by Briann Danae
“Who? Daddy?” Zoe questioned.
“No. My male friend Tone. He owes me a favor, and I know he’ll know what to do.”
Zoe nodded her head and looked down at Anika with sad eyes. “I think we should still call the ambulance Roe. I mean, look at her,” she cried, moving her bloodstained hair out of her face.
Monroe gulped as her eyes bore into Anika’s sprawled out body and the ringing in her ear carried on. On the fourth ring, Tone finally answered.
“Wassup, love?” Tone answered coolly.
“Hey. I um… that favor you owe me? I need it, fast.”
The seriousness and crack in her voice got Tone’s undivided attention. “A’ight. What you need?”
“I’m at my studio, and you may need some help,” she said and swallowed hard. “There’s a lot of blood.”
“A’ight. I’m on my way.”
Dropping into a squatting position, Monroe’s head fell into the palm of her hands as tears rolled slowly down her cheeks and heart thump erratically in her chest. “God, what did this nigga just get me into?”
In the passenger seat of Tone’s Range, Lano dialed Anika’s number for the third time, and it went straight to voicemail. He was trying not to lose his cool and knew she had her photoshoot today, but he was sure it had ended by now. Taking a deep breath, he dialed the detail’s number he had on her. When he didn’t answer, Lano sucked his teeth.
“This girl ‘bout to piss me off, dawg,” he spat, and Tone looked his way.
“Who? Aye, you trying to slide with me somewhere right quick? I might need some help.”
“Anika, man. Then the fucking detail ain’t answering. I’ma fire his bitch ass,” Lano growled, hitting Anika’s line again only for it to go to voicemail. “I’ma need you to drop me off cuz.”
“Where at? This lil’ broad I fuck wit’ need me to slide to her job right quick,” Tone replied, busting a left at the light.
“This studio. Anika had a photoshoot with this broad, and now she nor Kane’s ass is answering the phone.”
Tone glanced his cousin’s way. “What studio?”
Scrolling to his pictures, Lano held his phone up so Tone could see. He knew the directions to the place and had it in his phone just in case some shit like this went down. Tone sucked his teeth knowing some foul shit had gone down.
“Man,” he dragged, and Lano’s jaw tightened.
“What?”
“That’s where my broad work at. That’s her studio.”
“Yeah? What she say when she just called you?”
“I don’t even wanna tell you cuz, on the real. I got a feeling this shit ain’t gon’ play out well.”
Hearing that had the pit of Lano’s stomach in knots. Uneasiness settled over his being as he rotated his cellphone in his hand. Every second that passed, and Anika didn’t call him back, he knew something was wrong. For weeks all he thought about was her safety, and the thought of a nigga violating it had his mind drifting to a murderous place. Wanting to let up on the supervisory watch he called himself having her own, Lano was now chastising himself for doing so.
“Fuck!” he gritted. “Do the dash on this mothafucka, man. Fuck the speed limit.”
With ease, Tone tapped the gas and floored it to Monroe’s studio. In fifteen minutes flat, he was pulling onto the street, and when he spotted Anika’s Jag parked on the curb, his hand tightened around the steering wheel. Lano’s hand tightened around the handle of his Glock. Somebody was about to lose their life.
Hopping out before Tone could even park, Lano peeped the spot he told Kane to sit idle in and what greeted him made his blood run cold. Kane was a heavier set guy, and to see his lifeless body slumped over with a bullet to the back of his head had Lano seeing red.
Pushing through the entrance door, he immediately spotted Monroe and her fire red hair, waving them over to follow her. With each step he took, Lano’s eyes diverted to every corner of the studio in search for Anika. Already knowing there’d be blood, Tone walked ahead of him. Something was telling him that the blood shed was from Anika and Lano didn’t need to see her in such a way.
“I know my call was so random, but you told me if I needed anything, to ask. I hope I didn’t overdo it,” Monroe rushed out, wiping at her damp cheeks.
“You good, love,” Tone said as they reached the door.
