by Dutch
He wasn’t the leader of the Pack, far from it. But just the fact that he sported the diamond and ruby pendant of the NC State Mascot—and his crew’s symbol—let the chicks know he could be their come up as well.
“So what up… y’all down or what? Fuck this club, the party is at my spot,” he arrogantly spat, eyeing both chicks lustfully. They were outside a large club in Raleigh called the Factory. Candy coated whips filled the parking lot, and a lot of ballas were parking lot pimpin’, but Pappy was easily out shining them all.
“It’s whatever wit’ me, baby,” the shorter of the two flirted, eyes full of dollar signs.
“That’s what it is then,” he happily replied, leaning off the hood to make his exit.
“Yo, Pap,” a gruff male voice called out to him.
He had been so engrossed in the heavenly bodies before him; he hadn’t even seen the black MPV pull up on him. Pappy looked up upon hearing his name. He looked into a pair of Versace shades worn by the passenger.
“Kev said hi,” the man announced while simultaneously pulling a .40 caliber pistol out and aiming the infrared for a dome shot.
On hearing the name Kev, his street instincts kicked in, but it was too late. The chicks dashed off in opposite directions as the laser light dotted his forehead dead center.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The two silenced shots whistled through the air, entered his brain and blew the back of his head out. Pappy never even got a chance to lift the 9mm Luger he had tucked in his pants. His body was thrown back forcefully onto the hood of the car. Since the shots were fired through a silencer, the parking lot didn’t break into a frenzy. Only a few alert ballas had seen what went down and quickly exited the parking lot. They were heading one way and the MPV another.
“Damn, yo… I’m a daddy,” Rico whispered to himself in awe. He held the tiny bundle of joy to his chest protectively as he stood by his girlfriend’s hospital bed.
“What should we name him, Boo?” his girlfriend Pam asked, still a little woozy from her first birth.
Rico raised his child up, peered at his closed eyes and saw his little fists ball up. “Look at him! My lil’ man a soldier!” he announced proudly, ignoring Pam’s question.
She allowed him to have his moment then asked again with playful impatience. “Rico, you ain’t heard a word I said!”
“Oh, oh yeah, a name… I got you. How about Tupac?” he suggested half jokingly. He loved Tupac Shakur like a dead brother.
“Picture that,” Pam answered dismissively.
The nurse walked in to take the baby. He handed him to her carefully then watched as they walked out.
“Let me think about it a sec,” he said, bending down to give Pam a passionate kiss. “You know I love you, right?”
Pam’s heart fluttered. “I love you, Rico.”
“I’m a daddy, yo,” he repeated again proudly. “I-I gotta get some air real quick, baby. I’ll be right back.”
Rico walked out and headed for the elevator. Once he reached the lobby, he had a sudden impulse to buy cigars. He purchased a handful of “It’s A Boy!” cigars from the hospital lobby and began passing them out as he headed out the front door.
He found an orderly standing outside smoking a cigarette. Rico handed him a cigar then began to split his open to smoke a blunt.
“I’m a daddy, yo!” he repeated again to the orderly.
“Congratulations, my man. Your first, huh?” the orderly surmised.
“That I know of,” Rico replied with a chuckle. Living the life of a balla wasn’t no telling how many baby mamas he potentially had. But this one would be real. It was his own family and he vowed to be the same kind of father his father was to him.
“You an NC State fan I see,” the orderly questioned, eyeing his ruby and diamond pendent dangling from the barrel link chain around his neck. It matched his ruby beveled Rolex as well.
“Somethin’ like that,” Rico smiled inwardly. The wolf pack he ran with was on a different level of ballin’, and the only shots he made were hollow tips. He was the second in charge of one of the most ruthless drug organizations Eastern Carolina had ever seen, and he repped it to the fullest.
The orderly thunked his cigarette into the parking lot and said, “Well, break’s over. Congratulations again!”
“Too bad you won’t enjoy it.”
The voice caught them both off guard. The third man had crept up like an old memory, appearing out of the shadows.
“Huh?” was all Rico could say before the silenced hollow tips put his thoughts to rest.
