“We did it,” Raegan confirmed with a head nod. She rested her head back on the headrest and sighed as she let go of the anxiety that had filled her. She couldn’t help but to crack a smile, however. She turned to Chanel and screamed, “We did it, bitch!”
Chapter Seventeen
“How much is it?” Gucci asked anxiously as she paced back and forth, awaiting the final total.
Raegan peeked out of the blinds of the dusty motel. Both she and Gucci had been on pins and needles.
“Y’all did it wrong. You hit the teller’s drawer instead of hitting the bank’s safe. This is only fifty racks,” Chanel said with a slight attitude as she shook her head in frustration. The thrill of accomplishing the impossible faded once they realized they had come up short.
“Fifty thousand dollars?” Gucci exclaimed. “What the fuck are we supposed to do with that?” she asked.
“We’re supposed to hit another bank,” Chanel responded. “Y’all fucked up. You got away with it but you didn’t take shit. I told you I should have gone inside. I would have hit the safe. They won’t even miss this little bit of money.”
Raegan turned around and looked at Chanel incredulously. “What? I’m not hitting another bank. Are you crazy? We were lucky that everything went smoothly this time. It was a one-time thing. We’ll just have to make the best with what we got.”
“Fine, Raegan,” Chanel said as she grabbed a small stack of money and stood to her feet. She walked over to Raegan and reached for her wrist then placed the bills into Raegan’s hand. “$16,500 is your cut.”
“It’s not enough,” Gucci whispered as she brought her hands to her face. “I can’t tie up my loose ends with that!”
“Then we hit another bank and this time we’ll do it right,” Chanel said.
“I have to get out of here ... this is too much. I should have never come through for y’all. If I wouldn’t have been there I wouldn’t even be in this shit.”
“So you saying you wished you had left us hanging? You saw how stuff went down that day. If you hadn’t shown up we might have died,” Chanel countered.
“We’re a team, Raegan ... Whether you like it or not, you’re in it. We all are,” Gucci said.
“I need to clear my head,” Raegan stated. She grabbed her handbag and stormed out of the room.
As soon as she looked at her phone she noticed that she had a missed call from Nahvid. A grocery store run had turn into her being MIA for two days. What could she say to him? What would he do to her child? Terror gripped her like never before as she dialed Nahvid’s number.
He sat behind his desk, his pulse racing from a mixture of rage and hurt as he listened to Reason tell him of Raegan’s deceit. She had been the first woman he had ever put his trust in and she had let him down.
“I never trusted the bitch, Nah,” Reason said, hyping the situation. “Honestly I was just holding my tongue cuz I knew you were feeling shorty ... but she had snake written all over her.”
Nahvid wanted to defend the allegations against Raegan, but the more time that went by without him hearing from her the guiltier she looked.
“I can’t believe that she and her girls were behind the robberies all along. They were straight jacking niggas for they shit. Shit would be sexy as hell if they hadn’t tried to eat off my plate,” Reason said. Reason was talking a little too much for Nahvid. He just wanted to hear from Raegan so that he could confront her about the situation. He had to hear her admit it from her own mouth. Although all fingers were pointed at her he was still holding out hope that there could be a reasonable explanation. In his eyes she was innocent until she admitted guilt, despite the proof in his face.
“She didn’t do this ... not Raegan. I don’t see her doing this, fam. Her son is here. She wouldn’t leave him here. This ain’t her. Can’t be,” he mumbled to himself.
Reason frowned in disapproval. “Look, fam. I don’t know what the bitch did to you but you’re going soft. I cut her homegirl tongue out her mouth, baby ... and the name she was screaming was Raegan’s. Raegan, Gucci, and Chanel. Them same bitches you be sending bottles to in the club. Your girl hit our spot and your mom got murked behind that shit. You really telling me you gonna let that shit ride?”
Before Nahvid could respond, the phone rang loudly interrupting the conversation.
Sunny Rae came up on his screen. He looked up at Reason who nosily inquired, “That her, fam?”
