Chapter 21
“If the Dominicans want to think Indie was responsible for little Eddie’s death than let them. I’m not putting myself on the line against the fucking Dominican mafia,” Trina stated in protest as she watched Miesha and Chase load up. They literally looked like they were going to war. Bullet proofs, handguns in holsters, Miesha even had a beam rifle. These two are out of control, Trina thought.
“Nah, I’ve got to fix the mess that you helped make. So strap up or shut the fuck up, sis. Your choice,” Chase stated.
“I’m not riding out for Indie or YaYa. I’m good,” Trina replied with her arms folded.
Chase shook his head and replied, “You’ve got a lot to learn about loyalty, little sister.”
He looked at Miesha. “You ready, baby girl?”
“I’m with you,” she promised.
“Let’s go pay Eduardo a visit then,” Chase responded.
Trina watched as they walked out of the trap house and shook her head in disgrace. She was done following and riding for mu’fuckas who wouldn’t do the same for her. In fact this entire New York scene was played to her. It was time to go back home but she had no intentions on leaving empty-handed.
She walked to the living room and peeked out of the window to ensure that Chase and Miesha had pulled off. Once the coast was clear she rushed to the bedroom, heading straight for the safe. She was the only other person besides Chase who knew the combination so she knew that once she hit her lick he would know it was her. She thought about making it look like a robbery, but fuck it. She had put in her dues, now she was going to take what she felt she was owed. She could start her own shit back home in Houston. She didn’t need Indie or YaYa’s reputation behind her. She had put in enough work over the years that she could unload product with ease. She took twenty bricks out of the safe and placed them in a black duffel. She second-guessed herself for one second before she walked out of the door, but when she remembered how Miesha had rotted in jail for YaYa, she shook all doubt. She wasn’t going to end up a casualty to the game especially not trying to prove herself to Indie or YaYa. She felt that they were foul for putting Miesha in that predicament and before they would test her loyalty she was going to be out. She looked back one last time before she stepped over the threshold. It was time for her to go into business for herself. Fuck a Prada Plan, she was about to become the protégé and show YaYa how a chick was really supposed to get this money.
Chase walked into the bar in Spanish Harlem and immediately stuck out like sore thumb. He was the only black face in the establishment and all eyes were immediately on him. It was a hole in the wall, pool hall type spot where the retirees and OGs of the neighborhood went to kick the shit. It was also where Eduardo and a few of his buddies frequented. Chase went to the bar and sat for ten minutes before the bartender reluctantly serviced him.
“Long way from home huh, kid?” the old man said.
“Nah, I’m right where I’m supposed to be. I’m looking for Eduardo,” Chase stated.
The bartender’s eyes cut across the room and before Chase knew it he had ten guns aimed at him. It seemed as if every patron there was on Eduardo’s protection payroll.
“If I don’t walk out of this bar in five minutes flat, Eduardo’s brains are going to be on the floor,” Chase threatened.
A hearty chuckle came from the back of the bar and Eduardo himself emerged through his men. He was low-key in slacks and a nice designer shirt. His shoes shined like new money, matching the sheen of his dark hair.
“Look at your chest,” Chase stated.
Suddenly a red beam appeared in the center of his chest. Chase smirked a bit at Miesha’s efficiency. She was right on time. He would never put her in this much danger so she was safely perched on the rooftop across the street, looking through the scope of her gun and aiming it directly at Eduardo.
“You want to tell your men to lower their weapons so we can talk?” Chase asked.
Eduardo, not fond of the fact that someone else had the upper hand on him, huffed and then signaled for his men to stand down.
“You’re Indie’s shooter. The kid that’s under him.” Eduardo stated. “You have a lot of balls coming in here after Indie had my boy killed.”
“That wasn’t Indie. That is why I am here, to clear up the confusion and make amends. Indie is no longer in this business. He handed it over to me. During this transition, your son attempted to rob two of my workers. They were only defending themselves when they killed your son and your two men. We intended to do square business. I give you my apologies that things got so out of hand and I offer you this.” Chase paused and put a briefcase full of money on the table. It was $100,000 of his own money. Eduardo looked at Chase skeptically and thumbed through the cash before handing it off to one of his goons.
“Apology not accepted and you . . . you’re a kid. You can’t be a day over twenty-three. I deal with Indie and I’m holding him personally responsible for my Eduardo’s demise. An eye for an eye. That’s what I live by. Now get out of here before I have my men rip you to pieces,” Eduardo spat harshly.
Chase held his tongue and stood up from the table. He knew that he had to get his numbers up because Eduardo was clearly about to wage a war. He had to warn Indie that they had just made a new enemy.
“Good morning, beautiful,” Ethic said as YaYa rustled in his arms. It was the first time they had stayed the night together and every minute of it had been magical. Ethic was like a cure for everything bad. If she could bottle up the feeling he gave her and place it for sale, she would be rich. He had the power to heal broken hearts.
“Good morning,” she said as he kissed her nose.
“I have something for you,” he said as he leaned over and pulled a silver key out of the nightstand drawer. He opened her hand and placed it in her palm.
“What’s this?” she asked, confused.
