by Brick
Another one stuck his arm in the door with guns blazing. Enzo took his arm off. The limb fell to the floor with the finger still squeezing the trigger while Enzo used the chainsaw concoction to gut the man, shoving it into his abdomen hard making the intruder’s entrails fall out when Enzo pulled the weapon back.
The look on Enzo’s face was a mean one. One minute it looked as if he smelled something foul, the next it looked as if he was enjoying the violent barbaric way he was killing people.
“Angel, grab the gun under the sofa. Safety’s off. Get that shit and shoot,” he fussed at me.
I didn’t hesitate to do what he said. I could hear bodies dropping in the kitchen and just outside the window. I grabbed the gun and shot the first person who didn’t look like they belonged in the house. I’d never used a gun a day before in my life, so the recoil of the heavy object damn near took my hand off. I didn’t even know if I’d actually hit my target, but I was shooting anyway, shooting and screaming. I saw bodies moving by the window on the opposite side of the room and opened fire.
A yell sounded so loud that it made my flesh crawl. I ducked a barrage of gunfire and glanced to see that Enzo had a knife stuck into the back of a female who’d made the mistake of joining Micah. He had her by her ponytail as he pushed the knife into her spine then took it in an upward motion. Her screams got louder and louder. Enzo bit down on his bottom lip as it looked like he was ripping the woman’s spine from her back. When he released her and pushed her forward, he cupped his hand where the entry of the wound was and pulled. The woman’s gargled scream got caught in her throat as she fell face first onto the marble flooring.
I lay there with my mouth wide open in shock. Enzo looked down at me then wiped his bloody hand across his top lip. It was official, there was a side of Enzo that scared me and turned me on at the same time. In that moment he looked more like Dame then he ever had and that made my flesh crawl all the while making me question my attraction to his madness.
Chapter 10
Enzo
Blood for blood, flesh for flesh. I stared down at my bounty of a pound of flesh, stepping over the body of the chick that thought she could take me down. Her screams and that glossy look of shock, then terror rocked me. It had me flashing a satisfied smile over the fact that I had taken down an enemy. Let’s just be clear in this, I really didn’t want to have to go into my dark place. My blackout mode, but since niggas decided to take me there, my killer mentality was very obliged to come out and play.
As I cocked my head back, smiling at the ceiling, enjoying the rush of the kill that ran through my body, my heart automatically felt as if I should be on the field playing for the masses as I murdered the opposing team. Shouting drew me back to my surroundings. I saw from the side of my eye Angel staring in shock. Bullets were flying all around us, niggas were busting into the crib as if it was some drug bust. It felt as if everything I had worked for was coming to an end. There was no fucking way this shit would go unnoticed. My days as a player were numbered and it put a large amount of resentment in me.
I wanted Micah. Wanted to torture that nigga like I had to do in the underworld from time to time.
Which was why I stepped forward and bared my teeth shouting, “Where is Micah!”
I stepped over bodies, planting my feet to drop to one knee then lift up and body block a nigga to the floor. My fist followed through as well as the two knives in between my fingers slid into the jugular of that fallen nigga. I quickly stood up, turning to snatch another chick who rushed me, pointing Glocks at me. I used my blades to slice at each of her wrists, and then grabbed her by the neck. I snatched her close then stuck her multiple times in the stomach, watching the light in her eyes quickly fade.
Hot blood ran over my hands, and I noticed Angel ducking and sending her fist into random attackers’ faces. “Grab the Glock, mama!” I shouted.
She turned my way and stared at me in a strange way before doing what I told her.
Trigga and Jake were in the hallway of the condo blazing it up with bullets and helping keep the enemy’s guns away. I used that time to go to my room, grab my bag, strapping it to my back along with Angel’s. A grimace flashed across my face as I kicked the door closed to shield me from bullets that rained into the room. I hunkered behind it, pulled out my shotgun, and then yanked it open, pumping steel into anyone who wanted to get it.
“Angel! Get your shit, we outta here,” I yelled.
