The Takeover

by Meesha

  “It will get handled, it won’t happen because you’re threatening me with the shit though. Stand down and let me do what I do best. You ain’t never questioned my get down until now. Does it matter to you how I feel, having to kill the man that created me? It really don’t, but it’s all good. I’m gon’ keep telling myself that you are hurting right now. How long it lasts, that I can’t make a promise about. You of all people know I don’t bow down to no muthafuckin’ body,” Psycho said staring directly at Rodrigo.

  “Aight, enough of that shit, it’s over—for now. We will be hitting traps damn near at the same time. The Westside is where we will start. There are three traps on that side of town. Four of us will go on 26th, and the rest will head to 16th. After those two are shut down, we all will take down the trap in K-Town. I want everyone to pay attention to everything around y’all. We all go in, and we all come out. We look out for one another, that includes you too, Rodrigo,” Beast said with a raised eyebrow. “So, it will be Ricio, Fats, and Psycho on 16th. The rest of us is killing everything moving on 26th. Let’s go.”

  “Beast, text me when y’all are in position. Then wait for my signal. We have to hit together, getting in and out fast,” I said heading to the door.

  Riding in the Navigator, Psycho was up front with me. He kept trying to call someone on his phone and every time he became more frustrated. I watched him do it for about five minutes before I said something to him.

  “Give me yo’ phone, nigga,” I barked with my hand out.

  “For what? Never mind, here,” he said shoving the phone into my hand.

  Glancing down at his call log, I saw that he’d called Rodney numerous times. I pressed the call button and listened to the phone ring. Like Psycho I got the voicemail.

  “You have reached Attorney Rodney Baker, I’m not available to answer your call, so leave your name, number and a brief message. I’ll be sure to get back with you as soon as I can.”

  “Do you believe me now, Ricio. I have never lied to you or your brother. I’m sorry for the shit my father did to y’all. He will pay for that shit, I promise you that. Reese was more of a father to me than Rodney was. Finding out he was the one that pulled the trigga did something to me. For his ass to put me out of the house because I was hustling, knowing that’s the same shit he was doing fucked me up in the head. Who knows, maybe he’s still out in the streets living a double life.”

  “I hate to be the one to tell you this, Psycho. Rodney is still in the game with Floyd and Big Jim. He’s in on this shit to bring me and my brother down. I learned that the other day when Beast and myself went to Madysen’s crib. A little nigga named Bari told us everything before he got his brains blown out. You don’t have to guess, Rod is still in the streets. Handle yo’ business and get him before he gets you,” I said glancing in his direction.

  Shaking his head, Psycho face hardened. “You mean to tell me he is in cahoots with this shit? He knows I am down with y’all so you telling me this only means he is out to get at me too. Yeah, I have to find his ass to find out what is going on. I’ll be going to his job after the funeral since I can’t catch him at his crib,” Psycho said.

  “Whatever you have to do is fine with me, it’s Rodrigo that ain’t takin’ no shorts. I know that nigga is harsh as fuck, but you have to understand where his head is right now. Max’s death brought the Grim Reaper out and he won’t stop until everyone is dead. I hope he save a couple bodies for us, shit,” I laughed.

  “Well, we are about to make these guns clap loud and light these muthafuckas up in a minute,” Psycho said.

  When I pulled up on 16th, there were many kids playing. A couple of boys were playing football, a few little girls playing hopscotch and double Dutch on the sidewalks. Looking around I noticed there wasn’t any activity going on outside of the trap and it gave me the opportunity to clear the streets.

  Parking my ride down the street, we walked back to talk to some of the parents that were sitting on their porches or playing with their kids. I had a lot of respect for the people on 16th because they looked out for us when we trapped on their block. For doing that, I made sure they were taken care of in return.

  “Aye, Tony, I need you to get TJ and Daisha in the house. I’m about to light this muthafucka up real quick,” I whispered in his ear. I’d always made it my business to inform people about what I did before I did it in the past. It was no different that day.

  “You ain’t gotta say shit else,” he said turning around looking for his kids. “TJ and Daisha! Let’s go get some pizza!” he yelled heading for his car.

