“Sonya, chill. He a’ight,” Heaven calmly stated in defense of the orderly, at the same time feeling her soldiers concern for her. Ever since she had awaken out of her coma and gotten on their cases about handling their business in the streets and keeping their ears to the ground, Shell and Sonya had stepped their game up, and Heaven was proud of them both.
She was not at all surprised not to see Le Le waiting with Shell and Sonya, knowing the situation. Since Heaven had been in the hospital, Le Le had found out that she was pregnant by her boyfriend Monty, who had come home from prison. Le Le had been calling Heaven day and day checking on her. Though she appreciated Le Le’s concern for her well-being, Heaven was never looking forward to hearing from Le Le, who sobbed throughout the entire telephone conversation. Heaven knew that Le Le had always been emotional, but that was the last thing she needed in her life right now. As of lately, Le Le cried over the little things. She cried about what had happened to Heaven and Earth, which was understandable, thought Heaven. She cried when she was informed of the pregnancy, and she even cried when she told Heaven that she was getting out of the game because her boyfriend thought it best with her carrying their child and all, which Heaven both respected and understood, wishing Le Le all the best. Heaven drew the whole ordeal up as Le Le’s pregnancy being the cause of her heightened emotions.
Even that morning, Le Le promised to pay Heaven a visit through sobs. Though they were friends and comrades, Heaven had no desire to entertain the visit, if and when it came. Now that Le Le was out of the game, Heaven told herself that they really had nothing in common, knowing that things would never be the same between them, or anyone else, for that matter, after what took place. At this point, Heaven trusted no one but herself. Not even the crew, despite the unconditional love and loyalty they continued to display. How could she? she wondered to herself. Someone had tried to end her life and managed to take the person that she truly loved and trusted. Heaven rose from the wheelchair with that weighing heavy on her mind.
“I got it,” she said as Sonya tried to help her get up. “Let’s get up outta here.”
With that being said, Sonya opened up the SUV doors, and Heaven climbed up into the backseat.
“Hey, mami,” Shell greeted. “Where to?”
“Take me home,” Heaven replied as she peered out the Tahoe’s window. No other questions were asked as Shell accelerated on the gas pedal.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“You want us to stay?” she asked as Heaven exited the truck.
“Nah, mamá, y’all go ahead and let me get some shit situated first. Just make sure you two are here tomorrow morning so you can bring me up to speed on what’s been going on.”
“You sure?” Sonya asked concerned.
“What did I say?” Heaven snapped. It was evident that Sonya felt that Heaven might have become soft, so she felt the need to be overprotective, but Sonya was far from knowing the truth. Heaven let her know it. “Make that your last time questioning me like that. I’m not dead, I’m still here, and I’m still me, so remember that the next time you open your mouth,” she reprimanded.
“I’m sorry, Heaven,” Sonya submissively stated. “It’s just that—”
“No need to explain,” Heaven cut her off. “I see y’all tomorrow,” she ended as she made her way to her front door.
Heaven punched in the code to the computerized alarm system, deactivating her house alarm, which also unlocked the front door to her home. For a split second, an unidentifiable bad feeling swept through Heaven’s body as she reached for the door handle, but she discounted the vibe that overcame her as she opened the door to her domain. All she really wanted to do now was to take a long, hot bath and collect her thoughts. Heaven was convinced the longer she stayed out of the streets, the colder the trail would become to finding Earth’s murderers, and she couldn’t let that happen. From day one in the hospital, she had already been contemplating her return to the streets, figuring out her most effective approach. She knew that the streets would be watching, and one false move could possibly end her up where her partner was, so she had already made a mental note to proceed with caution.
As the door opened, Heaven stepped in her lavish home and flicked on the lights. What she saw next caused immediate anger to arise. As Heaven continued to scan the living room, her blood pressure reached 190 degrees boiling as the thought of the violation that occurred played outside her head. Debris was everywhere. Someone had broken into her once-beautiful home and ransacked the place.
