by Anna Black
“Okay, that’s cool, baby. I’ll meet you back at the loft later on then,” he said and pulled into my driveway.
“Yeah, I won’t be too long since you got out of helping take down that damn tree again. But tomorrow, absolutely nothing is going to keep us from taking it down. I mean, I get why we stay at your place. My bed is too damn small, but Malice I miss my place. I miss my art room and lugging shit back and forth is beginning to be too much,” I griped.
“I know babe,” he said and put his truck in park. “I have plenty of space at my place, and with the ample square footage that’s leftover in the warehouse, Rel can have you an art studio in a matter of weeks.”
“What are you saying, Malice?” I asked. I did want marriage, before sharing the same address with a man, but I hadn’t spent one night at my place since we got serious. And I did love coming home to him and Bistro in the evenings instead of home alone. Malice adored me, so I knew the wedding would most likely come soon, but if I were going to move in with him, I would need a space to do my artwork.
“I’m saying that I want you to move in with me. I mean, you can lease your place, if you didn’t want to give it up right away,” he said looking me in the eyes.
I smiled. “I’d like that and leasing my place would be a good idea, babe.”
He leaned across the seat and kissed me. “I love you, babe, and I need to get going and see what is going on with this security camera.”
“Okay, let me get Bistro, and we will see you later, baby,” I said and opened my door.
“Nah, Bistro gon’ roll with me. I told you he is my new security dog,” he teased.
“Bistro ain’t nobody security, what he gon’ do? Gnaw at someone's ankles?”
“If that’s what it takes to get the job done, he on it.”
“Whatever, man, I’ll see you two later.” I got out and headed toward my porch. I stopped and checked my mailbox.
“Hey, you,” Malice yelled from his window.
“What,” I faked annoyance.
“I love yo’ juicy ass,” he said.
I giggled. “Love you more,” I said and then keyed in my door code. I had a keyless lock and an alarm system, which I didn’t need, but there was no saying no to Malice. I tossed my mail onto the counter and rushed to pee after I washed my hands, my bell rang, and I wondered who it could be without calling, but then I remembered I had left my damn phone in Malice’s truck on that damn charger. I knew Malice knew the code, so why was he ringing my bell? Before I could make it to the door whoever it was began tapping, I looked through the peephole. It was someone standing there with their back to the door, so I opened it, and then he turned around. If I hadn’t just pissed, I would have pissed on myself.
He stepped forward and walked in even though I didn’t invite him in. “Why are you here? What do you want?” I asked while backing up. He shut the door, and then he put the deadbolt on, and then I began to shake. He had on all black and some black leather gloves. I had no idea why he was at my door. “Listen Malice will be back, he only went up the street to the store, he will be right back,” I lied. I then saw Malice’s his headlights pull into my driveway again and I let out a breath. “See he is back already.”
He opened his coat to a shiny gun. He stepped back against the wall by the door and pulled the gun from the front of his jeans. “Get rid of him, or you both will be toe tagged tonight,” he said, and I believed him. I rushed over to the door, unlocked the deadbolt and snatched it open as I heard him key in the code on the pad.
“Baby, you’re back,” I said, trying to sound cool, but I wasn’t cool at all.
“Yes, you left your phone on the charger babe,” he said, handing it over.
“Oh, my goodness, you know me, babe. I’d leave my head if it weren’t attached.”
“It’s cool babe, I’m gonna head over to the site now,” he said and turned.
My eyes were shifting side to side, and I prayed this fool didn’t shoot him or me. Malice carried a weapon, but I knew it was in the truck, and I didn’t want either of us to get hurt, so I said. “Baby, don’t forget to pick up Bistro from momma’s, remember you said you’d get him for me, so I don’t have to stop.”
“Baby, Bistro is— “
I over talked him, “I know baby, probably homesick from being with momma for five days, so please just get him for me,” I said, and he nodded. I prayed he figured it out. Silky had done five years for his Class 3 Felony, and I prayed that Malice would get my hint.
