by Leo Sullivan
With my hands over my ears, I howled to the heavens when he nudged the barrel of his gun dangerously close to Katie’s head. She jumped awake and began to cry out. The sound of her painful wails only made me sob even harder.
“Caesar, please, put her down! Give her to me, please!”
“Shut the fuck up, bitch!” he raged with crazed, maniacal eyes. “I don’t wanna hear shit outside of you tellin’ me what da fuck I want to hear!”
“What’s goin’ on in here!” I heard my mama’s voice behind the closed door and seconds later, she was knocking hard on it with force, as if she were trying to push it down.
“Pick up that fuckin’ phone right now and hit than nigga back before he leaves and tell him what da fuck I said. Tell him you comin’ up there to find out ‘bout that money or I’ma bust a cap in a bitch ass!”
The air in the room was stifling but somehow, I was able to move. I wasn’t sure which ‘bitch’ Caesar was referring to, but I was ready to risk my life for either of my two loved ones in the house, so it didn’t really matter.
Just as I bent down to pick up the phone on the floor, the door to my room burst open. I glanced up and all sounds around me zeroed out into white noise when I saw the gun in her hands. She had it out, pointed right at Caesar with her finger on the trigger, ready to protect her child. Meanwhile, the only thought in my head was how in the world was I going to get over to Caesar in time to protect mine.
Boom! Boom!
Shots were fired, completely muting out the sound of me screeching to the top of my lungs. When the chaos subsided and my eyes fell into focus on Katie who was still crying her heart out in Caesar’s arms, I expelled all of the air from my lungs, somewhat able to relax not that I knew my child was alive. But when I heard labored breathing at my side, my heart dropped to my feet. Slowly, I turned my head, fresh tears already falling from my eyes.
“Mommy, nooooo!” I cried out as I looked down at her.
My mama was sprawled out on the floor with two holes spilling blood from her chest. Her eyes were wide and fixated on some object above her that no eyes but her could see. It was like she didn’t even know that I was there. Her eyes closed as her breaths became more jagged. I lowered my head and pressed my forehead against hers, not wanting to accept what I already knew was coming next.
“Mommy, please, don’t leave me...”
Even as I said it, I knew she was gone. I’d felt the exact moment when her spirit had left. It was over. With my eyes squeezed shut, I pressed my forehead against hers, feeling her warm skin close to mine for what I knew would be the last time.
“Get da fuck up. I didn’t even wanna kill that bitch, but she had it coming. You got a job to do or else I might make another mistake again.”
22
King
* * *
Sunday: I want to see you before you leave. Tell me where we can meet. I just want to say bye.
The text came through as soon as my driver was pulling up to the private plane that I’d chartered to take me to Cuba. Thanks to Bulletproof and Dolo making major moves in music with The JDB crew, it had been easy to get. There were always artists and celebrities flying out of the ATL in private jets to perform internationally. No one raised an eyebrow when they set up the request.
I didn’t hesitate to return Sunday’s text with the address to where I was along with instructions on how to make it to where I was. My next message was to my ally who worked in airport security who would be sure that she made it back without issue. He hit me back to say that I needed to leave as soon as possible and shouldn’t delay any longer, but I ignored the text.
“Something happen?”
“Nah, nothing.”
Running my hand over my face, I turned to Makita and regretted that she was there. My stance on everything was still the same; I could never the man she wanted me to be and I wouldn’t pretend. Even knowing that, she was determined to be with me, and I couldn’t completely understand why.
Beautiful women like Makita felt like they could change a man over time. They felt like they could mold a man into who they wanted him to be. That shit wouldn’t work over here. I had my own mind and I made my own moves. At the same time, nobody wanted to be alone and I wasn’t an exception to that. Sexually, Makita wasn’t all that bad from what I could remember. My thought had been that it wouldn’t hurt to have her around. But all that had come into play before Sunday’s text.
“Somethin’ has happened. I can see it all over your face,” Makita shot back, pointing at me with a single lifted finger, leveled at my chest.
