by Nicety
“Stop calling and texting my fucking phone, Mink! I’m done with your ass.” Cash screamed finally answering the phone.
“If you were so done with me, why the fuck did you answer the phone?” I sneered licking my lips before smiling.
“Because you obviously didn’t get the fucking memo. Go play in traffic or in ya ass somewhere!”
“OH! It’s funny you should say that. Cause see I did play in traffic and if I were you I wouldn’t fuck with me.” I replied startling him before he could hang up on me. “I’m a very dangerous bitch these days and I just thought you should know it before you disrespected me again.”
“Mink you don’t scare me, man. I tried to give you something good and you didn’t want it. You wanted that fuck boy, so what the fuck you want me to do? Keep putting up with your shit?” He said seemingly irritated.
“I couldn’t fuck with you on that level because you wouldn’t…” I paused looking down at CJ. “You wouldn’t accept my son.”
“Aye, that’s your hang up not mine okay. I found a real woman who knows what she wants and ain’t got no problems or hang ups like that.” He spat sending me to silence. “Speaking of hang ups, here’s one right now.”
And with those words he hung up. I hung up with him cause I just couldn’t bare listening to that dead silence of the phone. I needed a hug and there was no one around who could comfort me. I was tired of getting the short end of the stick and really didn’t want to start my roster of ballers all over again but I guess if I must then I must. But that was a journey I would start on another day. I needed love right now and that’s when I started believing that maybe my mother was right. I did have one man in my life that would love me regardless of all of my flaws. I had one man who would most likely never disappoint me and always treat me like a queen, CJ.
“Hey lil’ dude. Why don’t you scoot over and let momma sit next to you?” I said squatting down next to him on the floor.
“Sure mom. Com’ on down.” He laughed never blinking his eyes off of the game as I moved closer to him wrapping my arms around him. “You know I love you right?”
“Yeah mom.”
“Naw, I’m serious boy. I love you.”
“Alright, I know. I know.” He said as I playfully rubbed his head like he was an extra on the Three Stooges as he tried to get away from me.
“Okay, well since you know and shit, why don’t you let your momma watch a little bit of TV, huh?” I said snatching the remote control from him.
“Dang momma. At least let me save it! Please momma.” He begged.
“Boy get on, now. You play this game all day everyday. You ain’t gonna miss nothing you can’t play over.” I laughed as he got up to storm out of the room with an attitude. “Now beat it.”
“Dang you get on my nerve.” He mumbled as he left the room with his head hung down low.
“What did you say boy? Don’t have me come in there on your ass. You know better than to speak to your momma that way.” I retorted angrily.
My night had been hard enough that I didn’t want to spend my day arguing with a ten year old. It seemed strange but I actually couldn’t wait until school started so Cesar could take this little bastard and I could have this room all to myself. He was my son and I loved him but that didn’t mean that I had to like his ass. His attitude was filled with nothing but Cesar through and through and that shit would get his ass waxed fucking with me. I hated that he was just like Cesar in everything that he did.
Trying to forget about CJ’s brashness towards me, I turned the video input to TV and searched the Comcast guide for my favorite show, Jerry Springer. The weather showed the seven-day forecast in the background informing me that it would be blazing hot for the next week. I cleared the guide out in order to see the full screen focusing in on the complete seven-day forecast before it disappeared completely from view. I tossed the remote control on the bed and hopped onto it belly first, ready to channel surf for something good.
Reporter: Now back to the Breaking News story we have been covering all morning. Early this morning a woman was found on the side of the road near the woods in Orland Park. She was found half dressed next to her car by a truck driver seemingly near death and gurgling on her own blood for help. When paramedics arrived they realized there wasn’t much they could do for her and requested for her to be airlifted to Loyola University Medical Center, the state’s only level 1 trauma center. Doctors said that given the nature and time frame between her injuries and when she was found, that was the only place that could treat her. At this time doctors are only saying that she is in critical condition. The woman’s identity has not yet been revealed. Authorities are waiting until the family is contacted before any information is released. If you know any information about this case, you are asked to contact the Orland Park Police Department.
DING DONG!
I exhaled, my mouth agape, my heart thumping, roaring like thunder and feeling like a ticking time bomb all at once. “Oh shit!”
MONEY IS KING 3: THE LAST STRAW
Chapter 1
**Cesar
“Wait a minute. What the fuck?” I huffed as my adrenaline rushed and boiling rage filled my chocolate brown toned expression.
The ringtone itself was sending my emotions over the edge, not wanting to look up into the faces of everyone in the room. I knew they were waiting to see what my problem was but I wasn’t ready for the third degree of questions. The phone quit ringing then immediately started up again. It just went on and on like it was trying to taunt me or something and as the name stared back into my eyes it felt like it was burning a hole right through them. Slowly, I lifted my head up locking onto Drake’s badly bloody and bruised mug, charging at him like a wild bull on coke.
