My heart continued to race and my mind wouldn’t unscramble my thoughts. I thought I was about to lose my fucking mind. I figured what in the hell could go wrong next? But then it came to me, that I was instructed to go by our hideaway spot. Damian insisted that he’d meet me there so that’s where I decided to take Evan. Until this very moment, I liked Evan. He was indeed a soldier for our operation, but don’t bite the hand that fed you all this time. That’s a fucking no-no! And when it was all said and done, one of his loved ones would need his insurance policy.
“I can’t go to my bank. That’s too risky. Take me to my apartment at 145 West 67th Street. I got a drop off I was supposed to deposit in the bank yesterday. There’s more than enough in there for you to get your share and for me to take and leave town with.” I said.
“Oh no way, Chica. I’m getting everything you got. I put my neck on the line for you. You owe me for all those times you underpaid me for helping you to bring in your fucking drugs.” he growled, his facial expression got more menacing.
I remained calm. I knew something he didn’t; his life was coming to a screeching halt when Damian found out that he intended to rob us. Talk about a sad ending.
As we approached the apartment building, I searched both sides of the block to see if I noticed Reggie or Damian’s cars parked anywhere, but I didn’t. The optimism of getting Evan off my back dissipated rapidly. Fear crept right back into my heart at that very moment because I knew that I would have to fight this battle all by myself. I started to stall him, but I knew that would only piss him off so I climbed out of the truck and made my way up to the apartment while Evan followed.
I fumbled with the key at the front door so he snatched the keys away from me and unlocked it himself. Immediately after he opened up the front door, he pushed me inside but instructed me to stand where he could see me. And before he made his entrance, he peeped around the door to make sure the coast was clear with his gun cocked and ready to fire. I stood there and faced him head on trying to figure out how I would handle this situation. “Now, let’s get that money.” he said and then he turned his back to shut the front door behind himself. Having him turn his back on me gave me a big enough window to make a run for Reggie’s room so I could grab his money bag and hop out of the window. But all plans don’t go as they were mapped out because as soon as I turned to dip in the opposite direction, I was startled by Reggie himself. It all happened so quickly. Reggie pressed his hand against my mouth to keep me from screaming and then he pushed me off to the side. And as soon as Evan turned around, he realized that he had a standoff with the head boss of our operation. Evan had never met Reggie, so he never knew what he looked like. But, I guessed he was about to find out. “Look, all I want is what’s owed to me.” Evan said as he kept close to the front door.
“I don’t owe you shit. You came here to rob us.” I spat.
“Nigga, you came here to rob me and my sister?” Reggie roared as he pointed his pistol with his silencer attached towards Evan.
“No, she promised to pay me for the load that came in today. And I’m trying to leave town so I need my money.” Evan continued as he looked at me and Reggie both. He seemed like he was getting a little scared.
“What load nigga? We didn’t have a load to come in today.” Reggie challenged him. I knew he was playing head games with Evan. Reggie wasn’t about to admit to having no involvement with Miguel’s load whatsoever. Reggie was the type of cat that he wouldn’t admit to doing shit even if you caught him in the act.
“I’m talking about that load that Naomi had me and my boys to offload from the plane. But we couldn’t do it because the FEDS came in and intercepted it.”
“So, that means you couldn’t do your job right?” Reggie pressed on.
“We tried. Bu……but…..we couldn’t.” Evan tried to explain but he started stuttering his words.
“That’s too bad.” Reggie said and without warning he pulled the trigger and shot Evan twice in the face. Evan’s body fell back against the door and made a loud thud noise. Blood splattered the back of the door and on the walls nearby. I swear I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“Why the fuck you bring him here?” Reggie questioned me. I knew he was pissed. But I had no other choice.
“Trust me I didn’t mean to. He saw me trying to get away from the FEDS at the airport and helped me. And then when we got into his truck, he started acting crazy and threatening to do shit to me if I didn’t give him five hundred grand. I tried to settle with him by giving him the one hundred and fifty grand at my place but he wouldn’t take it. So, what was I supposed to do? Let him kill me.”