He was bigger in body weight and taller in height than Lano, so he easily blocked his view of the inside of the room. Leaning over Anika, Zoe spoke softly to her trying to keep her from drifting out of consciousness again. The gash on her head was going to require stitches and tons of pain meds. Looking up, at the sound of Tone clearing his throat, Zoe faced them.
“She didn’t want us to call the police but I—”
Zoe’s sentence was cut off by the muffled sounds of Lano trying to barge his way into the room.
“Man, watch out,” he grilled Tone who wasn’t budging.
“Nah, cuz. I can’t let you see her like this.”
Zoe and Monroe made eye contact, and their faces displayed an equal amount of confusion.
“Watch out, ‘fore I lay everybody down in this bitch.”
With the events that occurred in the last thirty minutes, Monroe wasn’t trying to lose her life. Tugging on Tone’s arm, he allowed her to pull him inside the room. Thankfully, he followed suit.
Unprepared for what he knew to be Anika, Lano’s knees buckled at the sight of her. He didn’t even get a full view of her face because Zoe was in front of her, but her hand is what stuck out to him. Literally. It was lying against the tile, covered in blood, with the bright neon colored nails she showed him the night before.
Grabbing a hold of the door frame, Lano had to catch himself to keep from passing the fuck out. He felt an illness creep up on him within seconds. The feeling reminded him of the time when he and Anika visited Chicago, and she had him ride the elevator a thousand feet up to The Tilt. The only difference was, up there he couldn’t fall. There was no possible way. Right now, though? His body was crashing hard as if he had fallen from the top of the building. As if someone had pushed him off with no remorse.
“Nah,” he choked out dropping to the ground. “Fuck, nah.”
Monroe’s hand flew to her mouth and tears sprung to her eyes as she watched Lano crawl over to Anika. His limbs had given out. Walking was a thing of the past right now. Broken down, Lano dragged the gun across the floor with him as he made his way to Anika. Out of his way, Zoe scooted to the corner and pulled her legs to her chest. Seeing a man this vulnerable at his weakest because of his love for a woman, made her even more emotional.
With shallow breaths, Lano struggled to keep his tears at bay and puke from spewing from his lips. The sight of her battered face, swollen lips, and black eyes snatched his breath away. Chest tightening, he didn’t even bother to grab it as he reached for Anika’s frame. He could have a fucking heart attack right now and wouldn’t even care. Them niggas had done his baby scandalous as fuck.
“Nik,” he sniffled, before coughing. He was so close to throwing up.
Rocking her back and forth, he squeezed his eyes shut. Lano was an emotional lover. Anika had warmed his cold heart up, balanced his scale, brought a peace to his life that was missing, and held possession of his heart. To know she was laid out like this due to his street shit didn’t make Lano want to be emotional. He wanted to feel rage. He wanted to dice niggas the fuck up and toss their insides to the wolves. Tears of fury and frustration blurred his vision as his eyes peeled open, and they roamed her body. Though covered by a blanket, he knew she didn’t have any pants on.
Soothingly, he rubbed her hair and tuned everyone in the room out. “Nik, baby. Who did this shit, Ma? Who the fuck did this to you?”
Anika’s eyes darted around behind her lids, but it was so hard to open them. Complete blackness was all she saw in one and the other she barely could see out of. The blow to her head had her in and out of it, but she felt his touch. His words were hushed, w
ith a venomous undertone and she knew that couldn’t be good.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled almost inaudibly.
Lano didn’t know what she was apologizing for, and before he could ask any questions, she was back out. Knowing he had to get her to the hospital, a street doctor wasn’t going to do it, he dabbed at the angry tears coating his tawny brown skin with the back of his hand that held his gun tightly and looked toward Tone.
“Call an ambulance.”
“But she said—,” Monroe began.
Tone shook his head, needing her to not speak right now. The thoughts in Lano’s head wouldn’t dare hold back and have him blast her fucking brains out. Not right now at least. Her involvement to why his woman was laid up how she was, under the roof of her business was still questionable, and she was just as guilty as the niggas responsible in his eyes.
