by Brick
“But I won that,” Jake grumbled then sharply cursed through the stinging of his cuts that were being cleansed.
All jokes continued and I flinched at the sting of rubbing alcohol on my body as the African Queen patched Jake and me up. I watched the one they called Speedy stroll through the condo making his way into the kitchen opening up cabinets then the refrigerator as if he lived here. Something about him amused me so I let it fly as he pointed at a bottle of coconut water then bent down to grab some food.
“So what up?” I asked.
Trigga stepped up and he laughed at the kid who plopped down next to me. The kid pushed off the hoodie and I saw mounds of thick, twisted braids fall everywhere. Hoop earrings peeped from under the thick mass. I sat back in awe at the realization that the kid was a girl. She looked up at me, looked me up and down with eyes that seemed to match my own, then tucked her iPod ear bud in her ear as she dug in her backpack pulling out a notepad.
She flippantly pushed it my way and spoke to me without looking, “Since ya in the family ’n’ stuff, sign ya name here.”
I chuckled low and did what she said, giving her my autograph. I handed her back the notebook. She stared the signature down then gave a wide smile before putting it away. Shaking my head, I looked up toward a chuckling Trigga.
“She a rude girl for real. So check it, like it or not, beef now settled. We here to help you with that nigga who’s a loose end. This is my family; let me introduce you all, and we can talk business.”
Trigga walked around the room and made his introductions. I was all smiles and humor before the last hoodie came off. A young Ciara-looking chick stood before me, winking her eyes at me, and grinning hard. “You that dude Enzo on the Nightwings. Damn you fine in person.”
The moment that chicken opened her mouth, I felt my Glock in my hand on the side of me as my body became ridged like steel and a scowl formed across my face. “Yeah, Trig fam. I’m good on that help, brah; don’t need it, don’t want it.”
Chapter 9
Angel
As soon as the girl took her hoodie off I moved behind her. I was all set to knock that bitch on her ass until I felt a blade at my throat.
“You may want to rethink that thang, pretty gyal,” the boy I had come to know as Speedy said to me.
Enzo jumped up and pointed his gun at Speedy. The chain reaction was immediate. Those same people we had been glad to see just moments earlier held guns pointed at both me and him.
“Bruh, you better speak your piece or you and li’l shawty ’bout to bite these bullets,” Trigga said to Enzo.
“Nah, what’s about to happen is you’re about to be a member short and if that means I gotta die to ensure that my aunt and my brother remain safe so be it. But y’all need to make sure each member of your crew is legit and not working for the devil,” Enzo growled low.
I could have been wrong, but I knew I’d seen that lanky bitch get in the car with Micah earlier.
“You better use this fucking blade you got against my throat, nigga, because if not this bitch is dead,” I told Speedy. The hunting knife that Enzo had given me earlier was already drawing blood from the girl’s side.
“I don’t really know you like that, Angel, but I respect you because you were one of the only girls who was nice to me in the house with Dame. But I ain’t that same girl I used to be and will split your fucking skull in one shot if you push that knife any deeper,” Ray-Ray told me.
I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was dead serious, but it was the semi smirk on Gina’s and the other young girl’s face, the one they had called Chyna, that gave me a little less fear in what I was set to do.
I noticed that Trigga and Jake had their guns aimed at Enzo who had his gun aimed at Speedy. The African Queen, a woman I had always wanted to be like simply because of the woman she was, stepped in between the melee.
She held her hands out and looked between all of us. “Obviously, we have a problem here. Cooler heads need to prevail. Angel, why so hostile toward Dominique?”
“I saw this bitch get in the car with Micah today,” I quickly spoke up.
“I don’t even know who the fuck Micah is,” Dominique finally said.
“She’s lying,” Enzo countered. “I know I saw a girl who looks like you ride off with that nigga.”
“Looks can be deceiving, bruv,” Speedy said behind me.
The low, growled threat in his voice told me that he would have no problem slicing my throat from ear to ear.
