by Rose, J. L
“Nobody really knows, but word on the street is that some out-of-town niggas did it.”
Dropping down onto her bed sighing loudly, Alinna had a pretty good idea who the out-of-town niggas was that killed Rick.
“What’s up, Alinna?” Amber asked, speaking up. “You thinking it’s who I’m thinking?”
“Pretty much,” Alinna answered. “Look, Amber, let me call you back, alright?”
“Alright, girl.”
Hanging up the phone and tossing it onto the bed beside her, Alinna sighed, pushed herself up from the bed, and headed towards the bathroom when her phone rang again.
Dismissing the call, Alinna continued to the bathroom, only to stop and back up in front of the closet where she noticed a white piece of paper and a gold key taped to the closet door.
Snatching up both the key and paper, Alinna unfolded the paper and read the note, which she quickly realized was from Dante. Balling up the note angrily after reading his bullshit, Alinna stepped into the closet and noticed that all of Dante’s things were gone.
“Muthafucker!” Alinna said, marching back over to the bed, snatching up her cell phone, and calling Dante’s ass.
Hearing the wireless customer no longer had service, she realized he had cut off his phone. Alinna then looked up Vanessa’s number and called her.
“Yeah, Alinna! What’s up?”
“You wanna explain to me why the hell Dante left a message explaining that if I wanted to contact him concerning my son or business, I had to go through you?”
“Alinna, I spoke to Dante earlier and he told me that since you wanted to believe what you want, then he was done trying to stop you from believing it. I got him to agree to continue with doing business with us, and, yes, he’s asked me to be his contact person.”
“Oh, so you just done jump on his side now, huh?”
“I haven’t jumped on anyone’s side. I just think you’re making a big mistake concerning Dante. Instead of kicking him out, you should have talked to him.”
“What the fuck you think I been trying to do with his lying ass?”
“If you was doing what the hell you doing to me right now, then I’m surprised Dante ain’t knock your ass out. You yelling for nothing.”
“For nothing, huh?” Alinna yelled. “So me dealing with my man having a baby with some police bitch is nothing, huh? Or the fact that he still fucking this bitch, huh?”
“You don’t know if Dante . . .”
“I followed his ass to the bitch Angela’s house, Vanessa. I saw her kiss him and he allowed it.”
“But did you see him fucking her?”
“You know what? Just from the way he stood there and let that bitch kiss him was enough to tell me everything I needed. She can have his ass!”
“That’s gonna be your loss, Alinna.”
“Whatever!” Alinna responded, sucking her teeth. “Just give me Dante’s new number. I need to talk to him about what happened to Rick.”
“I already told him. He knows.”
“Wait!” Alinna said in disbelief. “You mean to tell me you called and told Dante our business before you called and made sure I knew what was going on?”
“I had Amber call and tell you.”
“You know what? Whatever, Vanessa! Just give me Dante’s new number. I know you got it!”
“He told me not to give it to you.”
“What?” Alinna screamed. “You know what, Vanessa. Keep the fucking number!”
Alinna hung up on Vanessa and caught herself before throwing her cell phone across the room at the bedroom wall. Instead, she stood up, tossed the phone on the bed, and marched back towards the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
* * *
Dante hooked up with both Dre and Tony T at his hotel room. He explained to his boys about the hit out in Phoenix of some major drug dealer, Victor Fayman. He went into what details he had, explaining that they were leaving in two days, on Friday afternoon.
Noticing Dre’s mood, Dante decided to talk with his boy before he and Tony T left, walking both his boys out to their rides.
“Ay, yo, Dre!” Dante called out to the big man, as he was dapping up with Tony T.
Watching Dante walk over to him from Tony T’s Aston Martin, Dre turned and faced his best friend . . . his brother.
“What’s up, fam?” Dante asked, slapping five with his boy. “What’s on ya mind kin folks?”
“You tell me!” Dre replied, before asking, “What’s up with you and Alinna? Why you let her kick you out the house?”
