by S. L. Walker
“Drink?” He asked her. She waved her hand no. “So, how can I help you?” He sat back down in his chair.
“Treach, do you believe in karma?” She crossed her legs and folded her arms over her knees.
“Yeah, why?” He turned his head in curiosity. Lila licked her red lips. “So, what you did to those girls, you don’t think will come back to you?” She antagonized Treach, pushing his buttons a little to see if he would bend before he broke. She wasn’t just looking out for the girls when she told them to kick him when he was weak; she was waiting like a vulture to pick at the leftovers. And Treach was the meal.
Catching on, Treach scowled. “I think you need to stay in your place and worry about supplying Reggie with what he needs to make us all successful.”
Lila chuckled. Reggie was already being handled in her eyes. She had sent Kaitlin over to him early this morning. Something Reggie had been wanted. Treach stood up, trying to mask his nervousness. He wasn’t quite sure what Lila wanted or why she cared so much about his Karma.
“All I am saying is, this better not fall back with my name on it, too,” Lila told him more serious. Her involvement with Treach was only drugs and maybe supplying a girl or two. She didn’t want any parts of human trafficking.
He pulled out a little bit of his coke supply and spread it on a small pan.
“Want some?” e offered. She shook her head in disappointment.
“I didn’t know you lifted off your own,” she grinned.
“I can lift off whatever the fuck I want. It’s mine,” he copped an attitude and then snorted a small line, returning it back to his cabinet. Rolling her eyes, Lila uncrossed her legs. “Don’t worry, this ain’t coming back on nobody. Cash is solid,” he told her, wiping his nose and plopping back into his chair. “Anything else?” He asked her, wanting to dismiss her now before she pissed him off any further.
Suddenly, Reggie burst into the room.
“I knew that was your Benz outside! I been trying to call you!” He said, yelling at Lila. He looked different. Lila had cut his dreads and changed him into slacks and a dress shirt. He still kept the flashy jewelry and gold teeth, but he at least looked a little decent and it made a world of a difference.
Lila stood up.“What is it?”
“First off, I need a couple more girls. Niggas is on it, no doubt, but I ain’t got enough to satisfy everybody. And secondly, take that bitch Kaitlin back with her snobby ass. She don’t even like fucking,” he walked all the way in the room, catching all the attention. Lila couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“What is she doing?” Lila acted unknowingly.
“She got an attitude! Always calling me out my name and shit! Bit me when I wanted a blow job this morning! I had to get another bitch to do it! What the fuck is the point of her being my head bitch and I ain’t getting no head!” Reggie complained. Reggie was a complete sucker in Lila’s eyes. A little boy. He knew nothing about women and Lila knew that Kaitlin was doing it all on purpose.
“Fine, give me a couple weeks and I will have you a new head chick and a couple more for your greedy little friends,” Lila barked back at him. “For now, you will deal with Kaitlin. I’ll talk to her.”
Reggie wanted to argue with her but didn’t. He was pissed the girl he wanted wasn’t doing what he wanted her to do. Maybe I should just beat her ass? He contemplated hard, but the fierceness in Lila scared him, although he would never admit it. He knew if he laid a finger on Kaitlin like that he’d be pulled to pieces. He respected Lila’s hustle and she did come through the way she said she would. He had his own five bedroom spot, decked out with everything he needed, four fine ass girls, money, food, guns, drugs, and security. He couldn’t ask for a better setup for his life.
“Cool, all good,” he backed off. Treach watched always impressed with Lila’s authority, even a bit intimidated.
Lila turned back to Treach. “I guess you can finish what I interrupted.”
$$$$
Zara hated how much time had passed when her plane finally landed. She instantly turned her phone on and dialed Treach while she pushed through people to get off the plane.
“Cocoooooo,” Treach was high out of his mind. Not tripping off DJ and Deon over the hours, he decided to get high to calm the nerves that Lila rattled. West tried to get him to finish them off so they could finish packing and leave, but Treach only cursed at West telling him to go pack if he was so much in a hurry. West ended up leaving to get his shit together.
