by Andrea Sad'e
“Slick, dummy. We were making him so much money in that short period of time that we were copping from him. When we decided to go with a different connect, you remember how he acted. Saying shit like we wasn’t getting out alive, or some punk shit like that, and we walked right out of his office like we ain’t give a shit. That nigga pride and his pockets hurt. I mean, that nigga gon’ be rich for the rest of his life, but we was bringing in some bank; then we just snatched that shit back. I would be fuckin’ surprised if he didn’t have a hit out for our heads.”
“So where do we go from here?”
“We gon’ have to get Dro and Eric to stay on the lookout for Mark and Kay to see if they can get anything about who may have beef with us out of anybody, because you know the streets stay fuckin talking. We gon’ make sure our families’ straight cause if it’s one thing about this street life, these niggas will go after your family first and I can’t be having that shit.”
“Yeah, well let me go make sure my girl’s straight. Imma hit you up,” he said, dapping me up.
“One,” I said, getting in my truck and speeding off.
I went home and picked up Rayna because we had to get back to the warehouse and figure out what we were gonna do with her mom.
“How was your day?” I asked her.
“Good,” she said, looking out of the window; she hadn’t talked to me much since the incident happened the other day. I kinda felt like she blamed me for all the madness in her life, but I just tried to give her a better life. I wanted her to live better. I’m a street nigga, and this is what I do best. Yeah, one day I will get out of the game. I’m just putting myself in a position to be able to do that.
The drive on the way there was quiet, except for my music that was playing. I pulled up to the warehouse and parked the car; we both got out and walked up to the entrance. When we walked in, a couple of my workers were there cleaning up the place from a couple people we had to body this morning. We walked past them all and went downstairs to the basement. When we walked in, it smelled so bad so we both had to go back upstairs to grab our masks. We walked back down the stairs and saw Candice curled up in the corner.
“You ready to answer me yet?” She looked up and rolled her eyes.
“What do you want to know?”
“Why did you treat me the way you treated me?”
“You were the reason my husband left me,” she simply answered.
“How is that possible? Daddy loved me.”
“Yeah, until he found out you weren’t his,” she said, looking at the floor.
“What?”
“I cheated on him with my white boss. I ended up getting pregnant, and I kept it under wraps for a long time until your real father died. He had a letter for you in his will, and it was sent to the house and your father opened it. He said he always knew you didn’t look much like him, with the curly hair and light skin. None of his features. So he packed his shit and he left. You cried for days, and I couldn’t face the fact that it was all my fault so I blamed you. If you ever go back to my house, the letter is under your old mattress. I’m sorry.”
“It’s a little too late for your fuckin sorrys,” I heard Rayna whisper with tears streaming down her face. She held a gun up and unloaded on her mother. She looked at me with tears running down her face and her chest heaving up and down, handing me the empty gun. I grabbed her and gave her a tight hug.
“I gotta get out of here,” she said, running to the top of the stairs. She ran past everybody and as soon as she got to the door and fresh air hit her, she started throwing up the contents in her stomach. I grabbed her hair, rubbing her back. I know that sick feeling you get the first time you kill someone. I unlocked the truck and let her get in, turning the air on. Let me call them and tell them that I need the basement cleaned as well. After I got off the phone, I looked over and noticed that Rayna was zoned out.
“You okay?”
“Peachy,” she mumbled under her breath.
“Don’t be like that, Rayna.”
“I’m just saying, do you expect me to be okay after killing my own damn mother?”
“I know. I’m just trying to be here for you.”
“I know. I’m sorry. It’s just a lot. A lot has been going on, and I’m just on edge,” she said, looking down.
“Okay I’m gonna stop right here to one of my traps really quick. Do you want to go in with me?”
“No,” she answered.
“Okay. Lock the door, and your gun is right here.”
“I’m good, Ace,” she said, looking at me.
