Wrath of a Side Chick 4 (Side Chick's Wrath)

by Tamicka Higgins

  “Nigga, I ain’t even thinkin’ about all that,” Wayne said. “What I’m fuckin’ thinkin’ about is that shit he did to me… did to me in my own fuckin’ house.” He shook his head as the bad taste came back in his mouth. “Like I told y’all niggas over at Ray’s house, I don’t wanna kill the nigga right away. I wanna make sure that he suffer and shit… Shit, for all I care, we can put the shit on video and upload that shit right away. Shit, whoop his ass with a belt or some shit out in the street, in the dead of fuckin’ winter, while he buck ass naked and shit. See how he like that. Run his ass out of Chicago instead of killin’ him.”

  “Naw,” Breon said. “I mean, we can do all that shit too and stuff, but I gotta kill this nigga. I never thought I’d say no shit like that, but I already know, and based on what me and Ray heard from a friend of his, where we got our guns and stuff, if we don’t kill this nigga, he only gon’ come back. Look at what the fuck he got us into now, Wayne. Look at what the fuck he got us into now. He doin’ all this shit because he really think that I left him out to dry back when we was workin’ under Pablo. I put this on everything I love and even my future kids that when that area got hot with them cops pullin’ off them stings and shit and carryin’ them niggas downtown and throwin’ them into jail like they was gettin’ a bonus for each one, I wasn’t even thinkin’ about that nigga. I was just worried about me. That’s how the fuck I am. I’m just worried about me and mine.”

  “I feel you on that,” Wayne said.

  “Right,” Breon said, glad that he and his cousin could see eye to eye. “If I can get Nikki back and stuff, then maybe. But like we said, she just gon’ be shit outta luck ‘cause I can’t have this shit comin’ home and affectin’ Trina. I wish I woulda never met Nikki. But then again, maybe if I hadn’t, like I said a minute ago, Dante would have went after Trina and stuff. He a sneaky ass nigga, so make sure that you watch your back and shit when you goin’ in and out of your house ‘cause you don’t know when he might come back and stuff, especially since he know where you live and he live just a few streets over. What the fuck I’m try’na figure out is how the fuck the nigga found out that I work over in Chinatown at Johnson & Pearl. It ain’t like I put that information on the internet or no shit like that.”

  Wayne looked away, out of the window as they passed by a string of ghetto strip malls that lined the street. Business was slowing down a bit as 9 p.m. was approaching. The nighttime hours, mixed with the ugly weather, caused the streets to slowly become barren, especially in comparison to the summer mouths. Wayne knew that he needed to keep his lips shut so that his cousin wouldn’t know that he was the one who slipped up and said where Breon worked. Feeling the sting from that belt on his ass cheeks was enough to not only make tears squeeze out of his eyes but also to make his lips a little looser just so the torture would stop. However, Wayne did see the bright side, if such a thing existed in this kind of situation, he didn’t tell Dante where Breon lived, as he would never be able to forgive himself if he had said such a thing.

  Breon slowly turned off of Halstead and into Wayne’s neighborhood. He asked Wayne if he wanted to be dropped off in the front or the back. As a cautionary measure, Wayne went ahead and insisted on being dropped off at the back. When Breon pulled up in the alley, at the back of the property, Wayne shook his hand. “Okay, Cousin,” he said, “I’mma be waitin’ up and shit. Just make sure that you hit me up and shit when you ready to roll out and stuff and I’mma make sure that I’m ready. Dressed in all black and everything. I wanna make sure we get this nigga and shit. Shit, I’mma even have my cell phone charged so I can tape this shit just like he did me. I’mma make sure everybody in every fuckin’ hood in Chicago know about that nigga Dante, to where he won’t even be able to show his face in the fuckin’ Midwest for as long as he live.”

  “All right, then,” Breon said, chuckling. The two men looked up and down the alley before Wayne jumped out of the truck. Breon waited until Wayne walked up into the backyard before he pulled off.

  Just as Wayne was getting his keys out to get into the back door, he heard what sounded like footsteps. Immediately, he turned and looked in both directions, as his heartbeat had jumped a little bit. He was relieved to see that the noise had come from the backyard next door – from his neighbor John’s house. Wayne nodded as he looked into John’s face, as he’d just stepped out onto his back porch to carry the trash out to the alley.

