“I wanna run something by ya’ll and I want you to think about it before you answer it,” Niya said, pushing the money to the side.
The girls stopped their conversations and looked at Niya. When Niya made that statement, they knew it was going to be something they needed to hear.
“I been thinking about taking MHB to the next level,” Niya said.
“Oh yeah?” Diamond asked, fanning herself with money.
“I was thinking that maybe it’s time to expand MHB,” Niya began. “It’s a lot of young girls out there that’s hungry right now, just like we used to be. I think we’re in a position now, to bring some new faces to our clique.” Niya suggested.
“You wanna start recruiting?” Diamond asked, excited about the idea. “That’s crazy cause a few people been asking me if they could get down with us.”
“Damn, we can have our own little gang,” Tiffany added.
“Not a gang… MHB is a family,” Niya corrected.
After the incident with Eagle and HB, Niya had an epiphany. Women were proactive, they tried to see a problem and resolve it before it becomes an issue. Men, they were reactive, which usually resulted in impulse reactions like unloading a clip in a nigga’s head. Being proactive in the Eagle and HB situation would have resulted in less bloodshed and less heat from the cops. Her block would not have to cool down business for a moment, and her money flow would still be the same.
“You know what this means, right?” Tiffany said. “It’s gonna be a lot of angry niggas out there, cause once we expand, it’s gonna be hard for a nigga to eat,” she laughed.
“No, no, no. We’re not saying a nigga can’t eat, We just sayin a nigga can’t eat off of our plate or at our table,” Niya said as she dropped another stack of bills in the bill counter.
MHB had taken over some major hoods North and East of Charlotte. She knew niggas were already hungry and angry. If they wanted to eat, they would have to move outside the state. Shit, for that matter, they’d better move to the lower part of South Carolina because she had already started to lock down the upstate. Yeah, MHB was about to get everybody’s attention. They needed to ramp up, with sisters that were ready to ride.
“You know, since we’re goin down this road, we gotta pick a boss.” Diamond said, tracing the top of her glass with her fingers.
“We don’t need a boss,” Niya shot back. “It’s working perfectly fine, just the way it is.”
“Come on, Ni, we do need one,” Tiffany butted in.
“Every family has a head to it,” Alexus chimed in.
Niya smacked her lips and continued dropping cash in the bill counter. The room was quiet. Niya looked up to meet the stares from everyone in the room.
“Everybody who wants Niya to be the head of the MHB family… raise ya hand,” Diamond said, raising her right hand high.
Everybody at the table raised their hands without a hesitation. Niya sat back and looked each girl in the face. She saw the love they had for her in each of their eyes. She shook her head, smiled and nodded. She knew the love she had for them was unconditional, and their love for her was the same.
“So, it’s final. Niya is the head of MHB,” Diamond said, standing. She walked over to Niya.
Niya stood and Diamond wrapped her arms around her and kissed each of her cheeks. Tiffany and Alexus encircled Niya and blessed her the same way. Niya embraced them as she fought back tears; she was the official MHB boss.
__________
Gwen opened her eyes and realized she was in her bed. She looked beside her, expecting to see Chad. He wasn’t there. She looked at the clock; she had been asleep for a few hours. She felt energized. She called for Chad as she got up.
“Chad!” she yelled as she walked down the hall. She looked in the living room and walked in the kitchen.
“Where the hell are you?” she said to herself as she grabbed her phone off the counter. She checked the screen and had no missed calls. She stood there for a moment, and panic hit her. Had he gotten a call from the kidnappers and left without telling her? Did they call him? Shit, was Zion ok? She dialed Chad’s number, voice mail picked up. She tried again, and the same thing happened.
“Fuck!” She began pacing the floor. She looked down at her cell phone. Damn it, she was late to meet with Selena. She ran back to the bedroom and grabbed a t-shirt and her black leggings. She slid her feet into her jeweled Donna Karen sling back sandals and headed out the door.
__________
“Harper, get ready for a visit,” the guard said, tapping on his door with his flashlight.
