Torn by the Code

by Eureka

  Chapter 44

  A Knight’s Move

  “Yo, let me get that remote,” I said to Naheri’s wife, Netta, as I grabbed a pillow from the plush and roomy bed. Judging by the expensive things in there, Dutchtress spared no expense with this entire suite. From the rich bedding down to the furniture with gold trim that aligned the walls . . . The windows sealed tight, and the central air was brisk and calming. I smelled some sweet fragrance coming from the unit on the wall. I looked over to Netta as she nervously bit her nails. She walked over to the opposite side of the room to check the door. It opened for her, but only a wall was there. The door gave the illusion it was an exit.

  “Look, shorty, why don’t you go and take a nice bath and calm yourself. From the sound of things that’s going on the other side of that door, this gonna be a long night.”

  She slowly walked back over to the bed and plopped down. “How could you two be a part of this? You seem like nice men. I really know that Peanut was a good dude. Yes, he did turn on you, but he had his reasons.” She lowered her head toward her chest, then made a sudden jump. “Oh . . . Oh.” I rushed over as she held her stomach.

  “Ay, you okay?”

  “Yes, I’m okay. The baby just moved, that’s all. It kind of hurts.” She doubled over in pain.

  I stood for a second and watched to see if she was lying. I noticed her stomach shift, then settle. The baby had made a huge move. “Li’l momma, why don’t you go in there and take a warm shower? You need to keep calm. You gonna hurt your shorty.” She gave me a weak smile, then rose up to go in the bathroom.

  I am a killer by night and would normally choke a female out if it was called for, but this time, something about her softened me. I heard the shower running, then the sweet smell of jasmine and honey filled my nostrils as I stood on the other side of the room. Then I heard a real loud grunt, followed by a crashing sound that caused me to rush to the bathroom.

  “Are you o—?” Netta’s naked body spread over the tub caused me to halt.

  Her face was etched with pain and fear. I noticed the water still running, and the candles she’d lit were on the floor. I quickly stomped them out before a fire could start. I scooped her body up into my arms. She hugged me around my neck as she screamed and panted. “I think I’m in labor. Please get me to the hospital,” she pleaded.

  I was a little confused on what to do next. Hell, I take people out of the world, not birth them in. “I ain’t no doctor,” I spoke as I placed her on the bed and quickly wrapped her up in a towel until I figured out what to do. She squirmed and twisted around, yelling in pain. Vell just stood there.

  I went over to the door where Flex and Dutchtress were enjoying their reunion. I was sorry, but that shit was about to be cut short.

  Chapter 45

  A Family Reunion

  “Yo, Flex, Dutchtress, get up! Ole girl in there in pain and shit. She says she thinks she in la—”

  When Knight came through the door, Flex and I both were on lock-and-ready mode. Before he could complete his sentence, we both reached under the pillows and got our guns. I held my snubnose .38, and Flex held his .357, both aimed in the direction of the disturbance. When we realized it was Knight holding his hands up in submission and sweat poured from his face, we lowered our guns. My breasts were exposed. Flex stood up and motioned for me to wrap the sheet around myself. Knight slightly turned in the other direction as Flex and I covered our nakedness.

  “Man, what the fuck is wrong?” Flex said as he closed his robe.

  “Man, ole girl over there . . . I just found her in the bathroom crying and screaming. She said she thinks she’s in labor.”

  I grabbed my robe nonchalantly as I placed my gun back on the bed. I heard bloodcurdling screams coming out of Knight and Netta’s room. I have been through too much, seen even more in this lifetime to know when bullshit is in the air. While Flex scrambled to put some boxers on, and Knight’s big strong ass looked worried, I shook my head at these two. “Men can be so stupid sometimes,” I whispered.

  Once my robe was tied, I said, “You two wait right here. Let me go make sure the baby is fine,” I said as I walked toward the door into the next room. Flex and Knight both stood there looking unsure of what to do next. They looked like they wanted to keep me from going in there. They had reason to be worried because if I found out the bitch was faking, it would make the decision to put a bullet in her head that much easier.

