by J Peach
“No thanks, I’m not thirsty.” I wasn’t taking shit from Monica. That bitch was just too fuckin’ quiet for my taste, especially if she felt I ruined her life. On top of that, she was gone way too long just to be getting a cup of water.
“Peaches, drink the water. I wouldn’t poison you or give you anything that will hurt you.”
I looked at Monica and she looked away. “I’m fine.”
He laughed. “I’ll drink it first if that’ll make you feel better.” He put the cup to his lips.
“Don’t drink that!” Monica smacked the cup from his hand and it wasted to the floor.
He looked at her look she was crazy. “What the fuck did you do?” He yanked her to him by her hair. “What the hell was in the cup?”
“Nothing—” She screeched out a cry.
Rice smacked the shit out of her. “Bitch, don’t fuckin’ lie to me. What the fuck was in the cup?” He repeated viciously, slapping her again. The hit was so hard blood started running from her mouth.
“Cyanide!” She cried, folding up to protect her face.
Now I saw why she hardly said anything. At the same time, I had to stare at her like she was crazy as well. Cyanide? This bitch was seriously trying to kill me.
“You’re going to kill me over a mistake that Jerron made when he was younger. Something that happened only once and something he told you about? I didn’t ruin nothing. He didn’t even tell me about you. Damn! You two are some sick bitches!” I snapped at both her and Tishana.
There was no way I was ever going to trip over a man that hard to the point I’m was going to try and kill the next female.
I didn’t even know about her ass. Shit, kill his ass not me.
“I had one thing I asked you not to do. I simply said no one was to touch her. Did I not fuckin’ say that? And you’re about to fuck everything up because yo fuckin’ ex cheated once. You stupid bitch. I’ll fuckin’—” He had Monica by the throat and pinned against the wall. Whatever he was going to say or do he caught himself. Rice let Monica go. “I’ll deal with you later. Get the fuck out my face before I do something I’ll regret later.” Rice pushed her away from him and she wasted no time running up the stairs. “Mikel,” he called the same guy from earlier.
Mikel came out of the room and Rice whispered something in his ear. With a head nod, Mikel headed up the stairs.
Rice came back over to where I was and sat beside me. “I’m sorry about that. Some women just don’t listen. Tish, can you go get her something to drink.”
“Okay,” she nodded and left us alone.
Now I understood why Tishana wasn’t really trying to hurt me. She must have been scared of him as well. Tish knew he wasn’t wrapped too tight.
“I’m sorry about that. I specifically told them not to touch you. Tish got a pass. I saw what you did to her.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “Monica, tho’ that wasn’t called for. But she has played her part, now I have no need for her.”
“Rice, you seem like a straight up man. I honestly don’t see the point of me and my son being here. Blaze is dead, so why is this still going on?” I had to know. “Le’Ron had told him it wasn’t going to stop until he stopped hustling or was dead. He’s gone now, so why are we getting pulled back into this mess? His territory is open to anyone.”
Tishana returned and handed him the water. He stared at her then the cup before he took a sip. She didn’t flinch. He smiled at her. “Thank you. Now, give us a minute.” Rice dismissed her. Once she left out the room, he handed me the cup. “Drink it.”
With a heavy breath, I took a sip of the cold water.
“To answer your questions, Le’Ron was a dummy and believed anything that came out of Tish’s mouth. Remember I told you, Cornell fuck’d up so I had to throw shit off. Let me ask you this. Do you think it was a coincidence your boyfriend found all of that information at Cornell’s apartment? You think it was by accident he found photos of Monica and her son’s birth certificate there? Think about it, I hired Jerron, he failed. Cornell started fuckin’ up. Monica didn’t want me to kill her brother and she’s my girl so I respected that. But that nigga was doing some dumb shit, like getting with your friend for instance. That was dumb as hell. Shid, he had already put himself out there. The logical thing in my eyes was to make it seem like it was him.” He explained with that same nonchalant shrug.
