by Brick
I took a fighter’s stance. I remembered Marcel’s words as I did so. I knew how to street fight but didn’t have the technicality that came with the nature of fighting smart. He always stressed boxing stances and foot placement. He said they determined the effectiveness of your offense, defense, and footwork. My back foot heel was slightly lifted from the ground. He told me to keep it simple. A basic toe-heel line would be all I needed in many cases. This was one of those cases.
Kat ran in for me. I chased her down with hooks from both hands. Right. Left. Left. Right. Her head snapped back with each hit. I had solid balance without sacrificing my mobility, which was a good thing. Each time that bitch tried to come for me, my hits and body shots pushed her back. The more blood rained from her face, the more satisfied the demon in me became. I smiled at the fact I was kicking her ass. Got too happy that I was hurting her like those men had hurt my daughter. Then she caught me with a foot to the pussy that took me down to my knees. Several knees to my face placed me on my back.
I didn’t have time to wither in pain, though. That bitch jumped on top of me, one hand around my neck as she pummeled my face with her other closed fist. I tried to reach for her neck, face—anything. I clawed and slapped trying to get her off me.
“Stupid”—punch to my face—“fucking”—another punch to my face—“spoiled little bitch,” she spat as she hit me.
Her face twisted in anger and rage. I didn’t recognize the woman on top of me. Her blouse had been practically ripped from her body. Her perfectly paid for breasts gave a slight jiggle each time she hit me. As she tried to beat me to death, I reached down, brought my leg up, and reached into the side of my boot. I grabbed for the hunting knife I had placed there. As soon as she got ready to bring her fist down again, I shoved the jagged blade into her rib cage. Her fist stopped midstrike. Face frozen, eyes wide with her mouth opened in shock. I yanked the knife out and jammed it back in again. Snatched it out, then stuck it into her neck. Blood spewed into my face when I pulled the knife out. She fell over on her back, life fading from her eyes. I slowly sat up, thankful that the hitting had stopped and even more thankful I was able to breathe again.
I stood, then looked down at her, blood dripping from the knife. “Nobody comes after my family,” I said.
Tears fell from my eyes. I’d never killed anybody, and it hurt that I had to kill Kat. But I couldn’t risk anybody hurting my child or my husband again. I took a deep breath, and each time I did, it felt as if my lungs were on fire. I jerked my head up as I heard Danny round the corner. I wondered what took him so long as I knew he heard the gunshots. I held the knife out at him simply because my fight-or-flight instincts were still in high gear.
“Are you o—”
He stopped his question abruptly when he saw me standing over Kat’s body with the knife aimed at him. He looked from me to Kat, then back at me. For a moment, I thought he was concerned about me; then his worry turned into a scowl.
“I told her she should have sent me,” he said coolly.
I ran a tongue over my dry lips, eyes furrowed, as I watched Danny as his words gave notion to the fact he was in on Kat’s team.
I shook my head. “No, nope. Not you too, Danny.” My head started to hurt at the obscenity of it all.
“You knew I liked you,” he started.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Wha-What?” I yelled in disbelief. “You have to be kidding me right now.”
He stalked closer to me. I backed away. “At first, I thought it was because you thought you were better than me. I mean, because I was just a bodyguard for your father, but then . . . Then you married him. A cook,” he said like he couldn’t believe it.
“If one of you assholes calls my husband a cook one more time . . .” I yelled.
“You’ll what?” Danny asked.
I swallowed the bile and disgust I felt at the whole situation.
“Why, Danny?”
“You never noticed me, Sabrina. All I wanted was a chance,” he said.
I didn’t even have it in me to explain to the delusional man that I just wasn’t into him. I couldn’t get over the fact he was so blindly loyal to my father. He would do anything my father asked of him. Not to mention, there was something weird going on between him and my father.
Danny rushed me, hands angrily around my throat. I stabbed the knife into his left arm over and over. That didn’t stop him. I felt myself getting light-headed as the knife slipped from my hand. My arms weren’t long enough to do much else. As I felt myself going limp in Danny’s hold, I couldn’t help but wonder where my father was in all of this.
