by Wahida Clark
“Desiree, let’s talk about this, okay?” he pleaded with her as she stormed toward the front door. “It’s not what you think. I… I wanted to surprise you.”
She stopped in her tracks and spun around with nothing but pure hate masking her face. “A surprise? Well I got one for you because I’m pressing charges!”
It was then that he realized that she had the disc. He thought about it. She would look trashy if anyone viewed the disc. He could say it was her idea but later she caught a scorned heart after she found him with another woman. He could make up that lie with ease. Hell, if she did press charges, he could even have another woman over when the police came to speak with him. The more he thought about it the less he cared. With a grin he pointed toward the door. “Leave.” Desiree bit her last words off as she spun around and left. Everything she felt for Lamar was dead. Her tears didn’t fall until she was backing out of his driveway.
* * *
The second Tanisha had gotten off the phone with Trina she had dialed 911. The block was now lit up with an ambulance and a half dozen police cars. Polo sat on the hood of his Dodge Charger as he watched a police officer help Trina into the back of the ambulance. He could also see the plainclothes detective asking the crowd for any tips but no one knew anything. Polo stood up as Tanisha made her way across the street. He motioned for her to get inside his car. He saw how she was shivering so he turned his car on to produce some heat.
“Thanks, Polo,” she said. “How is Trina?”
“Stressed the fuck out and mad,” he said wearily.
“I don’t blame her. I know she love her some Tink.”
“So what you got to tell me?”
Tanisha relaxed as the heat warmed her body. “I think one of Kaseem’s boys did it. You know, all dem black BMWs look the same to me.”
“Are you sure?” He sat up in his seat. She had his full interest now.
“Yeah. It had those black rims too. This one was a four-door. And Bizzy…”
“What about him?”
Tanisha told him she had run into Bizzy after the drive-by. Polo balled up his fists as his mind was filled with payback. He knew about Kaseem and how everyone on his team drove a BMW. All were black with black rims but no two drove the same model.
“Is Tink gonna be okay?” Tanisha asked as the ambulance slowly pulled away.
“Yeah. But he’ll be off his feet for a minute. I heard one of those paramedics saying Tink was lucky because he was hit with birdshot and not slugs.”
“I just saw all that blood on his back and plus he wasn’t moving.”
Tink was indeed lucky. But tonight would be a painful night with over thirty rounds of birdshot burning his back, his ass and the backs of his thighs. If the shots had been an inch or two higher he would have been hit in the back of his neck. Polo watched the crowd wander off as the ambulance rolled off. He then asked Tanisha if she had mentioned anything to anyone else.
“Nope. And you know I ain’t talking to no police.” She then asked him if he could take her to her cousin’s crib across town.
“Mance,” Lamar said, waving him to the den.
“What was all that about?” Mance asked. “Having girl problems?”
“Some bullshit,” Lamar replied. “Look, Datwon’s girl just called. I need you to go pick her up and run her home and back to the doctor’s office. And while you’re out, get rid of the pump.” He gave Mance the keys to his BMW. “Leave Nikki here. It’s better that this stays between us. I know you haven’t told her nothing.”
“No, but…”
“No buts, Mance. I know we can trust her, but roll with me on this one.”
Mance nodded his head, took the keys, then headed for the front door. As soon as Mance backed out of the driveway Lamar had his arms around Nikki’s small waist. They kissed deeply as he backed her toward the sofa. When he laid her down she parted her legs.
“Wait,” she said, pulling from his kiss.
“What?”
“You know what!” she said. “Don’t lie to me… but I know you’ve been taping us fucking.”
“Yeah… so what?”
She pushed him up off of her. “Why, Lamar? What if Mance sees one of them? All you had to do was ask me… but all this secret shit ain’t cool.” She frowned.
“Oh, so now you mad at me?” He sneered.
“No.” She folded her arms. “My nose ain’t stuck up like Desiree’s.” She smiled.
Lamar took her in his arms once more, softly nibbling at her neck. She gave in as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Within minutes he had her back on the sofa with her sweater lifted up and her bra unfastened. She palmed the back of his head as he sucked the erect nipple of her left breast. He was careful not to leave any passion marks. She laid her head back, closing her eyes when she felt her jeans being unzipped. Goose bumps formed all over her butt as Lamar tugged her jeans and her panties off. He was so keyed up that he had his dick out once Nikki freed one leg from her jeans. His pants were around his ankles when he moved his dick up and down the length of her pussy before he shoved himself inside her. Nikki dug her nails in his shoulders as he started penetrating her. They fucked hard and fast. Her one exposed breast jiggled erotically as Lamar rammed his dick in and out of her moist tight pussy.
