by Ty Marshall
Staring in the mirror as he washed his hands, Dayvid barely recognized himself. His face was slimmer and his normally well groomed appearance had been replaced by a scruffy looking beard and a small curly afro. North Branch had really taken a toll on him but he was back in his element, Dayvid could care less. His only concern was to get in contact with Morganstein to get the money Rain had left him with, find Nova and get to Mexico. Exiting the bathroom and entering the kitchenette area, Dayvid began searching through the drawers until he found a car key that belonged to a hoopty he kept stashed a block or so away. Opening the refrigerator, which he kept unplugged, Dayvid removed a brown paper bag from inside that contained a gun and ten thousand dollars in cash. He was anxious to hit the streets and make moves but he knew he needed to lay low until his father could work his magic. He wasn’t comfortable having to trust someone he didn’t know but Banks had helped Rain and gotten him out of jail, so he was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He strolled back over to the pullout couch, plopping down on it and placing the bag next to him. With no other choice but to wait, Dayvid leaned his head back closing his eyes and let the sound of the TV help him drift off to sleep.
***
Nova had been lying in the bed for almost a week straight now. After driving around for what seemed like an eternity. She checked into The DuPont Circle Hotel in D.C and rented the grand deluxe room. This will be home for her until she decided on her next move. Nova closed herself out from the world and contemplated on what she would do with her life. She played around with the thought of leaving the Maryland-D.C. area for good, it really sounded like the best option for her with everything that was going on. She had a little over two hundred grand Dayvid had left her stashed in the hotel room safe and she couldn’t decide what she wanted to do. Atlanta always sounded nice to Nova; she could easily relocate there and open her own business. She always had a love for doing hair and would practice on her own head until Dayvid started buying her mannequin heads so that she could practice on them. He offered to pay for her to go to cosmetology school so she could get her license, although she toyed with the idea many times she never took it serious. But now she was, after all what else would she do. What would she do, was the million dollar question that was burning in her brain. It seemed so simple but it wasn’t. All Nova had ever known was Baltimore and Dayvid but the love of her life was gone. He was her partner, her best friend, the only person in the world who was ever truly happy for her and genuinely loved her. And she was struggling with her emotions at just the mere thought of him no longer being in her life.
The Porter siblings had done so much, half of which she didn’t care to imagine. Nova never saw the person the streets called King Dayvid. When she looked at him she only saw Dayvid Porter, a man who would do anything to provide for and protect those that he loved. Dayvid’s heart was as big as his reputation but it was his reputation and his actions that made him a list of enemies. Enemies who would not miss out on the opportunity to do something to him if the chance presented itself. He was feared yes, but he was hated more.
Nova reluctantly pulled the covers away from her face in effort to will herself to get up and shower. She scanned the room and noticed the mess she had accumulated over the past few days. There was days of room service piled on the floor and on the table that sat next to the plasma TV. She got up out the bed preparing to head into the bathroom to shower before doing so she grabbed the remote off the night stand to turn the TV on. Nova walked in the bathroom and turned on the shower. Before stepping in, she took a long look at her reflection in the mirror, noticing her swollen and puffy eyelids she wore from days of crying nonstop. She didn’t look like her normal self or even felt like it. Nova pulled her messy hair back into a sloppy ponytail and was taken aback by the musky smell of her under arms.
“Damn I might need an extra five minutes in that bad boy,” she spoke out loud to herself acknowledging the much needed shower she was about to take. Nova hadn’t cared about much for the past week, including her hygiene. She ordered room service just to pick through the food, only eating enough to coat her stomach as she blew through the fully stocked bar in the living room. Alcohol seemed to console her and ease her pain just enough to let her sleep through the majority of it. Nova wept for Dayvid because she missed him, but her tears were mostly out of anger. How could he just cut me off like that? She asked herself over and over again. What made him think I could just move on with my life like everything was normal? Like we didn’t have a life together, what about all our plans? She asked while she cried. Did he think I wasn’t a strong enough woman to stand by him when the chips were down? I would do any bid no matter how long for that man. How could he not know?
