by Brick
Jake’s presence had distracted the cops allowing me to roll over slightly and grab screwdriver-like shank from my back pocket to take the eye out of one of the dirty cops on Dante’s payroll who was standing over me, sending him backwards in a high pitched scream.
Pussy-ass nigga.
Speedy snatched me up by my shoulder and told me that we all needed to roll out. Cuts lined both of our faces, and we ducked from bullets that kept whizzing by. As we broke camp, I saw Jake drop cops over the side of the cop garage wall, then flipping another to slam him down on his neck. Once Jake checked us ducking out, he turned and rushed to our waiting ride. Before I could get to the car, I squeezed off one last round, emptying my barrel watching the bitch I took down prior partner slam backward into a car. That crossed that bitch off my list.
Sliding in the car, we sped off as cops attempted to trail us through the streets. I could already tell that Phenom had called in and flexed his power with his set of cops, because some of the cops following us in their cars eventually made opposite turns and we never saw them again. We sped through the streets of the A, maneuvering and finding ways to lose them in the street. A text on my cell let me know that my unk and everyone had switched out the truck and were now doing a heatwave out of the hidden zone they were located.
Upset, tired, and frustrated, I kicked my foot against the door of the car, as Speedy maneuvered it, turned on a 360 spiral then backed up slowly into an empty house garage. Jake clicked an app on his cell and the garage door quietly closed as we waited it out. Moving out the car we were in, covering it up, we switched to a simple all-black Honda with tinted windows.
“Yo, man, I saw you hit that dude; it’s all good, Trig, trust me on that,” Jake tried to encourage me. That was cool and all of him but I really wasn’t trying to hear all that.
“Naw, my nigga, see, we’re ’bout to be most wanted in this fucking place. All eyes on us and you know that’s what Dante wanted, man, do you see that?” I objected. Shit was unreal to me. Shit had me feel messy, had me feeling exposed, but also had me amped.
Speedy jumped in, changing out of his hoodie and letting his long braids drop behind his back. “Aye, bruv, but check it, we couldn’t leave Ray-Ray in his hands. You know how he do. The chav is a sick bastard, you know that.”
“No shit, cuz. Yeah, I know that. I’m just pissed at how this got played. Fuck it, we need to go and we need to do some snatching of our own,” I said climbing in our flip ride, starting up the engine.
“What you have in mind?” Jake asked quirking an eyebrow with a grin on his face.
Speedy gave a slight laugh and rubbed his hands together. “More blood?”
“Yeah, more blood and death; we’re ’bout to string us up an international rat. That S.B. nigga. Our checkpoints spotted Dante’s ride in the streets. We may not get that nigga Dante but let’s get at his driver feel me?”
Both Big Jake and Speedy laughed. They climbed in the ride with me and we headed to our old garage, where we switched out the Honda for a faster ride. Checking our trackers, we sped out as fast as we could taking backstreets in the A, just to catch up. We knew we had lost valuable time, but we were banking on Dante and his people not checking that we’d be following them.
The cool Atlanta air flowed through the car as we rolled down our window. Dante’s ride was at a stoplight, and I could see the nigga popping off cigars in the back seat with some young broad. I couldn’t make out her face, but I could see her swinging on him then disappearing from view. Ghosting the ride up to him, I turned in my seat and glanced at the driver. S.B. was laughing, yacking up, not even caring about another ride next to him. This fool was damn carefree, which worked for me.
The moment I leaned out the car, I knew by the loud shouting going on that Dante or one of his crew caught wind. I gave a smile, tugged on my hoodie then let off several rounds on the driver. S.B.’s eyes widened before smirking and ducking down. I knew I hit that nigga, a bullet snaked into his neck, but still he ducked, and the rest of my bullets hit the goon who sat next to him. I turned my Glocks to get at Dante, but his car door was open and I saw no one in the back.
“BJ! Speedy! You see that nigga rush into the brush?” I yelled.
Smoke was around us, and Speedy’s crazy ass had hopped out the car and lit up whoever was still in the back seat. Hopping on one foot, he shook his head, and pointed down the street. “Flashing lights, bruv! Let’s be out!”
