For the Strength of You

by Victor L. Martin

  Deck went to search the rooms with the MAC-11, as Wood C took up his spot by the window. Anshon had the gorilla pointed at Kristi’s head, as Deck cased the place to make sure she was alone.

  “Now,” Anshon said from behind the masked face. “I want some fuckin’ answers, Kristi Connelly, and I want the right ones!” He pointed a black gloved finger at her.

  Kristi was cringed up on her sofa with her eyes locked on the big gun stuck in her face.

  “Now, question number one,” Anshon said. “Where do you work?”

  “At . . . a bank,” she said, trembling.

  “Is Constance your sister?”

  “Yes,” she cried.

  “Tell me what happened when the young lady in the white Mercedes truck was killed.”

  “I don’t recall.” She shrugged her shoulders.

  Anshon cocked the hammer back, making the five-shot chamber slowly rotate. The loud click made tears fall from her eyes. Kristi buried her face in her hands.

  “Bitch, you got Alzheimer’s or somethin’? Now let’s try this again.” He yanked her up by her hair and placed the barrel to her head.

  “Please!” she sobbed. “Oh God, p-please don’t kill me.”

  “Don’t kill you? Do you think the woman in the Mercedes truck begged for her life? Now shut up!” he shouted. “And answer my fuckin’ question!” His voice was laced with anger.

  Kristi slumped to the floor as he shoved her to the ground.

  “Answer the question!”

  “I went to work,” she cried, “at the b-bank that day.”

  “And!”

  “I . . . left w-w-work early.”

  “Go on!”

  “I called my baby’s father.”

  “Teck?”

  “Yes.”

  “And what?” Anshon said through clenched teeth.

  Tears slowly fell from Kristi’s eyes as she came clean. “It was Teck and Wallo. Not me . . . or my sister. I swear to God it wasn’t us.”

  “Bitch, if you wanna live, you better give me the right answer!” Anshon said with the gun back to her head. “Did dem clowns rob my sister?”

  “Yo!” Wood C exclaimed, but it was too late. Anshon had slipped up and gave a clue to who he was.

  “Anshon, please,” Kristi cried.

  “Man, shit!” Deck cursed. They knew what had to be done.

  “Please don’t kill me,” she cried on her knees. “I didn’t know they were gonna kill your sister. I was gonna call you anyway . . . me and my sister.”

  “Let’s go see them niggas!” Wood C said. “Fuck all this talk!”

  Anshon took a deep breath to slow his heartbeat down. He glanced at Deck. Deck nodded his head.

  “Please don’t kill me, Anshon,” she pleaded. “Please, oh God,” she cried.

  He slowly backed up, and she ran toward him.

  “Slow the fuck down!” Wood C came up from behind, grabbed her chin, and placed a hand on her forehead, snapping her neck. Her body jerked around on the floor for a few seconds before she dropped dead.

  A few minutes later, they were back in the Chevy with Wood C behind the wheel. “Which twin we gettin’ first?” Wood C asked.

  Anshon shrugged his shoulders with tears running down his face. “My sister told me,” he sniffed, “that you can take care of your enemies, but you need God to help you with your friends. She ain’t never lied.”

  “Let’s do this shit right, y’all!” Wood C said. “Let’s lay these clowns down on the low so we can still walk da streets. I ain’t goin’ to prison and ain’t gonna go on the run, so let’s think this shit through, a’ight?”

  “No doubt!” Deck added from the back.

  * * *

  Wallo, who was still pretending to be Teck, woke up with a broken glass bottle to his throat. Fe-Fe looked him in the eyes. “I done been on the streets long enough to let a nigga know that I ain’t the one. If I say don’t fuckin touch me, don’t fuckin’ touch me.”

  Wallo looked at Fe-Fe like she was crazy. “You got that, ma. You got that.”

  * * *

  The real Teck was in Redwood with Constance. He stood in her kitchen with Wallo’s motorcycle helmet in his hand as Constance tried to call her sister Kristi for the third time.

  “I don’t understand why she’s not picking up the phone,” Constance said.

  “Try your momma’s crib,” Teck suggested.

  “I know she’s not there.”

  Teck glanced at his watch. “Find that bitch!” he spat. “And you better know where she is by the time I get back!”

