Talk of the Town

by Tanya Ridley

  “You think I don’t know about you steppin’ on my toes in this city. You think I don’t know about your cousin, Marquez setting up shop here wit’ his crew without my permission. You think I’m stupid bitch,” she barked slightly.

  “Mya, what the fuck do you think, you own the city or some shit? Besides, this is a big place, my cousin does what he wants to do.”

  “I know you’re behind him, Diamond and I know Scottie’s supplying you and you’re supplying Marquez. Did you forget that I had your back, and without me, you would be dead? I helped you out.”

  “If you came into my shop to threaten me, then you need to get the fuck out. I’m my own woman. Me and my cousin aren’t scared of you and your so called crew,” I countered. “What the fuck do you want me to do, back down?”

  She chuckled. “Back down, bitch, we can end this right now, you and me. You used to be my best friend and now you’re stabbing me in the back; well I’m ready to return the favor.”

  I was tired, and wanted to let her know that if we had to go to war to end all this shit, then so be it. “You really wanna go there, Mya? You and your bitches may have this town locked down with fear, but me and Marquez don’t give a fuck about you. You got guns, we got guns. You got soldiers, we got soldiers too,” I said.

  I held the scissors tightly in my hand, and stared back at her reflection in the mirror. If I wanted to, I could’ve taken her life then and there, but I knew the repercussions that would follow, especially with her goon, Ace outside the door with my girls.

  I relaxed my anger and heard Mya respond with, “You know I’m a crazy bitch and don’t give fuck about you, this shop, or anyone else. And cuz we used to be home girls, I decided to show you some respect and talk to you about this matter in person, woman to woman, rather than have my niggahs run up in here and shoot you and everyone else. Now, you gonna spit in my face and shout out threats to me, especially wit’ your pale face boyfriend still down in Miami. You think he’s close enough to have your back in time?”

  “I think it’s time for you to leave,” I ordered.

  “You really wanna do this? I’m only givin’ you one warnin’ and after that, if you still wanna play this game, then I’ll no longer look at you as a friend, but as my enemy,” she warned.

  “I stopped being your friend the day you stepped to me about that bullshit before, Mya.”

  “And what did I say to you then, get in the way of my money again, and blood will spill between us.”

  “So let it be then,” I spat back. “I’m tired of you talkin’ shit!”

  She smirked at me. “Tell your cousin Marquez if he’s still in town by tomorrow night, then I’m gonna send my dogs out to play wit’ him and it won’t be pretty.”

  “Don’t threaten my family, bitch!”

  “I already did.”

  With the scissors still clutched in my hand, I wanted to thrust the sharp object into her neck. But I held my composure and stared at her. “Scottie sends his wishes.”

  I knew that would get under her skin. She stood up and walked out the door without saying another word.

  As soon as Mya walked out of my shop, she got into her car and drove off, as my customers and employees made their way back inside asking a million questions. Everyone looked at me with a suspicious stare, wanting to know the connection between the two of us, but I just wanted to be alone. I walked into my office and closed the door behind me, knowing the gossip would start before I could even blink. But I could care less. They could talk until they were blue in the face. I had more important things to worry about, like how I was gonna protect the only family that I had and cared about.

  Chapter 18

  Mya

  The next day, I helda metal baseball bat in the palm of my hands, ready to send a violent message to a very stubborn bitch. She thought that she could go against me without any repercussions, so I was about to show Diamond how vicious these streets could get.

  With Ace and a few goons coverin’ my back, we stepped out of a rented Chevrolet Trailblazer dressed in all black jumpsuits, ready to hit one of Marquez’s inconspicuous drug spots with force.

  Before he had a chance to react, we grabbed one of Marquez’s workers who stood guard outside for a decoy to get inside the building. We warned him that if he wanted to live, then he had to do exactly what we told him. With a gun to his head and fear grippin’ his heart, he led us to a steel door. The drug spot was on Simpson Road, in a rundown house surrounded by trees and abandon cars. I got word from a good source that they were pullin’ in some serious paper and I wanted them shut down.