Rayna
I started to doze off when I heard gunshots, and I felt myself being snatched out of the car. I tried to fight, but they put something over my nose and everything went black.
I woke up groggy and managed to lift my head up. I was in a room lying on a bed, chained to a wall.
“What the fuck?” I mumbled. Where am I? I thought to myself. The last thing I remember was Ace going into his trap house. Suddenly the door opened, and I couldn’t believe the face I was looking at.
“Why,” was all I could get out of my mouth; he didn’t answer, he just walked over to me, touching my face. He rubbed my face and lifted his hand, slapping me.
“I’ve really missed you, Rayna,” he said, pecking my lips and causing me to want to vomit. How did my life spiral out of control like this?
Ace
“What the fuck!” I said, banging the ground with my fist. I had just gotten into an all-out gun war at one of my traps, and they took Rayna. I rubbed my temples.
“What am I gonna do,” I said to myself, trying to figure out where to start with this shit. I sent out a group text asking everybody to meet me at my house.
Slick walked into my door with Gena walking in behind him sobbing.
“You gotta do something. Ya’ll gotta do something,” she said to Slick and I.
I already felt like shit and she was making it a lot worse, but I knew the pain she was feeling I just had to be strong, or we would never find my baby. My dad walked in with my mom and Ahleya.
“You got a game plan yet, son?”
“I’m just trying to wrap my head around this shit and clear my mind so I can make the best approach. I can’t be acting off of emotion because when you act off of emotion, you fuck up. I have to be smart with this shit.”
“Smart man,” he said, dapping me up.
“Come here mama, I missed you,” I said, taking Ahleya out of my mother’s hands and kissing her cheeks.
“Hey Ma,” I said to my mom, kissing her forehead. A while later, everybody started arriving at my house, all my workers and security. Rico was sitting front and center.
“So, I’m sure you guys have heard by now that somebody snatched Rayna. I don’t know who did it, but I have a feeling who it may be. I believe Mark is still out there, so I need all of you to keep ya’ll eyes and ears open and your mouths shut. Anything suspicious you see, you will report it to me so I can work with my security to try and get her back. I need everybody to come together right now. That is all. Ya’ll can go now, but remember what I said.” They all shook their heads and walked out. Rico walked up to me with a certain look on his face.
“Wassup. I can tell it’s something.”
“I just don’t think it’s Mark. That’s all.”
“It has to be though. He’s the only person we really have a problem with; I could be wrong though. It is the streets that we’re talking about, and everybody is envious. I’m gon’ keep an open mind and do some research. You’re right though. It could be anybody. Nobody is to be trusted right now.”
“Damn right. I’m gon’ help you get her back though. I used to specialize in shit like this. It’s crazy, but I’m going to make sure we get her back. Did Rayna tell you a woman named Karen came here about two weeks ago?”
“Hell no, she didn’t say anything about it, what happened?” I said, a little upset that I was just hearing about this.
“The lad
y came here talking reckless about how you needed to take care of her son, and Rayna told her to get a DNA test, in which she declined. Then she said something about Ahleya, and it was hell from there. Rayna beat her ass. I had to snatch her up and get her back in the house before she knocked the girl out.” Slick and Gena came walking in the room with Ahleya in Slick’s arms and Kenyah in Gena’s, both knocked out.
“Bruh you remember Karen from high school? A grade older than us?” I asked. Slick.
“Yeah, what about her?”
“She’s claiming her baby is mine. She came here talking sideways the other day, and Rico said Rayna beat her ass. You think she could have something to do with this?”
“I know Karen,” Gena interrupted, “she’s crazy as bat shit. Her and my brother Chris were in a serious relationship, and still messed around a lot when he came home from college. I thought her baby was his, but he never said anything about it so I let go of the idea.”
“Wait. Her and Chris used to be an item? They still mess around?” I asked.
“As far as I know. I haven’t talked to Chris in a while. Why?”
