Who Shot Ya Box Set

by Renta

  “Out of every nigga, you coulda fucked, Six, why a cat I thug with—huh? You helped kill a nigga I would give my spine for—you-you—” Unexpectedly, he busted out laughing, then the dam broke and allowed his pride to melt into liquid that burned down his face.

  I stared at him confused like, ‘what the fuck’? My expression only seemed to inflame his laughter.

  Assata leaned down so that we were face to face. “You played a nigga so good, I became the exact typa nigga I despise, a sucka!” He laughed harder and louder. “Crazy part ‘bout it, shawty, I really gave a fuck about your filthy ass!” He had the speed of a striking cobra when he struck me across my face with the butt of the pistol. My world tilted, as blood poured from my left eyebrow. He must enjoy that S&M shit because again he grabbed a handful of my hair.

  “Urrruugggh,” I screamed, as he yanked me to my feet and crashed the tip of the gun through my teeth. Death has to be better I think to myself!

  “Fuck, is he at, huh? Bitch if you lie, you’ll die for days—I’ll murk your slut ass—revive you—then kill you again! On gang,” Assata shouted.

  Blood leaked from my mouth as everything blinked in and out like a picture show. The only thing that held me up is the hair he clinched so tightly in his hand.

  “Answer me,” he exploded—then—his face went slack. Suspicion set aflame in his eyes as they searched mine, no doubt finally putting the pieces together. Assata let me go and gravity pulled me back to the ground hard. As rain fell from my eyes, my mind couldn’t conjure up any rational reason why I was still breathing.

  “Kill me—” I whispered, as he rushed into his clothes. As Assata headed for the door, he didn’t even look back as he said—

  “You’re already dead, Six.” Then he disappeared into the night.

  Chapter Two

  He had perspiration leaking into his eyes as he ran blindly through the dark woods. The underbrush was dense, with every stride escape seemed more and more unattainable. Many welts and scratches canvased his young flesh from his face on down to his legs as vines and withers showed no mercy to his ambition to get away. Yet, he pushed forward, something with a thirst for his blood—something sinister and dark, stalked him relentlessly. His reality and nightmare was separated by a mere tear of consciousness flickering between the two like a slide show.

  Moments of familiarity—Belle’s face—him and Nutz as kids—a feeling of boarding a plane—voices—but what never changed no matter the scene, were the woods—and the feeling of being pursued. So, he ran and ran like his life depended on it! Unexpectantly, he cleared the woods only to find himself ankle deep in muddy water—a swamp! The bare trees scattered into the night, erected from tainted water that was stained with patches of grass and thick green algae. He paused for vital moments—breathless. His eyes scanned the darkness from the perpetual swamp to the direction that death. While in high pursuit, dread consumed him.

  It was either plunge forward through the unknown or await whatever fate was sure to come from behind. “Decisions—decisions,” An evil child-like voice said, giggling in his head.

  A sudden movement in the darkness forced his hand and without further thought, he stepped further into the icy water.

  “Berg,” a familiar voice sang sweetly to him. He knew the voice, but there was no way possible it could be rational. “Beerrg—heeelllp meee!” The voice followed him.

  Ice-Berg forced his way through the sludge. It seemed as if he was sinking in the thick mud. Then something or someone, entered the water behind him and with a quick glance, he tried to see through the darkness and the fog that had somehow become so thick, all he could make out were silhouettes and shadows dancing under the pale moonlight. Still, he knew it was out there and coming straight for him.

  “Why, brother?” The voice whispered in his ear.

  As he became startled from its proximity, he snapped his head forward, that’s when reality lost its battle with the nightmare. Tisha, his sister, materialized before him with a demonic smile contradicting the love in her eyes. Blood and brain matter stained the heavenly white dress their mother laid her to rest in, and a patch of her skull was missing where the bullet he’d taken her life with entered and exited.

  “What, aren’t you happy to see your baby sister?” She sang stretching her arms out to hug him.

