by Kiki Swinson
“Mmm. Mmmm,” he moaned, trying in vain to fight the unknown force holding him down. The bandana that had been shoved between his lips kept him from speaking. But I could see the scrunch of his eyebrows and knew he was angry that he’d gotten caught out there like this—naked and afraid.
“Ahh, payback is a bitch, ain’t it,” I whispered, with an evil grimace tugging at the corners of my mouth. I snatched off my wig and my shades. No more disguises were needed. I wanted him to know exactly who had him helpless and at her mercy.
“Yup, it’s me. The girl you thought you would have coming here in chains so you could kill me once and for all. I guess you were the one who got fooled, huh?”
Jay King’s eyes went wide and he flailed against the handcuffs, moaning and grunting. I was amused. It was like something out of a movie when the captured person knew they were going to die and tried in vain to beg for their life.
“Surprised to see me?” I teased.
He grunted.
“Good. You should be. Because you’re about to get the surprise of your fucking life,” I said.
Jay King was hissing and spitting behind the gag. He was moving his head from side to side and I could see veins popping at the sides of his temples and in his neck. He was straining to get at me. Poor thing. He was as helpless as a newborn baby at the moment. Right where I wanted him to be.
I laughed at him. “You’re probably making all kinds of threats behind that gag, huh? Well, your threats don’t mean shit to me. I know who you’re supposed to be, some dangerous drug kingpin from some dangerous family, but right now, you’re a weak-ass murderer about to get it,” I said, running my gun down the side of his face.
“Aww, look at you. The powerful Jay King. Stupid ass. You’re so bad you let some dirty street pussy from four hood chicks with Brazilian bundles in their heads and fake-ass shot asses get you in a vulnerable position like this. Mmm, mmm, mmm. They always say pussy would take down the most powerful men in the world. I guess it brings life and also is the cause for life to be taken away. I wonder what your big, bad family members, the Kings, will say about this when they get word that you feel for the oldest kind of setup in the world . . . the pussy trap,” I said, placing my gun on Jay King’s right eye.
“Should I shoot you here?” I said. Then I moved my gun to the center of his forehead. “Or here? Nah, maybe here.” I placed the barrel over his crotch. “Naw. I think I’ll shoot you in all of the spots that my sister got shot.”
He tried to buck his body and was breathing hard against the gag. Sweat was dripping down his face and snot was rimming his nostrils as they opened and closed rapidly like a raging bull’s.
“So you’re the one who ordered the hit on me and my sister and then put a bounty out on my head, huh?” I asked, knowing the answer to my own questions. Jay King closed his eyes and went completely still. For some reason that infuriated me even more.
“Don’t fucking act like you’re giving up now. Nah, I want to see you look at me. I want to see the fear in your eyes. I want you to beg for your life like me and my sister did at the hands of your cousin,” I gritted. I felt a wave of emotion sweep over me.
He ignored me and lay still. I bit down into my jaw, raised the gun, and cracked it over his head. That woke his ass up. His eye opened with shock and I could see fire flashing in them. He began moving wildly like he wanted to grab me, but his efforts were to no avail. I looked down at him and smiled as I stared right into his eyes. We exchanged evil glares, but I was the first to see a tiny glimpse of fear dancing behind his eyes. And that fueled my wrath even more.
“I love watching your stomach clench and your muscles tense. I love the thought of you thinking, if I could just get to that bitch, I’d torture her and kill her and make an example out of her. Is that what you’re thinking?” I taunted. I laughed. “I love the message this will send to your cousin, El Jefe. What will he think when word gets back to him that you were found . . . dead.”
Jay King began trying to speak through the material of the tie.
“Oh, you want to tell me something?” I asked. I wanted to hear what he had to say . . . his last words. I pulled the gag from his mouth.
“You stupid bitch. You think I was your only problem? You think I was the only one that wanted you and your sister gone? You fucked up a lot of people’s money. You stepped into some shit you have no idea about. Oh yeah, it goes deeper than my family. You think it was a coincidence that we knew exactly when you and your sister were getting released? Think about it. You may have me here, but you’ll never beat the biggest gang in America. Think about that,” Jay King said, his tone raspy and evil.