Nahvid shook his head and replied, “Nah, but I do need to take this. Give me a minute, bro, to handle this business.” Before Reason headed out the door Nahvid added, “And make sure that mess you made is cleaned up ... You know the motto ... no body, no murder. Send the cleanup crew through there.”
Nahvid watched as Reason stood and excused himself from the room. He didn’t need Reason hearing the conversation that was about to take place. Nahvid didn’t like to show his cards to anyone. Raegan was a weakness and she had penetrated his fortress. He needed to speak to her about her possible betrayal without prying ears. He exhaled to release some of his stress before answering the call.
“Nahvid ...” she said, her voice calling to him desperately, breaking out of emotion and tearing his heart out of his chest all at the same time.
“Where you at, ma? I’m hearing some real foul shit about you right now,” he said, heated.
“Nah, listen to me. There are some things that you don’t know about me ... stuff that I’m ashamed of ...”
“Did you do it, Raegan? Yes or no? Don’t hit me with the bullshit sob stories. You the bitch that’s been taking niggas for they stash spots?” His voice was serious, stern, harsh almost and it frightened her into shame and silence.
“Baby, listen to me ... please just hear me out ... I’m not trying to tell you sob story, but you have to give me a chance to explain... .” she cried. There was no shame in her breakdown. Raegan sat outside on a concrete stoop, snot running down her face, and pure emotion leaking from her eyes. She was usually so composed. Raegan took pride in her ability to always appear in control. That’s what bad bitches do, but in this situation she was a woman ... a vulnerable woman who had made the biggest mistake of her life ... a woman who was terrified of losing the love of her life.
Nahvid could hear her fear; sense that her back was against a wall. His girl needed him to save her ... to rescue her ... to tell her that everything would be okay. If it was only about the money he could have, but his mother was dead and on behalf of her this was a score he was obliged to settle.
“Yes or no?” he repeated. “Was it you and your girls that robbed my spot?”
Reason sat back silently and listened to the one side of the conversation he could hear. What more do this nigga need? Find out where the bitch at so I can go see her, he thought as his trigger finger itched at the thought of serving revenge to Raegan. Reason was cold-blooded to the core. He would put a hollow through her dome and then be the pallbearer at her funeral if need be. All Nahvid had to do was call the play and let his team do the work.
“You’re going to hurt my son! Please, Nah, please don’t hurt my baby. Just take him to his father. Please. I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I was in over my head ...” She was rambling and incoherent she was crying so loudly.
“Where you at, Raegan? Let me come get you. We’ll talk about it. I won’t hurt your son. You know me better than that. I’m the one who didn’t know the real you. How could you step on my toes like this? Didn’t I take care of you? Huh? Didn’t I feed you? Clothe you? Throne you, ma? Huh? You were in the place that every bitch in the hood wanted to be and look how you do? Look how you disrespect me. You shot my mother, Raegan. My Sunny Rae. You got niggas laughing at me out here, baby girl,” Nahvid stated sincerely. His head was lowered as he gripped his cell tightly in one hand and pinched the bridge of his nose with the other. Torn up over her deceit he wanted to ring her neck. Nahvid was used to punishing ... to sentencing death to those who had crossed him. He was judge, jury, and executioner and he never
varied from these roles when it came to business. He couldn’t understand why things with Raegan were proving so unique. New to the whole love thing, Nahvid failed to realize that what he and Raegan shared was far from business. Women before her were there for a specific reason. They served him sexually and in return he gave them material things. Fair exchange wasn’t robbery and with other women everyone always walked away unscathed and overly compensated. Raegan, however, was getting him. She had upped the ante and was playing for keeps. What they shared was far from an arrangement ... he was ready to make a commitment to her and she was proving to be like the women he had sworn to avoid. She was running away with his heart and leaving his chest full of spoiled disappointment. The sick feeling that she had left him with was unbearable. She had ailed him and ironically she was the only one who could heal him.
“Nah, it wasn’t like that. I swear to you! I know you can never forgive me after all that has happened, but just please. I’m begging you. Just don’t hurt Micah.”
