by Jade Jones
“I need to make sure everything’s handled accordingly. If they can’t do what I tell them to then I’ll just have to do it myself—”
“Let those thugs handle all that, Ava. They’re criminals who have no moral fabric whatsoever. It’s their job to do the dirty work. That’s what we pay them for.”
“So you just want me to sit at home, make calls, and look pretty? It’s been months and Desmond’s ass is still walking the fucking Earth.”
Kent kissed the side of her neck. “Have some patience, babe. He won’t be for too much longer…”
***
Cool pulled up to a dimly lit gas station out in Lithonia to fill up. There were so many thoughts running through his head as he climbed out the car. First, he had to dump Kimberlyn’s body, then he had to leave town before the police started asking questions.
Damn. Why the fuck she make me do that shit, Cool asked himself repeatedly. He didn’t intend to kill her, but Kimberlyn always had a way of pushing his buttons. She knew just what to say to piss him off and get a reaction. She knew how his temper was and she still tried him. This wasn’t the way shit was supposed to go.
Cool had it all mapped out. They were going to live under the radar in Costa Rica and make beautiful children together. As inconceivable as it was, that was his plan. He never factored in the murder he’d be covering up.
Unscrewing his gas cap, Cool lifted the nozzle. While doing so, he stole a quick glance at the trunk. Regret instantly gnawed at his conscience.
Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, Cool noticed someone walk up behind him. Before he could react, Apollo grabbed him and slammed his head through the back window. Glass exploded all around them, tearing into Cool’s face and scalp.
After the vicious attack, Apollo tossed the delirious man on the ground. “What the fuck you do to her?!” he yelled. When Cool didn’t answer fast enough, he kicked him in the ribs twice. “What the fuck you do?!”
Cool surprised Apollo when he leapt up and tackled him. Apollo dropped niggas twice his size for fun, so Cool was light work. An elbow to his back and a right hook to the jaw where all it took to bring him to his knees. Apollo went to swing again, but Cool fell over, and his fist connected with the front window.
KSSSSSSHHHH!
Glass shattered and sprinkled the pavement.
Apollo barely felt the pain because of his adrenaline rush. “Where the fuck is she?” he hollered. “Answer me, fuck nigga!” Apollo kicked him in the face, knocking out several of his front teeth.
Cool was a bloodied, battered mess as he lay feebly on the ground. Weakly lifting his arm, he pointed towards the car. “Trunk,” he forced out.
Apollo gritted his teeth in anger. So Calvin wasn’t lying.
Determined to end Cool’s existence, he yanked a clear cable wire over his head and tightened it. Cool lunged at him in desperation, but Apollo kicked his punk ass to the ground. He deserved to suffer for a bit.
The wire had completely cut off Cool’s air circulation. In a panicked attempt to free himself, he clawed frantically at his neck. His fingernails cut deep into his skin, causing more damage than it did help. Blood leaked down his throat, soaking his designer t-shirt. Cool never imagined his night would end tragically like this. He was so close to freedom, he could smell the saltwater.
Apollo shattered his dreams after grabbing the nozzle and pouring gas all over Cool’s body. He was too busy struggling with the cable wire to notice. The preoccupied gas station attendant was in the back of the store stocking, so he didn’t hear what was happening outside. No one would witness the horrific death he had in store for Cool. Apollo had followed him, watched, and waited for the perfect opportunity to strike. Just like a predator to its prey.
Cool wheezed and struggled as the cable wire strangled the life out of him. Apollo watched as his blood vessels burst and his eyes turned red. Within a few seconds, his heart stopped beating, and he was completely immobile. Cool’s left foot twitched involuntarily a couple times. Yet it didn’t take a coroner to see that he was dead.
Just to be sure, Apollo screwed a silencer on his gun and emptied an entire extendo clip into Cool’s chest. Afterwards, he tossed his dead body in the backseat to later on be torched.
A death fit for an asshole.
Apollo almost didn’t want to pop the trunk. He was unsure if he wanted to see her dead body—and he was a nigga who dealt with dead bodies on the regular.
