by KP, Miss
“Are you gonna tell me what’s wrong now?”
I glanced over at my daughter, who was my twin. A light skinned version of me, and more Hispanic than black, she reminded me of the actress Lauren London wit’ her deep dimples and almond shaped eyes. Not to mention, her body made her look ten years older, which scared me. “Somethin’ came up, so I need you to stay at your grandmother’s house ‘til things get settled.”
Denie sighed. “Oh, no. Please don’t take me over there,” she said wit’ so much disappointment in her eyes.
“Trust me. It’s best if you stay there for a while,” I answered.
“Are you coming back? Please promise that you’re coming back. Suppose they kill y’all.”
I couldn’t believe she’d just said that. I glanced at Denie again. “What are you talkin’ about?”
“The dude who called on the phone. You should’ve never turned down the music because I could hear what he was saying. Just give him what he wants, so you can come back and get me.” Denie was a lot smarter than I gave her credit for.
My baby girl was so much like me, it was scary. She was down for whatever, and could handle whatever came her way, which made me proud. Any other kid would’ve probably been sheddin’ a tear by now. I’d raised both of my kids to be strong. In my line of work, weakness wasn’t an option.
“Don’t worry, baby. I promise I’ll come back and get you. I’ll never leave you again. Who’s Daddy’s girl?”
Denie was hesitant at first. “Me, your Baby Girl,” she said in a low child-like tone.
“Damn right. You’re my pride and joy.” That was our little thing since she was a little girl. I knew that would comfort her…for the moment.
Makin’ sure we weren’t bein’ followed, I hit a lot of back streets to watch my back. As I pulled into my mother’s drive way ten minutes later, I noticed the ice from the snow storm a few days prior hadn’t been shoveled, which was another thing for me to feel guilty about. Wit’ my mother sick wit’ Coronary Heart Disease, there was no excuse for her yard to look like that. I made a mental note to take care of that as soon as I got out the current mess I was in.
Taking my .9mm from under my seat, I put it in my coat pocket and got out to open Denie’s door. Seconds later, we walked up the hill of the driveway wit’ my arm draped around her shoulder. Denie had been so quiet the past few minutes, I knew she had an attitude, but she had no other choice but to get over it.
My mother took forever to answer the door. It was cold as shit as I rang the doorbell at least ten times.
“Where’s your key?” my mother asked when she finally appeared. Her body seemed more frail since the last time I’d seen her.
“Hey, Ma.” I bent down and gave her a kiss on her forehead. My mind so was distraught that I’d completely forgotten to use my key. “Sorry, it’s a lot on my mind right now,” I said walkin’ further inside. “Hey, can Denie stay here for a while? I have to make an important run.”
“Boy, it don’t make no sense. It’s that girl’s birthday, and all you can think about is running those damn streets!” my mother yelled wit’ frustration. “Aren’t you too old for that mess?”
Denie hated goin’ to my mother’s house, especially since all she did was ramble off quotes from the Bible and utter broken Spanish under her breath, and I couldn’t blame her. Ever since my father died ten years ago, she hadn’t been the same.
“Ma, it’s not like that. This is important,” I replied. “Look, I gotta go.” I walked over to Denie and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Don’t worry, Baby Girl. I’ll be back.”
The look in Denie’s eyes was pure sadness as she watched me walk out of the door.
When I got in my truck, I could see her starin’ out of the livin’ room window like a little puppy. As bad as I didn’t want to leave her on her birthday, it was about her well-bein’ at this point. Not to mention, I didn’t know who these fools were or what I was dealin’ wit’, so my mother’s house was the safest place for her at the moment. I didn’t want to take any chances. My son, Juan, didn’t answer his cell phone as usual, so I left him a message lettin’ him know to stay at one of his girlfriend’s houses for a minute ‘til he heard from me. Like father like son, Juan had plenty of women. Ever since I’d bought him a 750 Li BMW when he graduated from high school, he’d definitely been a bitch magnet.