Nova tried to cope with her pain and anger towards Dayvid. She cried while letting the hot water hit her body and run down over her head. She wiped her face with the wash cloth and briefly stepped out of the shower to reach for the shampoo by the sink when the television caught her attention. Through the door she saw Dayvid’s mug shot in the top right corner of the screen. Nova rushed out the bathroom to turn up the volume so she could hear what was being said. Butterflies filled up her stomach, giving her a feeling like she needed to use the bathroom and she started fidgeting from her nervousness. She pressed the volume button on the remote as fast as she could, not wanting to miss one word the reporter was saying, only to receive the worst news of her life.
“Good Evening, I’m MaryAnn Reynolds reporting live in front of the North Branch Correctional Institution. It what can only be described as an unforeseen turn of events. It’s being reported that at 5 o’clock this morning the notorious Dayvid Porter also known as “King Dayvid” was found dead in his cell. The cause of death is being called an apparent suicide. While prison officials have yet to release a statement, our sources on the inside are telling us that a guard found Porter’s body slumped up against the door of his cell with his shirt around his neck,” the reporter stated. “Hold on, we have just received confirmation that it is in fact true, Dayvid Porter is dead from an apparent suicide. We were just informed an official statement will be made shortly by the prison’s warden. We will have that for you live in just a few minutes. Back to you guys in the studio.”
Nova could not believe her ears or what she was seeing. The news hit her like a ton of bricks to her stomach. She immediately became light headed and dizzy as she let her naked body drop to the floor.
“Oh my God! Oh God, Nooooooo!” she screamed. “What the fuck are they talking about? Oh my God! Dayvid, what did you do,” she wondered aloud. “They’re lying, they are fucking lying!” Nova spoke to herself trying to convince her mind and heart that what she just heard wasn’t true. The pain she felt was though; it was one she never experienced before in her life. Not even when her mother overdosed. She felt broken and betrayed by love.
Dayvid was dead and now she truly was in the world by all by herself. Nova let out a scream but no sound escaped her mouth, sort of like a baby gasping for air in midst of a cry. All that came out of her was the silent sound of pain. Nova wrapped her arms around her knees and laid her head on top of them as she rocked herself back and forth in agony. She wanted to die just so she could be with him again. At that moment nothing was worth living for and nothing mattered. Not how long she planned on staying in hotel, where she would go or how she planned to live the rest of her life. It all seemed meaningless without Dayvid. All she could do was drown herself in her tears. Nova mourned him and hated him at the same time. Life as she knew it had been forever changed. The look in her eyes was empty as if someone had turned off the light in her soul.
***
Dayvid adjusted the driver’s seat on the beat up ‘92 Acura Integra so that he could remain unseen, while he kept an eye on the elevator of the underground parking garage. He had been lying in wait for almost two hours, waiting for Mr. Morganstein to emerge from the elevator in route to his car. Walking into his office wasn’t an option for a man who was supposed to be dea
d but Dayvid needed the bread Rain had left with the lawyer and he needed it badly. The thing about being a bank robber and hit man was that you needed to keep working to keep the money flowing and though the Porters had been able to make a good living for themselves, they didn’t have a big stash. All the money from the Brinks heist had been seized and Dayvid needed to piece together what he could in order to get to Mexico.
The elevator door opened and Mr. Morganstein stepped off into the parking garage and made a beeline to his Mercedes. Hitting the button on his remote starter, the luxury vehicle cranked up and unlocked as he marched towards it. Opening the back door, he tossed his briefcase in the back and slammed the door shut. Reaching for the driver’s door he felt the cold steel of a Ruger .9mm pressed against the back of his neck.
“Get in the car, slowly,” Dayvid demanded.
