Baltimore Chronicles

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Baltimore Chronicles Page 4

by Treasure Hernandez


  Her face was tight with anger and embarrassment. “Just get up off me.”

  “Nah. I kind of like being on top of you.” Derek smirked and moved his hips in a sexual manner.

  Halleigh was disgusted. She was mad at herself for trying to overpower Derek. She was mad for not thinking of a better way to escape.

  “Fine. Stay on top of me. Do whatever you want to do,” she said in a monotone and turned her head.

  “Shit, I don’t want to do anything to you when you say it so unsexy. I’m not a rapist.”

  “No, you’re just a kidnapper.”

  Derek had a mind to slap the bitch. “If I let you up, don’t try any bullshit. I’ll knock you the fuck out. Got it?”

  “Whatever. I don’t need to be bit more than once to know it hurts. Just let me up.”

  Derek jumped to his feet and put some distance between them. He made sure to land standing between the door and Halleigh, in case she had any ideas of trying to run out. She slowly stood as she straightened her clothes and hair.

  “Thank you,” she said, trying to regain her composure.

  “What the hell?”

  “I’m being held against my will. What do you think?” she said sarcastically.

  Halleigh was wishing he would just leave. She had some planning to do. She was going to escape from captivity and find her son.

  “Don’t get sassy, bitch. It’ll get you nowhere,” he warned. “It’s a shame you had to get stupid today. I was going to let you upstairs to take a shower.”

  “Big deal.” She flicked her wrist.

  “I was looking forward to watching you wash that fine little body of yours.” He looked her up and down.

  “Your loss, not mine.” She shrugged her shoulders. She was trying to act cool. Her insides were doing back flips, and she didn’t want him to know how scared and angry she was.

  “I would say your loss. I might have even joined you in that shower. Now you’ll just have to eat alone.” He gestured with his head to the sandwich on the floor.

  “Nothing to drink?”

  “Water from the tap, bitch.”

  His phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and looked at the caller ID. “It’s your knight in shining armor,” he said to Halleigh.

  “Dayvid?” Her mood perked up.

  “Maybe he’s ready to do right by you.”

  He answered the call, “Speak.” He walked out and locked the door behind him.

  “Dayvid!” Halleigh screamed, hoping that Dayvid would hear her. She ran to the door and put her ear to it, hoping to hear their conversation, but Derek was already out of range.

  She let out a deep sigh and went straight to the bathroom. She was a ball of nerves. Now that Derek was gone, she couldn’t hold her emotions back. Knowing that Dayvid was on the phone put her over the edge. The second she was in the bathroom, she leaned over and grabbed the sink with both hands and broke down crying.

  Now she had even more incentive to break free. Before she was determined for her son, but the way she felt when she knew Dayvid was on the phone told her she needed to do it for him as well. She was in love with the man and wanted to be his wife. She wanted him to be her son’s father. She wanted to give him a child.

  These feelings for Dayvid had only recently begun to stir in Halleigh. When she met Dayvid, she was dating Malek and Dayvid was his protégé. After Malek was killed, Halleigh and Dayvid started spending more time together. During this time, their feelings for one another had blossomed.

  “Get it together.” She looked up above the sink out of habit to see her reflection, but there was no mirror. Derek had removed it so she couldn’t use the glass as a weapon.

  “Damnit,” she mumbled to herself.

  Halleigh wiped the tears from her face and resolved to fight some more. She stood in the bathroom thinking of a way, any way, to escape. She wracked her brain, but nothing was coming. The only thing she could do was replay her last failed attempt over and over.

  “Think, Halleigh, think.” Her eyes searched the tiny bathroom. “I need a weapon.” Her eyes continued to dart back and forth. They landed on her toothbrush.

  “Holy shit. The toothbrush. People make shanks out of those in prisons.” She snatched the toothbrush off the sink and frantically searched her “cell” for a surface to sharpen the toothbrush handle. She had a renewed burst of hope and energy.

  That burst didn’t last very long as she realized there weren’t really any good surfaces for her to sharpen the toothbrush. The linoleum in the bathroom, the carpeting in the main room, and the dry wall in both were lousy as sharpening tools.

