Obviously they came here looking for me . . . whoever it was, she thought as she stood in the middle of the living room with her hands on her hips. She looked up at Snow.
“What if they come back?” she asked.
“You won’t be here, so it doesn’t matter. All this shit is replaceable, but the fact that they didn’t even attempt to take the money says that somebody has beef with you.”
Zya couldn’t imagine who she had crossed. She didn’t think that she had made any enemies on her way to the top, but now she couldn’t be so sure.
“Fuck this. You need to move out of this bullshit-ass apartment anyway. You are getting money now, so you can’t be in the hood no more. That makes you too easy to reach. Niggas shouldn’t be able to contact you, and they definitely should not know where you rest your head. We’re moving you to Jersey tonight,” Snow said.
“You’re right. I should have listened to you,” Zya said. “I was so busy trying to make it on my own and keep my own place that I was being stupid.”
Snow put his hands on Zya’s face and said, “I love you, and you gon’ be mines forever. Let me take care of you.”
Zya smiled and replied, “Okay, Torey Snow. Take care of me then.”
Snow laughed then grabbed a box of money and headed for the front door. Before he exited, he said, “From the looks of all this money you getting, it looks like you gon’ be taking care of me.”
Zya cocked her head to the side and replied, “Ha, ha . . . very funny. Nigga, I know what you working with. You getting more money than me.” She grabbed a box and carried it down the steps, following Snow to his car. Zya had so many boxes filled with cash in her apartment that they had to rent a U-Haul truck to transport them from her apartment in New York to Snow’s house in Jersey.
Zya had her dope stashed at her house, but left it. She would have one of Snow’s goons transport it the next day. She was so geeked to be moving in with Snow. She knew that by living together, they were taking their relationship to the next level, and she was ready to learn everything there was to know about Snow.
When they pulled up to Snow’s mansion, Zya got out of the car and stared up at the enormous house that sat before her.
“What’s wrong?” Snow asked.
“I don’t know . . . It’s . . . It . . .” She couldn’t finish her sentence, so Snow finished it for her.
“It’s home, Zya,” he said as he grabbed her hand and led her inside.
Although Zya had been inside Snow’s house before, it felt different now that it was hers as well. That night, she kept Snow up all night, just talking about them. She needed to know that he loved her and that he was there with her. She didn’t want another fake nigga on her team, just talking good, but not meaning the things he said. Snow assured her that he was a real nigga, and that as long as she did her part as a woman, he would hold her down.
“If I didn’t want you here, you wouldn’t be here,” he assured her.
Zya was close to Snow, and she believed every word that he said. He had her head, heart, and soul. She knew that he would never do her shady because he could see how much she loved him. He was her best friend, and she knew that he would give her anything and everything she desired. He wanted Zya to be happy, and as long as she had him, she would be.
“Baby girl, your man is tired. Can a nigga go to sleep?” he said with a smile. Zya looked at the clock. It was 4 A.M., and they hadn’t stopped talking since they had finished moving.
“Sorry,” she said with a laugh. “I’m just happy to have you in my life.”
He pulled her close and kissed her lips before falling into a fast and comfortable sleep.
Snow wasn’t a mushy type of nigga. He loved Zya, but he didn’t feel it was necessary to talk about it. He would show her instead of telling her, because he felt that actions spoke louder than words. She had heard Jules when he said it, but she could feel Snow when he showed her exactly how much he cared.
The next night, Zya’s phone rang while she was headed out the door, preparing to attend a Supreme Clientele meeting. She looked at her phone and saw that it was Black Ty and answered it.
“Hello?”
“What up, Zya. I need to get right again,” Black Ty stated, calling for a re-up.
“Damn, already?”
“Yeah, I moved through the whole order already. I need four, pronto.”
“I see you stepping your game up, but I can’t get that to you tonight. I got plans.”
“Come on, Zya. If I don’t get that tonight, I’ll be missing so much money. I need you on this one,” Black Ty pleaded.
Zya took the phone from her ear and looked at Snow as he put on his jacket, preparing to make a run.
