“You okay love?” she asked me. I nodded but truthfully I was still hurt and I was hungover. “What happened?”
“I went to get my gun case to clean my guns and ran across my old trunk. It was filled with pictures of my family before my father died, and of Montrell as a baby. I broke down and drank myself to sleep,” I told her. She continued to rub my face, her touch was so soft that it set me at ease. “Candace. I’m going to kill him. He fucked up my family. If I could’ve found my dad’s killer he would’ve died too but I was too young so now he’s really going to pay. I did everything for Montrell so he could grow up and live the life he deserved. So my father could be proud because I did as I was told, but he took that from me. I loved Montrell like he was my son. Not my brother. Like he was my seed. That man is going to die.”
Her smile faded. “Look you’re just upset right now. After you cool down everything will be ok and you’ll feel at peace again.”
“Nah, not this time. I’m going through with it. There’s no stopping us now. Gunnah is on his way back. Everything is going according to plan,” I told her, grabbing my gun case from under the bed.
“What do you mean,” she asked. I waved her off.
“Don’t worry about it,“ I said. “Just know Gunnah is going to die as soon as he touches down.”
“There had to be another way,” she said. She grabbed my arm. “Please don’t do this.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you girl? You act like you trying to protect the nigga. Like he your brother or something,” She straightened up then came closer to me. She kissed me on the cheek.
“I just don’t want to see you get hurt,” but I could tell it was a lie. She was acting strange and I was going to get to the bottom of it. She could tell I wasn’t taking her bullshit so she tried another approach.
“Terrell, make love to me,” she said. Kissing me on my neck. “I just need you inside of me.”
The look on her face invited me in but I was ignoring it. I felt like she was trying to distract me. Like she didn’t want me to kill Gunnah. Like she was trying to protect him or something, and the way she changed up on me after I mentioned it gave it away. Something was up. Maybe this girl wasn’t exactly who she said she was. I pushed her off of me and walked outside to get some fresh air. The way Candace was acting rubbed me the wrong way. The closer it got to finally catching Gunnah, the more she tried to distract me. Something wasn’t right and I was going to get to the bottom of it.
VIII.
Candace continues to act strange like she’s hiding something from me. There’s something she’s not telling me and I’m going to find out what it is.
“Hey bae, good morning,” she handed me a plate of food. This morning she made eggs, cheese grits and sausage. My favorite breakfast meal. She gave me a kiss and laid down to finish reading the last book in The Cartel series, like she does every morning.
“You off today?” I asked her and she nodded.
“Yep, so I can spend all day with my baby,” she said putting the book down and laying towards me.
“The boys are coming over later. Kendale just copped him a new pistol said it was nice and wants to show it to us. So we figured this could be the last meeting before the big day,” I said.
“There’s no stopping you huh?” she asked.
“Nope. This man is going to get what he deserves.”
“Do you ever think about his family?” she asked. “Maybe he has a brother too. One that’s just like you. What if he comes after you.”
“Then he gon’ get it too. I know one thing though. I’m not gonna run like a pussy. This nigga didn’t even come to me and apologize for what he did. He too much of a bitch to do that. Maybe if he would’ve apologized he wouldn’t have to die but to me it means he shows no remorse for what he did. My brother didn’t deserve to die but this nigga does,” I told her and sat the plate on the nightstand. “What kind of nigga does a drive-by in a neighborhood that has kids in it? Huh? At least the man that killed my father looked him in the face and shot him. At least he knew who he was shooting at. This nigga a coward. My life will never be the same because of him.”
She tried to touch me and I jumped up out of the bed and paced the floor. I looked at her and she looked concerned and worried. She begged me to come lay back down and I denied. I started pacing the floor.
“And what’s up with you?” I asked. “Why is it like your trying to protect the nigga?”
“It’s not that love. It’s just…When I came into your life your whole attitude changed. You looked peaceful and happy and seeing you angered makes me upset. I just want to see you happy again. I just want it off of your head so you’ll be at peace. That’s all,” She assured me and then said. “Now come back to bed and let me work the tension out of your body. Let me relax you.”
I laid back down on the bed and turned over on my stomach. I could use a massage right now. She started to massage my shoulders and it felt so good that I could no longer be mad. I started to drift off to sleep and she knew it. She kissed me on my neck and I was out.
***
I woke up about two hours later to some yelling in the living room. I had forgotten that Romello and Kendale were supposed to come over. I checked my phone for missed calls or text messages. There were none, so they couldn’t be here because Romello always calls first and if I don’t answer he texts me. Who was yelling then? I listened harder and it sounded like Candace.
“What you mean fuck what that nigga says? I can’t hold out any longer. He’s catching on to my game,” I heard her say. Who was she talking to? I sat up and walked to the door. She was in the kitchen passing back and forth. I hid next to the door to the bedroom, making sure she didn’t see me. She had whoever it was on speaker because she had started cooking dinner.
