The Hearts of the Killers

by Niecy P

  “Find him,” I whispered with murder in my voice.

  Truth

  I was happy that I came back when I did, or I would have missed some shit. I had to confront the bogus shit that my mother’s husband did. I stood before my CO and the rest of the officers to prove my case. Brad was sitting on the board thinking that he was about to send me to jail, but his phone records and bank statements proved otherwise. His stupid ass fumbled with his words and started yelling about me not becoming an officer. They had to restrain his ass and placed him in cuffs. I still had to take a psych evaluation to receive my rank.

  I got on the plane right away to get back to my girl. Her ass had a nigga ready to kill them niggas off quick to get her back to the house. And when I did, I tried to make it as sweet as possible for her. But, when she gave me that look, I knew that soft shit was out the window. I was ready to fail that psych shit so that I could stay here with her. Madison and Smoke had me that far gone.

  Mason and I were on our way to Alabama to pick up that dude Sheddrick. DJ told us that he was dating Lisa before she went missing. And out of all the people that she cared about, he was the only living survivor at that moment. It has been years since he seen her, and he married some chick and got two kids. I hoped that shit didn’t get ugly — the way that Mason was looking he didn’t care. He was ready to do whatever it took to get his ass out that house. We made it there within an hour and a half on their private jet. The car that was waiting helped us make the trip to Sheddrick house in thirty minutes. I got out the car and checked the neighborhood out. It was something that I did often. Mason ran up the stairs of the two-story home and rang the doorbell. I leaned against the post as the door opened with a little girl standing in it. She smiled at Mason with her pretty brown eyes.

  “Hello,” she said. She looked like she was three years old. I stood up straight and bowed my head at her when her eyes shifted to mine.

  “Hey beautiful, is your Dad home?” Mason asked her. She nodded her head, and her two pigtails bounced up and down.“Can you go and get him for us?” he asked her.

  “Yes, but you gotta wait right here. I can’t let you in the house unless they tell me that it is okay,” she said and slammed the door in his face. Mason looked back at me and shook his head.

  “How the fuck; they let her answer the door, man?” he asked me. I shrugged my shoulders as the door opened up again. That time it was a grown ass man standing at the door.

  “What’s up,” the nigga was on guard. Sheddrick grilled the both of us.

  “Lisa Parker,” Mason said, getting straight to the point. Sheddrick looked back into the house and closed the door. He gestured for us to follow him off the porch to discuss the matter.

  “I haven’t seen or heard from Lisa in years,” he told us on the sidewalk.

  “We didn’t come here for any information. We need you to come with us because your girl got my fucking mother. I don’t know what her problem is, but she already shot my Pops,” Mason told him.

  “Fuck,” Sheddrick hissed and shook his head. His hand covered his mouth as if he couldn’t believe what came out of Mason’s mouth. He spun around and threw his hands up.

  “What am I supposed to do? She left me in the hospital and didn’t try to contact me at all after all that bullshit,” he asked.

  “Come with us, man,” I said. It looked like he was about to tell us no until I flashed my weapon. Sheddrick eyes went to Mason. Mason smirked and pulled his shit out.

  “You either come with us, or they come with us. Your choice,” Mason said. Sheddrick didn’t stutter. He went back into the house to tell his family that he was leaving on a business trip and that he was going to be back soon. He went back to Philly with us with no problems. Once we got to the house, Madison and Marley were missing with the rest of his uncles. Tyja and T Glen were there with his cousin's wives.

  “Where the fuck is everyone?” Mason asked.

  “Aunt Joel watch came online. But, by her being surrounded by a lot of satellites, we were able to narrow down four locations. Kymani, Kymel, Callum, and Madison took each of them. We are waiting for confirmation from them all to see which location she’s at,” DJ said.

  “Not here,” Kymani said. A few minutes later Kymel and Callum came through and said the same thing. We waited and waited for Madison to respond but in my gut, I knew that Madison was in the right spot. She didn’t want to speak because she didn’t want to risk getting caught. We heard a few buttons being pressed on the phone to confirm what I already knew.

