A Gangster's Dream 3

by Charmanie Saquea

Dream just nodded her head as the tears fell from her eyes.

  “Dream, I know when I first stepped to you that day in the restaurant, you probably thought I was some crazy nigga but you are literally the woman of my dreams. You’ve made me feel things I’ve never felt, do things I’ve never done, and the time we spent apart, I really felt incomplete. I need for you and my son to come home, but I want to do things right this time. I guess what I’m trying to say is, are you willing to deal with a nigga for the rest of your life?” Carmelo asked with a smile on his face.

  Dream chuckled a little. Leave it up to Carmelo to thug it out in any situation. Of course their relationship wasn’t perfect and they had both made mistakes, but that’s all a part of life. No relationship was perfect. She honestly felt stupid for walking out on him in the first place. She really had no justifiable reason to be mad at him; he never actually did anything to her.

  “Yes!” she yelled as she pulled him and grabbed his face to kiss him.

  Carmelo picked her up in his arms and swirled her around as the two shared a kiss. He wasn’t big on the romantic stuff so of course he had to have a little help from his mama and daughter. Like he said in his proposal, he did things he would never do, all for his Dream.

  “Baby, you gotta put the ring on,” Dream laughed when he put her down.

  “Yea, you right,” he said as he took the box from her and slid the ring on her finger.

  Before he could even say anything else, his phone was ringing. He didn’t even have to check the caller I.D to know who was calling him.

  “Yes, Summer?” he answered.

  “Well?” Summer asked.

  “Well, what?” Melo asked, playing with her.

  “Did you ask her? What did she say?” Summer asked excitedly.

  “What you say? I can’t hear you, Sum. The phone’s breaking up.” Carmelo said as he hung up the phone while laughing.

  “You are so wrong,” Dream laughed.

  “Four, three, two, one.” Carmelo counted down and right on cue, Dream’s phone started ringing.

  “I said yes!” Dream yelled into the phone.

  “AHHHHHH! WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!” Summer screamed.

  She was so loud that Dream had to pull her phone away from her ear. Carmelo just shook his head as he took Dream’s phone from her.

  “Goodbye, Summer Love. Kiss CJ for us,” he said as he hung up.

  “Stop doing that girl like that,” Dream said as she hit him in the arm.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Dream was bringing boxes downstairs that she was taking to Carmelo’s house. Anything she didn’t need or wasn’t going to keep would be going to storage or charity. CJ already had the basics like a crib and clothes at the house, so she was going to give the ones he used at her house away.

  “Damn, what you got stuffed in here? A dead body?” Carmelo asked.

  “No silly those are my shoes. Well, some of them,” she shrugged.

  “Some? What the hell, Dream?” Carmelo fussed as he picked the tote up as if it weighed nothing.

  “Oh, that’s what I’m talking about, baby! Use that manpower,” Dream said as she slapped him on the ass.

  “Yo, watch that shit,” Carmelo told her before taking the tote outside.

  “Ma, I feel like you should be kind to your daughter and give me one of these MCM bags,” Summer said as she walked around with the bag on her arm

  “Don’t you already have one?” Dream asked.

  “Yea, I have a purple backpack but this tote is screaming my name. Listen to it,” Summer said as she held it up. “Summer…Summer.” she whispered.

  Dream just laughed at Summer. She was really a character but she wouldn’t change her for the world. “Take it, you spoiled brat.”

  “Yes, I knew you loved me,” Summer cooed.

  “I’m working my ass off and y’all in here playing fashion connection,” Carmelo fussed as he walked back in the house.

  “Uh, excuse you, father, but this here,” Summer held the bag up, “is a MCM bag. German made sweetie. It is definitely a must have and now that I took mom’s, I’m pretty sure you are going to have to buy her another.”

  “What?” Carmelo asked, confused.

  “Ugh, men. They will never learn.” Summer shook her head as she walked out of the house.

  “Yo, what the hell is wrong with her?” Carmelo asked.