  I went on the porch and approached a chick that I used to fuck with a while back and she showed all thirty-two of her teeth when she saw me. Taking a sip of what was likely Remy from the cup, her girl pulled on the blunt she had and licked her lips seductively. I ignored both of them because neither one of them were my primary focus.

  “I need both of y’all to get the kids and go in the house.”

  “I need yo’ ass to come over and drop that dick in my uterus,” she said chuckling.

  “Today ain’t the day for your bullshit! Get the fuck in the house! If I’m telling you to go, then just do the shit!” I barked.

  Her eyes got big and she stood up going down the stairs. “Y’all come on, we going in the house. I’ll bring y’all back out later.”

  “Why, ma?” her oldest son asked.

  “Don’t question me! Get yo’ ass in the house!” she looked at me as I walked away to clear the rest of the kids off the block. When everyone was safely in the house, I texted Beast.

  Me: We ‘bout to go in. I had to clear the block.

  Beast: Aight, cool. It’s game time, let’s do this shit.

  I lead the way to the back of the house through the gateway. We moved silently and I pulled my bitch off my hip. The stairs that led to the basement were clear as well as the yard. Bari had already informed me that none of the locks were changed at the trap. Before getting out of my car, I'd removed the key from my keyring.

  Creeping down the steps, I eased the key inside of the lock. I didn’t know if anyone was in there at the time. Psycho and Fats stood against the wall while I pushed the door open slowly. As I stepped inside the doorway, I saw one of the lil homies named J-Dubb sitting in a chair with his back to the door.

  He was playing the Xbox with a pair of Beats headphones on his head. We all hurried inside because at that point, I wasn’t worried about him hearing us. Putting my gun to the back of his head, I snatched the headphones off and tossed them to the side.

  “All I want you to do is answer my questions. Is that understood?”

  “Ricio, I didn’t know that Max got shot. I’m sorry man,” he said quietly.

  “Shut the fuck up, nigga!” I said striking him across the head. “Who else is in here?”

  J-Dubb held the back of his head as blood seeped through his fingers. “Tray Ball and Vell is upstairs counting money and bagging. What do you want? I’ll tell you whatever you need to know,” he said without turning around.

  As he tried to sell his soul to the devil, I was screwing my silencer on my gun. There was nothing this nigga could tell me about nothing, it didn’t matter. I knew where everything was in the trap, I didn’t need help to shut this muthafucka down. Instead of answering him, I popped two slugs in the back of his head and watched his body slump to the side.

  I caught his body and lowered him to the floor to prevent alerting the people upstairs. “Get y’all silencers in place. I don’t want to draw any attention to this house from the outside.”

  Going to the bedroom on the other side of the basement, I filled two duffle bags with all the money that was in the closet. After emptying the closet, I walked back into the open space of the room and put the bags by the door. Pointing toward the stairs I put my finger to my lips and Psycho, Fats, and myself walked quietly up the staircase.

  At the top, the door was closed and Psycho eased it open and ducked out. Fats and myself followe
d him and hugged a wall. The radio was on and Tupac’s “Gangsta Party” blared through the speakers. Vell’s voice could be heard rapping word for word like he was in an audition for the next person to play Pac in a movie.

  There were two entries to the kitchen and I took one, sending Psycho and Fats the other way. Waiting for my signal to move, Psych had his gun ready to clap. Fats was bouncing from one foot to the other and I knew he was anxious to get shit crackin’. Taking a deep breath, I held my hand up to give the signal.

  “It’s about time you decided to come up and help, bitch,” Tray Ball yelled over the music. Bringing my hand down, we all rounded the corner at the same time.

  “Nah, he won’t be helping nobody ever again, bitch,” I said laughing.

  Tray Ball’s eyes got big as he looked down the barrel of my gun. Vell reached to his right and Psycho sent a bullet through his hand before he could grasp the gun that sat in plain sight on the table. The squeal he let out sounded like a pig getting slaughtered.

  “Shut yo’ punk ass up! Were you crying when yo’ muthafuckin’ ass was shooting outside of Paradise Kitty?” I asked.

  “I wasn’t there, man. I promise I wasn’t there,” Vell cried.