“It’s a key to your own place. I don’t like the fact that you’re living out of a hotel suite with your daughter. You don’t seem to want to go back home . . .”
“I can’t,” she said. “Too many memories are there.”
“Well you can make new memories in your new place and hopefully over time, you can include me and my family in your life,” he whispered.
She was speechless because Ethic was all man. He took care of her. He catered to her and he wasn’t ashamed or reluctant to express how much she meant to him. There relationship was blossoming at an alarming speed, but she had to admit that she was enjoying the ride.
“Will you accept it?” he asked.
She nodded and rolled on top of him to show him just how much she appreciated him.
YaYa thanked Ethic in every single way. It took everything in her to let him leave, but she understood that he wanted to make it back to his own hotel before his children awoke.
“Call me and let me know what you think about the condo. I have some things coming for you so be expecting deliveries all day,” he said.
“I’m sure I’ll love it,” she responded as she kissed him good-bye.
She was showered and out the door in no time as excitement filled her. It wasn’t the first time a man had purchased her a piece of real estate, but this one symbolized so much. It symbolized her freedom.
She located the address in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan and quickly realized that Ethic had spared no expense. This was prime real estate and it made her wonder how loaded Ethic truly was. He was working with more than old safe money in order to purchase a woman he barely knew a gift this extravagant. She greeted the doorman with a nod as she entered the building.
When she finally found the home that was hers, the views swept her away. The space wasn’t great, but that was to be expected in New York City, but it was the perfect size for her and Skylar. “I can’t believe he did this,” she whispered. It was like stepping into a fairytale, but as she stood there she couldn’t help but think of Indie. She was sure that he was hurt, but not more so than she had bee
n when Parker ruined their lives. Why the hell did he come to see me yesterday anyway? What happened to him and Parker? The grass isn’t always greener, asshole, she thought, but as bitter as her thoughts were she knew that she needed closure. If she had truly moved on, she wouldn’t feel so much resentment toward Indie. She was letting him live rent free in her head and as long as she harbored hurt over what he did, she would never truly be free. YaYa picked up her phone and dialed Indie’s number. When he answered he didn’t speak, he just let silence fill the line. Seconds past before his hurt tone came through.
“You’re fucking him?” he asked.
“It wasn’t something I planned or did to get back at you. It just happened,” she answered. “You left me for Parker. You let her embarrass me when she broke up our wedding. I was hurt and Ethic makes me not hurt,” she admitted.
She heard him trying to contain his emotions as he choked out, “You know I never meant for any of this to happen. I’ve loved you since the day I met you.”
“You didn’t love me enough to walk away from her though,” YaYa replied.
“She was a mistake. The things she used to pull me away from you, it was a lie and I know I fucked up, ma, but I need you,” Indie admitted.
“I don’t think you do, Indie. You just don’t want to see me with the next man,” YaYa responded.
Ding Dong!
YaYa frowned as she kept the phone pressed to her ear while walking to the door. “Love doesn’t hurt, Indie.”
“You’re wrong, ma. Love does hurt. It grows and it changes and during those times there are growing pains, but it also endures everything. It overcomes and conquers the challenges. Love isn’t perfect but it’s ours and it’s worth it, YaYa. Come back to me.”
Tears accumulated in her eyes as she pulled open the door to find two deliverymen, carrying a big box.
She waved them in and turned her back to finish her call. “Indie . . .” Before she could get the rest of her sentence out of her mouth she was grabbed from behind. “Aghh!” She only got off one scream before a chloroform rag was placed over her face and she was folded into the empty box that the men had carried inside. They hoisted the box up on the dolly and walked out of her apartment calmly. No one would ever suspect that she was kidnapped inside.
Chapter 22
“Disaya!” Indie screamed into the phone. When he heard the sound of the ring tone in his ear he immediately knew that something was wrong. He dialed her right back, only to receive her voicemail. It wasn’t until his phone vibrated in his hand and he received an incoming text did he discover just how drastic the situation was.
A picture of YaYa, tied, mouth bound with duct tape, and hanging in the back of a utility van like a piece of meat, appeared before his eyes. His heart exploded as anger pulsed through him. This attack of terror against his family was completely unexpected. He wrecked his brain trying to think of the last beef he had been involved in. He had been very political about the moves he made since becoming involved with Vartex. Indie had made sure to make a clean break from the coke game.
This has to be a beef that bitch nigga Ethic is involved in.
He immediately copied the picture of YaYa and sent it to Ethic. Within seconds Ethic rang his line.
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” Ethic asked. The amount of rage that he expressed over YaYa only infuriated Indie. “Where is she?”
“You tell me. I don’t have no open beef in the streets, my nigga, so this is behind you. She is your bitch right?” Indie asked. “When she was with me, she was protected.”
“Meet me in the city,” Ethic stated as he now began to worry what ghosts from his past had come back to haunt YaYa. He thought of the body he had caught when he first came to New York City. Had killing Mizan somehow caught up to him? Was YaYa’s kidnapping connected to that? Ethic gave Indie the address to the new place that he had just purchased for YaYa. They both hung up the phone. They were rivals, but their love and worry over the same woman bought them together.