His words cut through me. The entire place had taken on a red-tinged hue like someone had pulled a red veil over my eyes.
“Fuck you. You killed my sister,” I gritted.
“That’s what you think. You should check the people you thought had your back,” he said.
That was it. He was talking shit to try and save himself.
“Nah, there’s nothing else to discuss,” I said callously. I stepped back a little bit and aimed at his head. He closed his eyes again, like he had accepted his fate. His words were still swirling in my head.
“My grandmother once told me that only evil could wipe out evil. So maybe I’m evil,” I said in an eerie, crazy-girl voice like a deranged character from a scary movie. With that, I let off two shots that ended his life.
The blood splatter, the smell, the reality, my losses, my life . . . everything came down on me at once like a heavy lead anvil had fallen on my head. My legs gave out and I finally dropped the gun and collapsed to the floor with racking sobs.
“Miley, I did it for you. I got them back. We are free. We are finally free,” I cried.
I was finally free. Or so I thought.
CHAPTER 15
THE REAL DEVIL IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING
We laid low at an out-of-town hotel for three days. Aisha’s dudes went about their business raiding every single one of the Kings’ stash houses. Jay King’s people didn’t see them coming. They had been caught totally off guard, especially at their super-secret spots. One of Aisha’s guys, a dude named Ali, ended up dead behind the stash house robberies. I guess after six or seven hits, King’s guys had gotten hip and were waiting for Aisha’s peoples to arrive. It was a shame Ali had to die. I thought the crew would’ve been shaken up, but Aisha didn’t seemed fazed by his death at all. In fact, she shrugged her shoulders, poured out a little Hennessy in Ali’s honor, and told me it was all part of the life he’d chosen. “Live by it. Die by it,” she’d said.
I thought that was some cold-ass shit to say. But I also knew it was true.
On day three, it was finally time to be on my way. I threw the last of my cash into my bag.
“I think that’s it,” I said, letting out a long, relieved sigh afterward. “We did good, girl. We did good.” I hugged Aisha tight and she returned the embrace. “You came through for me big time, Isha. I will never forget all that you did for me. You literally put yourself at risk to help me save my own life and avenge my sister’s death. There are not many people out here that would ride for their friend like that. And I really don’t have many people who ever cared for me enough to do anything like this for me. You’re a rare breed girl, trust me,” I said with sincerity as Aisha and I moved out of our embrace.
“Oh please.” Aisha waved at me with tears starting to well up in her eyes.
It was rare to see Aisha cry. So I knew I had tugged at her heartstrings with my little speech.
“I been getting your ass out of shit since we were eight years old. Why would anything be different now,” Aisha joked. We both busted out laughing.
“You damn right about that,” I agreed, still cracking up. “For real though, Isha. From third grade to our thirties. And even through all of our ups and downs you never stopped being a true friend.”
“No, but on a serious note, Karlie, it was worth it for me. I’ve been look
ing for a quick come up, and it was like God had answered my prayers when you showed up at my door in the middle of the night talking about you needed my help. Our brains together was a dangerous combination on that plan . . . it all paid the hell off lovely,” she replied, looking down at the coffee table covered with the stacks of cash that was her portion of the take.
“Lovely,” I agreed, picking up my bag of money from the table. “Anyway girl. I got to hit the road. I can’t stay around here another day. Just too many memories and too much shit going on. I wish you were leaving too,” I said.
“Nah, boo. This gonna be where I live forever,” she said.
“A’ight, girl. Then this is see you later, because goodbye seems too final. I don’t know where I’ll end up, but I know I won’t be coming back. I don’t have anything left here. I’ll keep in touch and maybe you’ll come see me on some island somewhere,” I said, lowering my eyes.
Aisha gave me another hug. “You know I will. Be safe, Karlie.”