“Moseif, relax,” the African Queen told him. “Why don’t we all calm down and think this thing out. They say they saw someone who resembles Dominique with Micah today and considering what they have gone through they have a right to react this way. However, Dominique is a part of this crew and we protect our own. Shawn.” She turned to Enzo as she spoke. “Talk to Angel because if she hurts Dominique, Speedy is going to kill her and I assume that means you’re going to try to kill Speedy, which is only going to make Trigga and Jake kill you. Is that really what we want?”
Enzo’s face turned into an all-out scowl. “I don’t really give a fuck about Angel if you really want to know. I made a promise to my aunt to look out for her and that’s it.” I saw the confused look on everyone’s faces. “She fucked my thirteen-year-old brother so her living or dying means shit to me, but that bitch she’s got hemmed up . . . Real recognize real and this ho looking very unfamiliar to a nigga right now.”
“I swear I was nowhere near downtown Atlanta today,” Dominique frantically pleaded. “I don’t know who this man is.”
I was prepared to die in that moment. I had been prepared to die anyway, but the words Enzo spoke made it clear to me that all I had was me, myself, and I. I knew death was my companion because I wasn’t built to survive this part of the game. The only reason I’d survived with Dame for so long was because I had people who had my back and looked out for me when I was too weak to look out for myself. I was no fool and I knew that once we had gotten rid of the entity that was Micah, I was as good as on own my own. With no more money, no education as of yet, and no means to an end, I was beginning to feel like I ain’t have shit to lose so why fight to live. Besides, there was a real strong possibility that I was going to die anyway, so why not go out on my own terms.
Either way, one thing I knew for sure was that I’d seen Dominique get into Micah’s car.
“You lying bitch,” I said through clenched teeth.
I grabbed Dominique by the back of her hair, shoved the knife farther into her side. Speedy’s shank caught my neck; while the pain from the slice hurt like I would have never imagined, I welcomed death like a kid at Christmas.
“That broad is crazy, yeah? She musta really thought she see that gyal Dom down at di place fi not give fucks ’bout her own life. She shank di bitch proper, too.”
Was I in heaven or hell? I didn’t feel like I was burning. There was a cool breeze whishing over my body. I tried to open my lids but they were heavy. My throat was sore on the outside and I could feel my hands absentmindedly rubbing the wrap around it.
“But Dom say she wasn’t down there, Chyna. Speedy said she was with him. Somebody lying or this bitch is really crazy,” I heard Gina mumble. “I don’t like that bitch, Dom, anyway if you want the truth. She got my boy Speedy all caught up and shit.”
“It’s gon’ right kill mi blood when he realizes—”
Shit, my mind screamed. I was alive? Still fucking alive? God had a real cruel sense of humor.
“No, it just wasn’t your time to go,” a smooth voice washed over me.
I opened my eyes and saw the African Queen walking into the room. I looked at her crazy thinking she was in my head then realized through my grogginess I’d spoken my thoughts aloud.
“I thought I was dead,” I grumbled.
“You could have been if my aunt hadn’t body snatched Speedy before he got the blade deep enough.”
I cut my eyes in the direction of the door to see Ray-Ray
was sitting there with an unreadable expression on her face.
“Well, did that Dominique bitch die?” I asked in disgust.
“No one died,” the African Queen. “The shock of being cut probably knocked you unconscious. You only received a scratch compared to what Speedy could have done to you had I not been there. I see that you’re just like most of these girls out here who have become a victim of their environment. So allow me to tell you like I’ve told my niece,” she said nodding toward Ray-Ray.
“Wait, Ray-Ray’s your family?” I asked with furrowed brows.
“Yes, she is. Will tell you the story later, but listen to me, just because life has dealt you a fucked-up hand doesn’t mean you have to play like you got nothing to lose. Trying to get yourself killed may seem like the easy way out, but don’t be chicken shit. Fight for your life. Give no man, woman, or child your life so freely. You’re beaten, but not broken. You’re down, but not out.”
“I ain’t got nothing anyway.”
“Life, you got life. When this is all over, find me, and I’ll help you get your life on track. But know I won’t help you unless you want to be helped. But first, tie up your loose ends. Come on, ladies. We got to disappear. Phenom wants us back at base camp.”
