The Face That Launched A Thousand Bullets (The Cartel Publications Presents)

by Styles, T.

  When he looked at his Rolex, he saw he had thirty minutes to make it home, grab the Keys and pass them off. And then he’d have to rush to the bank to drop his dough off in his safe deposit box. Judging by the description, it would be a white dude, with blonde hair who was driving the rental car Melody usually used that was in a crack head’s name.

  “Gab, I got to go. Can I come through later?” He walked up to her and palmed her ass.

  “It depends.”

  “On what?” Nyzon asked, kissing her forehead.

  “On if you bringin’ me a five piece chicken dinner with fries from Eddies. With mumbo sauce too.”

  “Got it, shawty.”

  “I’m serious, Ny. Don’t’ come back here without my food.

  “I won’t.”

  With the confirmation, he jetted out the door.

  “Call me when you on your way,” Gabriella yelled in the hallway. “I don’t play that pop up shit!”

  “No doubt.”

  In Her Apartment

  “Girl, he fell for it.” Gabriella said watching him jump into his car from her bedroom window.

  “Stop lyin!” Monesha cried.

  “Nope, I asked him to come over and he came. I told you he ain’t shit!”

  Monesha cried harder.

  “Did you fuck him?”

  “No. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

  “Did he suck your titties? He likes to suck titties.”

  “Didn’t let him touch me.”

  “I’m so mad with him! I love, Nyzon.”

  “I’m so sorry, Monie. If you want to, you can spend the night with me.” She said, hoping to get her in the bed again. She missed the softness of her skin against her own. They’d been playing the Kissing Game since high school.

  “Maybe,” Monesha said, breathing hard due to being angry. “I want to catch him in the act first.”

  “I can set it up!” Gabriella told her excited at the idea of him finally being gone from their lives.

  “How soon?”

  “Tonight! It ain’t nothin’ but a thing. Maybe now he’ll finally get what he deserves for hurting you.”

  In Nyzon’s Car

  With the keys on him in a blue book bag, he waited patiently in his black Acura Legend for Melody’s rental. Five minutes later the rental car pulled up. When he saw the blond hair Melody was talking about belonged to a nigga, he laughed. These Baltimore cats be killin’ me! He thought.

  Nyzon got out of his ride and jumped into the rental. They stared each other down for one minute. For some reason, there was immediate tension between them.

  “Are you gonna suck my dick or give me the keys?” Cray asked.

  “Naw shawty, but with all that beautiful blonde hair, I might let you suck mine.” Nyzon retaliated.

  Both of them reached for their birds and aimed them at one another. Had anybody flinched, the entire car would’ve been riddled with bullets.

  “Do you really want it with me?” Nyzon asked, still aiming in his direction.

  “Where are they?”

  “Here.” He threw the book bag at him with his free hand.

  Cray opened the bag and briefly inspected the contents. “Now get the fuck out my car.”

  Still aimed.

  Nyzon exited backward and slammed the door extra hard.

  “Bamma mothafucka!”

  “Fuck your slouch-sock-wearin-country-bumpkin, ass!” Cray called out.

  When he pulled off, Nyzon hoped he’d never see his ass again.

  At The Bank

  Nyzon didn’t go straight back to Gabriella’s like he wanted because the moment he went home, the police surrounded his neighborhood on a drug sting. So he stayed over Royala’s crib since the bank, which held the safe deposit box he used, didn’t open until morning.

  The moment it opened, he called Gabriella and offered to bring her some breakfast instead, before dropping off his money. He had thirty minutes before Gabriella said she’d lock the door. He rushed through the banks doors and the moment he saw an available attendant, he ran up to her.

  “Excuse me, can you get somebody to let me into my safe deposit box?”

  “Excuse me young man but I was next.” A man said in a black shirt and blue jeans.

  “I’m sorry sir…but if I don’t get in there right now, I’ll lose out on a woman I’ve been tryin’ to get at forever.”

  The stranger smiled and said, “Go head. I know how that is.”

  “Thanks.” Nyzon smiled as the attendant instructed him to sign in and escorted him to the safe.

  The way he saw it in less than twenty minutes, he’d be having the time of his life, and that’s all that mattered.

  Back at Gabriella’s

  Nyzon sat in his car for a minute adjusted his chain, looked in the rear view mirror and approved of how he looked. But the moment he walked up to Gabriella’s building, two dudes jumped out from the corners and grabbed him. They punch and kicked him all over his body. The oldest one of the two stood him up straight and was preparing to hit him again until he looked at his face.

  “Hold up,” he said, eyeing him closely. “What’s your name?”

  “What, mothafucka?” he yelled, blood in the corner of his mouth.

  “I said what’s your name, lil nigga?”

  “Fuck you!” Nyzon yelled. “If you let me go, I’d punish your bitch ass.”

  Nyzon boxed at the local gym everyday and was good at it. So good he was only a few fights away from going professional. But what he really wanted to do was reach for the weapon in his waist.

  “Put this nigga in the car,” the oldest one said to the other one.

  “Why?”

  “Just do it!” he demanded.