“Ain’t shit, I just gotta handle somethin’. I’ll help get your bags out and you go ahead and wait for me on the plane. Once I finish with what I gotta do, I’ll be on.”
She cocked her head to the side and looked at me sideways like she didn’t quite believe that I’d meet her onboard. It was like she was contemplating if I would run once she got on the plane.
“You promise?”
I nodded my head. “I’ll be on,” I repeated.
Not too much longer after getting Makita adjusted and making sure all of our luggage had made it on, I got a text from my partner saying that a vehicle was heading to the back for me. My pulse quickened with anticipation. If I could have it my way, this wouldn’t be the last time I would see Sunday. I didn’t care I’d Makita was on the plane waiting for me. The same doors that she used to walk into the plane would be the exact same ones that she would use to make it off. I’d warned her that if Sunday gave me another chance, it was curtains on whatever she was trying to make work and I meant that.
The first thing I noticed when Sunday stepped out of the driver’s seat of the car was her tear-streaked face and puffy eyes. It looked like she had been crying for hours and my senses immediately went on high alert. There was no way that her appearance right now had anything to do with me. There was no reason to feed myself the bullshit.
“What happened?” was the first thing I said when she was standing in front of me.
With her head bowed, she avoiding looking directly at me and shook her head.
“Where is Katie? She in the car or with ma?” I asked, as usual, referring to her mother in the same way I referred to mine.
I wasn’t expecting it, but Sunday opened her mouth and released a sob so tormenting in nature that my chest began to throb with a devastating ache, and I didn’t even know why.
She covered her mouth to silence her cries and her body suddenly went rigid. For some reason, I glanced behind her towards the car. Something about the way she was standing, positioned at a weird angle towards me, but just right to shield her face from the passenger side of the whip, alarmed me.
“Who is in the car?”
The moment the question was out, the way her body jumped to attention like she was afraid told me that I was on the right track.
“How many?” I asked, barely moving my lips.
She swallowed and answered, her voice only a notch above a whisper.
“One. And Katie,” she added. “He said he would kill her. He put a gun to her head.”
Fuck.
Heat built up at the base of my neck and I kept my eyes low to avoid looking back towards the car again. Katie being in the car made things complex. Had she not been in there, I would have shot up the car and made it a custom casket for Caesar’s stupid ass. I knew it couldn’t be nobody but a coward like him hiding in a car using his own baby as a hostage.
Suddenly, the back door of the car opened, and the air was filled with the traumatic sound of Katie’s cries.
“Da fuck takin’ yo’ stupid ass so gotdamn long? You know we ain’t got all fuckin’ day.” Caesar climbed out of the car with Katie wailing away in one arm and a gun in his other hand. His finger was positioned precariously close to the trigger as he spoke with a threatening tenor in his voice.
“We tried it the nice way, but I ain’t got time for all that.” He nudged the gun at Katie, as if pointing. “And this cryin’ ass ba
by definitely don’t got time because I’m gettin’ tired of listenin’ to all this whinin’ and shit.”
Dropping to her knees, Sunday was overcome with sobs as she collapsed helplessly to the ground. Out of instinct, my fingers flexed. My pistol was at my side, but I couldn’t risk a shot while Caesar was holding Katie.
“Fuck this shit,” Caesar said and then pointed his gun at Sunday.
Somehow, he was able to balance Katie in his arms just long enough to get the car door open again and toss her inside. He closed the door to mute out her cries and then began to walk closer, his gun still firmly aimed at the back of Sunday’s head.
“Tell me where the money is that you said you got stashed for her. That’s all I want and then I’ll go. If you don’t speak, I’ll kill her and then hold you here at gun point while I call the Feds. Choice is yours.”
“What the hell—Caesar?”
