by T. N. Baker
Still Sheisty:
Triple Crown Collection
T.N. Baker
www.urbanbooks.net
All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
CHAPTER 60
THE FINAL CHAPTER - New Beginnings
Copyright Page
DEDICATION
To my daughter, Tiana. I love you.
PROLOGUE
Epiphany
I closed my eyes and squeezed the trigger. Not knowing whether my shot was a successful one. I felt a burning sensation pierce through my chest.
“Noooooo!” I screamed as I was thrown to the floor from the strong impact. Instantly I could feel the warmth of my blood leaking from the stinging wound. My eyes started getting heavy. The pain was too much to bear....
Keisha
I opened the door to my bedroom, and right away tears started to fill my eyes as I watched Tucker sitting on the edge of the bed, watching the video tape from my bacholorette party....
Shana
I followed Smitty to the door on his way out, and before I could thank him for covering my ass, he turned to me with a devious smirk and said, “You owe me, nigga!” From his look alone I knew I was in for the bullshit.
CHAPTER 1
“Oh God, please noooooo,” were the last words Epiphany whispered as tears fell down the sides of her face and she lost consciousness after the shooting. C-God damn near pissed himself. His heart was pounding rapidly. For a moment he thought he was shot. Fortunately for him, Epiphany’s aim was way off because she had closed her eyes when she squeezed the trigger.
“Yo, man, c’mon. We gotta get the fuck up out of here,” Ness screamed. C kneeled down beside Epiphany and felt remorseful. Finally, he felt her pain. In any other situation, he wouldn’t have given a fuck, especially when it came down to his life, but this wasn’t just any situation. As much as he tried to front on Epiphany, he really did care for her. He’d had no intention of killing her. He’d just wanted to shake her up enough to get her to talk.
C-God looked down at the papers still clutched in his hand, confirming Epiphany’s pregnancy, and he felt even more fucked up.
“Yo, fuck that bitch. Lets roll, dawg!” Ness yelled in a panic.
Finally, C snapped out of it, grabbed both guns, and together they fled the scene doing eighty down South Jamaica’s residential back streets.
“Nigga, you must have been soft on that chick, but yo, it was either you or her, nigga. Look at it that way.” Ness was the type of nigga with a big ass mouth that didn’t know how to leave well enough alone. “If I ain’t come up in there when I did, your shorty might of murked you dawg, for real, but I had your back though.”
C-God just sat there wearing a screw-faced look on his face, thinking about the ‘what ifs’ as he listened to Ness in silence. Deep down, C-God knew Epiphany would have kept shooting at him until she killed him. So, yes, he felt Ness reacted the way he was supposed to when he shot her, but C didn’t want to hear him boasting about it.
Obviously the look on his face wasn’t enough, because Ness didn’t catch the hint; he just continued to go on and on about the incident until suddenly C snapped.
“Shut the fuck up! Damn! A nigga can’t even think straight with you running the fuck off at the mouth. Just don’t say shit else to me until I ask you to, and pull this muthafucka over at that payphone right there.”
Ness did what he was told. He shut the fuck up and pulled over. It was C-God’s duty to live his life coldheartedly. He never cared too much about anybody except his parents. Outside of them, the rest of his family was cool, but if they crossed him, they could easily be killed for doing so.
On the real, he was all bark with no bite, only nobody knew it because they never put him to the test. It was his older brothers that were the truth back in the days. Nigga’s ain’t fuck with his three brothers or whoever they considered to be family. Pop, Black Russ, and Lloyd were well known and now legendary gangstas, ranking with some of the best that ever terrorized Queens. They were ruthless, with no respect for a person’s life. Killers without a cause. If they weren’t feeling you for whatever reason, then they didn’t give a fuck about you or your family, and in their presence you had better not show fear.
Unfortunately, living that life came back to haunt them, leading to the brutal deaths of Pop and Black Russ, and landing Lloyd in prison for life with no chance of parole. Still, C-God felt since he was the last breed of the notorious Hinderson brothers, he had something to prove. He had to own up to his family name and the reputation they paved.
For some reason, his conscience was eating away at him tonight, and that wasn’t supposed to happen to no Hinderson.
C-God picked up the receiver on the payphone, using the papers he had taken from Epiphany’s purse. With a piece of tissue covering his fingertip, he dialed the police. He always thought with a criminal’s mind. Disguising his voice in an unrecognizable high-pitched tone, he called for an ambulance in hopes that Epiphany might still be alive.
Epiphany briefly regained consciousness, oblivious to the sounds of the loud sirens as she lay still in a pool of her own blood. An ambulance and three police cars arrived at the scene shortly after the call was made. The cops entered first and took a look around, then signaled the paramedics with an “Okay, the coast is clear.”
