by Kia
“You gotta man?” he asked.
“Yeah, I do,” I lied.
“Damn, that’s sad for him,” he said as we pulled into the parking lot of my building.
“Thanks so much,” I said as I got out and walked up the stairs.
When I got into the hall, I ran to my door and unlocked it. I shoulda called the cops, but I had left my phone at the club. And in the era of cell phones, house phones weren’t around anymore. They were damn near extinct.
Knock Knock
“Milo, open up. I wanna confess my love to you,” Debo said outside the door.
“I’m tired,” I said as I made sure all the locks were tight.
“It will be one second.”
“I’m good.”
“Well, I guess you don’t want your phone. It came out of your breast when you were fighting.”
“What?”
“Open the door.”
“Okay,” I said. Fuck. I grabbed the knife and held it behind my back.
“Here you go, baby,” he smiled and handed me my phone.
“Thanks,” I said.
I tried to shut the door, but he pushed it back open and let himself inside.
“Nice place,” he said as he removed his shirt, exposing the tattoo of my face. He was a different kind of crazy, and I didn’t like it.
“What are you doing?”
“Oh, my bad.” He went into his pockets. “How much?”
“I don’t sell pussy,” I lied.
I did, but not to maniacs who had my entire face on them and didn’t even know me.
“Come on. Just let me get my dick a little wet. I won’t tell your man. Is he here?” he asked, walking to the back, checking the rooms. What the fuck.
“I’m on my period. I got you next week,” I lied. I was trying my hardest to avoid stabbing him.
“I want your blood all over me,” he said as he licked his lips and grabbed me.
Fuck it. I pushed back and launched at his chest and stabbed him. Then I maced him and ran. I went to the cops and Pinky and I ended up moving. Debo ended up getting fired and had a restraining order against him.
Can’t believe I forgot about this lunatic. I thought he got the picture and left me alone.
“Don’t think I planned this. Swear, I left you alone. You just ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time. After you got me fired, I found work around the hood, taking people for ransom.” He yanked the tape off my mouth, causing me to flinch.
“What?”
“I’m a hit man.”
“Where am I?” I asked.
“A warehouse. But don’t worry, you wont feel a thing.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, my bad. Monty said, that the man that’s paying me, had instructed me to kill you when they get what they want from Divine.”
“No!” I yelled, trying to jerk away from the tape. Wasn’t getting much accomplished though.
“I got you all to myself now,” he said.
“Where is everyone?” I asked.
“I sent them away to do some petty work. Thank me later.”
“For what, nigga?”
“Them niggas was tryna gang bang. But I saved you. See, I’m always looking out for you,” he said, unzipping his pants.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Divine
Three days later…
I had never had such a hectic three days. Since I had no one to watch PJ, I flew him all the way to Dallas to my uncle and then I flew straight to Los Angeles so I could get the drugs and drive them back to Miami. Ali was in Ghana, so he didn’t wanna ride. I won’t even lie, I missed him already.
As I drove through the hills, I honestly contemplated letting Chola know that we were over, and introducing her to Glory so I wouldn’t have to deal with the game no more. I loved my life, and this shit was getting to be a bit too much for me. I hated to say it, but I wasn’t about that drug life.
With this on my mind, I had a bad feeling about going to see Chola today. I can’t explain, but the closer I got to the house, the more my gut twisted. I should’ve turned around right then and there, but I didn’t. I kept going.
Being with Chola was a phase, and I was starting to see that. If I really loved her, I wouldn’t have been ready to drop her for Ali this fast. But it was something about him that I liked. He was right. why did I want to be with Chola when Chola wouldn’t hesitate to kill me? She was cold blooded.
Finally, I pulled up to the mansion and sat there for a minute. Something was off. My finger just couldn’t be put on it. Usually, she would’ve met me at the door, but she didn’t.
“Hmmph.” I got out the car and clicked my Jessica Simpson heels against the pavement as I walked to the door.
“Hola, baby,” Chola said, opening the door with her hands behind her back.
“Hey.” I walked in with caution.
“I got a surprise for you,” she said as she grabbed my hand and led me down stairs.
“What?”
She ignored me until we got into the pool room. then she pulled out a fat ass ring. “It’s a promise ring,” she said, then frowned when she saw how shook I was. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I lied. “Where is Johan and your dad?” I asked.
“In Colombia still. I’m going back soon. Just came here to surprise you with this, my love. You don’t seem too happy,” she said, putting her head down.
“I am happy.” I put on a fake smile and kissed her.
“You seem so tense.”
“I’m good,” I lied again as she had the maid to bring us food and drinks.
“Want to smoke?” she asked.
“Sure.” I needed to calm my nerves because I was really exaggerating for nothing. Everything was fine… or so I thought.
“I got the kush that drives everyone loco,” she said.
I laughed. “I ain’t tryna go crazy. Just wanna get high.”
“I’ll go get it,” she grinned, walking away to the back. I leaned back and took a sip of my drink. I needed to loosen up. My thoughts would fuck around and cause a problem that wasn’t even there. “Here you go, roll it up,” Chola said, coming back.
