With that, he turned and stomped out of the apartment.
Chapter 38
I just didn’t get girls who cried their eyes out behind some guy. Bryce had done me dirty, and I really had loved him. But at the end of the day, it was his loss that he had messed things up with me. So the last thing I’d ever do was sit up and bawl like a baby behind him. Yes, I’d shed a tear or two, but I definitely wouldn’t do it in front of somebody like Margarita was sitting up here doing now.
“Why don’t you just leave him?” I asked.
“Why don’t you just mind your business?” she snapped, dabbing her eyes.
I put my hands up in defense. “My bad. I’m just trying to look out for you.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes. Then I said, “So, you’re willing to go to jail for him?”
She frowned at me. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Just what I said. You a ride-or-die chick and don’t mind if that ride takes you to prison?”
“What are you talking about? I don’t sell drugs.”
“Yeah, but you’re a kidnapper.”
She looked at me confused. “I’m not a kidnapper.”
I looked at her, looked at the gun. “So that means I’m free to leave?”
That made her nervous. She squeezed the gun. “Look, just sit there till Nico gets back. You can’t go nowhere.”
“Yeah, that sounds like I’m being held against my will and the last time I checked, that’s the definition of kidnapping.”
“You ain’t no kid!”
“Technically, I am. I’m only seventeen.” I didn’t think I’d ever have admitted anything like that, but I was at the point where I wanted to try whatever worked.
I shook my head at her logic, but I could tell from the way she was getting all worked up that her mind wasn’t focused on me anyway, so I just left it alone. We sat again in silence until I could no longer help myself.
“So, what do you think Nico is doing with his baby’s mama right now?” I asked.
She slammed her hand on the table again. Luckily, it wasn’t the hand gripping the gun. “Shut up!”
I knew I was pushing my luck, but this was my only chance. “I’m just saying, you said his son was out of town. You think Shebrina is gonna let him drop off some money without properly thanking him?”
“Shut up,” she repeated. This time she pointed the gun at me. Her hand was shaking so I just said, “Okay, fine.”
She finally lowered the gun and just cried and cried and cried. Then, she got up grabbed her cell phone and walked over to the corner. She made a phone call, crying the whole time. I guess she was crying on one of her friends’ shoulders. After about ten minutes, she came back to the table and cried some more. It was really exhausting.
Meanwhile, I sat there trying to figure out how the heck I was going to get out of here. I couldn’t sit around and wait on Travis and Sammy because I wasn’t convinced they would come up with the money. My mom and dad would kill Travis if he went to them, and they were out of town, anyway.
Margarita continued sniffling, gun in one hand, tissues in the other. I was surprised, though, when after about twenty minutes, I heard a light snoring. Had she seriously fallen asleep? What kind of criminals were these?
I eased out of my seat, remembering that Bull was still upstairs. I made my way over to the door, then silently cursed when I noticed the burglar bars. There was no way I’d be able to get out of there. I glanced around. There were burglar bars on the windows as well. The only thing I could do was try to find the key.
I knew I had to act fast because it was only a matter of time before Bull came downstairs, or Margarita woke up, or worse, Nico returned.
I tiptoed around, looking for the key. I spotted a window where there were no burglar bars. It was like one of those skylights up near the ceiling. I quietly moved the chair over and climbed on top. I had just eased the window open, when my other foot caused the chair to topple over.
The noise instantly woke up Margarita. “Hey, what are you doing?” she yelled, racing over to the window.
I panicked and kicked the screen with all my might. It fell off and I had just gotten one foot out the window right when Margarita got to me. I didn’t know if she would actually shoot me or what. So when I felt her grab my leg as she shouted, “Get back in here,” I kicked her as hard as I could. She yelped and fell down, and I scrambled out the window. It was at that point that I noticed the window was several floors up and I’d have to jump if I wanted to get out.
