Python’s face twists in agony. “I don’t know. I think so.”
“You think so?” I thunder, incredulous. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“It means that . . . I don’t know,” he barks, tossing up his hands.
I can’t stop staring at him as he paces around in a circle.
“At the scene of the first wreck, it was raining so hard and he wasn’t responding. I thought he was dead, I was pretty sure of it—but then on the bridge—a few seconds before that SUV slammed into me, I thought I heard . . .”
“What? You thought you heard what?”
“That’s just it. I don’t know—maybe a groan or something. Everything happened so fast. Next thing I remember was flames, then the feeling of falling, and then a shitload of water. Had the window not been down, I would have never made it out of that vehicle alive.”
My gaze automatically sweeps toward the ugly burns on his hands and arms. “I’m sorry, babe.” I go to him and drape my arms around his neck for support.The whole thing sounds terrible. I lean over and pepper his face with kisses. I stop when I realize that he’s not kissing me back. One look in his face and I note that he seems more annoyed than comforted. “What is it?”
Python’s black gaze bears into me. “You’re not really sorry, are you?”
Gritting my teeth, my arms fall back to his sides. Hell no. I’m not sorry.
As if hearing my answer, Python stalks around me, shaking his head. “I don’t expect you to understand.”
“Understand what, Python? That our number-one enemy is dead? Have you forgotten the rampage that they were on that night? They blew up the Pink Monkey, destroyed your construction company, they took out half our leaders and a few members of our Columbia connect. They were on their way to running a murder train down Shotgun Row. And you want me to shed a couple of tears because Fat Ace may or may not be your long-lost brother? Sheeiiit. Blood ain’t everything.” I step back and expose my scarred chest at him. “This is what family does to you when you let down your guard. Hell, you taught me that shit when your cousin Datwon turned snitch.”
Python turns his back toward me.
“You’re getting tripped up over the wrong damn thing,” I tell him, walking around so that he has to face me. “We’re at war. Even if what you’re saying is true, what does it change? Huh? Do you think that everybody is gonna lay down their guns and sing ‘kumbaya’ just because you two got the same momma?”
Python’s face twists and contorts. “I didn’t say all of that.”
“Then what are you saying?”
‘Shit. I don’t know!” He rakes his hands across his head.
“Well, I do know! It changes nothing, especially now that his ass is gone. The Vice Lords are still engaged in a hostile takeover and the Crips have flipped the script and are tryna beat the VLs to the punch and you’re in here grieving over shit that don’t matter. It’s time to get your mind right and get back into the game.”
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
Python books around me and heads toward the front door.
“Where you going?”
“What does it look like? I’m answering the damn door,” he says.
“Are you expecting somebody?” I close my robe and tie the belt as I follow him, curious.
Python creeps up to the door, grabbing his gat along the way. “Who is it?”
A deep baritone growls back.
My eyebrows dip because I didn’t quite catch the name.
“Ah, shit. My nigga!” Python attacks the locks on the door like a kid tryna let Santa Claus inside. The second he gets it open, he throws his arms around the man on the other side.
Nosy as fuck, I rubberneck to peek out who’s getting so much love from my nigga.
“Bring your ass on in here, cuz.”
The brothah that strolls into our small space has my ass shook for a moment. The muthafucka is fine as hell.
“LeShelle, I got someone here I want you to meet,” Python says, cheesing and directing the man toward me.This is my cousin Diesel from Atlanta,” Python boasts, puffing out his chest.
It’s been a minute since I’ve seen Python this happy. But the name Diesel definitely is ringing some bells. I’ve heard his name as far back to when I first cliqued up into the Queen Gs. Most of the women who had met him were in love and the brothahs who spoke of his reputation did so with mad respect. Some say that his power even reached into the Atlanta city government and there wasn’t a nigga that he couldn’t reach out and touch—anywhere—any time.
I don’t want to come off like no fuckin’ groupie so I check myself and make sure my poker face remains on point. “Hello,” I say simply.