  Constance just wanted Teck to leave so she and Kristi could carry out the plan to tell Anshon about Teck and Wallo.

  “Where you going?” Constance asked.

  “Back to the storage to get my ride and park his.”

  “Why y’all switch?” Constance pressed.

  “Does it matter?” he said, putting the helmet on. Teck knew his brother was over at Fe-Fe’s. The original plan was for Teck to kill Constance because she was beginning to talk too much.

  When she had first started fucking with Anshon in prison, the plan was for her to find out where Anshon and Tammy kept their work and their stash; but for some reason, Anshon didn’t let Constance get too close to him.

  * * *

  Constance figured she’d take a shower before she headed to Cary. She tried calling Kristi but was receiving no answer. Constance stepped out of the shower ten minutes later. She wrapped the towel over her breasts and tiptoed into her bedroom. She nearly slipped and fell on her ass when she found Anshon sitting on her bed.

  “How did you get in here?” she asked. “Better yet . . . why are you here?”

  “The door was opened up when I knocked,” he lied. He had come through the back door by picking the lock after creeping through the woods. “Me and my girl got into a fight.”.

  “Oh.” Constance smiled. “Well, in that case.” She took the towel off and walked toward him. She made her breasts jiggle from side to side.

  “So you miss me, huh?” She reached for his hand, placing it between her legs.

  “Wallo ain’t gonna show?”

  “No, baby. He’s in High Point.” She sat next to him and went to work at his zipper. “Baby, I miss this so much,” she purred, pulling his dick out and playing with it.

  He didn’t say anything as she buried her face in his lap and started sucking his dick. He was kind enough to hold her wet hair.

  She really got into it, bobbing up and down with quick motions. “Mmmmmm!” she moaned as she took him deeper into her wet mouth, making him cum with the last stroke of her tongue.

  “Drink that cum, baby,” he moaned as she lapped it up. “That’s it.” He stroked her hair. “All of it.”

  Once she was done and lifted her head up to ask if he had a condom so they could fuck, he placed the barrel of his revolver to her soft pink lips.

  “Pretend that this a big black dick, like the one you just finished sucking on.” Slowly he stood up with the gorilla in her face as he fixed his pants. “Where Teck and Wallo?” he asked.

  “Huh?”

  “Bitch, you know the saying: If you can say huh, you can hear. Yeah, I know all about what you did to my sister!”

  Constance slid back toward the headboard, shivering. “What are you talking about?” she screamed.

  He tried to quiet her by smacking her upside the head with the gun. Just his luck, he did it too hard and opened a bleeding gash near her hairline. She was stunned.

  “Where they at?” he hissed in her ear.

  “S-storage,” she cried, frightened by the blood trickling down her face.

  “What?”

  “S-storage. . . . He’s gone to get his van in Clayton.”

  “Did the twins kill my sister?”

  “Yes.” She nodded. The blood was beginning to collect in the corner of her mouth.

  “They shot my sister the first time too?” He yanked her hair back.

  “Yes,
” she cried.

  Anshon couldn’t help the tears falling from his eyes. “Bitch, you could’ve told me about the twins. Then my sister would be alive!” Anshon pulled the trigger back and shot Constance twice in the head as she spent her last breath begging for her life. “And that’s on the strength of you, Tammy,” Anshon mumbled. He spit on Constance’s body on his way out. “Dumb bitch!”

  * * *

  Teck was halfway to Clayton when he realized he’d left the keys to the storage unit in Constance’s bedroom. He made a quick U-turn then gunned the engine, bringing the front wheel in the air. When the wheel touched the pavement, he was going 91 miles per hour. He reached Redwood in record-breaking time.

  He left his helmet on as he went up to the door and knocked. When she didn’t answer, he opened the door with his brother’s key. Once inside, he called out her name as he slid the tinted visor up. He ran up the stairs and called her name once again.

  He opened the bedroom door. “Yo, Constance, I forgot—” He paused at the sight before him. “Constance!” he shouted “What the fuck! Constance!”

  Constance’s blood was flowing from the bed and covered half the floor. Teck pulled off his helmet and fell to his knees. “What the fuck happened?” he shouted.

  He jumped up and raced out the door. Not knowing where he would end up, he knew he had to get the hell out. He hopped on his bike, and before he realized where he was headed, he found himself pulling up to Fe-Fe’s.

