“I know, I’m sorry,” Brianna tried to plead, seeing how mad it had made Charrise.
The look she gave Brianna cut through her like a single edge razor. “You supposed to be my fucking sister and you hide some shit like this from me? You let this nigga walk around here day after day like he was my fuckin dad, holding me and comforting me!” Charrise yelled.
Brianna sat there in silence. There was nothing that she could say to make it better, nor was Charrise trying to hear anything. “You know what, Bri, it’s cool. I guess you weren’t my sister after all…” Charrise said, reaching into the backseat to get her Milly bag. “Dis shit between me and you is done. And don’t fuckin follow me!” Charrise said, opening the door and getting out of the car.
As bad as Brianna wanted to get out of the car and chase her down, she didn’t, knowing that Charrise needed her space right now. Bothering her would only make it worse. Brianna just sat there in the automobile and cried. She hoped that she didn’t lose her sister and best friend.
After twenty minutes of trying to decide if she had done the right thing in telling Charrise about Herman’s involvement, Brianna wiped the tears from her face and headed into the courthouse. Before she could sit down, Cowboy motioned for her to come to him.
“We got a problem, baby girl. Herman came to see me and he dug up that hidden treasure of ours.” Cowboy whispered in her ear.
“I already know, Dad, and I’m working on it, but I have a couple of other issues as well right now.”
Cowboy could see that she was in a daze. The whole courtroom was quiet as they waited for the jury to be brought in. Cowboy could not help but to notice that the stress in his daughter’s eyes was not only because of the body that Herman had.
“What else is wrong?” he asked, reaching back and tapping her on the arm.
Brianna snapped out of her daze and quickly tried to put a smile on her face, but Cowboy wasn’t going for that. He knew that it was something more. “Come on, spit it out,” he said, trying to get her eyes to meet his. “If it has anything to do with the …”
“Charrise knows about Herman,” Brianna said, cutting him off. “I told her and she snapped on me,” she said, shaking her head.
“Damn!” Cowboy exhaled, leaning back in his chair. “I knew dat shit was gonna come back and bite us in the ass. Does she know about the body?” he asked, referring to him killing Tank and burying him in Herman’s backyard.
“She didn’t even give me a chance to get to that. She jumped out of my car and told me not to follow her.” Brianna said as she began to tear up.
“All rise!” the clerk announced before the judge entered the courtroom.
Cowboy and Brianna quickly halted their conversation. This was the moment that everyone had been waiting for. Someone walked out into the hallway and made the announcement that a verdict had been reached. People poured back into the courtroom. For the first time in history, Cowboy had butterflies in his stomach. If he were standing up, he probably would have buckled at the knees.
“Ok, it seems that the jury has reached a verdict. Please let them in.” the judge said, taking his glasses off.
As the jury walked into the courtroom, all eyes were on them. The butterflies in Cowboy’s stomach had found their way into Brianna’s stomach as well. While all the others sat down, the foreman remained standing.
“I understand that you’ve reached a verdict,” the judge said.
“Yes, Your Honor… unanimously.” the foreman responded.
The judge looked down at the paper with the list of charges on it and began to read.
“In the charge of murder in the first degree, in count one of the indictment, for the murder of Hakeem Wilbourn, how does the jury find the defendant?” the judge asked, looking back up at the foreman.
“The jury finds the defendant … Not guilty!” the foreman announced.
As the judge continued to read down the charges and ask for the verdicts, the foreman continued to say not guilty to the very end. The mixture of emotions from both Cowboy’s supporters and the family of the victims filled the courtroom. It got so loud that the judge had to call for order.
Casteno leaned over and shook Cowboy’s hand to congratulate him. The feeling that Cowboy had was beyond anything he had ever experienced before, and the only thing he could do was smile. Brianna couldn’t stop smiling either as she leaned over and hugged her dad.
“We won!” Brianna joyfully proclaimed, trying her best to hold back the few tears that forced their way out of her eyes.