It was Makita and, even though I’d asked her to stay on the plane, she didn’t listen, and I was grateful for it. The second that Caesar took his eyes off of me, I moved fast and retrieved my gun, grasping it firmly in my hands and aimed directly at him. If he didn’t still have his finger on the trigger of the gun that was pointed at Sunday, he would’ve been taking a first-class trip straight to the grave.
“Da fuck your doin’ with this nigga, Makita? What, he sweet-talk you a lil’ bit and you fell right back into second place again, huh? You tryin’ to skip out on me with a nigga who don’t even want yo’ dumb ass because he got his head too far up this bitch ass!”
Caesar shoved his gun even deeper into Sunday’s skin. She yelped out in pain and my trigger finger applied a little more pressure.
“Caesar, shut up!” Makita yelled.
Her voice was strained, like she was trying to hold back her panic. I kept my eyes on Caesar, noting that he was becoming even more agitated, but his anger wasn’t directed at me or Sunday any longer.
“You double-crossin’ ass bitch! What happened to the plan you kept remindin’ me to follow? I was supposed to get the girl and the money, and you were supposed to get the man. Now yo’ scheming ass look like you only lookin’ out for self. Just like last time! Did you tell King ‘bout how you tried to set up Sunday?”
Everything went silent around me. Sunday lifted her head and I lowered my weapon.
“Da fuck you talkin’ ‘bout, man?”
Turning to Makita for answers, I waited for her to say something against the accusations we’d all heard.
“He’s lying!”
“Lyin’?” Caesar repeated the word like it was disgusting to him. “Bitch, I ain’t gotta lie ‘bout shit.”
From that point, he turned to me.
“King, I don’t even like you like that but I’ma tell you what’s up. Kita was fuckin’ with Daze before you got locked up. You might know him as the one who raped Sunday, but y’all’s history goes back further than that. That triple homicide you was locked up for? Daze did that shit, and Kita put him up to it.”
A sour taste formed in the back of my throat. This shit couldn’t possibly be true. Makita had spent all the time since I’d been locked up trying her hardest to get me off. Why would she have put me there just to spend so much time to let me go free?
Listening intently, I kept my eyes on Caesar as he continued.
“The plan was for him to kill them and then she would go back and rob the spot since she knew that was where you had your cash stashed. But then Sunday showed up and she changed the plan. She was the one who called the cops to get her locked up. Kita never suspected that you would take the charge instead.”
I could vividly remember Makita telling me about how insane she thought it was for me to take the charge for Sunday.
“No one ever does that,” she had told me. “The dope man’s wife is supposed to know that’s part of the risk of being in that position. If anyone goes down for shit, it has to be her and not you. You’re the big fish; you’d get real time and she would only get a slap on the risk. Why would you take these charges for her, King? You shouldn’t have done this.”
“You never questioned her loyalty? Why she held you down the whole time?” Caesar chuckled menacingly. “The bitch felt guilty. That was the only reason. She’s responsible for setting a lot of innocent muthafuckas up. You... Gunner... Well, I gave up his name to fuck with Kita, but she knew he was innocent and let you kill him anyways. Her and Daze was staging robberies of your trap houses and blamed the shit on him so they could pocket the extra cash. Shotti knew, but he too scary to say shit which is the only reason he’s still alive.”
Devastated, I hung my head. Gunner was innocent; It didn’t even really come as a shock because I felt that something was off about the whole thing. He told me not to trust and, when I looked back at everything, she was the common denominator when it came to everything. The tips to the police of my location only happened when I had visited Sunday; I would bet that she was behind them, too. According to her, the Feds has burst into her home looking for me, but no one but her has seen them. In fact, that was when she really started putting pressure on me to leave and take her with me. She was behind it all.
The sound of sirens could be heard in the distance. I looked up and saw a caravan of cars with blue and red flashing lights. The police had been alerted and they were heading this way.
“Fuck! I knew I was running out of time. Enough of this shit.” Caesar renewed his attention on me and pointed his gun back at Sunday. “You need to talk fast and tell me where you got that money stashed—”
Kaboom!