The brain matter splattered the terrified orderly as Rico’s body slumped to the pavement.
The gunman and the orderly’s eyes met.
“Please don’t…,” was all the orderly could get out.
“Wrong place,” the gunman replied chirping off two shots that crumpled the orderly right next to Rico. “Wrong time,” he added then disappeared like a thief in the night.
Chapter 2
“Fuck Daytona Beach, dog. That shit don’t excite me no more. I’m chilling,” Vee spoke into the cell phone as he drove along Fayetteville Street in Durham.
He was behind the wheel of a blue Altima that was owned by the chick in the passenger seat. Her name was Cynthia and he had just met her earlier at Central University. Vee was hopping out of a cab to come check another one of his chicks when he eyed shortie coming out of the girl’s dorm. He was dressed thug fashion in grey Dickies and a black hoodie, but one look at his Wolf Pack pendant and Cynthia knew he was ballin’. The rest was now.
“You gonna just talk on your phone all night?” she huffed with attitude; her arm’s folded across her breasts.
“Nigguh, Luke bitches?! Luke wanna fuck my bitches!” Vee laughed arrogantly. “Miami hoes ain’t nothin’ special.”
Cynthia sucked her teeth. “Vee?!”
“Yo, hold on,” Vee spat then turned to her. “Ay yo, shut the fuck up, aight? Speak when spoken to or find something better to do wit’ yo’ mouth,” he hissed with authority.
Any other nigguh would’ve talked to her like that and Cynthia would’ve spazzed then put his ass out. But Vee wasn’t just any other nigguh. He was the leader of the crew all the sack-chasin’ hoes were creamin’ their sheets to get next to, so she didn’t want to blow her chance at hood celeb status. Besides the fact, Vee was the color of mocha chocolate with hazel eyes and enough waves to make you sea sick. He wasn’t cut up or diesel, but word was he had dick for days. He was a woman’s dream from which she wasn’t ready to wake up.
Cynthia reached over and unbuttoned his Dickie pants, sliding her hand around the snake in his pants. She wet her lips seductively, eyeing him the whole time as she leaned forward. “You mean… like this?” she purred, taking his limp shaft into her mouth.
Vee smiled, “Yeah, exactly. Ay yo, Cuz, let me… DAMN… let me hit you back.”
He dropped the phone on the seat and relaxed into the moment. As he drove the slurping sounds were the only ones in the car, because Vee never rode with the radio up. It was at that moment when Cynthia ducked her head that he saw the black MPV pull up beside him at the light. Had she not ducked at that precise moment, not only would her brains be in his lap instead of her face, he would’ve never seen the hit until it was too late.
“What the fuck?!” he blurted out as the driver and the back passenger opened fire with automatic weapons. On first glance he instantly hit the lever of the car seat, laying it all the way down, while simultaneously reaching under the bobbing neck of Cynthia putting the car in reverse. He knew he couldn’t go forward because he was behind a car at the light. He drove top speed in reverse, not even looking back, as the gunfire had him pinned down.
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” Cynthia hyperventilated as the windshield shattered from the barrage of shots.
“Shut the fuck up!” Vee barked, trying to maneuver without sight.
The MPV gave chase and caught up quick, nose-to-nose with the Altima, blazing the
hood and headrests. Vee remained calm. He knew sooner or later they’d have to reload. It had only taken seconds, so before Vee had gone a block in reverse a car came out of the intersection.
Screech! Boom!
The vehicle struck the rear flank of the Altima stopping it dead in its tracks. The shooter on the passenger side wasted no time in getting out.
“I don’t wanna die!” Cynthia wailed.
Vee snatched her face to him. “Shut up! You ain’t gonna die!”
“Yo, Vee!” the gunman yelled, cautiously approaching the car. “Game over, nigguh! Kev said tell God he said hi!” he yelled then lit the car up with another burst of gunfire.
The bullets whizzed so close over Vee’s head he could feel the air piercing around him. He had yet to let off one shot of his Heckler & Koch .45 caliber. He was glad the gunman was so trigger happy, so he waited for his moment. It came when he heard the gun click on empty. Then he quickly made his move.
