by Kelly, Marie
I sat there angrily as I watched Legion. He was excluded from my plans, but after now seeing that he was planning on playing me too, I was going to get at him as well.
To hide what I was thinking, I focused my eyes away from him.
“Wrath, you need to tell Surge to put Pac on the weapons for a minute and focus on everything else with you. That’s what they’re after,” Pops instructed.
“He’s been doing that, Pops. Pac knows what’s up.”
A fucking outsider!
“Legion, I’ve spoken with your dad and let him know what’s going on. I need you with Wrath and Surge for now.”
“No problem.”
I almost sucked my teeth out loud.
“And Guns.”
I looked up at my dad when he called out to me.
“Stick with your brothers and watch your back.”
He was definitely playing with me now, right?
Everyone else had important things to do. He even pulled Legion off his contracts to put him on with us. Even fucking Pac who wasn’t even blood got more responsibility while I got, stay with your brothers and watch your back.
“You got it, Pops.” I saluted him.
“Okay. Now, fix this shit before it gets out of hand. I’ve got somewhere to be. Call me if you need me,” my dad said, and then he left the room.
“Guns, did you call that meeting?” Wrath questioned.
I almost gave myself away by asking what meeting until I remembered what meeting he was talking about.
“Yes.”
“Good. Let’s take it from there. I’m going to head out.” He stood, and we all followed suit.
For now!
I slapped hands with them and quickly left the house.
Getting into my car, I sped away from the house before they could get into their cars so there was no chance of being followed. Instead of going home, I headed to my own meeting that I had set up.
I smiled when I arrived and grabbed an envelope from my glove compartment.
As I stepped out of my car, the men posted outside nodded toward me and moved out of the way, making me feel like the king I was further letting me know that I was doing the right thing.
Heading inside, I was immediately approached by this fine ass bitch who asked me if I wanted anything to drink.
Finally, the respect I deserved!
“Sure thing, sweetheart,” I answered and told her what I wanted to drink.
“Guns!” Bully stood to his feet and shook my hand.
“What’s good?”
“Just here laying low and waiting on you.”
Hearing that he was waiting for me made me smile inwardly.
“Do you have what I need?”
“Yes,” I said before handing him the envelope.
As I handed it over, I locked eyes with a familiar face, and we shared a knowing look.
Bully wasted no time opening it and looking inside. It contained information on my brothers like their routes, pickups, drop offs, incoming shipment dates—everything that Wrath worked so hard to change, and everything they would need to take my brothers down.
“I want y’all to slowly strike. Make them look incompetent, sloppy in their dealings. When I fix all that they mess up and I’m made the king, you will get a share of the empire.”
Wrath believed that keeping the empire just to us was the key to making money, but I didn’t. If we expanded and brought other crews under us, we could make more money and have our products all over the US and not just in New York. I wanted it everywhere, which could only be achieved by joining with people like Bully.
I had suggested that many times to Wrath, but he didn’t think it was a good idea. He believed that if we expanded to groups outside of us, they would turn on us. Stupid, I know, but I was going to show him that I was right when I took over.
Actually, to think about it, me taking over was really Wrath’s doing for never taking one of my ideas.
Bully simply nodded and looked at the contents in the envelope. A wicked smile covered his face that I knew matched mine.
“Are we sure about this?” Bully asked with a raised brow.
“We are sure.” Richard stood to his feet and answered for me.
He was Wrath’s friend from high school and one of his lieutenants. I brought him in on what I was doing after I noticed the way he looked at my brother—once upon a time it was a look of admiration, but lately, it had been one of hate. When I found him running off recklessly at the mouth about my brother, I knew my assumption was right.
Come to find out, he was sick and tired of being in the same position. He wanted more, but my brother believed only the family could be the head. So, for that, he started to hate Wrath.
The idea of putting him on came to me when I remembered that he was closer to the empire than even I was. I knew that the information I had given Bully wouldn’t have come to my hands without Richard’s help. All he wanted in return was to be a partner with me, and I would give him that.
Bully looked us both before smiling widely.
“To us.” He held his glass up to me, and I did the same.
We clinked glasses, and I took a sip.
I chilled with him for a little while longer until my love texted me to say she was at the condo we had just for meeting up. Richard left a little before I did.
I hated having to hide my love for her and having to sneak to this condo in Manhattan just to see her, but I knew it would all be over soon.
As soon as I walked into the condo, I saw her sitting on the couch waiting patiently for me. That was another thing I loved about her; she waited for me and followed my lead. She treated me like the leader I was and was supposed to be.
A wide, beautiful smile appeared on her face at the sight of me, and I winked at her.
“I missed you,” she said and jumped into my arms as soon as I stood in front of her.
“I missed you more. How long do we have?”
“Not long.” She frowned and dropped her head.
I could see it in her eyes that she was just as tired as I was about hiding our relationship.
“Well, let’s not waste time.” I lifted her head by her chin and pressed my lips against hers.
