by MìChaune
Janae sighed and looked at the time on her phone. “It’s damn near five o’clock in the morning! I can tell this day is gonna be fucked up,” Janae complained.
“Aren’t you the least bit worried about Lysa?” Leigh Ann snapped.
“She’s already dead!” Janae snapped back. “I know what I need to do, but it would help if I could get in touch with Lloyd and Bryson.”
Janae scrolled through her phone and got to Lloyd’s number first. She slid a hand down her face, knowing she was about to put her life on the line. Janae took a deep breath to soothe her nerves before sent the call. “Hello?” Her voice broke as her heart threatened to jump out of her chest.
“I really don’t know what to say.”
Hearing Gogo’s voice caught Janae by surprise. Her heart raced as she thought about Lysa paying for the lick they made with her life.
“I got your message,” Janae said.
“I’m glad you did. We need to meet up real soon.”
Janae breathed a sigh of deep relief. “Where?” Silence. Janae tried to ear-hustle to see if she could hear where Gogo may have been, but no clues emerged. “You still there?” she asked.
“We really need to talk and, if you can, I’d like you to come see me.”
Janae gripped the phone. “Do you think it’s a good idea?”
“Look, let’s talk about this face to face. Just the two of us. I’ll text you the address.”
The next sound Janae heard was the dial tone. The game had changed for her and not in a good way. She reflected on the position she found Lysa’s body in, and she knew that unless she came up with something quick, her fate wouldn’t be that much different. The phone chimed, and Janae looked at her message.
“You need me to come with you?” Leigh Ann offered. “I can see if Ron Ron—”
“That worthless muthafucker can’t do shit!” Janae barked. “I need to face my troubles myself and, if you want to live in the next few hours, I’d suggest you stay far away from me.”
Chapter Thirty-two
Gogo stood behind Bryson with the .22 jammed against the pillow, pressed hard to his head. “Your girlfriend’s on the way.”
Lloyd laid his phone down and locked eyes with Gogo. “She’s on her way. Now please take the gun from his head. I did what you told me to do.”
Gogo returned his stare as Bryson knelt in front of her. “Did you love ’er?”
Lloyd blinked. I can’t try this bitch. She got that pillow to hide the sound in case she pulls the trigger.
“If ya did, you have a poor way of showing it.”
“Why are you doing all this? You got the money and—”
“Don’t fucking worry about it! Just sit your ass down and stop talking to me!” Gogo nodded at the chair. “I swear to God I’ll pop this nigga!” She jabbed the .22 against the pillow and nearly caused Bryson to lose his balance.
Lloyd flopped down in the chair as regret ate at him.
* * *
“Just wait here,” Janae told Zay as she hurried out of the car.
“Yo! Ain’t sitting out here forever!” Zay warned.
Janae froze with one foot out the door. “Then leave!” Janae was regretting calling Zay and telling him that she had information that she knew he needed. Janae was lying, and she knew it, but it was about survival.
Zay punched the top of the steering wheel as Janae closed the door. He tracked her across the parking lot as she headed toward the front entrance of the hotel. “Fuck this shit! I bet them bitches trying to cut me out!” Zay snatched the key from the ignition and jumped out of his ride to follow Janae.
* * *
“Come on in and close the door, bitch!” Gogo gestured Janae inside the room as she stood behind Lloyd with the. 22.
Janae closed the door with her hands shaking. “Look, Gogo—”
“You snitched me out to this muthafucka!” Gogo spat. “I can’t even respect you right now! What the fuck!”
“What Lysa and I did was fucked up.” Janae’s voice broke as she came to grips with the situation she faced.
“Fucked up?” Gogo frowned. “You call this a fuck-up? After what we did for you and this is how you betray us? You must not give a fuck about you or me! FYI, Bryson’s bitch ass is tied up in the bathroom!”
Janae gasped.
“Yeah, ho, and before everything went down, I sucked his dick and he loved it!” Gogo bragged as she rolled her neck.
Janae darted her eyes around the room for a weapon. “Why are you doing this?”
