“Klax, they k-k-killed Drop and the others,” she was able to get out. “Whatever they want, don’t tell them shit. They’re gon’ kill us anyway.”
On her last words, NuNu snatched her by the back of her hair and dragged her back out of the room. Her screams of pain brought out Klax’s screams of anger. He rocked the chair trying with all of his might to break free, but still couldn’t. He clenched his teeth tightly, and if looks could kill, Kyan would have been dead ten times.
“Let her go,” Klax growled. “Let her go! This shit don’t have nothing to do with her, and you know it.”
“It does if she’s the only way that I can get what I want out of you,” Kyan said, crossing one leg over the other and clasping his hands together. “You ready to cooperate now?”
Kleigh’s beat-up face was stamped in Klax’s mind. How could he have let things go so far and get so bad? He sat there, madder at himself than anyone else. Especially given the fact that he had the chance to kill Kyan once, but missed his target. Despite what Kleigh had just said, Klax knew he would do whatever he needed to, to save her, even if his attempts were futile. For the first time in life, Klax hung his head. When finally he lifted it, he stared into Kyan’s pleased eyes and nodded his head.
“What you need me to do?”
“I just told you what I needed you to do. Now all you have to say is yes.”
“It’s more than me just stepping down from the position. Your plan is flawed.”
“Is it?” Kyan said, raising his eyebrow in an intrigued manner. “Do enlighten me.”
“You said yourself that I have too much clout, too much love, and too much respect throughout this whole state. Even if I weren’t the king, I would still be the king. Plus, if I leave now, Harlem will seem weak, and the connect may pull all business.”
“Well, how can we get around that then? Use that pretty boy head of yours—or I put your sister’s on the chopping block.”
“If you really want to take my place, you have to get in good with the connect.”
“And how do you suggest that I do that?”
“The only way is to meet with the buyer,” Klax said with a straight face.
“The buyer?”
“He’s the only one the connect meets with alone. And then he distributes all of the product accordingly to every territory. If he says you’re good, then you’re good.”
“A’ight, bet,” Kyan said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Make the call.”
“If it were that easy, don’t you think somebody would have done that by now?” Klax said, shaking his head. “The buyer doesn’t do personal phone calls. He only meets in person, at the spot and time of his choosing.”
“And how do you get in contact with the buyer?”
“I already have a meeting set up two days from now, at a warehouse in downtown Manhattan at six o’clock. I, however, have to be there in one piece, or it’s a no go.”
Kyan eyed Klax scrupulously as if he were looking for a lie. Klax didn’t blink once, and when Kyan was satisfied, he nodded. He stood up and slid the phone he was holding into the pocket of Klax’s jeans.
“That’s yours. Send me the location of the meeting spot. I’ll be in touch.”
“What about my sister?”
“She stays with me until you’ve held up your end of the bargain,” Kyan said.
“The day of the meeting, if I don’t see her there alive, I’m calling it off, and you can find another way to get what you want. Lay another hand on her, same deal. You understand me?”
“Well, looky here, even tied up and useless, you still got a little oomph in you, huh?” Kyan said with a chuckle and started toward the door. “You have my word. Don’t do something stupid when you leave here, like trying to find your sister or me. I have eyes and ears everywhere right now. One false move and the girl is dead. Understand me?”
“I understand,” Klax told him.
“Cut him loose!” Kyan shouted.
On command, the door opened, and five heavily armed men entered. One of them cut all of Klax’s ties, except his hands, while the other put a bag over his head so that all he could see was darkness. He felt a gun press at the back of his head as he was forced to get up and walk. He didn’t know where they were leading him, but when he felt the cold air on his upper body, he knew that he was back outside. However, he only felt the cold for a split second before he was thrown inside the trunk of a car. The entire ride he smelled the stomach-churning odor of a rotting corpse, and that told him that he was not the only body back there. If it weren’t for the fact that the thought of him leaving Kleigh behind made him more nauseated than lying next to a rotting body, he was sure he would have been sick. Not only had he left her for dead, but he also didn’t even know where “for dead” was. He’d spent all that time trying to keep her safe, and it turned out that not even he could do that.
