“Wait, baby, let me explain,” Pop pleaded.
“Explain?” Melissa exclaimed loudly. “Ain’t shit to explain mu’fucka, you told me you would never hurt me,” Melissa whispered as she looked at him in pain.
“And I never will, baby,” he pleaded again.
“You never will? You murdered my fuckin’ sister and made me get in the trunk with her dead body, then pretended you didn’t know anything about it.”
“Baby, I was going to tell you,” he told her.
With the speed of lighting Melissa slapped Pop across his face twice, then tried to dig his eyes out with her nails.
“Chill the fuck out,” Pop yelled as he grabbed her arms and pinned her down on the bed. The whole time she was still kicking her legs and screaming. “Calm the fuck down,” Pop yelled. “I’m sorry. I swear I was going to tell you.” He paused. “I just couldn’t.”
“Get off of me now!” Melissa said through clenched teeth. “You ain’t no real man, you a pussy.”
“I’m sorry,” Pop said, letting Melissa up.
“That’s it—you just sorry, that’s all gon’ tell me?”
“What do you want me to do?” Pop asked. He really felt bad for what he had done, but what’s done is done.
“Why don’t you just shoot me? That’s why you here, right? Ain’t that what you just told Rusty right? So do what you got to do,” Melissa said, removing her shirt and bra.
“Shoot me right in my heart, Pop, go ahead, what you waiting for? You already done ripped it in half, you might as well shoot it out,” Melissa said, getting all up in Pop’s face. “Don’t be a pussy now, you shot my sister.”
“Baby, let me explain.” He tried to plead his case again, but once again he got cut off.
“Why, Pop? Why did you do it?” Melissa asked as she melted inside of Pop’s arms. “She ain’t never did nothing to nobody. All she wanted was to be loved.”
“I’m sorry,” Pop whispered as he stroked Melissa’s curly hair.
It wasn’t much Pop could do but say sorry. The last thing he wanted was for Melissa to find out like this; if it was up to him he would have made sure she never found out what really happened that night but now it was too late.
“So you have to kill me right now don’t you?” Melissa asked in a light whisper.
“You know I wouldn’t lay a finger on you,” Pop assured her.
“Baby, I didn’t want to hurt you but I was in a no-win situation. Fresh thought your sister was going to tell the cops everything she knew, and he couldn’t let it go down like that. You know how the game goes.”
“So if you don’t kill me then what’s going to happen to you?” she asked as her shoulders went up and down from her sobbing getting worse.
“Let me worry about that,” Pop told her. “When that bridge comes then I’ll cross it.”
Melissa didn’t respond, instead she just studied Pop’s face. She could tell that he was sorry for what he had done, but still, Melissa couldn’t find a way to forgive the man she once loved.
“So what happens now?” Melissa asked.
“You leave town tonight, because if you stay you already know what’s going to happen,” he answered sharply.
“Pop, I was really hoping this could work,” she said, looking him in his eyes.
“It’s too late for all that now,” Pop said looking the woman in her eyes. “If I could go back and do it all over again you know I would. I would just start over from scratch and just stayed broke, but then you probably wouldn’t even be standing here with me,” he chuckled.
“I love you, Pop, always have and I always will,” Melissa said as she gave him a big bear hug.
In her heart she knew this was the last time she would ever hug Pop again in this lifetime, so she made sure it was a good one.
“You need me to drive you to the airport?” Pop asked with his head hung low.
“Nah, my car is right outside, I’ll just take myself,” she answered quickly.
“You need money to get on the plane?” he asked.
“Nah, I’m straight Pop, you just make sure you take care of yourself, and try not to ruin another good woman’s life,” Melissa said as she walked out of the hotel room into the pouring rain.
Pop stood in the doorway and just watched Melissa walk out into the rain and out of his life. His eyes began to water, but he had been through so much pain in his life that tears were far from falling from his eyes. He just wished that it didn’t have to end like this.
Melissa stepped outside and couldn’t believe what she just heard. How could the man she loved so much kill her sister? The way she found out just seemed to make it ten times worse.
