Goodfellas

by Carl Weber

  “It was going to come to this eventually, Jay,” Kayden told him. “No hard feelings, and it will always be love, brother. But I already have had to share everything with you, and there isn’t room for the three of us. I love money more than I care about what twins are supposed to be. We have never been brothers. Pops pit us against each other the day we could walk. It is what it is. Now let me look and see what made you even think about that empty disk case.”

  Jayden’s wind had been knocked completely out of him, and he was going in and out of consciousness. Blood was seeping through his button-up and dripping on the floor while Kayden was calmly looking at the computer screen on the desk.

  * * *

  “Damn, shorty is a freak,” Kayden commented as he watched Jayden getting it on with her on the table. “But I’m not trying to see this. Let me fast-forward—oh wait. There we go. So, shorty is the one who got the disk. Ookay. Like I said, brother, you were going soft. You let a bitch get one up on you. I’ll take that.” Kayden bent down and searched through his brother’s pockets for his phone. His finger slid across the screen until he found what he needed. “Let’s call shorty for a meet up, shall we?”

  Jayden’s mind was screaming, but he was too weak to move or speak. When he heard Lee Lee’s muffled voice answer the phone, he wanted to tell her it was a setup, but he couldn’t.

  “You ran out on me last night.” Pause. “It’s all good. I know things ended on a weird note. I understand why you jetted, and I’m not tripping. But I would love to see you sometime today, if possible.” Kayden paused. “You gon’ make me beg? Pleaseee. I haven’t been able to get you off my mind, and you left before you could eat, so technically, I still owe you a meal.” He paused again and smiled big at Jayden. “Perfect. I’ll meet you there in one hour. I have the perfect place for us to go.”

  He disconnected the phone and pocketed it. He bent back over the computer and clicked around a few times. When he was done, he stood up straight and shook his head at his brother, who was barely breathing.

  “That Desert Eagle does some damage, boyyy. But I’ll catch you at your funeral, Jay, and don’t worry. I just erased all the footage from the entire building today and shut off all cameras from your computer. Do you know you’ve had the same passwords since high school? I gotta go, brother. Looks like I have a date.”

  With that, he exited the room without a regret in the world to, in his mind, finish cutting all loose ends.

  Chapter 12

  Lee Lee

  She knew she shouldn’t have left. She knew the safest place was with Faye, but when he called and she heard his voice, all of that went out of the window. She had been trying her best not the think about the incidents that had taken place the night before, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t get the feeling of Jayden stroking between her legs out of her mind. She hadn’t been able to stop wanting him to call her, and when he did, the butterflies in her stomach went crazy.

  “Hello?”

  “You ran out on me last night,” she heard Jayden say.

  “I’m sorry,” Lee Lee said.

  She got up from the bed she’d been lying on and tiptoed to the open door of the room she’d chosen in Faye’s house. She peeked out and looked down the hall and saw that Faye’s door was shut. Still, she closed hers, just in case.

  “I’m sorry,” she said again. “My girl, um, my girl ended up texting me and telling me that she was ready to go.”

  “It’s all good. I understand why you jetted, and I’m not tripping. But I would love to see you sometime today, if possible.”

  “Ummm . . . I don’t know. I don’t think I can today.”

  In her heart, she felt that it was not Jayden on that video, but she knew that Faye would not understand. They were both her enemies, and there was no changing her mind. The last thing Lee Lee wanted to do was choose between her friend and a man she barely even knew.

  “You gon’ make me beg?” Jayden’s sensual voice sent shivers down her spine again. “Pleaseee. I haven’t been able to get you off my mind, and you left before you could eat, so technically, I still owe you a meal.”

  “I know.” Lee Lee couldn’t help but to giggle. She bit her lip and thought about her next course of action. She felt that what Faye didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her. She could just tell her she went to her sister’s house to visit Jaymar, which she planned on doing that day anyway. “All right. Meet me in front of my apartment in an hour.”