“Look. The nigga I tried to kill is calling me a pussy. Saying that he living like that and that’s why I ain’t kill that nigga. He calling me a bitch nigga for doing a drive-by too. Said a real nigga would’ve came to his face and shot him,” the man said and I knew exactly who he is. It was Gunnah’s bitch ass but what was he doing talking to Candace? What did she have to do with this? “I’m losing respect and that little boy is gonna pay.”
“Look you risking your life coming down here. Terrell said he’s going to cap you as soon as you come down here. You won’t even have a chance to find that boy. You are going to die,” she told him.
“I’ll kill him too,” he said.
“I’m not about to watch you kill Terrell. He’s a nice guy, a sweetheart, and I love him,” she said. “You need to learn from your dumb ass mistakes. None of this would’ve happened if you would’ve found dude and killed him in his face instead of doing a drive-by.
“Oh you love that nigga now?” he asked. “You wasn’t supposed to fall in love! You were just a distraction until everything died off! You supposed to be protecting your brother not loving that nigga!”
“This could still work. Just hold off and act like what happened never affected you. You aren’t running, you’re visiting family and have planned to do so. Wait it out a few more months and everything will be fine. You can come back and be safe and Terrell won’t be worried about it anymore,” she said and took him off of speaker phone. Just listened for a while and then said. “You know what fine! Do what you want.”
I watched her as frustration took over her. She slammed her hands down on the counter and then laid her head into her hands. She then sighed and went back to stirring the pot. I couldn’t believe this girl. I finally find a girl I think I can trust and she turned out to be playing me to protect her brother who killed my brother. My head was spinning and now I was angrier than I had ever been. Everything made so much sense. No wonder she was acting strange and catering to me so much. Romello was right. She was distracting me. I was mad. I was more than mad. I was furious. This girl was going to pay. She wants to play me? I’ll play her as well.
Now that I knew her plan I was going to make her a part of
mine. Not only would Kendale lead him into our trap but she would too.
IX.
Candace doesn't know that I overheard her conversation with Gunnah and I don't plan on telling her until I know there was no time for her to save him. Last I heard Gunnah was going to touch down in two days, and Candace has been on tens with me ever since. The closer it got to time for her brother to come, the worse it got. She was acting pitiful, begging me not to leave the house. She was trying so hard to keep me from going after her brother. If only she knew that her brother would actually be coming to me.
The day before her brother came, Candace hid my gun case. I knew at that moment that I had to find a way to get her out of the way before she ruined the plan. So that night I faked a breakdown. I had to make her believe that I wasn't going to kill her brother. So I lied. I told her I wouldn't do it because that's not what my father wanted, and my mother needed me, and some other bullshit. She believed it of course, and then suggested we invite Gunnah over for dinner to talk things out since she said they were from the same neighborhood. I agreed and she hasn’t bothered me since. Now with her out of the way, I knew there was nothing stopping me.
I was sitting down on my bed cleaning my guns like I always do. Today was the day I’ve been waiting so long for. The day Gunnah was finally going to get what he deserved. Candace came in and threw her arms around me. “I’m so proud of you bae.”
“For what?” I questioned.
“You overcame your anger instead of taking another man’s life,” She said. I smiled. She was so oblivious. I couldn’t believe it was that easy to trick her. “I finished dinner and he called and said he’ll be here in ten minutes.”
“Great,” I said. “Romello will be here in five, open the door for him.”
“Romello?” she asked. “What is he coming for?”
“Oh, I invited him. You know Montrell was like his brother too. Your brother owes him an apology as well,” I lied. Now take your pretty self in the living room and get ready for your brother to come.”
She was hesitant but did as she was told. She went into the living room and as soon as she was out of sight, I cocked my gun and placed it inside my pants. The plan was simple. Instead of Gunnah trying to find Kendale in the streets, he was going to be standing near the apartments. Gunnah was going to chase him into the apartment where Romello and I would be waiting for him, guns drawn. He would run right in and stare down the barrels of two guns. Candace would get to see her brother get shot in front of her face. Just like I did. She deserved it for trying to set me up.
I heard the doorbell ring and I walked into the living room to see Romello. He dapped me off and looked at Candace.
“What is she doing here?” he asked.
“Oh she gets to watch,” I told him. No one was aware of my plan but me. Nothing in the original plan had changed. The only difference between this plan and the last plan is that Gunnah wouldn’t have to look for Kendale. Bringing Candace in the equation only sped up the process. Kendale would be standing outside when Gunnah pulled up. I knew Romello would ask questions so I would reveal it to both of them at the same time. I wanted Candace to know exactly what was going to happen to her brother. By the time she found out it would be too late for her to try to stop it. He would already be chasing Kendale into the apartment and she would be standing there when he ran in.