  I hated a lying ass nigga. Anybody that knew me could say that for a fact. Responding to the bullshit he said wasn’t called for. I decided to let Fats put his ass out of his misery. Nodding my head in his direction, he knew exactly what to do. Fats emptied his clip aiming for Vell’s upper body. His head landed on the table with a loud thud.

  “Ricio, we ain’t who you want to get back at! Floyd orchestrated that shit!” Tray Ball said with his hands up.

  “He may have organized the shit, but you followed his lead. One band, one sound, right? Everybody is on one accord, right? Now, all you niggas will die simultaneously,” I said shooting him in the left shoulder. “I bet you wished you had come to me before you went after me, huh?” I asked as I shot him in the other arm.

  “Aaaaaaaaaahhhh!” he screamed as the bullet entered his flesh. Tray Ball was breathing fast as his hands dropped in his lap. He looked me in the eyes and smiled, “Ricio, you already know I’m not a major nigga on this team. Killing me won’t get you any closer to finding out the shit you are trying to find out. I just sell dope and shoot niggas, just like I did with yo’ bitch ass brother.”

  The words were still lingering on his tongue when all three of us pumped bullets into every part of his body from the waist up. When we finished making Swiss cheese out of his ass, we raced to back to the basement door without taking any of the items from the table. Psycho and Fats each left with a bag over their shoulder, I left out, locked the door behind me, and we all walked briskly back to the car.

  There was still no one on the street and I was glad about that. I popped the locks and the trunk as we neared my whip and both Psycho and Fats dumped the bags and got in. Driving down the street, I pulled out my phone and texted Beast.

  Me: Done. On my way to K-Town.

  I continued to drive until I got to Homan. I took that street to Roosevelt and headed westbound to our final destination. It had been a good ten minutes and Beast still hadn’t responded to my text. Glancing down at my phone I didn’t have any missed calls or texts. I waited a few more minutes and picked my phone up as a text came through.

  Beast: Aight, we are in route too. We had a bit of a complication, Rodrigo was hit in the shoulder but he refuses to go to the hospital. I had some supplies in the car and I patched him up until we can get to the hood doctor. The K-Town spot, we going in guns blazin’. No questions asked. Anybody in there is dying. Point blank. We hitting from the front and the back, kickin’ the doors in at the same time. Be ready because this is the end until after the funeral.

  Me: Is my brother cool? I’m all for that plan by the way.

  Beast: His hardheaded ass will live, if that’s what you’re worried about. It’s gon’ take a little bit more than a shot to the shoulder to stop this crazy muthafucka. I’ll see you in a minute, Ricio.

  Relieved to hear that Rodrigo was good after being shot, I droved a little over the speed limit to make it to my destination. The need to see for myself that my brother was good, was my main focus. I made it to the trap in K-Town first and parked in the alley. Sending a text to Beast, I told him where I was.

  Me: I’m parked in the back alley. Meet me back there.

  Beast: Okay, I’ll be there in ten.

  “Ricio, we have a lot of niggas that’s still breathing after this. We still have the team on the Southside,” Fats said.

  “I didn’t forget. Everybody is getting dealt with, believe that shit. They can run but they can’t hide. I want at least one of these niggas to fight back, this shit is too easy. Rodrigo got shot but he’s good, according to Beast. At least one of them niggas on 26th put up a fight,” I said laughing. “He didn’t leave that muthafucka breathing I tell you that.”

  Well here comes Beast now, it’s time to get these niggas ready so they can be fitted for a toe tag,” Fats said loading a clip in his .45 magnum.

  Chapter 14

  Beast

  Rodrigo was hyped as hell to pull his trigga again. His ass killed six people already and was ready for more. I didn’t blame him for the way he felt because I was with him all the way. Sosa would bow down and wait shit out. This nigga Rodrigo needed a straight jacket.

  Turning the corner on 26th, I bent the block and came back around. When I parked my shit, bullets started flying from the house we were about to hit. Them muthafuckas were ready for something to go down. Going down without a fight wasn’t an option for them. We had enough ammo to give them the fight they were seeking.