  Ice-Berg was so terrified, he backed pedaled in an attempt to put distance between them. But in his haste, he didn’t notice the numerous snakes slithering at his feet. He fell backward into the cold water and instantly dark arms pulled him under. He was suffocating, his lungs were filled with putrid water. As he attempted to claw his way to the surface, he couldn’t understand how the water, he stood in had become so deep. Finally, breaking surface he tried to regurgitate the nasty water that felt like worms in his stomach.

  The sky had turned an evil purple and as his eyes found Tisha’s. Time tumbled backward as maggots crawled out of her mouth and she tried to force words that sounded like a cult chant. Involuntary, he screamed as mud-slicked hands snatched him back under the blackness. He fought and screamed until he broke surface again. Ice-Berg swung with all of his might in an effort to battle what he couldn’t win against.

  ***

  “Ice-Berg,” a feminine voice called to me.

  In my insanity, I didn’t notice that the voice no longer belonged to my deceased sister. All I knew was that evil was here for me in the form of one of my greatest regret. A pair of strange hands held me but failed to restrain my left arm. I swung as hard as I could with a yearning to save myself from the unknown.

  “Fuck—the fucker just sucker punched me!” A gruff voice declared in agony.

  The sudden outburst caused me to pause and crack my eyes open. Four, maybe five unfamiliar faces stared down at me. A sudden bright light shined into my eyes causing me to squint, as slender fingers probed my face. My right eye was forced open as exhaustion fell over me almost immediately. I had no more energy left in me, so I merely observed, as whoever these strangers was assessed me. The light clicked off and through the haze of my mind, I tried to recall the events that led up to me being in this strange place. From somewhere above the haze, a blinding pain surged through me, my shoulder and stomach was being probed and the pain was excruciating. Yet, I had no energy to cry out.

  “How is he, doc?” A feminine voice penetrated the cloud of darkness.

  The answer to that million-dollar question was lost as the murky waters pulled me back under, but this time I surrendered to its embrace without a fight. The last thing I see before my lights dim to total blackness was Belle’s face.

  ***

  ~Jazzy~

  I stood perfectly still perfectly still, as chills crawled up and down my spine. “Why, Gus—why Shy? I—I thought y’all were brothers, D.B.D remember?” I still held onto the phone as I slowly turned around to face a man, I once respected—a man, I once embraced as family—my brother’s killer.

  He stood in the doorway with a black pistol aimed at me, but from the look in his eyes, I saw the confliction—the uncertainty. This man had a hand in raising me. He’d watched me grow from a girl to a woman. But now that the cat was out the bag, I wondered how much weight history would carry, when the nigga’s secrets could end his days in the form of either the chain gang or a bullet with his name on it placed in the equation. A storm of memories reflected in his eyes in tears that refused to fall.

  He replied with a sad smile. “Brothers,” he whispered. “You shoulda left well enough alone, Jazz. Shoulda just stayed in Cali—the dead needs no company, lil’ sis. Now look,” Gusto shrugged his shoulders like I made him do this. “You’ve put me in a compromising position, fam—D.B.D. I took that shit literally, Jazz—I loved my niggaz from a cold heart,” He pounded his chest with his free hand. “I’ve killed and bled for them niggaz, how did they repay me?” Gusto stepped closer to me.

  I could smell the hint of black and mild on his breath as he looked me dead in my eyes. “Listen close, lil�
�� sis, this tale I’m ‘bout to give you is the reason I had to smoke one of the dearest nigga’s to me—your brother—it’s also the reason, you’ll have to be buried next to him.”

  ***

  ~Ice-Berg~

  Flashbacks

  Belle screamed as I squeezed round for round from the Glock .40. Life and death was being determined in that room, as the short burst from their guns sprayed the bed. I dropped to the floor still blastin’ this mu’fucka right before the lights went out. My room was a war zone as gunfire illuminated the darkness. I heard one less gun as something heavy fell to the floor. One down—two more to go. I rolled myself against the wall away from their aim, they’re out of their element.

  Click—click— “Fuck!” I screamed, as two things placed the odds back into their favor. First, I’m outta bullets—secondly, pain exploded everywhere!