“Oooooooohhhh, Lamar.” She panicked. “Don’t stop, don’t stop, oh, ohhhhh yes!” Lamar lifted her left leg on his shoulder and drove deeper inside her. Two minutes later he released inside her while calling out her name. Just as quickly as they had started, the two got dressed, then started kissing once more. Nikki knew she was wrong to be cheating on Mance, but it was so easy… so she did it. Mance saw Lamar like a brother, and he was blind to the way she acted around Lamar. She didn’t have any feelings for Lamar… she just liked to fuck and that was that. Their kissing caused another erection, so she unzipped his pants, pulled out his dick, lowered her head and sucked him off with her eye-rolling head game.
Polo sat in his ride a few feet from Bizzy’s crib, unsure how to step on Bizzy. What if Tanisha had been wrong and gotten Bizzy mixed up? Bizzy was known to carry his hammer at all times and wasn’t afraid to use it. Polo touched the .38 snub-nose that lay in his lap. He wished he had his .45 but the D’s had it. Tanisha’s warning rang in his head.
Don’t you go off doin’ nothing crazy and end up in jail.
Polo refused to even think about jail. But damn, he had to do something. A nigga tried to merk his family. He knew Tink would be okay, but he still had to do something. Making up his mind to put the .38 in his pocket, he stepped out into the cold. Just as he was about to close the door, Bizzy snuck up behind him and stuck something hard into the middle of his back.
At the same time, Lil’ Rick was in Goldsboro, North Carolina, in a hotel, eating a Pizza Hut pizza and watching TV. Datwon’s BMW was at the chop shop being stripped, and the meth would hit the streets tomorrow. When his cell phone rang, he wiped his greasy fingers, then answered the call on the third ring.
“What it do?” he answered.
“Boy, shit is crazy,” his cousin Melanie said.
“Whut, Kaseem lookin’ for me?” he asked. Not that he really gave a damn.
“Don’t know about that. But guess who got shot?”
“Who?”
“Tink.”
“Word!” he picked up the remote and pressed the MUTE button.
“Yeah. My girl Lori just told me about it. Said it was a drive-by and that he was hit in his back.”
“Is he dead?”
“Don’t think so. You know Lori be twisting the facts and shit.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“So… you still gonna hit me off with some bread?”
“Yeah, and don’t worry about me. Just keep your eyes and ears open on Kaseem and his boys.”
“I got you. Well, I’ll talk to you later, be safe.”
Lil’ Rick hung up, tossing the flip phone back on the lumpy pillow. He thought about Tink. Damn, what did he do to rat
e a drive-by? Nigga wasn’t pushing no weight or nothing. He bit into his pepperoni pizza and chewed with his mind on Tink. Lil’ Rick considered Tink to be his nigga, and he knew how tight Tink and Polo were. He wondered if Polo was out to get some revenge, and if he was, Lil’ Rick wanted to help. After his lick on Datwon, he now carried a Glock nine-millimeter… one that he was ready to use. Making up his mind, he turned the TV off, grabbed another slice of pizza, then headed out the door. His ride was a tan Toyota Camry XLE that belonged to one of his cousins who stayed in Goldsboro. Pulling out, he started to dial Polo’s cell phone number but changed his mind on the last digit. He would just wait until he reached Raleigh. Drama was definitely in the forecast tonight.
Polo’s heart skipped a few beats as Bizzy laughed in his ear and asked for a ride.
“Nigga, you need to be on point in the hood. Especially ridin’ ’round in this fly whip.”
Polo played along. If Bizzy had had anything to do with Tink being shot he would have made it known. When Polo pulled from the curb with Bizzy in the passenger seat he remained quiet. But not Bizzy.
“Yo, Polo… I gotta tell you somethin’ but you gotta keep it on the hush. Can you do that?”
“What’s up?”
Bizzy started from the beginning and told Polo how Mance had approached him about Lil’ Rick. He explained how he only suspected that Mance wanted to rough Lil’ Rick up over some money or some shit. Kaseem and his team had been in Raleigh for two and a half years and had yet to bust any guns. Until tonight.