“Bull! Help!” Margarita screamed. I knew that meant it was now or never, so I took a deep breath and jumped. I hit the ground with a thud and grimaced in pain as my leg twisted underneath me. Still, I managed to pull myself up. I had just gotten up when a silver Bentley pulled up and Nico jumped out.
I tried to take off running, but Lex jumped out as well and caught me before I made it to the sidewalk. He had me up like I was a rag doll.
“Let me go! Let me go!” I screamed, flailing my arms as I tried to hit and kick him. It didn’t do any good, though. The guy was three times my size and I couldn’t break free. He picked me up under one arm and carried me back inside.
By now, I was in tears. Just as he reached the front door, Margarita swung the door open and unlocked the burglar bars. Bull was right behind her. Her eyes widened in horror as she stood face-to-face with Nico.
“Baby, I am so sorry,” she immediately began crying. “She just—”
But before she could finish her sentence, Nico reached back and slapped her as hard as he could. “I can’t trust you to do nothing!” he spat. “And Bull, what you doing?”
“Boss, I was upstairs. You told me to stay up there unless something was wrong.”
“Obviously something was wrong!”
Bull was speechless. Nico pushed him aside and stomped in. Lex followed, then threw me down onto the sofa.
Margarita actually struggled to get up off the ground. “I told you, don’t put your hands on me again,” she cried, charging at him like a raging bull. I guess she was fed up with him.
Nico punched her before she made contact, making her fall back down. “Do you think I care what you told me!” he yelled.
I actually felt bad for her. She was sobbing uncontrollably as blood seeped from her nose.
He spun back toward me. “Now you, little girl, you got one more time to try me. I have no problem bustin’ a cap in that pretty little head of yours, then waiting until your cousin and boyfriend get here, then busting a cap in them as well. Ya feel me?”
I nodded as I sniffed. After the beat down he’d just put on Margarita, I knew what he was capable of.
Nico looked down at Margarita, who was still bleeding from the nose. Mascara was running down her face. There was a big shoe print on her beige dress from where he’d stomped her.
“Go get yourself cleaned up,” he told her. “You look a hot mess.” He shook his head. “Man, I need a drink. I should’ve stayed over Shebrina’s house for all of this.”
“Keep this girl under control,” he told Joe as he stormed out of the room.
Joe came over to me and tried to gently pat my hand. “Just be cool. It’s going to be okay, okay?” he said softly.
I snatched my hand away. I wanted to know how he’d feel about being held against his will. But I didn’t say a word, I just sat there praying that Travis, Sammy, my dad, or even the police, somebody, would show up soon and put an end to this nightmare.
Chapter 39
They’d done it. They’d really done it. Travis and Sammy were standing in Nico’s living room with what I assumed was a duffel bag full of money. Of course, I’d hoped that they’d be able to get the money, but honestly I just hadn’t thought it was going to be possible.
“Frisk them,” Nico said, motioning in their direction. “I need to make sure they aren’t trying any funny stuff like setting me up or something.”
“Come on, Nico, we wouldn’t do that,” Sammy sa
id as Lex started patting him down.
“Not if you have any sense you won’t,” Nico replied.
Travis was literally shivering as Joe patted him up and down. I glanced over just as Margarita eased into the room.
“He’s clean,” Lex said.
“Him, too,” Joe added.
Sammy and Travis stood there as he moved out of the way and Nico stepped forward. Travis looked unusually nervous, and it had me scared. I couldn’t believe that he’d managed to get the rest of the money. At first, I’d thought he would go ahead and get it from my dad, but my dad would be here with the police if he had.
Lex handed Nico the duffel bag. “It’s all there, boss.”
I tried to gauge why Travis was so nervous. Finally, I chalked it up to this whole situation. Nico was enough to scare the crap out of anyone.
Nico opened the bag and peered in. “I knew there was a reason I liked you, young bucks.”
Nico took a stack of money and flipped through the bills. He leaned in and sniffed the snack. “Umph, my favorite smell. Y’all sure you don’t want to keep working for me?”