“I’m coming!” She told Treach. “I want to see them!”
“Hahahahaha! Come on then, bitch!” Treach hung up the phone and yelled for West, forgetting that he made him leave. “West!! West!!”
He then giggled to himself, realizing he was alone. He was sweaty and his eyes were bloodshot as he hopped up from his chair to prepare for Zara’s arrival.
Zara hopped in the first cab she could find and hightailed it to her house. She then went into her gun vault and snatched up as many guns as she could stick in her pants, socks, and jacket. She rushed to her Mercedes and hustled to Treach’s warehouse, without a plan.
“Treach!” She banged on the front of the warehouse door. She knew she was asking to get blown away by being so forward, but the two nines in her hand, Mag Pistol in her sock, and two Ruger SR9s in both sides of her jeans gave her more balls than any man. She banged on the door again.
“Who you? The police?” She heard a gun click behind the back of her head. “Put your pistols down,” West curled his lip.
“Don’t shoot,” she told him stiffly, squatting down as she laid both her guns on the ground and stood back up. “I’m Coco. Treach is expecting me.”
“Expectin’ you huh? Wit two guns? Psh,” he pushed her towards the front door. “Go,” he opened the front door and pushed her in, guiding her to the front office. Zara slowly walked and looked around, trying to see if any of the girls were there.
“Raven!” She screamed, hoping that they could hear her, even if she was only able to let out one good yell.
“Shut the fuck up!” West hit her up side the head, causing her to fall out. “Awe fuck!” He bent over and checked to see if she was breathing. He felt a pulse in her wrist. He picked her up and walked her into the office. Treach was sleep, laid out on his back with two guns in his hand.
“This nigga. Treach!” West yelled at him, causing Treach to jerk up and wipe drool off his mouth.
“Man, where was you, I was calling you,” Treach stood up and finally noticed Zara knocked out in West’s arms. “You kill her?!” He scurried over to them. West sat her down in the chair and watched her body slump backwards.
“Naw, knocked her out on accident. She came here to off you,” West told him.
“Ooooooooooh, these bitches!” Treach stomped his feet furiously. “Is all our shit packed up?!” He asked West.
“For the most part. Waiting on one more nigga to finish a drop,” West told him.
“I told you it didn’t matter how much they had left, we’d get it off ourselves. Fuck. Go get the rest of the drop so we can cut. Now that we got her, we can handle them fools in the basement and be good,” Treach was coming off his high and thinking more clearly again.
“Aight, bet,” West told him, leaving. Treach then felt all over Zara for weapons, pulling off the rest of the pieces she had.
“This bitch came for war,” he laughed to himself, angrily. “Not today, bitch,” he tapped her face with his hands. He then pulled out her Hello Kitty wallet and opened it. She had about $50 in cash on her, ID, couple credit cards and school ID. He then tucked it in his back pocket, making a mental note to get rid of it. Then he called Cash.
“What?” Cash answered, irritated. He never liked talking more than he should after a transaction. And he could only wonder why Treach was calling him.
“You down to take one more? Latina maybe, fair skinned, pretty lips and long hair. She cute,” Treach described.
“How much?” Cash asked.
“$7000, She is…” He looked at her ID again, “Sixteen.”
“Ahhh, Bien. I will send one of my men to your warehouse. I am trying to finish this deal for the other four. Have her ready. No cuts or bruises this time,” Cash said and hung up.
CHAPTER 42
Officer Daniels and Officer Sheranton sat down in front of Jack and gave him a cigarette in the questioning room. They waited patiently for Jack to answer.
“What was the question again?” He acted dumb. He had been going around in circles for two hours with them
Officer Sheranton sighed, “Is Treach into trafficking? We already know he does drugs, we’ve put him away for plenty. Does he have anything to do with those little girls missing right now?”
“What little girls?” Jack laughed. Why would little girls have anything to do with me?
Officer Daniels was becoming impatient and now more than ever, felt like Jack knew something.