Pissed off, I dropped back in my seat, and Speedy got back in; just as we were pulling off, bullets hit the side of our ride. Big Jake rode out cussing, “Bitch-ass shit! Next time I’m bringing my grenades. Nigga’s surviving like roaches!”
“You ain’t lied, blood, next time we got that Raid, ain’t that right, Trig?” Speedy laughed.
I clutched my side blood seeping through my fingers and nodded before blacking out. “Yeah, next time it’s a done deal.”
I woke up later, lying in a huge bed. Found out I had been out for hours. All the bullshit we went through, my ass got clipped but I survived it. Pushing up where I lay, I touched the bandage on my side and hissed at the tenderness. My teeth clenched, my shoulders jerked up, and my locs spilled down my face while I sat there annoyed.
“Damn,” I murmured.
“Say it again, because you’d be correct, nephew, damn. Lie back down.”
I jumped at the sound of Anika’s soft sensual voice and looked her way. I hadn’t expected her to be here while I was laid up looking fucked up. I looked down over the sheet that only covered my dick partially, and I quickly covered my waist as I slid back.
Her light laughter surrounded me and I noticed that she held a bowl in her hand with some gauze.
“How’re my boys? Where’s Diamond? She good?” I asked quickly, looking around the room and ready to get up and get back in the streets.
“I’m okay, Kwame. Speedy and Jake got banged up too and Gina is pissed at you three. So are Chasity and Chyna,” Diamond said while entering the room with some food. A plate of fried plantains, beans with rice, a grilled steak, and a tall glass of ice water waited for me, and my stomach grumbled in need.
“Yo, what was up with you and that damn fight, li’l shawty? You know the deal.” I frowned, trying to keep my voice level and not blast the fuck up like I really wanted to.
Diamond glanced my way, rolled her eyes, and dropped the tray down that she held with the food. “What’s up with you playing God and going after that sick-ass nigga, huh? You lying in bed fucked up, so whaddup with that?”
Giving a slight sigh, I looked up at the ceiling and flinched when Anika changed my bandage. “Here we go,” I griped.
“Yeah, here we go! You don’t get to come at me sideways and think that I’m not going to get you back. Come on, Trigga, you should have come back and we all could have got him later,” she said.
Her hands were on her shapely hips. Her lower lip wobbled and I swear her big doe eyes were moist. I would have felt like shit in the moment, but shit, she had pissed me off.
“Ey! You don’t know how I got this wound. Coulda been when I was getting your ass. A fight, Diamond, for real? Damn and you know better.”
Anika’s grabbing of her bowl and walking to the door stopped us from going in. She gave a light laugh and shook her head while resting a hand on the door. “Use the condoms that are in the drawer and when you two are rested and he’s fed, come seek out Phenom and me. We all have some logistics to work out with this whole ordeal.”
Confusion had me looking at her stupid, where Diamond quickly turned her back and scoffed, “Ain’t no one trying to be with him like that right now.”
Her words seemed to annoy me even more, and when I moved to sit on the side of the bed and tell her about her stupid ass, the sound of Ghost running into the room stopped that argument in midair too.
All I heard was teeth sucking and a huff and I knew Ghost was on one too.
“Dang, daddy.”
“You know I don’t like th
at shit. Come correct,” I quickly stopped her. My voice bumping in annoyance, not meant for her, but meant for the chick holding my food hostage.
“Damn, pops.”
“Better keep thinking of a good word for me,” I interrupted her again, just to watch her huff and hide her smile.
“Dad! Let me say what I was gonna say dang! How come you let that asshole hurt you like that huh? When do I get my turn at him and I don’t like that you got shot again. That ain’t cool,” she said, while climbing in the bed with me then stopping when I held my hand up and pointed for her to get down.
A nigga didn’t want her in the bed with him while all he had was a sheet covering his meat. Wasn’t down for that. I saw the disappointment in her eyes and I hocked a pillow at Diamond just to get her attention.