Sighing deeply as he leaned against the side of Dre’s SUV, Dante pulled out his box of Black & Mild’s and said, “Family, look! I’ll admit that I fucked up in the beginning by not telling Alinna what was going on between me and Angela, even if she was putting the force game down on me. The problem is that Alinna can only see what’s happening from her perspective and closing her eyes to the sacrifices I made that were meant for her. She don’t see the bullets I’m barely getting away from just to give her what she wants. All she can see is that I fucked up!”
“So you just giving up then?”
“Naw!” Dante answered. “I promised I’d never give up on her, but I won’t force her to stay if she don’t want it. I still gotta son and a daughter I gotta take care of and as long as I’m breathing, I’ma make sure they want for nothing.”
“It’s just one thing though - family!” Dre said in a voice that caused Dante to shift his eyes over to him. He continued, “Them some bullets you keep ducking for this chick, fam. You just better make sure one never finds yo ass.”
Hearing his boy but not bothering to reply, Dante had a quick thought and wondered if Alinna would even give a fuck whether he was shot and killed.
* * *
After leaving the hotel a little while after both Tony T and Dre were gone, Dante pushed his Ninja, driving across town to meet up with Wesley at one of his trap houses he ran out in Opa-Locka.
Pulling up to the trap a little while later and parking behind Wesley’s Cadillac Escalade, Dante shut off the Ninja, climbed off the bike, and removed his bike helmet.
“De original gangsta is here!” Wesley yelled in an excited thick Jamaican accept. He walked up to meet Dante from where he stood on the front porch of the trap house with a few of his co-workers. “What go me, brethren?”
“What’s up, Wesley?” Dante asked, embracing the Jamaican. He released him and asked, “You ready to put in some work, Rude Boy?”
“Who de blood clot boy is, me brethren? Me ready to dead dem now!” Wesley replied, smiling as he placed his right hand on the print of his burner that was under his shirt, stuck in the front of his jeans.
Dante broke down everything he had on Raul Martine, whom Wesley remembered. After explaining, Wesley asked, “When do we leave?”
“Now!” Dante replied.
Wesley turned back toward the house and yelled out to one of the workers on the porch to bring him out his toy.
A young-looking worker rushed back out of the house carrying a black leather duffel bag. Dante took the bag through the passenger door window and felt the weight. He recognized the feel of what was inside.
“Where de dead boy live?” Wesley asked as he pulled off from in front of the trap house.
* * *
They made it out to West Palm and easily found the high-rise apartment building, which was out near the beach. Wesley parked the Escalade across the street from the front of the 14-story apartment building. While Dante sat and watched the front door as women and men walked in and out of the building, he noticed the doorman at the front entrance.
“What go on?” Wesley asked, watching Dante and waiting.
Remaining quiet for a moment in thought, Dante continued staring out the window at the apartment entrance and then broke his silence, “Leave the duffel bag inside the truck. We won’t need it. But follow me inside after five minutes, alright?”
Not waiting for a response, Dante climbed out of
the Escalade and shut the truck door. He started across the street and walked to the front entrance where the doorman pushed the door open for him.
“Good afternoon, sir!” the doorman spoke.
Nodding his head to the doorman and glancing around the building’s lobby, Dante turned to face the doorman, just as he was opening the front door for a couple.
Nodding a greeting to the couple as they passed him on their way to the elevator, Dante shifted his eyes over to the doorman, who turned to face him and asked, “Yes, sir! Can I help you with something?”
“I’m looking for what apartment either Gina Ortez or Raul Martinez is living in.”
“Are they expecting you, sir?”
“No.”
“Well then, sir, I’m sorry. I cannot help you,” the doorman replied with a smile to Dante. However, as the doorman turned around when hearing the door open, he was met by a dark-skinned man pointing a black gun at him. “Oh, God!”
“We gonna try this again,” Dante said calmly. “What apartment is Gina Ortez or Raul Martinez living in?”
