Most Wanted

by Turner, Nikki

  “Fuck!” I huffed. I didn’t need any distractions right now. I knew it was either Sidney or my nagging-ass mother. No one else called the house phone at all. I was too focused on my task at hand to answer it, so I ignored it. I barely made it up my spiral staircase that led to the bedrooms before the phone was ringing again. “Are you kidding me?” I grumbled. If I didn’t answer it I knew both of them would just keep on calling back. I walked into my bedroom and picked up the cordless on the nightstand. I still couldn’t figure out why we even had a house phone. Cell phones were all we ever used anyway. “Hello?!” I barked into the phone breathlessly.

  “Damn . . . why you sound so mad?” the voice filtered through the receiver. All of the color drained from my face and I felt weak. They even had my house phone number, which certainly meant that not only did they know where Sidney worked, but they also knew exactly where we lived. I couldn’t even speak at first.

  “I called to remind you about our meeting tonight. I really like your old man, too . . . good ol’ Mr. Sidney Costner. I wonder how he would feel knowing his little well-kept wife was a former hood rat, snitching-ass thief from the projects in DC?” Ace said, his raspy voice making me cringe like hearing nails on a chalkboard.

  “I hope you don’t try no bullshit and you’re there tonight,” he continued. “Don’t make me do anything horrible to your old man cuz that’s what’s gon’ happen if you try not to show up,” Ace said with evil finality. I was feeling a mixture of anger and fear. How dare that muthafucka call my house! The house I shared with my husband! They were crossing the fucking line now! I held the phone so tightly my knuckles turned white. My jaw rocked so feverishly I was giving myself a migraine.

  “Are you there, Mrs. Costner?” Ace asked slyly.

  “How did you get my number?” I whispered harshly. It was all I could come up with at that moment. Too many things were fighting a battle in my mind to say anything more sophisticated.

  “How the fuck you think I got it! Bitch, we know everything. Including what you took from the house when you snitched on my crew and ran. We want what belongs to us, so be ready to fucking talk about that tonight,” Ace boomed. I closed my eyes. I had a feeling those fucking diamonds would eventually come back to haunt me. I just didn’t think it would be so soon.

  “What do y’all want from me? I did what I had to do to save myself. If it was up to Warren I would’ve been left for dead!” I gritted. That was the truth. Warren would’ve been fine letting me take the fall for his bullshit.

  “Yo . . . at this point, we don’t even give a fuck that you ran your trap to the feds. All we want is what you took. You caused a war when you took that shit, and trust me we’ve been looking for you for a while now. It just took a while to get the information from your mother. My man Warren is on the hook for the shit you did and if you know like I know, you know that nigga ain’t about to tell these dangerous muthafuckas that he got stuck up by no bitch. Especially his own bitch,” Ace spat. I knew he was right too. Warren had a lot of pride, and he was all about upholding his street credibility by any means necessary.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied real quick. There would be no confessions coming from me. “All I did was tell the feds that those guns weren’t mine. I never said they were Warren’s. I guess they assumed the shits were Warren’s. I never snitched and I ain’t got shit that belongs to you or Warren. Now leave me the fuck alone!” I screamed. I wished that little bit of base in my voice had worked, but it didn’t. Ace wasn’t swayed one bit.

  “Just be there tonight, bitch! Or else,” Ace barked. Then he clicked the phone off.

  I held it for a few seconds, thinking about the gravity of it all. Things were happening so fucking fast I felt like a hamster on a wheel.