“No worries love I got him,” he said, and I saw him fast walk to his truck. I shut the door, and this crazy nigga hit me so hard that he damn near knocked me into my hallway.
“Bitch yo’ ass is lucky he left when he did because your fat ass talks too fuckin’ much,” he said and spit on me. My face stung from the blow, and I had no idea where that nigga spit landed on me, but I knew he had hawked a wad of his filthy spit at me. I was holding my damn cheek and eye sobbing, and my mind was racing with what he would do next. “Malice finally let you come home alone. Finally, after days of sitting on your block waiting on you to be here alone, tonight I got your fat, goofy, dumb ass all to myself and away from yo’ bitch ass man. I’m not going to kill you, so don’t even worry about that, but I’m going to fuck you up so bad that if you ever think about sending another ma’fucka to prison, your ass will fucking think again!” he barked.
“Now get your ass up and come out them clothes ma, you gon’ be my bitch tonight,” he demanded.
I shook my head. “No, no, no, no, no,” I cried.
“Ahhhh, yeah bitch, I am getting all up in that fat ass tonight, and I’m going to murder your fucking tonsils. I’m gon’ show you what it feels like for a nigga to ram dat dick up in yo’ asshole like you a fuckin’ bitch,” he said seductively licking his nasty ass lips like that shit was supposed to turn me on. I sat up, and the tears streamed my face, and I guess I didn’t move fast enough, so he grabbed me by my hair and damn near ripped it from my scalp pulling me up from the floor. I yelled in pain. He shoved me towards the hall as if he had been in my house before, or maybe my place was so small he guessed that was the hall that led to my room.
“Do you seriously think this is a game, bitch? This shit is really happening tonight, and if you a good girl, I just might lick that fat ass clit of yours, just to see how good your sweet ass tastes. Malice can’t always have it all,” he said and walked towards me. He came so close that my back was against the wall and when this bitch tried to kiss me and put his tongue inside of my mouth, I wanted to gag. I bit his tongue so fucking hard and then that nigga punched me in my face again, knocking me to the floor. “You crazy bitch, what the fuck is wrong with you?” he yelled, spitting out blood, and I did the same. I had a mixture of his blood from his tongue and the blood from my lip leaking from my mouth, and I wondered where in the hell was Malice. What was taking him so long to get back to me, and that’s when I got my answer.
“Back the fuck up, Silk and get the fuck away from her,” Malice roared. He had a gun pointed at Silk, but then Silk instantly pointed his gun at me.
“You might wanna drop yo’ gun Malice and back the fuck on up outta here! This snitching ass bitch owes me, and now that you all bossed up now with your company and your investments with yo’ brothers and shit, you forgot where you came from. We used to be thick as thieves back in the day,” he snickered. “Now if you want this ho’ to live, I suggest you put yo’ gun down. I’ll give her back in the morning,” he joked like shit was funny. I just sat still with my heart beating out of control and praying to my God to save us from this demon.
“Nah, see that right there belongs to me. That is my other half and looking at her face, you about to get real fucked up and if anybody dying tonight, it’s going to be you or me. Now baby, get up and come over here,” he said to me. I shook my head. I was scared as fuck to move. “You have to trust me, baby. Just stand up,” he said again, and when I looked at that gun pointed down at me, I did not budge.
“Baby I know you scared, but I am giving this muthafucka three seconds before I blast his ass.” With that, Silk instantly pointed at Malice, and shots rang out. I didn’t know who shot who, but I knew I had moved quickly across the floor into the kitchen behind the island, and then I heard someone footsteps run out the front door. “Grace, Grace, Grace, where are you, baby?” he called out.
I was terrified, but I yelled, “I’m right here,” and stayed on the floor. He hurried over to me, and he pulled me into his arms and then we heard more gunshots rang out like fireworks and it scared the shit out of me. I thought we would both die that night.
“It’s okay, baby I got you, and we are safe,” he said, holding me tight.