“Watch what?” she asked.
“Watch your brother get killed,” I said. “You see, I found out you were playing me the whole time. I heard you talking on the phone to your brother and figured you needed to learn a lesson too. You see Kendale is the guy your brother is looking for. Well, Kendale is posted up outside right now just waiting for your brother to find him. When your brother pulls up he’s going to chase Kendale into the apartment. Right when he thinks he has him, he’ll be shot, and you, my dear, get to watch the whole thing go down. In fact, he should be pulling up right now.
She reached for her phone and tried to call her brother but it went straight to voicemail. She tried again and got the same response. She kept calling desperately trying to get an answer. I figured he was already running this way but she kept calling.
“It’s no use love it’s too late,” I said. Just as I said that, my phone rang and I put it on speaker. It was Kendale.
“We coming Trell,” he huffed. “He’s right behind me and boy is he angry.” Candace screamed for her brother. She tried to warn him but I hung up. I told Romello to open the door and when he did in came Kendale. He pulled out a gun, grabbed Candace and placed the gun to her head.
“What are you doing?” she asked eyes filled with terror. She was crying but I didn’t care.
“I forgot one minor detail,” I said. “If he tries to run. You die.”
Gunnah ran in after Kendale and saw it was a trap. He looked at us pointing the gun at him, and then looked at his sister who was crying hysterically. He turned to run out the door, but his sister cried out and told him we were going to kill her if he tried to run. He turned back around and Romello stepped behind him to shut the door.
“What is happening?” he asked. “I thought I was coming to work things out. That’s what Candace said.”
“Well she played you just like she played me. She led you right into my trap,” I said. She shook her head and struggled to get away.
“It’s a lie!” Candace screamed. “He’s lying! He set me up!”
“She fell in love with me and needed you out the way because as long as you were alive, I would never be happy,” I lied. I wanted to get him mad. I wanted to anger him again. I wanted him to feel the pain I felt when he killed my brother. “Look at your sister. She’s a liar and a deceiver. She set you up to let you die.”
I walked over to him putting my gun down. I put my arms around his shoulder and we both stared at his sister. She was struggling with Kendale but couldn’t speak because he had his hand over her mouth. She screamed and then bit him. He hollered and took his hand off.
“You’ll die for that,” he said. Candace fought Kendale to get away and he struggled to get ahold of her. He pointed the gun to her face and she stopped…
“Enough Kendale! Grab her! You act like she stronger than you. You scared of her or something?” I asked and then focused my attention back on Gunnah. “How’s it feel to be set up by your own sister? He looked at Candace who tried to plead with him.
“It’s a lie. All of it’s a lie. I was excited because I thought you guys were finally going to work things out,” she said. “Why would I lie to you? I have never lied to you.”
“Okay, I was going to kill you anyway, but it wasn’t supposed to be today. Candace is the one that brought you right to me.” I admitted.
“He tricked me!” Candace cried.
Gunnah pushed off of me and charged for Kendale. I shot Gunnah in the back of his head and watched as he fell to the floor. As he fell, he made eye-contact with Candace. She screamed as tears ran down her face.
“You’re gonna pay for this Rell,” she said but I wasn’t worried. Everybody thought Gunnah was a bitch now. They wanted him dead, no one would come and find me. They think he got what he deserved.
X.
I haven’t heard from Candace since her brother’s death. Some say she just straight up disappeared. Some say she went back to Georgia to bring her family back. Others say she couldn’t handle her brother’s death and killed herself. Honestly, I don’t care, she’s gone and out of my life and I’ve never felt more stress-free. I got me a new lady and a fine one at that. I wouldn’t be upset if I never saw Candace again in my life. I moved back in with ma, to keep her company. As promised, I bought her a new house a few blocks from the old one. She took Montrell’s death just as hard as I did and has been struggling to keep her composure. I’m trying my best to keep her satisfied. I’ve dedicated my life to doing any and everything to try to make her smile again. I’ve also been trying to better myself. I’ve left the street life behind and decided to pursue a degree in physical tr
aining. I want to become a coach and maybe be a father figure to other kids who grew up without one. Maybe I can help raise some more little Montrell’s.
I can imagine my father finally looking down on me and being proud of his son. I’m sure he and Montrell are having a blast up there. You know, since the last time he saw Montrell was when he was four. I’m sure he’s proud of the work I’ve done too. I took all of the pictures in the truck and hung him around my room. Just because they passed doesn’t mean the memories have to die too. I don’t have nightmares anymore and I’m happier than ever. Whenever I began to miss them I just imagine them looking down on me, and watching over me and mom.
Romello and I adopted Kendale into our little group. He may have been raised in the streets but I was going to show him the way out. He’s currently trying to walk onto the basketball team at one of the nearby colleges.
URBAN: In Love with A Boss Nigga Page 40