“Y’all don’t think that it’s weird that the same week Rayna gets in a fight with Karen that she comes up missing? And the fact that Slick and I whooped his ass so bad has me a lot more suspicious.” Gena sat down and cried in her hands.
“I hope Chris had nothing to do with this. He used to be such a sweet and gentle person until he got with that bitch Karen. She turned him into a different person.” Slick walked over trying console Gena while me and Rico tried to start coming up with a plan.
Chapter 8:
3 days later...
Rayna
It had been a couple day since I’d been locked in this room. The only way I knew was because I could see day turn into night. I hadn’t slept. Hadn’t eaten. The only thing he gave me was water, and I was starving.
What could I have done so wrong? I sat thinking to myself. Just then, the door opened and a familiar face walked in, causing my stomach to turn.
“Yea bitch, remember me?” she said, slapping me in the face. I stayed quiet and let her have her moment. She was clearly embarrassed at how badly I had beaten her ass the other day.
“Kayro or some shit,” I answered without a care in this world. She slapped me again.
“Karen bitch!”
“Cool,” I simply replied. I guess it made her mad that I wasn’t pleading for my life. She walked out of the room.
“I’m going to work. I’ll be back tomorrow. Keep a close eye on her Chris, don’t fuck this up. We need that money.” After I heard her car leave, Chris walked into the room.
“Come on,” he said, getting me up. I followed in the direction he took me, and he led me to the shower. He cut it on and started taking my clothes off. He took off my pants, my panties, my bra, and my shirt.
“Still as sexy as I remember,” he said in my ear, causing me to roll my eyes. I stepped in the shower and he grabbed a bar of soap and a rag; after soaping up the rag, he started to wash every part of me. He washed my body for about thirty minutes before letting me rinse all the soap off. He put a towel around me and led me back to the room, where he pushed me on the bed. I closed my eyes because I knew what was next. I felt lips between my legs, which caught me by surprise because I was expecting it to be an excruciating experience. I tried to fight the feeling, but after a couple of minutes my body gave in, causing me to cum all over his plump lips. I instantly became disgusted, but I couldn’t help what my body reacted to, especially when I couldn’t stop it. My hands were handcuffed. He slowly pulled his pants down and slid a condom on his thick manhood, and laid between my legs.
“I’m not here to hurt you, unless you make me. I always loved you,” he said while licking my ear and sliding himself inside of me. I let out a loud moan, not because it felt good per say, but because I felt defeated when I felt him enter me. “Oh yeah, you like that?” he said in my ear. I stayed silent the whole time until he was done doing his business. I was totally zoned out. Abiding by all of his commands. When he was done, he asked me if I was hungry and I said yes. He said he was leaving to go get me something so I could eat before Karen came back, because she didn’t want me eating at all.
“Ok,” I mumbled. He locked my handcuffs to a chain on the bed, giving me access to lay down and take a comfortable nap. I laid down and finally drifted off to sleep.
2 hours later...
Enrico
“Gena, we need you to be strong and do this for us.”
I was trying to get her to call her brother. I was trying to track the call so we could put all this shit to an end. I know how hard this had to be for Gena though. Her best friend was gone, and she knew that when we got there her big brother’s life would be put to an end.
“Just promise me that I can talk to him first,” she said with tears in her eyes. I looked up at Ace and Slick, and they shook their heads.
“I promise, but you have to understand Gena, that things don’t always go as planned.” As soon as I said those words, Ace’s phone rang.
“Yea,” he said, looking around at us. He put the phone on speaker.
“If you want her back, you need to drop five hundred thousand at the spot we call you back and direct you to.
“How do I know that she’s still alive? Let me talk to her,” he said to the disguised voice on the line. We heard shuffling, and then we heard her voice.
“Hello,” she said in the phone.
“Rayna, are you okay? We’ve been trying to get you back, and I swear we’re almost down to the bottom of all of this.”