My mind began racin’ again and I was officially in guerilla mode. How could I let these muthafuckas catch me slippin’? I knew that the recession and the recent drought in the game had caused a lot of dudes’ money to be fucked up, but I questioned who had the balls to come after me and my family. I loved my family, and everyone in the streets could attest to how much they meant to me. Now that somebody had decided to fuck wit’ them had me in a rage, and they were going to pay…big time.
When Denie disappeared from the window, I zipped up my Northface coat, pulled my skull cap over my ears, and hopped back out the truck. I didn’t want her to know what I was up to. Runnin’ around the back of my mother’s house, I had to get some doe. A good amount of my money was stashed in the bottom of the shed since I really didn’t trust banks like that. Even though my mother was nosey, she never went into the shed, so it was the perfect spot. I raced through the snow in the backyard to hurry since time was not on my side. Unlockin’ the padlock, I looked over my shoulder to make sure no one was watchin’. Not only was my mother nosey, but her neighbors were even worse. More importantly, I wanted to make sure the muthafuckas who were tryin’ to ruin my life weren’t tryin’ to creep up on me either.
After walkin’ inside and closing the door behind me, I quickly began removin’ all the bags of soil that I’d placed over a huge wood board. Once the board was removed, I stared at the deep hole that had been covered in dirt. Grabbin’ the shovel, I began diggin’ as fast as I could to get to the suitcase that contained my cash. However, the more dirt I removed, the angrier I got.
“I’ma kill these muthafuckas,” I said to myself. Even though my wife was worth it, I was ready for war at the thought of me havin’ to fuck wit’ my stash.
When I finally reached the suitcase, I quickly pulled it from the hole and placed it on my lap. Knowin’ I had to act fast, I opened the plastic bag the money was in, then began to count out several stacks. I kept my money in bundles, ten thousand in each. When I reached fifty, I placed the money in one of mother’s old gardenin’ bags, and put the rest back. Once everything was back in it’s proper place, I quickly placed the padlock back on the door, ran through the yard and jumped in my truck. The way I pulled off down the street, you would’ve thought I was a driver for Nascar.
After drivin’ for a few minutes, I picked up my phone, realizin’ that I’d left it in the car. I had five missed calls from a private number.
“Shit,” I said, then banged my fist against the steerin’ wheel. I didn’t want those niggas to do somethin’ stupid.
Before I could think any further, my phone rang again. It was from a blocked number again, so I knew exactly who it was this time. “Hello.”
“You better start answering yo’ phone nigga, if you want this shit to work out. You got fifteen minutes or this bitch is dead. When you pull up, blow the horn twice. Oh, and come unarmed.” CLICK
I hated when muthafuckas gave me orders. No one gave me orders, but I had to bow down ‘til I found out who was responsible for this. They were definitely goin’ to pay though. If I had to kill their whole family so be it. I already had it in my mind that I wasn’t goin’ to show any mercy.
Doin’ as I was told, I drove through D.C. at top speed, hopin’ not to get pulled over. Lookin’ at the clock on my radio every few minutes, I ran every red light I could ‘til I finally made it to Ritchie Road. There was so much goin’ on I didn’t even have time to call my cousin, Carlos, who was my right hand man. At a time like this, I wish he didn’t live on the West Coast.
Wit’ only two minutes to spare, I pulled up in front of the abandoned warehouse and tapped
the horn two times. Moments later, a door on the side of the buildin’ opened, and an arm appeared, gesturin’ me to come inside. After placin’ my gun back under the seat, I hopped out of my truck to find three masked men all pointin’ their heat at me as soon as I walked inside. Wit’ both of my hands in the air, one of them patted me down and checked every single pocket in my coat. He then handcuffed me to a pole, and snatched the gardenin’ bag out of my hand.
“Richie!” a deep voice rang out from behind a door. “I’m so glad you could make it. Now, punish that nigga!” he yelled.
The tallest of the three dudes immediately came over to me and did exactly what his boss ordered. I didn’t even have a chance to look for Lisa before the muthafucka shot me. The hot metal burned through my skin and instantly tore open my knee. Blood gushed everywhere. It was evident that they weren’t playin’. Seconds later, somebody hit me over the head wit’ a blunt object and I hit the cold dusty floor instantly. The next thing I remembered was the feelin’ of a hot liquid pourin’ over my face. When I finally realized that one of the muthafuckas was pissin’ on me, anger consumed by body like a rapid spreadin’ disease.
