by Mikal Malone
Thick jumped in his truck and pulled up alongside theirs.
“Where we going?”
“To the community center,” Derrick said as Doctanian started the truck. “Follow us.”
“Hold up right quick,” Thick said when his phone vibrated.
He was shocked to see who it was. Yvette was calling him. He laughed and before he answered, he showed the squad members the caller ID.
“You can’t be serious!” Lavelle said.
“Answer it,” Cameron added. “Maybe we can find out what the fuck is going on.”
“Hello.”
“Thick…I see you out front. Why don’t you come upstairs and talk to me for a second,” Yvette said as if they were still together. “I got something I want to give to you.”
“Oh really?” He laughed.
“Yes…and your key still works,” she said as he hung up.
When he hung up, he noticed Derrick and them still looking at him.
“You rolling or what, man?” Derrick asked.
“Naw…Cameron and them going. I got something else to take care of now.”
He told his friends that Yvette wanted to see him and that he may have to choke her.
“You sure you don’t want us coming with you?” Lavelle asked. “This seems like a set up.”
“Nigga, please. I’m time enough for a bitch. She not crazy enough to fuck with me,” he said jumping out of the truck. “You drive, Cam!”
Cameron got in the front seat. Thick waved them off and went into the building.
He had one thing on his mind and that was putting Yvette in her place.
Chapter 33
Full Circle
February, Monday, 10:45 p.m.
Thick
Walking up to the door felt eerie for Thick.
But being the arrogant, cocky man he was, he pushed his feelings to the side and walked into the apartment he once shared with Yvette as if they still lived there together. What he saw next he couldn’t deny. Everything in the apartment was gone. It looked the same way it did when they first moved in.
With the door still open and his hand tucked in his coat on his piece, he walked in. With the door slightly ajar, he used the light in the hallway to help him see. The only thing in the apartment was two chairs in the middle of the floor. He tried to flip the switch for the lights but they didn’t come on. He saw Yvette sitting in one of the chairs as she lit two candles.
Again, Thick flipped the switch as if flipping it the first ten times were a fluke.
“Thick…it’s not on. Come in and have a seat.”
The chair Yvette was sitting in was directly across from the empty one. When Thick closed the door, the light from the candle revealed her sexy, small frame. He couldn’t help but admire how good she looked. She was wearing all black and had her hair combed down her back. The tight black pants she had on made her legs look even more appealing. The button down shirt she had on kissed her cleavage perfectly as the diamonds in her earrings and on her neck illuminated the way.
Thick walked in and took his seat. The candle in the middle of the chairs cast a glow on both their faces.
“What’s up, Yvette? I’m here. You got somebody in here for me or something? ‘Cause if you do, bring it on.”
“Nobody’s here, Thick.”
He went through the apartment to inspect for himself and found she was telling the truth.
“You see?” Yvette smiled. “It’s just you and me.”
Her glossy lips answered his questions elegantly. Yvette didn’t appear nervous and her mannerisms put Thick on edge.
“Well what the fuck is up then?” he asked taking his seat again.
“You were always a man who liked to get to the point.”
“Yep…and shit ain’t changed so stop wasting my mothafucking time!”
“Shit ain’t changed, Thick?” She laughed. “Shit ain’t changed? A lot of shit has changed.”
“Oh yeah…like what?”
“For starters you ruined my life and left me to pick up the pieces by myself.”
“Is that what this is about?” He laughed again, his deep voice rocking the empty apartment. “Damn, bitch! I thought you’d be over Big T by now.”
“I wanna know why?” She was unmoved by his comments.
“Why I do what? Stop fucking with you?”
“Yes.”
“’Cause you’re weak! That’s why.”
“I hold shit down for you and you call me weak? I wonder how many other women could hold shit down for their men.”
“You probably right. But you wanted to do it. That’s why it was so easy for you to hold shit down.”
“Is that what you think, Thick?” She crossed her legs. “Do you really believe I wanted to be a hustler, risking my life every day?”
“I know you did.”
