The Take

by L. Brown

  “That chick you was fucking had a fat ass,” Reese told Mar.

  “I know, but Destiny is nice,” Mar responded, referring to the one Reese was with. Mar was introduced to Tisha, who was Destiny’s cousin.

  “But that crib smelled like shit!” Reese said, and the two of them shared a laugh.

  “Man, it seemed like the roaches were chilling with us,” Mar said. “Every time I jumped at them, they didn’t even move. They just looked at me like, ‘What’s up, nigga?’” Mar added, and they burst out laughing again.

  Reese’s phone rang. It was his mom calling.

  “Reese, them damn boys just came here looking for you,” Lindell told him. She sounded frantic.

  “Who?” Reese asked, but knew the answer to his own question. He didn’t think it would lead to this, but he knew he had already crossed the line and knew they would retaliate. He just didn’t think they’d involve his mom in this. Lindell told him it was Ghost and his crew.

  “Did they hurt you?”

  “No, just come by here. I’m scared to death,” Lindell emphasized.

  “What did they say?”

  “What do you think they said? They said they’re going to kill you. What have you gotten yourself into, boy?”

  “All right. Calm down, Mom, I’ll be there, okay? What about the footballs and bananas? Do you still have them?” Reese asked, referring to the Percocet and Xanax he’d given her.

  “Boy, these motherfuckers said they’re going to kill your ass. They had guns, and here you are talking about some damn pills!” Lindell snapped. “You got me caught up in your bullshit, boy! They took everything!” she told him.

  “Calm down, Mom. I’m on my way,” Reese told her.

  “Hurry up!” Lindell said before hanging the phone up.

  Reese told Mar everything. They were heated. They knew it was on, but they couldn’t believe Ghost had stooped low enough to involving his mom. He promised himself that he would kill Ghost and everyone who loved him. He was beating himself up about allowing his mom to be dragged into his drama.

  A horn blared as Reese swerved between lanes on Broad Street and stepped on the gas.

  “Mom!” Reese yelled as he walked in her house on Nelson Street. The lights in the house were off. The television was the only source of light, illuminating the living room. The house looked untouched. The usual beer bottles and Chinese food containers were scattered among other things.

  Reese instantly got an eerie feeling, and, by the look on Mar’s face, he could tell he felt the same. He couldn’t believe it had come down to this. It was not enough room on earth for Ghost and Reese to exist together. Someone had to die, and Reese was determined for it to be Ghost. Reese and Mar pulled their burners out and crept through the house.

  “Mom!” Reese called out again.

  He was happy to hear Lindell answer after his second call. For a second, he thought she may have been dead.

  “Boy, I’m up here!” Lindell’s voice traveled from upstairs.

  Reese started up the steps.

  “You want me to stay down here?” Mar asked him, putting his gun back in his waistline.

  “Naw, come on up, so we can see what happened,” Reese told him, tucking his weapon as well.

  The two of them ascended the steps and walked down the hallway to the rear bedroom. “Mom,” Reese called out.

  “I’m in here,” she answered.

  “Are you dressed? Mar is with me.” “Yeah, come in,” Lindell responded.

  When Reese and Mar entered the room, they nearly shitted on themselves. Their reflexes weren’t faster than the guns being pointed at their heads. Schemes and Frog were behind the bedroom door and had the drop on them as soon as they came in the room. Ghost and Reem stood next to Lindell, who was tied to a chair with a pitiful look her face. The game of cat and mouse was finally over. Now, it was do or die.

  Ghost wore a devilish grin.

  “What’s wrong, Reese? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  Reese thought he was dreaming. Well, at least, he hoped he was. But this was far from an illusion. It was a living nightmare. He, Mar, and his mom were all tied up to separate chairs. The three of them lost track of how long they’d been there.

  Reese could tell it was still nighttime because it was still dark outside. He had been in and out of consciousness, so as far as he knew, it could have been the next night.

