by King, Deja
Gabe had taken her son’s life, and Semaj felt that she should be the only one to take his. His blood was about to be on her hands and she was about to put in work herself. Hours ago she had told her cousins that she wanted to kill him and instructed them to leave. She didn’t want any of them there.
At first Emilia protested, but the desperation in Semaj’s voice convinced her to play by her rules. She understood. Semaj wanted his last breathing moments to be spent with her. She wanted her face to be the last face Gabe saw.
There was no plot, no plan, and no preparation. Moments like this didn’t need any. Free styling was the way. Semaj was the solo artist of the street painting, and she was about to color in the work of art for the streets to recognize. Coats of destruction had splattered in both of their direction, but Gabe’s slap this time around was uncalled-for…unjustifiable…unforgivable. The vicious beating that he had inflicted upon her that night was nothing compared to the death of her son.
You gotta do this, Maj. He killed your little man. He deserves to die, she told herself. Her hands shook terribly as she thought about taking a life. She had been in that same position for hours. There was no denying that she was completely terrified. She was almost ready to back out, but hearing the innocence of her son’s coos in her ears to only hear his ear-piercing screams, Semaj realized that she was in too deep. It was all or nothing. Now or never. Her or her cousins. Gabe was going to die regardless, and it was too late for her to back down now.
Someone had always been there to rescue her, but the thought of her failing at saving her son fueled her courage. She felt that she let her baby down, and that fact incited a rage of bravery in her. She wasn’t a killer, but she had been pushed to the limit. She had to put in work. Closure was what she needed and his soul taken was what she wanted.
Avenging their deaths motivated her, and she detached herself from her sanity. While sitting inside the car she turned her emotions completely off, so that way she wouldn’t feel any remorse at all. Disconnection from everything was her best option, and she had temporarily become out of touch with her usual self.
No longer able to wait, Semaj stepped out onto the blacktop and pulled up her jeans as she approached the warehouse. She walked down the staircase, and as she reached the ground level she was instantly hit with the putrid smell of human waste mixed with blood. The dead men had shit on themselves because of their relaxed muscles after LuLu had executed them, and the entire basement reeked.
As if all of her five senses where inoperative except for one, her sight was focused on the naked man bound to the chair. I told them bitches to leave this nigga untouched.
Semaj walked closer and the rise and fall of his chest sickened her as her heart filled with hatred. Gabe had passed out from the gunshot wounds and that further infuriated her. Where do they make these weak ass niggas at? she wondered. His Ass gon have to get up though. He’ll have enough time to sleep in Hell, but right now he got to wake the fuck up.
She snatched the gasoline canister and began to douse the liquid inside all over his exposed body. “Wake up, you bitch ass nigga!” she screamed as she continued to empty the can on him. “I fucking hate you! I’ma be the bitch that takes you out of this muthafuckin’ world!” she fumed as tiny sweat beads covered the tip of her nose.
The flammable liquid splashing over Gabe’s bare body woke him up. His open wounds caused his flesh to sear. His vision was blurry, but he managed to see a woman looming over him. Who the fuck are these bitches? At first he thought urine was being poured over him, but as he slowly regained his consciousness the strong smell of petroleum overtook his smell senses. His eyes and nose burned badly, and it didn’t take long for him to realize that one of the chicks had soused him in gas. His eyes felt like they were on fire, and his kneecaps felt as if they had been sliced off in individual pieces. “What do you bitches want,” he managed to force a whisper. He was lightheaded and had little to no energy left in him to speak. All of the blood he had lost was enough to donate to the blood bank, but Semaj was there to clear him out… wipe him dry.
“You could have done anything to me, but you crossed the line harming my baby!” Semaj picked up a steel spiked bat and began to circle around him.
The voice sounded so familiar to him. He had heard it many times before, and as Semaj walked around him he lifted his head weakly. Couldn’t be! he thought in disbelief. Through his virtually obstructed vision he saw her, but before his shock could settle in, Semaj had swung the bat as if she was the female Barry Bonds.