Chapter Nineteen
Marcel
I did my best to keep her from going. Tried to use her Achilles’ heel, our daughter, to make her listen to reason, but she went on her way, and there was no stopping her. Which was why, after waiting an hour, then dressing our daughter and packing up our car for our move, Lyric and I headed out on an adventure in watching Mommy’s back.
“Shit! I knew she was up to no good,” I cursed under my breath while gripping the steering wheel of my car, staring at the parked car that belonged to Sabrina in front of her father’s home.
“Oooh, Da-dee!” Lyric cooed giggling behind it.
A deep line formed across my face, and I sat back in my seat letting go of the wheel and glancing at my little girl, the light of my world.
“I’m sorry, baby girl. Sometimes Daddy says things that could be said better. You understand?” I asked, noticing my daughter’s adorable big cocoa eyes and big cheeky smile.
She shook her twin puffs and said, “No,” then went back to sucking on her twist cup.
“Good, just don’t repeat what I said; now, you understand that, correct?” I asked reaching out in the backseat to tweak my daughter’s nose.
Her legs started kicking due to her excitement and energy, and she nodded. “Yes, sir!”
I dropped my head back and said, “Good. Now, let’s get your mom on the same level so she understands not to do as she sees me do.”
My frown returned to my face as I sat back watching the house I had trailed Sabrina to, her father’s crib. This day had gone on too long for a nigga. My body was still in pain from handling Leo, and now I was busy protecting my wife’s back when I should have been handling her pops. Thinking of him, after sitting out in my blacked-out, armor-protected Escalade for a while, I was about to check on Mr. Lanfair’s whereabouts since he wasn’t at his crib when I heard a gunshot. Several gunshots, actually.
Rubbing my temple, I sighed and glanced at my daughter. It was times like this when I wished her grandmother was here because I was about to put my daughter’s life in danger just to save her mother who was only acting to protect her family. Funny thing about it, though. I didn’t understand why gunshots had to ring out for that to happen, but I was sure that I was about to find out.
Taking my ride up the driveway, I parked and then got out. Quickly moving to the back to take my baby girl out of her car seat, I spoke softly to her. “Now, you’re about to see Daddy handle some people, okay? I need you to remember what I said. When you see Daddy hit a man or shout, you what?”
“Hide and if Daddy is in trouble, throw him the bear,” she said tilting her head quizzically when, in reality, it wasn’t a question but a statement for reassurance.
Kissing her forehead, I settled her on my hip. “Yes, my little ninja. No matter what you see, stay hidden, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy, I will!” Lyric threw her arms around me, hugging me, and I walked us to the door.
Reaching out, I turned the handle and pushed. There was no need for knocking, not when I heard gunshots. Stepping into the huge foyer, I glanced around at the place and quietly moved through the house. I could hear fighting, could hear Sabrina’s sharp hisses, then shouts. My baby was scrapping, and from what I could tell just by passing the room she was in, Danny was nowhere around.
Quickly, I took Lyric to the kitchen and then opened t
he cabinets. I found her favorite, peanut butter. Since I knew she only ate it grilled, I grabbed her some crackers, a bowl, and a cup of water. Setting it in front of her, I put the peanut butter in a bowl, laid the crackers out, and then kneeled to sit Lyric down.
Dropping her hoodie back, I kissed the tip of her nose and looked into her eyes. “Now, baby girl, Daddy needs you to be my partner. Stay here and eat your snacks. If you hear or see anyone that is not Daddy or Mommy, hide.”
Lyric leaned back to look up at me, then hopped down with her bear in her hand. She moved her chair back and crawled under the table. “I’ll hide here.”
A huge smile lit up my face, and I quickly handed her the snacks, then put the chair back. “My smart little mama. I’ll be back. I love you.”
“I love you too, Da-dee,” I heard Lyric say.
Taking one more look at where she was, I felt a slight comfort because she would not be seen. As I disappeared down the hall, I stopped when I noticed Danny. He had rushed downstairs at the sound of the fight. I watched him say something, then storm in the room. Nigga didn’t know I was even there, which made my day. Adjusting my black gloves and grabbing the small gun that lay in the middle of the door frame, I crept to the room and saw this bastard choking Sabrina.