  “Perfect. I’ll meet you there in one hour. I have the perfect place for us to go.”

  “OK. See you soon.”

  Lee Lee disconnected the call and went to the closet to put her tan Ugg boots on. She was fully dressed in a pair of light-colored jeans, a long sleeved white shirt, and a tan puffer vest. She made sure her edges were slicked and her braids were still on point before she used her phone to request an Uber.

  She assumed that Faye was sleeping, because she didn’t even hear the chime of the alarm when Lee Lee opened and closed the front door. It seemed like the drive took forever, and her Uber driver kept trying to make conversation. She was happy once she saw the familiar cobblestone building, but she was even happier when she saw the familiar SL Benz parked in front of the building.

  “What’s up?” she said when she got in the car and got comfortable in the passenger seat.

  “You,” Jayden said, flashing her his most charming smile. “You’re looking nice.”

  “Thank you,” she said, and he licked his lips sexily at her. “Where are we going?”

  “It’s a surprise,” he said and rubbed her thigh gently before he pulled away from the curb.

  Faye is wrong about him, she thought to herself as she stared at the side of his face.

  She couldn’t wait for him to wine and dine her. She’d never really had that before. Most men just ordered takeout instead of just taking her out. She knew she was worth more than that, but around there, she just took what she could get. Most men of Jayden’s stature looked at women like her as hood rats, so, even though she tried not to show it, she was geeked that he was even giving her the time of day. Before she turned them back to the highway, her eyes fell on a mole on his cheek. She didn’t remember seeing that the night before, but maybe she had overlooked it. No . . . She was sure he didn’t have a mole on his face. She wasn’t that drunk. Instantly, her eyes went to his hand, and she swallowed hard when she did not see the scar there. She sucked in her breath and quickly turned her head to face the front.

  “Jayden?” she asked softly.

  “What’s good, shorty?”

  “How much money did you give me the other day? I can’t remember.”

  He must have felt her leg get tense under his hand because he glanced over at her and saw her solemn face. He clenched his jaw when he saw her swallow; then he smirked.

  “Damn, this nigga is out here tricking to hoes too? My brother is wilding.”

  Lee Lee gasped, and tears filled her eyes. She’d walked right into a deadly trap.

  “I knew you weren’t Jayden!”

  “Nah, I’m flyer than that nigga. My name is Kayden. And you? Lee Lee, you are going to lead the person I really want right to me.”

  “Never!” Lee Lee would never sell out her friend.

  She reached over and grabbed the steering wheel and made the car swerve right. The red soccer mom van driving next to them blared her horn loudly when the Mercedes barely missed it. Lee Lee tried to do it again, but Kayden pushed her back in her seat. She figured her next bet would be to try to signal to the other cars for help, but the tint on the car was too dark. She wouldn’t have gotten the chance to, even if the passing cars could see her anyway. Kayden hit her so hard in the temple with his fist that her last sight was of the glove compartment as her body slumped forward.

  Chapter 13

  Faye

  “How the hell did this girl end up here?” Faye parked her vehicle in the parking lot on the side of the dry cleaners.

  She had come to pic
k up Lee Lee after receiving a distressed text. Looking around, Faye didn’t see her friend anywhere, and when she called, the phone kept going straight to voice mail. Faye rolled her eyes and checked the text message again.

  Girl, this damn Uber driver dead ass just kicked me out of the car! He was trying to flirt with me, and I cursed his ass clean smooth the fuck out! I’m over here at Pleasantly Clean, in the back. Please come get me!

  Faye groaned because she had told Lee Lee that she was on the way. She didn’t know why she wouldn’t be out front waiting for her, but Faye went to the back of the building where Lee Lee said she was. She put her hands as deep as they could go in her pockets and put her head down so the bitter wind wouldn’t bring tears to her eyes. When she reached the back, she found that she was standing in a wide alley, but Lee Lee was still nowhere in sight. There was a door in the back of the building that was slightly ajar. Faye figured that her friend had gone inside to stay warm.

