by Jade Jones
Joaquin stared down at Flint in disgust. He wanted to beat the shit out of him for betraying their team, but he feared he might go overboard and kill him before his boss got a confession.
“What was I supposed to do?” Flint repeated. Mucus oozed from his wide nostrils as he lay on the restroom floor crying like a baby.
Joaquin kicked Flint’s Nikes “You can ask Jude that question,” he said coolly. “Now get yo’ ass up. We finna all have a lil’ talk with the man in charge.”
“He’ll kill me!” Flint cried. “You heard his bitch during the meeting, dawg!”
Joaquin pulled out his pistol, cocked the gun, and pointed it at Flint’s head. “Either get yo’ bitch ass up, or I’ma let a bullet off in your dome. It’s your choice.”
***
Flint’s eyes darted back and forth between Joaquin and the gun he held in his lap. With his free hand, Joaquin steered his brand new vehicle. There was a look of agitation on his young, attractive face as he headed back to The Warehouse. Aside from the pregnancy being on his mind, he couldn’t wait for Jude to discover who the snake was.
Unfortunately, Joaquin had to put Roxie and their situation on the back burner while he tended to the matter at hand.
“Look, you ain’t gotta do this shit, bruh,” Flint said in desperation. He began to panic when he remembered that Jude killed Aso. He figured if his boss could murder his own cousin, then he definitely wouldn’t show him the slightest ounce of mercy. “I got money, man. I can toss you some paper here and there to keep ya mouth closed. Come on, dawg. What’s up?”
“If I were you, I would shut the fuck up and enjoy the ride.” Joaquin didn’t take his eyes off the road as he spoke.
Both men were nearing an intersection when Flint suddenly grabbed the steering wheel and turned it with all his might. The Bugatti spiraled out of control, burning rubber in the process, before slamming into an oncoming 18-wheeler…
34
It rained the day of Joaquin’s funeral. During the burial everyone held their heads low, grief-stricken by the twenty-year old’s untimely death. The news report made it seem like an accident due to drinking and driving. Since Flint was not at the scene when ambulance and police arrived, people would never know the truth.
Cameron rubbed Roxie’s back as she sobbed hysterically. She and Joaquin’s family were taking it the hardest. “It’s gonna be okay,” Cam said in a soothing tone. “You’re a part of our family now and we’re gonna take care of you. I can guarantee you that.”
Roxie wiped her nose with her wrist and sniffled. One minute she had Joaquin and the next he was gone. Now she had no intentions whatsoever of aborting their child. It felt good to know she at least had a part of him inside her.
Cameron looked over in Jag’s direction. He stood over his brother’s casket with his fists clenched tightly. He hadn’t shed a tear or spoken a word since they arrived at the cemetery. The bitter expression on Jag’s face showed that he was angry at the world, but more so upset with himself for allowing it to happen.
Alessia, Joaquin’s little sister, recited a touching poem at the podium which left everyone in tears. Other than his enemies, there wasn’t a single person who could say they didn’t like Joaquin. He was the life of the party, and he would be dearly missed.
After Joaquin’s casket was lowered into the earth, people filed out the cemetery. When Anzia reached Jude, she stopped in front of him and looked him dead in the eyes. Without warning, she hocked a mouthful of thick spit in his face. Instead of reacting, Jude simply stood there and took it. Understandably, Joaquin’s mother was angry and she had every right to be. In less than five years she was now burying her second son.
After Anzia walked off with her daughter, Jude wiped the saliva off his face with his sleeve. He then made his way over to Jag. He hadn’t moved an inch since Joaquin’s casket had been lowered.
Jag simply couldn’t face the reality that his brother was gone. The night he got the news it felt like a part of him had died as well. Trying to remain strong for Joaquin, Jag fought to keep the tears from falling.
“Anything you need, man…I got’chu,” Jude told him. He knew exactly how it felt to lose a sibling. It wasn’t that long ago when he’d received the dreaded phone call in regards to Jerrell.