Nahvid had never felt anyone tug at his heartstrings the way that Raegan was. It was then that he realized exactly how deeply he loved her. He would never harm baby Micah because he was a part of her.
“I won’t. Where are you?” he asked.
“I can’t tell you,” she answered.
“Fuck all that, Raegan. Where are you, ma?”
“I’m scared, Nahvid. I can’t tell you. I saw how you did that boy. I saw the bag that Reason carried out of the garage. You’ll kill me. You’ll send Reason for me,” she whispered.
“Reason?” Nahvid exclaimed. “Reason works for me ... If I say you’ll be okay then you’ll be okay. You don’t have to worry about Reason, Raegan.”
Reason stood outside the door shaking his head in disgust. This bitch got this nigga on some real sweet shit. I’m deading that bitch on sight, he thought. He couldn’t believe that Nahvid was slipping the way that he was. This wasn’t the same best friend who had been his partner in crime since they came out of the sandbox. The Nah he knew would have had his entire team scouring the city looking for Raegan. An easy twenty stacks could have had the mess cleaned up in no time, but Reason had never been in love. He didn’t understand the inner battle that Nahvid was fighting. Was Nah supposed to love Raegan through it all or was he supposed to push the end button? He knew once he sent his wolves out into the field they were coming back with her carcass. He at least needed to hear both sides of the story first because deep inside he knew that once Raegan was gone, there would never be another woman to take her place. Every plaything after that would be just a fling ... a random fuck dummy to pass time with. No one would be able to fill the void she would leave in his life. He had the power to make her extinct, but he had to be ready to deal with the pain he would be causing himself by doing so.
“Just let me see you, Raegan. We need to talk. I can’t guarantee that I can help you or forgive you, but I can at least hear you out. I swear that nothing will happen to you tonight. That’s my word. Just meet me. Trust me,” Nahvid demanded. He had mixed emotions regarding her. Something in him just wanted to lay eyes on her, just to see how he felt about her now that he knew everything. Now that her secrets were laid out in front of him, would he still want her? It was a question that they both needed to answer.
“Okay. I’ll meet you on one condition. You bring my son with you,” Raegan negotiated.
“Done,” Nahvid replied. “Just make sure you show up.”
Raegan called a cab and arrived at the restaurant first so that she could watch her surroundings. She didn’t know how Nahvid would react to her. He could be setting her up for all she knew and she wanted to be on point.
“Hey, lady, you gonna get out or what?” the cab driver asked as he watched her curiously in the rearview mirror.
She handed him a hundred-dollar bill. “Just keep the meter running. I need a minute. I’m waiting for someone.” Her nerves were so rattled that the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She held her breath when she saw Nahvid’s car pull up and her eyes nervously scanned the entire block as she looked for any sign of his goon squad.
“If you’re not out in fifteen minutes I leave,” the Middle Eastern cabbie said impatiently, despite the generous tip she had blessed him with.
“Just wait damn it,” she shot back, her eyes never leaving Nahvid. The darkened block was deserted. He had come alone and she let out a small sigh of relief, but when she saw him get out of the car without her son she was livid. Raegan waited until he had stepped inside of the restaurant before she got out of the cab. He didn’t even have time to turn on the restaurant lights before she snuck in and put her gun to the back of his head.
“Where’s my baby?” she asked.
“Whoa ... whoa, Raegan, chill out. Put the gun down,” he said in a strong, calm, reassuring tone as he held his hands up.
“We had a deal ... I meet you, you bring my son to me,” she said, her voice quivering. “Did you come here to kill me? Is that why he’s not with you? Is he still alive?”
“Raegan—”
“Answer the question!” she shouted as tears began to come. “Is my son still alive?”
“Of course he is ... I dropped him off at one of my worker’s spots. My homeboy wife is taking care of him. He’s in good hands. I came to bring you home, ma. Now put the gun down, Raegan ... let me turn around. I need to see your face when I talk to you.” Despite having a gun to his head his voice showed no sign of distress. He had the upper hand in the situation and they both knew it.
