by Glenn, Roy
The light turned red as the van ran the light. Chris Toney stepped on the gas, but just as he got to the light a tractor-trailer went through the intersection.
“Look out!” Memphis yelled.
Chris Toney slammed on his breaks. The truck skidded, turned sideways and came to a stop, just inches from the tractor-trailer.
Once it had passed, Chris Toney got himself together and continued up the street. They looked for the van for a while but it was too late. There was no sign of it. “Take me back to JR’s,” Rain commanded.
Nick told Danielle where to go and she drove her Taurus X faster than she had ever driven before. She looked over at him; he looked calm, very calm for somebody with two bullets in him.
“You got a cell phone?” Nick asked.
“Yes.”
“I need you to make a call,” Nick said and gave Danielle the number and told her what to say.
“Hello,” a female voice answered.
“Glenda?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“My name is Danielle. You don’t know me, but I’ve got Nick Simmons with me and he’s been shot twice in the chest.”
Glenda turned to her husband. “Get up, Perry. Nick’s been shot.”
“Where are you Danielle?” Glenda asked as she got out of bed.
“We’re on our way to your office.”
“We’ll meet you there,” Glenda said.
“Don’t forget to apologize for waking them up,” Nick said.
“Nick says to apologize for waking you guys up,” Danielle said and smiled at Nick.
“You tell Nick to hold on,” Glenda said and ended the call so she could get ready.
“What she say?”
“She said to hold on. And you make sure you do. Don’t sit up there and die in my front seat. I just got this car.”
“It’s a nice car too. Sorry about the blood.”
“Yeah well, I’m sure you won’t mind getting it cleaned,” Danielle said and continued driving.
After a drive that seemed a lot longer than it was, Danielle got Nick to Perry’s office. They took him to surgery right away. After Perry removed the bullets, they took Nick to a room to recover. “How is he?” Danielle asked.
“I removed the bullets. He was very lucky that they didn’t hit any major organs. Nick always was lucky,” Perry said. “But he’s lost a lot of blood , so he’ll be weak for a couple of days and he should take in as much fluids as possible. But he’s going to be fine.” Perry looked at the concerned look on Danielle’s face. “Don’t worry, Nick is a strong man. He’ll get through this.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
“Perry,” he said and started to walk away. Then he stopped and turned around. “I don’t think I’ve met you.”
“I’m Danielle Graham.”
“And you are?”
Danielle smiled. “I’m the food and beverage manager at JR’s. That’s where he got shot. Rain went after them and Nick told me to bring him here.”
“Oh—okay,” Perry said and started to walk away again.
“Can I see him?” Danielle asked.
“Sure. Come on.” Perry led the way to the recovery room and opened the door.
“I’ll come back and check on him. Let me know if he wakes up. I’ll be right down the hall,” Perry said and left Danielle alone with Nick. She went in and sat down in the chair next to the bed.
Danielle had been there for a half an hour when Nick moved and seemed to grimace in pain. She reached for his hand and squeezed it. She wanted him to feel her. Feel how she felt for him as tears fell from her eyes. Danielle tried to wipe them away but they kept coming, so she let them flow.
She heard somebody at the door. Danielle looked up and saw it was Rain. She quickly let go of Nick’s hand and tried to wipe away her remaining tears. “What you doin’ here?” Rain asked.
“I’m the one who brought him here,” Danielle said and wondered if Rain saw her holding his hand.
“I know that; but what you still doin’ here?”
“I didn’t want to leave him alone.”
“Yeah, well, I’m here now, so you can leave.”
Danielle looked at Nick and got up. As she was leaving, Perry came in the room. “You’re not leaving are you?”
“Yes.” Danielle looked at Rain. “She’s here now.”
Perry looked at Rain. Being very close to Wanda, Rain wasn’t one of his favorite people. “Hello, Rain.”
