’ happen to your lady. I really do feel you on that shit. I mean, do you even know where they took her?”
“Naw, man,” Breon said. “And that’s what got my mind fucked up because it’s obviously a trap.”
“Right,” Wayne said. “That’s just what I was thinkin’ and shit. He think he done took your chick so that would make you come after her. Once you do, you already know what probably gon’ happen.”
“Exactly, nigga,” Breon said. “Nigga, that’s the same shit I was thinkin’. I mean, it’s super fucked up that she got snatched and shit over me, but I know that if I go after her…”
“That nigga gon’ kill you,” Wayne said, finishing Breon’s sentence. “Don’t do it. I mean, that’s fucked up and stuff, but you know the reputation that chick got. I mean, I know that’s what you was thinkin’ when you was headin’ out the door. I always heard she can suck a dick like no other… like she a damn dick suckin’ professional. That’s why ain’t nobody at the party like her ass. I hear she go around suckin’ dicks, and don’t give a fuck who’s body the dick is on and who it might already belong to.”
“Damn, she a hoe like that?” Breon asked, surprised because Nikki had come across as being somewhat sweet and reclusive.
“Naw, not like that,” Wayne said, realizing how he must have come across. “She don’t fuck around with any nigga, she definitely got a type, I hear. She like niggas with swag and money and stuff, but I know she done sucked plenty of dicks.”
“Yeah, she can suck dick so fuckin’ good,” Breon said, thinking back to feeling his manhood slide into Nikki’s warm, wet mouth. The sloppy sounds and feelings passed through his mind in a series of images.
“Exactly,” Wayne said. “Nigga, you my fam and stuff and I’m tellin’ you, with all that our family been through it, it ain’t worth you getting caught up in some bullshit that could get you killed all over some bitch that sucked your dick good. She can get herself out of that situation, especially if, like you said, it’s a group of dudes. Once they realize that she ain’t really close to you, and don’t even know where the fuck you live, they just gon’ let her go. Shit, for all we know, she might offer them some head or some ass just so they’ll be nice to her. She wouldn’t be the first
to do some shit like that.”
“I feel you on that,” Breon said, realizing that his decision to not fall directly into Dante’s trap was the right thing to do.
“Here’s what you do, nigga,” Wayne said.
Breon listened to Wayne as he explained how the smart thing to do would be to find a way to get Dante to come out of wherever he was really hiding. There was no doubt in Wayne’s mind that the house where Dante was staying only a few blocks over from where he lived was probably only one of the possible places. “I’m tellin’ you, Breon,” he said, “a nigga that is movin’ with dudes is not gon’ be takin’ no hostage back to wherever he is supposed to have on file. His probation or parole agent, or whatever he got, could pop up one day and find that shit. Trust me, he not gon’ risk that.”
“Fuck,” Breon said. “But yeah, you right,” he added. “I can’t go after her ‘cause that could be my life. I’m ‘bout to get up and get goin’ so I can go over to Ray’s place. I only work half a day today, and I need to talk to him about what he might be able to find out about where else we can find this nigga. You know that nigga Ray keep his ear to the street. Shit, his connect is the reason we got these nice ass semi-automatics.”
“All right then,” Wayne said. “And nigga, hit a nigga up next time. I got some words for that nigga Dante. And all a nigga need with him is five minutes. When I get done with him, he gon’ wish that we was back in the eighteen hundreds or somethin’ like that and gettin’ that ass lynched.”
“Yeah, I bet,” Breon said, hearing the cold killer nature in Wayne’s voice—a dimension of his persona that rarely made itself seen. “I’ll hit you up, bet.”
The two hung up, leaving Breon alone in the apartment. He looked at both sides of the bedroom. Knowing that someone had his blood on his mind made it so hard for him to look at his apartment in the same way. After lying in bed for fifteen more minutes, he lifted himself up. He slid his naked body from under the sheets and stood up. He stretched, leaned over and looked out the window. Yet again, as to be expected for Chicago during the winter, it was snowing.
Breon shook his head upon seeing that no strange vehicles – particularly a green minivan, as Nikki had said through text – were parked out front. Ready to head over to Ray’s to see what they could do with the information they had about the strip club, Breon decided to hop into the shower. With his soft, heavy manhood slapping against his inner thighs as he walked, Breon headed into the bathroom. He took a shower, trying to clear his mind and think about when he could get a nap in before going into work at 5 o’clock in the afternoon.
When Breon got out of the shower, he had his black towel wrapped round his waist. He walked over to his bed and checked his phone. He hadn’t gotten any more text messages from her during the rest of the night, causing him to wonder if something had indeed happened to her. Breon shrugged, knowing that what he and Wayne had said was right. Going after Nikki was exactly what Dante wanted him to do, and that would lead to his ultimate demise.
Breon got dressed. He put on some black pants, a gray sweater, and some black and white boots that he didn’t mind getting a little dirty in the snow. Once he was ready, he headed out to his SUV. Upon stepping out of his apartment building, things truly felt different to Breon. Everything seemed to be quieter, and he noticed any and every noise that was around him. His heart thumped softly in his chest as he imagined Dante pulling up and spraying him with bullets. Chicago was certainly the kind of place where such a thing could happen, and nobody cared if it was broad daylight with a bunch of people watching.