  Fe-Fe was still curled up in the bed when her doorbell rang. She jumped up and ran toward the door, praying it was Anshon. She looked at the person standing at her door and saw it was the real Teck.

  “Oh my God!” she screamed. “Wallo tried to rape me.” She fell into Teck’s arms. “Teck, can you believe it? He’s upstairs!”

  Teck pushed her away and started calling for his brother to come downstairs. “Wallo! Wallo!”

  Wallo jumped up and ran down the stairs.

  “I know what the plan was,” Teck said, “but somebody else killed Constance. It’s some shit in the game.”

  “What!” Wallo screamed.

  Teck took a deep breath then explained to his brother how he had found Constance. Teck and Wallo were so upset about not knowing what the hell was going on that they didn’t pay Fe-Fe any mind as she went to her bedroom. She called Anshon on his cell phone.

  She quickly told Anshon that the twins were over and that some crazy shit was going down. Just as she was about to mention Constance, she heard the phone click off.

  Fe-Fe quickly got dressed and quietly ran back down the stairs. She tipped into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. She wanted to sneak out the back door, but she was scared the twins might hear her and shoot her, so she just laid low with a knife tucked under the hoodie she had on.

  In the living room, she found Wallo sitting on the couch with his face buried in his hands, crying as Teck paced the floor with his cell phone to his ear, trying to call Kristi.

  Teck was shook. He couldn’t reach Kristi. He pushed the REDIAL button for the third time.

  “Baby, please pick up,” he said as he tapped his fist to his lips. After the ninth ring, he hung up. “I’m out. Stay here until I get back,” Teck instructed. I’ma go see Kristi.”

  “Fe-Fe,” Teck said, looking around the room, “don’t let him leave. And Wallo, don’t fuck with her.” Teck headed for the door.

  “Nigga, dis ain’t Holiday fuckin’ Inn!” she snapped. “Both y’all asses can step!” She pointed toward the front door.

  Teck turned around and pointed the black .40 cal at Fe-Fe’s chest. “You heard what the fuck I said! Now talk slick and see if I don’t make light shine through your body!”

  Fe-Fe wasn’t stupid. She nodded her head up and down.

  When Teck stepped outside, Selma’s finest were slowly riding down the street three deep. They saved his life, because Anshon, Wood C, and Deck were sitting in the cut, waiting on his ass.

  Anshon looked at his boys. “He got away for now and only now.”

  * * *

  Fe-Fe sat on her couch with her arms folded as Wallo sat at the other end, crying. When two taps sounded at the door, it flew open before Fe-Fe could answer it. Anshon came in, followed by Wood C and Deck. Wallo figured he was still in the clear. He didn’t look up until he heard Fe-Fe say, “Oh, shit!”

  He looked up to see Anshon standing over him with the biggest revolver he’d ever seen in his life. Fe-Fe stood up, but Wood C motioned for her to sit down.

  “Why, muthafucka?” Anshon sobbed. “What the fuck my sister ever do wrong to your bitch ass?”

  Wallo lowered his head.

  “Answer me!” Anshon shouted, placing the barrel on Wallo’s forehead.

  Wallo shrugged his shoulders then placed his hand on the armrest of the couch. Fe-Fe started to scream.

  Anshon looked at her.

  “He got a .380 stashed between the seats,” she said.

  Before Anshon could do anything, Deck punched Wallo in the mouth then picked up the. 380. Wood C was at the window with his two heaters.

  Anshon glanced at Fe-Fe as tears filled her eyes. He didn’t have to speak. He nodded his head once.

  “Where Teck go?” Anshon asked Wallo.

  Wallo’s mouth was bleeding badly. He wiped his mouth, shrugging his shoulders.

  “Nigga, he just left!” Anshon said then hit him with the .50 upside his head before he told another lie.

  “Fuck you. Ain’t givin’ up my brother,” Teck said.

  “My sister dead ’cause of your ass!” Anshon screamed. After that was said, he handed his revolver to Deck then started to pound Wallo with hard blows to the face and body.

  Fe-Fe wanted to feel sorry for Wallo, but she couldn’t. After all, he had tried to rape her and he killed Tammy.