  “Lee Lee?” Faye called when she was inside. “Leeee Leeee!”

  Shit! This girl is going to make me look for her ass when she’s the one who asked me to come!

  “In here!”

  She heard a woman’s voice call back. Faye was so ready to get in and get out, that she didn’t even pay attention to the fact that the voice didn’t even belong to Lee Lee. She made her way down a hallway toward an open door, huffing and puffing.

  “Bitch, when you ask for a ride you’re supposed to be outside and ready! Why did I have to come down here just to fin—Oh my God. Lee Lee!”

  She walked through the doorway and into what looked like a hostage situation. Hog-tied and along the concrete wall in the room were eight women, not including Lee Lee. They were in some type of dope shop. Faye saw the powdery substance on the tables in the room. The half-naked women must have been the workers because they still had their gloves on. All of their mouths were taped shut, but Lee Lee’s eyes had tears in them when she saw Faye come through the door. Faye rushed to her friend and gently pulled the tape from her lips.

  “Lee Lee, what’s going on?”

  “H-him,” she responded.

  Her voice was raspy, like she had been screaming, and her eyes looked past Faye. Before Faye could turn around, she heard the sound of a heavy door shut.

  “Nice of you to join the show, Regret. Or is it Faye, now?”

  She turned her head to face the owner of the voice and found herself looking at a male version of herself. Except his eyes had so much hate in them. Slowly standing to her feet, she swallowed the little liquid she had in her throat and felt her heart freeze over. The plan had been for her to plot on them, not the other way around. She should have known that if they had killed her mother, then it would only be a matter of time before they found her too.

  “It’s Kayden,” Lee Lee said from the ground. “He’s behind all of it. He killed your mom, Faye.”

  “Guilty,” Kayden put his hands up like a child caught red-handed. “That bitch was going to destroy the empire my father built. But now I’m getting rid of the problem.”

  Faye felt her knees become weak, but she tried her best to hold her ground. “You killed an innocent woman. She would have never spoke a word about me.”

  “I don’t trust anybody,” Kayden said and began to walk circles around her. He must have seen Faye’s eyes go the door because he chuckled. “You need to know the code to get in and out of here, sweetheart. You and your friend aren’t going anywhere. Now, tell me, how do you want to die?”

  “You’re sick,” Faye whispered.

  She could feel him behind her, but she was frozen in place. There was nowhere to run, and when he placed his lips by her ear, she jumped.

  “You think so?”

  “I’m your sister.” She figured it wouldn’t move him, but it was worth a try.

  “Sister?” He laughed. “You tried that on the wrong brother. I don’t even know you. You aren’t my sister. You call me sick, but, no, I’m just a man who’s on his way to having it all, and I won’t stop until I get it. One sibling down, one to go.”

  “Y-you killed Jayden?”

  “Shot him right in the chest.”

  “But he’s your brother. You’ve known him your whole life.”

  “Can you imagine, growing up with a twin brother and having everyone treat you like you’re the outcast? The screwup?” Kayden stepped back from her. “It was always Jayden this, Jayden that! Or, Kayden, why don’t you act more like Jayden? Kayden, you’re being a bad influence on Jayden. Well, I’m sick of it! I’ve been sick of it! And if you think for one second I’m going to deal with two of you, then you’re sadly mistaken!”

  Faye finally got the courage to turn around to face his madness. His expression was pure rage, and Fay knew it would have to be an act of God if she made it out of there alive. She understood that he didn’t hate her; he hated Jayden. And since she was a part of them, she reminded Kayden of him.

  “So . . . So you’re upset because Jayden was better than you at everything?”

  “Yo, bitch!” Kayden got in her face and snatched her up by her neck. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

  “You’re mad,” Faye struggled to speak as her hands clawed at his, “that you are a shadow. A shadow of the better brother. You’re reckless.”