“Yeah, we did it, baby girl,” Cowboy responded, satisfied with the results.
__________
Jonathan sat on the front steps of St. Matthews Church listening to the many cries coming from inside the building. He took another swig of the orange soda bottle that was spiked with Ciroc and then looked out into the street where cars drove by, unaware that a real nigga was having his wake right now.
“Damn Kev… Why now?” Jonathan mumbled to himself, rubbing the top of his head.
Flashbacks of the time when Kevin took a puff of a cigarette for the first time brought Jonathan to laughter. He remembered Kevin choking for about ten minutes straight. Then he thought about the time when he, Kevin, and A.J. got drunk off a 40oz of Old English 800 they had convinced a junkie to purchase for them. Kevin threw up on A.J.’s brand new pair of Jordans, but only ruining the right shoe. A.J. still rocked the mismatched sneakers for a month before his mom bought him another pair.
Jonathan went from laughing to crying within seconds. As he sobbed, he felt a hand on his shoulder. When he looked up to see who it was, he put his head back down in shame.
“Ya friend would like to see you one last time, Jonathan,” Ms. Matty said, pulling some tissue out of her pocket.
“Damn, Ms. Matty, I fucked up…” Jonathan cried, putting his face in his hands. “Dat should be me in there. He should be out here,” he continued, letting the tears pour out of his eyes.
“Come on inside, Jonathan.” Ms. Matty said, rubbing his back.
“I can’t, Ms. Matty. I can’t look at him like this.”
“Jonathan! Now if you say that you love my son, you’re gonna get up, wipe those tears from your face, and go in there and pay your respects to ya best friend.” Ms. Matty demanded, and she wasn’t taking no for an answer.
Jonathan could not believe it. After everything that had happened, Ms. Matty was still showing him love. Her son was lying in a coffin, partially because of him. And instead of shunning Jonathan, she did the total opposite. She helped Jonathan to his feet, wrapped him in her arms, and hugged him tight.
“I’m sorry.” Jonathan cried, resting his head on her shoulder.
“I don’t blame you, Jonathan. That could have easily been you, and I would want Lorraine to be doing the same thing that I’m doing right now.” she said, wiping the few tears from his cheeks.
“Now let’s go inside and see my boy.” She smiled, leading him into the church.
Charrise pulled up to the front of the church. She and Lorraine got out so that they could pay their last respects. Brianna pulled in right behind them, also coming to show her respect. By the time they had gotten in there, the line to view the body was kind of short. Lorraine walked up, kissed Kevin on his head, and then walked over and gave Ms. Matty a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Jonathan was sitting right next to Ms. Matty, so Lorraine gave him the same thing. They were all like family. Growing up, Lorraine used to watch Kevin on the days Ms.Matty had the night shift at the hospital. Likewise, Ms. Matty used to watch Jonathan after he got out of school until Lorraine got home from work. That’s just how close the two were, so naturally, the death of Kevin was a devastating blow for everyone.
Brianna was hoping that she and Charrise could have a conversation. However, she could tell that Charrise wasn’t open for it, and today wasn’t the time or place to push the issue.
__________
“Did you se
e anybody familiar?” Gwen asked Crystal and Ivory as they walked up and took a seat on the park bench right next to her.
“No, not really. But I did see …” Crystal paused, not really sure what she saw was worth mentioning.
At that point, any and all information was useful in Gwen’s eyes. She couldn’t figure out for the love of God who was responsible for robbing her. Not only was she robbed, another MHB crew member was murdered, execution style. The sense of urgency to track down the culprits behind it was felt throughout the whole crew. Gwen took immediate action, first by finding out the identity of the male body that was left behind after the shootout. After finding out that it was Kevin Miles, she sent Crystal and Ivory to the funeral to scope things out.
“There was this one guy who stayed outside for most of the funeral.”
“Then, this lady came outside and he began crying. I don’t know what was said, because we were sitting in the car at the time.” Ivory chimed in.
