“Jackie?”
“In the flesh, you son of a bitch! JO to you, though.”
“You’re JO? The nigga that’s been running around the city shutting down my shops?”
“Yup, that would be me. Now let my aunt go.”
“Aunt?” He looked from Aunt Patricia back to me, and then laughed. “That’s crazy. I woulda never guessed. You look real good by the way, Jackie. Jail did you some good.”
“Are you slow or something, nigga? Let her go and I’ll let you live.”
“Jackie . . .” Aunt Patricia tried to say something, but he squeezed her neck harder.
“You gon’ let me live?” He looked at me as if I had just said the dumbest thing ever. “No. How about I kill her so you and I can finish where we left off?”
Bang!
“Nooo!” I screamed. “Nooo!”
The bullet went straight through my aunt’s neck as Marco smiled sinisterly at me. He threw her to the side, and when I tried to run to her body, somebody snatched me and my gun up from behind.
“I heard your voice and thought to myself, nah, it can’t be this bitch!”
I looked over my shoulder into the face of a woman that I knew I would hate for a lifetime. It looked like Brina had done the prison time, not me. She already had dark bags forming under her eyes, and her cheeks sagged a bit. She was wearing a baby-blue two-piece designer suit, and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, showing off all her grays in the front.
“All that coke done caught up to your ugly ass, I see,” I said pushing her off of me. “You wanted this nigga so bad. Now look at you.”
“You mean look at this.” She flashed her left hand in my face, showing off a big stone on her ring finger. “I got the ring, something you could never do. We have a family, a son. Do you have kids? Oh, wait . . . You were too busy licking pussy in prison.”
“Fuck you, bitch!” I said and swung my fist as hard as I could. It connected with her jaw, and I heard a loud crack. “After this, I’ll be sure to kill your son too!”
She fell back, and I only got one more good hit in before I felt Marco grab me. He tossed me like a sack of pennies, and I hit my head hard on Aunt Patricia’s dresser. Struggling to sit up on shaky arms, I blinked rapidly to clear my vision. I saw my aunt’s body not too far away from me, lying still and in a pool of blood. My chest was tighter than it had ever been before, and I ripped my eyes away, not wanting to see the horrible sight anymore. Aunt Patricia was anything but a saint, but she had a good heart, and she didn’t deserve to go like that. I knew if I didn’t think of something, and quick, I would be next.
“I’m going to do it right this time!”
Marco kicked me in my ribs several times in the same spot until I felt them crack. I cried out in pain, but that didn’t stop him. Then he grabbed the back of my neck, forcing my face in the carpet and pinned my arm behind my back. While he was holding me, I felt another set of fists beating on me. I was helpless and feeling pain shoot up and down my body. It was happening again. I felt then exactly how I felt years ago—helpless. My gun was too far to get, and I was positive that they were going to beat me to death if I didn’t do something.
“Hand me her gun,” Marco instructed. “I’ma put her whole clip in her skull.”
“OK, baby,” Brina said and stopped hitting me. “Let me put a bullet in her too.”
“She was going to take my father’s empire and give it to you?” He kissed the side of my face, and I couldn’t pull away. I had to lay there and feel the wetness of his tongue as he licked my cheek all the way up to my ear. I felt the humidity from his warm breath and closed my eyes. “I heard of JO, but I never thought it would be you, Jackie. The same thirsty bitch I found broke in a library. The same bitch I used to stick my raw dick in any way that I liked. You? What the fuck can you do that I can’t? Nothing. And that’s why you have to die.”
I felt him release me, but that was only short lived. Next, I felt the gun on the back of my head, and I clenched my already-closed eyes even tighter. I didn’t want to die, especially like that. But maybe I hadn’t done enough good with my time on earth, and now it had run out. Maybe I could say a quick prayer to at least attempt to get into heaven. I did say a quick prayer and ignored the shit talking Marco was doing behind me. He had won, and he knew it. He was relishing in his victory so much that I didn’t think he would ever pull the trigger . . . until it happened.
Bang!
I jumped, but I didn’t feel the bullet enter my body. Because it didn’t enter my body. Maybe he missed?
“Augh!” I heard Marco grunt and fall to the side. He was lying right beside me rolling around from a wound to his right shoulder.
“You mothafucka—” Then she was cut short with two gunshots, and I heard a thud shortly after.
I was beaten up so badly I could barely move. I opened my eyes, but everything was a blur. All I saw was a silhouette moving toward me, maybe to kill me too? I shook my head and even thought about pleading my case, but it was over. If it was my time to die, then I would die.