Indie picked up Skylar and was about to dial Elaine when he noticed Chase and Miesha pulling into his driveway. He hung up the phone. My li’l homie always on time, he thought as he rushed out of the house with his daughter in his arms.
“Miesha, I need you to watch Skylar for me. You got me?” he asked.
“Sure of course,” she said as she took the little girl from his arms, no questions asked. She walked into the house as Indie turned to Chase.
“I need to talk to you, big homie,” Chase started.
“Nah, Chase I need you to hear me. Somebody grabbed YaYa up off the street. They got her tied up somewhere. This is personal, fam. No note, no ransom, or nothing. They just sent me this,” Indie said as he passed Chase his phone with the text message showing YaYa’s picture on the screen.
Chase swiped his face in horror because he knew exactly why this had happened. He couldn’t help but feel like this was his fault. If he had accepted his fuck-ups as a leader earlier, than perhaps Indie could have stepped in to deescalate the situation before this had ever occurred.
“I know why this happened,” Chase said. “Eduardo tried to rob Trina and Miesha during their last exchange. They shot him and two of his goons. Big Eduardo vowed revenge. I thought I could handle it.”
Indie pinched the bridge of his nose as his jaw clenched. “Let’s go,” he said as he hopped in the passenger side of Chase’s car. He was headed to the city to get Ethic. He didn’t want to, but they were about to go up against the Dominican mob. Eduardo would have numbers behind him; Indie would need every shooter he had.
“Where’s Trina?” he asked.
Chase picked up the phone to dial her line only to be sent to voicemail. He shook his head. “No answer but I got the choppers in the trunk. Wherever they’re holding Ya, we’re going to get her back.”
“We better or I’m going to paint Spanish Harlem red and I ain’t talking brush strokes,” Indie threatened.
“Do you know why you are here, YaYa?” Eduardo asked as he circled her. Her hands were bound by rope and he had her hoisted up on a meat hook, stripped naked, in a freezer as he stood looking at her like a predator.
She shivered uncontrollably. She was afraid to cry because she didn’t want her tears to freeze on her face. Her taped mouth didn’t allow her to answer his question.
“I brought you here because you are the closest person to Indie’s heart. His people took the closest thing to my heart. My son is maggot food because of him and it’s only right that I return the favor,” he said.
YaYa closed her eyes. She knew Eduardo. When she was running things they had done good business. She never thought that she would end up a victim of his maniacal ways. She had heard stories about this very freezer and the butcher’s tools that sat on the floor beneath her feet only proved his intentions for her.
She watched in horror as he grabbed a meat saw and turned it on. The sound as it spun wrecked havoc on her nerves as her entire body cringed. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
“First, I’m going to saw off every fucking finger, then I’m going to peel your skin off the bone,” he said, while smiling wickedly, revealing his decaying teeth.
“Hmmmmm!” She screamed through the tape, but she knew that no one would hear her. She was in the basement below the bar. It had been soundproofed for just this purpose. It was Eduardo’s torture chamber and YaYa was his victim. She closed her eyes and did the only thing she could think to do: she took herself on a mental hiatus. She had to think of something happy. Something she loved in order to disconnect from what was about to occur. Her daughter’s eyes flashed through her mind and then to her own surprise Indie’s face appeared. She hadn’t even realized it until she was in crisis, but he represented love and peace for her. Too bad she wasn’t going to get a chance to see him one last time before she paid the ultimate price for his sins.
Indie, Chase, and Ethic walked into the bar, semi-automatics loaded and aimed.
Rat-Tat-Tat-T
at-Tat!
They were unapologetic about letting their bullets flow, as they sprayed the establishment. They didn’t give a damn if they were hitting innocent patrons or not. There were casualties in war . . . fuck it. Ethic and Indie covered Chase as he stopped shooting. He pulled the hand grenade out of his pocket at held it above his head as the bullets finally stopped.
“Listen up. We’re here for Eduardo. Anybody move and my man is pulling the clip out of that grenade he’s holding,” Indie shouted. There weren’t many men left standing after their assault. Bodies lay sprawled on the floor and the walls looked like Swiss cheese, but neither Indie nor Ethic cared.
The bartender held his hands up and came from around the bar. “This isn’t our fight. Eduardo is in the basement. None of these men work for Eduardo. Let my customers go and you handle your business,” the old man said.
Ethic stepped up and removed his 9 mm.
Boom!
The old man fell dead at his feet, startling the other goons in the bar. “Any more suggestions?” he asked. “Let us be clear. You work for Eduardo but you don’t have to die for him. Throw your heaters in the middle of the floor and then line up against that back wall.”
The six men who were left standing did as they were told and then lined up, hoping that their submission would keep them alive. Indie, Ethic, and Chase followed no rules of engagements when it came to this, however. Getting YaYa out safely meant that everyone involved would pay a price. They didn’t know what roles these men had in her abduction but they would serve as an example to the hood that Disaya Morgan was not to be touched. The gangsters she had on her team were treacherous. They let their cannons bark, knocking the men down one by one like a bottle cans in a carnival game. The entire bar looked like a tragic massacre.
Love & War Page 19