Once Tone made the call, Lano tucked his gun and assessed Anika’s wounds. Even bruised up, she was still the finest woman to him. The niggas who violated Anika had better be ready for a long fucking nap. He had been the cause behind a few homicide cases since touching down, but the state of California was about to see a terrorist.
No more being cautious.
No more not wanting to harm the wrong people.
Every single person affiliated with the cause of Anika’s wounds would become extinct. If them niggas weren’t the praying type, they’d better become that type and ask whoever they prayed to, to save them. All bets were off, and Lano wanted blood. Giran had gotten his attention fair and square, he’d give him that, but he had better be prepared to feel pain for the remainder of his days on this side of the world and thereafter.
A broken nose, cracked rib, busted lip, a concussion, and two black eyes. Lano couldn’t stop repeating the injuries in his head as he sat by Anika’s bedside. She was sleeping right now and heavily drugged up on pain medication. When the ambulance arrived, Lano hopped in the back of the truck with the paramedics. Seeing her hooked up to so many machines had his head spinning.
He had hardly spoken two words to anyone since arriving. Solai blew his phone up, and he didn’t answer until they made it to the hospital two hours ago. By that time, she had already contacted their crew and was headed to the sunshine state. Solai was a frazzled mess trying to dial Anika back, only to receive the voicemail. Without hesitation, she called up Juvie who had connections with BM’s pilot, and they were on their way.
“Damn, Nik. I’m so fucking sorry, Ma,” he choked out, rubbing her hand where the IV was.
Outside, the detectives who Lano coldly turned down any questions from, were now speaking with Monroe. She was a mess and felt horrible for what happened. On the ride over with Tone, he let her know to keep what really happened on the low. A fabricated story could land her in jail if the detectives worked on this case, or, she could lose her life at the hands of Lano if she ran her mouth. It was her choice.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t see who was responsible. They had me tied up,” she stated, and the female detective gave her a pensive stare down.
“And, the gentleman sitting with our victim just happened to pop up you said?”
“Yes. He was just checking on her and walked in on that. They stole my camera equipment and MacBook as well.”
Saying it aloud ran Monroe hot. She knew they were pussy to run down on Anika the way they had, but for them to steal from her broke her heart. She had too much important information stored on both devices.
“Okay. Anything else you can think of, give us a call,” the male said handing her his card.
“Sure.”
When they were on the elevator and out of sight, Tone grabbed Monroe by her arm and pulled her to the side. He fucked with her, but if she had something to do with Anika’s attack, he was cutting her off and letting his cousin do the honors of getting rid of her.
“You ain’t have nothing to do with this, did you?” he asked, as he chest rose and fell slowly.
Monroe’s face masked a look of hurt immediately. “No. How could you ask me that? Why would I have anything to do with this when I just met the girl.”
“Shit, people will sell their soul to the devil for the right price. I just need you to be one hundred with me, a’ight? If you didn’t have anything to do with it, good, but I can’t stop my fam from thinking otherwise.”
Monroe took a step away from him, and he moved closer. “Well, that’s on them if they don’t believe me. My place of business is shut down and swarming with the laws for a few hours, and you think I’d lie, especially to you? Nigga, whatever. I hardly know you and what they did to Ani—.”
Monroe couldn’t finish her sentence as a cry escaped her lips. Pulling her into his embrace, Tone held her as she cried. He hoped she wasn’t just putting on an act to win him over, ‘cause if he found out she did, in fact, play a hand in why Anika was laid up in the hospital, he’d end her life quicker than she could blink.
Rushing inside the hospital, the crew filed in like an army who needed no instructions on where to go. Tone was waiting on them to touch down, and when he saw who he assumed was Solai leading the pack, he waved is hand, and she rushed to him. Behind her was Juvie, Sen, Aunyae, Neicey, and Tesh. Ra stayed back to watch the kids at Meechi and Erica’s place. Once Solai delivered that call, Meechi already knew what time it was. With Erica being so far along in her third pregnancy and high-risk, he couldn’t tag along, but Sen would surely keep him on the up and up.
“What’re they saying?” Solai asked. Her eyes pleading for an answer, but Tone wasn’t so sure she was ready to hear the status of her attack.