Diesel tips his head. His green eyes make my heart beat faster.
“So what brings you here?” I ask.
Python closes the front door. “With things being what they are, we gonna need reinforcements in the streets.” He smiles cryptically. “See. My mind in still in the game.”
I give him the same smile back.
“Anyway. I need niggas that I can trust to rein in shit and make sure our soldiers are still eating.You feel me?”
“What . . . so . . . he’s supposed to be king by proxy or something?” I shake my head, not liking the sound of that shit. “Naw. Hell naw.”
“Damn, cuz. Wifey is rude as hell,” Diesel interjects, looking me up and down.
Muthafucka just jumped off my fantasy list and onto my shit list. “It’s wife.” I flash the ring so that he doesn’t make the mistake again. “And I don’t believe I was talking to you.”
Diesel smiles. “My bad.”
He’s apologizing but it sounds like he’s laughing.
Python steps in. “Yo, Shelle. Give us a few minutes.”
“What?”
“Weren’t you about to take a shower or some shit? Me and cuz here needs to chop up some business.”
“What business you got that I can’t hear about?”
Diesel snickers. “You got a wife or a new damn momma?”
“Excuuuuse you?”
“Damn, Shelle,” Python snaps, heated. “Put that shit on pause and go do what the fuck I told you.”
“Fine. Fuck. I’ll go wash my ass. Happy?” I roll my eyes and stomp toward the bathroom. The idea of Python putting that nigga on the throne got my blood boiling. I don’t give a fuck how muthafuckin’ temporary Python thinks this shit is. Once muthafuckas get a taste of power, their asses get greedy for more. Why rule one city when you can rule two?
I switch my ass with much attitude as I stroll into the house’s one bathroom. When I close the door, I press my ear up against it and listen in.
“So, what’s up, D? Whatchu got for me?” Python asks.
“Look, cuz. It’s been wild out here. No shit. I peeped out that spot Da Club tryna get at that young buck Profit for you, but he was a no-show.”
“Fuck!”
“Yeah, I hear that. My ass wasn’t in that joint but a hot minute before muthafuckas started poppin’ off.”
“Niggas, alcohol, and bullets don’t mix,” Python gripes.
“True dat. But lookie here, I did hook up with this one lil gangsta bitch with loose lips. Name is Qiana. Know her?”
My heart stops. Oh shit. I jam my ear up closer, but I can’t hear anything.
Bam! Bam! Bam! The door rattles.
I jump back with my heart in my throat.
“Stop ear-hustlin’,” Python barks. “I don’t hear no fuckin’ water.”
I smack the door. “Fuck you!”
Python laughs.
I call him all kinds of muthafuckas as I head over to the shower. My imagination runs wild once I get under the hot water. What the fuck did that lil bitch tell Diesel? How much longer will it be before Python storms in here and blasts my ass full of bullets when he learns that I had his baby and her sloppy, slow-ass momma killed? I swear you can’t trust bitches for nothing.
Twenty minutes later, I shut off the shower and take my
time toweling off. Maybe Python is waiting for me to walk out of the bathroom before letting me have it. Shit. My heart pounds so hard that I can’t hear my ass think.
Gathering my courage, I finally walk out.
Diesel and Python are glued in front of the television.
“What are y’all watching?”
Neither responds.
Since Python doesn’t bark for me to go back into the bathroom, I join them to see what’s up.
On the screen is a picture of Yolanda’s SUV. I’d know that vehicle anywhere since the bitch tried to do a drive-by on my ass a while back. I sneak a glance over at Python. He’s clearly shocked as shit.
“I knew something had to have happened to her,” he whispers under his breath.
I listen intensely to the news reports....
“Investigators are still gathering forensic evidence from this gruesome homicide scene. We can tell you that the two young women have been dead for some time, but one of the women is believed to have been pregnant and her baby has been crudely cut from her belly . ...”
“THEY FUCKIN’ TOOK MY SON!”
The bitch kept the baby? My knees dip, but I catch myself before hitting the floor. Oh, fuck me.
