I looked at her but found myself unable to speak. Something was deathly wrong. I got up and looked out a window.
"Don't do that to ya' self, Bari," Majesti said.
"Where are they?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
"I don't know," she answered.
We all turned towards the door simultaneously as Shep came in, followed by Six, who was followed by Niko. I thought I was about to pass out. Six's shirt was covered in blood. I waited anxiously. No Seven. Six wouldn't look at me. He went to Gucci and hugged her tightly.
"Six!" I yelled. "Where is Seven?"
He looked at me for a long time before answering.
"I don't know, Bari.”
"What the fuck do you mean you don't know!" I screamed. "Shep!"
He too shook his head.
"We don't know, An-gel. He and Teodore were separated from us. We ad a spot dat we were to meet up at. Teodore showed up, but Seven never did."
"Why did you leave! How do you know he's not there now?" I cried.
"Bari," Six explained. "He was supposed to be there four hours ago."
"Call the police," Gucci suggested.
"No!" Six and Shep snapped in unison.
"Baby, you're bleeding," Gucci cried.
"This isn't my blood, Gucci."
He looked at me.
"Whose is it then?" I asked, dreading the answer.
"I don't know."
"Six! Tell the damn truth!" I screamed at him.
"It's not Seven's, Bari."
"Where is Teodore?" I asked.
"Teodore is at ome," Shep answered.
"At home? Could Seven be there?"
I was grasping at straws, but I didn't care.
"No, Sis."
"Do you think he's dead?"
"Bari! Don't talk like that!" Gucci yelled at me.
"I need to know," I cried.
She came and hugged me.
"To be honest, Sis, I really don't know."
When Shep's phone rang, we all stared at it as if we had never heard the sound before. I silently prayed that Seven was on the other end. He spoke for a moment, then ended the call.
"Dat was Teodore. He got a call; a million doll'as for my nephew."
This couldn't be happening, couldn't be.
"Seven...kidnapped?" I asked. He nodded. My baby. "Well, what the fuck is Teodore calling you for? From what I hear, he has this whole damn Island sowed up! Why didn't he just pay it?"
Shep's phone rang. We all froze.
"Dis is Shep," he answered. "Where ah you, nephew?"
"Seven!" I screamed, and tried to snatch the phone.
He held it out of my reach.
"I und'a'stand ...hold on, nephew."
He handed me the phone.
"Baby? What's going on? Are you okay? Where are you?" I cried.
"Bari, I need you to listen to me, baby, and listen carefully."
"I'm listening, Seven."
"The big suitcase, Bari, the biggest one. Do you know what I'm talkin' about, baby?"
I thought for a long moment.
"It's real?" I asked, in shock.
"It's real, get it all. After you do that, I want you to give it to Shep. Shep knows what to do, baby. Don't be scared, Milkshake, and don't cry. I love you."
"I'm not scared, Seven, and I'm definitely not crying. I'm mad than a mutha fucka right now. And when I get the chance, I'm gon' call your punk ass uncle Teodore and tell him about himself too!"
"I gotta go, Bari. I love you."
"I love you too, Seven. Take care of my baby."
“You do the same.”
‘’Seven?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“They’re not gonna hurt you, are they?"
"Don't worry about me, Bari. Just take care of you for me. I need you to be really brave right now. Do you hear me? And don't tell nobody what you're doing. Remember what I taught you, baby, sometimes it's better not to know."
"I hear you," I assured him. "Seven, whatever happens..."
"Don't talk like that, Bari. Ain't no 'whatever happens.' I love you."
He ended the call. A few seconds later, Shep’s phone rang again.
"Dis is Shep. No. That's not what Seven said to do. Ah you sure? Okay."
He ended the call and looked at me, then pulled me to the side.
"What?" I asked.
"You are to go with me," he whispered."
"What! Was that Seven?"
"No, it was one of the kidnappers. Ee said Seven wants you to come, too. Dis may be the last time he gets to see you."
"What did he say?" Gucci questioned as I rushed around the living room and flew up the stairs.
