by Kiki Swinson
“In breaking news this afternoon, the African American gunshot victim who was transported to Leigh Memorial Hospital earlier today has been pronounced dead. He was immediately taken into surgery for several gunshot wounds to his face, chest, and head, but there was nothing the ER doctors could do for him. I spoke with one of the relatives of the deceased man, whose name the police have not yet released, who said that these acts of violence need to stop. Once again, if you any information concerning this unfortunate tragedy, please call the tip line at 888-LOCKUUP.”
“Yes, that nigga is dead!” I jumped to my feet. “Now, do you feel better?” I asked Ava.
She didn’t give me a complete smile, but it was good enough.
“You ready?” I continued.
“Ready for what?” she asked me. She gave me this blank facial expression.
“Ready to go back out. We gotta finish this job.”
“Aiden, tonight won’t be a good night to leave. I know Nu-Nu. Trust me, he’s waiting for us to run up on him. Do you wanna walk into an ambush? Because that’s what will happen if we go looking for him.”
“Where’s your heart?”
“Right here,” she replied as she pointed toward her chest.
“Look, you ain’t gotta go with me. I’ll go by myself,” I told her.
“Please don’t go by yourself. Let’s just wait. Give it one more day,” she pleaded with me.
But I wasn’t trying to hear her. I had already made up my mind that I was finishing the job tonight. “Look, like I said, if you don’t wanna come with me tonight then I’ll do the shit alone.”
“And how are you going to get there?” she questioned me.
“I’m taking the truck.”
“You ain’t taking that man’s truck. He trusted me with it. And besides, it’s too hot right now to be rolling up on niggas.”
I wasn’t liking the tone of my sister’s voice, so I walked over to where she was standing and got in her face. “If you don’t drive me where I need to go then I’m taking that nigga’s truck,” I said, my hands curling into fists. I had to let my sister know who was in charge.
“You know what, Aiden, you’re being a dick right now! Ever since you been home, you’ve been fucking bullying me and I don’t like it,” she spat.
“You call that shit bullying?”
“You freaking right.”
“Well, get over it. Because what I am doing is trying to protect you. I can’t let you go off on your own or stay in this place by yourself. No way. Because if something ever happened to you, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
“Aiden, I am a grown-ass woman. And what do you think I was doing out here on my own while you were locked up all the time?”
“Barely fucking making it!”
“That’s bullshit and you know it.”
“Look, Ava, I’m done talking about this shit! You’re taking me out to look for these last three cats and that’s the end of it,” I told her and then I walked away from her.
CHAPTER 24
WHY ME?
Aiden made me so mad that I wanted to choke him to death and leave him lying dead on the floor. I mean, he was like a fucking virus that wouldn’t go away. Who acted like this toward their freaking sibling? I almost wanted to ask him if he wanted to fuck me. Because he sure acted like we were more than just family. I needed some fucking help and I needed it now.
Instead of hanging around with him in the living room, I went back into the bedroom and started packing my Puma duffel bag with a few clothes I had collected while I was staying here. I didn’t have much, but it was enough for a couple of days. I even stashed fifty thousand dollars of the money Aiden gave me. I didn’t want to take the whole sixty-seven thousand. I figured since he and I were going in different directions, he was going to need a little more than me. I mean, after he got paid the other half of sixty-seven thousand, he was going to end up with a total of eighty-four thousand dollars. That’s a nice sum of cash to live off of.
So, after I was done packing, I slid the duffel bag underneath the bed so Aiden wouldn’t find it. Who knew what he would say if he found it and opened it and saw that I only packed fifty thousand dollars of the money he gave me. Trust me, he’d have questions for me for days. Especially since he gave all the money to me and told me it was mine. So if he found out that I left the rest for him, things would get really ugly. And with his state of mind, he could have done anything at the drop of a dime. And to him, it would have made sense.
After I slid my bag underneath the bed, I climbed on top of the covers and powered on the television. I was tired of watching the news about the fucking murders so I changed to VH1 and started watching a repeat episode of Basketball Wives. I needed some entertainment in my life, and this life here with my brother wasn’t cutting it.
Twelve minutes into the episode, Aiden knocked on the bedroom door. “You ready?” he yelled from the other side.
“Do you know what time it is?” I asked him after I looked at the cable box. It read 8:11 p.m.
“Yeah, it’s a little bit after eight o’clock,” he replied.
“So you’re trying to leave now?”
“Yes. I wanna hurry up and be done wit’ this shit so that nigga can pay me the rest of my money,” he explained.
I let out a long sigh, dreading to say yes, but I said it anyway, “All right, give me ten minutes so I can put something on,” I told him.
It took so much energy to drag myself out of bed, but I did it. I also said a quiet prayer to God, asking Him to help me get out of this situation with Aiden. I didn’t know that guy who was standing on the other side of the door anymore. I kept thinking that something must have happened to him while he was locked up. Maybe he was raped or beat up really bad. Or maybe he was thrown in the hole for more time than he deserved, but whatever it was, it didn’t do him any justice. It only made him worse.