“Please, you don’t have to do this,” the petrified lawyer begged feeling his legs go stiff and his heart almost jump out of his chest. He had always feared being car jacked and now it was happening. He tried to remember the things he had learned in one of those training classes he had taken for self-defense, but his mind went blank feeling the coldness of gun against his head and he began to panic. “Please, I have money, I can…” he said all jumpy before being cut off.
“Get in the car,” Dayvid commanded again this time a little more stern as he pressed the gun harder against the man’s neck. He chuckled to himself in shock that Rain had chosen this scary ass cracker as their lawyer. She had to plan on killing this muthafucka when it was all over, he thought to himself watching the fidgety lawyer. Morganstein was in just as deep as the Porters. He had been assisting the fugitive family the entire time the sisters had been on the run, so going to the feds would land him in just as much trouble.
Morganstein cautiously slid into the front seat as Dayvid got into the backseat directly behind him, all while keeping the gun trained on him. Dayvid finally pulled the hood off his head revealing himself and lowered his weapon easing the man’s fears.
“Oh my god, Dayvid,” a shocked Morganstein said looking in his rearview mirror like he saw a ghost. “I thought you were dead,” he said continuing to face forward like no one was in the car with him.
“Good, hopefully everyone is just as convinced as you,” Dayvid replied.
“How in the hell did you…” the lawyer asked before being cut off again.
“That’s not important right now, but what is, is that money that Rain gave you,” Dayvid expressed.
“I have it, I can get it to you. Can you meet me here this time tomorrow?”
“Nah, I don’t have that type of time. I need it like ASAP,” he explained.
“I can meet you back here in a few hours. When all the offices are closed and it’s not so busy. ” Morganstein offered.
“Ok,” Dayvid replied. “Did you take care of that other thing I asked you to do?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Hey man, I’m sorry about Rain,” the lawyer said in a somber tone.
“Yeah, thanks,” Dayvid said playing along. “9 o’clock, top level,” he continued as he hopped out the vehicle.
“Ok,” Morganstein answered, but Dayvid was gone just as fast as he appeared.
Dayvid checked his watch; Morganstein should have been pulling up at any moment. By force of habit Dayvid had shown up 30 minutes early and scoped out the scene. After all he was still dealing with a lawyer, most of them were slimy and he wouldn’t put anything past Morganstein. Another 5 minutes went by when Dayvid saw the lawyer’s Mercedes pull onto the roof level of the parking garage and circle the parking lot once before pulling into a parking space across from him. Dayvid saw the headlights on the Mercedes flash, so he flashed his back then exited the Acura and made his way over to the lawyer’s car. Halfway between his car and Morganstein’s, three of the doors on the Mercedes popped open and three armed men dressed in t-shirts and jeans spilled out and began firing at Dayvid.
“Oh shit,” Dayvid said as he quickly pivoted while pulling his Ruger out of his hoodie and firing off shots as he raced behind a parked car for cover. He crouched down with his back pressed up against the side of a car as he caught his breath from the shock. Morganstein never planned on turning over that money and had sent a hit squad that was quickly bearing down on Dayvid as he fired back trying to keep them at bay. Dayvid moved around the back of the car before popping up and hitting one of the men in the chest dropping him. Ducking back out of sight as bullets whizzed all around, shattering the glass of the car he was hiding behind, caused the glass to rain down on him. Dayvid moved cautiously between cars positioning himself behind another. He came up shooting again but hit nothing and had to dodge a bullet coming back at him. Becoming frustrated, Dayvid rolled underneath a car trying to determine the shooters exact whereabouts and could see them racing towards the car he was under. He could hear the two men communicating with one another trying to locate him.
“Where the fuck did he go?” one said to the other.
“I don’t fucking know,” the other answered. “Go around that way.”
Dayvid watched as the men circled the car before firing a shot, hitting one of them in the ankle. He dropped to the pavement screaming in pain. The other man seeing the shot come from under the car began firing wildly at the ground underneath the car. After a while he stopped when he didn’t hear any shots being returned. Slowly, he crept closer to the car and crotched down trying to see if he had finished their target off. But looking under the car, Dayvid was nowhere to be found.