I ignored her. I went straight to the room that Seven and I were staying in, changed into a pair of Levi's and a tank top, and a pair of Jordan’s, and went to the big suitcase. The suitcase was huge. It was a design by Gucci, but the outside print was done in five hundred dollar bills. I thought back to the day we were packing, and I had asked Seven why he had chosen this print.
"Custom made Baby. If this were real money, the baggage claim people would make sure I never saw this suitcase again.”
“Why did you want it like this? Don't you think it would make people want to know what's inside?"
He had laughed it off and never answered. It had a thick Lucite cover. I ran downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. I cut the plastic off and started plucking the money off the suitcase. Each bill had two behind it. My baby is a genious, I thought to myself. It was a perfect way to hide money. I counted out two thousand of the five hundred bills, then stopped and stared at it. I was holding a million dollars in my hands. I stuffed it into a black leather bag, and was about to turn around and run out, when I thought of something. I unzipped the lining of the suitcase, reached inside and pulled out Seven's gun. I remember overhearing him telling Six that it was a nine millimeter. My hands started to shake as I realized that it was probably the gun used to kill Trim. I forced the thought out of my head and shoved the gun into the back waistband of my jeans. I grabbed one of Seven's button down shirts and put it on to cover the gun. I grabbed the heavy bag and ran downstairs. Shep was waiting for me.
"Where are you guys going, Bari? I'm going too!" Gucci yelled and ran after us.
"No! Gucci, go back!" I ordered.
"Come on, baby. You have to stay here!" Six told her.
"Bari!" she cried.
I was long gone with Shep at my side.
“Shep, where are we going?”
“I can’t tell you, Bari. Did you get all da money?”
“Yes.” We got on a boat that was small in comparison to Teodore's. "Shep, what's up with Teodore? Why isn't he trying to help us? Doesn't he care about what happens to Seven?” He didn't answer me. That really pissed me off. "You mutha fuckas are some twisted ass..." He looked at me for a long time. I decided to save what I had to say for later. "Why couldn't we call Birdie and Major?"
"We can call no one. Now, pass me that bag, Bari." I gave him the bag with the money in it. "Get ready to jump."
"Jump? What the hell are you talking about, Shep?"
Before I could finish my sentence, he had jumped out and started running. I jumped into the water that only came up to my knees and followed him into some thick brush. He squatted down behind me and held me close to him. Too close. I moved forward, but he pulled my back.
"Shep..."
"Ssh! You ave to stay quiet, an-gel. Make no noise," he whispered. "Lay down slowly."
I laid on my stomach in the trees, scared to make a sound.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I asked, trying to shake Shep off when he laid his body on top of mine.
"Quiet! Do you want to get us killed?" He whispered. "You ave to trust me, Bari."
He laid his head on top of mine, his body stretched fully out over mine. All I needed was for Seven to stroll up and see this. We would both be dead. I started to scream when a large spider crawled by a
nd stopped by my face. Shep clapped his hands over my mouth.
"It's okay, an-gel. He means no arm to you."
"How long do we have to stay like this?" I whispered after the spider, who figured that I couldn't possibly taste as good as I looked, moved on down into the trees.
"Until we know where they are."
"Who is 'they'?" He didn't answer. "Shep, this is my man we're talking about. Please. I'm scared."
"Don't be scared, An-gel," he whispered.
We heard voices speaking in Jamaican.
"Shep."
"Quiet. Don't make a sound." He slowly got up and crouched down behind a tree. I was about to do the same when I heard my baby's voice. Tears rushed to my eyes. It took everything in me not to call out his name. "Stay right ere, Bari. Don't move."
I nodded. Bullshit. He had moved up about ten feet when I got in a crouched position and pulled the gun from my waistband. I wasn't just Bari. I was Barry's daughter, and he had taught me very well. I released the safety and held the gun out in front of me. I waited until the voices got closer, then squatted down as far as I could.
"Bari?" Shep whispered. I didn't answer. I heard rustling and knew that Shep had stepped out into the open. "I have da money."