  I didn’t know how many times I was hit, but I did know it was the worse feeling I had ever felt. A sudden chill blew through the room—not the typa breeze that came from wind sneaking through an open window, but the typa cold that came from something like those steel cabinets at the morgue that they kept the bodies in to stop them from decomposing quickly. Suddenly, words were spoken from the darkness that sent chills down my spine.

  “La Santisma Muerte chu are great and merciful. You protected me from evil and accepted me without judgment. Oh, holy death, accept this right of blood offering as my sacrifice to you—” I heard Belle praying to Santa Muerte, who is a saint. I learned that drug cartels and men that accept death as a gift rather than the end prayed to.

  “What the fuck!”

  “He’s dreaming again,” I heard someone say from somewhere far away.

  “Belle,” I moaned but there was no answer.

  Yet, I felt something sticky, thick, and warm splash on my body. I wanted to wipe it away, I wanted to get up, but I just couldn’t muster the energy to do so. Yet, I could still make out the sultry voice of the woman, unfortunately, she was speaking in another language. The only words I could make out were puzzles within a bigger enigma. Dragons blood, reapers blood, valerian root, and vandal root. Along with something about The Leviathan!

  “Fuck, Leviathan,” I repeated in my head.

  I knew that word, but what was it? Then it hit me, The Leviathan. It was in the Bible! A sea monster, a serpent. In Satanism, it was a demon of the fire which could be controlled by the witch or warlock and brought into the world to fuck shit up!

  ***

  ~Jazzy~

  “You ask me how I could kill our brother? He killed me first,” Gus spat.

  The pain registered on his face showed how much he hated himself for how shit turned out. But the betrayal he felt wouldn’t allow him to see beyond what he couldn’t change. He couldn’t see that the ending result was just as much his fault as it was theirs. No one forced his dick into that woman. I honestly, didn’t understand what would be the purpose of intentionally giving him the virus? Yet, a confused mind was one of the most complicated to convince and that was one of the main reasons I knew, I was about to die. Maybe unconsciously, I had prepared for it since the day we buried Shy because I felt no fear—only anger. Heat bubbled inside of me and before I could control myself, I slapped him.

  Gusto laughed menacingly as he grabbed my hand and snatched the phone from it.

  “You know Assata gonna murder you, right? You’re a fake nigga, Gus—you killed your own dawg cause you couldn’t control your dick! My brother loved your hoe ass and you killed him! You could kill everybody you know. In the end, you’ll still be dying,” I hissed.

  His face contorted into an evil smile, that one could tell was strained. “See, Jazz, I’ve always respected your, ‘G’. You’re not afraid to speak your mind regardless of the situation, but lil’ sis we must all die one day. Who we meet up with in the afterlife matters not. God or the Devil—Assata? Gusto placed the phone in his pocket and made the tip of the Glock kiss my forehead. “He’ll now know what it feels like to live hanging off of the edge of life. He will die daily just as I am dying,” he said with a look of satisfaction.

  In confusion, I ask for clarification. “What do you mean?”

  Gusto laughed and replied. “I mean exactly what I said, Assata is somewhere not controlling his dick as you say. As we speak he’s dying and enjoying it!”

  ***

  ~Six~

  ‘Dying wasn’t nothing like I expected,’ I thought as I laid in this cold tub and allowed my life’s blood to spill from the slits on both of my wrists.

  I had prayed and inscribed a letter to my parents as well as to Assata. I wanted them to know that this wasn’t their fault. The words I wrote to Assata played in my mind, as my life drifted away with each drop of blood.

  My Baby,

  It took me twenty-eight years to truly understand, that love can’t be taught by reading a book. Our story started so beautifully, Satta—the good girl and the beast. I can apologize for crossing you until the last drop of my blood splashes against this floor but being the type of man that you are. Your heart will only understand what would take a lifetime to show. Baby, we both know that in this lifetime that’s not possible. So, I’ve decided to try in the next life. Hopefully, we meet there one day. I never meant for shit to get so blurry, bae, but I guess when the good girl falls for the beast, she never anticipates one moment to the next. I love you, Satta.