No longer able to hold himself together, Jag suddenly fell apart. “Man, I done lost both my brothers!” he cried. Tears streamed down his ivory cheeks. “What the fuck I’ma do now?”
Jude pulled Jag into a brotherly hug. “You still got one left,” he said. “You hear me? You still got one left.”
***
Cameron poured herself another glass of sweet red wine. She’d been drinking heavier than normal over the last few weeks, and the recent death had only made it worse. Because she was in such an emotional slump after Joaquin’s funeral, Cam asked Elyse if she could pick up more hours. Of course, her baby sitter gladly obliged, cleaning and taking care of the household chores as well.
Cameron had just placed the bottle of wine back in the refrigerator when she heard Elyse’s muffled voice downstairs. Cam looked annoyed because she specifically forbade her from using her phone while on duty. Cam figured Elyse needed to be alert at all times when it came to Justin. After all, she wasn’t being paid to chit-chat on the phone.
Slowly, Cameron quietly made her way downstairs to the finished basement. She was surprised when she heard Elyse’s voice coming from Jude’s office. That area was strictly off-limits—even to Cameron.
Why the hell is she in there, Cameron wondered? She pressed her ear against the French doors so that she could hear Elyse more clearly.
“…Wait a minute. I’m looking,” Elyse whispered. “I don’t see anything though.”
Without hesitation, Cameron burst inside the office. “What are you looking for, Elyse?” she asked. Her eyes were glassy, and she was a bit tipsy but she definitely knew her babysitter was up to something.
Elyse quickly hung up the phone. “Nothing. I was just straightening up.”
“You know how my husband feels about anyone being in here.”
“You’re right. I forgot,” Elyse quickly said. “I’m so sorry.” She tried to walk out the office, but Cameron thwarted her path. There was no way she was going to let her baby sitter off that easily.
“Who were you just on the phone with?” Cameron asked in a calm voice.
“No one. Just a friend,” Elyse answered nervously. Her cheeks flushed a bright pink color. She could tell from the way Cameron stared at her that she knew something was up.
“Elyse, I’m gonna ask you this again,” Cameron began. “Who were you just on the phone with? And what were you looking for?”
Tears pooled in Elyse’s eyes because she was afraid of being caught. At that moment, she hated Flint and everything he stood for. The only reason Elyse had gotten herself involved because he had threatened her life.
“Cameron, I swear—”
“When it comes to my family, I will hurt you, Elyse,” Cameron warned her. The expression on her face showed that she wasn’t fucking around.
“Cameron, it was nobo—”
WHAP!
Cameron smashed the wineglass against Elyse’s skull. The glass shattered instantly upon impact. Elyse uncontrollably plummeted to the floor. Red wine mixed with blood covered the hardwood.
Staring up at Cameron in horror, Elyse touched the gash on her forehead. Blood poured down the side of her face, but judging from Cameron’s stance she didn’t give a damn about the woman’s injuries.
“Please, Cameron!” Elyse begged, scooting away. Suddenly, she saw her life flash before her eyes…and Flint definitely wasn’t worth it. “Flint made me do it! I swear to God I didn’t want to!”
Cameron knelt down and retrieved Elyse’s cellphone ever so calmly. Handing, the phone to Elyse she said, “Call my husband and tell him what he needs to know. And please don’t skip out on Flint’s whereabouts.”
35
Two Days Late
r.
Jude led Jag inside a large gloomy room located in the back of The Warehouse. It was the same room King had used to torture Vado after discovering that he was undercover.
Inside the dark and murky room was Mavon “Flint” Thomas tied to a wooden chair bolted to the ground. It only took a few minutes for Jude’s boys to torture a confession out of him. Apparently, Elyse had been snooping for paperwork so that she could tell Flint the pick-up locations. Flint would then notify Champion who in turn would have his own men intercept the lick. The couple never thought their dirt would catch up with them, but sadly they were mistaken. Pitying Elyse for her part, her life was spared but she still wound up losing her job. Luckily she still had her existence.