Mayo had been moved to a different pod after the stabbing incident. He was still healing from the attack, and the pigs didn’t want him dead before he could give them what they needed in regards to MHB. The ankle restraints were causing one of the stab wounds to burn as he walked in front of the corrections officer. He winced as he sat down in the seat across from the stranger. He studied his face. The man’s glare could have melted the plexi-glass that was between them. They sat in silence for a few minutes.
Chad’s rage was so intense that Mayo’s face actually became blurry for a moment. He didn’t blink. This dog had his seed kidnapped.
Mayo picked up the phone after a few minutes. “Who you, fam?” Mayo asked. He couldn’t place the dude’s face. Mayo paused again, thinking that maybe the guard had made a mistake with the name. As he stared at the stranger, he saw the hatred in his eyes, “Oh, you must be Gwen’s baby’s daddy. Chad right?” Mayo laughed, and reclined in the chair. He broke away from the man’s glare for a moment. He had never seen the nigga before, but he knew his name because of the tattoo on Gwen’s arm. Chad snatched the phone on his side and he inhaled before he spoke.
“Yeah, so dude, you snatch kids? That is a bitch move, nigga, and low. You feel like you powerful and in control now, cause you snatched a eight year old to get yo shit resolved? I know I been out the game a minute, but street code is niggas don’t touch babies.”
Mayo sat back and looked at Chad. “Yo baby mama should have stayed in a female’s place, nigga, on her knees. When you dealing with bitches, you got to make sure they hear ya loud and clear. Whateva don happen to your son, happened because of yo baby motha, and them MHB hoes.”
Chad looked down for a moment. MHB? What the hell was that? And what did they have to do with Zion being taken? Chad was so far out of the game that he didn’t know what Mayo’s reason was for having Gwen handle this business. Chad didn’t know anything about the women around him. Niya, his wife, and her friend, Prada, had planned to rob Mayo. Mayo had figured out what the two of them were planning and had sent Gwen’s boyfriend JR to handle Niya, while he took care of Prada. Mayo had hoped that Prada was true to him, but when JR confirmed that Niya was in his house, he knew she was a grimy bitch. He had to take her ass out.
Niya had gotten the drop on JR and escaped. Once that happened and Mayo was fingered for Prada’s death, he had trusted Gwen to keep his shit straight. He gave her his drug connect and his house, out of loyalty to JR, and for her to hold him down by supplying the money he needed for legal fees and shit. Once the bitch got his connect, she left him in jail to rot. Chad had no idea that the reason his son’s life was in danger was due to the two women’s ambition to take over.
“Look man, I don’t know what’s goin on between you and Gwen. But I do know it doesn’t have nothing to do with me or my son, which is why I’m asking you, man to man, to let him go.” Chad relaxed his posture, and softened his glare.
Chad studied Mayo’s eyes. He may have been out the game, but he knew niggas, and this nigga was one of those bastards who didn’t give a fuck about anybody. There was no soul behind those eyes. The only thing that was there was self-preservation. Dudes like this had no sense of honor or respect for anybody but themselves.
“Look dude,” Mayo said as he stood up. “I don’t know who has your son. I hope and would think he is safe. If baby mama comes through like she is
supposed to, you can be throwing a baseball to him real soon. Your baby Mama shouldn’t have tried to play me. She got my connect, then left me in here. All she had to do was pay my lawyer, and that is real.” He hung the phone up, and tapped on the door.
Chad sat there and watched Mayo disappear through the gate. He slowly hung up the phone and stared at the door for a few moments. He stood slowly, and felt the weight of the situation hit him hard. He was helpless, tired, and had no idea how he was going to pull off getting Zion home safely.
__________
“Hey girl, whoo you got a lot of loads to wash, huh?” Gwen said as she sat on top of the washing machine next to Selena.
Selena folded a shirt. She smiled at Gwen and placed her hand on Gwen’s thigh.
Gwen put her hand on top of Selena’s and forced a weak smile. Even when Selena tried to dress down and blend in, she was a stunner. She had her hair tied up in a golden silk scarf, Capri white leggings, and a white baby t with black rubber bottom flip-flops. Gwen looked around the Laundromat; the front and back door were guarded by two large armed men
“Girl, how are you holding up?”