Before I ended my prayer, I also asked God to remove my brother from me after all of this was over. I sensed that he would hurt me if I gave him a reason, and I didn’t want that. I had a lot of life left in me so I asked God to please honor this prayer.
I opened the bedroom door and was startled by Aiden’s presence. He was literally standing at the bedroom door the whole time, while I thought he had walked away. “Ugghh! Aiden, you scared the shit out of me,” I spat.
“Who were you talking to?”
“When?”
“Just a few minutes ago,” he asked as he continued to stand there before me.
“I was talking to God. I was praying for us. Asking God to help us get through this night,” I told him.
“God ain’t gon’ help us. We about to sin!” Aiden said, and then he smiled. It wasn’t a handsome smile. It was a demonic looking smirk. It scared me even more. I did my best to maintain my composure, because this guy had spooked me for the last time. I wouldn’t be able to take this mess anymore after tonight.
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” I said, and then I stepped to the side so I could pass him.
He followed me down the hallway and stood in the middle of the floor while I took a seat on the sofa. “So what’s the plan?” I asked him.
“We’re gonna turn the phone on and track them on the GPS, and then I want you to take me where they are. I’ll handle the rest.”
“That’s it. That’s how you’re gonna run up on them?”
“Yep,” he replied nonchalantly.
“What if they see you coming and think you’re the tall black guy that killed their other homeboys? Don’t you think they’re gonna put two and two together and start busting rounds at you?”
“They ain’t gonna see me coming.”
“Aiden, you’re gambling with your life, big brother.”
“I know what I’m doing,” he told me, and then he started walking toward the front door. By him walking to the front door, I knew that meant that he was ready to go. So I stood up and followed him outside. After I locked the front door, I follo
wed him to the truck.
I really didn’t want to leave the apartment for fear that someone was going to recognize the truck and call the cops. But I figured that since it was dark outside, maybe we could slide underneath the radar.
CHAPTER 25
WHO’S NEXT ON THE LIST?
Once again I was on the prowl looking for the rest of these niggas so I could get my money from Winston’s cousin. I knew my sister thought that this shit was a bad idea, but I wasn’t trying to hear her. I knew what the hell I was doing. I knew how to put this pistol up to a nigga’s head and take it off. Okay now, what if I fucked up? All right, then I accept the responsibility and take what’s coming to me. Tomorrow wasn’t promised, which was why I wanted to handle my business tonight. If I got shot while I was trying to end those niggas’ lives, then so be it. I wasn’t afraid to die. Fear was for suckers! I was a champion, and champions didn’t lose.
“Where’s that nigga’s cell phone?” I asked Ava. I was ready to put the phone numbers inside the GPS tracker so I could get down to business.
“It’s in the glove compartment,” she replied. I opened the glove compartment, and when I looked inside of it, I didn’t see the phone.
“Ava, it’s not in here,” I told her while I moved shit around inside of the glove compartment.
“I don’t know why. It was in there earlier.”
“Well, it’s not in there now.”
“Maybe I took it into the apartment. Want me to turn around?”
“No! Fuck it! Just keep going,” I instructed her. I didn’t want to waste any more time looking for that cell phone.
“Are you sure, because we’ve only been on the road for five minutes, so I don’t mind turning around,” she insisted.
“No. Just keep going,” I told her. I was getting aggravated just thinking about how the fucking cell phone got in the apartment anyway. Was Ava fucking with my head? Was she trying to derail me going out to find these niggas tonight? I hoped not, because I would make her ass pay for it if I ever found it out.
“So, where am I taking you?” she wanted to know.
“Let’s go by Nu-Nu’s girlfriend’s spot first. And if Nu-Nu’s car ain’t there, then drive by the trap house.”
“I don’t think driving by the trap house is a good idea. Remember a witness said that they saw a black SUV leaving the parking lot of Church’s Chicken around the time Monty and them got shot.”
“A’ight, well, go by the girlfriend’s house, and if his car ain’t there then I’m gonna get out of the truck at the corner of Alexander Street and walk the rest of the way.”
“I don’t think that’ll be safe, either.”
“What am I supposed to do? You took the fucking cell phone from the damn glove compartment!”
“Don’t get all worked up, Aiden. I’m just looking out for your best interests.”
“Man, fuck that! Just swing me by Tiffany’s house and then drop me off at the corner where the trap house is.”
“All right,” she replied, and then proceeded to drive.
The drive to Oak Mount North was only a hop, skip, and a jump. Ava had us out there quicker than I had expected. But what I did expect was to find Nu-Nu’s car there, but it wasn’t. The house looked dark like no one was there. Maybe Nu-Nu told Tiffany to hang out somewhere else until he found out who was killing his boys off one by one. Too bad for her: after tonight, she wouldn’t see that nigga again.
“Take me over to Alexander now,” I instructed Ava.
“All right,” she said, and then she headed to the other destination. But surprisingly, the block was lit up. It was more niggas out there than a Chris Brown concert. It looked like those clowns were having a block party. But who has a block party when niggas from your clique got murdered earlier in the day? That shit didn’t make sense to me, so I let it go over my head.