"Are you alone?" One of the men asked Shep.
"I only brought Bari, like my nephew said. She's with me," Shep said. "Bari, come out."
"Ooo is dis Bari?" The man asked.
"Shep! What the fuck did you bring her for! Are you crazy?" Seven started going off.
"You said to bring er!" Shep argued.
"I ain't told you no shit like that!" Seven yelled.
"Tell dis Bari to show herself, if what you say is true," my baby's captor ordered.
I closed my eyes and silently prayed that the man with the gun pointed at my head didn't pull the trigger.
"Do not make a sound," he said to me.
"Bari, come out." Shep said. "Bari!"
"Bari!" Seven yelled. "It's okay baby, come out. She's probably just scared."
"I don't see anybody," the man said. “There is no such Bari.”
“Shep, where the fuck is she!" Seven yelled.
"She was right behind me. I left er next to that big tree," Shep explained.
One of the men said something that I couldn't understand. They walked over to where Shep had left me.
"I promise, Nephew, she was right 'ere!"
I stood with my hands up in the air.
"If you even breathe the wrong way, I will kill you."
I stood stock still and concentrated on the sound of Seven's voice.
"I don't know why the fuck you brought her! Give 'em the damn money so we can go."
I squinted through the brush. Shep handed one of the men the bag. Seven shook his hand.
"Where is my baby, Shep? Why did you bring her?”
"I got a call. Ee said you wanted me bring da an-gel, in case it was your last time seeing her."
"Shep, somebody set this up. I ain't told nobody no shit like that, and they ain't called you."
What the hell was going on? Seven said something in Jamaican to the men.
"Now move, bitch," my captor ordered, and started poking me with his gun.
Bastard. I drug my feet the whole way, hoping to leave a trail for Seven to follow. That hope quickly died. I was loaded onto a boat, which immediately sped away. I closed my eyes and prayed that any one of them, especially Seven, would find the gun that was laying on the ground, the barrel pointing in the direction that I was taken.
Chapter 52
Never in my life have I ever been so afraid. I was in trouble, and I had no way of getting myself out of it.
"What are you going to do with me?" I cried.
They laughed. I soon got my answer. What Darshon had done to me was nothing compared to this. Tears poured from my eyes as they backed out of the room and closed the door. Seven would be worried sick, and my uncle, my poor uncle, I thought to myself right before I passed out.
The room was pitch black. I felt my way around. It was no more than four walls and a roof. I tried to adjust my eyes to the darkness. Even that seemed impossible. I lay down on the floor with my back against the door. How did this happen? Why did it happen? I put my ear to the door to listen for any signs of life. There were none. I waited for what seemed like eternity for someone, anyone, to come. This wasn't like in the movies where the kidnappers brought food and water to the victim. These people hadn't even stepped back in to make sure I was still alive.
I'm going to die here, I thought to myself. I'm going to die without ever seeing Uncle Meestake again, without ever feeling Seven's arms around me again, without ever hearing either of them tell me that they love me again. I was going to die alone, and I was scared.
I was hungry, I was cold and I was thirsty. I was in unfathomable pain. They had taken my clothes, my jewelry and my watch, and the windows were boarded over. I had no way of even guessing what time it was.
It was hard to wake my sleeping arms and legs, feet and hands. It was painful. There was no bed, no chair, no dresser, no light, none of the things that I had taken for granted. There wasn't even a rug or carpet, just a stone cold concrete floor. There was no toilet, no sink, no shower. I heard a rustling sound in a corner of the room. A loud squeak confirmed my fear; a rat. His claws tapped against the cement as he skittered across the floor.
I wouldn't cry. Seven would want me to be brave. I'm not going to disappoint him, I told myself. I slid down the door and sat down on the floor. I prayed. It has been too long now. I knew that no one was coming for me now. I knew that these people had hidden me away and forgotten about me.
A long time later, I heard someone at the door. I was weak, so weak. I was starving and dying of thirst. Seven, finally Seven had come. I struggled to stand.
"Seven," I mumbled as the door opened.
I moved into his open arms.