  Fuck it, she thought and started to vigorously rub the toothbrush on the carpet, praying to God that her new plan for escape would work.

  Chapter 5

  The Hunt with Some Extra Baggage

  “Speak,” Derek answered the phone.

  “We need to meet,” Dayvid said. On the other end of the line he heard a muffled female voice calling his name.

  “Halleigh!” he screamed, hoping she would hear him.

  “No use screaming, nigga. She ain’t gonna hear you.”

  “Let me speak to her. You better not do nothin’ to her,” Dayvid warned.

  “I’m not doin’ nothin’ to her that she don’t want,” Derek taunted.

  “I’ll kill you, nigga.”

  “Come on, stop the bullshit.” Derek chuckled.

  “I swear to God, nigga.” Dayvid was furious.

  “You just do what you need to do and she’ll be fine. But hurry up. I think she’s startin’ to feel me.” Derek couldn’t help giving Dayvid shit.

  “Fuck you!” Dayvid screamed at the top of his lungs.

  His screaming startled Malek Jr., who had been sleeping in the backseat of Dayvid’s car.

  “Dayvid?” Malek wiped his eyes.

  Dayid removed the phone from his ear and covered the mouthpiece so Derek couldn’t hear. “Hey, little man,” he whispered. “Everything fine. Go back to sleep.”

  “You screamed,” Malek Jr. said.

  Dayvid put the phone back to his ear.

  “Who the fuck you talkin’ to?” Derek asked.

  “None of yo’ business.”

  “Is that D.J.?” Derek thought he might have heard his son in the background.

  Dayvid realized from the urgency in Derek’s voice that he could use this to his advantage. “It was no one.” Dayvid made sure it sounded like he was trying to cover up that it was D.J.

  “Let me speak to him.” Derek sounded desperate. “D.J.!” he screamed.

  “No use screaming, nigga. He ain’t gonna hear you.” Dayvid repeated Derek’s words exactly.

  “Fuck you!” Derek yelled.

  “Looks like the tables have turned, nigga.” Dayvid laughed.

  Derek was livid. He wanted to strangle Dayvid. It killed him that he felt powerless to protect his children and that he had no idea where they were.

  “Listen to me and listen good. If there is any harm to my children, if you have my kids and haven’t given them to me, I will kill your woman right now.”

  Dayvid had a decision to make. Should he call Derek’s bluff and continue making him think he had his kids, or should he tell the truth and buy some time? Dayvid looked at M.J., who was looking out the window, quietly singing to himself. Dayvid couldn’t risk losing Halleigh. He would never forgive himself if he was responsible for M.J. growing up without his mother. He also wasn’t sure if he was capable of raising M.J. on his own. It had only been a week and he was already having trouble taking care of him.

  “Relax, nigga. It ain’t yo’ kid. I promise. But let me tell you, if you do any harm to Halleigh, I will find yo’ kids and dead them little shits. You hear me?”

  Derek had no choice but to believe him. “Okay, okay. Just get me my kids.” He hung up.

  “I’m hungry,” Malek Jr. announced from the back seat.

  “A’ight, little man. We’ll get you some food in a minute.”
>
  “Nooo, I’m hungry now. Nuggets.”

  “Chill! We have to buy them shits first.” Dayvid immediately felt bad for snapping at Malek. He turned to look at Malek and apologize. Malek was just staring at him with a scared and shocked look on his face. Dayvid couldn’t have felt any worse. He was on edge. Taking care of a child and figuring out his next move was becoming a problem.

  “I’m sorry. Let’s get some nuggets.” Dayvid pulled out into traffic, heading for the nearest fast food joint.

  Dayvid drove along not really paying attention to where he was going. He was thinking about how he was going to get Derek’s kids away from Scar. Hell, the first thing he needed to do was find Scar. It had been a week and Dayvid had not spoken to or seen Scar. As soon as Dayvid saw that Scar’s house had been raided, he called Scar, but Scar didn’t answer. Dayvid had no idea if Scar had been picked up or just threw his phone away. He spent all week at Halleigh’s house watching the news for any information on Scar. Nothing was said about an arrest, so he figured Scar must have gotten out before the raid.