  “Where the fuck ya’ll takin’ me?” he asked growing irritated at what was going on.

  They threw him in the back of a white Suburban next to Monesha. His arms and body ached all over. The moment he got in he looked up at her.

  “Why ya’ll bring him in here?” she said, looking at them like they were crazy. “You were supposed to fuck him up and leave his ass out there!”

  “Be quiet, Monie. I’ll tell you in a minute,” the oldest said, pulling off.

  Judging by the way they interacted, he figured they were all family. But he couldn’t be sure because she never introduced him to any of her people. She swore she never would until they were married. So it was messed up they had to meet like this.

  Family or not, once they took him out the car, he had plans to pull his weapon. He would’ve done it then but he was worried for Monesha. He didn’t want her to get hurt in the process.

  “I’m sorry, Monie,” he said, softly.

  “Fuck you! It’s over.” She started crying and turned toward the window.

  “I know…but I’m still sorry,” Nyzon said. “I fucked up. But what your peoples doin’ right now is wrong.”

  “Look…I don’t want to hear that shit,” the oldest man yelled from the front seat. “Now shut the fuck up before I pull this mothafucka over and finish yo ass.”

  When the truck finally stopped he noticed he was in front of an old brick house in Fort Washington Maryland. Something about it was eerily familiar.

  “Grab his young ass,” the oldest directed.

  All four of them walked into the house. Only the oldest knew the plan.

  “Mamma,” he said, placing his keys on the kitchen table. “Come in here! I got somebody I want you to see!”

  “Boy, why is you yellin’ in my house?!” she screamed from the living room.

  With the lights all on, Nyzon stared at all of them closely. Something was very familiar about them, too. What was going on? He’d been in this house before. He just knew it.

  After a few minutes, an older chubby woman wobbled into the kitchen. She was wearing a black silk robe and a black silk cap on her hair. Her feet could be heard slapping against the kitchen floor as she walked toward them. And the moment she saw Nyzon, she froze.

  She
couldn’t move.

  “Oh my, God!” She called out. “Oh my God!”

  She dropped to her knees and prayed.

  “I can’t believe you’re here.” She yelled. “I can’t believe you’re really here!”

  Carolyn Jamison

  Georgetown, D.C

  Unfaithful

  Carolyn sat at the dinner table with her father, brother, mother and fiancé, Conroy Moore, the man her mother always wanted her to be with since college. They were in her parent’s home in Alexandria, Virginia. And the queasiness she was feeling was unbearable. All she wanted to do was get through dinner, look at the pregnancy stick she peed on just fifteen minutes earlier, and lay down.

  “The campaign is already taking off to a good start, honey! Congrats!” Elizabeth said as she took the baked chicken casserole from the real china dish and placed it in the plates in front of her family. “You guys worked so hard and it’s finally paying off!”

  “Thanks, but we’re far from where we need to be. Kirk needs our support more than ever if he’s gonna win against Don Borslow. That nigger has backing from the major districts and major government officials. It’s no other way to say it. D.C. wants a black mayor.”

  “Well I have an inside track that Don Borslow is shivering in his shoes.” Conroy offered.

  Although he was rich beyond belief, Conroy was nothing to look at. The only reason Carolyn kept him around was to take attention off of her true love, J-Swizz. J-Swizz of course didn’t know about her fiancé. Conroy’s nose seemed extraordinarily too big and his face was riddled with dark brown freckles.

  “I don’t think Kirk will have any problems winning the campaign to become mayor this time.” He smiled rubbing Carolyn’s hand.

  She quickly snatched it away, and everyone tried to act as if they hadn’t seen it.

  “Thanks son, but I’ve been hearing the opposite. I think Kirk has a lot to worry about if he doesn’t sway the votes.”

  “I don’t mean to be rude, but I need to go to the restroom.” Carolyn felt a gagging sensation take over her and unconsciously made a moaning sound.

  “You okay, honey?” Elizabeth placed one hand on her shoulder.

  “Is there anything I can do sweetheart?” Conroy asked, his breath smelling like hot shit.

  “I’m fine.” She turned away from him slightly to breathe. “I’ll be fine.”

  Here she was a successful woman, with a college degree and high profile job as a partner in Barks and Smiths, and still she was afraid to tell her father that she was in love with, J-Swizz, a black man.”

  “You sure you’re fine?” Todd asked, looking over at her with his wild eyes. Although he was asking her, she could tell he was being sarcastic.

  After all these years Todd still lived under their parent’s roof and acted as the microphone for everything his father believed. Todd stayed in and out of jail and the Jamison’s never knew what would happen with him on any given day. If he wasn’t fighting, he was caught expressing his views in the public eye. For a while, William had to disassociate himself from his own son just to see Kirk through the election.

  “Like I said I’m fine.” She frowned looking at him. It was obvious that he didn’t like her and she made no gripes about showing she couldn’t stand him either. “And I’ll be right back.”

  “Hurry, Carolyn, we have to discuss the details on how you can help with the mayor election too. I need everyone in this family on board.”

  “I understand, Daddy. Just give me one moment.”