“Come on and help me move this nigga out of the way. Damian and Stone should be here in a minute.” he said. I thought he would’ve answered my question. But he didn’t. I guess he figured that I didn’t have a choice after all.
We grabbed a box of industrial size trash bags we used to wrap our money in and took it to the where Evan’s body had laid. But before we touched him he slipped on plastic gloves and a surgical mask.
“Help me grab his legs first.” Reggie instructed me. The bags we had were big enough to put a human who was 5’5 or shorter inside of it. And since Evan was right there at that height, his body fitted the bag perfectly. I believed we covered him in at least ten bags. And when we were done we wrapped gray electric tape around his waist and we sealed the top of it with the same tape. Reggie made sure we contained the rest of his blood and the odor that comes from a dead corpse.
Immediately afterwards, I struggled to get up all Evan’s blood that soaked into the carpet before we moved his body into the bathroom shower. I used ammonia, bleach and baking soda and when I realized that this wouldn’t do the trick I grabbed a pair of utility scissors from the kitchen and cut the entire area of the blood stained carpet and removed it from the floor. I asked Reggie what to do with it and he simply said, “Lay it on top of that nigga in the tub. I’ll get Stone and Damian to take it out when they get him.”
“Alright,” I said and then I went on and finished the task at hand.
Now while I cleaned up behind myself and made sure that everything I used to dispose of Evan’s body with was thrown into another trash bag, Reggie was in the other room gathering up his things. I heard him counting all the money his money. And then I heard him fumbling with something in his closet. I didn’t bother him because I knew he needed this time to figure out our next step, so I made a detour into my room and gathered up my things as well.
New York’s Finest Kiki Swinson
Chapter 25 – The Last Man Standing
Fifteen minutes later Damian and Stone finally showed up. Stone was ready to walk back out the door the moment he stepped inside. He made it blatantly obvious that he was ready to get us out of there. “Come on, let’s go. I got my other driver outside waiting for us.” he told us. But after Reggie ran down what happened before they got there, Stone wasn’t pleased to hear that he had to dispose of a body while it’s still broad daylight. “You know I’ll die for you Reggie. But, that would be a dumb move to move that body while it’s still daylight. We’re gonna have to change plans.”
“Nah, we can’t do that. It’s gonna fuck up everything.” Reggie argued.
Stone wouldn’t stand down. He was adamant about handling his business a certain way. “I’m sorry. But, I won’t do it,” he told Reggie.
Reggie wasn’t used to hearing someone telling him no. He was the boss and he always had the last say in any situation. “Look, Stone you know I don’t like changing plans. That motherfucker came to us with his bullshit. So, we had to deal with it accordingly. And if we hadn’t and allowed him to go free then the cops would’ve been all over us right now.”
Damian and I sat there across from each other and waited to see how this thing with Stone and Reggie would play out. We knew we needed to get out of there but we also knew that we couldn’t leave until the body was gone first.
“Why don’t y’all leave now and I’ll
catch up to you later on tonight.” Stone suggested.
“But we’re gonna need you to drive. That was the plan. Remember?”
“Yeah, that was the plan until I found out you got a dead body lying back there in the damn bathtub.”
Damian saw that this ordeal with Reggie and Stone wouldn’t be resolved as quickly as we’d liked, so he stood up and said, “Why don’t we all stay here until nightfall and then we make a run for it?”
“Nah, that’s a dumbass plan. Our faces will be plastered all over the fucking TV by then. Not to mention, the neighbors in this building knows how we look. Don’t you think they’ll blow the whistle on us for some fucking reward money if the FEDS say their offering it?”
“He’s got a point Damian.” I said.
“But what other choice do you have?” Stone chimed in.
