by Mikal Malone
Mercedes paused a few moments to consider the question. She knew that Karen, and the rest of the Black Water Klan members, were brainwashed into believing Black Water’s fake doctrine. Black Water had mind-fucked the Klan so long that they believed everything he said. So if she wanted to get through to her, she had to think smartly.
“Karen, I don’t know what you mean by salvation,” Mercedes started. “But, I will give you my life if you don’t hurt my grandbaby. Please.”
Karen looked into Mercedes’ eyes, smiled, and jumped off of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, with the baby in her arms.
“Oh my, God,” I yell waking up from a nightmare. My face is completely wet with sweat.
“You’re okay,” Jackson says sitting up next to me in his bed. “You’re with me, in my house and you’re safe.” He wipes my face with his big hand.
I look at his brown face, and place my hand against his warm cheek. My fingers rub over his silky goatee. “I’m so sorry,” I say to him. “I’m supposed to be over here spending time with you, and here I am, taking a nap and having nightmares. I’m so embarrassed.”
“Mercedes, this ain’t nothing,” he sits up and leans against the black headboard. He pulls me toward him, and I lay my face against his hairy muscular chest. “I love that you are here with me. Don’t worry about the small shit.”
“Even though it will hurt your brother? That you and I are together?”
He laughs. “Like I told you before, Mercedes, my brother isn’t that type of nigga. We good, trust me.”
“I know you said that, but I never understood what you meant by it. He seemed really attached to me.”
“For starters my brother is a male stripper. He is use to meeting women, seducing them and then taking their money. And if you ask me, he is great at what he does. He hasn’t had a real job in fifteen years.”
I laugh. “Well he had the hookup with me, because I was outright paying him for his services too. But, that arrangement was my idea, not his.”
“He told me,” he says. “But when I saw you, I couldn’t believe how beautiful you were. Most of the women he ropes are overweight, insecure and lonely. I knew the moment I looked into your eyes that you weren’t that kind of girl. So it was strange to actually meet you.” He runs his fingers through my hair. “I’m glad I stole you from Lloyd, my brother ain’t nothing but an identity thief anyway. He been done went through your personal records, and milked you for every bone you had.”
I sit up and look into his eyes. “W-what y-you mean milk me for every bone?” I stutter.
“That’s what he does, Mercedes,” he laughs. “He’ll find a rich prospect, get her personal information, and drain her bank accounts. As a matter of fact, he must’ve made a big come up, because he caught a plane to the Cayman Islands the other day, and told the family that he ain’t never coming back.”
I’m shaking so hard my teeth are rattling. This can’t be true, please God don’t tell me I allowed a nigga to come into my house and rob me and my friend’s blind. The worst part about it is Toi told me to get rid of the nigga, and I didn’t listen. Please, God don’t let it be so.
“Jackson, can you get a hold of him now?” I ask touching his hand.
“Sure, baby,” he says. “But what’s wrong?”
“Please just call him for me.”
“What you want me to say?”
“Do you have the kind of relationship with him, where he’ll keep shit real with you?” I feel like I’m about to pass out.
“If by real you mean brag, I’ll say yes.”
“Then call him for me and ask him about his last hit,” I beg.
“Mercedes—,”
“Jackson, please,” I plead with him squeezing his hand. “For me.”
Jackson picks up the cell phone on his nightstand. “Okay, but don’t say anything, otherwise he’ll know you are here and lie.”
“I won’t say a word,” I swear placing my hand over my heart. “I promise.”
Jackson dials a number. I watch each number he selects, and store it in my mental database for later. He places the call on speaker and it rings. When I hear Lloyd’s voice come through the phone, I’m heated.
“What up, nigga,” Jackson says on the phone. “Let me find out you struck it big, and you ain’t take your big brother with you. I thought we were boys?”
“You know how I do,” Lloyd brags. “I be on the move and making moves. And you thought there wasn’t no money in stripping.”