“How you doin’, Perry?” Rain figured that he didn’t like her, but she was used to that. All of Nick’s friends who knew Wanda treated her that way, whether they knew anything about her or not. Part of her wanted to do something to turn that around, but then there was that other part of her. Fuck them. I’m gonna be around for a long time so they might as well get used to it. “How’s Nick?”
“Like I told Danielle, I removed the bullets. They didn’t hit any major organs, but he’s lost a lot of blood. He’s gonna be weak for a couple of days. So you need to make sure that he takes in as much fluid as possible, but he’s going to be fine.”
“Thank you, Perry.”
“No need to thank me.”
“Can I take him home?” Rain asked.
“I don’t think he could he moved just yet. I’ll check him again in a couple of hours and then we’ll see,” Perry said and walked out with Danielle.
Rain didn’t like that she couldn’t take Nick out of there, but she sat down in the chair Danielle had just vacated. While she waited she held Nick’s hand and thought about the night’s events.
This was her fault.
There were no two ways about it. If she hadn’t gone to Cynt’s to send a message, Nick wouldn’t be laying there now. She thought about what Nick said to her when she tried to explain herself. ’Cause I knew you’d wanna run off and do something about it. She could hear him shout at her; That’s not what I wanted!
He was right, the way to deal with the situation was to wait them out, watch them, find out what they were planning and be ready for them when they made their move. “It’s called intelligence and it’s called that for a reason,” Nick had said to her on more than one occasion. Maybe it was time she started listening. Rains started to cry again when she thought about losing her king over the dumb move she made.
“I’m gonna kill that bitch and everybody who’s down with her,” Rain promised through her tears and squeezed Nick’s hand tighter. “I love you, Nick.”
Perry looked in and saw that Rain was crying, so he left them alone. He would come back later. After that, he was in and out every twenty minutes or so to check on his old friend. When Nick finally regained consciousness he opened his eyes and saw Rain sitting there.
“Hey,” she said and kissed his hand. “How do you feel?”
“Like I got shot.”
Rain let go of his hand. “I’m gonna go get Perry.”
“Did you get them?”
“No. They got away.”
Nick closed his eyes and motioned for Rain to go. She returned quickly with Perry and Glenda. She checked his vitals and changed the dressings on his wounds. “You know who shot you Nick?” Perry asked.
Nick nodded his head.
“Who?”
“Wanda,” Nick said.
“Wanda?”
“She sent men to kill him,” Rain said.
“I don’t believe it,” Perry said and shook his head.
“I don’t either,” Glenda said.
“Believe it,” Nick said.
“What happened, Nick?”
“Ask her,” Nick said and closed his eyes.
“What happened, Rain? What makes you two so sure that Wanda is responsible for this?”
“I went to Cynt’s tonight to let Wanda know that I knew what she was up to.”
Perry interrupted. “What is she up to?”
“Wanda is gettin’ ready to try and take over,” Rain said.
“Wanda?”
“Wanda,” Nick s
aid.
“Yeah, Wanda. I go over there and an hour later she sent men to kill him,” Rain said and sat down next to Nick. She took his hand in hers and squeezed it.
“I still don’t believe it,” Perry said.
“Why don’t you ask her yourself,” Nick challenged.
“I will,” Perry said and walked out of the room with Glenda close behind him.
Perry walked quickly to his office. “I can’t believe that Wanda would try to have Nick killed. I know she’s mad, but this is getting ridiculous,” Glenda said as they walked.
“I’m gonna get to the bottom of this,” Perry said and picked up the phone. It was early in the morning, but he didn’t care.
“Hello,” Wanda answered on the forth ring.
“It’s Perry. Did you send men to kill Nick?”
“Is he dead?”
“No.”
Wanda paused. “Look Perry, I’m not gonna discuss this over the phone and you know better then to ask me,” she said and hung up, leaving Perry holding the phone in his hand and a confused look on his face.
When he finally returned the phone to its cradle he looked at Glenda. “What did she say?” she asked.