“What? Damn, Trigga, you play too much,” Diamond said with a frown.
I pointed at my junk and she got what I was saying. Moving around the room, she went into the closet and came out with some drawstring pants.
“Chas, turn around,” she simply stated.
I watched as Ghost crossed her arms and poked her lip out. I knew then I should have named her Sassy because she was on one and was getting ready to pop off before I interrupted her thoughts with a pillow upside her head. “Turn around, brat; damn, baby girl. Just do it for me.”
Taking the pants from Diamond, I threw back the sheets, struggled to put them on thanks to my wound, then lay back down as shawty laughed at me for all the noise I was making while putting on my pants.
“So you just going to laugh and not help a nigga, a’ight. Still got words for you.”
Diamond rolled her eyes again, pulled the sheet around me, and then told Ghost to turn around.
Cutting my eyes at Diamond, I motioned for Chas to get in the bed and she happily obliged. Kicking her feet up, she pulled out her iPod and a book and looked at me.
“Don’t get killed, ’cause I need you and so does Diamond, even though she actin’ like she don’t, and everyone else.”
My head shook and all I could think about in that moment was the kills I made and the ones I missed. A twinge of annoyance hit me again, but it was Chasity’s eyes that keep me from going into the realm of darkness again.
“I do what I do. You know I ain’t scared to die, but I promise to be around for however I’m allowed to be, baby girl, a’ight? Remember what I taught you.”
“If I fall, I will rise, and in my last, chaos will restore what I gave,” we said together.
I smirked, and reached over to tug on her braid. “You got my teachings so I’ll always be there.”
Diamond moved to sit down the tray over me with attitude. She really wanted to fight and I really wanted to fight her too.
She stepped back with her hands on her hips and then looked me dead in my eyes as if challenging me. “So did you kill him?”
Annoyed yet again, I glanced at my plate and picked up my knife and fork. “My bullet went into S.B. but that nigga Dante ran. He had some broad with him, don’t know who she is, but you need to watch your back. Anyone step to you weird today?”
My eyes watched how Diamond scrunched her nose in thought before her teeth scraped over her bottom lip nibbling. “Yeah, that trashy bitch from the party and my old homegirl Dominique.”
“Yeah? Shit, she suspect to you?” I asked while casually cutting into my food. The moment she gave me those two names, I already didn’t trust that shit, but Diamond needed to think this out so I was letting her.
“I mean, Gina and Chyna weren’t feeling her, and I get it. But they didn’t know her, so that’s whatever. That nasty ho got hers again, so I’m not tripping off of her.”
I tasted my food and knew Diamond had cooked it. She had it set up in a way I liked that Anika didn’t do. As I chewed, I saw Ghost laughing at how Diamond called that chick out her name, and I gave a shrug locking eyes on her.
“Check it, if you don’t remember anything, remember this shit. Ain’t nothing more dangerous than an intelligent hoodrat with an agenda. Remember who’s for you and who ain’t for you. Anyway. Food is good. We all need to hit up the heads and next time you see that broad, keep your wits about you, shawty.”
Enlightening Diamond and giving her a plan on what I needed and wanted, Ghost chimed in from time to time, and we all decided we’d use her in the plan, too. Since Dante wanted to continue to try to get the upper hand, it was time to do another move on his ass. The art of war was definitely in motion.
Chapter 23
Ray-Ray
“Come ’ere,” Trigga said once I’d come back upstairs.
He and I had a few more words with each other moments earlier. He was mad at me about the fight and I was mad at him for getting shot, not that it was his fault. I went to take his empty plate and Ghost back downstairs. I had to respect the way he went about handling Ghost. Their relationship was a real daddy-daughter one. He didn’t like for Ghost to call him daddy though. Nigga said that Dame had ruined that for him because he used to make me, Gina, and the girls who used to work for him call him that. So, Trigga hated to hear the word “daddy” come from Ghost’s mouth.
I walked over to the bed where he lay. I couldn’t front like him being shot didn’t scare the fuck out of me because it did. In my eyes, I saw him as an invincible kind of nigga and I knew that was my fault. I held him like to this higher standard than I held everybody else. I looked at the way his locs lay around his head like little snakes. His eyes were giving me that look he always did.