  “But, Dutch, I wi—”

  “I got this; sit tight. If she needs to go to the hospital, I’ll let you know. I promise I won’t kill her or her baby—yet.”

  I walked into the room. Netta lay on the bed in a fetal position with tears coming down her face. I took a second to assess the moment. She looked in pain, and her screams were a nice added touch. But one thing was off. As she screamed and semipanted, I noticed her so-called labor pains were not constant, nor did she have any fluids oozing down her legs. As I walked a little closer, I saw when she noticed it was me coming to her aid, she squinted one eye and slightly opened the other one, then quickly closed it.

  “So, how you feeling, Netta? Let me time your contractions.” I sat in a chair with the clock from the nightstand in my hand. I waited for another so-called labor pain to strike. About ten minutes had gone by, but all she did was whimper and moan. There was no big show of labor.

  “Yo . . . ou gonna take me . . . ee . . . to the hospital?” she said with staggered breathing as she looked up at my face while her crocodile tears flowed. I smiled inside at her desperate attempt to be released, but today, she was about to find out firsthand once again just who the hell I am.

  “Hold on. I’m trying to see if you gonna need to go to the hospital. I’m timing all of your contractions. This sure will fuck up my plans, but a life is at risk here,” I said with a hint of sarcasm.

  “Oh yes, please . . . It hurts so bad . . . ouch, ouch.”

  I jumped up and ran over to the door as if I was in a frantic state and slammed it closed. Then I turned back to face her. I started clapping as if I were at a Broadway play.

  She looked confused. “Why are you clapping? Can’t you see I need a doctor? Please, take me to the hospital. Please, I don’t want my baby to die.”

  I continued to clap my hands at her stellar performance. She stood up so fast that she forgot that she’d just screamed she was in labor and couldn’t move.

  “Help! Help! Can’t you see I need help? You can’t be this cruel,” she yelled at the top of her lungs.

  “Yes, I see you do need some help, but it won’t be from a doctor. In fact, the back of my hand will be good enough. Now, sit yo’ four-dollar ass down before I make change.” Her show had really pissed me off; then to say her baby was in danger made me feel some type of way.

  “Tell me why I shouldn’t just end your ass right now? Now, tell me, where’s our lousy husband, or shall I say yours, seeing as how I’m legally dead?” The thought of this woman who was clearly a liar and who had been raising my son pissed me off even more.

  While she looked like she was struggling with what she should do next, her facial features still struck me as being familiar. I was thrown when I noticed a heart-shaped birth mark on the left side of her cheek, one that was similar to mine and my mother’s.

  “Okay, so now that your little show is over, sit yo’ ass down! What the hell do you take me for? I have had labor pains before, and you sure as hell not in labor. Now, miss, or shall I say, Netta, where’s my son?”

  She slowly sat down on the seat next to the table. I could tell she was scared but didn’t want to show it.

  “Look, Elana, I have no idea why you all have taken me. I’ve been nothing but good to your son. As for Naheri, I didn’t have anything to do with him then, I swear.”

  “Look here; I don’t give two fucks about Naheri and all of his low-down dirty antics. All I want is my son and to see Naheri’s ass six feet under. As for you and y’all little bundle of joy, well, I’ll play that one by ear
.” I stepped closer to her and leaned down, close to her face. “You have no idea the hell I will unleash on you if you don’t tell me where my son is.”

  Netta began to cry and shake harder than before. The fear in her eyes let me know she would move to the tune I played for her survival.

  “Okay, okay. He rented a house on the outskirts of Kingston awhile ago. Not even his brother knows about this one. The only reason I know is becau—”

  I firmly gripped her by the neck. “Spit it out. You know this because of what?”