“These little girls!” She threw the same pictures of the girls she showed him when he had first sat down. Jack looked over the pictures again recognizing every single innocent face, even the green eyes. HIs heart grew heavy at the face that was the hands of his friends death, but he knew he couldn’t say anything, not without prosecuting himself.
“You know we can get you 50 years in jail just for knowing about these girls, right? Twenty-five years for drug possession, and let’s not talk about Life for your little dead friend,” Officer Daniels added.
Jack puffed on his cigarette hard.
“I told you I didn’t have nothing to do with none of that,” he added.
“Actually, you ain’t told us shit!” Officer Sheranton reminded him.
“We have drugs and a body in your house. What does that look like?” Office Daniels spoke up.
“Now, if it wasn't you then who was it,” Officer Sheranton leaned on the table looking into Jacks’ nervous eyes about to crack. “Life? Or Go Home?”
$$$$
Cash called Treach back and asked for a picture of Zara. He said that the Jamaicans were offering more and would offer a pretty penny for her, too, they just wanted to know what she looked like.
“Bet. Hold on,” Treach slapped Zara around, lightly to wake her.
“Whaaa…ugh!” She woke up and held the back of her soar head. She noticed Treach right away and darted out of the chair.
“Ah ah ah!” Treach pointed her own gun at her. “Sit back down.”
She put her hands up and slowly returned back to the seat.
“What are you doing?” She asked, fearfully.
“Say cheese,” he snapped a picture and texted it over to Cash.
“What’s that for?” Zara asked, startled.
“Shut up,” Treach snapped at her.
Cash got the picture and frowned. Zara looked familiar but he wasn't sure where he had seen her before.
“Ellaaaaa, she look familiar to you?” He asked his two main men. They shook their head no. Cash squinted at the picture some more. He knew he had seen this girl, but right now, money was the only thing he was seeing.
$$$$
Zara’s dad had paid big money to take the fastest private jet out to get to Baltimore. Molly had told him everything and him and Tito were flying back ready to whoop ass. He already knew she was going to try and find Treach and had taken at least six shots of tequila to calm his nerves on the plane.
“Calm down, boss, you want to make sure your mind is clear when we confront them,” Tito warned him.
“If he touches my baby, Tito, I am going to kill him,” he said with rage in his eyes. He knew this was his fault and the guilt overwhelmed him. Treach didn’t know who she was, but maybe if she told him who she was he’d back off. But by now, if she did go to Treach, he should have phoned him. He had called Treach’s number a thousand times and he never picked up. Treach never ignored his call. Him calling meant money for Treach. So what was really going on? He picked up and dialed again from the plane.
$$$$
Treach noticed Manuel calling again, he had even left several voicemails but Treach denied it, chalking it up to him wanting to talk business. Treach was done with business. He was getting out of town. All the money and drugs were already packed or being collected by West. He sparked up a blunt, puffed on it and blew it out, making it flow into Zara’s face.
Nine and West both walked in at the same time. Nine was shocked to see Zara there, tied up.
“Who is this?” He asked, handing Treach a duffle bag of money and drugs.
“Another transaction,” Treach simply stated. West also put a duffle bag on the desk. “I am waiting on Cash’s man to come get her. Is it all counted for?”
“Yeah, all of it,” Nine told him.
“You packed?” Treach needed them ready.
“As I can ever be,” Nine said. “We should move now, though, I heard on the news they think they have suspects. Just didn’t name anyone, yet.”
“What you wanna do with Deon and DJ?” West reminded him.
“Let’s do it,” Treach started for the door.
“Do what? Whats up with DJ?” Nine asked, confused.
“Nigga, DJ gotta go,” West answered for him. Nine rolled his eyes at West and turned his original question back to Treach.
“He soft, bruh. He ain’t gone last with me nomore. He tied up wit Deon,” Treach admitted.