The car stopped after about forty minutes of driving, and the trunk opened. The bag was snatched off his head, and one of the men who Klax recognized as NuNu punched him hard in the abdomen before snatching him out of the car and throwing him on the ground. They untied his hands, and they went straight to his stomach.
“You can walk the rest of the way, chump,” he said with a malicious grin. “Soft-ass nigga. Come on, let’s roll. Let this motherfucka freeze.”
Klax was left holding his ribs when they sped off down the road. He wasn’t even able to see what kind of car they were in, but that didn’t matter because they would all have their day. Slowly, he stood to his feet and looked around. His body was weak, and he swayed a little bit. The sun had set, and he could hear the loud chirping of crickets all around him on the empty road. There were no houses within eyesight, nor were any cars driving by. Klax had no idea where he was. He felt his pocket and pulled the phone out of it. He then called the one person he knew would come through for him.
“Bro!” Adonis shouted when he answered the phone. “I’ve been calling you all fucking day! They got your crib on the news. I thought . . . I thought you were gone, man.”
“He has Kleigh,” was all Klax could say.
“He what? Who’s ‘he’?”
“The same nigga that set Tron up. He got to Kleigh somehow,” Klax told him. “I’m about to send you my location. These niggas dropped me off on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. I need you to come get me. I’ma kill all of ’em.”
“I’m on my way, and oh! This might not be the best time to mention it but—”
“Give me this phone, nigga,” Klax heard a voice in the background say.
“You ain’t gotta snatch,” Adonis said, his voice sounding a little further in the background now.
“Yeah, whatever. Hello?” the voice said into the phone.
“Tron?” Klax asked to be sure he wasn’t hearing things.
“In the flesh,” Tron said. “Why you send this hood Carlton up to the prison to get me instead of you?”
“I was a little wrapped up with some things. How’d he get you out?”
“Apparently, homeboy went to my place and found the surveillance camera I hid in a cookie jar. I’ve always been a paranoid kind of nigga. You should see the security setup at my spot in Albany. I ain’t really have time to do all that here, so I did the nanny cam thing. Anyway, the footage showed one of my old hitters Nushawn planting the bombs there while I was gone. They had no choice but to release me. They tried to keep a nigga another night, but Adonis came down and showed his ass at the jail.”
“Nushawn,” Klax inquired. “NuNu?”
“Yup. And your crib has his handiwork written all over it,” Tron told him. “Aye, where the fuck you been? We been tryna reach you since I got out.”
“Kyan had his goons snatch me up,” Klax said.
“And you’re still breathing?”
“For now,” Klax said.
“Why did he let you go?”
“I have something he wants, and he has someone I love,” Klax said.
/> Kyan didn’t know that what he thought was a simple chess move wasn’t. He had completely changed the game when he took Kleigh. The difference in their positions was that Kyan might have wanted what Klax had, but Klax needed Kleigh. One of them spoke higher volumes.
“He got Kleigh?” Tron’s voice raised in alarm.
“Yeah, he got her,” Klax said, and he heard his voice crack. “He got to my baby sister, man. And if I don’t give him what he wants, he’s gon’ kill her.”
“I ain’t gon’ let that happen.”
“Me either. And that’s why I’m gon’ give him what he wants,” Klax said matter-of-factly.
“What does he want? Money? More product?”
“Nah. He wants me.”
“What? You ain’t making no sense. He just had you.”
“He had me as Klax, the kingpin of Harlem.”
“Bro . . . I’m lost. What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I’ll explain when y’all come swoop me. Pull up. I’m sending my location now.”
“No doubt. We’re on the way.”
Chapter 16
“There is no such thing as helplessness. It’s just another
word for giving up.”