“Peaches, this was never about drugs. I don’t give a fuck about territory. I don’t live in this fuck ass state so I don’t care who has what corner. That was just another throw off to yo nigga. Yes, he’s dead now. It felt so good to watch that whole thing play out. Now you’re being pulled into this shit because when yo boyfriend started that fire, he killed the only person I loved in this world. I wanted to kill you and let him watch me do it so he could know the pain of how it felt to lose the only thing that matter to him in this world. That night of his party, you were my target. I was shooting to kill you, not him. I wanted that fuck ass nigga to hold you as your last breath left your body. But he would never feel that now. But you know how it feels to have that taken away from you. I saw you hold him in that alley. You didn’t want to leave him. That’s how I wanted him to feel. That’ll never happen now.”
He licked his lips as he seemed to fade off into a distance.
“I didn’t know Blue meant that much to you. Tish made it seem as if you was going to kill him for money that he owed you.” I didn’t think he loved Blue to that extent but I guess he was family.
He let out a laugh. “I didn’t give a fuck about Blue. He was a fuck up and that mothafucka couldn’t hold money. I knew this before I gave him the money, so if I wanted the shit back, why the hell would I give it to him? I gave him shit because he did favors for me sometimes and I looked out for him. He brought little niggas my way and I put ‘em on. That’s about it. You misunderstood me. My wife was in that house the night Blaze killed everybody in that bitch and set it on fire. I didn’t even have a body to bury. I wanted you in the same condition, unrecognizable. I must admit Le’Ron did a number on you but he could’ve done better. You was still alive. You are a very lucky mothafucka, I’mma give you that. I’ve tried just about everything and you’re still breathing. The bomb in the garage, how the fuck y’all walked away from that shit is beyond me. The night of his party, yo ass walked away with only a bullet to the shoulder and a fuckin’ graze. You’re a lucky ass bitch.” Again he laughed.
“I’m not going to put all the blame on Blaze. He retaliated the only way any hood nigga would. He was in the right on this. Had it not been for Blue and Tishana, my wife would have still been alive to this day. Everybody that was involved is going to pay. I needed Tish because she knew Blaze. She was in love with that nigga.” He stood up and stretched. “Tishana, come here for a sec.” He called out to her.
A few seconds later, Tish came walking down the stairs. “Yes
“Peaches, I meant that everyone will pay. She brought me you so she paid for it to be easy and fast.”
“She paid for what to be easy and— Ah!” A scream left my mouth and I jumped from my seat.
Rice pulled his gun and shot Tishana twice in the head. Once she hit the floor, he walked over to her and let off two more into her chest. “A painless death.” He tucked his gun in the back of his jeans and then turned back to me. “You wanted to see your boy, right?”
I stood there frozen not knowing what to say. He was talking so normal. I just wasn’t expecting him to kill her. After she helped him set everything up, he just killed her like she was nothing.
“I’m not going to shoot you. I promise. Do you want me to get him for you?” he asked me, calmly.
“Yeah, yes, I wanna see him.” I was scared out my mind. I didn’t know what to expect from that man. “Are you going to kill us?” I asked him, not knowing where our fate lied.
The look he gave me seemed as if I had offended him. “I would never kill a kid. He ain’t done shit to me.”
“Neither have I.” I blurted wit
hout thinking.
“True. Mikel!” He yelled for his friend.
Mikel must have been the only other muscle because his name was the only one being called. My eyes slid to his back where his gun was tucked. If I could get his gun, then we would be fine.
Before I could think of a plan to take his gun. Mikel and Blake were coming down the stairs. Once Blake saw me, he snatched away from Mikel and ran straight into my arms. I held him tight as tears fell rapidly from my eyes.
“Are you okay? They didn’t hurt you, did they?” I took ahold of his face and my eyes glanced over him. He only had the one bruise on his cheek from earlier.
“I’m good. You okay?”
That made me cry harder. There was no way my baby should have been asking me that question, ever. My head nodded as I wiped my tears. “I’m fine. We’ll be fine. I love you—” My words were cut off as something hooked tightly around my neck, cutting off my airway. I couldn’t breathe.