“Well the family saying you hit pay dirt this time,” Jackson says looking at me with sad eyes. He probably finally gets what’s going on, that his brother took me for my paper.
“Yes, nigga, but this is the big one, I’m officially a millionaire.”
The room is spinning. “Word?”
“Yes, remember that bitch Mercedes that was tricking off on me,” he says, “well I went through her shit when I was there a few days ago, and found some paper work for some overseas accounts. Nigga, why I call my man at the bank, who flipped the money into accounts in my name? I never would’ve guessed this broad would be worth that much money. The thing is you know its drug money too, so she ain’t saying shit about it.”
“Word?” Jackson says rubbing my leg.
“Word, nigga,” Lloyd laughs. “I’m out the game now. I’m about to open up some beachfront properties and everything, and sit good for the rest of my life. You and the family welcome to come join me. I’m living large.”
Jackson hangs up. I guess he can’t take it anymore.
I’m so pathetic I wish I could punch myself in the face. I let him into my home, to rob me and steal from me. That nigga wasn’t no slave, he was a thief, and a good one at that.
The phone rings again, but Jackson turns it off. “Baby, I’m so sorry,” he says to me. “He got you?”
“Yes,” I say dryly.
“So what are you going to do?”
“Nothing,” I lie.
“Nothing?” he asks leaning in. “I mean, is it true? That he got that much money off of you?”
Before answering I think of my current situation. Part of me is relieved. At first I thought the Feds hit us up, and seized our accounts. But now that I know its Lloyd, I know how to play the situation. I’m looking at Lloyd as my personal bank for the time being. I’ll let him think he’s good for a minute, and then go get what’s mine.
“It’s true,” I say. “He got me for some money, but it ain’t all the money he talking about neither. If it’s more than fifty thousand I would be guessing.”
“Whoa,” he says like he’s relieved. “I thought I was gonna have to call somebody to snatch his ass off of the islands. I’m glad it’s light money and you’ll be okay though.”
Wow. That comment Jackson makes, about sending somebody to snatch him up, causes me to get a little wet down low. Knowing that he would go that far for me makes me think I have a keeper on my hands.
“Jackson, you mind if I make a call real quick.”
“Go ‘head, bay, I’ll be in here waiting on you.”
“Thanks,” I smile.
I snatch my cell phone from my purse, hop off of the bed, and dip into the bathroom. I close the door behind me and call one of my soldiers in Emerald City. I have to see what’s going on, to make things make sense. I get one of them on the phone in ten seconds.
“Knight, how are things looking in Emerald?”
“You ain’t hear?”
“Hear what?”
“Some white man who owns National Improvement for a Greater Generation Association has bought Emerald City and Camelot. But niggas around here call his company NIGGA since those are the main letters in his company. He tearing Emerald and Camelot down and building expensive condos, in the next few weeks. You know how they doing with all of these properties in D.C. Niggas gonna have to live in outer space now to find cheap rent prices.”
My jaw drops. What do you know, Judah’s indictment didn’t have nothing to do with Emerald and Camel
ot. “So that’s why all of the suits have been around Camelot and Emerald? For some real estate deal?”
“Yep,” he sighs. “After all these years, and all the money, it’s finally over, boss. What we gonna do now?”
Silence.
“Boss. What we gonna do?”
CHAPTER 27
CARISSA
My jaw still hurts from when Yvette stole me in the face, after I told her I was meeting Persia by myself. But, I didn’t want her coming along, and saying the wrong thing to upset my daughter. I swear me and my friends are much too physical with each other. That shit is gonna have to change too. The fights we had would’ve ended most friendships along time ago. I guess that’s why our shit is real.
I’m driving in my car on the way to meet Persia. Earlier tonight she called me to say she wanted to meet me alone. She said she wanted to apologize for how she treated me, when we were in the car. I told her I wanted to talk to her too, about the papers I found in her purse. She said she would answer any questions I had, and I hoped that was true.