Caesar’s head jerked back, his eyes spread wide with shock. Looking down, he blinked in disbelief when he saw the bloody hole in the center of his chest. Sunday clung to my legs for dear life, trembling ferociously. Her head was pointed away from him and I was gracious for that. The tortured stare in his eyes when he realized that he wouldn’t make it out of this moment with his life, was haunting.
Pivoting fast, I lifted my gun, aimed it, and closed my eyes before pulling the trigger twice.
Boom! Boom!
“Uh!” Makita groaned loudly before doubling over and falling from the stairs to the ground below. I had no doubt that she was still alive, but I couldn’t waste any time.
“Sunday, come with me. Go get Katie and let’s go. You don’t have a lot of time to decide.”
Her eyes were fearful, but the decision was made, I could see that. After only a few seconds she nodded her head and the weight lightened in my chest. Turning quickly, she ran to retrieve her daughter and I waited for her to return so that I could help her into the plane.
“We got you ready to take off,” a man I didn’t recognize said as he walked up to me with another behind him. They were definitely JDB being that they didn’t flinch at the sight of Caesar’s body lying on the ground or Makita who was painfully panting on the other side.
“We will take care of the bodies. Steve is holding the police off for as long as he can, but you gotta go now!”
This time, I didn’t have to be told twice.
With Sunday and Katie safely on the plane, all that was left now was for me to join them. The life I’d wanted to live for so long was finally within my grasp.
“Caesar, please.”
Makita’s pain-filled voice stopped me in my tracks. For a moment, I considered letting her live, but the reality was that I couldn’t do that. She was too smart and too ruthless. Her hatred for Sunday was too strong. As long as she was alive, I couldn’t be certain that she wouldn’t set her mind in finishing the destruction that she’d started.
Aiming my gun, I pulled the trigger and letting off a shot right in the center of her forehead. A privately hired stewardess closed the door behind me just as I boarded the plane and the pilot announced that he was preparing for take-off. As we tore down the runway, I took a second to look outside the window at the scene outside. The police cars had finally made it through to the back and were speeding down the long road that led to where we’d been only a
few minutes before.
Once the plane lifted up into the sky, I slid the shade down and closed my eyes, forcing myself to relax.
“It’s over now,” Sunday whispered, grabbing my hand into hers.
When I lifted my head, I was greeted by her sad eyes. There was a smile on her face, but it wasn’t genuine. It couldn’t be after all that she’d lost, and it would be a while before she would find complete happiness again. Providing that would be my new goal in life.
“It is,” I replied and squeezed her hand.
It was a lie. I still had some unfinished business to tend to but, in this moment, I was going to push all of that aside and simply enjoy the ride.
Epilogue
One year later
* * *
A gentle breeze flowed through the trees and tickled the tips of Katie’s nose, making her giggle as she lay on her back, observing her own chubby feet. With a smile on her lips, Sunday watched her daughter’s amazement of her body, loving her innate awareness of any, every and all things around her. Katie was such a blessing in all ways. She brought joy to every room that she was in and a smile to the face of every person blessed enough to be in her presence.
Lifting her fat hands in the air, Katie started to clap them together and squealed in glee at the eruption of her sound that she’d learned to make. After being able to hear for the first time, she became preoccupied with sound and loved to experiment with all the different noises she could make. As soon as they were settled into Cuba, King made Katie one of his first priorities. There were few limits to what money could buy and, somehow, King still had an awful lot of it.
The best pediatric specialists in the world were flown in to treat Katie’s ears and they made several judgments on what could be done to repair her hearing. For weeks, King and Sunday listened to presentation after presentation of doctors sharing their findings while making suggestions as to what could work to remedy the issue. In the end, the selected the surgeon who was not only one of the most qualified for the job, but who had also taken a deep and personal love for Katie during the time she’d examined her. Although she wasn’t the doctor with the most accolades, it was apparent that she loved the little girl and as Sunday told King, not many things could rival love.