“Why did you betray us? You the one who’s on some Benedict Arnold type shit. All that and neither one of these niggas love you!”
“Why do you care?”
“I don’t! What I do care about is this nigga knowing too much about me!” Gogo kept the .22 to his head. “I got fifty thousand dollars from his ass, and your dumb ass ain’t getting shit but a bullet!”
Janae studied Lloyd for a few seconds as he sat motionless in the chair. His impassioned expression tugged at her heart. “So you’re a killer now?”
“Stand there long enough and your ass gon’ see!” Gogo asserted hotly.
Finally, Lloyd and Janae made eye contact. She saw his fear and helplessness. “I can’t let you do this,” Janae said with a straight face.
“Ha! And just how do you plan to stop me? You so much as take two steps and I’ma turn them bed sheets red with his blood. Now try me and see if I’m fucking playing!”
The former friends stared at each other. Silence stood between them for a period of ten seconds.
“You ain’t built for this,” Janae said, breaking the silence. “We both been on some bullshit and it is what it is. But you don’t want to do this.”
“I’m not going to prison so you can kill that dumb talk about letting this fool live!”
“Ain’t nobody going to prison,” Janae stated calmly.
“And how the fuck do you know?” Gogo shouted.
“Because I love Janae and I’m willing to let all this shit ride,” Lloyd blurted.
Gogo’s eyes bugged after Lloyd spoke. She didn’t know what to think or say.
“You got the money.” Janae saw the indecisive look on Gogo’s face. “Leave me with him. No one is going to call the—”
“Bitch! You must think I’m stupid!” Gogo’s anger twisted her face. “I’m not gonna fall for this bull—” Gogo’s heart dropped to her stomach when Zay slid into the room with his Glock. He moved in silence and caught Janae completely off guard. He turned the odds in his favor by pressing the Glock against Janae’s cheek.
“What the fuck are you—” Gogo started to protest.
“Shut up, bitch!” Zay pointed at Gogo. “I heard enough and both y’all bitches done fucked up!” Zay thumbed the safety off and shoved Janae toward the sofa. “Sit down and don’t fucking move!”
Gogo loosened her grip on the .22 as Zay forced Janae to sit. The broken .22 wasn’t helping her none in the shit she stood in.
“Toss that gun on the bed and bring your grimy ass over here!” Zay kept the Glock on Gogo as she followed his orders. Once she was seated next to Janae, Zay moved toward the center of the room so he could cover all three at gunpoint. He paced in front of the wall-mounted flat-screen TV with his face tight. “Ain’t here to play no games! First muthafucker who gets outta line is dead! And that goes for you too, Gogo. Now, you know the deal so let’s make this run real smooth. I want you to get back online and clear out your entire account and transfer everything to the same account you sent the fifty bands. We clear on that?”
Lloyd nodded.
“How much is in the account?” Zay asked with the Glock held along his leg.
“Around ninety-eight thousand.” Lloyd realized he could gain nothing by telling a lie.
Zay nodded greedily as he pulled a silencer from his back pocket. “You got ten minutes to make the transfer. And if it’s a penny short, Janae will get her shit split! Time is running out.”
Chapter
Thirty-three
Janae shook her head. “This is fucked up,” she mumbled.
“Karma is a bitch, huh?” Gogo rubbed her knees to stop her hands from shaking.
“ We ain’t no gun or nothing and I ain’t ’bout to try Zay. Maybe he’ll bounce when he gets the money.”
Gogo looked like she was about to cry. “I can’t believe this shit!”
“Uh, where is the .22?”
“On the bed. But it ain’t gonna help because Zay knows it don’t got a firing pin, because it’s the same one that Leshaun took out his car.” Gogo hung her head with heavy regret.
“Maybe we can tell—”
“What the fuck y’all whispering ’bout?” Zay shouted. “Try something stupid if you want to!”
Gogo and Janae had kicked their beef aside to face a common threat to their lives. They knew too much of the joys of life to simply give up. Even in silence, the two agreed to go out fighting. Gogo reached for Janae’s hand.
“I’m sorry,” Gogo mouthed with tears welling.
Janae squeezed her hands together and nodded.