“No! Let her go!” Blake screamed while he made a grab for me, but Mikel snatched him up and held onto him.
My hands clawed at the leather strap that was choking me.
“Calm down, little man. We gon’ have our day.” Rice told Blake as he pulled the strap tighter. “I told you I needed someone to feel like I did. Blaze is dead, so the next best thing is a child. When he gets older, he’ll come for me. And I promise to kill him quick so it’s painless.” He whispered into my ear. “Stop fighting and sleep.” His lips pressed into my temple.
The strap tightened even more after that. My eyes felt as if they were about to pop out of there sockets, as well as every vein in my face felt like they were ready to burst.
“Let her go! Momma!” Blake cried and screamed as he fought wildly in Mikel’s arms. “Please, just let her go! She didn’t do anything. Please! Momma, please!”
My eyes closed and my body went limp. The sounds around me started to slowly fade out.
Everything went black.
Chapter 32
Blaze
It took us damn near two hours to get to this hick town. The GPS led us to a secluded house. It was two cars parked in the yard. Once King parked, I hopped out with Mac right behind me.
“When we get in this bitch, ain’t no questions asked. Drop the first mothafucka you see.” Once we made it to the door, I kicked that mothafucka as hard as I could. The door swung open. As soon as we stepped in the house, all I heard was Blake yelling.
He was literally screaming, that sound hurt me. Never in the six years since I had Blake had I ever heard him scream like that. I ran to where the sound coming from. I was about to throw the door open but King stopped me.
“B, you don’t know what the fuck is down there. Or how many guns down in that bitch. Mothafuckas will start shooting and he’ll get hit. Creep that bitch open.” He explained in a whisper.
His calm demeanor always pissed me off but he made sense. I snatched my arm from him and slowly opened the door.
“She didn’t do anything! Please! Momma, please!” Blake cried.
I got in crouched position and looked down the stairs. First thing I saw was Peaches on her knees, her body was limp. That was all I needed to see. I couldn’t see the nigga’s face but I had a clear view from his neck down. My gun cocked and I shot twice.
He released the strapped he had around Peaches neck, causing her to fall to the floor. I wasted no time running down the stairs. I shot the dude twice more and he fell to the ground.
King was right behind me. He shot twice at the dude that was holding Blake. The first shot missed whereas the other hit him in the shoulder. He yelled out in pain and let Blake go.
My son hit the floor, covering his head, like I’d taught him plenty of times over again.
The dude reached for his Glock and King’s .9mm ripped as did mine. We lit that mothafucka up.
He fell backwards onto the couch. His lifeless eyes were void and looking to the ceiling.
“Blake.” I called his name and went over to him.
“Dad,” he threw himself at me.
I held my son tight before I let him go and looked him over. “You, i’ight?”
Blake pulled away from me. “Yeah, but he was choking Momma.” He went to Peaches and pulled the strap from her neck.
“Fuck! Peaches.” I pulled her up to me, slapping her cheek. “Peach, come on baby girl. Get up.” I slapped her cheek harder. I couldn’t do this shit again. I wasn’t about to lose her behind this bullshit.
“Blow in her mouth. Give her CPR.” Blake’s finger went under her nose. “She’s not dead.”
“Blake, shut up, i’ight?” I pointed toward the stairs. “Go sit down.”
“Dad, she’s breathing.”
I put my face to her face hearing her slow breaths. I let out a relieved sigh. I ain’t know what the fuck I was going to do if I had lost her. I would have never been able to forgive myself knowing all of that could’ve been avoided had I not brought them back to Gary. They were safer without me.
Peaches took in a deep gush of air before she started choking. Her hands went to her neck as she coughed hard. Once her breathing gotten under control, she started to look around.
“Ma!” Blake ran over to her and threw himself into her.
“Oh, my God! You’re okay.” She cried, holding him to her.
“Blake, let her breathe. Get up.”
He ignored me as they both embraced each other.
