Fresh’s heart was beating a thousand miles per second as he took cover behind a parked car. A shiver of fear ran down his spine as he heard the shotgun blast blow out the windows of the parked car he stood behind as glass rained on top of his head.
“Stop hiding, you fuckin’ pussy!” Tito yelled as he slowly moved closer to the parked car with caution.
Vanessa had just got out of the shower when she heard the first thunderous gunshot go off. Once she heard the shots she knew Fresh had something to do with it.
“Lord, please don’t let my baby be hurt,” Vanessa prayed out loud as she ran to the window in her towel to see what was going on. Her heart dropped instantly when she saw the unknown gunman closing in on Fresh. Without hesitation Vanessa ran to her closet and grabbed the 9 mm that Fresh had given her for emergencies only, and headed back toward the window.
The rain was coming down so hard Tito knew in order to get a good shot he was going to have to get closer to Fresh, he was even willing to take a shot to give one. Before Tito could take another step he heard multiple gunshots go off as they came raining down in his chest, sending him crashing to the ground.
As Tito laid on the wet ground he heard a woman’s voice from up above scream, “I love you, Fresh.” He couldn’t make out the face of the person who shot him; all he could see was a blurry picture of the shooter in the window. With his last bit of strength Tito aimed his shotgun at the blurry picture and pulled the trigger.
The shot blew half of Vanessa’s face off as she fell out of the second-floor window, landing right next to Fresh. The sight of Vanessa’s mutilated face caused Fresh to throw up the Popeyes fried chicken he consumed earlier.
“Damn, boo,” Fresh sneered as he looked at his shorty laying on the wet ground, stretched out.
“Fuck!” Fresh screamed out as he heard the sound of police sirens getting louder and louder.
He quickly made his way to Tito and stood over his body. “A real leader takes care of his peoples,” Tito slurred, letting out a weak cough, follow by a wicked smirk.
Fresh didn’t respond, instead he emptied his clip in Tito’s face.
“Bitch-ass nigga,” Fresh growled as he ran and hopped in the driver’s seat of the Navigator. Before he could even get a block away a police car crashed into him from the side causing the back of his SUV to swerve in the wrong direction. Fresh tried to ignore the crash but a second cop car stopped directly in front of him, blocking his path.
“Aww shit,” Fresh cursed as he reached for his .380 until he remembered that it was empty. Left with no choice, he surrendered as he placed his hands on the steering wheel.
Chapter Twenty
The Big Day
“Yo, you got everything?” Pop asked as he placed the $200,000 dollars he had saved up in a duffel bag.
“Yeah, I got everything,” Nika replied with a smile on her face. This was the happiest day of Nika’s life—she was leaving New York with the man she loved, and had no plans on returning.
Pop placed his 9 mm in his waistband for backup, but his main weapon of choice was an AK-47. Way too much shit had been jumping off for Pop to take a chance, all he wanted to do was leave town in one piece.
“Baby, pull the car up in front of my mother’s building, I’m going to run over there and leave her a couple of dollars,” Pop said as he handed Nika his AK-47.
When Pop stepped outside he glanced at his watch that read 7:05 A.M. Pop was trying to leave town early to avoid any problems. As he approached his mother’s building he noticed little Brittany sitting outside on the bench.
“What the fuck is she doing out here so early?” Pop wondered as he approached his little sister.
“What you doing out here so early?” he asked curiously.
“I’m just getting some fresh air,” little Brittany answered with her head down.
“At seven o’clock in the morning?” Pop asked as he studied the little girl. As he looked his little sister up and down he noticed that she was sporting a fresh black-and-blue bruise on her neck.
“Who been hitting you like this?” Pop asked.
“Mommy’s new boyfriend,” little Brittany whispered, looking at the ground.
“What else has that fool been doing to you?” Pop asked curiously. The look on little Brittany’s face answered Pop’s question.
“He upstairs right now?” he asked. Little Brittany didn’t speak, she just nodded yes.