  “Agggh!” I screamed as I forcefully snatched the phone line out of the wall. I collapsed onto the floor, no longer able to stand. I was emotionally and physically spent from the happenings of the day. I knew this shit was serious and that it was just going to keep getting worse. I also knew I no longer had all of what Ace and Warren were looking for. There was no way for me to get them back either. I rushed into my huge walk-in closet and raced over to one of Sidney’s safes. I struggled to move the heavy black metal safe, but after some effort I was finally able to get it moved from covering the spot on the floor I needed. I quickly lifted up the small, loose square of carpet that had been hidden under the safe. I used my long nails and peeled back the carpet to reveal the plywood floor underneath. I exhaled and used my nail to lift up a plank of the wood. Under the loosened plank was the small black velvet drawstring bag. I retrieved it, held it in my hand, and closed my eyes. My pulse still sped up whenever I held those diamonds. They had been like bad luck charms since the day I’d taken them. I clutched the small bag so tightly my hand hurt. I collapsed onto the floor and the tears just poured from my eyes. Up until that minute I had never regretted taking that tiny bag from Warren’s house. I don’t know what I was thinking that day I was trying to get the fuck out of dodge, but today I was full of regret for what I had done. Swallowing hard, I finally peered into the bag at the four remaining raw diamonds inside. The medium-sized gems twinkled even in the dimmest light. They were still beautiful. I had saved the remaining four as financial security in case shit with Sidney and I didn’t work out, but those four diamonds were all that was left of the twenty I had stolen. Warren and Ace wouldn’t be looking for just four diamonds . . . they’d be looking for twenty flawless raw uncut diamonds that were probably worth way more than the $250,000 I’d gotten rid of them for. I was so fucking stupid! I had certainly acted like a hood rat the way I ran through that money. Buying shoes, clothes, handbags, and paying to stay in high-priced hotels. I hadn’t even been smart enough at the time to buy a piece of property for myself. Now I had nothing to show for it. I was living off of my husband, whom I cared about but didn’t love. Again, depending on a man for everything. I had my mother depending on me and once again I was in deep shit with no way out but to throw someone under the fucking bus. But who would it be? Sidney? Stealing from him wasn’t an option. He kept his shit under strict lock and key. I lay on the floor of a grand house that I lived in with my husband thinking about how shit had gone so wrong and what I was going to do to get myself out of this mess. I had learned after the dustup with Warren and the feds that I had to put myself first always. Somebody wasn’t going to make it out of this shit alive. My mission was to make sure it wasn’t me.

  I heard Sidney calling my name from downstairs. I didn’t even realize I had fallen asleep on the floor of the closet while daydreaming of my checkered past. I bolted upright at the sound of Sidney’s voice.

  “Fuck!” I whispered. I couldn’t afford for him to come up there and find me with the safe moved away and my hiding spot for the diamonds exposed. I didn’t want to put the diamonds back in the same place, but I had no time to think of another place.

  “I’m coming down, Sidney!” I yelled back to stave him off for a few minutes. I knew how much his old ass hated coming up those stairs unless he was ready to go to bed, so I figured that would buy me some time. I raced around the closet, placing the diamonds back into the floor. I struggled to get the safe back over the spot. Just as I finished and stood up, I heard Sidney behind me.

  “Gigi? Are you all right?” His voice was accusatory. Or maybe I was just so paranoid I heard it as being accusatory.

  I almost jumped out of my fucking skin. He had definitely snuck up on me. I was panting after moving the safe back. My eyes were stretched wide with surprise. I had to place my hand over my chest to keep my heart from jumping loose of my chest bone.

  “Sidney! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” I boomed, still holding my chest in a clutch-the-pearl manner. Sidney’s brows furrowed with confusion.

  “What were you doing in the closet? You’ve been a little weird all day,” Sidney made me aware of his observation. He also ignored my outbursts. He eyed me suspiciously and looked
around the closet the same way. I immediately felt like a child being chastised. Anger welled up inside of me like a pot about to boil over.

  “What are you talking about?! Why are you acting like I’m some child to be questioned? I tried to do something nice for you today! But excuse me for trying to be spontaneous in this boring-ass marriage of ours! I keep forgetting all you like is missionary sex and the same routine! You’d rather be with a fucking client than have lunch with me, and now you want to come in here accusing me of being weird!!” I exploded, pushing past him until I was out of the closet. I needed to get him to stop focusing on the inside of that damn closet. Sidney seemed dumbfounded by my sudden outburst. He whirled around on his heels and followed me with his eyes. I had even surprised myself. It was all part of the plan. I knew I had to start an argument with Sidney, so his questions just made it that much easier for me to pick a fight. How else would I get out of the house at night without questions?