“Naw, naw, we not just gone kill DJ over no bullshit ass assumption. That’s your man, Treach!” Nine was mortified. If he was so quick to kill DJ over nothing, then what would he do to him?
$$$$
Zara’s dad and his best men Tito, Casey and Bandit cased Treach’s old warehouse in their unmarked black Ford Raptor Pick Up Truck. He sat sternly in the drivers seat and Tito in the passenger loading his two shotguns. Casey and Bandit sat in the back of the truck also getting their own guns ready.
“You sure this is it?” He asked Tito. The eyes that Tito had on Treach’s establishment hadn't relayed where Treach’s new spot sat yet. The warehouse looked deserted with only a few busted cars in the lot.
Tito had many skills and served many purposes to Manuel. This was one of them. The only thing about Tito is he could be trigger happy and Manuel did not want anyone killing Treach until he was sure his daughter was with him.
“Si, how you want to do this?” He finished loading the last gun and locked it. Suddenly, Tito’s phone beeped. He read the text and Manuel noticed the look on his face wasn’t happy.
“What?” He asked him.
“The four girls were sold to Cash and one more was just taken on the way to Miami now. I’m calling Cash,” he instantly dialed Cash number. No answer. He dialed again. No answer. He gave Manuel a worried look that told Manuel all he needed to know.
EVA
“I can’t stay in these stupid heels any longer,” I cried, kicking my six inch heels off my feet, causing them to hit the pale green painted walls. Cash had us locked away in one big room in one of his houses. Although, the room was cozy, it felt nothing more than a prison.
“I told you to take that shit off,” Raven sighed. We had all been sitting around for the last hour planning our escape. Victoria was flipping through channels over and over on the TV, sitting on Cash’s plush velvet sofa and Angel had cried herself to sleep. Raven stood, pacing back and forth. She had walked over to the barred windows a thousand times.
“It’s so creepy. This must be where he takes all the girls he kidnaps,” I said, with chills up my spine. Raven ignored me and searched around for something. “What are you looking for?”
“A card, or something card like. Hard and thin, to pry the door lock with,” she looked in an empty dresser drawer and then a small book case that only held old dusty books.
“Vee, come on now, you think he would have that shit just laying around,” I plopped on the bed next to Angel.
“Wel,l I don’t see you doing shit!” Raven yelled at me.
“Chill you two, seriously,” Victoria sna
pped, turning around on the small sofa couch at us.
“Can we please put our heads together and get the fuck out of here? When that fucker comes back, he’s coming back to take us away. They might even be coming here. What if they separate us?!” Raven was wild eyed and fearful. I had never seen her like that before. All of a sudden I couldn’t breathe and my life flashed before my eyes. She was right. It seemed as if Victoria thought the same thing because she stood up from the couch and joined us.
“Eva!” Tori yelled, startling me. “What’s your hair held up with?” She rushed over to me and started digging into my bun that Lila fixed my hair in. It wasn’t as pretty as it was at first, in fact it was pretty messy and barely hanging together. “Wallah! Good ol’ Lila!” Victoria grinned and opened her hand revealing three bobby pins.
“Give them to me!” Raven grew excited, snatching them from Victoria and wasting no time darting to the bedroom door.
“Wait, you’re gonna pick the lock-” I asked, but Victoria shushed me. We watched Raven, like a natural, bend two of the bobby pins and work around in the lock.
“Tori, come turn the knob for me,” she told Victoria with her two hands occupied. Tori glided over and turned the knob but it didn’t budge.
“And…one more time,” Raven told her, biting her lip in concentration.
CLICK.
Victoria turned the knob and slightly opened the door.
“Oh shit,” I whispered. I hurried over to Angel and woke her out of her sleep.
“Huh? What is it?” She said groggy. She had been in a deep, much needed sleep and forgot where she was again.
“Angel, let’s go, we’re getting out of here,” I whispered.
“What? How?” She stood up and lowered herself off the bed.
“No, leave em off,” I grabbed her arm as she was about to put back on her heels. I watched Raven open the door very slowly, peeking her eyes before her head. I could hear all of our hearts pounding, afraid that someone had to be guarding the door. She then opened it further to peak her head out and looked left and right.