“I say we blow this joint now. I got a duffle bag filled with dough that’ll last me for a while. And all I need for you to do is get me across the Mexico Border so I can chill out over there for a few months until this shit blows over. By that time, Vanessa will have let her guard down and brought her stinky ass out of hiding and then boom, I could’ve snuck back into the states without anyone knowing and have that bitch carved up like a pig on a silver platter.”
“And what do we do in the meantime?” I spoke up. I realized that none of Reggie’s plans included me or Damian.
“Right now sis, we gotta go our separate ways. It wouldn’t be a good look to have all of us going to the same place. We can meet up sometime later though.”
“You can go with me out west if you like.” Damian suggested to me. I knew what he was doing. So, I played it off and went along with him.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure. That way I can keep an eye on you and make sure you’re safe.” he continued.
“Stop the bullshit you two!” Reggie yelled. “I know what’s going on. I know y’all fucking. So, cut it out.”
“What!” I said, trying to act like I was shocked.
“What, nothing. I’ve noticed how y’all been acting towards each other lately. I can tell how a nigga acts after he gets the pussy.”
“Come on now Reggie, not now.” Damian tried to defuse the conversation.
“Whatcha mean not now?” Reggie turned his attention towards Damian, “Trust me nigga, I could care less about what y’all are doing. Just don’t try to play me like I’m some stupid ass nigga from around the way.”
“Ain’t nobody trying to play you dawg. Out of respect for you, I just wanna make sure Naomi is alright. That’s all.”
Meanwhile Stone’s cell phone rings and after he answered it, his facial expression changed. “Alright. We’ll handle it on this end.” he told the caller and then he hung up. “My guy outside just informed me that about eight FBI Agents just hopped out of their cars and that they’re trying to get into the building right now.”
“Oh shit!” I said as my body was instantly struck with fear. I rushed back to my bedroom, grabbed my duffle bag from the bed and dashed back into the front room. Reggie had already bolted out of the front door but Damian stood there and waited for me. He extended his hand and said, “Come on baby,” let’s go.”
I took his hand and followed him out the front door. I had no idea where the hell he planned to take me so I resisted a little, “Didn’t Stone say they were trying to come through the front door, so where are we going?”
“Reggie said that there was an underground utility basement in the laundry room on the first floor, so we’re going down the back staircase to get there.”
“What about Stone? What is he going to do?” I continued to question him.
“Don’t worry about him. He’s going to be fine. He said he’ll meet up with us in a few minutes.” Damian explained and then he literally pulled me forcibly down the stairway.
When we reached the bottom floor, Damian heard a loud BOOM. Then the building shook. Debris from the ceiling started falling down around us. Visions of me dying inside of this building engulfed me and my body became numb. But that didn’t stop Damian. He dragged me into the laundry room and down the stairs that lead to the basement. The door had already been kicked open by Reggie, so we knew we weren’t that far behind him.
The basement was poorly lit with old light bulbs but that didn’t deter us from finding our way out of there. The thought of freedom weighed heavy on my heart. I wanted it so badly I could taste it. So, I held onto Damian’s hand and helped him, help me get to freedom.
“Come on baby, we’re almost there.” he said. And when I zoomed in ahead of us and noticed that there was indeed light at the end of this tunnel, I began to breathe. The weight of everything around me fell off my shoulders as we approached the half cracked doorway that lead to the outside. And when we finally wiggled our way through it and was able to see that the coast was clear, we fled on foot away from the building and hoped that we’d flag down a cab before the FBI got wind of which direction we ran.
I can’t lie, I was dead tired, exhausted to say the least. Reggie was nowhere in sight and that frightened me. But what really frightened me was when I looked back at the building, I noticed that the apartment we had and the entire floor had blown up and was completely engulfed in flames. My heart sunk at the thought that Stone had started an explosion in the apartment and killed himself in the process so that we could getaway. This was something you’d see in a fucking movie. There was no way I would’ve done that for anyone else. Nor did I have the guts to even attempt something of that magnitude. Stone gave new meaning to the word loyalty. And he’ll be forever in my heart.