  “I know this because I followed him one night. At first, I thought it was a house call for one of his patients, but when I realized he let himself inside with a key, I knew something or someone was there that he was hiding. The moment I saw a room with nothing but pictures of you all over the place, I realized his grieving was much more serious than I thought. When he sat down in a huge chair holding what looked to be a nightgown, I’m assuming it was yours, he masturbated. I was sick watching what he’d done. There was a young lady there who resembled you. It looked as if she was about to give him some head. I was about to charge in . . . until he grabbed her by the hair and sliced her throat from ear-to-ear. I knew then I had to do something.”

  I was confused. She said she had to do something. Tears came down her face, and then she made a facial expression that took me back to a time in my life I wanted to forget and never speak of. Her lips curled on the left slightly, and her right eye twitched. There was only one person other than me who does this, and that was my mother.

  “Where are you from?” I asked, no longer able to ignore the resemblance.

  When she said the South Side of Chicago, I was thrown way off. Then when she said her old address—the same address where my mother once lived—it hit me.

  “How many sisters and brothers do you have?” I asked her.

  She started smiling hard and laughed. I thought she was losing her mind.

  “Okay, enough of these games, Elana. Your ass far from dumb and nowhere near stupid. You know who I am already, sister dear.”

  I took a small step backward to focus. “What do you mean ‘sister’? My mother had no more kids, and I damn sure don’t have any siblings.”

  I wanted to see how far she was going to go with her speech. Then I remembered the twins Ms. Ruby told me my mother gave birth to.

  In a swift move, I rushed to grab a fistful of her hair.

  “I will show you better than I can tell you. The fact that you really want to spare your life and this might be true, I will give you the benefit of the doubt. Knight, come here,” I yelled out to the next room.

  Within seconds, both Knight and Flex rushed into the room. I walked over to the bar and grabbed one of the bags that were in the bottom of the ice bucket and placed the hair in. Then I took another bag and placed some of mine inside. “Here, tell Manju I need this back ASAP. There is no way I’ma take just her word.”

  Flex stood at the window with a concerned expression as Knight left with both bags. I had no time to play with Netta or Naheri. I wanted my son back and Naheri’s head on a platter.

  Chapter 46

  Kainmen’s Revenge

  Standing over my father’s dead body, I began to think back on the moment I had Dutchtress in my sights and could have taken her life right then.

  “Damn! Damn! Find them, fuck boi. I swear to the heavens he will pay dearly for this.” I paced back and forth slamming my fist into the nearest wall. The time I have spent searching for Flex and my stupid brother was starting to take a toll on me.

  “Look, Kainmen, there’s nothing we can do at this point but put your father away in the family’s mausoleum with your grandfather and the rest of the family. Don’t you think this is hurting me too? My husband and possibly my son have been taken from us. No, there is no way this can just die down. Your brother has made his choice, so now it’s war. . . .” My mother’s voice trailed off as she sat in the chair holding a Glock 9 mm in her hand. She swished the brown liquor around the ice in her glass. Looking as if she was thinking of her next move, she placed a firm grip on the handle. “First, my son, then my husband. No, no. This bitch has to die.” She took a big gulp of her liquor finishing it off.

  “Ma! Damn, I know this already. Why don’t you go and let me get Pop’s body out of here? There is no way he would want you falling apart like this. Meko and Charm, make this happen. Clean this up and let me get my mother out of here. When y’all done, meet me at the spot. Tonight, we finish this.”

  I lifted my drunken mother from the floor where she lay beside my father’s corpse. “Why, why? They didn’t have to do him like this.” Her voice echoed throughout the room.

  “Ma, Momma, let go of him so they can clean this up. Trust me, she gonna pay for this, now move! Please.” My anger was getting the better of me. I have lost too much dealing with Dutchress, and I wasn’t about to go through anymore. I got my mother out of there and jumped in my car.

  I headed toward Mona’s club in town. Maybe I could get something to lead me in the right direction. When I got there, it looked like World War Six had happened. The place was burnt to the ground. I walked around there, kicking up ashes from the floor. I was mad at myself. I had him. I was so fucking close.

  As I was kicking up the ash and dirt from the floor, I spotted something familiar. I knelt to get a closer look. I removed the black ash and even rubbed it on my shirt to clean it off. It was a chain with a pendant that only my family wore. When I saw the falcon’s head on the front and flipped it to the back, I knew I was right.