—Jefferson Smith
Kleigh
“Get the fuck off of me!” Kleigh screamed at the jolt of pain coming from her head as the man named NuNu dragged her.
She screamed and shouted for her brother continuously and tried her hardest to get back to him. However, kicking her feet and clawing at NuNu’s hands seemed futile because he was just too strong. He dragged her by her hair all the way back to the room he’d pulled her from, and when they were there, he shoved her hard to the ground.
“Damn, we fucked you up good, and you still want to fight, shorty? I like you,” he said and blew her a menacing kiss. “I’ma see if the boss will let me have some fun with you tonight after all this.”
He shut the door and locked it before she had a chance to get back up. She stumbled to the door and let her fists bang on it until they were numb. She had no more energy. She thought about Klax, her mother, Bahli, and Tron. She didn’t know if she’d get to see any of them again. She screamed until her screams turned to sobs and until her sobs turned to silence. Slapping the door one more time, she slid down to the floor and crawled back over to her cot.
Cold and curled in a fetal position, Kleigh tried to make herself comfortable on the small cot, but it was impossible. She was accustomed to a higher way of living, not that of a dog. Her entire body ached, and she couldn’t help but think that maybe trying to fight off grown men with guns wasn’t a good idea, especially when they ended up getting what they wanted anyway. But at the time, she didn’t know what they wanted, and her will to survive kicked in. Now, there she was with a busted up face and aching ribs. She didn’t have the slightest idea where she was. All she knew was that it was freezing because she was still in her pajamas.
The cot she lay on was on the concrete ground, and the walls around her were dirty. The lightbulb on the ceiling was dim and barely gave any light. The only thing she was given for warmth was a smelly blanket that she wouldn’t dare use even if there were a blizzard blowing in her room. Instead, she lay with her knees to her chest and tried to keep herself warm. The room was the same size as a college dorm, and Kleigh’s eyes stayed on the tall door, hoping that it would open and let out some of the musty air. There were no windows, so Kleigh didn’t know if it was night or day, but she knew she’d been gone for almost five hours . . . or maybe it was six. She’d been stripped of every device she had, even the watch on her wrist, so she didn’t know what time it was.
Kleigh wasn’t alone in the room either. There was one other person in the far corner lying on a cot like hers. She, however, was wrapped up in the nasty blanket she was given like it was nothing. Kleigh hadn’t said a word to her in the hours she’d been there. She hadn’t even looked at her face to see who she was and what she looked like. She just felt her presence lingering in the darkness. All Kleigh wanted to do was get out of there. She knew that Klax was worried sick about her. She wondered if he knew his watchmen were dead.
“Hey,” the other girl said in a soft, quiet voice. She had interrupted Kleigh’s thoughts, and although Kleigh had heard her, she remained silent. The girl didn’t take the hint that Kleigh didn’t want to speak and said, “Psst!”
“What?” Kleigh snapped still facing the wall.
“Depending on how long you’re here, you’ll get used to the dirty blankets,” the girl said. “I’m Cali, by the way, what’s your name?”
“Why?”
“Because we’re in here together and might as well make small talk to pass the time.”
“Well, I’m just fine with being quiet. We don’t need to get to know each other.”
“Oh,” Cali said in a disappointed tone. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been here by myself for a while. I didn’t talk to you at first because I thought they had knocked you out when they tossed you in here.”
“How long have you been here?” Kleigh asked, suddenly curious.
“I lost count after two weeks, but if I had to guess, I would have to say a little over a month now.”
“And they just keep you locked up in here like a dog?”
“Nah, not usually. I did something bad the other night, and Kyan is punishing me for it.”
“That’s who has my brother here. I think . . . I think he’s going to kill him.”
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Cali said sympathetically. “I’m here because my pimp owed him a lot of money for the product he gave us working girls to do what we do. So, Kyan took me and Ron’s, that’s my pimp, other best girl as collateral until he paid his debt.”
“Where is she?”