Her legs were kicking, and she was clawing; water lined her squinting eyes. From what I could tell by the way she bared her teeth and her face contorted because of the pressure from Danny’s grip, Sabrina was seconds from blacking out.
Fury had me grinding my teeth as I heard this nigga talk some stupid-ass shit.
“I loved you, but you had to let that wack-ass cook in between your legs. He was never worthy,” Danny shouted, shaking Sabrina in the process. “I am—”
For a second there, I almost stood by to compute what the hell he was saying, but how my temper worked, that wasn’t an option. Rage had me ready to go off, especially when he began to work with his belt and mumbled some shit that she about to find out that he was “worthy.” Something like red washed over my eyes. My breathing became short, and I swear we were back when she was 19, and that nigga had her tied to the bed.
Was no fucking way that I was about to stand there and let this bold as shit go down again. Not after what Sabrina went through the first time. Stepping forward, I paused when she bared her teeth, then pressed her hands together as if in prayer. I watched her swiftly move them in the middle of Danny’s arms, then pulled them apart to grab his face. She aggressively shoved her thumbs into his eyes, digging deep until he started shouting in pain.
Tucking her leg up, she planted her foot against his solar plexus and pushed. “Get the hell off me!”
Smirking, I moved in as Danny went stumbling backward, and as he fell, I squeezed the trigger of the gun I held and watched the bullet go clean into his skull, his blood mingling with Kat’s. From the blank expression on her face, the blood that spilled from her side, along with the knife by her side, I knew that chick was long gone.
“Baby, how bad are you hurt?” I asked, staring up at her with pride.
While I spoke, I was moving like the professional I was. I dropped to one knee, stopping to grab the knife, wiping her handprints off and placed it in Danny’s hand.
Turning, I took the gun, wiped it off, gripped Kat’s hand, moved her some to shoot off a round, and laid her back where she fell. I didn’t do the kill here, but the art in making sure a room looked right after a murder was something I enjoyed. After glancing around and making sure everything looked somewhat correct, not perfect but normal, I moved to Sabrina, noticing where she had slid against the wall while rubbing her neck and trying to get air.
Fear, love, and relief were in her eyes while she stared at me, her chest rising up and down erratically. She stared up at me confused at my presence. “How—”
“It’s all good, baby. Was no way I was going to let you talk to your old man completely alone.” Offering my hand, I leaned down to the help her up, then kissed her deeply. “Damn, I love you so much, Brina. You did this, baby. Damn, I’m proud.”
Grinning, I pulled her close to me, needing to touch her to feel that she was okay, “Listen, we need to go. I don’t have time to stage this shit anymore, but we need to go.”
Giving me a nod, Sabrina held my hand tightly and allowed me to help her to the front door. Once I saw that she was good and not going to waver due to stress, I quickly jogged back to the kitchen to get our baby girl who was curled up under the table. Gently pulling her out, I hoisted her up to carry her on my back. We all quickly moved as we made it to the front of the place, then got in front our perspective cars.
Snapping Lyric in her car seat, I shouted to Sabrina, “Get in my ride. I’ll have someone pick it up.”
“I thought . . . I thought you didn’t have the time,” Sabrina asked in a raspy voice.
“I don’t have the time to do it myself, but I do have the time to make a call. Get in, baby; it’s time to go,” I repeated myself at the end.
Ultimately, I was able to get us in the car, call up Diggy to bring in a cleaning crew right now to dispose of Sabrina’s car and check anything that I wasn’t able to look over. As we pulled out, I didn’t notice that we were being followed, due to the need to get Sabrina away from two dead bodies. We made maybe a few blocks away before I saw that another blacked-out Escalade was trailing us.
“We’re leaving Atlanta now right. Please say yes,” Sabrina asked, her voice still choppy.
Distress had her shaking subtly. It added to my worry about my family, but still, I was a proud motherfucker about how she handled herself without me.