We kissed hungrily as I carried her to our bed while we stripped each other. As soon as we were naked and on the bed, I held her leg up and slid into her.
“Fuck! I can’t wait for you to be all mine.” I hissed and groaned after feeling her warm walls enclose my dick.
“I am all yours. You have my heart, he doesn’t,” she whispered.
I smashed my lips against hers and sucked on her tongue as my dick beat into her. The sound of my balls slapping against her echoed around our room. I kissed all over her face and down her neck until I reached her nipples. She cooed and arched her back when I started to suck all over her titties.
“Shit,” I hissed and lifted her leg to dig even deeper into her.
After a few strokes, I flipped her over on all fours and dug back in.
“Things are finally coming together, and then we can be together soon, baby,” I bent over and whispered in her ear.
“Mmmm, I can’t wait.”
I leaned back, grabbed her waist, and bounced her on my dick, making her cum and squirt on the bed.
“Damn, I love when you do that.”
Changing positions again, I turned her back to face me, so I could look into her eyes. I slide back in, and she bit her bottom lip.
“I love you, Guns, and only you,” she cried and threw her head back.
“Tell me again,” I demanded and pushed even further into her.
“I love you, Guns, and only you.”
My pumps got harder and faster as I felt my stomach knot and the head of my dick twitch.
“Again!” I gritted and bit my bottom lip.
“I LOVE YOU, GUNS, AND ONLY YOUUU!” she screamed and came just as I emptied my seeds inside of her.
“Ahhhh, fuck. Fuck,” I hissed wit
h my forehead pressed against hers.
We looked into each other’s eyes as we fought to catch our breath.
My love was the only woman I had ever had sex with, and each time, I felt my soul connect to her more and more. I placed a soft kiss on her lips and slowly pulled out of her before falling onto my back. I dropped an arm over my eyes and took deep breaths.
My love placed her head on my chest, and I wrapped my arm around her.
“Tell me again why me and not Wrath?”
I don’t know why but I just needed to hear why my love picked me and not him.
She shifted in my arms and sat up. I moved my arm from my face and looked at her.
“Wrath might be the eldest, but he’s nothing compared to you, Guns. He isn’t a natural born leader like you are. He can’t love me the way you do. He could never make me happy the way you do,” she said while rubbing a hand up and down my chest.
“He’s not you, Meshach and never will be. There’s only one you, and you’re who I love. From the moment I saw you, I knew you were special, and that’s why I chose to give my heart to you and not him.”
I looked at her and then sighed.
“I’m sorry. I just needed to hear that. I met with Bully tonight and gave him everything on my brothers.”
I continued to stare at her to see her reaction, but her face remained cool, and then she smiled.
“Don’t let them make you feel guilty for something they made you do, Guns. They didn’t want to see the truth, so it’s for you to show them.”
She was right! They made me do this.
“This is why I love you, baby.” I pulled her to me by the back of her neck and kissed her passionately.
“And I love you too.”
She dropped her head on my chest again, and we lay wrapped in each other’s arms until she reluctantly had to leave.
As I lay in our bed full of sex, all I kept thinking was, soon, it will be me on top.
Alvaro ‘Wrath’ Ramsey
The next night
Everyone in the room sat in silence, and all eyes were on me as I silently smoked on a blunt. To everyone around, I probably looked cool, but truthfully, I was burning up inside—I was fucking livid. My fucking brother was missing, and I wanted to know why.
My eyes slowly lifted and landed on the two niggas my brother thought he could trust—shit, I trusted them.
When they realized that my eyes were on them, they started squirming and muffling behind the plastic bags I had zip tied around their heads. Both of them were tied to the chairs they were sitting on, so they couldn’t take the bags off their heads.
As angry as I was, I was more so hurt than anything else. Surge had known these two niggas since high school, and he put them on with us and broke major bread with them. I introduced them to a world where they could feed their families, and they repaid us by stabbing us in the back.
I silently sat there and watched as everyone looked back at me—eyes wide showing me that they were all nervous—and they had a right to be.
Everyone took a seat and waited for me to talk. Guns and Legion sat on either side of me, and from their faces, I knew they were just as pissed as I was.
Blowing the smoke out of my nose, I ran a hand down my face before exhaling heavily and ashing the blunt out in the ashtray.
My eyes flicked up to look at our crew members, and they started to fidget under my glare. I scanned every one of their faces before I fixed my stare back on Popeye and Sly.
They were Surge’s friends from high school and were always with him. If anyone knew what the fuck was up, they did.
“Popeye and Sly, where the fuck is my brother?”
As soon as I realized that Surge wasn’t laid up with a bitch, I put the word out for the crew to find Popeye and Sly. When they were found in a hotel all the way in fucking Pennsylvania, I knew they had something to do with it. If not, why did they run and not answer any of my fucking calls the whole time I had been looking for Surge?
I cracked the muscles in my neck when I felt that familiar vein protrude and pulsate.
Muffled protests left their mouths when they saw me do that. They had been around me long enough to know what that small gesture meant. My rage was about to overflow.