“How the fuck do you know her?” I barked grabbing as much of his thin dark hair that would fit into my grasp as possible, yanking his head backwards towards the ceiling. “Who is she to you?”
“Ha ha ha…” Drake chuckled with a crooked smile perched upon his cracked face. “What’s it to you?”
“What the fuck is going on, Cesar?” Cambria echoed behind Bellany.
“Nothing.” I responded. “I just need to get this info from his ass.”
"Well it looks to me like you're stalling. This nigga ain't about to tell you shit so just blast his ass." Cambria snarled impatiently kicking trash around with her feet.
"Just fucking cool it. Alright? If he tells me what I wanna know then ain't nobody dying in this room." I lied as the phone went silent and I turned back towards Drake. "Now I'm gon' ask you again. Who is she to you?"
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” Drake continued to chuckle as I pummeled my foot into the cuff of his chest hard enough to leave a dent.
"Do you got an idea now motherfucka? Huh?" I yelled still planting my foot into his chest over and over.
"Who is who man? What the fuck?" He bellowed before I clucked him in the back of head with my nine.
“Who the fuck is she?” I roared into his ear picking him up off the floor by his hair once more and holding the phone up to his face.
The phone was ringing again, lighting up and displaying Lasha's name and number. The more I looked at it the more the wrinkles in face curled over signaling that it was pissing me off. I actually didn't know what pissed me off more, the fact that she was calling him or the fact that I didn't know why she was. If I allowed my mind to go crazy, I would have jumped out the window to strangle out of her why she was in Miami to begin with. Drake's facial expression proved to me that he wasn't about to let up. I yanked his hair back pushing the phone to his robust nose.
"Answer the damn question." I said.
“Fuck you muthafucka!” Drake snarled spitting blood onto the floor. "Kiss my ass!"
Regardless of how much pain we had inflicted on this man he still found the respect not to spit his disgusting blood in my face. It was admirable but it wasn’t going to save his ass from yet another beat down.
My foot stomped his back then rolled him over to do the same to his slightly protruding belly. Along with the agonizing sounds he was making from the pain, whatever he had in his stomach was vomiting up as well. He spewed chucks of yellow corn mixed some pink pasty mixture spraying it all on the floor in front of him.
He clearly was in a lot of pain, gripping his stomach with a facial expression like he was praying for sweet death to come to him soon. The faint smell of shit filled the air letting me know he had fucked his pants up in the process. But through it all, through his heavy panting, screams, and vomiting the nigga smiled. He smiled like a kid bright with astonishment on Christmas morning. The room went dead silent as I stared down at him trying to figure out what would break his ass. Then the phone rang again and again through his ass whoopin’. But it was no use. The more I whooped his ass the tighter his lips got.
The phone rang again. I huffed nearly out of breath from kicking Drake’s ass so badly while the girls stood there watching not making one single sound. They watched as if they were enjoying the show and waiting for their turn. The curtains were dark pulled across the windows leaving it dark as night while the sun begged to creep in from the sides. I went to one of them to peek out and see if anyone had began to realize what was happening inside.
My eyes widened and my toes stiffened. Lasha was standing out in front of the building. Just standing there, waiting and making calls repeatedly to the phone perched oddly enough, in my hand. She was unaware of that fact, I was sure. The only thing that came to mind was that this some nigga she had been seeing for a while now and she neglected to tell me that part of her life. He was probably the secret that she was having such difficulty telling me about, that she was married to him or had a baby by him or some bullshit like that. I couldn’t believe I had allowed yet another bitch to play me like a fool. But this was one fool who refused to be a fool ever again.
“Get up muthafucka. You got one more chance to try and save your life and tell me who the fuck this bitch is to you. Play with me if you want to nigga.” I said taking my piece and shoving it in his jaw pushing in like I was digging his grave.
“What makes me believe that you are going to let me live even if I did tell you, bitch? Just shoot me muthafucka!” Drake’s thick Latino accent filled our ears as I stood up watching him lower his face to his knees.
"C'mon dude. You can trust me. If I'm nothing else I'm a man of my word." I spoke calmly kneeling down to his level to look him square in his bloodshot eyes. "Now, just tell me who she is to you. Huh? Why is she calling your phone so much?"
"Eh..."
"What does she want with you so badly?" I asked circling him like a hawk on its prey feeling as though the aggression in my voice was about to increase tenfold. "Why is she calling you?"
"Go to hell you son of bitch!" He yelled chuckling afterwards, bringing his head back down to his knees as if he was waiting to be executed.
I took a deep breath then exhaled slowly as I rubbed the coarse new growth stubble under my chin and gritted my teeth. “Wrong answer muthafucka!”
Pop! Pop!
I planted two slugs to the back of that nigga’s dome watching as his dark colored blood splattered onto Bellany and oozed out in thick paste onto the floor. The girls stood there smiling wishing they could have had a part in the end result but happy nonetheless. Their happiness didn’t excited me or fire me up, it only disgusted me. I wanted out of this bullshit. I just wanted to be a regular nigga in the hood taking care of his wife and kid. But looking down at the spreading blood puddle secreting under my boots, I knew I was far from that ever happening any time soon.