  “Text us the address,” I said. We got back into the car with Sheddrick and brought him to reunite with his crazy bitch.

  Twelve

  Smoke

  I crept up to the house that DJ gave me. It looked ran down and torn apart. I was about to turn around until I saw a barn a mile away from the house. I ran closer to the tree line to blend in. The sun was going to be rising in an hour. As I got closer, I saw some car tracks that led into the barn. There were three entries that I could use. I knew that she probably had eyes on the doors. I needed to get to the top entry. I moved closer to the barn and listened for voices. I didn’t hear any, but I did hear metal against metal. It was like someone was sharping their knives. That made me move faster.

  The barn had cracks and holes in it, which made it easier for me to climb. With stealth moves, I made it to the top in seconds. I knew that the barn was old. I didn’t know if the wood was going to hold my weight. I placed my hand on it to test it. It creaked a little. I tried another and it felt sturdy. I steadied myself on that wood and crawled to the end to overlook the edge. I saw my mother strung up like some fucking cattle. Her head was dropped like she was sleeping. The woman was sitting in front of the table full of surgical tools and other knives. I forgot that I had to make the call to DJ. I called and pressed numbers instead then hung up.

  I had to find a way to get my mother’s attention. The woman stood up and began to walk to my mother with a scalpel in her hand. I reached for one of my knives and noticed that I didn’t have any. I didn’t have any fucking weapons on me. Fuck. I thought. The woman placed the sharp weapon behind her back and slapped my mother across the face. My mother’s eyes opened slowly into dark ones that held hate towards her.

  “Oh you are awake, now,” Lisa told Mom. Mom didn’t respond. Lisa smiled and pulled the scalpel from behind her back. That didn’t get a reaction from her either. Lisa was surprised.

  “I guess you were built differently from the others. The other family members saw this and started freaking out. You, on the other hand, see this and don’t flinch. What’s your secret, cousin? What is it that you fear?” she patted the scalpel on her cheek. Her eyes got wider when she came up with an idea. “Your husband’s life being taken is something that you fear. Right? Your children’s lives, huh? You have three of them. Two boys and one girl,” she said to Mom.

  Mom expressions didn’t change. She knew that Lisa was trying to bait her in. Mom maintained her cool. That pissed her off. Lisa’s demeanor changed. A deep scowl appeared on her face and her eyes went into a slant. Lisa grabbed my mother face and placed the scalpel to it.

  “I will hear you scream, bitch: one way or another. You will scream for me and I will take pleasure in it,” Lisa's voice was deeper than the usual older and sophisticated one. Mom smiled at that.

  “Mi wouldn’t gi yuh di satisfaction,” Mom finally spoke. Lisa or whoever she was smiled back at Mom.

  “You are just like us,” it said. Mom laughed at her with her head back. She made direct eye contact with me. Mom’s head dropped back down and looked back at her kidnapper.

  “Mi nuttin like unu. Mi inna complete control ova miself, yuh nuh. Mi mek decisions without influence from othas, yuh nuh. Wen mi kill, nuh string me targets up without giving dem a chance to defend themselves. Yuh si mi thrive pan die fight. Yuh nuh wi nuttin alike,” Mom told her.

  “You kill people,” another voice from Lisa said. She stepped back intrigued at what sh
e heard.

  “Many,” Mom told her but tilted her head. “But that was something you knew already.” Lisa shook her head.

  “I had my suspicions. I saw how you handled yourself with the man that called himself my father. I have never seen anything like that before,” the sophisticated lady was back.

  “Yuh stand there an watch yuh perverted ass fada try dat shi wid mi an get fucked up. Yuh an yuh sick as bredda watch,” Mom started but was interrupted by the swipe of the scalpel to her face. A gash appeared on my mother’s cheek. Mom’s face moved to the right slightly. I saw my mother working on the rope to her hands and was waiting for the perfect time to make my appearance. But, if she attacked my mother one more time, I was going to fuck her up. Mom shook her head knowing what I was thinking.

  “Don’t ever speak of my brother, bitch. You are lucky that he is not here. He would’ve gutted you like a fish,” a different voice said. Mom signaled me to begin with the plan as she got one of her hands loose. I moved down to the beginning of the barn where she had the weapons. Mom started laughing hysterically to drown out the noise of the boards that I was walking on.