“Yo, do you think you can drop off four bricks to Black Ty tonight?” she asked.
Snow picked up his car keys and answered, “Yeah, I guess. I was on my way to Harlem to pick up some dough anyway. I’ll do it.”
Zya put the cell phone back to her ear and quickly said, “Be at your spot at three. The bricks will be there. Since it’s so late, tack on ten percent, baby. You know I don’t make runs this late.”
“No problem, Zya. Thanks. But my spot is getting kind of hot. Meet me at the old warehouse by the Hudson River. You know the old steel factory.”
“A’ight,” Zya agreed before she flipped down her phone. Zya held up her keys, twisted off her apartment key, and tossed it to Snow.
“I have four left in the Frosted Flakes boxes in the top cabinet,” she said before she left the house and headed to the meeting.
Vita’s high was coming down as she sat on the couch at the dope house, nodding off. She distantly heard a conversation going on in the next room. She recognized Black Ty’s voice, talking to someone.
“I just got off the phone with Zya. It’s all set up. She is going to meet me at the old steel factory by the river at three.”
Vita heard another man’s voice responding, “Good, good. I’ve been waiting to see Zya for a long time. After tonight, that queen pen shit is over. She’s dead. I can’t wait to see her face when I pop her ass. This has been a long time coming,” the man said.
Vita recognized the other man’s voice. It was Jules. Damn, he is going to try to kill Zya. I should have never turned on her. She has never showed me anything but love. I have to call her before she walks into a trap.
Vita pulled back the couch pillows, searching for loose change so she could run to the payphone. She searched frantically and managed to scrape up just enough. Vita rushed out of the house and ran to the corner store to try to contact Zya before it was too late.
Snow’s all-white BMW crept toward the back of the warehouse. In the back of his truck he had four bricks with Black Ty’s name on them.
Where is this nigga at? Snow thought as he circled the empty parking lot for the third time. Just as he was about to pull off, he saw the garage door open. Bright lights shined on him, temporarily blocking his vision. Snow threw his hands up, blocking the light from his eyes. Black Ty emerged from the side of the car, exposing himself. Ty waved his hands, signaling for Snow to pull in. Snow pulled into the garage, and Black Ty shut the garage door behind him.
The tinted windows on Snow’s car concealed his identity until he opened the door and hopped out. When Ty saw Snow’s face, he was caught completely off guard.
Where is Zya? She was supposed to make the drop, Ty thought in shock. Snow noticed the change in Ty’s expression.
“Fuck is yo’ problem? You got the dough, man?”
Black Ty began to stutter as he replied, “Yeah, yeah. Where is Zya?”
“She had to handle something. What the fuck you concerned for? You wanted the brick, right?” Snow asked as he walked to the trunk and grabbed the bag containing the coke. Snow walked back to Black Ty and asked, “What, you deaf, nigga? You wanted the bricks, right?”
Black Ty grew apprehensive and took a step back. “Yeah, I still want them,” he said.
Snow looked at Ty lik
e he was crazy and then became slightly agitated. “Well, go get the fucking money.”
“It’s in the trunk,” Ty replied.
“Well, go get it, nigga. Fuck is wrong with you?” Snow said as he shook his head from side to side, annoyed with Ty’s dumbfounded behavior. He watched as Ty walked to the back of his trunk and attempted to open it. Ty seemed to be having trouble popping the trunk, and Snow looked at his phone to check the time. He noticed his battery was dead and yelled, “Yo, what’s taking so long?”
Black Ty looked up and yelled, “It’s stuck! Sometimes you have to push the button while pulling up the trunk. Could you reach in the glove compartment and hit that button for me?”
Snow dropped the duffle bag and walked over to the tinted SUV.
“Nigga, you supposed to be getting money. You need to get yo’ trunk right,” Snow said as he opened the door and stuck half of his body in the vehicle. He spotted the glove box and opened it.
Zya got me dealing with this ol’ bum-ass nigga. I can’t believe—Before Snow could even complete his thought, he felt the barrel of an AK-47 pressing against the back of his head.