“Whack!”
“Agghhhhhhh!” His blood-curdling scream was enough to incite fear in the toughest man, but Semaj’s mental state had been taken to another place. She was determined to put an assault on him that was crucial. While his physical pain would be temporary, her emotional pain would last forever, and she wanted him to feel her before he died.
Several stab wounds had formed on the right side of his face where the baseball bat had got stuck and cut through his skin. “You killed an innocent child for something that had to do with me and you! He was just a baby! He didn’t have shit to do with this! You could’ve done any fucking thing to me. I could have even given you a pass, but you took my baby’s life! You have to go!” Semaj screamed. She was so angry that she brought the bat all the way back and swung it with as much force as she could, this time connecting with his mouth, knocking his front row of teeth out and blood spurted everywhere.
Gabe cringed as blood gushed out of his mouth, and if before he hadn’t thought he’d die, he knew it now. His blood pressure dropped to its lowest from the loss of so much blood, and he could feel every inch of his body throbbing. Slobber mixed with blood dripped onto his chest. He was in excruciating pain and he felt himself slipping out of consciousness, but he couldn’t allow himself to black out just yet. He was dizzy and weak, but he mustered up every bit of strength he had left to speak. “Every day you are out there you will have to watch your back, bitch!” he whispered. “Even with me dead you will never accomplish what we did. We got to your son so you aren’t untouchable, Semaj. I have a little sister out there that will make you wish you were dead. Every day you will need to be worried that she’s coming for you.”
“Fuck you and whoever the fuck your little sister is, nigga! You better know when I find out who the bitch is I’ma send her ass right to hell with you, pussy!” Semaj wasn’t intimidated by his antics, and his empty threats only intensified her rage. She was about to let him have it. “Bitch ass nigga!” She spat through clenched teeth as she hit Gabe repeatedly with the pointed steel, swelling him up beyond recognition.
The savage beating continued for ten minutes until she was totally out of breath and sweating profusely. Sweat dripped from her forehead as she staggered backwards. Her chest heaved in exhaustion as she stared at his battered body. Weak ass nigga! she thought as she looked down at her blood spattered clothes. She was covered in crimson. Perspiration mixed with blood was on her face. Unable to take the sight any longer, she pulled the book of matches from her back pocket. She struck the whole book, igniting an orange glow. “Burn in Hell!” She tossed the matches on his lap, and quickly the amber flames spread all over his body. Flesh burned, and the smell was horrendous.
After she watched him burn to the crisp for a few minutes, she pulled out a gun and then put two bullets through his skull, rocking him to sleep forever.
Chapter 5
Semaj took a deep breath as she entered through the gated community. She had driven through the city streets in a big blur. Pleased that she had made it back to the family mansion safely, she exhaled.
As she turned onto the long driveway she noticed a fleet of luxury cars lining the front of the house. Gio was holding a meeting for the family in the conference room. I didn’t know Poppa would be back already. She continued to drive around to the back and headed inside to clean herself.
As soon as she stepped foot in the house, she headed straight upstairs and walked into the spacio
us whitewall and chrome decor bathroom. Turning on the knobs, she stepped beneath the hot water, and for a brief moment her worries washed away. Closing her eyes, she tilted her head back, but the minute she opened them and saw the blood rinsing off her body, her tears fell.
I killed him because he took my baby, she reasoned with herself. She cried silently, but it wasn’t exclusively for what she had done but for all that she had lost. After everything that she had been through when she came in contact with Vega, her baby, and her family, Semaj felt as if things had finally become normal for her. She felt as if she had found safety, but her disillusioned view had shattered into pieces the moment her son had been murdered.
Seeing Jah-Jah for the first time in a long time, Semaj thought about what her life was supposed to be. What her dreams had been. While she should have been starring in more movies to build a promising career for herself, she had a feeling that she would be living out an old gangster movie, and the fairytale life just wasn’t meant for people like her.