“Get out now!” he told Cynthia.
“No! He’ll kill me!”
Vee put the gun to her head. “And I’m a kill you if you don’t! Open the door… I got you!”
He flung the door open a nanosecond after the gunman ran out of bullets. He reached in his pants for his .40 caliber, the exact same .40 caliber he had just killed Pappy with. But by the time he pulled it from his waist, Vee had emerged from the car firing. The infrared can make anyone a marksman, so once the dot hit the gunmen’s forehead, Vee dropped him with one shot.
The driver nutted up but managed to aim his Mac-11 out the window with one hand. The unsteady aim made his shots go wide, but once he trained in, each bullet hit Cynthia because Vee was using her as a human shield. Her body jerked and twitched but Vee kept his aim, centered his target and fired. The shot split the windshield and he saw the driver’s head snap back and stay in that position. As the Mac-11 fell from his dead hand, Vee allowed Cynthia’s mangled body to fall to the ground too.
“Good lookin’, shortie,” Vee chuckled, then began to jog off. He stopped in his tracks, went back to the car and retrieved his phone. While he had his head stuck in the car, he wiped down the steering wheel the best he could. As he jogged away, he pulled a small black pouch out of his pocket and kissed it. “You never let me down.” Vee then dialed a number on his cell.
“We fucked up. He got away!” These were the words Kev Simmons heard when he answered the phone. Never mind the fake Scarface accent, Kev knew exactly who it was—Vee.
“Fuck you, you goddamn cocksucker! You’re dead!” Kev based, trying to keep his voice low because he was in the hospital.
“Naw, won’t be no next time ‘cause now I’m comin’ for you,” Vee hissed on the other end.
“I ain’t hard to find, nigguh. You started this war!” Kev replied.
Vee chuckled. “Naw, dog, I didn’t. But I’ma damn sure finish it.”
Click. The line went dead.
Kev was so heated that Vee would have the audacity to call while he was praying at the hospital that his father would pull through, he smashed his phone by hurling it into a nearby wall in the waiting room.
“Kevin! What’s wrong with you?!” his mother Gloria asked.
The security guard quickly approached. “Sir, you’re going to have to calm down or I’ma have to ask you to leave.”
“I’m calm,” Kev replied, eyeing the guard firmly.
“Baby, are you okay”?” his wife Karrin asked, taking his hand. He snatched it away.
“I’m good.”
“Kevin, who was that on the phone?” Gloria asked.
Before he could answer he saw his half-brother Tyquan, Ty’s mother Debra and three of Ty’s henchmen approaching. Gloria followed his eyes and when she spotted Debra, sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes, like here comes this bitch.
Debra caught her expression and smirked to herself, thinking she had the upper hand. As they approached, Ty shook Kev’s hand and pecked Gloria on the cheek. Ty’s eyes met Karrin’s, but he looked through her as if she didn’t exist.
“How is he, Kev?” Ty inquired just as a doctor approached.
“Excuse me, doctor, but I’m Mrs. Simmons. Please tell me that my husband is okay?” Debra questioned with genuine concern.
“Mrs.? But I thought…,” the doctor stammered looking at Gloria.
“No, no, doctor, I’m Mrs. Simmons… she’s just the ex-wife,” Debra announced proudly.
“First wife,” Gloria shot back.
The doctor cleared his throat, trying to avoid a cat fight. “Well uh-yes… Mr. Simmons’ condition is extremely critical. He was shot multiple times. Right now it’s touch and go.”
Debra seized the doctor’s arm. “Well, can I see him? Just for a moment. Please?” She eyed the doctor with those hazel eyes that made most men weak in the knees and the doctor was no exception.
Gloria chuckled inwardly thinking, this fake bitch oughta get an Oscar.
“I-I’m sorry Mrs. Simmons, but I have to say no. It’s too early,” he answered before walking away.
“Yo, Kev, let me speak to you a minute,” Ty requested.
Kev looked at his mother, apprehensive to leave the two women together knowing they hated each other with a passion.
“Ma?” he asked as if to say, don’t cut up in here.