I should go to the police and tell on all their asses, Melissa thought as hurt crept into her heart. She wanted to hate Pop but something inside of her wouldn’t let her.
“I fuckin’ hate him!” Melissa yelled out, trying to convince herself as she fished inside her purse for her keys. As soon as her key touched the lock, Melissa felt a gloved hand cover her mouth and something sharp poking her in her neck.
“Bitch, don’t even think about screaming,” Rusty warned as he quickly escorted Melissa over to where his van was parked.
“I knew that nigga was gonna bitch up,” Rusty said, laughing as he violently shoved Melissa in the back of the van.
“Bitch, lay on your stomach!” he demanded as he duct-taped both of her hands together, followed by her mouth.
“You can scream all you want now,” Rusty chuckled as he began checking out Melissa’s sexy, meaty thighs. By the look on his face she could already see what he was thinking. She tried to scream but nothing came out but a muffled noise.
“No one can hear you, sweetheart,” Rusty said with a smile as he unbuttoned her jeans and removed them. He then reached down and ripped Melissa’s thong off.
“Damn!” Rusty huffed when he saw how fat and pretty Melissa’s pussy lips were.
“No wonder that nigga Pop tried to keep you all to himself,” he said as he roughly separated Melissa’s legs and began eating her pussy like he was a porn star. Melissa was trying to scream but with the tape on her mouth it made her screams sound more like moans, and that only excited Rusty even more. He continued to lick and suck on Melissa’s clit as he inserted two fingers inside her pussy, and began to slide them in and out in a fast, rough motion.
Rusty then stood up, staring at her. He tasted his fingers as he unbuckled his belt with his other hand.
“You been fuckin with that young nigga Pop, now it’s time to show you how a real man puts it down,” Rusty said, pulling out his dick.
“Yeah, you like that don’t you?” He smiled as he stroked it. Rusty thought about putting on a condom but since he was going to kill her afterward anyway he decided against it.
“Open up those legs for daddy,” Rusty said, sounding like a pervert. Just as he slipped the head inside of her love tunnel he felt a blunt object connect with the back of his head. Once Rusty hit the ground Pop proceeded to pistol-whip the man until he was sure he was out cold. Pop then quickly snatched the tape off of Melissa’s mouth, then cut the tape from off her wrist.
“Get your shit and get the fuck outta here,” Pop said, feeling bad for the woman. It seemed like bad things only happened to good people.
Once Melissa was free she quickly ran over to Rusty’s body and began to stomp him in his face, barefoot.
“What the fuck is you doing?” Pop asked, grabbing Melissa by her shoulders.
“Put your clothes back on and get the fuck out of here.”
Once Pop let Melissa go she quickly turned and smacked the shit out of him.
“Fuck you, Pop, I wish never fuckin’ met you,” she said as her voice cracked as she began putting her clothes back on. Pop wanted to tell Melissa how sorry he was but he knew it wouldn’t do him no good so instead he decided to just stay out of her way. Deep down inside he felt like shit. “All I wanted to do was just make a little money, get a few women, and
leave town and start up a business,” he said to himself, wondering how the hell things got so messed up so fast. Once Melissa had all her clothes on she stormed past Pop, never looking back.
“Leave this fucked-up city and never come back you hear me?” Pop yelled out. “Never come back ...” His voice faded into a whisper as he watched her storm out the parking lot and out of his life forever.
“I love you, baby,” Pop said in a volume that only he could hear. He looked over and saw Rusty still laid out on the ground. He knew he had just crossed the line but his heart was too good to let Melissa go out like that. Melissa was a good girl and the sad part was she wasn’t even thinking about going to the police or at least back then she wasn’t.
Forty-eight hours had passed and Tito had finally come up with the perfect plan on how he was going to kill Fresh. Tito doubled-parked his Acura in front of the projects. After sitting there for twenty minutes he saw the person he was looking for. Immediately he popped his trunk and slid out the driver door.