  “That’s your child, sir. But let’s get out of here, I’m ready to go home,” Dream said as she kissed his lips.

  “I bet, after I did all the work,” Carmelo mumbled as he followed behind her.

  <><><><>

  After unpacking everything, Dream laid on the bed with her eyes closed, remembering how it felt to be in that bed.

  “It feels so good to be back home,” she sighed.

  “I bet. Your ass better not leave again,” Carmelo said as she slapped her on the thigh.

  “Trust me, that’s a thing of the past. But I think we need a new mattress.”

  “What, why?” Carmelo asked.

  “Do you really think I want to be laying on the same mattress you laid on with your damn ex? Come on, Carmelo, you know better than that,” Dream told him.

  “Alright. Whatever my lady wants, my lady gets,” he said.

  “Well, since you said that I want—”

  “Aye, I was just joking,” Carmel cut her off.

  “All I was going to say was I wanted a kiss from my sexy ass fiancé. Is that alright with you?”

  “Nah, I don’t know where your lips been,” Carmelo joked.

  “Oh, you know what? Forget you,” Dream laughed as she hit him with a pillow.

  “I’m just playing. Come here.”

  Dream called over to him and placed two small kisses on his lips before he grabbed her face and parted her lips with his tongue. The two tongue wrestled for what seemed like forever until Summer interrupted them.

  “Cut all that out. We really don’t want to see that. We came to have family time and I can trust that you two will keep it PG, right?” Summer asked as she walked in with CJ on her hip.

  “Is it illegal to sell your kids?” Carmelo asked Dream.

  “Yup, but I know a way we can do it without anyone knowing,” Dream told him.

  “Y’all are just rude. CJ, you hear your parents try to get rid of us?” Summer asked her brother as they climbed in the bed.

  “Not y’all,” Carmelo told her. “Just you.”

  “Now that’s foul, dad, Just foul.”

  Dream just shook her head with the biggest smile on her face. It really did feel good to be back home. This is exactly what she had been missing.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Dream danced around the bedroom she shared with Carmelo singing Teyana Taylor’s ‘Maybe’. As of lately, she had been in a good mood. She was bothered by the fact that Caiden was still some where lurking but she found peace in knowing that Carmelo and Summer loved her wholeheartedly, not to mention CJ, who happened to bring a new meaning of love and life into her world.

  “Somebody in a good mood today. Where you think you going?” Carmelo asked, he was eyeing the skin tight bodycon Dream was wearing.

  He had to adjust his growing manhood. He and Dream hadn’t been intimate since before all that shit went down with her kidnapping. He was dying to slide up in her but was respecting her healing. It had taken her a minute to get to the good place she was in and he didn’t want him coming on to her sexually to set her back. He had to control himself even though he wanted to think with his little head first.

  “I decided I’m going to go to Talehia’s bachelorette party.”

  “I don’t know how I feel about that,” Carmelo admitted.

  He knew Dream didn’t want to feel smothered or like a prisoner in her own home, so he allowed her to do most things on her own. He just wasn’t comfortable with her going to a party yet.

  “Melo, come on. It’s at her house. I’ll be fine. Plus, I thought you and the kids were going to
Mama Love’s house for the night. I do remember her demanding ya’ll presence tonight.”

  “Yea, but I wanted you to come with us,” Carmelo said and pulled Dream into him.

  “Please, Melo. I need this night. Just one night to let my hair down.”

  Carmelo had to admit that seeing Dream dance around and hearing that she actually wanted to do something that didn’t revolve around work or taking care of the kids made him happy. Even though he still wasn’t feeling the idea, he agreed. Of course, he had a set of rules that Dream had to promise to follow before he said yes. She had to agree to not having more than two drinks, not staying out past three, and calling him when she got there and when she got home. Even though Dream felt as if he was treating her like a child, she respected his concern and agreed to his terms.

  By ten that night, all of them were leaving the house. Carmelo and the kids were headed to Mama Love’s and Dream was headed to Talehia’s house where the bachelorette party was being held.