  I went into straight combat mode and was ready. Rodrigo opened the car door and slid out, hiding behind the car. AK grabbed Precious and got out as bullets ricocheted off my shit. Good thing it was bulletproof so there wouldn’t be a scratch on it. Felon had a gun in both hands when he took cover. I crawled over the console and got out on the passenger side.

  Analyzing the situation, I thought about how we were going to go at these muthafuckas without dying in the process. “Okay, they were ready for us. Felon and AK, I want y’all to try to make it to the side of the house to the left. Rodigo and I will take the right side. But first, we have to kill some of these niggas because there are more than four of them in there,” I said as bullets continued to fly.

  As I told them the plan, that shit changed quickly. The door flew open and three muthafuckas ran out gunnin’ at us full throttle. Rodrigo sprang into action and delivered a head shot to the first dude that popped off a couple of rounds as he descended the steps. He fell instantly and the niggas behind him had to hop over his body. That gave us an opportunity to retaliate but it was short lived.

  Muthafuckas came from the directions I'd directed my team to go whenever we could get there. We couldn’t get a shot off, all we could do was crouch behind the car using it as a shield. “Where the fuck did all these niggas come from?” Felon asked looking through the window.

  “I don’t know! Don’t jump out, let them muthafuckas use their ammo. Stupid muthafuckas ain’t realizing they ain’t bust not one window to this bitch, but they won’t be able to shoot forever,” I said watching them fire away.

  “Fuck that, we didn’t come here to be sitting ducks! Let’s eliminate some of these pussies and do what the fuck we came to this muthafucka to do!” Rodrigo barked.

  “I’m with Rodrigo,” AK agreed. “This is what’s gon’ happen, I’m about to fuck their asses up with Precious, then y’all come and finish them off. That’s the only way,” he said. My bitch is birthin’ a hunnid round clip, it’s only about thirteen of them niggas. We got this, Beast. If we wanna live, we got to fight back!”

  “Aight, set it up! We got yo’ back. Don’t put yo’self in a situation where you can’t dip back,” I said as he got Precious ready to twerk her big ass.

  At that moment, the bullets were coming slower than before and I knew that was our chance
to get at them niggas. Rodrigo, with his hardheaded ass, jumped up and took out two with fatal straight head shots. I stood from my position and fired a couple shots hitting one muthafucka in the shoulder making him drop his weapon. AK stepped out and let Precious sing like a gansta rap song on repeat. Bodies started falling like flies.

  The rest of us took aim at the niggas that were hiding behind the house and trees. There were only three left and they were playing peekaboo. Rodrigo held up his hand to stop AK from shooting. He ran toward the tree with his gun raised and popped the nigga hiding there in the left temple. His ass hit the ground hard busting what was left of his head open.

  Out of my peripheral I saw the muthafucka I’d shot in the shoulder take aim at Rodrigo but I didn’t react fast enough to stop him from letting a single shot off. Rodrigo stumbled and hid behind the tree and reloaded his gun. I ran up on the nigga on the ground and emptied my clip into his ass. He wouldn’t shoot nobody else. The two remaining niggas ran to the back of the trap. We gave chase but their asses were long gone.

  “Those were some of them Southside niggas. It’s all good, their time is coming. Fuckin’ with Floyd and Big Jim, they’re already dead,” I said walking back to my ride.

  Rodrigo didn’t follow us back to the street. Instead he went into the house and five minutes later he came back out with a couple garbage bags and jogged to the car. “Pop the trunk, we gotta get the fuck away from here before the law comes,” he said going to the back of my whip.

  “We don’t have nothing to worry about. The law ain’t comin’, they in y’all pockets now,” I said getting in the driver’s seat.

  Rodrigo got in and his arm was bleeding badly. I got out and went to the trunk and got my first aid kit. With it in my lap I drove away from the scene pulling over once we got on the expressway. I needed to stop the bleeding the best I could until we got to the hood doctor.

  Rolling his shirt sleeve up, I noticed the bullet went straight through. A clean shot. I poured some antiseptic on the wound and his crazy ass didn’t even flinch. I packed it and wrapped his arm with gauze for the time being.