“Are you sure you want me to put you off right here?” she asked me.
“Yeah, I’ma be all right. Go park on the next street, and keep the engine running,” I said, and then I eased out of the passenger seat.
I started walking toward the center of the block where the party was being held. I saw t-shirts with “RIP” and the faces of the niggas I had gunned down yesterday and today. And that’s when it clicked. Nu-Nu and the rest of his family knew about Trey and Al’s murder. But why the news people didn’t report it was beyond belief for me.
Anyway, I continued to make my way toward the trap house, because I needed to get these last three niggas. As I got closer, I started to see niggas looking at me. This made me feel real fucked up. Why were they starting to look at me? I couldn’t figure it out, so I put some pep in my step so I could get to where I was supposed to be.
The music was loud outside. It sounded like somebody was DJing and had all the latest hip-hop songs playing these days. “Hey, cutie,” I heard a chick say as I walked by her. I pretended not to hear her so she wouldn’t stop me. Finally, I made it to the trap house. I was standing in the driveway when out of the corner of my eye I saw Eric and Keith standing a few feet away from me. They were smoking blunts filled with exotic weed. And that shit smelled good, too. I felt myself getting caught up in the aroma of that shit and the trap music they were playing, but I quickly got out of it when someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around in a flash, and who did I see? The same fucking chick who tried to talk to me when I walked by her. Now here she was again.
“You’re so cute. Who you here with?” she yelled so I could hear her over the music.
“I’m looking for my girlfriend right now,” I yelled back, and then I turned my back to her. And when I looked back, Eric and Keith had started walking toward the trap house. So I followed them.
By the time I caught up with them, they had just made it to the front door of the trap house. And when I looked over their shoulders, I saw the HNIC standing in the front room of the duplex, grinding on some ghetto-ass bitch with a champagne bottle in one hand and a blunt in the other one. This scene was so perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending. I pulled my pistol from the waist of my pants and opened fire on Eric and Keith, and then I hit Nu-Nu with four bullets. No one knew I had just opened fired on these niggas because the music outside was up so loud. They only realized what had happened after they saw all three of those niggas fall down dead.
To make shit look good and not to bring any attention toward myself, I pushed the pistol back inside my pants and then I walked off like nothing had happened. The music kept playing, and the people on the block kept dancing and getting high.
I can honestly say that it felt good to complete the mission. If I would’ve listened to Ava, I wouldn’t have gotten this chance. Walking up on these niggas tonight when they had their block party was perfect. I mean, who would’ve thought? Now I could collect the rest of my money and get the hell out of town. Ava and I were going to live the life that we always deserved.
CHAPTER 26
I’M SORRY!
I saw Aiden walking toward me with his head held high. He seemed proud. And right then I knew that he had killed someone else. I didn’t know who it could’ve been or how. All I knew is that he had taken another man’s soul.
As he drew near the truck, I started backing away from him. And that’s when he threw his hands in the air, as if to say, hey, what are you doing? Where are you going? But I ignored his gestures and began to turn the truck completely around in the opposite direction. This made him walk a little faster. And then his walk turned into running. But by this time, I had turned around and started driving away slowly. And within the blink of an eye I saw red-and-blue lights flash like we were about to see a circus act.
I looked back at Aiden through the rearview mirror and saw how the cops had surrounded him. He was definitely caught red-handed. And when he pulled his pistol out and started shooting at the cops that surrounded him, I saw the cops returning fire. Two seconds later, I saw my brother fall down to the ground. And that’s when I knew he was dead.
Now that all of this is over, I could now move on with my life and be happy for once. Aiden was now resting in peace. If he wasn’t, then so be it.
The Crushed Ice Clique
Noire
Some cuties need rubies, and some girls need pearls, But crush my ice and watch me rock this world!
CHAPTER 1
Honore Morales and her cousin Cucci Momma Jones were two beautiful but thirsty tricksters from the hustle hard blocks of Hollis, Queens. Get-money bitches who were all about that life, Cucci and Honore had grown up together in the wicked and wily projects where they learned the art of scheming and skullduggery from some of the best street legends in the game.
While Cucci Momma was a ghetto princess extraordinaire who rocked the latest fashions, slung the silkiest Brazilian, and sported the type of smooth cocoa-colored body that was displayed on the cover of Big Booty magazine, her BFF Honore was softer in tone and easier on the eyes, although no less tricky or deadly about her business. Honore had a classic type of beauty about her, and she was known to stop traffic and weaken the coldest of ballers and mesmerize them with her hazel eyes, honey-colored skin, rudely bodacious ass, shapely legs, and long, wavy hair.
On the real, Honore’s package was put together way too perfectly for her to be so damn broke, and right now her brain was deep in scheme mode as she played with a sticky ball of gum in her mouth and gazed at the ceiling with a bored look on her mug. The sounds of smacking and slurping rose in the air as an OG named Chimp Charlie crammed his face deeper between her soft thighs and slurped up her sweet juice like his long, pink tongue was a twisty-turny crazy straw.