  Once she arrived to the party, she was reminded of all that she was missing out on. The house was packed with tons of women she went to college with and some new faces. Everyone was enjoying the celebratory occasion; that’s the element Dream missed being in. Before she was kidnapped, she was carefree and loved to have fun, she enjoyed life. But since then, she found herself being scared, timid, and sheltered. Not that night, though. For the first time in a while, Dream let her hair down. She did everything the other ladies did, which included drinking, dancing with strippers, and most importantly, laughing. It was a night to remember and one that she didn’t want to end. However, it had to because she made a promise to Carmelo, so she was going to make it home by three.

  <><><><>

  “Ouch,” Dream whined out after her knee collided with the side table.

  She leaned over and rubbed the throbbing spot before cursing Summer and Carmelo for leaving the house pitch black when they left. It wasn’t often that Dream drank, which is why she was as inebriated as she was. A normal person could have two drinks and be perfectly fine and completely composed. Those same two drinks had Dream leaning and tripping over her own feet. The pain in her knee got her together real quick. No, she wasn’t instantly sobered up, but she knew she needed to get it together if she wanted to make it to her bedroom without falling flat on her face.

  As Dream hit the top step, she could have sworn she heard movement. There was no way anyone should have been in her house. Summer, Carmelo, and CJ were at Mama Love’s for the night. She knew that for sure because she checked on them before leaving Talehia’s bachelorette party. Slowly, she made her way toward her bedroom, which was the same direction she heard movement from. Before opening her door, she pressed her ear against the door. There was silence but something was telling her that she had an unwanted visitor in her home. It was a feeling in the pit of her stomach, a nagging feeling that she wasn’t going to ignore.

  She took a deep breath before turning the knob and entering the room. At first glance, everything seemed to be in order. However, Dream knew her bedroom better than anything else in the world. When it came to how things were placed throughout the room, Carmelo and Dream rarely switched anything up. On her nightstand, there was a picture of her and Carmelo; the picture was missing. There was movement… It was coming from the closet. Instead of reacting on impulse, Dream continued into the room as if she didn’t suspect anything. She walked over to Melo’s side of the bed where she saw a piece of broken glass. That has to be from the picture frame, she thought to herself before leaning over.

  “Let a nigga try me, try,” Dream sang out while feeling beneath Melo’s nightstand for the pistol she knew was stashed. “My feet are killing meeeee,” she said, dragging out her words for effect, so that whoever was watching her would assume she was leaning over just to take off her shoes. She did that, but not before pulling the gun from the holster and resting it at her side. Once her shoes were off, she stood straight and headed toward the bathroom. The entire time, she made sure that the side she held the gun at was away from the closet.

  Once inside the bathroom, Dream quickly checked the clip of the gun. A wave a relief spread throughout her body after finding a full magazine. She leaned over and turned on the shower. Almost instantly, fog began to fill the space around her. She wasn’t bothered. Dream was dealing with a mixture of nervousness, and adrenaline. Those emotions mixed with the alcohol, had her feeling crazy. Yet, she remained focused. With her gun aimed and trained on the door, she stood stoically, waiting for her predator to make his or her move. With how she was feeling, it would have surely been their last.

  Dream could see movement beneath the bathroom door and knew that it was about to go down. The bathroom door slowly creaked open and without hesitation, Dream pulled back on the trigger.

  Pop

  Over…

  Pop

  And over…

  Pop

  She watched the figure stumble backwards before collapsing to the floor. Without lowering the gun, Dream took a few steps forward.

  “You came to finish the job, huh?” she taunted, after realizing that her would be assailant was none other than Shaquille.

  He held his hands to his chest in a futile attempt to stop the blood that was leaking profusely from the tiny hole. Dream laughed at the failed attempt. Her nervousness was completely erased by anger. Shaquille had put her through so much during the time he’d held her captive and she wanted him to feel an ounce of that pain. With the way he was bleeding, she knew he wouldn’t last long. She had to move fast.