  He started mumbling something, but it couldn’t be made out because his mouth was gagged. He looked over and saw Mar staring at him. His mom was crying hysterically. He was out of it from the torture he had suffered from Ghost and the others. They had did it all from ripping off nails, cutting off fingers, to burning him with a hot iron. The pain was so excruciating he had passed out several times.

  Reese was happy because it didn’t look like his mom had had a finger laid on her. The three of them had shitted and urinated on themselves, so the room smelled terrible. If it weren’t for anger, there would have been no way Ghost and his team would have been able to stand the smell.

  Mar had dried blood on the side of his face that came from his temple. Though he was staring at Reese, he wasn’t moaning and trying to get loose. As Reese looked closer, he noticed his man wasn’t looking at him after all. He was looking past him. Mar’s eyes had a blank look to them. Those of a dead man.

  Reese started crying and shaking uncontrollably. Inside, he wasn’t sure if he should be mad at his mom for leading him to Ghost or whether he should be guilty for having her dragged into this. He started saying something again, but it couldn’t be made out.

  Ghost untied the gag from his mouth. For some reason, Ghost was dragging out the inevitable. He wanted to return the pain to Reese that he felt when Kia was taken away from him.

  “Please, man. Let her go. She has nothing to do with this,” Reese cried.

  Ghost smacked him so hard that blood flew out his mouth and splattered across Lindell’s face. “She has everything to do with this!” Ghost snapped. He was gone. His temper was at full flare.

  “Motherfucka, you took my wife from me!” Ghost continued. Reese tried to say something, but was smacked in the mouth again. “Shut up, pussy!”

  Schemes and Reem were present, but it was as if they weren’t. The two of them were standing still and allowing Ghost to get his shit off. Reem had tortured Reese for the attempted kidnapping of Toya, but he was ready to get it over with. Frog had left to complete a mission.

  Ghost gagged Reese’s mouth again. He didn’t want to hear anything that he had to say. They all knew Reese was going to die.

  “See, Reese, you made it this way. This never had to come down to this. You just couldn’t let it go, huh?” Ghost said. “Let me tell you something, Reese. There are two types of war. There’s one with rules and laws and another with none. The first is known to man; the other is known to beasts. Which one do you think I am?” Ghost asked before letting out a sinister laugh. “You took my wife from me,” he continued. Reese started saying something again, but it couldn’t be understood. There came another smack as Ghost said, “Now, I want my money back!”

  “Call Frog,” Ghost told Schemes. “It’s time to get this piece-of-shit out of here.”

  Schemes dialed Frog’s number and got him. Frog told him he was on his way back to the house. They sent Frog to get a stolen car, so they could finish things once and for all. Ghost wanted the quarter million back that he’d paid for the ransom.

  The money was nothing compared to what he had, but it was the principle behind it. Reese had taken something from him, and he couldn’t allow that. Schemes and Reem told him he was tripping. Fuck the money, was what they kept telling him, but Ghost insisted on getting back what was his.

  Frog finally got back, and they untied Reese from the chair to take him outside to the car. They tied his hands and legs up and had his gun. Actually, they’d used Reese’s gun to kill his man, Mar.

  Reese squirmed and wiggled to get loose, but to no avail. Re
ese’s mom cried uncontrollably as they dragged her son out the room. Ghost nodded at Frog as they left the room, and Frog stayed behind. A single gunshot echoed off the walls of the house. Lindell became a casualty of war.

  Reese had taken them to his stash. He knew he was going to die, but was trying to delay it as long as possible. He never knew what could happen, so Reese was trying to stay alive as long as they let him.

  Ghost was upset when Reese’s stash came up a little shorter than a hundred grand. He wanted his entire two-fifty back, but he grew tired of the games with Reese.

  Frog drove the car with Reese in the trunk while Reem, Ghost, and Schemes followed in another. Frog was reckless, and they used that to their advantage.