I had to turn away before my tears started spilling. For real, leaving Aisha felt too final. The thought of being alone again caused a hard lump to form in my throat. I swallowed hard, got my head together, and walked out of the hotel. As soon as I opened the car door, I dumped my bag on the floor of the rented Chevy Impala she had gotten for me with her friend’s credit card. I was still leery, so I didn’t want to do anything in my name except use my passport to get the hell out of the country.
I slid behind the steering wheel, clutched it tightly, and let out a windstorm of breath. I looked up into the rearview mirror at my reflection and parted a sly smile. “You did it, Karlie. You fucking did it,” I said to my reflection.
I finally put the car in drive and stepped on the gas.
WHAM!
I didn’t have time to say another word or to even react. My body bucked forward so hard that my head hit the steering wheel and lurched back against the headrest. The force of the blow sent a searing pain through my skull, and my teeth slammed down on my tongue so hard my mouth immediately filled with blood.
My head felt so heavy, I couldn’t keep it up. I was dazed and confused, but I felt the driver’s side door swing open. The next thing I knew, I was being dragged from the car. I opened my mouth to scream, but the sound wouldn’t come. Suddenly I couldn’t breathe. There was a huge, meaty, sweaty hand covering my nose and mouth. I started kicking my legs, but I was no match for whoever had me. I was going to keep fighting until a hard hit in my chest caused me to cease all movement. I felt like everything around me was spinning. I felt the black bag being placed over my head.
Suddenly I felt myself being thrown down onto something metal. I heard a door slam shut. I could hear feet shuffling next to my head.
“Well, Karlie Houston, you just don’t learn, do you?” I heard the muffled sound of a man’s voice.
“I tried to warn you. I tried to protect you. I tried to get you out of the fray. No one would’ve ever found you. But you . . . you just wouldn’t fade away. You couldn’t stop making waves,” the voice said.
My heart began slamming in my chest.
“De—” I started to say. But a blow to my ribs sent my words tumbling back down my throat like I’d tried to swallow a handful of hard marbles.
“Shhh. Don’t say another word. You’ve done and said enough already. I had a good thing going, but you came along and fucked it all up. I was so nice to you. I even saved you the first time to make it all look good. I had people I had to report to and I couldn’t risk losing everything. Okay, so you didn’t die with the hit at the hospital . . . I moved on to plan B, and you still fucked it up. Then I got your stupid, punk-ass uncle out of jail when you got rid of him. I gave that dumb bastard a clean gun so he could get rid of you, and he was completely incompetent. I kept saying to myself, how does this girl keep getting around all of my plans? At that point, you had pissed me off. You just didn’t listen.”
“Detective Castle?” I managed to say.
He laughed. “Yeah, that’s what you know me as, but really, I’m the leader of the biggest gang in America . . . the crooked cops club,” he replied. “I hope you had a good last moment with your friend Aisha. She’s now joined your sister in the afterlife.”
“Oh my God,” I gasped. I couldn’t believe my ears. Detective Castle was crooked the whole time? That couldn’t be right. There was no way. He had helped me go into hiding. He had helped me bury my sister. He had protected me and saved our lives. I was in shock. My body began trembling fiercely.
“How?”
“There was something about you I liked, so I tried to be official with you. I tried and tried to keep you away. But Karlie Houston is a badass and didn’t want to just let bygones be bygones. You fucked up my money. Jay King and I had decided to get rid of his cousin Ashton together, so I busted in and saved you from him and there was enough from that to send him away. Then we figured we’d get rid of you and your sister and Sidney, but you happened to survive the hit. Then we decided to send you away. Just let it ride. It was too risky to keep trying to kill you. But then you started snooping around. Then I tried to use your worthless uncle, but you were smarter than him. Then you joined forces and caught Jay slipping, but I was following you. I decided to let you get him out of the picture so that all of the money would be mine. With him gone, I could make a deal with his family in Jamaica. So you see, Karlie, you kept butting in my business. Now you’ll suffer the consequences,” Detective Castle said.
“Why? I . . . I . . . was leaving for good,” I croaked, my words muffled by the hood.