In actuality, Semaj didn’t have it in her to step back into that life. The energy of wanting to produce good deeds and follow dreams didn’t live within her anymore. It was as if she had gotten a fleeting moment of the “normal life”; a glimpse of a “different world”; but the forces surrounding her were plotting against her, and every time she considered going back to the honest lifestyle, tragedy showed up. In reality it hadn’t been for her, and she was learning to accept it.
Semaj sighed as she stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel. She thought she’d be satisfied after killing Gabe, but dissatisfaction plagued her. Taking Gabe’s life had made her content during the moments, but it hadn’t given her the fulfillment that she desired. She couldn’t help but feel that there was something else out there; someone else out there to get her.
“Knock! Knock!”
“Bay, you cool in here?” Vega asked as he walked through the
door.
Semaj was sitting on the edge of the bench embedded in the travertine stone floor in front of the fireplace. She picked up the soiled clothes and tossed them into the fire.
Vega walked over to her and sat down as they both watched the items burn. Although she had just showered, she was blazing hot, and for some reason, she couldn’t understand how Vega was able to keep calm. Their baby had just died and he had been away, and was as composed as if he had not been affected by the death of their son. He kissed her on the forehead and put his arm around her.
Emotionally drained, physically exhausted and psychologically overwhelmed, Semaj turned to face her husband with her eyes ablaze with anger. “Get your fuckin’ hands from around me!” She threw his arm from around her neck and stood up. “Fuck can you just sit here and be all cool like everything is all fucking good? Your son is dead, Vega, and you ain’t shed not a fucking tear!” she screamed as the tears ran down her cheeks. “You don’t care about us! You didn’t care about your son!”
“What!”
Images of Gabe flashed in her head, but she pushed them out. Without anyone else to lash out on, she began to flip on her husband. He became her worst enemy. “Our son hasn’t even been in the ground for a full week and you off back into living your regular life. Fuck they do that shit at? How can you just be gone like shit didn’t happen? Huh? Like our son didn’t get killed in that explosion?” She lunged at him in full attack mode, taking all of her frustrations out on him as she repeatedly beat him in the chest with balled fists.
Vega grabbed her wildly swinging arms and turned her around so he could hold her with her back facing him. “It’s going to be a’ight, Maj.” He planted kisses on her collarbone. “We all we got now and we can’t be going at each other,” he whispered in her ear as her stifled sobs caused her body to shudder. “You probably thought I got back to the basics, but baby, I was out searching high and low for that nigga.”
“That’s my son. You carried the child that I created, but he was my seed too, Maj. You thought I didn’t care, but I know I have to be strong for us. If my resolve breaks, then we’d be broken. I’m your other half, your stronger piece. You know I love you and our son more than anything. I miss my little man too. We both do.”
The fact that he confessed his feelings, Semaj realized that she had overreacted and stopped fighting him. She was unable to hold back and cried loudly, but Vega continued to hold onto her. He was her husband and he was slowly calming her down, and the tension was leaving her body as if his confession was the therapy that she needed.
“Now, there is something really important that I wanna
discuss with you,” Vega said. “I was downstairs attending the meeting, and Gio is pissed. The members at the Tent don’t want Bonjo to become a part of their commission. You know he’s more of an in the field nigga anyway and said fuck ‘em. I agree that he might be too ratchet to be the representation for the States. He suggested that you fill Paulie’s seat.”
“What?” Semaj turned and faced her husband. “Me?” she asked, bewilderment flashing across her face. “Why me? I don’t know how to run a drug enterprise. With all that I’ve done in my past, drug dealing has never been one. I can’t do this, Vega. I just can’t.”
“You can only be involved in this organization by blood relations or by marriage, and Gio’s only gonna let an heir lead the family. You have to,” he said convincingly, only for his own ulterior motives.
Vega knew that women were loyal to their men above anyone else, and would practically do anything their man asked of them. He figured that if he played his role as the supportive husband, it would be easy for him to call the shots from behind the scenes, and sooner or later he’d be able to coax himself into a leadership position. It was the opportunity he’d been waiting on his entire life.