“Well you’re wrong. I wanted you, but you chose another bitch over me. You gave her my life and left me with nothing. I would’ve done anything for you, Thick. Anything you asked me.”
“I know. That’s the problem.” He laughed. “You didn’t have limits, and she wasn’t that way. Plus she took a scar for me.”
“So she gets in a car accident and gets a scar on her face, and wins points with you? Are you serious?”
“Yeah…I am.”
When he said that, Yvette reached under her leg and pulled out a pearl handled knife. Thick sat up in his seat and pulled out his gun.
“She gets a scar and you chose her, huh?” With that said, she took the knife and sliced along her jaw line. As the blood trickled down, she never took her eyes off his. “I bet you she wouldn’t have done that shit.”
Thick looked at her and suddenly he was turned on. Yvette was more thorough than he thought. She reminded him of the old Yvette he dated but better.
“You a crazy bitch. But I like that shit!”
“I’m glad you do. Now on to business. Your services are no longer needed in Emerald City. We’re taking over.”
“Fuck you talking ‘bout, Yvette? You sound stupid!” His voiced boomed through the empty apartment.
She sat firm in her chair, unfazed. “I’m talking ‘bout how you gonna die tonight.”
Thick wasn’t laughing anymore. He thought after she cut her face she’d beg to be back with him. But here she was threatening to kill him.
“Yeah okay. And just how you supposed to do that.”
“Like this,” she said as she pitched the knife through the air, burying it into his neck.
She stood up and walked toward him. The same slick, manipulative eyes she’d become accustomed to were two sizes larger than usual. He tried desperately to get the knife out of his neck but couldn’t move. Standing behind him, she whispered in his ear.
“You see, baby. Some promises you gotta keep.”
When his big body slid out of the chair and onto the floor, she grabbed her coat and moved toward the door.
Chapter 34
The Confrontation
February, Monday, 10:45 p.m.
Emerald City
Cameron and them were twisted up a little about how things went down.
Part of them wanted to do more, but they had them outnumbered. It was obvious that any of the soldiers would’ve gave their lives for the girls no questions asked.
Cameron, Lavelle and Dyson eased into Yvette’s apartment. They were met by the smell of blood and fear as soon as they opened the door. However, it wasn’t the smell of death floating in the air that made them grab for their weapons. It was the movement.
“Help…me,” Thick said, barely above a whisper. “Help me.”
They all rushed to his side with the light from the candle leading them.
“We thought you were dead, man!” Lavelle yelled.
“We’ll get you out of here,” Dyson added.
They were helpful but Cameron wasn’t. The thought of all the trouble Thick had caused consumed him. All this shit was Thick’s greedy ass fault. Had Thick not
brought Zakayla into the picture, Cameron would be marrying Mercedes and business would have been as usual. He looked at Dyson and Lavelle and as if they could read his mind, Dyson said, “Make it quick.”
“We’ll be in the hallway,” Lavelle added taking one last look at Thick, the man he once called friend.
Cameron stooped down in front of Thick who was moving on the floor trying to hang on to life.
“Help me. Please.”
“I want my face to be the last face you see.”
“Cam…get me outta here,” he begged. “I’m dying, nigga!”
“I’m sorry dawg. I can’t do shit for you.”
Thick dragged his bloody body along the floor and tried to appeal to Cameron.
“Why, man? Why…why are you doing this to me?”
“Because you fucked with the wrong nigga’s son,” Cameron said as he placed his gun to his head. “And now you know.”
He pulled his trigger and blasted the bullet into Thick’s skull. Once the shot was heard, Lavelle and Dyson came back in the apartment.
“Well…let’s get rid of this mothafucka,” Lavelle said.
“Yeah, let’s get rid of him.”
Epilogue
2 years later
Life in Emerald City was different.
The gatekeepers didn’t have to hold down the gate anymore. They all moved back to the steps of Emerald City three times out of the week and empowered their soldiers to do the work. They made decisions to enjoy life with the people in their lives who meant the most…their families and each other.