When Pooh saw Tito power-walking in his direction, he damn near shitted on himself. His first thought was to reach for the .380 he had tucked in his boot, but he knew by the time he got to his weapon he would already have three hot slugs in his back, so instead Pooh tried to act regular.
“Oh, shit, my nigga, Tito what’s poppin’? Pooh said, extending his hand to give the man some dap.
“Put ya fuckin’ hand down you already know what’s poppin’,” Tito responded, placing his P89 to the big man’s ribs.
“Come on, man, all this shit isn’t called for,” Pooh pleaded.
“Of course it is,” Tito shot back as he screwed a silencer on his P89.
“I don’t even fuck with Fresh no more I swear to God,” Pooh said, pleading for his life.
“I know,” Tito began calmly. “Just get in the trunk.”
“Nah, B, you going to have to shoot me right here ’cause I’m not getting in that—”
Before Pooh knew it his thigh had a hole in it. Tito quickly shoved the big man in the trunk before he could drop to the ground.
As Tito tossed Pooh in the trunk, he noticed the .380 hanging out of the man’s boot. Quickly Tito unarmed the big man and slammed the trunk shut.
“Fat mu’fucka,” Tito snarled as he jumped in the driver’s seat of his Acura and peeled off.
“Wherever I catch that nigga that’s where I’m leaving him,” Rusty huffed, still mad that Pop had fucked him up. But he was really mad that Pop had interrupted right before he was about to get some of Melissa’s sweet pussy.
“Wow that’s crazy,” Fresh said, leaning back in his chair before he continued. “I hate to do this but Pop is leaving me no choice, put the word out there fifteen stacks for whoever takes Pop’s life,” he said, looking at Rusty’s scarred-up face.
Deep down inside Fresh wished that it was something that he could do to help Pop, ’cause he really liked the young man, but he knew if he didn’t handle this situation properly the streets would take it as a sign of weakness.
“Fuck it, Pop just going to have to bite the bullet on this one,” Fresh said to himself as he began to prepare a backup plan. Just in case anything went wrong he would have another option to address the situation.
Melissa pulled up in front of the police station and let the engine die. Her eyes were bloodshot red from all the crying she had been doing. She still couldn’t believe Pop killed her sister, but yet she was still thankful that he saved her life the other night. She still had no answers to her questions, like why would Fresh want Amanda murdered. She and Amanda talked to each other about everything and snitching was never a topic. But now Melissa had no choice but to do what she had to do. She loved Pop to death but in her book family came first and even though Amanda was dead she was still family. Before Melissa exited her vehicle she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Pop’s number. It rung a few times then went straight to his voice mail so she decided to leave a message.
“Hey, Pop, it’s me Melissa. I just wanted to say thank you for what you did for me last night.” She paused. “They say everything that happens, it happens for a reason, but as I sit here in front of this police station I can’t seem to come up with a reason not to go inside and spill my guts. This message is just to let you know that I love you dearly and you will always have my heart, but on the other hand, I have to do what I have to do and as of right now the police are the only ones who can help me ... by the time you hear this message I’ll be done telling the police everything that I know. So what I need you to do is take the advice that you gave me the other night—Leave this fucked-up city and never come back!” Melissa sobbed as she ended the call.
“A yo, give me five of those mountain bikes right there,” Pop said to the salesman.
“Which ones?”
“It don’t matter just give me five of them mu’fuckas,” Pop snarled, tossing the money on the counter.
For the past three days Pop had not been in the best of moods. He no longer had any positive thoughts left in his brain, only negative ones, not to mention he was about to go crazy from being paranoid. Every five seconds he found himself looking over his shoulders.
“Yo, y’all come get these bikes,” Pop said, signaling for the five kids to come inside the store. “Yo, hook these kids up,” Pop said to the salesman as he exited the store.
As soon as Pop stepped outside the store something just didn’t feel right. He quickly hopped in his Benz. “I think I’m going to lay low for these last few days,” he said to himself as stepped on the gas, heading home. As Pop drove home he picked up his phone and saw that he had a missed call from Melissa along with a message. He quickly listened to the message. After he heard the message that she had left him all he could do was chuckle.