  Quickly, Dream made her way over to her walk-in closet. She didn’t have to step inside. She knew exactly what she needed and where it was located. She reached down, on the side of the wall and gripped her Louisville Slugger. A small smile crept across her face before walking back over to Shaquille. She leaned over and roughly pulled him by his jacket, flipping his body, and leaving him lying flat on his stomach.

  Dream dropped to her knees, and struggled with undoing his belt and getting his pants, as well as his briefs, down to his ankles. The entire time, Shaquille squirmed and whined in pain. None of it mattered to Dream. Once she had his pants and briefs down far enough to her satisfaction, she picked up the bat she had lying beside her and rose to her feet.

  Without warning or words, she found the entrance to his butt and rammed the small end of the bat as deep as it could go.

  Shaq’s back arched and a muffled scream escaped his mouth. Dream didn’t care. Slowly, she pulled the bat back, only to ram it in deep again. She repeated this motion repeatedly until she burst out into a shrieking cry.

  “That pain! That agony! It’s what I felt. You like how it feels to be assaulted? That’s what you did to me. You broke me… You broke me… You broke…”

  Pop, Pop, Pop

  Dream sent three more bullets flying through the back of Shaquille’s head. She fell to her knees and wept beside his deceased body. She wasn’t crying because of what she had done. She cried because in that moment, all of the memories of what he had put her through came rushing back to her. She cried because finally, since the moment she was rescued, she felt free.

  Moments had passed and Dream still hadn’t moved. It wasn’t until her phone began vibrating in the pocket of her skirt, was she pulled back to the reality of her situation. Knowing that it could be only one person calling her at that hour, she slowly pulled it out and slid her finger across the bottom of the screen to answer.

  “Hello… Dream?” Melo said, after not receiving a greeting from his lady.

  “Yes,” she somberly answered.

  “I was calling to make sure you made it in the house. Wait… Why you sound like that? What’s wrong?”

  Dream said nothing.

  “Dream Love!” Carmelo shouted. Even though they weren’t married, yet, Carmelo still referred to her as having his last name. “What happened?”

  “I—I killed him,” she admitted.

  <><><><>

  Carmelo
blew through every light and stop sign and he rushed to get to Dream. He was grateful that he and the kids were already at his mother's house because he didn't want Summer to see whatever he was about to walk in on. As soon as he heard the words, 'I killed him,' come out of Dream's mouth, he knew he had to get to her immediately.

  When he pulled up to the house, he pulled his gun out, just in case. He didn't know if the nigga came solo or what, so he was taking the necessary precautions. Using his key, he let himself into the house and headed towards the bedroom which held the only light in the house.

  "Baby, it's me," Carmelo called out so she wouldn't get scared and kill him, too.

  Since she didn't bother to respond to him, he slowly walked up the stairs and into the bedroom. Dream was just standing there, looking down at the body with the gun still in her hand. He walked closer to her and she jumped and pointed the gun at him.

  "Whoa, baby. It's just me," he said, putting his gun up.

  "Melo?" she said in a childlike tone.

  Carmelo shook his head at the sight before him. The same nigga that he broke bread with, considered his best friend, the same nigga that once upon a time he would have done anything for was laying on a pool of his own blood with a bat sticking out of his ass. This was also the same nigga who thought it was okay to cross him and did the unthinkable by raping his girl.

  He could tell by the holes in his body that Dream had emptied the clip into his sorry ass.

  "Here, give me this," he said, taking the pistol from her.

  "I had to. He was going to kill me," Dream said, never taking her eyes off Shaq's dead body.

  "I know. Come on," Carmelo said as he led her out of the room.

  He escorted her to Summer's room and turned the shower on for her. Dream was in a daze as she undressed and climbed underneath the hot water. While Dream was in the shower, Carmelo placed a call to the clean-up crew. He had just hung up the phone when he heard Dream break down.

  As she cried, Dream felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her, making her break down even more. Carmelo kicked his shoes off and climbed in the shower with Dream, not giving a damn about his clothes getting wet. Dream turned to face him and buried her face in his chest.