  Together, they drove to Fairmount Park. They were lucky not to get stopped by the police because, at the time of night they were out, there weren’t many other cars on the road. They pulled in the park and parked the cars out of sight. When Reese felt the car come to a stop, he started banging from inside the trunk. He was screaming, but with the gag on, and, inside the trunk, he was wasting his time. No one would hear him.

  The smell of gasoline captivated Reese’s nostrils. He knew he was in trouble once he smelled the gas. The worst way to die was drowning or being burned alive, and Reese was about to experience the latter.

  The crew drowned the entire stolen car with gasoline. They emptied containers of it inside and outside the entire car. Besides Reese’s screams and banging, there was nothing but crickets in the dark park.

  “You do the honors.” Reem handed Ghost a book of matches. They all looked at one another, and Schemes gave Ghost a nod before he struck the match and brought it to life. The flames lit up the night, and they all took a step back subconsciously to avoid the fire, which was ready to erupt.

  Ghost threw the matches. It was as if the match moved in slow motion in the air. The car burst into flames, igniting the night. They stood there for a minute or two watching the car turn into ashes. It was like the weight of the world was being lifted off their shoulders with Reese and Mar gone.

  The smell of burning flesh and metal foully polluted the air. Reese’s cries grew louder and louder until they ceased. He banged on the trunk until the fire claimed his life. He was gone. Fried alive.

  Tomorrow, he would be a star on The First 48.

  EPILOGUE

  ONCE AGAIN, REEF WAS the mastermind behind things. Though he didn’t get his hands dirty, he was the one who came up with the idea to finally get rid of Reese and Mar. The others didn’t think it would work because Lindell was nothing more than a crack head, but Shareef knew better. He knew that using the mother would be the perfect rouse to drive him to them. Now, Reese was gone and Mar had gone with him. Lindell just happened to bear the wrong son. It had cost her life.

  Shareef flew back to Miami. He was scheduled to meet with several investors to set things up for Ghost and Reem to purchase some franchises. The old timer was filthy rich, but, before he left, he was already telling Ghost about another big job he had lined up. Ghost looked at him like he was crazy when he mentioned the job. Ghost insisted that he was done with the game. But taking money wasn’t anything like selling drugs. For some reason, it wasn’t as easy for Ghost to give it up. Maybe it was the adrenaline rush and the fast money.

  “So, baby, how is the wedding planning coming along?” Ghost asked Kia, as he entered the room.

  “Great! You’re going to love it.”

  Kia was looking at magazines and catalogs for wedding planning. The bed was scattered with various catalogs. Ghost shoved some to the side and laid behind his fiancée, who was sitting on the edge of the bed. After wrapping his arms around her waist, he took a deep whiff of her body spray and blew on the side of her stomach, drawing a giggle from Kia.

  “How is my little man in there?” Ghost rubbed her stomach. “I love you, baby. I can’t wait to marry you.”

  “I know, baby. I love you, too. You’re so good to me.”

  Ghost had convinced Shareef to let them get married in his mansion. It wasn’t hard to persuade him to allow them to fly down and get married in his home. He really liked Ghost. He was his friend’s son. Together, they had visited Khalil, Ghost’s father. It was strained at first, but Ghost broke in, and they enjoyed the visit. They promised to help Khalil once he was released, but under one condition: as long as he stopped getting high. Khalil promised he would leave the crack alone for good and get his life together. The visit was the best thing that had happened to him while he was down. Not only did he get to rekindle the relationship with his son and longtime friend, but he, also, had something to look forward to—the take. He was set for the remainder of the bid because they dropped a few grand on his commissary account before they left.

  Ghost gave Kia a hundred-thousand dollar budget for the wedding. She couldn’t believe her man had become a millionaire. And stayed alive while doing it at that. The hundred grand would go a long way because they didn’t need to rent anywhere out since they already had an extravagant place to hold the ceremony.