With a blank expression, Jag stared at Flint’s bruised and bloodied body. He wore nothing but a pair of Hane’s briefs which he’d pissed out after being beaten senselessly. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and his upper lip was twice its normal size.
This was Jag’s first time seeing Flint after hearing the truth. His worse fear had been confirmed. Joaquin didn’t die in a drinking and driving accident. Flint had permanently shut him up so that his dirt wouldn’t be revealed.
Jag couldn’t stop blaming himself for disregarding his brother’s warning. On more than one occasion, Joaquin had mentioned his suspicions about Flint, but each time they went ignored.
Jude, Jag, and Flint were the only three men in the room which reeked of sweat and urine. Next to them was a long wooden table that showcased a collection of torture weapons.
“I’ma leave you two alone,” Jude said before exiting the room. He became uneasy whenever he was inside because that’s where he’d killed Aso.
Jag blinked his tears away and slowly turned to the weapons table. His blue eyes scanned the car battery charger and cables. He then ran his fingers over a steel bat.
Flint’s muffled screams went ignored. His mouth was gagged with an oil-stained rag, and his right arm was broken from the car accident. Flint could scream until his throat went sore and he lost his voice, and Jag still wouldn’t let up.
Keeping his gaze locked intensely on the weapons, Jag spoke. “I wish I could hurt you twice as bad as you’ve hurt me,” he said. Tears rolled off his chin and landed on the handle of an axe. “But you can’t even begin to imagine what it feels like to lose a brother…”
Jag settled on a pair of pliers. He would savor torturing Flint slowly. Sadly, it wouldn’t bring Joaquin back but it would still give him the satisfaction that he deserved.
Jag slowly walked over to Flint and removed the rag. “Please don’t do this!” he cried. “You don’t wanna do this shit, man! I’m a person just like you! I only did what I thought was right!”
Jag lowered himself so that he and Flint were eye level. “Without consequences there are no lessons to be learned…” Without remorse, Jag latched the pliers onto one of Flint’s front teeth and yanked it out from the root.
Flint’s bloodcurdling screams bounced off the room’s walls.
***
“What’s on your mind?” Cameron joined Jude on their bedroom’s patio the following afternoon. She always knew when something was on her husband’s mind.
“I’m thinkin’ ‘bout mergin’ with Champ,” Jude finally said.
Cameron looked mortified. “Are you fucking serious?! After everything he’s done to us? He’s turned our own babysitter against us—not to mention having motherfuckers stalking the house. And don’t forget about the men you lost at his hands…specifically Joaquin,” she said. “I can’t believe I’m actually hearin’ you correctly. This isn’t the Jude I know.”
“That’s because that nigga is dead.”
Cameron was caught off guard by his coldhearted response. “I don’t think I can continue to stand by your side with you standing by his,” she told him.
“What the fuck else can I do, Cameron?” Jude asked, clearly annoyed. “The mothafucka won’t stop. You and I both know it.”
“Let me talk to him,” Cameron said plainly.
Jude looked at his wife like she’d sprouted a third eye. “Hell naw. You know how I feel about you gettin’ mixed up in my business. Things were different when I was in the hospital.”
“I was the one who got you the extension, remember?” Cameron reminded him. “I probably have a better chance of negotiating with him than you do.”
Jude didn’t respond right away. Instead he thought about what she had just said. “I don’t trust you dealin’ with this cat, Cam—”
“I’ll take Jag with me. Like I did the first time,” she added. “You trust me, right?”
Jude looked deep into Cameron’s almond shaped brown eyes. “With my heart and life,” he answered.
“Then have faith in me.”
***
The following evening Champion was filling out paperwork in his home office when a woman barged inside. He did an automatic double take after recognizing Cameron.
Champion started to grab his gun out the top drawer of his desk, but first he wanted to ask her how she knew where he lived. Most of his own business associates didn’t know where he laid his head because of trust issues. Yet somehow Cameron had managed to once again track him down.