“You know about Lil’ Rick messin’ wit my girl so I don’t too much care fo’ dat nigga and plus he robbed me and Dre last month,” Bizzy went on saying. He then explained how he had followed Lil’ Rick from Tanisha’s crib and up the block until Kaseem and Mance shot him.
“I thought they was gonna scoop Lil’ Rick up, yo. Before I could say or do anything, Mance started blastin’ on dat nigga, yo. Shiiit, I nearly broke some chick neck when I turned around and haulin’ ass, yo. Whut you think I should do? Like I said, I ain’t feelin’ Lil’ Rick, but I wasn’t down wit dat drive-by shit.” He left out the part about Mance paying him.
“That’s it?” Polo asked as he slowed for a red light on Capital Boulevard.
“Yeah. I feel about fucked up over it, yo.”
Polo cleared his throat. “Blue ain’t black.”
“Say whut?”
“I said, blue ain’t black.”
“You aiight, my nigga?”
“Yeah, I’m straight. But it’s you that got your colors mixed up.”
“Whut da fuck you talkin’ ’bout?”
“That was Tink you was following. Not Lil’ Rick. Nigga, you nearly got my cousin killed.”
Bizzy rubbed his face and spoke through his hand. “Say word, yo?”
“On er’thang I love, my nigga.”
Suddenly, it dawned on Bizzy why Polo had been parked out near his crib. But how in the hell had he known…
“You did some foul shit, Bizzy,” Polo said, breaking his thoughts.
“Is… is Tink dead?” Bizzy slowly moved for his hammer but Polo beat him to the draw. Bizzy stiffened in the leather seat as Polo stuck his .38 under his chin.
“I know you wasn’t goin’ for your heat?”
Bizzy shook his head no. “Nah, dawg… it… it ain’t like dat.”
Polo lowered his .38. “No, Tink ain’t dead. Just gonna be off his feet for a minute.”
“Good.” Bizzy exhaled. “So… whut you gonna do about Kaseem and Mance?”
Polo shrugged his shoulders, then asked why. Bizzy started grinning and said he better make up his mind soon.
“Why?” Polo asked again.
Bizzy nodded, then pointed across the intersection. “There’s Kaseem’s Beemer.”
Desiree was halfway home when she realized that she had left her cell phone back at Lamar’s. She had too much personal info on it for him to have. She was now stepping out of her car in his driveway. She noticed that his 740Li was gone and that was even better. She walked quickly past Mance’s BMW and up to the front door.
* * *
Lamar wasn’t worried about Mance sneaking up on him and Nikki because he had instructed Datwon’s girl to call him once Mance had taken her home and back to the doctor’s office. From the doctor’s office and back, it would take Mance a good twenty minutes. With this in mind, he was back between Nikki’s thighs. He had her facedown, ass-up, pumping her steadily in front of his blazing fireplace. Both were butt-ass naked. There was loud moaning, skin slapping, that had caused both of them to ignore the knocks at the front door. Lamar was fucking Nikki like a pro. Her pussy was popping around his plunging dick as he palmed her butt cheeks, lightly spreading them apart.
“Kaseem, Kaseem!” Nikki chanted as she enjoyed his every thrust. Her body was dripping with sweat. She knew she was going to need a shower before Mance came back. She also knew they were taking a big risk of being caught… but, in truth, it turned her on. Looking back over her shoulder she told him to do it hard. He started to lean forward to lick the sweat off her back just when Desiree walked into the den.
Datwon’s girl had been back at the doctor’s office for over ten to fifteen minutes before she remembered to call Lamar. She punched in his number but hung up on the second ring when Datwon woke up asking for some water. Her mind was on Datwon so once she hung up she had moved to Datwon’s side. Really, she didn’t see any big deal in calling Lamar anyway.
* * *
As for Mance, he had made it back to Lamar’s in record time. He shook his head when he parked behind Desiree’s car. She must not have been too mad, he figured. He locked up Lamar’s car, then walked up to the front door. He punched in the code, then stepped inside. The second he closed the door behind him he heard Desiree cursing and yelling. He rolled his eyes and headed for the den. He just wanted to get his girl and leave Lamar’s drama-filled crib. But just as he reached the entrance to the den, he froze at the sight before him. Desiree had her finger all up in Lamar’s face… who stood butt-ass naked. But what made his heart stop was the sight of his girl. Nikki was behind Lamar, clutching Lamar’s shirt over her naked body. He blinked as he put two and two together. Mance rushed into the den, pushed Desiree to the side, then hit Lamar with a two piece. Nikki screamed as Lamar staggered backward before shaking Mance’s two blows off. She stepped in between the two but Mance punched her in the face, knocking her flat on her back. Mance reached for Nikki’s purse, dumped it, then picked up her .38. Desiree was about to make her exit when Mance fired a shot over her head. She screamed and fell to the floor. Mance backed up until he could cover all three with the .38. Desiree shook with fear. Lamar held up one hand with the other covering his bloody mouth. Nikki was still knocked out.