“You didn’t leave fast enough. I guess you can say I’m the real devil in sheep’s clothing,” he said.
WHO CAN YOU TRUST?
Saundra
CHAPTER 1
Glancing over my left shoulder, I fixed my eyes on the Metal Fusion clock attached to the wall and smiled. It read 2:30 p.m., and I couldn’t have been happier.
“Hmmm, I see you watching that clock like a hawk. You glad you don’t have to close up tonight, huh?” Judy asks.
“Yes. I swear, three o’clock is not approaching fast enough. It’s nice outside and I can’t wait to be out in these Oakland streets. Matter of fact, I’m only going to take one more person before I start shutting it down.”
“I know, right.” Judy smiled, then greeted her next customer as they stepped up to the counter.
“I can help you right over here.” I greeted the next lady in line.
“Thank you.” She smiled as she approached. “I need to make a deposit.”
“Sure, I can help you with that, Mrs. . . .” I trailed off. I wasn’t familiar with her, so I used the lead-the-customer strategy.
“Yazz . . . Yazz Armstrong.”
“Yazz, hmm that’s unique.” I notice right away that she had an accent. Not necessarily a country one, but she definitely was not from Oakland.
“I get that a lot since I’ve been here,” she volunteered.
“Where you from?” I pried.
“St. Louis, Missouri, born and raised. I moved here a year ago. And I am not used to it yet.” She chuckled; pulling a deposit bag from her Coach purse, she carefully removed a stack of bills.
“Well, you’ll get used to it. At least I hope so. The people are somewhat impossible,” I joked. “I love that blouse you have on. Where did you get it?” I hoped I was not being too nosy. But I loved clothes.
“From my boutique.”
“You own your own boutique?”
“Yeah, see?” She held up her deposit bag. It read Yazz Couture.
“That’s what’s up.” I loved to see young black women doing big things. It gave me hope. “So what brings you to Oakland?” The smile on her face faded. I realized that I had gone too far, but it was too late to take it back. “Listen, my bad.” I attempted to apologize.
“Aye, it’s cool.” She passed me the deposit slip. I quickly counted the cash, typed in her information, and handed her a deposit receipt. “Tell you what, why y
ou don’t stop by and check out my boutique.” She handed me a one of her business cards. I swiftly glanced at the artwork.
“Thanks, Yazz. I’ll stop through and bring my best friend Briana.”
I wasn’t sure if it was something I had just said, but a sadness seem to take over. She quickly tried to replace it with a forced smile, but it was too late, I had seen it. “You do that.” And with that she was out.
I watched her exit. She seemed like cool people, but there was something bothering her. Either way, it was none of my business and time for me to get off. Hunching my shoulders I made myself a mental note to check out Yazz Couture. For safekeeping I stuck the card in the pocket of my suit jacket.
Grabbing my deposit money bag, I filled it with the cash from my drawer. Next, I grabbed all of my bank slips, then sent my daily report to the printer. Heading toward the cash count office where everyone did their end-of-the-day count, I stopped off at the printer and retrieved my report.
With a huge smile on my face I pushed open the door of Bryers Savings and Loans Bank, where I had worked for the last two years. Recently, I had been promoted from plain old bank teller to lead teller specialist. So instead of me working a full six- to eight-hour shift, most days I worked a ten- to twelve-hour shift opening or closing the bank. Basically, I was given all the responsibility of the branch manager but less pay. However, I did receive a nice raise, which was a plus.
Outside in the heat I all but skipped to my car, jumped inside, and turned up the radio so that Lemonade by Beyonce could blast out of the speakers. Speeding out of the parking lot, I headed toward Lockwood Gardens. That was the public housing addition where my best friend Briana aka Bri resided. East Oakland was where we were both born and raised, for better or for worse. The only difference was I lived in a house.
* * *
Leaning on the horn so that Briana would know I had arrived, I reached over to the passenger side, grabbed my purse and pulled out my MAC lip gloss, and applied it to my lips.