“She didn’t deny it.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Minutes seemed to pass like hours as Rain sat in the room with Nick. By this time, her men had joined her. Chris Toney stood by the window and looked out; Memphis was positioned in the hallway outside the door, while Donavan and Brandon were outside walking around the office. There were several times while she sat there that Rain felt like crying, but each time she fought the urge. Instead, she tried to focus her mind on what she was going to do next. She tried to anticipate what Nick would want her to do. Surely he wouldn’t want to wait anymore now that Wanda had made her move, but she didn’t know. What if his personal feelings for Wanda clouded his judgement?
Even though she was sure it was over between them, Rain knew that he still loved Wanda. But her trying to have him killed should change that shit, Rain thought and thought about how extreme it was to try and kill Nick over her. But shit, Jay Easy tried to have me killed when I started fuckin’ Nick. She looked at Nick and smiled. Her first thought was that she should drive to Wanda’s house, drag her out in the street and put two in her head, but she could hear Nick’s voice. That’s not what I wanted! No, Nick would want her to investigate before she retaliated. He would want her to be sure that the people she killed were the people responsible.
Just then Memphis stuck his head in the door. “Rain.”
Rain looked up slowly. “Yeah.”
“Donavan says that Jap is outside.”
“Let him come.”
“Right,” Memphis said.
“Suppose Wanda sent him to finish the job?” Chris Toney asked.
“I don’t think so. Nick trusts Jap. Them niggas got history.” Rain paused. “But you be ready to kill him anyway.”
Chris Toney went and stood by the door and waited for Jap to come in. After a while, the door opened and Jap walked in. Rain was standing in front of the bed with her gun behind her back.
“How’s Nick?” Jap asked.
“He’ll be all right, but I need to know right here, right now, where your heart is?”
“You don’t have to worry. I’m not here to finish a coward’s work. If I was, I wouldn’t have come alone and unarmed,” Jap said and opened his coat. “And I’m not saying that just because Chris Toney got a gun to my head.”
“How you know Chris Toney got a gun to your head?” Rain said and smiled a little.
“Donavan and Brandon are outside, Memphis is in the hall, where else would Chris Toney be?”
Rain held up her hand and Chris Toney took the gun away from Jap’s head just as Perry and Glenda entered the room. After he exchanged pleasantries with Jap, Perry checked Nick again. “What do you say, Perry, can I move him yet?” Rain asked.
“I don’t know why you’re in such a hurry to move him. He needs time to recover, can’t you understand that?”
Rain got in his face. “I understand that perfectly. But I also understand that the bitch knows he’s here.”
“She’s right, Perry,” Jap said. “And if she sends more men to finish the job you and Glenda don’t need to get caught up in the crossfire.”
“So you think Wanda is behind this too?”
“Look, Perry, all I know for a fact is that somebody tried to kill him and they might try again.”
“They’re right, Perry,” Glenda said. “We’ve got patients coming today. They need to move him.”
Perry looked around the room and knew he had been out-voted. “Okay, but where will you take him?”
“I don’t know, anywhere but here,” Rain said.
“I have a suggestion,” Glenda offered. All eyes in the room turned to her.
“I’m listening,” Rain said.
“There’s a convalescent home not far from here. The administrator is a friend of ours. You can move him there and he can still get the care he needs.”
Rain looked at Jap and he nodded his head. “Okay. How would we get him there?”
“I’ll call an ambulance,” Glenda said.
Rain took out her phone. “Call three,” she said and dialed a number. “Chance, this Rain. I need a van.”
“Nick was by here last night and he had me outfit three vehicles.”
“What you mean?”
“He said he wanted a van, a car and an SUV all reinforced and with bulletproof glass. After I heard what happened I put a rush on them. The van and the SUV are ready. You want those?”
“Yeah, send the van to Perry’s and I’ll be by later for the SUV.”
“You got it Rain.”
“And Chance. Paint some type of medical supply shit on the side of the van.”
“I’m on it, Rain,” Chance said. “How’s Nick?”