I watched as the three stood up and with the way Ray-Ray was watching me I knew she was feeling salty that I’d tried to off one of her friends.
“Wait,” I called out behind them. “I never said where we’d seen Dominique so why would she automatically say she wasn’t in downtown Atlanta today?”
I was talking to all of them, but my eyes stayed on Ray-Ray and Gina. They knew me more than any of the people in the house and Gina knew me best. There was an unspoken message that passed between the women. When the African placed a comforting hand on Ray-Ray’s shoulder, I knew that something deeper was going on with that group behind the scene. I didn’t care. I needed them to know I wasn’t lying.
I sat up and threw my legs over the side of the bed. It took me a few minutes to get my bearings enough to stand to go in the bathroom. Once there I stood a moment watching my reflection in the mirror. Even though I’d gone through hell the last four years of my life, I still had my youth about me. Bags sat underneath my eyes and I flinched as I pulled the white covering from my neck. Stitches sat there perfectly sewn and like the Queen had said, Speedy didn’t do nearly as much harm as I’d expected or wanted. His blade had only come halfway across my neck and looked to only be a serious flesh wound.
It was late at night/early morning. I walked downstairs to find Enzo sitting on the couch with his hands steepled in front of him as if he was praying. The bruises, cuts, and scars were visible on his bare shoulders as he sat with his elbows on his thighs. He seemed to be in deep thought until he looked up at me. The words he had spoken earlier echoed loudly in my head. I rolled my eyes and headed for the kitchen. I was shocked to find Jake and Trigga sitting at the table near the bay window. Glocks were laid out on the table like a Thanksgiving feast.
Jake stood and walked over to me. “You good, Angel?” he asked me after giving me a comforting hug.
I gave a brief smile. “I’m okay, I guess,” I lied. “It’s whatever. Y’all should watch ol’ girl though. I know what I saw.”
A look passed between Jake and Trigga. As always they were communicating without words. Trigga didn’t say anything to me, just gave me a curt head nod and went back to watching out the window. That nigga may have been finer than the most expensive of wines, but he wasn’t a talker still, I could see. Not too much had changed about him. He had longer locs and more muscles, but he was still the same silent Trigga. His hoodie was off and all he had on was his white wife beater. There was a tattoo of the word GHOST over his heart.
“And I ain’t no pedophile or child molester. They drugged me and the kid and made us do it,” I said again, feeling the need to defend myself against what Enzo had said.
“Angel, we know the story. He told us afterward. We can understand why he’s mad, but we know you wouldn’t have done it had it not been forced. We got you.”
I thought about saying something else but only nodded and went to grab food and water from the fridge as I had planned to do. Enzo’s fridge was stocked with all organic foods, fruits, and juices. It told as to why his body was so fit. Trigga and Jake spoke on things that I didn’t understand, which meant they had been speaking in coded language. I grabbed what I needed to and walked out of the kitchen so they could get back to doing them.
“Angel.”
When I heard Enzo call my name, I wanted to keep walking, but turned to look at him. “Yeah?”
“Are you trying to kill yourself? Let me know so I can just quit looking out for you now.”
I tilted my head and looked at him as if he had grown two extra heads. “Looking out for me?” I repeated. “You just told everyone who was listening that you really didn’t give a fuck about me or my well-being. You’re full of shit, Enzo. Either you’re full of shit or you’re fucking bipolar. Either way, fuck you for that shit.”
“I will never fuck you, so no, thanks. I’m just making sure my aunt doesn’t have her heart set on saving a woman who doesn’t want to be saved. She told me to look out for you but if you’re just going to try to get yourself offed, I ain’t wasting my time.”
I stood there and just looked at the bare-chested man. Earlier when I’d seen all the piercings he had on his body, I’d been intrigued . . . more like turned on but I would never admit it out loud. The piercing he had in his dick piqued my curiosity. The piercings he had on the V cut of his pelvis made me want to touch him in ways I’ve never willingly wanted to touch a man. Seeing him naked, earlier, had given me all kinds of thoughts. But I knew there would never be a way that my curiosity would be satisfied. Enzo had made it quite clear that I disgusted him.