“We told you we want out of the game,” Sammy said.
“But, Sammy,” Nico said, taking a step toward him, “you’ve blown up so. All the stars know your name. You run in top-notch circles.” He glanced over at me. “You hook up with hot chicks.” He patted Sammy’s cheek. “How you think you did all that? Me, that’s how.”
“Yeah, but I was just a front.” Sammy had the nerve to sound mad about it.
“Hey, that’s how you play the game, young buck. Don’t you know rule number one of the ol’ G handbook? You get you a wet-behind-the-ears kid who craves the whole money, power, respect thing—even though he hasn’t yet earned it. Let him be the face of the business, so when he goes down, your hands are clean.”
Sammy looked like he wanted to clock Nico in the eye. “Whatever, Nico. Can we just get Maya and go?”
“I don’t know. I like having her around. I might need to make her one of my girls.” He looked at Margarita, who was standing off to the side, glaring at him. “It might be time for me to upgrade. Take the old garbage out and get me a new and improved model.“
Margarita took a step to him. “I got your old garbage,” she said.
“Trick, be gone,” he said, pushing her so hard she fell to the floor. I immediately raced to her side.
“Margarita, it’s gonna be okay,” I said.
Tears filled her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “Don’t worry about me. He’s gon’ get his.”
“Who gon’ give it to me?” He motioned to Lex. “Get this trick out my house.”
Margarita was screaming and cussing as Lex picked her up and carried her to the door. He opened the door and tossed her out. I felt so bad for her. But just as Lex was about to close the door behind her, it suddenly swung open, startling everyone.
“Police, freeze!”
“What the—!” Nico immediately dove behind the sofa. “Y’all set me up?” he screamed.
“No!” Travis yelled, his hands going up in the air.
But Nico wasn’t hearing anything. He opened fire as I scrambled behind the sofa. If I had been thinking clearly, I would’ve run toward the door. But when bullets are whizzing by, you run for the first cover you can get. It was a bad move because just as I got behind the sofa, my eyes met Nico’s, and before I could run, he grabbed me. “You gon’ be my insurance that I get out here.”
I screamed as he put his arm around my neck and the gun to my head, and pulled me up.
“Back off!” he yelled.
Sammy saw me and charged toward Nico. “Let her go!”
Nico pulled the trigger. I swear, everything seemed to go in slow motion as the bullet tore into Sammy, knocking him back against the living room wall.
Tears were streaming down my face as I tried to squirm free. I just knew this was about to be the end. Nico was panicking. Cops were yelling, and he had the cold steel pointed at my head.
But just then, I heard, “Drop your gun, Nico. It’s over.”
Both Nico and I turned to see Joe standing there with a gun pointed right at Nico’s head.
“Joe?” Nico said. It was enough of a distraction for Joe to disarm Nico and push him to the floor. I took my chance and ran across the room to the nearest policeman.
“Man, what you doing?” Nico asked, shocked.
“What I been waiting to do a long time.” Joe pulled out a badge and flashed it at Nico. “Nico Caruthers, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you ...”
“You’re a cop?” Nico yelled.
“You have the right to an attorney ...”
“Don’t you know who I am?”
“Yeah, you’re under arrest!” Joe said as he finished reading Nico his rights.
“I told y’all no cops,” Nico spat in Sammy and Travis’s direction. “You’re gonna regret it.”
“We didn’t do it,” Travis protested.
“They didn’t,” Margarita said, reappearing in the doorway. “I did.”
Nico looked confused.
“Thanks for all your help, Margarita,” Joe said as he pulled Nico up off the floor.
“You helped them set me up?” Nico said, his voice full of disbelief.
She stared at him with hate-filled eyes.
“I told you you were gonna get yours. And it gives me great pleasure to be the one to give it to you.” She reached up and slapped Nico, hard. “I hope you rot in jail.”
Joe laughed as he pulled Nico toward the door. “Let’s go. Got to get you to your new home, ol’ G.”