Breon waited for his SUV to warm up. After about twenty long, stressful minutes, he pulled out of the parking spot and headed toward the nearest busy street to his complex. On his way over to Ray’s place, every car that passed by caused Breon to feel alert. Any green van – of any kind, even if it was a light shade of blue – definitely grabbed Breon’s attention. He watched them as soon as they came into his view, be it to his rear or ahead of him. And he would keep his eyes on them until they were well out of his sight.
Driving carefully, Breon struggled to put several layers of guilt to the side. He felt guilty for ever messing around on Trina, as doing such had suddenly made his life complicated. He did try to counteract this thought with the idea that if it hadn’t been Nikki to get kidnapped by Dante, then he could have learned about Trina and gone after her. If that was the case, Breon was more than sure this would be a full blown war. He’d even bring his father and his friends in from Gary, and anybody else he knew in Gary, to personally hunt Dante down no matter where in Chicago he was hiding.
Breon also felt guilty about how this affected Wayne. He could only imagine how Wayne’s life would change should such a humiliating video be uploaded online to Myvidster or World Star. His street cred would go so far down the drain he’d probably turn into a blood-thirsty killer, willing to do anything to get revenge. Breon almost felt like his sense of urgency when it came to Dante was because of the potential power that Dante had. Just as Ray’s connect had said when they’d gone to get the guns, getting Dante was not going to be easy. Breon practically wanted to kick himself for not noticing that a pair of headlights must have been following him and Ray when they’d pulled off from being shot at and got to the busy street as soon as possible.
Then, there was the layer of guilt that came with Nikki. As Breon made his way over to Ray’s part of town, he couldn’t help but look at the concrete jungle that was Chicago for exactly it’s worth. In a city with millions of people, Breon had to find one. Countless buildings, hoods, and other obstacles would stand in his way. However, he’d rather do what needed to be done to find Dante before Dante somehow caught up to him. At the front of this thought was Trina, who Breon would kill for. Now, however, it was only a matter of time. And time was completely of the essence, for everyone involved, whether they were aware of it or not.
CHAPTER 6
When Nikki woke up the next morning, her feelings were literally everywhere. Never in her entire life had she been knocked unconscious. Even with the various fights she’d been in with chicks at school, or out in the streets, she could honestly say that she’d never been knocked out. She didn’t feel anything until she woke up that morning; now that she was awake, what she felt was nearly unbearable.
As Nikki woke up, she realized that she had no sense of time. The very first thing that came to her mind, aside from the throbbing pain in her head, was the fact that her phone had been taken from her. Sure, she had put up a good fight, but her strength simply couldn’t match a forty-plus-year-old man. All Nikki could do was shake her head, as she registered various feelings in her body. She thanked God, for a brief moment, that she hadn’t been raped or sexually assaulted in any way.
Being without her phone, however, did do something to Nikki and her mental state. At first, when she’d been taken out of her apartment and thrown into the back of the van, she still felt as if she had some hope. Having grown up a millennial she couldn’t remember a time she would have walked down the street, let alone woke up in a bed, without being able to reach for her phone. Her phone had been the one card she felt she had on her side – the one thing she could use to help her situation. She felt truly helpless at this point, as there was nothing she could do but wait to see what would happen.
As Nikki rolled over, she looked out of the window. Judging by the sun, or the little amount that was showing, it was clearly the early hours of the morning. Perhaps it was 9 o’clock, but she really couldn’t be sure. She then noticed the way birds zipped by the window, the snowy cityscape of the neighborhood in the background. Gripping her forehead with the palm of her hand, Nikki lifted herself up. She looked at the door, realizing that she heard nothing, not even snoring. Putting the feelings of fear to the side, she slid her feet out of the bed and placed them on the floor. Now, as the light infiltrated the bedroom and showed the walls and furniture more clearly, she was able to look around. At first, she looked at the few pictures on the wall.
She tried to place the faces, but that was useless. She looked at the closet on the other side of the bed once more, and once more, none of the things that were spilling out of it could help her at all.
Struggling to keep her balance, and almost wanting to cry from the throbbing in her head, Nikki stood up. No sooner than she walked about a foot away from the bed, she stopped to think. Just then, she realized that when she’d gotten into the struggle with the guy, she’d been standing over in the corner. She wondered how she got into the bed. Had she, somehow, woken up and gotten into the bed? Nikki shook her head, knowing that such a thing probably didn’t happen.
Nikki stepped over to the window, remembering how she’d thought about trying to jump out of the window. As she approached the wood-framed window, she realized that plan would literally be out of the window. Upon looking closer, Nikki found that the window was nailed shut. After glancing back at the bedroom door, she tried to lift the window. As could be expected, her efforts were in vain. The window would not budge.
“Fuck,” Nikki whispered to herself, wondering why something like this had to happen to her. It truly was like something she’d seen in a movie. The only difference, for her, was the fact that most of the movies she’d seen where females had been kidnapped, the females were white and usually upper class, of some sort.
No sooner than Nikki turned around, moving her head gently as to not aggravate the throbbing, the doorknob rattled. She froze in her place, knowing that jumping back into the bed probably wouldn’t do much for her. Watching the brass doorknob turn – time almost slowing down – was nerve racking for Nikki. Soon enough, the man pushed the door open.
Edric looked Nikki up and down, his eyes narrowing in on her fat thighs. He smiled and nodded, wishing that he’d forced her to sleep in her panties. That would truly be a sight for him, as he loved thick women. A chick was even more attractive if she had a bit of an attitude.
Wrath of a Side Chick 3: A Chicago Hood Drama (Side Chick's Wrath) Page 6