The African paintings Heaven had imported from Nigeria were torn off the walls, her plush carpet and butter soft leather living room set had all been cut up as residue of feathers still lingered in the air. Stepping through the confetti of her once-valuable possessions, Heaven made her way to the bedroom. She noticed as she walked past her kitchen that all the cabinets had been emptied and glass from broken dishes and old leftovers in the refrigerator were smeared and scattered on the floor. Heaven opened her bedroom door, and just as she had figured, her room had caught the worst end of the home invasion. It was obvious to her that this was no burglary, but, in fact, a robbery, and the violators had known exactly what they had come for. All of Heaven’s designer clothes from leathers, furs, shoes, and jeans had been taken out of the closets and sprawled out on the bed and been vandalized. Judging by the smell of the room, Heaven knew that the liquid on her clothing was a combination of bleach and urine. Without having to even look, there was no doubt in her mind that whoever had come into her home had found what they were looking for, and she was right. The hidden safe containing 125 grand that she had built into her closet wall had been ripped out and removed.
As strong of a woman as Heaven was, nothing could stop the stream of tears that trickled down her face. She couldn’t believe that what had taken place up until now had happened to her and Earth. The saying, when it rains it pours, came to her mind as she looked at herself in the broken bedroom mirror. She refused to let whoever had the audacity to bring beef to her and her partner’s doorstep and violate to such extreme get the best of her, and she made a promise to herself that she would not allow her partner in crimes’ death go in vain.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Detective Saleski sat at his desk in frustration as he unsuccessfully tried to put the pieces of yet another unsolved homicide case together. He tapped the side of his forehead with his ink pen as he studied the mug shots and files of potential suspects, which he had all scattered about on his desk. Ever since he had been called to the crime scene and been given the case, he wasted no time trying to get a jump start on closing what he believed to be a drug-related incident. Although the case involved women, judging by their criminal history and his trustworthy informants, the victims were no ordinary females. In his years in law enforcement, he had come across some females who were just as equally, if not more, ruthless as their male counterparts, so he had long ago stopped feeling remorseful or sympathetic to crimes that were fueled by, or the cause of, street violence, even if it was at the hands of a woman. He knew he wasn’t going to get any cooperation or so much as a truthful answer from the Jacobs’s victim even before he’d received the call from the hospital informing him that she had regained consciousness. He knew had it not been for his partner’s presence, he would have used other methods to push the girl harder in attempts to back her into a corner and possibly trip her up into saying something he could go off. He made a mental note to do a follow-up alone that day, and the thought crossed his mind as he sat with a blank stare appearing to be looking at the lined up mug shots he had before him. Pictures of known gangsters from the projects and uptown areas of New Brunswick who had been through the system lined his desk. In addition to their government names were their street monikers, which he had highlighted. Nicknames like Rauf, Ali Born, New York, Infanant, Ali Quan, Shalik, Sup, Love, Sieffaldeen, Zeke, Bee Bop, IB, and many more took up 40 percent of the small workplace.
According to his colleagues, Heavenly J
acobs and Eartha Davis were no pushovers in the streets, so he was sure whoever was behind the incident was also somebody of strength in the underworld of the streets. In all of his sixteen years as a cop and nine years as a homicide detective, he had only failed at solving one case involving the death of a pregnant teen whose body was found in a Dumpster in the back of the housing project building on Tabernacle Way. A case that continued to haunt him to this day as it sat in the cold case files. He believed, according to his informants, that he’d never solve the case because the killer himself has been murdered by a family member of the girl who was also from the streets. Whatever the case, like all the others he had taken on, Detective Saleski was confident that this case would not go on his unsolved case record. He was brought back to the present at the sound of his name being called.
“Man, that case has you wired,” his partner chimed, flashing a half smile.
“You know how compulsive I get.”
“Yeah, well, if you don’t eat, you can’t think straight,” she retorted.