My hand landed on his chest, and it felt wet, so I pulled away to see it was soaked with blood. “Oh my God, baby you been shot?” I said in a panic, after seeing all the blood. I had no idea what was going on, and then I heard sirens.
“I need to go see what is going on,” he said, but I held onto him tightly.
“No, no, Malice, please don’t go out there. Please,” I begged, and he was still trying to pull away, but I held on tight. I heard the thunderous sounds of footsteps running up the porch, and my heart raced.
“Malice, are you in here?” a loud voice called out.
“Yeah, we are here,” Malice answered, and an officer came around the counter with his gun drawn.
“What Silky alone or is someone else in the house?” he asked.
“He was alone,” Malice answered, and then he put his gun in his holster. “We all clear,” he said to someone else that I couldn’t see.
“Hold tight and let me get you an ambulance,” the officer said and then talked into his walkie talkie that rested on his shoulder. The other uniformed officer came around the counter, and they helped us up from the floor and Malice snatched a dishtowel from the counter and pressed it against his shoulder.
“Silky?” he asked the officer.
“Chaos got to him first, hold tight that ambulance should be here momentarily,” the officer said.
“Yo’ Brooks, our dog is in my truck up the street. Please get him and keep him until one of my brothers can get him,” he said, digging into his pocket. He tossed him the key. He caught it and even though I didn’t want to leave my house opened with the police and all, I had to go to the hospital with Malice. He assured me that he and officer Brooks and officer King went way back and that I’d have nothing to worry about.
When we got to the hospital, Gemma was on duty, and they wheeled Malice back. She assured me she’d be back as soon as she knew something and then one by one the brothers and their counterparts filed in. They all had millions of questions, and since the officers were familiar with my case with Silk and the street shit with someone, they called Chaos, they didn’t take long to question us. I declined medical attention because I was more concerned about Malice than a couple of bruises on my face. Malice had come in just in time, and Silky hadn’t caused any major harm to me, but I needed to know what was going on with Malice. I mean he was conscious the entire ride, and he was talking to me, but it was so much blood, and my knees wouldn’t stop knocking.
I briefly told my family what happened, and by the time our parents arrived, Gemma came out to give us all some peace of mind.
“Listen, Malice is going to be fine. The doctor is going to come out and talk to y’all and give y’all more details, but since this is family to hell with policy. His surgery was very minor, the bullet is out, and they are closing the wound up now. He was just hit in the left shoulder. We will keep him here a day or two, just to make sure no infections will set in, but he is fine Gracie,” she said, looking directly at me. I knew she was talking to all of us, but I knew my sister knew I loved him. If he had died because of me, that would have been detrimental. “It won’t be too much longer family. Doctor Ruiz will be out shortly.”
“Thanks, Gemma, we appreciate you looking out for my big brother,” Royal said.
Gemma looked at him, and we all waited for her to say something smart, but she smiled and said, “You're welcome, Royal.” She then headed back. As she said he would, the doctor came out and told us word for word what Gemma had already told us, throwing a few medical terms into the mix, but since Gem had already broken it down, we knew what he meant.
“We will get him up to a room soon, but for now only one member of the family can go back at a time,” the doctor said.
I looked at his mother. “It’s okay Grace, you can go on ahead,” she said, and I gave her a brief nod and hurried to walk with the doctor.
“He is a little groggy, but he is conscious.”
“Thank you, doctor,” I said and walked behind the curtain.
“Juicy,” he said with a faint smile.
My eyes instantly watered. “Baby, oh, baby.” I rushed over to him. He had an IV drip and something on his fingertip on his left arm and hand, and a blood pressure cuff around his right forearm. And since I couldn’t hug him, I held his hand and rubbed his face.
“No, no, no, no baby, your man is fine, so wipe those tears.”
I did a swipe, but there were no stopping my tears. “I am just so happy that you’re okay. Trust, these are tears of joy.”
“In that case, you can cry your eyes out, because in a couple of days I’ll be good as new.”
“Are you in any pain?”
“Nah, whatever they gave me is some good shit,” he joked, and I laughed lightly.
