by Mikal Malone
We were halfway to our target, preparing to knock the door down when the apartment doors before #745 opened and two men with ski masks started firing at us. Suddenly all you heard was sporadic pops as bullets fired both ways crashing into walls over our heads and the windows.
“Get the fuck out of here, Mercedes!” 88 yelled as I continued to bust my gun. “I’m not fucking around! MOVE NOW!”
POP! POP! POP!
“NO, I’M NOT LEAVING YOU!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.
“BITCH, get the fuck out of here! This shit is serious!” He yelled louder. “GOOOO NOW! We being ambushed!”
Before I could refuse Yvette snatched me and whisked me back into the stairwell and down the staircase. When we heard a suspicious noise on one of the floors above us, we ran through the doors unto the 5th floor and took the elevator upward. I leaned against her body, barely able to catch my breath. I felt light headed but I didn’t know why. It felt like I was observing someone else’s life.
Except when I glanced in the reflection of the elevator door this person had my face on it.
In under a minute we were off the elevator and back in our apartment. The moment the door opened Rocky and Dukes rushed toward me, their eyes wide with what looked like fear.
But Yvette put her hand out for them to stand back.
What was going on?
Why was everyone looking at me like I was crazy?
Yvette locked the door and ran through the apartment with her gun drawn. She was being cautious since we left Dukes and Rocky there alone with Ryan who was still sleeping peacefully in his playpen. There was nothing we cared about in there to steal, but since we didn’t truly know them, what was stopping them from sneaking someone in there to infiltrate us while we were gone?
When she came back she sat her gun on the table and moved toward me slowly. She took a deep breath, grabbed both of my hands and looked into my eyes. The moment she did I laid into her.
“Why the fuck you pull me out of the hallway? We weren’t supposed to leave without Carissa. Remember? And what if something happens to 88! I will never forgive you.” I yelled. “You getting soft, Yvette? Is that why you pulled me out? Since when do we leave a war?”
She took another deep breath. “Mercedes…look at your arm. You’ve been…you’ve been…”
“What?” I yelled.
“Look at your FUCKING ARM!” she said louder.
Slowly I followed her gaze and when I saw my arm, and the huge gash of flesh hanging I noticed I was shot. “Oh my, God! I…I…been hit!”
“Get over here and clean her up!” Yvette yelled at Rocky. She must didn’t move fast enough because she screamed louder. “I SAID GET THE FUCK OVER HERE AND HELP MY FRIEND!”
Quickly, Rocky rushed toward me and hustled me to my room. “Are you in any pain?” She asked as Dukes rushed into the room and ran water in the bathroom sink. I couldn’t speak as she led me to the edge of the bed where I sat down, watching the blood pour over my light skin.
Was this a horror movie or my life?
“I’m…I’m gonna…die ain’t I? This…this is it?”
“Do you feel any pain, Mercedes?” Rocky asked as Dukes rushed back out with a bucket of warm water and a clean washcloth.
“No…I…I don’t understand what’s—”
Suddenly I felt dizzy and the room seemed to spin. I couldn’t understand what was happening. I saw the hole in my arm but where was the pain? Why hadn’t I…
And then it hit me.
All at once.
A blinding searing pain that felt like a ton of hot coals had been dropped on my skin. The feeling was intense and my arm suddenly felt heavy and numb. I could no longer breathe.
I passed out.
YVETTE
I checked on Mercedes who was lying down on the bed, the bullet wound being tended to by Rocky. For the moment Mercedes eyes were closed and she looked peaceful and I hoped she would stay that way. “How is she…how is she…” the words got trapped in my throat.
“I used some needle and thread to stitch her up,” Rocky said as she continued to care for Mercedes. “But she lost a lot of blood. We need to take her to a hospital.”
“I’m gonna be straight with you, she ain’t Fresh. If she dies you might as well kill yourself too. Her death is not an option for me. Do you understand?”
“Ye…yes, Yvette.” She swallowed the lump forming in her throat.
I left the bedroom and entered the living room. The moment I closed the door 88 was fighting me to get back to see her but I knew it would be best if she got rest.
“Not right now, 88,” I said softly, understanding how he felt. Their love affair may have been short and secret but I have loved her for most of my life. She was my sister and I was doing my best to keep my emotions at bay. “Let Rocky and them get her together. It’s best if we stay out of the way so they have room to work.”
He sighed. “But is she gonna…is she gonna…”
“She’s gonna be fine, 88,” I said taking a deep breath, trying to believe myself too. “But you have to let her get some rest. The last thing they need is nervous energy around the situation.”
“FUCK! Why didn’t she listen to me? I said not to go and she went anyway!”
“You doing all of this ain’t helping right now,” I said to him. “Put that anger in the right place, 88. Let’s focus on getting these niggas back, whoever they are. Now ain’t the time for misplaced rage.”
He nodded but I could tell his heart was hurting. He followed me as I walked deeper into the living room to get the update on what we needed to do next. After all of this we were sure of two things, number one, we were definitely being hunted and secondly they had more firepower than we did.
I walked up to Vance, Scott and Heavy who were waiting on my word. “So what now, boss?” Vance asked.