Raegan put her hand on his back and led him through the dark restaurant to his office. She turned on the light, gun still aimed, eyes still searching for the setup. She was terrified and playing out of her league. She wasn’t built for this ... not when her adversary was the man she loved. Raegan never claimed to be a gangster; she was simply a woman who had been put between a rock and a hard place. She was stuck.
“Sit down,” she said, trying to appear assertive, but Nahvid was a predator in any situation. He could smell her fear. Her aim was timid. There was no bite behind her bark, but most of all she was his bitch. He could hear her cries for help without her ever having to open her mouth.
Nahvid walked up on her.
“Don’t come near me,” she said.
“Come on, Raegan. This ain’t you ... or is it? Is this you, ma? Cuz right now I’m feeling like I’ve been sleeping with the enemy. Like I don’t know you. Like I’ve been a mark to you all this time,” he said as he continued to step toward her.
He was within arm’s reach and he wrapped his hand around the gun. He clasped her hand between both of his, applying pressure until she let go of the pistol.
“I’m so sorry,” she sobbed as she fell into his arms. He resisted at first, feeling mixed emotions. A part of him wanted to murder her, but a huge part of him wanted to hold her. His arms closed around Raegan’s svelte figure and held her tightly. Nahvid could feel the frightful rhythm of her heart as it beat frantically ... desperately ... unsurely. He could tell that she was putting on a brave front but the tremble in her back gave away her apprehension. As much as he hated her for taking his mother away, he adored her for giving him what his mother never could. Raegan had showed him what it was like to feel true love.
“How did we get here?” he asked.
Raegan stepped away from him and looked directly into his face. “I didn’t know that we were robbing your spot. I swear to God on my son’s life. I didn’t find out until you drove me there later that night. It was only supposed to be one time. I needed money to pay Micah back so that he would return my son. I didn’t have time to do it legit, so me and my girls started pulling capers on hustlers around the city,” she said.
“What am I to you? Was this planned?” he asked angrily.
“No! No! Nah ... I am crazy about you. I just felt so disloyal to my friends. I was taken care of with you. You kept me the way I deserve to be kept, but they were still hustling ... still struggling. They needed more mone
y and they wanted to hit more stash houses. I told them no. I said I was out, but then I started feeling guilty like I was turning my back on them. Before you came into my life they were the only support system that my baby and I had. They were my family, Nahvid, and I just couldn’t turn my back on them. The morning I told you I was getting ready for the dinner with your mother ... I was really out hitting a stash house with them. Things just went bad and bullets started flying and your mom ...”
Nahvid felt nothing but love for Raegan in that moment. She had been forced into the situation all because of her son and when she was ready to leave, she felt obligated to her friends. She was loyal and if she truly didn’t know that she was taking his operation, he couldn’t blame her. She was a diamond in the rough with evident flaws, but even a blind man could see her worth. She just needed him to clean her up a bit, smooth out her imperfections, and give her value.
“Now we’re on the run from you ... robbing banks just to make it out of town ...”
“What?” he exclaimed, realizing that the situation was completely out of hand. Raegan was federal and if he didn’t pull her back off the ledge she would be at the point of no return. He could squash her beef in the streets without a problem, but she was moving reckless and if the heat came down on her ... she would be connected to him. He couldn’t protect her from a federal indictment. Shocked that he had allowed someone so treacherous into his life he wiped his face in frustration. “Where is your head, ma? Huh? You reckless out here ... You moving so stupid. You’re so beautiful but right now you’re looking real ugly. Can I trust you around me, Raegan? I’m a man of great stature. I have a lot to lose by fucking with you, ma. I don’t need no Eve to my Adam, Raegan ... You’re poisonous, ma, and I’m second-guessing everything about you.”
His words silenced her and she dropped her head as her mind searched for the words that could fix this. What could she say? What could she do? Was she just a slow death for him? Raegan didn’t want to be the one to bring Nahvid to his demise, and she honestly had no intentions of doing him dirty. Her world was chaotic. She and her friends had made it this way. She wanted to be hurt but she couldn’t blame his skepticism. She deserved to be doubted. Raegan had done nothing to prove the love she professed.
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