The need to keep her calm had me reaching to take her hand, bring it up to my mouth to kiss as I nodded. “Yeah, it’s about that time.”
I hit the gas and tried to get us to the highway as quickly as possible, but it was too late. They had surrounded us. In my hurry to get Sabrina and Lyric away from the scene of the crime, I didn’t do a good job of paying attention to my surroundings.
“Looks like the shit has come to roost. Take the gun in there. Our plane tickets are in there too. Go. Go. I want you two protected,” I said watching behind me as several men in black climbed out of their cars.
A wild look in Sabrina’s gaze had her looking rapidly from me, then behind me. “This is my fault,” she said. “I can’t leave you.”
Unlocking the door and undoing my seat belt, I shook my head and opened the door. “Nah. I love you, baby, and I promised you since the day we decided to hook up that I would always protect you. So far, I’ve been keen to my vow to hold you down and our daughter. Besides, I’d rather take this on and know you both are alive and untouched than to play some Fast and Furious shit and leave you both in danger. One time was enough. I love you, baby. I love my princess, but I got to handle this.”
“But . . .” she started to say while reaching out to cradle my face, but it was already too late.
The door flung open, and hands dragged me out of the car. Looking at both Sabrina and Lyric, I let what was going on be what it was. As soon as I was out of the car, two burly motherfuckers had me by the arms forcing me forward as they dragged me.
“Fellas, let’s talk about this civilly, a’ight? I’m not some dude that can’t walk toward a car on my own. Come on now,” I said pulling. “Am I really that much of a danger?”
I kept talking in hopes that it would distract not only my attackers but Sabrina as well. Yeah, she had just taken down Kat, but these men looked to be as professional as I was. I prayed she didn’t think she was enough of a killer to start shooting with our daughter in the car. Especially since we didn’t know who else was with the men. They could have had shooters hidden somewhere. For Sabrina to go gung-ho would have put not only her in danger, but Lyric as well. I couldn’t have that.
As I asked that, I pushed my body forward, contorted it to get free, then landed several blows against my kidnappers. Sabrina screamed for me to come back to the car, but I was too busy to do so. I stood sandwiche
d between two WWE-sized bastards, working out my jump kicks, punches, and upper cuts. Every time I moved, one would follow. It got to the point where, they landed blows on my back, my front, on top of my head, and then some.
Weariness from dealing with Leo and running around all day is the only reason why I ended up on the ground beaten to a bloody pulp. The sound of gravel crushing under the weight of another car had both Humpty and Dumpty stopping their stomping of me. Each man stepped back, and I breathed hard, trying to hold on to the rest of my energy. Blood seeped from the corner of my mouth, my lungs burned, and the bones in my face and ribs ached like a bitch.
Going after both men was just a tactic to see who I was dealing with. The real deal was coming my way, and when he said, “I told you to leave him for me,” I knew exactly who it was.
I shifted on my side, but the numbing pain had me spitting blood. The aching pain on the right side of my rapidly swelling face had me hazily staring up as I felt a fist slam down on my face. Hissing at my discomfort, my teeth ground against each other, my jaw locked, and I gripped the gravel asphalt under me, trying not to show any weakness.
“You low-life motherfucker,” someone shouted at me with every blow.
I did my best to shield it. Did my best to roll away, but wherever I moved, this lame asshole moved.
A large Italian shoe slammed in my stomach, then pulled back to stomp me on my back. “You came into my life, took my daughter, got her attacked, and now you kill my wife and son! You vile piece of shit!”
It was safe to assume the fact that he knew they were dead, which meant he had been home. Why and how that nigga assumed it was me who had done the deed was baffling. It had me wondering just how they were able to catch up with us as fast as they did. Had he been watching us the whole time?
But that wasn’t the kicker. Danny was that nigga’s son?
“Daddy, no,” I heard Sabrina shout out.
I laughed as I let this nigga get his aggression out. So now, I killed his son? That nigga who called himself in love with Sabrina was his son? Man . . . If that wasn’t some Flowers in the Attic bullshit that I’ve ever heard, and that’s exactly what I slurred out to him.