  “What the hell have you done, Naheri?” I was furious at my brother who seems to be leaving lose ends and bodies all over Kingston. If my grandfather were alive, he would lay him down like a rabid dog. Now, it’s left up to me.

  I stood for another brief second before walking off. “Drive!” I shouted to Manzo as he pressed the gas pedal out of there.

  Thoughts of my brother danced in my head. Then I started to think about my dad and how those fuck boys killed him. Like an animal, I started growling and rocking back forth in anger in my seat. “This stupid muthafucka! I swear once I kill Flex, I’ma kill Naheri’s ass.”

  “Calm down, Boss. The first rule you always taught us is to think with your head and not your emotions. First things first. We need to find them rude boys that took out your father; then we handle yo’ brother. Now, if you were on some get-out-of-sight-type shit, where would you go? Boss, think wisely because you give the answer, and I know it’s right in front of you.”

  Manzo spoke with truth. I slowed my breathing to calm down; then I started to think. The first question I asked myself was if I were on some kill-and-get-out shit, how would I, the boss, a born killer, get out? I had to admit Flex and Dutchtress’s kill game was on point and one to be reckoned with.

  I pulled up in front of the run-down hotel on the south end of the island. I couldn’t take it any longer. I needed to find my brother and this bitch he has married and unleashed on us. For years, I had wanted her dead, especially when she pawned another man’s bastard off on him. He sat there all in love and shit, making no moves or following the plan we had in play.

  Getting out of the car, I watched a young female with large breasts approach me as I exited the truck. She looked as if she was once a beautiful woman but drugs had taken her over. “Ya babe wan a date dem der boi?”

  “Get the hell away from him. Do you know who dat is? You want live? You gwan, move!” An older female rushed over and grabbed the young woman away. They both began rushing in the opposite direction.

  As I approached the front door of the hotel, the heavy scent of crack and propane overpowered my nostrils. Off to the side were some smokers huddled around a lit garbage can.

  “Where Minister?” I asked the huge guard that stood at the door. Minister was the man in these parts, and if anyone knew of where everyone could be, he was the one to see. I knew he would know where to find Naheri and Dutchtress.

  “Yes, Mr. Kainm
en, he’s in his den.”

  I opened the door. “Blood crying inna fi yuh heart, eel fi mi wrath know de hurt a suffering yuh will.” He repeated this over and over while holding a crying, naked female by the throat. Her bruised and battered face was covered with hair and blood.

  “Please, please, forgimmi,” she cried. He smiled a wicked grin, then sliced her throat from ear to ear. As soon as her body hit the floor like a sack of potatoes, he stepped over her and greeted me with an outstretched hand to shake.

  “Ah fi mi broda welcum, ave ah seat.” I sat down in the chair next to the table. He joined me and sat down. Then he reared back in his chair as he lit a long cigar filled with the finest purple weed the island had to offer. He took a long pull, then offered some to me. I refused because I needed my head on right to find my worthless brother and them fools that killed my pops.

  “OK, sut yourself. Mi know wah mek yuh deh ya.”

  “Oh, so you know that I want—no—I need to get my hands on my brother and his wife, Dutchtress. She will pay for all of this and more. My silly-ass brother has lost his mind.”

  “Ah, here,” he said as he passed me a piece of paper. I picked it up and read it. There were some directions to an address I knew nothing about. The paper had some blood on it.

  “Sorry ’bout dem blood. I had to handle that deceitful bitch. None before we and loyalty is everything to me. I already tracked your brother down. Now, I will tell you, this Dutchtress has been good to me and my people as have you. To find her and Flex I need money.” He smiled as he took another pull from the blunt. His eyes began to roll in the back of his head as if he was starting to feel the euphoric sensation from the weed. He slightly swayed from side to side. “Sorry, broda, dis ah som gud dodo. Yuh sure yuh don’t want ah lick?”