“Lano in there with her. It's bad. I ain’t even going to lie to you,” Tone warned them.
Swallowing hard, Solai nodded her head as Tesh, Aunyae, and Neicey walked behind her to a few doors down. Monroe felt the atmosphere shift and felt it best to let her presence be of the past.
“I’ma go home. Can you call and let me know how she’s doing?” she asked, just to make sure it was okay.
“Yeah. I’ll hit you up later.”
She didn’t too much like his reply, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. Right now, she was the enemy if not more than Giran was. Outside, Zoe was parked waiting for her sister to come out. She too was a mess at what had gone down, but there wasn’t much they could do besides, stay out the way.
“We sliding on them niggas or what?” Juvie stated rather than asked.
Anika was like the younger sister his mom never had, and they bickered like it too. From day one though, Anika had been rooting for Juvie and her best friend's relationship, and she had always kept it real with him. To see her down and out like this, and have Lano on some hot shit while they were hundreds of miles away, had Juvie ready to jump back in the field. He had cooled down since Suryha was born, but he’d gladly remind niggas what time it was.
“I’m waiting on Lano to make the call. He fucked up for real. It was so much blood in that bitch, man,” Tone said shaking his head.
“It’s all good,” Sen spoke. “I ain’t leaving this bitch ‘til I catch me a few bodies so we can play that eye for an eye shit for however long. Niggas clearly can’t see anyway. They done fucked with the wrong family.”
The men all nodded their heads in agreement. Inside the room, there wasn’t a dry eye in sight. Aunyae had broken down so bad, she could hardly breathe. Seeing her baby sister’s once beautiful face disfigured with stitches across her head, and discoloration decorating parts of her body had her sick to her stomach.
“Oh my God. My baby,” she cried hard.
Solai stood immobile with tears streaming down her cheeks. Her first few steps were her last ones, as she had to hold onto the sink nearby to keep from losing her shit. Seeing her best friend like this was unfair. Anika didn’t deserve this, and as bad as she was hurting having to had hear her scream before it all went down, she knew Lano was hurting worse. He witnessed the before image and couldn’t shake it from his mental no matter how hard he tried.
&n
bsp; Stepping his way, Neicey patted his arm and told him to stand up. She didn’t care if he didn’t want to give her a hug; she was going to give him one anyway.
“Go talk to your boys. They're outside,” she told him.
Lano shook his head from side to side. “Nah. I can’t leave her.”
The vulnerability and hurt in his tone made Neicey’s stomach flip-flop. Lano had always been the calm, cool, collected male of the bunch but the fire in his eyes when it was time to put in work was always sparked. Right now, it was dimmer than she had ever saw it. Harming Anika had crippled him momentarily, but Neicey wanted and needed him to find the cold, calculated menace who laid shit the fuck down and have him return. Even if it were just for the time, she and Sen were in town, because she knew her man, including Juvie, were about to act a plum fucking fool.
“We got her. Trust me,”’ Neicey reassured.
Lano went to reply, but movement from Anika’s bed caught his attention. Stepping around her, he hovered closely waiting for her to make a sound or other sudden movement.
“Bae,” he called out softly near her ear. “I’m right here.”
He grabbed ahold of her hand and Anika’s senses started to kick in. She could smell the scent of his YSL cologne strongly invading her nostrils, and she smiled, but it hurt. She tried lifting her hand, and it felt as if it weighed a ton. The pain meds had to be wearing off because she felt every slight move, though subtle. Nothing could compare to the pain she felt in her chest when her eyes finally did open, and Lano was staring down at her. His eyes were blood shot red and filled with worry. Guilt immediately hit Anika, before realization of her current situation did.
“I-I’m s-sorry about his watch,” she spoke low and slowly. She frowned at how much of a struggle it was to speak.
Confusion masked Lano’s handsomely disturbed face, and he scratched his head. He was unaware of the niggas snatching up Saon’s watch, and Anika assumed the frown on his face was why. She wasn’t processing everything that had gone on back at the studio and the fact that she was still looking out for his wellbeing in the state that she was in, had Lano ready to lose it.