“Yeah, and when he did go into the church, he was sitting in the front row,” Crystal said.
“Hell, which could be anybody.” Gwen shot back, waving them off. “Is that all?”
“Oh, oh, and it was another guy that stood by the casket crying damn near the whole funeral.” Ivory remembered.
Gwen sat there and thought about it for a minute. The actions of those two men showed that they had a lot of love for the deceased. They had to have either been family members or close friends, and Gwen was willing to bet that they were friends. And if they were close friends, then nine times out of ten they knew something, or maybe even were involved in some kind of way.
“Did you get these guys names?” Gwen asked, hoping that they did.
“No, we didn’t get the names, but Ivory did write down a couple license plate numbers.” Crystal advised.
“Yeah, and I think that I did get one of theirs.” Ivory said, rambling through her back pocket for the piece of paper that she was writing on. “Oh, here it go.”
She passed the folded up piece of paper to Gwen who looked down at the five license plate numbers. This piece of information was more valuable than Crystal thought. Gwen was definitely going to pursue the two cry babies who performed at the funeral. Before the week was out, she was gonna make it her business to find out just how much love the two men had for their dead comrade.
__________
Brianna ran to Cowboy as he walked out of the jail. He picked her up and swung her around like she was a child, and she felt loved and protected.
“Daddy!” she said like a toddler as he carried her towards the awaiting Audi truck.
Brandon smiled as Cowboy placed Brianna back on the ground.
Cowboy extended his hand. “You must be Brandon…” He said as he shook Brandon’s hand. “My little girl seems to be quite fond of you.”
Brianna blushed at the sound of her father calling her his little girl. Hearing him say those words gave her something she had waited her entire life to feel: love from a man who would protect and love her unconditionally.
“I’m fond of her too, sir.” Brandon said pulling Brianna close to him.
Cowboy nodded.
Brianna smirked as Cowboy’s usual steely gaze fell on Brandon. After a few moments of silence, he smiled, and nodded. “So baby girl, are you ready?”
“Yep, but you ain’t riding with us, Daddy.” Cowboy’s eyebrows raised in question and Brianna pointed to the red Cadillac CTS that was parked beside her SUV. “That’s your ride there.”
Cowboy looked at the Cadillac. He walked over to the passenger side of the car. The limousine tint was so dark that he couldn’t see an outline of the driver. The window rolled down and Lorraine smiled at him.
“Lala?” Cowboy said, matching her smile.
“So you gonna stand there or you gonna get in your car?” Lorraine said, unlocking the door.
“My car?” Cowboy said as he opened the door.
“Yeah, this is a gift from your daughter.” Lorraine said as she leaned over to kiss Cowboy.
Cowboy caressed her face, he looked into her eyes, and kissed her lips.
Brianna knocked on the window. “Ok you two, tone it down! I gotta go handle some business. So Daddy, when Mama let you come up for air, we can have dinner, okay?”
Cowboy and Lorraine beamed at Brianna. She touched her mother’s face. It was the first time she had ever seen a genuine smile from her mother. Her heart felt warm, seeing her mother beam with love for her father. The man who in just a few short months had almost repaired the twenty-four years of emotional abuse she suffered from Herman. Thinking of that man’s name seemed to make her head spin for a moment. Brandon wrapped his arms around Brianna’s waist as they watch Cowboy and Lorraine pull out onto the street.
__________
Herman looked around nervously before sticking his key in the door and entering his house. He hadn’t been there in days, and he really wasn’t sure what to expect since he had dug up Tank’s body and moved it out of the backyard.
“Lorraine!” he yelled out, closing the door behind him, but not moving for a moment to see if she answered him.
Cautiously, he began to walk through the house, making sure that he was alone before he got comfortable. He called out Lorraine’s name again as he climbed up the stairs, but still there was no answer. From the looks of their bedroom, Lorraine had not been home for a few days as well. He walked over to the dresser to grab a change of clothes, as he was about to take a quick shower. When he turned around to head to the bathroom, he was startled by Brianna, who was standing in the threshold of his bedroom door. She stood there with a Glock 9mm in her hand down by her waist, and her facial expression said that she wasn’t in the mood to play any games.