Zay paced behind Lloyd with his attention locked on the iPad screen. “Is that the only account you got?”
Lloyd shook his head. “But it ain’t no need to waste your time because I can’t take any money from the other one.”
“Why not?” Zay pressed the silencer tipped Glock behind Lloyd’s ear.
“It has a joint owner, and it takes both of us to be online to make a withdrawal.”
Zay rubbed his chin. “You’re not as stupid as I thought.” He lowered the Glock. “How much time is left before the transfer is finished?”
“Three minutes,” Lloyd answered.
“Good! Now I hope you will . . .” Zay whipped the Glock up when Gogo stood. “Bitch, I told you not to fucking move!”
“I got to use the bathroom,” Gogo whined as she clutched her legs.
Zay sucked his teeth. “Hurry the fuck up!” He lowered the Glock. “And don’t lock that door!”
Janae waited for the bathroom to close before she made her move. “I know how to go into his other account,” she whispered.
“What the fuck you talking ’bout?” Zay flexed his grip on the Glock and stared at Janae.
“I know the access information for his joint owner,” she lied. “I went through his computer one day while I with him.”
Zay bit the hook. “How much is in it?”
“Close to a million.”
“Is that true?” Zay shoved Lloyd in the back of his head.
“Yeah,” Lloyd replied through his teeth, knowing Janae was up to something slick.
Zay grinned at Janae. “Well, I guess you want something in return for that access info, huh?”
She nodded, buying time for Gogo to do whatever she planned to do in the bathroom with Bryson.
“Okay, what do you want?”
“Half,” she said, knowing he wouldn’t agree.
“Bitch, you crazy! How about I let your black ass live?”
Janae stared at the floor for a few seconds. “How you gonna take everything?”
“You can dead any thought of me feeling sorry for yo’ ass,” Zay answered. “You know how the game goes: rob or get robbed. Now, what’s up? Your life for the access codes.”
Janae saw the light blink under the bathroom door. Shit! I hope that’s a signal that she’s ready. “Uh, what about Gogo? If I give you what you want—”
“Gogo!” Zay shouted, having forgotten she was in the bathroom. “What’s taking you so long?”
Silence.
Zay raised the pistol and rushed for the bathroom. He barged inside, banging the door against the wall. “What the fu—” He glared at Gogo on the toilet.
“Damn! Can’t I at least use the got—”
“Bitch, don’t play wit’ me!” Zay jammed the silencer against her temple.
“Zay, please don’t shoot me! Please.” Gogo cowered and moved from the pistol.
Zay glanced over his shoulder at Lloyd and Janae. “Either one of you move and I’ma bust this bitch wide the fuck open!” Zay stepped farther inside the bathroom with the shower behind him. “Hurry up!” He pressed the black silencer against her forehead until the back of her head hit the wall. “This ain’t a game. I’ll leave yo’ ass dead and stinking right on the toilet!”
Gogo closed her eyes as the fear of death gripped her. Please, God. Let me make it through this mess. Please! “You fixed it?” Her voice broke at the realization that she could’ve followed her original plan and been gone. Instead I’m about to be gone.
Zay frowned. “Fix what?”
“The .22.”
It took him a few seconds to clear his mind. “Yeah, I had it fixed. What about it?”
Gogo opened her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
This bitch up to something! “Where is it!” he shouted.
Just as he started to shove the silencer in her mouth, Bryson slung the shower curtain open. Zay spun, caught totally off guard at Bryson in midswing with the .22.
Smack.
Bryson’s first hit with the .22 against Zay’s face dazed him. Gogo kicked Zay in the back as Bryson pistol-whipped Zay to his knees. Lloyd rushed in and tried to grab the Glock as all hell broke loose on the floor.
“Grab the gun!” Janae shouted in the doorway. “Get it! It’s on the floor!”
Gogo fell hard on her bare ass after tripping over Bryson and Zay scuffling on the floor. Lloyd joined the fray in a three way fight over the .22. Gogo tried to scramble to her feet with her panties and jeans around her ankles. As she reached to pull up her clothes her eyes fell on the Glock under the toilet. She snatched it only seconds before she was kicked in the side.