“He’s gonna be fine. You just do what I told you and I’ll see you later,” Rain said and ended the call.
She turned to Jap. “I need you to do something important for me.”
“Whatever you need Rain,” Jap said.
“I need you to protect Nick. I’m trustin’ you with his life. Get as many people as you need. I’m talkin’ ‘bout niggas you know you can trust.”
“I got that handled,” Jap said.
Within the hour, three ambulances pulled up at Perry’s office and each one left under heavy escort in a different direction. Shortly thereafter, Rain and her men left the building and headed for Clay’s Garage. A half-hour later, a medical supply van arrived at the office. Under Jap’s watchful eye, Nick’s body was loaded in the van and headed for the convalescent home. During the trip, Nick opened his eyes and saw Jap. “I’m taking you someplace safe,” Jap said.
“Where’s Rain?”
“I think she’s going to Clay’s Garage to pick up the SUV you ordered. We’re in the van now.”
“I want you to keep an eye on Rain.”
“She wants me to stay with you.”
Nick shook his head. “You make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.”
“Like what Nick, killin’ Wanda?”
Nick didn’t answer.
“Look, once I get you settled I’ll call Rain and tell her not to do anything without checkin’ with you first. But I ain’t leavin’ you,” Jap said defiantly and Nick didn’t argue. He closed his eyes and hoped that Rain wasn’t on her way to kill Wanda.
When Rain arrived at Clay’s Garage, Chance was ready for her. He handed her the keys to a Chevy Suburban. “It’s got double reinforced steel all around and the glass is bullet proof.”
“Thanks,” Rain said and got in the Suburban with Chris Toney.
“Where we goin’?”
“Take me by the club,” Rain said and Chris Toney put the Suburban in drive. Memphis, Donavan and Brandon followed behind them. She was tired, but Rain knew it would be a long time before she could sleep. Right now, she wanted to go by the club to get more gu
ns and ammo. If she got caught in a firefight, she didn’t want to come up empty. Then she searched Nick’s office. “What you lookin’ for?” Memphis asked.
“I know Nick got some flash grenades in here somewhere,” Rain said and looked until she found two. Once she had armed herself, they hit the streets again.
“Where to now?” Chris Toney asked as he drove. Rain didn’t answer and tired to think about what Nick would do. The only thing on her mind was killing Wanda, but she knew that was more for personal reasons so she tried to focus. Then it hit her. “Nick got somebody snitchin’ for him inside Cynt’s.”
“What makes you think that?”
“’Cause he knew we was there last night.”
“Who you think it is?”
“I don’t know.”
“You wanna ride by there, ask some questions?”
“Hell no. We roll up in there now, we gonna end up havin’ to shoot our way outta there.”
“So what you wanna do?”
“I don’t know nigga. Let me think.” Rain thought for a minute. “What about your girl at Grant’s?”
“Yeah, but don’t the same logic apply?”
“Can’t you call her ass and get her to come out?”
“I guess we’ll find out,” Chris Toney said and headed in that direction.
Once they got close to Grant’s, Rain saw something that got her excited. “Drive around the block and park up the street,” she ordered.
Chris Toney parked the car and Rain got out. “Where you goin’?”
“To look at something. You wait here. I’ll be right back.” Rain walked down the street and as she got closer she knew she was right. Parked across the street from Grant’s was the van used to shoot Nick. She recognized the three-bullet holes she had put in it plus the others it got when her and Memphis opened fire.
Rain went back to the Suburban and signaled for the rest of her men to join her. “That’s the van they used to try and kill Nick.”
“What you gonna do?” Donavan asked.
“Brandon, you and Memphis go get me five gallons of gas.”
“What you want gas for?”
“What you think I’ma do? I’ma burn the bitch down. Now go,” she said and thought about the promise she made. She took out her phone and called Jap. She explained what she had found and Jap told her that the doctor had recently given Nick something for pain and he was asleep.