“So are you coming to lunch with me or are you going to dodge me ’cause it’s your turn to buy?” Detective Saleski laughed.
“I don’t renege on promises or skip out on checks.”
He snatched up his jacket after neatly stacking up the files and photos. Detective Crawford shook her head and walked off with her partner.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Another month had passed since the incident occurred and still the debt owed for the death of Earth and the wounds Heaven had sustained had not been paid. A few weeks prior to Heaven’s discharge from the hospital, Sonya and Shell had come close to being able to have good news for her upon her release. When Melissa, along with her cousin, had come out to New Brunswick about what transpired at the East Sixth Street Park out in Plainfield and produced the newspaper clipping to support the claim, they couldn’t believe their luck. Although they were highly disappointed behind the fact they themselves were not in attendance when their comrade was avenged, nonetheless, they were grateful upon hearing and reading the aftermath, gaining instant respect for the young replica of their deceased friend and regretting even accusing and insinuating that Melissa may have been behind the ambush. Their surprise for Heaven was immediately shot down when she informed them of the break-in and ransacking of her and Earth’s homes. They were positive Melissa’s cousin Mia had slain innocent women, knowing the girls could not have been behind the hit. Not after the description Heaven had given them of the conditions of both residences, but as the Maxima they had moments ago stolen glided up Route 1 North heading for Newark, they knew after tonight, either they or Heaven would be closer to cashing in with their lives on what was owed.
Chapter Thirty
Meanwhile, Heaven was traveling in the opposite direction on Route 1 South, headed for Trenton’s South Side. She had been home nearly a month now and had done nothing but think. Since walking into the ransacked town house and discovering the same had been done to her partner’s place, Heaven stayed at her second residence closer to town, no longer feeling her out-of-town home to be safe to rest, not, at least, until she addressed the culprits. Today, that’s exactly what she intended to do.
Before she had called the meeting with Shell and Sonya, she thought long and hard about how she wanted to go about handling her business. Through her most trusted sources, she found out the whereabouts of two out of the three altercations she and Earth had been involved in just before the shooting. She was grateful for the information her peoples Nikki from East State Street had given her about the veteran stickup kid by the name of Blaze and what her homegirl Rashida had told her. Coincidentally, the dude Original and his henchman King were from the Weequahic section just as Rashida was. There was no need to pursue the third matter a young girl by the name of Ciara, who was more so one of Earth’s people, told her how the dude named Mustafa had been found in the bedroom of his Elizabeth home butt-ass naked. He had been stabbed to death. So, as it stood, Heaven had sent Sonya and Shell out to Brick City while she made her way out to the state capitol. The whole time driving, all she could think about was how the night would not end without justice being served.
Chapter Thirty-One
Money was flowing in abundance on the busy street of Leslie as fiends and addicts lined up the way one does at the check-cashing place on the first of the month, just the way he liked. Original smiled as he and King sat in the silver 745i overseeing their riches. Periodically, they would make their rounds to their cash cow block and park until they felt the need to relieve their workers of the wads of cash they had raked in for them. While others had different ways of conducting business, this was Original’s method, one he felt to be effective. He believed his system to be foolproof because, while many of his workers had caught drugs or at times shooting cases, none were ever arrested with a substantial amount of his dividends. For the past thirty minutes, he and King had witnessed a few thousand dollars flow through the block and knew it was time to make yet another withdrawal from their workers’ pockets. It was nearing seven o’clock, and the rounds they had been making since ten this morning had them well over fifteen grand richer than yesterday.
Original flashed his high beams. It was no secret; his workers knew the deal whenever they were alerted by the flashing lights of whatever whip Original drove. One by one, they made their way over to the passenger window where King sat and deposited the bulk of their earnings into the BMW. Judging by the stacks, Original was sure they had put him over his twenty Gs’ quota he had for each day. He glanced at his watch.
“What’s good, lord? What’chu tryin’a get into?” he asked King, ready to call it a day.