“Shit!” Gogo rolled toward the wall as Zay elbowed Bryson in the jaw.
Janae stood speechless as Gogo aimed the Glock at the threesome on the floor. She noticed the crazed look in Gogo’s eyes and right then she knew what would happen next. “Gogo, nooo!” Janae shouted. “Don’t do—”
Spat. Spat. Spat.
Gogo gasped and dropped the Glock, her heart pounding in her ears. The smell of blood, death, and gunpowder hit Gogo like a backhanded slap to the face.
* * *
“Have you lost your mind?” Bryson argued with Lloyd. “There’s a fucking dead man in the bathroom, and you don’t want to call the police!”
Lloyd sighed and shifted his gaze toward Janae and Gogo sitting on the bed holding each other. “Let me think about this.”
“What’s to talk about?” Bryson said. “This is real fucking life! Which means a real gotdamn prison that I’m not stepping one foot in!”
Lloyd turned from Bryson and made his way across the room. He dropped to one knee in front of Gogo and Janae. Gogo blinked her tears away as she rocked slowly in Janae’s arms. Lloyd closed his eyes to gather his words and thoughts.
“We have to call the police,” Lloyd said in a gentle tone.
“Noooo,” Gogo cried, clinging to Janae. “I can’t go to jail or prison. I can’t.”
“You’re not going to either,” Lloyd said, trying to calm her. “But if you leave this room you’re on your own. Both of you need to trust me because—”
“Why?” Janae said. “Why are you helping us after what we tried to do to you?”
Lloyd laid a hand on Janae’s thigh. “As crazy as it sounds, I care about you, Janae.”
“And what about Gogo?” Janae hoped he would speak the truth.
“If you can work with her I can too. Now listen to me because we don’t have much time. You have to trust me for this to work.”
Janae fought back her tears. “This is real. Just like Bryson just said.”
“I’m aware of that, Janae. But I’m good at thinking things through, and I see a way I can help your friend and rebuild whatever bond you and I have.”
Janae wiped her eyes. She wanted to believe in Lloyd but her years of doing bullshit had her unable to see any good in anyone
. “Lloyd, I swear to God I’ll make you regret this if you’re trying to run game on me and my girl.”
Lloyd stood and motioned Bryson to his side. He calmly laid out the lie they would all stick to once the police arrived. The four placed their differences aside and stood as one. Ten minutes later, Bryson called the police.
* * *
Two weeks of turmoil left Janae and Gogo at their wits’ end. The investigation into the shooting stayed defined as such and not a murder investigation. Lloyd’s statement to the police held up solid:
On the date and time of the shooting, I met Gogo King at my friend’s book signing event at Goldie’s bookstore. We spoke briefly after the event was over and I invited her to my hotel room. Along the way, she told me about her possessive male friend who had been stalking her for the last few days. She also told me that he kicked her door in and made a few threats against her life. I went ahead and invited her to spend some time with me, thinking the issue she had wasn’t that serious. When we got up to the room, we spoke more about books and had a friendly talk. After thirty minutes or so, I headed out to get some ice, and on my return, I bumped into my friend . Said he had to run an idea by me about a new book. When we returned to the room, we overheard a shouting match in the bathroom. Bryson and I listened for a moment and realized that Gogo was crying and begging the guy to leave. We rushed in the bathroom and took quick action once we saw the gun. A fight broke out between us, and the guy was shot by Gogo with his own gun. It saved my life because the guy had a second gun, a .22 that he tried to use.
Bryson wrote a statement that stood up as well. When the police found more ammo for the Glock in Zay’s ride, that proved the gun was his. It wasn’t viewed as snitching; he was simply helping Gogo out of a truly fucked-up issue. The DA in Wayne County decided not to press any charges against Gogo. Based on the statements, Zay aka Jeff Woodhouse had stalked Gogo and followed her to the room with the intent to kill. The silencer on the Glock played in Gogo’s favor.
* * *
Silence suffocated Gogo’s small living room as she sat on the couch watching TV with Janae.