  Ghost collected the bounty money that was out on Reese and Mar’s head for the counterfeit money. All together it was one hundred and fifty thousand out on Reese’s head, but, once the job was done, Ghost had gotten rid of Reese. Suave gave him the fifty grand plus an extra twenty-five thousand and a brick of coke as well. They loved the way Reese was taken out. They begged Ghost for the details, but he wouldn’t give any. It was his pleasure to get rid of the two men who had caused so much havoc in his life, but he still collected the bounty for the hell of it.

  He gave Kia a hundred grand of the money for the wedding and let the others split the rest. Reem took twenty-five grand, and Frog and Schemes took the same, but the two of them kept the brick of coke as well. Ghost wanted nothing to do with the drugs.

  Generously, Ghost let Frog keep the money that they got from Reese’s stash, which was close to a hundred grand. Though Reem had put up some ransom money for Kia, he didn’t mind letting Frog keep what was retrieved. He needed the money more than the rest of them, and he had put in a lot of work, so it was only right. Schemes was the only one who objected to the stash money being given to Frog. He wanted some, too. He was greedy, but they didn’t give him any of the money. Frog had earned it.

  “Look, baby.” Kia pointed at something in the catalog. “That’s nice,” Ghost said, with only a glimpse at what she was pointing to.

  “You didn’t even look, Kevin!” She playfully hit him.

  “Because I’m too busy looking at you,” Ghost told her.

  He grabbed her and pulled her into the clutches of his arms. He started kissing her passionately, and she invited his move. Buried under his body, she looked into his eyes. She was in love. They had everything. Money, cars, home, and, soon, they would have a child together. But none of it meant anything to her without him. He was all she wanted.

  “Baby,” she whispered. “Please don’t leave me. Promise me again you’re done for good.”

  “I promise,” he told her almost sincerely.

  Then, he thought about the job Shareef told him he was working on. He tried to shake the thought, but the truth was he loved the take.

  Agents Boselli and Graham were stationed outside the address they believed Schemes was hiding out at. They used the phone records to track down the entire crew, and, with some expert FBI work, they found who they were looking for.

  “Do you think he’s in there?” Vito asked.

  “According to our surveillance team, they say he’s in there right now. He was seen going inside not long ago with a duffel bag in his hand.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Vito came alive. “I’d bet I know what’s in the bag.”

  “If I was a betting man, I’d bet with you, not against you.” “Was he alone when he went in?” Vito was ready to make a move.

  “Yeah, according to them he was.”“All right. Let’s go see if we can find out what’s in that bag.” The two of them emerged from the car and crossed t
he street, heading toward the house. Schemes was in for a rude awakening. They climbed the steps cautiously before approaching the door. Vito put his ear to the door to see if he could hear any activity inside while John, the taller of the two, took a peek in the window.

  “Can you see anything?”

  “Nah, nothing.”

  “I can hear someone. Sounds like they’re arguing about something.”

  “Well, let’s join the party,” John said.

  Schemes and Frog went inside a house he had rented under an alias. He knew he was wanted by the feds for, at least, questioning. His lawyer told him the feds wanted to see him for questioning and DNA samples. There was no way Schemes was going to allow that.

  “Ghost really looked out for me with that paper. I needed that.” Frog was as happy as ever. Ghost had broken him off with the money from the stash they took from Reese, and then with some of the ransom that was on Reese’s head and a brick of coke. Schemes got a brick of coke as well and set up a sell to a buyer who had just brought the two bricks.

  Schemes had just completed the transaction and returned to the house where Frog was waiting for him. He had no idea that he was being trailed by the feds the entire time. Even worse, they were outside his door right now.

  Schemes dumped the contents of the bag on the kitchen table. He had sold the kilos for a small twenty-five thousand a piece.

  “Come on and count this shit up so we can split it up,” Frog said, taking a seat at the table.

  “Man, I got rid of the work. We ain’t splitting this. I’ll give you fifteen of it,” Schemes said. He was still upset about Ghost giving Frog the money from Reese’s stash.

  “What?” Frog jumped up from the table.