When the paramedics entered, the police suggested they tend to the girl first. Besides, from the looks of things, Malikai was already deceased.
The EMS workers ran over to Epiphany and checked her vital signs.
“She’s still alive,” one of them shouted. “Start an IV. Her pulse is weak. This is not good. She’s losing a lot of blood. Let’s get a move on it!” Lifting Epiphany onto the stretcher, he continued, “We’re losing her. Let’s get her to the hospital now!”
CHAPTER 2
Keisha stood in the bedroom doorway, completely appalled. Her heart fell into the pit of her stomach and tears instantly fell down her face. As she stood there, her fiancé watched her give herself to another man, performing and receiving sexual pleasures on camera as
if her name were Janet Jackme. She froze; stuck on stupid, puzzled as to how the videotape she had destroyed managed to resurface again. She searched for the right words to say. She wanted to say something, but what? “I’m sorry.” No, that wasn’t gonna cut it. There was nothing to be said. She fucked up and she knew it. She felt like she had just slid down a razor blade, right into a pool of alcohol.
Tucker’s face was filled with a rage that she had never seen before, and it put fear in Keisha’s heart. She was afraid to say or do anything, so she continued to watch him watch her fuck and suck on another man in ways she had never done with him.
He had never, ever thought about putting his hands on any woman, let alone Keisha, until now. Fuming, he was to the point were he really wanted to hurt her. Tucker jumped up, snatched the VCR from the top of the 52-inch screen TV, and tossed it into to the wall close to where Keisha was standing.
Keisha jumped out of the way and into the hallway as the VCR crashed into the wall and then hit the floor.
Water flooded his eyes, and his heart was filled with pain. This was the ultimate feeling of betrayal, but he would never give her the satisfaction of seeing him cry. No one, for that matter. His militant father had instilled in him as a boy that a man ain’t supposed to cry. A strong man sucks it all up and keeps it moving.
By now, all types of distasteful thoughts were running through Tucker’s mind, but he never said a word. He simply looked at Keisha with such anger and disgust. If looks could kill, she would have suffered a painful death. Keisha was still standing in the hall, afraid to move or say a word. She wasn’t sure what to expect from this furious side of Tucker.
Keisha’s mother, Loretta, and her son, Li’l T, were awakened and startled when they heard the crashing sound. She jumped out of bed, grabbed the baby, and rushed from the bedroom to see what was going on. Right outside her door, she spotted Keisha near the doorway of her bedroom, crying.
“Keisha, is everything okay?” asked her concerned mother.
Keisha didn’t respond. Instead, she took it as an opportunity to get out of Tucker’s sight. Making a run for the bathroom, she locked herself inside and cried like a baby.
Loretta was curious as to what was going on. She assumed that maybe it was just a heated discussion about the wedding postponement. Since there wasn’t any sign of domestic violence, she felt no need to get involved, so she headed back to her room.
Tucker had no sympathy for Keisha or her tears, and at this point, all he felt for her was pure hatred, but he would never hurt her because of his son.
“Let me just get the fuck up out of here,” he said to himself as he quickly gathered up some of his belongings and breaking out in a hurry. He wasn’t sure if his anger would allow him to honor the fact that she was his baby’s mother.
Once the sound of Tucker’s truck sped off, confirming that the coast was now clear, Loretta laid Li’l T in the bed and came back out of her room. She knocked gently on the bathroom door.
“Keisha, is everything all right?” she whispered again.
Keisha wasn’t all right. Her life was over. She opened the door and fell into her mother’s arms for comfort.
“He’s gone, and I don’t think he’s coming back,” Keisha stuttered as she cried.
“What happened?”
“The tape. He saw the tape.”
“No! Keisha, how? I thought you got rid of it.”
“I did, I did. And there’s no way possible that could be the same tape. Somebody had to set me up. One of the girls at my bachelorette party, posing to be my friend, set this whole thing up, and my stupid ass fell for it. Now he’s gone, and what am I gonna do, huh? How am I ever gonna get Tucker to forgive me?” she asked her mother, hoping and wishing she could give her all the right answers.
“Keisha, you know Tucker loves you. Just give him some time. He’ll come around so you guys can at least talk and try to work things out. In the meantime, you need to be strong and try to keep it together, not only for you, but for that baby boy in the next room. Don’t make the same mistakes that I did.
“You know what you did was wrong, but we all make mistakes. I know you love him, and he knows it too. Understand that that was a pretty big bomb you dropped on him, so he’s gotta be devastated and full of hurt right now. You’ re the mother of his son, a son that he loves more than anything in this world, and nothing will ever change that. Just give it some time. He’ll come around. You just have to pray for the best and prepare for the worst, just in case he can’t find it in his heart to forgive you. If he can’t, then you just got to find a way to move on,” Loretta said, stroking her daughter’s head while she cried in her arms.