“Wait right here I’ll be right back,” Pop stated as he headed upstairs. Once he reached his mother’s floor he quickly snatched his 9 mm from his waistband as he unlocked the front door with his key.
The smell of urine mixed with dirty clothes quickly assaulted Pop’s nose. He made his way down the dark hallway until he reached his mother’s room. Teresa and her boyfriend both jumped when they saw the bedroom door fly open.
“Mu’fucka, you don’t know how to knock?” the boyfriend barked, whipping the crust from his eyes. Instantly Pop exploded at the sound of the man’s voice.
“What?” Pop asked, moving in closer.
“Nigga, is you deaf mu’fucka? I said—”
A bullet to the man’s head quickly took the life out of his body. “You should be ashamed of yourself—how you let this pervert touch Brittany?” Pop asked, aiming his smoking pistol at his mother.
“That little bitch is lying, what did she tell you?” Teresa asked, defensively frowning her face up at her son. “I hope it was worth it, fool, ’cause now you going to spend the rest of your miserable life behind bars. I already told you I didn’t want you in my house again,” Teresa snapped as she picked up the phone.
“None of us asked to be here,” Pop said flatly as a tear escaped his eye.
“Yeah, and I didn’t ask you to be in my house right now, and don’t flatter yourself because if I had the money for an abortion trust me you wouldn’t be standing here right now,” Teresa added as she dialed 911.
“I really think you should of had the abortion,” Pop said as he pulled trigger until there were no bullets left in the 9 mm.
“Fuckin’ lowlife scumbag,” Pop said under his breath as he took a look at the apartment he grew up in for the last time before making his exit.
When Pop made it back downstairs he quickly made his way over toward his sister and grabbed her by the wrist. “Come on, you coming with me,” Pop said as he grabbed little Brittany’s hand and led her to the Benz that awaited them.
“Yo, it’s been a change of plans,” Pop said as he slid in the passenger side of the Benz. “Brittany is coming with us.”
By the look on Pop’s face, Nika could tell that he just did something crazy. “Yo, take me to the block so I can see my nigga Jason real quick,” Pop ordered as he reloaded his 9 mm.
After about fifteen minutes of driving Nika noticed two Dodge Chargers seemed to be following her.
“Baby, I think we got some company,” Nika said, looking through the rearview mirror.
“What you see, baby?” Pop asked, trying to look through the small side mirror so it didn’t look obvious.
“Two Chargers riding side by side, they been in the rearview mirror for the last fifteen minutes,” Nika answered.
“Find out if they following us or not,” Pop said calmly as he grabbed the AK-47 from off the floor and placed it on his lap.
“No problem, baby,” Nika responded as she quickly swerved two lanes over, putting the pedal to the metal. Without hesitation the two Dodge Chargers did whatever the Benz did as if they were playing a game of follow the leader.
“Yeah, they definitely following us, baby,” Nika replied, still looking through the rearview mirror.
“A’ight, get off the next exit,” Pop ordered as he said a quick prayer.
“A yo, pull over right there in front of the train station,” he said, pointing to the train station.
“A’ight, this is what we going to do, I want you to take Brittany, and get on the train,” he told her.
“What? You must
be crazy,” Nika shot back. “I’m not leaving you, we in this shit together.”
“Listen, we ain’t going to make it driving. I want you and Brittany to take the train to forty-deuce (Forty-second Street) and grab us three Greyhound tickets going to Miami. It’s eight o’clock now, get the tickets for nine o’clock and I’ll meet you at the station before the bus leaves the station, a’ight?” Pop said.
“Pop, I don’t want to leave you,” Nika cried out as the tears came rolling down her face.
“You have to, baby, I don’t give a fuck what happens at nine o’clock, you better be on that bus,” Pop said as he handed Nika the duffel bag full of money.
“You better be there before that fuckin’ bus takes off, Pop,” she warned.
“Listen, baby, I’m going to do whatever it takes to catch that bus,” Pop assured Nika as he placed a big, wet juicy kiss on her lips.