Mercedes got with Derrick and had another baby. They bought a house in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Derrick was still holding shit down in Emerald City with his crew and he realized that reporting to a woman wasn’t as bad as he thought.
Carissa got back with Lavelle but tried to do it on the DL. She would sneak off to see him and when Yvette let on that she knew, Carissa said she feared that they would reject her. But they all knew that Lavelle really loved her and no matter what, they at least deserved a chance.
Kenyetta started keeping time with one of the Tyland Towers dudes. Nobody knew who he was and nobody asked too many questions either. She said when he was worth introducing she’d bring him around but not a minute sooner.
Yvette didn’t mess with anybody anymore. Everybody swore she was keeping time with a female, some chick named Spinner, but she denied it. The more she denied it the more they felt she was lying up with her. But just like they accepted Carissa and Lavelle, they would accept Yvette because no matter what, they loved her.
Cameron had a hard time of letting Mercedes go. He did everything from coming by her and Derrick’s house all hours of the night asking about the whereabouts of his kids, to showing up at places they were, starting trouble. When none of that worked, he finally confessed his love to Mercedes but she said she was in love with Derrick. And when he saw it in her eyes, he left it alone.
One of Dyson’s soldiers at one of his shops outside of Emerald robbed and killed him. His body was never found and to this day Cameron and them are looking for whoever killed him.
Doctanian left the game and opened a sports bar. He moved his mother out of the projects and kept money stashed to keep his promise to Lil C about starting their video production company. He had a baby with a girl he met at his bar and was very happy.
Emerald City was built on fear and ran by lies but was uplifted by fearless women who called the men in their lives out.
And although they broke their promises, the women were better for it.
Fuck a happily ever after! This a mothafucking hood tale! Now let me show you how shit really went down.
Now The Drama Really Begins
December 13th, Monday, 9:33 p.m.
Cameron
Cameron sat outside in his black 750i BMW without the heat running in the car.
It was thirty degrees outside and the wind was mighty. Despite the weather, his body was pumping fire due to what he was about to do. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t get over losing Mercedes despite the breakup being all his fault. He felt betrayed and it caused him to mastermind the ultimate plan. When he saw Black Water walk toward his car, he hit the automatic unlock button. Black Water opened the car door and climbed in the passenger seat wearing a thick red North Face coat.
They called him Black Water because his complexion was dark and whether it was cold or hot outside, his skin kept its oily luster. Snow from the outside fell onto the butter colored leather seat. His build was as large as Thick’s was and in a way, he reminded Cameron of him. That was another reason why he had trouble trusting him, but he pushed the thought out his mind because he was blinded by fury.
“Why you ain’t got the heat on man? It’s cold as shit in here!” Black Water said, reaching over and hitting the button, releasing a soft blast of warm air into the car.
Cameron mugged him wanting to give him a piece of his mind for touching the controls in his car. The only reason he didn’t was because he needed his help. He had a lot of power in Tyland Towers so he’d come in handy for what he wanted done.
“I ain’t ask you out here to make you comfortable. This is about business,” Cameron said, his eyes hidden under the black New York Yankees cap he wore.
“So what do you want?”
“I want you to help me get Emerald back,” Cameron said coldly.
“Get Emerald back?” Black Water chuckled. “I heard you niggas handed it over. Why you want it back now?”
The fact that everyone talked about how the Emerald City squad stepped down for some women bugged the hell out of him.
“Yeah well you shouldn’t believe everything you hear. I was getting enough money to keep me tight but now I want more.” He was lying. Cameron was still well off with his shops in and around D.C. His real reason for the betrayal of his children’s mother was jealousy.
“You got people who can help me get in? I hear them shorties got that thing on lock over there.”
“Yeah. My men Harold and Ed still there and they waiting on my word. You shouldn’t have a problem breaking shit down, with my help. We just gonna have to be slow and careful.”
“Cool,” he said satisfied with his response. “So when you wanna start?”
“Today.”
“And what about her?”
Cameron was silent. He knew once he gave the word, he couldn’t change his mind later. He had to be clear on his intentions for Mercedes.
“Kill her.”