“Move and I’ll pop off,” Jules said calmly as he rested his index finger against the trigger.
Snow knew the drill. He put up his hands, and Jules instructed him to slide out of the truck.
“Fuck!” Snow yelled as he realized that he had walked into a set-up. Black Ty walked around from the back of the car and couldn’t look Snow in the face. Snow just stared at him, smiling. “You know you dead, right?” he stated, addressing Black Ty.
Jules hit Snow in the back of the head, trying to gain his undivided attention. “You need to pay attention to the nigga with the gun!” Jules yelled as he reached over Snow’s body and grabbed Snow’s gun from his waist. “You won’t be needing this,” Jules said as he tossed Snow’s gun to Black Ty. Snow finally realized who was holding him at gunpoint, and it all started to make sense.
“Welcome home,” Snow said sarcastically as he held the back of his head in pain.
“Where the fuck is Zya?” Jules asked as he and Snow faced each other.
“She’s at home, waiting for me to come lay the pipe down.” Snow smiled at his own witty remark, and Jules struck him again, but this time in the mouth and with more power. Snow fell to one knee and wiped the blood from his mouth.
“We used to get money together. As soon as I got knocked, you pulled that snake shit and started fucking my girl.”
“Zya ain’t yo’ woman, first of all. She’s mine. Secondly, she is a grown woman and can make her own decisions. Why you being a bitch and crying because you couldn’t keep yo’ woman?”
Jules kicked Snow, making him fall flat on his back. “Well, you can have that bitch. Get up!”
Snow staggered back to his feet, and Jules grabbed him by the collar and threw him on the hood of Black Ty’s truck, face down. Jules put the gun to the back of Snow’s head and said, “Don’t worry about that bitch Zya. I’m going to send her to hell right behind you.” Jules turned his head so the blood wouldn’t splatter in his face as he pointed the pistol toward Snow’s head.
Zya sat at the roundtable waiting for the meeting to begin. She felt her phone vibrate on her hip for the tenth time in a row. Damn, who the hell is blowing me up like this? she thought as she looked down and saw an unfamiliar number. The same number kept popping up, and she wondered what could be so urgent.
“Please excuse me,” Zya said as she stood from the roundtable in middle of the meeting. She stepped out the door to answer her phone. It had been vibrating since the meeting began.
Who is this? My phone has been ringing since the meeting began. It better be good, she thought as she picked up her phone.
“Hello?”
“Oh my God, Zya! I’m so glad to hear your voice.”
“Vita?” Zya asked in confusion.
“Zya, don’t go to meet Black Ty. It’s a set-up. Jules got out, and I overheard them talking about setting you up,” Vita said, talking fast.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Zya asked.
“Jules and Black Ty are trying to kill you. Don’t go to the warehouse,” Vita screamed into the phone.
Zya instantly thought about Snow. She had sent him to make the drop-off to Black Ty.
“Look, Vita, if anything happens to Snow, I’m going to kill you,” she said, threatening to kill the messenger of the bad news. Zya flipped down her phone and instantly flipped it back open to call Snow.
Come on, Snow, pick up, she thought frantically. Snow’s phone went straight to voice mail, and she tried again, but got the same response.
Zya rushed out of the restaurant and jumped into her car, leaving her skid marks in the middle of the street as she peeled out. She was headed to the warehouse to get to Snow.
“Wade, she just pulled off. She seemed like she was in a hurry,” Agent Matthews said, speaking into a walkie talkie. He was parked across the street from Stello’s, working the late-night shift of a stake-out.
“Did you see Anari enter?” Wade asked.
“Nah, I just saw Zya come in and rush out.”
“Stay on her ass. I’m on my way,” Lonnie Wade instructed.
Agent Matthews trailed Zya, and she didn’t even realize that she was being followed. He followed her as she got onto the freeway. He could barely keep up with her luxury sports car. He tried to stay close, but the way she maneuvered in and out of traffic at 100 miles per hour, it was impossible.