“I love you, Pop,” Nika said as she slid out the driver’s door, grabbed Brittany, and headed down the subway steps.
Once Nika disappeared out of Pop’s eyesight, he quickly slid over to the driver’s seat. He looked through his rearview mirror as he saw the two Chargers sitting idly a block away.
“Let’s go, mu’fuckas, it’s showtime,” he said out loud as he pulled out into traffic.
After about twenty minutes of testing the driving skills of the hitmen, Pop finally pulled up on his block.
As soon as Jason saw the Benz pull up he quickly grabbed the book bag that sat next to him, and made his way over to the driver’s side window.
“Pop, what’s good my nigga?” Jason asked as he tossed the book bag on the floor of the Benz. “That’s sixty Gs right there. A little going-away present for you,” Jason joked.
“Yo, you see them two Chargers back there?” Pop asked, looking through his rearview mirror.
“Yeah, I see them,” Jason answered.
“Them mu’fuckas been following me for the past thirty minutes,” Pop informed.
“So how you want to handle this?” Jason asked, down for whatever.
“I’m not sure yet but I’m going to have to do something quick ‘cause my bus is leaving for Miami in thirty minutes,” Pop explained.
“Yo, put your head down, here these mu’fuckas come,” Jason yelled as he pulled out his cannon.
Once both of the Chargers got close enough to the Benz, the back windows rolled down, and out came a masked man holding a Mac 10 in each hand. Jason tried to hold his boss down but he was no match for the two masked man. The bullets from the Mac 10’s ripped through Jason’s body effortlessly.
Pop quickly took cover as the Mac 10 bullets riddled and rocked the Benz back and forth.
Pop clutched his AK as broken glass showered over him.
Once the gunfire paused, Pop slid out his Benz but still remained low as he peeked around the car so he could see what was going on. When Pop took his peek all he saw was opportunity. Without hesitation he sprung up from behind the Benz, blasting the AK. The machine gun filled the streets with a deadly roar. The bullets from the AK destroyed any and everything in its path, including innocent bystanders.
Once Pop ran out of bullets, he quickly hopped back in his bullet-filled Benz and peeled off. As he tried to make his getaway he noticed in his rearview mirror two cops cars tailing him. Pop didn’t give a fuck; he was going to catch his bus by any means necessary. He quickly made a sharp left turn down a one way street. To his surprise, the two cop cars followed him down a oneway street at top speed.
“Let’s do this, mu’fuckas,” Pop said out loud as he swerved out of the way of a oncoming vehicle as he turned into oncoming traffic.
Out of reflex Pop swerved away from a head-on collision with a van by a fingernail. “Oh, shit,” Pop yelled as he headed full speed toward a busy intersection. As he reached the intersection, he closed his eyes and prayed he would make it across safely.
Seconds later Pop found out that his prayers wouldn’t be answered, as his neck jerked violently from side to side from the series of hits that his car took. “Aww shit,” he slurred as he felt warm blood running down his face.
Pop tried to use his right hand to pick the book bag up from off the floor, but his dislocated shoulder disagreed with the decision. With time working against him Pop grabbed the book bag with his left hand and placed it over his shoulder. He tried to get out of the vehicle but the driver’s side door was jammed shut from the accident. Without thinking twice Pop slid out the window until his body slammed against the concrete.
Pop quickly picked himself up off the ground and began jogging down the street. “Fuck that, I ain’t going to jail, he kept telling himself as he continued jogging down the street.
“Somebody stop that man!” a witness screamed out, pointing at the man with blood covering his face running down the street. Pop looked at his watch that read 8:53 A.M. “Don’t worry, baby, I’m coming,” he screamed out as if Nika could really hear him. He knew the bus station was only a couple of blocks away, his chances of making it were about sixty-forty.
“Miss, may I have you and your daughter’s ticket?” the fat bus driver asked.
“I’m sorry sir, here you go,” Nika responded, handing the bus driver three tickets.