  “Gigi . . . um . . . I didn’t mean it that way,” Sidney said, apologetically putting his hands up in front of him. I swear he looked like I had just slapped him in the face. I felt badly, but I had to keep up the act.

  “Yeah, you never mean shit when you treat me like I’m one of your kids. That’s what the fuck I get fucking with a man who thinks he’s my father. Please . . . just leave me alone. I’m going out!” I continued my tirade for good measure. I had to make it seemed as real as possible. I also had to make it all Sidney’s fault so that whenever I returned home he wouldn’t ask me any more fucking questions.

  “Are you done with your inquisition?!” I asked, hand on my hip. Sidney just stared at me like I was crazy. “Good! And don’t blow up my fucking cell phone while I am out. I’ll be home whenever I get back here!” I boomed. I kind of felt bad once I was out of the house. I knew Sidney didn’t deserve what I had just done. But it was either that or put him in harm’s way. I left the house unaware of what would happen next. All I could do now was pray.

  8

  Payback Is a Bitch

  Driving to the meeting place, I’d thought about calling my mother to tell her I loved her, just in case. I’d even picked up my cell phone several times and dialed her number only to hang it up. I finally thought it best not to worry her, because knowing my mother, she would’ve sent the police out to find me or, worse, called Sidney and had him out on the streets looking for me.

  I slowed my car down near Highway 264. A sense of dread filled me as I looked out at the place I was going. There was nothing fucking pretty about it, that was for sure. Anything could happen there without anyone noticing for a long time. Ace had instructed me to meet him at the Tides stadium parking lot in Norfolk. Everyone knew that the stadium parking lot was under Highway 264, which was desolate as hell at night. It definitely was no place for me. Only drug fiends, rapists, and other scary-ass creeps hung out there after the sun went down. A fact that didn’t give me a good feeling inside while heading to the stadium. I imagined a hundred things Ace might say or, worse, do to me when I arrived. Ace wasn’t the nicest person in the world, that was a fact. It didn’t matter if you were a woman or a man, if he wanted you dead, you’d be dead. I had heard stories about how Ace had killed one of his baby mothers for stealing from him. Rumor had it he’d shot her in the back of the head and put her dead body on her mother’s doorstep. Ace then went to court, acted like he had no clue what happened to the girl, and fought for custody of his son. Crazy shit! Warren told me he always depended on Ace when there was a really dirty job to be done . . . like when they wanted to wipe someone completely out. No remains was how they referred to the types of hits Ace carried out on niggas. He’d wipe out the person’s entire existence. The only thing that might save me was the fact that I believed or at least hoped that Warren did love me at one time. Then again, I’m guessing Ace had cared about his baby mother at a time before he executed her ass too. Damn, hindsight was surely twenty-twenty. If I could rewind time, I might’ve just left town broke as hell—no diamonds, no money. I sighed. I couldn’t change what I had done, so now I was going to face the music. I said more than one silent prayer as I peered out of my windshield at the deserted area. It was no place for a woman at night.

  My heart thumped painfully against my sternum as I pulled my car slowly into the stadium parking lot. I could see a lone black SUV off in the distance as I inched my car forward at a snail’s pace. I just assumed it was Ace and about three or four goons waiting, since that’s how he and Warren rolled most of the time.

  “It’s showtime, Gigi,” I whispered out loud to myself. I touched the 9mm Glock I had sitting between my thighs for assurance. I had already made up my mind that I was going to try and go out in a blaze of glory if they tried anything crazy. At least I would’ve been known to put a fight before my demise. I stopped my car a few feet away from the vehicle and I flicked my headlights from regular to high beam and back again. I wasn’t about to just get out and leave myself wide open to be shot down like a dog, but at the same time, I wanted to let Ace know I was there and ready to hear what he had to say. There was no immediate reaction to my signal. That was strange. I waited a few minutes after flicking the lights and still didn’t see any movement in the car. I flicked the lights again, this time I did it a few more times than I had the first time. Again, I waited. Still no movement. I let out a long sigh. I started to sweat so badly I felt the beads rolling down the center of my back.