When I pull up at Mama’s Kitchen, and step out, I see Lil C running up to me. I jog toward him thinking something is wrong. I leave my car door open, and my purse inside. But I’m worried, because C looks like he’s seen the devil and his energy frightens me.
“Aunt Carissa, you gotta get out of here while you still can,” he says to me. “And you gotta tell ma and them to stay low.” He keeps looking around. “We followed Karen and them here, and they must be waiting to meet you.”
“C, what you mean? I mean, what’s going on? I’m supposed to meet Persia tonight.”
“I can’t talk in detail right now,” he says. “But tell my mother I love her, and if I make it out of this shit alive, we gonna start all over, and put the bad stuff behind us.”
Tears roll down my face. “C, I swear to God you’re scaring me. Talk to me, baby. Maybe we can help you.”
“Don’t be scared,” he continues. “And no matter what, I want you to know you’re a good fucking mother. You hear what I’m saying? You a good mother, Aunt Carissa, and I can see the love in your eyes when you look at Persia. Remember that. Try not to take the shit that is getting ready to happen on your heart. Persia is confused. Now get the fuck outta here while you still can.”
I’m about to run, when I see Oscar and Karen get out of a white box van. Persia is right next to them, and she’s grinning. Then this girl does something that breaks my heart into more pieces. She throws a fuck you finger up in the air, and sticks out her tongue. She does this shit to me. Her own mother.
“Get the fuck out of here,” C yells, pushing me to the ground. “Now.”
Out of nowhere, a dude in another car snatches C up off of his feet, and pulls him into a truck. I get up, and take off running to try to get to my purse and gun, in the car. I gotta help C.
I make it there, but C is gone and bullets ring out in my direction. I slam the car door, and a bullet fractures the drivers’ side window.
I get inside, step on the gas and push forward. A man who is aiming a gun at me, fires into the window again, and misses my head by inches. I press on the gas harder, and crash into him. He bounces on the hood of the car, and rolls off.
More bullets hit the car, but I don’t look back. I make it out of there with my life in tow.
Two thoughts occupy my mind at this moment. One, that C tried to save my life, and two that my daughter tried to take it.
CHAPTER 28
TOI
Toi was in the bed with her boyfriend Michael watching porn. She had a blunt in one hand, and the remote control in the other, while she fast-forwarded trying to find her favorite part of the movie.
“Baby, stop fucking around already,” Mike said stroking his dick. “You got me ready to bang that juicy pussy out. Now hit play, and lets get it on.”
“Stop, Mike, you know I like to watch my favorite part when we fuck.”
“Man, ain’t nobody trying to bone you, while you look at fifteen inches of another nigga’s dick.”
“Thirteen inches,” Toi corrects him. “Sir Hungs-A-Lot has the biggest dick in the world, and you know I love watching them bitches take it. Do you know how big a bitch’s snatch gotta be to handle that much meat?”
“Damn, my bitch a freak,” Michael says.
“And you love me for it too,” she says pushing him playfully.
He grins. “You already know I do.”
They were just about to get it in when Toi’s phone rung. She picked it up from the end table, and answered. “Hello.”
“Toi, this Carissa. Where you at?”
“I’m at my apartment out Maryland,” Toi said, catching the anxiousness in her voice. “Where you? At my house?”
“No, I’m on my way to the Compound. Please call my friends until you get a hold of them. I can’t get Yvette or Mercedes on the phone. C has been kidnapped, and I need help.”
Toi hopped out of bed and begin putting on her clothes. “Where the fuck is this Compound? Where we first saw Persia?”
“Yes, and please find them for me, girl. I don’t know what else to do. If something happens to C, Mercedes will die, and I will too. Karen just called me, so I’m going to try and handle business.”
“Alone?”
“I don’t have a choice. Just call my friends…please.”
“I’m on it!”
CHAPTER 29
KAREN
Karen stood in front of the wall and looked down at her hostages. Behind her were Oscar, Roman, and Lance. Oscar was wiping blood from his knuckles, due to the beat down they’d just performed on C, while Lance stood watching and cleaning his nails with a knife.