We walked a total of five blocks before we caught a cab. And instead of telling the cab driver to take us to the nearest transit station, we told him to take us north towards Connecticut. Thank God he didn’t ask us any questions. But he required us to give him cash up front before he moved the car, so we did. And as soon as the cab pulled back on the road and began to head north, Damian and I were finally able to let out a long sigh.
New York’s Finest Kiki Swinson
Epilogue
It had been two weeks since Damian and I left New York. We’ve traveled from state to state and stayed out of the public eye. It took about five days before we saw our faces broadcasted on national television so I panicked the first time I saw it. But Damian reminded me that as long as we had our fake passports and driver’s licenses on hand, then we were fine.
Periodically, I’d worry about what was going on back in New York. The thought of not being able to speak to my parents bothered me more than not knowing where Reggie was because I knew he could take care of himself. And since there were no new reports about him getting arrested, I knew he was still on the streets. My guess was that he’d be sitting on a beach somewhere, sipping on a cold Corona with a slice of lime floating at the top of the bottle. But when my brand new cell phone rung I got an entirely different story.
Damian was sitting next to me on the hotel bed when the call came through. He and I both looked at each other like we’d just saw a ghost. “Hello,” I said, after allowing the phone to ring four times.
“Hey sis, this is your brother.” Reggie yelled through the phone.
His voice magnified with each word he uttered. He sounded like he was excited about something. But I was even more excited to hear his voice and to know that he was alright. “Oh my God! I can’t believe it’s you.” I said and then I pressed the speaker phone button so Damian could hear our conversation.
“Yeah, it’s me. So, I guess y’all are alright?” he yelled again. There was a lot of loud traffic noise in the back ground so I assumed he was either walking or driving with the windows down, which made it very hard for him to hear me.
“Yeah, we’re good. And you?”
“Yeah, I’m great. I’m still roaming around the city. I couldn’t bring myself to leave after I found out what Stone did for us. Plus, I wasn’t going to let Vanessa off the hook after what she did to me. She ba
sically destroyed everything I built.”
I placed my hand over my mouth. “Reggie, what did you do?” I forced myself to say.
“Let’s just say that she won’t be running her fucking mouth anymore. I got her, that nigga Ben and that nigga Dre torched in a house fire. They thought I wasn’t gonna find out they were hiding out at Ben’s sister’s house in the Bronx.”
Shocked by his words, I said, “What!”
Reggie chuckled. “Yeah, I paid that nigga that Stone had waiting for us outside, to put me up in his crib for a while. Then I got him to help me find out where those motherfuckers were hiding out. And instead of running in the crib and blasting all of them in their fucking heads, me and that cat decided to close off all the windows, barricade the front door and set the spot on fire so we could burn them alive. You should’ve heard Vanessa screaming when that fire got to her ass. It was like music to my ears.”
“Vanessa’s dead?”
“Damn right! That bitch and those niggas finally got what they deserved.”
“So, what do we do now?” I asked him. Believe it or not, Damian and I needed a plan. I was tired of going from one hotel to the next. And I was sure Damian felt the same way.
“I don’t know what to tell you right now. But I do know that coming back to New York isn’t the answer because Marco and Miguel are standing in line behind the FEDS, so they are looking for us too.”
I didn’t want to admit it, but I knew there was a chance that Marco would have us on his radar after we lost his shipment to the FEDS. So, there’s another situation we had to handle. “What about mom and dad? Have you been able to see or talk to them?” I asked.
“No I haven’t. But I’ve been able to get money to them though. So don’t worry, they’re in good hands.”
“So, what’s next for you?”
“I don’t know baby sis. But I do know that I can’t leave New York right now especially with all the product we have left. I talked to Stone’s people and they’ve agreed to help me get rid of all that’s left. So, until that mission is completed, I’m a sitting duck.”
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