  When Deck told Anshon to ease up, Wallo was left on the floor with his face badly bruised up. Fe-Fe started to cry as Anshon took her to the back room after she told them where Teck was headed. When he closed Fe-Fe’s bedroom door behind him, she broke down and asked him not to kill her.

  “What?” he asked her, surprised. “I love you. I’m in love with you. Why would I kill you?”

  Fe-Fe didn’t know what to say, so she fell into his arms.

  “I know we can’t be together, so I’ve been trying to fight this shit, but it gets harder every day.”

  Fe-Fe’s mouth dropped open. “Anshon . . . I—I’m pregnant.”

  “Damn, baby.” Anshon rubbed her face.

  “Don’t worry now,” she assured him. “Please don’t.”

  “Okay, okay,” he said, trying to shake what Fe-Fe had just told him.

  “The twins killed Tammy, Fe-Fe. You know I gotta do what I gotta do.”

  Fe-Fe hugged him. “I’m on your side, Anshon. Always know that.” She stood on her toes and kissed him on the forehead before he left. She caught him by his shirt as he was turning to leave. “I love you.”

  He winked his eye at her and ran back down the stairs. Fe-Fe prayed that she would see him again.

  * * *

  Teck made it back to Selma two hours later. Because he was in a panic and speeding, he’d led five highway state patrols on a high-speed chase, until he lost them on a back road in Wilson Mills. He didn’t care, because he was still in shock after finding Kristi’s body at her duplex.

  Kristi wasn’t supposed to die. That was the deal he and Wallo had. It was supposed to only be Constance.

  What the fuck is going on? Teck thought.

  Teck felt pain and hate at the same time. He pulled up in Fe-Fe’s driveway and found a note on the front door. He instantly recognized his brother’s handwriting and didn’t try to reason why his brother wanted him to go to the school bus parking lot at Triple S. He took the back roads and hit Buffalo Road.

  When he reached the parking lot, he spotted his brother’s forest green Nissan Quest parked in front of the gym with its lights off. When he neared the Nissan Quest, he noticed the driver’s si
de window was down, and with a closer inspection, he saw his brother slumped over the wheel.

  He brought his motorcycle to a screeching halt and jumped off. Teck was reaching for the Quest’s door handle when suddenly the side door slid back.

  “Yeah, nigga!” Deck said, pointing the MAC-11 at Teck’s chest.

  When Teck looked at who he thought was his brother, he saw Wood C grinning at him, gold fronts and all. “See you in hell, pot’nah!”

  Teck turned slowly to see Anshon stepping from behind the minivan, holding the golden. 50-cal pointed at his head. Teck wasn’t as brave as his brother. He threw his hands up in defeat.

  Wood C stepped out and relieved Teck of his. 40. Teck had never felt so much fear in his life as Wood C yanked his helmet off.

  “Look at me!”Anshon shouted.

  Teck slowly turned his head toward Anshon as the gold barrel touched his forehead.

  “You was my ma’fuckin’ pot’nah, nigga. We stole on niggas together, and this is the shit that you do?” Anshon spat on him. “I remember when I came home from prison, I told you that if I caught the muthafuckers that fucked wit’ my sis—” Anshon’s hand was trembling. Flashes of Tammy’s casket being lowered into the ground kept playing in his mind. Then he thought of his niece and nephew growing up without her.

  “Motherfucker!” Before pulling the trigger, he wanted to ask Teck why, but deep down he didn’t want to know.

  Wood C took a step back as Anshon wiped his eyes. Deck did the same. Wood C happened to glance toward the road to see two sets of headlights coming. “Yo, Shon, wait.”

  BOOM! Too late.

  As the state troopers’ cars drove nearer, they heard the echoing sound from the blast, and the flash from the barrel was bright and distinctive. Instantly, the lead state trooper hit the blue lights and the gas.

  Wood C took off running toward the lunchroom. Deck stepped in front of the minivan and made the MAC-11 speak. Anshon ran toward the gym and fired a shot at the lock. Deck was on his heels two seconds later. They could hear the two state troopers sliding to a halt as they busted through the double doors, looking for their suspects.

  Wood C had crept his way to the student parking lot and was still moving. He headed for the woods to hopefully disappear before the backup K-9 unit came. Wood C loved his freedom. Fuck prison.