Apollo slowly lifted the lid to the trunk and peeked inside. Kimberlyn was wrapped up tightly in blood-soaked sheets like a mummy. The sight of it was sickening.
“Damn…”
Apollo started to leave well enough alone, but he had to be certain before he made that dreaded phone call to Desmond. He quickly unraveled the sheets and touched the side of Kim’s neck. Much to his surprise, there was still a pulse.
27
“I’m forever indebted to you, bruh. On some real shit,” Desmond said. “You really came through for me. I don’t know what the fuck I would’ve done if she—”
“Aye, I do this. It’s nothin’. You fam,” Apollo told him. He didn’t want to think or talk about what might’ve happened. All that mattered was Kim’s safety.
Desmond pulled him in for a brotherly hug. Kimberlyn had just gotten out of the OR and was now resting peacefully in her own room. The doctors told him that if Apollo didn’t get her to the hospital when he did, she would’ve bled to death.
Destiny and Jordan sat by Kim’s bed while he hung in the doorway to talk to Apollo in private.
“Did you handle that fuh me?” Desmond asked, in regard to Cool.
“Let’s just say that nigga gon’ have a closed casket.”
After dropping Kim off at the hospital, Apollo drove Cool’s car to the scrapyard. With his carcass still in the backseat, Apollo torched the vehicle. By the time, police and forensics finally discovered him they wouldn’t be able to tell his body apart from the car.
The news of Cool’s gruesome death was music to Desmond’s ears.
“Aye, look I’m finna get up outta here though. And don’t worry. I still got eyes and ears on them niggas from that Vegas lick. They know da bidness. Them niggas gon’ be dealt with accordingly too. You can believe that shit.”
He and Desmond dapped each other up before Apollo left. He had to get his ass back to Liberty before she started tripping. She’d been blowing him up all night, and sending naked pics to lure him in.
“Who was that?” Jordan asked, walking up from behind.
Desmond kept business separate from his personal life, so his children were unaware of the killers he kept on his payroll. “That was just daddy’s business associate,” he said. Dez felt some repentance for ordering the murder of the man he’d first known as daddy.
Jordan gave a snaggletooth smile. “I wanna be a businessman like you when I grow up.”
Desmond’s expression softened. Hearing his son say that shit did something to him. The last thing he wanted was for Jordan to follow in his footsteps. A life in the streets took unwavering commitment, and the power eventually became addictive. With power also came an abundance of enemies. I don’t want my life for my son.
He pulled the boy in and hugged him close. Was Desmond finally outgrowing the street life?
***
“You know you shouldn’t have checked out the hospital,” Maya said, the following morning. She carefully helped Romeo walk over to his bed where he slowly sat down.
His entire body was sore, but he wouldn’t spend another day in that boring ass, sterile chamber. Since the condo he brought Shayla was closer to the hospital he had Maya take him there.
“Man, I fuckin’ hate hospitals. Everybody sittin’ around waitin’ to die and shit. It’s fuckin’ miserable.”
“Are you just saying that because both of your parents died in the hospital?”
Romeo cut his eyes at Maya. She knew more about him than most.
“Help me get this shirt off,” he said, ignorin
g her question.
Romeo had been struggling for the longest with removing it because of his cast.
“Here, I got’chu.”
Romeo lifted his arms and Maya gently pulled his shirt off. Several bruises covered his torso; his ribs were bandaged.
Romeo chuckled. “You got me just where you always wanted a nigga…”
Maya laughed. “Excuse me?”
“Helpless…havin’ to depend on you.”
“Um… You had a nurse for that but your ass wanted to check out early—”
“Chill out, girl, I’m fuckin’ wit’chu.” Romeo slowly lay backwards before pulling her down with him. “I really just wanted some pussy…” He tugged at her jeans but was too weak to get them off on his own.
Maya snickered and shook her head. “Romeo, you ain’t even in the condition to be fucking. I swear some things with you will never change.”