“Ms. Karen, I don’t know why you’re doing this to me,” Persia said as she looked up at her. “I’m on your side. I’m a member of the Klan. Remember? I’m loyal to you.”
“You’re loyal to no one,” Karen replied.
Karen looked down at Persia and Lil C who were tied in chairs that were back to back. They were in the basement of the main building in the compound.
Earlier that day Karen placed a call to Carissa, to tell her she was waiting for her there. She also told her to bring the money, or her daughter would die. But, that was only one part of Karen’s plan. Her sick mind had something else in play. She wanted Carissa to tear her friend’s heart apart.
“What do you have to say for yourself,” Karen asked C. “For what you and your friends did to my son?”
“Nothing,” he said spitting out blood. “I ain’t got shit to say.”
Roman, Lance and Oscar had beat C so badly, while C’s hands were tied behind his back, that C lost a lot of blood and a few teeth too.
“There’s gotta be something you want to say for yourself,” Karen said to C.
“Unless you gonna untie me, and let me go at that pussy nigga Oscar one on one, I don’t have shit to say.”
“Fuck you nigga, you jumped me the last time, that’s the only reason you got the best of me,” Oscar lied.
“Bitch, I beat your ass straight up,” C corrected him. “You can lie to these other niggas if you want too, but, you and me know the truth. I turned your glasses into sand.”
“But why am I tied up?” Persia asked selfishly. “I’m not involved in any of this shit. I even called my mother like you asked, and lead her to the restaurant. I’m on your side.”
“You’re tied up because Roman and Lance told me that they saw you coming out of my office. That means I can’t trust you. Truthfully, I never trusted you,” Karen responded. “But my son was in love and couldn’t see straight. I knew it was dangerous keeping a member of the Emerald City Squad in our compound, but you were disloyal to your family, and the business relationship with them proved to be beneficial for us at the time. Now my need for you is over.”
“Please don’t kill me,” Persia cried. “I’m too young to die.”
“I’m not going to kill you,” Karen smiled. “I’m going to give your mother an option, she can
’t refuse.”
Before Persia could respond, two Black Water Klan members brought Carissa into the basement. They pushed her inside of the room. “Here is the money,” Carissa said tossing the bag on the floor, with one hundred thousand dollars inside. “It’s all there. Now let my family go.”
“Sorry, but that is not how things are going down tonight,” Karen said. “I control this show not you.”
“Then how are things going down?” Carissa asked. “I did what you asked. The money is all there. Count it.”
“You must choose who lives or dies today.”
“Choose?” Carissa frowned. “What are you talking about? You got the money so I want both of them. That was the deal.”
“And I said it doesn’t work like that. You have to choose who to save, and who to die. You can save your daughter or your nephew if you like, but the choice is yours.”
“Oh my God, please don’t make me do this,” Carissa begged. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m deathly serious,” Karen replied. “You know what, I was once a part of such a vicious option like this when I was a child. But guess what, my mother chose Yvette over me.” She laughed. “And I was thrown on the streets like a bag of trash, like I didn’t matter.”
“But both of these aren’t my kids,” Carissa said. “He’s my nephew and this is my daughter. It isn’t the same thing. Please don’t make me do this.”
“I know who the fuck they are to you,” Karen yelled. “And again I tell you, that you must choose.”
“Mommy, what are you waiting on? I’m your daughter,” Persia said. “I love you. So tell her you want me to get out of here, so they can let me go. Fuck, C!”
“Aunt Carissa, it’s okay,” C said. “Choose Persia over me. That way my baby will be safe. I’m not going to feel any kind of way, or make you feel guilty for deciding. I just want this shit over with, and I want my child safe. It’s fine, just get them out of here.”
“You see,” Persia said. “He said let me go. So tell her, ma. I want to get my baby out of here too. You gotta choose me because I’m pregnant.”