“Fuck,” the man said banging his hand on the ground before getting to his feet.
Dayvid already had the drop on him though, standing on the other side of the car with his gun raised. He fired three times.
The man’s chest exploded into a bloody mess as all three shots entered his flesh dropping him. Dayvid circled the car where the man he had shot in the ankle laid writhing in pain. He kicked the man’s gun out of his reach, then stepped on his ankle causing the man to scream in agony. “Where’s Morganstein?” Dayvid asked.
“I don’t know no Morganstein,” the man said through pain.
Dayvid shot him in both knees before asking him again. “Where can I find Morganstein?”
“414 Water Street,” the man confessed.
Dayvid didn’t respond, he just fired a shot into the man’s forehead killing him.
***
Alan Morganstein paced back and forth on the balcony of his luxurious condo located on the inner harbor. Checking his phone every few minutes, the call he had been waiting on should have come over an hour ago. His appearance was disheveled. His partially buttoned light blue dress shirt was marked by sweat stains and was half tucked into his pants. His hair was out of place and his eyes were as wide as an interstate. Unable to keep still, the high grade of cocaine running through his veins only increased his paranoia. Morganstein was in way over his head and he knew it. He had used the Porters’ money to pay on a debt he owed to Russian mobsters for his cocaine and gambling habits. He had been using their money to place bets and for the most part he had been lucky but his drug use had become more prevalent and he had hit an unlucky streak. He thought his luck had turned around after he saw Rain’s death on the news. He planned on botching Dayvid’s case and never having to answer for the money he had stolen. His plan seemed to work better than he had thought after reports began to surface of Dayvid’s apparent suicide. But his resurrection from the dead had thrown a wrench in his scheme and he needed to get rid of Dayvid, after all he was assumed dead already. The drugs and his fear had the lawyer thinking irrational, that was why he had convinced a few of his coke sniffing buddies to ambush an unsuspecting Dayvid. A choice he was now second guessing as he continued to wait for his phone to ring.
That’s what I get for using amateurs, he said to himself. His nerves were truly getting the best of him and so was his craving for more of the drug. Morganstein re-entered the condo and raced over to
his glass coffee table that had about 6 grams of coke on it. He used the credit card next to the white powder to chop it up and separate two lines before using a cut straw to snort a line in one nostril and another into the other nostril. He threw his head back and closed his eyes enjoying the drip of the drug in the back of his throat and for a brief moment all of his worries disappeared.
“This a nice spot you got here.”
Morganstein was shaken from his trance by the voice in his living room. He opened his eyes to see Dayvid Porter sitting in a chair in the corner with a gun pointed directly at him.
“Dayvid,” he said as his high immediately was blown and fear began to fill his body. “Let me explain…”
“No need,” Dayvid said interrupting him, not one for a long drawn out talk. He was going to kill Morganstein and both of them knew it. The lawyer had sent men to kill a killer and they had missed, signing their own death certificate. Dayvid only had one question. “Where’s my money?”
“It’s gone,” Morganstein said in a slight whimper. “I used it to pay some Russians I owed. But I can…”
The sound of the gunshots drowned out the end of the lawyer’s explanation and the two shots in the chest stopped him mid-sentence, jerking his body back on the couch. The large amount of cocaine running through his body wouldn’t let Morganstein die immediately. His chest just heaved up and down as blood began to leak from his mouth. His lips moved like he was trying to speak but no sound came out. Dayvid stood up from the chair and walked over to where the lawyer laid dying on the couch and squeezed another round into the middle of his head. Dayvid tucked the gun into his sweatpants, put his hood over his head and quickly exited the condo. Once out in the hallway, Dayvid pulled the fire alarm and blended in with the residents as they exited the building. He overheard a young couple telling another couple that they think they had heard gunshots as he passed them and disappeared around the corner as he heard sirens in the distance.