  “Shut up!” Kayden threw her forcefully to the cold ground, and she gasped for air. “Your smart mouth just cost you a life.” He pulled a gun from his waist and aimed it at the first girl along the wall. Her eyes grew wide, and she shook her head feverishly, squealing through the tape on her mouth. “How’s this for reckless?”

  Boom!

  Faye looked on in horror when he shot the girl close range in the head. The girl’s head bounced back, and the wall behind her was splattered with blood and brains.

  “What about this?”

  Boom!

  “Or this?”

  Boom!

  “Stop!” Faye screamed when the third girl dropped.

  “Fuck you.”

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  He didn’t stop until all of the girls except for Lee Lee were dead. Lee Lee was sobbing. She had been sprayed with the blood and brains of the women who had just been murdered beside her. Faye crawled over to her friend and wrapped her arms around her. She was crying too when she saw the dead women. It only took a split second for their lives to be taken, and the crazed look in Kayden’s eyes showed that he had no regrets about it.

  “Please, she doesn’t have anything to do with it.” Faye gripped Lee Lee as tightly as she could. “Please, she has a son.”

  “I’m sure all these bitches have kids,” Kayden said, reloading his weapon. “You think I give a fuck about that?”

  “Please. It’s me that you want. Not her. Just kill me.”

  “When I leave here today, I will be the sole heir to my father’s empire.”

  “How are you going to explain it all?”

  “I’m a good liar.” Kayden shrugged his shoulders and aimed the gun at Faye. “I’ll wing it.”

  Boom!

  “Ahh!” Faye called out in agony when the bullet opened her arm up.

  “Eat it!” Kayden shouted. “Eat the pain the way I have had to eat it for the past twenty-five years!”

  He was so busy yelling that he didn’t hear the click of the steel door opening behind him. Kayden aimed the gun at Lee Lee’s head.

  “You would die for the bitch that led you to your death? You are a fool, shorty.”

  “I’m sorry,” Faye winced and applied pressure to her arm, “that you never felt love. All my life I thought I was an outcast, but I realize that maybe that was the wrong triplet. It was you. Because I have felt nothing but love for as long as I can remember.” She moved her body in front of her friend the same way Lee Lee had that night at the club. “I won’t let you kill her.”

  “And I won’t let him kill you.”

  Boom!

  Kayden felt the burning sensation in the back of his
knee. He fell to the ground. Faye snatched the gun from him with her good hand and jumped to her feet. Her left arm hung limp at her side, and she looked to where the gunshot had come from. Standing there, in an unbuttoned bloodstained shirt with a bulletproof vest under it was Jayden Vincent. There looked to be a few bullets in the chest of his vest, but one must have hit him in the shoulder. He was still bleeding, and the pain from his wound showed on his sweat-riddled face.

  “H-he said you were dead,” Faye breathed.

  “Vest,” Jayden grinned sheepishly but flinched from the pain in his shoulder. He turned first to the dead workers on the ground, and then back to where his brother was grimacing on the ground. “I knew you would come here, Kay. I don’t know who you are anymore, man.”

  “You never did!” Kayden sucked his teeth and looked as if he was trying to stomach the pain. “Go on, do it! Kill me!”

  Jayden raised the gun up and aimed it in Kayden’s direction. His finger applied pressure to the trigger of his pistol.

  “Do it! I tried to off you—return the favor.”

  Faye looked at Jayden, and she saw that with every fiber in his being that he wanted to pull the trigger. She saw something in his eyes that she had seen in hers too many times in the mirror when she was younger. Regret. She had already untied Lee Lee, and the two of them made their way to where Jayden was standing. Faye’s good arm went to the gun, and she pushed it down gently.

  “Don’t do anything that you will regret later,” she told him. “He’s not worth it. Too many people have died already.”

  “She’s right,” he said with his eyes still on Kayden. “You’re not worth shit, nigga. I’ll let Dad handle you. This time, I’m sure he won’t be so lenient.”

  “Come on, y’all,” Lee Lee said with a shaky voice. “Let’s get out of here.”