“Wake the fuck up!” one of the goons yelled as he shook his little, shriveled up dick.
“Yeah, wake up Richie,” the voice from behind the door said. “Since you decided to fuck my girl, now, it’s time for me to fuck yours again.” At that moment, I realized that this just wasn’t about kidnappin’ Lisa or the money; it was much deeper.
“Are you serious? All this over some bitch!” I belted. The crazy thing was, I’d fucked wit’ so many women over the years, hell over the past few months, I had no idea who he was talkin’ about.
“No, don’t get it twisted. The money was first priority, but the fact that you been fucking my girl, just makes the shit worse,” the voice replied.
“Rich…help me…please!” I finally heard Lisa cry out.
“Shut the fuck up!” the voice demanded. A few minutes later, I could hear the nigga gruntin’ in the background.
I shouted to the top of my lungs. “Why…why my wife? I’m gonna kill you muthafucka!”
“You sending death threats while my man fucking yo’ wife?” one of the goons asked.
“Awww shit I’m bout to bust…fuck,” the voice behind the door moaned.
All I could hear was Lisa screamin’ as the rest of his goons laughed.
“You’re going to die!” I prayed I could make good on my threat. “Show your face, you punk-ass nigga!”
“Is that how you treat the man who just banged yo’ wife? See, that’s why I won’t reveal to you who my girl is. You just think about all the bitches you fucked and wonder who I’m talking about,” the voice replied.
The other guys laughed as I squirmed. I think this was the day my manhood was stripped. I felt worthless, especially when I heard Lisa’s voice again.
“No…please...wait. What are you doing?” she asked.
I thought I was about to hear the nigga moanin’ again, when suddenly the door opened. Hopin’ I would see his face, I lifted my head as somethin’ was tossed out the door. The more I focused in on the Tiffany diamond barrette, I knew that it was a wad of Lisa’s hair.
“What the fuck? What was the point of that?” When no one answered me, all I could do was just lay there and wonder what else was about to go down. Seconds later, I watched as my wife crawled out of the room lifeless and naked. She was so badly beaten that it hurt me to even look at her.
“Crawl bitch, I love it when you crawl!” the taller goon called out as the other two laughed.
As soon as Lisa was half way across the room, one of the goons grabbed her by the leg and pulled her toward him. “Come here, bitch. Now, I want some of that ass.”
“No…please. Not again,” Lisa wailed as the goon began to slap her ass. I could tell he loved the way it bounced.
“Get your fuckin’ hands off of her!” I demanded.
“Man get the duct tape and shut that nigga up,” the taller goon instructed. “He about to make my dick go soft.”
Doin’ as they were told, I squirmed as the goons placed duct tape over my mouth as well as Lisa’s. Seconds later, I watched in complete horror as the tall goon grabbed my wife’s hips, shoved his raw dick into her ass, then began poundin’ at a rapid pace. Watchin’ my wife bein’ sodomized was heart wrenchin’ especially how her eyes cried for my help and knowin’ there was nothin’ I could do.
“Yeah, this shit nice and tight,” the goon said as his dick plunged in and out.
“You muthafucka!” I muffled through the tape, knowin’ he couldn’t hear me.
I could only imagine the pain Lisa was in as tears streamed down her face. The pit of my stomach felt sour. There was nothin’ I could do to save my wife and it hurt. This bitch- ass nigga had stripped me of my manhood and I wanted to kill anything in the room movin’. As the goon finally pulled out moments later, his dick dripped of blood and semen. He even had the nerve to pull on his shit so the remainin’ fluids could fall on Lisa’s back. It was beyond degradin’.
After the bastard zipped his pants back up, he and the other goons went into the room where the nigga was callin’ the shots and closed the door. At that moment, I glanced over at my wife, who was still layin’ in the same spot. She looked helpless. It killed me not bein’ able to run over to her to see if she was okay. Suddenly, I heard a lot of noise before the annoyin’-ass voice called out again.