She whipped around my way to see where I was and then ran as fast as she could. Her pink and black Nikes hopping over bodies, broken glass, and other fallen items. All of this shit had been Dame’s. Only thing I came in with was the machines my aunt needed, and she took that when she left. We all were living out of luggage still, just in case of something like this. Throwing my gun down, I pushed through the madness, snatching a big wrestling-built dude. His face was covered in a mask but his throat was accessible to me. I remembered I had another blade, so I pulled it out from my pocket and let it play between my fingers with a smile.
My fist went flying, connecting to the big gorilla’s throat. He reached out to snatch at me but I was too quick. Though my body was in pain from fighting Jake earlier and by getting dirty now, some dark place in me kept me going. I knew I was in blackout mode and I rode with it to leap up, wrap my arm around the goon in front of me, tightening it, letting my bicep choke any breath from him. I flexed and tightened my hold as I stretched him backward and rammed my blade up his back severing his spine. It was my favorite move. It left my prey vulnerable for me to flip the blade again and easily slice it across this throat. The sound of the jerky heavy body in my grasp dropping made me laugh.
A shout kept me following through. “Enzo! It’s clear; we gotta go.”
I was a soldier in the streets. Moving out was what I always did best. Jogging forward, I moved Angel behind me and we headed into the hallway. Bodies lined the floor like roaches in a forest. Some moved and wiggled and those who even dared to reach for us I had Angel stomp out with the nail bat I snatched back up for her.
Holding her back, I leaned to peek around a corner, making sure it was clear. “Jake and Trigga handled this shit. Forgot how clean they were with it. Seems like they only got better.”
Angel’s soft breaths traveled my way. The warmth against my back let me know she wasn’t moving from where I had her, which had me reaching back to pull her with me as we headed down the hall.
Crunching of bone and Angel’s grunt let me know she was one with watching my bat.
“Yeah, you all are . . . crazy as hell,” she said in between each swing of the back.
My head tilted to the side. I opened the emergency door to the condo and motioned for her to come on. “Says the chick who just bashed in some niggas’ heads and pumped steel into bitches’ faces.”
We headed down the stairs in a rush. The sound of gunplay was greeting us below in our descent.
“You told me to do it and I had to or we were gonna die,” Angel huffed out while trying to keep up with me.
I chuckled low and held up my hand motioning for her to stop as we made it to the exit. “Oh, yeah? Then get ready for some murder kill, killer. If I disappear don’t worry about me.” Tossing her my bag, I stared into her light brown eyes. “Go to Dixie Motel. There’s a card in my bag; and make sure no one is following you.”
I reached forward to show her also pulling out my skullcap and fitted cap. She watched me put both on, and I glanced her over. “Change your look up too, mama.”
A slight frown played at her lips as she adjusted the bag and flipped her hair up, twisted and created a messy knot. She reached up, snatched my cap, and put it on her head then gave a sigh turning when the sound of guns going off sounded around us.
“Done; let’s go because I hear your song.”
Angel stood behind me with white knuckles gripping her bat hard, whereas I scoped my area then frowned when I saw a waiting silver car watching the battle continue. Rushing forward, we bo
th took out several other gunners coming head-on with us. Angel took to a corner where both Ray-Ray and Gina were positioned. I guessed they had gotten caught in the crossfire as they’d been leaving.
Out the corner of my eye, I could see Baby G digging her nails into the eyes of another chick. She gave a wicked yell as her knee connected with the attacker’s face. All in one move, Gina’s grip seemed to tighten and she spun in a way that allowed her to snap the broad’s neck with a slam.
I wasn’t sure where the hell she learned some shit like that, but I was impressed nonetheless. Ray-Ray had something that looked like claws of simple razors between her fingers. She slashed out and cut, ducked, then brought her fist in to gut another chick that came after them. Both chicks seemed to have moves that mirrored some of Trigga’s style and it had me shaking my head at the organization of a group of kids who seemed like almost a year ago had no one to pull them together. Today the fight was real and everyone was on their game.