“Where are the soldiers?” I asked.
“I gave them a day off so it could just be you and I.”
“Cool,” I said, rolling the blunt.
“Mary!” Chola yelled at the maid but she didn’t answer. She looked at me and frowned. “Did Mary come in here while I leave?” she asked.
“Nah,” I said, licking the blunt and closing it up.
“I’ll be back,” she said.
“I’m coming with you,” I said as I lit the blunt and followed her up to the kitchen.
“Mary!” Chola yelled as we swung the kitchen doors open and got the shock of our lives.
“Put your hands up and don’t move!”
She laughed as federal agents rushed to us and threw us on the ground. The blunt was still in my mouth. I took as many puffs as I could before an agent took it. They came from all around the house but only brought back two kilos of cocaine. I knew it was more, and I knew where it was. They would never find it. But these two kilos was enough to get us put away until we were eighty years old. I prayed to God that they didn’t have the intellect to find the secret vault built into the bottom of the pool.
They started reading both of us our rights. At first, I thought I was just caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time until they said my whole name. They had been waiting for us. This had nothing to do with Chola.
Someone set me up.
Chapter Forty-Eight
AJ
“Okay, cool,” I said, hanging up the phone. When I got that call, I didn’t feel as good as I thought I would. I felt like a bitter, snitch ass nigga. But that feeling went away when I thought about how she left me to dry. I couldn’t wait to go see her and spit in her face.
“Who was that?” Neiman asked.
“No one,” I lied as I drove us to a se
cluded area. I had gotten all I needed out of Neiman and didn’t need her anymore.
When Malina first came to the DA about that video, it was enough to get the murder charge dropped, but them dirty ass cops tried to get me for perjury and accessory shortly after releasing me. Only way they agreed to leave me alone is if I gave up “my little girlfriend” to the Feds. You know I didn’t deny it. I knew I would get out eventually because Bishop was getting money for a lawyer, but he started trippin’ so Percy picked up the slack. Then I saw that Percy wasn’t about shit, so I agreed to the offer.
I knew Neiman’s weakness would land her right in the palm of my hands. It was no coincidence that I saved her from Percy. I did that for her to feel like I gave a fuck and she did. While I was hitting her from the back, she told me all the info I needed to know on Divine. I knew exactly when she would go to re-up, and I knew exactly where Chola lived. All thanks to Neiman.
I played the game, and I played it well. Neiman fucked up ’cause now I had all her money in my trunk. I wasn’t worried about getting money from Divine. I got what I wanted, and that was for her to get caught. Now she would see how it felt to be thrown away and forgotten about. Victory was mine.
“Where are we going?” Neiman asked as I pulled to the back of an abandoned warehouse in South Beach.
“To hide the money. Remember?”
“No, you never told me shit about hiding no money,” she said with a look of worry on her face.
I laughed. “Well, I’m telling you now,” I said, feeling to make sure my gun was on safety.
“Well, I guess it’s smart to hide it. You know? Just in case.”
“Yeah. That part,” I agreed.
“Why here though?” she asked as we got out.
“Come on.” I grabbed her hand.
“What about the money?” She asked.
“We can get it later.”
“Ummm. Whatever,” she said, following my lead.
“Neiman?”
“Huh?”
“Why you so damn naïve?” I asked as we walked into the damp building that threatened to fall apart.
“Why’d you ask that?”
I pulled my gun out and slammed it across her head. “You just let mothafuckas have they way with you.”
“Why are you doing this?” she asked as I lifted my gun.
“Ain’t no sense in telling you now,” I said as I cocked the gun.
Pop!
A shot was fired, but it didn’t come from my gun. I fell to the ground and started leaking from my chest. I had been shot. Someone kicked the gun away from me.
“Damn, Neiman! You always into some shit!” someone yelled.
I tried to look up and see the face, but another bullet was sent right between my eyes.
Lights out.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Neiman
“Glory! Oh my God!” I yelled as I ran over to him and held him tight.
“What you doing with this nigga? I thought you were missing, girl.”
“How did you find me?” I asked
“Saw y’all leaving the corner store by my new trap house and been following y’all ever since. I had to come for you,” he said as he grabbed me and kissed me until his lips got tired.
“I can’t believe him,” I cried while Glory held me.
“Yo, we got a lot to talk about, Neiman. Fuck Pinky and all that other bullshit. You need me, man, and I’ma be here for you from now on. I ain’t ever leaving your side again. We need each other, and you taught me my lesson. All I want is you. Okay?” he asked, sticking his tongue down my throat and grabbing the back of my neck.
“Okay,” I said as I held him. But this time, I was never letting go.
“Come on, let’s get the fuck up outta here,” he said.
“I gotta get my money out the car,” I said.
“Come on.”
I led him outside and got the money out of AJ’s rental and placed it into Glory’s car. “I’m ready.”
“Yo, I love you, Neiman. Have I ever told you that?” he asked as he got inside the car.