  “Wassup, John?” Wayne said, being neighborly.

  “Wassup, Wayne?” John said. “Hold up a sec. Let me ask you about somethin’ real quick if you got a second.”

  “All right,” Wayne said.

  Wayne stepped off of his stoop as John came off of his back porch and dropped the trash back onto the sidewalk. The two men met at the fence, with Wayne somewhat towering over John, who was pudgy, lighter-skinned, and shorter with brown freckles all over his face.

  “Wassup, John?” Wayne said, interested in what John had to say considering they really didn’t talk all that often.

  “Man, you know you had some chick that was lookin’ all crazy and stuff comin’ to your door earlier in the day?” John asked.

  Wayne blushed, as he’d always wondered if his neighbor had noticed the number of chicks that came to his door at random times wanting to be dicked down. “Yeah,” he said. “I mean, I don’t know which one you talkin’ about, but I got them hoes comin’ around and beggin’. Sorry if she came around makin’ too much noise and stuff. I don’t know which one it coulda been ‘cause I been out all day and shit, you know, doin’ what I gotta do and shit to handle some situation I got goin’ right now. I’ll talk to them so they not over here bangin’ on my doors so damn hard that they messin’ with you and stuff.”

  “Naw,” John, who was about thirty years old, said. “That ain’t what I’m talkin’ about, man. This chick had fuckin’ body on her, I mean a big ass booty and some nice titties and stuff, but she looked like she was just all sorts of fucked up. And I don’t mean she looked like no prostitute or crackhead or nothin’ like that, ‘cause she was too healthy, but this chick had bruises and stuff on her body like she been gettin’ that ass beat or somethin’.”

  Wayne took a moment to try to think of who this could be that John had seen walking up onto his porch and banging on his door. After hearing what time she’d come by, there still weren’t any bells going off in his head. “I don’t know who that could be, man,” he said. “I mean, I just don’t know. I’m try’na think, but I don’t know who it could be.”

  “Well, whoever it was, I almost came out and asked her if she needed help,” John said.

  “Really?” Wayne asked, as doing something like that was simply not normal behavior on the south side of Chicago. “This chick that came to my door looked that fucked up that you was gon’ come out and ask her if she needed help or somethin’?”

  “Nigga, she looked like she was runnin’ from somebody or somethin’,” John said. “She looked like she was try’na escape somethin’ or somethin’ like that. She wasn’t even wearin’ no coat, that’s how fucked up she looked.”

  “Wait a second,” Wayne said. “You said she had a big ass booty and some big titties. Was she ‘bout this tall?” He held his hand up to his shoulder to signify Nikki’s height.

  John nodded. “Yup,” he said. “And she had hair that was about to here.” He touched his shoulders. “I’d say she was younger than me, so maybe she was like your age.”

  Wayne nodded, knowing exactly who John had seen. However, he knew better than to say. With how things were going, especially on the south side of Chicago, it was simply best he kept as much information as he could to himself. “I think I might know who it is, now that I think about it,” he said, thinking quickly. “But I don’t know why she would be comin’ to my door. Which way did she come from?”

  John pointed to the south. “She came from that way,” he responded. “I had just got home and I was about to take my clothes off and stuff when I stepped ou
t onto the front porch to look for somethin’ that I had thought I dropped. Anyway, I found what I was lookin’ for, but when I stepped out on the porch, I saw her comin’ from around the corner, like if you comin’ from Charles’ store down there and stuff. She looked like she was pissed as fuck, but also like she was about to break down and cry. I knew somethin’ was up with her because why the fuck would she be walkin’ around out here like this in this kinda weather without wearin’ no coat. That shit just ain’t make no sense to me and that’s how I knew somethin’ was up.”

  Feeling a sense of urgency come over him, Wayne knew it was time to end the conversation so he could look into a couple of things. He shook hands with John quickly, thanking him for keeping his eyes on his place and having his back when he was gone. When Wayne got into the house, he found that Jayron had gotten home maybe a couple of hours before him.