  “Shut up,” she yelled towards my mother.

  “Mek mi or yuh cya without yuh bitch ass bredda,” Mom taunted. With an enraged scream, Lisa ran over to the table and snatched up a machete. When she turned her back, I jumped from the top floor and landed behind the table. I grabbed another knife and threw it at the rope that was holding my mom. It cut through the rope and had my mother falling on the ground on her hands and feet. She jumped up in time, to kick Lisa back with both feet, forcing her back. Lisa spun around and saw me standing at the table.

  “Oh, the weakness,” she said. I shook my head at her stupidity.

  “Mi her strength. Mi mek her stronga,” I said and picked up another to throw it at her. To my surprise, she deflected it with her blade.

  “You ain’t the only one that knows some shit,” the man in her spoke. My mother finished untying her legs and stood to her feet without being noticed. I smirked at her and went into a fighting stance.

  “Sho mi,” I said right before the knife she had in her hand was thrown at my face. I dodged it and hopped over the table. Lisa came towards me and swung at my face. I ducked and punched her in the side of her ribs. Her body jumped, but her body was harder than it looked. I punched the other side and got the same results. I hit her twice in the face and noticed that my blows didn’t have an impact. Lisa picked my body up and threw me across the barn. My back crashed into a post that crumbled to the ground with me. I got up slowly from the attack and saw my mother going to work. She dodged blows and was hitting pressure points. I was confused until I realized we weren’t fighting a woman.

  “She’s a man,” I whispered to myself. I jumped up and got to work with my mother. As much skills as she thought her and the rest of the people inside of her head had, they were no match for the both of us. Mom landed two punches to her face, which broke her nose and busted her mouth. I swung and landed tow heavy blows to the side of her face, which caused it to swell.

  We thought that we had it, but we were wrong. I guessed there was a stronger male in her because we were both knocked down by a fist that was too fast for us to catch. I lifted my head up and saw that Lisa was walking to my mom. I picked up some of the free wood and threw it at the back of her head. When she turned around, I saw what people saw when they looked at our transformation. Her face didn’t look feminine at all. For some reason, it was more masculine. Lisa ran towards me, full speed. I moved out of the way and kicked her in the side. She grabbed my leg and lifted me up. I hit her more than five times in her bloody face. That didn’t help. It took a swift kick to the knees from my mother, to bring her down. I fell down with her, rolling to the weapons that were scattered on the floor. I picked one up as my mother broke one of Lisa’s leg. She yelled out in pain but then smiled and tried to get back up. She fell down again and remained on the ground.

  Mom's face was dripping with blood, but it was nothing compared to the face of Lisa. I had a small bruise on my face from the unexpected blow. I held the blade in my hand, ready to finish that bitch off. We heard the born door open and my family came running in. There was another man with them that I didn’t recognize. He looked past us and saw the woman on her knees.

  “Lisa,” he gasped. The deep masculine look settled back into the female she was. She looked at the man with the one eye that wasn’t swollen shut.

  “Sheddrick,” she whispered through her battered lips. Ghost checked on Mom’s face as Truth fussed over the bruise on mine. I had some minor back pain too, but it wasn’t anything that I couldn’t get over.

  “Why? Why did you do this?” Sheddrick asked. Lisa shook her and with tears that ran down her face.

  “They all had to pay. They had to pay,” she repeated.

  “Pay for what,” Truth asked her.

  “Their perfect life. She saw that we needed help. She knew and she left us with that man. They all knew what was happening to us and decided to turn the other cheek,” she cried out.

  “You could have told someone. I was there for you. If you had told me, I would have fought for you,” Sheddrick yelled at her. It sounded like he wanted to tell her that for years.

  “The damage was already done,” she mumbled. The real Lisa looked at us and cried more. “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “Don’t worry about it. We are going to get you some help,” Sheddrick thought. Papa and my uncles looked at him like he was from another planet.

  “Help wah shit nuh a guh get afta making will suffa did way shit did. It a fi har time to meet har maka,” Papa told Sheddrick.