Peaches looked at me once those words left my mouth started crying harder. “I love y’all so much.”
“You good, Peach? The babies good?” I looked her over before my hand went to stomach.
Those mothafucka were never leaving our house again. I couldn’t take that shit.
“My throat hurts, I’m shaken up but we’re good.” She held me and Blake once more before she pulled back. A scared look crossed her face. “Where’s Rice?”
“He’s dead. You don’t have to worry about shit no more. It’s all over, Peaches.” I kissed her. I knew this was what she wanted.
“The upstairs clear. It’s a dead bitch in the kitchen but besides that, ain’t shit moving,” Mac said as he bounced down the stairs with two cans of gasoline from the car.
“B, ain’t this yo girl?” King asked, pointing at a body laid out on the floor.
I picked Peaches up bridal style and walked over to him, with Blake at my side. I stared down at the body. “Damn is she dead?” I looked at Krystal’s body.
King crouched down to check her. “N’all, she breathing. They beat the fuck outda shorty, tho’.” His head shook and he scooped her up.
“Damn, shorty.” Mac pushed Krystal’s hair out of her face. He was about to grab her but stopped and grabbed his gun.
Footsteps came down the stairs and we quickly turned toward them. Sam came into the basement.
“What the fuck you doing here?” We left his ass back at his fuckin’ office.
“I followed y’all. I wanted to talk to Tish—” His words fell short as his eyes landed on her dead body. “N’all.” He went to his sister.
“Rice killed her. He said since she brought me him, he didn’t need her anymore.” Peaches explained to him. “She helped him with every move. It was never about drugs, he wanted Blaze to hurt like he had, same with Tishana. She wanted you to feel how she felt when Blue died, same with Rice. His wife died in that fire and he blamed you, Tishana and Blue for it.” Peaches laid her head on my shoulder.
That night I killed Blue was a blur. I only remembered bits and pieces of that night.
It was time to put this shit behind me.
“Clean this bitch up.” I told them before I looked at Sam. My nigga looked like he was hurt. “You good?”
“Hell n’all. How am I going to explain this to my momma?”
“I don’t know, but we need to get out of here.” I nodded toward the stairs and King headed up them. “Blake, follow yo unc.” He did as I said. Once they were upstairs, I looked at Sam. “What we doing? W
e taking her and burying her back home or is she staying?”
“How am I going to explain this shit?” he asked again.
“I don’t know, but I’m with you on whatever you do.” I assured him.
Sam shook his head, looking down at Tish. “Let’s go.” He turned and headed up the stairs.
Mac started throwing gasoline over the bodies. Once we got to the top of the stairs, he was about to strike a match.
“Wait, Tish’s baby girl is here.” Peaches got out of my arms.
I looked at Sam and he shook his head before I looked at Peaches like she’s was crazy.
“Tish ain’t got no kids, Peaches.” Sam stopped to stare at her.
“She does. A little girl that’s five. Linnea!” Peaches called out.
“Peaches—”
“Shut up and listen. I met the little girl earlier.” She yelled again.
“Wait! They did all this shit while a baby was here?” I asked her not wanting to believe that bullshit.
“Yes, she told me I was going to wake her baby up when I was calling her.” She told me before she opened a door that led to a set of stairs. Peaches took the steps by two.
I stood at the bottom, not believing they had a kid there that entire time.
“I got her.” Peaches came bouncing down with a shorty in her arms. She went to Sam with the sleeping little girl. “Here, tell your momma a good story about her mother leaving but wanting y’all to look after the baby. Her name is Linnea Le’Shay Wright.”
Once she handed the baby to him, we left out and got into our separate cars. It wasn’t long after that the house went up into flames.
***
When we got back to Gary, King dropped us off at the crib and then left. Neither Blake nor Peaches said a word the entire ride home. I could tell they were both shaken up about whatever happened in that basement. Especially Blake, the whole ride home he just laid under Peaches. I was going to have to find out everything that had happened down there but for right now, I wasn’t going to bug them. They looked hella tired so I was going to let them rest.