“Fuck it,” Pop said out loud. What else could go wrong? he thought as he weaved in and out of lanes. After listening to that message Pop knew he had to leave town and do it fast. Jail wasn’t in his plans nor was getting killed, so his brain was racing a thousand miles per second. He didn’t know what his next move was, but he knew he had to make a move and make it fast.
Pop pulled into the hotel parking lot that he and Nika had been staying in and let the engine die. He looked over both shoulders before he entered his room. Not only did he have Fresh and the goons out looking for him, but now he also had to worry about the cops looking to pick him up.
At the end of the day Pop wasn’t even really mad at Melissa for going to the police. Once certain lines are crossed there ain’t no telling what a person will do or is willing to do. He just knew that from now on he had to stay on point.
When Pooh woke up he found himself in some kind of basement, tied to a chair. “What the fuck is going on?” Pooh yelled, waiting for an answer.
Immediately Pooh defecated on himself when he felt the Taser come in contact with his stomach. Pooh’s body jerked and shook uncontrollably until Tito removed the Taser from his stomach.
“You ready to talk now?” Tito asked.
“I already told you I don’t know where to find Fresh,” Pooh whined as tears rolled down his cheek. After ten minutes of hitting Pooh with the Taser it was time for something a little more powerful.
“I don’t know why you want to do things the hard way,” Tito chuckled as he removed a nail gun from his duffel bag.
“Come on, Tito, we were like brothers back in the day,” Pooh cried.
“This ain’t back in the day no more,” Tito said coldly as he sent a nail through Pooh’s shoulder. Pooh screamed at the top of his lungs as he felt pain shoot through his whole body.
“Okay, okay, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know,” Pooh squealed as a long line of slob hung from his chin.
“All I want to know is when can I find Fresh when he’s alone?”
“The only time he’s alone is when he goes to see Vanessa,” Pooh said as he broking into a coughing fit.
“Who the fuck is Vanessa?” Tito asked.
“Some chick Fresh be
messing with from the Bronx. She live out in Queensbridge.”
“Now how hard was that?” Tito asked as he untied Pooh’s right hand and the man wrote down the address as Tito held a pen and pad up close to him.
“There’s the address now untie me,” Pooh demanded.
“I’m sorry but I can’t do that,” Tito said as he placed the nail gun to Pooh’s head, and pulled the trigger several times.
Tito didn’t even stay to see Pooh’s body hit the floor, once he pulled the trigger he was on his way to avenge his mother’s death.
All day Tito sat parked at the address that Pooh had given him. “What the fuck is taking this mu’fucka so long?” he said out loud, looking at his windshield wipers wipe away the raindrops.
Fifteen minutes later, Tito noticed a black Navigator stop directly in front of the address Pooh had given him. Tito’s hands immediately started sweating as he tightened his grip on his shotgun, hoping this was his target pulling up.
Rusty stepped out of the driver’s side of the navigator holding a .45 at his side. He quickly walked around to the other side to open up the back door for Fresh, but before he did he scanned the block thoroughly. “Ain’t nobody out here on a rainy day like this,” he said to himself as he opened the back door. Once Tito laid eyes on Fresh he made his move. He slid out of his vehicle, and began a slow jog so he could get closer to his target for a possible better shot.
The sound of someone’s foot splashing in a puddle quickly told Rusty that he and Fresh weren’t the only ones outside.
“Watch your back, Fresh!” Rusty yelled as he turned around, raising his .45. Unfortunately, for him he didn’t turn around quick enough. Tito pulled the trigger on his shotgun, lighting up the street with a loud, roaring noise.
Fresh just watched as the power from the shotgun lifted Rusty off his feet and hurled him backward. Rusty’s body hit the ground like a rag doll and skidded until it crashed the curb. Instantly Fresh pulled out his .380 and sent two shots in Tito’s direction as he dodged a fireball from Tito’s shotgun.
Knee Deep in the Game Page 19