And that was fine, but he would not stand in front of me and play mind games with me. Dame had been the master of mind games. And to think about it, the more I stood there looking at Enzo, the more that nigga was starting to favor Dame in small ways. It fucking annoyed me that Dame was so engraved in me that any man who got close to me would probably start to look like or remind me of him in certain ways. The way Enzo was standing, his eyes, the way he used his words to cut me earlier all reminded me of that nigga Dame. It wasn’t a good time for Enzo to be fucking with me.
“Go to hell,” I told him and rushed up the stairs.
I knew he wouldn’t come after me, which was fine by me. I needed to be alone anyway. There was something that I needed to do. Dame had brought some of us here a time or two and because I knew he rarely used the place, after he’d died, I climbed through a window and hid some money. The only thing was it was in a small wall safe in the room Enzo had as his own. One way or another I had to get that money.
As I sat and ate my food in silence I thought back on what happened in the alley. I’d helped to murder someone, two people today. I really didn’t want to think about it, not because it sickened me, but because seeing Enzo kill the way he did had turned me on. I didn’t know if it had been the way he killed them with no remorse or if it was the look in his eyes that said he had no problem doing it that turned me on. My feelings behind the whole thing freaked me out. One minute I was scared and paranoid, the next I could feel my pussy muscles clench and release.
It made me want to fuck him the way I’d never done willingly to another man just to show him that what he had done was worth it. Images of Micah’s scowling face played before me. He had been too quiet for my liking. I’d expected him to come back guns blazing because that was just who Micah was. I’d rather know what he was doing than to have him this quiet.
As if the universe was reading my mind, my cell phone rang. I didn’t know the number but picked up anyway. “Hello?”
“So that’s the move you’re making? You’re rocking with Enzo,” Micah’s voice said on the other end of the phone.
My whole body went rigid. “What do you want, Micah? Why
can’t you just leave us alone?”
“Us, huh? So you and this nigga a team now?” he asked. “Been running ya mouth?”
“I guess you’ll never know,” I snidely replied. We both knew what he was asking, but only I knew if his secret was still safe with me.
“I see. So, it’s like that?” He chuckled. “And you think this nigga gon’ be easy if you’ve told him.”
“I think you need to go fuck yourself.”
“After I fuck you. Are you sure this is the move you wanna make? Your life would be much simpler if you just got with the program, Angel. Nobody gonna take care of you like I will.”
I scoffed. “I think I’m fine just where I am.”
“That’s funny considering he told a houseful of people that you don’t mean shit to him.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up in that moment. I rushed to the window to look outside. I could see hooded and masked figures rushing up. I’d been right. Dominique was the bitch I’d seen with him at his dance studio. I knew she was the only one who would have told him what Enzo had said. I dropped the phone and rushed down the stairs when I heard Micah tell someone to “make it happen.”
Enzo jumped from the couch and looked at me as I clumsily fell down the last few stairs. Before I could tell Enzo that Micah knew we were still here, the windows shattered as bullets rained through. I was trying to get back up when Enzo tackled me to the floor as shards of glass flew around us. From somewhere in the kitchen I heard return gunfire and knew Trigga and Jake were doing what they did best.
“Stay down,” Enzo yelled at me.
I kept my head covered, peeking through my arms to see him crawl to the fireplace and lay his hand against a wall panel. Somewhere in between windows breaking and bodies rushing the house, I heard myself scream. I watched on as the wall parted and showcased a hidden area that was decorated in every gun you could imagine. Bullets kept coming, but it was when the front door flew off the hinges that I really knew shit got real. I expected Enzo to come out with a gun, but when he pulled what looked like a bat with nails poking out of it in one hand and something that looked like a chainsaw with a handle in the other, I didn’t know what to think. As soon as a man in a ski mask stepped over the threshold of the door, Enzo rushed him, swinging the bat backward to connect with his face. The nails from the bat caused it to stick in the intruder’s face before Enzo snatched it back. Before the goon could yelp out the chainsaw-looking club split his face in half when Enzo swung it upward.