  Maybe, one day you’ll be able to see that the only reason, I ever went against the grain is because that love I harbor for you is tainted when it is not reciprocated. A woman loves deep, Satta. She loves deep enough to kill for you, deep enough to kill you, and at times deep enough to kill herself! I’ve done all three in the name of loving you, baby. Although, it may sound crazy to many, to the ones that love that deep it’s perfectly sane. Lol! It’s the true meaning of loving someone to death. No—I’m not crazy, bae just the good girl, who fell deeply for the beast. In the end—I just want you to remember the conversation we had by the lake before shit got crazy?

  The answer is, Yes, Assata I believe in destiny. Yes, I believe in love! I do and as I conclude this letter, I want you to always remember. Even though a man creates his own destiny, that same destiny can be altered when he begins to believe in the things he once didn’t. Be happy, baby, but never forget yo’ rida, signed in blood.

  Your lady, Six

  ***

  ~Jazzy~

  ‘Dying—enjoying it?’ In my mind, I was thinking what the fuck was this nigga talking about? I assumed the confused look on my face was evident because the nigga seemed amused. My mind was running wild, out of nowhere my heart began to ache. My hand shot to my chest, it felt like I was having a heart attack. Maybe Gusto felt as though, I was finally realizing that death is certain, or maybe he was just ready to get it over with. Resolve etched into his facial, as he made that sad smile again and told me it wasn’t personal.

  “Send my love to Shy, fam. Tell him we’re even,” he said, as he pulled the trigger.

  Boom—boom—boom—

  The tool burped in his hand. I felt no pain, as I fell to the floor. My head hit something sharp as my world tilted. I didn’t know how many times I was hit but I did know, it was the worst feeling I had ever felt. Then there was a deadly silence. Yet, even in death I still couldn’t shake the feeling of emptiness, and right as my light dimmed, it hit me! Something happened to Assata!

  ***

  ~Assata~

  I mashed the pedal to the floor as I gunned the whip to get to Jazzy before everything I love was taken away from me for sins I was innocent of! All this time this nigga has had them alphabets. I honestly, didn’t know how the fuck he got ‘em. It honestly, never mattered to me cause that was my dawg! Yet, the shit Six just dropped was some deep shit. I didn’t eighty-six the punk hoe, cause I got love for the woman. I’m a man that has seen the craziest shit in life, and when it comes to women, I had always understood what the heart of one contains.

  A woman loves deep and is
just as vindictive when she’s hurt. Women are emotional creatures that will do whatever it takes to make her man feel the way he makes her feel. I tapped the break slightly, then I came off Loop 288 at a suicidal 80mph. Something out the corner of my eye caused me to glance at the car pulling up beside me. Doing almost a 100mph shouldn’t nobody be moving at the same pace unless they were following or chasing me. Shit! I swerved into the next lane as a masked gunman let loose with what seemed to be a Mini .14.

  My window shattered, but if I was hit I couldn’t tell. Like magic, the burna was in my hand and the clip hangin’ out that bitch was a full thirty rounds that made me feel like I could shoot all day. If I was ‘bout to meet the reaper, I was coming with company. A burst of rounds swiss cheesed the side of my shit, I eased up on the gas, so I could work this bitch efficiently. Fuck duckin’ down in the seat trying to hide from death. I had one hand on the grain and the other I used to finger fuck the tool. I took my eyes off the road for just a blink, I glanced at my attackers, niggas hung out of a black on black GMC with blue bandannas covering their face. Fuck! Slugs jumped out the side of the P.89 as I went head-on with death.

  I musta rocked the right mu’fucka cause the SUV swung quickly in my lane. I stumped down on the break to prevent colliding with it. It veered off somewhere, I couldn’t tell because I was fishtailed and that was all she wrote. All I remembered was the feeling of the whip flipping so many times I lost count, but I do remember the stillness after it landed on the roof. I remembered the dizziness, the blood, but most of all, I remembered someone pulled me from the car.