  “What the fuck, Ace?!” I whispered harshly. I was completely unnerved now. All that was visible in the distance around my car was darkness. I couldn’t hear shit due to the cars whizzing by overhead. Ace was playing a game probably to see how fucking scared I was, and it was working. Or maybe he wanted to see if I was going to come with the police or something. I inhaled deeply and exhaled a windstorm. I fanned myself with my hands. “Calm down, Gigi. Calm down.” I gave myself a pep talk to try and calm my nerves. It didn’t work at all. My teeth were literally chattering.

  I squinted my eyes again, but with my headlights shining straight on the SUV like a spotlight there was a horrible back glare and I could not see anyone inside the vehicle through the windshield. I finally thought to turn my lights off thinking without the glare I could see something. I quickly realized that the vehicle was empty inside. Plus, now the entire fucking place was pitch black without my lights. I crinkled my eyebrows, confused as an ominous feeling washed over me. My chest heaved as I quickly realized this was a fucking setup at its best. “What the fuck?!” I whispered as my hands shakily grabbed for the gear stick to put my car into Reverse. I was about to break out of there because I wasn’t feeling the atmosphere at all. I was so scared I couldn’t get my hands to calm down long enough to get to the gearshift. I didn’t get the chance to move to change gears before I heard BANG! BANG! BANG! The sound had come from outside the car.

  “Aggghh!!” I screamed, instinctively throwing my hands up over my ears, ducking in response to the loud noises. My ears were literally ringing within a matter of minutes. I knew right away it was gunshots I had heard. Before I could do anything else I felt the cool night air wisp into my car. I jumped fiercely. That’s when I realized my driver’s side door had been snatched open. I looked over quickly, but all I got the chance to see was a big black figure.

  “Agghgh!” I screamed again when I felt the presence of someone near me. I could literally feel the person’s breath on my face. My scream was short-lived. I felt big, powerful hands on my left arm and left leg. Then suddenly my head was being jerked and tugged too. I tried in vain to hold on to my seat, then the steering wheel, but my efforts were futile. Within minutes I was forcefully dragged from my car. I let out another half scream. I heard my handgun skitter to the ground. All hope of protecting myself was gone now. My screams were all for nothing because my mouth was covered by a big gorilla hand. Between the force and the fear, I could not catch my breath. I was hyperventilating. I just knew I was going into shock from being so scared. “Mmmm!” I moaned as I tried to move
my head. That was futile too. I was being held like a ragdoll. I tried to scream for help, but my muffled words were barely audible. I knew whoever was holding me was probably powerful enough to snap my neck right there. My mind had drawn a complete blank. Suddenly, I felt a very thick, muscular arm closing around my neck. I gagged from being put in a chokehold. I tried to claw at the thick, meaty arm that was causing me to suffocate, but I could hardly muster enough strength to make any leeway. I immediately felt my air supply being cut off. My ears were still ringing from the gunshots, but I could still hear faint voices around me.

  “Let’s move this bitch before we have witnesses,” one of them said; that much I could make out.

  “Yeah, there’s a little building over there. We can do what we gotta do in there,” someone else said. They kept whispering about my fate. I knew I was going to die, but I wasn’t going to go out without a struggle.

  Fighting for my life, I tried to flail and kick. I actually tired myself out because I wasn’t making any headway with the monsters that were holding me. All of that effort and I was no match for whoever was accosting me. I even thought I heard them laughing at my efforts. The more I scratched and clawed at the huge chunk of meaty arm around my neck, the tighter it got. Finally, I had been devoid of air for so long total blackness engulfed me. There was no fighting that dark cloud that closed in on me. I just knew I was a goner.

  “G-money. G-money, I know you hear me . . . look at me.”

  I came into consciousness hearing Warren’s nickname for me being called. My eyes fluttered to the sound, but I couldn’t open them.