“This how you gonna fucking do me, Kaseem! Fuck my girl behind my damn back. After all the loyalty I’ve shown you… huh? Nigga… I killed a nigga tonight for your bitch ass!”
“Mance, listen,” Lamar pleaded.
“SHUT THE FUCK UP, NIGGA!” Mance shouted. He looked down at Nikki’s nude body. His hate for Kaseem rose as visions of them fucking popped into his head. He gripped the .38 as tears filled his eyes. He thought about how much he had given Nikki during their four-year relationship. How he had never cheated on her, not once.
Silence ruled the den until Nikki slowly regained consciousness. She rolled to her side, then slowly sat up. Her nose was busted. She was fully aware of what had happened. Tears traveled down her face as she looked at Mance. “Baby…” she sobbed. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to.” Her head snapped back as the bullet from the .38 punched her above her right eye. Her body remained erect before it fell backward. Desiree screamed as her hands covered her mouth. Lamar just shook his head as the blood flowed from Nikki’s head wound. Lamar started to plead his case. His angle was that Nikki wasn’t any good.
“Yeah, I know,” Mance said coldly. He lowered the .38 and saw Lamar release a deep breath. Lamar stood up but noticed
the .38 was still aimed at him. Before he realized it, Mance had calmly squeezed off two shots at his groin area. Lamar crumpled, howling in torturous pain as he faced a slow death. Desiree’s screams filled Mance’s ears. Everything was moving in slow motion for Mance. He got tired of Lamar’s moaning so he shot him twice in the face. He then walked over toward Desiree, stepping over Nikki’s body. Desiree begged and begged for her life. Mance only smiled at her with tears in his eyes.
Polo and Bizzy had witnessed Mance’s murder spree by peeking through the window. Polo had followed Mance but what he was seeing now was something he didn’t want any part of.
“Let’s go, yo,” Bizzy whispered near Polo’s ear. Polo took that as some good advice but he remained glued to the window when Mance pulled his last victim toward the fireplace. He squinted to get a better look.
“C’mon, Polo!” Bizzy had a touch of urgency in his voice.
“Wait…” Polo said, pushing Bizzy’s hands from his jacket. “That’s… Ms. Eason! Whut the fuck!”
“Fuck dat. Let’s be out, yo.”
Polo ignored Bizzy as he watched Mance place the gun against Desiree’s forehead as she knelt in front of him.
“Please, Mance,” Desiree sobbed. “I…”
“Shut up!” Mance said, pressing the .38 into her forehead. Behind Desiree the blazing fire was making a cruel thought burn its way into Mance’s mind. He wanted to see her burn. He wanted her to suffer. He nudged her back toward the fire. When she felt the intense heat at her back she pushed forward but Mance started to choke her with one hand. He wanted her to burn alive. She raked at his face with her nails. She dug her nails in deeply to the white meat but he ignored the pain. Toying with her, he raised her to her feet. He released his grip. She gasped for air. Seeing how light and small she was, he dropped the .38, then ripped her sweater off with his free hand. Desiree fought, kicked, clawed and screamed as Mance shoved her toward the fire.
Polo knocked the back sliding glass door out as Desiree’s screams filled his head. He rushed toward the den with his .38 in his hands. When he reached the den he found Desiree fighting for her life with her back on fire. Polo rushed toward her, jumped over the sofa, landed on his feet, then shot Mance three times in his neck before he could turn around. He shoved Mance’s body to the side, then pulled Desiree from the fire to frantically beat the fire out on her back. She passed out from the pain. Seeing that she would live, he called 911 on Lamar’s phone, wiped off his prints and left it off the hook. He knew the 911 operator would send police sooner or later, and Polo would be missing by then. As he left with Bizzy he received a call from Lil’ Rick. He made it a point not to mention Lil’ Rick’s name.