Now when I say everyone, I meant it. I stood in the middle of bodies staring at Micah who sat in the back of his silver Jaguar XJ with a smile on his face smoking a cigar. He had a struggling Angel in his arms, who kept trying to hit him with my bag. My guns were empty and all I had was a makeshift piece of metal I had found nestled in my hand like a machete.
Sinister laughter like that of the Joker sounded around me and my eyes widened when that dude Speedy dropped on top of the Jaguar, stuck his tongue out laughing then punched his fist in the sunroof of the car.
“Grab that nigga!” sounded from the opposite side of the car from Trigga.
My feet planted and before I could run forward, the sound of something rolling toward my feet made me look down. In front of me were several colored pencils with razors plated into the sides. I glanced around to see a set of Pastry kicks swinging from a fire escape near me.
Eyes that mirrored my little brother and me smiled from their hiding spot and I heard, “I ain’t supposed ta fight anymore, but I can give yuh stuff ta play with.”
Snatching them up, I slid each one through my fingers and I scanned back to where the little girl was. “Thanks, baby girl; keep back,” I said but saw there was no one where she had just been sitting.
“Damn,” was all I could say.
Shouting echoed and I ran forward. Speedy was gripping the sunroof hard, his many zigzagged braids flying in the air. He used his hands as weapons, snatching at the many guns that pointed his way.
Micah snarled trying to slash at Speedy’s fingers. He glanced my way, saw me sprinting his way then shouted to his driver, “Go, nigga, go!”
Blood ran down my face from the fight. My eyes stayed locked on my goal, that nigga Micah’s throat my ideal goal. Speedy kept his hold as if he were surfing, and I ran after the Jag.
I laughed as I hyped him up. “Swaggin’, surfing,” I shouted.
Making my way to the Jag, I gripped the open window staring inside. The Jag wasn’t able to move fast enough due to the many goons in the alley and I was able to pull myself where I could look into the window. The piece of metal I’d turned into a weapon surged into the car, its nails slamming and cutting into the leather of the Jag as well as Micah. I knew from the flashes of my face that I could see in the window’s reflection that I looked like a demon. My eyes were dark as coals, my teeth were bared in a snarl, and blood covered my face.
“Why you scared, bitch? Ain’t expect that I’d die so easily huh?” I snarled at Micah.
Micah’s face went from malicious to displaying a flash of concern.
Angel used my bag to ram his face but he punched the shit out of her while trying to keep from being snatched.
Micah gave his own laugh then tried to use his feet to get at me, but Speedy was still snatching at him, using chicken wire to lasso whoever’s neck got in the way. While we both tried to grab at him, the sound of screeching brakes sent both Speedy and me off the car. I lay on my back groaning, rolling from side to side, seeing that Jake had stepped in the way of the vehicle.
Micah shouted out, “Run that big bitch down!” The driver backed up the Jag and complied.
I pushed to get up as fast as I could, only to see Jake quirk an eyebrow with an unamused smirk and then sent a bullet into the driver’s head with his silencer. I could hear the car door opening and glanced back to Micah where Trigga had snatched him up. Angel scrambled out in a daze. She turned to pull out a cigar lighter, flicked her nail against the gauge, and then torched that nigga’s neck by pressing it against his jugular.
Trigga gave a haughty laugh, and then signaled with his eyes for her to step back. “Damn, dude, it’s that serious for you, huh?” he asked sending his fist into Micah’s contorted face.
The sound of sirens coming our way to the back of the condo complex had everyone pissed the fuck off, including me. I rushed forward, stepped to Trigga who held Micah out to me, and then took that weasel by the neck digging those pencils given to me into his back.
His shock and pissed yell gave me utter pleasure as I pushed deeper near his spine. “Tell you what, I won’t kill you today, because yeah, we both got a reputation to maintain. But how ’bout we finish this at another time, this time of my choosing?”
Micah’s hand came at me but I pushed harder feeling the trickle of blood cascading over my fisted hand.
“Yeah. Truce, nigga, truce!” he hissed through clenched teeth.