"Get back!" I was pushed so hard that I fell back, my feet flying over my head. I landed hard on the concrete floor. "Don't you move!" They needn't worry. That was impossible. I felt a sticky wetness on my scalp and reached to touch it. "Put your 'and down!"
I put my hand down and stared down the barrels of the two guns pointed at my head. The beam from the flashlight was blinding. I attempted to shield my eyes from the light. My arm wouldn't move. It dangled uselessly at my side.
"Bari," one of them leered.
"How ...my name?" They laughed. "Why am I here?" My voice sounded like I had drank a glass of rusty nails.
"Do you not like our company, Bari?"
They both laughed.
"Is it money you want?"
"Let's just say we are doing a fava for a friend."
What friend? Who would want to hurt me like this?
"Can I have some water, please?"
"Certainly! We'll be right back with your water, Bari. Any ting else? Are you 'ungry?" I nodded. "We'll bring you food, too, and maybe a change of clothes!"
They laughed as they backed out the door.
I touched my hand to the back of my head. I smelled the coppery scent of blood, my blood. I felt my way to the far corner of the room and used the bathroom as I had done quite a few times since I had been here.
I curled up on the floor in front of the door and attempted to get warm. It wasn't long before the rat came in to investigate. I wasn't surprised. The smell of urine, feces, and blood was sure to arouse his senses. I sat up, wide awake, then stood up and leaned against the door. I soon heard raindrops hitting the tin roof. Rain. Water. I needed water so badly. I felt the rat bump against my foot. I kicked at it. It screeched loudly, hissed at me and moved to the far side of the room and began chewing on the wooden walls. The sound was sickening and scary.
I fought to keep my eyes open. My body fought against me and soon won the battle. I was freezing. My body was damp from the wet cement. My chest hurt. My back hurt. Deep coughs wracked my body. I heard voices. I sat up and reeled from the pain in my head, arm a
nd body. The room was silent. There were no voices, no people, only the voices in my head. I ran my hand over my injured arm. It felt perfectly normal, until I got below my elbow. I fought the urge to throw up, faint, or both, as I felt my own bone protruding through the skin. My inner arm was now facing outward. I began to cry. I said my goodbyes to Uncle Meestake, Birdie, Major, Marion, Gucci, Six and was about to start on Seven when I heard a child's voice yelling loudly. It has to be in my head. I went on with my goodbyes. I asked God to please make sure that he let my daddy and Macy know that I was on my way and to be looking for me.
I heard it again. I felt as if all the air were being squeezed from my lungs. I began coughing so hard that I felt blood burst from my nose, and a pain in my eyes that was almost unbearable. Again, the child's voice. I moved over to the corner that had been my makeshift bathroom. I pressed my ear against the slats of wood.
"You know we're not supposed to be down ere, Michael! And b'sides, I'm scared. I want to go ome now!" One of the kids cried.
I beat on the wall as hard as I could. I couldn't scream if l wanted to, and I didn't want to risk alerting my captors. There were no spaces in the slats, no cracks, no openings. I used the strength I had left to kick the wall. I knew I was dead. The noise was so loud. I held my breath and waited for the men to come shoot me. No one came. I was about to give up and go back to my spot on the floor when I heard the words that made me cry out in relief and joy.
"Michael! I 'eard some ting inside der! Ooo is in der?" The boy asked.
"Is anybody der?" A second boy that must have been Michael asked.
"Help me! Please help me!" I yelled as loud as I could and went into a coughing fit.
"Ooo are you?"
"Bari! Please, get someone to help me! Hurry, please!"
"Bari? Der were people looking fa you!"
"Please get help!"
There was no response. They had gone.
"What ah you kids doin' ere!"
Oh God no, don't let this be happening.
"Nothin', just playin'," they answered innocently, but quite loudly.
They were letting me know my captors were coming.
"Get the 'ell away from' ere!"
I laid in the middle of the floor, pretending to be asleep. The door opened.
"She's asleep," one of the men said.
Crazy In Love With A Thug: Bari and Seven Page 26