“It’s whatever, beloved, why? What’chu tryin’?” King retorted, not having any plans for the rest of the day. Normally, they would shut it down and go their separate ways around nine or ten, but just like Original, King had noticed today’s quota had been met, and then some, earlier than usual.
“I’ma shoot to Wendy’s, then slide over this broad crib out in Montclair I been workin’ on for the past couple of days,” Original stated.
“Damn, you didn’t beat that li’l thang up yet, akh?” King laughed.
“Man, I fucked around and showed the li’l broad my dick and scared her.” King’s laughter increased.
“I did that same bullshit to this li’l chick out in Irvington. It took me two months to hit that and a lot of runnin’ my mouth. You know these young broads can’t take no grown man dick.”
“True,” Original chuckled.
“But it’s not going to take me two months; it’s going down tonight,” Original stated.
“Do ya thang, my G. Let’s grab something from Wendy’s, and then you can drop me off at my spot. I think I’m gonna call something up my damn self,” King rebutted.
“That’s what’s up.” Original started the luxury vehicle and pulled off. Unbeknownst to him, four car lengths back, another vehicle had done the same.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Welcome to Wendy’s, may I take your order?” the voice boomed through the drive-through speaker.
“Yeah, sweetheart, let me get two chicken breasts with cheese, ketchup, and mayo, and a large fries and a large coke,” Original placed.
“Will that be all, sir?”
“Nah, hold up, ma. What’chu want, my dude?” he directed his attention to King.
“Let me get a number—” He never had a chance to finish his order. The combination of blood, brain matter, and glass that splashed across his face informed Original of the present danger. Before he had a chance to draw his weapon from his waistband and go into combative mode, his own blood and brain matter, minus the glass, sprayed his man King’s lifeless face. A woman’s screams could be heard as screeching tires burned rubber out of the parking lot and headed for the highway.
After quickly getting their prey’s routine down, Shell and Sonya remained parked the last two times Original and King had pulled off and returned a half hour lat
er. They were engaged in a smoke session of the exotic bud they possessed while they waited, but it was interrupted by what Sonya had noticed up the block.
“Look,” she called out. When Shell looked, she observed one hustler after another make their way over to the 745i Original drove. Since tailing them, this was the first time they had witnessed this particular activity.
“They gotta be re’in up or somethin’,” Shell offered.
“Yeah, that’s what I think too.”
Minutes later, their thoughts were confirmed. Seeing the BMW pull out, Shell started the Maxima.
“This is it, mamá, I can feel it,” she relayed to Sonya.
“Me too.”
They followed the silver beamer down Chancellor Avenue. When they saw them turn into the Valley Fair parking lot and pull into the Wendy’s drive-through, they turned into the parking lot as well, only they kept going down the hill. Sure they had gone unnoticed, they made a U-turn and pulled over. They both drew their weapons and double-checked them.
“I’ll take care of the driver; you take care of the passenger,” Shell instructed.
“Gotchu,” was Sonya’s response.
Shell then drove back up the hill where Wendy’s was located. She could see that Original’s BMW was the only car in the drive-through. She pulled over to the right and parked in a space just a couple of feet away from their intended victims. Sonya was the first to exit the Maxima. Crouched down with weapon drawn, she scurried over to the 745i. Wasting no time, she rose up and let the Mac 10 loose into the tinted windows. Once the first shot cleared the window, Sonya saw the next three shots explode and open up the back of King’s head in succession, spray-painting his man’s face. The other six shots rattled his body. She caught Original attempting to reach for what she believed to be his weapon and aimed the Mac at his face, but she was too late. Before she could pull the trigger, she witnessed Shell’s .44 revolver blow Original’s brains out like an excited child when making a birthday wish. The screaming voice of the Wendy’s drive-through worker let them know it was time to go. Both Sonya and Shell hurried back to the Maxima, hopped in, and made a mad dash out of the parking lot and onto Interstate 78 West.
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