This time Dante got a quick answer from the doorman and turned to walk off. He then called back to Wesley and, in patois, said, “Take care of the doorman and then meet me in apartment F-37.”
He took the elevator to the sixth floor. Dante stepped off the elevator and took a moment to look at the apartment door numbers. He then turned right and headed up the hall.
When he arrived at apartment F-37, Dante knocked on the door and stood waiting a moment until he heard a soft female voice call out, “Yes! Who is it?”
“Gina Ortez?”
“Yes! Can I help you?”
“Yes, ma’am. There’s been a…” He mumbled the rest.
“What did you say? I couldn’t hear you that good. Can you repeat that?”
Dante again mumbled Raul’s name and hospital in the same sentence. He then heard Gina ask him to hold on, as she unlocked the apartment door for him.
“What were you saying about Raul?” Gina asked, after opening the apartment door.
Meeting the woman’s eyes, Dante started, “I was saying Raul should have been more careful.”
Snatching his Glock from under his shirt faster than Gina could catch on to what was happening, Dante pressed the front of the gun against her forehead. Seeing her body stiffen, he calmly said, “Now understand. You scream and I’ma blow ya melon head in half. Nod if you understand.”
Dante watched Shorty nod her head yes and then heard the ring of the elevator. He cut his eyes to his right, looking back up the hallway to see Wesley stepping off the elevator.
Pushing Gina back inside her apartment, he followed her in. Dante left the apartment door open as he walked her inside the front room. He had her sit on the white fur sofa.
“Where Raul?” Dante asked, looking around the nicely decorated apartment. He heard Wesley walk inside the apartment, close the door, and then lock it.
“Wh-who are you? What do you want?” Gina asked, looking first at the guy with the gold at the bottom of his mouth over to the dark-skinned guy who had just walked into the apartment.
Not bothering with answering Gina’s questions, Dante spoke in patois, telling Wesley to check the apartment and make sure nobody else was inside.
Turning his attention back to Gina and meeting her eyes, Dante repeated his question again. “Where Raul?”
She stared at the guy in front of her a moment. He held his eyes on her. Gina finally answered, “He left to take care of something.”
“How long ago he left?”
“Maybe a little over 30 minutes.”
“Who was he with?”
“What’s all this about?” Gina asked. “Who are you?”
“Everything clear,” Wesley said in patois, as he entered back into the front room.
Acknowledging Wesley’s statement with a simple head nod, Dante shifted his eyes back to Gina and said, “Listen! I don’t like repeating myself and I’ve done it twice already. You now have two choices. You can either answer my question or I’ll figure this out without you. Decide now!”
Staring quietly at the guy in front of her, understanding perfectly well the real meaning of his warning, Gina answered softly, “He’s with two of his friends. They came to pick him up.”
“He tell you where he was going?”
“No!” Gina answered. “He never tells me where he’s going when he’s handling his business.”
Nodding his head in understanding, Dante looked over to the couch to his left, across from Gina, walked over, and sat down. “I guess we’re about to sit here together and wait on your man to show up then.”
* * *
Alinna walked out of the beauty salon after getting her hair washed and her nails done up in a French manicure. She headed towards her BMW just as her cell phone started ringing.
Digging out her phone from inside her Gucci bag, Alinna stopped at the driver’s door to her car. She sucked her teeth when she saw that Vanessa was calling.
“What Vanessa?”
“Alinna, where you at?”
“Why?”
“Alinna, Harmony’s been shooting with some niggas and she been shot. Tony T going crazy.”
“What?” Alinna yelled. “What the fuck happen? Where the fuck Harmony at?”
“She at Parkway Hospital with Amber and Tony T. I’m about to call Dante now.”
“What happen exactly? Who shot Harmony?” Alinna asked, as she was rushing to unlock her car door.
“From what Amber said, Tony T told her it was some of Raul’s boys again.”
“Shit!” Alinna cursed, punching the steering wheel. “Listen, I’m on my way to Parkway now. Meet me there.”