“I’m a big girl, baby. I ain’t got time for nobody’s kids,” Gloria answered the unspoken question.
With that, he, Ty and the three henchmen headed for the front door. Once they were outside, Ty’s boys fanned out to secure the area. Ty and Kev walked side by side quietly. Although they were raised by the same man and acted so much alike, they had a strong distaste for each other. A feeling that was not only a gift from their mothers, but the brotherly rivalry enhanced by the life they led took on a dangerous edge.
“Yo, word is nigguhs pushed Rico and Pappy’s wigs back tonight. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” Ty asked once they stopped walking.
Kev shrugged and lit up a Newport. “It was a G call.”
“But you missed, Vee,” Ty informed him. “What the hell was on your dome, dog??” Ty questioned.
“What the hell you mean, what’s on my mind?!” Kev shot back, gesturing with his hands to the hospital. “This is on my mind, nigguh! My fuckin’ father is on my mind! So I holla’d back at the goddamn cocksuckers who put him here!”
Ty snickered in frustration. “And what if it wasn’t them Wolf Pack nigguhs? Huh? Do you know what you did? You set off one war not knowing if the hidden enemy is one in the same?! Not to mention the fact that the police is waiting for us to show our hand and you just placed the whole deck face up!” Ty was seething and Kev’s nonchalant attitude made him even hotter. Ty felt for sure his brother wasn’t cut from the same cloth as him. In fact, if they didn’t have the same father he would’ve killed him in a New York minute.
“Fuck you mean I don’t know?! Of course it was Vee! Who the fuck else got the balls to hit Pop?!” Kev bellowed a little too loudly. Checking himself, he added, “and if it wasn’t them, let them nigguhs be an example, you hit us, we bang first then ask questions LATER!”
Ty shook his head. “You ain’t heard a word I said… look… you ain’t in charge, and unfortunately, we in this together. You wanna be boss, cool, then be boss in your territory. Raleigh and Durham is mine so it wasn’t your G call in the first place!” Ty based, thinking to himself, as if you really is a G.
Kev chuckled. “Then handle your business, nigguh. I wouldn’t have had to move if you mowed your grass a little better. But I forgot, the Wolf Pack used to be your lil’ squad, right? That is, till they decided to jump ship. Maybe you tryin’ to protect em’, yo.”
“I’ma forget you said that, Kev. I’ll holla,” Ty responded then started to walk away.
“I mean tell me something, ‘cause I’m startin’ to question what side you really on,” Kev accused.
Ty tensed up. His muscles flexed and twitched as he walked back up to Kev. “What
the fuck you say?”
Kev tossed his cigarette aside. “Nigguh, you ain’t deaf,” he hissed back.
“Motherfucka, don’t ever question my loyalty to this family again,” Ty growled.
Even though Ty’s 5’10” height was 3 inches shorter than Kev, Ty was the better fighter.
“Kev,” a female voice called out.
The two brothers eyed each other, ignoring the voice.
“Kevin!” Karrin repeated, walking up on the two.
“What?” Kev replied, not taking his eyes off Ty.
“Can we please go get something to eat?” she asked.
Although Ty tried to fight it, he had to look. He glanced at Karrin and cursed himself because she could still make his heart skip a beat. She was truly a beauty. 5’8 inches of cinnamon complexioned eye candy. Not video vixen thick but heavenly angel beautiful. But she looked darker than usual, like she had gotten a tan.
Kev caught the look of desire in Ty’s eyes, but had he been looking at Karrin he would’ve seen the same thing. Kev smirked then put his hand on her ass. “Anything, baby. I’m finished here anyway.” Kev and Karrin walked off leaving Ty to seethe in their wake.
Ty answered his ringing phone. “Yo.”
“Peace, Fam, how you?” Tito inquired with concern. “I know that you messed up right now. My heart goes out to you and your family. My Aunt Gloria said she prayin’, but I’m here prayin’ you catch them nigguhs.”
Ty nodded. “Good look, Fam. It is appreciated.”
“I won’t disrespect you and offer to send something thru there ‘cause I know you can handle yours. But should the need arise, know you got an Army in BK,” Tito promised.