43
Alice
I love the sound of Maybelline’s raspy breathing as she tries to sleep. At any time, I can end her life. There’s not an ounce of guilt in my veins for her treacherous ass and I’m going to draw her misery out for as long as possible. I’ve already spent the last couple of days shoveling two spots for her underneath the oak tree in the yard.
She took my life. Now I’m returning the favor.
Leaning over the bed, I whisper into Maybelline’s ear,“You brought this shit onto yourself.”
WHEEZE! WHEEZE!
My smile stretches wider as I brush back strands of hair from her sweat-drenched face. “It’s not time yet,” I whisper. “You’ll go when I say you can go.”
Maybelline’s eyes flutter open, but I don’t worry about her attacking because she’s too weak to do anything today. “A-Alice.”
“Shhh.” I place a finger against her lips. “I don’t want to hear any more of your lies. We’ve moved past that.”
Tears roll from the corners of her eyes and even that shit doesn’t move me. “You know, I’ve been thinking,” I confess.“It doesn’t seem fair that I just get revenge on you.Would you like some company down here? There are few people who have screwed me over the years—left me in that hole to rot and then later to lose my mind in that hospital.You all just forgot about me, didn’t you?”
Maybelline doesn’t respond.
“DIDN’T YOU?”
More tears drip onto her flat pillow as she musters enough energy to shake her head.
“LIAR!” SLAP! Pain explodes in my hand after throwing every ounce of strength into that backhand, but it was all worth it to see my handprint darken her face. It feels so good that I do it again.
SLAP!
SLAP!
SLAP!
SLAP!
Before long my hands ball into a fist and I pound on her until I’m exhausted and her pillow is soaked with blood.When I force myself off, I’m huffing and puffing as if I completed twelve rounds with a heavyweight champion. From the bed, I still hear that thin rasping, but it’s interrupted by a gurgle of blood periodically. “Now look at what you made me do.”
I draw in a deep breath and pull myself together. “You know we’d get along a lot better if you didn’t always provoke me.” After another deep breath, I push up a smile. “You lay here and think about what I said while I go out and get you a roommate.Would you like that?”This time I don’t wait or care whether she responds. I head out of the room and then lock the door behind me.The only question now is who to go after next.
“Eeny, meeny, miny, mo.”
44
LeShelle
“Where are you going?” Python asks, after I rush to get dressed and head toward the door.
“Out.” I need to get some-damn-where so I can think. I can’t believe that Scarface-looking cockroach pulled some fucked-up shit like this.
“LeShelle,” Python barks. “That ain’t a good idea. The streets are too fuckin’ hot, baby.”
“I got some business I got to handle,” I tell him and reach for the doorknob.
Python flies across the room and blocks my ass before I can even step a foot out the door. “What fuckin’ business you got?”
“Didn’t you just bump me out your shit a few minutes ago? How you comin’ at me like this?”
“Shelle, I ain’t in the mood to be arguing,” he says barely holding on to his temper.
“If you don’t want to argue, then close your mouth. I ain’t gonna be trapped up in this small muthafucka like some damn prisoner. I can take care of myself.”
Python draws a deep breath and hisses, “Ain’t nobody sayin’ shit about you not being able to take care of yourself.”
“Then go over there and finish handing your crown to your cousin.” I try for the door again, but he slams it shut.
“Python—”
“LeShelle, you stressing me. Now you know I gotta keep my eyes and ears everywhere or all of this shit is gonna crumble on my watch. I gotta get new weapons and a strong connect going or our folks are going to stop eating or start defecting. I know that you don’t want that shit happening, do you?”
Crossing my arms, I look away. I worked my ass off to get on this throne and here he go handing the muthafucka over to some nigga that I’ve just laid eyes on for the first time? Shiiiiiit.
Python grabs my chin and forces me to look at him. “Do you?”
“No.”
“A’ight then. Lose the attitude.” He releases my chin. “I’m gonna do what I gotta do to lock this shit down—while tryna deal with this sticky situation with the Vice Lords.”