  I went along with Ace and a member of my crew, because not only did the thrill of killin’ people excite me, but this hit was personal. I wanted to see Diamond’s cousin pay for her disrespectin’ me.

  “Knock niggah, and let ‘em know you here,” Ace instructed our decoy, as he hid behind him, but kept his gun aimed at the decoy’s head.

  I knew Marquez was inside, and I wanted to kill him for myself. Within a month he’d taken business out of my pockets by thirty-five percent, and that was a major problem. Also he had been going head to head with my crew, over territory so the body count in the city was at it’s highest. It was hard to do business when you were disputin’ with another crew over territory and clientele. But I knew we had to be careful because like Ace, he was a cold-blooded murderer who didn’t take shit from anyone. His reputation was growin’ strong, and I couldn’t have that. He was killing my business so both he and Diamond had to be killed to send out a strong message that I was in control of this city.

  Our hostage knocked twice on the door. We waited for an answer.

  “Yo, who is it?” we heard a voice say.

  “Gettin’ money,” our hostage said. I knew that was their code name to get in the house.

  “Everything good?” the other person reassured.

  “Yeah,” our hostage returned, playin’ along.

  Soon the door unlocked and the other person came into view. That’s when we sprung into action and pushed our decoy to the side and rushed our way inside with heavy artillery catchin’ our victims by surprise.

  “Yo, it’s a hit!” the decoy shouted, tryin’ to warn his crew.

  I let off four hot rounds with the silencer on the tip that sent rapid hot steel through his back, dropping him face down to the floor. There were two more in the room and seeing us barge in unannounced, they tried to scramble for guns and cover. But unfortunately live rounds quickly tore into them and every last niggah dropped like pourin’ rain. The gunfire was quiet, because we all had silencers on our guns, just to make sure nobody got away.

  With a few enemies already taken care of, we moved stealthily through the first floor and began makin’ our way downstairs to the basement where the product was being packaged. I gripped the bat and my gun tightly in my hand and followed behind my crew.

  The steps were squeaky and we moved as quietly as we could toward the bottom of the steps. When we finally reached the bottom, the basement was dark and concrete. We began to hear voices as we moved closer. When the people were finally in view, it was a girl in her bra and panties and a niggah in his jeans, and a dirty wife-beater. It looked as if they were takin’ a break or some shit. They looked heavily engrossed in their conversation and didn’t notice that they had company until Ace suddenly loomed into view and popped off two in their heads with the silencer.

  When we moved the bodies out the way, I quietly walked up to an open doorway and looked in. What I saw was shockin’. It was an assembly line for packaging crack cocaine and ecstasy for distribution onto the streets. There were a dozen women in their underwear and two men watching over them. Damn, this mutha-fucka think he’s Nino Brown from New Jack City up in this bitch.

  The resources about one of Marquez’s spot was on the money. I displayed a devilish smile and prepared myself for the slaughter. You hit us, and we hit you back harder until you finally collapse. We had the element of surprise and I loved every
second of it.

  When we prepared ourselves for entry, I heard Onyx’s, ‘Last Days’ playin’ from the small portable radio in the next room, and I thought how ironic that was for that particular song to be playin’ as death was about to happen.

  My crew member stepped forward with a Glock gripped in one hand and a wooden baseball bat in the other. He glanced at me and Ace, to let us know he was ready, and then entered the room like mutha-fuckin’ Rambo. Soon, there was panic, followed by loud screams, and several people runnin’.

  Ace shot one of the guys in the head, droppin’ him near the door and then we went to work on the rest in the room. He stood near the door with his weapon exposed for everyone to see, making sure no victims could escape what was inevitable, death.

  The women were horrified, and began beggin’ for their lives, and callin’ out the names of their children to spare them from being slaughtered. But I didn’t give a fuck; a violent and strong message had to be sent, and what better message to send out than a bloody massacre.