“Dead,” Cali said without flinching. “Kyan killed her. Shot her right in the head in front of me. I thought Ron would have come to get me by now, but he hasn’t. I don’t think he cares.”
“Well, he’s a pimp. I’m sure he’s replaced you by now,” Kleigh said flatly and then sighed. “I’m sorry. That was mean. I’m just dealing with a lot inside right now. I’ve never felt so helpless in my life.”
Flashes of Klax bound in the chair plagued her mind. She didn’t know what happened when she was dragged out of the room, and there was a big lump in the back of her throat. She wouldn’t want to live if Klax were murdered.
“Nah, you’re good, boo. You’re probably right. That’s why I’ve been just trying to get used to my life here. I don’t have anybody else, and when I’m a good girl, Kyan lets me stay in nice hotel rooms. He has me turning tricks for him now, setting niggas up type shit.”
“So what did you do to end up in here?”
“I let one of my tricks get away. He caught on to what I was doing and overpowered me over at the Hilton. Kyan wasn’t happy about it at all. H-he hurt me. And locked me in this room with no food and barely any water.”
“Are you able to go to the bathroom?” Kleigh said, turning to face her.
Cali was sitting up with her back against the wall behind her. Her long, messy hair hung over her shoulders, and Kleigh could make out a few bruises on her neck and face. Cali looked tired, like she barely had any energy to move, but she offered Kleigh a kind smile when she saw her turn her way.
“Yes. I knock on the door and ask permission,” Cali said, and Kleigh saw her shoulders move like she didn’t think it was a big deal.
“Permission?”
“Yup. They escort me and take me to go handle my business. I can show you all of the ropes if you’d like. Kyan is the kind of man whose bad side you don’t want to see. And if you’re here and still alive, he must see something in you that can bring him money.”
Kleigh recognized something in Cali’s voice that she hadn’t heard since her father was on his deathbed. It was the same tone he had when he told her goodbye: not hopelessness, but defeat. Cali had accepted her fate and was just playing the card dealt to her, but Klei
gh couldn’t be like that. She refused. She was so taken aback by how Cali was talking like what was happening to them was normal, because it wasn’t, and it wouldn’t become her reality.
“They deadass took your freedom, and you’re not mad at all? You’re just OK with living like this until Kyan doesn’t have any more use for you?”
“Why shouldn’t I be? I’d rather be here than on the streets hooking for myself, getting beat up, and robbed every other day.”
“If that’s how you feel, but I won’t be like that.”
“You’ll be surprised how easy it is to be broken.”
“Nah. Not me. M-my brother is going to get free and come save me. So, no, I don’t need you to ‘show me the ropes’ because I won’t be here much longer.”
“You sure about that?”
Kleigh’s eyes went from Cali to the locked door, and she felt hot tears come to her eyes. A strong sorrow overcame her as the realization that she probably wasn’t getting out of there set in on her. She’d never seen Klax battered or broken, and that shattered her heart. Kleigh’s chin dropped to her chest, and she began to sob heavily.
“I’m sorry,” she heard Cali say when Kleigh’s sobs grew quieter.
“Me too,” Kleigh whispered.
Chapter 17
“The best weapon against my enemy is another enemy.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche
Tron
Klax’s lawyer had done the work of a miracle for Tron, and for that, he would forever be in Klax’s debt. He didn’t have to look out, especially given the fact that he had caused so much trouble for him, but he looked out. And so now, it was his turn to return the favor. He was going to help Klax bring back peace to Harlem once and for all. After picking up Klax and taking him to the ER to make sure he didn’t have any broken bones or any other long-term damage, they all went back to Adonis’s place.
It was three in the morning, and the three men sat in Adonis’s dining room around his table, along with Kleigh’s best friend, Bahli. Upon hearing about Kleigh’s kidnapping, she refused to go home and wait for them to figure things out, and Tron couldn’t blame her. It would take all of their combined power to bring her home safely. But to do that, they would all need to be levelheaded, and that was what Tron was struggling with.
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