“What have I told you about driving that fast, ma?” It was Braxton. His voice was like music to my ears, and his strong hands were my nurses.
“Brax,” I said weakly and allowed him to put my arms around his shoulders.
“It’s me,” he said and helped me to my feet.
My gaze once again fell upon my aunt’s dead body, and I clutched his shirt, turning my head. I couldn’t believe she was gone. The woman who had saved me . . . was gone. Not too far away from her Brina lay, with half of her face missing. Her body was still twitching slightly, but she was dead. There was no getting out of that. Marco, on the other hand, was still on the ground scooting away from us. The bullet Braxton put in his shoulder must have came with enough force to make him drop his weapon because he was unarmed.
“He killed one of the best things this city had to offer. You do the honors.” Braxton put his gun in my hand and kissed my forehead.
I didn’t hesitate to wrap my finger around the trigger. I got my footing and limped over to where Marco was scooting in pain. He was leaving a trail of blood in the carpet, and I could see that he was trying to get to where his gun had flown to.
“Uh-uh-uhh!” I said shaking my head. “Y-you thought that you would just come in here and kill us all off? And what, take over? After fifteen years, you have not changed a bit. But it’s OK. I hope you lived a long life.”
“Fuck you!” he said, not knowing that those would be his last words.
He made a face like he was trying to gather saliva to spit at me, but he never got the chance. I squeezed the trigger on Braxton’s gun close range and emptied the clip in Marco’s face. It was probably the most disgusting thing I’d ever seen in my life, all those bodies lying so close together, but when I was done, I felt no remorse. I wish I had another clip to put in him, but he was already dead.
“Come on, ma,” Braxton gently grabbed the wrist of my still extended hand and pressed down so I would lower the weapon. “We need to get you out of here and to the hospital. I’ma have a cleaner team get this mess up, and I’ma have my nigga make an announcement.”
“What’s the announcement?” I asked as he helped me out of the room.
“That our DBD is no more, and anyone claiming it will be murdered on sight, along with their families,” he said walking side by side with me down the stairs. “And also that we have a new queen.”
“It’s too early,” I shook my head. “I don’t even feel right leaving her body up there. I feel so empty, Brax. Why would he do that? I just got her back in my life.”
Braxton didn’t say anything back to me until I was secure in the passenger seat of his car. He handled me so delicately and put my seat belt on for me. When he got in the car, he started it but didn’t pull off from my aunt’s house. Instead, he just sat there looking forward, at nothing . . . or maybe at everything. Cars started to pull up around us, and it seemed like time was going in slow motion. I
knew the people weren’t EMTs, but they had stretchers and body bags to get the bodies out of the house. I had never seen the cleaners in person, but they moved quickly and deliberately.
“Some shit that happens to us is shit that we would never guess,” Braxton said finally. “You not the only one hurting right now, ma. My insides are on fire. But just because I wanna murder the world doesn’t mean I can. If Pat Pat taught me anything, it’s to keep business moving, no matter what. That ain’t the way I would have liked to see her go, but she knew the dangers of signing up for the job. Now, all we can do is learn from it and make sure the new queen has better security. This shit don’t stop because one clown wants to throw a hissy fit. That nigga is dead now. We got a new deal, and that means more money. The streets respect you, JO, and I’m not going to sit here and let you pretend that this isn’t what Pat Pat was preparing you for.”
I didn’t even know I was crying until I felt the tears running down my face. They were warm and salty, I knew, because I licked my upper lip and tasted them. I felt empty, but oddly enough, I felt whole at the same time. I watched one of the men wheel my aunt’s body out on one of the stretchers, and I put a hand to my lips, kissed it, and put it on the window as they passed me.
“I know,” I said and swallowed. “This war is over, but... but I’m ready for anything else that comes my way. I’m not going to lose anyone else I love.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” Braxton said and finally drove out of the driveway. “And wipe them tears. We gon’ be good. I promise.”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Letting me be the one to kill him.”
“That was the plan from the very beginning. It just wasn’t supposed to happen like this,” he said and got silent for a few moments as he drove. “So, Queen, what’s the first call of business?”
I thought about the last conversation I had with my aunt. I wiped my tears away and smiled to the night sky. One of the stars was shining brighter than all the rest, and I took it as a sign. Aunt Patricia’s body may have been dead, but her soul wasn’t, and I was positive she was smiling down on me too.
“The first call to business is to give my auntie the best home going Houston has ever seen. She wanted a party for her birthday? Let’s give her one.”
THE END
Girls from Da Hood 12 Page 22