  Lately, it seemed as if all he cared about was strategy, and getting Kirk into office. Here she was sick and he didn’t bother asking if there was anything he could do. Pushing open the door to the guestroom, she made her way to the private bathroom. The moment she did, she saw the stick she peed on ten minutes earlier missing.

  She searched the floor, around the sink and even in the trash. Nothing. Where had it gone? Reaching into her pants pocket she pulled out her phone to call J-Swizz. She needed someone to calm her down. The moment someone answered, she noticed it was a female’s voice.

  “Hello?” the caller said with a slight attitude.

  Carolyn looked at the phone sideways. Without responding, she hung up blocked her number out and dialed again.

  It must be the wrong number. She thought.

  “Hello? Who the fuck is this? Dis bet not be another one of J’s bitches!” the girl screamed from the other end of the phone.

  Carolyn fell up against the sink. She’d been with him for so many years! How could he do this to her again? She put everything on the line for him! Her family. Her life and now her body! And this is how he repays her? She didn’t even care about the pregnancy stick anymore, she already knew the answer. She was pregnant and with their first baby.

  With the phone still against her ear, she finally heard his voice.

  “Yo give me my phone and stop trippin’.”

  Silence.

  “Who is this?” he asked.

  She said nothing. After all, what could she say?

  Kavon Cartier

  Washington, D.C.

  Baby I’m Coming Home

  The cab ride from Lorton to D.C. was the longest ride Kavon had ever taken in his life. Everything he’d known for sixteen years had changed. Everything! Even the cars were different and he sensed a different atmosphere in the air. He was still thinking about everything that faced him ahead when the white cab driver with long blond hair pressed on his horn. He sat quietly in the back seat wearing a thin black shirt and blue jeans wondering what was up with the commotion.

  “What’s goin’ on?” Kavon asked looking up at him.

  “This fool is sleep at the wheel! I tell you they shouldn’t give everybody licenses these days!”

  Kavon and the driver laughed until a young boy with bleached hair stuck his head out of the window and pointed a gun in their direction. There was a devious look in his eyes and it set uneasy with Kavon. For some reason, he reminded him of Shy.

  “Dear God, please don’t let me go out like this,” the cab driver prayed with his hands in the air.

  “Just be easy…he’s just fuckin’ wit you.” Kavon had seen enough of bluffing in his days to know one when he saw it.

  And just as he thought, the white Crown Vic pulled off. It took the driver three minutes to regain his composure

  “I see the world hasn’t changed much.” Kavon adjusted in his seat, relieved the close call was over.

  “The hell if it ain’t. I don’t know how long you been in, but everything’s changed. After they impeached Mayor Gibson for finding out he smoked cocaine, they got mayor Lavern Watts who didn’t know her ass from her elbow. She lasted all of one term before they got Mayor Bordell Holds. Now he’s good, but far from perfect. I think Kirk Bowler is gonna shape this city up just fine. You’ll see.”

  “I don’t know about that, I mean, I been in jail but I ain’t been out of it. They say more white people in the police force than ever before. Naw…I think if Kirk Bowler runs the city, we’re all in trouble.”

  The cab driver continued to talk and Kavon allowed him, but he had other things on his mind and he zoomed out.

  It had been seventeen years since he’d seen or heard from Tara or his daughter. And after he dissolved their marriage, for the first few months she called the prison every night trying to get a hold of him. When that didn’t work, she wrote a letter a day without fail. He never opened a single one of them.

  He wanted them to be happy and to have a chance at a future, not stopping by once a week to see him behind bars.

  And then his lawyer came to visit him on a rainy day in April last year. It was the day that changed his life.

  “Kavon…I think I found something.” He said.

  Kavon sat on the other end of the table looking at him hopelessly. Phillip had said those words at least three times before and every last one of them went nowhere.

  “Phil, please. How many times I got to hear that? I think you just
ridin’ on my money while I’m rottin’ behind bars. I’m in here for forty and I have to accept that.”

  “Kavon…the detectives exceeded the amount of time they were supposed to listen when they tapped the phone.” Phillip Croones sat his brown leather briefcase on the table and popped it open releasing a white piece of paper. He handed the report to him. “The tap was only supposed to last a minute. If they didn’t hear what they needed to by then, based on the warrant, they were supposed to terminate the tap. You didn’t say what you did until one minute and thirty seven seconds into the conversation. It’s inadmissible, Kavon. In your words, they fucked up.”

  Although he fought it, he couldn’t help but smile. He’d studied enough law books to know that this time, Croones was on to something. What he really wanted to say was, how come he didn’t point this out before. He was supposed to be the best of the best. But because he needed him focused to get him out he let it ride.

  “And this isn’t the first time Detective Betha and Mesaline have messed up. They have ties to a racist organization called the KYC. These people live their lives trying to persecute black people. This is the moment we’ve been waiting for.”

  Those words played in his head for over a year until he was finally released. Once a prisoner, now he was a free man based on a technicality.

  “That’s it right there.” He pointed to Nations Bank in Southwest D.C. “Keep the car running, I’ll be right back.”