“First, I don’t want anybody to tell Lil C what happened to his mother before I do. He can’t be here right now and I don’t want him concerned about something he can’t change.” I took another deep breath, while trying to push the idea of losing another one of my best friends out of my mind.
“No problem,” Vance said although Scott looked away from me guiltily. “I’m not saying a word.”
I knew instantly he called Lil C already and could only imagine what Lil C was going through in the moment. “Please say you didn’t call C…”
“I’m sorry…he told me to keep him informed and I couldn’t lie to him,” Scott continued.
“FUCK!” I yelled.
“So what we gonna do?” Vance asked.
“I need more power,” I said. “We can’t measure up to the muscle they bringing.”
“If you not terribly mad at me for calling C and not opposed to dealing with non conforming type niggas, I have just the men for the job.”
“But how they gonna get here?” I asked. “The roads are still not plowed. We in a fucking ice tomb right now.”
“Luckily for us they live in the building over. Trust me, they’ll get here. Even if they gotta shovel and kick.” Scott said. “The earth will make way for them that’s for sure.”
“Get on top of it. Tell them I need them like yesterday.” I pointed at him.
A call was made and thirty minutes later I heard some loud noises outside the door. Scott looked out of the peephole and back at me. Grinning he said, “They here.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
YVETTE
“Let me clear the air. I’m in charge.”
Scott called them Damper and Shelly B.
That’s right…Shelly was a dude and he had to be the scariest thing I’d seen in a long time. Both of them stood over 6’4 which meant they completely towered over my much shorter frame. But Shelly B was the ugliest thing that only a mother could love and he was also gross.
Food smeared all over his white t-shirt.
Breath strong like garlic.
Just nasty.
Don’t get me wrong, in terms of height
I’m always the shortest thing in the room, but this was different and I was forced to feel a little intimidated. It was as if I were looking up at towers.
Shelly B, eating five slices of bread at a time walked up to me. Mouth full of food he said, “It’s the only plan I got and if you ask me it’s pretty damn good.”
“I get all that but did you bother to think things through?” I yelled. “The way you trying to do this we gonna put them in a position where we’re forcing them to show their hand. The thing is without the firepower we might come up on the losing end.”
“You might not like my tactics but that’s how I do things.” Shelly B shrugged. “Hard, quick and fast. Besides, I thought you called us because your way wasn’t working.”
“My way always works, my nigga.” I frowned. “Whether you know it or not. Don’t get shit confused. Niggas have died for less.” I nodded his way.
“We need to try a different approach, that’s all I’m saying,” he said.
“You talking about walking down the halls and blindly shooting into apartments. Now I’m not opposed to killing niggas but I don’t do kids. It’s not my thing now and it will never be.”
He laughed. “I knew I shouldn’t have answered the phone for that nigga,” Shelly B said looking at Scott.
“You could always leave, my guy,” Scott said. “It’s really not a problem.”
“Hold fast, Scott,” I said extending my hand. “I want to know what this nigga meant by his comment.”
“You see the difference between bitches and niggas is clear,” Shelly B continued. “We do what’s necessary while whores like—”
His sentence wasn’t completed when Heavy slapped him so hard chunks of bread fell from his lips and bounced onto the floor. Shelly B made a move for his weapon but 88, Vance and Scott haulted him with guns aimed at his head.
I walked closer to Shelly B and grinned. Kicking the bread out my way I said, “I’m gonna be straight. I’m in a bind and I need your help, but you not ‘bout to talk to me like you do that slut who gave birth to you. Now you may be put off by what’s happening around here so let me clear the air. I’m IN CHARGE. And the moment you walked through that entrance that meant you became my property, free to do with as I please.” I moved even closer. “And I please to have you do what the fuck I say or I’ma lay your fat ugly ass down. What’s your preference?”
Frowning he looked at the guns and finally down at me. Slowly a smile etched across his face “Come on, ‘Vette, I think you got shit the wrong way. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m here because I fuck with you and the whole women’s movement.”
“That’s why we’re having this moment to clear things up. So that you see things my way. The only way.” I paused. “I respect the wild side of you but wild animals can be put down.” I paused. “Now…like I said, I don’t do kids. So your plan won’t work for me.”
“Then what you wanna do?” Shelly B continued. “Because the reason you can’t make it safely on that floor is because they must’ve hired help. You got the hallway and from the left and the right are other apartments. As you know #745 is basically in the middle. Since there is no entrance on the opposite side of the hallway we can only come down through the elevator or the stairway, which they have secured. Basically they see us coming before we can have a chance to react.”
“Do we know who may be helping them?” I asked everyone.
Damper cleared his throat. “Not sure if this is correct or not, but one of my sources told me Wilson has some friends in that hallway who are working with them,” Damper continued. “He’s been feeding them your coke as payment and all they have to do is lookout of the peephole on a regular. If they see you or any of your people they’ve been instructed to shoot to kill.”
My brows lowered. “Why didn’t you tell me this shit the moment you stepped through my front door?” I frowned. “Bitch ass nigga in here wasting time.”