  Dayvid figured he’d give one more attempt to reach Scar on his phone, though he didn’t have much hope that he would. Dayvid dialed the number. He was right; the phone was not in service. He wasn’t surprised. When he saw the raid, the first thing Dayvid had done was throw his own phone away.

  After a week away from the streets, he had no idea what was going on. He figured things had quieted down enough that he could come back out from hiding at Halleigh’s. He needed to find Scar, somehow convince him to let Derek’s kids go, and save Halleigh. He had a feeling that time was starting to run out on Derek’s patience. He figured Derek was searching for Scar as well, and if Derek found him first, that would spell the end for Halleigh. Dayvid had to act fast.

  Dayvid headed toward his old corner. He would start his search there, trying to get information on what the hell was happening, and hopefully find out about Scar. He rolled through the hood and saw some familiar faces, but it seemed different to him. He couldn’t tell if it really was different, or if the week away from the grind had made him see things in a new light.

  Some of the young soldiers out there hustling saw his car as he pulled up to his old corner. They thought he was a customer and started strolling to his car.

  “Is this nuggets?” Malek asked.

  “Oh, no, little man. Soon. I just need to talk to my friends for a second.” Dayvid had completely forgotten that Malek was in the car.

  The corner boy walked up and nodded his head. “What’s good?” he asked.

  “You tell me. Been out for a minute,” Day responded.

  “Oh shit. I didn’t recognize your ride. What’s crackin’, Day? It’s been a second. Where you been?” He reached out and they bumped fists.

  “Layin’ low after I seen Scar’s joint get raided. You heard from that nigga?”

  “Nah. Rumors and shit, but ain’t nothin’ definite.” The corner boy shrugged his shoulders.

  “Word. You got any paper for me?”

  “Nah, B. Flex come by earlier and collect.”

  “Yeah? Where he at? I need to connect with that nigga,” Dayvid asked.

  “I’on’t know. He don’t be sayin’ much. Did ask about you, though.”

  “What’s he askin’?”

  “Nothin’. Same shit. ‘You seen Day?’ That kinda shit. I told him no. You want me to say somethin’ to him if I see him?” the boy asked.

  “Let him know I stopped by. Tell him to holla at me.” Dayvid wrote his number on a piece of paper and handed it to the boy.

  “Bet.” The boy took the paper, they slapped palms, and he walked back to his spot on the corner.

  Dayvid drove off wishing he had been able to get more information from the kid. He wasn’t surprised that Flex wasn’t saying much. He suspected that Scar had ordered everyone to be tight-lipped right now. After the death of the police chief a week earlier, the cops were knocking down doors all over Baltimore. The less anyone knew about Scar, the safer he would be.

  Dayvid needed to find Scar. What was his next move? Flex would know where Scar was. His plan was to drive around to all the spots he thought Flex might be. Even if Flex wasn’t there, Dayvid would leave word that he was back on the block.

  He was focused now. He made a mental list of all the spots he needed to hit. His mood was high. He turned the car stereo on and stepped on the gas, his sights set on his first stop.

  “My tummy hurts,” Malek Jr. said.

  Dayvid didn’t respond. He couldn’t hear him over the music.

  “My tummy hurts. I’m hungry,” Malek said a little louder.

  Dayvid heard him this time. “What?”

  “My tummy hurts. Nuggets.” Malek pointed to the fast food joint they were passing.

  “Shit,” Dayvid mumbled. He had forgotten again that M.J was in the car. “Okay. Let’s get nuggets.”

  Malek smiled as Dayvid turned the car around.

  Goddamn, this kid is going to get in my way. How the fuck I’m gonna deal with him? Dayvid thought as he pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. He loved Malek, but the kid was pissing him off at that moment. He needed to find the kid’s mother, but he couldn’t do it if the kid was always looking to eat or complaining about being bored. How could Dayvid take care of his business and the kid at the same time? He needed to figure it out soon or Halleigh might be dead.