“C’mon, Cesar. We gotta bounce.” Bellany said tugging at my sleeve.
"Man get the fuck off me. I'm coming." I responded never taking my eyes off his cold dead body.
"We need to go now, Cesar." She responded as I noted that her voice had gotten a tad bit on the stern side.
"Alright."
Bellany stood there waiting as if she was looking for a reason to pop two to my head as well. Ruthless. Our eyes sealed, waking me up out of my trance. I stepped over the lifeless corpse in front of me headed for the back door behind them. They didn’t even bother to run, just walked like they knew whoever stood in their way would get sprayed. I had a right mind to drop those hoes right where they were and tell Yo shit went bad. I had the right mind but I didn’t do it though. I just kept following them to the car and once inside, Cambria didn’t hesitate to snatch the nine out of my hand. Bellany started the car but sat there for a minute like she was waiting on an invitation to leave or a fucking clue.
“You alright?” Cambria asked giving me the side eye.
“Let’s go.” I replied shaking my head and squinting my eyes while I evaded that dumb ass question.
**Lasha
The gunshots were all too close, startling the shit out of me but letting me know that something definitely had to be wrong inside. The guy told me this was the exact address where he saw Drake go into everyday, 4577, so yeah this was the right address. I didn’t know what I would find inside but I had to go in. I drew my nine from my bag and shuffled it around to my back. As I moved towards the front door, I affixed the silencer onto the front of it, making sure these motherfuckas didn’t see me coming. My eyes scoped out the neighborhood from one end of the street to the other end as I slid a thin pin out from inside the padded purple lace bra I was wearing.
My fingers maneuvered the pin inside of the keyhole waiting for the click while listening to my surroundings. I was in. I pushed the door in quietly and closed it behind me just the same. The hallway up the stairs was dark and there was pure silence inside. It was so quiet that I couldn’t even detect anyone breathing. All I could hear was the peeling and screeching of tires coming from what seemed like behind the house. I slowed my breathing just in case someone was trying to be one step ahead of me and take me by surprise.
At the top of the stairs, I could see faint traces of sunlight seeping out of the rooms. The doors were wide open but there appeared to be no movement, no noises, no nothing. My finger on the trigger and my gun strategically pointed in position, I moved cleanly and swiftly sweeping every room beginning with the back area so no one could creep up on me when I made it to the front. But my eyes were lost when they gazed upon the blood splattered walls and floors.
The dead bodies with bulging eyes and twisted limbs lying next to pistols and shotguns of their own let me further know that my brother was here. Moving from room to room, this work had his name written all over it. I knew he was in deeper than he had anticipated and the fact that he wasn’t answering the phone let me know that he didn’t want my help nor did he want me involved.
“ARGH! Drako! Oh my God, DRAKO!” I screamed as I entered the far front room looking down at this body that resembled his. “Wake up baby! Please, please wake up!”
Apart of me wished that it was someone else but when I saw my name tattooed on his shoulder as I pulled back his shirt, I knew it was him. Staring down at the wounds, I knew that saving him was hopeless as I rolled him over noticing the bullet holes planted deep within his skull. The assholes did that on purpose so my dad couldn’t give him an open casket at the funeral. My heart was hurting so badly that it could’ve been ripped apart and burned at the stake. I sat on the floor next to him just on the side of his puddle of blood and the array of garbage, stroking his hair just the way he used to like it when he was stressed out and needed to talk.
The room was trashed to shit and his body was still warm, giving the sense that the assholes that killed him had just left. The shot I had heard waiting around on the outside of the building may have been given to him. I could’ve helped him. I could’ve fucking helped him and if I wasn’t looking around like a deer in headlights and calling him on the phone he would be alive right now.
“Why didn’t you come to me? Why couldn’t you fucking talk to me you bastard?” I cried as tears exited my eyes running streams down my cheeks.
&n
bsp; Drake would be alive if I had just stormed this muthafucka down and blasted whoever was in here. Deep inside, I knew he wouldn’t have wanted me to but at least would have been alive to curse me out about it afterwards. I couldn’t believe that I held my brother’s dead corpse in my hands and no less than a few minutes ago I could have saved his life. Whomever did this to him would fucking pay. They would not only pay with their lives but also with the lives of their offspring. This shit was unforgiveable and there was not an angel in heaven that could save them from my wrath.
I stood collecting my thoughts and clearing the pond of tears from my face drying it completely. I couldn’t be seen outside showing any type of weakness just in case I was being stalked, followed, and watched. I kneeled down allowing one knee to touch the part of the floor that was free from any debris, leaning in to give my disfigured brother’s face a sweet peck from my tender lips.
“I’ll always love you pa pa.” I whispered as I got back up forcing my tears back into their ducts before leaving the room.