  “Wassup, nigga?” Wayne asked, somewhat lost in thought.

  “Wassup, Wayne?” Jayron said. “Wassup with you? I can see you got somethin’ on your mind.”

  “Nothin’,” Wayne lied. “I mean, I do and I don’t. Me and Breon and his boy Ray was over at Ray’s house talkin’ and stuff, about this Dante shit. We supposed to be meetin’ up tonight when Breon hit that nigga up to meet up with him. We gon’ run up on his ass and give that bitch ass nigga a little bit of his medicine.” He paused. “But I just got done talkin’ to John, the nigga that live next door. You remember that chick Nikki from your party, right? The one with the real fat ass that got her ass beat in the dinin’ room?” He waited for Jayron to nod, signaling that he did in fact remember. “Well, I think she came over here, or at least that’s what it sound like from what he was sayin’ and how he was describing her. He said this chick was knockin’ on the door, lookin’ all crazy and shit without wearin’ no coat and stuff. And that he had seen her come from around the corner.”

  “You think it was her?” Jayron asked, looking confused.

  Wayne nodded. “I mean, yeah,” he answered. “Based on what he was sayin’, it do sound like her. And you know, from what I was tellin’ you, that nigga Dante had basically kidnapped her ass ‘cause he thought she was Breon’s chick, ‘cause you know Breon got some head and some ass from her and stuff. But somethin’ just don’t feel right.” Wayne paused from taking his coat off and leaned on the doorframe. “If that nigga Dante is stayin’ a couple of streets over, but a block up, why the fuck would she be comin’ from down there,” he pointed to the south, “if he mighta been keepin’ her hostage and shit over there? And, now that I think about it, Breon had said that when she called him late at night and stuff, she had said that she was taken to some house off of Sacramento. And you know that Sacramento is fuckin’ far from here.”

  Jayron nodded. “I feel you,” he said.

  Wayne took a few moments to think, as something was telling him to go down to Charles’ store. He knew that the store probably wouldn’t be open this late at night, especially in this neighborhood and during the winter. There was no denying, however, that it was a huge coincidence that he, Ray, and Breon had gone to see Charles earlier in the day…only for him to come home and find that his neighbor John had seen a chick, who sounded like Nikki, banging on his door as if she was in dire need of help.

  “What you got on for tonight, nigga?” Wayne asked. “You wanna go down to Charles’ store real quick? I wanna see if he still there and if he is, I wanna see if he saw Nikki or not ‘cause I don’t know why she would be walkin’ down the street and shit, comin’ from that way, and walkin’ up to my door without no coat on. Somethin’ just don’t seem right about that.”

  Jayron agreed to run down to Charles’ store with him, jumping up off of the couch and sliding into his coat. He’d spent his day looking for jobs, and had actually had some luck so he was in good spirits. After contemplating driving, Wayne decided they’d probably be more incognito if they simply walked down to the store with hoods over their heads. They’d just look like a couple of guys walking down the streets in case, by some chance, Dante came riding by.

  Jayron and Wayne left out of the front door and headed down to the corner. As they walked, they remained quiet and aware. Any noise they heard, they looked to see if they could find the source. If a car was passing by, they’d lower their heads slightly so that the shadow from their hoods would hide their faces. As they walked up to the entrance of Charles’ store, Wayne tapped Jayron’s elbow and pointed at the door. The store was dark, but the door was slightly ajar. They looked at one another, knowing that something was up.

  “What you wanna do?” Jayron asked.

  Wayne bit his lip for a moment as he thought. “Okay,” he said. “Let me run back to the house real quick and get my heat and shit in case somethin’ is fucked up ‘cause this just don’t feel right. I been knowin’ Charles for a long time and shit and I know… I know that he would never ever leave his door unlocked and open like that. Just wait a second and I be right back.”

  Jayron waited, standing where the street intersected with the alley. Wayne rushed to the house and came back. “Okay,” Wayne said, gripping his gun in his coat pocket. “Let’s see what the fuck is up ‘cause this shit don’t feel right.”