“Damn, she’s got to be doing at least one-twenty,” Matthews said as he looked at his dashboard. Zya made a sudden swerve and got off at an exit. She did it so swiftly that Matthews didn’t have time to get off. He blew past her and watched as she sped onto the service drive.
“Damn,” he yelled as he sped up to get off at the next exit.
“Whoa! Whoa!” Black Ty shouted. “Hold on, Jules. Don’t do that shit on my car.”
Jules grabbed Snow by the back of his neck and attempted to move him off of Ty’s hood. Snow knew he had nothing to lose, so he went for it. He swung around and grabbed the barrel of the assault weapon. Jules tried to shoot Snow, but Snow jerked the gun in Black Ty’s direction. Bullets left Jules’s gun and entered Black Ty’s body, blowing him back, straight off of his feet.
Snow and Jules wrestled over the gun, but a loud crash caused them both to drop the gun. Boom! The garage door came flying off its hinges as Zya bulldozed her car through the garage. Her gun was aimed out of the window as she let off four shots, aimed at Jules’s head.
Jules ducked and scrambled for his gun, returning fire. He hit one of Zya’s tires, causing her to swerve out of control.
After letting off rounds at Zya, Jules looked back to locate Snow. To his surprise, Snow was out of sight. Not until he heard gunshots did he see Snow shooting at him from behind a barrel. Snow had gone to get a hold of his gun while Jules was busy letting off on Zya. Snow and Jules exchanged shots, but no one was hit.
Jules saw the flashing police lights from the garage window and made his way to the back to escape. Jules ducked out the back without being seen by the police.
Snow shot at Jules until he no longer saw him. He then focused his attention on Zya’s smoking car. He noticed that her airbag had exploded, and he rushed over to her. He looked in the car and realized that she was stuck in the seatbelt.
“Zya, we have to get out of here. The hook is outside,” Snow said as he tried to wiggle Zya’s buckle, but it was stuck. Zya tried to maneuver her way out of the belt, and it still didn’t work. Snow told Zya to stay still. He put his gun to the belt lock and squeezed. The belt loosened, and Zya quickly jumped out. Snow could hear the doors of the police car slamming as they approached the scene.
“Zya, go through the back and I’ll cause a distraction. Get the fuck out of here!”
“Fuck that. I’m not letting you go down by yourself,” Zya said as she stood by her man.
“Zya, don’t be stupid. I’ll meet you
at home. I love you,” Snow said as he kissed Zya and pushed her toward the back entrance.
“I can’t leave you. I’m gon’ ride or die. Fuck that.”
The police were nearly in, and Snow shouted, “Go now, Zya!”
Zya knew there was no debating, and headed toward the back. Snow ran over to Black Ty, who was barely breathing, and let off two more shots to his chest. He then picked up the bags containing the coke and jumped in his car.
Just then, the police busted in with guns drawn. Snow knew he was no match for the fifty police officers that surrounded his car with automatic rifles pointing directly at him. He saw too many Cops episodes to be stupid and try to pull off, so he stepped out of the car with both hands in the air, surrendering.
Wade was the first to get to him, slapping the cuffs on. He looked around and saw Zya watching from the back door. He turned his head, pretending not to see her, and began reading Snow his rights.
Zya snuck out the back, unnoticed, trying to think about how to get Snow out of this predicament.
Chapter 15
Through the Wire
Zya ran into the precinct with a duffle bag full of cash in her hand. Her heels clicked in a frantic rhythm as she approached the front desk. There was already a woman standing there, but Zya stepped right next to her and interrupted.
“I’m here to post bail for Torey Smith,” she said, using his real name.
The officer sitting behind the desk looked at her and replied, “I’m sorry, Miss. You are going to have to wait for me to help this lady first. She was here before you.” He turned his attention back to the white woman, causing Zya to become even more upset.
Zya didn’t care if the woman had been there first or not. She had business to handle, and she needed Snow out of jail. There is no way I’m leaving him in here. Zya’s eyes reflected her determination and anger. She slammed her hand on the counter over and over and said, “Excuse me.”
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