My face was close enough where I could feel the heat of his breathe. I had every intention of killing him where he stood but it was Trigga’s hand that pulled me back.
“Get at him later. Ride out, fam,” was all he said.
Jake stepped up, pulled out a syringe, and then stuck Micah in his neck. “Night, night, nigga.”
The sirens got closer. Trigga shouted to Speedy to take the Jag and dump it in a safe spot with Micah and ordered the rest of the Misfits to clear out.
“So, man, we’ll meet up and have a true conversation later,” he said.
I ran my hand down my face then gave a nod. “Yeah. Don’t trust that bitch Dominique. She’s that ho who will fuck up your whole world, man. I can’t get with you all a hundred percent until she’s gone.”
Trigga watched me without saying a word. He turned then stopped. Blood seemed to blend into his reddish brown skin. His locs were now loose but he also had his hoodie on, which cloaked his face. “Then I ain’t teach ya nothing, my nigga. Know thy enemy but not yourself, then wallow in defeat every time, my man. It’s always a method to the madness get in track on that and then we’ll talk again.”
My brain comprehended what he’d told me. He didn’t say much but he said more than a State of the Union address. I trusted them enough with my aunt and brother. I knew I had to trust them enough to know that they were aware of shifty bitches in their crew and that they’d handle it when it was time. For now, my fight was still with a nigga who wanted me dead and for some reason wanted Angel badly.
“Angel,” I called out to her.
She scrambled to grab my bag and hers then came my way. Her hair was everywhere. Blood speckled her tattered clothes and shoes as well. Her face was flushed red and her eyes were mad dilated. She looked like a deer caught in headlights.
“How’d you get caught?” I asked as the Jaguar peeled off behind us, and we were left alone in a back alley full of bodies.
Cutting through a sideway, we waited until cars went by and we headed to a parking garage several buildings away from where I lived.
Angel peeked around in fear, and I could tell she was hoping no eyes were on us. “I was doing like you said. Went past Ray-Ray and Gina and was heading out when I ran into one of his guys, that’s how. I tried to fight but . . .”
I pulled her to the side then opened a door to the parking garage guiding her inside as I closed the door then reached up to dig into a space above the framing. A set of keys appeared in my hand and I motioned for her to keep walking.
“Yeah, if you riding with us, we’ll have to train you up.”
Our feet echoed in the garage and we made our way to my covered Land Rover. I helped Angel climb in, noticing the cuts on her waist, and seeing the branding for the first time through her slashed top. My jaw clenched in anger, because she had been burned into like that and because it was also a reminder of the bullshit Micah made her do to my brother or made my brother do to her. My eyes narrowed and I slammed her door. I walked to the driver’s side of the ride and hopped in. I pulled out into traffic, blending in with the normal ATL traffic.
We drove past the condo where dozens of cops flanked the area. A place that was once where I could lay my head without thought of being bothered was gone. We were on our way back to the Trap where I knew we could hide without being directly tracked. The drive took some time because I made sure we weren’t being followed. No one knew this ride I had but still caution was always necessary. I received several texts from the Misfits telling me that Micah was handled and that my aunt and brother were worried about me.
I knew I couldn’t go to wherever they were hidden and I knew I couldn’t completely go missing because I had a job to handle. So I let them know that I was okay and eventually made it to Dixie Motel. Once pulled in, I bowed my head, resting it against the steering wheel. Angel sat asleep, bloody and dirty beside me.
My eyes took her in, watching her for a few moments before I slapped her thigh hard waking her up. “We’re here; get out.”
Getting into the motel room didn’t take long. I ordered her to go shower while I went out to get some ice and smoke a blunt. I knew I’d have to get food but I had to shower and clean up. A Chinese takeout deliverer came into view and I memorized the number on the side of their car as I let tendrils of smoke roll through my slightly parted lips. Chinese sounded good right now and we could lay low as they delivered us food. It wasn’t something I’d normally eat, but I could make an exception to the rule since I was hungry and on the run. Snuffing out my blunt, saving it for later, I walked back into the room and kept my eyes away from the bathroom.