“What sticky—oh, shit. Not that again.” My eyes nearly roll out of the back of my head.
“Look, Shelle. I know what I know and I know what I saw.”
“Whatever.”
He glares and huffs out a long breath.
In the back of my head, I know I should be more supportive. As a child, the loss of his brother bothered him deeply to the point that he never spoke or reached out to his mother while she was locked up. None of this means that I should board the crazy train with him. Besides, what did it matter?
“All right.You want to go out, then go out,” Python says. “But where are you gonna be at?”
Oh. Now he’s my damn daddy. Since I don’t feel like arguing all damn night, I go ahead and give him something. “At Kookie’s—maybe we’ll grab drinks at Passions or just hang. I don’t know.”
Python gives me a weird look.
“What? Now you don’t like Kookie?”
“There’s just some shit with—nah, you know what? You go on ahead. This conversation is giving me a headache.”
“Cool.” He doesn’t have to tell my ass twice. I shove him out of the way.
“Yo. Hold up.”
“What is it now?”
“Take June Bug and Kane with you. They’re out there on lookout. I’ll feel better if you have more muscle and guns with you.”
“Babysitters?”
“Security.”
Sounds like the same thing to me. “Fine. Whatever. Can I go now?”
Diesel chuckles.
My gaze slices across the room. This asshole smiles like his ass ain’t being rude as hell. I don’t like or trust this muthafucka. I’m definitely gonna have to keep my eye on this pretender to the throne.
“Don’t stay out too late,” Python says, bringing my attention back to him. “Diesel and I should be done talking soon.”
I nod, remembering that I have to do something about that loose-lipped Qiana. If she hasn’t spilled her guts to Diesel about Yolanda yet, it’s probably a matter of time before she does.
The second I climb behind the wheel of my Crown Vic, I hit Kookie on the cell. “
I’m comin’ to get you, girl. Be ready.”
Half an hour later, I cruise onto Shotgun Row.The corner boys bob and toss up deuces when they see me coming. “Home sweet home.” It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve been here. Everything looks the same, but it all feels different. We can’t lose this shit now. I’ve sacrificed too much. I look over at Momma Peaches’s crib. The place looks so dark and foreboding. It’s depressing. Shotgun Row will never be the same without her.
I pull up on Kookie’s curb and the bitch hops in like she’s escaping a bank robbery.
“What’s up, bitch? Don’t tell me that the honeymoon is already over.”
“All good things gotta come to an end, I guess.You want to go to Passions?”
“Fuck, yeah. My momma and those damn babies are working my fuckin’ nerves. I did a three-minute cheer when you called.”
“Well, all right then. Let’s get our party on.” I whip away from the curb and head out.
Two minutes down the road, Kookie leans closer to her side mirror and reaches for her gat. “I don’t want you to be alarmed, but I think some muthafuckas are tailing us.”
“Yeah. I know.Those are my new babysitters: June Bug and Kane. Apparently, I can’t leave home without them.”
Kookie relaxes. “Huh. Normally niggas buy diamonds.”
“What niggas you been dealing with?”
We laugh as I pull into the club’s parking lot. There’s a little bit of an apprehension, since the last time I was here, Yolanda’s non-aiming ass called herself doing a drive-by.
The nigga at the door sees me and smiles. “Congratulations on the wedding, LeShelle.”
I flash the ring and wink. “You know how I do.”
We stroll in and are shown directly to VIP. Jay-Z and Kanye have me bobbing and rocking my hips. Damn it feels good to be out. I’m treated like the Queen I’m supposed to be in the streets. I can’t wait until all this sneaking and hiding shit stops.
“Oh, girl. Thanks for getting me out of the house.You just don’t know,” Kookie says. “Ever since McGriff passed, it’s been a real struggle dealing with those kids and my damn momma. I was about ready to eat a muthafuckin’ bullet it you want to know the truth.” She snaps open her purse and pulls out a fat blunt.
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