“Champion, I’ma make this shit quick, simple, and straight to the point” Cameron boldly began. “Either fall back or face the consequences. I’m not gonna let my husband partner up with a snake. You got me fucked up.”
Champion burst out laughing. There were two armed goons inside his large office, and all it took was one word to end her life.
“I wasn’t under the impression that I said something funny,” Cameron told Champion. Her expression was humorless.
“Bitch, you funny,” Champion cackled. “You walkin’ all up in my house like you Queen Bee or some shit. Makin’ demands like I work for you. Hoe, I gave yo’ husband ample time to make up his mind. Now you wanna pull this shit? Nah, you got it backwards. You the one that got me fucked up, shawty.”
Cameron scoffed and shook her head. Champion was so unbelievably stubborn and arrogant. “Fine,” Cameron said. “Have it your way.” She turned to leave and Jag stepped inside the luxurious office.
Champion was not expecting his intrusion. All of a sudden, it dawned on him that Cameron hadn’t come to negotiate. Turning to his goons, Champion yelled, “Yo,’ handle this fool!”
Surprisingly, his goons didn’t move an inch. This was the first time Champion’s demands weren’t met. Usually when he called the shots they obeyed, but now they were acting like their boss was invisible.
Standing on opposite sides of Champion’s desk, his boys kept a straight face with their hands clasped in front of them.
“I said deal with this mothafucka!” Champion yelled.
When it was obvious that they wouldn’t carry out his demands, Champion took matters in his own hands. Reaching inside his desk, he pulled out his Glock—
POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP!
Jag released his entire clip into Champion’s chest. Never the murderer type, he usually left that up to Joaquin. But in this case, Jag enjoyed the thrill of being the one to end Champion’s life.
What Jude didn’t know was that Cameron and Jag had set up a secret meeting of their own. All it took was a guarantee of a bigger cut to make Champion’s own team turn against him.
Jag lowered his gun, and stared at Champion’s lifeless body slumped over in his chair. Blood quickly soaked his designer t-shirt. His eyes were still open, focused on the tray ceiling. He’d inadvertently handed over his own empire.
Cameron quietly stood outside the office with a satisfied smile on her face. Jude was right about one thing. They all had their own little secrets.
EPILOGUE
One Year Later.
Grant Park was where Jude, Cameron, and a few of their closest friends and family members got together in order to celebrate Joaquin’s one year anniversary. The oldest city park in Atlanta was filled with workers from The Warehouse,
and business associates who’d all gotten to see and meet Joaquin at one time or another.
Dozens of fancy cars were parked in the lot, making the scene look like a video shooting for a hip-hop video. Roxie proudly showed off her three month old daughter Jasmine under the pavilion. The infant possessed most of the Campioni’s features, but the one that stood out most of all was the rare blue-eyed trait.
Anzia happily took Roxie in with open arms after finding out about the pregnancy. Not only that, but she wanted to hold onto any and everything reminiscent of her son. Being adopted into a new family and lifestyle changed Roxie as a woman, and ultimately prepared her for the motherhood. Unfortunately, she never found out about her sister’s murder, but that secret being kept in the dark may have been for her own good.
Lark laughed and joked with Jag as he cooked a few T-Bone steaks on the grille. The couple had been taking it day by day, but nothing was set in stone. Jag enjoyed Lark’s company enough to not have to worry about labels. If and when the time finally came he would be ready for something if she didn’t mind dealing with his steady absence.
Jag continued to make good money transporting cars to and from the Port. Jude had even mentioned a partnering between the both of them in the near-future. Things weren’t perfect, but he couldn’t complain.
Jag glanced in Cameron’s direction. She and Jude sat together on a blanket with their three year old son Justin in the middle. He was keeping himself preoccupied with building blocks while the couple talked.
“Do you ever think about movin’ back sometime?” Jude asked him. He sat back and took in everything. All the people he’d met. All the money he’d made. All the blood that had been shed. He then asked himself if it was worth it.