I looked at Pac and gave him a head nod. He tore the bags away from their heads, and they both gasped for air. I wasn’t that bad, so I gave them a few seconds to get air into their lungs before I asked my question again.
“Where is my brother?”
Silence.
I leaned back in my seat and started chuckling.
These motherfuckers were with my brother every-fucking-day. If you saw Surge, you motherfucking saw those two. And they turned on him!
I walked over to the cabinet where I kept all my toys and took out the nail gun before going to stand in front of them.
“Where is Surge, Popeye?”
Again, silence, and I nodded.
Looking down at his foot, I shot a nail right through it.
“AARRGGGHHH! AARRGGHHH!” he screamed.
“WHERE THE FUCK IS MY BROTHER?” I bellowed, losing my fucking temper.
Sly looked up at me, and his face said it all—he hated my guts. I wondered how the fuck I had missed this shit.
“Who are y’all working for?” I asked and then sent a nail into Popeye’s other foot.
“We don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sly finally answered with a smirk, making me send a nail into his foot too.
After twenty minutes of me using their bodies like I was nailing a board to a wall, they still hadn’t told me shit.
Sighing, I turned to my brothers, wondering what the fuck to do next.
My cell rang, and I took it from my back pocket. It was my pops calling. I knew he wanted to know where his son was too, and I told him that I would find out and let him know.
“Fuck,” I hissed, knowing he was about to wild the fuck out when I told him that I still didn’t know where the fuck my brother was.
“Kill them,” I told Guns before I answered my pops’ call on the way out of the warehouse.
“Well?” was the first thing he asked when I answered.
“Popeye and Sly didn’t tell me anything.”
The line went quiet, but I knew he was still there because I could hear him breathing.
“Wrath, find my motherfucking son before I have to come out of retirement. On God, I will wipe out every-fucking-body!!!” he yelled.
I took in a deep breath before slowly releasing it. “I hear you, Pops.”
He hung up on me, and I pinched the bridge of my nose.
How the fuck did my brother go missing on my watch?
I had been so busy dealing with this new crew and the bitch ass pig who was fucking with us, that I took my eyes off my brothers, and now Surge was fucking missing. Or even worse.
I felt like a fuck up because I thought he was just with a chick laid up somewhere, but when the next day came, and still no word from him, I knew different. I could have been looking for him, but I thought he was good. Now, there was no telling who had my brother or where the fuck he was.
“FUCKKKKK!” I punched the wall and closed my eyes.
Where the fuck are you, Surge?
I took a few seconds to try to calm myself down before I stepped back through the warehouse door just as I heard two gunshots ring out.
As soon as I stepped inside, the crew looked at me.
I eyed Popeye and Sly’s lifeless bodies before I addressed my crew.
“Unless you wanna join Popeye and Sly, go the fuck out there and find my motherfucking brother!! I don’t give a fuck what y’all got to do, find my brother or I’m killing all of y’all! NOW!” I barked my orders, and they scrambled out of the warehouse almost tripping over their own two feet.
Once they were all gone, my brothers walked over to me as the cleanup crew started to remove Popeye and Sly’s bodies.
“What you think?” Guns asked me.
“
That it’s fucked up how Popeye and Sly turned on Surge.”
“Do you think they delivered him to whoever they’re working for?” Legion asked, and I had been wondering the same fucking thing.
Shit!
Where the fuck are you, Surge?
Part IV
Kanada Alton
Two days later
“Mommy, is this our new house?” TJ innocently looked up at me and asked as we stood at the sink brushing our teeth.
“No, baby. It’s not,” I answered speaking about the church I broke into that night to sleep. I knew that God was going to punish me for what I did, but I had no other choice.
That night, the rain started coming down something serious, and the temperature had dropped. There was no way we could have slept the night in my car without heat, and I damn sure wasn’t going on the street to look for money, so breaking into the church was the only thing I could do.
It was warm, and I found some food there too. It wasn’t the ideal thing to be stealing from a church, and all I could do was pray that God would forgive me and didn’t judge me for this.
We continued to wash up, and I put our things in my duffle bag.
“Okay, let’s look for something to eat,” I told TJ and took his hand to lead him out of the restroom.
Thankfully, there was a little fridge inside the small kitchen, and in the cabinets, I found bread rolls—which we had been eating non-stop. It wasn’t the best, but it was better than nothing and better than the junk I was buying us to eat.
I made a detour to the main part of the church that we were sleeping in to put my bag back before I headed for the kitchen.
When I turned to walk out of the sanctuary, I gasped and immediately grabbed TJ to me when I saw a man standing at the door looking at me.
He just stood there staring at me with surprise written all over his face. He was medium height and a little heavy looking, like a slimmer version of Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince of Bel Air—with the same caramel complexion and bald head. Only he had a long, grey goatee.
“Um, Phyllis!” the man suddenly called out, and I took a step back, putting TJ behind me because I had no idea who he was calling.