“Richie, word on the street is you about yo’ business, and I guess they’re right. Since you kept yo’ word and all the money is here, I’ma keep mine, but damn I hate to give yo’ wife’s pussy up.” The more he continued to talk shit, the more it pissed me off, but it was nothin’ I could do. “Come on my niggas we out!” the voice yelled as a small white box was tossed out the door.
After all the goons left, and I could hear tires screechin’ away, Lisa finally turned and looked in my direction. At that moment, I motioned to her wit’ my head to get the box. She continued to lay there for a few seconds before finally crawlin’ to the package. Wit’ barely any energy, she picked it up and opened it. It was the key to the handcuffs and a note. Finally makin’ her way over to me to unlock the cuffs she handed me the note in complete silence, which read, Thanks for the cash in the shed, you shouldn’t have.
Oh, shit! How the fuck did they find that out, I thought. Since they knew where my mother lived, I had to get her and Denie out the house before somethin’ else popped off.
CHAPTER THREE
Lisa
No matter how many baths I took to meditate and clear my mind, I just couldn’t forget the day that changed my life. As I continued to soak and smell the aroma of my vanilla candles, all I could think to myself was, I should’ve left his ass a long time ago. My husband, the man that meant the world to me, had turned my world upside down. Being so loyal, I was always down for Rich, but the riches, cars, big house, and furs weren’t worth it anymore. For years I’d been asking Rich to leave the streets alone. He was so knee deep that he felt it was all he knew. Sometimes I wondered whether he was married to me or the game.
It was so hard for me to deal with being abducted and raped because I couldn’t talk about it to anyone. Since high school, Rich had caused me to alienate my friends and family so I didn’t have anyone outside of him, Carlos’ wife, Marisol and my girl, Trixie. Marisol always came through for me when I needed her. Once Rich and I learned that my attackers had taken the money from the shed, we knew it was no longer safe for Denie to stay at Rich’s mom’s house. Carlos had Marisol fly in from California, so that Denie and his mother could stay with her at their East Coast home in Potomac, Maryland. We knew they would be safer there. Rich didn’t play around when it came to his street business, and he did his best to keep me out of it.
He made it clear to me that it would ruin the children if anyone knew, so I had to stay quiet. Even though Marisol was well aware, I was even prohibited from talking to her about it. Since Trixie was kn
own to run her mouth, she wasn’t even an option. Rich warned me on more than one occasion that he would fuck me up, if I ever said anything to her. Hell, he didn’t even want me talking to Trixie about the weather most of the time. I couldn’t understand how Rich wanted me to stay mute about such a traumatic event; like he wanted me to forget that the shit even happened. Who could erase a pain like that?
Reaching for the prescription bottle of Ambien on the side of the tub, I took a sleeping pill in order to let my problems slip away. Faced with my nightmare, I heard the voice of the bastard who raped me every day; a voice that constantly rang in my ears. Night sweats, startled by loud noises, had me so paranoid. Lately, there was no way possible I could rest peacefully without taking sleeping pills. The pills were my only way to cope. I imagined and stared at the flames of my candles and let my problems just melt away into the wax. Three weeks had passed and I knew it would take time, but it was still hard for me to even enter my bedroom, let alone my bathroom, which used to be my sanctuary.
Meditating on my thoughts, I wondered if I would ever be able to move past this situation. I just couldn’t believe how I nursed Rich back to health after he was shot, but yet I was the one who needed him. I’d been raped and sodomized for hours by my attackers but yet, on wifey duty, I catered to Rich and focused on him. Getting back to himself was his first priority as always. He never once asked me if I was okay. The anger I felt secretly toward him, made me want to leave so bad. Back in the day, he knew how to use the kids to make me stay. Now that the kids were getting older, I really didn’t have a reason to still be with him. Every time I would bring up what my attacker said about Rich fucking his girl, he would say he didn’t want to hear that shit. He would go on to say how I couldn’t believe someone else over my husband. I knew Rich was lying. I just didn’t have any proof. In my mind, Rich just couldn’t face that his infidelity was the reason why our lives would never be the same.