  Jayron walked closely behind Wayne as Wayne walked up to the building entrance. Once again, he tapped Jayron’s elbow. He pointed at the ground where the two of them both noticed drips of blood – a trail that came out of the doorway and crossed the sidewalk. Feeling brave, among other things, Wayne turned toward the door and pushed it open. Jayron looked up and down the street to make sure that nobody was watching as the two of them stepped into the dark store.

  No sooner than Wayne had stepped a few feet ahead, and Jayron had pushed the store’s door closed, he stopped. He saw feet sticking out from behind the counter. “No,” Wayne said, breathlessly. He quickly rushed over to the counter and looked over the top, only to find that the feet belonged to Charles. “Fuck,” he said, shaking his head and closing his eyes. He’d seen dead bodies in his life, but he never liked to see when the dead body was a person who didn’t deserve it. With just one glance, he could see that Charles had taken a bullet to the side of his neck. He groaned and looked at Jayron. “He dead,” he said.

  Feeling like he really needed to be prepared, Wayne pulled his gun out of his pocket and cocked it. He nodded at Jayron. If Nikki hadn’t come running from around the corner like a mad woman, he would have just chalked this up to possibly being a robbery gone wrong; however, he could feel in his heart that such a simple explanation wasn’t the case. All of this was connected somehow, and it was all happening just a little too close to home for him.

  Just as Wayne had turned around to look toward the rear of the store, he once again saw a trail of blood. Instead of the trail of blood coming from behind the counter, or anywhere close to it, it was coming from the middle aisle, fading into darkness with the rest of the store. He pointed ahead, signaling that Jayron follow him.

  Wayne stepped forward cautiously as the two of them kept their eyes open for any signs of someone else being in the store. Soon enough, they were at the back of the store and looking down the small hallway that led to the bathroom as well as a couple of other unmarked doors. After peeking into both bathrooms, then the other rooms, which were stock rooms, Wayne turned to the last door – the basement door. The blood was heading down the steps. Silently, he pointed at the door. After looking back at the front of the store to make sure that they weren’t getting any unexpected company, and happy that they hadn’t driven as Wayne’s car would be a dead giveaway that they were inside, Wayne descended down the steps. Once they’d gotten to the bottom, he turned on the basement light and processed what he saw – a cold, concrete hallway with rooms on either side…and blood that led down the hallway.

  “What the fuck?” Jayron whispered, feeling a little scared. To him, and to Wayne, this was like something out of a scary movie. They could only hope that they wouldn’t be the next black guys to get killed off.

/>   Wayne slowly walked down the hallway, peeking into each room. When they came to the room at the end of the hallway, they could see that the room’s light was still on. Wayne stepped up to the doorway and looked inside. Upon seeing that furniture only occupied the room, Wayne relaxed, lowering his gun to his side as he and Jayron looked at the pool of blood on the floor that seemed to smear and lead over to the couch.

  “Man, I gotta tell Breon about this shit,” Wayne said. “I think that nigga Dante was here. I don’t know what the fuck happened here, but somethin’ is tellin’ me that he was here and stuff ‘cause this is just a little too funny.” He questioned how all of this blood would be going here and there if Charles had clearly been killed behind the counter and not down in the basement, as the trail of blood didn’t even lead behind the counter. Lastly, Wayne said out loud, “And if Nikki was here, which I think she was,” he said, “how did she get loose and whose blood is this? ‘Cause John ain’t say that she was bleeding.” As Wayne paused to think, he realized something else – that Dante had been watching them closer than he’d like to think, as it was far too ironic that Charles was killed the very day the three of them had come to see him. Yes, there was a feeling of guilt in Wayne’s stomach, as he thought about how he, Ray, and Breon may have marked Charles as being one of their friends, if Dante was indeed watching. However, his own anxiety and paranoia soon overclouded the feelings of guilt. Suddenly, everything seemed more real than it had seemed before. Dante was making it clear that he was willing to do whatever it would take – like kill someone – to get closer to Breon, and somehow Nikki had gotten loose. All of these missing puzzle pieces were a little too discomforting for Wayne, no matter how he looked at it. Little did Wayne know, however, Dante’s M.O. would be nothing compared to the scorned, discarded, and quite frankly, enraged Nikki’s…nothing.