As Joe led him away, I ran into Travis’s arms. It was then that I remembered Sammy against the wall.
“Oh, no, Sammy.” I raced to his side. He was bleeding from the stomach.
“Maya, I’m so sorry,” he said, struggling to catch his breath. “I didn’t mean to get you guys caught up in this. I’m so sorry.” With that, he closed his eyes and I let out a scream.
Chapter 40
I stood over Sammy’s wheelchair, slow tears trickling down my face. Yes, I was furious over all his lies, but how could I stay mad when he had literally taken a bullet trying to come to my aid?
“I’m gonna be all right,” Sammy said, squeezing my hand.
I had been scared to death, but the bullet that had torn into Sammy had gone straight through him. It had been touch and go for the last three days, but he’d pulled through. I was still having a hard time processing that I was caught up in the middle of some drama like this. But you know your girl was working it. I’d done interviews with every news and entertainment outlet there was. (What? You didn’t think I’d let an opportunity like this pass me up, did you? I mean, I didn’t ask to be in the middle of this mess, but you’d better believe I’d worked it to my advantage.) Now, I was the media darling who had “survived a harrowing experience.” (That had been the headline in USA Today.)
Of course, my mom, whom the police had told everything except for Travis’s involvement, didn’t want me to talk to anyone. But this was major PR and I wasn’t about to pass it up.
“Are you ready to go?”
I looked over to the detective in the cheap, off-the rack suit. Two police officers in uniforms stood on either side of him.
“Can I just get a minute with my girl?”
“We’re really not supposed to—” the detective said.
“Please?”
The detective looked at the two officers and nodded, and all three of them took a step back.
“Maya, I’m really sorry to have gotten you caught up in the middle of all of this, for getting Travis caught up. Don’t be mad at your cousin. It really isn’t his fault. He needed some money, and I presented him with an opportunity. The first time, he told me no. Then his mom needed that money for a transplant, and he felt like he didn’t really have a choice. He really is a good guy.”
“I thought you were a good guy,” I fo
und myself saying.
He shrugged. “Believe it or not, I am. I’m a good guy that made some bad choices. But I’m about to pay for those choices. To the tune of seven years to be exact.” He tried to fake a laugh. “But Travis got a second chance, and I assure you, he’s not going to mess it up.”
I glanced out the window at my cousin, who was pacing back and forth in the lobby. The police hadn’t told my parents about his involvement with the drugs because Sammy had covered and taken all the blame. I know he was scared to death about what would happen with him.
Luckily, Joe, the undercover cop, hadn’t said anything. He’d given Travis a speech that had literally scared my cousin straight. I had a feeling Travis wouldn’t so much as jaywalk after this.
I hated lying to my parents, for the simple fact that you had to keep up with lies and I had way too many important things to do to try to keep up with lies. But Sammy was right. Travis deserved a second chance, and I didn’t want my parents sending him home.
It helped that Sammy had taken the blame for everything. When he’d come to, he’d told police that Travis had been there with him and he was the one responsible for everything. Nico and Margarita had tried to implicate Travis, but Sammy had stood by his story and so Travis wasn’t charged.
“I just can’t thank you enough for what you did for my cousin,” I said.
He shrugged like it was no biggie. “Travis is good people. And he has a clean record. The last thing a young male needs is a record. This is my third strike. I’m going down regardless. No need to have Travis go with me.”
I looked at him in awe. Most criminals would’ve had the “If I’m going down, you’re going down, too” mentality.
“Can I ask you something?” I knew now wasn’t the time, but since I’d found out my boyfriend was a drug dealer, several things had been seriously bothering me.
“You can ask me anything and I’ll tell you the truth.”
I looked at him like, Seriously, I’m supposed to believe you’ll be truthful now? Even still, I said, “Do you remember I asked you about my classmate, Shay Turner, Jalen Turner’s daughter? Did you get with her?”
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