“I’m okay,” she said, crying.
“You have 24 hours. We’ll call you with the location,” the voice said before the line went dead. We all looked over at one another, knowing it was time to make some moves. 24 hours was too long. We needed to get her back now before they tried something crazy. I walked over to Gena.
“You have to make the call in fifteen minutes. We need you. Rayna needs you.”
Fifteen minutes later, Gena was dialing Chris’ number.
“Hello,” he said just above a whisper.
“Chris, somebody took Rayna,” she said, sobbing and putting on a little extra for her brother so he’d stay on the phone longer.
“What do you mean they took her?”
“They took her! They’re holding her hostage, and they want ransom money in order to get her back! What if they hurt my friend, Chris?”
“As long as you guys pay them the money, she should be alright, Gena. Just stay calm.”
“I got it,” I mouthed to her, letting her know that I got his location.
“C-Chris, let me call you back. Kenyah is crying.”
“Ok sis. Love you.”
“I love you too, Chris. So much,” she said before ending her phone call and placing her head in her hands, completely breaking down. Slick got up and sat by her, rubbing her back.
“You gotta be strong, baby,” he said to her, and she got up and went to the bathroom to clean herself up. “It looks like they have her at a house on the other side of Atlanta. About thirty minutes away from here,” I said, tapping the screen and showing it to Ace. “I’m finna call Eric and Dro and have them meet me here. I gotta call my mama and daddy to come watch the girls Then we can leave.”
“Let me and Gena go home and change.”
“I got my clothes in my car. I’ll be right back,” I said before walking out of the door.
About twenty minutes later, everybody was here dressed in all black.
“Listen, I’ve discussed it with Ace, and we think it would be a good idea for everybody to follow my cue. I will let ya’ll know when to move and what to do,” I said, giving them all a piece to put in their ear that we all could hear and talk to each other through. “Communication and being smart is going to ensure that we all get back safe. I’ve had some of my boys watching the house for the last few minutes, and they say there are men all up and through the house
, so please don’t go in here thinking that there is only two people because that’s not the case.” They all shook their heads and we walked outside, all piling into the van ready for war.
“Okay we’re gonna get out right here. The house is about five minutes away, and we’re gonna use this back trail so nobody can see us,” I said, tucking one gun behind my back and another in my leg. Everybody else did the same. “Can everybody hear me?” I said into the earpiece.
“Yeah,” they all said, hearing each other’s voices in their ears.
“Let's go,” I said, getting out of the van while everyone else followed. We walked for about six minutes before coming to a halt. We saw a house with a light on.
Rayna
Karen kicked me in my ribs, causing me to throw up blood.
“That’s enough,” Chris said to her.
“Shut the fuck up, Chris. Don’t nobody care cause you like the little bitch,” she said before kicking me in my face, causing me to fall over and hit the ground hard since my hands were in cuffs. She knew I’d whoop her ass if these handcuffs were off. I continued to take the beating she was giving me like my life depended on it. I wasn’t going to beg or show weakness, even though I was in so much pain and she hated that with a passion. Chris stepped in front of her.
“This was only supposed to be about money. Nobody was supposed to get hurt. Now leave her alone before I slap yo ass around like you’re doing her.” My body was slowly fading like I was about to pass out, and I guess Chris noticed because he pushed Karen out of the room and brought me a glass of water that I thought would help, but only caused me to throw up even more. I started to get weak again and laid down in the spot I was handcuffed to at the time. My eyes started to flutter, and were almost closed when I heard a loud sound that sounded like gunshots. It made me jump, but I didn’t have the strength to move. Chris walked out the door and heard more gunfire. Someone rushed in the room and unlocked my handcuffs, picking me up in one swift motion. I looked up and all I remember is seeing Rico’s face. I was thankful, but at that point I had nothing left in me. I passed out., right there in his arms.
Gena
Bullets were flying. They were bussing, and we were bussing back.