“Everyone is here, and soon they will put you in a room, and you can see your parents and brothers.”
“That’s cool, just you don’t leave.”
“I won’t,” I whispered and then leaned in and kissed his lips.
“Tell Gemma to get you some ice for your lip, baby.”
“I will, I was just so scared. Now that I see that you are okay, I will let them take a look at me, but I just want to make sure you are okay.”
“Baby, yo’ superman is okay.” he kidded. Since he had shot Chris, Gemma had everyone calling him Superman. Since I was on the floor, I had no idea what happened to Silk, all I know is the snow was covered with blood, and his body was still on the ground in my front yard when we walked out to the ambulance. The officer assured us he would take care of Bistro after I explained he was a Corgi and not a vicious breed. Malice must have had a good rapport with him to actually trust him with my dog.
Gemma pulled back the curtain and then went over to Malice. “How is your pain on a scale of one to ten, brother-in-law?” she asked.
“Just a little soreness, no pain,” Malice answered.
“Well, your room is ready, and I am going to wheel you up,” she said.
“Can you pause and look at your sisters face for me, please?”
“Sure,” she said. “Come and sit sis,” she said, and I went over. She pulled the little round light from over Malice’s bed, pointed it in my direction, and then turned it on. She went over and snatched a pair of gloves from the dispenser and then put them on. Gem told me to follow her fingers, and I did as she moved them left to right. I was hit on the left side of my face, so she held up two fingers. “How many fingers do you see sis?”
“Two,” I answered.
“Good, now let me see your lip,” she said, and I tilted my head back. She looked closely. “The skin is split, but not deep enough to require stitches, and some ice will do you some good to bring the swelling down. Do you need anything for pain?”
Since my emotions were back to normal, I did have a headache. “Yes, my head is hurting. I just ignored it being so worried about Malice.”
“Since you are not processed in, I’ll just ask Doctor Ruiz for a pain killer. He should have no problem with giving me something to give you. Sit tight, and I’ll be right back.”
26
Malice
After all of my family cleared the room, Grace sat in the chair close to my bed. I looked over at her, and my baby looks so tired, but I didn’t want her out of my sight. I had a br
ief meeting with my brothers when the girls walked their parents down, and they had to handle things like clean up at her place. I told them what happened after Grace gave me the signal that something was definitely wrong. All the eye shifting and her uneasiness were easy to detect, but I wasn’t clued in until she said five long days and homesick. She knew damn well that Bistro was in the car with me, so I pulled out and rode up the block and called Nicco. I reminded him that my Grace was in the house and not to rush in guns blazing and his response was, “I will let Chaos and Havoc know that that is yo’ spot, so don’t worry.” I wasn’t going to sit there and wait, so I jogged up the block and looked through the window. I didn’t see Grace, I just saw him walking back and forth yelling something, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. When Grace was finally on her feet, and I could see her, I went to make my move, but he pushed her towards the hall and then I couldn’t see them clearly.
I pressed my ear to the door, and when I heard her cries, instead of pressing the buttons to her keypad, I pushed the metal key into the lock and slowly opened the door. That fool was standing over my baby, and I lost it. I wanted to just shoot, but with his gun in hand, I didn’t want to take a chance of it going off and shooting Gracie. I told my brothers about how, when he shot at me and hit my shoulder. My bullet must have missed, and when I went down, he ran out the door only to run into his worst nightmare, Chaos, and Havoc. My brothers agreed that one of them would get Bistro from officer Brooks and my truck from Grace’s block, and they agreed that her place would not have a trace of my blood once they released me.
Royal, took Chas and Gabby to my loft, because Grace had a few clothing items there, and Gemma told Grace that she could shower in my bathroom in my hospital room. I was so grateful to have a family like them. Even Grace’s parents showed up for me. I was going to surprise my baby with her ring as soon as I got released from the hospital. She had no idea that I had picked it up from the jewelers the day before and as soon as I could get home to my safe to retrieve it, I’d slide it on her finger.