“Yes.” I was still wiping tears away. My life was almost gone, just like that.
“Well, I’ma keep telling you. I love you, man. Stop doing stupid shit. And don’t fuck no more of my partnas.”
I laughed as I put my seat belt on. “Okay. I can take that.”
“You wild, Neiman,” he said.
“Take me to my condo.”
“Why?”
“Everyone else is gone, and I want to leave too,” I said as I laid back and thought on all the crazy shit that was happening around me. I was officially done with the drug game. All of that plotting was over with for me. My lesson was learned. All I wanted to do was talk to Divine and Malina. The family had to come back together.
It didn’t take us long to get there because Glory drove like an idiot. “Want me to come in?” he asked.
“Nah, I’ll be right back,” I said as I got out and jogged to the entrance of the building.
I smiled as I pressed the button to open the elevator. I don’t know what it was, but I felt good. It was something about almost getting killed, looking death right in the eye, only to be saved by the man you loved.
“Get down!” I heard. Then I heard several footsteps marching toward me.
“Wait, what?” I turned around and saw agents and marshals cornering me. I threw my hands behind my head and dropped to my knees.
“Get her out of here.”
I was too shocked and embarrassed to even ask what was going on.
Chapter Fifty
Malina
“So, that’s good, right?” I asked Lu Lu. He had just broke the news to me that Glory had killed AJ and I couldn’t have been happier.
“Not necessarily.”
“What happened now?” I asked as I put my head down. I was so fucking tired of this nonstop drama. It seemed like no matter what happened, we always were in the midst of some bullshit. All of us.
“Milo was kidnapped, and they won’t give her back until they get Divine or the money.”
I exhaled in relief. This was small shit. Milo wasn’t my friend, anyway. That was Divine’s friend. “So, tell Divine to get them the cash. She got enough.”
“That’s the other problem.”
“What?” I asked as I stood up, preparing to hear bad news.
“Ali just hit Glory about some shit.”
“What?”
“Where are you? We need to talk in person, my phone about to die.”
“I’m at the mall,” I lied.
“Pull up to my crib so we can talk.”
“Okay, see you in a bit,” I said. My heart was pounding so fast it was ridiculous.
“What happened?” Slick asked. This nigga was on some crazy shit. He hadn’t let me out of his sight since he came here.
“AJ is dead now.”
“What? How that happen?” he asked.
“He and Neiman was dealing with each other and Glory killed him.”
“Who is Glory? You said that so freely like he one of my niggas or some shit.”
“Glory is Neiman’s man. I guess. I don’t know what the fuck they are.”
“So, AJ is dead?” he asked as he stood there and looked at me like I was a liar.
“Yes, he’s dead. The fuck?”
“I wanna see the body.”
I threw my head back. “Come on, Slick. I can’t do this with you right now.”
I was really tryna get to Lu Lu to see what the deal was on my cousin. The way he was talking to me, I felt like Divine was dead. I couldn’t even take Slick serious right now with that on my brain.
“I’m taking your word for it then. I bet not find out that nigga still here,” he said as he neared me. I pushed him back and stood ready to leave.
“Okay, bye.”
“Where you going?” he asked.
“To see what happened to my cousin. Is that okay with you?” I asked.
�
�What you mean?”
“I don’t know. Lu Lu told me something bad has happened,” I said, trying to walk away from him.
He pulled me back. “That’s ya new nigga or some shit?” he asked with a smirk.
That’s the problem with Slick. I didn’t see it until now, but he was so slick with his bullshit. He was just beating my ass the other day, now he had the audacity to question me about another nigga.
“Something like that,” I said.
“Something like that?”
“Yeah, Slick. Now if you would excuse me…”
“Why the rush?”
“I told you! Divine is in trouble.”
“She can wait. I miss you,” he said as he pulled me into him.
“Oh, now you miss me? Remember you told me that you just wanted to fuck?”
“I was just mad. Know a nigga bipolar and shit.”
“Yeah, don’t remind me,” I said.
“Kiss me. I miss kissing you.”
He was now pushing me against the wall. Now I see why Divine got far the fuck away from this nigga. He made you hate him and love him all in the same week. Lu Lu is who I needed to be giving my time to. He cared. Not Slick. He just wanted to use and abuse me.
“I have to go,” I whispered as he kissed all over my neck and lips.
“No, you don’t. Stay with me. You know you wanna,” he said as he pushed me down on the bed and slid my pants off.
“Slick, please…” The more I resisted, the more my body yearned for him.
“You forgot who you belong to, girl?” he asked.
“No,” I exhaled.
“Tell me.”
“Tell you what?”
“Tell me that you belong to me.” He was now pulling his dick out and I immediately lost my train of thought.
“I belong to you,” I moaned as he slid his log into my river. My soul felt like it left my body and went right into his pocket. He had it.
“You damned right you belong to me,” he said as he slow stroked me and hit every spot that I didn’t even know I had.
“Yes,” I moaned as I let my head turn toward the TV.
Boom!