  I came across my first victim, a petite woman in black panties, a lace bra, and a do-rag on her head. Her eyes became filled with terror, as she backed herself toward the wall and screamed out, “Please, I’m only doin’ this to support my kids. I have four kids. Please!”

  “You know who I am?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  “Good,” I exclaimed, before swingin’ the bat and strikin’ her in the head with a heavy-duty blow to her temple.

  I felt her neck snap because her body was so small and fragile. She collapsed to the ground after the first hit. The side of her face was coated with blood, but I didn’t stop. I hit her numerous times, leavin’ her in a huge pile of blood.

  I went after my next victim who was trying to hide under a wooden table. “Are you tryin’ to hide, bitch!” I asked flippin’ the table over.

  She stood up and tried to run, but the sudden blow to the back of her head with the baseball bat, split open her head and dropped that bitch to the floor. “Don’t you ever fuckin’ run from me, bitch!” I shouted, and continued to beat her in the head with the bat, focusing on nowhere else but the face and skull.

  I broke her nose in numerous places and damn near had her eye protruding out the socket. Me and my crew beat Marquez’s bitches relentlessly, huntin’ each and every one down and sprayin’ the room with blood. The loud screams soon began to fade, and the cries for mercy came to a halt.

  After the chaos, a total of five women and three men lay dead. My metal baseball bat was covered with blood, along with my hands. Bodies were layed out everywhere and we went through the each one of them, shootin’ or beatin’ whoever clung on to life. It looked like a scene from a horror film, but the message couldn’t be any clearer.

  I was disappointed though, because Marquez wasn’t anywhere to be found. We searched from floor to floor, and room to room, but there was no sign of him. But I’m sure the blood bath we left for him downstairs said enough.

  “Come on, we gotta go,” Ace said.

  We stole four keys and fifty thousand in cash before leavin’ the dead and silent room. I walked out the back exit still holdin’ both murder weapons in my hand. We dumped the guns and the bats in the back of the truck onto plastic coverings to make sure no blood stained the interior. We also took off the jumpsuits that had our regular clothes underneath and put them on top of the plastic as well. I wiped my hands and cleaned off any blood that may have splattered on my face then jumped in the passenger’s side.

  Minutes later, we quickly pulled off after committing one of the worst massacres in our city’s history. Soon, I knew everyone would be lookin’ at me and my crew, but I didn’t give a fuck. My respect and reputation would be solid and I would have domination over this city and the drug trade. I wasn’t scared to take it to the next level, and after tonight’s actions proved just how far I would go.

  Chapter 19

  Diamond

  When am I gonna see you again?” I asked Scottie, with a small plea.

  “Soon, baby. I know it’s been a while since we saw each other, but I think about you everyday,” he replied.

  “I miss you.”

  “I miss you too,” he replied.

  It had been months since I’d seen Scottie and got to spend some quality and intimate time with him. I needed to see my man soon because I was tired of using my faithful vibrator and I didn’t know how much longer I could hold out.

  I was in my office at the shop, on an early Friday morning. So far, Michelle and I were the only ones in the shop trying to get ready for another busy day. I loved hearing Scottie’s voice when he called because he always made my day.

  As I was on the phone, Marquez abruptly walked into my office. “We got a fuckin’ problem,” he said, not even caring that I was on the phone.

  “Don’t you see I’m on the phone, fool,” I spat at him.

  He picked up the remote to the T.V. in my office and turned to the early news. With the phone still to my ear, I stared up at the flat screen mounted on my office wall and read the words, “Breaking News” that flashed across the screen. My eyes became wide when one of my cousin’s drug locations was displayed behind hundreds of police cars, paramedics and news crews.

  “Baby, let me call you back, something came up,” I said.

  “Is everything okay? Who was that dude talking?” Scottie replied.

  “That was Marquez, he’s about to get a beat down from one of the girls, so I needed to put out the fire,” I lied.

  “Oh, well call me back when you’re done. Love you.”