  Chapter 6

  Typical Country Morning

  Scar walked downstairs after a long, restful night of sleep. No birds waking him up this morning. He smiled and said to himself, “Guess them birds got the hint.”

  Usually he was the first one awake in the house, but he had slept so long that his niece and nephew were already in the kitchen eating breakfast.

  “How’d y’all get that cereal?” he asked.

  “I climbed up and got it,” said his eight-year-old niece, Talisa.

  “You crazy.” Scar smiled. He was feeling good from being so well rested. It’s amazing what one good night’s sleep can do for a person. The day before, Scar was ready to take his chances, leave his country house, and go back to Baltimore. Now he was chillin’.

  No need to rush back to the bullshit hustle. I can just chill here, outta the limelight for a minute, and make my money from a distance, he thought.

  He sat down and poured himself a bowl of cereal. They all sat in silence, each in their own thoughts. Scar looked out the window at the sun beaming between the trees. Maybe he could get used to this country living. He had never taken the time to look at trees or nature while he was living in the city. He was starting to enjoy the slower pace.

  The silence was broken by D.J. “Uncle Scar, it’s boring here.”

  “Play with yo’ toys,” Scar answered.

  “They’re no fun.”

  “Yeah, I’m bored here too. When is Mama and Daddy coming back?” Talisa chimed in.

  “Soon,” Scar lied.

  “We want to go home,” Talisa said.

  “You ain’t,” Scar snapped.

  The children were startled by his abrupt answer. Scar instantly felt bad seeing the shock, confusion, and sadness on their faces. He changed his tone immediately.

  “How ’bout Flex take you to the store? Buy you what you want,” he said smoothly.

  The children didn’t answer. They just shrugged their shoulders in agreement. The rest of their meal was finished in silence.

  Scar understood the children’s feelings. It was slow in the country, especially since they couldn’t really travel around. Scar couldn’t leave his property, so when Flex wasn’t there, that meant the kids had to stay there as well.

  “We’re finished. May we be excused?” Talisa asked.

  “Yeah, go on.” Scar stayed staring out the window as the children scurried to their room.

  Scar was starting to really love his niece and nephew, but he didn’t want to be dealing with them all the time. He had his own shit to deal with, and he didn’t want to have
to handle their bullshit as well. Scar needed to figure out a way to end all of this mess soon so he could figure out what to do with these kids. He had a feeling that these kids would be without parents by the time all was said and done.

  Scar felt it was inevitable that he was going to have to kill his brother. As far as Tiphani was concerned, he wasn’t sure if he would ever see her again. She may have skipped the country after news of their affair broke and her career as a judge was destroyed. If he did see her again, he would be killing her too. Thinking about his brother and his ex-lover made him seethe.

  Scar picked up his phone. “Yo, when you stoppin’ here?” he asked Flex.

  “On my way. Be there in like forty-five.” Flex merged onto the highway.

  “I need to blow off some steam. Pick up that ho Charisma on your way.”

  “A’ight. Gonna take me longer to be there, though.”

  “Just do it. I need to bust a nut all over that bitch. Get my head straight. You feel me?”

  “Word, I feel you.” Flex hung up and exited at the next off-ramp.

  Scar cleared the table and turned on the television. The news about his manhunt had slowly been decreasing. Scar knew this meant nothing. He had gotten word from some of his soldiers that they were still looking for him just as hard, even if the news wasn’t picking it up. He flipped through the channels, never really staying on one station for very long. His mind was distracted with thoughts of his brother. He was hoping he wouldn’t have to kill him, but he knew that the moment he kidnapped Derek’s kids, he had crossed a line and it was all-out war.

  A few hours passed with Scar wandering around the house and the children playing in their room or in the backyard. This seemed to be the routine they were falling into.

  “We’re hungry.” Talisa came through the back door.

  Scar was getting fed up with having to deal with the kids’ neediness. He wanted to say “Get it yourself.” Instead, he asked them what they wanted.

  “Spaghetti.” D.J. followed his sister into the house.

  Scar held his tongue and just sighed as he went to the kitchen to start cooking. He would take the opportunity to make something for himself as well. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until the children said something. As he was pouring water into a pot, Flex came striding through the front door.

 

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