  “You can’t do that shit, man. You could see that she is sick. She need fucking help,” Sheddrick turned and said to us.

  “We might need help gathering up pieces of her to dispose of,” Truth told him. Sheddrick shook his head and backed up towards Lisa. She called out his name to get his attention. Sheddrick turned and saw her holding a blade to her throat.

  “They are right. I don’t need to live, and there is no amount of help that will save me. I’m sorry,” she said and tried to stab herself in the throat. Lisa was stopped by the people that she harvested inside herself.

  “Don’t be so fucking weak and do this Lisa,” a woman’s voice said. Another voice came back and told her the same thing. She was fighting with herself to end her life. Sheddrick stepped in and tried to save her but was cut with the knife that she was struggling with. Sheddrick jumped back and grabbed the big gash in his arm. Lisa saw Sheddrick bleeding on the floor.

  “No!” Lisa yelled. She mustered up enough energy to keep the others at bay to complete her task. “Ahhh!” she yelled and stabbed herself in the neck.

  “No. No,” Sheddrick yelled. He crawled over to her and tried to stop the bleeding. Mom turned to walk out of the room. There was nothing else to see there. The threat was eliminated and we were able to move on with our lives. Truth tugged on my shirt and pulled me away from the scene. I hated that Sheddrick was here to see that, or maybe it was what Lisa needed in order to let go.

  “You good,” Truth asked me. I looked around at my family then into the eyes that claimed he was my peace. I nodded my head and let him lead me away from the ugliness.

  Jeremiah

  “Stupid muthafuckers couldn’t get nothing right,” I sneered as I packed the duffel bags with money and guns. My family didn’t get shit. They thought that I wasn’t man enough to take care of business. But I had a lot of shit in motion for me in Brazil and Portugal. I had to get down there in order to solidify the deals. And once I did, I was going to come back and eliminate their asses myself. I didn’t have anything against my cousins at first. Mason wanted to do his own thing. Madison was in and out with both businesses, but her feet wasn’t on solid ground. Marley was too young for the game, but they kept reeling his ass in like he was going to take my spot. That was why I had him under me at all times. I knew that I was able to depend on him t
o do what I needed because of his loyalty to the family.

  That shit changed when he called his self, teaching me a lesson. Then the fool acted as if nothing happened. I was embarrassed and teased that I let a little boy fuck me up. Mason didn’t stop the shit from happening, and Uncle Jason called Marley to do it. I wanted to get back at all three of them. There was nothing that came to mind until one of the men talked about being there when Madison and Mason killed a man name, Luis Domingo. That gave me an idea that a lot of people may say that I took too far. Oh, fucking well. I knew that they would think twice before fucking with me again.

  I reached out to Nick and his family and told them who murdered their father. They were more than happy to get back at them. After Madison told me about her meeting, I was more than sure that my connects were going to finish her off. Those assholes missed. Just like Juice and Nick did. I didn’t understand why they were so hard to kill. I loaded up the last bag and picked it up to sit on the table. I texted the pilot to let him know that I was on my way. I picked up one of the bags and turned to walk out of the room. I didn’t hear or sense her there. It was something that Marley tried to train me on, but I thought it wasn’t needed because, in my mind, Marley was always supposed to be by my side. I dropped my head and shook it.

  “Ma, what are you doing here?” I asked her. She had her hand covering her heart as if she was hurt looking at me. That was why I always yelled at her. I knew I wasn't like her precious JoJo. “Ma, I don’t have time for this shit. If you got something to say, say it.” She stepped further into the room and started talking to me.

  “When you were younger, you used to run around your big brother and cousins like they were your world. And when Marley was born, you didn’t want anyone to touch him. Mason and Madison loved that about you, and they knew that you were going to be there for him no matter what. I told your father that you were too young to learn about any of the things that were going on with the family business. He disagreed, and that was when you started changing. The need for power and to be on top of everyone that you looked up to become your drive. I don’t know when things went wrong for you. We gave you everything and showed you the possibilities of things to come, but you went the other way. Why Jeremiah?” she asked.