Keisha listened to her mother’s words, but at the same time, she didn’t feel like she could manage life without Tucker. She went and got her son from her mother’s bed. Holding him close, she reminisced on how happy Tucker was when she told him she was pregnant. Their son, Li’l T, was the bond that she and Tucker shared, a bond created out of love. It was a bond that, because of her stupidity, might be the only thing she had left of Tucker.
Before shutting her puffy red eyes to get some sleep, she made a promise to herself to find out which one of those bitches was responsible for causing this misery.
CHAPTER 3
Epiphany’s father had a terrible ringing in his left ear all evening. Old folks used to say that when you heard a ringing sound in your ear, that was the sound of death bells and someone close to you was gonna die. Jay Wright didn’t believe that ol’ superstitious shit, but for some reason tonight’s feeling just wasn’t right.
Those feelings were confirmed when he was awakened in the middle of the night by the doorbell. He jumped up out of bed and rushed down the stairs to see who it was. It had to be some bad news, because nobody rang his bell that time of morning ever since he left the drug game three years ago.
When he reached the door, he opened it slightly and peeked out to find two police officers, one black and one white, standing there. He assumed something might have happened to his brother, Ramel, who took over his position when he retired from the game.
Before he could speak, one of the officers addressed him. “Good morning, sir. I’m Officer Johnson, and this is Officer Riley. We’re sorry to bother you at this time of morning, but are you Jay Wright?”
Epiphany’s dad hated the police, but he kept his composure, because finding out their reason for being at his front door was more important.
“Yes, officer, I am. What’s going on?”
“Mr. Wright, I’m sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news, but your daughter, Epiphany, and a young man were found shot in her apartment around midnight. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Your daughter was severely wounded and rushed to the nearest hospital. We don’t know the status of her condition, but she was still alive when she was admitted to the hospital.”
“Aww, fuck! Fuck! Hell, nah! Nah, not Epee!” Jay Wright punched his fist through the wooden door.
His wife awakened from her sound sleep when she heard his loud outburst. She threw on her robe and came running down the stairs. Hearing her husband yell out like that could only mean that something terrible had happened.
“Baby, what is it? What’s wrong? Oh my God, baby, what happened?” she questioned with fear. Jay’s face said it all. She knew something was terribly wrong, and her gut instincts told her it was Epiphany. She started to cry. “Where is she, Jay? What happened to Epee? Jay, answer me. Please say she’s all right!” she demanded frantically.
“Baby, listen. We gotta go to the hospital. Epee’s been hurt,” he said, grabbing her close, trying to comfort her. He knew that any second she was about to lose it.
“No, no, no, not my child. Where is she, Jay? What happened? What fucking hospital, huh?” she cried out and tussled to break from his arm lock.
“Stop it, Tiara. You gotta calm down. She’s been shot. Now, either you gon’ sit here and go crazy, or go get your shit so we can go see about her,�
�� he said, putting the situation in a better perspective.
The police offered to take them to the hospital, but Jay refused. Before he could slam the door shut, the officer handed him his card and informed him that he might have to answer some questions later. They wanted to know if he had any idea who might have wanted to harm his daughter or the young man that was with her.
“Yo, I’on know nothing right now, but whoever did this better hope you guys find ’em before I do. Now, will that be all?” Jay said, fuming.
“Mr. Wright, I know you’re upset, but trust that we’ll do the best we can to find the shooter or shooters. I can only imagine how you must be feeling, because if that was my little girl lying up in some hospital bed with a gunshot wound to the chest, badly beaten and barely holding on, I’d want to take matters into my own hands too. But you take it easy, you hear?” said the Uncle Tom Officer Johnson.
Both police officers turned to walk away. Once they reached the squad car, Riley looked at his partner with a devilish smirk on his face.
“Hey, Johnson, what was that about? You damn near told the man to take the law into his own hands.”
“That’s exactly what I did. I could tell you some stories about that man. Mr. J. ‘Smooth Criminal’ Wright, a.k.a. ‘The Untouchable.’ He was big time, some years ago. The state and the feds had him under investigation for years, but we could never get any hard evidence on that nigger to arrest or convict him, not even a petty crime. He knew the game too well, so I was just giving the brother a little rope to hang himself with, if you know what I mean. A little encouragement never hurt nobody. Besides, knowing that scum like him is behind bars would help a lot of us sleep better at night.” He laughed.
“Maybe what happened to his daughter was someone settling the score, or having a vendetta against him,” said Riley.
“Yeah, could be, unless the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and she got herself caught up in her own mess. We’ll just sit on this one, push it to the side, and let the animals do what they do best–kill each other off,” said Smith.