“I’m trying to hold together, but it’s getting harder every day my baby is gone.”
Selena’s heart ached for Gwen. “My sources found out the last known address of the second witness, but they have him in protective custody now. I haven’t got the location of the safe house,” Selena handed her a piece of paper. “Sometimes, even Bri’s money doesn’t open lips, but I will keep trying. That is the best I can do for ya right now.”
Gwen took the paper. She already had his name, and now the last address. Her mind was racing so fast that she didn’t hear Selena until she shook her shoulder.
“So now what?” Selena asked, holding both of Gwen’s shoulders.
“I gotta do what I gotta do,” Gwen said, looking down at the small piece of paper. “Thank you,” she told Selena, hugged her, and shot out the door.
Selena watched her leave. She would continue to track down information, but at this point, time was not on Gwen, Chad or Zion’s side. She sighed, and whispered to herself, “Do what you gotta do, Gwen.”
__________
Niya parked at the end of the street. It gave her the perfect view of the block. She watched the junkies trickle in to her crew for their fix. Business had slowed down, as expected, since Eagle executed HB, but she knew it wouldn’t be slow for too long. These fools loved the platter she was serving them, and Eagle was back on the block conducting business as usual. She scanned Eagle as he handled the transactions with the junkies. He was definitely attractive, standing there bare chested, wearing khaki cargo shorts, mid red court adidas, and a white towel slung over his gleaming brown skin. He wiped the sweat from his face with the towel; his tatted chest glistened with his perspiration.
Niya’s hand rested between her legs as she looked at his full lips that were outlined with a trimmed beard. Like a typical young dude out the pen, his body was sculpted. Wide chest, slim waist, and abs that looked like she could stand on them.
Niya licked her lips and squeezed her hands between her thighs. “Damn,” she said to herself as she stared at his hard body. She was so mesmerized by him that she didn’t hear Mandy tapping on the window. She shook her head, and unlocked the door.
“Damn, what you lookin’ at so hard?” Mandy asked, getting into the car.
“Traffic,” Niya lied, “I see it’s starting to pick back up again.”
“Somewhat. I think we might have a little problem with that though,” Mandy uttered, looking out the window at a couple of dope fiends walking past.
Niya looked away from Eagle. Hearing the words, ‘we might have a problem’ definitely was enough to warrant her attention.
“What kind of problem are you talking about?” she asked, with a curious look on her face.
“When HB got killed, every fiend that day went to Ronheart Street to cop their dope, since we was shutdown. The word is getting around that they got some good dope, maybe even better than ours,” Mandy said.
Ronheart Street was owned by a nigga named Rell. Ronheart Street, along with Miller Road were the only dope strips that were making as much money as Betty Ford. Miller Road belonged to a nigga named Ant, and Ant had a wild lil crew. Issues like this are the reason why the family had to grow. She needed more members to help handle their competition. Although MHB was making money and had the streets handled, she needed more queens to help guard and expand the kingdom.
“Well, I guess it’s time I pay Rell a little visit,” Niya said, turning her attention back to Eagle.
Niya was going to play it smart, and meet with Rell like a businesswoman .However, if this nigga wanted to take it there with her by exchanging gunfire instead of words, so be it.
Chapter 5
Gwen opened the door to her apartment and she paused at the sight of money that covered her coffee table. Chad walked out of the bedroom carrying a duffle bag, and began shoving the money inside. Gwen watched as he frantically checked the time on his cell phone and stuffed the money in the bag.
“What the hell is going on?” Gwen asked as she closed the door and sat down on the couch. Chad stopped for a moment, sat down beside her, and continued putting the money in the bag.
“The kidnappers called. They said that if we pay them the money now, they would take care of the other witness,” Chad said, stuffing the money in the bag.
She looked at Chad. She wasn’t sure when he had actually slept last. Maybe it was sleep deprivation, or the fact Chad had been out of the game too long that was making him react without really thinking this through. She could smell that something wasn’t right. She wanted to believe that what Chad was saying was true, but the hairs standing up on the back of her neck gave her reason to pause.