“What did you do with the body, Herman?” she asked, tapping the gun on the side of her leg.
“Ah! That’s for me to know and for you to find out,” he responded with a devious grin on his face.
“I am not gonna ask you twice,” she said, raising the gun and pointing it at his face.
Herman did not show any signs of fear, and that’s probably because he wasn’t scared at all. He knew that Brianna wasn’t going to shoot him as long as she didn’t get the information she was asking for. The options that he had with Tanks body were vast. He could plant that body anywhere, and all it would take was one phone call to the right homicide detective, and somebody was going to jail. Hell, if he played his cards right, he might be able to kill two birds with one stone. Something that he had already took into consideration.
“You’re not going to shoot me…” Herman said in a calm voice. “I know that you’re not gonna shoot me because if you do, you, yo mother, and ya punk ass daddy are going to jail for life. What do you think that I dug up the body for… my health?” he said, making his way across the room towards his closet.
Brianna thought about what he had said, especially the part where he threatened to put her mother in jail. That little comment made her nice and mad. Her gun stayed locked on him the whole time and she was two seconds away from shooting him until she thought about it. He did have the upper hand right now. That dead body could be anywhere, and who knows what other kind of tricks he had up his sleeves.
“Where’s the body, Herman?” Brianna asked, watching him with a close eye while he rambled around in the closet.
“It’s somewhere safe. And after I get what I want for it, you can have it.”
“And what do you want for it?” Brianna asked, trying to figure out his angle, and at the same time, not lowering her gun.
Herman looked back over his shoulder to see Brianna still standing by the door with her gun pointed at him. The whole time that he was in the closet, he was waiting for the perfect opportunity to make his move. The three-foot long shotgun rested in the corner of the closet away from where Brianna could see it.
“To be honest with you Brianna … I just want you to die.” Herman said, grabbing the shotgu
n.
He spun around with it, cocking a slug into the chamber in the process. By the time Brianna noticed the gun, he was letting off a shot. Booom! Chit, chit!
Brianna dipped out of the room in the nick of time, avoiding the blast that knocked a hole in the wall the size of a basketball. She returned fire, sending a couple of shots through the hallway wall that was connected to his room. She was hoping that one of the bullets would hit him, but neither of them did. She backed down the hallway cautiously, facing his bedroom so that Herman wouldn’t jump out and shoot her in the back.
Herman never came out of the room. Instead, he reached around and stuck the twelve gauge into the hallway. Brianna saw the long, black nose of the shotgun and fired two shots at it as she dropped to the ground.
Herman squeezed the trigger at the same time, blasting pieces of wood from the banister into Brianna’s face. She crawled on her elbows backwards into the back room and slid behind the partition.
“I’ma fuckin kill you, Herman!” Brianna yelled out as she rose to her feet with her back against the wall.
“You know what they used to call me back in the day?” Herman taunted back, cocking another slug into the camber. “They used to call me, DOA. Cause I used to leave muthafuckas dead on arrival!” he yelled out, coming out of the room and looking down the hallway.
He didn’t know what room Brianna was in, so he eased down the hallway with the shotgun at chest level. He kicked the bathroom door in and pointed the gun inside. Brianna peaked around, saw the opportunity, and opened fire. Herman found himself falling into the bathroom for cover while Brianna ran the short distance down the hall towards the steps. She continued to fire into the bathroom all the while, darting down the steps.
At this point, all she wanted to do was get out of the house, feeling that the gun battle wouldn’t go in her favor. She wasn’t sure how many more shots she had in her clip, nor did she know how much ammo Herman had access to. It was either stay and risk being killed or flee and live to fight another day. Brianna choose the latter, taking off out the front door and dashing down the street to her waiting car.
Trapstar 3 Page 9