“My boyfriend is running a little late. Here’s his ticket, can you give him like ten more minutes before you pull off, please?” Nika asked in a begging tone.
“Ten minutes and that’s all,” the bus driver said firmly.
“Okay, thank you so much, Nika said, feeling a little better inside.
“Freeze, don’t move!” a cop yelled, looking at the bloody man running down the street.
Pop ignored the officer and quickly sent two reckless shots in the cop’s direction as he made a detour and cut through the park. As Pop cut through the park he noticed all the kids looking at him. The thought of those kids going through what he went through as a kid brought tears to his eyes. If he had a head start as a kid he probably wouldn’t be getting chased at this very moment.
Pop looked over his shoulder and saw four officers running full speed in his direction. He had to do something and do it quick. He quickly ran toward the kids and unzipped his book bag. With no regrets he tossed the bag into the air and watched as money flew in every direction. Immediately all the kids, and their parents scrambled for their share of the money.
With that being done Pop managed to escape from out of the park. Once back on the streets, he did the best he could to clean his face with his shirt as he continued en route to the bus station. Pop no longer jogged, but instead he walked at a fast pace so he could try to blend in with other pedestrians.
“Excuse me, bus driver, can you please wait for five more minutes?” Nika begged the fat bus driver.
“I’m sorry, miss, but I have to get this bus on the road, I’ve waited for as long as I could,” the bus driver replied as he pulled out of the bus terminal.
Not knowing what else to do Nika went back to her seat and pulled out her cell phone. “Pop, you better answer,” she said to herself as she heard it ringing on the other line.
A smile appeared across Pop’s face as he stood a block away from the bus terminal. That smile quickly disappeared when he felt his Nextel vibrating. He looked at the phone and saw Nika’s name flashing across the screen.
“Baby, I’m here,” he said, out of breath.
“Where are you? I don’t see you,” Nika yelled into the receiver.
“I’m right outside the bus terminal,” he answered.
“Stay right there we coming out the terminal now I’m going to tell the bus driver to stop the bus,” Nika said excitedly. Before Pop could say another word a hard blow hit him in the back, causing him to drop to his knees. Instantly Pop’s vision got blurry as he saw a Greyhound bus cruise out of the bus terminal. “Stop the fuckin’ bus!” Nika yelled as she ran toward the front of the bus.
Once the door opened Nika kicked off her four-inch heels and ran toward her man who stood on his knees in the mi
ddle of the street.
A huge smile came across Pop’s face as he saw his woman running to his rescue. “Damn, I love that girl,” was Pop’s last thought. Seconds later three shots to Pop’s body sent his face crashing into the pavement.
“I finally got that fool,” the Chinese detective said as he slid his smoking .357 back in his holster, looking like Robo cop, then acting like nothing never even happened.
“Noooo!”Nika screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Y’all didn’t have to shoot him, he already surrendered,” Nika screamed out as she cradled Pop’s head in her arms. Seconds later little Brittany came walking up, carrying the duffel bag full of money.
She didn’t say anything; she just looked down at her favorite brother laying in a pool of his own blood. “Nika, he did this so we wouldn’t have to struggle no more,” little Brittany said, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“I know sweetie,” Nika responded as endless tears rolled down her cheeks. “But they didn’t have to kill him he was already on his knee’s goddamn!” she whispered.
“Just know he’s in a better place now,” little Brittany said, looking up at the sky.
“Hello, miss, I’m going to need to ask you a few questions,” the Chinese detective said, placing a hand on Nika’s shoulder.
“Get your fuckin’ hands off me,” Nika growled as she hog spit in the detective’s face.
“Come on, little Brittany, let’s get out of here,” Nika said as she grabbed the little girl’s hand, leading her to the corner where they disappeared in the backseat of a cab, never to be seen again in New York City.
Chapter Twenty–one
4 Years Later
Nika sat watching all the kids enjoy themselves in the after-school center that she had been running for the past three years. It was truly a blessing to see all the kids playing nicely with one another and never wanting to go home.
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