“I’m not fit to play this position. And since Bonjo is a part of the Family already, what harm would he bring to the overall organization?” she asked, confused.
“He assisted well with his acting role as Paulie’s right-hand man, but if he got promoted to boss he could change the rules. The 16 Tent is afraid of that.”
“Why can’t one of the girls do it?” Semaj whispered.
“C’mon now. You know Gio’s already got them placed. Besides, if Bonjo brings the Tent hell, what do you think one of them will do?” His thick brow lifted as if she’d asked a ridiculous question. “Gio ain’t sure about it, but everyone else thinks you’d be perfect.”
“I think my grandfather is right about this, baby. I’ll have to bring my A-game, and I don’t think I can bring that with the dope game.”
“Where is the money go getter from Brooklyn at? You know how to boss-up. That’s all you gotta do,” Vega coached. “You done seen and did just about everything. It’s time for you to get your own power. You ain’t green to this shit, Maj. With this, the sky is the limit.”
“I just can’t do it,” she whispered.
“If you want everybody to be straight, you have to. With you running the family business I know you’d make sure everything is done smoothly. Thing is, you’d only be worried about the whole selling market and ain’t gotta break shit down. You’d be moving weight. Brick by brick. Basically you’d be supplying the suppliers,” he explained encouragingly. “With this you’d be right where you always wanted to be. We all gon’ hold you down. We just gotta know if we can count you in. Feel me?”
Maybe I should step up to the plate. I gotta do it for the Family. I’m the last of a dying breed. It’s all on me. I can’t let my family down. They’re all I got. I’ma do it, she convinced herself. Semaj nodded and said, “A’ight. fuck it! I’m with it.”
“That’s what I’m talking about! We finna make it happen.” Vega kissed her on the top of her head and tapped her playfully on her ass. “Let’s head downstairs to join the meeting, Boss!” he joked.
Gio sat at the head of the table as he leaned back in his oversized chair contemplating the situation at hand. His heart was burdened, and as he stared at Paulie’s empt
y seat he noticed everyone else doing the same. The recent loss of his son had made circumstances difficult, but he knew business had to go on. Paulie wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
As the key members of the Milano Family drug organization sat in complete silence, Gio thought about the meeting he had with the associates of the 16 Tent. The fact that he was outvoted by the rest of the commission had him stuck in between a rock and a hard place. The suggestion Bonjo made about letting Semaj head the operation, Gio felt was absurd. She was inexperienced and didn’t know anything about handling drugs of a large quantity. She may have understood and comprehended the underworld on a low level very well, but this was the major league, and it wasn’t for her.
“On some real shit, Poppa, I don’t think it’d be a problem. When Paulie had gotten shot during the first drug war with the Jamaicans the Family was under the leadership of Kasey, and she added value to the organization. She is one of the main reasons we are where we are today. If Semaj is anything like her mother, baby girl gon’ bring something valuable to the family business,” Bonjo stated surely. “I know she is capable of running shit, and now is her time.”
“I’m sure I’ll be able to handle it, Poppa,” Semaj said as she entered the room. “Tell me what needs to be done and it’s done,” she assured with confidence.
The eyes of everyone in the room shot to the door where Semaj was standing, and for a brief moment the room went mute.
Gio finally broke the silence. “You tell me what you think needs to be done, Maj,” he said as he looked up at her. “Do you even know how the family business is run?”
“I know I will handle all major transactions and discuss business quarterly at the 16 Tent meetings, assisting Uncle Ortiz so we are aware of all the underworld handlings from an international perspective. There are eight families with two members from each family seated at the table. Each family is from different regions across the globe, and is an asset to this organization. Uncle Ortiz’s job is to make sure that everything is right from the quantity to the quality and getting it over here. I’ll be responsible for getting it out to top buyers. I will only discuss business and have others deliver the customers the work. I know this is an exclusive organization and I can handle it, G-Poppa.”