“What?” I tried to put as much attitude in my voice as I could. “I didn’t go out there and start no fight you know?”
“Don’t matter.”
“Why not?”
“Because you were still in one. A big one that left bitches cut up all over the streets, lil’shawty, and you in jail and inches away from that nigga’s grasp.”
“I tried to get Gina to calm the fuck down but you know once she’s turned up, that’s it. I don’t think Dom meant no harm. She be fake thuggin’. She ain’t really about this life, Trig,” I tried to explain.
“You gone have to check your homegirl then. May have to cut her all the way off. We don’t need this shit. Wasn’t supposed to be getting this kind of attention.”
I smacked my lips, but I knew he was right. “So you gon’ stay mad at me?” I asked him gazing into his light-colored eyes.
“Depends,” he answered.
“On what?”
“Promise me you gone stay out of trouble.”
I chuckled softly. “If you do.”
“Trouble finds me, lil shawty. You know this.”
“It finds me too.”
He turned his lips down and shook his head once. “Nah, you find it, Diamond. You been finding it since the day I met you.”
I stood up and folded my arms across my chest. “The day you met me you was supposed to kill a bitch.”
“Shawty, you didn’t have to come out that bathroom.”
“I wanted to see if my mama and daddy was really dead.”
“But if you had stayed the fuck put, your life would be much easier right now.”
He was right and I often thought about that, but I also thought about the fact that my mama and daddy’s lifestyle would have eventually caught up to them anyway. I thought about how no matter how they tried to leave the drugs alone, they never could. So even if they had gotten away with taking the money, their habits would have still followed them. But the one thing that made me frown on thinking what would have happened if I’d stayed in that bathroom was looking up at me.
“But then, I wouldn’t have met you, and Gina, Big Jake, Speedy, Ghost; all you niggas,” I said softly. I dropped my arms when he sighed and glanced off into the distance.
“Li’l shawty, do you realize you could have gone off to college somewhere and did all the shit normal kids do? You ain’t have to be no misfits like us. Me, Gina, Big Jake, and even Ghost, we were born into this bullshit,” he explained.
> “So was I.”
“Naw, shawty, your folks kept your head in school and in books and shit.”
“From what you told me, so did your parents.”
He gave a guttural groan and then grunted. “Shawty, you ain’t listening to me.”
“And you ain’t listening to me. We’re cut from the same cloth if you look at it.”
“You weren’t born a killer.”
“Neither were you. You were made into one.”
“Diamond, I was born a killer. My moms and pops had been training me all my life how to use a weapon, any weapon, my specialty guns. My training started in the womb. My moms and pops used to show me videos of them with head phones on her stomach, reading to me and training me from the jump. They knew what was going to be my birthright. They bred me this way. If a nigga didn’t know how to aim a gun, I would’na been able to kill none of them niggas who raped my moms. Would’na been able to make it in the streets. I was born into this shit. You wasn’t. You was tossed into this motherfucking jungle head first and yeah, yo ass adapted, but . . .” He struggled to sit up.
I moved to help him but he stopped me. His locs fell down his shoulders to the center of his back. His chest and back fanned out like a cobra with muscles straining underneath his skin.
“It really don’t matter,” I said to him.
“What don’t matter?”
“Whether I was born into this or not. I’m in it now and no way I’ma be able to just go back to a normal life, Kwame. You know too much has happened to me for that and I’ve done too much shit. Basically, through all the shit I been through, I’m still glad that I came out that bathroom.”
He frowned and shook his head like he didn’t understand and I knew he didn’t because I wasn’t explaining myself to him good enough. While he was still knocked out from his wound me and my auntie had a talk. I asked her how did she know when she was in love. She smirked and asked me why. I ain’t really want to say because Phenom was in the room. I think he knew that so he left out. I was as honest as I could be and told her I wanted to know because I was feeling something for Trigga. She thought for a moment, then she kept it simple.