“What about you?” he asked. “Has the way you felt about me changed?”
Maya sighed deeply. “Romeo—”
“Answer the fuckin’ question.”
“You married, remember? Why does it matter?”
“You see my wife anywhere ‘round this mufucka?” he pretended to look around. “This me and you, right now. So wassup? Answer the question.”
Maya smiled and looked away shyly. Things between them were so much simpler when it only involved drugs and numbers. “You always have a special place in my heart, Romeo…You know that.”
A sly grin tugged at his lips. That was just the ego boost he needed to make his dick hard. “Take your hair down,” Romeo told her.
Maya sat up in a straddling position and removed her ponytail holder. Her long, silky hair flowed freely down her back. Romeo licked his lips and ogled her with profuse admiration. Grabbing Maya by the nape of her neck, he pulled her down towards him and kissed her. His hands found their way to her firm backside and he squeezed. Maya didn’t have a big, fat ass like the girls he usually went for, but it was just enough.
“I never thought I’d say this, but you’re ugly as sin,” she said after they pulled apart. His face was a mess after the beating he’d taken.
“Well, you kissin’ my ugly ass so you must like the shit.”
If Shayla hadn’t come in his life, Romeo could’ve saw himself settling down with Maya. She was pretty, a go-getter, and self-sufficient. She also could suck a mean dick.
Maya kissed Romeo again. “I might…”
He softly glided his fingertips down her arm, causing goose bumps and her nipples to harden. His mouth watered since he could clearly see she wasn’t wearing a bra. Maya’s nipple rings peaked through the white V-neck she wore.
“Take ya shirt off,” he whispered.
Maya totally disregarded the fact that he was a married man as she fulfilled his request. Tossing her top on the plush cream carpet, she took his good hand and placed it on a small breast.
Romeo pinched and fondled her nipple. She had him harder than a mothafucka.
Maya shivered and moaned in response. “You sure you wanna do this?” she asked in a low tone. The center of her panties was soaked as she gently grinded against his erection.
“Pull my pants off, bay.”
Maya tugged off his jeans and boxers. Pre-cum oozed out his dick as she stroked him in her small hands. “I missed it,” she said, kissing the tip. She licked the taste of his sweet pre-cum off her lips.
“Swallow da dick like you missed it then…”
***
Dana groaned in discomfort as she slowly opened her eyes. There was a crook in her neck from sleeping on the cold concrete all night. What the fuck? The moment she took in her surroundings she realized she wasn’t in the parking lot where Desmond left her. Instead, she’d waken up in alley a few blocks away from the projects.
Dana quickly scurried to her feet—and noticed her pants were down. A shaky scream broke free after realizing she’d been raped. No. No. No. No.
Dried blood and semen covered her bare ass and inner thighs. A rusty syringe needle hung out the center of her forearm. Someone had doped her up before having a field day.
“Oh no. Jesus, no. This can’t be happening!”
Dana fell backwards against the brick building behind her and started hyperventilating. She prayed she was trapped in a nightmare, but sadly this was her reality.
Dana’s head began spinning. Suddenly, she felt nauseous. Without warning, she keeled over and threw up everything in her stomach. After wiping her mouth with the back of her wrist, she pulled her up pants up, and limped out of the alley. After today, Dana’s life would never be the same.
28
That afternoon, Shayla decided to swing by Romeo’s place after avoiding him for the last few days. She knew they needed to talk, and she couldn’t ignore him forever. Since he wasn’t at his Buckhead residence, she stopped by the condo to see if he was there.
Shayla found his sports car parked in its designated space. On the elevator ride up, she realized she’d left the keys at her parent’s home. As Shayla approached their door she heard trap music playing inside.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Shayla tapped on the door loud enough to be heard over Kid Cudi. She expected her husband to answer the door, but instead Maya did. The sight of her wearing one of Romeo’s t-shirts made Shayla’s blood boil. This is the same bitch I caught leaving his crib a few months back. What the hell is she doing here?