“I’m already heading there now. I’ma see you when you get there.”
“Yeah!” Alinna replied, hanging up the phone and tossing it over into the passenger seat with her handbag. She punched the steering wheel again. “Shit! Shit! Shit!”
* * *
Dante hung up his phone after talking with Vanessa about Harmony. He then looked at Wesley and, in patois, explained about Harmony and what Vanessa said went down with some of Raul’s men and that she was now at Parkway Hospital.
“What happened?” Gina asked, staring between the two men and seeing the expression on their faces.
Shifting his eyes over toward Gina, Dante stared a few moments and finally answered, “It seems like Raul has been really busy.”
“Wh-what’s happened?” Gina repeated the question, as she began to cry. She stared at the guy seated across from her who was now texting on his cell phone.
He ignored Gina as he continued texting with Vanessa, letting her know that he and Wesley would be over to the hospital after they were finished handling a little business. Dante sent the text message to Vanessa just as he heard a phone ring nearby.
Dante looked in the direction of the kitchen and saw Wesley walking towards the breakfast bar, where a pink cell phone lay. Dante met the dread’s dark eyes when Wesley turned facing him with a half-smile.
“Da blood clot boy is calling,” Wesley told Dante in broken English, as he made his way back over into the front room and stood beside the couch next to Dante. He handed him the phone while staring at Gina.
Dante took the cell phone from Wesley and glanced down at the screen to see Raul’s name. He tossed the touch screen across to Gina, watching her catch the phone with a confused and surprised look on her face.
“Call ‘em back after the phone stops ringing,” Dante told her. “Let ‘em know you taking care of something and couldn’t stop to answer the phone.”
Gina stared at the guy with the golds. Once the cell phone stopped ringing, she took a deep breath and then did as she told and called Raul back.
“Yeah!” Raul answered on the second ring.
Speaking in Spanish, Gina was only able to get out a few words when the guy across from her held up his gun and pointed at her.
“English!” Dante told her.
“Who the fuck is that?” Gina heard Raul ask angrily, as she sat staring across from her at the guy with the gold in his mouth.
“Raul, what do you want?” Gina asked, while still staring at the gunman. “I’m in the middle of doing something.”
“Doing what?” Raul yelled. “What the fuck are you doing, Gina? Who the fuck there with you?”
“Hang up the phone,” Dante told her, loud enough to be heard over the phone.
Doing what she was told, Gina hung up the phone as tears ran heavily down her face.
Ignoring the tears, Dante shifted his eyes to Wesley who stood behind Gina. He nodded his head slightly and then sat and watched Wesley pull out a long black-handled machete from the side of his jeans. With one heavy swing to Gina’s neck, Dante watched the woman’s head fly off, hitting the toss pillow on the sofa beside the now headless body.
Chapter 3
Raul Martinez was angrily talking to himself in Spanish as he and his boys stepped off the elevator on the floor of his apartment building. He marched down the hallway to his apartment, keys in hand.
Arriving at his apartment, he unlocked the door and forcefully pushed it open. Raul stepped into the room, yelling out for Gina.
“Gina, where the fuck …? Oh, God. No!” Raul cried, seeing his lady sitting on the sofa. He was unable to understand how her head was sitting on the coffee table in front of her and staring at him.
“Looks like she not happy to see you.”
Raul swung around and was surprised by what he saw.
It took him a moment to understand what was taking place. Both his boys lay face down, while a dark-skinned guy stood over them holding a banger. He then shifted his eyes over to the light-skinned guy who was seated at the breakfast bar, pointing a burner at him.
Raul then asked, “Who the…who the fuck is you?”
“I’m surprised you don’t know,” Dante replied, as he sat calmly across the room staring at Raul. “I’ll help you out though. You seem to have a little problem with a friend of mine. Name’s Harmony and runs a spot ‘cross over in Miami. You know who I’m talking about, don’t you?”