He sighed. “Because I hear rumors constantly. No need to spread it around if it’s not true.”
I was so angry now I had a migraine. “You mean to tell me them niggas are in their peeling off my coke? Shot my best friend and snatched Carissa?” I asked no one in particular. I don’t care who was inside or who they were with, once I got Carissa back safely then I was killing each one of them. With my bare hands if time permitted.
“I need somebody who knows a lot of phone numbers of the people in this building.” I asked the room.
Dukes stepped up quietly. “I don’t mean to interrupt but I know somebody.”
I frowned. “Who?”
“She’s locked in the supply closet.” She paused. “But if you get her out she has almost every phone number for everyone in this building. Definitely the seventh floor.”
I smiled. “Cool, 88 let Kisha out. And Vance, make sure you sit with her and verify who lives in those apartments.”
“And then what?” Damper asked.
“Then we give a slight warning for them to get out of dodge before we light that floor up!
I walked into my room and into the bathroom to wipe my face when Heavy came inside behind me. “How you feeling, ‘Vette?”
“I don’t want to talk about calling you Thick earlier.”
“I don’t care. How do you feel?”
I laughed and shook my head. “What you think? Mercedes in the room passed out and bleeding. I think Carissa gave Ryan too much Benadryl for his peanut butter allergy so she can stare at him because he hasn’t woken up since. And we’re at war.”
“That’s not what I asked you, Yvette.” He walked into the bathroom and looked at my reflection in the mirror. “I asked how are you. And what can I do? For you?”
I turned around and examined his eyes. I felt I could trust him but I wasn’t sure. “Are you being real with me? About everything?”
“Why you keep asking me that?” He yelled.
“Maybe I don’t believe you. Maybe I think you holding back.”
“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t for you. I wouldn’t be putting my life on the line if I didn’t care. Now if you gotta ask me if I’m being honest then maybe you should let me go so I—”
“I’m not letting you go. As a matter of fact you aren’t going anywhere.”
He smiled. “You sure about that? Because every time I see your face it’s like you hate me and—”
“I got a lot going on, Heavy.” I looked down at the floor. “I’m not as pretty as my friends or as nice. All I have is my business and my courage. Most of the men I come in contact with want something from me and I need to know that you’re different.”
“The only way you can find that out is through time. You don’t get to know someone fully overnight. Trusting is a process, Yvette. I’m willing to see it through if you are.”
“You have to give me time too, Heavy. It’s all I can say at the moment. But I’m not a damsel in distress and you can’t save me either.”
He looked away and back at me. “I know. And I’m willing to wait because you’re worth it. All I ask is that you come to me before believing the world, Yvette. People don’t want us to be together and I need the chance always to explain myself first. Okay?”
There was a knock at the door. “We’re ready,” Damper said opening it up without an invitation. “You want us to go now?”
Damn these niggas rude. Whatever happened to knocking and waiting to be invited in?
“Yeah. We verified who lives on that floor yet?”
He smiled. “Yep, old girl had everybody’s number. Half of the people we didn’t need to call because she knew who was home and who wasn’t. She’s in the kitchen eating the rest of the fried chicken. She said she knew you wouldn’t mind since she helped you and all.”
I rolled my eyes.
Greedy bitch.
“Aight…head out. And don’t stop firing until the floor is covered with shells and bodies.”
“We ain’t come over here for nothing.” He winked before walking out.
CHAPTER TWENTY
CARISSA
“If you gonna kill me be done with it already.”
He raped me non-stop, only giving me time to pee and wash up before he did it again. All while a corpse lie in the bathroom. It was like he was getting off on it or something.
At first I couldn’t look at him, wanting the moment to be over. But after awhile it became obvious that he wouldn’t stop until he took everything from me.
He was reaching his fourth orgasm when finally he looked down into my eyes.
He grinned, got up and wiped his dick with the pillowcase mixed with sperm and blood that he used for the other sessions. “Let me guess. You’re staring at me because you’re in love now,” He said laughing. “I know I have that effect on the ladies.”
I remained silent, unwilling to play his games.
He chuckled again. “So you gonna play quiet? Because if you haven’t guessed by now the more silent you are the more I find you attractive.” He slipped on his baby blue boxers. “And you know what that means. We gonna have to go another round.” He placed on his jeans.
“I don’t care what you do anymore, Wilson. Just make it quick.”
He shook his head. “Women always say that but I find they sing another song after a few hours. Most realize when it’s all said and done they can’t take the pain after all. As thin as you are, you won’t be any different.”
“You don’t know me.” I paused. “You know nothing about the things I’ve been through or seen. If you gonna kill me be done with it already and stop talking shit.”
He laughed. The kind of laugh that told me he was enjoying this more than he should have. “I’m not gonna kill you, Carissa. That’s not how I do things. Plus if you’re gone who we gonna have for collateral?” He paused. “But I will give you an update. Your little friends were in for a rude awakening when they tried to walk down the yellow coke road an hour ago. They didn’t realize how much clout we got and that them bricks in the kitchen can get a man to do anything. Including hold down the fort.” He exhaled. “I’m not sure, but I think they hit one of your friends with a hot one.”