“Where the fuck is you supposed to be taking this money? I mean my money, and what exactly did they say?” Chad zipped the bag and stood.
“Look, I’m supposed to meet them on State Road, near the firehouse. They are supposed to bring Zion there in exchange for the money.”
Gwen knew this didn’t sound right, but what if there was a chance it was true? She could be holding her baby in her arms. There was nothing on State Road around the firehouse, and this reeked of a set up. She checked her .45, and placed it back down the waist of her pants.
“I’m coming with you,” she told Chad.
Chad began to protest her coming, but he knew that it would fall on deaf ears. Gwen felt her adrenaline flow through her veins. She had to get her baby boy back, and for the sake of the motherfuckers who had him, he better be in the same condition he was when they took him.
__________
The Beamer with the limousine tint and the new Cadillac DTX pulled into the parking lot. It was about 11:00pm when the doors of the cars opened. Diamond, Tiffany, and Niya stepped out wearing black hoodies, jeans, and black sneakers. Even wearing street gear, the women exuded sex appeal. Diamond and Tiffany walked in front of Niya as they walked to the truck where Rell stood. He and one of his crew were leaning back against the hood. Diamond and Tiffany parted as Niya walked between them.
“Damn, I feel like I am meeting with a real boss or somethin’.” Rell joked, tapping his man that was standing next to him.
“What’s up, Rell?” Niya said, taking the hoody off her head. “I hear you doin big things nowadays.”
“Hey shawty, what’s up? I got word you wanted to holla… So holla.”
Diamond and Tiffany scanned the parking lot. They kept their hands in their hoodies, just in case these fools flexed the wrong way. They counted three of them. Rell and his boy were in the front of the truck, and a dude was standing near the passenger door.
“Alright, I will get straight to it. I know you got Ronheart Street on lock. I’m just curious to know how much you payin’ for a key of dope these days,” Niya inquired.
“Who da fuck is you again, shawty?” Rell asked in
an annoyed tone. He no longer leaned on the truck, but stood, and looked Niya up and down. He had heard about a chick running Betty Ford, but he hadn’t had any interest in that until today. His interest was piqued when he was told this bitch was bold enough to ask for a meet up with him, and now this hoe was asking him how much he was paying for his weight? His jaw tightened as he put his hands in his pockets, and moved the tooth pick in his mouth with his tongue.
“Again, who the fuck are you?” Rell said with more bass and menace in his voice.
“No need to get ya boxers in a bunch, I’m Niya,” Niya smiled at him. “I only wanted to meet with ya, cause I think I might be able to help your bottom line grow.” Niya rubbed her hands together as she looked Rell up and down.
Rell leaned back on the hood, and laughed. “How da fuck can you help me, shawty?” Rell shot back.
Diamond and Tiffany felt their pulses quicken, Rell’s demeanor and tone made them squeeze their pieces in their hoodies. Niya looked back at them. She smoothed her hair as a sign for them to calm down. She turned back to Rell, “Look, I can get it to you for 80 A key and my shit raw to the core,” Niya said.
“Bitch, get the fuck out of here. I tell you what. I can get that shit to you for 80 a key, and if you twerk that shit the right way, I will take it down to 78k a key.” Rell said as he squeezed his dick.
Niya smiled. The dick was the down fall of many a nigga. She felt the heat coming off Tiffany and Diamond. They both had taken the safety off their guns, and were ready to light these niggas up. However, that is not the way she wanted it to go down.
Rell flicked the toothpick with his tongue. He said a few other perversions and then stood up straight.
“Ya’ll bitches got me fucked up. Ya’ll really don’t know who da fuck I am,” he said as he lit his cigar.
Niya stood there and listened to him. He talked shit, and threw a few more insults at her. When he finished, she flashed a smile at him again. She inhaled, and looked him in the eye.
Country Girls Trilogy (Parts 1-2-3 Boxed Set): MHB Love Page 19