Maya’s smile turned to a frown the minute she put a name to the face. She remembered Romeo’s wife and her ghetto outburst during their initial introduction. “Can I help you, Shayla?” Maya asked, unenthused.
“Where’s my husband?” Shayla asked, barging inside. She looked around but didn’t see him immediately.
Maya gave a sinister smile. “He’s in the kitchen, making us breakfast.”
“Bitch, you don’t deserve breakfast,” Shayla mumbled.
“Oh, but I do,” Maya said. “You see, I was the one by your man’s side when he was in the hospital. Doing what the fuck you should’ve been doing. So yes, bitch. I think I do deserve my meal.”
“Hospital? What the fuck are you talking about?”
Maya laughed and shook her head. “Bitch, you don’t know shit that be going on with your man. It’s fucking sad and pathetic. Then you got the nerve to march up in here like you matter. Girl, stop it. I don’t know what the hell he was thinking marrying your pitiful ass. You ain’t cut out for his life—”
All of a sudden, Shayla lunged at Maya and grabbed her by the hair. She was tired of the condescending bullshit spewing from her lips.
“You fucking bitch!” Shayla slung her around the room and pounded her skull repeatedly. She wanted to tear her tresses from her scalp. She’d never liked the uppity hoe.
Maya managed to kick Shayla in the stomach a few times before Romeo finally came and broke it up.
“Shay, what the fuck is you doin’?”
“You better control your fucking bitches, Romeo! I could have that hoe easily touched!” Maya threatened.
“Aye, calm the fuck down with that. I don’t wanna hear that shit,” Romeo told her.
“Bitch, call whoever you want! It’s gon’ be problems whenever I see your fucking ass! That’s on everything!” Shayla screamed.
Romeo grabbed her hyper ass by the throat and slammed her against the wall. “Aye, I said chill the fuck out!”
“Fuck you, Romeo! I can’t believe you brought this bitch here! The place you brought for me! She prancing around and shit in your t-shirt like this wasn’t our home!”
“WAS! That’s the mufuckin’ key word! It’s over between us. I can do whatever the fuck I wanna do. Put my dick up in whoever I please. We ain’t rockin’ like that no’ mo’. You made that call, remember?”
Shayla pushed him off. There were tears in her eyes as she looked from Romeo to Maya. Shit was all good when she was kicking it with Quay, but now that he had a lil’ piece she couldn�
��t handle it.
“I wish I could thank whoever beat your ass,” Shayla said. She wanted to hurt Romeo like he was hurting her.
His nostrils flared in anger after her cruel choice of words. Her little boyfriend had almost taken his life. Maybe Shayla and Quay were made for each other. “Get the fuck up out my crib ‘fore I throw yo’ ass out.” Romeo spoke calmly, but there was a raging war going on inside of him. It took everything in him not to choke her out.
Shayla decided to test him. “Nigga, you won’t fucking touch me.”
“Oh, I won’t?”
Romeo quickly snatched her hair and dragged her to the front door. She tried her best to put up a fight but it was useless.
“Get the fuck off me, Romeo! LET ME GO! This is my house too! You can’t just put me out!”
“Not anymore. We through! Bitch, you won’t get another cent out my mufuckin’ ass! Tell that fuck nigga to put’chu in a high rise!”
Romeo swung the front door open and tossed Shayla out in the hallway. She tripped and fell right on her ass. To say she was embarrassed would’ve been an understatement.
“Oh, by the way, you forgot somethin’.” Romeo went back in the apartment and fetched the paperwork for the divorce petition. He’d already started filling out his sections.
Romeo threw the papers down at her. “You wanted yo’ mufuckin’ divorce, you got it.”
With nothing left to say, he slammed the door on Shayla and their relationship.
29
Two Weeks Later
“You been on IG lately?” Kim asked Shayla. Both women were stretched out on Kimberlyn’s California king size mattress. They never could stay mad at each other for long. Shay came back around as soon as she heard what happened. Kimberlyn had been out of the hospital for a week and things were finally beginning to feel normal again.