  “Love you too,” I responded quickly and hung up the phone, so Channel 3 news could finally have my full attention.

  “We’re live here on Simpson Road, where police came across a gruesome discovery early this morning,” the newscaster announced, as she stood behind the yellow police tape.

  “We’re not sure as how many people have been found dead in this prime drug spot, but police say there are several men and women who have murdered. Two of the victims were even pregnant. They were found in the basement of this location at this appalling scene. The murders seem to be drug-related, because detectives found six kilos of cocaine in the same room where some of the bodies were found. Once again, several victims have been found dead inside of this location on Simpson Road, which only adds to the murder rate that continues to climb. We’ll keep you updated with any new information that becomes available, until, this is Roslyn Joyner, for Channel 3 news.”

  “Oh my God,” I uttered, turning off the television.

  “That bitch is fuckin’ crazy. Damn near all of my men are dead. She’s gotta go. Did you see that shit? This is bad business. Now police and the feds are gonna be all over us because of that bitch. I’m putting a bullet in her fuckin’ head myself because she seems to think she can fuck wit’ me!” Marquez ranted.

  I couldn’t believe it. What was Mya thinking? A gruesome crime like that brought the feds into play and made business bad for everyone.

  “And didn’t you hear the newscaster say, detectives found six keys of coke. Well I know for a fact that it was ten keys over there, so that means either the cops took the other four, or that bitch Mya did. My guess right now is Mya took the shit, and I’m pretty sure they took the fifty grand in cash too,” he said pacing the floor.

  I didn’t know what to do. I was at a lost. What I did know was that Mya had completely lost her fuckin’ mind, and we both needed to watch our back more than ever. I was trying to run a business and didn’t need this shit in my life.

  “Baby girl, you need to take your ass back down to Miami and chill out for a moment, until this shit blows over. You’re in danger wit’ that bitch still alive and running around. She knows where to find you and that ain’t safe,” Marquez said, calling me by my childhood nickname.

  “No, I have a business to run. I can’t keep running away from that girl,” I replied.

  “Well, are you at least strapped?”

  I nodded
. I kept my .380, in the office, and my new faithful .40 Caliber at home.

  “I can’t let anything happen to you. So from now on, I’m assigning a personal bodyguard for your protection,” Marquez informed. I knew he wasn’t taking no for an answer.

  “Fine,” I replied.

  We had taken a huge lost with four keys and fifty thousand in cash. Not to mention all the men and women who were now dead. I had to give it to her, Mya knew how to strike and how hard to hit, but she still didn’t put any fear in my heart.

  I knew I needed to call Scottie and inform him about the problems that I was having, but decided against it, because I knew Marquez was capable of handling the situation.

  I walked out my office with Marquez and told Michelle to hold down the shop until I returned. I needed to go home for a moment and get some rest and time to think, something I couldn’t have done in the shop. I needed to come up with a solution before Mya took this shit any further and made this city too hot to do business in. She was out of control and was about to bring a ton of trouble down her way, and if I wasn’t careful, mine too.

  After a long day at the shop, I drove up to my house and eyed the fresh cut grass. A monthago, I’d moved from my second apartment and purchased a modest three bedroom home in Marietta that was nothing too extravagant. I wanted to keep a low profile with the neighbors. I still drove around in my Toyota, filed taxes, and tried not to act like I wasn’t a rising kingpin with a murderous crew at war with a rival crew for the drug trade in ATL.

  The past several months had been good to me. I had a man, money, cars, my own business and a proper level of respect in the city. But with all that, I still felt empty. I always thought that once I had everything I wanted, life would be better for me, but things were getting complicated. How soon until my perfect little world starts to crumble with me underneath it all?

  I missed Scottie, and loved everything he did for me, but he was miles away, so I knew even though he claimed that he loved me, he was still messing with other women. Men need attention at all times, and when they don’t get it from one person, then you’re quickly replaced with someone who can. But I tried to look past all negative things and focused my time on work.